Chapter 306 - Portraits

Earlier that day…

"Do you think Ara will be alright?" Rin asked Midori as they entered the elevator taking them to Midori's cousin's office on the twelfth floor.

The two of them were in one of the many tall buildings on Otome Road, a huge area of Ikebukuro in Tokyo that was a major shopping and cultural center for animation and comics. It's located in the immediate West of Sunshine City near Ikebukuro Station.

This area in Tokyo had been a must-g-to place for all anime and comic geeks since the 1980s. A branch of a very popular anime store Animate was there, and most of the comic conventions and manga revolutions were held there.

It was natural for the place to be swarmed by people in costumes at a daily basis. In fact, not to see cosplayers walking around would be strange. It was also natural for the area to be where popular comic publishing companies had their main offices such as where they were now.

After they made Ara go back home, Midori and Rin volunteered to take the finished manuscript to this office. They had asked Miharu if she wanted to join them, but she couldn't because her mother wanted to go out shopping with her.

"I hope so," Midori answered.

The two of them knew that their friend had been through a lot – like totally a lot, and they were worried about her. But they had enough self-awareness that some problems could only be resolved by the people themselves. They could only be there, ready to lend a helping hand when asked or be present when needed, but they couldn't do anything else.

It's not as if Ara was having a normal girl's problem. To say that her concerns were out of this world was not entirely untrue.

Gods and demigods.

Who would have thought that they would meet them in real life? Never in their wildest dream had they ever imagined they'd experience something like this. But they also knew that they were blessed, not just because they encountered heavenly beings but they were able to be friends with them in this lifetime.

"I feel sorry for her and Kou. I know they have so many issues between them, but I want my ship to be alright again," Rin muttered sadly, and Midori reached out and gave her a gentle pat on the back.

"They will be," Midori told her.

She had no idea where her confidence to answer the question came from, but she just believed deep within her heart that it would be the case. Just what her and the others' reactions were when they heard the story of Alencica and Kresnik, she just would like to believe that a love like that could not just fade away.

Ara might be hurt, but they knew that she understood why things happened as they did. Even if Kresnik and the others had faults, they knew that they loved her and never meant to hurt her and she knew that too. It was why the discovery of the truth hurt everyone and not just Ara.

"Things like this take time. But I'm sure, the two of them will be together again in the end," Midori told Rin who cheered up a bit.

The elevator stopped and the two of them stepped out as they continued to chat.

"Anyway, do you think Ara will still want to be a comic artist?" Rin asked again as she scanned their friend's work from the folder. "It would be a pity if she doesn't. Look at these, they're so good."

The real-life drawings in full color popped from the pages, and Rin who's a hardcore geek couldn't help but fangirl over them.

"Well, it's really up to Ara. But of course, it will be awesome if she can," Midori said hopefully, although she knew that it wouldn't be good to think this way also.

Ara was not from their world. Kazehaya Gin had also told them about Ged, and that Ara was a princess there. Also, her father who was the King of Heaven was waiting for Ara on the other side. There's a big possibility that she would choose to go back to her own world. It would be selfish of them to impose their own wishes on her.

It would be sad if Ara chose to return to Ged. But Midori and the others had already discussed this and decided that regardless of what Ara would do and where she would choose to stay, they would never protest and just keep supporting her.

It was what friendship with her meant.

"By the way," Rin began as she frowned at the group sketch that Ara did. "Isn't Ara's name in Ged, Alinea?"

Midori nodded. "Why did you ask?"

"Because…" Rin's voice trailed off as she showed the drawing to Midori who suddenly stopped walking as she took the sketchbook from Rin with a dumbfounded expression.

They both stared at the group picture and then they exchanged looks of wonder as if to say "Could it be?"

They studied each and every person in Ara's sketchbook.

"Oh. My. God."

They reached a page they hadn't seen before at the back, and saw a colored portrait of two people; one of them was someone who looked like the older prince but had different coloration and aura. The man was a true beauty that gave off a very mysterious air about him. The other person next to the silver-haired man was the red-head warrior Ara drew before: Ivan of Kres.

"Is this really a comic book, or real portraits of people from that other world?" Rin asked in awe.

"I think… they're real people – people that she missed and thought she'd never see again from that world," Midori answered quietly, and the both of them felt a bit teary-eyed imagining how Ara must have felt as she drew them.

"If they're real, then I wish she could meet them again," Rin uttered as she placed an arm around Midori's shoulders to comfort her.

They brought the manuscript to Midori's cousin who thanked them a lot. However, since Ara was still unsure about the future, the editor promised not to show anyone the work for now and would wait for Ara's answer patiently.

"No problem. Please tell Ara she can take her time deciding. It's her future after all," Midori's cousin assured them before handing them some coupons.

"What's this?"

"There's a newly opened Cat Café three streets from here. They gave these coupons. You'd get one cake free when you buy a drink," he said before saying goodbye.

Afterwards, the two of them left the building and went straight to the café. Both Rin and Midori didn't have anything else to do and they still didn't want to go home, so they decided to go there.  

"It's a good thing Hiroaki's not here. I don't think we can come here if he is. He'll complain it's not manly," Midori laughed as soon as they were served with their drinks and a free slice of cake.

However, instead of laughing with her, Rin suddenly sat up straight with a shocked expression on her face, alarming her. "What happened?" she asked as she turned around to see what made her freeze like that.

A very tall red-head man with a pair of familiar jade-green eyes, wearing silver armor walked in the café with a bunch of cosplayers. Rin and Midori couldn't help but gasp as the man crossed the room to sit by the table next to them.

It's the man in Ara's sketchbook, in the flesh.

The two girls thought they were dreaming but they were not. They continued to watch the man and listen to his strange conversation with the others. It seemed he was totally confused about this world, and a suspicion formed in their minds.

Unable to take it anymore, Rin stood up and approached. "Are you Ivan of Kres?"

Of course, when they heard the answer, the two of them knew that fate played a trick on them again, introducing another person from that other place.

"Yes, I am the Flame Emperor, Ivan of Kres…"