Destino

Chapter 4: Ace

The man sat in front of them spared them a glance with a frown. Not the friendliness guy Ace assumed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I hope you don't mind the two of us in joining you?" Ace bowed his head and smiled.

The man turned his head glare at the two of them, eyes slightly covered by his fringe as he stated coldy, "I do. Go back to minding your own business." Ace ignored this unfriendly greeting. He was used to the mannerless acts others displayed.

"I'm Ace, and this is..." Come to think of it, Ace never got to learn the prison officer's name.

"Akiyama..." Akiyama introduced himself rather reluctantly to the two.

"... And why do I care?" The grumpy man scowled at Ace, clearly he seemed to be more taken to Akiyama than Ace.

"Say, have you read the flyer you were holding just now?" Akiyama decided to cut in before the conversation got drier.

"Bitch of course I read it. Why else am I holding the flyer? To look like a salaryman?" He curtly responded, switching his attention to the orange haired man sitting directly across him.

"Come on, stop being so stuck up~" Ace playfully punched the man in the arm, and damn... Those were some stoned muscles. Does he work out?

A sharp kick to his shin made him gasp out in surprise. Ace was certain now, the man next to him definitely works out.

"Hey which gym do you frequent at?" Ace smirked and posed striking out his own muscles.

The man purposely ignored him as he direct his question to Akiyama instead.

"Where did you get your flyer from?"

Ace felt a tick forming on his forehead and took a deep breath reminding himself the tips he learnt during his meditation lessons which helped him with his anger management issues. 'Feel the ground beneath your feet... Ignore the agitation and concentrate on your stomach... Are you hungry right now? Of course, you are always hungry. So think about food... Burger, steaks, ramen, fishballs, hotpot, cakes, sausages, salted caramel, ice cream, roasted fish... Instantly he felt better, and chose to forgive the mortal who ignored his friendly gestures.

Apparently not fighting the man at that moment meant that Akiyama was able to converse freely with the 'short-tempered manlet' and surprisingly got his name easily. It was Levi. Sounds like an 18th century cleaning man.

"Ahum so... What were you guys talking about again," Ace smiled sheepishly at the two, coughing a little to bring their attention back to him.

"Sorry, I blanked out for a moment." Although Ace was still a little mad at Levi, he did not forget his social etiquettes and manners.

"It's your fault for spacing out." Levi replied without sparing him a single glance and continued on the conversation he left off with Akiyama.

"...Though I need to know more about how the game works to be certain, but I'm pretty confident that we will make it to the end."

"I don't remember ever agreeing to be part of this 'we' and don't plan to either," Levi abruptly stood up, giving a nod in Akiyama's direction before pushing Ace to the side to make his way out of the cafe. Akiyama and Ace shot glances at each other before watching the man disappear out of sight around a corner.

Shaking his head, Akiyama turned to look at Ace and sighed.

"So, have you even read the flyer yet?" Ace turned his attention to his company and raised an eyebrow,

"I read enough to get the idea?" Ace avoided Akiyama's disapproving looks and forced himself to read the fine prints. How he hated reading...

Despite how Akiyama didn't seem to be the most sociable man, he was kind enough to explain what was printed on the flyer to Ace as well as what him and Levi were discussing beforehand.

"...This game is designed so that the strongest survive. The simplest way to eliminate others is by teaming up. An ideal number to start with is 2-3. We can adjust freely how the points can be split and have more options overall." Akiyama scribbled something on a piece of tissue and handed it to Ace.

"This is my number. Take some time to think, and when we meet again, you can decide for yourself on the day of the game. I'll be waiting for you here before the competition starts." Akiyama nodded at Ace in acknowledgement before swiftly leaving the cafe, following suit.

Should he stake his chances on it? In for the win, and bet his chances on the game... Come to think of it... Did Shinichi pay? Hm... Levi didn't seem to have paid either... Yep, back to his old lifestyle, Ace chuckled.

Grabbing the flyer, he counted to three in his head... 'One...' and he ran...

Unsurprisingly, screams of 'get your ass back here' and 'You bastard' echoed in the background as he ran; probably breaking the world record speed, out of the cafe.