"Pfft... Is that actually a recording of Kiana in another world?!"
Mei watched the screen with a helpless smile, seeing Kiana behave like a little kid.
So it really was because she felt lonely on the moon, and once she got to another world she completely let her true nature loose?
Still... dumb as she was, she was adorable too.
Mei watched the video, and the smile never left her face. Many times she simply couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud, even losing her composure a little.
As she watched, Mei also sent Bronya a message:
[Mei: Has Kiana seen this?]
[Bronya: Obviously not. I was planning to wait until you came to the moon before showing her. But if you keep not coming, then I'll just do it myself.]
[Mei: I'm almost done with work here. Taking some leave to visit the moon shouldn't be a problem.]
[Bronya: Waiting for you.]
Mei didn't exactly have evil intentions about going to see Kiana get embarrassed, though it wasn't like she didn't want to see that at all.
More than anything, she just wanted to tease her a little.
When Kiana did the livestream before, she'd obviously cut all these scenes out.
Only now did Mei learn that Kiana had shown such a childish side too.
Now that they'd all grown up, everyone had their own things to do, and it had been a long time since they messed around like this.
Watching Kiana in the video, Mei had to admit it was impossible not to miss their student days, even just a little.
And so—
Half a day later, Mei rushed straight to the moon.
She arrived in front of Kiana and Bronya. The two of them were holding controllers, playing some game she didn't recognize, probably something brought over from the other world.
Kiana was pleasantly surprised to see Mei.
Mei was responsible by nature. She normally wouldn't casually use resources to travel back and forth to the moon for no reason.
After Mei had gone back, Kiana thought it'd be a while before they met again.
Who would've thought she'd come zooming right back so soon?
Still completely unaware of the disaster about to befall her, Kiana happily waved Mei over to sit down and play.
Meanwhile, Bronya—who had already planned everything—suppressed the curl of her lips and turned back to exchange a glance with Mei.
Mei smiled helplessly in return.
She couldn't help but feel... maybe Bronya felt the same way she did. Or maybe after seeing what Silver Wolf in that other world had been up to, she got a little jealous?
So she'd decided to indulge in a bit of nostalgia too.
Otherwise, the current Bronya normally wouldn't roughhouse with Kiana the way that world's Silver Wolf did.
But today... it felt like things were about to turn into a very familiar scene from years ago.
At that moment, Kiana suddenly shivered for no reason, as if sensing something.
She had the strange feeling something bad was about to happen.
One round of the game ended.
Kiana stood up and called over to Mei, who had been watching from the side. Bronya, meanwhile, wore a mysterious smile.
Then she pulled out her phone and, with an extremely "casual" motion, pressed play.
A familiar voice immediately rang out from the phone:
"'Bai Ming—waaah—Himeko-sensei!!!! Look at her, she's bullying me!!!'"
Kiana, who had just been calling to Mei, froze stiff on the spot, especially since she was face-to-face with Mei right now.
The moment she remembered why she'd said that line, and everything she'd been thinking back then—Kiana's face turned red instantly.
Especially when she heard that snicker from behind her.
She spun around at once and lunged at Bronya: "Stop that right now!!"
Bronya didn't resist at all, letting Kiana snatch the phone that was still playing the video. Red-faced, Kiana hurriedly closed the file, then glared at Bronya with puffed cheeks.
She looked ready to demand where in the world Bronya got that video from.
Kiana could swear she'd never materialized that part for them to see.
So where did Bronya—
Wait!
Kiana suddenly realized it.
The only way Bronya could have any connection to that other world was the storage device Kiana had personally handed over.
Those videos had to be on that hard drive, and that's how Bronya found them!
That damned Bai Ming!!!
Kiana ground her teeth in rage. That jerk Bai Ming actually stabbed her in the back here! That bastard didn't also include the full context behind that line too... right?!
Kiana immediately dragged the progress bar, trying to inspect the contents.
At the same time, she didn't forget to "threaten" Bronya: "Damn it, Bronya! Bai Ming that scumbag packed this kind of stuff in there and sent it over, and you didn't even tell me!"
Watching Kiana panic on two fronts at once, Bronya's smile only widened.
"Didn't I just tell you now? No need to look. That phone only has one clip on it. As for the rest... it's all here~"
Clearly prepared in advance, Bronya spoke while pulling out another phone and waving the lit-up screen at Kiana.
"Bronya, you—you you—?!"
Kiana stared, dumbfounded, at the obviously premeditated Bronya.
"Oh, and by the way... who do you think has seen it besides me?"
"..."
Kiana froze.
Before she could think, Mei's apologetic voice came from beside her: "Sorry, Kiana. I didn't mean to. Once I opened it and realized what it was, I forgot to close it..."
"???"
Wow, Mei. Want to listen to how ridiculous that excuse sounds?
But Kiana had no time to condemn Mei, because Bronya's phone started playing a new clip. This time it was still related to Himeko—Kiana acting spoiled toward her.
The content itself wasn't too bad. It was even a little heartwarming.
But considering Kiana's age...
Watching a grown woman act like a little kid toward an older sister she'd just met...
In the eyes of people who knew her, that was mortifying.
"Bronya!! If you keep this up, then I'll—"
"You'll what?"
"I'll... I'll..."
Kiana desperately racked her brain for something she could use to strike back.
Seeing that, Bronya immediately raised one hand and made a smug little pinching gesture.
Perhaps Kiana was so flustered she really did think of something.
She made a grand sweep of her hand—and up came the image of Silver Wolf acting spoiled and calling Bai Ming, who was still wearing the face of Finality Kiana at the time, "big sister."
Especially the way Silver Wolf's usual cocky tone softened the instant she said it.
That contrast—and that obvious dependence on Bai Ming—was displayed in full.
Bronya's face darkened immediately.
She knew Madam Bai Ming had once helped a Bronya who looked exactly like her younger self, but because of Kiana, she'd never seen details like this before!
And seeing Bronya's expression sink, Kiana instantly straightened up with confidence.
Hands on hips, chin raised, she hmphed proudly: "See that, Bronya? Believe it or not, I'll send this clip—along with proof of exactly how many times you've stayed up all night gaming this month—straight to Seele!"
"No! That kind of thing is absolutely not allowed!!"
Bronya's pupils shook on the spot.
Those two matters would cause, respectively, social death and physical death at Seele's hands. If Kiana bundled them together and sent them over—then Bronya would truly be finished today!
"Hmph hmph... Hahahaha!! Bronya, you'd better behave! Delete every hostage file you've got! Otherwise... you know what happens!"
Hands on hips, Kiana burst into a triumphant laugh.
Bronya frowned deeply.
"Impossible! If I delete my files, they're gone. But you can make copies again anytime. That's unfair!"
"You don't get to refuse, Bronya! The tides have already turned!"
Seeing Kiana actually pushing her luck further, Bronya immediately knew she could never delete those videos.
If she did, today she'd cede five cities, tomorrow ten more, only to gain one night's sleep.
So Bronya instantly stepped back and raised her phone high.
"Hmph. Since you have no sincerity in negotiating, then don't blame me if we both go down together! I also have the complete footage of the stupid things you did on the Xianzhou Luofu! Don't force me to hit send!"
"What—?!"
Kiana panicked.
Mei and Bronya both knew about that incident, sure—but she'd only given them the briefest summary and never showed them the footage, much less the details.
And yet... and yet Bronya had the video?!
That was the final blow.
And because she'd been roughhousing with Silver Wolf over there and regained the instincts of old times, in her panic she directly tossed aside the phone in her hand and pounced at Bronya like a starving tiger.
"Don't come over here!!"
Bronya was completely stunned.
Girl, how old are we now? Fooling around in dreams is one thing—are you seriously planning to fight like children in real life too?!
But the situation was urgent. Faced with Kiana's tiger pounce, Bronya followed the most instinctive reaction in her heart.
She sprang up as well and lunged straight at Kiana!
"..."
Watching from the side, Mei saw Bronya and Kiana rolling around on the floor like two elementary school kids.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh.
She knew it...
In the end, it was always going to become this.
It had been so long since she'd seen a scene like this that Mei even seriously tried to remember what she'd used to do in situations like this.
Then again...
This time it really was Bronya who started it by teasing Kiana first. Though Mei was also at fault for being tempted by the files Bronya sent her and not stopping any of this.
But since things had already come this far...
Mei looked around the room.
Then decided she'd better have a cup of tea first.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL