Honkai Impact: Become Their Hero

After learning that Mei already had Elias as a boyfriend, the paramecium looked visibly disappointed.

However, this naturally lively white-haired bundle of energy quickly perked up again.

Standing before Elias with her hands on her hips, Kiana scrutinized him with a serious gaze and said,

"I didn't expect Mei to already have a boyfriend… Ah~ oh well. But Elias, right? Since you're Mei's boyfriend, why aren't you protecting her properly?"

Letting his own girlfriend experience school bullying—as far as Kiana was concerned, this guy was totally unqualified for the role of boyfriend.

"Kiana, it's not like that! Elias has already been protecting me. It's just that we, um…"

Mei wanted to explain to Kiana that she and Elias were only pretending to be a couple—that in reality, she had already received tremendous help and comfort from him.

But she didn't know how to put it into words—after all, the fake relationship was supposed to be a secret.

Even though Mei was grateful to Kiana for stepping up to help her today, it was clear that Elias still held the overwhelming advantage.

Having experienced betrayal firsthand, Mei wasn't ready to fully trust anyone else besides Elias.

(Elias: "Paramecium, you're too late! Mei is already mine~")

This time, Elias had gotten there first.

If things had followed the original plotline, Mei—who had been drowning in despair—would have been rescued by Kiana and developed such overwhelming feelings for her that even her orientation shifted.

But right now, Elias had become the person Mei trusted the most. And since Mei had always been a devoted and loyal girl, combined with the environment of school bullying, all these factors together—

Meant that while Mei had completely lowered her guard around Elias, her wariness toward others had skyrocketed.

Even the paramecium wasn't an exception.

Although Mei hesitated, unsure how to explain—

Elias didn't hesitate at all.

"Alright, alright. To be honest, Mei and I are just pretending to be a couple. Unfortunately, by the time I transferred here, it was already too late—Mei was in an even worse situation than now. So, to protect her as much as possible, we decided to act like we're in a relationship."

"Eh? R-really?" Kiana blinked her dumbfounded blue eyes and tilted her head.

"Yup, that's exactly it." Elias nodded confidently, one hand on his hip.

"Uh… Well, alright then. Looks like I misunderstood. So, Elias, you're actually a good guy! In that case, from now on, I'll protect Mei too! Hmph, with me around, no one's going to mess with her anymore!"

"That's great! With Kiana here, it's like having the strength of 100 people."

"That's right! Hehe, Elias, you really get it~"

Being praised like that, Kiana immediately beamed with pride—her favorability toward Elias shot up by at least 10 points.

Elias: "Easy win~ A mere early-stage Kiana? Please. She hasn't even turned into Firefly Kiana or Herrscher of Finality Kiana yet. As long as you pet her fur the right way, she's completely harmless."

As for why Elias so readily told Kiana about the fake relationship, it was simply because he knew that this girl would never spill the secret.

If it were anyone else, Elias might have kept it hidden, but with this paramecium, there was no need for secrecy.

This foolish, clumsy, yet kind and courageous girl was someone he could be completely open with.

"But Kiana, is this really okay? If you stay too close to us—no, to me—everyone might start isolating you too." Mei said worriedly.

She longed for warmth and wanted to become close friends with Kiana, but as kind-hearted as she was, Mei didn't want anyone else to be ostracized because of her.

Kiana, however, carelessly waved it off as if it were nothing.

"It's fine! Besides, I don't even want to be friends with people who enjoy bullying others. Anyway, the only reason I came to this school was to—cough, cough—never mind, never mind."

"..."

Elias suddenly felt uncertain about his earlier judgment.

Would this paramecium really be able to keep her mouth shut?

As for the real reason Kiana enrolled at this school, Elias obviously knew all too well—she was here to investigate Honkai energy and search for her father, Siegfried Kaslana.

In any case, now that two of the Main Trio were gathered, only a certain dumpling was missing.

Elias was eagerly looking forward to Bronya's debut—he couldn't wait to see what the real-life "Silver Wolf" looked like!

After that—

The three of them quickly became close friends, and with Elias and Kiana by her side, Mei's situation drastically improved.

At this point, almost no one dared to confront her directly.

Of course, the three of them were inevitably isolated, but to Elias and Kiana, that was nothing but a minor inconvenience.

Neither of them cared in the slightest.

In fact, perhaps it was thanks to this environment that their bond deepened so quickly.

...

Chiba Academy rooftop.

This place had essentially become the trio's private hideout—every day at noon, Kiana would run all the way from the first-year building so they could have lunch together.

Elias glanced around, seemingly by chance, thinking to himself:

"In the future, this place is going to have a wormhole."

"Kiana, you're eating way too fast."

"Can't help it, I'm starving!"

In just a few bites, she had already finished off her bread, while Elias and Mei hadn't even opened their lunchboxes yet.

And yet, she still looked hungry, lying on the ground with a pitiful expression, staring longingly at Elias and Mei.

Lately, the Honkai energy levels in Nagazora City had been rising—Kiana had been going out at night to hunt Honkai Beasts and zombies.

Although the Kaslana family possessed superhuman physiques, the energy she burned was far beyond that of a normal person.

Not to mention, on her way to Nagazora City, Kiana had lost Siegfried's black card—meaning she was completely broke.

Surviving on just two or three pieces of bread was practically pointless—the moment she swallowed, they'd probably already been digested.

"Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that. Here, just take it and eat."

"Hehehe, Elias, you're the best!"

Cheerfully accepting Elias' lunchbox, the girl revived on the spot, instantly transforming into a ravenous food goblin as she began devouring the meal in huge bites.

"Eh~ I really can't do anything about you."

Elias, half-amused and half-helpless, ruffled Kiana's head, tousling her hair.

The soft, fluffy texture of that white hair was absolutely top-tier—it hit all his sweet spots perfectly.

"..."

Beside him, Mei's expression was a little complicated.

Kiana was obviously a girl, and yet—watching them like this…

For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that her fake boyfriend was petting a cat.

Elias first used his lunch as bait to completely capture Kiana's attention.

Then, the moment she got lost in her food-fueled bliss, he went all in, seizing the opportunity for a full-blown, shameless head-patting session!