Keng glanced away and let out a sigh. He wanted to tell Ritsuka about all that happened, but did Ritsuka even remember him? He debated about it and in the end, decided he didn't want to risk it.
"It's been… Crazy." Keng started. "I don't really remember much. It's b-been such a blur… I went to do a job and things went south, really. It was do or die. Bad string of luck and loads of…" Keng winced even thinking about it. His lies may have been shallow, but his emotions were deep. The intense training he went through, the many, many, many close calls to death, and the curses… He shuddered, not wanting to think about it.
Keng shifted in his spot, looking up at the ceiling. "When was the last time I even rested in a warm place" He pondered aloud. Keng let himself go, lying on the bed. It felt good. It felt way better than the beds in the Tomb.
"Tell me something, Lee." Ritsuka quietly asked. Keng lifted up just enough to see him. Ritsuka was looking directly at him with those eyes Lee Seng liked. They were filled with some sort of confidence paralleled with his personality. He was loyal. Fierce yet soft. And now those eyes were staring at him in the usual confidence masked in mist.
"Hm?" Keng answered. Ritsuka pushed himself off the door and moved over to sit next to Keng. Keng watched him, turning to look at Ritsuka. Ritsuka's adam apple bopped before Ritsuka asked the question.
It came to Keng barely audible. "Is it because of th-that Protocol thing you talked to me about…? The thing I met? The thing with the purple eyes?" Every part of Keng's body swarmed with goosebumps. He found himself backing away from Ritsuka.
'He told you about that, too?' Keng thought. Ritsuka had gotten way more information in the time Keng was away. Ritsuka didn't find anything strange with Keng's shock. He could've simply forgotten he had even told him the truth with all that's happened in two months.
"I…" Keng stuttered. He slipped off of the bed, Ritsuka jumping forward to grab Keng. Just by a small margin, he missed. Keng yelped as instinct took over. The night stars appeared all around him, holding him in his awkward position.
"What the hell did you just do?" Ritsuka asked in Japanese. Keng realized what he did and released it, falling onto the ground. He groaned as Ritsuka stood up and quickly made his way towards Keng. "What was that?" Ritsuka asked in English. He stuck a hand out for Keng, who turned his face away.
'Ugh, this isn't my day.' Keng groaned. Ritsuka lowered himself, hand still out as he debated on shaking Keng for answers or helping him up.
"Are you okay?" Ritsuka asked.
"I'm f-fine." Keng pushed himself up, not taking Ritsuka's hand. He scooted himself to the wall and looked at Ritsuka. His ruby and sapphire eyes glimmered like stars as the energy slowly faded. "So you know about the other… me?"
"Which one? Well, I guess Keng doesn't cou—"
"So you know the whole truth!" Keng shot up and moved straight up to Ritsuka. His behavior made Ritsuka back up. Keng smiled, eyes twinkling. "At least I don't have to lie to you."
"W-what do you me-mean by that? D-did a lot happen that you f-forgot you jogged my memory about Keng and the… Protocol?" Ritsuka asked, quietly. Keng nodded, furiously. He could confide in someone now. He needed to. The Fox Spirits had his back, but he still didn't trust the Merman. That was his only problem… Well, a small problem in the face of everything else he had to deal with.
"Ritsuka." Keng spoke his name with breath.
"Yea?" Ritsuka asked, moving his head further away. It was triggering a time Keng hadn't realized happened between Lee Seng and Ritsuka. Keng's eyes glimmered with a strange energy.
"You can obviously keep a secret or two, right?" Keng whispered. His eyes looked at Ritsuka, waiting for an answer. Ritsuka nodded. Keng pulled away and took a couple steps back. His form shimmered, releasing the latest image of Lee Seng he knew about. Keng appeared in front of Ritsuka.
Keng had similar features as Lee Seng. Wide shoulders, the slight muscular build, and the eyes. Keng was essentially a copy of Lee Seng, but the time away from Lee Seng had given him his own physical difference. His nose was a bit longer than Lee Seng's. His hair wasn't the odd fading platinum. It was really more of a honey brown. The Daros suns had influenced his hair naturally like that.
A silver halo seemed to sit in Keng's red and blue eyes. He let out a smile at Ritsuka who stared at Keng in disbelief.
"K-Keng?" Ritsuka whispered. His eyes shook just like they did when they had met again. Ritsuka's lip quivered as he rushed and hugged Keng. "You're here! Oh my god! I thought you were Lee Seng! No wonder why your story felt a bit fishy to me! You— You!"
The warm embrace melted both of their worries in that moment. Keng finally had someone he could confide in. Someone he could tell the whole truth to. Ritsuka's worries had died in that moment, but the reality that Keng was in front of him instead of Lee Seng scared him.
"Where's Lee Seng then?" Ritsuka asked, pulling away. Keng's eyes wandered. His shoulders raised as he looked away.
"I don't know…" Keng quietly answered. "He was here and then suddenly in the Limbo Realm. I don't know where he is now." Ritsuka's eyes shook as Keng spoke. A long silence came between them, seemingly pushing the two away from each other. Keng turned and stared at the bed. After awhile, he broke the silence. "The last I felt of him was days ago. He's on Earth. I don't know where cause something shielded him."
"Do you think it has to do with that… Protocol?" Ritsuka asked. Keng looked at Ritsuka. His head was lowered while his fists were balled. There was some sort of anger there he didn't understand. "That man… He took him away… And now…" Tears fell as Ritsuka tried to fight them. His face twitched as Keng let out a sigh.
He removed his eyes from Ritsuka as he thought. Quiet sobs filled the air as Ritsuka fought his body to stand. He didn't - no, he couldn't accept one of his friends were gone. Keng moved over to Ritsuka and smiled.
"Let's catch up first." Keng spoke. Ritsuka looked up at him. His innocent smile wasn't there anymore. Not the one he had come to learn in Daros. Keng's smile masked the pain and knowledge he learned over time. "We should tell each other what happened. I need to learn everything that has happened, so I can be Lee Seng for a while. Just until we find him, alright? Can I trust you to help me with this?"
"Mmm." Ritsuka nodded, wiping his tears. Keng nodded and the two sat on the ground and Keng began to recall everything that happened. From the moment he was pushed out by the Protocol until the moment he stepped foot on Earth. Ritsuka quickly learned this wasn't the same innocent Keng. He had trained on Daros for months under Gorrum and Elder Jyu'so. He met new and old people like Lily and her family.
"And that very same Merman is on Earth now…" Keng sighed. He leaned against the bed. It was almost eleven and he had just finished telling his stories to Ritsuka. "I don't know what to do about that, but you guys might see him."
"He's here to help you recover that… cup?" Ritsuka asked. Keng nodded, annoyed. Ritsuka had very little experience with an annoyed Keng, but it seemed this Merman, Calis, was a thorn in his side. "And where's this cup?"
"I don't know. I haven't checked yet. To be honest, I'm supposed to get my phone from him, but I don't know how that's gonna work…" Keng sighed. "Enough about that." He looked up at Ritsuka with interest. "What about you? What's happened since I've been gone?" Ritsuka sighed and shook his head.
"Well, Lee Seng didn't come back and… That got a bit frisky. The Academy's in an odd state of madness since the attack. We've been locked up in here with little time to even go outside other than doing missions… Honestly, tonight was the first time anybody could go out. They uplifted the mandatory lock down since things got quiet, but since you're back as Lee Seng…"
"A wonderful time to come back." Keng sarcastically chuckled. The chuckle faded and Keng and Ritsuka sighed.
"It's going to suckkkk." Ritsuka told him. "Liz and Olivia has been making everyone hangout together so we can bond. It's better than being moody and working out all the time."
"You were moody?"
"Manny."
"Ah." Keng nodded.
"I don't even understand him." Ritsuka sighed. "It's like always liked Lee Seng and never wanted to be apart from him. Now that he's here and then gone, Manny's been moody… I could never do such a thing over someone I like…"
This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com