A small tug at the bottom of my shirt followed the sudden bump.
Suddenly, almost in a flash, my black shirt was yanked off of me.
"Let's get these wet clothes off of you." Mia's voice echoed in my ear from behind me.
I quickly turned around to defend myself, but it was too late. She had already yanked my pants down.
~Crap.
"Hehe. Why so nervous?" She giggled. "Ah. It's because I'm a girl isn't it?"
She patted my head once more. But this time, her expression changed as her hand brushed through my hair. She appeared bamboozled.
"Odd."
Continuing to caress my head with care, she looked at me suspiciously and picked up my clothes. Giving them a tight squeeze, her face began to show more and more signs of utter confusion.
"It's not wet either."
Kneeling down and leaning forward, she brushed my bangs aside and pressed her forehead against mine.
"Huh."
~This isn't good. Did she figure it out? There's no way. Crap, crap, crap!
Without a second's notice, my mind began jumping to conclusions. I almost began to panic, thinking my new life was going to end before it even started.
But Mia only smiled and spoke to me with a calm, easing voice.
"You dry pretty quickly, huh, Yoiya? How about we get you a bath and into a soft bed?"
~Bath? Bed…? What?
Still reeling from the adrenaline rush from my thoughts earlier, I was caught off guard by her words.
Just as she has done since I met her, she grabbed my hand and led me to another room.
Passing by two white boxes and walked across cold floor tiles, Mia opened what appeared to be a translucent glass panel.
"We'll get you cleaned up here."
Mia began to point and name the objects in the room. As I took in this information, I stared at my reflection in the nearby mirror, thinking.
~A bath? But… Gods don't need to bathe… Or… Do we?
Finding myself a bit self-conscious, I gave myself a sniff. There was no smell, however. No odor or scent of any kind.
"Sit over here, Yoiya." Mia guided me to a stool that stood in front of the mirror I was staring at. As I sat down, she grabbed something white and said. "Close your eyes."
Water was sprayed into my face.
"Ack!"
…
Darkness. Darker than the night, darker than moldy tar, darker than anything. A darkness that can only be described as a void of nothingness. No light existed here.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
Water beneath my feet, a glowing white sphere and tiny dots above my head. The still blackness of the sky contrasted by the rippling of the murkiness beneath me.
A familiar place, but why was I here?
In the distance, a shadow stood, staring at the sky. If not for the moon, it would have gone unnoticed.
Approaching them, I reached out my arm.
My eyes widened.
The moment I touched him, a series of visions flashed before my eyes: Mia showing me her 'kitchen', black webs sprouting from my body, a car crashing into me and exploding, meteors raining down from the skies, gigantic reptiles ravaging the land, a scream.
"GOD IS DEAD!"
The visions continued: A building vanishing into thin air, a clash of blades against the setting sun, a flood, a red sky devoid of either sun or moon, a bloodstained cafe.
The visions seemed to continue for hours. And when they finally ceased—
I found myself standing in the city, at the same exact place I started at. Though, instead of clouds, a clear blue sky spanned across the horizon.
I walked around— Or rather it was as if I were watching myself walk around.
I passed by some screens behind a translucent panel.
~Glass.
My reflection in it was faint.
"Come buy your appliances! We got refrigerators, washers, dryers, blenders, and more!"
The screen flashed as audio played from within the black box behind it.
People walked by it without paying it any attention. Though, it sure seemed to catch my eye.
I continued to stare at it, absorbing every term it said.
"Hey."
I turned my head. Before me stood a girl, but this time it wasn't Mia Yuruichi. The hair color was identical, but this one had short hair and her eyes gleamed like a shiny gold necklace from a jewelry shop. Apparently there was one around, according to the screen I was staring out just moments ago.
"You shouldn't be here, kami."
"Kami?"
"Are you an outsider?"
"What…?"
"You do not appear to be any god of this world, so I will assume that you are an outsider. Why are you here? From which world do you hail from?"
I stepped back, preparing to defend myself.
"If you bring harm to this world, you will pay the price. Ah… Well, I suppose your very presence in this world causes harm. I must ask that you leave."
The girl's words were almost robotic and each one stung me like daggers.
She knew. She definitely knew. I was an Outer God. A powerful existence that originated outside this realm of existence.
"Leave."
I ran– straight into the streets.
A car horn screamed into my ears as the driver inside quickly turned the wheel in an attempt to stop it.
They screamed.
"Get out of the way! DAMMIT!"
The car slammed into me. Or— I'm sure that's what it looked like to the driver.
To anyone else watching, their mouths had gaped open as they watched the car slam into an invisible wall… and explode.
I stared through the smoke with a blank face. A javelin of light grazed my cheek as it flew by me.
~A javelin of light… Reminds me of Ener's fighting style. That must mean…
"Hey…" I stared at the girl through the smoke as it began to clear. "You're an angel, aren't you?"
"You shouldn't be here!"
The angel glared at me with disgust and scorn but all I could do was smile. With a hint of mischief in my grin as I muttered a response.
"Well, at least this isn't boring."
A single black feather, floating down from the sky.
That was the last I saw.
More screams began to fill my ear.
Was it the screams of the mortal race or was it—
In a whoosh, the vision immediately ended and I found myself back atop that deep blue sea.
The figure turned and stared at me, opening its mouth as if to speak.
"Memory."
The whisper was short, hushed. I could barely make it out. Still the shadow tried to speak.
"God of…"
Its voice trailed off. It's mouth remained gaped open. It raised its arms, reaching out to me, screaming.
~Screaming?
I could hear screaming…
…
"Yoiya! Time to wake up, silly! So wake— up–!"
With a single tug, I was yanked out of bed with whatever was covering me at the time.
~Shit.
"Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you were wrapped up in the blanket like that! Are you okay?"
Mia, giggling a bit, crouched down to pat my head as I peeked out of the 'blanket', as she called it.
"Sure." I mumbled, trying to maintain my usual expression.
"Ah, wew." Gently rubbing her forehead with her index finger, she offered me a hand. "Well how does breakfast sound to you?"
"Uh… sure." I accepted her offer, grabbing onto her hand.
Mia hoisted me to my feet and smiled. "Let's go then."