Chapter 11: Arranged Meeting (The Chronicles of Time)
She fumbled with her skirt, twirling her hair until it curled up then sighed. “When will he arrive?”
“You mean ‘they’?” A voice corrected her. The other girl jumped in fright at the sight of the dark blue-haired girl’s entrance.
“H-hi! Aren’t you guys early?” She smiled quickly.
“Oh, she’s here already?” Yuu leaned down. “My bad! We came out a bit late.”
But his face showed no remorse…
Aoko-san rushed to speak, “Oh no, really! I just came a few minutes ago! It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Great, so now we don’t have to feel guilty about it.” He said, unscrupulous, and turned away from her hopeful stare. “Let’s go.”
He sped away from the group with his long stride carrying him a long distance with each step.
“Hold on, Yuu!” The purple-haired girl flew after him. Her blue eyes filled with annoyance and her hair danced behind her. “You’re so rude! You can’t just leave her like that after we invited her!”
“That’s none of my business,” he called back. “The one who asked her was Sora, not me.”
‘...eh?’ She stared blankly after them.
“Come on, Aoko-san!”
“We should hurry up,” Sora glanced at her briskly then moved ahead.
***
“What do you wanna eat, Natsumi?” Himari held up the dessert menu in a position so they could both see. “I like the look of the strawberry parfait and the golden toast dish.”
“The toast looks as if it’s super warm, like the sun.”
“Right?”
“I want the chocolate parfait, the brownie box, and the chocolate chip rolled ice cream.” Yuu said, shifting the menu towards him.
“You’re lucky you don’t get fat.” Natsumi sighed, looking down at her stomach.
“Like you?”
She slapped his arm in return for his remark. “Sora, what are you gonna get?”
He straightened up. “Me? Uh well…I think I’ll have the creme brulee cheesecake. I never had that before. I also want the chocolate ganache souffle pancake. It looks good.”
‘Why does it feel like they’re all just ostracizing me?’
She sat on the opposite bench from the rest. There was no more room on the other side. It was uncomfortable, but it would be even more awkward to not say anything. “I think that–”
“Look Natsumi! The waiter over there is doing something weird with a long stretch of dough!” Himari shouted. They both stretched their necks to try and see what was occurring at the other table. “That looks so weird!”
Her lips twitched with aggravation. Something felt off to her. The entire time, the others didn’t hesitate to either interrupt her words, or leave her in the dust. Whenever she tried to join them they would shift their attention to something else or recall a memory that only they share. And not only that! They were mainly focused on that one girl and treated her so preciously! Just what was the entire purpose of inviting her anyway if they’re gonna give her the cold shoulder like that? And - and - and Sora! He attempted to talk to her but only to get pulled away and dragged back by the others. Yuu was treating her coldly as well! He ignored her everytime she tried to approach him, and all she could do was stand there and look like an utter fool!
But she couldn’t do anything and had to keep on her mask.
She stood up, fed up with it all. “...Excuse me for a second. I have to use the lady’s room.”
As expected, no one noticed her words and continued on as if she wasn’t there.
***
“So…what’s your intention in leaving her out, huh?” Natsumi said, looking at the two's guilty expressions.
“D-don’t worry about it,” Himari assured her weakly. “We’re not up to anything bad.”
She raised an eyebrow and scanned their faces only to be stumped at Yuu’s. “...I can’t tell what you’re thinking about at all.”
He scoffed. “Of course not. I don’t let my thoughts spill that easily.”
She pointed at him and shook her finger. “You see that? If he’s playing hard to get, that means you guys are up to something. I’ve known him long enough to figure this trait out.”
Sora chuckled. “Ha…ha…don’t mind it.”
“...alright, I won’t.” She took up her glass of water and drank out of it. “I’ll leave you alone for now. Once the deed is done, do tell.”
It was after a while when their desserts were served, Aoko-san returned back to her seat with a soft smile. But for some reason, her expression looked cold and stiff.
“Sorry I took so long.”
“It’s alright,” they all said in unison and went back to their own little world.
“Natsumi, try this!” Himari picked up a spoon of Yuu’s brownie parfait and fed it to her friend.
“Hey! That was my spoon ya’ know?” Yuu said.
She flinched and looked at the spoon in Natsumi’s mouth in a flash. Her emotions turned green.
“It’s fine! Have you eaten it yet?” Himari shrugged nonchalantly.
“Yeah!”
“Why does it matter? You share food with her all the time don’t you?”
‘What?!’
She couldn’t believe her ears. How could they do such a thing so frequently? It seems as if the girl has an upper hand compared to her who barely even talks to the person she likes! Just hearing about how close they are irked her. She gripped her glass of sundae tightly.
“I didn’t know you guys were that close.” She said, feigning ignorance.
Himari smirked inwardly. ‘She caught the bait.’
“Come to think of it,” she started, pursing her lips, “it’s the first time that we’ve met outside of a school setting, huh?”
“...yes, that’s right.”
“We’ve never really invited anybody else outside to hang out like this.” Himari said then paused. “...It just feels so weird. Sorry if it seems like you feel left out. We’re just not really used to this.”
Those words were unexpected. She felt relieved and was also confounded. It was like music to her ears, but it was hard for her to believe it. “T-that’s alright! Really! I…kind of knew that. I’m not offended or anything.”
“That’s good to hear!” Himari said, acting mollified.
She was appeased to hear how they suddenly became apologetic about the treatment they had towards her. It was so satisfying that her anger faded away as if it never existed to begin with.
“But you know, how were you even invited again?” Yuu asked, abruptly. Her face cracked. Those words hit her in the chest, but it exacerbated the wound even more when she realized it was her own crush that said them. And especially since it was the second time the topic came from his mouth.
“...Aikawa-kun did.” She replied quietly. It wasn’t what she expected. She was so confident, so sure that he was the one who wanted her to come!
“Ohh…Sora?” Yuu turned to him who blinked in confusion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her frustrated expression. His lips curved with schadenfreude.
Sora looked up from his cheesecake. “Hm?”
Yuu gave him a suggestive grin. “Oh really?”
Noticing this made her heart tighten even more. She pretended to glance at her watch and gave an audible gasp. “Oh, I have to go now! Sorry!”
“Oh, that’s alright,” Himari said while Aoko-san hurriedly grabbed her bag and stepped out of her seat. “Have a safe trip back~!”
She left without a single peek back, abashed.
***
He paced around the room then halted. Then he started walking again and stopped. The cycle repeated until he decided to break it. He opened the door of his room, stepped through it, then vanished into a new background. It was dark; the stars were the only light source, and even with that—it was still dim. A bleak plain stretched out before him and wind blew past him weakly. It was calm, unlike the hectic and energetic atmosphere he’s used to. Feeling pleasant about the tranquility, he took a few steps around the setting and released a deep sigh.
The air was nostalgic, and made him reminiscent. His dreamy stare made him different from his usual self. He closed his eyes and relished in this old environment. It has been a while since he has visited this place. Unconsciously, a hazy smile began to form.
From the distance, a tall desolated and venerable tower stood loftily. He strolled along, his destination nonetheless—that tower. It looked down at him with an air of gloom when he arrived at the door. He kicked it down with no hesitation and the door rearranged itself back up when he entered; like magic. Flying objects were visible all throughout the building. They avoided him intentionally; each time they flew too close, the object would steer itself, narrowly missing any inch of his body as if they knew not to touch him unless commanded.
“Give me the journal book,” he ordered. Complying to his wishes, the enchanted tower began to move and twist itself into all sorts of ways until spitting out the book he wanted. A desk immediately walked to him with a sense of urgency, and the variables that used to sit on its surface cleared away. The object that he wanted floated towards that vacancy and set itself in front of him.
‘Is that all you came for?’
“Yeah, I’ll be taking this and that’s all.” He took up the wrinkly book in his hands and tossed it around. “Seems like you’ve been taking care of everything here, like usual. I thought you would’ve quit already.”
‘Who wouldn’t want to quit when the master of the tower is such a douche bag? Always neglecting his precious tower and being unorganized! It sends me into a rage just seeing how messy it is!’
“I can still find everything just fine without you acting like the manager of this place.”
‘...don’t tell me that you’re planning on returning. I just cleaned up everything! With your absence, this tower hasn’t decayed nor been blown up these last few decades! Oh lord, please just leave! This tower prefers to be under my control than yours! Oh, this poor thing! It’s many wounds that were inflicted by you–you devil! You brute! Don’t you dare go into a rampage again otherwise–’
He glared venomously in a specific direction. “Who’s tower is this?”
‘E-eep! Y-yours, m-my lord!’ A tiny luminescent figure peeked out from a pile of dusty books. It was a miniature girl. Her clear and beautiful crystal wings glowed and shimmered everytime it fluttered. She was shining. Her large clear eyes instantly closed and she squirmed under his pressure, clutching onto her white skirt.
He turned away from her. “It’s fine. Continue guarding this tower, you’ve been doing a good job so far.”
Was that a praise? Her mind went blank. It could only mean one thing…
‘M-my lord, could it be…perhaps you’ve found the miss?’ She gaped.
He stopped adjusting the button of his robe. “Huh?”
‘E-excuse my rudeness.’ She bowed quickly. Of course he couldn’t have found her! But then other than the miss, what else could put him into such a good mood? Maybe he found a hint of her location…?
He grinned. “Yeah, I found her.”
Her head rose quickly. ‘Will you bring her here again? Pretty please? I-I want to see the young miss again! She was such an angel! Like a breath of fresh air from all of the magic trapped in this tower. Oh, it was so nice! Really! If anything can you–’
“You sure like to chat a lot, don’t you?” She froze at those cold words, and her wings stopped flapping excitedly. His face was covered with the gold shimmers that were produced from her wings. He coughed.
‘I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that! I–’
“Enough,” he cleaned his face with his sleeve and turned to her. “Do you wish to leave this tower? I got another task for you.”
She gulped, praying to god that it wasn’t an arduous assignment meant to punish her. Well, if god even existed in the first place she wouldn’t have been captured and stuck with such a snobbish master! Life was so unfair! It wasn’t her fault she was tricked and bewitched by his face and the polite manner that he displayed in front of the Fairy King! Ugh! Now she can only go along obediently and jump into lava if he ordered her to do so.
‘W-what is it, s-sir?’ She was close to tears, her eyes widened and looked at him, paralyzed with fear.
“...Don’t cry, geez. I wasn’t going to kill you or anything.”
‘You tried to blow up a whole tower and forgot that I was stuck inside before!’ she cried, but it was inside her mind.
“You wanted to meet her right?”
‘Don’t kill me! Please don’t - !...Eh?’
“You wanted to meet that miss of yours so badly so I’ll take you with me. You’re skilled in magic, no?”
It felt like her heart stopped. It was so odd of him to treat her so gently like this. Usually she would be faced with all sorts of curses and phrases like “you’re trash!” or “why are you so useless?”
Quickly grasping the opportunity to escape the tower she said, ‘Y-yes sir!’
“Then you’ll be useful. Come on.”
She flew behind him, joyfully. ‘The lord is the best! The best! I’m so blessed to have such a kind and generous lord! I’m so happy! Thank you! Thank you! Just command this servant to do anything and she will perform the task without complaint! The lord is blessed by the Heavens with great looks and almighty powers that would even make god tremble in fear! I will–’
“Shut up.”