"Hello, did you need something?" Akira asked the woman.
Valentina looked Akira up and down and then marched straight into his room, brushing past him.
"Hello? This is my room; what do you think you're doing?" Akira stated, glaring at the woman.
Valentina took a seat on the bed and looked at Akira. "Akira Takahashi, you just recently became a Campione, right?"
Akira looked outside the door, making sure no one had heard her, and shut the door tightly, looking at the woman seated on the bed.
"How do you know that?" he inquired.
Valentina shrugged, "Don't worry about that. Now let's get down to business." she said.
Akira cleared his throat, interrupting her. "It would be nice if you at least introduced yourself, you know," he remarked.
"Sorry, I forgot. My name is Valentina Blandelli, and I'm part of the Copper-Black Cross. We saw your battle with the rogue goddess Freya; I must say I'm impressed that you held your own." She replied with a small nod of her head.
"Copper-Black Cross? Freya? Is that who that woman was? And wait, you were watching?? Why didn't you help then!" Akira demanded, He was in serious danger there, and they were just leisurely watching?
They better come up with a fantastic reason, or he will definitely not let it go.
"Well, we needed to see the capabilities of an unknown Campione." Valentina said, shrugging.
"Also, you probably wouldn't have died, I think." She stated, as if it wouldn't have mattered if Akira had fallen in battle against Freya.
Akira looked at Valentina, eyes wide. "What the hell are you saying? Just because I became a campione doesn't mean my life isn't valuable anymore. I still want to live my life," he countered, glaring at her.
Valentina seemed unaffected by Akira's outburst. "Now the reason I came here is to invite you to join the Copper-Black Cross and kill Freya to gain her authorities," she said with a smile on her face, certain Akira would accept.
"Hell no!" Akira declared, crossing his arms. "Now get out, please. I'm tired and need to head back to Japan soon."
Hearing his answer, Valentina looked bewildered. "Why not? Killing her can give you even more power and authority?" Valentina pleaded, approaching Akira.
They were standing within inches from one another, Valentina's beautiful face right in front of his own; Akira awkwardly dodged her fiery gaze.
"I didn't want to become a Campione, so why would I willingly seek out battles? If they attack me, I'll retaliate, sure, but otherwise I'm staying the hell away." Akira said, pushing Valentina away carefully.
Valentina put her hands on her hips and glared at Akira for a while, then turned around and left the room without saying a word.
Akira heaved a sigh of relief, falling headfirst onto his bed.
"The Copper-Black Cross, huh? It seems that's an organization dealing with the gods running rampant like Freya," he muttered, thinking back to the destruction his short clash with Freya had caused.
He shuddered; he wanted nothing more than to leave Italy right now and never look back, but he had to wait a day or two because they didn't know when he could collect the package, so he had only just booked the plane that leaves tomorrow night.
Closing his eyes, Akira drifted into sleep. It was a mentally draining day, and after that woman who had just been trying to recruit him, he was exhausted.
***
Valentina sat in the back seat of a luxury car; Paolo sat behind the wheel driving the car.
Looking through the rearview mirror, he sighed; it seemed it didn't go as expected. Valentina came out stomping from the hotel and entered the car without saying a word.
Gazing out the window while clenching her fist.
"It didn't go well?" Paolo carefully asked, trying to understand the situation.
"That bastard! He's just a huge wimp! He didn't even think about it; he just straight-up rejected it." Valentina grumbled; just thinking about it made her seethe with anger.
If it had been her that was a campione, she would've used those abilities to restore the honor they had lost. After an incident in the past.
Paolo adjusted the rearview mirror. "Valentina, how did you ask him?" he inquired.
"What do you mean? I just asked him to join us in hunting Freya," she said, shrugging.
Paolo rubbed his temple. "That's not what I asked. So once again, how did you ask him?" he calmly said.
Valentina felt a shiver run down her spine, looking at the cold eyes that looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"I might have stormed into his hotel room and kind of demanded he join us," she meekly said, dodging eye contact.
Paolo sighed. "As expected, tomorrow you will join me and apologize to Lord Akira!" he said, leaving no room for rebuttals.
"But," Valentina was about to protest, but then.
"Silence! We need him, so what do you mean you demanded it? Without his earlier interference, the damage would have been a lot worse!" He snarled, glaring at Valentina.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking outside the window, still dodging Paolo's gaze.
"Good, and make sure to behave yourself tomorrow. Oh, by the way, did you tell him rogue gods hold grudges, especially someone like Freya?" he asked.
Valentina's whole body froze, and she kept looking outside, acting like she hadn't heard Paolo's question.
"Valentina?" Paolo said, wanting an answer.
"I might have stormed out and forgotten to mention it, but it was his fault for rejecting me in the first place." She stammered, clicking her tongue.
Paolo facepalmed. 'Where did it go wrong with you?' he thought, looking at his little sister sitting meekly in the back.
He sighed, 'It seems like father spoiled her a little too much.' He thought, with that, the car fell into silence as they quietly drove home.
After arriving home, Valentina jumped out of the car, rushing inside and dodging any confrontation or nagging.
Quickly entering her room, she jumped on her bed, grumbling.