Ray closed in on Rico, gripping his hand tightly. A loud hem caused Ray to pause, and he saw Reinhard now standing between him and Rico.
"You can fight later, but first let us finish.
" Letting go of his anger, Ray sighed.
"Fine, I'll wait."
Reinhard, pleased with Ray's answer, spoke. "So, since you made some interesting points, let me give mine. The only way I can allow you to fight the attacker is by proving your skill."
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Ray asked, tilting his head.
"Just a simple thing. Fight me and prove it," said Reinhard, displaying a confident demeanour.
Pointing his finger downward, Ray spoke in a nonchalant tone, "So now or what?"
"No, not yet, meet me after school tomorrow in the bar."
Saying that Reinhard turned around, leaving as Rico followed his trail. Ray and Venica were left alone. The atmosphere between them was weird, despite the mode Ray wanted answers, staring at her, he asked," Venica, or if that's even your name, who really are you?"
Walking toward she spoke," I have different identities, for some I am the junior reporter, for others I am the lieutenant of the sinless judged, but know I am your girlfriend."
Falling backwards, Ray pushed his hand toward her while trying to hide his blushing face. Her cheerful expression was mixed with her last word, which took him off guard.
"Ok, stop teasing me," he replied, showing his irritation
"But it is fun seeing you at all, cute, you know," she responded, giggling uncontrollably.
" So, did you know about our bet or did?"
"Nope, honestly, I was quite surprised to find out that Reinhard did not recruit you early, I mean, it was quite obvious you were a rifter."
"Wait, what do you mean it was quite obvious?"
His face suddenly changed, not knowing how she could have figured it out.
"Come on, it was so simple, do you think going from the bottom score to the top of the school in one test after a time void was suspected to have appeared in that vicinity 3 months ago, if you wanted to act normally, at least try not to change a lot of things next time."
Ray's thoughts were complicated, how could his perfect identity be found like that? 'Damn, guess I'm bad at hiding myself.' Picking himself up, he walked to her,
"Let's go then, it's already late."
Hearing his words, she grasped his hand. "Let us go then, shall we?"
Ray's heart was bounding so fast he could not control his expression. He knew she was teasing, but still, he couldn't tell the difference.
They walked as they chatted about different topics, some of which were about their day-to-day life, whereas the others were just topics they found interesting. Reaching the train station, Ray wished this day could last a little while as Venica entered the train, she turned around for a moment.
"This was a fun day, thanks to you." She grasped her hand tightly to her chest, continuing.
"And I wish you could have won the bet, maybe then we could have been together," smiling, she finished.
In an instant train door closed, leaving Ray stunned by her last words. He began walking home, repeating her words in his mind.
The moment he reached his house, fear took him. Realising how late the time was, it was unavoidable to be beaten down to the core of it; he exerted a small amount of force to knock on the door, closing his eyes, reaching a position of defence, fearing that his aunt would scream at him.
The door slowly opened, each second feeling like eternity as Ray was waiting for his demise. Suddenly, his aunt jumped from the door, screaming, tears falling from her eyes like rain.
"Ray, help, there is a cub in our house!"
He was surprised by what he heard as he claimed his aunt.
"There, there, don't worry, I will make him leave the house."
An idea came to him as he rushed to the store to buy a big plastic box and raw meat. He had some money left for today to buy everything he needed; he went back and placed the meat inside the box he was holding.
The lead as they were hiding in the bushes, waiting for the cub to get into the box. A noise was coming from their house. Slowly, the cub emerged and entered the box in swift movement. Ray closed the box and ran away with it to the park. He opened the lid there and returned to his house. He knew that no one would be there at this time.
He rushed back home; His aunt thanked him as she went and sat on the sofa. He was confused as to why his aunt was not reacting to him being late, but took it as good luck.
Heading to his room, he opened his door, lying on the bed, before he could do anything, he had already fallen asleep.
Inside his dream, Ray was standing on a stage wearing a wedding dress examing around him to see his face on the clear water of the lake that was perfectly placed behind him.
He could tell this was a more mature face of his. Turning back, he saw the crowd staring as if they were waiting for someone to come on. People were chatting amongst each other as they all turned in the same direction as Ray's eyes.
A beautifully designed white dress, the lower end being cared for by two girls who seemed to be close to the age of the woman who wore it, she walked and stood in front of Ray before he could spit out a word. The officiant, who turned out to be Ray's master, spoke. "Let us begin the wedding."
"I never thought my niece would be accepted by any girl with his nasty personality," his aunt said, holding a scarf, wiping her tears.
"Hey?"
Ray's master continued. "So, Ray, would you take this angel woman as your wife?" Without hesitation, he responded with a clear sense of joy washing over him.
"Yes."
"And you, madam, would you take my pathetic disciple as your husband?"
Venica, grabbing the dress, responded with a beautiful yet mature voice
" Of course."
"Well then, you may now kiss."
Leaning himself toward her as both closed in on each other, a sound that discomforted his mind, the sound which seemed to be abnormal was now increasing in volume, making him hold his ear; a bright light, a luminated ray's eye.
bang bang bang
The sound stope after successfully woke Ray up in terror, he did not know what was happening; everything that was going on was too real for him; he was about to live his life with the person he fell in love with. He looked to his right to see his aunt, who seemed to be holding the pan. She looked at him mischievously.
"So did you kiss?"
Ray, shocked, bared his face as it slowly turned red.