Cute

"I'm not supposed to feel hunger when you don't. Something's strange."

It took a while for her words to be processed and I blame it on my digestive system hoarding all the oxygen in my body and making my brain not function properly. Then I finally remembered her telling me that although she could eat in her human form, she didn't really need to.

"When did this start?"

"Today." She answered without hesitation then she nibbled on the nail of her right thumb. "I should have been more suspicious about those cravings. I shouldn't have brushed them off as mere curiosity."

When I noticed her tapping her bare toes on the carpeted floor, I guided her towards the sofa and made her sit. It was my first time seeing her this agitated and it seemed like feeling hunger was a big issue for them with how she's openly expressing her distress with her entire body. Normally, she would have declined and snapped at me again for treating her as if she were fragile. But this time, to my surprise, she just meekly followed while still absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Just wait here. I'll go and fix something for you." I wanted to help her brainstorm but I'd have to admit that there's really nothing much that I could help her with except bringing her some food at the moment.

I went down and did my best to keep my head clear to avoid disturbing her thoughts knowing that she could hear everything. I knew close to nothing about how a Shadow's body worked aside from the little things that she told me. But I figured that there was no harm in trying to ease her stress a little by using methods that I would use to a human.

Whenever Zee was stressed by studying her scripts, she would always go to the kitchen and drink tea even if it was in the middle of the night. She said that it helped in calming her mind. So I was thinking of preparing one for Xes to have after taking her meal.

But I didn't expect this house to have at least ten types of tea, let alone know the difference between one and the other. So I just boiled some water and took a packet of mint tea from the set on top of the kitchen counter.

Why mint? Because personally, I liked mint.

Not because it was the only familiar word amongst all the other labels.

Nope.

After heating up the food, I poured water on the teabag as if I was brewing ground coffee beans. I was not sure how much water I should put so I settled on filling a third of the cup. I could not remember if Zee used to put sugar in hers but I put one spoon anyway, thinking that sugar could help in lifting Xes's mood.

Proud of my work, I went back upstairs and saw Xes leaning her head against the back of the sofa. At first glance, I thought that she had fallen asleep but when I got closer, I saw that she had her eyes open and was staring at the ceiling.

"Xes?"

She slowly lifted her head and looked at me with a blank expression on her face. "You really can't last a day without thinking about her, can you?"

"Huh?" I got confused by her question and didn't understand what she was talking about until my eyes landed on the tea that I made. The corner of my lips lifted with guilt. "And here I thought that I successfully cleared my thoughts to give you some quiet time."

She smiled weakly and took the tray from me and placed it on her lap. "Thanks for the thought though."

"Eat." I sat on the floor in front of her to make sure that she finished everything. "I don't know if the tea would work for you. But there's no harm in trying, right?"

She took a bite from the grilled meat and a spoonful of rice at a time. After a few moments of her eating in silence, she finally stopped holding herself back from saying what's on her mind. "I've spoken with Azrael."

She has been mentioning this Azrael so much that I no longer felt that he was a stranger. "What did he say? Does he know why you're having cravings or why you're feeling hunger?"

She shook her head and blew on the cup of tea before carefully taking a sip. A heavy smile formed on her lips. "Next time, less water and add another spoon of sugar."

"You have a sweet-tooth?" I asked in amusement.

"Apparently." The smile slowly disappeared from her face. "Azrael also has no idea why I'm experiencing these things but he said that it's most probably because of the contract."

"Even I could figure that much." I didn't know why I felt the need to brag that the idea crossed my mind as well.

She placed the tray down beside her and held the cup of tea with both hands. "I guess that the only person who can answer my question is HeiAn."

"HeiAn? Who's that?" I felt like I'd heard of the name before. Or maybe not.

"She's…" Xes looked at me for a brief moment before completing her sentence. "...my beginning and my end. She existed far longer than your ancestors did and will continue to exist far longer than anybody in this world. She could be anywhere and everywhere at the same time. And she's the only one who has the key to the Gates of Time. So if there's someone who knows everything that goes on in this world, it would be her."

"Then why don't you ask her?" My heart skipped at the news that there was someone out there that could help Xes with her problem.

But that happiness was short-lived when Xes let out a sigh which weighed down on my chest as she answered. "I'm currently bound to you so I could not go to wherever she is on my own."

"Then take me with you." I suggested without hesitation.

And that thoughtless suggestion made her smile. "You're really cute. And I'd love to. But you could die."