Esper Harem in the Apocalypse-Chapter 1070: Couple Talk

"You don't remember anything?" Erika asked with a curious look on her face.

Rudy shook his head and muttered, "Nothing. The last thing I can recall is entering this room and… blank."

Erika stared at Rudy with a judging look on her face for a few seconds and sighed, "Forget it."

"No! I want to know what happened!" Rudy insisted.

"Why are you so hyper about it? It's not my problem that you don't remember what happened between us last night." Erika shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't blame your incompetence on me," she added immediately.

"What do you—" Rudy chuckled nervously. "Aren't you the one who is acting 'hyper' here? I simply asked what happened last night. If you don't want to say, it's fine. I won't be taking any responsibilities since it never happened for me. You are on your own."

"That's what someone who got drunk and r*ped someone would say. By that logic, it's my fault that I remember and you don't?" Erika asked curiously.

"You are the one who started it. How am I supposed to take accountability of something I don't remember? Does that make any sense?"

Erika let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, avoiding eye contact with Rudy.

"What?" Rudy asked.

Erika got off the bed and went to the bathroom without saying a word.

"What's with her?" Rudy wondered.

'I only asked for an explanation, so why is she reacting like this…? Unless… something actually happened… between us? Naturally, we are a couple and there are high chances that our relationship had already become intimate before I… time-traveled.'

"Well… she could be angry because I don't remember it? Elise used to act like this whenever I forgot something."

A few minutes later, Erika returned wearing her underwear from last night. She stood in front of the bed, facing Rudy and glaring at him. She folded her arms and, in an intimidating tone, she said, "Go and get changed. We will talk after that."

Rudy needed time to cool off, so he got off the bed and saw his clothes on the floor.

'Fuck me!'

He picked up his clothes and proceeded towards the bathroom.

"Wait." Erika called out to him and asked, "What will you eat for breakfast? I am ordering mine."

"Anything."

"...."

Erika ordered breakfast of her choice for herself and Rudy.

By the time Rudy returned, breakfast had arrived and Erika had set up a table for him.

"You took so long," she commented.

Without saying a word, Rudy sat on the chair and pulled the cup to his side. But before he could grab the kettle, Erika picked it up and served coffee to Rudy.

"Don't sulk now. Nothing happened between us," she stated.

"I am not sulk—" Rudy finally looked at Erika in shock and asked, "What?"

"Nothing happened between us. I went for a shower and when I returned, you were sleeping."

"But… I… I was naked. You were naked!"

"I didn't have spare clothes with me and I had placed my underwear to dry. And when I saw you sleeping, I was upset."

Erika paused as she rubbed the jam on her bread.

"We had met after three months and I was so excited to talk to you about the project I have been working on. There were many things I wanted to share with you. But you fell asleep! So I decided to pull a prank on you and stripped you naked.

I was hoping to get a reaction from you, but you… acted differently. Maybe I went too far with the prank…" she muttered and looked into Rudy's eyes before continuing, "I apologize if I hurt your feelings."

"..." Rudy did not know how to react. Should he be happy or sad? Either way, he accepted Erika's apology and asked her not to pull stunts like that again.

"I am also sorry for overreacting," Rudy apologized. "I was tired after last night and—"

"It's okay. Let's not drag this matter anymore and talk about what's important." Erika took a sip from the cup and placed it down, seemingly finding it too hot to drink.

"Okay."

"When did you enter the tower?"

"I didn't. I had these powers all along. I don't know, but somehow I was able to do whatever I want," Rudy answered honestly.

"How does that work?" Erika asked curiously.

"Basically, I need to somehow convince myself to make it possible. Like… I can fly and create fire out of nothing. I can also run super fast. I can also regenerate." Rudy explained the mechanism of his powers, although he himself wasn't aware of the trigger.

"Hmm~ That's interesting," Erika hummed in amusement. "Can you also read people's thoughts?"

"I can," Rudy nodded. "But I have no control over it. I haven't used that ability enough to master it."

Erika pondered for a few seconds and uttered, "Isn't that like a superhero movie?"

"Well, I would have thought the same if it wasn't for millions of other superheroes in this world. I am not special," Rudy shrugged nonchalantly.

"What do you mean? They all have risked their lives to gain powers. And you got them for free! How is that not unique?"

"Hey! Don't put it like that. It makes me look like a cheater."

"There must be a reason behind your powers. We will have to look into the matter." Erika nodded to herself.

"Now it's my turn." Rudy pulled his chair closer. "Why were you in the forest?"

"Oh! Shit! I forgot about it!" Erika suddenly shouted. "Eric! Was he with you?"

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

"So I had messed with Eric's hero device and installed some of my mods in it that let him hack into systems and stuff. I added his health status in my window so I can know about his status— his location, his health and other things.

I was busy with my research, and I suddenly got a ping about Eric's status. He was almost dead! I tried contacting him, but it didn't work. I called mom, but she didn't pick up either. So I had no choice but to use the prototype suit of my guild leader and came here as fast as I could."

"Oh… I see…" Rudy sighed nervously and said, "Yes. We were attacked, and the car rolled down the cliff. He could have died, but I saved him."

"Where is he?!" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry. He is safe. I dropped him at his house. Although he…" Rudy shrugged. "I don't know. He might not remember what happened."

"That's fine. I will take care of it."

"Also… umm… don't tell anyone about my… you know… powers…"

"Obviously! You are a rare specimen. If a word got out that someone got superpowers without entering the tower, you will become a test subject for all those hungry bastards who want to make money from tragedy."

Erika placed her hands on Rudy's shoulder, seemingly to comfort him. She smiled at him confidently and asserted, "You are under the protection of the world's strongest being. I will not let anyone harm you."

Although Rudy didn't need anyone's protection, seeing someone swearing to protect him made him feel a bit emotional.

'Test subject… huh? Why am I suddenly remembering that painful supergene experiment? Does it have something to do with the apocalypse, too?' Rudy wondered.