Chapter Sixty-Five An Inconvenient Heir
I'm My Own High School Rival: Rika's Arc.
She blinked softly as her eyes peered into mine from her standing position, while I sat on the edge of the bed. Her body was relaxed, arms by her side, and she had changed into the white dress I had first met her in.
“So, tell me about this world-destroying girlfriend.”
Holding her stare, I patted the space on the bed next to me, unsure if she would take the invitation. Like a statue, she didn’t move, except for the rise and fall of her chest.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” I said, forcing a smile.
She warmly smiled back, cocking her head, and gently sitting down next to me. The bed barely moved under her weight.
I turned my body toward her, brushing our knees. But the swift glare she gave sent shivers down my spine.
“Do…you believe me?” I asked, watching her body.
She fixed her dress.
“I won’t be sure until you tell me, so my ears are yours.”
I rubbed my knees and licked my lips.
“It all started in a sh…” I cleared my throat. “I-I mean, a run-down warehouse in Queens, New York.”
She blinked slowly, raising a brow.
“Queens? Where is Queens, New York?” She asked, sliding closer. “Are there queens living in Queens, Cross?”
I couldn’t gauge her seriousness through her smile.
“Uh, no. Queens is just a city in the United States.”
She raised her hand and twirled her wrist.
“Right. So, I’m from…another world, where men are stronger than women…”
I waited for a reaction, but she only nodded her head while staring off to the side.
“Okay, in this world, I was a bruiser who worked for a criminal family. I served that family for thirty years, dedicating my life to doing anything they wanted me to.”
Her nose twitched, and her eyes closed slightly.
Had I lost her attention less than five minutes in?
“Anything, Cross? What if they asked you to kill someone?”
I leaned back, supporting myself with my arms.
“Only if it were for the Vanzetti family. Outside of orders, I didn’t dream of it. The longer I survived within the system, the more I understood that everyone could be used, unless they were dead or a vegetable.” I looked down at the old-looking carpet. “But yeah, I got my hands dirty.”
Her hand lifted my chin.
“I’m slightly surprised, Cross. Most men claim that a world run by them would be less violent than Kokiri. But you—”
I gently pushed her hand away.
“Power doesn’t have a gender, and violence doesn’t wear a mask.”
Pressing her hand against my chest, she pushed me down on the bed, and then she lay beside me.
“If men were the dominant gender in this inverted world, that meant women were weaker… did you kill women as well?” She said, resting her hands under her head.
“No.”
I could feel her body moving closer to me as I stared at the cracks in the ceiling.
“I have a code… No women or children.”
“Why, Cross?”
I groped the comforter in both hands.
“I did it for my mother. She always protected me from strangers, from starvation, and from my father.” The weight of the bed shifted, and her black hair invaded the outskirts of my sight. “My father beat her when he was angry, or maybe when he was down on his luck—I don’t know, but every hit she took was one I didn’t have to.
I turned my face, finding hers.
“Until he killed her. I swore that I would never become him, and that I would kill myself if I did. But I’m getting off topic.”
She rested her head next to mine, and I could feel her warm breath brushing against my right cheek.
“After years of odd jobs, I became Mr. Vanzetti’s personal guard.” I smiled. “The easy life. All I had to do was watch the old man; I was practically a carer. But that only lasted for three years, and then he asked me to watch out for his freaking son.”
I listened for a cue to continue, knowing her face was right next to mine. I could turn to meet her gaze, but what would I see?
“So… He was a shady guy who didn’t follow…structures. He also had sticky fingers for someone who didn’t need to steal. One day, he had his personal hit squad hijack a Giannetti transport filled with old sh…stuff. I mean, old like they belonged in a museum.”
“Interesting.”
I loosened my grip on the comforter.
Interesting, as in you believe me?
“Right, so old man Vanzetti called me right away, reminding me that I was supposed to be watching him. The disappointment in his voice made me angry at his kid.
I turned slightly, catching a glimpse of her face before re-centering.
The hairs on my neck, though flat, stuck up.
“H-he could have started a gang war, so I went to talk to him, and he wanted to lay low until it was returned. But he wanted to see it all one last time, but I should have known better.”
She reached over and grabbed my shoulder, turning me towards her.
“Tell me more,” she said, her face void of emotion.
“He baited me to the warehouse, where he stabbed me in the chest with two other guys from the Giannetti family. Don’t get me wrong, I fought back, but they had numbers and youth. But they didn’t kill me, just made it so I would bleed out.
I raised my hand, making a gun symbol.
“Then he shot the two members of the Giannetti family. He waited until one guy went to pour gasoline in the back room, and shot that guy in the back of the head. Poor fool didn’t even see it coming. He got the other guy when he ran back in to see what had happened.”
I placed my hand back on the bed.
“Then the As… The boss's son thanked me for helping him “lay low.” He told me that everyone would mistake my burned body for his and lit the place on fire. Amidst the burning warehouse, I found a lamp, a genie, and a way out.”
“A genie?” She said, raising a brow.
“Yup,” I said, defeated. “And it’s been the bane of my existence. By the way, aren't you a bit too close to me?”
“No.”
“Okay… So, I asked for a second chance at life, and it brought me to this world, and slotted me in this kid's body, but in the future.”
"Wait," she said, sitting up.
“The future?” She said, covering her face with both hands.
I slowly sat up, watching her body for any action.
“I’m pretty sure. Let me continue.”
She turned her head, revealing her face. It was the first time that I’ve seen her frown.
“Keep talking.”
“I-I was only a day in the future, but I watched the world burn under the Court and Veil’s war.”
“Stop,” she said, shaking her head. “The Iron Fan Court and the Crimson Veil are allies. Why would they fight?”
Her eyes were sharp, her frown started to change into something else, and the little space between had vanished.
“B-because of their kids, they fought because the daughter of the Fan stepped away from the son of the Veil.”
My heart pounded as she leaned over me with gritted teeth.
She laughed. Her eyes were closed, and she held her sides.
“She will have a son!”