The Tale Of An Utterly Old Lady. [Jiraiya x OC]

Chapter 19 | Until I See You Again

Chapter 19 | Until I See You Again

"I think...we need to talk about something."

I stared at him silently for a few seconds, wary of the seriousness in his voice. With curiosity growing in my mind, I finally spoke up to ask, "...About what?"

"About that headache you had some time ago..." he replied, frowning. "No matter how much I think about it, I have a feeling it was more than just you being tired. Do you know...why it happened?"

He's too perceptive. I sighed.

The question was long overdue, I knew, but I still felt a little hesitant answering it. Although Jiraiya was the first person I'd ever told of my otherworldly origins, he didn't know any more than that. After all, I had never disclosed anything about my life nor my family to anyone.

I glanced at him, but lowered my head almost immediately afterwards, unsure of where to start or what to say.

"I'm not here to force you to talk," Jiraiya suddenly spoke up after some time in silence. "I just think...y'know...maybe you want to talk."

...Do I?

Maybe I did. Maybe I did feel like I wished someone other than me knew about the existence of my life from before, and that the memories I'd accumulated from my original world were more than just fragments of images within my mind—that they were real.

And so I...talked.

We moved to sit at the dining table, sitting across from each other as the ceiling light illuminated from above us as I finally made up my mind to speak.

"...I've told you before that...I'm from another world," I began, and Jiraiya nodded his head. He stayed silent to let me continue speaking. "I had a family, you know? My mother, and my brother. I had friends, too..."

I bit my lip, feeling despondent.

"But...I can't remember. I can't remember what they all looked like. I can't remember what happened before I got here—before I found myself in the village," I sighed, twiddling my thumbs. "But if I try to remember...it looks like I just get a headache instead."

"So that's why..."

We both fell silent, though it was not the uncomfortable kind. It felt more as if he was giving me some space to immerse myself in the nostalgia and longing that I felt for my past.

I truly appreciated it.

The more we talked, the more I...

My eyes naturally fell upon his figure. He was looking down, chin on the palm of his hand while his elbow rested against the table. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts after what I'd just revealed to him, and as I watched, a warmth embraced my heart.

Wow. I'm down bad, huh? I couldn't help but feel embarrassed over my continuously rising affection for him.

Who would've thought this would happen? Certainly not me.

The me from before I found myself in this world probably would've thought that I was ridiculous. Yet here I was, unable to take him off my mind.

My desires grew with every second I spent with him, but I knew that he had to leave soon. After all, that's what we promised from the start: he would go on his journey after I've told Hiruzen what I wanted him to know. I would've been indifferent to his departure if I were still the same as I was when we first met, but now...I sort of wished he didn't leave. Regardless of what I felt, however, I didn't have the courage to tell him not to go. It felt as if it wasn't my place to ask him to stay and to interfere with what to do with his life.