Shadow loomed over Olive, Victor, and the strangers in the dark alleyway.
On the side, a large garbage container that was placed near the wall permeated a foul scent from its waste, a dent could be seen on its rusty surface, as if something had crashed into it. In another part of the alleyway, few wooden boxes that had been organized were destroyed into splinters of sharp pieces of broken wood, with a man lying on the slivers. Only some of the boxes stood proud.
Taking a step, Olive prepared to finish the fight once and for all.
Their fight took longer than Olive originally thought, long enough to the point where he was starting to get hungry. He had been looking forward to savour the food served in the café, but things took a turn for him, and now he was stuck fighting strangers in the dark alleyway, where people hardly noticed them.
Who could have blamed him, really?
He saw his friend getting pulled into an alleyway by four suspicious–looking strangers after all. Naturally, he would go and help his friend.
...What did Victor even do to them anyway?
That was when the sudden thought, where he should have been asking in the first place, emerged out of the blue.
'Say, why were they picking on Victor in the first place anyway?'
Now that he thought about it, what did Victor do to the four strangers?
Victor was not a sociable person, so there was no way that he went up to them and did something to anger them. He could have accidentally spilled something on the stranger's clothes, but Olive didn't catch a glimpse of any stain.
So, one logical reason remained, it was that the strangers who made the first move.
Or maybe it was Victor all along.
Who knows?
The leader lifted his arm and shot it forward – where Olive stood.
Nothing's changed, the leader still delivered a strike toward Olive like before, and he dodged it like before as well. At least, that was what he thought, except there was a faint difference — the leader tried to put a martial art on his punch.
Sadly for him, his proportions were all wrong.
But at least he was trying...
'...How sweet.'
Olive wanted to tease the leader for his attempt but he kept it to himself. He had been mocking the leader a lot before. But this time he just wanted to tease him... he was trying, wasn't he?
...Olive can't mock a person for trying. That would be cruel!
Even if it was his enemy.
And a dumb one at that.
The leader's punch was a second away from hitting Olive.
Therefore, he did something that made both Victor and the leader taken aback by surprise... He crouched, too fast for the leader to react, so that it looked like Olive was the wind that flowed on the air itself.
Even if it was far from the truth.
Positioning his head near the level of the leader's lower body, Olive swung his fist upward at full speed — faster than he had ever swung when fighting the strangers before — between the leader's legs.
Whack!
A loud whack resounded in the dark and quiet alleyway, making it echoed throughout the darkness, lasting for several seconds before it receded completely. For a split second, time seemed to froze in the shadows of the dark alleyway.
In the darkness, a tall, young man was kneeling, looking at the two individuals who stood several meters in front of him with wide eyes, as round as a circle.
On the other hand, one of the two individuals — a short young man with a gorgeous face — was crouching, with one of his feet on the ground, along with his knee supporting his upper body. His formed fist could be seen between the crotch gap of a person standing before him. A smirk illuminated the gorgeous face of the young man.
In front of him, a muscular man — few years older than the two young men — was narrowing his shaking legs. His back was slightly hunched forward, and his hand held something between his legs. His face was as pale as a ghost, with a few glistens of sweat rolling down his forehead. The man's eyes were as round as a circle, even rounder than the tall young man's.
...The muscular man let out a squeak between his mouth, with tears falling from his rounded eyes.
Thud!
Finally, he swayed and fell on the ground. A thud was heard as the muscular man touched the floor, dust flew everywhere in the air from where the man landed. His small pupil was now rolled upward and only left its whiteness.
Olive stood up and looked around while whipping off his hand.
'Alright, time to go.'
One of the four strangers might have woken up from their short nap, and if Olive lowered his guard down, then he might as well receive a punch from behind. At the end of the day, one can never be too cautious.
After confirming that all the strangers had passed out, he nodded and turned to look at Victor. Fortunately, Victor looked in one piece. He had only received a blow to the stomach.
"Come on, our food is probably finished."
Victor looked at Olive dazedly. Then he turned his head and looked at the strangers lying on the ground. Not a single word came out of his mouth.
A few seconds later, he shook his head.
"Yeah, let's go I'm hungry."
Victor stood up with his hand on his knees to support his upper body. Olive went up to him to make sure that his friend would not fall and was in good condition, but Victor assured him that he was fine.
After balancing his body up, he gestured for Olive to go. So, without waiting for anything, they walked toward the entrance of the alleyway that led toward the café.
While walking, Olive observed Victor curiously.
To no one's surprise, his action made Victor uncomfortable. He lingered for a while and asked:
"What?"
Olive gazed at Victor briefly, then he asked with another question of his own:
"Say, why were they picking a fight with you anyway? As far as I know, you're not the kind of person to do a questionable thing to strangers. So what did you do?"
Victor coughed
"Oh, that? Well, that thug asked for Sarah's numbers and I refused. Let's just say they did not take it well.
'What?'
Olive looked at Victor perplexedly as if he had heard him wrong. He wanted Victor to confirm his confused question, hoping that it was his ear deceiving him.
But judging from his friend's embarrassment, that fact was… was indeed true!
'What the hell?! That's why they decided to punch him?!'
What a stupid reason… Olive couldn't believe the stranger's idiocracy. Creating a fight over such a trivial thing!?
'…W–What a buffoon!'
Really what was wrong with these people? If Victor had accidentally done something to their belonging, then it would at least make sense to that brain of his, since the leader was a hot-tempered fool to begin with.
But refusing to give somebody's number? That was definitely not on the list.
Olive placed his palm on his forehead. Then mumbled:
"Some people…"
Hearing that, Victor chuckled.
"I know, right?! What is it with us that attracts these impulsive guys to disturb our peaceful moment?!"
Olive sighed as he lowered his hand.
"I don't know, maybe we're magnet to morons."
Victor nodded.
"You know, that was some insult you gave him back there — I mean, don't get me wrong, it was terrible. You're punch line and insults were not creative at all, nor was it the greatest, but his reaction was really good. So that's a plus. I guess?"
Olive turned to him. Wasn't his intention obvious?
"Those insults were not meant to be creative or good, it was meant to provoke that big guy — the leader. Figured that I couldn't stop him with just fighting, that guy's strength was too tyrannic, after all. So, I tricked him into using his fist more than he uses his brain, by provoking him with insults! Never thought that he would be easily offended, you know?"
Victor listened carefully. Then agreed.
Left satisfied, Olive looked straight ahead.
As they were about to step out of the alleyway, Olive stopped in his track. It was now that he realized his problem.
He had just gotten in a fight!
Inwardly panicking, he hurriedly turned to Victor and said:
"That aside! Don't tell what has just happened to Sarah, or anyone! Keep this between us!"
"You don't need to tell me that."
Olive examined Victor carefully, there was still some doubt in his mind.
He needed to make sure that Victor didn't have any intention to do anything that could get him in trouble by telling on him. Thankfully, though, he didn't see any sign of nervousness on Victor that indicated he was lying, so he nodded in satisfaction.
"…Good, Good."
Olive and Victor exited the alleyway and headed to the café. But then another question rose inside Olive's, again...
"Wait, why didn't you just give him the number? It's not like Sarah would reply to his message anyway. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would block the number the second she got it."
Victor coughed again.
At that point, Olive started to wonder if there was something wrong with his friend's throat.
'...Is there?'
"That's true, but I'll get in trouble if she finds out that I'm the one who gave him her number without permission."
With a sigh, Olive shook his head.
'Well… I guess that's true.'
Sarah was not the kind of person to get mad over something like this… at least not towards him that is. But it's better not to push it.
When they arrived at the café and opened the door, they quickly saw Sarah sitting at the table, with her head resting on her hand and his elbow on the table supporting it.
Her face looked calm and poised. Combined with her breathtaking face, she looked like a princess who came from a fairy tale itself.
But there was something off about her... she seemed anxious.
Olive exhaled.
"Sarah."
She flinched a little, hearing Olive call out her name out of the sudden. Slowly, her anxious face faded and was replaced with a relieved look.
Olive and Victor went over the table without any rush, then took a seat.
Sarah, looking at them asked:
"What happened?"
***
Her voice was calm, but as her friend whom he had known since they were a child, Victor could tell there was a hint of curiosity in her voice.
Victor was about to open his mouth. But before he could, Olive promptly turned his head toward Victor and glared at him, his piercing gaze was sharp as a sword that could slice through humans like butter.
Beads of sweat rolled on Victor's forehead as he felt the sharp tension he was under.
He had promised Olive that he would not tell Sarah or anyone else about what had just happened in the alleyway. But if Sarah finds out the truth, he will get in a lot of trouble with her.
Very concerning...
'I don't want to get on her bad side now do I?'
So maybe he should tell on him instead.
But that decision would be far worse than the former!
Since not only would it anger Olive, but also Sarah, for getting him into trouble… moreover, he wasn't going to betray his friend's trust.
'What did I get myself into?'
Victor lingered for a moment. After regaining his composure, he replied with a flat tone.
"Olive saw a lost girl and... helped her."
That was an odd excuse.
Really weird... at least that's what it felt like. There was a slight pause in the middle of his sentence that betrayed his confidence despite his calm composure.
'That was not a bad excuse... right?'
Well, hopefully not, or else it would raise a suspicion without a doubt.
***
'A lost girl?'
That answer was rather peculiar...
Couldn't he have thought of something else? Why a lost girl?
Of course, there was nothing wrong with helping a lost girl as an excuse, but the excuse came too short. And to make matters worse, there was a slight pause in the middle of his sentence, betraying his confident look.
He was even sweating!
Victor could have told Sarah something else as an excuse.
Really, there were a lot of them. For example, he could have told her something like... like...
'...Uh.'
Olive tried to think of other excuses. But none came to mind. He tried to think of something for a better excuse. He thought harder... and harder.
He could tell her that they saw an accident. Actually, no, that would be a terrible idea, since it was nothing but a lie, there will be no accident outside, and Sarah, would most likely go and check on it.
He thought again.
Maybe he saw someone in trouble and helped them? But wasn't that exactly what he was trying to cover? Except, instead of Victor it was a stranger.
He thought harder again.
Ultimately, his train of thought landed on helping a lost girl — the same excuse that Victor gave.
'Alright, maybe that was not a bad excuse...'
Thoroughly thinking, helping a lost girl as an excuse, wasn't so terrible, really. In fact, Olive couldn't think of a better excuse that would help him in his current situation.
'What a mess.'