The first week was fully focused on stamina training, and preparing our body.

Second week was…surprisingly we are now trying to learn how to ride horses, using bows and other ranged weaponry for artistic value.

Third week was, close-quarter combat, knife, swords, spears, fencing and martial arts. Also focusing on the artistic value for some reason.

Like, the instructor really was trying their best to make us believe that these training…no.

They really believed that we were training these kinds of things to go into tournaments or something.

This month was kind of packed compared to the other ones. Both for me, and surprisingly for her.

She kinda was happy? Is it because she secretly likes to go training her body?

But…her build wasn't that bulky. Her skin is still soft like cotton candy even after all that training.

Yeah, not my problems.

But, this also marks the end of February.

One more month till it comes…

"Hey, Rinka!" Someone screamed in my ears. "RINKA!" Her voice became louder.

ah, I was still astonished by her soft skin.

"My bad."

I can't see her expression.

"Well..it's fine to touch more of it..But more importantly, what are you thinking right now?"

"Nothing?"

After answering that, the sounds of happy screams mixed with thrilled and scared screams were heard.

I just realized for the fact that we are riding the roller coaster at this very moment.

How silly of me.

But, she seemed to yet know about that piece of information. Just how long do you want to leave her in the dark, Kaku?

=====================================

We're currently resting at a restaurant around the area.

The rides are as fun as I remembered them, and Stella also enjoyed it even though her face was practically saying the opposite of enjoyment.

"You know, most of the time, I really don't know what you're seeing, what you're thinking." She tilted her head slightly.

"Aren't that good then?"

I took a sip. Slurps. Woah, this drink kinda tastes good. I should get the name of the drink to the nice drinks folder, brb.

"Cause, if you know everything about something, then it won't be interesting anymore." I stopped for a moment, letting the words hang in the air. "Well, for me that is."

I glanced at her, seeing a flicker of curiosity in her eyes. "I don't think I'd even consider dating you if you were someone with a bland and easy-to-read personality," I added.

"See? I don't know whether you intend those remarks as insults or praise." She raised an eyebrow. "But, bland and easy to read, huh? I was like that before, and you ignored me, so I changed my approaches."

"That's that, and this is this." I shrugged.

"I don't change anything, 'cause you don't seem to really mind it whether I show the shut-in self or the actual human being front that I use as a mask."

"Does this mean, if I was indeed asked for it, you'll change your attitude towards me?"

"I'll try at the very least, but the chance is kind of abysmal, might as well don't ask for it."

"Aww, no fun." She pouted playfully.

Lately, this kind of conversation is kind of repeating itself, waiting for new pieces of information or something to share to make it fresh. Or...she was orchestrating everything so I could drop my guard. I...really hate myself. C'mon, why do you think everything and everyone IS your enemy? Stop arguing with me, me.

"Rinka." She touched my arm lightly. "Do you...never mind."

What?

"Anyway, you free tomorrow?"

"I never planned anything, anytime. Just call me and I'll be there."

"Well...true that." She laughed softly.

"Speaking of plans, I have something really cringy trying to come out of my mouth."

"What is it?" She leaned in, eyes wide with curiosity.

"You are the best thing I have never planned."

The curious face was instantly changed to that of a straight face, devoid of anything but disappointment.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah, can't think of anything else but you."

*sigh*

She lets out a long-big sigh…Hahaha.

Alright, that's enough for now.

"Could you stop?"

The sounds of friendly laughter of both of us fills the air, forced laughter that is…or is it?

Now, you're just trolling yourself, me.

"So… what do you wanna do?" I took another sip of my drink, glancing at her over the rim of the cup. "I mean, there's definitely a reason you would ask me whether I am free or not."

She fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve. "You need me for something could mean two things" I paused for a bit, then brought my face close to hers. "A date, or your father won't allow you to go somewhere unless you drag me along, which is practically a date anyway."

"Bingo!"

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "Where do you want to go this time?"

She brought out a thin book, filled with bookmarks on almost every page. Well, the book itself was kinda thin, but it was impressive nevertheless. "Here!" She opened the book with two hands, pointing to a page like a kid trying her best to impress her parents.

That... "Travelling plans, huh? Why tho?"

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Lately, I've been binge-watching travel review niche, and I find it interesting!"

"But… father won't let me go… well more like he won't give me sufficient money to survive out there if I go alone."

"When I proposed the idea of getting close friends or my exclusive housemaid to accompany me—"

"Let me guess, he refused and then put something along the lines of 'drag Rinka with you, I'll let you.' Isn't it?"

"What are you, an esper?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "His action was kinda predictable, especially if it was regarding our relationship."

"Can't deny that." She crossed her arms and sighed. "So? Are you free or not?"

I was expecting her to use the excuse for travelling to distract herself while also experiencing things before the catastrophe hit the Earth. But, I don't think Kaku informed her about it. I tapped my fingers on the table, lost in thought.

Just how long do you plan to leave her in the dark, Kaku?

"Let me check my plans book first—"

"You don't even have one!"

I laughed, shrugging. "You already got your answer, congratulations!"

Ah, she is pouting… it is what it is. I reached over and gently poked her cheek, trying to lighten the mood.

=====================================

"So? Everything ready yet?" I asked, glancing at Stella.

Stella was still busy with her packing, well not really a problem, more like organizing. "Ticket, clothes, money, and cards. Yup, everything is there."

I tried to pick up her backpack, but I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. It must have been around two to three kilograms or something.

"You know, we don't need to bring that many things when we can just buy them on the way," I suggested, trying to lighten the load.

As I tried to take out a few items, she stopped me. "As they say, prepare an umbrella before the rains raining down~"

"Alright, sure, you do you." I relented. "Where is the first destination?"

"What about Indonesia?" she proposed.

"Indone...ah, that? I mean sure, why not, but why?"

"I don't know, I just want to try everything."

"Let's go then. The airport won't wait for us even if we paid them more unless we bought private ones."

"What about getting a private one, then?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"It'll be a hassle, but more flexibility, and we need to find someone to be the pilot and—"

Really? She shut my mouth with both of her hands.

"Nope, stop right there." She smiled. "I don't need another overthinker in the team other than me, just turn off your brain on this trip…also, let's contact Father to help us set things up for our trip!"

=====================================

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

And here we are, at a Great Forest Park, somewhere in Bandung, Indonesia.

As its name stated, it really is a big big forest that got touched by humans to be at least good enough for tourism. It was full with big…really tall pine trees for some part of it, making it a good area to lay a hammock to rest while breathing this really fresh air.

The park was so quite big, it really is.

Looking at the information stored in the internet, it has a whopping 528,393 Hectares.

Stella decided to spend every bit of her time doing something and only resting for food and drinks, but honestly? There isn't much to do other than enjoying the forests itself.

There are domesticated animals, within a quite remarkably big cages that tourist could feed with the vegetables bought from local merchant.

A playground for kids, some Flying Fox, zip-lining attractions and some historical sites.

Speaking of historical sites, there is this really big one.

Two, actually.

Goa Jepang, and Goa Belanda…Japan Cave and Dutch Cave if we're going with direct translations I suppose?

We entered the one with the Japan name first, simply because our location was quite nearby.

I said we, what I meant was a tour group led by a local tour guide. Not too bad honestly, it's better than blindly going inside of it, 'cause it's freaking dark.

The deeper you go, the darker it gets, as if the tunnel sucks all the light there is.

And what is more funny? Local merchants selling flashlights exactly at the entrance.

How convenient!

Well, sadly with how technologies advanced, the flash from our mobile phone is quite good enough to navigate and see things inside. Good try and concepts though.

"Do any of you have prior knowledge about the history of this cavern's tunnel system?"

The tour guide spoke louder, to make sure everyone heard him.

"I…will take that as a no, I suppose."

He started explaining it, bit by bit, and it was surprisingly good.

So..let me just simplify it.

During World War II, the Japanese invaded Indonesia, found some tunnel systems almost done, got their military of theirs working on it, and used it to store everything necessary in time of war.

That's it, nothing more, nothing less.

But there's a catch: the Japanese military forced Indonesian locals to dig it, expanding it further.

Anyway, inside the cave…

We could see some rocks, more rocks, and even more rocks.

Even the path we walk almost feels like a rock simply because of how many people have gone here, changing the lands.

Bats sleeping soundly, but yeah other than that, it was just a cave.

"The elderly over here said that everything in Indonesia will always have spirits. Yes, Ghost!" Suddenly, the tour guide was talking about supernatural things…what nonsense.

"But, over the whole year I've done this gig, honestly there haven't occurred any supernatural occurrence~"

Ghost…huh?

"Rinka?"

What if…I try to actually expose whether they are real or not?

What if…

A hand touched my back.

Really cold, as if they aren't alive.

"Rinka! C'mon, they already got further!"

"Oh? I'm coming."

No fun, it's just Stella…I was expecting an actual spirit touching me.

Let's see…let me try something fun!

"If you're here, show yourself."

I kept repeating these words along the way, raising the volume each time, until Stella heard it.

God, that was embarrassing.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Tried to call the so-called ghost."

"What the heck is wrong with you?"

"I don't find this cave interesting, so might as well do something fun~"

*sigh* Stella just let out a long sigh, perhaps fed up with my antics…

But it's true, I don't see what is interesting in historical sites.

"If you really are trying to do that, what about using the local language? I think it was called Sundanese or something." She added.

Oh? That never occurred in my line of thinking.

Let me just translate it real quick and hope they understood it, haha-ha.

'Lamun maneh aya didieu, kaluar?'

How to spell it again?

"Lymun mane aia deedee… what the heck is eu?"

"Lymun mane aia deedee u. kayluar!"

Suddenly, as if reality itself got flipped, my vision turned above and beyond.

What just happen?

Then, I could see myself…or rather my own body.

It becomes darker and darker, to the point of pure darkness.

"Jang naon maneh neangan arurang?"

What the heck?

It's freezing all of the sudden, and after a bit, another voice echoes in my head.

"Why have you search for us?"

They could speak English? What?

"We transferred a bit of our power to you, to let you communicate with us."

And…I bet you could read what I am thinking, right?

"Simply, because that souls of yours doesn't have any means to speak."

Souls? Wait….I can't see myself.

"I ask thee again, Why have thee look for us?"

…You definitely already know what my reason is.

"That is true, The Punishment day will soon hammered it way to Earth."

`wait what?`

`yeah what the heck are they thinking when you answer that way, me?`

`i don't know either, let's just get along with them either way.`

`true.`

Yes, and for that, I need you to lend more of your power.

A laughter, echoing infinitely.

"You? A mere Invader of this Land that I protected? Wanting to use my power?"

"HOW LAUGHABLE!"

Did I look like an invader to you? There is a reason I come all the way here.

"AHAHAHAHA"

Even longer, louder laughter, echoing, keeps bouncing at the sides of my ears.

"Now I remember!"

"You're that person's descendant!"

"No wonder YOU REALLY FEEL FAMILIAR!"

"BUT, your body…no, your souls won't be able to handle my full power."

A darkness sphere, inserted into my body…or my soul to be exact.

"Now, go."

Once again, reality flipped itself back to normal.

…I'm alive…and I'm back.

But, I still could see my own body, just standing there as if freezing in space itself.

"Rinka?"

Ah, I could hear a voice, human voice to be exact.

And now, I could hear everything, from the dripping water, bat flying, to flashlight switching.

"Hey, Rinka?"

"It's not good to joke like that in a place like this, don't you think?"

"Rinka?"

Stella stopped moving, and turned around, just to see my body that didn't move any inches.

She tried to take my hands and…she failed, as if my body was glued in space.

"Hey…It's not funny to joke like this…"

"Rinka?"

"Are you still here?"

Terrified, she started running towards the tour guide.

I can't move, I can't follow her, or that's what I'm thinking.

The moment I let my brain to stop thinking, and voila, I could move now.

Woah, I could phase through everything, like that one ghost movie, 'Casper'!

Hehe, I'm blue dabadedada.

Oi, stop joking around and think how to get out of this situation.

I mean, what could we do here? There's nothing, exactly.

But-

Just follow the stream flow, we will definitely reach the sea.

I could move around, but it seems the distance was limited by some unknown barrier. My head hurts just by going too far.

After some tries and calculations, it was 5 meters from my body…yeah let's just wait and see how they handle this.

She got back to where my body was frozen, with the tour guide accompanying her.

"Waduh…"

"Pertama kali saya nemu kejadian kaya gini."

He seemed surprised to see the state of my body.

I don't understand what he is saying, though.

"Umm, I'm sorry but, could any of you help me move this person to safety?"

He raised his voice, and a man with a big bulk raised his hand.

It really is funny watching this unfold in a cave.

"Alright! Thank you!"

"In 1, 2…3!"

They successfully carry me up.

But, they also failed.

"Woah!"

"What the heck is he? How the heck does he feel way more heavy than 40kg dumbbells?"

The big guy yelled in another language, but for some reason, I could understand it as if it was spoken in English…why did the tour guide's voice not get translated before?

"Can any of you give us some help here? We need to move this young man's body outside the cave."

Once again, the tour guide raised his voice, to get more help.

He is also running around, looking for someone or something, outside the cave, all the way to some shady-witch-like house in the middle of a forest.

I meant it. Just what kind of guy would build their house in the middle of such a big forest?

After around six minutes…or so. What? Why are you doing that? Well.. I'm bored watching it so I started counting time.

They finally get my body outside, where they surround me like something funny or historical. They even took a picture of me, how embarrassing.

"Rinka?" She…shedding tears?

"Hey…It's really not funny you know." Her voice became heavier.

"You're wasting your energy, young lady."

The tour guide came back, with someone that wears something really…eccentric?

I don't know, it seemed to me that he was copying an Arabians outfit from those middle-east movies.

Then, he muttered something with a bottle of water in hands.

Splash.

The water, he fucking spouts the whole bottle into me.

Suddenly, I feel some sort of power sucking me, the soul, back into the body.

I opened my eyes.

Damn, this is really awkward.

First thing I saw was Stella's face, with tears all over her face..

She is crying. I wasn't expecting her to be this emotional. Whatever…

I embraced her.

"So…what is happening to you?"

The tour guide approaches us.

"Umm…the old man surely knows, right?"

He turned around and..

"Abah, jadi kumaha?"

"Usir, Jauhkeun."

And he looked at me again.

"Umm…yeah, that old man refused to answer." He scratched the back of his head.

"But, could you tell us what you did to get into that situation? To make sure nothing of it got repeated, because damn that was really heavy."

"Lymun mane aia deedee u. kayluar!"

Puzzled expressions fill his face.

"Umm, could you repeat that?"

"It was Sundanese translation of, 'If you're here, get out!'"

"Ah, Lamun maneh aya didieu, kaluar?"

"I think that's what it should be spelled, yes."

"Got it…But, that was quite a dedication to spell whatever stupidity of language we have here. I mean, it should be hard for non-sundanese people. Heck, even my friend in the other provinces can't understand it."

His tone really is playful, he is definitely a playboy in his adolescent days, definitely.

"Never do it again, anywhere."

Suddenly, he looks really serious, the playful tone of a friendly tour guide is now long gone.

"I hate to say this, but you really should go really far from here, as our local old man wants you to go."

"Yeah, I already got what I need here, don't worry about that...But, you know what? Despite your age, you speak English quite fluently."

I handed him my business card.

"If you need anything, just contact those numbers and addresses and I'll do everything I could for you. Take it as a thanks for handling the situation so brilliantly. Goodbye."

I take Stella, no, I drag her, forcefully.

"Remember to contact me~"

We waved our hands, as a signal of parting away.

=====================================

"Hey, if you keep crying, the driver will definitely be disturbed," I said, trying to soothe her.

"But…but…" she stammered, tears still in her eyes.

"Umm, sir, can you get us to the City of Bandung, and…let's see… 'Mason Pine Hotel'?" I asked the taxi driver.

"Mason Pine? That's quite far," he replied, glancing at us in the rearview mirror.

"Don't worry, we will pay you handsomely," I assured him.

"…Alright, but we will stop by some convenience stores as I want some snacks for such a long trip." he said.

"As long as we reach the destination, it's fine by me."

"If you have a recommendation for a restaurant on the way there, we could stop by."

The taxi we called now started moving, away from the area haunted by spirits.

"It seems to me that both of you have had a rough day," the driver commented. "Just take a rest, I'll drive smoothly."

So…yeah, she is still sticking to my hand like glue.

"Hey…can you stop that…" I asked gently. "It's really tiring…as if…I could fade away…anyt-" I saw a river, and someone waving their hands at me.

"Rinka?!?" She exclaimed.

"Just kidding," I said, but my kind of voice lacked conviction…if I based it onto her reaction, of course.

"Finally, you could let go of my hands. The tired part is not a lie though," I said, flexing my fingers.

Her expression didn't change; it was still full of fear and anxiety.

"I'm here, and that's all that matters, remember?" I reminded her.

"It's scary," she whispered.

"I know," I replied softly.

"It was really dark there too," she added.

"I know."

"Why…why were you staring into nothingness back then at the cave?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"I can't answer that, as every inch of my vision is now locked onto you," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I hate this side of you, the one that will always take everything unseriously," she snapped.

"But, I am serious about this," I said earnestly. "So, all you need is a good rest, without overthinking anything, and hope the dream won't produce more of these nightmare-inducing stories."

The supposedly fun travel trip now could potentially be a trauma for her…Ah, I hate extra work like this. But…really? Spirits? My common sense can't swallow such nonsense, but I already experienced it.

Yeah, I didn't expect this joke to go this way, but it is what it is.