The dires that Saki gave him were fairly vague, but he could not fault her since she had been trying to escape from the pbsp; Based on the description and the general location, Ayumi narrowed it down for them. The entire area was quite g much life at all with most of the buildings being abandoned or only used for ste. It made a perfect location for them to use their powers without being seen by the publibsp; However, it could also be a perfect setup for a trap, a matter that Ayumi atteo now.

  Yuki watched from a distance half distracted as Ayumi searched the area in advanbsp; His mind weighed heavily on Saki and what she had to gh from this assassin because of him. ‘I said I would make him pay, but that’s said so easily. I actually do it? My power doesn’t work on and…’

  Ayumi walked back to Yuki having pleted her task. “Everything is clear now. There were a fes, but they were poorly done. Let’s go.”

  “Right...” Yuki pulled at his leg dragging it forward to follow up by Ayumi’s side as she marched onward. He could still feel the ag thump in his heart spreading through him like a spider ying a web. ‘…Saki…’

  Chapter 19 – Promises

  Hiroshi returo Yuki’s house knog on the door expeg to see Yuki. However, when the door opened for him it was Jun standing vat and distant as he usually did. “Hey, little man! I’ve got some bandages and ois for Saki’s injuries.” He lifted up his bag of supplies to show Jun. Jun stepped out of the threshold to the side of the door nearly hiding behind it. Hiroshi walked through into the living room hearing the door shut behind him.

  When he searched the room there were no signs of Yuki or Ayumi anywhere in sight. He looked back at Jun seeing him walk around to Saki’s side. “Hey… Where’s your brother Yuki?” Jun turo look at Hiroshi and paused for a moment long enough to get a few words out. Theurned back, remaining silent the eime.

  He turned his head slightly away sweating a little not certain what the look was supposed to mean. ‘What’s with Yuki’s little brother. I don’t think I’ve heard him say a single word the eime I’ve been here.’ Hiroshi scratched his head a little puzzled and tried again with only the same results. “…Hmm… This is getting me nowhere.”

  “Ju speak…” Saki said slowly as she opened her eyes. She pulled herself up from the couch looking a little better than she had before. ‘You won’t find Yuki, though.’

  “Hey, should you be moving like that?” Hiroshi dropped the bag and came over to Saki’s aid.

  Saki pulled the b off of her, dropping it onto the couch as she stood up on her ow. She was tired of being an invalid that o be tended. “I’m fine. I’m feeling a lot better now.” For reasons she didn’t uand, the stinging lo her. Only fatigue tied her down, even that faded.

  “You don’t look it,” He gestured generally to her appearance of a torn and dirty school uniform. All of the dirt on her fad body had been washed off, but it left the bruises that she had taken in order to get out. There was even blood soaked into her clothes from the gss.

  She looked down at herself. Shifting her body gave her a good look at her state. The movements were not slow or pained like she had remembered before. ‘Probably not perfect shape, but I do what I must like this.’ Saki looked up at Hiroshi, stepping towards him. “I’m fine. I look worse than I am.”

  “You o lie down.” Hiroshi put his hands on her shoulders pushing back to the coubsp; He searched around the ro to figure out where Ayumi went, who was supposed to be keeping Saki from doing anything stupid. Hiroshi struggled with Saki iio sit on the couch, but mao succeed eventually. After panting from the effort, Hiroshi bent doicked up the bag showing it to her. “See, I’ve got medie for you. It’ll make you better.”

  “I already told you that I’m fine. I don’t .” Saki looked at the bag quickly noting that there seemed to be an excessive amount of bandages. ‘I’m not that badly injured. e on, Hiroshi. Use that small brain you got to think.’

  Hiroshi dropped the bag on Saki’s p staring down at her. He gave her a pletely serious stare, which was a little atypical ing from him. “Listen here. I’m not letting you go anywhere. This is the police’s job, not yours. And besides, you’re injured. If I beat you in a test of strength then it’s clear that you’re in no dition to be moving.”

  Saki stared down at the bag having listened, grudgingly, to Hiroshi's argument. She narrowed her eyes, being frustrated with her dition. “Fine…”

  Yuki and Ayumi stared at the door of the warehouse. Yuki had been trying to open it and look a little more useful, but made no headway. Stoic features held for her, even if it started to embarrass her to watbsp; She waited until he gave up and slid down the front of the rge sliding door that was meant to let in trucks for unloading. “Done?”

  Yuki gred back at Ayumi not liking the tone in her voibsp; “Looks like it is locked from the inside.” He stood up fag the detting a few steps away while lifting up his hands straight at the door. “Guess it’ll have to be taken down. HA!!” He tried to summon up his power thinking that he could bloart the door.

  Ayumi had e to her limits of hum him. She marched forward knog him on the head with her hand. “Stop your screaming. You o stop reading that manga of yours. We’re trying to get in quietly and not alert the eo our presenbsp; Which we probably lost by now.”

  A bit of disappoi washed over him when a ki bst or other form of energy attack didn’t miraculously pop out of his palm. So much for clear images like she told him. The expression quickly ged to narrowed eyes and wrinkled brow. “But the door’s locked. We ’t get in. And wouldn’t he already know that we’re here with how long we’ve been standing around? Why do we o be quiet?”

  “Use your head for onbsp; We don’t know where all of the people that he’s kidnapped are. Blowing up the door could get them injured or killed. And I don’t want to be broadcasting our entrao him, even if he does know where we are. Being quiet is better.”

  As his military superior, he couldn’t deny the logibsp; He hadn’t sidered the sequences. “Well how do you pn to get in without making noise? You going to pick the lock?”

  “No.” Ayumi positioned herself in front of the door and closed her eyes. A blue ushed away from her feet. In addition to snoearing, her clothes transformed. The red dress ainted over with white. A brief fsh popped the dress into a pale blue and white kimono, but rather than fully reag to the snow it cut off shortly after the waist. White shorts covered the rest of her thighs with simple boots for prote.

  The snow field expanded around her, filling out into the grass c it all in a few timeters of snow as well as the door in front of her. The snow covered ahrough the door finishing in an arc that equaled the range of her field.

  She pressed her hands up against the hardened snoushed it through what used to be a solid metal door. The snow cracked and crumbled around her arms that pierced the wall. Her arms pulled out with her hands taking some of the snow with it leaving a gaping hole. Soon after she pced her hands back at her side as the cracks in the snow grew from the weakhat she created causing it all to crumble into a pile on the ground produg a wide archway into the warehouse.

  O was over Yuki pulled his jaw back up, closing his mouth and ran around to Ayumi’s side turning glossy eyed at her. “Wow, Ayumi! That’s so cool! Didn’t know you could do that!”

  Ayumi sighed in disbelief at his reversal in attitude. “Creativity. Remember that.” She stared at him for a moment realizing that little was getting through his head from being so excited by tearing down the door. “e on. Let’s go. The enemy is somewhere inside.”

  Ayumi marched cautiously inside sing side to side.. No interiht limited her sight. Only the windows and hole she made provided light. However, all the cells Saki reported being occupied were y. All of the cells on the far side of the warehouse were left with their doors open. ‘What’s going on here? Where are they?’

  Yuki snapped out of his excitement when he caught up to the gis. He rushed ih Ayumi stopping well in front of her looking around the room. The view in the warehouse made it difficult for him to s the room making it nearly impossible for him to find the assassin that was responsible for everything. “Ayumi, where’s the people that Saki talked about?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I let them go,” a muffled smooth voice said from the far end of the warehouse. The man approached from the shadows protected by the darkness.

  “What do you mean?” Yuki still didn’t uand this assassin’s motive. He gave up his leverage.

  The man slowly marched closer to them. His footsteps started t clearer. “There’s no need for them when I found what I was searg for.”

  “What were you searg for? You knew where-“ Yuki was suddenly cut off by a sudden blur in front of him that became Ayumi standiweewo of them.

  “What were you doing with the people you took?”

  The man came to stop at the edge of the light only letting the sun’s rays travel up to his waist highlighting his white pants. “Hmm? Oh…Ayumi is it? ging your name, huh? I didn’t know you cared about these strangers?” He caught the thin gring eyes of Ayumi nearly letting out an amused ugh. “Alright. You took out the advanced scouting team before they could report ba their location. So I was sent out to find you ahem know.”

  “What?!” Yuki leaned around Ayumi as she seemed to take everything directed at him. ‘Advanced scouting team? Does he mean those two assassins?’

  “Seems giving them the orders to kill a back if impossible, proved to be a mistake on the higher-ups part. You proved to be more trouble than we pnned for.”

  “Enough wasting time, what were you doing with those people?” Ayumi stepped bato the versation not wanting to be ignored. The angered expression on her face was something new unseen before by Yuki.

  “I was getting to that. So impatient…Ayumi…” said the maing an amused tone again by saying her name. “I interrogated them for information.”

  “You raped their minds!”

  “Tsk…such a crass word. Memories don’t lie like people do. It is the most certain way to learruth. I let her escape when I found her memories. That scared little girl proved excellent bait to deliver your friend to me. Seems like I calcuted correctly. She ran back to you and brought you to me without needing to leave.”

  “You let Saki go?!” Yuki said surprised that it nned out. He started to bee angered by the casual mahat the man talked about what he had doo Saki and the others.

  The man turned a smile at seeing the reas that he was getting. “Of course. You think I would be that easily escaped if I wao keep her. I just had to make it look ving enough and here you are now.”

  “So there’s no o us in here?” She had been holding herself back the whole time, but could not stand to listen to the self-important man anymore.

  “Most of them at least. Some of them were too afraid to leave.”

  ‘Damn…it’ll have to do.’ Ayumi stepped forward bringing her field into tact with the man seeing that it battled part way to him. ‘His field’s already up.’ She khat she had to end this quickly, but his powers were unknown to her. It would have been beneficial to have meant him, knowing his Law set.

  His advantage appeared to be at range, given how Saki described him. Such a target would be difficult to eliminate. She o learn his style to build a pn. ‘I o see his mental strength.’

  Ayumi raised up her hand as the snow u drew up to her palm floating just u. The snow gathered quickly stretg out to the length of her arm and hardening being ibsp; The ice sharpeo a point that uself as a projectile towards the man.

  The man didn’t move to avoid the attack from Ayumi. He seemed to be fident in it not affeg him. A vine came up from the ground grabbing the ice spear just before it hit the man. The shard was ed up pletely by the pnt coiling around it like a snake and tightening its grip until it shattered to pieces.

  “Hrmph. Testing me are you? Gd to see you aren’t uimating me.” He stepped out of the shade into the light from Ayumi’s hole revealing his vine covered face that Saki had described duriory. He raised his right hand up as a signal that released several vines from the ground that shot out at Ayumi.

  The speed of the attack took Ayumi a little by surprise as she pulled her hand back f up snow into a thick wall. Vines smmed into the solid with an uhud to signal her safety. She exhaled a warm breath in the cold air as she prepared for her attabsp; Her hands csped together bringing her focus, but stopped suddenly when cracks could be heard in her wall.

  Ayumi drew her attention down to the ice, seeing green pnts crawling over the interior of the ice tunneling through slowly. She had to dodge out of the way as one of the exposed vines shot out at her, narrowly missing.

  “Ayumi!” Yuki rushed to her side after seeing the attabsp; He tried to help her up to her feet, but she pushed him away with her arm. “Ayumi?”

  Ayumi stood up with her back turo Yuki. “Go find a pce to hide! It’s too soon for you.” She walked forward breaking down the wall ibsp; His vines retreated after the attabsp; They hovered at his feet awaiting a and to strike. “I won’t let you touch him!”

  Yuki slowly stepped babsp; He turned his head down looking at his hands hearing Ayumi charging towards the man. The battle betweewo had begun and he was left out. ‘Go find a pce to hide!’ Her words pounded against his head knog him again.

  ‘I’m useless… All my anger and itmey… Ayumi’s out there proteg me from that man trying to kill me. I-I…’ His hands shook knowing already without needing to be said. ‘I’ve already tried! I want to help, but I ’t! It won’t work! Why’d I think I should have e…’

  A pained groan from Ayumi snapped Yuki out of his internal dilemma. He looked up, seeing Ayumi bleeding from her right arm, taking a shallow hit from a vihat she had been uo cut down with her sword. It did not seem to be slowing her down as she charged fain using the ice to block vines ing at her as she cut away those she could not.

  “Ayumi…” Yuki stepped forward a little, but held himself back when he realized that he could not do anything to aid her. ‘She would only se again. Ayumi’s in there fighting aing hurt because of me.’ He tightened his hands into fists frustrated by his inability to trol his power. ‘I don’t want to be helpless. I have to do something!’

  Yuki closed his eyes trying to remember the feeling that he had before when he had his power and clear out his mind of thoughts. ‘I must. I’m sorry, but I have to break my promise, mother.’ He focused on when he was desperate before, when his family was in danger. Yuki shouted up to the ceiling in blind desperation.

  “Hey! What do you think you’re doing screaming? It’s killing my ears!” a high pitched voice to Yuki’s left said before it kicked him in the face.

  Yuki rudely snapped out of his trand blinked his eyes looking over to what had hit him. “What?!” When his eyes finally focused together the fairy, from before that he had summoned actly with Saki, floated in front of him looking very annoyed. “What are you doing here?”

  “I don’t know you called me.”

  “What?!” Yuki widened his eyes and stepped ba disbelief. “No I didn’t! I was trying to use my power!”

  “Don’t shout at me, mister!” The fairy kicked him in the face again leaving a sed red mark.

  “Stop kig me! If I summoned you, don’t kick me!” He leaned in on the fairly losing any manners of decy that he had before.

  The fairy pressed up into his faot pleased by the loud obnoxious treatment that she received from Yuki. “You ’t order me around. I’ll kick you as much as I want!” Upon which, she kicked him again to prove her point to him.

  Yuki held his sore cheeks in his hand gring at the annoying little fly. “Get ba my mind now!” He grabbed the fairy in his hand and threateo do exactly that. However, before he was able to do anything Ayumi shouted at him.

  “Yuki lookout!”

  Yuki turned his head. The fner ged targets away from her. There were several vines flying straight at him and Ayumi was caught up by some other vines keeping her from being able to intervene. His eyes widened in shock as he khat he wasn’t going to be able to get out of the way in time. All he could do rotect himself with his arms bringing them up to take the hits with the fairy filing in his hand panig.

  Blood and the slig of flesh echoed around Yuki’s ears as he was ko the ground losing his hold on the fairy, which flew away to safety in the rafters. Yuki took a moment, but realized quickly that he wasn’t hurting. He opened his eyes seeing Saki in front of him with her arms bleeding from being hit by the vines. “Saki!?” Yuki leapt to his feet to get to Saki in time, but she put her arm out stopping him. He was taken aback by her endurao be standing still.

  “Yuki… I made you a promise. I’m not about to break it now!” Saki narrowed her face, staring down at the man in vines ready to challenge him. She wasn’t going to let him hurt Yuki anymore.