The Choice Of Fate || The Promised Neverland

Chapter 57: Inseparable

Ray's POV:

"Ray-ray!" I flinch at the sudden call and turn to the little girl running towards me as fast as she can. Upon reaching me, she opens to a bookmarked page. "Looky!"

"... You came all the way to show me that?" I ask unamusedly, earning a giggle from her.

"I like it," was her happy reply. She traces the shape of the mask with her finger, and it just started growing familiar.

"Is the book good?" I ask her, realizing it's one of Minerva's adventure books.

"Yeah! Really, really good!" She squeaks, nodding with a kitten's smile. "You should read it sometime!"

"Can I read it with you?"

"But I'm at the end now," she pouts, but eventually complies, reading with me below the tree.

...

"Sistine, how many did you get right?" I remember asking her at the end of every test. And every time she would smile innocently at me, and wait for Mama to announce it.

She continued to one-up me in academics since she can't beat me in athletics. And every time she tried to, she would either trip on something or pass out.

"Ray-ray, how are you so strong?" she once whined while in the infirmary.

I place a hand on her forehead. "I'm just capable of lasting longer than you," I answer bluntly, earning another tired whine from the little girl.

Despite being told that I might get sick along with her, I didn't mind. For her sake and Mama's, I took good care of myself, just so I'll be able to take care of her.

When she's well and healthy, I'd usually find her in one of two places: the tree, which is our usual meet-up place, or the library. It was kinda amusing to watch as she rummaged through the library and studied everything. Mama always said we were identical, somehow. She was a bookworm like me.

But I never read with sparkles in my eyes and an excited smile on my face. One would assume she's reading a fantasy novel, when in reality she's reading a chemistry book. It was incredible.

Meanwhile, there was me, who's only reading because the things Mama tells me sound different from what I remember. Sometimes I wished I could be as careless as she is, reading and learning to appreciate life without worry.

But I guess destiny had other plans for me.

When I found out about the secret, I didn't know how I was supposed to tell her. I was scared of shattering her view of the world. I was scared that, if I told her, she would change.

I didn't want that.

I couldn't even imagine it.

And so... I stayed away.

I distanced myself away from her, just because I was scared of how she'll react if she found out. I became Mama's spy and purposely disappeared from her life. At first, I was worried that she wouldn't get along with anyone. And that seemed to be the case, until...

... well, until Francis came along.

He tried to get along with Sistine, to which he was successful. Sistine seemed to understand my situation very well, so she stayed away. She lived her own life with Francis, seemingly forgetting about me along the way.

Or so I thought.

Every now and then, she'd tease me about Emma, or speak to me when I'm not feeling well. I would act like I was irritated but in all honesty... I just really missed it.