On the first floor, Kai put two plates on the table.
The restaurant was closed for today, as he was still confused, and his grandfather was nowhere to be found in the house.
Amber, the girl who called herself a Phoenix, was sitting across from him and looking at the plate full of food on it while tilting her head. She seemed to be confused as she raised her head to look at Kai.
"Breakfast," He said shortly. "These are dumplings and meat buns. Surely you know about it, right?" He took one of the meat buns and ripped it in half.
Steam rose from the inside, showing that the meat bun was freshly made. It looked delicious, and the smell rose from the meat filling tickling Amber's appetite. She gulped, took the meat bun on her plate, and ripped it, imitating Kai.
Looking at her, Kai smiled and put the meat bun in his mouth. The combination of flavors exploded inside, and he hummed in satisfaction. Amber looked surprised when she ate the meat bun. Then she smiled afterward, seemingly happy after eating a delicious meal.
As a chef, he loved seeing his cooked meal devoured in delight. He continued to eat his share. They had a quiet breakfast together, while Kai wondered what he did last night as Amber hadn't told him yet.
"Thank you! That was delicious! I've never eaten something so delicious before." Amber smiled widely as she gazed at Kai with her flaming golden eyes. "As expected of Kai! You're an amazing cook!"
"You're welcome," Kai replied, tidying up the plate into one pile. "Can we talk now? To be honest, I have a lot of questions I wanted to ask you."
"Un, sure. I will answer anything my benefactor asked."
Benefactor. That was what came from Amber's mouth. Meaning she was conscious when he saved her from the fire yesterday.
There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask. For example, why did she introduce herself as a Phoenix? Then why did she lay in that alleyway surrounded by fire? How could the others not notice it?
But the most important among them all was.
"What did I do last night? I don't remember anything from when you kissed me suddenly until I woke up in my bed this morning. There is no way I woke up in my bedroom when I remembered I fainted outside yesterday, with you beside me at that."
"Hmm…" Amber hummed as she put her index finger on her chin. "Do you really not remember anything? You were quite wild yesterday. Even I was surprised by how wild you were."
'Wild?!' Kai shouted in his mind. How could he be wild? Rather, what was the context here? She left too much information unannounced, making the context unclear.
"Can you explain to me? I remember nothing at all from last night."
"Nothing at all?" Amber asked, trying to confirm it.
Kai nodded in response, "Nothing at all."
"That's a problem." She muttered, looking worried. "This isn't good at all, Kai. Alright, I will explain it to you."
What kind of trouble Amber talked about wasn't something Kai knew. Instead, he was most curious about what had happened last night.
"So–"
But unfortunately, before Amber opened her mouth to tell him something, the door of the restaurant was opened.
Kaching–
A man dressed in black entered. Kai raised his head and looked at him.
"I'm sorry, but the restaurant isn't open today." He said. Normally, many people would storm in at this time to eat breakfast, so he was quite used to seeing strangers, even if they dressed strangely.
Today the restaurant was closed. So he had no choice but to let him know. But the man didn't turn around. Instead, he looked in his direction and moved his hand inside his coat, seemingly taking something out.
Amber turned around at that time. After seeing the man, her eyes widened, and she shouted.
"Get down, now!"
To Kai's surprise, she easily flipped the wooden table and forced him down, hiding behind the table. The sound of a gun blaring outside was heard soon afterward.
Ratatata!
"W-What's going on?!" Kai shouted in panic, looking at Amber on top of him.
"A Slayer." She replied shortly.
"A Slayer?" Kai didn't understand what had happened. The bullet flew in all directions, lodging on the restaurant's wall and floor and breaking all the glass and lamps inside.
Thankfully, the wooden table was strong enough to hold the bullet off for a while, but it wouldn't last long.
Crack!
"He's trying to kill me! Last night too, his companion tried to kill me. But you saved me and used my power to defeat them! So, Kai. Let's do it again and defeat him."
"Doing what?!"
Amber's explanation was hard to believe. But seeing the madman in his restaurant using a gun without caring about the people outside calling for the police made him somewhat believe her explanation.
His lack of memories of last night also didn't help him to understand the situation. A Slayer? What even in the world was that? A title given to some madman who killed people in broad daylight?
"Use my power to defeat him! I don't know how you did it, but use your special power to take me in!"
"How?!" Kai asked once again. He was a bit frustrated because he couldn't understand what had happened.
"I don't know! Just do what you did last night!"
Great idea. Unless… he didn't remember anything last night except for that kiss.
'Could it be?' A thought flashed in Kai's mind. 'No, that's not it.'
"Hurry up! I can't use my power without permission right now because of our contract, so hurry and use my power, Kai!" Amber pressed Kai.
The table they used as a cover was about to break. Some bullets had penetrated through the hit, almost hitting Kai's face. Facing the danger, Kai finally decided on something.
"Aaargh! Here goes nothing!"
He slammed his lips against Amber's soft and moist lips. A sweet taste was the first one he tasted; then it was quickly followed by a feeling of power melting into his body. It was hot, and Amber's figure slowly burned into a raging flame that surrounded his body.
[This is it! I know you can do it when you try it, Kai! You can control my Phoenix fire perfectly!] Amber's cheerful voice rang inside his mind. But Kai kept silent as he looked down at his hand with flames dancing around it.
"This…" He muttered, then slowly looked up. The bullet rain had stopped, and he could see the man looking rather worried through the hole in the table.
The memories of last night slowly returned. He remembered this. But it was not the time to remember it yet. There was a person, an enemy standing in front of him.
[Let's beat him, Kai!]
"Yeah." Kai nodded. Hesitation disappeared from his eyes. Even if he didn't know what a Slayer was, one thing was sure. "He destroyed my restaurant, so I need him to pay for it. No one gets out unscratched after they put their hand on my beloved restaurant."
The flame raging around him burned the table and floor, reducing them to ash. But the fire didn't spread. It only stayed around him, obeying his will.
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