Chapter 139 Friends

Kairos didn't probe further on how Tiana was able to provide him with mana and instead began casting the one spell he had yet to cast, the water spell.

He pointed two fingers in the air and controlled the water spell to be a thin cone with the minimum output rate. Two spirals of mana rushed up his arm before meeting at his finger.

Then, a weak beam of water shot out, almost like a broken water fountain.

Tiana looked at that with a bit of confusion.

"Eh? Is that the spell?"

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"There's no point in recklessly casting spells if the point is to observe them in the first place."

Tiana tilted her head to the side.

"But if you want to tell what's happening, isn't it easier to do so when you put more power into it?"

Kairos blinked a few times.

"...I suppose so."

That was a logical conclusion to come to considering Tiana didn't know about Kairos' ability to see mana. Though, regardless, putting more power into it would also help him both see and feel how it moved. Plus, he didn't have to be concerned about his mana since Tiana could conveniently just inject him with it.

With that in mind, Kairos pointed two fingers into the air once more. Except this time, he expanded the beam of water to have a diameter of half a meter and increased the flow of water to half the maximum speed.

A torrent of water proceeded to shoot up high into the air like a geyser.

Kairos carefully observed how the mana appeared to be flowing from the body, and also how the mana acted at the tips of his fingers, before turning into the water rushing out of his fingers. Being able to view the mana in a relatively stable state was quite enlightening, like a math problem made simple by a good tutor.

In the middle of his observation, Tiana coughed.

"Um, I think it's going to come back down."

Just a few moments after she said that, the water slammed down onto the roof, covering Kairos, and splashing violently enough to get Tiana covered in water as well.

However, despite the uncomfortable situation, Kairos continued to channel the water spell. He narrowed his eyes because of the water, but still kept them open enough so he could continue watching the flow of mana.

At first, he was just observing to understand the pattern, but as he continued to do so, he realized that the point where the mana transformed into the spell was quite strange. It almost appeared as though the mana was dispersing into the air like sakura blossoms in a strong wind.

Kairos began to wonder exactly what that meant. He then took a closer look at the beam of water that was shooting up into the air.

It was hard to tell due to the natural surrounding chaotic flow of mana, but there were tiny remnants of mana still within the water that gradually dispersed.

In other words, it appeared like the mana wasn't exactly transforming into water.

After coming to that realization, Kairos stopped channeling the water spell, cutting the beam off. Though, water still continued to pour down on them for quite some time before finally disappearing.

Tiana used her hand to brush the water off of her face, though it didn't do that much.

"...Was that really necessary?"

Kairos coughed awkwardly.

"Well, on the bright side, it now feels quite cool, don't you think?"

Tiana sighed.

"I suppose so."

She stood up, and when she did, quite a bit of water dripped down from her clothes. As for Kairos, he remained standing there, as the water gradually splattered on the ground around him. Tiana brushed her slick hair back.

"Well, did you at least learn something?"

Kairos rubbed his chin.

"...I'm not sure if it's enough to come to a conclusion, but I think that when we cast spells, mana isn't consumed to become the specific thing we are creating."

Tiana raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? ...You mean mana is acting like a catalyst of some sort, while the actual spell itself comes out of... thin air?"

Kairos narrowed his eyes.

"I think so?"

Tiana blinked a few times.

"Although magic as a concept sounds ridiculous, that theory on how it works also doesn't really make sense. After all, how come something be created out of nothing? Unless mana is somehow acting as a portal transporting whatever spell is from some special realm."

Kairos slowly nodded.

"...Yeah, you're right. It doesn't really make any sense."

He stood still like a statue, still mulling over it.

However, he wasn't able to come to any conclusions even after thinking for quite some time. His thoughts gradually split into two. There was one part of him that felt like he was really close, that the answer was just barely out of his grasp, even if he had no idea what it was. Then there was another part of him that thought it was ridiculous to try and apply logic to mana.

After all, it could work off completely differently from known logic. Perhaps the laws of physics didn't even properly apply to it.

In the end, he simply sighed.

"Maybe the answer will come to me later."

Tiana clicked her tongue.

"You got us both wet, and you didn't even come to a conclusion from that?"

Kairos continued walking without looking at her.

"I didn't force you to come with me."

Tiana furrowed her eyebrows.

"Hey, I was the one that lent you mana to cast that spell!"

Kairos continued down the steps without responding. That didn't appear to discourage Tiana though.

"Is that really it? You're not going to do anything cool, and instead just drench us both?"

Kairos let out a soft sigh.

"It wasn't supposed to be cool in the first place. I was attempting to understand magic better."

Tiana smirked.

"Oh really? And you just had to do it with the water spell? I bet you did it just so you could make my clothes transparent and peek, you pervert!"

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"I didn't even look at you."

Tiana clicked her tongue.

"Damn. So you really didn't look at all?"

Kairos' eyelid twitched.

"So you were trying to get me to?"

Tiana pressed her lips together.

"Not exactly. I just didn't see you peeking at all, and thought that you must've done it while I wasn't looking!"

Kairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.

"Then you have your answer, I didn't look."

Tiana fell silent after hearing that. The two continued to walk down the steps. It was quiet except for the sound of water dripping down onto the stairs.

After a minute had passed, Tiana randomly spoke up.

"You really didn't peek?"

Kairos sighed.

"No.

Tiana pouted.

"You didn't even try to?"

Kairos took a deep breath.

"Even if I really wanted to see those kinds of things, I wouldn't have to resort to you, alright?"

Tiana let out a gasp when she heard that.

"What? Are you trying to say I'm ugly?"

Kairos sighed.

"It's not a matter of whether or not you're ugly, but rather the fact I don't have to use those measures to be a pervert."

The corner of his lip twitched.

"...I'm sure another pervert would be more than willing if I asked."

Though, right after he said that, he put a hand on the back of his head.

"Well, I guess that's exaggerating it a little... and taking it too far."

Tiana looked at him strangely.

"Eh?... Who are you even talking about?"

Kairos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Just forget about it. I shouldn't have said that."

Tiana's lips gradually parted.

"Are you... talking about Nicole?"

Despite saying that, it sounded as though she couldn't believe the words herself. As for Kairos, his eyelid twitched.

"...Please don't tell her I said that."

Tiana's eyes widened in shock.

"She doesn't look like the perverted type. Why did you even assume that about her?"

Kairos pressed his lips together.

"...Uh, I'm just being an asshole. That's why."

Tiana tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Silence fell once again, but this time it was quite awkward. Eventually Tiana broke the silence once more, but seemed quite hesitant as she spoke.

"Is it possible... that Nicole confessed to you?"

Kairos didn't respond, and continued walking down the stairs as though he didn't hear.

Tiana looked down at the ground.

"...I see. How did you respond to her confession?"

Kairos stopped walking down the stairs and closed his eyes.

"Well, it's not too important."

Tiana stopped next to him and spoke gently.

"If it's not important, then it wouldn't be a big deal to satisfy my curiosity."

Kairos let out a drawn out sigh and put a hand on the wall.

"Honestly, I was originally planning to turn it down if Nicole ever did confess to me. I didn't exactly view her as a person all that important to me. Yet, when it really happened, it made me think of things."

He gradually opened his eyes.

"Then I realized that Nicole had slowly won me over, before either of us even knew it. The carefree and oblivious parts to her that I thought I disdained somehow became... lovable."

A small smile formed on his face as he let out a light chuckle.

"Guess I was easier than I thought."

Tiana laughed softly.

"That does make sense. There always was some sort of connection between you two, though I wasn't sure how far it went."

With that, Kairos continued walking down the steps, and Tiana followed after him. It was silent once more, and was somehow even more awkward than last time. Then, for the third time, Tiana broke the silence again.

"I guess that's why you wanted to distance yourself from me."

Kairos raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? How's that related?"

Tiana was taken aback.

"Eh? But... if you get close to me, surely that would hurt Nicole's feelings."

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Nicole would have her doubts, but she knows me well enough not to doubt me. Having friends isn't cheating."

Tiana smiled bitterly.

"But I still don't think it's that good, right?"

Kairos sighed.

"The people that can't be friends with people of the opposite gender are just shallow."

Tiana paused.

"...Huh?"

Kairos shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sure that most people wouldn't agree with me, but sometimes there are some people that just want a friend. If you understand what that means to some people, then something like that wouldn't concern you. I'm sure countless people were left alone because of those stupid concerns."

He shook his head slightly.

"I know Nicole understands that too, even if she is a bit of an airhead."

Tiana couldn't find the words for quite a while.

"...Huh. I never thought you were the kind of person to say that."

Kairos responded curtly.

"Frankly, if there was someone that would say that, then it would probably be someone like me."

A small smile formed on Tiana's face.

"Haha, I really don't get that."

Kairos sighed.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is, I'm not pushing you away because I'm in a relationship or something. It's more so I'm just the kind of person that pushes everybody away."

He gave her a glance.

"If you want to be friends, that's fine with me. Though, you're just gonna have to accept me neglecting you a lot. And I'm probably not going to be a great friend either."

Kairos took a deep breath.

"But in the end, I'll be a friend."

Tiana stopped in place. Kairos walked a few steps forth before stopping as well. He turned around.

"...What are you doing?"

Tiana smiled bitterly.

"I guess... I'm realizing that I'm shallow."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"Huh?... Look, you don't have to be friends with me if you don't want to. It was just a proposition."

Tiana slowly nodded.

"...Yeah. I'm not taking it."