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𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎: 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚣𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚢𝚘

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 1266

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

Chapter Three: Minatozaki Chiyo

☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎☽︎

To formally introduce yourself... You are Minatozaki Chiyo, currently "something" years old, and you're also baffled by what you're seeing in your vision. "What the hell..." Your eyes glimmered to dark toned books surrounding you in such a tall structure. You can see the roof of this place! It wasn't just a black void!

"Oh my god..." Things were scattered around the place, and they stacked upon each other. Large splashes of color definitely hurt your eyes, but you couldn't stop yourself from looking. "Wow.." Everything was amazing. There was this thing that lights up a yellow shade to brighten up the place. This world is definitely brighter than where you lived. "Holy-"

"Minatozaki?" Your body immediately jumped at the deep and growling voice from behind. It wasn't the same as Ai's voice. Your body turned slowly to the owner of the voice. However, you weren't brave enough to stare.

You pushed my arms forward in a defensive stance. "Who are you?" Somehow, your energy was powerful even though Ai wasn't with you. "Mina-" He cut himself off as if he had just realized something. "-you really did it..." He scoffed.

"You never answered my question. Who are you? How did you know my name?" It never truly sunk into your brain, but he called your actual name. It raises your curiosity about who or what he does. What is he supposed to be? The male placed his book back to the high shelf and crossed his arms. Obviously, he looked like he had no intention of answering anything you asked. "My boundary is off limits. I should be the one agitated to see a trespasser." He stated.

"Boundary?" You have no idea on what could that word mean. Ai never mentioned such a word to you. It feels like a foreign language. You were genuinely curious, but he never took you seriously. For the first time that you took the courage to make eye contact with him. He gave you the most dead and souless look. It was a gaze that Ai will never give you. "You really became so helpless.." The way he was talking sounded too personal to say to a stranger. "What are you talking about?" You asked, knowing he'll only give you silence.

"Will you actually answer my question?" Your voice raised, frowning your eyebrows as you glared intensely. "Well."

"Well-?"

"I prefer you stop being on edge. That way, I won't feel too threatened." As he stated, you softened your posture and realized how tensed your shoulders were all this time. You looked towards the male. He was a tall and lanky individual. You almost looked past his extremely pointed ears and fangs. Frankly, he's a freak in your eyes, but you don't seem to mind as much as you thought you would. You always pondered meeting creatures other than Ai. However, she will always be your number one... just saying.

"Wait, where are you going?" Your
eyes instantly followed along as he walked past you in a hurry. "Hold on! You still never answered my question."

"Can you lower your voice?"

"Why would I? You're clearly not respecting me! Why don't you just give me an explanation?"

"Explanation to what, exactly?"

"On like... how you knew my name and what am I doing in here?" While quickly following his steps, you gradually lost distance with him. "How would I know how you got here? Only you can answer that."

"Then, how do you know me?" You kept insisting the more he refuses. In the end, he groaned.. already tired of your mess. "Fine." It took him that long to persuade only to reply with one word. The male suddenly halted and remained on one spot, ending up with your nose bumping into his back painfully. You couldn't even react accordingly by how fast it happened. "Why don't we have a seat in office." As he offered, you followed along without much thought.

.

.

.

Although, you never expected to hear a bunch of nonsense.

.

.

.

You're currently sitting on a swivel chair, resting your face on the back of your palm, and listening to him talk without a stop. For someone who was refusing to say a word five minutes ago, he had a lot to say. Your questions were slowly being answered, but it wasn't an explanation that you'd just nod to and blindly accept. "So, I'm your student?" You raised my eyebrows in confusion.

"Exactly." He faintly nodded.

"And I tried to trap my soul, so I never reincartnate again?"

"Yeah."

"Okay..." Your eyes squinted in unsatisfation. Not only is this place uselessly lit with too much light. He was also speaking too much information for you to understand. How are you supposed to believe that you're the alleged madman who committed a taboo and is currently not aware of it? It just doesn't make sense. Not only was this place unfamiliar and not like what you know. This person who calls himself Tsuchigomori is also losing his marbles and ends up creating nonsense. "You don't look convinced."

"Of course, I don't. I just happened to transport into this world and coincidentally met you. All the things you're saying sound ridiculous to me."

"I understand. I don't expect you to be persuaded after one session."

You wanted to question more, yet you found myself unable to come up with a suitable one. It felt like a horrible dream. Something that you always hated because you kept experiencing headaches due to it. He was a mess, just like everything that you see. Colors are all over the place, objects are compiled oddly, and everything wasn't what you're used to.

You thought it would be nice to come out of your home and experience something different. Maybe you're too bored at that time. You and Ai's place is definitely better than whatever this is-...

....is what you thought.

"What the hell is this place.." After setting foot in here... What you saw all this time was just an introduction. Like the rusted door that you saw earlier, Tsuchigomori opened the one that's located in his office. There were more than just books and chairs in here... infact-

"It's so tiring.."

"Do you have notes on the last subjects topic? I forgot to write it down.."

"Ah, three more days to go!"

People were swarming the halls. You couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was mesmerizing seeing those who almost looked like you, and they were everywhere! "Who are these people?" You stated with your eyes glittering at the sight of them. "Not sure.. And don't bother talking to them. They won't see you."

"Why can't they see me?"

"Because you are only a soul and don't possess any physical body." Thank goodness you understood that one. You nodded at Tsuchigomori and continued stepping out to see a better view of the outside. It hurts to see flashes of colors, but you don't seem to mind as long as it's something interesting. "Your world is amazing, Tsuchigomori." You complemented him in awe, yet the only response you got was his wrinkled eyebrows.

"You keep saying 'My world'. This is your world as well, along with everybody." He made an easy statement. However, it's too hard for you to swallow. Your world has always been black. It's hard to accept that you were kept hidden beyond the walls of this place. "I don't-"

"-Chiyo?" Suddenly..

Your mouth was completely sown shut to the person who's surprisingly in front of me. You could never forget those vibrant locks of hair.

"Ai?.."