Ayano's POV:-

I shut off Kazuma's flame and resummoned Cristy's flame and concentrated . I created a small flame ball , completely non-lethal and launched some of her essence into it .
"Tracker assist , Cristy."
The fire ball shot off and I followed it . This was the tracker technique . If you merge a person's spiritual essence with an attack , it launches at them like a homing signal . We can also use it to locate people.
Once the boarding house came into view , I cancelled the fire and slowed down before walking in ...
"Hey , guys !"
...to find Steph and Joe attacking each others lips .

"Ah-hem!"

They pulled away to see me .
Now , if I had caught Cris and Taichi in this position , there would have been embarrassment , blushing and blabbering followed by an amusing hasty exit , but with these two .
Joe simply shrugged and said .
"She had some chocolate on her lips ."
I raised my eyebrow .
"I bet it's gone now ."
He licked his lips .
"It was delicious."
Steph rolled her golden eyes and took another piece of chocolate and placed it in her mouth .
"Want another?"
Joe turned to her with a grin.
"Oh , yea..."
"HOLD IT! First tell me where Cris is"
"Upstairs ."
They both replied , not taking their eyes off one another .
"Thanks ."
I mumbled and went to the flight to stairs nearby , leaving them ...to themselves . Those guys sometimes disgusted me . But they had history together and made each other happy so I guess it was okay . Steph was actually in a position slightly similar to mine in terms of family , but unlike me , she left with Joe when she was scouted and has been living here since then .
"CRISTY?"
"OVER HERE , AYANO-CHAN !"
I entered the room and saw her on her spy-top .
"So , I trust Taichi called you ?"
"Ayano-chan , I'm sorry I ..."
"Forget it . Just tell me now...I got some news too."
"Okay ,...I'll go first ."

Kazuma's POV:-

I sat in a private booth of a restaurant , fiddling with the paper . The booth was a semi-circular curved couch with a table in the middle hidden from view by a curtain .First , Ayano's friend mentioning it and then Jugo telling me to keep it safe . I knew it meant something ...but for crying out loud , it was just a blank piece of paper . A very fine blank sheet of paper , but blank , none-the-less .
"Your order ,sir?"
I looked up to see a middle-aged woman wearing the restaurant's uniform looking down at me with a flirty grin .
"I'll have the special and a bottle of good wine ."
"Which kind ?"
She asked , writing down my order .
"Surprise me ."
She raised her eyebrow and then smirked before bending down to my level and lowering her lips to my ear .
"Well, if you want a more entertaining surprise ...l get off work at 8."
She whispered the last words .
"The wine will do ..."
She straightened herself and turned to leave . I could tell that she was put out a bit and not wanting to risk any unwanted addition to my food ,I smoothly added .
"...for now."
Her body stilled for a moment before she turned and gave me a wry smirk and left .
Ah fate ,Why must I be so irresistible ? Heh , I wonder how Ayano would have reacted if she were here , women usually don't flirt with me when she's around. The ones that do usually leave once she glares that them . A small smile grew on my face as I remembered her obvious jealousy . It disappeared as I wondered ...how would she react now ? Would she still care ?
She's changed . She has new friends that even the police can't track , she resigned from her title as heiress , she's passed the test to undertake solo missions , clearly stating that she's gotten stronger and despite the fact that she's keeping secrets from the clan , the look on Jugo's face when he talked about her , a mixture of sadness and pure pride . She was the pride of her father ...and Ren is probably the pride of my old man , he's definitely gotten stronger over the years ...
Years ...4 years .
Who knew so much could change ?

'You left them to find me , Kazuma . You abandoned them for revenge. Kill me . Kill me and return to the kannagi princess and your dear brother ...I only wish I could see your face when you realise what you have lost . Tell me , how much will that girl hate you when she realises what you decided to do ? ...'

I clenched my fist , crushing the paper in my hand . That wretched Bernhert . As long as I can remember , I have dreamt of killing him , he murdered Tsui-Ling ,...and threatened to kill everyone I care about . But now that he's dead , I wonder ...

'What I'm gonna tell you,... It's up to you whether you believe it or not ...and I would appreciate it if you would help me and ...you have to keep it a secret ...but I can't pay you...and you can't tell my dad...and...'

'Don't worry . You can trust me . I told you I'll protect you .'

...was it worth it?

'...I'm glad you left...'

'...You'll only get hurt ...please, Please , for once in your life,PLEASE JUST LISTEN.'

She was trying to protect me, probably Ren and her dad as well . And knowing Ayano , she'll do anything and everything to do it , including turning the kannagis against her and making her look like a rebellious wild card .
I only wonder how much is still the same .
A few powerful fu-jutsu artists entered the restaurant . I kept my energy hidden while I was here so that I don't gain any unwanted attention but I still heard them ask the guy who overlooked reservations .
"Excuse me , we are looking for a Kazuma yagami . He has reserved a booth here."
My eyes narrowed slightly and I quickly summoned a small dose of wind to surround the paper and move it to my pocket , simultaneously making it's presence invisible . I wasn't taking any chances . My senses went into high-alert when I realised that one of the fu-jutsu artists had sensed the action and that meant they were good ,...really good .
I kept still , refusing to turn and face them and as predicted , they came to me . They slid into the booth and immediately hid their spiritual energy .
They wanted me to acknowledge them .
There were four of them in total . One was buff and the rest were lean . They were all wearing suits , which I recognised as Very expensive . They wore expressionless faces except the man who was seated right across from me who gave me a polite smile which I returned . He was obviously the spoke-person of the group . Two of them had black hair , one had brown and the one seated across from me had white hair , not silver like the kid I fought but snow-white . He didn't look old . They all looked middle-aged .
"Kazuma ..."
He said giving a nod of acknowledgement as if we had planned to meet . I replied with the same action.
"Stranger-who-I-am-not-going-to-pay-for..."
He chucked . Well, at least he has a sense of humour .
"Oh , you need not worry about that . In fact , dinner is on us . It is the least we can do for barging in on your reserved booth unannounced ..."
He's paying? Now , I really wish Ayano was here.
"...but we wish to speak to you about something Kazuma . Something , your father has ...kept from you ."
At the mention of my dad , I realised that I was dealing with professionals ,meaning 'listen carefully , believe nothing and pretend to believe everything.'
I narrowed my eyes , making it seem like they got to me .
"I'm listening."
The curtain opened to reveal the same waitress with five glasses and a bottle of red wine . She placed the items on the table and turned to the others .
"Your orders ,sirs?"
The man turned to her with a smile .
"Can you bring us a menu?"
She left without another word . The other three guys were still in their private game of 'who's the best statue?'.
"Now Kazuma ..."
He began as he poured two glasses of wine and set one in front of me before taking a sip himself .
"...have you ever wondered why you were the only fu-jutsu artist born to the kannagi-clan?"

A.N:-

I updated.

wow.

I didn't think I could do that.

I realised that I didn't get much feedback on the Joe and Steph's chaps and decided to continue with the original plot line . the plot relevant parts of those two characters were already mentioned in the first two parts of the flashback . But if you want to know the remaining story of how they formed this group , please tell me . I know the story's already too complicated and I didn't want to make it worse .I was going to mention how Ayano and Taichi got involved during the flashback series but I guess I'll bring it in later .

P.S: remember how I said I might disappear for 1 or 4 years . That still stands . The deadline's just been pushed back but it's getting close.

P.P.S:Please review .