Lonely

A few minutes after Zera stopped crying, Kei went back to fishing again while Zera sat down next to him and watched. The blazing sun was high in the sky but the cool breezy wind around them made it perfect weather.

Zera looked at Kei and felt her heartbeat rapidly increase. Her face became flushed and to anyone else watching her, they would think it was because of the hot sun. However, the reality was different. She was embarrassed crying in front of him.

Zera was in agonizing pain thinking back on the events that transpired. 'Ahhh! I can't believe I cried in front of him! I'm so embarrassed!'

She didn't have enough mental fortitude to handle her embarrassment so she stayed quiet to make sure Kei didn't look at her red face. She has never been in such an awkward situation before so she doesn't know what to do.

Of course, the only person thinking that the atmosphere is awkward is Zera. Kei didn't find it awkward but he rather enjoyed the quiet while fishing. He focused on fishing so he didn't notice Zera's embarrassing state next to him.

Zera took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. After she finishes she is still embarrassed but it wasn't unbearable. Although now that she had time to calm down she was annoyed at him. 'Damn it! Why did you have to say those things to me?'

Although she was complaining she didn't mind what he said. On the contrary, she felt extremely grateful for what he said. It helped her see value in her existence and lifted a big burden on her. She just couldn't be honest with her sincere feelings so she masks them with different emotions.

She started to glare at him for making her feel so annoyed.

Kei was looking over the pond before he felt a sharp gaze on him. He slowly turned his head to the side and saw Zera staring daggers at him. He didn't know the reason but he felt she must be annoyed by him for some reason. 'W-What did I do?'

"W-What's wrong?"

"Kei, what do you think of Mavis?"

Zera ignored him and asked a question of her own. She asked because she wanted to know his feelings toward her. Whether they are romantic or not.

She can see Mavis is starting to develop a crush on him. She didn't feel comfortable with it but didn't do much to change her mind. If Mavis started to like Kei then she wanted to know how Kei felt toward Mavis.

He didn't understand why she was glaring at him before but smiled wryly at her question and decided to answer, "It's complicated."

"What do you mean?"

Kei scratched the back of his head and looked at Zera's confused face. He decided to tell her about where he came from. It's been a year already and he avoid the topic or said vague details about it. He was lucky they didn't pressure him to talk about it. 'I should really prepare for situations like this in the future.'

"I have to tell you about where I came from first."

He then went ahead and told Zera about his origins. How he wasn't from this world or timeline and how he will have to go back to his original world. He also said he wouldn't be able to come back to this timeline after he left.

"Wow."

That was all Zera could say. She would have thought he was crazy if she hasn't known him for over a year. A small part of her thought he was talking nonsense until she looked into his eyes. She say them and knew he was being serious about it.

"It might sound unbelievable but I can assure you it's the truth. Although you can't tell Mavis about it. At least not until I tell her."

"Sure."

"...You agreed rather fast."

"What? Did you think I would argue with you? You are the only other person I talk to besides Mavis. I won't tell her what you don't want me to. Besides, you kept my secret so I will keep yours. Even if it sounds like fantasy I know you're serious. I trust you after all."

Kei smiled at her and was happy she believed him.

"Thanks."

Zera was mesmerized by his smile and stopped moving. Kei titled his head and wondered why she froze. Zera realized she was just staring at him and decided to talk about something else before she became too embarrassed to say anything.

"A-Anyways, now I know why it's complicated but you still didn't tell me if you like her or not."

"Well, I guess you can say I am just starting to like her."

It was a gradual transition. His feelings were built up over the year on the island. He only had Mavis and Zera to talk to after all. Mavis would always be with him whenever she could. She would talk to him, sleep next to him, and play with him. Everything they did would be together. Even when he was working out or practicing the sword she would sit down under a tree and watch him.

'It was more of Mavis being clingy than anything else now that I think about it.' He laughed to himself a bit.

"I see."

When Zera heard him admit to liking Mavis her heart stung a bit. She didn't know why but her chest ached thinking about them being together.

"So do you understand now why a relationship will be difficult? Even though it might be possible to come to this world in the future. I won't be able to go to the past. Even if we share mutually like each other it won't work." Kei says with a sad smile.

"Do you know the time frame of leaving after the quests are completed?"

"Nope. I got no idea."

*Ding*

Right after he said that his phone ringed. He was surprised because his phone shouldn't be working in this world. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it.

Zera was confused about what he pulled out.

"What's that?"

"It's a phone. It's a device to receive calls or messages from other people. Although it shouldn't even function right now since it's been over a year without charge."

He looked opened the home screen and saw an announcement on the group chat.

<Announcement: Each quest will give the participants a certain amount of time after they are completed to stay in that world. The time given will be one year. The host does not need to stay the full year and can leave anytime they desire. As a side note, all phones with this application are magical and thus able to be used without a charge.>

"...Well, I guess I can stay up to a year after the quest is complete."

"Eh? Really? I thought it would be shorter."

"Me too. Guess that's a good thing, I can try to figure out what to do with Mavis."

Zera then thought about something and decided to ask Kei.

"Can I ask a personal question?" Zera asks.

"Sure." Kei said not minding it.

"Don't you ever get lonely being in this world?" Zera asks.

She knows Kei has been in this world for a little more than a year at least. She just can't imagine not feeling a little lonely being away from his loved ones.

"Sure I get lonely now and then. In the beginning, I looked at the moon to alleviate my homesickness. I have always loved the night sky so that helped me feel less alone. However, what helped me the most was you and Mavis." Kei said while looking at his reflection in the water.

"Because you guys were always with me I didn't feel alone. Your antics with each other made me laugh. It was fun being around you guys. So thanks for staying with me.." Kei said while turning his head back to Zera.

Zera just sat there embarrassed about being thanked. But she was also happy about it as well. All she ever had was Mavis. That's all she believed she would ever need. However, when she met Kei she realized that having someone else to talk to was a lot of fun as well.

Zera looked at Kei from the corner of her eye and then turned her face quickly. Whenever she started looking at Kei her face starts getting hot. She shook her head and began to talk to Kei again but was interrupted.

"Alright, I think I got enough fish to eat. I'm heading back to cook Zera-chan."

Kei teased Zera a bit and left the blushing girl alone.

"Come back here Kei!"

Zera yelled as she was running toward him. She may be an illusion but that won't stop her from trying to beating him up.