Setz City

 

Sitting on the bench was a beautiful girl with long black hair with eyes that appeared to contain stars in them. She wore a short sleeved shirt that  accentuated her curves. And despite the hot weather, she wore a pair of jeans. 

 

“Hahaha!”

 

“Kya!”

 

She disregarded the sounds of kids running around in front of her. Her attention was glued on the screen of the phone in her hands. 

 

Inside it was a cultivation novel. It wasn’t anything special, and just one where the main character constantly powered up and fought new enemies. It also included a lot of face smacking, with young masters popping up left and right.

 

Bzz

 

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

 

Aelis

 

On the screen was the name of her friend.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Yo, where are you right now?” The two of them had agreed to meet up. 

 

“At the park, near the swings.” 

 

Iris gave her her location, and afterwards, she hung up to resume reading her novel. 

 

“Iris!”

 

Hearing the call, she closed her phone and looked towards the side. There were 3 people, a guy who could be considered somewhat handsome, while one of the girls was tall and another chubby.

 

He was the chubby cute girl’s boyfriend, Walker. The tall one was Aelis. 

 

Seeing Walker, Iris felt a little uncomfortable. They didn’t tell her anything about inviting him. However, she buried those feelings in her heart and walked over.  

 

She glanced at Bruna, although it seemed she was bad at hiding her emotions, since Bruna let out a nervous laughter.

 

“Hello.” Walker greeted Iris.

 

She replied with a nod before going to the side. Something about him caused her to feel indisposed.

 

Perhaps she was being irrational? Afterall, they had just met.

 

She had such a thought.

 

“Let’s go.” Aelis walked on ahead, and the group followed after her. They left the park. 

 

When they reached the shopping district which was just one long strip of road, the four began looking over everything. 

 

Iris’ mood was getting worse and worse.

 

Like did you really have to invite your boyfriend to come along?

 

“Iris, what’s wrong?” Aelis glanced at Iris, she could tell that her mood was off. Was it her period?

 

She felt like that possibility was a little high. 

 

Iris shook her head. “Nothing, I just feel off today.” 

 

“Grumpy head, let me tell you an incident.”

 

“??”

 

Seeing that she had her attention, she continued. “There was someone who suddenly went crazy and started to say that the world was going to end soon.”

 

Iris looked at Aelis strangely. That topic appeared like a curveball. 

 

She giggled. “It’s only because it was someone in my class. One day, the girl just stood up and smacked the table and said that the world will end in summer. Afterwards, she just left, and from then on, she never showed up again. Talk about random.”

 

“I see…” Iris muttered. Of course she didn’t believe the world would end. She looked at the sky. It was completely blue, and the sun was exposing its naked brilliance, showering it down on the city, a normal summer day.

 

They entered into a clothing store and started to look through everything, with Walker following behind them. Iris soon threw his presence to the back of her mind. 

 

After they brought a few sets of clothes, they then went over to a restaurant for lunch. Iris placed her hand on her cheek, while resting her elbow against the table. She looked at the interior of the restaurant a little lazily. 

 

Recently, Iris felt like there wasn’t much to do.

 

She had no hobbies, aside from reading. Although there were games, it made her feel like she was wasting her life away.

 

Perhaps it was time for her to get a job…. But how was she going to get one? 

 

When the waitress brought food over, the group started to eat. Iris cut the pork and stabbed it with a fork. She slowly savored her meal. 

 

“I’ll pay for everyone.” After everyone finished eating, Walker proposed.

 

“No need.” Iris denied him.

 

She didn’t like owing favors to anyone, even if it was a treat. Aelis rolled her eyes. “Same old rules, everyone splits.”

 

She takes out her phone and starts to calculate everything down to the penny, including tax and tip. After everyone paid for their portion, they left the restaurant.

 

They then went to shop again, buying more clothing. Even Iris brought a few, especially nightwear and negligee.

 

They left the store with their bags.

 

“You’re not bored?” Bruna asked Walker.

 

He shook his head and smiled. “Just being with you makes me happy.”

“Hehe.”

Hearing the two of them spoke sweet words of love to each other, Iris shivered.

 

She turned to look at Aelis to find that she was looking at the two of them. She patted her friend on the shoulder to get her attention.

 

“I’m going to head home.”

 

She nodded.

 

Iris then said goodbye to the other two before turning to leave when she felt something drip onto her face.

 

“Rain?”

 

She reached to touch her cheek, however, it was dry. She glanced up at the sky and found that the sky was still blue, without a trace of clouds. It was only mid afternoon.

 

“Why did you stop?” Aelis asked from behind her.

 

Iris turned around to face the trio before shaking her head. She smiled. “I’ll be going bye~”

 

It must’ve been her imagination.

 

She turned around to walk away. For some reason, despite having walked around the entire day, she felt full of energy. Her mood was also a lot better.

 

When she returned to the apartment building,  it was already evening. She took out her keys and opened the door. Afterwards, she quietly but swiftly climbed the steps.

 

Although there was an elevator, it was something she rarely took. Without breaking much of a sweat, she opened the door.

 

“Iris, you’re back.” A middle aged woman came over.

 

“Auntie,” she greeted her back, Iris then continued, “is mom doing fine?”

 

She was a kind neighbor. After finding out her mom was pregnant, she had volunteered to help. 

 

Iris placed the bags down to take off her shoes. Afterwards she carried everything to the living room. 

 

On the couch was a middle aged woman who appeared to be over her 40s. The fact that she could still bear a child was considered a miracle.

 

Iris reflexively smiled and went over to her mom. They had already confirmed the baby was going to be a girl.

 

The two spent some time together before Iris went off into her room. She was feeling full of energy as if she wanted to run. Unfortunately, it was getting late, and she didn’t want to go back downstairs.

 

Without much she could do, she went into a horse stance to try to tire herself out. 

 

As for why this, it was definitely not because she was reading too many cultivation novels. Definitely not.

 

“??”

 

She found out that she could hold on to it for quite awhile, and this time, she felt a cool feeling concentrate on her lower abdomen, causing her heart to speed up a little bit.

 

No way.

 

She thought. 

 

When she finally tired herself out, she collapsed onto the bed. She was full of sweat, however, a feeling of comfort spread throughout her body. Something she hadn’t felt before. She also felt sleepy.

 

Not good… she needed to clean herself first.

 

Getting up, she grabbed a change of clothes and went off to the bathroom.

 

After removing her clothing, she entered the tub and began to wash her hair before taking a shower. The warm water scattered down on her hair and bosom before running in between her legs. With a light hum, she grabbed the soap and cleaned herself before drying and placing on a change of clothes. She then took the towel and wrapped her hair up before leaving the bathroom and going back to the living room. 

 

Her mom looked at her and blinked. Was it her imagination or did her daughter grow more prettier?

 

Iris didn’t seem to notice anything. Instead she rubbed her stomach. “Mom, I’m going to cook…. Auntie are you staying for dinner?” It was almost time for her dad to return home as wel. It was also usually her mom that cooked. But since she was pregnant, she couldn’t exactly move around too much.

 

“Haha, I’m fine, it's time for me to head home as well.” 

 

“Take care.” Iris didn’t insist. She went over to the kitchen.

 

“Aly, I’ll be off now, if you need anything don’t hesitate to call me.”

 

Iris’ mom smiled. “Thanks.”

 

Maria left the apartment, the door closing behind her with a click, and not long after the door opened again. 

 

Iris went back out to see it was her dad. He had blonde slick back hair, unlike her mom. He was wearing a button down shirt that was tucked into his pants.

 

“I’m home.... Daughter, when did you grow prettier?”

 

His sudden complement caused Iris to feel a little embarrassed. “Dad, stop joking around, how can I grow prettier so suddenly?” She ran back into the kitchen again.

 

Her dad shrugged his shoulders and went off to the living room to spend time with his wife. When she finished, the two had already relocated to the kitchen.

 

She carried the food over to the table and sat down. The three of them then began to eat.

 

“Dad, do you have work for me to do?” 

 

Her dad shook his head. “Not anytime soon.” 

 

“Oh,” Iris went back to eating. She didn’t really have any expectations and was just asking.

 

When they finished, her dad went to wash the plates and Iris went back to the living room. She took the clothes she bought and dumped them all into the laundry machine.

 

Of course after she cut off the tags. She poured the detergent inside and pressed the button. Seeing the machine start with a buzzing sound, she returned to the living room again.

 

Iris turned on the computer and searched up ‘rain that doesn’t make anything wet.’

 

Unfortunately the results came about Virga Rain. Which was probably not what happened there. 

 

Since she couldn’t find anything, she stopped looking and went back to reading her novel. Occasionally she would chat with her friends on a certain social media app.