Honestly, I thought I was supposed to be serious. Why is this so funny to me ?
I was amused at the sight of exhaustion on their faces. We were only about 10 minutes into this entire thing yet some of them were already tired. Surrounding us, an area shrouded in trees and some open fields. A perfect place to cause trouble without drawing any attention. I was standing all by myself, completely surrounded by different groups of 5. There were a total of 15 of them, all Rank A. That meant that the guard under the fountain wasn't that heavy as it usually was. I hope Sara took the opportunity today. There was something that I had to ask her. After thinking about the Izumi incident and the pictures, I began to rethink if they really had anything to do with it. If they really were the ones who took her, then why would they be asking for my help to find Tsukiya ? A lure or was it just my imagination ? I can't seem to tell. The thought of seeing red made me uneasy.
But if that were the case, who was the one who really started this all ?
A gust of wind blew by as all, causing the tree around us to rustle. "Have you given up yet ?", I asked, tilting my head to the side. "We've been at this game for about 10 minutes yet you've all failed to catch me." "Consider it a warm up", Sotaru replied nonchalantly. I nodded my head. "Of course." I noticed some of the presences behind me disappear. During that time, another 5 came up around me and started attacking. I wasn't holding anything. To my surprise, they weren't either. The best I could do was push them back without really trying. Maybe break some bones... Just kidding. For the rest of the "fighting", I just threw them all around. It wasn't as if I was trying to get the area drenched in blood or anything. Pretty soon, there were only four left standing. Most of them stayed back, others were exhausted. At this point, I hoped that they knew that I was just playing around. There was nothing serious about this.
"Please tell me that we're done", I said after a while, "I've grown bored of this." Sotaru narrowed his eyes. Behind him, Ageha. Ao and Senri were no where to be seen. I was expecting them to appear behind me or something. "Tell me Sotaru, was this worth it ?" "I don't know", he said in reply, "You tell me." As he said that, I turned around and kicked upwards just as Ao appeared from above me. And from the corner of my eye, I could see Senri. After kicking up, I ducked and elbowed Senri in the stomach. He flinched but didn't fall. Behind me, another presence. I moved backwards just as Ageha was about to hit me on the back of my neck. In result, I made sure to keep a good distance way from them. That was when I caught Sotaru's presence behind me. I intended to turn and push him back by elbowing him but.. I didn't. Something was off. Something was there.
A sharp pain quickly appeared on my side as I looked out into a part of the trees. "Why didn't you move ?", I heard him ask from behind me. His voice was low and was somewhat strained. I took a deep breath and slowly sighed. "Because", I replied as I put my left hand over the wound, "Theres something that's not supposed to be here right now." "So why did you allow yourself to get hit ?", he asked, "Why didn't you move ?" I frowned and took a step away from Sotaru, still looking out into the trees. "Because", I began to say as I started to move away, "It was my choice."
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Sotaru must've realized something after I left because I could hear him shouting. I, on the other hand, went into the area where that person was. None of them had been holding something sharp. It would've been impossible for them to cut me. The only lead I had was that....
"Shiori."
I stopped short and stood on a tree branch. I thought I heard my name just then. "Shiori", it said again. For a second, I was confused. But then I recognized the voice and looked around me. "Azalin ?", I called out. "Azalin !?" To my surprise, she appeared about a minute later. There was a stern look on her face. "What is it ?", I asked, "What happened ?" She pointed towards Sotaru's area. "Someone is watching them", she explained, "They've been watching you for quite a while as well." "Who ?", I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Who is ?" She frowned and then threw something out towards the group of hunters. Shortly after there seemed to be something that surrounded them. However, none of them seemed to notice it. It must've been a barrier. "The ones who took that girl of that club", Azalin replied. "The first person I met at Meiou." My eyes widened. "Nani !?"
"Haven't you thought about it before Hanamura-san ?", she asked softly, "Whether it had anything to do with us or if it was someone else ?" "I have", I replied sternly, "..I just haven't gotten the time to hear an explanation." Azalin looked down and then glanced around before turning back to face me. "A few days before we arrived here, that gateway had been opened up by someone. In order to see who and why, we went through, hoping we would find out why it was in another location", she explained, "We were well aware that the gate that led to the human world was always closed. So to see it opened up was... suspicious. We didn't intend to stay and bother sealing it, but after Izumi-san, I spoke to Sara, wondering if it was best closed, especially since it was at a park." "To think that you were concerned after all this time", I mumbled. "I could care less", she replied, slightly titling her head to the side. "I am a demon after all. I don't care for others. But in this case, its disruptions. Shortly after Sara and I managed to get close to the seal, we found someone. Two, to be exact. We managed to catch one but we lost the other. I followed that other person to this spot and realized something." "What is it ?" A nonchalant expression appeared on her face as she looked up at the sky.
"Someone is after you."
"Me ?", I asked, sounding doubtful, "What do you mean ?" "I don't know why", she said, "But we have a strange feeling that someone is trying to lure you into the fountain." I tightened my grip around my wound. "Hey Azalin ?", I asked slowly, "Do you... know someone named.. Seiji ?" To my surprise, her eyes widened. "What about him ?", she asked sternly. "Is he.. with you ?" She turned away. "He came with Tsukiya but went off somewhere", she mumbled, "We've never heard of him since then. But how did you know about..." "He said he was looking for someone", I replied. Azalin narrowed her eyes. "Who ?", she asked. "The last time I saw him, he said he was looking for the guardian of this world."
An alerted expression appeared on Azalin's uneasy face. "What !?", she exclaimed, "He said that !?" I nodded. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She turned to me and frowned. "We have to go back", she said sternly. "Now."