Chapter 356: Reunion (2)

Chapter 356: Reunion (2)

Summary of current situation.

Half a year after breaking up with Stardus, I saw her again.

...And, as soon as she saw me, she hugged me, with tears in her eyes.

"Egostic...I'm sorry...I'm sorry....."

"No, what are you so sorry about...Just come over here."

What the hell is going on?

The sky's still blue in the afternoon.

I was in Stardus' arms in that sky, trying to hide my blushing face from the suddenness her closeness, and trying to find a place to get her out of there.

...I don't know what's going on, but I realize that once we're in the middle of the sky, this is going to be all over the news tomorrow. I just had to stop the rumors of a hero and villain meeting...

Dragging Stardus, who was still sobbing, I quickly teleported away.

It was urgent to get out of here.

...I wonder how long it's been since we've traveled that way.

As I hit the ground, it started to rain.

Somehow I heard it was cloudy today...No, it's a good thing, because it'll block the view of the station's cameras.

"Okay, come this way."

"Hmmm. Yeah..."

Anyway, there we were, under the eaves of the roof of a nearby building, and we finally managed to get a quiet look at each other in the middle of nowhere.

Phew. That should do it.

"Ha..."

Under the gradually darkening sky, I looked anxiously at Stardus.

Maybe it was the light rain on the way here, or maybe it was something else.

Her blonde hair was a little wet from the water, her body shivering slightly.

The way she was apologizing to me, with tears welling up in her eyes, was beyond my comprehension.

It seemed like she had no intention of catching me at all, only apologizing...

That's when I thought.

"Kuluk."

...It just so happened that I coughed up blood at that moment.

Ah. I must have overdone it with my dragon slaying. Something else must have gone wrong.

I thought to myself, shrugging it off and wiping my mouth with my handkerchief.

"...Ah..."

...But apparently not for Stardus.

When she saw me, she made a strange noise and her eyes gradually began to die.

Then her head dropped back down, and she began to sob again, clinging to my body.

"Hmph. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"...No, let me hear why. What are you sorry about?"

She started to do it again.

I asked her the question that had been bothering me from earlier. What was she so sorry about? What could I have done to deserve her apology? I can't think of anything.

Still sobbing, Stardus looked at me with her blue eyes and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Egotistic...Hmph."

"...You, you. They say you're terminally ill...."

"...What?"

And at the ridiculous words that followed, I doubted my ears.

...I'm dying? Since when, and why?

Sure, I cough up blood when I use my abilities, and I'm a little slow, but I swear to you, I'm not dying. If I were, I wouldn't be here with you.

I wonder if she misunderstood my bewilderment and inability to speak but Stardus sobbed harder, grabbed my waist again, and began to apologize.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... If I had known, if I had known... I wouldn't have done this..."

"No, no, wait."

I said to her, catching Stardus as she started to do so again.

"I'm not on a time limit."

"Don't lie to me..."

"..."

...Okay. She can't be so easily convinced when I'm like this.

While I was feeling so stuck, Stardus looked up at me, rain-soaked and tear-streaked in her blue eyes.

...I'd be a piece of shit if I said she was beautiful like this.

"You're coughing up blood like that... How can I not know...Ugh."

"...No. It's just a side effect of using the ability. It's not because I'm dying."

"Hmph. I'm sorry..."

This is wrong. She doesn't listen.

My head ached with the thought, but I realized that I still didn't understand the situation.

...Even if I'm dying in the first place, how does that make her cry for me like this? A hero would cry like this without even realizing that the villain was a dead man walking? It was impossible.

But that didn't matter for now.

Right now, I need to clear up this misconception that I'm dying. I'll do whatever it takes.

...Of course, Stardus doesn't believe anything I say right now. What should I do?

As I stood in front of her crying, I thought to myself.

".....!"

And then I came up with a solution.

...Okay. This is the only way.

Of all Stardus powers, the one I feared most wasn't her strength or her flying.

It was something else that I feared most: her psychic senses.

Unregistered by the Association, her ability to instinctively find the right answer and discover the truth was as terrifying as it was heroic.

That's why I'm even more afraid of it now since she could find my identity.

I intend to utilize this ability now....The ability to always find the truth.

She can find the truth in my words, can't she?

Convinced of that, I reached out and gripped Stardus by the shoulders, forcing her to look me in the eye.

"Stardus, look into my eyes."

"Hmph...Huh?"

She looks at me with teary eyes at my words.

On the roof of a building under a rainy sky, standing there on the eaves, listening to the rain, I turned to Stardus, looked into her blue eyes, and told her the truth, again and again, in as sincere a voice as I could muster.

"Stardus, I'm not on a time limit and my body is fine. I'm just coughing up blood because my body is overworked from using my powers, not because I have a medical condition."

"....."

At my words, she looked at me with trembling eyes.

She looked nervous but she must have sensed in her gut that there was nothing false in my words.

I've never been a dead man walking, so where did I go wrong?

For a moment, Stardus seemed to comprehend the situation, then, in a low voice, she said, avoiding my eyes.

"...Then, why did you retire all of a sudden? Didn't you retire because you thought you were going to die soon...?"

"What? No. It's because I have other things to do. It's not because I'm dying. Whatever you thought, you're wrong."

I was serious.

Who wants to die? Well, not me, anyway.

I can't die, not yet, not here.

I thought to myself and smirked at her.

"...Do you think your arch nemesis will leave so easily? I'll stay by your side, the whole time."

Did my sincerity come through?

Stardus lowered her eyes, seemingly finally convinced by my words, and snapped her fingers.

...But now that I think about it, I'm a little too close to her. I've got my hands on her shoulders, and we're practically touching.

More than that, of course, I wondered what Stardus' reaction would be. I wonder if she'll realize that she's in the wrong and start jumping up and down, embarrassed by her mistake. Maybe she'll kick me.

...Wait. That's scary.

That's what I was thinking but then she looked up.

"Haha..."

...Contrary to my expectations, she was smiling with reddened eyes.

She wiped her tears away with her hand.

"Hmph... Thank God, thank God... Thank God..."

She muttered to herself as if she didn't care about anything else.

"Thank God, thank God, thank God..."

She just smiled at me with a relieved smile and I looked at her....who cared so much about me.

Seeing Stardus like that.

"..."

I felt my breath catch in my throat and I couldn't say anything.

*** ***

Shoot.

She had been crying since the time we met, and finally calmed down.

We were still sitting under the eaves of the rooftop, watching the rain pour down from the now darkened sky.

...Somehow, my hand was still intertwined with hers.

"...Are you feeling a little calmer now?"

"Yeah..."

With her head lowered, her knees drawn together, she quietly looked at her toes and replied.

She was still in her hero suit and me in my villain's outfit.

We sat like that.

"....."

Meanwhile, I had mixed feelings.

...So, even though she had calmed down, I hadn't.

Stardus the just, the good, the stern, the hero of this comic I've possessed...here she was, shedding tears at the news that a villain was dying?

That would never happen normally....unless she considers me special.

I wanted to deny it, but I couldn't now.

When I was thinking about it.

"...Egostic."

For the first time since earlier, she spoke.