The Shrine Maiden Who Loved Movies?

After that, Mo Hei chose not to talk to Mo Bai about their parents.

Even when Mo Bai pressed him, all he would say was that he couldn't tell him "for his own good."

Honestly, Mo Bai couldn't understand why Mo Hei had suddenly become so cryptic.

But seeing how uncomfortable it made him, Mo Bai decided not to press further.

He was in a new world now anyway. There was no need to dwell on things that were already in the past.

The fact that his parents were dead was real enough.

Bzz—

That morning, Mo Bai woke to the sunlight.

Tap, tap.

He got up and went to the window out of habit, then opened a Shadow Portal.

Only when nothing happened did he fully wake up.

Not only was the big blue bird that used to wake him gone, Gabriella was gone too.

He no longer needed to get up early to "open the door" for her.

So Mo Bai checked the time on his alarm clock.

Morning class was already over...

But no one was pushing him to go now. Did it really matter if he skipped it?

"...Sigh."

Once the people he knew were gone, something always felt missing.

In the end, Mo Bai got up and decided to wander around the Academy to clear his head.

Even during class hours, plenty of people were still milling about the Academy.

Some were students without classes; others were teachers gathering material or taking a short break.

Mo Bai figured listening to students and teachers gossip might be a decent way to pass the time.

"I saw her! I really saw her!"

"Have you lost your mind? What are you yelling about so early?"

"Exactly. We're skipping class. If a teacher catches us, we're done