I looked into the mirror of the restroom. As I stared at my reflection, I lifted the bandages off of my left eye. It had turned crimson, just like the horrific image of my look-alike.
I had noticed this my first day here, after the other members of the Tea Time Book Club from school had ended their visits. Though, I decided to keep it a secret from the doctors that my wounds were already completely healed.
Apparently, they had found me buried under a pile of rubble in the epicenter of the city devastation. My left eye and arm had been completely crushed and I was rushed to the hospital.
Oddly enough, nobody had questioned why there was a lack of blood. I may have just been lucky that it was overlooked. Else the fact I was not of this world, or of any world to that matter, would have been revealed. Perhaps I would have been taken in by the government and experimented on. No matter what happened after that, I definitely would not be able to continue living life on Earth as a mortal.
To keep this a secret, I had put it in Kiwusawa's head to buy me an eyepatch for my eye. I, of course, left out any details regarding the change in its color.
"That sounds cool! You'll be the little chuunibyo of the Tea Time Book Club!"
That's what she had shouted when I asked her. She sure seemed excited for some reason. Though, her comment on me being 'small' was rather offensive.
Meanwhile, her friend Cerubi kept looking at me with that same deep look of suspicion. She definitely still did not trust me. With it, however, seemed to be a hint of sadness.
~I wonder what made her so down…
I let out a sigh, finally stepping out of the restroom after covering up my eye again.
"That's a worry for another time. With this new regenerative ability and this eye, it's going to become a lot more difficult to hide my presence in this world. I'll have to avoid any further injury, at least in public."
It had been exactly seven days, one week, since I woke up inside this room to find I'd been hospitalized. The members of the Tea Time Book Club seemed to take turns to come visit me in pairs of two: the black and white duo of Cerubi and Kiwusawa; and the calm and gentle group of Kuroshin and Dolari.
The 'Kiwusawa' pair's visits would always be lengthy. Kiwusawa would often tell me a ton of stuff and update me on school activities in verbal language. Cerubi would chime in on occasion to correct her. They never brought written notes, so I had to listen to Kiwusawa like she was a college professor, since she never said the same thing twice and she was practically incapable of it as she would forget it the moment she spoke it.
The 'Kuroshin' pair's visits were always short and sweet, however. They would walk in, Kuroshin would give me a simple wave, they would hand me written notes, and then ask me how I am. After a bit of small talk, they would take their leave.
Though, during their last visit, Dolari brought me manga to read. It was a bit unexpected but appreciated. The manga definitely cleared my boredom as thankfully, the books and history of all those timelines I had connected to were all different.
Through each visit, I'd learn more about my fellow club members and more about the world.
~Is this the beauty of human interaction?
I pondered on the thought as I stared out at the tranquil blue sky outside.
A simple knock broke the silence. I turned around as the door creaked wide open. A boy and a girl walked in quietly; the boy raising his hand to give me a silent wave as he flashed a gentle smile. The girl stared at me with the usual calm, blank expression. Her eyes half-lid and her mouth agape slightly.
In the girl's arm, she held a small plastic bag. She gripped it as she continued to gaze in my direction.
Meanwhile the boy, too, had a bag. A typical school bag, dark blue with an even darker strap.
~Do I really have that same look on my face every day?
I pondered, thinking about the words that Kiwusawa spoke to me yesterday.
"I swear, you're just like Rea! You have that same blank expression that gives off those 'disinterested' vibes! I swear… It's like you two are in your own little worlds," She said.
It was indeed true, however, for me. I was not of any world, so I would often make my own. I'm typically used to being bored.
Now that I've gotten used to human interaction, it is not as fun as others make it look. I often have trouble relating to any topics, despite the knowledge I gained from other timelines.
"Yoiya? You alright?"
The sound of the boy's voice snapped me back to reality, interrupting my train of thought. I looked at the boy's— Kuroshin's face. He appeared concerned.
"Oh, I was just thinking."
"Ah, I see. Well… we hear you're being discharged today. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine."
The girl, commonly known as Rea, held out the bag around her arm to me. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a shopping bag filled with various books.
"More manga."
That was all the girl said to me before going silent. Once again, the girl and I traded glances. There was not much else for us to say to each other.
The girl was cute, indeed. All of the primordials I knew understood the concept of cuteness. It was actually fairly common for primordials to end up looking young and rather cute to my knowledge.
The energy of the void is said to carry information from the worlds it flows in and out of. I guess cuteness is even more common of a concept amongst the infinitive number of races across the Void. The cute factor in primordial appearance may be a result of that.
~After all, Soul and Vessa were pretty cute wolf pups. And Ener still looked like a teenager despite being an angel.
"Yoiya?"
Kuroshin waved his hand in front of my face, once again bringing me back from the realm of thought.
"Lost in thought again?"
I stared at him with my own blank expression. With a slight forced smile, I gave him a simple nod.
"Perhaps you're thinking too much, Yoiya. I get a lot has happened to you, but thinking too much about stuff is not very healthy for the mind." Kuroshin pointed at his temple with his forefinger as he gave me advice.
With his words now conveyed, the boy knelt down before me and fumbled through his bag. He pulled out a large, thin package and handed it to me.
"This is what you missed today. I hope you're able to read it."
"What do you mean?" I asked, taking the package.
"Kiwusawa insisted on making the copies of today's notes for you and she tends to scribble on her paper."
I tilted my head, unsure how to react. I held up the packet and opened it, lifting the paper out slowly. The first thing I saw was a bunch of smiley faces and thumbs-ups on the top of the paper.
Seeing it, I felt I could hear her saying "here ya go" to me in my head.
"I see."
"Well, I guess we'll see you at school soon."
The boy raised his hand once more to gesture a good-bye, calmly leaving the room without another word. The girl, after a slight delay in which she gave me a small nod, followed him closely behind.
Once again, I stared outside the window towards the vast blue sky, watching the clouds as they slowly passed by. The day was still young and I had until six, so I hopped on the bed and opened a book, seeing what she had brought me.
The manga I had chose had a white-haired girl on the cover. In her hand she held a blazing blade that shined like the sun.
"How interesting."
I murmured to myself as I read through each chapter, taking my time as it leisurely ticked by.
In this story, a girl blessed by the gods became an outcast in her own village. Constantly trapped by her overseer, the royal king of the pure white city of the abyssal lands. It was one of three lands. She was hailed as a monster, a heretic who spoke of a nonexistent blue sky.
One day, a traveler fell into their land from the darkness above. He spoke of the sun, a star that shined in a endless blue sky. This gave the girl courage and with his help, she would be able to surpass every obstacle to see the world she always dreamed of.
~A beautiful story to match a beautiful day.
This was my thoughts at the time. Having completed the first volume, I glanced at the clock and realized it was already four in the afternoon. Two hours had passed since the two bookworms had came for a visit. Two hours remained until my scheduled release from this peaceful white cage they referred to as a hospital.
Turning my body, I planted my feet on the floor beside the bed and hoisted myself upright. Back to the window, I traversed. Out to the sky, I gazed yet again.
Thinking about the story, I reached out my hand to that shining white ball in the sky as if to grasp it through the window. Slowly, I lowered it to my face, closing my fist gently as if I caught a fly.
When I opened my palm and looked above, I found myself standing before a familiar tree of immense size. Sakuras bloomed amongst its vibrant white leaves. Sparkling blue spread out beneath me, wet to the touch.
As i turned, a black canyon of exponentially greater size spread out nearby. The sky was just as black, with only five colorful stars shined in its darkness.
"I'm here again…"
The familiar scene was recognizable immediately. This scene was the aftermath of a battle between two creators, two beings who now shared an existence.
"It's a lot more peaceful like this…"
I walked through the trees in silence, journeying outwards to see how far my creation had stretched in this seemingly infinite world. As I walked and walked farther from the abyss, grass soon became dirt, and dirt became marble white stone.
"Huh…"
As I surmised, beyond the forest was the same old empty landscape, white like a canvas, dull and empty like the void.
Remembering the gleaming city in the book, I touched the ground and channeled my magic forwards. One step, two steps, three steps. I walked forward with grace. The tapping of my feet on the white marble rock echoed like I was composing music in a studio.
The earth rumbled and creaked, rising up and taking the shape that I imagined. With every step, a new piece of a palace-like city rose to the surface and filled the area with a gleam of white and gold.
Marble became cobble, weaving around the structures like a needle through thread. Smooth silver paths formed, grass grew and sprouted into vibrant green bushes, flowers bloomed at the tip of each tiny little stem, and their colors gave vibrance to the evergrowing city that glowed in the faint starlight from above.
In that grand fortress of light, I retreated into an empty space creating a bedroom similar to my former sister's. Empty bookshelves emerged from the walls, wood sprouted in the corner to form a bed frame and nightstand, a simple golden rod stretched into a loop in another corner. Clothing, books, and accessories from my memory filled the emptiness. From my hand, a mattress popped out and plopped onto the bedframe, followed by blankets and pillows that were as white and as fluffy as the clouds I had always looked up to.
I lied down to take a nap, arrogant of the rumorous dangers of falling asleep in dreams that many of earthling texts spoke of.
…
The clouds beneath me were a pure white. The path sparkled as if made of shining gold. Before me a massive white marble wall, a golden gate held up by pillars adored with diamonds and pearls. At the foot of this great gate, a muttering black figure. His aura was immense, dark, chaotic, and above all else— malicious.
He, as upon further inspection the figure was obviously masculine, raised one hand and pressed it against the gate as if to push the massive door open. Seconds later, the gate burst open explosively.
The figure continued to mutter, his shoulders slumped in a stupor that emanated a bad omen.
"He's here. I know it." He said. "I'll make him pay for leaving me."