Chapter Text
“Now look what you did! Poor guy. And you knocked over his girlf- wait, Asta?” The cheerful, upbeat voice says. I wish I could stay put and enjoy this soft sensation for some time longer, but I reluctantly make myself get back up.
“Lady Asta, are you okay?” The more responsible people try to help her. Thankfully, it didn’t look like her head was injured. But I was getting pointed at, and I could hear the increasingly loud whispers.
“Man, what a coincidence! And at the same place too?”
“What a lucky guy. Truly the spoiled child of luck.”
“Ooh, I wonder how brother Arlan will react to this.”
Indeed, Arlan and someone from the medical team were approaching us. While they were helping Asta, I turned around to take a look at the people who pushed us.
To my surprise, I saw the people who pushed me were visitors of sorts – not dressed in space station attire. One was a girl with cotton candy coloured hair and wearing blue and pink attire. Kind of like a long shirt. A pretty cute girl, honestly, but I definitely won’t be telling Asta that. The other was a man with dark hair and white/green clothing. Interesting fashion choices, but it fit well on him. He looked like a shounen protagonist from the manga I used to read.
The shounen protagonist , holding his head with an arm, spoke first. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to hit him.”
Turning around to meet me, he said, “I’m sorry for bumping into you.”
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“Oh, no worries,” I replied.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen you here before. Are you a new staff member?” The pink-haired girl said. Her tone of voice matched her personality and vibrant colours, being uplifting and bubbly.
“Hi, um, yup! I’m Caelus. I just recently joined the security department. And you two are…?” I asked
“I’m March 7th, but you can just call me March. And he’s Dan Heng!” March exclaimed. “We’re from the astral express. We’re making a quick stop here, but we do regularly stop by!”
“No wonder the people here are familiar with you,” I nodded, saying.
“March! And Dan Heng! It’s good to see you two again!” Asta, after being checked by the med team, came over to us and joined in the conversation.
“Same for us. It’s great to see you again.” Dan Heng remarked.
“Have I introduced you two to Caelus? He’s the unfortunate person who you guys bumped into. He’s a relatively new member here, having only joined what – a few months ago?” Asta pointed to me, telling March and Dan Heng.
“You two seemed close,” Dan Heng said, “As I was watching you, I felt a bit uneasy at your proximity to Asta.” This explains the menacing feeling I had earlier of being observed by someone else, I guess.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Caelus is also my boyfriend!” Asta gleefully exclaimed, tugging onto my arm. I laughed awkwardly.
“Really? Oh my gosh, Asta! I’m so happy for you two. How did it begin? How many dates have you two gone on? Have y’all kissed?” March bursts out into a load of questions.
“Woah, woah, calm down.” I spoke.
“Congrats.” Dan Heng simply remarked, apparently not a man with many words. The difference between the two were as stark as night and day.
“Come, I’ll tell you two more about it!” Asta beckoned them to follow her. Looking down at my watch, I realised it was about time for my shift to begin, and quickly bid my farewells to them.
“Hello, brother Arlan!” I waved, beaming at my earlier interactions. Arlan did look kinda displeased, but thankfully he wasn’t as upset as I’d thought he’d be.
“You seem to be in a good mood today.” He curtly added, giving me a nod.
“Yup! Got to hang out with my girlfriend~” I beamed.
There wasn’t much to talk about, and the conversation soon faded away. We walked around, doing our usual patrolling duties.
But all of a sudden…
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The space station’s emergency system started blaring out!
“W-what’s going on?” I asked, anxious.
Arlan, for the first time ever, looked nervous. He was frantically checking his phone and browsing it. A few beads of sweat had begun to drip down his face. He was sweating.
“Apparently the antimatter legion has invaded our space station and infiltrated our defenses. Quick, we must go to help evacuate and save the rest of the space station!” Arlan speedily responded.
“Let’s go!” I urged him on. “I’ll follow your lead!”