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My husband is a banker. He wakes up every morning at 6:30 a.m., wraps his big body of 85 inches in a custom-made suit, kisses me, and goes to work. He usually comes home straight after work at 17:00 at night. Sometimes he goes out for a drink, but he always buys me my favorite cakes or flowers as a gift. Then he takes a shower, and goes to sleep with holding me.
My dearest husband, Robin Mackintosh, is such a normal human.
On his days off, we go to watch rugby game because Robin likes it very much or for walks in the park together. Sometimes we go to make new clothes for him. There are even some tailors that carry large sizes for chojins, but Robin is hung up on stores for humans. Once I pointed that out,
"Although I'm a human now? "
He said so while laughing, so I couldn't say anything back to him.
People are surprised when they learn that Robin used to be a chojin and that he is from the Robin Dynasty, a famous chojin martial arts family. Some even ask him why he became human. Robin's answer is always the same.
"To marry her."
Then they looks at me with a smile and says, "You have a doting husband". I still can't smile back well even though I have been married for many years.
Yes, Robin gave up everything he was born with as a chojin in order to get my father, who hates chojins, to approve him marriage to me. Everything, including his power that no human could ever match, his position as the eldest son of a prominent family, and the glorious future he was promised as a chojin wrestler. And he believes that I am happy about it.
Today we went to give a baby shower to a mutual friend from our school days.
"He was very cute, you think so? "
The baby, who was only three months old, was smiling and laughing without being surprised by Robin, who was exceptionally tall. When a friend handed the baby to Robin, "Do you want to hold him?" I was amused to see him, who is always so calm and collected, unusually upset.
"I want a child with you."
Robin said and hugged my naked back. He has a higher body temperature than I do, so it feels really good to be held.
"...Me too......."
I closed my eyes and responded, half asleep. I think I wanted children more strongly before I got married than after. I was much more optimistic then than I am now, and I had high hopes for my future with Robin. I secretly had a vague vision of getting married right after college, taking a honeymoon cruise on the Mediterranean Sea, and having a child by the time I was twenty-five. Only the first two came true, and now that I am over the age I had set my sights on, I leave it to the nature.
"Are you expecting girl or boy, Alisa?"
Robin's large hand combed my hair over my back. This time I answered, two-thirds asleep.
"......Boy.........."
I told a trivial lie. I answered that not because I wanted a boy, but because I had a feeling that if there was a baby between us, it would be a boy. But I had no reason why. By the way, I have already chosen his name. "Kevin", after a bar we both frequented before we were married. What if it's a girl? ...I'll let Robin think of one.
While I was thinking about this, I really fell asleep.
◆
Robin is standing in the ring. His muscular body is clad in silver armor, and his face is covered with a dull, shiny iron mask. At his feet, a chojin who looks like a guillotine is falling down. His body is shattered here and there, and pieces are scattered to my feet as I was watching the match just outside the ring.
The final match of the UK preliminary round of the chojin Olympics has just ended. His opponent was a powerful fighter, and what is more evil chojin, while Robin was a rookie, but he did not succumb to opponents' brutal techniques and made a great victory as the heir to the Robin dynasty, and as my boyfriend.
Even my dad, who hates chojins, is impressed and applauds Robin's wonderful victory. Thank God, he will be allowed to marry me even if he remains a chojin.
"Robin! "
I ran through the ring ropes to Robin. He hugged me tightly. I didn't care about the sweat and blood that still lingered. I was so proud of Robin, who was receiving cheers from the ton of spectators, that I couldn't help but love him.
I love Robin as a chojin since the moment I met him, and I will never change my mind about him. He once followed my dad's advice, "If you want to marry my daughter, be human," but I still prefer Robin to be a chojin.
"Robin Mask."
Robin noticed that I softly called his name amidst the thunderous applause.
"Yes, darling? "
He must be excited to have won his first match, but his voice to me was very calm and gentle. I love that about him, too.
"Congratulations for winning the debut match."
I put my hand on the uneven chest of the armor and stretched as tall as I could. Then I kissed the part of the mask that corresponded to his lips. At that moment, I heard a muffled little laugh of him, but I was probably the only one in the world who noticed.
How happy I am to be able to share and celebrate together the illustrious moments of my loved one. (I am so glad I was born), I thought from the bottom of my heart.
◆
First I became conscious, then I opened my eyes. In front of me was the same face as last night - thick bangs that completely covered my eyes, a long and shapely nose, and a chin with deep grooves carved into it. My husband, who used to hide everything behind a mask, is now sleeping unprotected with everything exposed.
I reached out my arm and touched it. It is warm and soft. The opposite of the cold, hard iron mask. And yet, I felt it was not enough. I missed the dream I had just woken up from more than the feeling of the skin I had just touched.
"...Robin Mask."
I called out Robin's former name - no, real name, which I can never speak out loud anymore. The last time I had called it, I believe, was the night he came to greet my parents. That was many years ago.
How did we end up like this? My first love was Robin Mask, the justice chojin. It wasn't Robin Mackintosh, vice president of Mackintosh Bank. Who I wanted to live with forever, who I wanted to have a baby with, was a chojin wrestler who lived for fights. It wasn't even the Downing Street businessman. But there was no way I could say that. I loved you as a chojin so I didn't want you to become human, and I could have just run away from home.... It is too heartless to say to Robin, who abandoned everything for me.
I tried to remember the dream I had earlier, but it was almost a daze now. I was sure that Robin was still a chojin...then what happened? What did I do? Still, I remember that I was very happy. Perhaps that was our lost future, in which we were originally destined to be together as a chojin and a human. Thinking of this made me even sadder, and I cried even though it was morning.