Fu Hua made her first friend in Sapphire.
And after recovering from her injuries and returning to school, with the help of the enthusiastic Carol, she made many more friends.
Fu Hua's side was no longer empty.
More and more, smiles began to blossom on her face.
Just as it was in the original history, this period was the Celestial's happiest time.
Otto did not take this time away from her.
Time flew by like a fleeting shadow; in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
Otto didn't interfere too much with Fu Hua and her friends' activities, though he would occasionally join in.
As a result, he got to know Fu Hua's friends and was even affectionately called "Big Bro Otto."
No one objected to Otto's participation; after all, he was exceptionally handsome.
However, before any of these girls could develop any improper ideas about Otto, they would always be pulled aside for a heart-to-heart talk by Carol, the number one leader of the "Otto-Hua" CP Faction.
And so, all of Fu Hua's friends knew that this handsome, elegant, and mature man was, in fact, Fu Hua's boyfriend.
Some of them were even brainwashed by Carol into becoming staunch supporters of the Otto-Hua ship.
Conversely, Fu Hua, the person at the center of it all, was kept completely in the dark. Every time she and Otto were together, her friends would watch them silently, their faces breaking into knowing, "Auntie smiles."
After all, Fu Hua was also an incredibly cute girl.
She and Otto were a perfect match.
As friends, it was their duty to wish the two of them well.
Otto had noticed the signs, but he said nothing. After all, it was rather amusing.
But his reason for joining in the girls' activities was actually quite simple: he was quite idle in Sapphire.
And so, today, he had once again followed the group of girls to the beach.
His slender body was no longer clad in his bishop's attire but in a pair of white swimming trunks. Otto stood on the sand, arms crossed, gazing at the distant ocean.
However, his expression was a little grave.
Because yesterday, the final exams at Fu Hua's school had ended, officially marking the start of the holidays.
Unknowingly, Fu Hua had already been in Sapphire for half a year.
After this trip to the beach with her friends, she was supposed to go home and only return to Sapphire when school started again.
But Otto knew she would never be able to go back.
Because the Third Honkai Eruption of this era was about to break out, and most of Asia would fall.
Fu Hua's dream-like days were about to be shattered.
And Otto could not change this outcome.
"Here they come, here they come!"
Just then, Otto heard the chattering voices of the girls. He saw Fu Hua's friends surrounding a flustered young woman as they walked toward him.
They had just gone to change into their swimsuits.
"Big Bro Otto, look!"
Carol, a wide grin on her face, pushed a girl out from the crowd.
It was Fu Hua, dressed in a black-and-white striped swimsuit.
The swimsuit couldn't conceal the young woman's fine figure. Though certain areas were modest, the curve of her waist and hips was still exquisitely beautiful. Her calves were well-proportioned, her thighs rounded, and her right thigh was even adorned with a leg ring, a classic miHoYo specialty.
This made Fu Hua's already slender legs seem slightly squeezed by the ring, adding a unique flavor to her appearance.
Fu Hua kept her head slightly lowered. It was her first time wearing a swimsuit, and the large expanse of exposed skin made her extremely shy.
For a rare moment, Fu Hua was blushing.
Otto held his breath for a second, then gave the girls behind Fu Hua a thumbs-up.
"NICE!"
Otto gave his seal of approval.
This was definitely not an outfit Fu Hua would have chosen on her own; it was clearly the handiwork of these girls.
"Hee hee hee, I told you Big Bro Otto would like it! But it's really because Hua is so cute, she looks good in anything."
Carol playfully pushed Fu Hua's back.
She was obviously the ringleader behind this.
From the beach trip itself to Fu Hua's attire, everything had been meticulously planned by her.
Carol was Fu Hua's best friend. Even Otto had to admit that Fu Hua was fortunate to have met such an excellent friend.
It was no wonder that after her best friend and family died, Fu Hua entered the first stage of her self-imposed isolation.
Soon, the girls began to frolic, laughing and shouting. The main reason they had come to the beach was to play, to let off steam.
After all, they had just finished their exams.
Otto watched them fool around. His main job here was to act as the girls' guardian, to keep any pests from approaching them.
However, Otto's gaze was primarily focused on Fu Hua.
He watched her fumbling to learn how to swim with an inflatable ring around her waist. She genuinely didn't know how.
Seeing Fu Hua accidentally swallow several mouthfuls of water, coughing until her eyes turned red, Otto noted that the invincible Celestial had almost met her end at the seaside.
He let out an unkind laugh.
Carol, who was teaching Fu Hua, was also getting a headache. She had learned to swim when her mother simply threw her into a pool as a child, and she had picked it up naturally.
So, she looked at the inflatable ring around Fu Hua's waist.
"Hua, let's take off the ring and practice. So what if you drink a few more mouthfuls of water? The water quality here looks pretty good."
The moment she heard the ring was to be removed, Fu Hua shook her head violently.
This inflatable ring was her lifeline!
"I'll do it."
A helpless voice sounded beside them. Otto, who had been on the shore, had waded into the sea. He came to Fu Hua's side and took hold of her arm.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Big Bro Otto!"
Seeing Otto arrive, Carol decisively handed over Fu Hua's education to him. In her eyes, Otto was a reliable person.
Fu Hua let out a sigh of relief.
"Big Brother Otto, I can swim as long as I have my ring."
Thank goodness Big Brother Otto had arrived to stop Carol's plan to take her ring.
However, Otto's next words made Fu Hua's expression freeze.
"First, we take off the ring."
In an instant, the face of her savior, Big Brother Otto, turned vicious.
"N-No!"
But no matter how much she struggled, Fu Hua, who was not yet a MANTIS, was no match for Otto. In a flash, he had removed her inflatable ring.
After swallowing more than a dozen mouthfuls of seawater, Fu Hua finally learned to swim. She then swam away from the man who now seemed like a demon in her eyes, going to play with her other friends.
Otto watched her with a gentle gaze, watching Fu Hua take her last chance to breathe.
As the sun began to set in the west, the group of girls, having freely spent their youthful energy, finally collapsed onto the sand, exhausted.
Fu Hua was no different.
Otto sat down beside her, hugging his knees as he watched the sunset on the distant horizon.
In the end, the curtain had to fall.
Looking at the exhausted Fu Hua lying on the sand, Otto reached out and, like tugging on Bronya's collar, gave Fu Hua's leg ring a gentle pull.
Fu Hua seemed not to notice. She stared at the darkening sky.
Today, she had had a lot of fun.
But then she looked at the man beside her and asked the question she had wanted to ask for days.
"Big Brother Otto, are you going back? Or are you staying in Sapphire?"
Otto looked at her, releasing the leg ring. The elastic band snapped against her fair thigh with a soft thwack.
Otto said.
"Mm, we'll go back together."
---o---