(Shin PoV)
It's been a couple minutes after the attack, I've been looking for whatever caused this incident. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything.
Phoenix- "Oh well. It's not anything too bad, I don't think anyone died."
Shin- "I'm more curious about why this happened, and who could have done this."
Ray- "I agree." I flinch in surprise, turning around to see Ray standing there.
"So who's this?" He says while pointing at the girl beside me.
Shin- "She was helping me deal with the problem, but we couldn't find anything." Ray sighs.
Ray- "Great, now the culprit is getting away. I saw a whole bunch of corpses on the floor, they won't get away with this." Oops, I forgot to clean those up.
Shin- "Wait, where's Hikari?" I see Ray shift his gaze.
Ray- "Uh... I-" Just then, Hikari runs up to me all out of breath.
Hikari- "Found you!" Her face seems more pale than usual, did something happen?
Shin- "Are you okay?" She locks eyes with me for a moment, something seems off. It's like she's lost some of the light in her eyes.
Hikari- "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired from chasing him around." She points to Ray, and I look at him with annoyance. Hikari seems to scoff, before she turns it into a cough.
"I'll be right back, bathroom." She waves at me in an unusual manner as she bounds off. Why is she acting like this? Hikari then comes back within a minute, out of breath.
Shin- "What's up?" She seems a bit spooked.
Hikari- "Nothing, I think I was just seeing things." Her posture is different than it was a moment ago, something changed.
Shin- "What was it?" She shakes her head.
Phoenix- "All these new people have arrived, you sure are popular." She seems strangely down, maybe sad that she has no friends.
Hikari- "Who's this?" I think for a moment, what would be the best answer?
Shin- "A friend, I met her a small while ago. She was looking to buy a few things, so I helped her out." Her eyes widen when she hears me call her a friend, before she glares lightly.
Hikari- "Being friends is fine, just don't get too carried away." What is she insinuating? I don't think it'll ever evolve into something like that, I don't have any sort of interest in her and I'm pretty sure that Phoenix is Ace.
Phoenix- "I'm pretty sure you won't have to worry about that, I can't be bothered with that crap."
Hikari- "What, are you saying that you're too good for Shin!?" Phoenix just deadpans.
Shin- "Anyway, what's with earlier?" Hikari looks at me.
Hikari- "No clue, all I know is that Ray ran here as soon as he heard the explosion."
Shin- "By the way, where are the heroes? Shouldn't at least one of them have been here by now?" Just as I say that, a hero makes his presence known.
Hero- "Hey! What are you doing there!" I grab Hikari's hand and wave Phoenix down to follow me, and we quickly flee the scene. Ray didn't realize that we left, so he had the pleasure of being interrogated.
***
We eventually make it to a safer location, and Phoenix hasn't bothered to say much until now.
Phoenix- "So, what now? Also, you haven't really explained why you've done all of this stuff for me." Hikari somehow reacts faster than me.
Hikari- "Are you suspecting my brother of doing something nice for you, because he expects something out of it?" Phoenix, with a relaxed expression on her face replies.
Phoenix- "I mean, isn't that a normal reaction? Why bother with me? I'm sure he want's SOMETHING out of it."
Hikari- "Aren't you two friends? What's wrong with doing something nice for each other?"
Phoenix: "We barely know each other, and every person who's talked to me before now has had ulterior motives." I'm about to open my mouth to remind them that I'm here and to not talk like I'm not when i get cut off once more.
"He could just be trying to get into my pants, like the horny teenager he is." I'm taken aback momentarily before remembering that I'm not almost 20 like I was before I died.
Shin- "Oh, I forgot about that." I realize that I said that out loud, and shift my gaze away. I wish I were as good as my brother when it came to manipulating people or hiding my emotions, too bad it slipped out.
Hikari- "Plus, if he just wanted to get laid, I'm right here." She says this with a straight face, and her hand on her chest as she proudly proclaims that.
Phoenix- "Ew..." Crap! This isn't good, I need her support for the future!
Shin- "She's not really my sister, It's just a cover story. I didn't think I'd catch feelings, so saying she was my sister to everyone else was easier." Phoenix glares at me and Hikari.
Phoenix- "Why would you need a cover story, when you could just say that she's your roommate or something?" My face flushes red in embarrassment for a second.
Shin- "Where were you when I came up with that Idea, that would've been so much easier!" I hold my head in shame and disappointment for myself.
Hikari- "W-well at least with us being registered as siblings, people's reactions are always hilarious when they find out that we're dating." I quickly inhale, calming myself down.
Shin- "Right! I can't dwell on past mistakes, it doesn't matter in the end anyway."
Phoenix- "Okay, you done with your revelation? Great. Now, out with it." Crap.
Shin- "No particular reason, i just thought you reminded me of a me long forgotten. No friends, hiding by living in the streets, abusive family, unfair circumstances... Only a few of us escaped... But I guess we still got caught in the end..."
*** (Hikari PoV)
I never realized just how much he had been through. I think I understand why he calls himself a villain. His family must've drilled it into him, saying he can never be what he wants. That the world wouldn't accept him.
His head droops slightly, and his eyes are bearing into the floor. I carefully make my way over to him, and take him into an embrace. He looks at my arms round my chest, and I see his face rush through a bunch of emotions.
But within all of them I see how wet his eyes are. Phoenix doesn't seem too worried with his state, but I think she isn't going to suspect him anymore.
"Thinking about the past is useless, What's important are the present and the future." He blinks, and his eyes clear up.
"For that reason, Phoenix. I want you, as an ally, a friend. I can see myself in you, and I want to do everything in my power to change what you're going through." I look to her face, and I see as she seems to realize something.
Phoenix- "Fine, I'll hang around for a while. Maybe I'll see you as an actual friend, but not until you earn it." I smile gently, and Shin does the same.
Shin- "No problem, you'll see. I'll prove to you my aspirations!"
*** (??? PoV)
???- "I see, she feels that way towards him. Loves her brother, more enthusiastically than a sibling should. Just wait a little longer, I'll be taking your place soon..."
*** (Shin PoV)
I go back home, and offer Phoenix a room in my house if she didn't have one already.
Phoenix- "I have a house, though it's not nearly as fancy as this one. I can't believe you have 5 bedrooms, how many family members do you have!?"
Shin- "Currently, my blood family is all gone, so they're unoccupied for now. Take whatever one you like most, just don't use one that's already being used." I suddenly remember our outings, and I want to at least warn her so she doesn't try to follow us.
"Oh, and we tend to leave at night. Don't worry to much about it, we'll be back within a few hours at most."
Phoenix- "Why would you leave at night?"
Shin- "Training and crap, kind of boring. Fun things rarely happen." She squints as she glares at me.
Phoenix- "Let's just say that I believe you for now, you'll tell me when you think I can handle it." She then walks off into an empty bedroom.
Shin- "At least she'll not bother us with it." Hikari nods as she walks up and grabs my hand with hers. I look at her with a questioning expression.
Hikari- "What? I just wanted to hold your hand." I close my hand around hers, smiling happily.
***
It's night time, and I decided to read my notes that I took on The Weight of a Tempest. And I also write what happened today in a separate notebook as well.
Wait a minute! I forgot about a dangerous ruin, and if I let it continue to fester it'll cause many deaths. I really don't sound like a villain...
Well, I'm only calling myself a villain in this world's terms... I think I should begin to instill fear in heroes and villains alike. Only then will my ideal world be created, where heroes aren't persecuted for being sm-
Wait, why do I even care? I only wanted to make the world seem fair from a story standpoint, because I didn't like how the world worked from an outsider perspective... Hmm...
Now that I'm inside the world itself, I don't care about heroes or how they feel. Strange.
I guess I'll just make everyone in the world fear Hollow, of the Abyss. And they'll all team up to survive long enough to go against the Dreadful Encounter arc's enemies.