Chapter 59: The Breath Of Shadow.
Once everything had calmed down they all sat down to discuss what had happened that day. The talk was long and a bit heated at times but after all of the arguments and petty back and forths, they all decided to drop it. It was all over now so what is the point in carrying on. Haru kept the fact that their boss would now target him a secret from his parents of course.
He didn't want to worry them even more after the day they had already, He could only annoy them so much for one day. It was that night that Haru got to finally relax with his family. Krista spent a few hours online and looked through all of the local take away places.
Zen was determined to buy the most expensive meal they could get but it was unanimously agreed that he had a stupid Idea. What was the point in getting a bunch of money to only through it away on something that is only a little better than what you could get for a fraction of the money?
Krista and Luke weren't materialistic people who liked to flaunt the things they had. Jake and Zen, on the other hand, would show off whenever they had the chance to. That could be wearing designer clothing or even showing off his magic to impress people. Zen always had a driver to take him to places so he could show off his wealth not to mention the high priced custom tailored suits he would wear on a daily basis.
They all settled on a cheap chicken place. It had mediocre reviews but the advertisement was pretty decent. It arrived twenty minutes after they ordered it. They even ordered a whole grilled chicken for Xue to eat. The food was good but nowhere near the quality of food they had eaten for Haru's birthday.
There were no complaints with the night and they then decided to sleep. Haru went upstairs and pulled out his phone. He hadn't checked it since he told Suyin he won't be able to speak for a few days.
He had thirty six messages all from her. [Are you okay? What happened? Please call me when you see this.] All of the messages were along the lines of that. Shit, I forgot to tell her it's over. He thought and then pulled out his phone and called her.
The phone rang once before it was picked up. Whoa that was fast he thought before speaking. "Hey, I'm okay. It's all over you don't need to worry about it anymore."
"You idiot! Why would you make me worry like that! Sometimes I really hate you Haru." It sounded like she was crying. Haru walked over to the window. And opened it up. He sat down on the windowsill as he spoke.
"I'm sorry. Putting you at a distance was the only thing I could do to make sure you were safe. It wasn't just a situation with common street thugs these people were trained government enforcers. I don't know what I would do If you got injured because of me. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." He told her and then waited silently for her to reply.
"R-really? I thought it was because you thought I would be a bother to you. I didn't expect you to tell me your actual feelings. You are usually so secretive. It makes me happy when you tell me things like this." She seemed to instantly cheer up. Haru could almost see her beautiful smile in his mind after every word she spoke.
"I'm sorry about that too. Someone told me something earlier today that really made me realise just how much I love you. I don't want to lose you so I thought It would be better to keep you away from danger."
"I wish you were here. I just want to hold you right now." She said quietly. "You want me to come over? Are you sure? What if your dad finds out like last time? He got really mad at me for that." He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders but then realised that he couldn't see her.
"I don't care if he finds out. I'm actually getting sick of the way he is treating you. If he dares to say something I will tell him exactly where to shove it. And that won't be somewhere pretty." She giggled and then asked again. "Please come over. I want to see you right now. I need to make sure you are in one peace." She worried too much but she had every right too. The whole situation was a mess.
Getting on the wrong side of the government is never a good idea especially for someone who just finished high school and didn't have anyone backing him. "Sure, I will be there soon. Just make sure you don't fall asleep whilst waiting." He told her.
"I don't think I can sleep until I see you. You don't have to worry about that happening. Just make sure you are not too long, please. I love you." She said before hanging up.
"Oh, that is how your gonna do it?" Haru whispered and then smiled. He wouldn't be long at all. He looked outside into the distance. It was pitch black and dark clouds slowly started scattering apart to reveal a full moon.
He looked at it for a few moments. He thought back to the first time he had seen a full moon. He must have been around ten years old and in the middle of a forest after being chased by soldiers. He found a clearing in the woods and looked up to the sky seeing a similar sight to what he was looking at right now.
The clouds parted revealing the beauty of the moon as the light reflected from the surface of a lake. It was the most at ease he had ever felt in his life. The feeling he felt that day was so surreal that after all this time every time he looked up at the night's sky this image would play in his head.
He looked back down at the ground below his room. He saw Xue in her kennel with her head sticking out. She was looking right at him. Her eyes seemed to be glowing with happiness.
During his time training with Lao, he picked up a movement technique that made travelling at night almost instant. It was called the breath of shadow. As long as he was in the shadows he could move to another shadow instantly without so much as a breath going by. It was a skill that Lao praised a lot. He told Haru stories of the upper realms. People have managed to cultivate to a level where they don't need technology to explore space so the technology there had stopped because it was useless. It was totally different than life on earth.
The breath of shadow was especially useful for space travel. With space being as large as it is there are parts where there isn't a single sign of light for billions of miles. This technique was useful for that.
Haru used the technique to appear down in the yard in front of Xue. Her tail started to wag but she was too tired to get up and greet him. Haru bent down and petted her for a few minutes before using it again to appear out in the front yard. There was a porch light that lit up part of the street so he would have to walk for a little while before he could use the technique again. It didn't matter much though as It would cut around an hour from his usual trip.
He walked along the road again until he found himself in a long stretch of darkness. He then disappeared from the spot he was stood in and then appeared at the front gate. The security office lit up a bit of the road so he couldn't get out instantly. He then walked toward the gate with his card in hand and then opened up the gate.
"And here we have what seems to be a resident of this neighbourhood. He is coming out unharmed. This is the first person we have seen here all day after the reports of gunshots first emerged. Sir, Could we have a quick interview." A woman with a microphone ran up to him followed by cameramen.
"Uh, sorry no I have places to be. Go and harass someone else. I don't have the time to talk. See ya." Haru said and then began to walk down the street a little bit. "Sir, It won't take a minute." She said in protest and then chased after him.
Haru walked into the shadow cast by a skyscraper. He didn't say anything else as he disappeared before her very eyes. "Did you just see that!?" She screamed at the cameraman. He didn't know what to say. "Yes! What was that!?" He also screamed. "That doesn't matter did you get it on camera? This will make a better story than some gunshot reports." She asked him.
He stuttered for a moment. "Ah, no I was aiming the camera at the ground so I wouldn't scare him away from an interview." He said hesitantly. Haru was still close enough to hear the conversation. He just laughed as he made his way to Suyin's house. he stopped around four times in total before finally making it there.
He sneaked into the courtyard and past the sleeping security guard. He then went out into the back and found the window to her bedroom was wide open. He jumped up as quietly as he could and sat on the windowsill. her room was empty but then the door slowly opened.
Suyin stepped into the room in nothing but a towel. Her hair was damp and tied into a ponytail. She then sat down at her desk and began to plug in her blow dryer. Haru coughed making her jump. "Quite the show you are putting on for me." He laughed.
"I keep telling you not to do that!" She complained but then ran over and hugged him. "I missed you. I'm glad I can finally see that you are okay." She pressed her head into his chest.
"I told you I was fine." He said before picking her up and sitting down on the chair at her desk. He let her sit on his lap as she dried her hair. They then decide to cuddle until they fell asleep. It wasn't until about three o'clock in the morning that Suyin decided to sleep. Haru sat and watch her for a few minutes. He debated sleeping alongside her but his cultivation wouldn't improve if he slept away all the free hours he had to practice.
He lay back and let her rest her head on his chest as he entered his soul ocean and began to cultivate to the sounds of Lao singing.