…… So she just stood at the door of Apaya's room.

Reins leaned against the wall, looked out the window, and closed her eyes.

If the engineer didn't come back, she might have to fall asleep standing in the doorway.

But she seemed to have forgotten that it wasn't night, and that engineer should be in their underground research institute during the day, right? …… No, she would never go to the institute to find someone, it would be scary to imagine that scene.

…… So she's going to wait here for a day? It's not good for her to do something with this time......

The midday sun is always drowsy, and Apaya's room is on the second floor, just enough to feel the warmth of the sun shining on her body. Maybe the neighborhood was full of their researchers' rooms, and the whole floor was silent.

Reins lowered her head. She was a little sleepy, she hadn't rested well for a week's night, and the quiet air and warm sunlight around her had relaxed her nerves.

Although the gray-haired man's face gradually reappeared in front of her eyes, and her ears seemed to be able to hear his malicious curse again, she seemed to be able to clearly distinguish that it was just her own hallucination.

Reins snorted softly, as if mocking herself.

Even where there is his breath, can his own soul settle down? Can there be no more unproductive ones?

I don't know how long it took, but before she fell asleep completely, the familiar sound of footsteps came from the hallway. She looked up in the direction where the voice had come from, and the person she was waiting for was standing not far away watching her.

…… And after seeing her, she felt that her courage disappeared in an instant.

No matter how reasonable and bold the attitude assumed before, when he actually stood in front of him, it all came to naught.

“…… You came to me? ”

Apaya's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she realized that she really couldn't open her mouth. The other party had already walked in front of her, but she had no way to see any clues from the other party's calm expression.

Her heart was even more shaken, and now she began to regret that she had come here on the spur of the moment.

No, now everything can be achieved by opening your mouth ruthlessly.

But what if it's an undesirable outcome? Are you ready for what to do, Reins?

Can you face his indifferent face and never have any communicative distance from you again?

"No, no, I'm just passing through here."

Blaming herself in her heart for thinking of such a bad excuse and choosing to escape, Rhines lowered her head slightly and walked in the direction of Apaya.

…… Or maybe it should have been walked over.

But her hand was caught.

And what happened next caught her off guard, and the blonde man opened his door and dragged her in a little rough, even throwing her into the house by inertia. And before she could complain that her wrist was injured by excessive force, she was pushed against the wall by the other party, even if she was a little angry at the moment.

"What are you doing! It hurts—"

The words that followed were swallowed up.

She never thought Apaya would have such an aggressive side.

One of Apaya's hands grabbed her wrist against the wall, the other arm propped up next to her head, his breath took over her mouth, and the other person's indiscriminate deep kiss caused her teeth to collide with her lips and tongue, and she felt the pain in her lips at the same time, but she was also dazed by the sudden attack of the other party, which made her almost forget to breathe.

When she was finally let go, it felt like a lifetime had passed. All she could do was lean against the wall and breathe hard, and the other hand, which had been propped up against the wall, was already caressing her cheek.

"You came to me on your own." Apaya seemed to confirm something, "I wanted to give you a little more time to get your ...... in order."

What nonsense is he talking about? Reins thought a little confused. Shouldn't he be the one who should organize his thoughts?

"I didn't care about that from the beginning." He looked into Rheinz's eyes, his eyes full of predation, "A crisp fighting stance, the ability to harvest lives without hesitation when needed, and a good knowledge of what most people don't know, certainly proves that you have some kind of past, doesn't it?" ”

“…… That's different. Reins wanted to look away, but she wasn't allowed to do so, "It's one thing to have training, it's another time for me to kill without a purpose......"

"But I don't care." Apaya gently rubbed the skin of the mercenary's face, "And you didn't understand it at that time, that's why you did that." ”

"But I-"

"Don't you understand?" His fingers slid down to Reins' lips, which made her feel a slight pain, "Your past only makes me feel more distressed and strengthens my desire to protect you." It's always you who really cares about this. ”

Reinse's eyes became a little flustered.

"How is that possible...... Didn't you just leave at that time......"

Apaya's eyes narrowed, which made Reins subconsciously shrink her shoulders.

"That's because if I told you that at the time, you would never accept it, but thought I was impulsive and didn't think about it."

She opened her mouth and found that there was no way to refute it - because the engineer was telling the truth.

"So I've been waiting for you to get your mood in order." He looked at Reines with a deeper gaze, "Since you're coming to me...... Then I think you're okay with that. ”

"Wait, wait...... I haven't ...... yet Not. Reins tried to struggle, at least out of the distance they were so close to each other, but the pain in her wrist made her wrinkle her face and her fingers twitch reflexively.

Apaya immediately loosened her grip and took her wrist carefully.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so rude...... he muttered, "I just couldn't control my emotions just now. ”

After speaking, he bowed down slightly and kissed his reddened wrist gently.

Apaya's expression and behavior reminded Rhines of a scene she had seen before.

It was a medium-sized commission, so it was up to her and Shukaimi to do it. She goes to the middle of the journey to protect the client's belongings, while Shuka and Imi escort the delegator to pick them up and then go to their destination.

Shuka and Imi had a quarrel over the client, a weak woman, who liked Shuka, and although Shuka did not accept it, he still treated the woman politely because of the task, which made Imi feel unpleasant. She didn't think they needed to worry about the client's mood, they just had to complete the commission, but Shuka thought that the Fili mercenaries needed a good reputation.

After they meet, the monster suddenly appears, but Imi's pistol has a problem due to the woman's previous carelessness, and Shuka only tells Imi not to pay too much attention to it at the time, because he alone is enough to protect them - which is the cause of their quarrel. At that time, she needed to protect the client and the items she carried, so she handed over the battle to Shuka.

But Imi insists on fighting because she doesn't want to be a woman who "can only be protected by Shuka and watch the play in the back". So she picked up the cold weapon that she wasn't good at using and stepped forward to fight the monster in close combat.

In the end, although he repelled the demonic beast, Imy also suffered a lot of injuries. At that time, Reins tried to come forward to help her with treatment, but Shuka's actions stopped her.

Although he condemned Imi's recklessness, he gently wiped the wound on Imi's face, and finally gently took her hands, which were damaged by the incorrect holding of the cold weapon, and kissed them with pity.

At that moment, her soul clearly felt the deep attachment of Shuka and Imi to each other.

…… So she couldn't say anything to Apaya at the moment.

The man who was usually so cold that one suspected that he himself was a mechanical, always angry man, now had such a tender and caring expression that seemed to treat her as if she were a treasure......

Isn't that too foul?

She froze, finally letting her eyes stay on Apaya's face.

"My back hurts too." She heard herself say, "You just threw me against the wall, it was so rude. ”

Seeing Apaya's nervous expression, and the action that wanted to touch her but was afraid that it would hurt her, she suddenly wanted to listen to her heart's thoughts and be bold.

She stretched out her arms and hugged Apaya.

And the other party barely had a pause of less than a second that could be considered surprised, and then immediately hugged her back.

This made her feel that the part of her heart that had been cursed and hollowed out seemed to be gradually filled with something.

"I'm sleepy, Apaya." Her voice was a little muffled, "I want to sleep." ”

"Huh?" The blonde man looked a little confused, "Then are you going back?" ”

Rhines looked up disgruntled and glared at him.

"Don't you have a bed here?" She pouted, "I don't want to run all the way back, this journey is enough for me to come back to my senses." ”

Apaya blinked.

"There's still a project in the lab waiting for me to go back—"

The mercenary simply shook him off.

"Forget it." She said with some indignation, "I dare not delay your time, Your Excellency Chief Engineer. ”

As soon as she turned around and was about to leave, she was immediately pulled back.

"Can't you be a coquetter on me?" Apaya's helpless voice came from overhead, "Those projects are not important, no matter how important they are, others are not dead......

Reins snorted softly and pulled him into his bedroom, the sight of which amazed her.

"Wow......" she looked at the stacked items on the bedroom table that didn't look like they were supposed to be in his room, "Apaya, do you like the Muppets?" ”

"It's not that I like it." Apaya wrapped her arms around her waist, "Shao told me you liked it." ”

"So you just have these in your bedroom? …… Have you been preparing to pull me into your house? ”

Appaya looked thoughtful.

"If that's what you say...... Not bad. He said slowly, "As long as you don't mind." ”

She bared her teeth at Apaya.

"I think we're moving a little too fast, engineer." She picked up a soft puppy doll, then kicked off her shoes and sat on his bed, "I'm in your room and still in your bed, but I just want to sleep right now." ”

"Okay." He shrugged, "Need me out?" ”

"Nope." Reins put the doll on her face and rubbed it, "You have to stay with me." ”

Apaya smacked her tongue.

"In your eyes, I'm a decent gentleman?" Although he said this, he obediently walked over, and then knelt on the bed, "You're not afraid that I will do something?" ”

"Come on, it's like you beat me."

The man's expression made Reins laugh heartily.

That doesn't sound very flattering...... If you keep laughing, I'll find a way to make you laugh. He pressed Rhines down on the bed, then pulled her out of her arms and put the doll next to the pillow, "All right, mercenary, since you are sleepy, then you should sleep, not giggle there." ”

"I always feel like you're talking like an elder." "I'm like a child who goes to bed but still won't sleep." ”

“…… At least I don't want to be your elder. He seemed to remember something, and his expression became a little subtle, "So what Shao said before during the meal was correct, there was no one at that table who wanted to be your elder." ”

She scoffed softly.

"If you keep mentioning other people of the opposite sex like this, I probably won't be able to do more with you for the rest of my life, Apaya."

This sentence made Apaya raise an eyebrow.

"You mean as long as I don't mention it?"

"It's just a basic condition." She said lazily, "Come on, if you want more, it depends on what you want to give." With your current performance, giving you a kiss is considered to give you face. ”

"So what do you want me to do?"

She was lost in thought. Ah, of course, she has things she wants engineers to do, and most importantly...... Probably wanted to distance him from Hua Shao.

Don't say anything, she uses Hua Shao as a shield, she just doesn't like the two of them being so close, what's wrong?

"If I want you to ...... with Hua Shao" She hesitated for a moment, swallowed the "cut off contact", and chose a mild expression, "Distance yourself and turn into an ordinary relationship with not very close friends, can you do it?" ”

Appaya didn't look like she expected to say this.

"Okay, I'm just kidding. I know you've been good friends for over a decade, and I'm probably going to be sick if you let me stop beating Hermiria's nasty face. She only gave Apaya 1 second to react, then changed the subject, "You lie down quickly, I can't sleep well with your arms there." ”

“…… Why do you have to be with me? He asked as if he hadn't heard the previous topic, "Although I don't think there's anything wrong with that...... But I think you're suddenly very proactive. ”

"Because I need a restful night's sleep." She looked at him sideways, and chose to ignore the previous topic, "I've been tortured enough this week, even if I can only clearly tell that the things in front of me are illusions like when I was standing in the hallway drowsy before, it can improve the quality of my sleep a little." ”

Apaya froze for a moment, then reached out and took her into his arms.

"If you don't sleep again, it's time for dinner, Rhine."

"How can you ...... so fast," she yawned sleepily, then buried her head in his chest, "I've always wanted to say that since when did you call me so naturally......"

"From the moment I realized I liked you." He whispered, but received no response, and the mercenary had fallen asleep.

It seems that she is really sleepy. He stroked her head softly, and then remembered the topic that had just been selectively filtered out by both of them at the same time.