It’s Not Easy Making Money In The Apocalypse

“Daniel, what are you doing?” Gabriella asked.

Gabriella didn’t scream at all. She put a hand in front of her breasts, water dripping down her naked body, some of it forming a pool in her cleavage, and looked at me with confusion. However, how could someone be calm in a situation like this?

“S-sorry! N-nothing! My mistake!” I ran out of the room.

“Master? Where are you?”

A door across from the bathroom opened up, and confused Kiera poked her head out, looking around until she saw me. When her eyes landed on me, she let out a smile.

“Kiera?”

“Look!” She opened the door the rest of the way, and then put out her arms and spun around.

Seeing her, I had to admit that I was stunned. In my world, Kiera had warned mostly rags, and even after being saved from the bandits, it wasn’t like we had found outfits that were that much better for her. Basic hygiene was difficult in that world. Never mind regular showers or brushing teeth, you were considered strange if you weren’t partially irradiated. However, since she had come to this world, Kiera had cleaned up significantly.

Her hair had been done up, and at some point, she had been taught to wear makeup. She had gained a bit of weight, her once too skinny body having some flesh on it now. Her nails were done, both her fingers and her toes. I could tell this because she was wearing sandals that showed off her feet. She wore a summer dress that rose just a bit when she spun. Before, Kiera had been mildly cute, but not much compared to Katarina. After being cleaned up though, I’d say she was every bit as beautiful as the other woman.

At that moment, I was struck with a realization. She had said she was waiting and she wanted me to see. She was saying she wanted me to see her dressed up and looking nice. I was once again making more out of it than I realized. As for her asking me to come right in, she came from a wasteland where locks and doors were rarely a thing. She probably didn’t even consider privacy at all. While I was having such a realization, I heard the shower turning off behind me, and I couldn’t help but jump a little.

“Is Master okay?” Kiera asked, and then her lip quivered slightly. “Is this no good?”

“N-no!” I squeaked out before clearing my voice and speaking a bit lower. “You look very good. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She beamed.

She did seem to bring sunshine when she did. Compared to the slave woman who was being used by raiders that I had met back then, she was unrecognizable. It only hurt my heart when I thought about all of the trauma she had to go through. It was a major reason that I hadn’t seriously considered bringing her back to that world, even if she could be useful to me.

“Um… how have things been. We haven’t talked very much since… I mean, you…” I wasn’t sure how to talk about it.

“Master’s colony is something. When he took me here, I was really surprised at how big it was. How do they make the sun and the sky?” She asked.

“Make… the sun…”

Before I could address the issues with her statements, the door behind me opened, and I felt a tingle shoot up my spine. Was the naked Gabriella standing behind me? I gulped but still turned around. Gabriella was standing there. She wasn’t naked, as she had a towel wrapped around her body, and a second around her hair. She was standing there with her eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips, a strangely amused look on her face.

“Daniel, you shouldn’t try to peak on girls in the bath.” Gabriella declared. “I know you’re getting older, and you’re probably curious about these things. You brought home this girl, and we interrupted you before you could explore, but just because you’re curious, there is a proper time and place for that kind of thing.”

“Gabriella…”

“Don’t Gabriella me.” She raised her hand with a finger pointing at me. “It’s good that you went to me on this. I feared you’d go to your mom, or worse, Hazel. That would be a disaster. I think both of them would show you everything and ask you if you wanted more.”

“What? Gross. That’s my family!” I cried out.

“Exactly!” Gabriella grabbed my shoulders, her eyes flashing with excitement. “They are your family. I may be your auntie, but we’re not related. Showing an interest in a mature woman like me is healthy…”

“Auntie… you’re hurting my arms…”

“So, next time you’re curious, just ask auntie before anyone else…”

“I walked in because I thought you were Kiera!” I shouted.

I couldn’t take Gabriella’s cat-like smile any longer. She seemed to be far too pleased that it was her that I looked in on. After shouting like that, Gabriella had a stunned look. After a few moments, her happy expression darkened slightly, and I felt her nails digging into my arms.

“I see… so that’s how it is.”

Was it better to tell the truth or have kept lying? I didn’t know at that point. I was too scared to even think about it.

“It was just an accident, I swear.” I tried to make it an accident.

Gabriella gave a short nod. “Very well, I understand. Excuse me.”

She let go of my arms, turned, and then walked stiffly to her room. The door closed with a bit of a thud, and I heard the click of a lock a moment later. That was extremely awkward. At least it was over with quickly. I turned back to Kiera to talk to her more about what she was thinking when it came to this world. As soon as I turned my head, any words I was going to say were caught in my throat.

Kiera had retreated behind the door to her room. She was peaking through a crack in the door. Her original smile of happiness had been replaced with an unreadable expression, looking just as dark as Gabriella. That’s when I realized that when I had announced I had snuck in to peek on Kiera, Kiera had hurt it as well.

“I-it’s a misunderstanding.” I tried to defend myself.

“P-pervert.” She spoke in a whisper, and then the door closed.

Her words cut through me like a dagger. It was really painful. At the very least, I had checked on her and she was doing okay. Gabriella did come back out once she changed, and she ended up giving me a ride. My last stop was naturally my mom’s place. I had to check on them one last time before I headed back to the apocalyptic world. Otherwise, I would worry about them the entire time.

Gabriella filled me in on everything regarding Kiera in between lecturing me about hormones and various other embarrassing things I didn’t want to remember. Kiera seemed to have the belief she wasn’t in another world but some kind of oversized colony. She’s also mentioned being in a simulation. Gabriella said that she was weird, and it was related to some kind of trauma. In short, it seemed like Gabriella didn’t believe anything Kiera said, and Kiera didn’t believe anything she was seeing. They were both interpreting things at their convenience, and it somehow worked. I was fine leaving things like that for now.

The car trip that lasted far too long finally came to an end and after sending Gabriella off with a process that I would be better, I headed up to the familiar apartment. I still had a key, so I let myself in.

“Hazel? Mom?”

“Brother!” Hazel ran out with an excited expression on her face, but then stopped, and spun around, putting her arms across her chest. “No! I’m angry at you.”

“Huh?”

“Brother is just taking off! You’re leaving me and mom. I hear mom crying every night. So, I’m not talking to you.”

“Sis…”

“No! Nothing you say will change it. You’re leaving us. You’re a big leaver mean person!”

I let out a sigh, rubbing my forehead. “I’m doing all of this for the pair of you. I’m trying to help. I working on becoming a man.”

Hazel partially turned her head, her resolve seeming to crack, but then she swished her hair at me. “Hmph!”

Even if she was mad at me, at least she was still healthy and safe. That was all that mattered to me. Hazel was very important to me. Ah! It was because she was family. That’s why. Those weird things Gabriella said…

“Hey, Hazel? What would you say if I said that I’m growing curious about women’s bodies?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Slam! The door to her room shut. Yeah, that was about what I would have expected. I went into my room to grab a few things, and I was just thinking I’d leave a letter for mom when the door opened back up and Hazel stepped back out. When I looked up, I jumped back. It was because Hazel was not wearing anything but a bathrobe on her. The front was hanging open enough that I could tell she didn’t have underwear on.

“B-brother… are you ready to learn?” She responded, her red cheeks puffed, her eyes looking away, and her hand on the pull string that hide her body behind her robe.

Maybe, Gabriella was right… this one time.