...
Silence.
I was met with silence.
"Smack!"
Scratch that, I was met with a slap.
But strangely, her hand stayed on my cheek, caressing the pain away.
I leaned my head into her hand, raising my hand up to hers, gently grabbing her wrist with my own hand, feeling her warmth once again.
"A-are you okay?" She asked so quietly, that only I, and the ghosts around us, could hear it.
Hearing this question, I could only smile.
She didn't ask, "Where have you been?" or, "Are you real?", instead, the question she asked was just so heartwarming, so familiar.
Astraea, she was always putting others ahead of herself.
Her dad would be proud.
"I'm okay Raea... I've never been better."
She stayed silent for a second, I believe that she was in deep contemplation.
"How?"
I guess she was wondering how I had gotten better without her by my side, and why I had thought that she wasn't able to cure my darkness.
Of course, instead of curing the darkness in my heart, I had just embraced it.
"I was able to find my true self, I was lifted from my burdens, and I came back to you. This is the best that I've ever felt, trust me..."
Once again, she stayed silent, her hand still caressing my cheek, as if to check if I was real every few seconds.
"A-are you s-staying?" She asked, in a shaky voice.
"I just came back, what more would I do?" I said jokingly, trying to lighten up the mood.
The hand that was softly caressing my cheek suddenly reached behind my head, and then pulled the next second. I was now slightly bending over, my forehead against Raea's.
"Promise?"
I could feel her hot breath on my face, as I noticed that she was breathing heavily.
'Hmm... Smells so much like... Like Raea.'
"I promise."
I sealed the pact by cradling her face gently in my hands, pushing back her hair, running my fingers along her hairline, as we stayed like that for a few more moments, just enjoying our time together, just two youths in the middle of a courtyard in the middle of the night with their foreheads pressed against each other.
It was an extremely heartwarming sight.
...
Two Weeks Later:
Standing under the familiar arch, I looked up at the new banner that had been hung there.
"We Welcome All New and Returning Students!"
Sighing at how generic it was, I just walked under it, to the meeting spot that we had set up to meet at before classes started.
Over the past two weeks, over many cups of tea at my house, hers, and some restaurants, I had "explained" my "situation".
I had told her that one day, my aunt had come, and had suddenly taken me.
This was true.
I told her all about my life with my aunt in the countryside, my adventures on my family's farm, and my learning experiences at my new small school.
This was a half-truth.
I then told her a bunch of stories about the country, and then about how I had come back to the city to try and have a better future, as I had never quit my harsh studies.
This was completely false.
I told her about how, in the past 2 years, I had tried to find her, but had just never been able to, as the city had more than 100 million residents.
Another half-truth, I had tried to find her, and I had succeeded, I just never took the initiative and sought her out.
After all, I was afraid.
In more ways than one.
Especially after finding out about her side occupation.
And how I had actually hurt her a few times during our confrontations.
I was just too scared of the consequences.
But this meeting.
It wasn't planned.
I honestly didn't know that she would attend National University too.
So, after seeing our names on the screen, or well, hearing it in my case, I just knew that I had to face her.
And that was how I was here now.
On the other hand, during these meetings, she had told me about her life after I left.
She scolded me, harshly, for not giving her mom and her any notice that my aunt had taken me.
They had actually believed that I was kidnapped or dead.
Well, technically, I was kidnapped.
I had to say sorry many times that day. I even had to go and beg her mom for forgiveness.
That was an extremely nerve wracking affair.
Of course, both of them forgave me, at least on the outside, saying that they understood my circumstances.
Well after the day of scolding, she told me about her life during the 6 years I had been gone.
Well, it was pretty generic actually.
She went to school mostly, and she told me some stories, blah blah blah.
Of course, I listened to all of them intently, wanting to know what my best friend and foster sister had been doing for all the years I had been gone, but I'm just too lazy to write them here.
But, I was a little disappointed, as she never told me about how she was an intern for the police department, having to fight on the frontlines against this city's super villains.
Honestly, I was worried for her.
The last time I accidentally hurt her, I had beat myself to sleep.
I was just that concerned over her safety.
Well, anyways, it wasn't like I was one to say anything about keeping secrets, so I just stayed silent and continued to listen.
Now, after 2 weeks of meeting each other, we were basically back to our usual dynamic.
I didn't know if it was because of just how close we were and now are, or if it was due to another factor, but I gladly welcomed the comforting banter and presence that I had been missing out on for the past 6 years.
Well, enough reminiscing, let's get back to the present.
Meeting her under a tree in a secluded spot on the school's grounds, we started releasing our nerves for the first day of school onto each other, talking like there was no tomorrow.
She also punched me and physically abused me a few times, but, I was already used to this, just, was it just me, or did it hurt a lot more than when I was a child?
'I guess she's grown stronger, wait, STUPID! She's a cop for goddamn's sake!'
Shaking my head at my own thought process, I took a look down at my watch, and realized that it was about time for classes to start.
Bidding each other farewell, I headed to my first class.
Standing outside the classroom, I could only gulp at the name above the classroom's doors.
"The Creation of Advanced AI's and AHLMs" (Automated Human Like Machines)
"Sigh..."
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A/N: Just a note, the world is a world like Earth, in terms of people and culture and stuff, just, it's in the future by like, 200-300 years. Yeah, just so y'all know.