[KH/FF] Treachery of Fate: Imperfect Imposter

Chapter 55

"I... I wouldn't worry too much," Namine smiled, a finger tracing the rim of her cup. "He's my brother, [Name], it's not like he'll be mad forever."

It was Thursday.

The school day passed uneventfully, and your mind raced with ideas after events of the past few days. Since the previous night, Namine had little interaction—if any—with Prompto, and she only seemed to be taking the matter well. From what you could feel off her words during the day, she was continuously pushing herself to not dwell too much on it, and the outcome made you feel guilty in return. Every time the thought crossed your mind, she would say the same line.

You decided to take a moment for yourself after school, and came to Cafe Alps with her, sipping on an iced coffee, watching as students and other customers bustled in and out for the midday rush. You were able to grab a seat at a table by the window, almost knocking other people over to get it while Namine ordered for the both of you. Every now and then in the corner of your eye, you could feel Rika glancing at you since she came into work. In that time Vanitas also joined, as did Ven, allowing Fang to leave and Serah to go into the back room for what you assumed was her break.

"It's hard not to think about," you sighed, propping an elbow up on the table, leaning on your hand. Your eyes stared out the window, watching the sun peak through the clouds again.

Namine inhaled, a smile spreading across her lips as she took a bite of her cookie, sitting up straight. "We're supposed to be taking a day off the thinking, that's what you promised!"

You smiled in return, turning to her as you also sat up from you slumped position," You're right, you're right."

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

You frowned, going through your phone for a moment," Earlier, Tseng put me down for a job, but its only for Friday I think."

"Great! Let's have another girls' night!" As you were about to object, she held a hand, up shaking her head," It's great for your character building!"

You split up with Namine after an hour, talking about trivial things, forgetting your problems for a while. From there, you made your way home, calling Kei by the park where he summoned himself and shot into the sky between the running clouds. The breath of fresh air calmed your mind, and you sent your kudan away with a gesture of your hand, climbing down the fire escape of the apartment building you stayed in after landing on the roof. The back streets of the alleyway seemed busier than usual, and you noted on the new red paper lanterns hanging from building to building.

Inside your room, you changed into a tank top, leaving the uniformed skirt on as you sprawled yourself on the floor, rummaging through your backpack. Now alone, you were reignited again to have a course of action, and you pulled out your notebook, clicking a pen as you went down a list of ideas you had scribbled down between and during classes. Almost every route led you back to forcing memories if you were to get anything done quickly, and even if you had helped anyone regain anything, you needed to hope that Chiyoko wouldn't bother with them again. Aside from that, only a select few did she want at her fingertips, including Roxas—who you needed to check on—and Noctis. There was something about a set of your friends that made them important to her, and you sensed something else that could be planned.

The guado were a matter on top of that—what was in it for Seymour? The Farplane had also become unstable, and somehow, the guado were the only ones in charge of it. You ruled out the possibility of separate forces completely, yet that brought you to another question: what was your role in all of it—did you have one?

Annoyed, you scratched the back of your head, dropping your pen as you continued to think. Your hand reached for your backpack then, remembering you had a book borrowed from the library: The Revelation of Time and Space: Conjured Fundamentals of Existence (As documented from original text...). You hadn't touched the piece since you regained your vision, and you remembered being intrigued by the the bit of it you read, which mainly dealt with the importance of memories. You took a moment to look at the book, its spine worn and its hard cover stained with water damage. The outer layer was torn in multiple spots, even down to the spine, revealing a graying under layer as the top, you assumed, was once a red or brown.