Daru wanted nothing to do with the drama that he knew would escalate.
He left before any of the sisters could say something.
He went on to walk the neighborhood. He didn't really have anything to do.
He passed Candice's house, looked toward it for a few seconds, then shaking his head, he walked on.
He didn't really have anywhere to go.
It was too early to scout, look around his targets.
"I wish I had phantom thief abilities, able to mask myself in a way that even if I am inches away from my targets, none would be able to sniff me out."
Daru's eyes went towards the red light always flashing but only comes to focus when he intends to.
"This waste system didn't give me anything at all."
If his system could have heard him from its indefinite sleep, it would have said, 'Bitch, I literally gave you a third life, you ungrateful bastard.'
"The only thing to do now is wait."
Standing in a place, he takes in deep breaths.
"It's not gonna be long; the clock is ticking." No matter how many times he says this to himself, it's just not enough.
He would much rather want to just walk into their base and shoot their mother's milk out of them.
But he ain't dumb enough to think he is Chuck Norris.
"It's alright, man. It's not some long-drawn battle; it's gonna be a blitz." Balled fist, closed eyes, he breathes to fill his chest, "Better yet, it will be like a bomb placed right under their seats, blow them to bits…"
"Deep breaths…"
Daru never had to cultivate patience, not this life, not the last.
He very early realized that patience, for one, will mix a bunch.
The only motto he ever worked with, try everyone you can, at least one will stick.
The same old saying, too many fish.
And this life too, he learned the ultimate ways to get things done.
Money and violence.
If you can't have it done, then it was not enough money or violence.
'Kill me for not having the fabled patience of the MC that can increase their power in minutes, rivalling the villains who had to work their whole life for.'
Back onto the march on an undecided destination.
Daru thought back to the girls, "Alex, Haley, and also, Claire."
"I don't think I can stop myself from going that extra mile with them too."
No matter how it looks from the overly touchy yoga sessions and just the spit-swapping with Haley, this is Daru going easy.
For now, he has been going with the flow; he has not actively pursued any of them, but that doesn't mean he will be able to hold for long.
"They are undeniably attractive, and I am sure not gonna pass this chance to bag three of them for myself."
He knows that it's a blessing to have even the chance; he is not gonna roll over on this.
The people that he would not have a chance to be with in his last life so accessible, it's just crazy.
"Standing outside of Bigfats shop, through the glass window, watching TV with Chris, Adam… ha…" Daru chuckled.
That fascination with the stars seeping well into his adulthood might be a reason why he was attracted so much to the Hollywood big shots.
Those larger-than-life people.
"Life was always better for them, ordinary but so much better." He recalled to himself the various sitcoms that showed what was common, normal, for regular people.
"Not for us, though, not for the rats of the streets."
For all these memories though a past he finds solace in their reality.
He knows it happened, that it is not some real bad psychedelic trip but that he lived a life with a different face, with a different name.
While a lot of him has carried over even from day one, some undeniable things just make this life different… and more.
For once he had parents, loving even. That was a big improvement from not even knowing the people who dumped you in an alley.
A father that loved him, taught him what it is to be a man. Raising him with rules that might not have stuck due to his very early departure. But his love, that has been like the heaviest metal mixed in his being, not even the cruel wash of time can do anything to it.
And friends, he couldn't really call anyone friends then; how can you when you had to battle the same people for food to live.
But this life he made friends.
Many actually, from those that let him escape to America, those that sheltered him here, those that introduced him to the life of crime, 'well maybe not those, ha ha.'
On a personal level, he has a better face, a better body, a better mind, basically a lot of improvement even before the double power-up.
So do hell give him slack; he wants to be truly settled in this life, settled in his own sense, not bogged by the thoughts of revenge or by the complications of living in a fiction world, the sorrow of doing his family wrong, the web of guilt caging his relationship with his sisters.
"Huh… let's just put my head into killing and getting my revenge than I can think about the rest…"
Shoving the situation again to the time when he can ignore it no more, Daru walked.
He didn't really know where he was; he has walked in turns and circles.
To his left, he saw a library and a park right opposite to it.
Daru walked into the park, and right as he entered,
"Huh, what is Phil doing here."
[AN: This is not an excuse, no matter as much as I want it to be.
That my chapters are first draft chapters, I am still learning, and the process that I learned and refined after the first book seems to be only the first stage. Well, whatever. What I want to say is I will take this as a lesson, and the next project will have better story structure. Still, a great thanks for reading this novel; it almost feels impossible, but I will write (hope to) at least 4k to 5k words every day and try finishing this novel soon.]