Closure

The Chief of Minos is a workaholic. Her adjutant forced her to visit the clinic for her monthly check-up in the Minos Medical Department. Reluctantly, she took the health report from the doctor with a faint sigh. Again, she needed to exercise more, eat more healthy food, … and other familiar things she had heard from time to time.

Wednesday, 5th February, today is the deadline. Chief finally finished managing all the documents, plus, her sinners were more well-behaved this month after she put some restrictions and reduced the workload appropriately. Chief groaned softly as she remembered the only thing that she was going to deal with the next day – exercise. “A pain in the ass” Chief muttered, knowing that no one could ever hear it when she was alone in her office

Chief gulped the final drop from the coffee cup and glanced at the clock.

00:13 AM

Her belly grumbled, she had not eaten yet. So Chief stood up and walked quickly to the door. Because of the dispatch mission, Rahu would not be here guarding the door, which made her relief. Recently, Rahu has helped her with the training session,… and provided nutrition advice like a true trainer, a true teacher.

Chief grabbed the cup noodles in the kitchen area and then started to make a quick late dinner.

Included no-having midnight snacks, no drinks high in sugar, and no fried chicken or pizzas. Chief gritted her teeth unconsciously as she slightly remembered the gym rat she met at the pool party where she was working with sinners Macchiato and Kelvin to find Miss Carbenet months ago. She kept his gym discount ticket and forever remembered his offensive quote “You are skinny, hit the gym more”.

Chief sat by the fridge, on the floor, she felt like she was too tired and stood up now. Chief glanced mindlessly at the air, slurped the noodles, and opened the fridge again to grab the soda can.

How ironic how she thought she could escape it, but in reality…

“Chief?” A calm, collected voice spoke up in the middle of nowhere

Chief startled, accidentally dropped the soda can on the floor, as if it was being magnetic to the tall woman standing near her. It rolled silently to those feet until being picked up.

“Ra..Rahu!?” Chief immediately stood up from the cold floor, but it was too late. Rahu already saw her with the cup of noodles and the intention to drink that soda, this is the end. Chief gulped, she tried to play it cool. “Wow, weird. Usually, I could have found your presence through the shackles, I guess I was exhausted today haha… What are you doing here this late?”

Rahu did not seem to react at first, she just stared… a silent, awkward stare at the cup of the noodles.

“Look, Rahu” Chief shook her head, put the noodle cup on the counter immediately “I’m sorry, really sorry. I was starving, and it was tiring to make a nutritious balanced meal at this time.” Chief spoke a in measured, gentler tone as she hoped it could make Rahu sympathize better

“I could not sleep” Rahu stated bluntly as if she did not see Chief’s indulgence “And I am here for some water” Rahu casually took some water bottles with her before heading out “Goodnight Chief. Don’t stay up late”

Chief was surprised, Rahu was mad at her, wasn’t she? She grabbed Rahu’s arm slightly “Hey” but her hand was small compared to Rahu’s bicep, it could not grab the whole thing, so she grabbed onto Rahu’s sleep shirt. “I promise I would not do this again!”

“…” Rahu paused, after a few seconds, she finally looked at Chief, her silver eyes were hard to read under those bangs “What are you talking about Chief? You are the Chief, you can choose not to follow the instructions, this is your place, you make the rules here.” Her eyes were cold, which made Chief a little wary.

“And don’t make fragile promises, Chief, it is as fragile as your body strength.” Rahu spitted out a sarcastic line with her aloof demeanor.

Ah yes, now I can certify that: Rahu is mad at me.

Even if it was not obvious like Nightingale’s wrath or Hecate’s annoyance.

She is mad at me. Definitely, absolutely: 99.9999%.

Chief smiled awkwardly and tried to brighten up the situation “Rahu, I was starving, I promise just this once. It was a moment of vulnerability!” Chief spoke in a softer tone, a hint of playfulness in her voice.

“…” Rahu did not smile

“RAHU!” Chief gripped Rahu’s shirt tighter, almost like clinging “Please, give me a second chance!”

Rahu's eyes softened slightly with Chief's amusing plea, but the corners of her mouth barely twitched in a smirk. It was clear Rahu was attempting to be serious and maintain a stern expression, but the sight of Chief clinging to her with such desperation was having an unexpected effect on her

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slowly before she finally spoke

"Chief, you know very well that your health is important" Rahu scolded, her voice low with a hint of disappointment "It's not about being hungry, it's about making proper choices. I understood being disciplined can be hard sometimes, but this is risking your health”

“Is this against your master’s will?” Chief chuckled dryly, a hint of nonchalant teasing

“This is not about her.” Rahu’s voice became distant and cold. She clenched her jaw, trying to ignore the guilt she felt after snapping at Chief. She knew that Chief didn’t mean anything by it, it was her teasing and sarcastic nature. But the mention of Shalom was a reminder of the complicated web of loyalties and responsibilities they were both trapped in, and it made her irrationally angry. “You are the Chief of MBCC, you are supposed to take care of your health better than anyone else. You have a lot of responsibilities, don’t just throw yourself into overindulgence without self-control.”

“…” Chief paused, as if she was thinking about something then nodded* “My apologies if I have crossed the boundaries, but do not worry too much. I am well-informed that what I am eating is unhealthy, but it is an effective way not to consume more of my energy today. I just want to fill up my empty stomach as quickly as possible.”

Rahu calmed herself down as she breathed in. Chief silently admitted to herself that Rahu in sweatpants looked less intimidating than usual, so she tried hard not to smile to show that she was ‘sincerely in guilt and eager for improvement for having noodle cup and about to have soda in the middle of the night’. Finally, Rahu spoke up, her voice was calm and softened. “I will intensify your self-defense training routine. The more you make mistakes, the better you need to brace yourself.”

Chief blinked. The training session was tiring enough, now Rahu said she was about to intensify it because of the noodle cup and soda!? Chief blinked again.

“What?”

“I said: I will intensify your self-defense training routine.” Rahu spoke slower.

“Excuse me?” Chief unleashed Rahu’s arm “I thought it was tiring enough? Intense? Are you planning to kill your commander???”

Rahu blinked “No, of course not.” She seriously grabbed Chief’s shoulders “You are fear of death, Chief? You did not even think twice when you chose that noodle cup and soda. Pulling all-nighters, risking your health from time to time but now you are worrying that an intense training session might kill you?”

Chief was stunned, it was true. She could not argue, she kept open her mouth, about to say something to defend herself. But she was speechless; maybe her last neurons were used a moment ago for that never-ending paperwork before sending back to Nightingale.

After that night, even Chief acted as if she did not have anything lingering on her mind, she actually was nervous. She does not like exercise, let alone an intense one. Tomorrow, she will have a training session with S-048… Rahu’s image appeared in her mind at night, making her jump up in horror.

“Get up now, your enemy will not wait for you to stand up and continue to fight” Rahu’s voice echoed.

Oh, Chief prayed. If it was Cinnabar, life could have been easier, and gentler to her below-average strength. If it was Demon, life would not be that rough and he would take it slow on her, but with Rahu…

She gulped.

“Chief? Are you alright?” Nightingale shot her a worried look, Wynn did not notice at first, she was behind Nightingale with a stack of papers in her hands.

“I’m fine” Chief sighed “I guess I was a bit sleepy, I think I need to have some coffee.” She rubbed between her brows and laid her back lazily on the chair as she gazed at the two subordinates in front of her.

Wynn hummed a small sound then muttered something to Nightingale. Nightingale slowly replied “I’m afraid that will not be available in the present, Chief”

Chief’s eyes slightly widened in surprise, Nightingale did not wait for a response to provide an explanation.

“Due to your medical conditions, Dr. Iron believed it is best to keep an eye on your daily consumption and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Moreover, there has been a report about your bad indulgence at night, the medical department was not happy about it.”

Chief rolled her eyes slightly, then looked away. Of course, that someone must be Rahu. Nightingale was not pleased to see Chief’s attitude, she continued to ramble.

“Chief, this is a serious issue. We want nothing more than to see you in your best state of health!” Nightingale shook her head “Rahu will be in charge of your training sessions from now on. Others have reported that Cinnabar has let you sneaky on things multiple times! I consider Miss Rahu will happily cooperate, please understand that we only want the best for you, Chief.”

As the mention of sinner Rahu spoke up, Chief’s eye slightly twitched: Cinnabar will temporarily stop being the training partner. Chief took a deep breath, she tried to see the positive side of this situation.

Rahu must be on a dispatch mission by this time. She must be focused on getting things done without knowing her Chief was trying to find the positive side of being under her supervision after this. Chief looked at the watch, 5 pm, then looked at Nightingale and Wynn again, forced a calm smile and confirmed.

…

“Chief” Rahu’s voice spoke up in a calm, measured tone “Have you eaten yet?”

Chief looked up to the woman who tied her hair up in a low ponytail. Everything on her is neat, there is no wrinkle on her shirt, even the simplest detail. Chief looked at herself again: messy hair, slight dark circles, gulped a smoothie cup while waiting for the death (the training time starts at 8 AM)

“Yes, what about you?” Chief asked back casually.

“Yes, of course.” Rahu bluntly answered.

It was an awkward silence.