LOST SHADOWS - A Broken Lie

Chapter 2

"Please! There must be some way for us to repay you?"

Milly was practically begging the blonde stranger that had saved her brother for the past five minutes for them to repay the kind deed. They made it back to the cafe and took a seat in a booth so that coffee could be ordered. Milly joined them and was determined to thank Elaina properly. Elaina, ever more grounded in her stance was having none of it.
"As I've said before, there's no need for any of that. I'm just glad that I was able to step in before anything serious happened." She glanced over to Dawn and offered a weak smile. Dawn, who was nursing his eye with the bag of ice Elaina got him, smiled back the best he could. Now that the adrenaline was worn off, moving any part of his face hurt like hell.

"There must be something!" Milly persisted. This causes Elaina to sigh as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it! I kinda enjoyed saving your adorable brother!" She said in a half serious half flirty tone and sent him a wink. Dawn felt heat rising to his face and looked the other way. Elaina laughed softly. "Anyhow, if you don't mind me asking, what are you two out here so early for? I'm here every morning, the owner is a ... family friend, and I've never seen you guys around. Plus Jean over there said that you two normally come in during the lunch rush." She gestured to the teen behind the counter who had taken their order. "Funny you should ask. We're actually on our way to a competition. Maybe you heard of it? It's the one hosted by the National Universal Hero Skills Association every year." Dawn was now trying to make himself as small as possible as his sister continued. He was not comfortable sharing information with a stranger, even if that stranger had saved him. "We passed the qualification rounds, and today is when the first set of matches are taking place! Though we're not really interested in winning really, all passing applicants that prove that there something worth investment get enlisted to N.U.H.S.A." Elaina nodded along quietly till Milly was done.

"That's amazing!!" Elaina said as she smiled over her cup of coffee. "Does that mean you guys are planning on joining the 'Protector' program?"

This casual statement sent Dawn's brain a sudden shiver. It took everything in his power not to visibly react. The 'Protector' program was not common knowledge, far from it! There was more than one safeguard in place to avoid the information from leaking out to the masses and keep gang members from exploiting it. So Elaina, who they had literally just met, to just casually bring it up like it wasn't one of the biggest secrets of their lifetime was more than a little bit odd. The knowing smile she shot him wasn't helping his nerves. She was testing them.

Milly, who clearly didn't realize this due to Elaina's casual tone, continued on. "A better future is a better future! I have a few things planned if it goes well. Hopefully we— OH MY GOD IS THAT THE TIME!?!?" She suddenly stood up when she glanced at the clock on the wall and grabbed Dawn's arm. "We gotta go! We're sooo late!! They might not let us in! We gotta get there now!" Dawn was tripping over his feet as she dragged him out the door. "THANK YOU AGAIN!!! I SWEAR WE'LL MAKE IT UP TO YOU!!!"

Elaina laughed after them. "Good luck! See ya around!!"

As Dawn got one last glance at the blond girl's smile, he couldn't help but smile back. Stopping for coffee wasn't such a bad idea after all... maybe they should do it more often.