Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

It's possible there's a bone fracture.

But the fellow villagers immediately sent him for treatment.

"Our bond will surely overcome the long night~" The songstress activated her encouragement skill, and Kinoshita Kei stood up for the second time!

"Thump—" His attempt to kick the groin failed, and he was met with his opponent grabbing his ankle and twisting his leg. Kinoshita Kei spun 360 degrees and slammed his leg onto the ice, possibly breaking a bone.

But the fellow villagers immediately sent him for treatment.

"Even where warriors slumber, we shall march forward without fear!" The songstress unleashes her dance skills, her swirling skirts becoming the direction we advance! Kinoshita Kei, your fighting spirit reignited!

"Pfft—" The tactic of using both hands and feet and biting the face failed, and he was hit hard on the head by the opponent. Kinoshita Kei's head was like a bell that had been hit by a hammer. Even the voice that the songstress entered his ears was in seven colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet flashed and intertwined. It was a strange species born from the consensus of the aurora and the crackling fireworks.

But the fellow villagers immediately sent him for treatment.

During the interlude, the songstress shouts, "Let me see your hands!"

Kinoshita Kei didn't want to ignite it anymore, but he couldn't control his hands at all. An invisible force drove him, and his fighting spirit was reignited!

……

But the fellow villagers immediately sent him for treatment.

"Shining~@＃%￥%!"

...But the fellow villagers immediately sent him for treatment.

The songstress's "sweet" voice was like Ana's mother injecting Genji with hormones: "You've been enhanced, deliver him quickly!"

Kinoshita Kei is already exhausted. He doesn't want to shine; he misses his family, not being forced to ignite by you all. Have you thought about that? No! You only care about yourself!

...Fellow villager, get treatment.

No one knows how much time passed—perhaps a year, perhaps a day, perhaps just a moment—but Kinoshita Kei collapsed to the ground in a starfish shape, his mind blank, his eyes reflecting the pale snow and sky, and the solid, mountain-like barrier of light.

The peace singer walked gracefully across the ice, her straight legs peeking out from under her skirt.

"I only sang one song, how did you collapse?"

A song is usually around four minutes long. "Shining" is four minutes and thirty seconds long. This number is deeply engraved in the mind of Kinoshita Kei, who has listened to it countless times.

That means... only four and a half minutes have passed?!

The heartless fellow villager squatted beside him, and the sinister light reappeared in his hand. Kinoshita Kei seemed to see the hellfire of the devil. He no longer had the strength to speak and could only weakly shake his head in resistance.

The peace-loving songstress softly asked him, "Don't you like my singing?"

Yes, I don't like it. Love has disappeared and gone. You've ruined another one of my figurines!

But the laws summarized by the audience will not be wrong, and the words of the peace songstress cannot be ignored.

"I like it," Kinoshita Kei replied, feigning nonchalance.

"Okay~" The Peace Songstress had bright, beautiful eyes and a face as lovely as a lotus.

The background music roars once more! Brave young man, rise up! Launch a fearless charge against the enemy!

……

Kinoshita Kei's last memory was of falling on the road to the front lines.

At that moment, the Peace Songstress's voice transformed into Old Li's voice in his ears: "The men of our Independent Regiment, even if they die! They will die on the road to charge!"

Kinoshita Kei "died" without any pain, very peacefully.

The final scene shows the familiar light flashing in the hand of the fellow villager after he gives him a heartwarming kick.

He woke up to find nightfall and his grandmother calling him downstairs for dinner.

Salty Fish was beside him, tears streaming down her face, sobbing, "You're awake! I thought you were badly hurt. I'm so glad you're alright!"

Kinoshita Kei remained silent: "Let him beat me up and keep 'encouraging' me to go up and deliver the message. Isn't that what you're crying about, you crocodile tears, you dog Earth!"

Aiba Yu leaned against the window, and behind his semi-transparent body, one could see a vast starry sky. He seemed to be in a good mood. Seeing that he had woken up, he said, "You lasted for thirty-four minutes in the domain and were unconscious for three hours and twenty-one minutes. I didn't block out the cold air. Your previous record was nineteen minutes. You've improved."

"The first day is over?" Kinoshita Kei was still in a daze.

“It’s day 0.5,” Aiba Yu replied. “Let’s go down for dinner. The assessment is over, and the formal special training will begin tonight.”

...What the heck?!

Kinoshita Kei felt a surge of anger rising in his chest: "Are you a dog?"

Aiba Yu is not a dog, but "Snow Peak" is a real cat.

It wasn't too late yet, so Kinoshita Kei and her grandmother took turns going to the kitchen to eat with the two employees. They were worried that eating outside would mix the smell of the food with the smell of coffee and affect the customers' experience. "Snow-Topped" fat cat followed them in, squatted down at their feet, and buried its head in the cat food bowl.

Aiba Yu and the salted fish moved downstairs to a window seat. One whispered to him, "Don't hit too hard," while the other said, "I'll heal you." This angered the salted fish, who came up and tried to whip its tail again, but was caught by Aiba Yu.

Whether it was drawn by the smell of salted fish or sensed Aiba Yu's presence, Snow Peak abandoned its cat food and darted to them, pouncing on the air. As Kinoshita Kei brought out the bowl for Snow Peak to lick its food clean, the doorbell jingled.

"Welcome!" both employees called out simultaneously.

"I'm not having Jamaican Blue Mountain or Hawaiian Kona today, I want to go back to Snow Top! With milk and sugar!" A familiar voice.

The visitor was Hitomi Onodera, who was carrying a large plastic bag with half of her glasses sticking out from the side. When she saw who it was, she exclaimed with delight, "Hey! You're back!"

Chapter Forty-Eight: A Holiday for One's Own

"Could you put in more ice cream?" Hitomi Onodera asked, looking at the ice cream...

A heavy plastic bag sat at his feet. He said to Kinoshita Kei, "I can pay more."

"Regular customers get their food for free. We didn't even charge you for the cat treat you gave this cat." Kinoshita Kei noticed the sweat on her forehead, guessing she was tired from carrying the plastic bag. He added that the extra ice was hot: "Ice cream makes you thirstier. If you're hot, you can have a glass of lemonade first."

Hitomi Onodera practically slumped onto the table as soon as she sat down: "Okay, lemonade, thanks."

Aiba Yu and the salted fish sat by the window, staring at her. The fat cat, now that it had someone to feed it regularly, abandoned the salted fish and just kept rubbing against Onodera Hitomi's legs.

"Compressed biscuits?" Aiba Yu's gaze pierced through the outer layer of the plastic bag, revealing the contents inside. There were also some cardboard boxes underneath, their contents unknown.

He often carried those vacuum-packed items when he was "Sun". Hitomi Onodera's bag contained not only compressed biscuits, but also energy bars, self-heating dry food, etc. If you didn't know better, you would think she was going to the wilderness to survive.

"Ask her what she bought." Aiba Yu's voice reached Kinoshita Kei's ears.

The latter was puzzled, but still asked, "What did you buy that's so heavy? It'll be a hassle to carry it back. You can borrow my electric scooter."

Onodera Hitomi was somewhat tempted when she heard about the vehicle, saying, "It's my lunch and dinner... It's inexpensive and delicious!"

Kinoshita Kei chimed in, "Boxed lunches? Or self-heating bento boxes or something? I recommend Kinsuke's sushi bento boxes. The taste is so-so, but they're hygienic and safe."

Hitomi Onodera seemed unaware that few people would keep the things she bought as regular food. She grabbed a bag of self-heating rations, and the simple, unassuming packaging made Kei Kinoshita pause for a moment in surprise: "This should be considered a bento, right? I think it's pretty good!"

Perhaps this regular customer has a unique taste? Michiko and the others were also somewhat surprised, but their basic professionalism as waitresses prevented them from showing their surprise on their faces.

Kinoshita Kei gave a vague reply, then suddenly remembered something and asked, seemingly casually, "Did you write the letter?"

"Huh? You could write when you were very young, but now everyone uses a mobile phone, right? Why are you asking this?"

"I've made a pen pal," Kinoshita Kei quickly found an excuse: "It feels quite novel, but the other person seems to be a girl, and I'm afraid of offending anyone with my words, so I wanted to ask you about it."

Hitomi Onodera leaned forward slightly, her speech unconsciously quickening: "A woman?!"

Kinoshita Kei was puzzled by her sudden nervousness, but could only grit her teeth and continue, "Yes, ah... abroad!"

He glanced at his fellow villager, his mind racing: "We were talking about whether or not to add chili to scallion pancakes with sweet bean sauce!"

"Talking about this with a girl?" Onodera Hitomi seemed to relax a bit, looking at him as if he were a blockhead: "Just pick topics that she's interested in, and don't make jokes that guys would make."

Before long, the coffee that Hitomi Onodera ordered was ready. Kei Kinoshita served it to her. After feeding the fat cat and making it happy, she bent down and pulled out something that looked like a cardboard box from the bottom of the plastic bag.

"I also have something for you to refer to. I'm not sure if I bought the wrong thing," she said, holding a lantern-shaped cardboard box that unfolded into a simple flower lantern. "What kind of flower is drawn on this? I'm going to give it to a friend. I didn't make a mistake, did I?"

It turned out that she had not only prepared a lot of food, but also bought some gifts to celebrate someone's birthday. Onodera Hitomi said it was a very important day, but the others just thought that she and that friend were having a good time.

It was getting late, and she borrowed an electric scooter to head back. Mieko reminded her, "The area where you live isn't safe." As she spoke, she winked at Kinoshita Kei, who thought he could ride the scooter back that night and offered to see her off, since it was nearby.

On the way, Hitomi Onodera remained silent, holding her plastic bag and looking at the stars in the back seat.

Kinoshita Kei wanted to get more information out of her to find out who she really was, so he took the initiative to start a conversation: "Your friend who's having a birthday party is very popular?"

“Of course, he’s gentle and tolerant, and very likable,” Hitomi Onodera’s voice was as soft as down brushing against a neck. “He’s helped us so many times, so even though we’re not in the same place, I think we should celebrate for him.”

“Few people buy lanterns to celebrate their birthdays; those are usually for festivals. Why don’t you light some birthday candles?” Kinoshita Kei’s voice drifted on the wind. The weather had been warm lately, and the nights weren’t cool; there was always a warmth in the wind.

Hitomi Onodera said earnestly, "His birthday is a holiday too."

"Huh?" Kinoshita Kei pondered the Japanese holiday seriously: "What holiday?"

“My hometown’s… traditional festivals,” came the sound of plastic wrapping, and Hitomi Onodera hugged the things in her arms tighter: “We have lantern markets and fireworks, but they’re not as beautiful as the ones here.”

"So you're celebrating your birthday and holiday all by yourself?" Kinoshita Kei thought. Alone in a room, with the lanterns lit for him to see, while outside the window the cars and people were bustling about, he was celebrating alone. A single lamp and a lone figure—it all felt so pathetic.

“Because we’re such good friends, even if we’re far apart, I still wish him all the best,” Hitomi Onodera reached out from behind and waved her hand beside his face, the bracelet-like thing on her wrist shimmering in the lamplight. “I carved the words on it myself, and he complimented how beautiful it was!”

Fine, she really likes that friend. Kinoshita Kei felt a pang of sympathy, and with just one glance, she saw the words on it: "Peace?"

“Tegili!” Hitomi Onodera’s voice soared to the heavens.

Similar to a protective shield

"A charm or jewelry, perhaps?" The quick-witted talker liked to say something like, "You look good in anything," but Kinoshita Kei was good at lying through her teeth, not flattering others: "My grandma also made me a protective amulet out of knotted rope, and insisted I wear it around my neck. It doesn't look good, and it's uncomfortable."

……

Kinoshita Kei rode her electric scooter past the streetlights, the dim yellow light casting a yellow hue on their hair and eyebrows. The journey was short. A group of thugs near the apartment building glanced at them, then continued smoking and laughing loudly. Kinoshita Kei saw them into the elevator and waved to her.

Hitomi Onodera suddenly handed over a cardboard lantern, but the elevator doors closed, and the lantern couldn't be put back in. Her voice still lingered in the air: