Impromptu visit from Nadia

Before I could do that, I heard Jane's phone ringing, surprising me.

Looking at it, I saw a text from Nadia. "Jane, can I come over?"

Huh? Nadia? Why would she want to come here?

"I got some news about Ben!" She added.

Ah, right… I'm curious to see what she's going to say.

"Really? Of course you can come!" I texted back.

"I'm on my way, I'll be there soon." She concluded.

I stored the phone back in my pocket, while Airi seemed curious.

"Who was it?" She asked.

"It was my aunt."

She raised an eyebrow. "What did she want?"

"Well, you know how I went to see her as Risa earlier today? I tried to reassure her that I was safe, so she's most likely coming here to tell that to Jane and Sophie."

"I see. I suppose we'll have to think of what to say to her carefully, then. Unless you want to tell her the truth now?"

I sighed. "I don't know..."

"I haven't learnt any mind control spells yet, so I won't be able to help you if you do that."

"I should probably wait a bit more before revealing the truth. In any case, let's go to the living room, she'll arrive soon."

"Okay. I don't know anything about your aunt though, so maybe you should give me some info on her that Sophie would know." Airi said.

After thinking for a moment, and looking at Jane's memories related to Nadia, I replied. "Sophie, Jane and myself usually call her Nadia. She's my mother's younger sister. Jane and Sophie try to remain polite with Nadia, even if they don't really like her, since she used to be a drunkard. But if she really changed, they would be willing to give her a chance."

"We'll see if she changed, then."

We went back to the living room, sitting on the couch and watching TV while waiting for Nadia to arrive.

"It's better if you're the one leading the conversation, Ben." Airi spoke. "You know your aunt better than I do."

"Alright." The doorbell rang, and I got up. "It's probably her."

I opened the door to let her in. My aunt came inside, smiling. I wasn't expecting to see her with that kind of expression.

"Hi, Nadia." Airi said, a polite smile on her face.

"Good evening." I followed. "So, you said you had news about Ben?"

She nodded. "Yes. This morning, a woman came to my house and said she knew about his whereabouts. I think she was hiding something, but she said that Ben was fine and would contact us when he's ready."

I cursed myself internally. I suppose it's normal not to fully trust strangers who say stuff like that… I didn't think this through...

I tried to regain my composure and ask her for more. "What do you mean by ‘hiding something’?"

"She seemed to know our situation really well.” Nadia replied.

"Maybe she's a friend of Ben we didn't know about." Airi pointed out.

"I think she was a bit old for that, but maybe."

Risa was only twenty-nine, though... I never cared about the age of someone. I would probably have liked to be Risa's friend, from what I remembered of being her.

Airi caressed her chin for a second before speaking. "I think Ben mentioned a woman he befriended during one of his hikes, so it was probably her."

"But why be so cryptic about it? Why not tell us where he is?"

You really chose that time to start thinking rationally? I didn't really know what to do.

Seeing my indecisiveness, Airi got up. "Listen, I promised to not say anything yet, but I see that you are really worried..."

Airi spoke, surprising both me and Nadia. "Sophie?"

W-what is she doing?

"Ben contacted me earlier. He got into an accident, but he's fine. That's why he's missing. And he should be able to contact you in three weeks." Airi lied seamlessly.

“What?" Nadia was shocked. She walked closer, worry on her face. "What kind of accident?"

Airi closed her eyes and sighed. "He didn't say. But he sounded fine, albeit a bit weak. He probably wants to recover in peace, and will allow us to meet him when he's feeling better."

"And why didn't you tell me that, before now?" I retorted, trying to sound annoyed. I thought playing her game would make it easier for Nadia to believe the story.

Airi looked at me. "I told you, I promised him not to tell anyone… I would have told you tomorrow, Jane, after asking him for permission." Airi then glared at Nadia. "But since you finally seem to have decided to take your role as an aunt seriously, Nadia, I thought I could tell you now."

W-why would you say that?

Nadia grit her teeth, starting to cry. "I know I fucked up… I already blame myself constantly for that... Ben wouldn't have been in an accident, had I been a better aunt… Anya must hate me for having treated her son so badly..."

Mom... would never hate you... It was what I wanted to say, but I was Jane right now. I couldn't.

Airi approached Nadia and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's never too late to change, Nadia. If you're truly sorry about what happened until now, learn from your mistakes to make sure to never repeat them again. That's how you will make Anya proud."

"Y-you're right…" Nadia somewhat regained her composure, and made a weak smile at Airi. "You... really grew up fast… You're really mature, Sophie. Way more than me. Olivia and Jacob raised you well..."

An awkward silence followed, Nadia looking at her feet, until she spoke again. "I... I'll wait, then… If you get in contact with Ben, could you tell him I'm truly sorry for the way I acted?"

"We will, don't worry." I replied with a warmer smile.

Nadia let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." She then left, glancing at us one more time before closing the door.

I plopped onto the couch next to Airi, closing my eyes. "I really wasn't expecting that… Why did you act like that?"

"Your first meeting with her as Risa left her with a lot of questions. I just tried to ease her worries." She replied.

I smiled at her. "Thanks for your help. She needed to hear that."

Airi took a pensive expression. "Me and her, we both went through life-changing events leading to some self-discovery, in a way… I can relate to her on that."

"Airi..."

Airi yawned. "I'm feeling tired. Would you lead me to Sophie's room?"

"Alright, follow me."

As she asked, I led her to her room for the next five days. We wished each other goodnight and I went to Jane's room.

Once I closed the door, I started to think. So many things happened today… Airi, staying in Sophie's body for five days… I think I can believe her when she said she didn't have any ill intents, but I'm worried… She was acting a bit strange, after all. Even if she helped me when Nadia showed up.

I recalled what she said during our confrontation earlier. And what was that about not having dug up everything in her mind when I said I was jealous of her? Why did she say that?

When I was in control, I was mainly focusing on the memories that could help me act more like her in public, and those about her parents…

I sighed. "It's no use. The only way for me to know, now, is to ask her… I should go to sleep, I have to go to college tomorrow..."

I removed the clothes I was wearing and slipped into a comfy pajama. "Goodnight, Jane..."

I laid on the bed, but I had too much on my mind to sleep right away... Knowing that I was Jane made it a bit more difficult. I was all too aware that I was going to spend the night, and the next five days, in the body of the girl I considered to be like a big sister to me. And that in the body of her sister, and my new girlfriend, was Airi, the girl we used to hate and who used to hate us. She might have warmed up a bit to me tonight, but I couldn't help myself from being worried. And what about her body? Didn't she care about her reputation at school anymore? It's with all these thoughts that I finally fell asleep a bit later...