!!! - EDITED - 12/30/24 ( Only have some adjustments on the Dialouges to fit with the changes being made in the past chapters.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Honkai Star Rail and any of their characters. All belonged to their rightful owners - Hoyoverse.
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"Himeko!" Without any hesitation, March dashed off like a speeding bullet toward the red-haired woman. It amazes me how fast she can run.
"It's nice to see you too, March," Himeko smiled, patting the pink-haired girl who purred like a cat for some reason. I found it odd as it was cute.
Her gaze shifted to us, more specifically, towards the xianxia boy at my side. Her expression was soft as she spoke.
"Dan Heng, you've been through a lot."
"It was more or less the same," Dan Heng replied, still as stoic as ever. I glanced at him. It made me wonder. Was he ever afraid of something?
"Muuu what took so long, Himeko?" March exclaimed with a pout " Those last waves of the Antimatter Legion came at us like a swarm of locusts. Have you ever tried shooting a locust with a bow?"
Himeko placed a hand under her chin, slightly shaking her head. "It wouldn't have made a difference. My orbital cannon can deal with a whole bunch of enemies at once, but I couldn't just blow up the space station with it. I had a feeling, Herta wouldn't like that." A chuckle escaped from her lips.
'Wait, did she just say an orbital cannon?' I blinked. Already, this Himeko was more dangerous than I thought she would be, and she even chuckled at mentioning blowing up this space station. How dangerous are the women here in this universe? It made me want to reevaluate the current knowledge I have of this place I've been transported into.
"And you two," Himeko gazed at me and mostly Arlan, I presume "Are you two alright? Asta has been worried sick of where the two of you have gone off to."
Worried? I get she's worried about Arlan but Me? Pfft that would be crazy. What would I be for her to be worried about?
"Thanks for asking. But I'm fine. A quick patching up will do." Arlan gave a short nod for a gesture "However, I must leave since I have to report the situation to Lead Researcher Asta immediately."
"I see, well Director, who am I to prevent you from leaving?"
"Thank you" Arlan nodded then turned to me "Also Ethan, Thank you for keeping Peppy safe "
"Not a problem, Sir!" I saluted, giving him a smile.
"I told you not to call me that" Arlan shook his head, however, a smile was present on his face "And off with the salute, it looks ridiculous"
"Got it, boss." I heard him sigh from the distance.
"So, you're Ethan, right?" Himeko's gaze settled on me. In response, I stared at her back.
"Yes?"
"Hmm, Asta has told me quite a bit about you."
"She did?" I was surprised.
"I think a proper introduction shall be made since we have ourselves a new person here," Himeko eyed someone beside me, which was Stelle. "I'm Himeko, the navigator from Astral Express. How about you, sweety?"
"She's asking for your name" I whispered in her ear seeing she was not responding. It kinda reminds me of when I first met Himeko.
"I'm Stelle," Stelle introduced herself, a small smile paved over her lips.
"What a wonderful name." She clasped her hands "March hasn't been any trouble with you two lately, has she?"
"Hey! What's with that question Miss Himeko!"
"She's somewhat reckless..," Stelle said, sounding unsure but the point was there.
"She's quite something..that's all I can say" I added shortly after
"Hey! What's with that first impression? For your name information, I'm a great person" March pouted, her glare intensified. Her eyes then moved towards Dan Heng. "Dan Heng, what about you?" She asked, hopeful that her fellow trailblazer would back her up.
"I have the right to remain silent." It seemed not.
March wore a betrayed expression while remaining speechless.
Himeko chuckled. "She is as lively as ever, it would seem. Anyways, why don't the four of you take a quick break? I'm sure you are all tired by now."
That I can absolutely agree with.
Soon, we headed our separate ways. March headed off to buy something from a vending machine. Dan Heng was sitting on a bench with his eyes closed, appearing to be meditating. Stelle... well, she was staring at a trash can at the far back. The reason? I don't know. I assumed she was throwing some kind of rubbish into the trash can, but for some reason, she just stood there.
I headed off to see if I could spot any familiar faces among the survivors. The survivors were, well, looked like what you expected them to be. The invasion took a toll on everyone on board, bloodied, and injured and some were even murmuring to themselves shaken by what was happening. I could see a lot of personnel of the medical department roaming around to treat those injured, some were even consoling those who seemed shaken.
They must have real shit, that I would guess.
Almost everyone looked the same to me until I found someone who was very familiar at first glance. Abraham was there, mumbling to himself, alone. I didn't need to guess what it was.
"Abraham!" I shouted, trying to get his attention.
The man in question looked back at me. His expression quickly changed.
"Wait, Ethan? Ethan, is that you?!" He shouted back, a smile spread over his face.
"How have you been, man?" I asked, approaching closer.
"I thought you died!" Abraham exclaimed, looking at me in surprise. "Didn't you know how many times I've called you!"
"Called?" I blinked "Wait…" I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw almost fifty missed calls from yours truly.
"See?!"
"Listen, Abraham, the signal was jammed and I just found out that it was fixed...and my phone was in silent mode, so there's that."
"I thought you were dead! I thought I lost my best friend!"
"Well, I guess my death was greatly exaggerated," I replied, shrugging "Anyways, I'm alive, with flesh and bones and a beating heart. What more can you want?"
Abraham then furrowed his brows like he was skeptical of something.
"What?"
"Are you sure I'm not looking at a ghost—OW! What was that for?"
"A ghost wouldn't be able to slap you, right?" I asked with a blank look, flicking my wrist. Huh, never knew that slapping some sense into someone would feel so good.
"You—actually got a point there." Rubbing his right cheek, Abraham nodded.
"Anyways, you managed to come out unscathed. Did you actually manage to enter the evacuation zone in time?"
"Yeah, you would've seen how chaotic it was. Like no joke, bro, it was chaotic. People were screaming like scared dogs," Abraham replied, visibly shaking as the memory haunted him.
'Who wouldn't be scared?' I thought, giving him a long stare before speaking. "So, how long have you been here?"
"For two hours now, I think. I'm not really worried about the time; I'm worried when we are all going to die!" He grabbed my shoulders and shook them "Don't you see Ethan?! I knew it! From the beginning, we would be targeted!"
"Nothing to see here people, just a normal reaction here. A normal reaction" I waved my hands to the nearby people whose stares were on us. Thankfully, Abraham was quick to calm down.
"You understand me, right?" He now asked in a low voice.
"Of course," I replied, smiling to assure him. He eventually let go of my shoulders. His expression finally turned more confident as his smile returned
"That's why you're my friend, Ethan. You always understand me, unlike them." He began to sniffle I could see tears in his eyes.
Okay, not the development I was expecting. I averted my eyes and faked a cough while promptly pulling the small napkin on my packet.
"There, there, buddy." I patted him on the back and handed him the napkin.
"Thanks." He accepted it and blew his nose on it. My face morphed into a small look of disgust. I honestly didn't expect him to do that, but whatever, it was only 50 credits.
"Here," he tried to hand me back the napkin, but I gently pushed it back to him. Before he could speak, I silenced him with a raised finger.
"No, keep it. It's yours," I said, trying to look as sincere as I could.
He nodded, convinced, and mumbled, "Thanks."
"No problem, buddy. Not a problem." My eyes wandered as I saw Stelle with the rest of the Astral Express crew heading towards who I assumed to be Lady Asta. Are they going to plan a counterattack? I remembered Dan Heng mentioning that. Well, good luck to them.
Surprisingly, Stelle saw me staring at them as she snapped in my direction and waved.
I stared blankly for just a second before focusing my attention back on Abraham. "Hey, why don't we get a soda? My treat."
"Really?" Abraham shot a look of total surprise. Well, to be fair, I was rather stingy with my money and never paid for anyone's drinks.
"Yes, and we should go—"
"Ethan!"
"—Nevermind. The predator already reached its prey before it could run." I grimaced as I took a breath.
"What do you mean—" Abraham tried to say but I cut him off.
"Ahem." I cleared my throat "Abraham, would you please, give us a moment?"
"What is she? your girl—"
"Abraham, not now please"
Seeing my serious expression, he nodded and went to sit in another place, slightly away from us.
I turned around, meeting her gaze head-on. Seeing her up close really could tell that she was a tad taller than I was which was strange for me. But honestly, I couldn't really care much about my height.
"What?" I asked after seeing her lips curved into a smile.
"You should join us," she suggested.
I blinked. Well, that's one way to start a conversation and what did she mean by that?
"I don't understand, join where?"
"Miss Himeko is planning to talk with Miss Asta so I'm offering that you should join us."
Hmm, That makes sense but the latter part doesn't. I thought, giving her a puzzled. "Why?"
"Why not?" She asked back, tilting her head.
"..." I could my lip twitch at that response. Is this girl serious? "That's a very poor choice of words"
"Is it?"
"Yes"
"Oh.." She replied, "Still, that doesn't mean you shouldn't join us." She insisted with an unyielding look.
Man, She's persistent.
"You haven't even given me a reason to join you guys to begin" I crossed my arms. Imagine me, an NPC? Going with those protagonists? Ain't that a death sentence on my part?
"Isn't having me enough?" She pointed at herself.
"...." I fell silent " Like I said, poor choice of words. You should rephrase it to something less prone to misunderstanding."
She tilted her head, not understanding where I was getting at
My brow twitched "Listen, Stelle—"
"There's no harm in you joining us, right?" Another voice sounded, cutting me off completely. I closed my mouth and tilted my head to the side. There I saw Himeko approaching us. "Sorry to interrupt you two"
"I'm sorry, Miss Himeko but I'm just an ordinary guy"
"Ordinary?" The way her tone sounded made me uneasy "I heard from Dan Heng you've got quite the strangeness within you, Ethan"
"...What?" I asked, confused, "I don't follow."
"Let's see, Dan Heng mentioned that something about you is strange. The way that your injuries seemed to heal itself told otherwise. I can tell that you know something about that. Also, Stelle here is a witness herself. You were the one who saved her by allowing the void ranger to chase you and somehow you defeated a lone ranger alone. Does that scream ordinary, Ethan?"
Shit, is this woman saying what I think she's saying?
"I–"
"I can tell whether a person is lying Ethan, so choose your words, carefully~"
Damn it. She's leaving me with no options. She's literally putting me in a corner. For her intentions regarding this, it was strange. Why would she do this? What would she gain from this?
"....." I paused for a moment before saying in complete defeat "Maybe."
Her smile then curved into a sly one "So would you reconsider?"
"...." I shot her an odd look. Something felt off about this. I had no choice but to say "Really? What is the real reason you want me to accompany you guys?"
Himeko tilted her head slightly before chuckling "It seems you're quite perceptive aren't you, Ethan?" She shook her head, placing a hand on Stelle's shoulder " It seems I've done the best I could do, Stelle"
Eh?
I placed my attention back on Stelle. A betrayed expression took over my face as she innocently blinked at me, not knowing how she wronged me. Why? What did you do to convince them? I'm just an NPC for goddamn sake unlike you Protagonist looking people! I'll die with you people around me.
"She's the one who insisted that you should join us in the meantime. After all, despite how you act, deep down, you do care for others. That's a trait that the Astral Express Crew always welcomes." Himeko continued "You saved her, sacrificing your life for hers and she did the same to you. You two have now shared history together. Won't it hurt her for you to leave? Have you considered that, Ethan?"
Is she guilt-tripping me? That seemed like it. Why go that far? And why would Stelle care about me anyway? I was a random dude misplaced in this goddamn place. I felt my feelings were conflicted not knowing what to do but….
"It seems that Stelle has waited long enough, and I know for a fact that you've already decided, somewhat partly I could tell," Himeko said, glancing at the gray-haired girl and back at me. "Shall we?"
I opened my mouth but no words came out. Man, she got me. Was I too easy to read? That might pose a problem later on.
Eventually, I got the words right back in "I'll be right there. I still have something to talk about with my friend here. It's only for a minute."
"Of course, take your time, Ethan. We'll be waiting there in the pillar" Himeko gave a short nod and proceeded her way. Meanwhile, Stelle stood rooted in her spot
"What?" Why is she still staring at me?
"Thank you" She smiled.
Before I could say anything, she began to leave trailing behind Himeko
Well, that was something.
"Dude, she's Himeko. Himeko!" Abraham exclaimed after I met with him. He had an excited look on his face like he had seen God himself in all his glory. I calmly turned to him. Does everybody really adore her that much? I wondered. If anything, she is beautiful, I mean, at first, I was captivated by her beauty, but after that, nothing.
"Also, who was that girl earlier you were talking to?"
"It's a long story"
"About friendship…Wait no, about love blossoming in the field of flowers?"
"Want me to hit your head? And also, you should really cut off those romance novels you have been reading"
He gasped "No! That's blasphemy!"
"Only for you" I shook my head, sighing before placing my hand on his shoulder "Abraham?"
"Yeah?"
I gripped his shoulder firmly. "Bid me good luck."
"Wait what?"
"I have to go"
"Why are you saying it like that?" He asked, confused. As I let go of his shoulder, I began walking away.
"Wait, Ethan! You haven't answered my question yet!"