I recommend Salieri

Steaming tea and a plate full of sandwiches were placed on the table. Adam made them while I was removing some of the hangover effects. He also took care of empty cans and wiped spilled beer from the floor.

My mental image of him was going through an identity crisis.

We were now sitting at the table, looking at each other. There was a mint fragrance coming from the tea and the sandwiches were made with cheese, lettuce and some kind of pâté.

“Come on, eat and drink mate. It’s not poisoned or anything and should make you feel better.”

I was being encouraged by this black-haired guy. It was hard to admit, but it was exactly what I needed the most. He watched with a smile as after some hesitation I took his offer.

“Which one is the real you? The asshole from before or the creepy caretaker?”

“Asshole? Did I really do something that bad to you? I only played a joke once or twice and now I’m really trying to help. Come on mate, give me some credit. Don’t judge people on first impression alone.”

“If you don’t like it, then maybe don't make such an impression in the first place?”

“Aha, hahaha, ha, haha yeah, but try looking at it from my perspective. A guy that should be dead was walking around like a lost sheep. We had no idea what was going on and even suspected a trap. Of course, I wouldn’t tell such person anything vital, but I gave you some tips here and there to check your reaction mate.”

“The one that has no idea what’s going on the most is me.”

“Yup, now we know. That’s why Rora decided to act.”

Adam pointed at the laptop that was still turned on.

“We saw it all through the laptop's camera. It was rather hard to watch, but Rora liked it a lot.”

“You hacked it?”

I heard that it could be done remotely, but first, the user had to make a mistake and get his hardware infected. I only touched it once while drinking… no, twice. I had checked it earlier after it was restored to factory settings. Maybe the malware was among the stuff I downloaded, but the chance that it was the one used by them was rather low. In that case, was it a present left by the person who broke into my flat?

“Nope. I mean, not me. Remember when we met near the vending machine? I was making sure that you won’t come back home before everything was set up.”

“The yesterday’s burglary?”

“Yup. Let me tell you a short story mate. A guilt-ridden Aura found out that a guy who should be dead was alive. What’s more, it was a different soul in the same body, which she confirmed by using her powers. That was reported back to Rora and according to our princess decree, you were placed under surveillance. I had the honorable role of freezing my ass off until you decided to come out.”

I wasn’t even angry. Finally, someone was willing to provide me with answers.

“You were watching the house? But I met you near the vending machine? Who broke in? It couldn’t have been Aura right?”

It was hard to imagine that silver-haired girl breaking into someone’s house. Either it was Rora or some other accomplice.

“Wasn’t hard to overtake you, you were walking at snail's speed mate. As for the breaking, it was Aurora. Don’t make such face, I said Aurora, not Aura.”

“Isn’t Aura a short form of Aurora?”

“Usually yeah, but in this case, I call them that when Rora’s using Aura as host. Together they form Aurora. Actually, there’s more to it, but it’s not the time and place for those details, let’s focus on the main dish.”

I was dying to know more, after all Rora was inside my body now. However, there was no point in starting a new topic while the other was still unfinished. I didn’t want to be left with just two or three partial answers.

“How did Aurora get in?”

Is it possible to eliminate other similar situations in the future?

“Well, if it was me, I would have made a photo of the key. For example, when you invited Aura inside, it was her chance to do that. It’s not hard to duplicate a key based on a photo.”

It's easy to eliminate this possibility by closing the door bolt when I'm inside, but I will have to think of a way to deal with situations when I'm not.

“But, with Rora’s help, there’s no need for that. She can materialize up to one meter away from the host. As long as there is even a small crack, no doors are able to stop her smoke form.”

Great, either I will have to change the front door to some airtight version or give up.

“Wait, in that case, why did I found traces of dirt and melted snow inside? Does her fog form gets dirty?”

“Ahaha, haha, ha that’s not it mate. Rora’s super bad with computers. To install the malware that gave us full access to your machine, she had to open the door for Aura and let her in. To tell you the truth, they were pretty careless about this. When I heard the details, a part of my faith in them died. Aura even thought that she made a smart move, before installing the program, by wiping your laptop clean. ‘To erase the traces and mislead’ she said. Leaving more traces to erase traces. One day she will single-handedly redefine the meaning of 'logic' in dictionaries.”

I couldn’t tell him that it had actually worked. At that time, I was convinced that there had been something on the hard drive that someone wanted to remove. The possibility that taking control of the laptop was their goal wasn’t even included in my investigation.

“So that’s the story behind that burglary.”

“Yeah, after that you got even more suspicious by sending a message to Silvie. I’m rather curious about it mate, but let’s leave the questions for later. You should know that your message changed a lot of things. Rora decided to take the risk and sent a true ticket instead of a fake, without even telling me about it. She even gave you my number. I had to use an underhanded tactic to buy some time and contact Rora on the side. That became a major part of my recent black history.”

“Really? I was sure that you were having a lot of fun at my expense. ‘Triple the disaster’ huh?”

“Ahaha, hahaha, haha no idea what you’re talking about mate.”

Adam grabbed a sandwich and stuffed his mouth in an obvious attempt to play the fool.
Arguing with him here would be equally foolish.

Strange, why did he stop moving in the middle of chewing?

It was as if he had just remembered something really nasty. Well, it wasn't the first time he acted bizarrely, so I decided to ignore his antics and continue our conversation.

“After that you called Aura and told her to go to the vending machine.”

“You met with Aurora at that time, they were keeping an eye on you.”

Knowing that Rora was skulking inside Aura’s body made me wonder, which line of what she had said belonged to whom. Could they even communicate in that state? Or was Rora limited to listening only.

“So you guys were handling me with care, just in case I was scheming something?”

“Yup. At that time Rora was planning to recruit you as our main fighting force, due to the order that killed Victor, but you managed to do a splendid job of changing her mind. I mean, when we got a notification that there was a recorded stream from your laptop we gathered and started watching it in anticipation. Were you going to contact someone? Send the info you gathered? Reveal your true intentions?”

“...”

“I will spare you the details, but let me just say that even I felt sorry for you. How can someone so confused and lost be a threat? You know the rest mate.”

The only saving grace was that they stopped suspecting me.

Yay!

Can this day get any worse than that? Well, it’s already close to midnight so please spare me. I want to make a toast, to the glorious second day of my transmigration! Tomorrow… won’t be any better, I still have to meet with Vio and decide what to tell her.

“Hey mate? You ok? Don’t let the darkening take over. Instead of becoming a hammer-wielding zombie aim at least for the role of Yuuya.”

“Huh? Why are those two my only choices? Come on, let me be like Yoshiki or Satoshi.”

“No way mate! Impossible, those two are reserved for me.”

“You’re comparing Aura to Yuka and Rora to Ayumi? Good luck with that.”

This was strange, really strange. This asshole, sitting opposite to me, suddenly became way more likable.

“Ahaha, haha, hah, haha can’t believe you actually understood that mate.”

“I take pride in my knowledge.”

“Let me ask you a question or two. In the end, just who are you?”

For a moment I considered lying, but Aura could dig out any info with ease, so there was no point in doing that.

“George Ruslan, a lost soul that somehow ended in Victor’s body.”

Let’s skip the part about the different world for now.

“Lost soul? What about your previous body? And what's with acting like Victor from time to time?”

My answer aroused Adam’s interest, he corrected his sloppy way of sitting and was trying to catch every word.

“I died in my previous life… actually, I killed myself, well now I can aim at the grand title of the world's first serial suicider. Also, I have access to Victor's memories, browsing through them when I need to. Maybe you will be able to tell me, why there’s nothing about you guys? I’m sure that he met with Aurora before, but it’s as if everything connected with that was erased.”

Adam was pondering over my answer. Seeing him deep in thought I went to make more tea. I actually wanted to ask about Victor’s death but decided to test the waters first.

“You’re not lying… right mate?”

“With Aura around? Good joke.”

“Yeah... That explains a lot. As for the lost memories, it's probably Aurora’s fault, but don’t worry about it and don’t try to ask Aura.”

“Why?”

“For your and her's sake. She’s already irritated with you getting all of Rora's attention and we will have to work together from now on, so let her cool down.”

“Here.”

I passed a new cup of tea to Adam and sat down.

“Thanks mate.”

“It’s not as if Rora became more interested in me without any warning.”

He smiled bitterly and avoided eye contact.

“That’s not exactly the case. A meat shield and a pet are two entirely different things. Think about it yourself mate. I’m not entirely happy with this development myself.”

“Alright, I will.”

I already had an inkling as to what he had in mind.

“Ok mate. It’s late, so let’s wrap it up with one, last piece of info and I will go home. I would like to avoid overloading your tiny, tormented brain with data.”

“Oooo, here it is. I was starting to get worried that I’ve somehow jumped to another world line. One, where you aren’t such a douchebag.”

“Seriously mate, if that was possible I would move straight to the omega one, nyan~.”

“NYAN?! You should listen to some classical music, I recommend Salieri.”

“Lolicon.”

“Ugh…”

“Whoa, first time I saw someone deflating like a balloon. Shouldn’t you be defending your stance more?”

“Can’t help it! Her character's great and she’s a legal one as well!”

Adam looked at me with a tender smile.

“Don’t worry I understand.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

We shook hands. Meeting someone who understands you was a great feeling. Was this the first step of the famous bromance?

As if, I still couldn’t forgive him for all the stuff he said before. Nevertheless, I was willing to let it go, just this one time.

“Seriously mate, we’re getting distracted.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yours? Anyway, there’s one more thing you need to know. It’s about Rora.”

The elephant in the room. Just what exactly was she doing inside my body?

“Alright, I’m listening.”

“She’s currently tuning herself to the new host. It may take from a day to a week and during that time you won’t notice any changes. The problem is what comes after. You will become her literal possession. She will be able to freely enter and leave your body and even influence your actions when inside. She’s sometimes… a bit hard to handle.”

“Wait, can she hear us now?”

“Nope, she’s too busy with tuning, won’t be able to do anything till it ends. That’s why I want you to be prepared. Also, her actions in your body are limited by the category you agreed upon entering a contract with her.”

Is this about me agreeing to become her pet?

“What do you mean by actions?”

“In Aura’s situation, as a little sister category, she shares a deep bond with Rora. They can freely exchange thoughts, secrets, memories, even borrow each other power for some time. As for me and my boyfriend category, I got an irresistible urge to appease her whims and wishes. Her happiness is my happiness and it works the same with other emotions. As for a pet category… I have no idea. That’s why you need to prepare yourself mate.”

I nodded. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. There seemed to be merits and demerits of every category. It could be quite interest...

...my mind froze. Somehow along the line, I stopped even trying to doubt Adam’s words. What guarantee I had that he was telling the truth? No, trying to find fault with everything and everyone was a bad move. There was almost no value in lying to me. Anyway, it was too late for that.

“Got it. Anything else I need to know?”

“Nope. That’s all for now mate. You’ve got my number, call if something happens. Let’s wait till Rora completes her tuning. I’m lending you my girlfriend for a bit, take care of her mate.”

Adam left shortly after saying that.

That was a really long day. I was lying on the bed to reduce a headache and thought about all the things that had happened today.

Playing the role of Vio’s brother in the morning.

Agreeing to the role of her tomorrow’s wallet.

Meeting with Silvie, Aurora’s mother.

Finding the note and calling Adam.

Playing with Aura near the vending machine.

Entering Votroadan’s domain.

Getting my sanity points reduced to zero.

Fighting with goblin and experiencing true berserk state.

Choosing my power, which current effects could be achieved by every person with a bit of intelligence.

Drinking, and crying, and blaming everything and everyone.

Obtaining the position of Rora’s pet.

Finding out that Adam’s an anime otaku.

There was a lot of it. In my whole life, was there ever a day more intense than this one?

Except for yesterday, the rest wasn't even close.

It hurt, it was hard, it made me want to die, it trampled all over my self-respect, it dragged my worst side for everyone to see, it was scary and bizarre, it made me change my mind like a kaleidoscope.

Given a chance to repeat it, I would refuse with all my might. Still, there was more to it.

It allowed me to meet interesting people, it opened my eyes, it made me feel refreshed, it gave me a chance to obtain a supernatural power, it made me feel alive.

Most of all...
… it was fun.

Despite all the whining and complains, it was fun. Way better than boring and repetitive everyday life I had as George.

If I changed the root of most of my problems - myself.

Just how much more fun it would become?