Chapter 56
(BUCKLE UP BUCKAROOS!!)
That night, at the penthouse of Nycta.
Being on the 30th floor, the penthouse has an incredible view of the city and the sky above.
From the height of the place, anyone can look down and see the glow of the night city.
If the morning shows the vitality and prosperity of Nohin, then the moment the sun goes down, that feeling changes into a certain charm and elegance.
Even when it is now 11 PM, Nohin is still lively as ever. As people usually say, life moves on. It waits for nobody. The vehicles represent the lives of many, still rolling on the streets of Nohin, never really stopping.
If there are people still walking down there, one can hardly make out their shapes, let alone their facial expressions. The size of the silhouettes is less than an ant, only comparable to that of a tiny dot.
Besides the concrete jungle made from buildings with various shapes and sizes, there are still the colors of the signs and billboards. They range from warm such as red and yellow to blue and green, which keep adding to the complexity of this image.
Coincidentally, it is a full moon tonight, combined with the twinkling of the stars and the magnificent clouds that occasionally move around the building, night at the penthouse can even be called magical.
There is no moment better than now to make an everlasting memory.
Currently, Sam's bunch is just sitting outside the garden, enjoying the beauty of the night while having pizzas and drinking soda.
In the corner, the maid can be seen standing there with a bucket of ice ready by her side. Her purpose is to bring up more of the beverage and ice for anyone before even asked. Her eyes, however, never really leave Sam. It is unknown whether or not it is her own volition, or she is being controlled by Nycta to do something like that.
After a whole day of moving in together, they can finally relax.
Actually, calling it 'moving in' may be an exaggeration. Nycta's penthouse has everything that anyone needs. The only thing the girls had to bring was clothing and their books, as well as electrical devices. As for Sam, they are going to buy him everything he needs instead of returning to his dorm.
Since today marks the day Sam moves in with them, it is worth celebrating.
"It has been a long month." Lily says with her mask down, revealing her angelic face.
It is rare for her to do such a thing. But with such a special occasion, she is letting herself go even if it's just for a little bit.
Her position is on his left, Yui, and Yuno are on his right, while Nycta sits the furthest away.
The blind girl drinks the soda in her glass. "It certainly has. I never have thought we would ever get to this point."
"What do you mean?" Sam asks.
"Yui will answer that for you, Sam." The little girl pours him another glass of coke. "None of us would think that you would ever come to care about us. Moving in under the same roof used to be unfathomable, right Yuno?"
Hearing her name, Yuno puts down the piece of pizza she is holding. And with an extremely unusual serious expression on her face, she replies. "Yuno agrees. Yuno used to think we would have to think that we would not get anything. After all, Sam never really paid us any attention. Any confessions that Yui and Yuno had were rejected promptly. It was unbearable, to say the least."
The girls and Sam look at Yuno being serious with bewildered eyes.
"I mean, would Sam still move in with us if there were no harm? Yuno hates that Sam is being in danger, truly! But honestly, Yuno feels blessed at the same time. It was thanks to all of those events that led Sam here, by Yuno's side." Yuno stares straight into Sam's eyes. He can see her different colored eyes are tearful. "Is Yuno a bad person? Yuno felt glad that Sam was put in danger...Is Yuno a bad girl...Sam?"
"Yui...Yui...feels the same as Yuno." Her little sister pulls his arm.
"Me too." Lily lets out. She looks far away. "I was...happy for these things to happen..."
Nycta stays silent.
The air suddenly turns heavy and depressed.
"To me..." Sam ponders for a while. "...I must say that I understand you. I will not say anything like you are bad nor you are good. There is no clear line between the good and the bad, anyway."
Sam looks slowly at every single one of them.
"I don't think wanting something to be yours is bad. No matter the means, as long as you feel it is justifiable, then it is good. Do you girls think that I am a bad person?" He points a finger at his face.
"No!!" Everyone says at once.
"I wanted to kill someone. I rejected you many times over years. It was me who brought myself into the current mess that you are trying to help me from it."
Sam sighs heavily.
"Although I can not see directly, I know you have done a lot for me. There is no way for someone like me to judge you. The real bad person is not anyone of you, it's me."
Lily holds his left hand tightly. "Don't say things like that, Sam. We did it because we wanted to."
He nods at her. "Yeah, I know that. This is why you girls are not bad people to me. This is also the reason why I agreed to be here. Please, girls, do not be anxious about being good or bad. As long as the results are worth it, it is justifiable."
"But what about you, Sam? What is it that you really think? Do you feel like you are obligated to pay it back?" Lily bites her lips, expecting the worse to happen. Yui and Yuno also hold their breath, while Nycta unconsciously stiffens her body up.
"There is no obligation in my mind to be here with you if that is what you want to hear."
"Sammy!" Yuno yells and gives him a bear hug. Yui joins in soon after.
Lily does not hug him, but the grip of her hand becomes even tighter than before.
Yet for some reason, Nycta is still sitting far away. She only gets closer to him, observing the others.
"I think it's about time that we go to bed." She says. "It's already almost midnight. We should be getting some rest."
"Yuno still wants to be with Sam, but it's late..." The little girl pouts as she starts helping the others with cleaning up.
Lily glances at Nycta, trying to guess what is in her head at this moment. She has not tried to make any advancement since the morning. There must be a plan in those black eyes of her.
Yui helps Yuno, but her mind is also beginning to doubt. They agreed to be on the same team as Lily for today, as the enemy is trying to do something from the unknown.
Everyone has a plan. Except for Yuno, of course. She will do whatever Yui does.
However, not thing happens. That makes them even more doubtful. Still, they have to put up a normal face to keep Sam from not knowing about it.
After cleaning up, they start to go into their separate rooms.
Nycta then takes a nice bath with the help of the maid. She needs to prepare for what is to come. She wants to smell good and look good while doing this with him.
The location Sam chooses is a room upstairs, in the corner. For Nycta, her place is exactly the one right below him. As for Lily and the twins, they are on the same floor as him, with the twins being the closest.
In the room, Yui and Yuno are on a call with Lily. They have already used their Sound Amplification magic to hear what is going on in Sam's room. There is nothing but his stable breathing.
"Listening to his breathing makes Yuno sleepy." After one hour of constant listening, Yuno makes a big yawn.
"Yui wants to sleep...by his side..." Her sister says.
"Yuno, too! Let's come into his room and ask for it."
But the little sister shakes her head. "He will most likely shove us out."
"Yui, listen to your big sister. If you want it, go get it! There is no lock on the door anyway! What's the worse that can happen?" Yuno ignores her little sister and heads towards the exit.
Exactly at that moment, Nycta is done with her makeup. Putting on the body a bathrobe and taking the bottle she prepared earlier, she quietly says: "Sam, let's sleep together."
The mechanism activates immediately, keeping the doors in their place. She walks towards hers and places a hand on it. It shines a white light as it registers her fingerprints and opens as normal.
There is a hint of pink on her face.