Luka
Small, round white mouse ears, thick dark hair, and a short height.
James looked absolutely tiny standing next to the massive wolf beastman beside him.
If not for the colorful sneakers, the ridiculous Hawaiian shirt, and the wide grin stretched across Kazuo's face, he would have looked truly terrifying. Anybody passing by probably would have assumed James was shaking because of Kazuo.
I had not seen James that many times, though I had heard a lot about him. I knew he was trying to help everywhere he could. He had only recently become one of our volunteers, but he worked like crazy.
Despite his small size, the guy was surprisingly tough. Everybody spoke well of him. Kazuo himself constantly brought him up whenever we talked about fixing something or handling another task around the bar.
I walked closer, with absolutely no idea how this man, who spent all his time volunteering for us, was supposed to help with our permit problem.
"Well then, James, come on. You said you wanted to tell us something." Kazuo grinned, rubbing one of his big biceps with his palm.
"Yes. Uh, hello, Luka. I'm happy to see you. I don't know if you actually remember me… my name is James."
He held out his hand to me, and I shook it.
"Hey, we've met before. Of course I remember."
"Yes, but only a few times," he said quickly. "There are so many people here. I thought maybe you forgot me."
His whiskers twitched nervously. His palm was sweaty, and his hand shook slightly in mine.
"I just wanted to say that I admire you very much," James said, looking at me then at Kazuo. "Both of you. And I truly want this place to open again."
He hesitated for a second.
"I've never actually been here before everything happened," he admitted quietly. "But I know that this place means a lot to everyone," James said softly before trailing off awkwardly again.
"Why are you so nervous?" Kazuo asked with another wide grin. "Keep talking. I like hearing you praise us."
James looked at us from under his bangs, took a deep breath, and continued.
"Recently, I found a job." He paused again, rubbing his fingers together. "I don't think you know this, but, um... I started working for someone... He's a good person. He genuinely wants to change things in his company. Everywhere, actually. And I, um... you know..." James fumbled over his words, clearly trying to say something.
"A little while ago..." He stopped, took a breath to gather himself, squeezing his small hands into fists. "I overheard you talking about the problems with the bar permit."
He immediately started waving his hands in panic.
"I really, really, really wasn't trying to listen in. I swear. I wasn't spying or anything." His whiskers twitched so fast they almost blurred together. "I just... if I understand correctly, you're having trouble getting it, right?"
He looked at us with eyes full of uncertainty and hope at the same time, as if he was begging us not to get upset with him.
Kazuo kept the same relaxed grin on his face.
"Yeah, that's not exactly a secret. Don't worry about it," he said easily. "If we wanted to hide it, we probably wouldn't be talking about it out here."
James visibly relaxed a little.
"We've got serious problems though," Kazuo continued. "There's a pretty high chance we won't be reopening this place anytime soon."
I glanced at him.
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes looked sad.
Of course they did.
Saying something like that out loud, especially in front of one of our volunteers, was completely different from joking around with me in private.
"Well, um..." James perked up again, shifting from foot to foot. "I told my new boss about volunteering here. About the bar. About you guys. About how much I admire what you're doing… how important this place is for everyone. For changes in general…"
He paused again.
"I... well, we talked about it, and he wants to help you."
Kazuo's ears perked up slightly.
"He has connections," James continued. "He's quite wealthy. You've probably heard about him. He's kind of everywhere right now."
He suddenly looked embarrassed.
"Probably because he hired me," he mumbled quietly. "Edward Monclair… You can look him up online. He's a well-known and influential person."
My heart seemed to stop.
There was this strange noise in my head. Everything James said after that sounded distant. Muffled. Like I was underwater, sinking deeper and deeper while the water swallowed every word around me.
"He... um... he and his friend would like to meet you..."
James's voice barely reached me through the noise.
"They're good people. I'm sure they can help you."
"Ah," Kazuo growled. "Well. That's definitely unexpected."
His serious tone snapped me out of whatever horrible spiral I had fallen into.
"James, thank you…" Kazuo said carefully. "It means a lot that you want to help us. But this is a pretty big step. And these are... pretty serious people." He searched for words. "We need some time to think about it, okay? We should talk everything through first… Then we'll give you an answer."
"Yes, yes, of course." James nodded, quickly digging through his pocket. "Then, um... here's my card."
The little card rustled softly in his hands before he carefully offered it to Kazuo with both hands.
"Please call me. I'm working now, so I can't come here very often anymore, but I'll be waiting for your call."
Kazuo took the card, and they said goodbye.
I only gave a silent nod.