【GaloLio】The way home

※The timeline after Lio joined Burning Rescue.

"Leo! Come!"

Gallo took big strides to catch up with the tram that was slowly leaving the platform in front of him. He jumped when he grabbed the handrail outside the car. After he stabilized his footsteps, he quickly turned around and stretched out his hand to Leo who was about to catch up.

The young man stretched out his arms to clasp the opposite hand, leaped forward with the help of the young man's grip, and firmly plunged into the young man's arms.

"Phew - I caught you."

A laughing voice fell from the top of his head, Leo stood up straight after panting calmly, and raised his face: "Well, good catch."

They looked at each other and smiled.

-

The small tram, with no other passengers except Gallo and Leo, was swaying forward along the fixed rails on the ground.

Their destination was the Central Bank Building at the junction of Blocks C and D of Promepolis, one of the city's landmarks that was destroyed in the shock wave of the crashed spaceship of the Parnassus Project.Nearly two years have passed since the event that shocked the world. However, the damage was too serious, and the planning work was delayed. Most of the nearby buildings were still in semi-ruins, let alone restore the original developed and convenient transportation routes.

Among the current public transportation, only this kind of unmanned small tram will pass by there.The goal of this kind of tram was to serve the grassroots and poor people who live in remote areas. The laid track bypassed the main roads that formed a large network, and was accidentally damaged in the central area without being greatly affected.

But this kind of tram with a small carrying capacity is an inefficient and not very profitable means of transportation in this country after all, and the actual number of trips in operation is pitifully small.If the two of them missed this shift, the next shift would be around midnight two hours later.

"Bang Bang." "Bang Bang."

The tram slowly passed through the night, and the sound of metal rubbing echoed between the gradually deserted street buildings.A long, lagging rhythm.

This is quite a special experience for Leo.

In the past, he has been used to traveling with Gallo on a motorcycle. When sitting one behind the other, his body is close to each other. The warm or cold wind blows by his side, and the young man's heartbeat can always be heard through his back. Clear, powerful pulsations are transmitted to the palms of the hands.

It is a rare night that the two of them stand side by side on the outer edge of the narrow tram car, watching the street scenes on both sides of the road recede a little bit in the field of vision.

Leo raised his eyes, and the light from the street lamp slowly slid across Gallo's well-defined face. The corners of the young man's mouth were hidden in the shadows, and the usual upright expression between his brows and eyes was still bright and powerful.

The boy couldn't help but smile slightly.

"——Let's get off at this stop." Gallo said so, and after the tram gradually stopped, he pulled Leo and jumped out of the car.

When identifying the direction in the deserted street scene, the young man's thick palm kept holding the young man's slender hand.

-

Usually, at night after the fire brigade finished its duty, Gallo and Leo would choose to go directly to the apartment they lived in together, which was their first choice to recover their physical and mental strength.It was a whim to take a long detour to the former central bank building like tonight.

The locomotive shared by the two happened to be sent for regular maintenance. I planned to walk back and buy some food on the way.After hearing Vice Captain Remy mention that there will be a firework show in Area D that night, the young man and the boy quickly exchanged glances, then tacitly changed the arrangement. Luo chose.

It is said to be a firework display, but it is not actually due to any festival or religious ceremony, but to celebrate the transformation of the temporary parliament of Promepolis into a formal parliament and move into the newly built parliament building.

It's still ridiculous when you think about it seriously.

In the not-too-distant past, the vast majority of life on Earth was almost buried by self-proclaimed dictators, the group of original burners were treated as human experiments, countless lives were strangled or rewritten, and immeasurable displacement and Destruction of property—but with the progress of urban reconstruction, the Leviathan-style disaster began to blur in people's memory and retina, and the voices of self-examination and accountability were weakening, and those who liked to praise the collective will The tone of voice and the activities of embellishing politicians to build momentum have also gradually climbed back to all corners of society.

The so-called "returning to the right track" and "returning to normal life" of the Republic of Promepolis did not seem to have changed after Guray Fossett was sentenced to a century-old prisoner by the court.

——The social structure that allows those "evil" to take root and spread is still indestructible, after all, it is caused by human nature.

Obviously it's just not too distant past.

The young man suddenly remembered the not too distant past, the first meeting between him and the young man beside him.

At that time, Leo Phthia also possessed the mysterious power called "Promea", which could turn the dazzling flames into imaginary weapons, and could forge hard armor to arm the body.He wields a flaming blade, fires a flaming bow, and rolls over the mechas and equipment of the Flame and Fire Squad with a scorching Detroit motorcycle. He will not hesitate to challenge the brave and fearless Gallo. Guray Fawcett, an ambitious man with high status, only wants to eliminate those hostile factors that hinder him from building his ideal homeland.

At that time, the young man who restrained and arrested himself with a cold and heavy weapon was interlocking his fingers at this moment, holding his hand with warm palms, and their arms were swinging in the evening wind with the same amplitude.

Who would have thought that after meeting this man, meeting again, and working together to bring the world back from the brink of apocalypse, it would be like this...it's incredible.

"Probably no matter what happens in the future, I won't be surprised." Leo took a deep breath and said softly.

"Huh?" Gallo leaned down and stared at the boy's face curiously, "What happened?"

Leo pursed his lips and smiled.

"...Good thing."

-

It is not time-consuming to walk from the drop-off point to the destination, about two roads away.

At this time and place, there were few other pedestrians on the road except them.The two of them didn't care too much, and walked forward while chatting about the small details of today's attendance.

The institutions that were originally located in the central area have all been relocated, and the remaining buildings were either burned or left to be demolished and rebuilt at an unknown time.

The sparsely distributed street lamps cast a dim light, and some moths flapped their wings and rushed towards the light source again and again, but in vain because of the barrier of the glass lampshade.

It is not too difficult to find the central bank building among the large number of buildings of varying degrees of destruction. The one near the ground floor is relatively intact and will not collapse if people walk in it—of course, there is no shadow of a "building" at all. Strictly speaking, it is just a broken wall about four stories high by visual inspection.

On the contrary, the low-rise building area in the other direction of the building is still lit with neon lights of various colors and shapes.The so-called low-end industries that were despised by the orderliness and prosperity of the city in the past have obviously found a new foothold, forming a glaring gap with the desolation at this end.

The young man and the teenager passed through the cordon that had been broken by the wind one after another, and entered the building without hindrance.

The two judged the safety of the building based on the professional intuition of firefighters. The concrete structure near the ground floor was relatively intact, including the stairs connecting the upper and lower floors. It took less than a hundred steps to reach the dilapidated building The "top layer" of things.

Regardless of the scattered concrete blocks, large furniture, and the dull gray tone that almost loses its level, the field of vision is indeed spacious enough at this height and facing the launching point of the fireworks show.

Of course, what is more eye-catching in this monotonous color is the blue mohawk hairstyle and lime-gold hair color corresponding to the two, and the plain clothes can't stop it.They looked at each other in unison for a while, and laughed almost at the same time.

The two looked around for a while in the ruins with some "doomsday scene" colors - but obviously millions of times more peaceful and harmless than the doomsday scene they had actually experienced.

After finding a relatively high but relatively flat large reinforced concrete section, Leo walked directly there, grabbed the edge of the stone at a height close to his chest, exerted force with his hands, and kicked his legs up again. Put it away, then turned over lightly, and sat on it firmly.

The young man looked at the young man's figure with the corner of his mouth raised, until the other party nodded to him, he walked slowly to his side and stood leaning against the edge of the stone.

"I didn't expect it to come in so easily. I thought it would be more tightly sealed." The boy's calf swayed gently beside his shoulder.

"The police and the urban reconstruction team can't think of this place at all for the time being." Gallo said, taking out from the pocket of his hoodie the carbonated drinks he bought at the convenience store, as well as Leo's tea drinks and green apple marshmallows. .

Leo took the drink and opened it, took a sip, and smiled: "It's rare to find such a quiet place, and the wind is so comfortable."

"I knew you would like it." The young man who chose this mysterious viewing spot was very proud. He opened the package of the cotton candy in his hand, and handed the food that he still didn't know how to appreciate to the young man.

Leo bent down, gently took the small light blue sweet in the young man's hand with his mouth, slowly sucked it in, and when he raised his head again, his eyes were shining.

Gallo raised the corners of his mouth in satisfaction, and gently stroked the boy's chin with his rough fingers.He really likes to see the childish look that Leo will show in front of him from time to time, so close that he can reach out, so cute.

"I never thought of watching fireworks before."

The boy sat up straight and raised his face, his dark golden bangs and sideburns swaying with the breeze in the night: "When I still had Promea, I could ignite large or small flames with my hands anytime and anywhere, and the flames of my companions They also have their own colors, and the flames that everyone ignites together are like a large fireworks display.”

Before meeting Leo Forthia, such a scene would probably be described by Gallo Timos as a "firefighter's nightmare", but today's young people will seriously imagine it after listening to the boy's description.Just like in the cave where they met, the flames released by those burners who had no intention of harming others are not only lighting for warmth, but also a scene of mutual love between men, women, young and old, bright, spectacular and warm.

"Do you feel regretful?" He asked, his head with a pompous hairdo stuck to the boy's slender shoulders.

Leo pursed his lips and shook his head: "As the original burners, we used to have such a bright flame. Those flames have illuminated many nights and illuminated the faces of many people... that is already my most precious memory. .”

The night wind blew away the young man's golden hair, and the hair brushed against the tip of his nose and the corners of his mouth, and the scattered small flowers in the crevices of the dilapidated stones behind him also swayed with the wind.

Gallo stared intently at the boy's face, and when he was about to speak, colorful lights bloomed above their heads, spreading in the night sky with the sound of gunpowder bursting.

The light of the fireworks outlines the boy's soft hair and pretty face. His slender body is enveloped by the dazzling brilliance just like it was once surrounded by gorgeous flames.

The artificial light also illuminates the remains of the giant project that nearly destroyed the earth in the distance. The contrast between light and dark is so strong that I don't know whether it should be described as irony, or a new hope to cover up the darkness.However, just like the ruins in sight, those imprints blinded by anger and hatred will not disappear so easily.

What should I do in the future to eradicate those pains and allow conflicts and contradictions to be better resolved?

Thinking like this, Gallo watched the dots of fireworks continue to spread and flicker in Leo's purple pupils.

"I'll help you dispel it," the young man said slowly but firmly, "all the sparks of malice in this world."

The boy lowered his head and looked back at him, a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he soon understood.He caressed the young man's face with his hand, and watched the blue pupils of the other party being lit up by the fireworks in the sky, and the red in the depth of the pupils was like a strong and unquenchable flame.

"I trust you, Gallo Timos."

"I know." The young man smiled reassuringly.He turned around completely, pushed aside the teenager's legs, wrapped his arms around his waist, and pressed his cheek against the opponent's chest, but the beating from his slender body was even and steady.

"The sound of Leo's heartbeat is very reassuring."

"Because I'm alive," the boy leaned over and hugged Gallo's head and arms, his hair and breath fell on the back of the young man's neck, "with you." There seemed to be a tremor in his voice.

"Oh!" The young man responded loudly, tightening his arms even more.The boy's arms seemed to have a faint sweet fragrance of green apples, very clean and comfortable.

Fireworks that did not belong to them bloomed continuously in the sky, and the circular tracks of various colors shattered, illuminating their tightly connected bodies.

-

Part Two [BetterMen] Series