She didn't know who it was, but she had a faint idea.
This was not good. Maybe, hopefully, she was miraculously wrong about who it was.
Maybe she could actually get her phone back.
"Can you return my phone?" She asked slowly, cautiously.
"No."
Wow okay or maybe she couldn't get it back so easily.
"Cremisi Aozora," spoke the voice on the phone—on her phone.
It isn't that bad yet, he knows her full name—nothing more. At least she hoped it'd be that way.
"Or should I say Yozora," that stupid cocky voice of his again.
Now it was starting to get bad.
Yozora was the name Aozora used as an alias when acquiring and/or giving information. Thinking back on it, it was probably really obvious.
She wasn't sure if him, or who she assumed was the Storm Guardian for the Varia, Belphegor, knowing that alias was a good thing or not.
"Can I have my phone back, please," she repeated her question.
"No."
Of course not.
She hung up and began devising a plan to get it back in one piece. She didn't need it in particular, but everything was stored on that phone. Plus it was her brother who got her the phone in the first place.
Fortunately, she had her phone set up with a tracker hidden inside it. What if they weren't able to decipher the data on her phone?
That would've been nice, wouldn't it?
[ BEL'S P.O.V ]
Heh, so she actually called him.
He saw her yesterday, along with the other Vongola brats, but he didn't recall seeing her on the roster of Vongola members, so he assumed she was just dragged in.
She had red eyes though. People with red eyes couldn't possibly be all that normal. Bel didn't doubt his own logic about that. He had no reason to. He was a prince and a genius, after all.
Upon further inspection (through the phone that one of the grunts had picked up for whatever reason), he found out her identity—Aozora Cremisi.
He was familiar with the Cremisi family.
Their only son was a guardian for a famiglia that, at that time, was strong. It was a real shame that the boss was mysteriously murdered.
Aozora Cremisi was the one who intrigued him though. There wasn't much information concerning Aozora herself, but rather Yozora. Yozora was someone who received and gave out information for high prices. No one knew where exactly she got the information from—but it was accurate. Too accurate. Nonetheless, it wasn't hard to track her down even if she was using an alias. It didn't seem like she tried very hard to hide who she was to begin with.
Training was the only thing next to nothing that he could do while in Japan, so why not mess with her?
After all, he was—is a prince. He could do whatever he well pleased.
[ AOZORA'S POV ]
Did she really want her phone back? Was it really worth going through the trouble to get?
Yes, it was. She was going to get it back no matter what kinds of methods she had to use.
For most of her day, she spent it at school, having to stay afterward for detention because she dozed off during a class. Personally, she didn't feel like she needed to pay attention in English class. It was one of the easiest classes to pass anyways, so why bother with it?
The sun was already beginning to set by the time she began to go home. It felt like someone was following her, but the sunset was a nice view nonetheless. Aozora kept discreetly looking around once in a while. Maybe if she just pretended like she wasn't aware of anything that gut wrenching feeling would go away.
Though that was unlikely after she heard a faint 'ushishishi' that was probably meant to be heard.
That little bastard was purposely doing this to provoke her.
But no—she wouldn't fall for it. She wasn't stupid enough to just turn back and trace the voice to its source. That'd be the end of her life right there and now if she were to go back.
Aozora couldn't die just yet; there was still something she had to do before that.
Nothing as cliché as revenge for her family—no matter how shaken up she was at that time—but because she wanted to prove a point to someone.
Maybe then she'd be satisfied, but right now, she couldn't afford to have her life be taken away from her.
Continuing on seemed to be a good idea, so she did just that until that presence could be felt creeping up from behind her.
Once again he was making it agonizingly obvious.
Okay maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.
It did not go away.
Instead it—or rather he—reached for her hand and grabbed it, pulling her back while holding a knife up to her neck.
She didn't even try to get her phone back and this already happens.
Great.
[ BEL'S POV ]
Pretending to not notice him at all was actually a decent tactic for a commoner like she.
But it wasn't enough to trick a trained assassin. Who, by the way, also happens to be a prince.
Trying to outsmart him and ignore him in the first place was taboo to begin with. That uncultured swine. People like her needed to be taught a lesson.
What better way than to stick a knife to her throat? He was going to mess with her anyways, so it was like killing two birds with one stone. He was such a genius.
"I'll return your phone to you," he could already feel her body still, not because of the knife threatening to end her life, but rather because of the mention of her phone. "If you win a game of darts against me, I'll give it back."
He'll consider giving it back anyways.
[ AOZORA'S POV ]
Darts. A game of darts; out of all the things he could've picked.
Aozora's aim wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best either. Compared to Belphegor, there was no way she could win. He was trained to throw sharp objects, while as she wasn't trained—at all.
Sure, her brother's taught her before on how to aim properly for darts before, but it wasn't like it'd help her much in a bet such as the one Belphegor proposed. What other choice did she have but to accept, though? In her situation, she'd be better off losing a game of darts rather than losing her life. Alrighty then—game on.
"…Challenge accepted," she said whilst trying to keep her voice steady. Surely there wasn't much that she could lose by doing this, right? Other than her dignity, of course.
She allowed herself to be dragged like a rag doll to wherever Belphegor was leading her; the quicker they got this over with, the better. Although it was probably clear to the both of them that she'd lose this game. There was no way a random stroke of luck would happen and allow her victory. Aozora wasn't (that) pessimistic, but she knew when she'd lose something right away or not.
Belphegor was more or less quiet along the way, muttering an 'ushishishi' or something along the lines of that, until they arrived at a bar that she had no idea existed.
How shady. It fits the mood perfectly.
She was ushered into a private room by Belphegor, where a pool table and dart board was present inside. Being the gentleman Belphegor was, he oh-so-graciously allowed Aozora to go first. It didn't matter in the end who went first or last though.
Oh, Aozora lost alright—Belphegor's final score was much higher than hers. Hell, he scored all bull's eye.
She was nowhere close.
"Shishishi, how disappointing," the voice that was taunting her throughout the whole game spoke again. Ugh.
There was no way she was going to give up so easily. A chance was given to her to reclaim her phone; she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip right out from her fingers.
"I want a rematch," her voice hardened with newfound resolve. She really wanted her phone back. "Please let us have a rematch." Aozora would be staring into his eyes right now—if his eyes were visible.
"A rematch? First of all," Belphegor stepped closer to Aozora, in which case she took a slight step back. "The way your hand is is completely wrong, you aren't putting enough strength into it. How to do you expect to beat me, a prince, if that was even possible, in a game that you aren't even decent at?"
How hurtful, wow.
"Your posture isn't good either," with that said, he was behind Aozora in a flash, one of his hands holding onto her arm and his other arm around her waist. "This," he demonstrated by moving her arm, "is how it's done."
Oh God, was he actually doing this? What a huge cliché, Aozora thought. Biting her bottom lip, she stayed silent throughout the whole time Belphegor was 'teaching' her the proper ways to throw darts. The girl wondered to herself what she did to deserve such a fate.
He insulted her throwing and aim a lot during that time; but that's okay because she's materialistic enough to remember that for future use.
"Shishishi, and that, is how to properly do it. Next time I challenge you to this you better be better." A lot better—not just a little bit better.
The results next time are going to be different; much more promising than this time.
Aozora made a vow to herself that she'd get her phone back next time.
Or maybe a few tries after that. Either way, she was going to get it back sooner or later (hopefully in one piece). That's all that mattered to her at the moment.
"You should get back before it gets really dark~" His voice broke her out of her thoughts.
"Thanks," she replied sardonically, grabbing her bag and exiting the bar.
Wow it got really dark. He didn't even say anything about it. Luckily, her aunt was out for a business trip, and her uncle was probably asleep already, so she shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Once she made her way home, she trudged up the stairs to the second floor, turning a right and going through the second door to the left of the hall, entering her room.
Her room wasn't decorated with much things—a few posters here and there, a spare closet to add onto the wall closet, a desk equipped with a computer, and a few decks of playing cards scrambled around the room. Oh, and a bed; can't forget about the bed.
Throwing her bag down onto the bed, she grabbed a change of pajamas and went into the bathroom, which was adjacent to her room. Aozora was glad to be able to finally take a nice, long shower to help her think things through.
Meh, she had time—she can think things out tomorrow in the morning when she was fully rested.
Stepping out of the shower, she dried herself off and slid on her pajamas, staring at herself in the mirror. Aozora put a hand up to her cheek, were a small scar was present.
She pursed her lips together, wondering how she should hide and/or explain it. It wasn't like she could just say 'oh, a blonde assassin scratched my face with one of his knives when I wasn't listening to him talk. No problem, don't worry about it.'
As if anyone would actually believe that—though Aozora mused that the Sawada kid and his friends would probably believe her. They seemed like the bunch that'd believe what anyone says, no matter how fantastical or stupid it was.
Fortunately, Aozora only had morning classes tomorrow, so she could leave as soon as her third class was finished. Then she can… aaaand she forgot it already.
Aozora never did have perfect memory like her brother did. She didn't really worry much about it, though. If it was important, it'd come back to her sooner or later.
