Balancing himself in the air, Urien landed with his feet instead of his head. Looking at the girl who threw him, he shouted, "What the hell?! Why did you do that?!"
"Are you okay, Urien?" Mei, who came out of the kitchen because of the noise, asked worriedly.
Scratching his cheek, Urien smiled and replied, "It was nothing, Mei."
Looking at his expressive face, the girl got confused. "I mistook you for another person. I apologize," she quickly apologized.
"You don't need to apologize to that stinky man, class monitor!" The crazy Tuna popped out of nowhere and stood by her nemesis' side. Everyone except Urien looked at her weirdly. Every girl here knows that Kiana dislikes the bespectacled girl. To stand on the side of the girl she dislikes… how much does she hate Urien?
"Even he got the wrong person and hugged Aunt Himeko," Kiana Idiotka continued. That sentence made the class monitor raise her eyebrow.
"AhHaHa…," Urien rubbed the back of his head, not finding any way to refute that. "It's okay. I don't mind," he replied to the girl. "I expected nothing less from HUA's counterpart," he muttered.
But unluckily for Urien, the girl heard him muttering. That made her freeze up, and her mind went into overdrive. Not believing what the youth in front of her had said.
She had suffered from slight trauma after seeing the girls and Himeko in this school. But to think another person who had a huge impact back then would be here… It was like the Honkai was giving her a middle finger.
But after hearing his comment, she couldn't help but raise her hopes up for a little. She knew she would be disappointed if it were not true, but after many years… at least, she can hope, right?
"What did you say?" she squinted her eyes, earning a look from the people surrounding her. Even Himeko got sober after looking at the scene. The class monitor doesn't usually get angry. But the look she has on her face is like she wanted to tear someone apart.
"Er… I said I was sorry?" Urien replied, not fully knowing what she meant.
"No, the one after that…," she asked him while preparing her stances.
"Er…," Urien didn't know what to answer. He didn't know that she would be able to hear that. Not even Mei who is beside him couldn't hear that.
Not hearing his reply, the girl continued. "I haven't introduced myself," she stared daggers at the sole whitehead male in the room. Even Mei doesn't know how to defuse the situation.
"Oh… that," Urien nodded. "That… er… I heard that from Theresa!" He immediately throws Theresa under the bus.
"Hey!" came the shout from the Number #1 cutest in the world.
"No," the girl stepped forward with her fighting stance. "I am sure you are him," and took another step. She knew him even before HIMEKO died, so she knew how he acted before all those sacrifices broke him.
Not seeing any way out, Urien, too, prepares for the girl to make her first move. Seeing her act as she remembered him, Urien's mind is in turmoil. And he started denying it like he used to.
"You still dared to show your face to me?!" the girl shouted and rushed toward Urien. She sent out the right hook toward Urien's face to which he deflected easily. "Even after what you did to Captain?!" And came an uppercut toward his chin from the left and again, he easily deflected it.
That sentence made something snap inside him. "Hah?! Do you think I want to do that too, you idiotic bird?!" came a front punch toward her nose to which she easily dodged by tilting her head to the right. "She was someone precious to me!" Came a roundhouse kick from the right and again like usual, the girl dodged it easily.
Without the two of them knowing, the others had formed a circle surrounding them and Kyuushou had started accepting bets on who the winner would be. Kiana has popcorn in her hand. Himeko and Theresa are looking for a way to interfere but decide not to because the two fighters are talking.
"Then why did you do that?!" the girl slashes her hand toward Urien, making him dodge backward.
Urien gritted his teeth. He sent out the diagonal slash with his hand. The girl also knew what Urien was doing, so she easily dodged it. "Because it was the right thing to do!" And followed by an uppercut with the same hand that tried to slash. Alas, the girl dodged again. "Because if I don't do that, I won't be able to save others!"
"Then where did that lead you?!" This time, tears are flowing out of her eyes. She did an ax kick toward Urien's head to which he blocked with an X. "You became much colder than before. You grew distant from us! From me! " And aimed a slash with her hand toward his neck.
Urien can't make a comeback because what she said was technically right. After killing HIMEKO, he made some distance with most of his friends, including HUA. He didn't blame her for her outburst back then as HIMEKO was her target of admiration. He didn't hate her nor was angry about her outburst toward him. He deserved that.
Gritting his teeth, Urien grabbed the girl's hand which was coming toward his neck, and pulled her toward him. The two of them are staring at each other with their noses nearly touching.
*Creak!*
The sound of something breaking resounded throughout the room. Aside from the two in the middle, others turned around to where the sound came from. There, the girls saw Mei break the wooden tray unconsciously. Looking at her emotionless face, all of them silently prayed for Urien. Even Kiana did the same for him.
"Release me!" The girl tried to pull back her hand but it was futile. Urien used all of his strength to restrain her movements.
Seeing the tears falling down on her face, Urien felt another regret fill up in his heart. For the girl in front of him, for HUA, HIMEKO was the person who saved her and someone who meant a lot to her. She loves HIMEKO no less than him. Of course, she would be hurt when he killed the woman.
"I am sorry," he muttered, making the girl stop resisting. Urien knew that even when they parted in his previous life, he never apologized to her for all the trouble he caused, all the injuries he had caused to both her physical and mental health. That's why he is apologizing now.
Gritting her teeth, the class monitor glared at her former comrade. "Why only now?" She muttered as her gaze softened. "You've made me wait too long, idiot," she teared up a little and stopped resisting.
"Better late than never, right?" Urien chuckled.
"I hate you," the girl whispered as she rested her head on Urien's chest. Her hands wrapped around him.
"I know," Urien nodded. He knew how much she hated his guts. More so hates him even more for killing HIMEKO.
"I miss you, idiot," the one saying now is not the MANTIS soldier who survived against the Herrscher of End. Not the Protector of Shenzhou who lived in ancient times to protect humanity. Not the Phoenix who had lived for thousands of years. Not the Celestial who ended up killing thousands of people because of an unbreakable rule.
The girl crying on Urien's chest... She is nothing but a young girl from over 50,000 years ago who was saved by HIMEKO. And the partner of URIEN in the same squad. The girl who joked and laughed together with her partner. The girl who fought side by side with her partner before a single incident broke the two of them apart.
Urien strokes her hair, reminiscing about his time with her back in his previous life. As he thought, he really damaged her. "I miss you too, little bird," Urien started. "Don't worry, HUA. I am not going anywhere," he continued. He was very happy to find her alive and well.
"Un," HUA nodded. "And I am going by Fu Hua now," she whispered, making sure only Urien could hear her.
The two of them parted after a little while. "I see…," Urien nodded. He straightened himself and held out his hand. "My name is Urien Gregorios. It is a pleasure to meet you, Fu Hua. I hope to get along with you for many years to come," he grinned.
Looking at his dumb face, Fu Hua sighed and a smile bloomed on her face. Yes, she loves him like this more than back when he was an ass. "Nice to meet you too, Urien Gregorios. My name is Fu Hua. Let's get along," she shook his hand with a grin matching him, making both of them look like idiots and like the fight between them never happened.
*Cough* *Cough*
As the two of them were looking into each other's eyes, the coughing sound brought them back into reality. Only then did the two of them remember that they were with others and not alone.
Looking at the surroundings, they saw the girls had a bag of popcorn in their hands and a broken tray in Mei's hand which had become dust because of the thunder released by her unconsciously.
"So…," Theresa started.
"Care to explain, Urien?" Mei interrupted and asked the two of them with a spine-chilling voice.
Urien :
dorime~~
Mei: