Chapter 58: Miscalculations

"Not bad. Good actually. You didn't go into the details that would bore them and instead let them fill out those parts by themselves. You only incited their curiosity and guided it towards your invention." She said impressively in one breath.

"You didn't even stutter once, I'm impressed." She ended finally.

"Why would I be flustered? I was only stating the facts of its uses and functions. The decision to buy it is still in their hands." Sora said with a calm and mysterious smile.

Dinah could only shake her head at his non admittance of his use of psychology against the crowd.

"You are aware that the presentation were streamed live, right?" She asked as they took a stroll around the general area of the expo.

"Of course. Frankly, I'm unbothered." He answered calmly, knowing what she was hinting to.

He had realized it some time ago. Guns weren't that common in Japan but as of the recent years, it has become far more common than it used to be.

With the government's strict regulations, it was almost impossible for this to go unnoticed and unhindered.

They couldn't be oblivious to it seeing as how the armed thugs weren't even trying to hide their guns. That only left the possibility that someone in the government body could have a hand in it.

Whatever their motive was, it certainly wasn't good.

Another thing he understood was that governments were greedy for power and control. This was why many rules had been placed on different sectors in the country, even as insignificant as they may seem.

Him having a monopoly on such level of technology as a scroll would definitely draw their attention and greed.

With a few Yakuza groups looking for Sora after his 'work' with Kenji and a few others, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it wouldn't be long before it got extremely violent.

Whoever that may be pulling the strings must not be happy with him. After all, Kenji was a useful man in various sectors of the criminal underworld.

Too bad he was unlucky enough to meet Sora.

Dinah simply shook her head with a small sigh as she spoke in a low tone.

"I don't even know why I'm surprised."

"I wonder." Sora replied as the woman beside him rubbed her temple.

There was a moment of silence as the y viewed a few 'inventions' as they passed their store. Why would you want your microwave to be a fridge?

"I know you aren't too fond of him after what he did but I couldn't stop him from coming even if I tried." Dinah said as they paused their tour for a moment.

"I was wondering when he'd stop stalking me." Sora commented lightly, turning to the side as a familiar man in a tuxedo and a cane in hand approached them.

He had a solemn look on his face as his eyes never left Sora's. The time when Sora had to be careful not to draw his ire had long passed.

He had no reason to be even a little threatened when he could snap the man's neck or behead him before he could speak.

Zatara stopped in front of them, glaring at Sora for a moment before he spoke.

"Can you give us a moment?" He asked Dinah politely to which the woman nodded politely before walking some distance away but not too far.

Zatara then refocused on Sora's calm visage, an unusual calm that wasn't present in their previous encounter.

"You seem…different." The magician started.

"Is that so?" Sora asked in mock wonder.

"That hardly seems to be the reason you're here. What do you want?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"I do not approve of your…association with my daughter." Zatara said immediately to which Sora merely hummed.

"Get to the point. This seems like something you should discuss with her and not me." The boy said, halting whatever speech the man seemed to have prepared.

The man's eyes softened as he let out a sigh.

"We both know how that would turn out. You've obviously taken some time to help her grow her magic. Even if she keeps it contained, I can still feel it." He said, turning his eyes to the far end of the area where Zatanna was happily chatting with her two friends from earlier.

"She also seems a lot more happy. Even if I manage to take her back with me, it'll only be a matter of time before she tries to escape or worse…" He said trailing off but they both knew what he wanted to say.

'Or worse, I come and set her free.' Sora thought, finishing the sentence.

"You seem to have a penchant for beating around the bush. If that is all you wanted to say then I-" He was cut off and his arm was grabbed just as he took a step to walk away.

"Take care of my daughter. That is all I ask." Zatara said with Sora's arm still in his grasp.

"You're awfully demanding for someone so powerless." Sora said in a strange tone.

Their surroundings suddenly turned dark with only the two of them being present. His hand felt empty as Sora dissipated into thin air, leaving him in the darkness.

"W-what?" He looked around cautiously at the unfamiliar environment.

'What's going on?'

The dark world was suddenly illuminated by a red light coming front the sky. Looking up, he was stunned to the core as he stared at the single red eye with three tomoe that looked down at him.

"Know your place!" Sora voice sounded around the area in an echoed manner causing him to sweat in place.

Suddenly he was back at the expo with people walking about their various businesses. He felt the sweat roll down his back in fear as Sora was nowhere in sight.

'W-W-what was that!?' He screamed internally as he looked around frantically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sora had long since left Zatara on his own and continued on with Dinah who was none the wiser.

"Care to tell me what got you so injured?" Sora asked casually as they walked, Dinah's eyes widening a bit.

"So you noticed." She said, composing herself.

Though she hid her slight limp and winces very well, he was still able to easily pick it up.

"It's quite obvious to me." He commented, waiting for her explanation.

"Gorilla Grodd. Normally flash would be dealing with him but he was busy with another mission. Me and Arrow had to deal with it." She explained with a sigh.

"I got careless and Grodd scored a hit. It hurts like hell but it's nothing new." She finished as Sora digested what she said.

On the outside his face was calm but internally he had a crazy grin.

'The members of the Justice League and their villains suffer injuries a lot and they have to wait for it to heal naturally. I'm conveniently able to heal, making me highly valuable to both sides.'

'They'd avoid making an enemy of me. Both sides would seek the ability to heal, whether peacefully or otherwise.' He thought as a cold glint passed through his eyes.

Previously he would have been worried about those villains that would forcefully try to acquire his services. At the moment he would only welcome them for an early death.

All in all, he would be the winner.

"I think I can be of help." Sora said, entirely masking his thoughts.

She raised a brow to which his hand rose, bearing a green glow as he faced it towards her stomach, specifically, her cracked ribs.

The same shade of green glow appeared around that area for a few seconds before dying out. He only needed half a second but this way it looked like he had to use it for a while.

She tried and failed to mask her surprise as she felt the pain coming from her ribs disappear entirely. She felt good as new.

"So you heal now?" She asked, knowing that she failed to hide her expression.

"A useful ability for unexpected situations." He said vaguely as they continued on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had miscalculated.

He had underestimated the effect his speech had during the expo. A week had already passed and the day for the opening of Blume Corporation had come and a large crowd was lined up in front of the building.

The crowd was already spilling into the streets as it was still increasing.

'This is…unexpected, but not unwelcome.' He thought exasperatedly with a smile as he stood at the top floor of the building looking down.

'It's time for Tokyo to recognize its new pillar.' He thought as he watched the ever growing crowd.