Gary’s head was sulking down and for some reason he was finding it incredibly hard to take another step forward. The teenager stood outside the boarded up place that the group had recently taken ownership of.
As for why he was unable to walk forward, that was something Gary didn’t know himself. Perhaps it was because he was avoiding seeing a certain someone.
‘Why? … why do I feel so guilty?’ The green haired teenager wondered, clenching his two fists.
——
“Gary, if you’re not an Altered, then what exactly are you?”
When Kai suddenly asked him that question, Gary responded with what he had considered to be the most natural answer to give in that situation.
“What do you mean? ‘What am I?’ I’m human, just like you. That tube in your hand isn’t black, so doesn’t that prove that I’m not an Altered?” The high schooler replied with a nervous smile.
Kai didn’t say anything, just looked from the tube to Gary, back to the tube, yet his underclassman could clearly see the pained look on his face.
“I see… so that’s your answer… that’s how you still see me.” Kai let out a sigh as he left the tube on the table and exited the room.
——
Gary still wasn’t sure why, but he felt extremely guilty for having lied to Kai. Perhaps he felt as if he had betrayed his trust somehow. Earlier in the day, when he had so desperately needed someone to help him, his upperclassman had appeared.
What’s more, Kai had helped him time and time again ever since he had become a Werewolf, but how did Gary reward that kindness? By lying straight to his face.
‘He already seems to know that there is something… but Kai, I’m sorry… it just seems that whenever I try to say anything about it, the words just can’t seem to leave my mouth. I’m scared… scared that if I tell you the truth that maybe… maybe, you’ll betray me, and not just me… it could affect everyone around me as well…’
——
Right after dealing with White Rose, Gary had naturally been hounded by his classmates about why he had been called out, by agents no less. Since their classmate had returned to class, rather than get escorted out in handcuffs, they could only assume that he had been being questioned due to another case.
Unsurprisingly, Gary had been in no mood to tell them anything. The teenager had decided that he was done with lying at that point… yet then he had been forced to face Tom. During the break, he had ‘confessed’ to the truth… at least partially. He had told Tom how White Rose had found a connection between him and Billy, but after doing a blood test, they had deemed him not to be the killer.
Once again, although this hadn’t been a complete lie, he nevertheless had omitted a lot of the truth…
——
“Are you going to walk in, or are you planning to just stand out here all day?” A familiar sounding voice asked him from behind.
Turning around, Gary could see that it was the large student he had fought the previous day, Austin Foster. Apparently, he had been dead serious when he had told them he would join if the green haired teenager managed to defeat him. Now, as the leader of the Howlers, he had no excuse to just continue waiting outside the door any longer.
The two entered the pool club together and inside they found Innu, Kai, Marie, and Miss Degrace already busy. Each one of them had a bucket of cleaning supplies, and at the back there were also several boxes. It seemed like the boxes were some type of orders that the group had made. Improvements for the bar.
For a second, Gary and Kai’s eyes met, but the younger teenager immediately looked away. Gary and Innu were in the same class, so he must have known that Gary had been slightly avoiding him since their last talk.
“Looks like you two finally made it.” Kai said with the usual grin on his face. “First order of business, we need to clean this place. Be careful, there are a lot of needles, glass and all sorts of other things here, so make sure you put some gloves on.
“After we’ve cleaned this place, we can start getting everything else sorted, then it won’t be long until we’re open for business. So grab a bucket and get to work!”
The two did as Kai ordered. The place was large, and it needed a lot of work, so they estimated that it would take at least a few days just to clean it. Perhaps a couple of weeks before they could officially open, and even then it would require a few more improvements, so the place could be operating as more than just a bar.
Both Gary and Austin had picked one of the corners of the room to start from, which just so happened to be at the opposite corner of where Innu and Kai were.
“You know, when I said I would help out, I thought my muscles would be put to better use than this.” Austin grumbled lightly, as he scrubbed a piece of dirt on the wood floor. It didn’t seem to go away, so he just scrubbed and scrubbed harder. At some point, Gary was worried that any moment now a fire might start on the wooden panels.
“So, tell me a bit about yourself. You don’t exactly strike me as the type who would choose to live the life of a gangster. What made you come up with the idea, starting a gang of your own? And how exactly did you get someone like him on your side?” Austin asked. As for who he was referring to, the large teenager didn’t even try to hide it. His sponge was pointed towards Kai, who seemed to currently be texting on his phone.
“…it wasn’t my idea. I-it was his…” Gary softly spoke.
For a moment, Austin gave him a funny look, but the next instant he just shrugged it off. Somehow, this situation was a little more sense to Austin than if it had been anything else. Gary didn’t seem like the leader type, and going so far as to rent a place to make it a hideout, didn’t feel like it was something an ordinary kid could come up with either.
“Well, at least he is on our side. I wouldn’t want to know him as an enemy, but let me give you some warning.” Austin spoke to Gary as he resumed cleaning. “I don’t exactly like his kind. With sly ones like him, you never know what exactly they’re scheming, making them the hardest ones to trust.”
Hearing Austin speak made Gary think about his earlier interaction. Could the large teenager be right. Did he not want to confess his biggest secret to Kai, because the other teenager was more clever than him?
“However,” Austin continued, “I can see it in his eyes. The two of you seem to be somewhat alike. I feel like he is someone who won’t hesitate to do whatever it costs to achieve his goal… although this could be a good thing or bad thing.
“Will he drop us all to the curb if we’re no longer useful, or is part of his goal bringing us all out of this shithole with him? What can you tell me about him? If he wants you to be the one to lead us, the two of you have to be close, right? What’s his story, we is he doing all of this?”
It suddenly clicked in Gary’s head, THIS was the reason he hesitated to tell Kai more than he already knew. It was because he had no clue what Kai’s story was.
Sure, the blonde teenager had told him that he wanted to leave the Underdogs as well and that he wanted to change the status quo… but Gary had no idea about Kai’s past. He still had no clue about what his connection to Marie or her mother was.
Most importantly, he didn’t know how Kai had ended up working with the Underdogs and why he would want to leave the life of a gang so bad, just to create another one…
Looking towards Marie and her mother, the two that were with Kai before even him, he thought he might get his answer.
******
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