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“Oh well, no one’s going to really be safe anyway. We might as well wait and see what happens. Who knows.”
“What do you mean?” Eden frowned. “...You’re not thinking of tagging along to the meeting, are you?”
“He’s staying here, I’m coming,” said Circé, putting a hand on her waist. “Jack and I already talked about it.”
“Looks like you became friends, even?” Eden frowned.
“You know I like smart chicks. But yeah, I assumed it would be better to stay back for once,” said Jack.
“You want to stay here?”
“Girl, I might get killed when I cross the street to get out of here anyway, right? Technically speaking, sticking with the crazy punk might be the safest place around for now. Since the Tiger seems fine with me here, I’ll just try and spare my butt another gunfight... although I wish I could spare ya one too.”
“I’ll be fine. You stay here with Loir and watch the pups. I’ll be back.”
“Yeah... but keeping an eye on the crazy one?” he chuckled. “No thanks, I ain’t that patient.”
“But...”
Jack sighed, and suddenly stepped forward to hug her. Eden was not expecting this at all, and she froze, completely stunned.
“Don’t worry. ...I just want you to be careful. Girl, you’re the bestest friend I’ve ever had. I care about your scrawny ass, so if you’re running into freaking danger, please try and stay alive, will ya?”
Eden sighed but nodded weakly. As always, she just had no idea how to respond to this kind of physical contact... Plus, a part of her had hoped Jack would stay out of trouble at this critical moment. If he survived both the gunfire in his bar and the Red Temple attack, perhaps he wouldn’t find himself so lucky a third time...
“Eden,” Dante called her. “Let’s go.”
Eden nodded, and after reluctantly parting with Jack, she joined the group of mafiosos ready to leave, with a strong feeling of déjà vu.
“Bye-bye, everyone!” chanted Loir. “Bring me some souvenirs if you can!”
They left, leaving only the hacker and barman behind with the pups, both crying out after Eden.
She had a strange feeling while getting in the car. As usual, they had Rolf driving while she and Dante sat in the back, but the Tiger wasn’t the reason for her nervousness this time.
“...Are you alright?” Dante asked, gently taking her hand.
Eden nodded.
“Yeah, I just... I have a weird feeling, probably because I’m going to meet all the Zodiacs at once... Are they all coming?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. We have our trucks loaded with weapons if needed.”
Eden chuckled. That was Dante’s typical response to something like that. She held his hand and turned around to watch his building getting farther away. At least, she was glad Loir and Jack would be safely kept out of this...
“How many men are you bringing?” asked Eden, curious about the long line of Italian cars behind them.
“Fifty. The Dragon gave his limit...”
Fifty men were still an awful lot, Eden thought. If each Zodiac was allowed to bring this many, it would be a never-before-seen number of strangers on one Zodiac’s territory... What was the Old Man planning? She got a bit more nervous, realizing how serious things ought to be. She pulled up her pants, checking the condition of her legs. Dante glanced too.
“...Are they fine?”
“As long as I can run, it will be fine, I guess,” sighed Eden. “It’s thanks to these that I can be that fast of a hacker anyway... I feel like I’m going to need them.”
Dante shrugged.
“I doubt anything will happen at the Dragon’s,” he said.
