Spike looked at his second in command, Hansen and tilted his head. Taking that as a sign to continue, Hansen said,
"He looked just like you! Well, without the beard and long hair. And he looked pretty young as well."
"Where did you see him?"
"In a tavern!"
"A tavern.."
"Haha, that's right. I thought it was you at-"
"What were you doing in a tavern?"
Getting cut off mid sentence, Hansen soon realized he said something he shouldn't have.
"W-well.."
"Did you go to drink?"
Though he had started looking down at the floor since earlier, Hansen still felt immense pressure coming from Spike. Pocketing his shaky hands, he put on a nervous smile as he said,
"I mean, t-that's not really important, right?"
"Shut up."
"...."
Hansen could only feel aggrieved as he was told to shut up. Looking at the empty beer kegs strewn all around the room, he put on a disgruntled expression.
Spike noticed the expression Hansen was making and snorted. Throwing the keg in his hand as it had gotten empty, he picked up another one as he said,
"Did you forget what we're here for?"
"..No."
"Alright, then get to it. I don't wanna spend too long in this place."
Anger having long replaced his fear, Hansen clenched his fists as he looked at his 'boss', who had started drinking again. Walking away, he slammed the door behind him as he went to take a bath before getting to work.
Spike took a big sip and looked at the door, which had been slammed shut and thought of what Hansen had said.
'Someone just like me huh. Haha, now that'd be something, eh?'
**********
Back at the tavern, Tom and Jerry noticed the shocked expressions on Tyke and Yuuki. Yuuki was the first to come out of his shock as he said,
"Well.. there can be others with the same name.. right?"
Though the woman was surprised initially by the amount of shock Tyke and Yuuki displayed, she was now intrigued as she asked,
"Do you know Spike?"
Seeing that Tyke was still unable to process the information and Tom and Jerry did not even know who Spike is, Yuuki scratched his head as he answered,
"We know of one 'Spike'. I don't know if he's the same though."
As the woman saw Yuuki hesitate and look awkward, she started describing Spike. Jerry, who heard the description, started whispering to Tom,
"The way she describes him, he sounds like an old Tyke?"
"Yeah."
"Is it gonna be like his dad or something?"
"I thought his dad was supposed to be dead though."
Yuuki had sweat dropping as he could hear his captain and vice captain whispering. If he could hear them, then Tyke could definitely hear them as well.
"That's impossible."
Tom and Jerry stopped whispering when they heard Tyke talking.
"No.. it's.. not possible."
Yuuki looked at Tyke, who had started clenching his fist and lowered his head and let out a big sigh.
"You know.. did you ever see his body?"
As soon as he heard that, Tyke snapped his head at Yuuki, letting the latter realize how red Tyke's eyes had become.
Tom looked at Yuuki, who had his hands up trying to calm down Tyke. Folding his arms, Tom ordered,
"Take a seat first, Tyke."
"...."
"It's your captain's order."
Taking a deep breath, Tyke sat down and tried to calm himself. He had understood what Yuuki implied but he did not even want to think about it.
Tom looked at Tyke, who had sat down and looked at the woman who had started this mess.
Frowning at the blue haired man, who was looking at her, the woman asked,
"What?"
"Go to another table."
Although she was pissed getting asked to leave as it was technically her table to begin with, she still got up and sat at a nearby table, looking at them.
Tom glanced at the woman and gestured for Yuuki to continue. Taking the suggestion, Yuuki asked,
"Uh well, those three you beat back on Yo-ho island, were they strong?"
"No."
"Yeah, pretty weak."
Yuuki nodded as Tom and Jerry answered him and said,
"Well, Tyke's dad was very strong, at least as far as I know. So, it always sounded pretty far-fetched to think those three could have killed him."
Tom, and even the young Jerry at this point understood what was being implied and glanced at Tyke, who had his head down.
Seeing Tyke sitting with his fist clenched, Tom looked to the side and saw the woman trying to eavesdrop.
"Oi, come here."
"Huh, no."
Declining what was asked, the woman glared back at Tom, who was trying to order her around. Seeing that the staredown would not lead anywhere, Tom asked,
"Do you know where 'Spike' is?"
"..Yes."
"Alright, lead us there."
As Tyke heard that, he looked up to see Tom looking back at him. Smiling at Tyke, Tom said,
"Well, sitting around won't get us anywhere. Let's go."
Getting up right after saying that, Tom looked at the woman, who was thinking whether it would be a good idea to lead them there.
"Stop dawdling around already, let's go."
As Yuuki nervously laughed when he saw the woman was about to blow up in anger, Jerry asked,
"What's your name, big sis?"
As she looked at the boy, who asked her name, she slowly calmed down as the boy reminded her of her brother when he was that age.
Deciding that she could just run away if things got bad, she got up and smiled at the boy.
"It's Della."
Tom looked at Della, who got up and turned towards the door.
"You can introduce yourselves on the way."
Della looked at Tom, who had already started going and asked,
"Is he always that bossy?"
"Oh, sometimes. Anyway, let's go."
As Jerry ran to catch up to Tom, Yuuki gave an awkward laugh to Della as he went ahead. Della looked at Tyke, who still hadn't gotten up and asked,
"You're not going?"
Tyke, having calmed down by now, got up and looked at Della when she asked that and said,
"Make sure to guide us properly."
Feeling dissatisfied at the way they were ordering her around, Della glared at the backs of the group that were walking ahead and thought,
'Provoking a fight between the two parties might not be such a bad idea.'