But still... the idea that she had tried to trick him, even just tested him—it stung more than he expected.
He sat there, staring down at the berries, watching them float for a second before slipping from his fingers. Maybe what hurt wasn’t that she suspected him.
Maybe it was the fact that he cared.
’So so pathetic’
As Cutie sat quietly by the river, lost in his so-called thoughts, Kaya walked up behind him. Her eyes landed on him—on the way his ears drooped like a scolded rabbit, and for so reason, that sight made sothing twist inside her chest.
"Ugh..."
She ruffled her hair in frustration. This was so annoying. She had never felt so much like the bad guy before. Not like this.
With a sigh, she walked closer and dropped down beside him, not bothering to hide her exasperation.
"How long are you planning to wash them?" she asked, eyeing the pulpy ss in his hands. "They’re basically mush now."
Startled, Cutie blinked and looked down. His hands were stained, the berries crushed and bleeding color into the river water, slowly carried away by the current.
"Oh... I... I’m sorry," he stamred, pulling his hands out, clearly flustered.
Kaya stared at him for a mont, then sighed again and lifted her hand. Without warning, she flicked his forehead—light, but enough to make him wince.
"Ahh!" Cutie yelped, imdiately covering his forehead and rubbing it with both hands. A faint red spot had already ford.
His confused, mildly pained expression made her click her tongue.
"Listen, I’m like this," she said, voice blunt but not unkind. "That question earlier? It wasn’t personal. So stop looking like I just... cheated on you or sothing."
Cutie’s eyes widened, and his face turned red almost instantly. "H-Huh? Cheated?"
Kaya rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing the dust off her jacket with one hand.
"I don’t even trust my own father, okay? So it’s not that I suspected you or anything." She glanced down at him. "I just wanted to know if you could heal yourself."
She paused for a mont, then added with an unsettlingly casual tone, "Because I was thinking about throwing you in front of a lion."
Cutie’s face went pale. "L-Lion?!"
Kaya smirked, folding her arms across her chest as she looked down at him with a glint in her eye. "Yeah. I was wondering what lion at tastes like around here."
Seeing Cutie’s expression shift, the worry from earlier completely wiped off his face, Kaya couldn’t help but smile. A quiet laugh escaped her lips, and before she knew it, she was laughing—really laughing, the kind that made her shoulders shake a little.
"I can’t even tease you properly," she said between chuckles, looking at him with amusent sparkling in her eyes. "Did you even see your face? It was completely red!"
Cutie blinked, frozen for a second. Then, realization dawned on him—he’d just been teased. His cheeks puffed up slightly in mild protest as he turned to her with a pout.
Seeing that, Kaya only laughed harder. It was uncontrollable now, full and unfiltered.
But this ti, Cutie didn’t mind. In fact, seeing her like this—laughing so freely, without her usual guarded expression—sothing ward in his chest. His lips curved into a small, genuine smile.
"You look so much better when you laugh," he said, the words slipping out before he could stop them.
Hearing those words, Kaya froze. Her laughter faded, and her smile paused mid-curve. She looked at him, blinking once. Then her voice ca, quieter, a little more serious this ti.
"...You’re really bad at lying."
Cutie’s eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head, his expression suddenly earnest. "No! Really—believe ," he said, the determination in his tone undeniable. "You looked... beautiful. Like, truly. Even more than when my mother used to laugh. Even more than the flowers blooming in spring. Or when the first snow falls and everything is so quiet and clean and—"
He kept going, fumbling over comparisons, drawing from every precious mory he could think of, piling them up just to make her believe him.
Kaya stared at him in disbelief—and then, she cracked again.
"Enough! Enough—hahaha!" she laughed, almost doubling over this ti. "You... seriously. This is the first ti soone has ever said that."
Her voice softened as she added with a small, almost sheepish smile, "Thanks."
Cutie looked a little embarrassed, but when he saw her laughing again—this ti with a little warmth behind it—he smiled too.
As Kaya laughed, just a few steps away, soone sat quietly—hidden behind a bush, trying their best not to make a sound.
They winced, holding their foot. A sharp fish bone had pricked the bottom, and walking properly had beco nearly impossible.
..
.
After laughing heartily, Kaya paused, looked straight at Cutie, and asked bluntly, "Where is that damn snake?"
Hearing her sudden question, Cutie blinked in confusion, "Huh?"
But Kaya didn’t even glance at him this ti. Her eyes scanned the trees as she repeated, sharp and louder, "Huh! Where is that damn snake?"
Sowhere, not too far from where she stood, a hidden figure froze mid-breath.
For a few seconds, the air remained still.
Then—resigned and slightly panicked—the figure let out a silent groan, shifted form, and with a faint shimr, turned into a sleek, glimring snake. Without wasting another second, it slithered swiftly and strategically toward a rock nearby, stopping just beside it as if it had been sunbathing there all along.
[For note : No one ever praised Kaya’s smile—because, frankly, that smile only showed up when soone else’s misery peaked. She’d grin when she snatched your beloved manga, chuckle while holding your video ga hostage, and beam like the sun right before pumling you into the training ground dirt.
To put it simply: she didn’t smile out of joy. She smiled out of chaos.
That’s why her grin had a legendary title among the unfortunate souls under her—
"The Queen of Hell’s Smile."]
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