Chapter 272: Dinner Before the Storm
Late afternoon light spilled through the front window when Kai got home, and Leo was already waiting near the door.
"You’re actually on time."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "I usually am."
Leo coughed awkwardly. "Mostly."
Mina laughed from the kitchen. "You two argue over the strangest things."
Kai smiled. "Come on."
Leo blinked. "Where?"
"Dinner."
Leo’s eyes lit up instantly. "Really?"
"I’ve been promising for weeks."
Mina appeared in the doorway, drying her hands on a towel, already smiling. "Then let’s go."
The three of them arrived at their favorite restaurant a short while later, and the owner spotted them the moment they walked in.
"Kai! It’s been a while!"
"Busy," Kai said, smiling.
"I noticed." The owner laughed, already waving them toward their usual table.
A few nearby customers noticed too, whispering to each other.
"The Guild Master—"
"Abyssal—"
Kai just smiled politely and took his seat without acknowledging any of it directly.
A little girl sitting two tables away kept glancing toward Kai every few seconds.
She couldn’t have been older than eight.
Eventually she tugged on her father’s sleeve.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Is that really him?"
Her father looked over before smiling.
"Yeah."
"The Guild Master."
"The one who keeps clearing all those Gates."
The little girl stared with sparkling eyes.
"He looks normal."
Her father chuckled.
"Heroes usually do."
She hesitated for several more seconds before carefully walking over, clutching a tiny notebook against her chest.
Kai noticed her almost immediately.
"Can I help you?"
She looked incredibly nervous.
"C-can"
"Can I have your autograph?"
Leo immediately burst into laughter.
"You actually have fans now!"
Kai rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I’m not sure I’m important enough for that."
The little girl shook her head so quickly her ponytail bounced.
"You are!"
"You saved my uncle!"
"And my dad says you protect everyone!"
The restaurant became noticeably quieter.
Several customers smiled.
Others nodded.
Kai looked at the notebook for a moment before taking it.
"What’s your name?"
"E-Emma."
He wrote slowly.
To Emma.
Grow strong. Protect the people important to you.
—Kai
He handed it back.
Emma hugged it against her chest.
"Thank you!"
She hurried back to her table.
Leo looked at Kai with the biggest grin imaginable.
"You’re definitely famous."
Kai sighed.
"That’s still going to take some getting used to."
The restaurant laughed.
Leo was already buried in the menu. "I’m ordering everything."
Kai laughed. "You say that every time."
"And every time you stop me."
"Exactly."
Mina watched the two of them with a small, quiet smile.
Food started arriving a few minutes later, and Leo dug in immediately.
"Slow down," Kai said, laughing.
"I’m hungry."
"Were you starving?"
"No."
"Then why are you eating like that?"
Leo pointed dramatically at his plate. "Because it’s free."
Kai sighed. "Fair enough."
Mina laughed and stole a piece straight off Leo’s plate.
"Traitor!" Leo protested immediately.
"You weren’t eating it."
"I was about to!"
"You hesitated."
Kai watched them for a second, then reached over and stole another piece himself.
Leo stared at him. "Et tu?"
Kai grinned. "You hesitated too long."
All three of them laughed, and for a little while, everything just felt ordinary.
As dinner went on, Kai’s expression slowly shifted, something more serious settling behind his eyes. He set his chopsticks down.
"There’s something I should tell you both."
Both siblings looked up at once.
Kai took a slow breath. "Soon, Mayor Ko, Mira, and I are going to make a public announcement."
Leo tilted his head. "About what?"
Kai answered honestly. "A Disaster."
Silence.
He explained it carefully, not every detail, but enough. A massive threat approaching. The city would need to evacuate temporarily. Everyone relocating to nearby cities until it was over.
He listed them off. Virelia City. Astran Port. Hollow Reach. Nexum City.
"The evacuation happens before the actual fight starts," he said. "Everyone’s out well before anything dangerous begins."
Silence held.
Leo slowly set his fork down. "We’re leaving Mythal?"
Kai nodded. "For a while."
Leo lowered his head. "What if—" he hesitated, "—what if you don’t come back?"
Silence filled the table.
Before Kai could answer, Mina spoke gently. "Leo."
He looked over.
She smiled softly. "Trust our older brother."
"But—"
She shook her head gently, cutting him off. "Think about everything that’s happened these past few months. The Gates. The Guild. The city. The disasters he’s already faced." She smiled warmly. "And after every single one, what happened?"
Leo thought about it quietly. Then his eyes slowly widened.
"He came home."
Mina nodded. "Every day. No matter how difficult it got. No matter how dangerous it was."
"He always came back," she said.
Leo smiled slowly. "You’re right. I never even thought about it that way."
Kai watched them both, his expression softening.
Then he noticed something. Mina’s hands, resting on the edge of the table, were trembling. Just slightly. Barely enough to catch unless you were watching closely.
She’d been comforting Leo the entire time.
But she was still afraid herself.
Kai reached across the table and gently wrapped both his hands around hers. The trembling stopped almost instantly.
She looked up.
Kai smiled. "After this is over, let’s buy a new house."
Silence.
Leo’s eyes lit up immediately. "Really?!"
Kai laughed. "Really."
Leo launched straight into planning. "It needs a bigger kitchen."
"And a training yard."
"And maybe two floors."
"No—" he corrected himself, "—three!"
Kai laughed. "What else?"
"A garden."
Mina smiled. "I’d like that."
Leo kept going. "A library."
"Reasonable," Kai said.
"A bigger living room."
"Definitely."
"And—" Leo paused for effect, "—a room where Kong can visit."
Kai laughed outright. "I don’t think Kong cares about having a room."
"He deserves one anyway."
All three of them kept laughing through the rest of dinner, the earlier tension easing into something warmer.
The owner eventually walked over carrying three small bowls.
Kai blinked.
"We didn’t order dessert."
"You didn’t."
The owner set them down anyway.
"It’s on the house."
Kai immediately shook his head.
"You don’t have to—"
"I know."
The older man smiled.
"But I want to."
Silence settled around the table.
The owner looked around his restaurant for a moment before speaking again.
"You know"
"When the Gates first appeared"
"I honestly thought I’d lose this place."
Kai listened quietly.
"I watched people stop going outside."
"Restaurants emptied."
"Businesses closed."
"I even started wondering how long I’d keep the doors open."
He laughed softly.
"Then your guild started clearing Gates."
"Little by little"
"People started coming back."
He gestured around the room.
Families talking.
Hunters laughing.
Children arguing over dessert.
Every table occupied.
"Business came back."
"Life came back."
Kai looked around the restaurant.
He hadn’t noticed before.
The place really was full.
The owner smiled.
"So no."
"I insist."
He gently pushed the desserts closer.
"It’s just my way of saying thank you."
Kai looked down for a second before smiling.
"Then thank you."
The owner nodded.
"No."
He smiled warmly.
"Thank you."
He quietly walked away.
Leo immediately grabbed his spoon.
"Free food tastes better."
Mina laughed.
"I don’t think that’s how food works."
"It absolutely is."
Kai chuckled.
"I’m starting to think you’re only here because it’s free."
Leo gasped dramatically.
"How could you accuse your own brother?"
Mina quietly smiled as the three of them started eating again.
Night had fully settled by the time they walked home, streetlights casting soft pools of light along the quiet road. Leo kept talking excitedly the whole way, adding new features to the imaginary house with every block. A swimming pool. A workshop. A training room. A balcony. A dining table big enough for the whole guild to eat at once.
Kai and Mina occasionally chimed in with their own suggestions, letting him run with it.
Eventually Leo walked a few steps ahead of them, still muttering house designs to himself, and Kai glanced over at Mina.
"Still worried?"
She smiled. "Of course."
A pause.
"But," she added, squeezing his hand gently, "I also believe I’ll see you come home."
Kai smiled. "You will."
They kept walking together in comfortable quiet.
Ahead of them, Leo suddenly spun around. "You two are walking too slowly!"
Kai laughed. "We’re coming."
The three of them continued on beneath the streetlights, and Kai looked out at the warm glow spilling from windows across Mythal, homes that would soon sit empty for a while.
But for the first time in a long time, instead of only picturing the city he had to protect, he found himself picturing the house Leo had just spent twenty minutes describing.