Carl swayed his legs. The sky was already dark, and he was still wandering around in his uniform. Carl was not usually like this. He would bring a change, at least a shirt, so as not to reveal his status.
However, the result of the summoning this morning had confused his mind, so he did something unusual. He even let his feet carry him away without knowing his exact destination. And finally, he walked home after eight in the evening.
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly right in front of his door. He needed calm and strength to face something behind the door.
"I'm home." His mouth was presumptuous to spit out his presence even though, at first, he intended to enter secretly.
"Finally, you're home." His mother sighed in exasperation from the living room. "Where were you? Why not reply to my messages?" she demanded.
Carl could only swallow his saliva. It seemed that he was not ready to answer any questions from his parents.
Seeing his silence, Kate's face softened and turned into a worried expression. "Why? What happened?" she asked as she walked over to him.
He glanced around before looking straight at his mother. He, again, swallowed his saliva to prepare himself to deliver the bad news. "I don't have any companions." Softly, he spoke.
"What?"
"No companion appeared before me."
Silence.
"Oh, dear." Kate hugged her son and gently stroked his back. "I'm sorry. That must be hard on you." She said near his ear.
"Sorry, Mom. I let you down." The hardest thing for him when he told about that bad news was his mother's disappointment. Kate fully supported his dream of becoming a doctor. But she lost to his father. And now, he had failed her again by failing to become what his father wanted him to be.
"No. Don't say sorry. It's not your fault. You know the destiny of humans and companions is a mystery." Kate calmed him down.
Yes. It was as mysterious as new things on earth in the last fifty years. Oh, he studied history.
"How's dad?" If Carl was afraid of disappointing his mother, what he feared from his father was the same, but in a different version. Albert was obsessed with perfection. Because of that, his father did not accept failure and disappointment well.
"I'll talk to him. Now, get some rest."
Carl let go of her arm. He looked at her one last time before walking the stairs to his room.
"Carl," Kate called him as he reached the end of the stairs. "Don't give up. You'll find other more beautiful things that only you can do," she continued.
He gave a weak smile and then disappeared behind his door.
--
"What?!"
"Keep your voice down, Albert. He's having a hard time."
It was an argument between his parents that Carl could hear from his room on the second floor.
"That's impossible. There must be a mistake."
"Albert!"
Before long, he heard the sound of rushing steps up the stairs.
"Albert!" Kate screamed her husband's name to stop him from doing what he was about to do.
Carl sighed heavily. He knew about his destination.
Moments later, the door to his room swung open with a bang. As expected, his father appeared in his doorway.
"That was impossible, was it?" Albert made sure the news he got went straight to the source.
Carl stopped buttoning his unfinished shirt to look at Albert. He had no choice but to face it. "That was right."
Albert's face was bright red. "How was that possible?" he cried in frustration. "You had perfect scores for the other tests, and there's been no problem with increasing your level so far." He paused for a moment. "There's no way you don't have a companion."
Carl was silent. He didn't know what to answer.
After a few tense seconds, Albert said, "Get ready. I'll take you to university." Finished saying that, he left Carl's room without closing the door.
He had said that his father had difficulty accepting failure, hadn't he? It was the proof.
Carl, again, took a deep, long breath. He continued to button his shirt, put on his shoes, grabbed his backpack, and went downstairs. Downstairs, Albert was ready in his work suit, waiting for him.
"You don't have to do this, Albert. Accept the fact that your son's destiny is different." Kate was still trying to hold on to her husband. She had overheard their brief conversation and where he would take Carl.
The laboratory in his university.
Yes, they had the same summoning facility as Carl's school.
"I have to know with my own eyes and make sure there're no mistakes in the summoning procedure." Albert insisted.
Kate grunted, annoyed at his stubbornness. She then turned to look at Carl at the end of the stairs. "You know you can refuse." If persuading Albert was almost impossible, it differed from his second son. Carl was not as stubborn as his father and brother.
Carl walked over to her. "It's okay, Mom." He calmed his mother's nervousness.
"Should I come with you?"
He gave a shake. "No. Repeating the summoning process is no big deal. I'll be okay," he lied.
Ah, that was not entirely a lie. Carl didn't mind the summoning process. What made his heart aching was the result.
Fail.
He felt like he would be stuck in that word forever.
Kate smiled weakly. It was a shame that her son comforted her, not the other way around. "Call me when you're done. Or I can pick you up." She was still trying until the end.
Carl grabbed her arms. "No need, Mom. I'll go straight to school after that."
Kate looked into his green eyes. The eyes are like hers, and only Carl has them in this house. "Okay. Then, text me, hm?"
He nodded and then smiled at her. "Sure."
"Let's go," said Albert and pulled the door open. But he immediately fell silent as soon as he found a stranger at the door.
"Good morning, Mr. Barnes," said a friendly silver pink-haired young girl. "Hi, Carl." She smiled broadly, greeting Carl in the back.
"Who are you?" Albert asked while frowning. He clearly didn't recognize the girl.
"Oh, I must introduce myself." The girl slightly changed her position. "My name is Miku, your son's companion."