Chapter 144: Functional Relationship

“…H-Hmmm?” I get up to the pleasant smell of food. I see my body covered in bite marks in the bedroom mirror, but I quickly get dressed, ignoring them.

“Nadir is so wild, tsk, he left me covered in marks. Good thing I’m alone. It’d be embarrassing if someone saw all these hickeys and bite marks on my skin and got the wrong idea…my neck is covered in little marks.” Even though something happened, it’s still weird having proof of what happened marked all over my skin.

“…” I quickly leave the room fully dressed, ignoring everything we did last night, and find Nadir cooking in my kitchen.

“Hey, where did you get actual food?” That’s the first thing I ask when I see pasta, fruits, and vegetables on the table, things I clearly didn’t have at home.

“So you admit that what you were eating wasn’t actual food?” he asks provocatively, stirring the pasta in the pot.

“Idiot!! O-Of course it was actual food, otherwise I’d die of hunger. You know what I meant.” He lets out a little laugh as he turns his attention back to the pots.

“I put in a quick, private express order, so you don’t need to worry. Just sit on the couch and wait. I’ll bring you your breakfast, and I’m already preparing lunch ahead of time.” He respects my privacy, which makes me feel calmer.

“Alright, since it came out of your money anyway…thanks for cooking…” I sit down on the couch, and soon he brings me a tray with neatly arranged slices of fruit.

“Where’s—”

“Fruit.”

“But—”

“Just fruit. It’s healthy and already enough. After all, it’s late, and lunch will be ready soon. You don’t need a huge breakfast.” He doesn’t even let me speak. What an arrogant guy.

“You really can be pretty damn annoying when you want to, Nadir. Fine, I’ll eat just this fruit, but there isn’t even any bread?” I ask, looking at the various fruits on the plate.

‘At least the fruit smells good…’ I pick up a few pieces and taste them. They’re nothing special, but they’re still much better than most of the things I was eating.

“What are you making the pasta with for lunch?” I ask while eating a piece of apple. Honestly, I’m not someone who really likes fruit. Actually, aside from water, I don’t like most things that come from nature.

I think it comes from my childhood. Back then, we didn’t have fruit or things like that, and that was the worst kind of food to have because you couldn’t store it or hide it. I remember one time when I stole an apple and hid it so I could eat it, and three days later, when I went back for it, it was covered in bugs. That day, I spent the whole afternoon hungry.

“There won’t be any bread for you today. I don’t know how to make bread, and I’m making pasta with some roasted meat marinated in a few different seasonings. I think you’ll like it, and it’ll be good for you to eat meat and pasta. I think it’ll be pretty tasty.”

“Couldn’t it have been rice? I hate pasta…”

“Don’t worry, this is quality pasta. I know you’ve hated pasta ever since you tried it twelve years ago, but that wasn’t quality pasta. The noodles were sticky and rubbery, and it was way too salty.”

“But I’ve learned to cook at least the basics, so the quality of the ingredients should do the rest of the work.” When Nadir says that, I don’t feel very confident.

“You actually know how to cook for real? Knowing the basics isn’t cooking!!! If we’re talking about the absolute basics, even I know how to do that!” I’m pretty critical and annoying with him since he’s trying to force me to be healthier.

“Yeah, I’m going to surprise you.”

“…”

“You’re trying to pick a fight, aren’t you, Zenith?”

“I was, but you’re so damn evasive. I hate how well you know me and how you always know how to dodge things.”

“Hahaha, I’m not going to fight with you. I know you well enough. You get like this whenever you’re feeling vulnerable. Last night was good, wasn’t it? But I’m not going to fall for your provocations just because you’re irritated.”

“…You’re—”

“The food needs attention.” He slips away before I can insult him, dodging the argument before it even starts.

“Tsk.”

“[Zenith-sama, are you dissatisfied? If you are, I can politely ask Nadir-sama to leave.]” Aya, who is much more oblivious to these things because she doesn’t have as much personality as Nexus, gets the wrong idea and thinks we’re actually fighting.

“No, we’re actually doing great, even better than before. I don’t want Nadir to leave.”

“[…You seem to be fighting through cutting remarks and cold dialogue, and if he’s bothering you, it would be best to send him away.]”

“It’s not really like that. Nadir and I lived on the streets, and on the streets I had to fight with all kinds of people because the streets were full of people. After I left the streets, I was forced to follow all kinds of rules in the army, but the personality I forged on the streets never went away.”

“So whenever I’m angry, irritated, or want to complain about something, I do it with Nadir, who always takes it as a joke because he understands, and he likes solving problems.”

“Naturally, it looks like we’re fighting, but it never actually escalates into a real fight. I’m just being annoying and difficult to show him that something is bothering me. It’s my indirect little way of pointing out the small things that annoy me.”

“[Doesn’t that cause exhaustion in the relationship, slowly wearing it down until the two of you can’t understand each other anymore and end up fighting beyond repair?]” Aya asks a good question.

“No, not with us. In fact, my attitude is bad for a relationship, and most couples would do fine at first, but eventually the fights would escalate and destroy the relationship…”

“But Aya, Nadir and I have been doing this for years. Nadir understands that this is just how I criticize things. We’ve lived like this for years and have never had a real fight over it, and that’s because our relationship is more than just a romantic relationship.”

“It’s a survival relationship! We spent years living together, surviving together, and there’s no bad attitude of mine that can erase everything we survived together.”

“I fought tooth and nail for Nadir, and he’s grateful for that, and I’m grateful for everything he did and for having him. It’s an unbreakable bond between us. If I killed someone, Nadir would rather cover it up than say anything.”

“If I tortured someone, Nadir would do everything he could to hide the traces, and if I were dying, Nadir would choose to switch places with me without hesitation. And I’d do the same for him.”

“[That sounds like an understatement—]”

“We’ve done that.”

“[…]”

“I’m not a very good person…I’m morally questionable, pretty much in the gray area…I’ve already killed someone I shouldn’t have…it wasn’t nice, and it wasn’t comfortable…but it was one of the moments when I saw Nadir hiding everything to protect me. He’ll always break a rule to protect me after I break one.”

“It’s not the healthiest relationship in the world, but it’s not a weak one either. We grew up together, did many good things together, saved many people, and we’ve already taken people’s lives for each other.”

“Sometimes they were people who deserved it, and sometimes they were innocent people who ended up as collateral damage…I know taking an innocent life isn’t good, and I’m not saying it was good, but sometimes it happens, whether by accident, through a mistake, or for a greater reason…”

“[You’re admitting to a crime.]”

“Yes, because you were created by me, and because sometimes it’s good to verbalize what we feel. My relationship with Nadir is unshakable even when I’m being annoying. We’ve done too many crazy things for each other to care about petty fights.”

“[Should I remember this?]”

“No, erase this memory…the person who needed to hear this has already heard it.” I look at Nadir, who is staring at the food. I notice how nervous he seems and how he’s hiding his face.

“You won’t be able to hide that stupid smile from me just by turning your back.” I’m sure he’s wearing a goofy smile right now.

“…You’re good with words sometimes, Zenith.” He speaks in a serious tone, but there’s a lot of gentleness in it as well.

“I know, I know, and I like that you’re the only man I’ll ever love, and the only one who would put up with me.” Even though there’s that bizarre fact that we’re a monster, it doesn’t really matter.

“Now finish your food, Zenith. I can hardly wait for you to try lunch.” He speaks from the kitchen, waving at me.

“I will. Aya, get the printer ready. After lunch, I want to build a weapon with Nadir.”

“[Understood, Zenith-sama. I also appreciate the explanation. I’ll erase everything I heard from my memory.]” Aya isn’t nearly as curious as Nexus, but she still asks questions when it seems necessary.

‘A relationship as enduring as mine and Nadir’s is something anyone who could choose to have a relationship would be pretty envious of…I really like that…’