The Voice of You and Me

3

    A week passed by since then. Yata and Fushimi would sometimes take the dirt path to come and visit you while talking about scary rumors for Jungle. But today was different. You leaned against your usual tree and saw Yata rushing down the path.

As he got closer, you noticed he was by himself. You shoulders unconsciously slouched once this fact came to you.

"Hey, (y/n), are you busy tonight?" Yata asked after he stopped in front of you. You shook your head. He smiled.

"Great! Here are the details," he said then handed you a piece of paper.

"See ya tonight!" Yata shouted then left to go home.

You looked from the note to the redhead that just sped away. 'I wonder what's going on...' you thought while walking home.

~Timeskip~

"Hey, you made it!" Yata said while waving you over. You returned it then realized you've never seen him in regular clothes. He wore a plain shirt with a camo jacket and baggy pants. Behind him stood a girl you've never seen before.

"Oh, (y/n), this is Aya Oogai, the one I mentioned in the note." Yata said and gestured to the girl with pigtails and a bunny backpack. You politely smiled and waved. She gave you a questioning look and said, "I'm Aya. And, like, who are you?" You showed her the palm of your hand that had your name. She read it then looked at you again.

"Can't you, like, talk?" she asked. You noticed Yata tensed up.

You fumbled to pull a piece of paper and pen out to reply so Yata said, "......She can't. She's mute." Aya slightly froze and the tough demeanor she tried to display started to fade away.

"Oh...I'm, like, sorry for being so rude," she said doing a small bow. You quickly shook your head while waving your hands trying to say it was ok.

You took the pen and wrote on the paper, 'It's fine so don't worry. Besides, if I could talk, I would want to talk like you'. Aya looked flustered, but confident the next moment.

"Thank you. Like, my way of speaking is very unique isn't it?" she said feeling proud. If you could laugh, you would be.

That's when the three of you noticed a bus coming in your direction. It was quiet the whole time as it slowly came to a stop and someone got off.

"Fushimi~!" Yata shouted in a way that sounded like he was being saved. The said male walked over to us then Yata started asking a bunch of questions.

"Was it ok for you to go out at night? Since your parents seem kinda strict." Yata said. Fushimi then mumbled something, but you couldn't hear. Then he looked up to the sky.

"It's gotten cloudy. Won't we be unable to see the blimp like this?" he asked. You looked up then nodded in agreement.

"It's planned that their altitude will be, like, reduced so it's no problem. They'll descend to under the clouds." Aya said while pulling out her PDA. Yata gave a confused look and said, "Planned..?"

"The plan for catching the blimp!" she answered in an obvious tone.

"How much do you, like, know about the blimp?" Aya asked the two of you. You decided to let Yata answer first.

"Isn't it like there's a wealthy man living above the sky?" Yata said. You nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. The blimp will, like, travel on this fixed route. There are hints which calculate the route given from Jungle. These here." she said. Then her PDA made a large hologram screen which showed tons of numbers. Yata groaned.