I am God.
I don't say it just to brag.
Since my birth, a total of 67.433.177.021.859.512.746.305 coincidences happened after I became aware of my status as God.
If they were just "normal" coincidences, then I wouldn't have bothered counting them, would I?
The guy that tried to bully me ate a mosquito while he was shouting. Congratulations for discovering a new kind of (gross) allergy.
During tests, be they multiple choice or open-ended questions, any random answer I give ends up being correct. This does provide for some funny situations, especially that one time when I asked the teacher to explain their reasoning behind why they thought “Frog.” was one of the correct answers to the question “How was the universe created?”
A passerby in front of me dropped just the right amount of money I needed to buy ice-cream. I call it “long-term borrowing with 0% interest rates,” as do some others.
I could go on and recall each and every coincidence, but that would be a waste of time.
In the end, what I want to say is: I am God. The God of Coincidences.
So, is it a coincidence that I’m lying here, on a bed, bleeding to death?
It all started on that normal morning full of coincidences...
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‘It’s the first time the alarm didn’t wake me up, guess today I had to be late or something.’
Gabriel continued to walk down the street normally, until he saw the usual crossroad.
‘Before, I never bumped into someone... I hope today is my lucky day~’
And he did in fact bump into someone at the crossroad. They both fell down, but coincidentally, the asphalt under Gabriel’s backside was slightly softer and cleaner, not causing any harm to him or his clothes.
‘Who... ?’
Looking up, Gabriel saw a girl so beautiful that he forgot to breathe. It was the first time he found a girl so attractive. She had silver coloured eyes, dark-purple hair and an almost white skin. Her half-closed eyes gave her cute face an aloof and mature appearance.
Gabriel immediately noticed that she wore his school’s uniform. He stood up and offered her his hand, which she accepted.
“New student, eh?”
“...Yes.”
Gabriel remembered each face of all the students and teachers at his school, so he was certain the girl before him was a transfer student.
“My name’s Gabriel, what’s yours?”
He said while he gave her the most sincere and reassuring smile he could muster.
The girl looked at him for a moment, no emotion showing on her face, and then replied in a soft voice
“I’m Lilith..”
The two relaxedly walked toward school, forgetting they were late as they talked.
Coincidentally, Gabriel and Lilith liked the same music, the same colour, the same author and the same subject.
They both hated potatoes, but while Gabriel preferred sweets, Lilith preferred spicy food.
‘I like her.’
By the time they arrived at school, Gabriel already felt something for the petite girl. She appeared to be 15~20cm smaller than him, meaning she was only 165~160cm tall. Stealthily, Gabriel noticed her breast size to be an A, maybe a B if he wanted to be generous.
At the school’s front door the two encountered Gabriel’s homeroom teacher, who started speaking with Lilith. Coincidentally, thanks to listening to the conversation between the two, Gabriel found out that she was going to be part of his class.
‘And the seat the next to mine is empty too~’
Gabriel wasn’t punished for arriving late as he had to help the transfer student come here. Lilith made a strange face, maybe one of slight disgust, when the teacher paused a second and then told Gabriel he wouldn’t receive any punishment.
Gabriel thought it was just a coincidence.
The rest of the day flew by, and it was already lunch break. More than half of the students in their class went to the cafeteria at the ground floor. Gabriel bought some light sandwich with his friends while Lilith ate an home-made lunch at her own desk.
When Gabriel came back he saw Lilith was quite busy answering the probing questions of some students, and thus decided to not mentally overburden her by joining in, content with simply letting the others ask the questions he was interested in.
After school was over, the students began to leave the classroom. Some female students tried asking Lilith if she wanted to walk home with them, but Lilith refused by saying that today she couldn’t do so.
Gabriel finished putting his books and pencil-case back in his bag, he was about to stand up when Lilith grabbed the hem of his school uniform. She looked at him in the eyes and spoke
“Show me around the school, please.”
And so he did, thinking that she probably asked him because of the “bond” that started forming between them that morning.
As Gabriel and Lilith walked around, they encountered various students, some going home, some going to their clubs, some doing homework in the classrooms and some just hanging out without reason.
Lilith didn’t seem interested in any of the school clubs, but she did glance at Gabriel once in a while. His curiosity about her actions reached a level so high he couldn’t contain it anymore.
“What is it? Something strange on my face?”
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He asked with perplexion. Lilith kept her aloof behaviour, as if she was expecting him to ask that question.
“I like your hair. Can I touch them?”
“E-eh? ... Uhm... sure?”
Gabriel was rather startled by Lilith’s direct attitude. He blushed a little and before he told her it was okay, a few seconds passed. Once he gave the go ahead, Lilith nodded and said
“Nn. Follow me.”
The two walked to the school’s garden and Lilith sat on a bench near an oak tree. There was a slight breeze that refreshed the air and made the trees’ branches move slightly. Lilith looked at Gabriel in the eyes and patted her laps. Gabriel couldn’t believe it.
“Seriously?”
Lilith nodded. Gabriel laid on the bench on his side, his head on her lap, so he wouldn’t face her. In front of him there was the garden and not once did he look away, certain he’d blush even more if he stole a glance at Lilith, who was currently passing her delicate fingers between his hair, caressing his head.
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In the following three months, Gabriel and Lilith continued that routine, not always after school but invariably only once a day. They’d do it in the mornings, if they arrived particularly early, or they would do it at lunch break, if they couldn’t do it in the morning and either one had plans after school.
That routine led the entire school to believe the two were lovers, a rumour that was easily proved wrong after some students talked with Lilith and Gabriel. Gabriel would just say “It’s nice, so why not?” while Lilith replied “I like his hair.” Which left all the students stumped, wondering as to why they weren’t a couple.
Some time after that, one day, Gabriel began to lie on the bench on his back. He would stare at the sky for a while and then he would observe Lilith until her eyes focused on him. Happy that he managed to get her attention, Gabriel would smile silently before he went back to staring at the sky and its clouds.
The next change happened a week or so later, when Lilith began resting the hand she wasn’t using to pet his head on his chest, directly above his heart.
“It’s calming.”
She said before Gabriel could talk.
At that point, no one believed them any more when they said they weren’t going out.
“Let’s go on a date.”
Said Gabriel after Lilith had smiled back at him for the first time, when he was about to start staring at the sky again. Her smile felt mesmerizing, intoxicating, and at that moment, Gabriel thought he’d do anything just to see it again.
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Walking down the main street, the two passed by many shops, houses, bars, restaurants and other things. Gabriel was walking Lilith home after their date. It was around evening, it was dark but not so much that the street light had to be turned on.
Coincidentally, a couple was walking in front of them and the man dropped a coin.
Gabriel bowed down to pick it up and just as he did so he heard two things. The first, a swish typically made by sharp objects, the second thing was a woman clicking her tongue.
At the same time he touched and grabbed the coin, he felt warm rain pour on him.
He straightened up, wanting to visually confirm the weather.
“KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The man that had been walking in front of him was now missing his head while the woman was on the ground screaming. Gabriel unconsciously frowned as he felt his stomach twist, so disgusted by that sight he wanted to churn out the food he had eaten.
The first thing Gabriel did though, after realizing the situation, was to cover Lilith in case danger was still around. He never was the athletic type and didn’t have much force. He never practiced martial arts, much less trained in something. He disliked sports too.
Still.
He would protect the girl he.. loved.
Lilith made a surprised face when Gabriel embraced her, not that he saw what face she was making. She knew him well, very well, so this action puzzled her.
‘Why is he protecting me?’
Later, after they had discussed with the police and gave their testimony, the two were free to go back home. Of course their parents had been called, as the two were both minors. Gabriel’s mother met Lilith’s, the two women seemed more shocked that their children had a date rather than by the inexplicable murder.
The day after, when the two were back at school, Gabriel and Lilith were once again on their usual bench during lunch break.
Lilith’s right hand rhythmically caressed Gabriel’s head. His chest calmly moved up and then down, each time slowly lifting Lilith’s left hand. Gabriel put his right hand over her left hand, making Lilith’s right hand stop for a second before it restarted passing through his hair.
Gabriel lifted his left hand and touched Lilith’s cheek, stroking it with almost the same timing she was caressing his head. Neither smiled as they stared in each other’s eyes.
They continued like that until the bell signaled the end of the lunch break.
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A year passed and now Lilith and Gabriel were an official couple.
Lilith invited Gabriel to her home that day, saying “My mother won’t be back until evening.”
Gabriel felt a bit nervous but his happiness surpassed that, allowing him to act normally.
Then, it happened.
Gabriel was over Lilith, the two were on her bed, when he felt something cold press against the back of his neck.
“Don’t move.”
He recognized that voice. It was the voice of Lilith’s mother. Gabriel looked at Lilith with a perplexed face, but Lilith was giving him an emotionless stare, and not the candid look she had a second ago. Her eyes, in that situation, seemingly gave him shivers.
‘They are so cold...’
He felt Lilith’s mother restrain his wrists behind his back with some kind of handcuffs. She then grabbed the collar of his shirt and threw him to the wall. Gabriel slightly bit his lips from the pain.
“Get up.”
Lilith stood up and walked beside her mother, who never once stopped staring at him.
“What is happening? Lily?”
Lilith’s mother raised her hand and Gabriel finally saw what had been pressed against his neck, a gun. She pointed it directly toward his head.
“Did you think it was a coincidence?”
Her mother spoke. In response, he just tilted his head. There were just too many coincidences in his life. She rolled her eyes, annoyed.
“...That you met Lilith. Or that a man that was calmly walking in front of you was killed.”
“Weren’t they?”
She made a devious grin.
At that, Gabriel stared at Lilith with a shocked face, waiting for her to deny it. She was biting her lips while looking down, her mother didn’t seem to notice that, but she kept silent.
He knew.
She too had fallen in love for him, and that proved it.
“Well, anyway now that you are here, you won’t be able to twist the world’s fate to your liking anymore.”
She shot and missed. She clicked her tongue and spoke again.
Gabriel opened his eyes, he had closed them when he heard the shot, and saw tears forming on Lilith’s eyes.
“I won’t miss a second time, scum.”
This time Gabriel steeled his will to not close his eyes. He stared at Lilith and she stared back at him. She had grabbed the ends of her shirt, holding them as tight as she could.
Lilith’s mother shot.
Gabriel grit his teeth. His mind couldn’t think of anything but “pain.” He continued to look at Lilith, who had finally begun to cry.
Without noticing, he cried too.
“Mission accomplished.”
Lilith’s mother went away, coincidentally not noticing what was happening.
Gabriel slowly slid down until he lay on the bed. He could distantly feel the blood on his chest seeping through his shirt and dyeing everything red.
Lilith sobbed and climbed on the bed. Once she was near enough, Lilith put her lap under Gabriel’s head.
She caressed his head while her tears wet his face.
Gabriel slowly raised his hand and began stroking her cheeks.
“I... love your smile...”
He made a weak smile while he looked directly in her eyes.
Lilith forced a smile and Gabriel closed his eyes.
She leaned down and kissed him, making him smile once again.
“I love you, Gabriel...”
He heard Lilith say while everything became dark...