Page 98 of Light Leech

“You keeping him in check?” I asked Akna.

“Which one?”

“I’m not too worried about Kuni.” I winked at him.

“He’s been fine. A little stir crazy but has been helping Denji out around the monastery.”

“Good.”

“Can we talk about the news now?” Kuni asked.

“Let’s hear it,” Naoma said. Without a cute little Arabasian kid to tell her about the news, I wondered if she would have had such composure. Perhaps she was glad to be out in public now that the initial reentry had passed.

Part of me wondered what it would be like if I made a reappearance on the Medislavian neuroset. Did people still hold out hope for a change or had Pavtov destroyed the final remnant of their long-strung hope?

Images of newscasts appear in our interface. Kuni dragged it beside his face to point but obscured most of it with his head and hands. I couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s enthusiasm, especially as my anxiety drained away without Naoma’s to keep me on the edge.

“This was the store where it happened,” he said, pointing at a shot from the front of the building. Naoma and I were seen standing in front of the building when she exposed her identity to them.

“I know, Kun, I was there!”

“Right, yeah.” He laughed with a touch of embarrassment but didn’t let it overcome him. “Remember how you said you were worried what they would think after leaving for so long?”

She nodded. I didn’t recall her ever speaking of such a thing in front of him. He was young but had keen senses that made me even more excited about his future.

“You were so wrong!”

Her laugh was a deep joy filled with relief.

“What? Did I say something wrong again?”

“No,” Naoma said.

“Your Amerikese is better than Boyband’s by now,” Akna said.

Kuni smiled but continued to speak without acknowledgement. “The people on the news were asking a lot of questions.”

“Like what?” Naoma asked.

“Like–”

Akna patted Kuni’s shoulder. “Why don’t we let her just watch. Okay, du?”

“Why?”

“Because she has probably already had enough attention for now and just needs to process it on her own.” She looked at Naoma but still spoke to Kuni. “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You really should check it out.” Then she looked at me. “You, too, especially.”

“What?”

Her voice wasn’t assuring. “You’ll see.”

“Thanks for the call, Kun,” Naoma said. “I’m glad you called.”

“Of course!”