Both Kiana and Mo Wang stared at the bundled-up Bronya for a full ten seconds, a silent, shared wave of bewilderment passing between them.
"Wh-What Bronya? I-I don't know anyone by that name," Bronya stammered, her voice muffled by the mask. She was flustered at being recognized so quickly; her disguise was supposed to be flawless.
"Nah, that's definitely you, Bronya," Mo Wang said, pointing a finger at her signature gray twin-drills peeking out from under the hat. "Who else would have a hairstyle that defies gravity like that? You could impale a Honkai Beast with those things."
"Fine, you got me," Bronya sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She ripped off her mask and sunglasses, revealing a face drenched in sweat and flushed from the heat.
"Aren't you hot?" Sirin couldn't help but ask, a note of genuine disbelief in her voice. She was already feeling the oppressive heat in her trendy but still summer-appropriate clothes; she couldn't imagine wearing a hat, a coat, and a mask in this weather.
"It is... hot," Bronya admitted, her usual deadpan expression cracking slightly. Her eyes, however, suddenly turned hollow and haunted. "But this disguise is necessary. The Bronya is currently being hunted."
"Huh?"
Sirin and Mo Wang were both stunned into silence. Hunted?
"What's going on? Is Anti-Entropy attacking?" Mo Wang's mind raced, discarding possibilities as fast as he could think of them.
The radical faction of Anti-Entropy had been thoroughly crushed since Cocolia's defeat. They wouldn't dare come after Bronya now. And if they did, Bronya would have just blasted them into oblivion with Project Bunny.
That left only one logical possibility: Bronya was on the run from debt collectors.
The stock market must have crashed, Mo Wang thought, his mind already composing a hundred-thousand-word fanfic. CEO Bronya has devolved into FX Warrior Bronya. She had to declare bankruptcy and is now on the lam.
The poor girl is being hounded by evil creditors. If she can't pay them back, she'll have to... pay them back with her body! (As an assassin, of course.)
"I have a feeling you're imagining a very boring and cliché plot," Bronya said, giving Mo Wang a deadpan look that seemed to read his mind. "The Bronya is simply avoiding her annoying secretary because she doesn't want to work."
Her explanation was cut short as her gaze finally landed on Mo Wang and 'Kiana' standing side-by-side. More specifically, she noticed the easy, familiar way they stood together, a silent bubble of intimacy surrounding them. Her pupils contracted slightly.
Were they... on a date? The first official one since the Great War in the group chat? in this hot weather who wants to have a sweaty date?
To be fair, Kiana became a salted NEET fish after moving to Mo Wang's place, and she here is NOT logical scene.
Her eyes sharpened, a glint of steel entering their gray depths.
I see, she thought, a hundred tactical scenarios running through her mind. So this is why the Idiotka was boasting so much. Is she trying to flaunt her victory? Or is this a declaration of war? A challenge? Interesting. The Bronya accepts!
Sirin, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to Bronya's silent declaration. Her mind was still stuck on the first part of the conversation.
Sirin (Internally):What's with that look? Why is she suddenly acting so weird?
Kiana (Internally):I don't know. Bronya's always like that. Maybe her brain melted from the heat. It would explain the outfit.
Sirin (Internally):That's possible. Only an idiot would dress like that in this weather.
Kiana (Internally):Couldn't agree more. Bronya is the biggest idiot in the world.
....
A little while later, the three of them were sitting in a blessedly air-conditioned coffee shop, the cool air a balm to their heat-stroked senses.
Bronya, now stripped of her outer layers of disguise, downed three iced coffees in a row with the grim determination of a soldier reloading her weapon.
Sirin, meanwhile, was feeling a little conflicted.
Her original plan had been simple: call Bronya over, orchestrate a "chance" encounter, and gently nudge her towards Mo Wang, thus securing her own much-needed peace and quiet.
But Bronya had claimed to be busy with work, and her plan had been dead in the water before it even began.
It seemed that everyone except Kiana had a summer job. It was a little-known fact that most of the students at St. Freya worked during the summer.
Last year, Mei had been dragged off by the two doctors from Anti-Entropy to become an idol. Bronya, on the other hand, had apparently bought a company and kicked out the original owner, some guy named Dawei.
As for Kiana...
Mo Wang shuddered at the memory. Last year, Kiana had taken a job at a restaurant, where she had single-handedly acted as the manager, delivery person, and entire kitchen staff. She had invited him over for a meal, and he, naive fool that he was, had thought she was finally turning over a new leaf.
Then she had served him a black chocolate truffle grilled steak.
He had spent the next week with a bad case of food poisoning. The Honkai Chef was a force of nature to be reckoned with.
"So, why did you run away? Aren't you the boss?" Mo Wang asked, breaking the silence.
"The Bronya is just so tired," Bronya said, her eyes filled with a world-weariness that didn't belong on someone her age. "I've been working overtime for the past two weeks. I haven't had a proper night's sleep. My Homu collection is gathering dust."
"Oh, I see. You're about to die from overwork," Mo Wang said with a schadenfreude-filled grin.
It was true.
He knew that in one future, Bronya became the CEO of a game company and ushered in a new era of gaming in the Honkai world. But it had come at a price.
Welt Yang, her number-one wage slave, still had nightmares about the days he worked under her. With Welt still leading Anti-Entropy and Project Bunny not yet at its full AI-driven potential, Bronya had to do everything herself.
The workload was finally getting to her. Kiana's boasting call had been the final push she needed to snap.
"Save me, Mo Wang! I can't take it anymore! Take the Bronya away from this corporate hell!" she pleaded, looking at him with the wide, desperate eyes of a princess waiting for her knight.
Mo Wang, however, only saw a salted fish flopping on the table.
"Well..." He glanced at 'Kiana', his actual girlfriend. This was supposed to be their date. Bringing a third wheel along was probably not a good idea, especially one who was actively plotting a corporate escape.
Bronya followed his gaze, her expression shifting to one of feigned innocence. "Are you two... on a date?" she asked, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.
"Of course not!" Sirin blurted out, panicking. This was her chance. She had to push them together. "We just happened to run into each other and decided to hang out."
"I see. So the Idiotka is just 'hanging out' with her boyfriend," Bronya said, nodding slowly. The emphasis she placed on "hanging out" was sharp enough to cut glass. "In that case, since it is not an official date, it should be fine if the Bronya joins you."
Sirin hesitated for a moment, then realized that this was the perfect opportunity to execute her plan. She had created the opening herself. "Sure... that's fine."
"Great!" Bronya's eyes lit up. The moment Sirin gave her consent, Bronya jumped up and grabbed Mo Wang's wrist, her small hand surprisingly strong.
"Then let's go to the arcade! The Bronya knows a great new one nearby! The Captain will accompany me!"
Before Sirin could even process what had just happened, Bronya had already dragged a bewildered Mo Wang out of his chair and was pulling him towards the exit.
"Wh-What the hell?! That little brat!" A wave of pure, undiluted annoyance washed over Sirin. She had been completely outplayed!
"W-Wait!"
She chased after them, the feeling of irritation growing stronger with every step. She had only agreed to let Bronya join them for the sake of her plan.
How had she ended up being the third wheel on her own date?
....
"Bronya!" Sirin caught up to them just as they reached the sun-drenched street, her voice sharp with an indignation she didn't fully understand.
She latched onto Mo Wang's free hand, forcing him to stop between them. "If you're going, then we're all going!"
"Oh?" Bronya glanced back at her, gray eyes glinting with amusement. "Bronya thought you didn't mind the Captain walking with me. Changed your mind, Idiotka?"
Sirin look at the gray haired loli with disgust.
The plan was working. This was what she wanted.
Mo Wang and Bronya were together, and she was the catalyst. So why did she feel a hot, possessive anger coiling in her gut? This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to feel relieved.
Instead, she just felt... cheated.
"He's my boyfriend, so why are you being so clingy with him?!" she retorted, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. "He's not your personal escort!"
Bronya's smile widened. It was a small, subtle thing, but to Sirin, it felt like a declaration of victory. "But you said it wasn't a date. Therefore, the Captain is currently unassigned. The Bronya is simply maximizing his operational efficiency by reassigning him to a more engaging task—accompanying me."
The cold, corporate logic of it was infuriating.
Deep within her mental space, Kiana was having a crisis.
"Good one, Another me! Put that short stack in her place!" Kiana cheered, before a flicker of confusion crossed her mind. "Wait... what are you doing? Weren't you trying to get her to fall for him? Why are you fighting her for him now? You're ruining your own plan!"
"Shut up! What's mine is mine to give!" Sirin retorted, her own thoughts a confusing mess. "I can decide to give him away, but that little brat can't just take him!"
Kiana blinked at the phantom image of Sirin in her mind space. That response didn't make any sense. It was possessive. Stubborn.
It sounded... well, it sounded a lot like something she would say.
"Yours to give?" Kiana repeated slowly. "What do you mean, yours? He's..."
She looked at Sirin, who was currently glaring daggers at Bronya, her grip on Mo Wang's arm tightening protectively. The expression on her face—on Kiana's face—was one of pure, undiluted jealousy.
"Wait a minute..."
"Isn't Mo Wang my boyfriend?"
Sirin's bizarre behavior, her uncharacteristic possessiveness, her sudden rivalry with Bronya... it all pointed to one unbelievable conclusion.
"Why is my Herrscher personality claiming him as hers?" Kiana was baffled. "Don't tell me... my other personality has a crush on him too? So... I'm my own love rival?"
The philosophical implications were staggering. Was she cheating on herself, or was her other self cheating on her? Her relationship with her other self had just gotten a lot more complicated.
So, if my love rival is myself, who's the one getting cucked on?