The King's Mandate: Anomalous System

After the call, Das went into the hall again.

Elena had fallen asleep, and Das couldn't help but stare at her. 'She looks beautiful every time I see her.'

Das then picked up the bag and sat on the chair beside Elena, then he kept staring at her like a creep.

He tried to touch her but stopped his hands halfway.

'I had never seen her as sad as I saw her today.' Das blinked. 'She must be looking forward to seeing too many classmates and students'

Das then thought with a calm face, 'What happened to Elena's friend? What was her name? Mirza? Virza? Argh! I can't remember.' He lamented.

'What happened to her? She should have come here,"

'Do I know any other classmates? Probably no. I don't even remember their faces.' If Das saw any of them outside the school, he wouldn't even recognize them.

As Das kept admiring Elena's beauty and it wasn't long before Lucas showed up.

Lucas tried to wake Elena up, but she was still having a hard time staying awake. Her eyes were automatically closing every ten seconds.

Lucas looked at Das and said, "Can you help me take her to the car?"

Das nodded and wrapped Elena's arm around his shoulder.

They left through the back door, and during their way to the car, Lucas kept looking at Das with mixed feelings.

They put Elena on the backseat, and Derek sat on the driver's seat as he turned on the car.

"Are you coming? Lucas asked.

"No,"

Lucas drove a car, and a second later, Das yelled, "Wait!"

Lucas stopped the car and peeked his head out of the window, "Changed your mind?"

Das shook his head and said, "Please wait here for a second." He then ran inside the cafe and came back with a bag in his hand.

"What is this?" Lucas asked.

"Gifts… for Elena."

"It better not be some weird thing." Lucas reached out his hand to take the bag from Das.

Das was about to hand Lucas the bag but stopped and took a small box out of the bag.

It was the box of earpods he bought in pairs.

Lucas sighed and tried again to take the bag, but Das once again stopped-- but this time, he stopped because he saw Elena looking at him from the window.

Lucas' face was twitching continuously.

Das moved to the backseat window and knocked on it. 

Elena stared at him and grinned but didn't open the window.

"..."

Lucas sighed and turned down the backseat window. 

"It's Das!" Elena rejoiced as she jumped on Das to hug him, but Das stopped her and handed her the bag.

"Here,"

Elena didn't even look at the bag and kept staring at Das. "What's this?"

"Your birthday gift."

"My?"

"Yes," Das nodded.

Elena puffed her cheeks and kept staring at Das.

'She is kind of acting like mom does-- when she is drunk.'

"I want more," Elena demanded.

"What do you want?"

"You!"

"Huh?" Das looked at Elena with a puzzled face.

Elena pointed her finger at Das and then said, "I want---" Before Elena could say anything or Das could hear anything… Lucas drove off the car, leaving Das hanging.

"What does she mean by that?' Das muttered.

He went back into the cafe through the back door, then glanced to make sure Elena hadn't left anything behind. He then sat on the chair Elena was seated and leaned back, then he looked at the sky through the window and muttered, "I wonder if I was able to make her birthday special." He then said with a calm face, "Like she did on mine."

Das looked at the cake and wondered with a puzzled face, 'What should I do with this?'

"I can't throw this, and I can't leave it here like this either." He stood up and once again glanced at the cake.

"I can't take this home, but it's too big to carry. I might even drop a layer or two while walking since most cakes are unstable." He ate a piece of cake and gulped down, "But it's too good to be wasted."

Even if he managed to take the cake home, it was nearly impossible for him or his family to eat the entire cake before it gets spoiled.

"Hmm," Das pondered with a calm face, 'What if I give half of it to Elena tomorrow?'

"Yeah, I will do that--"

Ring!

Das' phone rang.

He took out his phone and saw an unknown number. He stared at the number and tried to recall if he had given his number to someone, and the phone stopped ringing. But, the next second, Das got a call from the same number again.

"Who is it?" Das said as he picked up the call.

[What took you so long?]

"Uhh… who?" Das couldn't recognize the voice.

[It's Lucas]

"Oh!" Even though Das had talked to Lucas on the phone some minutes ago, Das couldn't recognize the voice.

"What's up?" Das asked.

[Where are you right now?]

"I am just about to leave?"

[I see.]

Das suddenly felt like teasing Lucas, said, "What's wrong? Are you worried about me or something? No need to come to pick me up; I can go home by myself."

[Heck no! I won't care even if you die.]

"Heh!" Das clucked then asked, "So? Why did you call me?"

[Uhh.. what are you going to do with the cake?]

"I was thinking of taking it home and then deliver it to your house tomorrow."

'I would be able to see Elena too' Now that their exams ended, they now had a long vacation of about three months, so there was no reason for Das and Elena to meet each other.

[No need for that. We have the same cake here] Lucas rejected, and Das' plan to meet Elena failed.

"So what should I do with this huge cake?"

[Eat it?]

"There is no way I can eat it."

[Then take it home and give it to your hot-blooded mother]

"She won't eat that much."

[Argh! Then just give it to the master downstairs. There might be three customers sitting there, and they would love to eat it]

"..." Das was confused at first, but he thought it would be better than wasting it. "Alright."

[Good]

Das wanted to ask how Elena was doing; he cleared his throat and said, "How is Elena--"

Before he could ask, Lucas hung up the call.

Das clenched his phone in his hand as he trembled in anger and then kicked the chair.