1.33. Dreaming

I had a dream.

It was a dream where Novelle and I, Shin, were still alive in our previous world.

The sun was beating at us, the blue skies were clear, there were barely any clouds present.

"What's up, Shin?"

"H-Huh?"

I turned around to meet her gaze. A girl with black hair tied to the side. Unusual considering how the more convenient method was to do the ponytail behind. The lecturers had also given their warnings. She refused to listen.

She, in a simple shirt and loose skirt sat down beside me.

From here, the rooftop of the college building, the city view is quite a sight.

But I wasn't focussed on that. I was focused on her. She felt foreign, even though we meet almost everyday. Why did it feel as if an eternity had passed since I last saw her?

"What?"

She narrowed her eyes on me.

I narrowed my eyes on her.

Then she bursted out laughing.

"You should look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me, what happened? You look so sentimental."

I embraced her.

"W-Woah what is this all of a sudden?!"

"I don't know. I just miss you."

"Harassment!"

Even though she yelled in such an exaggerated manner, she didn't try to push me away or resist. Her body was small, but her warmth was comfortable.

A nice breeze blew.

"S-Shin.. what's wrong? You're acting so weird."

"I don't know either."

Right.

This was the person I love. Novelle Bougainvillea.

She flicked my forehead.

"Ouch."

I parted from her.

"I'll let you get away with it this time. Have you eaten anything?" The blush on her cheeks were clear, yet she was trying to act all tough. What a deplorable thing– I caught myself smiling wryly.

"I've eaten, you?"

"Same. I brought snacks though," from the [Inventory], she took out two cans of cake and dangled it in front of me. One was strawberry, the other was passion fruit.

It's a trending item in the market. The college recently installed this vending machine which sold it.

I took the strawberry one as I knew she would prefer the other. It came together with a plastic spoon.

"It's kind of hot, don't you want to move somewhere else," she held the neckline of her shirt and fanned it. The colour of her bra today was..

"Let's go back in," I looked away.

"You better tell me what happened to you alright?"

"If I can remember."

"What a joke.. don't tell me you just wanted to hug me. That's so.."

Her sentence stopped there. We entered the college building.

===

Nom.

She dug in and took a bite. Her cheeks puffed up. She was staring intently at me.

"What?"

"Just looking at your face."

"What nonsense," I rolled my eyes.

"I've been wondering. What would happen if one of us got hit by truck-kun. That would be a big problem, wouldn't it?"

"Isn't that how every one of your novels begin?"

"Because you need to catch the reader's attention first. It creates anticipation. Eat, I didn't buy you a can for nothing," she pointed her spoon at my unopened can.

"Okay, okay."

I cracked it open and tried it. Not bad.

"Thanks."

"No worries. Just continue illustrating for my novel."

"By the way, do you have any ending in mind for this series this time around?"

"Nope, not at all," she chucked cake into her mouth, sliding the spoon out, she continued, "Some writers like to think of a grand ending, not me. I prefer not being in the know."

"I don't understand you writers.. actually, nevermind. It's the same with creating illustrations. I don't know what the final result will look like, I only have a vague feeling of it."

"Artist problems."

"Right?"

"Which character do you think I'm not writing enough of? Is Rurita interesting? Or does she lack flair?"

"I think that character is smart enough. The balance of the heroine being naive is also alright. The male leads and elf leads.. is Pu'er also one of them? Pu'er and Avner, or just Avner? I feel like you're saving him for a big arc."

Novelle nodded.

"I'm still ruminating for ideas. Those two go a long way back."

"As in?"

Avner is cold. The way he portrays himself is kinda cruel. It's the same with Pu'er, except that hirs attitude is calculative. Novelle always drops hints that xe's plotting something big.

Xe.

Her latest series, <Cookie Cult> is a story with three genders.

"Avner is a demon. I'm thinking the reason why he acts so cold is because he got afflicted with a curse. As for Pu'er, xe's an angel that remembers Avner from her past life. "

"What? Her? Isn't it hir? How deep does this story even go?"

It's like she's layering numerous stories on each other. No, that's how her writing style. The depth of each major character is insane.

"Really deep. I plan to pour everything into this novel. Anyhow, you can think of Pu'er as someone who worships Avner, a fanatic. Avner doesn't know this, yet."

"So Pu'er has her memories of her past life, Avner does not?"

"Yup."

"Crazy."

"Yes, xe's crazy dangerous. Xe'll do anything Avner says. I plan to even write a part where xe stabs hirself in front of him using a pen."

"Do pens still exist in that world?"

"Yup."

"Really? What happened to eco-friendly? Nevermind. Since we're talking about those two, you said they're involved in this angel-demon war, what's the purpose of it?"

"No purpose. It's just to make the story interesting, a nice addition no? I won't be elaborating too much into it unless Rurita gets herself involved. Don't know if she will, oh, sesame seeds."

I don't know if it's normal. Novelle says that even though she's the writer, the characters seem to just move on their own accord. It's a balance of making the characters come alive and controlling them so that the story progresses in a way that sows seeds of suspense.

"Your favourite character. If we run into truck-kun into the future, which character do you want to become?"

"A mob character," I said with the spoon in my mouth.

"Pfft. Of course you would, just your current life," Novelle laughed.

She's not wrong. I'm invisible to most people.

"If I limit it to the major characters, which is the most interesting?"

"Avner."

"Why?"

"I want to know what this angel-demon war is about. You've been hinting at it but nobody knows about it. It's like a whole new world to discover."

"Good to hear. I'll remove the curse if it ever comes to that."

"Not like it would happen."

Novelle nodded slowly. She bit into the last bit of her cake. That's so fast.

Noticing the now empty can, she looked at mine.

"Can I try some of yours?"

And so she asks shamelessly.

"Sure. You can take it if you want."

I held out the can towards her. I'm not fond of sweet stuff.

"You're not afraid that I'll get fat? Thanks~"

She ate in delight.

"Not particularly."

"You like plump people so they're easier to hug eh?"

"I never said that."

"Say ah."

I shook my head. It's awkward to do something like this at the cafeteria. There are so many people around.

"Suit yourself. We've already kissed indirectly anyways."

I tilted my head and looked away. Don't let her catch your smile, Shin.

"I'll think about it. But if it were me, I don't know which character I'll pick though."

"What? Can you repeat? It's too noisy here."

"N-Nothing. What do you want for dinner later?"

Dinner? We just finished desserts for lunch.

"How about we make some stir fried prawns and grilled fish?"

"Seafood. Got it. Let's go get the ingredients after this. When we get back, we still have a lot of work to do."

She's not wrong. I still have ten illustrations for volume two I need to polish.

"By the way, Shin. You have to call out my true name, <Novelle> if you want to find me next time."

It's hard to tell if the can end up in the aluminum or plastic category, but she decided to throw it into the plastic one in the end.

"What do you mean? You going chunni?"

"I'm serious. Just in case."

She's going chunni again, no doubt about it. It's typical of her to say these nonsensical things. Nevermind. That's the Novelle I've always known.

"What?"

A distraught expression.

"Come on."

I looked down, there her outreached hand was inviting me.

I rolled my eyes.

I took her hand and we walked hand in hand.

===

dotturndot: OMG!! It's Novelle!! Reference to MDQ. Those that read the entire series will understand. Ship them?!