/POP Sana/
Sana saw a man coming toward them. The man looked shocked and confused. He spoke to Alice.
"Hey… there's someone here."
But Alice didn't let go of Sana.
"No, I don't care. Just hold me like this, my hero."
Sana's face turned red. But the man's gaze fixed on him. After a moment, he quietly ran away from the room.
They were still holding each other.
Alice slowly pulled away from him, her face still red."I'm sorry for hugging you like that so suddenly…"
Sana smiled. "But we shouldn't do this. We're just strangers. I'm just a stupid guy trying to save someone's life… even if it costs my own." His face darkened.
[Why do I feel this way about her…? This is happening too fast. I don't want to hurt her, even if I end up hurting myself by stopping this feeling. She is just like the Alice I know from my past life. Right now, she relies on me… this is bad.]
[Why do I love her? It's simple. She was the only one I could talk to in my past life. She is cute… and a tsundere. But romance in real life feels boring. Maybe I will stop loving her someday because of this boring life. There is no true happiness in this cursed universe. I wish I could know more about its secret… wait… why have I never thought about that? Is this world just an illusion?]
Alice: "Is there something bothering you… User?"
Sana's face turned dark. A strange feeling passed across his shoulder.
Alice looked worried. "Why do you look like you're deep in thought and trembling? Tell me."
Sana relaxed his mind. "Oh… nothing." He forced a smile, but inside his mind was a mess. Many scary thoughts were running through his mind.
[Why does something feel wrong…? Why did she just call me 'User' instead of my name?]
This thought made him tremble even more.
Alice: "You look tense. I'm sorry for hugging you like that. I just felt sad about my father. You need to rest."
Sana: "Yes."
He lay back on the bed again and started thinking about his situation.
[Why did she become normal again? Did I hear wrong? I'm really scared of hearing 'User'…]
Alice: "I'll bring you some food. You must be very hungry." Then she left the room.
Sana breathed heavily, deep in thought.
/POP Leto/
He was breathing heavily after running so fast. He looked around, trying to calm himself, slowly stabilising his breath.
"Who was that boy…? They seem to have a deep relationship. I've never seen my daughter act like that before…"
Leto fell into deep thought.
[I gave up my job just to come here… and now I might lose my daughter to someone else. I can't accept this…]
Suddenly, the door opened—and he saw his daughter.
But she acted as if he didn't exist.
The way she looked at him made his heart hurt.
[What have I done…? I made my daughter become like this…]
He collapsed to the ground in despair.