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BROTHERLY BONDS

"There are two ways I know to pry these information from him," I told him.

"Oh? What's the first one?" He asked me.

"As I recall, every spell caster masters have their own set of rules," I explained. "John, as one of them, is bound to those same rules. One of the rules I remember is the third one, which was: 'Every masters must have a document of their spells, their knowledge, and their lives.'"

"Their lives?" Louis questioned. "Does that mean a journal?"

"Exactly. So all we need to do is to find that journal and read it."

"But... Doesn't that mean invading someone's privacy?"

"That's why I always try to avoid this one and go for the second option: interrogation."

"But I thought we've just said that he'd clam up if we started to pry."

"I never said interrogate him. I was referring to Terrance."

"Ah... Since they've been together for years, he also has that same information."

"Right," I nodded. "That lion never lie when it concerns his partner."

"And since this event also has something to do with him, he'll explain the whole thing to you. Is that what you were expecting?"

"Well... Yeah. I guess so," I shrugged.

"I don't think it would be as simple as that," Louis burst my bubble. "Even if what you say is true, Terrance can always avoid the question, like John."

"I know... But it's worth a shot though," I smiled weakly.

"By the way, how exactly do you know about the masters' rules?"

"My wife used to complain a lot about it," I snickered. "She's the master of the healing arts."

"Wife? You mean your past life?"

"Yeah..." I sighed. "I wonder how's our son after that incident..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll do just fine," Louis assured me. "He is your kid, after all."

"You're right..." I smiled softly. We started to chat about our families: my past life as Gerald, and his deceased parents. Before long, I heard a beeping sound close by. Louis took out his cell phone and read the message. He sighed softly before putting it back to his pocket.

"Sorry, Mike. My break time is over," he said.

"Oh... Okay," I replied, a little disappointed.

"We could try and talk to Ter tomorrow if you like," he smiled. "It's my day off anyways."

"That would be great," I smiled back. We left the café and headed back towards the academy. We parted halfway down the road and I went home immediately. I sighed softly as I tossed my schoolbag to the sofa. I headed towards the kitchen and took inventory. It seemed we were running out of food again. I closed the pantry and fridge before picking up my schoolbag and head towards my room. I entered my humble abode and placed my bag under my worktable. Opening the desk drawer, I took out my recipe book and scanned through it. I'm in the mood of something a little... French this week. Picking out all of the recipes I liked, I wrote down all of the ingredients of the week and returned the book. Putting on my favorite green jacket, I went out.

As I walked, I noticed some children running around in the streets. I smiled as I watched how close they were. It reminded me about all five of us when we were still children. I chuckled to myself, remembering the good times I now remembered. My attention was caught once more as one of the girls kissed a boy's cheek. The boy shrieked and ran away from the girl. That kiss, however, reminded me about Gabriella. Our relationship had retuned back to zero. I could say I love her, but now I'm unusually nervous. I'd seen the signs that she also liked me, but sometimes I wondered if it's Gabriella to Gerald, or Mei to Michael. Before I knew about Gerald and Gabriella, I was completely entranced by her. But after learning this, I began to doubt my feelings. These little 'hints' that she's been giving me could be either Mei or Gab. I'd told John that my new life is different now. But still...

"You okay?" a voice called from behind me. I jumped slightly before stepping away from the person. It was actually Bryan. "You seemed out of it."

"Bryan!" I gasped. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry bout that," he smiled. "So where are you going?"

"I'm heading out to the supermarket. I want to buy some ingredients for some French cuisine," I explained as I handed my shopping list.

"What's this? Bouillabaisse?" he read.

"Fish stew."

"I see... but if you're going to the supermarket, why do you end up in China Town?"

I looked around and finally realized that I was indeed in China Town. To be more precise, the place where I found Alex the first time.

"Well, the ingredients here are fresher than the ones in the market," I lied. "I already have all the spices, so all I need is the seafood and vegetables."

"Somehow, I'm not buying that," he stared.

"Why's that?"

"Well... the thing that tipped me off was that you were trying to buy the ingredients from the wrong market. China Town doesn't have any of these ingredients. Well, some, but not the important ingredients."

"Oh... Right..." I blushed lightly."A-anyways, I should get going..."

"What's the rush?" Brian chuckled. "Embarrassed that you spaced out and wandered somewhere else?"

"Part of it, yes," my cheeks began to turn red.

"Can I tag along?" He tilted his head.

"What?" I quickly looked at him.

"Mind if I tag along?" He repeated his question. "I have nothing else to do and you might need help with the groceries."

"S-sure," I smiled. "L-let's go then."

"Why are you so nervous?" He chuckled as he followed me. "I won't bite."

"Not unless it's about Mei," I quickly replied. "The first time I walked with her alone around campus, you attacked me in broad daylight."

"That was one time, and there's a reason for it," he frowned. "Some dickhead told me that someone's been flirting with her. I've only realized and heard the truth after school."

My mouth was practically gaping when I heard that. I shot my head towards the taller male and stared

"Excuse me?"

"I know you wouldn't believe me, but it's the truth," he sighed. Now... He's sounded stupider by the second.

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you? Because THAT has got to be the stupidest explanation I have ever heard."

"Heheh..." He chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. I could see him sweating as well.

"That was true, huh?" I glared. His whole body went frigid. It seemed like I've hit the mark. He DID listen to a gossip and got jealous. I could feel my anger rising like the burning depths of hell. I quickly took a long breath and exhaled, trying to calm down. My head felt heavy, so I massaged my forehead with my right thumb, pointing, and middle fingers.

'I'm getting too old for this... And I haven't even reached half of my life in this universe...' I groaned in my thoughts. It was very tempting for me to blow up in his face, but I held my frustrations within. Right now, it's best for me not to do it since Lloyd was able to see us like this and brought chaos with him.

"You're sounding more like the stupid jock type now," I calmly told him. He stared to the ground beneath him.

"Sorry..." He muttered in remorse.

"It's okay. It's already passed. There's nothing we can do now," I told him, still a little angry. Then I remembered something that bothered me since that gathering dinner. "Speaking of jocks, why are you wearing that?"

"What do you mean?" He lifted his head.

"That," I pointed to the green and yellow football jacket he wore. Bryan looked down to the jacket and took it off.

"What do you mean?" He asked as looked over the clothing. The back of the overcoat had the name Stellar and the number 42. It doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary to anyone else despite the fact that it looked pretty worn down and its about my size.

"A few days ago when we had dinner together, you said that you're going to stay in the soccer club this year and don't want to change your activity this year," I pointed out. "Yet you are wearing a football jersey that's already small and probably uncomfortable for you to wear."

"Oh... I thought no one else besides Mei would notice," he sighed.

"Knowing her, she probably deduced either you were once in the football team, or this jacket belongs to someone else in the family that holds sentimental values about them," I said.

"You don't know how close you are," he smiled sadly as he wore the jacket once more, showing his broad muscle under those tight fabric once more. "This once belonged to my brother."

"Lloyd was in the football team?" I asked.

"Back when he was in high school," he said. "He gave it to me when I first started my freshman year."

I remained silent as he continues his story.

"We were close to each other ever since our mother died. With him giving me his jacket, it felt like our brotherly bond had tightened. He was always there for me and comforted me whenever I felt down. A brother that I've always wanted."

"But then you learned about his gangster activities," I said. He simply nodded and looked down to the pavement as we continued to walk.

"After hearing the cops coming into the house and told dad and me of what he had done, dad and I were pretty much devastated. We never thought that he was doing those things under our noses. We always believed that he was smart enough to stay out of those gangs. Turns out we were wrong."

He sighed and slumped on a wooden bench we happened to stop by, covering his face with his left hand.

"Now... I dunno if he were the same Lloyd we knew," his muffled voice rang before he lifted his face. "Even if he's a wanted criminal now, he's still my caring and sympathetic brother that I love. This jacket is memento enough that there is still some goodness in his soul."

"I understand..." I sat near him. "And I'm very sorry to bring this up again."

"It was no problem," he smiled at me. "But, it feels a little embarrassing for me to have a sweet memento of my family carried around all the time."

"Hey, it means you're a sensitive guy. A lot of people like those kind of men," I smiled. "And besides, you're not the only one with a memento carried around all the time. Before Alex had that amnesia, I always brought a locket with our picture in it."

"Where is it now?"

"I gave it to him. Hopefully to help him remember a little about our..." I stopped mid sentence and realized something. I had just discussed with Louis that we came to this dimension from those portals, hence eliminating the possibilities of us being born from our current parents. The memories flooding in me never contained Alex. In fact, I was a single child of a widowed mother. There weren't any other orange foxes around at all.

'That must be what John realized yesterday!' I thought. 'There's no way that he could be my blood related brother! If he's their blood related son, the chances of him having the same features as mine are very slim. And his magic talents... Passing down magical abilities to a child, like mine, requires at least one of the parents have their own ability, like Gab. Yet when I was killed thirteen years ago, according to Louis, none of the other family members did any spells to fight back.'

"Hey Michael!" Bryan snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my head to my left to see him giving me a confused look. "Are you okay? You seemed a little disturbed about something."

"I'm fine," I smiled. "I just remembered something that kinda makes me a little disturbed."

"Do you want to share?"

"Well... It's not that major, but I've been thinking about me."

"Uh... Care to explain?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Well I was just thinking that there is a chance that I'm an adopted child, even though it doesn't really matter."

"I see..."

"But anyways, we're wasting too much time here. I still need to shop for some fish," I said, standing up from my spot. "Oh! And you and Kendric can come over for dinner! My parents would love to meet you guys!"

"Thanks for the invitation, but are you sure your parents are okay with this?" He asked. "We ARE coming over uninvited."

"Relax, I'll call them now and tell them as we shop. And don't worry about the food. I'll make sure that it'll be the best fish stew you'll ever had."

"I look forward to it," Bryan smiled as he took out his cell. "I better tell him now."

"Tell him it was my idea," I said as I dialed my parents' office number.