"I am deeply in love with you, Adam. I have been since the day we first met."
There was silence after that—a silence that Adam had gotten used to. A silence he appreciated.
He glanced at Sylvie and then at the view of the expanse of space in front of them. This was literally his first time here, and the feeling of awe he was supposed to experience was all washed away by her words.
Although he wasn't really feeling a lot of awe in the first place. He'd been to countless worlds already, and space, somewhat, felt eerily familiar already.
"Sylvie. I—"
"You… don't need to say anything." Sylvie interrupted. "This is just me being selfish. It—"
"Listen." But Adam also interrupted her. "I knew."
Sylvie once again stared at him, her eyes wide. But after a moment, she just let out a tiny breath and also focused on the picture in front of her.
"Was it… really that obvious?" she asked.
"Well, I didn't know you loved me from the start. Sounds impossible." Adam shook his head. "And it was Clementine who told me. And a lot of other people told me—but I don't know about you having feelings for me since the day we met. That was… a very bad place for me, and a lot of people in general."
"The Game."
"Yes." Adam nodded. "I was so lost back then. I'm lost now. But I was just… a very different person back then."
"You have always been Adam," Sylvie said, a hint of a smile creeping on her face. "You were a man ready to risk everything for people he'd just met."
"A story of a million people. The only difference is that I was privileged enough to survive because of the abilities I had even… before."
"You were a tortured boy, driven out into the shadows. You didn't have to fight, you owed nothing to the world…" Sylvie backed away from the wall. "...And yet you fought for it when the time came. You stood in front of me, Adam—someone who was by then, leaps and bounds from you in strength. Tell me…
…who wouldn't fall for you, then?"
Adam stared at the wall for a bit more, then lightly pushed himself off, trying his best not to spin in the air again. And surprisingly enough, he was able to at least balance himself a little.
"To be fair, I looked like a seventeen-year-old. And…" Adam looked at his hands, which had not developed even another fold or wrinkle in the past thirty years. "...I'm stuck in the body of one. Who would really—"
Adam felt Sylvie's lips touch his, and his entire body went stiff in the air just like that. Fortunately for him, he didn't swing like a pendulum when their lips met.
Sylvie held his cheeks, and he wrapped his arm around her waist so that the two of them wouldn't be separated by gravity. They stayed like that for a moment, exchanging the heat of their lips.
But it was also Sylvie who pulled away, her face incredibly flushed. She stared into Adam's green eyes, then looked away, then looked again.
"Sylvie. I—"
"You don't need to say anything." Sylvie once again interrupted Adam, repeating her words. "You don't need to answer me, nor should you feel obligated to. This is… just me being selfish."
She smiled, lightly touching her lips.
"As I said, we're old, and I don't want to waste any more time. Whether you have feelings for me, whether you like me, whether you love me—it doesn't matter to me. We're old, Adam. I'm satisfied with loving you… You don't have to love me back."
Adam was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say in response to Sylvie's bluntness. And so, he didn't say anything. He just floated there, deep in thought and not at the same time.
"It was also me who asked Beatrice to put us in the same room," she revealed, floating toward the door. "If there was any chance of me dying in this mission, I wanted to spend my last moments with you."
"No one is going to die."
"A lot of people will die," Sylvie said, smiling at him. "This is a suicide mission. Everyone who is here right now knows that—the others were wrong, Adam. The S-tier Heroes that are here aren't here because their abilities made them suitable for the battle. We were asked, Adam."
"What…?" Adam squinted.
"Beatrice, our countries—we were told what would happen even before the briefing. That the planet is in trouble, and that if we go to the meeting, that means we've accepted the mission, and there will be a chance that we won't be coming back," she revealed.
"Everyone in this ship is resolved to die."
Adam stared at her for a moment, then sighed heavily and closed his eyes, slightly making himself float a little higher.
"It makes a lot of sense, honestly," he then said, shrugging. "Beatrice can be a little… extreme. I just forget sometimes because she's my friend."
"That, she can." Sylvie nodded, then pressed her palm on the door to open it. "Should we go check the bridge?"
Sylvie was about to float out, but realized Adam wasn't moving at all.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Should we… stay here for a while?"
"H-here…?" Sylvie immediately moved away from the door. "What… are we going to—"
Alas, before anything could happen, a loud boom erupted from the outside. The two looked at each other, then Adam immediately pushed himself forward—moving toward the ceiling first, but then pushing himself again to go forward.
Sylvie followed behind him, floating into a straight line.
Most of the S-tiers who were in their room also floated out, some of them spinning clumsily in the air like Adam. They all checked what was making the noise, which seemed to be coming from the gym.
And as soon as Adam and Sylvie entered, Carmen slammed right behind the door, bleeding from her mouth.
"Carmen?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "What—"
Before he could say another word, Carmen just smirked at him before shooting back into the center of the gym, straight toward two people who were fighting in the air.
Carmen landed on one of the square metal pillars, causing the entire ship to shake.
Adam was about to stop what was happening when he realized there were other people in the gym, casually watching from the side with towels on their shoulders.
"Are they… training?" he muttered.
The other S-tier Heroes behind them came pouring in, all curious as to what was going on. It didn't take a minute, however, before someone suddenly flew toward the fight and joined in.
"What the fuck?!" Carmen cursed as someone dropkicked her from behind. "Why are you all targeting me?!"
Carmen looked around, then immediately spotted Sylvie.
"You!" She pointed at her. "Suck Adam's dick later and come help me!"
"W-what?!" Sylvie's eyes widened, turning her head to the other Heroes there to see if they heard what she said. They heard it, of course, but none of them seemed to care at all—most of them were just cheering and trying to watch the fight.
"No." She refused. "I do not know if the ship can survive all of us fighting."
"Bullshit. That's what it's made for." Carmen placed her hand on her waist, floating aimlessly in the air before smirking at Sylvie. "What. Scared?"
"I don't fall for that." Sylvie sighed. "I do not need to train my movement. It would be best reserved for those who need it."
"Huh…" Carmen raised an eyebrow, then her stare soon landed on Adam. "What about you, midget?"
And as soon as she said that, those who were throwing themselves around and hitting each other all stopped. Instantly. Even those who were ready to take off their towels and join in did their best to stop themselves from floating further, some even grabbing onto their colleagues in desperation.
These were all S-tier Heroes—and so far, Adam had been making them look… less.
Adam blinked, then looked at himself hovering inches above the floor, moments away from losing balance.
"Sure." Adam shrugged, letting out a deep breath upward to push himself down. "I'll join."
"That's the fucking spirit!" Carmen started cracking her knuckles. "You might think yourself stronger than all of us…"
"I don't think—"
"...But this is my fucking world!"
Carmen disappeared, appearing right in front of Adam with her heel already right behind his temple. Adam turned his eyes, but didn't dodge or do anything at all, and just let the foot hit him.
He flew away, his body violently rolling across the walls before bouncing off, and he spun several times in the air.
He seemed to be trying to recover himself, but ended up just trying to grab the empty air.
"Just like old times, eh?!" Carmen appeared right behind him, grabbing him by the neck and pants. "You're helpless in the air, you ins—Oh. This was the wrong idea."
Carmen held her breath when Adam suddenly grabbed onto her wrist. Still, the smile on her face just widened further, and the wings behind her back grew more violent.
"Come on, then… show me what you—"
Before she could finish, Adam threw her straight toward one of the pillars, while he was also thrown toward the ceiling.
"Heh…" Carmen managed to land on her feet, however, and quickly looked back up. She was about to fly toward Adam… when he saw Adam shooting toward her. "What the fuck?!"
She quickly moved to the side, but Adam managed to grab a part of her wings that was solid.
"Tch—" she quickly removed them, then leaped away before her wings re-emerged.
"What the fuck are you guys doing just watching?!" she then screamed, looking at the other S-tier Heroes. "If you're not going to fucking help me fuck this midget… then at least fucking join in on the fight and make it more fun! Come on! Ha… Hahaha!"
Carmen's face started to twist, and without any warning, she flew toward one of the S-tier Heroes. The woman managed to block her attack, but unfortunately for her, Carmen wasn't trying to attack her… but throw her toward Adam.
The woman panicked at first, but as soon as she saw Adam clumsily moving in the air… a smirk also crept onto her face.
Her eyes turned red, and a laser soon shot out from them, which hit Adam straight on the chest. He flew back, once again slamming into the wall while being bombarded by the blast.
"Fuck yeah!" Carmen cheered. "Fuck him—"
Carmen's cheers and the woman's smile didn't last long, however…
…when they saw Adam just blocking the blast with his palm, like it was just sunlight getting onto his face.
"Fuck…" Carmen muttered.
"...When the fuck did you become this strong?"