Unexpected Reunion

"I thought you would find this place quickly," came a voice from behind Kimiko.

She turned around. "Ewan..."

"Tell me..."

"This diary," she said, gesturing to the book on the floor. "Did you know about this?"

Ewan moved closer, picking up the diary. "I see you've learned about the origin of the Kaals. It's not a pretty story, is it?"

Ewan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm not upset that you were looking around. But now that you've read that..." He paused. "I need to ask you to keep what you've learned to yourself. For everyone's safety."

His tone wasn't accusatory, but there was a clear undercurrent of concern. "This isn't just Pandora's history we're dealing with. It's a powder keg that could ignite conflicts across kingdoms if handled carelessly."

"I understand the weight of this information. My intention isn't to cause harm or conflict. I'm here to gather information, yes, but not to weaponize it against Pandora or any other kingdom."

"My primary task was to gather comprehensive details about Felix."

"Whoever sent you must like my brother too much," Ewan said with a smirk.

"Like him..." Kimiko tried to imagine what Ewan meant. She envisioned Miku and Felix holding hands in her mind.

The words 'like him' echoed in her head several times.

"No way!" she shouted, her face contorting in shock.

"No, no, no, no," she repeated again and again, shaking her head vigorously.

"Whoa... calm down," Ewan said, raising his hands in a placating gesture, his voice soothing.

After some time, Kimiko finally calmed down.

"Phew... finally, you stopped shouting," Ewan said, rubbing his forehead with his arm.

"But... why are you sulking on the floor?" Ewan asked as he noticed Kimiko lying sideways on the floor, her knees pulled close to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She had a blank expression—eyes wide but unseeing, lips slightly parted. Lines of stress crisscrossed her forehead.

Ewan sensed a familiar aura approaching. "Wait... what's this aura I feel? It's him, and I thought he would take his time."

[Boom]

Something struck the mansion, leaving a large hole in the middle; the old estate now resembled a fruit that had been bitten.

Kimiko avoided getting caught under the debris and landed safely. She bent her knees to absorb the impact, her feet shoulder-width apart for stability and balance. Her torso leaned forward slightly to maintain a low center of gravity.

[Whoosh]

Even after landing, Kimiko couldn't shake off what Ewan had said about Miku liking Felix. She quickly returned to her gloomy posture, lying on the ground sideways once again.

[Rustle]

"Agh... he likes to put on a show," Ewan said as he emerged from beneath the debris.

"Ya miss me, ya damn bastard? This time I'm gonna crush ya for real, ya hear me?!" Virk shouted

[Growls]

Virk let out a loud growl and shifted his sights back towards Ewan.

"Hey, why all that anger, buddy? And what's with the bell?" Ewan asked, putting his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"Yer fault I got dragged into that stupid cat café nonsense! Ain't my style hangin' around servin' tea an' lookin' pretty!"

"Hmmm-hmmm," Ewan chuckled, trying to hold back his laughter. "So that's where my portal teleported you. I remember visiting a cat café where cat folk work." He could only imagine how it must have looked when Virk was dragged into that café.

"I woulda loved to take out each and every one of 'em, but since they were my Folk, I couldn't do a thing."

"Since when are wolves and cats family? Did he even go to school?" Ewan thought.

"But now? Now you're gonna die, Ewan! No more games!"

[Whoosh]

"Nah," Ewan stated with a sarcastic deadpan expression.

[Vwoop]

As Ewan saw Virk advance towards him, he opened a portal with lightning speed right below him, which reached out to Kimiko as well. Just as Virk appeared right next to him—

[Boom-Crackle]

Virk launched a devastating energy attack at Ewan's spot, turning the area into chaos.

"I hope you had a nice life."

[Vwoop]

A sound came from behind Virk and a faint light shone.

"Well, I don't know where we are, but I guess we're safe—"

"Well, well, looks like yer dumb power dragged ya back to yer fate, huh?"

"I guess it's because I recently used my portal to test if it could teleport me somewhere in the city," Ewan thought.

"It has been an hour or so since I used it; I guess I need to buy myself some time."

"Guess we're going to—" Ewan glanced at Kimiko. "Sigh... I'm going to have to fight this meathead."

[Whoosh-Bam]

Without wasting a second, Virk appeared in front of Ewan and punched him, but Ewan crossed his arms to block the blow.

Then Virk's fists started barraging at Ewan. Virk discovered an opening and delivered a devastating punch, sending Ewan crashing to the ground.

[Thud]

But Ewan quickly rose to his feet. Unlike Felix, who hadn't trained in a decade, Ewan had been training for as long as he could remember, so he was definitely and by far a better fighter than Felix. 

The only difference between them was that Felix was more physically strong than Ewan.

However, Ewan's intelligence, both in combat and non-combat situations, was far superior to Felix's. Ewan always fought in the most efficient and optimal way to ensure his victory or at least get the best scenario, even if it meant running away from a fight.

He knew he couldn't beat Virk, not at the moment. Before yesterday, which was the first time they fought, Ewan had already learned most of Virk's fighting style, but he didn't jump into the fight carelessly. 

Before that, he had been gathering information on Los Lobos and Virk.

"So, I know he just launches into a fight without thinking, like a wild animal. I just need to place a trap, to capture him, or capture his mind," Ewan thought.

[Whoosh]

Ewan tried to punch Virk with an over-rotated fist to increase penetration and impact.

Virk catches Ewan's forearm and kicks him several times in the chest and stomach, ultimately throwing him away with a final powerful kick.

"Nice, he should be feeling that I am weakened and try to attack me," Ewan thought.

"But he will think that I will try to open another portal. Every creature has their instincts, and wolf people have the strongest ones. Virk will definitely not fall for the same trap again."

[Whoosh]

Virk appears behind Ewan, his reddish-brown fur shimmering with tawny and gray-black tones in the air. His hooded, narrow lime green eyes reflect the anger of a wild animal as he tries to strike Ewan's neck with a hammerfist.

Ewan anticipates this move, having envisioned three scenarios in his mind. In the first scenario, Virk appears right above him; in the second, the beastman appears directly below Ewan to deliver a kick; and in the third scenario, the Beastkin appears right behind him from above.

[Thwack]

He clenches Virk's arm with both hands and begins to move his body, which is suspended in the air and falling slowly due to gravity, towards the ground next to him.

[Thud]

Virk was thrown to the ground with such force that it created a big crater, and nearby trees fell. Kimiko, who was still in her gloomy pose, rolled away from the impact before disappearing into the distance.

[Twist]

Ewan twisted Virk's arm, but Virk didn't scream. Then Virk attempted to lift Ewan with the same arm that Ewan was twisting.

[Snap]

Ewan broke Virk's arm, rendering him unable to throw him away.

[Tap]

Ewan quickly lowered his torso and tapped Virk's forehead with his index finger. Instantly, Virk's eyes went blank; he seemed to enter some sort of paralysis.

Ewan then hurried in the direction Kimiko had gone. "Right, this can buy me some time," he thought.

"Kimiko! Let's go!" Ewan shouted as he saw her lying near a tree with squiggle eyes.

Ewan rapidly grabbed Kimiko with one arm and dematerialized, moving away from the location.

After getting far from Virk, Ewan entered an alley in the city. He looked around to ensure it was safe, then lowered Kimiko from his arm and draped her arm over his shoulder before exiting the alleyway.

Next, he entered a crowded building nearby. Ewan approached the long counter where a person was resting his face on the table.

"Psst... Hey," Ewan whispered.

The man with black hair snored loudly, but his snoring was barely audible over the noise in the building.

"Hey, folks! If I get heads, I'll buy you all a free drink!" exclaimed another man who stood up, showing a silver coin that was more than enough to buy drinks for everyone. 

He held the coin between his thumb and index finger, poised to flip it with a swift motion.

[Swish-Whizz]

The man accidentally shot the coin into the crowded hall with lightning speed, hitting several things along the way.

"AHHHH... My precious HAIR!" screamed a man with big afro hair as the coin made a hole in it.

"Amma!" gasped another giant man as he was struck by the coin in the forehead and knocked out cold.

[Thud]

Then a delivery man entered, pale-skinned with dark circles under his eyes, wearing a blue flat cap and a blue shirt that resembled a uniform. His face showed no emotion, completely monotonous. "Here's the stock you ordered, Mr..."

[Whizz-Thud]

The coin whizzed past the delivery man's nose.

"Guess you're busy; I'll come back later," the delivery man said, still showing no emotion.

[Shatter]

Suddenly, the flying coin hit the bottle in the hand of the drunk sleeping face down on the counter.

"Oh...RUN EVERYONE!" The man who threw the coin shouted.

Instantly, everyone started running out of the hall outside, shouting "Brahmi is going to kill us!" Even people from the second floor who were in their rooms came down and started running.

"Why is everyone running?" Ewan thought.

"Who...Shattered...my...bottle," the man referred to as Brahmi, who was sleeping on the counter, whispered.

Brahmi slowly got up, his shadowed, serious eyes reflecting his anger. He had an uneven beard and was a very skinny man in his mid-40s, standing at about 164 cm. Ewan couldn't understand why everyone was scared of him.

The mid-section of Brahmi's scalp had very little black hair, while the surrounding areas had more volume. His face bore some nasolabial folds, and the color of his eyes was difficult to describe, as they remained perpetually shadowed.

"Who wa—"

When Brahmi saw Ewan, a towering man standing in front of him, he was startled for a moment.

"Oh... the culprits ran away," Brahmi said, turning his neck and face to the left.

"And you're still standing here. It means you haven't read the sign outside about this place closing," he added.

"No, I didn't. And if this place is closing, why was it full of people?" Ewan responded, turning his face to the right.

"Ugh... Those bastards are my stupid friends. They were just pretending that business is booming, those dumbasses," Brahmi replied, turning his neck and face to the right as Ewan turned his to the left.

"So, tell me what you want from an old failure like me?" Brahmi asked, turning his face left again while Ewan turned his to the right.

"Just a place to stay," Ewan said, turning his face left again as Brahmi turned his to the right.

"You got money?"

"No."

"Haha, nice."

"And who's the lady?"

"Let's go with... wife."

"Nice choice," Brahmi winked.

"You don't know my suffering."

"I couldn't; I am not married."

"You know, you might have said sister."

"Well, I don't want to see perverts around this place."

"That makes sense."

"I think you are special, so I will ask for a favor instead."

"What favor?"

"I'll tell you when I need it."

"Okay, then where's my room?"

[Toss]

"Here, the first one upstairs."

"Good."

Throughout this whole awkward conversation, every time they started a different sentence, they didn't look straight at each other. Instead, they kept turning their faces left and right.

After that, Ewan started heading upstairs while Brahmi looked at his shattered bottle, lost in thought but with a smirk on his face.

"That was one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had, but that man is smart. He knew what he wanted from me with just one look," Ewan thought as he entered his room, which was half a disaster.

"But even though it was weird, I believe we have created some sort of bond that won't be easily broken," Ewan smirked at the thought.

Then Ewan went near the bed, which was old and creaky but still comfortable. He placed Kimiko on the bed softly.

"Come on, get up. I need to ask questions about Felix," Ewan says, crossing his arms, his tone slightly annoyed, yet Kimiko still sleeps peacefully.

"Which messed-up people have you interacted with, brother?" Ewan thinks while looking at Kimiko.

"I wonder what you are doing right now," he whispers, his gaze drifting to the window, a hint of longing in his eyes.

Felix stands at the edge of the bustling marketplace, his eyes darting from stall to stall. His hand instinctively reaches for the pouch at his waist, fingers tracing the outline of the few coins inside. A growl from his stomach breaks through the cacophony of haggling voices.

"It's nice that before starting this training, Lord Furukawa let me have a rest day first, and I even get some money."

Felix approaches a fruit vendor, eyeing a particularly ripe guava. As he reaches for it, a small child stumbles into him, nearly falling. Without hesitation, Felix steadies the boy, his own hunger momentarily forgotten.

"You okay, kid?" he asks, crouching to the child's eye level.

The boy nods and then points at Felix's waist. "Your bag, mister."

Felix glances down to see his coin pouch has fallen open, its meager contents scattered on the dusty ground. His shoulders sag for a moment before he forces a smile.

"Thanks for letting me know," he says, ruffling the boy's hair.

As he bends to gather his coins, Felix notices the child's bare, calloused feet. He pauses, conflict evident in the furrow of his brow.

[Grrr]

The boy's stomach growls loudly.

"Looks like we're both hungry today, huh?" he murmurs more to himself.

After a moment's hesitation, he presses one of the silver coins into the boy's hand.

"Here," Felix says softly. "Get yourself something to eat."

The child's eyes widen in disbelief before he scampers off, clutching the coin tightly.

Felix watches him go and then turns back to the fruit stall. He stares longingly at the guavas for a moment before deciding to buy some.

"Some guavas please, all that I can get for this coin," he says, showing the vendor the silver coin.

The vendor is a small but tall man, around 170 cm, with a sun-weathered face and a knowing bright smile. He wears a simple dark blue nagagi; his white hair is styled in a ponytail, and his dark brown eyes are filled with years of experience. The vibrant colors of the fruits seem to shine like jewels in Felix's eyes.

Felix shows the old vendor a silver coin.

"HUH!... You just want guavas?" the vendor replies incredulously.

"Well, you are the customer," He replies with a grin.

After some time, Felix ends up with three crates stacked on his back, connected by a rope, and two bags of guavas in one hand.

"This is all I have. Are you sure you don't want any other fruit?" the fruit vendor asks.

"No, this will do," Felix replies.