He took a sip of tea, acting indifferent.
"Oh really? Right, I think I saw some clips on the network. Uh… did you?"
She nodded.
"Yeah…"
Sunny lingered for a bit, then mentioned as if he just happened to think about it:
"I, uh... hear that that Mongrel guy is quite good."
Rain scoffed.
"...Sure, I guess. But I don't like him."
Sunny almost choked on his tea.
"What? Why?"
It took a lot of effort to keep his voice calm and conversational.
'Why don't you like Mongrel?! Mongrel is awesome! He defeated twelve Awakened solo, you know!'
The girl simply shrugged.
"I don't know. He just seems pompous. And who does he think he is, going around teaching people how to live? Plus, what's up with that mask? A good person wouldn't have to hide behind a mask, that's what I think."
Sunny glared at her with a bit of resentment, then forced out a smile.
"Well, I don't know. The mask is a powerful Memory, for sure. And he probably doesn't even want to teach people anything… at least that is my impression…"
Rain frowned.
"Plus, he caused so many problems for Night! If he had the tiniest bit of conscience, he would have come forward and refuted those ridiculous rumors… but I bet that he doesn't!"
Sunny's eye twitched.
'Aha! So this is the root of all this! Just you wait, Kai… I'll repay you for this one day!'
He slowly took another sip of tea and asked, hiding his outrage.
"You seem to know a lot about that tournament, huh? I thought you weren't very interested in that kind of stuff."
Rain sighed.
"I am not. I just thought that maybe I'll see that Awakened again… the woman who saved me. But she's not participating."
Sunny wanted to say something, but before she could, the girl added:
"...Well, of course. A true Awakened like her would never waste time on something frivolous like this. She is probably busy doing something important… exploring the Dream Realm to help humanity, protecting people from the Nightmare Creatures. Stuff like that, you know."
Sunny smiled.
"That is certainly a possibility… wait, what do you mean? A true Awakened wouldn't waste… didn't you suggest that I participate in that tournament?"
Rain looked at him as though he was stupid.
"That's you! And that's her… what kind of question is that? By the way, what time it is… oh, goodness! I have to run…"
With that, she hurriedly waved Sunny goodbye and dashed to the door, leaving him completely stunned.
'....What the hell is that supposed to mean? That's me, and that's her?'
He remained motionless for a while, then slowly closed his mouth and looked at the time.
As it turned out, he had to hurry, too. The tournament duels were about to begin.
…Walking toward the elevator, Sunny was seething with anger.
'That's me… well, of course, that's me! I'll show her… hell, I'll show all of them! I mean, Mongrel will... ah, curses!'