Close your eyes～

"It's a pity, that so-called mother Sakuragi... can't save you all..."

Open your eyes～

"Ha... ha... ha..."

In the darkness, Mouse-like Sakuragi was running wildly as if crazy, but looking back, those eyes kept getting closer with each blink.

Moreover, below those eyes full of laughter, a blood-stained silver gleam suddenly appeared in the darkness.

The silver light traced the outline of a dagger, raised high in the darkness, then swayed and charged fiercely towards them,

"Hehe... hahaha... run!!"

"Wuuu!!"

Tiny Sakuragi was so frightened that she went limp all over and fell right onto Mouse-like Sakuragi's head.

Mouse-like Sakuragi also shuddered in fear, just about to turn around and close her eyes to focus on running, but she ran straight into a hard wall.

"Bang!"

"Ouch..."

Both of them whimpered in pain, but the fear was more terrifying than the pain, making them nervously trace the wall in front of them with their hands.

Afr aid this is a dead end.

"No... it's not a wall! It's a door!!"

Fortunately, Tiny Sakuragi was the first to find the doorknob, gritted her teeth, and pulled it hard.

The door opened, and Mouse-like Sakuragi and she squeezed through with great difficulty, closing the door behind them.

"Bang!"

The next second, the door emitted a sharp screeching sound.

Obviously, it was the sound of a blade scraping against the door.

The harsh sound made Tiny Sakuragi and Mouse-like Sakuragi cover their ears, realizing sadly:

This door cannot completely block them from Perfect Sakuragi.

"Bang!!"

"Click!"

Then, countless pounding on the door, the frantic shaking of the doorknob, forced them to quickly turn around to look at the space behind the door, searching for another way out.

But soon, they were horrified to discover that the space behind the door was an extremely narrow, sealed room the size of a toilet cubicle.

This meant there was no other way out for them.

"It's... over..."

"Bang!!"

Tiny Sakuragi froze in place, but she wasn't even given the privilege of a blank mind.

Because the next second, she was interrupted by the increasingly shaking doorknob.

She turned back pale and saw that the closed door was already shaking uncontrollably.

Apparently, this door was about to give in.

"Her... her target is me, Tiny Sakuragi... when the door opens, I'll rush straight at her, trying to hold her off, and then you jump over our heads to escape..."

Inferior Sakuragi knelt softly on the ground, pursing her lips and considering for a moment, but eventually turned back, looking at Tiny Sakuragi and spoke.

"How can this be?! Wuuu... Impulsive Sakuragi already... if you also die, I... wuuu..."

Hearing this, Tiny Sakuragi burst into tears.

She had seen so many familiar Sakuragis killed by Perfect Sakuragi.

Cold Sakuragi, Lazy Sakuragi, Shy Sakuragi, and Impulsive Sakuragi...

And now...

Must they just keep running, keep running, until they die?

"Bang!!"

"Wuuu..."

At this moment, the door made another hoarse and dreadful screeching sound.

But when Tiny Sakuragi and Mouse-like Sakuragi looked back, they saw the door handle twisted into an abnormal position...

Clearly, the lock was completely broken.

The banging, shaking, and dagger hacking the door sounds...

Everything fell silent.

Replaced by a gentle, cradle-song-like, giggling female voice,

"I'm... coming in～"

"Aaaaah!!"

Yet this voice directly scared them into hugging each other, curling up on the floor and retreating, backing into the corner, trembling while watching the broken door.

"Creak～"

In the absolute silence, the door finally pushed open, emitting a piercingly loud "squeeeak" sound.

"Waaa!"

Tiny Sakuragi and Mouse-like Sakuragi cried out in fear together, but they still clung tightly to each other, curled in the corner, eyes closed.

"..."

But what came was not the terrifying figure of Perfect Sakuragi with her butchering knife raised high.

Instead, it was a gentle warm light that softly shone in front of them.

"Sakuragi?"

Along with the warm light came a voice filled with doubt, surprise, yet tenderness.

Upon hearing that voice, both Sakuragis were slightly taken aback.

Soon they lifted their heads in disbelief, spotting a tall, handsome young man standing cautiously at the door, examining the room's interior.

It was Yan Huan.

Behind him, there was a wide expanse of warm light, with no sign of any dark hallway or the perfect Sakuragi wielding a dagger.

"Pres...President?"

"President!!"

Yan Huan initially only saw the trembling human-sized Sakuragi alone, but once he spoke, he realized there were actually two Sakuragis!

Moreover, one of them was only palm-sized, a chibi-style Sakuragi with a big head and small body!

Once he spoke, the human-sized Sakuragi's eyes were instantly filled with pink bubbles, while the tiny Sakuragi seemed to collapse, sobbing uncontrollably as she rushed towards him.

"President!! Waaa!! I've finally found you...you...you don't know how I've been through this time...waa...I miss you so much...waa..."

Yan Huan stared blankly at the tiny Sakuragi who was burying herself against his cheek, feeling astonished.

But sensing her body trembling like a sieve, he tentatively extended his index finger, gently patting her tear-stained little head,

"Waa...waaa...waaah!"

The result was, she cried even louder.

"..."

Yan Huan let out a silent chuckle, then placed the Compass he was holding down, looking toward the corner of the room, where the human-sized Sakuragi was still curled up but staring at him dumbfounded.

She secretly scrutinized him, but once Yan Huan glanced back, her little face immediately flushed.

"Waa!"

Suddenly, her mouse-like ears twitched slightly, making her lower her head in fear, and she pulled up the hood from her back, covering her head and half her face.

Leaving Yan Huan only able to see her tightly pursed pink lips and still reddened cheeks beneath the hood.

"..."

Such a cute Sakuragi...

Yan Huan thought to himself.

However, simultaneously, he couldn't help turning back to the tiny Sakuragi persistently rubbing against his cheek.

Even though she was small, her hair was just as much, continually tickling him.

He hesitated for a moment, gently pinching her collar at the back with two fingers, lifting her up completely.

Looking at her from a distance, she dangled softly with her limbs hanging, pouting with tears streaming down her face, staring at him pitifully and mumbling,

"Waa, President..."

Her tear drops were almost as big as her little face, making her look especially cute.

"..."

This one is so cute too!

Yan Huan resisted the urge to tease the tiny Sakuragi with his fingers and hurriedly returned to the main topic.

After all, when he had entered earlier, they seemed terrified, and along the way, he hadn't seen the scary Sakuragi persona.

If he encountered her, Yan Huan wouldn't know what to do.

So he had to quickly sort out what was going on.

"..."

After glancing over their condition to ensure they weren't exhibiting any strange or altered reactions due to his discovery of the modifier, Yan Huan let out a sigh of relief and asked,

"So, what just happened? What's going on with you two?"

"That...uh..."

The tiny Sakuragi pursed her lips, looking at Yan Huan.

However, before she could speak, numerous pixelated words appeared on the wall beside them,

"President, look～"

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing the tiny Sakuragi's prompt, Yan Huan quickly turned his head to look.

He scanned the words while reading aloud,

"President, please take them and leave the room, walk straight, I am waiting for you at the room at the end of the hallway."

"Mama...Sakuragi?"

After reading, he returned his gaze to meet the tiny Sakuragi's eyes in his hand.

...

...

Time rewinds a bit, inside the Barrier, within the dark corridor.

The perfect Sakuragi, holding a dagger, had just pushed open the door she'd smashed to pieces, ready to unleash carnage, but suddenly froze.

Because, in that completely enclosed, small space, it was empty as well.

As if those two little mice had vanished into thin air.

"..."

Staring at the scene inside, the perfect Sakuragi paused, then realized something.

She slowly lowered the dagger, turned around, her smile growing increasingly dangerous,

"What a...good trick..."