"... I thought I told you to never come back."
Just like yesterday's evening, the same little girl appeared at the entrance - the scene played out exactly the same as yesterday's, except for the fact that her enthusiasm was exploding.
"I came right after school was over to play, Jogrin! What are we going to play?!"
"To think a little girl like you can be so imposing. Children are a force to be reckoned with..."
With the short exchange between them yesterday, Jogrin somewhat expected Suzannia to not heed his warning and come back anyway, but he still couldn't hide his disappointment once he saw her again. On the other hand, he also expected her to tell her friends and family about this place, but surprisingly, that didn't seem to be the case.
"I thought you'd tell someone else about this place, and me." Jogrin decided to ask directly.
"Hmm... Don't wanna! That way I can have you all to myself. Hehehe!"
"Why are you acting all smug about this?"
Jogrin sighed while shaking his head at Suzannia's remark. At this point, he had a feeling that he could never win against this innocent child who believed him to be a kind person.
"Come on! Let's play!!"
"Are you not going to leave no matter what?"
"No! Don't wanna!!" She dashed at Jogrin and hugged him by his waist.
He immediately swung his tail away from her so that she wouldn't accidentally touch it. Luckily, her arms didn't manage touch the base of the tail, though barely. Jogrin looked down at the girl who was enjoying herself even before any games started.
'Looks like she really doesn't find me revolting...' Jogrin was still a little taken aback Suzannia's candidly amiable behavior towards him.
"Fine. But there's one rule you need to follow, or else... uh, I'll ignore you."
"What is it? Tell me!" Suzannia scowled, expressing that she was ready.
'She sure is expressive... Anyway.'
"Whatever you do, never touch my tail. Can you promise me that?"
"OK! And you'll play with me every day! Pinky promise!" The boisterous Suzannia held out her pinky finger to Jogrin, waiting for him to do the same.
"You are one crafty girl, turning this into a bargain."
He could just straight up reject this, but of course, it was highly likely that she'd just come back and pester him incessantly. It wasn't like he could just change location to settle in either. Having no other choice, Jogrin followed suit and held out his left pinky finger. He was flabbergasted at how he was being led by the nose by a mere child.
"Yay! Let's play!" Suzannia yelled in excitement.
Jogrin sighed as he asked himself why he was doing something that served no purpose... and could potentially putting the girl in any danger.
Then, Jogrin accompanied Suzannia as they played various games that she thought up on the spot. For every new game proposed, Suzannia explained the rules to Jogrin in a lengthy manner. Nonetheless, it was all over place and some rules weren't congruent with each other.
Jogrin felt that it'd be a pain to correct her so he just went along with whatever whims she had without a single complaint.
Out of all the games, Suzannia was greatly mesmerized by Jogrin's ability to find her in hide-and-seek. Every time Jogrin went straight towards the spots Suzannia was hiding in.
Of course, her eyes were sparkling with glee even though she kept losing. She wouldn't stop asking how Jogrin managed to do it and him to teach her to become a master of hide-and-seek, which she referred him as other than "angel". Jogrin cringed at the name implicitly and kept it only to himself.
Contrary to Suzannia's exhilaration, having a blank expression for a whole different reason, Jogrin wished from the bottom of his heart that the end of Suzannia's playtime was imminent.
'What if... I make her understand the terror of my power...'
The thought of pushing Suzannia away never once vanished inside Jogrin's mind. Promises were nothing in the face of keeping this innocent girl away from himself. Scaring her away was far better than leaving any deadly wounds on her.
Unlike what he did with Proxer, who was knocked out by Jogrin during the bombardment, he was to simply let some Dark Matter travel through some of his bones, which would be enough to make Suzannia feel nauseous, and most of all, revolted. That would surely work.
The idea was there, but Jogrin couldn't bring himself to proceed with it. A little girl having fun as genuine, hearty laughter came from her, even Jogrin'd felt bad if he resorted to using such means.
It just didn't feel right.
"Jogrin? Are you OK? Um, is it because I've been playing with you for tooo long?... I'm sorry..."
In contrast to her previous attitudes, she became considerate of Jogrin who was deep in thought.
"No, don't worry about it. Still, it's time for you to go. It's getting late now."
"Nn... OK. I will come back tomorrow again..."
Suzannia gazed at Jogrin with a pair of baby-doll eyes. Anyone would never dare to reject those eyes, but that wasn't the case for Jogrin. He found it hard to reject for another reason: the overwhelming "expectant" that he perceived from her.
"Yeah."
"See ya then!!"
Suzannia waved Jogrin goodbye while squinting her eyes gleefully before leaving through the house entrance.
Since he wasn't able to thwart Suzannia from returning the next day and onward, there was only one option.
'I'll have to continue to suppress not only my emotions, but also my powers.'
Those who came across him, or looked for him intentionally would assault him, disregarding the fact that he possessed the power to instantly kill someone by absorbing their life force. They always left with wide,, satisfied grins on their faces after they were done.
In Suzannia's case, she was unlike those barbarians, as she displayed genuine kindness towards him and even invited him to some fun games, in her perspective at least. He didn't know whether to call her too kind or naive. She was undoubtedly capricious though.
...
'She's just like her, huh...'
Jogrin was reminded of a certain girl from the Darkian planet. He often stumbled upon her when he was at the abandoned locations.
She was aware of how dangerous Jogrin was, yet she would always find him, and chit-chat with him. She had endless topics to talk about. Be it venting or cracking jokes, Jogrin remembered all of them. There wasn't a moment of silence if she was beside him.
The most memorable thing about her, was her cheerful smile when she spoke with him.
Moreover, if she came across Jogrin being bullied, she would always meddle between them and tell the bullies off, and appease Jogrin afterwards.
The reason behind her actions was unfathomable to Jogrin as there were no benefits in helping everyone's most hated person on the planet.
Was it pity? It never looked like it.
Was it her altruism? Probably.
Whatever the case, her benevolence was real.
She was a girl with angelic aura, and thanks to that, she was well-liked. The complete opposite of Jogrin.
She was born in a prestigious family. No, her family became prestigious because of her.
She was also... the girl with long dark hair and crimson eyes who was abducted during the planet's invasion.