My longest chapter so far, I wish you a lot of fun!

-8th-
It was a warm Sunday morning when Shia's alarm clock rang at half past ten. She struggled to get out of bed. Her mood was pretty much on zero. She went to her closet and pulled out a summer dress in light shades of green. The dress was actually too good for the forest, but it was one of Shia's favorite clothes. She chose the matching shoes and then sat down at her dressing table. She looked at each other critically. She was beautiful, she knew that. So many times in the past some stupid boys had lectured her about it. She brushed her hair and tied a braid. Then she picked up mascara and brow pencil. She skillfully washed her eyelashes and traced her eyebrows with the light brown pencil. That was all she used today, the kohl was left untouched. She checked whether she had everything and then went into the kitchen.
"Morning Shia.""Tomorrow." It was more of a growl than a friendly greeting.
"Why so grumpy today? Did you sleep badly?"
"That too. I have to go right away, what's for breakfast?"
"Pancakes with chocolate syrup. Where are you going?"
"I told you. I have to meet Kai." Angry, Shia gave her sister a quick look. She knew she only asked about it so she had to remember it.
“Don't you have anything better to do than sit around here and ask stupid questions ?! There are more important things in life!” Shia emptied her juice and jerked up from the chair.
"I have to go. When I come back we'll talk about it." She waved briefly and then left the house. Nobody saw was on the way she was taking. She ran quickly towards the forest.

Kai was standing in the bathroom and drying his hair. He was still a little tired and so he splashed water on his face again. The cold shower hadn't done as much as usual. He almost forgot to meet Shia.He was still too confused from last night. Kai tied his scarf on, packed Drancer and headed for the forest.

Shia sat on the big root. She took a deep breath. It was shortly before 10. Kai was late. A grim expression appeared on her face. What did he want from her? She hated it when she had to submit. She was far too rebellious for that. She carefully straightened her dress. Then she heard it rustling and without looking she knew that it was Kai. She felt how he came closer and when he came into her field of vision she saw that he was sitting across from her. They kept silent. She certainly wouldn't speak to him, especially since she wasn't even here voluntarily. Kai broke the silence.
"Nice that you came." Shia listened, his voice was so different today. Much colder than yesterday. Should he ...?
“I had no other choice, you wretched blackmailer.” She hissed the words like a snake. Then she looked at Kai. Just as cold and merciless as always, no smile could be seen on her face."Call me what you want, I don't care. How are you today?" Kai's voice was so wrong. One could clearly hear the deviousness. Shia was silent. She wouldn't go into it at all. A distinct growl could be heard from Kai.
"You promised me that you would talk to me today, so what now? I want to know why you are the way you are."
"What if I don't tell you? Are you going to kill me?" There was indifference, sheer indifference in her voice.
"Tell me why YOU are the way you are, if you really want to talk." It didn't work that way. Kai had to do something. He still didn't know what attracted him to Shia and he had hoped when he would find out more about her, he would finally know.
"How about a compromise? You a question, me a question and because I'm so nice, you can even start. And don't worry, we'll stay here until we're done."
"And when are we finished? You decide that too, of course, am I right ?!"Shia didn't quite agree. At the moment she was also pretty confused. Actually, she didn't want to leave that fast. Something in her resisted it. Inside she had to fight hard, but she already knew it. Her weak point had won.
"What should I ask you? Your name, I know where you live, more is not necessary, right?" Shia shook her head slightly.
Kai straightened up. He had finally made a breakthrough. But she was right. What could she ask HIM anyway? Actually, he just wanted to know about her and besides, he didn't like to talk about himself.
"Just try it. Ask what you want. As far as I am, how tall I am." Kai's voice sounded much warmer than before. Shia nodded defeated.
All right, all right. Do you actually live all alone in the big house? "Kai shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes, it belongs to my grandfather. Still. As soon as I'm 18, it's mine. I inherited it from my parents."Shia's eyes took on a slightly sad expression.
"Isn't that terrible? All alone? You must be terribly lonely!"
"That's the next question, it's my turn first." Kai grinned pretend she had hit a weak point.
"Something simple. Where do you actually live? You live in my neighborhood, I know that, but where? I've never seen you before." Kai saw that Shia hesitated.
"I don't live far from you. The house I live in is very big, similar to yours." She didn't want to say more about it. Kai accepted it. Shia. looked directly at him.
"It's my turn again. So, aren't you terribly lonely sometimes, all alone?" Kai considered how he should answer her best. Yes or no? He hesitated.
He wanted to be honest.
"I used to think. I used to be lonely, but I always suppressed it. Loneliness is a weakness and it breaks many people. Not me, I made it. And now, now I'm not lonely anymore.I am often alone, but not lonely. I have my teammates and Rei. No i'm not lonely But how about you Are you lonely? You have no friends here. How do you feel? "Kai knew it was a risky question, he didn't know if she would go into it. But he was lucky.
"I'm not lonely. I have my sister, my cat and a dear friend. What more do I want?" Her eyes showed satisfaction.
Not perfect, but like Kai. They were both unaware that they were missing something crucial. But they would find it soon. They were well on their way there.
It was Shia's turn.
I know one more question. You say you have your teammates and Rei, but Rei is on your team too, right? Is he special to you? "Shia's mood changed. It wasn't so difficult for her to get involved in the game. Kai registered it.
"But you are well informed. Rei. Yes, Rei is something special to me.He's the only real friend I have. I trust him and he trust me. We've been through a lot together that the others don't know about. We trust each other with all of our secrets, good and bad. He was the only one who managed to secure my trust and my friendship. Rei is very important to me and I would do anything for him. But please don't think wrong now, we are not inseparable. Everyone from and also goes his own way, only ours cross a little more often than those of others. Do you also have someone who is particularly important to you? What about that dear friend? "
"My friend. For me she is probably something like Rei for you. She knows me very well and she knows everything about me. I've known her since I was very little. She is older than me, but she still understands me. At some point I'll introduce them to you. "That was a promise, you could hear that. Kai was a bit surprised that she wanted to introduce HIM, HER best friend, but he was happy."Okay, it's your turn again." Kai sat down a little more comfortably, he had the feeling that the conversation could take longer than he had first thought. Shia thought about it. What else could she ask him? She slowly found liking this conversation more and more, she noticed that. She hadn't spoken to anyone like that in a long time. The voice in her subconscious suppressed her. She knew herself that she shouldn't talk to Kai like that, she finally enjoyed being normal again .. Now she knew her next question.
"Why are you so interested in talking to me? And please give me a good answer and not that you fell in love with me, because I don't need that." She scowled, but Kai just grinned at.
“Don't worry, the answer I give you has nothing to do with love.” Shia heard him utter the word LOVE with contempt, just as she did. Kai kept talking.
"It's a tough question and I don't think I can answer it that well.The problem is that I don't really have an answer myself. "Kai was a little helpless.
"I think it's because you have me in the first moment when I saw you, don't laugh, that sounds totally stupid, magically attracted. It's not because you're beautiful, it's your way. You remember me myself and you radiate something that attracts me. It's as if we were two magnets and you would be my exact counterpart. Stupid, right? I can't explain it to myself. So I thought if I knew more about you, I might realize why this is so and I thought maybe the problem would then solve itself. But it didn't. "Shia was confused. #
“Why not?” Shia didn't really want to interrupt him, but this question was on her mind. Kai looked at the floor, he was embarrassed.
"Because now that I've talked to you, I'm actually only more attracted to you and I want to know more about you.But I don't like that at all. I hate it when I do something that I don't really want to do. Do you know this feeling? Shia nodded.
"Yes, I know that and should I tell you something? I didn't want to sit here and talk to you like that either, and now I'm doing it. In moments like this I could freak out." Shia had become loud, but immediately lowered herself her voice again. Kai nodded.
"I understand you, we are probably more similar than we would have thought, wasn't it frightening?" It should sound funny, but Kai was really a bit frightened, acuh Shia didn't feel very comfortable in her skin anymore.
"We're probably not as unique as we thought, let's talk about something else. I think it's my turn. Well, a perfectly normal question. Where do you get such a great scarf?" Kai started at this Question he was not prepared at all. A super simple question!