𝒪𝗏𝔩xt.𝔠𝐎𝚖

A week passed quietly with no major things happening. Kai spent his days simply preparing the festival with Eva and helping the other students from the sidelines without standing out too much.

Weirdly enough, he didn’t hate all of this even though he assumed it will be tedious. Just working on something so simple yet also so new was very much the most fun Kai had in god knows how long.

It was like a breath of fresh air for his rather monotonous life. That’s when he also realized that the average high schooler life he was living might not be as average as he thought. In fact, seeing how the students worked on the festival, he realized that he was indeed still an odd one.

So, he noted down in his head to try and participate in future events so he can understand more about this new world that opened to him.

The progress on the cafe was quite rapid with Eva’s great leading skills and the determination of the students to make the best project out of all the classes.

Eventually, just a few days before the start of the school festival, the work reached its last few steps and the students could finally relax and rest.

“Good work everyone! I’m proud of all of you.” Eva said with a confident smile as she stared at everyone. Kai was standing behind her, resting his back on the wall casually as if he wasn’t even a part of this.

He made sure that Eva would take the lead in front of students so that they don’t get suspicious while he simply worked from the background.

“If it wasn’t for you Miss Eva, we would’ve never been able to do this! Your planning and leadership skills are beyond impressive!!” One student said with a bright smile.

“Yes!!” Another nodded his head in approval.

“Let’s give her a clap, guys!”

Immediately, the whole class started clapping and cheering for their new leader. Eva was slightly surprised before she smiled slightly. Although she was happy, deep inside, her mind only had one thought.

‘I want them to clap for Kai and acknowledge his work too. But, he doesn’t want any attention so I can’t tell them to do that. Sigh, even though he was more efficient in working more than I did.’ She sighed inwardly but kept her professional smile on.

As for Kai, he was watching her from the sidelines and noticed the subtle change in her expression. However, he simply shook his head and didn’t say anything. Nobody knew what was going on in that mind of his.

“Now, let’s clean this up and go home.”

Looking at them starting to leave, Kai stood up and walked toward the door. However, he stopped before he turned to look at Eva.

“In two days, it will start.” He said in a mysterious tone.

Eva was confused at first but then understood what he meant. She also was aware of what the Charlamagne family was intending to do. It was quite impressive that they were able to hire 100 hitmen for this all-out war they are intending to do.

‘I need to go back home soon before anything bad happens.’ Eva had already made up her mind.

“Yes, I know. But, you don’t have to force yourself to do this Kai. I can deal with the-”

“I’m not doing it for you. It’s personal now.” Kai replied coldly. “You just take care of the ones that escape sneakily. Don’t let anyone survive.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Eva’s beautiful eyes turned sharp in a moment. Her predator-like aura was terrifying to look at.

“…” Kai didn’t say much else and left quietly.

On his way home, the street was quiet as it was already nighttime. It was quite the comfortable silence.

“Nyaa…” Suddenly, Kai heard a sound coming from an alley near him. His eyes shifted to look there.

“Nyaa…” The sound echoed again.

‘A cat?’ He thought as he curiously walked toward the origin of the voice. The meowing was weak and barely audible for a normal human but Kai wasn’t normal so it sounded clear in his ears.

When he reached the small alley, he found a cat laying on a pond of cold water with its eyes half open. Its body and fur were soaked in blood and its mouth was barely moving as it seemingly called for help while shuddering from time to time. A huge, horrifying injury covered the cat’s stomach and chest, and was leaking blood constantly.

However, even with that, the little animal looked so beautiful. Its black fur was smooth and shiny even when it was dirtied with blood and mud. Its clear blue eyes were akin to a galaxy of stars swirling and moving as they shone brightly. If it wasn’t for its current conditions, Kai was sure that it would’ve been considered a very expensive breed of cat.

Kai stared at the clearly dying animal for a few moments as if he was examining it before he approached it and bent down.

“You were attacked by another cat?” He asked coldly. “It really beat you up, huh.”

For some reason, the urge to talk to this animal-filled Kai’s mind and he simply complied. Something about the cat’s eyes made him unable to turn around and leave.

“Why don’t you die? What’s there to live for? Do you love life that much?” He asked the cat as if it could reply to him.

“Me…oww…” The little animal stared at him as it meowed as if it understood what he meant and was responding.

“You don’t have the answer either…” Murmuring so, Kai put his hand on the creature’s body before magically, all the injuries the creature had vanished. Its weak eyes finally gained light as it stood up and shook its body, getting rid of the water before it approached Kai and started rubbing its face on his leg.

“Meow!” The creature made a happy energetic sound as if it was telling Kai how grateful it was.

“You can go now.” He said as he patted it once on the head and then turned to leave.

However, surprisingly, the creature followed after him with its tale up in the air.

“Meow!!”

Kia looked at the animal for a moment before he sighed and continued walking. The two kept moving through the street.

“Go back to your mother.” Suddenly, Kai turned and gave it a cold glare, and used the same authoritarian voice he directed toward the bear before. A mere word from him could turn the most savage of animals into a docile pet that listens to his orders.

“Meow!!” However, the cat didn’t seem bothered by it as it reached Kai and started rubbing its head on his leg.

“…”

Kai felt confused. Why was the cat not listening? Did he not scare it enough to run away? Or was there something wrong with this cat’s mind? He had no answer.

“Sigh, what do you want from me? I healed you. We have nothing to do with each other now.” He said in an exasperated tone.

“Meow!!” The cat meowed back with its clear, big eyes staring back at Kai.

“Sigh… Whatever.” Kai murmured as he started walking again with the cat following after him enthusiastically.

The two eventually reached the apartement complex. Kai was curious as to what the cat will try to do now that he was near his apartement. However, the little animal didn’t seem bothered and continued walking till it reached Kai’s house.

Then, it stood there, waiting for Kai to open the door with a happy look on its face. The cat was very expressive compared to other cats Kai saw before.

“Sigh, I can’t let you inside…” He said.

“Meow!!”

“As I said, I can’t-”

“Meow!!”

The cat seemed relentless. So, Kai silently opened the door and walked inside before he closed the door.

“Meow!!”

The animal stood watching the door as it meowed endlessly.

A few minutes passed like that before Kai sighed as he walked back to the door and opened it. Immediately, the little animal’s eyes shone brightly as it approached Kai and rubbed his leg affectionately.

Kai didn’t understand why but he just couldn’t let it stay outside. This little creature didn’t seem to be scared of him at all and that picked his curiosity. Usually, animals would immediately run away if he gave them as little as a glare. Yet, this one only approached him harder the more he tried to push it away.

“Why do you remind me of someone?” He asked as he allowed it to walk inside. “And you’re a female too…”

After that, he closed the door and walked after the cat as it curiously examined the place. After that, it walked back to Kai who sat down on the sofa, and then jumped on his lap before it sprawled down and closed its eyes. Kai’s eyebrows rose a little as he watched the animal curiously.

The way it was behaving was as if it knew Kai for a very long time. In fact, the clear fondness he could see in its eyes was confusing. He doesn’t recall ever seeing this cat before.

“Meow…” Meowing one last time, it fell into a deep sleep.