CHAPTER 273: STORIES WE NEVER ASK FOR

Wolf’s words hit Abby harder than she expected. Maybe it was because of the situation she was in, locked away, uncertain, scared, that her mind kept spiraling. With nothing to do but sit and think, the questions began to pile up.

Who was Max, really? she asked herself.

Wasn’t he just someone like her? Someone who had lost his parents and spent his lonely days playing video games to escape the world? That’s what she had believed for so long.

But if she still thought that was the only version of Max... then maybe she’d been fooling herself.

She’d seen things, things most people would never believe. She’d seen how others looked at him. How school delinquents, hardened and feared, would show up and bow their heads like he was some kind of god. Like he wasn’t just respected, but worshipped.

And then there was the fighting. She’d seen him move, seen him handle himself in ways that made it clear: this wasn’t something new. Max fought like someone who had been doing it his entire life.

The fact that he even knew someone like the man who called himself "Wolf"... that alone raised a dozen more questions.

There’s something strange about all of this, Abby thought. There are so many things surrounding Max that don’t make sense.

She’d always been afraid to ask him, afraid that by prying too deep, she might push him away. That if she forced the truth out, she’d lose the version of him she felt safe around.

But now, sitting here alone with nothing but her thoughts and a stranger to talk to, she realized something else.

Maybe I should ask. Maybe I have to.

I just wonder where he is right now...

Being stuck in the container, with only Wolf nearby, wasn’t ideal. But if anyone knew more about Max, if anyone could help her piece together who he really was, it had to be him.

So maybe... just maybe, she should try. Try to learn more. Try to understand. Try to find out who Max truly was beneath all the mystery.

"So... what about you?" Abby asked quietly, her voice soft but curious. "Why are you here? I know you said it’s because of Max, but... are you like them? Or are you... just a high school student?"

Wolf raised an eyebrow at the sudden burst of questions. With a small chuckle, he moved to sit down instead of remaining on his feet. The exhaustion was starting to creep in, but from the look of things, none of the Rejected Corps members were going to come storming in anytime soon.

"That’s a lot of questions, you know..." he said, leaning back slightly as he made himself more comfortable.

"But your guess isn’t too far off," he added with a grin. "I’m kind of like those guys who brought you here. If you didn’t already know, they’re part of a gang."

Abby’s eyes widened slightly at the word gang. It was something she’d only ever heard in movies or seen in TV shows. Rough, dangerous people who did reckless things for power or money. The idea that she was now surrounded by gang members felt surreal.

"And as for me," Wolf continued, "I run my own little gang. Nothing too flashy. I just help Max out from time to time when he needs it."

He smiled as he said it, warm, casual, as if talking about something as harmless as helping a friend move furniture. That smile didn’t fit the image Abby had in her head. He wasn’t cold or threatening. In fact, he had been nothing but kind to her since they met.

Still, it only raised more questions.

If Max was working with people like this... if he was part of a gang too... then it confirmed what she had feared for a while now: he was involved in something dangerous.

She couldn’t ask directly about Max, not without it seeming obvious, but maybe if she asked about Wolf, she’d understand more.

"So..." she began, "how did you even get into this kind of life in the first place? What happened to you?"

Wolf tilted his head slightly, considering her for a moment before answering.

"Everyone’s story’s a little different," he said. "So just because I give you my answer, doesn’t mean it’s everyone’s answer."

Wolf could tell why Abby had asked the question. It wasn’t just curiosity, it was her way of trying to understand Max, by first understanding him.

"I don’t know who my parents are," Wolf began, his tone more grounded now. "I grew up in an orphanage. But one thing was always made clear to me."

He pointed a thumb at his messy, bright orange hair.

"I didn’t belong. I was a foreigner in this land."

His voice didn’t carry bitterness, but it held a quiet weight, like someone used to hiding the scars just beneath the surface.

"Because of that, the other kids at the orphanage... they picked on me. Same thing happened at school. And when that happens, when no one’s there to stand up for you, there’s only one way to deal with it."

His hands clenched slightly at his sides.

"You fight. You use your fists."

He looked down for a second, then let out a breath.

"I grew up fighting every day. It got to the point where I couldn’t focus on anything else. But eventually... I found people who actually appreciated what I could do with these fists."

His gaze turned distant, as if recalling a younger version of himself, surrounded by chaos.

"So, I built a group. One that was formed around the only thing I knew how to do, fight. For me, it’s really that simple."

He gave Abby a small, almost apologetic smile.

"The life I live... it’s because it’s the life I grew up in. And if I wanted to protect the few people who actually cared about me, or just live a life where I wasn’t always the one being hit, I had to create something of my own."

Abby sat in silence, absorbing his words. It struck her then, Max had lost his parents too. Maybe not at as young an age as Wolf, but the pain... the loneliness... it was there. And seeing how the school had treated him, how society treated people like Wolf and Max, it all made sense.

Maybe... Max didn’t choose this life either,

she thought. Maybe, just like Wolf, it was a life forced onto him. A life built from survival.

"It’s a shame," Abby said softly, tilting her head as she gave him a small, genuine smile. "Your orange hair... I think it looks really nice."

Wolf blinked in surprise.

"Every time I saw it," she continued, "I thought it would brighten up my day a little. It always made me smile."

She let out a quiet chuckle after saying it.

"Wait... was that a pun?" Wolf asked, raising an eyebrow as a grin formed. "Even in this situation?"

Abby just smiled wider, and for the first time since all this chaos began, there was laughter, light and real.

Wolf stared at her for a moment. Her words, that little chuckle, and the way she looked at him, it sparked something warm inside his chest. Most people only complimented him for his strength, for fighting well, for leading when things got rough.

But this... this might have been the first time anyone had ever complimented his hair.

And for no reason other than liking it.

That warmth was still lingering in his chest when Chrono’s device buzzed with a message.

It wasn’t from who he’d been expecting.

[Sender: Dud]

[Max has betrayed us.]