Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1793: Meeting his other friend: Part-2

“GYAAAH!!”

With one smooth motion, he twisted Allen’s arm behind his back.

“OW! OW! OW! GHOSTS KNOW JIU-JITSU NOW?!”

Young Aether gave him a firm kick on the rear.

THUD!

Allen stumbled forward with a yelp.

“Asshole,” Young Aether said while holding him firmly in place.

“It’s me. Aether.”

He leaned closer.

“If I were a ghost… how the hell would I be touching you?”

He gave Allen another small shove for emphasis.

“And I even have fucking legs!”

Allen blinked.

His brain slowly began connecting the dots.

“…Huh.”

He looked down.

There were indeed… Legs.

Two of them, in fact!

“…Yeah… those are definitely legs.”

Young Aether sighed.

“So… you’re not a ghost?”

“Well, duh!”

Allen rubbed his chin thoughtfully despite still having his arm pinned.

“Hmm…”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Still… how do I know you’re really my friend? Aether died a long time ago.”

His gaze travelled across Young Aether’s youthful face.

“And you look waaaayyyy younger than the last time I saw him. This world has disguises, clones… all kinds of weird crap.”

Young Aether slowly nodded. “…Fair.”

Honestly…

That was probably the first intelligent thing Allen had said since opening the door.

If someone had impersonated him to deceive his friends, suspicion would’ve been completely justified.

Young Aether thought for a moment before a wicked grin spread across his face.

“Oh… I know.”

Allen suddenly felt an ominous chill crawl down his spine.

“When we were in high school, you tried hitting on that senior girl.”

Allen’s eyes widened.

“You walked up to her all confidently… and because you were so nervous, instead of saying, ‘I love your smile,’ you stuttered…”

He dramatically pointed at Allen.

“‘I-I-I LOVE YOUR T-T-TITS!ʼ”

“…”

Lily blinked.

Allen froze.

“…Then her friend punched you so hard you skipped two stairs.”

Allen’s soul visibly left his body.

Only one person… Only one single person in the entire universe knew about that incident was…

“…Aether…”

Young Aether wasn’t finished.

“And remember when you secretly brought a girl home while your parents were away?”

Allen’s face instantly turned pale.

‘OH SHIT.’

His eyes slowly drifted toward Lily.

“No, no, no…”

“You proudly showed her your ‘legendary’ hentai collection…”

“N-No!”

“…only for her older brother to walk in…”

Allen violently shook his head.

“STOP!”

“…grab one of those hentai books…”

Allen’s eyes filled with despair.

“…and beat the living hell out of you with it.”

Lily’s mouth slowly fell open.

She turned toward her father.

“…Dad?”

Allen wanted the floor to open and swallow him whole.

Young Aether smiled even wider.

“Oh, and let’s not forget the best one.”

Allen’s pupils shrank.

“No…”

“You accidentally saved your pirated porn videos inside your seminar presentation folder…”

Allen’s breathing stopped.

“…and projected them in front of the entire school while trying to explain your research.”

“…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Allen’s scream echoed throughout the entire apartment.

Lily stared silently at her father.

Then at Young Aether.

Then back at her father.

“…Dad…”

“…I can explain.”

“…Can you?”

Allen lowered his head.

“…No.”

Young Aether burst into laughter.

“Still think I’m a ghost?”

Allen looked utterly defeated.

“…Only Aether knew enough to ruin my life this thoroughly. MY FRIEND, AETHER!!!”

Allen launched himself forward and wrapped Young Aether in a crushing bear hug.

He was sweating so profusely it looked as though someone had dumped a bucket of water over his head.

His childhood.

His nightmares.

His embarrassing secrets.

They had all returned… in the form of this one person.

“I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!”

He shouted with every ounce of emotion his lungs could produce, practically squeezing the life out of Young Aether.

“…You’re… crushing my ribs…”

“I DON’T CARE!! YOU’RE ALIVE!!”

While loudly crying tears of joy, Allen secretly glanced toward his daughter.

Lily was staring at him with the most judgmental expression imaginable.

It was the kind of look that silently asked: “…This is the man who raised me?”

Allen immediately looked away.

Young Aether couldn’t help but smile.

His friend had finally believed him.

Thank goodness…

He hadn’t changed.

Not where it truly mattered.

RIN, however, had an entirely different opinion.

^So… none of your friends had even a single normal personality.^

Young Aether’s lips twitched…She wasn’t exactly wrong.

But that wasn’t the point.

This… This was simply how they were.

It wasn’t that they only had terrible personalities.

It was just that whenever old friends reunited after years apart, all dignity mysteriously vanished. Instead of acting like mature adults, they instinctively chose violence, insults, blackmail, and public humiliation as their preferred language of affection.

…Some friendships simply worked that way.

Still…

None of them were saints.

Jonathan looked responsible now, but back then he was an absolute coward whenever things got serious. Yet somehow, he also had an unbelievable talent for creating disasters out of perfectly peaceful situations before dragging everyone else into them.

Allen… Oh, Allen was simply a pain in the ass.

A shameless otaku.

A professional idiot.

A hopeless pervert who never took anything seriously unless his life was literally on the line.

And then…

There was Aether.

Believe it or not… He had actually been the normal one!!

RIN remained completely silent.

Clearly… She didn’t believe a single word of that.

Young Aether mentally coughed.

Well… At least at the beginning.

Before these two idiots barged into his life and changed his way of thinking and living!

Believe him!!

He wasn’t into anime.

He wasn’t into hentai.

He wasn’t obsessed with girls.

He didn’t enjoy getting into trouble.

He didn’t go looking for fights.

He only fought when someone weaker was being bullied…

Or when there simply wasn’t any other choice.

That was the kind of person he used to be.

Then Jonathan and Allen happened.

Like two walking natural disasters, they had somehow attached themselves to him and slowly infected his peaceful lifestyle until one day he realised…

He was arguing over anime rankings.

Reading manga!

Getting dragged into ridiculous situations every other week!!

And somehow becoming the responsible one in the group.

Looking back… He couldn’t even pinpoint when it had happened.

But…

He didn’t regret it.

Not even a little!

Because before meeting those two idiots…

He had survived life.

After meeting them… he had actually started living.

He had laughed.

He had smiled.

Genuinely!

Not the kind that came with defectiveness!

Perhaps for the very first time… he saw there was more than his mother’s love.

RIN’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

^What do humans call a group of people with the same interests again…?^

She paused for dramatic effect.

^Three degenerates…?^

Another pause.

^Or perhaps… an endangered species of degenerates?^

‘This bitch…’

Young Aether’s lips twitched so violently that even Allen noticed.

“…Why are you making that face?”

“…Nothing.”

He let out a quiet sigh before gently pushing Allen back by the shoulders.

Looking at the familiar idiot standing before him…

A warm smile naturally appeared on his face.

“Hello, Allen.”

His voice was soft.

“It’s nice to meet you again.”

He reached forward and gently patted Allen’s cheek.

Allen froze.

For a brief moment… neither of them spoke.

Fourteen years.

An entire lifetime apart!

Yet somehow… It felt like they had only met yesterday.

Allen’s eyes slowly became watery again.

“…Damn it…”

“You’re really back…”

[+1000 AP]

[+1000 AP]

Allen’s eyes gradually became teary before a genuine smile spread across his face.

“Yeah…”

He reached out and gently placed a hand on Young Aether’s shoulder, almost afraid that the moment he touched him, the figure before him would disappear like a dream.

“It’s nice to meet you again, Aether…”

His fingers tightened slightly.

“…After a very, very long time… my friend.”

For a few quiet seconds, he simply stood there, silently confirming to himself that this wasn’t an illusion created by grief or nostalgia.

He was warm.

He was solid.

He was real!!

Allen let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding.

Then, remembering his manners, he turned toward the children behind him.

“She is my daughter… Lily.”

The young girl, who looked around twelve or thirteen years old, politely smiled before giving Young Aether a small nod.

She looked exactly like a normal girl her age should.

Normal height.

Normal expression.

Normal proportions.

Unlike Sasha…

Young Aether unconsciously shivered.

Some trauma simply refused to die.

“And…”

Allen pointed toward the corner of the hallway.

“…he’s Noah.”

A small boy cautiously peeked out from behind the wall, revealing only half of his face. His curious little eyes carefully observed the unfamiliar visitor while hiding almost his entire body behind the corner.

“My son.”

Allen smiled gently.

“Come here, Noah.”

He waved his hand encouragingly.

“Come meet your Uncle Aether.”

Noah looked at his father.

Then at Young Aether.

Young Aether smiled as warmly as he could.

The little boy immediately flinched.

“…!”

Then…

He turned around and sprinted back into his room with tiny footsteps echoing through the hallway.

Thump!

The bedroom door quietly closed.

“…”

Allen scratched the back of his head with an awkward laugh.

“Haha… h-he’s just a child, you know.”

His smile carried a hint of embarrassment, worried that his old friend might misunderstand or feel hurt.

Young Aether simply chuckled.

“Of course. He’s just a kid.”

He looked toward the closed bedroom door with understanding rather than disappointment.

“I know exactly how that feels.”

“When you’re little, every stranger feels like someone from another world.”

A nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

“We were the same once… weren’t we?”

Allen paused.

Then laughed softly.

“…Yeah. We probably would’ve run away too.”

The two shared a knowing smile.

Some memories never needed explaining.

Allen stepped aside and gestured toward the living room.

“Come on in.”

Young Aether nodded before stepping inside.

The house felt warm.

Family photographs decorated the walls, children’s drawings hung from the walls, and the faint aroma of freshly cooked food still lingered in the air.

Just as Allen was about to close the door, he suddenly stopped.

“…Wait.”

He slowly turned back.

“How did you even know I was here?”

Young Aether’s lips curled into a knowing smirk.

“The closet writer brought me here.”

Allen froze.

“…Him?”

His eyes widened in surprise.

For a brief moment, a complicated expression crossed his face before his brows slowly furrowed.

“…That idiot…”

He sighed quietly, shaking his head with a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

“Somehow… I’m not even surprised anymore.”

Without saying another word, he gestured for Young Aether to continue inside before gently closing the door behind them.