Ai

Sitting underneath a tree near a cliff, Natsumi grimaces at some thoughts.

Hands fiddling with the fallen leaf. Twisting and rolling it, his hands moved unconsciously. Gazes staring at the distant sky,He was recalling the events of the fight with Katsuo.

How he was almost killed and his Kouhai had to step in to protect him. Where it’s the responsibility of a senpai to guide, help and protect his junior yet he couldn't even manage to perform it.

As a result, Yamamoto had to chop one of his hands. It can be healed but it's not guaranteed to be, Still the pain he felt won't be undone.

The leaf falls from his hand and gets blown away with the flow of wind.

Clank clank clank

Intentionally walking slowly and not hiding her footsteps a lady came closer and sat beside him.

She didn't say anything for a few moments. Just sat there and became on with the moment he was in.

Breaking the silence she spoke,

“Hey,... still hung up on it?”

Natsumi didn't respond, neither did he look at her.

He knew whose voice it was.

Soft. Calm. Caring. Always there for him when needed.

“It's not your fault you know, right?”

“ ”

Still a silent reply for Natsumi.

She tilts her face, looks at him and says,

“We healed it.”

His eyes jumped towards her.

A face which was clearly stated he felt relief, lips slightly parted and eyes narrowed as if to prevent tears.

“Finally you gave a reaction.”

Looking in front of him again he rubbed his ears.

“... I was angry at myself… At my lack of power and how unreliable I am.”

“No you are not.” There was no hesitation in her answer.

After a pause she continued “You were just not prepared.”

“One who harms never announces it. Even if I was prepared, who knows what would have happened,dwelling on it won't do anything.”

“... You said it yourself, dwelling on it won't solve anything right? And would you ever see your mentor get hurt in front of you and do nothing?” her eyes asked the same thing again.

“ ”

This was the reason Natsumi wasn't replying to her. He knew that she would somehow make him feel less guilty about his carelessness. Even if she was right Natsumi wanted to grieve a little more about what his actions had done.

The lady stood up and patted her dress to brush off the dust.

Tapping his shoulder the woman said,

“Now, let's go. We have to talk about it with Tengen-sama.”

He took a moment before following her and said,

“Thanks,Ren.” still facing towards the sunset.

Ren turned back and replied with—

“I will always be there when you need help. Just like you were there for me.”

The last part was softly spoken for only to be heard by herself.

<>

In a garden Tengen was sitting on a bench.A fish pond in front of him and he was feeding them. Standing behind the back there was another man, awaiting for Tengen orders.

The fishes captivated him. His eyes were scanning down every little detail of their body so that one day he could bring that thing into his canvas.

Disturbing his admiration of nature's beauty, Natsumi and Ren entered the area.

“Tengen-sama.” Ren called out.

Shifting his attention he asked,

“ I heard, Yamamoto cut his hand.”

Tengen was head of all of them. It's not a surprise every little information is known to him. Though it wasn't a major incident, still most of the news of every incident that happened in his rule wasn't slip passed by him.

His calm and prideful demeanor matched his strength. It can be said that one of the strongest and prideful ruled and protected them.

After Natsumi told every single detail of the incident, Tengen gestured and made the man behind him lower his ears. After whispering something in his ears he stood up and sat closer to the pond on the ground.

“...After sending someone to look into the Disgust matter among the humans , I also sent one of my men to talk about it with the Disgust fraction head. He returned two days ago, None of the members were involved with disturbing the emotional balance.”

Staring at one particular fish which was pure white in colour he continued,

“The one… Katsuo is probably acting as an individual controlled by his greed.”

He dips his hand in the pond.

“What happened can't be undone, but the mistakes can be corrected. I am giving you one more chance. Took by surprise or Carelessness or killed by betrayal doesn't matter up until the main objective is done.”

The fish with snow coloured skin circles around his hand.

Crushing the grass underneath their feet a woman and the man whom Tengen sent came. Looking at her both Ren and Natsumi knew that familiar face.

“...I will be sending Ai with you this time, Natsumi. Finding him may be hard after alerting him, you can use the Gates, separate and search for him in a region. Eradicate the pest or capture him before its filth spreads or it harms. Took every measure but–”

The calmness remained on face but the tone became heavier and so did the atmosphere.Ripples formed in the water and the white fish darted away from his hand as he spoke,

“ –What's intolerable is a repeated failure and shame on our names.” something in him changed.

The malice in the air settled and they were ordered to carry out the hunt.

<>

Walking on the wooden floor in the outdoor corridor those three remained silent until Ai made sure they reached a certain distance so as not to be heard by Tengen and broke the silence.

“Natsumi-san, you sure made Tengen-sama angry.”

“Sigh…” After a long sigh he said “well let's not talk about it. How are you doing Ai?”

“Nothing much. Bored of life.”

“That's some answer you gave. Go and enjoy with your friends or you don't have any?”

“I have friends but they are all busy.” Tilting her head she asked,“Ren-san, is Yamamoto okay?”

“Yes, he is perfectly fine now. He didn't lose his hand.”

“That idiot guy sure did something crazy.”

“You are no less crazier than him… Are you sure on going to the hunt with me? You can back off, I will talk to Tengen-sama.”

Getting reminded by his own words, Natsuki was concerned about her. Even though he asked, he already knew what answer would come.

“Nah, I am free anyway."

“Okay then, but don't act on your own free will.”

“No, I will not.”

Natsumi just looked at her in response.

Natsumi still had his doubts that she would not listen at some point, there was no way anyone wouldn't get angry if someone close to them got hurt. If she met with Katsuo she would surely rip apart his heart even if she had to lose an arm or two. Stopping her wasn't an option.He just had to handle the situation alone for not involving her which was not a simple task thinking back on how strong Katsuo was.

“... Can we meet Yamamoto before going?” Asked Natsumi.

“We can't. He is still asleep and under monitoring.” Ren’s response made Natsumi’s lips drop a bit.

“Let's finish this quickly and meet with Yamamoto after returning, Natsumi-san.”commented Ai.

He nodded in agreement.

<>

One day after the exam ended, he was at his seat. Head down staring at the desk.

The eyes which were becoming livelier were back to being lifeless. Half closed and gloomy. Every moment oh his body suggested tiredness from the world.

The change wasn't much for others to notice, but an everyday acquaintance could easily notice it. And it was indeed noticed by Kiyoko.

Sitting behind Uragao Ari during the Lunch break her eyes caught that something was off about him.

The instant her mind started to think about it she was pulled back to the conversation by her friend.