"Swear?" He recoiled with his head tilted slightly, "Did I swear just now? Oh, I do apologize for that. It seems I got a bit too excited after reuniting with you. Please Nelly, let me pay your head, I want to make sure you are not a mirage."

"You'll..." I stood firmly in place as I continued talking, "You'll just have to take my word for it. The officers said you bit off one of the guard's ears off."

"Nelly, that was a bad man. A very, very bad man!" He defended his actions instead of denying them, "He wanted to hurt me. He was the one that put me in cuffs and put me in this place again!"

"Again?" I furrowed my brows.

"Yeah, this is not my first time in the prison." He nodded frantically, "I was actually here a couple of years ago, before the war. Ooh, it was a terrible time, Nelly. I had to endure a whole year of whippings and grueling labor."

He's thinking this place is the slave prison. He's so out of it that he actually forgot that he's attending University with everyone, a place very much unlike the harsh outside world. I want to give him the pills as soon as possible, but I need to find the best time to mention them. Right now I'm just feeling the situation up.

"Meil, you're not in the slave prison." I explained, "We're on campus right now, remember? You beat Kevin up and earned yourself a couple nights stay at the local police station. The officers are nice people."

"They are not!" He shouted, lunging to grab the bars separating us, "They tricked you! I know what they are really thinking! They wish to harm us, Nelly! You need to help me break out!"

"Uhh, no. Not gonna happen." I sat down on the table facing toward him, "Instead, try and last just a couple hours more. We were told you would be free soon enough, so just calm down and do as you're told."

"Stop it..." He grabbed his head, "Stop playing with my head, dammit! You are NOT her! You never were, and you never will be!"

"Oh, but I am." I smirked, "You can't get rid of this cheeky little brat that easily, you know?"

"Shut up, shut up...!" He gripped the bars so tightly I thought for a second they would bend apart, "You...! Let me touch you! Nelly, if you really are Nelly - Let me make sure!"

"I feel like that's not a smart play to make, so no, not yet." I kicked my legs about as they dangled under the table, "Hmm... Actually, sure! Why the hell not?"

"Yes!" He heaved a sigh of relief as he put his palm out, "Then would you please come over? Haha, I am afraid my stature limits my wingspan quite a lot."

For a moment, I felt I could see the real Meil shine through just now. The way he smiled, the way his eyes twinkled, it just made sense. More sense than anything he's been doing these past few days. Maybe... Maybe he doesn't need the pills? Maybe the pills were the things making him act like this. I've heard of faux doctors slipping highly addictive substances into their drugs to get people to experience withdrawal syndromes to get them to buy more of their stuff, just like that asshole tried to do to uncle... It's a slim chance, but seeing Meil finally show a comforting smile really is making the theory plausible. Still...

"Meil." I stopped midway while walking towards him, "Before I come over, can I just ask you a question. It's a question that's been bugging me for a while."

"Hm? Sure, I do not mind at all!" He smiled, his hand lowering a bit, "I promised to answer any and all questions that you may have, so please do not shy away from asking whatever you need answers on."

"Why did you hide the fact you were on medications?" I took the pills out of my pockets, his face visibly recoiling from disgust as I stuck my palm out, "Waitress girl told me everything after the fact, but I would have rather first heard it from you. Did you think I was going to judge you for it?"

"Jelena snitched?" His eyebrows furrowed all the way down, "That damned...! I told her to hide it like her life depended on it! Damned heathen..."

"That's no way to talk about your friend." I sighed, "And you still haven't answered my question - Why did you hide this from us? Why did you stop taking the pills?"

"T-The doctor, he refused to tell me the ingredients used in it." He gulped before explaining, "I tried all sorts of ways to analyze it extensively with the lab equipment in the University, but as time went on, more and more of the places on campus got restricted. I know they somehow found out I was trying to uncover them, so they had me banned from all those places! That has got to be the explanation!"

"And who exactly are they?" I backed off a bit after seeing him come back to his schizo self.

"Where are you going?" He put his hand back out, "I answered your question, so come on! Let me touch you! Let me feel your sweet ginger hair flow through my fingers. Let me touch your soft supple cheeks and feel the blood rise underneath them. Let me look at my reflection in your eyes to make sure I am me. Nelly, please...!"

"Huh, since when did you acquire such a saucy way with words?" I teased, though I imagine my expression was quite flustered, "Alright, I'll cut you a deal - Drink the pills and I'll let you do whatever you want with me. That sound fair to you?"

"Y-You... What the hell..." He grabbed onto his face as he pulled down, "You really are her. I was not sure until now, but now I know without a doubt that it is you. Cutting a deal? Could you be any more obvious, woman?! You damned demoness... You came back from hell to personally torment me, even after I finally found happiness! You, who took on the form of Nelly to get close to me!"

Eh? I think there's been a misunderstanding here. Who else could I be but me? H-Hey now, stop making me sound schizophrenic as well, dammit! I'm Nelly! Nelly Grimheart, and you can't change that no matter what! I was born in this world with this name that's way too cool for someone like me, and no one else has it, to my knowledge!

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Silvia..." His breath got ragged, "So you came here to die by my hand once again...?"

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"Fueh!?" I was taken aback, "What the hell are you mentioning that woman for!"

"Stop pretending. You are not fooling anyone anymore..." He donned a scary grin, "How fitting. For both instances, I was the one imprisoned, and you were the one that came to check up on me. Silvia, you really are..."

"Hoooold up." I stopped his weird yet oddly cool monologue, "First of all, what made you think I'm Silvia? Didn't you say you killed her personally in the prison way back when? And come on, came back from hell by taking my form? Have you lost your- ah, sorry, I guess you did... P-Point is, I'm not her okay!?"

"Silvia, I must admit I am surprised you really came after I did that summoning ritual last night." He smiled, "Out of all the superstitious nonsense to come true, for it to be a voice telling me to call your name over and over all night to actually be the one to work is quite incredible. Though I am saddened that it turned out like this."

"Eh?" I let out a dejected yelp, "So wait, that female name the guards told us about... That wasn't me?"

"Silvia, how much of a fool do you take me for?" He boastfully stuck his chest out, "I know for sure that I spoke your name the entire time, who else could I call upon?"

"For the last time - I'm not Silvia!" I shouted, "A-And wait, if some mysterious voice told you to summon someone from the dead, then why did you pick her of all people!? I-Is it because of that thing you told me about, the k-kiss...?"

"Well duh, I wanted to find out why you did it. You were all too willing to kill me, but then you went ahead and did that for no reason at all, which gave me enough time to best you in combat." He shrugged, "Ever since then, the question of why you did that kept me awake at night. I simply could not take it anymore, so I thought to ask you why."

"And you didn't think of dad at all?!" I got a bit peeved at his nonsense, "Some friend you are!"

"Hm? Shawn and I were never on the best of terms, though?"

"Ugh, not Silvia's dad, MY dad! Lune!" I grabbed the bars as well, "Of all the people in the world to bring back from the dead, even if it is just schizophrenic nonsense, why the hell wasn't my dad the first one on the list!?"

"Still playing that charade?" He squeezed my cheeks together with his right hand, "Hm, quite the detailed imitation..."

"S-Stop!" I pushed him away, "Geez, ha-ha...! T-That really made my heart race. Don't do that again, okay?"

"It did?" He seemed intrigued before lunging towards me again, this time grabbing me by the collar, "You keep giving yourself away no matter how hard I try to believe you, Silvia! Made your heart race, did I? You said the same thing years ago!"

"T-That's not because I'm Silvia!" I noticed my fever grow as my face became as red as a tomato, "J-Just let me go and... Mn?!"

K-K-K-K-K-K-Kiss!!! Kiss! Meil, h-he's kissing me! Aaaaahhh, t-this is really happening! Is this really happening!? He's being so forceful, o-or is this how a kiss is supposed to be!? H-He's really getting his tongue in there! Ohh, it feels kind of nice? M-My head is going blank, gonna faint... N-No! I mustn't! I must endure this for his sake, and definitely not because I want the moment to last longer! Yep, definitely! This is for his own good!

"Muah, there." He smiled as he helped me regain my balance, "Now that I have jogged your memory, can you tell me why you did this last time? UNF-!"

"I-I did nothing of the sort!" I shoved the pills in his mouth and made sure he swallowed, "You damned idiot! I didn't want my first kiss to be taken by a man who was thinking of another girl! Asshole, manwhore! C-Cringe! Go die!"

"Whoa, what's all this?" Waitress girl popped her head into the room, "I heard a ton of shouting, is everything fine?"

"Everything is not fine, dammit!" I wiped away my tears, "I-I've been... defiled..."

"You've what." She jumped before cracking her knuckles, "Oi, Meil, care to explain what the hell happened...?!"

"Eh?" He suddenly started looking around his cell, "W-Was I not in the prison with Silvia just now? Huh, Nelly, why are you crying!?"

"That's what I wanna know, jackass!" Waitress girl took the keys from the table, unlocked the cell and promptly threw the entire table at him, "Just what the hell did you do to such a sweet and innocent little girl!? Defiled, she says! That quick!? It's only been 15 minutes, dammit!"

"D-Defiled!?" He jolted, "W-Who did!?"

"You, you damned-!"

"A-Actually, maybe defiled is a bit too strong of a word..." I raised my hand bashfully, "In reality, it was just a kiss, but still..."

"You... You stole a young maiden's first kiss?" Waitress girl then reached over to throw the chair as well, "What the hell! Do you have any idea how much younger she is than you!? You're sick!"

"W-What is happening... Lune, I am so, so sorry..." He fell to the ground from getting an entire furniture set thrown at him, "Lune, what have I done..."

Well, he's back to his senses at least, and I got one of my personal milestones checked off as well, so I guess mission successful? No, if we assume the main mission was to get Meil back, and kissing him to be an endgame side mission, then isn't this mission super successful? Like getting an S rank. Ooh~, awesome!