Reason I Love to Fly
Chapter 6
"Are your skills dwindling?" Emiko asked the Phantom Thief.
"Well," Dark began to explain, "I didn't expect Creepy Boy to be there."
"And I thought you are to expect the unexpected in every situation?" Emiko began to raise her voice.
"But Creepy Boy isn't with the police now!" Dark said, "The police shouldn't be much of a problem for me!"
"Whaa-?" Emiko began but Dark kept mumbling about his superior thieving skills.
"Do you remember the night when I managed to get that artifact out of the museum when both Creepy Boy and Krad were there? I mean of course they're both there and Dai-chan was giving me quite a headache too but the artifact is safe and sound out of the museum and in your basement and-" Emiko whacked Dark to stop his speech.
"That's not the point!" she said, "Even though you get the Amulet of Iifa tonight, you shouldn't be taking such a long time!"
"Ah…well…Lady Luck isn't with me today," Dark gave her a charming smile, which managed to lower down Emiko's fury.
"Well, I should be keeping this amulet first," she said as she headed into the basement with the golden amulet in her hand.
"Speaking of Lady Luck," Daiki said cheerfully, "No one has found the lucky charm. Lucky is pretty elusive, isn't it?"
"Why do you name it 'Lucky'?" Dark began to have a strange face at that name, "It sound more like a dog's name."
"But that's what the owners called them," Daiki explained, "The most famous one was Lucky Maiden!"
"It would have been a worthy treasure to steal if it wasn't for the name," Dark mumbled, "The owner sure had a bad taste in giving names."
"You can't blame our ancestors for not having any good names for it," Daiki laughed, "Because Lucky Maiden is a one thousand year old artifact!"
"ONE THOUSAND YEARS?" Dark lost his cool composure, "Why didn't I know of it?"
"Because," the old man began seriously and looked at the phantom thief.
"What is it, old man?" Dark asked impatiently.
"Lucky charms are just minor things to you," the old man smiled heartily.
"Right," Dark rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Dark," Daiki stopped him, "This Lucky Charm may be dangerous too if it has fallen into the wrong hand."
"How?" the thief asked.
"It brings luck to the owner," he answered, "No matter what he does."
"Does that include killing?" Dark asked.
"Yes but it will only work once," the old man answered and sipped on his coffee.
"What do you mean, once? Aren't you going to be lucky as long as you have it?" Dark sat on the sofa across the old man.
"Yes, you'll be blessed by luck as long as you have it," he agreed and added seriously, "That is, until it is contaminated."
"Once the luck is misused, the charm will wear off?" Dark came to his own conclusion.
"Exactly," he said, "One hundred years was the charm's life but it rarely ever lived to be fifty years old."
"Dad! Dark doesn't need a lucky charm to do his job!" Emiko said as she appeared in the living room.
"True!" Daiki agreed, "Forget about Lucky then."
"How can I forget it when that ugly name just plastered itself on my mind?" Dark muttered as he walked into his room.
XXXXX
"Is your birthday coming soon?" Krad asked Yuri curiously when he saw that the whole mansion has been busy with decorations lately.
"Yes," Yuri answered, "But it won't be in a week's time. Father will be back in time for Yuri's banquet too!"
"A week," Krad mumbled, "That would be on St. White's Day."
"Yes it is! And this whole house will be white in colour!" Yuri exclaimed happily before she added with a wink, "Only for a day though."
"The mansion will look magnificent," Krad smiled at the joyful lady in front of him, "I look forward to see it."
"Yuri is sure Krad-san will love the view!" Yuri said, "Because white is Krad-san's favourite colour too, right?" Krad nodded with a smile as both of them exited the house.
"Yuri-sama has become a quite cheerful lady since Krad-san came," Chise said to Hisui as soon as the door was closed.
"Yuri-sama rarely ever smiled that happily in our years of caring for her," the blonde maid agreed, "I feel happy for Yuri-sama. Both of them make a sweet couple, don't you think?"
"Yes!" the brunette giggled, "And I think Krad-san has feeling for our young lady too!"
Outside, Yuri and Krad both walked side by side on the stone path to the garden behind the mansion. Krad listened to his surroundings for any sign of ambush but he kept getting distracted by the soft tapping of shoes on the stone path that belonged to Yuri. One thing he couldn't figure out since morning was the reason Yuri looked so happy today.
"Did something good happen to you?" Krad asked.
"Eh?" Yuri stopped skipping and looked at her blonde friend, "No."
"You look especially happy today," Krad explained.
"Oh," Yuri replied with a laugh, "That must be because I never had a dream so fun last night!"
"I see," Krad decided that he would stop prying into her personal mind.
"I think I just got myself another lucky charm!" she continued but Krad could only look at her, confused. "Shiro-chan has been so comfortable to hug!" she exclaimed.
"Shiro-chan?" Krad began to get really confused, "Do you mean that toy dog?"
"Yup!" Yuri exclaimed and Krad could see the excitement in her green eyes. "I dreamt that we went to the amusement park last night and-" she stopped herself. Yuri's excitement was fading and she felt herself blushing furiously.
"Yuri-sama?" Krad called when he realized that the young lady had gone deadly quiet. When she looked up at him, he saw surprise in her eyes, almost as if he had caught her doing something forbidden. "I can bring you to the amusement park anytime," Krad said to ease her.
"Thank you," Yuri smiled gratefully but in her mind and heart, something felt strangely warm. 'Why is Yuri so nervous when Yuri thinks about it? Krad-san is a friend, just a friend,' she repeated to herself but the more she convinced herself that Krad was just a friend, the more she doubted her own feelings.
"The weather's great today," Krad tried to bring Yuri back to reality. Yuri shook her own thoughts away and smiled to him.
"Yuri'll show Krad-san Yuri's favourite place!" Yuri's excitement returned and she took Krad's hand without thinking. "We'll be in time to see it!" she exclaimed.
"See what?" Krad asked but his eyes soon strayed from the dazzling young lady in front of him to their intertwined hands. 'It's warm,' he told himself and smiled as he followed her lead.
"Here!" she stopped after both of them got out of the dense jungle-like garden into a small clearing. It took a moment for Krad to realize that they were looking at the setting sun.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? I can see this view from my room too!" Yuri released her hold on Krad's hand and smiled at him as she stood at the edge of the cliff. Krad nodded his reply to the girl while secretly missing the warmth of her hand in his.
"Yuri-sama," Krad began as he watched Yuri smiled as she breathed in the ocean breeze.
"Hm?" Yuri answered as she sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the golden sea. She turned to her bodyguard turned friend and found herself staring at Krad. His beautiful long blond hair was coloured a richer golden colour as the sun set but his serene face was marred by a question he needed an answer to.
"Why do you call yourself Yuri?" he asked and made Yuri snapped out of her daydream.
"Why do Krad-san call Yuri, Yuri-sama?" she replied with a question.
"That is your name, isn't it?" Krad answered.
"That's the mistake," Yuri said, "Yuri-sama isn't Yuri's name but it sounds like Yuri's name now. Yuri has always been called Yuri-sama ever since I can remember. Risa-san, Riku-san, Niwa-san and Hiwatari-san called me Yuri-sama even though our families knew each other very well."
"I'm sorry," Krad apologized.
"Don't be," Yuri hugged her knees closer to her, "It's called formalities and Yuri understands it."
"Yuri just wanted to remind Yuri that Yuri's name isn't Yuri-sama because if Yuri-sama is Yuri's name, then everyone will call me Yuri-sama-sama," Yuri continued with a laugh, "And besides, Yuri feels more comfortable calling myself Yuri."
"I guess that's true," Krad sighed.
"Why does Krad-san say that?" Yuri asked, her eyes looking innocently at Krad. Krad strode casually over to her and knelt by her side, a hand on her head.
"Because," he began, "Yuri-sama is a much more cheerful lady when she's doing what she likes."
"Yuri is happy that Yuri met Krad-san that day," she said with a smile, "Thank you, Krad-san."
"I'm glad I met you that day too," Krad returned with a smile. Yuri nodded happily and she stood abruptly.
"One day, Krad-san," she began, "Yuri wishes to soar in the sky like the birds! Gliding so freely in the air must be fun, isn't it?"
Krad looked at the soaring young maiden before him in awe. He probably never noticed it or perhaps he chose not to notice the mesmerizing qualities of her but today he couldn't help but realize how beautiful she looked.
Her long silky brown hair was left loose and they flew behind her as did her white knee length dress. As she stood with her arms spread out like a pair of wings, Krad couldn't take his eyes off the wingless angel. When she turned to him with the same sweet smile on her face, Krad became more aware of the feelings he held for her.
