After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Seeing that Jin Chaoyan hadn’t budged for a long while, Kyoya Hibari understood. He straightened his body and began walking toward her, step by step.

His shadow loomed over her under the corridor lights. This man didn’t use perfume, and he usually left no obvious scent behind, yet at this moment, she felt like prey being targeted by a predator. The very air around her seemed to turn into the sound of his presence closing in.

—She was like a drowning person trapped in a glass jar, with no way to escape.

Gulp.

Jin Chaoyan forgot to even blink. Her entire body was frozen in place; only her throat moved in a nervous swallow. As the man drew near, she almost hallucinated the faint, distant scent clinging to him.

The moment Kyoya Hibari lowered his gaze and leaned slightly toward her, she was like a long-frozen robot suddenly jolted into life. In a final, instinctive struggle against the predator’s hunt, she thrust her right palm upward, pressing it against his shoulder through the fabric of his yukata. Her trembling eyelashes matched the slight quiver in her voice:

“I… I wanted to say…”

Cling.

The Lightning Mare Ring—too precious to know where to put—had been gripped tightly in her left hand. The “Judgment Chain” on her left hand, which she hadn’t deactivated, had been squeezed too hard in her tension. Now, as she relaxed enough to take a breath, the ring slipped from her grasp and hit the wooden floor with a crisp, ringing sound.

Kyoya Hibari hadn’t expected her to be this nervous. He arched an eyebrow slightly and cast a casual glance at the fallen object. His gaze was about to return to her, but then it snapped back sharply!

Noticing the change in his expression, Jin Chaoyan blanked for a second and instinctively turned her head to look. She discovered that the “wings” of the Mare Ring and the gemstone had somehow parted ways; the green gem lay in one spot, while the setting lay lonely in another.

“!”

Fifty billion!

Jin Chaoyan’s eyes went wide, shifting instantly from one shock to another. She parted her lips and said in a voice still taut with unrecovered tension: “I-It wasn’t me…”

She couldn’t have broken it, right?!

Could a Great Pillar of the World, one of the 7³ (Trinisette), a Mare Ring equal in fame to the Vongola Rings, really be this fragile?

Kyoya Hibari half-knelt. His slender fingertips picked up the green gemstone. He held it up to the light, and a smile suddenly curled at the corners of his mouth, the mirth in his grey-blue eyes turning increasingly sharp:

“Of course it wasn’t you.”

He said, “This Mare Ring was a fake to begin with.”

Jin Chaoyan, suffering two back-to-back shocks, finally got her brain moving and vaguely recalled the intel about Byakuran hiding a secret regarding the “Real Six Funeral Wreaths.” She subconsciously agreed, “Mhm… right.”

Kyoya Hibari tilted his head. His soft black hair was slightly longer at the center of his forehead; from the side, it brushed against the bridge of his high nose. He repeated with vibrant amusement, “Right?”

Just how many more “winter food caches” did this little squirrel have that he didn’t know about?

The woman, whose heartbeat had just returned to order, felt her chest pounding wildly again under his gaze. But this time, she couldn’t tell why she was nervous. She scrambled to fabricate an explanation: “I mean, for it to break so easily from a fall proves it must be a fake. You’re right!”

Kyoya Hibari let out a huff through his nose.

Just then, Tetsuya Kusakabe came hurrying from the end of the corridor clutching documents. He stopped abruptly upon seeing the two of them standing by the base entrance. “Kyo-san? Madam?” he asked, confused.

“Tetsuya,” the man stood up again, placing the green gemstone—which could no longer provide information—back into Jin Chaoyan’s palm, though his eyes were on his subordinate. “Notify Vongola. The Captain-class enemies currently holding Mare Rings are not the Real Six Funeral Wreaths.”

Hearing him announce such significant news in such a calm voice, Kusakabe was so startled the grass in his mouth fell out. It took a second for him to snap to attention. “Yes! Kyo-san!”

He hurried to deliver the documents to Hibari’s study, then turned back without a moment’s rest, intending to open the base’s main gate. Only then did he remember to ask, “Kyo-san, may I ask the source of the intel?”

Jin Chaoyan held up the gemstone, now missing its setting and looking like a mere pigeon-egg-sized rock. “…Probably this?”

Kusakabe: “!”

He was utterly amazed. He had no idea what this couple was up to. They hadn’t spent their long-awaited reunion on romance; last time they were hurting each other, and this time they were spending their spare time debunking the Mare Rings.

It seemed he wouldn’t be tasting the “bitterness of love” anytime soon.

“Madam, if you don’t mind, could I borrow the gemstone temporarily?” Kusakabe planned to take the evidence with him, lest the bad news feel like cold water thrown on everyone’s celebratory mood.

“Mhm.”

Jin Chaoyan handed him the gem. She watched him verify his fingerprints and reopen the gates connecting the two bases. Once he disappeared and the doors hissed shut, she remembered to look at the man still standing beside her. “By the way… since it’s fake, does it mean it’s worthless?”

Kyoya Hibari closed his eyes for a moment before replying peacefully, “Even if it’s a fake, to be imitated to this degree, the gemstone used in the ring itself must be A-rank to achieve such a realistic effect.”

“Meaning my fifty billion is still there, right?”

“Is that all you want to ask?”

“…”

Jin Chaoyan gripped her hand tightly again, the chain on her left hand making a lonely clinking sound. Thinking of the series of blunders triggered by the Vongola celebration party, she finally stopped hesitating. She decided to deliver the message and be done with it to avoid further complications.

“One more thing,” she said quickly. “Sawada-kun and the others want to hold a celebration tonight and have invited everyone. Of course, you don’t have to go, I’m just passing the word for him.”

“Mhm.”

Kyoya Hibari gave a lukewarm response. His grey-blue phoenix eyes were still fixed on her as if confirming something. “Finished?”

“…Ah, yes.” The moment Jin Chaoyan gave her short reply, the man turned without looking back and returned to the room he had just opened, even sliding the half-open ink-plum screen shut again.

Left alone, Jin Chaoyan rubbed her nose and finally let out a long breath. Yet, an inexplicable sense of melancholy brushed her heart. She raised a hand to touch her chest through the thin gauze of her cheongsam and couldn’t help but wonder:

If the ring incident hadn’t happened just now… was he really planning to kiss me?

“Chaoyan~ Chaoyan~”

Hibird, who had been quiet for a long time, flapped its wings on her head. Though it didn’t understand why the master had suddenly left, it followed its instincts. “Food~ Food~”

Her attention was immediately diverted by the pet. She scooped Hibird down and coaxed it with a smile, “I know, I’ll get you something to eat right now.”

As she walked far away from the room he occupied, Jin Chaoyan didn’t forget to teach Hibird softly: “Don’t say ‘kiss’ anymore, okay? That’s not something a pure, innocent little bird like you should know. Understand?”

Hibird tilted its head, looking at her with its black-bead eyes. It was unclear if it understood.

In the end, Kyoya Hibari did not attend the celebration.

When Jin Chaoyan arrived at the neighboring Vongola base with a still-groggy Kazumiko and Kina, the boys were absent; only the girls and the children were in the dining hall, eagerly waiting for the party to begin.

Since most present were minors, there was no alcohol at the table, only fruit juice. After greeting them dazed, Kazumiko leaned in and asked her sister in a half-awake voice, “Where on earth is this? A bunch of middle schoolers staying in an underground base is way too suspicious, Sister!”

At that moment, Uncle Tsuyoshi Yamamoto asked from the kitchen counter, “What kind of hand-pressed sushi would you all like?”

Kazumiko snapped awake instantly and raised her hand. “Salmon sushi, caviar sushi, and squid sushi!”

“Coming right up!”

Seeing that her sister clearly didn’t actually care about the answer, Jin Chaoyan didn’t bother making up an excuse. She rested her chin on her hand, scooped a spoonful of the rich curry in front of her, and asked Kyoko and Haru across from her, “Are the clothes I brought you a good fit?”

“Yes!”

Haru nodded excitedly. “Thank you so much, Chaoyan. I’ve never worn such expensive clothes before. You’ve spent so much on us.”

I-Pin looked at her new pink crossbody bag and was also very happy, thanking her in Chinese again. On the other side, Bianchi said gently, “I like the Chrome Hearts accessories very much; they’re exactly my style. When we have time, we should talk more about fashion.”

“Of course, I’m free anytime.”

Jin Chaoyan chatted with them for a bit until the lavish dinner was a third finished. Only then did the group of boys, having finished their discussion in the meeting room, finally appear in the dining hall.

“Eh? Miss Lal Mirch didn’t come again?”

Sawada Tsuna noticed the empty seat immediately. No sooner had he finished speaking than he noticed the same missing figure next to Jin Chaoyan that made everyone nervous. “Hibari-senpai didn’t come either.”

By the second half of the sentence, he let out a sigh of relief.

Jin Chaoyan saw his inner thoughts written all over his face and asked, puzzled, “If Sawada-kun is so afraid of him coming, why did you ask me to invite him just now?”

“Reborn told me to.”

Sawada Tsuna looked at his tutor sitting on Takeshi Yamamoto’s shoulder, instinctively selling him out. “He said if we asked Chaoyan-san to speak, Hibari-senpai might actually come.”

“Then I’ve disappointed you.”

“Is that so?”

Reborn hopped down from Yamamoto’s shoulder and stood on the table. His obsidian eyes looked at Jin Chaoyan, and he curled his lips as if he had seen through something but didn’t say it. Instead, he turned calmly and announced to the boys, “Anyway, after such a long meeting, I’m hungry. Let’s start the celebration feast tonight!”

11:00 PM.

A face wearing a dark-green seaweed essence mask suddenly leaned in, startling Jin Chaoyan, who had been dazing halfway through removing her makeup. “What is it?”

“I’ve been calling you for ages and you didn’t react,” Kazumiko looked at her with two round eyes peering through the mask holes, her lips moving only slightly to keep the mask in place. Her voice was muffled. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing. Did you need something?”

“Oh, I was asking what to do about your car parked at Take Sushi. Should I go drive it back?” the girl mumbled.

Jin Chaoyan sighed. “Give it a rest. I’ll handle that. Until I send you back to Tokyo, you stay in this base and don’t try to cause any trouble. Otherwise, if you provoke the wrong person, I’ll only be able to collect your corpse. Got it?”

“…”

Thinking of the true master of this base, Kazumiko nodded frantically.

After a while, she checked the time, peeled off the silk-textured mask, and asked mysteriously with her translucent, soft-boiled-egg-like face, “Are you sleeping in the same room as me tonight? You haven’t seen him for so long, don’t you miss him?”

“?”

Jin Chaoyan smelled trouble. Her expression changed instantly. “What are you up to?”

“Want me to create an opportunity for you? Need it?”

“I don’t! You behave yourself! Otherwise, I’ll have Kina go to the bookstore tomorrow and buy several sets of practice exams for you!”

“…Got it.”

Looking regretfully at the two tatami mats in the room, Kazumiko’s plan for sabotage went bankrupt. She could only get up bored and head to the bathroom, lamenting, “When will I finally get to taste the ‘sugar’ from my OTP?”

Jin Chaoyan couldn’t be bothered with her nonsense. “In the next life, definitely.”

After Kazumiko finished washing her face and came out, Jin Chaoyan entered, shut the door, and turned on the shower.

The sound of rushing water and steam filled the space. Halfway through her shower, Jin Chaoyan heard a scream from outside: “AH! When did it get in here?!” followed by a massive thud, like the sound of a screen door being knocked over.

Jin Chaoyan instinctively turned the water down, opened the bathroom door slightly, and called out, “Kazumiko?”

No one answered in the room.

She opened the door a bit wider and peeked out. Sure enough, the room door had been knocked over, and there were strange claw marks on the bedding. She was about to turn off the water and go check, only to realize there was only a towel in the bathroom—she hadn’t brought her pajamas in.

Jin Chaoyan: “…”

Just great. D*mmit.

“Kina?”

“Kazumiko?”

She raised her voice and called out a few more times, but she could only hear faint shouting in the distance. It seemed no one heard her calls.

“What on earth happened? Is anyone there?” It couldn’t be an enemy attack, right?

Jin Chaoyan swore that if Millefiore broke in now, the moment she saw the enemy, she would throw out every single skill in her store backend capable of destroying this place.

Just as she was standing in the bathroom steam on the verge of despair, a cold voice suddenly rang out from outside the door. “What is it?”

“W-What happened?”

Hearing that voice, she hid behind the door again, her voice echoing in the bathroom.

“A stray cat got in,” the man replied shortly, sounding somewhat displeased. “I’m planning to go bite to death that entire noisy group of herbivores.”

Was that why Kazumiko ran out just now?

Where would a stray cat come from in this base?

Jin Chaoyan snapped to her senses and spoke up quickly: “Wait!”

Terrified that her only rescue would leave, she endured her blushing face and said loudly, “I-I forgot to bring my pajamas. Could you please help me get them?”

She waited and waited.

There was no sound from outside.

Jin Chaoyan had no choice but to open the bathroom door slightly. The edges of her pinned-up long hair were wet, and water droplets clung to her neck and shoulders. Suddenly, she met the gaze of the man who had walked closer at some point. He calmly shifted his eyes away, looking at the cabinet next to her. “Which one?”

“The orange set with white flower patterns, the thin long-sleeved one.”

Kyoya Hibari pulled open the wardrobe. A single glance showed him layers upon layers of various clothes in a dizzying array of colors. “Where is it?”

“…” Good question. Usually, Kina handled her things.

Jin Chaoyan was silent for two seconds. “How about you just throw me any set?”

The next moment.

A long coat flew toward the head of the person in the bathroom.

“…This is an outdoor winter coat. Dear hubby, when I said ‘any,’ I didn’t mean—”

She tried her best to keep her tone from annoying him, but Kyoya Hibari still let out a “tsk” at her pickiness. A moment later, he walked toward the outer room. “Get it yourself.”

“Don’t…”

Halfway through her sentence, Jin Chaoyan saw the man use the tip of his shoe to flip the fallen door back up with a thud. Then he walked over, passed through the gap between the screen and the door, and closed it behind him, his shadow cast upon the paper.

Kyoya Hibari urged from outside the door, “Hurry up.”

The person in the bathroom looked at his posture guarding the outer door. She stared at his shadow for a while, relaxed her mind, murmured an “oh,” and stepped out of the bathroom.

While changing, Jin Chaoyan looked toward the door from time to time. Seeing that the figure—as steady as a pine or bamboo—never left, she couldn’t help but think:

Strange.

Kyoya Hibari actually suppressed his urge to slaughter people just to stand guard for her here. How very strange.

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