Although Mei really wanted to give Sylvia a proper piece of her mind for being so mischievous, they were, after all, still on the Herta Space Station.
She managed to exercise some restraint, and the night passed without further incident.
The next day arrived in a flash.
The larger components meant for the Astral Express hadn't been delivered yet, but the undergarments Sylvia had purchased for Stelle had already been dropped off at the door by a small robot.
Mei, who was already up, opened the door to retrieve the package. Turning around with the shopping bag in hand, she glanced at the invoice and asked out of pure curiosity, "What did you buy here?"
"What did I buy? What do you mean?"
Sylvia was still sprawled out in bed, making no effort to get up. Since there wasn't much to do today, and with Mei here to keep her company, she had happily relapsed into her old habit of sleeping in.
Hearing Mei's question, Sylvia poked her head out from beneath the duvet, looking utterly bewildered. She didn't remember buying... oh, wait, she had bought something.
"Oh... right, I remember now. It's underwear for Stelle."
Having said her piece without sensing anything amiss, Sylvia let her head flop back onto the soft pillow. She writhed beneath the covers, giving a deep, forceful stretch, and let out a long, weary sigh.
Mei, however, froze completely where she stood.
Excuse me?
You bought what for whom?
They had only been apart for a few days, and now she was already buying intimacy-adjacent items for other people?
Mei blinked. Her hands, which had been in the middle of tearing open the packaging, came to a dead halt. For a moment, she couldn't decide whether she should open it or just set it down.
Before Mei could even process her feelings, Sylvia—who had already closed her eyes to drift back to sleep—suddenly snapped to her senses. She bolted upright in bed, forcing her groggy eyes wide open.
"Wait, no—there's a perfectly good explanation for this!"
"..."
Mei remained silent. Clutching the package, she walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, staring intently at Sylvia without uttering a single word. She was clearly waiting for an explanation.
"It's because Stelle severely lacks common sense. March 7th and I teamed up to give her a bit of a crash course in basic courtesy. But Stelle doesn't really have any allowance on hand, so I offered to buy them for her."
When it came to crucial survival moments, Sylvia's tongue didn't falter for a second.
Her mind was incredibly sharp; she even dragged March 7th into the narrative on the spot, painting a picture of a collective group effort. It was a tactical move to minimize how incredibly compromising the situation sounded.
"...A crash course in common sense? Are you talking about that Stellaron host with amnesia?"
Mei recalled the gray-haired girl. Because the girl didn't speak much, she hadn't left a particularly deep impression. All Mei knew was that she was a Nameless carrying a Stellaron inside her body.
"Yes, yes, yes, exactly her! We noticed a while ago that she wasn't even wearing any undergarments. It was honestly a bit much."
Mei nodded slowly. She hadn't actually intended to interrogate Sylvia over it; she had simply failed to connect the name "Stelle" to a specific face for a brief second.
If Sylvia had bought them for March 7th, Mei might have overthought things. But if it was that Stellaron girl... in terms of basic life knowledge, she wasn't much better off than Mei had been back when she lost her memories.
Seeing Mei nod, Sylvia seized the opportunity to scramble out of bed.
"I'll go drop it off for her now, just so I don't forget."
"Very well."
Mei didn't object, but she stood up silently and fell into step right beside Sylvia.
Sylvia looked at her in surprise. "You... want to come along?"
"Yes."
Mei nodded, leaving Sylvia zero room for refusal. She wasn't close with the Express Crew; at best, they were on nodding terms.
In the past, Mei probably wouldn't have tagged along, as she rarely pried into Sylvia's social life. But this time...
While Mei still had no intention of micro-managing Sylvia's friendships, she felt that a repeat offender needed to understand the gravity of her situation. Mei couldn't bind Sylvia to her side forever, but she could choose to stand by Sylvia's side and follow her wherever she went.
No matter the destination, no matter the task, she would be there.
Sylvia, however, hadn't yet registered the heavy weight of Mei's affection. She didn't think twice about Mei wanting to tag along, assuming she just wanted to get some steps in.
Changing into her outdoor clothes, she readily agreed, "Alright, let's go together then."
Mei's sudden appearance drew a few glances around the space station, but because she was walking with Sylvia, no one pressed for questions.
When Sylvia reached Stelle's room and pushed the door open, she was greeted by the sight of a yawning Stelle, dressed in nothing but a loose white shirt.
"Yawn... Morning, wifey—mmph!!"
The moment the door opened, Stelle's mouth began to run wild. But before she could even finish the title, Sylvia's quick reflexes kicked in.
With a swift slap of her hand, Sylvia clamped Stelle's mouth shut, trapping the remaining syllables firmly in her throat.
"Mmph, mmph—"
Stelle twisted her head, trying to break free, but she was entirely mismatched against Sylvia's grip strength. It was only then that she noticed Acheron standing right behind Sylvia.
When had she arrived at the space station?
Stelle had a vivid impression of Acheron. She was incredibly powerful, exceptionally striking, and possessed an aura that was impossible to ignore. It was hard not to notice her.
Sylvia completely ignored Stelle's wandering gaze. Forcing a rigid smile, she kept her eyes locked on Stelle while feeling the overwhelming, intense presence radiating from behind her back.
"The clothes I bought arrived, so I brought them over. Here, keep them safe!"
Sylvia shoved the unopened package of undergarments straight into Stelle's arms.
"Huh?"
Before Stelle could even utter another word, Sylvia slammed the door shut, effectively terminating the conversation. She then grabbed Mei's hand and practically marched them back.
Mei didn't make a sound the entire way.
Instead, it was Sylvia who broke out into a cold sweat. Even though Mei wasn't speaking, Sylvia could feel those eyes boring a hole into her. An invisible pressure radiated from behind her.
It was glaringly obvious that things were not nearly as peaceful as Sylvia had hoped.
Thud—
Opening the door, stepping inside, and slamming it shut—the sequence was executed in one fluid motion.
The moment they were inside, before Sylvia could even offer a preemptive word, Mei spoke up.
"Why did she call you 'wifey'?"
"Uh..."
The corners of Sylvia's mouth twitched. She turned around, desperately trying to formulate an explanation, only to realize that Mei had already closed the distance between them. Sylvia's face was practically pressed against Mei's front.
Mei herself was expressionless, looking down at her with an intense, commanding gaze.
Step—
Ignoring the lack of personal space, Mei took another deliberate step forward. The soft contours of her body pressed firmly against Sylvia, forcing Sylvia to instinctively take two steps back to regain her footing.
But Mei had no intention of letting her off the hook. Seeing Sylvia retreat, she continued to close in.
After a few tense paces, Sylvia finally ran out of room. The back of her ankles hit the frame of the bed, and losing her balance, she tumbled backward onto the mattress.
In the next heartbeat, Sylvia's wrists were pinned above her head by a single, iron-clad grip from Mei. Mei's knee moved decisively, pinning her down and effectively cutting off any escape.
Looking down at Sylvia with an unyielding gaze, Mei asked once more, "Why did she call you 'wifey'?"
"..."
Sylvia was sweating bullets.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL