Ayano's POV:-
I was heading back to my house . I was walking really slowly because I didn't really want to face Kazuma.
Flash back:-
"Alright , I managed to extract the energy from the enhancer , seems the powers coming from another youma..." said nut was placed in a transparent box filled with organic , living...stuff so that the energy doesn't stop transmitting.
"A youma strong enough to give out such a large amount of energy can't possibly exist .."said Steph .
Cristy looked back at the screen of her (as Joe like to call it) spy-top .kinda like spy-laptop ,cause it can be used to do a lot of things which I don't understand at all . None of us could come up with better names and Cristy didn't mind what we called it , so it stayed like that .
"Well , the readings indicate a living source , but it doesn't have to be a single youma , it could be a bunch of youma put together . But the main problem is that the aura definitely belonged to A-grade youmas "
"So a huge number of A-grade youma were captured and their energies were diverted to stall us ..." Taichi summed it up.
"Pretty much ..." Cristy said with shrug before she began absorbing the energy from the nut ..uh... energy enhancer and transferring it into Taichi's watch and then Steph's bracelet and Joe's watch as well before giving me the nu...energy enhancer .
"Taichi , Joe and Steph if you come across an energy source radiating the same aura as the one in your accessories , call the others immediately ..."
This was followed by sures and got its .
"You're really amazing , Cris ..." Taichi said giving a loving smile to Cristy ...who in turn blushed as red as a cherry and began stuttering.
"...not really ...I mean...you...well ...uh.."
Taichi noticing her embarrassment and realising what he said (Dude's a true Romeo to Cris when he Doesn't try to be) blushed even more than Cristy but kept quiet , more like went into shock .
Steph , deciding that they should get going set Taichi's hair on fire to wake him from his trance.
"THE HECK ! STOP DOING THAT , WOULD YOU?"shouted Taichi as he removed the oxygen surrounding his head , extinguishing the flame and snapping both Cristy and him from their trance's'.It's a wonder he hasn't gone bald yet from the number of times she's done that (I do that too , but I only make it look like it's burning )
Everyone began to leave , but I still didn't get what I was supposed to do . Taichi gave me a worried look which I returned with a reassuring smile . Once everyone had left , I looked back at Cristy . I had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say but I wanted to be sure .
"Ayano-chan, please put the energy enhancer in the tracking system I placed at the police-headquarters ..."
"Alright then ..." I said as I got off the ground . Cristy hacked into the police satellite system when a breach in the dimensional wall allowed A-grade youma to appear in this world . Now , whenever an abnormally powerful youma appears , the information is directly sent to the 'spy-top' and erased from the police hard-drive .By connecting the 'nut' to the tracking system , The source of the energy radiating from it can be found if the source is from this world , provided it's not hidden from Kirika-san's satellites..which was very unlikely.
"...and Ayano-chan , I know you don't want to , but you should talk to Kazuma . You'll keep getting distracted if you keep worrying ."
I gave out a chuckle turned to Cristy .
"Am I that obvious ?"
"Not to strangers , but to us ...yeah , kinda"
I turned and headed towards the opening .
"Don't worry Cristy ...I'll clear the air...if he lets me " The last 4 words were just a wishper that was carried of by the wind but I didn't let the worry show as I walked out of the grounds.
Kazuma's POV:-
I toured around practically the entire city , but still no sign of her energy anywhere . 'Maybe she's still hiding her energy ' .I looked at my watch again , if I don't leave now I won't be able to catch the train . I went to my apartment and took the bag I had packed with just some emergency supplies and set of towards the train station . I spread my range as far as I could but still no luck . The hour that I promised Ren had passed a while ago and I won't deny that I wanted to say goodbye to her face this time . I didn't want to make her more angry ...or upset . I landed behind a tree at the station and got my ticket , I went to the platform and waited . A part of me waited for the train but the major part of me just wanted to see a flash of red come towards me and yell at me like before . The train came in the platform and passengers began to board ...I still waited . Then the whistle blew and with a hard sigh , I boarded the train .
Present:-
Ayano's POV:-
I reached the edge of the forest and began to increase my range so that I could locate Kazuma but he wasn't anywhere near me .
'must still be at his apartment or the kannagi compound'
No one was there so I climbed on top of the nearest building and launched myself from it's roof , at the same time , releasing a large amount of energy straight from my feet , pushing me forward with such speed that it would seem as if I vanished . Using that force to propel me from building to alley to building , I reached the police headquarters . I easily hid my energy and snuck into the building by a side-window ( just cause I can't fly , doesn't mean I can't climb the neighbouring buildings fire escape and launch myself to a side-window ). I made sure to avoid the security cameras as I didn't want my time of being present to be recorded . I went to a ladies bathroom on the fourth floor , which is basically a restricted area and fortunately doesn't have much guards except at it's entrance and was quite deserted ,and snuck into the ventilator system ( cliche , I know , but it works ), from there I followed the GPS Cristy placed in my phone , which led me to ...a dead end . Putting my phone down , I neatly melted a the sides of the ventilation tunnel and placed the 'nut' in a compartment which was inside . I then melted the wall back in place and retracted my steps , careful not to get caught on camera. The small amounts of heat released by the cameras , because of continuous usage , helps me locate them . Once I got out of the building , I sent Cristy a text
/it's done./
Keeping my phone back inside , I stopped hiding my energy and ...slapped my head .
' Sh*t ! I had my energy hidden when I met Kirika and Kazuma this morning , Oh man! Please let Kazuma not have noticed ...'
With that thought in mind , I set off to find him .
'Might as well get it over with...'
I had reached his new apartment's roof (Kirika's entire police department cannot gather information better than Cristy , especially when it involves a friend )in within 1 minute ...but he wasn't there . I looked around for his aura but I couldn't find it. 'Weird , the last time it was like this was the day he left ' . Instead of making assumptions , I decided to go to the kannagi grounds even though I had a sinking feeling in my gut that he wouldn't be there either .' If he's not there , it's a good thing ...right?'
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At the kannagi mansion:-
It took longer than necessary to reach here . I stopped going at high-speed about 4 blocks away so that no one could notice anything abnormal when I arrive at the mansion , after all , if Kazuma's on a lookout for me , he'd definitely notice that something's wrong if I suddenly appear . I got down at an alley and some perverts saw me and... Let's just say that those scumbags are taking a loooooonnng nap , they might never wake up . I increased my range again even though it was obvious he wasn't here . Nonetheless , I sensed Ren on the roof and thought that I'd pop him a visit . After all now I can honestly tell Cristy that I 'tried' but I couldn't find him . I'm sure that she'll roll her eyes and give me a disappointed look , but hey ! Why should I make an extra effort to confront someone that left without a word (stupid letters don't count , this isn't a bloody drama) even when I had asked him for help. I was so stupid thinking I could trust him , I was so embarrassed too ... I ...understand why he left ,but ...was it so hard to say goodbye to my face .
I went to my room's balcony and jumped off the railing to the roof . Ren saw me and smiled , but it seemed a bit off . He seemed ...guilty? or something .My eyes widened . 'Kazuma ...no...you wouldn't have ...' Ren noticing my pause quickly laughed a very , Very fake laugh .
"Nee-san , have you talked to nii-san yet ... Can't believe he's leaving again but he'll be back soon so I guess it's alright "
I froze , my eyes widened and I just looked at Ren with a shocked face ...to which Ren responded by looking at his watch and then slowly turning towards me with a face covered in worry .
"He said he would wait for you for another hour but..."
"the hour's up ?..."
"yeah...But he said he'll be back soon and I don't know exactly where he's going but..."
A smile formed on my face and Ren stopped talking . It was a real smile of happiness , happiness at how much Ren was worried about me . It was nice to know that someone cares about me ...here.
"He only waited cause you told him to...didn't he?"
His eyes widened and I knew it was the truth.
"..nee-san..."
I walked towards him and patted his head .
"Don't worry Ren , I'm fine"
"You should stop lying , princess "
My head shot up and I turned around to see... nothing .
"...nee-san?..."I heard worry in his voice and turned to face him again .'Must have been my imagination , even if he hid his spiritual presence , there's no way he could hide his body heat.'. With that thought , I calmed myself down and looked at Ren.
"Don't worry Ren , just thought I heard something "
He gave me a suspicious look , but it left his face when a few drops of water began to hit his face .
"Looks like its about to rain ..."he said as he got up while looking straight up at the sky while I simply made myself comfortable lying down flat on my back with my arms behind my head . Ren walked towards the edge before looking back at me .
"..Nee-san , aren't you coming in?"
"Nah , I'll just stay out here for a while ." I said with a distant smile .
Ren simply nodded and jumped to a nearby tree-branch and climed down . I remember telling him that the roof was a good place to relax without bumping into people , especially because it can't be accessed by a door or elevator like most modern buildings. Ren didn't mind leaving me here in the rain ,which started to come down quite hard . It might seem unnatural to others but I like being out during a heavy rainfall ,but it's like a refuge for me ...because in the rain ...no one can see you cry , and besides with or without enrhiha , my body temperature's more than enough to keep me from getting sick. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the rain.
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Silence , that was all I heard apart from the pitter patter of the rain . Then in one second , someone was right above me . I couldn't see him but I could sense his spiritual energy and his body heat . I froze , not because I was scared , not even because no one was near a close to 2 mile radius of me just one second ago (I'm reeaally careful these days )but because I knew that someone and he wasn't supposed to be here . I slowly got to my feet and turned to face him . I wasn't going to run away .
"Didn't you have somewhere to be ?...Kazuma."