(Raneko’s Viewpoint)

  I pinched my nose and closed my eyes to think for a moment as I mulled over Yoiya’s story.

  “So. Let me confirm all of this and go through it step-by-step..” I let out a sigh.

  “First off, you’re the God of Memory. What exactly does that entail?”

  “It pretty much means I’m the primordial manifestation of the concept of memory. Most Voidborne are born from concepts, specifically ones that are universally constant. However, to us, primordial tends to refer to concepts that predate the creation of worlds.”

  Rea blinked as she stared at the white-haired boy.

  Ake drilled her fingers into her head as she tried to think about it. “You’re…older than me…? Then why do you look like a kid?”

  “I’m not really sure myself, but to my knowledge, almost all of the primordials I know started off looking like children. Many of us stay like this for eternity. I suppose our conceptual origins have a factor?”

  Yoiya answered each question with a blank face.

  It was clear that, to him, this was common knowledge.

  The issue was…

  “Right, right…” I muttered, shaking my head slightly.

  ~I don’t get it at all! What is he even saying? And so nonchalantly!

  ~I guess he really is a god. He speaks of these things as if they’re normal.

  I let out a small cough to clear my throat. “Moving on… Secondly, in your dreams you say multiple versions of you fought for dominance and you assimilated their memories.”

  “Yeah?”

  “That explains… a lot.” Ake murmurs, twirling the ends of her hair as she momentarily averted her eyes.

  Rea remained quiet, but she continued to keep her eyes locked on Yoiya. It was clear that she was listening intently but whether or not she understood anything he said was a completely different matter.

  “Okay. One last question, and likely the most important one.” I narrowed my eyes and looked at Yoiya seriously.

  “Be honest. Do we have to worry about the one who invaded this world?”

  Yoiya looked at me. He thought for a moment.

  “I don’t think so…? I beat him up pretty badly from what I could tell…”

  I stood up and headed for the door.

  “Alright. Then I have no more immediate concerns. As for the bit about what that doppelganger of yours did…” I glanced behind me at the three of them. “Best we don’t tell Eliba for now. We all saw her reaction to Yoiya’s confession.”

  Ake and Rea nodded in agreement.

  “R-right…” Yoiya’s voice quivered for a beat as he forced a smile.

  It was hurting him, too. I could tell.

  After all, his sister— though she leapt into that role— was also killed by that other him. Right in front of his eyes, no less.

  I let out another sigh as I pinched my nose. I picked up my bag and started walking to the door. “For now, I’ll take my leave. Be sure to get some rest.”

  “I’ll come too…!” Rea hopped out of her seat and rushed after me as I opened the door. She bumped into me and grabbed onto the cuff of my sleeve.

  I glanced down at her. Her expression was soft and subtly pleading.

  I looked back towards Ake and Yoiya.

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  “What will you do, Ake?”

  “I think…” Ake’s voice came out smoothly and softly. “I’ll stay here with Yoiya. You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up later.”

  “Alright.”

  I turned away and stepped out the door with Rea close behind

  “Young master.” A voice spoke out as soon as I shut the door behind me.

  To my right, the nurse from earlier stood. Her cold gaze was piercing as she stared daggers into me, yet there was clearly no malice.

  “Ah.” I muttered, a little startled. “You were still around?”

  At first, the nurse simply stared at me— deeply.

  She stepped forward, nearly pressing up against me as she seemed to study my expression.

  “Who are you–” I began to ask.

  But she turned away from me suddenly, cutting me off mid-sentence as she spoke.

  “You should be careful… young master.”

  And in the blink of an eye, she vanished from sight once again.

  “Who was that…?” Rea murmured behind me.

  “I’m… not sure.” I muttered in response, completely dumbfounded.

  ~I would have liked to ask her some questions regarding that… But…

  I glanced at Rea behind me, who had begun clinging to my arm as soon as I noticed the mysterious nurse.

  ~Perhaps it was better that she left before I could.

  I gave Rea a smile. “Let’s head home, shall we?”

  Rea gave a small nod and grabbed my hand as I began to walk down the hall.

  …

  A few minutes passed by as we continued down the hall. The journey back to the elevator seemed much longer than before, supposedly since we weren’t in as much of a rush.

  Rea’s hand gripped firmly around mine and she let out a very soft breath. It was nearly unnoticable.

  “I think… I’m going to break up with Yoiya…” She said quietly.

  I glanced down towards her face, but her gaze was deadset as she looked ahead.

  Seeing this, I decided to do the same as I gave a calm response.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I don’t think… we’re a good match.”

  I threw her another glance, but her facial expression had not changed. It looked thoughtful, soft, compassionate— as it always did.

  Once again I averted my eyes forward.

  “Because he’s a god? Or something else?”

  I let out a breath.

  “Personally, I thought you two were a cute couple.”

  Rea’s head and eyes fell a bit as she placed her hand against her chin.

  “That’s part of it… Yoiya’s a god, so… He’ll keep living even after we die… He needs someone who can stay with him for eternity… And…”

  Her voice trailed off as she looked out the window. Birds chirped outside as they flew by. White clouds streaked across the blue sky.

  “I think… There’s already someone else who cares for him more than I do.”

  ~Somebody else, huh…

  I thought about her response for a moment, then pictured Ake staying by Yoiya’s side after we left.

  ~She must mean her then… But…

  I closed my eyes, remembering Yoiya’s smile after he started dating Rea. How he became softer, more stable— even if it were for a little while.

  ~Sure, Ake had a similar effect but… Right now… Yoiya is…

  Right. Now is a rather delicate time. Yoiya just lost Mia. Not to mention the damage his doppelganger caused.

  ~Yoiya said he beat his other self pretty well but I’m sure he feels guilty about what happened. Breaking up with him now would be…

  I glanced over at Rea.

  ~She’s clearly thought a lot about this. I know she thinks about Yoiya more than most of us do, else she wouldn’t even suggest this.

  I let out a short, quick breath.

  “I’m sure it took a lot of courage for Yoiya to tell us the truth today.” I stated, trying to divert the subject.

  “Courage…” Rea repeated the word softly.

  After a few more steps, Rea let go of my arm and ran ahead.

  “To be honest, Raneko…”

  She twirled around to face me as she swung her arms behind her back.

  With a smile, she spoke with the utmost clarity.

  “I’ve always really liked you… even before Yoiya came along…”

  I stood there, stunned.

  Not because what she said was shocking, but because I never expected it.

  Our little Rea—- small, shy, and emotionally fragile— confessed her feelings.

  For one, I felt ecstatic.

  But behind it, my dread began to resurface in new forms.

  Because what would this entail for our futures?