Kylo

Xander once said being famous will be fun. But after escaping a crowd of juniors who needed advice for their future contest, I disagree.

It has only been a few days since Aria's friends arrived, and I suddenly realized that being famous is just free food and unwanted company. Besides, I don't even want to think about the critics who point out all the reasons about how I don't deserve what I’m getting.

It is crazy how I find myself walking to the underground dungeons almost the same number of times before I was famous and now. Only this time, I find Aaron already inside. His slouched position on the floor against the wall reminds me of the first time I met him.

“Are you alright?” I ask and his head snaps up.

“You.” he snarls. “Did you not get enough of publicity? Or have you come to gloat about getting second position?” Second? Since when am I that high up?

My concern fades into anger as I look at him. I thought giving him some time to figure things out would knock him into his senses, but it seems to do the opposite. He would rather believe his father, the King of lies and deception, than me.

“I have no idea what Lucifer told you. But if you want to believe him, go right ahead.” I admit I have not done much of anything to deserve his trust but the time we spent together should have meant something to him.

Suddenly he gets up, “I am not doing this right now.”

He begins to walk towards the staircase but I catch his arm before he reaches there. “To me, it just looks like you are running.” Before I can process anything more, his fist connects with my face. I'm getting punched a lot these days.

This time, I don't hold back. In a few moments, we are fighting like dogs on the streets. One second he has me pinned to the ground and in the next I’m kicking him off only to realize he teleported behind me.

I step side ways instead of trying to attack him again, but I end up tripping over my own feet and fall to the ground. Aaron, who was trying to reach for me, falls right beside me. The only sound I can hear is our heavy breathing before we are laughing at each other and ourselves.

After the laughing ceases to be chuckles, I elbow him. “What did Lucifer tell you?”

“You really don't know, do you?” I see realization flooding into his face. “It wasn't really about what he said. My mother supported him, and I couldn't not believe her.”

But she is always so nice. I would not say she is kind but surely she isn't a person who twists the truth to her liking… On second thought, that is probably exactly how she is.

“She said you were only with me for advice on your own soul collection. It made sense to me because your players did increase right after I told you to remove the warnings.” He sighs, “It sounds so stupid right now.”

“I would want to believe my mother too.” I reply and I realize it is the truth. I would believe anything she says, either bad or good.

“Guess I do have a weakness afterall.” He smiles sadly.

I share his smile as I tell him what I believe. Aaron may be taught the complete opposite, but such kind of life lessons are as useless in death as they are in life. “Xander once said love is not a weakness. But I am pretty sure he stole that line from a movie.”

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“Do you remember how you promised to tell me your idea for the competition if I removed the warnings from mine?” I ask as we make our way to my dorm room. I just need to grab my phone before we head underground again. At this point I'm not even sure if we are humans or moles living underground.

“I would rather forget.”

“I won't let you. Tell me already, the suspense might just kill me again.”

He chuckles, “I just used fake therapists to make people feel worse about themselves and the world. This way every soul lost in a school shooting belonged to me, along with the shooter's soul.”

Damn, that's harsh.

He looks at my blank expression and raises an eyebrow. I fumble over my own words as I try to explain. “I expected something more diabolical and complicated. But wow, that's smart.”

He winks, “I always am.”

Aria seems to be rubbing off, because I take the chance to get even more information. At this point I’m not even interested in what he knows, I’m more intrigued by how he knows it. “Then you would definitely know what Kathy planned, don't you?”

“Of course I do.” He replies, “She posted all about how she was going to use the grey area in the rules on social media. The girl is surely smart.”

“Wait, really?” I have been living under a rock ever since the 72 hours players tried to stalk me online. The notifications were getting out of hand. Aaron pulls his phone out to show me a long essay written by Kathy. With laziness present in every fiber of my body, I skip to the end.

I would like to conclude by saying that manipulating people to make bonfires in the middle of a forest which may cause forest fires falls is not against the rules. Causing natural disasters is against the rules. All I have done is bring careless people into a forest, rest of their actions solely belong to them. P.S. Animal souls are souls too.

“Not going to lie, her way seems more brutal than yours.” We laugh as we reach my dorm. I push open the door only to find Valentine typing away something at my phone.

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