Chapter Text
After leaving Qlipoth Fort, Bronya the supreme guardian runs as fast as she can to the orphan in Underworld thinking Seele will go there. She takes all of the shortcut paths she knows so that she can show up before her and wait for her. Thinking it would be more romantic and Seele would forgive her more easily.
Without realizing the concerned looks from her people, Bronya finally arrived at the orphanage. She looks around and finds Seele is not there. Thinking she might succeed in arriving before her, Bronya sits on the stairs while thinking about what should she say to her.
'Seele, you know I never see another person than you! Even if that other person has the same face as you, the one I love is you because you're the only one I see! I love you because of your straightforward personality, your cute face when you are angry happy, frustrated, and everything about you. What you see before is like a sleepover with a friend. We didn't do anything more than have a talk before sleep.' Bronya recites her sentence in her mind while imagining Seele standing in front of her with an angry face and crossing her hands.
"Hmm, I don't think that's enough to convey my feelings towards her..." Bronya mumbled while placing her hand on her chin.
15 minutes after that, finally, Bronya finds the perfect sentence she wants to say to her. But there isn't any sign of other person besides her. She felt her heart clench. She feels dejected because it means she doesn't know her that well and it's just her mind thinking that she already knows her well enough to guess where she would go at a time like this.
Like a miracle, her phone rings, and when she opens her phone, she sees her most reliable friend answer her text.
Stelle: Sup Bronya, I just finished my business over here.
Steele: What do you want to talk about? Is it another job?
Bronya: No, it's not like that. I just want your opinion about something. But I think everything is too late. It's over...
Bronya: I don't know what should I do
Stelle: You can tell me first. Maybe I can still help you out of your problem like I always do! *Proud*
Somehow that sticker Stelle sent her, irks her. Maybe she's too frustrated with her current situation and her love life, so when she sees Stelle sent her, her girlfriend March's proud sticker it irk her.
She calmed herself and then texted back like her usual self.
Bronya: It's a long story but the conclusion is right now, Seele is really mad at me and I'm waiting in front of the orphanage thinking she would be here but it's already 15 minutes and she is still not here.
Bronya: I don't know where should I search for her besides the orphanage.
Stelle: How about Natasha's clinic? Or maybe the bridge in Rivert Town where you can see the Orphanage? If I'm not wrong, sometimes she goes there if she wants to think
Stelle: Or maybe she works herself like a horse to forget about you?
When Bronya sees Stelle's last text, she starts overthinking again. What if Seele really thinks that and wants to forget about her? Her confidence is crumbling more than it already has. She starts to imagine Seele never showing up in front of her again and blocking her number.
Stelle: Bronya?
Stelle: Sorry I'm just joking! *Crying*
Stelle: Anyway, I think you should go search after her rather than overthinking!
Stelle: Good Luck!
Even after Stelle said she was joking and sent her pom-pom kneeling while crying sticker, Bronya still can't let that possibility out of her mind. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to empty her mind and collect herself before continuing her search.
Not long after that, Bronya heard footsteps. She opens her eyes quickly and stands from her sitting position, thinking finally Seele comes here and what she thinks is all just her imagination and negative thinking playing with her mind.
But what she sees is not Seele she knows but another Seele from the other world with her twins and her sister.
"Bronya why are you here? Don't you need to search for Seele?" Seele asks her while walking towards her, and her sisters follow behind.
"Hello, Seele." Bronya smiled weakly at her "I plan to wait for her here thinking she would go here. But as you can see she didn't come here. How about you? Why are you here?"
"Remember what Seele told you yesterday? About this place different and has space that can connect this place to our place? It seems like Seele's instinct is right. We can go back to our world from here."
"Good for you then I hope you have a safe trip." Bronya said while walking away didn't want to disturb them.
"Bronya wait." Seele grabbed Bronya's wrist to stop her. "Can we help you search for the other Seele?" Seele said with pleading eyes, "I think more people are better than searching for her alone. Besides, sis Bronya is good at analysis and searching people, and my other self has a better instinct than me."
"Bronya feels like a tracker dog in Seele's eyes..." Bronya Zaychik mumbled while the other Seele a.k.a Veliona just held her laugh beside her and said, "But I think it's not that different because both of you are good at searching."
Luckily they're pretty far from them, so Seele and the other Bronya can't hear her. If Seele hears that, she might get that pout face from her, and she might confiscate Project Bunny for a while as her punishment.
"I can't ask anything more than what you already give me. After every advice you gave me yesterday night, I still don't know about her way of thinking, and besides I think I might have deserved it..."
"Seele don't think anyone deserves it. It's just a misunderstanding. If Bronya talks properly with her, Seele believes she will forgive you."
"But where should I go search her...?" Bronya said quietly, unsure.
Hearing this Bronya Zaychik floats towards them and says. "Didn't your friend already suggest someplace where she might come to? Like Natasha's clinic, a bridge in Rivert Town where you can see the orphanage, and somewhere where she can overwork herself like a horse." Bronya Zaychik said while typing something in her touch panel.
"Wh-why did you know that!?" Bronya asked with a loud voice, surprised, didn't expect the person in front of her to know that.
"Sis Bronya! It's improper to hack other people's phones!" Seele put her hands to her hips while looking at Bronya in displeasure.
"But if we didn't act fast, it would be harder to find this world's Seele. We already waste more time than we should here." Bronya Zaychik explains herself while still typing in her panel.
"What, you hack my phone!" Bronya said in disbelief, again. Because when she bought it, she requested her IT staff to do some modifications to make her phone have a high-security layer to prevent something like this.
Pretending not to hear that, Bronya Zaychik said "Seele I already sent you an image of this town's map. You should search for her there with Veliona. I will search all over the Underworld where she might be overworking herself and you will go to Natasha's clinic." Bronya slid over her panel to close it and continued, "Does anyone want to ask anything? If not then we should search now."
"Wait, I think I should search all over the Underworld. Because I think I know this place more than you."
"Don't worry about Bronya. Bronya already got this world's map based on the nearest satellite, and Bronya has already done some calculations where she might work based on her daily live record."
Bronya furrowed her brows at what the person with the same face as her said. "If you can do that, can't you just directly see where she's right now? Rather than order us to search one by one like that?"
"The satellite's data is not updated every second. It has a lag of around 20 minutes before updating data. So Bronya can't guess her precise location. But based on the satellite, she ever visited Natasha's clinic and here."
"Are you sure she ever comes here? I didn't see her at all when I waited."
Instead of answering Bronya's question, Bronya Zaychik said, "Are you sure you didn't drown in your mind and see everything properly?"
"...."
"Okay then, if anyone doesn't have anything else to ask, we should search for her." After that, they split up to the assigned location.
Bronya Rand's Side
After splitting up with her other world friends, Bronya quickly walks to Natasha's clinic. She unintentionally opens the door too hard until it makes a loud bang.
"Natasha! Did Seele come here today?" Bronya asks impatiently.
But rather than answering Bronya's question, Natasha gives that awkward look like everyone else in the clinic and some other people when she's on her way here. "Bronya, I think you should calm yourself and go to the back room with me." Natasha gives her a kind smile like always.
"I'm fine. It's really urgent. I don't have time to relax."
"Bronya." Natasha said with a softer tone, trying to calm her and make her realize her current situation while seeing her clothes indicating something.
When she sees what Natasha looks at, Bronya looks below at where Natasha looks and realizes that she still uses her nightwear. Suddenly she feels really embarrassed when she realizes she just ran from the Overworld to the Underworld in this state. Luckily she didn't wear her lingerie yesterday night or else she will be more embarrassed than this.
*Cough*
"Yes, I think I should calm myself a little and do as you suggest...." Bronya said with a low voice and walked to the back room with Natasha following behind her.
Bronya Zaychik's Side
After splitting up, Bronya walks to the nearest alley where she can observe someone named Oleg while she texts him using Bronya the supreme guardian's account.
Bronya: Good afternoon Oleg, It's me Bronya. Does Seele come to see you today?
Bronya saw from her place Oleg let out his phone from his pocket and saw her message with a confused face. Although she can see Oleg seems to have many questions in his mind, he still answers her politely.
Oleg: Hello Bronya, if you search for Seele, I can't say anything more than she's mad at you and she told me not to tell where she is.
Not giving up, Bronya text back,
Bronya: Can you at least give me a hint? I'm really sorry for what I did to her. It's all a misunderstanding, and I want to explain it properly to her.
After staring at his phone, thinking about what should he tell her finally Oleg typed back.
Oleg: Sorry Bronya, I can't tell you where she goes to. But I didn't give her any work when she came to me.
Oleg: I hope you can make up quickly with her.
After that, Oleg turned off his phone and pocketed it back to his trousers.
Seeing this Bronya just sighed, she knew from Oleg's face that he wasn't lying and no matter what happened he wouldn't tell her where Seele was. So she decided to search her one by one based on the data, displayed before her.
Seele Vollerei's Side
Since they split up to search this world's Seele, they already searched almost half part of Rivert Town near the Orphanage, while having small talk here and there. But there isn't any sign of her until it makes Veliona impatient.
"I wonder why she needs to do something stupid like this. If she has a problem with her Bronya, she should yell at her and tell her what her problem is rather than run away!" Veliona said while crossing her arms.
"Yes, but don't you think it's similar to you when you run away from Seele to protect Seele? Or when I pushed you away to make you not care about Seele and not sacrifice yourself?" Seele said with a kind look at her other self. "Maybe it's just every world's Seele's instinct when we want to protect something important to us. She might run away so she can't hurt Bronya either physically or mentally with her word."
Veliona let out a loud sigh and said, "Huft, you're really too kind. If it's me, I will not care about them and just go straight home."
"Seele believe you can't leave them alone, like what Seele suggested before." Seele said while looking at Veliona, full of trust.
"D-don't look at me like that!" Veliona said while covering her red face with the back of her hand.
Seeing this Seele giggled and said, "If you show this side of you to everyone, I believe you will become more easy to approach."
"Shut up! We have important things to do now. Don't talk about anything unnecessary like that." Veliona said and quickened her pace, leaving Seele behind. "If we're not fast, that stupid person might get in trouble and die already."
But rather than a feminine and kind voice, she heard an edgy, angry voice coming from above them, on the bridge. "Who you said stupid! Do you want to fight, copycat!"
While Seele confirms the person in front of them is the one they are searching for and texts her sister, Bronya this info, Veliona is triggered and says, "Do you think you can win from me! When you're running away from a fight with your girlfriend!" Veliona said, mocking her and then she jumped to the bridge so they could see eye to eye.
“Mind your own business and she’s not my girlfriend!” Seele pulls out her scythe, readying herself to fight.
“I will believe you if you can say that in front of her!” Veliona said, still in a mocking tone and then she pulled out her weapon too.
When their scythe almost clash, Seele already stands between them parrying their attack, and makes it fall from their grip to the ground. This makes them look at her in disbelieveable. They never think that the kind Seele will do something like that.
“It’s enough both of you!” Seele looks at both of them with a stern face. It seems like she is really mad now.
“It’s not my fault! She challenged me first.” Veliona said while crossing her arms and turning away.
“Says someone who calls someone they just met stupid!”
“Are you sure I’m talking about you? I never said your name there though” Veliona said smugly, sure she was the winner in their argument.
Hearing that, this world’s Seele just clicked her tongue and before their argument heated again, Seele Vollerei said, “Seele can you let Seele handle this? You can wait for the other there.”
“Fine.” Veliona walked away and waited near the stairs.
“What do you want.” Seele said in displeasure
After ensuring Veliona is far enough until she can’t hear them Seele said, “Did you know, the first time sis Bronya said she loved me and the other Seele equally, the other Seele got so embarrassed that she yelled at her, saying that she was messing with her and she didn’t care about her feeling as long as sis Bronya didn’t hurt me. After that, she starts drawing back every time we meet Sis Bronya, thinking she will disturb Seele’s time with Sis Bronya. But sis Bronya pesters her every day, we always invite her to join us in every activity, and in the end, the other Seele finally gives up running away and becomes more open to her feelings to us.”
Seele furrows her brow, confused by Seele Vollerei who’s suddenly telling a story about her relationship “If you want to tell me something, just tell me directly. Don’t waste my time.”
“Seele doesn’t have anything important to tell you. Seele just wants to share my experience with sis Bronya and the other Seele.” Seele Vollerei said with her kind smile while looking straight into Seele’s eyes. “Seele hopes you can quickly make up, and Seele is very sorry to cause all of this trouble to you.”
At the same time, Seele Vollerei finished her word, both Bronya came to them. And said at the same time, “Seele!” and “Good job Seele.”
“Okay, then it seems like it’s time for us to go back. It’s nice meeting with you Seele.” Seele Vollerei said and then she dragged her sister Bronya and her other self Veliona go back to the Orphanage to tear the crack of the dimension and go back to their world.
After they can’t see their other world friends, Bronya walks toward Seele and hugs her in relief. “Seele, I’m glad I can find you. Please let me explain myself. I can’t imagine if you’re angry with me forever and don’t want to talk to me ever again. There are still many things I want to do together. Even if it’s not as a girlfriend, I don’t mind. Please don’t leave me.” Bronya said with a quick pace and told her all of what she thought at once, really desperate when she thought Seele would run away again.
Seeing Bronya in this state makes Seele guilty. So she patted Bronya’s back to reassure her and said, “Talk to me slowly. I won’t run again.”
Hearing this, Bronya breaks their hug and looks Seele in the eyes to make sure she’s telling the truth. There she sees Seele’s guilty smile at her, which somehow makes her calm a little. After composing herself, Bronya said, “I will tell you everything. Yesterday Natasha came to me and told me something was wrong with your appearance and personality….” Bronya tells Seele what happened to her yesterday and after taking a breather, she continues “...And at night, after coming back from the Orphanage, I invite her to my room. BUT it’s just because I want to know about her relationship with the other Bronya and how they manage to do it. And I asked for some…l-love advice from her. By the time I realized it, we already slept and it was already morning. That’s what you see this morning.”
Bronya let out a big sigh, feeling a little bit better after telling Seele what really happened back then. “Do you have anything you want to ask me? I will answer anything.”
On the other hand, when Seele hears this she feels stupid because she gets angry just because of a misunderstanding. She feels like she wants to run away again to hide for a while until she’s not so embarrassed again. But because she promised she wouldn’t run away again, she just slapped both of her cheeks to make the blush fade away or maybe blend in with the pain.
Bronya gets worried when she sees Seele slap both of her cheeks and asks, “Seele are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine…” After composing herself, she continues “I don’t have anything to ask you anymore. You don’t need to worried about me running away or something like that. I promise you, I willn’t and wouldn’t do that.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to ask me anything?” Bronya asks again, afraid Seele’s holding herself back.
“Yes.”
Suddenly the other world Seele’s word crossed her mind and then her twins with red hue hair smirked at her because she was one step ahead of her in their relationship, and it irked her so much. So she decides to tell Bronya the truth about why she ran away when she confessed to her.
With a small voice, Seele said “Back then…I ran away because I was too embarrassed and didn’t know what I should say and I didn’t want you to see my embarrassed face. So….”
Because they stand so close, Bronya can still hear all of what Seele said clearly. So she saw her in disbelief and said. “So you’re running away not because you’re disgusted with me and reject me?”
“No! I wouldn’t think that.” Seele said quickly in a higher voice didn’t realise she made Bronya misunderstand that badly.
“So, does that mean…”
“I…” Seele wants to tell her that three words that she couldn’t say back then but her brain and mouth can’t process and synchronize to say that three words. If she doesn’t have this kind of personality, she might be able to say it easily like the kind and feminine other world Seele who doesn’t have a twisted personality like her.
“Seele you don’t need to answer me right now. You can answer me anytime when you’re ready, I wouldn’t mind. Just knowing you’re not rejecting me and thinking about it seriously already makes me hap...”
Before Bronya could finish her sentence, Seele gave her a quick kiss and said, “That’s my answer! I can’t say that word, yet. But I promise I will try as time passes by.” Seele turns around and continues, “Well then let’s go home, I want to sleep!” After that, Seele walks towards the Boulder Towns quickly so Bronya doesn’t see her blushing face.
She hopes that someday she can get rid of this bad habit and be honest with someone she cares about.