Ethan didn’t even think it through before shrugging and blurting out, "Fuck it."

Elara’s eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah, you can stay with me," he continued.

Her eyes somehow widened even further, almost falling out of her head.

"Don’t expect anything," he added quickly. "I live in a shitty dump. But if you’re fine with that, you can join me."

For a split second, she just stared at him.

Then, she practically bounced in her seat.

*I haven’t lived with someone in years.*

The excitement was immediate, unfiltered, and childlike, so much so that it made Ethan pause.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"...How old are you?"

The suddenness of the question caught her off guard. She blinked, then signed after a brief pause.

*Twenty-three. Why?*

Ethan let out a quiet sigh of relief.

’Okay... good.’

He leaned back again, relaxing slightly.

Entering gates required you to be at least eighteen, barring rare exceptions, but still, there was a difference between twenty-three and freshly eighteen. At twenty-five, Ethan didn’t exactly want to feel like he was dragging some kid into his mess of a life.

Not that his life was anything to brag about.

’Spent most of it in prison anyway...’

He pushed the thought aside.

Then Elara signed again, and her innocent question made him smile.

*How much rent do I need to pay?*

Ethan’s eyes flicked briefly to the paper bag sitting beside her, within which was forty thousand dollars she had earned in a single gate.

’Yeah... she’s loaded.’

He rubbed his chin slightly, pretending to think.

"Forty thousand," he said. "Food and utilities included."

It was shameless, completely so, but that had never stopped Ethan. He was also half-joking, gauging to see how much she was willing to pay. Depending on her reaction, he would reduce the price to a more reasonable amount.

But instead of questioning it, she picked up the bag and handed it to him without hesitating or negotiating.

Ethan stared at it, then back at her.

"You’re serious?"

She nodded.

*That’s the rent, right? I don’t really need it. I don’t have anything I want... or anyone to spend it on.*

Her smile was small and strained.

Ethan could see the pain in her eyes that she was trying to hide, but he still accepted the bag of cash.

He didn’t say anything further.

It would be a lie if he said he didn’t feel guilty, but his desire for the cash outweighed that guilt. Money made the world go round after all, and was also ultimately what he sacrificed seven years of his life for.

*To clarify, I usually get paid the compensation of a C Rank and sometimes even a D Rank because of my restricted abilities. They use me to checkmark that enough high-ranked Titled have technically entered a gate.*

"I guess that makes sense," he said while nodding his head.

*This was the first time I’ve been paid this much, and I’m not as rich as you might think. I only go into gates to earn enough money to afford food and somewhere to live.*

"Sounds like a shit life," Ethan said aloud.

She didn’t seem offended by his words, nor did she disagree either.

"We have that in common," he added.

Then again, he wasn’t entirely alone like she seemed to be. It left him curious about what kind of life she had lived, and vice versa. One red-eyed, the other blue-eyed, they were a troubled and odd duo.

They fell into a silence, one that was slightly tense until...

"Order number 67!"

Ethan straightened immediately.

"That’s us."

He stood up, stretching slightly.

"You paid, the least I can do is bring it over."

Elara nodded.

A minute later, Ethan returned, balancing four trays stacked with food. There were burgers, fries, drinks - more than any two normal people would be able to eat.

But they were far from normal.

He dropped them onto the table with a satisfied grin.

"Let’s eat."

And that’s exactly what they did, like starving animals.

Ethan tore into a burger like he hadn’t eaten in days, grease staining his fingers as he shoved bite after bite into his mouth.

’God... I forgot how good fast food is.’

Across from him, Elara wasn’t much better.

For someone who looked so reserved and was quite slim, she ate like a starving wolf. She was scarfing down burgers just as quickly as Ethan, if not faster.

He paused, impressed by how quickly she could eat.

’She might get her money’s worth if she eats like this for every meal.’

They ate in silence, feeling a strange sense of normalcy while eating fast food with something close to a friend. It made the gate and the tower feel like distant memories.

That was if he didn’t include the stares.

It was subtle at first, a glance here, a whisper there, but it became more obvious and brazen. Some people pointed, and others took out their phones, trying to take pictures without being noticed.

"Tch."

Ethan clicked his tongue, leaning back slightly as his gaze swept across the restaurant. Most of the attention was on Elara, a mix of recognition, curiosity, and fear.

They had come out of a gate that had made the news, so of course, people would notice. The black suits had even warned them about the attention they might receive, especially in the short term.

Not that it made it any better.

’I hate this shit.’

Ethan was someone who liked his space, so this was one of the worst things he could ask for. He shot a glare at a group that was openly recording, and they immediately looked away, pretending to be interested in their food.

Elara just ignored it and wasn’t one for confrontation, remaining focused on her food.

But while they both sat there enjoying the moment of peace, things around them were shifting as Ethan stepped into the public eye...

-

Elsewhere, Mark paced back and forth inside Black Howl, his expression tight with stress, his mind racing as news of the gate incident spread.

"Shit... shit..."

He hadn’t heard anything from Ethan, and none of the news gave any updates on the condition of those who had exited. Mark even called the association’s emergency hotline, and they simply said that they couldn’t provide any further information.

Meanwhile, a tense meeting was taking place between three powerful figures. And the topic of their discussion was the odd duo who were stuffing their faces...