Eternal Light

Chapter 19: Responsibility

The last thing Aline wanted was to meet Hao in the café she was working at, mostly thanks to her brother who had decided that having a brawl and upsetting the staff was a good idea. Despite reverting back to being a boy before leaving the house in order to remain in hiding, just being near Hao had left her unsettled thanks to the last encounters she had with him.

"Please leave sir, we don't serve troublemakers" Aline said in a frosty blunt tone with her head held high in order to show that he would not get to her, despite feeling his conflicted guilt bubbling Aline remained emotionless. She was done playing sympathetic and to prove it her twin dealt with Hao if he sleepwalked. Thalim who had been wiping cups froze and turned a shaky eye to the pair, this was NOT going to end well.

"What is he doing?! He's going to cause Hao to get angry and kill us even with the rules put in place! At this rate Arin's going to get fired for scaring and angering customers" Thalim muttered as he started to sweat in fear.

"I was hoping to talk to you-" Hao began to speak in a polite tone but was cut off as she turned her head in disgust.

"No, I am working and even if I was free I would still say no" Aline snapped while she turned her head before walking away to clean the machine "oh and tell your lackeys to stop spying on me, it's unsettling" Aline commented. Mentally she grew annoyed as he sat down at the nearest chair by the counter near her. Didn't he have anyone else to torment? His brother for instance since he wanted his 'other piece' back so badly? Why even bother her?

"Well you did say the X-Laws wanted to kill you, so why should I give them the opportunity to strike my partner down?" Hao replied with a small smile as she turned to give him a blithe look despite wanting to scream her head off at him. In fact the one thing she did want was to boot him out the café but knew Thalim was already on edge thanks to the git. "I'd like an expresso if you please" Hao said as he smiled while placing money on the table, this... felt familiar to him somehow. Almost as if he had been in this situation but where was the situation.

"I'd have assumed you would want a mug containing the blood of a virgin" she said snidely but didn't take the money as she remained giving him a very vexed expression after placing her towel back on the counter, raising a brow Hao tried not to snort at the quick insult. He spotted a disguised Matamune give him a cold look before looking back at Aline, the feline slowly walked towards Aline and stood by her side just in case Hao tried anything.

"I'm pretty sure I would find that useless" he commented which made her laugh in a sarcastic manner for a few seconds.

"Please, you have the Spirit of Fire eat souls so you can be even more powerful so what would be difference if you drank their blood?" she asked coldly while folding her arms, Hao frowned before noticing the semi long sweatband just resting below her wrist. As he saw it his stomach soured leaving him berating himself for hurting the 'boy' like that, for losing control when the 'boy' gave him hurtful opinions. Why had he not shrugged them off? Why did he act like he had been wronged? They had been just words and... the words had hurt him deeply. Why did the 'boy's' words affect him? It was almost as if... he had been waiting to be punished? To have someone speak about how much of a failure he was for multiple reasons, compared to the others who praised him out of fear or because they were just sadistic. It was true some people came for selfless purposes while a few acted like bullies and brutes, however despite knowing about most of their desires and how they acted Hao refused to let himself be beaten. He will aim for the top, he will become Shaman king no matter what. Regardless of praise he also had been scorned and called foul things, so it was in a way refreshing to not only encounter someone who's mind he couldn't read but hearing their honest opinions towards him... that was IF this 'boy' was being honest. Only as he looked at the boy now, he saw bitterness, resentment and fatigue. He looked dare Hao admit it- looked defeated?