Mika froze, his grin faltering, panic flickering in his gray eyes as Yelena’s words sank in.
"W-What?" He stamred, his hand dropping from his chest. "What do you an I’m in trouble? How am I the one in trouble here? I didn’t even do anything! She—"
Mika shot a frantic finger toward Charlotte, who was still dangling in the air like an indignant little cat.
"She was the one straddling ! Not the other way around! She’s the one attacking , I’m the victim here! If you’re going to bla anyone, bla her, not !"
For a brief mont, Mika thought he’d turned the tide. He thought Yelena would nod and direct her fury back to her daughter.
But instead...Yelena’s smile only grew colder.
Her eyes glinted dangerously as she stepped even closer to the bed, her presence suffocating.
"I don’t care about who’s straddling who."
Mika blinked, caught off guard.
"I don’t even care if you were the one doing the sa thing to her." Yelena continued, her voice calm but laced with an edge sharp enough to cut steel. "Because if that were the case...it would only an you two would beco a couple in the future."
She tilted her head slightly, her crimson hair cascading like a waterfall over her shoulder.
"Which, as I said earlier, would be a very good thing for ."
Charlotte’s eyes widened, her pout lting into a wide, triumphant grin. "Mama..." She breathed softly, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.
She clasped her hands together, gazing at her mother like she was witnessing divine intervention. At last...! Her mother was supporting her love!
But Mika’s stomach dropped. He stared at Yelena, his mouth slightly agape.
"Then..." He said cautiously, his voice low and almost trembling. "Why are you looking at like you want to swallow whole? Why does it feel like you’re about to skewer alive with one of your swords?"
Yelena’s smile deepened, her eyes narrowing as she lood over him.
"Why?" She said softly, her tone sweet but deadly. "Well, Mika...because you did sothing worse than what my daughter just did."
Her voice grew colder with each word, sharp enough to send a chill racing down Mika’s spine.
"Sothing that really, really, really, really makes angry. So angry...that I just want to take that pillow and smother your face as punishnt."
Mika froze, sweat beading on his forehead..
"Do you know exactly what you did?" Yelena asked, her voice dangerously calm.
She waited, giving him a chance to confess, to admit to his sins like a guilty child caught red-handed.
But Mika...He averted his eyes.
"I..." He murmured softly, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "...I didn’t do anything."
Yelena’s brows twitched.
"I...I really didn’t!" Mika added quickly, his voice rising an octave as he forced a weak laugh. "In fact, I’m a model patient here, see? Just lying in bed and recuperating like a good boy."
And then...he whistled.
An innocent, tuneless little whistle that finally tipped the flas of Yelena’s rage to the extent that it finally broke out.
Her regal composure imdiately cracked as her expression twisted and was replaced with disbelief and sheer maternal fury.
"You really have the gall to say you did nothing wrong, Mika?" She said, her voice dropping to an icy whisper that sent a shiver down his spine.
"W-Wait, Yelena, let’s be rational—"
SNAP!
"OWWW! MY EAR!!" Mika yelped as she yanked his ear down sharply, forcing him to sit hunched over like a child being scolded by his mother.
"Oh no, Mika. I’ve been rational...I’ve been so rational that even the gods would bow to my patience." Yelena hissed, her eyes glowing like twin flas.
"But you..." She tugged on his ear again for emphasis. "You’ve been avoiding like I’m so kind of plague! Do you think I haven’t noticed?"
Charlotte, still floating midair like a smug little cat on a clothesline, crossed her arms and smirked. "He does that to too sotis, Mama. You’re not special."
"Shut up, Charlotte!" Mika barked, shooting her a panicked glare. "Don’t make it worse!"
But Yelena was just getting started.
"I an to start off, you’ve been ignoring my calls like I’m so scam telemarketer trying to sell you enchanted cookware!"
"You’ve also left my ssages on read like I’m a random aunt trying to sell you essential oils! I an, I’ve sent you voice notes, Mika! Voice notes!"
"Do you know how humiliating it is for , , to sit there and see that tiny little blue tick appear, and then, nothing?!"
Mika winced, trying to pull his ear out of her iron grip.
"Y-Yelena, I swear I wasn’t trying to—"
"Oh, don’t you dare interrupt , young man!" She snapped, tugging his ear harder.
"And don’t even get started on the ti I personally baked you that triple-chocolate soufflé with the imported dwarven cocoa that cost a small fortune, and then you vanished."
"...Vanished like a cheap street magician! Do you rember that, Mika? Do you?!"
Mika’s mouth opened, but Yelena’s voice steamrolled right over him.
"Or, how about the ti I ca to visit you with a basket full of healing herbs and that new scarf I knitted with my own two hands, and I knocked on your door for a solid thirty minutes, only to find you climbing out the bathroom window like so petty thief escaping a bill?!"
"Hahahaha! Mika, the Window?! You’re killing !"
Charlotte was howling with laughter now, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged herself midair.
"Shut up, traitor!" Mika yelled back, his face flaming red.
But Charlotte didn’t stop laughing. If anything, she was cackling harder now, clutching her sides as her body swayed midair like a leaf in the wind.
Yelena’s head slowly tilted, her elegant fingers pressing against her temple as if she were holding back a pounding headache. A sigh, long, heavy, and soul-weary, escaped her lips.
"...And you know what..." She murmured, her voice dangerously calm as her hand slid down her face.
Mika stiffened.
She lowered her fingers and stared straight at him, her green eyes glinting like sharpened erald blades.
"...You know what absolutely put over the edge?"
She said, her voice rising slightly as her other hand joined the first on her head, her frustration visibly boiling.
"The thing that broke ...the thing that made so damn curious, Mika...that it felt like cutting the entire city in half with my sword just to get to you?"
Mika swallowed hard, his voice ek as he asked. "W-What...what was it...?"
She drew in a sharp breath, her tone switching from calm to wildly exasperated.
"It was what happened last month."
Charlotte’s laughter subsided into curious giggles as she floated closer, intrigued by where this was going. Mika, however, already had a sinking feeling in his gut.
"...Last month?" He echoed weakly.
"Yes." Yelena said, her voice icy but trembling with betrayal and maternal despair. "When I, by sheer coincidence, spotted you near the academy on my way to see Charlotte."
Mika’s face paled. ’Oh no. Not that day...’
"I thought..." Her tone softened suddenly, almost heartbreakingly so. "...maybe I could walk up to you. Give you a hug. Tell you how much I’ve missed you. That’s all I wanted, Mika. A hug."
Her voice wavered on the word hug, and Mika winced hard.
"But what did you do...when you saw ?"
Mika looked away guiltily, scratching the back of his neck.
"...You ESCAPED!" Yelena’s voice rose into a roar, making both Mika and Charlotte flinch.
"You escaped like I was carrying a disease! And you didn’t just walk away, Mika. No, you shot into the sky with wings as if you’d been caught peeping in the won’s baths!"
"Mika...flying away?! Bwahahahaha! Oh gods, I wish I’d seen that!" Charlotte’s mouth dropped open, then she burst into a fresh round of laughter, practically choking on her own giggles.
But Yelena wasn’t finished. Her voice grew louder, more dramatic, as she waved her arms for emphasis.
"And even then, Mika, even then, I didn’t give up! I summoned my sword and chased you. Do you know what I thought? I thought: ’It’s fine. I’ll catch up. He’ll stop eventually. And then I’ll finally, finally, get that hug I’ve been waiting for all these months.’"
Mika’s face was now buried in his hands.
"But did you stop, Mika? Did you?!"
"...N-No..." Mika admitted in a voice so small it was barely audible.
"NO, YOU DIDN’T!" Yelena cried, her voice cracking with outrage. "You ran. You ran and ran, flew so fast I thought your wings would tear off, until we were circling the entire continent!"
Mika’s jaw dropped open. "I, hey! That’s an exaggeration! It wasn’t the entire continent—"
"Circled the whole continent, Mika!" She shrieked, not hearing him. "Do you know how long I chased you? HOURS. Do you know how much mana I burned through trying to keep up?!"
Mika cringed. "A-A lot...?"
"So much mana, Mika! I almost passed out midair like so rookie blessed!"
Charlotte had completely lost it, her laughter bouncing off the hospital walls as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"And when I finally, finally, gave up...you know what I said to myself, Mika?"
Mika stayed silent, too afraid to answer.
Yelena’s voice lowered to a dangerous, guttural whisper as she raised her hand dramatically, preparing for a slap that made the air itself tremble.
"I said: The next ti I see that boy...I’m not going for a hug."
"...I’m going to slap his face so hard the stars themselves will weep for him!"
Mika shut his eyes and braced himself. ’This is it. I deserve it. Just take the slap like a man, Mika.’
Charlotte watched gleefully, kicking her legs in midair. "Do it, mama! Turn his cheek into a drum!"
But the slap never ca.
Instead...Mika felt warmth...Softness.
The gentle pressure of slender arms wrapping around his shoulders.
And when he opened his eyes to see what was happening he was shocked to see Yelena pressed against him, hugging him tight like her life was on the line. Her crimson hair tickled his jawline as she buried her face in his chest.
"I-I I missed you so much, Mika." She whispered, her voice breaking with emotion. "You stupid, stupid boy..."
Seeing this suprising turn of events, Mika sat there frozen, his breath caught in his throat. He had braced himself for the sting of her hand across his face, just like she’d promised before. He thought for certain she’d storm in with fire in her eyes and tear into him without hesitation.
But this...this, he hadn’t expected.
She threw herself onto him, arms tightening around his torso as if letting go would an losing him forever. He could feel her trembling, every shudder of her body sending guilt crashing through him like a tidal wave.
His hands hovered uncertainly in the air, unsure if he even deserved to touch her. Words failed him, caught sowhere between the rising ache in his chest and the hollow pit in his stomach.
He stared down at the fragile figure clutching him, her quiet sobs muffled against his chest, and for the first in a long ti, Mika didn’t know what to say...
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