/POP Sana/
At midnight, the wind was very cold throughout the hospital. In the room, there were only two people. A girl had fallen asleep with a sad face, her eyes a little red from her sorrow and guilt, while the boy was awake looking at the girl with an unreadable face, his breath struggling heavily with pure pain, his eyes shedding a few tears as the hard truth of reality hit him very hard. The boy just wanted to end his tormented existence, he tried hard not to make any sound so the girl wouldn't notice it. The boy was deep in thought, worried about his case.
[What should I do with her? Is she still the Alice I know? But maybe she will hate me if I..]
But suddenly, in her dream-like state, Alice moved her hand toward him and held his hand. With this sudden warm touch on his hand, Sana froze. "..."
Alice spoke in a soft sad voice while deep in her sleep. "I'm sorry…"
Sana let her hold his hand. He really didn't want to wake her up, he was so scared to face her in person, maybe he would do something weird to her somehow. But her touch made his heart pound like crazy, this was the first time a girl had held his hand like that. Not like Diễm Quỳnh, who always refused it with excuses like boys and girls shouldn't do that even when they had really become a couple. Maybe that Vietnamese girl just wanted to play with his heart. Alice was still the special thing from his previous life and even in this time too. Maybe saving her was not a bad idea, if he hadn't saved her maybe he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Sana unknowingly smiled while looking at the young girl in deep sleep.
[She is just familiar with the Alice I know, always apologising if she does something wrong and even being spoiled with me, even if this girl is not the Alice I know, I'm sure she is cute in her special way that normal people can't notice. If this is not real maybe I will take advantage of her like some type of smut novel. But I don't want to think so much, I'm so tired of these days now]
[My heart feels hurt… how can I change my fate and live happily? A normal life? Why is living a normal life so hard? My life is so challenging, did I do something bad in my past life and then take this sin into the afterlife? Maybe because of the way I treated my mother, right?]
Alice slowly opened her eyes because of his warmth. She held his hand with both of hers and said, "I'm sorry… this is my fault for making you suffer like this."
She, in a crying voice, lowered her head to Sana.
Sana was reluctant, he really wanted to gently wipe her tears but he didn't dare to do that. He slowly moved his hand back and forced a smile. "It's okay. You don't need to apologise. Saving someone is something anyone should do. So this is not your fault. At least I was able to save a life—that's enough for the cost."
[I'm so stupid, if it were another girl I wouldn't risk my life like this]
Alice looked at him with a big smile mixed with sadness. "You're so kind to me."
[Maybe I'm so stupid to be nice to an innocent girl, if she wasn't a girl, I wouldn't save her, after all I'm not a hero. Normally I hate men more than women, because they're more evil than you think, yes some girls too but in general I can't trust any guy because I have bad memories about it. Maybe being friends with girls is better, but sometimes they don't tell their feelings and just keep them inside. That's the hard-to-understand side of girls. But I like females more than males.]
Sana felt awkward, he looked around to avoid eye contact with her. "Maybe… because you look like someone I miss."
Alice showed sympathetic eyes and with determination she laid her hand on her chest like she was promising herself. "But I'll take care of you until you recover from your wounds."
[People here in Japan are so different. They care deeply about their reputation and actions, unlike the cynical people I knew back in Vietnam, who only chased after money and vanished without a shred of guilt. Now I understand why Japanese novels always have these kinds of plots. But I would never take advantage of her guilt. I already know she's hurting, so I won't pry into her sadness. That's just not how you treat someone.]
Sana shook his head while struggling painfully from his wound but he hid it, his voice showing worry. "But I don't want to affect your life… your studies, and your parents too."
[Please leave me alone, if you keep staying near me, I'm scared I will do something weird, I don't want to hurt a nice person like her.]
Alice took his hand, her eyes looking deeply into his eyes. "No, I won't. I don't want to feel guilty or regret anything in my life."
[It seems my fate has intertwined with hers somehow even though I had tried not to get involved with her, is this the reason I came to this world?]
Sana blinked his eyes in confusion while looking at her hand. "…I won't force you. But remember, you need to go home when night comes. Your parents will worry about you if you stay here."
Alice's face became a little red and she slowly took her hand back. "I'm sorry for holding your hand like that. Yes, I promise I'll go home at night."
[If in my previous life I had met a girl like her, I surely would have fallen in love with her, she is so cute in some ways, maybe my risk wasn't bad, right? But finding a nice girl like this is very hard nowadays, normally they just look down on me because of my appearance and because of my appearance and how big my wallet is. I really want to become friends with her. Maybe my first friend in this new world.]
Sana felt a little awkward. "Yes… About your studies, I can help you. I've learned it before."
[These feelings are like that time I chatted with her, she was always so helpless with her studies. I hate learning history man, that's a nightmare for me, especially World War 2 talking about Japan and Germany's choices affecting people and ending the war by sacrificing people for the peace of the world.]
Alice smiled brightly. "Really? From now on, I'll take care of you."
[I'm really in Japan now, maybe life is not that bad, right? I remember those American guys just keep dreaming about Japan haha.]
Sana's face became joyful. "What is your name?"
Alice tilted her head cheerfully with some blushing on her face. "My name is Alice. And you?"
[Is this world really real while she just calls her true name like that? I mean in Japan people still have surnames, right? Is this weird? Calling someone by their name like this is very normal, right? Why do I still feel something wrong from this moment?]
Sana hesitated for a moment because of this suddenly embarrassed atmosphere. "My name is Sa…na."
[This is definitely wrong, what is my surname, why did she accept it...]
Alice avoided his gaze while using her hand to play with her black hair. "Sana, Sana-kun? No, I like calling you Sana better..." her voice was so small he didn't notice it.
Sana froze, his body trembling with fear. " Alice?"
Alice was still in her own world, deep in thought about something "..."
[I don't get what is going on with her, does she hate me? Why can't I remember how to call someone's name normally, why do I feel so weird about this?]