Alex smiled as he talked with Unako. Somehow, he felt at peace while he did so. She never judged, and somehow she seemed to agree with everything he said, but not in a dull way. More like they just had a similar thought process.
"Have you ever had this feeling of Deja Vu?" She asked Alex as she ate her food.
They were at his place, eating lunch he offered to make. He knew Mia wouldn't be bothered, since she was never home anyway. Alex kept leaving her notes on random parts of the house, but she threw them away. But she didn't throw them away the last week or so.
"I don't think so. I just feel like the same things keep happening over and over again." Alex told her, looking at the floor, thinking about what Mia was doing.
"It's a very weird feeling. I know what will happen, but I can't control what I do after that feeling, even though I have the need to change it." Unako explained, looking deeply interested in the topic.
"Well, we had a speculation that it's connected to Hell. Like that it's the people that returned from the games." Alex answered, remembering the horribly conspiracy theory-ish class they had in that weird school.
"The games? What do you mean?" She questioned, looking very confused, but intrigued.
"You see, when The Judgers can't find a solution for a person, they send them to this game where they fight till the last one survives. The survivor can go back to earth without any memory for a better life. That's in short terms. Although that's so barbaric and dumb, for such logical people they do some of the weirdest things..." He continued having a mini rant until Unako interrupted him.
"Alex, what does that have to do with Deja Vu?" She asked, kinda laughing at his concentration.
"Oh, yeah. Hell doesn't have time, and since some people return to the actual world, their head gets mixed up and sometimes get prophetic dreams, deja vu, very strong intuition and so on... But it's just a theory that can't really be tested." Alex finished off, somehow looking like he was in a bad mood.
"That kinda makes sense. I'm kind of happy hell exists, I always was the one to be spiritual. This just kinda proved I wasn't crazy." She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back, thinking she was cute.
"Thank you for always making me happier." He told her very directly, making Unako blush.
"It's nothing to be thankful for. I noticed you were in a bad mood. But why?" She asked him, looking at him with her curious pink eyes.
"I'm still worried about Mia... She left the keys at her bed this week, I don't know where she is, if she's eating or anything. No one has seen her this whole week. I have no idea what to do, or how to fix this." Alex said, a leap of emotions going through him all at once, ranging from sadness, guilt and worry, to even anger, protectiveness and fear.
"She can take care of herself, Alex. You don't need to worry that much." Unako told him reassuringly.
She knew Mia was reckless, but she knew she was fine too. That she couldn't die. She was drinking and partying, she was probably having fun if anything. For some reason, she didn't like that he was worrying so much for her. It was ruining his mental health... And because she felt like he liked her more than just a friend.
"I have to worry, Unako! She's not fine... I should have been more caring and I should have asked more questions... I've been such a shitty friend..." He looked at his food, losing his appetite completely.
"She's out partying. She's obviously having fun, you won't help much by worrying. She obviously doesn't want you to find her. You can't help someone that doesn't want your help." Unako tried explaining once more, wanting him to get his mind off Mia for once.
"Yeah, I guess so..." Alex mumbled, although he knew she wasn't right.
"You know it! You have Adrien, me and your ex-classmates. You don't need someone like her." She tried again, but she knew it wasn't working out.
"I need to go to The Judging now, it's my first time and I'm really nervous." Alex stood up from his seat, eating not even half the plate.
"But you didn't eat anything, Alex." Unako said in a worried tone.
"Don't worry about that. I'll after The Judging." He told her as he opened the door for her.
She went outside. He closed the door and locked it with Mia's key. He squeezed it a bit with a sad facial expression as he stuffed it in his pocket. Somehow, that hurt her, but she didn't want to tell him. It would be weird.
"I think you'll do fine." Unako said in a confident tone.
"I don't have to do anything really, I just have to do my best to make a good impression on everyone there." Alex said seriously, but his voice was more high pitched than usual and his walking down the stairs was much quicker and ridged.
"You won't make a good impression with that old hoodie." She told him, pointing at the old thing with holes and threads sticking out from the sides.
"I'm not taking that off though." He said through a smile, like he remembered something nice.
"I literally never seen you without that hoodie. Why do you never take it off?" Unako asked one of her many nosy questions.
Alex was quiet for a bit, as if he was thinking about what he should say.
"It just brings back memories." He said in a very warm tone.
"Did Mia give it to you?" She questioned once more, blurting it out from fear.
"It's not from Mia. But listen, I really have to go, so I'll see you some other time, okay?" He told her.
"Okay..." She looked at the floor, looking a bit dissatisfied that he didn't answer.
That's when he hugged her tightly. She got stiff as she blushed, looking up at him. He maybe always said he wasn't tall, but to a short girl like her, he was huge. Even for Japan's standards she was small, it wasn't hard for him to feel manlier.
"I'll call you to tell you how it went." He let her go, to which she just stared in a speechless way.
He smiled brightly, finding it cute.
"Bye!" He waved as he turned the other direction, leaving her to panic over him and wonder if she had a shot with him.
