DiMENSIONS [IDOLiSH7]

14: Feelings

-Silica-

"How long are you going to keep hiding here, Yuki-san?"

Tenn stormed into Yuki's room (or rather, Yamato and Ryuu's spare bedroom). Iori was following behind.

"Get out." Yuki said with a straight face. He was sitting on a bed in the dark room with messy hair, a thin stature, and pale skin. His eyes were lifeless.

"Do you think Ogami-san wants you to end up like this?" Tenn did not spare his thoughts.

"Ban is gone. Nothing matters anymore. It's the end of Re:vale. The end of me." Yuki answered, not really looking at the two boys. Iori had a sad expression on his face as he was reminded of when he lost his parents. He cried so much back then. The only person who could ease his pain was Mitsuki.

And Mitsuki was now 'gone' too. Tenn became his next saviour. Were these kinds of attachments unhealthy? Iori did not want to think of that right now.

He did not ever want to have to think about it.

"Listen, Yuki-san." Tenn crossed his arms over his chest. "If you are saying you don't care anymore, how about doing a favour for me?"

Yuki looked up to indicate he was partly listening.

Tenn explained. "I need a manager, and I want you to fill that role."

Iori's eyes widened. He felt a stab in his heart. Why had Tenn never asked him even though he had been putting together a schedule for Tenn's practice all this time before he auditioned. Tenn seemed to have come prepared, however. "I would have asked Izumi if he hadn't got school and his part-time job."

Yuki stayed silent.

Tenn said, with a neutral expression. He looked pretty intimidating this way. "You don't have to be alive to do this job. Just tell me my schedule. Watch me practice. The rest I can handle." The magic user took a few steps backwards and touched Iori's shoulder. "And I'm sure Izumi can also help, but the main job is yours."

Iori smiled a little.

"What a pain..." Yuki muttered, but he never objected. Tenn signalled for Iori to leave while they could before Yuki changed his mind.

~~

Because all the buildings were restored to their original state, most elite scientists kept their focus on researching the cause of the earthquake. Yamato felt there were enough people working on it, so he went to the building of official personnel to meet with the Regulator, Nagi.

As soon as he entered the modern-looking building, an AI came to greet him and lead him to Nagi's office. Nagi sat in the middle of the room behind his large grey desk. The room had several projected screens, showing stats of operations running in Silica. The blond told his AI to turn all of them off once Yamato stood in front of the desk. The whole room would give off a dark, official vibe if it were not for a large, limited-edition MagiKona plush sitting on the table, facing Nagi.

Both Nagi and Yamato were wearing suits with ties. Nagi was supposed to wear that on his job. In Yamato's case, he wore it because he had to meet Nagi. Otherwise, he would be in his usual white lab coat.

"Hello Yamato." Nagi gave a little smile. "What brings you here today?"

"Hey Nagi," Despite wearing such formal attire, they spoke rather casually. "Actually, I have a request."

"Oh? What is it, my dear friend?" Nagi leaned forward and blinked.

"I think there are enough scientists working on the earthquake thing already. I would like to get back to my original research." Yamato trailed off at the end, knowing that it sounded like a selfish request.