Chapter 47
Chapter 47
The last ember of sunset bled orange-red across the horizon.
On the nearly empty road, the long shadow of a bicycle leaned sideways across the asphalt.
Kakayan craned her neck, letting the evening wind brush her cheeks.
She finally understood: balance only came when she stopped staring at the spinning wheels. No wonder Jiang Li had kept telling her to relax and look up.
"All right, just remember how this feels and keep pedaling," he said.
Judging the moment right, Jiang Li let go and allowed Kakayan to ride on her own.
"Wha—Hey!"
She froze for a heartbeat, then steadied her gaze on the open road. Once she'd grasped the trick, her feet whipped faster and faster; loose strands of hair whipped around her ears.
"Whoa—Jiang Li, I'm going to fly!"
Ever since she'd lost her magic, Kakayan hadn't felt the wind slice past her like this. The corners of her mouth lifted. Humming the Detective Edogawa theme, she rose gracefully to stand on the pedals.
At that instant the front wheel clipped a patch of gravel and popped like a firecracker.
"Ah—!"
The melody snapped off in a startled cry. Kakayan yanked the handlebars hard and pitched forward.
......
"You okay?"
"...hurts."
Before Jiang Li could think, he sprinted after her the moment he saw her wobble. But the fool had been riding too fast; he arrived half a second too late. The bicycle skidded across the gravel and slid into the roadside grass.
Jiang Li rushed over.
"The... Jiang Li, the bicycle—"
"What about it?"
"Didn't you say this bike is more important than me?"
"I was teasing you."
He sighed, unsure whether she was genuinely this slow or just pretending.
"Hss—ouch."
Kakayan clutched her ankle, voice quavering; she hadn't even noticed her shoe had flown off. In the orange dusk Jiang Li crouched and studied the scrape just above the joint—shallow, but streaked with dirt and grit. Left alone it could fester.
"Uu... Jiang Li, am I really this hopeless at sports?" she asked, half sobbing.
A prodigy of the arcane arts, she'd flown hundreds of metres above the ground; now she'd toppled off a bicycle before she could even enjoy the wind. Like some roadside...
Jiang Li exhaled, said nothing, and went to retrieve her shoe. Then he bent again, bringing his face close to her ankle.
"What are you doing?"
"Disinfecting it with saliva."
"Y-you pervert—"
She clapped a hand over her mouth. The Hero who usually barked orders at her spat delicately on his fingers, picking out every fleck of stone and soil. Watching the furrow of concentration on his profile, Kakayan's heart began to race so loudly she feared he could hear it.
When he finished, he looked up to find her large violet eyes fixed on him. Caught, she flinched, then turned quickly away.
"For now, this'll have to do until we get home."
He brushed the dirt off his knees and offered her shoe. "Need help putting it on?"
"I can manage."
Snatching the boot, Kakayan felt a faint pink bloom across her usually cool face. Moments later she was upright, limping experimentally.
"How's the ankle? Can you walk?"
"A bit sore... I think I twisted it."
He relaxed. A sprain would swell for a couple of days, nothing worse. If she'd broken anything, getting her into a hospital for X-rays would be impossible; modern equipment would flag her inhuman readings in a heartbeat and land her on the evening news.
At least her blood had looked the right colour.
"Let's head home. I'll pick up some ointment later."
"Jiang Li... could you help me—"
A sudden voice cut her off, and she shut her mouth, certain he was angry. She'd showboated on the bike, got hurt, and now he'd have to spend money they didn't have. Not to mention how she kept raiding the fridge...
What if he left her here?
"Get on."
His tone was unreadable. He turned his back and crouched.
"Eh?"
Her shoulders trembled.
"Hurry up."
Before she understood, he urged her again. Mind blank, Kakayan scrambled onto him—only to end up astride his shoulders, legs sticking up like rabbit ears.
"Have you knocked your brains loose?"
"You told me to get on."
"On my back, not on my neck!"
"Oh."
She shifted, arms looping around his neck.
"Hold tight."
Slowly she rose higher, the evening wind carrying the scent of sunset. Jiang Li walked in silence along the road. Warm amber light painted Kakayan's features—tired, yet strangely content.
They climbed the stairs to the apartment block in silence.
Halfway up the last flight, Jiang Li finally spoke.
"You've been eating a lot lately, haven't you?"
Kakayan swallowed the retort that rose in her throat. She only tightened her arms around the back of his neck, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"Nothing to say?" he asked.
"Nothing," she muttered.
They kept climbing.