Forbidden Link

27. Kaira's Brother

Because Bianca didn't respond, Alex stood up. As his right foot was about to take a step, Alex felt his hand being pulled so he put it back in its starting position. At first Alex just wanted to give Bianca time and space, but it seemed that Bianca didn't want to be left alone so the girl stopped Alex from leaving.

"I will follow you! You've been with me before. So I guess it's fine as long as you stay by my side," said Bianca as she lifted her head and held Alex's wrists together.

"Are you sure?"

Bianca nodded quickly then put Alex's hand on her handle as she stood up. Bianca looked at Alex's face seriously as she stood up straight. Didn't know where her courage came from, but at that moment Bianca's face looked very confident.

“I told you, I think of you like my own father. So I feel safe when you are beside me.”

“Hmpf… a unique reason. Okay. I need three more people, so we have to find them.”

With a happy face Bianca took Alex's arm. Alex wasn't a man who took what people say to him, so he didn't care how people on the grandstand thought about him and Bianca. And like predators looking for their prey, everyone in the grandstand immediately looked at Alex and Bianca.

One of the natural characteristics of humans is that they will feel unhappy when someone is better than them. For example, when an artist shows their success on social media, few people are really happy about that success. Although there are many who congratulate, maybe only a few people who say it sincerely without thinking about the negative things from the artist. And when there was a scandal against the artist, the negative words that had been suppressed were immediately released.

Negatives are easier to find than positives. Especially when people who are thinking negatively are in a slump. Like the people in this basketball court grandstand. They directly searched for negative thoughts when they saw Alex and Bianca walking confidently.

"Let's see later. That girl will never smile like that again.”

"They are so arrogant. They don't know what's going to happen."

Word after word towards Alex and Bianca flowed as Alex looked up one by one at the people sitting to his left. Even though Alex couldn't clearly hear what the people were talking about, the views of the people around him could already be seen clearly. They didn't like it when someone looked so confident.

Alex just needed someone who still looked enthusiastic and no one made the face he imagined. Several dozen people passed by but everyone showed a resigned and cynical face. Meanwhile Bianca just walked beside Alex in silence and sometimes looked at Alex and the people in the stands. But Bianca didn't say anything. She gave Alex the freedom to choose three other people without interfering.

“It turned out to be Alexandre Lynx. Even though your parents are divorced, it seems that Kaira's brother is still trying to find her sister."

A woman with long curly blonde hair came down the grandstand to meet Alex. Behind the woman were two men descending the stairs while looking at Alex. The three of them smiled sarcastically and showed a smug style with their chins raised and their hands tucked into their trouser pockets.

"Wow. I'm amazed you guys remember my name. Even though I don't remember who you are, my brain still catches the faces that betrayed Kaira."

Alex's words made the faces of the three people in front of him frown. Now it was Alex's turn to smile sarcastically. The three people in front of Alex were Kaira's classmates. Although the three of them were not among the people who shouted at Kaira in class, Alex knew that the three of them were not friends of Kaira either. All the tenth grade E students who allowed Kaira to be bullied were enemies of Kaira as well as enemies of Alex.

“It seems your little friend doesn't know what we're talking about. Hey, pink-haired girl. Did you know that this man is Kaira Donati's older brother?”

Bianca's confused face made the woman who asked the question burst out laughing. Bianca turned to Alex for an answer, but Alex's gaze didn't move from the blonde woman in front of her.

"That girl is just like his sister."

"Maybe he was deliberately looking for a replacement for his sister. As was rumored back then, Kaira Donati's older brother is a sister complex."

The two tall men in front of Alex started to make fun of Alex and laughed along with each other. Alex's facial expression still didn't change. He waited for the three of them to stop laughing without being bothered at all.

“How long have you been here? It seems quite a while until you guys are so excited about my arrival. Can't get out of here huh? Or are you just watching from the side doing nothing like you did with Kaira?”

One of the men with blonde hair approached Alex. With a body that was taller than Alex, the man grabbed Alex's collar. With wide eyes, the man showed a defiant face.

“You will be the same as us. No one can get out of here.”

"I already guessed. You're all just watching."

A fist from the tall man almost flew into Alex's face but Alex was able to dodge it by moving his head to the side. And when the man prepared the second punch, Alex had already punched him in the face.

"Argh.."

“Thank you for welcoming us. We will go first," said Alex, waving at the man who was in pain with a bleeding nose. The two male friends who were injured immediately checked their friend's condition and let Alex go. Even though the three of them occasionally looked at Alex, none of them tried to catch up to Alex.

Alex's steps stopped when he realized that there was no small figure walking beside him. When Alex looked back, Bianca was looking at him with furrowed brows.

“You didn't say that you were Kaira Donati's older brother.”

"We don't really know each other that far. Why did I need to say it at the beginning? Is there any problem?"

Bianca lowered her eyes in thought. Alex's words weren't wrong at all. So the girl prefered to ignore her discomfort when she found out quite shocking information about the man in front of her. She stopped wondering and looked at Alex. Bianca's smile and a shake of the head after thinking was a sign that Bianca doesn't mind the situation.

"You are very cool. You can calmly face them even though they are very annoying.”

“Fighting people who are trying to look as strong as they are is easy. Fights between factory workers are much more terrible,” said Alex, looking at the blood on his knuckles and then rubbing the blood down the bottom of his shirt.

Alex looked back at the basketball grandstand for someone to work with. This time the people who were seen by Alex were immediately averted. They didn't seem to want to deal with Alex who had just beaten another person. And as Alex's gaze scanned one person after another, he saw someone he knew. People immediately looked away when Alex looked at them.

"My eyes will be damaged when I see traitors like them."

“That annoying Marvin!”

Bianca was furious when she saw Marvin who pretended not to see her. But before Bianca walked over to Marvin's position, Alex grabbed the girl's shoulder.

"Just leave it. People like him have nowhere to go but to stand aside and watch.”

Just as he was about to walk back, Alex found that everyone's eyes were on one point. Along with the sound of people's chatter which was louder than before, a fairly loud whistle sounded from behind Alex's back. When he turned around, Alex saw a figure right in the middle of the field blowing a whistle. Alex knew who it was. The man who was wearing a tracksuit and was in the middle of the field was an NPC which resembled hie senior high school physical education (PE).

Other than the NPC's flat face, there was no difference between the NPC and the PE teacher that Alex knew. Even when speaking, the NPC made the exact same voice he remembered. A low-frequency voice with such immense power that everyone in the field could hear what he was saying.

"We will have a match at noon today. The group that scores fifty first times will win the match. Every time the whistle is blown, the match will start and after the whistle is blown again the match will be stopped. If you want to rest, then you can give the referee a T sign."

The NPC shouted loudly in every sentence and ended with a hand demonstration with both hands perpendicular to each other and forming the letter T. One by one the basic rules about basketball were announced and demonstrated by the NPC. He explained the calculation of incoming numbers when shooting and various violations that must be avoided. Such as from walking, carrying and double dribble. But Alex found some crucial things but were not mentioned by the NPC.

"Why don't you say the rules about fouls?" shouted Alex from the sidelines, inviting glances from everyone including the NPCs who had just finished announcing the rules and were ready to start the match.

There was no response whatsoever from the NPCs except for a flat gaze. After looking at Alex for a split second, the NPC moved its head forward again and ignored Alex's shout. Then he continued, "Five people who will do the match please come to the center of the field."