The cold wind brushed against Oda’s clothes and skin, as he scanned the surrounding area there was no hint of the white haired man. If what he was hinting at was true, then there would be no way for Oda to catch up to that guy. Reluctantly he turned around and went back into the bar to finish his drink, as he sat down at the table, alone this time, Oda began mindlessly sipping at the liquid in the fancy glass as he did his best to get his thoughts straight. Suddenly, a big man sat down opposite of Oda. It took him a few moments to process what was going on, but he immediately recognized the bald man from his stay in the hospital. “Wait, Jonathan? What are you doing here?” The older man would flash a huge grin to Oda as he placed his drink on the table. “Well isn’t this a coincidence, never expected to run into you here of all places.” he took a breath of the place's air before responding to Oda’s question. “Here to get myself a drink, don’t worry about it kid, I’m not stalking you or anything like that… well, not trying at least.” The town of Pandemonium was filled with coincidences and meetings like this one after all.

“Heh, looks like you recovered quite well from that beating of yours. Can’t even see a bruise on ya.” Jonathan said as his eyes peered over the blonde man's body. Oda nodded, even though he had only had his leg broken and it still hurt from time to time, he did not have the heart to imply Jonathan was wrong and responded with "Took quite a lot of punishment yourself, it's nice to see you up and about." He was silent for a moment, his mind reminiscent about the cause of that. He regretted not being able to find Alice earlier that day, if he had just put in a little more effort the entire situation could probably have been avoided. "Thank you for saving Alice." A faint smile slowly formed on Jonathan's face after Oda had said that. “Don’t fret about it, I was just doing what was right.” He wanted to follow up that statement, something along the lines of ‘I didn’t do much anyways.’ but he decided to keep quiet. An awkward pause of silence ensued as neither of the two men could come up with something to keep the conversation going.

Truth be told, the older man didn't have many people to speak to, it was mostly colleagues at work and the occasional customer that was way too chatty than what was comfortable. As such when Jonathan found himself in a situation where it was expected of him to make small talk he was often dumbfounded, stuck in the awkward silence that the both of them now found themselves in. “Ahem, as you already know, I fought in the war.” The ex-soldier could feel how the air tensed up around the table as soon as he mentioned that fact. The American invasion of Vietnam was seen as a grim event by pretty much everyone who knew about it, countless civilians were harmed as a result of the conflict and both sides had lost in the end. But the thing that Jonathan wanted to place focus on this time wasn't any of the many horrors of war but rather an innocent story from the time he was stationed there. It was about how Jonathan and some of his fellow soldiers snuck into their commander's tent and decided to mess a little with his personal belongings.

The commander in question was a young man at the time, not much older than Jonathan and his buddies. Despite that, he was very serious in his work and placed down a strict discipline on anyone below him in the chain of command. Pinup posters, something that was very popular among the lower ranks of the American military at the time, were not allowed within the confines of his military camp. This naturally caused quite a bit of controversy among the soldiers, it being one of the few enjoyable things they were still able to experience so far from home. A few weeks after Jonathan first arrived at the camp, rumors began circulating, that despite the harsh rules he had decided on, the commander himself had a big ol juicy poster in his private quarters. Now, this was nothing but a rumor, but Jonathan and his friends wanted to believe it, as a way to punch up so to say.

So one night, when they knew the commander was out of camp Jonathan took it upon himself to sneak into that tent and take a quick peek just to confirm whether it was true or not. To his surprise, not actually expecting the rumors to be right Jonathan saw one of the most pinned-up posters he had ever witnessed in his entire life. Jackpot. Now, in case there was a poster in here Jonathan had come prepared with a marker pen in his pocket. With a few swift swipes the pretty girl on the poster was pretty no more as a silly mustache had been painted all over her pretty face. The next day, many of the common soldiers around the camp were amused to see their commander's irritated expression, unable to do anything about it for if he tried to bring the one who had put graffiti on his poster to justice then he would have to admit to owning the poster in the first place.

A slight smile could be seen protruding on Jonathan's face as he recalled that story, the drink he had ordered was pretty much empty by the time he was finished telling it. Oda did not really know what response was appropriate in this situation so instead he simply opted to remain silent. But just as the awkward silence was about to set in, a sudden thought appeared in Oda’s mind. “I… don’t really have any stories like that to tell.” The young man was neither old enough nor the kind of person to live the kind of life that would cause one to end up with many stories as they grew older, or at least not stories he wanted to share with others.

Despite that, he wanted to at least do something to repay Jonathan's kindness after telling him that story. “But you know, there was this thing that happened to me once, like something straight out of a Yakuza movie.” Oda said before he retold a story from a few years ago. He and two of his buddies had been out drinking on a monday night, while that was unusual for most people Oda wasn't like most people, as such when he accidentally bumped into a guy who clearly signaled trouble from the way he was dressed the blonde man did not just apologize and move on.

Thinking he was hot stuff Oda decided to confront this rough man, after all what was the worst that could happen? "Hey, watch where you're going punk." He said, intimidating a famous character that he used to watch on the TV. The older thug, who was a bit shorter than Oda, did not hesitate and almost pressed his own face against Oda's within the timespan of a second. “You’re tryna start something… punk?” The way his eyes pierced the young man’s soul sent shivers running down his spine, the eyes before him housed nothing but madness to the point where the scenario of the shorter man pulling out a pocket knife out of nowhere and gutting Oda like a pig wasn’t something he thought unrealistic. The blonde took a step backwards, a cold sweat running down his forehead, “I… ehhh… I’m sorry. I…” Not being able to raise his voice enough to form a coherent sentence the young man’s mumblings seemed to be enough to disarm the dangerous situation he had found himself in as the clearly unhinged man went his own way in the cold Pandemonium night.

Jonathan’s eyes were fixated on Oda for the latter half of the rather short story, genuine curiosity could be seen glistering within. A moment after he was finished speaking a hearty laughter emitted from the bald man as he raised his glass towards the ceiling. “Ha! Looks like you avoided an unpleasant experience- right there!” This was the reaction Oda had expected, although he was far from a comedian he knew that every joke consisted of two parts, a bait and a switch. While the story he had told up to this point was true, Oda had decided to add some extra spice to it himself, and now that the bait had been set all that was needed for the joke to be completed was for Oda to reveal the switch. “Well, after that event one of my friends said he kinda recognized the guy and a few days later when we were all hanging out at this karaoke place he showed me this magazine. Turns out the guy was an actor, no wonder he was able to create such a frightening face.”

Jonathan was quiet for a moment; it seemed like Oda’s joke had fallen flat. “Hmmm, an actor you say? I guess that makes sense, although in situations like that it is always better to be on the safe side.” The blonde man felt stupid, to believe that such a dumb joke could make someone laugh was stupid. He let out a sigh and rested his head against the cold table. “Yeah I guess so…”

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Kigura, that was the name belonging to the face that now stared down Mifuyu from almost a dozen meters away. The cold evening had turned into an even colder night as hundreds if not thousands of stars painted the sky above them. Cold water that would soon freeze, most likely around the same time of the first snowfall of the year, flowed underneath the bridge that the brown haired man stood upon. His every movement sent waves of movement into the wooden planks beneath him which caused them to wince quietly. “I would tell you to end your own life with honor, but I think it’s fair to say that the time for that has long passed.” The white-haired man looked at the person before him, his facial features were harsh and unmistakable, the last time he remembered seeing this man was over three hundred years ago.

Mifuyu was born shortly after the dawn of the sixteenth century, he was heir to a royal family of proud samurais. This was the era of the samurai, most conflicts were fought with swords and spears instead of guns and those who carried the sharpest swords known as katanas went under the name of ‘Samurai’. Both Mifuyu and Kigura had been part of the same family, but the white-haired boy was born to the main house while Kigura was of lesser birth. The two grew up mostly separated from each other, with Mifuyu being taught to lead and Kigura to follow. Despite that, their individual talents soon became apparent as Mifuyu disarmed his teacher in a mock fight at the mere age of 16, his father took notice of the son's talent and allowed him to pursue the way of the sword. Meanwhile, Kigura seemed to have a knack for craftsmanship which wasn’t something seen as proper to engage in for someone from a clan like his own.

When Mifuyu was 24 his father declared war on a rivaling clan after they had shown signs of weakness, it became the young samurai's duty to lead a small force of soldiers in a much larger battle. Staying behind and looking as his men fought was not an option as doing so was seen as cowardly by the standards of the time so instead he fought alongside his men. It soon became apparent that all the years of training in swordsmanship he received had paid off as the young samurai moved around the field with unmatched swiftness, his reflexes being as fast as the wind and his strikes as mighty as the ocean. This unnatural display of skill was not unnoticed as once the battle was finished his father gave a speech to his men, praising his son for the achievement he had succeeded in performing, the evidence of which was apparent by the dozen of heads resting before their feets.

As the years passed his father eventually determined that Mifuyu would be the one of his three sons to take over the clan when the father inevitably passed away. But hopefully there will be many long years until that happens. As he took part in more battles, Mifuyu became somewhat of a legend in feudal Japan and the shogun himself entrusted the man with an important mission. A rebellion was smoldering in the far north and Mifuyu was put in charge of the army whose purpose was to quell that uprising. The white-haired samurai accepted the quest gracefully, this being his chance to prove himself to the very shogun after all.

As soon as the two clashing forces met Mifuyu charged out first, leading his men, his skills as a warrior was undeniable and before the battle was over he had claimed the lives of twenty men. But, although he had been a great warrior by his own right, that alone did not make up for the fact that the enemy force was better equipped and had more experience. As such, the battle ended in a devastating loss for Mifuyu when his army was routed and he lost over half his men. The young samurai tried to regroup but the revolutionary forces pushed onwards and he found himself facing losing battle after losing battle. Eventually, only Mifuyu himself and a handful of his men remained. Forced to bear the shame of defeat the young samurai had to face the emperor knowing full well his own incompetence, his foolish choice of blindly attacking the enemy without first taking the proper precautions. Holding his head low as he kneeled before the shogun, Mifuyu was given two choices. Either he alone would live or the rest of his family would.

The young man did not know how to respond to something like that, he could almost see his life flashing before his eyes at that moment. It was a tough choice and although he wanted to prioritize his honor over everything else Mifuyu yearned first and foremost to live, for he was terrified by the prospect of dying. As such he settled on a choice that would be seen as cowardly by those looking back on history, giving up the lives of everyone who had ever known and loved him for his own survival. The shogun was a man of his word and allowed Mifuyu to leave the imperial palace as his family members were rounded up for execution. The young samurai being spared the horror of having to witness his own kin die. Disgraced and without a clan who accepted him as their own, the white haired man was left to wander the land like an outcast for the rest of his days.

Now, nearly four hundred years later, the two of them stood face to face once more. It was clear from Kigura’s expression that he was not happy to see Mifuyu again, it was logical, after all he had been the one who caused the death of both their families. Although Mifuyu wanted to feel regret over his past actions there was a nagging feeling in his chest that the reason why Kigura stood face to face with him was not too reminiscent about the past and his suspicion was soon proven right as the brown haired samurai spoke to him. “You should leave this city at once…” A short gust of wind interrupted his words causing the man to pause as the surrounding trees had their leaves rustled, once the wind had settled down he continued speaking. “... something terrible is going to happen in this city. If I were you I would get out of here as soon as fate would let me.”

The sturdy man began walking towards Mifuyu, the former unable to act or even speak up. When their shoulders were parallelled he would hastily say something before disappearing in the moonlit night; “The reason I’m telling you this is not because of some sense of kinship between us, as you should know. It’s simply that your ability to cling onto life for so long is admirable and I wouldn’t want to see it end here, that is all.” When Mifuyu turned around to get a last look of the man he was already gone, knowing full well that chasing after him would amount to nothing he didn’t even entertain the idea and instead simply stood there in the cold night for what felt like it must have been several minutes.

Alice stretched her arm, she knew what the girl next to her was going to ask, there was no escaping it. “So, what do you think about your powers?” It was an abrupt change of subjects, just moments age the two of them had been discussing events from their respective childhoods, Alice recounting the dozens of times she had managed to get away with some minor misdeed, truly if there was any kid that deserved to be scolded back then it was her. Meanwhile from what Evelina told her it seemed like she had been growing up with a perfectly ordinary although somewhat dull childhood, but that was enough for Alice to envy her, after all an orphan like her had never known what having loving parents was like, although Evelina claimed that they could be a bit too loving at times.

Alice turned around, the bright haired girl's upper body weight resting on her elbow that was firmly planted on the white bedsheet that they both shared. As the black haired woman turned around, their eyes accidentally made contact for a split moment before she averted her gaze. Alice did not truly wish to answer that question, she felt that the powers she possessed were more like a curse than anything else. Yet, she could not resist Evelina’s prodigy question and ended up giving her a half answer.

“I can’t say that I like them, but they did save my life, so I suppose I should be thankful for that.” The taller woman sat up completely, her body no longer resting on her elbow as she spoke. “Wha-!” Clearly unable to comprehend why Alice wouldn’t like having superhuman powers, Evelina almost immediately began listing the advantages of having such powers as she somehow felt personally attacked by Alice’s statement. “But you could do anything you wanted, you could rob a bank, or fight the military… or something like that.” She said, completely obvious or simply not caring about the kind of implications statements like that carried. “I mean, those don’t sound like things a magical girl would do.” Upon hearing that Evelina looked dumbfounded for a moment before she responded. “Ohh, you’re right about that.” With a silent examination Alice came to the conclusion that although Evelina had many great traits her common sense might be one of the things that Alice had overestimated about her. With those thoughts still in her mind the black haired girl would do something that she hadn’t really thought about doing before, mostly due to her low self confidence, she took a jab at Evelina. “I guess you might not be cut out for this magical girl business after all.”

After she heard those words, the other girl put her hand to her chin like if she was deep in thought, after holding that position for a few seconds she would respond to Alice's statement. "I think I would need a sidekick to make sure I don't stray from the right path." She looked at Alice for a moment, they both possessed special, otherworldly powers. But truth be told neither of them knew the source for this phenomena, all they could do was to hope. "Alright, that settles it." Evelina said as she hit her open palm with a closed fist, symbolizing the solution to a problem. "You will be my sidekick Alice." Without even asking the black haired girl if she wanted it, the rash woman had gone ahead and made that decision for her.