At night, Isa would always find herself thinking about the incident. Always stared up into the dark ceiling. Actually, she thought more about the man. Something distinguished him from everyone else, not just appearance wise, but something else Isa couldn't identify.
She went back to Arôme countless times, even though it was far away from where she lived. Almost everyday, after work at the hospital, she would go back just to see his absence.
One night, Isa met up with Ina at a restaurant.
"So, what's on your mind these days, Isa?" Ina asked, twirling her glass so that the ice cubes tumbled around, making clink, clunk sounds inside.
"What do you mean?" Isa asked.
Ina smiled, sat up straight. "You're different, Isa. I can tell very well. You seem...happy, yet tired," she laughed.
Isa smiled at her, amazed how observant and meticulous Ina was. "Really? I guess you're smarter than you look," she teased. They both laughed. "Hey...Ina?"
"Yes?"
Isa pondered how to word it. It was a strange thought that kept on bugging her.
"What is… I mean what does...love...feel like?"
Ina stared at her for a couple of seconds, with a blank expression. Then, her lips curved upwards and she bursted out laughing wildly. Isa stayed silent to whole half-minute of continuous laughter by her friend, a bit confused why she was laughing.
"Isa," she began. She smiled again. "You know what love feels like, don't you? I love you, Isa. Me and my father. You're like my sister, you know that…" A brief look of sincerity crossed her face as if she was sad. "I don't know how hurt you feel sometimes… Losing your parents thirteen years ago…"
The memory came back to Isa like a tidal wave, hitting her so hard it ached somewhere deep inside. That day. When she came home after school, finding blood smeared all over the walls. Running away as fast as she could to Ina's house. Tears flooding down her cheeks. A burning sensation in her heart. The same ache.
"Because of ghouls, huh…?"
A moment of silence passed. Isa tried to manage a smile to her friend, trying to show she was over it.
"Sorry, Isa. I think you meant the other love…" Her friend said. "You know, I think you already know that feeling. Why ask me?" Ina playfully nudged her friend. It was sometimes so surprising how much Ina knew. Was it her intuition? She always understood Isa so well.
"Thank you, Ina. You're all I have-with your father of course," she wiped the last bit of tears from her eyes.
"You'll have one more," Ina added.
"One more what?"
"A person that loves you."
"Hmph… Interesting human…"