"Good job, you're gonna throw up all over yourself." Oboro scoffed, watching Aaron down his what seemed like one-hundredth spot of liquor.
"Tell that to Carter, blimey bastard could gulp twice of me; he'd only throw up if we beat him hard enough!" A little reddish liquid dripped from his lower lip as he chuckled.
The two men exchanged a small chuckle, before continuing to down their beverages.
"I can't recall how many times we've been here, but I don't give a shit since it's so damn cheap, only takes a specific type of blowjob to get inside."
Aaron's crude comment prompted a sharp slap to the back of his head. "Watch your mouth Aaron, we got children here!" Oboro barked.
One of the fellow patrons at the bar, a young woman with a bob cut and freckles, chuckled. "I mean, I'm seventeen."
The trio laughed again, a little harder this time.
"Anyways, I think you were tellin' us a story, old man?" The woman smirked, sipping again.
"Ahh, right," Aaron scoffed, pushing his shot of liquor a little down the counter. The man abruptly stood up, prompting one foot atop the wooden stool like a war hero.
"Looking back at the dragon, I couldn't help but laugh. With my sword still in hand, I raised it towards the heavens and called down with all the grandeur of a soldier: "come at me you scaly son-of-a-bitch!"
He was suddenly cut short by the woman raising an arm. "You're saying this is a ...dream you had?"
"Yeah, why?" Aaron remained prompted on the stool, shooting her a curious glance.
She brought the glass of liquor to her lips again and explained after a short swallow.
"I read somewhere that dreams are gateways into the lives of our dearest self, the person we want to be in the future."
"Hol' up," Oboro chuckled, pushing away his drink.
"So ...the person I want to be in the future is tied to a bed while a human sized cat licks them everywhere?"
The woman looked towards Oboro, her lips twitching into a small, faint smile. "Hey, I never said it was true!"
The trio's laughter was cut short by the bell above the door ringing softly, diverting their attention to the group standing in the doorway. Aizawa, Olivia, Shinso, Carter, Catherine, Mr. Ryujin, and Ayumi entered the bar, sitting down beside Aaron and Oboro.
"Hey y'all, I thought you'd never find this place!" Aaron wiped the accumulated liquor off the corner of his lip. The man quickly sat down, almost falling backwards in the process.
Aizawa shot him a stern look. "This is about your friend."
"W-which one? I got like ...what is it, again? ...a thousand!" Aaron laughed, his voice a little louder than usual.
"Oh god." Aizawa grumbled, rubbing his glabella. "He's drunk."
He then looked towards Oboro, shaking his head. "Are you able to talk normally?"
The blue-haired man nodded his head, pushing away his drink. "I don't think I've ever gotten drunk before."
"What bout' that one time you tried to kiss me back in your apartment?" Carter suddenly interjected, following it up with a wolf-whistle and arched eyebrows.
Oboro's face heated furiously, bordering on blood red. "I mean ... it was once, damn it!"
"Wait, you kissed another man?" The woman with the bob cut interrupted, snickering to herself.
"Stay out of this, please." Aizawa shot her a warning glance. She sank in her stool slightly, looking away from him.
"This is about Isaiah Walls, Aaron's friend—presumebly yours too."
Oboro's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, pushing his drink farther down the counter. He then snapped his fingers, signalling the bartender to take it away.
"Isaiah's ...how do I explain this?" Aizawa's voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, grabbing Oboro's shoulder.
"Listen, I know he's freaking you out, but that doesn't mean you can talk shit bout' him behind his back." Oboro shrugged away the man's grip, a look of slight revulsion crossing his expression.
"He turned into me and tried to make Aizawa look like a villain." Ayumi, who had remained mostly silent, spoke up.
"What?" Oboro's expression didn't change in the slightest, still projecting blatant skepticism.
"Listen here, I was just like you when I first heard this." Olivia shakily placed a hand on Oboro's shoulder.
"What was that dream you described on the way here, Shouta?"
Aizawa let out a long sigh, the memory slightly hazy around the edges. "Olivia took me and her to a bar, meeting up with some red-haired man who claimed to have connections with me. Shortly after, she visited the police station after gaining critical information."
Aizawa's throat bobbed as he continued to speak, his voice now trembling slightly. "After ...I guess Olivia was being escorted back to the bar because that red-haired man meant something to this situation. But ...Carter—no, was it Catherine, attacked the police officers and killed Olivia."
"I'm sorry?" Catherine absurdly stood up with Carter by her side, looking towards Aizawa.
"Is ...there a problem?" He looked back at the duo, arching an eyebrow.
"We've run out of groceries back at our house, so we'll be on our way now." Catherine didn't say anything else as she grabbed Carter's hand escorting them both out the door.
Shinso watched them, gripping the edge of the countertop with trembling hands. If he remembered correctly, once this duo knew who would be stealing their identities, they would be killed immediately.
"Wait, I'm coming too!" Shinso shot out of his chair, joining the duo.
...
When Shinso managed to catch up with the duo, Catherine paused when she caught sight of him. The woman adjusted her glasses, pushing them up her nose as she turned to assess Shinso.
"You're staying out of this," her tone was cold, solid like stone as she bored down at the boy.
"You're gonna kill Isaiah ...aren't you." Shinso didn't bother to question the duo, as he knew they were much more powerful and skilled than he was.
"We don't commit crimes for evil, but he does." Carter's grip around his satchel tightened a small amount.
Shinso's heart began to sink to his feet the longer he walked beside the duo. His mouth became parched and dry like sand, unable to regurgitate a proper sentence.
"H-how ...long have you known Isaiah for?"
Neither Catherine or Carter bothered to answer, remaining silent as they walked down the snow-covered sidewalk. At this moment, Catherine looked up at Shinso, her lips twitching.
"If you tell the Pollinators about this, we'll kill you too. Ok?"
Shinso's gut churned as he silently nodded his head, agreeing to her conditions. His hands remained locked in his pockets, which trembled and began to leak sweat.
"How's your potion digestion going?" Catherine's sudden question made Shinso jump slightly. He quickly gathered himself and tried to answer as solemnly as he could.
"Well ...I haven't really digested my own potion yet, but Ayumi actually digested hers not that long ago—earlier today in fact."
Catherine gasped softly, turning to Shinso with wide eyes. "Really?"
Shinso quickly forced a smile and kept explaining. "Yes ...she a-actually joined the Pollinators a few days back, and that led to her potion digestion."
"Hmm."
Catherine sped up her walking, making her way down the streets a little faster beside Carter. Shinso continued to follow them, weaving through the small populous of the sidewalk.
"See if the Pollinators need you for anything, we'll handle our own matters." Carter ruffled Shinso's hair with a smile, a smile a little too wide for comfort.
Though Shinso knew what they were doing would spark controversy and divide the group—and most likely involve the Pollinators if they heard anything, he felt conflicted to leave them.
Isaiah was Aaron's friend for what seemed like a very long time. And due to the man's drunken state, he most likely was unaware of what Catherine and Cather were planning on doing, much like the rest of the group.
Mr. Ryujin was mostly centered around training Ayumi in both physical and mental health practices to ensure her survival—not that digesting her potion faster than Shinso meant she wasn't strong in any sense.
Aizawa felt more adrift beside Olivia, as the duo always went off to places of which Shinso had no idea. While Isaiah himself felt like a cryptic individual, morbidly obsessed with the human mind and whatever he could get his hands on.
But, Shinso himself wasn't personally involved with this situation. Only the mention of a shapeshifter in Aizawa's dream prompted them to take action. And, he had left the bar before hearing any additional information.
Feeling a strange bubbling in his chest, Shinso turned around and darted back to the bar, barging in and sitting in a spot beside Aizawa. By the time he had returned, Oboro's face was stricken pale, but Aaron was slumped over, dead asleep and drooling.
"Fill me in on everything," Shinso said, turning to Aizawa.
Aizawa leaned forward, not bothering to pause or catch his breath. "Isaiah is a shapeshifting bastard who likes to steal other people's identities and, I guess, frame them for crimes."
Hearing this information, Shinso's eyes widened. "Do you know how he can do this? I can have the Pollinators run an investigation on him."
"I don't exactly know ...but we know he possesses some sort of mystical abilities. Maybe it's linked to one of those pathway potions, like the ones I've been hearing about."
"I'm heading to the cathedral," Shinso quickly stood up and approached the door. He looked back at Aizawa, frowning.
"I'm telling all of this to the Pollinators."