As Annalise threw the ball, Sophia took a step to the side, causing it to fly toward Ain like a cannonball.
His eyes widened as he failed to move in time, forcing him to catch it. The force behind the ball made his upper body twist. Using the momentum to assist him, he spun and used the rotational force to return it to its sender.
Annalise jumped over the ball, but Ain was already rushing to pick it up. Whether she managed to grab it or not was a 50% chance, and playing safe would only cause more problems as the game progressed.
He grabbed the ball and tossed it into the sky before slamming his fist into it, but Annalise not only caught it but copied his trick with the spin and retaliated.
The ball hit him dead in the center of his face, sending him straight to the ground. He barely had time to push against the ball's momentum with Mana.
"UGH…" He groaned.
'I can't beat an actual child at a ball game. Oh, thank fuck Pollux isn't here. I'd never live this down.'
Annalise let out an evil giggle before setting her sights on Kian.
After a few minutes of lying on the ground, Ain finally got up to see Noah crawling toward him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
When Ain turned his head toward him, he couldn't help but laugh a little at the red ball marking on his face.
"I can't feel my face. So, probably not. What about you?"
"I can't feel my chest."
The two looked at each other and mutually nodded.
Noah had also gotten out a bit ago to Annalise's dreaded wrath, but his clothing luckily hid his wound.
Three years had passed since Annalise and Ain had met their little group.
"Honestly… You two are monsters." Noah sighed.
"I won't deny that, but she more so than me, right?" Ain responded sarcastically.
"I don't know. According to Sophia, you're aim is terrifying." Noah shrugged.
"And yet I still can't get her out. We've been doing this for three years, and I've only succeeded once! And that was because she got distracted by a Butterfly!"
"That's true enough."
BONK!
The pair's chat was ruthlessly interrupted by the sound of a leather ball slamming into someone else's face.
"My aim is terrifying," Ain said as they watched Kian fall to the ground.
Then, Noah and Ain let out a giggle in unison.
Over the past three years, Ain had grown to know these kids quite well.
Noah was a rather brazen child who spoke his mind without caring about what others thought. Although he was a well-meaning kid, Ain figured he wouldn't have very many friends if not for Kian.
Ironically enough, Kian wasn't much different in the fact that he spoke his mind regardless of whether it would hurt someone's feelings. Unlike Noah who simply didn't care, Kian was just a tactless fool.
So, a normal child.
Despite that, he had this weird air of charisma about him that made it so nobody could hate him for long—even other petty children.
On the other hand, Sophia was still a bit of a mystery. He wasn't sure if she had Alexithymia or if she simply didn't enjoy being around the others, because she rarely showed much in the way of emotion.
She smiled in situations similar to this where Annalise was around, at least.
That aside, Ain found himself quite enjoying these kids' company. Although rather than being another kid playing with them, it felt like he was an uncle constantly getting dragged around by his ADHD-ridden nieces and nephews.
His old mind couldn't muster the energy for this.
As their chat continued, they watched Annalise and Sophia compete for first place. The game was a stalemate, and no matter how fast Annalise threw the ball, Sophia was able to avoid it, as if she could see where the ball was going before it was thrown.
'Is she Anna's muscle movements?'
It was only broken when Sophia miraculously caught the ball, nearly falling over in the process. It took a moment for her to regain her footing, but she tossed the ball at Annalise, who failed to catch it due to being shocked.
By the time she snapped out of her own little world, the ball had already hit her.
"Ah! You caught the ball! That was so cool! How'd you do it?" Annalise questioned, unbothered by the ordeal.
"I just stood slightly out of your throwing range, so the ball slowed down enough to grab it," Sophia answered A hinge of joy in her usually cold tone.
"You're eyes are so cool! I want eyes like that! I bet when you awaken your Kindred, his eyes will be just as cool as yours!"
Sophia turned away as if she was embarrassed and began walking toward the boys.
"I'm nothing special." She mumbled so nobody heard.
Well, Ain did, but he didn't care enough to pay attention.
"Come on, Anna! Can't you hold back a little bit? My dad's gonna laugh at me again for getting such a big mark from a girl younger than me!" Kian complained.
"Uhm." Annalise hummed as she tilted her head cutely.
"Just dodge? Soso can do it really good, so why can't you?"
"I… That…" Kian tried to retort her words but simply fell backward as he failed.
Both Noah and Ain continued to laugh as Kian could only lament.
"He isn't wrong, though, Anna. Getting hit by you HURTS. Unfortunately, not everyone is like Sophia, who could probably evade a Legendary grade Aspect. We mortals beg for your mercy."
"I don't get it! But Granny said that you'd have to learn to dodge eventually if I kept doing my best!"
"Ah, yeah, of course Granny would say that," Ain responded instantly.
"Welp, if Granny said that, then nothing can be done. You guys just gotta learn how to dodge!" He continued.
"Alright! I get it! Noah! You should come by my house and train with me and Dad! As the oldest, we need to make an example."
"Sure. Mr. Axel said he'd teach me the spear when he got a chance."
"Yay! What about you, Ain? You wanna come?"
Ain let out a low hum while he thought about it.
"If Granny allows it, sure. I don't think I'm suited to be a fighter, though."
He never cared too much about combat. He learned the basics of some common weapons, but he's developed plenty of his own movement techniques. He's just never had much reason to learn as he was always supporting Pollux.
'Although if I knew how to fight properly, I'd probably be of more help to her during that final battle…'
"Oh! Can I come, can I come? Pleaseee!" Annalise pleaded.
"I'd also like to come and watch if possible," Sophia added.
Kian shivered for a moment when Annalise asked to come. She was so strong. If his father wanted them to spar like he and Noah did sometimes, he was scared he'd get beat up.
But that wasn't a reason for her not to come.
"Alright! Dad will be super excited to get to teach someone else."
Kian paused for a moment as a memory returned to him.
"Oh, right! Did you guys know that there's a haunted house in the twisted forest?"