SHOWTIME

S I X

Just as I was about to go, my mom stopped me at the front door.
"Young lady."

That's it, I thought. Whenever Mom called me a young lady, that meant I had ten seconds before she'd explode.
My life was officially over!

"What did I do this time, Mom?" I asked and pretended to be not nervous. But my brain had already set on the panic mode.

But instead of exploding, she looked at me worriedly. "You look terrible."

What the heck?

"Thanks, Mom." I didn't know what to say. Panic mode was still activated, so I wasn't able to think normally.
Mom pointed at me. "I mean it. Your face is literally blue. Did the nurse tell you anything about effects because of the coma?"
I didn't remember anything like that. But just minutes before, I was completely normal. What the hell happened?

I looked at myself in the mirror and was shocked: my face had turned white and there were blue parts that made me look like a broken glass. But they also reminded me of lightning, and when I tried associating it with something, my heart sank.
The corruption!

I fell on my knees and thought about the destiny my corrupted version had.
And that I'd have to tell Apollo I wouldn't make it to the date.
I sighed. What kind of dumbass would think of a random guy when her life was in danger?

Mom came to me. "Do you want me to call an ambulance?" Her voice sounded so calm and soft, like everything was okay and my 'disease' could be fixed.
But sadly, I knew better.

I felt like a slot when standing up and moving towards the front door. "I'm fine, Mom. I actually gotta go, Apollo's waiting for me."

I ran out and felt my heart beating as I kept running to the forest. I actually had a lot of stamina... actually. I breathed hardly and I bet my face was still white like a ghost.
But I wanted to run and meet Apollo. His presence would make me feel better... I guess.

When I arrived at the forest, I looked like a smashed tomato that had been standing in the sun for too long. And I couldn't hide it, so Apollo noticed it right away.
"Is everything okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."
"Your face's telling me the exact opposite." He grabbed my hand and looked at me worriedly. "You know, you can tell me! I promise, I won't tell anyone." He chuckled nervously. "I mean, it's not like there was someone I could tell, hehe..."

But the touch didn't make anything better. It made it even worse and I had problems with keeping my eyes open.

"You needn't worry about me." I said.
But he raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you look like you had a disease or something?"
"I... don't know. Probably the cold..." I said and didn't look at him. I felt so bad for lying, but I couldn't tell him.

He suddenly hugged me.
The electricity of his touch went through my whole body, the butterflies in my stomach were going crazy and my face probably turned crimson.

"I hope you feel better now. At least you look better..." Apollo said. Then, he looked shocked. "You always look good, but just two seconds ago, your face-"
"I know." I smiled. He was so cute when he gave me compliments like that.
Wait, cute?!
The bad brain half started running around like a maniac. "You don't like him, stupid! Shut up and make these dumb thoughts stop!" My head hurt a little bit and I pushed that thought about Apollo being cute away.

Apollo blushed — just like all the other times when I helped him or he helped me. I really liked him and wanted to tell him, but didn't know if he actually liked me too.

Then, I noticed something: I did really feel better. The dizziness was gone and my skin wasn't white anymore.
Was it because of Apollo? If that was true, I had to make him my best friend forever, BFF, whatever, but after the things I went through in my consciousness, I didn't want to get corrupted... even more than before.
Now that I knew what'd happen to me when coming close to corruption.

I suddenly had a vision in my head. The normal Furina I met in my consciousness was back and looked at me worriedly.
"Apollo makes you less corrupted. But you still don't know what that means after everything I told you."

I was confused, but didn't want to say anything in case Apollo heard it.
Furina sighed. "Think about what corruption means for you and others."

Then, she was gone and I looked at Apollo. He acted like nothing happened, but I had a feeling he knew there was something in my head. Actually, I was glad he didn't ask any questions.

Apollo pointed at a specific direction in the forest. "In the forest, I found a beautiful spot to watch the stars. And I wanted you to see the spectacle too!"
"Great!" I smiled, and I noticed it wasn't a fake smile I'd set up for other people. Did I smile because I was happy? Because of... Apollo?

While walking, Apollo kept talking about how beautiful that place was, but I needed some big thinking moments.
Just like brainstorming.

Well, it was obvious Apollo liked me. Probably as a friend or a normal person to chat with.
But what was the way I liked him? Friend? Normal person to chat with? Or even more than "friend"?
What did "more than friend" mean? My best friend was Stellar. But... did anything exist that was more than a best friend? Of course. A boyfriend. But there was no way I'd fall in love with anyone. I didn't even know how, so I pushed that thought away. No big thinking moments today.

We finally arrived at the place Apollo had taken me to — a hill at the end of the forest. It really was perfect to see the stars, but before that, we got to see a beautiful sunset.
"Sunsets are a typical thing that's associated with love and relationships, aren't they?" I asked. I didn't even think about it, the words just came out of my mouth.

Apollo nodded. "Sounds like a scene in a romantic movie."

"Maybe" I answered. "But I don't think sunsets are romantic at all. I mean, if you think about it, it's just the sun. Why can't the moon or a normal sun be romantic as well?"
Apollo raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. But why would you think that it's not romantic?"
"I just told you. The sun is freaking normal." I didn't think about what I said, not realizing what was actually happening.

"I agree with you." Apollo looked away and mustered the sun in a deep way. "Next time, I'll choose something better for you."

Then, I realized what I had done. He wanted to surprise me with a beautiful sight and I just told him I didn't like it.
"I didn't mean it like that!" I said quickly and panicked. What if he didn't want to be my friend anymore after this?

"It's okay. By now, I'm actually kinda used to it." Apollo smiled sadly. "You don't have to apologize."

I almost cried. Then, another headache came back. Shit, I thought, the corruption...
I had to stop it. And I just couldn't think of any other way.
"I just want to learn what love is..." I whispered.
That caused Apollo to look at me in shock. "What? You don't know what love is?"

I ended up telling him the whole story with my stupid ex-boyfriends and that I had terrible trust issues. But when I had time to tell him about the pact I made with myself, I felt like a child. Maybe, loving other people was just impossible for me.

Apollo took my hand when I finished. "I feel so bad for you. Sorry for making you uncomfortable, but I just didn't know you had these... problems."

I scoffed. "Problems? Oh, I actually had no problems without this... ability. It just seems so normal that I wanna know what it's like."

Apollo nodded. "Then how about..." He paused and looked at me.
"I teach you how to feel it?"

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