"Ugh!" Lying on the floor, she holds her head. "It hurts like hell."
Where the heck is she? She sits up and looks around. The lights are gone, but she could see in the dark. Her things are lying here and there. The door is open. It looks like a burglary took place here. Ari lets out an exasperated sigh.
She's back on planet earth. Takayama Ari presses her hand on the wound on her forehead. Those burglars hit her head hard.
So, she's back to the day she was killed here.
Was she even killed?
Her body is the same. She's twenty-six-year-old woman again. Her messy dark hair is back.
But how did she get back here? What happened during the naming? There was someone at that place.
Her head throbs with pain. She winces, cursing Adira. "It happened because of that damn god."
She walks to the kitchen to find food. It feels like she hasn't eaten for years. When she opens the cupboard, she only finds expired ramen. Ari scowls darkly and grabs the ramen packets. She needs to call the police after having a meal.
Maybe she should clean up first.
Was all of that real?
It's illogical for her to wake up here again. This body should have been dead. Did she dream about the whole thing?
"The whole thing does seem strange." Ari crosses her arms and stares at the boiling water. "Was it real or not? Did I dream the whole thing?"
She looks at the clock. It's been two hours since the burglary.
Was she unconscious for two hours?
While the ramen is boiling, she washes the wound on her forehead in the sink. Then, she goes to the living room. Where is the first aid kit?
Does she even have a first aid kit?
Ari puts her hands on her hips. "Was that dream or not?"
Who can answer her? She goes to the mirror and stares at her reflection. The wound is just a small cut. It doesn't even require stitches. "This wound can't kill someone like me."
Honestly, her skull is pretty sturdy.
"Logically, it doesn't make sense." She returns to the kitchen. Thinking is a difficult job with an empty stomach and throbbing head. "If it was all true, what happened to my daughters?"
She had a different body back then. Rena… What was that word? She can't seem to recall it. She turns off the gas. Ramen is cooked. She carries the pot back to the living room and sits on the couch.
"It feels like a distant dream." She picks up her phone and checks her messages. Her voice becomes melancholic. "If it was real, Takayama Ari should be dead right now."
Are things like transmigration even possible?
When the officer comes, she tells them about the burglary. They take a few pictures and asks her about the men she has seen. When it's all over, she closes the door and lies down on the bed.
"I am hungry." She rubs her belly. "Should I order something? I want to eat something…"
Her eyes become wet. She rolls on her stomach and weeps in the dead of the night.
***
This is so heavy. Ari drags the bag out of her house. When did she clean her house last time? Why did she spend a fortune on anime figurines? Her life seems like a mystery to her. Maybe it's the aftereffect of a near-death experience.
"Takayama-san, where are you taking these things?" Aomine Masaki, her neighbour, stops on his track and asks her, not expecting a reply.
"I need to throw them away. I am emptying the rooms." She pants, feeling exhausted. "Aomine, it's been a long time since I saw you."
"I came back two weeks ago." Doesn't she live alone? He looks at the house. It's been a few years since her grandparents died. "Is someone moving in with you?"
"I am going to rent the empty rooms." She puts her hand on her belly. Why is she hungry again? She ate a moment ago. "There was a burglary in the house two days ago. It's safer if there are more people here."
"Really?" Aomine squints his eyes. He did hear about the burglary. She must have been scared. But the house is old. The roof might fall at any moment. Who would come to live in such a place? He points at her. "You!"
"What?" Ari blinks her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You never replied to me before." He frowns at her. "We used to go to the elementary school together; and then, you ignored me until this moment."
"Because of you, my cat died." Ari gives him a dark look. "If you hadn't left that door open that day--"
"Tch!" He wrinkles his nose. "You can hold grudges for sure."
"Why the hell I am talking to you now?" Ari waves her hand. "Get out of my sight. Looking at you give me a bad taste."
"Sight is not related to taste." Aomine Masaki takes the bag from her hands and opens it. To his surprise, it's full of anime figurines. "Are you truly going to throw this away?"
"I told you that I need to make space." She rubs her hand on her belly and sniffs the air. Is someone making beef soup somewhere? Too bad! She's not friendly with her neighbours.
"Why don't you sell them and use the money to renovate the house?" He looks at her stomach. She looks a little chubby there. He meets her eyes. "Some of these figurines would sell at a good price. I know a place. Come with me."
"I am starving." Ari squats down on the concrete, holding her stomach. She puckers her lips, looking at him with puppy eyes. "Aomine, your mother is making beef soup, isn't? Bring some for me. You can have these figurines."
He has never seen a shameless person like this. Aomine Masaki lets out a laugh. "Say, aren't you an adult? Can't you cook beef soup for yourself?"
"I don't have beef." She sits down on the road. "I don't have energy to go back inside my house and cook. I am going to die if I don't eat a good meal."
She wipes her drool and sighs. Maybe she should have gone to the hospital and get her head checked. But how is head related to stomach? Why is she always hungry these days?
"Alright, alright." He gives his hand to her. "Stop being dramatic. I will bring some beef soup for you."
"You are a true friend." She holds his hand and stands up. "Bring some rice too."
"How did you know that my mother is making beef soup?" He can't smell anything in the air. Does she have a dog nose?
"Don't ask many questions." Ari inhales the air sharply. She doesn't even like beef. Why the heck is she craving beef soup? "Keep the figurines. Those are my payment for the beef soup."
"But these are…" Aomine Masaki closes his mouth when he sees her walking back inside the house. He mumbles to himself, "Didn't she say that she has no strength to walk back home? She's really strange."
His mother doesn't like her much. Now, he has to steal from his own house.
***
After two weeks, Takayama Ari looks at her house with satisfaction. After the renovation, her house certainly looks cleaner and better. Now, she needs to find the tenants.
"I told you." Aomine Masaki smirks at her, "You will get a lot from those figurines."
"You could keep the money though." She glances at him. "I don't like owing debts."
"It's too much to keep all that money for a bowl of beef soup." He shakes his head. Why is he still delivering beef soup to her everyday? He's sick of drinking that soup. "You should cook for yourself now. I am going back to K City soon."
"Oh!" Takayama Ari slumps her shoulders. "I will miss that soup."
"I am just a soup delivery boy to you, aren't I?" Aomine Masaki puts his hands in his pockets and studies her with a quiet gaze. The pigtails girl grew into a beautiful woman. "You should exercise more. You have a potbelly now."
"Potbelly?" Ari looks down at her stomach and creases her forehead. Why doesn't she have this? When did she have her periods again? She can't be pregnant with the twins. That was a dream, wasn't it?
"That's what happens if you treat your old friend like a delivery boy." He laughs when she grimaces at him. The pigtail girl hasn't changed that much. "I will send you the recipe of the beef soup."
"Later." Ari walks away from him. She needs to buy pregnancy stick. Maybe it's nothing. What if she's truly pregnant? Then, everything was real. She really did go to that world.
Aomine Masaki yells after her, "Where are you going? You didn't lock your house."
"Look after it," She yells back. "I will be back soon."
"She's still weird." Aomine Masaki looks at her back until she disappears from his sight. He scratches his chin. "Did she mind that I called her fat?"
After buying the pregnancy kit, she runs to a public bathroom. When she's done with the instructions on the kit, she holds the stick in front of her face. "It was a dream… it couldn't be real."
However, the double lines on the stick say otherwise.