As Heavien recalled, when she was organizing her drawer, there were compiled bond papers with texts. It was a comic, and the title was 'Triumphant Game'. There was a date when it was written, and there was the name of the author with a signature above it. She was confused that her name was written there, which matched her current signature. She read it in one whole day because she got curious about why her name was on the cover paper.
She also found out that a soft copy was also saved on her laptop and that it had been published on an online reader website. She checked that, and there were many views and comments. She got contacted by a staff member of the online reader website and was offered to turn that online comic into a physical book. She was supposed to refuse, but it turned out that she already signed the contract. They were just reminding her of it. She was not fully aware of that comic, but it appeared that she was indeed the author of it.
And that was it. It was now a book being sold nationwide. She didn't even know why her name was there, but she felt like she should just let go of it. She wouldn't lose anything from trying, so she did it. It seemed that she also saved multiple soft copies of it in her other accounts. She thought that maybe she had written that kind of comic and just forgot about it. She didn't worry that she might be copyrighted because it had been confirmed that it was hers. She just couldn't remember it, which weirded her out.
How come a comic that I specifically wrote would slip off my mind?
"C'mon, let's have lunch," Rishi invited them.
She checked her wristwatch, and it was lunchtime. They gathered to eat lunch together after their first orientation of the day.
"You guys go first. I'll go to the CR." She needed to pee first because the line at the canteen would be long. Besides, they'd have a long chat. She waved to them.
"Hurry up!" Nyla shouted, and they went ahead to the canteen.
Heavien was walking towards a building when she saw that the comfort room there was closed for maintenance. She walked again to the other building, which was farther away. And because it was hot because of the sun in the afternoon, she stepped aside. She followed the shadows of the trees to shade herself while walking.
She saw a boy sitting on the ground and leaning against the huge roots of a tree. She approached him to wake him up because he might be caught by the guard sleeping, or worse by a teacher or the principal herself. When she approached him, he was still asleep. He had tanned skin, his hair was neatly gelled which made his hair spiky, and his mouth opened with drool on the left side of his lip. His left hand was supporting his head, and his right hand was holding a book. Out of curiosity, she leaned forward to the cover of the book and...
"Eh?" she gasped.
The boy was a little surprised, and she accidentally woke him up.
"Oy, oy," mumbled the boy who just woke up and sat up. He wiped his drool and rolled his eyes, glaring at her. "Why?" he asked, frowning while rubbing his eyes.
Her eyes widened at the sight. At the same time, the wind was blowing harder, and the dry leaves were floating in the air. At the same time, the sunlight focused on the face of the person she was staring at now.
"L-Leon...than?" she mumbled at the boy. She was left stunned.
His forehead furrowed even more, and he brought his face closer to hers.
His eyes narrowed, asking, "Leon? What? What's that?" He turned his face away from her and leaned back against the tree.
"Who are you?" she questioned him out of the blue. She might weird him out, but she needed to know.
She didn't know what she was doing, but she was suddenly uneasy. She felt relieved to see this boy. She had no idea why.
"Why?" he sounds irritated because of her unwanted interrogation.
"Just…"
Uh-oh, she didn't have a reason for this. She couldn't tell him about that. He wouldn't understand.
"Canley"
"Can... ley?"
"Yes, Canley!" he cleared it out for her. "What or who is that Leon you're talking about?"
"Huh?"
Oh, wait! Who was this Leonthan I was talking about?! What was going on with me? Why did I mention the name of someone whom I didn't even know?
She thought carefully about how that name came out of her mouth.
Leonthan... Hmmm… Think, think, think... ah!
She had a 2x2-inch picture of that Leonthan in her drawer that had been stuck in her journal notebook. He wasn't smiling at the photo and wore a polo of their school uniform. She would have thrown away that picture, but she read something on the back of the picture.
'I, Heavien Cyre Luvitos, shall not throw this precious memento of Leonthan Hortaia.'
Heavien had her full name written on it. It puzzled her, so she just didn't throw it away just to make sure. It seemed to be an important photo that she should not throw away.
She stared at this boy named Canley. He looked exactly like Leonthan in the photo hidden in her journal. But when she saw Canley, it was as if a thorn had pulled out of her chest. It was as if she felt joy on the spur of the moment. It was as if Leonthan's picture had come to life. Even though she didn't know or remember Leonthan, she could certainly feel that he was significant to her.
She also saw that there was a sketch pad, and there was a sketch of 24 people. She didn't know who the 23 people were, but there was a sketch version of herself in the drawing included with the other 23. She just ignored it because the drawing was beautiful, but she didn't know if she was the one who sketched it.
"Oy,"
She came back to her senses from deep thought when Canley mumbled.
"Ah, nothing. You just look like someone I knew."
It was a lie because she didn't know who Leonthan was to her.
"Why the h*ck did you wake me up? I'm having a good dream." Canley was indeed annoyed by her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. The guard or teacher might catch you sleeping here." She apologized for interrupting his sleeping hours.
He sighed. "Don't sweat it."
She couldn't leave him yet because of the questions formed in her head. "What are you dreaming about?"
He gazed far away. "I'm supposed to save a girl from the game... Haysss! I almost got the good part of it!"
She frowned. "Game?"
What game is he talking about?
"Here, oh," He showed her the book he was holding. 'Triumphant Game' was the title of the book that he was reading. "It's a good one. Have you read it? Or are you even familiar with it? Tsk, tsk, you're outdated if you don't know anything about this great comic book. Haha!" He laughed like he was mocking her for assuming that she was outdated.
He jumped to his conclusion. She didn't know that his behavior transformed when talking about the book she wrote.
"I've read that."
Yes. Not to brag, I was even ahead of him in reading it.