“Davante, you know? You know??”
Asked the girl with black-short hair; she faced the little boy with wide crimson-red eyes and smiled wide as she leaned closer to him, sitting on all fours on the grass to meet his eye level.
“My father told me I was born for one person, and that person is my only happiness, so I should only watch that person to be happy!”
She crawled closer to the other and smiled even more as her eyes glowed. “You are my only happiness, little brother~”
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The Red Flower
Chapter. 10
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‘If I recall correctly…’ Davante thought with his eyes closed as he tried to find out where he was by using his heightened senses. ‘The last thing I remember was when I opened the door to see who was knocking nonstop… and suddenly…’ He recalled a boy with red hair, purple eyes, and two earrings that looked odd at first glance. ‘A random guy punched me for some reason, and I lost consciousness.’
He tried to slowly move his hands a little bit to check one more time, eyes still closed. ‘And my hands are tied now… I suppose it's time to open my eyes. I’m tired of waiting for him to do something.’
Calmly, Davante opened his eyes slowly and was faced by none other than the red head guy himself. The guy was standing tall before Davante, looking down at the other with angry eyes, or hatred more than anger? The red guy tsked and scowled down at him the moment Davante met his eyes. Suddenly and with a swift movement, the guy pulled a small dagger and pressed it at Davante’s neck. “Don't you dare say a word.”
Davante only stared at the other, completely unfazed and face as stoic as always. “And if I do?”
The guy scoffed and leaned closer with a scornful smirk. “Die, obviously.”
Tilting his head slightly to the side, “But I just did, didn't I?”
The guy's smirk was gone in a second and got more pissed at Davante, who only stared back coldly and almost mockingly. “Don't try me, you ugly shit!”
Davante raised his chin a little and eyed down at the dagger at his neck, “Hm? You aren't so good-looking yourself either. That makes two uglies now.”
The guy scoffed loudly and pressed the dagger more against the other's neck, enough to break the skin, and a bit of blood trickled down the weapon, “Psh! Haven’t you seen yourself in the mirror before? Maybe even a monster can't stand its face, huh?!”
Davante's eyes became even colder, if possible, glaring calmly at the other as he was forced to listen to the poor insults of his kidnapper, who only looked childish and ignorant more than anything.
The guy’s voice gradually raised as he went on with more insults and false accusations. “You deserve to be killed in the ugliest way possible! You’re the reason for all the crap our bother went through!”
Davante looked too tired even to answer back anymore. Nonetheless, he decided to play along a little bit. “Funny, I don't seem to know you or your brother to accuse me of such a thing.”
The other looked furious and tightened his grip on the dagger. “You've ruined so many people’s lives! Don’t play innocent!!”
Davante blinked, “Hmm? Weird, I don't recall ever interacting with you or those people you talk about.”
With gritted teeth, the guy pressed the dagger more, and the wound deepened, “I SHOULD JUST KILL YOU ALREADY!!!”
“Do you know,” The guy suddenly froze. A cold, pale hand slowly moved to delicately press two fingers under the guy’s chin, forcing him to look at the cold icy eyes of his hostage. And with a calm yet emotionless voice, Davante asked in a low tone, almost a whisper. “Your neck could get cut by only three fingers?”
The guy quickly jumped back, away from the coldest eyes he had ever seen and from Davante. “Y-you—!! But the rope—”
“You definitely need to work more on your manners.” Davante calmly stood up and wiped the little blood from his neck with his hand, ignoring the sting around the reddened marks on his wrists.
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!" the guy charged towards the other, ready to kill Davante. Suddenly, a cold index finger was shoved horizontally under the guy's nose and was stopped immediately. He dropped his dagger in reflex and grabbed his reddened nose, blinking his teary eyes as he was confused, questioning what had just happened. “ouch…”
“Well, at least, I suppose I can thank you.”
The guy didn’t have time to register what was going on when Davante casually approached him and wiped his hand tainted with his own blood on his kidnapper’s white hoodie. The guy stared down at his now bloodied clothes and tried to process, again, what had just happened. He slowly looked back at his hostage to find him waving his now clean hand at him.
“My hand's all clean now.”
The guy was speechless, disgusted, and in disbelief, barely holding his anger anymore as he trembled with a wavering smirk. “You piece of shit—!!”
The door was pushed open abruptly. A guy with short black hair and purple eyes, wearing the same earring as the redhead’s, ran into the room with panic on his face, stomping straight to the redhead as he yelled, “Kyle! Why did you— You're really lucky I found you! We are not here to kill him, idiot!!”
The redhead guy, Kyle, clicked his tongue in annoyance at the other, “Why not?! He deserves to die! Ellmer suffered enough because of him!”
“Ellmer told you never to trust Anfinrud's words! Davante is their target, but he is a victim!!"
“Then what about the records about the school's accident?! Are you really defending this thing?!”
“KYLE!”
Davante stood still as he listened to the two friends or brothers converse and discuss matters like he wasn’t with them and listening to everything, he honestly didn’t know what to say about this, but he could care less; he was tired and wanted to be out of all their nonsense already, back to his bed if possible.
The room was full of shouting back and forth; nobody noticed the long and sturdy frame at the door. “You're getting a little bit too annoying, don't you think?”
All three stilled at the additional voice and carefully looked toward the man with the cap. Davante side-glanced at his kidnapper, who gulped and warily mumbled the man’s name. He looked back to the red-eyed man, ‘So, this is Ellmer…’
.
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“It's been hours…” Javi huffed, frustrated. He walked and kicked a small stone on the ground, sighing again as he received nothing from the friend trailing behind him. “He doesn't even have a cellphone to track him down,” he sighed again as he ruffled his messily-tied hair, shrugging the uniform jacket off and pulling his sleeves to his elbows as he started sweating from all the walking and running around the wide academy and under the setting sun. He stopped walking when he still heard no response from Elois. He turned his head around with a frown to find the other walking absently and looking down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought. “I don't like it.”
Elois halted and snapped out of his daze. He looked up at Javi, who glared at him with a deep frown. Elois blinked, “What?”
“You're acting really weird today. You're not as honest as usual, distracted, absent-minded, and just not yourself at all! What's wrong?!" Javi crossed his arms and waited for an answer.
Elois furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, “Nothing's wrong.”
“Yeah, right, you don't even look like you want to look for your roommate! Usually, you would be the first to run around to find him by yourself. Where did your concern run off to?”
Elois flinched slightly and averted his eyes for a second.
“THAT!”
Elois jumped, startled by the other’s outburst.
“You look insecure and almost scared whenever I mention your roommate! What?! Did you two fight or something? I guess that's kinda strange. He’s a very quiet and civil person, doesn't get angry!” Javi trailed off as he rethought, tilting his head to the side “—only when provoked, I think?” he shrugged and looked back at his friend with a frown around on his face.
Elois turned his head to the side and remained quiet. Javi uncrossed his arms and studied the other's face with obvious concern. “It's like you're suddenly trying to distance yourself away from him… is it really that serious?”
Elois tensed and clenched his fists by his sides. “It's… It's not him… it's me…”
“You…? You mean it's your fault? You don't usually find it hard to admit it and apologize to others, so what's so different now?” when the other didn't answer, he asked again, “You even thought that Ellmer was after him because of you… seriously what's wrong, Elois?”
Elois still didn’t meet his eyes as he looked down to the side with a clenched jaw.
Javi waited, but nothing came after that; he held a sigh. “You once told me about your friend Davante, and I still think he is your roommate himself. You said he left you without saying a word, but looking at you now… weren't you the one who pushed him away?”
Elois raised his head to finally look at the other, taken aback and confused, “What…?”
“You said you don't remember anything except your name and your time with Davante, maybe something happened between you two, and you don't remember…? You've always wanted to see him again, right? But now that he is back, you push him away and say he is safe without you? I don't get it…” a pause and a short moment of silence fell on them; Javi frowned again, “Wait…” Javi took a step toward his friend and looked like he had reached the answer. “Are your memories back? Do you remember everything now? Is that why you're acting this way?”
Elois looked shaken as if he was caught in something terrible, looking down with a troubled and stifled expression and unable to answer his friend.
.
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“He forced himself to forget everything, I think?” said Owin, sitting on Alvis's office table, lightly swinging his legs back and forth as he sighed with a resigned smile. “He just wanted to remember the good times in his life. His own family is related to the horrible things that happened to him, so no wonder he forgot us as well. Selective memory, or so they say?”
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Alvis brushed his hair back with a frown, bringing the cigarette to his lips. “Okay, first, what's with his name then? Why Feldstain?”
Looking down, Owin thought for a while before answering his father, “At first… I thought maybe he was taught to call himself like that, taught that his new father is Lucas Feldstain, our kidnapper. But perhaps, he just didn't want to remember his own family, even the name itself. Also, in his case, it's easier to run away from yourself by creating a new identity and live the role,” he sighed as he recalled what happened back in the hospital room, “He forced himself to believe that he had lost his memories… even when I talked to him yesterday, he tried so hard to avoid me and ran away in the end without so much as to look at me.”
“…Lucas…? Then who is Baldrick…?” Alvis grimaced.
“I still have no idea who this Baldrick is,” Owin said as he looked at the wall in thought and not facing his father, who was silent for a long minute.
“…what do you mean we're related to the horrible things that happened to him?”
“Hmm…” Owin remained silent for a while before he breathed in and closed his eye. He opened his eye again and turned his head to smile at his father. “I think it's time I tell you what happened that day.”
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“So you only remembered the good times between you and Davante? And now that you remember everything, the bad and good, you want to push him away?” Javi asked and waited for the answer; he narrowed his eyes at the other, who still refused to meet his eyes. “So you just want to take advantage of his current state and run away?”
Elois widened his eyes, clenching his trembling fists as he forced an answer out. “That's not it! He left because— because I…”
Javi waited patiently, but yet again, he didn’t receive an answer. “Sorry if I'm overstepping, but aren't you just assuming the reason he left was because of you? But you will never know until you ask him yourself, yet you take advantage of his memory loss and pretend you never knew him. You suddenly want nothing to do with him. That's so unfair, and you know it—”
“YOU DON'T GET IT!!!”
Javi was taken aback and stopped for several seconds, waiting for the other to calm down. It was apparent how agitated his friend looked for the first time, unlike his always nondifferent and collected self. He carefully tried again. “Maybe I don't get it, you're right, I don't know what happened between you two… but it's not right what you're doing now, you're just trying to forget everything bad again and run away… you're not going to be able to live like this for the rest of your life, and you know that… you're better than this, Elois…”
Elois turned his head to avoid him again and looked at the ground with an unreadable expression.
Javi scratched his head awkwardly with his finger. “Uh hey… I don't know the Davante you've met before, but I know the current Davante, maybe not very well but… but I feel like he is not someone who would leave his friend for no reason or for his own safety as you think…” he awkwardly smiled as he cautiously pushed further, “…give him a chance, yeah? Leaving things as they are will not help with anything and only make things worse for you, so try and talk to him… I don't know how. Just don't ignore his existence, bad or good you need to know the truth.”
Elois’ stiff shoulders slowly relaxed and calmed down a little, still looking unsure. There was a long moment before he mumbled a reluctant answer, “…I'll try…”
Javi immediately brightened and smiled wide, even if the other wasn’t looking. He walked to his friend and patted his shoulder happily with a broad grin. “SO! Let's look for him now! Our friend is lost for the tenth time, so let's go and help him?”
Elois silently nodded, and Javi was satisfied with that. “Good! Back to work, my pal!”
And the two friends went back to work.
.
.
“Ellmer… this is—”
Meanwhile, Davante remained in place as he looked at his ignorant kidnapper shrink in fear and nervousness as he desperately and quickly tried to explain to the silently approaching man. However, he didn’t get to explain much when the man bent down a bit and pushed his face close to the younger brother, glaring with slightly wide eyes.
“You know why I came here, right?” Ellmer asked calmly, but it was clear from his tone that he was furious; Davante knew that much. Ellmer gritted his teeth while still staring hard at Kyle, who flinched from his brother's red and cold eyes. “What did you not understand when I said 'DO NOT KILL HIM'?”
The room fell silent, heavy silence; it was almost suffocating. Even Davante, who had nothing to do with them and knew nothing about the eldest guy, couldn't bring himself to utter a word.
“D… don't fight… don't fight…” the poor guy beside him uselessly tried to calm the situation.
Ellmer calmly straightened his back with his hands in his pockets, looking by the side toward the black-haired brother, who flinched at the sudden focus on him. “Kito, take Kyle and leave. I’ll handle everything from here.”
“Ah, yes!”
It was an order; no room to refuse or talk back, Davante thought. Kito silently walked to the ashamed Kyle, who wordlessly let himself be pulled out of the room with his face down, and the door closed shut soon after them.
Only Davante and Ellmer remained in the small room. It was so silent for several minutes; Davante eyed the other carefully, getting ready for any sudden attack at any moment. Even though he didn’t feel the danger from the guy, he still couldn’t let his guard down.
But the first thing the other did was sigh and walk calmly to casually lean back on the only table available on the other side of the empty room. “I don't think it would make things better if I said this, but I'm sorry for what that brat did.”
Davante blinked; he noticed the shift of the guy’s tone from a moment ago like he wasn’t fuming seconds ago at his brother, the chilling tone of a fierce leader gone and replaced by a collected and thoughtful boss. Davante remained still, observing the other as best as he could, “…what do you want from me?”
Ellmer smiled a little; he removed his cap and put it to the side and on the table behind. “Ah, I can see you don't like to talk to someone you can barely see his face.” he swayed his slightly long hair a bit to fix it and looked at Davante, who looked confused at him. Ellmer smiled warmly again, eyes softening at the boy in front like he wasn’t dealing with a hostage. “Would it be better if I removed my weapon, too?” he moved his hand to the back of his neck. With a click, the choker around his neck and the necklace was removed as well, revealing a horrible scar that looked like burned skin around his neck like a birthmark looking like a choker naturally.
Davante tried to remain unfazed when the scar was exposed to him, but it seemed he failed as the guy let out a chuckle, seemingly amused rather than annoyed.
“I don't want to harm you, promise,” Ellmer said while putting the choker on the table next to his cap, not turning away from Davante. The oddly warm smile got gentler, if possible, as he gestured for the teen. “I need some answers. I just want you to be honest with me. How about you relax and sit down first?”
Davante hesitated but slowly sat down on the floor, hugging his knees with his back sticking to the wall. It felt like whatever Ellmer says is a must-do order; no matter how he said it, it’s just the aura he naturally gives, Davante noted silently.
“Your mother's name is Ebele, right?”
Davante blinked, staring suspiciously at Ellmer, who was waiting for the answer. “…Yes.”
Ellmer nodded knowingly. “You have a sister, am I right?”
Davante was taken aback by that and widened his eyes slightly. “How… do you know that?”
“I'll try to explain, but you have to answer me first.”
He was hesitant to answer everything the guy needed to know, and took a long moment of silence to think carefully about what to say. Playing the hard way wasn’t his favorite way out of troubles or life riddles like this, but answering quickly would be stupid, even if he didn’t really care about the outcome, because he would do his best to get out of any trouble most simply and safely possible. He wanted to sigh as he was contradicting himself now. It was just that the person in front of him gave him mixed signals like he could take the answers and be safe with him or take the answers and do the worst possible things he could think about to him later; it all depended on him. Something clicked in Davante’s head at that moment. Was he undergoing a test of some sort? He questioned.
“I lied to the organization that I'd take the mission to kill you,” Ellmer suddenly said as he looked down, breaking the silence between them. “I came here to see you and make sure of something.”
“What will you do after I answer all your questions?”
Ellmer offered an assuring smile to the other, “Nothing you should worry about. You still haven't answered my question.”
Davante frowned a little at the change of topic but decided to trust the guy for now. “Yes, I had a sister… but not really… it's complicated.”
“What do you mean you ‘had?’”
“She was killed… 7 years ago,” Davante said, looking intently at Ellmer's stiff face, giving the teen the impression of someone who effortlessly hides his genuine feelings quite well.
“Who killed her? And what about your mother?”
“I don't really remember who. As for my mother… she died… it was an accident.”
“I see… who was your sister's father?”
Davante was quite shocked that he couldn’t hide it from the other this time as he stared wide-eyed at the suspicious person in front of him. “…Who are you?”
Ellmer noticed the teen’s restlessness and smiled gently, almost chuckling, moving his hand calmly to tell the younger boy to calm down. “I'll explain, I promise.”
Davante was so uncertain and kind of annoyed that he stared at the other for a while before answering and hugging his knees tighter, “…she told me his name was Lucas, but I've never met him…”
Ellmer nodded slowly as if trying to connect everything calmly. After a while, Ellmer asked again, “Lucas… Feldstain?”
“I don't know…”
Ellmer smiled, looking quite satisfied. “That's it, thank you.”
Davante was so confused that he just nodded.
Ellmer then sighed loudly and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling while smiling genuinely as if he was relieved and truly assured at Davante's words, “Thank you…”
Davante stared at the young man, who was openly expressing his feelings to him. He was troubled and unable to understand what Ellmer was thinking anymore. “You're… welcome?”
Ellmer chuckled and looked back at Davante, who was staring at him and blinking as he was confused by everything; it looked rather cute to him. He slightly pushed himself away from the table and calmly walked to the teen, who stiffened at his sudden approach. “I think you truly don't know anything about your mother's ex-husband,” going down in a squat, he rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands as he casually grinned at the teen in front of him. “And it seems you don't really like your sister?”
‘Why so close?’ Davante hugged his knees tighter to his chest and turned his head away from the other, who looked like he was enjoying his time for some reason. Was there really any need for him to sit so close to continue his interrogation? Was he being punished for something he said? And why was he looking playful all of a sudden? Davante held his questions back as he heard the amused chuckle from the one cornering him. “I didn't hate her… but I wasn't really comfortable with her…” he reluctantly looked back at Ellmer. “Will you explain now? And did your brother really have to kidnap me like this for you to ask me about my family?”
The other hummed as he brought one hand to his chin to thoughtfully consider the question before giving a convincing answer; all the while, he looked like he was finding the question funny. “I wasn't going to do what he did, but if I came to you out of nowhere and told you I'd like to talk in private, would you really come with me?”
“…” Davante lowered his head a little. ‘…he does have a point…’
Ellmer sighed as he looked to the side and at the open window. “I didn't tell him to bring you to this abandoned place, though…” he paused and seemed to think carefully before he started again. “I'll explain… I'm not sure how to start this honestly… and I'm not sure you'd believe me…”
.
.
Meanwhile, Javi and Elois were walking towards the same abandoned building.
“Why are you so sure he is in there, of all places?” Elois asked while following the other, looking at the building under construction from a distance.
“Just a guess, if they want to leave the academy, then they should take Kaven's permission, which I think is something they wouldn't want to do. And if they want to kidnap him and keep him hidden in the academy, then they have to choose a place where it's mostly empty, and no student goes there, maybe an old building under maintenance or something. And they wouldn't want anyone to notice, so they have to go to the building quickly, which means the building must be close to the dorms. So the only building under maintenance close to the dorms is that one. There you have it.” Javi explained casually while walking with fast steps, ignoring the crunching of breaking branches with every step.
Elois looked genuinely amazed. “You… can actually think…”
“I'll try to stop myself from saying something really offensive to you right now, but I'll take it you admit that I'm smarter than you,” Javi huffed and stopped when they were met with several signs that said, “KEEP OUT.”
They stared for a second, ignored the signs, and walked to the door. Javi halted before the door and stepped back with an awkward smile, looking at the dark place inside.
Elois stared at him silently before he offered his hand to the other. “Should we hold hands again, my dear friend?”
“…just stay close, um yeah, don't you dare leave me behind…”
“Alright,” Elois pushed his hands into his pockets and walked into the building, not waiting for Javi.
“I said don't leave me behind, you jerk!! Wait for me!!!”
.
.
“…I just wanted to know everything about my real family.”
Ellmer calmly said, resting his cheek on his palm as he observed the teen with a small smile.
Davante blinked, confused at first, then slowly widened his eyes. “You…”
Ellmer side glanced at the door before he pushed himself up. “I should go.” he straightened himself and walked to grab his cap and the choker with the necklace. He put the choker back on his neck. “Someone is coming to get you now, so don't wander around.” he walked calmly towards the window.
“…How can I know if you're telling me the truth?” Davante reluctantly asked, staring at the back of the other, who might be his older brother he never knew.
Ellmer remained still for a moment; he easily brought one leg up over the big window, his broad back facing the teen. “I can prove everything to you later, but it's up to you if you really want to know more about… us.” he turned his head to the teen with a teasing smile. “Ah, I plan on still watching you from afar.”
Then he swiftly jumped down the window, leaving Davante alone in the empty room. Davante stared at the darkening sky as the moon took its shift for the day. He slowly turned to look at the cold floor, basking in the peaceful moment he had to himself as he felt his brain trying to collect everything and take it in calmly. Despite everything that had happened today and all the shocking knowledge he obtained unwillingly, he felt oddly calm and absentminded. ‘The lost part of my memory… just how big is it…?’
The door slowly creaked open, and Davante raised his head to find two pairs of wide eyes peeking and staring at him. There was a moment of complete silence as the teen stared at the two friends.
“OH, FINALLY!!” Javi yelled in frustration; he pushed the door open and walked hurriedly into the room towards Davante, still on the floor, hugging his knees and looking up with confused eyes. “WHAT HAPPENED?! Are yo— okay…” he trailed off, noticing the cut on Davante's neck, and frowned. “That cut, who did it?”
Davante slightly widened his eyes as he forgot about the wound in his neck; he brought his hand up to feel the cut. Thought silently whether to tell or not, but there was no need to complicate things any further for anyone, and he partially felt the need to protect Ellmer in some way; he ought to at least do this much since the guy stopped his bratty brother from further ruining the day for him. “Forget about it…” he looked at Elois, then back at Javi. He lowered his head, “um… sorry, I think I caused you trouble again…”
Javi huffed loudly and crossed his arms. “We should buy you a smartphone real soon, kiddo! We were really worried! And you should be more careful, seriously! And why are you in your pajama outside in this cold weather?! You're not even wearing shoes!—”
And Javi went on with his rants, but Davante shifted his attention to the other friend. He looked at Elois; his roommate was still standing at the door, not looking at him or Javi, quietly waiting for them to finish talking and leave the place already. Davante observed silently, he thought maybe Elois was just tired or in a bad mood, but looking at his distant eyes and stiff face, he doubted if that was all to the matter.
Javi insisted on carrying him all the way to the dorms, reasoning that his bare feet could get injured in their long trip to their destination in this big academy, and so Davante caved in and accepted his fate and climbed on the other’s back. Javi suggested first taking the teen to the infirmary to take care of his wound that was a bit too deep and bandaging it before setting off to the dorms. It was a light walk in the night, with Javi proudly praising himself for being a good friend to the teen, confusing the teen and causing him to question if they were friends, and the two young men froze for a second before silently resuming their walk peacefully and awkwardly. It was all peaceful in a way, a nice ending for a hectic day, Davante thought. They soon reached Davante's and Elois's shared room.
“Phew~ long day, indeed,” said Javi as he put Davante down.
Elois was quiet the whole time. Davante looked at his roommate, who opened the door to their room and walked inside, leaving him and Javi alone in the hallway.
“Seriously…” Javi suddenly said, looking tired and troubled as he rubbed the back of his head. Davante looked at him, thinking he was right, assuming something was indeed wrong with the usually caring roommate.
“um… Elois is going through a tough time now, so just… you know, please understand and be patient?” Javi gave a small apologetic smile as he patted the teen’s smaller back.
“Sure.”
Javi smiled rather gently at the teen’s simple answer and ruffled the other's hair playfully.
Davante flinched and closed his eyes as the long-haired man returned to his usual teasing. “Sto—” he was about to slap the hand away when the other finally let go and strode away with a wide grin.
“Well then! Take care, kitty!”
Davante looked at him with a frown as he fixed his hair a bit with his hand. “Will you ever stop calling me that?”
“Nope~ Goodnight!” Javi strolled away, going back to his room.
Davante sighed; he walked to the room and was startled when he found Elois standing in front of the door, his back facing Davante. Davante slowly closed the door behind him as he felt the heavy air in the room.
“…Davante.”
Davante slightly flinched at the sudden call. “Yes?”
Silence…
Davante was left lost and speechless once again.
“You're still really bad at lying and acting…”
Davante blinked, “…what?”
Elois sighed, turned a bit to stare at the teen, “'Dante Gabrielli' is your fake name, in case you forgot.”
‘… ah… oh… oh…’ Slowly, he realized his mistake, and with a still face, he silently thought. ‘Oh, I'm stupid…’
Elois turned his head away from his roommate, “Elois Feldstain, the guy who fell in your garden one day and the same guy who stayed in your house for a whole month…”
Davante blinked.
Elois went on, his voice wavering a bit. “7 years ago… you really don't remember anything? Nothing…?”
He slowly looked to the floor as the distant memories climbed back up to the surface ever so slowly.
“Dante! Look here. Mr. Snowman wants your attention~”
Davante slightly widened his eyes as he recalled a teen with messy orange hair, grinning from a distance with a small snowman beside him, looking at him expectantly like a child waiting for his attention.
“So you don't like your name… then, Dante!”
‘Ah…’ the distant voice of the forgotten teen became louder and closer as it echoed in his mind, ‘Ah… That's right… I had only one friend in my life…’ he stood still as he recalled more and more of his days with the friend. The friend looked at him with his messy fluffy hair, smiling brightly at him despite the heavy dark circles under his eyes.
‘No… I didn't lose my memories of him… I just…’
He remained silent as he recalled the last thing he knew of the past friend.
‘Pretended ‘that’ one month never happened.’
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The End of CH. 10