Damn, damn, DAMN!

Like going along with her inner thoughts, Dammit himself stormed into the pub—сlothes torn in some places, face dirty, his fringe sticky from sweat... and a skewed hat in the form of an owl as the finishing touch to his wrecked image.

“Yikes, this shopping was a blast!” he gasped and flopped onto a bar stool.

“So, where’s my mint?” Rebecca asked strictly. “You’ve been gone for two hours.”

“Oh Sis, gimme some beer first. I’m about to DIE! Do you need a healer who is DEAD?”

“Where. Is. My. Mint.”

“Beer comes first! I refuse to answer any questions in the absence of my beer.”

Rebecca snarled something through her teeth and reached for a glass.

“Huh, Master Omnious is being his usual self.” Takeshi sneered.

“Master?”

Niji arched her brows. She noticed some unexpected sarcasm in sensei’s voice.

“Were you not aware of that? Harold is one of those few who got their degree during the third grade at the Academy.”

Takeshi chose a pocket, but suddenly pocketed the ball into another one, which looked obviously more winnable. That meant his defeat.

“Alright then. Congratulations, Niji-chan.”

“You did that on purpose.”

“Not at all. Something I can outplay even my own self. Unfortunately, this is not just a problem with billiards.”

Sensei locked his eyes with the Elementalist’s—his face still didn’t express the slightest shadow of suspicion.

“I must be going now, otherwise I shall be late for the department’s afternoon meet-up. Much obliged to you for providing the information... as well as keeping me good company.”

The mages politely bowed to each other, and Izumi headed towards the exit. Meanwhile, Dammit clung to a cold glass of BrewCat Punk IPA. When he finally realized there was something else in this world, he became even more agitated.

“Heya, Flare! Oooooohhh, Takeshi-kun! How’s it hanging?”

“Bright day to you as well,” he replied, stopping by the healer but avoiding looking at him. “So far so good.”

“Long time no see, eh? How is… your sister doing?”

“Nothing has changed.”

“I see. Drop by anytime soon, I’d like to play with you too.”

“Everything is possible, unless you still have your habit of cheating. I’ll say hello to Hitomi-chan. May the Light guide you.”

With these words he left the bar, and Dammit sulked like a baby.

“Are you two that close?” asked Niji.

“Why?”

“You added ‘kun’ to his name.”

“Ah, he was just a grade lower in the Academy. So I was his ‘senpai’ or whatever they call it. Doesn’t look like it, huh? Takeshi seems so mature and dead serious now. I kinda like him, ya know. Wish he didn’t hold a grudge against me.”

“Are you at odds about something?”

“Uuuummmm… you could say that…” Dammit sipped his beer.

“Where is my mint, I ask you—one last time!” Rebecca was slowly heating up. “And Sunny as well, by the way. Have you lost her somewhere in the middle of the road?”

“I’ve almost lost myself on the road! Sunny is at home, chilling. So, you wanna know about the mint? Here is my story...”

“Yeah, yeah…” Rebecca said without any enthusiasm.

The amount of adrenaline from the conversation with her former professor was overwhelming, but Niji still forced herself to settle down and listen to Dammit’s hurried speech, and she had no idea how ridiculous it would turn out.

“So, imagine me and Sunny walking down the Queen’s Road, straight to the Blueberry market. A great summer day, sun is shining, birds are singing, grass is green… Yui-chan’s lovey-dovey eyes pinned at me… And then on the corner… HIM.”

“No shit,” Rebecca rolled her eyes and took a cigarette.

“Eh… who, exactly?” asked Niji.

“Cinder, for Light’s sake!” Dammit smashed his fist. “Ah, I forgot, you have no idea who he is. You know, I have like a… errrr… how shall I call him?”

“A friendly nemesis.” Rebecca prompted.

“A vengeful sidekick, rather. He used to be a ‘tank’ in our team. He is so huuuuuge, like, our Viktor x2, ya know? A bicep’s span close to a lamppost. Zero hair. And the weapon-generation amplifier on the back of his neck, fucking Freyja knew her shit. Ah yeah, now I’ve remembered—you saw him there, near the Arena City mall, right?!”

“To cut things short,” Rebecca intervened again, “he hates Dammit for failing a couple of healing spells on him.”

“Oh, COME ON! He should have stayed in the range of it, that dumbass!”

“Dunno, he kinda was there, from my perspective.”

“Bullshit!”

“Oh yeah, especially that time when…”

“Anyway,” Dammit didn’t let her finish, “we used to be bros, like with Viktor now. But then it just… changed. And this son of a bitch joined the black-and-whites just to kick my ass legally.”

“Switch off your god-mode, there’s just a better salary.”

“Meh, who cares? The thing is, every moment he sees me, he goes completely braindead with the only desire to beat the shit out of me.”

“I got it,” Niji smiled. “So, it was him you met with Sunny today. Why didn’t you confront him together?”

“You crazy? He can break Yui-chan’s weapons with his bare hands. As well as my spine. Seen his sword? It’s FUCKING HUGE. So we just ran for our lives, that’s it.”

Rebecca took another drag. “Did you call him Cinderella again?”

“Of course I did!”

“Your fault, then.”

“Ah sweetest Goddess, why me again?!”

“So, what’s next? You are not progressing with your bloody story of my mint.”

“Okay, so we fled down the street and got to the subway. ‘Hill District & Royal’ or whatever station it was. We thought we’d be safe inside the carriage, but funny enough, this moron just RODE IT from the outside and then smashed the doors open. We were lucky that the train left the tunnel, so we escaped on the roof, and Cin-chan got hit with some pillar. Long legs suck, I do tell you. Sadly, my body met with the tree on the emergency take-off, and I apologize for not looking as fabulous as I usually do. So, Sis, you need someone else to go shopping for… OI!”

With a sour face, Rebecca put her cigarette on the edge of the ashtray, then leaned forward and grabbed Dammit’s shirt, yelling to his face:

“I’m fed up with your stupid lies, Harold James Mark Omnius the Fourth! There was one day you and Viktor went to buy a pepper mix, but you threw it away in a Viol’s eyes to beat him up. Another day, you failed to get me ginger powder because some crazy Elementalist set the supermarket on fire! And I also remember the day you treated Dasnor with MY almond syrup, because you believed it would give him wind resistance!”

“But almonds are…”

“Oh, damn your fucking stories! DAMN them, you hear me?! Screw it, I don’t want to hear any more of them EVER!”

“But I am telling the truth! Oh, c’mon, Beckz…!”

Rebecca let out a grunt and marched outside the pub, initiating a call on her smart. Niji heard something about “delivery” and “as soon as possible.”

“Screw my stories…” Dammit sipped his beer again. “She’s always telling me that... every single time.”