Ch. 6 A reason to keep going

I woke up in bed. She was sleeping on a chair next to me.

Man, can I not mess everything up at least once?

I was ashamed, ashamed of myself for reacting like that, ashamed of myself for being so stupid for 6 whole months, but most importantly, ashamed of myself for relying on Mori this much.

Where did the detached, cool guy go?

This was the first thing that came to my mind. I was not the same person I thought I was. Frankly, I was acting like a loser. 

Realizing this may have actually hurt me the most.

Ignoring the obvious manga-like setting, I tried to get up without disturbing her sleep. Needless to say, I failed to do so.

While she was slowly opening her eyes, I took a closer look at her. Contrary to how reliable she was, her looks were actually extremely delicate, so much so that just having her sleep in that position made me feel like I had been torturing her for who knows how long. Let alone the fact she somehow had to get me here.

Now that I think about it, where am I?

Mori: "Good morning, sorry for bringing you here. I can't call any apartment other than the one I own. What would you like to eat?"

As I was saying, what is this manga setting?

I slept in her bed while she was sleeping on a chair, and now she even offers food to me? There is no way I will be pampered like that again. Time to stand again on my own two feet.

"No need for..."

But...

"Morning. Whatever you like, I'm not a picky eater."

I didn't feel proud of accepting such an offer. But maybe pride was not what I should have thought about at that moment.

She stretched, grabbed me by the hand, and took me to the kitchen in a hurry. Looking at how happy she was, I felt like I finally made the right choice for once.

She prepared some curry and rice. At this point, it was too late to tell her what curry does to my stomach, so I just silently accepted what will happen later. Either way, it was delicious.

"Thank you."

Mori: "What did you say?"

That grin. She knows damn well what I said.

"Don't...no. What I said was..."

Mori: "Haha, don't worry. I heard you the first time."

I SWEAR TO GOD, OR WHATEVER THEY BELIEVE IN NOW, THIS GIRL IS PLAYING WITH ME!

"But really, you sacrifice yourself for me way too much. Job or whatever, please also think about yourself."

I was saying that. But I can't say I meant everything I said. After all, who doesn't like to be treated like this?

Maybe that is why I didn't even get too mad at Haru.

Mori: "You know, I could say the same thing about you, you don't have to push yourself so..."

"I know what I want to do next."

Mori: "Oh? You didn't even let me finish what I was going to say, let alone listen to my advice."

"Stopping right now would bring me nothing. As I was saying, I can't keep troubling you like that."

She finished eating, went to the living room, sat on the couch, and said:

Mori: "Come, let's sit here while you tell me what the next goal is."

I am not dense enough to not feel that this may be going another way than I intended. I may know nothing about romance, but I can read some signs.

With my heart pounding in anticipation of what she was setting up, I did as she said.

Mori: "So, what do you plan to do now?"

Things are advancing way too fast. What is with that voice and that smile? Even the body language is different. Is this how she acts outside working hours?
But let's take it slowly. Let's just keep the conversation going.

"I... I plan to search for my family."

The mood turned sour.

Mori: "You...you are aware of what you may find. Right?

"That I may find out everyone has been long gone? Yes. I know. To be honest, that's why I never mentioned anything about them. I am scared that only more suffering could be waiting for me."

Mori: "Then why do you..."

"Because it is now or never, if they are already here, every passing day increases the chances of them passing away."

"What happened with Haru hurts. It hurts badly. But I won't ever be able to search for tomorrow if I can't wrap up my past."

I showed her an arrogant smile that was mostly meant to encourage myself.

"Besides, who is to say they are not yet to reach this time? Maybe I can even be the one who finds them."

That kind smile that always came to my mind when thinking of her came back on her face.

Mori: "Haha, yeah...you never know..."

Mori: "So, tell me about them."

For the next half a day, we just stayed there and talked.

I told her about me, my old life, my even older life, and she told me about herself, how she came into this world. A pretty sad story.

Mori: "I was born here, but not in the way you would think."

Mori: "For a harmonious world to exist, everything has to be balanced."

"Harmony and balance are not the same thi..."

She put her hand on my mouth and looked me in the eyes while shaking her head.

I guess the walls even have ears here.

Mori: "The peace inside with the wilderness outside, the way everyone lives, and even the distribution of biological genders. Oh, and if you identify as something else, you have to find a counterbalance before your preference is recognized by the outside."

I guess they found something for everything.

Mori: "At one point, a large group of people got transported to now. For some reason, they were all men. This meant that there was a need for women to be born. With or without actual parents."

They had the technology to create artificial humans. I knew that already. I just never thought that she may be one of those.

I didn't pry further. I changed the subject quickly after finding this out.

I just hope she didn't take it as a sign that I don't care about it. For me it makes absolutely no difference, and I think there are plenty of people like that, so why would it make her uncomfortable? But with how bothered she seems about it, I will come back to this when I know more about how this world works.

After changing the subject, the mood went back to what it was originally.

Mori: "So, when does our journey start?"

"I am thinking about getting ready tomorrow and leaving one day later."

"But right now, I have something more important I need to do, and it can only be done with your help."

Her eyes lit up, she got closer to me and asked in a low voice:

Mori: "And what may that be?"

I leaned in towards her; for some reason, she twisted her head and came in closer, so I had to do an awkward move and get incredibly close to her ear to tell her.

"Curry makes my stomach hurt. I wanted to leave before this happened, but can I use your bathroom?"

Ah, I am an idiot.