Facing the fierce wind, Sylvia stared wide-eyed at Firefly.
Even before they hit the water, Sylvia hadn't fully processed Firefly's stroke of genius.
Seriously, how could this kid, who couldn't even swim, drag her into a dive from hundreds of meters up?
Before her mind could catch up, the sparkling water surface below was already rushing toward them—
Crash—
At least Sylvia had the sense to raise her arms and enter fingertips-first.
But that silly girl Firefly? One hand clutching Sylvia, the other splayed out wide, she went face-first right into the water.
A huge splash erupted.
Both plunged beneath the surface.
The water was so clear, distant fish could be seen swimming.
Sylvia quickly tightened her grip, pulling Firefly over and wrapping her in an embrace.
Glug-glug-glug—
Snug in Sylvia's arms, Firefly covered her bright red forehead with one hand and grinned goofily at Sylvia.
Then promptly gulped down a mouthful of seawater.
"…"
Well, she seemed fine, at least.
Glamoth tech was clearly top-notch—her head was solid as a rock.
Holding Firefly tightly, Sylvia swam upward toward the surface.
By now, Sylvia had come to her senses.
She herself wasn't worried about surviving without oxygen, and Firefly was plenty strong, having surely walked a Path herself—drowning shouldn't be a risk either.
But Sylvia still broke through the surface with Firefly in her arms, lifting their heads above water.
After all, even if you couldn't drown, swallowing a bellyful of seawater would still be miserable.
"Ehehe~ That was fun! But Sylvia, why are you holding me? Aww, were you scared?"
Firefly was still rubbing her reddened forehead—whether from bashfulness or the impact was unclear—her face flushed.
Her damp bangs clung to her skin, giving her a somewhat silly look.
And since Sylvia was still holding her close, their faces were nearly touching, each able to feel the other's breath.
Sylvia's chest was quite well-developed, and now pressed together, even her shoulder straps were wrinkled.
The full, squeezed curves, seemingly on the verge of spilling out, fell into both their lines of sight.
"…Who's scared."
Sylvia was utterly speechless, but seeing Firefly clutching her forehead, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why'd you go face-first like a dummy? You scared me half to death, I thought you'd really hurt yourself…"
Even called a 'dummy,' Firefly just giggled happily and explained:
"Hehe, it's my first time diving, you know… I didn't know it'd hurt this much. When I used to fight underwater in SAM, I'd just crash right in."
"…You're not wearing SAM all the time now. Really, be more careful."
"Got it, got it. Kafka isn't even this naggy."
Firefly let go of her forehead and draped her arms over Sylvia's shoulders, relaxing her whole body and letting herself hang onto Sylvia.
Sylvia released her hold too, and then watched as the tightly pressed curves, buoyed by the water, spread apart with a lively, elastic bounce.
They maintained a gentle, yielding pressure, swaying softly with the waves.
In that interplay of stillness and motion lay a perfect interpretation of the human form's beauty.
It almost made Sylvia want to pull out her phone and record it.
But…
Sylvia looked up at Firefly's beaming face, thought for a moment, and asked: "So, you planned from the start to have me teach you to swim, didn't you!"
"Hehe, teach me, please, Teacher Sylvia. I always used SAM to swim before."
Oh, wonderful. After just a few days apart, she's already learned to act cute.
Out with it! Who taught you this? Was it Silver Wolf, up to no good again?!
--+--
Meanwhile, at the Stellaron Hunters' hideout.
Achoo—!
Silver Wolf, in the middle of grinding on her controller, let out a huge, sudden sneeze. Kafka, sitting beside her, turned and said with a smile:
"Darling, did you catch a chill last night?"
"No way! It's definitely Sylvia cursing me! My intuition tells me so."
Kafka covered her mouth with one hand, laughing.
Is Sylvia really talking about you, or do you just want to go play with Sylvia and the others?
"Baby, if you want to join them, you could just ask Firefly."
"Who wants to go, who wants to go—!"
Silver Wolf's voice instantly jumped several octaves. Then, pursing her lips, she added:
"The other day, I saw Firefly looking up guides all day long. I didn't have the heart to bother her. The kid finally gets to play freely—let her enjoy herself."
Hearing Silver Wolf adopt such a parental, almost old-fashioned tone, Kafka couldn't help but think she was just being stubborn.
"Baby, strictly speaking, Firefly is much older than us."
When Kafka found Firefly drifting in space, she'd already been floating for who-knows-how-many years.
If you really counted, Firefly was far older than any of them.
"No way! We have to count from when she started calling herself 'Firefly.' That's her new life."
Silver Wolf stubbornly refused to acknowledge that Firefly was older than her by who-knew-how-many Amber Eras.
"Alright, alright—"
Kafka didn't argue, which somehow made Silver Wolf feel a bit awkward.
"Baby, if you won't ask, I'll do it myself. They should have reached the vacation planet by now, right?"
"Tch— Ask if you want. Why drag me into it?"
Watching Silver Wolf unwrap a lollipop and pop it into her mouth, Kafka just smiled and let it be. She lowered her head, pulled out her phone, and prepared to check in on Firefly and Sylvia.
--+--
Meanwhile, on the vacation planet.
Sylvia and Firefly had already made their way to the deployed jet ski.
Firefly sat at the front, while Sylvia wrapped her arms around Firefly's waist from behind.
As for their phones, both were secured to their thighs with straps—waterproof anyway, so no worries about a little soak.
Firefly was, as always, brimming with excitement, eager to try everything.
Once she figured out how to start it, she twisted the throttle. With a roar from the engine, they shot forward.
Good thing Sylvia's reflexes were exceptional—she tightened her grip on Firefly's waist just in time, or she'd have been thrown right off.
"Sylvia, how does it feel?"
SAM's speed far exceeded this little jet ski's, so Firefly saw no issue pushing the speedometer to its limit.
She even found a moment to glance back and flash Sylvia a smile.
"…"
Sylvia had lost count of how many times this girl had left her speechless.
Of course, this time it was mainly because the wind was too strong—neither had activated an energy shield to reduce the rush.
So, Sylvia wasn't exactly in a position to open her mouth and reply.
And it was right then that Kafka's message came through.
"Sylvia! I think someone's messaging me—can you grab it and check?"
Following Firefly's words, Sylvia glanced down at the thigh strap fastened around Firefly's leg, leaving a pleasing indentation.
After a moment's thought, she reached over.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.