Chapter 69: True Name
After resolving the unstable factor that was Himeko, Ren's tea had also finished brewing. He returned to the living room, and found that Kiana was reading a manga.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." He put down the tray, which was also piled with snacks. Ren naturally wasn't very interested in snacks, so they were actually Himeko's. He didn't know if they suited Kiana's tastes.
Kiana, who had been reading the manga, suddenly came back to her senses, and quickly put the manga down, but she couldn't hide the strange expression in her eyes. Her gaze kept switching back and forth between the manga and Ren, and she finally couldn't resist her curiosity, asking, "Ren, what's up with this Magical Girl ☆ Sirin?"
A pile of question marks appeared in Ren's mind. He picked up the manga from her hands. It was a very traditional shoujo manga. According to the synopsis, it was about the story of the magical girl Sirin, who kept becoming the strongest magical girl in order to save the world. But he clearly remembered that he shouldn't have anything like this at home…
He casually flipped through the text, and discovered that the manga was only about half complete. Ren looked at the code printed at the end, and, as expected, it was from his own company. It should be a sample copy sent by The Obsidian Concord, but now that it had appeared at this place and at this time, it was rather inappropriate.
Faced with Kiana's suspicious gaze, Ren could only barely make up a lie, "I just bought it because its name was somewhat similar to yours, but I rarely read manga."
"Is that so?" Kiana's suspicion didn't lessen. Instead, it deepened as she became more curious due to Ren's sloppy cover-up. "But why is your name listed among the creators?"
Ren flipped open the first page of the manga, and, as expected, he saw his name. His heart skipped a beat. He remembered now—this manga should have been based on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime that he had provided. He didn't expect those guys to actually put his name on it directly.
"Ah, well." Fortunately, the manga was only a sample copy and hadn't been published yet. There was time to make changes.
Since he couldn't hide it anymore, Ren simply stopped acting.
"Actually, because I'm a bit short on money, I usually do some side jobs to earn extra cash. I thought that it was just their own entertainment, but I didn't expect that this work would actually get published, so I bought a copy." Ren scratched his head awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed.
"You had told me before that your name was Sirin, and I thought it was a pretty good name, so I just used it in the manga. There's no other meaning."
"The name is nice…" Kiana took a deep look at him before taking the manga back. In a low voice that was almost inaudible, she muttered, "Actually, the name Kiana is also pretty nice."
So why didn't you tell me your real name back then?
Looking at the name Sirin on the manga, Kiana picked up a pen from the table, and, as if she was venting anger or displaying her dissatisfaction with the Herrscher of the Void, she carefully wrote down her name on a piece of paper—Kiana Kaslana.
"Let me properly introduce myself. Kiana Kaslana, this is my true name, so forget the name Sirin." Although she had said her name in her last message, there was a difference between a message and a face-to-face introduction.
Looking at the serious Kiana, Ren smiled faintly. He took the piece of paper with her name and wrote his own on it.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ren. Please treat me well." With a meticulous expression, Ren carefully folded the piece of paper with his name and placed it in Kiana's hand. It was as if they weren't just exchanging names, but some important national secret.
On the piece of paper in her hand, Ren's handwriting was elegant and neat. In contrast, Kiana's handwriting was as undisciplined as it always was at St. Freya. Compared to his, the girl's face flushed with embarrassment.
"No, I need to rewrite it. Give it back to me."
He folded the paper and placed it in his pocket, not giving her a chance to revise it. Ren earnestly explained, "No, according to Western tradition, only the first name that is written can represent the person. If it's changed, it means that you don't care about the other person."
Clearly, with Kiana's literacy level, she naturally didn't know about that. After being tricked by Ren, she could only half-believingly agree with what he said.
Copying Ren's actions, Kiana carefully placed the piece of paper with his name into her pocket, but while she was putting it away, her hand froze as she touched her broken star-shaped hair clip.
"What's wrong?"
Looking at the puzzled boy in front of her, whose eyes were glimmering under the light, clear and bright like the purest spring water.
"No, it's nothing." At this moment, she suddenly felt that her doubts and worries over the last few days seemed so insignificant.
Regardless of whether it was him or not, it no longer mattered.
…
Although they wanted to have time stand still, both Ren and Kiana were burdened with their own missions, and in the future, they would stand on different sides, and end each other's lives.
When they stepped onto different paths, the days of the past would become all the more precious.
At the first sign of dawn the next day, Kiana had already left. Just like when they had first met, this farewell also concluded with her silently leaving.
Standing alone on the roof of the residential building, the morning sun shone on her body. Only after she saw the boy inside the house wake up did she smile faintly, before jumping off the building and heading toward ARC City.
"Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, I will absolutely not let you take control of my body."
As Kiana's figure disappeared, Ren, as if sensing something, turned his gaze to the place she had just been.
"Kiana… but this time I won't be swayed by emotions anymore." (Tsundere)
The threads that filled the entire room were glittering under the sunlight. Ren lightly tugged on them, and his entire being was instantly transported to the Dominance Theater.
…
After Kiana had left, Himeko, who was sporting two big dark circles under her eyes, had finally managed to walk back from the suburbs. As soon as she pushed open the door, her eyes widened.
"Wait, how did the snacks I hid end up here?" She looked at the trash on the ground with some distress. Her heart was bleeding.
That damn Herrscher had not only kicked her out, forcing her to spend the night in the wilderness, but had also secretly finished all of her snacks.
She quickly ran to the kitchen, and opened the partition behind the cupboard. After seeing that the liquor inside was still intact, she breathed a sigh of relief. After all, she was now penniless, and even her freedom had been restricted. If she had lost the liquor that she had hidden away, Himeko was ready to rebel then and there.
However, after thinking about what Ren had been like in his Herrscher form, she gulped, and returned the unviable plan to her heart.
"It's just a few snacks, it's not that important. Besides, the liquor is still here, so it's not that bad." That was the only way she could comfort herself.
But what had happened last night? Why was the originally tidy house now a complete mess? Looking at the pile of books stacked against the wall, Himeko was a bit confused.
Could it be that Ren had been unable to restrain his impulses, and had brought a girl home?
After giving it some thought, Himeko figured that it wouldn't be something that that guy would do, unless, that person was Kiana.
"Wait, what did you do to my student?!"
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