The sun sets in the west, Aimou stands in the Order Bureau’s parking lot. After a fierce interaction with Belli, Belli finally recomnds that Aimou wear her usual ordinary clothes.
"No, no," Belli picks up a piece of clothing, pretending to blush, "These clothes are a bit too ahead of their ti for a child."
Considering the previous dress-up was purely for Belli’s amusent, Aimou doesn’t have the ti to waste. She carefully tidies herself up and heads to the parking lot, waiting for that familiar blue car.
Perhaps due to Belli’s words, Aimou feels a change in her mood and becos a little nervous, sotis adjusting her hem, sotis fiddling with her hair.
She felt like an Alchemy Armant about to undergo a test, going through one last round of tight adjustnts before the test begins.
She sniffed the air, a faint fragrance wafted around, a scent Belli had prepared for Aimou before departure.
"Honestly, I think Bologue would prefer this scent."
Belli pulls out a compressed container from sowhere, which doesn’t seem like a proper perfu at all.
Aimou picked up the compressed container, and the label "Special Universal Potion" caught her eye.
Special Universal Potion produced by Sublimation Furnace Core, able to address all sorts of chanical issues like rust removal, rust prevention, lubrication... In the Sublimation Furnace Core, it’s a standard item to have, even Aimou keeps a few for maintaining her Steel Body.
Due to its practicality, Alchemists really like the thing, and its strong pungent sll certainly makes it morable.
Aimou resisted a chuckle, "Maybe Bologue would truly like this."
Belli brightly recomnded, "Right, right."
"But never mind! It’s ti after work, don’t exude a scent that reminds people of working!"
Aimou firmly vetoed it.
Returning to the present mont, Bologue didn’t make Aimou wait long. The blue car appeared in view, accompanied by the low growl of the engine, stopping right in front of Aimou.
The car window on the driver’s side rolled down, revealing Bologue gripping the steering wheel. They nodded in acknowledgnt, and Aimou walked around to the other side, getting into the passenger seat.
At the mont, Aimou was unaware of the changed circumstances.
Buckling up the seatbelt, thinking about what’s next, Aimou felt extrely happy, completely forgetting to ask about Bologue’s rarely seen experience of sitting in the driver’s seat.
The car turn onto the street, the interior unexpectedly quiet, Bologue didn’t ask Aimou about work as usual but rather looked straight ahead, silent, while Aimou’s mind was a ss from the previous conversation with Belli, unsure what to say.
Duel, it’s all about seizing the initiative.
Aimou took a deep breath, various sentences rolled through her mind, and she took the lead to speak.
"We..."
"So..."
Both spoke in unison, the atmosphere beca awkward, Aimou quickly followed up.
"You first..."
"You go ahead..."
They froze, completely froze.
Bologue sighed, even though he’s a man of steel, after experiencing so much in these few days, now heading to an appointnt, it inevitably dulled his sharp thoughts.
Aimou tried to take control of the topic, "So... where are we going next?"
"Well, I have a new idea," Bologue hesitated, "but it’s... um... more of a private activity."
"Are we doing it together?"
Aimou was puzzled by Bologue’s confusing words. Instantaneously, her mind retrieved hundreds of similar conversational scenarios, various plotlines rapidly playing out...
Her hand rested on the door handle as if preparing to jump out, but reason prevailed over instinct, and she asked, "Where to?"
"My place."
"Huh?"
To relieve the awkwardness, Bologue mimicked what Serey had once said, "I have a cat at ho that does backflips, want to see it?"
Aimou was silent for a mont, even though her face was expressionless, the progress bar in her eyes was scrolling at an incredibly fast speed.
"The tiger cub is not found without entering the tiger’s den."
Aimou answered with a bold voice, "Sure!"
Upon hearing this, Bologue breathed a sigh of relief, when suddenly a voice erged from the back seat.
"I told you she would agree, no one can refuse a party hosted by Palr!"
Aimou sharply looked up to find the rearview mirror filled to the brim. Eyes shifted to the back seat, where Palr sat in the middle, on the right was the furry Hart, on the left was the tall skeletal fra of Bode, holding Wei’Er in his arms.
"Woohoo!"
Palr twisted the party popper, sending a shower of sparkling fragnts throughout the carriage. Behind Aimou, Bode pulled out a garland, like celebrating Aimou’s birthday, and placed it on her head.
"Wait... wait a mont."
Aimou’s mind froze, just as Wei’Er crawled over from the back, snuggling into Aimou’s arms.
"I can flip one for you right now."
With that, Wei’Er did five consecutive backflips in Aimou’s arms, her fluffy tail brushing against Aimou’s face five tis.
At the corner of her vision, Aimou glanced at Bologue. Not surprisingly, he looked like a true professional; even in such a situation, Bologue remained serious, his hands steadily gripping the steering wheel.
A few hours ago, after an inexplicably strange conversation with Lebius, Bologue and Palr had essentially taken a break, sitting on the couch discussing what to do in the afternoon.
Suddenly, Bologue said, "By the way, Aimou asked to go out tonight."
"Oh."
Palr’s reaction was quite indifferent; he had just woken up.
"I think Aimou might be feeling lonely at the Order Bureau," Bologue worried, "She doesn’t know many people, and doesn’t have many friends..."
Bologue understood Aimou’s feelings. At first, Bologue had been alone too, for a long ti thinking he couldn’t make any friends. Luckily, Bologue didn’t care too much about that; the number of friends didn’t interfere with his ability to smash enemy’s heads.
But unknowingly, Bologue gradually connected with many people, and his daily life beca more varied, filled with randomness. Tonight he might go to the movies with soone; tomorrow night, he might chat idly at a bar.
The world is vast, so vast that so people never fully traverse it in their lifeti. Now Aimou had arrived in this world but seed at odds with it.
The world was right before her, yet she was unable to step into it.
Bologue always felt a sense of responsibility for Aimou. He had rescued her from despair and suggested she join the Special Operations Group. He felt he should be responsible for Aimou until she could stand alone.
"Why not throw a party for her?" Palr proposed, "The mbers of the Undying Club are experts at this."
Bologue didn’t refuse. He wanted to share his friends with Aimou, so she could shed so of her alienation in this vast world and establish closer connections.
Most importantly, whenever he saw Aimou, Bologue felt he was seeing himself from a certain period in the past.
Back then, he was alone, no one to save him, and experiencing such sorrow once was enough. Bologue chose to extend his hand, as if this could transcend ti, to save himself back then, bringing a bit of peace to his present self.
"Don’t be nervous; everyone here is nice!"
Palr leaned forward from the back seat, speaking to Aimou while searching for sothing.
Aimou was completely dazed. She had seen these people before but wasn’t very familiar with them.
Several pairs of eyes t hers. Bode gave Aimou a thumbs-up, his well-maintained bones gleaming smoothly. He had taken good care of his skeletal fra.
Hart seed a bit awkward but quickly mimicked Bode’s gesture, also giving Aimou a thumbs-up.
"Ha! Found it!"
Palr pulled out a cassette tape, inserted it into the car radio, and turned up the volu.
"What is love?"
The music mixed with a male voice instantly engulfed Aimou.
"Baby, don’t hurt !"
Aimou felt she was at a joyful dance party, though the venue felt sowhat too cramped.
Palr started nodding his head on his own. Seeing Bode and Hart were unmoved, he nudged them with his elbow. Reluctantly, they began nodding along in sync.
"What is love?"
Seeing Bologue still grim-faced, Palr patted him, "Hey! Stop pretending to be dead."
Bologue resolutely stared ahead, yet Palr continued shouting in his ear, "We agreed on this!"
The relentless lody persisted. Through the rearview mirror, Hart and Bode had fully imrsed themselves in the song. Although still sowhat unwilling, they eyed Bologue with the intention of dragging him into it.
Bologue kept his stern expression but started nodding his head along with them.
"What is love?"
The four synchronized their head movents, causing even the car to sway along. Aimou thought if there were colored lights, they would be flashing too.
Aimou sank into her seat, sowhat dazed. Belli was right; to them, this wasn’t really a duel but more a crazy dance party.
Her gaze swept to the rearview mirror, seeing Palr nodding while looking at her. Aimou understood his aning; these lunatics were inviting her to join the dance party too.
Aimou took a deep breath, abandoned her thoughts, and joined the craziness, humming along with the song.
"What is love?"
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