Translators: Aoi, Hyung Proofreaders: Blahbasaur, Wolfjackle, Doomsdayvic, Noobzilla Chapter 4: Devil’s Love
If the Devil reaches out, The people bleed, If the people reach out, The Devil weeps.
Daren was glad that he had come as Dark Sun. The place appeared to be an old stadium. There was a rock and weed strewn running track surrounded by step-like seats riddled with cracks. The entire area appeared to have been completely neglected. However, this wasteland currently had a energetic atmosphere that did not match its appearance. Large crowds were sitting on the steps, in odd clothing, and hairstyles that were even more outrageous than Ezart’s spiky orange hair. The crowd roared, yelled and cheered pa.s.sionately, in constant compet.i.tion with each other. Even a few fights broke out, leaving behind battered, bleeding victims. Daren was surrounded by this sort of people and he was not particularly happy about it. Usually if he went outside with his innocent appearance, he would get picked on and sometimes robbed by exactly these types of people. Therefore, he was in a hurry to find Ezart, but it was so noisy and overcrowded that he could barely make out what the people around him were saying. The only light in the vicinity was aimed at the fighting ring, leaving everywhere else in darkness, it was not a good place to search for someone. Daren began to realise that if Ezart did not enter the ring, he would not be able to find him even if he searched all night. But, I bought sushi for his dinner. Daren thought, feeling slightly disappointed. He might not be able to give Ezart his food or cheer for him during the fight. Should I wait until after his fight, and then give this to him as a late snack? Daren thought this was a good idea, after all simply cheering on Ezart seemed a bit unnecessary, he might as well wait patiently until Ezart won his fight. Daren was convinced that it was impossible for Ezart to lose considering the strength he had. The fight organisers knew that they could not let the impatient, hot-headed crowd wait too long. A host clad in bright yellow stepped into the ring and yelled at the chaotic crowd with all his might. This served to make the crowd rowdier than ever. Within this fiery atmosphere, Daren had to face the randomly flailing fists of the people around him. He managed to evade every punch with his superhuman reflexes, but there were far too many people. No matter where he went he was in constant contact with someone, and to Daren’s super alert senses, this was not a good thing; each time someone brushed past him, he instinctively determined whether that person was a threat or not. His started to feel unsettled and claustrophobic. I think I’ll walk further away from this crowd... Daren tried to squeeze his way out, but halfway through the crowd, he heard the host introduce the king of the new generation, King of Might. Daren immediately turned his head and tried to see whether this King of Might was Ezart ...red corner, where’s the red corner?...There! The one sitting in the red corner was wearing a mask! Daren felt desperate. Now he had no way to figure out whether or not that was Ezart. If not, then he had come here for nothing. Of course! All he had to do was observe the way this person threw his punches. Daren attempted to force his way back through the crowd towards the ring. It would be easier to recognise him at a shorter distance. The battle had already started by the time Daren reached the edge of the crowd. The King of Might’s opponent appeared to be stronger and far more muscular. Compared to the King of Might"s regular shirt and jeans the opponent was far more intimidating. His opponent had worn proper wrestling tights which further emphasised his muscles. Not to mention, he constantly roared and flexed his muscles. The opponent had already won the crowd"s favor with his appearance alone. While the muscular man flexed, the King of Might stood still, his stance was lazy. He acted as if he was simply a part of the audience and not a fighter. His lack of action aggravated the spectators. Some even threw an array of items towards the stage, aimed at King of Might. “Ah, don’t throw!” Daren panicked when he saw this. King of Might might be his friend Ezart! Ah, you’re still throwing! When he found the person next to him throw a banana peel, Daren angrily hit the guy on the head, causing the latter to turn around and roar, “Who did that?” Daren guiltily turned away. Luckily, the place was overcrowded, and his movements were quick, so the man was unable to find the culprit. Daren figured that he had avenged Ezart well enough, so he happily turned back to face the ring. Now, it appeared that muscular man had finally finished his flexing and had begun attempting to provoke the King of Might. He snarled and shouted taunts at him but the King of Might did not say a word. He only threw a punch. The muscular man smiled mockingly at this and dodged it easily. The audience booed, disappointed by the King of Might’s miss. “Eh? Why did he miss on purpose?” Daren was perplexed, he could not understand why the King of Might... no... Ezart, missed on purpose. Obviously, Daren recognised Ezart. The strength of the punch and the way it was thrown was no doubt Ezart. In fact, even that casual way of standing was one of his trademarks! Judging by the speed at which the muscular man avoided the punch, there was no way that Ezart would have missed. The muscular man began to laugh, mocking Ezart, while the audience continued their jeering. Even while facing a scene like this, Ezart maintained his aloof persona and did not seem bothered at all. A few stopped yelling and stared, dumbfounded. Slowly, more and more people fell silent, until the entire stadium became completely quiet. They were all staring at the muscular man’s cheek. A line of blood had appeared. At first, no one could understand how he could be bleeding since the fight had barely started. Thinking back, the King of Might’s had thrown only a single punch, but he missed! His fist had missed by mere centimeters... In fact, the line of blood seemed to be at the same spot where the fist had pa.s.sed by! Could the fist’s pa.s.sing have this kind of effect? Now the muscular man realised something was wrong. He wiped his hand across his face and was shocked to find blood, for an instant his eyes betrayed fear. He felt paralyzed, wondering whether he should continue to trade his life for the prize money... Daren could see that the “champion” was trembling. Ezart truly deserved his t.i.tle as Yelan Academy’s G.o.d of disaster. The very wind from one of his punches could draw blood from his opponent’s cheeks. This kind of power was beyond horrifying, even the violence-loving audience was in awe, the original boo’s were completely gone. There were still a few people who had their arms raised and poised to throw, but they appeared to have become completely frozen. As Ezart’s eyes swept through the audience, many people smiled awkwardly and lowered their arms. They then bit into the rotten tomatoes and banana peels they had been holding and smiled as if they were enjoying it. When Daren saw that the person he had hit earlier was eating the banana peel, he could not help but chuckle. He felt happy for Ezart. At first, Daren had been worried about him, but he had been overthinking at the time. There was no way a normal person could ever compete with someone from Yelan Academy. Especially if that someone was the G.o.d of disaster whom 99% of the students were afraid of! Only a cyborg like Daren could consider him weak and worry for his safety. “I’ll wait for Ezart in the back!” No longer worried about Ezart, Daren quickly squeezed out of the crowd. He was glad to leave the horribly polluted air and the crowd which was noisy enough to drive him mad. However, the main reason he left early was because he had to change his appearance back to ‘Daren Solaris’ before Ezart won. And for that... Ezart would not even need a minute. With a single punch, the King of Might sent the champion flying out of the arena, and onto a few bystanders. They screamed and yelled under the crushing weight. The King of Might looked at the defeated, unconscious "champion" and coldly stated, "What a boring match.” He then casually turned and left the stage. No one even dared to breathe. Upon reaching the stadium’s foyer, he removed his mask, revealing a dragon tattoo and spiked orange hair. The King of Might was indeed Ezart. He impatiently threw the mask in a corner. This “cheap, airtight junk” made his face itch. At that moment, the rusty foyer door creaked open and a bald man with a wide grin rushed inside. As soon as he entered, he gave Ezart the thumbs up and admiringly said, “You were great! I knew you wouldn’t let us down!” Ezart threw him a lazy glance. The last time Ezart had received money from this guy it had been thrown at him in anger, but now ‘baldy’ was a changed man. “And the money?” Ezart asked, cutting to the chase. Baldy inwardly cursed Ezart for his impolitely extended arm, but still maintained his obsequious appearance as he took out a big wad of cash. “Here! Here!” There was no use in being humble. Tonight, the terror that is Ezart not only opened the eyes of the audience to the meaning of true power but also served to warn the baldy that having a few armed bodyguards would not be enough to stop the G.o.d of disaster standing before him. This fact both frightened and pleased the man. He was terrified because he could not control Ezart, but delighted because he had such a fearsome fighter working for him. For an arena manager, this was like having a money tree. Ezart s.n.a.t.c.hed the wad of cash from him and stuffed it into his pocket without even counting it. “When’s the next fight?” he asked. “Well, we still have to talk it over...” Baldy felt a little pained as he watched the cash disappear. He had actually given him more than what they had agreed on. But this amount was nothing if it meant keeping his new champion. Even now he was cooking up a scheme to rile up the audience for Ezart’s next battle. “When it’s decided, call me.” Ezart had no patience for negotiations. He picked up his jacket, said his bit, then pushed opened the door with a ‘creak’ and left. “f.u.c.k! What the h.e.l.l! How dare he treat me like this...” Ezart could hear the baldy cursing under his breath as the metal door closed. However, he did not turn around to beat him up otherwise he would have to find himself a new arena manager. Besides, with a t.i.tle like “Yelan Academy’s G.o.d of Disaster", it was normal to find people cursing him behind his back. Even the brainless Daren, who was as stupid as stupid could get, had probably cursed him a couple of times when his back was turned. After all, I gave that nerd quite a few cold glares, Ezart thought darkly. “Ezart...” He knew everybody called him the G.o.d of disaster behind his back. He wondered what that idiot called him when he was not around. Violent ogre? G.o.d of disaster? Brainless brute... “Ezart!” Ezart’s expression suddenly stiffened. He stopped in his tracks, thinking he had heard the sound of that idiot calling his name. Was he hallucinating? It’s impossible for that nerd to still be wandering around outside at this hour, especially at a sick place like this. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with model students... Im-... “Ezart! Thank goodness. I thought I missed you.” Daren was running towards Ezart with a foolish grin on his face and his hands waving wildly. ...possible. Ezart was speechless, as he watched the student, who seemed completely at odds his surroundings, run towards him. “You were amazing just now, Ezart!” Daren came to a stop before Ezart with a bright smile on his face. You even went into the arena? And the delinquents didn’t beat you to a pulp that even your brother wouldn’t recognise? He thought incredulously. “Oh right!” Daren rummaged through his bag and took out a large box, smiling happily as he opened it, “Look, I brought some midnight snacks for you. At first they were for dinner, but I got here too late and you were already in the ring, so now they’re your midnight snacks. I bought some for myself too. Let’s eat together...” “What are you doing here?” Ezart interrupted him. “I wanted to bring you food and cheer you on!” Daren explained as he opened the sushi box. He looked at the sushi worriedly, hoping they had not gone bad. “How did you know I was here?” Ezart frowned. He did not remember mentioning the arena. “I saw it on a flyer when I was buying dinner.” The flyer did not mention his real name, did it? You guessed it was me with only three words: King of Might? Ezart did not know whether he to call himself unlucky, or just call Daren lucky. “Let’s eat together?” Daren asked Ezart, apprehensively. He did not look very happy. But Ezart just scratched his head and answered with a “Yeah”. Shortly, the two of them were sitting by the beach having a barbecue... The sushi really had gone bad. With a single bite, the stink had rushed into Ezart’s brain. He immediately gave Daren a punch on the head, because the moron had stuffed his mouth full of sushi, completely oblivious to the fact that the things in his mouth were no longer edible. That punch was enough to make him spit the food out. “Idiot,” Ezart said, s.n.a.t.c.hing away the meat Daren was about to pick up. “Hm?” Daren only stared blankly after having his food taken. He finally responded by taking the mushrooms, the only food left on the grill. Real stupid... Ezart was a somewhat astounded. “Next time, don’t come looking for me at the arena. If you get buried by one of them, I’ll have to dig you up to give you to your brother.” The more he watched, the more he was convinced that it would not be long before Daren gets himself beaten up and robbed, then buried in the mountains, or dumped into the sea if he continued to go to the messed up arena like he did tonight. Even though Daren did not understand why he would get buried, he could not ask because his mouth was stuffed with mushrooms. He could only nod. But then he realised that if he did not go to the arena anymore, he would not get to eat midnight snacks with Ezart again. He hastily swallowed the food in his mouth and said, “But, but I still want to eat midnight snacks.” Ezart rolled his eyes and growled, “Are you an idiot? Can’t you eat midnight snacks by yourself, or with your brother? You’re rich anyway. You can go to a high cla.s.s restaurant and avoid all this trouble!” “I want to eat late night snacks with gege, but I also want to eat it with you...” Daren was a little disappointed. ‘They’ were enjoying it so much. Daren had already a.s.sumed that Ezart liked eating midnight snacks with him. Ezart stiffened. Is this guy serious? Ezart had already given him enough protection. He did not have to try to flatter him. But he could tell that Daren was looking increasingly disappointed. He was not eating much... Of course, for a normal human being, the amount he was eating was not what one would call ‘not eating much’, but from what Ezart knew, this behaviour was considered a ‘loss of appet.i.te’ for Daren. They ate in silence for a while until Ezart spoke up, trying to sound indifferent, “You don’t have to come to the arena to eat midnight snacks with me. Can’t you just invite me to have midnight snacks with you?” “Eh?” Daren jerked his head up, “You mean I can ask you to have midnight snacks with me?” Ezart nodded. Daren smiled brightly. He was already going to and from school with Ezart and now they could eat midnight snacks together. This must mean we’re good friends now, right? I finally made a good friend! With that thought, he finally regained his appet.i.te. He cheerfully tossed all the raw meat from the plate onto the grill and after a few minutes, he ate it all. “You can really eat. You eat so much yet you don’t grow any muscles. Where does it all go? What a waste! You’ve eaten up almost all of my winnings!” Ezart snapped. Daren only had the credit card gege had given him, and even though the card had an ATM function, he had never used it to withdraw money. Basically, he had already forgotten that the card had such a function. And street vendors like this one naturally did not take credit cards, so the bill ended up being Ezart’s responsibility. “Ah... You’re out of money?” Daren exclaimed naively. He failed to notice that his outburst made the street vendor shoot them a very unfriendly glare. Ezart rolled his eyes. Daren had taken his obvious exaggeration seriously again. To pacify the shopkeeper’s murderous glare, he snapped loudly, “You idiot, how could you really eat up all my winnings? I didn’t mean it.” “Oh,” Daren replied, and began to eat even more sloppily. Ezart’s mouth twitched at the sight of him. Is this guy the reincarnation of some starved man? I really don’t know how his brother feeds him without going bankrupt. “Ezart, you really do like battles, don’t you. You even go to that arena after school,” Daren mumbled as he ate. “Facing those weaklings can’t be called a battle. It’s just fighting. No! It’s pummeling,” Ezart said disdainfully. “If you don’t like the arenas, why do you keep going?” Daren was completely confused. “Didn’t I tell you already?” With one look at Daren’s ignorant expression, Ezart knew he had forgotten it completely. He impatiently repeated himself, “It’s for the money, for food; don’t you get it? If it wasn’t for the money, I wouldn’t be bothered going to the arena. I’d rather pick someone from school and just punch him than fight those pieces of s.h.i.t. It’s much more satisfying!” “So you go even though you don’t like it, just for the money?” Daren didn’t understand very well. He had been locked up in a laboratory ever since he was seven years old. When he came out, he had been spoiled by the Solaris Emperor. He knew nothing about the value of money, much less the value in having to earn it. “Duh! Or are you going to pay for my tuition fees and meals?” Hearing Daren say voice his thoughts so plainly, even Ezart who understood Daren’s stupidity couldn’t help but yell in frustration. “Sure.” Daren nodded, “I’ll give you money so you won’t need to fight the battles you don’t like.” Ezart stared at him blankly, then said, “What are you saying? Quit joking.” “I’m not joking. Gege gave me a lot of money. I’ll give you some, and you won’t have to fight in the arena again.” Daren’s thoughts were simple. Gege had given him a lot of money and told him to buy whatever he wanted. If by chance he did not have enough, Daren was told to give gege a call, and he would send someone to ‘buy’ it. But Daren did not know that the usual limit of Solaris Bank’s most prestigious credit card was one billion yuan. If something could not be purchased with this amount then, most likely, money was not the problem. When Devon said he would send men over to ‘purchase’ the item, he meant he would send heavily armed troops to leave a check and take the item by force if need be. Daren was naive and thought that since Ezart had already treated him to meals twice, he was naturally allowed to give Ezart money to keep him from fighting battles he did not enjoy. However, Daren had no idea that treating friends to meals and giving them money were two completely different things, especially when one was so much richer than the other. At that moment, Ezart’s expression turned cold. He still could not determine what Daren’s true intentions were. Is he really that stupid? Is he really stupid enough to think that giving money is normal between friends? Impossible. There’s no way he could be that dumb. So Daren is using money to ‘repay’ me for his protection, at the same time he’s making sure I’ll continue to look out for him. Hmph! He’s no different than the others. Just because he can’t win in a fight, he thinks he can use money to make others submit to his will... Ezart laughed coldly. He had experienced his share of rich brats offering him money for protection and he had always been merciless from the moment he recognised. He had not been satisfied until he sent them to the hospital with serious injuries. In fact, this was how he had gained the nickname ‘G.o.d of disaster’, even though he was always incredibly lazy. The reason he had not beaten Daren already was because he was still a little confused. Was Daren truly the kind of person who would spend money for protection? It was hard to imagine that someone like him, who brought midnight snacks in the middle of night, would think like that... “Ezart, can your tuition be paid with credit cards?” Daren asked, slightly confused since his tuition was paid by gege, and if any problems ever came up, gege was the one who usually dealt with them. Ezart did not look very happy, so Daren a.s.sumed he could not use the credit card and quickly added, “It’s okay. If it can’t be paid with credit cards, I’ll just tell gege. Gege will pay for your tuition!” Without a word, Ezart slammed his chopsticks into the table. Their ends vibrated endlessly. Everyone around them, especially the shopkeeper, stared with wide eyes. The shopkeeper felt very fortunate that he had not gone up to them earlier to demand payment. “Ezart, what’s wrong?” Daren asked timidly. Ezart suddenly stood up and said coldly, “I may be poor, but I’m not poor enough to ask money from my own cla.s.smate!” With that, he left behind the small mountain of food and walked straight to the shopkeeper who was desperately trying to occupy himself by slicing meat but could not help but gawk at the chopsticks stuck in the table. When he saw Ezart walk towards him, his face flushed to a colour similar to the frozen meat that he had just taken out of the freezer. Ezart swiftly took out a bundle of cash, bitterly tossed it onto the shopkeeper’s cutting board, and said coldly, “Keep the change.” “W-wait, Ezart.” said Daren as he stood up hastily. Ezart stopped in his tracks and without turning around said, “From now on, we walk to school on our own. Don’t bother talking to me anymore, I won’t respond.” With that, he stuck his hands into his pockets and slouched off. Daren just stood there, confused. What happened? I don’t get it... Why? Didn’t we become good friends that went to school and ate midnight snacks together? Why is Ezart angry? He even told me not to talk to him again... We can’t go to school together. We can’t... eat midnight snacks together... Daren clenched both his fists and yelled at Ezart’s retreating silhouette, “I don’t want that!” With hands in his pockets and back slouched, the gangster-like figure stopped moving. “Aren’t we good friends?” Daren asked. Ezart’s reply came rushing with the wind, “We never were.” ****
Theodore crawled out of the laboratory, wanting Dar to make instant noodles for him. But after dragging his starved body through every single room, he finally realized Dar was not home! Theodore looked at the clock lifelessly. It was four in the morning. Dar isn’t home at this hour? “Could he have finally became...” A majestic expression spread across Theodore’s face as he slowly let out the words, “A real teenager?” That’s right, Daren always comes home obediently for dinner, goes to bed at ten, then wakes up at five the next morning. This isn’t how a teenager should behave! No! Normal people don’t do that till they are sixty! And only a creature like Devon, who’s living in the last century, would think his younger brother is leading a normal life! However, Devon himself is the kind of person who depends on coffee to stay awake and doesn’t even go to bed till after midnight. He always wears the most fashionable clothes and even his hair is as stylish as it gets. Why does he make his brother live like a sixty-year-old man? Even his clothes are so last century. “I’ll solve this mystery eventually, anyway... might as well make instant noodles now or I’ll never solve it.” His rumbling stomach and weak limbs were warning Theodore that if he did not have some food soon, he might have to ask Hades for the answer to this mystery in h.e.l.l. He ripped open a random packet of instant noodles, cracked a few eggs into the bowl along with the sh.e.l.ls and poured in some hot water. Theodore, no longer in control of his hands, comforted himself with the fact that eggsh.e.l.ls were rich in calcium. The instructions on the packet had clearly stated that the noodle had to sit in the water for three minutes before it could be eaten. However, when he hazily caught sight of the black-cloaked grim reaper, Theodore forced himself to wait only thirty seconds before ripping off the noodle bowl cover and devouring the stiff noodles and half-cooked eggs. He clearly did not comprehend the word ‘hot’ and finished the entire bowl of soup in under a minute. When he finished, he felt a sense of revival... His life was saved, but he was still hungry. He decided to make another pack to satisfy his food deprived stomach. This time, he would definitely keep all the egg sh.e.l.ls out of the noodle bowl and also wait three minutes obediently. d.a.m.n, uncooked noodles and eggs taste disgusting! While Theodore was anxiously waiting in the living room for his ‘delicious’ second helping, he heard the sound of a key turning at the door. Theodore instinctively turned to look in its direction... He suddenly had a bad feeling about this! Is the one home Daren or Devon? If Devon was the one who came home, then he would notice that his obedient little brother was outside at four or five in the morning, and find the guy, who was in charge of looking after Dar, eating instant noodles in the living room. Speaking of Devon, didn’t Dar mention something about his brother a.s.signing a bunch of duties earlier? With that thought, Theodore immediately tore off the noodle bowl cover. Although he had only waited one and a half minutes, he knew Devon was not compa.s.sionate enough to wait for him to finish his instant noodles before shooting. No, if he was going to die, he had to at least finish his food! In the face of death, the man slurped up a bunch of noodles at once. His lips were getting burnt when he glimpsed the person who had entered out of the corner of his eyes, Silver hair... It’s Dar! Oh, I’m saved. Thank goodness. Now I can continue my experiments! Theodore immediately let the noodles in his mouth fall. He then placed the torn cover back on the bowl and resumed his last one and a half minute wait. “Oh, it’s you. You really scared me. I thought a year from today would be my death anniversary. Death wouldn’t be a big deal, but there wouldn’t be anybody left to continue my experiments. That would be terrible...” Theodore crouched down beside the low dinning table, mumbling while he stared at the instant noodles. Daren walked towards him, reached over Theodore’s shoulder and placed a plastic bag containing several lunch boxes on the table. “What’s this?” Theodore keenly smelled the aroma of what appeared to be food. He quickly opened the lunch boxes and cried out in joy. They were filled with barbecued goodies. This got him to immediately abandon the instant noodles and begin attacking the roasted meat. “Da, you wer oud pasd minight habing a babecue? Wid who? De fwend you told me aboud befwo?” Theodore incoherently asked with his mouth stuffed with food, but he did not receive a response. That was when he noticed something was wrong. He recalled that usually when Dar got home, he would yell, “I’m home”. When he saw Devon, he would call out “Gege”, and when he saw him, he would call out “Papa Avery”. But this time he had not uttered a single word. Theodore realized something was wrong. He jerked his head up only to find Daren with his back turned, about to walk upstairs. “Dar? What’s wrong?” Theodore asked, feeling suspicious. Daren trembled for a moment before he shook his head and said, "Nothing." Yeah right... Theodore frowned. He chewed on his mouthful of food as he walked towards the distracted Dar beside the stairs. Theodore placed both his hands on Daren’s shoulders, and with his mouth still full, he attempted to speak in the most gentle tone he could manage, “What’s wrong, Dar? Tell Papa Avery about it, okay?” Daren’s shoulders quivered a little, and then he nodded and turned around slowly. Theodore’s jaw dropped. All the meat he had spent so long to chew, in preparation to swallow, absorb and turn into energy, fell onto the floor. That was how much the two streams of tears rolling down Daren’s cheeks shocked him. “Wh-what... happened to you? Who bullied you? Who had the power to bully you? It can’t be possible. Your robust body was my own crea... No. No, that’s besides the point.” Theodore spouted gibberish until he mercilessly pinched his own leg. The pain finally got him back to his senses. After several deep breaths, he used his sleeves to wipe away the tears on Dar’s cheeks. In serious yet sympathetic tone, he asked, “Dar, what happened? Tell Papa Avery, okay?” Dar nodded briskly. “I-I went to watch Ezart’s arena, but the midnight snacks were spoiled, then we went to have barbecue, but E-Ezart stuck his chopsticks in the table, and won’t be friends with me. I-I thought we were g-good friends...” Daren lowered his head and said dejectedly, “He said we never were, and that I shouldn’t talk to him again.” What an incoherent story! Theodore forcefully erased his expression of confusion and replaced it with one of understanding. Oh! Basically, there’s a guy called Ezart who doesn’t want to be friends with Dar anymore. Theodore tried to remember what his most gentle tone sounded like... but no matter how hard he tried, he could only remember using that sort of voice when he tried to pick up beautiful women. Useless! In the end, he simply lowered his voice and said, “It’s okay if he doesn’t want to be friends with you. There are lots of other cla.s.smates you can be friends with.” Daren looked down and said softly, “Everybody ignores me. They all hate me. Only Ezart didn’t hate me. But now... I thought we were good friends. Why did he suddenly get mad?” Don’t look at me with those expectant eyes! Even your G.o.d-like brother wouldn’t be able to figure out a reason from your incoherent description! Theodore mind was screaming in agony. That pitiful expression and those hopeful eyes were making it impossible for him to speak the truth: “I don’t know! Don’t ask me!” All Theodore could do was come up with nonsense, “Hm. Maybe it’s just a small misunderstanding? Friends often misunderstand each other, and they often get into arguments. You can make up if you go apologise.” “R-really?” Daren looked up with his teary eyes glowing with hope. “Yeah...” Theodore forced a smile. Maybe. Who cares what happened. I just hope that guy called Ezart is sensible enough to forgive Dar. If Devon sees Dar crying, who knows what that brother-obsessed guy would do... He just might throw all Ezarts in the world into incinerators. Daren wiped his tears. So that’s how it is. All friends get into arguments? He still did not know why Ezart was angry, but it was probably because all friends need to have arguments with each other from time to time. “Then I’ll go apologize to Ezart later!” Daren looked at the clock. It was already five-fifteen in the morning. He could go to school soon and apologize to Ezart there, then they could continue being good friends! The thought made him so excited that he wanted to run out the door immediately and go to school. I hope nothing goes wrong... Theodore thought nervously. Seeing Dar so happy made him a little uneasy inside. “Let me take you to school, okay?” Theodore, who spent all day in the laboratory, seldom suggested taking Dar to school. Ah! Let that be my effort for world peace. Right now, a drop of Dar’s tear is even more dangerous than a nuclear bomb. “No.” Daren rejected immediately, “Then I can’t go to school with Ezart. I’m going to find him and apologize, then go to school with him.” He even planned it out! “Is that so...” Theodore scratched his face then decided to let it go. He had already made an effort for world peace. If Dar came home in tears, there was no guarantee that Devon would not shoot him, or just destroy the world. So while he and the world were still safe and unharmed, he had better get to work on his experiments.
******************** EH v02c04 END********************
-