Chapter 12 - Arc 1 11 – Hey There, Brother-in-law!

Astar Levi stood, leaning on a wall near the exit of the train station. The transparent screen projected in front of him by his communicator showed many new, just published news articles with new ones popping up every minute.

“Cordia Aris saves the day”, “Horrifying power rampage in Concordia city”, “Over a hundred injured by a Blazer”, “This is why highly dangerous power users should not be allowed to roam freely”, “An accident or an act of terrorism” were some of the phrases his eyes caught while he scrolled.

His lips couldn’t help but quirk up in a smile when he thought about the confident message his fiancée just sent him claiming that her little brother was on his way to pick him up.

How amusing. Did no one tell his fiancée why she had just received so many burn victims?

Did her brother even know he was supposed to pick him up? (Noah: No! I did not!! ಥ_ಥ)

Better yet, did he even know his number to send him a message that he can’t make it?

(Noah: That’s right, brother-in-law! You tell it to my irresponsible sister! ＞︿＜)

Levi glanced at the time on his communicator and tried to decide how long he should wait before taking a train ride back home. He had better things to do than to be stared at while he waited in front of the train station.

He wouldn’t have even taken so many days off if it weren’t for his parents nonstop preaching about how he couldn’t meet his bride’s brother and parents for the first time at the wedding. Why not? Let alone future in-laws, if you asked him, even knowing the bride wasn’t necessary for an arranged marriage.

In fact, if his instincts weren’t screaming for him that he should stay put, he would have long gotten on a train back. And if there was one thing he could unquestioningly trust in this world, it would be his instincts. They had never failed him before, and judging by how loud they were screaming right now, the train back would probably suffer a catastrophic incident causing everyone onboard immediate death.

So yeah, it might be best to just remain standing here for a while longer. Even though being surrounded by so many people made him feel an irksome sense of discomfort that was growing by the minute.

No, it wasn’t social anxiety. Just because he preferred his peace and quiet didn’t mean he had social anxiety.

Some people didn’t like eating avocados, but that didn’t mean that they would feel uncomfortable seeing an avocado. In fact, even if people shoved an avocado down their throat, they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable – what they would feel was downright furious. What kind of a person would shove an avocado down your throat?! Off with their head! ╰（‵□′）╯

In short, Astar Levi just had a very sensitive… something, which got irritated with most people around.

Which is also why he was impacted so strongly, with his entire body jolting to his feet and skin erupting in goosebumps, when that sense of violation suddenly flipped into perfection, discomfort into comfort.

His piercing blue eyes shot up from the screen to lock with a pair of dazzling honey-colored eyes whose owner was speed-walking in his direction.

And at that moment, those instincts of his that previously told him to keep waiting suddenly turned deafening. So disorienting and obtrusive that he couldn’t think about anything else but the fact he seemed to have found something he had been searching for. Though he wasn’t even aware that he had been searching for something in the first place, but this could be one of those things you never knew you needed until you inadvertently stumbled upon them, like… a robot vacuum… or FaceApp.

For a moment, Levi stared blankly at the teenager in front of him, and his only thought was… ‘what is this strange creature that dares jump in front of me so brazenly?’

No, actually, he knew who it was. After all, he had seen pictures of this little brother-in-law before. But those pictures, as pleasing to the eye as they were, didn't evoke any special reaction or emotion in him. Totally different from the real thing.

Who would have thought that the beautiful little prince was actually not photogenic? Those photos really didn't do him justice!

Clearly, they were the same person, yet one was a passing thought, and the other was…

Levi eyed the teen, who was a head shorter than him, up and down.

He wore a cute gray peacoat, under which was a white cotton shirt a size too big. Its sleeves reached below his knuckles, revealing only his five white slender fingers as he swung his arms. The shirt was even skewed to the side, accentuating his slender neck and revealing his delicate collarbones. His long slim legs inside dark gray denim jeans took long strides as they strutted towards him.

To everyone else, the youthful-looking teen might appear stylish and refreshing, but to Levi, he looked…

Cute! Ah, so very cute! (／≧ω＼)❤

Just look at him jumping about merrily, with his silky hair all over the place, and clothes looking as if he had just been ravished. Yet he walked along confidently, with his cute little chin raised high in the air, like he didn’t give two shits about anyone’s opinion. Or was it that he didn’t even realize his current appearance had a problem?

Noah indeed didn’t realize that his current appearance had a problem; as a worldborn he was used to looking attractive no matter the circumstances. And his mind was currently preoccupied with locating his brother-in-law.

Thankfully, it took one glance for Noah to locate this future brother-in-law among the crowd. The man was as eye-catching as one could be without wearing neon colors of the rainbow or a clown suit.

A tall, extremely handsome man in his mid-twenties with an air of untamed wildness stood out like a black wolf within a crowd of white sheep. His sharp eyebrows and piercing blue eyes gave him an omnipresent fierceness, that somehow came off as alluring instead of intimidating. His messy black hair and all-black outfit stood sharply against his alabaster white skin.

Instead of being clothed for an outing with friends, he looked as if he’d just come out of an underground fighting arena. Or some kind of rock idol group, cause, let’s be honest, his outfit while making him look like a bad boy didn’t provide any kind of special protection.

Perhaps it would have been better defense-wise if his short-sleeved military jacket wasn’t unzipped over his T-shirt and jeans? Maybe his fingerless gloves could be useful when punching someone, but there were no knuckle protectors or anything else?

How peculiar.

Or…!

Noah suddenly came to a shocking realization: Ooooh!! It must be because this IS a casual outing outfit!!

He nearly laughed then and there at how silly-cute this brother-in-law was. (／≧ω＼)❤

Noah’s stride finally stopped in front of Levi, who had been watching him silently for a while now.

“I’m so sorry for being late, brother-in-law!” Noah tentatively started, lowering his head in apology. “There was a power rampage that injured many civilians near the Social Welfare Center; thus, we were delayed.”

When Levi heard his voice, he suddenly felt like his whole body went strangely itchy. Especially his ears and his heart. It was a bright and smooth voice of a young man, very pleasing: neither deep nor high, a pure and simple treat for one's ears.

So why did his insides feel so itchy?!