Endless Silver Machine

Aika did not turn off the lights in the house or lock the door.

Light from the windows illuminated the surroundings of the caretaker's cabin. Aika walked forward slowly step by step, while Ling followed him at a short distance.

Aika had a sense of déjà vu to such a scene... I remembered that that time when she and Ling went out alone to find Teacher Letika, she also kept a distance and followed behind him like she did tonight.

Next time, I hope they can go out for a walk without worrying about anything... Aika made this beautiful wish in her heart.

The towering tree in front of the administrator's hut, I heard from Luoluo last night that buds have grown on its branches. In Aika's impression, the period when it had the strongest presence was when it was still lush and leafy, but now it has ushered in a new beginning, making Aika truly feel that half a year has indeed passed by like this.

He stood in front of the tree trunk and looked up at the tangled branches in the darkness.

Ling also followed his footsteps and stood on the spot.

The night wind still retains the unique coldness of winter. Aika took a deep breath, pushed the sentimentality deep into her chest, and turned around.

The lights in the room shone on Ling's body, and the evening breeze gently ruffled her long hair. The golden hair seemed to be shining under the light. Aika's eyes, which had become accustomed to the darkness, narrowed slightly, and it took a while to slowly adapt.

"Hey..." Ling tapped the ground with her right toe and spoke anxiously, "Why on earth did you ask me to come out? It's time to explain."

Regardless of whether Aika's idea was correct or not, he had to tell Ling himself the next words. Wei Xi's efforts alone were not enough, she also had to face it directly and endure the same feelings as her.

This is your responsibility as a "family".

"I think you should have guessed it..."

"If you're apologizing to me alone for what happened last night, forget it. I don't care that much anymore. It's just annoying to keep saying the same thing over and over again. I'm already tired enough now."

Ling was not as busy as she said today. In order to avoid Aika at home, she stayed in her bed longer than usual.

Ban Ling made her purpose clear in advance, which was within Aika's expectation.

"If you don't want to hear it, I won't say it. But there is one thing I must let you know..." The words of apology become meaningless after being said too much, and become useless things piled up with words. It was meaningless, so Aika adjusted her words under Ling's hint, "You and Luoluo are both very important people to me. I don't want you to be in a situation where I can't see you." The place is painful, and I don’t want you to be troubled because of me. This is probably the reason..."

This is the message Aika wants to convey to Ling. It is an irrefutable fact that he violated the agreement. Although this statement is like trying to find a reasonable excuse for his behavior, and he does feel a lot more at ease after saying it, it is also the voice of Aika from the bottom of his heart.

"Important person? What is this..."

Because of the backlight, Ling's expression was not clearly visible. Just something slipped from her cheek, refracting the faint light in the air, flickering with fluorescent lights in the dark night, and completely disappeared the moment it finally touched the ground.

"Ling..."

"You're always like this! You don't need to use your brain to use such vague concepts! You feel relaxed, then I... what should the people who heard it think? Don't put an identity on me that you have never seriously considered. On your body!"

"I've thought about it carefully!"

Aroused by Ling's attitude, Aika unconsciously raised her voice.

"We are family now, right? Aren't 'family' 'important people'?"

He even forgot why he came to apologize. The heightened emotions driven by Ling made him only want to make Ling fully understand what he meant.

"I'm not……"

To say that she was not a member of Aika's family, Ling's heart forced her to shut up. Even if she really thought so, she could not express such naked and ruthless words. Once the words were spoken, Ling knew that he would lose everything.

"Luoluo and I are different..."

She shrank back in fear of the cold, and tightly grasped her tense left arm with her right hand. The breasts under her pajamas slightly changed shape under the squeeze of her arms.

"Lolo is your sister, she is your real family, but what about me? I just keep following you because I feel bored. What exactly does an 'important person' mean? What kind of connection must be established to be called To be an 'important person'? Who am I to you?"

A series of pressing questions were all shouted in a slightly hoarse voice. From the tightly closed eyes, hot tears flowed down uncontrollably, dripping into the soil that had been moistened by rain not long ago.

"Then why do we have to be related by blood to be called family?"

Aika did not answer any of Ling's questions, but asked a tit-for-tat rhetorical question. Suppressing his tumbling heart, he had to restrain his actions. He never thought that Ling would cry at this time. In his impression, he had never seen Ling shed a tear since he met her. When she doesn't get her way, she gets angry, makes noises, and uses her body as a sandbag to vent her stress, but she never shows a trace of her soul.

"I have no family anymore, and if I forget that, I won't be me anymore... So what I can't do... only I can get..."

Ling did not answer Aika's rhetorical question. She didn't know where the momentum just went. She trembled and spoke intermittently, took a step back, and then took another step back. She was putting distance between herself and Aika. Suddenly, she roughly wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her pajamas, turned around suddenly, hiding Aika's figure behind her invisible back, and started running with her already trembling legs.

why why why……

Ling has run out of words to explain. After yelling nonsense, her clogged heart finally felt much better. At the same time, she also realized that a lot of things had changed.

After this night, I may not be able to go back to my normal routine. In his opinion, he must be just making trouble unreasonably. But for Ling, there is a reason to do this.

Because if she didn't speak out, she would have no way to stay in this home. This is not Aika's fault, nor is it Luoluo and Wei Xi's fault. The only one who is wrong...

…………

After learning that Aika and Wei Xi were in danger in the Tebiri Kingdom, Ling stayed up all night because of worry. When Wei Xi wasn't sleeping next to her, it felt like the entire bed had become a lot bigger. Ling was always lying on the bed, facing the wall with her eyes closed, the curtains were closed, and there was no light in the room. However, even if she reached this point, she still could not smoothly enter the depths of her consciousness.

Pitter-pattering raindrops hit the window. After a long night, Ling dragged her aching body out of bed and opened the curtains. The sky lit up, indicating that several hours had passed silently through the chaos.

How many nights like this is this already? Ling weakly returned to the bed and sunk her body into it. Soon, Luoluo will knock on the door. Although he was unable to get in touch with the two people in a foreign country, Luoluo cheered up again after a brief period of anxiety.

——Because we are family members, we trust him.

Luoluo also said similar things at the amusement park in the imperial capital. It is precisely because of the existence of this invisible bond that the connection between the two is so close. This is what Ling longs for in her heart but cannot reach.

Although there is no direct entrustment, Wei Xi is the child entrusted to Aika by Tara, so Aika has the responsibility to take care of her daily life.

What about yourself? He is the same age as Aika and has the confidence to not lose to him in various aspects. Why do you still stay in this home? If I think about it carefully, I have no direct contact with Aika. They just met during the trip. Generally speaking, they would not develop to the point of living together like now.

So, why? Ling got into the tip of this horn.

friend? People who have a little contact can call each other friends. family? This word sounds very warm and reassuring, but after all, it is just an empty shell. It only lives in a house and cannot be called a family at all.

In the end, I realized that I was reluctant to let go just because I got a ray of warmth in the cold winter.

And Ling also found the answer to the true nature of this attachment.

…………

"let me go!"

Ling knew she would end up being caught by Aika. She tried her best to break free from his hand. When she was anxious, hundreds of golden particles emerged around the two of them, dispelling the darkness.

These golden particles are one of the forms of Ling's magic outfit, the Light Flame Sword. If Ling thinks about it, this dreamy scenery at night will immediately be dyed bright red.

Even so, the hand holding her showed no sign of relaxing.

Aika didn't waver at all.

"I won't let you go."

On the contrary, Aika increased the force in his hands. Although Ling's back was turned to him now, Aika knew that she must be biting her lip and enduring the pain she had caused.

Please be patient a little longer...

"I said let go...hey!"

While Aika was relaxing a little, Ling finally found a chance to break free. But the next moment, her whole body could no longer move freely.

Aika did not leave this opportunity to her, but went a step further and hugged Ling's body from behind.

She had always envied the warmth that Luo Luo could feel, but at this moment, Ling's heart was in a state of confusion. It was the first time that the two were so close, and it was the first time that Ling knew that the physical difference between herself and Aika was so obvious. In his arms, every move she made seemed so weak. Despite this, Ling still did not give up useless resistance.

"Light Flame Sword!"

A long sword glowing with golden light was held in Ling's hand. But the body held tightly by Aika couldn't even turn around, and the arms wrapped by Aika's arms couldn't even lift the weapon.

"Ling..." Aika's voice sounded like babble in Ling's ears, "I always hope you can be happy. When you are sad, I am willing to listen to you talk. When you are happy, I am willing to accompany you. Smirk, this is family.”

Ling in her arms gave up struggling, and her hands hung down feebly. The small sword fell to the ground and quietly broke into new golden particles.

"Just because they are family members, Luoluo and Wei Xi will always ask you to buy things for the family, and I will always ask you to help prepare lunch. I... and Luo Luo and Wei Xi can't imagine your absence. day."

What Aika wanted to say has been said.

The only thing left in this silent space was Ling's intermittent sobs. Aika relaxed her arms slightly, because there was no need to do so. Ling did not pull away, as if she had lost her strength, she leaned all her weight on Aika. The sobs turned into clearly audible cries.

Golden particles all over the sky, like powdery snow in early winter, are falling one after another. The light belonging to Ling gradually dimmed, and what was left was only a piece of transparency like melting winter snow.

…………