Chapter 30: Quit Pretending

Azami led the gang to the outskirts of Payon. Oddly enough, the alchemist-in-training kept her distance from the rest of the pack. She didn't speak and when spoken to, her replies were scarce at best.

'It can't be true…' she thought. But there was no use denying it. The signs were there, her concern for him, how she went out of her way and how for the first time in her life, she really smiled. Not just the kind of empty smile that she wore in public.

"Azami…" Yukino said in a weak tone.

"Nani?"

"I can only see one house here and… it's big." she told her in a voice full of awe.

Azami looked up and saw her ancestral house atop a nearby hill. The place used to be a famous dojo, however the entire complex had to undergo renovation for business purposes.

"Hai. That's my home." she said nonchalantly, before sneezing.

To her surprise Lei draped his muffler around her offering her a warm smile. "We better hurry, before you catch a cold." he told her.

Azami stared at the boy in a new light. He did have some positive traits she liked. She unconsciously smiled back, a smile that quickly turned to a frown as Lei was tackled to the grown by the overly energetic Rae.

"I still want my ride." she said playfully into his ear.

"You can't do that!" Azami blurted out.

"And why not?"

"He's supposed to be pretending to be my boyfriend." she hissed back.

Rae's brow rose into the air. "The keyword there is pretending." she snapped back with a cocky smile on her face.

Without warning Azami took Lei's hands in hers and wrapped her fingers around his. "Start pretending." she told him with an ice cold glance. Fearing for his life he complied.

"He's my boyfriend." Azami told her sister in a practiced upbeat tone.

When Yumi Koizumi heard those words she wasn't sure if she were dreaming or . "Your boyfriend…" she repeated those words that she found so hard to believe. "Yes, he's my boyfriend." Azami reassured her while clinging unto the boy's arms and resting her head on his shoulder. Just the thought of Azami being cuddly was more that enough to send shivers up her spine.

"Right Hun." Azami snarled, her heel digging into Lei's feet.

"Haiii!" he croaked, the pain on his face obvious. Yumi cringed. Her sister's relationship didn't appear to be a healthy one – at least not for Lei.

"Since when did you guys… err… get together?" Yumi asked nervously.

Lei cleared his throat and spoke. "That's a good question Yumi-chan, it happened—" he was abruptly cut-off when a door slid open. A woman dressed in a pink kimono fashioning long midnight-blue tresses stepped inside the room.

Azami spun around and nearly tripped backwards out of surprise. "Ah! Mother, these are my friends! I didn't mean too.." the woman approached Azami and bent down until she was within eye-level of the girl. "Isn't it a little too early for summer dear." her mother said with a cheerful smile on her face.

"I'm sorry if this was unexpected, I mean, I ran away without warning and—" her mother placed two fingers on her lips. "Don't worry, they can stay for as long as they want."

The woman stood up and clapped her hands, quickly two servants hurried to her side. After whispering something into the two women's ears she shifted her gaze back to Azami. "I hate to be rude, but there are some problems which I need to attend to immediately. These two-" she gestured towards the two servants. "-will prepare the rooms in which our guests will be staying in."

"You're kidding right…" Lei uttered in disbelief.

The servant bowed apologetically. "Please do not be furious with me Lei-sama. It just so happens that all the other rooms are under repair, while Azami-sama was away there was a mishap… I am forbidden to say more. I believe Azami-sama will not mind if she sleeps in the same room as Lei-sama."

Azami shrugged. "As if I have a choice in the matter."

The servant bowed down in respect and closed the door behind her. Lei stared at Azami in disbelief. She didn't even saying anything in protest! Azami just sat down on the bed, her eyes trained on the floor.

The alchemist in training shifted her gaze to the puzzled mage. "Lei I have something to tell you—" however she was left unable to finish her sentence when someone knocked on the door. "Lei, I have something very important to tell you." the voice from behind the door said.

Lei slid the door open and in came a nervous Yukino. "Something wrong?" Lei asked, the girl closed the door behind her and collapsed on the floor.

"It's Rae… or rather Ai." she said in between breaths.

Lei's eyes suddenly grew wide, he placed his hands on both Yukinp's arms. "What are you talking about?" he asked her in a voice full of urgency.

"I wanted to go to the bathroom, but when I opened the door, her hair was green and she was dying it red. Then I saw her peel off her face, it was completely different." she said all this as quickly as she could.

"Are you sure you didn't see things?" Azami asked in a calm manner.

The door was suddenly fell with a thud, standing in the moonlight was an angry looking Rae with a dagger in both hands. "I guess my cover's blown." she breathed in a low voice.

Azami quickly reach for her sword when a dagger sent it out of her reach. Ai quickly pinned Yukino down holding the knife against her neck. "Don't move or she gets it." threatened the red-haired Ai.

Azami stood up reluctantly, Lei did the same. Ai tossed Azami a rope careful not to lose her hostage. "Tie it around his hands or I'll carve a new mouth into her neck." she ordered.

Azami placed the ropes around Lei's hands and secured them loosely. "Tightly." Rae breathed in a low voice. Yukino began to sob uncontrollably.

Lei looked at Azami and nodded. "Do what she says." he said in hushed tones, Azami did as she was told. Content with the situation Rae threw a small bomb into the room, in a matter of seconds thick plumes of smoke smothered everyone's vision.

Azami quickly lunged for her blade, when the cloud of smoke dissipated Lei and Ai were gone.