For Real

***

So this is what happened: Claire Spica, the younger sister of an old friend from middle school, found me in a compromising position with my hospitalized original character: the cringey Sinful Shadow— “Shin” for now.

She was there for a reason.

Claire Spica, as it turns out, was the daughter of the hospital director Shin and I ended up at.

She was working in some sort of management position here, and, surprisingly, she recognized my name from the list of guests, so she decided to come see me.

Because she’s known me for so long, she knew that my only sibling was my older sister, so she wanted to discreetly ask me about Shin because she wanted to know the truth about where he came from.

Yeah, well. You and me both, sister.

I told her it was a long story, and after she made sure Shin was okay to leave the room, she said she’ll listen to what I have to say in her office.

I felt a little bit like I was being scolded.

Shin and I were brought to one of the top floors. Hers was an ordinary, modest office with a small tea table in the middle for guests, where we sat down to talk.

Well, Claire and I did.

Shin was back in his edgy, bloody clothes by his own request, snooping all around her office. She didn’t seem to mind, though.

She poured me a cup of coffee from the little pot on her desk, waited for me to take a sip and calm down, and listened to my story.

I told her everything.

About the accident, the cars, how I poked his wound… I even told her about the dog.

Despite how crazy I felt telling her all this, she listened to me without saying a word.

I didn’t mention the thing about him being my OC because I wasn’t sure she’d remember my comic, but I was hoping with all my might that she would.

Slowly, she took a sip of her own cup before putting it down and gently smiling at me.

“You look so different now, Leo.”

“—Huh?”

It felt out of the blue.

Did she listen to anything I said?

Either way, it took me so off-guard I couldn’t do anything but sit upright and rub the back of my neck.

“Ah, yeah, I guess I do? I don’t have my bangs over my eyes anymore and all...”

I laughed awkwardly.

Am I supposed to say something about her, too? I feel like I don’t have a brain right now and I’m exhausted.

“You look… nice.”

That was lame, but it was better than nothing.

She covered her mouth with her hand daintily and laughed under her breath.

“Only your appearance changed, though. You’re still painfully shy.”

She said it with so much glee, too.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I just gave her a wry smile and adjusted my glasses.

Behind me, I heard the sound of something small snapping.

“Ah—”

Shin was playing with some book stoppers on her bookshelf and had accidentally broken off the head of some gold-painted figurine.

I gasped, turning around quickly to glare at him.

“Shin! What are you doing!? Those aren’t toys!”

“Oh, it’s fine, Leo. I wanted to replace them soon anyway.”

Claire dismissed me to diffuse the situation, but my blood pressure was spiking again.

Shin looked at the figurine’s head in his hand for a moment before huffing, then tossed it behind his shoulder.

“I told you, my name is not Shin. It’s Sinful Shadow.”

I groaned, turned away from him and covered my face with my hands.

This was a nightmare.

I needed to wake up as soon as possible.

“Ugh… I’m… I’m so sorry about him. He’s like some uncivilized animal.”

At the very least, I should apologize for bringing him into her life.

Even though Shin never apologized for coming into mine.

I felt incredibly stupid telling the story, and incredibly stupid having her listen.

But she was the daughter of the hospital director, so I needed her help desperately.

I don’t want to be financially responsible for a kid’s hospital bills even though he saved my life.

Come on, me? Jobless? Taking care of some stranger’s child in this economy?

That was never gonna happen.

But I couldn’t look her in the eye and ask for help directly, either.

It’s not like we were friends or anything, right?

I was friends with her brother a long time ago, but that was the extent of our relationship.

Still, I couldn’t leave this office without guilt unless I was sure Shin would be taken care of.

I still had so many questions for him, but every attempt at conversation ended with him going into some spiral about NEMESIS and it was just impossible to get anything useful from his cringe ass.

“Well, that’s to be expected, isn’t it?”

She said with her melodious voice.

I raised my head and looked at her, confused.

“Isn’t he exactly like the main character from your comic?”

I froze in place.

Did I hear her right?

“W-What?”

“Sinful Shadow. Wasn't that the name of the the main character from The Grim Reaper of Chaos and Destruction?”

“...You remember that?!”

“Of course, silly. How could I forget! You drew hundreds of pages of it! Sinful Shadow could use magic, but he preferred using his scythe, Soul Killer; he was a loner, but he was always ready to help those in need, and he was always fighting the people from NEMESIS—”

“Aaaah… please stop…”

Oh, god. I was so embarrassed hearing her gush about something I thought had been lost to the sands of time, buried only in my own shameful memories.

But, wait! This is a good thing, isn’t it!?

If she remembers him and she agrees this kid is dressed like him, then I’m not crazy, right!?

“Right! Claire!”

I stood up quickly, excited at the ray of hope that had just shone down on me.

But at the same time, Shin rushed over, standing in front of her and leaning dangerously close to her face.

“Woman! How do you know me?! How do you know NEMESIS!?”

I immediately grabbed the back of his clothes and tugged him hard, pulling him onto the couch where I was sitting on a moment ago.

He looked at me with an angry glare, but I glared back at him.

“Shut up. Stay there. If you won’t talk and you won’t behave, the least you could do is listen!”

“Who do you think you are, mortal? Talking to me like that…”

“Now, now,” Claire said, steadying us with her palms. “Leo, don’t be so rough on him, he’s still recovering, after all.”

Ugh. And now Claire was talking to us like we were both children.

I sighed, and sat down next to him with zero grace.

“Shin— Sinful Shadow, nice to properly meet you. I’m Claire.”

“.........Hi.”

To my surprise, Shin answered candidly. His face had a slight blush.

…Huh. I guess he was never good at talking to women.

Wait, what am I saying? This kid is not my original character.

“Okay, brat, I think it’s time for you to finally talk. Who are you, really? Where did you come from? Who are your parents? Where do you live? Did you run away from home? Are you a cosplayer?”

“I have nothing to say to the mortal who took my scythe away from me.”

This little shit…

“I’m sorry,” Claire interrupted, “I had to put Soul Killer away since it’s considered a weapon and the hospital won’t allow it in here. Ah, but don’t worry, I know it’s the source of your powers, so I’ll make sure it’s returned to you once you’re discharged.”

“Claire, please stop playing along with his stupid lore—”

“Hmph. You seem to understand the value of my companion, woman.”

Shin leaned back on his seat, crossing his arms.

“Very well. I’ll answer your questions.”

“Thank you, Sinful Shadow.”

She put her hands together and beamed him a smile.

“You can’t possibly believe him…”

I sighed, shaking my head.

But Claire looked at me with her big eyes through her glasses, tilting her head to the side.

“Hm? Of course I do. He’s the character you created in middle school, right?”

…Wait, she believes it?

For real?