A/N: could have sworn I posted this already? Webnovel I stg, if you don't stop trolling me, I'm moving to AO3.
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Natsuki- no, Oozora Subaru.
I know that name, I know that face.
But from where?
Her lips continued to move, talking about the hotel and and the other world, but I was lost in my thoughts.
My eyes hurt.
"I'm telling ya, those hotel guys are crazy! You have no idea how much I had to clean up after them while I was still living there!"
Stop.
"Hey, those are some pretty cool shades you have there, they remind me of the ones korone has."
Stop talking.
Aqua stirs awake, and upon seeing Subaru and me speaking, she tentatively creeps over.
"Hm? Are you okay? Ah, that's right, you just experienced something traumatic, right? Sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you like this."
You're distracting me.
"Um, Subaru-chan?"
"Eh? Ah! Aqua! It's been so long! How have you been, you aren't still inexplicably cursed are you?"
I'm closer than before...
"Well... It's not like I'm trying to hurt anyone.."
Almost there...
"Haha, relax. I know you don't mean any harm. Say, what have you been up to recently?"
If I just dig a little deeper...
"Trying to get a job... This was my latest attempt."
Ah.
I saw something.
These two...
They were both in the same Gen, right?
Suddenly, I'm violently booted from my own subconscious.
My eyes throb even more, and I fall to knees from the pain.
It's like some creature is trying to escape from my skull, giving the illusion that my eyeballs are wiggling lose.
I can't close my eyes. It won't let me.
It hurts, it hurts so damn bad!
"Gaaggh...!!"
"Eh!? Are you okay!?"
"Mister!? Did you get hurt!?"
Aqua freezes in place, panicking, while Subaru crouches down and observes my face in an attempt to see what's wrong.
"No... Don't... look at me..."
...
Our eyes met.
-Second curse, [Elders Gaze]-
My red pupils shine through the sunglasses, meeting Subarus gaze in an instant.
Suddenly, Subaru swiftly leaps back and whips out her pistol.
"W-wait!! Don't shoot!!"
A bright florescent energy converges at the tip of the barrel, and my skin goes numb.
-First Blessing, [Death Instinct]-
I roll over, and a beam of light passes through the space where I just was.
"What-"
But before I could even question what just happened, I'm face to face with the barrel of a gun.
No time to react, no time to beg for my life, barely even enough time to blink, and five inches between me, and a small piece of lead.
At this distance, theres way too little time to move, and [Death Instinct] isn't reacting.
It's checkmate.
I'm dead.
"Wait!!"
*THUD*
Aqua slams her body into Subaru, knocking the gun out of her hand as they both fall to the ground.
Suddenly, Subarus eyes clear up, and she looks up at Aqua, who has a death grip on her.
"*Muffle Muffle*"
"Ah, sorry."
Aqua removes her huge chest from Subarus face.
"*Gasp* holy crap, what was that!!"
Aqua, blushing slightly, slithers off of Subaru, and the two stand up before looking over at me.
They look at each other, and then back at me, and then back at each other.
This repeats a couple times.
"Excuse me."
The policewoman swiftly walks over to me, and almost looks me in the eyes again. Thankfully, I'm being careful this time.
"I sincerely apologize."
Subaru bends her waist at a 90 degree angle, and apologizes for nearly killing me.
"I wasn't myself just then. It felt like some sort of fear or paranoia had gripped me when I looked at you, and before I knew it, I was raising my gun. Still that doesn't at all excuse my attempt to kill an innocent civilian. I've brought shame upon the Oozora police department with this incident. If you feel so inclined, please report me to the mayor so I may face the appropriate disciplinary action. I'm truly and deeply sorry."
Wow, even when apologizing, she talks like crazy.
Of course, I don't plan to hold her accountable for this. My curse was triggered through the sunglasses, who could have expected that?
Not to mention, my guard was down as well. Aqua avoided eye contact with me so subtly, that when I encountered someone who only makes eye contact, I failed to take the appropriate measures.
If my guard was up, this wouldn't have happened.
When I told Subaru about my curse, she looked deeply upset, and her voice gained a degree of softness that wasn't there before.
"I see... that's terrible. I couldn't imagine living a life where I couldn't even see my loved ones eye to eye."
"It's tough. And it's only gonna get tougher.."
"*Sniff* dats awful... Sob sob.."
Wait, why is aqua crying? Didn't I tell her that?
...
Hm.
I didn't.
"Cough cough, w-well, enough about that! What are we gonna do about the assasin?"
"Ah, that's right!"
"Huh?"
Subaru realizes she still has a job to do, while Aqua let's out a dumb sounding 'huh?'.
Right, I didn't tell her the job was actually an assassination attempt either.
While Subaru joined the other officers, promising to recompense me, I quickly filled in aqua who was unaware of the situation.
And to my surprise...
She seemed fine?
"Ah, so that's how it is?"
"????"
I stared at her in shock.
"... And how does that make you feel?"
"Well, I feel a little bad that someone died because of me again, but if they were trying to kill us first, I guess it's fine?"
Wow.
This girl is surprisingly cold-blooded.
She looked a little nervous at my silence, seemingly scared that she gave the wrong answer.
"Alright, then I guess we can just leave."
But that actually made things easier for me. I was wondering how I was going to comfort her if she ended up breaking down, but if neither of us are all that effected, then we should just continue.
Still, I wonder why she passed out if shes so unbothered? Was nearly dying that scary? Or perhaps seeing the corpse of the assasin was a little too much for her?
"Hey, Subaru! We can leave right?"
"Ah, yeah. We'll handle it from here, so don't worry."
Her voice was considerably more serious. It seems like she was the type to lock in when working.
"Bye mister, see you later Aqua."
"Bye Subaru-chan."
I waved her goodbye and led Aqua away.
.....
....
...
..
.
Me and Aqua walked down the street with extreme nonchalance.
We did not seem like people who just barely made it out of a near death situation.
But then again, that isn't exactly something you'd be able to tell from a glance right?
While staring at aqua, such ridiculous thoughts floated around in my head. I was so deep into my own mind, that I didn't even notice her wriggling uncomfortably.
"...uhm..."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"You're, uh, staring."
Aqua looked away with a flushed face.
"Oh, sorry."
"(Mumble)..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! I-its a l-l-little hot outside isn't it!?"
Why is she stuttering so much? And here I thought she got a little braver.
"It's like 60 degrees-"
"ISNT IT!?!?"
Nevermind, maybe she got a little too brave.
"Well, if you're hot, there's a cafe right over there? Wanna get something to drink."
It'll be nice and refrigerated too. Plus, we need to discuss our next course of action. The job interview was a bust, so we'll have to start applying again.
"Sounds good to me!"
When did she get so enthusiastic?
Well, I guess it's a change for the better.
We entered the cafe that had no name besides "cafe" and approached the barista.
"What are you getting Aqua?"
I looked back at aqua, only to see her frozen in place while shivering.
... Is even talking to the barista off limits?
I guess I'll handle it then.
"Can I get one caramel latte?"
I usually get quadruple shot expresso, but now that I have a different job, I'm not trying to die in the middle of my shift anymore.
The company I worked at sucked major dingaling, so I developed this form of self harm in an attempt to get a heart attack and die at my desk.
Instead I just ended up adapting to it. Regular coffee doesn't do anything for me anymore.
"Of course! And what will she be getting?"
The barista, a normal looking lady, looked at aqua with a slightly intense gaze.
That gaze seemed to have locked her in place, and I could tell from the way that she was positioned, she was ready to run if so much as even another syllable was spoken to her.
"She'll have a... Strawberry lemonade."
At that, the barista smiled, a little too widely, and walked away into the kitchen.
"Is the one at the counter supposed to be the one who makes the drink? These guys seem to be under staffed."
Actually, this whole part of town seems a little understaffed.
We were only a couple minutes away from the unfinished building, but shouldn't we have seen at least one person by now?
Unable to shake off the disturbing feeling, I grabbed aqua's hand and stuffed her into a seat.
"Eek!!"
"So, what was that about?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"You froze in front of the barista. You seemed prepared for the interview, yet you stopped in front of a normal person."
"T-that! I was just... I wasn't ready!"
"Wasn't ready to talk to the barista? To place your order? At a cafe?"
"Uuu..."
Aqua covered her face and groaned.
She has a long way to go...
"By the way, isnt it strange that we seem to be the only people in this part of town? The only other person we've talked to is that barista."
"Ugh... It's probably cause we're near a ED Gate."
...
"What?"
"You didn't know? Monsters break out of the Gates often, so people usually avoid the areas in its vicinity. In fact, that barista is the strange one for being here. If a monster breaks out, no one will be able to help her in time..."
"Wow, that sounds like a living nightmare..."
"Well, due to the danger, housing in the area is incredibly cheap, so you can find desperate people here and there."
"... How cheap?"
"... Mister, you're already living at the hotel for free."
"I-I was just making sure!!"
Tsk. I am very desperate, but do you think I'd throw away my life that easily?
Aqua chuckled at my exaggerated reaction, before freezing still.
She looked towards the barista who was staring at her with intentions I couldn't quite discern.
I only briefly saw it before the suspicious looking lady turned her head back towards her task as if nothing happened.
"... How off-putting."
Aqua nodded in agreement.
I'm not sure we should stay here for long.
Thanks to the baristas strange behavior, the conversation just now was cut off, and there was no room to revive it.
So in the end, we simply sat facing each other until our drinks arrived.
Aqua fidgeted and looked out the window while glancing at me, while I merely stood still like a statue. Several minutes passed like this.
Finally, the barista finished our drinks and came over to serve it to us.
"It's about time. I wasn't expecting restaurant wait times at a cafe."
"Haha, sorry about that! Our restaurant has a special ingredient that takes a bit of time to prepare!"
...
It's not poison right?
...nah, surely not.
I just got out of a horrid assassination incident, it's not surprising to be a little on edge.
I mean, what are the odds that the second person we run into also wants to kill us? Not high at all.
So...
"Why are you just standing there...?"
The woman simply stood over our table, staring intently at me and aqua.
Actually, her gaze was focused entirely on aqua. Strange, considering that the two should have no prior relationship.
"I'm just making sure that your drinks are up to standard. If they taste bad, I'll have to remake them right away!"
Why did she only look at aqua when she said that? What does she want from her? I bet aqua is thinking the same thing.
"Sigh... If we drink it, you'll leave, right?"
"Of course! I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable!"
You're doing a really bad job.
I pick up my cup of coffee with a little force, making sure to let my annoyance show. Aqua, completely stunned by the situation, simply follows my lead.
With very little expectations, and high amounts of suspicion, I put the cup to my mouth.
-Second Blessing, [Death Instinct]-
I slammed the cup down.
The force and loudness of the impact startles aqua into throwing her drink into the air.
Thankfully my cup has a lid, and aqua's is facing away from me, so I'm not in the splash zone. But that's not really my concern.
My concern is the fact that I can't go out without Satan himself plotting my demise!!
Twice, nearly killed on an outing, twice! What the fuck is this world man!?!
I've already nearly died 4-5 times now, and I've only been here for a couple weeks! How is anyone supposed to survive like this? If I didn't have [death Instinct], I'd be a goner!
And what kind of bullshit did you put in here that just taking a sip would have killed me instantly!?
Good lord...
Adrenaline pumped through my system, a response to me almost losing my life.
Thanks to that, my vision narrowed and time seem to move slowly.
My heart was beating like a drum inside my chest, and cold sweats appeared all over my body.
Despite that, however, my mind remained weirdly calm.
And it was thanks to that strange composure, that I could see something strange...
The arc of Aqua's cup was a little... Odd?
The way her hands moved suggested that it should have spilled everything directly into her face, and yet, not only the cup, but even the liquid would fly in a completely separate direction.
What direction, you ask?
In the direction of the barista, who has her mouth slightly open, as if preparing to say something.
At this, my brain moved even faster.
Should I do something? I could just knock the cup away, and that would save this woman's life. Even if she was trying to kill us, I'm still a little iffy about killing another living being.
However, as if to say my internal monologue was pointless, the cup, floating in the air completely free of contact and already following a predetermined flight path, suddenly tilted over mid air.
As a result, all of the contents inside were flung directly into the baristas face.
Unable to react fast enough, a couple drops got into her mouth and nose, and the shock of the situation made her swallow involuntarily.
Within one second of us picking up the cup, she was somehow the only one to swallow the contents.
One second passed, everyone stood still.
Two seconds passed, Aqua's glass cup hit the floor behind the barista.
Three seconds passed, the sound seemed to have brought her to her senses, and a look of shock and horror spread over her face.
Four seconds, the barista turned on her heel and dashed away.
Five seconds, her foot slipped on a shard of glass from the broken cup, throwing her onto her back.
Six seconds, she lands on a bed of sharp broken glass, turning the back of her shirt into a bloody mess.
Seven seconds, she cries out in pain, and begins frothing at the mouth while twitching crazily.
Eight seconds, her skin turns purple as if rapidly decaying.
Nine seconds, her whole body spasms uncontrollably.
Ten seconds, she goes limp.
Me and Aqua stared at the barista lying on the floor with her eyes rolled back as drool, snot, tears, and blood begin to pool on the floor.
The barista ingested the poison, and within ten seconds, she died.
I look at the corpse with complex feelings, while aqua stared in confusion.
And for good reason, someone we were just conversing with 15 seconds ago was now lying on the floor, dead.
So, for a little while, we just looked, slowly processing what the fuck just happened.
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A/N:
Important question.
Pure love or harem?
At first, I intended to do pure love, but I know how webnovel users are like.
So comment which one you want, and I'll tally them up and make a decision by chapter 15.
Sorry again for the late upload, I think it failed to post because webnovel needed to update. One reason why writing on a phone sucks.