"Mm." Mizuno nodded, immediately pulling out his notebook and pen, quickly entering a state of intense concentration.
Because something as magical as hearing the voices of flowers couldn't possibly be learned easily, Mizuno didn't expect to grasp it in one go from Air Groove's explanation alone. Instead, he planned to carefully record every word she said. This way, even if he couldn't immediately comprehend her meaning, he could review these notes repeatedly afterward, thoroughly analyzing the nuances of her instructions.
"I'm ready too~!" Tokai Teio raised her hand cheerfully.
Unlike Mizuno's intense focus, Teio appeared much more relaxed and carefree.
"Then I'll begin…" Air Groove took a deep breath, approaching a young sunflower seedling. Slowly, she knelt down and gently brushed her fingers against its tender leaves.
"The simplest and most effective way to understand a flower's feelings is by direct touch, allowing you to sense its inner voice transmitted through contact…"
As she spoke, Air Groove closed her eyes, seeming to focus deeply.
Several seconds later, she reopened them and turned back to explain carefully to Mizuno and Tokai Teio:
"When touching the flower, if you feel something like a gentle 'pawuu~,' that's happiness. It means the flower is fully satisfied with its current conditions, needing nothing changed—only maintaining this state is enough…"
"Pa…pawuu?" Mizuno, who was diligently writing notes, suddenly froze, looking up with a blank expression.
Wasn't this instruction a bit too abstract? What the heck was "pawuu"? Even burning every neuron in his brain wouldn't help him figure out what exactly that was supposed to mean.
But unlike the bewildered Mizuno, Tokai Teio wore a thoughtful expression, nodding to herself.
"Pawuu… Oh! I see~!" She lightly pounded her fist into her palm, looking suddenly enlightened.
She understood that? Could Teio secretly be a genius?
Before Mizuno could even begin feeling envious, Air Groove turned towards them again. "Now you two try touching it yourselves and see if you can feel it…"
"Hiss—!" Mizuno sucked in a sharp breath. He suddenly had the dreadful feeling of a student being forced to solve a math problem on the blackboard without fully grasping the formula yet.
In contrast, "star pupil" Tokai Teio eagerly bounced forward and immediately reached out to touch the seedling.
After hesitating for a moment, Mizuno tucked away his notes and joined Air Groove's side, carefully squatting down to touch the sunflower as well.
"Trainer Mizuno…" Air Groove noticed Mizuno was still wearing gloves and reminded him gently, "It might work better if you directly touched it with your fingers…"
"Ahem, it's fine. My gloves are extremely sensitive—practically indistinguishable from bare skin—so there's no need to remove them," Mizuno replied quickly.
"Is that so…? Alright then…" Air Groove accepted his explanation, seeing no reason to argue.
Yet even after closing his eyes and focusing intently for ten full minutes, Mizuno never managed to sense anything like "pawuu~." The only thing he felt under his fingertips was the delicate body of the young seedling.
Frustrated, Mizuno opened his eyes and glanced over at Tokai Teio.
At this point, even Tokai Teio wore a troubled expression, her brow tightly furrowed, her ponytail flicking anxiously back and forth. Clearly, she couldn't hear anything from the plant either.
"How can this be…" Air Groove groaned softly, disheartened by seeing them both fail. She once again began anxiously tugging on her tail.
This had already been the simplest teaching method she could think of, yet it still seemed far too difficult for beginners. Asking people without years of experience tending flowers to suddenly understand the language of plants was, indeed, not so simple after all.
"Easy now…" Seeing Air Groove starting to pull on her tail again, Mizuno couldn't help but gently stroke her back to soothe her.
As Mizuno's hand rested on her back, that magical warmth once again flooded through Air Groove's entire body, comforting her restless heart and gradually calming her down.
Air Groove deeply enjoyed this sensation—like the comforting warmth she felt as a child, lying in the flowerbeds she'd personally cultivated, basking under bright, clear sunlight. It was a feeling she could never get enough of, always lingering in her heart. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
"Wait…" Just as Air Groove relaxed into that gentle warmth, a sudden flash of insight jolted her mind, snapping her fully awake again.
The warmth that reaches into my heart…warmth…heart…
"That's it! Exactly!" Air Groove's expression suddenly turned ecstatic, as though she'd discovered a precious treasure.
She spun around and firmly grasped Mizuno's wrist, excitedly declaring, "I found it!"
"F…found it?!" Air Groove's sudden action sent Mizuno's soul directly out of his body in shock. Though his mind was still vaguely functioning, his body froze completely, refusing to move.
What did Air Groove mean she'd "found it"? Could it be she'd finally realized he really was the mysterious man himself?!
I'm finished! Utterly finished! Mizuno stared down in despair at the slender fingers gripping his wrist, feeling like he'd just plunged off a cliff into a bottomless abyss.
At this point, he'd completely abandoned thought. After all, humans stood no chance against Uma in raw strength. Once caught at close range, there was simply no way of escaping—he'd be as helpless as a lump of clay, at the mercy of their whims.
The only thing humans could do when getting Uma Pyoi'd was grit their teeth and try their best not to cry…
But reality appeared slightly different from Mizuno's catastrophic imagination.
Because even after firmly grasping Mizuno's wrist, Air Groove didn't rip off his clothes like a wild beast, nor did she immediately deliver justice on the spot. Instead, she just stared at him excitedly.
Her previously dull, gloomy eyes had now taken on several vivid shades of life and color.
"I finally found the way to let you two understand the flowers' feelings!"