“One last delivery for the day. It’s a simple one. Meet the client at the restaurant, take the parcel and get going,” Guanciano explained as he passed a report.

  “You got it!” Machua saluted as she received the report. “Is there a reason why they didn’t leave the parcel here?”

  Machua and Guanciano were sitting inside of his post office. Machua wore a blue delivery outfit with a big bag at her side and a dimensional bracelet provided by Guanciano. She also had a cute hat on, which Iana bought for her.

  Machua looked over the details of the report. The meeting spot was a restaurant she remembered going to when she first came here. The pay-out was also quite high. It was the highest of all the jobs she had taken since she became a delivery girl. As for the parcel’s contents, they were a bunch of pills. Apparently, it was being sent to a whole family of people, who were visiting to pick it up, so that was why the parcel was sizeable.

  “Eh, lots of people don’t trust the security of a post office. Better keep it themselves and then hand it over when the delivery girl passes by to take it.”

  “Really? But you paid lots of money to have alarm barriers set up. This place is pretty secure. And you’re also pretty strong,” Machua wondered.

  “Heheh,” Guanciano snorted with pride. He lifted an arm and patted his bicep. “I’m proud of these guns but they haven’t been used in a while.”

  “Think the last time I got in a serious fight was in my hunting days.”

  “Ooooh, you were B Rank right? Adel told me.”

  “What? How’d she know?”

  “Haha. She got her hands on your old Hunter license~” Machua teased.

  “That conniving little… Can’t believe she’d do that,” Guanciano grumbled. “It’s all your fault, you know. You made her get out the house and now she’s doing stuff like this.”

  “Oh, can it. She’s doing way better now. Even you have to agree,” Machua said with a smile.

  “Guess so. She has been opening up. Even cut her hair short. Bit too short if you ask me.”

  “What? It looks good on her,” Machua chuckled a bit. “Anyway, even if someone did try to break in, you’d just fight them off, right?”

  “Eh, doesn’t amount to much when most people’ve done Hunter service too. Chances are, if an active Hunter tries to rob me, I’d probably get beaten to the ground.”

  “I guess that’s true…” muttered Machua.

  ‘Still though…’ She couldn’t help but think. Surely, it would be different right? He was probably exaggerating and being humble. ‘Even though he isn’t a humble guy at all…’

  “You’re lucky, you know.”

  Machua looked to Guanciano, confused.

  “It’s rough out there. They tell you it’s gonna be a chill time, a good time even, but all it takes is one close shave for you to see they’re all liars,” Guanciano spat, while almost reminiscing.

  “Haha…” Machua awkwardly laughed.

  “Maybe I got unlucky. I…” Guanciano stopped and looked to the time. The client expected pickup an hour from now. Just enough time for a story.

  “Really should be asking Iana if it’s okay to tell. But should be fine since you’re living under her roof,” Guanciano muttered.

  Machua sat down, ready to listen.

  “Hargh, me and Iana, the two of us did our service pretty late in our lives. We waited till the last chance we had, so we were 25. Mostly cause it woulda left her sister running the restaurant alone.”

  “Oh… She told me about her. Tatiana was her name, right? And she was also your wife.”

  “That’s right. Passed away a few years ago. I ‘member Adel cried more than me when she went. Hah,” Guanciano laughed bitterly. “It’s almost time to visit her grave this year. Iana might take you with her.”

  Machua stayed silent. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go. It was just that she was a little unaccustomed to visiting graves. And considering where this story was going, she didn’t want to face the unfortunate truth of the matter.

  “Well, it was a fine time for a while. Two of us stayed together in the same squad. Our captain was younger than us, full of spunk. Did his service as soon as he could, got a squad cause he asked for it. The guy was a real go-getter. I see a little of him in you.”

  “…” Machua didn’t know what to make of that.

  “Didn’t take long for Iana to fall for that guy. He was an Aramaya native and he loved Sterling Snowdrop. So, he was always trying to help out whenever he could. His service was over, so even when the two of us had to hunt, he could hop on over to help Tati.”

  “It was a great first year. One night, we went drinking during the festival. Just the two of us. I told him I’d beat him down if he hurt her. Told him that means if he went and died on us, I’d come and find him and wrestle him back here.”

  “That’s a you move alright…” Machua worked up a light smile.

  “He laughed at me too. And then he told me his dream. He wanted to be an A Rank Hunter and he wanted to teach others how to hunt. He asked for a team on the older side cause he wanted to prove he could get them in shape. Not that 25’s old or anything. But the way he saw it. People like us, we were running from the job as hard as we could. And he wanted to prove to people like us that it wasn’t so bad.”

  “He sounded like a nice guy,” Machua almost murmured.

  Guanciano took a deep breath before he continued. He didn’t know how best to say this, even after all these years. “Charle died in our second year. Sacrificed himself to let a few kids get away.”

  Machua’s smile slowly turned into a frown. Her eyes fixated on the ground, but her ears were still listening.

  “Iana could never get over him. Me neither. The two of us, we decided that we had to keep his dream alive. Had to show them all that we could make damn good Hunters. So we fought. As hard as we could. We fought so hard we made it to B Rank by the time we were done. If you ever saw videos of us, I bet you’d be surprised.”

  “Adel showed it to me,” Machua confessed. “She was always proud of you.”

  “Hah. Wrong thing to be proud of. I’ve told her dozens of times. Getting sucked into all that violence was the worst thing we did.” Guanciano stopped there, letting his words sink into the young girl in front of him.

  Just as she was beginning to parse through it, he continued, “We neglected Tati. Left her alone to do all the work herself. We got a call from the hospital saying that she collapsed. When we arrived, she told us that it wasn’t our fault. That we didn’t have to come home so often.“

  “I promised her I’d stop. Our service was over at that point. Iana though, she made the most conflicted face I’d ever seen from her. But in the end, she joined me. Still don’t know if she regretted it or not.”

  “Things went well from there. Iana went back to Sterling Snowdrop. I delivered packages. Tati did her service and kept safe. Visited us often, like how we should’ve done for her. We got married, had kids. You know the rest. Iana could never let Charle go though.”

  “Sorry to hear all that happened…”

  “Just one story out of a hundred. You hear this everywhere. Hunting’s the most dangerous job there is. Now, I don’t hate it. But I know what it does. It kills people. Leaves families broken apart.”

  “I won’t deny we need it, and maybe the service is for the best. But I also can’t deny it’s hurt people. Many of them. So if you don’t have to hunt, that’s great. If you still want to, then you’ll have to get used to stories like these. Might even end up in one yourself.”

  “It’s just that…” Machua mumbled, the rest of the sentence never leaving her mouth.

  ‘I want the same thing everyone else has.‘

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Well if it’s nothing then you best get going. Never a bad thing to be early.”

  Machua nodded. She gathered her things and read the report over once again.

  “Is this a physical delivery?” She asked.

  Ever since dimensional storage items were invented, deliveries and post offices had become streamlined. A singular worker could carry tons of items through a dimensional storage item, provided it had enough space, but the one thing that had to be delivered normally were items with mana inside of them. Batteries, engines, enchanted items, plants, etc. There was a great many items that would still have to be carried physically, so post offices were still required.

  “If it’s pills, probably physical. Just ask the client when you meet him.”

  “Okay. I’ll be heading off then.”

  Machua went to leave the building, but before she could open the door, Guanciano called to her.

  “Oh and meet me at Iana’s place for dinner. I’ll treat you for all the hard work you’ve put in.”

  Machua’s mood rose a little and the sort of anxious smile she always sported appeared again on her face.

  “Thanks. See ya Guanciano!”

  ———————————————————————

  Tam fidgeted with the parcel he had in his hands. It was a medium-sized box that was tightly packed. Despite checking it over and over again with his brother, he couldn’t help but re-check all of its seals. It was a clean and inconspicuous parcel. That’s all it was and all that anyone would ever think it would be.

  ‘Hopefully.’

  “Hey, delivery. You’re the client, right?”

  Tam nearly jumped from his seat. He turned to see who was talking to him, only to find it was a girl wearing a delivery uniform and a big bag. On her shirt was the name ‘Guanciano’s Delivery Station.’

  “O-oh, you’re here. Sorry, I’m a nervous man,” Tam calmed himself down and said.

  “No worries, no worries. I get like that too. My mom taught me a method to calm yourself down, you wanna know what it is?” The delivery girl asked.

  “No, no thank you. I, um, need to get going anyway. My break’s ending soon.”

  Tam held out the package. “Here.”

  As soon as she received it, Tam stood up to escape the scene, but she called out to him.

  “Hey! The money?“

  “Oh, right…” Tam absentmindedly dug into his bag for a wad of cash. He handed it to the delivery girl, who counted it up.

  “That’s everything,” the delivery girl confirmed with a smile. “Remember, if it doesn’t get delivered, contact us and you’ll get your money back. I’ll be off now.”

  Tam nodded and walked away from the delivery girl, not bothering to wave goodbye to her back. He could hear her footsteps disappear into the distance as they got further away from each other, and he hoped they would never meet again.

  ‘Ohhh…. I think I messed up. She definitely thought I was suspicious.’

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  Tam snuck into a quiet corner of the City and phoned his brother. “H-hey. I gave the package away.”

  “Good job,” his brother congratulated. “Now we wait for the delivery and the cash to roll in. That’s easy money for you.”

  “Yeah…” Tam trailed off.

  “I told you it was a good idea to take that briefcase. And we don’t even have to deliver it ourselves. The money we pay to that post office is nothing compared to the pay-out it’ll get us.”

  Tam found it a bit difficult to get a word in. As it always was between them.

  “Man, I can’t wait to take a vacation after this. That was such a good idea to use the post office so the cops can’t catch us in the act.“

  Tam finally spoke, “Um, I might have given us away…”

  “…”

  “Shit, Tam! You should’ve started with that! You think they’d look inside or hand it over to the Bureau?” His brother asked quickly.

  Tam wanted to give a definitive answer. He wanted to say no, in hopes of placating his upstart brother, but saying yes would mean that they’d have to take action. And he didn’t know exactly what that meant. For a second, he contemplated what to say.

  But in the end, he chose what he always clung to.

  “…Maybe.”

  “Maybe!? That delivery has to go through! I’m tracking that guy down!”

  “W-wait Bo-“

  “The delivery app has their location, so I know where they are! If they look then I’ll handle it! You stay there and wait for the good news!” Tam’s brother hung up as quickly as he finished the sentence.

  Tam blankly stared at his phone. His brother had always been the more proactive one, and he often rushed into things without thinking. It was always up to him to reel him back.

  But, really, what was the worst that could happen? One delivery girl couldn’t hurt his brother. She didn’t even have an Aspect. He’d wrestle it from her, and…

  Tam didn’t notice his breath had gotten heavy until now. He felt the pit of his stomach drop and all of a sudden, he had the feeling that something bad was going to happen. It was in his nature to overthink, he was the older one after all. And especially now that they were dabbling in crimes, things were bound to go wrong.

  Before he knew it, he had opened up the delivery app on his phone. The tracker on the delivery girl was steadily heading away from him. In the chat logs, his brother had already told her to meet back up with ‘him’ nearby, as he had forgotten to give her special instructions.

  Tam huffed as he began heading that way. His steps were light, and he found himself unconsciously walking faster than normal. The only thing on his mind was the hope that nothing would go wrong.

  ———————————————————————

  “… Looks like I made it here first,” Machua muttered as she sat on the bench.

  It was a bit weird for the client to tell her to wait on a nearby bench instead of coming back to him, especially since it was so soon after she had left. She told him that there wouldn’t be an additional fee, but he insisted. She chalked it up to him being a nervous man and not wanting to make more problems for her, but now she had to wait.

  ‘He was being really nervous. What if…’ an unsettling thought lodged itself into her mind.

  Machua remembered how Guanciano taught her how to check for suspicious packages. He taught her carelessly, as he said that she probably would never carry one, so she didn’t fully understand how to do so. But if she remembered correctly, she should be observing its weight and distribution, and then gently shake it, trying to listen for anything weird.

  Machua performed the tests on the package she had just received. It was tightly packed, so what were assumably pills didn’t really move. But, by the slightest shift in weight, it seemed whatever was inside rolled.

  ‘Pill bottles,’ she thought.

  Next was to gently shake it. She brought the package up to her ear and slowly shook it. Back and forth, trying to get the slightest bit of sound.

  *Kachuk… kachuk…*

  There. Whatever was inside those bottles, they were small and there was a lot of them. It was probably not a bomb. It was probably the pills. It sounded like pills, it was just pills. It had to be.

  Machua silently considered what else it could be. If it was bad, then it could be…

  ‘Drugs…?”

  Machua’s eyes widened at the idea. There could be drugs in this package. The client might be using her as a drug carrier. If that was the case, then the correct thing to do was give it to the Bureau.

  ‘But the Bureau’s so far away… And anyway, I’m not sure if these are drugs.’

  She couldn’t know if these were drugs or not. The pills could be life-saving medication. They could be anything, really. The only way she could know was if she opened that package up.

  ‘What do I do, what do I do? This is definitely my fault if I’m wrong…’ Machua almost lamented. She definitely had to open this up. Her curiosity could not be contained.

  Machua took a boxcutter out of the dimensional storage bracelet. She held a breath as she opened the package. The tape was slit cleanly, and the cardboard box was easily opened. It was packed full of pill bottles.

  ‘They could still be normal.’

  Machua took one of the pill bottles and looked for the label. If it was real medication or a scientific tool, then it would have a label.

  But it didn’t. These were unlabelled pills. Given to her by a client, who would have known. And who had just…

  Machua could only watch as the pill bottle was snatched out of her hand.

  “I’m going to need you to be quiet,” her client spoke.

  The client reached for her arm, but all of Machua’s instincts told her she had to go. Before he could close his fingers around her arm, she dashed off with the opened package.

  “Piece of shit!” The client yelled as he chased her.

  “H-HELP!” Machua yelled out as loud as she could, but she found that her voice simply petered out.

  In fact, she found the air around her to be heavy. She found that her breaths had gotten shorter and shorter. It was like the air itself didn’t want to enter her lungs.

  ‘Air Aspect! Damn it! What is this, an air barrier or something? I can’t shout for help, can’t breathe… Argh, I don’t know how to get rid of these!’

  “Geez, dropping the pill bottles so carelessly on the ground. Are you a delivery worker or what?”

  Machua looked back to see her client picking up the pill bottles she must have dropped on the ground. She reflexively closed the package when she saw him lift them with wind into his arms.

  “That’s a good girl. Now, hand it over and we can handle this quietly.”

  Machua didn’t wait even a second before she bolted away again. She held the package close to her chest as she ran into the City. She didn’t know where to go, all she knew was that she had to get away from him.

  ‘Oh my god, oh my god, where do I go? The Bureau’s too far, is there a guild nearby?’ Machua’s frenzied thoughts did not distract her from the sound of his footsteps. He was much faster than her. Or it should be said that she had become much slower than she expected.

  ‘Damn it! If only I had an Aspect…’

  The client grabbed the back of her head and nearly stopped her in her tracks. She forced her head down, leaving only her hat in his hands, and continued running.

  “If that’s how you’re gonna play it…” the client growled.

  The client gathered mana into his feet and leapt after her. Machua dashed into the closest room to her, narrowly avoiding the leap. She closed the door behind her and took out everything she could from the dimensional storage bracelet to try and bar the door. A mishmash of packages blockaded the door.

  Machua took several deep breaths. She found that she could breathe normally again and sucked in as much air as she could

  ‘Where even am I? Is this…’ Machua looked around to see that her worst fears were not unfounded.

  She was in a bathroom. With all the ruckus, if there was anyone here, they would have noticed. She was in a dead end and she was all alone.

  The door slammed open and all the packages that blockaded the door shot towards her. Machua raised her hands to protect herself, but the force shot her into the wall.

  “Urgh…” Machua coughed up blood. Her breathing was being blocked again. And any noise she made would surely be muffled out.

  “Hah… Ran right into a dead-end. You’re not very smart, are you?”

  Machua’s eyes shivered as she watched the client close the door. The only exit was past her assailant and she didn’t have the skill to get past him. She didn’t have the skill to fight off anyone.

  ‘If only…’ Machua didn’t even finish that sentence. It was a line she repeated almost every day.

  If only she had an Aspect. If only she was linked to a specific type of magic, she could at least use that to figure something out. If only her mana was as pure or as plentiful as everyone else.

  It wasn’t impossible to win. Galas Derrida proved that, and he was a hero to the many Non-Aspected. But even he, in the end, decided that magic alone wasn’t enough. And there was yet another thing that differentiated him from her.

  He was an active Hunter. Even at this age, he was throwing himself into battle. As a Non-Aspected, there was no need for him to, the Mandatory Hunter Service law did not apply to him. He did not have to take those classes, did not need to hone his skills past a high-school level, and did not need to struggle.

  The Mandatory Hunter Service law meant that everyone past a certain age knew how to fight, knew how to hunt, and knew how to protect themselves. There wasn’t many people who had a talent for violence and continued to hunt for a living. But the skills they learnt while out on the field were invaluable and could never be forgotten.

  The intentions behind the law were pure. In a world of monsters, people should learn how to defend themselves. But on the flip-side this also meant that if you had an Aspect and you were past a certain age, you knew how to kill. It would be easy for you to use your powers to commit crimes, and harm others.

  It was a truth that many non-Aspected realised early on. That they weren’t going to awaken an Aspect, and that meant they were at risk. It was recommended to take Hunter classes and even work the same 5 years all the Aspected had, but one thing didn’t change. They were sheep among wolves.

  The client stepped forward and all of Machua’s thoughts froze. She didn’t dare think. All of her attention had to be given to him.

  His gait, his footsteps, his breathing. His clenched fists, his sneer, and that glint in his eye. Every single detail her mind wrote down to figure out something she could do. She knew how to fight, every high school taught basic combat classes. But faced with a live combat situation, all of those classes went up in smoke. The only thing she could think to do was throw the package at him.

  “Woah!” He seemed more surprised than annoyed.

  The package flew at his face, but he sent out his mana to catch it just in time. The package floated down to his hand and all the pill bottles that spilled out flew into the package, back where they were supposed to be.

  “You should be careful with these. They’re much more valuable than you.”

  Machua didn’t even register his words. All she could hear was her own breathing and the sound of his footsteps growing nearer. Each step seemed to take hours to take.

  Machua’s breathing was so faint that she was struggling to think. She wondered if he was sucking the air out of her lungs itself, or if it had actually been that long. Was she already becoming woozy? Was she already about to collapse?

  ‘If I shut my eyes now, I’m a goner,’ Machua could at least recognise.

  Nearer, nearer, ever so nearer. Step after step. Until he was standing right before her.

  “You’ve seen the goods. So, I’m going to have to ask you to be quiet now.”

  The client’s hand reached for her head. He grabbed ahold of her hair and pulled, forcing her to stand up. She didn’t have the energy to resist.

  Machua looked up into his eyes with apprehension. The client was acting so different from before, she almost didn’t recognise him as the same man.

  The client slowly raised his other hand up in the air. Machua’s eyes widened before closing. The thought of what could happen next was almost worse than the actual pain she felt from having her hair pulled. She just wanted all of this to stop.

  *Shunk*

  The quiet sound of a blade cutting through skin pierced her ears.

  Machua felt a warm liquid slide down her hand. She was almost too afraid to open her eyes, but she didn’t have to. Air flowed back into her lungs.

  “U-urghk…” The client lumbered back, his neck still spewing blood. The boxcutter slid out of his throat just as easily as it slid in, but by then it was too late. Blood had already been spilled all over the floor, and they were flowing. Flowing down and draining.

  Machua had stabbed him through the neck, and her client was now bleeding on the ground. She listlessly dropped the bloody boxcutter on the ground and stared at his lifeless body.

  “B-BONAS!” The sound of her client had reappeared suddenly, shaking Machua out of her stupor.

  A person who looked just like her client ran into the bathroom and cradled him. Machua didn’t know what to think or what to say, but it was plain to see that she needed to leave.

  Machua tiptoed out of the bathroom as her client grieved his brother’s demise. He begged him not to go and lamented picking up that package. He called out to him, asking if he remembered playing together, getting into trouble, only to receive no answer.

  “Come on… answer me. All this blood, we can get you fixed at a hospital…”

  Tam didn’t even believe in his own words. He laid his head on his brother’s chest and he did not hear the sound of his heartbeat. His brother was dead, well and truly dead. There was nothing left for him.

  “I’ll…” Tam slowly rose. “I’ll kill you! Murderer!”

  Machua dashed out of the bathroom and ran. Tam was not as fast as his brother. And he did not suffocate her. She threw anything she had in reach behind her, hoping to knock him over, but he blocked them each time. The only thing he was focused on was chasing her.

  ‘Where do I go!?’ Machua yelled in her mind again, finally fully cognitive again. She didn’t know where she was running. All she knew was that she was being chased.

  Her feet met familiar ground, and the environment around her gradually became the place she knew best. Stalls passed by her vision, people yelped in shock at her appearance, and before she knew it, she was standing before where she was living.

  It was Sterling Snowdrop. She didn’t have time to think though, Tam was right at her heel. So, she ran in.

  “Deli-Machua! Who did this to you!?” Guanciano yelled. He rushed to her side and held her.

  “Th-the client! It was drugs! I wasn’t thinking! I-I stabbed him! And then, and then-“

  The door slammed open and Tam entered the establishment. His eyes scanned the crowd and locked onto his brother’s killer. She flinched when their eyes met.

  “You! You’re dying here today!” Tam shouted as he stamped his foot on the ground.

  An earth spike shot forth and broke through the wooden flooring. It stabbed straight at Machua, but the earth spike did not reach her. Guanciano had wreathed his arms with ice and grabbed it.

  “Hiding behind an old man, huh!?”

  Tam moved to slam his hands onto the ground, but before he could, a ball of flame came his way. He dodged the blast and turned to see who had shot it.

  “Leave. You’re not welcome in this establishment,” Iana ordered. She had left the kitchen and walked to the forefront of the crowd.

  Guanciano moved Machua behind him and stood in front of her protectively. The entire crowd moved to separate Machua from Tam, and many of them began channelling their mana.

  “Ha… Haha! You think I care how many of you there are!? I’ll kill all of you if I have to!” Tam shouted as a large chunk of the earth broke through the floor and shot itself at the crowd.

  “Flamethrow,” Iana chanted.

  Iana focused her flames at the chunk of earth. Members of the crowd joined her and intensified the flowing flame. Soon enough, it had melted entirely, but right behind it, Iana sensed that more earth spikes were being sent their way.

  “Watch out!” She yelled as an earth spike nearly pierced her throat. It drew blood, but it wasn’t enough.

  “You bastard!” Guanciano shouted as he leapt forward.

  Tam launched several more spikes and even put up an earth shield, but Guanciano barrelled through them. He punched his way through any earthen defences and eventually, he made his way into melee range.

  Machua could only watch as Tam continued fighting Guanciano. The two traded blows over and over. Guanciano’s aging body couldn’t keep up, but his sheer determination forced his body to keep going. Icicle fragments broke upon Tam’s body, over and over, and Guanciano’s body became riddled with wounds.

  Suddenly, Iana’s kick interrupted Tam’s strike. Followed by another member of the crowd punching him. And another striking him. More and more people jumped into the brawl, and Tam found himself unable to retaliate.

  Machua felt herself breathing again, as she watched Tam get engulfed in the crowd. Several members of the crowd, most of them old people with grandchildren, sat her down and treated her. They cradled her head in their arms and told her that everything was going to be okay.

  But she didn’t really register any of what had happened. She finally, finally had time to think. The horrible truth that all non-Aspected knew. It wasn’t… entirely correct.

  If everyone knew how to fight, then it was easy for a bad person to abuse their power. But at the same time, it meant that people had the power to protect others. All it took was for one person to stand up to them, and the whole crowd might join in.

  “Haah… hah…” Guanciano huffed loudly. He was standing over an unconscious Tam, both of them bloody.

  “I might have gone… too far…” Guanciano’s eyes closed and he collapsed.

  “Guanciano!” Iana cried out. “Someone call the ambulance!”

  ———————————————————————

  Tam had been through a lot these past few days. Getting caught up with the girl who ruined his life. Helping her. Nearly getting eaten because of it. And being saved by someone who was her splitting-image.

  He sighed. ‘I didn’t know she had a brother too.’

  “Keep it up, Tam,” an old man in an orange vest spoke to him. Tam was also in an orange vest, which had community service written on the back. The man was his supervisor.

  “You’re lucky your victim asked to lessen your sentence. That, and your previous good behaviour got you on parole. To be honest, I feel that isn’t really enough.” The old supervisor held his chin and wondered.

  Tam could only wryly smile at that. He got back to work shovelling the leaves into the bins. He and his fellow community workers wore various bracelets, collars, or even chains that restricted their magic. Couldn’t risk them escaping after all. So all this work had to be done without magic.

  “Hrm? Ah, really? Now?”

  Tam’s ears couldn’t help but pick up on his supervisor’s words. It seemed that he was on the phone. He didn’t look back though, he didn’t want to get in trouble.

  “Good news Tam. You’re getting a break.”

  ‘A break?’ Tam wondered. It was at that point he heard the gentle rumbling of a scooter.

  Two people had just arrived, riding on a small little scooter. The one on the back hopped off and took her helmet off, revealing that she was Machua.

  “Thanks for driving me here, Enzo.” Machua handed her helmet back to him.

  Enzo flipped his visor up. He had a bit of a babyface, without even a single hint of facial hair. Poking out of his outfit were brownish-green feathers, nothing as eye-catching as his grandfather.

  “Are you sure you don’t want a ride back, Machu?” He asked.

  “I’m meeting with my bro after this and he has a motorcycle. So go have fun with the fireworks.”

  “Okay then. I hope you come back soon, Machu.”

  Enzo flipped his visor back down and waved goodbye to Machu. She, of course, did the same back to him, and she watched him leave on his little scooter.

  “I’ll leave you two to it then.”

  The old man’s steps crumpled over the leaves as he left to go watch the others. Tam didn’t know how to start this conversation, so he kind of went back to sweeping.

  “Do you think you have to work while we talk? Geez, you’re so… you know. Guilty,” Machua finally couldn’t stand the silence and spoke. “Also catch.”

  Tam turned to see a can flying at his head. He was not able to react fast enough to catch it, so it ended up bonking him instead. He did manage to catch it as it fell though.

  “Everclear Jasmine Tea…”

  “Drink up,” Machua ordered as she took a swig from her own can.

  Tam followed her orders. He found the tea to be surprisingly refreshing and quite nice. He appreciated it.

  “Kinda sucks to miss the first day of the festival, huh?” Machua asked. She looked to the sky, seeing the first few fireworks light up the sky.

  “It’s what I deserve.”

  “…” Machua looked to Tam from the side. She didn’t know what to say to that. What to say to someone like him in general. Finally, she settled on something.

  “You were… the older twin, right?”

  “And you’re the younger one.”

  Machua paused, her next question was going to be a little dumb.

  “What’s it like? Being a twin?”

  “Huh? You don’t know?”

  Machua shook her head. “I actually didn’t know he existed until about a month ago. We’ve been through a bit together but I’m wondering if our experience is the same as yours.”

  Tam took a deep sigh. He propped his broom up and answered in a gravelly tone. “Bonas and I… we were always running. The two of us played tag in the old park before it got abandoned. We entered service together. He saved my life countless times. In the end, we ran away from service together too.”

  “We didn’t have much. But we had each other. We’d run and run and run.”

  Tam’s eyes softly glistened, almost like he could just imagine them running again. Almost like he was there in the moment and he could hear him speak again.

  “Life would either catch up to us or we’d run forever. I always thought he liked it better than I did. I wanted to stop. But he kept going. He just kept going, and I had to go with him. Cause we’re family.”

  “Cause you’re family huh?”

  Machua and Tam drank their tea in silence. She understood the concept of always going along with your sibling. If she used her mother instead, she’d probably go with her anywhere. That’s how it was when she was younger. She’d take her to City after City and only a decade ago they settled in Erelier, her old hometown. But applying it to Machi? She didn’t know.

  Tam must have seen the look on his face because his words hit the nail on the head. “You’re scared, aren’t you? Scared of this person that makes you feel this way?”

  “Maybe. I… don’t really know what he wants to do. Or if I want to go along with it. He saved our lives, so I want to give back. But if what he wants to do is too much then I have to say no, right?”

  “… Yeah. I should’ve said no to Bonas back then. Now he’s gone and I’m sweeping leaves. Don’t make the same mistake as me.”

  “He’s probably not that bad… Maybe. Hopefully. I’m going to have a long talk with him after this. I’ll see then,” Machua finished her can and tossed it into the bin Tam was filling up.

  ‘That bin’s only for leaves,’ Tam wanted to say.

  “Good luck,” was all Tam said.

  He watched Machua leave with a wave. The woman who ruined his life, he was now waving goodbye too. You would expect that she would’ve come by to taunt him, or maybe pity him, but all she did was ask him a question. Because she felt she could trust him to answer it.

  ‘Bonas… I wonder if you’re angry at me.’

  In the end, he had to admit to himself the same thing he admitted to court. He didn’t know what his brother was thinking in his final moments. He didn’t know if he was going to kill Machua or not. He didn’t think he would, but he had to admit that he just didn’t know. Maybe he should’ve doubled down, yelled at the jury that his brother would never. But that wouldn’t change anything. She felt threatened enough she felt she had to kill him. And he couldn’t blame her for that.

  ‘Machua. I hope you and your brother won’t end up like us. Separated for the rest of time.’