Paradise of Infinity

"I really want to know who you are," Nik gazed at the glass-protected screen as Mitsuko placed her cellphone on the small cutout between the wall for the soap and shampoo. Her skin naturally blushing due to the increased blood flow from the warm water of the bath and her back cradling against Nik with a soothing sigh escaping her lips.

But just the thought of his past made Nik's mood sour. He was luckier than most, sure, but men who can be content with every disgrace and grace in their life are rare. Mitsuko wore her glasses this time and by now, after constantly dipping them into the water, the warm water didn't make the fog collect on the surface of the glasses. But she was surprised when Nik did show a moment of emotion which he had refrained until now and it wasn't his impressive member underneath her.

It was his chest against her back heaving deeply as if forcefully calming himself. Quickly throwing a look over her shoulder, she inquired with a curious gaze, "Did you remember something?"

But Nik seemed dazed and distant. His attention was not even the situation the two of them were in.

---

"Who are you?"

It was a surrounded inner garden with large walls topped by deep red aggressive-looking rooftops. There was a line of little boys and girls, most of them showing signs of malnourishment and marks of beating. Tattered clothes, some not even wearing any. In the small garden, the sight of the bleak expressioned children created an oddly chilling sight. Nobody had tears left to drop, or the naivety to smile for.

In front of them, on an extraordinarily large chair sat the woman whose voice remained thicker than most men any children had ever seen. She wasn't beautiful, she wasn't ugly either. Her skin darker than a normal tan and her pupils strikingly blue. Aside from a long braid, she had a shaved head and on her face and body were golden piercings. A trail of thick golden bolts over the sides of her ears and a chained nose piercing connected to the left ear.

Her body, too, muscular than most men. Broad shoulders, and carved abdominal muscles. She lied on the swinging chair leisurely while observing the one disheveled boy made to step out of the line. On his head, a small blue lizard could be seen silently staring at everything.

The woman had a silver but extremely scandalous outfit on her body. Strips of fabric sashayed over her breasts and then wrapped around her waist with a loose and baggy pajama trailing her thicker legs due to her lackadaisical position. Interest flickered in her eyes as she observed the little boy.

If the children could have read, they would be scared by what the tattoo right below her navel with an arrow pointing at her crotch meant.

"I... I don't got one," the boy shook his head timidly.

"And the little guy?" The woman glanced at the small blue lizard on top of the boy's head as the kid shook his head once again, signifying the lack of name.

"Come on, bring that sweety close to me," the woman gave a warm smile as the kid couldn't help but gulp and step forward. Carefully, he took off the lizard from his head and handed the lizard with a confused expression to the woman only to pale as the woman pinched the lizard's head.

"I will name you," the woman cooed gently, the warm sunlight making her dark skin strangely attractive as she continued, "I will feed you. I will teach you. I will give you a mother. I'm your trainer from today on."

The boy's nostrils flared and his eyes teared up at the sight of the woman tossing away the corpse of the lizard. His dry and cut lips along his shoulders trembled as the woman ruffled his head with the same hand she took the life of the lizard, "Got it, Nik? Hmm, I'm Esta Faran. You will call me Trainer."

---

Nik slowly woke up, a yawn escaping his lips as he slowly stood up, more tired than usual.

Rubbing his eyes, he silently gazed at his surroundings, and seeing nothing changed, he folded the mattress once again. The morning happened to be the same as usual. Kurumi went off to her school and Sayoko quickly followed for her University. Reiko had her job, too. But when Nik got ready for work, he was stopped by Mitsuko as she smilingly stated that she had plans for him.

Strangely, it felt ominous to him.

But instead of going out early in the morning, Mitsuko had him wait and help out with the chores. Done with the breakfast, Nik followed Mitsuko after setting aside all the dishes as she washed them and then moved a few pieces of furniture around, too. This was the first time he actually entered the rooms of Mitsuko's daughters.

Kurumi, unlike how she had presented herself till now had a neat room with barely any personalization. A single mattress bed with a desk in the corner and a window above it. A lamp, cupboard, and small bookshelf, and a mechanical item with a larger screen. Surely another one of the devices he failed to grasp, still.

Sayoko's room was average, too. A little bit messy with a larger bookshelf and her desk packed with various notes from the looks of it. Reiko's, on the other hand, was horrendous.

"Oh, would you look at that," Mitsuko groaned. Clothes and documents lying everywhere.

With a deep sigh, the two began cleaning up with Nik silently stacking up the papers while Mitsuko tossing the used garments into the smaller basket before cleaning the place up and folding the blanket over the mattress.

There was something Nik had noticed by now. A picture of a man. The house had an odd vase of two as decorations but it was a relatively simple one with a few family photographs. The man in the picture, most possibly the actual owner of the house seemed to be quite happy with his children. Like a loving family should be.

Only, Nik was at the very least, trained to look past one's words and emotions. Something he should have considered when he tried to lie and escape from one particular hellhole but in the end, he was successful.

If this family was so happy and content, Reiko wouldn't be pushing her body against him, Mitsuko wouldn't be bathing naked when Nik already knew that seeing someone naked is a big deal in this world, and Kurumi wouldn't be trying to act like a confused kid who didn't know how to seduce an escort. What was the deal with Sayoko, Nik didn't know. But for the meantime, she wasn't acting coldly to him, or warmly to him. A cool distance was maintained from the very beginning, something that could be because of the language barrier itself.

The mystery, however, is that where is the man himself?

Nik has been here for four days now and he didn't see the man one time. Sure, Genta told him about the business trip before he entered the residence but this long? From what he understood, the smaller devices, the phones, could allow communication from anywhere but Mitsuko and others barely received any call from this particular individual and if they did, it wasn't in front of him, too. The chances were high, but Nik still had a gut feeling that things wouldn't be this simple.

Still, he wasn't deeply attached to the family to care long enough. But that feeling changed slightly as Mitsuko took him out for his first train ride to some another location for reasons unknown. It was a wonder to Nik, everything. From the train station to the train itself. Even in his previous world, he had only heard of such genius mechanical contraptions but seeing one in real life still blew him away. Not to mention the fact that at this time, it was a bit less crowded and Mitsuko and Nik managed to get a seat for themselves.

Finally, Nik looked towards his hand held by Mitsuko. To get him to follow without losing due to unforeseen circumstances, Mitsuko had casually held Nik's hand and pulled him with a brisk pace. However, even now, their fingers were interlocked. It was 'that' kind of hold. Intimate but still warm as she leaned her body against him slightly during the ride and closed her eyes.

Unlike the first time he met Mitsuko, right now, under her sweater jacket was a red top and she wore a pair of white trousers. Mitsuko's innocent expression attracted many gazes. With both of them wearing masks, half of their attractive points were covered but for Mitsuko, just her well-defined body was enough to pull attention anywhere even if for a moment.

But the more comforted Nik felt, the greater his inner conflict grew regarding his situation. Nobody would ever help someone else out of pure kindness, right? And from the looks of it, Mitsuko expects some kind of reward in return which seems more sexual than anything else in nature. However, if possible, Nik simply wanted to stop doling out wild nights for some favor. Sure, it wasn't in his nature of deepest desire to be monogamous or anything, it wasn't how he was raised, but if possible, he wanted to stop being a sex worker for a change.

That's why he enjoyed working for Yuuko. The costumes are fun, the job was easy: cleaning and hugging, and most of all, it barely touched his true profession while made him feel happy because of all the hugs.

Droning out the chatter from his surrounding, the muffled sounds of the tracks, and the constant announcement running in the compartment, Nik leaned back against the leather seat and closed his eyes himself. He wouldn't know when to get out even if he observed everything carefully so might as well rest and calm himself down completely.

It wasn't until a few minutes when Mitsuko opened her eyes due to a sharp announcement and pulled Nik away. The next stop was boisterous and unlike the region of their residence, this one had taller buildings and in greater number, too.

Finally, Mitsuko stopped at some sort of plaza. A large building filled with more stores, just like the one Genta took him to at the beginning for his outfit but this time, the place looked a little more luxurious and much cozier, once again, because of the quite functional ac units. These were the things Nik noticed for now. What kept him warm and what didn't and for what reasons.

Even if for a moment, seeing himself being pulled so casually and without a hint of malice in the woman in front of him, Nik felt quite comfortable, at least, for the moment when he didn't think about the future and stuff. For instance, in less than three days, he didn't know what kind of location he'll be sent to by his direct superior: The Transmigration Paradise.

Still, unaware of his thoughts as the time grew nearer for Nik, Mitsuko turned back and pulled her mask down, smiling as she pointed at the clothes hanging all around through the racks on the floor and shelves for pants, "Come on, I can fix you up with a few outfits. Hmm, consider it a loan, alright?"