Pfft, pfft, pfft.
Bai Ming was dragged along by March 7th, quickly moving away from the carriage where Conductor Pom-Pom was.
Luckily. Pom-Pom didn't follow.It seemed to have accepted their earlier explanation. March 7th finally let out a small sigh of relief.
However—A greater crisis seemed to be awaiting her.
"Mar-chi-chi-chi-chi—"
Bai Ming's voice rang in her ear. March 7th turned her head to see Bai Ming licking her lips and raising an eyebrow.
"W-what is it?!"
"Hehe, what do you think?"
Bai Ming looked at March 7th. "March~"
"You..." March 7th blushed, glanced around the corridor to confirm no one else was there, then lowered her head and whispered, "But not here... Wait until we get to my room."
"Ehh!" Bai Ming blinked her beautiful golden eyes, her face already lit up with joy. "Okay, okay! March, let's go, to your room!"
"You're going the wrong way! It's over here!"
…
A few minutes later.
Outside a cabin door.
Bai Ming, still holding March's hand, stared at the door before her. "March, is this your room?"
"Yep."
"Ehehe~" Bai Ming suddenly giggled.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing!" Bai Ming turned to March 7th beside her, her face full of excitement. "I've always wanted to try barging into a girl's room in the dead of night!"
"You..." March 7th was so flustered she couldn't find words. After a long moment, she managed to squeeze out a sentence. "So, Bai Ming... am I the first one you've done this to?"
"Yep!" Bai Ming nodded vigorously. "March! Open the door!"
March 7th hesitated for a moment, then finally gave a small nod of assent.
She took out her key, inserted it into the lock, gave it a turn, and opened the door.
"Yay! The great March 7th Room Adventure begins!"
With that declaration, Bai Ming bent slightly, effortlessly scooped March 7th up into her arms, and strode confidently inside.
Click.
The door closed, followed by the sound of the lock turning. Things seemed to be heading in a rather dangerous direction.
But—Was that really the case?
Once inside the room, Bai Ming, who was still carrying March 7th, was stunned by the sight.
"Wow, what a beautiful room!"
Just as Bai Ming exclaimed, the room before her was quite well-decorated.
Directly opposite the entrance was a floor-to-ceiling window,offering a view of the ever-changing interstellar scenery as the Express traveled. On the right side of the room was a large bed with pillows. Next to it was a long work desk covered with an assortment of items.
On the left side of the room was a photo wall, seemingly cycling through various pictures on a loop. A little closer to Bai Ming was a full-length mirror.
Hmm...For a moment, Bai Ming didn't know how to evaluate the room. But how should she put it? It felt very much like March 7th!
Yes! Exactly like that!
"March..." Bai Ming looked at everything before her, seeming quite impressed. "Your room is amazing!"
"Really?!" March 7th, still held aloft in Bai Ming's arms, was quite pleased to hear such praise. "Of course! This is a space I put my heart into creating. Of course it's amazing!"
"Then I have to take a good look."
As she said this, Bai Ming's eyes ,immediately landed on the most eye-catching and content-rich feature: the photo wall.
It was one thing not to look, but looking was a shock.
This wall...Was a complete record of the events at the space station!
Oh, no. Not just the space station events. There were also many that must have been from earlier times. Bai Ming didn't recognize those places at all. They could only be from things that happened in the past.
But as she looked, Bai Ming suddenly realized something.
"March, can I ask you a question?"
Bai Ming asked this while looking at the photos on the wall.
"Y-yeah, sure," March 7th in her arms cautiously replied. "What is it?"
"Well—" Bai Ming lowered her head to look at March in her arms. "How did you manage to take photos from these angles?"
Just as Bai Ming said, although most of the photos looked perfectly normal, there were quite a few that seemed utterly baffling. Bai Ming was certain there hadn't been any cameras at some of the shooting locations.
Or even...March 7th herself?!
"Eh?!"
Hearing Bai Ming's question, March 7th also showed a puzzled expression. "You're right! Now that you mention it, I definitely didn't take some of these photos!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Bai Ming looked at March, her golden eyes filled with confusion. "You didn't take them? Then how did you get them out?!"
"Oh, that..." March patted the small camera at her waist. "When I manifested it, those photos were already inside."
"This..." Bai Ming's eyes widened slightly. Then, she suddenly declared, "I know!"
"Know what?"
"The source of the photos!"
"Huh?" March 7th was also intrigued. "Tell me?"
"They're the crystallization of our lo—"
Before Bai Ming could finish, she received a punch to the stomach from March.
"You're talking nonsense again! Put me down now!"
"O-okay, okay!"
Bai Ming looked around and finally settled her gaze on March 7th's bed.
"Hehe, found the spot~"
Bai Ming walked to the bedside and gently tossed March onto it.
"March, hehehe~"
"Y-you better not go too far!" March, now on the bed, protectively covered her chest. "I only promised about the panties! I didn't say anything else strange!"
"I know~" Bai Ming rubbed her hands together. "So, I'm starting now~"
"You..." March 7th really wanted to say more. But thinking that she had genuinely promised Bai Ming this, and seeing how eagerly Bai Ming was looking forward to it... March felt she couldn't just shatter that promise now.
Take the plunge! It's just a pair of panties!
March gritted her teeth and spoke directly, "Just take them off if you want! I don't care anymore!"
Hearing this, Bai Ming was stunned for a second, then a blissful smile spread across her face.
"Great~ Then I won't hold back, March!"
With that, Bai Ming gently pushed March down onto the bed.
The two looked at each other for a moment. Then, Bai Ming's hand slowly slid from March's shoulder down, slipping under the hem of her skirt.
Honestly. The moment Bai Ming's hand slid in, March 7th immediately regretted it.
It wasn't as easy to accept as she'd imagined. Even if it was Bai Ming,it felt incredibly strange. It was like...Something important was about to be taken away?
And also—
"Wow..." Bai Ming opened her eyes wide, looking astonished. "March, your legs are amazing! They're like white milk chocolate—smooth and soft! I've never felt such amazing legs on a girl in my life!"
That's right. Bai Ming's hand wasn't as well-behaved as one might imagine. She had started from the knee and was slowly sliding her way up!
March 7th's face flushed bright red instantly.
"Bai! Ming! That's not where your hand should be! And it has nothing to do with the panties!"
"But I'm already here..." Bai Ming mumbled quietly. "Wouldn't it be a waste not to feel around a bit?!"
"Of course not!" March turned her face away. "If you keep touching randomly, I'll ignore you..."
"D-don't!" Bai Ming immediately grew anxious. "I'll stop playing, I'll stop!"
As she said this, Bai Ming's hand indeed left March's leg. It was replaced by movement towards a more appropriate target.
"March... I'm going to start now, okay?"
"G-go ahead!"
With March's "permission," Bai Ming grasped the left and right edges of March's panties.
Both of them held their breath simultaneously. For March,there was another peculiar sensation. The friction of the fabric against her skin...It felt like little bugs were crawling on her legs.
Regret! She really shouldn't have agreed to this with Bai Ming! This feeling was too hard to bear!
Yet. Even as March thought this,Bai Ming's hands continued their diligent work!
Wriggle! The panties were still wriggling!
Schhhlick—!
"I see the top!" Bai Ming exclaimed.
"What do you mean, 'see the top'?!" March couldn't help but protest. "Your description is way too weird!"
"But it really is the top~"
Bai Ming gazed at the "trophy" she had personally captured from between March's legs, couldn't help but cup her cheeks and wiggle her body. "So cute—! Just as cute as you are, March—! Pure white fabric with a little red bow~ It gives off that beautiful feeling of first love that only March can pull off!"
"Bai! Ming!" March shouted. "I told you not to describe it in such a weird way!"
"Got it, got it~" Bai Ming replied happily. "I'll put it back on for you now!"
"..."
Bai Ming's words left March utterly confused. "That's it...? Just that?"
"Yep." Bai Ming nodded very seriously. "March! This is all I wanted to do. What did you think it was?"
"I thought... you were going to take them off..." March looked at Bai Ming and mumbled quietly.
"Take them off?" Bai Ming shook her head, launching into a serious explanation. "March, you just don't get it! The true, beautiful value of panties is maximized only when they are being worn by a girl! So—" Bai Ming looked at the cute little white panties between March's legs. "—I would absolutely never take them off! That would be a desecration of panties!"
"Is there really such a rule?" March was baffled by Bai Ming's explanation. However, she soon remembered something that didn't quite add up, and her brows instantly furrowed. "Wait! Bai Ming, are you just fooling me?"
"Why would I be fooling you?" Bai Ming looked wronged. "I'm explaining the value of panties to you very seriously!"
"But—" March's face flushed red. "—in that bag of yours, there's clearly a pair of panties from Asta! You admitted it yourself!"
"Well, this..." Bai Ming scratched her cheek. "I said... it's a souvenir Asta left me..."
"Who would use that as a—" Before March could finish, she suddenly realized something.
That was, Asta had already left Bai Ming quite a few things. Like that priceless cake.
Or the card engraved with her name,likely containing a massive amount of credits.
Either one was enough for Bai Ming to remember her.
And come to think of it—Asta was the acting head of the Space Station. She definitely couldn't be manhandled onto a bed and have her panties removed by Bai Ming like March was right now. Taking them off right there in public? Even more impossible!
Furthermore, There was a very important point! Those panties felt brand new,not like they had been worn! That's right.
If they were really meant as a souvenir for Bai Ming,they would at least be packaged in something! They wouldn't just be tossed in there like that!
In conclusion, The actual purpose of those panties...Was to be deliberately seen by March! This was"revenge" from Asta!
She wanted March to mistakenly think she had given Bai Ming a pair of panties loaded with implications! But that wasn't the case at all!
Lying on the bed, March 7th experienced a moment of crystal-clear understanding for the first time—utterly and completely clear.
But—She wished she hadn't figured it out! Because if that was the case...Then March, who had actually let Bai Ming take off her panties, was the real fool, wasn't she?
"March?" Bai Ming looked at March, who had suddenly fallen into some sort of defeated state, not understanding what was happening. "What's wrong? Are you angry because I didn't take them off?"
"Of course not!"
March, realizing she'd been tricked, couldn't possibly admit it. How could she confess in front of Bai Ming that she was a fool who had fallen for Asta's trick?
"Then—" Bai Ming looked at March very seriously and said, "Can I make one more small request?"
"What small request?"
"Let me touch your..."
"No!"
"I haven't even finished!"
"But I already know what you're going to say!"
"So, will you let me?!"
"I already said no!"
Just as Bai Ming and March were bickering, a knock sounded at the door. Both of them instantly fell silent.
"Who is it?" March asked tentatively.
"It's me, Himeko."
"W-what's up?"
"A small matter," Himeko said gently. "Mr. Yang, he'd like to have a chat with us."
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A/n: Hey over on my patreon there are currently two for the time being exclusive books which are
Zenless Zone Zero: Loving Daily Life Starting in New Eridu
Honkai Impact 3rd, I Can Transform into a Valkyrie!
patreon.com/deadlygoober