The Bonded: Lost And Gained

~ Chapter 22 ~

Right, of course, she thought. He's the one that made me like this in the first place. Seriously, how much of a influence does he have on me?

.

.

.

Right, a lot.

---

Arata had his eyes on the ceiling of his room, his mouth staying completely silent and letting the darkness surround him. It was becoming obvious that this was an environment that he was used to and honestly, had a habit of creating.

His lessons were over for the day, leaving him to have free time for the rest of the day. Due to this, however, he had no idea what to do to occupy his time. He normally would've gone search for Noriko to ask her something - finding that he did that quite often before the whole school fiasco but now, he had nothing to ask her. He had no reason to go bother her to pass his time, he had no reason to go talk to the guards or the other commanders. 

He was just stuck in his room, bored.

Well, there was one thing that he could still ask her. The dream. He was told that he shouldn't worry about it, that everything will make sense soon enough. However, it did not stop his curiosity from growing.

He continued to stare at the ceiling for a few more minutes, before making his final decision of what he would do. He was going to talk to her. He bolted upright, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and prepared to leave his room.However, before he could even open the door, it opened itself and he was blindly tackled to the ground. Childish laughter filled his ear, immediately making him recognise who the two misfits were that had decided to tackle him to the ground. 

His brothers.

"A-Aoi, Red... What are you doing?" he asks.

He sat up, while the twins got onto their feet in excitement.

Red said calmly, "We're going on a trip around the outskirts of Maho. Just us and a few guards."

"What?" Arata shouted, shocked.

Aoi added, "And guess who convinced Father to let us? It was Head Commander Noriko! She's so cool, you know!"

The redhead's eyes widen. 

I'm going beyond the Capital and into the forest? What is Noriko doing?

He never got the chance to ask her. He was thrown from one situation to another, not even a pause to breath.

"And guess what? We're going tomorrow!"

"Huh?"

---

A sigh escaped the redhead's lips, his feet swinging slightly to the rhythm of the large, red dragon's way of walking. His siblings sat in front of him, enjoying the view they were finally allowed to see after so long of waiting. They were surrounded by many guards, who either walked on foot or rode on their Tamer Beasts.

Two commanders were in their company: Commander Noriko and Commander Mika. They were also accompanied by two lieutenants; Lieutenant Yoshi of the Guard Unit and Lieutenant Itsuki of the Medical Unit. Each one was posted on the four points of a compass. Mika at the front, Yoshi on the right, Itsuki on the left and Noriko at the back. All four of them rode on their Tamer Beasts.

How did I get myself in this situation? Arata asks. Why are we even here? What is Noriko trying to do?

He glanced over his shoulder to take a look at Noriko, but her eyes weren't anywhere near where he was sitting. Her pitch black eyes were more focused on her surroundings, her guard was up and she seemed ready to attack if they were ambushed. As usual, her face showed no signs of being alert or seeming to care about her surroundings.