Arc 0:

I told Lavender to rendezvous at school by around 12:30. Maybe I was a little too excited as I had already arrived by 9. With nothing to do, I leaned against the school gate and look gazed blankly at the streets in front of me.

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. It felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and cook itself on the blazing hot sidewalks. The sun was really punishing my eagerness today, but I didn't mind too much.

My eyes locked onto a chubby, white cat that was resting up in a tree on the other side of the street. Its ears perked upwards as if sensing something. Leaning back on its hind legs, it stretched before standing up and hopping down onto the streets. For some reason, it was walking towards me.

Then, I noticed a speeding black vehicle from the very corner of my peripheral vision. At first, I wasn't going to risk anything to save the cat, but for some reason, my body felt slightly lighter than usual. I felt like I could easily get to the cat and bring it to safety without breaking a sweat.

I stopped thinking.

I stopped breathing.

There was no need for hesitation.

All I needed to do was get there.

There was no need for anything else.

My consciousness was diverted to only two things- the cat on the road and the power I felt flowing into my left leg.

The world around me disappeared. All that mattered was me reaching that cat...

Faster... go faster!

As soon as I felt the world warp around me, I lost sight of the cat. For a brief moment, I was trapped in a void of darkness. I was falling for what seemed to be an eternity.

At some point, I finally had access to my senses again. Pain jolted across my back. My arms were close to my chest- gently embracing something. They seemed to be fine. My left leg was screaming in agony and wished to separate from my body. There seemed to be people nearby me. I heard multiple sounds, but I was able to barely make them out.

Fairy...

Help...

Experiment...

Chip...

My left shoulder began burning as some foreign object forcibly penetrated it. I think I must have been screaming from the pain, but my senses were too numbed out for me to know. After much deliberation, I barely managed to open my eyes. And before me... were some black figures hovering over me. My conscience left me as soon as my eyes shut.

...

...

...

When I came to, I found myself under a tree. Staring down at me was... Lavender?!

In shock, I let out a surprised yelp and tried to sit up, but pain trampled my body and forced me back down. I felt an odd soreness in both of my arms. A very acute spike of pain seemed to be lodged in my left arm, but I paid no mind to it.

Lavender covered my eyes with her hands and held my head back down. It was then that I realized that I have been in her lap's care. Upon this revelation, blood began rushing to my head as I willingly snuggled in this once in a lifetime chance.

"So you do get embarrassed after all," Lavender said in a monotone voice.

I gave a wry smile before replying, "I'm just... really happy. That's all."

She sighed in return.

"No matter how many times I somehow return to this time and place, you never change."

"Love is eternal whether you like it or not."

She sighed again. I wished I could see what expression she was making. However, her hands were cleverly covering my eyes. Cheeky girl.

"Say... were you the one who helped me back there?" I asked quietly.

"Un... You were severely damaged. A broken spinal cord. A leg with all the bones from the toes up to the knees splintered. Multiple damaged organs that suffered from a ridiculously strong impact from behind... just how far would you go for a single cat? A life that isn't yours?"

"Ahaha..."

"Seriously. Tell me."

"Well... I don't know. I felt like I could help, and then the next thing I knew, my body moved."

"...barely passing. If you felt that your current strength was insufficient, would you still help?"

"Hmmm... probably?"

"..."

"Thank you... Lavender."

"..."

Ahh.. how I wished to see her face.

After spending a decent amount of time in Lavender's care, we finally departed to the cake cafe. On the way there, I was treated to a rather pleasant surprise...

Lavender, to put it simply, *changed*. It was like she was an entirely new person.

She was humming a gentle tune that sounded extremely nostalgic as she skipped around alongside me. A mix of mesmerization and hesitation stirred within me as I thought about asking what changed her mood, but I ultimately decided against it.

I liked this happy side of her.

Luckily, I wasn't passed out for too long, and the cafe was nearby the school. So when we arrived, it was around 5 in the afternoon. Most of the customers have left and business was slowing down. It was a cafe that specialized more on desserts after all.

I let Lavender have the menu, but I realized this was a mistake as she began to slightly drool while looking at the mere description of each cake. It'll probably take forever for her to decide on what to get. I smiled wryly as I leaned over the table for two and lightly wiped the drool that was spewing out of the corner of Lavender's mouth.

She didn't budge an inch.

I sighed. This girl... it was time for extreme measures.

I snatched the menu from the glutton's hands and stood with the menu held high. She waved her arms feebly in protest, but she eventually gave up and sat down in her seat while pouting.

"I'll let you get two cakes as an apology okay? But you have to come to a decision in 30 seconds," I told her.

"That's too little time! Meanie! Idiot! Die in a hole!"

Eventually, Lavender chose a deluxe Black Forest cake slice and a small tres leches cake. Given her selection, I ordered a strawberry shortcake and rose tea for both of us.

By the way, I lied about the discount. I'm paying full price here, but it's worthwhile.

As we waited for our cakes to come, I poured some tea out of the teapot for Lavender. Curiosity had finally reached its boiling point within me, and I opened up a conversation with the mysterious girl in front of me.

"So.. about those wings. And that healing. Is that your ability?" I ask without the slightest bit of worry in my voice.

"Hai~ Those are part of my skill set," she replied in a cheery tone while receiving her cup of tea and blowing it gently.

Mah... it'll take me a while to get used to this weird change.

"Lavender. Are you human?"

"Nope~"

"What are you?"

"A traveler?"

"You can't just answer a question with a question..."

But a traveler huh... I left my tea untouched as I listened to what Lavender had to say.

The blue-hair girl put her cup down and held it firmly with her two hands on the table. She kept her gaze downwards as she spoke.

"Say... if you were born with memories that aren't yours, would you consider them as your own memories or another person's?"

A puzzling question. I replied with what immediately came to mind.

"I would consider them as my own memories since I was born with them."

"Now... imagine you had millions upon millions of memories from a seemingly infinite number of past lives... would you still take that as a part of you?"

"Hmm... yes I would. They are memories within me after all."

"Well, that's what I am. I am a collection of souls condensed into a singular being that is generally referred to as 'Lan' by some of my past selves."

"A collection of souls? Wait, so you have lived like thousands of past lives, and you remember what happened in all of them?"

"More than thousands. Although I retain the memories, as soon as I am reborn, they are all muddled together into an incomprehensible mess. Hence, there are many things I still don't understand, and I find many of my actions inexplicable. It's like I'm sharing a body with another entity..."

She looked... really troubled. I couldn't muster any words to come out of my mouth. This was... beyond me.

"And so, I am a traveler. Usually upon death, my soul which has been formed by a condensation of other souls will travel through space and time to be reborn anew. It is an endless process which does not seem to end..."

I... don't know what to say.

Just as I was about to say something, the waiter came by with our cakes. Lavender's eyes lit up brighter than a search light as she stared down her slices of cake until they were placed in front of her.

Geez... why is this fairy-like girl so cute?

I watched her gleefully annihilate the Black Forest cake with ease as I enjoyed my set bite by bite.

"Lavender, want to try some?" I offered. I waved around a decent chunk of my strawberry cake on a spoon in front of her just as she finished off her Black Forest cake.

She stared at it for a bit before moving her head in and opening her mouth. She pulled back and began blushing. She turned her head away, but she would glance back at the spoon. I stared at this in silence- completely captured by the cute thing in front of me.

It didn't take long for Lavender did bite on the spoon in an adorable fashion.

However, she stared into my eyes and did some kind of magic on me to make me let go of the spoon. I smiled wryly as the proud feline licked up the spoon before handing it back to me with a puff. Of course, as a courtesy, I licked the same spoon right in front of her. She turned away for a minute and refused to make eye contact with me.

And then she moved onto the last cake. She saved it for last, and she was probably eager to dig in. However, she continued to stare at it with her spoon held in her hand. Her eyes suggested that her mind was elsewhere right now.

Many expressions flashed across her face. Among them, there were two that stuck out to me the most- the melancholic face of being lost and not knowing what to do next in life and a teary face of pure bliss.

Lavender shed a few tears as she finally began to move her arm to scoop some cake. She had a smile on her face, yet her body language was screaming in pain from sadness.

I can't take it anymore.

I want to make this girl happy.

I got out of my seat and walked over to Lavender's side. Without a second beat, I bent over slightly to embrace her with one arm and firmly hold her hand with the spoon using my free one.

Lavender shivered as she turned her head towards me. Her face was still streaking with tears. I grabbed a napkin and began to wipe them away while taking the spoon from her hand and scoop long her a bite to eat. As I put it near her mouth, I felt a strong repulsive force shoot out from Lavender. Her hair flashed red very briefly before changing back to blue... soon after, her small mouth moved as her lips parted to take a bite of the tree leches cake.

She closed her eyes in bliss before signaling with her eyes and open mouth to feed her another spoon.

Surprisingly, I met no resistance as I continued to feed her bite after bite of the cake. It soon hit me that perhaps seeing this cake and eating it had made her recall some strong memories deep within her. This cake was something special to her...

Soon, we managed to finish off the cake. Lavender was silent and held onto my arm the entire time. After paying the bill, I walked back with Lavender to the school. We found ourselves back under the tree where we started our day together.

"This life... is a good one."

There was no need for words at this point.

*In a way, it felt like our souls were one. The way two binary stars would come across one another and circle each other endlessly while shining as one.*

Lavender glanced over at me with a blank expression. It seemed that she had gotten control of her emotions once again and reverted back to this state. However, her mind was most likely still in turmoil. All her memories being jumbled together... it must have been confusing to live life like that.

Once again, I didn't know what to say. But this time, there was no need to say anything. I moved in front of Lavender and patted her head.

A singular crystal-like tear parted ways from the corner of Lavender's eye. I continued to try to imbue all the warmth and positivity I could through my hand.

Then-

Leave

Me

ALONE