Endless Silver Machine

Senior Tiluya and Wei Xi, who had finished bathing, returned to the small room, while Luoluo and Ling came to the shower room together.

This meeting took longer than expected. It was already past ten o'clock in the evening, and there were not many staff in the aisle.

The sound of rushing water echoed in the empty shower room, and there was only a thin board between Luoluo and Ling.

"Sister Ling."

Luoluo held the towel tightly in his hand, knowing that Ling was on the other side of the partition, but still shouted softly as if asking for permission.

"What's wrong? Do you want to borrow shampoo?"

Ling's voice came from the other side, with the same familiar tone as usual, but having had the experience of being concealed, Luo Luo was not sure yet.

Moreover, the words Ling whispered to him in the custody room also made Luoluo very concerned.

"Is she the real sister Ling now..."

"Eh?"

I couldn't see Ling's expression, so I didn't know why she hesitated.

But Ling immediately laughed out loud. Luoluo's question completely surprised her.

"Yes, the Light Flame Sword hasn't come out for a long time, and I won't let her 'borrow' my body again."

She wiped away Luoluo's confusion with her brisk tone.

Ling originally thought that Luo Luo's mind was full of irrelevant doubts, but she didn't expect that she still had time to care about her own affairs.

"That's it... Sister Ling at that time seemed to know the 'Heart of Orchid' very well. I thought it was the Light Flame Sword..."

"I said before that part of the memory of the Light Flame Sword was left to me, and the ability of the 'Heart of Orchid' is also in that memory."

Luoluo didn't want to ask anything else from Ling's mouth. After confirming that Ling was herself, she suddenly didn't want to talk about her magic costume ability anymore.

When Luoluo knew the true ability of "Orchid Heart", a knot had already formed in her heart, but she has been hiding it until now.

That's why Luoluo felt fear when Ling comforted himself with a completely see-through tone.

Ling seemed to sense Luoluo's current mood from her silence, and swallowed the continuation of those words in the ward.

"I am the only daughter of the Heinz family, so it may be difficult to understand your feelings. If there is a chance, it may be easier to tell him directly."

"How could you say such a thing to your brother!"

Even the person he likes the most doubts it, and Luoluo doesn't want to admit that he is such a person.

"If you don't dare to say it, it's because you don't believe it yourself."

Ling closed the door when she entered the shower room. If someone came in, the sound of the door opening would be obvious in the empty bathroom.

In this way, there is no need to worry about letting others hear what Luo Luo wants to hide. Ling hits Luo Luo's inner weakness mercilessly and loudly.

"You only got the 'Heart of Orchid' a year ago, right? Were the times before that all fake?"

"That was not what I meant!"

Luoluo unconsciously raised his voice, and the harsh echo shook his eardrums. Only then did Luoluo realize how ridiculous he was for trying so hard to refute Ling.

You are smart enough to make random suspicions, but you do not allow others to trample on things that you cannot let go of.

"That's why I said you two need to take some time to talk. It's useless for me to say anything now anyway... By the way, do you want to use my shampoo?"

"……Um."

Luoluo took the shampoo handed over by Ling. There was also a bottle of shampoo on her shelf that she had just opened yesterday.

In fact, he didn't need to borrow such a thing, but when Ling said this, the anger that he thought would be ignited instantly receded like a tide.

Luoluo made bubbles from the shampoo he borrowed from Ling. The scent of lemon that didn't belong to him but was extremely familiar slowly rose with the water vapor.

Recalling the ugly way in which Ling easily aroused anger, Luoluo calmed down and understood Ling's special way of caring as an older sister, and began to consider her suggestions.

…………

Aika returned to the small room where men lived alone, and was immediately dragged into a game by the third-year seniors from the support department who lived with her to play a game of "not being discovered by the instructor, which can enhance friendship."

In fact, it is just an ordinary card game, but with elements similar to gambling added, and the chips are the croquettes that "Mistas" has for lunch.

At first, Aika just had the mentality of having fun, thinking that the croquettes were just insignificant things, but as she played, she became attracted to the ups and downs of mood caused by winning or losing.

The young boy fell into gambling in less than an hour. Not only did he lose a few pieces of potato pancakes mixed with minced meat, but he also failed to notice the text messages he received on his PDA. .

Until there was a gentle knock on the door of the small room, the group of boys hurriedly pushed all the cards on the small table under the bed.

This movement made a loud noise, and the cautious knocking on the door stopped immediately.

"It shouldn't be the mentor, otherwise he would have barged in a long time ago."

"No matter who it is, anyway, we were just exchanging experiences with Aika, and then my feet went numb when I stood up. We are all on the same page."

"learn."

Although I don't know how the seniors plan to fool the people who come to "inspect", in short, just agree with them like they did, then shut up obediently and sit aside.

The senior who "hit his foot" pretended to be limping and went to open the door. Aika, who was sitting by the bed, noticed that his PDA was thrown on the bed just like at home.

As if he had checked his mail out of habit, he noticed the text message he had received ten minutes ago.

"Hello……"

The careless senior's first reaction when he opened the door was to stutter out an honorific.

It's just that the other person is not the terrifying instructor who came to inspect, but just a school girl who is a head shorter than him.

"sorry……"

The girl outside the door seemed to be frightened by the senior who suddenly opened the door. Although she could still speak completely, her body was definitely shaking like her voice.

"Excuse me, brother... um, classmate Aika, does he live here?"

…………

The visitor was her sister, which made Aika really embarrassed for a while.

The senior, who was only wearing an undershirt, probably didn't know if he could invite Luo Luo in. Apart from the initial greeting, he stood still and didn't move.

"Sorry, it's my sister."

Aika knew it was her even before she heard the sound, because the text message that had been placed for more than ten minutes said that she would be here.

Just by reading the text message, we could tell that Luoluo had no intention of knocking on the door and disturbing her. She hoped that Aika would come out of the boy's room after seeing the text message.

It was probably because he was left alone in the corridor for too long that he had the courage to knock on the boy's room door.

"I'll go out with her for a while, and I'll try to come back before the seniors go to bed."

Aika politely pushed aside the senior who was blocking the door like a rusty robot, and pulled Luoluo, who was also standing blankly in the corridor, out of the boys' small room.

In short, she could not continue to be stared at by other boys while wearing only gauze pajamas.

…………

Aika didn't know where to take Lolo, and when he came to his senses, he had already reached the main deck.

The night breeze blowing in her face made Luo Luo, who was only wearing a thin nightgown, shiver all over.

"Is it cold?"

"Um."

"Don't wear this kind of clothes when you come out."

Aika was still wearing his uniform in the room of the sweatshirt seniors, and now he took off his coat and put it on Lolo.

When Luoluo appeared at the door of the room, the seniors in the same room stared straight-eyed. This was the original intention of Aika to take her out of there.

He knew that Luoluo was only here to see him, so only he could possess this defenseless appearance.

"I was already ready to go to bed..." Luoluo wrapped Aika's coat tighter, "I thought my brother would come out on his own."

"What if I didn't look at the PDA until I went to bed? In fact, if you hadn't knocked on the door, I wouldn't have known you were waiting for me."

"Well, what my brother did was different from what I expected."

Luo Luo sounded a little happy when he said this. Shouldn't he be angry at this time?

"Are they all asleep?"

"Probably not yet."

Didn't she just say "get ready to sleep"?

Aika sometimes feels that she has no idea what Luoluo is thinking.

He originally thought he knew everything about Luoluo, but now he has discovered countless unknown secrets, which attracted Aika's thirst for knowledge.

He doesn't even know why she came to find him now.

Known as the floating island ruins that are like spring all year round, the moonlight is beautiful tonight.

"Brother, go to that side."

The open-air main deck is very large and very high, and the evening breeze brings a slight chill, so it is not really a good place for a heart-to-heart talk.

Aika originally wanted Luoluo to return to the ship. Now there are basically no people walking around in the ship, but his footsteps followed Luoluo.

Walking out of the shadows of the ship's buildings, we came to the main deck filled with moonlight.

"Standing here and looking at the night sky is like admiring the moon."

After I left my hometown with Luoluo, I never admired the moon again.

Luoluo's words couldn't help but remind Aika of the days when he lived in the village with his family. Luoluo was probably thinking about the same thing.

"The full moon can only be seen once a year, but here you can see it every day."

Aika stood next to Luoluo, put her hands on the fence, and looked up with her at the full moon in the sky.

The bright moon of this shape is not visible in spring in reality, but it also has an illusory beauty.

"Because this place is isolated from the real world."

It seemed too unreasonable to say such words at this time, but the target was Luo Luo, and she wouldn't mind such a thing.

"Even if it's fake, I still like it."

"How about staying here from now on?"

"Um."

Aika said it casually as a joke, but Luoluo answered him seriously.

With Luoluo's affirmative reply, Aika even felt that she could turn the joke into reality.

"Luoluo, are you homesick?"

Aika rarely mentioned things about her hometown in front of Luoluo, in order to try not to make her sad because of homesickness.

Perhaps because he was affected by Luoluo's words tonight, and it was rare to be alone with her in a more peaceful environment, Aika asked this question out of nowhere.

Luoluo didn't answer for a long time, and Aika thought that if she didn't want to touch this topic, then talk about something else.

"Where's my brother?"

"me?"

The answer he got after a long silence was Luoluo's rhetorical question. But her tone already told him the answer Aika wanted to know.

"...Occasionally, like now."

They are already so old, and even in front of Luoluo, Aika doesn't want to admit it frankly.

No, it’s because the person I’m facing is Luo Luo, so I don’t want to bring my emotions to her.

"Are you going home during the summer vacation?"

"I'll probably go back and have a look, if there's nothing else urgent."

At the beginning of the new semester, Aika once made such a promise to Luoluo.

The two people's hometown is a rural village where the magic train is not even open. There is no way to communicate except going home in person.

"When we go back, won't our parents recognize us?"

"How is that possible? Have you grown much..."

After receiving a sideways glance from Luo Luo, Aika consciously closed her mouth.

"There are still three months, it will be a long time to wait."

"Three months is not a long time. After returning home, I still have something to ask dad."

"Is it about the magic costume?"

"Well, we have been kept secret for such a long time. Luoluo should also have something he wants to ask, right?"

"So that's it..." Luoluo smiled lightly, "I don't want to ask now. Even if I get a positive answer, there won't be much change."

The changes so far are countless. The changes Luoluo mentioned are only for "now".

Even the relationship between the two has changed.

This change may have occurred before the obscure truth surfaced, and Aika was just using this excuse to convince herself.

The night gradually deepened, and even Aika felt the chill.

If the instructors find out that the two of them are still staying in this place, they will inevitably have to lecture them.

"Go back to Mystis. If you continue to blow in the wind here, you'll catch a cold."

"Brother is afraid of the cold?"

"I mean you will catch a cold, even if you are wearing my coat, your legs will be exposed."

"In that case...just use your body to warm me up."

"Do not make jokes……"

Aika was speechless because he could not see the frivolous joke in Luoluo's expression, which was her heartfelt wish.

She is longing for herself, and only a hug can make her convinced that she is not alone. This unconditional dependence binds Aika's body and heart in place.

"Can't we just go back...I've already said what I wanted to say..."

Aika almost raised his hand following her words, but the remaining willpower did not allow him to take a step.

Not responding to her words was rejection, which was undoubtedly the right thing to do at this time, but the word "rejection" forced Aika to hesitate.

"Can't you?"

Luoluo put down the arms tightly wrapped in Aika's coat. Under the open coat, the curves of her nightgown were faintly visible.

Her exposed calves were slightly bent into a pigeon-toed shape in the wind, but she still believed that Aika would respond to her expectations.

Just before the string in Aika's heart was about to break, a voice sounded from the shadow where the moonlight did not reach.

"Although I suggest you come and talk to him, there should be no results from such a request."

"who!"

"Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest the instructor."

The man who spoke stepped out of the shadows with his hands in his hands.

Only then did Aika's tense nerves relax.

"What, it turns out to be Ling."

"Apart from us who have nothing to do, who else would come out in such a cold place in the middle of the night?"

"Sister Ling, why are you here?"

Luoluo, who was also startled by Ling's sudden voice, immediately hugged his chest, even though the other person was not someone who needed to cover up like this.

"I was thinking, if I don't follow you, something will go wrong."

"So you followed Luoluo?"

Aika was speechless. He wanted to know why Ling did this.

Judging from her first sentence, it seems that it was her idea for Luoluo to come to her at this time.

Ling approached Aika and Luoluo. The positions of the three people subtly formed an equilateral triangle.

"I don't need Sister Ling to decide what I do..."

Luoluo knew that everything just happened was seen by Ling, and he lost his momentum even though he was more reasonable.

"Is it enough to do this? Hasn't Aika persisted for so long?"

"I'm not patient!"

"Here we go again, just treat it like this."

Ling's attention was now focused on Luo Luo, and she waved her hand to dismiss him as if she had no interest in Aika.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Anyway, this was planned by the two of you, right? Can you explain it?"

"Nothing to complain about. If you ask about a girl's secrets casually, you will be hacked to death."

"This is the first time I know the consequences are so serious."

Aika looked at Luo Luo in front of her, and she seemed to be very happy and smiled at herself.

Tonight's Luoluo was very strange. Her words and actions that might normally make her feel awkward could make her feel satisfied.

It was as if he hoped that he could go against her wishes.

After noticing this, Aika began to feel anxious, but he tried his best to conceal it in front of Luoluo.

"I apologize for messing up your atmosphere. I'll take Luo Luo back. It's not good for others to see you two together so late."

"Well, please."

You can really rest assured if you leave Luo Luo to Ling.

Luoluo reluctantly took off Aika's coat. The gauze-like nightgown floated gently as she walked closer. The moonlight lit up the figure under the skirt with hazy fluorescence. Aika could not pay attention to that kind of place. .

When Luo Luo returned the warm coat to his hands, he finally raised his head and looked into Aika's eyes.

"I'm sorry, brother. I thought you wouldn't refuse..."

"I don't mean to refuse, it's just that... it's inconvenient..."

Aika couldn't find the words to defend herself at all, and no matter what words she used, she couldn't clearly express her true thoughts.

Because even I don’t know what the so-called real thoughts are.

"It's okay, so I can rest assured."

"rest assured?"

"Yes. Sister Ling and I are going back. Good night."

Before Aika's question was answered, Luoluo turned and left after speaking.

Only her body temperature remained in the coat in her hands, and it would soon be taken away by the evening breeze.

"Idiot, go to bed early. Don't let what happened tonight affect tomorrow's mission."

Ling's concern is as oblique as ever, but this sentence will also become one of tonight's memories.

"the same as you."

Aika will stay here to adjust her mood before going back. It feels like a long time has passed and I wonder if the seniors are angry.

Aika sat down against the fence and looked up at the night sky within the large barrier.

Even though it is at least a product of magic power, it is still beautiful.

Of course, this beautiful scenery is just an illusion. Illusion gave birth to reality, and reality accompanied illusion.

So reality can never be touched, only infinitely close.