HIRANG

18: Kapitbahay

"Nefrizaine..." I whispered.

I am seeing Nefri. Nefri is here!

"Anong kababalaghan..." I frowned, stepping back from her and examining her entire figure with surprise.This is unbelievable! Why is Nefri here?! She seemed taken aback by my actions, staring at me as though there was a witch in front of her.

I'm seeing Nefri.

I held my head. "Did I hit my head earlier when I fell? That's why I am seeing things. Are you a ghost?" I said, confused.

"What are you talking about?" she exclaimed, reacting strangely to my behavior.

Am I just dreaming again? How can Nefrizane be here? Neazhoi, wake up. This is all a dream!

"Who are you?"

If she confirms she's Nefrizane, I might completely lose my mind. Before she could reply, another voice interrupted her.

"What is happening here? Why all the shouting?" We both turned towards the person at the door.

The masked man.

I gazed directly at him, still clutching my head with my left hand.

"Heneral,"

I looked at Nefri-no, the girl-as she addressed the masked man.

"Oh, Shika," he responded, shifting his attention to Nefri-I mean Shika. Shika! It's Shika! Why do I keep calling her Nefrizane? I'm getting confused.

"What is the shouting about? Are you two fighting?" he asked Ne-Shi-Shika! Damn, it's Shika! Not Nefrizane, you idiot!

She faced the masked man and crossed her arms like some spoiled brat.

"It is all because of this girl," she stated, shooting me a glare. Her behavior gets on my nerves, but I refrain from jumping on her right now.

"I cannot make sense of what she is saying all of a sudden. Perhaps she is losing her mind. Heneral Mejan, why are you allowing such weird individuals to reside in this house? And it is even closer to my room," she complained, a trace of irritation in her voice.

My ears perked up because of her remarks about me.

"Hey! Who are you talking about being out of their minds and weird? I'm just really surprised, okay? You just don't understand me. That's why you don't know why I reacted like that to you. If you were in my shoes, I'm sure you would also react the same way." I was going to cross my arms, but I couldn't due to one of them being bandaged. Oh, I completely forgot about my broken arm.

It seems that even in this world, Nefri's attitude has not changed. She is still stubborn and hot-headed, tss. How is it possible that even their personalities are so similar? They appear to be the same person.

"Ah, Neazhoi, you seem to be surprised by her. Allow me to introduce you two." The masked man's gaze once again narrowed as he gazed at Shika and me with what seemed like contentment or a smile.

"Shika, meet Neazhoi-"

"Neazhoi Ypsis." Shika cut off what he was about to say.

"I am familiar with Heneral Mejan. The girl who accompanies Nunong Haikuri and the crazy one."

I disregarded the last remark she made because I knew that if I allowed her petty ridicule to affect me, it would just satisfy her ridiculous personality.

"Shika, it is not appropriate to speak that way to others." The girl merely rolled her eyes at the masked man's words. He turned to me. His eyes were no longer squinting.