Peaceful time always passed quickly. Aizawa's life came and went like a stopwatch. An hour later, he walked out of the cubicle automatically. He was indeed a mature and reliable person. Compared to when he came in, he was almost as fast as when he came in.

"You'd better start preparing for the battle suit design as soon as possible. At this time, the applications are probably about to close."

The mature and reliable person sat at the door and changed his shoes. He reminded Zhang Zian without looking up.

Setsuna, who was still behind the counter recording the visitors, looked up in surprise. "So fast?

But the admission letters haven't been sent out yet … "As far as she knew, there was at least one person who hadn't received the results yet.

"No, in terms of time, you should be the last batch."

Xiang Ze had a look of certainty on his face, as if what he said wasn't shocking insider information but common knowledge that everyone knew. After he finished speaking, he didn't look at the person behind the counter who instantly turned pale. He stood up and was about to leave, but he happened to bump into the next customer who pushed the door open and walked in, so he subconsciously took a step back. "Sorry."

The person who came in had a head of purple hair. The dark circles under his eyes were the same as Aizawa's. He didn't react when he was blocked. He just nodded slightly and walked past him. He walked to the front desk and took out his membership card. He didn't say a word during the whole process. Only Setsuna's words floated in the air.

"Xin Cao Kun …"

Thinking that it was another frequent customer of the shop assistant who was too talkative, Aizawa didn't think much and stepped out of the door. He closed the door behind him. After a few steps, he felt something strange under the coolness above his head.

He raised his head slightly, squinted his eyes to see the transparent tremors in the air, and then stretched out a hand that was hanging in the air.

"… Is it raining?"

…

…

…

Dull thunder came from outside the window.

The weather at the end of summer was the most changeable. The room that was full of light just now dimmed in a moment. Setsuna hurriedly turned on the lights in the room and ran into the cubicle to close the curtains. She didn't want to scare the sensitive cat.

Xin Cao followed behind her silently, comforting the restless kitten. Her silent look was no different from before.

There was clearly no difference.

Setsuna cautiously glanced at the young man who was half a head taller than her. The swelling premonition in her heart made her feel a little uneasy. Aizawa's words before he left went through her eardrum and fell into her internal organs. Her stomach felt like it was stuffed with a heavy stone, so heavy that she wanted to vomit.

(Maybe I should have known.)

"Xin Cao Kun …"

(How can there be so many miracles in the world?)

His expression was as usual, and his pair of purple eyes were still so dense that one couldn't tell what was on his mind. Seeing that she wanted to say something but stopped herself, he sneered, "You guessed it?"

(Miracles are called miracles.)

From this moment on, Setsuna was truly flustered. The uneasy premonition in her heart swelled. She wanted to reach out and touch the youth in front of her, but her joints were so stiff that they didn't seem to belong to her.

(Exactly because.)

"It's not a big deal. Nominally, I've also entered the Sunyoung," he said with an indifferent expression, as if he was talking about someone else's business. "— General Studies."

(The probability of it happening is one in ten thousand.)

The thunder gradually grew louder.

It was a heavy rain that dissipated the summer heat. The water vapor slowly crept into the small space through the crack of the door, humidifying the originally dry and hot air and bringing away the last trace of summer heat.

Setsuna counted her breaths. She felt that her brain, which had begun to heat up after receiving the admission notice, was finally cooling down. Her rational judgment was gradually coming back, but she couldn't convince herself.

"… And, and …"

"Are there other opportunities?"

Xin Cao interrupted her and raised his head to look at the empty ceiling. "Ah … it's not that there aren't any. 'According to performance, I can be promoted to the Hero Studies Department.' I can't say that I've completely given up."

Setsuna gently breathed a sigh of relief. There was still a faint uneasiness in her heart, but she could finally speak a complete sentence smoothly. "In that case, you have to work harder. If there's anything that you need me for —"

"— Probably not."

The youth, who was comforting the kittens and used to have a gentle expression, interrupted her mercilessly.

"After all, you and I are in different positions from the beginning."

"— —"

Like a balloon that had inflated to the extreme, it only took a short moment from being full to bursting. Setsuna moved her dry throat, and somewhere in the bottom of her heart was suddenly cold.

Xin Cao put down the kittens in his arms and turned to face her. "Now, even I have to admit that there are pros and cons in things like 'personality.'

At least, it can be divided into — personalities that can help people realize their dreams, and personalities that can't. "

"You're just temporarily lost."

As he spoke, he looked at her quietly. His expression was calm, but there was a trace of gentleness in his eyes that had never been seen before. "People like me are fundamentally different."

There was another burst of thunder.

Xin Cao was silent for a moment. He raised the membership card in his hand and waved it.

"You have your way of working hard, and I have to find my own way.

This membership card will expire today …. "

As he spoke, he threw it over the air, turned around, and walked out of the cubicle.

"— Let's not contact each other for the time being."

The last sentence was said together with the sound of the door opening and closing. The tall teenager walked out of the shop. His flamboyant purple hair quickly lost its momentum in the rising water vapor. The heavy rain blocked his vision, and he walked unsteadily.

But in the end, he didn't look back.

Setsuna felt a chill in her bones. She opened a corner of the curtain and looked around with her forehead against the transparent glass. The figure she expected had already disappeared among the passersby.

She tried to open her eyes wide to search, but her vision became more and more blurred. Transparent liquid rolled down her cheeks with her body temperature. She didn't even know what she was crying for. She only vaguely remembered that day two years ago, the same kind of silence that was overwhelmed by reality, the same kind of inescapable despair.

She still thought that she had power at some point.

In fact, she couldn't save anyone.

In the end, the tears couldn't bear the burden and fell on her raised forearm. The amazing heat formed a sharp touch that was similar to pain on her slightly cold skin. Senzaki Setsuna closed her eyes and felt that the air between her mouth and nose was filled with a cold smell.

The coldness that followed her breath through her heart reached the soles of her feet. She stumbled and slid down the wall to sit on the ground. The cold body temperature couldn't support effective thinking. In the chaotic thoughts, only one thought was very clear.

Summer was over.

…

…

…

[My fifteen-year-old summer ended in a shower.]