“Did she actually say that? Who is this girl?”

“You know, she’s that one who always ranked first.”

“The one who always matched your grades?”

“Exactly. I swear to Orpheus, it’s my unlucky streak again.”

“She was right, though.”

“Not you too. Anyway, I basically followed Arun to a karaoke place. There’s like three unknown girls here. It was really awkward.”

“Leave, then?” Suddenly Violette’s voice turned sour over the phone.

“I probably should. Just a little worried about Arun there.”

“He’s a grown up. Leave him. Which karaoke place is it?”

“I’ll send you the location. Just put it on the blacklist. The acoustic is bad.”

“Sure, Kagura Sota.” She hung up the phone.

Hm? Something poked me a little in my brain. I didn’t really think that much about it, though. I went back from the toilet and approached the room where the others were.

“Cheers!”

I sat back down on my seat and unenthusiastically joined everyone else. It was Arun and a bunch of girls from a different university, an all-women one. He didn’t even think about inviting the other football team members. I felt quite guilty for being there despite not having anyone to feel guilty for. Hathaway? Violette? Maria? Probably, my mother, really. 

“You’re not drinking, Sota?” One of the girls noticed my glass was full of soda instead of the alcohol everyone’s getting. I just smiled, faking innocence.

“I still have work to do after this.”

Noisy. Cold. Blinding. The trifecta of my discomfort. It had been a while since the last time I went to a karaoke place. It was with Maria and a few of her nerdy friends so what actually happened was a whole concert of old cartoon songs and some people who tried to actually sing seriously. This time, I could only stare with my eyes half opened at the sight of someone trying to flirt with three girls at the same time. 

Luckily, after telling my story once, they found the rest boring and left me out to the side. It was the perfect chance for me to just go away and leave all of them behind—

Slam. The door suddenly opened. What was standing behind that door wasn’t her. It was something that resembled the human that was Ashley Jones.

“Ash- Ashley? Why are you here?”

“Really, Arun? After all this time? After everything I told you? After all I poured out?”

“What do you mean? What did I do?”

I stepped up and stood between Arun and that creature. It was the jealousy that gave everything away. A familiar flame of jealousy. Suddenly, I felt a tremendous amount of weight in the air around us, the room mysteriously expanded and the girls all fainted by the atmosphere, leaving me, Arun, and Ashley there.

What’s going on?

Ashley’s right arm turned into something that resembled the bark of a tree. It extended out, forming a vine-like tentacle that she immediately swung at Arun. He couldn’t react fast enough against that. Fortunately for him, I was in the way so I could easily block it. The impact alone fractured my left forearm but the vine flung me away at least fifteen meters to the side. I was bracing for the pain that should follow but I didn’t feel anything.

“Always chasing for the others without looking at what’s in front of you! All these years, you do it over and over again!” Ashley’s vine-like arm shot through the air and twirled around Arun’s neck, lifting him up slightly off the ground. “Have you ever thought of my feelings?”

“What are you talking about?” In between the gasping for air and the shock of what’s going on in front of him, Arun tried his best to talk. “You’re the one who didn’t listen.”

A little disoriented, I got up and checked all the wounds Ashley made. The taste of despair. I’ve been waiting for so long. A voice rang in my head the moment I noticed that my wounds were rapidly closing. It worried me but I had something else to think about right now.

I ran and leapt to the arm that was choking Arun, latching onto it. She released him and sent me flying across the room to the door. Slam. I hit the wall outside of the karaoke room assigned for us. Using that chance to look around, I could only see the hallway without any other door. This isn’t how it looked before, I thought.

“There’s no use, Kagura Sota. You’re in a Boundary, something the Fairytale put up.”

“Fairytale? Boundary? I don’t know what any of that means!”

Gentiana Hathaway walked in who knows where from. She was holding a rapier in her right hand. The steel color had a purple undertone with its guard and crossbar in the shape of a rose and its thorny stalk. She stood in front of the door watching Ashley who, once again, had Arun in her grasp.

“I told you to leave him alone.”

“And let him die?”

“Rich for you to say that. Look at you, all wounded and— no.”

“Ha! Looks like I’m not human either, eh?”

“Has it developed that much?” Somehow she had an apologetic expression briefly on her face. I shrugged it off the same way I shrug off the question in my mind. “This is not the time to think about others. At this point, even you are in danger.”

“I’m sorry, Hathaway, but I was born to be this way.”

I could see her getting annoyed by what I was saying. After letting out a sigh, she quickly glanced around. “I can’t agree with what you just said but explain what you are.”

“I’m not exactly sure,” I said as I walked and stood to her left. “I don’t feel pain and my wounds heal up quite fast.”

“Caladrius.” She gripped the handle of her rapier tight. “Fine. I can’t use my powers fully here as there’s no plants around.” She took off the blue rose corsage she was wearing. “But we have one shot at this. I need you to distract her.”

“Got it!”