Night Twenty-Nine:
Since Akatsuki asked me personally to the ball, I couldn't rightly find an excuse to get out of it. Of course I wanted to go, but I was also really anxious. What could I possibly say to Father that was believable enough to let me go? Every time I managed to come up with something at least half believable, I was able to poke holes through it when I imagined saying it to my father. Not to mention, I couldn't even think of what the hell to wear. It's not like I was used to fancy things at all. The only thing I could hope for was that something came up that would allow me to go...
"Sakika." I looked up at my father in confusion as we sat in the family room the day before the party.
It was just us, and we had sat in our usual silence. Naturally, it surprised me a bit to hear him call my name so casually.
"Yes, Father?" I answered, setting my book aside, and sitting up straighter as I looked at Father. Father looked like he was contemplating something for a moment, and then cleared his throat.
"Ruri will be taking you to the Association Headquarters for a mission briefing. I've been meaning to tell you for some time now." My eyebrows furrowed together, wondering why he hadn't told me sooner, but I didn't speak my questions out loud. I just nodded slightly, waiting for him to continue.
"Alright, I'll just-"
"Sakika, wait. Sit down, and let me explain." I paused, half standing. I looked at my father, my eyes searching his face for just a moment before nodding slightly, and sitting back down.
My father's shoulders slumped slightly, and he sudden;y looked older than he ever looked before. He looked like someone who carried the weight of the world for far too long. I wanted to reach out, and comfort him, but I held back.
"A father's love fir his children, is something that is very powerful. Especially for his daughters. You do everything you can to protect them. To provide for them. You make sacrifices because you want them to have a chance at something you never had yourself. For me, I just wanted my family to have the security I never had as a child, and perhaps I made too many mistakes trying to make that happen, but-"
"What are you talking about? You've done a damn good job, and I-"
"Sakika, please-"
"What? I'm just saying that-"
"Enough." My father looked at me with a hard expression that immdetaly shut me up. He then softened out his hard expression, and shook his head."Sakika, you're a strong willed, smart, and talented young woman that I've had the utmost pleasure of calling my daughter."
"Dad, you're kinda scaring me over here. What exactly are you trying to say?" My father was silent for a few minutes as he looked away with a contemplative expression, and then looked at me.
"The Hanabusa family are holding a ball tomorrow. The association has nominated you, and two other Hunters to be a part of this mission." I nodded, smiling as I'd finally have a reason to go, but I had to remain calm, and composed. My father had a point to all this. Something he was wanting to say, and I didn't want to scare him out of saying anything by jumping the gun too soon.
"A very important family will be there. The Tomita family. You see-"
"The Tomita family will be there?" I interrupted a bit breathlessly. It felt like a different life time that Kuran had first told me about them, but they stuck in my mind so prominently, that it would be impossible to forget them.
"I see. So, you already know who they are." I nodded My father nodded as well.
"Father, this isn't like you. What's this all about?" My father was silent for a few moments, and then sighed heavily.
"All I'm saying is that I want you to be careful." I knew that was not what my father wanted to say, but I let it go. I simply nodded. My father was silent for another five minutes, just staring at me, and then sighed."You should go get ready." I paused for a few moments, and then nodded as I stood up.
"Alright." I said softly, and then exited the room.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
I couldn't help but to feel a bit apprehensive as I approached the Headquarters. I wasn't even sure why I was even nervous in the first place. It was a simple mission briefing, so why was I feeling this way? Was it because I would be covering a party I was already invited to? Was I worried how it would all play out? Or was I nervous simply because of how my last official mission went? Was I worried about the same thing happening again? Something worse? Or maybe I was just nervous about the way my father was acting right before I left for the mission. The talk we had. Something was off about the whole situation, and I still had trouble fitting it all together right. It just didn't all seem to fit right together at all, and that just made me even more nervous.
Ruri looked at me, as if sensing my discomfort, and smiled as she patted my knee in comfort.
"It's going to be ok. You have nothing to worry about." I knew she was just playing the part of the bigger sister trying to comfort her obviously worried sibling, but I just couldn't accept what she was saying. Everything about this situation was off. Way off, and none of it settled right with me.
"I know." I whispered, and then looked up at HQ as we arrived. I felt my stomach drop, and my throat go dry. Sudden;y my anxiety was getting worse."Let's get this over with." I whispered, and then exited the car.

I had waited a full five minutes with Ruri right beside me. I was antsy the entire time. My sister must have sense it because every few seconds she would look at me with a worried expression.
By the time the president showed up, looking very feminine as always with his long hair, dress, green eyes, and the fan covering his mouth, I had felt myself become oddly calm.
"Sakika, lovely to see you." The president greeted me with a warm smile that reached his eyes, but even so it held a hint of some kind threat I had always felt from him.
"Same for you." I replied, not letting my worry get the better of me.
There was a few seconds of silence. His eyes looked between Ruri and me, and then nodded slightly.
"Follow me." I glanced at Ruri, who held a an uncharacteristically masked expression, and then shook my head. I took a second to compose myself, and then followed after the president, trying not to freak myself out too much.
As we left Ruri behind, and walked down a series of halls, I had become oddly calmer than before. I had let my worries out of my mind, and just let my mind become comfortably numb.
"I see that you have recovered well from your previous mission." The president had finally spoken up after ten minutes of silence had passed. I looked up, and nodded.
"Yeah. I have." Perhaps my tone was a bit more clipped than it should have been, but the president seemed to almost ignore the tone.
"That is good to hear." He turned into a room, almost making me collide with him in the process, but I had caught myself just in time." You will be monitoring the Hanabusa Ball tomorrow night. Of course there will be two other Hunters going with you." He glanced at me, but I just nodded, not bothering to reply to the obvious statement. The president nodded, and looked forward again." Your partners will be Kiryu Zero, and Kaito Hisa." Although the Kaito name was very familiar, the girl was not. No naturally, I was interested about her.
However, what surprised me was the fact that Zero was to be included in on this mission. Obviously I had had no contact with him since leaving the Academy, and I was a bit interested to see him again. If only to see what had changed. However, I was also...A bit anxious to see him again. It wasn't anxious in a bad way, but in a really good way. I wanted to see how much he had changed. If he changed at all, and I wanted him to see if I had changed at all.
My mind was coming up with all kinds of things I wanted to say. Things I had wanted to him to say, but wasn't sure why I was feeling this way. I was happy to be seeing him again. I was even happier that I would be working on this mission with him, and I would be spending time with him that I never got to have before.
Before I realized it, we had entered into yet another room. I looked around the room. It was surrounded by books. In the center of the room were two tables. Both were rounded, and wooden. One of the smaller rounded table had some files, and a few pieces of paper scattered on it. Sitting on two chairs where two people.
One was a rather short, petite, and beautiful girl of around my age with earth length black-purple hair with large, rounded lavender-blue eyes with thick lashes. Her pale skin had no flaws expect for a single beauty mark under her left eye. She wore a brown trench coat that was outlined with black. She held a rather bored expression as her delicate looking hands traced over the engraving on her pistol.
My eyes hesitated a moment for a reason I couldn't identify, but after a moment, they finally moved to Zero. I felt my heart increase for a reason I couldn't understand as I looked at him.
Zero had grown taller since I last saw him. He seemed just a bit paler, but that could have just been my memory failing me. His large hand covered some of his neck tattoo while supporting his head while his dark lavender eyes looked off into the distance with a far away expression. His silvery hair seemed to have grown just the tiniest of bit. He wore a simple, long sleeved white shirt with the top three buttons undone which was under an open jacket.
After a moment, his lavender eyes met my blue eyes, and he seemed just the slightest bit of surprised. I couldn't help but to feel a bit happy at his surprise. He sat up just a bit straighter, and his intense gaze never left me. Even as I sat down next to the Kaito girl.
"Now that we are all here, let us discuss this mission." The president was now all business as he took a seat at the head of the table, facing all three of us.
"What is there to discuss? We're simply monitoring a party." The Kaito girl spoke in an airy, arrogant kind of tone. I felt just the slightest bit of annoyed, but forced myself to remain calm.
"It's not that simple. Things could get out of hand. Many famous people are going to be there. We're protecting their identities as well as making sure they don't break any rules." Zero explained.
"Exactly. We have to make sure they don't break any of the delicate rules that have been in place for generations to keep the peace. That's why hunters are sent to these kinds of parties. To make sure nothing goes awry." I added on. I glanced over at Zero, who was back to looking at me with a masked expression before slowly looking away.
"Exactly. Now, let us get to discussing the finer details." The president spoke up not long after I did. I blushed, and looked away at the president as we began the talk on the finer things of the mission.

The meeting went on for another hour and half before we were let out. I quickly rushed out. While I wanted to talk to Zero, I had also not wanted to talk to him, and I just hoped that he wouldn't catch up to me, but like always, Zero was just a little bit faster than me, and was soon right by my side, able to easily keep pace with me.
"Sakika, slow down." And like usual, I stopped when he asked me to stop, but I looked at him with the usual half-annoyed expression.
"What do you want?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest out of habit.
Zero was silent for a few seconds, his eyes searching my face, and then he sighed shaking his head.
"Nothing." I felt a bit disappointed, and I shook my head as I dropped my hands to my side. I softened my expression, and relaxed my stance.
"Zero, come on. Just tell me what is on your mind. I don't beating around the bush." Zero looked back at me with a expression I couldn't quiet grasp, but it made my heart flutter all the same.
"You seem to be doing ok." Is all he said after a few minutes of silence. I nodded, shuffling my feet slightly.
"Yeah. I'm doing ok. How have you been?" Zero shrugged slightly.
"I've been fine." I nodded, looking over my shoulders, and then back at Zero.
"My sister works here. She's probably going to be held up a little longer. Do...Do you have somewhere else to be?" I wasn't sure why I hesitated, but I felt my throat clench up just the slightest before relaxing. Zero seemed a bit surprised for whatever reason, but then seemed to get over it as he straightened out, and shrugged slightly.
"No. Do you have to wait around for your sister?"
"I don't think so." Zero nodded, looking off for a second before looking back at me.
"Well, I'll see you around." He waved as he turned, and walked off. I felt myself become disappointed. I didn't want to leave Zero so soon.
"Hey, wait!" I called out after a few minutes, running after him. He glanced at me with an eyebrow raised. I huffed slightly as I got next to him. I glanced over at him, half smiling." Let's go somewhere, and talk. I haven't seen you in forever." Zero seemed surprised, and then scowled slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Why do you want to go anywhere with me?" I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I wasn't even sure what to say. How could I give him a reason when I couldn't even explain it myself? I just didn't want to leave him so soon...
"I just wanna talk." Is all I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Zero continued to look at me as if he were searching for something he couldn't find, and then sighed, shaking his head.
"Fine. C'mon if you're gonna talk to me." I couldn't help but to smile as I straightened out, and followed after Zero.

"Is this your first mission?" Zero asked as we walked down the street. I glanced over at him. We had been walking in comfortable silence for over twenty minutes, but I was happy that he had spoke up.
"No. I had another mission awhile back, but it ended pretty badly." Zero glanced at me. Our glances met, but I was the first one to look away. I thought for just a second that he looked a bit...Worried? Protective? I wasn't sure how to name it.
"What happened?" He asked after a few minutes when I said nothing. I bit my lips, and shrugged slightly.
"I wasn't as prepared as I thought. The fight was intense. I got hurt, and I blacked out. They told me they found me outside the building, but I don't remember being placed out there. I was hurt pretty bad, but I'm ok now." I glanced at Zero. His expression from before was gone. He was just nodding as he listened to my story. I bit my lips again, looking away."So what about you?" I asked after a few moments, looking at him with a smile.
"No. I've been on a couple myself." I nodded, looking away again."None of them went bad." I nodded, smiling just a bit wider.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that."
"How have you been up to?" I glanced at Zero, suddenly feeling guilty as the last month's events flashed through my mind. I felt a stone settle in my stomach, and I found myself unable to speak for a few moments. I cleared my throat, and shrugged slightly.
"Nothing really." I lied only because I didn't want to upset him. We hadn't fought, or argued once since talking, and I wanted to keep that delicate balance in place."I've been busy with family stuff, and reconnecting with old...Friends." I hesitated, and I immediately cringed, hoping that he wouldn't catch on to it. Well, he did. He glanced at me, eyebrows furrowed together.
"Why did you hesitate?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't hesitating." Zero scowled, but didn't push the issue."What about you?" I asked back, glancing back at him. Zero shrugged.
"The same as always." I nodded, biting at my lips.
"How has school been going?"
"Good enough I suppose." I nodded, biting at my lips again. What else could be said?
We paused at a bench that sat right outside a building. I glanced at him as he sat down on it, and then looked over at me. I blushed ever so slightly, and then took a seat next to him on the bench. I felt so damn awkward just sitting there next to him.
"Zero, I... I mean...I...It's good seeing you." Zero glanced at me, looking confused, and then nodded.
"Yeah. It's good seeing you too." I felt myself blush, and I smiled. I looked down the road as I saw the familiar car of my sister. I looked over at Zero.
"I'll see you around." I said softly, touching his arm. He looked over at me, and nodded.
"Yeah. I'll see you around." I grinned, and then stood up as my sister pulled over. She glanced at me, waiting, but I still hesitated. I glanced over at Zero, who just nodded at me. I smiled slightly, and then turned, and walked to the car. I opened the door, and jumped inside.
"You had me worried for a moment there." She joked as I closed the door. I smiled at her.
"Sorry. I was talking with an old friend." She nodded, driving off back to the house. I looked back at Zero, noticing him still watching the car as it drove off. I felt my heart flutter just slightly, and I turned to look forward.