[33rd Chapter]
Unable to push away Yura who deeply kissed me upon arriving at work, I felt her lips after a week, and then pulled back and distanced myself. At that moment, I could see her eyes again.
“Is there something you want?”
I asked, thinking she must have had some intention behind the kiss, but Yura just shook her head.
“No. Just happy to see you.”
Thinking it was only appropriate for lovers to do such things, I remembered I hadn’t answered her question yet.
It was uncomfortable to bring up dating immediately. Given that Yura didn’t bring it up either, she seemed to be waiting for my response, but our distance suggested she had already made up her mind.
“I need to change clothes.”
“Go ahead. I’ll organize the materials.”
Unlike before, when Yura would leave or wait for me to finish work, there was nothing left to hide between us after we crossed a line, so I changed my uniform in front of her.
Yura wasn’t looking at me; she was checking the materials as instructed. This time, I realized again that we no longer cared about each other’s presence.
“Let me.”
After changing clothes, as I was about to take the box from Yura, she handed it over to me. Though Yura was stronger than me, I felt no concern about her strength. She simply handed over the box without saying much.
“Oh, wait a moment.”
Just as I was about to leave with the box, Yura’s voice stopped me. Unable to use my hands due to holding the box, she grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me again.
“Let’s get to work.”
She smiled and walked out of the warehouse first, and I followed her outside to the kitchen to organize the materials.
Today was a relatively quiet weekend, which allowed me to check on Yura’s condition more often.
I still hadn’t heard the whole story about how Yura ended up working more at the cafe after talking to the manager. From what I guessed, the prejudice-free manager arranged for Yura to stay.
Even though Yura’s situation hadn’t completely changed, I wondered if anything had changed about her while working. Surprisingly, Yura seemed largely unchanged from usual.
Except for one thing.
“Ai.”
“Yes?”
While doing the dishes, I turned to look at Yura when she brought a tray with cups and plates from the kitchen. She placed the tray on the shelf next to the sink and kissed me again.
The only difference was that Yura kept kissing me unexpectedly.
Since she kissed me frequently, timing it was difficult, and trying to avoid it resulted in her pulling me in forcefully.
“What are you doing after work today?”
“Got some work. Need to go somewhere.”
As we continued chatting while preparing fruit juice, this was a moment when kissing was difficult for her.
“Oh? I was going to suggest having drinks together after work.”
“Don’t tell me in advance. Is texting just formality?”
“Ah, I thought you didn’t have any plans because you don’t have friends.”
This was a bit painful. As Yura said, I didn’t really have anyone I could call a friend. The friendships with the Spacystro team were merely close colleagues, and the last person I called a friend was during my time in Space.
If someone considered me a friend, it would be nice, but I couldn’t confidently say I had a friend.
“Next time. And if you want to build more diverse relationships, try hanging out with others.”
Though it was ironic for me to suggest building relationships, since I can’t just drink with you all the time, I suggested trying to hang out with others, like the HunterKiller team members.
“Who’s going to handle my drunken antics?”
“…”
I couldn’t answer. Thinking about it, who could handle Yura’s unstoppable high spirits after drinking? I didn’t know much about the HunterKiller team, so no one came to mind.
“Do you not drink with the HunterKiller team members?”
Realizing that asking might elicit a response, I decided to just ask.
“No. It’s hard enough to attend meetings together.”
“Really? How about Green?”
Unconsciously, Green came to mind due to yesterday’s encounter. Knowing Yubi and Yura’s relationship had slightly improved, I didn’t bring up Yubi’s name, leading Green to come to mind instead.
“…Why?”
Stopping the fruit preparation, Yura turned her head to look at me. Feeling her gaze, I felt a cold sweat on my back.
“Just curious. Since you work hard, I wonder what the people there are like.”
Shifting my focus back to the fruit, the tension eased as the piercing feeling disappeared.
“Green is a bit spacey, so I don’t know what they like or do.”
“What about the others?”
“Red goes to school during the semester, and Blue takes care of their niece.”
Pink, who is Yura, works here, and I don’t know what Green does.
“What about Yellow?”
“Yellow is also a bit hard to understand. They don’t talk much, as if they’re keeping secrets.”
Summarizing based on what I’ve experienced, Red is young but passionate and has leadership qualities. Blue seems to take care of their niece, missing many HunterKiller meetings, and Pink works at the cafe with an overwhelming energy.
Green is spacey and unknown even to teammates, and Yellow doesn’t talk much, leaving little information among team members.
“Why? Interested?”
“Haven’t I told you before? How can I be interested if I don’t even know your face?”
Saying I didn’t know faces when I was already dating Yubi and had met Green recently felt odd. In fact, I knew their faces well. Unlike Spacystro, HunterKiller has been featured in the media a few times, making it easy to find their photos online.
However, the team completely refuses interviews, so unlike other teams, there’s no external information available.
“That makes sense.”
“But it’s surprising. Even though I’m not interested in that area, I know the HunterKiller team has been around for years, yet the team members don’t know much about each other.”
“That’s because we never relied on others or expected them to support us.”
My thoughts on HunterKiller are straightforward. The team has been active for three years, meeting weekly, yet they barely know simple information about each other, which is surprising in many ways.
Turning to Yura, I wondered what she meant. Yura continued peeling fruit, aware that I was curious.
“Not all hyper-humans are like this, but at least in our team, everyone has lived alone and endured alone. It’s not that they don’t trust others, but rather they don’t trust easily.”
Yura said she didn’t trust easily, but seeing her with Yubi and Yura, I felt she lacked confidence in trusting and relying on others. Living as a hyper-human isolated from regular society, it felt like they lacked methods.
“Green and Blue live with family, but family isn’t necessarily trustworthy. There are families that are worse than strangers.”
Seeing various news stories, it’s clear that families can commit fraud or crimes, as Yura mentioned. But such incidents are a small fraction of the broader world.
Yura was abandoned by her parents. Yubi hasn’t revealed being a hyper-human to me, so we haven’t discussed family much, but they don’t live together.
“Even if it’s not about family, hyper-humans face too much persecution. They’re called monsters, tax thieves, and useless.”
Hearing her, I felt the need for a thorough investigation into hyper-humans.
“But now it’s okay.”
Suddenly, her tone brightened. Looking up, she hugged me, pulling me close.
“I have Ai with me.”
Lifting her head and smiling, she closed her eyes and slightly pouted her lips, asking for a kiss.
Feeling awkward, I smiled sheepishly and fed her a freshly picked strawberry.
“It’s not good to keep doing that at work.”
“Mmm…”
She chewed the strawberry with a displeased expression. Checking to see if anyone at the counter was watching, I saw no one was looking.
Releasing her arms, Yura returned to preparing materials.
“Then let’s do it after work.”
Predicting a barrage of kisses after work, I finished my tasks.
After finishing work, I headed to headquarters to check the data.
Right after, Yura, as promised, relentlessly kissed me, and we agreed to continue tomorrow.
Arriving at headquarters, I saw a few people still working or on duty. I stood in front of the elevator to the third floor.
Sorting out what I needed to investigate, I stepped into the elevator just as it opened. Facing an unwelcome person, I was surprised.
“?! ”
Unable to hide my shock at the familiar face, the woman in the elevator frowned upon seeing me.
“What? Not getting in?”
“No, I am. Getting in.”
Her long black hair gleamed, and her sharp, strong gaze pierced through me. She was the person I disliked most at Spacystro.
Boarding the elevator, I pressed the third-floor button. Waiting for the doors to close and for it to ascend, I felt incredibly uneasy being alone with her.
“Looks like you’ve been out. Not even off work yet.”
Though uncomfortable, I didn’t need to cater to her. Speaking casually, she glared at me.
“You’ll have a hole in your face.”
“Just a quick errand. Why are you here on a day you’re not supposed to be working?”
“Need to work after playing a lot.”
“Wait, what kind of work?”
Surprised by her sudden appearance, I relaxed my intense gaze slightly. Would it be nice if she had that gaze normally?
Since we were discussing work, I decided to bring up something I’d wanted to ask. Even if she refused, there was no harm in trying.
“About that, can I borrow an Archive account?”
Her frown deepened as she glared at me. Holding a team leader position, I kept a distance, but I hadn’t committed any major errors. Somehow, I must have made a significant mistake she noticed.
“Why do you need an account?”
“Our team leader said no. I want to review old data, but I don’t have access.”
“…Come to the fourth floor.”
“Really?!”
Excited by her agreement, I couldn’t help but sound cheerful, startling her with my reaction.
“Thank you, Siera. As always, a teammate is needed.”
Siera and I were long-time colleagues from the same neighborhood, joined the military together, and are still in the same branch. Last talking months ago, her willingness to help confirmed the value of our friendship.
Cancelling the third-floor button, I pressed the fourth-floor button. The elevator door opened on the fourth floor.
“Why are you looking into old data?”
“Looking for initial data on hyper-humans appearing.”
Entering the team leader’s office, she sat at her desk and turned on the computer. Sitting beside her, I couldn’t contain my joy at finally gaining access to the information.
