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Of Butterfly Wings
Chapter Twenty: Agreement
Kagome buried herself within the comfort of Touya's chest. The soft beating of his heart helped her calm her breathing—taking one slow breath and steadily releasing it. She could tell that he was trying to assure her. One of his hands cradled the back of her head while the other held onto her hand, anchoring her like it was a lifeline. To the public, they were just being overly affectionate. Even now she could hear the crowd jeering at them, pointing out the 'cuteness' of their relationship. However it was more than just that.
Her gaze shifted across the field.
Midnight had descended upon the contestants faster than she could blink. Kagome watched as their teacher spoke in hushed tones with Kikyou, the older woman's features set in a stern expression.
She knew precisely what they were talking about though. She hadn't missed the shards being thrown her way during that last stretch of the course. Nor did she miss the fact that had Touya not noticed and used his ice as a barrier, she would've been grievously injured.
It was evident that the faculty had noticed as well.
Kikyou had always been good at lying her way out of trouble. She could easily manipulate their peers and adults alike into doing her bidding. It would be much harder for her to deny her actions with this crowd, but Kagome was certain that she would use some sort of excuse such as getting too heated in the moment.
She watched as Midnight uttered one final warning before returning to her post. Kikyou's expression remained just as icy as before, giving away nothing regarding their conversation.
"They should've yanked her out of the competition." Touya groused, "She's not going to learn any lessons like this."
Kagome nodded against his chest.
That she firmly agreed with him on.
Kikyou made her way to Inuyasha's side. She flashed him a sultry smile but the other male swiftly folded his arms over his chest and turned his back to her petulantly.
It looked as if she was going to have a difficult time convincing her significant other that her declaration to Touya wasn't romantic in nature. In truth she didn't care one iota what happened between those two. She just hoped that whatever they decided, it wouldn't affect herself or Touya in the process.
"Now that everyone is here," Midnight continued. "We can begin the second game!"
Everyone's attention turned towards the screen.
That time the image of a small flag was put on display. A sinking feeling coiled in the pit of her stomach. This would not be good.
"For round two contestants will split off into groups of four! Each group will be assigned a territory with a flag at the center of their base." Midnight explained, allowing the cameras a chance to pan across each sectioned off zone. "The goal is to capture as many flags as possible while saving your own from being captured. There will be a fifteen minute time limit."
She gestured towards a makeshift jail cell that'd been put up in the few minutes since the completion of the first round.
"You can capture flags and enemy opponents! You will bring your captives to your base's jail cell and stash your flags on your flag pole. Even if your flag or members are captured, you have until the end of the time limit to get them back. Jail breaking is permitted so long as another member breaks the captured one out of the enemy's jail!" Midnight then pointed to the group as a collective, "You have five minutes to form your groups. Choose wisely!"
Kagome glanced up at Touya, "You know I'm already choosing you."
She watched as his lips curled into a confident smirk, "I'd have some serious questions if you didn't."
The real issue is who should they have join their team? Most of the students who passed the second round were from the hero course. Which meant that they didn't know anyone.
Her gaze drifted across the sea of unfamiliar faces.
She found ruby eyes piercing right back at her with a startling amount of ferocity.
Kagome's lips curved up into a smile, "I think I just found our team."
She disengaged herself from Touya's warmth. She lowered her hand to interlock their fingers together and carefully led him through the thick of the crowd.
"I'm surprised you even noticed me given how preoccupied you two have been." A young woman sneered at them. Her tone was derisive and her attitude even more so, but Kagome didn't mind.
Her smile grew confident, "You were the one that sailed through the sky earlier, correct?"
The other girl smirked back at her, "And? Think I'll join up with you because you're trying to flatter me?"
"Not in the least," Kagome shot back. "I just think that your wind quirk would be extremely helpful. Plus I get the distinct feeling that you want to join us."
It was bold of her to assert that aloud, but she knew that she wasn't wrong. She'd been staring at them so intently that it was obvious that she'd wanted them to approach her with the offer.
"You're twins with that Kikyou girl, right?" The young woman stated rather than questioned.
Kagome gave a slow nod of her head, "Let's just consider it an unfortunate circumstance of birth."
The other girl's lips curled into a vicious smirk, "Good because I have every intention of taking her down even if it means using you as bait."
Touya took a threatening step forward, but Kagome held him back with their interlaced hands.
"So you saw that?"
The girl folded her arms over her chest, "Who didn't see that? The faculty is still arguing with themselves about whether or not she should continue in the Festival."
Had she heard more of the conversation between the teachers before Midnight approached Kikyou? Now she was curious.
"Regardless, that bitch has it out for you and I've got an axe to grind with her. So we'll call it even and use each other just for this round. That sound fair?" The teal beads of her earrings clinked together as she tipped her head.
Kagome smiled in return, "More than fair. My apologies though, I never actually got your name."
"Just call me Kagura," The woman gestured towards a smaller girl standing just behind them. She was both slight and frail, her skin an unusual shade of white. "This is Kanna. With that we'll make a group of four."
Touya lowered his head so that only she could heard him, "You sure this will be alright? We don't know anything about them at all."
Kagome squeezed his hand in a reassuring manner, "Maybe not but just for this round they'll be on our side. Besides, the more people who are after Kikyou, the less likely she'll be able to try that same stunt again."
"You idiots aren't as quiet as you think." Kagura sniped at them, "If you've got questions then just ask them. None of this whispering crap."
Kagome gave a hearty laugh at that, "I'm sorry Kagura, it's just an old habit. In any case I know you have a wind quirk but what about you, Kanna? What's your power?"
Kagura quickly intervened, "Mirrors. She can reflect any attack and she can use her mirrors to drain the energy from her opponents. So she'd be a good guard for our flag's base."
Kagome nodded, "Which means that it'd be easier if you used your wind to increase Touya's range with his flames. I'll remain at the base with Kanna. My quirk won't be of much help in this round."
Touya shot her a displeased look.
"Hey, you know it's true. Besides you'll need to be able to move around freely if you want to make it through this round." She explained.
It was a fact that she was perfectly fine with. Touya was strong and he was extremely adept with his quirk. So she had no fears about him being able to pull this off. The best thing she could do now was just support her teammates the best she could. Battle wasn't her forte but support was.
"Think about it this way, if Kikyou does target our base then Kanna would be the best at defending against her attacks. So it'd be safer for me to stay with her just in case." She didn't need to mention the why for that reason either.
"Alright fine, but don't do anything reckless. If you get into trouble, just let yourself be captured by another enemy group. Breaking you out of their jail would be better than letting your sister skewer you." His tone was firm, as if he wanted to ensure that he wasn't making a mistake with this decision.
Kagome raised her curled fist towards him, "I'll be fine. You just go get that win."
His lips curled up in return, "That I will."
"Hey love birds, it's starting!" Kagura growled at them both.
Kagome laughed, falling into line next to her teammates.
Come what may, at she knew that they were all in this together.
Her gaze drifted towards Kagura's haughty smirk.
For now at least.