"Az?"
A ek voice caught my attention as I turned around.
A beautiful girl with long silver hair stood behind .
I blinked in surprise. "Shyamal?"
She nodded her head as she tried her best to not look into my eyes.
'….Wait, I shouldn't be over friendly.'
I suppressed the urge to hug her as I smiled. "Can I help you with sothing?"
There was a faint blush on her face that she couldn't hide.
Shyamal lowered her head slightly. "Can we talk alone?"
I nodded in response. "Sure."
I looked back and Oliver, Seth and Aimar were acting like we don't even exist.
"I will see you guys in the class." I said, making them look at .
"Sure."
"Take your ti."
"That's why we call you fucking lady boy."
I flipped my finger at Aimar as Shyamal led away.
The school was as much dense and filled with students.
Most stopped and did types of gesture to acknowledge my presence.
Well, they were mainly girls who seed interested in .
However, I had all my focus on Shyamal's back.
To be more precise, I was thinking about her current self.
Maybe it's because she never got to experience all the pain and torture.
She was much more delicate than the one I love.
'…This really makes want to tease her even more.'
But I kept my thoughts to myself as she brought close to an empty area on the terrace stairs.
Shyamal stopped, her silver hair swaying slightly as the breeze caught it.
She kept her eyes down, fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve.
For a mont neither of us spoke.
"…Az," she finally said, her voice low. "Do you…hate ?"
I blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"You promised to play with yesterday." She replied gently. "You never…ca at the place."
"Oh, I am sorry." I replied, rubbing my temples. "I wasn't feeling well yesterday, I am so sorry."
"N-no, it's fine." She replied, her smile slowly returned. "Shane was asking about you as well."
I blinked, my heartbeat increasing for a second. "Big brother Shane?"
She nodded her head in response. "He was asking about you…yesterday."
I nodded with a small sigh of relief as I nodded my head.
"I see…" I mumbled. "I will see him soon."
Her eyes blinked innocently before she blushed again.
"…Then." Shyamal mumbled, turning around. "I will see you after school."
She didn't wait for my response as she walked away hastily.
I stood there for a mont, staring at her retreating back.
It's not bad to see a pure Shyamal.
'…Wait a min.'
Do gods not exist in this world?
Since I have arrived in this world, I have never seen a single person talking about it.
Wait, I haven't seen even a single Church or anything religious.
'Hm?'
My trail of thoughts stopped as I heard soone walking upwards.
Peeking through the small gap of the stairs, I found Christina.
…And she looked pissed.
'Fuck.'
I quickly hid my face as I ran towards the terrace door.
"I saw you, Azariah!"
I heard her voice and it made stop from closing the door.
Taking in a deep breath, I swung open the door as I found her standing there.
I smiled, waving towards her. "Hello."
Ah, she really is pissed.
"Senara said you hugged her?" She asked with a thin smile, walking closer. "Care to explain, why?"
"…Uh, about that." I mumbled, keeping my eyes away. "I just wasn't feeling good—."
"So you hugged her?" She cut in, her eyes narrowing.
"I an, it did help calm down." I replied and imdiately regretted it.
"…. Really?" She asked, her voice hurtful. "Did it make you feel good?"
I wanted to nod but I didn't want to hurt her even more.
So, I lied.
"Not really." I replied, rubbing my nose. "Maybe I would have felt better if it was you."
Christina froze for a mont, her eyes widening slightly at my words.
Then, she narrowed them imdiately.
"Why are you acting like this?" She asked. "You always tried to avoid being physical with both of us to not hurt other one."
No matter the world you are still as sharp as ever.
I bit my smile as I walked towards her.
"Forget it." I said, walking past her. "You don't want it anyway—."
She grabbed my arm, holding in place.
"Who said that?"
She turned around and spread her arms.
"Co here."
I froze for a second, caught off guard by her sudden boldness.
Christina's eyes softened slightly, but the firmness in her stance didn't waver.
"I said… co here." she repeated.
As I stepped closer, she didn't hesitate.
Her arms wrapped around , pulling into a hug.
The warmth of her body pressed against mine sent an unexpected jolt through .
It has been a long ti.
…A really, really long ti.
I feel like ho once again.
---
[Late Afternoon]
The rest of my day was more or less uneventful.
That in itself was a good thing as I was tired of all the drama.
It was peaceful and I very much liked it that way.
"Are you okay with it?" My gaze turned to my side as Shyamal walked with . "…Leaving all your friends to co with ."
Well, I did have to lie and pull a lot of strings to be here with you.
Then again, I am not going to tell you that.
"It's fine." I replied with a smile. "I had already inford them so don't worry."
Shyamal kept her eyes down, fingers lightly brushing against the strap of her bag as we walked side by side.
The road was relatively peaceful as well.
"I called one of my friends." Shyamal said making glance at her. "Can we wait for her?"
I nodded my head wondering who this friend might be. "Sure."
We reached a nearby bench.
Shyamal sank down, her silver hair falling over her shoulders as she tugged lightly at her sleeves, fidgeting again.
"She'll be here soon," she murmured, eyes still downcast.
"No rush. I'm good just waiting," I said casually, taking a seat beside her.
After a few minutes, a car parked right in front of us.
"..."
As the door of the car opened up, I stood up.
From inside, a girl with short black hair and crimson eyes walked out.
Her gaze flickered towards then at Shyamal who stood up as well.
A small flicker of excitent crossing her face. "Ah…she's here," Shyamal whispered.
Siersha walked closer as she waved energetically at us.
"Hello Shyamal." She said, hugging the girl.
The car moved away leaving us alone.
I remained silent as I looked at the two girls greet.
"Let's go, Az." Shyamal said, urging . "Shane was going to close the shop early."
The shop we are going to belonged to Shane so I could see him as well.
I nodded as I kept my eyes on Siersha for a while longer.
The girl noticed my gaze as well, her steps slowed till she matched mine.
"A nice weather isn't it?" She asked, glancing at . "Himl."
"...."
I froze in place as I looked at the girl once again. "…. Siersha?"
"So, it's really you?" She nodded her head. "It's been a while, isn't it?"
"...."
I was too stunned to speak as I stared at the girl.
Shyamal noticed my condition as well. "…What happened?"
"Can I talk with him for a while?" Siersha asked, looking at her. "It won't be long."
"B-but…."
"Not too long." Siersha said, her voice soft. "Please."
Shyamal hesitated before she nodded. "Don't be too late."
She walked towards the shop that was close by, leaving the two of us alone.
"What the hell happened?" I asked, looking at Siersha. "And what do you an, been a while?"
Siersha nodded her head, walking again.
"Ah, right. It has only been a day for you isn't it?" She asked.
"…Yeah." I mumbled. "What does—."
"Well, it's a different story for ." She cut off with a smile. "I have been in this world for almost a thousand days."
My breath hitched as her words sank in.
"…A thousand days?" I repeated.
She nodded. "Mhm. I arrived a lot earlier than you."
I clenched my fists unconsciously. "That doesn't make any sense. How can that even—"
"Do you really want to question sense?" she cut in, tilting her head. "After everything you've already seen?"
I opened my mouth but found no words. She wasn't wrong.
I'd seen too much already that defied logic.
"What the hell happened?" I asked, looking at her.
"It was Zenith." Siersha mumbled softly. "She did it….after losing control of her powers."
"No, no, no. That's not possible." I said, denying it with all my heart. "Zenith isn't strong enough to pull this off."
"I agree." She nodded easily. "That's why I think soone else was also involved in it."
"…Who?" I asked, my voice lower than I intended.
Siersha's crimson eyes lingered on , sharp but calm. "I don't know yet."
I let out a sigh as I rubbed my face in frustration.
"What the hell is this world anyway?" I asked softly.
"A World without Gods." She replied firmly. "With no gods to intervene this world has beco much more advanced and happy."
"How could a society be there without religion?" I asked, frowning.
"People worship whatever they deem better, it's impossible for no one like that to not be born."
"It never happened." She replied, shaking her head. "Perhaps the maker of this world wanted to keep it free of gods."
I slowly nodded my head as I had a vague idea who that might be.
He….no, I have already done it once before, removing the influence of gods from Lumina.
And if my guess is correct.
'I am within the kingdom of Azrael.'
As weird as it may sound, I am almost sure about it.
I let out a sigh as I finally asked. "….How do we get out of here?"
Siersha stopped for a second as her gaze lowered down.
"…I don't know." She mumbled. "I am not even sure what will happen to …."
I frowned as I looked at her again. "What do you an?"
"Sothing happened to back in Lumina as well." She mumbled softly.
"My consciousness returns back to Lumina at random tis at random intervals."
Her hands trembled as she whispered. "It's like I am in a loop of endless regression."
I stopped walking as I stood in front of her.
My hand moved on its own as I rubbed her head. "Are you okay?"
She nodded in response with a deep breath.
"We can talk about it later." She said, looking into my eyes. "For now we should focus on our task."
I remained silent as I looked into her crimson eyes.
"I have already made sure that Zenith has already took over her body in this world." She said gently. "If you go talk to her maybe she knows a way out."
I didn't reply as I kept on staring at her without a word.
"….Or you can co back with ." She said gently. "Shyamal must be waiting."
I let my hand fall back to my side.
Even though the answer should be obvious, I remained frozen.
Siersha smiled gently.
"No matter what you choose." She turned around. "I would never judge you."
I stood there without a word as my gaze remained on my hands.
Do I really want to leave this heaven and return back to hell.
"..."
I turned to look at Siersha's retreating back.
My legs moved on their own as I followed her.
….I can't deny it.
I don't want to leave this heaven.
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