LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 10 - Char and Ryuji
I was entrusted by the captain to take care of this blonde girl, Charlotte.
I bring her to my room in the base.
Her name is quite long, so I decided to call her “Char.”
“So, I heard you killed both your parents with a gun and ran away,” I asked in French, to which Char laughed dismissively.
“Hmph! They deserved to die! They tried to use me to push drugs and lure clients.”
Seeing her defiant attitude, I raised my right arm.
Char tensed up and closed her eyes tightly.
“……?”
Then, she cautiously opened one eye and looked at me.
“What are you doing? Come on!”
I kept my hand raised, but she seemed confused, not understanding the situation.
Honestly, these introverted nerds who do nothing but hang out online…
“It’s a high five, a high five! Since you killed your crappy parents with your own hands, say ‘Yeah!’ and give me a high five!”
“Huh?”
Char stared at my face with a puzzled expression.
“I see, I get it now. Sorry, that was my bad. It’s definitely a high five with both hands.”
Saying that I extended both palms, and Char burst into laughter.
“Heh! Haha! Why a high five, though?”
“Because they tried to drug you, right? Parents like that deserve to die. Did you shoot them in the ass a few times with the gun?”
“Hahaha! Stop it! I’ll laugh myself to death…”
Char clutched her stomach, laughing so hard it seemed painful.
I can tell Char was relieved by the light in her eyes, I told her:
“I’ll let you know what your dead parents would say. ‘Thanks for killing us before we turned into complete scumbags.’ What you did was a charitable act.”
“Haha! I’ve been blamed for killing my parents all along, and now you’re telling me that? Unbelievable!”
“In this world, some people are better off dead. Killing them is charity work. That’s what our international special forces unit ‘SWORD’ does.”
With that, I extended both my palms again in front of Char’s face.
“Welcome, Char .”
“Yeah! Ryuji!”
Char high-fived me.
And then, a year passed.
I often teamed up with Char during missions.
I handled combat, while She took care of hacking.
We exchanged biting remarks, but somehow we had good chemistry.
“You better protect me so I don’t die!”
“Of course! I won’t let a scratch get on you!”
In the midst of intense gunfire, I held Char close, eliminating enemies.
“Hurry up and hack to disarm the trap before I get torn to pieces!”
“I’m doing it now! Let’s see, this is a bomb, so I’ll put a flag here…”
“Are you playing Minesweeper!?”
Dodging interception lasers, I coordinated with Char through our radios.
In this way, Char and I had repeatedly overcome close calls, sometimes barely escaping death, cooperating on various missions.
The second year since Char joined ‘SWORD.’
“Arghhh!”
I was sprawled on the ground in the base’s training arena.
Oscar had pummeled me in hand-to-hand combat training.
Char, who had been watching while typing on her laptop keyboard, hurriedly closed her laptop.
“Hey, show a little mercy! Are you okay, Ryuji?”
“Ryuji said, ‘No mercy needed!’ to me, though.”
Concerned, Char rushed over and began tending to my injuries.
“Darn, it… I have more muscle, so why can’t I beat the skinny Oscar?”
“Muscle isn’t the only thing you need for martial arts. If she sets her mind to it, Char could probably pin you down, Ryuji.”
“What? How do you do that? Tell me!
“You want to beat me up too?”
I laughed at Char , who was blushing and earnestly seeking advice from Oscar.
Two and a half years later.
“Ryuji… um, I… I… s-sushi!”
One day, Char , with a bright red face, came to my room and struggled to say something.
It seemed she was using recently acquired Japanese words.
And then, with a determined look, she spoke up.
“…Sushi!”
Her expression was more serious than I had ever seen. I understood her feelings and responded sincerely.
“Got it, wait a moment.”
I led her to the kitchen, where I prepared vinegar-seasoned rice, tuna, salmon, and other ingredients.
“Did you really want sushi that badly?”
“……”
Rumors had been going around that Char was studying Japanese recently. It seemed she had finally arrived at the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine – sushi.
She had said she wanted to eat it, even though it must have been embarrassing for her. I was determined to make it perfectly for her.
“……Mmm, it’s delicious.”
“Is it so good that you’re about to cry?”
For some reason, Char let out a sigh of disappointment while looking at the sushi I was preparing.
As I carefully shaped the sushi, she asked:
“How old are you, Ryuji?”
“Me? I’m already 37.”
“Hahaha, isn’t that a bit late? And your eyes look so scary, Ryuji.”
“Just leave it. It might seem that way from the perspective of a 15-year-old like you.”
“Well, yeah, I’m still 15. But don’t you think I’m already a respectable adult? I’ll be able to get married soon.”
“No need to rush things. Being a kid can be fun too, you know?”
Saying that, I handed Char a piece of salmon sushi.
“Oh… I see. To you, I must still seem like a child.”
Char said that and lowered her gaze.
Then, suddenly, she took a piece of sushi, smeared it with wasabi, and took a bite.
“Whoa!? Don’t pull your comedian spirit out of nowhere!”
“Ouch! It’s… so spicy!”
I offered her some tea, but Char continued to chew the sushi while crying.
“Ryuji, wouldn’t it have been great if you were a boy the same age as me?”
“Sorry about that, but I’m already an old man.”
“I’m serious! Ugh, come on! Make more sushi, lots of it!”
“Sure, sure.”
With tears in her eyes, Char continued to devour the sushi as if she was trying to eat away her sorrows.
There must have been something bothering her. If she had someone of her age, she could probably talk to them, but it seemed that wasn’t an option with this old man, me.
I couldn’t help it, so I kept making sushi to lift Char’s spirits.
And thus, three years had passed since Char had joined us.
I married a woman one year older than me, Shiori.
Among the comrades sending their blessings, of course.
Char, too, stood among them, applauding with a beaming smile.
“Ryuji, congratulations! Truly… truly, congratulations!”
“Thanks, Char! You’re the best buddy a guy could have!”
Saying that, we exchanged a high-five with both hands.
Perhaps due to lack of sleep.
Char’s eyes seemed a bit red and swollen.
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