After closing the door, everyone gathered at the desk again.

"Sooo, which one will it be today?" Leopold looked down at the many books spread out before them. There were lots of fantasy books, including several fairy tales to choose from.

He glanced up at Maya, his gaze filled with curiosity. Maya's pink eyes sparkled with indecision as she scanned the multitude of options. She felt like being at an ice cream parlor, with too many flavors to chose from. She would have loved to take them all.

"We don't have forever..." Beyza remarked, and Leopold flinched slightly as he imagined her eyes on him, feeling adressed by her statement. "I'm sorry," Leopold said.

"I've got it! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ" Maya exclaimed, jumping up in excitement with happiness radiating from her face. She held up a vibrantly designed book, thrusting it close to Leopold's face. It was so close that he couldn't even read the title properly.

"W-what? I can't see-"

"It's Snow White! (⁀ᗢ⁀)"

"O-okay? Why that one?"

Hearing this stupid question, Maya's eyes narrowed. "Isn't it obvious? (¬､¬) "

"Um... no...? Sorry…"

"Because I want to be saved by a prince (ᗒᗨᗕ)"

Leopold looked at her incredulously, seeming to grapple with how to phrase his thoughts. Maya sure painted the reality as beautifully as she wanted sometimes. And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was his job to bring her back from the dream world. "Uh… Maya, you do realize that we're going to kill the prince, right…? "

"o_o Oh…"

"Right… :c"

A little worried, Leopold considered what could cheer her up now. There was scarcely anything that made him sadder than seeing Maya sad.

"But…, um… I could to be your... prince?" asked Leopold, then again feeling Beyza stare at him making him feel like a fool, "…Or let's say, your hero?"

A nervous smile crept onto his lips, because both, he wasn't sure how it would be received by Maya and because he knew exactly how it was by Beyza.

The latter let out a sigh. "Do you guys have it then?!" she asked as she opened a page of the chosen book and placed it in the middle of the desk.

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"Y-yes, of course!" said Leopold, and Maya nodded in agreement. She hadn't even been able to express her opinion on his idea… But Leopold didn't dare to ask again, too scared of rejection.

"Then let's begin."

With Beyza's words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.

Maya's expression shifted from her usual happiness to a stone-cold seriousness as she moved closer to the book. Carefully, she placed a hand on top of it, as a glowing sigil appeared on the opened page courtesy of Beyza.

A bright beam of light shot up from the book, forming a circle of blue-white light. Maya, Leopold, and Beyza each extended their arms, their bodies involuntarily flickering as they approached the rotating spectacle of light.

Then, they vanished.

Only the book remained in the room as the light abruptly faded into darkness.

*

The messy room was shrouded in darkness, save for the flickering hues emanating from the screen that bathed a crouched shillouette in an eerie glow.

Sitting in silence, Akira was barely discernible, absorbed in the luminescence of the screen. His eyes looking at it, seeming empty.

The open window allowed the countless colors to spill into space, not only attracting all kinds of bugs but also...

Accompanied by a cold breeze, a silky silhouette glided into the room. Slowly starting to pulsate like an undefined mass of slime being kneaded, forming shreds of flesh until at last, a human shape had been created.

Long white hair sprouted forth and filled the room with a shimmer, starkly contrasted by blood-red eyes that pulsed with each heartbeat. Taking on a stern pose now stood a girl wearing a chatoic black and white dress.

Akira's gaze flickered, briefly shifting to the side and acknowledging her intrusion, though his demeanor remained unchanged, as if it were nothing more than a fly.

Narrowing her eyes as Akira kept his attention on the monitor, she raised her voice in a condescending tone. "I worry you've grown soft," she remarked, "How much longer will you wait before dealing with those brats?!"

Akira's expression hardened, the annoyance beneath his stoic exterior slightly surfacing. Now the fly had started buzzing.

A flicker of confusion danced across Hanaki's features, though her voice didn't sound authentic at all. "I'm sorry—are you still holding a grudge against me?!"

Akira began mashing buttons on his controller, releasing frustrated sighs as his character was thrown off the platform and dying.

"It's been ages already... When are you going to forgive me, brother?"

"Thirty years."

"What's that?"

"It's been thirty years."

"Right. Thirty years and you're still counting the days. How human of you," she said pityfully.

Akira didn't answer, pretending to stay focused on his game, although his eye began to twitch slightly.

A sardonic smile graced Hanaki's lips, her gaze unwavering. "Well, if you won't act, then I will," she declared, "74 years sounds like a nice catch, and while I'm at it, I might as well take care of-"

"Leave!" he demanded, his voice a low growl edged with fury. "It's none of your business. Stop pissing me off."

Hanaki smiled, as if wanting to downplay Akira's anger. "Well, then I guess my task is done. We wouldn't want you procrastinating and getting into trouble again, now would we?"

Hanaki stared at Akira for a brief moment, seemingly waiting for a further reaction; in vain. "Very well, if you want to sulk, go ahead." She shrugged and shook her head, then turned around, placing one foot out of the window.

"Maybe you'd have an easier time forgetting him if you didn't chose that name, 'Akira'."

With these words, Hanaki leaned forward and plummeted towards the ground.