"Rumi, promise me one thing..."
Rumi's eyes glinted with a newfound admiration and zeal to please.
Before she could nod her head to his favor without listening to his condition, he continued.
"If you fail to comply, I won't hesitate to cripple your cultivation permanently." He warned.
Rumi hesitated at first, suspicious of what she would have to do to get such a penalty if she didn't comply.
"It's sensible if I know what you are driving at, professor!" Her words were laced with mockery as she held his glare with a mischievous grin.
"I would release my hold on your ability..."
"Yes!" Rumi whooped, eager to make a peekaboo on him once she got it.
"Once you get it, I want you to get the hell out of my room, my sister has an eye for spotting things and you surely aren't little to be stuffed in my pockets," Tenji explained, switching glances from the door and Rumi.
Her face fell at his condition, she had expected some difference that would be much easier to comply with.
"But... I... I don't have..."
Angered by her reluctance, he hissed in a hushed tone, "surely you must have been somewhere while I had no clue of your situation."
Rumi took a step back, traumatized by her thoughts and what she had faced, exhaling she forced a smile. "Sure, I could find something."
Something felt odd about her reply, but in a rush to get her out to save his face, he nodded his head and his eyes gave a bright glow Rumi's body was coated with white mana before being absorbed into her body.
[Grade 29`¹⁰]
She let out a gasp at the rush of energy, "you–"
"Take it as a gift for being a jerk," Tenji said with a smile.
Rumi opened up a portal and walked in without any hesitation or a farewell.
Zwp!
Once the portal had been closed, Tenji let out a sigh and deactivated his barrier.
Aki immediately barged in, narrowing her eyes at him. "What were you doing?"
"That's no way to speak to your elder brother, learn some manners." Tenji snapped and walked to his desk and pulled his chair to sit.
Pretending as though he was checking the scripts and sheets of papers from work, he expected her to take the cue and leave eventually.
Aki nodded her head as though she had spotted something and walked towards his bed.
"I wonder who might have caused such a little dip," she turned around and examined Tenji's body, "and you don't look like you have set foot on the bed."
'Be calm, she's just trying to mess with you.'
"Why are you such a nosy brat? What was so important that you would have pulled down my door if you had the chance?" He swiftly steered the conversation away from her suspicions.
Aki scoffed and raised her nose, "you would think I'm trouble–as always. Yet I had just come to apologize."
Tenji let out a burst of unintentional laughter, cracking up at her excuse. "I can see that trying to tear down my door for an apology, really like you."
Aki glared at him, "These are times I wish I was born with an ability."
"Consider it a miracle you were born, granny." Tenji deadpanned with a smirk right after.
"We were all born with white or silver hair, it's in our blood! Get that right!" She hissed and folded her hair while pouting.
Tenji shrugged, "coming from someone you refer to as 'old man', it's only fair you don't add hypocrite to your features."
Aki had her mouth gaped open at the witty remark.
Walking to his door, Tenji made a little bow, urging her to leave whilst resting on it.
"You're hiding something." She snapped and stomped her feet towards the door.
Tenji flashed a smile, "am I ever open, always remember, your elder brother is as mysterious as those who don't deserve the information."
Gritting her teeth, she felt his words as a mockery of her stance toward him, "I would like to see if you can keep that smirk for long..."
Leaning close to his face, she whispered her observance into his ear.
Tenji's smile fell instantly and he froze in disbelief.
"It isn't only you who could source information." Aki harrumphed and flipped her hair in a dramatic display before leaving.
Slam!
~I could help you dig deeper into your past, give me the control~
Resting his back against the door, Tenji covered half of his face and let out subtle deranged laughter.
"It has come to this, huh?" He mumbled to himself, materializing the dreaded journal he had suddenly wished he couldn't own.
~You would get no clue to what you seek, they are coming, and this is a pointless effort!~
Staring at the book, a grim demeanor overshadowed his features as he placed his palm over the hardcover.
'We'd see about that!'
*****
On the outskirts of Meiji,
Rumi looked over her shoulder, wondering why she had teleported to a strange location.
'What the heck is wrong with my ability?' She examined her palms, walking back to any familiar landmark.
She had made up the believable lie that she had intentionally gotten into Tenji's room, but in reality, it was an unknown glitch in her ability that had happened once more.
Sniffling and wiping tears that ran down her face, she was back to being in an unknown location with no place to call home.
'Why is this happening to me? First, my parents abandoned me to my fate, now he did?!' She rubbed her shoulders to keep warm.
Staggering forward, holding her belly, and wincing to the stinging pain that shut up from hunger. Her lips smacked, her eyes searching the barren environment.
Pit!
She looked up at the sky as a drop of rain dropped on her shoulder.
The dark cloud forming was a glaring sign of a heavy downpour.
'Even the sky is as sad as I am.' She forced a sad smile and made a circular rotation of her fingers to open another portal.
She had just wanted to step in when she was called on from behind.
"What makes you think you can leave here easily?" A menacing voice broke through the silence.
'Another weirdo?' Rumi chose to ignore the call, not interested in striking up a conversation with a stranger.
She had tried to step into her portal but when a glitch happened, a strong repulsion followed by a spark was heard.
Boom!
"Ahhh!" Rumi crossed her hand over her face bracing for the impact.
Flying into a wall from the impact, crack marks spread around her.
Dropping to the sandy floor with a thud, Rumi struggled to get to her feet, coughing out blood and hyperventilating.
Feeling a thug at her chest and her vision blurring, she was forced to try to make out the voice who had called her.
Her eyes bulged at the red glowing eyes staring back at her from the shadows.
"Do I now have your attention?!" The voice cackled.
*****
A/N
¶ What do you think Aki could have said to get such a reaction?
¶ Do you think Rumi would be able to scale through this?
∆ New goal
100 Powerstones or 500 summoning pens or 5 gifts= 1 bonus chapter.
I would really appreciate your comments and support of this novel with your power stones on Webnovel. Your active comments would motivate me to write more chapters.
Discord server link which has the character reference of all main descriptions of my characters ┐
https://discord.gg/NhMzNqgzwn