After I got my phone, I left the school, and Aya said, “Let’s go to your house now, we need to rest!”

— — — — —

I looked at her and shook my head, “You can’t come.” I told her as I started walking toward home.

She began following me and, surprised, she asked, “Why not?”

I told her, “My mom is home, and anyway, it's not like you don't have a place to go.”

Looking at me, she said, “Actually, I really do not have anywhere to go.”

I stopped and asked her, “What do you mean?”

“I don't have anywhere to go, not until I get to my sister.” She said.

I resumed walking and asked her, “And you don't know where she is?”

She softly replied, “I think she is with the creator’s son, but she is mad at me...”

Calmly, I asked, “Why is she mad at you?”

She looked at me seriously and said, “I left her alone a while ago because she fell in love with the creator's son.”

“And you left her just because of that?” I asked curiously.

Visibly frustrated, she answered “Yes, because she didn't listen to what our creator told us. We can't fall in love, or we’ll lose our powers and become mortal.”

“Mortal? You mean you’re invincible right now?” I asked in shock.

Still irritated, she raised her voice, “Yes, and if she dies now, since we don't have souls, she’ll have nowhere to go, not in heaven, nor in hell”

Feeling overwhelmed by all this, I asked, “What? You mean those things really exist?”

“Of course they do. How do you think I’m here in the first place?” She said.

Something didn’t make sense to me, so I told her, “You told me your creator made you from nothing, and that he was a human.”

She said, “That’s true, but he had a little help from Lucifer.”

My hands started trembling again. “You are freaking me out!” I said.

She laughed, and with a smile on her lips, answered, “You don't have to be scared. I’m no evil to you!”

Her smile calmed me down a bit. “And about your creator’s son, what are you planning to do when we get to him?” I asked.

Sad, she said, “Getting to him means I will also find Miho, and I want to apologize to her for what I did. I shouldn't have left her.”

As we were approaching my home, I said, “We’ll go after them. Anyway, I arrived home now. You should leave, see you tomorrow morning?”

She looked me in the eyes, smiling and said, “I told you, I’ll stay with you.”

“No, you won’t, my mother's at home.” And as I looked away, I saw my mother coming home from shopping.

My mother came closer and said, “Ryuu, what are you doing outside this late?”

Surprised, I said, “Mom? Me? What about you? You’re shopping at this hour?”

She smiled and said, “You know, the new non-stop supermarket just ope—” Then her voice stopped as she noticed my hand. “Ryuu… what happened to your hand?” She asked worried.

“Oh, that, it was—” As I was trying to come up with something, Aya interrupted me and said, “He was outside with me and fell, he scratched his hand, so I treated it.”

“Oh I see. Thank you very much! But who are you? Ryuu...Is that your girlfriend?” She asked while she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Embarrassed, I said “Whaat? Noo…” As I was speaking, again, Aya interrupted me “I am Ryuu's friend, Aya, he invited me to his place.” She said smiling.

I looked at her, confused, and said, “What?”

But my mom was already heading to the door. “I get it, have fun, you two.” She said.

“Mom, wait, it's not what it seems...” I tried to tell her, but she already entered the house.

Laughing happily, Aya said, “Well, I guess I’ll stay with you after all.”

We entered the house, and as the door closed behind us, the faint sound of thunder echoed in the distance. I didn’t know it yet, but that night would change everything.