Pi was pissed and Haseo was the reason. And did Haseo really care? Well, no. The old hag was going to have to deal with him making some decisions that didn't align with what she (and her 'Master Yata') wanted. Silabus just so happened to be a quick way to do that.

"Should I just come along to cheer you on instead…?" Silabus scratched his cheek, looking at Haseo with a frown.

"No, Pi's just mad I didn't defer to her oh so important instructions perfectly." Haseo shrugged. "I'd rather fight with you than with her or Kuhn, and that's not gonna change."

"You just started working with us and you're already doing this?" Pi narrowed her eyes, getting in his face. "What makes you think you have the right to?"

"It's to make sure you don't get too comfortable."

"Why you-"

"Now, now…" Kuhn stepped between the two, a hand on Haseo's chest and the other on Pi's shoulder. "No need to fight about it. For now, let's go under the assumption Silabus'll be helping Haseo and talk to Yata about it and see what to do."

"Kuhn…!" Pi frowned, stepping back and crossing her arms. "I suppose that would work. We need to set up… Make sure we're settled into the inn before it's time to sign up for the tournament."

"Then let's go." Kuhn smiled, placing a hand on the Chaos Gate. "Lumina Cloth!"

Soon enough, they were standing in the middle of one the most advanced towns in the area. Lights on the street making sure the eternal night time didn't feel so nocturnal… Haseo had never really spent any time here while he was focused on the hunt, but it was nice…

He was sure plenty of people got a kick out of the bloodsport in the Arenas around here, too. It was, after all, a way to beat on your fellow hunters without being frowned upon for your actions… What a waste of time.

Pi looked over at Haseo, a frown on her face. "You and your three friends need to go keep yourself busy for a few hours."

Haseo furrowed his brow. "Excuse me?"

"I'll need as few distractions as possible to make sure getting all the rooms we need goes smoothly. There are unexpected extras along with us now, after all." She crossed her arms. "I will contact you when you're done, you will tell me where you are, and I'll come get you."

What, was he some little kid who needed his mother to escort him home at the end of the day?! That was so annoying, he didn't even know where to start. For one, if he said something he was sure Pi would turn it back around on him…

"Fine." He would just wait to fight on it if it became too much of an issue. "Come on you three, let's go check out the Arena."

"Good idea!" Gaspard followed after him with a smile. "I think the Demon Emperor Endrance has a match today! He's apparently really impressive and I've wanted to see him fighting…"

"It's really good timing! The Demon Palace Tournament is the one we're entering, right?" Silabus tilted his head to the side. "It might be good for us to see what we might come up against, depending on how far we get."

"Yeah…" He nodded. That was perfect timing. Maybe he could finally see why these humans who could contract with monsters were such a big deal…

"Worry not, he of fair eyes!" Piros slapped him on the back, a little too hard. "This will give you the upper hand."

He bent over for a moment, tears stinging in his eyes as pain flared up against his back. "I know that…! I wasn't worried…"

He stalked off a little faster, the three trying to chase after him. He didn't say anything else to any of them until they were in the spectators stands. They made it just in time to see the start of the battle, too. Lucky them.

Haseo had to note that Endrance was almost prettier off of a screen, not that he could see him very well from all the way up here. Thank god for the screens giving a better look at what was happening, huh?

He's got slitted pupils and whiskers….? Haseo furrowed his brow. He hadn't seen that in the image Yata had showed him…

He watched quietly, trying to figure it out when suddenly, things weren't quite a simple Arena fight anymore. Endrance had summoned a two-tailed cat monster out of nowhere, the creature knocking the challengers to the ground in a second flat.

"Whoa!" Gaspard let out a gasp. "That was over in an instant! ...I couldn't see what happened, though."

"You couldn't see that monster?" Haseo looked over at him, brow furrowed. "Gaspard, it was right there."

"What are you talking about, Haseo?" Gaspard tilted his head to the side before looking at Piros and Silabus. "Did you guys see anything like that?"

"Not at all." Silabus shook his head.

"Are you tired after our run-in with Tri-Edge, he of fair eyes?" Piros gave him a concerned look. "Perhaps we should go rest somewhere while waiting for your escort to find us!"

"What?! No!" He shook his head. "That's not it. There was a monster right there, he summoned it and it knocked the fighters out! You guys can't be telling me you didn't see it. It looks like a cat-"

"You mean the cat on his shoulder?" Silabus pointed to the screen once again and Haseo turned to look.

On Endrance's shoulder was a small white cat, nuzzling up against his face. Nothing like the monster he had seen, with purple being the color that stood out to him… If Silabus was implying he mistook a small cat like that for a monster, he was gonna be pissed.

"Not at all!" He looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Why? Do you think I'm stupid enough to think something as small as that is a threat?"

"I'm not saying that at all!" He shook his head. "It's just… Well…"

"You seem on edge, Haseo." He froze at the sound of a familiar voice. He was here.

He turned on his heel, just in time to see Ovan walking away. He didn't even spare a glance back to see if Haseo had plans on following him or not… The same as always.

"Ovan, wait!" He ran off after him, ignoring the confused yells of Gaspard and Silabus, barely registering the sound of Piros the Third falling in an attempt to chase him, and the feeling someone was looking at him.

He barely stole a glance back before running out the of the Arena. Maybe that feeling wasn't just a feeling, but he had no time to wonder why the Demon Palace Emperor was looking right in his direction right now.

Not when he needed to catch up to Ovan before he was gone again.

Macha - Nekomata