"Um, what are all these tools for, Aruji…?"

"Hmm… Can cats do manual labor?"

"What…"

"Nevermind that, I'm just doing some preps, but I want to start on the house immediately. Summer is basically my deadline."

"Can you talk with some sense, Aruji? Cat brain and human brain don't really work similarly."

"Let's see… I'm changing our house's flooring."

"…

I really just can't fathom how you all think…"

"Don't get culture shocked now.

I'm not really a carpenter or an architect but probably the worst thing in this place is the flooring for this floor. Yeah, it's kind of irrational that I'd like a similar look but I'd at least want to do a better job on this one.

Sometimes, your claws get caught on some places, right?"

"Yeah… they weren't here when I first lived here, and now I had to stay in this form several more times."

"It's something like the floor is aging and it is starting to chip off. It's rough to begin with, but now it's plain annoying."

"I think I get what you mean now."

"Well, I won't be able to start immediately since I'll have some processes to attend to, but let's put up the furniture shall we?"

"I better get to sleep after this…"

"You sure can~ This won't take long with me working with you."

So today's literally the start of March and I've saved up enough so that I won't go broke. Two weeks as a leave from work is no joke, and I just paid my internet bills today, so that's that.

So yes, it is finally time for me to replace my floor with my own hands. Am I nervous? Of course not. I'm just going to casually destroy a part of my house and speedrunning its replacement. It's going to be fiiiiine~

I initially didn't think that this would be a pain in the bum. It shouldn't be but this house is built with great quality after all. So I had to find the civil engineer of this house for consultation while also agreeing that whatever I am going to do with my house on this certain work is not going to be within the scope of his insurance, but I am still assured of the remaining years if ever a fault that is not on my floor occurs.

I also have to place orders on the hardware stores while keeping in mind the recommendation that the engineer had told me for the new flooring. The house is of decent size and I have never been so happy about that because I simply just don't know much about construction and I know that I will be blowing off my wallet.

Or will I…?

~ ~ ~

I just seem to forget that the professionals at doing construction RTA are just under my nose. I'm also sorry that a boomer that is myself is using internet slang.

Wasting no time, I immediately dove down underground for inquiries and potentially for procurement of materials. There is however an unwritten rule that I have established upon myself when relying on some things that come out of our base—in the same sense of "those who don't work, don't eat," I opt to make the things by myself instead of just nabbing something that has already been made.

Truly enough, Exiles don't really rely a whole lot on the surface's construction materials and so they make their own, especially as they were used for the renovation trickle of Blue Ink. I don't really know what these are called so please go easy on me, but it's some kind of… what is resin or epoxy… but I was told that it was a solution that I had to put on my floor to achieve the degree of luster that I want.

Thus, I have acquired my permits and materials. Even I worry at what disaster I will bring upon my house. But really, I have painstakingly painted mural on one of Void's walls which is many times bigger than the area I'm working on right now. If Rin can patiently endure me for several years, then surely I can get away with watching myself with only a facepalm.

"Sorry about this Haku but you'll probably have to be a biped for quite a while since this is going to be a dusty work.

Sheesh, I don't know how long this is going to take me…"

On the side note, I am probably getting to the age where I am reflecting on the things that I should have learned earlier. Imagine just how convenient being a handyman is, yet here I am, an inexperienced peasant, trying to DIY my house. Unavoidable as it is, there are some things that I can't easily displace, or it was simply a pain to move, just like my stove and oven. Times like this make me realize that I really should have just replaced that with a tabletop kind because it is way more portable. But then… I'll have to find ways to keep the integrated stove system since I like it so much…

Anyway, I'm a laborer for two weeks, not a chef. I have apologized to Rin about the kitchen and she was nonetheless upset.

Houses here in Orio don't really have soundproofing knobs but only acoustic insulation so it was just an option but it's sometimes a handy feature. This is White Street of course; the silence shall never be disturbed.

I don't know how much is heard on the outside, but I'm making great progress on destroying the house. I thought that chipping away most of the old flooring will take me a lot of time, but it felt like I was cutting butter with a hot knife. Needless to say, I had to adjust on the task. It's analogous to using an art medium you've never used but has an idea of how to use it. The only problem is that I don't have any "scratch paper" to use so all I could do was wing it. No, I suppose I could compare this to wood carving as I'm literally doing what a wood carver would do, but on concrete. I basically improvised a chisel strong enough to not bend accompanied with a large hammer. But my word, this chisel is for giants if this is the same width as the length of my forearm.

Once again, I'm a cheater.

But as for the results of the entire ruining, I totally sucked. There's one bit on the living room where I made a mountain range, while there's also somehow a crater. It felt like I had made a miniature terrain. So at what cost? I've wasted more cement than I least expected. Because I had to flatten the floor again before the actual level.

Also, I didn't know that using materials that are of different variation or brand would actually affect the construction of the building in some ways. It's a good thing that I inquired on the engineer.

And so face mask on, as I will have a lot of grinding to do, literally. Still going directly from advice, I was told not to to the grinding by hand as the machine will do the work for me… and that I'll frankly suck and it would probably look awful, the other Exiles said. Therefore I was lent quite a large grinder and make the most out of it. Of course, it was made underground along with the very grinding plate that was made from AMM.

Innovation.

Dusty.

"Goodness, it's dusty in here," enter Kei with working gloves on his hands.

"You have a mask with you?"

"Sure, sure. Can't be dying now with all this stuff on my lungs especially these days."

"You know, the AQI index is quite good these past few months."

"I don't need to hear that from you."

"Thanks for the help, I guess?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know how to use this grinder and so is Dad. You're just lagging behind."

"How did you actually see me back then if I was not put to all those fiasco?"

"You'll probably be described like how Anna is."

"That so," I was unimpressed, but not because of that instance being alike with my little sister.

"Anyway, how much have you done?"

"As you can see down there, I've done half."

"You chipped down quite deep… are you adding a bit more cement?"

"Good question… If I'm going to add more then all those grinding would be pointless."

"Yes, they were."

"Alright then. I'll cut some spaces so it'd adhere then you can do the grinding."

Why would I need a mixer if I am the mixer myself? Am I going to put an extension on a hand drill? Of course not! What is even my arm used for?

Apples, that was too prideful a thing to say. Sorry.

But with another layer of cement and another (actually) meaningful grinding done, we're now out of the preliminaries. I really can keep going at this point, but not the glasses guy.

This is a gathering of three men (one is technically a cat), which have been doing brute work for the entire day. This ain't the time to bring out puny snacks. It just had the vibe too much, and so I can't help but go all out and went all-meat on my grill since anything at my first floor is basically out of order.

…

I've never actually made any skewers until today, huh.

"Oh, right, Gin. Shiina said yes."

My eyeballs rolled down from their sockets.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. I was supposed to do that last year, remember? Doesn't really go that way, but here we are a year after that one drink on your roof."

"Apples… congratulations on that. Can I see the ring?"

"This was what I gave her," he showed an image from his phone.

How simple yet intricate. It was quite a plain ring but with detailed engravings of waving lines on it.

"Interested on the design?"

"Yeah… I'll get inspiration from this. I still have that thing tucked away, huh…

Anyway, when did you propose?"

"Just the other day. We still don't have a date for it, but you'll be busy again, Best Man."

"All the weddings I've attended and now it's finally my brother. Hahh…"

"Looking forward to yours too."

"Ahahaha, we'll see about that.

…

Ah, forgot to buy the spiky thingy for my soles."

"You're pouring already?"

"Not yet, I'll have to return the grinder and give the floor some more stint under the sun."

"Then I'm going back. Call if you need help."

"No, you call if you need help. Or rather, call once you need the help."

"Ahahaha. I'm counting on you then."

"…"

Sometimes I debate to myself who is actually more expressionless between me and my brother. If we're talking about childhood, then I would almost literally look like I am heartless, or better yet "dead." That being said, I can't really remember how Kei used to react to that back then. Even if I was able to completely recall my memories now, in the grand scheme of things, it feels like I have only been born eight, or ten years ago. Twelve years, I was naive then empty. In a sense I had no life until I came to high school, while every single one of them had it without my existence interfering.

While there is the irremovable weight brought upon my sin, there is also the guilt that I have for those that I have potentially hurt over the years.

Grandpa Kinrou was able to bring out my smile even if only for a fleeting time, then Rin became the reason why I was able to give the best smile that I can show.

And it seems that Ane Shiina was able to bring out the same thing from my brother. My word, I have never seen that guy smile so brightly.

"Can I also smile like that?"

▪ ▪ ▪

It doesn't really appear like time has been passing by, but trust me, this whole floor project is taking my days and nights, waking up early, and sleeping late to make ends meet. There are just some things that even my speed won't be able to catch up or even overtake. An anomaly remains an anomaly in this world once I have left the room of hastened time.

But hey, this artwork is finally coming to a wrap-up. I however know what happens to me when I get relieved in advance which is why I don't really psych myself up otherwise I'll get impatient.

True, this job can do some shortcuts, but I wouldn't do that if it is in the expense of compromising my own house. Frankly, I'm hoping that someone is going to live here too apart from just me and Haku. But if Bob gives me some happy accidents, then I wouldn't mind.

But I need to buy paint for my walls as I am sure that I will make more mistakes than that.

Anyway, masking. It's basically the same as using layer or clipping masks. In this case, I can't do Ctrl+Z so that's that. I'm pretty much going by the manual here, though. Whatever the experts tell me, then I'll do them as long as they are possible. I was instructed to mask my walls down before the height where I want my floor on and then commence to pouring of this primer stuff with a gray pigment, which is where the spiky soles will apparently come in handy as it would prevent me from stepping on the still wet solution. The scope of this flooring is pretty much my entire first floor aside from the bathroom which was thankfully properly tiled and is weatherproof. That means that I had to pour at once on the entire floor and do the painstaking work of evening it flat, which I surpri-

Oh.

Oh.

OH.

Left, right, left, right, left, right… okay, I'm feeling a little sick on my stomach now.

By feel, it looks like we were hit by around a magnitude 5 earthquake. Thus I suspended the work for the time being and stepped out only to see the wires still swinging and immediately ran to the family house and Aunt Sumi, then called Rin on CCI to check up if they are safe.

It was quite a strong one, I would say, but thankfully there were no apparent damage anywhere…

Well, I had to even out my floor again.

On the topic of my house, it seems that this really holds up not only to the temblor but also on the structural standards that the government issued, which is nice. Pacific Ring of Fire—we are under plates that are probably converging even as we speak.

After a few aftershocks I have cleared that I can continue on working after the first layer dried. Now here comes the satisfying part of finally putting in the last layer of whatever this solution is. I'm dumb. It was the crucial undertaking as that is going to be what I am going to step on so even a small unevenness would definitely break my heart. But I think I did an ok job.

Just for good measure, I took back some time for my sleep while I was waiting for it to dry, and I am really thankful that the weather was clear all throughout these two weeks otherwise I am going to suffer on a stuffy mess if it rained.

This is life, you complain left and right, just don't do much on the first world problems unless it is G. We have issues, aye.

But with that out of the way, polishing, finally. Borrowed from a friend the same polisher that did our main house's floor. Overtime, my decisions changed and it probably happens on anyone building a house. I thought that a wee bit of luster would not hurt more than what a matte finish offers. This is a contemporary house, so I thought that a little bit of reflections from the lights would give a bit more life inside as I don't particularly use carpets unless it's winter. Stone sure gets cold when temperature drops.

Speaking of that, I was ensured that all the materials I used for this work will guarantee me weatherproofing for any of the seasons and any sensitivity, and it would stay flat without natural damage for a very long time. Basically, my floor is just as numb and gray as me when I was seven years old. The only difference is that my floor is stronger than my already breaking spirit. I'm proud of my floor but not of myself, and I also could have done better on how I worked on this project.

▪ ▪ ▪

I'm not really a fan of reordering the furniture of the interior, and I am also not a fan of the old floor looking like it got hit by puberty on the face. All in all, my house finally looks a lot more homely, and the cat wouldn't easily scratch the surface. The value of the gray also changed from its darker tone while changing from a neutral to a very slightly bluer tint. It is similar to a slight change of white balance on a picture—very very subtle.

If only this place wasn't flood prone, I would have probably put a tatami mat here somewhere.

"This wasn't what I had expected when you said we're moving the stuff back, Aruji. Why does the house feel so much more spacious?"

"Well of course it's March- Oh, my voice is echoing! Haha…!

Anyway, I wouldn't like this place to feel so hot in the summer. Five years of living here and we haven't really sorted our crap out when the season comes. They also said that this solution won't retain heat so that's a good feature. Less hypertension for me, I hope.

"I can finally go back… Cats aren't supposed to do things like these."

"Sometimes I wonder how you're so nimble when most of the time you're a lazy bum."

"Meow. (That is basically my characteristic, Aruji.)"

"Well, you go take a nap. I'll head out for shopping."

Meanwhile.

«The high pitched whistle echoed on the walls of the house upon the entrance of Rin who missed the just shortly left Gin.»

"…Oh, flying apples."

«It is not an exaggeration to say most people tend to bring masks with them wherever they go for precautionary measures, but she did not expect that she will have to use it against the stench of paint filling the already well ventilated house. And as she had observed, the things that ought to be set right next to the walls are still apart.

"Oh, I'm sorry for what I am going to do, Potato," reluctantly, she placed her finger on the assumed wet wall, but not a speck of white paint stuck on the fingertip.

«But then she noticed something on the underside of her feet while walking around.»

"Well this isn't very Gin-like."

~ ~ ~

"Half-price, half-price, spare ribs are half-price~♪

Oh? I swear I've already cleaned my floor, Rin?"

"The floor, yes. But some places are still dusty, you know. Look how shinier it is now."

"Oh… Sorry.

Wait, woah. I'm now only realizing that this is your first time cleaning my house at large.

…

Uhh… Hmm…?"

"Is it, though? Stupid, I've lived here already."

"Oh, ahahaha, right. Anyway, your leg isn't hurting anymore these days, I'll assume?"

"Yup. It doesn't really happen usually."

"That's nice. Want some tea?"

"Yes please.

Right, are you coming back to work soon?"

"I'll take a few more days off then everything will go back to whoosh. When's the last day of the semester then?"

"28th. I just want to sleep in…"

"Feel free to use the kitchen now then. Here comes another bloody finals I see."

"Yeah…"

"Then I'll make something good after your exams are finished. Let's not go out."

"Yaaaayyy…"

▪ ▪ ▪

Well, it's been a week and some since I said the going back to the whoosh thing, huh. Four days of work, and Giotto's is a little low spirited inside the kitchen.

Something was riding on this one phone call; so much that all the cooks gathered up around the phone on my hand, nervous.

"So what did the results say, bossman?"

"Well…" uttered sheepishly in a rather hoarse voice, "Yu and I won't be able to work at this rate, unfortunately. I guess you'll be the head for a while, Gin. Please choose your second-in-command then."

"…

You heard the real boss is down for the count. Let's have a meeting later so let's get back to work! That guy will be fine so he'll be back in no time!"

"Yes, chef!"