"Yawn." Arman woke up and raised his hands up in the air, streching his shoulders and pushing his chest forth in the process.
Arman then rubbed his eyes to open them.
Only to find his younger brother standing right infront of him.
"What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" Arman asked.
"Go and bring the groceries from the market."
Ali said.
Arman declined. "Why don't you go instead of me."
Ali said "I am busy with the homework. So you go."
Arman nodded in agreement.
"Okay okay, I am going. But first let me brush my teeth and after that I will have a bath."
Ali replied "So whom are you waiting for, go and brush your teeth."
Arman opened the bathroom door. He turned the handle of the valve.
The water sprinkling out of the shower fell on Arman's back.
Arman felt an irrestible pain which spread to every single cell of his body. It felt as if his bones, muscles, tendons ligaments, nerves, a
veins and arteries were all being torn together. His eyes were wide open, as he was constantly being tormented.
Arman quickly turned the valve to get it in the off position.
After around fifteen minutes, the Flame king noticed something unusual with how long Arman took to come out of the bathroom. He entered Arman's bathroom.
Arman lay unconscious there.
"Oh my, I completely forgot to tell him about that.
He quickly slapped Arman's face, to bring him to consciousness.
Arman saw the Flame king, and became very angry.
"What did you do to my body?"
Arman's upper body sprang up, only to sink back with double speed.
"Ah, it hurts!"
"I didn't do anything, as your level is low, you will get easily damaged by water. Things will be like this, till you complete your assimilation. Had you not turned the valve off, you would have died."
Arman mustered his wits together to somehow form words with his tongue.
"Now do something!"
"Okay, I will heal you."
And the Flame King started to heal Arman's body.
After receiving healing from the Flame King, Arman recovered back to normal.
Now, if he didn't want to get back to the same state, he would have to hurry up. As not completing a task assigned by Ali would result in him getting angry.
Arman quickly came down and asked
"Jamal, where are the car keys?"
Jamal pointed towards a cabinet.
"There, in that drawer."
Arman took the keys and sat in the car.
Ali saw Arman and started complaining "The market is only 2 kilometres away, so go through the bicycle."
But Arman pretended to not hear his words, and sat in the car.
Ali's face turned red.
Arman started the car and put the car in reverse gear. He then carefully drove the car out of the parking lot.
"Alright so where is the market? Let me check the map." Arman took out his phone and opened the app 'maps', and searched for the supermarket.
But, from about five hundred meters away, a woman was hiding in the bushes.
She was the woman sent to spy Arman from yesterday.
Throughout the road, as Arman was driving the car, the woman followed him.
She was even able to keep up with the speed of the car, and that with ease!
Arman reached the supermarket and got out of his car.
He pushed the door and entered.
Arman took out the shopping list Ali had given him earlier. He then started to one by one place things in the shopping cart.
As he was shopping, he suddenly felt that something was off.
"Seems like someone is following me." Arman said to himself.
He kept walking and someone was walking behind him too.
"There's no doubt about it.
Arman suddenly turned around, because of which the person who was following him freezed instantly.
"Dan, why are you following me?"
Arman asked.
Dan laughed "Hehe hehehe, sorry I... erm...
let's talk some where else."
They both headed towards a nearby café.
They bought one cup of coffee each, and sat down.
Then they took a sip of it
"So, why were you following me?" Arman asked Dan once again.
Dan replied "I wanted to meet you, so I came to your home. then I saw a woman hiding in the bushes. She was tailing you everywhere. So I decided to follow you to see what is the case."
"What a woman, where?" Arman was surprised by Dan's answer.
Dan turned around and so did Arman.
Dan pointed towards the woman.
"There."
There stood a woman with a hood on her head, sunglasses on her eyes and a face mask. On seeing that she was found out, she instantly turned around and pretended to be bargaining with the cashier at the café.
The cashier was completely clueless, and that was very clearly exhibited through his body language. This gave away the woman.
"Let's check it out." Saying so, Arman headed towards the woman and Dan also came behind him.
The woman started sweating.
"Excuse me, why are you following us?"
Dan asked the woman.
"What? Me? No, I didn't follow anyone." The woman tried to escape from the situation.
"As if we couldn't see you, huh?" Arman was persistent and kept glaring at the woman.
The woman started sweating even more.
"Who are you? Where are you from. What are you doing here?" Arman threw a series of questions.
"Uh... Ah... My name is Eveline, I am from Scotland. I like the Japanese culture very much that is why came to study here." The girl put up a lie.
"Is that so? In which college do you study?"
Arman asked.
She was hit with a deep crisis as she would be now caught lying.
'What should I do now?' She was thinking, but then, she remembered the name of an institute she saw on her way to this place.
"I study in Tokyo University of Science."
Arman's expression changed a little, still suspecting the woman. He said "What a coincidence, I will be studying there from next week onwards. And this guy also goes to the same college"
And Dan also pursed his lips. "And yeah, I have a twin brother Jacob. He also studies there.
Eveline was in a dillemma.
'Darn! Why did I say that? I should put up an excuse.'
Through the hood she was wearing, she moved her hand in stealth and made it reach a device that was hanging by her neck.
She secretly contacted the same person she was talking to when she landed on earth using a device hidden in her ears.
She very silently started texted him through Morse code.
"I have been caught, what should I do now?"
Then, she heard a series of Codes through an earphone in her ear.
She decoded them in her mind, and that while trying to reason with Arman.
"What? So soon. Okay, so what intel have you got on him?"
Eveline replied. "Nothing, except for one thing that he studies in a place of study called 'Tokyo University of Science.'
"Perfect! I don't see anything wrong with this. You now know about a place which he visits everyday. Make an excuse or lie to him and somehow escape from the situation. And then start studying in the same place of study as him."
Then Eveline whispered "You fool, for that I will need an identity proof and also some other papers to prove my qualifications. Where do I get them from?"
"You will get them."
"Okay."
Arman asked again.
"So are you now willing to tell me why you were following me?"
Eveline thought for a second. 'I should lie to him that I wanted to get admition in that college, so I wanted to meet him.' And she epened her mouth
"Now that you have figured it, there is no use pretending. I wanted to get admition in the same college as you. That's why I wanted to meet you"
On hearing at this Arman made a confused expression and said.
"Let me clear it to you that I am not a mediator or something like that. And you don't need anyone's help to get an admition in a college. And if I ever again see you following me, I will smack your face and out off your limbs."
'Oh no! That was a very lame excuse to make!
Eveline then said "Oh, sorry about that."
The conversation was now coming to an end. But Eveline needed to somehow stick together with Arman. So she said another few words, though they were lame too.
" But could you please find me a house for rent?"
Arman patted his forehead.
He want to repeat his words 'I am not a mediator' but he swallowed them.
Arman pointed towards a building "That is a book stall. Go there, purchase a magazine in which you can find many ads."
Saying so, Arman turned around & tack his leave.
Eveline then said to herself
"Oh, I thought that he would help me by letting me stay in his house. That way, it world have been easier spying him. anyways let it be."
Now that she was found out, there was no use hiding her face. She removed her sunglasses. Unmasked her face, took off the jacket and the hood. And then a beautiful face was revealed. Her face was like snow, very attractive and bright. The proportion between her eyes, nose and forehead was perfect. Chin that was neither too sharp nor too thin added enchantment to her beauty.
Long red hair fell down till her knees. She was a heavenly beauty. As she took off her jacket, a dagger hid in the pocket of her jacket fell down and made some noise.
Dan turned around to see what produced the sound.
Dan was Flabbergasted on seeing her face. "Hey - Arman" He said. Then Arman asked, "What is it?'
"Turn Around, behind you!"
And Arman refused to do so. He asked. But why?"
Dan Forcefully made made Arman turn around.
Arman's expression also change. His heart started beating many times faster than before. He felt like he was in heaven.
He fell in love!
"Who is that?" Arman asked.
Then Dan replied. "She is the same girl who was following you."
Arman was completely lost in his own mind.
"What a beauty."
Arman couldn't resist the call of an unknown string pulling Arman towards Eveline.
Both ran towards the Eveline.
Both said in unision "You, you can stay in my home."
Eveline couldn't understand the situation.
'What happened to them all of a sudden? Well it is good for me though. Even though it will be quite shameless of me to agree, all I have to do is to provide intelligence on him to
that guy.'
After hearing what Dan said, Arman turned to Dan. And Dan did the same.
They both looked at each other like a cat and a dog. Ready to hit each other.
Then they both looked at Eveline and said.
"Just ignore him, come with me let's go."
And again both started fighting with their eyes.
"Okay, I will come with you."
Eveline said to Arman.
Dan looked at Arman angrily.
And Arman smirked at Dan.
They all sat in the car.
And then they stopped infront of Arman's house.
Eveline was lost in thoughts at the sight of Arman's house. Even though it wasn't her first time in this house, she couldn't help not admiring the house. She wondered, what kind of a person would live in a place like this.
She asked. "Such big house! Do you live here?"
"Temporarily, after the construction work of my house is done, we will move back to that place." Arman said to her.
Then Dan asked out of curiosity.
"By the way, how did your house crumble? I asked you so many times and you haven't yet told me yet."
Then Arman hesitated for a moment and said.
"An earthquake, as you know Tokyo is prone to earthquakes."
Dan asked "Then why didn't I feel it? I too live in Tokyo. Akahibara is not that far from Shiba-koen.
Then Arman put up an excuse. "You don't know about earthquakes, as you always sleep during the classes." And then he quickly ran away into the house.
"Well, that is true that I slept between classes.
Dan thought for a while.
He then seemed to have realised something. He shouted angrily at Arman.
"Hey, but you too used to sleep in the classroom."
And he started chasing Arman.
They entered the house and Ali saw them coming inside.
"What took you so long? Have you brought everything in the list?"
Arman started sweating.
"Uh... sss... sorry I forgot. Don't worry I will bring them now."
Then Ali thundered. "No need! You damn brainless runt! I will get them myself. And who is this girl?"
Then Arman slowly opened his mouth. "She is a friend of mine, as she has got nowhere to live, I am helping her."
Ali was so angry that he left without saying a word.
"Don't mind him." Said Arman to Eveline.
Ali grunted and said "Bloody pervert!"
And what he said was right in a way. As he continued walking out of his home, Eveline peeped out of the window. She saw him leaving for the supermarket. She then took out a machine and aimed it at Ali, and something came shooting out of it and it got stuck on Ali's neck.
"What are you looking at, miss Eveline."
Eveline turned back towards Arman.
Arman showed her a room and he said that she could stay there.
**********
Soso, sitting on his chair, looked at Arman's house. He gritted his teeth.
"This bastard. He took my powers!"
Then H.E.X.A. appeared from behind.
he placed his index finger below his lips and started thinking.
And then he asked Soso something.
"Boss, why don't we go to that Affan again? I am sure that avaricious fool will give you powers for sure. As he has an unquenchable thirst for money. What say?"
Soso made an expression of faliure.
"I don't think so that we should do so. The power source he gave to us isn't his own.
He works for an unknown faction interested in the welfare of humans. Why wouldn't they be? As their leader himself is a human.
Few centuries ago, The Fragments of Sun set out in their war. To save humanity from the disasterous wars, that faction appointed few agents to distribute powers to few capable humans. So that they could defend themselves and the earth. Now that the war is over, they have stopped giving people powers. So obviously, Affan would have run out of powers."
After listening to this H.E.X.A. asked.
"So what do we do now?"
Soso replied.
"Hunt down that boy, Arman."