"Good evening, Senior Fuyushima. Senior Kobayashi. I'm in very good condition after coming back from vacation in Beijing. I feel more excited to go back to school." Tenku smiled wryly and returned Setsuka's greeting. He pretended not to notice the prickly tone of her words.
On the other hand, Kaede knew why her best friend spoke like that, and she glared at him. Tenku raised his eyebrows when he felt Kaede's sharp gaze. He was confused about why the two girls treated him like that. But then Tenku sighed and didn't want to think about it too much.
"Ooh, I'm glad you got more excited about returning to school. The scenery in Beijing seems very beautiful and can make you happy." Setsuka said sarcastically.
Tenku frowned because he couldn't understand what Setsuka was talking about. It was true that the scenery in Beijing was beautiful, but that was not the point of his words. Tenku felt happy because he could fight young cultivators from all over China in martial arts competitions and gained much experience from them.
He had also broken through to the great perfection of the Sky Origin realm after obtaining Qi accumulation and killing countless monsters from space collapse. Moreover, Tenku also practiced the Spiritual Lord Heart Sutra and got monstrous powers after successfully learning the four books of the Sovereign Cultivation Set. So what he meant by being more excited was that he had gotten stronger after returning from Beijing.
"The scenery in Beijing is indeed beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to enjoy it because a double space collapse appeared there. You two should already know about it." Tenku replied. He didn't want to think too much about Setsuka's behavior today because he thought she was having her period and putting her in a bad mood.
"Yes, I know about that. Is your back okay?" Setsuka asked worriedly. Her tone changed to a gentler and more caring one.
Kaede opened her mouth wide when she saw her best friend act like that. This was the first time she saw Setsuka being gentle with the opposite sex. Kaede thinks that Setsuka's frozen heart has melted because of Tenku for reasons she still doesn't know.
Tenku was surprised when he heard Setsuka's question. He was confused about how the girl knew that there was a wound on his back.
"How do you know that my back has a wound?" Tenku asked curiously.
"Ah, I accidentally saw you in a video on the Holy Union forum about the double space collapse in Beijing." Setsuka looked away from Tenku and gave an excuse. She couldn't say she purposely saw the video because she was worried after knowing that a space collapse had appeared in the same area where Tenku was.
Besides that, Setsuka didn't want Tenku to know that she could easily find him in the video, even though his figure looked so small and far away. After hearing her reply, Tenku quickly opened the Holy Union forum on his smartphone to check out the video.
Setsuka wanted to stop him, but it was too late. If Tenku found out the reason for her bad mood was because she saw him being hugged by two beautiful girls, then it would be very embarrassing for Setsuka. She lowered her blushing face and waited for Tenku to speak after watching the video.
As they chatted, Kaede secretly grinned when she saw their exchange and her best friend's blushing face. She wanted to tease her but refrained from doing so in front of Tenku, fearing Setsuka would get angry.
Tenku scrolled his smartphone screen and searched the Holy Union forum for news about the double space collapse. He didn't take long to find it and quickly clicked a video. Tenku was watching it seriously and suddenly stopped the video at a certain scene. Then he zoomed in and played it again.
In the video, Tenku saw himself shooting low-level monsters with a Golden Revolver. The wound on his back is visible in that scene because the footage was taken from behind. Not long after, Huang Yuxin and Wang Ruyue came over. The two girls embraced his hands from the right and left. After that, they took him away from that place. Tenku stopped the video as he had gotten the answer to the question in his mind.
Tenku finally knew why Setsuka said in a prickly tone to him. Setsuka must have thought he was a playboy who liked playing with girls' hearts. He wouldn't think that Setsuka would be jealous of him because of that.
Setsuka and Tenku weren't close friends because the time they spent together was very short, unlike Huang Yuxin and Wang Ruyue. In addition, Setsuka is the daughter of the current head of Fuyushima Temple, and Tenku is an ordinary person.
If talking about the relationship between the two, then it's just a debt of gratitude because Tenku had saved Kohana when she was about to be hit by a truck and Setsuka from Wyvern's attack on a mission at lake Shima.
Tenku couldn't think of anything that made Setsuka have romantic feelings for him after the rumors circulating at school. Because of that, he believes that Setsuka can't fall in love with him.
"Hmm... About that scene... They are my friends in Beijing. One is the granddaughter of my master, and the other is a participant in a competition I entered. In the video, they helped me walk and took me to the infirmary." Tenku explained. He did it not because he thought Setsuka was jealous of him but because he didn't want to be labeled a playboy.
"Huh? Is it true?" Setsuka quickly raised her head after hearing his words.
"Of course. I have no reason to lie to you." Tenku said firmly.
"Is that so?" Setsuka tried to be indifferent when she heard the answer. But the upturned corners of her lips betrayed her effort.
Setsuka was relieved that the boy didn't ask more about how she found him in the video because she couldn't answer. But she didn't think about that now because the most important thing was that Tenku had nothing to do with the two girls in the video.
Kaede smiled warmly when she saw Setsuka's expression. She doesn't know why Setsuka can fall in love with Tenku and doesn't care. As long as her best friend was happy, Kaede would support her.
"Yes." Tenku nodded in response to Setsuka's question and remembered he had something to ask her.
"By the way, what are you two doing here? Are there monsters roaming this area again?" Tenku looked at Setsuka and Kaede in turn.
"No. You don't have to worry about it. We are patrolling here not because of monsters or members of the Ghost Nebula but to fill our vacation time. Because there was a mission to check this area's security, we took it." The one who answered Tenku's question was Kaede. She decided to speak out, not wanting to be perceived as air by the two.
"That's good. But do you have to patrol into the night? Wouldn't your mission end and be replaced by someone else after the evening?" Tenku asked another question. As he recalled, the organization's patrolling missions were divided into shifts, and the two girls' duties should have ended a while ago.
"Ah, that's because Setsuka asked me to patrol this area a few times and had already contacted our replacement Realizer to arrive later. We will temporarily take over their duties until we get tired and decide to return. But I didn't expect her to have another purpose." Kaede looked at Setsuka and smiled teasingly at her.
"What are you saying, Kaede? I asked you to patrol this area purely to keep this place safe. Have you forgotten that several monsters and one member of the Ghost Nebula have appeared in this neighborhood? I'm worried that it will happen again. Wouldn't it be too late to deal with them if we patrolled the other areas?" Setsuka tried to keep her composure under Kaede's teasing smile.
"Ooh, you're worried that someone might get hurt here?" Kaede grinned in response to her words. She didn't know Tenku's power and thought he wasn't strong. Because of that, Kaede assumed that Setsuka was patrolling that area to protect Tenku.
"Of course, I can't possibly let the residents of this neighborhood get hurt by a monster attack or the actions of a terrorist. So please don't think I have another purpose here." Setsuka glared at Kaede.
Tenku is very strong, and there's no way he'd need Setsuka to protect him. Even so, the girl continued to patrol the area because she hoped to meet him soon after Tenku returned from Beijing, and it came true.
"Ahaha... I understand. I understand. Your dedication as a Realizer is so high, and I admire that." Kaede chuckled and then stuck her tongue out at Setsuka.
Tenku smiled slightly, seeing their closeness as friends, but he couldn't stay with them for long because he had to return to his apartment to rest.
"If there's nothing else you two need from me, I'll return to my apartment now. I feel tired after a long trip and want to rest soon." Tenku looked at the two girls and said.
"Yes. You can go back to your apartment. I'm sorry for keeping you here. Please don't forget your appointment with Kohana tomorrow. I've told her about it, and she's very happy. She was looking forward to seeing you again." Setsuka said, and her face looked sad when Tenku wanted to leave.
Setsuka was reluctant to part with him since they had only met briefly, and she wanted to chat longer with him even though she didn't know what she wanted to discuss. But Setsuka couldn't keep him in that place any longer because Tenku was tired after returning from Beijing.
"I understand. I haven't forgotten about it. I will contact you again regarding the time and place tomorrow. By the way...." Tenku smiled and nodded. Then he took two packages from one of his suitcases.
"This is my souvenir from Beijing. It's nothing much, so I hope you two will accept it." Tenku gave the two packages to Setsuka and Kaede.
"Thank You! You shouldn't have bothered to bring us souvenirs." Kaede quickly took one of the packages and smiled broadly.
Setsuka sighed when she saw her best friend's behavior. Even though she looks gentle on the surface, she can be overly passionate sometimes for unknown reasons.
"Thank You." Setsuka smiled and happily accepted the package.
"In that case, I will take my leave now." Tenku bowed his head to Setsuka and Kaede. Then he left the two girls in that place. Setsuka kept looking at him until he entered his apartment. After Tenku disappeared from their sight, Kaede suddenly opened her mouth.
"You fell in love with him, didn't you?"