Welcome to the Theatre of Domination | Kalpas ff

XXII

Y/N'S POV:
1:09 PM

"Ah, which one? I can't decide..." I said, lost in the aisle of desserts and sweets. I was in the supermarket to stock up my nearly empty fridge. This supermarket had a ton of candy, in just one aisle. The flavors ranged from chocolate to cotton candy that I felt like I was in candy land. Until that sweet moment was interrupted by a group of fans.

"Yo guys, is that the famous S-Rank Schicksal Valkryja, Y/N L/N?!" An unfamiliar voice said.

"What?! She's here?! I wanna see, I wanna see!" Another unfamiliar voice said. I heard shuffling and more voices appearing.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! She really is here, Y/N L/N, the strongest and most gorgeous warrior!"

"I can't see! Move!"

"You move!"

I spun around and caught a glimpse of a group of kids shoving each other gazing at me, including the ones arguing.

"Yo... um... sup?" I waved awkwardly at the children. I tried to appear nonchalant as they seemed to be, but I guess I was doing a far better job. Most of them didn't bother to hide their excitement. Sparkles were glinting in their eyes as they quaked. They appeared to be middle schoolers.

The kids eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as if I just offered them a stash of candy. "She looks even more beautiful up close!"One said as they continued beaming to another.

"Ask her for her autograph!"

"And selfies!"

"And hugs!"

"Who is Y/N?"

Everybody turned to the minor in shock, who appeared to be the least oldest.

"You've never heard of Y/N?! She's the toughest, strongest, and resilient Schicksal Valkryja!"

"I've heard she can take on 15 honkai beasts with ease!"

"No, she can take on way more than that!"

"...?" While they bickered, I sneaked away from the distracting event to registers. And that is the everyday life of an S-Rank valkryja. I sighed of relief, lucky to not be the center of attention anymore.

"Hey," I said to the cashier, pulling out items from my cart. My father said being polite was one way to get along with people you never met. It could just be a small "Hey" to show how you're aware they aren't some mindless robot who scans labels and collects money all day.

"Hey," the cashier said, slowly scanning the food to look at me. "Wait a minute ...you're Y/N. Right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's me. The Schicksal Valkryja those kids were talking about," these are one of those days where I find myself being constantly prided for being an S-Rank Valkryja. Honestly, I'm thinking of wearing a disguise. I just wanted to get food and sleep at my apartment without anymore questions.

"No, I mean, you're Y/N from laser tag at the arcade."

I shot a confused glance at her. I've never seen her, at least according to my memory. This cashier had smooth dark hair and such huge eyes, she looked like she came straight out of a HOMU graphic novel.

"And, I saw you and your boyfriend get kicked out," she shook her head, "the red team thought that was uncalled for, including me."

"Hold on, my boyfriend?!" I restated in shock. I knew who she was referring to. My cheeks burned at the mental image of me and Kalpas in a love relationship: us holding hands and our lips pressing against each other. Well, thats only if Kalpas decides to remove his mask. But that's how people perceived us in their very own eyes!

"Yeah, weren't you guys so close to each other? You were literally touching!" I could see excitement gleaming in her huge eyes. She almost dropped the can of chicken soup on the floor.

I facepalmed. "That was to prevent him from beating up that little boy," I brushed off the thought of me and Kalpas doing romantic stuff. We were only in a platonic relationship, but I craved for something more than just hanging out.

"But, when you guys left the laser tag arena, you were holding hands."

I froze at her comment and started replaying that moment. Kalpas and I did hold hands when we left the room. The way his warm hands brushed against my knuckles made me feel good. I don't know why he did that, but neither of us let go.

"Umm..." I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. This lady could sure detect that she was right—judging by my body tone. "There was pain in his legs," I lied, fidgeting with my fingers. "So he needed help walking," this was an unbelievable excuse because Kalpas was clearly walking perfectly fine. What is more unbelievable is that she believed the terrible lie...

"Darn," the cashier sighed dramatically."You both are cute together though!" She added and smiled.

I forced a smile and sighed while I continued watching her scan. Everybody thinks Kalpas and I are a couple for some reason, but we had an argument a week ago and have not interacted with each other since. No phone call, no visits, not even a text. I don't even understand our relationship anymore. It's like the universe gives me something good in life, then takes it away because it doesn't want me to be happy forever.

I payed the cashier and left the store pondering with my negative thoughts. As I pulled out my receipt to check if I received the right amount of change, a ticket slipped out of my purse and flew to the concrete ground. Panic started to flow in my veins. I started biting my lips.

This isn't a ticket for all those times I parked my motorcycle somewhere illegal, right? Surely the police didn't notice my motorcycle being parked in front of a fire hydrant? It was only an emergency for a mission. I reluctantly picked it up, and scanned the details.

"A ticket to a theatre?" I sighed of relief. I did not want to get thrown in jail. A friend told me it was brutal there and you could receive extremely painful penalty for trying to escape. I shook off those thoughts and continued scanning.

The heading read: 'Theatre of Domination' with blue hands crawling out in the background. The storyline was strangely weird, because it was the same situation about me and Kalpas.

"Our theatre presents a doomed love story where a couple separate and parted. Until one day, fate has made the two invited to a theatre and coincidentally reunite... as PUPPETS! Come get your seats before they're all taken! VIP 1000"

I raised an eyebrow. "This is suspicious. 'll definitely keep this with me to investigate further," I slid the ticket back into my purse. I want to rely on myself rather than relying on Otto. After what he had done to me and Kalpas, thinking about him makes my skin crawl.

"He may have used security cameras to track you and Kalpas..." Durandal said to me in Smoothie Land as we discussed my situation.

"That does sound believable," I said, putting my index and thumb finger on my chin. I don't know if I want to be around Otto anymore, nor continue working for him and go back to being a normal young adult. It's been a few weeks since he personally assigned me missions. I assume the chaotic mess at Arc City has died down slightly.

I walked home, leaving my groceries to watch the clock tick in the kitchen and dived into bed.

But my bed wasn't soft and smothered in warm blankets. It was hard and cold. My back tingled against the chilly smooth surface. When I opened my eyes, I realized that I wasn't in my bedroom.

I was in a theatre.