I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 257: There Is No We

Silence fills the other end of the line.

Arthur can almost hear Captain Chambers thinking.

Processing.

Then—

"Chief Lutherford is there? What do you mean she’s there? Like there there with you or what? Montrose! Are you sleeping with Chief? I swear to God, if you are taking advantage of her—"

Arthur pulls the phone away from his ear and ends the call.

He drops it onto the bedside table.

He yawns again, long and unbothered.

Then his eyes shift toward the corner of the room.

The place where Arthur II has been standing all night.

Watching.

Unblinking.

The corner is empty.

Arthur stares at it for a few seconds.

Still empty.

He exhales slowly.

Relief seeps into his bones.

I can finally sleep.

He lies back down and pulls the blanket over himself.

His body sinks into the mattress.

He closes his eyes.

And this time, there is nothing staring back at him.

------------------------------

Captain Chambers stands in the middle of his office, staring at his phone in disbelief.

For a full second, he does not move.

Then his face reddens.

He lifts the phone as if he is about to hurl it against the wall.

He stops mid-motion.

It is the fourth phone Solarys DEU has issued him in the last four months.

He has broken the previous three in similar "various" incidents.

Because of his temper.

They have warned him. If he breaks this one, they will not give him another. They will even start deducting his salary.

His hand trembles with the effort of restraint.

He inhales sharply.

Slowly, painfully, he lowers the phone.

Intact.

He places it on his desk.

His jaw tightens.

"I need to go there and check on Chief," he mutters to himself. "I cannot have that pretty boy Montrose corrupting her."

He grabs his coat from the back of his chair.

Snatches his keys.

And storms out.

------------------------------

A wail pierces through the apartment and startles Arthur just as he is about to drift off again.

He blinks hard and groans.

He drags a pillow over his head, pressing it down as if that might block out the sound.

It does not.

The wail cuts through the fabric.

Through the mattress.

Through his skull.

"You’ve changed, Art."

Arthur freezes.

"You used to jump into action the moment you heard even a small cry. Now you just groan and try to ignore it?"

Arthur II is lying on the bed beside him.

Close.

Too close.

Arthur jumps out of bed, spinning his body around to face the voice.

"Get out," he says through gritted teeth.

Arthur II does not move.

He only stares at Arthur with a look that borders on pity.

"I’ve told you many times. I am here because you want me. You summoned me. Otherwise, I would not be here, Art." His voice sharpens. "So tell me. What is it that you want?"

Arthur II sits up slowly, mirroring Arthur’s usual posture, when he’s sitting on the bed after waking up in the morning.

"Besides, us changing is good," he continues, in a calm tone. "It is good that we are more sensitive. More aware. More in touch with our feelings. We do not want to become the cold and detached person we used to be, Art."

Arthur lets out a disbelieving scoff.

"’We’?"

He swallows, lowering his voice as if someone might overhear.

"You are nothing but a fragment of my imagination. You are not me. There is no ’us.’ There is no ’we.’ You do not exist. Period."

Arthur II looks at him the way one looks at a stubborn child.

Patient.

Slightly disappointed.

He speaks slowly.

"Arthur. Listen to me very carefully."

His voice softens, but it does not lose its edge.

"I may be your imagination. But I am very real. I am here because you brought me out. And I exist because you need me out here... existing."

He leans closer.

"Otherwise, I am perfectly content staying inside you."

Arthur breathes hard through his nose, jaw tight.

"How is it that me ignoring a wail is better than before, when you said I used to jump at the smallest cry? You’re not logical."

Arthur II smiles faintly.

Arthur is engaging.

Good.

"It does sound contradictory, doesn’t it?" Arthur II says calmly. "That is because we... fine, you, already know that the wailing is not coming from someone helpless."

He tilts his head slightly.

"You know it is most likely Alicia Lutherford. And you know that whoever is out there can handle her."

Arthur says nothing.

Arthur II continues.

"Before, you jumped because you believed you had to handle everything yourself. You did not trust others to step in. You did not trust them to be enough."

He folds his hands loosely over his lap.

"You carried it all."

Arthur II’s grin widens.

"Now you stay in bed because you know you do not have to be the hero every single time."

He leans forward slightly.

"Am I right or am I right?"

Arthur says nothing.

His jaw tightens.

He grits his teeth.

"Stop grinding them like that. You will ruin them," Arthur II says lazily, that same condescending tone slipping through.

Arthur ignores him.

He turns toward the window.

Sunlight spills across the floor, thin but steady.

Morning.

"Oi," Arthur II says, propping himself up on one elbow. "If you are thinking of not going back to bed just because the sun is up, you are wrong. You can sleep in. There is nothing wrong with sleeping in."

Arthur stiffens.

He hates how easily he is read.

He hates how transparent he is.

He never realizes that Arthur II is not reading him.

He is him.

A part he has been suppressing ever since he left home to protect his family.

The part that wanted to rest.

The part that wanted to be selfish.

The part that wanted to not carry everything alone.

"Oh, and on another note," Arthur II continues casually, "you should probably warn Alicia that Chambers is looking for her. He might come here."

Arthur glances at him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You did quite a number on him when you hung up mid-panic," Arthur II adds with amusement. "That is another thing that changed. You did not let him finish."

Arthur II’s grin widens.

"I agree with that decision one hundred percent."

He raises a thumbs up.

Bright.

Approving.

Unbearably smug.