Crow and Robin entered the windmill, flying after Swan. They arrived at the top, and Crow dug his stilettos on the stone floor so the wind wouldn’t throw him back to the bottom of the building.

“Fuck!” Robin said, falling to her knees and dinging her nails on the floor.

“Oh, you’re here. I’m actually surprised you manned to get to the top with those little wings of yours,” Swan mocked, his tunic flowing in the wind.

“Swan! Let go of the wind sphere, now!” Crow ordered.

“Or what?” he scoffed.

“Or this!” Robin pulled out a gun and pushed the trigger.

Swan scoffed and used the wind sphere to redirect the bullet back at the girl’s head. Crow kicked her out of the way, and the bullet hit him in the knee instead.

The two guardians were sent flying through the windmill’s wall and-

“Max! Dinner is ready!” his aunt called from the kitchen, snatching him away from the story.

Max bookmarked the page and closed the book.

His cat followed him into the kitchen and meowed until he refilled her half-full food bowl.

He ate as fast as he could. And went back to his room to finish the book.

He closed it half an hour later and stared at a wall for a while.

“Now what?” he thought.

He started to think about the book’s story and started feeling a weird sensation in his chest. That reminded him of those weird Japanese cartoons his brother loved to watch... He never really liked them much, but they sure were engaging... and it was always nice to be able to spend time with his brother without having him crying or screaming or complaining...

Max took a deep breath. It wasn’t like he didn’t love his brother... He just couldn’t take it anymore... He wasn’t a bad person; he was just weak. 

Bah! He was doing fine anyway. The orphanage employee his uncle paid to give them monthly reports on him said that he was doing just fine. He had a friend, he was gaining muscle, he was eating well... He was doing just fine without Max... He was fine and happy.

Max grabbed his phone and opened Shortchat. The teen sent a message to Elisa asking if she could lend him the next volume of the series.

The phone rang, and Max answered the video call.

“You already finished it?” Elisa questioned in total disbelief.

“Yes”

“Did you like it?”

“Yes, that’s why I’m asking you to lend me the next book. What’s going on with your camera?”

“Huh?”

“The screen is completely black. Is your camera broken?”

“Oh, no, I just covered it because I don’t want you seeing my face right now. I’m in the middle of my skincare routine, I’m covered in green goo.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll give you the next book on Monday then.”

“Thank you.”

“But what part did you like the most?”

“Well… I liked when Robin pulled out a gun and shot Swan out of the sky as he was going all ‘I’ll return and blá blá blá you’re all inferior’. It was honestly kind of refreshing.”

“I know, right! Honestly, I love whenever Robin breaks the atmospheric tension like that.”

They talked about the book for about thirty minutes before Elisa ran out of spoiler-free things to say and decided to shut her mouth.

“Well, I’ll bring you the book tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, thanks” Pest jumped onto Max’s bed and meowed, attracting the boy’s attention “Oh, hey there, Pest.”

“Is that a cat?!” said an enthusiastic voice coming from the phone.

“Oh, yeah, this is my cat, Pest.”

“Oh hi~” Elisa said in a high-pitched baby voice “Aren’t you just a cutie~”

Pest glared at the phone and meowed.

“Yeah, my aunt told me I couldn’t take her because black cats bring bad luck,” he scratched the cat’s head, and she started purring “But I insisted on taking her so…”

“Aww… She’s so cute.”

“I know, right? I have some pictures of her as a baby; want me to send them to you?”

“Oh my God, yes!”

“Ok, just give me a second…” he said, opening his phone’s gallery.