“Take as much time as you want, I'll take care of your absence... And call me whenever you need, okay?”

“Yep. Bye.”

Without even looking back, I walked slowly towards the boarding house where Deo and Fanya might be. Changing my clothes, passing through the door of the girl's room, I stood stupidly standing in front of Deo's instead.

“Well, maybe Fanya can wait later.”

I knocked on the door several times until I was bored myself. Then I decided to call him which ended in vain without even a single call getting connected.

“Maybe he's on campus right now.”

I was about to walk away but Elis suddenly gave me a thought. She said, “How about we search the room for a bit? You know... Just as a thirst quencher.”

“Why do you never seem to talk about Deo in the first place other than just suspecting him of something you don't even know what that is?”

“Not a suspicion. Just curious…”

Well… Whatever…

But how are we going to open this door again?

Don’t tell me… That’s… The only option…

“Oh, that one? Sorry… And yes, that’s how we will get in.”

No… I don't want to feel THAT pain just to search this only one fucking room!

No way! I better just call Ellie to peek through this keyhole and teleport me inside…

I suddenly heard the sound of the door being opened right where Fanya's room was.

So as this cowardly instinct of mine to not to be seen by the girl after that one incident from a few days ago, I just decided to turn into the mist form of my own curse.

Slipped through the gaps in the door, returned to my original human body while lying on the dusty floor.

“Fuck…” That pain again…

I hate it so much…

“Calm down. The exchange is quite worth it.”

“Worth what!?” Twisting my body while circling every wall of this room with my own eyes, I was disappointed that there was nothing suspicious that made my curiosity subside.

Fuck you, Elis…

“Just explore this place first, you dumb.”

Really?

The girl is even willing to bring out her tiny form from my own imagination, that seems pretentiously busy looking for something. She slowly touched the cover of a book.

“Ehm… Can you really open that sheet of paper? You can't even touch it with that… Uh...”

Tilting her head back, looking at me in annoyance…

Elis is forcing myself to shut up and let her do whatever she likes.

“You should join in the search too!” She yelled.

I took a moment to look out the window.

Then I slide and return all the things that I have touched and read, to their original position as if we had actually never been in this room in the first place.

“The doomsday posters... The newspaper contained everything that was nothing but hopelessness... As well as conspiracy magazines. I know he's such a fan of these kinds of things, but to see all of his collection right in front of my eyes, it's like… Ugh… Deo… why, dude?”

“Hey, Daniel! Check out this calendar!”

“Huh?”

Looking right behind me, there Elis seemed to be tiptoeing to reach for the calendar on the wall that was too high for her to touch.

So I decided to get up, getting closer to her, but then this girl lost her interest even before I got to the front of the calendar.

“There is nothing strange…”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Elis?”

“I can't see what you're not seeing. That's why I told you to come closer so I know if there's something strange there or not.”

“All this time I thought you could actually see something even if it was right behind me.”

“I can only sense souls... All parts of the soul from the head to toe, wherever it is around us. But I can't see anything unless it's something that you're also looking at.”

Wa… Quite disappointing…

“So you got it, didn't you? There isn't anything suspicious in this room.”

“There are a lot of empty packs of medicine in this place...” After counting the dozens of trash near Deo's bed, Elis slowly walked into the bathroom.

“Since that time... When he was exposed to the virus, which had killed both of his parents instead. He became such a sick person.”

“Also there is a lot of blood-stained tissue near this sink.”

“He also has frequent nosebleeds for no reason… Just like me.”

Rubbing her chin as if she was playing the role of a detective, little Elis asked about something she should have been able to see straight from the memory of our own head.

“First, he was infected from the outside... Then both of his parents were infected by Deo himself. Deo survived, but instead his parents died. He was a little traumatized by it, which was why he very often seemed to be like a very desperate person up until this second. You satisfied, Detective Elis?”

“Hmm… This is dangerous... Really really dangerous.”

“What… What?!”

“Don't you feel that Edward will think that he is also suitable to be our power’s vessel?”

“Oh…”

“Don’t ‘Oh…’ me, you tadpole. You're actually starting to get suspicious about it too, aren’t you? How about Fanya’s past?”

“I haven't heard any stories from her either, but as you know, if she also lost her parents a long time ago… Come to think of it, the three of us did have some past that was our own suffering. Elis? Could it be…”

“Yeah… No one was actually destined to have this power in the first place... Basically you are just the first to die out of the three of you, so you are the first suitable person to be this power’s vessel. You know, like... Choose! Yes! They can only choose, as long as it is not to create fate itself. And if we really need to talk about something like that, It is not the power which holds its own destiny, but it is each of our world that owns it.”

Without Elis needing to explain it, I already knew about the same thing from this little girl's own memory. Yet I actually became more and even more clueless…

Or it’s just one thing that my brain could catch from all of those explanations…

Edward, who made Deo and Fanya as a guarantee for myself, must have also thought of making them as my own substitute.

“I have to find Deo right now no matter what!”

I opened the window from this four-story high place, I jumped without caring about anything, but my friends… My family…

~~~~~

“But once you find him, what do you want to do? What do you want to say to him? Do you have any plans?”

“After I know he's fine, then I'll think of a way, Elis… So now just shut the fuck up, and help me to detect the soul that he has.”

“This place... His campus? Are you sure he's around here? I can't detect too many carriers and human souls in such a large space quickly. I need a lot of time!”

Okay…

Then we just need to narrow down the search…

But how, though?

“Try looking at the nearest internet cafe…”

“Ah! Wait… Eh?”

“What?! Do you agree with my idea, but don't want to accept the reality of how low both of you really are in the eyes of society?”

Elis, you’re so rude, you know that?

“Sorry. I just thought you would be proud to admit that fact…”

Okay, internet cafe that is...

Now I just have to check my cell phone to see all the locations of internet cafes around this campus area…

Elis, I'll be visiting quite a few internet cafes around this place, so let me know when you see the soul that this guy has.

“Roger that.”

~~~~~

“He’s not here.”

Yep, I guessed. After all, this internet cafe is too luxurious.

Next…

“Clear…”

This internet cafe does not separate smokers and non-smokers.

Of course he's not here…

Okay, next.

“This internet cafe is the tenth… Right?”

Any signs, Elis?

“No. Next!”

This internet cafe feels too old…

Of course he's not…

“The third floor... I feel something. I think that's him!”

“I knew it!”

I raced my shoes to climb the stairs. But before reaching the destination, someone called me not to continue the journey.

“There's no computer up there, buddy. The third floor is only for employees…” He said.

I'm sure Deo will never work as an employee of any internet cafe, because he is the type of person who will always be a customer. But...

Silent, turned around, facing the person who just said that, I then tried to explain my purpose to him. “I'm looking for my friend. Deo.”

“Deo who?”

“Deo… Shmitrzbla… Bleh… Ah… No. I only remember Deo. Forgot the last name… Sorry…”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Then walked past me up the stairs while still telling me not to go any further. “I'll check there. You stay here.”

“Thanks… Oh! My name’s Daniel! Say that to him.”

Elis, Deo really is here, right?

“Yes, but… Yep, he’s here. But... You shouldn't have told that guy your name, you idiot!”

Oh! Yeah… My bad...

~~~~~

“He's not here…” The man came again with such a straight face.

“See!? Look what you've done with the mere mention of your name, Daniel!”

Yeah, I get it already! Just shut up!

“But, look… I know he's there, and it's really, really important. So please, at least let me in even if it's just for a few minutes.”

“No one can go upstairs. So just go home, kid.”

“No, you fuck off.”

“What?”

“Trust me, you don't want to fight me, human.” Suffocating and lifting him up a bit with my remaining five soul powers, I advise this fellow to leave before it's too late.

He, who was a little frightened despite being annoyed at having been successfully threatened by someone younger than himself, decided to leave while not taking his eyes off me in the slightest...

You sense that there are many carriers up here, don't you Elis?

“Yes.”

Therefore, I searched the three existing doors.

The first one was filled with a lot of girls and boys doing something lecherous while in a puff of cigarette smoke.

I shut the door as I leave...

The second door contains many adult men with tattoos who are looking at each of their smart phone screens... Like playing a game or just gambling with their own digital cash.

So I shut the door again as I went for the last one…

And lastly sure, that's where I found about ten young men who half of them were carriers, the same as all of the people that filled the previous two rooms.

Those who seemed to be discussing something suddenly stopped while looking at me, who also fell silent as how I noticed the man who was currently kneeling to become a footrest cushion by one of them, the carriers… Is Deo himself.

I don't know if this is slavery or bullying. As far as I know, Deo is the one they're currently looking down on. So I said, “You get up.” Reflexively.

“And who are you, by the way?”

Didn't give any answer, I took off the black chain bracelet from my left hand, I put it carefully in my trouser pocket before giving a slight threat.

“I know that you all can't see how many souls anyone has so I'm telling you about this... You guys don't stand any chance of winning over me.”

“The fuck are you saying, you little…”

Swinging the back of my hand, to create one psychic wave attack from the number of souls I currently have more when compared to the last one when I used it to threaten Riksan and his friends, there was no need for a collision or impact like a pair of hands clapping to knock these people all out of their seats and hit the wall until they were on top of each other.

Still no one moved from their each lying positions, I helped or even forced Deo to stand up and asked him to go out of that place.

“What the fuck are you doing, Daniel!?”

“You’re welcome by the way.”

We were only a few steps away from the internet cafe building, when the screams of people who wanted to chase us suddenly resounded along the streets.

“You got it wrong! They are not bullying me, dude!”

“This way.”

With a little help from Elis, I found a room in a building that was empty at the time without a soul being detected inside. A room… Maybe belonging to a girl, I sat on the bed after closing the window from which we entered.

“Do you understand what bullying means? The thing you think I have misunderstood is exactly the answer... How did you end up in such a place, Deo?!”

“Damn, you’re stupid. Now I will never again feel safe in this town… Thanks, Dan…”

“I can help you with that... But first explain to me what the fuck did I just see in that place? You become their slave, then?”

“I… I'm just aiming for a little loophole to get the power… Wait… You! That power! Daniel! You're a carrier!? Since when!?”

When I heard the shock that Deo had just shown, I remembered what Fanya once thought when she said that Deo should have also been suspicious of this thing for such a long time ago. But it turns out that what the girl said ended up wrong.

I'm a little disappointed if I have to be honest…

“Since... Not so long after…”

“Your parent’s death?”

Should I lie and say yes?

“Yes… Around that time.”

“So my guess is right!”

“What?”

“That power will come when in the most critical condition, or when we are near a carrier who lost his life! I knew it!”

No… That’s not…

“Deo, I don’t think that’s how these things work.”

“Yes, it is! That's why... That's why my choice to be friends with them is correct in the first place! Because…”

“You want to be a carrier…”

This motherfucker…

“Deo... Don't even think about becoming a carrier, buddy. I'm begging you, it's not as beautiful as it looks like. And you're wrong! That's not the way to get this power to come to anyone!”

“Why? Don't you want me to also have the strength to survive just like yourself? Be honest to me, you were able to survive until this very second just because of that power, right!? Then… Why, tho? Why do you forbid me now, Daniel? Because you want to be the only one special?!”

“No… Because…”

“What!? Why did they choose you to have that?! Why not me!? Don't you know how much I've been suffering all this time, compared to you?! Don't you know how weak I am now after that incident!? And you still have the heart to stop me?”

“What the fuck, Deo? What’s going on? Oh… Wait… That’s how that is… Listen, Deo… I've known you for a long time. And we've been going through the same thing like this one here many times now, right? It's okay mate... I understand. We just have to calm down a little bit, okay? We just have to…”

“You know me, you say? Seriously? Have you ever cared about anything before, Daniel?”

Cared about… What?!

Isn't this just the same as when I was talking to Fanya?

“Just calm down a bit, buddy…”

“Though it's been quite a while I've been willing to be treated lowly by those trash humans. But suddenly you come and…”

“Deo… Have I actually been hurting you all this time without me realizing it?”

He was silent as if that was the truth.

For some reason my heart hurts…

Like it hurts so much…

I've been yelled at by my mother dozens of times, hundreds of times tortured by my father, but never before had I felt such pain like this one.

“Heh… You hurt me, you said?”

“Why? Why did you just keep quiet and not tell me about it? What is it? What have I done that hurt you, Deo?”

“Nothing, but… But you know, Daniel? You know that you are the only one… The happiest person I have ever known? Who doesn't want to be bothered. Like… Have you ever cared about anything? You're such a person who doesn't want to suffer, aren't you? Who doesn't want to make any sacrifices... Yet someone who is given the opportunity to enjoy his own childhood. Just the most unsuitable person to have the power you have right now…”

He’s wrong… I seem like I don't care, actually because I want to hide my suffering from you guys… Because I know it's unimportant…

I know I have never told anyone about my past, not even Deo and Fanya…

Since Fanya seems to know that out of nowhere, and understands that I'm actually just wearing a mask, I used to think that Deo also understood.

In fact, because he never said anything like what I actually expected from them not to talk about it, he was also maybe the one who had known me the longest, I actually thought that he was the one who understood me more than Fanya herself.

But I'm also wrong if I say so…

If Deo said that I actually never cared about anyone, it means that he also feels that I do not know him at all… Or in fact, maybe it’s true that I just don't know who he really is…

My thinking patterns were too narrow and I was too hasty to guess something that didn't speak at all… The heart of every human…

“But I care about all of you…”

“No, you just don't even care to understand the situation. It's just you naturally, Daniel. You're just playing too casually, thinking this whole thing is too simple to care about.”

But, Deo... You also think that if you understand the truth…

Which in fact is not even close in reality…

Too bad I can't say that, because I wasn't even honest with them from the start…

“You who have just destroyed everything I have worked so hard for, are not worthy of teaching me at all, Daniel. But I'm also sorry for keeping this secret and harboring hatred from you for so long… After all, you are just too ignorant to understand the problem from the very beginning. Now… Just leave me alone…”

No… I haven't even gotten to the real problem yet…

I know I won't be able to accept much more of this harsh reality, but now is the perfect time… The last chance to ask that question again. “How do you feel about Fanya and…”

“Yes, I love her. You happy now?”

That's not what I asked, but… “What?!”

“I liked that girl for a long time, but she liked you way longer. Yes, Daniel, Fanya loves you. I already told you that you have no desire to care, so how could you possibly be aware of that? If it wasn't for Fanya wanting to be around you, I would never even have had the chance to speak to her. I've been trying for so long, but her feelings haven't changed that long either. She only cares about you, only smiles at you, cries for you, leaves all of her friends just to stay with you. It's always you. You... You and just you! Do you enjoy it when I say that directly to you, you bastard?”

“But I never…”

“No, you don't need to try to make things better between the two of us, my friend. In fact, I myself was forced to always be your friend only because that's how I could be close to her… That Fanya.”

“Deo, I’m sorry I didn’t…”

What do I actually want to say anyway?

What else can I say that won't make things any worse than this?

“Right... Just shut up from now on. Just be like you used to be, someone who doesn't care about anything but his own pleasure and leave me alone. I will seek strength in order to survive and I will save myself. And I don't care about you two anymore... Go, and… Have sex with one another or something, I don’t fucking care, you little shit.”

Ah…

He left…

~~~~~

“Daniel? You okay?”

It's okay, Elis. I deserve that.

“Let’s just go home already. That’s enough…”

What? No… Hey, don’t get me wrong!

I will be angry if Deo has mistakes in every word he says, though…

But in reality there is none, right? so I'm not mad at all.

Oh! I'm not sad either… You hear me?

Actually my heart feels even lighter now.

So there's only one left, right?

Fanya. We have to hear from her too. You're still going to stay with me, right, Elis?

“Yeah… Sure, Daniel… Always and forever.”

Then let’s go.

~~~~~