Chapter 11:

A Feeling

The Devil I Know


“Pfft. Ha ha ha,” the corners of her mouth tweaked up into a smile as she began to laugh, dark hair tumbling about as giggles overtook her body. Her eyes shone brightly in the afternoon sun.

It struck me now that she really was intensely pretty when she smiled.

Not that she looked bad otherwise mind you, but, well, seeing her be happy felt so much better.

“You’re real honest, huh?” she snickered.

“You’re really pretty,” I breathed the words out mindlessly. Lower than a whisper, it was nearly automatic. I tensed up as soon as I realized what had just left my mouth.

“What?”

“Oh, uh. Nothing.”

Really? And after I just praised you for honesty,” her tongue clicked as she slowly shook her head.

“I-it’s embarrassing.” My hands shifted to the straps of my bag, squeezing them tightly as I felt the heat rising in my face. I might have been nearly as red as her eyes. I shrank down, choosing to peek up at her over my glasses rather than directly meet her image.

“Well, I won’t pry.” She smirked, brushing away the hair that had made its way in front of her face. “I really was glad to see you today.”

“M-me too. I mean, seeing you. Y’know?”

“Yeah. Well. Have a nice one Rin, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Honesty. She said it. I felt a twinge of guilt. Evi’s been honest this whole time. Accepted all my weird quirks, even when they annoyed her. She helped talk with Fujiwara-san, ate lunch with me, and was nice to me despite clearly having her own issues to deal with. This was no time to be a liar.

“…I said you were really pretty.”

“Hah. Okay. Maybe you’re not so honest after all.”

“I mean it!”

“…Ah.” She cleared her throat. “Well, no accounting for taste.”

“Oh come on!” I whisper-shouted, “You said I was cute earlier. Why won’t you believe me when I say you’re pretty?”

“I can think of something that might dock me points when it comes to most people.” She pointed a finger up above her face.

“Your horn—“

“My personality,” she teased. Shifting her shoulders a bit, she lowered her hand. “Thanks Rin.”

“You’re welcome.”

That same pinprick of guilt still needled at my side. There was something else I hadn’t told her. But this wasn’t just embarrassing for me. No. She might not like this. And it might make me look crazy. How to approach this...?

“…I would like to be in a club with you, by the way. That’s, um, that’s part of why I want to do this. It’s not just getting to know Kusumoto-san and Fujiwara-san… you’re also one of the people I want to be there with.”

“Oh.”

“And also…” I bit my lip. No. No, I was going to say it. “Since we were talking about yesterday. Uh…well.”

“Yeah?”

“You brought up one of the questions I asked last night, right? But. It, uh, it wasn’t the only one I asked…”

“Hmm.”

“I asked if you noticed anything strange happen back when I first talked to you.”

“And I said no.”

“Right… W-well. I asked you because I did notice something weird.”

Her face darkened.

“…And you think I had something to do with it?”

“No! N-no. I mean, not necessarily. And maybe not on purpose. Like, maybe it was me? Or both of us? Or neither?”

She furrowed her brow, but remained silent.

“Evi, I completely believe that you didn’t see anything! But I think I saw something. And maybe it’s just my imagination, but... well. I at least thought I should tell you about it.”

“…Okay then. What did you see?”

“We talked for a while on the train, right?”

“Yeah.”

“At least a couple of minutes, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Okay. So. Before I noticed you on the train, I had pulled up my phone to check the time. And, um. The time— the time was 12:12 AM. Twelve minutes after midnight…”

“…Sure.”

“Then, I went up to you. And we talked. For a while. Again, this was a couple minutes at least…”

She nodded.

“Then you took a nap while we waited to reach the station. And while you were napping, I decided to check the time again. It was still 12:12 AM. The same exact time! Then I blinked a bit, looked again, and suddenly it was 12:22.”

“…You might just have a broken phone. Or you imagined it. It was late.”

“I know! And I know this sounds dumb and crazy and all but…”

She raised a hand dismissively.

“Besides, if I were magic I doubt I would take a normal train to get around.”

“A-again, I’m not saying it was you. Just that you were there. And, well, I don’t know. If this actually was something, I feel like it’s only right that I tell you about it.” I adjusted my glasses, shrugging slightly as I did. “Maybe this could be something for the Paranormal Research Club to investigate?”

“…Do you really think they would actually know anything?”

“I said investigate. Not, like, know instantly.” I shuffled my feet.

“Hmm.”

“I just- I wanted to be open with you. Since you were with me. I know we just met, but, well... since that was the first time we met, I especially didn’t want to hide anything I felt about it. You’re the first real friend I’ve ever had, so… I don’t want to lie to you. You don’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

She grabbed her left arm.

“Friend, huh?”

Did I say something wrong?

“I’d like that…”

Evi smiled as we said our goodbyes. For a moment or so, I watched her walk off into the distance. Then I started back on my own journey home. The rhythmic pitter-patter of footsteps fading to background noise as my mind set to wander.

My first friend.

Evi.

I felt... something. A warmth in my chest. A light, fluttery sort of thing that I didn't fully understand... but I knew I liked it.

I'm so glad I met her.

Steward McOy
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Koyomi
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Dracors
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Rabat
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muishiki
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