Hearing Pom-Pom's words, March 7th was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted.
"Ehh—?! No! Pom-Pom, there are clearly many empty carriages! I've been in them before!"
"Ahem." Pom-Pom cleared its throat, then continued with a serious expression, "There are indeed many empty carriages, Pom! But, after Pom-Pom's inspection, they are all unsuitable for Bai Ming to live in, Pom. If you don't believe it, you can ask Dan Heng, Pom!"
"..." At Pom-Pom's words, March looked at Dan Heng beside it. The latter's expression was rather complicated, but he ultimately nodded, going along with Pom-Pom's statement. "More or less. In a certain sense, they are indeed unsuitable for Bai Ming to live in."
"Dan Heng! If you're under duress, blink!" March said anxiously. "How can there not be a single room available?!"
"But... it really is like that." Dan Heng sighed. "I don't want to say more about it."
"Yay~" Bai Ming cheered. "I get to sleep with March!"
"This..." March's face turned red, and she couldn't speak for a while.
Seeing March like this, Himeko thought for a moment, pursing her lips, then spoke with a smile, "Hmm... Since Little March is so troubled, would Little Bai Ming like to come to my room? Although it might not be as big as Little March's, it should still be able to accommodate two people."
"Ehh—!" Bai Ming turned to look at Himeko, her face full of pleasant surprise. "Miss Himeko, can I really do that?"
"Of course." Himeko smiled. "If it's you, I'd be very welcoming."
"Okay, okay!" Bai Ming rubbed her hands together, wearing an expectant look. "I can't wait to sleep in the same bed with Miss Himeko!"
'As expected of you. That's a truly dangerous statement.' Himeko thought to herself.
The originally hesitant March 7th, hearing Himeko's offer, immediately grew nervous and answered directly, "That won't be necessary, Himeko! I... I'll share a room with her!"
Having experienced the "Asta Incident," March 7th's vigilance had clearly increased significantly.
"I see." Himeko put on a very regretful expression. "Understood. I'll give up then."
"Mhm!" March nodded. "Goodbye!"
After saying that, March grabbed Bai Ming's hand and started pulling her towards her own room.
"I'll head back too." Dan Heng held his head. "I have a bit of a headache. I want to sleep for a while." Without waiting for anyone else to respond, Dan Heng also left on his own.
"How strange, Pom!" Pom-Pom said, puzzled. "Dan Heng actually wants to sleep? He's usually organizing the Data Bank in the middle of the night. Wait! No one is eating the cake, Pom! And the juice! Pom-Pom prepared so much with care!"
Looking at Pom-Pom clutching its head, Himeko couldn't help but smile slightly. Then, she said, "Conductor, we can have it later. After all, there are places on the Astral Express to preserve them. They'll be fine."
"That's true, I suppose..." Pom-Pom's head drooped. "Never mind! Pom-Pom is going to eat its share first!" With that, Pom-Pom walked to the table and began to eat heartily.
Seeing Pom-Pom like this, Himeko didn't say much more. She just quietly said to Welt Yang beside her, "Yang, what did you say to Little Bai Ming earlier? Did you... know each other before?"
"..." Welt Yang was silent for a moment before replying, "No, we don't know each other. She just... reminded me of some things, that's all."
On the other side, March 7th, pulling Bai Ming's hand, led her all the way back to her room. However, she seemed to have forgotten one thing: Bai Ming was no herbivorous friend.
The moment she locked the room door, March felt a predatory gaze on her back from behind. She turned around to see Bai Ming licking her lips, looking at her.
"Hehehe~" A smile of "prey delivered to her doorstep" appeared on Bai Ming's face. "March~ Mar-chi-chi-chi~ I didn't expect you to be ready so quickly! Then I won't hold back—!"
"Eh!" March leaned back against the door, a flush on her cheeks. Having experienced the "panties incident," she knew full well how ferocious Bai Ming could be. However— it didn't seem that hard to accept. After all, she really didn't dislike Bai Ming. At least, not at the moment.
March blushed and didn't say anything more. She could feel Bai Ming's hand slipping under her skirt again. The girl's pleated skirt lifted slightly, as if something wonderful was about to come loose once more. A tingling, numbing sensation gradually spread across March's legs, finally... stopping?
"Hmm?" March looked at Bai Ming before her, somewhat surprised. "You... why..."
"Hehe~" Bai Ming laughed heartily. "Because this isn't fun. It feels like I'm forcing you to do this, March. That's no good! I want to become someone who makes March voluntarily hand over her pant—" Before Bai Ming could finish, March delivered a swift hand chop to her head.
"In your dreams! Who would do something like that for no reason?!"
"Really, you wouldn't?"
"No! I wouldn't!" March said, her face red. "And! Take your hand out! You say no with your mouth, but you keep feeling my butt, don't you?!"
"Because it's really... Ow ow ow! Stop hitting me! My brain wasn't that great to begin with! Hitting it more will turn me into a fool!"
"You already are a fool!"
After some commotion, the two finally returned to a safe boundary. Bai Ming walked over to the large window. Before her eyes was the vast cosmos. Countless stars were emitting their own light within the dark expanse. Everything was so peaceful and beautiful.
"Wow—!" Looking at the scene before her, Bai Ming couldn't help but exclaim in an amazed tone, "So beautiful~"
"Of course." March 7th's head popped up from behind Bai Ming, her face full of pride. "When I was choosing a room, it was precisely because of this window that I chose this one." March looked outside. "Just a glance at it makes your mood much better."
"Mhm, mhm." Bai Ming nodded repeatedly. "As expected of March, always having a special talent for things like this!"
At this point, Bai Ming seemed to suddenly remember something. She looked at March beside her, her lips trembling as if she wanted to say something. But in the end, March didn't hear her say a single word.
March, of course, couldn't have missed this. "What's wrong? Why did you want to say something but then didn't?"
"Well..." Bai Ming scratched the back of her head. "Because I think this question is a bit silly. If I say it, you might look down on me..."
"..." March was silent for a moment, then placed her hands on her hips and looked at Bai Ming. "Then you should still say it! Because even without this question, I'd still think you're a fool."
"Ehh—! March, is that really the image I have in your mind?!"
"Hmph, it's good you know." March said with a smile. "So hurry up and say it. No matter what it is, it won't be a problem."
"Mhm." Bai Ming nodded. "It's just... March, why are you called March 7th? Surname March, given name 7th... I've never heard such a unique name before."
"So that's what you wanted to know?" March looked out at the star-filled universe, then revealed a very bright smile. "It's simple! Because this name is one I gave myself."
"Huh?" Bai Ming opened her beautiful golden eyes wide, looking at March with astonishment. "March, you can give yourself a name? That... does that mean you're your own mother?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" March gave Bai Ming an exasperated look. "I was picked up by Himeko! The day she found me happened to be March 7th, so I gave myself this name."
"Picked up by Himeko...?"
"Yep." March clapped her hands together. "I don't think I've formally introduced these things to you, have I? Well... just like I said, I was picked up by Himeko. It's said that the Astral Express rumbled past me that day and then found me... inside a giant piece of ice. Good thing I wasn't smashed into ice shards, or that would have been a big problem." Saying this, March still looked a bit relieved.
"You were inside ice? Were you... like Aang or something..."
"Who?" March looked confused.
"N-nothing!" Bai Ming waved her hands. "I mean... how long were you drifting like that?"
"I have absolutely no idea!" March answered with full confidence. "I don't remember anything from before! When I woke up, I found myself already on the Astral Express! How about it? Doesn't that sound impressive?!"
"..." Bai Ming hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and took March's hand. "No, I think it's sad. Not remembering anything... that must be a bit scary, right?"
"Said who?!" March retorted with an unconvinced expression. "I'll have you know, I've prepared seventy-six different backstories!"
"Seventy-six backstories?"
March nodded. "That's right! I could be a princess, or a ranger! Or maybe even a traveler from somewhere! Surely one of them would match up, right?" When saying this, March was actually a bit insecure. Because in the end, these were just stories she made up herself. Whether the reality was like that was impossible to verify. Not knowing anything about one's past wasn't as easy to explain away as one might imagine.
However, at that moment, Bai Ming's voice sounded.
"March, I think all those are fake."
"Eh?" March looked up, her expression appearing a bit sad. She, of course, also knew that casually making up a story that perfectly matched her past was basically impossible. It couldn't be that easy... March instantly felt a bit downcast.
But her gloom didn't last long before being chased away by Bai Ming's next words.
Bai Ming spoke: "So let's use the seventy-seventh backstory!"
"The seventy-seventh backstory?!"
"Yeah!" Bai Ming looked at March very seriously. "For example, what if you and I are lovers from past lives, but for some reason lost our memories of each other's love? Now, through a fateful reunion, we've rediscovered those memories! Let's hold hands! If this is destiny!"
"Hey, hey, hey! What kind of nonsense is this?!" March hurriedly argued. "How could there be a backstory like that?!"
"Exactly." Bai Ming laughed heartily. "A backstory like that is utterly impossible. But that doesn't stop us from thinking about the future path following that logic, does it? Whether we have a past or not, what we're ultimately heading towards is the future, right? Then—" Bai Ming looked at March. "—couldn't the backstory I said also be true?"
"Bai Ming..." Looking at her, March felt a warmth flow through her heart. But then she suddenly thought of something, came to her senses, and shook her head with a smile. "No~ You're trying to trick me into agreeing to some strange things again, aren't you? Things like lovers from past lives... I won't fall for it!"
"March, how did you suddenly get so smart?"
"That's because you're too obvious! Honestly, you're so direct every time, as if afraid I wouldn't notice, right?"
"Mhm."
"Mhm?"
"..."
"..."
A understanding silence suddenly fell between the two. They looked at each other's lips, their expressions becoming a bit subtle and ambiguous. But one thing was indeed happening without them saying a word: the distance between them was constantly decreasing, inching bit by bit towards each other.
Mwah.
Two soft lips made gentle contact. Then came the sweet intermingling—a process both brief and swift.
"Bai Ming..."
"What is it?"
"You... why are you feeling my legs again?"
"Uh... habit! Force of habit! Once you've touched them, you can't forget the feeling!"
"Then how about—" March hesitated, about to say more, when a reward screen popped up before Bai Ming's eyes.
[Heart-Throbbing Event Completed]
[Evaluation Score: 38/100]
[Reward Obtained: Crystals * 380]
[First-Time Affection: Additional Reward Crystals * 100]
And the name of this Heart-Throbbing Event made Bai Ming pause for a moment. It was—
[Best Sleeping Embrace Position]
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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