After getting off the train, Shu left by himself.
After all, he had snuck out of the outpost. He couldn't just walk back in grandly like Bianka and the others.
After finding a way to return to the Fire Moth base, Shu didn't go back to rest immediately. Instead, he first found Otto and had him turn off the Mosquito's Breath disguise.
Then he went to the thirteenth underground level to retrieve the Scepter that was protecting the base.
As soon as the separated Scepter was retrieved, Shu felt a wave of intense fatigue rush to his head.
From the moment the Scepter was deployed, the massive amount of information it collected and fed back had kept Shu in a state of high excitement.
It was like having a high-frequency, high-power strobe light in his head, making it uncomfortable to either open or close his eyes.
But Shu didn't dare not do it.
The last time the Scepter hadn't provided information every second of every day, a ghost had gotten into his house and he hadn't even been able to react.
Shu would not allow himself to make the same avoidable mistake twice.
Shu's endurance was already beyond that of an ordinary person. He could endure being cut into a thousand pieces or being crushed and remolded.
But when this kind of mental torment had lasted for a day and a night, Shu still felt tired.
It was just that this fatigue had been forcibly dispelled by the excitement brought by the separation of the Scepter. Retrieving the Scepter now was like pulling the rug out from under him.
It was a testament to his willpower that he hadn't just collapsed on the thirteenth underground level.
But now it seemed that his willpower might have been better spent...
Without the Mosquito's Breath device, Shu had to avoid people. So he simply imitated the original Mosquito's Breath and made his presence almost disappear.
He stumbled back to his room, forcing his eyelids open. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a certain white figure with its butt in the air, about to jump out of his window.
And across the window, there seemed to be a golden figure ready to catch her.
Shu's almost-closed eyelids opened slightly. His first reaction was to wonder who in Fire Moth would dare to steal from him.
Picking a fight with the boss?
He took a closer look. The two white braids, the stubborn crescent-shaped ahoge, the dazed face that couldn't suppress its foolishness...
Oh, it's Kiana.
Shu was silent for a moment. His eyes moved slightly, looking at the person who was preparing to "catch" Kiana.
Hiss... are Bianka and Kiana really that close already?
The three of them looked at each other, two pairs of pure, azure-blue eyes looking at a pair of half-drooping, tired eyes. A second later, Shu took half a step back and was about to silently close the door.
A foot shot into the gap in the door like lightning. The door and the door frame squeezed the slipper on that foot, and it looked like it was about to crush the foot. Shu's eyelid twitched, and he stopped closing the door.
As expected, when he looked up, he saw Kiana's fawning face.
"Hehe, you're back?" Kiana said with a smile, but her expression was more or less guilty.
"..." After a long while, Shu finally broke his silence. "Actually, I could have come back later."
As he spoke, Shu pulled on the door again, trying to close it. But Kiana had no intention of retracting her foot. Instead, she gave Shu a sheepish smile. "We came to find you. The sooner you come back, the better."
Find me?
Shu was taken aback. He stopped his plan to retreat and let Kiana do as she pleased, and pushed the door open to enter his room.
"What's the matter?" Shu looked around his room and found a chair. He was still hesitating whether to let Kiana sit when she had already plopped down on his bed.
Perhaps because she had sat down too hard, Kiana bounced up and down a couple of times in front of him.
Shu: "..."
Having steadied herself, Kiana heard Shu's question and immediately became serious. "Shu, do you remember Kevin?"
Shu, who was pulling out a chair, suddenly froze. He looked up and stared at Kiana for a moment, then decisively turned his gaze to Bianka, who was still across the window.
My identity has been exposed? Bianka has already gone to Kiana to complain?! The two of them have come to my door to demand an explanation?!
But that was a spar!
Wait... come to think of it, he and Bianka hadn't really communicated directly. What if the "tacit understanding" between them was just his wishful thinking?
From Bianka's perspective, it was indeed possible that he had just bullied her indiscriminately...
Thinking of this, Shu couldn't help but gasp.
Is it too late for me to apologize and explain now?
Seeing Shu staring at Bianka in a daze, Kiana also turned around. When she saw Shu's slight gasp, she suddenly realized something.
Bianka had said that she and Shu hadn't actually met, right?
Then this was the first time Shu was seeing Bianka?
Indeed. She had also been surprised when she had first seen Bianka.
Unlike the other people she knew, Bianka was someone she had known about after reading the "original story." It was a completely different feeling from Mei and Aunty Himeko.
So Shu was now wondering why Bianka was here, right! Even though Bianka had been standing there for a long time, had Shu only just noticed? He's gotten so complacent, Shu...
Wait... was Bianka still in her room?
Kiana was startled. She quickly jumped up from the bed and ran to the window, waving at Bianka. "Come on!"
"I..." Bianka's brain suddenly short-circuited. "How do I get there?"
Logically, she should go downstairs, then to the door, and have Shu or Kiana open it for her. But Kiana's posture... she really wanted her to jump over from the window!
Wouldn't she be executed on the spot by Senior Shu for doing that?!
Bianka cast a slightly flustered glance at Shu. Shu, who was thinking about how to explain to Bianka that he was really just guiding and sparring, had his brain freeze for a moment, then looked away to avoid her gaze.
Bianka: Does that mean he doesn't care?
Shu: Is she hinting at me? Is Kiana telling Bianka to hurry up and make a move?
Kiana: I actually left Bianka alone over there for so long. Am I an idiot?!
The three completely different thoughts ultimately led to one result.
Bianka gritted her teeth, and as if throwing caution to the wind, she stepped onto the windowsill like Kiana had before, and with a light leap, jumped into Shu's room.
Shu, who had been thinking wildly due to extreme fatigue, had his mind clear up a bit. He then threw all those slightly abstract guesses out of his mind and sighed.
So... Kiana had come to find him because Bianka had told her about "Kevin," and she was here to inform him that "Kevin" had appeared, right?