While I was going through my check-up to confirm that I was ready to leave, the others were deep in discussion.
"He's quite shaken." Sunny muttered.
"He's masking it well. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was completely fine," Effie added.
"He was alone in the Dream Realm for two years," Kai pointed out. "It's normal for him to not be okay. Honestly, I'd be more concerned if he was fine after all that."
"And he conquered a Second Nightmare alone," Cassie added. "It hasn't been that long… we all remember how difficult those are."
"Poor homeless guy," Effie said without much care. "Who's taking him in?"
"Me."
Nephis answered instantly.
"Oh my, how eager you are, princess," Effie teased with a smirk.
At that moment, I walked over, stretching.
"Finally! I was starting to get annoyed with all these tests. Why are they so fixated on psychological counseling anyway? I feel great."
Kai squinted at me, and without my knowledge, the group reached an understanding.
"Hey, guess what?"
"What?"
"We drew lots, and lucky you—Nephis got the short stick," Effie joked.
"How can you all be so cold to your hero?" I said, sounding disappointed. "I was expecting that all of you wanted me—since I'm so great and all."
I turned to Effie.
"You know, Effie, I'm actually quite a good cook. I would have made sure you were always full."
Effie's eyes lit up.
"Hey, princess, I think we should reconsider. You being affiliated with Valor might complicate things, so I'll take on this burden and let him stay with me," she said, already drooling at the thought.
"No."
Nephis' response was immediate.
We all burst into laughter, and after a while, Kai urged us toward the exit.
"I booked a table for us," he said.
While we were eating, Kai turned to me.
"So, I was wondering… why are you wearing that blindfold?" he asked. "Sunny told me it's related to your flaw, and Cassie said you're not blind. And they also said you took it off when you were holding back the Nightmare creatures."
"Well, I suppose I could tell you," I said casually. "It's not that big of a secret, anyway. I even think you could relate to it, Kai."
"Huh?" He looked surprised.
"You know, my Aspect allows me to see the flow of energy in things—it helps me detect weak points."
"Aren't you basically canceling your Aspect, then?" Sunny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You could say that," I admitted. "But really, it's my flaw that I'm disabling like this." I continued "It's really annoying."
"What is it, already?" Effie huffed. "I swear, if it's something lame, I'm punching you."
I sighed.
"I feel everything others feel," I explained. "Anyone I see—their pain, anger, happiness, sadness… even the need to go to the toilet—I feel it too."
The table went silent for a moment.
"Huh," Effie finally said. "Yeah, that's really annoying."
"Tell me about it…" I muttered.
Sunny frowned. "Wait—when we were in bad shape, back in the Nightmare… and you looked at us. Didn't you feel our pain too?"
"I felt it," I admitted. "But it was mostly pain… you get used to it after a while."
I said it coolly, but the weight of it still lingered.