Shadow Slave

This was a very strange way to act for Sunny, but many Awakened did just that every day. Unless their Citadel was under attack — which happened frequently in most parts of the Dream Realm — or they were assigned a certain duty, people just remained in their quarters, slept, and returned to the real world without throwing themselves into any kind of danger.

Others performed various tasks to earn a livelihood in the Citadel, all the while staying safe behind its walls. Few frequently ventured outside and challenged the wilderness of the Dream Realm.

And who could blame them?

Most people were made Awakened against their will, after all. It was the Spell that wanted humans to risk their lives, go through deadly trials and endure terrible suffering, not people themselves. So there was nothing wrong with a person who wanted to stay as safe as possible, for as long as possible.

If anything, it was Sunny who behaved abnormally.

In any case, he felt refreshed and more balanced when he returned to the real world in the morning. A good night of sleep helped him put his unexpected encounter with Rain in perspective.

Yes, it was an unfortunate mistake on his part, and yes, the fact that she now knew his face and name was less than ideal. But truly, nothing too bad had happened. Rain just thought of him as a neighbor. Not even an acquaintance, just a… stranger.

Which was just as Sunny wanted it. To be on the safe side, he could avoid leaving the house for a while, altogether.

…And yet, in the evening, he found himself sitting on the porch again, enjoying the view and a cup of tea, as he had already grown used to.

\'After yesterday, I doubt that she\'ll ever want to approach this house again. So I should be alright…\'

But as it turned out, he was not.

Sunny noticed Rain walking from the public transport terminal long before she came anywhere near his home, because one of his shadows was stationed further down the street to keep a lookout. He sighed, then lowered his eyes and pretended to study the synthwood surface of the porch, hoping to avoid making eye contact with the teenage girl.

This time, he was not going to give her a reason to come closer and talk to him.

However, it was all for naught. When Rain approached the path leading to his door, she slowed down a bit, hesitated, then turned and walked directly to him.

\'What the hell…\'

Sunny raised his head and stared at her with a bit of surprise.

"Uh… hi. It\'s you again."

She nodded, then took off her backpack and produced a big food container out of it, seemingly full of something delicious. Then, Rain handed it to Sunny.

"Here. My mom made it. Your friend said to bring food, right? Oh… and I\'m really sorry. For, you know… yesterday."

Sunny blinked a couple of times, then took the container from her hands and stared at it for a bit.

\'Damn Effie… who told her to ask for food? I cook great food for the both of us myself!\'

Then, he pretended to smile and said:

"Yeah, she did. And no problem. Say thanks to your mom."

Sunny thought that the conversation would be over after that, but Rain lingered. There was a sort of curious expression on her face.

"It\'s nothing much, just some pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce. My favorite. Uh… Sunny, right? I\'m Rain, by the way."

He looked at the food container again, reevaluating his stance on its existence. Nothing special, huh… he was willing to bet that the ingredients she listed were all natural, too. A far cry from synthpaste people like him usually consumed to keep their bellies full in the outskirts. Sunny knew a few guys who would kill to eat something like this.

His smile became more genuine.

"Yup, I\'m Sunny. Nice to meet you, Rain."

She smiled slightly, hesitated for a few moments, and then asked:

"So you\'re really eighteen? And live alone in your own house? I mean, with that nice friend of yours."

Sunny shrugged.

"Sure. She\'s just staying over until she finds a place of her own, though. Why?"

The girl looked at him with wide eyes.

"I mean… aren\'t you a bit young to live on your own? Aren\'t your parents worried?"

He stared at her for a couple of seconds, then tilted his head a little.

"I think that I\'m of a perfect age to live on my own. And no, my parents aren\'t worried about me one bit."

Rain smiled, as though hearing the most fascinating thing ever.

"But, like… who cooks your food? No, wait… who buys your wood? Do you get an allowance? Or do you have a stipend from your university? Wait… do you even go to a university? I have so many questions!"

Sunny mentally groaned.

\'Questions… I hate questions!\'

Outwardly, though, he remained calm.

"What kind of questions are those? Obviously, I buy and cook my food myself. And who needs a university? A stipend! I am a wildly successful young entrepreneur, if you must know. Basically, I do whatever I want."

Rain stared at him.

"And your parent just let you? They\'re not lecturing you every day about the future, the importance of having a productive career, and how you must be always ready in case you get infected by the Spell?"

Sunny furrowed his brow.

"No, none of those."

Rain looked at him with envy and sighed.

"You\'re lucky! My mom and dad are like hawks!"

\'...What the hell is a hawk? Something bad, I presume…\'

He remained silent for a while, a complicated expression appearing on his face.

Finally, Sunny said:

"...Don\'t be hard on your mom and dad. You\'re the lucky one, really. I sort of twisted the truth a little. My parents don\'t care about where I am and what I do… because I don\'t have parents. So… I would rather be in your situation than mine, great as it is. Yours is a bit greater."

Rain stopped smiling and looked at him with a hard-to-read, sad expression on her pale face. Then, she said quietly:

"Oh… I see. Sorry. I didn\'t know."

She smiled a little and waved.

"Well, I\'ll be going then. Enjoy the pasta, Sunny!"

The young girl put her backpack back on, turned around, and left.

Sunny remained on the porch for a while, staring at the tray of food. Slowly, a dark expression settled on his face.

\'I can\'t continue doing nothing anymore… I need to make a decision and proceed. I wasted too much time as it is, already…\'

He avoided doing anything about getting Rain ready for the possibility of becoming infected by the Spell, because he didn\'t know what to do, and how.

But this inaction had to stop. He had to come up with something…