Volume 4—Chapter 71: Revolving
The world doesn’t revolve around one person.
That’s what they always say. It’s a world we’re meant to share, countless lives, intersecting and diverging, all coexisting under the same sky. And yet… there's always that one person. The one who insists everything must be about them. If it doesn’t involve them directly, it’s not worth caring about. If someone else suffers, it’s brushed aside as irrelevant. I’ve met people like that. I’ve had people like that in my life.
I hated them.
To me, they were selfish. Self-centered. Always the victim in their own narrative and never responsible for their mistakes. But as much as I hated them…
I wasn’t all that different.
I, too, once believed everything revolved around me. I thought my pain was the only pain that mattered. That my failures were everyone else’s fault, I couldn’t see past my own reflection.
And that’s why… in this new life, I want to be different. Better. I want to be someone who listens. Someone who notices the world outside herself.
That was the hope I carried with me when everything started over.
It was, after all…
“Carol, what are you doing?” a voice called from behind, interrupting my thoughts.
I glanced over my shoulder. It was Gina, my friend, her brows raised with mild concern.
“Nothing,” I replied, sitting up straighter. “Just… contemplating life.”
Gina stepped closer, tilting her head. “Why are you being all serious out of nowhere? Did something happen?”
“I’m just bored, okay?” I said, waving it off. “My phone died, and the books here are… meh.”
Gina’s eyes sparkled with mock offence. “Aren’t these novels interesting, though?”
“Which ones?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She held up a paperback. “‘The TS Saintess Will Redo Her Life’.”
I snorted. “No thanks. I’m not into TS stories. And that one’s way too meta. I don’t like stories that are painfully self-aware of their own flaws and pretend it’s clever.”
“Oh, come on,” Gina laughed, sitting beside me. “What if, hypothetically, you woke up tomorrow as the opposite gender?”
“Depends,” I said, playing along. “Would I be a muscular man or a scrawny string bean?”
Gina grinned. “Obviously muscular. I’d just stare at my abs all day. Maybe touch my new chest. Over and over.”
I gave her a side-eye. “You’re such a pervert.”
“Guilty,” she said, shamelessly.
Though I laughed at our stupid act just moments ago… something inside me still felt hollow.
“Let’s just go,” I said quietly, brushing imaginary dust from my skirt. “We’ve been here for over an hour. You didn’t even buy a book.”
Gina pouted, still digging through the cluttered shelf. “Just a bit more! I swear my favourite’s buried somewhere in here.”
I sighed. “This girl…”
Shaking my head, I turned and made my way toward the store entrance.
That’s when it happened.
“Ouch…”
I bumped into someone just past the sliding door.
“Oh crap… sorry! That was my fault. Are you okay?” came a flurry of words. “Wait, are you a foreigner? Should I speak English? Uh, excuse me… wait, what am I doing, I am speaking English…”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
I looked up, blinking, and was greeted by the sight of a girl about my age. Shoulder-length dark hair, a little taller than me, maybe thirteen? She had a surprisingly cool vibe… or she would’ve, if not for the oversized scarf and comically large sunglasses trying to hide her face. Was she trying to go incognito or something?
“I’m sorry, are you alright?” she asked, voice calmer now.
I smirked. “Mir geht es gut.”
Her brows knit in confusion. “Huh? Was that… German? Uh… Merci beaucoup?”
I tried not to laugh. “That’s French.”
“Oh… sorry,” she said, a little sheepish. “Uh, well, at least you speak English…”
“Yeah, no kidding.” I tilted my head slightly, examining her face more closely. “You look… familiar. Have we met before?”
“I don’t think so,” she said with confidence.
Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes.
She reached into her bag and, rather awkwardly, pulled out a student ID. “Here. My name’s Aria. Does that ring any bells?”
…Why would anyone flash their ID that quickly? If she was trying to avoid attention, this was the worst strategy imaginable. She could’ve just let me see her face properly. But still, Miyazaki Aria, huh?
I glanced at the ID again. Her photo looked more candid than official. That name…not that familiar, but her face in the ID kinda reminds me of someone.
“I see…” I said. “Well, it would be rude if I knew your name and didn’t offer mine. I’m Caroline. Nikita Caroline Verlander.”
Aria gave a quick, polite nod. “Right. Um… I should get going. Bye.”
Just like that, she turned and walked off briskly into the crowd.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew her from somewhere, even though I was certain I didn’t know anyone named Aria. Unless…
“There’s no way.”
It’s not like I’ve never met someone by that name before… but the Aria I knew was from my previous life.
“No… it can’t be.”
Probably just me hoping for something impossible.
I let out a sigh and turned away, continuing down the street, trying to leave that strange feeling behind me.
“CA-RO-LINE!! Why did you leave me!!”
Gina’s unmistakably loud voice pierced through the crowd like a siren. I winced.
While I was still lost in thought, turning over that strange encounter in my head, she somehow tracked me down like a bloodhound. Her voice echoed behind me, drawing the attention of at least a dozen passersby. A few even turned to look at me in amusement.
I chose the mature option: pretend I didn’t hear her.
I quickened my pace slightly and kept my eyes forward. Maybe if I acted cool enough, she'd doubt herself and move on.
“Don’t ignore me, traitor!” she shouted again, clearly not one to let things go.
I sighed through my nose, picked up the pace just a bit more, and muttered, “I just needed some air, not a dramatic search party...”
Of course, knowing Gina, this wasn’t over.
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