Blue Amidst Vermillion

Chapter 6 - Blue Amidst Vermillion

Cho woke up on Saturday to a voice message from Noa. She turned on her VR headset right after waking up, opened the messaging app and saw a notification pop up. Pressing on the message, she could hear Noa’s energetic voice.

“Good morning, Cho-chan! We couldn’t talk much yesterday, and I still have stuff I promised to explain to you. Plus, you have a manga drawing competition coming up soon, right? Wanna go out to an art exhibition together?”

“An art exhibition? That could be useful actually. And I’ll get to hear more about Noa-chan…”

She was talking to no one in particular.

Let’s reply with a ‘yes'. I have to change into something nicer.

Right after sending her reply, almost instantaneously came back Noa’s.

“Great! Then let’s meet up at the playground in two hours.”

“Why at the playground in particular? Eh, pondering won’t give me answers. I’ll just ask her when we’re there.”

Cho washed herself and changed into her favorite spring outfit: white shorts, a green blouse and a crossbody bag. She got ready in no time, so she started scribbling in her notebook to pass the time.

Cho met up with Noa at the appointed place and time. Noa was waiting for her next to the swings, and when she noticed Cho walking in her direction, she seemed to almost jump up. Noa was wearing a yellow hoodie and black joggers.

“Hey, Cho-chan!” Noa greeted her with a hug, which resulted in one of her horns poking Cho in the shoulder. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“No worries! It didn’t hurt surprisingly. Quite the opposite, in fact…”

“Huh? Khmm, well, do you want to use the swings? I’ll explain a few things, and you can ask me whatever you want.”

“Sure. Can I take notes?”

“Go ahead. That’s just like you.”

They were swinging for a few minutes in silence. Cho decided to just patiently wait for Noa to start, presuming she was thinking about how and where to start.

“Niji-humans have a certain belief, or ideal…” She started. “It’s kind of like how humans make families. Many live for that happiness, while others find their purpose in other things. Niji-humans call it ‘soul fulfilling’ or ‘fulfilling of the soul’. It’s basically meeting your soulmate, and at the end of both of your lives, becoming a connected, intertwined soul, destined to be reborn together. Since niji-humans can’t propagate the same way humans do, this is the only way that brings a similar fulfillment in life to an individual. But like I said, not everyone follows or does this, and neither side is wrong or anything.”

Cho was intently listening to every word of Noa’s, taking notes here and there.

“You might be wondering what this has to do with my abilities.” Noa continued. “Well, all of our clans have different methods and abilities to make soul fulfillment come true. They are derived from each clan's first leader, or Sage, in other words. And the newly elected sages are the ones who can make offspring through a ritual once every century. But that’s not that important. You want to know about my abilities, right?”

Cho nodded.

“Can I use it… on you? I’ll be able to explain it better if I can show it to you in the meantime. I promise it’s not harmful at all.”

Looking at Noa’s puppy eyes, Cho agreed a bit too readily.

“Sure. Can I help with anything?”

“Thanks! Just let me sit in your lap.”

“Huh?” Cho’s face reddened; nonetheless, she put aside her notebook and accepted. “Okay…”

“Be careful of my horns. They shouldn’t be able to hurt you, but just in case.”

“Got it.”

Noa sat down in Cho’s lap, making herself comfortable.

She’s so soft and warm. This feeling is so familiar and calming that I could hug her all day…

“Today, I’m going to use a different method, okay? Your head definitely won’t ache from this one.”

Cho snapped out of her thoughts and put her arms around Noa’s belly.

She could’ve sworn she saw Noa blushing, but she brushed it off as Noa began using her skill.

“The Blue Clan’s and my ability is to do with memories. There’s an ability that lets you make your soulmate forget about you for the rest of that life, in the case that you know you’ll die before them. I’ve always hated the idea of it. Even if the blue-niji was strong enough so they can remember each other in the next life, I find it to be an extremely sad notion. I wouldn’t want to forget my love, even after their departure..”

“Noa-chan…”

“..but I used the ability once. I had to, but I was young and regret it. And since I was born with a stronger affinity, it wasn’t just my soulmates who forgot me. It was everyone.”

“That must’ve been lonely…”

Noa seemed to stiffen up a little bit, but then she leaned back onto Cho, putting her palms over Cho’s dorsal side of her hands.

“Thanks…”

“I didn’t do anything special?” Cho tilted her head.

“You’re doing plenty already. So, those two soulmates of mine are you and Kei-kun.” Noa said, letting go of Cho’s hand and projecting a screen in front of them with her own. “Not all soulmates have to be romantic, and I happened to have two, so I felt very lucky. But since it was before the Galactic Treaty, niji-humans weren’t as accepted as today, as I’m sure you know.”

The screen Noa made with her hands showed a familiar sight, the same exact one they were seeing in that moment. It showed the playground in the past. Unlike in the present, there were some kids still playing with other games in the playground. It showed a younger Cho and Noa together in a similar position, and a younger Keisuke to their left on the other seat of the swing.

“This method doesn’t make you remember fundamentally or fully externally; it only shows the memory as if it were a film. And movies are usually from a third-person view.” Noa explained.

In the memory, a small group of boys approached the three on the swing.

“Get out of here, monster girl!” Their seemingly leader shouted, and his flunkeys followed.

Keisuke instantly stood up in front of the two girls and snapped back:

“She’s not a monster!”

“You can go with her back to space; just don’t taint the air here.” The bully continued.

“Shut your mouth! You don’t know what she’s been through! Why can’t you just peacefully accept others without hurting them?” Keisuke said with disdain and disbelief.

“I don’t understand either. You don’t even have to like her or anything; just leave her alone!” Cho joined in.

Noa closed her hands, ending the memory there.

“Later, you two were also bullied because of me. I didn’t want you to suffer, but thinking back on it, maybe I was being a bit conceited and selfish. I should’ve just talked it out with you guys. As much as I wanted to be with you two, I lacked the courage to just simply ask you and Kei-kun. I’m here in order to fix that mistake, trying to give your memories back.”

“...” Cho just silently took all the information in first, then she hugged Noa even tighter than before, placing her chin in between Noa’s crimson horns.

“Cho-chan?” Noa was visibly becoming more flustered. “Anyways, let’s drop the heavy topic for today, okay? Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day! It’s a date after all.”

“Hehehe… A date, huh? Okay, let’s go then! You lead the way, Noa-chan.”

“Right! The art exhibit is this way.”

There are more things I could ask, like: What was it that she went through before she met us and after we departed? But she opened up to me, and she doesn’t seem to want to talk more about it right now, so this is enough for me at the moment…

Cho and Noa went through the exhibition slowly, with Cho taking notes here and there and Noa commenting on her favorite art pieces. In the meantime, they chatted along the way about their most liked drawings, the upcoming competition Cho signed up for and food they wanted to eat after. 

After seeing everything and going through the whole building, they decided to get an udon each to fill up their empty stomachs. Thoroughly enjoying the noodles, they emptied their bowls and moved on to the last part of their plans. They walked for a while before reaching Tone River. As they approached the water, Noa grabbed Cho’s hand and led her to a little sitting area.

“We made it in time to be able to watch the Sun set.” Noa said. “Thank you for today, Cho-chan!”

“I should be the one to thank you.” Cho replied. “Would you mind if I were to draw you?”

“Sure. It’s good practice, right? Is this pose good?”

Noa leaned against a handrail, facing Cho.

Beautiful… And not just the vermillion sunset.

Finishing her sketch of Noa quickly, Cho proudly showed it to her.

“Finished just in time before we can’t see anything. I’ll do the rest at home.”

“It looks great! Wanna take a picture then?”

“Thanks! Yes. Regardless of if the background isn’t exactly the same, that would help.”

Cho took a picture of Noa as she went back to her original pose.

“We should’ve taken one in the beginning, huh?” Noa said.

“It’s fine. Want to take one together as well?”

“Of course!”

After taking a selfie, Cho got escorted back to her home by Noa.

“Thanks for today, Noa-chan! I had a lot of fun. And I can’t wait to remember all my memories of you.”

“Cho-chan… My pleasure! Thank you for coming along! I had a lot of fun too."

“Can you please close your eyes for a second?” Cho asked suddenly.

“Hmm? Yeah, sure.” Noa said and complied.

Confirming that Noa could in fact not see, Cho leaned in and kissed her blue cheeks. Noa jolted up from the soft sensation, becoming flustered.

“Huh…?”

“Thank you for today’s date! Good night, Noa-chan!” Cho exclaimed, rapidly running off to inside her house.

“Did she just…?” 

Noa was left there standing speechlessly, before eventually dragging herself home in a daze.