Chapter 6: Potential Recruits

Night had settled into the vast village which rested on China's shore, most of its inhabitants dining by candlelight in their homes. Alma had set up for a quiet dinner for the two at the inn the Black Order had picked for them. Though small and quiet, the food wasn't so bad; the two had no intention of staying there that night. It had been four days since their arrival in China, and neither one spoke of the event on the boat. As soon as they had made it through their first day, it was strictly business from then on.

"It's almost like home cooked meals." Emiko teased as she took a sip of water.

"Mhm." Alma smiled to her. "So, after we leave here, we'll head West a little more before we reach India."

"Are you sure we should go to India?" Emiko twirled the end of her hair between two fingers. "Headquarters told us to go to China..."

"Not technically..." He pushed his empty plate away, stuffed from the curry and rice he had for dinner. "They said to find the Innocence, and that it would be in China."

"So...? That's what I said. Go to China."

"They would rather have us find this Innocence than be in China for no reason. We have reason to believe this girl's in India."

"Yeah but the Black Order has reason to believe she's here in China. Plus, how are they supposed to know where we are?" Emiko crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

"I sent out a letter when I first started hearing consistent rumors about the Innocence moving to India." He nodded, glancing down at Emiko's full plate of curry, only her salad finished off. "You should eat something more than just salad, by the way."

"How long ago was that?" She leaned forward, scooping some rice into her mouth.

"About 3 days ago, so they should receive word any day now."

"Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"Nah. We could miss our chances with her."

Shortly after their pit stop, the duo set out once again, making a commitment to walk all night, stopping every hour for a half hour of sleep. From the looks of it the girl harnessing this Innocence moves quickly and very frequently, so Alma and Emiko would need to keep up, if not, one step ahead.

The night moved slowly, each half hour of sleep getting harder and harder to wake up from. If it were not for Alma's internal clock going off, Emiko would have slept through the night like a baby. Finally, they reached the border of India, just as the sun broke through the night's sky.

"We made good timing." Alma was pleased.

"Mhm..." Emiko couldn't help showing her exhaustion, though once again she was left confused as to why the hike didn't faze Alma.

"Let's go find an inn."

"That's the best news I've heard in days." She yawned, stretching her arms.

"From the news, I've gathered from the last town we were in, she likes to act at night, so we'll sleep through most of the day, and then start our journey again once the sun sets."

Emiko nodded, the only thing she could think of was a nice warm bed. It didn't take long for the two to reach the nearest town, then finding the closest inn. Luckily headquarters got their letter in time, and sent funds to each inn in every town on the west side of India.

Alma was the first one awake. Looking over to the other side of the room, he saw Emiko sound asleep, cocooned in her blankets. He sighed, kicking himself for leaving the window open. Shifting off the chair in the corner of the small room, he quickly awoke his partner. With a jolt, she sat up quickly, throwing herself out of bed while still being half asleep.

"...Akuma...! Akuma...!" She muttered as she fell to her knees. "Wha...?"

"Hey, wake up." Alma attempted to catch her as she fell, but only succeeded in landing on the floor with her. "You up?"

"Yeah... How'd I get on the floor?" She rubbed the grogginess from her eyes.

"Well you just jumped out of bed a minute ago, I guess I woke you from quite a dream. You mumbled 'Akuma' twice."

"Oh yeah... I was dreaming that a gigantic Akuma was eating Saya and Yu back at headquarters, but I was here and didn't know."

"Interesting..." Alma pondered the dream for a moment before shrugging it off. "We should get moving."

"Alright... Give me 20 minutes in the bathroom please. I need to bathe."

Agreeing to her 20-minute time limit he waiting patiently for her while inspecting the town from their second-floor window. So far nothing seemed out of place. It irked him that they were constantly one step behind this girl. Every town they were in, she was there a day or two before.

As soon as Emiko finished readying herself, they set out on their trip once more. They'd walk for a few hours before starting to take half an hour naps, though this time it was every two hours. Emiko hated the idea, though Alma pushed for it until she gave in. Her only consequence was that if she were to collapse from exhaustion, he was to carry her until morning. He agreed gladly, convincing himself that sleeping half the amount they did the previous night would help him catch up to the mysterious girl.

"Almaaa..." Emiko whined, noticing herself dragging almost 3 feet behind him. "Can we take a break now? It's probably been two hours..."

He sighed, hearing the pain in her voice. With a nod, he sat down, leaning against a nearby tree. Taking off his coat, he folded it up as a sort of pillow for her.

"Here ya go." He patted the jacket. "You can use it as a pillow if you want."

"...How sweet of you." She smiled, a little taken aback by the gesture.

As fate would have it, as soon as Emiko closed her eyes, she heard voices muttering back and forth. Sneering, she tried to block them out but couldn't help analyzing them. One was male, the other female, and they were definitely arguing.

"Huh." Alma scratched the back of his head. "They sound like Saya and Yu without they're bickering."

Emiko chuckled while snuggling into his coat. "Well that's just silly."

He nodded with a light laugh before hearing what seemed to be a struggle. Both of them hopped to their feet, Emiko taking Alma's coat in her hands. Rushing to the cliff near them where the voices originated from, both gasped as they seen the hoard of Akumas surrounding two people.

"Oh my..." Emiko placed her hand over her mouth while handing Alma's coat back with the other hand.

"They're exorcists..."

"Not just any exorcists... It's Saya and Yu!"

Being reckless wasn't something that suited Emiko. With a quick thought of her childhood flashing through her memory, she took a step back. As a young girl, Saya was always the one protecting her. Jumping in on three bullies at a time to push them away. As they got older, the acts of kindness Saya did grew bigger to the point of tackling armed burglars while they tried robbing Emiko.

With that one step forward, Emiko leaped down the side of the cliff. Alma stood there stunned as he watched her sliding down, her one hand digging into the dirt of the cliff to keep her balance, though he soon followed suit.

"Saya!" Emiko yelled while landing, activating her innocence.

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Sweat stung Saya's eyes as she kept her bow pulled taut as she had her back pressed against Yu's. They were mostly at a stalemate with the Akumas around them. They weren't attacking first and after the first two died the Akumas were becoming more cautious; they were looking for a weakness. Her leg was burning with the weight it was supporting but she let no signs of the pain show outwardly, best to not give the Akuma any opportunities.

"Well…" She huffed as she waited for someone to make a move. "This is pretty boring don'tcha think?"

Yu made a noise. "You never know when to shut up."

"You say that now, but when I stop talking you're going to start wondering what happened to me. I'll bet it'll even freak you out."

"That's what you think…" He answered though there wasn't any heat in his voice.

Saya smirked. "I'm tired of waiting." She murmured as she stared at the Akuma in front of her. "I have an idea that might just get me killed but might actually work too."

"You have got to be joking."

"No, actually this time I'm totally serious, when I tell you to I want you to crouch."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Nothing that I want to say where they can hear me, but you'll know when you'll have an opening for an attack…" She smiled though he couldn't see it.

"Fine but you better not get yourself killed."

"I'll try not to." She sighed as she tested her left leg and decided that it wouldn't hold much longer. "Now!" She shouted as she released her grip on her sting, spun around and used her now free hand to leapfrog herself over Yu's body.

"A thousand burning arrows!" Her left knee hit the ground as she grabbed the bowstring and pulled tight before launching a volley of flaming arrows into the Akuma that had been previously in front of Yu, she had stunned them just long enough to hit several of them before Yu launched himself over her.

"First Illusion Kaichu Ichigen." Yu said as he swung his sword and several worm-like spirit creatures rushed the Akumas.

"Volley of freezing arrows." Saya countered as she pivoted herself to face the ones she had been looking at previously and released another rush of arrows. Most hit the ground and formed a small frozen wall giving her enough time to stand and press her back against Yu's again as he moved back to her.

"Did we get any…?" Saya panted as she tried to quell the shaking in her leg.

"Yes… We got one." Yu answered quietly.

"How many does that leave us?"

"Nine…"

"Damn…" She laughed lightly as she leaned into the strength of his back. "I don't think I can do this much longer…"

Just then a female voice caught Saya's attention as she noticed a small female figure skidding down the cliff face. It was Emiko.

"Em! What in the name of the seven hells are you doing here?" Saya shouted as she noticed her friend skidding down the rocks.

"Saving you!" Emiko snapped as her fingernails slid cleanly through the neck of an Akuma who hadn't noticed her until it was too late.

"Geez!" Saya cried as she released a round of arrows into the other Akumas to keep them from attacking Emiko from behind. "At least pay attention to your back!"

Alma joined the fight then as he cleaved another in half and jumped next to Saya and Yu, putting his back against their left side. "It seems you two know where all the fun is" He said with a smile.

Emiko finally joined them on the right as they stared at the last of them. "Well how many is there now?"

"Seven." Yu and Saya answered at the same time.

Emiko blinked. "Seven? Why so many?"

"Because we gave them six different Exorcists to choose from." Yu answered.

"Six?"

"Well there's you, Alma, Yu and me here" Saya answered as she tried to support her own weight; Yu's back pressed into her to help her support her weight more easily. "That also means that the person you were after is here in India and Yu and I were sent after another one here in India. That makes six."

"Let's get this over quickly." Yu growled as he suddenly vanished and attacked an Akuma before him leaving Alma and Emiko to either charge an opponent or just stand there; they attacked.

Saya stood where she was and tried to keep the ones from behind at bay with a constant volley of arrows. She was wearing down. Her body hadn't had enough time to fully recuperate nor had she had enough physical therapy to get back into shape. Her leg ached and her fingers burned from the constant firing of her arrows. She wasn't paying as close attention to her back and sides as she should have when Alma's voice broke her concentration.

"Saya behind you!" He called as the Akuma that started this whole thing teleported behind her.

She turned but she didn't have a chance to try and shoot another volley of arrows into her new opponent and there was no one near enough to save her. She knew she didn't have a chance, she was going to get hit, hard, but just as the Akuma swung his hand to backhand her a blue glowing shield appeared between her and the Akuma; it hissed angrily. Two small girls landed on either side of Saya, one holding what looked like an energy sword and one creating the shield.

"Dear god they're twins!" Saya quipped as she saw the girls. "Komui is so getting in trouble for sending both on the same damn mission."

"You should just sit back and relax while we handle this." The girl holding the sword stated with a cocky attitude. "We're obviously better at this than you are."

Saya sighed as she grabbed the girl's shoulder and dragged her back to her sister and stuck her there. "How about you let the older ones handle this and you can sit there and look pretty." She teased as she took aim at the Akuma that could teleport to and from battle; it disappeared but it didn't faze her.

"Gotcha…" She muttered as she released the tension on the sting of her bow. The arrow soared straight at empty air until suddenly the Akuma appeared from its teleport in time for the arrow to sink into its chest and explode, killing it.

The young one growled and not to be shown up charged head long for another Akuma. Instead of a sword she now held a spear that she threw into the Akuma before she jumped and yanked it completely through its body also killing her target.

"Not bad." Saya answered as she smirked at the girl. "But you left your back wide open, if your sister wasn't here to keep something from attacking you what would you do then?"

"I wouldn't be fighting here because I'd be wherever she was, duh." The girl answered as she walked back to her sister and Saya; Saya sighed.

There were two left now since Yu, Alma and Emiko finally dispatched the one's they were on. Yu had charged one of the remaining two leaving one for the rest of them but Saya didn't care. She swung around and fired several arrows into the Akuma Yu was focusing on. Four frozen arrows stuck out of the Akuma's limbs making him completely immobile and left him open for attack; it didn't last long.

Finally there weren't any left and for a moment everyone just stood there and let the tension ease off them. They took a collective breath before finally moving out of fighting stances. Saya hit the ground, her leg finally just gave out and now she was sitting on the ground as she took deep breaths to quell the urge to start shaking from the strain her body took.

"I don't think I'm getting up again…" She stated as she laughed lightly. "It's just not going to happen."

The quiet one of the twins slowly made her way over to where Saya was sitting, chewing on her thumb. "I think I can help you…" She said in a small voice as she looked at Saya's leg. "I don't think I can fix the scar but I can help the muscle."

Saya smiled. "That would be lovely if you could but don't strain yourself or we'll have to carry two people out of here."

The girl knelt and placed her hands above Saya's leg. At first nothing happened but then a blue light emerged from her palms and sunk into Saya's leg. Saya flinched and then bit her lip.

"That's so weird…" She noted as she watched the girl. "I can feel it."

"That's because I'm healing your Qi." The girl answered.

"You can manipulate Qi? Is that what your Innocence is?"

"My what?" The girl looked up at Saya confused.

"Your Innocence. It's what helped you fight Akuma, the things we were just fighting." Saya informed the girl.

"I guess…" The girl answered as she pulled her hands away from Saya's leg. "There… You should be able to stand on your leg now. It should be able to support you like it used to."

Say stood, putting her weight on her leg gingerly then smiled when it didn't give way. "So…" She started as she turned to the girls. "I know this great place that gives you cool clothing, all the food you'll ever want and a place to sleep in turn for ya'll showing them your Innocence and agreeing to join them. You get to fight all the baddies you want. Why don't you come with us, it'll be fun?"

The cocky girl opened her mouth to decline instantly but her sister looked over at her. A moment passed between them before the first girl sighed and shrugged. "Just as long as none of you get in our way."

Saya smirked. "Man, I know someone who you totally sound like." She muttered as she led the way out of the valley.

Emiko snickered softly as she heard Yu's uncomfortable groan. Saya shot him a playful look before the group then decided to head back to headquarters.

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It seemed as though the time it took to return to headquarters wasn't as long as actually getting to China and India. Everyone rested on the trains and ferries then walked some of the way. A large group of exorcists seemed to gain more respect from civilians then just two.

"This sure is the life!" The one twin smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well don't get too relaxed. You still need to be examined at headquarters." Yu huffed, causing an awkward silence in the group.

Emiko and Alma almost took turns giving each other quick glances before looking out the train's window.

"What's with you two?" Saya arched a brow, breaking that silence.

"What do you mean?" Emiko felt her cheeks flush as she was put on the spot.

"You keep looking at each other." Saya honestly had no idea what was going on between the two. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Alma answered with a smile; Saya shrugged.

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It was almost when they all got back to what they now called home. Both twins passed through the door without fail. To make it easier on the sleeping staff, Saya shared Emiko's room while giving her's up to the twins for the night. There wasn't a big debate on who would be giving up whose room, though Emiko was bound and determined to keep hers. Some territorial instinct in her kicked in out of nowhere, feeling as though her things needed to be left alone.

As soon as the twin's heads hit the pillows, they were out. With such big attitudes, it's hard to believe how young they are. Sharing a bed with Saya again brought back vivid memories to Emiko. With a sigh, she could take the good memories with the bad; the times where they stayed up all night talking, to the times where they were too terrified to go to sleep.

Emiko looked over to her friend and smirked at the way she had fallen asleep. Straight on her back with her arms crossed over her chest, a stern look on her face. Snuggling into her pillow, Emiko wondered what Saya had been dreaming about. Just as soon as her mind wandered, she fell fast asleep with a smile on her face, happy to finally be back in her own bed.