Chapter 4: Outside the Hollow
"Time… time… ugh. Is the time the Proxy gave me even real? Why is there still no sign of anything?"
Outside the Hollow, Nicole sat in her van, bored out of her mind as she tapped the steering wheel. Her manicured nails clicked crisply against it, the sound echoing in the narrow cabin and amplifying the loneliness—and the worry—until it pressed down on her chest.
To distract herself, Nicole Demara decided to think about something cheerful.
"Let me think… hmm. This month's bills are a huge deficit again. Annoying! In a bit I'll have to explain to the store owner why I borrowed that much money from Chiya. Annoying! Anby and Billy still haven't come ou—ugh! Why are all my thoughts miserable?!"
With a groan, Nicole leaned her forehead against the steering wheel and muttered to herself.
"Okay… once this job is done, the bills will flip from red to black. And when I talk to the store owner, I'll just be honest. Besides, it's not like I've never paid him back…"
"And later, when I marry Chiya, I'll just pay everything off in one go!"
"Anyway, nobody's competing with me—"
"—Ah! There I go again, overthinking. Besides me, how could there possibly be other women staring at Chiya like prey?!"
"Still… Anby and Billy…"
"Aether pressure is gone."
"We're out! We're finally out! A-ha!"
With a crisp pop, Anby and Billy appeared on the streets of New Eridu. Anby's quiet observation was one thing—Billy's loud victory howl was another, and it instantly snapped Nicole out of her thoughts.
Annoyed, she hit the horn. The van's beep-beep quickly drew their attention.
"Billy, what are you wailing like a banshee for?! Don't ruin the Cunning Hares' image!"
"Ah? Ah! Yes, Boss Nicole!"
After scolding the guy who looked like a master when silent but turned into pure comedy the moment he opened his mouth, Nicole stroked her chin.
"The time and place really are exactly what Phaethon said…"
"Hey, you two. Get in the van."
"Boss Nicole!!!"
"Understood."
Anby, hugging Xugeya and Eous, climbed into the back seat and immediately started petting the Bangboo again in peace.
"Nicole. I want a burger."
"Fine, fine. We'll stop by the video store first, and after Chiya checks you and Billy, I'll buy you one."
"Then… Boss Nicole, I also want—"
"What are you dreaming about?! Don't you have a salary?! If you want something, buy it yourself!"
"Nooooo—Boss Nicole!!!"
"I said stop screaming, and you forgot again! Ow! Billy!"
"Medical expenses for you hitting my hand are coming out of your paycheck!"
"Billy… idiot…"
Amid their bickering and jokes, the sweltering air, the boredom, the sun-heated seats, the aftershock of nearly dying in the Hollow—
All those unpleasant things were quietly pushed aside, replaced by something that belonged only to them:
their everyday life.
No matter how heavy their past had been, at least right now they could still laugh, still tease, still be noisy—outside the Hollow, under this blue sky, inside a small van in New Eridu…
Back at the video store, Belle and Chiya had already disconnected from the HDD link.
Belle stretched lazily and looked at Wise.
"Brother, we're off work! I want ramen—Master Chop's Black Bowl Big Bone Ramen!"
"Eat, eat, eat… you think about food all day. If you ever get so round your belly rolls, I'm calling you 'Belleboo'—just like Chiya."
"T-that was an accident?!"
Before Belle could argue, Chiya's face flushed bright red.
The blush spread across his pale skin like ink bleeding into paper—like dusk swallowing a snowfield, like sunset slipping into his eyes. Even the shadow of his eyelashes looked faintly pink. His cowlick bobbed as he panicked, heart thundering up into his throat as he tried to explain.
"That was because the medicine I developed had side effects… I thought it was almost perfect, but who knew it would—"
"—make your appetite explode," Wise finished with a grin, "and then you won Master Chop's 'Big Eater' challenge."
"After that, you turned into a ball and refused to come out for two whole weeks."
Belle giggled and slung an arm around Chiya, then started plucking at his cowlick like she was playing an electric guitar.
"And when we got worried and came to check on you, you pretended you weren't home."
"But Eous just talked to Xugeya and opened the door, and we saw 'Chiyaboo' sitting on the floor with his cheeks puffed like a pufferfish, struggling to do sit-ups!"
"Gah! Stop talking, okay?!"
"Hehe, what's wrong, Chiyaboo? Embarrassed again? Aww, I told you—"
"Store owner! We're back!"
Before Belle could finish, Nicole's voice burst through the back door—mixed with the sharp screech of tires grinding against the ground.
Chiya looked like he'd been granted a pardon by heaven. He seized the chance to flee the awkwardness, with Belle right behind him. Wise froze for a moment, shook his head, and followed.
"You're back! Perfect timing!"
"Let me check you!"
"What?! Doctor Chiya… wuwuwu~~!"
Billy instantly went into full melodrama.
"I never imagined your care for us could go even further—yet the moment we return, you rush out to welcome us!"
"I'm… I'm so moved!"
The tragedy of his stolen paycheck, his ammo expenditure blowing past the 'bonus' threshold, the humiliation of trying to mess with Xugeya and eating an elbow to the face—
Billy felt that all the scars carved into his heart were being healed, right here, by Doctor Chiya's warmth.
Some unknown liquid slid from the corner of the robot's eye.
He reached out, about to meet Chiya halfway—
—only to get tripped by a foot Anby deliberately stuck out, sending him sprawling so she could reach Chiya first.
"Chiya. I stayed in the Hollow a little too long."
"I feel unwell."
Anby stared up at Chiya with a perfectly "innocent" face. In her orange-green eyes, a sly glint flashed as she spoke softly.
"What?! Where does it hurt? Head? Legs? Or is it something I made—"
"None of those."
Before Chiya—so worried his cowlick practically exploded—could finish, Anby cut him off.
Then she grabbed his small hand and guided it up along her chest, over the white fabric of her shirt.
At first, there was a chill.
Then warmth.
Two peaks pressed his hand between them—
—and thump-thump, a heartbeat reached him. Fast. Not like post-exercise fast. Something else.
"My heart here… is beating really hard, Chiya."
Anby knew she was crossing a line.
But she also believed her "daily sausage tactic" was essential—
…she'd just sliced way too much sausage this time.
As Chiya's palm stayed there, a blush rose uncontrollably onto Anby's face, leaping over time and sky as if it belonged there all along. She closed her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment—
—but all it did was sharpen every other sensation.
She heard Nicole's stunned muttering behind her.
She heard Billy's pistols clatter to the ground.
And right in front of her—
warm breath and…
teeth grinding?!
"Anby!"
"A girl needs to protect her privacy!"
Oh right—the store owner is here!
Anby snapped her eyes open.
What she saw was Belle behind Chiya, furious, radiating rage (╬ﾟдﾟ), and Wise standing there with his mouth wide open in a dead-stunned (́◉◞౪◟◉‵) expression.
Embarrassment hit like a bomb.
The heartbeat that had only been slightly fast instantly spiked—higher, higher, higher.
Now Chiya was genuinely panicked.
"Anby, your heart rate is way too high! Billy, come here too, I'll check you! And Nicole—don't take high-risk jobs like this again! If you're going to take them, you have to talk to me first. And—"
"No, Chiya," Anby said quickly. "I'm fine. I just overexerted myself earlier."
"You know I never lie to you."
Chiya still looked unsure, but after checking Billy and finding no major issues there either, he finally relaxed and pulled his hand back.
Nicole, snapping out of her shock, stepped forward and patted Anby's shoulder, signaling her to step back.
In the instant their eyes met, Nicole caught something complicated flicker in Anby's gaze.
Then Nicole cleared her throat.
"You're here. The timing… is perfect."
After Chiya pulled his hand away, Belle calmed down too. She crossed one arm and rubbed her chin with the other hand, thinking.
"Nicole, you got back way too fast. Ran red lights again?"
"Nope~ We only passed normal green lights…"
"…and green lights with an R-value of 255!"
"And by the way, I confirmed all the way—no tails followed us."
"Anby," Belle asked, "what does a green light with an R-value of 255 look like?"
"Like your jacket."
"And like your face just now," Chiya added.
"…Mm. Chiya. Bad."
Anby shot him a mildly reproachful look.
Then her stomach growled loudly.
She touched her belly and said, perfectly serious, to Nicole and Billy:
"Nicole. Billy. You and the store owners can handle the rest."
"I'm going to eat a burger."
"Sigh… you little glutton. Fine, go, go."
"Oh. Thank you, Nicole."
Anby turned around—and very naturally grabbed Chiya's hand, pulling him toward the 141 Convenience Store.
The whole sequence was so smooth nobody even stopped her.
After a beat of dumbfounded silence, Wise recovered first.
"Chiya—then later, you're buying ramen!"
"I know!" Chiya called back from a distance. "Belle wants Black Bowl Big Bone Ramen, and Wise wants the usual—Black Bowl Cold Mixed Noodles!"
Chiya's voice drifted away.
Beside Nicole, Billy wore the face of a man who desperately wanted to follow, but Nicole shut him down mercilessly.
"Don't even think about it, Billy."
"Oh, and Proxy—my commission isn't over yet."
And just like that, Nicole dragged Wise and Belle back into another round of bargaining and bickering…
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