9. Now, Your Move

"So ... Eri ... about this Acritucheese thing ... " Kiki mentioned to the cygnet at one calming dusk on her backyard. She was watering some roses using the hose. Half of the sun had already sunk below the horizon. Its upper half illuminated and gave color to the clouds above it.

Eri who was swimming around in a small pond said, "It's Acritucygnis, Chikitos."

"It's Kiki," Kiki said, annoyed. "Why don't we just catch those evil creatures now? I thought you could detect their energy waves like you did with the fire girl?"

"I wish we can, but I'm only able to feel their energy when they have already transformed. For now, we'll have to wait," Eri muttered. The cygnet cleaned her feathers by flapping her wings.

Kiki sprayed the water from the hose to Eri.

"What was that for!?" Eri flapped her wings again to dry herself. She shook her head and neck as well.

"I don't want a dirty bracelet around my wrist."

"I already had a bath earlier. I'm not dirty!"

After Kiki watered all the plants, both of them went inside the house. It's empty, as Kiki's parents were still working. The lack of light contributed to the feeling of hollowness. Eri laid down on the sofa. The girl sat beside her. She grabbed her smartphone and called her best friend. "Hello? Dejan?"

"Hi Kiki. What's up?"

"I was wondering if we can hang out tomorrow."

"Of course. Where do you want to go?" Kiki could hear Darza's tone changing to a slightly cheery one. They usually hung out regularly, but he was always pleased each time they did.

"Let's go to the game center."

###

"Kiki, who's this?" Darza asked. He seemed like he was a little uncomfortable with the presence of this boy he did not recognize. He was also feeling unprepared because Kiki had not told him about this person and all of a sudden he was there.

"He's our senior at school," Kiki replied. "His name is Banyu."

"It's nice to meet you, oh what was his name again?" Banyu turned to Kiki.

"My name is Darza. Nice to meet you too." Darza put on a fake smile. He gazed at Banyu's eyes. Banyu could sense something wrong. There was an awkward silence for some seconds.

"I hope you don't mind me hanging out with both of you." Banyu broke the quietness. "I met Kiki at a cafe a few days ago. I thought it would be great if I could be friends with her friend too."

"Oh, I don't mind at all, Kak." Darza faked his friendliness once again. Why had this guy became friends with Kiki? What was his motivation? It had been a year in the highschool and almost nobody want to connect with either Kiki or Darza since that incident.

"You can drop the 'Kak'. We're friends, right?" Banyu chuckled.

They went to the basketball arcade machine. Kiki attempted to throw the basketballs to the ring. She managed to score almost three fourths of the whole game. Banyu took his turn. Every of the balls he threw went into the ring.

"That's impressive, Banyu!" Kiki praised Banyu.

"It's nothing, really. I often play sport games with my friends at school."

They then heard the noise of Darza rapidly throwing the basketballs. He scored one hundred percent for the game, just like Banyu, but faster.

"Th-that's nice, Dejan. I didn't know you were the physical type ... " Kiki looked at Darza in surprise.

"Dejan? Isn't Darza his name?" Banyu questioned.

"Ah ... that's ... "

"I see. You both are best friends after all. I hope we can be good friends." Banyu gestured for a handshake to Kiki. Kiki, by reflex, responded to it by shaking his hand. Darza stared at Banyu. There was this dark aura coming from Darza when he was doing so.

Banyu picked up on the atmosphere. "Ah, sorry, I wasn't trying to get between you two."

"I appreciate if that wasn't your intention ... because she is my girlfriend," Darza spoke firmly.

At that moment, Kiki thought that she might had turned deaf. She did her best to hold herself together and not faint.