"You finally joined us, Arun! I thought you'd never come!" Bohdi said, stepping away from the strong brunette by Arun's side.

"Got some free time. Besides, I promised you, didn't I?" Arun grinned and turned his attention to the now approaching leader of the pack.

"One of your friends, Bohdi?" he nodded, at which point the brunette put on a warm smile. "Good, any friend of Bohdi is a friend of mine. Mael, I'm sure we'll get along." Mael offered Arun his hand.

The same gesture as Yowu a few moments ago yet, for some reason, despite the warm smile, Arun didn't get the same feeling of friendliness as before. It wasn't hostile, but something in Mael's eyes contrasted with his expression.

"Arun, likewise," he accepted the handshake. But as the shake continued, Arun could feel the pressure increasing. In a second, it switched from a normal one to a very painful experience. Arun tried to keep his face straight, but some degree of pain must have still been readable. He met Mael's eyes again. So that's what this was. He was trying to discern his strength.

"Bah, he has so little ki I can barely sense it! You sure that's your friend, Bohdi?" The kid who was berating Yowu earlier declared.

"Well..." Bohdi hesitated.

"It's quite fine." Mael interrupted while letting go. Arun had to suppress the instinct telling him to immediately check up on his arm to keep Mael's gaze. "Everybody has their own role and place in this world. He is most certainly welcome in this group."

"Thanks, Mael." Bohdi seemed happy with the statement, but Arun wasn't so sure he shared the feeling. "Mael is a good guy, Arun. He's helped me a lot as well. Let me introduce you to the rest as well."

It did not take long for Arun to get acquainted with everybody, though it was clear that Bohdi knew some characters more than others. For example, he knew almost nothing about the group that stood on the sidelines. As for the reactions of the kids, it was a mixed bag. Some seemed to share the first kid's opinion, others simply smiled politely while a few seemed friendly enough.

After all was said and done, the group took a small break from their activities. Most of the kids were, after all, quite tired after a long match. Chatter erupted among the group, discussing the recent match. Arun wasn't particularly interested in the topic, but he did find a few comments quite distasteful.

"Man, Yowu didn't hold up at all during the match... if he defended at least one, we would have won!"

"I know. We should have picked another."

"Who else to pick though? Everybody else was just too weak to play. Honestly, I don't get why we even hang out with them."

"It's more convenient to have them around. Trust me, I was in another group before I met Mael. I know the difference."

"Now, now, guys, enough idle chatter. How about we play some card games? Anyone up for Duo?"

Most of the group agreed, so soon groups started forming. As the name implied, Duo required teams of two. Bohdi made his way towards Arun.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Wanna team up?"

"Sure, I guess." Arun nodded.

"Now, Bohdi, did you forget the loser gives a favor agreement?" Mael smiled. "I believe you lost the last game, so let's play together this round."

"But..." He looked towards Arun.

Arun himself did not know how to feel about this. To be honest, he'd rather be in his room tinkering away right about now, so he wasn't keen on playing cards. But at the same time, he did come here to hang out with his friend.

"I'm sure you could use your favor at a later date? I've been busy lately and haven't caught up with Bohdi, so I'd really appreciate it if we could play this together."

Arun could have sworn he saw Mael's smile twitch a little.

"Guys, we need some snacks. Duo is no good without them. Somebody go get some," one of the kids shouted. He did say anyone, but then he went and looked at a specific group.

"I've got a good idea!" said Mael. "Arun, how about you go get some snacks? There is a great shop across the road that we often use. You can learn about the area more and by the time you come back, we surely would complete the first round. This way is good for both sides, don't you think?"

"Not so sure about that... see, my time is limited. I know asking you to withhold your favor is asking for a favor myself, but is it too much to ask, at least for the day?" Arun knew he sounded pompous, but it was the truth.

"C'mon man, don't be such a buzzkill. Don't you see that boss is being polite with you? Just get the danged snacks!" Some of the kids became irritated and nodded in agreement.

Arun raised a brow as he started to get mildly infuriated himself. He looked towards Bohdi for support but found him looking conflicted. That... was a bit disappointing.

"Tell you what, Arun, how about we play a little game to resolve all this mess. A simple game. You take the ball and you throw it at me, and I have to catch it. If I dodge or get swiped off my feet, I lose. If I catch it, then it will be my turn. Then we continue until someone fails."

"Can't, you see, my hands are a bit banged up at the moment," Arun said, pointing at his bandages across his hands.

"Hahaha, you call those injuries? I get worse scratches when I trip," a spectator chipped in.

"I don't believe those will impact your performance much. Are you scared?" Mael teased.

"Not quite. And no, they won't get in the way, but I can't have them getting worse, now, can I? Besides, you clearly hold the advantage in the contest. There's no point playing a rigged game."

A cacophony of unpleased sounds came from the other side.

"So you don't want to take the deal and don't want to take the challenge. Don't be so difficult, man. Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"How about we see how Bohdi feels about all this?" Arun retorted, and everybody turned towards the man in question.

At this point, the inner struggle within Bohdi seemed to reach an all-time high, but he knew he had to give a response. Eventually, he made his decision.

"I... Arun, if you can go and get those snacks, I promise we'll play after..." he looked apologetically towards his friend.

The look, however, did not reach Arun. What reached Arun was a deep feeling of betrayal, one that was shortly followed by anger.

" That should settle it " Maels smile returned " The shop is just two streets away in that direction, if you'd be so kind. "

" I am going alright... but I'm not coming back. " Arun said trough gritted teeth.

" Oh? That wasn't our agreement though. "

" Our 'agreement' was to go so I can group with Bohdi after. You can play with Bohdi all you like. I'm going. "

" Don't rage now! What a disappointing fellow. Fine than. Yowu, you won't be like that guy, right? "

Yowu raised. He chose to stay neutral in this conflict so far but now he had no choice. "... I'll go if you need me to. "

" Good. " Mael said. Arun was now at a decent increasing distance from them but he could still hear. "

" Man, your friend is something else... "

" He didn't use to be like that... he was more cheery before... "

Didn't use to be like that? I guess that's true, hard to remain the same after seeing your kin hurt. But that wasn't all. There was something, something about the group dynamic and Mael himself that Arun did not like.