Kazuma's POV:-
Kirika could tell that I wasn't going to speak , so she spoke .
" Once , when I had returned home from speaking to an old classmate of Ayano's, I found my door ...not unlocked, but there was a neat hole burned right through the centre of the door without touching the lock so the silent alarm didn't go off..."
"Smart move"
".. I know, anyway the cameras were hacked into and none of the neighbours saw or heard anything. When I opened the drawer where I keep my gun... I saw the folder with the letter on top."
She looked at me , trying to figure out how I'd react. Me , on the other hand ,was trying to comprehend two things,1:Why would someone hate Ayano that 2:Why does he seem scared of her, after all ,the level that she was at when I met her wasn't so high as to make someone scared...unless he was a weakling ,but somehow I didn't think so, but for now, time to change the subject.
" What do you mean by 'I tried to' find out who Ayano's been hanging out with?"
She sat back on the seat after returning the letter and the key to their prior locations.
"I told you,they tell me to track her, I track her and recently, well ever since around the time you left she's been hanging out with another fu-jutsu artist ,a blond one. No matter how hard I try ,I can't find out who he is. His face and prints don't pop up anywhere in any of the data-storages. And from Catherine's perspective, this guy doesn't have the same aura as a spirit-user , even though we know that he can control the wind"
" How'd you get his prints?"
"I had one of my guys pose as a waiter in the cake-shop Ayano goes to. One time , he came as well and ..."
"You got the prints off the spoon he used."
"... exactly "
"Illegal immigrant?"
"...maybe , who knows?"
"You said he came after I left ..."
" No , I said around the time you left . There's no security footage of him in any of the stations, air ,land or water .But the earliest footage we have is one of him flying over the kannagi mansion two days before you left"
The day she said she wanted my help.
"I'm surprised Jugo would go this far.."
"not Jugo."
"huh!"
"It wasn't Jugo who asked me to track her, he was the only one who was against it , the other kannagi elders all demanded that it was necessary and so I got the job..."
"But you haven't told them everything , have you?"
She slowly shook her head
"I've only showed Jugo the files. I have a feeling that if they found out that I know what I know, I'll probably be out of a job ."
"That's not the only reason , is it?"
She looked at me and then a small smile formed on her face.
"I have come to grow ...fond of Ayano. She has agreed to help my department when we need it after making it clear that she was helping and not working for us..."
Her smile turned into a small smirk.
" ...she said that there is no way that she would work for the same people as Catherine ."
I let out a small chuckle
"Guess she hasn't changed that much"
A look of confusion and curiosity crossed her face
"You know Kazuma , Despite all the changes , Ayano's still the same kind-hearted ,caring person she was"
"You say that like it's a surprise . "
Her eyes closed
"I just can't imagine how she can be like that after what she's been through..."
"Trust me , I've been through a lot worse than the stuff in that folder"
My and Kirika's necks turned to the door to find it closed but we both knew that voice . She quickly got off her seat ,unlocked and opened the door to reveal a red-headed,ex-heiress falling down due to the sudden opening of the door she was leaning on.
"..*off*Can't you warn me before you do that?"
Kirika simply smiled and helped her up.
"So,what brings you here Ayano?"
Instead of answering she looked at me with a peculiar stare ,as if I was a game piece and she didn't know which move to she let out a sigh ,her face clearly saying 'I'm gonna regret this' before turning towards me.
"Don't try and kill the kannagis. It's a waste of time okay"
Without waiting for me to reply ,she turned to Kirika and said
"Show him the files"
"What?"
Ayano let out an annoyed sigh
"I know about the files okay ,and I appreciate you not blabbering it to him..."
She pointed towards me
"...but frankly I don't really care whether he knows or not, the past is in the past and that's where I want to leave it"
Then she turned towards with a forced expression of anger
"And you,...Don't you dare starting pitying me or anything or I'll seriously get angry"
Then she turned to leave .On the way out she turned around and said one more thing
"Oh! And Kirika,please tell dad not to worry . I never blamed him or anything"
And then she left.
Without a word Kirika locked the door again and began to retrieve the folder while one thing struck me odd with what just happened . 'Why didn't I sense her energy?'My thoughts were interrupted as Kirika dropped the old folder on my lap, unlocked the door and signalled for me to leave and take it with me.
I simply got up with the folder in my hand and began to leave. As I passed her I said.
"I'll bring it back when I'm done"
It was faint but just before the door slammed shut I heard a reply
"I wouldn't mind if you didn't".
Ayano's POV:-
What was I thinking?What will he think?I rubbed my forehead while trying to imagine how he'd react.
Best case sinerio :He won't care and will laugh at how everyone was making a fuss over nothing.
Worst case sinerio 1:He'll try and talk to me about it or worse...he might try to 'understand' me. The very thought brings a chill up my spine.
Worse case sinerio 2...or 3: He'll try to be nicer to me and try to help me out...
...That would be horrifying , although it might give me some opportunities to make fun of him.I raised my head and began to set of to the forest . I sensed him leaving the building and heading towards his new apartment . No matter what his reaction will be , as long as he doesn't try to find me , it's fine. As soon as I got out of his range , I ducked into a nearby alley and focused my energy , my fire at my feet thus greatly increasing my speed and then I was off .
I reached the edge of the forest and began to slow down a bit, I sensed my team-mates waiting for me at the bottom of a cliff in front of me . Without the slightest hesitation, I launched myself over the edge.
"TAICHI!"
As I fell , I saw my team-mates turn their heads towards me,none of them showed any expression of worry ,just surprise(honestly ,they should be more alert)as my blond partner raised his wind caught me and settled me down right beside them.
"So ,What'd you do about Kazuma?"
The person who asked me that was Seraphinah Ino(Her friends call her Stef). She had golden eyes and glossy-black , waist-lenght hair which she currently had in a braid. She was wearing a dark-red-plait mini-skirt and a black leather-jacket along with gloves and boots and socks which ended above her knees. She's your typical beauty queen and she's an en-jutsu artist.
"Don't worry, He's occupied"
"How?"
The person who asked me that was Joe Tanaka(His friends call him Joe).He's an earth spirit-user and had straight ,short blond hair and green eyes .He was wearing a sleeveless red T-shirt and cargo-shorts .He was also wearing gloves and sports 's every girls fantasy (so I've heard) except that he's Seraphinah's boyfriend and... is kind of an idiot.
"I told Kirika to give him the files she got,He's probably reading it know ... or not. All I know is that he set off towards his new apartment with the files"
All they're eyes widened and then went back to their original shape.
"Well,...I guess that's better than him asking you about it himself"
The person who said that was Taichi (His friends call him Taichi ,I call him bro or brother as well).He has spiky blond hair and sky-blue eyes and was a fu-jutsu artist .He was wearing an open green jacket with a dark-orange sleeveless T-shirt underneath and white loose shorts He was also my partner and my almost life-long best friend.
"Well!We should probably get going,..."
As if on que, a portal opened opened next to us and a small ,cute girl with light-blue hair and sea-green eyes came out of was wearing a pale blue simple sleeveless dress which extended to her knees and had light pink lines near the bottom an top of the dress and simple pink sandals. She dropped her bag as she side-stepped a rock ,trying to regain her balance, and tripped right before Taichi caught her .
"You okay,Cristy?"
"Yeah,sorry ..."
The cute girl was Cristy ,she's the brains of our bunch...and she's Taichi's girlfriend .She's also a spirit-user but...it's complicated .After regaining her balance (and removing the very obvious blush on her face),she looked at us and smiled.
"Okay guys ,A nest of A-grade youma were found at the bottom of one of the cliffs in the south canyon ,The exact location hasn't been noted ,but you should be able to sense them once you've entered the canyon."
Stef:"Sounds good to me , lets go"
Joe:"You know ,you could have just called us instead of coming here by yourself"
Taichi:"Yeah, He's actually right for once..."
Joe:"HEY!"
Cristy simply shook her head with a smile
"Actually ,Rika called me and asked me to come over while you guys were on the mission"
"Huh!Why would she do that?"I asked.
"She said she was bored because every time anyone comes to visit her at the training grounds ,they directly start training and only stop when they faint from exhaustion or someone else calls them and tells them to do something"
All eyes were on me and Taichi.
"SHE'S LYING,I BOUGHT HER SOME SWEETS WHEN I WENT LAST WEEK..."
"AND I ALWAYS TALK TO HER WHEN I GO...ALthough it may only be for a short time."My voice lowered as I realised my negligence.
Clouds of depression formed over our heads. Cristy nervously waved her hands and tried to cheer us up while Joe and Stef just had identical 'there they go again' looks on they're looked bored while Joe looked amused.
"Well! You should go now .I know how to reach the training grounds from here."She stated nervously as she recreated a portal with the co-ordinates for the canyon.
Joe and Stef decided that it was time to leave and entered the portal.
"We're going without you, see you there"
Our heads shot up immediately and we both charged after them.
"THE HECK, YOU GUYS WANNA GET KILLED ?"
"IT'S AN A-GRADE YOUMA'S NEST ,YOU IDIOTS,WAIT FOR US"
Cristy just smiled and waved at the already disappearing portal
"COME BACK SA...ALIVE!"
"WE'LL TRY"
And we were gone .
Cristy simply picked up the bag she had and set off deeper into the forest.