Chapter Four: Brighter Than Sunshine

The next morning, at dawn.

Facing the new sun from two different worlds after a night spent in tears, they both sighed at the same time.

"It's over, there's a quiz today..."

"It's over, there's a tribunal today..."

"Sigh~" ×2

Their voices echoed in each other's hearts. After a night of crying and adapting, they had both figured out how to block out the other's voice, but, in perfect tacit agreement, neither mentioned it nor used it. They just continued to vent for half the night.

Besides discovering how to block each other, they had also found a way to observe one another more clearly. However, this method only worked when both of them focused their attention on each other at the same time.

Even then, they could only sense an outline.

When Lu Mingfei first perceived Furina's outline, he felt a moment of sadness and melancholy—she was so wonderful, so perfect that she seemed out of reach.

Oh, we’re from two different worlds—so it doesn’t matter.

But that sense of distance didn’t last long; the real reason was that Furina was a bit silly and spoke with an exaggerated flair, like she was performing for an audience. She didn’t seem like a true Water Goddess, more like she was playing the role for others. Even though Aqua was silly too, her core was still a bit different from Furina’s.

Furina would panic, get scared, even cry; she was like an ordinary person, and she clearly lacked a sense of security. It seemed she held many secrets in her heart.

"What is a tribunal?"

"And what is a quiz?"

Again, they spoke in unison. As they listened to each other's words, they suddenly smiled with relief. The future held great pressure, but with someone to share it, maybe it wasn’t so frightening after all.

"I'll go first. A quiz is just a small test. Our English teacher gives us quizzes from time to time to check if we’ve memorized our vocabulary."

"Oh, I see... So if you stay up all night and take the quiz while sick, won’t you fail?"

"Yeah... So, what about your tribunal?"

"It’s a trial held in the opera house to judge wrongdoing. It’s my duty and responsibility as the Water Goddess, although..." Furina’s voice grew quiet and eventually faded to nothing.

'You’re not really the Water Goddess.'

Lu Mingfei finished her sentence in his heart, but he didn’t say it out loud. Furina was his friend—a friend who needed understanding and care. Now was not the time for cleverness; that would only make her uncomfortable.

Though they were just chance companions in tears, crying together in the night... this was the bond of those who share sorrow.

To have someone who would cry through the night with you—

That’s truly cool!

...

After tidying himself up a bit, Lu Mingfei slung his backpack over his shoulder, opened the door, and went to the table for breakfast.

A gaze as sharp as a hawk’s locked onto him. Lu Mingfei’s heart tightened instinctively, feeling as if he’d been scanned from head to toe. The relaxed feeling from his earlier conversation vanished instantly.

It was his aunt!

In a flash, Lu Mingfei sobered up.

'So, I am still Lu Mingfei, a pitiful, unlucky child, still living in someone else’s home, enduring rejecting stares, surviving in this suffocating environment.'

I was wrong to think the world was beautiful. In truth, it never was. What was truly beautiful was never the world, but the silly Furina who cried with me.

How pathetic.

"Why are you up so late today? And your eyes look red—did you stay up all night? If you keep staying up, what do you expect to do during the day? Skipping class? Not studying? Up all night, every night, how can you expect to do well in school like this..."

His aunt’s nagging poured into Lu Mingfei’s ears. He just smiled awkwardly and silently ate his breakfast at the table.

Smack!

Seeing that Lu Mingfei was ignoring her, a flash of anger sparked in his aunt’s heart. She slammed her palm on the table and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Just eating, that’s all you know! I’m giving you advice as an elder, everything I do is for your own good. Can’t you listen for once? How could I ever harm you?..."

And the next round of torment began. Lu Mingfei’s heart sank into despair again. Yet, in the pitch-black depths of that despair, there seemed to be a spark—a tiny flame swallowed by endless darkness, but still burning quietly.

On the other end, as if sensing Lu Mingfei’s change in mood, Furina’s clear, melodious voice called out, "What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly go quiet? Is something bothering you?"

Lu Mingfei glanced at his aunt, who kept scolding him and insisting he obey. He suppressed the urge to explain and replied, feigning strength, "It’s nothing, just some trivial matters of life."

"Trivial matters?"

Furina didn’t think so. The impression she had of Lu Mingfei before was different; now, his tone was too serious, as if he was under some kind of pressure.

She understood that feeling very well. In fact, she was an expert at pretending everything was fine. As long as you acted normal, those who didn’t care wouldn’t notice the cracks. The pain of hiding the truth was left for the performer alone to bear.

"Then... hang in there!"

Furina said softly.

"Hm?"

Lu Mingfei’s expression shifted subtly.

She... sensed it after all.

Even though we’re not from the same world, even though we only share our voices, even though she doesn’t know what’s happened...

But! She can still understand my pain, even when I’m hiding, even when I’m acting.

Is this what true concern feels like?

Is this what it means to be cared for?

Suddenly, Lu Mingfei felt like crying, as if the softest part of his heart had been touched. The little flame in his heart flared up, his will was rekindled, and his conviction awakened once more.

He felt as though he’d come alive again—alive, and truly human.

Under the weight of life, the old Lu Mingfei had long since “died,” living like a walking corpse, because that was the only way he could endure his current existence.

Because the clearer you are, the more it hurts.

...

He was awake now, but life went on.

His aunt’s scolding didn’t stop, nor did it show any sign of letting up. Her voice was so loud it seemed the house might be shaken apart, but Lu Mingfei remained unfazed, eating his breakfast as if he couldn’t hear a thing.

He didn’t care what she said. In his mind, Furina’s words still echoed.

"Hang in there."

Her voice was light, gentle, almost timid, yet it carried the most sincere blessing. That beautiful sound rippled through Lu Mingfei’s mind, like a blessing bestowed by an angel.

‘I will hang in there.’

Lu Mingfei answered in his heart.

After a rainy night, the dawn was clean and bright. The air outside the window was fresh, and beneath the rising sun, what shone brighter than the sunlight was the young man’s eyes.