"Do you want me to drive you home?" Giovan asked.
A few hours passed, and Lukas was still in the park with Giovan and Ember. The three of them sat on the bench and were eating ice cream shells.
"No need." Lukas smiled and put the remaining ice cream cone in his mouth. After that, he stood up. "I'm going to go. I'll talk to you guys later." He said goodbye and walked away. Giovan continued to stare at him for a while.
Then he looked at Ember.
"Do you think Karen was able to do anything? Her father is the head of the association, isn't he?" He asked.
"Yes, but I don't think he can do anything; the association in this city is just a branch. You know that, don't you?"
"Of course, I know that."
"Let's go back. We'll know what happened when we ask her."
"Okay. But first, let me finish eating this." Giovan put the rest of the ice cream in his mouth, smearing it all over his moustache. Then he stuffed all the rest of the ice cream shell into his mouth. "Shall we?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full. That's disgusting." Ember threw the rest of her ice cream in the trash near the bench, and then the two of them set off in the guild's direction.
In a few minutes, they arrived there since it was using Giovan's car. When they opened the door, they found Karen and Noelle eating a snack while looking at the laptop on the table.
"So, what happened?" Giovan asked after approaching them. He sat down, and Ember sat next to him as she always did.
"Nothing happened. My dad can't do anything, so I sent an email to New York." Karen took another bite of her burger.
"I see. Have you talked to Lukas about it?"
"No. Speaking of him, how is he?"
"We separated from him a while ago. After talking to him for a while, he seemed to be feeling better."
"Good." Karen smiled.
"Do you think this will work?" After hearing Giovan's question, Karen looked at her laptop again.
"I don't know. I hope they at least answer."
"What if they don't answer?"
"If that happens, I will go to Lukas' house to talk to his parents."
"I understand." Giovan crossed his arms and bowed his head. "I don't think that will do any good. I talked a little with Lukas, and he told me some things about his family. They certainly won't allow him to become a hunter."
"I know that very well. Still, I'll try to convince them," Karen said confidently. Giovan then looked at Noelle and Ember, and the two looked away, not wanting to give an opinion.
"Well, I won't try to stop you. Just don't put too much pressure on his parents."
"Don't worry." Karen took the last bite of her burger before standing up. "Call me if they respond." She said to Noelle.
"Sure." Karen left the room and walked up the stairs. Noelle then laid her head on the table. "Aaaahh, that idiot. Why is she so worried about this boy? She doesn't even know him properly. I liked him too, but..."
"Maybe because he looks like Jey?" Ember said.
"I thought the same thing!" Noelle raised her head and looked toward Ember. Then she put a sad look on her face. "But when I said that, she got angry." Ember laid her head back on the table.
"I can understand that. She doesn't like us talking about him."
"I know that, but I couldn't help myself. Don't you guys also think she's doing this because Lukas looks like Jey?"
"Maybe?" Giovan gave a few low laughs.
"I think that's it." On the other hand, Ember was thinking the same thing as Noelle.
"Well, she must know what she's doing. Even if we try to stop her, it won't do any good. I'm sure that when the association response and Lukas' parents refuse to sign the document, she will give up."
"..."
"..."
Then an awkward silence persisted until Giovan and Ember left.
####
"Good afternoon, Raquel."
"It's evening, Lukas. You seem to be feeling better." Raquel answered his greeting with a smile.
"Kinda." Lukas went to the candy aisle and picked up the chocolates his sister wanted. Taking advantage of the fact that he was there, he also picked up some snacks and a pack of soda cans.
"Are you thinking of having a party tonight?"
"Oh, it's not that. I just wanted to drown my sorrows by watching something."
"Drown your sorrows? May I ask what happened?"
"Some things that are screwing with my work."
"I didn't even know you were working. I hope things get sorted out soon." Lukas smiled and then picked up the shopping bags. Then he said goodbye and left the market.
'She is kind as always...' Lukas walked for a few minutes until he reached his house. When he entered, he found only his sister sitting on the couch. His parents did not seem to be home.
"Welcome back."
"... Here." Lukas approached the couch and threw the chocolates over Anna.
"Hey, don't do that. They might fall and get dirty."
"They're well packed." Lukas then put the sodas in the refrigerator and went upstairs. After grabbing some clothes and showering, he returned to his room and sat in front of his computer to watch something.
"Video on youtube, series... Maybe I should watch those things Philip always recommended to me?" Lukas entered a website that contained many translations of animes. "Do I need a subscription?"
He took a deep breath and then put in his debit card information to subscribe to the streaming service.
"19 dollars is a bit expensive, no?"
After he subscribed, he searched for something to watch for a while until he managed to find something that Philip periodically praised during their conversations. "Hunta x Hunta... That's a strange name."
Lukas then started watching the first episode. He watched six episodes before he felt sleepy and went to bed.
####
"Where is that son of a bitch?" I couldn't see very well. I'm in the middle of a dark alley. To my left was a closed bar, and to my right were some windows.
All the lights were out, and I couldn't hear any voices.
I entered here, but I was trapped because just ahead was a dead end. Behind me was the only way out, but I would be caught if I went out.
I looked around desperately, looking for the man who was chasing me. An unknown man who was two meters tall. He jumped over the buildings like a monkey.
His speed of movement was frightening. Even with my ability to accelerate my speed, he could easily keep up with me.
Stopping to think about everything that just happened, wasn't I brought to this place by that man?
"You're going to stay hiding until when, little rat?"
"Shit." As I was distracted by my thoughts, he appeared just above me. I moved backwards, narrowly escaping the punch of that monstrous creature. His punch hit the ground and produced a few cracks in the floor and the alley walls.
As it straightened its stance, I could see its white teeth gleaming in the darkness and its very distinctive golden eyes.