Zata sat in the corner of the bookstore, her back resting lightly against a wooden shelf.
An open book was in her hands.
She read quietly.
Too quietly.
There was no intimidating aura around her.
No feeling that the world might collapse at any moment.
She was simply a young woman with light blue hair, turning the pages one after another.
Arou glanced at her several times from behind the shelves.
And for the first time since last night, he felt a little more at ease.
"Thank goodness…" he muttered.
"At least she's not doing anything weird."
The bookstore remained busy.
People came and went, footsteps echoed, the cashier beeped occasionally, and the soft sound of turning pages blended into the ordinary atmosphere.
Zata—or whatever this creature actually was—wasn't causing any trouble at all.
A few minutes passed.
"AROU."
His boss glanced at the clock.
"You can take a five-minute break."
Arou nodded.
"Okay."
He put down the book he was organizing and slowly walked toward the corner where Zata was sitting.
Zata was still reading.
Arou stopped in front of her.
"Hey, Zata."
Without looking up, Zata replied,
"What?"
"Are you… enjoying these books?"
Zata finally lowered the book slightly and glanced at Arou.
"They're pretty decent," she answered flatly.
"Why?"
Arou scratched the back of his neck.
"Well… I was worried you'd get bored. And then you'd destroy everything, so—"
Zata cut him off casually.
"Arou."
She looked straight at him.
"I do get bored all the time. That's normal."
Arou fell silent.
"Besides," Zata continued, "I only destroy a little."
Arou immediately gave her a sharp look.
"You call that a little?"
Zata shrugged.
"Of course. I haven't destroyed anything in your real world yet."
Arou thought about it for a moment.
"…Fair point."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Maybe your definition of 'a little' is very different from mine."
Zata gave him a faint smile.
"Want me to try?"
Arou immediately straightened up.
"No, thanks. I'm good."
"Hmm."
Zata looked slightly disappointed before leaning back again.
"You're boring."
"And that's a good thing," Arou quickly replied.
Silence followed.
Only the sounds of the bookstore filled the space between them.
Arou sat down on the floor, resting his back against the same shelf while keeping a safe distance.
"So…" he said quietly.
"With your current appearance, it feels weird calling you Zata."
Zata glanced at him again.
"And?"
"What do you want me to call you?"
Arou swallowed.
"With your current appearance… can I call you Lin?"
Zata froze for a second.
Then her expression changed.
"No," she answered immediately.
"Call me Wanto instead."
Arou turned sharply toward her.
"What?!"
"That's a guy's name!" Arou hissed.
"Idiot!"
Zata let out a small laugh.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you want."
Arou sighed deeply.
"Then… maybe I'll call you Lin or Ling."
"Ling?"
Zata narrowed her eyes.
"Do you think I'm some kind of link distributor?"
"That's not what I meant!" Arou quickly defended himself.
"Just Lin, then."
Zata sighed and opened her book again.
"Whatever."
Arou smiled without realizing it.
For a moment, they simply sat side by side.
A human.
And something that shouldn't even exist in this world.
"Hey," Arou said quietly.
"While you're here… don't cause any trouble, okay?"
Zata turned another page.
"No promises."
Arou clicked his tongue.
"But I'll try."
That was enough.
The small break alarm on the wall clock rang.
Arou stood up.
"I have to get back to work."
Zata nodded without looking at him.
"Go ahead."
As Arou walked away, he couldn't help but think:
A creature capable of twisting reality…
was reading fiction in a small bookstore,
and now had a temporary name.
"Lin…" he muttered to himself.
Somehow, it felt safer than calling her Zata.
But deep down, Arou knew.
This peaceful moment…
wouldn't last long.
The wall clock inside the bookstore ticked softly, its hands slowly approaching closing time.
The store lights began dimming one by one, and the sound of customers became less frequent.
Arou put the last book back on the shelf, then glanced toward the corner where Lin was sitting.
The light-blue-haired woman was still holding her book, looking completely calm as if time meant nothing to her.
Arou walked over.
"Hey, Lin… let's go. It's closing time."
Lin slowly closed her book.
"Alright."
She stood without making a sound and placed the book back exactly where it belonged—far too neatly for someone who had only just started visiting the store.
Arou's boss locked the bookstore door from the inside.
"Good work today," he said briefly.
Arou nodded.
"Thank you."
They headed outside.
---
The cold night air greeted them.
The streetlights glowed dimly, some of them flickering as if they couldn't be bothered to work properly.
Most of the nearby stores had already closed, and the streets were nearly empty.
The only sounds were their footsteps.
Arou walked slightly ahead, occasionally glancing from side to side.
"It's usually busier around this time," he muttered.
Lin looked up at the sky.
"Maybe people decided to stay home today."
Her words sounded ordinary.
Too ordinary.
They walked a few more meters.
Then—
A heavy sound came from the side of the road.
Heavy footsteps.
Rough breathing.
Arou immediately stopped.
Something slowly emerged from the shadows of an old building and stepped into the streetlight.
A lion.
Its body was huge, its fur looked dirty, and its sharp eyes were fixed directly on them.
A broken piece of an iron collar still hung around its neck.
Arou swallowed.
"Lin…" he said quietly, his voice tense.
"Be careful."
His heart was pounding.
This was not something that should be wandering around in the middle of a city.
The lion let out a low growl and took another step forward.
Arou instinctively moved slightly in front of Lin.
But Lin simply stepped to the side.
She looked at the lion with a completely expressionless face—neither surprised nor afraid.
Lin raised her hand.
She pointed.
And in the next instant—
The air in front of the lion began to tremble.
Something appeared.
Not light.
Not an ordinary shadow.
A pitch-black sphere, like a hole in the air, slowly spun as pressure rippled through the surrounding atmosphere.
The lion tried to back away, but its body was instead pulled forward.
Without a sound.
Without any real resistance.
In an instant, the massive animal was completely swallowed by the black sphere.
Then—
It vanished.
The black sphere shrank, folding into itself before disappearing without a trace.
The street fell silent again.
The streetlights continued flickering.
As if nothing had happened.
Arou stood frozen.
"…What just happened?" His voice trembled, caught somewhere between shock and disbelief.
Lin lowered her hand.
"Relax."
She turned toward Arou with a calm expression.
"I just sent the lion back where it belonged."
Arou stared at the empty street for a long moment.
"To… the zoo?"
Lin nodded casually.
"Something like that."
Arou let out a long sigh, his knees feeling weak.
"Your way of 'sending something back' is seriously not normal."
Lin smiled faintly.
"You're only realizing that now?"
Arou clicked his tongue and continued walking.
"You said you weren't going to destroy anything."
"I didn't destroy anything," Lin replied calmly as she followed him.
"I just cleaned things up."
Arou fell silent.
They continued walking in silence.
But now, every step felt different.
Arou realized one thing.
As long as Lin was by his side—
the real world would never be completely safe…
but it wouldn't be completely chaotic either.
Everything depended on one small thing:
Whether Lin was bored…
or not.
And that night, on the dark and empty road,
Arou walked home beside a creature capable of making a lion disappear with nothing more than a point of her finger.