We still friends?

Two days later...

"Hmm, he is still acting weird..." Emma said while drinking from her soda, "He's been like that since the tournament."

"Well, the hospital already told us it was due to psychological stress, so I will go away in some days, or weeks maybe." Rachel said while looking at his phone, "Whatever you did Ender, you left him fucked up."

"Please, stop mentioning it. Already got the hint." Ender said while drinking yet another lemonade.

After Ender's victory, everybody from the public was dismissed and the instructors held a private meeting to give him the rewards for winning. He got the 10K Earthies, plus 7K more from bets!

When he asked about the ratios, they just told him that everybody believed in Alex, as his family was known for winning tournaments here and there. So for him to lose it came as a shock for everybody.

They didn't bug him about what happened to Alex, as they realized that Ender was an Illusion Manipulator.

"Not going to lie kid, we were about to call the BB Federation. If it wasn't for your trainer's and Xanatius' support... we don't know where they'd have taken you."

Ender took a deep breath and the first thing he did when he received the rewards, was to thank Sakura as he never did before. She only laughed at it and told him that with her, he was safe.

"So, still planning on being independent? I have a friend that can get you an apartment in a flat. It's in the outskirts, 750 Earthies per month, so don't expect a luxurious life.

I know you are going for the admission exam, so give me ten months of rent and I will handle everything."

Ender accepted and, not going to lie, his heart ache a little bit after watching 7.5K Earthies vanishing from his account like that.

"I will call you when the apartment's ready, probably on Sunday." Sakura said while getting on her motorcycle and driving away.

After that, he encountered the girls. They were planning on going to Loren's uncle's bar but because of Alex's condition, they decided to postpone it until Saturday.

It would be at midnight when the bar closes, so that they could celebrate in private.

However, instead of a celebration, it was kind of gloomy because of Alex's condition. Two days after the incident and he was still really messed up.

Ender arrived right at midnight and there were only Loren and his uncle Jackie there. Emma and Rachel came like a quarter an hour later.

Now, however, it was around 3 AM and they were still chatting and so. Alex came around 2:30 AM, said hi, got a beer, and sat on a couch while scrolling down his phone. He didn't even bother to play billard or something.

Ender looked backward and saw Alex looking down at his drink with lost eyes. He could help but sigh and feel bad about his situation. Out of nowhere, somebody flicked his forehead.

"C'mon, don't be that sad. You should cheer up a little bit, after all, is your win." Loren said while pouring him some more lemonade,

"Also, don't worry about him. Alex's strong, he will get over whatever it is."

Loren said as she poured some whisky into an empty cup.

"I don't understand how you like that, it messes with your throat." Ender said while remembering the first time he tasted alcohol, it felt like gulping down lava,

"But how can I cheer up with him being like that."

He looked back again and saw Emma standing beside him while holding his hand. Alex tilted his head a little and rested his head on her shoulder, which made Ender smile a little bit.

"Don't mind him, he has done way more fucked up things to other people. Did I tell you that time he got drunk and almost burnt someone's eyes because he flashed and burnt him at the same time?"

Ender looked back at her and muttered, "... what the fuck?"

Loren couldn't help but chuckle,

"Well, after that five other people appeared out of nowhere and we had to run for our lives literally, the outskirts are not that safe... We made him pay for our pizza for the entire month."

Ender, this time, started laughing after hearing the story. Loren smiled after watching him laugh so happily for the first time since they met.

"Anyways, you two probably had the hardest fights out of the entire tournament. Alex because of his massive amount of ego, yours because those were the first you ever had." She said while finishing the whisky, only to pour another glass.

"Like, you got your entire body cut by tiny wind blades and had to cauterize them. Then, you had a massive hole in your lung forcing you to use even a higher cauterizing method. And then your entire body burnt via UV light?

If that was me, I'd be screaming on the ground like a pig." Loren said, appraising Ender.

"Well, it hurt like hell, especially the UV light. I just keep it all to myself, but I was hoping to pass out and stop the pain, haha." He took another sip from his lemonade.

Loren stared at him and suddenly jump over the bar and sat beside Ender and said, "So, you have two Elements?"

Ender gulped as Loren was extremely, extremely close to him. He even began to sweat up as the only time someone has been this close to him was while fighting.

"W-Well, uh... yeah?"

Loren smiled and said, "Really?! Is it as cool as they say it is? Having that EP boost must be crazy!"

"It's not about the EP. I almost lost because of the Elements rather than my physical strength. But having two makes you feel more secure, that's for sure."

"Aw, man... I wish I had two Elements!" She shouted while laughing. Ender looked at her face and saw her all red and thought, 'How the hell is she drunk already... how much alcohol has she taken?!'

He shrugged and said, "What's your element by the way?"

Loren stopped laughing, looked at him, and said, "That's a secret."

She finished her whisky and tied her hair in an improvised ponytail, leaving two strands of hair to the side. Just as she wanted to pour some more, a tall man, probably around 1,89 meters, appeared and said with a soft tone,

"That's enough kid..." And took the bottle from her hand.

"Hey Jackie, what the fuck! I was going to drink that! Gimme that!" She said as she tried to get the bottle back. The man, obviously Loren's uncle, just held her head and kept her in place.

"You even took my best bottle, sneaky... If you wanted to drink along with your lover you could have to go to the apartment..." He said while chuckling and putting the bottle back. He fixed his ponytail which kept all of his black hair in place.

"Hey! He is not my fucking lover! Also, how many of them do I already have according to you?!" She said while grabbing Jackie by his shirt.

"Fifteen." He said while laughing.

Ender joined and also laughed at Loren, who now had her head placed on top of the bar while pouting.

Out of nowhere, she opened her mouth a little bit before touching Ender's shoulder multiple times and pointing back.

Ender looked and saw Alex getting him with a bottle of beer in hand, walking towards Ender. He quickly finished the lemonade and stood up, not trusting Alex's sobriety.

"Hey, can we talk outside for a moment?" And this question threw him off the bridge.

He shrugged and said, "Sure."

They both exited the bar and sat on a bench nearby.

Ender combed his hair backward to keep it out of his eyes and looked forward, toward the city. They kept staring at it while watching the cars go by for a solid two minutes.

"I saw my sister. Back in the tournament."

Ender looked at him and rose an eyebrow while waiting for explanations. Alex got up while drinking his beer and said,

"I know of your Illusion Element, but I still don't know how you knew about my sister's situation."

"And... I don't. Whatever happened was outside my knowledge." Ender said while stretching his arms.

Alex looked back and said, "Really? I didn't know that Illusion could get directly into the mind..."

Ender just shrugged as he watched Alex look at him with mixed feelings. Sometimes his eyes would tear up and sometimes he felt an immense rage building up from his insides.

In the end, Alex sighed and said,

"My sister was... taken away from me. On her fourteenth birthday, one year ago. Some people in black suits rushed into our mansion and took her away.

While my family watched without doing anything.

I-I tried to fight them off, trying to use my Element, but they were way stronger than me. They took me by the arm... a-a-and launched me toward a wall, a-and they took her a... away."

Alex tried to contain the tears but couldn't stop the shaky voice from appearing, "I-I still hear her s-screams... And I couldn't do shit!!"

Alex threw the bottle of beer against the road, breaking it into a million pieces,

"All of that while my fucking family watched indifferently!"

He shouted as held his head trying to contain the tears. Alex sat down and started taking deep breaths.

Ender tried to digest that as well as he could but... it was too much. Now he was truly feeling bad about using the Claws.

Sure, for someone you hold no friendship with, it was easy... but watching Alex this way made him feel sick.

He wanted to comfort him but had no idea how to do so. In the end, he just stared at him while feeling extremely remorseful.

"She appeared right there... told me it was all my fault. That I was a coward for not helping her... I knew it wasn't true but... it still hurt me. She told me that... i-if I truly loved her I'd have s-saved her..."

Ender patted his shoulder and said, "Sorry... I'm still not used to fighting with my Element."

"No... don't apologize. It was a fight and we had to do everything to win... I would have done the same. I hold no grudge against you... and I'm sorry for saying that after the hallucination."

"Did you know it was one?" Ender asked.

"Yeah... I was aware. But seeing her, standing right there, made me lose focus. I wanted to hug her, to tell her she was safe with me but... I guess dreaming is for everyone..."

He looked towards the city with a smile and said, "Let's go inside, that's all I wanted to talk about... Thanks for listening."

Alex got up and started climbing down toward the bar. Before he could enter though,

"Hey Alex!"

He looked back, and saw Ender standing on top of the stairway, "We still friends?"

He smiled at him and said, "Yeah... get ready for the next fight, 'cause I'll make sure to beat your ass, haha!" Alex laughed.

'He is sure strong... mentally.'

Ender smiled after watching Alex laugh since the tournament. They both entered the bar and Alex explained what happened, getting some reactions from the girls. Loren, said nothing as she passed out drunk while drooling on the table. Emma hugged him tightly while Rachel patted his shoulder.

Ender sat near the bar. And got another lemonade while watching them comforting Alex... and he started laughing inwardly after watching Loren almost fall from the couch.

["Well, that was an experience."] Ren said while sighing.

'Didn't expect all of that... fear is scary.'

["I knew that the hallucinations caused physical pain, but reliving a traumatic experience? That is new for me."]

'Maybe it's not new, you just give a shit about people's feelings.' Ender thought while chuckling

["What?! Never been so offended about something true."] He said, laughing his ass out.

Ender spent until 5 AM with his friends. They played some billard and watched a movie while eating some sweets that Jackie had brought. Before Ender could go though, they kept him to make funny photos of Loren.

"She is going to kill you after this." He said while taking a photo of Rachel carrying Loren like a princess while mimicking crying.

"Don't care! We'll make sure to make her see the photos every single day!" Emma said while laughing.

Ender sent the photo to everybody and announced that he was going to leave. They gave him some quick hugs and went outside.

"Will see you soon guys." He said as he left. He went towards a bus stop, as all of the busses were automated, and waited for it while thinking,

'Well, tomorrow I'm getting the apartment, I might as well pack some things up and leave that dammed house once and for all... Fucking finally.'