prynovel Chapter 237: The Disparity
Chapter 237: The Disparity
Chapter 237 - The DisparityMidnight arrived, yet the streets grew livelier.
Plump reindeer pulled a plump Santa Claus, his ramen-noodle-like beard trembling with laughter as he turned, pulling woolen stockings filled with small gifts one after another from his sack and tossing them towards the sides of the street.
"Hey!" Kevin swiped his hand, effortlessly snatching the gift intended for a small boy standing on tiptoe, right before his eyes.
The little boy stared blankly for two seconds, then burst into tears with a "Waaah!"
Kevin, laughing boisterously, quickly pulled Mei's hand and fled.
Both were adults, quickly leaving the children behind. The exertion, perhaps catching their breath wrong, sent Mei into a fit of violent coughing.
Kevin supported her, standing under a streetlight, gently patting her back.
"Honestly, such a grown-up, still snatching gifts from kids." Mei's tone held a hint of helplessness, mixed with suppressed laughter.
"Men are boys until they die!" Kevin grinned, turning the woolen stocking upside down and shaking it. A packet of brown sugar gingerbread cookies fell out.
"Here, perfect. One for you, one for me." Kevin unwrapped the oil paper around the gingerbread, took one out first, and held it before Mei.
Under the dim streetlight, Mei's cheeks were flushed red by the cold wind. She shrunk her neck slightly, didn't reach out, but instead leaned forward and took the cookie from Kevin's hand with her mouth.
The cookies were probably homemade by the Santa cosplayer, only about the size of two coins. Kevin's thumb and forefinger held the cookie quite close to the edge, perhaps intentionally, perhaps not. Even careful as she was, Mei's lips could hardly avoid brushing against Kevin's fingers.
But compared to this peaceful, beautiful world, this small moment of intimacy was merely a bonus.
Kevin felt he should have burst into boisterous laughter, but for some reason, though his lips spread wide, his vocal cords felt constricted, unable to make a sound.
One or two specks of white abruptly appeared in his vision; snowflakes began to drift down from the night sky.
A few flakes landed on Mei's head. He gently brushed them away.
But suddenly, his movement froze.
Mei followed his gaze and turned. A nun had appeared behind her sometime ago.
She watched the two with pity in her eyes. Even on such a cold winter night, her attire remained thin.
She said nothing more, turned her vacant eyes towards Kevin, chuckled softly twice, then turned and melted back into the darkness.
"Aponia..." Kevin whispered the nun's name softly.
He couldn't tell if this Aponia... was the one he knew. What did she mean? Was she implying he should follow her?
Follow her... away from here?
How could that be possible...
"You know her?" Mei asked softly.
Kevin nodded, then shook his head.
"Let's go. We're almost home."
Michael slumped into a chair, legs crossed, hand rubbing the stubble on his chin. Through the glass pane, he quietly observed Sakura and Kevin in the hospital room beyond.
Neither had any physical injuries, but they were hooked up to IV drips, though containing only nutrient solution.
After a short while, sensing Aponia opening her eyes beside him, Michael turned his head as well, asking with undisguised worry:
"Failure?"
"How should I put it..." Aponia pursed her lips. "Those two... They both, more or less, realized they were in a dream."
"Can't wake up?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid... they're unwilling to wake up."
Michael remained silent, stood up quietly, and walked into the hospital room.
He first went to Sakura's bedside. Honestly, as one of the only two people (the other being Vill-V) whose workload had increased rather than decreased after Anti-Entropy merged into Fire Moth, Michael hadn't paid this much attention to Sakura in a long time.
It felt as if, ever since she took on those so-called "dirty jobs," the threads of their fates began to diverge. Though running parallel, occasionally turning as if to intersect again, it always turned out to be merely an approach, quickly moving apart once more.
Michael couldn't help but recall the last time he'd seen her like this, so many years ago in R'lyeh...
So many years have passed already. Michael looked at Sakura and smiled faintly, his right hand clenching unconsciously.
Sakura's face was completely relaxed, a slight smile even gracing her lips. It gave Michael a strange thought—perhaps letting them rest like this for a while wouldn't be so bad...
Even if that happiness stemmed only from an illusory dream.
He then paced over to Kevin.
Compared to Sakura, his expression didn't seem quite as relaxed.
Aponia watched silently from the corner, seeming to anticipate Michael's question, answering softly:
"Compared to Sakura, Kevin realized it earlier... and more clearly."
"..." Michael sighed softly. The meaning was clear—Even you are unwilling to wake up?
Regarding the memories of the Eighth Honkai Eruption from the original timeline, he couldn't recall if Sakura had succumbed to such dreams, but Kevin clearly hadn't.
He remembered Elysia's words: "I always felt that you, actually... were the one among us most likely to be trapped in a dream."
But my dear brother Kevin... why can't you wake up now...
Michael's fist clenched tightly.
"Actually, this is quite normal," Aponia consoled from the side.
"Sweet dreams are like that. They always cater to one's deepest desires. When things unattainable in reality are easily obtained in a dream, even if you realize it's a dream, it's difficult to let go..."
"..."
Indeed, succumbing to a dream perhaps had little to do with maturity or weakness. The key lay in having obsessions, deep-seated ones.
And Sakura and Kevin, in a sense... no, which warrior didn't harbor deep obsessions?
Without that obsession, what was the reason for fighting?
Michael fell silent for a moment, then asked curiously, "Aponia, perhaps prying into others' privacy isn't good, but I still want to ask—Kevin and Sakura, what are their desires?"
"That... Spreading others' privacy isn't good either, so I won't tell you the specific dreams. Besides... their desires are identical, so simple it's almost unbelievable..."
"What is it?"
"A world without Honkai."
"...Can they be forcibly awakened?"
This time, it was Aponia who sighed. "Michael, you should know very well that I can do it. But you must also think clearly, is it necessary for me to do so right now?"
Michael turned to face the door of the room, silent.
The mind, after all, was something human civilization still couldn't fully comprehend... no, couldn't even claim to have begun re
However, Michael still held her hand, lightly tracing something on her palm with his index finger, like a childhood game.
"Oh my, my dear Eden, you certainly know how to pick your moments!" Elysia hooked her right arm around Eden's, pulling her close too, effectively achieving embraces on both sides.
Michael glanced over. Eden looked somewhat haggard. It seemed that since her final concert two years ago, her state had devolved into two modes: drunk Eden and not-drunk Eden.
Eden, unusually, didn't respond to Elysia's banter. She shook her head:
"Ely, I'm just here to relieve you."
"Relieve? What do you mean?"
Before Elysia could express surprise, Michael's communicator beeped first. Mei's face appeared on the projection screen.
"Assemble immediately? Lab 2? Isn't that the Fifth Science Department's... Aponia needs to go too? Okay, on our way."