Uneventful Night

Belfast 2

((I exerted all my brain joose for this chapter!))

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Belfast's POV: 

I didn't know the predicament I was going into when I accepted his offer, but by his words, I can simply tell it was sincere, live like a human? Be closer to what a human being is? All of it boggled with my mind, confusing me.

Yet I couldn't help but accept it, despite the fact that the topic is quite confusing to my heart. "Yosh! Listen to me Belfast-san! From now you'll call me sensei!" Yui suddenly said out proudly while we were at the back of the restaurant.

"I understand, sensei."

"You didn't have to comply..." Yui suddenly said while I tilted my head, making me confused. "Learn to say no, what I said there was a joke, call me Yui." He corrected me and I nod my head.

"I understand. Yui-sa-"

"Yui."

"I-I understand Yui." I obeyed his words dutifully and his small smile turned into a warm smile this time.

"What do you think living a normal human life is?" Yui suddenly asked towards me and I tilted my head, a normal life, is it by being peaceful. But he had asked me a question, it is only right that I answer with honesty.

"Is it to live a peaceful life." I raised my eyebrow, giving an unsure answer. And Yui's face turned into a small sly smirk. Though I knew that it wasn't a good sign, his smirk was somehow alluring as if it was seducing me.

"There's no normal." He suddenly corrected me with a smile, and I tilted my head. "There's no normal, what it matters is to do things you love, and to do things you need to do. Chase your dreams, a human world, is a world where every hopes and humanity is encapsulated in a single society." Yui continued to further comment while standing up from his seiza position and offering me his hand.

I took his hand, and he gently slowly pulled me upwards, making me stand up also. "There's no normal? I see. Then are you saying to be human, I must live a life that I want to?"

"Exactly! You learn fast Belfast, I'm proud, I'm proud." I can tell that the last part of his comment was genuinely sarcasm, but hearing those words somehow made me feel joy, albeit a little, it was still there. Was this part of being a human too.

"To be a human is to never be shackled by any guilts or any regrets. Learn to let go." Yui suddenly said before opening the palm of his hands, offering it to me. 

"Let go?"

"Let go of the thoughts of war, and only do things that you love. Do you love cooking?" As he asked me for one of my hobbies, to be able to let go of the thoughts of war, that thought felt like it was an airy hope.

But if he had said it is possible, then I would like to be able to let go of those thoughts, to never be shackled by the responsibilities of war, just for a moment. I raised my hand and gently and slowly grabbed his arm. 

"I do love cooking." 

"That's nice!"

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Yui had offered me a single night to work for his job, needless to say, him teaching me all of the things, such as how to make an omurice and stuff has made me filled with extreme joy, as if... Azur Lane didn't exist right now, as if I felt like I was a normal human.

"Right right! You just have to flip it like this." Yui said while flipping the Omelette and it arrived on his pan, having that same jiggly effect. "Now, turn off the heat." He turned off the gas's stove with a single click of a button and he gently placed the omelette into the rice.

"I see." I watched intently on how he skillfully did this, and as the omelette stayed on top of the rice, he gently cut the omelette open, revealing a soft and runny insides, a fluffy exterior of the omelette, paired with the red-like rice.

"That is... amazing." I can only compliment his cooking while Yui smirked. "I see, so I must take note of how long must I cook the egg to achieve this texture correct?"

"And you also need to mix the eggs to achieve that. Stirring the eggs while in the pan, before letting the exterior, of the eggs to cook before folding it gently either via chopsticks or just simply rocking the pan." Yui explained the formula to get that perfect omurice secret he has.

"I see." I took notes by taking out a small notepad, similar to his and wrote down all what he said. Making Yui scratched his head sheepishly. "Is this usually served in restaurants in Japan?" 

"It is, well, when we talk about common foods in Japan, most people would probably answer with famous stuff such as sushi or tempura, but most common foods are usually omurice or tonkatsu." Yui explained much more about Japan, making me smile in the knowledge that I have gained.

"I see, if I remember well, you do have Tonkatsu in your menu, am I wrong?" I asked him while slowly approaching him, staring at the omurice he had created.

"I do have Tonkatsu, but a Hokkaido local restaurant is more famous for their Sapporo ramen. So in fact, my ramen is usually my top-selling item."

"If it is possible, would you mind teaching me how to..."

"Of course!"

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For some reason, the more I stayed with him, the more that my mind started to get filled with the thoughts of being with him, as if being husband and wife in the same house, as if we were roommates in the same apartment room.

And I finally noticed now, if this is what awaits me after the war, then I'd want the war to end just a little early now. The thought of being forever with him is forever etched in my mind. it didn't matter now, if this is my reward after the war.

Then I'll do everything it takes to be with him, to serve him, to be by his side, to have his attention. Everything. I've fallen in love... how shameful...

The thoughts of this war, how I've gotten closer to living a human's life through him, everything. I want to be by his side, through thick and thin.

"Belfast, do you want to work in Uneventful Night?" Yui suddenly asked me and offered something that even he knew, I can never decline.

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