Thanks to his enhanced hearing, Kai was able to make out the sound of someone being at the door, even from downstairs in his office. Wondering who it might be at this late hour, he decided to take a break from the paperwork and find out.
It was only when he was at the stairs that he noticed that the noise didn't belong to a single individual, but a small group. Not fearing for his own safety, the Werewolf opened the door.
"It's rare to see visitors at this time of night." Kai stated as he got a good look at the three before him. After a slight moment of surprise from suddenly having the door opened from the inside, the visitors immediately bowed down.
"W-we are so sorry for disturbing you late at night…sir." A female voice stuttered.
"Don't you think that's a bit much? He looks the same age as us." A male voice spoke his mind.
As a result, the boy received a kick from his female companion, making the other boy shake his head for ruining their first impression.
"Your friend is right, there's no need to address me as sir. Now, how about we take this talk inside." Kai suggested, trying to keep a smirk off his face over their antics.
Entering the Wolf's Pool Club were naturally none other than Numba, Izzy and Ian. They had been told by Will that this establishment was seemingly the main meeting place of the Howlers' gang.
Although it was quite late, gangs weren't exactly limited to operating during business hours. Unsure whether it would be more respectful to greet the Howlers now or later, they eventually decided on the former. However, while they had still been making up their mind what to say, Kai had surprised them.
Like a good host, he went ahead and got the three of them some pop drinks from behind the bar. After that the blonde teenager gestured them to take a seat on the bar stools, already having a good guess as to why they had come to Slough.
"As you can see, this place is empty, but something is telling me you aren't here for a game of pool or drinks." Kai suggested.
"We… We heard that this place belongs to the Howlers. Are you part of their group, by any chance?" Numba asked politely again.
"Ah yes, I suppose you don't recognise me looking like this." Kai chuckled. The next moment he transformed part of his arm in front of them, showing his grey fur. "Well, at least I can be sure now that the masks do their job."
The three weren't gang members, and their groups' interests aligned for the foreseeable future, so Kai didn't mind revealing this much as a sign of goodwill. He knew them to be friends of Gary and Kai trusted in their leaders judgement of people.
"Y-you're that grey Altered from before!" Ian's eyes widened. "I am so sorry for being rude to you earlier, I thought that would have been an old man… or like an older teenager or something."
"It's okay." Kai replied. "You behaved without taking into account our positions, and frankly I'd prefer you continue doing that. Anyway, you still have yet to tell me what brings you over."
Numba's face changed, now that he knew that he was actually talking to a high ranking knowing member of the Howlers, and most likely a top one as well.
"We were sent here by the Cardenez group, to support you from a possible attack for the Scatterbugs." Numba proudly said. "Although, we don't think you will have any trouble dealing with them. We believe that it is not right that the Howlers take on all the risk, that we should have some part on the line as well."
Kai nodded as he heard these words. If it was a large-scale attack, then of course having three Altered, especially talented ones like these, would always be a welcome help.
"I assume that you came here directly because you wish to meet our leader as well? Perhaps to personally thank him?" Kai asked and the three nodded in unison.
"That's too bad. Unfortunately, you just missed him. However, I will happily pass on the message to him."
There was a nervous pause as the students didn't really know what to do now. They had money for a place to stay and so on, but there was one more thing on their mind. It looked like Numba felt uncomfortable to overstretch Kais hospitality, so Izzy decided to do so instead.
"Gary Dem." Izzy started off. "He is our fellow student from the AFA. We wanted to ask if you know where he is. You see, we are quite close with him… and wanted to also know if he asked the gang for help. We just hope that he won't get in trouble or has to do some crazy deal to get you to help him."
Kai couldn't help but smile at this sweet statement. 'How did you manage to win over a bunch of students like this? Gary, you really do have this natural nature as a leader to attract people around you.'
"Don't worry, Gary has quite the special status in the Howlers and I'm happy to learn that he has made such caring friends during his stay." Kai stated. "Tell you what, if you come here tomorrow, I'll make sure to arrange a meeting with Gary and our leader. Also, if you guys don't have a place to stay, then I can take you to one of our hotels we have part ownership in, let me just grab my things."
Kai went downstairs and the three students were happy to know that the members of the Howlers were kind people. They knew that gang members were hard to deal with, but it didn't seem to be the case here.
*KRGG*
"Did you hear that?" Ian asked, turning around, toward the door and could see the handle moving up and down.
"I think someone is trying to get in." Izzy answered as the door continued to be rattled around.
The next second, the door was kicked right off its hinges and went flying towards the group. Numba quickly stood in the way and knocked the door to the side.
Standing at the entrance was a man in a Hawaiian shirt.
*****
For updates for MWS and future works, please follow me on my social media below.
Instagram: Jksmanga
P.a.t.r.e.o.n: jksmanga
When news of MVS, MWS or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I'm not too busy, I tend to reply.