"You heard me." Dante pulled his foot back and kicked the brat again, getting another reaction out of Werewolf. Ignoring the hero, he went on, "What gives you the right to oppose him? You’re just a worthless little piece of shit who never had to work for anything in his live. Your entire existence is paid for by someone else, and you think you get to choose to not listen when they speak?"
"What’s... What’s it to you..." Derick muttered under his breath. His voice was barely audible, but Dante was able to make out what he said, and that caused veins to bulge on his forehead.
For a moment there, anger overcame the fear keeping the subdued and his head shot up, an enraged glare twisting his youthful features.
"What’s it to you!!? This is none of your business! You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know what I have to deal with! What makes you think you can judge me!!?" The boy gritted his teeth, his shoulders rising and falling. As tears began to gather in the corners of his eyes, he looked away and cursed. "Just... leave me alone... I didn’t ask for your advice..."
Silence returned to the square, and the atmosphere grew heavier. Watching from the side, Werewolf looked somewhat troubled. Dante silently stared at the youth with an unreadable expression. He then took a deep breath and crouched down so the two of them were on the same level.
Derick kept his gaze averted for a while, but when he turned to meet his eyes, a palm struck his cheek, and the strike felt more like a whack with a blunt object than a slap.
"You still don’t get it, do you?" Dante said, his expression grim.
The boy didn’t answer, and the silence added to Dante’s anger.
"Listen well, cause I’m not gonna say it twice." Pausing, he waited till the boy looked at him again. "Nobody gives a fuck about what you’re going through. You can cry, you can get angry, but that fact won’t change. Hell, from the way you’re acting, I’m guessing your old man doesn’t care either. Still, what made you think being a pain in the ass was going to solve that problem?"
"Want me to tell you the solution to your problem?"
Though the boy simply stared at him and said nothing, Dante told him anyway.
"You need to suck it up. Your life is difficult? Well boo-fucking-hoo. You still have to go through it. Use that damn head and think of a solution. Talk to your father, and if you really can’t stand him, then just cut him off and move on. Stop crying about how your life is so, so difficult when you probably never slept on an empty stomach before." Sighing for the umpteenth time, Dante got up. "Go home. Jerk off or something, then use that head of yours and figure things out. You won’t get anywhere acting like a ungrateful piece of shit."
Derick said nothing in response. His gaze fell down to the ground between his legs and he remained motionless for a while. Eventually, he pushed himself up and walked away, glancing over his shoulder once before continuing toward the exit.
Watching him go, Dante remembered something and shouted, "And take the train! You’ll get to have a bike once you stop being a pain to everyone!"
The boy stopped and turned to look behind him, his expression full of shock. When Dante glared back at him, he understood that there was no arguing the matter and just left.
"Yeah... you were right..." Glancing beside him, Dante saw the furry hero staring at the exit. "I really don’t know what happened here."
Werewolf closed his eyes and winced. He began to shrink, his muscles losing mass at a very fast pace. The fur covering his arms disappeared, somehow retracting back into his skin. His claws were soon gone, and his face seemed to adjust as well, losing the bestial look he had as his eyes shifted back to a more human shape.
He was looking far more human despite being only 30% of one. Then again, a low Baseline Retention doesn’t automatically mean someone will look like an alien from another planet. There was one problem, though.
"... aren’t you gonna hide that as well?"
Dante was looking at the long, plum-shaped tail, and on second thought, he was convinced that he didn’t want to see how it would go back into the hero’s body. The ears on his head were still out as well.
"A-ah," The hero looked behind him and moved the tail. "Unfortunately, there are things I can’t hide even in my base form."
"Well, sucks to be you."
Dante looked around then walked away, heading toward the couches where the brats had sat earlier. Picking a can of the cooler and popping it open, he took a few gulps then let out a relieved breath.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
His left eye twitching, Dante turned to glance beside him. Instead of leaving, the hero had followed after him, a serious expression on his face.
"No," Dante answered bluntly. "I like women. Ones with XX chromosomes."
"... wha-" Werewolf frowned as if not understanding what that meant, then his eyes went wide before he squeezed them shut. "I don’t even want to know what made you think..." exhaling, he turned to him with serious eyes. "I want to know where you learned to fight like that."
"... ah, that?" Dante blinked a few times then turned away. Staring at the open can in his hand for some time, he raised it and took a sip, his silence lasting a little more before he gave an answer. "A homeless old man used to beat me all the time. I just copied what he did."
"A homeless... old man?"
Lingering for a few more moments, Dante was about to ask when the hero was going to leave him be. Just as he lowered his can and opened his mouth, something hit his arm and he heard a faint click.
Looking down, he saw that a cuff had been locked around his right wrist, and when he followed the hand holding it, he saw the hero looking at him with a deadpan expression.
"You are still under arrest."