It was suspicious to say the least. After all, Kazuma could hardly believe that Jugo had entrusted his daughter with the sacred sword of the Kannagis and set her after every youma in the country for four years only now to be deciding that she was in desperate need of a protector, especially since the protector in question would be an outcast of the family. All things considered, it was apparent that Jugo had something quite different in mind. Still, Kazuma was being offered an opportunity to follow around what had to be the most fascinating girl in Japan. The entertainment value alone was enough of an incentive, as well as the excuse of money so that he could feel entitled to the show.
Ayano's reaction to the news didn't disappoint. "Someone from the branch families would probably just get in my way." She said calmly.
"I assure you that won't be a problem." Her father replied, which Kazuma took as his cue. Leaning on the doorjam, he waited for the realization that they were going to be spending practically all of their time together sink in.
"Kazuma?"
"Ayano." He replied, relishing the feel of her name on his tongue.
"What are you doing? We're kind of in the middle of a meeting here, you know?"
"Well, someone's a little edgy. Don't worry, if we get out there and it's too much for you to handle, I'll step in and save you."
"He's my bodyguard?" She demanded, somehow managing to glare at him without completely turning her head to look at him. "There's no way!"
"Very well, Ayano." Her father said softly and Kazuma felt a tinge of disappointment that it had been decided that easily. "You may stay here and I will send Kazuma with someone from the special investigations unit." Which he had to admit sounded beyond dull despite the money. A mysterious blush spread across Ayano's cheeks though. What could she be thinking about?
"Just kidding!" She suddenly announced. "I'd be happy to do it. This is my school we're talking about and I wouldn't dare trust this to outsiders."
"Good." Kazuma said, grabbing her by the arm. "Then let's go."
"I'm counting on you." Jugo informed them as they left. Not that he would admit it, but the idea of spending the night in a dark school alone with Ayano sounded far more appealing than it really should have to Kazuma.
"Why would you even consider a job like this? It's not your style at all." Ayano asked as soon as they made it to the school. Watching her from the corner of his eye, he shrugged.
"Yeah, but the money is incredible." It wasn't because of her that way, right?
"I'm not sensing anything out of the ordinary. Are you sensing anything right now?" She was asking. Besides her, right? Besides that warm glow that was emanating from her the darker it got, the colder it got?
"I'm just here as your bodyguard. I've got my own job to do. This whole paranormal investigation is yours."
"I know that, but…" They both paused when they heard the rustle of a bush, and Kazuma mentally scolded himself for not sensing them sooner even as Ayano was already fully aflame. Dropping the toe of his shoe in front of her, she tripped, her fire flaring high above them as he steadied her with a hand at her waist.
"What are you doing?" She demanded and in reply he pointed her towards the bushes, where her two friends were mumbling their greetings.
Their little chit-chat was a delay he didn't appreciate. Standing apart from them, he studied the school and searched for a sense of some other presence while they talked. It wasn't until he heard his name that he paid attention.
"If you can't handle it, we know Kazuma can." The silly blonde was saying. He sighed, having no intention of adding the two of them to his work load when he'd been planning on having Ayano to himself for the evening.
"I was only hired to protect you, Ayano." He informed them, irritated that she wasn't the only one around to be protected in the first place. "So I won't be babysitting anyone else. If they're coming with us, their safety is your problem, got it?"
"You're the most self-centered…" Ayano muttered before being caught off-guard by the giggling of her friends, which had Kazuma glancing back as well.
"I think it's sweet, Ayano. He's saying he's totally devoted to protecting you." Quickly Kazuma turned away again in case she saw confirmation clearly written on his face.
"If our being here is messing up your romantic date or whatever, just tell us and we'll be on our way." The other said, and though he kept quiet, he waited for Ayano to send them away.
"I so thought you were better than that." The red-head replied, her temper flaring in her aura, which Kazuma recognized wasn't exactly a denial.
"Hey, are they coming or not?" Kazuma finally asked. "You girls would argue all night if I let you." When he looked over, he found Ayano glowering at him while the other two smiled sweetly. Apparently they were coming then, and he was eager to get this night over with in that case.
Seriously though, did that blonde ever stop talking?
At least Ayano seemed to be showing some sense rather than being enraptured by the idea of a ghost. While it was most likely she was just jaded to the idea of the paranormal with youmas and what not, it was a relief that she wasn't imagining stories to entertain them with. Keeping quiet, he tried to tune them out, focusing instead on the sounds in the school, mostly that of the wind.
"Mr. Stoic would have reacted by now." Ayano said right as a strange disturbance seemed to bounce across his senses. The wind he sent was returned in full force. "Kazuma!" Ayano cried as she fought down her short skirt.
"That wasn't me." He said, but now that he thought about it, he almost wished it had been.
"Did you see it?" She demanded, though he couldn't be sure whether she meant the would-be ghost or up her skirt.
"Not a thing." He assured her. Well it was true. He hadn't seen a thing resembling a ghost, not that he'd been looking. As if reading his mind, Ayano's sword came down on him right as the ball of light hurtled passed them.
As they followed the other two deeper into the school, Kazuma was pleased to find Ayano kept close to him, easily within arm's reach just in case.
"Sensing anything from what happened earlier?" She asked. For a moment, Kazuma was sure she meant wind, which had created more of a show than he'd really bargained for. Of course, that was ridiculous. They were working, right? He had to keep his head straight here with Ayano officially under his protection.
"Nope. Nothing."
"What? But how is that possible? I mean, how can this be the one thing your sense don't pick up on?" He wanted to laugh at how infuriated she sounded by the impairment of his senses when all the while he was very well aware of the fact that it was because of her. His sense were practically soaking in her presence.
"You have a point."
"I knew it! You are hiding something from me." She insisted.
"Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not." He replied, purposely trying to be vague. Then again, he'd been hiding much from her. While he'd been enjoying the view from behind for most of the day, it was more because he knew she couldn't see how keenly he was watching her every move, every nuance. "Why? Cause you can't figure me out and you're just dying to know more?" He teased when in reality it was the same trap he was stuck in with her. He liked the idea that she was just as curious as he was about her.
"Don't dodge the question! I'm not kidding around!" She yelled, taking a fistful of his collar and yanking them face to face. "Tell me what you know, mister!" Oh but she was adorable when riled up. Keeping his eyes to her, he considered telling her. He could simply and calmly inform her of the fact that he spent his time dwelling on her, wondering when would be the appropriate time to make his move. Or…
He could kiss her nose. It was simply too much of a temptation to resist in the first place.
He'd rather hoped for more of a response than her immediate retreat, however. "What did you do that for?"
"No reason." He lied. "It just seemed the quickest way to make you let go of me." After all, he had just kissed her with her friends watching and she hadn't even bothered to look like she'd enjoyed it. "Oh, and by the way, turn around." He said as the light wound its way down the stairs and straight into Ayano. "I've got to be honest with you. I think that's the least graceful thing I've ever seen."
"Oh that's just Ayano. She's always been that way." The blonde one – what was her name again? – told him. He glanced at her, wondering what other little details like that there were to learn about her.
"You know, that's more believable than all of your other stories combined." He hoped she'd tell more.
The evening, if nothing else, only confirmed his realization that Ayano was prone to following her instincts, especially when she felt embarrassed. The number of times she ended up on the ground, stumbling about in pursuit of a simple ball of light. He had to admit though, by the time Ayano was trudging along with her friends behind him, he was getting a little fed up with all the antics himself. The poor girl had fallen down a flight of stairs and was still managing to walk, so he figured things had gone just about far enough. He couldn't exactly go flying across the hall to save her every time she tripped. After all, it was obvious no one meant any real harm.
When he'd finally corralled the three of them into a classroom to dry off and rest, Ayano immediately fell to speculations. Kazuma had been searching for a pattern and found none, only harmless pranks, which pointed to one thing in particular, not that he was certain of this. It was useless for Ayano to speculate about it too though.
"You're lying." She hissed.
"I'm telling the truth." He insisted, leaning in close, brushing his hand across the sweep of her hair across her waist. "Just trust me. Remember, it is my sworn duty to protect you." He reminded her. Was it just him, or had her body just heated up a few degrees?
"Stop dodging the question. I know exactly what you're doing." She said, her voice oddly high.
"Why can't you just believe me?" He asked, watching the play of emotion across her face, restraining himself from brushing his fingers across the curve of her cheek.
Stepping back, he held himself in check, calming his sense and mind while the girls teased Ayano into that cute blush that was heating her face.
"I'm glad you guys got a chance to play boyfriend-girlfriend, but we do have an angry ghost stalking us."
"Who wouldn't fall for him? He's cool."
"Kazuma, say something." Ayano demanded. His senses had found the school yard though and he had no time for their frivolous teasing, nor any interest in denying their claims.
"The school yard. The winds are shifting."
"Why didn't you sense them before?" Ayano wondered.
"It's sort of like tuning out background noise." He said pointedly, thinking of her friends. It was a safer excuse than explaining that he had yet to learn how exactly to tune her aura out, and therefore it had been dominating his senses.
They'd barely made it outside before Ayano was victim once again. He was beginning to feel a fond sort of pity for the girl over this whole thing. It had to be embarrassing.
"Alright, you've managed to upset the princess. Game's over." He said, stepping in with Ayano in tears on the ground. With her friends there, he couldn't exactly comfort her, now could he? He couldn't let them see that something to small as her tears of humiliation were enough to make him uncomfortable. When the fairy didn't immediately agree to come down though, he wasn't above tossing her about a little in return though.
Ayano, more or less recovered, was still prepared to simply kill the annoying bug. "Calm down." Kazuma said, resting his hand on hers over the sword, and she let him.
"They have so much in common." Her friend observed, and he really had to agree, though the fairy seem to have a special sort of annoyance about her.
"I'm nothing like her!" They both argued, pointing at the other, before a full scale war raged between them in silence.
"Hey, don't get upset. I'll make it up to you with dinner sometime, okay?" Kazuma suggested, watching her reaction. It was earlier than he'd really planned on making any moves, but somehow he felt the need to lay some sort of claim over, have some connection besides the money her father was offering him.
"It better cost at least half of what you made on this job." She decreed.
"No problem. Whatever makes you feel better." And ensures that she would come. More than a little pleased with himself, he waited for the fairy to explain herself so they could get out of there.
When the cherry tree blossomed, Kazuma had to stop himself from reaching for Ayano's hand while she watched with wonder in her eyes.
He considered not telling her, he really did. After all of the embarrassment she'd gone through for this, he figured she deserved to think that all of it had been in order to gain some beautiful blossoms and miracles. Unfortunately she caught onto him, reading his quick attention easier than she should have.
"What now?"
"Nothing."
"Don't you nothing me." He sighed, because the only reason he had been able to figure out what they were really up to was because he was doing the exact same thing they had been. As her protector, he had certain responsibilities, even if that meant he was the thing she had to be protected from. Him, and all of his past.
"The best way to protect something is to keep it totally hidden, and no one is going to search for it if they don't know it exists in the first place. The pixies were causing trouble and that's the only reason we went there to investigate. Meaning, they were doing anything but protecting that old cherry tree."
He took a moment, thinking that while Ayano may have been like that pixie in some ways, she was like the tree in others, needing to be kept his secret in a way until things could blossom. "They were really just having some fun." He told them eventually.
"You were having way too much fun watching Ayano go crazy. Naughty, naughty." The blonde realized and he couldn't disagree while they watched Ayano's antics.
