We walk down the sidewalk in a V shape with me at the tip like a delinquent captain.

  When did I become the ring leader?

  I muse it over as I continue dragging Natalya behind me, screeching she's being taken against her will, though to outsiders, it just looks like teen yakuza beating up an idiotic foreigner who is disturbing the quiet.

  Thank goodness she's a foreigner.

  I open a manga cafe's door and bow to the reception desk before requesting a room for four.

  She greets me just as politely and requests nine thousand yen.

  I pay, and we go to the room I rented.

  “Come here often?” Eva asks as she looks around, gaze lingering on a guy near the soda machine.

  “No, I don't usually go into the city. There are always exceptions of course.

  I close the door behind me, and turn to the three, sitting on beanbags.

  “So. Natalya. What's your family name or company? I don't care which.” I ask with a polite smile hiding a lot more than just bloodlust.

  “It's Liepāja Lines. That's our company name. Shipping out of Latvia. We export and ship a lot of stuff world wide.” She grumbles.

  “How much do you make? Are you the current owner? What happened to your parents?” I ask her with no sign of slowing down.

  “I killed them.” She has no reaction, glassy eyes, no guilt or concern, while watching her old sister with careful eyes looking for a reaction.

  “Oh.” That's quite interesting.

  “I am the current owner, and I make more than a billion in US dollars.” I smile as I hear the absurd amount of money.

  “So, how this is gonna go, is I'm gonna buy your company for five yen, and you don't die. How does that sound? Of course you remain as CEO and run it. I don't run businesses.” I offer with a wide fake smile.

  “Hell no! It's my company!” She grunts, slapping her hand on the table, when I stab a switchblade into the back of her hand.

  She starts to scream but I clamp my hand over her mouth.

  “Shh, it'd be bad if someone found out you were addicted to self harm, and get off on people watching you…” I threaten as I twist the knife.

  She starts to cry and gestures that she's done.

  I take my knife out and bandage her hand as she sobs.

  “For someone who cries over getting stabbed in the hand, you shouldn't have killed your parents. They had connections and maybe they could've let you be safe from horrible people like me.” I stand as I finish wrapping it.

  “Well, me and Eva were gonna go to Latvia and kill them either way, so it's mildly disappointing I can't, but whatever. I guess we just head right to the El Capitan cave. So boring.” I groan.

  Natalya whimpers as she holds her hand, cradling it, clearly not used to being hurt.

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  Pathetic. Anyone who kills needs to be ready for it to turn around and strike them back.

  I slap five yen on the table and smirk at her.

  “So, I expect the cash to start rolling in by tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow!” She shouts. “I can't get the transfer paperwork done by then!” She explains.

  “Womp womp, that's not my problem.” I shrug with an evil glint in my smile.

  She grits her teeth and glares at me.

  “Not the sort of guy I seem like at school, huh? No worries though, I won't be here much longer. I'm transferring to a much cooler place.” I retort.

  She pauses for a moment and glares at me even harder, a glimmer of purple flickering behind her eyes, making me pause for a moment.

  Maybe it's just unawakened? Is she unaware? I never thought I'd meet two more of the seven deadly sins so shortly now that I think about it. Sute as lust, and Natalya as pride. Maybe she's just lesbian kinda pride. Hehe.

  I chuckle at my joke before I realize she's talking to me.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?” I ask Natalya.

  “What school is it?” She repeats.

  “The Aetherion Academy. It's up in Alaska. As Sute for more details. I'm not super crazy about the info.” I wave her off.

  She has a thoughtful look on her face before breaking into a wide and wicked grin, looking like she's one of the boys, and she's about to touch you.

  I really hope that's a universal guy thing. It'd make that comparison really weird. I'm not gonna spend forever explaining it.

  I'm guessing she's gonna go to the school too. I hope not. It'd get in-between me and Eva.

  I ponder it over and shrug. I was planning on going to Latvia to interrogate and torture her parents for Eva, but thats ruined. Do I want to go straight to the academy?

  “Dont be cocky, Ikari. Claire has been awake while I slumbered, and she warns that the Sinful of this era are not the same now. They have completely different forms and attacks now. I fear Ikari, that I will be of little use to you.” Wrath rumbles in my head.

  “Oh, that's gay. Why do you fear you won't be of use if you don't love me?” I mock.

  “You know of those shows you watch, where there are gods of war? I am akin in my essence, as I have been through many eras of humanity and know many tactics and styles of combat. But I have no knowledge of modern warriors. I fear they may have developed something…it exists in all realms once discovered, but it's rightfully powerful depending on the variant. I worry naught if you can learn it. You have little downsides in most variants. I will not divulge the item I speak of, but when it appears, I will pause everything and summon you to my mindscape to teach you based on the variant.” He informs me with a grave tone, ignoring my provocation.

  My cocky, mocking smile vanishes, as the seriousness sinks in. If Wrath truly fears or dreads such a technique or attack style, then I have reason to worry. I was nothing in a fight before Wrath. If he worries, that means it's more powerful than he, and that spells my doom.

  Snapping out of my thoughts, I turn to the three. Eva lounges on her beanbag upside down and is talking with Sute, teasing that I’m not hers. Natalya is still smirking crazily looking at nothing in particular.

  “Eva. It takes a while to get to America by plane, so we should go home and start packing. I have some goodbyes to say before we leave anyways, which just adds more time to our departure.” I inform her.

  “OK, but like, why are you talking weird? It's like you're a poet or something. Or a geezer. Why aren't you tossing slang or jokes?” She questions.

  “Does it matter? We're leaving.” I wait, but she doesn't move to get up. “Now would be good.” I say with a tone of irritation.

  With a groan and a sigh, she moves to her feet slowly before shuffling out the door.

  I hold the door open while I say some final words.

  “You can go wherever you want Sute, see you there, and Natalya, you can go back to school or your house. I don't care.” I say, with a hint of snarkiness.

  Sute shrugs and pulls a manga out of the shelf on the wall and flips it open.

  Natalya gets to her feet with a scowl, and starts for the door, but I slam it shut before she can get to it, catching her fingers in the sliding door, and snicker as I hear a swarm of swears fill the room on the other side.

  “Well, miss conglomerate, that's not very wealthy of you. How very brutish.” I chide playfully, with an evil smirk resting on my face.

  “I will invoke the wrath of Aries upon you!” She swears. I suppose she's just a fan of Greek mythology.