Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Elysia took a light sip of her milk tea and peeked her head out from the corner of the wall.

Sure enough, Michael was sitting on a metal chair in the hospital corridor, one hand clenched into a fist and propped against his chin, lost in thought.

She tiptoed over and sat down next to him.

"Oh? Ellie, you're here."

Elysia pouted. "Captain Ato has taken care of everything. The Brindisi City military police have secretly surrounded Twilight Street, and they've even deployed mechs in important areas, but no one's willing to go in. We still have to investigate ourselves."

"Did you confirm that Vill-V didn't slip away during the chaos?"

"Confirmed. There are cameras in other areas outside Twilight Street. We checked them all. We didn't find any suspicious people entering or leaving Twilight Street these past two days… Oh! Well, there were some. You and Immer, weren't you?"

"..."

"Just kidding! Are Immer and Pardo okay?"

"They're fine. Pardo was a little shaken up, and then… she kept her head buried in my chest. She was a bit oxygen-deprived and is sleeping in the ward now… Immer… got burned on his hand by the wax bullets. That little brat, I'll have to kick him back to the training camp when we get back!"

"Pfft!" Seeing Michael's indignant expression, Elysia couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

"Immer is now… socially dead! After Captain Ato sent your verbal report back to headquarters, they gave Immer a public reprimand. Now the entire Fire Moth knows not to ask Immer for grenades, hahaha!"

"Oh, right! Michael, when are you going to let me see the other side of your face!"

Elysia pressed on Michael's shoulder, leaning closer to see the other half of his face.

Michael turned his head slightly. For the sake of his image, he didn't want Ellie to see that side of his face.

"Oh, don't be shy! Let me see! Just one look!"

When a cold index finger gently brushed against his swollen cheek, Michael's body stiffened.

The soft touch on his shoulder, the fragrance wafting into his nose, and the girl's gem-like, sparkling blue and pink eyes…

In that instant, it felt like a hand had clenched his heart, making its long, powerful beat suddenly become half a beat faster, and then rapidly accelerate, like a dense drumbeat.

Then, a surge of heat rushed from his limbs into his brain. The back of his neck began to crackle with static electricity. When his gray eyes met those two flawless gems, even his pupils trembled involuntarily.

"Hey! Michael, are you okay? Why are you shaking? Oh! Your heart is beating so fast!"

Elysia squinted her eyes. It was clearly normal concern, but it somehow gave Michael the feeling that she was asking a question she already knew the answer to.

"Come on, just let me see. Or are you shy?"

She whispered softly in his ear.

But soon, the soft whisper turned into a rolling wave, making the lake in Michael's heart surge. And the small sailboat that his heartstrings had turned into kept rising and falling between the waves, finally being sent hundreds of meters into the air by the curling waves, soaring into the sky.

"Hah…"

Even a simple exhale was done carefully. Given the distance between Elysia and him, it wouldn't be difficult to hear the trembling of his breath.

So, Michael stopped struggling, letting Elysia gently turn his head.

"Pfft… hahaha!"

He knew that Elysia would react like this, but what could he do? He could only offer a helpless look at the right time.

Unexpectedly, this innocent look inexplicably hit Elysia's funny bone, making her laugh even more unrestrainedly.

"Hey! You can't make noise in the hospital!"

Michael reminded her softly.

"I'm sorry… pfft… it's just too funny… you look so… cute!"

Michael fruitlessly stretched out his hands, letting Elysia lean on him, laughing uncontrollably. He wanted to put his arm around her waist or hold her shoulders, but his hands only reached halfway, and then he just gently lifted a strand of her fluffy hair, rubbing it between his fingertips – he thought she wouldn't notice.

And when he closed his eyes helplessly, what appeared in his mind was the face of a dog ravaged by wasps…

Okay, okay… swollen is swollen, funny is funny, as long as Ellie is happy.

Besides, being called cute by Ellie made his heart secretly happy.

After laughing, Michael suddenly felt a coolness on his left cheek, a coolness that made his teeth ache, but the swelling pain almost instantly disappeared – it turned out that Elysia had put the glass of iced milk tea on his face.

"It's not summer yet, don't drink too much ice…"

Elysia pouted, not saying a word.

Michael quickly realized – the milk tea was indeed for drinking, but if it was iced, it could also be used to soothe his face.

"Look, if your face melts the ice, it won't be cold anymore! Hey! That doesn't seem to work either. The milk tea will be too weak then…"

Elysia stuck out her tongue.

"It's good that it's just swollen, not burned or disfigured… Hey! Wait! Michael, did you use your powers to heal the burns? Oh my! I didn't realize you cared so much about your looks!"

How could that be? It was just that his Herrscher constitution prevented him from being burned by wax bullets.

Michael was about to deny it, but he saw a flash of a smile on Elysia's face. He realized again that it was just Elysia's teasing.

Twilight…

Another twilight.

The sky was quietly burning, but the fire it emitted wasn't fierce, but warm, jumping through the hospital window into the corridor, making people feel lazy.

If there was a girl as beautiful as a flying flower leaning on you, you could smell her fragrance, and she would use iced milk tea to soothe your swollen face, taking a sip from the straw from time to time.

When she sipped, the distance was so close, it was as if she was about to embrace you…

Thinking about it carefully, the distance between them had been this close more than once, but Michael always felt like it was an unreal illusion.

Even after all these years, he was still worried. Worried that when he woke up, he would be back in that cold room, turning on his computer, and looking at Elysia through the screen.

Or, when he woke up, the whole world would have been destroyed, leaving him alone to face the endless, silent white of the moon…

"Hey, hey! Michael, what are you spacing out about? Are you even listening to me!"

Elysia puffed out her cheeks and poked Michael's unswollen right cheek, pulling his thoughts back from a more distant place.

"Pardo… after this mission is over, what do you plan to do?"

Elysia subtly raised her left fist, as if she was ready to punch him directly if Michael's answer didn't satisfy her – anyway, he would be able to dodge it.

"If she's willing, take her away… but… don't let her come into contact with the Fire Moth…"

"I knew it! Michael, listen to me, this time, you… hey! What did you say! You agreed to take her away! I knew it! Pardo is such a cute kid, how could you be so cold-blooded back then to leave her without saying goodbye!"

Michael chuckled awkwardly.

When he came to Twilight Street a few years ago, his mind was filled with nothing but Ellie…

He once thought that Elysia was the link that connected him to this world, which was so distant and unreal to him.

But as he walked through the world, how could he only connect with one person?

It was like trudging along a dirt road in the countryside. Even if you rolled up your pants legs high and walked carefully, your shoes and ankles would inevitably be covered in mud.

Because these were the marks of each life's existence, and they couldn't be erased.

Then there was no need to say much more. Even if it would affect the development of the plot later, it would just be that way. In this world where the end was about to come, how much worse could the worst outcome be?

Moreover, for a mortal like Pardo, when Michael reunited with her and she put on a flattering smile and called him boss, he almost shed tears, and he could no longer bear to leave her in Twilight Street.

But before leaving, he had one more thing to do.

And that person, he didn't want her to be taken back to the Fire Moth for the time being.

"Hey, did you just sniffle?" Elysia suddenly looked at him suspiciously. She had clearly just heard someone sobbing.

"No… ah…"

So, they both looked at the door of the ward. Pardo was standing there, draped in the colorful clothes made of the evening glow. She pursed her lips, tears silently sliding down, but the corners of her mouth slowly curled into a smile.