CHAPTER 6:

Intertwined Fates

He was getting restless.

A day has passed since their arrival at Nagazora City and the news of Raiden Ryoma imprisonment has been stuck in his mind ever since yesterday. The excitement and joy experienced by his classmates from last night event felt hollow and pointless to him; since everything was now moving towards a direction, he knew nothing about and the fear of these uncertainty gnawed him from the inside, slowly corrupting his thoughts and starting to cloud his judgment.

This is the reason why he was feeling annoyed.

The news of Raiden Ryoma malpractice has spreads across the globe like a wildfire, seeing no end to the news, and knowing how the media operates; they were keen on adding more fuel to the raging flame.

Maybe he should step in and help her for old time's sake, but he abandoned that thought completely. There would be more harm than good, rather than stepping into a wolf den; he was willing to observe.

For now, he will allow them to take on the first step.

Time is on his side after all.

There's no reason for him to rush, every action he took in this timeline is crucial and the battle of the End will go according to his plan.

So why does his heart feel otherwise?

Kent was currently alone inside his dorm, lying down on his bed and was finding himself gazing at the white painted ceiling above him, enjoying the tranquility around him whilst his mind has been pondering over the course of action he must take regarding the current matters.

The regressed man took one deep breath, trying to relax his mind from the stressed swelling inside him, releasing the air from his lungs to his mouth, blowing the air out slowly and then he repeated the same process for the next few minutes. Again, and again; until it calms him down slightly, clearing his mind from his anxiety, even if it's just for a moment it was sufficed to appease his concerns.

Afterward, he gets up and moved to the edge of his bed before hearing the sound of footsteps approaching his room, eyes rolling towards the door; watching as the knob turned and the wooden door swung open.

Adama and Hans entered the room; one has an expression of amusement whilst the other one was that of embarrassment.

"Had fun with lunch time?" Kent inquired the two with a playful tone, a small smile adored his face gaining their attention as he watches the two walking towards their respective bed and sat down on the edge.

The dorm was spacious enough for three beds to exist alongside each other, and a wardrobe was given for each dormmate to use in their homestay. Honestly speaking from the things, he had experienced in his life; all of these weren't exactly terrible.

"Yeah, why didn't you join us though?" Adama answered his question, nodding his head in confirmation, though he finished his sentence with a question that were left hanging by Kent. The tall young man sighed, quite frustrated with the way his friend acted around him. Ever since that day, he saw the changes occurring from him, it brought a positive reaction for him at first but now thinking back to it, he preferred the old Kent since his current personality went down the drain ever since.

But not in the bad way.

"I don't feel well." Kent replied, crossing his arms with a nod to answer him. The regressed man then averted his gaze to look at his other roommate; the latter tried to acted oblivious but he can see right through it. "What about you Hans, you seem happy for some reason...?"

Hans chuckled when he heard the question, truth to be told he was quite astonished at Kent's perceiving gaze. Even so, the highschooler was a bit nervous to answer his question hence he could feel his face heating up from the sheer embarrassment of recalling what had happened at the cafeteria. "We saw some new faces…" The dark-skinned teenager started, clearing his throat to hide his nervousness whilst lying down on the bed, eyes staring at the ceiling in wonders before ending his continuing with a slight chuckled left his mouth along the way. "Our English kind of sucks, but the language barrier didn't stop us from getting along with each other."

"He has a crush on someone, a fellow schoolgirl from Shinano High. She was friendly, and the conversation took a quite turn for us…especially for him." Adama interrupted, ending his fellow Acehnese friend sentence which caused the later to get up and hardened his gaze at Adama.

"Oi, you promised not to tell anyone that."

Adama chuckled before he couldn't hold back, the laughter and laughed, filling the room with his wholehearted laughter causing Hans to be even more embarrassed; the humiliation however doesn't stop there.

The two were debating with one another whilst Kent pondered to himself.

"Shinano…? That sounds familiar." Kent hummed in thought, thinking over it for a while before recalling the only person that once lived and was raised there until she joined the MOTH.

Yae Sakura.

"Who was it did you meet?" The strongest human inquired, keen to know more about the fellow schoolgirl they kept mentioning about.

Hans slumped down on his bed to hide his reddened face causing Adama to hold in a snicker of laughter whilst Kent chuckled.

It seems he has to wait to get the answer out of them, or perhaps he could join them the next time they went to get lunch together.

"Can we change the topic bro!?" The tanned young man grumbled, unhappy with their antics causing both Adama and him to look at each other before conceding to his plea. Kent was silence throughout the conversation, listening to their conversation attentively and was honestly enjoying the moment for himself.

Fate is surely amusing, who would've thought the past repeated itself for the second time. In the previous Era, these two were his friends and to see them once again brought back some memories.

For a moment he couldn't help but pondered.

Had the world been different…would their friendship last till the end of their lifetime?

His question was left unanswered but a part of him wished and prayed if the situation could be different …he hopes the past will not repeat itself again for the second time.

"What's wrong Kent?" Adama asked when he noticed the way Kent was gazing at him was making him feels rather uncomfortable.

Kent merely shook his head and completely banished the thought from his head before answering his friend question with honesty.

"I was surprised to see the two of you get along so well with each other." He remarked, feeling slightly left out with how close the two had gotten with each other within the span of two days.

Adama grinned.

"Feeling jealous?"

"Nope."

Hans chuckled at the two, relieved that they were kind people; unlike them. "I hope I'm not ruining your friendship." The dark-skinned young man said, his voice was shallow, and they could his eyes glistening in sadness, but alongside that there was hope lingering in his voice. "You two are such a great friend…i-if that's alright with you guys," Hans corrected with himself, closing his eyes and sighed. "I mean…we barely knew each other and here I am getting too friendly.

Adama glance at Hans before averted his towards Kent.

"Hey, it's fine, we're not bothered by it, right buddy?"

"Yeah"

Hans smiled.

"Is that so...? I'm relieved then since I can spend my day without getting bullied by them since you guys are kind people."

"Looks can be rather deceiving…" The regressed Flame-chaser started, whispering the words softly underneath his breath, unnoticed by the two as he saw their confusing gaze on him which he then smiles and continue to end his sentence. "I'm glad you feel that way Hans…perhaps you have been siding with the wrong people."

"Maybe you were right." Hans nodded in understanding, relieved someone care about his wellbeing but he couldn't help to admit out loud. "They weren't like that before; I don't understand what caused them to be changed"

Adama sighed.

"Why bother defending them? They treated you poorly, no? Beside they are just a bunch of rich bastards that loves to bully the weak."

Hans was unable to answer his question since he knew that he was right.

"They probably were being influenced by each other action…" Kent chimed in to break the awkward silence between them. "Don't bother wasting your time with people like that, they won't change unless a situation required for them to change." He stopped for a moment, remembering how it ended between him and Elysia.

Just like how he was once.

"Just listen to your heart, since the heart never lies." His voice sounded melancholy to the other two, seemingly longing for someone that has long left this world.

Silence filled the whole room, and no one dare to break it.

Adama slumped his back on the bed, gazing at the ceiling in wonders, he has his doubts but today he was certain about it; the changes occurred in his friend isn't normal and he will probably never discover the truth behind it. He clenched his lips, frustrated with these feeling of doubts snaring his heart, but he swallowed his desire for answers and remained silence for a moment.

Deciding it cannot go any longer an idea crossed his mind, opening his mouth the tall high schooler suggested. "Since we have some free time until tomorrow, how about if we give the city another exploration? I mean we got permission to go out, just needed to get back before dusk"

Kent rolled his eyes to the side whilst Hans chuckled.

"Sounds good to me." Hans replied, agreeing with his roommate suggestion and stole a glance at him, waiting for his respond while he hummed in thought, pondering about his decision and he could feel their gaze were onto him.

"C'mon Kent, what's the harm?" His childhood friend nagged at him, once again frustrated with him and he noticed that. Adama sighed, jumping down from the edge of his bed and walk towards the door, head tilting to the side staring at him. "Remember we're here for a school program. Who knows maybe today will be the only day we can have a free schedule like this."

Kent thought over it before conceded and nodded his head.

"Fine."

His fellow roommates grinned at each other, then they left their dorm together, walking downstair towards the dorm entrance, heading towards the bustling city that soon greets them.

The experience in Nagazora City was a surreal experience for them, it was like a dream come true. Buildings raced each other in a quest to touch the blue sky, with people littered the streets and sidewalks; doing their daily mundane lives and enjoying the weekend with each other company. Unlike in Aceh, life here was upbeat and fast-paced and everyone and everything was moving. Perhaps only today the people of this city can enjoy their exhausting life to cast aside their work for the moment to spending time with their beloved.

They had been walking for a couple few minutes, he noticed the two of them had no destination in mind, seemingly like the three has been walking around in circle whilst waiting for an idea to cross their mind.

"Where are we heading?" He couldn't help but asked, keen to help them since this was their idea to begins with; beside this isn't the first time he visited Nagazora, back then…he had more opportunities than this.

"Exploring the city sounds good." Adama responded to his friend question causing Kent to deadpan at hearing his answer.

"Yeah, I know, but where to?"

His fellow school friend hummed in thought and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know…let's just waste time till dusk."

Ugh.

Agreeing to this was stupid, if wasting time was their main goal, he rather goes to sleep than walking around the city like a headless chicken.

Hans heard the debate going on between the two but paid no mind to it and continue to look down on his smartphone, searching for information about the city tourism destination; once he was done, he saw the two was still on each other heads.

"Why don't we go there today?" The tan-skinned schooler suggested, interrupting the two and pointing his index finger at the screen of his smartphone which stopped the two and gained their attention.

"I doubt you guys have the money to go there." Kent refuted, disagreeing to Hans' suggestion.

It wasn't a jab, more like a friendly reminder; their time in Nagazora is limited and isn't one to laundered money within the span of two days.

"It probably cost less than 3000 Yen." Adama shrugged with a frown whilst Hans nodded in agreement.

Kent hummed in thought.

"What about heading to the park and-"

"Nope, boring." Adama interrupted.

"Boring my ass, its free if we compared it to the sky point tower." The regressed man protested, grumbling to himself whilst the other two ignored him and continue to walk towards their destination.

It seems nothing could change their minds, and with a sigh he joined them.

Kent was strolling alongside them, once again observing the two enjoying their day with touring around the city whilst a longing expression appeared on his face as he reminisces the past within that few minutes, recollecting the missing memories buried deep within his mind of the time when she was still alive.

For a moment he pondered, had the world been normal without the existence of Honkai…would these moments be eternal?

Such a foolish thought.

There could only be ifs and no answered.

The question lingered for a bit longer, and he quickly abandoned the thought.

For now…

He should just take the time and enjoy spending the moment with his friends.

Even if it's just for a moment…it was enough to brought back some good memories and like Adama said; what's the harm in enjoying these moments?

The day goes on, as the minutes turned into hours, the sun that was hovering above their head had soon settling down as the orange light illuminated the world was soon replaced by lights from nearby lamps that began to flicker on. The three exchanged students had their shares of fun, enjoying each moment with a huge smile despite giving a straight face throughout their so-called exploration there was some moments where he would join them and laughed alongside them.

"C'mon, what's the harm to smile? You've been like this ever since then! Smile Kent! Smile!"

His heart throbbed when he recalled that scene; Elysia…that stupid girl always tried to cheer him up, teasing him whenever the opportunities arise, supporting him whenever he felt down and till the very end, she was always there for him but…he couldn't do the same for her since the last thing she saw from him was his anger, and she left him with nothing but disappointment.

"Next time lets go on a train ride!" Hans shouted with a laughter whilst Adama grinned and the three exited the bus that took them back to their dorm; eventually heading inside and get the rest they needed for the day that is bounds to come ahead.

Had they fool around a little bit more, another bus would drop a pair of sisters; one was a teenage girl whilst the other was her younger sister eating a fairy floss. "That was fun big sister! Maybe we can visit the theme park again next week!" She exclaimed excitedly, eyes peering at her older sister with anticipation and adoration. "Pwease big sister!" she begged once more when the only thing she received was her stare.

Her older sister chuckled and gently patted her sibling on the head, the answer she gave her younger sibling was deep almost like grieving.

"We can go whenever you wanted Rin…I promise you that."

Author Note: Hey, hey I'm back! Sorry about the long absentee! I was busy with something else that goes on in real life lol, I apologize about that and also this too since the chapter is shorter than the previous one. Before I end the author note, please do kindly leave a review, a favorite and a follow! I plan on finishing this story, so yeah don't worry, I will not abandon it…hopefully. Regarding the pairings I already kept in mind which characters that will stay alongside Kent, and yeah nothing will change my mind regarding that matter; and again, some people pm me about my other stories…bear in mind I do not plan on updating any of them yet since I wanted to focus on this and my upcoming new story; a Naruto x Genshin Impact fic. Well then, I bid you farewell until my next update! Cya!