Sadly, neither Sunny nor Asher knew where the director lived.
Sunny had tried asking Kai, but the handsome dragon slayer refused immediately out of concern that the two of them might actually kill the poor man.
Which was honestly unfair.
Asher wasn't planning to kill him.
Probably.
At most, Sunny had wanted to scare the director badly enough that he would quit his job forever. Truly, their intentions had been completely reasonable.
Unfortunately, Kai didn't agree.
Still, life moved on.
And before long, the day of Sunny's departure finally arrived.
Asher sat sprawled across the couch, leisurely watching television while greedily devouring a tub of ice cream. Meanwhile, outside on the porch, Sunny was speaking to a familiar girl.
"Well, anyway. Don't be a stranger. If you need advice, just message me. You're my only student, after all, so if you suddenly die, my reputation will be ruined. No one will ever hire me as a tutor again!"
Rain glared at him for a moment, then scoffed.
"Why would I die? I'm too smart for that. You, however… make sure not to die yourself. I won't be able to brag that my tutor is a Master if you're dead."
Sunny grinned, finally turning to Asher, "Hey bastard. Keep the house safe while I'm gone. And keep my... student safer."
Asher turned toward them with his mouth still full of ice cream.
"Alright, alright! I got it!" he mumbled lazily, waving his spoon around. "Now leave already. I'm busy."
Rain frowned slightly as she looked at him, while Sunny simply grimaced.
"Not exactly what you'd expect from the exalted Echo of the Abyss, is it?"
"Pfft—"
Rain quickly covered her mouth, barely suppressing a laugh.
"…No," she admitted. "Not at all."
Sunny sighed before patting her shoulder.
"But that's also why he's easy to talk to."
He turned to her with a smile, "If I'm not available for whatever reason, call him. He'll most probably be free."
He gritted his teeth, looking at the mess of his house, "After all, the bastard has no proper job."
"The Spell do you mean?!" Asher protested immediately from the couch. "I'm a multi-millionaire! I officially work for Valor too!"
He flailed dramatically, nearly dropping the ice cream in the process.
Sunny clicked his tongue.
"The contract you accidentally signed yesterday?" he asked dryly. "Besides, you haven't even made a public debut yet. It's hardly official."
Asher opened his mouth to argue again—
But Sunny had already turned away.
"Goodbye."
And with that, he drowned into the shadows.
For a few moments, silence stretched.
Then, Asher spoke.
"Hey," he said casually, setting the tub of ice cream onto the table. Tiny droplets of floating water drifted through the air, wiping the melted cream from his lips.
"Can you look after the house for a bit?"
Rain raised an eyebrow.
Asher stood up slowly, stretching his arms before glancing toward the door.
"I just realized…" he muttered, scratching the back of his head, "I should probably say goodbye to that idiot properly."
After all, he was the only person in the cohort who hadn't wished Sunny luck. And the only one who knew were he was going.
Rain nodded a bit, shrugging her shoulders. "I think you should, yes."
Asher jumped a bit, nodding, "Alright, goodbye then."
Suddenly, his figure distorted, leaving a small rupture of space in his place. Rain just stared at the house in silence, sighing, "I wonder if Lady Nephis is also a weirdo..."
"I wonder if Lady Nephis is also a weirdo…"
After all…
Only weirdos seemed capable of handling other weirdos.
"Hmm..."
Sunny was pretty weird too.
***
Sunny had never thought that he would leave the city one day. He had barely ever thought that there was anything beyond the city, actually. More than that, for him, the city proper itself had always seemed like an alien land. His whole world used to start and end with the outskirts.
Tens of millions of people who lived in the outskirts had a very special—
—CRASH!
Sunny was violently shoved forward as something slammed directly into his back.
"…What the—"
He caught himself before falling face-first onto the platform, shadows instantly stabilizing his footing.
Behind him, Asher groaned weakly.
"Fool!" Sunny clenched his fist, pushing Asher up, who immediately tried to explain
"You see, uh—so, like—I used this ability for, like, the second time, right? Huh, so technically speaking, I was trying to appear dramatically in front of you! Like you know? In those movies! But, like, uh... I kinda messed up and accidentally overshot the trajectory. So, what I am saying is that, uh, basically—"
"Please shut up."
"For Spell's sake..." Sunny sighed. Shadow sense had sensed him falling on Sunny, but it was too late.
The bastard spawned inches away from him.
"So what are you here for?"
Asher grinned, tapping Sunny, "I just wanted to say bye!"
Sunny's brows twitched. "That's it?"
"That's it. "
"I'm leaving." Sunny shook his hand away, walking to the nearby train.
Asher quickly followed behind him for a few steps before stopping near the platform edge.
"I still haven't adjusted to my powers," he called out. "So I can't join the first irregular army yet..."
He looked conflicted, pausing.
"But I'll come soon, okay?" He then continued. "So don't miss me too much!"
Sunny clicked his tongue as the train doors slid shut behind him.
Then he turned slightly, glancing through the tinted glass at the idiot standing outside.
Asher grinned.
Slowly, he raised a curled fist and pressed it lightly against the window.
"Break a leg, Master Sunless."
For a moment, Sunny simply stared at him.
Then—
A small smile appeared on his face.
He raised his own hand, pressing his fist against the opposite side of the glass.
"By the time I'm back," Sunny said quietly, a grin slowly forming on his lips, "I'll be stronger, fool."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"So watch closely."
A low rumble echoed through the station.
Then the locomotive lurched forward.
Slowly, the two fists drifted apart as the train began to move, the distance between them growing inch by inch.
His gaze remained fixed on the figure keeping his fist front.
Little did Sunny know...
That was the last ordinary goodbye either of them would ever get.
____
[A/N: Another chapter tmrw. Actually, scratch that, Imaa do Antarctica right!]