Yukari's POV:-
Me and Nanase were going to our regular cake shop .The last 4 years , Ayano,s been... I don't even know how to describe it . Sure , the love of her life left her ( even I accept that single letter is bull as far as justification is concerned ) but it was as if she didn't mind . The days before he left , she had been seriously nervous and edgy and ...troubled . We both thought she was going to confess but noooooo, he had to leave . The shocker is , when we said this to Ayano , 'She' justified 'Kazuma' saying that he was going after his dead ex-girlfriend's killer and that was more important ...WITH A STRAIGHT FACE.

.

That was the day we realised that something was terribly wrong .
But the thing is ...Ayano always used to come when we had plans , but she began to skip out at times . It became worse since two years ago when she renounced her title as heiress . When we asked her why she did it , she said with a laugh .
"Can you guys really imagine me sitting still in a stuffy room listening to stuck-up , selfish old men and NOT kill them ?...I honestly don't know how my dad does it ."
Well, she had a point . But ...doesnt that mean that she should have more free time now . But we see her even less now-a-days .we miss her . For some reason she's even more busy after she renounced her title . She won't answer when we ask her about it ...sometimes she even says "you guys wouldn't understand " . Seriously , we were by her side when we found out about this en-jutsu , fu-jutsu stuff. Heck, we even got kidnapped by a guy working for a guy who wanted to destroy the city , and we still stayed with her .What more could there be?

.

The way her eyes darkened made me feel a bit relieved that she didn't answer.
"Hey , Yukari ..."
"Oh , sorry . I was just..."
"Ayano ?"
I let out a sigh .
"Yeah ."
"I've been worrying too."
"I know , after everything we've been through ... It's like ...it's like she's pushing us away ."
"She is ."
I blinked.
"WHAT?...you don't think she's really ..."
"I ran into Ren this morning ..."
Nanase's eyes grew downcast . I began to worry.
"...he said that Kazuma's back."
"WHAT?...WAS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO TELL ME ?"
She nodded . One thing we learned is that Kazuma had become a taboo topic with Ayano . She doesn't get angry or start yelling ...it's just ..like a switch is turned off when we try to talk about him . The pain in her eyes as she ignores our questions , insisting that she's fine and that she's glad he's gone . The crazy thing is the second part actually sounds believable , like she's actually happy that he left ...or rather ..relieved .
"That's not the main thing though ..."
"Huh..."
"...Ayano's reaction . She was ...calm ."
We stopped walking .
"You mean..."
"Yeah , no trying to kill him . No proclaiming how much she hates him ...he said that she almost lost it but managed to leave before she did anything ..."
"I don't get it ."
My voice was low , broken . I felt so betrayed .
"...we're her best friends ,right ...so why ?...why didn't she tell us something this important ?...Did she think we'd make fun of her ? Or tease her with Kazuma ? Does she not want to talk to us anymore? ...after all she has a new bff now, right? ...that blond guy they said she's been hanging out with ..."
"We should just talk to her . I'm sure she has a good reason . This is Ayano , have you ever even seen her cry ...even once? When it's not overdramatising for an incredibly silly reason "
I wiped away my half-formed tears .
"That doesn't help . She should know that we're there for her , that she can lean on us ...why are you so calm about this ? Aren't you upset too?"
Nanase let out a sigh .
"Yeah ,...but I understand her reasoning , I guess ...after all , we're just regular humans . If its something involving this supernatural stuff . I get why she'd want us to stay in the shadows about it...um...Yukari ?..."
Nanase looked in the direction that I was staring . The cake shop . Through the window was a clear view of a red-head swallowing multiple cakes why thinking HARD about something . The scene was so Ayano that we couldn't help but smile .
" I can't believe she prefers cakes to us for comfort ."
The comical sadness in my voice was reflected in hers.
"I can."
"Nanase ...me , you and Ayano-chan need to have a girl talk ."
"Agreed."
And we both entered the shop.
She looked up to see us with a stuffed mouth.
"Ayano-chan ,...um... we need ...to talk..."
She seemed sad. worry passed through her eyes.
"I wanted to talk to you guys too."

Genma's POV:-
I was sitting on the porch when my cell phone began to ring . I checked the caller-id and was quite surprised at the name .
"What do you want ? Brat..."
"What are the proper steps to treat mental stress ?"
"What?"
"...well, since you've definitely caused a lot of it . I taught you might know how to treat it."
I let out a sigh . That kid ...well, it's better than him whining like a scared brat. He's grown well.
"What happened? I know you would not call me simply for a chat."
"You never know...I might be trying to repair our broken father-son bond..."
A stupid part of me hoped it was true, despite how impossible it was...
"...but you tore every bit of that into shreds and burned it into ashes a long time ago . So...something else , then.."
...a very, Very small part.
"If this is a wasteful..."
"Where's Jugo ? I can't reach him."
Ah, yes. That man has become a father-figure to my son . Even though , his relationship with his own child has been complicated...Whatever Ayano had told him must have been incredibly serious to affect him.
"Jugo has requested some space to think."
"Wow, even he got tired of you ,huh...anyway , just tell him to call me back."
"I don't take orders from you, brat."
"Well, old man , what if I told you someone was targeting the kannagis ?...again. I stopped an attack just a while ago."

"Got your attention now , huh , you loyal kannagi dog."
I felt a sad smirk crawl onto my face . If only he knew...well, what is done is done.
"I assume that it is Misao you are referring to . You do realise that she is no longer a kannagi ..."
I waited for a while , listening to the silence . I knew that he wished that I would make an effort and he knew that I would not do anything for a disgraced outcast without due reason any more that he would do a mission without getting paid. Well, I suppose this much time is sufficient for him to reinforce his ideas of me being a heartless bastard.
"...but I will inform Jugo of this ...occurrence ."
"How did you know that it was Misao ?"
I almost chuckled. What a fool. Asking such an obvious question.
"There are not many kannagis whom You would save, brat. Now , I have better things to do, so..."
"Why not Ayano ?"
It was a valid question . Ren , Ayano and Misao are the three kannagis whom he cares about ...and Jugo . Even if you cancel Ren in favour of me knowing my son's current situation . Ayano is still an option . Not an actual one , but worth asking for an explanation. I spoke a quick reply before cutting the call.
"Because then ,you would not have withheld the name of the victim . *beep*"
...and because she's currently too strong to be simply victimised and I doubt that she would hold back anymore ,...even if he were there .
"Had a nice ...talk ...with your son , Gemma ."
A sickly , sweet voice surrounded me . I knew that voice and it belonged to someone who should Not be here...and definitely Not talking to me.
"What do you want, Sirena?"
I looked up to see a woman , whose beauty was beyond comparison . She had tanned skin ,long golden hair that shone in the sunlight and piercing blue eyes . She wore a sparkling red formal gown with a low-cut neckline and a slit at a side beginning from her waist , dark-red high heels with straps and gold jewellery decorated her neck and arms. Her red lips curled into a playful smile which then morphed into a pout.
"What ? It's been too 't you happy to see me ?"
"No."
She put her hands on her hip and her lips curled into a smirk .
"Of course . You only have eyes for that fu-jutsu princess , don't you?"
My eyebrows narrowed.
"Oohhh , hit the nail on the head , huh , Gemma ... I've been watching you , you know."
"A pastime to help you get over your rejection. It's been more than twenty years . He has a daughter .Get over it."
"I'm not here about Jugo ...well, I am ...in a way . It's about his daughter ...and your beloved's family."
I tensed .
"They said she would be safe . They gave me their word."
"Yes, yes...and the oath of a true clan-leader is as unbreakable as a diamond , as lasting as the world, blah, blah ,blah..."
I almost cracked a smile , ...almost .
"...but the fact of the matter is...your baby boy's got them thinking...and you know how ..greedy powerful clan's are...for power. A fu-jutsu contractor ...pretty big catch."
"He's not a thing ...and how.."
"Yeah , yeah...he is his own etc,etc ...I mean , you banished the kid and made him undergo mental and physical trauma And hate you with a passion just so that he'd be free...bravo , bye the way ..."
I rolled my eyes.
"How'd they find out about him? It was a clean break . They should have forgotten about us."
She gave a sly smile .
"Their heiress , the kid who Hated the kannagis , Had a kid with an kannagi en-jutsu artist . People don't forget about that stuff. Besides , you still have a piece of her with you too , don't you? Not like you can judge ."
I looked down at my hand . The urge to summon her spiritual essence , or rather , the small bit that I had kept with me all these years just to know that she's still safe was immense . But first things first.
"Why are you here? Kushina's dead . We no longer have any ties with you people. And Kazuma doesn't know the first thing about any of this stuff."
She erupted into a fit of chuckles . Then she crossed her arms .
"Oh , all work and no play . No wonder you're such a grumpy guy. Well, it's one of your 'manly' features ...as for your question..."
She took out a slip of paper. It was a message , a message that will only appear when in contact with the magic of the intended recipient . I engulfed it in flames . Nothing happened .
"Oh, sweetie . It's not for you , it's for the poor guy inside worrying away about his darling daughter in meditation . I've met the girl and I gotta say ...she's definitely their child ..."
She said in disgust . Jugo was one the the few Unmarried men who have ever refused her . Fortunately , he had already met Kushina before her or else ,...no . Somethings are just too wrong to think about. Jugo and 'her' were one of them .A small smirk formed on my face as she turned to leave . Her body slowly began to slowly vanish ...In my opinion , too slowly.
"Oh ! And sweetie . Kushina may be gone but her daughter's even more deeply involved than she was , so you guys are still in our radar ...piece of advice , enjoy your time with her ...you ain't got much left...oh ,and if you get the guts ,tell your son too...he'll be affected the most...and does this dress make me look fa..."
And she disappeared leaving me with the paper in my possession . First the brat , now that crazy lady . I've officially become Jugo's message taker.