Leah smiled absently when she found a picture of Mai and Logan in the girl's nightstand. It was the last of the many photos Mai had of Logan, and seeing the gruff, older man smirking made Leah feel nostalgic. She noticed one of the Exwires, Suguro, staring at her, as if he had something to say. She put the picture back on the nightstand and turned to face him.
"What is it?" She asked, her voice coming out harsher than she had meant to.
"Her parents are back..." He jabbed his thump toward the door, which remained shut.
Leah nodded, and clapped her hands loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Time to go." She said simply, and headed for the window. Okumura and Shima shared an uncertain look.
"What about Maira?" Shima asked.
"Nothing else to do here." Leah answered, halfway out the window already. "The Angelic Legion will handle the rest." The pink haired boy frowned.
"But-" He was interrupted by Leah's phone ringing. A wave of hope rushed over her as she answered it. "Yes?"
"Leah." Angel's voice came through. He sounded relieved. "We know where she is."
Leah was standing outside the building, the Exwires surrounding her. They had insisted they tagged along, and all things considered, it wouldn't do much harm. Angel and his team were going to be late, because of the key's inability to handle large groups of people. So, the Angelic Legion would have to get there one by one.
She studied the building. It was a mere two-stories tall, the old paint peeling off and all it's windows smashed. Leah sighed heavily. This was just too cliché for her taste.
"You brought the satanspawn here?" Leah turned to see her older brother in full Exorcist gear, a gloved hand resting on Caliburn's hilt. "No. He's an optical illusion, here to torment you." She replied sarcastically. If anything lifted her mood, it was seeing his near-perfect, porcelain face break into a scowl.
"It might be too dangerous for kids." Lewin Light commented, walking up behind his partner in crime.
"You brought him here?" Leah asked, the corner of her eye twitching. The Exwires all shared a look of confusion and amusement.
"Lightning is actually useful." Angel answered, pushing a stray strand of golden hair out of his face.
"So's the spawn." Leah deadpanned.
"I'm right here!" Okumura protested.
"Let's just go inside." Lewin said, sounding almost tired. "You two are worse than an elderly couple..." He went ahead, followed by the Exwires and the rest of Angel's team.
"In fact," Angel began once everyone was out of earshot."You shouldn't have come either."
"It's not a secret I want to keep anymore." She answered and turned away.
Inside, the building was cold. The last rays of sunshine weren't doing much to help with the dark interior either, so Lewin passed around flashlights. Both floors, however were empty. There were a few empty beer cans, tossed here and there, but that might as well have been the people behind the endless, distasteful graffiti on the walls.
"We found a door!" Okumura yelled excitedly. Next to him, an exorcist coughed loudly, as sure sign that the boy should shut it.
"Don't be so loud." He chastised.
"Your people seem to be fine with him." Leah told her brother, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows. Angel just glared at her, and headed for the door Okumura had found. The whole group gathered around him, peeking over his shoulder as he forced the door open. Behind it was a staircase that went down, into the basement.
As quietly as they could in the dark, the group descended into the ground. In there, the cold was even worst, and too add to it, the place reeked of mildew. The basement itself was as big as the rest of the building, divided into sections by pillars.
And there, in the far end of it, was Maira. She was curled into a ball, shaking. Leah was the first to react, running to her side. She turned her body over, and Maira mumbled something; she was asleep. A rush of relief came over the blond, until Shima pointed a cut on her thigh.
The cut wasn't that bad; nothing a simple bandage wouldn't fix. It was, however, oozing a blue liquid, mixed with blood. It just didn't feel right.
"Mashida, take care of her wounds." Angel ordered the moment he saw the girl. "The rest of you, with me." He strut off to the other side of the basement, although Leah doubted it was because he needed their help with anything. It wasn't a secret that her brother wasn't fond of anything demon related.
Mashida, one of the Doctors of Artur's squad, knelled beside Leah, inspecting the cut on Maira's thigh.
"I'll have to cauterize it. Please check for any other cuts." Mashida said and started searching one of his many pouches for the right instruments. Nodding, Leah felt Maira's back. No cuts there. Even under the insufficient light, Leah was sure there were no other cuts with blue substance oozing out of them. In her arms, Maira stirred.
The darkness remained, yet it subsided. A scent, so sweet, so familiar. Maira tried to open her eyes, only to be met with blinding light. Still, there was no mistaking it.
"Leah?" She tried to call out but her voice was no more than a croak.
"I'm here Mai." Her voice reached her, accompanied with a buzzing noise that made Maira's ears split with pain.
"Is it time?" She asked. For a moment there was no answer.
"No." Leah answered with finality. More buzzing.
"Mai, I need you to count down from three, 'kay?" Maira couldn't answer. What Leah was doing here was beyond her and her throat was so coarse, the words wouldn't come out. Try as she might, she could only attempt to croak out the numbers, and even in her half-conscious state she knew it was barely audible.
Leah cradled Maira in her arms like a newborn baby. Shima and Rin were tasked with holding down Maira's legs, while the doctor prepared for the cauterization.
"Three." Leah's voice, mixed with Maira's, echoed through the basement.
"Two." Leah nodded quietly to Mashida.
"One."
Shima was almost blown back when Maira screamed and started thrashing around. Her foot found his chest and knocked him off her. Rin somehow managed to keep her other, injured leg down without breaking it. Leah's cheek had a meek scratch on it, result of keeping her head so close to Maira's. She cradled the screaming girl, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like a lullaby.
The cauterization was done, and the doctor moved gingerly away from Maira. Angel took his place next to Leah and whispered something in her ear. For a moment, Shima was surprised by the resemblance. Both exorcists were tall and thin as paper, with golden hair flowing down their backs. The only difference was that Angel's eyes were icy blue, while Leah's were leafy green. It suited them, he thought. Leah seemed like a much warmer person.
Maira's eyes opened and the looked straight at Leah, almost accusingly.
"Why?" She asked. Leah looked back at her surprised, but thankfully, the teen fainted right after and her furious kicking ceased.
Angel stared at the girl and for a moment, no one said a thing. "We have to take her back for proper healing." He said decisively and rose to his feet. Leah looked up at him, as if she'd forgotten he was there. Shima thought he saw a tear run down her uninjured cheek.
Maira was happily snoozing in one of the beds in the Japanese Branch's HQ. The infirmary was just as he remembered; cold and sterile. Shima and the others had stayed while the doctors removed the rest of the poison from her body. By the time they were done, two hours had passed, and everyone was exhausted as all hell. One of them had shoved her cellphone into Leah's hands and told her to contact her parents. The people here weren't aware of the situation, Shima realized, or they just didn't care enough.
Absently, he brushed a strand of hair away from her pale face.
"I don't get it." Rin said. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
"It took seconds for the other woman to die, but Maira lasted a day with the poison inside her."
Leah, who was collapsed in the only comfortable-looking chair in the room, smiled at him tiredly.
"Maira's Sentinel is too strong and committed." She said. Shima studied the way she was sitting. The chair probably wasn't that comfortable, he guessed, but still better than the cold, stiff metal one he was sitting in. If anyone was comfortable, it would be Shiemi. Leah had given her an extra blanket and a pillow, and the blond girl was now curled down on the floor, sleeping.
"Besides, demons don't always mark humans just because they want to play house with them. It's more than usual that they use it to signify their territory. Like gangs using graffiti to mark their turf." She explained. "Maira's just lucky that her demon is one mean, possessive bitch."
"Then how did she get captured in the first place?" Konekomaru asked, eying the mark on Maira's wrist warily.
"Sentinel's a relatively young demon, I guess. Spend more time in Assiah than Gehenna, so her reactions are kinda slow. Compared to other demons of her level anyway."
"You sure know a lot about it." Bon commented.
"Of course I do. I've known them both since Mai was seven. Besides," Leah tugged the collar of her shirt down, revealing what Shima mistook for a tattoo. "I'm branded too."
Leah's mark was far more intricate that Maira's. It looked like glowing cherry blossom, with rays of light surrounding it. What was more, it was drawn on her alabaster skin with golden ink, barely visible under the harsh light of the infirmary. The blossom winked at him as Leah let her fingers slip from her collar.
"Anyways, you guys should go home. There's no telling whether Mephisto will let you sleep in or not." She said, a cool smile on her face.
Okay, then! I'm glad to see that the story is moving forward. Although, I guess I'm sorry about the lack of the promised Shima/Maira. It is slightly hinted here, but next chapters will have more of it (still no promises) .
