CHAPTER 133: THE SINS OF THE PAST

Eirin shook her head. "A-Anyway, I should thank you," she said, a sudden, abrupt change of subject, her voice a small, hesitant whisper.

"For what?"

Eirin tilted her head, her gaze finally meeting his, her beautiful amber eyes a grateful light in the stark white room. "For saving me, of course. For bringing me back here."

Shade tilted his head, as if copying Eirin, the intimate gesture a silent, beautiful mirror of their connection. "Yeah, sure. You’re welcome." He said, his voice a low, soft murmur. "Don’t you want me to answer your question, though? You looked so curious about my past."

"Huh?"

"About why I go through things like this," Shade said, his voice a low, serious sound, a sudden shift in their lighthearted banter. "That reminds me, you were the only person who wasn’t curious as to why they call me a demon. The only person who didn’t ask me about it, but still knew."

Eirin’s forehead creased, a look of thoughtful concentration on her face. "Of course I was curious. But I wasn’t in a position to ask about something like that. How would I know if you were being bullied, if they were being cruel to you? But then, realizing how you act, there’s no way you’re the one being bullied. You’d probably beat them to a pulp first."

Shade looked at Eirin with such a soft gaze that made the teenage girl avert her gaze, her cheeks now a fiery red. "What did you think then? Why did you think they called me that?"

"I thought you were called that because you were mean to everyone. And that’s how I thought of it till... you know—wait, were you allowed to go out today? Or did you... you didn’t right? Please, please, tell me you didn’t do something reckless and stupid."

Shade tilted his head, a playful, teasing light in his dark eyes, his lips curved into a wicked, mischievous smile. "Didn’t do what?"

"You didn’t force your way out, didn’t you? You didn’t break out of the prison just to come see me, did you?"

Shade raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face as he scratched the back of his ears, a small, nervous gesture that was so out of character for him. "If you say that knocking off the bar gate with a single punch is not escaping, then I didn’t. You’ll be happy to know that I only used half of my power, Luxfield. I didn’t even break a sweat."

Eirin immediately slapped her forehead after that, her face a picture of exasperated disbelief. She groaned, the sound a low, pained whisper of utter, complete frustration, knowing that this would be another big deal for Ms. Hockenbury, another terrifying punishment that he was so casually dismissing.

"Why would you do something like that? Ms. Hockenbury will surely lash out."

"Why? I’ll go back later. Don’t worry. The guards are all sleeping soundly." He said, a soft, confident light in his eyes.

Eirin could not believe her ears. "That’s not the point. Why would you even go here at this time, and at night too? You know the academy rules, Shade. You also know the punishments. Why would you risk everything just to come here?"

"Why? Because I wanted to see you."

Those words, so simple and sincere, immediately caught Eirin off-guard. The silence that followed was a thick, tangible thing, a vast chasm of emotion and unspoken truths. "Stop messing around," Eirin said, trying to make Shade say that he was just joking.

Eirin waited, her body a tight line of tension, for Shade to tease her, to laugh, to call her an idiot, but he didn’t. He just sat there, his dark eyes fixed on her, an unwavering gaze that was filled with a complex, beautiful mixture of emotions that Eirin couldn’t even begin to decipher.

’Is he... serious?’ she thought, her mind an disorganized chaos. The awkwardness was swallowing her whole, her heart now a frantic, panicked rhythm.

Eirin laughed it off, the awkward, strained laughter, a desperate attempt to break the tension, but it didn’t last, and she kept averting her gaze, her cheeks now a fiery, profound red. She couldn’t just stay silent, not after a statement like that. "Do you like me or something?" she said, the words a desperate, flustered attempt at a joke, a way to defuse the terrifying intimacy of the moment.

Shade raised an eyebrow, making Eirin expect that he would tease her and tell her that she must be out of her mind.

"Yeah. I do."

Shade’s words, so simple and sincere, left Eirin utterly baffled. ’Did he just...?’

Her face grew redder, a fiery blush that spread from her neck to the very tips of her ears, a heat that had nothing to do with the room’s temperature. Shade continued staring at her, his dark eyes fixed on her with such an intense, unwavering gaze that it felt as if he wanted to melt her with the sheer force of his attention.

Eirin’s heart, a panicked bird, was beating so loud and so fast against her ribs that it terrified her, thinking that Shade, with his enhanced senses, might hear it as well.

Then, a sudden, soft chuckle rumbled in his chest, a sound that was so unexpected it made Eirin jump. He reached out and, with a quick, gentle motion, flicked her forehead with his index finger. The motion, a casual, almost-playful gesture, was a complete shock to Eirin, causing the teenage girl to hold onto her forehead, her eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment.

"I’m joking, stupid," Shade said, the words a playful, teasing taunt, and the sound of his voice, now back to its usual, arrogant tone, made Eirin blink lots of times, her mind trying to catch up with the emotional whiplash.

"W-Well! That was not funny!" Eirin stammered, her voice a flustered, high-pitched mess, but a small, knowing smile touched her lips as she noticed the tips of Shade’s ears were a telltale red, a silent confession of his own embarrassment while he laughed.

The sight was so out of character that Eirin’s own embarrassment was momentarily forgotten, replaced by a bubbling amusement. "A-Anyway, d-do you know about someone named Nirvana?" She tried to change the subject, the question a desperate, hurried whisper.

Shade’s laughter died in his throat, and a sharp, serious look replaced the amusement in his dark eyes. He raised a brow, the casual, lighthearted atmosphere of the room suddenly gone. "Nirvana? Where did you learn of that name?" His tone grew serious, a cold, hard edge to his voice that caused a shiver of fear to run down Eirin’s spine, causing her to gulp. "Did Coleen teach you about history again?"

Eirin immediately nodded, her head a fast, bobbing motion, while apologizing to Coleen in her head for the lie. "Kind of. We were talking about ancient history, and the name came up." The lie, though small, felt like a heavy, leaden weight on her tongue. "Why? Do you know that name? What do you know about her?"

Shade sighed, a long, weary sound that was filled with an ancient sadness. "I do. That’s the name of the ancient weapon. The great sin of the Ministry of Proprius." His words, so cold and so simple, were a terrifying echo of Nirvana’s own confession.

Eirin froze, her mind reeling. ’Ancient weapon?’ she thought to herself, a gut-wrenching dread filling her. She started biting her fingernails, a nervous habit she had long since abandoned, her body a tight, coiled spring of tension. The gesture, a small, subtle sign of her distress, caused Shade to be curious, his dark eyes a searching, questioning light.

"Why do you look like you need to take a dump?" The words so crass and so out of place in the tense, serious atmosphere, were a jarring, shocking break in the moment.

Eirin could not believe her ears. "Could you stop saying such words to me? My god, Shade. I’m trying to have a serious conversation here, and you’re talking about... that." Her reaction, so genuine and so flustered, only served to amuse the young man, a faint, mischievous smile touching his lips.

"I’m trying to lighten the mood. You look like you just saw a ghost. What’s with you? Did you dream of that weapon or something? Why are you so tense?" The question, a simple, casual guess, felt like a physical blow to Eirin.

Eirin gulped, the cold, hard knot of fear in her stomach a painful, suffocating weight. "What if I say that I did?" She waited for Shade’s reaction, for a gasp of shock, for a look of disbelief, but the young man couldn’t care less. He simply shrugged, his nonchalance a cold, terrifying wall of indifference.

"Nothing wrong with that. A lot of people have dreams about the ancient past, about the great sins of the past. Why would your dream be any different?"

Eirin took a deep breath, the cold air coming in from the open window a sharp, stinging reminder of the reality she was now a part of. She rubbed her arms for warmth, a small, involuntary gesture, her body shivering not from the cold, but from the terrifying truth she was about to reveal.

"I know this might be random but... but what if I dreamed of Nirvana telling me to apologize to you?"