NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"Hey?"

"Hey, what are you doing all morning and afternoon?! You're only answering the phone now!"

"You have something to say."

Hearing Shuen's slightly shrill voice through the microphone, Phoenix, who never followed the other person's speaking rhythm, cut to the chase:

"Has the research news from the lab been released yet?"

"Ha, those old guys have already taken the bait, but my father's former confidants are still confronting them, so they can't directly break off relations and cause trouble for me."

By the way, that's not what I was looking for.

"I'm asking you, those assassins last night...did you kill them?"

Ding-dong-

As Shuen was speaking, the doorbell rang on this side of the room.

Upon hearing the doorbell, Phoenix, feeling utterly drained, struggled to get out of bed. As he walked toward the door, he feigned ignorance in a very natural tone.

"Killer?"

"You really don't know?"

Upon hearing Phoenix's tone on the phone, Shuen, unsure whether it was genuine or not, was somewhat confused and said:

Where are you now?

People from ACPU and the Triangle Force have arrived. MMR Affiliated High School is now full of people from the Central Committee, including Mihara and that guy whose name is... anyway, it's Nikki, whom you brought. I asked her beforehand, and the police are only taking statements from them.

How come you didn't even know about this?

and many more……

"Hey! You didn't just get up, did you? Haven't the police been looking for you?"

"Who knows."

The man listlessly answered the kid's series of questions, and just as he was about to reach out and press the door switch, he suddenly stopped.

He learned his lesson last night and became more careful.

Even at home, I should use my mental map to glance at the doorway first.

Although the doors that need to be opened still need to be opened, at least we can be mentally prepared, right?

And so, the moment Anise's blurry face and magnanimous heart appeared in his mind, the dazed man suddenly shuddered, and a glint of wisdom appeared in his eyes.

"I'm going out to check. I'll hang up now and contact you if there are any problems."

"Ha~?"

"See you later."

drop!

Without giving Shuen a single chance to whine, Phoenix hung up the phone, and then...

He turned to look at the collapsed bed in his room.

it's over...

ding dong -- ding dong --

Ding dong ding dong ding dong—!

The doorbell, like Charon's boat bell on the River Styx, continued to ring out a sound that signified death.

Faced with a dormitory room of only twenty square meters, the man, whose mind was stuck, blinked innocently. Then, knowing that there was no way to change the situation, he resignedly opened the door.

Think about it, Anise sneaked into the school gate without asking his opinion to find him, which is nothing more than...

laugh--

"Commander-in-chief, sir!"

The girl's lively, sparrow-like voice skipped playfully through the doorway before leaping into Phoenix's ears.

Anise, who had somehow acquired a fake ACPU police uniform, stood blankly outside, her eyes filled with undisguised danger and determination.

It's so familiar. I know that look all too well. It's exactly the same look Marian had last night.

"Wait a minute, Anise, let me hear you out..."

flutter--

They rushed into the room exactly the same way, slammed the door shut exactly the same way, and threw someone onto the already slumped bed exactly the same way.

However, unlike the previous two times, this time, Phoenix, exhausted, wisely chose to struggle.

"stop!!!"

The man, his face filled with terror, grabbed the girl's small hand, which was trying to pull at her shirt, and pressed it against his chest.

Then, he put on a distressed face and said weakly:

"Um, production capacity is limited, Bao... can we do it later..."

"Who's your baby?!"

When the commander stopped her, Anise, who was determined to go all the way, lost most of the determination she had finally mustered.

Without confidence, intense shyness and grievances relentlessly climbed back into the young woman's heart, filling it to overflowing levels and causing her discomfort.

She was the one who met him first!

She was the one who first accompanied the Commander through life and death, and the Commander was the first to risk his life to save her.

How did she end up looking like a clown?!

"Everyone else can do it, but I can't!"

Tiny, crystal-clear pearls rolled down the girl's flushed cheeks and landed quietly on Phoenix's bare chest.

At that moment, the man desperately wanted to explain that the pot had nothing to do with him.

But Li's online emotional intelligence made him realize that in order to prevent his wife from leaving home, he had no choice but to take the blame.

"It's not that I...it's not that I thought you didn't want to."

Touching Anise's delicate, tear-streaked face, Phoenix, who had willingly taken the blame, could tell that the girl was genuinely upset. Therefore, without realizing it, his heart also tightened.

"Your commander is wrong."

As he spoke, the man, enduring the pain, twisted his waist and, with Anis's feigned resistance, successfully flipped the girl over and pinned her to the bed.

"It's clearly because the Commander wasn't proactive enough!"

The girl retorted, her ears turning bright red, her eyes, still wet with tears, already tightly closed in nervousness.

Actually, she wasn't wrong. Looking back, the most proactive intimate gesture Phoenix made with Niki and the others was when he silently hugged Mihara in the haunted house, seeking the feeling of being a "human" from her embrace.

And that has little to do with romantic love.

So, after a brief period of self-reflection, and having successfully completed his introspection, the commander finally decided to take the initiative.

Of course, it's impossible to rock the bed. If I were to force myself to rock it again, I might have to go see Pepper again.

Thinking this, Phoenix slowly bent down and gently called the girl's name.

"Anis".

"……Um."

After a few breaths, the girl, who hadn't received any intimate gestures, nervously fluttered her crescent-shaped eyelashes and quietly opened her eyes, trying to peek at the Commander's actions through the gap in her eye.

As a result, because of the tears in my eyes, I couldn't see anything.

But it’s okay,

Her commander didn't keep her on edge for long.

The warmth emanating from her skin lingered hazily on Anise's cheek, tickling her heart.

Then, Phoenix's hoarse voice, carrying a warm, moist breeze, gently murmured near the girl's temples.

"If, and I mean if, humanity really does manage to emerge from underground, on that night, on a night when the stars are in full bloom, would you be willing to leave the Ark with me?"

"Eh?"

Feeling the warm current still flowing in her cochlea, Anis, whose eyes were slightly glazed, suddenly became much more alert.

She thought the commander would kiss her earlobe lightly with his thin lips or bite it, just like in the novels, but she never expected to receive such an unexpected confession.

It is a confession and promise that a young girl has longed for in her heart.

For Anise, this was exactly what she wanted: a romantic surprise.

"Well--"

"Wherever the Commander goes, I will go. This... this is my duty."

The girl spoke haltingly, then realized her words weren't proactive enough, so she pursed her lips and added softly:

"...How could I possibly refuse Commander on something like this?"