Of course Sami could recognize the voice.
It was precisely because he could recognize it that an involuntary smile spread across his lips.
Like a kid who was excited that their parent was home, he immediately lunged out of the couch and took off the black blindfold. Then, he muttered happily, "I am in my peak physical state!"
Indeed, all his pain immediately faded and the world came back into view.
Without wasting even a single moment, he hurried over to the door and opened it.
Standing outside with his hands in the pockets of his oversized cargo pants was a young man in his early twenties. Just like Sami, this man was not a ladies man, but he was handsome in his own way.
His hair was a mix of electric blue and white. The left side was blue while the right side was white. He had green eyes and was wearing long silver drop earrings, which were a fashion style these days. The tattoo of a glowing street-graffiti dragon on his neck was visible and he wore lazy oversized streetwear.
When he locked eyes with Sami, he smiled and exhaled.
"I spent all day worrying you had kicked the bucket, you bastard."
Sami grinned. "Don’t insult me like that, Kenji. It’ll take a lot more than what’s happened so far to get rid of me."
Kenji’s smile widened, while Sami quickly gestured with his head and muttered, "Come on in."
Kenji stepped inside and grinned. "Bring it in, brochacho."
Sami chuckled and shook his hand, and they did their unique handshake which ended in a fist bump and a casual wrist flick, before finally giving each other bro hugs.
Just then, a female face peeked around the doorframe. The young woman smiled really brightly and exclaimed, "Big bro!"
Apparently, she had been hiding just around the corner of the hallway.
Sami turned to the woman and smiled.
The young, beautiful woman, who looked to be no older than nineteen, had white hair and a nerdy, yet strikingly adorable look. There was a pair of large round glasses on her face which magnified her bright golden eyes, and just like her brother, Kenji, she had tattoos that crawled up her arms and peeked out from the collar of her oversized graphic hoodie.
Though truth be told, if one did not already know that these two were siblings, they would never have guessed it.
Nothing about them looked the same, and even their personalities were night and day. But then, that was not surprising considering that they were born to different mothers.
"Good to see that you are okay, Momoka," Sami said in a softened tone.
"Hurry and invite me in!" she demanded, pouting playfully.
"Come in." Sami had barely invited her in when she lunged inside, leaping up to wrap both arms around his neck and her legs around his waist in a full, air-snatching bear hug.
Sami was caught off guard at first, but then, he wrapped his arms around her and chuckled lightly.
He was really glad this troublemaker was alright.
Still in his arms, Momoka leaned back and stared at his face, then scolded him with a furrowed brow. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when we couldn’t find you the first time we came here?"
"Huh?" Sami blinked.
Then he exchanged sweeping gazes between Momoka and Kenji. "You both came here already?"
Kenji, who had made his way to the couch, plopped down like he owned it, then shrugged carelessly. "Yeah. But you were not in. Though since we couldn’t enter, we figured the landlord must have gone for a food quest or something. So we decided to come check later. You are too stubborn to die, anyway."
He clicked his tongue with an irritated look, rolled his eyes, and looked away. "I don’t even know why I was worried."
Sometime while he was talking, Momoka-chan had unwrapped her legs from Sami’s waist and dropped back down to her feet, though she still kept one arm linked tightly around his.
"Mm." Sami smiled as he turned to go close the door.
"Why didn’t you come check on us?" Momoka asked, tilting her head with a light frown.
Sami almost flinched, but maintained his poker face.
"I was actually planning on doing that later. I didn’t go earlier in case you both were out on quests."
That was the truth.
’Though I’m curious. How did you survive when you share an apartment with Kenji?’ He wanted to ask that, but decided not to at the moment.
Going back into the living room, he could see that a pouch had appeared in Kenji’s hand and he was already taking a long swig from it.
"What’s that?" Sami asked, leaning against the back of the sofa.
"Huh?" Kenji shot him a dazed, unsteady-eyed look before catching his breath. "Oh, this?"
He smiled. "Ogre’s spleen wine. Really good stuff."
"Spleen wine?" Sami arched a brow.
"Yes," Kenji added.
Momoka then chipped in, adjusting her round glasses. "Big ugly monsters we killed during our C grade quest."
’They did a C grade quest?’ Sami was stunned and even more impressed.
Seeing his expression, Momoka smiled and gently nudged Sami’s shoulder. "What quest did you go on?"
"D," Sami replied sheepishly as he dropped onto the ground cross-legged in front of the couch. "I was being cautious."
"Ah..." Momoka smiled as she sat down cross-legged in front of him with her back to him. "That sounds just like you."
Since Sami was taller than her even while sitting, she tilted her head up to look at him, then lightly tapped her hair.
Sami understood what she wanted even without her saying anything. He reached over and subconsciously began braiding her hair. As his fingers worked, he looked over at Kenji.
"By the way, what about Ren?"
The moment the words left his lips, Sami noticed that both Kenji and Momoka went completely quiet.
That caused a grim feeling to begin settling in his gut.
After a few seconds, Kenji sighed and shook his head.
Momoka’s gaze dropped to the floor. "After we came back from our 6am food quest, we went over to his place, but he wasn’t there. We checked again when we left your place earlier, but he was still nowhere to be found. We don’t know if..." She paused, her voice faltering. "If..."
She couldn’t complete the sentence.
Sami frowned as his hands came to a stop in her hair.
Ren, Kenji, Momoka, and he were all orphans who grew up together at Saint Jude’s Home. They had been in that orphanage since they were kids, and over the years, their bond had shifted from simple friendship into real family.
That was why Sami felt really saddened at the thought that something might have happened to his brother and friend.
Just then, Kenji nudged him on the shoulder with the pouch. "Here."
Turning toward the sofa, Sami reached out and took it. After a low sigh, he brought the leather pouch to his lips and took a swig.