Just as the two were locked in their stalemate, and Kevin was thinking to himself that he couldn't let this pointless deadlock continue any longer—he was planning to get serious and show Kalpas a thing or two—suddenly, BANG! A tremendous crash, like thunder from a clear sky. The small room's door was actually kicked right open by Vya.
That kick was delivered with such crisp decisiveness because the door simply offered no resistance whatsoever.
Even if it had been closed, even if it had been several grades sturdier, its fate of being kicked open would have remained unchanged.
Vya came bouncing in happily.
As soon as she entered, she saw Kalpas and Kevin frozen in an odd posture. Kalpas had his hand reaching out to grab Kevin, while Kevin had his arms raised in a block. Neither was yielding, the atmosphere so tense you could almost see sparks flying.
She tilted her head to one side, immediately a little confused, and asked with innocent curiosity, "Brother Kalpas, Brother Kevin, what are you doing? Are you playing some fun game? Vya wants to play too!"
As she spoke, Vya excitedly raised her little hand high, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Kevin and Kalpas exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of awkwardness in the other's eyes. Then, with lightning speed, they released their force and swiftly separated.
"Huh? Why did you stop?"
Vya blinked her big eyes, her face full of bewilderment.
The reason they moved so fast was partly because they didn't want Vya to mistakenly think they were fighting.
And the other part... well, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but deep down, they both vaguely felt they probably couldn't win against Vya...
Kevin had known Vya for a while now and was well aware that she was the type of child who was particularly easy to fool—she'd believe just about anything you told her. But who could bear to deceive such an adorable, pure-hearted child with a guilty conscience?
"...This is a game only boys can play," Kevin thought for a moment and explained.
"Oh, really?" Vya tilted her little head, looking utterly adorable. She first looked at Kevin, then turned a questioning gaze toward Kalpas, as if to confirm whether what Kevin said was true.
Kalpas felt thoroughly uneasy under Vya's innocent, earnest stare. He subconsciously turned his head away and spoke with a hint of helplessness, "Yeah, what the kid said is right..."
"So that's how it is," Vya clapped her little hands happily. "It looks like you two big brothers already know each other! You're even playing games together already. Does that mean you've become friends?"
Vya looked at the two of them with an expectant expression, her eyes seeming to say that she'd be overjoyed if they just said yes.
Unexpectedly, what they said next turned out to be surprisingly in sync.
"Friends might be a stretch..." Kevin forced out a slightly awkward smile. He really hadn't smiled much lately, after all, there was so much to worry about every day. But faced with Vya now, he couldn't help it.
Seeing this rare smile on Kevin's face, Kalpas revised his opinion of Kevin a little. So that icy expression wasn't permanently welded onto Kevin's face after all.
"But we definitely hit it off," Kalpas stated flatly. At this moment, his mind was exceptionally clear, his intelligence fully online, behaving with a cool-headedness that was almost extraordinary.
That's right, 'hit it off.' That was the honest truth. Hadn't they just been literally hitting each other, thoroughly 'hitting it off'?
Hearing this, Kevin shot a surprised glance at Kalpas. 'Hmm... I might have underestimated Kalpas a bit,' he thought to himself. 'His reaction just now was pretty quick. He seems kinda clever...'
"Wow, that's great! Both big brothers have a new friend now. Vya is so happy too~" Vya said, clapping her hands with a beaming smile.
"Alright, Vya, time to take care of business," Sakura's voice came from the other side of the door. Only then did Kevin and Kalpas realize that, at some point, another person had also arrived here.
As soon as he saw Sakura, Kalpas seemed to be stung by something, his body tensing slightly. But he was quite composed now and quickly restrained his emotions.
"Ah, Sister Sakura is right! We need to take Brother Kalpas to Sister Aponia now," Vya suddenly smacked her forehead as if remembering something important.
As for Aponia, she was currently with Elysia.
And Pardo, having just "joined" MOTH, was being shown around the base by Tesla. Of course, for Pardo, this was more or less like casing the joint. She was probably already figuring out where she might snag some treasures.
"That idio—" Kalpas started to say 'that idiot woman,' but suddenly remembered Vya was here and quickly changed his tune, "...That woman, where is she?"
"Oh, Sister Aponia is with Sister Elysia. Vya will take you there right now," Vya said with a smile.
"Alright," Kalpas nodded, then followed Vya out.
"Bye-bye, big brother and sister!" Vya called out, waving over her shoulder as she walked.
"Mhm, bye," Sakura waved back to Vya.
Watching the two figures recede, Sakura had initially been a bit uneasy about Kalpas, having crossed blades with him before. Even though she knew Kalpas hadn't been in his right state then, she still remained wary. But seeing Kalpas's rather gentle attitude toward Vya, it seemed there was no need to worry at all.
Sakura turned her head to look at Kevin beside her and couldn't help asking curiously, "So, did you really become friends with that Kalpas?" She asked purely from the standpoint of a comrade.
Kevin shook his head, his expression calm. "No, I was just testing his skills."
"How did it feel?" Sakura was particularly curious about Kevin's answer, as she had deeply experienced Kalpas's strength firsthand.
"I will live," Kevin replied, still with that cool composure.
"..." Sakura was momentarily speechless. 'Uh, I kinda regret talking to him,' she thought. 'Does he always answer questions like this?'
And so, Sakura made a quick exit. Her tasks were all finished, and now she just wanted to hurry back and see if her little sister had returned yet.
Watching Sakura's retreating figure, Kevin didn't dwell on it and simply turned to leave on his own.
He now had a new matter weighing on his mind, concerning Su. He needed to think carefully about how to handle this.
Kevin had actually wanted to go see Su more than once, but he didn't want to drag his good friend into this affair. Lately, however, he'd had no choice but to pay attention to the situation.
Dr. Spacy from the Technical Department had recently taken notice of Su and seemed intent on recruiting him into MOTH.
Perhaps he should go have a talk with him.
Regarding this Spacy, Kevin remembered him well. During an experiment, Spacy's arm had been severely corrupted by Honkai energy. Mei, without hesitation, had Kevin cut off Spacy's arm, thereby saving his life.
...
Truthfully, in Kevin's heart, he still wanted to go talk to Su personally...
…
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