I gazed at the blank space where the book had disappeared, a deep, disquieting hush filling the air. My heart continued to beat wildly in my chest, adrenaline failing to recede. The words, the memory—they were so vivid. I had recalled my past life as a cat so clearly, but now... now, I was left with a strange emptiness where the book had lain, as though something had been removed from me before I could really comprehend its meaning.
Rael's words pierced the fog of my mind.
"We'll find out. Whatever it is, we'll face it together."
He spoke with such earnestness, such confidence. But as I looked at him, something nagged at me. Why was he so certain? Why was he so eager to believe me?
I had just confessed to being a cat in a previous existence—how ridiculous was that? Who would ever believe something like that? Even I could hardly wrap my head around it. The fire, the sacrifice, the love I'd given as a cat—all of it made sense to me, somehow, in a haunting way, but to Rael? To him, I was just a human girl—one with a talent for getting into trouble, a dash of arrogance, and an even worse tendency to spin impossible tales.
I blinked, my mind clouded with uncertainty.
Why was he taking me seriously? He must have thought I was crazy, right? I'd done some outlandish things before, sure, but this? A former life as a cat? How could anyone—let alone Rael—believe that?
And the book... it had vanished, right before our eyes. How could I explain that? How could I make him believe that the book had revealed something to me, something now gone? It was like something out of a fever dream, yet it had felt so real, so true.
Rael was still staring at me, his face serious, and that's when I felt the weight of his gaze—the unshakeable conviction in his eyes. How could he be so certain? How could he regard me as though I were sharing a truth he already knew?
I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. "Rael," I started, my voice uncertain, "don't you think this is a bit... silly? I mean, a cat? Seriously?"
He blinked, his forehead creasing in confusion. "What do you mean?"
I stopped, trying to calm my racing thoughts. "What I just told you. I—I was a cat. I died in a fire, rescuing a little girl. And the book—it revealed to me that past life. But why are you believing me? You've seen me spin all sorts of wild tales. So why this one? Why this?"
Rael took a deep breath, and for a moment, I feared he'd dismiss me as just another of my chaotic stunts. But instead, he moved toward me, his movements slow. His gaze remained fixed, intense, as though he was trying to look deeper into me. He didn't blink, didn't hesitate.
"I believe you," he said quietly, his voice both firm and gentle. "Not because you're a cat, or because of the book. I believe you because... because I've seen you, Mochi. I've seen the way you fight, the way you think, the way you are. And maybe it doesn't make sense, but I'm not going to doubt you. Not now. Not after everything we've been through."
I blinked, something rising up inside of me—something I wasn't ready to confront. He'd never spoken like that before. It was too exposed, too... vulnerable. I didn't know how to process it.
"But..." I went on, my voice faltering, "what if I'm mistaken? What if I'm imagining all of this? What if the book was some trick? Some magic, or illusion? What if I'm... going crazy?"
Rael took another step forward, closing the distance between us. "Then we'll figure it out together. But I know you, Mochi. I know you don't lie about things like this. You may be a little dramatic, a little ridiculous sometimes,"—he gave me a wry smile—"but you're not the kind of person to make something like this up. Not for attention, not for anything."
I shook my head, the weight of his words settling like an anchor. "But why would you trust me so much? After everything I've done? After everything you've seen me do?" The doubt crept in, despite my best efforts to suppress it. "I've always been the one who takes the risks, the one who does what I want without thinking. Why would you trust me now?"
Rael's face softened, his eyes shimmering with something I couldn't quite place. "Because you are dependable. Because no matter what, no matter how much chaos you cause, you've always had a way of seeing the truth—seeing things that others don't. And that's what matters. Not whether or not you were a cat, or whether some book went missing." He paused, his voice steady. "What matters is that you're here, you're alive, and you're still the one who can figure things out when everyone else is lost."
His words hit me harder than I expected, catching me off guard, leaving me speechless for a moment. It felt as though Rael had peeled away the layers I kept around myself, revealing something I didn't know I was hiding.
I stood there, wavering in my skepticism for just an instant.
"And... you still trust me, even when I'm saying this absurd thing to you?" I whispered.
Rael nodded slowly, his gaze unwavering. "I've learned to trust you. Even when I can't explain it. Even when it's hard to believe. I trust you, Mochi. Whatever this is—whatever you're experiencing, whatever you've experienced—it doesn't change that."
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating even, but something shifted within me. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't certain about the path ahead, but one thing was clear: I wasn't alone.
And maybe, just maybe, Rael's faith in me wasn't as misplaced as I'd feared.