“I know a great pancake shop near the intersection. Do you often go here?” Asked Henrietta. They rode the train to get to the largest shopping street in downtown Itaport. It was early in the morning and only a few people were on the sidewalks.

“Rarely. But I used to when I was little,” Kino remembered his parents would bring him to the shopping center across the street during days-off or holidays. The bright intersection he used to be fascinated about is now a gloomy place with a bitter memory. His eyes traveled to the huge statue at the center of the intersection where an image of three men made in bronze could be seen. They were the first hunters who founded the WHA. The man in the middle was revealed to be the Panelle clan’s ancestor back at the dinner in the Panelle House.

Right. He needs to check up on how Solar is doing. It should be alright to see her again.

“It’s yummy, isn’t it?” Henrietta poured more whip cream on her pancake tower and took a mouthful bite, her eyes twinkling like a little child staring at her favorite toy. It was the same look Kino had in his childhood. Nothing but pure innocence. The sadness he felt from recalling a happy memory vanished upon watching her. The girl makes his heart flutter for no reason.

“Yeah, but it’s too sweet for my liking. I-I didn’t know you like sweet food,” he commented. The only customers in the shop were them so he took the chance to ask. “Uhm, Henrietta…”

“I told you, just call me Rie.”

“Okay, R-Rie. What happened at school, did you…” She looked at him and immediately got what he was trying to say.

“It was my order. My father’s underlings executed the job.”

“Those were the wraith students at our school, weren’t they?”

“Every single one of them.” She firmly confirmed. His mouth gaped open but chose not to say anything more. It wasn’t the right place to start that kind of conversation.

They went to a nearby park after. Henrietta was talking about her TV shows and people she dislikes at school, but all Kino could think of were her actions.

“W-Why?” He couldn’t hold onto the question any longer. Henrietta stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. The park was empty and the only person they came across was an old man on his bicycle. “Why did you kill them?”

She creased her forehead. The stunt she pulled kept bothering him so much it was the only thing running through his mind. The girl gasped. “‘Why?’ It was to protect your secret. You didn’t want our people to know you work for the hunters, right? I’m trying to help you.”

“I-I can just threaten them as the royal vessel and—”

“Rosen, do you think they could be silent enough with threats? It doesn't work on wraiths. We can’t even exist in this world. We are meant to be killed.”

“But you are one of them. Now it makes you a traitor like me. I-I don’t want that.”

“I told you already I don’t give a damn whether someone is a wraith or not.” She gritted her teeth, it was starting to piss her off.

Kino chose to turn a blind eye. “Okay, but why did you do that? Why did you help me? Why are you… being nice to me all of a sudden? Are we friends now?” He straight up asked.

That’s when she avoided his gaze and looked to the side, fingers pressing to her temple. “We are. Do you seriously have to ask that? And I-I’m doing this because I want to see where this is going…”

He didn’t like the last words he heard. “Pardon me? What do you mean? Do you see me as a joke?” There was an unexplainable sudden pang of pain in his heart. Kino had never been in a relationship, but it feels like he went through the exact same thing before.

Henrietta didn’t expect his reaction. “No, It’s not like that. I can’t explain it into words but—”

“I-I thought we view life in the same perspective but I guess you only truly care about yourself.”

“Why are you mad? I care about you, that's why I did it to help you!” He walked past the girl. He felt disappointed. Kino thought she understood him when they had this talk on the rooftop but it only made her have the silly idea of playing with his life as if she had forgotten the things he’d told her, about how he suffered mentally and physically when he turned into a monster.

Henrietta chased after him. “Stop chasing after me, Henrietta. Go home!” He felt embarrassed. It is wrong for a girl to chase a man.

What’s wrong with her? I’m fighting for my life every single day after I was cursed. I thought she understood me, but she’s deciding for my sake as if I’m her puppet, why? Does she want to see how this mess will unfold like some sort of fiction? Incredible!

A flying shoe hit him on the head making his face meet the hard asphalt ground. Kino glared at the girl despite the pain. She is definitely a bully. He thought she wasn't like her friends.

Did I turn a blind eye because I’m infatuated? I’m really a loser.

“Why don’t you listen to me?!” Henrietta looked very pissed as she gritted her teeth. She marched towards him and pulled his collar up like she did yesterday, but she couldn’t look him in the eye. Both were embarrassed for whatever reason. “Yes! I want to see where this goes but I’m concerned about you too. I thought we didn’t want to play god for others? But if we do it for our own sake, together, why not?” She challenged him. “If we can’t change this world, why don’t we just do whatever we can to survive, you and me? Isn’t that our main goal? Isn’t that what makes us similar, as you said?” She pushed him and walked in the opposite direction. The lingering tears in her eyes didn’t escape his sight.

“Henrietta, no—Rie. Wait up…” Now he was the one chasing her. Henrietta aggressively turned her head around, eyes red with the upcoming tears she was trying not to show.

“Between the both of us, you are the cowardly one, Rosen! Y-You keep claiming you’ll do everything to survive, that you only care about yourself and those people that matter to you, but all of it was just words! I made it happen to help you but this is what I get?! You are a coward! A loser! I thought you were the first person who understood me but I guess I was wrong!”

Those were the words that stopped him from moving. She slapped him with the hard truth he couldn’t even admit to himself and his hypocrisy. He thought she was the one who didn’t understand, but it was in fact, him. Henrietta kept on walking away with one shoe on her feet. Her pride wouldn’t let her come back to get the other pair from his hands. Kino gasped and started running after her. His hand reached for her small shoulders.

“What do you want? I’m going home. That’s what you want, right?”

He was still catching his breath, but he didn’t bother to stop for a second to tell her what he had to say. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I mean it. You’re right! I’m a coward and a loser! I-I was s-surprised by your actions and I know I overreacted! I-I’m not used to people doing something for me ever since… Fuck! No one has ever done this sort of thing for me! So, I’m sorry! Don’t say that we don’t understand each other, because we do! It was me who didn’t have the guts at all! It’s just, I’m scared and—“ He closed his eyes firmly to catch the breath he needed.

Henrietta turned around to face him. She can see how apologetic he looks. It was a pity. “I know what I did sounds wrong to you, and I get it, you’re scared. And I was wrong for not speaking about my plan. But if you really mean what you stand for, you need to stop thinking about others, Kino. You’re in between the wraiths and humans. It’s not going to be easy for someone like you, considering that you also sided with one of the two. The time will come when they become your enemies and you’ll have nothing but yourself. But I’m here, I’m willing to be your shadow. That’s all I wanted.”

He didn’t know if he should be thankful. They only had this one talk, but he had earned an ally between the two groups in an instant. Maybe she saw him as the right person she could use to reach the end of the story, but he’s hoping to not only be maneuvered on this journey, mostly by the person he has unexplainable feelings for. Kino sees her as the stronger version of himself. If Henrietta was in his shoes, she can probably handle it. She could be in control of everything because she’s strong and true to her words. If their positions were reversed where he had to become her shadow, he would only slow her down in achieving her goal. He’ll be left dying somewhere because he’s weak.

Kino passed her the other shoe, and Henrietta gladly took it. As if that action was meant to say he accepts her new role in his life.

“Are you two okay? I saw you arguing from the window of my house.” Says an old woman in an alley at the suburban part of the street across the park. Kino and Henrietta looked at each other.

“Yes, granny. We’re okay.”

“We just finished fighting.”

“Oh, dear god Valerius, wraith kids these days were not this dramatic back in the day.” The lady muttered jokingly. “My restaurant is open, are you hungry? You’re a lovely couple but look exhausted from fighting.”

Kino felt his cheeks heating up. “Oh, granny, we’re not—”

Henrietta quickly wrapped her arm around his. “We would love to, granny! Let’s go?”

He cannot look at her in embarrassment, but he let her bring him to the dark alley where the restaurant was.

“Some humans would spot my restaurant behind these tall establishments. But it’s the pure and hybrids that mostly come here.” It was a small diner on the first floor of a small building. It looked classically old with wooden floors, colorful couches, old picture frames pasted on its floral walls, and a jukebox playing soft jazz in the corner. The few customers inside were elderly wraiths minding their own business. The granny brought the two kids to a table and handed them a menu. “Have you been to the other side? I make Agarthan cuisine popular from my empire.”

Empire?

“What empire did you come from, granny?” Kino tried to ask.

“The Everhart Empire. Oh, once a beautiful territory that was shattered from chaos. How about you, sweetie? I can feel you’re royalty.”

“I-I didn’t know granny. I’m an orphan. I’ve never been there before.” He excused, scratching his head.

Henrietta interrupted to change the subject. As if their minds were linked, they knew the business they have to do in that place. “We want to try some Everhart cuisine, granny. What do you recommend to us?”