21 – I Love You, Sato-kun
It was days later that Maia is allowed to go home, accompanied by her trusty and overprotective brother, Kira, and Satoshi. Everyone was happy, and they threw a party at Maia's house to celebrate her return from the hospital safely.
Miraculously, she has recovered, and not a scar was left behind after a few days. The doctors are astounded with the discovery, and had intended to take her as an experiment of sort, but not before Kent stepped in and gave them a good glare. Everyone scampered to hide somewhere after that. Nobody dares to get on the bad side of Kent. More or less making his favorite niece to be somebody's experiment test subject.
Maia did not lose her memory of everyone or of Yoi. The moment she came out of the hospital, she has requested for the presence of Yoi. As Yoi could not come on land for long, Maia came to the sea side and thanks him personally for saving her life. Yoi couldn't be any happier.
"Now that most of my powers are gone, will you still stay by my side, Yoi-kun?" Maia asks Yoi, holding the little King's hand in hers.
"We're not Yoi-kun. It's high time you call us by our proper title, Maia-chan."
"I won't do that, you know? And you're avoiding the question…"
"With your powers gone, we won't be drawn to you like we used to be. You'll still be here, and we'll come and see you, but we won't be able to help you the next time you got lost and ill. If you and us formed a blood bond, then maybe we could help you in case you're stuck in a catastrophe."
"Then why won't you ask me to perform the blood bond with you?"
"It's too intimate. It's only done to those who wanted to be bonded to each other's souls for the rest of their existence. Sometimes it lasted through their next life cycle; others just disappeared once they passed away."
"Then we'll do it on a brother and sister basis. Is that acceptable?"
After thinking for a while, Yoi smiles at Maia. "We think so…"
Maia went back to school after one week of rest at home. Everyone seemed to notice that Maia seemed to bath in a strange sort of soft luminous glow, making her more beautiful than she ever was before. Everyone wanted to talk to her, and even Risa came up to talk to her, asking if she is well. Maia answers back graciously, forgetting all the enemy part with Risa now that she is well again.
Classes finishes soon, and Maia went out of the class and came up to the school's ground. Satoshi is nowhere to be seen, as he had gone to the library to return some books he had borrowed.
A group of men came closer to her, standing behind a guy who seemed like their leader.
"Hey," said their leader, who is a good looking man with dyed blonde hair. Maia noticed that he had really pretty green eyes, but she thought that those might have been contact lenses. Nonetheless, she smiled back politely, bowing a little to show her respect.
"Hello," Maia said graciously, holding her hair back from the soft breeze threatening to blow her curls all over her face. The leader smiled back politely and extended his hand.
"I like you," he confessed, his gaze confident and staring. "I've noticed you ever since your play that day. Would you be willing to go out with me?"
"Excuse me," Satoshi said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere and stood near the leader, looking every inch angry and jealous, steams blowing out from his red ears. "She's my girlfriend."
"Sato-kun," Maia called out to him, flashing him her famous wide set of smile when she saw him. Satoshi saw the leader blush a little and gave him a glare, hoping to chase him away with that.
But the leader stayed put. It seemed that with his members backing him up, he became brave, like a bully does when he have his gangs behind him.
"You can't save her," the leader said suddenly, laughing when he saw one of his members making a silly face at Satoshi. "It's better that she be with me. I'm stronger and infinitely bigger than you. I saw what happened on the stage that day. She got hurt protecting you, not the other way round. You can't protect her. I can, so run along, boy."
"You're one of the audiences, aren't you?" Satoshi retorted angrily, his brows frowning in concentration as he felt his blood boiled at the thought of the man thinking that he is good enough for Maia. "All the audiences ran away screaming upon realizing what really happened. You are one of the audiences, and I didn't see you anywhere near the ambulance either. You're just a selfish man wanting her now that she's well known and glowing!"
Just as the man is about to say anything else, Satoshi grabbed his collar and pushed him into a tree with a strength that the leader didn't expect from someone like him. "I'm the one who loves her," said Satoshi ferociously, baring his canine teeth as he glared into the leader's now frightened face. "So back off!"
The leader, upon sensing the real situation, edgily but helplessly backed off and left the ground with his group of members.
Turning around angrily, Satoshi cupped Maia's face in his and pulled her face up, smothering her in a passionate emblazoned kiss.
Whimpering at the intensity of the kiss, Maia clawed at Satoshi's shoulders, but as the moment passes by with Satoshi continuing to bruise her lips with his hard kiss, Maia succumbs to him and kisses him back.
"You are mine, Maia," Satoshi hissed almost angrily, resting his forehead against her while his eyes burned into hers. "Don't ever let other people bully you."