Ablaze II: The Witch Hunt
Chapter 2; Hide

After checking the coast was clear, Ayano slipped out the door with stealth. Sound was minimized as she tip-toed through the hallways. A few floor boards moaned under her foot causing her to grimace, but no one noticed and she carried on.

Eventually, she made it to the part she dreaded most; Jugo's room. Light still glowed brightly through the paper walls with long steaming shadows. "Damn! He's still up!" Ayano cursed under her breath. Never mind; She needed to get to the medic room and bandage herself up before someone finds out. If they did, Ayano could wave her freedom goodbye for the rest of her life.

Ayano, now fiercely determined, gathered her courage. She took a single, light step in advance. Her whole body froze as the floor board moaned faintly. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she waited there for a moment. No reaction. Relief flooded her and her pulse calmed. Safe, Ayano sighed silently and went to carry on.

"It's not unlike Ayano to mess up fighting a Yhoma?" Jugo's familiar voice sailed out of the room. Ayano silently gasped, retreating back. She crouched next to the wall as her heart raced. Who could Jugo be talking to so late?

"That's true." Another voice, a little deeper, agreed. The voice sounded familiar, causing curiosity to stir inside her. For a little while, her head could wait; It wasn't that serious anyway. She would be fine long enough to find out why they were talking about her.

Whoever was talking to Jugo was talking about her and it made her extremely and unhealthily intrigued. 'Who was it?' Ayano thought as she crept softly across the floor, moving into hearing range.

"I'm still concerned though." Jugo's voice continued. "Why didn't she just summon Enriaha?" Ayano gently leant against the thin wall, pressing her cheek against its surface.

"I told her to, that idiot." The second voice muttered with frustration. Wait! She did recognise that voice; It was Kazuma's. Why would Kazuma still be talking to Jugo? Surely he's more one to just get the pay and leave.

"Did you notice anything else?" Jugo asked. A faint clink echoed from the little room; Jugo was probably serving tea.

For a while, just the sound of tea being poured filled the room. Kazuma finally replied with a hesitant "No."

"Kazuma," Jugo's voice took a stern edge. Ayano knew that edge far too well. "What is it?" His voice fell back into a gentler tone.

"It's just-" A deep, frustrated grunt rushed out his lips. The sound of brushed paper echoed close to her ear. It was a sucker punch to the gut as when she realised that Kazuma was right on the other side of the wall. Ayano gasped under her breath, clasping a hand over her mouth in shock. They were separated by less than a mere few inches of paper and wood. Quickly, she tried to gather her self-control. Her hand put more pressure over her mouth as she tried to hide her fast and heavy breathing and silence the heart racing like a jackhammer in her chest. Kazuma's tall, broad figure had leaned up against the wall where she sat. With another rustle, Kazuma's silhouette slipped down even lower. Kazuma sat on the floor, his back leaned right next to hers. She could feel his body heat radiating through the thin sheets of paper. She could also feel the burning blush on her cheeks. "It was her face." Kazuma relinquished, his voice loud in Ayano's pounding, red-tipped ears.

'My face?' Ayano repeated in her head, slowly comprehending it. 'MY FACE!' She snapped loudly in her thoughts. 'That Idiot's going to insult my FACE!'

"Her face?" Jugo perplexed, was also trying to understand what Kazuma meant. Ayano's hands clenched into a fist over her mouth. Her sharp fingers nails dug into her lips, causing them to burn and sting. It was the only thing stopping her from braking the door down and decapitating him with Enriaha.

"She looked so...scared." Kazuma muttered softly. Ayano felt her whole body freeze. That wasn't what she was expecting. It was such a shock that her heart felt like it stopped. Then, she felt it throbbing inside her chest, aching at the pain she felt inside the wind user's words.

"Kazuma..." The red-head whispered under her breath. Her body suddenly felt so heavy that her arm fell from her face and dropped on top of her lap. Why did he sound so hurt?

"Kazuma," Jugo muttered consolingly.

"I know." Kazuma brushed him off, clearing his throat. "It's expected, right?" It changed so suddenly; that soft, vulnerable voice was now as sharp as a thousand needles as he hissed at the Kannagi head.

"Even Ayano would have been affected by what happened; She was almost killed. And that happened." Jugo grumbled, in an irritated sort of way. A silence fell upon the two, with the air turning an icy cold.

'that?' Ayano thought to herself. What does he mean by 'that'?

"Ayano's not a child; we should tell her. Who knows what will happen if she doesn't learn to control it." Kazuma purposed, his body readjusting itself against the wall.

"It's still too early. Never mind the fact that we don't even know how to control it." Jugo calmly replied in the way he always did in an argument with Ayano. It meant he was being stubborn. Ayano hated it whenever he was like that.

"Damn it. I hate feeling so...powerless." Kazuma grunted, leaning his head back against the wall. His dark silhouette arm moved up to his head. His hand raked through his dark brown hair with frustration. Ayano listened to his soft, gentle breaths going in and out as his thoughts raced in his mind.

After a moment, Jugo replied. "I understand." he muttered softly.

"What are we going to do?" Kazuma asked, leaning away from the wall and away from Ayano.

"I don't know. For all we know, it might not happen again." Jugo sighed, as the clink of a tea-pot rang in the room.

"If Ayano gets put in a situation like that again, it'll definitely happen again." Kazuma grumbled irritatingly. "When that sword swung, she-"

"Young miss?" A young, male voice appeared behind her.

Suddenly, Ayano's heart leapt, thrashing wildly as she sprung from the floor, turning to face the voice. It was a young boy from one of the Kannagi branch families. She tried to look at his face but black blurs began fluttering across her vision, moving erratically. "What the-" Ayano began. Sharp pain shot through her head like a dagger to the back of her skull. It vibrated down her neck and across her entire body.

Kazuma suddenly heard a gasp outside the room, shortly followed by a sharp squeal. Kazuma instantly leapt to his feet, darting straight out the room.

The door opened with a bang as Kazuma sprung through it. Ayano was gripping the back of her head so tight that her knuckles turned white. She was slumped on her knees, buried in the small arms of a young, and very frightened Kannagi boy. She shook violently, her every muscle contracting. Tears ran down her burning, red cheeks. Ayano's jaw clenched, gritting down on her teeth, trying not to make a sound. Rasp breath panted from her lips, in radical, sharp gasps. "Ayano!" Kazuma gasped

Kazuma's body swooped down to his knees next to the pair. "Hey, Ayano." Kazuma called again.

The poor Kannagi boy had turned a pale white as he barely supported the whimpering girl.

"I- I'm fine." Ayano barely whispered. She stiffened out her hand onto the floor, steadying her shuddering body. Slowly, she shakily rose from the floor. When she stood up completely, her body relaxed and she stopped. Kazuma could read the obvious pain on her shadowed face. She was most definitely in pain. And she was being stubborn about it.

"Like hell you are. What are you doing?" Kazuma growled in his cool, disinterested tone, even though the vulnerable expression on his face was failing him.

"I just have a little headache." Ayano voice grew weaker as she staggered away from the wind user. "It's no big deal." She muttered, fading into silence as her body fell weak on her left side, teetering her swaying body in the same direction. Kazuma was quick to react, sending a gentle current of wind, pushing her back to his side. Ayano slumped against his chest as Kazuma's strong arms wrapped around her fragile body, catching her gently. A quiet whimper was buried in his shirt from the barely conscious Ayano. Something caught in the corner of the wind user's eye caught his attention. Kazuma's eyes fell down to the floor from where Ayano was crouched. A bloody hand print was smeared on the floor. Quickly and cautiously, Kazuma pressed his hand to the back of the girl's head causing a quiet gasp to come from the faint Ayano in his arms. Something warm coated his fingers as he pulled them away. Red smudged across the tips of his fingers; Blood. But when? Then Kazuma realized; It was from when she hit the wall.

"Dammit Ayano!" Kazuma snapped.

"Ka...zuma..." Ayano breathed weakly.

"Don't worry, you idiot." he moaned, sweeping a forearm under her legs, sweeping her up into his arms.

Now she was in his grip, he could feel the extent of her body shaking. Her muscles were weak and her limbs went limp like she seemed to have given up. However, it seemed like all her energy was instead trying to suppress the pain and stop herself from making a sound. 'Still acting strong even in her weaker moments.' Kazuma's thoughts spoke softly.

Kazuma turned to see Jugo looking as shocked and pale as the young kid who was still sat frozen on the floor in shock. Jugo returned to himself instantly, stiffening his expression. "Bring her in here." Jugo ordered, moving into the room a few doors down room his. "You." he turned back to the boy, raising a stern finger. "Wait in my room." he ordered, turned and continued swiftly down the porch.

Jugo opened the door with a quick movement that seemed effortless and moved out the way for Kazuma. Kazuma carried Ayano straight into the dark medic room. "Sit her here." Jugo commanded. Kazuma was able to make out a plain, leather patient table in the center of the room. Kazuma moved towards it and carefully sat Ayano on the edge. "Keep her sat up." Jugo ordered, lighting a candle. Kazuma sat Ayano up to face him, her legs over the edge, just brushing his own.

Jugo was moving behind the wind mage's back as Kazuma watching the weak red-head, who was barely able to keep her eyes open. "Let...Let me down." Ayano barely muttered, pushing weakly against his chest.

"Nah." Kazuma denied, teasing gently. Ayano began to grumble under her breath.

"Stupid Kazuma." She growled softly, letting her head lean against his chest.

"Yeah." Kazuma agreed, softly stroking a hand over her silky, red hair.

"I've got it." Jugo proclaimed, promptly moving back to the table. In his hand he held a large needle with a large shot of some green, liquid which sparkled with an uncomfortable sheen.

"Whoa. What's that?" Kazuma gawked.

"It's a medicine that should heal her wound overnight." Jugo explain, pulling the cap off of the needle.

"I...I don't want it." Ayano moaned like a tired child as she tried to squirm away.

"Ayano, sit still." Jugo growled. For a second, Ayano stopped. Kazuma actually thought that Ayano would behave for once. But as her gaze retracted to the needle, she began struggling again. Though it wasn't much of a struggle, more like was fighting against a small rodent. But rodents can bite and he wouldn't put it past Ayano to bite him, she probably would.

"I don't...I don't want..it." Ayano hissed, pushing against Kazuma who easily kept her still. She was surprisingly stronger compared to a second ago, still weak but a little stronger.

"Ayano~" Kazuma sung sweetly, tipping her chin up as his face closed in on hers. Ayano tried to keep her eyes down, avoiding his deceptive glare.

"No. Let go." She whined. Surprisingly, she managed to slip past the wind user, shoving him back with a surprising amount of force. The unsuspecting wind user stumbled back a few steps before regaining his balance. Ayano swiftly slipped off the table and staggered towards the doorway. She made it to the door until her legs gave way and she slumped against the door frame.

"Okay, now we've seen how far you can get, let's go back to the nasty needle." Kazuma teased, scooping Ayano back into his arms.

"No." She hissed weakly.

"You really hate needles that much?" Kazuma retorted.

"Shut up." Ayano snapped, showing a dilute pout on her tired expression. Kazuma laughed her off weakly. His laugh sounded weird, like he had something caught in his throat. Of course it did; he was worried. Which was weird for Kazuma. At the moment, he honestly wasn't all that conscious of it.

Kazuma, once again, set Ayano back onto the table. After using up most of her left over strength to get to the door, she couldn't resist as much. Yet she still made the effort of jittering her arm about.

" .no~" Kazuma whispered softly. Ayano flinched. She knew what he was up to but she so desperately wanted to look into his deep, brown eyes. Ayano pouted, forcing herself to keep her head turned. Grinning mischievously, Kazuma slipped a finger under his chin and turned her face upwards. Ayano didn't have to energy to react. Before she knew it, she was caught up in his mysterious gaze. Every muscle in her body relaxed weakly, letting a dizziness sweep over her mind in the good sort of way.

Jugo seized the opportunity slipping the needle into her arm. Liquid pushed into her veins and the needles was pulled out again before she could even say "Ow." Which she did afterward, rather loudly.

"She'll be a little out of it for a while but she'll probably pass out soon." Jugo informed. Kazuma couldn't help but laugh as Ayano began muttering comebacks again as she leaned on his shoulder, cradled in his arms again.

"I suppose I'll take her back to her room then." Kazuma suggested.

"Thanks Kazuma." Jugo gave him a soft smile with a hint of mischievousness. The wind user didn't even want to think about the underlying thoughts in that sentence. But mostly, Kazuma knew he was worried for Ayano's sake.

Kazuma said no more, possibly because he didn't know what to say, and left, carrying the groggy Ayano.

For the first few minutes on the way back, she was quiet. Soft breaths murmured from her face buried in his shirt. A peaceful, calm look was fresh on her half-awake face. Kazuma felt relieved to see her so tranquil.

Finally, the red-head broke the silence. "Kazuma." she whimpered, followed by some muffled sounds.

"Yeah, what's up?" Kazuma casually replied.

"You smell funny!" Ayano squealed quietly like an excited fan girl, faintly flicking her heals.

"What?" Kazuma exclaimed, catching him off guard. So much so, that he almost dropped the girl. The muffling sounds grew louder as she buried her head deeper and deeper into his shirt.

"Your hair's funny too!" She squealed again, having another girlish fit. Ayano's face shyly turned up to look at the perplexed expression on the wind mage's face. A light-pink blush set on her ivory skin as her big, round eyes looked up at him with innocence; completely not Ayano-like. Ayano's eyes caught his, holding him in an alluring gaze. For a long while, they held each others eyes. Kazuma noticed their glazed shine under a porch lamp and a remembered what Jugo had said. 'Yup. She was completely out of it.' Kazuma thought, slightly amused. A thickening, red blush burned on her cheeks as she shied away from the wind user's powerful gaze and buried her face back into his chest. The muffled sounds began to make another appearance. This time, they were clear enough for Kazuma to guess what they were. Laughter. She was laughing at him. Laughing!

Finally, they approached Ayano bedroom door. Kazuma shifted the girl in his arms as he slid open the door.

Ayano was now sitting dolefully drowsy in his arms, watching him with a quiet patience. Kazuma found it harder to look at her more than ever with such a simple expression. Yeah, she was fairly simple-minded so simple emotions wasn't really that different, but this time, it felt different. The golden-honey eyes that watched his every muscle in his face move, were glowing with an all-seeing shimmer. It was like she was thinking deeply about him, unconsciously unaware of the fact she was staring.

Kazuma kept his gaze level with her bed and moved forward, readjusting her in his arms. As the wind mage approached the bed, a flutter of wind swept across it, pulling back the plain sheets. Kazuma set her gently onto her soft, springy mattress and her arms slipped from around his. Ayano's body moved limply, and she teetered back as soon as Kazuma let go.

Quickly, he caught her with his arms around her slim back before she fell into her head post. Golden eyes were unfazed and continued to trace the wind mage's every movement. A strange, unfamiliar feeling of self conciousness swept over him. Suddenly, he felt awkward about moving the girl under the sheets and where his hands were. It made him feel dirty and inappropriate. Those were too very common things for Kazuma, but it didn't make him feel bad. In the past, he'd touched plenty of women that way without a second thought, but on Ayano, it made his thoughts buzz. Even a pink blush crawled up onto his impassive face. Kazuma hurried tucking Ayano in.

Gently, the wind mage cradled her head in his arms as he settled her comfortably onto her cushioned pillow. Big eyes stared up at him casually. Kazuma ignored it, pulling the sheets up to her chin and tucking in both her arms. "Goodnight Ayano." Kazuma bid the girl farewell, as he turned and headed directly for the door.

"Kazuma." her voice whispered across the room, catching Kazuma by the ear. His whole body stopped at the door, his hand ready on the light switch. With a slow turn, Kazuma twisted his head over his shoulder. Ayano's eye brows knitted together, staring at him across the room. It was like she was struggling to think of something. Or remember. The expression faded too quickly for the wind mage to give it too much concern. Instead, a softer, sadder emotion settled underneath the cheerful mask on her face. Ayano gave him a gentle smile, looking smitten as if she was a shy child who he just given a lollipop. "Good night." She answered softly, her eye lids drooping heavily half over her eyes.

Kazuma sighed, the tension draining from his body. "Good night, Ayano." he whispered softly, blowing out the candle.

"Thank you for stopping me." her soft voice whispered, barely audible as it carried through the darkness. Kazuma's whole body froze, an icy shiver running up the back of his spine, tightening all his muscles.

"What?" Kazuma replied, whirling on his heals, his body screaming in hot pains. When he turned, Ayano's eyes had already fallen tightly shut. Her chest rose and fell gently and soothingly as she wandered into dreams. "I must be hearing things." Kazuma sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted and aching all over.

As the sun rose the next morning, the air was brisk with a bitter chill of the autumn weather. Birds twittered and chirped harmonically, flying through the bright blue sky. Long, thick lashes fluttered open like the wings of a butterfly, revealing glowing golden irises. The hot sun on her exposed skin tingled. A dull throbbing ached weakly at the back of her head. Relaying memories flushed instantly through her mind, reminding herself what had happened in the night before. A haze covered her memories after the injection. All she knew was Kazuma carried her back to her room. Reminding her of that caused her cheeks to light a bright pink. Kazuma carried her...in his arms...in her room. There was the odd contradicting feelings of heartache, longing and mild anger burst through her heart. Though, they felt dull. It wasn't just her head that felt exhausted, it was her heart. She couldn't bother to care about much, not even to contemplate her in Kazuma's arms for longer than a few minutes.

All during the night, she had been locked in a single dream. Not much had happened. There was a single, brilliant white flame that just burned away at green light skies that died into a blood-red color, and finally into a white radiance. She had watched it patiently, feeling cool and calm at its presence. There was something about the flame that made her feel so affectionate and happy that she couldn't fathom. It was a nice and simple dream for once.

Ayano sat up, peeling back the covers. Her body felt light and relaxed, a rejuvenated feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Golden eyes looked down, assessing the wrinkled shirt and dirt-stained skirt. She was still dressed in her clothes from yesterday. Once again, her laid-back mood set in, not really minding about her clothes. She knew she had to change still.

The red-haired girl picked herself out of bed, pulling fresh clothes out of the cupboard across the room. She stripped, showered and put them on, dragging an extra jacket on over her plain black shirt to fend from the cold draft. She also had on a pleat skirt, and plain blue socks, keeping it simple. Make up and her hair dryer laid scattered across her vanity table, but once again, she didn't really want to put any on. Instead, she just picked up her dirty clothes, throwing them in the near by hamper for washing. Her white shirt fell on top, showing the blood stained collar. Oh that was right, last night had still happened and no matter how much she didn't want to deal with it, she was sure everyone else was wanting to do so. Ayano moaned, picking up her courage and opened her door, wondering what punishment awaited her.

She was surprised to see the sun so high up in the sky as she wandered down the surprisingly quiet corridors. Was it late? She hadn't checked her alarm clock before she left, and it hadn't gone off either. It was Friday right? That also meant she should be at school. A nagging feeling told her that she wasn't going today, one that harbored the voice of her father. She just accepted it, knowing fighting it wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Finally, she approached the mess hall. If she was going to be doomed by Jugo, she might as well have a peaceful, naïve breakfast first. The door was slightly ajar with small noise radiating out of it. There wasn't many people in there, so she was able to tell it wasn't major meal time yet, but there were still some people having a late or early meal. She wasn't sure whether everyone knew about what had happened last night, or if Kazuma and Jugo had kept it quiet. There was also that poor, startled branch kid that was probably scared out of his wits after what had happened.

In the end, she sought out the kitchen, where fewer people would remain. The small side door to the kitchen crept open where people walked about cooking food at a nice even pace. It must be so rushed at meal times when a huge flock of people come barreling in through the mess hall doors. She was instantly spotted by the head chef, Isabella, who gave her a welcoming smile. "Hey sweetie, haven't seen you in a while." She greeted, putting aside a finished plate and coming over to her. Isabella had spent a lot of time in the southern end of North America, where she picked up a hint of a southern drawl. She was also taken to the fashion there, wearing tight jeans and checkered shirts. Ayano had even seen her wearing a cowboy hat before.

"Hey, Isabella." Ayano greeted, relieved at the fact she didn't seem to know what had happened last night.

"Is there anything I can do for ya'?" She asked, pulling up a chair to a small breakfast bar in the back. "Here, why don't ya' sit down?" Ayano took the seat gratefully, offering a small smile of thanks.

"I just wanted to avoid eating in the hall today, just a bit of peace and quiet." Ayano replied honestly.

"Well then, is it a late lunch or an early dinner?" Isabella asked, scanning around the work area, noting down what food was going around.

"Late lunch? What time is it?" Ayano asked in shock. How late had she woken up?

"It's two in the afternoon, darling. How about some ramen? Nice and simple, hmm?" Isabella suggested, already falling into chef-mode, unaware of Ayano's stunned expression. 2am, huh? No wonder she felt so refreshed, she'd slept half the day away. Ayano was already feeling tired thinking about it, and just decided to patiently wait while Isabella served up a bowl of hot steamy ramen in record time. "Take your time, Ayano. I'll be cookin'" Isabella, handed her a pair of chop-sticks and whizzed back over to the stove, slipping back into the kitchen flow.

The ramen was hot in her mouth and warmed her stomach up from the inside. The noodles were soft just how she liked it and the broth tasted wonderful. Even though Isabella learnt to cook in America, her traditional Japanese cooking was still the best. It had barely been a few minutes before Ayano found herself staring at the bottom of the bowl, trying to catch the straggling noodles that escaped her clutches. Catching them kept her occupied for at least five minutes before she managed to catch the last few. They were planted in her mouth and she tasted the sweet taste of victory. "So this is where you were." A voice whispered softly in her ear, hot breath grazing her cheek.

Ayano gasped, choking on her noodles and fell straight backwards of her chair. Kazuma side-stepped her, letting her crash to her defeat. Big golden eyes glared with anger, hitting his mildly amused ones staring back down at her. His eyes moved first, looking over at her empty ramen bowl. "I could have guessed you would come to find food as soon as you woke up."

"Kazuma!" Ayano snapped, jumping straight up to her feet.

Suddenly, Kazuma's face was so close to hers, his lips brushing her skin. His tongue licked the side of her cheek, catching her off-guard. Ayano yelped, darting back until she hit the wall. Kazuma chuckled, watching Ayano stood red-faced and shocked like something was about to eat her. It was a tempting thought. "Nice noodles, Isabella." Kazuma joked, waving a hand back to the chef. Isabella shook her head softly, rolling her eyes and went back to work.

Kazuma managed to dodge the flaming sword swooping his way, leaping back out the kitchen door. Ayano chased him out, blindly swinging the sword at a decapitating level. "Whoa, can't we talk about this calmly?" Kazuma suggested, raising his hands in surrender. Ayano's eyes narrowed on him, gazing him with cool contemplating eyes. Enriaha disappeared into a fading pile of gold flames, leaving her hand empty.

"Let me guess." Ayano growled, setting her hands on hips. "It was a punishment for everything that happened last night?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow, his eyes sharpening at her. "You mean, when you hit your head on the job, hid it, collapsed and caused me so much trouble?" Big brown eyes stared at her mercilessly, letting his voice churn the guilt up inside of her.

"Yeah... That." Ayano muttered, folding her arms over her chest with a pout. Golden eyes moved over to the autumn leaves fluttering in the garden, the breeze brushing through her hair.

"That, was two nights ago. You've been asleep for the past 38 hours." Kazuma informed her, with a bitter stare.

"38 hou- What?" Ayano yelled, even more dumbfounded than she had been in the kitchen.

"Yup. Jugo also wants to see you." Kazuma's eyes still held leveled with hers, looking obviously mad and irritated.

The last bit was a punch to the stomach. Thinking of her father made her feel even more guilty. She dreaded seeing him, unsure of what kind of expression he would have. Not to mention, the punishment awaiting her. "I figured." Ayano grumbled, nursing a sorrowful expression.

"Well then, let's get going." Kazuma declared, turning on his heels and walking briskly down the hallways. Ayano followed quietly behind. Her brain worked quickly pulling up all sorts of horrific images of how she was going to spend her life imprisoned in her room forever. She won't be allowed to school or to work. Or worst, she might now even be allowed to be the next Kannagi head? What would she do?

When they finally came up to Jugo's room, Ayano was ready to turn tail and run. "Maybe I'll come back later..." Ayano lied, turning around quickly. Living a life as a rogue agent might be better than whatever she would face with Jugo. The idea failed as soon as Kazuma worked his way behind her, dragging her into the room. "Or not..." she whimpered.

Jugo sat at the top of the room as usual, looking down on Ayano with a cool, emotionless expression. Ayano sat on her knees, hanging her head low, hoping to escape his stone gaze.

"Ayano." Jugo said.

Suddenly, the guilt tore free, fighting to relief herself of its painful knotting inside her chest. Ayano dropped onto her hands and knee's in an apologetic bow. "I'm so sorry, Father. I should have told you. I shouldn't have kept it to myself, I just-"

"You were scared that I was going to put even more restrictions on you." Jugo cut in with a soft sigh. Ayano stared up at him in surprise. "I know you have been eager to get back to school and back to your duties. Getting hurt on your first job could have jeopardized that. But it was wrong for you to keep it from me. You could have caused more damage to yourself."

"I'm sorry." Ayano apologised again, her hair hanging over her sullen face.

"Therefore, as punishment and, even though you hate them, precautions..." Jugo continued as Ayano's face turned upwards, slight despair prickling over her face. "You will not be able to return to school full-time."

"But-" Ayano tried to cut in, but Jugo ignored her.

"You will only be allowed to attend school for 3-days a week, and suspended from any major jobs for now."

"What will I do with the others days I'm not at school for?" Ayano exclaimed in dismay. "Stay in my room all day? That's not going to help me at all!"

"I know." Jugo admitted, his eyes hard and certain. There was definitely something planned behind them. Ayano couldn't be sure if it was good or bad. And for some reason, Jugo's face was telling her the same thing. "On the days you do not have work, or are at school, you will be training with Kazuma here." Jugo decided.

Ayano's jaw almost hit the ground in disbelief. "What?" She exclaimed. "Training? With Kazuma?"

"Looking forward to it Ayano." Kazuma chuckled from behind her. Golden eyes turned to glare at him, but soften in fear at the frightening expression he wore. Oh no...

Ayano had failed to hide her head injury, and Kazuma's feelings are slowly coming out from their own hiding place. With Ayano back on close call to lock-down, how will she react? And will those precautions really keep her safe?

Next Monday; Chapter 3; Discovery
Ayano discovers something new, but will it be dangerous, or will it make her stronger? And will she choose to keep it hidden from Kazuma, or will her find out?

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-A-ccentric