Without any due, Gustang had called his driver to send the five of them to the outskirt of town, where the warehouses were located. By this time, the sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun, casting long shadows over the ground.
Getting out from the car, Gustang squinted and observed the old warehouses, searching for any other presence beside them.
"This place-" Eduan looked over the fence of barbed wires, casually touching the metallic lines, "-used to be abandoned, I think."
"How do you know that?" Jahad intervened, crossing his arms.
"Well, intuition."
"Seeing it's so quiet, it may be the case," Gustang speculated. So far, it's been too silent for his own liking, like a calm before the storm.
Aurene worriedly looked around, searching for the entrance. "Shouldn't we search for any way inside?"
Jahad snorted at the question. "Are you stupid? Do you break into people's place using their entrance? We'll get caught even before exploring the place."
"Then what should we do? Climb over the fence?" Aurene spat, exasperated with the male's remarks.
"I don't think that's a very good idea with these barbs," Gustang added. "Besides- Hon?" the brunette called out to the white haired man who indifferently walked towards the fence with his long hair gracefully flowing behind.
And the other four was totally dumbfounded when Hon slashed the fence apart, easily making a way in.
Aurene gaped at the male's competency of cutting through the steel fence even with a wooden sword. "That's.. amazing."
"I kinda forgot we had Hon with us today," Eduan smirked, going through the handmade gateway, Jahad and Gustang following after.
Hon glanced at the awe-stricken Aurene, snapping her out from her trance.
"After you."
"Eh? Oh. Thank you."
'His swordsmanship is really breathtaking...'
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"This place is too big to randomly search around, so why don't we split up first?"
'That's what Gustang said but,' Aurene side-glanced at the male beside her. '-this is so awkward!!'
She thought Gustang meant all five of them to split up, but instead they were split into three groups, in which Gustang somehow went by himself, the pair that literally screams destruction; Jahad and Eduan, and lastly herself with the stoic Arie Hon.
She honestly couldn't comprehend as to how they managed to pair together seeing that she was closer to Eduan like the white haired male is to Jahad, but they did.
True, she did think his ways with swords are beautiful, but that doesn't mean she minds being alone with him. Heck she even prefers to pair with Jahad if anything else.
"Grace?"
Aurene quickly snapped out of her thoughts at the mention of her name. "Ah, what is it, Arie?"
"...."
Aurene slightly fidgeted as a heavy silence settles over the two of them, with Hon openly staring at her with an unreadable expression. Not that she can read much all this time.
"Uh... Arie?" Aurene tried to lift the heavy tension.
"..Hon."
"Pardon?" the female asked again with a confused expression.
"Call me Hon," the white haired male demanded. "Like how you did with everyone else."
Aurene was bewildered by the request, but even more at the last sentence.
'What did he meant by everyone else?'
The brunette thought deeply before something crossed her mind, although it's still a mere hypothesis. "You meant, I can call you by your first name?"
Hon wordlessly nodded as the previous tension finally disappeared, and Aurene smiled at the male.
"That really surprised me, I thought you hated me or something," Aurene admitted, letting out a relieved sigh.
Hon slightly tilted his head, confused as to why the girl was thinking something along the line. He probably doesn't notice how intimidating he can get with that emotionless face.
"I guess you can also call me by my first name. I feel bad if I'm the only one doing it."
"Aurene."
"Uh yeah?" the brunette immediately looked up the taller male. 'That was fast...'
"Be careful," Hon whispered, and Aurene instinctively put her guards up.
"Hey you kids!" a short man called out from behind them. "What are you two doing here? This place is off-limits for kids like you!" the man scolded.
Aurene and Hon kept quiet and observed the man, as how Gustang advised them before splitting up.
The man looked around his forties and only held a harmless flashlight. His uniform kind of indicates that he's some kind of guards. But something about him seems fishy...
"Hurry up and go home! Geez, youngsters these days-"
As the man continued to nag and ramble on, Aurene got closer to Hon, nudging his side.
"He doesn't seem to belong to the organization, isn't he?"
"Still, he's suspicious. Since we went through the middle path, shouldn't he saw Gustang or the other two first if he's patrolling?" Hon deducted, readying his wooden sword.
"Hey, are you kids even listening?! Kyah-?!"
Aurene tried hard to ignore the high-pitched, girlish scream the short man let out when Hon pointed the sword to his face.
"Spit it out. Are you with the organization?"
"Hon, don't you think that's too straightforward?" Aurene sweat-dropped but what's done is done. They just have to follow this through even if they were mistaken.
"I was going to do it nicely, but you kids really left me no choice," the man mumbled.
And Aurene was taken aback when she and Hon was suddenly surrounded by men at all sides as the short man scampered away, not before giving Hon a middle finger.
"That shi-"
"Hon, watch out!" Aurene warned as the male barely dodged an incoming swing of bat. "Let's focus on these men first before going after him! He looks like he knows something!" the female backed away from the men surrounding her at one spot.
'This is bad...'
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"Damn, where did these guys came from?" Eduan grumbled as his back bumped into Jahad's.
The men varying in heights had one common trait, that is covering their face with a cloth tied around their head, as if it could conceal their identity. Not that the two cared who they were.
"To think I'll have fight alongside you back-to-back... just the thought of it makes me wants to puke," Jahad retorted, readying his stance.
"Oh? Why don't I make you gag now?"
"Try it, loser."
"Says the one who lost to Aurene."
"You little-"
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"It seems they've already noticed us from the start," Gustang sighed, pushing back his glasses. "Let's just hope the other four didn't end up splitting up."
"You pretty cocky for a brat, huh?" a man holding a steel pipe taunted. He was pretty sure that this glasses kid can't beat the ten of them, seeing they also had weapons on their side.
"Let's just say it's confidence," Gustang uttered with a dark look, cracking his fist.
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"Hmph! Those kids really got what they deserved! Who told them to mess around with the boss?" the 'fake' guard fussed, satisfied with his doing earlier. "Though it's a shame I didn't remind those guys to not harm the girl. She was quite the beauty too. Perhaps even more than the other one."
As the short man continued on praising himself for doing a good job, he didn't realize two figures swiftly catching up to him, one of them throwing his wooden sword towards the guard.
"Kyah!!" the man screamed in shock, the sword barely missing his cheek in a few centimetres and end up embedded in the box ahead of the guard.
"I believe we have an unfinished business, old man," Hon towered over him, successfully making the man shrank down in fear.
"W-why are you two here?! Where are the other guys?!" the man shouted, not even bothering to hide his panic.
Aurene pitied the man, but he reaped what he sowed for indirectly insulting the swordsman. She let Hon handle the man and went to fetch Hon's sword.
"You mean those weaklings?" Hon nonchalantly commented, gratefully taking his sword back from Aurene. "They're taking a little nap back there, you should wake them up after this."
"I-I-I swear I was just following orders! I'm partly innocent in this ordeal!!"
Aurene frowned at the desperate pleading. Did he think they didn't hear what he was rambling on alone earlier?
"Then, if you're really innocent, why don't you share with us some information?" Aurene initiated. She had enough of his incoherent begging.
"I WILL! SO PLEASE SPARE ME!"
"Well, that was easy."
As the man led the way deep into one of the warehouses, Aurene couldn't help but to worry since the sky had starting to darken when they entered the place.
"Here's where we kept that girl..." the man reluctantly showed them a door that was labeled with 'STORE'.
Without waiting for any response, Hon cut the door with his sword.
"Hey, you can't-"
With a glare, the man shut his mouth up for the sake of his dear life.
"Wait, there's nobody here," Aurene who immediately entered the room gave the man a pointed look, as he shook his head furiously.
"I swear, it wasn't me!! She was just here before you all showed up and-"
A melody from Hon's phone made Aurene perked up, as the white haired man showed her the caller ID.
Annoying Gustang
With the tip of his sword pinned to the horrified guard's neck, Hon picked up the call with Aurene close to him.
"Hon? Aurene?" Gustang called out from the other side.
"Gustang! Listen, we got to where Erika was supposed to be locked up, but there's no one-"
"We were too late," Gustang cut Aurene off.
"What?"
"I checked the security room here, and one of the surveillance camera caught a black car passing by with a light haired figure in the back seat. It is most probably that woman," Gustang explained quickly, the sound of him typing on a keyboard evident on the two's side.
"We were.. too late?" Aurene slumped down, Hon putting his hand on the female's shoulder. "And Erika will be sold?"
"What do we do now?" Hon asked.
"Let's regroup first at the gate. I'll call Jahad and Eduan so take care of Aurene."
With that, Gustang cut the call, leaving the three figures in a heavy silence.
"I-I swear, I didn't even know they came earlier..." the man trembled, seeing Hon suddenly crouched down. But to his surprise, instead of murdering him or something along the line, the white haired man shook his friend's shoulder gently.
Getting no response, Hon flawlessly heaved Aurene onto his back, giving her a piggyback ride and leaving the short man speechless.
"Should I... quit this job?"
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Eduan and Jahad didn't expect to see Hon carrying Aurene when the two arrived at the handmade entrance, much less seeing the female so grim-looking.
"Hey, what happened to both of you?" Eduan rushed to Hon's side, checking the brunette for any visible injuries. Getting no response, the blue haired male stretched out his arms to take Aurene off Hon's back, but the said male backed away, rejecting Eduan's offer.
"I can carry her myself, so you can back off," Hon voiced out, looking away from Eduan's irked face.
"I swear, every single one of you-"
"It seems you're all here," Gustang popped out, having enough of his entertainment. Glancing at the fed-up expression of Aurene's, the male sighed, pushing back his glasses. "I didn't think you were the the type to easily give up, Aurene."
The female clenched onto Hon's shirt, her face contorting into a guilty look. "We didn't make it in time.. and Erika will be sold at the Auction House."
"We know that much of an outcome, but are you really going to give up now?"
"Still, what can-" Aurene brought up her gaze to the males, "-we do?" only to be met with unwavering, confident features.
"Good, you're finally up," Hon commented, gently setting her feet back to the ground. "That miserable look.. doesn't really suit you."
"Who do you think we are?" Eduan smugly smirked. "We're the S Class, you know."
"We can make the impossible possible in many ways," Jahad continued, quite annoyed with the girl. "Don't you think you're underestimating us too much?"
Gustang smiled, lightly patting Aurene's head. "And just so you know, you're one of us now. You'll have to get used to our ways."
"Gustang..."
"..."
"Wait, why are you only uttering his name?" Eduan protested, pushing Gustang's face away from Aurene.
"Well, he was right in front of me."
"That doesn't make sense! What's the use of the three of us saying those cheesy lines then?"
"Pfft, so you do know it's cheesy," Hon covered his mouth.
"Hon, yours was the most cringing one back there."
"Well, that's true."
"Do you have no shame?"
Aurene lightly laughed at their attempt of cheering her up, since it was definitely working.
Jahad approached Aurene amidst the bickering, awkwardly scratching his cheek.
"Just to remind you, I still haven't lost yet," Jahad looked straight into Aurene's eyes. "But still, I apologize for hitting you too," he looked away, a blush creeping up. "Sorry it took a long time to reply."
"What's with that lame way of saying sorry?" the female taunted, lightly chuckling. "That doesn't suit your character, so just talk to me like you usually do, Jahad."
It took a moment for those words to sink into Jahad's mind.
"Does that mean I should insult you every time I talk to you... Aurene?" the golden haired male smirked, his little fangs peeking out from the corner of his mouth.
'What was that feeling?'
"Hey!" a familiar voice hollered, catching the attention of the five. "Why are you all having fun without us?"
A fancy-looking Yurin stood by a limousine, crossing her arms.
Aurene gaped at the crimson dress the female was wearing, one that took advantage of Yurin's curves. "Yurin? Why are you here? And what's with that-"
A few more of the S Class stepped out from the limousine, gesturing the five to come over.
"We've made the preparations you've asked for, Gustang," Han called out in his pearl white suit.
The four confused eyes turned to the said male, who nonchalantly pushed back his glasses.
"It's time for Plan B."