Encore

Anxiously, Kamari waited in his room alone, staring at the clock in his room as it neared 7:30 PM. While Tom was training, Kamari was waiting for the sunset to come so he could see Seon once again.

As soon as the clock struck 7:30, Kamari got up from the bottom bunk of his bed and started for the door. As he exited the room, he ran into a couple of contestants who were on their way back from the training room, though Tom was nowhere to be seen. As for why, Tom was still training, not wanting to let himself fall behind.

'Still not back, huh?' Kamari thought to himself. He trained for a while, but he was one of the first to call it a day. Kamari continued to walk through the cold, metallic hallway until his vision was brightened by Hana Seon's bright orange hair. Immediately upon Kamari entering the lounge, Seon could see him in the reflection of the artificial window. With a smile just as bright as her sunny locks and Light Chronicle, Seon waved to him and he waved back as he continued to walk toward her.

"Hey." Kamari spoke softly as he sat next to her on the long chair by the fake window.

"Hi, Kamari. You came." Seon was still smiling as she spoke, though her eyes were locked on the window in front of her, watching as the sky started to change into a mix of orange and violet.

"Well, you said you would be waiting." Kamari's eyes were also locked on the artificial sunset as he spoke to her, having the slightest of smiles on his face.

Seon took her eyes off of the window and looked at Kamari, having a sort of solemn expression on her face. "Oh, did I say that? Now that you are saying it, it sounds like I coerced you to come here." Seon chuckled a little bit, showing her smile to Kamari once more who'd turned his head to face her.

"Hm? No, it's not like that. I wanted to come see you." Kamari admitted, though he immediately started to feel a bit too straightforward. "Well, not just you. I meant I wanted to watch the sunset with you." Internally, Kamari was screaming, though he kept a cool exterior. Yet again, he found his heart pounding while being near her.

Seon giggled, finding Kamari quite cute in the way that he'd tried to hide his nerves. "I wanted to see you too. It's nice talking to you." Seon wasn't afraid to be straightforward with him. In her mind, they were going to die anyway, so there was nothing to hide.

"For real?" Kamari asked her, surprised to hear it come straight from her.

"Mhm. I feel like you and I have an understanding, even though we only spoke briefly. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I agree. We're the only two watching a fake sunset instead of training." Kamari admitted, smiling softly as his gaze reverted back to the window.

"We're the only two who understand it's a waste of time." Seon added. Like Kamari, she too ended her training early.

"Right. In a room full of prodigies and fighters, we don't really stand much of a chance, do we?" Kamari mumbled plainly, the sun's rays reflecting off of his honey-colored eyes.

"Maybe a small chance. Maybe your Dark Chronicle is really strong." Seon eyed Kamari's Chronicle as it hovered next to him, wondering what secrets were being held inside.

"Seems pretty ordinary to me. My starter spell is just a regular old fireball. What about you?" he asked.

"I can shoot bow and arrow of light, I guess." Seon told him casually, compelling him to turn and face her.

"Seriously? That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! Way cooler than a fireball." Kamari felt a bit jealous that her ability sounded way better than his aesthetically, though he wondered which attack was stronger.

"It is pretty cool." Seon chuckled. "I wonder what other spells my Chronicle has hidden away, waiting to be unlocked..." Seon looked down at her own Chronicle, using her mind to flip through the empty pages.

"Me too." Kamari thought, looking through his own. "Part of me wants to continue to train my Chronicle to unlock its potential but... I don't know. I guess knowing that death is coming for two hundred and fifty-eight of us is kind of discouraging."

"Kamari, I have a question." Seon whispered, looking up at him with her eyebrows somewhat furrowed.

"Hm?" Kamari sounded, looking back at her.

"Why do you think everyone else is willing to fight, even though the odds are against them?" she asked him, bringing a puzzled look to his face. Kamari thought about it for a moment before giving the best answer he could. "Maybe it's because they have something to fight for. My roommate is here to avenge his brother. I assume some people have national pride or want the money to give to their families, right?"

"I see." Seon whispered, watching as the sun was starting to disappear behind the fake shoreline in front of them. "Part of me wishes I had something to fight for." Seon admitted, still having a sad smile on her face.

"Me too." Kamari agreed. "But at the same time, it's good there's less to worry about, right?"

"Right." Seon nodded, though, for her, there was something that she was worried about. "There is something I do worry about though."

"And what's that?" Kamari questioned.

"It's stupid." Seon, for the first time, was afraid to speak her mind.

"I bet it's not." Kamari told her. "I won't think it's dumb, I promise."

Seon hesitiatied, rubbing her hand with her thumb before finally speaking her mind. "Even though we just met, I'm worried when the last sunset I get to see with you will be." As she admitted this, she could feel a small weight lift off of her chest, but it was still embarassing to admit such a thing to a boy who was practically a stanger. "Even this time was just as beautiful as the last... I like having someone here to watch it with me."

Kamari didn't know what to say. Her words completely threw him off, stunning him. However, he was able to find some words to say. "There's twenty-eight days left until the first elimination round, right? So that's twenty-seven more after this one." he told her, facing her with kind eyes. "How about a promise?"

"A promise?" Seon repeated.

"Mhm. Let's promise to watch every last sunset together, in case we don't make it to the next round." Kamari told her, surprising himself. Just a few days ago, he would have never made a promise to anyone like this. However, the way he felt about Seon was starting to change him.

"I promise." Seon said with a smile, looking up at Kamari with the kindest of glares.

"I promise too." he repeated back to her.

And with that, the two of them spoke a while longer before saying their goodbyes, expecting the other to hold up their end of the deal and meet at the same spot the next day.