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Surabaya, the capital city of East Java, Indonesia

The city of Surabaya is a bustling metropolis in central Indonesia. Its streets bustle with life; its inhabitants scurry and rush about like ants swarming over a piece of fruit. The famous tourist attraction here is a huge statue of Buddha--the second largest in the world after Sri Kuta's, though it's only one of many. This is also where one finds the most important temple on Earth: the Mahameru Temple. Mahameru means "the great city," and is said to be the site of the original birthplace of humanity. It was built by the gods for their own use, but when they grew tired of it, they abandoned it long ago. Ever since then, it has been an empty ruin ever since the beginning of Singgahsana Organization under the World Government--during the Phantom Eruption that horde of Phantom Beasts attacking Beijing in China and the post-eruption--even under the rule of World Government's ruling class, with the warlords claiming the land as their own territory. The place has changed names over time, but is universally known as the Mahameru Temple. One can see where it received its name in the shape of its architecture, which has become a famous emblem for Asia.

Riyanda Tjahyana or known as Ren; the sixteen-years old Chinese-Indonesian second-year high school student of Surabaya Cultural School in Surabaya, was visiting the Kenjeran Park in the morning--observing the statues above him with several tourists passing him. He has a neckline-length messy blonde hair with thick long bangs neatly slicked on slight one side and some parts of his longer thick bangs framing the side of his forehead--almost covering his olive-blue eyes and cheeks--he has porcelain complexion and sharp eyes, he wears a black hoodie and black ripped pants under his khaki blazer and wears a pair of brown boots with laces--he has a brown headphone around his neck and wears glasses--he kept his stoic and nonchalant face despite how he was observing people below him; he was sitting on a concrete bench with his legs crossed, his back leaned up against the cold stone pillar behind him, with a view of the Kenjeran Park in front of him.

Ren is intelligent, open-minded and independent. He’s not afraid to show what he’s truly feeling or thinking, so he can be critical of other people and situations as well as harsh sometimes; he knows that there are times when he needs to be quick-witted and innovative. He is willing to get into difficult situations and he will find a way to survive. He depends on himself instead of turning to someone else for help, most likely because he never felt the need to rely on others before. He also has a small amount of patience, typically raising his voice when he's irritated or annoyed. He's quite careful and watchful of his surroundings in the case of an ambush as well as quickly finding exits and such. However beneath his stoic mask, he's rather pessimistic deep down and generally has trust issues. This is why he tends to be strict and he rarely speaks fondly to someone, yet he's still capable of feeling empathy or emotions.

Ren was doing his assignment to find the references to make a sculpture that would symbolize his Chinese-Indonesian heritage. It was the reason why he was going around the Kenjeran Park. There are more than five hundred statues that feature humans, animals, and plants. They were built by unknown artists, or perhaps it was only one person, a master builder, perhaps a local lord. Since technology has been advanced, he decided to take out his tablet with his pen tablet--showing the hologram of cultural sites and pictures--but still he can't even find the shit-ass answer to fulfill his assignment and had a reason why this assignment he absolutely detest.

The assignment is not that difficult, but not that easy either--especially when the task given is citing references. Ren was not a person who believes in a lot of things: culture or mythical creatures. He thought cultures are so old-fashioned and only old folklore are unspoken the truth, while mythical creatures like fairies are just bullshit. Well, that is for now he believed. Ren sighed when he took a sketch on his sketchbook with his mechanical pencil and started drawing it carefully using a ruler to keep the line straight and precise; it took him about thirty minutes to finish, and he looked at his work with a critical eye, checking if everything was perfect and accurate to reality--he grinned as he felt proud of his own handiwork. "This is great, three more to go," he murmured, before he stand up and heading to the Sanggar Agung pagoda that stands majestically on the seafront.

"You're late!" Eka called out, approaching his friend and classmate. He's a tall muscular man wearing a red shirt and blue jeans under his leather jacket and his hair cut short and shaved at the back like an undercut. A pair of sunglasses covers his eyes, as he folded his arms in front of him. "Sorry... I just got one reference..." Ren grumbled, before Eka grinned at him. "It's alright, I got one like you too! We're here now! Let's head inside the museum!"

'Got one? You literally got here from your mess, dimwit...'

Eka took the lead as he walked towards the entrance of the museum, where two large men dressed in white suit with black tie and black fedora stood by the entrance to check visitor's ID card and ask questions regarding visitors' purpose, Eka explained to them as they gave them a pass. Ren yawned when he look around the pagoda, looking for references--since he was fond with his Chinese-Indonesian ancestry, he loves visiting historical sites and temples; especially with Chinese culture and religion--even though he has been skeptical with mythical beliefs even superstitions; he still tried his best to believe in them.

As they entered the museum, Ren was awed by the grandeur and beauty of the building; he could feel the majesty of the structure as he stepped inside. Inside the museum is full of sculptures made from stone, marble, bronze, wood, ceramic, clay, and ivory--it contains a collection of objects from China dating back 2000 years ago--from the Neolithic Period until the Han Dynasty--including a huge bronze of the pagoda. "What do you want to see first? The Buddha statue?" he asked his friend, but Eka shook his head.

"The other statue!" he whispered to him, making Ren blinked. "I'll go that way, you go that way, okay? See ya!"

"Wait, Eka don't--" Ren tried to stop him, but he already left which annoyed him--he didn't even wait for an answer he just started walking in the direction he pointed out. Ren sighed as he watched him leave and went after him; he knew that he will not be able to catch up with Eka, so he just follow his own scent instead. "Oh well... let's take a look around over there, then..." Ren muttered, not realizing something is up ahead as he walked towards one of the galleries, deciding to give Eka some time alone.

There are statues in the prayer room and there are people praying there, so he took a sketch pad and a pen out of his bag to make notes of the things he saw. When he finished looking around the room, he went into the area with the incense burner in display--there, he made note of what he saw--how the incense burner was used, and how it was decorated with the colors and symbols.

Finally, he entered the gallery with the statues, where the statues in display are of Buddhist deities such as Kuan Yin--a goddess that represent compassion, mercy, kindness, benevolence, generosity, compassion, humility, honesty, peace, tranquility, and wisdom--she is also known as Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion, and many other names--and the Buddha himself. There he saw another statues of Buddhist deities; but these statues were of Buddha's past lives in order to show the evolution of Buddhism--he noted down the names and attributes of each deity as he continued observing people who were praying nearby.

When he finished going through the entire museum, he went to the gift shop to buy a book of information about the exhibit--and souvenirs for his family and friends when they visit him next time--he bought a picture frame, paperweights, and some postcards. Ren wrote down the Chinese characters on the sketch, he learned and speak Chinese well since his ancestors are from China. He was taught how to write and speak Chinese from when he was in kindergarten until he entered grade four--though he doesn't use his skills anymore because of his studies--but because his college involving arts; he used his opportunity with his Chinese skills.

He continued writing the Chinese characters on his paper; however, something suddenly grabbed his attention as he heard a familiar sound--a soft voice singing a Mandarin song--but he just listened as he kept looking around. After five more minutes looking at the statues on display, he went back to the main hall, where a number of statues of famous Indonesians are displayed on a pedestal near the exit door. "This one too..." he murmured, making a sketch for his sculpture.

Ren sighed softly when he returned to the a replica of the Temple of Heaven in China which is used as a photo location for tourists; he sat on a stone bench near the pavilion and started drawing on his sketchpad. "I wonder why they built this place..." he murmured, looking at the architecture--it reminded him of the Great Wall of China, although it does not reach its original length anymore due to natural disaster and other phenomenas. He knew this was the last place to go for his assignment--as he was walking towards the entrance of the temple, before he heard a woman's voice speaking across him.

"Oh dear, looks like you're an art student?"

Ren stopped as he turn around to see a young woman sitting on the window sill, holding her smoking pipe as she was keeping her elegance and calculating attitude with business-driven gaze.

The young woman has a white-beige hair that fades into bluish-ash color at the ends, half of her hair is tied up into a wide bun that resembles a fan. The rest falls into two divided parts on her back, as her bun is accessorized with a black-gold hairpin and two tassels on both sides of her heads behind her ears like a ginkgo leaves even on top of her forehead, her bangs almost covering her magenta-purple eyes and fell to her cheeks. Wearing a black sleeveless collared mandarin gown with gold accents with silver strings behind her backless straps and black thigh-high heeled boots--she also has light violet shawl around her arms that she wears a black arm-length gloves with matching gold accents--and lastly her black and gold ginkgo earrings with feather-like beads on it.

Ren gulped that the stranger was beautiful, she looked so mature for her appearance despite young for her true age--probably around or going to be twenties? Wait a minute, no one saw her--not even a single visitor took a notice as if she was a ghost. He was the only person who can see her and that startled him, what the fuck? HOW COME NO ONE SAW HER, ISN'T SHE A DAMN STRANGER?! "Yes... do you... need something from me?" he asked; a bit wary, before he noticed how gorgeous the woman's face is.

The woman began to step down elegantly from the window sill--she was tall for average girl's height but she was slightly shorter than Ren--he could easily make out that she is athletic build and has a slender body. "Do I know you?" she asked as she leaned closer to him, she narrowed her eyes as she put her hand on her slender waist, her other hand was holding her smoking pipe. 'Hold on... I think I know her... but where?' he thought, stumbling back a little before she began to speak. "Call me Nanda," she added.

"Riyanda Tjahyana, everyone calls me Ren," Ren answered, still nervous of meeting a rather familiar but mysterious stranger. Nanda stared up at him for a moment, despite his stoic face, she could see he is wondering about what's happening--but she noticed there's something that caught her attention about him, she couldn't figure out what it is yet. His eyes reminds her of someone, why does it look familiar to her? As if she knew this person before, but she didn't really pay attention because he looks very ordinary. "Follow me, if you want me to help you with your project," she spoke, walking past him that made him confused.

Ren didn't know why a strange woman he didn't know was here to help him with his art project--she seemed far too... erratic and mysterious to be a normal person, not to mention she looked like a foreigner because of her hair. "We've met somewhere before haven't we?" Nanda asked again with her sharp and calculating eyes staring at him, she took a seat in front of a table and motioned for Ren to take the opposite seat across from her.

She appears to have a business-like nature and a lot of people might consider her as snobbish--she could be considered as an intimidating woman for some reason. But there's something else in her eyes that made Ren felt comfortable around her presence; maybe it's because he's familiar with that face--so he replied. "Huh? I don't know... no... I thought..." he mumbled as she watched him blink, it seemed like he was trying to remember if they had met before, but couldn't think of anything.

Nanda raised an eyebrow and gave a small nod, as she brew the smoke from her smoking pipe--she observed the red-black dragon in the handle that decorated the ornate ivory pipe as it exhales smoke on her mouth. Ren knew this is strange, something about the way this young woman dresses made him uncomfortable. "What help do you need?" she asked, focusing her gaze at him. "Sorry?" he questioned--the tone in his voice clearly suggested that he wasn't listening properly.

"Tell me why are you are hesitating on answering my question."

Ren was holding back from asking questions himself, even if she did say that was nothing more than a coincidence and he was going insane. This woman had just helped him finish his art project for which he has not seen her--or anyone else--for the past day and now she is asking questions. "I need help with an art project," he stated simply. She gave a small smile but her expression remained calm, as she continued to watch Ren curiously. "I see. So how can I help?" she asked, leaning on the arm of her chair. "Making a sculpture using materials that symbolize my Chinese-Indonesian heritage," he told her bluntly with expressionless face. "Like, do you have references that is from Chinese and Indonesian folklore?"

She paused with her mouth half open, looking startled for a moment. "Ah yes... here you go," she stated, before she casted a magic that creates a gold-red imagery on the table showed the mythical creatures that were linked with Chinese and Indonesia. "Aren't these creatures only exist in legends?" Ren mumbled, rubbing his chin with his finger; he clearly knows that Nanda knew something about those mythical creatures while others were ordinary creatures. "If you need references, there's no such things as luck or fate," Nanda scoffed, shaking her head lightly. "Then why are you here? You suddenly come to me, didn't you?" he questioned back, while she twirled her fingers. "Let's just say I could use your assistance."

"Huh? I mean no disrespect but why are you here?"

"Do you want to know?"

Nanda asked with a hum, leaning closer to him with intimidation in her aura, her eyes sharpening even more--her long and elegant fingers are resting on top of the table as if she wanted to hold his hands and squeeze them. "Uh... yes..." Ren answered, a little flustered by her intimidating presence; he's not sure whether to pull his hand away or not. Nanda leaned forward further until her face is almost in his and he can feel her breath, her lips forming a devilish smile; Ren can hear her soft giggles when he blushed bright red--until he backed off by letting out a yelp in surprise, almost tumbling on the floor. Nanda giggled, watching him trying to get himself back up before she continued. "I am not human, and I'm here because you're the only one who can see me."

Ren gulped when she spoke that sentence to him, while he manage to stand up and placed the chair back to where it was. She looks like a regular woman--but she was not. Nanda smiled coldly at him before she rose her right hand up from the table to touch his cheek, gently wiping it off with her warm thumb with the claw attachment on it, making the young man to blush at her gesture. "Well, I'm a God of Wealth--I'm an immortal," Nanda explained.

Ren was flabbergasted, she was a deity? It felt unbelievable to him and yet she seems like she is joking. "So basically... you're a... 'deity'?" he stated, making the statement short and straightforward. Nanda smiled coldly, nodding her head when he replied her--before she released his cheek and sat down on the chair. "Technically, I'm an immortal myself," Nanda stated, seeing how confused he looks--she could tell he has a lot to learn, which is normal for young boys in this generation--but she still tried to explain further about his own existence to him. "I have lived many lives and incarnations in the past. And I was born into royalty and became the empress of a city--my people and country worshipped me as a God. After my death, I was reincarnated as a human again--I met my true love and we decided to make a contract for eternal marriage, but after a long and tiring process of reincarnation..."

Now by looking at Ren's eyes, Nanda saw how familiar his eyes are to her late-husband, it's just like looking through a mirror--except it's a different person altogether. Nanda sighed softly and continued talking to him about the truth about immortality. "I've lived hundreds of years before this lifetime, before I met him--I lost count of all the lives I've lived in the past. It's not easy to live so many years without knowing what's going on around you, without getting to know your family members, friends, and loved ones." Nanda explained. "You get lonely and scared at times, sometimes it feels like you're losing touch with the reality around you--you start thinking like a ghost yourself."

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"When we were together," Nanda continued, as she remembered the memories she has kept in her mind as if she just lived it all over again. Whenever she just stared at Ren's eyes--they reminded her so much of her late-husband--from dark brown hair, his fair complexion, his ruby-gold eyes, his thin lips--to his athletic and lean body figure--he reminds her too much of her late-husband.

Ren couldn't recall things from his past life, which he wasn't aware that Nanda took familiarity to him--as if she had already known about his past life, despite the fact that they don't know each other before. This could be a sign of destiny or fate between them two that she knew about him from the past and chose to help him. The possibility of it being true is quite high. Nanda smiled coldly at him as she leaned forward on the table, putting her elbows over the table as well as her hands. "Anyways, if you need me or want to contact me," Nanda bend down to whisper to his ear, making him blushed a little. "Call my name," she whispered sweetly.

Ren stepped back a little when he heard that, trying not to blush any further at her touch and her sweet voice; that was strange, since nobody ever talked to him like this before. "I'd rather you don't..." he stammered, while Nanda grinned at him mischievously. "Too bad, I'll call you if you need me," she replied, before turning her heels and walked towards the door, she paused for a second before turning her back at him and leaving the room with a light step-leaving Ren alone in the hallway.

"Yo! Riyanda, how was it?" Eka asked with a smile, he was approaching him as he stand up and returning to his cold and stoic expression even his personality. "I got four of them, can we go back to the campus?" he asked, Eka nodded until he saw a blush on his cheeks--which is rare that he never seen Ren like that. "You have a girlfriend already?" he asked, teasing him a bit.

"No... it's nothing!" Ren exclaimed with annoyance.

***

The Art class has started in international school of Surabaya--which is Surabaya Cultural School where Ren enrolled in his first year, the teacher teach them how to create a sculpture from the materials and it's their project for the month; and of course, he was still fucking distracted about his encounter with Nanda in his assignment project. "Riyanda Tjahyana," an Indonesian teacher, Andika called on his name--making his attention to be back on the lesson, he groaned in annoyance. "Sorry sir, I was--"

"It's okay, I was asking if you're okay because you've been spacing out during the whole class," he interrupted, pointing out his daydream and making him sigh in shame. It seemed like he wasn't really paying attention today as well and everyone looked at him with concerned expressions. "In school, we are family--I am your teacher, not your ruler, and you can share anything to me okay?" he said, adding more attention with a smile. "So, if you have anything that is troubling you--tell me immediately so that I can understand what's going on in your mind."

"Yes, sir..."

Thankfully his friends were caring and supportive of him, he asked him if he's going to be okay and made him promise that he'll look after him more often. Ren can't blame his friends, it was just a normal behavior to act like this in a tight situation--he can't help it and sometimes he can be more than stubborn when he wants something done. He just hoped that one day he would get over it and continue with his studies. Ren continued to work on his sculpture, trying to finish it as soon as possible before his time is up. "Riyanda, take a look!" Eka called out to him from another table; his eyes widened in shock to see a horrifying sculpture that Eka made in the class. Should I describe this? Well, yes it is indeed horrifying--a red blob of a monster with brown eyes and a large mouth filled with sharp teeth.

"What the hell...?" Ren exclaimed, hiding his horror with surprise.

Eka chuckled at Ren's reaction--after several hours of hard work and creativity he finished sculpting his nightmare-themed sculpture which made his entire friends laughed on it. Everyone was stunned to see how successful his creations are, but... they got weirded out with a bit scary looking as if they're seeing a glimpse of human inside the creature that he sculpted. "I have to admit--you did well, I mean...I love it and it's pretty fascinating..." Andika praised his student, gulping with a nervous smile.

Ren was busy with the painting after finished the sculpture, using different kinds of colors that he can find in his box of supplies in order to make his sculpture even more realistic. After several hours of hard work, he finally finished his sculpture, placing it beside him on the table; however, he felt really bored now that his sculpture is already finished, he wanted to do something else now. "Woah, so quick!" one of the classmates complimented Ren, seeing him finished the sculpture without wasting much time--the classmate was sitting at another table beside them--and he saw Ren staring at his sketch again--before he continued. "That's amazing man, I can't wait to see how your sculpture turn out to be."

'That's because of Nanda...' Ren thought, blushing slightly when he recalled their last encounter. "Hah, you're quite talented," said one of his classmates, who happens to be Ren's (rival) friend.

Kaizo Shindō or Kaizo; the sixteen-years old Japanese second-year high school student noticed Ren turned to him, surprised that he did complimented him. He is a well-built individual with dark violet-black short hair that has light-violet streaks under his ears with long bangs almost covering his dark brown eyes, alabaster complexion and wears sunglasses while he wears a formal uniform like the rest of them (but MUCH more of a gentleman).

Kaizo is an uptight and serious student who always achieved high marks on his exams, as he would often study even when it comes to break time. If he sees someone who can do better than him, he will feel inferior and would try everything to surpass that person's skills. However, with having Ren around--he tends to hate his guts because their personality are similar which usually almost leading to his failures and low grades. There are at times when he always keep an eye on Ren whenever he's absent, such as with finals and class projects--though at times he doesn't mind--sometimes he let Ren borrow his books and stuff when it comes to school. Kaizo is well known for his skills and abilities, which is why he's popular in the international school.

While the others have started talking with each other after the presentation, Nanda continued staring at Ren's statue from the corner of her eye--while she's invisible (except Ren and somehow... Kaizo can see her?). The sculpture that he presented was very nice, he really captured everything well. Nanda smiled when she saw how impressed everyone were by his artwork and how beautiful it looks like. She knew that this will be a good memory for her to remember when she's in another country; in her past life before reincarnating into this world; where they worship the gods as a form of religion and most of the times, the gods are portrayed as goddesses by offering them their offerings of jewelry, money and gold in return for blessings and other things--then she died and reincarnating over and over since she's an immortal.

"Hey, want to grab something to eat?"

Ren asked, approaching Kaizo who was sitting at his table alone without looking away from the sketch pad, while sketching the figure of a dragon before him. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I'm good," he replied, before asking Ren to sit across from him. When he was about to leave, he saw the figure Kaizo was working on--it was a 3-D illustration of a majestic-looking dragon sitting on a cliff overlooking a sea of stars that was surrounded by galaxies and nebulae--even the starry sky was very detailed to represent the night and space itself. Ren blinked several times, staring at his works with such expression. Kaizo felt a bit shy about his work--he immediately shut down his tablet and cleared his throat--leaving him confused. "Hey, just show yours and let's go," Ren said, clearly eager to get some food.

Kaizo narrowed his eyes, and sat down beside Ren again--which was much more close enough for them to sit next to each other and gaze at Kaizo's works, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. "Ren, I need your help with this part... actually," he muttered, while Ren shrieked that WHY IS HE BEING SO KIND TO HIM DESPITE BEING RELATED TO ABSOLUTE CHAOS BETWEEN THEM. Ren tilted his head while he looked back at the drawing. He examined it closely, checking his angles, position and perspectives. "Uhh... perhaps this part is a little awkward," he commented.

"Well, I don't really know what to do about it," Kaizo replied nervously--this side of him is also a big deal, he usually remains calm and collected around strangers; it made Ren flabbergasted by his rival's behavior. Ren nodded, he looked again at the picture carefully. Ren shrugged his shoulders. "No, I think you did great... I mean, even if it's not quite accurate, you still did amazing job..." he murmured, looking up at him. Until, he yelped when Kaizo smacked him with arolled paper that he didn't saw coming, making him knocked off from his seat and landed on his ass. "Ow! what the heck, Kaizo?!" Ren asked furiously as he got back up and dust himself off.

"Forget what I said."

Kaizo growled, before he immediately pack up his things--clearing the work surface and turned off his tablet. Ren raised an eyebrow. "Wow... geez, we can just forget what I just said!" he blurted out, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder--clearing off the work surface as well before he goes to walk beside him. "Why do you keep accompanying me when I keep brushing you off...?" Kaizo asked, stopping Ren as he turned to him with a surprised look. "Seriously?" he questioned back, only for him to receive a nod. Ren sighed, then continued walking with him, making him annoyed."Well, your dad welcomed me because I was helping you with your studies and gave me the lunchbox--since our mom wasn't at home... you see," he started.

Kaizo frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "But that doesn't mean you should trust me, isn't it?" he asked him back, making Ren rolled his eyes. "Dude, loosen up a bit! You're not the only one having a bad day, you know?" he snapped, making Kaizo glare at him. "But still, thanks..." Kaizo mumbled, while they continued walking. Nanda was watching him from afar, trying to remember each one's features just like she did with Ren. It took three hours for the class since he already finished two classes today, so he decided to head back home to his residence in order to rest for a while. "Alright then guys, it's been a great day here and hope you had fun learning about our sculpture." Their lecturer finished explaining, before the class ended and they left the campus.

Ren entered his residence since he lived alone by himself, the residence has an artistic style that's quite popular nowadays--with its tall windows and wooden floorboards; he went inside the restroom and took a shower. Afterwards, he laid down on the bed while waiting for his stomach to growl after he took a shower--then he fell asleep as he always does while wearing the same attire since he's too lazy to change.

The next day...

Ren rubbed his eyes from his sleep in his bed of his room, suddenly he realized that he was being hugged tightly by someone--someone with a body temperature warmer than him. "Urgh... get off me..." he whined, he turn around to realize that it was actually Nanda who embraced him in her sleep, her long beige-white hair fell onto his chest and neck, he could feel the warmth of her bare skin against his bare shoulders--she was wearing a white elbow-length blouse with exposed shoulders and has black accents on her blouse tucked into a black skirt around her waist to her mid-thighs, in addition of her black tights.

Ren was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with collars and black pants as his nightwear, making him pale that WHY IS A DEITY SHARING SLEEP WITH HIM?! "Hey, Nanda..." he muttered, looking at her sleeping face. "What... are you doing here?" he whispered, she said. "Well, I wanted to check you on if you're alright since you're in a cold sweat and you seems not okay since yesterday."

'Oh no,' Ren grimaced internally, his heart rate increases with his cheeks turn red. 'I can't handle this much affection,' he mentally said, trying not to flinch when he felt her soft skin. Ren's felt like he was going to lose consciousness as soon as he stared into those warm magenta-purple eyes--looking straight into his own eyes. "Why should I not be here?" she asked him before she hugged him again tighter, making him whined from the heat. "I mean--" he hissed, feeling her arms tightened around him. "How did you know where I lived...?" he whispered.

"I'm a deity, remember?" Nanda whispered, while still clinging to his arm. "Yes, but you can't just pop up to my place like this!" Ren whispered angrily at her, he did not like the way she was hugging him, although it was very comfortable--but somehow, he felt embarrassed and uncomfortable around her--mostly when he found out that she lived just next to him. 'Urgh... we're not even a thing, we're strangers...' Ren thought, he felt embarrassed from the situation--but he also felt uncomfortable from letting her go away from him. Nanda didn't say anything, just smiled at him gently while nuzzling her nose against his cheek and forehead. "Can I stay here today?" she asked him.

"No."

Ren replied simply and firmly, causing Nanda's grin to get bigger, this time she wrapped her arms around him, placing her chin on his shoulder. Nanda was surprised by how softly he spoke this time and she felt relieved that he wasn't yelling at her, even though she knows she might be bothering him--still--it wasn't as bad as before when she talked to him back at the temple. 'She's certainly trying her best,' Ren thought, seeing her eyes closed as she enjoyed the warmth that came with it. "Get off me."

Nanda chuckled softly, while her lips moved closer towards his ears. "Alright then," she whispered, before she sat up on the bed. "I should take my leave--I can't leave my duty as a God of Wealth--people need my blessings." She stood up from the bed and walked to the door. "But I will come back to see you again--after I finish my work, okay?" she asked him.

"Okay..." he answered, watching her walk to the door--he could hear her footsteps were faint and he can tell she lived longer than him because she's a deity. He stepped inside the shower cubicle and turned the knob, the hot water poured out from the shower head and hit Ren's body. He has lean and muscular built, he always go to the gym to make sure that he maintain his body weight and physique. He was never skinny nor fat, he knows that he's average build for his height and age. 'Well... I guess I need to eat more...' he sighed, feeling the hot water washing his body clean from his sweat.

He washed his blonde short messy hair thoroughly since it's dyed to cover his true hair color, sometimes he would use box of hair dye that he buys monthly to cover his blonde hair because he hated his original hair color. He always hates his appearance, because he has his fair complexion compared to other friends of his--which made him somewhat hated that his appearance is different than his ethnicity. Not only that, his original hair color made him looked less Indonesian and he hates being called Chinese even though he's Chinese-Indonesian--he just wanted to be known as Indonesian.

Later, he finished his shower and walked out the bathroom, brushing his teeth and changing clothes--wearing a white shirt with logo of his school and dark blue knee-length pants along his dark blue and black jacket. He put on his socks and white sneakers because in international school, you can wear school clothes WHATEVER types. He packs up his things and grabs his bag, before exiting the house and walked to the school, he looked at his watch.

And it was seven in the morning. For an early, it's six already.

Ren was sitting behind the desk in the library of Surabaya Cultural School, because he got no class today until three since his class' teachers were absent so they ended up working on a task. "When they're gone, they gave us works..." Kaizo muttered, he's not even mad--he sighed and taking notes on what the teacher was writing on the board before the class started. "Yeah, sucks ass," said Izumo, one of his international friends and classmates.

Izumo Amane; the sixteen-years old Japanese-American second-year high school student sat beside Ren and Kaizo, typing on his laptop while finishing his essay. He has a short platinum blonde neckline-length hair with loose messy bangs over his turquoise blue eyes and cheeks, he has fair complexion and tall appearance. He wears a dark blue uniform with white collars and white sleeves--while his inner polo shirt underneath his uniform is colored with black and grey plaid, and has one button opening his collar along wearing black sport shoes and black socks.

Izumo is sportive, energetic and cool-headed man who doesn't get intimidated that easily--which was proven true--but still, there's something about him that made people think he was hiding something from them. However, ever since he befriends with Ren and Kaizo--he acted normal and friendly with them, like a free spirit. Everyone in the class always appreciate his pranks and witty personality, whenever he talks about any topics, or talks about his homeland, his personality gets more interesting than others.

And lastly, Hakuren Kobe; the sixteen-years old second year high school student from Japanese origins sitting across them, she was focused with her work like usual. She has a long snow-white hair with long bangs over her dark blue eyes and cheeks, as she has pale complexion. Wearing a frameless spectacles, she wears a standard uniform that has a navy-blue blazer with white collars and has white undershirt, she wears a grey vest that has red stripes, navy-blue skirt that are halfway past her knees and black stockings with white tennis shoes. "Izumo, do you know this part?" she asked, since she took IB History HL as her primary subject. "Sure, the definition?" Izumo replied, looking back at his phone.

Hakuren nodded, Ren watched Izumo type a sentence as he heard the IB Middle Years Programme students were playing sports outside the library--like usual, they would gather to take a rest. Ren grunted, as he read the essay that has been explained fully by the teacher and now he needs to finish it for the project. "Oh, it's Visual Arts... I need to submit it," he said, typing on his keyboards of his laptop. 'Now that I think about it... where's Nanda? Is she alright...?' Ren thought, humming before he watched Kaizo finished his CAS course in DP core and he watched him finished his portfolio in his website. "Finally... done..." Kaizo whispered, finishing his task on time like the rest of them.

"Riyanda!"

Dylan Radjiman; the Indonesian classmate and friend of him called him in the library, before he informed. "There will be a busy event tomorrow, are you joining the fun or not?" he asked, before Ren hummed. "Let's see if I have a spare time, what about the others?" he asked back, looking at his friends who really need a break from essays, papers and projects. "Don't worry, I've invited them already, oh... and did you heard the new news about someone stole precious objects from the art galleries and museums in the previous days? Is quite scary," he said, knowing that those pieces are priced far too much and he could get in a great trouble if it was found, Ren blinked in shock when he heard the news and wondered about the current incident.

What he don't know, is that what is the truth behind the commotion? Ren may be seen ignorant, but he's ambitious to findout about the mystery behind this.

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