[Los Angeles — Little Tokyo]
Standing in the parking space, Adam gave a hug to Sae before looking down at what she was wearing for today's gathering.
"Cosplay?"
"Heh indeed. There is a small gathering today so I decide to participate. What do you think?"
Sae twirled causing Adam to whistle out loud in appreciation. She was wearing a red miniskirt with a sleeveless pink kimono on top. On the right side of her hips was a yokai fox mask attached to what seemed to be a placeholder and on her left side were two swords attached to the sheath on her hips.
Sae had also dyed her hair pink for today and added fake fox hair above her head.
Adam nodded, "It's pretty stylish. Though… By the way, your skirt is a bit… Did you…?"
She was a little surprised but then a large grin split her face, "My, my… Feeling possessive much?"
Sae laughed but made sure to stop the teasing in time when Adam's reply registered in her ears, "Indeed I am."
She was shocked by Adam's frankness. Left speechless, her face was covered in a deep blush before she began to cough to hide her embarrassment, "Don't worry. I am wearing shorts underneath."
The atmosphere between the two became a little strange but Sae who was searching for a way to change the topic finally noticed Viktor who was standing on the other side of the car with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"Oh my gosh! Look at my manners. I am sorry for not noticing you before now. Are you a friend of Adam?"
She laughed as she approached Viktor and reached her hand forward for a handshake.
"Ah… Yeah. I am Viktor."
"Happy to meet you Viktor. I guess you are the reason that this shut-in finally decided to walk out rather than staying cooped up at home. Good job."
"Hey, I can hear you, you know?"
"I know. I know. But I also know that I am simply spitting out facts."
"Ugh…"
Adam could say nothing to her rebuttal. It was the truth that prior to recent events, he was basically a shut-in. Only going out to University and his part-time job before coming back home and entering his room for further studies.
It wasn't really the healthiest of lifestyles out there, now that he thought about it…
"Hmm… Are you two perhaps…"
Viktor didn't really know how to finish his sentence. Looking at the way those two were interacting, he felt like he was looking at some long-time friends bantering like no tomorrow in front of him. But at the same time, the words they exchanged between them a few moments ago, made all of this really weird and confusing for him. Those were words only people who were dating each other would be willing to speak, and that too so candidly, as they did
"Oh, do we look like we are couples?"
Sae grinned as she held Adam's arms, causing him to feel the full softness of her massive breasts.
"Well, we aren't. Let's just say we are special friends. Haha."
Viktor looked lost as he had a hard time understanding where this conversation was leading to. Still, he wasn't a clueless young man either. So, he was able to trace the ambiguity in Sae's answer. And due to this understanding, he chose to remain silent about it and roll with the flow.
"Well, we wasted enough time already. Shall we go?"
Sae asked but Adam tilted his head in confusion at that proposal, "I thought we were also supposed to meet Natasha here?"
"Heh… Forget that airport runaway. We will have more fun without her."
They were stopped in their tracks before they could even leave the place as a large car stopped not far from them and from which a golden-haired Russian girl walked out.
Unlike usual, she was not wearing her jeans and T-shirt attire but a more elegant black robe that stopped a little above her knee and accentuated her natural beauty.
She did not have the fullness of Sae's voluptuous body, But she had a kind of frail and enchanting body that would make many people gulp in appreciation.
The girl looked around for a while before her eyes finally landed on the trio. A smile formed on her lips as she waved at them and started to approach their location.
When Natasha finally arrived, Sae clicked her tongue, "Tsk. A little more and we would have been able to have fun without you."
"Beat it, midget."
She flipped the bird to Sae in an elegant way before chuckling and giving a hug to Adam.
"How have you been?"
"Pretty well, all things considered."
'Oh…?'
Sae's eyes narrowed as she observed the interaction between the two. She had already vaguely noticed it during class, but ever since a few days ago, the relationship between Adam and Natasha seemed to have changed somewhat.
Now she was all the more sure of it… Adam was quite warmer with Natasha but the way Natasha was looking at him…
'This is….'
Sae didn't really know what she was feeling right now. Her speculation might be wrong but something was telling her that she wasn't. Somehow… she was certain that she could feel the budding emotions of attraction within Natasha.
"You two became quite close, huh?"
Natasha grinned, "We have always been close."
Invisible sparks seemed to clash between the two as they smiled at each other with meaningful expressions.
Meanwhile, observing all this from the side was Viktor.
"Ah…"
Viktor looked between Adam and Sae a few times then looked at Natasha before finally looking again at the bitterly smiling Adam.
This reminded him one day of a conversation he had with his mom after seeing her watch a drama.
Why did she watch something fictive that could never happen in real life?
His mother then answered, <<Trust me, Dramas are inspired by events of real life.>>
He hadn't believed her then. But now,
'Mother was indeed right.'
He realized once again that as a child, it was necessary to listen to the wisdom of the elders. They had seen and experienced more of the world than him after all.
'Ma, I will never doubt you again.'
———
After Adam broke the tense situation, he introduced Viktor to Natasha who answered in kind.
She frowned a little at first when she saw him, but in the end, said nothing more. Adam summarized that she had detected that he was a Hunter. Or at least was a human able to use Prana.
The reason Natasha was not bothered was that werewolves and shapeshifters in general with the power of contamination through their bites were rarely racist or discriminatory, unlike vampires. They might care about pure blood. But they also knew that all humans could potentially become one of them and hunters were the best for that.
There was also the simple fact that Natasha did not think of humans as inferior. The ones who controlled the world in the light currently were humans. She did not know why this status quo was unchanged but this meant Humans had the power to threaten them.
Finally and for the simplest reason. He was Adam's guest.
She wasn't willing to upset Adam.
(AN: A small relaxing arc. Some fun interactions before the serious shit.)
