Chapter 77 Alone With Alicia [Pt 2]

Chapter 77 Alone With Alicia [Pt 2]

"You."

The moment Alicia heard this, her eyes widened in shock.

'W-what is he saying?!'

Alicia was expecting a lot of things, but not this!

Not yet!

'He was thinking about me? That's why he hasn't been focusing on reading?!'

Even though Alicia didn't say anything, she had been glancing at Rey at intervals to see if he was indeed focused on reading.

Or if, like her, he couldn't concentrate.

At first, he was turning the pages, so she assumed he was paying attention.

She didn't want to disturb him with a conversation, or something that would disrupt his focus.

The sole reason she was here, with him, was so they could enjoy the unspoken camaraderie they shared in books.

If she sullied that with pointless conversations just to selfishly while away time, it would be unfair.

Just because she wasn't into the books today, that didn't mean Rey wouldn't be.

However, her thought processes soon changed when Rey stopped flipping his book pages.

'Hm? What's going on?!' She had thought.

Within herself, she had a faint hope that he too wasn't very invested in what he was reading.

She knew it was a terrible thing to wish for, but she had had no choice in the matters of her emotions.

As time passed, she hoped he wouldn't flip the page and regain his momentum.

She hoped he would talk to her instead.

She hoped...

However, nothing happened.

'Should I just talk to him and start the conversation?' Alicia finally thought to herself.

It wouldn't be a big deal to do so.

But, she didn't want Rey to misunderstand her intentions.

'A guy and a girl in a room together... if I start a conversation now, he might think I'm interested in him or something.'

It wasn't like she wasn't interested in him, but Alicia didn't want him thinking she was.

It was a weird state to be in, but as a girl, she knew this was perfectly normal.

'I don't want him to get the wrong idea, though...'

Due to her experience with guys, Alicia had been in a lot of her conversations that took a drastic turn at moments like this.

Things usually went south when a guy thought she was interested in them and to make all the wrong moves.

'I don't want him leaning forward and puckering his lips or anything...'

That just felt... wrong.

She felt like she could just speak her mind to him.

"I just want to study for my benefit. I want to learn more about this world, and about my abilities. I want to focus on my capabilities, and one day... hopefully find a way to go back home."

Rey's eyes popped open almost as soon as she said this.

"You want to go back?!"

Alicia nodded slowly.

"Yeah. I mean... I have my family, and a bunch of stuff to do back on Earth. I miss my cat, and there are a lot of books I want to catch up on..."

As she said these things, she could see flickers of hesitation in Rey's eyes.

"I also... sort of miss having my smartphone. Don't you...?"

"Not really..."

Rey's response surprised her, and she didn't even try to hide it.

Alicia thought that, of all people, Rey would also want to return home.

Sure, he was an average person back on Earth, but that was much better than this place.

He was surrounded by classmates who had ridiculous abilities, and he was stuck with very weak ones.

It made her slightly curious about his Karma Points and how he ended up with such a terrible skill-set.

'Now that I think about it, a lot of people must hate him back on Earth since his Karma Point must have been extremely low. I can't blame him for not wanting to return...'

"Most of the best things that have happened to me happened here..." Rey finally spoke up.

For some reason, most of the nervousness on his face had vanished.

"Getting a special ability, exploring a different world... meeting you..."

Alicia felt her heart skip a little once she heard that, but she maintained her smile.

"... I don't think I want to go back."

As Rey said this, he closed his eyes and gave a genuinely wide smile.

"I want to remain here!"

'No way...' Alicia's thoughts trailed.

Even with the entire Trial and ostracization that Rey was experiencing, he still preferred this world?

'I can't believe it!'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

The more I write these two, the more I root for their ship.

However, as the author, I must remain unbiased.