Rebuild World

, they ate breakfast together.
And just like usual, it was only warmed up frozen food.
So in short, it was not very delicious and tasted bland.
But they were having breakfast in a different mood than usual.

 

Akira was overwhelmed by how much Sheryl changed as he kept eating his breakfast.
As for Sheryl, she looked like she was in a good mood.
In contrast to the breakfast that they were having, their moods were so much different.

 

Sheryl then stopped in the middle of the breakfast and bowed to Akira.

 

“Akira, I’m really sorry to have troubled you yesterday.”

 

“Eh? Ah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

 

After blurting that out without thinking, Akira remembered what happened the previous day.
Although it was Sheryl who started the problem, it was mostly him who blew up the trouble.
Although he did not feel guilty about it, he still understood it.

 

Thus Akira was worried if it was Sheryl’s way of saying that she hated him in a roundabout way.
But she was actually being honest when she said that she was thankful.
And since Akira was a bit bothered by the bad thing that happened yesterday because of him, he answered back in such a way as he was trying not to offend her.

 

“Well, a lot of things happened yesterday, but if anything comes up again, you can just tell me.”

 

If Sheryl thought that she had unnecessarily involved him in regarding yesterday’s incident, it would at least be shown in her behaviour.
So, by saying this he tried to ease her thoughts, but Sheryl answered back with something that Akira did not expect.

 

“In that case, can I hug you again?”

 

As Sheryl replied back with a happy smile.
Akira was a bit taken aback as he asked Sheryl.

 

“…But why?”

 

“I feel safe when I do that.
Like, you know, I can feel very relaxed.”

 

“No.”

 

“It’s not like it’ll cause you any trouble, right? And it’s not like you’ll lose anything too.”

 

“No, I’ll lose something.
Ah, that’s it, I’ll lose my mobility.
Moreover, we’re in the middle of breakfast now, it’s hard to eat if you cling on to me, right?”

 

“In that case, I’ll feed you.”

 

“…At least let me eat my own food, will you?”

 

Sheryl then leaned towards Akira who pulled himself back a bit.
She kept smiling as she insistently asked Akira.

 

“In that case, it’ll be okay if I do it after we finish breakfast, right? Managing the gang is really hard.
So I’m really tired right now.
Not to mention the incident that happened yesterday.
Just treat this as a sanity check for me.
If you let me do so, I’m sure I’ll bother you less in the future.
So it’s okay, right?”

 

Akira understood that if he agreed with her without giving it a serious thought, then Sheryl would come up with all sought of reasons so that she can keep on clinging onto him.
But if he rejected her strongly, there was a chance that something like yesterday would happen again.
When compared to that, it might be better if he just let her cling onto him, after all, it was not like it would cause any inconvenience to him.

 

“Alright then, you can do that after we finish breakfast.”

 

Sheryl immediately beamed happily.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Although it was only a bit, Sheryl was able to manipulate Akira.
Alpha realized that as she decided to be more careful with Sheryl.

 

After they finished their breakfast, just like promised, Sheryl clung onto Akira.
She embraced him from the front as he was sitting, she was in a pose that looked like she was straddling Akira.
She wrapped her arms around Akira’s back and neck, she looked very relieved.
But she then asked Akira for something more.

 

“May I ask you to hug me back or pat my head?”

 

“…Well, I don’t mind though.”

 

As Akira did what he was asked to, Sheryl started to mumble while looking extremely happy.

 

[What the heck am I doing here…?]

 

Akira was making an awkward face as he was asking himself that question.
But as he caught sight of Alpha smiling teasingly, his mood immediately soured.

 

“What?”

 

“It’s nothing.
Seems that she really likes you.”

 

“What do you want me to do then…?”

 

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“No idea, I don’t have an answer to that question.
But if you don’t get away from her, we’ll have to start today’s lesson in this situation, you know?”

 

As Akira realized that he might really have to start studying with Sheryl clinging onto him, Akira tried to get Sheryl off from him.

 

“Sheryl, can you let me go now? I have other things to do.”

 

“…I understand.”

 

Sheryl replied back in a sad voice as she reluctantly let Akira free.
He was relieved since he thought that Sheryl would not let him go.

 

Sheryl then smiled at Akira.

 

“I’ll return back to my base.
I have to explain yesterday’s incident to everyone in the gang.
If I may, can you please accompany me back to my base?”

 

“Alright, sure.”

 

“Thank you very much.”

 

Sheryl looked so happy as she politely bowed to Akira.

 

After that, Akira accompanied Sheryl back to her base.
Sheryl walked happily on their way there.
Although Akira looked at her with a puzzled look, she just ignored it as she walked back with a happy smile on her face.

 

Sheryl politely bowed to Akira when they arrived in front of her base.

 

“Thank you very much for accompanying me all the way here.
I’ll contact you again if anything happens.
And also, I’ll be very happy if you visit the gang even if you don’t have anything to do here.
I’ll do my best to manage the gang, but since it’s a hard job, it’s really helpful to have a day like today where I can get a breather.”

 

“Well, I’ll come again if I have free time.”

 

“Thank you very much, I’ll be waiting for you.”

 

Sheryl stood there as he saw Akira off until he was gone from her sight.

 

***

 

On his way back, Akira grumbled.
He looked back to everything that happened yesterday, like Sheryl’s emotional breakdown and so many other things.

 

“Alpha, Sheryl really did change, didn’t she? It’s like, she changed so much, I just can’t explain it well though.”

 

“Well, it’s not like she’s depressed or something, so I don’t think there’s any need to worry.”

 

“You’re right, but still…”

 

Alpha looked displeased as she then said.

 

“Rather than worrying about her.
I really want you to be more careful not to cause any problems before you get your augmented suit.
The last incident was pretty dangerous, you know?”

 

Akira smiled bitterly as he made some excuses.

 

“I’m sorry.
I didn’t think it would become that bad, you see.”

 

Akira was saying sorry because of his inability to see that coming, he was not apologising for making the condition worse.
Akira did not realize that.
Alpha who noticed these facts was reminded of how hard it was to control Akira.
She then gave Akira a warning with a serious face.

 

“From now on, you’re absolutely not allowed to go outside your room until you get your augmented suit.”

 

“Yeah, I heard you loud and clear.
I’ll obediently stay inside my room.”

 

***

 

The children in Sheryl’s gang did not sleep last night.
After that incident happened, Akira and Sheryl went out and did not come back even after one whole night passed.
Thus half of the children started to worry.

 

The children thought that Akira and Sheryl were killed and they were already in an all-out war with Shijima’s gang, thus most of them already ran from the gang.
And most of the children who stayed back didn’t do so because they believed in Sheryl and Akira having a negotiation with Shijima’s gang but stayed there because they had nowhere else to go.

 

Thus when Sheryl returned, it raised a commotion in the gang.

 

Although the children were looking at her with a worried look, Sheryl did not let it bother her as she kept smiling confidently.

 

“I’m back.
Did anything happen since I left?”

 

The children just swarmed Sheryl.

 

“What is with that question!? Or more like, how did the negotiation go?!”

 

Although all the children were making a commotion as they surrounded her, she was very calm.

 

“It went well.
We had a talk with Shijima and sorted out everything, so there’s no problem now.”

 

The children started to make a bigger ruckus.
Although it was a very relieving answer, at the same time it was a very unexpected one too.
Thus they simultaneously tried to ask further about it.

 

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“N-no problem, you say!? How about Akira!? He isn’t together with you!? Did he get killed?!”

 

“Are you for real when you said that you had a talk with Shijima?! But we did kill one of his gang members, you know!? So how did you wrap it up with just a talk?!”

 

“Do we have to surrender our base and our territory?! How did it end up regarding that part?!”

 

Sheryl smiled to calm everyone down and to make them feel at ease.

 

“Akira is unhurt.
Shijima’s gang won’t ask us to surrender our base and territory, they might even work together with us.
So it’s okay, no need to worry anymore regarding this matter.”

 

Sheryl looked confident in front of everyone.
And from the way she said it, it did not seem like she was lying or trying to trick them.
Thus they calmed down although they found it unbelievable.

 

Then Sheryl’s face turned serious as she said in a strong tone.

 

“So then, what are you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you guys be doing your job like cleaning the territory, patrolling around or collecting metal wreckages? Or is it like you guys have already completed those jobs?”

 

“W-well, no.
We thought that it’s not the time for doing something like that when we’re in this situation…”

 

“So then, where are the people who’re not here right now? Did you have a change of schedule or something?”

 

Then the children looked at each other as they hesitated before telling Sheryl.

 

“The guys who are not here are… I think they left the gang and ran away.”

 

Sheryl then just replied back casually.

 

“I see.
In that case, we have to redo everyone’s schedule.”

 

It was fully within Sheryl’s expectations.
Even after she estimated the number of people who left the gang, she was not surprised at all.
The only thing in her mind was that it was a good thing she was able to flush out those people who would abandon the gang at the sight of threat.
She then gave out a command in a calm tone.

 

“Erio, take some children with you and search for those who ran away.
If you find them with our guns or food provisions, retrieve everything.
But you don’t need to bring back those children.
Alicia, confirm how many people left the gang and how many people who’re still here.
Report to me once you’re done.
As for the rest of you, just follow the usual schedule for now.”

 

Some of the children looked at each other in confusion, some still wanted to ask more questions to Sheryl.
Some could not follow what was happening.
And some just stood there dumbfounded.
But no one started working.

 

Sheryl’s face turned stern as she shouted.

 

“Go! Now!!”

 

All the children immediately scrambled to their own job.
Sheryl just stood there watching them scurry off before returning back to her private room.

 

***

 

The representatives of the children who remained at the base, Alicia and Erio, were talking to each other.
Erio was making a puzzled face as he carefully asked Alicia.

 

“Say, it’s about Sheryl, though.
She’s scarier than before, isn’t she?”

 

Seeing how Sheryl was able to smile confidently despite what happened yesterday, Alicia had the same impression.
But in order not to make Erio anymore worried and in order to keep herself calm, Alicia smiled and said.

 

“I think it’s just your imagination.
She looked in a good mood and full of confidence to me though.”

 

“Is that so? I see.
Well, she did say that there’s no problem now.
But since that happened, I guess it was better rather than looking worried, huh?”

 

“That’s right.
But we should go too or she’ll be mad.”

 

“You’re right.”

 

Erio and Alicia then changed gear and got on to their own job.

 

 

Sheryl was still in a good mood as she was thinking of her next plan.

 

Sheryl was a smart girl from the beginning.
And with her intelligence, she was able to do well in Sibea’s gang and was able to live a pretty comfortable life.
In contrast to that, she was not good at anything related to combat.
Of course, there were a lot of fights that happened in the slum city, but every time it happened, Sheryl always hid behind someone’s back until it was over.

 

But after the gang she was affiliated with was disbanded.
She was thrown into a world where she could be killed anytime.
It was a world where one needed to get used to little by little, but she was thrown there suddenly without any preparation.
It was a world that was way too harsh for her.

 

The endless days of nervousness, terror and the pressure that came from such a world were very emotionally taxing on her.
Her heart was somehow able to hold on, but it left her heart with countless cracks.
Then finally, the last push crushed her heart into small bits.

 

As her heart was ground to dust and scattered into the wind, she was looking for a place lean on.
Then she found a place to cling and it became the new foundation that supported her as she gathered her crushed heart piece by piece into a new shape.

 

The cracks between the pieces that she gathered were filled with something that was flowing out from that new foundation.
A safe haven, sense of relief, trust and reliance glued the pieces together and even transformed the pieces.

 

Sheryl’s psyche was rebuilt from scratch when she met Akira.
It was rebuilt again and again without changing its name or identity.
The Sheryl up until now was not able to give her maximum performance due to her fear.
But now that she had perceived a sense of safety and regained her confidence and sense of freedom, all of a sudden the idle gears inside her fit perfectly into the bigger picture.

 

Sheryl then looked back to her old self where she was careless and full of flaws.
There were a lot of points that needed improvement.
She reflected back as she decided to do better in the future.
She had so many things that she wanted to try inside her head.
She was reassessing, reevaluating and improving all of those ideas that she had.

 

As she was thinking about the future of her gang.
She knew that it had to grow bigger and do better both for her own sake and for Akira’s as well.
It had become something very important to her to make the world where she and Akira could live happily.

 

As Sheryl imagined the future that she wished for, she let out a captivating smile.