"She looks impeccably indomitable (mostly because of her height) but oddly weak at the same time. She acts brave despite residing in utter solitude. Her name, if I'm right, that I already am, is Rei... Rei Sturluson. She didn't seem like the talkative type and had fewer friends than the number of fingers on one—nay, only half of one of my hands. Her silver hair wasn't something I'd seen when I was alive. She resembled a Japanese sword—sharp yet fragile—as if she could break at any moment!" Said Johan the shameless, without batting an eye, sitting relaxed on my bed as if it was his own home.
However, it was I who opened the door to hospitality, inviting him to make himself at home when he felt completely disoriented upon finding himself in my house.
"...Wait, fewer fingers than half of a hand? Less than 2.5!?" I blurted out.
"Why, yes. Are you displeased? Didn't everything I say sound like hard real-world facts?"
"Sh-Shut up! I don't want to hear your hyper-annoying inner monologue! Why hasn't your brain self-destructed by now from such overloaded-by-shame remarks?"
Let alone embarrassment, his words were filled with malice and overwhelming rudeness.
"Well, weren't you the one who asked me how I felt about you?"
"That's true but—"
But who would have thought it would be so embarrassing? I just wanted to know what people thought of me, especially now, since I don't get an inhumane chance like this very often—to talk to someone other than Pilo and my parents. Moreover, he wasn't alive, so I didn't consider any harm in asking something like that.
Perhaps, it was a non-human chance, so I didn't want to miss out on it.
"But what?" interjected Johan.
"Never mind," I replied, with nothing much to say.
"...Anyway, putting that aside, this house is terrifically huge. Describing it as larger-than-life itself wouldn't be a stretch. Even a VISION like me could get lost here. And having four floors for a family of three sounds quite ridiculous, doesn't it?" Johan said taking a relook at my room.
Well, it's not like VISIONs don't get lost or anything, they mostly don't even move unlike you. You're an exception.
"Well, yes. Both my parents are just too great at their field of work—that's how they built this house," I was too tired to deny any overstatements or allegations, so I decided to simply accept it.
"...Hmm, I don't remember asking 'bout that but fine. At any rate, why do you have such a weird name?" Johan asked with a straightforward tone as if he hadn't read my mind.
Yes, he could somehow read my mind (not that I've tested it). This revelation led me to wonder if all the VISIONs in my life had been reading my thoughts. The thought of it was even more embarrassing than anything Johan had said so far. It meant I might have just been an entertainment piece for all the VISIONs in my life. Damn it!
"My name, Rei Sturluson isn't weird at all! It may be odd for a countryside bumpkin like you to hear but it's a quite common name, no?" I replied hesitantly, not knowing the accuracy of my statement. I was just not over that mind-reading part yet.
"No way. Your name makes Pilo's sound normal in comparison. It's probably the weirdest of the weirdest, especially for a student belonging to the 21st century."
"Apologize to every person named Pilo in this country..." Not that there would be more than one.
Well, at least he's from the 21st century. It would have been quite a pain to teach him a lot of stuff if he wasn't from the current period.
I'm not that sure if all VISIONs belonged to this era as I never got a single chance to talk to them.
"It might be a name that may stick out like a sore thumb, but that's no way to insult a girl's name—especially a sensitive one like mine," I said those last few words in an inaudible tone as they were too humiliating to be vocalized. "But there's a be-all and end-all reason why you've never heard my name ever before. It's because my father came from Iceland and my mother from Japan."
"Not that I didn't know." He retorted in his usual all-knowing tone.
"Hmm... You seem to know everything about me, don't you?" I asked, almost trying to mock him but as a result of my reserved personality, I ended up appreciating him instead.
My words and thoughts mismatch often, it was a commonplace occurrence.
Nevertheless, it was in a questioning tone so it should be fine. Anyway, there was something I noticed about him—his words indicated some extent of mind-reading despite it being too lousy. So, he was really going to use that ability every now and then, huh?
"I don't know everything about you, I just know what you show on your face," Johan responded with a smug tone as if he had read my thoughts but that wasn't the case.
"Do I really show that much on my face!?" I exclaimed.
Face and not mind? Wait—so, for all this time he had decided it wasn't the right time for his mind-reading abilities to peek inside my mind but was trying to go easy on me by just reading my facial expressions! Crap, my poker face had ended up becoming lousier than his abilities. Pathetic.
But his words contained something I was very familiar with. It gave off the sense that he was hinting at something unintentionally.
Face... Portrayal of expressions... Capturing emotions...
"How could I forget!" I cried as I reached for my camera on the table. It was a little dusty as I hadn't transferred its location for the last one year. The battery should also have been somewhere around there but I failed to find it.
"Wait for a sec, I gotta get the battery of this camera charged."
"What for?"
"I'll tell when I come back," I muttered as I exited the room. The dining room seemed the most likely place where it could have been left. It was the only logical spot for my mother to have placed it.
I then go three floors down to reach the dining where I check for the battery around the tables, shelves, and cupboards, and a short search was what took me to find it there, on one of the shelves.
"Guess, Mom would have put it here..." I uttered as I pulled them out.
Fortunately, the charger was right beside the battery, saving me a time-wasting rummage.
I plugged the charger into the dining itself and returned with a glass of water.
As I made my way through the three floors, I took extra care not to spill any water, slowing down my pace as I went. I reached out and touched the glass filled with water, feeling its mild coldness against my palm. The sensation was undeniably pleasant. My nose also had already regenerated considerably, so I was at ease. What an immeasurable comfortableness I was feeling!
No feeling in this world is better than being at home and regenerating at a considerable pace.
Some of you might be wondering why I used the term 'regeneration' instead of 'healing'. It's because I can regenerate!
Well, that may mislead you into thinking I'm some sort of an undying vampire. However, according to VISION psychics, or rather biology, I can regenerate just by looking at those silly and sleazy VISIONs, but by no means sickly.
It's indeed an abrupt announcement but VISIONs as a matter of fact have healing powers, and thanks to that I had 100% attendance during my fourteen-and-a-half years of education.
Not even once did I have the pleasure to take a leave. What a melancholic school life.
I've every damn right to be called "The Empress of Melancholic School Life".
Every depressed student should obey me for a better school experience. I guess I could even run for the school elections with this motto and sweep it!
Which I believe isn't possible as I couldn't care less about the school.
Nevertheless, even if I say it is regeneration, the pace of healing is slower than a snail, yet fast enough for me to attend school tomorrow.
Anyway, as I stepped into my room, I was welcomed by a blizzard-like atmosphere. Without a doubt, it was the VISION's work.
"Thank you for saving our electricity bill." I appreciated him kindly like any human would (or wouldn't?) and took my seat on the bed.
The water, to my surprise, started freezing rapidly which rendered my efforts of drinking water peacefully useless. What a sick VISION.
"Y-You're welcome," He replies confidently but with a hint of fluster.
"Johan, do you by any case have chronophobia?" I asked after installing a calm expression. Calmness is great with people who have psychological disorders or so I had read somewhere.
Johan ponders for a moment, shaking his legs. "Hmm? No, I'm not afraid of crows! But they sure are scary when they're aggressive."
It was foolish of me to expect a kid like him to understand such complex vocabulary. What could I even expect from a dead boy like him?
Nothing, to be honest.
Even if he was a mind-reader or rather a face-reader, it didn't alter the fact that he lacked two years' worth of extra experience unlike me. Experiences that he could never attain anymore.
"Well, I'm not talking about the fear of crows but rather the fear of time," I assertively reply.
He tilted his head in various directions—as if taking a life-dictating decision and then replied. "Even if I had the fear, why would I try to approach time?"
A proper question to which I already have a great answer.
"Sometimes, you know, fear and attraction go hand in hand. Fear leads the person either to reject the thing they're scared of or be fascinated by it. I know it's difficult to understand but you're unconsciously scared of time."
"You don't understand, it's nothing like that," Johan replied, seemingly annoyed. Perhaps, my explanation lacked friendliness and was too complex or he was just insecure about something, which is very natural in my opinion.
Johan was hiding something. Something he wouldn't easily disclose.
"Fortunately, I've found a solution to your chronophobia; you don't have to worry anymore," I said trying to assure him. It felt like I was pleasing a child which I think I was disturbingly bad at.
"I don't want any solutions! I'm fine as of now." Johan said, his tone rising.
I'm so bad at dealing with kids, that I should have rather consulted a dead psychiatrist rather than relying on my psychology book. Only if I could conjure VISIONs at any given time, I wouldn't be facing such a problem.
"Just hear me out."
"Never." He replied boldly.
"Listen."
"Go to hell."
Now, I'm the one getting annoyed. So much that I want to punch his face.
And so, I do it.
I punched him in the face, and to my surprise, it worked; he was sent away with the dynamic force of my not-so-light punch. But I think my punch wasn't the only factor at play; VISION physics was working too, or else his comical flight wouldn't have been possible.
"Ow!" He let out a tiny scream which I think wasn't appropriate for the amount of damage I'd done to him.
He was probably just cool with the idea of being punched by a girl...
"I'm the one who makes rules here, got it?" I asserted for the sake of it.
"S-Su-Sure." Johan stammered twice this time. Looks like he heavily sensed the impact of my punch. I guess I was wrong about him being so chill about him being punched by a girl. Maybe it's just a guy thing, you know, not making a big deal out of a little punch. However, that 'little' might be an understatement. I believe my punches are pretty lethal.
"We're going on a date, the day after tomorrow. My holidays and the weekend are starting at the same point and I don't have any prior reservations." I declared. Just to be clear, I'm not the kind of girl who would date someone she just met, especially not someone who caused a significant injury It was because the occasion wasn't meant as a traditional date, but rather as a chance to familiarize him with the city. Just an attempt to relinquish the final wish of a lost spirit.
Even though my good intentions might have seemed nonexistent at first because of my angry outburst. Not that I cared.
Plus, the date was platonic and no romantic undertones hid underneath it. So, don't need to worry—I'm a very normal girl.
"O-Okay, but why?" Johan said with a hesitating pause.
"You wanted to city, right? So, under the façade of dating, you can just see things you've never seen before." I replied.
"I see."
However, I didn't expect that my first date would be with someone who people can't even see. Certainly, I'll be labeled as delusional, but who cares?
In a soft tone, Johan asked, "Um, what holidays are they?"
"..."
"I mean the fest. On what occasion are you being compensated for holidays?"
Ah, I'd completely forgotten about that. If he knows what festival it is, it'd be easy for him to infer the date.
A simple loophole that was too convenient to exist, but it was there.
It appears our date won't be necessary now, which is unfortunate, but at least I can have a peaceful [redacted] without leaving the house."
"It's the [redacted], though my family doesn't celebrate it, and neither do I," I answer. It felt like I was giving away valuable information for free, which I didn't quite like—though it was no time to keep on my character.
He shakes and tilts his head again following which he spoke with a disappointed accent. "No good, I still cannot grasp time."