202. Your actions are garbage.
202. Your actions are garbage.
".....Ah."
I opened my eyes.
10 AM. The loop was still ongoing today.
"Heu...haaaa..."
I clenched and unclenched my hands.
I stretched my stiff body and moved it this way and that.
I sat there blankly, staring at the clock.
"............."
Should I go.
Do I have to go.
Still, I should go.
I didn't want to go.
".....Ugh."
I lay back down.
The last loop. And the loop before that.
Maybe even the one before that, and the one before that one, and even further back.
"Are you in heat, you crazy bastard."
I went to Ur.
I buried myself in her arms and went at it like crazy.
I pounced on Minerva, on Mai, and even on Mars who was training like mad in the training ground.
At first they were flustered, but a little later they actually smiled and welcomed it.
So I did it. Did it like crazy. Did it and did it and did it again.
It was around the time I didn't know how many times I'd done it.
".........Yeah."
The strength drained out of me.
I went to Ur to get strength.
I spent time with the kids to get strength.
But on the contrary, all the strength left my body and I didn't want to do anything.
"............."
I didn't want to do anything.
No, maybe I wasn't the type of person who tried to do something in the first place.
If I thought about it, yeah.
My principle of action, my fundamental rule, was always 'living comfortably for myself.'
But how on earth did I fall into this ridiculous chaos of confusion?
I got entangled with the heroines to the point of no return,
the original story got twisted in its own way,
and now there was even a new event called a loop that didn't exist before.
If someone called this a DLC story, they were all things I wanted to refund immediately.
"Fucking... hell....."
I didn't want to do anything.
I didn't want to do anything at all.
So I closed my eyes just like that.
I rested.
I didn't do anything and just slept and slept.
".....Tch."
Though I said I slept and slept, when I opened my eyes it was 1 PM.
"Haa...."
I got my body up again.
I was dizzy. My head felt groggy.
A body that couldn't sleep too much, but also couldn't sleep too little.
I felt firsthand that Cronus's words about 'mere humans' weren't said for no reason.
"Big Brother, you gonna eat?"
"....Eungya."
I shuffled and got up from my spot.
I went outside and sat at the table.
"I just whipped something simple up with what was in the fridge!"
"A 3.7 out of 5 on the Mai-chelin scale."
"Yes. Shall I just order fried chicken for Mai then?"
"The chicken is a 1.3. So I'll eat this."
"..........."
They sat down smiling.
The things actually set on the table were probably exactly the same as the ones from the 2nd loop.
Even the words they said. Even the routine. Even the clothes they wore and the fabric softener smell of the underwear they hadn't changed out of yet....
...wait, why am I remembering that again.
'Did it smell that good.'
It was kinda nice.
Should I say pheromones.
They gave off a scent that a man could never produce, and what's more it manifested differently for each of them.
If Minerva's was a subtle yet deep scent,
Mai's, surprisingly, was closer to odorless, but should I say it was a sweet scent you'd catch a whiff of.
"Big Brother, you okay?"
"Huh?....Uh, uh...."
Suddenly, Mai tapped the corner of my mouth with the spoon in her hand.
"You want me to feed you?"
".....Ah, aaah."
The taste was what it was.
The taste I knew. Just about that.
"Big Brother."
"Yeah."
And then
"You can do it."
"...Yeah."
Right.
I have to do it.
Because I can't not do it.
I picked up my spoon and scooped up some rice.
"Thanks for the meal."
I ate well.
I rested well.
So now I had to do it again.
'Until when?'
Until it's done.
I got up from my seat and handed my plate to Minerva.
"It was rather humble!"
".........."
Huh? Could that be...
"There's a comic I've been reading lately...ehehe!"
"I see."
But don't watch too much of it.
For a cooking comic, that thing was way too much of a fantasy.
...
..
.
"Let's see..."
I changed my clothes and went outside.
As I headed to the cafe we promised to meet at before, I called Theia.
─Ring♪─Click!
[Hello?]
"...It's Chrono."
The call connected before the ringtone even sounded.
Could she have been staring at her phone all day long.
I heard a rough breathing sound over the phone, and soon one sentence passed through.
[Please...come quickly....]
"..........Yes, ma'am."
A strangely ominous feeling.
I hurriedly ran towards the cafe.
─Ding♬
"Theia........?"
"..............."
I opened the cafe door and went inside.
A secluded corner seat by the cafe window. On top of it, five coffee cups were visible.
With hollow eyes, endlessly drinking only coffee, her appearance was that of a broken woman no matter how you looked at it.
"Um...."
"........."
Gigik, gigigigik.
It sounded like a noise that could never come from a human body.
Jerky movements.
Her gaze slowly turning towards me.
".....What I..."
"Ugh...!"
Killing intent.
A murderous intent severe enough to chew a person up and devour them.
"What I...what I, what I what I what I what I what I aaaaaah!!!"
A voice getting progressively louder.
Words repeated obsessively.
And then at the end of it, she continued.
"What I aaaaa....ugh...heu-eup...! Hic....what I aaaaaa....!!"
"....Theia...?"
"Eu-eugg....heuaaaaaaaahng!!!"
".........Ugh."
Wailing.
The sight of her shedding tears and reaching both arms out towards me.
First, judging by the atmosphere, it seemed I should receive her, so when I let myself into her arms, Theia hugged me with all her might.
"How worried, heu-ggh! worried I was.....heuaaa...heuuu...heuuuuuu....!!"
"............."
Tears.
And worry.
'....Ah.'
Come to think of it.
"Thinking I was left all alone....thinking I was all alo-one, all alooone!!!"
"....I'm sorry."
It wasn't just me who looped.
Theia was crying her heart out, enough to make anyone watching feel miserable.
Ultimately, I had to soothe her crying, hugging her and patting her for about 30 minutes.
"Customer. We'd appreciate it if you refrained from excessive displays of affection..."
""...........""
Since the cafe is a space shared by everyone, let's prioritize etiquette over love.
*********************
"Do you know how much I searched for you?"
Suddenly disconnected contact.
Thinking you might just be sleeping in, I went ahead and waited, but you never showed up.
"Still...that can happen. Because you looked tired from training."
There might be days you just want to rest.
It was a bit upsetting that you didn't tell me beforehand, but when I thought about it, it wasn't as if I was completely without fault, either.
It wasn't only I who looped.
Chrono was looping too. A so-called 'loop companion' situation.
In such a situation, leaving only him to suffer through it might be said to be irresponsible, in a way.
"Uh...I didn't think that far─"
"─Just listen for now."
"..........."
Just as Chrono said, it might have been going too far to think that far.
But I had to think like that. I had to do even that, otherwise I couldn't 'accept' it.
"So...because you were exhausted. Because it was hard. Because you were tired. So I can understand that you wanted to rest."
But no matter how that was,
even if it was so,
"If you suddenly cut off contact without even leaving a single phone call...."
"....I truly apologize from the bottom of my heart."
I bowed my head.
There was no need to argue; it was guilty.
Having gotten so accustomed to always doing things by myself, I hadn't been thinking about Theia at all.
As I kept my face bowed and continued to apologize, Theia told me to stop and helped me up.
"When I thought about it, since I was always just receiving calls, I thought it was only natural for you to call me."
But this wasn't something natural.
It could be what 'had been happening up until now,' but that could never become something 'natural.'
Because if I took what was natural for granted, then on a day when it wasn't natural, I wouldn't be able to cope with it.
So,
"Your phone number."
"Ah, yes. Here it is."
I wrote down my phone number and handed it to Theia.
Theia looked at the number without a word.
Soon after, she took out her phone, tapped in the number, and contacted my phone.
"[Hello?]"
".....Yeah."
A voice ringing out simultaneously from the phone and from my mouth.
Theia nodded her head as if it was done now──and then spoke to me.
"Next time, I'll call you."
She looked much more at ease now, letting out a breath of relief.
Soon, she gradually steadied her breathing, and then...
"............"
"...Theia?"
She collapsed to the side just like that.
Just in case, I checked her state with 'Time.'
[Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?]
[Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.Scary.]
[No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.]
[....Chrono.]
"Hup...?!"
The 'Times' that briefly flashed past.
The streams of 'Time' that Theia sent.
Traces of the past. In those traces, Theia's appearances were clearly revealed.
'.....Theia.'
In my case, at least, I was able to relieve it through Ur, or Hestia, or various other people.
But what about Theia? Even Hestia's memories got reset every time, unless it was with me.
A solitude isolated within a time axis that spun and spun.
Her own self gradually going mad within it.
Ultimately, she said she had wandered all night long searching for the last remaining hope (companion), and only today did the contact finally go through.
"....Tch."
I had done a shitty thing.
'As expected...I can never be a hero or anything of the sort.'
What I did was fucking pathetic.
Probably not gonna happen.
I gently brushed the hair of Theia, who was sleeping as if passed out.
"Eu....eueu....."
"!"
Did I wake her.
As I quickly pulled my hand away, Theia clumsily reached out towards me.
"Don't... gooo....."
".......Aish."
I took the outstretched hand in mine.
"Eung....hi-yuuuuuungg...."
Theia, finally making breathing sounds again and falling asleep.
Ultimately, all of that day's training was completely blown.