Finally home, but... was he really at home?

In fact, that house wasn't his.

“... Where are we?” Mine looked at Addai, who closed the cab’s door.

Addai took a keychain from his pockets with a cat pendant and approached the entrance door, “It’s my house. I thought bringing you here would be good for a change on the background,” he turned the key and opened the door.

Mine was still confused, but somehow he found the idea interesting and, who knows, it could be beneficial for him... who was still wearing borrowed clothes.

“Come inside,” Addai took Mine’s hand.

Placing the keys on a black cat key holder made of clay, Addai waved with his hands, activating the house's lights and making the shadows incorporate in his own as if they were originally his. Mine entered right after, putting his shoes on the entrance's hard mat.

His friend’s house was, indeed, elegant and seemed pricey.

The decorations resembled the modern Chinese style from a few popular magazines Mine had read once while he was looking for a style for his place. Still, it had a few features that showed Addai's special touches, like the wood flooring and Asian-designed door divisions.

A beautiful flowery garden called for Mine's attention the most due to its vivid vibe at night. Pink, yellow, green, white… there were so many colors on that canvas he was mesmerized.

Placing his bag somewhere in the living room - and not paying attention to what his friend was saying - Mine walked towards the backyard until he felt the soft, cold grass tickling his feet and a cold wind blowing him.

Looking to the side, he found a short, stoned path leading to a bright stone shrine right in front of a tall, blooming cherry blossom tree.

Mine bowed respectfully towards the small shrine before noticing a small pond nearby with a few healthy, bright-colored fishes lazily swimming.

"Hey,” Addai called, startling Mine. "Come here. It's cold outside," and before Mine could speak, Addai covered him with a fresh towel. "There's a tub in the upstairs bathroom. I'll show you everything so you can shower."

Still silent, Mine followed him through the cold, lifeless flooring and corridors of that spacious house. Despite being very well decorated and furnished with chic furniture, it was cold and dark.

The hallways were wide, and many rooms were empty or closed. In others, there were cardboard boxes and materials that Mine could not identify.

The staircase that led to the top floor was modest, but modern and with lights on the floor with sensors – Mine particularly thought it was very chic and that Addai worked as a pure hobby since that house certainly cost more than ten times his hard-earned teaching salary.

Upstairs was even colder. Some frames with arabesques and minute details were covered by fabric or were missing photos, which Mine found very strange but decided not to talk about.

Mine's steps almost stopped when they passed in front of Addai's private library. It was so big that Mine identified a staircase inside, so it had two floors of books and materials! Once Addai was guiding him, his adventure was impossible (for now).

“Here,” Addai opened a door. “I sorted my smallest clothes for you to wear,” as he explained, a few shadows inside twirled and moved  a few pieces of furniture, items, and even the soap. What were those?

“… thank you,” Mine nodded, heading inside the bathroom. “…” he closed the door behind him and sat on the floor.

He didn't have the strength to think nor the willpower to fight for anything.

He was reduced to ashes after a wildfire.

All he wanted was to rest, but to be able to rest he needed to shower. He was too tired, but the tub was perfectly done as well as the clothes sorted and many fancies branded items like a body splash he recently saw on the internet, deodorant, body moisturizer… but Mine’s eyes laid on the perfume right on the sink.

After relaxing in the tub with bubbles and warm water, he put on his new clothes. It was a miracle the shirt was big enough to cover his legs a little bit because the pants… were impossible to fit.

Mine was a bit embarrassed, but he didn't know what to say to Addai, so he covered his legs the maximum he could with the blouse - as if it was a nightgown. Fortunately, his boxer underwear wasn’t too shady nor too weird.

When he was about to open the door and exit the bathroom after using everything his friend sorted for him… he glanced at the perfume on the sink and approached, taking the round-shaped bottle. It was the perfume he always felt around Addai. With a silly, faint smile sketched on his face, Mine put it back in its place.

Mine peeked outside and... Where was Addai?

The corridors were as empty as before, but Mine knew the way to the living room, so he started walking barefoot around the cold floors and long corridors.

In his way, a room caught his attention. It was wide with several paintings, canvas, and many painting utensils.

He entered the room and found himself in the most beautiful private art gallery ever. There were delicate flower paintings from many different species.

A specific painting caught his attention: a mural composition of five frames resembling a star shape. It was, unfortunately, unfinished, and the details were too sketchy. Only two frames from below were filled with the most delicate flowers he had ever seen…

“Wow…” and Mine couldn’t help but sigh, amazed.

“What are you doing here?” a deep voice startled him. There was a subtle urgency in his voice.

“The paintings… they are…”

“Terrible,” the voice hissed.

“I disagree,” Mine approached a painting with a mysterious woman with black hair and white roses around her. “They have… a soul. They have life. They have beauty,” as he spoke, his hair color changed, matching each painting he touched. “They have you, Addai,” he smiled, even though his tired face made it miserable.

"…" Addai fell silent, and Mine could see, under the dim lights, how reddish his cheeks were. "Let's go, I made your bed," he said.

“I want to stay here for a while,” Mine replied, sliding his hand on a painting’s frame. “It’s so beautiful I don’t want to leave,” he chuckled, and his hair turned a harmonic pink shade, just like his eyes. “It’s wide, a bit cold, and full of still life," he started walking around the room, not caring if his feet were dirtied with the dust on the flooring. "I loved it here," he touched one more painting's frame, and when he took one more step, all his previous footprints glowed, forming his erratic path among the paintings.

Mine let his hair glow and flow in the air, enjoying the place's distinguishing energy. He felt sorrow, happiness, innocence, hate, joy… so many emotions in one place… they were so intriguing and deep... until he felt warmth around him.

"Rest," Addai took him in his arms. "You'll end up fainting here if you use too much mana," he walked out of the room, and back to the cold corridors and dark places.

Mine lazily blinked and rested his head on Addai’s shoulders, “You’re silly…” he muttered, feeling a sleepy wave take his eyes.

"I'll be here tonight to watch over you," Addai sat on the bed and covered Mine's body with the fuzzy sheets.

Wait, bed? Did Mine took a fast nap?!

Mine looked around, and he was on a wide-ass bed! It was so fancy Mine wished his body to not get accustomed to that perfect mattress, sheets, pillows, and quilts, which smelled damn good - what would he do when going back to his home and facing his cheap mattress??

Was it a feeble guest room? It couldn't be!

Wait...

Under the dim lights, Mine saw a few lighter spots on Addai's arms he hadn't seen before.

Were they always there?

He looked at it again... and again… and again. So, when Addai lay beside him, he took his arm and examined it again…

“Scars…?” Mine voiced, looking at those scars with a puzzled face.

He was sure he hadn’t seen them before, or… did he really didn’t pay enough attention to Addai at all? They were linear, like slashes, and far different from a cat’s scarring… Umbra couldn’t have done them.

“Ah, these…” Addai muttered, but soon his tone changed for a cocky one. “I was a warrior in a past life," he said seriously but then chuckled at Mine's frowning.

“Really? Is that serious?” Mine grumbled and released Addai’s arm.

"Really. I was a strong and bold warrior," Addai made a proud pose, and Mine chuckled. "Many people used to adore me for that, and all of them smiled at my doings, just as you're doing," he arched an eyebrow, and Mine wheezed.

“No, stop! That was horrible!" Mine laughed out loud.

The dark clouds around Mine had successfully vanished, and it was Addai's turn to make the sun bright again. Well, a warrior must be a hero!

Addai stood and mimicked a warrior stance, eventually using a ruler – he got from God knows where – as a sword. Mine used the pillow as a shield, both acting as if Addai was the warrior of a lost city, and Mine, his sidekick who did his best to support the so-called hero.

The bedroom now turned into the stage. A chair? A mountain! The wardrobe? A portal array! The rug? The sea! Everything turned into something else for their play.

Addai purposely fell on the floor, and Mine made a help stand, conjuring a few light mana rabbits to “aid” them and do the sidekick role even better.

The rabbits "cured" Addai's "wounds," nibbling his skin – and damn... it was ticklish, but he perfectly ignored the ticklishness, not spoiling his role. Meanwhile, Mine was making an emotional speech about the Hero’s doings and how he would be remembered for so many years on.

Then, Addai conjured a smoke-like dragon that tried to take him by the legs and rip them apart, giving him some more (fake) scars. Mine took the Hero's sword and pointed to the dragon, glowing his hair in light green and so the palm of his hands, full of scripts; he mimicked Addai's earlier "hero posing" and stabbed the dragon, dissipating it in the air while the bunnies turned into light orbs, illuminating the dim room.

“Oh no, the hero is still on the floor!” Mine gasped dramatically, taking Addai’s hand.

“Cough, cough, tell my fans… cough I did my best…" Addai dramatically closed his eyes, and Mine couldn't hold his laughter. "Hey, you need to act better."

"I can't anymore!" Mine laughed.

“You’ll perish!” Addai started tickling Mine.

Ah, the tickle attack! A vile move!

Mine's clouds were now kilometers away as he laughed out loud, avoiding more and more tickling, but he failed every time Addai took him by surprise. He needed to raise the white flag!

"I'm sorry, oh, great hero! Spare this feeble soul,” Mine summoned the light mana bunnies to tickle Addai back. "Or perish!!"

"Hahahaha! No! That's a foul move!" Addai laughed out loud.

Addai's laugh was wide and it was possible to see his teeth, a teethy and warm smile. Mine, gazing at him, felt the dancer in his heart miss a few steps. His friend's smile was bright, and the dimples were there after a long time he hadn't seen them.

That smile really suited him.

Mine wished that person’s smile never fades…

… even if he could hate him someday.