Chapter 267 Stay
Nicole stopped in place, looking at Kairos with a bit of a confused expression.
"Ah, well I completed my promotion mission, and it helped me kill a lot of things even when I hadn't yet been promoted to the C rank. After I thought I got enough points, I decided to move up a rank, but after that, all the monsters seemed to be really afraid of me, hehe. It might be a little hard to get points, sorry."
Kairos shook his head slowly, his lips ever so slightly parted the entire time.
"I mean... you said that I waited for you. But... I don't remember ever doing something like that."
Nicole raised her eyebrows in surprise for a moment. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh as a gentle smile spread out across her face. Instead of going the way she had been, she looked over at a huge section of rubble near the side of the road.
After raising her hand towards it, all of the rocks began rapidly disintegrating, and in just a few seconds all that was left was the ground. The ground was barren, with only dirt, but after a short while, Nicole flicked her wrist and it suddenly became lush with short and dark green grass.
She walked into the middle of the field and sat Kairos down facing the sun before sitting next to him as well. Still needing support, Kairos nearly fell over, but Nicole made sure to hold onto him closely and securely.
While holding up her wrist, she showed a watch. It looked rather horrifying, with red veins pulsating all over, looking more like a piece of flesh than anything else.
"Remember this watch you gave me? I can do this."
A small intangible bubble formed around them, seemingly distorting the air. The world outside appeared to become sluggish.
"Inside here, the outside world moves at half the speed, so we can take our time here."
Kairos didn't know what to say, so he simply nodded slowly, still waiting for her answer. As for Nicole, she took a deep breath, clearly not in a rush to give said answer.
"Do you really not remember?"
Kairos blinked a few times, trying to recall whatever she was referring to, though it wasn't exactly easy to do when she hadn't given any details.
"...I don't think so."
She looked off at the sky, letting his head rest against her shoulder. Then, Nicole rested her own head on top of his.
"I remember it so clearly, that I almost can't believe it has been about a decade since then. It still feels like it was just yesterday. It was the day that we first met, do you really not remember?"
Kairos let out a soft hum.
"Wasn't it when I was playing with Edward and you wanted to join in?"
Nicole let out a laugh, which took a somewhat sad tone near the end.
"So you really don't remember. It feels a bit disappointing that you've forgotten, but at the same time if it's something you so easily forgot, then it must've been something that came so naturally to you that it wasn't anything special."
Kairos became more curious the more Nicole beat around the bush. He tried to comb through his memories to try and remember, but really couldn't come up with anything.
"Was it really that special?"
Nicole averted her eyes slightly and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Well, maybe not. It would be more embarrassing if I had to say."
After a short moment of silence, she worked up the courage to finally tell the story.
"I ran away from home because I didn't want my parents to see me crying. As for why, despite remembering how I felt, I don't have the slightest clue... But that isn't really important. After waking up early, I went outside on a bench to cry."
Kairos could hardly move but still tried to look up at her, with curious and confused eyes. But Nicole had already closed her eyes, already deep within her memories.
"There were a few people who asked if I was okay, but I didn't care to respond, and they soon left. All of them except for you. When I didn't respond, you kept trying to get my attention for a while. If I am being honest, I found it a bit annoying that you were still talking to me and wouldn't leave me alone."
She let out a small sigh.
"But really, you only asked a few before going silent. I was just being irritable. At first, I thought that you had already left like the others, but I heard you sneeze next to me. It was hard to see, but I could make out that you were still sitting next to me. I decided to just ignore you."
Nicole let out a weak laugh while shifting around awkwardly.
"But even as hours passed, you never left. Just sitting there silently the whole time, when you could've been doing anything else. It was only then that I even realized that I wanted someone to be with me, even if they weren't doing anything."
Her voice softened just a bit further.
"I remember feeling so hungry, clutching my stomach while letting out whines. You said, 'I'll bring some food!' though as hungry as I was, I really didn't want you to leave. Then, you sprinted away as fast as you could. Just a little while later, you came back completely out of breath and gave me a sandwich."
She giggled with a tinge of guilt.
"Without even saying thank you, I took it and ate it. Now that I think about it, you were smacking your lips and making gulping sounds. While I didn't realize at the time, you were also hungry. For whatever reason, you gave your lunch to someone who you met just a few hours ago and hadn't said a single thing to you. And the entire time, you had a smile on your face."
Kairos felt a little disillusioned. Although he was very different as a child, he didn't think that he was that kind of person. At least, not so much that he would give up his own lunch to someone while he was still hungry. His most prominent memories were actually when other people were kind to him, in part because of how rare it was.
Despite his confusion, Nicole continued on as she had been. She held onto one of his arms that still hadn't fully grown back.
"Even after I stopped crying and calmed down, you still stayed with me. It really meant so much to me. I held onto your arm just like this, and you didn't complain even as it went well into the night. The only reason you even stopped was because my parents had come to find me and brought me away."
Nicole gently stroked his arm and appeared to have trouble breathing, taking in one shaky breath after another.
"But even with that comfort, I was still sad, among many other problems you know of. My parents tried to help me and took me to a therapist, but it never worked. After asking to play with you, it helped a lot. But still, I spent most of my time just sitting somewhere just like this and doing nothing. And you would always be there, next to me patiently. It made so much of the pain go away. I never really thanked you properly for all of that."
Tears streamed down on her face, but she was smiling brightly.
"So... thank you."
Kairos did remember those times since the amount of times Nicole had asked him to stay with her was numerous. However, it didn't feel particularly special to him, as doing nothing was something he had done plenty of before.
"...It's no problem. I was already very experienced in doing nothing."
Nicole let out a laugh while sniffling.
"I don't know what would've happened to me if it wasn't for you. For so many years, I asked for your patience, and you would be there every time. Everything hurt so much, but it was far more bearable with you. You were the one that taught me to be happy just for the sake of being happy. It was always you."
She hugged him tightly while crying, almost like it wasn't actually her that was comforting him. Kairos blinked a few times while looking at the sky. It felt like she had been talking about someone that was already so far away.
"Hah... I can remember those times, but it just doesn't feel like me. I know I was very different as a kid, but now I'm nothing like that."
Nicole pressed her forehead against his with a wide smile.
"Yes, you are different now, but you're still the same kind person that you've always been. I can see it so clearly, so why can't you?"
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