A/N: Story two, FINALLY. So sorry about the wait!
Alakshmi grumbled angrily under her breath as she fumbled around in her jacket pocket for her key. How can somebody lose a dueling gauntlet so easily? Thankfully, she'd managed to avoid coming back too early to dodge a long chewing out by one of the duel masters. When she'd finally pulled it out and opened the door, she made a silent vow to keep the accursed thing on a keychain next time.
As she searched around the library, she couldn't shake the suspicion that that someone –besides the Light creatures- was there with her. It's probably just Toji, she thought. Fell asleep on his work bench again, no doubt. When the library proved to be of no avail, she began looking in the other Master's rooms, the Coliseum, and even the kitchen.
All hope seemed lost, until her foot landed with a soft crunch right outside of the War Room. She looked down, noting the gauntlet beneath her foot and picked it up. One gauntlet activation and extremely embarrassing realization later, she decided it would be best to pretend like this never happened and go back home. That is, until she noticed a rather unfamiliar figure in the War Room, watching over Argus.
It was Master Takahashi. Or Saguru, or Ken Okamoto, or whatever name he decided to go by today. It was all rather confusing for her, as she wondered why he hadn't yet heard her behind him. She cleared her throat loudly. "Hello."
He turned his head a bit, nodded, and went back to viewing the screens on Argus. Alakshmi slowly walked into the room, doing her best not to break his concentration. She noted that he was appearing to be mainly focusing on San Campion, and certain plots in the Water and Nature civilizations. She stared for a few seconds with him before breaking the silence with her voice again. "Any reason you're suddenly on late-night watch duty?"
"My uncle has been feeling ill," He replied, still not taking his eyes off Argus. "I am merely covering for him until he feels well enough again."
She blinked doubtfully. "He seems to be doing just fine during the day." She said in a holier-than-thou tone. "I think this 'illness' you've convinced yourself of is senility." Takahashi did not respond, as he saw something moving in the Nature Civilization, and zoomed in on it to observe. Of course, it was only yet another Rumbling Terrasaur. He sighed, and restored the panel back to its original size.
With that, it took Alakshmi 3 seconds to realize the real reason he was here so late. "He isn't coming back."
"You don't know that," He said, raising his voice slightly. "We can't be sure unless-"
"It's been 6 months!" She suddenly shouted. "If he was planning something, the bastard would have done it by now!"
"Language," he yelled back in response as he suddenly turned around to face her. And now she soon realized the extent of his paranoia, if the dark circles under and red veins around his eyes were any indicator. Alakshmi backed up a bit, and lowered her voice.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I get you're scared, I'm scared of him too. We've both been hurt, but that's in the past. The Choten's gone for good! You probably ate him when you were fused with that spider." She chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood. "And even if he did come back, we'd be prepared. We've got Ray, and his little friends, and the masters…"
"Can't you see I'm only trying to take precautions?" he responded, his voice much lower, and his gait much calmer. "It's best if we know ahead of time if such an event is to happen, and I don't want any of you to suffer through this." He took a deep breath before continuing, and turned back to Argus once more. "And after all, you're a child. You shouldn't be worrying about men trying to kill you or take you away, and never should have in the first place. That's the key difference between you and I."
Alakshmi saw that any other attempts at communication would be about as reasonable as trying to talk to a brick wall, or to Raiden after he got another 'brilliant' idea. "Alright." She sighed and walked out of the room quickly. Halfway down the stairs, she turned back behind herself and softly said: "Goodnight, Master Takahashi."