𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 ➼ ᴀɴ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ

『ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ: soulless』

『ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ: soulless』

| THE FORMER IMMORTAL PROMPTLY FELL DOWN IN SHOCK. |

He cursed himself for believing that their eyes were a mere coincidence. After all, his eyes perfectly mirrored Miyabi's, and vice versa. Her name also meant 'elegant, summer beauty. Again, Akira cursed at Nemos for making things so complicated. He didn't understand what his plan was, nor why he was doing this.

In Miyabi's point of view, Akira looked like he was in a state of shock and was very pale. Miyabi didn't expect this to happen. She wondered whether the reason for his reaction was because of his wound or the meaning of her name. Although why he would react to her name like that was a mystery to Miyabi. Worried, she rushed to Akira's side and tried to comfort him, "Hey, hey? Are you ok? Do you need to rest for a while?"

"No! I mean...No. No need for that, I only lost my footing. I'm fine," Akira rambled on.

"Get up then, the store's a few minutes away," the girl said, pointing to a small building the boy couldn't see clearly. As they ventured forward again, Akira leaned on Miyabi for support from time to time. Finally, they were near enough for Akira to see the details of the store. It was small, but it was doing well, mind you. It also seemed to have everything they needed. The door opened, and a 14-year old girl beckoned for them to come inside.

As they stepped in, they met the scent of old cabinets and the cheerful greeting of the cashier who opened the door ("Welcome to Nichimura's!). The cashier looked rather intriguing. She was of average height and had shoulder-length black hair with yellow streaks on either side of her supple face. Although, her most noticeable feature was her eyes. She had chocolate-colored ones with dark shadows under them; no doubt the fruit of staying up till 2 am. Her eyes were also hidden behind big gray glasses.

"Hello Aia," Miyabi greeted the cashier.

Aia waved her hand in acknowledgment and said; "Heya Miyabi! And...Who's this?"

The injured male was spacing out, so Miyabi had to poke him in the ribs. "Oh. Forgive me, I'm Akira Hotaru. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oooh, well, hello then Akira! I'm Nichimura Aia. I hope you become one of our regulars, heh...Enough chit-chatting! It's nice to see you both, but,"— she glanced at Akira — "I see you'll be needing medical supplies again, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be needing extra alcohol and bandages too," said Miyabi.

"Coming right up!" The cashier happily skipped to the stockroom in the back to fetch the supplies, since they were only available on demand.

"Now wait just a minute!" Akira demanded from Miyabi as the cashier left. "You said 'again'. Do you mean that this ghastly wound has happened to someone else already?"

Though, as Miyabi opened her mouth to speak, a new voice answered instead.

"Injuries like yours happen regularly. We even had one person lose their limbs! Be thankful that's all you got."

As he heard this, Akira was disappointed. He was hoping for people to spoil him, to treat him like a royal. He was, after all, the once immortal servant of the Great and Powerful Nemos. Alas, things would never go his way. Thinking back to it now, he realized that it was quite odd for Aia not to go frantic at the sight of his bloodied clothes and his wound. He sighed, as that meant wounds like his happened more often than they let on.

Both Akira and Miyabi wheeled over to face the figure, who was snickering to himself, and stopped abruptly as he saw the looks on their faces.

"...Why're you looking at me like that? Oh, my bad. I'm Hiroshi Akihiko! It's nice to finally meet the Squirt's friends."

The figure then stretched out a pale hand with long fingers to shake Akira's and Miyabi's hands. He seemed to be one of the staff, as he was holding a box full of instant ramen (which was to be put in Aisle 1; the noodles section). Akihiko looked around the same age as Aia but was nowhere near the same height as her. He had soft messy hair that had a brown hue. A pair of narrow sapphire eyes, which twinkled mischievously, sat upon his friendly face.

"By the way, I don't think I got your names. Do you mind telling me?" he added hastily.

Miyabi was the first who answered, followed by Akira. At that moment, Aia bustled out of the stockroom with her arms full. Her expression changed quickly from a light smile to a scarlet-colored face, then to a scowl, in a span of a few seconds as she saw Akihiko 

"Oh. It's you. I thought I heard a dog barking around in here," Aia said coldly. A tone that differed from her once friendly voice, as she returned to the counter to check out the items Miyabi needed.

"Ouch...That was harsh. It's nice to see you too,  Squirt," said Akihiko pensively.

"I couldn't say the same for you."Aia checked out the last of the items and shooed Akihiko off the counter. He glanced at her with fondness and returned to putting packets of noodles on the shelves. Oblivious, Aia turned to Akira and Miyabi, who both were baffled about her sudden mood swing. Smiling, she said, "That'll be 2,000 yen, please!"

Miyabi proceeded to get a small wallet in her breast pocket and took out the money. The former immortal was thinking about how the wallet could defy the laws of physics and not fall off when the girl's running out and about. The cashier took the money and hummed as she checked if the money was legit. Satisfied, she put the items inside a plastic bag that had the shop logo and passed it on to Miyabi.

"Right. All that you need is in there. Thanks for shopping here!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬

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