You, who can't even figure out what you truly need, are indeed not suited for AIMS.
Need...
Shimizu Liáng looked at her hands. What she needed... was just normalcy.
But...
Her gaze fell on the ring shackled to her knuckles, her fingertips tightening, turning white.
This is not normal at all.
And...
Her gaze shifted to the farce before her. For the first time, Shimizu Liáng's face showed annoyance, though it wasn't obvious.
"Help me——"
The Humagear has lost control again and again. This is almost becoming the norm.
At this moment, the out-of-control Humagears were wreaking havoc on everything around them.
In such an abnormal world, could she... really adapt?
Bang!
With such questions in her heart, Shimizu Liáng kicked away a Humagear charging at her, then, without looking aside, defeated the remaining few Humagears on the street one by one.
But after doing all this, Shimizu Liáng didn't feel much relief in her heart. What she felt was irrepressible annoyance, which intensified even more when she saw AIMS arriving a step later.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Seeing that the out-of-control Humagears were dealt with, AIMS' Captain Fuwa Ikkaku lowered his firearm and casually greeted her.
Shimizu Liáng, not in the mood to answer his question, turned to leave, but was stopped again: "Haven't you found it yet?"
Fuwa Ikkaku walked over. "Don't you still know what you truly want? If not, you're unusually slow."
To this, Shimizu Liáng responded coldly, "It has nothing to do with you."
Fuwa Ikkaku didn't mind her inexplicably cold attitude and continued on his own, "It's really hard to watch."
Shimizu Liáng looked up and met his undisguised gaze. "You, who are inherently normal, know nothing."
"Normal?"
Fuwa Ikkaku, catching the key word, frowned in confusion. "You..."
"Could it be..."
Shimizu Liáng suddenly cut him off. "What I need is just normalcy."
As she spoke, she shifted her gaze to the wreckage of the Humagears on the ground and stated indifferently, "And these are not normal."
"...I see."
Fuwa Ikkaku nodded in agreement. A serious expression appeared on his usually stern face. "Then, our needs are the same."
"The same?"
Shimizu Liáng repeated softly. The feeling of being understood for the first time gradually calmed her long-confused thoughts. "What... do you mean?"
Fuwa Ikkaku also shifted his gaze to the defeated Humagears on the ground. "Twelve years ago, these Humagears destroyed my life. That's why I joined AIMS, to destroy these killing machines."
"That is, to eliminate what you call... the abnormal."
Eliminate...
Another new word, but this time, it evoked a different emotion in Shimizu Liáng's heart.
"...I understand."
Shimizu Liáng's internal annoyance completely subsided.
In short, abnormal existences just need to be eliminated.
Then things will return to normal... maybe.
"Huh? Xiao Liang, you're joining AIMS?!"
Sakurai Nana struggled to stand up from her wheelchair, leaning on it with a shocked expression, asking repeatedly, "Really?! Have you decided?"
"Why all of a sudden..."
Shimizu Liáng raised her hand to support the emotionally agitated Sakurai Nana, helping her back into the wheelchair.
Sakurai Nana took her hand and said worriedly, "But with the frequent loss of control of Humagears lately, if you join AIMS, it will be very dangerous..."
"It must be... because I contacted them last time?"
Sakurai Nana suddenly remembered the previous incident and her emotions became agitated. "If it weren't for my rash decision, thinking I could solve this and keep them from bothering Xiao Liang, you wouldn't have met AIMS, and you wouldn't..."
"I have always been grateful to you, Sister Nana."
Shimizu Liáng placed her hand on Sakurai Nana's shoulder, trying to calm her overly agitated emotions. "Joining AIMS is the thing I want to do most right now."
"So, this can be considered... my dream."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sakurai Nana calmed down completely, murmuring in a daze, "I see, it's... Xiao Liang's... dream..."
"In that case, I can't stop you, Xiao Liang."
Memories of the past suddenly flooded back, and Sakurai Nana chuckled bitterly, shaking her head. Her gaze towards Shimizu Liáng gradually became resolute. "But, Xiao Liang, promise me, try not to get hurt again, okay?"
Sakurai Nana... absolutely could not afford to lose anyone else. She didn't want to endure such a blow a second time.
"I understand."
Shimizu Liáng replied, "I will try my best, Sister Nana."
---
"Let me introduce the new recruit joining the team today."
Fuwa Ikkaku gathered the AIMS team members and uniformly introduced the newcomer who started today – Shimizu Liáng.
"I am Shimizu Liáng."
Shimizu Liáng wore a simple and neat black suit, her inner lining as black as ink, the buttons slightly unfastened, revealing her fair collarbone. She exuded a capable and trustworthy steady aura.
Seeing her, the AIMS members couldn't help but exclaim inwardly: What a rare and elegant beauty...
"Welcome."
As the Technical Advisor, Jin Yu'a was the first to welcome Shimizu Liáng. "From today onwards, we are companions who will advance together."
"Yes!"