The Demon Saint is Missing, so I Ran to Another World

Greg Santos (Part 1)

Alexa Cassandra David...

"..."

Cassandra David. Now, where did I hear that name again? It felt like there were a lot of things missing in my mind. Something that made me feel nostalgic. Something melancholic. Something painful...

"..."

"Sir Greg?"

"H-Ha?"

My senses returned when I felt someone gently push my shoulder. It was then that I realized, I was in the middle of talking to Alexa. Lunch break was in progress, and instead of spending my time inside our faculty room, I would head out and play around, or have an idle chat, with our students. If I remember right, I saw Alexa eating alone, so I sat beside her to check on her, leading to the current situation.

"Sir, you're spacing out again."

"I do?"

She nodded. Alexa may be a snob, quite ill-tempered at times, but she's pretty observant of the people around her. In fact, she could tell if a person was true or just pretending to get along for the sake of it.

"Well, returning to what we're talking earlier, how's your life?"

"Sir?"

"I'm asking how are you?" I pointed to her left arm, which had a handkerchief wrapped around it. "You can't hide that slash wounds from me, see? I've seen a lot of my old students do that when they're going through something."

My student fell silent and continued to eat her lunch. Then she stopped and laughed a little.

"You didn't hit your head on something, girl?" I jokingly asked. "Why did you laugh suddenly?"

"Sir Greg, I really can't hide anything from you, 'no?"

"More like, my students can't hide much from me," I countered, "I'm always on the watch for sad kids, see? I don't want to lose friends anymore."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..." I took a sip from the soda can I had in my hand. "So, why did you hurt yourself again?"

Another round of silence. Though the laughing noises of the other students on break filled the air around us, Alexa and I were in a world of our own.

"My stepmom..."

"Yeah?"

Alexa took a deep breath, obviously trying to fight back the tears, "She got angry at me again earlier this morning, and slapped me."

"Hmm...why?"

"Well, she says I'm not helping in house chores," she revealed. "I mean, yes, I know I'm not helpful, but does she have to tell me that I shouldn't have been born? Did I even wish to be born?"

It was my turn to be silent. I just let her pour out her emotions.

"I want to find my mother. I want to ask her why she left me with my stepmother..."

I gave her a head pat, "Ah, I can't blame you for that, you know? Those words are really harsh."

"See? I'm right, sir!"

"Indeed," I nodded. "However, you also have to consider, why they got angry with you."

"I'm not helping with the house chores."

"Exactly," I grinned at her. "You know our parents; if we don't get our sorry asses moving, we end up with some ass whooping."

We both shared a laugh at that. Then Alexa continued on her story, "Well, the reason I wasn't able to help with the chores is that, I was busy studying, even pulling an all-nighter yesterday, sir! That I'm not that smart like the other students, so I have to study hard to pass."