"Oh yeah, Kyle," Noah spoke up as we casually walked side by side. Anathasia on my right, and Noah third-wheeling on my left.
"Your birthday's almost here, right?"
We were just stepping past the campus gates, the late afternoon air already warm as students filtered out around us. Anathasia, as always, seemed completely elsewhere, occasionally tugging on my sleeve to show me something on her phone.
"Yeah… why?" I glanced at him.
"Any plans?" Noah continued, hands tucked lazily into his pockets. "Like, are you gonna buy yourself something nice? And isn't the first of August on a weekend anyway?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I mean… maybe? I've never really thought about it."
Noah let out a slow sigh, shaking his head like I'd just committed some sort of personal offense.
"There it is again…"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know. Not even a little mall shopping?" he pressed. "Treat yourself or something?"
My gaze drifted briefly… then landed on Anathasia's screen. She was absorbed in some sort of strategy game, her fingers moving with quiet precision.
"Sounds like a waste of time and money," I muttered.
Noah scoffed.
"Your practicality strikes again, huh? Seriously, you can be insanely stubborn when it comes to spending on yourself."
I didn't even really register the rest of his rant. Most of my attention had already slipped back to whatever battle Anathasia was in the middle of.
By the time I managed to pry my eyes off her screen, we were already standing in front of the house.
The walk from campus to our place normally took at least fifteen minutes, twenty if we took our time.
But this time… it had only taken about five.
[Or…]
I glanced at Anathasia as she slipped her phone away, Noah completely oblivious as he walked inside first.
[Did you… cut our walk short or something?]
[A bit. But as long as Noah doesn't notice, it's fine. Right?]
I sighed and ushered her inside after him.
[I guess that's fine… but how is that even possible?]
She went quiet for a second.
[Perception manipulation?]
And of course. She says something completely out of touch with reality.
Once inside, Anathasia headed straight for the kitchen. We'd agreed she'd do the cooking this time. Or more like she insisted. Something about "paying back debts," or similar. I wasn't entirely sure.
Noah, as always, immediately sprawled on the couch, fiddling with his phone like the dude owned the place. At this point, I didn't really pay it any mind.
Since Anathasia's room was a bit of a mess, I left Noah behind for a bit and went upstairs to put away the clothes she'd left on the floor. Luckily, there wasn't much.
Just as I finished tidying up, a voice slipped into my consciousness.
Lunch is done. Also call Noah while you're at it.
It was pretty normal by now for her and the other Outer Gods to just… enter my mind and talk to me like this. Still, it always caught me off guard for a split second when it happened.
—
After lunch, Anathasia went back up to her room. She had her own business to take care of, apparently, which left Noah and me alone in the living room.
"So… you really won't buy something for yourself?" Noah suddenly spoke up, leaning back against the couch. "There's a rumored huge-ass mall opening two towns over, y'know?"
"And…?" I replied flatly.
"Arianne and two others own it, from what I heard."
I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before lying back on the couch, hands folded behind my head.
"Arianne… huh…"
Noah nodded, then casually pulled out his phone.
"Yeah. This one."
On his screen was an overhead photo of a massive, luxurious building that looked like it stretched several hundred meters along the highway, with the open sea right behind it.
"Huge…"
"Right?" Noah immediately leaned in, then put his phone away. "You're friends with Arianne, right? Who knows? She might gift you something if—"
SMACK
"No. How shameless can you be?" I huffed, pulling my hand back. "Besides, we're not even that close. Same major, same courses. That's it."
"Just because I was the leader of the group she was in back then doesn't mean we're close or anything. Have some shame, man…"
Noah recoiled, sighing.
"Kidding, dude. Kidding. But still… you don't mind if I give you something then? Your birthday's like… two weeks away."
I paused, glanced at him, then looked back up at the ceiling.
"As long as it's something you can afford and something I can actually use… sure. A food tong, maybe."
"A what…?"
"A food tong. Mine broke."
Noah's expression flattened.
"Dude… tongs cost like… fifty pesos? Rarely a hundred."
"Yeah," I replied. "That's the point."
He just stared at me after that, not even bothering to argue. But really, why would I want something expensive if I couldn't even put it to proper use?
He left not long after, though not before raiding the desserts I'd stashed in the fridge. The ones I was saving for late-night cravings.
"My cupcakes… he really ate almost all of them…"
I stared at the nearly empty tray. Only three of the original ten pieces left.
"Guess he really was hungry, huh?"
Anathasia suddenly appeared beside me, wearing my white shirt. The exact one I distinctly remembered folding and putting in my cabinet.
"That's my shirt…"
She talked over me immediately.
"By the way, didn't he mention something about a mall opening near your hometown or something?"
She didn't even try to hide that she was redirecting the conversation. Not that it mattered. She'd basically claimed three of my shirts at this point anyway.
"Yeah. Apparently, Arianne co-owns it with two other people."
"Hinami and Mei… huh?" she muttered, a small very not innocent smile curling at her lips.
"Who are those?"
She lifted her gaze to meet mine, then looked away again, arms crossing as she tapped her cheek thoughtfully.
"Eh, just two more heiresses Arianne's connected to," she shrugged. "Girl's finally moving her pieces, huh…?"
A low, almost amused chuckle slipped out of her as her smile widened.
She was definitely up to no good this time.
Again.
"Anyways," she turned back to me, her smile softening as she tugged lightly at the neckline of the shirt.
"This shirt… is mine now—"
"Yeah right, that's mine." I cut her off immediately, reaching out and pinching her cheek. "Why do you even want my shirts? It doesn't make any sense."
She winced as I tugged on her cheek.
"That's… I like smelling like you," she said quickly. "And no. It isn't weird! To me."
My brows furrowed slightly.
"Girl… smelling like me? Don't we use the same shampoo anyway?"
"That's different." Her eyes were wide. A little too enthusiastic. "Humans have their own distinct scents, remember? That's the one I'm after."
I narrowed my gaze at her.
"Yeah… I think that's plenty weird…"
I let go of her cheek and ruffled her hair instead.
"Enough with your weird fetishes. How about we go get some groceries for next week? We're running out of spices."
She followed closely behind as her clothes shifted into a long, flowy skirt, still wearing my shirt with a blue jacket thrown over it.
"Oh yeah. We're also out of soy sauce," she said, then paused. "And veggies. We're low on those too."
"What else?" I stopped by the front door and glanced at her over my shoulder. "Meat? Beef and chicken?"
She crossed her arms in thought, then nodded.
"Yeah, those too. But… about the money. Do you still have enough? I can cover some of it if you want."
"No worries," I replied. "I still have around… maybe four thousand here? And about two in my savings. And my birthday's coming up, so I'll probably hit five digits by August."
Her eyes went wide. Genuinely surprised this time.
"Okay, hold on. Why…?"
"What do you mean 'why'?"
She hesitated, then started counting on her fingers.
"Projects… visual aids… group funds…"
She looked back at me, completely baffled.
"How do you still have that much??"
"Not to mention…" she rubbed her temple, "there's food. For TWO people. Sometimes more, since Noah's basically here half the time. How does that even work?"
I shook my head gently, a small chuckle slipping out.
"No, okay. It's like this. We've been here for a year, right?"
She nodded, listening intently.
"Every month, my parents send me five thousand as allowance. Then there's also the scholarship I applied for without telling them, so I'm basically receiving money from both my parents and the scholarship. That's around ten thousand per month."
She froze.
Her lips parted.
"What…"
"Why…? Is something wrong?"
She went silent, lowering her gaze to her hands as she began to mutter to herself.
"How did I not realize it sooner…? Those books… the presents… and those dates… so that's why you were so laid-back with spending. Because you knew you'd always be getting back more than you used?"
I nodded.
I guess this was a bigger shock than I thought.
"Yeah. It's something I learned from a teacher I was under back in senior high."
She stared down at her hands for a moment longer.
"What the hell is this level of resourcefulness… no, it's borderline cunning…"