“Where is he!?” Jun looked around, drenched in sweat.

“Who? Your new friend from before?” Frank looked up from his magazine, taking off his reading glasses. “He left a bit ago. Speaking of which, he forgot his phone. Will you be so kind and return it to him?” Frank pulled out the item from under his counter and handed it over to Jun.

“Huh?” He took the familiar item. “Well, guess what? That’s MY phone, and he’s NOT my friend!”

“Right, right, my bad. Your fling, then.”

“Oh, for fuck’s- What did he do and where did he go!? Answer me!” Jun leaned on the counter with both hands so aggressively, Frank thought he was about to jump inside.

“Easy there, bud.” He was taken aback. “He bought a vape, chilled in the seat for a few minutes, we had a little chit-chat and he went on his merry way.” He pointed in the general direction of Juto’s departure.

“URGH, that BASTARD! Making me run around in circles!”

“I don’t know what he did to you, but cut him some slack, will ya? Man melted in that seat like a deflated balloon. Can’t be a bad guy if he listened to me yap like a saint– aaand he’s gone.”

Jun was already on the way, but instead of going back to the hidden alley, he figured that the best course of action would be to head to the only place where the routes converged on the upper level. If he’ll be lucky, he will cut off the soldier in his tracks, if not, he could ask someone around if they saw him pass by. He was glad that the bodysuit was distinctive enough to differentiate his target from the rest of the tourists. Divers weren’t a rare sight in Nokoa, but they would usually hang out around their “natural habitats” like the beach, rather than wander the streets on upper levels of the valley.

He took a turn towards a shortcut when he heard a noise, something akin to a small animal whimper and multiple voices accompanying it. A peek behind the corner revealed a group of men involved in a suspicious activity. Jun hesitated for a moment, having to choose between pursuing a war dog or saving a puppy, eventually picking the latter.

One does not abuse animals on his watch.

“Stop what you’re doing and hands up!” He jumped right in, pointing his rifle at them.

The group looked over in surprise and moved apart, revealing a hot mess of a man in a dark blue Hawaiian shirt in a banana pattern, trembling at their feet. Jun tensed up, wishing that maybe this one time he should have minded his business.

“Jun, help me!” The man whimpered with tears in his eyes.

“Oh, look boys! Who do we have here?” Said a voice that the guerrilla knew all too well and loathed with passion.

It was too late to back off now, especially in front of Nokoa’s infamous Dandy aka The Mayor’s Son and his lackeys. Jun sighed.

“Ok, let this walking disaster go and I will let you go.” He gestured with the rifle to the side. “And make it quick, I don’t have time for this.”

“Don’t pretend like you aren’t happy to see us, shortcake!” A row of pearly whites flashed at him.

“You and who? I swear, each time you pick new lackeys, they’re uglier than the last.” Jun scoffed. The men in question frowned in unison. “And what set you off this time? Did Cas sneeze in your general direction? His socks and sandals offended you? He blinked too loud–?”

He was cut off when a pair of hands grabbed his shoulder from behind. He looked up and a thug with a metal lower jaw was grinning back at him. The grip tightened.

“Shit.” He thought, feeling his feet lift from the ground.

“This place is a maze!” Juto whined, leaning against a wall after walking aimlessly through the streets. 

He wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was supposed to be easy, but the more he ran, the further he ended up from his goal. He didn’t realize how meandering the hidden alleys could be, which made him regret splitting off from Jun.

That thought quickly faded away the moment he took a nice long vanilla flavored puff. It’s just a minor setback, he thought. He cheered himself up with the thought that this wasn’t the worst situation he found himself in, and the chief general at his base always said that Juto is like a dog. “He always finds his way back home.” Juto repeated the words quietly and snorted. The chief had a weird way of praising his soldiers.

He moved forward taking another puff, his boots clacking on the double set of stairs to an upper level divided in the middle by a dried out gutter, ending at the base in a metal grating drainage hole.

“Everybody hide! Unlucky Lucas is coming!” A couple of children were running down the stairs on the other side.

“Look, an astronaut!” The boy shouted, pointing at Juto.

Juto quickly waved the smoke off and smiled at them awkwardly.

“No, dummy! He’s a diver!” The girl, obviously older, scolded him and smacked his hand. “And don’t point at people!”

“Do you smell vanilla? I want ice cream!”

“You had two this morning!”

They disappeared as fast as they appeared. Juto realized he could have asked the girl or the woman in the window for directions, if it wasn’t so awkward. He was about to hide his vape in the sleeve, when he bumped into someone and it slipped from his fingers. The device bounced off the stairs and landed right in the gutter, the smooth surface making it slide off on the direct way to the drainage.

Panicked, Juto dashed after it with a boost in his step, snatching it in time and turned around mid-fall, softening his descent with another thrust of compressed air. He sighed in relief, happy that he saved his guilty pleasure from its untimely demise.

“That was incredible!” Said the impressed culprit at the top of the stairs, but was immediately taken aback at the glare Juto shot him in response. “I’m sorry!” He frantically waved with his hands.

Seeing the reaction, the soldier’s gaze softened. “No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” He climbed the stairs again, making sure his vape was secured properly in the sleeve.

“That being said, I need your help, please!” There was urgency in his voice and he glanced over the shoulder as if someone was pursuing him.

Only now, while standing face to face with him, Juto noticed how disheveled he looked, with the wrinkled banana shirt missing a couple buttons, dusty shorts and bruising all over, topped off with unrelated, but striking bags under the eyes and a stubble. Despite the appearance, he seemed of sane mind and there was no alcohol smell in his breath. Juto decided to seize the opportunity for exchanging favors.

“Sure, if you ca–” 

“This way!” Cas already dashed off in the direction he came from.

“What’s going on? And what happened to you?” Juto darted after him.

“I was minding my business, as one does, and I was about to take a sip of my soda, when a seagull attacked me and I dropped the bottle, and it bounced off a set of stairs and the cap came loose and it took off like a projectile with the contents spilling, and it whacked a guy in the back of the head!” He made a wide hand motion simulating the bottle rocket. “Of course it had to be Dandy, who’s a menace around here! I tried to apologize, but they had none of it… To make matters worse, he blew up in my face a bit too close, and the cologne smell was so strong it made me sneeze right in his face…” Cas whined, recalling the moment.

“Are you related to Frank?” Juto chimed in at the given opening.

“Frank? Which Frank?”

“From the kiosk.”

“No, why?”

“No reason. But get to the point.”

“So, a friend stepped in to stop them, but now they’ve ganged up on him instead.” Cas continued. “I escaped to seek help, and then I bumped into you!”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”

Juto wasn't sure if joining a street brawl was a good idea, and the little angel and devil on his shoulder weren’t helping either. Somehow they joined forces and egged him on, with the excuse that it’s a perfect opportunity to deliver sweet karma while whooping some ass. Juto tried to resist, since violence was never the answer and he’d rather vent his frustrations on gym equipment, but using a thug as a punching bag in the name of justice sounded very tempting at the given moment.

They approached the side alley with the sounds of commotion coming from behind the corner. 

“Good luck!”

Juto turned around and noticed Cas a few feet away, giving him a thumbs up from behind a crate. 

“Aren’t you going with me?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I-I’ll stay here. I don’t want my bad luck to get in your way.” Cas slid behind it even further, so that only half of his face was visible. “Kids don’t call me Unlucky Lucas for nothing, you know?”

Kids are brutal, Juto thought and scoffed. “Superstitions. It can’t be that bad.”

He stepped in the alley and immediately turned around the moment he recognized Jun’s voice and the flash of a familiar rifle in someone’s hands.

“I take it back.” He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. He then rushed over to the crate, leaned over it and pulled Cas up by the scruff of his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me there’s a guerrilla involved!?” He shook him in anger.

“I’m sorry! But he’s alone against four men! Please help him, mister soldier sir!”

Juto went pale and stopped the shaking. “What did you just call me…?” He loosened his grip and Cas slid to the ground.

“A soldier?” He shrank and trembled like a small cornered animal. “M-my bad, if I’m wrong… I just assumed those are combat boots, a-a you have a pair of dog tags…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And those muscles aren’t just for show, right?”

“Well, I’m just a scuba diver.” Juto looked to the side.

“You may want to quit smoking then… b-but what do I know, I don’t judge, a-haha!” He laughed nervously.

He’s surprisingly perceptive, thought the self-proclaimed scuba diver and sighed. “Alright, I’ll go. But you…” He leaned closer and pointed a finger at Lucas’ face. The terrified man gulped. “...if anyone asks, you never saw me. Are we clear?” He wiggled with his finger up and down while saying it.

“Sir, yes sir!” He saluted with determination.

Juto nodded and turned around, accidentally bumping his shin against the edge of the crate. He folded immediately at the surge of pain, cursing under his breath and rubbing the sore spot. Cas already disappeared behind the crate in fear that the soldier may lash out on him.