Chapter 44

In an abandoned hotel building, Yuji hid with Yukina inside a certain room on the second floor.

Yukina was sleeping on the hotel room bed as Yuji was standing beside a wall next to her.

"She's deep asleep," Yuji thought looking at Yukina's face.

Being a little flustered, Yuji looked away and sat down on the floor with his back against the wall.

"I can't believe that just happened..." Yuji said.

Some time had passed since the incident. Yukina continued to sleep while Yuji rested, collecting his thoughts.

"ugh..." Yukina groaned.

Yuji noticed and decided to check.

"She's still asleep... is she uncomfortable?" Yuji thought, "from her movements, I think she wants to sleep upright... but her mechanical bag is in the way..."

Yuji looked carefully at the mechanical bag, "it's connected to the belt she's wearing... should I take it off?" he thought.

"She has to be tired... I should make her comfortable..." Yuji thought as he slowly gets his hand on Yukina's waist, trying to see if he could remove the belt.

Click*

Yuji pressed a tiny button at the center of the belt, located at its top, "Got it!" Yuji whispered, then as he slowly pulled out the belt.

SMACK*

A fist smacked Yuji's face at an incredible speed.

"AH!" Yuji shouted as he was pushed out of the bed by the impact.

Yuji quickly kneeled up, looking confused.

"what are you thinking? trying to remove my belt in my state..." Yukina said, with a slight sign of embarrassment on her face, Yuji felt bloodlust coming out of Yukina's angry expression and deep tone.

"WAIT IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" Yuji said in a panicked tone, "I wasn't planning on doing anything I swear!".

"Then why the hell..." Yukina said, looking dreadfully into his eyes.

"You looked like you want to sleep upright since you were uncomfortable, and I saw your bag was in the way so..." Yuji said with a shivering voice.

Yukina suddenly remembered what just happened as flashes of her memory when Yuji protected her emerged from her mind.

Yukina let out a sigh, "alright, I believe you... For now..." Yukina said in a tired tone.

"you don't look like you do..." Yuji said, noticing her irritated expression.

"I'm just... tired..." Yukina said, she fixes her pillow in a straight manner as a backrest for her to slouch on at the end of the bed beside the wall, she then removed her belt completely and placed it beside her, "where are we?" she asked.

"At a hotel, nearest to the wall," Yuji said, "I didn't think going out of the wall with you unconscious was a good idea... I have no general knowledge outside or know if there's a place we can rest at..."

"Good job, that was the right decision," Yukina said, "how near are we?".

"The wall is right outside the window, across the street," Yuji said, pointing out to the closed window.

"I see... you must have injected yourself to get here, how much do we got left?"

"She's very practical... the moment she woke up unexpectedly, she quickly asks about the full situation," Yuji thought.

"I used one full shot, so now we have two full syringes left..." Yuji said.

"One full shot?" Yukina said.

"Oh, it's because my head started hurting after that Archdemon went away and when I tried to inject myself with one shot, the headache didn't seem to disappear so I injected the last two shots, resulting in a full shot,"

"I... see..." Yukina said, "but how are you feeling? it must have been such a strain on your body after what just happened,"

"It is... but nothing a good rest can't fix," Yuji replied.

"I see..." Yukina said in a worried tone, "Then let's leave after three hours, you should get full rest by then,".

"Where are we going next?" Yuji asked.

"Outside the city, there is a small settlement some distance from here, if our timing is correct then we should be able to stay there for the night," Yukina said.

"I see... we definitely can't stay here for long after what just happened," Yuji said.

Yukina nodded, "so take a good rest for the next three hours,".

Yuji nodded as he closed his eyes and began to rest beside the wall while sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Yukina said.

"I'm trying to sleep," Yuji replied, eyes still closed.

Yukina let out a sigh, "you look so pitiful there, come here," Yukina said taping the bed.

Yuji opened his eyes with an expressionless poker face as he slowly turned his head towards Yukina.

"Pardon?" Yuji asked in a confused tone.

"Here..." Yukina said, removing the bag from the bed and putting it beside her on the floor, "without that, there's more than enough space for two people to fit in,".

"You're... ok with that?" Yuji said.

Yukina looked away trying to hide her embarrassment, "you're probably in a much worse state than I am, you should get a proper rest,"

"I'd be lying if I said I'm fine but..." Yuji thought, "are you really ok with that?" he said.

Yukina let out a sigh as she faced back at Yuji with an ordinary expression, "come on, we need each other to be in a better state than now if we want to get through this, I don't think of this as anything so I won't mind," she said in a casual tone, "as long as you don't touch me, that is," she said in a threatening tone as sudden ominous aura emerged from her.

Yuji nodded in agreement, "then if you don't mind...", he placed the separate pillow below his head and then laid himself down to bed, leaving little distance between him and Yukina.

Yukina then fixes her pillow as she did the same, with both of them facing the opposite direction, "the clock on the wall doesn't seem to be broken, and it's pointing at 2 pm," she said.

"Then we need to be up at five... won't the sun start to set by then?" Yuji said, "I didn't even notice the clock... I must be really tired..." he thought.

"Don't worry, the settlement I mentioned isn't far, now rest," Yukina said.

And so, Yuji closes his eyes.

The weight his body was carrying suddenly felt twice the heaviness as he felt his exhaustion take over his body, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

After some time, Yuji felt like he was standing still as the darkness around him covers the whole area.

"Hehe, what situation do we got here?" a voice emerged from the darkness along with an emerging light encompassing the dark area surrounding Yuji.

And as the light fully covered the area, Yuji opened his eyes.

"Again..." Yuji said as he sees the white-haired woman while staring at her golden eyes.

"What's with that boring reaction?" the woman said, "not happy to see me again?" she said in a teasing tone.

"To be honest, I was actually thinking about when I'd be able to talk to you again," Yuji said.

"hmmm, did you really?" she said pouting with a teasing tone.

"ye... yeah..." Yuji said awkwardly, not knowing how to react.

"Just kidding!" the woman said, "I know what's going on in your mind, you know,".

"What!?" Yuji said.

"Right now, we're basically one, yet separate at the same time," the woman said.

Yuji stayed silent for a moment, "could you... elaborate?" he said.

"Basically, you didn't just gain the power of my body, you also gained my memory and myself along with it," The woman said.

"Yourself?" Yuji questioned, "I see, so what I was using earlier was your power,"

"My consciousness, personality, instincts, and my feelings, they were all transported to you too," the woman said.

"How is that possible..." Yuji said.

"I don't know, but I know for a fact that I was conscious when I was still in that body," the woman said, "conscious but have no control over it,"

"That body... you mean the Archdemon?" Yuji said.

"Yes, and when you got stabbed by my body, it was as if, I felt transported," the woman said.

"You were calling out to me as I remembered," Yuji said, "and you just... felt you got transferred?"

"I don't know how to explain... but it was a feeling that I was sure about for some reason," the woman said.

Yuji held his head as he stayed quiet for a short moment, "disregarding how you got in, you said that also your memories and feelings transferred to me right? but I can't seem to recall anything, " Yuji said.

" The explanation for your memories is simple, a human brain can't suddenly take in so much information such as someone else's life so suddenly, so it's stored in the very back of your mind," the woman said, "and you say you don't recall anything, but you felt it didn't you? the blurry images that appeared in your mind before..."

Yuji stayed silent as he remembers what happened to him before, "that time with Glutton, and when Elizabeth..."

"You seem to remember," the woman said.

"I guess your right... but I didn't get anything from when you injected something into me," Yuji said.

" It's because I didn't let it show, " the woman said.

Yuji's eyes shrunk with confusion, "what do you mean? "

"This will also answer your other question fully," the woman said, "right now I'm... your split personality, I guess,".

"Split... personality..." Yuji said, as he slowly understands the situation.

"But it's a little different for us," the woman said, "the difference is that you have full control of your body, and I'm just another part of your brain that keeps what's mine, that includes emotions, and memories, as well as knowledge,".

Yuji nodded his head as he got a huge grasp of the situation.

"Good, it seems you already understand," the woman said, " then I guess that's pretty much settled, ".

Yuji nodded, "then, can I ask you a question?" he asked, "your name, it isn't Alice, right?"

"That's the name they gave me after turning into an Archdemon," the woman said, "my real name is Alicia,".

"A... Alicia...", suddenly numerous amounts of memories came flashing at Yuji's head.

"Alicia, Alicia, Alicia, Alicia,"

Yuji felt as if the voices are going through his head, showing very vivid images along with voices in different tones by different people.

The memories barged into his head, as Yuji felt the pain of overflowing knowledge, making his head feel as if it was about to explode.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Yuji shouted.

"Crap! he's getting this much memories by learning my name?" Alicia said, "Yuji, you need to wake up!"

Alicia shouted repeatedly, trying to get Yuji back.

"YUJI! YUJI WAKE UP!"

After multiple shouts, Yuji suddenly opened his eyes, waking up to reality.

"Yu... Yukina?" Yuji said, gasping for air, with little sweat dripping down his forehead, looking at Yukina who was right above him, holding both of his shoulders with a look of extreme worry imprinted on her face.

----------------------------------------------------------

Cover illustrated by: @s0ft.b0i.art -IG

@s_b_art- twitter

Author- @Ryk- Twitter

- follow for bonus content/ updates/ illustration (Support me 😁❤️)