Everdistant Utopia [NieR: Automata] [Fate]

Chapter 9

Will this be enough? Staring at the corpse of the boar that she hunted. She wondered if this would be enough to satisfy Shirou. Humans can eat large portions of food or small portions until they're satisfied. She picked up the boar easily without much effort. Her eyes went over to the other animals that she saw nearby, still contemplating if she should hunt more.

The man came into her mind as she had watched him cook a few times. A calm and focused expression is always on his face when he's making a meal. He did say that cooking is one way to help him relax and that he enjoys doing so.

If he likes cooking then I should get him more meat to cook. She came up with the conclusion as she gripped her lance. Humans are a hassle. They need all sorts of things to keep them alive and functioning. She snorted as she continued thinking about Shirou. That man can be so...infuriating to deal with. He's a confusing person.

Shirou told her that humans weren't all the same. That not all will be like him. Just like how all androids are not the same. Given he's the only one she's ever seen, all information about mankind that she may receive is from him, a human himself who understands mankind better than any android ever would.

His resolve to become an "Ally of Justice" came from his father. That word she had never heard of. The concept seems to be saving people. Shirou helps other humans from what she tells him. He helps others just for the sake of it. He even helps androids even though they're not human. All of his reasoning comes from the fact that it was his father's wish.

Looking up to someone. Is it really that simple? His whole reasoning isn't logical in her mind. His actions come from the fact he looks up to his parental figure...

Looking up to someone. She thought idly as she hunted the moose with a vague mind. The reason why Shirou fights and helps as he does is because of his father. However, there's another thing that left her confused. He said he was looking for someone. That shouldn't be possible, should it? Is he in denial? The man told her how someone was waiting for him, but that shouldn't be possible anymore. Millenniums have passed from the era he has come from. That person who he is searching for shouldn't be alive anymore. Yet he thinks otherwise that they're waiting for him. Who exactly is waiting for him?

Is it his way of coping with the fact the person who was waiting for him is dead? She doesn't know how he feels about his position. After all, even now it's baffling and illogical for someone from so far into the past can still be alive somehow. Yet knowing he's far into the future, he didn't show grief.

Perhaps he's sturdier than I give him credit. She thought given the human had exceeded her expectations in more ways than she thought. From combat prowess and knowledge and much more. He isn't much of a pushover but he is a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes with how snarky he can be without even trying. There's also the fact that he works himself too much...she hopes the next human she may meet isn't as bad as Shirou in terms of taking care of themselves.

-~-

"You know you stand out a lot walking around like that."

"Think I give a shit about standing out?"

Anemone watched as A2 placed the corpses of the wild animals she hunted right in front of her.

"No, but you will become quite the talk of the camp. If nobody here has nothing better to do then they'd like to spread rumors. Be honest, what's with all of this?"

"Who else needs to digest food to survive?" A2 rolled her eyes while staring at Anemone with a dull expression.

"I figured it had to do with him." Anemone looked at the corpses and then back to A2. "Was it necessary to get this many?"