"Hi, it's been a while, I thought that... well, you'd be looking for me to talk or something", the girl slightly moves her eyes, the smile on her face is not erased and her voice contains her joy.
I watch her for a moment, trying to find perhaps in my mind some memory of her, my thoughts slowly drifting to the detail of the girl's clothes.
Just like the fat man, this girl has wrinkled clothes that can be noticed standing close, some stains on her pants and shirt, however, she herself seems to be well kept.
"Hey... Are you still awake?", the girl smiles while snapping her fingers in front of me, "About a few days ago, hmph, can we talk about it later?", she blushes slightly.
I squint my eyes with some thoughts running through my mind, I don't remember talking to this girl before.
"Kaero?", I mumble with some confusion, trying to see if the girl responds.
"Is something wrong?", she tilts her head slightly showing her confusion, at her answer I smile slightly, it seemed a little obvious, but, I wanted to confirm if she is Kaero.
"Actually, it's nothing, just thinking about the war a year from now...", she smiles slightly after speaking.
A slight shiver seems to pass through Kaero's body, she retracts her head slightly as she watches me with some anxiety.
Finally, she nods her head before smiling at me again.
After a couple of words with her I return to the table where Poki and Huanca are waiting for my arrival.
"That's good news if you want to look at it from a slightly... risky point of view," I say after arriving at my table and sitting on the chair, Huanca staring at me smiling slightly.
"Does Erika have a good opinion about me?", Huanca asks with some hope in his voice.
I smile slightly at Huanca as I prepare to sit on my chair, "I would say yes, well, actually...", I squint my eyes, wondering if I should tell Huanca the weird things I saw about Erika.
"I think you can get something with her...", I smile at the end of my words, it really doesn't matter much how weird Erika is, Huanca seems to have the mentality that he will die in a year, then nothing else matters.
...
After breakfast we went to get some tools to clean the barracks bathrooms, in the barracks we are divided into groups that are formed by the members of a squad.
16 people in total, besides the ones I already know, there are some unknown guys and girls that are cleaning the bathrooms, all members of the squadron.
The material that things like toilet bowls and sinks are made of is a slightly blackish white color, its hardness seems to be comparable to iron while the smoothness of its texture is similar to that of porcelain.
The water is cold, while the compound we use for cleaning slightly damages my hands making them itchy, there is no protective material either, everything is simply done with the same training uniforms.
My reflection in the mirror shows me a teenager with an ugly face, black hair, fair skin and a bit small.
Sighing slightly I continue with the work.
Late at night.
In the dining room at the same table where I was eating with Huanca and Poki more people have joined me.
To my right is Kaero, and near Huanca is Erika, when we finished the cleaning work and Huanca, Poki and I proposed to have some dinner before going to sleep, these two girls joined us to eat together.
This would be fine if there wasn't that fat guy next to Poki watching me and watching Huanca from time to time with his watchful gaze.
"Did your mother write you a letter?", Kaero asks with some curiosity, I for my part simply look in her direction without expressing much emotion.
Well, actually, I don't know who my mother is in this world, I guess I must have one, I mean... it's not like that matters much right now.
I smile slightly before shaking my head, for her part, Kaero stops her cutlery and moves a little closer towards me.
"I'm sorry..." she mumbles, the warmth of her body makes my heart warm slightly, I honestly don't understand why she's trying to get closer to me sentimentally.
It is too obvious, Kaero has been acting deliberately delicate and cute for an hour now, acting as if she has known me for a long time.
Although I was not an expert on the subject of "relationships", in my past life, I can clearly tell that she is acting, inquiring as to why she is acting to get sentimentally close to me is a subject I am not interested in knowing at the moment.
However, I can use this to fulfill the task of Clarity. With this in mind I smile slightly at Kaero's closeness.
"It doesn't really matter... How about you?", I try to smile slightly, I don't really know what to do, or how one should talk to a girl, Maybe I should read a book on "how to conquer a woman in 5 steps?", I honestly have no experience in this.
I mean, I never had to do, women just approached me with romantic intentions in my previous life, I never had to initiate a conversation or anything like that.
Kaero smiles before humming lightly, "Actually, i'm fine, my parents are accumulating some money to get me out of the barracks before I send us off to war," she says, seeming happy, however, the slight tremor in her body as she speaks makes me doubt of her words.
Kaero's eyes slightly focused on mine seem distracted, as her smile struggles to disappear from her face.
"Is there something you need to tell me?", I ask with genuine curiosity as I raise an eyebrow slightly.
For her part Kaero simply shakes her head before concentrating on her food again.
Maybe I should buy a book about how to romance a girl.
The day ends without much trouble, but Huanca seems to have achieved something with Erika, I saw them smiling together while talking animatedly, like good friends.
I must sleep for the moment, I'm tired.
...
...
...
"Life, Do you understand?", Alberth murmurs lightly while showing me some kind of plants inside a bottle.
"Not exactly, you... you look like a fucking mentally deranged, no offense bro...", I answer Alberth's bullshit with a slight smile on my face.
After all, it's a bit brave to bring plants inside a bottle at the beginning of the school year and show it off, I'm surprised the other guys haven't beaten him up by now.
"I've been thinking, about what happened on the first day of school...", Alberth murmurs as he caresses the bottle, well, I must admit the stuff inside the bottle looks nice, it's like a little encapsulated forest.
I bend down slightly to take a closer look at the small plants growing inside the little soil inside the bottle.
You can see small roots germinating, some very small leaves growing and a strange and mysterious mist above the slightly larger plants, while some bugs I don't recognize seem to be dancing around the small plants.
"Beautiful...", I murmur unconsciously, I like it, it's pretty, a small desire to live inside the bottle suddenly takes over me, living like a bug dancing around the small leaves.
"Terrarium, that's the name of this thing, well, my father is a fan of it, but.... Where was I?", Alberth moves the bottle away from my face a little as if he was worried my gaze would break that bottle.
"You mean the ritual?", I ask with a slight fear in the bottom of my heart.
"Yes!!, exactly, the ritual... in the end the one who was affected by all that is you, we just... 'dreamed'", Alberth mumbles with some guilt and fear.
"But, it was a nice dream, actually, I saw a world, a world beyond ours... life, I mean, something different, I was suddenly in a new place, meeting strange, but amazing people...", Alberth pauses slightly and swallows saliva.
"I met someone there, Do you want me to describe her to you?", Alberth mumbles a little under his breath.
I look at Alberth, although I know him for a short time he really seems to be obsessed with what he tells me.
"Unfortunately my memories are not accurate, but I think she had orange hair that is degrading to pink, bright red eyes, a beautiful smile and perfect skin... I...", Alberth pauses.
"We spent several days together. She showed me a new world, some not-so-nice people, but, in the end, I," Alberth paused slightly, his eyes completely red.
"I messed up. I made... a mistake. In the end, they chased me like the plague. Before I woke up, I remember I was on top of a mountain, her holding my hands tightly," Alberth lightly licked his lips.
"Her eyes reflected worry, fear, pain, and a bit of hatred, but she still looked at me as if I were the most important thing in the world. Before I woke up, she hugged me so tightly that I thought my ribs would break," Alberth began to sob slightly.
"She told me that I had to leave, but that I could come back if I could find a way... then I woke up in my bed," Alberth lets out a slight snort of irony before forcing a smile on his face.