I'm so bad at keeping up with posting here, I'm so sorry. Have 2 chapters in one update

"Ovan!" Haseo finally cornered the man behind the Arena. "There you are! Why didn't you find me after the Hulle Granz Cathedral?"

"I had no reason to believe you were still alive…" Ovan shook his head. "You ran off ahead, and when I got there, you were nowhere to be seen, after all."

"But… Tri-Edge isn't known for killing his victims." Haseo furrowed his brow. "Did you at least check Mac Anu to see if I was with the other afflicted?"

Ovan went quiet for a moment. "...Yes, of course. You not being there just furthered my thought that you may no longer be among the living. I'm glad to see I was wrong."

Haseo made a face. "I don't believe you! There's no way you just so happened to be here when I got here."

"What? You don't think I could have just happened to be viewing an Arena battle at the same time?" He tilted his head to the side, expression unreadable. "Coincidences do happen, Haseo."

"Yeah, but with you? Coincidences don't seem to happen often." At least not without something going wrong…

Ovan chuckled. "Is that so? What, Haseo, do you think I'm pulling strings behind the scenes?"

"I'm not sure at this point…" Haseo bit his lower lip, shaking his head. "You know, this wouldn't be the case if you just talked to me about things! I never know what you're thinking!"

"You don't need to know what I'm thinking, do you? All you need to do right now is get stronger and get to the bottom of what's caused all of this." Haseo hated that he knew Ovan was right…

"You-"

"There you are!" Pi's voice cut through Haseo's own as she approached. Behind her, Atoli, Silabus, and Gaspard looking a bit sorry for him. "They told me you ran off without a word to them… What do you think you're doing?!"

"I needed to talk to Ovan!" He crossed his arms, leaning towards Pi. "I didn't have time to waste, if you look away from him for one minute he'll be-"

"I don't see anyone else here."

"-gone. Oh god dammit!" Haseo turned around and Ovan was indeed missing from the spot he'd just been standing in. How in the hell had he done that?!

"Well?" Pi spoke up again. "Do you have an explanation?"

Haseo let out a huff, turning to look at them. "...He was here! I swear!"

"That doesn't matter now! We're heading back to the inn now to discuss our plans." Pi shook her head with a sigh. "I swear… First one of your little friends gets hurt when you run off and then you lie about why you did…"

"Wait, one of them got hurt?" He furrowed his brow.

"That Piros the Third fellow, he hurt his head and Kuhn is taking care of him…" She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That doesn't matter right now, come on."

Haseo didn't have it in him to argue anymore… He had seen Ovan! He really had! But Pi clearly wasn't going to believe him… It'd end up being a waste of the time if he tried. Dammit, he felt so stuck right now.

And he felt like that as they continued to walk back towards the inn. Well, at least until someone slammed into him and he felt a shot of pain running through his body. Sitting in front of him was a little boy, rubbing the top of his head with a sniffle.

"I… I'm sorry, Mister!" He spoke, eyes watery as he looked at Haseo.

Everyone else in the area, those he'd been with and… was that Endrance? - were staring at him, as if expecting him to blow up on the boy. However… No, there was no way Haseo could treat a kid badly.

"It's fine…" He flinched at he moved to pat the kid on the head. "Try and be more careful, alright?"

"O… oh, yes! I'm sorry!" He stood up as Haseo offered a hand and pulled himself up. "I… I was just trying to get an autograph for my sister and…"

"If you were trying to get an autograph, why were you running off so fast?" Atoli tilted her head to the side. "Did you see who you wanted one from?"

"Uh… no…" He bit his lower lip. "M… Mister Endrance told me no and I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to stop being a bother as quickly as I could…"

Haseo narrowed his eyes as he turned his gaze on Endrance. "You can't even spare the time to give a kid an autograph, huh Mister Demon Emperor? The masses too below you for that?"

Endrance was clearly looking at him now, a bored expression across his face. "Oh… You were at the match…"

"Yeah, I was." Haseo stepped forward despite the look on Pi's face and the boy clinging to his arm. "How about you answer me! You too good for autographs?"

"She finds such things boring…" He looked away. "Just as she finds weak people like you boring."

"Weak?!" Haseo got in his face at that point. "What makes you think you can just call me weak?!"

Their gazes met, the slitted pupils putting Haseo on edge. "A battle against you wouldn't last more than a minute. That's what I mean."

"Why you-"

"Haseo! Enough!" Pi's voice cut through his anger like a knife. "We're leaving!"

"No, not yet."

"Excuse me?"

Haseo looked at Endrance again. "Say what you want, but I'm gonna kick your ass in the upcoming tournament! And you'll give this kid the autograph he wants!"

"...Fine, if you can, by some miracle, win." Endrance placed a hand on Haseo's cheek, fingers brushing against his scar. "Don't expect much, though…"

Before Haseo even had a chance to try and reply, Endrance had removed his hand and walked away. What an ass…! He was about to turn to Pi and tell her they could go now when he felt a tugging on his arm.

"Uh… Thank you mister!" The boy's soft voice hit his ears. "I'm sorry, though… I got you into a lot of trouble…"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, you said it's a present for your sister, right?"

"It is! I wanna get her a flower and an autograph from her favorite celebrity… But I haven't been able to get either yet." He kicked at the ground, still holding onto Haseo's arm.

"Well, you'll be getting that autograph, no matter what." He ruffled his hair again. "Don't worry about it, kid."

He looked up at him, eyes wide. "Really? You're not angry?"

"Nope, if I'm angry, it's because that Endrance guy is way too cocky! Not anything you did."

He smiled at Haseo at that point. "Thank you mister! I… I'm Bo! I'll make sure to send you a present later!"

"Wait, you don't have to do that-"

"Bye, Mister!" And with that, Bo was running off, seemingly excited. Well, that was fine, Haseo guessed. He was glad he'd helped the kid out, even if just a little…

And now he had a little more reason to win.

He turned to the others, Pi clearly annoyed while the others were grinning ear to ear. What the hell…?

"You guys seem pretty happy… Why?" He furrowed his brow, arms crossed against his chest.

"You're softer than you look, aren't you?" Atoli giggled, leaning closer to him, arms behind her back. "I knew it!"

"It's great to see! Even the Terror of Death has soft spots, huh?" Silabus smiled at him and Gaspard nodded in agreement.

"W...what?!" He shook his head. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Aw, he's denying it!" Atoli looked at the others. "Isn't that cute!"

Gaspard laughed. "Adorable!"

"Stop it…!" He looked around, eyes finally settling on Pi for help. "Come on, tell them to knock it off so we can move on!"

Pi thought for a moment. "...They can keep talking, as long as we keep walking."

"Hey…!"