A/N: Hey all,

I just wanted to take a few moments before getting into the chapter to say a few things to you, the readers.

First,I am deeply sorry that I have been away from this story for so long. I had a loss of content earlier this year and have felt very disconnected from this work for quite a long time. As a result I have not given this story the attention that it deserves and I have disappointed you, my faithful readers, with my repeated promises and failure to post new chapters.

Second, please do not worry about me abandoning this story. I promise that no matter how much time it takes or how much struggle it gives me, I will finish Who Knows What Fate May Hold For You and I will not rush to the end. I intended this piece to be a long story when I began it. While it has grown much bigger than originally intended, I still have every intention of bringing it to its natural conclusion. So please look forward to seeing more from this story in the future.

Third, thank you to my wonderful reviewers. I would like to extend a very special and personal thanks to Kitty for their kind and supportive review on July 30th. It is no secret that Who Knows What Fate May Hold For You is not a very popular work and receives only a handful of views, if any, with each new chapter. While I understand that it is in an old fandom that wasn't extremely popular even during the publication of the source material, it has still felt as though no one really cared whether Who Knows What Fate May Hold For You continued to update or not. So to see such a kind review from Kitty really made me happy. It reminded me of why I am writing this fiction. I am writing it for you, my wonderful readers, and it has been unfair of me to keep you all waiting for so long. I am deeply sorry and will try to remedy my actions. So please continue to support me with your reviews. Your words give me such encouragement and motivation to keep going on this story. I am grateful for every review I am given.

Finally fourth, I would like to ask all of my readers to help me. I know I am not the best about posting, but I want to be better. I want to begin posting on the 28th of each month again, though this month will be off by a few days, but I'm concerned I may start to fail at meeting the deadlines again. So what I would like to ask of you is to keep me on track. If I miss a deadline, feel free to send me a pm in complaint or just to heckle me. Please help me on track and I will do my very best to keep you from having to. I want to write this for all of you. My readers are why I continue this work. I have always said that if one person liked my work, then that's enough. Lately I'd lost sight of that, but now I see it again. I want to keep doing this for all of you, and this time,I'm going to try my best to not let you all down.

Thank you for always staying beside me!

Your grateful author,

Spiral of Destiny

Chapter 26: An Unexpected Occurrence

Disclaimer: I do not own this. Spiral: The Bonds Of Reasoning is the property of Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. The only ownership I claim is for this story and the OCs involved.

Asura fought against Kanone's grasp as he was led down the halls of Tsukiomi. The older teen's words had confused him, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he had no desire to figure out what the known psychopath had in mind.

"What did you mean before?" He asked after several minutes of silence. Kanone had spent the time passing greetings to classmates and passing teachers and ignoring the negative responses he received from those he passed.

"You'll see in a moment."

"I'd rather not."

"Now don't be difficult." Kanone's tone was easy and friendly and nothing about his manner gave any indication that he had ill intentions. Asura sighed.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I really don't want it. I have to get going." He tried to pull away again but once more Kanone prevented his escape.

"Oh come now. At least give me a few minutes. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Everyone?" As he spoke they rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the lockers and his eyes fell on a group of people waiting at the entrance.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's called being nice."

"But I don't want it."

"I don't believe you." With a forceful push Kanone sent Asura stumbling forward toward the group. He staggered a few steps before he felt an arm catch him and offer support until he regained his footing.

"Hey. Welcome. We've been waiting for you." Asura looked up to see Kisame standing at his shoulder to support him and he straightened quickly and dropped his hand from Kisame's arm.

Behind Kisame stood Eyes, Rio, Kousuke, and Ryoko. They watched Asura curiously as Kanone came up behind him.

Asura didn't immediately speak. He regarded each person before him carefully. They did the same. After a few moments of silence Rio stepped forward and spoke.

"It's nice to meet you Noragami-kun. Izo and Kousuke have talked a lot about you."

"Have they?" Asura eyed the two in question warily.

"What do you expect? You've been watching us since you got to Tsukiomi." Kousuke's tone was slightly more accusatory than he meant it to be and Asura grimaced.

"I'm allowed to watch my classmates." Asura challenged.

"Yeah, but when you do it as often as you have it gets creepy."

"Am I supposed to care?"

"Ooh, hostile aren't you?" Kisame's interjection into the conversation caused everyone to look at him.

"It doesn't matter." It was Eyes turn to speak. He fixed his gaze squarely on Asura. Asura met the challenge. "The reason you've garnered so much attention is because you seem to have a particular interest in myself and my companions."

"Perhaps I find you interesting."

"Perhaps we feel the same about you." Eyes' counter caused Asura to hesitate and Kisame took the opportunity to speak.

"Just give us a chance, Noragami. All it'll cost you is a bit of your time." Asura looked over the faces of the people surrounding him once more. Kisame, Kanone, and Rio were smiling at him. Kousuke and Eyes, while not smiling, didn't appear to be hostile, and Ryoko seemed bored, likely having only tagged along because of Kousuke's presence in the meeting. Asura sighed.

"Fine."

It wasn't long before Asura found himself ushered away from the entrance of Tsukiomi and down one of the many sidewalks leading around the campus. Though the day was cold the sky was clear and the air smelled fresh and clean. The grounds were mostly empty, giving the small group the opportunity to chat without having to try and talk over others.

Kanone and Kisame had been working to move the conversation along, asking the other Blade Children about their day and plans for after school activities. Kisame had done the majority of the talking, as Asura seemed more comfortable around the black haired teen than Kanone. Asura had appreciated the deviation in topic and listened as the others spoke. The interactions didn't appear to be forced or in any way outside the realm of normal conversation for regular high school students. By the time the conversation turned back to him Asura was debating whether the others were actively aware of the status of one another as killers or if it was simply something unconscious that had drawn them together. He turned his attention from observation to acknowledging Kisame as a question was addressed to him.

"So Noragami, what made you decide to come to Japan for high school? Izo said you came from the United States?" Asura seemed to contemplate the question for a moment before shrugging.

"Wanted a change of pace, I guess."

Eyes regarded Asura for a moment, gauging the teen's response and overall reaction to the meeting. Kanone appeared to be doing the same thing. The two exchanged a short glance at one another.

"Really? That seems like quite the change. What made you pick Japan? It seems like quite the distance to go just to attend high school." Asura gave a noncommittal shrug. Kisame allowed the subject to drop.

"So are you liking it here in Japan, Noragami?" Ryoko was next to speak.

"Um," Asura hesitated a moment before answering. He hadn't expected such a general question and so was not prepared with an answer. "It seems nice enough. A lot more people than I'm used to."

"Really?" Ryoko questioned genuinely. "What's the United States like, then?"

"Ryoko's never been outside Japan." Kousuke elaborated, leaving out the brief amount of time they had all spent in England training with Kanone. Again Asura shrugged.

" I don't know, bigger I guess. The people keep to themselves a lot more. The people here seem a lot more friendly." The others nodded in interest, Kisame and Eyes being the only ones to have actually been to America before.

"Which place do you think you like better?" Rio asked, peering around Kousuke so as to see Asura.

"At this point I'd have to say America. This place still feels really foreign to me."

"Where did you live before coming here?"

"I moved around a lot. I didn't have a long-term place when I left."

"Did your parents come with you?" Kanone questioned. Asura glances at him out of the corner of his eye.

"No, they didn't."

"So will you go back and see them on holidays, then?" Rio questioned. Asura didn't answer. He was saved from the impending silence when Kanone turned the conversation toward Eyes.

"You've been awfully quiet, Izo. Why don't you participate a little. You're the one he was most interested in meeting." Asura couldn't help turning to look at Eyes to catch his reaction. The silver haired teen didn't seem phased and simply looked at Kanone calmly. Asura watched him for a few minutes before looking around at the others to see if this response was normal. Rio caught his eye and smiled.

"Don't worry, Noragami. Izo is always quiet. It doesn't mean he doesn't want to talk to you."

"Alright." He hadn't really cared whether Eyes wanted to talk to him or not. Still, he thought it was nice that Rio had been concerned about him taking Eyes' reaction the wrong way.

Silence fell among the group at this point. Every so often one of the Blade Children would try and strike up a conversation and the rest of the group would take part. However, the weather was getting colder and the small group was fast losing enthusiasm for walking around outside. After about a half hour of walking around the campus grounds Asura spoke up.

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun, but I'm going to get going. I don't know about you, but I'm freezing." The others nodded in silent agreement, each secretly glad that the meeting was over and they could go somewhere indoors.

"Well, it was nice getting know you, Noragami. You seem like a nice guy. You should try getting to know your classmates. I'm sure you'd be popular." Kanone's comment seemed genuine, but Asura had no desire to test out his theory. Not wanting to be rude, he gave the group a short nod before starting to move away from them.

"I'll see you around." His tone was insincere, but the others nodded and smiled regardless.

"Have a safe trip home." Kisame said as the distance between them grew. Asura gave a final nod before turning his back on the Blade Children and hurrying toward the inviting presence of Tsukiomi's main gate.

oOoOoOo

Asura had barely made it past Tsukiomi's main gate before the silence was again interrupted by unwanted human interaction.

"Well that seemed like an all around miserable experience for you." Asura flinched slightly at the unexpected voice and turned to look over his shoulder at the stranger who had spoken. Behind him, leaning against the outer face of the school wall stood a male student with lighter tawny hair and vivid green eyes. The two regarded each other silently for a few moments before the student pushed off the wall and came to stand beside Asura.

"My name's Shinu Hachima. We have a couple classes together." Asura's expression remained blank as Shinu introduced himself.

"What do you want?" Shinu laughed at the disgust in Asura's tone.

"Oh, so rude!" Shinu teased, unaffected. "I don't want anything."

"Then beat it. I've had enough of people today."

"Well that's just because of the people you spent the day with. I've been watching you, since you're new, and for whatever reason you've decided to set your focus on some of the most boring people in our grade."

"They cornered me." Asura defended.

"Because you seem intent on watching them every chance you get. It borders on stalker." Asura increased his pace, sick of the teasing tone of the other male. Shinu quickened his pace to catch up. He passed Asura and spun around to cut off his path and force him to stop. "Why are you so fascinated with them anyway?" His smile seemed sincere, though there was something about Shinu's eyes that made Asura second guess it.

"I'm not."

"That's not what it looks like."

"I don't care what it looks like!" Asura's irritation with the situation was growing and Shinu appeared to be gaining great amusement from that fact. He let Asura push past him but fell into step beside him again.

"So touchy. You need to loosen up, Asura." The unexpected use of his first name in a country that so far had only used his surname caused Asura to stop and look at Shinu with a mix of confusion and irritation on his features. Shinu laughed. "Oh lighten up. You can call me Shinu."

"I don't want to call you anything."

"Suit yourself, but it'll probably make talking to me more difficult."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Well that's a shame now, isn't it?" Asura glanced over at Shinu to find the boy staring leisurely forward. He didn't appear to be affected in the least by what Asura was saying or his repeated rejections for continued interaction. Asura sighed.

"What do you want?" Shinu looked over at him curiously.

"Want?"

"Yes, want. Obviously you want something or else you would take the hint and leave me alone. So what's it going to take for me to get rid of you?" Silence fell for a few moments before the sound of Shinu's laughter, easy and light, caused Asura to glance at him once more in confusion.

"I don't 'want' anything. I'm talking to you because it's fun."

"So you enjoy tormenting me?"

"Well that's a nice bonus." His grin widened as Asura looked at him in disbelief. "But no. I like talking to you because you seem like a cool guy. Reserved and introverted, but cool." Asura was surprised at this response and regarded Shinu critically.

"Why the sudden fascination with me? You've never said two words to me before now."

"Oh I've been watching you since you transferred. It's not something that I just started. But you were new so I wanted to give you the chance to pick your own friends." He paused for a moment to see if Asura had anything to say. When he didn't speak Shinu continued. "But you never did so I figured I'd make the effort instead."

The two boys stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as once again Asura paused to regard Shinu.

"Why would you want to be friends with me?" Genuine confusion could be heard in his voice. Shinu smiled.

"I told you already. You seem cool."

"That's it?"

"For now. I don't really know you yet." Asura looked thoughtfully at the ground, contemplating Shinu's answer.

"What if I don't want to be friends with you?"

"Weelll…" Shinu crossed his arms and looked up at the sky as if thinking hard about the question. "I guess then you'll get a taste of what it feels like to be the guys you're constantly watching." Shinu laughed at the look of utter disgust on Asura's face at his answer. He threw an arm over the angry teen's shoulder. "But seriously, just give it a try. At the very least it might give your classmates less reason to create a repeat of today." Asura shuddered at the thought and nodded, shrugging Shinu off of him.

"Alright fine. Anything to get those guys off my case." Shinu chuckled.

"Awesome." He halted mid stride and settled back into a standing position, his feet close together. Asura stopped to look back at him curiously. "I'll leave you alone for today then. Pretty sure you'd prefer to deny the existence of humanity at this point." He turned his back on Asura and began walking back in the direction he had come. "See you tomorrow, Asura." He called back.

Asura watched him go until he had disappeared from sight among the crowd. He sighed heavily in frustration and shook his head.

"Unbelievable…"

Turning in the direction of his apartment, he tucked his chin deeper into the collar of his coat and began walking once more.

OOoOoOoOo

The hour was turning to early evening as Makoto entered into the small apartment of his newest "Hunter". The room was dark as he slipped his shoes off and entered into the space. He had called ahead to alert the tenant that he would be arriving, so he wasn't surprised when an even voice sounded behind him.

"Good evening." Makoto turned to meet the dark eyes of a young man in his early twenties with raven black hair and brown eyes that looked black in the darkness of the room.

"Good evening, Hibari." Makoto's tone was fake, prompting Hibari's gaze to narrow.

"What can I do for you?" Makoto smirked.

"So direct. I have a job for you." Hibari arched an eyebrow curiously but didn't speak. Makoto continued. "It seems that we've had a bit of an incident with Daiki this week. He'll no longer be involved in our efforts to eliminate the Blade Children." He glanced at Hibari for a reaction. None was given. "That being said, I'll have need of you more often. It's time that we went on the offensive against the Blade Children."

"I thought your orders were to gather information for now. My brother…"

"Yes, yes, your brother is doing fine. His orders won't change. It's you I have need of, not him." Makoto was quick to shut Hibari down as he continued speaking. Hibari fell silent. It was clear that the "Hunter" leader was aggravated so the younger "Hunter" kept his silence and simply observed his borderline manic leader. When Makoto finally fell silent Hibari ventured to speak again.

"So what do you need from me?" Makoto's grin thinned menacingly, though not directed toward Hibari.

"From now on I want you to undertake regular attacks on the Blade Children. You'll start tonight."

"Isn't that a bit too short of notice?"

"That's not my concern. You figure it out and make it happen."

"Who will I be taking with me?"

"I'll leave that up to you. Take as many as you think you need."

"Do you want me with all of the attack parties or can I delegate leadership as I see fit moving forward?"

"It will be up to your discretion."

"Very well."

"How's that brother of yours?" Hibari fell silent at the unexpected topic change, allowing Makoto to transition his gaze from the window to his subordinate before the black haired man again spoke.

"He's managing. Apparently he's had some trouble remaining ambiguous around the Blade Children, but he doesn't believe they a definite suspicion of him."

"Have you spoken to him recently?" Hibari nodded.

"Yes, just before you arrived."

"And?"

"He reported that the Blade Children don't appear to be particularly well-organized. They are rather divided at the moment and it seems that the two "Guns" were experiencing some difficulties earlier this week. He didn't have a lot to report this time."

"Why is that?"

"He mentioned interference from a classmate, but he didn't elaborate and I didn't ask." Makoto nodded, sighing.

"I suppose it doesn't matter." He turned toward the door. "Make sure you report whenever he discovers anything of note."

"I will." With a dismissive wave, Makoto stepped toward the door. As his hand fell on the handle Hibari called him back.

"A moment, sir." He glanced back. Hibari still stood in the middle of the dark room, watching him.

"I'd appreciate a bit more information on this new assignment you've given me since I'm to undertake it so quickly. Do you have the time?" His tone was even and held little in the way of emotion. Makoto smirked, reminded of why he liked Hibari so much. He turned and walked back over to the shorter man, his eyes filled with malice.

"Certainly."

OOoOoOo

Eyes lay awake long into the night, staring at the dark ceiling and thinking over the events of the day. The meeting with Asura had been more laid back than he had expected and it seemed that the strange teen's suspicion of the Blade Children was waning slightly. Whether this would continue or not remained to be seen, but with any luck their meeting would deter Asura from watching their movements for the time being. The last thing they needed was to be looking over their shoulder constantly at school for someone that may not even be a threat.

Eyes exhaled heavily, rolling onto his left side and facing the far wall.

"What is the meaning behind all of this?" His voice echoed loudly through the quiet space, hanging in the air briefly before returning the room to silence once more. Eyes couldn't shake the suspicion that Asura's presence had something to do with Kiyotaka's plan. The "Great Detective" had been mysteriously absent from the game since his younger brother decided not to fight following the Tsukiomi incident of the previous year. It seemed out of character for the man who had promised to save them to have simply withdrawn himself from the game the minute things didn't go perfectly to plan. But if that was the case, then what was Kiyotaka planning?

Since returning to Japan Eyes had not reconnected with Kirie, but she had stayed in touch while he was overseas and informed him of the basic movements of the world's so called god.

He shifted to his back again, placing the back of his left hand on his forehead and sighing wearily.

"He didn't abandon us… right?" While the others had lost faith in Kiyotaka and his promises for salvation following the events of the previous year, both Eyes and Rio still held onto hope that they could be saved and placed their faith in Kiyotaka to bring that result to fruition. Though recently it was starting to feel more and more like the Blade Children had been abandoned by their last ally and this made Eyes nervous. Dropping his hand from his forehead, he sat up, fiddling with the sheets between his fingers.

"Kiyota Narumi, Asura Noragami, the "Hunters", and the Blade Children… just where do we fit in this game?" His thoughts were interrupted by the gentle blue light of his phone, followed by the low vibration of an incoming call. Confused at who would be calling at nearly one o'clock in the morning, the performer picked up the phone and answered it. His eyes widened as the call connected.

"Eyes, we need you right now! Ryoko's been shot!"