SG Vol. 1 pt. 32

Even with Naomi here… it’s hard to relax.

We were attacked and people died. I’m used to this, and I know that everybody else—even children now—expect this sort of thing to happen, but it still feels like people aren’t mourning as much as they should be.

Then again, I’m the asshole who yells at pilots to get over it when they personally hear somebody melting alive.

I wonder how Hog 3 is. He was probably fighting during that battle.

“Papa! How long until you can come home?” Naomi asks.

“Probably another day or two,” I answer while rubbing the top of her head with my arm that she’s resting against.

“Does it hurt?” Kate asks, looking me over.

“Like a bi—yeah, it does.”

“And who’s this audience?” she asks, looking over at Shitger and everybody else.

“They’re my cadets.”

“Cadets?” Naomi asks.

“They’re like my students.”

“Oh! They’re the kids you teach?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Oh! Hi! How old are you umm, you cadets?” Naomi asks, not knowing where to look, so she just keeps looking ahead. Though, she turns her head to look in the direction of the first person to answer.

She gets varied answers between sixteen and nineteen.

“Why are you all so old? Aren’t you too old to be my papa’s students?” Naomi asks.

“Angel, I teach old kids, not young princesses like you,” I explain.

“Oh. Okay.”

It’s getting awkward now. After hearing their ages, Kate keeps on glaring at the girls. Filly has already left, and Breeder and Worm look like they’re about to, too.

“So, you’re surrounded by a bunch of young girls all day?” Kate asks me.

Yeah, Kate. Get fucking jealous over me having students that I don’t touch while you’ve cheated on me multiple times. Fuck. Every time she does something which makes me appreciate her just a tiny bit, she has to ruin it.

“Oh!” Naomi says right as I open my mouth. Good save, princess. “What’s papa like in class?”

I glare at the cadets.

None of them will make eye contact with me.

“He’s – he’s great,” Shitger answers.

“Very serious,” Muscles chimes in.

“Ki-kind of intimidating, sometimes?” Worm says.

“He certainly knows what he is teaching,” Valkyrie says.

“He makes us read a lot,” Breeder speaks up for once. I guess her and Worm have a soft spot for when it’s a little girl trying to get them to talk.

“He is like an erupting volcano of knowledge and fear that destroys all in its path,” Samurai says.

…

We all look at Samurai. Even Kate is looking at Samurai with a confused expression.

“Ehehe! That sounds like papa,” Naomi says. “I like you! What’s your name?”

Samurai says, “Yi—"

“Her name is Samurai,” I answer. I know I just came off as unnecessarily rude, even by my standards, but… Naomi doesn’t realize how innocently racist it is to laugh like crazy at any Asian name. No matter how many times I tell her not to, she does. There’s just something about those names which is hilarious to her. She’ll cry to the point of tears and then cry and apologize because she knows she’s not supposed to laugh but can’t resist.

I think she got that from me. There was all sorts of shit I found stupidly funny for no reason when I was younger.

Either way, I don’t need people thinking I’m trying to raise a racist daughter who laughs at every Asian name.

“That’s a really cool name! Samurai! Hey, Samurai, wanna be one of my cooks when I open a restaurant on the moon?” Naomi asks.

“O-on the moon?” Samurai asks with the most confused expression that I’ve ever seen from her. It’s usually her confusing everybody else.

“Yeah! Papa said that I can open a restaurant on the moon someday!”

Samurai looks at me.

“She can do whatever she wants,” I explain.

“Didn’t know you were the type to spoil, sir,” Shitger butts into the conversation when literally not a single person alive would want him to.

“I—”

“Yep! Papa spoils me all the time! Ehehe, I’m super spoiled!” Naomi declares.

“You’re not supposed to admit it,” I tell her.

“But it’s true! Papa, you know lying isn’t nice!”

Worm and Breeder catch my attention. They’re holding hands and whispering to each other while watching and listening to Naomi.

“You have a very well-behaved daughter, sir,” Valkyrie says.

“Yeah,” I reply. “She’s—”

“Thank you,” Kate says. “I’m the one who raised her.”

Damn it, Kate. Now shit is even more awkward.

Naomi is cuddling closer against my side now and hanging her head low.

Well, now my cadets know how fucking dysfunctional my marriage is.

And this could be bad.

Most women would back off or just shrug and let Kate be the crazy bitch that she is without saying anything about it, but Valkyrie doesn’t look like she’s willing to back off.

“Valkyrie,” I say, grabbing her attention. I subtly shake my head while Kate is distracted glaring at her.

Valkyrie smiles and backs off.

Then she looks up at Kate and says, “It is more than clear to everybody around who has left more of an impact on your daughter, and you should not take credit for anything that you haven’t earned. My father—”

Kate interrupts, trying to talk over Valkyrie to say, “Do you re—”

Valkyrie continues without any pause or hesitation, “My father was a great man who did not spend much time with me as he was busy with the war, but my mother was a worthless woman who stayed home all day doing nothing while claiming to do all of the work in raising me. I refuse to let anybody like her take credit away from a real parent.”

Well, now this entire side of the room is awkward and looking at Kate and Valkyrie.

Naomi has her hands over her ears and is practically trying to bury herself into my side.

Kate says, “You—”

“I’m going to need to ask the both of you to leave,” Clover says. “You are being disrespectful and distressing patients meant to be resting. If you wish to fight, do so away from those who are injured and resting.”

“Who asked you?” Kate asks, shooting her glare at Clover now.

Clover doesn’t hesitate to wave a couple of guards over.

“Fine. I’m going. Come on, Naomi,” Kate says, reaching out for Naomi.

Naomi stays cuddled against my side.

To try and get Naomi’s attention, she grabs onto one of her arms and yanks on it, and I grab Kate’s arm in return.

“Never pull on her again,” I order Kate.

Kate raises her free hand but gets interrupted by one of the guards asking, “Is there a problem?” before she can hit me.

“Tch, pussy,” Kate says, letting go of Naomi and then getting escorted out of the room alongside Valkyrie.

As soon as they’re both gone, Clover places a hand on her chest and sighs. “I hate situations like that,” she says.

“You’re not the only one. Thanks for breaking that up,” I say.

“It’s – it’s not a problem. Just doing my job!” Her smiling and blushing are pretty cute.

“Si-sir, you’re… you’re married to her?” Shitger asks.

“Don’t ask personal questions, Ginger,” I say. Can’t call him his real name around Naomi.

“It all makes sense now.”