I was comfortably lying down in a slightly swaying car, on my way to Zone 0 where the headquarters was located.
It would take a few days to get there, so I had no choice but to just lie back and relax.
“…….”
“…….”
“I’m so bored.”
“Tell me about it.”
I couldn’t help but fully agree with the Commander. It was that boring.
“How long has it been since we left? I can’t believe I’m already this annoyed.”
“It’s only been 2 hours.”
“…Only 2 hours?”
“Yep.”
Surprisingly enough, I was beyond bored.
That’s why I didn’t even bother complaining to the whining Commander next to me.
It was just so dull, and there was nothing but blank space outside to look at, right?
“…It hasn’t even been a day yet?”
“Shockingly enough?”
“…I feel like I’m going to die of boredom.”
“I doubt you’ll actually die. It’s way too safe in here for that.”
“………”
“Let’s play some music.”
“…Alright.”
The Commander slightly sat up and started playing music.
It wasn’t exactly the most exciting song; just some calm, quiet tune.
“Your taste in music is lacking.”
“Just listen.”
“Okay.”
“…Wait. I’m curious about one thing…”
“?”
Suddenly, the Commander turned to face me, looking like he was seconds away from asking something.
What could possibly be so interesting to ask me?
With the Commander looking at me, I was waiting for the question, but his expression was different.
He seemed to be debating whether it was okay to ask this.
“What is it? Just ask already.”
“Uh… It seems like it takes a while to get to Zone 0, doesn’t it? More than a little, really… Anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m estimating about 3 days.”
“So… will we be here the whole time? Not even sleeping at night?”
“Umm… won’t you?”
“…Sleep in a moving car?”
“……..?”
What’s his deal?
Can’t he just sleep?
I didn’t quite understand the intent behind the Commander’s question.
What could he possibly want?
Of course sleeping while the car is moving is a normal thing to do.
“…How about we just book a nearby accommodation?”
“…No thanks.”
“What? If I sleep here, my back will definitely be wrecked by tomorrow.”
“There’s plenty of room inside, isn’t there? This isn’t a regular car; it’s practically a camping vehicle with how spacious it is.”
“Right…”
The two seats in the front were normal vehicle seats, but the back was nothing like that.
It looked huge, almost like the interior of a camping vehicle.
Of course, it wasn’t fully at camping vehicle level, but there was still surprisingly enough space.
If one did it right, one could just lie down presumably without a problem.
It was as simple as that.
I absolutely refused to share a bed in a hotel with the Commander.
I mean, there had been that previous incident.
“Or, Commander, you can just sleep in the back. I’ll be fine here.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
No problem at all.
Seriously.
The little bit of back pain wasn’t an issue.
“How long will it even take? Are we going to stop and rest?”
“That’s true…”
“It’s settled. We’ll just sleep in the car.”
“…Okay, fine.”
“Then… do you want some lunch?”
I had no clue why he suddenly brought that up, but it was about that time.
It was already lunch time.
Two hours had passed since we left in the morning, so it was natural I was starting to get hungry.
Plus, I hadn’t eaten breakfast, which made it unavoidable.
If someone had just called me to wake me up…
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I just hope you set multiple alarms next time.”
“…Today was an accident.”
“You woke up early last time, and now you’re back to sleeping in. I always have to wake you.”
“………”
Looks like the Commander was aware too.
If he knew, I just wished he’d wake up a little earlier.
“What do you want to eat?”
“…Chicken?”
“Not bad.”
I got up from my seat.
I had to take something out of the fridge, which meant heading to the back of the vehicle.
The Commander was still sitting in the driver’s seat, while I slowly walked to the back.
Even though we were in a moving car, it wasn’t shaking that much.
Just… a reasonable amount, I guess?
“Hmm…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Yikes!?”
The Commander suddenly spoke from behind, catching me off guard.
He had been sitting just a moment ago, and now he was behind me?
I was quietly looking into the fridge, and suddenly being spoken to startled me.
“Could you make some noise when you come out?”
“It’s not like it was that shocking…”
“Just do it, okay?”
“So, what was that all about?”
“…I was just thinking about what flavor to take out.”
There wasn’t just one fried chicken in there, so I was simply looking to see what was inside.
“Hmm… Let’s take out fried and seasoned. We can share.”
“…I want fried.”
“Me too.”
“…That’s why I was thinking.”
“Got it.”
*
After lightly snacking on chicken with the Commander, we both returned to our seats.
To be honest, I was just plain bored.
What more could we possibly do here?
Nah, it was murky since we hadn’t really done anything yet.
There was nothing to pass the time with, and of course, there was no way to get out.
We still had a long way to go until we arrived; how long would we be just sitting in this self-driving car?
“…I’m so bored.”
“What should I do about it?”
“I don’t know… Do we have to sit like this until we arrive?”
“Isn’t it unavoidable? You said yourself it would be quicker to arrive quickly.”
“That’s true, but isn’t this boring? No games or anything.”
If we had something like a video game in the Commander’s room, I wouldn’t mind so much.
But right now, there was nothing available.
Really, I had nothing to do.
“Isn’t there something fun we can do?”
“…How about a movie?”
“The screen is over there, isn’t it?”
“It is over there, but it’s still there.”
“……..”
That’s true.
However, the seats back there weren’t that spacious.
It would’ve been best if we could watch from the driver and passenger seats, but that wasn’t going to happen, which was a bit annoying.
To watch a movie, we’d have to go to the back, and sitting alongside the Commander there would mean being pretty close.
If only it were just a little bit bigger, we could’ve watched comfortably without an issue.
“Are you going to watch the movie?”
“You choose.”
“…Sigh.”
I didn’t want to be so close, but if the Commander was suggesting it… I guess I had no choice.
Separately from the boredom, watching a movie next to the Commander felt a bit burdensome.
But it was overwhelmingly boring, so I had no choice.
Reluctantly, we entered the back space together.
Hmm.
It felt odd to have our shoulders touching.
“…Let’s just slide in a bit more.”
“…Alright.”
“………”
It felt overly awkward.
I had no idea why, but I suspected it was because we hadn’t started the movie yet.
Yeah, that seemed likely… right?
“What movie is…?”
“…Anything but horror. Just decide.”
“…Okay.”
Considering I had watched a movie with the Commander before, horror was off the table.
Last time, I was… genuinely shocked.
I didn’t expect it at all, and the horror movie just hit me out of nowhere.
“…Let’s go with comedy.”
“Yeah, let’s choose something fun.”
“…Sure.”
At that moment, I felt embarrassed recalling why I had reacted so strongly.
I was literally pressed against the Commander’s chest, trembling like a leaf.
The Commander hadn’t said a word, but I felt embarrassed nonetheless.
“…Just saying, you won’t be surprised watching the comedy, right?”
“…I don’t think so.”
“Seriously?”
“…Yep.”
What do you take me for?
There’s practically no way I’d be startled watching comedy.
How shocked had I looked watching horror that day?
Anyway, I found a suitable comedy film.
Without further ado, I started it.
The content of the movie was just average.
It was just a normal funny movie.
“Why chicken of all things…?”
“That’s the question…?”
The funny part was that the movie somehow revolved around chicken was a bit silly.
Right after we ate, the plot suddenly shifted to chicken; it really caught me off guard.
I absolutely did NOT pick the movie thinking about that.
-Why!!! Why is it about business!!!
“Ha ha…”
“Is it funny?”
“I think you chose well.”
“Wasn’t that your choice?”
“True. Just praising myself.”
We were simply enjoying a regular funny movie.
I absolutely couldn’t admit I didn’t choose well.
“If you think it’s funny… that’s good enough.”
“Didn’t you laugh too, Commander?”
“That’s separate; I’m just glad you’re finding it funny.”
“Hmm…”
Well, we were both enjoying ourselves while watching, so it was definitely a good choice.
Honestly, it was my first time seeing this movie, but it was refreshing seeing us both having fun like this.
Not too shabby.
Just sitting comfortably in the back with the Commander and watching the movie on the screen was surprisingly enjoyable.
It was a different kind of joy compared to just playing games in the Commander’s room.
I had no idea what the Commander thought, though.
“Lindera.”
“What is it?”
“How about we take a break and have dinner at some point?”
“Hmm…”
“To be honest, we didn’t have a proper filling lunch.”
“…That’s true.”
I paused to think.
We just had those chicken pieces earlier, but we didn’t have many cooking appliances here.
The microwave was basically it.
If we had dinner on top of that… it was bound to be somewhat unsatisfactory.
Microwaving chicken wouldn’t taste that good.
Even if it was chicken, it wasn’t anything remarkable.
Compared to eating freshly made chicken, let’s be honest, it was barely comparable.
“Hmm…”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go out and get something proper?”
“That could be true.”
We were watching the movie and continuing our conversation.
The Commander’s point was, to be honest… correct.
Eating properly would be preferable, that much was certain.
For both me and the Commander.
Surely, if we were to get by on a couple of chicken pieces for lunch, having a haphazard dinner would lead to…
“…So if there’s a place to grab dinner on the way, let’s go there.”
“Phew…”
“Why are you so relieved? Do you think I’m someone who doesn’t care about having decent meals?”
The Commander looked at me like that.
I’m not that bad of a person, for real.
“I didn’t think so at all.”
“Really?”
“…Well, maybe a little.”
“………”
Seems like arriving wouldn’t be the only challenge; I’d have to deal with the Commander’s quirks along the way.
Not physically taxing, but mentally, for sure.
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