-7-


-7-


"Elkie, can you grab tea?" Haima asks me. "A McDonald's should have it, I'm sure. I doubt they would run out."


I nod my head. "I can do that for you. Are you sure you don't want coffee?" With his job, I would rather have coffee. It is refreshing and can wake one up.


He nods his head. "I am fine with tea. We have coffee packs here." He points over to the single packets of coffee, which are so good. "Make sure you come back fast or else my son will be upset. Hiiro is going to be here soon and I don't want you to get into trouble."


"I understand that he'll be back soon. I'll consider this my job." I smile at him warmly.


Hiiro is doing his job at the moment and checking on what he's going to be doing today. Even though he is a surgeon, he isn't always busy with surgeries. He's busy here in the CR due to the Bugster Virus running rampant for whatever reason it does.


"If you get into trouble, Elkie, I'll send help for you. I don't want you to be in danger." Haima is so caring, which is nice. Not everyone is nice around here to me.


"Alright, Haima. Thank you."


I wonder if I'll see Parad when I'm out and about. I actually miss him because he's fun and he is super attractive. It kind of awkward to be attracted to him due to him being a fictional character and him being my enemy at the moment. I think that he has a kind heart inside him somewhere.


"Take care," he replies. "Oh, do you know the code?"


"Yeah, I know the code to get in. I saw it the other day when Emu put it in." He wasn't even trying to hide the code. I do think that he forgot that I would be watching him type it in.


"Good. I'll be waiting."


"Oh, why can't you make the tea here?" I question curiously. Why didn't I ask that before? Do I only come up with good questions later?


"The machine is broken." He pouts.


I look over at the machine, which doesn't look broken on the outside. Okay, so it is broken on the inside somewhere. I don't know where and I don't need to know the details of it. If I needed the details, I would probably be here longer than I need to be.


"If you give me money, Haima, I will get the tea you want and the tea maker." I smile once again. "I promise I won't take too long when I'm out."


Haima sighs heavily and he reaches into his white doctor's coat, pulling out his wallet. He opens it up and pulls out some money, counting it. He's really good at counting it like that. I couldn't do that because I'm honestly so bad at some basic skills like that.


"Here you go, Elkie," he says, holding out the cash. "I included money for a snack in it. Make it quick so he doesn't get mad at me for asking you to head out. I would head out myself but I have a feeling I'm needed here on the clock rather than out there buying some tea."


"Alright." I nod and take the money, putting it into my pocket. Emu gave me a jacket to wear to keep me warm in the hospital. It gets kind of cold here.


"Oh, I got to give you this." He puts his wallet away and he takes out his cell phone. "You might need this when you're out. It has the CR's number in it so if you're in trouble, call so I can send someone to help you. Everyone is happy to assist you when you need it."


The only person who probably doesn't want to assist me is Hiiro. He's an icy Prince and he just doesn't want to deal with anything that causes him trouble. He didn't want to work with Emu when he first came because he didn't view Emu in a good light. Now he kind of tolerates him and they are somewhat friends. I think.


"I'll be sure to call if I need to." I take his cell phone carefully and put it away. "I swear I'll be safe, Haima. There isn't much I can do to get into trouble when at the store."


"You better stay safe or else my son is going to hate me."


"I completely understand that I need to be safe. You need to stay safe here too. This place isn't all that safe either as long as the Bugsters are out there." Parad probably could teleport into the CR at any moment if he wanted to. However, he stays out of it.


"It is isn't it?"


"I'll go now." I nod and smile. "Bye."


~.~


I wonder what kind of machine he prefers. Why do they have to make so many choices? Is there some sort of special difference that I'm not seeing? Does one self-clean or magically make good tea?


"There you are," a voice says, sounding sinister.


I turn a bit, my eyes going wide. I point at the tall, handsome man before me. His eyes are cold and empty, lacking much emotion. He certainly isn't someone I should mess with.


"Kuroto!" I gasp.


"You know my name, huh? How about that? I didn't mean for you to join the game." He moves closer to me and I look around, my heart racing. This store isn't that full. Where is everyone at? It is the perfect time to go shopping here in fictional Japan!


I reach into my pocket and pull out Haima's cell phone. I need help right now. If I don't get help, Kuroto is going to totally wreck me and end me.


"You won't be needing that," Kuroto states, knocking the cell phone out of my hand.


"Ugh!" I gasp as the phone falls to the ground, the screen cracking. Okay, he's made Haima's phone absolutely useless now.


"Where did you come from? How do you know me?"


I stare up at Kuroto, my heart going even faster now. "I...I live in a world where Bugsters are in power." I need to keep up the lie so that Parad doesn't figure out that I'm not from that made up world. "I came here and it is so different. I didn't mean to interfere in the game, Kuroto. I am sorry." My voice is flipping shaking right now.


"I'm the Game Master there too, right?"


I shake my head as he keeps his eyes on me. "No, you are in jail there for crimes against the Bugsters."


"Oh, really? That can't be." His eyes narrow and he looks off to the side, like he is calculating something. I would be running right now if I could get my feet to move like I want them to do.


"You were making games until the King got into power. I serve that guy who became King there."


"And who might that be?"


I got to keep this going even though it'll tick Kuroto off. "Parad."


He laughs, eyes returning to me with a serious look. "You expect me to believe the he's some King in some other world? Now that is one fancy dream land you made up."


"You caused Emu's infection." I know that this is true. I cheated by looking up spoilers.


"So, you do know me?" His face softens a bit, not looking as intense as before. "I guess your world just might exist. After all, I know that you're not meant to be here in my game." He's tall, dark, and looney.


"Kuroto, why are you bothering her? She's just some Human. Besides, she doesn't have any use for us." Parad is here to save the day now. Should he get a super hero name or should he just stay Parad?


I look over at Parad, our eyes meeting each other. "Parad..."


"Besides, Kuroto, she can't do much on her own without her King." He smirks slightly, looking thrilled with himself being some sort of king in my made up universe. "I'm in her universe after all. However, I am just not the King himself. We're two different people."


Even though they are both pretty darn smart, they can't prove I'm lying. All they know is that I'm not from this world. That is the obvious truth of the matter. I can keep this going as long as they don't find proof that I'm lying.


"I see." Kuroto nods his head, laughing a bit. "You only came here to mess with the girl, huh? Parad, you can play with her all you want for now. She's a useless woman anyways. She can't even defend herself." He is right on the fact I'm useless. What am I go to do to two guys with powers that I don't even possess?


"She's always going to be mine to play," Parad says, sounding very serious.


"You get to play with Emu. I get to play with the girl for a bit later."


"Elk, aren't we going to play together before he even gets a chance to play with you?" Parad asks me, staring straight into my soul.


My heart speeds up, nearly skipping a beat here and there. "..." What should I say right now? Is there even a right answer to that?


"Elk? What kind of name is there?"


"Do you want to play with me or not?" He ignores Kuroto's question.


"I want to play." I do not wish to play with Kuroto, who will just end up hurting me as badly as possible. "Let's play, my King."


"Good choice." Parad smiles, moving towards me. "Kuroto, you can go. I'll deal with her for now."


"Fine. Have it your way."


I look back at where Kuroto is and he is gone. Did he just vanish? Why can't I have that ability? It would be so nice to just vanish at times.


I look back at Parad as he stops in front of me, bending over. He picks up the phone and he holds it up, staring at it curiously. His lips curve upwards and his eyes go to me.


"I believe that this belongs to you, Elk," he says, holding out to me now.


"Why?" I take it from me.


"Why what?" He blinks.


"Why did you just help me?" He should have let Kuroto have me.


"Because I'm curious about your world. I like hearing stories about it because it is exciting to me."


"Right." I should have figured that much out on my own. He wouldn't be saving me because he wants to save me. He wants to hear about that made up world because it is a lot of fun for him to hear about himself in it. He loves anything that excites him.


"You should so disappointed right now. Is there a problem?"


I tilt my head a bit. "What are you talking about? Do I really sound disappointed to you?" I ask him curiously. I guess I am a bit disappointed in the fact that the only person who can save me at times isn't even saving me for me.


"Yes." He nods quickly, hair bouncing a bit.


"Well, I'm not. I am just upset that Kuroto discovered where I was and what not. He wasn't supposed to." Kuroto isn't meant to be near me right now. He's going to put me in a lot of difficult situations if he can locate me each and every single time.


"He would have eventually if it wasn't for you being here today. He's a very smart man. So, what are you doing out and about? Shouldn't you be locked up in the CR?"


"I'm getting a tea maker." I turn to the tea makers. "I don't know which one to get because they all seem the same to me."


"Tea maker? Just buy which one you think works the best. I would probably choose a decently priced one because the lower priced ones might not work as well. I have seen people who buy cheap products have issues when I'm watching over the city from the top of the hospital."


"I'm going to be heading to McDonald's after this. Do you wish to come with me at all?" I turn back to him, my lips curving upwards. "I'll tell you more about my world if you wish to."


"Really?" His face looks so innocent and adorable right now!


"Yeah." I nod my head. I don't think it is a good idea to walk around with him but I can keep my eyes on him and make sure he isn't causing trouble.


I am very curious about him. He's a fun character in my opinion and he is being very different from how he usually is. Of course, he's still being somewhat himself. I can only assume I'm causing some slight changes to how the script originally went.


"Do you trust me?"


I blink. "I can trust you enough to have you go with me to some fast food joint, Parad. Can you grab that tea maker that isn't too generic looking? I think it'll make the CR look good."


"The slightly cheap one?"


"Yes, that one." I'm not going to spend all of Haima's money and it looks decent. It is silver with some cool light up screen looks to show the process of making the tea.


Parad turns away and steps forward, grabbing the tea making I am talking about. "I think this one looks good enough to be placed there. I'm sure it looks generic and boring down there, right?"


"Right."


He looks at me, turning to me. "I don't know how you deal with being down there."


"You get used to it."


"Do you now?"


"Yeah."


The CR isn't as plain looking as the hospital to me. It does have a generic hospital look and feel to it, but it seems much more like a mini home to me. It has everything that is needed for people there when they're staying late for their shift.


"Let's go check out and get the tea you want to get from that fast food place," Parad orders.


"Okay."


Once I leave this world, I won't be able to understand Japanese anymore. The good news is that I'm here for now and I can drag this man around. Hopefully I won't get into too much trouble while I'm out with Parad.

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