Prologue
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Click!
"Hello?" a voice finally answered.
One thing about Ayumu Narumi you should know. He always answers his cell phone. He can ignore the house phone, the emails - does he even check those, the letters, but he always answers his cell phone.
"Hello?" the voice asked again, a little annoyed.
"Meet me in one hour at the station," Eyes Rutherford replied, hanging up before waiting for a response.
– – – –
"What did he want, Ayumu?" Hiyono asked, leaning over the teenage genius curiously.
"Nothin. He said to meet him at the station in an hour," Ayumu replied, pocketing his cell phone and walking away.
"The station? Which one? There are tons of stations! Did he even give you a clue?" Hiyono asked, obviously finding the games of the blade children to be almost as tiring as Ayumu did.
"Hiyono... go on home," Ayumu ordered gently with a soft laugh. "It's not some test he's giving me. I already know where he's waiting."
"Huh?" Hiyono was obviously confused.
"Just go home," Ayumu sighed and kept walking away from her.
"Ayumu, you jerk!" Hiyono called after him before inevitably going home.
Ayumu knew what station Eyes wanted to meet at. Eyes had done this meeting up thing twice already. He wanted to meet at the station where Ayumu always sat when he was upset. It happened by accident the first time. Eyes had done exactly what Madoka had done so many years ago.
Ayumu was sitting down on his normal bench as if waiting for the train. A pair of boots stopped in front of him, but they were nothing like Madoka's slim featured legs. It had been Eyes, walking around with only sunglasses to hide him from the public. How no one recognized him was beyond Ayumu's ability to be logical.
'I thought I'd find you here,' he'd said.
How had Eyes known Ayumu came here to think?
'Come, Little Narumi. Your presence has been requested,' Eyes had spoken formally the entire time, no different than he normally spoke.
It turned out that every time Eyes came to find him or told him to meet him at the station, he was being an errand boy for Kousuke. When Kousuke wanted to invite Ayumu along on an outing with the other blade children, he always got Eyes to invite him. Ayumu knew this was a ploy to get Eyes involved as well. Neither one would usually come along unless something like this happened.
Ayumu was told he needed to meet Eyes, who never talked to someone alone unless it was important, and Eyes would have to deliver Ayumu to Kousuke and thus be at the get together already - so why not stay and have fun?
Ayumu spotted Eyes at the station and waved a little. Eyes did nothing but Ayumu knew the pianist had spotted him. Eyes was terrible at showing emotion, the brick wall that he was. How did Eyes ever plan to settle down once people stopped hunting him if he never showed emotions?
"Kousuke-"
"Sent you to get me," Ayumu finished for Eyes.
"Quite. I'm to take you to see him at-"
"Twilight Moon's Coffee Shop," Ayumu finished again.
Eyes stared at Ayumu for quite some time. Ayumu seemed pleasantly ... pleasant. He was interested in what Eyes would do next. Eyes shrugged to readjust his jacket on his shoulders. Then he made a 'hm' noise and turned to walk off. Ayumu couldn't help but smile at the simplicity of it all. He followed Eyes away from the station and down the street to the café.
Inside, Kousuke, Ryouko, and Rio were waiting for them. Rio seemed to be upset about something. Ayumu would guess it had something to do with whatever Kousuke had stuffed in his mouth.
"Hey, Rio. What's wrong?" Ayumu asked to announce their presence.
"Ayumu! Eyes!" Rio cheered, turning to face them. Then she was clutching to Ayumu and burying her face in his chest. "Ayumu! Kousuke ate my cake! Will you make me another one tomorrow?"
"Sure. Sure," Ayumu nodded.
Rio told him she loved his cooking, and she'd been so cute when asking him for a piece of the cake he'd been eating that day that he couldn't help but give her some. Ever since, he'd brought her a piece of cake or a cupcake at the end of every week. Now Rio was a fan of melons and Ayumu's pastries.
Eyes seemed surprised to see Rio acting this way. Of course, he didn't go to their school so he didn't know about Ayumu bringing her cakes or her attraction to the brunette. Usually, Rio would cling to Eyes, not Ayumu.
However, the three blade children made room for their two new friends, and thus commenced a bonding day for the blade children and their only hope. Everyone contributed greatly to conversation, except Eyes, who was usually the cause of it's end.
Ayumu looked over at Eyes and nodded to him. Eyes didn't show it but he knew what Ayumu was trying to say. 'Join in, idiot. These are you friends.' But Eyes just wasn't good with conversation. Ayumu was better, but he still preferred to just listen and comment when necessary.
About three hours later, Eyes had to go home to plan for his next concert, Ryouko had training until late, and Kousuke had to go somewhere but refused to say where. Rio stood with Ayumu outside the café as they waved to everyone as they left. Eyes was the only one to glance back, but he didn't stop walking away.
"So, Ayumu, where are you going now?" Rio asked. Ayumu ruffled her hair.
"Home, to make you a cake," he reminded her. She cheered loudly.
"Thanks, Ayumu! You're the greatest!" Rio declared, giving him a big hug. One day, she would definitely marry him. "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early at school, okay?"
"You got it," Ayumu promised, even doing a pinkie promise that Rio had him doing lately.
With that, the youngest appearing blade child ran off, and Ayumu turned for home. They hadn't heard of any new hunters in a while. It was a good thing, and they'd all become good friends, but it also made you wonder what the hunters were planning.
– – – – –
"Hello?" Eyes Rutherford answered his phone, hiding the fact that he'd just woken up, even though it was nearly afternoon.
"Narumi didn't show up for school? Really, Rio, is that anything to get so upset about?" Eyes asked and then pulled the phone away from his ear. After a brief yelling tantrum, Rio hung up with a definitive click.
"Hm," Eyes shrugged and slipped the phone back onto the bedside table. He got out of bed and dressed himself for the rest of the day. He'd been up so late the night before that he'd forgotten to change his clothing for bed.
Knock. Knock.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Rutherford, this letter came for you just now," the woman at the door said, holding it out on a platter.
Eyes took the paper and the woman retreated. After reading it twice, Eyes picked up his cell phone and dialed a preprogrammed number.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrrring.
Brrr-
Click!
"You've reached Ayumu Narumi. I'm not available so leave a message and I'll get back to you."
Beep!
"..."
One thing about Ayumu Narumi you should know. He always answers his cell phone. He can ignore the house phone, the emails, the letters, but he always answers his cell phone. Always.
Eyes looked across the room at the sky this morning. His eyes widened and he looked down at the letter he'd gotten. He let the letter fall to the floor and quickly hung up the phone. The letter on the floor shown in the sun like a bright red traffic cone, despite the paper being white.
'Narumi has been obtained. It's time to play a game. I will call you at six o'clock to explain the rules.'
A/N: So, my first Spiral story. Hope this got you interested.