The noisy school corridors echoed with the footsteps of lower-grade students running past and the occasional test squeal of a loudspeaker.
Today, Skyward Elementary was different from usual.
Colorful pennants hung everywhere, and a huge poster was pasted on the bulletin board: "Bonds and Love — The First Family Mental Health Parent-Child Sports Day."
A few parent volunteers in red vests were busy hauling prop crates for the events.
Kiana walked stiffly through the crowd, her steps a little jumbled.
Her right hand was held firmly in the palm of the man beside her, their fingers interlaced with barely a gap between them.
Curious looks kept coming from passing parents and students, landing on this conspicuous trio.
Kiana's cheeks were still flushed.
She could feel all those appraising eyes, and the warmth in her palm turned this white-haired fluffball rigid with awkwardness from head to toe.
But the ahoge on top of her head stood on guard, as if ready to repel any single, pretty auntie who dared come within ten meters.
Whenever the surging crowd pressed in, Su Yu would turn naturally, using his shoulder and body to block anyone who might bump into her, keeping her safe in a small circle where no one could disturb her.
Griseo walked between the two, a little way ahead, her drawing board hugged in her small arms. Now and then she glanced back at the pair holding hands, and a satisfied light flickered in her eyes.
She had become, in every way, a little warrior sworn to [Protect Her Parents' Love].
The three reached Class 2's temporary check-in desk.
Teacher Li was nearly forty, dressed in a crisp sports outfit, a pair of rimless glasses perched on her nose.
She was looking down, checking the roster in her hand, her brow slightly furrowed.
Today's rigid rule that "core family members must attend" had left her especially worried about the few children in her class with special circumstances.
Griseo most of all.
She was the little girl who always sat quietly in the corner of the classroom and, whenever she had a spare moment, bent over her drawing board smearing on paint.
Teacher Li knew that Griseo's guardianship was registered under the Golden Courtyard, the most exclusive private residence in Arc City.
The people who lived there were all big names you only saw in the news and magazines.
She had been fretting since morning.
Would those busy tycoons and superstars, making millions by the minute, really spare an entire day to come to a noisy elementary school field and play childish-looking games like the three-legged race and the parents' tug-of-war with one little girl?
If Griseo ended up standing alone in the stands today, what a blow that would be to the child.
Just as Teacher Li was wondering whether to make a phone call to ask,
she heard footsteps, looked up, and put on her professional smile out of habit.
"Here to sign in… oh?"
As a seasoned adult, Teacher Li needed only one second to understand the whole situation.
Judging by age, these two were barely past twenty. There was no way they were Griseo's birth parents.
They must be an older brother and sister sent by some big shot at the Golden Courtyard to attend in their place.
But.
Her gaze moved back and forth between the two.
In the short dozen or so meters from the desk to where they had walked, several students carrying cardboard boxes had nearly crashed into the white-haired girl.
The man hadn't even turned his head. He had simply drawn the girl half a step toward him and used his own shoulder to deflect the collision.
And the white-haired girl, who looked so proud and kept awkwardly turning her face away,
had ears red enough to drip blood, yet her body had instinctively leaned into the shelter of his protection.
It was the kind of aura where, whenever the two walked side by side, the air around them seemed to shut everyone else out, forming a barrier that admitted no one.
They were sweeter than the real couples, married ten years, that she'd taught at parent-teacher meetings.
Teacher Li had met all kinds of people. She saw at a glance the ambiguity between these two: not yet spoken aloud, still testing each other, yet already treating one another as the whole world.
Ah, to be young!
The corners of her mouth curved, unbidden, into a knowing smile.
"Oh my, Griseo!"
Teacher Li came around from behind the long table.
"You must be Director Su and Miss Kiana. I've heard both your names from Ms. Elysia."
"Thank you both for taking time out of your busy schedules to support our Griseo. I was worried all morning that she'd be disappointed today."
"I knew the Golden Courtyard would never let our Griseo be wronged."
Hearing the teacher call out her name,
Kiana yanked her hand out of Su Yu's palm. Her already red face now burned hot enough to fry an egg.
She hurriedly hid her hand behind her back and stammered, trying to explain away that scene of her gripping him and refusing to let go:
"H-hello, teacher! We're just… just here as her big brother and sister…"
Teacher Li didn't give her the chance to finish.
Smiling, she picked up two plastic name tags on lanyards from the table, turned around, and held them out to the pair.
Printed on them in bold black type were [Griseo's Dad] and [Griseo's Mom].
"Here's the thing, Director Su, Miss Kiana."
"Since this is a parent-child sports day specially approved by the Education Bureau, the official documents from above keep stressing that we should highlight a family atmosphere and strengthen the Bond between parents and children."
Teacher Li sighed, a touch of helplessness in her voice.
"The teacher in charge of procurement is hopelessly rigid, too. He ordered a standard template straight from the manufacturer."
"So the family badges in this box only come in two kinds, 'Dad' and 'Mom.' There are no replacement tags at all."
Seeing Kiana's expression freeze on the spot, the smile at the corners of Teacher Li's eyes deepened.
She deliberately lowered her voice and went on teasing in the tone of someone who's been there:
"I know you two are Griseo's big brother and sister…"
"But then again, when you walked over just now, you two seemed so close, with such an easy understanding of looking after each other. The atmosphere was warmer than that couple over there who've been married ten years."
Teacher Li pointed at a middle-aged couple beside the field, bickering because neither could twist open a bottle of mineral water.
"Besides, every child in the school has come with a mom and dad today."
"So that our little Griseo can fit in perfectly and not get singled out or pointed at by the other mischievous kids,"
"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you two young people to go along with the mix-up and play the roles for today."
"You look so good together, such a perfect match. You wouldn't mind playing temporary parents for a day for the sake of a child's mental health, would you?"
Kiana stared at the tag reading [Griseo's Mom]. That thin sheet of plastic felt as hot as a red-hot brand fresh out of the Hephaestus Forge.
"I… no… how could this…"
The little bit of mental preparation she'd done in the car and at the school gate collapsed completely.
She was Kiana Kaslana.
Void Drifter. Kaslana. A big eater who could put away five bowls of ramen in one sitting.
And now she was supposed to hang a tag like this in front of several thousand people at the whole school?!
And worse… to wear it beside this guy, with name tags that practically announced to the world that they were married?!
Kiana took the tag with stiff hands, and the moment her fingers touched the plastic edge, it scorched her.
She opened her mouth, and a few meaningless syllables came out of her throat.
"I… no… teacher, um…"
She stammered for ages and couldn't piece together a single full sentence.
Even the ahoge on her head had given up the fight and drooped limply behind her.
In contrast to Kiana's total meltdown,
Su Yu, who was holding Griseo with one arm, acted the exact opposite.
He took the name tag from Teacher Li with ease and nodded to her, her face full of expectation.
"Don't worry, teacher. Since it's the school's rule, and we want to look after Griseo's feelings, of course we'll cooperate all the way. Today, I'm Griseo's dad."
Su Yu hung the red lanyard around his neck and adjusted the position of the tag.
Kiana, tag in hand, whipped her head around and glared at him with a horrified look that said, "Has your brain broken?"
Su Yu felt that gaze.
He turned and looked at the white-haired girl, who was still steaming on the spot.
"Did you hear that?"
Su Yu deliberately lowered his voice to a volume only the three of them could hear.
"The teacher has spoken. You don't want other kids pointing at Griseo, do you? Kiana?"
Su Yu easily plucked the tag from Kiana's hand and hung it around her neck for her.
"So wear it properly, [Griseo's Mom]."
Kiana looked at the corner of Su Yu's mouth, harder to keep down than an AK's muzzle, and understood in an instant: this guy was teasing her on purpose!
"F-fine, I'll wear it! It's just playing a [Mom], right? A piece of cake for this young lady! You're the one who'd better not drag me down!"
"Yes, yes, whatever [Mom] says."
"D-don't you start calling me Mom too, you idiot!"
Though both of them kept their voices low, these few lines still inevitably reached a certain teacher who was enjoying the show on the spot.
"Ah, to be young."
Teacher Li unscrewed her thermos, took a sip of hot tea, and wore the knowing smile of someone who's been there.
————————
At nine in the morning, the sun had fully chased away the morning chill, spreading a dazzling golden sheen across the rubber track of the Skyward Elementary field.
"Parents and students of every fifth-grade class, please line up in the designated area. Check-in for the parent-child three-legged race is about to begin."
The rousing brass music made eardrums buzz.
But amid that deafening backdrop, for Kiana, walking in the middle of the Grade 5, Class 2 line, the world seemed to hold nothing but the sound of her own tangled footsteps.
The hard plastic tag reading [Grade 5, Class 2, Griseo — Mom] hung around her neck on a bright red nylon lanyard.
Kiana stared fixedly at the red track in front of her and refused to let her eyes drift left or right even a millimeter.
Her legs were swinging forward in some bizarre rhythm.
The instant her left leg stepped out, her left arm swung forward with it.
When her right leg followed, her right arm lurched stiffly forward too.
Same hand.
Same foot.
In other words, she was walking out of sync.
This was the Ranger who once wove through a hail of bullets, who could blow the heads off three Chariot-class Honkai Beasts with her twin pistols in a single backflip.
Now,
on the sunny field of a peaceful elementary school, she had completely lost coordinated control of her own limbs.
She looked like a rusty clockwork puppet performing an awkward robot dance.
The reason was simple.
It was only because of the man half a step ahead of her on the left.
Su Yu.
Because of the distance limit, and the crowd pressing in around them, Kiana had no choice but to stay close to him.
Earlier, at the check-in desk by the school gate,
she'd been dragged along by that "little devil" Griseo to lace fingers with Su Yu in front of a few parents, but that was the possessive instinct kicking in against an imaginary rival.
Now, though, all around her, front and back and left and right, were ordinary families in matching outfits, chatting about where to go for a big dinner tonight.
And she and Su Yu, let alone having a child, hadn't even [kissed], much less gotten married.
It felt exactly like a Husky that had wandered into a pack of wolves.
A fierce wave of shame left her wishing the ground would swallow her.
She was actually walking beside Su Yu wearing a [Mom] tag??
Wasn't this exactly the scene she'd seen in TV dramas, a young married couple bringing their daughter to a school event?!
She desperately wanted to hold on to a bit of a "Ranger's pride," to straighten her back, to walk with some cool.
But the moment she caught the [Dad] tag around Su Yu's neck out of the corner of her eye,
the right leg she was about to swing forward went weak without permission, and the same-hand-same-foot routine started all over again.
Kiana clenched her teeth.
No! She couldn't keep walking out of sync! People would think she was an idiot!
Just as Kiana was howling at herself inside and taking a deep breath to force her gait straight,
all around the field,
the big loudspeakers that had been blaring the stirring "March of the Athletes"
suddenly let out a harsh burst of static.
"Zzt—zzzt—"
The vigorous march cut off abruptly.
The whole field fell silent for a full two seconds.
In that eerie silence,
a thumping "bang, bang" came over the speakers, as if someone were tapping a finger against the base of a microphone.
Then—
"Ahem~"
"Hello, hello? Can everyone hear me?"
"Oh my, the school's equipment is so retro it's almost cute~"
It was a woman's voice.
Sweet, lively, the tail end curling upward in little waves.
To ordinary parents, the voice only seemed a bit odd. They figured some music teacher was filling in as announcer.
But for Kiana, walking in the Grade 5, Class 2 line,
the instant that voice rang out, she nearly turned to stone where she stood.
That voice! Even if you shut her in Imaginary Space for a hundred years, she could never mistake it!
It was Elysia!
The Miss Pink Elf of the Golden Courtyard, forever grinning, twirling people around her finger, and itching to stir up trouble—
Why was she here?!
Hadn't she said she'd be a guest on Eden's online concert today?
Why was she showing up in a place like this, at a moment like this!!
In the broadcast room, Elysia seemed to be looking through the window at the white-haired girl in disarray, and at the man whose face looked like he'd swallowed a rotten persimmon.
"Hee—hehehe!!"
Can't laugh yet, not yet. In one minute—no, forty seconds—victory will be declared!
Bad Su Yu, who told you to love making beautiful girls shed tears all over the stream? Who told you to keep carrying burdens on your mind and never tell Miss Pink Elf?
Miss Pink Elf has suffered enough social deaths already! Since I can't run, you're not getting away either!
"Good morning, dear teachers, students, and all you lovely parents~"
"On this sunny morning full of Bond and love, seeing everyone hand in hand, this scene is enough to melt your heart~"
Elysia even paused deliberately, leaving everyone time to react.
Then her voice shot up a full octave.
"But!"
"In this warm sea of people, there's one very special pair who've caught my full attention~"
"Slowly making their way toward our rostrum right now are…"
"The mom and dad of Grade 5, Class 2's very own Griseo!"
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