80 ADAPTABILITY (1/2)
”How much longer are you going to take?” Mulyk was sitting outside the clinic, wearing a sleepy face. She had woken up a few minutes ago, but Hundred was still cleaning inside. And the door had been shut all this time.
”I'm almost done,” Hundred's voice came from the inside. Only the four uppermost corners remained, but they were a bit too high for him to reach even after he stood atop a stool stationed on a chair. There were spiderwebs at the corner, so he had to clean those, but it was out of his reach. So he threw the broom like a spear repeatedly and took care of the webs little by little. And he caught the broom before it fell down. ”Hehe,” he felt proud that his tactic was working. ”I can't catch bullets, but I can catch brooms. Wow, that sounded nice.” After the dry dirt and webs were taken care of, he switched to using a wet mop. He quickly took care of three corners and was working at the fourth corner, the one near the door.
Mulyk stood and rubbed the dirt off her back. ”I ended up sleeping on the floor.” After stretching her arms abroad to the point she ended up standing on toes, she swiveled and pushed the door open.
Just after Hundred tossed the broom up, the door slammed against the chair, and the stool was thrown off. ”Wuooh!” Hundred fell to the side, and his face hit the wall.
”Just what are you—” as Mulyk stepped in, the base of the broom hit the top of the door and overturned, and the bristles fell on top of Mulyk's head. All the dirt and spiderwebs were adorned to her hair. And she stood frozen, with fury flickering in her eyes. As Hundred stood and barked at her, her body temperature rose, so much so it gave off the impression that if there was a shallow river nearby, it would've evaporated. ”You wooden-head!” she picked up the broom and began to beat him.
”W-What are you doing?” Hundred ran around, but she chased him. ”Wait, no. Ah! Wait!” He jumped on and off the beds, but he couldn't escape the sentence of the elf or the smell of the broom.
A few hours later.
”Just what did she do to him?” Hundred, who was sitting in a chair beside Lirzod's bed, couldn't help but show his frustration. ”More than six hours have passed, and he's still sleeping like a baby.”
”Just waste a mug of water, and he'll be up in no time,” Mulyk said, looking somewhat pleased. After all, her clinic now looked cleaner than it ever was. Hundred had done a better job than she had expected, and he also shared apples, so her demeanor toward him changed a bit, but still, because of him, she had to go and take a bath. In any case, since she punished him, she seemed to have already forgotten the broom-incident. ”Didn't you say you were thinking of becoming his offsider?”
”Yes,” he looked heavenward for a moment and then glanced at Lirzod.
”With him as your nipper, you are not going to go far,” she said and softly simpered.
”What?” his forehead puckered as he lifted an eyebrow at her.
”I've warned you,” she gave a half-shrug. ”Consider that a gift for cleaning the clinic well.”
Hundred didn't even know what to say, but he sniffled a bit.
”Hey, would you go out for a minute?” she brushed her palms together.
”Why?” his expression hardened.
”I have some work to do,” she said, her breath held. ”Just close the door while going out. Count to fifty and then come in.”
”For what?” Hundred's face contorted.
”Just do it,” she wore a poker face. ”This is my clinic.”
”Alright, alright,” though he felt lazy to move, he had to get up and walk out. After counting to sixty, he came back in, but to his shock, she was nowhere to be seen. ”What the… where the heck did she go?” He looked under the beds, but she wasn't there. He placed his hands on his head, with a great amount of shock flickering in his eyes. ”Just what sort of trick is she playing?”
”Look out!” Just then, Lirzod shouted, scaring the living daylights out of Hundred, who fell back in the chair and rolled over and crashed on his head. ”Hhm?” Lirzod slowly moved his mouth, and then his eyes opened, thanks to the sound that the chair and Hundred together made. Seeing Hundred, he was surprised. ”You... why are you in my hometown?”
”Who's in your hometown! Come out of your damn dreams already,” Hundred barked. ”And stop shouting in your dreams! You almost scared me to death!”
”What, so…” Lirzod slowly got up and sat on his bum and looked around to confirm his position, ”I'm still on the ship.”
”Of course. You don't look too happy about it.”
Lirzod yawned a little and rubbed his eyes. ”Hm?” Just then, he noticed that something was in his hand. When he opened it, there was a small folded paper.
”What's that?” Hundred looked intrigued.
Lirzod unfolded it at a slow pace, raising Hundred's interest even more, and what they saw were a few words: My story isn't unique. Maybe, one day, if fate has it, I might feel like sharing it with you.
”Who wrote that?” Hundred asked. ”Whose story are we talking about?”
Lirzod replied a bit late, ”The turtle-haired woman.”
”T-Turtle-hair?” Hundred raked his fingers through his hair. ”What sort of title is that? Wait, do turtles even have hair?”
Lirzod crumpled up the paper and tossed it into his mouth and chewed.
”W-Whoa, why are you eating that?” Hundred got bewildered.
”I'm hungry,” Lirzod said, scratching the neck region with the forefinger. ”Did you bring any food for me?”
Hundred's eyes broadened. ”N-No.” He almost wanted to slap himself on the forehead.
”C'mon, man,” Lirzod looked a bit displeased. ”You didn't even think of bringing some food for me? Is this how an offsider cares for their nipper?”
”U-Uh,” Hundred couldn't even reply this time. Though it was hard to come across any good food on the lower decks, he felt guilty for not even thinking of bringing some food. Sariyu did bring a bag of apples, but the thought didn't cross his mind that she brought them for Lirzod. After Sariyu left, and after the broom-incident, he shared the apples with Mulyk.
”Though there's food in my room on the tenth deck. I don't think I can get fast delivery to this place. Mm?” Lirzod's eyes then fell on the bottle placed on the desk. ”Oh, at least you got some water. Thanks.”
Hundred squeezed his lips together. He had to bring it over and hand it over to the boy. Actually, Hundred brought that bottle for himself and not for Lirzod, so it made him feel even more guilty.
Lirzod finished the one-liter bottle in one go. ”Whew, that hit the spot, but…” he rubbed his abdomen, ”my stomach still feels like a furnace. Is it because of what I think it is?”
”I-I will go and bring some food for you,” Hundred whirled toward the exit.
”No, wait,” Lirzod said. ”We'll go together.”
”Can you move?” Hundred doubtfully asked, his head tilted to the side.
”Of course, but…” Lirzod paused for a moment. ”Where's Sariyu? I didn't see her before either.”
”She, she was here until a few minutes ago, but you weren't waking up, so she left.”
”She left?” Lirzod drew in a long breath. ”She couldn't wait till I got up.”
”You've slept for many hours, you know,” he bit a nail and was about spit to the side, but then spat in his own hand.
”Then what about you? Didn't you wait for me?”
”W-Well, I…” Hundred rubbed the back of his head and embarrassingly smiled.
”Yes, I get it,” Lirzod sighed. ”You want to become my offsider, so you stayed beside my bed. I get it.”
Hundred frowned. ”Yeah, I did, but... that's not all there is to it.” He loomed closer. ”Even if that's the whole reason for me being here, then tell me, who doesn't keep tabs on who helped who?” he spoke back in a mild temper. ”Didn't you just get disappointed that your friend wasn't here now?”
”That, I just wished that she was here now,” Lirzod slightly pouted. ”That's my feeling. It's just what it is.”
”Well, wishing alone is okay, but any more would be drivel. However, if you can prove to me that what you're saying is true,” he stopped by the bed and stood straight, ”then I'll agree that I'm here now solely for selfish reasons.”
”Look,” Lirzod lifted his chin up, so his eyes met with the other. ”I didn't mean to hurt you.”
”You've said what's in your mind,” Hundred's expression was rather settled, at least for appearances. ”I'm totally fine with that. Actually, it's good that things turned out this way,” he took a seat. ”We'll know if we're really compatible with climbing the ship together or not.”
”What do you want me to say?” Lirzod's expression softened, and he gave a half-smile. ”I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I really think of you as a bad person.”