Confusion

"Hey, are you okay?"

I turned around to see Rito, whose presence was wildly soothing right now.

"Please help me get to where there's no people! I'm going crazy right now."

Rito scanned the environment around us and nodded. He grabbed my hand and led me away from the crowd, his grip steady and reassuring. He felt so familiar, probably because of how many times I had met him in LucidLife. The chaos around us—the noise, the jostling bodies, the sheer weight of the moment—blurred into the background as we moved. My mind raced, struggling to make sense of everything, and for a moment, I forgot that we weren’t even close in real life.

We finally stopped in a quiet corner, away from the suffocating press of people. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice calm but laced with worry. 

My heart pounded heavily. I was uncertain whether this pounding came from the harassing men I had just escaped from or the unexpected comfort of his ethereal presence. 

"Why on earth were those guys at our front door???" I felt incredulous as I recalled the utter chaos.

"What men?"

I looked up at him. His eyes glistened with concern and a tinge of curiosity.

"What do you mean? You saved me from a whole hoard of psychotic men who wouldn't stop harassing me!" I exclaimed, still frazzled by the horrifying event.

Rito’s eyes darted to the side then back at me, a strange grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It must be scary indeed. Let's sit you down, get you comfortable, and talk about what happened."

Rito gently grabbed my hand again, guiding me to a roadside bench nearby. He sat down next to me, his presence oddly soothing, though that enigmatic grin still lingered on his face. 

"You can put your head on my shoulder if you want. You seem very stressed," he said, patting the spot beside him as a gesture for me to come closer. Obediently, I moved closer—but instead of resting my head on his shoulder, I placed it on his lap. At that moment, I was either too overwhelmed to care about formalities or using the situation as an excuse to be closer to the real him.

"Tell me what happened." He inquired, gently patting my head.

"When I went out today, there was A LOT, like legit A LOT A LOT of men waiting for me outside. Like you saw it right? I don't know why they were outside my door. It felt like they were waiting for me? But like why were they waiting for me? And it felt like they were waiting for me just to ask me for my number? I don't know them? And I'm not even that attractive! I think. Or maybe I am? I'm sorry I'm so embarrassing. Was it some sort of prank? Or did someone put my photo online and then boom, a lot of people are suddenly interested. Maybe it's that. But why? What kind of sick joke is that? I'm so scared to go back home now. What should I do? They know my address now. Will they come harass me again? What will my parents think? What will my neighbors think? Okay. You're my neighbor. What do you think?"

"What went on in your head before you went out?"

"Uh...I was...Oh no. I promised my friend I was going to pick her up from church today. If I don't go now I'll be late and some guy is going to harass her. But I'm scared of going...what if I bump into more creepy men?"

"It’s okay, I’m here. I can go with you. I’m not doing anything later." Rito continued to stroke my head, and I felt a wave of calm wash over me.

'Okay. Thank you so much. When this ends, please let me buy you dinner."

~~

We arrived safely at the train station and hopped onto the next train. I instinctively leaned against the glass wall near the doors, while Rito casually grabbed the handrail beside me. The position brought an odd sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of the day I first began visualizing him in LucidLife.

"So... what have you been up to this summer?" I asked, breaking the silence with an awkward attempt at conversation.

"Wait," Rito interjected, glancing at me. "Which station are we getting off at?"

"Goze Station," I replied.

"Alright. To answer your question, mostly working. College applications, earning some money, and maybe a bit of gaming here and there."

"What kind of games?"

Rito's face lit up. "Oh! There's one I really like right now called 16 Mages. It's a video game where you play as sixteen different mages and piece together the story. It's an RPG with some strategic elements."

"What's the story about? Can I play it?"

"Yeah, you can download it for free on your computer."

"Does it have a LucidLife version?"

Rito paused, and for a split second, his expression shifted, almost as if he was mildly repulsed. "Uh... yeah, there's a LucidLife version too."

The air felt heavy with awkwardness. I averted my gaze, my heart pounding as I wrestled with an overwhelming urge to turn on LucidLife. However, it seemed like such a waste to retreat into it when Rito was standing right here in front of me.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone in a mage's outfit. I leaned closer to Rito and whispered, "Look! We were just talking about mages, and someone over there is dressed like one!"

Rito turned, scanned the crowd, but said nothing.

"Kidzuku Station," the automated announcement chimed. The train doors slid open, and a wave of passengers flooded in—a group of about twenty, all dressed as mages.

"That's so creepy," I whispered in Rito's ear. "There are so many mages right after we talked about it."

When I pulled away, I caught Rito's enigmatic smile. He looked at me with an amused glint in his eye. "Is your LucidLife on right now?"

"No, it’s not. Why are you asking?"

Rito dodged the question. "How do you know? LucidLife is activated with mental intent, so you’d perceive it being on or off mentally, right?"

"I know because I can always tell the difference. And right now, I’m certain it’s off."

"But are you really sure?"

I was slightly taken aback by his persistence towards this matter. "Well, if you think about it, you can’t ever truly know if anything in life is real or not because everything in reality is perceived mentally."

"Fair point," he conceded with a faint smirk. "But are you certain that what you see is what everyone else sees?"

"Okay. I’ll mentally intend for it to be off again. Actually, why are you asking me this? Don’t you see the mages?"

"I don’t," he said plainly. "And I didn’t see the crowd of creepy men you mentioned earlier either. What I did see was you yelling at an empty space, telling people to leave you alone."

I froze, "But... my LucidLife isn’t on... and the built in functions would make me appear normal to outsiders?" I was hit with this deep embarrassment that Rito saw me doing that.

Rito’s tone softened. "You talked about creepy guys, and you saw creepy guys. We talked about mages, and now you’re seeing mages. Do you notice the pattern?"

I looked down, unable to respond.

Rito continued, his voice steady. "It’s been all over the news. People have been experiencing glitches with LucidLife. After we pick your friend up from church, I think we should bring you to a LucidLife specialist."

"Okay," I whispered. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah, no worries."

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" I blurted out, the embarrassment still burning my cheeks. "That I was hallucinating?"

"Why? Because it was funny to watch."