Chapter 18

“Ryuuko, what’s wrong?” Asumi asked when she noticed I wasn’t eating.

“N-nothing, I’m fine.” I hastily replied.

It was already afternoon and we were on the school rooftop, eating lunch.

“You’re not eating. Is it not to your liking? Or could it be that you’re on a diet?”

“When have you ever seen me dieting?” I replied with a smirk.

“Oh you. Flaunting that body of yours again.”

“Somebody is jealous~” I sang playfully.

“Muumuu...” she mumbled as she went back to eating. “You and your perfect body. You’re truly an enemy of anyone who worked hard to get to where they are.”

“Heh heh ... that reminds me. Remember that one summer you gained weight from eating all those mooncakes and desperately tried to diet before school could start?”

“W-w-why are you bringing that up?! I thought we agreed to never, ever speak of that again!” She cried.

“That time you even tried to-”

“LA LA LA LA! I can’t hear you!” She screamed while covering her ears, trying to drown out my voice.

I burst out laughing as she puffed her cheeks out in frustration.

“Oh, will you just eat your lunch already? Hmph!”

I stared at the boxed lunch Asumi had prepared for me. Fried chicken, sweet egg rolls, and rice with pickled radish on the side. All my favorites.

“Umm ... Asumi.”

“What is it now?”

“Can you ... do you really not notice it? My right arm?” My lips quivered as I asked her.

She tilted her head in confusion. “Your right arm? What about it?”

It was no use.

“Umm ... my arm hurts. So, I’m unable to pick up my food.”

“Really? Everything looks fine to me.”

“Yeah. I hurt it while reading last night.”

“Only you, Ryuuko. Only you.” Asumi shook her head. She suddenly moved closer and picked up my boxed lunch.

“What are you doing?” I asked as she held a piece of chicken to my face with her chopsticks.

“You said your arm hurts and you can’t pick up any food, so I’ll feed it to you instead. Say Ah!” She replied with a warm smile.

“T-that’s embarrassing. I still have my left arm, you know.” I moved my left arm to grab my boxed lunch, but she swiftly pulled it away.

“Say Ah!” A sadistic smile spread across her face.

Darn it. Her switch went off again and there was no way to stop it. I was a fool to say it would be embarrassing. That’s what she finds “the most cute” about me. I sighed in resignation and opened my mouth, waiting to be fed.

“Ah!”

But nothing came. When I opened my eyes, I saw Asumi barely able to contain herself with laughter.

“Why are you such a terrible person?” I asked, my face turning bright red.

“Oh, there, there. I’ll feed you for real this time, m’kay?” She was patting my head, like an owner would do with a pet.

“I’m real sick of this type of S-play of yours. Watch as my left hand finally let loose and - MMHPH!”

The delicious taste of meat melted in my mouth. A mix of spice and sauce fried to perfection with a delectable crunchy outer shell, yet the inside was so soft and tender. A flavor out of this world wrapped around my tongue with every bite. All my anger washed away the moment it smoothly went down my throat, leaving behind a wonderful aftertaste.

“Were you saying something?”

“Please feed me more, madam.” I requested with my mouth wide opened. “And please cook for me every day for the rest of my life.”

“I’ll think about it.” She giggled.

The sun hung over us, its warm rays shining down over the school as we sat in the shades trying to relax. A cool breeze blew through our hairs and the air was filled with sounds of people on their lunch breaks below. Asumi and I stared up at the endless blue sky, watching as the clouds slowly drifted by. It was a beautiful day...

“I wish every day was like this.”

Asumi’s sudden words startled me.

“Peaceful, perfect days.”

“It’s only midday. It could easily take a turn for the worse within an hour.” I shrugged.

“Oh, Ryuuko you.” She said with a sigh yet was still smiling. “You’ve got to have a positive outlook on a beautiful day like this.”

“R-right...” My heart sunk. Knowing the truth yet, could I tell her? Would there even be a point? After all, she didn’t even noticed my arm or, rather she couldn’t.

“S-say, Asumi...” I stuttered as I gathered my courage to speak. “What if, hypothetically...”

“Hmm?”

“What if I told you; everything ... everything is fake?”

“What do you mean?”

I stared at the ground in silence, avoiding Asumi’s eyes as she awaited my response.

“Have you been influenced by a new story?” She asked.

“Huh?”

“Getting strange ideas again from reading. That’s just so like you. Such a simple-minded girl.” She snickered.

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from.” I snapped back.

We giggled as we went back and forth on our exchanges.

“Everything is fake. What a strange thing to say. What does that even mean?”

“I’m saying, what if ... what if the world we live in is not the real world?” I sighed.

“Not the real world?”

“Yes. Like, we’ve been brought into some fake reality, and we don’t even know it. We’re here, but this here isn’t our world. It’s our world, but a fake. A copy. Not our real world.”

“Ryuuko...”

Asumi suddenly got close and placed her hand on my forehead.

“It doesn’t seem like you have a fever. Could it be some other problem? Are you going senile at the age of 16? Oh my!”

The thought of smacking this girl across the neck came to my mind.

“It’s all good to get invested in a story but you have to learn to separate reality from fantasy. Not everything you read is real, you know.” She said woefully.

“I know that! I’m just-HMPH!” I puffed my cheeks in frustration as I tried to calm myself down. As I thought, it was useless. “Never mind, forget what I said.”

“Hahaha, you’re so weird Ryuuko. But that’s what makes you so adorable.”

Asumi’s laughing only made me madder.

“But, even if all this is fake, it’s not too bad.”

Asumi stared up into the blue skies.

“No worries, no problems. Just peaceful days we could spend together. Isn’t that wonderful?” She said with a somber smile.

“Asumi...”

She suddenly got up.

“Where are you going?” I called to her as she made her way to the stairs.

“I’m going to buy some drinks. Be right back.”

“Ah, then... !”

“Buy you the cherry drink, right?” She smirked.

“I was going to ask you to get me a chocolate roll, but yes. Make it two please!” I requested.

“You-... !” She placed her hands on her hips. “You better be paying me back for all those. I mean it this time!”

“Yes, yes, yes. Hurry up.” I waved to her nonchalantly as she stormed out of the roof in a huff. Watching her disappear down the stairs, I let out a sigh.

“No worries, no problems. Just peaceful days, she said.” I quietly repeated Asumi’s words as I stared off into the distance. If only it could be so.

“It sounds good to be able to live out such an illusion, doesn’t it? Unfortunately for you, you don’t have that luxury anymore.”

I jumped from the sudden sound of another voice. That voice, I’ve heard it before! I immediately swung around and met with the appearance of a familiar silver-haired figure, standing on the edge of the roof’s railing. The moment our eyes collided, the figure casually waved to me.

“Hello, Takatora Ryuuko. It is good to see that you’re doing well.” Alma said, a sinister grin spread across their face. Meeting those soul-less eyes again, the terrible yet familiar feeling of anger and fear washed across my body like a wave.

Alma leapt off the railing and came towards me. Like a specter, they slid across the roof without a sound. Cautiously, I backed away but Alma moved at such speed they were right next to me before I could even take a step back.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to talk? Impossible, only one part of your body should’ve been consigned and that was your right arm. Your vocal chords should be intact.”

As he spoke, I felt my legs shaking uncontrollably and I was struggling to even stand upright. My throat felt hoarse and no words could come out of my mouth. In my mind was only scared thoughts, all telling me to run away but my legs would not respond.

“Speak. It’s rude to not give proper greetings, especially to a friend.” Alma’s voice was playful, but I could also sense from it hostility.

“Wh-what are you doing here!?” I finally managed to choke out.

“Ah, so you can speak. I’m glad. But what a silly question to ask among so many others. Tsk, tsk.” Alma shook their head in what looked like a show of disappointment.

“You-!”

Alma’s suddenly placed their face right in front of mine. The abrupt action caused me to lose my footing as I immediately fell back from the shock.

“AAH!” I screamed as I fell but Alma’s hand shot out and caught my left arm. A terrible pang of coldness spread throughout my body, as if I was touching ice. Alma’s grip had not a drop of warmth as they dangled me a few meters away from the floor. I was suddenly pulled up with great force and came face to face again with those terrible eyes. It was so close; I could almost feel my very soul being sucked into them.