"Congratulations!" The lady doctor beams at her. "You are two months pregnant."
Takayama Ari gapes at the doctor. It really wasn't a dream. Otherwise, how could she get pregnant? If all of those things really happened, then she must be carrying twins.
"You are carrying twins," The lady doctor tells her, removing any doubts in her head. You should take care of your health. If you don't eat well, it would have bad effects on your babies."
Does it mean that she can do magic? Takayama Ari looks at her hands. What happened to Little Ai? The true-naming should have gone right. How did she end up here?
"Takayama-san, are you listening?" The lady doctor raises her voice when there's no response. She narrows her brown eyes on Ari's belly. "You must take care of yourself. Carrying the blood of a god is difficult for a human."
"Huh?" Takayama Ari blinks her eyes, straightening her back. "What did you say?"
"Are you living alone, Takayama-san?" The lady doctor gives her a warm smile.
"Ah… yes." Ari nods. She glances at the name tag on the lady doctor's white coat. This lady doctor is nice. "Not for long, Doctor Mihara."
"I am relieved." Doctor Mihara scribbles something on the paper. "I am writing down some supplements for you. Remember to take them on time. Don't miss your appointments. If anything happens, call me at this number."
"Thank you, Doctor Mihara." Ari takes the prescription. She's truly pregnant. Is she carrying demi gods in her belly? They should be alright on planet earth, right? Her daughters are half-humans. She leaves the hospital with a complicated feeling.
"Are you missing your father?" She mumbles to herself with her hand on her belly. "Unfortunately, I can't hear your voice like Little Ai and God Cina. I know that you can hear me though."
It's true that she's been a little selfish. Will Adira come to this world? His memories will return someday. When will that time come?
"Your father is a fool." Ari grumbles, "Couldn't he trust me a little? I was able to give a name to that child."
But she did end up here.
"I don't know how that happened though." She walks back to her house. Her mouth is salivating. She's craving meat again. "My daughters want to eat meat."
In front of her house, she sees a slender man dressed in a navy yukata. His white hair is knee-length long. His face is long with a sharp nose and thin purplish lips. She tilts her head and furrows her brows. "Cosplayer?"
The man with dragon eyes turns his head toward her and smiles at her brightly. "Are you the owner of this house?"
"I am." She replies calmly, "May I know who you are, Sir?"
"I heard that you are renting out the rooms." The man raises his hand slightly. "I don't have any home. Can I stay here?"
Is he homeless? She's not doing charity work though. She's going to have two kids at the same time. Ari frowns at him. "Sir, can you pay the rent? Don't look down at the house. The rent is pretty high. I suggest that you look for another place."
The man lowers his head and lets out a heavy sigh. "My home was taken over by someone else. I can't go back there. If you let me stay at this place, I will make sure to pay you in every way possible."
This cosplayer… She opens her mouth to tell him to leave. At the same time, her stomach grumbles loudly. The man stares at her belly and blinks his eyes. Her face burns in embarrassment. She stutters, "I-I get hungry after a long walk."
"I don't have anywhere to go." The man looks at her. "Please let me stay at your place."
But he's so strange. How can she let this punk stay at her place? She's still a woman, alright? Besides, she doesn't even know his name. "What do you do, Sir?"
"Work…" He scratches his head. "These days, I only wait for people."
"Huh?" She scrutinizes him. Is something wrong with his head? Likely so! Ari grins at him. "Sir, thanks for your interest. I don't want shady tenants."
Not waiting for his reply, she storms into her house. Her stomach makes a loud roar again. She clicks her tongue and heads to the kitchen. How much fund does she have? She needs to find a way to make a living again. Should she resume working as a freelance programmer?
She remembers magical runes, but she can't remember a programming language anymore. She has to relearn everything. Ari opens the refrigerator and finds the soup. Aomine Masaki must have left it here. She picks up the note beside it.
[Recipe is on the back of this paper. You better cook for yourself from now on. Don't mind my words. You aren't fat. Work out every day to get rid of your pot belly. See you in winter.]
Ari exhales. He must have left by now. She picks up the bowl and goes to the living room. After turning on the television, she opens the lid on the bowl.
"Ugh!" Looking at the beef soup makes her sick. But she wants to eat it. "Why do they want to eat beef soup only? There's chicken soup, prawn soup, and pork soup."
Her mouth waters, recalling the taste of different soups. "Crap! I shouldn't have mentioned them now."
Her daughters must be foodies. It seems that she needs rich tenants to afford the food that they want to eat.
She's craving prawn soup now.
"Is it raining?" She looks up at the ceiling and frowns. Her intuition is certainly better. She walks to the window and looks out. It's dark outside and raining. "Hail storm?"
Unseasonal rain? She is about to close the window when she sees shadows gathering in front of her house. She pulls open the window wide and looks at the house on the opposite side of the road.
Why is it raining only at her house? She looks at the man in the navy yukata. There's a small black cloud right above his head and it's raining on him too. His lips are curled down. He is watching her like an abandoned dog in the street.
"..." Why did she think that she would have a normal life on planet earth?
***
Sitting on the bench under a cherry tree, Rilyah lets out a heavy sigh. This world is too strange.
Carriages are metallic. Magic is a little different here. Minor gods of this world are dying. People are always looking at their phones.
Where is Renasir Ari? There are seven continents and billions of people. On top of that, gods aren't active. Most gods are lazy or asleep. Others are too weak. There are otherworldly creatures, but they aren't much help.
It's not easy to find a person with the only first name. She looks up at the clear sky. The crescent moon is barely visible. The moon goddess of this world is too mysterious for her to handle. Moon goddess isn't helpful at all.
Basically, Rilyah is ignored.
"Finding a person is too difficult." She looks at the orphanage building. At least, they are growing well.
Ai walks toward the third moon of Iravan. "Rilyah, it's going to rain soon."
He is also grown up. Rilyah puckers her lips. But he's still dumb. "There's not a single cloud in the sky. Why would it rain?"
"You are right." Ai narrows his brown eyes. Since they are here, Rilyah has changed their appearances. She also has ink-black dark hair and dark eyes. Cina isn't spared either. By the way, where is Cina? He hasn't seen him since the morning.
"He's sleeping up there," Rilyah answers before he could ask. She points at the branch an eighteen-year-old boy is sleeping like a sloth. The god of Iravan is pretty nonchalant. Since this god is here, all the trees and plants of this garden are always lively. The children never go hungry because trees would always produce fruits, thanks to Cina's presence.
"We have to leave this orphanage soon," Rilyah exclaims, crossing her arms. "This guy isn't worried at all."
In the papers, Rilyah and Cina are already eighteen. They have already received their highschool diplomas. Though they have settled in the peculiar human world, the reality of this world still manages to surprise them.
"I don't want to worry about going to college." Cina opens his right eye. "We are gods, Rilyah."
It's been a decade since they came here. Cina's memories haven't returned. But he does have some knowledge about his origin.
"You failed the entrance test." Rilyah wrinkles her nose. "How could the god of trees fail to get into a botany course?"
"We didn't fail the test." Cina jumps down the tree. "There were just too many people who were taking the test. And the test was too difficult."
The competition in this country is too much. The kids study like demons. He's a god, alright? He would never go hungry if he doesn't get the scholarship for college. Gods don't need degrees.
"It wasn't difficult though." Ai interjects, "I solved the question paper in fifteen minutes."
Both gods glare at Ai. The thirteen-year-old boy is already studying in a special program at the top university of the country. Ai is also a national level champion at chess in his age group. This so-called genius can never understand the woes of studying.
"Haven't you appeared on TV already?" Rilyah scowls at him. She can't believe that this idiot is going to be her future husband. He's only good at studies. "Why didn't you try to find your mother?"
"There are too many people with that name. It would attract unwanted attention if I use that method." Ai raises his head and glances at the dark cloud floating in the sky. It's not raining here. "Where are these clouds going?"