Hello and welcome to the next chapter of Card Captor Megumi! I've been eager to bring you this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it!
A big thank you to James Birdsong for reviewing the last chapter! And now on with the show!
Chapter 4: A New Student
Megumi stood with the staff clutched in her right hand hanging at her side. A cold gust of wind whipped past her, jostling her hair and clothes. The old shrine loomed before her in the night. The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly. Megumi looked up and on the roof stood a lone figure outlined by the full moon. It was hard to make out any details, but the unmistakable shape of a pair of wings on their back was impossible to miss.
The sudden beeping of the alarm jolted Megumi awake and she sat bolt upright in bed, gasping in surprise. She breathed heavily for a few moments, the dream she just had still clear and very vivid in her mind. She ran her fingers through her somewhat messy hair as she tried to calm down. What disturbed her was not the content of what she had just seen in her mind, it wasn't the scariest dream she had ever had, but the startling clarity of it all was nothing like she had ever experienced before. Never before had she ever had a dream that was so realistic.
"Ughhh, just five more minutes." Kero groaned from the small pile of blankets next to the bed on the floor. Megumi shared his sentiment, wanting nothing more to lay back down. She knew however that no one would wake her back up and she had no desire to be late to school. She waved her hand over her beside clock, shutting off the alarm and wearily got to her feet.
"C'mon, wake up." Megumi mumbled. She nudged Kero with her foot and he begrudgingly sat up.
"Whaaat?" He said with a yawn.
"Wake up. If you're going to go to school with me then you need to be awake. The last thing I need is for you to be snoring in my book bag and someone finding you." Megumi said irritably. She was not thrilled by the idea of taking Kero with her to school, but she didn't see any other option. She needed his help to try and find the card that was hiding in the woods next to the school. If it even was a card.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you say." His eyelids were half shut and he rolled back over onto his side. A moment later he was snoring again. Megumi just shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. She walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall to take a shower. She closed her eyes and let the warm water cascade onto her face and wash over her. She enjoyed her showers, it was one of those times she could just forget about the world at large and just think. And at the moment she had a lot to think about. Her whole world view had done a one-eighty and turned upside down on her less then twenty-four hours ago. Getting a night's sleep had helped at least. She couldn't deny that magic was real at this point, it was hard to do so with the proof snoring back in her room. And yeah, knowing magic was actually a real thing was kind of cool. She just didn't want to have anything to do with it. It could bring a lot of trouble in her direction. But she saw no way out of this mess except to capture these Sakura cards. It was her fault they had gotten loose in the first place, so it was her job to deal with it. Once she had found them all she could stick them back in the book and Kero could go back to guarding it, if that's what you called taking a century long nap, and she could go on with her life and never think about it again. Done with her shower she dried herself off and returned to her room to dress for school. Kero was of course still asleep.
"For someone who slept for a hundred years you'd think he'd be a little more bright and alert." She mumbled to herself. Once dressed she scooped up a startled and protesting Kero and stuffed him back into her book bag. "Be quiet!" She hissed at him. "Most everyone should already be gone, but Haruna might still be here!"
Downstairs she picked up her breakfast plate her mom had left her and heated it up before sitting down at the table to quickly eat. Kero began to climb out of the bag, but Megumi bopped him on the head to keep him in there when she heard Haruna coming down the stairs.
"Morning Megumi." She said in a chipper voice as she got her own breakfast.
"Morning." They ate in silence till Haruna, who in an effort to start a conversation with her younger sister, spoke up.
"You sleep alright? You seem kind of grumpy this morning."
"Weird dream." Megumi said without further explanation.
"Oh yeah? Weird how?" Haruna asked.
"Just weird." Megumi said with a shrug. She finished her food and took her plate to the sink. Haruna let out a small sigh and shook her head slightly. After depositing her dishes in the kitchen Megumi grabbed her book bag and headed for the door.
"Hold on. I'm almost done, we can walk together." Haruna said before shoving the last few bites of her food in her mouth.
"Not necessary. No need to rush on my account." Megumi didn't wait for a reply and walked out door and right into another person. Megumi let out a grunt of surprise and looked up. A tall teenage girl whose light brown hair was done up in a pair of braids smiled at her. She tilted her head slightly and looked at Megumi with a pair of bright blue eyes through a pair of oval shaped glasses. "Oh, it's you Saki. Sorry, didn't see you there."
"Good morning to you too miss grumpy pants." The older girl said playfully. Saki had a big grin on her face and just looked at Megumi.
"Morning Saki." Haruna said as she stepped out the door with her bag. Megumi groaned. There was no getting out of walking to school with Haruna and now Saki as well. She set out knowing the two teenagers would be right behind her. Megumi did her best to stay out of the conversation the two older girls were having, despite their attempts to involve her. She answered with a series of one-word answers and non-comitial shrugs of her shoulders. Much to her relief they reached the point where they had to split up.
"Have a good day Megumi. See you at home." Haruna said.
"See ya later." Saki said cheerily as she waved at Megumi. Megumi just nodded her head politely and went off in the direction of her school. "She really doesn't like people, does she?" Saki said once Megumi was out of sight.
"It's more complicated than that, you know that. Something is going on with her all of a sudden to. It seems like something is on her mind, I just don't know what. She walked home through the abandoned area last night and I think something happened. She came home with this stuffed animal and I sensed some kind of presence from it."
"Do you think it was possessed or something?" Saki asked slightly concerned.
"No, I don't think so, it didn't feel like that was the case. But I know it's no normal toy." Haruna put her hand to her chin and looked to be deep in thought.
"Weird."
"Yeah, it is. But back to Megumi, I'm really starting to worry about her. She has no friends at all you know. And more and more it feels like she's shutting the world out. She's always been a pretty independent person and I know she's a real introvert, but things are getting to a point with her that's got me concerned. I don't know what to do."
"Maybe we should try and keep a closer eye on her. Do you think we should go pick up from school? Maybe try and spend more time with her? It might help."
"It's an idea. I need to go by her school anyway, but I doubt we'll see her."
"Hunh? What's going on?" Saki asked with a quizzical look on her face. Haruna briefly went into the story of the mysterious ball of light she had heard about from Riku last night. "That's weird. I've never heard any stories of the junior high being haunted before."
"Neither have I. It makes me wonder what that girl really saw."
"Do you think it's a ghost?"
"Dunno, most likely it's like what my dad suggested, kids messing around in the woods. But it could be a spirit, they can sometimes make themselves visible to people that can't normally see them. But that's rare. I wonder…" Haruna bowed her head in thought.
"What is it?"
"Oh, nothing. Just trying to make sense of some things. C'mon, we better get going, we'll be late." Haruna gave Saki a quick kiss. "Thanks for caring about my sister."
"Of course, she's going to be my sister as well one of these days." Saki said to which Haruna just smiled and blushed shyly. She took Saki by the hand as the pair hurried off down the street.
"So, who was that girl you bumped into?" Kero asked, peeking out from the book bag once they were out of sight of Haruna and her friend.
"Saki Takata, Haruna's girlfriend. They started dating about two years ago. They've been best friends most of their lives before that. Remember how I told you a friend of Haruna's was on that camping trip to Mount Fuji the family went on? That was Saki. Mom and dad consider her part of the family, so she often gets included in stuff like that. It was bad luck we got stuck walking with them. I wanted more time to talk to you. Do you know what card we're going after?"
"Not sure, there are a few cards that could do something like what you described to me. Which one it is I have no clue, it's hard to say for sure without seeing what's going on with my own eyes. We'll just have to figure it out when we find it.
"Oh, that's reassuring…" Megumi said in a sarcastic tone.
"Hey are we going the right way? I don't remember the junior high being in this direction."
"Hunh? What are you talking about?" Megumi said in slight confusion. "This is the way I go every day. Unless you're talking about the old junior high? That was torn down long before I was even born. It was pretty much falling apart at the time from what I understand and they built a new school in a different location."
"Oh, yeah. I suppose that makes sense. I should have thought of that. It has been a hundred years after all." Kero said. "Are we close yet?"
"Just a couple more blocks. Now be quiet!" Megumi had spotted some of her fellow students walking along the side of the road not too far ahead of her. Most walked in groups of twos and threes, friends laughing and talking as they made their way to the day's classes. Megumi was the only one walking alone. As she neared the school, she saw the same hover limo from last night pulling away from the school gates. Several students watched it leave with looks of curiosity. She could already see people talking about it excitedly. She could understand why, such a vehicle was a rare sight. Megumi paid it no mind however. While she was curious, she didn't see how it affected her.
Kero snuck a peek to check out the school building and was quite impressed at what he saw. A huge three-story structure with mirrored windows loomed before them. To either side of the campus were thick wooded areas where both Kero and Megumi assumed the girl from Riku's story had seen the glowing ball of light the previous night. Kero cast his senses out, looking for a card. He got a faint sense of something, there was a definite presence, but it was hard to tell where it was exactly or if it even was a card.
Inside Megumi walked up to the second floor and headed for her classroom. Kero noticed that no one greeted her when she walked in and that she went straight to her desk which was in the back corner next to the window. She made no attempt to join in any of the conversations going on around the room. Instead, she contented herself with settling in, logging on to the desk computer and activating the holo-display. The level of technology impressed Kero, he was dying to play some new video games and made a mental note to ask Megumi about it. Megumi pulled up a manga on a portable holo-projector from inside her bag and read it until the teacher walked in, a beautiful young woman with wavy brown hair that went down to her waist and deep brown eyes.
"Good morning class." She said pleasantly.
"Good morning Miss Morinata." The class said in unison as they all stood and bowed.
"Before we start today let me introduce a new student to our school." She said as the class took their seats. Miss Morinata motioned to the door and a girl stepped in from the hallway. She had a friendly smile on her face and her purple eyes seemed to sparkle. Her black hair was done up in high ponytail on the right side of her head and was held in place with a green band that had a large purple and gold butterfly ornament on it. Megumi let out a small gasp, it was the girl she had seen riding in the limo last night. It had only been a brief glimpse at the time and she hadn't gotten that much detail, but there was no mistaking her. That explained why the limo had been at the school, it was obviously dropping the new girl off. "Please join me in welcoming Asuna Daidouji to our class." Megumi received two more shocks at that point. The first was the girl's last name. Daidouji was the name of the company that had bought the abandoned part of town. The second was that Kero almost popped out of the bag when he heard the girl's name. Megumi had to quickly shove him back down to keep him from revealing himself. She had no idea what caused him to nearly show himself like that. She thanked her lucky stars she sat in the very back of the classroom and that the desks next to and in front of her were unoccupied.
"Hello." Asuna said with a sweet, musical voice. She gave the class a small bow. "I'm Asuna Daidouji. It's nice to meet you." She said as way of introduction. "My family is originally from Tomeda, but we moved away when I was little. We came back recently because of some business to do with our family's company." This caused a bit of a stir among the students who were putting what she said together with the limo that had been in front of the school.
"Settle down please." Miss Morinata said as the class began to talk to each other. "Thank you Asuna. Please take the empty seat next to Megumi." Asuna nodded once politely and walked towards the seat. As she did Megumi locked eyes with the new student and once again time seemed to slow down for the briefest of moments and that strange feeling returned. Just like the previous night it only lasted a second before it was gone. Megumi shook her head to try and clear her mind, and try as she might she couldn't define what it was that was she was feeling or why a girl she didn't even know was triggering it. As she slid into the desk next to Megumi Asuna smiled at her and waved. Megumi gave her a polite nod back. Before she could contemplate things any further the days lesson began. "We'll continue where we left off on our history lesson yesterday…" Miss Morinata said. Megumi lost herself in the schoolwork and for the most part forgot about the weird felling she got from Asuna. When the bell rang for the lunch break several of the students rushed Asuna, curious about their new classmate. Asuna smiled kindly and did her best to answer their questions. When she glanced towards Megumi's desk, she saw that the red-haired girl had left without a word.
"You can come out now. No one is here." Megumi said to Kero. She was standing in what appeared to be a wooded park space, complete with dirt trails.
"Wow." He said as he looked around. "Are we still at the school?"
"Yeah, we're still on school grounds. We're in what is referred to as the trails. C'mon, I have I spot I eat my lunch at. It's secluded so we should be safe from prying eyes."
"Great! I'm starved!" Kero said as he flew after Megumi as she walked down a path. Her spot was near the back side of the school building. It was a bit off the beaten path and was surround by bushes that hid it from casual inspection. The small clearing was dominated by one particularly large tree. Megumi sat down in a small depression with her back to the tree. Once seated she was completely out of view of the casual observer. She pulled out her lunch and set it out so Kero could eat from it.
"So is there a card nearby?" Megumi asked as Kero began to stuff his face. In the back of her mind Megumi figured she'd do the same thing in his situation. She'd probably be really hungry after sleeping for so long as well.
"Yeawh, Iw swensed iwt whin bwe cwam inm." Kero said in between a mouth full of a rice ball.
"Say again, without food in your mouth please." Megumi said as she rubbed her face with her hand.
"Sorry." Kero said after he swallowed. "I sensed something out in the woods. It was faint, but I'm pretty sure it was a card."
"Pretty sure?"
"Until I get more of my powers back, I don't have much of a range." Kero said with a shrug. "We'll just have to check the woods after school today."
"That'll work." Megumi nodded her head a bit. "I have classroom cleaning detail this week. Most everyone will be gone by the time I finish so that helps. Still no clue what card it is?"
"Nope. But I don't think it's one of the real powerful cards, they have more of a presence then the weaker ones." Megumi just nodded, feeling slightly relived. She then turned to another question she had.
"So why did you nearly pop out of the bag in the classroom earlier? You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. It was the new girl's last name. I know, or should say knew someone with the same name. I just got excited."
"You thought they might be related."
"Yeah, but even if they are she wouldn't have known who I am."
"Not to mention the fact that I would have to try and explain a talking flying stuffed animal. I don't need that kind of attention." Megumi just shook her head. "I was surprised to hear the name myself. Last night before I found you, I discovered that a company called Daidouji Toys and Electronics had bought the entire abandoned area recently. That must be her family's company she was talking about."
"No way! She must really be related to Tomoyo then! That was her mom's company!"
"Really?" Megumi accessed the web browser on her holo-cell and looked up the company. The holo-display brought up the company's web page and she began to read. It was pretty basic stuff and didn't give her much new information. She was about to ask who Tomoyo was when she heard the rustling of leaves behind her. Megumi quickly grabbed Kero out of the air and unceremoniously stuffed him back in the bag. A moment later Asuna stepped through the bushes, she looked around and saw Megumi looking up at her in surprise.
"Oh, Hello, I thought I heard someone talking back here." She said pleasantly. She was looking around like she expected to see another person there. "Checking out my family's company?"
"Oh, yeah…" Megumi had in her panic forgotten that she had the webpage for the Daidouji company still displayed. "I was just curious, that's all." She turned off the holo-projection, feeling herself blush. Asuna just smiled and tilted her head to one side slightly. Megumi could feel the other girl's eyes boring into her, she hated being under such scrutiny. It made her really uncomfortable. She quickly gathered up her lunch things and walked past Asuna and back onto the main path.
"Hold on, you don't need to run off on my account. It's Megumi, right?" Asuna said quickly as she walked out of the bushes.
"Yeah, it's alright, I was just about to leave anyways. Don't worry about it." In her haste to leave Megumi wasn't watching where she was going and for the second time that day she bumped into another person. "Ah jeeze." She said as she readjusted her glasses. "Sorry about that."
"It's quite alright Ishida, no harm done." Of course, she'd run into Setsuna. A girl with short shoulder length blonde hair pulled back and held in place with a black hairband stood there with her hands clasped in together in front of her waist. The gaze of her green eyes never wavered as she held a neutral look on her face.
"Megumi Ishida…" Asuna muttered out. Megumi didn't see the look of surprise on Asuna's face or how she was reaching out for her.
"Oh, Daidouji. Just the person I was looking for." The blonde girl said. "Excuse me." She said to Megumi before stepping around her and going up to Asuna. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Setsuna Shitana." She gave a small bow to Asuna who looked a little confused. "My father owns Shitana Manufacturing. Would it be possible to have a few minutes of your time?"
"Well, I-" Megumi didn't hear the rest of what Asuna was saying as she took the moment of distraction presented by Setsuna to get away.
"What was with the blonde girl calling you by your last name?" Kero asked from inside the bag.
"That's just how Setsuna is, she's real formal like that. She's another kid who comes from a rich family like Asuna, I'm sure those two will have a lot to talk about." Megumi said while rolling her eyes.
"What? You don't think you'd have anything to talk about to Asuna?"
"Like what?" Megumi said with a sarcastic chuckle. "Look, Kero, I just don't do well with other people. That's a plain fact, I never have. I do my best to stay out of other people's way and go about my own business. It what works for me. Why do you think I eat lunch in that spot back behind the bushes?"
"So, you don't have any friends?" Kero asked.
"No." Megumi said like it was no big deal. Kero didn't know how to respond to that so he remained silent for the time being. Megumi returned to her classroom to finish her lunch. About fifteen minutes later the rest of the class began to file back into the room. When Asuna got back to her seat she turned to Megumi like she was going to talk to her, but was interrupted by the return of Miss Morinata. The days lessons resumed until the final bell of the day rang. Asuna again tried to talk to Megumi but was unable to when two girls approached her. One had black hair in a short bob with a pink bow clipped into it on the front left side with brown eyes. The other girl had long brown hair that hung down her back in an intricate braid. She wore a pair of red framed glasses in front of her bright green eyes.
"Hi Asuna, I'm Akiko Muramata, our class rep to the student council." Said the black-haired girl. "And this is my best friend Chihiro Ogawa."
"Hello." The brown-haired girl said when introduced.
"It's my job as class rep to officially welcome you to our school and introduce you to our extracurricular activities." Akiko said with a giggle. "Sorry if I sound kind of formal, comes with the job. Honestly, we have some fun clubs here. I can show you the sign-up sheets in the office, see if there's anything you're interested in. Maybe even the cheer squad, me and Suki are on it and we're always looking for new members."
"Uh, okay. I'll take a look, as long as it doesn't take too long." She sounded kind of exasperated at this point as she turned her head to Megumi who was already pulling a broom and dustpan from a storage closet in the back of the classroom.
"We'll be quick, I promise!" Akiko said excitedly. She led Asuna out of the classroom followed by Chihiro who turned around just before leaving.
"Sorry Megumi! I know we were supposed to help with classroom cleanup today! We'll make it up to you!" She said. Megumi didn't even look in her direction, she just absently waved her hand and got on with sweeping the floor. When she was done with that, she cleaned off the windows and finally emptied the trashcan into the janitor's cart in the main hall.
"Well, that takes care of that." Megumi said half an hour later. The sun was slowly beginning to set, it's soft orange-yellow glow filling the classroom. "Everyone should be gone by now, let's get on with finding that card." She said to Kero who was still hiding out in her bag. "You should be able to come out once we get there. We'll be alone by then." They made their way through the now mostly empty school passing a few lingering students and a few staff members. As they passed the teacher's office Megumi caught a quick glimpse of Asuna as Akiko was showing her the various clubs on a holo-display. Once they got out past the school gates Megumi hung a right and when she got to the edge of the woods she glanced around. Satisfied she wasn't being watched she stepped into the tree line.
"Better get the staff ready." Kero said once they were out of sight of the road.
"Right." Megumi nodded pulled out the Key of Clow from beneath her shirt and let it dangle from her hand. "Key of Clow! Under the terms of our contract, I command you to come forth! Release!" The key once again turned into the capture staff. Megumi grabbed it out of the air and twirled it like a baton for a few seconds before gripping it in both hands and extending it out in front of her. "Whoa, where did that come from?" She muttered. She hadn't intended or even thought of doing anything like that. It just happened. It was like the previous night where she had known how to command the Windy card. Like it had just come through to her mind somehow.
"Alright, let's find that card. I can feel it over that way! I'm sure it's one now, now that we're closer." Kero took off, with Megumi right on his heels.
"I don't see anything." Megumi said as they moved deeper into the woods. "The trees are so thick."
"Just keep your eyes peeled. It's nearby." That was proving hard as night was rapidly approaching. They continued to make their way through the trees, but with no sign of the mysterious ball of light.
"Still no idea what card it is?" Megumi asked.
"Well, if it's being this shy and elusive I don't think it's one of the more aggressive cards. They'd be coming after us instead of letting us find it."
"Hey, over there! I think I see something." Megumi said suddenly as she pointed to their left where a faint glow could be seen. They dashed over where Megumi had indicated and saw a ball of light about the size of a soccer ball flitting around a small clearing. "Got you now!" Megumi shouted as she went after the card. She raised the staff like she was going to hit it.
"Megumi wait!" Kero shouted, but it was too late. Megumi swung the staff at the ball of light which passed right through it with no effect. The ball vanished suddenly then appeared behind Megumi. She spun around, but the ball disappeared again. It reappeared before it split into six smaller balls that all shot off in different directions.
"Okay, now what? We can't chase after all of them at once." Megumi said slightly frustrated.
"I don't think we need to. That wasn't the card, it's close by, but it was just messing with you."
"You figure out what card it is?"
"Yep, it's the Glow Card for sure. It all makes sense now. Glow can make balls of light like that. It's a playful card, but not dangerous. The light balls it creates are harmless. The question is where's it hiding." Kero kept looking around trying to pinpoint Glow's location.
"There's too many trees. We'll never find it like this." Megumi said.
"Then we have to get above them!" Kero said suddenly.
"How!?"
"What card do you have that will let you get a higher vantage point!? Think!" Kero said, trying to get Megumi to make the connection.
"Oh! Jump!" Megumi said once she got what Kero was getting at. "But will that work with all the tree branches!?"
"It's not ideal, but it's all we have to work with! Hurry! Before Glow gets away!"
"Right!" Megumi pulled out the card and held it in front of her face, her eyes closed. She flipped it so it faced forward and her eyes snapped open. "Jump Card! Help me to rise above! Release!" Jump glowed and small feathered wings appeared on her shoes. Megumi turned her feet a bit to look at them. She then squatted down and pushed off as hard as she could. "AHHHH!" She screamed as she rose much more quickly and a lot higher than she had anticipated. She flailed her arms as she soared into the air feeling out of control.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Kero called out as he rushed to catch up to Megumi. Megumi landed on a branch a little hard, but unhurt. "Not bad for your first time!" Kero said encouragingly. Megumi just nodded.
"Yeah, okay! Which way is the card!?" Megumi asked a little out of breath.
"That way!" Kero pointed straight ahead of them. Ready for it this time Megumi was in more control of her jumps. The more she did it, the more she got a feel for how Jump worked and how to control it better. A few hops later she got herself to a high enough point to where she could get enough of a view of the area to see what was going on. Looking down she could see dozens of light balls zigzagging throughout the woods. "Ignore them! That's Glow just trying to trick you! It's real close by." Megumi scanned the ground and after a minute or two spotted a glowing girl in a black leotard with a giant white puffball around the side and back of her waist.
"There it is!" She called out.
"Go get it!" Megumi dived straight at the card which was still gleefully making light balls to send out into the forest. The card spun around as it did so, almost like it was dancing, a look of pure joy on its face. Megumi landed right in front of the now startled card sprite with the staff raised in front of her. It threw a bunch of light balls at her in face in an attempt to blind her as it made to run away. Megumi wasn't fooled however and ducked out of the way.
"I don't think so!" Megumi cried out. She raised her staff and brought it down. "Sakura card! Return to your true form! Glow Card!" The card sprite struggled to get away but it was in vain. It began to evaporate and was sucked back into being a card. The sealed card spun and flipped through the air towards Megumi, as it did she reached out and caught it midair. The conjured light balls all faded out of existence as she did.
"Alright! Good job Megumi! Another card down!" Kero said excitedly as he caught up to her.
"Yeah. I guess." Megumi said as she signed the card and stuck in her bag with the other two.
"Ya know, a little enthusiasm wouldn't hurt." Kero said as he floated just behind her shoulder. It was then that the two of them heard movement and voices coming from behind them. In the distance they could see a pair of flashlights approaching them from the darkness of the woods.
"I saw something back there, I'm sure." Came a voice. "Betcha it's just a couple of kids just screwing around."
"Probably, we are right next to the school." Said another.
"Crap! It must be the officers my dad said he was going to have check out the lights!" Megumi said. "Quick! Back in the bag, we don't want to be found here!" Kero complied and Megumi resummoned Jump and took to the branches to keep above the ground and make her escape. She went back towards the street and landed when she got close to the tree line. She was now on the opposite side of the school from where she had first entered, the search for Glow having caused her to circle around the entire campus. It was fully dark at this point and with a bit of a sigh of relief Megumi started to make her way back home. However, her exit from the woods had not gone as unnoticed as she thought it had. A little way further down the road behind her, both Haruna and Saki stood watching her leave the woods in utter bewilderment.
"What the heck!? Why is Megumi still here, and in the woods of all places!?" Saki said in shock. Their club practices had gone on late and they hadn't expected to meet up with the younger girl like they had planned on. They had decided to swing by Megumi's school anyways to see if they could find out anything about the strange glowing lights.
"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense. Unless she went looking for that ball of light?" Haruna said. "But that's not like her."
"Yeah, and I thought Megumi didn't have any magic abilities like you do, at least that's always what you said."
"She doesn't, or at least I didn't think she did. Unless they were dormant and they've all of a sudden awakened? Something is going on with her, I'm sure of it now. Something happened to her last night. And there's more. Just a few minutes ago I could sense a presence in the woods. Then it just vanishes without a trace like it was never there. And after that Megumi comes out of the woods. That's too big a coincidence for my taste."
"But what does it all mean? Did she get rid of the ghost? Would she even know how? It took you awhile to figure out how to help them pass on." Saki said with a shake of her head.
"If it even was a ghost to begin with. I'm not sure what it was now." Haruna said with a shake of her head. "What have you gotten yourself into sis?"
Megumi rounded a corner at something of a jog, eager to get home. As she approached the front gates of the school, she saw something that caused her to slow down. Sitting in front of the school was the now familiar hover limo, with a smiling Asuna Daidouji standing right next to it. Megumi stopped dead in her tracks as she could feel her stomach drop when she saw a floating metal sphere with a small antenna on the top next to Asuna's head and a control goggle with a light blue screen over her eyes. There was no mistaking it. It was a hover cam. The words that came out of the new student's mouth confirming her worst fears. She had been caught.
"That was awesome Megumi! Great job catching the Glow Card! I recorded the whole thing!"
And that is where the chapter comes to an end! I hope you all enjoyed meeting Asuna and some of Megumi's classmates who we will be seeing more of as the story progresses! As always let me know what you think with a review! I'll be updating the progress tracker for the next chapter soon so keep an eye on my profile for updates!
Next chapter: Megumi has been caught on camera! But is the situation as bad as it seems? And why does Asuna seem to know what is going on!? This and more in the next chapter!
Till next time, this is Shocklance, signing out!