Invitation to the Pool
The bell for the lunch period had barely rung when Tobia and Manuel pushed their way over to Marion. They trudged behind him, eyes half closed, shoulders slumped.
"Dude, you look like a walking corpse," Tobia said bluntly, balancing his tray with two extra rolls. "Did you secretly take a necromancy course, or why are you so pale?"
Marion forced a faint smile. "I… couldn't sleep."
"Couldn't sleep, pff!" Manuel nudged him lightly in the side. "Then you need fresh air. And you know what's perfect?"
"No…?"
"The swimming pool in the city!" Manuel spread his arms like he'd just saved the world. "This afternoon. The three of us. Just switch off for once, splash around a bit, see pretty girls in bikinis."
Tobia laughed, shoving half a roll into his mouth at the same time. "Yeah… looking at pretty girls, sure. But splashing? I'm telling you right now, bro: I'm not going in the water. I hate water."
"You HATE water?" Manuel made a face. "What are you, a cat?"
"At least cats are elegant," Tobia countered with a full mouth. "I'm just heavier than water. That's physics."
Marion looked at the two of them—and couldn't help a small smile.
"There we go!" Manuel clapped him on the shoulder. "There's our Marion! So, you in?"
For a moment Marion hesitated. Images of Xin flashed through his head—her voice, the bloodied rabbit. But then he saw the two of them beside him, staring expectantly.
"Yes," he heard himself say. "Why not."
Tobia threw his arms up. "Pool day, baby!" Then he glanced down at his belly, suddenly uncertain, and added, "But I'm wearing a shirt. Nobody needs to see my astral body."
Manuel laughed so loudly half the cafeteria turned to look. "This is gonna be the best afternoon since the goblin quest!"
Marion shook his head, half amused, half overwhelmed.
Swimming Pool in the City
The sun burned hot on the cobblestone streets of Parzipazio as Marion, Tobia, and Manuel headed to the pool with their towels under their arms. The building was large, built of pale stone, and from far away they could already hear teenagers laughing and water splashing.
"Bro, this is gonna be awesome!" Manuel shouted, smacking Marion on the back so hard he almost stumbled. "Finally something other than classes."
"I'm telling you," Tobia muttered, "I'm not going in."
"Why not?" Marion asked.
"Because water hates me," Tobia declared dead serious. "I sink instantly. Law of physics."
Marion laughed, but Manuel waved it off. "Nonsense! You jump in with me and you'll see how great it is."
The moment they entered the bath hall, the smell of saltwater hit them. Students were everywhere in the pool—jumping in, splashing, throwing balls. A few girls from their class lay on towels at the edge, giggling and whispering.
"Oh God," Marion groaned quietly. "They're here too."
"So what?" Manuel spread his arms. "We'll show them what we've got!" Then he ran and cannonballed into the water with a loud, "CANNONBAAAALL!" A huge wave splashed up and soaked half the people standing nearby. Laughter erupted.
Tobia shook his head. "He embarrasses himself faster than I can breathe."
"Come on," Marion said, but his eyes kept flicking toward the girls at the poolside. Jenny was there, dressed far too provocatively; Katie whispered with her friend and glanced their way. Marion instantly lowered his head and felt like he was naked.
"Bro, you have to get in," Tobia urged. "Otherwise they'll laugh at you too."
"Yeah, but…" Marion tugged nervously at the waistband of his swim trunks. Everything suddenly felt wrong.
And then he felt it.
A stare.
He lifted his head—and there she was.
At the other end of the pool, almost in the shade, a young woman leaned against the wall, long blue hair falling over her shoulders. Her swimsuit was plain—dark blue, sporty—yet she looked like she belonged to another world. Eyes clear and blue like glass rested directly on Marion.
His heart stopped.
Xin.
He staggered back a step, nearly into the water. "No…" he whispered.
"What is it?" Tobia asked.
"Nothing!" Marion answered too fast, too loud.
Manuel surfaced again, water dripping from his hair. "Hey!" he called, swimming to the edge. "You guys see that one over there?" He nodded toward Xin. "Dude, what a woman. And she's been looking over here the whole time! Why does she keep staring at us?"
"Maybe," Tobia grinned, "she's into guys who look like beached whales."
"You're roasting yourself, Tobia. You realize that?" Manuel snorted.
Marion couldn't answer. His heart was racing.
Xin just stood there, motionless, watching. No one but him seemed to truly notice her. To the others she was simply a new, attractive face.
But to Marion, she was the shadow that had been following him—now standing in bright daylight as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Wild Boar Fat
Marion sat on the pool's edge with his feet in the water while Tobia whined that he was "simply too heavy to swim," and Manuel tried to impress the girls with a ball—naturally with zero success.
Marion tried to collect his thoughts. But his eyes kept drifting back to Xin. She wasn't in the shade anymore; she stood right by the pool now—and she was talking to someone.
Marion's heart lurched.
Jenny.
The two of them leaned over Jenny's small hand mirror, which she'd pulled from her bag. Jenny pointed at her cheek; Xin nodded eagerly, like they were sharing the deepest girl secrets.
"What… what are they doing?" Marion murmured.
"Maybe they're smearing make-up on their faces," Tobia said, chewing a roll he'd inexplicably smuggled into the pool.
"No," Marion said slowly. "That looks… different."
He stood up and edged closer. Through the noise of splashing and laughter, he caught only fragments—until the words suddenly became clear.
"Wild boar fat," Xin said enthusiastically. "Makes skin strong. Very pure. Very shiny. You just have to put enough on. Then… no pimples."
Jenny nodded thoughtfully. "Really? Wild boar… fat?"
"Yes! Fresh from the belly," Xin explained proudly. "Best when it's still warm. Then it soaks in properly."
Marion's blood turned to ice. No. No, that can't be.
Jenny frowned, briefly disgusted—then shrugged. "I mean… sounds gross, but if it works…"
Xin beamed. "I'll bring you some! Next time!"
Marion stumbled backward, face pale. She means it. She really wants to—
"You okay?" Jenny had noticed him, her voice sharp. "Or are you spying on us, you creep?"
"Uh… I… no, I…" Marion stammered, turned, and fled back to Tobia and Manuel, who stared at him in confusion.
Xin stayed behind at the pool's edge and waved at him cheerfully, as if she'd just done him the kindest favor in the world.
A Conversation at the Edge of the Pool
Marion had just stepped back, his heart still racing, when Jenny and Xin sat down next to each other on their towels.
One in perfectly coordinated swimwear, made up and styled as always; the other in her simple dark-blue swimsuit, long hair still damp, her face seeming almost unreal in the bright afternoon light.
Jenny studied Xin with open curiosity, as if she had finally found something genuinely interesting.
"So… do you actually know Marion?"
Xin nodded immediately, without hesitation. "Yes."
Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And how did you two meet?"
For a moment, Xin seemed to think. Then she answered with a seriousness that almost unsettled Jenny:
"On the night my whole family was murdered."
Jenny blinked. "W–what?"
Xin looked straight at her, blue eyes clear as glass in the sunlight. "They are all… dead. They screamed. They bled. I… was alone. And then… he was there. Marion."
A lump formed in Jenny's throat. For once in her life, she didn't know what to say.
"I… I'm sorry."
"Why?" Xin asked simply.
"Well…" Jenny sighed, brushing a strand of her perfectly styled hair aside. "Because that sounds horrible. No one should have to go through something like that."
Xin lowered her gaze. "They only stole sheep. That's why they were killed."
Jenny went still. A shadow passed across her face. "For… sheep?"
"Yes." A single tear slipped down Xin's cheek. "Just for sheep."
Jenny stared at her for a long moment, then let out a deep breath. "The world really is… cruel and harsh."
Without thinking much about it, she slipped an arm around Xin's shoulders and pulled her a little closer.
"But you're still here. You're not alone."
Xin allowed it, stiff and slightly awkward, but she pressed her face briefly against Jenny's shoulder. For a fleeting second, she truly looked like nothing more than a girl who needed someone.
Marion Sees It
Voices echoed around the hall—laughter, splashing, shouted jokes. But Marion's focus was somewhere else entirely.
There.
At the edge of the pool.
Jenny and Xin were sitting together.
And they were… hugging.
Jenny—the same Jenny who never missed a chance to embarrass him—had her arms wrapped around Xin as if they were close friends. Xin leaned against her shoulder, a tear still clinging to her cheek, blue hair damp against her skin.
Marion's stomach twisted painfully.
No. No, this can't be happening.
He could still see the other image in his mind: Xin with blood on her hands, the dead rabbit dangling from her grip. Her naïve smile when she talked about raw meat.
And now… she was pressed against Jenny like a sad, harmless girl seeking comfort.
His heart pounded.
She doesn't know. Jenny has no idea what she's holding. She doesn't know that Xin—
"You good, bro?" Manuel surfaced next to him, slicking his hair back. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I did…" Marion muttered, but Manuel didn't understand.
"Maybe you just got too much sun." Manuel laughed and dove back into the water.
Tobia, still chewing on his smuggled roll, followed Marion's gaze. "Oh. Jenny and… the new girl. Already besties, huh?"
"That's not…" Marion stopped. He couldn't explain. Not here. Not now.
From a distance, he saw Jenny gently rub Xin's back and whisper something to her. Xin nodded, almost like a child accepting reassurance.
To everyone else, it was just a touching moment.
To Marion, it was absolute madness.