The next day.
I called Haru in my room, the first thing in the morning.
As Haru entered, I hurriedly pulled him towards the sofa and sat down together with him.
"Haru," I said, "Did you really not meet Kaori's two new shinki(s)?"
Haru shook his head in confusion, "No, what is this about?"
I breathed, "I can't stop thinking about Fujinuma... he has this peculiarity. It fears me."
Haru looked even more confused now.
"Why?" He asked finally, "What's the reason for this feeling?"
I shrugged, "I don't know, I really don't. Haru, I want you to protect Kaori if there is any harm to come."
Haru objected, "You know that I don't stay by her side all the time now. I doubt I can carry out your order regarding this."
I was taken aback by his answer, "It's Kaori we're talking about, Haru!"
"I know," Haru said with frustration, "If it's her, I'll die protecting her. But I don't have the chance to do that now, do I? You don't know how desperate I myself, am to be by her side."
I bit my lip, "What should I do then? Kaori isn't strong enough to protect herself."
Haru thought before saying, "I don't think you need anyone specific to protect her from any harm. She has enough people for protection these days."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, "I hear that everyone is afraid of her these days."
Haru smiled, "She has some people beside her who won't ever leave her."
My eyes lit up for a moment but then I started thinking again.
Haru stood up. With an assuring hand on my shoulder, he said, "Kaori will be fine. Don't worry much. And Fujinuma doesn't look as intimidating as you think. He's nice."
"Haru," I called him before he could leave, "Is there any way Kaori could get a new shinki?"
Harus stopped dead in his tracks, "What?"
"I want you to answer my question, Haru."
Haru protested, "You know what might happen if she does get more!"
"I know," I cut in, "But I didn't ask for you to remind me that. I asked, can she get more somehow?"
Haru replied half heartedly with a frown, "Of course, if she finds more spirits and takes them in, she can. But it sounds as if you're considering someone specific? Don't tell me you are thinking of doing that again?"
I shrugged, "I was thinking of someone like you."
"Someone like me?"
"Yeah. Someone who cares for Kaori just as much as you do, someone who can be trusted."
Haru's eyes and lips started to form into a thin line, "Please tell me you aren't thinking about either Xeno or Yamaken."
I shook my head, "Xeno can't be chosen, he's the wind section's pride. They won't give him up easily."
"Then..." Haru said uncertainly, "Yamaken?"
I smiled, satisfied, "If I think of him thoroughly, he's a perfect candidate."
************************************************
Kaori snorted again, looking at Yamaken's embarrassed face while he huffed in rage.
He shouted, "Stop laughing already! I told you it was an accident!"
Kaori pointed at her hand, "You had slept so peacefully while holding my hand and you still call that an accident?"
"Of course!" He defended, "I had done it in my sleep, I wasn't even aware of it."
"Oh," Kaori sang, "I see."
"Stop teasing me!"
"Okay, I won't," Kaori giggled, "But you actually missed me then, huh?" She teased again.
Yamaken roared again, "Ugh, you!"
And Kaori burst out laughing.
After the endless round of laughing and teasing, Kaori finally calmed herself. Yamaken also regained his composure.
Kaori and Yamaken were having their usual training session in the training room.
The school hours was over and it was afternoon now.
So like any other day, they decided to have some training together.
After having their first round of training, they had sat down for a break and that was when they had begun the conversation that followed earlier.
Kaori still gets a good laugh out of the moment Yamaken had fallen asleep while holding her hand in the infirmary. Watching Yamaken's reactions to mentioning this incident just makes her day.
As she felt the need of some humour, she ended bringing it up again.
Kaori grabbed her water bottle from the basket and started drinking when Yamaken sat down on the shiny wooden floor.
After drinking, Kaori looked at the quiet Yamaken and went to sit down beside him.
"It was a very nice day," Kaori said, smiling softly, "I didn't know how it felt to be able to see the faces of the people you missed after a long time."
Yamaken remained silent but he was listening to Kaori.
Kaori continued, "It didn't feel like it had been more than two weeks when I woke up. And I felt really good and happy. Quite comfy, too. Specially when I saw Xeno's gentle smile, it healed me."
Yamaken blurted out of the blue, "Do you like him?"
Kaori tilted her head to one side, "No, it's not like that. I like him, yes. But it's maybe not the kind of 'like' you are talking about."
With a soft smile plastered to her lips, she then started as if she was talking of someone she was very fond of.
"Xeno," She said, "Is like a ball of warm light. Whenever I'm with him, I feel as if there is nothing in this world that I can't accomplish. He makes me be positive about myself. And I also feel safe around him. It's as if he will protect me from all the bad, negative things in this world. That's why I like him. He's like a human light, who helps me find myself and guides me when I'm left in the dark."
Yamaken nodded as he said firmly, "Xeno is that kind of a person."
"Right?" Kaori grinned, "He's the best!"
Yamaken laughed out.
************************************************
*Knock knock*
"Come in!" I said.
Through the door, entered none other than the person I was expecting - Kaori.
I signaled her to take the seat before me at my desk but she politely rejected the offer.
"May I ask why you asked to see me, sensei?" She asked.
"Yes, Kaori," I said, standing up as I buttoned my coat, "I wanted to order you to do something."
Kaori knitted her eyebrows, "Order?"
I nodded shortly, "I'll go straight to the point for your easy understanding."
Kaori waited patiently for me to start and I did.
"You know that a master has to take all the responsibilities of what his shinki does, right? The more shinki(s) the master takes in, the more burden he has to carry," I said, making Kaori's frown go deeper.
"By being responsible, it could also mean to be responsible for both the good and the bad stuff done by the shinki."
Kaori interrupted, "Are you telling me this because of what I've done?"
I replied to her coldly, "Let me finish."
She was certainly taken aback by my attitude, which lead her to be quiet.
I continued smoothly, "Now, what I want to say is that you recently took this risk. Without thinking about anything further in, you took in two new shinki(s); you even didn't ask for my consent but of course, you weren't in the situation to do so."
Kaori stayed silent.
"So for this," I finally brought up my interest, "I'll give you a small punishment."
"Punishment?" Kaori asked in surprise.
"Yes," I said, acting strict, "You have to take in another shinki and that one will be of my choice."
At once, Kaori knew where this was going.
"No," She objected, "I can't. Not again."
"What? Why?" I asked, bewildered.
"Who are you thinking of now?" Kaori asked loudly, "Who is it that you want to be sacrificed for me this time?"
I sighed.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ต.
"Yamaken," I spoke, "I talked to him and he was okay with itใ ก"
"No!" Kaori yelled, shocked.
"Kaoriใ ก"
"I said no," Kaori shut me off with a glare, "I'll never take him in as my shinki. I won't have him sacrifice his life for me!"
I yelled back angrily, "He's not literally sacrificing his life for you! He'll just work under you, binded by some rules!"
"What about Saki then?" Kaori demanded, "What will happen to her?"
I anwered immediately, "Just like Haru's old shinki, she can be released by her current master and find a new one."
"Saki loves her master solely!" Kaori said desperately, "I can't seperate them!"
"It's a bond that every master and shinki feels for one another," I told her, "You shouldn't use this as an option to reject me."
"They've been together ever since they were young," Kaori muttered, "They're like siblings."
"They can still be so," I assured her, "I promise."
Kaori cried, "Why did he agree? Does he not want to enjoy his life freely? Why does everyone go along with this kind of offer? Why is it that only I have to go through these stuffs?"
I smiled as I recalled Yamaken's enthusiastic face when I asked him for the favour, "To him, being able to protect you seems to be more important."
"What?" Kaori asked in confusion.
I shook my head, "It's nothing." "So?" I asked her eagerly, thinking that she might've changed her mind.
But I was wrong to think that she was easygoing.
She threw a tantrum, saying that she vowed to herself to never take another student in as a shinki again. That she was happy with Fujinuma and Yukine.
But what I was worried about wasn't that. I was worried about her safety. And I thought that Yamaken was worthy enough to protect her.
I wasn't doing this for fun nor without any meaningful reason.
Trying to manage Kaori, I finally lost my patience and shouted at her, "I always wondered if I was right to have had chosen you as my disciple, now I really doubt it."
"If you can't do anything as simple as this and listen to me," I landed my icy cold gaze down on her, "It's better that you don't be my disciple anymore. You're just being a burden to me."
I saw Kaori gulp in shock, hearing my words. I also noticed the tears that began to appear in her eyes.
I stormed out of the room furiously, shutting the door loudly behind me.
Fujinuma appeared out of thin air beside the crying Kaori as soon as I was gone.
He wrapped his hand around Kaori's shoulder, "It's okay, don't cry."
Kaori sobbed, "Fujinuma.. Am I really a burden?"
He smiled at his master, "Of course you aren't. Don't pay any heed to his words from just now. Everyone knows very well that Kazuma-sensei is the only person in this clan who loves you the most. He said those out of the heat of the moment."
Kaori wiped her tears and smiled, "You never fail to make me smile."
Fujinuma smiled back, "You should listen to your sensei, Kaori. Do what he wants you to do, he wants it for your best."
Kaori pouted, "You are too nice. I promise you Fujinuma, I'll protect you. "
Fujinuma laughed lightly, "Yes. I know you will, master."
************************************************
On the morning of the day Kaori was supposed to take Yamaken in as her new shinki, she met Saki in the corridor on her way out of her dorm room.
When they made eye contact, Saki smiled brightly but Kaori had a pinch of guilty look in her eyes that made Saki become suspicious of her friend.
She quickly pulled the black haired girl out to the field and then they took seat under a banyan tree near the forest at the back of the campus.
Saki demanded sharply, "Spit it out. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," Kaori replied quickly and defensively.
"Lies," Saki pouted, "You are thinking of the matter with Yamaken, right? Is that somehow making you feel pity for me?"
"No!" Kaori objected strongly, "I never felt pity for you! I was just... Guilty."
Saki let out a sigh and Kaori lowered her head down, not facing her friend.
As the wind blew, the sun continued to heat the lands. The sunrays were being blocked by the big, green umbrella of leaves of the banyan tree and it couldn't reach the girls. A silence fell between the friends but it wasn't an awkward one.
"Kaori," Saki said softly, "Don't be."
Kaori looked up at her sadly.
"Don't be guilty," The latter continued, "It'll make me want to act like a victim so you'd continue to feel like that."
Kaori's eyes widened in surprise, "Huh?"
Saki smiled sadly, "You don't know how much I want Yamaken not to sacrifice his life as a master and begin his life as a shinki. But if it's you, we can all sacrifice ourselves. And for you, we can sacrifice our wants, too."
Kaori looked blank, "Why...?"
"Because we love you that much," Saki said with the whole care in the world, "You are like a star that all of us have to protect."
"I want Yamaken to continue being my master, I don't want to be released," Said Saki, "But I will retreat. I'll root for you two. So please stop feeling guilty towards me and take care of him. He'll be in your care from now on."
"Saki..." Kaori called emotionally.
Saki hugged Kaori, "Your safety is the top priority. I don't know why the headmaster is doing this, but I believe in Yamaken. He'll be there for you no matter what. Although he doesn't talk much, he's a really good person. Protect each other, okay?"
"Okay," Kaori sniffled, "He's my friend, so I'll be extra careful about him."
"Thank you Kaori, thank you for promising me to be there for my brother."
"But what about you?" Kaori asked, "What will you do after being released?"
"I'll be fine," Saki laughed lightly, "I might find a new master soon."
"I hope so."
"Yeah, me too."
************************************************
Getting Yamaken as her shinki didn't change anything much.
While he trained harder for himself to grow stronger, Kaori didn't use him in the battlefields. She only used him in small missions, for small purposes. She mostly used Fujinuma and sometimes used Yukine.
But Kaori was recently feeling weird about something. It was as if someone was keeping an eye on her.
Lately, Kaori also started growing distant from everyone.
Specially Haru, whom she rarely talked to these days. Even though he was her guide, she didn't give him any care, ignoring him most of the times.
She was ignorant of her sensei as well.
She lead her life in her own way - going to missions and doing whatever as she pleased.
Her team broke apart from her and she wasn't close to her old friends anymore.
Nobody knew why Kaori had suddenly become like that.
But I knew one thing. She had found out my suspicion about Fujinuma and so she had turned all of us into her enemies.
************************************************
Fujinuma was appointed to personally take lessons from Haru as a shinki.
Ever since Haru became a guide, he turned more aggressive in his moves and his skills improved to the max.
He was now the most powerful shinki of the clan. So it was a given that he'd be severe in his training sessions just like the way I trained Kaori.
Thus, Haru was caught being hard on Fujinuma while training by Kaori.
She stopped the training midway and hit Haru for his so called wrongdoing.
"You don't have to teach him anything," Kaori gnashed, "He has other options to learn from. Let's go, Fujinuma-san," She pulled Fujinuma out of the room, leaving Haru on the floor.
Yamaken was also there. He ran to Haru, who was sitting on the floor, broken.
"Haru," Yamaken tried to console him but stopped when he saw the tears brimming Haru's eyes.
He asked desperately, "Why did she become like this? What went wrong? What did we ever do wrong, Yamaken?"
As Yamaken couldn't reply, he pulled the elder into his embrace and let out a sigh.
๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ, ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ถ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ.
************************************************
Though Kaori shut everyone out, she still had good friendship with Saki - it wasn't as good as before but it was still existent.
It was as if Saki was her only place to go to when she needed someone by her side now.
Afar from the mentioned girl, as Kaori became overprotective of Fujinuma, she couldn't trust anyone else in the clan because she thought everyone hated the male.
But she didn't open up to Saki anymore either. All she did was going to Saki when she needs her and hugs the girl to refill her energy and then goes back to her work.
Watching her, Saki often thinks, "๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ?"
************************************************
Days passed by and the situations changed more and more. The hope of bringing those moments of those golden past back again became slim.
Then one day, Xeno and Zenna called their old friends to a meeting in a coffee shop in the town.
However, Kaori didn't show up. The group had fun again but without Kaori, the main star, it felt empty.
Xeno wished to meet Kaori firmly so he asked the others what he should do.
"Why do you want to meet up with her in the first place?" Maki shrugged, "It's no fun meeting her anymore."
"You know that Xeno has something to tell her," Xeno said obviously.
Aoi raised his eyebrow, "You'll tell her?"
Xeno nodded, "Xeno has to."
Yamaken smirked, "Of course he has to."
Xeno rolled his eyes, "Don't think stupid, you idiot."
Yamaken smirk grew larger, "Heh."
Haru said, "I doubt you can meet up with her personally. She doesn't meet anyone anymore. She won't respond to your calls either, she doesn't want to get involved with us in any way." "But," He looked at Xeno directly, "If it's you, she might turn up at the meeting place. You have a special place in her heart."
"What?" Xeno asked in confusion.
Haru said stared at Xeno for a long time in silence before saying awkwardly, "Forget it. Just tell her that you want to meet her one on one. She might come."
"I can give her a push," Saki offered, "She still contacts me time to time."
Xeno smiled warmly, "Thank you both. Xeno is grateful to have all of you as his friends."
All the others melted in his words and became emotional.
Only Yamaken remained indifferent, "Oh, how cringeใ ก" Was all he could say before being thrown a pillow of the sofa on the face forcefully by the wind boy.
************************************************
As promised, Saki helped Xeno and requested Kaori to respond to him when she heard he called Kaori out to meet him.
Kaori was annoyed by the request but she reluctantly agreed out of gratitude towards Saki for always being there for her.
On the appointed day, Kaori walked out to the hallroom of the headquarters - where she told Xeno to meet her.
She was strict to him that she'd just listen to the things he had to say to her and leave. Kaori didn't want to pull anything too far. She didn't have all that spare time on her sleeve.
When she entered the giant hallroom, there she saw him standing, waiting for her arrival.
She would be lying if she said that he didn't rise the gush of emotions that she had been bottling up all this time. Just setting her eyes on those beautiful eyes of the colour of sea, she wanted to give up on everything and break down.
But she held her face high in the air, keeping her perfect physical posture.
"Greetings, master Xeno Xin," Kaori bowed courteously, "It's been a while."
Xeno was taken aback by her formality, "Uh, I mean, Um... Hello, gใ กgeetings," He bowed stiffly.
"May I ask why you arranged this meeting between us?" Kaori asked politely, expressionless.
Xeno was even more taken aback. He still remembers the days back awhile ago when he called out to Kaori only to be ignored completely. He also heard how the said girl had changed in numerous ways but he didn't think the changes were to this extent.
"Xeno wanted to..." Xeno searched for words but his mind went blank.
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ fully ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ!
Kaori raised her eyebrow, "Did you call me here so desperately for nothing, then?" She went back to her usual dark form.
"Kaoriใ ก" Xeno tried to apologize for his mistakes.
"How disappointing," Kaori said so evidently that every words dug into Xeno.
She turned around, "I don't have time for this, I'm going back."
Xeno tried to grab her wrist, "Waitใ ก!"
She slapped his hand away, "Don't touch me."
Xeno's eyes widened at the look of Kaori's cold eyes. He remembered the girl who used to blush whenever she talked to him.
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด?
"Xeno is sorry for annoying you," Xeno apologized quietly, "It's just that everyone misses you a lot, so does Xeno. And so he lost the tracks of everything he wanted to say upon seeing Kaori..."
"I didn't come here to hear you whining, Xeno," Kaori finally put away all the act of politeness, "I wouldn't have come here but I did because Saki requested me to. I am grateful to her for many things, so I wanted to repay her the favour."
Xeno asked, "Why did you shut everyone out? Kazuma-sensei and Haruใ ก"
"I don't care about anyone," Kaori cut in, "No matter who it is. So you don't have to tell me about anything."
"Then..." Xeno asked slowly, "What about Xeno?" He asked, looking at her eyes, "Don't you care about Xeno, too?"
A long gap followed before she let out a sigh, "Didn't I mention before? I'm fine the way I am, so you need not to be concerned about me. Tell everyone to get a grip on their own life and leave me alone."
Xeno didn't comment a thing on her heartless remarks. So she took this as the end of their conversation and turned around to leave.
But before she walked out of the door, she turned around.
"Oh right," She said with a scoff, "Change your way of speech, Xeno. It makes you sound so immature. Grow up, okay?"
The door shut off on the stunned Xeno's face.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ...
************************************************
Drops of tears fell from Kaori's eyes as she walked past the corridor in hurry.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ.
๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
************************************************
At the time of dusk, in the headmaster's office.
I looked up at the dark face of Xeno. He was looking downward.
He had told me that he was going to meet Kaori today, so I knew why he looked so glum.
I was watching the nature outside the glass wall behind me before he entered the room, so I was still standing.
I didn't sit down as I faced him with my arms folded behind me, "You couldn't tell her, right?"
Xeno didn't reply to my question, so I guessed the answer.
"You know you don't have time," I proceeded, "You have to leave the headquarters tomorrow in the early mornใ ก"
"Xenใ ก" Xeno tried to cut in but stopped.
I was surprised by his trial of cutting in but I was also confused as to why he had stopped midway.
"I," Xeno spoke, "Will be fine..."
I was struck with surprise even more now that I heard the way of Xeno's speech change, "Xeno...?"
Xeno looked up at me and smiled assuringly, "I'll be fine, headmaster. I'll head out tomorrow. Please be rest assured."
I couldn't say anything back in reply and so he bowed to me.
"Have a good evening, headmaster," He said and left the room without further ado.
I was left standing in surprise by the descendant of the wind section.
"Kaori," I muttered, "Just what did you say to him?"
************************************************
Xeno stopped in the corridor on his way to his dorm room.
When he looked afar, he could see the training ground from his position. The sun was setting, leaving the horizon glow red.
Sunsets are always touching even in the most cloudy days - just like Xeno was feeling right now, cloudy in his heart.
But what's more touching of sunset is the last, vibrant glow that embraces the sky when the sun has finally set, and the colours deep within the horizon, allowing peace and pleasure to linger in the air.
The only experience he treasured with Kaori, was now being overtaken by the pain in his heart made by the same person he treasured the memory with.
************************************************
The next day in the crack of dawn.
Kaori was walking out of her room to go down to the campus' training room.
While walking by, something caught her eyes when she had glanced through the windows at the right side.
The entrance gate to the headquarters could be seen through the window.
When she walked closer to one of the windows, she saw a silhouette of someone walking towards the gate.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.... ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ? ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ก๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ?
Kaori frowned as she thought and suddenly, all the pieces of the puzzle made sense to her.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.
๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ...
Kaori watched from afar as Xeno and Zenna walked out of the entrance gate and Xeno created a portal.
For some reason, Xeno turned back around.
Kaori quickly crouched down in order to avoid being seen by him.
She stood back up after a moment and saw him walking into the portal with Zenna.
And then, as the portal closed and vanished into thin air, Zenna Hayako and Xeno Xin's existence was erased from the headquarters.
************************************************
"Kaori," Saki brushed her finger through her friend's short, sleek hair as she called.
Kaori hummed in reply.
Kaori came to Saki again on the same day Xeno and Zenna had left, at night.
For some unknown reason, Kaori was feeling down the whole day. So she came to her only friend to refill her energy.
"Do you know that Zenna and Xeno left the headquarters?" Saki asked softly.
Kaori again hummed in reply.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ?" Saki thought, amazed, "๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ - '๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ'," she imitated her friend, mocking her.
"So what?" Kaori asked.
Saki shrugged, "I just wanted to know if you knew. He was really desperate to meet you and talk to you before he left. That's why I pushed you that day."
Kaori sat up, leaning on her elbow, "Where was he going anyway?"
Saki raised her eyebrow, "Didn't you guys have a proper talk?"
Kaori shrugged and told Saki the half truth, hiding all the rude things she had told him, "He didn't get to say anything. He said he got too nervous that his mind had gone blank. So being annoyed, I left."
"What?" Saki said in disbelief, "You are such an idiot, you know that?"
Kaori just shrugged.
Saki ruffled her own hair in frustration, "Xeno and Zenna, they went on a special mission appointed by the headmaster himself. They were sent to gather informations on corrupted spirits from the inside. We don't know if we can ever see them alive again. Even if we do, it will be years later until they think they've gathered all the informations and its time for them to come back."
Kaori stayed silent as she played with two dices in her hands that she picked up from Saki's table.
"You lost your chance to say goodbye like that," Saki shook her head in disappointment, "Both of you are so hopeless."
Kaori wasn't even hearing Saki at this moment.
"๐๐ฐ... ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ?" Kaori thought as the gentle smile of Xeno sprang up in her mind.
But then again, it hit her that maybe Xeno won't look at her with that gentle smile again. Since Kaori had destroyed the sweet picture he had of her in his heart.
************************************************
As life went on, soon enough, the intimidating appearances of Kaori on the fields became the hot news among the clan residents.
People started talking behind Kaori's back.
Kaori was forced to be teams with her old mates again, except Haru, Xeno and Zenna, though she didn't give them a care in the world.
This time, when creating teams, each of them had to have a name. And it was to be based on the names of colours and if one name of a colour was used by one team, it couldn't be chosen by a second team again.
So Kaori's team tried deciding on it.
"Why don't we each choose a name and then vote for it?" Saki suggested.
Maki shot his hand in the air, "I choose yellow!"
Gin raised his hand, "Yellow is already taken, Maki. Let's choose silver."
Aoi shook his head, "Silver is too plain. Choose blue. It's catchy."
Yamaken shrugged, "Green is soothing."
Saki squinted her eyes at all the boys, "Guys, you are not helping at all."
She looked at Kaori, "What do you say?"
"Black."
All the eyes in the team turned at her in surprise.
"Black?" Maki asked uncertainly.
Kaori gave an explanation on her reason for choosing, "Black has this strange vibe of mystery, power and elegance. It's catchy and when people hears of it as a team name, their expectations of us will grow. And it's not like we will ever disappoint them. It's also not chosen yet, so why not?" She looked at her teammates.
Gin muttered loudly, "Team Black - it has a nice ring to it."
Both Maki and Aoi agreed, "Yeah, I like it," they said in unison.
Kaori looked at Saki and Yamaken, for their opinion.
When she knew that both of them had no disapproval, they decided that the name should be fixed.
And so, they were named, team Black.
By the intimidating team name and the members' powers altogether, every students wanted to stay out of the team's way. However, people were always eager to look over at them when they passed by or hear about their doings on field, just like Kaori had said they would when naming the team.
"Did you ever face the wolf of the team Black on the field?" They used to ask every time when coming back from a new mission.
"No, I didn't," Some would say while the others repliedใ ก
"Yes, we did! She looks totally like a beast when she rips through and brings the spirits down! She's a total monster in the fields. Just like a wolf."
"No wonder people gave her the nickname 'wolf'."
"Yeah, she's team Black's wolf. The Black Wolf."
โญโคโคโญ๐โค๐โญโคโคโญ๐โค๐โญโคโคโญ