A Skirt Washed Clean of Smoke

Zhou Yu's suggestion nearly made Sigelica stumble.

"A birthday celebration?" She stared at Zhou Yu in disbelief. "Now? In a place like this?"

The smell of scorched metal still lingered in the street, and a few citizens were peering out from their hiding places.

"When else?" Zhou Yu replied matter-of-factly. "Aren't you supposed to celebrate a birthday on the day itself?"

"But this place was just attacked!"

"No buts." Zhou Yu cut her off and turned to Dania. "Are you still hungry?"

Clutching the cake box and holding the roasted sweet potato, Dania shook her head blankly.

Her head was full of cake, sweet potatoes, and happiness. She couldn't get her mind around complicated questions at all.

"Good, you're not hungry. Then we'll take care of something else important first."

Zhou Yu led them into a quiet alley, its walls covered in mottled moss and the dim yellow lights of several old shops glowing.

Sigelica: (눈_눈)?

"This out-of-the-way corner is the place you were talking about for stargazing?"

"Before we go stargazing, we have to look the part."

Zhou Yu stopped outside a little shop with a sign reading "Sisters' Fabrics." Several cotton dresses hung in the window, utterly at odds with the military style of the defense line.

"Let's go in." He pushed open the creaking wooden door.

"Are you going to pick the lock again?" Sigelica followed him in warily.

"We're paying customers this time. Don't worry."

The only person in the shop was the proprietress, who was knitting a sweater. When she saw them enter, she looked up and smiled.

Zhou Yu browsed the racks on his own and soon took down a light pink cotton dress. It was extremely simple, with a narrow trim of lace around the neckline and cuffs.

"Here, go change." He handed the dress to Dania.

Dania: (._.?)

She looked at the dress, then at the dusty combat suit she was wearing.

"Why... do I have to change?"

"Because that's your uniform for working overtime, and you're off the clock now."

"But what about functionality?"

"Its only function is to make you look like a girl celebrating her birthday." Zhou Yu's tone left no room for argument. "As for the vessel, you're off work today. Go on."

Dania was half pushed, half coaxed into the fitting room in the corner, the soft dress clutched in her hands.

The curtain was drawn, shielding her from view.

In the cramped space, she stood holding the dress for a long time.

She looked down at her combat suit. She knew every piece of armor over every joint, every path its wiring took.

Taking it off was like shedding a layer of skin.

She fumbled with the fastenings on her chest and pulled down the zipper on her back. Metal components fell to the floor one by one, clinking softly.

"Did you fall asleep in there?" Zhou Yu knocked on the wall outside.

"No!" came a muffled reply from behind the curtain.

She picked up the dress. The cotton felt warm and soft, and it smelled of sunshine.

She carefully slipped it on. The fabric brushed gently against her skin, with no coldness and no restriction.

It was as though her whole body had grown lighter.

Outside the fitting room, Sigelica couldn't sit still.

"Zhou Yu, even if we're celebrating her birthday, she doesn't need to change clothes just for that, does she? Her combat suit is custom-made!"

"Custom-made for her to go and die in?" Zhou Yu leaned against the counter and tossed the question back lazily.

Zhou Yu: ┐('~`;)┌

"Don't twist my words. I'm saying, what if more enemies show up?"

"With me here, what does she need a combat suit for?" Zhou Yu pointed to himself. "Is a baguette not hard enough, or is a manhole cover not heavy enough?"

Sigelica: (╬ಠ益ಠ)

"Can't you give me a serious answer for once?"

"I am being serious." He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Seriously telling her to hurry up. If the cake sits too long, the cream will collapse."

The curtain slid open a crack.

Dania poked half her head out and looked at them somewhat uneasily.

"Um, I'm dressed."

"Come out."

Dania hesitated, then slowly stepped out from behind the curtain.

Sigelica's words caught in her throat.

The light pink dress wrapped around the girl's slender frame, falling just below her knees and revealing her fair, shapely calves.

Once she had shed that cold uniform, the distance and danger about her had vanished without a trace.

Her long, slightly wavy pink hair fell against her cheeks. Paired with the soft dress, it made her look like an ordinary student who might worry about exams.

She clutched the hem of her dress, her gaze darting away, too afraid to look at them. A faint blush spread across her fair cheeks.

Dania: (⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)

"Does it... look strange?"

Sigelica stepped forward and gently straightened her crooked collar.

"No, not at all." Her voice was soft, tinged with a tenderness she hadn't even noticed herself. "You look lovely."

Dania's eyelashes fluttered, and her fingers loosened a little on the hem of her dress.

"Ma'am, we'll take it."

Zhou Yu walked up to the counter, fished a few jingling Solaris coins from his pocket, counted them, and placed them on the countertop.

This time, he hadn't touched Sigelica's scholarship money.

"Young man, your girlfriend is very pretty." The proprietress accepted the money with a smile.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Dania turned red all the way to the tips of her ears.

Zhou Yu didn't respond. He picked up the combat suit Dania had changed out of and hefted it.

"We have to put that away safely," Dania blurted out.

"What for? Saving it for the New Year?" Zhou Yu glanced at her. "I told you, it's a work uniform. Who takes their work uniform home after getting off the clock? Isn't it unlucky enough already?"

With that, he carried the suit out of the shop.

There happened to be a public trash can right outside.

Without even looking, he swung his arm and casually tossed in the combat suit that embodied the vessel's fate.

Thud.

Dania and Sigelica both froze.

"You!" Sigelica pointed at the trash can, unable to speak for a long moment. "You just threw it away? That's a combat unit custom-made by the Sunspeakers! The materials alone cost enough to buy ten dresses!"

"It's expired, so it belongs in the trash." Zhou Yu dusted off his hands.

"Do you have any idea how much that thing cost to make?" Sigelica's voice cracked.

"No, and I don't want to know." Zhou Yu glanced back at Dania. "What about you? Do you want to know?"

Dania stared blankly at the dark green trash can.

Her armor, her cage, the entire meaning of her past, lay quietly among the fruit peels and scrap paper.

There was no reluctance, and no anger.

The string in her heart that had been drawn painfully taut all this time silently loosened with that dull thud.

"No." She shook her head gently.

Zhou Yu walked back over to her, looked her up and down, and reached out to gently uncurl her clenched fist. He placed the still-warm roasted sweet potato back in her palm.

"There."

He stepped back and looked at the sight before him with satisfaction.

A girl holding a strawberry cake and a roasted sweet potato, dressed in a clean, pretty little dress.

"The vessel who knew nothing but fighting has been scrapped, along with her overtime uniform."

He pointed at Dania.

"Standing here now is the birthday girl."

Dania lowered her head and looked at the soft skirt she was wearing, then at the familiar patch of grayish white in the distant trash can.

Suddenly, she felt as though she really had become a different person.