The Year ‘35, 4th Month, 20th Day

– Fei Cui, Jae-dyn

Wong’s Laundry, The Red District

8:17 AM

Kai knew fear. This was not a proud achievement. He was sure that many others his age knew it quite as well as him. Perhaps even more.

He’d known it as a child, hiding under the shanty hut he called a home alongside his older brother. Even then, Kai didn’t fear the gunshots that echoed beyond their door, or even the soldiers that could burst in at any moment, dragging their thin, drunk mother to some darkened alley to have their way with her.

More than anything, he was afraid of his brother leaving him. Of losing his grip on Chet’s arm, and being left to be shot alone. He would rather the both of them dragged down to death, than face it alone.

In some way, Kai was sure that all children held a common, selfish fear of that sort. They were too young to know to be brave; to know to protect another.

But now, Kai had grown older and learned the taste of a new sort of fear. The type that held pity and worry and most of all… care.

He was afraid of dying. Because then he would snap—and he would then kill.

But even then, Kai was a child. Already seventeen, at the cusp of adulthood, and yet he still carried that smallish, selfish little fear in the recesses of his heart.

More than anything, he was afraid of his brother knowing about his role within the Triads— and hating Kai even more than he already did.

It was as if he had never left that disgusting shanty house, and he was still clutching at Chet’s elbow, begging not to be left alone.

“Are you ready?” Chet asked him, keeping his eyes pinned on the road as they slowly made their way down to Wong’s laundry shop.

It was still morning, the midday sun blaring in through the windows. And while Chet thought that Kai had walked off to the Minister’s estate, all Kai had done was step out and headed to meet with the Enforcer to carry out their plan.

Kai rubbed a thumb against his bandaged temple. “I don’t know why I agreed to this…”

“Because I would have shot your brains out on the roof, that’s why,” Chet deadpanned, tapping his hand impatiently on the steering wheel. “It’s simple. Just head into the laundry shop and tell me how much your current stock of rouge is.”

“That’s going to raise suspicion.” Kai snapped.

“There won’t be anyone around. Your partner was shot—”

“Sunren,” Kai corrected with a scowl.

“Yeah, Sunren, whatever. The Triads have probably got him recovering somewhere so he won’t be around to spot you.” Chet paused as they made a particularly sharp turn. “Worst case scenario, the owner of the laundry shop spots you and starts asking questions.”

“Mrs. Wong’s smart… she won’t let me into the laundry room unless I give her a good reason,” Kai countered, ringing his hands together as Chet finally parked by the curbside. The laundry shop was directly adjacent to them.

“Just say that you’re there to tell her about Sunren’s condition,” Chet turned to face him, engaging the parking brake between them. “Then, say that the Triads wanted you to check on the stock in his stead, got it?”

Still, Kai’s mind raced. Chet didn’t know anything about his arrangement with Sunren.

If his brother even heard a single mention of Kai snapping or the Beast’s Blessing, then he’d surely put the pieces together and know without a doubt that the bandaged boy named Kizuna who sat beside him in his run-down cruiser had actually been his brother all along.

Chet may not know the exact terminology, which Kai was thankful for; but anything too descriptive would be enough to let the man put the pieces together.

“You’ll be nearby, right?” Kai asked a little warily.

“Scared?” Chet prompted, a cruel smile gracing his features. “Don’t worry, I’ll be parked right here. Now, come closer.”

Kai frowned at him, but did so anyway. “Are we forming a Pact?”

“You’re quite adamant about opening your Core up to a complete stranger,” Chet drawled. Kai wanted to laugh. The man before him wasn’t quite the stranger he so believed himself to be, after all.

“I know you won’t hurt me or damage my Core. After all, you need my help to find Shen,” Kai explained, laying his palms flat on his lap. “And, according to the Laws, Earth-types Promote Metal-types. You know what that means.”

“It means I’ll get a stupid ability I might not even want?” Chet said, deadpan.

“You should be glad that we’re compatible. I’d have to deal with a Bottleneck for you, though.” Kai took a look around them. “This’ll be difficult to do in a little car like this.”

“It will suffice,” Chet spared, and then pulled out a little coin.

He rolled it across his knuckles, the movement eased and quick— even a little mesmerizing. Kai had to hand it to his brother; he was truly skilled at his Somatic Art, even a challenging one like this that the Militia had issued to him.

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As Chet continued, a few sparks of icy blue flew from his palms.

Meanwhile, as an Earth-type, Kai pulled his eyes closed. He relaxed his shoulders and neck, settling in his seat. With his mouth closed, he pulled in the air through his nose, holding for two counts. Beside him, he could hear Chet letting out a breath of his own.

The Enforcer was moving a tad quickly. After all, he had surely formed short-lived Pacts with other Enforcers on the field. Kai huffed a breath, “You’re going too fast.”

“That’s because you’re too slow,” Chet leveled, but slowed the movements of his hands all the same. He let his coin slowly roll between his index and middle finger, balancing between them.

Kai pursed his lips, and let go of the air gathered in his lungs, nearly making a whistling sound as he counted to four. The xi around them grew hot and turbid, and Kai could feel his own aura waking around him.

The clash of bright yellow and light, nearly white blue, clamored between them. It was like a sandstorm meeting snow, their auras meeting and dancing within the expanse of the cruiser. It wouldn’t be long until Kai would need to open up his Core— the deepest part of his soul, to his brother.

“Don’t be afraid,” Chet countered, as if he could feel the anxiety welling within Kai. Perhaps, he really could. “I won’t hurt you.”

That was all he said, as he bared his own. Kai gulped around air, his aura faltering for a moment as he was nearly overtaken by Chet’s own. The smell of rainwater and strong, tangy iron flooded into his senses, and Kai trembled.

“You’ve already got a long-standing Pact with someone else,” Kai said, shivering at the onslaught of light blue around him. He felt his skin growing moist, as if he was bathed in sweat. “I can’t… break through it.”

In the back of his mind, he wondered who his brother had made a Pact with. A Water-type, clearly. And one who his brother met up with regularly enough for the Pact to be so strong. Plus, it was clear that in this Pact, Chet was the Promoter— whoever this person was, they were clearly benefiting from this.

“Stop that. I can feel you trying to pry.” Chet snapped, making Kai shrink his aura away just the tiniest bit.

“I’ll try to clear away his Pact, but it’s harder to do if the other person isn’t in the vicinity,” Chet carried on, pulling his hands into fists, and pulling them away from one another, as if he was pulling a string taut. As he did so, the blueish tinge in the air around them dissipated just a little bit. “I won’t break it, but this should be enough for you to power through.”

Kai nodded, and shivered as the remaining dregs of turbid, murky blue edged away from his vision. Everything became white, and Kai nearly gagged at the taste of metal on his tongue. It coiled around his teeth, and his throat grew full, as if he was swallowing around nicks of aluminum shards.

His brother’s Core felt like the brush of a cold, freshly-washed knife to one’s cheek. Dangerous and cool, with a blade of metal that would surely shine beneath light, and glint into your eye. Kai let it settle around himself, feeling Chet’s needle-sharp Core as it dipped beside his.

And alongside it, Kai could taste a sort of melancholy. A lonely, rattling chill to the pull of his brother’s soul. As with every Pact, either Promoter or Repellent would be able to feel their current partner’s emotions as they performed an exchange of their souls.

Kai had expected their connection to be too weak for him to actually feel anything, but he hadn’t realized something integral— Chet’s own soul, surely, had felt the brush of his brother’s, and opened up as easily as a flower at the face of dawn.

“Huh, we’re more compatible than I thought,” Chet said aloud, clueless. Kai felt a brief tingle of unease rippling through his Core.

And like a dam, the moment a crack in Chet’s aura was formed, Kai slid into it as if he had always been meant to be there. His breathing evened out, and all unease dripped loose from his shoulders. The Pact was complete.

“Wait,” Chet frowned, his grip on Kai’s hands growing tight. So tight, Kai could suddenly feel his wrists growing warm. There was a heat growing at the back of his throat, as if he had just swallowed a gulp of spirits. “Something isn’t right.”

A sudden, unbearable fire grew behind Kai’s chest, twisting and aching. He couldn’t help his brows from being drawn, his breathing growing tight, his own hands clenching into fists, fingernails digging into Chet’s skin. Kai leveled, “I feel it too,”

“Your…” Chet clenched his teeth, his aura diminishing like smoke amidst a storm. “Your Core is rejecting me.”

“But we’re compatible!” Kai cried, sweat pouring down his neck. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. I-I don’t think it’s just Repulsion. It feels more like—”

His brother wasn’t able to finish before Chet was blown backwards, slamming into the cruiser’s window. The glass cracked beneath him, not enough to shatter, but a stark seam of unaligned glass was now visible.

Chet’s face was twisted; neither in pain nor anger— but fear.

“What… what in Xian’s name was that?” Chet gasped, all traces of his aura vanishing. He was running his hands down his wrists, where Kai had so ardently gripped them.

“I don’t— what did you see?” Kai begged, suddenly afraid.

He realized with a dawning horror that he had never formed a Pact with anyone before.

Especially not one that required so much strength. So much trust. He had never borne his Core for another to see, to touch, to feel. He had been so careless, Kai had forgotten about what it was that dwelt inside of him.

It was the soul of a being that wasn’t human, a creature that was arcane and aged. Something that the eye of a regular man wouldn’t be able to bear. It was that Beast— and clearly, it did not enjoy having itself bared open.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Kai began, hands hovering in the air. He didn’t know where to put them, wasn’t sure if he could even touch his brother right now. “I didn’t know.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Chet growled, his fear easily translating into anger. “You’re not human.”

“I am, but— look, it doesn’t matter. We established a channel beforehand, it should be enough,” Kai explained, speaking so quickly his tongue stammered over itself numerous times.

At last, Chet’s stance relaxed. Kai hadn’t even noticed that the man had begun to reach for his pistol. “We’re not doing that again.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad—” Kai tried.

“I swear on Xian’s name that I felt my heart stop, damn you,” Chet gritted out. Kai’s blood ran cold at his words. He had nearly killed his brother. He had to stop that line of thought before he passed out right then and there. Chet ran a hand through his hair. “A channel will suffice, but it’ll make it harder for us to communicate in dire situations.”

Kai nodded solemnly, “Like when Sunren was…”

“That’s why I need you to keep a level head,” Chet urged, not at all kindly. “I don’t care what it is you really are, but I’m sure that the Triads are keeping you because of that. What role do you play for them?”

Kai swallowed.

“I’m just a runner. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Chet eyed him, with the sort of look that told Kai the man was already set on his own conclusion. “No matter. I’ll know soon enough. And if you ever pose a threat to me— I won't hesitate to put you down.”

That is when Kai remembered.

At this moment, under the name ‘Kizuna’; Kai was not Chet’s brother. He was merely the criminal whose youth offered just the right amount of pity for the Enforcer to have spared him.

And he didn’t even deserve pity. Perhaps, in some way, Kai knew that for all he had done— he truly did not.

“Whatever you say, Enforcer.” Kai bowed his head low and exited the car.