Chapter 429 - 422. Souvenir
Zein opened his eyes as he felt light footsteps approaching the room. Although he only had four hours of sleep, he was instantly alert. Despite his body feeling like it had just rolled around in a high-ranked dungeon, his mind was as fresh as it could get.
It could be because he was inside the Temple, or because his heart and soul were fed well.
He let out an unconscious smile and stroked the head still snuggling on his neck. Carefully, he slipped out of Bassena’s embrace, who was groaning and whining in his sleep at the loss of Zein’s warmth. He had to plant soothing kisses on the esper’s face until Bassena returned to sleep while clutching a pillow as a substitute.
Swiftly, Zein snatched a night robe to cover himself and opened the door before a small fist and a white paw could knock against it. He looked down and smiled at the pair of a girl and a white rabbit pausing with their hands in the air.
"Oh!" Elena exclaimed in a whisper and stepped back to let Zein slip outside and close the door. "Um...I’m sorry--did I wake you?"
"It’s fine; the sun is already up anyway," Zein replied casually while catching the white rabbit who jumped at him. "Are you here to ask me for breakfast?"
Elena nodded silently, glancing at the bedroom door for a second before following Zein to the couch. "Grandma told me you might return to the Federation right after, so I wonder if we can have breakfast together--umm, before you go..."
She looked down and fiddled with her robe, the deflated tone made Cloudy’s white ears go down too. The white rabbit snuggled deeper into Zein’s embrace, seemingly understanding that they might not be able to see each other for a long long time.
At least, not until Zein finished reclaiming the Deathzone.
How could Zein say no in the face of such sadness? He patted both the girl and the white rabbit fondly. "Sure, we can have breakfast together. We need to do it here, though, because my esper will be fussy when he wakes up and finds out I’m not around."
Elena perked up and clapped her hands carefully so as to not make a sound. "Oh, but is it alright? Won’t we wake him up?"