Sento, Ryuga, Soichi, and Misora ascended the stairs to the ground level of the café, leaving the laboratory beneath them. Sento still clutched the panel he had unearthed from the wall downstairs, its surface cool to the touch.
Sento still couldn't believe he had found a piece of Pandora's Box in his own base of operations and now he had more questions than before. Many more.
Ryuga positioned himself near the café's entrance, his gaze fixed on Soichi, the shop owner, with a palpable tension in the air.
In stark contrast to Ryuga's wariness, Soichi seemed entirely unfazed by the situation. With an air of casual confidence, he set about boiling a kettle of water, his movements deliberate and rhythmic.
From beneath the counter, he retrieved a small tin, which he deftly opened. Instantly, a rich and inviting aroma wafted through the café, filling the space with the scent of freshly ground coffee beans.
Soichi cast a wide grin in Sento's direction, trying to sway his mood. However, Sento maintained a wary distance, his expression stoic and unyielding, a reflection of the suspicions lingering between them.
As the kettle's water reached a boil, Soichi deftly selected a vibrant red 'pour-over' coffee maker, positioning it with care. He lined the top with a crisp coffee filter, then meticulously measured out portions of the aromatic grounds from the tin, placing them gently atop the filter.
With patience, he awaited the kettle, the seconds ticking by in a charged silence.
At last, when the kettle emitted a satisfying whistle, Soichi poured the steaming water over the grounds in a careful, circular motion, the sound of liquid cascading echoing in the quiet café. The burgeoning coffee stream broke the silence, a warm invitation amidst the tension.
"I came up with this blend one day when I was bored, wait until you try some of this..."
Misora smelled the air, enjoying the fragrant smell and then went back to the food she had heated up. Her attitude and demeanor matched her fathers. relaxed and unbothered. She popped a French fry into her mouth and chewed with vigor.
Soichi glanced up at Sento as he finished pouring the water into the coffee maker. "Its name is: 'What's Up At Nascita?'...So anyways, what were we doing again?"
Sento sighed and shook his head. "Stop playing dumb." He stood up from the table he had been sitting at and started walking towards the counter.
"Faust stole this from the government laboratory..." He reached the counter and dangled the panel in front of Soichi's face. "...So why the hell do you have it?"
Sento leaned against the counter and rested the panel just out of reach of the café owner, then tilted his head and pierced Soichi with as sharp of a gaze as he could muster.
"Does this mean you're a member of Faust then?"
Soichi's eyes drifted from the coffee maker to the panel and then to Sento. He looked away and pretended to be in thought. "Me...in Faust?"
His vision finally rested on Misora and she returned his gaze. "You hear that?"
"HAHAHAHA!"
The father and daughter both threw their heads back in loud laughter.
"No, no, no, no..." Misora kept laughing, trying not to choke on one of her fries.
Ryuga had been sitting in silence, an uneasy tension radiating from his rigid form as he sat on a cushion that normally adorned one of the café's more inviting chairs. His fingers curled tightly around the fabric, twisting and wringing the cushion as if it were the source of his frustration. The laughter that echoed around him felt like an unwelcome intrusion, grating on his nerves and deepening the scowl etched across his face.
At that moment, a wave of irritation surged through him, and with a sudden burst of energy, he shot up from his seat. The movement was swift and decisive, fueled by the pent-up anxiety that had been simmering beneath the surface. In one fluid motion, he brought the cushion down with all his might against one of the nearby tables, the impact sending a jarring thud reverberating through the air.
"What's so damn funny?!" Ryuga barked, his frustration visible as he advanced toward the trio.
Soichi, undeterred by Ryuga's intensity, shot him an impish look. He adjusted his fedora with a flourish, tugging the brim down slightly before flashing a wink. "What kind of villain could be as stylish as me?" He let out another chuckle, clearly enjoying himself even as Ryuga's frown deepened.
Ryuga gritted his teeth, forcing himself to not totally lose his temper. Soichi raised his eyebrows, brandishing the alien material he had been playing with like a showman. "Then where did the panel come from?" he asked, his voice teasing yet curious.
Misora smiled cutely, seemingly unfazed by Ryuga's earlier outburst, before answering for her dad, "We got it when Faust kidnapped me."
Sento's face shifted to one of shock, his eyes darting from Misora to Ryuga, as if silently asking if this was serious. Misora, however, had returned her focus to her food, casually dunking yet another fry into the ketchup.
Ryuga froze, his heart pounding in his chest. He furrowed his brows and redirected his attention toward Misora, his voice tinged with alarm. "Kidnapped?!"
She nodded, still chewing. Misora took a moment to swallow before responding, her tone matter-of-fact. "Yeah... I have this power to strengthen Smash essence, as you know... That's why they came after me."
She punctuated her explanation with another French fry, her mouth full, making her last statement slightly garbled and hard to grasp. Sento's expression shifted from confusion to frustration. He was torn between anger at the situation and concern for Misora.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Ryuga exclaimed, his voice rising. "They would go after a kid? That's even lower than I thought they would be willing to go..." He shuddered for a moment, remembering the time he had spent in Faust's care.
Misora shrugged her shoulders, swallowed her fry, and chuckled. "Haha, I guess it's fair play to them. They want the strongest Smash essence, and I'm...well, I'm just part of the package. That's why they came after me..."
She took a long drink from the ice filled glass of orange juice she had accompanying her meal.
"Slurp...Ah..." She let the straw slip from her lips back into the glass. "...But Dad saved me." She glanced over at Soichi and smiled sweetly.
Soichi poured the coffee he had been preparing this whole time into four mugs, placed them on a tray and started walking around the corner of the counter.
"When I got Misora out of their lair, I took that panel and the bottles with me."
"OH!" Ryuga's eyes lit up with understanding, he walked towards Misora and pointed at her with the pillow still clutched in his right hand. "So the reason you're a shut in is... like..."
Ryuga reached her and bopped her on the head with his pillow, after the first hit he started rubbing it into the back of head as if it was helping press Misora for answers.
"HEY!" Misora whipped around and snagged the pillow out of Ryuga's hands. She started to hit him back. "Yes dumbass, it's because Faust is still after me! Damn it man!"
Ryuga stumbled away from her after taking a good blow across the face, nearly landing on Sento, whom was leaning against the counter nearby, watching the exchange. He caught Ryuga and pushed him away.
"Dad had a different job originally, but..."
Sento rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and brought up the picture he had of Soichi, the one where he was wearing astronaut garb.
"Here."
"HUH!?" Ryuga's eyes went wide as he grabbed the device with both hands, bringing it in for a close look. He let go and turned towards Soichi. "Owner, you were and astronaut?!"
Soichi ignored Ryuga as he rushed up and waved his fingers at Sento and smirked. "Oh? So you knew."
Sento smirked right back at Soichi. "You were the one who found Pandora's Box on Mars, right?"
Soichi raised his hand and stuck his tongue out in admission.
"Not to mention...oh wait, I will. The guy who caused the Skywall Disaster by causing Pandora's Box to emit that light..."
Sento raised his eyebrows and casually pointed at Soichi. "That was also you."
Soichi looked surprised for the briefest of moments. He scratched the back of his head and returned to his nonchalant smile. "Ha...Mars really did a number on my mind, back then... I still don't understand why I did that."
He glanced at Sento as he wandered over to the nearby foosball table, Soichi was fond of the game, he had placed on in his café to help liven up the place. He spun one of the levers and watched the little soccer men whiz around several times.
Sento walked over to the table as well, stopping at the opposing side.
"Yeah? Well I heard that you were the one who gave Faust the stolen panels."
Sento grabbed one of the soccer balls for the game from its storage hole on the side of the table and threw it onto the fake green pitch.
They started spinning the games handles and smashed the ball back and forth towards each others goal tenders, both men making fast passes and shots.
Soichi smiled as he blocked one of Sento's shots, "That was to save Misora. I had to make them believe I was on their side, or I couldn't have gotten in their hideout."
"Oh?" Sento made the little spinning men pass the ball back and forth several times before lining up another shot.
"Then why didn't you give the panel back to the government after?"
"Give it back? If Faust was serious the could wipe the lab off the map." Soichi took blocked the shot and took one of his own, Sento narrowly deflected it with his defensemen.
"Then why not say so sooner?"
The ball ended up bouncing back towards Soichi's end, he passed the ball up to his attacking line and spun the handle hard.
"Because I wanted you to be Build."
The ball rocketed into the goal and both men stood up straight, letting go of the handles.
Sento sat down at the table where the coffee tray had been placed, while Soichi walked towards Misora and put a hand on her shoulder. "I can't stand the way that Faust kills people like they're insects...Misora and I can't do anything on our own."
Misora looked at her father and hugged the pillow that she had taken from Ryuga, she nodded in agreement with what Soichi was saying.
"Then I met you...I was sure you could use the bottles for good, and bring Faust down, that's what I thought. But I wasn't sure you'd agree, if I told you everything..."
Soichi let go of Misora's shoulder and leaned forward on a nearby chair for a moment before turning around and looking Sento in the eyes.
"I decided not to explain the panel until you noticed it yourself."
Sento thought about it for a moment, the look on his face softened quite a bit.
"Is that why you made me get a job at the lab? The question was bound to come up if I was studying Pandora's Box."
Sento sighed and picked up one of the still steaming mugs of coffee. "So everything went according to your plan, huh?"
He mulled over everything again for a few moments and then leaned forward with a small smile on his face. "Fine then. Out of respect for the guts you need to serve this nasty coffee to people...I'll forgive you."
Sento snapped his fingers for effect.
Ryuga rolled his eyes and snorted. "Seriously? that's way too nice." He got up from where he had been sitting for the exchange between Sento and Soichi and walked over to Sento, leaning on the table and giving him a hard look.
"Well, if I wasn't a good person, then I wouldn't have ever drunk a coffee, entirely inspired by a bad pun."
Soichi scowled and pointed at Sento, wagging is finger quickly.
"Hey! It's not that bad!"
Misora, Soichi and Ryuga each picked up mug of their own, taking a drink at the same time.
All three spit their mouthfuls out.
"Nasty!"
"So bad!"
"How did I make something so bad...I mean, you kids just don't appreciate the mature flavor!"
Sawa entered through the front door as Soichi started to clean up the mugs, it didn't look like anyone was going to finish their beverage.
"I got a huge scoop right here guys!"
Everyone turned to look at the reporter.
"I found someone who knows about Sento's past!"