章 41: Chapter 41: Lost Possibilities
Angelie sat on one of the sofas provided inside the museum. She started to read the book they had been fighting over with, which was the final volume of 'The Evil King who Saved the World'. She sat there and read the book continuously for more than an hour. After she finished reading, she closed the book. She wiped tears from her eyes using the back of her hand.
"Ah, that was amazing."
Angelie sniffled a little bit then she stood up.
"I guess I should return this, or that idiot Demon Lord will continue to pester me."
She went to the area where she got the book. She returned it to the exact space where she took it from. Angelie looked around to see if Akuma was nearby. She sighed after not seeing him.
(Maybe he went back already. Good.)
She then walked around the museum to look at other areas she hadn't seen yet. Angelie reached the section where there was a workshop space where anyone could enjoy creation focused on drawing. There were some tables and drawing tools that could be used by visitors. Some people sat down and drew religiously. She walked around while sneakily peeking at some of the drawings. She then saw a drawing with stick figures in it. Angelie looked at who was drawing, and she saw it was Akuma.
"You really suck at drawing."
She stood behind Akuma as she leaned over and looked much closer at the drawing.
"Grr… No matter what I do, I end up drawing this…"
Akuma bowed and closed his eyes, and then tightly gripped the pen he was holding.
"You just have to accept that you suck—"
"…A masterpiece!"
Akuma raised the paper with his drawings on it. He looked up at it and grinned.
"That's far from it!"
Angelie grabbed the paper and tore it to shreads.
"No…!"
Akuma watched as his masterpiece fell to the floor piece by piece.
"Excuse me, Miss."
A female, short-haired attendant in casual clothing approached Angelie and Akuma.
"Yes…?"
Angelie cautiously smiled at the attendant.
"I would like to ask you to refrain from disturbing the other guests."
The attendant courteously reprimanded Angelie.
"I'm really sorry!"
Angelie bent over and apologized profusely.
"Also, if you're having a lover's quarrel—"
"Please don't even continue saying that."
Angelie looked up while still being bent over and glared at the attendant.
"O-ok. Well, please do heed my request. Enjoy your day."
The attendant smiled awkwardly and bowed at Angelie and then left.
Angelie stood straight and sighed heavily. She looked at where Akuma was seated but he was no longer there.
"He escaped, huh?"
She looked around to see where he ran off to.
---
It was already around lunch time and there was only about an hour left before everyone needed to return to the hotel. Angelie checked the time and then decided to eat lunch. She went to the café near the entrance of the building. The cafe was starting to be packed by people wanting to have lunch while visiting the museum.
The walls surrounding the café were full of illustrations by different manga artists. The café offered a variety of lunch menus to choose from. Angelie chose the Napolitan pasta from the lunch menu. After she got her food from the counter, she turned around to look for an available seat. Most of the tables were occupied. She noticed one table where there was a free seat. When she got near that table, she realized that there was someone seated in front of the vacant chair. It was Akuma.
"I won't even ask if I can sit down here."
Angelie went to sit down without waiting for a reaction from Akuma.
"Well, you did anyway."
Akuma was eating the Croissant sandwiches set with salad.
"We need to get back to the hotel after we eat. Just a reminder so we won't be in trouble later if you're late."
Angelie proceeded to eat her pasta.
"Why do you assume I'd be late? And that I'd go back with you, for that matter?"
Akuma vigorously bit and chewed his croissant egg sandwich.
"I-I didn't say the two of us should go back together! I just reminded you since you'd forget and for sure be late. Then your groupmates, which is us, will get into trouble because of it!"
Angelie slammed the table with her hand. The other visitors in the tables around them looked at Angelie and Akuma's table. Angelie bowed at the onlookers. Everyone then went back to eating.
"You really are so violent. I can't believe you were some kind of Saint back then."
Akuma closed his eyes as he finished eating his sandwich.
"As I have said, it's because you infuriate me."
Angelie continued to eat her pasta.
"Or probably you have a loose screw—"
Angelie stomped on Akuma's foot.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
The other people looked at the pair's table again.
---
After the two of them finished eating, they stood up and headed to the exit. They walked outside until they reached the streets toward the train station. Akuma was carrying a paper bag which contained the manga portrait he bought. Akuma was walking a few steps ahead of Angelie.
"Stop following me."
Akuma spoke loudly without looking back.
"I'm not. Are you dumb? I'm also headed this way."
Angelie replied with a disinterested tone.
"Then at least walk further away! People might think we're walking around together or something—"
"So…"
"Huh?"
Akuma looked back at Angelie while still walking.
"…the ending of 'The Evil King who Saved the World' was really good."
Angelie was looking at the ground while walking behind Akuma.
"Yeah, of course. That was one of the best stories told in manga form."
Akuma looked ahead again.
"It's really surprising we can talk about something that we can agree on."
Angelie kept on looking down.
"…And?"
Akuma replied after a while.
"I was just thinking if we had something like that back then, maybe things would have been different—"
"Like I told you, there's no point in thinking about that stuff."
Akuma walked faster.
(Is it really that bad to be thinking about the past? Or am I still living too much in the past?)
Angelie stopped walking.
---
Akuma went ahead and got on the train back to their hotel. When he arrived there, Sanaka and the rest of their group were already waiting for the two of them.
"Hey! Where have you been? It's almost time to leave."
Sanaka had her hands on her waist as she scolded Akuma.
"I got here on time, didn't I? Just shut it."
Akuma scratched the back of his head.
"Barely on time! And Angelie-san isn't here yet. I wonder what happened to her."
Sanaka squinted her eyes to look for Angelie in the distance.
"She'll get here soon enough."
Akuma knelt down to tie his shoelace that got undone. He placed the paper bag on the ground beside Sanaka.
"She's not even answering her phone. I'm getting worried…"
Sanaka kept on dialing her phone but the other line never picked up.
"Darn that stupid Saint. And after nagging about it so much."
Akuma mumbled to himself as he stood up.
"Huh? What was that—"
"I'll go look for her. I don't want to be scolded by the teacher."
Akuma ran off toward the train station.
"Hey! How will you find her if you don't know where she is—"
The paper bag fell on Sanaka's foot. The portrait inside slid halfway out of the bag. Sanaka picked up the paper bag and the portrait. She looked at the full image of the portrait.
---
Akuma rode the train going back to the station where the Manga Museum was close. When he exited the train and stepped into the platform, he quickly looked around for Angelie. There weren't a lot of people waiting on the platform, but it was still not easy to find someone. Akuma walked around for a bit.
Angelie was standing in front of where the train door would open once it stopped. The train then arrived and started to slow down. When it reached a full stop, the doors opened. Angelie was about to enter the train when someone grabbed her hand.
"Hey, you idiot Saint! What are you doing?"
Akuma glared at Angelie who looked back at him.
"I'm riding the train going back to the hotel. Let go!"
Angelie shook off Akuma's hold.
"The hell? You were going to get into the wrong train! Get a grip, damn it."
Akuma pointed at the sign on the train door. It was headed to a different direction than their hotel.
"Oh… I didn't notice that…"
Angelie held her own elbow and looked away.
"Don't give me that! The hell you spacing out for?!"
"I just have a lot going through my mind! Going to that Manga Museum might have been a mistake… I had to know about our shared interests. Then that portrait of us—"
"Ah! The portrait! Where did I drop it?"
Akuma frantically looked around him.
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