They all turned to the entrance after hearing that voice, and saw two boys.
One was big and had the face of a villain, while the other was thin and looked timid. When Ehn saw them, she blurted out their names.
“Delta, Cross…!?”
“Who are you? Didn’t you see the sign?”
It seemed Ehn knew them, but the owner picked up on the fact that they did not appear to be good friends, and intimidated them so they would leave, in a roundabout way. But the two boys ignored him, and continued speaking to Ehn.
“We heard all about it. The guards suspect you of being the one mugging people around here. It’s tough having a record, uh Ehn?”
“How did you…!?”
“People like us are good at getting information fast. Right Cross? And we know you very well too.”
The large boy, who seemed to be the one named Delta, spoke with a sarcastic tone, as if provoking her.
Yuugo could not stand by and watch, as those words were clearly tough on Ehn, so he got between them and turned to Delta.
“Who are you people? Do you know Ehn?”
“We don’t just know her, we go way back. She just cut us out recently.”
“Way back…? Ehn, are they…”
“…They’re the ones I used to steal with.”
Ehn had trouble responding to Melt, but then, mustered up her determination and raised her head.
She pushed forward towards Delta, who was a head taller than her, and spoke to him while clenching her fists.
“Why are you here? Go away. I told you I’m done with you.”
“Don’t get all grumpy. I just came here because an old friend was being suspected of a baseless crime, and I got worried. It might’ve come as a big surprise to your friend and your boss though.”
“That’s such a lie…! You just saw an opportunity to take me back, didn’t you? But I’m not going back! I’m not stealing anymore!”
“That’s a nice sentiment… But face reality. You can say what you want, but your bad past with us isn’t going away. There’s tons of people who are going to ignore how much you work now, and are just going to label you a bad person because of what you did before. Like those guards.”
“…”
Delta said to Ehn, as if trying to dig up their past of stealing together.
Ehn had nothing to say, as the memories of her crimes flooded back to her, and Delta put out his hand with a wicked smile on his face.
“You don’t belong here. You’re better in the filthy ditch with us. Come back, Ehn. We can have fun together again.”
Delta threw a tempting invitation at Ehn, in this moment where her heart was weaker.
But before she could reply, Yuugo grabbed Delta’s arm and looked straight into his eyes.
“…Stop it. You’re Ehn’s friend, right? Then don’t try to ruin her hard work.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Yuugo Clay. A guy that just became Ehn’s friend. I haven’t known her for long, but I support her efforts, looking at her now. You said there are people out there who only look at her past, but there are people here who don’t do that too.”
“…Ah! Weird guy! Ah… You spoiled it, so we’re leaving for now. Come on, Cross.”
“Y-yes.”
He was not hitting him with enmity, but Yuugo’s straightforward honesty threw Delta off, who shrugged with an exasperated expression, and left with his hanger-on.
But just before he left, Cross suddenly stopped, and fidgeted as he spoke to Ehn.
“Hum, Ehn… Delta’s way of saying it might not be the best, but we really do want you back… You can come back anytime, if things get rough. We’ll be waiting. B-bye…”
Unlike Delta, Cross, while less assertive, seemed to want Ehn back in a kinder way. He then trotted his way out of the cafe.
After the two uninvited guests left, Melt complained about them with an indignant tone.
“What’s with those two!? Making a mockery out of Ehn trying to set herself straight…!”
“It’s fine, Melt. Thanks for getting angry. And thanks for protecting me, Yuugo.”
“Don’t worry about it. But those two really do have sharp ears.”
“Maybe they’ve been watching Ehn. It sounded like they heard the argument with the guards.”
They knew she was seen as a suspect of these recent muggings because of her record, and even that the guards were keeping a close eye on her, so it seemed unlikely this was just about them being good at gathering information.
Could it be… That they were somehow involved with the muggings, thought Ehn. She was being forced to face her past, and she whispered.
“I’m sorry… I’m causing problems for everyone…”
“That’s not true! You had nothing to do with it, right? Then don’t blame yourself!”
“But I…”
“It’s all right! Stay strong! You don’t need to feel responsible if you didn’t do anything wrong! I believe in you! I know you’re not that kind of girl!”
“Thanks… Melt…!”
Ehn thanked her friend for cheering her weakened heart, with tears in her eyes.
She thought she could not afford to falter here, for the sake of the friends who believed in her as well, and vowed to once again break from her past.
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About Ehn, Delta, and Cross’ names.
They’re Kamen Rider 555 references, so Δ (Delta), Χ (Cross), and Φ (Ehn?)
The idea here is that Ehn’s name is written as えーん, which is えん (circle), with ー in the middle. Therefore, Φ. Kind of clever, but also completely untranslatable.
Oh, but then I could just make it Phi. Or not, for obvious reasons.
And so, I went with just leaving it literally as Ehn.
Before someone says anything, it IS a thing in japan to call the X as cross
Isn’t エーン the standard katakanization of “Ann”?
“How did you…1?”
1 > !