Adam felt…weird.
For someone who had carved early Kiana's silliness and Bianka's blunt, airheaded stubbornness straight into his soul, this sensation landed like culture shock.
"...I never thought you, of all people, would bring me such a sense of relief, Kiana."
The silver-haired boy pressed his lips together.
It's a bit unexpected, but pleasantly so.
To steal this girl's quote, it's like: With Kiana beside me, I have the strength of a hundred people!
-Yes, his current feelings could be summed up like that. Perhaps because of his own Kiana, he has developed a stereotype.
But looking at Bianka….Maybe those Sirin genes are at fault for his Kiana's paramecium-ness?
"I haven't told you my name yet."
She smiled, her eyes narrowing
…
Was it confusing? It was.
Kiana had never placed much faith in her own popularity. Certainly not to the point where strangers would recognize her on sight.
Judging from this guy's behavior….He has clearly recognized her and is quite familiar with her.
That didn't make sense.
How strange. She doesn't remember ever meeting such a person. He didn't exist in her memories- and there were no periods of time where her memory became blank, or she just forgot.
Since her memory doesn't have any problems….Truly, what is going on?
Is he a stalker?
….
"I know."
Seemingly recognizing his own strange behavior, Adam awkwardly turned his head away, avoiding eye contact.
"But it doesn't matter. I trust every Kiana, and you're no exception."
…
Every single Kiana was trustworthy. It didn't matter if it was Kiana, Bianka, or even Sirin. As long as you were good to them, they would be good to you.
-Heck, even the genderbent form of the girl in front of him....The one whose name is Kevin is trustworthy(in most cases)!
They were all dependable….Uh, except maybe Sirin. That girl wasn't exactly reliable.
And though he doesn't have much knowledge of Honkai Impact 3rd's predecessor….As the main character and an isotope of 'Kiana', it's obviously impossible for this girl to not share those traits.
…
"...That's a great way to make a girl curious." With her hand still on his shoulder, the white-haired girl chuckled, "I bet you're great with women."
Though quite puzzled, she said nothing.
If his attitude wasn't so… weird, Kiana would actually think that this boy was trying to hit on her and was just using creative pick-up lines.
"I'd normally reply with something narcissistic, but honestly, I'm in dire need of comfort right now."
Adam sighed once again for what felt like the hundredth time. His eyes lowered, staring at the floor in a daze as he was once again reminded of his situation.
In such a situation, he doesn't dare use his cheat to leave this world.
After all, he doesn't know how high-level IT is. And he doesn't want to risk someone….tampering with it.
"Mhm…Is that so?"
At her noncommittal answer, his gaze fell back upon her
Then, under his flat stare, she slowly removed her hand from his shoulder and placed it on top of his head.
Pat pat
"There there"
Slowly and deliberately, Kiana patted his head gently, lightly stroking his silver hair.
"—!"
Adam froze, mouth falling open.
Kiana, out of all people, headpatting him and comforting him?!
He would expect that from Mei, not from the silly Tuna!
As expected. Stereotypes are hard to get rid of. This is truly a different world.
"...Don't do that." The silver-haired boy averted his eyes. "It makes me feel strange."
He certainly doesn't mind….But receiving this from a Kiana face does make him feel awkward.
"Strange in a good way?"
The white-haired girl blinked playfully at him, lowering her hand.
"....."
Gaze blankly fixed on her, his eyebrows twitched
'No, sis! Shouldn't I be the one trying to rizz you?!'
How come their roles have reversed? Is this Kiana an ultra super thirsty top?
"....Thanks."
After a few seconds of silence, he sighed, looking away from her and walking towards the edge of the hallway.
The silver-haired boy turned to look towards the window. His gaze didn't have to turn upwards for long before he noticed the cracks in the sky.
Yes, the sky was cracked, as if on the verge of being shattered.
Deep, pulsing, and malicious red lines covered the sky.
They all converged towards a singular point at their center- a similarly colored yet relatively ginormous dead spot that was contracting and expanding, like a breathing organism
…
"I'm glad you're feeling better."
Kiana's gentle voice echoed beside him.
Her blue eyes followed his gaze on the pulsing center. Her gaze fixed itself upon this anomaly
'Feeling better…?'
They both stared in silence, with only the honkai beasts' roars and tramples echoing throughout this region.
Even though it was…peaceful, in a strange and twisted way, Adam's thoughts were running wild.
Yes, the silver-haired boy feels a bit better. He isn't as tense as before, and he doesn't feel like he is about to disappear from this world at any moment.
But-
Reality doesn't change just because of one's thoughts.
"Kiana, we are so fucked."
Adam spoke up, disturbing the silence that had settled upon them.
What's scarier than facing something unknown and dangerous? Facing it alone. Fortunately, right now, he has both Great Sage and Kiana to keep him company.
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
Kiana's head tilted, and he felt her eyes staring at his side profile with curiosity.
"Everything is a reasonable arrangement."
Looking downwards, he clasped his hands together over his chest as he muttered softly.
Adam knows himself best. And as a person who has lived under caution and suspicion for almost all his current life, he's very sensitive to coincidences or any feelings of wrongness.
He's not dumb enough to ignore his instincts and say: 'It was probably nothing.'.
"...What do you mean?"
The white-haired girl frowned, looking at him with a concerned gaze that seemed to reflect the question- 'Are you mentally stable?'
"Have you played games?" The silver-haired boy turned to face her, his head raising as his eyes met her own blue ones. "In gaming terms, the salvation of this world is at Impossible level difficulty- and that's only if every single force on humanity's side would unite."
"Hm…"
She hummed, eyes flickering over that pulsing dead spot in the sky.
"Why do you say that?"
…
To say that Kiana was confused would be an understatement.
If anyone ever told her similar things, she would probably treat the other person as a mentally ill patient with delusions of grandeur (Chuunibyo).
However, strangely, when these words came out of this silver-haired boy's mouth, she…believed him? No, not exactly, it was just that….There was a strange sense of trust and closeness.
How confusing….But the white-haired girl reasoned that she would lose nothing if she simply heard him out.
….
"Well…I don't want to act like a riddler." His eyes became half-lidded, his gaze becoming blank once again. "But some things- you'll only understand once you see them for yourself."
Should he just sit here and explain everything to Kiana? It'd take too long, and also….They have only met now. Though he trusts her, that doesn't mean he'll just blurt out all his honest thoughts.
"It's fine." The white-haired girl rolled her eyes with a smile. "Just don't expect anyone to believe you."
He's the one who brought this up. If he wants her to believe, he'd have to put in some effort too. She doesn't think that this disaster will be able to affect the whole world
"Indeed."
Adam didn't say anything more. After all, just surviving was enough. Saving this world was…unrealistic. Things like the world's survival were still too far away from him, a foreigner.
"...."
He lowered his hands in front of his face.
-Yet again, there was that familiar sting.
Even though the slime suit Rimuru gave him was covering the honkai corruption, and even though it was exuding something cold that made the pain fainter….The problem was still there and was slowly expanding.
"No matter what, Kiana….For now, you can be considered one of the lucky ones."
Under her puzzled gaze, his slime suit sleeves receded like a ride, unveiling his pale, zombie-like arms to the world.
"This…"
Kiana's blue eyes widened, her mouth parting lightly as the pinkish-red honkai corrupted circuit-like patterns illuminated her face.
-Their ends were slightly upwards of his forearms, yet the lines were stubbornly and slowly creeping up to his biceps
"...Sorry."
Her head raised upwards, looking into his eyes with a complicated gaze.
"Why are you saying sorry?"
"....."
The silver-haired tilted his head in confusion. However, he immediately shook his head- a woman's mind was hard to fathom, after all.
He lowered his head once more, deep in thought
"Hey…"
Feeling the prominent stinging pain in his arms that had only grown stronger after they came to this Academy, Adam grimaced and spoke up.
Yes, before the silence could get more awkward, he decided to switch the subject
"Can you give me some of your blood?"
...
..
.
-----
A/N:
What do you guys think of the outer gods in GGZ? Let's just say....they're relevant, so I want some extra perspectives on them.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
p(a)treon(.)com/Adam_Flores