Opening up the pod, Zaon took off his shirt as it is soaked with sweat.
"Good morning!"
Akihiro greeted him while eating the pudding in his ref.
"You're eating pudding again?"
"And?"
"I was gaming for almost 16 hours, and all you did was eat pudding?"
"You game for 16 hours and teach me how health works as I ate my eighth pudding?"
"What?"
"What!"
"..."
The two stared at each other, but at the end, Zypher sighed in defeat.
"All right, give me five, and I want the Habisco brand."
"Five? And Habisco? Am I your bank?"
"Why? A Habisco Pudding only costs you 20 Myrrhs."
"You think I am your golden geese? Dream on! Do I look like I shit money?"
"You're not a goose! Plus, you're not gold, you're just bronze at best!"
"Tsk. That's why girls doesn't find you attractive."
"Six Habiscos then."
"Eat a balanced meal, you shit."
"Then cook for me, Mr. Doctor."
"There's food in the frigde. Just heat it."
Zypher walked to the fridge as he wiped his body with the soaked shirt he was wearing. He opened it and looked for the now cold foods.
As he was taking out the foods, he saw something at the back of the fridge.
He looked at Aki, and smiled mischievously.
"Damn, you found my stash."
______________________________________
Two people were playing Kario Marts as they were eating Hibiso Puddings.
There were almost 20 empty containers in front of them as they were racing.
"Heh. Is that all you got? Too bad, I am winning this race."
"You sure are confident. I will use my booster now."
"What? I just finished emptying my booster!"
"Toodooloo!"
[YOU WIN!!]
"Damn. I thought I was gonna win."
Zaon stood up and took the last container.
"And the last container shall be mine!!"
Then he laughed like a villain.
Aki, seeing this, smiled softly.
Seeing this, Zaon creeped out and hugged himself.
"Did you just?"
"I don't swing that way." Aki said as he delivered a chop at Zaon's head.
Zaon, seeing this, dodged and rolled.
"PFFT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Aki started laughing as he saw what Zaon did.
"You two sure are brothers!"
He said as he went back to sitting on the couch. He sighed as he looked at the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he reminisced the times he spent time with Zyvier, Zaon's biological brother.
"He is a good brother."
Zaon said as he seated beside Akihiro.
"You've knows him as a brother. I've known him since childhood."
"Are you my mother?"
Aki stopped for a moment.
"Even the way you joked, is exactly the same."
"I remember one time, in our high school days."
"There was a time that I had a crush on this beautiful lady. She was so cute that she is so meek and silent all the time."
"When I see her, she always act shyly, and she often bow curtly. I fell for her because her eyes looked like longing everytime."
"As best buddies, I always talked to Zyvier about her. He then boosted my confidence everytime, as he always said to me that I must confess."
"Days passed by, I also saw her smile, and her dedication to learning. That was when I started to hang out with her."
"Time passed by, and we always were together. Then one day, your brother got sick."
"I went to school, and decided to hang out with that girl, but she refused."
"At first, I didn't know why, but it became clear to me."
"She loves Zyvier, and not me."
"I went home that day, battered and stressed. I didn't know what to think."
"And guess what? I found him, your brother, outside my door."
"He waved at me and hugged me. He then talked to me for a bit, before going home."
"After that day, she started hanging out with Laura, your sister-in-law. The girl, then found out, and she was brokenhearted."
"I then went to her, comforted her, and that was when I realized I love her more than I can say."
"Days passed, we became close, and then, we got married."
"At our marriage ceremony, that bastard of a brother of yours whispered something to me."
"I wasn't hurt, or anything, he just admitted to breaking the girl's heart so that I can comfort her."
"He did it deliberately so I can have my chance."
"Now, that girl is a mother, and she is now still taking care of my kids at home."
Aki stopped as he sighed.
"So, you are an incompetent father then."
"Damn, same words as him."
Aki shook his head as he felt a cold sensation on it.
"Here. Thanks for telling me about my brother. You just hurt me more, idiot."
Aki laughed and took a spoon and scooped up the pudding.
"YOU IDIOT! WHAT'S THIS?!"
"Ehh? That's the pudding."
"Pudding, my ass. You took all the top part, and just left the bottom biscuit!"
"You ate the pudding part of the pudding! You just leave the biscuit underneath for me to eat?"
"Basically yes. But I still gave you something."
"You are the same as your brother."
"Thanks."
"My god. I hope he is laughing at heaven right now."
As he said that, Zaon stopped and just stared at the mess on the table.
"He always told me to eat one pudding a day."
He then started to clean up and drink water. Aki did so too, and they went back to the couch.
In his past life, Zaon saw how Akihiro worked hard for him and his sister-in-law, and his niece.
Aki became the father figure of Laurie, and his two kids accepted Laurie as like their own sister.
Until the day the guild fell down. Aki's two kids, Aoi and Akai, were also part of the guild, and they are the last ones that celebrated with Laura in the game before they closed.
Thinking about this, he was reminded of all the things he experienced.
He was not yet in a guild, but he almost butted heads with one of the strongest four guilds.
Alone, at that.
He knows he will find help in the future, but now, he needs more than that.
"I need to get stronger."