Episode 50: Hidden Agendas
Already, I was planning out my agenda for the next day. It was starting to get a little old that all I was doing right now, was sitting on the bench and counting the dead leaves one by one, falling from the tree branches above my head. I was patient but the stillness of the night was much too eerie for me. Therefore I thought a song might break this creepy silence.
In a soft voice, I whispered, singing to myself.
Sleep, my dear princess…
And dream of the dreams…
Which are nothing but illusions of the night…
Once upon time doesn't exist in reality…
It is only in the night when you slumber…
When it does exist…
There is an amount of moonlight magic…
Hanging in the air…
Already, I could my eyes drooping with sleep. I knew that I should have retired to bed early last night, but I could not. I was much too excited for that since we were all reaching York Shin City the very next day, which was just a few hours away! I spent the whole night, wide-awake and having a great and lengthy discussion about our agenda here.
Fortunately, I realised that I was about to fall off the bench since I was leaning too far forward. I blinked my eyes several times to clear away the drowsiness but apparently failing as I let loose a massive yawn. Curling myself into a ball in a foetal position, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, almost instantly.
The symposium was not finished until after midnight, due to Neon's annoying insistence
at having it cut short and Raito had been forced to call it a day and dismissed his employees from the room.
The boy was relieved and grateful for Neon's appropriate intrusion.
The moment it was over, the Hunter left swiftly with Senritsu, right behind him.
He was not taken aback when he saw the girl was hunched over on the bench, dead to the world around her.
A tender smile crept to his lips as he gathered the girl up into his arms in one smooth and effortless movement as if her weight was just like a feather's.
" She's asleep? " Senritsu asked softly as she walked alongside him.
" Uhm, yeah. She is, " Kurapica answered quietly.
" Looks like the only time we can only see her is when she's safe and sound asleep, " the woman told him as she matched her stride to his own long ones.
" Yeah, I think so too, Senritsu. "
" She looks so serene when she sleeps, doesn't she? "
The seventeen-year-old nodded in reply.
"…Kurapica…? " his old friend began, her suddenly voice insecure.
The boy could immediately detect the diffidence. He turned to look at her, expectantly.
" What's wrong, Senritsu? "
" Do you remember that time when the two of you fought in the blimp? "
" What about it? " he asked her, awkwardly.
" About that time, Hikari was lying about not seeing anything… "
" What do you mean? " he asked quietly, still walking forward, with his eyes straight ahead.
" She saw something. "
At this, Kurapica turned sharply to face her.
" Do you know what? "
Senritsu shook her head, disappointedly.
" Hardly nothing. "
" Maybe, she was speaking the truth? " he suggested absent-mindedly.
" I don't speak falsehoods, Kurapica, " the older woman spoke up sharply. " What I just told you is nothing but the truth. Because, I heard her heartbeats and heartbeats do not hide that fact. "
The boy grew quiet at her blunt and direct response.
" Question is, just what did she see? " she continued, changing the subject.
" I could see that she was hiding something from us at that time, " Kurapica finally replied.
" I'm getting worried, Kurapica, " Senritsu informed him quietly. " The auction is almost upon us and it isn't at all unforeseen that they are on the move. The Spiders will still move forward despite their little setback. "
" Yes, but for some reason, I have this nagging feeling that they are not planning a robbery like you said earlier on back in the conference room with Raito-san, " Kurapica eyed her sideways.
Senritsu chuckled with mirth.
" That was just a cover-up for another obvious reason, " she shot a glance at Hikari's sleeping form in his arms. " Theymight be looking for her…not necessarily the child, but someone who fits the description since they have yet to see her. "
The other Hunter nodded gravely.
" Yes, that seems to be the case. The auction is just an excuse to cover up their real motive here in York Shin City. "
" We aren't even be sure whether that abandoned factories near the drainage tunnels are still in use as their base. "
" No, those thieves are intelligent people. They know what they are doing. Those factories will be the last place they'll turn to as a base for all their plotting. No, they'll look for somewhere else since they already know who you are, " Senritsu explained.
" And that will make the hunt even more a daunting task to be undertaken, " Kurapica agreed.
" They will not want themselves to be found so they will strike at a time when you least expect them to. "
" That is true. The auction is also a 'people-magnet'. It attracts people from all over the world and this gives them the right chance to hand-pick their intended target well by watching and lying low… "
Senritsu nodded as they finally stopped in front of their hotel rooms. She rummaged around in her pockets for the keys to the door.
" But one thing is for certain, I'll not allow them to get their way. Hikari will be kept under constant watch whether she likes it or not… "