The Demon King's Cowardly Vessel 55 Close your eyes

"Did I?" Juin asked cryptically as he put on the seatbelt. He did not know who he was asking the question to; Max or himself. Was he really a born coward? Were his memories real? Who else was manipulating him behind the scene?

Max glanced at him and nodded. "Yeah… I have never heard you mention anything about studying before."

"Hey, Max…" Juin suddenly said as he looked at her. "Do you know anything about Ashton?"

"What do you mean?" Max asked curiously as she reached up behind her head to tie her hair into a ponytail.

"You know how I don't remember much about Ashton? Because of the shock? Lately, I've been thinking about him. No one talks about him, and I'm not sure if my memories of him are real or not."

Max nodded. "You and Ashton were extremely close, even more than real brothers, so I guess everyone wants to protect your feelings…"

And by everyone, she meant those at the orphanage. "Actually, I have always wanted to talk to you about him… I wanted to ask you if you miss him, but I was afraid that I would upset you, so I never really talked about it… I'm sorry."

"It's alright… But I think I'm ready to talk about him now," Juin said with a smile.

Max smiled. "Sure…"

Suddenly, she saw her father walking toward the car and whispered, "Let's talk about it at school later."

…

At school, Max ditched her boyfriend during recess and went to look for Juin at the library. He mentioned that he would be doing some reading there. And when she found him, he was sitting at a discussion corner with a book on mythological creatures.

"Since when are you so interested in all these things?" Max asked in a whisper as she sat down beside him.

"I was just curious," Juin murmured as he used a ruler as a bookmark before closing the book.

"You're like my dad. He has all these old books on mythological creatures and folklores… And some of them are even first editions," Max said as she took over the book and flipped through it.

"He does?" Juin asked, surprised. Mr. Thompson did not strike him as someone who would read folklores and mythological creatures.

Max nodded. "He always says that it's part of our history, whatever that means… Anyway, what do you want to know about Ashton?"

"Oh yeah... Is there anything strange about Ashton?" Juin asked. He secretly placed a hand in his pocket, where he kept a "Silent" amulet. He then activated the amulet.

Max thought about it and shook her head. "He was always a little overprotective of you, but I think that's cute, so…"

She smiled and continued, "No, I don't really think that Ashton was strange… But my dad doesn't like him."

"I know…"

"It's not just because he's an orphan… I think Dad used to like you guys when we were younger. It was probably after the incident with Logan that Dad started to think badly of you guys. Stupid Logan. He's always causing trouble..."

"Logan…" Juin frowned. He had yet to bump into that kid at school yet, but he remembered him clearly.

They were around 10 years old back then, and Juin and Ashton went to Max's house to play with her. Usually, they wouldn't go over when Logan was there, but they did not expect Logan to come over without any notice. Apparently, he was bored at home, so he made his driver drop him off at Max's house.

And from the moment he appeared, he kept making fun of Juin for playing house with Max. Unfortunately, since Max's father was fond of that kid, she could not just kick him out.

Logan made fun of Ashton as well, but one glare from Ashton stopped him in his tracks.

Max sighed. "You went to get something to drink in the kitchen while Logan, Ashton, and I tried to build a Lego house. When we didn't notice, Logan slipped out of the room. He went to harass you in the kitchen… And shortly after, we heard the sound of things breaking as well as you screaming in pain…"

…

Flashback to roughly 6 years ago,

"Hey, wimp…"

Young Juin was holding a tray with four cups of orange juice. He was about to walk back to Max's room when he saw Logan standing by the kitchen entrance. Uncomfortable, Juin tried to maintain a smile as he said, "I brought you a glass as well…"

Logan smirked as he adjusted his Bvlgari cufflinks. His blonde hair was brushed up, and when he lifted his chin arrogantly, he looked totally like the young master he was.

"I don't like to drink in those ugly cups," Logan said with a sneer as he looked at the cups.

"Erm…" Juin looked down at the cups before asking, "How about I pour it into a glass?"

"Yes."

Juin quickly placed the tray carefully on the kitchen island. He then looked around the kitchen for glasses.

"It's up there," Logan said while leaning against the kitchen island. He pointed at a high cabinet above the induction stove. "That's where my uncle kept the glasses."

Juin looked up. It was a little high for him to reach, so he picked up a nearby step stool and used it to climb onto the stove. Standing at the side of the stove, Juin carefully opened the cabinet door. Since he was a little on the smaller side, it was still a little high for him, so he ended up on tiptoes.

Logan grinned, and from the corner of his eyes, Juin thought he saw Logan moving his finger a little, and the next thing he knew, he heard a loud crash which startled him, causing him to step onto the slippery induction stove.

Juin slipped and fell down from the stove, landing on the floor with the broken pieces of cups and spilled orange juice.

"Argggh!!!" Juin yelled when he felt the shards piercing into his skin.

While yelling, he heard loud footsteps, followed by a girl's scream. "Argh!!!"

He then heard footsteps running away from him.

"Juin!!!" Ashton rushed over, and Juin did not realize that all the broken pieces of cups moved away from him, as if they were being repelled. "Wait, let me check your wounds…"

He looked at all the cuts in Juin's hands. "Stay still…" Ashton said calmly as he took out all the shards that were embedded in Juin's hands. "Max went to get the first-aid kit… She would be back soon."

"It hurts…" Juin groaned as Ashton helped him to stand up. "I don't know what happened… I placed the tray all the way on the island…"

"I think I know why…" Ashton murmured as he glared at Logan briefly.

He then made Juin sit down at the stool by the kitchen island while he stood in front of him, checking for any shards that he might have missed. As expected, Max soon returned with the first aid kit.

"Bring me a clean towel," Ashton said to Max. While Max ran off to get the clean towel, he went to the fridge and got a bottle of mineral water to clean Juin's wound with.

"Argh… It stings…" Juin complained.

Ashton glared at Logan, who was standing at one corner with a smirk. "Did you do this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Logan said as he pretended to yawn.

Ashton turned back to Juin and said, "Juin, close your eyes… It would hurt less if you don't look at it."

Juin nodded as he sniffed. Ashton always made the pain go away, so he trusted him with this as well. When he closed his eyes, as expected, the pain in his hands was gone.

"You--"

Juin heard Logan for a brief second before a muffling sound appeared. With his eyes closed, he asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing…" Ashton said calmly. "Logan saw a bug…"

When Max returned with the towel, she was slightly surprised to see her cousin clawing at his lips, as if they were being glued shut, but she ignored him. Logan was always an attention seeker, so she did not pay too much attention to him.

"Here, Ashton," Max said as she handed the towel to Ashton. "My dad should be home soon. He can take Juin to the doctor."

Ashton thanked her and took the towel. He then wiped the blood off from Juin's hands before applying antiseptic ointment and bandaids on them. It was a good thing that none of the cuts was deep. Once he was done, he said to Max, "I need to talk to your cousin for a bit. Stay here with Juin."

"Huh? Ok…"

Ashton then walked past her, and he grabbed Logan's arm before dragging him out of the kitchen.

…

Chapter end