Nova was rather nervous being alone without Arcturus, honestly. He felt as if something bad would happen if he wasn’t around with him as he believed his good luck cancels out his bad luck. Right now, Bootes was silent, which made him the same. He wasn’t sure what else to talk about when around him. He only asked those questions because he knew Arcturus wouldn’t; normally, he wasn’t good at initiating conversations and only did so out of Souhait telling him to do so.

He could only look at the table and then at Bootes; he repeated this several times before being stopped by Sophia and Murphy who came to the table with an assortment of fruit.

“Here, have a snack!” Nova could hear franticness in Sophia’s voice, as if they felt the tense and awkward atmosphere looming over them. Murphy handed them some water.

Nova grabbed the small fork, pierced a slice of watermelon, and ate it. The juices splashed around in his mouth, but it didn’t feel like it was filling him up. Bootes didn’t take a fork. He just kept moping in his seat. The dreary mood continued to linger.

As he kept munching on the piece of watermelon, he noticed Vanessa approaching the kitchen. She stood in front of the refrigerator and opened it, examining the contents and then slammed it shut.

“Guys, this is bad. We’re running out of food.”

The members of DUO present in the first floor became silent; Nova noticed they all had a horrified look on their faces. He detected that this was a very serious issue for them, which made sense to him as they needed food to survive–he did not.

Asteria’s horrified expression quickly changed into anger as she marched towards Vanessa, leaned in front of her face and yelled, “Why didn’t you buy more food, then? You were in charge of groceries this month!”

Vanessa became annoyed and lashed back. “We were in a hurry to gather and leave the vicinity! What makes you think I had the time to buy fucking groceries when we’re on the fucking run?”

“Well, you could’ve used the usual route and method to buy food!”

“Not in our current situation, you tyrannical pig!”

“How dare you call me a pig, you bear of a woman?”

The other DUO members did not bother to stop them. They all went about with their own thing, as if their squabble was just background noise. Nova could detect that this was a recurring thing and that stopping them was futile. However, he did not like conflict, especially between comrades. It sort of ruined the fruit’s flavor for him, so he put the fork down.

Should I break up the fight?

No need. I would like to see where the fight will go.

You can be awful at times. Souhait giggled cutely as a response, which caused Nova to sigh.

Speaking of which, you stored all of the food in Sophia and Murphy’s apartment, right? Can’t we take them all out or should our powers be kept secret?

We should take them out.

As Nova was about to grab the ends of his hair, Constance had attempted to interrupt the squabbling women, but they told her to butt out. This caused Sophia to become annoyed as she grabbed two spatulas and smacked them with them, one for each.

“SHUT UP!” Sophia yelled. “Aren’t you grown women? Why are you squabbling like little children?”

Vanessa and Asteria were shocked by the violent reaction as they placed a hand on their struck cheek. Constance took the chance to speak up as she raised her hand.

“May I speak now?”

Both women’s attention was on her. Constance pointed to Nova. “He has some extra food stored in his hair.”

They both turned to look at Nova with a perplexed expression. “His hair?”

Murphy nodded. “That’s right. Sou–Nova can elongate his hair and it’s super magical to the point that it can store stuff inside.”

Oh, that’s right. You did all that.

I sure did. Souhait sounded confident and proud.

Nova faced the gazes and replied, “Yes, I can elongate my hair.” He hesitated to touch his hair after looking at all of them. He knew they were allies fighting for the same goal, but there was a lingering doubt about someone thinking he was weird or terrifying. His goal was to grant the wishes of all living beings on this planet, so what would become of those who reject him, even if they were allies? 

You can do it, Nova. Show them our power and maybe it will convince them that wishes are good things. 

Will it really work?

I trust you. Do you trust in me?

Yes.

Then, let us see this through to the end. Who cares if people will reject us? We can just find other ways to grant their wishes, even if it is by force.

Okay.

He finally grabbed the ends of his hair and slowly slid his hand down. The further he went down, the longer his hair became. The shocked gazes drilling into him were to be expected. He stopped until his hair touched the floor. His head became a bit heavier, but he did his best to not lose to the weight.

“I have many abilities–312 in fact. Elongating my hair is one of them.”

“312 abilities?” Esta asked with disbelief.

“312.”

“Why do you need 312 abilities?” Bootes inquired.

Nova shrugged. “That’s just how much Souhait has. I’m borrowing his powers.”

“And what are you going to do after growing your hair?” Margaret asked, who was no longer moping in the corner of the kitchen.

Nova smiled. “I’ll take out all the stuff I stored in my hair.” He stepped on the ends of his hair and spread a few locks of hair out. He placed a hand in between two locks and a frying pan came out. “See?”

Everyone except Sophia, Murphy and Constance gaped. Nova handed Sophia the frying pan as he started taking out items one by one. He had taken out condiments, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, utensils and even knick-knacks that the apartment had used for decoration.

Did you really have to shove in the refrigerator as well?

I also shoved in their washer and dryer.

I’m not taking those out yet.

Nova stopped. “I think that’s all for now. I’ve got other large items in my hair, but I don’t think it’s necessary to take them out yet.”

Vanessa, with her mouth still gaped, looked down at all the items and then at Nova who started shortening his hair by reversing his hand in the opposite direction. “I think this is good…for like the next few months.”

Nova gave her a small smile. “I’m glad, then.”

He then stared at the group of people once again. He sensed no ill will in their perplexed expressions. He understood that they felt confused because of the extraordinary sight, but he could tell no one would think to fear him.

He noticed Hilbert who no longer had a surprised countenance. Instead, he looked extremely fascinated as he approached him and grabbed his hands. “You are amazing! How are you able to do that?”

“Well, I have Souhait to thank for that.” He looked away because he found Hilbert’s glistening eyes too dazzling for him.

“Do you think I’ll be able to do the same if I get my wish granted?”

“Well, not to the feats that I can do since I am his vessel, but anything can happen if you get your wish granted.”

“Then, I’d like to get my wish granted!”

“Hey, get in line!” Asteria rebuked with a scowl. “I go first!”

Margaret was holding her back. “Calm down, Asteria!”

“If you’re able to do amazing things if you get your wish granted, then I’d like to get mine granted too.” Esta remarked.

Everyone started agreeing. Nova was surprised to see so many people wanting their wish granted despite not showing off much. He started thinking about people he had met in the past and the bad experiences he had met. People wanted to use him for nefarious schemes or tried to use him as a tool. He didn’t know these people well, but he had a feeling they wouldn’t treat him as a tool, but as a person who can grant wishes. He just hoped that they could all treat him like how Arcturus does with him.

He felt so happy to the point that he felt as if he needed to show a token of his gratitude. He grabbed a few ingredients.

“What are you doing?” Vanessa asked.

“Let me make you all something as a token of my gratitude!”

“You can cook?” Asteria’s interests were piqued.

“Of course! I’ve lived alone for a long time, after all.”

“Let me help.” Sophia said before being stopped by Nova.

“I want to do this alone. I insist.” Nova felt bad that Sophia and Murphy were always making and preparing food for them. He wanted to be the hospitable one for a change.

“Alright then…”

Nova stormed off to the kitchen, ignoring the sighing Souhait was doing in his head.