In all her years, Mobius never thought someone would celebrate Children's Day for her.
The period when she could be considered a child ended very early. Of course, back then, no one would have celebrated this so-called Children's Day for her. She herself sneered at the idea of a children's holiday, let alone her drug-addicted physiologist father.
After leaving "home," she threw herself entirely into research. At that time, neither her mind nor her body belonged to the category of a child anymore.
Now, she was already in the "middle-aged" stage of humanity. Someone was actually celebrating Children's Day for her?
And it was someone at least five years younger than her?
It was a joke that wasn't funny at all.
The answer Lin gave was—you fit the criteria of a child in terms of appearance.
"Is your criteria for judging if someone is a child based purely on appearance?" Mobius no longer had the strength to complain about Lin bizarre standards. She held her forehead. "I see... so tonight you guys were specifically celebrating the holiday for the children in the headquarters. You came to find me, Kosma went to find Griseo, Kalpas... wait, then who did Kalpas go find?"
Mobius suddenly realized that among Lin group of three, one person seemed redundant.
"Elysia."
"Why?"
"Because she knew about our plan, so she hoped we would send someone to take care of an 'alternative child' whose 'heart is still 100% that of a young girl.'"
"..."
Mobius finally figured out what this farce was all about.
Lin, Kosma, and Kalpas were likely planning to celebrate the holiday for the children in the headquarters... To be precise, just for Griseo, because she was the only child in the headquarters who fully met the definition of a child.
But Elysia had poked her nose in, learned of Lin and the others' intentions from somewhere, and then exerted her spirit of "not being satisfied unless she's causing trouble," successfully tricking Lin into coming to celebrate Children's Day for Mobius.
Even though she wasn't here, Mobius could guess that Elysia must be rolling on the floor laughing right now.
"Fine. I've received your blessing. Now, right now, immediately—get lost and go back to sleep... and throw all my clothes away, don't leave a single one!"
Mobius didn't want to argue anymore. She just wanted to have a good night's sleep.
"But the celebration isn't over yet." Lin innocent gaze almost made Mobius explode with rage.
She had seen this look of his countless times—it looked harmless, but in reality, it contained Lin self-righteous malice. It felt like when you were trying to reason with someone, and they used famous quotes to refute you.
The green-haired girl forced down the urge to throw Lin out and snorted, "I don't need a celebration."
"..."
Under her firm attitude, she finally managed to drive Lin out of the lab. Mobius let out a long breath, looked dissatisfied at the mountain of work piled on the desk, and sighed as she had to lie down on the sofa.
I'll just sleep here for the night and continue working tomorrow.
This wasn't the first time. She often worked so late that she couldn't finish everything. Even with Klein helping to share the load, it usually just turned one person working overtime into two.
It was too much trouble to go back to her room, so she slept in the lab.
Fortunately, MANTISes didn't actually need much sleep to recover their strength.
Mobius lay alone on the sofa, which wasn't very soft, staring at the beakers under the cold-toned desk lamp.
...Suddenly, the room going from two people to one made it feel strangely cold. Was it because the conversation between the two was too lively, making it too quiet now?
Don't think about that. Tomorrow will be the same as always. That idiot won't change, and he won't run away. Even if I want to see him, I can call him to the lab with just one communication.
...Who wants to see him anyway.
Mobius hummed and ground her teeth, covered herself with her lab coat, and turned toward the inside of the sofa.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
With a cold face, she walked to the lab door and pressed the open button.
"Pfft—"
Lin was blowing an extra-long party blower toy, and the end of it snapped right onto Mobius forehead.
A bizarre silence began to emerge as the toy retracted.
"..."
"Get in here."
"Since you said you want to celebrate the holiday for me, I won't be polite."
After Mobius said this in a cold tone and expression, she flicked a strip of cloth in front of Lin, telling him to pick it up.
"Use this to cover your eyes. After this, no matter what sound you hear, you aren't allowed to take it off."
Lin looked at the cloth in his hand, then at Mobius cold, pretty face. He didn't act immediately, waiting for Mobius explanation.
"Since I'm a child, it doesn't matter what I do, right?"
Mobius suddenly smiled.
Her face, younger and cuter than her previous mature self, was so intoxicating. The aura, which didn't match her tiny body, added a different kind of charm to her.
She laughed candidly.
And this candor, to others—especially to people at the Fire Moth headquarters—was no different from a prehistoric beast baring its fangs.
Lin silently covered his eyes.
He had no sense of touch. Since his most important sense, vision, was covered, it meant he could only use his hearing to judge what Mobius was doing.
"How did you guys think of celebrating Children's Day? You, Kosma, and Kalpas. Two of you are idiots who only know how to tell dry jokes, and one is an idiot who can't even tell dry jokes. You guys are actually celebrating a holiday?"
Lin ears twitched. He heard some fabric rubbing, and then he was certain he was lying on the sofa.
He heard Mobius breathing right above his head. She should be staring straight at him.
Following that, some hard-to-judge sounds of friction, buttons being undone, and skin-on-skin contact reached his ears, leaving him unsure of what Mobius was doing.
"...Kosma brought it up first. He originally just came to me to discuss what to buy for Griseo."
"Oh? Then I'm just... an afterthought?"
Mobius breathing suddenly deepened, slightly more hurried than before.
"Before I went to investigate your files, that was indeed the case."
"...You investigated my files?"
The suddenly cold voice seemed to be questioning Lin.
"How did you find them?"
"I traced back from the location where you first became famous and eventually found your birthplace... and your family."
"..."
"Happy Holiday, Mobius," Lin said softly, his voice drifting into Mobius ears. "This is the holiday you missed twenty years ago. I feel that in a person's life, there should be at least one 'childhood.' So... sorry, it's twenty years late."
The lab was as quiet as a silent little world.
Only the slight breathing of two people remained. One of them slowly drew closer...
"..."
The cloth covering Lin eyes was pulled off. Her indifferent eyes met his, and then she silently shrank down, pulling the lab coat from the edge of the sofa to cover their bodies.
"Sleep."
She held the body tightly.
"And... Happy Holiday, Lin."