Save my soul ✔

Will you go out with me?

Throughout the following month Reina could hardly think of anything else aside from that not too distant date. She couldn't exactly say that the guys she'd dated so far were handsome... in fact, compared to Toyu, they all looked like the ugliest things alive. Her happiness only decreased somewhat just two days before that, when she received a call from her mother on her way home from college. Finding him at home, she walked next to the armchair where he was seated, apparently working on her laptop for his job.

"Um... we have a little problem. My parents are coming to visit me tomorrow. And... I haven't told them about you yet. They'd probably have my head if they knew I brought a complete stranger into my house."

"So... you want me to act like your boyfriend and tell them we've been dating for a while? No problem. I did want to eventually be your boyfriend, anyway."

He turned his head to give her a wide smile whilst he worked on the programs that the company had started him on. He, of course, had also made some minor repairs on her computer throughout the day, so as to make it run faster for the two of them. Smiling somewhat relieved, she offered a nod.

"I hate lying to them, but there's no other way out of this."

By the next afternoon, Reina was so anxious that she could barely sit still. She wanted so much for her parents to like Toyu as much as she did. Suddenly remembering something, she looked to the young man that was now standing at the window.

"Uhm... Toyu... what religion do you go by? I'm sure they'll ask that."

He gave a moment for thought. Many humans didn't really seem to have a religion at all... the belief in divine entities was at an all time low in that world, due to the disasters it had endured.

"I... don't really believe in anything like that."

That was it. He didn't need to say anymore. Those who held such faith were quite sensitive about it.

"I see. Well... I suppose they'll just have to deal with it then."

She wouldn't say it out loud, but the thought had occurred to her that maybe over time she could change his vision of religion. Some minutes afterwards, the doorbell rang and she moved to her feet to go greet her parents. After the initial hugs she finally led them into the living room.

"I have someone I'd like you two to meet." she smiled.

Within moments a couple somewhere in their forties entered the room, the man dressed in what looked like a black robe reaching his ankles, his bushy black beard stained with gray hairs from place to place. The moment his eyes fell on Toyu, his gaze slightly sharpened as though he'd just seen a creature he did not know whether to classify as dangerous or not. Still he kept his calm and peaceful outward demeanor as he offered a nod to the boy.

"God bless you, young man." he said calmly, whilst his wife was still more focused on their daughter.

That moment seemed to freeze in his mind for a moment. Why did the girl's father have to be a servant of God? Perhaps it was His way of reminding him that He was gazing down on the whole thing. He would have to avoid killing or harming the man, or else...

"Thank you. Greetings, sir. I'm Toyu."

He didn't yet speak to her mother, since the woman was addressing Reina. Motioning her parents to sit on the couch she now stepped to Toyu and reached for his hand. After all, if they were putting up an act they had to do it to the end.

"Mother, father... Toyu is my boyfriend. I wanted you to meet him today, since you took time off to come see me."

For a brief moment, a faint shadow crossed her father's expression. There was something seriously wrong with that boy. Sure, he seemed polite and kind, but his intuition told him otherwise.