"Hina! I missed you so much!"

"Please don't call me, Hina, Mom... It sounds like I'm a girl"

The cicadas sure are making a lot of noise in this hot weather. The wind makes the heat a little bit cooler but the asphalt on the road also makes the temperature hotter. I honestly don't know If I'm feeling hot or cold anymore...

Nonetheless, I'll be spending 14 days of my summer vacation at my parent's house. I just hope nothing bad would happen.

We're still walking towards our destination and my Mom already met with us. She's so excited about this, isn't she?

"Huh? Hina, are these your friends?"

"Nice to meet you, my name is Euclius von Peroroncino."

"I'm Clattanoia"

These guys are actually polite? They didn't do that to me, what a bunch of hypocrites. But well, my Mom has the face of confusion right now.

If someone suddenly said "My name is Euclius von Peroroncino" in front of you, of course, you'll be weirded out. Add the weird fashion sense of these two, no doubt, she must be thinking of these guys as retards

"Hina..."

"Mom, I don't-"

"You actually have friends... I thought you still haven't moved on from their sudden disappearance but I guess you made friends now"

That's what she's surprised about?! You didn't even notice the weird clothes and name? Well, whatever...

"Anyway, Mom, let's move on please"

"Yes, let's go"

+++++

"Is that your house, ma'am? They're well-made"

"Yes, girl. My husband himself made that house, so we're proud of It"

Clattanoia, don't speak like you even know the standard of a Japanese well-made house.

This house didn't change at all. It feels nostalgic. The rundown aura of It is still here, and despite the whole place being made of wood, It's still on the front of me standing. But well, on the outside, It's still a pretty normal Japanese house you'll see everywhere

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

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And now Clattanoia is hopping forward towards the house. Why is she so excited about going to another person's home?

"Hina, that girl is energetic and young, is she your daughter?"

Seriously, Mom?

"You can drop off your luggage at the doorway. You can wait in the living room for a while"

The interior of the house also never changed. Nostalgia sure is an addicting drug. The pictures I had when I'm a kid are still here on the wall. The stairs towards my room are still here and the living room is still narrow and space-limited!

I feel so tired that I just dropped my knees on the floor without thinking. Clattanoia and Euclius must have felt the same since they also sit down

As the three of us are already on the floor, Clattanoia suddenly sparked a conversation and broke the ice

"Anyway, Hinata! Your mother is really kind! She seems so supportive and understanding!"

Yeah, she always has been and always will be. I kind of admire her honestly, being able to put up with a son like me

"With a mother like her, why would you want to go to another world?"

"Clattanoia, please stop..."

"I mean, It doesn't make any sense. You seem lucky enough in life. You never experienced any hardship so why would you want to leave and go to another world?!"

"Clattanoia, just stop..."

"This world is so peaceful compared to what I've been to so why are you-"

"JUST FUCKING STOP!!!"

Wait, I snapped at her again. A heavy atmosphere covered the entire living room. Even Euclius who's supposed to be the most level-headed can't do anything but watch.

"I see... I'm sorry for pushing the topic, I'm going to get some fresh air."

With that, she left the room and what remained of her seat was a dark aura indicating sorrow

I need to apologize to Clattanoia...

Wait... why would I need to apologize to her? I keep telling her to just stop but she keeps pushing the topic. It's completely her fault why this happened, I don't need to apologize at all

Euclius approached me for a second and tapped my shoulder mildly then said

"Hinata, I'm going to go after her."

Just before he opens the sliding door, I stopped him in his tracks and asked him a certain question

"Euclius, do you think I'm the one at fault?"

"No, I honestly think Clattanoia is the one at fault here. But I understand her feelings."

You understand her feelings? How? Euclius seems to have read my mind based on my expression and continued his last sentence

"Before now, Clattanoia never knew each other. We're from different continents, but as far as I knew about her, she came from Neburisha, right?"

Now that I think about It, she mentioned that she came from a city called Neburisha.

"I knew It, she came from there"

"Is there something wrong with that place?"

"Neburisha is currently at war and It's been going on for 10 years now. I was never a part of It but I'm not so ignorant that I've never heard of It"

A war?! At that moment, Clattanoia's words flashed in my mind like a thundering bullet, It suddenly appeared.

"This world is so peaceful so I'll just stay here"

"This world is so peaceful compared to what I've been to so why are you-"

I never knew that. I never she had such a past. Wait, did I actually try to learn about her? Now that you think about It, for the two weeks that we've been together, I've treated her like a kid and nothing else. I never tried to learn about her, same with Euclius

"You actually have friends... I thought you still haven't moved on from their sudden disappearance but I guess you made friends now"

The hell am I doing? I finally had friends for the first time in five years, will I let them disappear again?

"Anyway, If we're done, I'm going to go after her-"

"Euclius, please say to my mother that I'll be back before lunch"

With light speed, I stood up from my seat and rushed outside of the living room. For a moment there, I kind of saw Euclius smiling but It could just be my imagination

All right, Clattanoia! This time, I'll treat you properly! Like how a true friend does!

+++++

Clattanoia's POV

After all of that, I'm just here sitting in the backyard, being surrounded by small trees and rocks.

It's really childish for me to just go outside after that. I just made things heavy and awkward. What will I do now? Should I apologize? But It's really embarrassing...

"No no no, I shouldn't care about pride at this time, I should-"

"Miss, what are you doing at my house?"

All of a sudden, a tall man with a mustache approached me. For some reason, my instincts kicked in and I immediately reached out for a notebook but...

"I left my bag at the house?"

"The house? Are you a visitor of ours?"

This guy, he's tanned. He's also muscular and adding that mustache and intense slanted eyes would make him super manly. I wonder what this guy's occupation is... Is It a soldier? A knight? A mercenary?

"Father? W-why a-a-are you h-here?!"

Someone also appeared behind me. It was Hinata, he also came outside. Wait, Father?! So this super manly guy is...

"Hinata? I should be asking you that. Why are you here? From what I can remember, I already disowned you"

His father?! Wait, why is the atmosphere here suddenly became heavy? The father is now staring at Hinata like he's the most despicable being on Earth. I'm being sandwiched by two Tasuke right now!

But Hinata... this is the first time I saw him looking so scared.

Even when we fought that dragon, or even when he got sent to prison, he didn't get scared as much as he is right now. Just who is this guy? Just who is Hinata Tasuke's father?

END OF CHAPTER 8