With long steps and a staggered pace, I made my way through Cobble Road. The last remaining fibres of energy were what kept me up, anything more would have been impossible to do.

I reached the corner and saw the orphanage. The pale white coating of paint rested under the setting sun's glow and revealed every chip and marking on the walls.

Usually, my mouth would have curled into a smile seeing my home after such a long visit to hell and back, but that day I couldn’t bring myself to force a smirk, nonetheless a smile. I stepped through the front door and noticed the receptionist wasn't there.

“A bathroom break maybe?” I shrugged and moved on.

All I wanted was to collapse in bed. My mind was much more lively than the rest of my body, the events of the week played through my mind like a hell loop. All I wanted was to bury my face in a pillow and hopefully, everything I felt would vanish with my fatigue.

“Uh…what’s all this? Why’s my stuff laying out here?”

I reached my room–well the front door to it–but it was locked. The key I had didn’t fit and the door wouldn’t turn when I tried to move it. I lifted my head away from the door handle with a frustrated stare and noticed the piece of paper that hung in front of me.

With a quick tug, I snatched it from the door.

My eyes raced from line to line, which caused my brows to drop into a depressed low state. “It’s been over a week since my notice, of course, they threw me out. I’ll have to sleep somewhere else tonight…”

I crumbled the page in my fist and tossed it to the side of the hallway. All my belongings fit into two bags. Not even big ones, just big enough to fit around my shoulder and my back.

I left the building in a hurry, hoping that I wouldn't have to run into the lady at the front desk on my way out. I’m sure that if she saw me she would have wanted some long goodbye or a reason to lecture me–either way, I didn't want any part of it.

I was thankful for what they did, and how they took me in and kept me out of the slums. All things end though, that’s what it was. The end.

“Geez, where am I supposed to go now?”

Street after street, I passed every merchant store and building I could but none of them were open. It was well into the evening and the air had turned dark already. Without a place to sell my drop items, I couldn’t make any money. Without any money…I had nowhere to stay.

I checked the remaining coins in my hand and fiddled with them relentlessly. I stared blankly at my palm. “Sigh…not even enough for a lousy room.”

“Rei, is that you?”

A terrified voice called out from behind me. I peeked over my shoulder and amidst the dark steps behind me, was a tall figure. A woman.

She tucked back some loose hair in front of her eyes and took a closer look at me. Once she stepped closer and her eyes met mine, both our eyes jolted open with surprise.

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“Kana, what are you doing here?”

That’s right, I had ended up outside the ASH building when I couldn't find a place. I had been sitting on the staircase in front of their building wondering what I could do next. I didn't expect to run into her though, not at that hour. I just sort of ended up there.

She looked mad, her face scrunched and her cheeks puffed up. One look at my bags and all that frustration in her eyes vanished.

“Geez! What’s up with you adventurers and not talking to your consultants?” She held her face in her hand and shook it from side to side.

She was still in her uniform but had a long brown coat over it. It was pretty cold but I didn't feel it much.

She tightened the buttons around her chest and checked her bag before walking past me.

“I’m on my way home. Do you want to crash at my place?”

“...what?” I spoke out nervously.

Her expression remained firm.

“Seriously?! You want me to come back to your place–”

Kana extended out her hand and stopped me mid-freakout.

“Don’t mix things up, I’m just letting you spend the night on my floor! I know your period at the Orphanage is up and you probably don’t have anywhere to go, do you?”

With her hand still in my face, I didn't feel like I should speak, so I gave a light shake to signal ‘No’.

“Then it’s just for tonight and you’ll get a place tomorrow once everything opens again, right?”

I nodded firmly in agreement.

Her face softened and a smile curled over her straight expression. It let off a warm glow as she turned around and winked back at me.

“Good! Let’s go then.”

Gulp

We had always had our meetings at my house, so seeing Kana’s place was a first for me. It wasn’t all too fancy but it looked newly built. She lived in the better areas of the Residential section, near the border of the Market district.

“Here we are, I’ll just settle in quickly and bring you something to sleep on. I hope you don’t mind, I already ate at work.”

Kana twisted her key in the door and I was introduced to her home. My heart raced to the front door and pounded against my chest once I entered.

She lived in a pretty small place, with only a bedroom and a living room. The kitchen was built into the living room and the bathroom was in her room, so it was laid out beside me as soon as I entered. Even so, I didn't feel restricted at all. It was quite spacious for a house for one person.

I had a twinge of envy when I saw how much bigger it was than my old place.

Now I know why Kana was always so nervous to sit at my place…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do while I wait. Do I just stand around…maybe I should check on her, she's been in there a while. No–bad Idea! I can’t do that, I might walk in on her naked or something…she wouldn’t take this long to change though, would she?

“Sorry about that, I had to find spare sheets.”

I flinched after hearing her voice and bounced in place. Kana didn’t notice it, her attention seemed to be somewhere else.

“Brrrr~ It’s freezing in here. Has it always been like this, the living room usually isn’t this bad at night.” She held her sides and shivered aggressively.

I didn't want to say it but I felt it too. The moment I stepped into the room, it felt as though I had been left out in the cold evening air.

“Is your apartment always this cold?”

“Not really, it’s just this room. I’ve never spent a lot of time here so I never noticed until now.” She smiled with an embarrassed blush.

Kana’s eyes dropped and her cheeks grew even brighter, to a rosy colour. She fiddled with the blankets in her hands and her eyes darted up at me and then back to the floor nervously.

“What is it, do I have something on my face?” I blushed.

“Well since it’s this cold, you can maybe…if you want to…sleep in my room tonight.”