The peace of the night was shattered by a hoarse, painful shout torn from a ravaged throat. In the depths of an expensive, unduly luxurious hotel penthouse suite, a man sat upright in his ridiculously large king-sized bed, sweat glistening on his sculpted bare chest and making his spiky deep brown hair cling to his forehead. Panting, he drew a hand back through his unruly locks and flopped back against the pillows, chest heaving as he stared up at the ceiling. His reddish brown eyes saw nothing, and after a moment he sat up again, the blankets pooling at his waist.
"What the Hell was that?" He muttered to himself, thinking back on the nightmare that had awoken him so rudely. He was used to nightmares; thanks to the hard life written in scars across his body, he had plenty of fodder for them. But this time, the nightmare was not one of his usual ones. Instead, his sleep had been disturbed by something he hadn't seen before. It was almost like he had dreamed a warning of what might come. At that thought, he stilled and clenched his hands into fists.
"Maybe. But I won't let that happen." He swore, looking over at a framed picture on his bedside table. He reached out and picked it up, dark eyes staring at the people within the frame for a long silent moment. In the photograph, a young boy with golden hair and bright, happy green eyes was laughing and smiling at the camera while an older young woman with long flame colored hair and crimson gold eyes wrapped her arms around the boy. This woman's face was lit from within by happiness and a deep sense of love and loyalty. Her chin was stubborn. Her whole manner screamed stubbornness. Even so... the sweat drenched man ran his fingers softly down her image in the photo before sighing and returning the frame to its spot by his bed.
"I'll protect them. Both of them." He swore, staring outside at the star speckled sky. A shiver of unease trailed down his spine and somewhere, out in the darkness of the night, a man with a smile cold as death and ambition rotting away his humanity smirked. Laughing chillingly, he turned and stalked deeper into the shadows, a beautiful young woman with emotionless blue eyes following him.
I yawned and hunched my shoulders, resting my head on the table in front of me as I whimpered. "It's totally not fair." I whined, rolling my eyes up to stare at my two best friends who sat on the opposite side of the table from me. We had just finished watching a new action movie at the theater and had been planning on heading over to Nanase's house to get some studying done for the upcoming math test but...
"Why do I have to do missions like this now? Doesn't Father understand the pain of exams!" I wailed, banging my head repeatedly on the table as I muttered stupid under my breath. Across from me, blonde Yukari snickered and pointed a finger at me.
"Oh, Ayano, you complain, but you secretly like it. For one thing you hate studying, and for another, you'll get to see Kazuma." She pointed out. At the mere mention of that arrogant pricks name my hackles rose and I glowered, sitting up to add power to my glare. Yukari, unrepentant, smiled back at me.
I sighed and shook my head. Nanase and Yukari think that my guardian and fourth cousin Kazuma Yannagi was madly in love with me, but I doubted he cared the least about me as a person. The only reason he hung around me was because my father paid him to make certain I was kept out of harm's way, not that I needed the constant babysitting in the first place. His three loves in life, in order of importance, were Money, Ren (his little brother) and his past lover Tsui-Ling. Or maybe it was Tsui-Ling, money, Ren? Anyway the point being I wasn't a blip on his radar. I was not even worth a moment of his time. Sure, we had gone from hating each other to being able to admit me might be able to stand one another, but that was it. There simply wasn't any chance of his feelings growing towards me any more than that simple because I am who I am. I am a Kannagi, a member of the strongest fire magic user clan in the world, and the embodiment of all he hates.
I would... to myself, admit that my feelings for him were much much deeper than friends, partners in work, or even extremely distant cousins. But he thought of me as his key to a stable income, a source of amusement, or even as some girl to toy around with on the side (womanizing playboy!) Not that I was jealous. I sighed again. Which was why I hated working with him. All these confusing thoughts and feelings made my already horrible temper ten times worse. Which made my fighting messy. Which made him pick on me. And then made me angry so I screwed up more and had to be saved by him. Which made my father think I needed the protection. It was enough to put me on edge and act even more childishly around him. I sighed again. Not to mention... recently, I had gotten an uneasy feeling from the powerful wind magic user. It was like he was constantly on edge for some unknown reason. I had asked him about it only to be brushed off. That man always treated me like a stupid kid, someone who got in his way more often than helped him. I admit that he is six years my senior and much more worldly, knowing more about things and how to deal with them. Not to mention his power is stronger than mine, even without taking his Contractor powers into consideration.
Even so, he could still talk to me. I'm not completely useless and in need of protecting. I am the heir of the Kannagi family and wielder of Enriha, the flame sword given to us by the Fire Spirit King when our families contract with her was made ages ago. I am not weak and I'm going to tell that arrogant bastard the next time I see him that he had better tell me wh- Pain flared up in my forehead.
"Princess, hello? I know you're prone to spacing out but this is ridiculous." A gravelly, suave voice said above my head. I clapped my hands to my forehead and looked up, seeing said arrogant bastard standing above me and watching me with mocking brandy colored eyes. He had flicked me in the forehead to get my attention, treating me again like a child. He doesn't even do that to his younger brother, who is the true child around here.
"Your old man called; We have a mission to go to and you're falling asleep with your eyes open again. The Kannagi family is in for a world of hurt with you as the next heir if you can't even stay awake to finish one task." Growling, I slammed my chair back and stood, hands fisting by my hips as I drew in a deep breath. About halfway to opening my mouth to give him a what for, I stopped. I wasn't going to fall into his trap again, no way. Gulping in air, I loosened my hands and turned to Nanase and Yukari.
"I'll stop by when I've finished eradicating the Yoma in the museum to get your notes, alright?" I said, smiling tightly before turning with a swish of my hair and walking out without saying a word to Kazuma Jerk-face Yagami. The stunned, pregnant silence hanging over the people I left behind made me smirk and I added extra swish to my step, feeling a little vindicated. After a moment I felt him hurrying back to my side, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. It made my heart thump wildly when he walked close to me, his shoulder occasionally brushing mine. I seethed at his ability to annoy and upset me without even saying anything.
"That was unusually mature of you, Princess. Something eating you?" He asked as we walked down the street. I noticed he was tense, watching everyone who came close to us and surreptitiously placing himself between me and the traffic side of the sidewalk, like I was a little kid or something. That made me angrier, but I bit my tongue hard and turned away from him. Drawing in a deep breath, I counted to ten and then answered him in the sweetest, most innocent voice I could muster, knowing it would annoy him greatly.
"No, not at all, Kazuma. But something is eating you. If you want to be an idiot and keep whatever is obviously an issue to yourself, that's fine. After all, I have no right to butt in, as you are oh so fond of reminding me. And I'm fine being left in the dark and treated like a child." I whirled around as I spoke, my hair flaring about me a little as my anger caused the air around me to heat up, disrupting the wind currents. "But if you are going to go hide the truth from me and then turn into some sadistic wind magic user again, I'm not going to bother about it. I've given up on caring. So I am going to do this job correctly and then get my father to fire you and send you on your merry way, because you obviously don't want to be here with me if so much a being near me causes you to look pained!" Shouting now, voice full of pain I didn't want to reveal, I was causing people to stop and stare at us.
My chest heaved from the force of my feelings and I was just ready to either burn something or cry. Kasuma, for once, didn't have a snappy comeback. He just stared at me, eyes wide. I hadn't wanted to tell him that, but now that I had let the words out, I knew that they were impossible to talk away or cover up. They were, after all, my true thoughts. After a few heavy seconds, I turned on my heel again and started walking away.
"Just go away, Kazuma. I can do this job without you hovering around, and it's not like it matters if you are near anyway since Father will pay you regardless." I didn't look back or wait for him, since the museum was right around the corner. I had finally gotten Kazuma to listen to me, but I felt horrible. I didn't want to rag on him like that all the time but his actions made it almost impossible for me to do anything but that exactly. Sighing, I walked up the steps to the big stone building and pushed the door open. I wiped off my face. It was time to act like the heir of the Kannagi.
"Hello? Ayano Kannagi is here. You called for an exorcism?" I called out as I looked around the empty marble foyer. I heard something from behind me and turned to see a timid looking, rather corpulent man sneaking out from behind a column. I walked over to him quickly and frowned when he jumped away, wrung his hands, and looked totally suspicious.
"Um... yes, yes, Miss Kannagi. Thank you so much for coming. So we have been hearing this awful wailing at night, and in the morning all of our precious exhibits in the back three rooms have been moved. We are at our wits end, and one of our patrons, a rather rich art collector, recommended your family to us. He said that even though you are young and reckless and likely to destroy things, you'll get the job done." He stuttered. I rolled my eyes and made a mental note to go smack that old client of mine after I finished this job. Yes, I had burned most of his mansion and yes, I had also broken a few windows, but the yoma infecting his collection was gone, wasn't it? No one was able to deal with those monsters without a little collateral damage! I ignored the little voice in the back of my head that told me that Kazuma could and did all the time.
"I'll do my best to keep the mess to a minimum, Sir. It's only the back three rooms, right?" I asked, rolling my shoulders and looking towards the back of the museum. "Alright, Ayano Kannagi is on the job! You'd be best to leave." I said, clapping my hands together in a burst of flames and shouting for Enriha. The man's eyes were wide and frightened when I looked over at him again, a natural reaction from someone who has never seen a magic user before. I softened my face and smiled at him.
"It's alright. But it'll be safer for you outside the museum." I gently reminded him, snickering as he practically turned and ran from the building. I faced the back rooms and called the fire spirits closer to me. As I walked through the museum towards the back rooms, I started getting an uncomfortable feeling like someone was watching me. Whipping around, I stared behind me but saw nothing.
"Kazuma?" I asked suspiciously, since he had the ability to be invisible if he chooses. However, Kazuma wasn't the type of guy to spy on me without my knowing. He's much more the type to watch me openly and laugh at me until I need help. Shaking off the weird feeling of being watched, I focused on trying to locate the yoma. As a fire magic user, I wasn't all that great at sensing where a yoma was hiding but I could usually get a feel for what general area or direction they were in. I finally got to the first of the three backrooms. It was much darker in here, as the windows were all covered by heavy black curtains and the displays empty. I frowned.
"Where are the artifacts? Did they move them? But if the yoma was inhabiting one of the artifacts then I'll have to go find them!" I wailed, upset. I started to turn to go find that pig man and make him squeal when a sudden increase in dark energy and movement in the back of the room caught my attention. I held Enriha up and called upon the flames residing in it to illuminate the room. What I saw made me shiver in sheer revulsion. A young boy, or maybe what used to be a young boy before he became the host for a yoma, was slouched in the shadows, body being slowly drained away into nothing but dust. A monstrously huge yoma in the shape of a hellish hound with three tentacle like tails was currently eating all the energy from the boy. It's body was shadowing and I could see through it like it wasn't totally manifested yet. On one of the display stands were written strange runes and stains in what appeared to be blood. My eyes widened and my blood ran cold as I realized what had happened. Someone had summoned the demon in front of me and used the now dead boy as the sacrifice to do so. I was thankful Kazuma wasn't with me then. He tended to lose his mind and go a little insane whenever sacrificial rituals were involved in our cases. Since his beloved Tsui-Ling had become demon food in one, I guess he has good reason to do so but it made it very hard to work with him, since he tended to just destroy everything in a scary rage.
That being said... demons summoned by this type of ritual were extremely powerful and hard to handle. Case in point is when that crazy bastard Bernhardt had summoned Belial using all those dumb kids as the sacrifice. It had taken all Kazuma, Ren and I had to just hold the guy down for three seconds so he didn't destroy the city. Of course, that was an extreme example because the yoma in front of me was nowhere near the strength of Belial. That being said it was powerful. Regular yoma that I fight are ones weak enough to cross between the yoma and human world barriers with relative ease because of their weak magic energy. The ones pulled through by ritual are much much harder to deal with. The beastie finished draining the boy's corpse and only his clothes remained. The hell hound's shadowy body seemed to phase in and out of solidarity as it's yellow, hungry eyes focused on me.
"You're fine, Ayano. There is nothing Enriha cannot burn." I told myself, getting ready for a hard fight. Snarling, the beast darted forward and I swung, but just before my blade hit it, the thing became nothing more than a shadowy mass and my weapon passed harmlessly through it. As I gasped, stunned, it came back into the physical world and used it's three tentacle tails to knock me back hard. As my back made contact with a granite pillar, Enriha flew from my grasp and all my oxygen left my lungs. I was stunned. My flames were meant to destroy yoma, so how had the fire of Enriha not harmed this monster? The yoma jumped forward and hovered over me, snarling and snapping at me, but strangely it did not go in for the kill. Instead, it used it's creepy tail to restrain me and walk to the back of the museum, dragging me struggling and fighting behind it. There, painted on the floor in more blood, was a demonic circle, which could be used to summon yoma or for quick transportation. My eyes widened as I realized that this thing was trying to capture me, or something like that. My anger grew inside me, fanning the flame of power I carried within me like all members of my family.
I am Ayano Kannagi, not some helpless woman! How dare this monster try to take me away! My emotions caused flames to break out around my body, startling the hell beast and making him left me go. I was still gasping for air, but I pushed the pain in my body to the back of my mind and clapped my hands together again, resummoning Enriha to my grasp. The yellow flames engulfing it wouldn't hurt this monster, though I felt better having it in my hands. There was really only one other thing I could try... Though it was a new skill, if I could pull it off, then I might be able to defeat this monster without having to get that bastard's help. Just thinking of him made me get angrier, though I'm not certain if I was angry at him or the thought of having this pain put on him again. "Uhg, never mind! Attack!" I focused on my inner power, trying to call the flame that slept within me to life. Sweat beaded at my brow and I had to fight to draw it out, but at last I felt the rush of strength sweeping through me.
Yes! With a yell, crimson fire licked down the blade of the wooden sword and I swung with all my might at the beast. It turned back into shadows, but this time my crimson flames ate away at it anyway, causing it to let out a horrible howl as I continued swinging and burning it until nothing remained. Panting, I stood still in the middle of the exhibit hall for a long moment, the beautiful crimson flames slowly faded, taking most of my power with them. I was pretty proud I had managed to summon the Divine Flame again, but if it left me this winded all the time, then I definitely needed more training. But, my job isn't over just yet. Winded and in pain (my back was probably bruised, and maybe I'd fractured a rib when I'd hit those columns!) I faced the hideous ritual circle on the floor. With a flick of the sword, my yellow flames cleared away the evidence but the stench of the yoma sacrificial ceremony remained. I had cleansing flames, but there are better purifiers in my family than me and they need work too. Like Ren. His golden flames were the strongest purifying force in the family. If at all possible I needed to get Ren here without alerting his big brother so that all evidence could be wiped away.
I started walking back to the front to find that pig guy and beat an explanation out of him when I heard slow applause. I turned everywhere but didn't see or sense anyone else in the area. Finally my eyes landed on the only artifact still in the room, a silver serving platter. In the reflective surface I saw a hideously familiar half concealed blonde's face and glowered at him, trying to use anger to conceal the terrible fear and hatred I felt at seeing him once again. "You..." I whispered, making the man sketch me an elegant bow.
"What do you want this time? Kazuma again, I'm assuming." I snapped, silently vowing to not let this horrible man anywhere near my bodyguard. When I said that, the building gave a sudden shudder and I became aware of a distant booming sound.
Bernhardt frowned and shook his head. "He is breaking the barrier I put around the museum so I could watch your talents unobstructed. Such a hasty boy." Bernhardt said, sighing dramatically. "But as much as I enjoy tormenting and using him, this time he is not my objective." He smiled that chilling smile at me. "You'll see what it is soon. Until then, keep getting stronger for me, little fire princess."
Snarling, I raised my sword and sent a strong fireball right at it, making the laughing Bernhardt vanish in a wreath of flame. The platter when back to being normal just as the front entry of the museum exploded inward and Kazuma stormed inside, head whipping around as he looked for me. I was touched by the obvious concern, but at the same time...
"Kazuma, you idiot! Why did you have to go blow the entire front of the dang building up? I finished this job without breaking anything and now you've gone and destroyed part of the building!" I wailed, allowing my anger and frustration, as well as my fear, about the reappearance of Bernhardt to rise so my fire spirits went crazy and caused flames to appear around me. Kazuma blinked at me and before he could look around and see the evidence of the ritual I sent the fire straight at him, using the time while he was distracted and dodging my attacks to send my purifying flames at the two circles remaining behind me to hide them as best I could from his extraordinary senses. That done, I walked right up to him and punched him in the arm.
"And how come you only show up after I beat the yoma, huh, Mr. Protector?"
"If you hadn't run off, then I wouldn't have had to blow the building up in the first place." Kazuma shot back, his own temper ruffling up in response to mine. When we are together, this is all we do, argue. Bicker and snarl. I sighed, the fire suddenly going out of me. It isn't like I want to be this way. Even if he has left the clan behind, Kazuma is still a part of my family - he is so important to Ren and Ren is important to me. And I respect him a lot as a spirit magic user. I want us to get along. But its impossible. I'm Ayano Kannagi and he hates me for that. I'm a brat compared to him and I'm not worth anything more than the money he can get from putting up with me.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Kazuma's voice snapped me back to reality. He was glancing around, forehead furrowed. If I didn't get him out of here soon then he would undoubtedly figure out what had gone on. His wind powers allowed him to see the hidden and to sense the faintest traces of energy. Even at my best I couldn't have hidden this from him for long, and now... I was worn out from using the crimson flame - since I still can't really control that power at all - so I wouldn't be able to handle if him if he flew into a rage this time. Shaking my head, I turned and tried to adopt my normal sassy voice.
"If Father gets the bill for this museum, I'm having him forward it to you. I didn't blow the place up so he shouldn't have to pay for it." My snap lacked most of it's usual power, but Kazuma didn't seem to recognize that and followed me out of the building. The fat man from earlier was on his knees in front of the ruined building, face pale and eyes wide. When I came out, he stared at me with his mouth gaping like a fish. I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder.
"I didn't do it; blame Kazuma Yagami, my ever present shadow. Your yoma problem has been handled... though..." I bit my lip. I didn't want to let on anything, but if I didn't ask, then I was afraid that things would go from bad to worse. "Who donated those articles to the museum, if I may ask?" The curator drew himself up, and after sending a poisonous glower Kazuma's way, spoke civilly to me. That almost made me feel better.
"They were all donated to us by a mysterious wealthy man from the west, I think he said Europe. He had excellent credentials. The artifacts came with complete records, and a staff member to take care of their transfer to the museum. A younger man with a very adorable son, if I remember correctly, though the little boy hardly spoke at all. They left to return home this morning." He said. I felt my stomach clench. I'd bet almost anything that man who'd been in charge of the exhibit had been one of the members of Bernhardt's little cult, and that the boy had been the sacrifice. What was he up to? The fat old man kept talking on, but I tuned him out. I really wanted to ask Kazuma. He's so much smarter than me, and he's the one who usually figures things out when we do complicated missions. But... I recalled how tightly he had held me after we'd stopped Belial from being summoned and defeated Lapis and Bernhardt a few months back. He'd been devastated then. And afterwards, when he'd sworn to protect me...
I'd seen the pain of that resolve in his eyes, the fear, hidden though he kept it, that he would fail to keep me and his brother safe the same way he failed Tsui-Ling. I couldn't bring this up to him now. I couldn't do that to him. Who could I ask for help, then? Father? He'd want to bring Kazuma in right away, especially since it seems that Bernhardt has a new target, which would defeat the purpose of keeping Kazuma out of this mess this time. Cousin Genma? No, he doesn't listen or talk well. He's a lot like Kazuma that way. Ren's too young, and all the other family members wouldn't be able to help. Kirika? No... that police woman really gets on my nerves with her bigger bust and prior knowledge of my bodyguard, and besides... she'd advise me to bring Kazuma in as well. There was no other choice, then. I'd have to figure this out on my own. I brushed my fiery hair back and pulled out my cellphone. If I was going to have to think, then there was no way I'd be able to do it at Nanase's house. I texted her an apology and asked for her to send me the copied notes later, that I was tired from yoma fighting and going home. After giving my condolences about the destruction of his museum to the curator, I said goodbye and looked hard at Kazuma.
"Don't follow me; I'm mad at you." I snapped. Then I turned and headed towards home. I needed a hot bath to figure this out.