Editing BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 1===

It was a beautiful day. 

The sky was a soft, pale blue, with thin, stretched-out white clouds arranged like a knitted pattern.

It was a perfectly clear, refreshing day. The clock had just passed noon, and the cool breeze had begun to blow.

Shinkawahama First High School was in the middle of its lunch break, and the students were spending their short break in various ways. Naoto and Raquel, like many other students, had slipped out of the classroom and come to the courtyard with their lunch. However, today they didn't have Haruka's homemade bento.

As a student council member, Haruka had been busy preparing for the upcoming cultural festival and had been coming to school very early every day lately. With her hectic mornings, there was simply no time to prepare three bentos, so Naoto, Raquel, and Haruka, who was probably working hard in the student council room right now, had sandwiches and bread they bought from the cafeteria.

"...Thanks for the meal." 

Sitting on the edge of a flowerbed, using it as a makeshift bench, Naoto finished his somewhat lacking lunch compared to Haruka's bento and poked a straw into a pack of café au lait like a post-meal coffee.

This area was shaded, and even on a sunny day like today, it was in the shadow of the school building and the trees. The drainage was poor, and it was a little damp, so not many people would choose this place as a lunch spot on such a nice day. Thanks to this, there was no one else around, and they were able to finish their lunch in peace.

Raquel had finished eating before Naoto and was now checking the size of the ground a little distance away. To an outsider, the reason for her suspicious behavior was the same as the reason they were having lunch in such a dark place.

This was the same place where Raquel had used magic to investigate the school before. And today, she had come here for the same purpose. As usual, Naoto's job was to keep watch so that Raquel's magic would not be disturbed.

Taking his eyes off Raquel, who was looking around, her long golden ponytail swaying like a tail, Naoto slowly sipped his cafe au lait. As he swallowed the cheap sweetness, he felt a heavy, gloomy sensation.

(My stomach hurts...)

He didn't actually have any pain, and even if his stomach was upset, it would heal in no time, but he had been feeling that way for a while now. Ever since yesterday. 

After Saya had left, he had eaten baumkuchen with Haruka and Raquel. He had felt a heavy weight in his stomach ever since then.

Raquel hadn’t tried to pry any information about Saya since then. However, it didn’t mean she had lost interest. Naoto often felt her presence or gaze, as if she was waiting for him to speak up. However, Naoto hadn’t told Raquel anything yet. He had deliberately avoided the topic and spent the night with his mouth shut. As a result, the atmosphere between them had been awkward and strained since last night. Even during their lunch just earlier, despite sitting side by side, they hadn’t exchanged a single word.

(This awkwardness is going to be a pain...)

They were going to be living in the same house for a while, but the current state of affairs felt suffocating and distracting. More importantly, he couldn’t afford to be consumed by thoughts about his sister right now.

“Naoto.” Startled, Naoto looked up.

“Whoa, you scared me!”

Raquel was standing far too close, her arms crossed. She looked down at him with a slight frown, clearly displeased.

"......How long are you going to keep me waiting?"

“Huh?”

"Don't 'huh' me. I'm asking you how long you're going to keep sulking like that." Although Raquel's voice wasn't raised, she was clearly annoyed. Naoto, with the straw still in his mouth, was taken aback and couldn’t help but chuckle at her sudden outburst.

(She's angry all of a sudden...)

It probably wasn't sudden for Raquel, but when he remembered her calm expression just a few minutes ago as she ate her sandwich, he felt deflated. He had always considered himself quite short-tempered, but Raquel seemed even more so.

“Ugh... I guess I have to talk, huh?” Feeling awkward, he asked while chewing on his straw, and the temperature of Raquel's gaze dropped even further.

"What a foolish question. I'm actually more surprised that you're even considering not talking about this now. Do you really think you can keep this just a problem for yourself at this point, with that poor brain of yours? If you could just be a little less stupid, it would be a relief to me. You lowly servant."

Naoto was speechless at the barrage of words and took a sip of his café au lait to cover his embarrassment. The word "servant", spat out with more anger than contempt, suggested that Raquel was less disappointed and more irritated by Naoto's lack of empathy

Raquel let out a small sigh and shrugged her narrow shoulders.

"She is a Drive user. As such, she will inevitably seek the 'Azure' sooner or later, even unconsciously."

"Azure." 

Naoto's expression hardened almost reflexively at the word. It had been a few days since he'd heard it spoken, but it was always there, a fixed, shared goal that existed in both Naoto and Raquel's minds. An immovable weight they couldn't avoid being conscious of. That was the “Azure.”

He understood that. But… Naoto looked down again.

"…When I drank your blood, information about Naoto Kurogane flowed in at the same time. However, there was no information regarding Saya Terumi among it. It was because you had deliberately cut off your awareness of Saya Terumi." Raquel's voice descended from outside his lowered line of sight. It was as if she were talking to herself rather than to Naoto, and her voice, which sounded like a monologue, drew Naoto's ears and attention.

Naoto bit down on his straw.

"Why are you turning a blind eye to it? Why are you so stubbornly closing your heart?" Raquel didn't demand an answer but presented it to Naoto as a question. "What is Saya Terumi to you?" It was a genuine question, devoid of sarcasm or malice.

Raquel had probably been wanting to ask Naoto that since yesterday. However, she had held back for just one night. She had refrained from asking. It was an unusual consideration. To be considerate. Naoto grimaced bitterly, finishing the contents of his small paper cup, and raised his eyes.

Raquel's golden eyes were waiting. She stared straight at Naoto's chicken-like gaze, receiving it and catching it. As she stared, Raquel's expression clouded slightly in pain.

"You should tell me everything, Naoto. You're my... servant." 

"......Why are you making that kind of face?"

"It's nothing."

"Liar. You look like..." 

It seemed like she had a pained expression on her face…

Naoto stopped mid-sentence and crumpled the paper pack he was holding. He took a deep breath and exhaled from the bottom of his stomach.

"Alright," he whispered, his own voice sounding rough and blunt, prompting him to straighten his leaning body and look directly at Raquel. "I'll tell you. Actually, if I don't, I won't be able to concentrate on Spinner either." Soon, Naoto would have to fight a battle with the magician Spinner Superior. If a rift developed between him and Raquel because of Saya, no matter how trivial it was, it would be a major hindrance. 

He couldn't afford to be dragged down by such sentimental things.

"But first, tell me. I want to know... What exactly is Soul Eater?"

Raquel had said it was the worst kind of drive that Saya possessed. Naoto knew his sister had a special ability, but he had no idea it was called a "Drive," and that it had such a sinister-sounding name. Raquel knew the truth. Naoto had the same desire and longing to know what he didn't know.

Raquel hesitated slightly. It seemed that, like Saya for Naoto, it wasn't a topic she could handle with a light heart. But after blinking her long-lashed eyelids once, Raquel nodded clearly, indicating she understood.