Yamikuro heard a soft male voice call out his surname. Even though the voice sounded soft and friendly, there was no telling if that person had any ill intent.
'The friendliest people do tend to be the ugliest.' Yamikuro thought to himself, thinking about his past.
No, that thought didn't come from Yamikuro. He'd never seen kind people as ugly, or with any malice. In fact, he'd considered himself to be a kind person.
So why, out of all the times, did he come up with this?
Was it the door that he had placed his hand up against that put these thoughts into his mind?
That conclusion felt ridiculous. Why would a door, of all things, do such a thing?
Even so, Yamikuro took his hand away from the door and pulled it closer to himself. He didn't want to take any risks.
All this thinking almost made him forget about the person behind him, but he was afraid to turn around. Especially considering he knew Yamikuro's name.
"You've yet to see my face, yet you're already wavering. You truly are most interesting." The person said in a smooth tone that felt like a soft brush against Yamikuro's ears.
Yamikuro's heart almost stopped beating at that moment. But for some reason, doubt started to fade in his mind, and curiosity arose in its stead.
He wanted to see the face of the person whose voice was more delicate than anything.
And so he did exactly that. Yamikuro turned around in an instant, hoping to catch the person off guard.
His head spun so fast he felt slightly lightheaded from it.
To Yamikuro's shock, the voice that he had heard before matched perfectly with whom he had hoped to see.
His eyes followed the ground at first, catching a glimpse of wooden chairs placed next to the same tall bookshelves that were everywhere in this library.
After the chairs was a step, which elevated the place where that person was. On there was a chair was seemingly soft and comfortable cushioning.
Before the chair was a desk made out of dark wood, which Yamikuro couldn't guess what tree it could've been. The desk was filled with papers, ink, feathers, and a few books stacked on top of each other.
And finally, behind the desk sat the person who had called out for Yamikuro.
His seemingly endlessly white long hair, which went all the way to the bookshelf behind him, had a few strands that floated in the air. Of course, that hair was the softest and best-looking in the universe.
The person had pale skin, similar to his white hair, and his white oversized robe, which could've been closer to a kimono. But yet again, Yamikuro wasn't too familiar with them.
And at last, Yamikuro's eyes met with the person's glowing ocean blue eyes, surrounded by long eyelashes.
Yamikuro hesitated for a second. He wanted to ask questions, but the presence of the person felt quite overwhelming.
But after clenching his fists, he managed to force a voice out of his mouth.
"...Where am I? And who are you?"
The person's lips curved upwards as he held onto a feather he had been writing with.
"Have you begun to grasp the situation you're in?" He asked with his soft voice.
"Not really..." Yamikuro responded, still hesitating on trying to spark up a conversation. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to hide or trust him.
The person who didn't see himself as untrustworthy spoke once again, seeing fear in Yamikuro's eyes.
"First things first, I suppose I should start by introducing myself. My name is Honor."
"Honor...?" Yamikuro repeated quietly, still standing at an awkward distance for a conversation.
Nonetheless, Honor seemed to hear Yamikuro's repetition, as if he had the ears that could pick up even the faintest of noises.
"You're probably curious how I know yours already, aren't you, Asaki?" Honor asked.
Yamikuro's eyes closed in on each other, because that was the question he really wanted an answer to. Other than how to get back to Isabella and Sphairos.
"Well?" Yamikuro said after Honor had quietly stared at him without following up on his question.
But all Honor did was chuckle at that. His robe, which was loosely around his skin, flowed in the wind as Honor moved his arm to tap his feather in ink.
He wrote down a few sentences before looking back up at Yamikuro, who stood completely still.
"It'd be best if you sat before me," Honor said and raised his left arm, pointing to the comfortable chair with his thin index finger, "There's a lot we need to discuss."
Yamikuro hesitated once again.
"That is, if you want to reunite with Isabella... Your fated companion." Honor's voice shifted from the fun tone to a more serious one, hinting at how serious the situation was.
Yamikuro's heart almost dropped to his stomach.
'Honor knows about Isabella...? Does that mean he also knows about what happened before I arrived here?' Yamikuro thought to himself, his mind racing at that point.
A slight chuckle escaped Honor's lips.
"I do know about your situation, and I can explain everything."
Everything Honor seemed to do made Yamikuro more nervous since that wasn't something he said aloud. Could Honor read his mind?
That meant Yamikuro couldn't overthink any of his decisions if Honor were to be a threat. But so far, he seemed to be more helpful than anything.
If he really wanted to, wouldn't Honor have already tried and hurt Yamikuro, who stood completely still for minutes?
Even though Yamikuro was hesitant and his hands trembled, he took a step forward on the annoyingly creaky floorboards.
Yamikuro eventually made his way to Honor, who up close seemed even more overwhelming than from afar. His robe, his hair, the desk, his size, everything about him screamed confidence, but also isolation.
After all, Honor seemed to sit in an endlessly large library all by himself.
Once Yamikuro sat down on the chair, he placed his arms on his closed-together knees. His posture gave away unconfidence and distrust in Honor.
"So what is it?" Yamikuro finally broke the silence after following Honor's orders.
Honor took a deep breath in, as if he tried to calm himself down before saying the words in his mind. And that scared Yamikuro.
But those were going to be the words to change Yamikuro.
"You have died, fighting a god, his power way out of your league."