The very next day, I was back again at the stone warehouse.
"So, what's your decision about joining my team?" Lu eagerly waited for my reply.
I'm not and will never be interested in joining this guy's team in the first place. Not only is it illegal, but I would also be under someone. Not only that, it seems that Lu controls how much someone will earn per fight and probably takes most of the money.
And now that I got something that I was looking for here, it's time to part ways with this guy. He looks funny but very suspicious. However, I'm not planning on revealing his illegal source of income, nor the underground fighting. I might benefit from it in the near future, or there's potential talent in the fighters there.
"Unfortunately, I don't think this is for me." I gave him a straight reply without much else.
Lu frowned deeply for a moment before being back to his usual smile. "Ah, I see then! That's unfortunate indeed, but just know that my doors are always open for talents like you and your brother!"
I nodded and turned around. As I was a few steps ahead, Lu decided to say more. "That girl named Toka… Can she also earthbend?"
I instantly activated my seismic sense and released concentrated Qi towards Lu. My foot stomped hard on the floor, and a rock floated in front of me. It was caught between my fingers, and I quickly flicked it at the back.
It happened in under two seconds, and Lu couldn't even understand what hit him until his cheek started bleeding. His hand touched it, and he looked at his bloodied fingers with a dumbfounded look.
Others also stopped what they were doing as they looked in my direction, probably preparing to fight. After seeing how I easily beat Hiro without a scratch or sweating, I would also be wary of me if I were in their shoes.
"I don't like getting threatened by someone," I said, looking at him directly with cold eyes. "Do anything to them, and I will kill you and destroy everything you have."
I'm not that close to Toka yet that we can be considered true friends, but she's one of the few people in this world close to me and Bumi. It's uncomfortable to think she will be dragged into something she has nothing to do with because of me.
"Ah, I apologize for that. I didn't mean harm or anything similar." Lu raised his hands in surrender with a forced smile on his face.
Looking at him for a few more seconds, I turned around and left by splitting the stone wall wide open, wider than it normally should.
–
"Umi, what do you think happened to Hiro? I can't help but be worried because that broken nose can't be from tripping." She and her twin sister Umi were just doing their daily chores of bringing water for Aunt Bath when their older brother suddenly came home with a broken and bloody nose.
He kept saying that it was from tripping in the work, but the punch marks were obvious. He also seemed very tired, but Uncle and Aunt still forced him to do some chores. Kaya hated them for it.
They have abused them since their parents died, always putting a lot of chores and work on them and just laying around most of the time. They always say that they're feeding them so they shouldn't complain, but the money that was used was from their parents. Though they didn't really try to fight back since they might get kicked out of this house that should've been theirs.
However, Kaya's Uncle and Aunt's laziness ended when the money her parents saved dried up, and they needed to find some work to survive. Uncle found one, but they started being physically abusive since then. Even if they do every chore and obey every order, those two always find a way to beat the three of them by blaming their bad luck on them.
She hated it here.
They even force her older brother to work for a guy named Lu, and since then, he will always come home with a lot of bruises and money, which Aunt and Uncle loved. She fears and feels pity for her brother, but no matter what she says to him, he doesn't want to leave this house.
Saying it was dangerous outside with just three of them, and this house was the last thing their parents left behind.
However, Hiro seemed to have different thoughts these days and started secretly saving money to buy a new house for them. Even if it's the smallest house, just being away from Uncle and Aunt is better.
And Hiro was actually good at cooking, so they can open a shop if possible. That's what Kaya wished their life could be, and it's probably the same for Umi and Hiro.
"He always says that his work is not dangerous, but we're not kids anymore. He shouldn't keep hiding things from us." Umi poured down the bucket of water into the wooden basin as Kaya washed the clothes.
Kaya stopped. "Hey, do you think we should leave this house now?"
Umi quickly put a finger on her lips. "Be careful, Kaya, Aunt might hear this and beat us again."
"Alright, I'm sorry!" She pouted.
Shaking her head, Umi sighed and picked up the bucket.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" There was suddenly a voice behind her, causing Kaya to be frightened and jump away from her position.
"Kyaaaa!" She glared at the handsome boy around her age. "Who are you, and why did you do that?!"
"I'm just passing by and decided to approach. My name is Guan, by the way," he said with a smile.
[Guan Image]
Kaya blushed and looked away as she stood up. Umi, on the other hand, frowned and asked, "What do you want here?"
"As I've said, I'm just passing by and wanted to talk… and I heard something about getting beat up. I've figured if I could be of any help with your situation?" Guan said.
Umi just glared at him. "That's none of your business, leave us alone, and we still have many things to do."
"Wait, before I leave, I want to show you two something."
What now? Kaya wanted to roll her eyes. This boy is really suspicious with his sudden appearance and the way he's trying to get them interested in talking to him.
Wait a moment. He shows up in front of her first, so does that mean he's interested in her?! Kaya blushed at the idea and looked away again.
Guan seemed to raise a brow at that before smiling again and stomping the ground. A ball-sized rock floated in front of him, and he then spun it on his finger like nothing. "Do you two know this?"
"Our older brother knew about that too, and he's much better than you! If you're done, leave now before you cause trouble for us." Umi started pulling Kaya behind her while putting on a defensive look.
"Well, that's a pity then, until ne-"
Before Guan could finish, Kaya cut him off. "Wait, that skill… Can you teach us that?"
I turned around and gave my best smile. "Of course!"
"No, you will not teach us and you will leave now." The girl with short loose hair kept her glare at me. I would long be bothered by it if she wasn't this cute.
The one with pig tails immediately shook her head in refusal. "No, Umi, this is our chance to learn that skill which Hiro is also good at! This means we will be no longer defenseless and we now help Hiro! There's also many uses of this like building a house! Come on now, Umi. Please."
Umi looked away. "We don't even know him at all, so how can you be sure that he doesn't have any other motives?"
"That's easy, then he will teach us close to our house, right Guan?" She looked at me with a persuasive cute face. I'm actually planning on introducing them to Bumi so I can teach them together, but that can change.
I gave her a nod.
"See?"
Looks like Umi is still not convinced. "But Kaya, Hiro didn't even try teaching us about it when we asked, he might get mad if he knew about it."
"Don't worry, I will take all the blame if he finds out. But for now, let's hide it after learning and then surprise him!" Kaya laughed at the thought.
"Fine…" Umi sighed in defeat as she shifted her eyes towards me. "Let us finish washing clothes before you can teach us."
"That's fine. I will just sit here for now and watch you two do it." I paused. "Maybe get you two the basics as you two do your things."
Kaya blushed at the idea of someone watching her while Umi just nodded like it was nothing and picked up the bucket again. These two personalities are definitely distinct despite talking to them for the first time, but they have each other's back like a true twin. I'll definitely try to make them enter my group.
And from what I've heard from their talk earlier, their guardians weren't exactly the best people.
I created a miniature earth chair close to Kaya and sat down. There's a tiny hint of blush on her cheeks as she starts washing the clothes. "Dont you want to move a little more away, you might get splashed with water…"
"It's okay, I can just wash myself again." I said.
"Is your house big?" She asked, straight up looking at me with a serious look.
I just smiled and made direct eye contact with her. "Me and my little brother rented it but it was big enough for a few more people."
Kaya took a lot of time to process my words for some reason. "Does that mean that you… earn money at that age, enough to buy a house and other expenses?" She's so serious about this that she's not even breaking eye contact like she should already have.
I didn't miss this opportunity to entice her, of course. "Yes, we had a business and we're earning a lot. In just a week, we earned over a thousand and seven hundred copper."
"1… 700… 1700 copper?!" Kaya's eyes widened, and within a moment, her face was an inch close to mine. "Please let me work for you!!"
"You have to join my group to be part of the business, and that means leaving this house and living with me and my brother in that rented house we use as base," I explained, not minding the closeness.
Kaya seemed to realize how close we were and backed away, blushing as she got back to her wooden chair. "I can't live with you… Umi and Hiro will be sad if I leave the house." Then her body tense and she glanced up at me cutely. "C-can the house fit three more people?"
I looked away and cleared my throat. "It can. I'm actually looking for other recruits for my ground that's why I approached you two."
"That's great! About my brother Hiro, he can cook and do that Earth controlling thing and has many more talents so you will like him! Let us join you!" Kaya cheered with uncontained excitement.
"What are you two talking about?" Umi came out hugging the bucket of water.
Kaya rushed towards her and explained everything we talked about, and at the end of it, Umi was looking at me with widened eyes. "Really?! Is what Kaya said true?"
"Of course, but that's up to you two if you want to leave this house forever and join me."
"This is what we've been dreaming of, so we'll join you. But we still have to wait for my brother to come home…" She looked at me, a little anxious.
"Don't worry, I won't leave you two." I reassured them. "How about this, after you two finish washing those clothes, I will take you two to a shop and eat?"
Hiro will not arrive here for another hour or two, and this is a good way to get closer to them before they eventually join me.
"Really?! Thank you!" Kaya jumped in celebration.
"But what about Aunt? She will be angry when she wakes up and doesn't find us."
Umi seemed to be anxious about their aunt the most, but she just needed more encouragement from someone. "You will leave them now, right? You two shouldn't care about their opinions anymore since it seems they only bring bad. And don't worry about anything, I'm quite strong myself and could protect you two." I made eye contact with Umi which she immediately broke.
"Alright then, we will come with you." She finally agreed and Kaya hugged her tightly in celebration.
"Well, where do you girls wanna eat? I know a shop but it's on the other side-"
Kaya raised her hand excitedly. "I know one! But it's quite expensive…"
I patted the pouch hidden in my waist. "Don't worry about the money. Now first, finish up your work then we can eat."
I always have a pouch of money in my pocket in case situations like these happen.
They soon finished washing the clothes and hung them on a rope. The two of them seemed really eager to eat something good by how efficient they are at working together.
"Lead the way," I said before getting my hand grabbed by Kaya in excitement and we three started running.
[Kaya and Umi Image]
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