Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 113- Change (Part 1)

Rin stayed frozen in his place for a long time, just gazing at nothing in particular. Saying that he was confused is an understatement. He was completely and utterly bewildered by what happened. Everything just occurred in a few seconds and ended in a few seconds.

He had many questions but most of them just vanish quickly from his head as even more questions took place. Even the fact that he survived didn't really make him feel all that happy. A matter way bigger than life and death was bugging his head.

"What was that?" He murmured as he touched his face with his hand.

Taking a few long and deep breaths, he tried to calm down and replay the scene in his head. Even though he was far from composed, at the very least, he was now able to think like a proper human being.

'He was about to kill me… Then, he suddenly stopped and started shouting about something. What does mean 'I'm not'? I'm not what? Is he talking about the Shadow Monarch? Did my powers somehow trigger something that changed his mind? Or was it just some kind of complicated heretic ritual that made him go insane?'

All these things had many possible answers, some could be right while others could just lead him to a whole different direction from the truth. He knew that if he ended up assuming things and it turned up wrong, it would be nothing short of a disaster.

Not only were these people way stronger than him, but they also had some kind of plan he had no idea about. No matter where he looked, they had the advantage over him. He was completely entrapped inside an unknown maze they set up and it was getting more and more confusing the more he tried to search for a way out.

*Drip* *Drip*

Hearing the sound of some kind of liquid dripping, Rin woke up from his daze. Small droplets of blood were trickling down his nose, forehead, mouth, and every part of his face. The pain was horrible but Rin couldn't bother any less about it. But, since he was at it, he popped a healing potion.

'Fuck me! I'm completely lost. What the fuck is going on? Everything doesn't make any fucking sense. This happens and then that happens and here I am, just fucking confused as hell and clueless about everything. It's fucking frustrating!! The only thing I was able to do was to fucking act like some edgy motherfucker as I flipped him off. Great! I gained +4 points in the cool stat!'

He did indeed just smile and basically insult the man but that was for him, a form of defeat. He just used that frankly sarcastic approach to this near-death situation just to make himself feel better and to not lose his pride because he got beaten up to a pulp and was about to get killed in the most humiliating way possible. But, in the end, he was just the same weakling that could only give up before even trying and losing even if he tried.

*Smash*

Hitting the ground under him with his fist, he felt his teeth clench tightly from the sheer anger and frustration that built up. Rin was getting sick of all of these sudden events that keep happening left and right with no proper explanation or even a logical course of events. It just suddenly happens and he ends up incapable of doing anything.

Even now, he was basically as good as dead. But, some kind of unexplainable miracle saved his ass and it didn't make him feel any better.

He wanted to understand, he wanted to get rid of this messy situation and clean it up. But, he was sure it was far from solved and far from over.

"I'm powerless…"

Smashing the ground again, he felt his emotions go into turmoil. He hated this feeling, this feeling of weakness. The feeling of always being on the receiving end. As if he was nothing but a doll getting played left and right by a puppeteer while watching like an idiot and not being able to do anything.

'How many times did I almost die since I came here? Too many times. And each time, I try to work harder and get stronger. Yet, the same thing happens again and again and again endlessly. It's as if I'm getting played like a joke or a prank.'

"I'm worthless… It fucking sucks…" Covering his face, he felt his eyes become hazy with tears. But, he stopped himself from crying. Even though he felt like complete shit at that moment. Crying wasn't going to solve this.

Maybe he made a mistake by following the three men and maybe he made other mistakes that ended up dragging him close to death. But, in the end, even if he chose the safe option and didn't follow them, he would've ended up facing them again eventually in the future. It was the same thing.

"Hah… Hah…"

Then, his ears cough the sound of someone approaching. Looking up, Rin saw Aria running toward him with clear distress on her face.

"Rin!!" She called for him.

However, the latter merely nodded at her and stood up after wiping the blood that stuck to his face.

"Are you ok?! What happened?! Did they catch you?! Your face… What happened to your face?" She asked a barrage of questions.

"I'm fine… Let's go…"

"Huh? Just like that. Explain."

"I will explain back in my room…" He said in a flat tone. His face lacked any emotions.

"Huh? Rin?" Aria noticed that weird behavior and wanted to ask him again. However, Rin had already started walking away.

On the way back home, Aria wasn't able to say anything. Rin's whole aura felt so unapproachable to her that she was amazed. She knew Rin and she knew his aura very well. It was always calming, soothing and beautiful, just like a crystal clear lake untouched by wind or filth.

But, right now, she felt as if Rin was pushing everything away from him. She had never seen him act like this before ever.

When they were close enough to the house, Rin touched Aria's hand. The latter gazed at his eyes deeply and tried to understand what he was feeling at that moment. The curiosity was killing her.

But, all she could see in his eyes were unfocused irises that seemed to be lost in their own world. She couldn't understand whether he was angry, sad, or a mix of all of them.

"Rin…" She felt her heart clenching from pain. Even though it was still unclear why he was acting like this, for Aria, seeing Rin looking so sad, so defeated was more than enough to make her feel as if thousands of nights were stabbing her chest.

As she extended her hand to try and touch him, to make him feel her warmth in hopes of trying to make him feel better, to make him understand that she was there for him, he just ignored that and pulled both of them inside his shadow.

Then, without looking back, he moved inside the Boys' dormitory and entered his room before pulling them out.

"I'm going to take a shower." He informed Aria before vanishing inside the bathroom.

Aria just stood there silent, not knowing what to do at all. She had never thought that she could find it this hard to try and talk to Rin. Before, talking to him was so easy that she took it for granted that he will always speak up whenever she asked him. However, she could not be any farther from being wrong.

Almost 30 minutes passed with no sign of Rin getting out of the shower at all. There wasn't even the sound of water from inside so Aria was sure whatever he was doing inside didn't include actually taking a shower.

Aria couldn't rest easy anymore, she couldn't keep watching forever. So, she knocked on the door and called for him softly.

"Rin? What are you doing there? Please, get out so we can talk."

However, Rin didn't answer.

"Rin?" She called again but got no answer.

Finding no other choice, Aria kicked the door open with her leg, not bothering about breaking it at all. But, much to her surprise, there was no one inside. The bathtub was dry and there were no clothes towels, or Rin himself.

But, looking at the window, she saw that it was wide open as it was getting played left and right by the wind.

Running to it, she looked outside. The place was as quiet as ever.

'Where did he go?! Did the three men attack him?! I didn't even hear his thoughts so how did they attack him so quickly if that was the case?'

Aria's mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario.

However, that idea quickly vanished as she noticed something on the sink. It was a piece of paper flipped on its face.

Opening it up, Aria read the content.

'It's written by Rin.'

"I'm sorry for leaving without telling you. I know that if I told you beforehand, you will disagree. Don't worry. I won't be gone for long. I will be back by tomorrow morning. I just want to cool off my mind and think alone."

(A//N: Hmm, I don't know if this sounds too dramatic or if is it just in my head :3. Anyway, time to work on Rin some more.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading. Any support you give me is always appreciated no matter how small it was. Let's all keep it up :)