"Ah, I could literally remain like this for the rest of the day," Riya muttered as she stared at Roxanne with a smile on her face.

Roxanne smiled back, her calm eyes fixated on Riya.

They were both currently lying down on Riya's bed and staring at each other.

Ever since that day... The day Arin left Roxanne with Riya in her office, they had just clicked.

They instantly became friends. It was almost as if they had both been waiting to meet each other.

That was what Riya felt, and that was also what Roxanne felt.

Riya wouldn't really say she has friends, and she knew that it was her fault.

Ever since the death of her mother and brother, she had just disconnected from the world a bit, and she shunned anyone who was friendly to her.

She knew she was to blame for her lack of friends.

She was the problem.

But after meeting Roxanne, she just couldn't shun her.

Her mind refused.

Now, without a single shred of doubt, she knew that Roxanne was like a sister to her, and she was sure that Roxanne felt the same way.

"I missed you," Roxanne said, still smiling as she stared at Riya with her calm red eyes.

Riya's smile widened. "Come here."

She moved closer to Roxanne and hugged her.

Roxanne hugged her back.

"I missed you too," Riya said. "We have a lot to catch up on."

"Oh, do we?" Roxanne giggled. "I have nothing much to say, really."

"Hmm," Riya muttered. "Okay, then. You're always with Arin, so how about we gossip about him? What do you think?"

Roxanne giggled again. "What? But I have nothing to say about him."

Riya laughed. "I was just joking. Ah, it just feels like we haven't seen each other in years."

"True," Roxanne said as she smiled. "But we're together now."

Riya nodded. "Yeah. I think we should go to the forest. We can talk on the way."

Roxanne nodded in agreement.

They both got up from the bed and after adjusting their clothes and hair, they walked out of the room and exited the building.

Riya didn't need to wear her mask anymore because she had already shown Tessa and Leon her face.

'Leon might still be scared of me,' Riya thought, remembering the expression on his face when she revealed her face.

Forgetting that for now, she and Roxanne began walking towards the village gate.

"Uhm, I want to ask you something, but I don't know how you'll feel about it," Roxanne said.

Riya furrowed her brows for a second but her expression quickly returned back to normal.

"No, it's okay. You can ask me," Riya said.

Roxanne nodded. "Okay, thank you."

"So... Anytime you think about the death of your mother and brother, what else do you think about? Or like... What do you feel except from pain?"

Riya folded her arms as they continued walking.

"Hmm, what else I think about, huh?" Riya muttered to herself.

She was genuinely wondering why Roxanne was asking this question, but she decided not to ask now.

"Okay, I also think about the person who killed them," Riya replied. "And as for what I feel..."

Riya suddenly squinted her eyes and Roxanne could instantly feel the change in Riya's demeanor.

"I feel rage... A certain kind of rage that makes me want to kill him," Riya said.

Roxanne nodded slowly. "Kill him, huh...?"

"Yes," Riya said sharply. "And I will do that."

Roxanne turned to look at Riya. "How do you think you'll feel after killing him?"

'Hmm? Is this a job interview or something?' Riya thought.

Nonetheless, she still answered Roxanne's question.

"Killing him won't bring my mother and brother back, but I know for a fact that I will finally be able to relax... I will finally be able to breathe well once again, knowing that I've killed the bastard who killed them.

"At least, it will bring me a little bit of satisfaction, knowing that I didn't let him roam free. And I can't wait for that... I can't wait to experience that feeling."

Riya concluded as she stared at Roxanne with a serious expression.

Roxanne nodded again as she folded her arms. "And I know you'll definitely do it."

Riya smiled lightly. "For sure."

"Okay," Roxanne said. "That answers my questions."

"Why did you ask me these questions, though?" Riya asked, unable to hide the curiosity in her voice.

"I was just curious, that's all," Roxanne replied. "I've just been thinking about it."

Riya squinted her eyes. "Okayyy....? That's one hell of a thing to be curious about."

Roxanne chuckled. "I know, that's why I actually didn't want to ask you. I didn't know how you would take it."

"Okay, then. I hope I've been able to satisfy your curiosity," Riya said jokingly.

"Of course," Roxanne chuckled.

Finally, they reached the gate and exited the village, stepping into the forest.

"Hmm, I didn't see Leon or Ethan anywhere," Riya muttered. "Arin as well."

"Yeah, Tessa also," Roxanne added.

"Leon and Ethan might just be fooling around somewhere in the village," Riya said.

Roxanne laughed before saying:

"You don't have to put it like that. As for Arin, he mentioned something about Ba- uhm..."

"Bazooka," Riya said, helping her out.

"Yeah, exactly," Roxanne said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe he's trying to bring him out."

"That'll be a great addition to our strength," Riya said.

"Yeah, Arin said he's quite str-"

BOOM!

Riya and Roxanne suddenly heard a loud booming sound, making them instantly look ahead with squinted eyes.

"Uhm, that sound... Is that perhaps Arin trying to summon Bazooka?" Riya spoke out her thought.

"Maybe..." Roxanne said, though, from her tone, it was obvious that she was unsure.

Riya looked at her. "Let's go there to check it out, just in case."

Roxanne nodded. "Alright."

With that, they both began heading towards the direction where the sound came from.

Though, Riya kept occasionally staring at Roxanne with a single thought in mind.

'Why did she ask me all those questions?'

Riya didn't know why, but she felt like Roxanne wasn't just curious.

There was something else.