Accessory Wars

Chapter 56-Ki

            When you get mail in a fancy envelope with foil imprinted letters, you know you're in for something weird. I felt reserved in opening it as it reeked of cologne and the paper felt strange against my fingers. Must be rich people paper. I ripped open the purple envelope and pulled out a letter and a bundle of tickets. They were the tickets I ordered for Mondue's tournament. Talk about a waste of money on stationary. I counted all the tickets to make sure they were all there. For some reason, two looked different. When I examined them closer, I noticed they were VIP tickets.

"I didn't order these," I muttered to myself. I unfolded the letter and read it over, frowning at the wrong order of my name.

Dear Ki Yeong,

Enclosed you will find the tickets you have purchased for the Liliael tournament on July 19th. Please give ample time for travel as the stadium will be very busy. Due to special funding, we have upgraded two of your tickets to VIP as an added bonus and no extra charge. We look forward to meeting you.

Liliael Staff and Management

It was signed with a printed signature of Perry Mondue in gold ink, blech, and I read it over again to make sure I didn't miss anything. Based on the wording, it sounded like someone was interested in meeting two us of in person. And by two of us, I bet my entire college debt it was Jay and myself. I did leave the option open for Jay and Derek, since Derek was Jay's closest friend. Why did I not think the main ticket was for me? Because Jay was the Elicit. Elicits get everything. That and Mr. Mondue knew Jay from their trial earlier in the spring.

What they wanted from Jay, Derek and-or myself remained a mystery. Jay wasn't looking to get into tournaments. Maybe they were going to try to get him into brand deals? Advertising? Jay didn't seem like the outspoken type. Then again, we'd been friends for less than a year. There was plenty we didn't know about each other.

I decided to ignore the fancy tickets and pretend they were the normal tickets I ordered. The rich snobs could take their fancy paper and stuff it up their noses.

I met up with Jay over his lunch break and showed him the letter. He scrunched up his nose as he took it from me, the cologne making him cough a little from the pungent smell. I was going to have to wash my shorts at the end of the day or I'd be smelling perfume from my hamper all week.

"Brand deals," Jay scoffed as he handed the letter back to me. "I guarantee that's what that's for. Even if I was going into tournament fighting, they look so ridiculous." He wasn't wrong. You know how racecars have logos on them for their brands? Think that but awkwardly placed stickers, patches, scarfs or random jewelry on a person's body. Seeing fighters throttling each other with cartoony logos plastered all over them looked silly. Hey! I'm getting my butt kicked but don't forget to buy some tasty Sweet-O's the next time you're at the store! It'll make me money!

Don't buy Sweet-O's. They're not worth it.

I shoved the letter back into my pocket, turning my attention to my sandwich. The smell of the cologne on my hands mixed with the tuna on my sub, making it taste like fishy flowers. My nose curled at the new flavor. We continued our lunch with basic small talk before parting ways.

With the rest of my afternoon open, I decided to give Colfry a visit. No particular reason. I felt like saying hi and lounging around his office until I had to go to work. It was sort of our routine back when he was in Lestho. Since I didn't do after school activities, I either went home, to counseling or to the police station. Colfry used to be annoyed by it but after a few months he came to expect me. He used to call if I didn't stop by during the week to make sure I was okay.