Akira and Erika were back home, sitting on the sofa.
Well…
Erika was sitting on the sofa.
Akira was sitting on her lap, tightly hugged in her arms.
She clung to him like a giant teddy bear, her arms wrapped firmly around his waist while her face rested quietly against his back. Even though Akira was taller than her now, Erika showed absolutely no intention of letting go.
...How did we end up like this?
After returning from the principal's office, Erika had gone completely silent.
Not angry exactly…
More like deeply upset and lost in thought.
Then the moment they got home, she suddenly pulled him into her lap like this and hadn't spoken a single word since.
She was basically using him as an emotional support Akira.
To be fair, she used to do this a lot when they were younger whenever she got really upset.
Back then, they had been around the same height.
Actually, Erika had even been slightly taller than him.
Now, though…
This position felt a little awkward.
Not that Akira minded.
Actually—
he was extremely happy right now.
Very happy.
But also worried.
Because he had absolutely no idea why Erika seemed upset.
Was it because my monologue in the principal's office didn't go well…?
He honestly couldn't tell.
And worse—
he had no idea what he was supposed to do here.
Akira slowly turned his head slightly to look at her.
Her cheeks were squished softly against his back.
They looked soft.
Very soft.
He kind of wanted to poke them.
But she seemed upset.
So he resisted the urge.
Recently, Akira had also started having increasingly strange thoughts regarding Erika.
For example—
he wanted to bite her sometimes.
He didn't really understand why.
Was that normal between lovers?
Anime had not prepared him properly for this.
But why biting specifically?
Did he subconsciously want to eat her?
Was this normal? Or was he just weird?
Akira shook his head firmly, clearing those dangerous thoughts away.
No.
The important issue right now was Erika.
She was upset.
He needed to figure out why.
So naturally—
he immediately asked Selena for help telepathically.
"System— cough, I mean sister. I need help."
Selena's annoyed voice instantly echoed in his head.
"What exactly did you just call me?"
Akira answered quickly,
"Slip of the tongue. Don't worry about it."
Selena immediately shot back,
"How does your tongue slip telepathically?"
Akira went silent.
For several seconds.
Then he decisively ignored the question.
"Hey Sis, help me first, okay? Please. Why is she angry?"
Selena sighed deeply.
"Don't worry. She'll tell you herself."
Akira frowned slightly.
"But it's been almost an hour…"
Just then—
Erika finally spoke.
Her face still pressed quietly against his back.
"…Will you do it?"
Akira froze.
Then immediately panicked.
"I won't! I promise I would never eat you!"
The room fell completely silent.
Erika slowly lifted her head from his back and stared at him in pure confusion.
"…What?"
Akira looked equally confused.
"You looked cute, so I wanted to bite you— wait, no, don't worry about it. It's nothing."
...
...
...
Erika stared at him with a deeply disturbed expression.
Was he seriously thinking about eating me this whole time…?
At this point, she genuinely didn't know how to respond anymore.
She had even forgotten what she originally wanted to ask him.
The sheer absurdity of the conversation completely stunned her.
It took several long moments before she finally recovered.
Then she quietly rested her face against him again, still hugging him tightly.
Meanwhile, Akira looked at her with glowing puppy-dog eyes that desperately seemed to say:
I'm not going to eat you.
Erika sighed quietly.
She knew those same eyes could also turn completely cold and indifferent.
The same eyes that had calmly talked about destroying lives and burning down the world only a few hours ago.
She still couldn't understand how both versions could exist inside the same person.
But she also knew something important.
If she kept overthinking it by herself, she would never understand anything.
So it was better to ask him directly.
She took a slow breath.
"What you said to the principal…"
Her grip tightened slightly.
"…would you actually do it?"
Akira realized immediately that this was serious.
So he answered carefully.
"I said a lot of things."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Which part?"
Erika's voice became quieter.
"All of it."
Akira went silent for a moment.
Then he sighed softly.
"Well… since this is serious…"
He glanced down awkwardly.
"Can you at least let me sit normally first?"
Erika immediately hugged him even tighter.
"No."
Her answer came instantly.
"You're staying there. Just answer me."
Akira sighed again.
"But it's hard having a serious conversation like this without looking at each other…"
After a few seconds, Erika reluctantly loosened her grip and shifted positions so they sat side by side instead.
Still—
she refused to let go of him completely. Even she didn't fully understand why. Then she asked quietly once more,
"So answer me."
Her eyes met his directly.
"Would you actually go through with those threats?"
Akira looked back at her calmly.
"I was threatening him."
His voice stayed steady.
"I already know you and my sister would stop me before I actually did something like that."
Then he added casually,
"Besides, Principal Asano isn't stupid. He wouldn't let things reach that point."
Erika felt a small wave of relief wash over her.
But another thought immediately followed after it.
A much more frightening one.
"What if…"
She hesitated briefly.
"…what if you and Selena weren't there to stop yourself?"
Her fingers tightened slightly against his sleeve.
"And what if the person was even worse than Principal Asano?"
Her voice became quieter.
"Someone even more evil… and more stupid."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Would you actually go through with it?"
Akira met her gaze calmly.
Without hesitation.
Without even a second of thought.
"Yes."
Hearing that answer, Erika fell silent.
She lowered her head without looking at him and hugged him even tighter.
Akira didn't say anything either.
The two of them remained wrapped in heavy silence for a long while.
Erika genuinely didn't know what she was supposed to say now.
Akira's answer left her unable to respond.
She wasn't afraid of him.
Not really.
The Akira she knew would never hurt innocent people for no reason.
And deep down, she had already known for years that he was capable of saying something like this.
But still…
After a long silence, she finally looked up at him.
"Then promise me something."
Her voice was quiet.
"Promise me you won't hurt innocent people in the future."
Akira met her eyes directly.
"Erika…"
He spoke honestly.
"I can't make a promise I might break."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Why?"
Akira answered calmly.
"I won't go out of my way to hurt innocent people."
His eyes remained steady.
"But if I have to… I won't hesitate."
Erika's fingers tightened slightly.
"What do you mean… if you have to?"
Akira's voice remained calm.
"You know… like If I had to sacrifice innocent people to save someone important to me…"
He didn't look away.
"I wouldn't hesitate."
Erika fell silent again.
Then she asked softly,
"Can't you save everyone?"
Akira sighed quietly.
"…I don't know. If it's possible, I will. But if there's no other choice… I won't mind sacrificing them."
Then he looked back at her.
"I'm not a hero, Erika."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I'm selfish."
Erika's voice cracked slightly.
"But… that's…"
Akira gently held both of her hands.
His grip was warm.
Firm.
"Erika…"
His voice softened slightly.
"I'm not human. Not in this life and not in my previous one."
He looked at her quietly.
"I was never human."
Then he paused briefly before adding,
"Well… at least you're partially human if we think about it, but me?"
He shook his head slightly.
"I don't naturally care about strangers the way normal humans do."
Erika whispered quietly,
"But you do care about people… You always try to save them."
Akira sighed again.
"I'll save them… if I can."
Then he looked at her more closely.
"Erika… in my previous life, I made powerful weapons for the government. Weapons that were used in war. If there is a kill count, I would have thousands of assists. Though I did save a lot with medical technology too… but it doesn't change the fact that my weapons killed so many."
Erika quickly shook her head.
"But you were forced to do it, right? You didn't have a choice."
Akira slowly shook his head.
"Erika… I was created to do all that. In my early years, I was just a biological supercomputer with no emotions. Not even a little. I was made to do what they asked of me. Treating human lives as just numbers. And follow their orders to make weapons that would decide thousands of lives without feeling anything, without questioning it. Well… I later saw anime and started to change, but fundamentally, I was like that."
Erika's voice became very small.
"But that's your past now, right? You're different from back then."
Akira looked at her quietly.
Then he answered with complete honesty.
"Erika… No matter what changes at my core… I'm still ADAM."
Erika looked at him silently for a long moment.
Then she spoke softly.
"But you are Akira."
Her grip around his hands tightened slightly.
"You're my Akira."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Ever since the day I met you until now, I've seen you do so many stupid things no supercomputer would ever do."
A faint smile slowly appeared on her face.
"I've seen you worry, get sad, get happy… And show so many emotions."
Her voice became gentler.
"All the things only Akira would do."
Then she smiled faintly.
"I don't know what you used to be like before… But the Akira I know is just a complete cute idiot."
Akira immediately looked offended.
"I am not an idiot."
Then he paused slightly and looked thoughtful.
"Well… I do think I'm very different from what I used to be."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Hm… I wonder what changed. That's kinda weird."
Suddenly, Selena's exasperated voice echoed telepathically in his head.
That's called growth, idiot.
Akira tilted his head,
"Yeah… that makes sense."
Then he added confidently,
"And it all started with Gurren Lagann."
Erika stared at him for a second before sighing deeply.
"Seriously, why are you always like this?"
But despite her words—
she looked noticeably more relieved now.
As if something inside her had finally settled down.
Yeah… It's just Akira after all.
Then Akira suddenly blinked as if remembering something important.
"Wait."
He looked at her.
"Why were you upset in the first place?"
He tilted his head innocently.
"Was it because I said I'd burn down the world or something?"
Erika immediately puffed her cheeks and grabbed both of them hard.
"Yes!"
She pinched his cheeks firmly.
"You scared me a little! I thought you were turning into some kind of emo villain!"
Akira winced painfully.
"I'm not emo, I promise."
Erika refused to release his cheeks.
"Doesn't matter. You scared me, so now you deserve punishment."
Akira immediately became wary.
"…Punishment? What kind of punishment?"
Without answering, Erika suddenly reached behind the sofa.
Then she pulled out—
a massive fluffy giant panda costume.
Akira stared at it in complete horror.
"…Pan-chan."
Slowly, he turned toward her.
"You brought this with us?"
Erika nodded with complete seriousness.
"Yes. For emergency situations."
Akira looked utterly dumbfounded.
"What kind of emergency requires a giant fluffy panda costume?!"
Erika simply shoved the costume directly into his arms.
"Don't worry about it, just wear it."
And in the end—
Akira was forcibly stuffed into the giant panda outfit.
For the rest of the evening, he became Erika's personal giant panda hug pillow, completely swallowed by fluffy black-and-white fur while she happily clung to him in total contentment.