Time in a collapsing world

After lunch, everyone dispersed to do their own things. Alicia was responsible for clearing the table, Li was responsible for washing the dishes, and Destobia... went to chat with Nozomi.

Hua Hua Hua————

In the kitchen, the water sprayed from the faucet hit the porcelain plate placed in the sink. Li put one hand in the sink and spread the other hand in front of his eyes, staring blankly, as if Lost my mind.

The pipe of the sink was suddenly blocked by the unfinished leftovers, and the water in the sink overflowed, reaching Li's elbows, but he was still immersed in his own world and did not react at all.

Seeing that it was about to overflow, Li stretched out a hand from behind and quickly turned off the faucet.

"Li, don't be distracted while washing the dishes~?"

Alicia's voice brought back Li's thoughts, and her originally out-of-focus pupils became focused again.

Looking at the pool in front of her that was about to overflow, Li realized what had just happened.

"Feel sorry……"

Li took out the leftover food blocked in the pipe and threw it into the trash can not far away, causing the water in the sink to fall quickly.

"Li, what were you thinking about just now?"

Alicia stood from behind Li to Li's side, took a plate, and asked while cleaning it.

"I'm thinking about what I should do later. Should I sleep? Or play with Xi for a while? Or hang out? Our first team has no missions recently, and we are really bored, haha..."

Li's hands were rubbing the plate with a sponge non-stop, without looking at Alicia, and seemed to be focusing on the work at hand.

"Yeah……"

Alicia took some water with her left hand and sprinkled it directly on Li's face.

"?"

Li paused in her movements, did not wipe the water stains on her face, and turned to look at her doubtfully.

"Li, let's play truth or dare~?" Alicia suddenly suggested without any intention of explaining.

"That's okay. After washing the dishes, I'll call Xi and Destobia..."

Li's words were interrupted.

"No, let's start now, just the two of us~?"

"...How do two people play?"

"It's very simple. The two of us take turns, one person at a time."

"Washing the dishes."

"So no need to play Dare or Dare, how about just playing truth?"

"……Not coming."

"If you don't come, I will really come to attack you at night~?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Then... I'll go talk to Xi Tan and ask her if she knows any secrets of yours that even I don't know~?"

"...Forget it, just play, how many rounds?"

"Everything is fine~?"

Just dig out some of the things you want to know and end it.

"Then let me ask first."

Li said first.

"Hey~ why?"

"It's just a matter of precedence anyway, isn't it?"

"Well...that's right, then you can ask."

"Alicia, have you... met me somewhere before?"

"..."

"Actually, I've wanted to ask for a long time, but I often forget. I just took this opportunity to ask."

Li looked at Alicia, her eyes full of thoughts, and she was becoming more and more familiar. Alicia's face did not feel familiar because of the increase in time spent together, but it was like some kind of deep memory from the past had been dug up. Generally speaking, Li was convinced that he must have seen her a long time ago.

"..."

Alicia lowered her head and seemed to be considering her words. She did not expect that Li would turn against General Yijun and ask this question that was beyond her expectation.

"Let's talk first. This is truth or dare. If you want to violate the rules...well, I actually have nothing to do with you."

Li said the truth helplessly.

"Of course I will abide by the rules of the game. I was just thinking about how to tell the story of our acquaintance from meeting to acquaintance as simply as possible~?"

Alicia raised her head, seemingly not wanting to refuse to answer the question.

"It doesn't matter if you start talking. Don't forget that we are all free now."

"Oh~ I understand, it seems that you also miss the time we spent together~?"

"..."

I'm just out of curiosity. How can I still miss it when I've almost completely forgotten it?

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Who said this is the rule of the game?"

Alicia cleared her throat, "It was a stormy night..."

"Stop, stop, stop, this beginning... I always feel like you are making things up?"

"How is that possible? I'm really thinking about it seriously~?"

Alicia actually didn't lie. It did rain when she and Li met, but it was so small that even the blood stains on Li's body couldn't be washed away immediately.

"Forget it, just start again."

Li knew that she couldn't make Alicia do something she didn't want to do, so she gave up the pursuit and it was good to just listen to it as a story.

"Hmph, it should have been like this a long time ago~?"

Alicia nodded with satisfaction, and then began to tell:

……

"Goodbye! Mother Celia! Goodbye! Everyone!"

In the early morning, the young children said goodbye to everyone in the town and embarked on a journey to find [Paradise].

Following the direction of the rising sun, she kept moving forward alone, listening to the singing of birds, admiring the beauty of the forest, and teasing the cute little squirrels that appeared at her feet from time to time.

It was supposed to be a journey without many ups and downs, but just before noon, a stranger who should not belong to this forest appeared in front of the girl.

He has pure black hair and a handsome face. He looks like an ordinary boy about the same size as a girl, but the girl just feels that the other person is different, and that he is the same [different] as herself.

Instinct was urging the girl to run away quickly, otherwise something terrible would probably happen later, but she didn't. She looked at the strange face in front of her that she had never seen before, and faced the doubt and malice he looked at her. At the sight of her, the girl took the initiative to step forward and asked, "Who are you?"

【…】

"My name is Alicia, what's your name?"

【…】

"She's so beautiful, just like me... Oh no, Celia's mother said that you should praise boys with handsomeness?"

[It’s really strange that there are new apostles appearing in this lonely place? 】

The boy finally spoke, but his voice was strange, sounding like echoes.

"Well...you already know my name, do you want to say your own name too? Celia's mother said this is a necessary courtesy."

The girl named Alicia was dissatisfied with the boy talking to himself, so she hummed.

[Forget it, now that we have met, let’s lend another strength. I guess you won’t mind, right? 】

The boy stretched out his hand, and in an instant Alicia felt her body being quickly pulled closer. When she stopped, she found that the boy's palm had penetrated her chest.