Chapter 35: The Sea After Rebirth

“So this is the sea.”

Jiang Ciqiu murmured, gazing at the golden beach that stretched to the edge of her vision.

The sea breeze carried a salty, damp smell, blowing the stray hairs under her baseball cap.

This was the first time she had seen the real sea since her rebirth.

In her previous life, after Lin Xia died, the plan to visit the beach together had been abandoned completely. Jiang Ciqiu buried herself in work and overtime day after day. She hadn’t set foot in any scenic spot in the city since.

And now, the boy who had come back from the dead stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder on the same stretch of sand, warmed by the sun.

“…Hey, Aqiu, look at that.” Lin Xia’s voice pulled her from her memories. “The sign says you have to take off your shoes and socks to go on the beach.”

Jiang Ciqiu blinked and looked down for a few seconds.

“Pervert.”

“Huh? I was just reading the sign.”

The girl glared fiercely at the oblivious Lin Xia, then crouched down to untie the laces of her sneakers.

In the future she had lived in, even sending a photo of your feet could get flagged as a violation by those trashy platforms. As if a limb that had supported human walking for thousands of years had suddenly become a sexual organ.

She hooked a finger around the knot and pulled. The shoe loosened. Bracing herself on the sea wall steps, she slid her foot out. Her small foot, clad in a white sock, dangled in the air as if testing the temperature.

The fabric brushed over the top of her foot, her ankle, rolling down inch by inch to reveal fair skin beneath. Her toes were small and cute, like pearls, a lovely sight to…

Lin Xia, who had been staring the whole time, suddenly realized the scene looked a little erotic.

No wonder Aqiu had called him a pervert.

She was right! Aqiu was a great judge of character!

He jerked his gaze away, looking out at the sea, his throat bobbing unconsciously.

“What are you dawdling for? Aren’t you coming to the beach?” Jiang Ciqiu asked without turning around.

“N-no, it’s just… did you bring sunscreen? I forgot to put some on.”

“I brought it. It’s in my bag, go get it yourself. I didn’t know you were so high-maintenance.”

The girl stepped onto the sand barefoot. Fine white sand instantly spilled up between her toes, carrying the warmth of the sun.

She curled her toes and couldn’t help but hiss.

Maybe it was a common issue for magical girls, but this body was absurdly sensitive. Even sand could grind out an exaggerated itch and stimulus.

“Hurry up! I’m not waiting for you!”

She called back over her shoulder and ran ahead toward the tide line.

Lin Xia kicked off his shoes behind her, stuffed his socks haphazardly into the shoe openings, and chased after her barefoot.

The boy and girl ran one after the other across the empty beach, leaving two trails of crooked footprints.

They ran all the way to the water’s edge. When the incoming seawater covered her ankles, Jiang Ciqiu couldn’t help but gasp.

It was early summer, but the temperature of the sea still made her shiver. A second later, though, the cold shock was transformed by her magical girl body into an indescribable thrill.

“Mm, feels good!”

Like a mischievous child, she kicked backward hard, splashing a huge sheet of water right onto Lin Xia as he caught up.

“Hey!”

“We’re at the beach. How can we not have a water fight?”

Lin Xia, caught off guard with a face full of water, wiped his face and bent down to scoop water back in retaliation. His counterattack drew another from Jiang Ciqiu.

Water splashed everywhere near the tide line.

The seawater soaked Jiang Ciqiu’s T-shirt, the wet fabric clinging to her waist and outlining the slender curve of the girl’s body. Lin Xia was soaked too, revealing the early contours of adolescent muscle.

After playing for a while, the two finally stopped, panting, and stood side by side in the shallow water.

“By the way,” Jiang Ciqiu wiped her face with the back of her hand and turned to look at him, “that legend about Lord Yebo didn’t work at all, did it?”

“Huh?” Lin Xia blinked.

“Look,” the girl spread her hands and glanced around, “there are a few couples walking on the beach. But that Lord Yebo chickened out. It didn’t try to break up any of these couples showing off in broad daylight.”

“Maybe they’re all fake couples who are only together in appearance.”

“Makes sense.”

“But,” the boy added after a moment, his voice softening, “maybe the monster thinks they haven’t let their guard down enough yet. It might be waiting to strike when travelers are at their weakest.”

The playing soon came to an end. The two sat side by side on the sand beyond the reach of the waves, letting the sun dry their wet clothes.

Jiang Ciqiu was playing with the fine sand slipping through her fingers when she suddenly heard Lin Xia speak:

“So why did you cry last night?”

The sand trickling from the girl’s palm paused for half a second, then resumed its normal flow.

“You’re pretty good at asking questions. How did you skip right over confirming whether I actually cried?”

“No need. I’ve never heard you speak in that trembling tone before, Aqiu.”

Jiang Ciqiu opened her mouth. The words “I didn’t” rolled on her tongue, but in the end she couldn’t say them.

‘I’m so sorry.’ she said silently in her heart.

‘I’m no longer the hero in your mind who can do anything and never cries from fear. The Jiang Ciqiu now is just a cowardly office drone who can’t even save her own heart.’

“…It’s just that the corner of my phone screen cracked. A bit of bad luck. You know I’m broke. Cracking my phone screen hurts.”

Lin Xia’s dark pupils flickered. He clearly didn’t buy that answer.

“So, after seeing the sea,” the girl quickly changed the subject, “don’t you have anything to say? Like the enemy is on the other side of the sea, or something?”

The boy was silent for a moment. “I thought you’d wear a swimsuit, Aqiu.”

“Ha!?”

Jiang Ciqiu choked and coughed heavily, patting her chest.

“What, you want to see me walking around the beach in just shorts? I told you, we’re good brothers. Good brothers don’t wear swimsuits when they hang out!”

“But I brought mine,” Lin Xia replied matter-of-factly. “Beachwear. Short-sleeved shirt and swim trunks.”

Jiang Ciqiu couldn’t tell if this guy was too dense or just determined to piss her off. She raised her voice.

“Why would I wear something like that? That kind of clothing isn’t for girls. Not something I can just wear!”

Lin Xia was rendered speechless by her shout. He opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed it back.

He naturally didn’t know that swimsuits meant something completely different for boys and girls. Adolescent girls especially wouldn’t let a boy see them in a swimsuit so easily.

But he always subconsciously felt that his childhood friend wouldn’t care about things like that.

In his memory, Jiang Ciqiu had never acted like a girl her age.

Or more accurately, he had never thought of Jiang Ciqiu as a complete girl.

The verbal sparring between good brothers turned into another round of water splashing. Water flew everywhere near the tide line. Laughter and shouting mixed with the sound of waves, drifting across the empty beach.

It wasn’t until Jiang Ciqiu collapsed on the sand, exhausted, and stared at the blue sky in silence for half a minute that she suddenly spoke: “It would be nice if it were sunset now.”

“Why?”

“The beach and the sea should go with a sunset. Heroes die in scenes like that.”

There was a trace of wistfulness in the girl’s voice that even she didn’t notice, but Lin Xia caught it precisely.

The boy scratched his brow, hesitated for a few seconds, then turned to look at her seriously.

“Did I do something wrong?”

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