Just then, the door opened. Akin looked over, tense and ready to defend himself, while Carter flinched in terror, clutching onto Akin and squeaking silently as his heart pounded wildly.
"Excuse me—" Kalè's voice cut through the ominous tension.
She entered, looking shocked as Akin's hand moved toward her in defense. Swiftly, she dodged by tilting her head to the side, and his punch narrowly missed her.
"Sorry, I thought you were… something else!" Akin apologized, quickly pulling his hand back.
"Oh! I'm sorry if I scared you," Kalè said, looking at Akin and Carter with a hint of guilt.
"It's fine, just be careful while you're in here," Akin warned, then began to walk out, his face calm but his mind suspicious as he maintained his cool.
"Very suspicious!" Akin thought as his mind raced. Just then, someone pricked his senses, and he felt a wave of annoyance.
"Mind taking your filthy hand off me?" Akin said, irritation was evident in his voice, looking back at Carter, who was still gripping his shoulder and about to yank his hand away.
"Oh—oh, yeah, sure," Carter stumbled over his words, still terrified by what he had just witnessed.
He immediately released Akin, but his face turned into a mask of distress.
"Mind dropping me off at the dining hall, pl-ple-please?" he pleaded in a low, scared, and teary tone.
Akin looked shocked, but then a happy feeling washed over him as he realized with a mischievous grin, that he had never seen this side of Carter. This was the same individual who had bullied Hickson a lot during their childhood and still did, even if just a little now.
"Sorry, but can't do it. I have somewhere important to be," Akin taunted, a mischievous smile playing on his lips as he resumed walking with his hands in his pockets.
Carter followed him, pleading as he confessed to being scared of walking back alone.
"Too bad!" Akin laughed hysterically, thoroughly enjoying Carter's new humbling persona.
Just then, something pricked his senses, and his mischievous smile vanished. He stopped abruptly and looked back at the open kitchen door, meeting Kalè's cold gaze. She immediately turned her eyes away from him.
"Alright, let's go!" Akin said with a second thought.
Suspicion grew further in Akin's mind as he sensed he couldn't leave Carter there. He couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to be more cautious about Kalè and leaving Carter behind.
As he dropped off Carter at the dining hall, he noticed people still eating and laughing.
"I'll try to follow her tonight once I'm back!" Akin thought as he headed out, the shadow he had seen swiftly cross Kalè's lingering in his mind, along with the strange occurrences in the kitchen and her gaze fixed on him.
"Then again, it could have been a shadow of someone overshadowing hers. Maybe I'm just suspicious of her for no reason," Akin pondered as he walked toward the outskirts of the orphanage for their evening sparring session.
Akin tried to find every possible reason to keep his mind off the shadow being an Inns and the kitchen incident.
"Regardless, I'm keeping my eye on her tonight," he sighed, his gaze turning cold.
As the sparring began, people cheered for Akin and his opponent in the fighting ring. Akin's punches were quick and powerful, knocking his opponent down in one swift blow, which sent a gust of wind breaking against the wooden gate. He raised his hand in victory, smiling at his win.
His next opponent stood with his hands casually in his pockets, with his tip feet on the bamboo wooden ring looking at Akin with a smile.
"Who is he?" Akin thought, noting that he had never seen this man in town before.
The pale-skinned man had black hair, a red designer headband on his forehead, and clear silver glasses perched on his nose. His golden pupils glared calmly at Akin, and his demeanor was both calm and slightly menacing.
"Regardless, he's going down!" Akin declared as he made the first move to punch his opponent. But his eyes widened in shock when he heard a voice behind him.
"I'm Stanley Hamza. Nice to meet you," Stanley said, standing directly behind Akin. He glanced sideways at Akin, who was poised to throw a punch, and the onlookers gasped in disbelief.
In an instant, Stanley lightly slammed his palm against Akin's back, sending him flying out of the ring like a ping-pong ball. Akin landed with a sickening crash, knocking him unconscious as the crowd looked horrified at what had just transpired.
Akin lay on the floor, and the spectators without any questions or cheering immediately began paying Stanley the money they owed him for winning.
Stanley smiled friendly, thanking them as they handed over their cash, their hands trembling with fear.
"Oh, you're all too generous!" Stanley exclaimed, chuckling shyly as he blushed.
"You all shouldn't have but I'm grateful …" As they continued to pay him, Stanley's shy laughter faded, and his gaze turned cold as it shifted to Akin, still sprawled on the cracked floor, knocked out.
"Ummm…"
******
A few hours later, Akin opened his eyes in confusion as he heard Lotanna's faint voice calling him.
"Akin! Akin! Please wake up!" Lotanna urged, her voice tinged with tears.
Now semi-conscious, Akin felt a droplet of water land on his face.
"Why is she crying?" Akin thought, raising his hand to touch Lotanna's tear-streaked face.
"It's the Inns! They attacked the orphanage!" Lotanna cried out, burying her face against Akin's waist unable to express her subsided emotions.
Akin snapped to full awareness at her words. "They what?"