Kyle stood and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, psyching himself up.
He had tied back his hair, revealing the sharp features he was well known for. His face was clean-shaven, and his natural blue eyes were staring back at him. His fake glasses were on the sink, discarded.
He sighed.
This would be the first time he was revealing his true face to Sari, and he was nervous.
He didn't even know why he was nervous.
After deliberating for a long time and arguing with himself in the bathroom, he finally decided that he was going to tell her who he was after all.
Why was he not doing so, anyway?
Why was he so reluctant?
When he asked himself that question, he found that he had no answer.
Was there a part of him that was afraid that she'd not be able to accept him?
He had only one more year to go before he finished his degree.
He had three more years before his first 'death'.
When he had impulsively run away from home in complete anger, he had done so without truly considering the timeline.
All that had been on his mind was his explosive anger at his father, his deep longing for his kids and his intense desire to just … be free.
Sari gave him the sort of peace of mind, and heart, that he had been sorely lacking and longing all this time. It completed him and gave him a sense of calmness that he had not had for a long time.
To be exact, since his rebirth.
And he was deathly afraid of losing that.
But he also knew that he could not keep his identity from her forever.
He had to go home soon.
He had responsibilities that he couldn't shirk for too long. For now, things were pretty stable and he was studying … but after he was done? Then what?
He had, according to his calculations, one year left. At the most, two.
The thought of leaving Sari behind … was something he did not want to consider. At least, he didn't want to be separated from her without some sort of firm tie to her.
If it was up to him, he'd marry her and bring her home.
He laughed a bit at that, while shaking his head.
That would certainly make his father shocked to the core.
But he would only be fulfilling their condition, right? Just not in the way they'd imagine.
He looked at himself in the mirror again.
"You can do this, Kyle," he hissed, "Wuss."
Kyle walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed this time. He wore a T-shirt and jeans, even though he would normally wear singlet and shorts if he was alone at home.
He thought it might be too much for Sari to handle if he did do that right now.
When he came out, he saw that Sari was looking through his books.
She didn't turn, most likely because she was so engrossed in whatever she was looking at, that she had not heard him come out.
Her back was to him, and he noticed that she was standing quite stiffly. Her body language all screamed 'shock' and he wondered what it was that made her so frozen.
He silently went behind her, and hugged her from behind, asking, "What are you looking at?"
She screamed, flinging the book that had been in her hands high in the air. Kyle caught it deftly with one hand without letting go of her waist with his other hand. He looked at the cover, and then at her.
She was clutching something to her chest, the piece crumpled in her hands as she had been shocked senseless. Sari gasped, and looked down at the crumpled piece of paper, not daring to look at Kyle as she apologized.
"I-I-I'm so sorry," she mumbled, "I ruined your precious picture."
"Picture?" Kyle said then realisation dawned on him, "Ah. Picture."
Sari was trembling, and Kyle sighed.
"This was not the way I wanted to tell you," Kyle said with regret.
Sari's eyes started glistening with tears and her lips trembled. She bowed her head even lower and Kyle pried the crumpled picture from her hands.
He went in front of her, and sat on the desk, looking at the forlorn girlfriend of his.
He smoothened the picture, and in it, was a picture of Kay as she was smiling beautifully at the camera. Behind it, were the words, 'Loving you always and missing you deeply'.
Sari couldn't look at the picture, her heart in a mess. Why did she have to be such a busybody and look through his books? Then again, why was he hiding that picture in the book?
He forced her to look at him, and said, "She's my sister."
Sari blinked.
Her ears were hearing what he was saying, but her brain was having difficulty processing what she was hearing. Rather, what she was looking at fried her brains so much that she couldn't understand a single word.
She gasped, took a step back and pointed a finger at him, saying, "Who .. who … Rex?!"
"Oh come on, Sari," Kyle said with a laugh, "I don't look THAT bad now, do I?"
Her eyes were as wide as saucers and she covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head, closing her eyes and opened them again.
"Rex?" she said again, calling out to him.
"Yes, sayang?" he said gently, taking her by the hand and bringing her closer.
The voice was his. Truly it was.
But his face ….
"Rex, why do you look so much like Kyle Smith?"
Kyle was startled, to say the least. All this time, she had never recognised him but now, she did immediately? What happened? Why was she so sharp all of the sudden?
"That's because I am," he said with a sigh.
Sari promptly fainted.
Kyle caught her deftly and looked in surprise at his unconscious girlfriend.
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