Confirming that the two of them were here to see him, Shu's expression turned slightly bitter. But he still moved his body, which had been subconsciously blocking the door, and made way for them to enter.
He didn't say anything, or rather, he couldn't say anything. He just used his actions to indicate that they could come in and sit down.
Siegfried walked in with two bottles of wine in his hand. After checking the shoe rack at the entrance, he proactively took off his shoes and put on the disposable slippers reserved for guests.
Compared to Siegfried, Cecilia's every move was full of elegance and was a pleasure to watch, even though their actions were the same.
And Shu was staring at the guest slippers that had appeared on his shoe rack for some reason, lost in thought.
Who had prepared so many guest slippers for him? Not only were there disposable ones, but there were also several pairs that looked like they belonged to someone specific.
Would he really have so many guests at home?
Shu thought about what it would be like to have so many people in his house. The mere thought made him shiver.
He hoped they were all people he knew...
Obviously, Siegfried and Cecilia were not people he knew.
Siegfried was actually okay. Shu more or less knew Siegfried's personality and had experience dealing with this kind of person. Kiana was always around him. If the Kaslanas were really all the same, then he just had to treat Siegfried the way he had treated Kiana when he had first met her.
What really made him a little scared was Cecilia.
What kind of personality did Cecilia have? His impression of her was only "gentle, considerate, kind," and that radiant "maternal" nature that had become a meme...
What on earth was "maternal"?!
Shu took a deep breath, opened his refrigerator, which he hadn't opened for a long time, and after a moment of contemplation at the fully stocked fridge, he took out two cans of soda.
Wait, didn't Siegfried bring wine?
Shu, who had closed the door, began to contemplate again. But he still placed the two cans of soda on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
"Oh! Homu Soda!" Siegfried's eyes lit up. He quickly picked up a can. With a "hiss," the soda can popped open. Siegfried took a big gulp and let out a sigh of admiration. "It's really been a long time since I've tasted this~"
Shu silently pushed the other can of soda over as well.
"Mr. Shu, thank you very much for taking care of Kiana during these days," Cecilia said with a slight smile, her thanks very sincere. "It must have been hard for you to spare the energy to protect Kiana in such a disaster."
Protect... Shu thought back to the time when he had first met Kiana, a little embarrassed.
It seemed... it had always... been Kiana protecting him?
It was only recently that his own power had grown enough for him to say that he was protecting Kiana.
He still remembered clearly the experience of Kiana pushing him away at the station. It was almost engraved in his mind, a picture he couldn't get rid of.
And... it seemed that he hadn't protected Kiana very well either. Many times, it was Kiana who had to fight desperately to protect herself.
At this moment, Kiana's body still had fine cracks on it, but they were completely invisible unless one looked closely.
Shu didn't know if Siegfried and Cecilia had carefully checked Kiana's current condition when they were reunited with her, but if they had... Shu felt that the two of them probably wouldn't be getting along with him so well here... right?
Most people would probably blame him for not protecting Kiana well, right... or was this the calm before the storm?
Shu glanced covertly at Siegfried, who was unceremoniously opening the second can of soda. He didn't know whether he was relieved or if a stone had been hung in his heart.
He was relieved because Siegfried didn't seem to be about to make a scene. He looked completely oblivious.
A stone was hung in his heart because since Siegfried didn't know anything, there would always be a day when he would find out. What kind of questioning would that be then?
No... it seemed that these two... were not "normal people," right? At least Siegfried probably wasn't, but Cecilia...
The clash of various thoughts in his mind made Shu not dare to speak.
Cecilia waited for a while but didn't get a response. She looked up and saw Shu staring at her, seemingly with a smile. But she could clearly see the tense muscles on his face.
Hmm?
Was there something wrong with what she had just said? Why was Shu so nervous?
Could it be...
Mr. Shu... was actually a socially awkward person who was not good at communicating?
Although Kiana had told them a lot about Shu, she had basically just given them a brief account of her experiences over the past period of time. They were not really clear about Shu's personality.
But from some of the adjectives Kiana used to describe Shu, they could guess a thing or two.
A very good cook, very powerful, very reliable when he was serious, and usually very gentle...
Oh, and one more thing. After using a certain power, he would become particularly self-conscious and withdrawn... Cecilia had thought that was just a side effect of that power, but now it seemed... the side effect had only amplified Shu's existing low self-esteem...
The leader of Fire Moth, the undisputed number one person of the current era, the bold one who had re-established order, the strongest human being was actually a young man with low self-esteem?
This was something she had never thought of before she had met Shu, and she would never have thought of it.
And now that she had, corresponding thoughts began to arise.
Had this world degenerated to the point where such a self-conscious person had to stand up and take on the responsibility of reshaping human civilization?
In Cecilia's heart, the tall image of Shu that had been built up by Kiana's stories and past rumors shattered in an instant, replaced by a tiny figure pushing a huge boulder.
The boulder was rolling down from the top of the mountain, and below it were the broken crowds, the fragile masses.
Everyone was too busy to take care of themselves. Only Shu was standing under the boulder, struggling to push it to a place where it would not affect everyone.
The boulder was so heavy that it made it difficult for Shu to even breathe. But he still stubbornly rooted himself there, even wanting to move his feet and push the boulder back to the top of the mountain.
"Phew..." Cecilia let out a soft breath and repeated her words to Shu. This time, compared to her previous gratitude, her tone was more inclined to a unique kind of heartache.
"It must have been... so hard on you..."