Chapter 294 - And I Was Just, Running Away

Yawn.

I slept well. 

I had all sorts of worries but still slept well. 

Too well, perhaps. 

I was still sleepy but I couldn't really forget about last night. Reason being, Raea was still on my bed, holding my hand. 

And I wasn't the least sleepy anymore. My eyes had blasted open. 

Small beads of sweat forming. 

Reason being?

Marg was just in front of the bed, standing and glaring. 

'Oh fuck-'

"Can we please talk, before we-"

Before we what?

I didn't know.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Sunlight was coming through the curtains and though the room was really lit. it was almost like everything had turned gray.

"Sure, let's talk." She spoke normally. "One night, Helio. I've been gone one night. And you already slept with another woman. Now, I did think this'd eventually happen but, but really, just a day before our marriage?" Her teeth rattled. Her hands formed fists, her breathing erratic. "Let's talk." But her voice was level. 

But say what?

What could I have possibly said at a time like this?

I was under a sheet, but I was sure I didn't have anything on. 

So, I couldn't just run to her and-

My head hurt. 

A splitting headache. 

Raea started waking up. 

This was just going to get more complicated. 

'Say something, something, anything!'

But I couldn't find the words. 

If I just said sorry, that wouldn't have solved anything. 

I'd done this, I'd made this mess. 

"I was-" I started. "It's my fault. I did this, I'm sorry. And I couldn't help myself. I truly am sorry." There was no way out of this. 

I had to say the truth. It was true that Raea was the one who came here, but, I was the one who ended up giving in. 

I knew it'd just be a mess. 

I knew she'd hate me for this. 

But I still did it. 

Raea woke up: she must have been listening in. "I came here. He didn't go to my room," she said. "So it-"

"You stay out of this." Marg's voice remained deadpan but her eyes leaked. Her expression- fierce. "Think, I'll just stay with mom today too."

And she disappeared. No, she'd teleported.

I looked at my hand. 

'The fuck have I done?'

***

I got fresh and got down. 

Breakfast was already served and going cold.

Meaning, I'd overslept. 

Marg wasn't here and Elsa was already done with her food. When she saw me, she left without even giving me a second glance. 

Meanwhile, the rest of them treated me the very same, but perhaps with a hint of coldness. I knew my family all too well. So even a little deviation was something I could always pick up. 

They didn't ask me about Marg. They didn't ask me about what happened last night. 

Yeah, they knew alright. 

Sigh. 

I ate. 

Though it was more like I just shoved a bit of food, drank some water, and called it a day. 

The wedding was tomorrow, but, the atmosphere of the house, sure didn't seem like it. 

There was no joy, there was no laughter. The air was stale and the world was gray. 

All this morning light wasn't going any good. 

'There's going to be some fireworks tonight, wanna go see it together?' I received a message from Eve. 

'Fireworks?'

Hmm…

Wait, this could work. 

Marg was mad at me. 

And she had all the rights to. But I had to make up somehow. And I had to do it before the marriage. 

I had to do that now!

I couldn't just go to her place and ask her directly, because there was always a chance she'd just teleport again. 

So instead, I gave her a message. 

'I sure hope she didn't block me.'

It was a simple message. 

Basically, I wanted her to be at the roof of our academic building at seven. 

She'd probably just ignore me, but I kind of had hope. 

The environment at home was suffocating me, so I picked up my saber and just left. 

Outside though, I met grandma, tending the new garden. 

I didn't want to talk, so I started walking. 

"The key to a successful relationship is communication," she said, not quite looking my way. "Never forget that."

She didn't say anything else. And judging by that tone of hers, she didn't expect a reply. 

Sigh. 

***

It was amazing how much progress these guys made in a matter of a day. 

Even yesterday, the whole academy was a mess. There were craters and debris everywhere. But today, everything looked so clean, so nice. 

I didn't know what I was doing. 

Maybe I was just killing time, maybe I was just distracting myself. 

Maybe I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. 

But at the end of the day, I really didn't know how to fix all this. 

With some sighs I moved on and looked around. 

I bought some chocolate banana from a nearby stall and ate it. 

Lately I didn't have enough chocolate. 

But even having chocolate wasn't helping. 

Eventually, I finished touring the whole place and it'd only been like forty minutes. 

'How am I going to spend the rest of the day?'

Sigh.

Since I had nothing better to do, I figured visiting Merin for a change would be nice. 

So, I headed for the dorms. 

It'd been a long while. 

The area was pretty much the same. This area wasn't affected by the fights, I guess. Though I did see some uprooted palms here and there. 

'The palm network huh?'

I kind of wanted to have a discussion about that with Ariel. 

***

The stairs were as terrible as I remembered. 

It was a godsend that I didn't need to go through this anymore. 

There were few students inside. Most were just down there having fun rebuilding and other stuff, I guess. 

Pant! Pant!

Who knew, just climbing four stories would drain me this much. 'Did I lose stamina or something?'

Panting, I reached for room 402 and was about to knock. 

I was so out of breath, I had to take a breather first. 

"Heh, your old roommate must have been quite the troublemaker, huh?"

And then I overheard something. 

"Nah, he was a good dude."

They were sorting things. 

"You say that but his rumors aren't that great. I heard he has a harem of girls just fawning over him wherever he goes."

A chuckle came out. "That's cause he does. The guy doesn't realize that though. Sometimes I feel bad about the girls."

"Wait, seriously!?" Another chuckle. 

I couldn't bring out the courage to knock. 

So, I retraced my steps back to the stairway and just descended, head down. 

The world again,

Was gray. 

And I was just, running away.