Humming a song as she entered the house, Light and Ace both turned to look at Aida's blood soaked clothes. Visually inspecting her state, Light quickly evaluated that she was unharmed and went back to cooking. Ace, on the other hand, excitedly exclaimed how cool she looked.
Rolling her eyes, Aida proceeded upstairs to take a shower and get changed.
Aida actually didn't mind wearing bloodied clothes, but she felt it was not fitting for the innocent twins to wake up seeing her covered in blood. While she looked cold and indifferent on the outside, she actually had a major soft spot for children because they reminded her of Xiao Ai.
The room she had a full walk in closet. She discarded her bloodied clothes and chose a comfortable sweater and a pair of leggings to wear. After her shower, she went back downstairs to grab some food from Light and discuss a shift schedule for the evening. There was a tacit understanding amongst the group of 3 that nobody would ask Aida where she'd been.
While they were in a relatively safer location, it was still better to be prudent in case any Reaper decided to visit or if they were somehow able to sense the gems through the jar. Filled with energy because of the nap they had just woken up from, Ace and Light volunteered to take both the night shifts.
Aida quickly ate her food and went back to her room to sleep. She chose not to tell her companions about the gems that she discovered today as she still wasn't entirely clear on what they could be used for, and she still did not entirely trust any of them.
In the Master bedroom, Xiao Ai was still sleeping in the same position that Aida had left her. Aida played around with the 9 gems in the jar, resisting the temptation to take them out for testing. After reviewing and cataloguing all the information she discovered today, she patted Xiao Ai and quickly went to sleep as well.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, Aida woke up happily. This was her first proper sleep on a proper bed since the apocalypse broke out. She had such a series of unfortunate events that led to her falling into a constant state of unconsciousness. First it was the infection, then it was anesthesia. It was honestly quite embarrassing, especially considering how could have easily avoided both situations by just being a little less arrogant and overconfident in her own abilities.
Shaking her head of those thoughts, she headed downstairs to grab some food. Xiao Ai was still sleeping soundly.
Light was already awake and making breakfast. He seemed to be the perfect house-husband. Ace was sitting on the couch in the living room, typing away on his laptop.
The twins had also woken up and were attentively watching Light cook. They hadn't eaten for an entire day and were starving. Saliva was dripping down the edges of their mouth as they smelled the food.
Aida came down at just the right time. Light turned to the twins and told them to set the table. Running around, the twins quickly set the table with plates, utensils and napkins. Then they helped Light bring out the food. He had cooked an extravagant breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and pancakes.
Aida's eyes lit up, glad yet again that she chose to save Light. She controlled her expression as she walked towards the table and sat down.
Seeing the food, Ace's eyes lit up as well. He ran to the table and began scooping food onto his plate. Seeing this, Rin also followed suit and competed against Ace to grab food.
Shaking their heads, Light tapped Rin's head as a reminder while Aida smacked Ace's head to get him to stop. After everyone settled in, Light, Rin and Yukio said, "Itadakimasu!" and they all began eating.
Since Aida and Light had food yesterday as well, they were able to eat with elegance. Yukio also ate with restraint, though one could tell he was extremely hungry. In contrast, Rin and Ace ate like dogs, as though they had been starved for weeks.
All in all, it was a very heartwarming and cheerful environment. Everyone seemed to be at peace and they felt like a happy family. Seeing just this scene, it would've been easy for one to forget that there was an apocalypse right on the other side of the door.
Light accurately assessed the amount each person would eat, so not even Ace and Rin had the opportunity to fight for food.
After they finished eating, there was a tacit understanding to sit for a moment and soak in the relaxing atmosphere.
After a while, Aida finally spoke, breaking the mood. "Let's plan to pack up and leave now while it's light out."
Nodding in agreement, everyone went off to begin prepping. Interestingly, Light enlisted Rin and Yukio to help clean up and wash the dishes before heading to the minivan. He wanted to keep the place well maintained for when they returned. Light really enjoyed the feeling of having a "family" and the comfort of this peace and quiet without mutual plotting of each other's destruction.
Meanwhile, both Ace and Aida went back onto their laptops. They had nothing to pack. Pulling out her laptop, Aida quickly skimmed the news and saw there was no new information. After she covered all the new sources for more information or potential sightings of that man, she closed her laptop and got ready to bring Xiao Ai down.
As she closed her laptop, she saw two pairs of big, wide eyes watching her. It was the twins who had been silently watching her this whole time. Rin was watching her with a wide smile while Yukio was timidly peeking out from behind Rin.