"Vi! I brought you something!"
Van called out to her, but Vi, still facing away from him, only gave a cold snort. She wiped the sweat off her face, turned the boxing machine back on, and went right back to hammering it with punch after punch.
"Oh, wow..."
Van shrugged and walked over to Powder.
"Since you failed to cheer your sister up like we agreed, the gift I promised you is canceled."
"No way..."
Powder's eager face collapsed at once. Her mouth turned down, and she looked so crushed she was almost ready to cry.
"Haha, I'm kidding. When have I ever forgotten about you?"
Seeing her react like that, Van burst out laughing.
No matter how many times he used that trick, it always worked on gullible little Powder.
"Where's Blitz? You still have it, right? You didn't take it apart?"
"I didn't! It's right here!"
Powder pulled the round little robot out from behind her back and handed it to him.
In just half a day, its belly had already been covered in Powder's signature doodles.
Van pulled out a few parts from his bag. His fingers moved quickly, and in no time, he had assembled them into a delicate little component.
He then put brute force to work, unscrewing the screws on Blitz's back by hand, opening the casing, slipping the new part inside, then screwing everything back together again.
Once it was all in place, Van pressed the button on Blitz's back. A faint puff of steam leaked from the seams in the metal, and the cheap little bulbs in its eyes slowly lit up.
"Engine... started. Ready... to go... at any time!"
The little robot model actually let out a blurry, mechanical voice, and Powder clapped both hands over her mouth in delight.
And when Van set Blitz on the floor, it really did start walking.
Its movements were stiff and clumsy, but that was more than enough to make Powder ecstatic.
With Powder thoroughly cheered up, Van started digging through his bag again.
"Let's see what I brought back today... A toy, for Powder. Snacks, for Powder..."
He pulled out two more items and handed one to Claggor and one to Mylo.
Claggor got a new pair of goggles from Piltover. Mylo got the precision part he had been obsessing over... though in truth, it was just the one Van had decided he did not like enough to keep.
"So that's how it is? Clear favoritism?"
"Why are you competing with a kid? Claggor never whines like you do."
Claggor was thrilled with his new goggles and had already started trying them on.
"Fine... then at least teach me how that robot thing works."
"Alright, I'll teach you when I have time... but you're paying for the engine."
Van opened another package, revealing a neatly packed row of little cakes.
"You two can have some too. I bought them for Vi, but as your boss, she should be sharing with her people... right, Vi?"
"No objections!"
Still hammering away at the machine in a sweat, Vi managed to answer between punches.
"Mm-hm. I knew you'd say that, so I bought extra. But the two of you should learn to read the room... especially you, Claggor. You're the one who eats the most."
Claggor had already stuffed an entire cake into his mouth. One glare from Van nearly made him choke on the spot.
With the loot divided up, Van stood, stretched, then dropped onto the sofa Mylo had just vacated.
That was basically Van's seat. The moment he walked in, Mylo had wisely made room for him.
"Uh—"
Vi lost focus for just a second and caught a punch to the face from the machine. It did not hurt much, but it still knocked her back a step.
"Careful. You're too tired to stay focused."
"...Fine."
Vi shook the sweat from her hair, stepped down from the machine, and sat in front of the cakes. She picked one up and shoved it straight into her mouth.
"Mm. Not bad. Strawberry."
"Mm-hm. I picked those on purpose. They've got chocolate bits on top too, just like—"
"Don't say it."
"Red dragon fruit."
"Heh. There you go again."
"What? It's one of my pet names for you."
"Get lost. Keep that dumb soft-ass nickname for yourself."
"Mm-hm."
Van shrugged, pulled out the expensive bottle of liquor from his bag, pried the cork out with a screwdriver, then tipped it back and took a long drink.
"You're not having one?"
Vi held a little cake out toward him.
"No. I've never liked sweet stuff. Liquor's enough for me."
Van took another drink and rolled it around in his mouth for a moment.
"Piltover liquor really isn't as strong as the stuff down here... Want to try some? Don't worry, I won't tell Vander."
Vi took the bottle and drank from it, then immediately frowned hard.
"It's average."
"You might just be too young to have grown taste buds for alcohol yet."
"You're only two years older than me."
"True enough."
Van casually wiped the cream Vi had left on the mouth of the bottle, then took another long swig.
"I don't think Piltover people drink it like that. I've seen the Chem-Barons before."
Mylo raised a hand, lifted a finger in a dainty pose, and put on an act.
"You've got to pour it into a tiny little glass, then sip it bit by bit..."
"Oh, come off it. That's way too dainty. Who drinks like that?"
"Oh-ho-ho, and that's why we're Undercity trash."
Mylo laughed at himself. Among kids from the Undercity, that kind of bitter self-awareness was nothing unusual.
"So, did anything happen while you were in Piltover this time?"
"Same as always. Busy streets, clean air, tidy roads... Oh, right. I met a girl from Piltover too, and I helped her out with something."
Van gave the bottle in his hand a little shake.
"She was actually pretty nice. She gave me this bottle, and it's worth a lot too. She even paid in go—"
"Hmph."
Vi cut him off with a cold snort.
"So one little favor from a topsider and now you're getting ideas about them?"
"Come on..."
Van rolled his eyes and raised both hands.
"Alright, alright. I said the wrong thing."
"What do you mean, 'said the wrong thing'? I just don't get why you're always so polite to topsiders. Big tough gang boss from the Undercity goes topside and suddenly starts acting like some helpful citizen?"
"Do I?"
"We've all suffered because of topsiders, haven't we? If you ask me, we should go up there and teach those arrogant bastards a lesson. Even if it's just to vent some anger, what's wrong with that?"
She looked around at the others, only to find that her speech had failed to stir anyone at all. Even Mylo, after shrinking a little under her glare, still turned to look at Van.
Vi's eyelid twitched.
Then she turned her eyes on Van instead, her stare openly aggressive.
"What do you think, Torvan?"
"Me? I don't."
Van waved a hand.
"And stop looking at me like that. That doesn't work on me. You want to fight them? For what? Pride?"
"Respect. I'm sick of topsiders treating us like we don't matter, killing our people, making us drink filth, then going right back to their own lives like nothing happened!"
"You don't win respect with reckless courage alone. It depends on what you can actually carry."
Van pointed in turn at Powder, Claggor, and Mylo.
"You're their leader. Whatever you decide to do, they'll follow you. But the question is... can you handle the consequences?"
[End of chapter]