Noah took a deep sigh of relief as he came back to his room. It was later than he usually arrived, but he had no choice. His life was on the line, so even an immovable corner would be able to end it.
He had just stepped inside his cramped room when his sagging posture snapped straight.
'What's this smell?' A fruity smell hit his nostrils. His stomach let out a roar so loud it felt like it vibrated through his hollow chest.
With just two beds with a table beside them placed at diagonally opposite corners, he didn't have to search long. A teenage girl with raven black hair was lying on one bed, holding a communicator in her hand. And beside her, a big box was placed.
He had already eaten more than what he usually ate today, thinking that might raise his life point, but no. Forget about LP, but his stomach had just too big of a greed.
Closing the distance, he wiped the corner of his mouth as something tickled from there.
"What's that?"
His question remained in the air as the girl didn't even look at him. She had her tongue poking out of her mouth, her nails trying to dig into the screen of the communicator, rapidly.
Taking his eyes away from his sister, a throbbing ache pulsed through his heart as he looked at what was inside the box. It was a cake with bread and chocolate.
The only thing the extraction zone had was the hard, thick slab of protein. And even that was a luxury.
"Ah, I died because of you." The girl grumbled as she squirmed on the bed, her voice high pitched and light.
"What is that, Eva?" he repeated, his voice firmer.
Eva chuckled, finally looking up. "It's a cake. Tina sent—what the fuck?"
Her head snapped toward him.
"What happened to your face? What do you do?"
She suddenly stood up on her knees on the bed, slightly taller than Noah now, looking at him with a stunned expression. Looking at her, Noah hesitated. He had no plan of becoming a Hunter, and it was more so after seeing what kind of ability he had. So, it wasn't something worth worrying her about.
"It's nothing. Just... washed my face."
Eva's eyes narrowed, but his gaze was already back on the cake. It was beautiful and terrifying. The surface was a shiny, obsidian black, decorated with patterns shaped like dragon scales.
It was massive. Eva had clearly taken a few bites, but it barely made a dent.
He quickly shook his head as he was mesmerized by it and turned to his sister; a deep frown had crawled its way to his face.
"You said Tina sent it?"
"Yeah. Three big thugs brought it. Scared the shit out of me," she said, sliding back down to her game. The corner of her mouth was painted black, as were her fingers.
"Why did you open the door?"
"I didn't," she shrugged, noncommittal. "They were already there when I got home from school."
Noah's face hardened. It was impossible to understand Tina. Why was she being this persistent, even after he had pushed her away?
But it didn't matter.
Turning towards the cake, he reached to throw it away. But his stomach betrayed him again as the soft texture and luscious smell entered his system.
It was loud enough to echo inside the room.
"Just eat it." A sound of giggling fell into his ear, annoying him further.
His hand paused. Swallowing, he turned to his sister.
"You think it is..."
But his words refused to leave his mouth. He didn't know how to explain.
There were people to whom he could do things without limit. He could kneel before them just to survive, and if necessary, he was sure he could kill them too. But Tina...
He didn't know about the latter, but he would never bring himself to ask for that woman's child for help.
"You're thinking too much, brother."
He had almost firmed his resolve, then his sister, putting her communicator to the side, sat straight up. As if she had read his thoughts.
"First, you can't actually blame her for what her mother did to us. Besides, why do you think she is rotting in this hell when she can actually live in the tall buildings, all to herself?"
"No, no, no," Noah shook his head along with his finger. "You don't know that. Her mother might be S-rank, but there are other monsters stronger than her. How could they let her live in a single building alone—what the fuck?"
His leg buckled as Eva kicked.
"Don't cut me off," she said, her eyes menacing. He could only watch as his sister cleared her throat.
"Look, we have nothing to ourselves. If we really want to do something in our life, we need to get all the help we can get."
Noah's jaw tightened. He knew that. He knew that better than anyone. For five years, all he was doing was trying to get out of this hellhole.
But his pride wouldn't let him. At least, his pride was better than a cake.
"Brother?" Eva continued. "I know you don't want to receive things from her; I mean, that's why you haven't received her gifts on our every birthday, but... she has connections; we can exploit those, right? It will be laughing at her mother's face." Her round cheeks puffed as she smirked menacingly.
Exploit? What the hell was she thinking? His brows frowned. Mostly because—
"How do you know about those gifts?" Her mouth was left open as he spoke those words. Now he was sure of it. "You met her, haven't you?"
"Wait, wait, wait," she put her hand forward, stopping Noah. "I didn't go to her, okay? I was at the gift shop, and it was just a coincidence."
His mind came to an abrupt halt. "Gift shop? Why... Why did you go there?" His voice came as low, hesitating.
Instead of answering, Eva pursed her lips. Reaching out under her pillow. A small round metal attached with two thin chains rested on her palm. But there was something different about the metal. It was clean and silver. Unlike the hard alloy produced by the factory, which was made by mixing monster carcasses, this metal had a different appearance.
Giving the pendant a weird look, he asked.
"And what's that supposed to mean? Because if you're thinking of shutting me up with this, then you're absolutely wrong."
Her expression froze. She held the pendant close to him. And when she spoke, her voice was loud.
"That's pure aluminum! Appreciate it!"
Aluminum? That metal was rarely found in a pure state, even though there was a lot of it. It was difficult to imagine its cost.
"Why? I don't remember asking you that—hey!" She finally snapped. Swinging her arm, the pendant flew out of her hand. Noah's heart skipped a beat. His body moved on its own, flying towards the flying pendant.
He wasn't slow—in fact, he barely moved when the pendant struck the metal wall, making a loud noise before falling on the ground. Noah grabbed it. It was light, seamlessly cool to his touch. He released a sigh of relief before giving his sister a glare.
"Well, I bought it." She was pissed. "Do whatever you want with this. Shove it in your ass, for all I care. Now, give me my dinner. Talking to you is exhausting."
Noah froze in shock. Mostly because he was the one to teach her how to swear. Maybe he should have held back a year or two. She was fourteen, for balls' sake.
Getting up from the floor, he slowly took out two paper-wrapped protein slabs.
"I thought you had cake."
"It didn't suit my stomach. Maybe I'm addicted to shits after living with you." She snatched both as soon as he came within her reach. Noah watched her for some time, the edge of his lips slightly curved up before turning towards the pendant.
He had given her credits to buy something for herself.
'So she does remember his birthday,' he thought before turning towards the cake. He reached to pick the box up, finally.
"I'm taking this then—"
"Whatever." She spoke as she was chewing on the hard synthetic slab. Aside from being a good source of nutrients, there were no other positive aspects to it. It was tasteless, dull black, cheap food.
'Just once,' staring at the box, Noah thought. Just once, he was going to... exploit Tina's connection.