Author's Note:

This story is once again, DISCLAIMED. I don't own Kaze No Stigma!

Hai guys. I can't apologize enough for how slow I have put up this chapter (and after all I had said in the first one about being quick to update and all -_-)

Better sooner or later right? :3

Enjoy~

Chapter Two: Twists

Ayano turned over in her bed yet again.

All night she had been fighting a constant battle with sleep, not being able to sleep a wink. She punched her difficult pillow in a futile attempt to make it more comfortable. The pillow that usually felt fluffy and supportive felt flat and hard. Her bed couldn't make her melt into it like always either.
She sighed and silence soon enveloped that tiny sound.

The silence kept her thinking.

Thinking was the last thing that she wanted to do but she couldn't help the thoughts flooding her brain. Her body might be exhausted, but her brain was still strangely sharp and working. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Another day of probably fighting youma with Kazuma, since youma were popping up more and more often. Ayano busied herself with thinking about the growth of youma numbers in the city.

I've been feeling a build-up of disturbance in the city lately, especially near the water, she thought. Father says the Youma levels are normal, but I know that something is just off. I swear, that old geezer is getting old and senile. Calling her father the offending phrase drew a unexpected smile across Ayano's face.

Soon strange thoughts started forming in her head as she grew increasingly sleepy. Ayano even began to have random snippets of Nanase and Yukari in obscene outfits show up in her imagination.

Occupying her mind with these thoughts kept her up all night. Before she knew it she heard her cell phone blare out her morning alarm. The familiar upbeat melody did nothing to improve her mood, but she got up anyways.

Her head felt heavy and foggy, and she had a strange taste in her mouth. Her first all-nighter not forced by her duty to the clan made Ayano feel like crap. She rubbed her eyes and found them encrusted by dry tears. After muttering some explicitives, Ayano tried to make herself feel a bit more awake by continuing with her morning routine. She ran the shower until it was hot and jumped in.

After her shower she felt significantly better, but still dull and floppy like a spaghetti strand boiled too long. Her usual sharp reflexes were gone, but she decided that it was good enough to be awake. She then threw on some random clothes, not caring if her shirt was wrinkly from being stuffed into the drawers or if her skirt bore remnants of a soy sauce stain too stubborn to come out in the wash.

Carefully avoiding the spots on the floor that creaked when walked on, she made her way to the staircase in the hallway.

Ayano's senses were not as keen as they usually would be in the morning, and she tripped over a potted plant. Damn, she thought, those are cuttings of Father's favorite plant... He's going to kill me! She quickly shook off the dirt on her foot to attempt to hide the evidence.

She then descended down the stairs, greeted by a strange sight.

Illuminated by the faint glow of the morning light Kazuma sat alone at the Kannagi dining table a bowl of cereal untouched next to him. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts, unfocused eyes falling to a dark corner of the room. His eyes then flew towards her, barely visible in the shield of the darkness on the foot of the mahogany stairs. It seemed peculiar to Ayano how he had realized she was there when she was certain she had made no noise to indicate her arrival. Years of training had ensured that a long time ago.

"Ayano..." Kazuma started, boring his eyes into hers across the room. Ayano suddenly felt stiff, unable to move as if she were a statue. All she could do was stand there and listen to her name on his lips fade as the clock ticked time by.

"Ayano let's talk."

That shook her out of her trance. She regarded him coldly, not willing to get hurt again. "What is there for us to talk about?"

"About your feelings towards me."

"I have none towards you. Don't let your ego get a hold of yourself Kazuma!" She snorted at him, flicking her hair over her shoulders, as if she was bored with the conversation already.

"Well yesterday you told me yourself that you loved me. In all seriousness let's talk." Kazuma replied evenly.

"Note the past tense in that sentence. I loved you. That was yesterday, and today is a new day. And oh, NEWS FLASH KAZUMA, you clearly didn't return my feelings, so I gave up on you. I mean really, how dense can you be? Seriously! Everyone else knows already, even my father! That old geezer is too nosy for his own good but still, how could you not see it when it's- " She ran out of breath after spewing out a flurry of complaints towards Kazuma.

"Let me inform you Kannagi-san, you tore my heart out, threw it onto the floor, and stomped all over it with those 'sacred Contractor' feet of yours. So no, I don't want to talk with you."

Ayano's chest rose up and down, the easily angered side of her appeared again. It was the only way to prevent the tears that were warm behind her eyes from falling. I'm not weak. I won't let him see me cry. She told herself with great determination.

With that thought deeply embedded into Ayano's mind, she left the room hurriedly.

Kazuma looked to Ayano leaving with sad eyes. He knew that he just lost perhaps the only person on the Earth who sincerely cared for him, loved him, and perhaps even trusted him. She even started using honorifics with him instead of the usual homei* they used with each other.

There was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on either.

A deep throbbing pain in his body seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. The pain didn't feel like how he felt after being injured after a not-so-successful fight either. It was more dull, yet it hurt nonetheless.

It wasn't the feeling of losing someone he cared about like a family member; it was how he felt for years after losing Tsui-Ling.

No, it cannot be. I am not in love with Ayano. It must be the lack of sleep, making me come to these false conclusions. Kazuma kneaded his fingers through his hair in exasperation, distracting himself, so he prevented himself from thinking.

Without his busy thoughts keeping him awake, the soothing noises of early morning lulled him into a deep sleep.

*Note: Homei is when people in Japan don't use an honorific with each other, which is a sign that the two people are extremely close to each other.

"Yukari-" Ayano said into her cell phone, back onto the bed that couldn't make her sleepy again.

Her friend replied groggily, "Hello? Who is this?"

"Yukari, read the caller ID, I'm Ayano."

"Ayano? Why are you calling at this hour?" Her friend's inherent surprise could be heard.

"Yukari... I told Kazuma... A-and... I got rejected." Ayano smiled weakly.

There was a gasp, and then brief silence. "Good thing you called me girl. I bet you're like... All down and gloomy right now. Don't be so sad-sounding, it kinda makes me want to cry too. But hey, y'know, good for you! I mean like, you've been pining after him for like... Forever. Hey, why don't we go get a few drinks and eat some good food? Maybe it'll take your mind off that good-for-nothing! Besides, I kinda need your opinion on a new dress I've been eyeing. It's totally gorgeous, but the price tag is just so... ICKY. The neckline is totally hot; it's not too low so that it screams 'I am a slut,' but it just shows the right amount of cleavage. It totally makes me look smokin'! Anyways you should help me decide if I should splurge or not!" The blonde chattered on endlessly.

"Yuks, can you put Nanase on the other line?" Ayano finally interrupted her friend's steady stream of words.

"Oh, sure, hold on!"

Beep. Beeeeeeeeep. Beep.

"What's up Yuks? How are you even awake at this hour?" A steady voice said.

Ayano sighed. In their close-knit friendship, Ayano was the flame, getting angry enough for all three of them. Yukari was the chatterbox, and Nanase was the rock that kept Yukari and Ayano from going berserk. Just hearing Nanase's voice made Ayano feel calmer by the second.

"I know darling, aren't you proud of me? Today's not about me though. Ayano has a love 911!" Yukari replied immediately.

"Why so chippperrrrrr..." Ayano groaned into her phone.

"Aya-chan, you know she's just like that. Besides, what's that love emergency Yuks was talking about? What did Kazuma-kun do this time?" Nanase inquired.

A melodramatic Ayano quickly put in, "Yuks can you tell Nana-chan? My heart might die if I tell the story again."

"So like, here's the gist of it: Aya-chan told Kazuma-kun how much she loved him and Kazuma-kun said he didn't feel the same way. Nana-chan, don't you think we should go out for drinks and yummy food? It totally helps, I swear. Beer and takoyaki* all night long helped me get over Tadase-kun!"

"Yuks, quit pushing your glutinous habits onto Aya-chan. Besides, it's not so simple with Kakuma-kun. It's not like Aya-chan can just go off and never see Kazuma-kun again like you and Tadase-kun. She still has to fight youma with him and keep a straight face in front of him and others for the sake of work. It's going to be so painful for her! But meeting up is an idea I can't reject. Free your schedules ladies, it's Girls' Day Out!" Nanase said, her voice rising to excitement.

"YAY! You guys have got to help me decide about the expensive dress though. I totally want to get it but it's so damn expensive! So then I was like 'lemme ask Nana-chan and Aya-chan for help!' I hope that we wi-" Yukari started again.

"Yuks!" Ayano and Nanase both yelled at the same time. Yukari then giggled happily.

"Okay okay, I'll shut up after you tell me when and where we're meeting~"

"How about... 7 at the train station?" Ayano suggested.

"Which place though?" The always sensible Nanase asked.

Yukari quickly chimed in, "Bottom of staircase twooooo~ That place is like the most cleanest and prettiest. Besides, it's where we-"

"Always meet for school!" The three of them yelled in unison. Laughter then followed.

"Okay guys, talk to you later!" Nanase said, the first one to hang up.

"Laters Aya-chan~ I have to pick out my outfit now or else I won't have enough time to!"

"Mhm, Bye!" Ayano replied emptily, although there was no need because no one was on the line anymore. She plopped her phone onto her bed and redressed into better clothes. A soy-sauce shirt was going to get her chastised by Yukari for sure.

Settling on a simple outfit of jean cutoffs and a graphic tee, Ayano quickly changed. She then glanced at the time. 6:28AM. Perfect! Ayano thought.

She then threw some essentials into a crossbody bag and flew down the stairs. Not bothering to glance at Kazuma passed out on the dining table, Ayano rushed out the door.

*Note- Takoyaki is a Japanese snack, crisped up balls with octopus inside.

A warm wind greeted her as soon as she stepped outside. Spring was slowly but surely making the transition into summer; the sun was shining more intense each passing day. Ayano loved lazy summer mornings. It was cool enough so she didn't feel like she was being cooked in an oven, but yet warm enough to give everything a carefree easygoing vibe.

It's going to be a nice day today, Ayano noted while walking at a swift pace.

Soon she was at the train station. She whipped out her fare card and swiped in. While rushing to their usual meeting place, she bumped headfirst with someone rushing somewhere. His books dropped everywhere, and papers were spread all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" Ayano quickly apologized. She then dropped down to help him collect his belongings. When she had gathered a handful of papers and books, and he had too, they both stood up and bumped into each other again.

"Ow!" Ayano said on impulse, rubbing her head where she had collided with his chin. The stranger laughed a strong, hearty laugh.

"It seems that we were meant to literally 'bump into each other' today!" He noted, very amused.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir!" Ayano apologized. She straightened up, getting a good look at the stranger.

He was handsome, not in Kazuma's mysterious way, but in a more carefree boyish way. His tousled chestnut hair made him seem easygoing and fun. He had a beautiful wide smile, and amber eyes glittering with amusement. Now that Ayano had straightened up, she realized how tall he was. He was a good head taller than her, even with her in high heels.

"So are you done looking yet?"

Ayano quickly took her eyes off him, "W-what?"

He laughed again. "Ahhh, you're pretty interesting!"

Ayano shoved his books and papers back into his arms, and then turned around to go. He grasped her wrist, making her stop. "Is that how you treat someone you just bumped into? That's not very polite is it!"

She shook herself free from his grasp and turned to face him once again. "Sir, I'm sorry about bumping in to you, but I've got places to be and so do you. So please, stop wasting my time and yours, and let me go." She told him bluntly.

"The name's Katsu. What's yours?" He asked, not letting himself be shaken off.

"None of your business." Ayano replied, icily. She then ran down the second staircase to escape the weird stranger.

Nanase and Yukari were already chatting there. Ayano smiled, glad to see people that would make her life less instead of more complicated for once.

"Nana-chan! Yuks!" Ayano yelled. Nanase and Yukari looked around to see where Ayano's voice was, and then once they located her, they waved at her.

"Heyyyyyy Aya-chan!" Yukari greeted Ayano in a perky voice.

"Aya-chan, you're late, again!" Nanase scolded her lightly.

"I'm so sorry! The thing was I bumped into this weird dude who was all weird and wouldn't let me go. He was all like 'My name is Katsu, what's yours?' Ugh. He was so annoying!" Ayano complained.

"Oooohhhh, You've found a new hottie to fawn over already?" Yukari squealed.

"No! What are you talking about?" Ayano rebuked, her cheeks flaming.

"She's blushing! Ayano, spill the beans and tell us already- is he good looking?" Nanase said, poking Ayano's rosy cheeks. "YEAH YEAH! Tell us!" Yukari chimed in.

"Welll... He's cute I guess." Ayano admitted. Nanase and Yukari cheered and whooped.

Just then, the train arrived.

"Let's go downtown!" Yukari yelled, trying to make her voice louder than the approaching train.

"Okay!" Ayano and Nanse answered in unison.

The train door opened an the trio stepped in. A blast of cool air conditioning hit Ayano, making her feel refreshed. Nanase gestured to the row of empty seats, and the three of them sat down. Yukari immediately leaned in to the other two on her right.

"Okay so guys, today we have got to check out that dress. I have to decide to splurge or not!" she said, eyes glittering.

"Yuks, knowing you, you're probably going to buy it no matter what we say!" Nanase teased, shaking her head with a small smile. "Anyways, let's make a pit stop at the library. I need to return some books really quick." She added on.

"Sure thing Nana-chan!" Yukari approved. "No problem. Let's stop by the library downtown." Ayano consecutively voiced her consent.

Soon it was stime for them to get off.

Yukari groaned. "Ughhh, I don't want to leave! The AC feels like HEAVENN~"

"Well then I suppose me and Nana-chan will leave and you can stay here and have fun!" Ayano joked, shooting a smile Yukari's way.

Yukari widened her eyes and then quickly said, "No way! I have places to be and fun to enjoy!"

Ayano and Nanase laughed. All three of them then stood up and left the train.

"To the Library!" Yukari exclaimed, leading the way up the stairs. Ayano and Nanase trailed after her, making their way up the stairs too.

It was a swift walk to the local library, and once they got there they each flew to their respective sections. Ayano made a beeline for manga, Yukari for self improvement, and Nanase lined up to return her books.

Ayano was just flipping through a few pages in the new volume of the action manga she was reading wuth she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned away from her manga, and gaped. A familiar smile and enthralling honey-colored eyes greeted her for the second time that day.

It was the stranger from the subway station.

"Hey stranger, you never told me what your name was!" he exclaimed to her. Ayano ignored him, still scanning the pages of her manga.

"HEY! Don't just ignore me!" Ayano flipped the page and kept reading.

The stranger snatched the manga away from Ayano and closed it shut.

"Hey! You made me lose my page!" Ayano complained, reaching out for her manga. Katsu held it up above his head, where Ayano couldn't get it, and then gave her a challenging smile. It made Ayano want to summon Enraiha and run him through her beloved sword like he was butter.

However, killing a person in a library would get her jailed for sure, so Ayano gritted her teeth and held back her violent urge.

"Why should I tell my name to a stranger? Besides... Why are you here anyways?" Ayano retorted through narrowed eyes.

"I'm here because all those books you made me drop on the floor were overdue and I had to get them here. Besides, out of courtesy don't you think you should tell me your name because I already told you mine?"

"Obviously I don't think so, because I sure as hell won't tell you my name!" Ayano yelled at him, thoroughly annoyed.

The librarian to the left of then putting books on bookshelves turned and shushed Ayano sharply. "Miss, this is a library. Keep your voice down please."

"Sorry, this won't happen again!" Ayano apologized. She then turned to Katsu with a murderous stare.

Katsu beamed, whispering to her, "Ooooo~ Guilty as charged!"

"Well guess what? It's all your fault!" She hissed back at him, pointing a finger his way as if accusing him of a crime.

Katsu chuckled quietly. "Ahhh, sorry."

"At least you have the decency to say sorry... It's okay. I guess I can forgive you." Ayano replied, keeping her voice as low as possible.

"Ayano~ We're ready to go now!" Yukari informed her friend in a floaty voice. Upon seeing Katsu, Yukari widened her eyes and turned to Ayano.

"Ooo~ Ayano, who's this?" She whispered to Ayano, raising an eyebrow.

"THIS IS THE ANNOYING DUDE FROM THE TRAIN STATION. THE ONE I BUMPED INTO BY A STROKE OF BAD LUCK." Ayano said, glaring at Katsu again.

Katsu shot back an even bigger smile.

God I just want to slash his annoying smile off his face, Ayano thought. Apparently her friend had different thoughts.

Yukari turned to Katsu with her most cloying, sickly sweet voice, and sugared him up. "Oh, so you're the guy from the subway! I've heard a lot about you from this girl here."

Katsu turned to Yukari eagerly. "Oh really? Wait... Heard a lot about me from her? I bet it's nothing good then."

Yukari laughed, touching him lightly with a hand on his forearm. "Nah, it wasn't all bad. Well, we've got to go, so maybe we'll bump into you later?" Yukari told Katsu with a wink.

Oh god. Another one of Yuks' terrible puns. Ayano thought, rolling her eyes.

Katsu just laughed and bade them goodbye.

Ayano walked briskly towards Nanase, wanting to get away from the sickening duo.

Yukari took the chance to slip a paper to Katsu. "Use this information well my friend~" She advised Katsu with a wink. Katsu unfolded the paper and smiled back.

"Thank you."

"Who was that you guys were talking to?" Nanase asked once Ayano had reached her.

"It was Katsu, the stranger who I bumped into in the subway and wants to irk me with every chance he gets!" Ayano told her friend huffily.

Just then, Yukari approached Nanase and Ayano too, a mischievous smile pulling at her lips.

"Ohmigosh! Katsu was soooooo hoooot! Why did you not tell me that 'stranger' was such a damn fine piece of man-meat?" Yukari asked Ayano.

"Because not only did I found him to be as unhot as a frozen river in Antarctica, I also found him worthy of being slashed open by my Enraiha." Ayano proclaimed in an ominous tone. Yukari and Nanase just sweatdropped.

"Well let's talk about Katsu while we walk to the amusement park because we sure won't get there if all we do is stand here and gossip!" Nanase finally said, gesturing to the door. The other two agreed, so the trio was on their way again.

They were barely two steps out the library when Yukari brought up the topic of Katsu again. "Katsu was so friendly and nice! I don't understand why you dislike him so much, Aya-chan. I mean... Running him through Enraiha's a bit extreme for a person you've talked to only twice, don't you think?"

"Well I've talked to him enough to know that he is an annoying brat that reminds me too much of Kazuma." Ayano said matter-of-factly. The K-word propelled them all into temporary silence.

"Awww, honey, forget about Kazuma. We're going to the amusement park, which means you're going to get amused!" Yukari tried to comfort Ayano.

Ayano and Nanase groaned. "Another horrible pun Yuks?" Nanase asked rhetorically.

Yukari shot back as chipper as ever, "Of course!"

Ayano laughed. "Trust Yuks to never know what a rhetorical question is!" she stated. Nanse readily agreed.

Yukari faked a pout. "Hey!"

The three of them then all bursted into laughter.

Soon the familiar tall landscape of rollercoaters, rides, and vendors were in front of them.

"We're here!" Yukari squealed happily, getting out her wallet. Nanse and Ayano both reached for theirs as well.

The pleasant amusement park order gave them their tickets after they had paid their money and wished them a swell time at the park. The trio then lined up to the entrance and flung their bags in plastic bins to be scanned and checked for possible security threats. When they inserted their tickets into the machines and then reclaimed their clearance cleared bags, they were all set to do whatever they wished.

Yukari immediately ran ahead of the other two towards the center square of the amusement park.

The center square was a place of bustling activity, because it was where all the vendors and games were. The smell of warm buttery popcorn, meat sizzling on griddles, and sweet desserts being sliced made the place smell mouth-watering. The sound of kids squealing, crying, and yelling was everywhere, along with laughter and loud talking. Everywhere people were eating, drinking, and having a good time. It was hard for Ayano to not want to be a part of it all, so she gave into her wants.

She ran after Yukari towards the nearest burger stand, with Nanase right behind her.

When the three of them were both on an insanely long line for "Fujimora's Famous Burgers," Yukari turned towards Ayano and Nanase with a smug smile.

"I heard from other people that the burgers here was to die for, so I've always wanted to try one!" She informed them.

"To die for or to stand out here in the longest line ever for?" Ayano asked, slightly grumbling.

"Both!" Yukari exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"Well at least this line is moving pretty fast." Nanase remarked.

The line was indeed moving fast; by the end of six short minutes the girls had already gotten their burgers ready to eat in bags. After looking for a while, they found a nice place to sit down and enjoy their meal.

Soon they were done with their food and ready to ride some rides.

"Let's go ride the Godspeed Rollercoaster!" Nanase suggested with plenty of excitement.

"YES!" Yukari cheered, starting to run to the rollercoaster already. Ayano turned to Nanase with a smile, and the two took off after Yukari as well.

The closer Ayano got to the rollercoaster, the more she felt something was off.

The Godspeed Rollercoaster usually was a very popular ride, sending people from all parts of the park towards it, but today it seemed many people were running away from it. Besides that, she detected Youma in the direction of the ride, which never was good.

Ayano yelled to Nanase and Yukari, "Wait. I sense youma in that direction!"

Her two friends stiffened, knowing how dangerous youma were. They both knew that Ayano was going to lead them to safety and then go fight the youma herself, like she had done countless of times before.

"You guys, get away from this rollercoaster as much as possible. I'm going to go after the youma. I'll call you guys once the situation's stabilized. Don't come close to the rollercoaster until I call under any circumstances. Do you understand?" Ayano ordered her friends with urgency in her voice. Nanase and Yukari nodded and started running away from the rollercoaster like everyone else.

Once she saw her friends had safely fled, she ran as fast as she could towards the rollercoaster, calling out her fiery sword along the way. Usually Kazuma would be her, transporting them both to the location of the youma faster than she could ever run. He wasn't there, so she had to depend on her own strength. She pushed herself to run faster, praying she wasn't too late.

The youma felt young, but strong, absorbing energy at astronomic proportions. That could only mean it was feeding off the energy of the people in the amusement park, getting stronger at the expense of the powerless citizens. It would soon be stronger than Ayano would handle, but Ayano kept running towards it anyways.

Soon she felt a familiar flick of cool wind against her arm, and she turned back. True to her instincts, it was Kazuma.

He was immediately next to her, lifting her into his arms with poise and ease as if her struggling was nothing.

"Don't fight against me Ayano, I'm not your enemy. The youma are." He told her in a weary voice. His words shook reality into her, and she let him transport them to the site of the youma.

"Oooh, that's an ugly looking bastard." Kazuma said to no one in particular as they approached the monster. The monster was easily the size of a building, and the people who he gained his power from laid on the floor soulless.

"So princess, what's the plan?" Kazuma asked, utilizing the old nickname again. Ayano just scowled and let her instincts take over. She leaped out of his arms and jumped at the monster with her purifying flame.

Innocent people's lives were at stake, and she wasn't going to waste time arguing with Kazuma.

Kazuma smirked and went to work as well, sending strengthened gusts of wind through the monster and catching Ayano when she was at the end of her fall. Ayano then used him as a bounce off point, jumping into the monster again with her Enraiha pointed at it.

The problem was the monster's fast regeneration. She was getting more and more annoyed with it. No matter how fast she slashed it or how much power she used, its wounds would always close right back up, making the monster ready to pelt more balls of energy at Kazuma and her. Soon Kazuma caught her for the countless time and held her against him.

She was panting, sweaty, and ready to strike out again, but he wouldn't let her jump back at it.

"It's useless Ayano! No matter how many times you strike it will regenerate. We'll never kill it this way."

"Okay then. I'll distract." Ayano told him, hoping he would understand what she wanted to try out. She didn't want to say more to him than what she had to say.

Kazuma nodded, flinging her back at the monster. He then flew away a bit and closed his eyes.

Blue beads of energy built up around him as he called upon the Wind Spirit Lord for help.

Ayano slashed at the monster repeatedly, distracting him from Kazuma. Enraiha was damp from her sweat, which made it slippery, but Ayano just wiped it off and kept attacking.

As usual, the monster regenerated over and over again, watching Ayano with pitying beady small eyes. Ayano barely dodged from a slash aimed at her from the monster's mammoth claws. One blow on target from that was sure to kill Ayano for sure. Ayano knew that fact very well, but kept on hitting the monster with Enraiha.

Another regeneration and more energy balls to dodge. She glanced back at Kazuma. He didn't seem ready to hit the monster yet with his contractor powers. Ayano willed him to collect his powers faster, because she knew she was getting tired, and her lack of rest made her even slower to respond. At this rate she'd be hit by the monster for sure.

C'mon Kazuma! she thought with desperation, I want to live, and you better go hit this monster right about now! She then felt the familiar feeling of intense power escalation behind her, so she gathered all her power together as well. He let go on an attack, and she did too, right afterwards. The sheer strength of both their powers combined flung her backwards, and an explosion temporarily blinded her with it's intense light.

She blinked against the flashes in her vision and realized it was Kazuma. He had caught her again.

"I can't see. Is it dead?" She demanded.

"Yes, it's dead. But now we have a lot of cleanup work to do, and we better do it fast. If the people come to seeing this it'll cause a huge scandal." He told her gently.

She tried to get up, but he made her lay back down against himself. "Rest princess. You can't do much being temporarily blind."

Ayano immediately started to protest, but he shushed her at once. She gave up on going against Kazuma; the adrenaline had worn off, and she was left feeling more tired than she had ever felt before. In a matter of moments, she was asleep in his arms.

Preview of Chapter Three: Uncanny

"You know Katsu?" Ayano said, disbelief across her face.

"You know Kazuma?" Katsu quipped back at her with just as much wonder as she had.

Finished 9:38PM July 29, 2012.

Responses to Reviews:

blueskittlez- Thank you for your input~ I'm sorry I made an unfulfilled promise x.x Hope this chapter can sort of make up for that! :3 SuzieCat- Here's an update your way, I'm glad you liked this~ Cookie- I always loved Ayano as a person for that as well. She's so STRONG! Horsetreats- Thank you for that compliment! It really means a lot! I think my writing has a lot of room to improve still~ yuuna masato- Your hope is definitely a reality~ Let's see how the addition of other guys add to this jumble of drama shall we? :) anabellag- Really? Maybe I better rewatch that part then xD ministop- Thank you for your input! I have to work harder at making the characters more like the characters then! Thank you for your support! Tina- Thank you for reading~ Ayano's story is really heart-wrenching in this one, so I'm glad I was able to convery that~

~Thank you for your support!~

Review please? :3

Constructive criticism helps me get better, so keep them coming!