𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 | 𝙼𝙷𝙰 𝚇 𝙵𝚎𝚖! 𝙾𝚙! 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁

28. "The Tale of Mari and Haruto."

You were sitting at the dinner table with Haruto, Oji, Hana, and three other people you never knew existed. It seemed as if the ‘other you’ did not know of their existence either, considering the fact that none of them were described or even mentioned in your memory journal. Given the statement that they would only come around once every two years, of course you never would have noticed them prior, or knew of them. It was awkward, but that was a granted fact. Haruto seemed as if he was at home, comfortably munching on his food that Oji prepared for the full table. Your eyes darted to one specific person, a boy with curly lilac hair. The male's appearance definitely gave the impression of him being ill. 

“[Name],” Haruto started, quickly clearing his throat. “These three are Hozumi, Sora, and Amaterasu.”

You nodded at the information, chewing on your food silently. To be honest, you did not care. Ever since coming to terms with the fact that Atlas is gone, and also because you are quite literally in a different world from what happened back then, you have been in a daze. Nothing at the moment even feels real. It is as if you are in an endless dream of simply living here. In this world, you don't feel like you're ‘you’. It's as if you lost your spark… or… whatever. You didn't care about the three other people sitting at the table, for only Haruto, Oji, and Hana were there for you.

The boy with lilac hair decided to speak up, “This is the hero?” His daunting eyes mocked your entire presence. It was clear that he did not care for your existence, and perhaps even loathed it. “Looks like she's a waste of time— look at her, she's wasting away—!”

“Hozumi.” Hana angrily intruded on his opinion, her tone laced with venom as she glared at him. “What gives you the right to even say those things about [Name]?”

“She's useless, isn't she? She won't even do our dirty work that you recruit people for.” Hozumi rolled his eyes, an obvious annoyance to his character. He seemed to be usually uptight and constantly working. “Haruto, you're telling me you're fine with this runt being a hero? Give me a break. Don't you remember who you used to work for—?!”

Oji slammed his hands on the stable, startling nearly everyone but Haruto.

“What gives you the damn right to talk to someone who saved you like that?” The built man seethed, his eyes ever so angry at the belittling lilac haired boy. “You better keep your damn mouth shut, Hozumi. We saved you from him, too.”

“... I wonder,” a female of the new three had spoken up. A woman with dull light pink hair and baby blue eyes. She held a calm facade, a stoic expression on herself. “Does Miss [Name] know of him?”

‘Him…?’ You looked around at the faces of Hana and Haruto, who definitely had the faces of uneasiness. Oji sat there, his eyes glued to the table as he grit his teeth. The person referred to at the dinner table must have had some sort of… issue with them all here.

“How do you expect her to live safely with you guys?” She asked, genuinely curious. “I don't… I'm not against it at all, though Hozumi seems he is—”

“Amaterasu! I'm not against her being here at all—”

“You make it seem so,” she shut him up quickly, a vein nearly popping out of her forehead. Shs could not stand the lilac haired boy, for he was simply nothing else but a pest to her. “I just… how well are you guys actually doing by keeping this place concealed from the public eye? Do people really view this place as a simple office building, and ignore it completely?”

Hana sighed, the stress evident within her features. She disliked having such a serious conversation, and you could clearly understand that fact. 

“That's what we intend on doing,” the redhead replied, nodding her head. “[Name] is safe here, however…”