Chapter 707 707: What In The World?
"You were born in Ohio? Shit… must have been tough."
"Not at all, I was blessed with affluent parents that pampered me and my sister."
"Oh, a sister? Younger or older?"
Whether or not it was his intended outcome, Riley was now once again casually eating Korean Shaved Ice with Hannah, albeit a completely alternate version of her. The two of them have probably been talking for hours; not even taking a short break since their first meeting.
And although the other customers inside the shop were trying to be subtle, their glances were obvious; some of them even outright took a photo of Riley without his consent. And as a matter of course, Hannah almost lashed out at the people, but Riley said it was alright and that he was used to the attention.
After all, an albino is even more rare than a Super—and it would seem that truth holds true even in another universe. But still, Hannah insisted as she approached the crowd; telling them to 'fuck off' as calmly as she could. But alas, it was completely useless as "And I don't mean your appearance. Although you do kinda look like those elves, and not the small imp ones, mind you."
another crowd just replaced them.
"Older," Riley answered Hannah's question, "The two of you are somewhat similar, Hannah. But at the same time, you are completely different from each other."
"Huh… Well, I don't think I have ever met someone like you, Riley," Hannah let out a small giggle, covering her mouth as she lightly leaned forward over the table; twirling the spoon she was holding in her glass of flavored shaved ice that has already melted into flavored juice,
"And I don't mean your appearance. Although you do kinda look like those elves, and not the small imp ones, mind you."
"Hm. What about you, Hannah? Do you have any siblings, a brother?"
"Oh no, it's just me and my dad," Hannah let out a very long and deep sigh as she shook her head, "And thank god I don't have a brother. I already had enough of my dad, I don't want another one of him just running around the place."
"You don't like your father?" Riley tilted his head to the side, before putting a spoonful of shaved ice in his mouth which completely melted before Hannah could give an answer to his sudden question.
But finally, after a few more hesitating breaths, Hannah responded with a small chuckle.
"I mean, I love my dad…" Hannah stopped twirling her spoon as she leaned back, "...but he can be a dick sometimes. You know what I mean?"
"I may have some ide—"
"That woman just got robbed!"
And finally, after a few hours of conversing with one another, their growing chat was disrupted by a loud voice that shook the entire shop. Everyone turned to look at the man, and then toward where he was pointing to.
And as he excitingly said, there truly was a woman getting mugged outside the mall.
"..." Riley did not even really bother looking at the commotion, and instead just continued to look at Hannah with his head tilted to the side. He wanted to see what the Hannah of this world would do upon seeing a criminal act.
But even as the thief was able to take the woman's bag and started running away, Hannah just continued to watch. And it wasn't only her, even those that were near the incident just stood there like the bystanders there are.
"Everyday…" Hannah then let out a sigh as she shook her head, before grabbing her phone from her purse. She seemed to be texting someone; a very short message based on how fast she hid her phone again,
"Welcome to New York, I guess," and like nothing happened, Hannah once again chuckled as she leaned forward, "It's either the piss, the pigeons, the addicts, or the robbers that would make you realize it isn't as glamorous as people make it out to be. You were probably disappointed when you moved here from New Zealand?"
"I am used to moving a lot and experiencing other places, Hannah," Riley placed his spoon on the table, wiping it clean with a napkin as he looked Hannah in the eyes, "And it is not really the place you remember the most, it is the people. Your perception of the place will be based on them."
"O…Oh," Hannah blinked a couple of times; her breaths slightly stuttering as she returned Riley's gaze, "Don't start getting all deep on me here. But since it's like that…
…how is New York so far for you?"
"It is not that different from what I am used to," Riley looked outside before quickly placing his eyes on Hannah again, "But you make it a little familiar, Hannah."
"S…stop it," Hannah took in a small gulp as her cheeks slightly turned red, "You know you don't have to flirt with me, right? We're like… already on a date."
"This is a date?" Riley blinked a couple of times.
"You…" Hannah raised an eyebrow as the smile on her face disappeared. But after a few seconds, they once again returned with a chuckle, "I seriously have no idea if you're joking or not. Is that part of your… autism or something?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not."
"You know, this is the first time I'm actually having fun after a very long time…" Hannah once again leaned back on her seat as she sighed, "...It's just work, work, and more work. You think there's more out there for us? And I'm not talking about the other places in the universe."
"My father actually says that there is less out there for us," Riley still continued to sit up straight as he finally finished cleaning the spoon he was holding, "Once you explore the unknown, then it just becomes like the rest of almost everything—irrelevant and forgotten. Everything you need, everything you will ever need will always be near you."
"That doesn't make any sense, you weirdo," Hannah closed her eyes and giggled, "But I feel like that's something my dad will also say."
"It makes a lot of sense."
"Dad!?"
And almost out of nowhere, a shadow crept behind Riley's seat, causing Hannah to sit straight before standing up,
"What are you doing here!?"
"..." Riley did not really react hastily, and just very slowly turned around. And there, another variant of Bernard stood. Riley had already thought that his father was gaining a little too much weight, but the Bernard behind him probably took not just the last piece of cake, but all of it.
Riley wouldn't call him fat, however, as it was obvious from the streaks and lines in his arms that everything was muscle—but even still, this Bernard makes his father look incredibly small.
And although he was only wearing a shirt, there was also a certain elegance in him that two of the Bernards he had met lacked.
"You're really going to disrespect me like that in front of your new friend?" A small smile crawled on Bernard's face as he glanced at Riley, "Sorry, sir. But can I borrow my daughter for a bit?"
"Dad…!?" Hannah subtly gestured to her father to go away, "Can't you see we're busy?"
"...Not really?" Bernard laughed, "But seriously, I need to talk to you
—come meet me at the parking."
"Da—" And before Hannah could even say anything else, Bernard already turned around and left the shop. Hannah could really only fall back to her seat; her eyes, glancing up and down Riley for several times.
"It is fine, Hannah," Riley breathed out.
"That… ugh," Hannah once again stood up, "Just wait for me here, this won't take long!"
"Hm," Riley nodded in response as he watched as Hannah chased after her dad.
And it turns out, Hannah was wrong. The mall was already closing before she once again entered the Korean Shaved Ice store.
"You're… still here?"
"Where else would I be, Hannah?" Riley just blinked a couple of times as he looked at Hannah; his table, filled with probably a dozen empty glasses, "You said to wait for you here."
"You could have just left…" Hannah didn't know whether to smile or not, "Why would you even wait for me?"
"Because I want to, Hannah," a small smile crawled on Riley's face.
"That…" Hannah looked at Riley; her eyes, subtly moving as she seemed to examine every inch of his face. And soon, a smile also appeared on her face as she approached Riley and grabbed her wrist,
"Come on, let's just get out of here!" She excitedly said as she pulled Riley away from the table.
"We have not paid for everything we consumed, Hannah," Riley said as he glanced at their table.
"It's fine, we own the mall!" And with those words, Hannah started touring Riley around the city like she knew it from the back of her hand—every inch and every street, she had something to say.
This world also has heroes and villains, but the size of their influence was similar to that of Riley's Earth—in fact, so far, this world seemed like the one in Riley's universe before all the aliens started visiting.
There were no signs of any extraterrestrial life living here, even though Hannah has mentioned them in passing several times during their chat.
But if there was one difference that completely made this Earth diverge from his was the statue of Megawoman. A statue carrying Aerith's liking.
A statue majestically erected in front of Riley, placed right at the very center of Central Park.
A statue with all sorts of markings and etchings, most of them saying the word…
…Traitor.