A talk at the club

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me using the tablet. Have a lovely evening!"

We had gotten our orders delivered to the table, with numerous bottles each with an accompanying glass standing in front of Lindsey and my trust old whiskey in front of me, with a label that said "Mackmyra". I still had no idea about different whiskeys, nor could I taste the intricate differences, but I liked the feeling of heat wash over my throat and mouth, as well as the general taste.

When she saw that I had only ordered one bottle, her ears reddened a bit and she couldn't help but feel embarrassed about her decision to take advantage of the free drinks. "Is that all you are having for the night?", she asked while fidgeting with her fingers. It was almost as if my earlier outburst had managed to scrape away some of her staleness as she started acting more and more like a normal young woman.

'Cute...'

Seeing my friend acting like an embarrassed kid, contrasting her earlier icy demeanor, was incredibly cute in my eyes. Unfortunately for her, I had already made my decision. I was not about to risk having her carry me out of the club, even more so now that I knew just what kind of standing I now had.

While pouring myself a glass, I crushed her hope, but I tried my best to reassure her that it was fine for her to go loose, "Yep, this is more than enough for me, but don't mind it. Just enjoy your first visit to a club."

"Alright..."

It didn't stop her from being embarrassed, but at least she started drinking now. Her way of drinking was also intense, taking shots of her spirits as if it were soju or something. 'I wonder what kind of liver she has...'

"So what do you think of this? Going out clubbing?"

Even if I was comfortable sitting in silence, alcohol should be accompanied by small talk.

Lowering the glass she had just emptied, she didn't have to think a second about her answer, "I hate it. The music is too loud and there are people everywhere. Though I can't say I dislike sitting at this table, thanks to the sound decreasing barrier, but we could get the same experience if we were sitting at a bar."

It couldn't be said to be unexpected, from the start she didn't seem like a girl who would enjoy going out clubbing, with all that comes with it.

The club was only meant for two kinds of people, people who liked to dance or people who were desperate to find someone for the night, neither of which appeared to apply to Lindsey.

'Although she hasn't tried dancing yet. Who knows, maybe she would like it?'

"That's a bummer, but it's good that you enjoy this moment at least. But haven't you ever gone out with Akane and Suzuka? Didn't you guys hang out quite a bit before?"

I knew that they were quite often eating together in the cafeteria last semester, so if she wanted to go out, why not go out with them?

She looked down at the table as she answered, her icy blue eyes not looking as happy anymore, "I haven't. I have indeed been around them a bit at the academy, but that was just because they thought I looked lonely, or at least Akane did I think."

'Makes sense, I don't think Suzuka would care all that much to be honest.'

"So, you don't see them as friends?"

"No, after all, when you disappeared I haven't hung out with them even once. In fact, I haven't seen almost any of our classmates socializing, not counting walking with each other in the hall. It was as if something happened that made them all distrust each other."

My head started to spin, how could this have happened? I was pretty sure that in the game, there would be quite a good sense of camaraderie between most of the people from class 1-A, how they otherwise defeat the demonkind?

Even if they weren't all part of the hero's party, they should still fight together for a better future, but now I got to hear that they didn't get along at all.

Recently, I was thinking less and less about the story in the game, realizing that as long as James, Lindsey, Sarah, Brad, and Bayyan got strong, it would all work out. But now I wasn't so sure.

'Did I fuck it up?'

That was the only reasonable explanation, my actions had created a situation where they couldn't trust each other anymore, meaning that the hero's party might not even exist if something didn't change.

But I had also seen them come together as one, to fight against their common enemy. Unfortunately, that person had been me. That time I had set Bayyan in place they all supported each other in their common quest to defeat what they assumed to be the villain. It almost made me think that I somehow was supposed to end up as their enemy, almost as if some higher being had already set all the pieces in motion.

'Is this destiny acting? Is it meant for me to become the Miren I have seen in my dreams, slaughtering them all just to then be defeated by James? I don't even know who won our fight in the dream...'

"Miren, what's wrong?"

She had taken a pause from her endless consumption of alcohol, her face painted with worry.

Realizing that I had completely lost touch with reality, I just dismissed her and made the decision to continue my reflections later, "Ah, it's nothing. But that's unfortunate, it would be nice if they would get along with each other."

Changing from worried to confused, she looked at me like I was an idiot, "Why would you want them to get along? I assumed by the way you acted that you hated them."

Her assumption wasn't exactly wrong, I did indeed hate a lot of them, but not all of them. I absolutely despised Bayyan, obviously, but the rest? My feelings still weren't clear about that.

Could I hate Akane for being afraid of me or Suzuka for trying to defend her sister? Did I hate Arthur for avoiding me after I almost claimed his life? No, I didn't hate them. Their situations were not only understandable but they were also justified.

The hard part was determining whether or not I hated my former friends. This, I didn't know, nor was I about to initiate a conversation with them to find out. It wouldn't be worth the time or the effort. There was one thing I was sure of though, next week, I would destroy the one who stabbed me in the back, unrelated to whether I truly hated him or not.

But I did want them to get along, after all, the fate of this world could depend on it.

Going back to the conversation, I just put on a smile and chose to utter some ambiguous words, "That may be so, but it would still be nice if they got along. Anyway, so you haven't actually made any friends at the academy besides me then?"

She wore a somber face as she heard what I said, which in hindsight was quite the rude thing to ask, "I haven't... You are my first friend..."

The words didn't appear to only apply to the academy, the underlying message was that she had, sadly enough, never had any friends, ever. Feeling a bit guilty about my stupidity, I just raised my glass again, "Well then, cheers to your first friend then!"

"Yes, cheers!"

****

We had just walked out of the club, having gotten our fill of the flashing lights and drunk people. In the end, Lindsey didn't dance, saying "I don't think I'm a dancer...".

She had been quite right about what she had said during our first real conversation, we were similar in a lot of ways. None of us had any problems sitting in silence, just talking about what we found necessary or important, nor did we particularly enjoy what youths our age usually would find exciting or fun.

In my case, it was understandable. Even though I might act immaturely at times, and my impulse control was pretty bad, I still had the mental age of 40. In her case, it appeared to have been the product of something else. This night I had seen a side of her that showed that she truly was just an ordinary girl, she just hadn't practiced being with people

As we were walking through the neon lights, I suddenly saw a bright blue light in the corner of my eyes, quickly making its way toward us. I instinctually pushed Lindsey to the side, unfortunately letting myself get hit by the flying fireball, feeling my back get torched as I got launched into the air.

"Miren!", she shouted as she ran to my side, her face whiter than usual, contrasting the redness she had acquired from drinking. As I looked up, I saw not only Lindsey but also a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt in front of a group of other guys, all looking like thugs.

This time I didn't let my thoughts go by silently.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"