Chapter 143: Completeness
"...No, no, no, don’t even think about starting to complain, Nadir. I warned you before you came in that things weren’t exactly great in here! If you complain, I’m kicking you out!! Your eyes are judging me and disapproving of me! You can’t judge me with your eyes!!! I forbid it!" I tell Nadir as he stares at the mess of metal parts scattered everywhere.
"In the past, you always left parts lying around in the places where your prosthetics were...now, because of the Cube, your prosthetics don’t need maintenance anymore, but with your new hobby, it’s even worse." He speaks in a tired tone.
"I’m not judging you, obviously, but you should be more careful. You could get hurt if you sit on a piece or slip on one, and worse, one of them could explode!! You don’t have anyone around here besides Aya to call for help, and you’re far from the city." He says while touching some of the prototype weapons that don’t work.
"Haa...I know, Nadir, but cleaning the house is boring. Besides, I’m always messing with metal parts, so why should I bother cleaning if it’s just going to get messy again soon? And I’m not going to hurt myself over these little things!!"
"..." He gives me a look that makes me feel inadequate, since I know most girls are more organized, but I just can’t see organization the same way they do.
"At least you don’t leave organic waste lying around the house. In that sense, that’s a point in your favor. Your house doesn’t stink either, which shows that you do keep it basically clean. You just need to try a little harder." I know he’s saying this to help me, but it’s kind of annoying.
"How about you clean my house, then?" I ask with a little smile as I throw myself onto the couch, which creaks slightly under my weight. My tail gives a small snap and rests on the arm of the couch.
"Are you serious, Zenith? You lazyass, I’m not spending my vacation cleaning your house. Why don’t you make a robot to do it?" He says it jokingly, but I know he’s going to help me, though obviously I’ll participate in cleaning the house too.
"I tried, but I’m still not that good at robotics. I can’t even assemble a drone perfectly. Building a robot from scratch is difficult, and besides, robots can be controlled. I honestly don’t want a robot. Aya with her drones is already enough."
"Hey! Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! What the hell are you doing!!" I yell at him as he opens my refrigerator like he owns the place. I get annoyed while he looks through everything and lets out a sigh.
"Nothing but processed food, and you don’t even have a single fruit...Zenith, honestly, you can’t live without me, can you?"
"Nadir, you arrogant jerk!! You’re so arrogant, you know that? Besides—"
"How many lollipops do you have in here?" He opens the vegetable drawer, where there is nothing but lollipops, interrupting me. He’s so pompous sometimes.
"...A-A few...seriously, stop looking through my refrigerator! I know you’re only looking at it so you can judge me. That’s so rude. Are you trying to get yourself beaten up and just don’t know how to ask for it? You don’t snoop around a lady’s home."
"Hahaha, a lady?...I-I mean, of course, of course." He backs off when he sees my irritated look.
"Aya said she wanted to help you eat better. I’m seeing what I’ll have to work with...at least your freezer should have some real food, right?"
"...Fuck...do whatever you want..." I sulk while he opens the freezer and looks at the various frozen foods.
"No real meat, just military rations...this stuff looks like a sponge. It doesn’t taste good, and it’s basically just nutrients and other things the body needs, but it’s not exactly pleasant to eat...seriously, Zenith? You’d rather eat this awful stuff than learn how to cook?"
"That’s right! I’d rather eat this awful stuff than cook...wasting time cooking is stupid."
"That makes me sad, Zenith. I’d like to eat something made by you."
"..."
"Tsk...you really know how to get my attention, you idiot...I’ll try to learn how to cook. Happy now?...anyway, how have you been doing without me in the army? Tell me! That’s an order." I speak firmly so he won’t change the subject.
He stops messing with my refrigerator and comes over, grabbing a chair and sitting down as if this were his house.
’What a freeloader! He didn’t even ask, he just sat down like this house belongs to him too!! He really got bold after becoming more confident!! He doesn’t even seem like that crybaby he used to be...’
"I’m doing well. Cecilia helps a lot, and I’ve adapted to my new duties, although I always miss you. Though I can say I don’t miss your angry yelling hehehe."
"...That’s not funny...anyway, don’t you think you should retire too? Can’t you do something about it?" I don’t like having him in places where I can’t protect him.
"...No, I can’t...anyway, your students have already been sent out on missions. They even ended up on a mission with me. Pretty cool, right?" He hesitates when saying that he can’t and then changes the subject.
"...More or less. It’s good for them, but I’m sure some of them will have trouble with everything while others will handle it better...besides, we’re getting old...we don’t have the same potential for growth we had in the past."
"...Do you feel weaker, Zenith?" He asks a question I wish I didn’t have an answer to, but unfortunately, I do, and it’s an answer I definitely don’t like.
"Yes...I’m weaker. Even though my new prosthetics have given me more freedom, I feel much weaker, and now that I’ve reduced how often I use my powers even further, it feels like the drop in efficiency has become more obvious..."
"After all...in the past, if I pushed myself hard enough, I could drag an entire chunk of the island along, and when I first became a teacher, I had enough power to devastate an entire neighborhood just by dragging the sky...and now I think even completely destroying a single city block would be costly." As you grow old, your power tends to decline faster and faster.
"...That’s...really bad." He says with a sad look. I’m sure he’s been getting weaker too, and the weaker we become, the closer we’ll be to reaching our limit and dying.
"Do you think we’ll still live for much longer? Nadir, honestly...I can’t see myself alive five years from now...ever since I trained those girls, I’ve noticed how weak I am. Tanya and Eirwen could destroy this entire island by themselves even without training."
"And originally, my power was only slightly below that in scale, and now I can’t even reach 10% of that destruction even if I use everything I have...those girls are in the golden age of their powers, and honestly, seeing that only shows that our time has already passed..."
"Nadir, I really don’t want to spend these last few years alone...you really can’t find some way to retire? Come on, you’re almost dying too, I’m sure of it. Please don’t run away from this subject."
"I don’t want you to die while working. If you’re going to die, then die with me!! Here on the island! And not somewhere far away." Aya doesn’t say anything. She stays quiet and doesn’t interfere in the conversation.
"Haaa." Nadir lets out a sigh, leaning back in the chair and staring at the ceiling as if he’s thinking very hard about it. I know he’s backing away from the conversation because we’re talking about him retiring.
"Nadir, I know you want to stay in the army for my sake. I know you’re protecting me from the law, and I know it’s because I do a lot of stupid things that are illegal and criminal in some ways, but I don’t want you there alone anymore...I...I’ll stop doing those things, so stop wanting to keep working just to protect me from the consequences of my actions." I speak directly, without beating around the bush and without letting him escape the conversation.
"All right, I think you’re right, Zenith. If you promise to be more careful...I’ll try to retire. I think if I get some examinations done, I might be able to leave because I’m no longer capable of continuing. Since you have almost the same parameters as me, you wouldn’t be forced to return either."
"It’ll take at most a year, so can I live at your house?" He asks with a smile, making me laugh at him.
"You’re such an idiot, Nadir. This house is yours too, of course you can live here, idiot! So go ahead and try to retire...one year...you don’t get to die before you retire, understood?"
"If you die, I’ll kill you!!"
"Hahaha, how scary. Please don’t kill me, Zenith!! I’ll put in a lot of effort." It’s so good to hear his laughter. Moments like these are really wonderful. Anyway, we’ve accepted death a long time ago, so the prospect of dying soon isn’t that frightening.
"..." I get up from the couch and walk over to him, climbing onto his lap while hugging him.
"I’ve been so...lonely these past few months. What are you going to do about that?" I feel his hands sliding down until they grab my ass.
"Obviously, I’m going to give my girlfriend some attention. Your house, my house, right? So where’s our bedroom?"
"Hmmm...Aya, shut down. I don’t want you interrupting."
"[Understood, Zenith-sama]" The drone leaves while I look toward a side door. Nadir stands up while holding me and walks toward the door.
"Sorry for leaving you alone. Once I retire, we’ll be able to spend a lot more time together. I have so many things I want to show you. It’ll be fun." He gives me a kiss after saying those sweet words, and I return his kiss.
"Can’t wait, you cute idiot."