Chapter 28 - Meeting a Vexos (2)

He was frankly dumbfounded. James thought he would have to wait a few more days. It was something he hadn't been prepared for, that he had arranged it so quickly. Still, it was good.

After a bit more talking, he had to deal with Lucy's concern, which was extreme. After a little persuasion that it was okay for him to work, he told her he wanted to be alone for a while so he could talk to Fox.

When he finally was alone, Fox's voice was heard. He could detect a strange dissatisfaction in her voice, different from usual.

[I thought you were going to tell me everything. Your situation just got a lot funnier.]

James laughed dryly.

"Ha ha. You think so? Would anyone believe me if I tried to fully explain what a certain someone did wrong? I tried to put it the best way I could think of."

Fox said.

[Hmph! Cringe. If you're going to explain it, you should have done it properly. Well, it's a fact she doesn't believe even now. Who in God's name would believe that a vestal is a hybrid animal?]

Fox was not at all pleased with James' behavior. It wasn't as if he had never lied before. But his "I'll tell you everything" behavior, mixing lies with the truth, made her feel bad.

Moreover, what he had said had seemed sadly ridiculous to Fox.

James frowned.

"I've already realized you don't believe me."

Then he paused for a moment. He knew in his heart that what Fox had said was true. But he knew his own feelings best. The anxiety he saw at that moment and felt strange... He liked it. Then he continued his speech as follows:

"In that moment... I lost my rationality, I didn't know what to say in the face of the attention I was receiving. Wouldn't it be worse if I told the whole truth? I was afraid of that."

The emotions he felt at that moment were very foreign to him. Even though he had known many emotions since he came here, the one he felt at that moment was so foreign to him that... well, you could say he literally screwed up.

Fox didn't say anything. Hence the awkward silence.

At that moment he felt a hug. He was stunned. There was no one around. But even though there was no one around, he could feel someone's arms and pressure on his chest.

He was surprised for a moment and tried to move, but he couldn't. He was being held by something he could not see.

He spoke with a slight fear:

"Uh... Fox, I can't, I can't move."

Just then Fox's voice came like a whisper in his left ear:

[I'm sorry. I was too harsh without thinking about your point of view.]

Fox realized she had been too harsh. In that moment she remembered his old life and forgot about James' situation.

He was startled, of course, by the sound that had come from everywhere before, coming so close, but then he realized that it was Fox who was hugging him tightly. He tried to hug the void as he looked at a loss for words, but he couldn't touch anything.

He found this strange but instead of commenting on it, he murmured in a low voice:

"It's okay."

…

The next day James walked towards the Eclipse Restaurant. He could see many admiring looks around him. At least most of the Bakugan-interested crowd turned and talked among themselves as soon as they saw him.

James grinned and kept walking. Well, all this meant that he was getting the results he wanted. It was only a matter of time before the mission was completed. With the happiness and excitement that this brought, he started to head towards the Eclipse Restaurant at full speed.

[I hope it works out the way you want it to.]

James replied with a triumphant grin:

"Of course it will. Even if it ends up with me being the loser of the story... I'll at least be able to maintain this form if I give it the necessary time."

After this conversation they arrived at the Eclipse Restaurant. Unsurprisingly, they again led him to the top. For a moment, James secretly thought that Victor had a fetish for closing floors. What was the point of closing a whole floor when you could have more customers?

But he briefly shook his head from side to side, stopped thinking about it and took deep breaths. He had to calm down and watch his words.

Even though he was conceptually identical to Bakugan, everything he saw and the people he talked to reminded him that he was in reality rather than in a cartoon. For this reason, he might not be the person he knew.

What he knew was someone with an extremely simple point of view. If he explained it properly, he could do what he wanted. He had full faith in that. But would it really be the person he knew?

And when he reached the top floor, he saw two people.

The first one, not surprisingly, was Victor. He was saying something and the person next to him was shaking his head slightly as if he cared. But you could tell from his expression that he didn't care and wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

This man had a spiky hairstyle. But what James noticed most was a different hair color. When the light reflected directly from above, it had a red tint, close to pink. But from another angle it shifted to a fainter orangish color.

His eyes were blue. Again, as expected from Vestals, it was impossible to see a sparkle in them. With his large build and sharp features, he was undoubtedly dangerous. From the short white jacket with yellow embroidery he wore, it could be inferred that this brawler was a Haos user. Underneath he was wearing what appeared to be a black shirt with yellow stripes. James was still so unfamiliar with Vestal fashion that it was difficult for him to deduce.

But he knew at first sight who this was.

It was... Volt Luster, also known as The Light Demon!

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First of all, I would like to thank everyone who read and gave the power stone. Summer is over and contrary to my expectations, we didn't finish the first volume for many reasons.

Since it's time for my school to start, the frequency will decrease because of that. There may not be a consistent chapter this week. There may not be any at all. But I want you to know that I will put them in a certain order in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for reading.