angel

Huh?

Don't worry, I'll go to her.

Really?

Really.

Then please, I'm counting on you! The address is––

You can tell me on the way. Hold onto my hand.

Oh, so you want to take the rooftops!

Here is good.

Right.

I can't believe I'm here ten minutes early.

Thank you so much, Mostima... Um, ma'am.

No need for the ma'am now.

But, why did you suddenly show up to help me?

Haven't you been hiding from Exusiai this whole time?

Uhh...

Wait, if you want to say something, you should be saying it to her, not me.

Right.

Oh say, this whole time, there's been something I've wanted to ask you. Do you mind?

If it's a question I can answer, fire away.

I want to know, are the Sankta... all as carefree as Exusiai?

Huh?

I guess, yeah, basically, most are.

Hmm... Okay.

I work as an idol. This might sound strange, but one of the most important parts of being an idol is figuring out how to read people's hearts.

I've always believed that if you can open your heart to anyone, then you probably have more than one door into your heart.

The people who seem nice to everyone must be hiding something deep inside.

But I don't think that's true for Exusiai.

Did you know, when Exusiai first joined Penguin Logistics, she was the absolute queen of troublemakers.

She would believe pretty much anything anyone told her.

I still remember that day, the day after she joined. The boss asked her to make a delivery so he could test her.

Texas had some things to do, so I ended up being her contact.

At first, I thought nothing would happen, but turns out...

Basically, you got scammed!

Huh? Is that what happened?

Of course! In this line of business, it's pretty common for goods to not match up with the sheet on the clipboard, but for there to only be one thing is virtually unheard of.

There must've been a mix-up.

Oh, I see.

I'm pretty sure what's going on here is they're spotting a newbie as a mark to take the fall and pushing the blame for the inevitable conflict onto Penguin Logistics.

You're pretty smart, huh, Sora?

Texas taught me that too...

No, no, now's not the time! We need to come up with something!

Is there a way out of this?

The simplest way is to find the gang leader who set you up and have him publicly come out to resolve the situation, but that would basically mean facing down the entire gang, so it's not like it's simple.

Then let's give it a try.

I just said, it's not that simple!

Texas, when did you...?

I heard a whisper on the wind, so I rushed over.

Are you alright?

Yes, but we're in kind of a pickle...

You said you'd give it a try, but do you think you have a shot?

No clue, but since I'm the one who messed up, I'll do what I can to set things right.

Come with me.

Alright.

So what was supposed to be a simple delivery task turned into the two of them rushing headlong into the territory of a small gang, grabbing their leader, and resolving the incident.

From that day on, Texas usually took Exusiai with her for all sorts of assignments.

Texas taught Exusiai a lot of the rules and laws of the biz, the do's and don'ts, so on and so forth.

And now, as you can see, they're good partners.

Does it feel like she snatched away your dear friend?

Maybe a little. But it's more like I'm filled with a sense of awe.

I just couldn't stop thinking to myself... Oh my gosh, how can a person like that be real?

This might sound funny, but I actually ended up spending a lot of time trying to figure out what she was hiding and expose her.

But the longer I searched, the clearer it became that Exusiai really is the same person on the inside that she is on the outside.

I'm not sure when it happened, but she became my friend too.

After talking to you today, I think the last little knot in my heart has been undone.

Oh, I need to hurry up and see the manager. If you have time later, I'll take you out for cake!

Sounds good.

How about you? Have you ever suspected her?

Nope.

I'm not the type to guess at people like that.

Whatever side people show me, I'll believe in it until they betray me.

That makes you pretty similar to El.

What are we gossiping about?

About whether or not you're a happy-go-lucky fool.

What's there to talk about? Do you think I'm not?

Look.

Haha, that's how she's always been, from the very beginning.

Oh.

Hold on a sec!

What is it?

I just realized we're right by the place I'm supposed to make a delivery to.

I almost forgot I was in the middle of a delivery when Texas called me over. I'll go take care of that real quick!

So, let's take a halftime break! Wait for me!

So, you're not gonna come at me?

No, because you're taking your game with her seriously.

The bar over there looks pretty decent. How about it?

Sure.

I've been thinking this whole time that you'd get along pretty well with a grumpy friend of mine.

And I've realized after meeting you, that you really are the type of person she'd aspire to be.

The what?

She's never said it before, but I know.

The feeling of pinning the past onto someone, or clinging to something in the past... For some unpleasant reason, I understand that all too well.

But you...

For the person she is now, you represent the past she was chasing after, one that will only disrupt her present life.

So you really were planning to kill me.

Sort of. I hope you die quietly in some ditch she doesn't know about.

Or become an afterimage that she can never catch up to.

El's made some real good friends.

Hey guys!

I have good news and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?

The good news.