Ryan slightly leaned back, resting on the arm of the dusty sofa while keeping his phone pressed to his ear. The conversation with Alya was lighter, and he even seemed to relax a bit in the old house.
"To be honest..." he began, his tone carrying a touch of nonchalance. "School routines are something I miss sometimes. After all, things there are more... systematic, you know?"
On the other end, Alya's voice sounded full of surprise. "Oh? Are you saying everything is too easy for you, Masachika?" He could hear the slight sound of her chair creaking as she moved.
Ryan let out a low chuckle, always maintaining that somewhat playful tone. "I'm not saying it's a breeze... But it's definitely less complicated to deal with things that have fewer unpredictable variables."
Alya extended her next sentence, curious and provocative at the same time. "Ahh? I don't quite understand, Masachika. What do you mean by studying being something with 'fewer probabilities'?"
He gestured instinctively with his finger, as if she could see him. "In short, school is something that can be calculated. You know what to expect: tests, projects, assignments... Everything has a pattern. You can prepare and avoid surprises."
As he spoke, his thoughts took an unexpected leap. "Much easier than figuring out how to react when they throw a grenade at your feet... But I don't think Alya would understand that."
"I understand..." she replied after a moment, her voice calm and soft, almost musical. "You're saying that if we dedicate ourselves enough, we can avoid being caught off guard?"
"Yeah, something like that," Ryan responded calmly, shrugging his shoulders.
There was a brief pause before Alya asked, now with a lower, almost intimate tone. "Masachika... When are you coming back?"
He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling as if it would give him a clearer answer. "Things are happening fast," he said, his tone still light but thoughtful. "Maybe next week."
"Really?!" Alya exclaimed enthusiastically, her excitement clearly showing. "It's going to be so fast!"
Ryan knew the reason for her excitement. Although Alya was beautiful and intelligent, her friendships were few, and he was one of the few people she truly felt comfortable talking to.
Smiling gently, as if he could see her at that moment, he replied in a softer tone: "When I arrive, I'll give you a big hug."
On the other end of the line, Alya was silent for a few seconds. He could hear her breathing, now slightly faster. When her voice finally emerged, it was timid and low. "O-okay... But I'll only stay if you really come next week."
Ryan laughed, confident. "Then wait for me, Alya. Good night, my beautiful Russian." He added a sarcastic touch at the end, as was his habit.
"Ah-han? That nickname 'beautiful Russian'... You..." Alya began to speak, but her voice sounded nervous, almost stumbling over the words.
"Don't you like me calling you that?" he interrupted, his voice filled with amusement.
She was quiet for a moment before sighing and responding in an even lower voice. "It's not that... I..." But before she could continue, she abruptly ended the conversation. "G-good night, Masachika!"
The sound of the final ring ended the call, leaving Ryan with a smile on his face as he looked at the phone screen. "She's cute..." he murmured, checking the call duration before putting the device in his pocket.
The house plunged back into silence, except for the occasional creak of the floorboards under his feet. But then, something different happened. A low, strange sound seemed to emanate from the aged wooden walls.
He frowned, his expression quickly changing. "What the hell is this?" he said, his voice full of distrust as he looked around.
Instinctively, he began to breathe more slowly, his senses sharpening. The sounds became clearer, as if they were words echoing through the air.
"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE'S JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE!?"
The female voice, sharp and full of anger, echoed followed by the sound of shattering glass. Ryan's eyes widened, his muscles tightening as he instinctively went on alert.
"That voice..." Ryan murmured, his speech slow as he tried to process the situation.
He approached the wall, leaning in to listen better.
"YOU'RE ALWAYS TAKING THE MONEY WE HAVE AND GIVING IT TO HER!" The female voice, filled with hatred, was so loud and strained that it began to falter.
"Wait a minute... that voice is..." He spoke again, quietly, now even more attentive.
"Rena! Please, listen to me!" A male voice, trembling and hesitant, interrupted the flow of the scream. But it lasted only a moment.
"SILENCE! YOU'RE BEING AN IDIOT!" The explosion of the female voice was accompanied by a loud sound, something breaking again, followed by the slam of a door being forcefully shut.
Ryan scratched his head, sighing before cracking his neck with a bored expression. "Damn... Rena is crazy..." He spoke to himself, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Before he could reflect further, he heard knocking on the door. The sound made him jump slightly.
"Ah, great." He mocked, still processing the situation. "Damn, the girl breaks everything in the house and now she came to destroy here too? Shit, Mion trusted me, I can't let her in!" His voice carried a theatrical tone as he clenched his fists dramatically, an exaggerated expression on his face.
But as he laughed at his own joke, the knocking repeated, this time more insistent.
Ryan took a deep breath, adopting a more serious demeanor, wiping the smile away. "If it were a normal situation, I would already mark that point in time just to avoid risks. But then I would lose the save from the beginning, when I arrived with Yuno... I don't know if it's worth it." He murmured, analyzing the door.
The knocking came again.
Deciding to end it quickly, he took a few firm steps toward the door. "Well, it's just a crazy little girl. I've dealt with worse..." He grumbled before grabbing the doorknob, his face now serious. Without hesitating, he opened the door all at once.
"Huh?" He frowned, confused. There was no one on the other side. The emptiness stared back at him.
"Just what I needed..." Ryan sighed, his tone tired as he scratched his neck. "Now the house is haunted..."
"It's not haunted." A female voice, firm and unmistakably real, cut through the silence. "It's just me."
Ryan took a step back, surprised, before looking down to find someone he didn't expect: Rika. She stood there, wearing a green summer dress with a white bow in the front, matching equally white sandals.
"Rika-chan?" He tilted his head, surprise evident on his face.
She stared at him with a serious expression, completely different from the lively and cute girl he had met earlier. Her voice had also changed, now deep, almost cold. "I couldn't contain my curiosity..."
Ryan continued to watch her, suspicious, as she took a step forward, her presence gaining an almost intimidating air.
"...I've played with fate many times," she continued, her voice carrying something Ryan couldn't identify. "Even when it threw pieces out of order... there were few times it brought new pieces to this game."
He frowned, feeling a chill run down his spine. Something was wrong. Very wrong. That small, cute girl from earlier was not the same person now standing at his door.
"What the hell is this...?" Ryan murmured, more to himself than to her, without taking his eyes off that figure who seemed small but carried something immense, something he didn't understand yet.
"Kuze Masachika... Yuno Gasai..." Rika began, her voice calm but laden with a weight Ryan couldn't ignore. She stared directly at him, her eyes now shining with an enigmatic red hue, a terrifying change from the gentle purple before. "Tell me... will you be my hope in this endless month, or just another challenge in this never-ending hell?"
Ryan maintained his firm posture, crossing his arms with an evaluative look. His voice sounded confident, but there was a touch of provocation in his words. "You're still that little girl I saw earlier?"
Rika nodded slowly, maintaining a serious, almost impenetrable expression.
He squinted, analyzing each of her movements, her posture, her tone of voice. "But how..." Ryan murmured, letting the words trail off for a moment. His serious expression began to shift, the corner of his mouth curling into a mischievous smile. When he finally spoke, his voice was laced with playful malice. "If you really are... prove it. Do it. Do Nipaah."
Rika's eyes widened, surprised for a moment. She stared at him in silence, as if trying to decipher what he really wanted from that. But then, slowly, a sarcastic smile curved her lips. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then released it perfectly:
"Ni... Nipaaaa~! >⩊< ♡"
Ryan put his hand to his head, running his fingers through his hair while exclaiming, genuinely impressed: "Goddamn, it's really her!"
The contrast between the dark tone from moments ago and the sudden cuteness left Ryan unsure whether to laugh or grow even more suspicious of this small, but clearly dangerous, girl.
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