After Silver Wolf finished humming, she fell silent. Judging by the way her expression had softened, though, she probably wasn't angry anymore.
Silence settled between them. Sylvia didn't say anything either, but she kept staring straight at Silver Wolf until the hacker finally cracked under the pressure.
"Will Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome ever be completely cured?"
"...I'm not sure. But even if it can't be cured outright, I'll ask Ruan Mei for help later."
Sylvia didn't dare make any promises. She'd expected Silver Wolf to get upset at that answer, but instead, Silver Wolf reached over and gently patted her head.
"That's about what I figured. Still, I should thank you. Firefly's doing so much better than she used to."
Silver Wolf had never believed Entropy Loss Syndrome was something that could be cured so easily. Sylvia liked making big claims sometimes, sure, but she'd never lied about anything that truly mattered. If something could be done, she'd say so. If it couldn't, she'd say that too.
And really, Sylvia had already done more than enough. First she'd brought them a cake that could suppress Firefly's symptoms, then she'd given her a bracelet that actually eased the illness. Before Sylvia came along, they'd barely been able to help Firefly at all.
Yet Sylvia still hadn't given up on finding a real cure. She was even willing to ask a member of the Genius Society for help.
Silver Wolf didn't worship geniuses. She'd challenged Screwllum herself and had even gone out of her way to provoke Herta. Still, reality was reality—the Genius Society carried immense weight, and asking someone like that for help would come at a price.
Sylvia was an Emanator now, so she could afford that price. But she never would've had to pay it in the first place.
No wonder Firefly had fallen for her so quickly.
Silver Wolf could understand it, at least. Sylvia's unconditional help had changed what should've been a hopeless fate for Firefly. Add in Firefly's simple, stubborn nature, and it wasn't strange that she'd been won over by this white-haired troublemaker.
Silver Wolf glanced around. Once she confirmed no one else was nearby, she opened her arms and hugged Sylvia, showing an unexpectedly mature side of herself.
Unfortunately, her mouth was as stubborn as ever.
"Hmph~ I'll let you off this time. Firefly would definitely be too embarrassed to say it herself, so I guess I'll thank you for her."
"Heh."
Sylvia couldn't hold back a laugh.
"What're you laughing at?!"
Silver Wolf immediately shoved her away and glared.
"Nothing. I just thought of something funny."
"..."
Silver Wolf narrowed her eyes.
"Then say it if you've got the guts!"
Sylvia wasn't the least bit intimidated by her bluffing.
Silver Wolf had asked for it herself, so there was no reason to leave her hanging. Sylvia's gaze moved from Silver Wolf's face to her lips.
"I was just thinking that no matter how stubborn someone's mouth is, it's still soft."
"..."
"?!"
Silver Wolf froze for a second, her brain failing to catch up.
Then it clicked.
Sylvia was calling her stubborn!
And what was that second part supposed to mean?
Soft?!
Silver Wolf's hair ribbon seemed to stiffen along with her. Her face turned bright red, half from anger and half from embarrassment.
'I knew it! You shameless flirt! You really do have weird ideas about your best buddy!'
Silver Wolf was furious and mortified, yet some small part of her was weirdly pleased that Sylvia found her attractive. The clash of emotions made her overheat on the spot.
Sylvia had expected a kick straight to the face. Instead, Silver Wolf just sat there glaring at her with a face red enough to make her look like she'd been bullied.
Somehow, Sylvia found that expression adorable.
"..."
Almost without thinking, Sylvia leaned closer.
"—?!"
Silver Wolf tensed the instant she realized Sylvia was actually coming nearer after saying something like that. Her hands clenched around the railing as her heartbeat sped up.
'What's she doing?'
'She's not actually going to kiss me, is she?'
'No way. Seriously?'
Sylvia kept getting closer, yet Silver Wolf stayed frozen in place, her face burning red.
"..."
"..."
When their faces were only inches apart, Sylvia finally stopped.
In a voice quiet enough that only Silver Wolf could hear, she whispered, "Silver Wolf, if you don't move away, I'm going to kiss you..."
"..."
Silver Wolf pressed her lips together and stayed silent.
Then her trembling eyelids slowly lowered.
The message couldn't have been clearer.
At that point, Sylvia figured that if she pulled back and claimed she'd only been joking, Silver Wolf might actually blast a hole through her with Prometheus.
And besides...
Seeing the normally stubborn Silver Wolf suddenly act this shy was almost unfairly cute.
Just then, a faint giggle came from somewhere nearby.
Before Sylvia could react, someone shoved the back of her head.
Sylvia lurched forward and bumped lips with Silver Wolf.
"!!"
'What the hell?! Who did that?!'
The thought flashed through Sylvia's mind, but the brief contact made one thing obvious: she'd really kissed her.
Silver Wolf's entire body went rigid. Even that tiny bit of contact left her flustered enough that her breathing quickened and her face grew even redder.
'Wow. She's actually this innocent?'
Sylvia didn't push things any further. She immediately drew back, keeping the whole thing brief and gentle.
For Silver Wolf, though, it was clearly a first. Even that tiny kiss had left her completely overwhelmed.
With all the theoretical knowledge she'd picked up over the years, Silver Wolf knew perfectly well how mild it had been. It was barely more than the kind of teasing affection close friends might exchange.
She'd already braced herself for Sylvia to do something even more outrageous.
Instead, Sylvia stopped there.
That somehow left Silver Wolf even more confused. Worse, the fact that she felt disappointed made it sound as though she'd been hoping for more.
"..."
Silver Wolf slowly opened her eyes and found Sylvia watching her with obvious amusement.
She was already too embarrassed to know what to say. Normally she'd bluff her way through it, but she'd willingly closed her eyes a moment ago. There was no talking her way out of that.
Then Sylvia silently mouthed a few words.
'Very soft~'
Silver Wolf wanted to hit her.
Unfortunately, her legs felt strangely weak, and she couldn't even muster the energy to kick Sylvia in the face.
In the end, for perhaps the first time ever, Silver Wolf lowered her gaze out of pure embarrassment and avoided Sylvia's eyes.
Sylvia had already prepared herself to get kicked. After getting carried away and kissing Silver Wolf, she hadn't known what she was supposed to say afterward.
But now Silver Wolf was sitting there too shy to even look at her, and Sylvia found herself just as speechless.
"..."
"..."
The silence slowly turned awkward.
Silver Wolf was the first one to lose patience. Sitting on the railing, she swung her legs and lightly kicked Sylvia in the shin.
"Say something!"
"Huh? Uh... You suddenly got so shy that now I'm getting embarrassed too."
Sylvia really was a little flustered. If Silver Wolf had acted like her usual self, Sylvia could've joked around until the awkward mood disappeared. But Silver Wolf had suddenly turned into a bashful girl, and Sylvia genuinely had no clue what to say.
"What else am I supposed to do?!"
Silver Wolf's embarrassment turned into irritation, and her next kick landed harder.
"You kissed me without warning! I'm allowed to be embarrassed!"
"..."
Sylvia wisely decided not to answer that.
Something about Silver Wolf's tone made it sound like she'd simply given up trying to hide it.
"Hmph!"
Silver Wolf finally seemed to recover some of her usual attitude, though this particular huff sounded more pouty than angry.
"Speaking of which..."
Sylvia had planned to enjoy this rare side of Silver Wolf for a while longer, but then a question occurred to her.
"Silver Wolf, did you come here in person this time, or are you using a hologram?"
"..."
Silver Wolf froze.
She slowly raised her head without saying a word and stared at Sylvia with murder in her eyes.
'Seriously?'
'You kissed me, I got this embarrassed, and I couldn't have made things any more obvious.'
'You don't even try saying something nice afterward.'
'Instead, you're asking if I'm using a hologram?!'
'So that's the kind of person you think I am?!'
An almost visible dark aura began rising behind Silver Wolf.
Sylvia's heart skipped.
'Uh-oh. She's actually mad now.'
She hurried to explain herself, but Silver Wolf wasn't giving her the chance. She sprang into the air and launched herself straight at Sylvia with a flying headbutt.
Thud!
"Ow..."
Sylvia covered her nose with a muffled groan.
Silver Wolf had already landed. Clutching her forehead, she turned and ran.
'Damn Sylvia! Why's her nose so hard?! That hurts!'
Silver Wolf had planned to throw a few threats over her shoulder, but her forehead hurt too much. Rather than let Sylvia see her looking pathetic, she held her head and bolted.
'Damn white-haired menace!'
'I'm going straight to your train, eating every snack you've hidden away, and deleting all your game saves, just you wait!'
"Wait—"
Sylvia tried to follow, but Silver Wolf was willing to use Aether Editing just to escape. She dove straight into a portal and vanished before Sylvia could catch her.
--+--
The commotion from Silver Wolf's retreat must've been louder than Sylvia realized, because Firefly and Mei soon peeked around the corner.
They found Sylvia rubbing her nose.
Firefly immediately looked as though she'd figured everything out.
"You made Silver Wolf mad again?"
"Uh... sort of."
"You really..."
Firefly didn't know what else to say. Sylvia behaved perfectly well whenever she was with Firefly, so why did she always end up bickering with Silver Wolf the moment those two got together?
Mei wore much the same expression behind her. She clearly couldn't understand why Sylvia and Silver Wolf somehow turned every meeting into a fight.
"Well..."
Sylvia scratched her hair, equally unsure how to explain it.
She just enjoyed teasing Silver Wolf.
And she never seemed to get tired of it.
Firefly sighed and pulled out her phone, trying to ask Silver Wolf where she'd gone. Unfortunately, even though her message showed as read, Silver Wolf refused to reveal her location.
Instead, Silver Wolf told Firefly to put on SAM and give Sylvia a good hit for her.
But when Firefly asked what Sylvia had actually done, Silver Wolf dodged the question and refused to say.
That left Firefly stumped.
Silver Wolf had never acted like this before.
Usually, whenever she and Sylvia finished one of their fights, Silver Wolf would angrily rant to Firefly about every horrible thing Sylvia had done. Why was she suddenly being so evasive this time?
Even the normally innocent Firefly gave Sylvia a suspicious look.
Perhaps because Mei was standing there, she didn't ask outright. But the meaning in her eyes was obvious.
'What did you do to Silver Wolf this time?'
Sylvia was still deciding whether telling the truth would just make Silver Wolf angrier when a message from the conductor conveniently rescued her.
[Conductor: Sylvia! A Stellaron Hunter just boarded the Express, charged into your room, and locked the door!]
[Sylvia: ...]
[Sylvia: Huh?]
[Conductor: Get back here! That Stellaron Hunter looked furious and said she's going to tear your whole room apart!]
[Sylvia: I'm coming!]
Sylvia sent Pom-Pom a reassuring sticker, then looked at Firefly and Mei with a complicated expression.
"I think I know where Silver Wolf went."
She showed them her chat with Pom-Pom.
"Uh..."
Firefly gave an awkward but polite smile.
For some reason, she suddenly felt like she was looking after a pair of children.
"I'd better head back to the Express first."
"Go ahead. I'll check how the negotiations between the Family, the IPC, and the Astral Express Crew are going in your place."
Mei spoke from behind Firefly, taking over the task of coordinating with the others.
Of course, part of the reason was simple curiosity. She also wanted to see what Penacony would become after everything that had happened.
After all, the Penacony of today also carried a piece of the legacy left by Tiernan of the Galaxy Rangers.
"All right. I'll leave it to you."
Firefly then looked toward Mei.
"Miss Raiden, could I come with you? I also want to thank everyone from the Astral Express Crew."
Firefly had worked alongside them during Ena's Dream, but everything afterward had happened so quickly that she'd never had the chance to thank them properly.
"Of course. Let's go together."
After their short conversation earlier, Mei's impression of Firefly had improved even further. Their past experiences shared a few similarities, and the two of them had found it surprisingly easy to talk to each other.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL