But Thivi shook her head weakly, confusion shifting into unease. Memories crawled upward from the depths of her mind. Her breath caught on questions she couldn't shape.
"Wait… back then… Kaivan…" she whispered. "Kaivan saved me… and… he held me."
The air froze. Every head turned. Felicia's eyes sharpened. Zinnia, from the front seat, took a long breath, bracing herself for something far more explosive than last night's battle.
Raphael froze. His whole body stiffened as Thivi turned toward him with eyes still hazy from sleep. "You… hurt Kaivan. You tried to stab him with a knife!"
The car instantly turned into a refrigerator. Raphael went rigid. Kaivan stared out the window as if he'd suddenly become a geology expert. Frans almost slammed the brakes from how terrifying the atmosphere became.
But Thivi kept going. With the innocent tone of a child fresh out of a strange dream, she added, "Then Zinnia showed up… wearing only her bra! And Kaivan, he looked like he was about to… um… cuddle with herrr~?"
A metaphorical bolt of lightning split the sky.
Zinnia turned her head slowly, like a machine on the verge of breaking. Her face flushed, not with embarrassment, but with magma-grade fury. "Thivi. That. Was. All. An illusion."
Radit, who absolutely should have learned from history by now, chimed in anyway, "But the bra part was kinda, "
SMACK!
His head was flicked with the force of divine punishment. In this world, only two things were constant: gravity, and Zinnia's hand when her patience ran out.
Kaivan lowered his gaze. Silent. His jaw tightened, not just with anger, but with the kind of tension that made a man consider moving to another country. Felicia shot him a glance that said I-knew-this-was-coming and quietly unwrapped gum, as if preparing emotional armor.
Raphael closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and attempted diplomatic mediation. "Thivi… please. Pause, okay?"
But Thivi kept going, her lips moving like a broken radio. "Kaivan got beaten up by Raphael again… then… Kaivan's bird got shot by Zinnia."
Silence.
Radit nearly inhaled his own nose trying not to laugh. Frans choked on imaginary coffee. Felicia covered her face.
And then, the climax.
Thivi looked at Kaivan with innocent, sparkling, painfully sincere eyes. "And… I kissed Kaivan too, right? And then… Kaivan also… squeezed my chest and my butt… didn't he?"
The steering wheel swerved a little.
Raphael went rigid as Thivi's unfocused gaze sharpened with a quiet accusation. "You… hurt Kaivan. You tried to stab him."
For a moment, time refused to move. Raphael's jaw clenched. The memory, when he'd been overtaken by Omnidream and saw Kaivan as Yusra, crashed back with merciless force. His fingers trembled. His lips parted, but no words came.
Thivi continued, blissfully unaware of the emotional landmine she was dancing on. "Then Zinnia showed up wearing only her underwear. After that, it looked like Kaivan wanted to… um… do something with her, right?"
Zinnia's face flushed hot with wrath. Her voice trembled as she snapped, "Enough, Thivi. Those were illusions."
Radit muttered, "But technically Zinnia did walk out with just, "
Another sharp smack silenced him.
Kaivan kept his head lowered. His jaw stiff. There was no explanation good enough for this moment. The tension inside the car thickened, like a time bomb waiting for someone to breathe wrong.
Felicia watched him, her expression heavy. Not anger, something closer to guilt. Because Thivi remembered nothing. Or because she herself wasn't sure of her feelings.
Raphael let out a rough sigh. "Thivi… please. Stop."
But Thivi was already drowning in the fragments of her memory. "Kaivan got beaten up again… then… Zinnia shot his bird…"
The entire car held its breath.
And with a pure, devastating innocence, Thivi added, "And before that… I kissed Kaivan, right? And Kaivan… he touched my chest and my butt too… didn't he?"
Chaos reached its absolute peak.
Suddenly, a soft voice drifted out from inside Kaivan's bag, gentle, calm, and unmistakably not human.