"Swoosh—"
A sharp whistle cut across the sky. The cold, crisp air gained a hint of fireworks. The man paused, listening to the sound of the fireworks ascending far away, before slowly walking to the main gate.
"Clatter."
His partially exposed face was illuminated by the brilliant fireworks.
"My, Lin, is this your version of 'holding the pipa to cover half the face'?" The person outside was startled by the sight she had never seen before, then smiled, blinking, and held up a plastic bag. "I brought barbecue back. Want some?"
The man's dark pupils paused on the person outside. He remembered she was wearing ordinary casual clothes when she left today, not... a pale pink yukata embroidered with little masked figures.
He had seen her wear all kinds of clothes—Shenzhou style, Western style, Japanese style, ancient style, modern style... What she wore depended entirely on her mood. If she was in a good mood, she would try new clothes, like a colorful rainbow rose with multi-colored petals, and occasionally drag others, like Mobius, into it.
As a side note, she was in a good mood almost every day.
But the man didn't recall her ever wearing a yukata. Perhaps she thought it was inappropriate or inconvenient for daily wear.
But today, he saw her in a yukata, and like any time in the past, she was transparent and gorgeous like a crystal flower, existing unrealistically in this world.
The heat from the barbecue box clashed with the cold air outside the plastic bag, creating a hazy fog. The girl held the inexpensive foam box and plastic bag with both hands. Her mischievous smile seemed never to have changed.
"Why are you staring at me?" After waiting a moment without a response, the girl realized something when she saw his unconcealed black eyes observing her attire. "I asked someone to make this for me, you know. Doesn't the figure on it look like you?"
Upon closer inspection, the mask was indeed his mask, making this figure his chibi version.
Unlike him, who was like an ice block, the little masked figure was cheerfully spreading its arms and yawning.
"Sakura and Kalpas have arrived. They're having tea." The man commented lightly, without further evaluation. "Come in. It's cold outside."
"Is there any for me?"
"I can brew some for you."
He turned and walked toward the house, the girl following him.
...
This time, the wait wasn't long. Presumably, everyone had chosen this time slot to arrive. When the man opened the door again, three people were standing in front of him.
A wine-red, long-haired woman with a fur-trimmed coat took off her goggles and wiped away the rain, smiling serenely: "Long time no see, my dear friend."
"How was your performance outside?" The man showed rare concern, reaching out to take Eden's luggage, but she gently waved him off, signaling she would carry it herself.
"Hmm... Surprisingly smooth, I suppose. But that's part of the charm of art, even if..."
"Can't you people go inside before chatting?" The tall, green-haired woman raised her thin eyebrows and urged them impatiently.
The man glanced at her attire: "The impatient ones always arrive too late."
"...Did you go with Vil-V to cultivate your so-called 'poetic sensibility'?" The woman could tell he was mocking her for being late today but couldn't be bothered to argue.
"Lin, do you need help setting up?"
The last person was Aponia, whose attire was not much different from usual. Her beige sweater and pinned-up hair made her look warm and virtuous. Her unchanging smile made the man nod reflexively.
Eden and Aponia changed into indoor slippers and walked arm-in-arm toward the interior: "We can chat later then. I haven't seen everyone in a long time..."
However, one person still hadn't moved. Her variegated snake-like eyes, like two exquisitely carved yellow jades, shimmered with a dim light. Having shed her white lab coat for the first time in a while, she held her hands at the slit of her qipao. Bright green patterns embroidered the milky-white silk fabric with Night Fragrance Orchid.
The man had noticed earlier than anyone else that Mobius occasionally wore subtle makeup and altered her clothing, but the change was so minimal that almost everyone assumed she was solely focused on her work and didn't care about her appearance.
But today, she had uncharacteristically put on a qipao and a light red eyeshadow, looking alluringly charming.
"...Aren't you coming in yet?" The man also didn't move an inch.
"I'm waiting for Klein." Mobius stood with her back to him, her fair, smooth neck looking particularly white in the warm light.
"...Here."
Mobius felt a weight on her shoulders. She turned back to see the man in the cloth tunic placing his heavy cloak around her.
"...I'm not cold," she said, but still instinctively pulled the cloak, which held the man's body heat, tighter around her neck, warming her body, which had been stiff from the cold wind. "You go inside."
"I'll keep you company and wait for them."
Mobius glanced at his pitch-black mask: "Hmph... You really have changed a lot."
The man looked up at the rising bright moon and said faintly: "Perhaps."
...
"Ah ha ha ha... Sorry, I got stuck in traffic after checking Klein's parts."
The woman, whose face was covered in oil stains and hadn't even changed out of her work overalls, held Klein in one hand and smiled apologetically at the two people waiting.
"Klein, are you alright? What did Vil-V do to you?" Mobius snatched Klein out of Vil-V's hands and glared fiercely at the smiling Vil-V.
"I'm fine, Doctor..." Klein, whose little hands in their long sleeves were rubbing her dizzy head, said, "It was just so shaky when Dr. Vil-V was rushing here..."
"It seems we're not too late."
The four walked together from the dark night into the moonlight. Kosma gently supported the still pale Su. Griseo and Kevin followed behind them, arriving at the door.
"Su, how have you been recently?" The man asked Su, who, though looking frail, maintained an ethereal aura with his eyes closed.
Su's long braid slowly moved up and down: "Not bad. It shouldn't be long now."
Kevin scanned the people present and the shoes on the rack: "Is everyone here, Lin?"
"Pardofelis and Hua are still out buying fireworks."
"Hua..."
"Kevin."
The man stopped Kevin from continuing. Kevin nodded after a momentary silence and didn't bring up the matter again.
Today was not the right time.
No, he was just the one who cared.
"I brought ice cream. Let's eat it later." Kevin lifted the bag in his hand. Judging by the thickness, it contained quite a lot of things.
"Are we eating that now?" The man hesitated, glancing at the cold, damp street outside, which had just experienced a light rain.
Kosma silently looked at the ice cream in Kevin's hand, which was poorly timed—
"Cool."
"Brother Lin, this is for you."
Griseo handed the man a rolled-up drawing in a paper tube.
The man didn't rush to open it, only asking: "What did you draw?"
"Kosma told me to say I didn't know if you asked, and not to tell you that he actually drew it." Griseo said blankly. "Oh, and Kosma told me not to say that either."
"..."
The man couldn't read Kosma's expression, but he could guess his complicated feelings.
...
"Phew... Mission accomplished! Brother Lin! The fireworks Hua and I bought are enough to last all night!"
A truck stopped in front of the door. Porters carried boxes of fireworks that could fill a warehouse. The brown-haired girl, now in thick winter clothes, saluted the man playfully, her face beaming with smiles.
"Lin, I told Felis not to buy so much..." The gray-haired woman in a martial arts uniform and red-rimmed glasses couldn't help but sigh to the man. "It's a waste of money, effort, and energy. It is truly not frugal."
The man didn't show any displeasure. He picked up one box of fireworks: "It's fine. Let's go. They're waiting for us."