042. Making a Family (2)
042. Making a Family (2)
There was a cafeteria on the first floor of Krädel's residential block.
It existed, but in practice, it didn't function as one.
For one, we didn't have the manpower to run it.
On top of that, the equipment was in awful shape. The fridge and the burner were the only things that barely worked.
Most importantly, there was no demand for a cafeteria.
The small total headcount aside, among that small headcount there were hardly any members who actually ate meals at mealtimes.
As far as I could tell, the only ones in Krädel who ate two or more meals a day were me and Laika.
Sumire probably ate about one meal a day.
Alicia, about one meal every three days.
And Rinne...... did she even eat at all?
No, seriously. I didn't think I'd ever even seen her pick up combat rations.
"Rinne, when was the last time you ate something?"
"Last night?"
"What was the menu?"
"French fries and an energy drink."
......Haah.
"Not stuff like that. A meal. A proper meal."
Rinne tilted her head a moment before answering.
"I'm not really sure about that? I think it's probably been about a year?"
"So for that whole year, you lived on junk food for every meal?"
"Yup. I did."
Good grief.
"What's with the nagging now? Biodroids are fine even if they don't eat, you know?"
No, they're not fine.
They might be fine purely in terms of getting the energy to function. Biodroids self-produce their power from their cores, after all.
Thanks to that, Rinne, who'd eaten nothing but junk food for a year, was still alive instead of dying of malnutrition.
The problem was that people didn't live on nutrition alone.
The emotional satisfaction gained from proper meals was also critically important for biodroids.
In that sense, after living on potato chips for so long, Rinne's brain had probably been under some strain without her realizing it.
Perhaps Rinne's foul personality was an effect of that as well.
"Ha? Who're you saying has a foul personality?"
Just the way she said that proved her personality was foul.
Well, I had no intention of pointing it out and getting into a pointless squabble.
"Anyway, sit there and wait."
I pointed at the makeshift table as I spoke.
Rinne sat down for the time being, but couldn't hide her puzzled expression.
"What for?"
"What do you think. I'm going to get you some food."
"......All of a sudden? Weren't you just going on about giving me a family experience or whatever?"
Rinne grumbled.
That very grumbling proved how little Rinne understood about family.
"You know what another word for family is?"
"Family."
"No, not that."
"Then......."
Rinne let it slip a moment later.
"Household, or something?"
"Spot on."
And a household refers to people who live together and share a table.
In other words, if you become people who share a table, anyone can become family. That was my view of family.
"How on earth did you end up with such a nonsensical set of values?"
Rinne asked, as if she found it ridiculous.
I shrugged my shoulders and answered.
"Because that's actually how I became family with Sion."
"Sion?"
"Ah, I guess I never properly told you about her."
I gave a brief introduction.
The one who gave me a reason to become a Commander, and at the same time, the one I was searching for.
Going further back, the one who became my sole family when I was a war orphan.
"......How did that happen?"
"She picked me up and started raising me."
"What. You can become family just like that?"
We could.
We could, but.
"Like you said, I didn't think of her as family right away."
When I was first dragged to her house, her presence felt awkward.
Or rather, I thought she was a strange person and kept my guard up.
She must have actually been a strange woman. She brought a boy she'd randomly run into on the street into her home without a second thought.
Without any explanation, she just dragged me there...... washed me, gave me a place to sleep, and chattered my ear off.
She talked endlessly about herself. After that, she asked me this and that. Things like that.
Even so, I decided to place myself in her care.
At the very least, the dwelling she provided was better than being outside.
I figured, when she eventually got tired of this strange little game, I'd swipe some valuables and run...... something along those lines.
But even amidst all that, I wouldn't eat the food.
Because I suspected she might have slipped something weird into it.
On top of that, the fact that she urged me to eat a little too insistently didn't help.
Of course, that standoff couldn't last long.
About two days after I started staying at Sion's place, I caught a cold.
Probably because my stamina had dropped from refusing to eat. On top of that, my environment had changed drastically.
In that situation, Sion set the table for me once more.
The menu was chicken porridge.
Handing me that chicken porridge, Sion spoke.
She said she had brought me to her place because she wanted someone to share meals with, a family.
But watching me, who wouldn't let my guard down for days, and then watching me fall ill and collapse in the end, her thoughts had changed.
—I see. It seems we can't become family this way after all.
—I'm sorry. For dragging you into my selfishness.
—Eat that, and when you're better, you can go back if you like.
—It'd be even nicer if you came to visit sometimes.
—Since meeting this way gave us a connection too.
Why was that?
After staying guarded for days, all my wariness melted away at just those few words.
I was certain she wasn't a dangerous or strange person.
She was just a lonely and pitiful person.
Just like I had been.
Because of that, I could eat the chicken porridge without hesitation.
And by the time that first meal in Sion's house was finished,
—Could I...... just keep living here?
I had become family with Sion.
There was no reason Rinne and I couldn't do the exact same thing.
We shared no blood, and even if one party was a biodroid, we could become family.
No, more than that, I actually thought we already were.
"All the ones here at Krädel, we're a household who share meals under the same roof."
We'd all been driven out of our respective places as bottom-tier washouts.
We'd gathered in one place, all in the same boat.
In a sense, we were already family.
So then.
"Here."
I placed a bowl on the table in front of Rinne.
The menu was chicken porridge, the same thing I'd eaten.
Of course, it was a far cry from what Sion had made for me, and above all, it hadn't taken nearly as much effort. While Sion had cooked fresh rice and boiled it with a raw chicken, mine was makeshift chicken porridge: I boiled reheated instant rice and stripped the meat off leftover fried chicken to throw in.
Nevertheless, it smelled good.
So then.
"......Thanks. I'll enjoy it."
Rinne ate the chicken porridge gratefully.
Not alone, but together with me. Facing each other.
Just like family.
While she ate, Rinne wore an uncharacteristically thoughtful, complicated expression.
After emptying an entire bowl in that state, Rinne spoke quietly.
"I'm going to go back and write for a bit."
"Sure. Let me know if it doesn't work out."
Then I'll fix you another meal.
I made that promise.
Of course, the need to keep that promise and serve another meal never came up.
That very evening, Rinne successfully finished writing her third narrative, [Ally Protection].
***
On top of strengthening allies and weakening enemies, she'd even secured a buff for her own survivability.
In other words, she'd met the basic requirements to perform on the battlefield.
With that in place, I immediately decided to deploy Rinne to a mission area.
Naturally, it wasn't a solo deployment for Rinne.
Her position was purely support. She absolutely had to be accompanied by an assault soldier who could handle the front-line combat.
Which meant that if I wanted to put Rinne to work in actual combat from now on, I'd need Laika's cooperation.
I hadn't secured Laika's cooperation yet.
Even so, I wasn't worried.
Laika and I had even reached a Phase Resonance Rate of 100% before. She might refuse someone else, but Laika would accept my request without question.
So, without the slightest worry of being refused, I went to find Laika, explained the circumstances from start to finish, and asked, 'Could you run a mission or two with Rinne?'——
"......Hmm."
Why was it.
The light had gone out of Laika's eyes as she listened calmly to my story.
In its place were waves of negative emotion dark enough to be called shadows.
Amid that gloomy energy, Laika opened her mouth.
"Of course Laika can help with that."
"That's a relief. Then right away——"
"I can help, but."
Laika glared at me and snapped.
"But I have one question before that."
"A question?"
"What does Laika even mean to you, Commander?"
"......Huh?"
"Now that you've saved me from disposal, are you just going to treat me like a fish you've already caught?"
Hmm.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn't really communicated much with Laika since reuniting with Seo Se-rin.
I hadn't even properly established what kind of relationship we'd maintain going forward either.
To put it bluntly, I'd been neglecting her.
If I could shift a bit of the blame onto others, it wasn't that I'd wanted to neglect her.
If anything, I'd wanted to spend time with Laika.
It was just that I'd been far too busy taking care of Rinne.
But that was only my side of it. From Laika's standpoint, the moment she became usable combat personnel, it must have looked like I'd immediately tossed her aside and latched onto some other girl.
And yet she'd held it in and endured for about ten days, only for her Commander to now come and ask her to help that very girl.
Given Laika's already clingy and emotionally volatile streak, her jealousy was bound to explode.
That was why she was glaring at me so fiercely and asking such a loaded question.
Regardless of the reason, resolving a soldier's worries and problems was part of a Commander's job and duty.
So I had a duty to ease the anxiety and jealousy Laika was feeling right now.
So then,
"Laika."
"Huh?"
"Want me to hold you for a second?"
"Wha, whahuh?!"
The darkness that had been draped over her shoulders until just a moment ago lifted, and Laika blushed a shade of pink.
I opened my arms to her again, inviting her in.
Looking at my arms, Laika fidgeted in place, clearly dying to jump into them while pretending to hesitate.
I beckoned her again, as if to say, Come on.
Laika didn't have the self-restraint to refuse twice. As if spellbound, she slipped right into my arms.
I whispered affectionately into her ear.
"Sorry I've only been spending time with Rinne lately. The truth is, I kept wanting to spend time with you too, Laika."
"Really......?"
"Really. Because I like you a whole lot, Laika."
Laika jolted in my arms.
Apparently unaware of how silly her expression looked, she stared blankly up at me.
"L-L-Li-Li-Like......? You like...... Laika......?"
"Yeah. I like you. Because you're the best teammate and soldier I can trust with missions."
But that wasn't all.
"I also think you're cute and lovable as a woman."
For example, her shapely nose. Her slightly downturned eyes that conveyed a sense of leisure. Her perpetually glossy pink lips.
Despite her small frame, her plump butt.
Her thighs, every bit as grown-up as her butt.
Her small, occasionally exposed belly button.
Aside from those, her uvula visible when she yawned, her slow, laid-back tone, her refreshing body scent reminiscent of apple mint.
Every single one was cute and lovable.
"......Eu, euheee......."
Laika grew bashful at every compliment.
Patting her on the head, I continued.
"Of course, the goal right now is rehabilitating Rinne. It looks like I'll have to focus on looking after Rinne for the time being.
"But that doesn't mean the others in Krädel, and especially you, become any less precious. Irrespective of Rinne, I'm still your Commander and you're still my soldier.
"You have the right to receive just as much attention from me as Rinne does.
"......To be honest, in Krädel, you're the one I like the most."
At the last line, Laika seemed deeply relieved.
Because the sound of Laika's soft breathing in my arms had grown incredibly gentle.
Stroking her small back, I asked her once again.
"So Laika, please go run a mission with Rinne."
At that, Laika.
"......Yeah. I'll go run one for you."
She answered with a silly grin spreading across her face.
"In exchange, next time and every time after, whenever Laika wants one, you have to hug her tight right away, okay? That's the condition."
Hmm.
I felt like I was letting her pick up a bit of a bad habit, but I figured this much was okay, and gave my permission.