The Promise of Tomorrow

Chapter 32

"Argh, damn it, again?!" Tonomachi grumbled as he lost to Y/n once more as they played a fighting game on their handheld consoles. "Well, you know my fighting games are my forte, right? You could've picked a card game that we downloaded on the SPS yet you picked a game where I could whoop your as in a second," Y/n pointed out, to which Tonomachi stated that it won't be fun and satisfying if Y/n goes down due to sheer luck.

"You know, true. Everytime we play a game heavily based on luck, Murphy's law applies to me," Y/n agreed and handed his console to Shido. "Go play in my stead or whatever, I'm checking in on our kouhai," Y/n spoke and stood up to go to Johannes' designated seat. As Y/n was on his way, he had met Reine, who seemed to had seemed to wander around.

"Can't sleep?" Y/n asked, immediately pointing out her usual eyebags and Reine sarcastically replied, "Oh you don't know how long I have trouble sleeping. Thirty years of this cycle happening is a torture." Y/n was surprised, thirty years was something that was concerning. "No, I'm fine. At this point I got used to it. Anyways, what brings you here? Your seat is over there," Reine asked to shift the topic while pointing at the area where Lin's designated seat was.

"Is it not okay for me to check on how my kouhai is doing?" Y/n asks in a sassy tone, and Reine chuckled with how bratty he sounds like. "No, there's nothing wrong with it. Still, since you're here. I guess we could have some chat. If you don't mind," Reine requested for some of Y/n's time with a friendly chat.

"Sure. I don't have anything to do. What's up?" Y/n asked and Reine gave a very vague question. "What do you plan to do now?" she asked and Y/n tilted his head. "What do you mean what do I plan to do?" he expressed his confusion and Reine shook her head, apologizing for her vagueness. 

"I meant what do you plan to do with your current situation. Judging by how you're probably placed under the eyes of DEM, you're going to need to be careful," Reine clarified, pertaining to the possible threat of the people Jakob had warned about to Y/n. "I doubt that they're here in this very plane. Besides, I already know that they may be after me or this pendant. I'm a Psuedo-Spirit, meaning I'm seen as their potential asset," he spoke in a nonchalant manner, but the way he worded things out means he was cautious about them.

"It's best that you don't trust any of their words. I know from experience that they are not what they seem," Reine advised, but there seems to be some sort of grudge and hatred while she described what kind of people the DEM Industries are. "That's quite the assumption. With that tone, you must have quite an experience with them," Y/n quickly noticed that Reine's expression had changed.

Reine then kept silent for a while, and anything she might say may lead the conversation to something else. Her affiliation with Jakob meant she knew something about Y/n more than himself. She wanted to tell Y/n about everything that she knew about the DEM, but before she could say anything, they heard a familiar voice of a boy shouting:

"I told you, just leave me alone, you hag!"

"Tch, someone's coming!" Y/n muttered as he summoned a shadow on the wall so that he and Reine could hide, only leaving a small opening so that they can hear, breathe, and see. There, they saw Johannes trying to walk away as he was then stopped by Ellen. "That's not the right way to talk to me, have you forgotten who I am?" she asked while pulling Johannes' hair, causing pain to him.