"Heeey, you guys~!"
Dystopia found Vya and the other two, explaining her reason for coming over.
"Oh, so that's what happened. Sounds exactly like something Sister Elysia would do."
After hearing the whole story, Carole couldn't help but laugh.
"Isn't this a bit too…"
Hua frowned slightly. She didn't finish her sentence, but her tone made her disapproval obvious.
"Hello, Sister Dystopia!"
Dystopia bent down. "Hello, hello! You must be Senior Elysia's little sister. How adorable~!"
"Thank you, sister! I'm Vya!"
Vya greeted her cheerfully.
"Yep, I'll remember that."
She observed this newly-met sister with curiosity—in Vya's eyes, Dystopia glowed with a bright orange-red light, just like the evening sunset's afterglow.
The light around that brother who was with her earlier was a pale orange. Vya felt like she'd seen him somewhere before…
Dystopia straightened up and turned to the two girls her own age. "You two joined before me, so you're my seniors."
Looking at them, she thought meeting peers here was a great thing.
Especially since they seemed pretty easy to get along with.
"Actually, we haven't been here that long either."
Hua said honestly, not very used to being called 'senior.'
Carole warmly slung an arm around Hua's shoulder. "Yeah, Hua's right. So no need for 'senior'! Let's look out for each other from now on!"
"No problem!"
Dystopia agreed readily.
She was the lively type, so they'd probably get along just fine.
"Alright, shall we get going then?"
Dystopia suggested, holding up the megaphone.
"Sure, let's go!"
Carole said.
"This really doesn't seem right…"
Hua was still somewhat worried but was already being pulled along by Carole.
"It's fine, Hua, come on!"
Carole said with a laugh.
"Yay~! Off we go!"
Vya also set off with a smile.
And so, the four girls formed a little 'promotion team'…
…
Meanwhile, the instigator of it all, Elysia, was also mingling at the party.
With three older sisters looking after her, Vya should be fine.
Kosma was by himself, sipping juice in small gulps, like a lonely yet handsome boy.
Though that was indeed the case…
He kept his head down deliberately, hoping not to draw too much attention—especially after Dystopia left with that cute (damnable) megaphone.
Before he knew it…
"Hey bro, new here?"
Kosma looked up to find a smiling young man who had somehow sat down beside him.
The other had short brown hair and radiated an air of easy familiarity.
This was Erwin, a talented individual, hm… quite talkative.
"Yeah. You are…"
"I'm Erwin. Wanna get to know each other?"
The young man extended his hand.
"Kosma."
He introduced himself briefly and shook Erwin's hand.
This encounter wasn't entirely coincidental.
Earlier, while wandering around, Elysia had 'happened' to run into Erwin and 'casually' mentioned Kosma's situation.
As the organization's famously 'well-informed person,' Erwin naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
'Ha, causing a stir right after arriving. This guy's definitely got a bright future ahead,' Erwin thought.
"Oh, so you're Kosma!"
Kosma: "…"
Erwin slapped his thigh as if something just clicked. "That girl with the megaphone earlier was talking about you…"
"Don't…"
Kosma covered his face somewhat awkwardly.
Erwin clapped him on the shoulder familiarly. "Hey, don't be like that. It's a good thing! I'm actually kinda envious of someone like you getting famous right off the bat."
"Why…"
"Gets your name out there! Makes things easier later on, don't you think?"
"…"
Kosma looked at him with skepticism. For Erwin, this was sincere advice—he was 'notorious' in the organization for having 'lots of unverified information.' The accuracy was often questionable, but at least everyone remembered him.
"Let's look out for each other from now on."
Erwin said earnestly.
"Yeah, let's…"
Kosma ultimately accepted this reasoning.
And so, in this manner, the two got acquainted.
…
At the same time, somewhere else.
In a quiet corridor somewhere in the base.
A white-haired man stood there. The aura around him was completely different from when he first arrived, much more steady now.
"Kevin, have you been waiting long?"
A voice tinged with laughter came from the other end of the corridor.
The corners of Kevin's mouth unconsciously lifted as he turned toward the source of the voice.
Mei walked over. She had just finished her work, and the weariness in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"It's fine. I haven't been here long either."
Kevin smiled.
Mei walked up to him. She gently pushed her glasses up her nose. "I heard from other staff that tonight is the newcomers' party?"
"Right."
Kevin's gaze rested gently on her face.
Mei spoke with a hint of nostalgia. "Then we've been here for a while now…"
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, time flies. Feels like escaping from Nagazora was just recently."
"It does…"
Mei softly agreed.
After a moment of silence, Mei naturally took a step forward and rested her head against Kevin's chest. Kevin immediately wrapped his arms around her, feeling the full weight of her body leaning against him…
She really had been quite tired lately. As she was exposed to more things, her research and experiments had naturally multiplied. Mei wasn't superhuman; she got tired too…
These rare, quiet moments felt especially precious now.
In Kevin's embrace, Mei always found a moment of peace and reassurance.
"How have things been lately?"
Kevin asked softly, his fingers gently combing through her long hair.
"Just finished a few more projects…"
"And you?"
Mei also asked.
Kevin smiled. "I'm alright too. Being an instructor is something new…"
He paused. "Though one of them did cry during training…"
Mei let out a light laugh against his chest. "Haha, then Instructor Kevin will have to do his best."
"Mhm…"
"But, there's one more thing…"
Kevin hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
"What is it? Let me guess… It's about Su, isn't it?"
Mei guessed easily. Though she hadn't met Su many times, she knew this friend was important to Kevin.
"Yeah."
Kevin spoke slowly. "He's been asking about what happened in Nagazora…"
"It's better he doesn't know."
"Yeah, that's what I think too."
The two shared a symbolic moment of tenderness…
Then reluctantly parted.
"Get some rest soon."
Kevin said.
"Mhm, you too."
Mei left.
Kevin watched Mei's retreating figure, a deep resolve flashing in his azure eyes…
No matter what lay ahead for them, he would protect Mei. He always would.
…
T/N: 埃尔文（Erwin）"崩坏3"
"Erwin was an important member of the "Fire Moth" organization during the pre-civilization era in Honkai Impact 3rd. He was a powerful warrior who sacrificed his life in the battle against the Honkai. He was a comrade of Kevin Kaslana, a key character in the game's background story. His deeds are chronicled in the epic tales of the pre-civilization era, representing the spirit of sacrifice made for the survival of humanity during that time."
(Who TF is this guy?????)
…
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