System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL] Chapter 130: Siblings and lovers

"Yup, rember him? You could say we’ve gotten closer..."

Anthony tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you? But how?"

"Mm, I ran into him again at an amusent park, and we ended up talking."

Blake wasn’t entirely convinced it sounded believable. Besides, it felt strange praising soone who acted like a complete nutcase.

"But are you sure he’s... um, normal?"

Looking noticeably uneasy, he scratched the back of his head, hesitating before speaking again.

"No, well, he’s kinda normal. Don’t worry."

Blake patted Anthony’s shoulder.

"Besides, he’s nothing compared to you and Asher."

Anthony chuckled, a faint blush creeping onto his face.

"Well, if that’s your judgnt, I’ll believe it. Just... be careful, okay?"

"Of course. Don’t worry."

Ding.

Anthony imdiately pulled out his phone, a smile appearing on his face as he looked at the screen.

"What got you so smiley all of a sudden?"

Blake leaned closer, trying to sneak a look, but Anthony quickly slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Oh, it’s Asher. He sent sothing funny."

Blake laughed.

"Seriously, what are you two even going to do when you’re not living in the sa house anymore?"

His smile softened and, for a mont, he didn’t answer.

Instead, he lifted his head, looking up at the sky above them.

The clouds drifted lazily overhead, then he sighed.

"I don’t know."

Blake blinked, for sure, that wasn’t the answer he’d expected.

"But..."

Anthony smiled.

"I think we’ll always end up together sohow."

"Hm?"

"No matter where we are."

His gaze remained fixed on the sky.

"We’ll probably keep finding our way back to the sa place."

There was a strange certainty in his voice, like he already knew it was supposed to happens.

"We’ll still hang out, study together and have fun."

A small laugh escaped him.

"Even now, we..."

His voice trailed off, the sentence died before it could be finished.

Anthony’s eyes widened slightly, then, he quickly shook his head.

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

"I got a little carried away."

Blake stared at him for a mont, then he shook his head.

"No, it’s fine."

Walking over to a nearby bench, he sat down and stretched his legs.

Anthony remained standing for a second before joining him.

As Blake glanced sideways, sothing caught his attention, there was sothing strange in Anthony’s eyes.

It wasn’t sadnes, but sothing awfully close to it.

’Maybe he doesn’t know much, but feels that sothing is wrong? They have been together for so long, so he must’ve felt sothing wrong.’

Blake rested his chin on his hand.

"Have you and Asher ever fought?"

Anthony looked at him, then, he let out a surprised laugh.

"Of course we have, Blake... what do you think, people always fight, at least once."

"Eh. Simply, I couldn’t imagine you two. Are you for really?"

"Why do you sound so shocked?"

"Because you two act like you’re attached at the hip."

Anthony laughed again.

"Well, when we were kids, our teachers used to compare us all the ti."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Compare you?"

Anthony nodded.

"They’d put us against each other in everything, because we both had potential in the sa subjects."

Grades.

Tests.

Competitions.

Even little classroom activities.

"It wasn’t because we disliked each other."

He shrugged.

"We actually got along pretty well, but when adults keep telling you to compete... you start competing."

Anthony smiled awkwardly.

"Sotis we’d get frustrated, so we’d fight. Pretty often, actually."

Blake couldn’t help laughing.

"I can’t imagine that."

"It happened, I’m telling you."

Anthony fidgeted.

"We were kids, anyway, which child doesn’t bicker with another, especially if they’re like siblings."

"I an, fair point."

"But eventually we got out of that."

The smile on his face beca more genuine.

"Now we rarely fight, we mostly just study together and have fun."

For a mont, his expression brightened but then, it dimd again.

"But lately..."

Blake glanced at him.

Anthony stopped speaking, his gaze lowering toward the ground.

"...Asher seems like he’s having a hard ti."

Blake waited.

After a brief silence, Anthony continued.

"I think it’s because of the move. And..."

He hesitated.

"The fact that he wants to spend more ti with his uncle. That’s the only family he has left on his mom’s side."

Blake humd quietly, then, he reached over and patted Anthony’s head.

Anthony imdiately froze.

"H-Huh?"

His face turned red.

Looking up, he stared at Blake in complete surprise.

"W-Why did you do that?"

"You looked sad."

"But, you can’t just pat my head!"

"It worked, didn’t it?"

"It did not!"

Blake laughed.

Still, he wasn’t convinced, since the explanation Anthony gave felt incomplete.

There was definitely sothing bothering Asher, in his whole hero job, and Anthony knew more than he was saying.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he would get any more information out of him.

At least not today.

Anthony eventually cald down.

Then, after a brief silence, he spoke again.

"Do you have any siblings?"

Blake blinked.

"?"

"Mhm."

"Yeah."

Anthony looked curious.

"What’s it like?"

Blake leaned back.

"I have one."

"But we’re not nearly as close as you and Asher."

Anthony nodded slowly.

"I see."

Blake smiled.

Yet the mont he said it, sothing felt strange.

His sibling.

For so reason, it felt difficult to rember.

The image was blurry.

Like a photograph left out in the rain.

He knew they existed.

He knew they’d gotten along.

Actually...

He was pretty sure they had been very close.

Close enough that he still missed them.

Even now.

The feeling lingered sowhere deep inside him.

A faint ache he couldn’t quite explain.

Blake lowered his gaze.

Then he glanced at Anthony.

At Anthony and Asher.

The way they always seed to understand each other.

The way they were always together.

For a brief mont—

He felt jealous.

The realization made him grimace.

How childish.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

Stop it.

There was no point going in circles.

Everyone had things they lost.

Everyone had things they missed.

Anthony suddenly smiled.

"At least you’ve got Myles."

Blake blinked.

"Huh?"

"As your person."

For a second, Blake simply stared.

Then he burst out laughing.

"My person?"

"Yeah."

Anthony nodded confidently.

"You always talk about him."

Blake covered his face.

"That’s not—"

Actually, thinking about it, maybe Anthony wasn’t entirely wrong.

Blake laughed again.

"Well."

"I guess I do have him."

"See?"

Anthony looked pleased with himself.

Then, as if rembering sothing, he snapped his fingers.

"Oh, right."

"What?"

"There was sothing that happened while you were gone."

Blake imdiately grew suspicious.

"What happened?"

Anthony looked away.

"Myles almost got into a fight."

Silence.

"...What?"

Anthony nodded.

Blake stared.

Then stared so more.

"A fight?"

"Yeah."

"Myles?"

"Yeah."

"The Myles who is the most average and calm guy in the world?"

"The very sa."

Blake looked genuinely horrified.

"How is that even possible?"

Anthony tilted his head.

"Well..."

"The guys who picked a fight with him were the sa ones who hit you on the head."

Imdiately, Blake’s expression darkened.

"They cornered him."

"What?"

"Mhm."

Anthony nodded.

"Apparently they were trying to start sothing."

"But Myles didn’t really do anything."

"That’s because Myles never does anything."

"Exactly."

Anthony pointed at him.

"He wasn’t even talking."

"Then what happened?"

Anthony thought for a mont.

"At so point they tried to hit him."

Blake sat up straighter.

"They did what?"

"But before they could..."

Anthony demonstrated by grabbing his own wrist.

"Myles caught the guy’s hand."

Blake blinked.

"And then?"

"Mh, I think he said sothing..."

"What?"

"That much I don’t know. But whatever it was, it completely enraged them."

Blake stared, that sohow sounded even less believable.

"Myles said sothing that made them angry?"

"That’s what I heard..."

Anthony nodded.

"Then he just walked past them, and that made them even angrier."

Blake covered his face.

How did that even work?

The image was absurd.

Myles, of all people, provoking soone.

No.

Actually.

Knowing Myles, he probably wasn’t trying to provoke anyone.

That sohow made it worse.

Blake scratched the back of his head.

Why hadn’t Myles ntioned any of this?

Were those idiots targeting him because he was Blake’s friend?

His jaw tightened slightly.

’How annoying, out of everyone they could bother... why pick on soone who literally minds his own business?’

Anthony noticed his expression.

"Don’t worry too much."

"Hm?"

"Myles knows how to handle himself."

Blake paused.

Then he laughed. A helpless, sowhat embarrassed laugh.

Maybe Anthony was right.

After all... Myles was probably stronger than half the world.

anwhile, Blake had spent the last few months collecting injuries like achievents.

Scratching the back of his head, he shook it.

"Man..."

"What?"

"Am I seriously getting overprotective over soone factually stronger than ?"

Anthony stared at him and then, he bursted out laughing.

"You finally noticed?"

"Hey."

"I’m just saying."

Anthony grinned.

"Sounds like you’re the one who needs protecting."

"... didn’t expect this from you, Anthony."

The two of them laughed together beneath the afternoon sky, the conversation drifting to lighter topics as the clouds slowly rolled overhead.