Years ago, a little after I’d graduated early, I’d been walking aimlessly around town. It was the first time in a while I’d done something like that, just moving without a purpose, so it was like a totally new experience for me. But I wasn’t thrilled at doing so. Sure, I don’t know who would, but I was especially not.

The paths I’d seen over and over again every day of my life, the same buildings I entered and passed by, none of them even registered in my mind. Not the people. Not the soft breeze nor the bustling of the town. Nothing but the worry for my father resting at home.

This was a while before he passed, so in the end it wasn’t anything major, but there was no way for me to know that at the time. All I knew was that he was sick. I’d never seen him sick. The only time I saw either of my parents’ sick, it was shortly before my mother passed. With that kind of track record, all I could do was worry.

Unlike then though, and against my father’s wishes, he was seen by a doctor and they’d said he’d be good, but that he had to take some medicine and rest. And so with a “You always do this. When will you learn to take better care of yourself?” by the doctor (a statement that was weird to me since, again, I had never seen my father sick) I followed them out our house and decided to give my father space to rest.

So here I was.

Going nowhere.

My whole life was now dedicated to helping my father with his work, so without him there, I couldn’t very much do anything by myself. Maybe one day I would, but today was not that day. Nor did I feel like doing so.

Again and again my mind was barraged.

Thoughts that didn’t let go. That kept asking questions.

What if he isn’t alright?

What if the doctor was lying?

What if I end up alone…?

I wasn’t in a good mental state at the time. My mother had passed away not that long ago, so losing the last person who cared for me—I didn’t know what I’d do then.

Honestly, I don’t know where those thoughts would’ve led me. Every passing moment was just sinking me deeper and deeper. Thankfully, a voice caught my attention from somewhere nearby. Off to the side of the street. In a secluded area. An area no one should really be in.

“Get the fuck up!”

I came to a stop.

Between two buildings, there was a small alleyway that led to a dead end. I wasn’t entirely sure what the point of that path was, but it was pretty well known as a bad place to be during the night. There wasn’t much crime in this town, especially not compared to some of the bigger towns and cities, but it was still not entirely safe at night.

Who knew what shady individuals would come into town just to attack an unsuspecting person.

But it wasn’t night. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, even. Some students were still making their way back home, and people were still hard at work in shops and farms.

“Aren’t you listening?!”

“Agh!”

At that pained grunt, my body moved. Without any regard for safety, I ran toward the alley.

“You tryin’ to take my girl when you cower like this.”

Thump!

Another grunt.

“…I…I already told you I wasn’t…—nng!”

“Who told you you could speak?!”

They finally came into view.

At the end of the alley, four guys were standing over some smaller kid lying on the ground. The one in the middle, the one I could only presume was their leader (these types of people always worked on some chain of command like that), kicked the small kid on their stomach, not letting them even catch their breath.

But that was all I saw.

It’s not like there wasn’t anything else to see. On the contrary. Analyzing their race I’d be able to plan what to do against each one, every race had a different weakness after all, but none of that straightforward thinking occurred in my brain. I was tunnel-visioned on one thing. The one getting hurt.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!” I yelled out as I dashed in their direction. With a single charge, I shoved the leader out of the way tossing him over the body of the kid lying on the ground and onto the wall in the back. He slammed hard, all the air in his lungs expelling at once.

The other guys reacted a moment later.

They all turned to me, their eyes bulging out of their skulls.

I wasn’t the tallest person there. Not the shortest either, but it was clear that the height, and manpower, advantage wasn’t on my side. But I didn’t care. In fact, I knew that it didn’t matter.

They stood flabbergasted, seemingly not knowing what to do. It wasn’t until their leader caught his breath that he spoke, snapping them out of their trance. “Who…Who the fuck do you think you are…?” His words were choppy, clearly still experiencing the aftereffects of the shock.

But that’s all his lackeys needed.

Their expressions of surprise shifted to that of anger. They glared at me, all four of them, as they turned their bodies towards me.

I was hoping the small boy, whom I could now see as a beast man, would run off as I took the attention off him, but that didn’t appear to be happening any time soon. He was still hunched over and struggling to breathe.

Then I had to make this quick.

“A four-on-one doesn’t seem all that fair,” I glared at their leader, completely ignoring the other buffoons nearby. “Makes you feel powerful, no? How you can abuse your strength.” I understood that. Probably more than anyone else here.

“What are you on about?” He finally stood. “This is none of your business, so stay out of it!”

Even after attacking him, no, probably because I attacked him, he didn’t seem to want to fight with me. My tackle probably was enough to cement it in his mind that he couldn’t handle me. Maybe somewhere even deeper in his mind he realized that all of them put together didn’t stand a chance either.

A smart deduction.

“I can’t very much ignore four guys jumping some kid, you know? So how about you leave it there, and we call it even?”

His eyes narrowed.

I wouldn’t back down.

I’m sure he saw that.

He was a human like me, I could see that now. Certainly, as a human, understanding the limit of our strength was something we were good at doing (for the most part). It was clear which one of us would win. He wouldn’t keep this going.

“Yo, who do you think you are talking to him like that!”

And of course, it had to be one of the lackeys that had to ruin it.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him throwing a punch at me. He was to my right, and less than a meter away. At this point, I couldn’t really dodge, but I didn’t really have to.

I raised my left arm in a flash, catching his fist just before it hit my cheek. It didn’t take much, just a squeeze in my hand, and I heard a horrifying crunch in my palms. The guy screamed, falling to the floor as tears ran down his cheeks.

“You idiot!” Their leader yelled. “Don’t you know who he is!”

I found that comical seeing as he had asked me who I was earlier, but maybe he just hadn’t realized it yet. I still didn’t feel comfortable using my stature for anything, and especially not intimidation, but if the moment called for it…

“He’s Starlin’s son, you imbecile!”

At those words, the other lackeys took a reflexive step back.

That’s about what I expected.

Well, might as well hammer it in.

“If you know that much, then let’s make this clear.” I stepped over the small boy and walked toward the leader. I stood centimeters away from him, completely unguarded, and spoke. “You leave now and that will be that. But if you even look at his general direction for too long, then I’ll have to visit each one of you personally.” I turned my back to him, facing the other three. “Or we can deal with it right here and now, and nip the problem in the bud—so what will it be?”

There were a few seconds of silence, but I could feel the malice in them get drowned out by their fear. It didn’t take long after that I heard the leader’s voice behind me.

“Alright. We’ll go.”

“Fine by me.”

And without another word, the four of them left the scene, leaving me alone with the young boy looking up at me with teary eyes.

I quickly calmed myself down and kneeled, extending my hand to help them. “Are you okay?”

He hesitated at first, but soon he took my hand and nodded. Soft. That’s the first thought I had. Compared to my mother and father whose hands were rough and rugged, his were smooth—and cold. It kind of fit his meek appearance.

I got him up to his feet.

“What was that whole thing about?” I asked.

I’d heard part of it, so maybe that was the whole story, but I couldn’t see this kid trying to take anyone’s girl—I kind of wanted to see him try though. He seemed to be the type of guy who would cower when speaking to women. Or maybe I was just being a bit judgy.

“I…” he struggled to speak. “I…It’s nothing.”

“That didn’t seem like nothing,” I commented. “Are you sure you’re okay? They were kicking you pretty hard. Let me check. Maybe they—” I reached out for his baggy shirt, but he quickly pulled away.

“I-I’m fine! R-Really!”

That was a bit of an overreaction, but he seemed to move pretty well, so maybe he was fine after all. Who was I to say?

“It happens all the time…so I’m used to it.”

“All the time…”

That didn’t sound like something you had to get used to. No one had to get used to getting hit. Not like this. Then I guess it was good I did what I did. Otherwise, they probably would’ve kept harassing him.

“Well, then you better get un-used to it.” Was that even a real word? “Cause they won’t be getting anywhere near you anymore.”

“H-Huh?” He looked genuinely confused.

“Didn’t you hear what I told them?” I was certain he was.

He gently shook his head.

“Oh, well, it was basically a threat. I threatened them to leave you alone.” Yep, there was no other way to put it.

“W-What?!” he let out. “W-Why did you do that!” He rushed at me, grabbing the front of my shirt with both hands. “Now they’re going to come after you—…and it’s all because of me…”

Such a nice kid.

Although I’m pretty sure we’re both the same age. At least, based on the uniforms those guys were wearing, and the fact that this kid had some relation to them, it only led me to conclude that we attended the same school. Or at least used to. Again, I had already graduated early.

“I wish they would. It’d make my day really.”

“Huh…?”

 I wasn’t exactly excited if they actually did something, but I knew that saying that wouldn’t make him feel better. I had to present myself as not only willing but being more than capable of fighting back. Which I was. But I didn’t like flaunting it.

He looked at my face closer. It was a little dark in the alley, so I guess he wasn’t able to see my face clearly. Although I was pretty certain beast men had better night vision—or was I wrong about that? “Wait…are you…”

“Kaelor Starlin. Or better known as the son of The Starlin.”

His eyes shot open. He quickly let go and bowed a bunch of times. “I-I-I’m s-s-so sorry, Mr. S-Starlin!! E-Excuse my ignorance!”

“I’m not royalty, you know?”

“S-Sorry!”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“Sorry!”

“You know what—”

He was too skittish for that.

“Then let’s leave it at this. They won’t be dealing with you again, I’m certain. But in the chance that they do, or if anyone else tries something similar, I want you to tell me, alright?”

He wordlessly nodded. I had a feeling he hardly knew what he was agreeing to.

“Alright, then can I get your name?”

“Oh, r-right, s-sorry!” There he went apologizing again. “I-I’m K-Kasey Crowly!”

“Alright then, Kasey,” I extended my hand out to him. “I hope to see you again—just not because something bad is happening to you.”

 

Of course, we did bump into each other after that. Many times. He would cower, but I always tried my best to talk to him regardless. It was kind of cute how he’d run behind something, but I always made sure to interact with him when I could.

Eventually, he was able to talk to me better. Eventually, he talked to me like he would anyone else—maybe a little too formal, but still.

 

***

 

“H-Hey Kasey…how are you doing…?”

Now I was the one stuttering.

What was I even so nervous about. I was certain this would go well. I’d practiced with the girls plenty of times. This would all go according to plan. At least that’s what I hoped.

“Mr. Starlin…who are these two girls?” He went straight to the point. He also ignored my question, which was a little odd for him. Guess the shock of this was a bit more than he could handle.

I really hadn’t expected to have to explain myself this quickly. I was certain it’d be at least a while, at least an hour, before someone actually started to question things, or at least bring it up to my face. Instead, it was just a few minutes.

Just my luck.

Okay, now for what we planned.

“Oh, them? They’re—” But before I could answer, the twins excitedly spoke.

“We’re his cousins he treats like sisters, we are!”

“We’re his sisters he treats like cousins!”

“…”

You know, they were so close to saying the right that I had to applaud them for that. Not exactly what we practiced though.

“Sisters…cousins...?” Kasey wondered. “Which one is it then?”

I sighed.