Wham!
"Get up, you cheap Zeus!"
'Whaaa... I'm still alive?' Rai mumbled in disbelief, holding his head.
The next thing he knew, he felt another kick to his face.
'Ow.' Groaning and crouching on the ground, he rubs his face.
Looking behind him, he saw a lady standing on the roof of a car, squatting and waving at him.
She had a pair of blue large shield sunglasses covering half her face. Her deep bright red hair was tied and rolled into a messy bun with bangs.
Her outfit consisted of a long-sleeved two-piece solid black leather suit with black heeled boots.
On her left hip, she carried a small black gun holster that also housed a dagger.
With a raised eyebrow, she lifts her sunglasses, pushing back her hair to reveal her pink eyes.
Taking a deep breath, she introduces herself, "I'm Aimi, it's a pleasure meeting an anomaly like you, Rai."
'How does she know my name?!' He thinks while carefully observing her subtle approach.
Shooting out lightning bolts ahead of her next step, he glares daggers at her. "Don't even think about it."
Aimi looks down for a while, a grin slowly building on her cheeks. "For an anomaly in hiding, you are bold in showing off your ability without hesitation."
Ignoring his warnings about not approaching him, she took another step forward.
Wasting no time countering her approach with an attack, he aimed at her head.
At the same time, Aimi dodges the attack with a sidestep.
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, she slams her fist into his jaw sending him flying backward.
Unable to stop himself, he slides across the tarred road.
Rai groaned again, getting to his feet and wiping his bleeding face, 'why is everyone so quick today?'
"You rely solely on your ability that you fail to see other options at your disposal." She says as she looks straight at him.
Pointing at him, she tilts her head, "You have what I want."
"You got the wrong awakener, miss." Rai counters with a scoff.
"The flash drive, does that ring a bell?" She utters with a sweet smile.
'How the hell does she know about that?!'
Rai frowns and makes a backflip to create more distance between them.
Zzzt!
Crooked chains of lightning spread out around him, making a coordinated approach on Aimi.
Aimi pulls out her gun, using its ability, she creates a shield to deflect the lightning that surrounds her.
In that brief moment of distraction, Rai dashes toward her, reaching into the shield.
The easy access of his arm confirms his suspicions on it that it's made to deflect only his ability.
Aimi gasps as she feels his hand on her wrist. Her attention was immediately torn between holding her stance and keeping the shield up or letting go and risking getting zapped from the numerous lighting bolts converging in her direction.
Her eyes widened in disbelief, catching a glimpse of lightning sparks from Rai's hand. 'No, you wouldn't!'
Rai gives a knowing smirk before channeling lightning through his hand.
Ka... Boom!
The gun explodes into pieces, throwing them in opposite directions. Aimi's body smashes against the nearby wall.
Getting to his feet, Rai stretches and smiles as his injuries heal a lot faster than before. "This is stupid!"
'Alas, it turns out, I also need training.' He looks over at a crouched Aimi, disappointed with himself for sustaining injury from a non-awakener.
Aimi screams as she stares at her burnt arm.
"I had never wished to hurt a non-awakener before," Rai begins, shaking his head and casting a pitiable look at her hand.
"Strangely, you left me with no choice, miss. I hope we never cross paths again."
Turning around to leave, he sees a large shadow cast over him.
Crash!
Quick to jump out of the way, he narrowly avoids being crushed by a car thrown his way.
Rai takes a step back at the sight of her arm healing, subconsciously he points at her. "You're an awakener!"
Pretending to be shocked by the news, Aimi looks at her fully healed arm. "What, me… an awakener?"
A cold sweat trails down Rai's head, it all seemed to make more sense as to why her speed was sudden, and attacks had more effect on him.
Displeased with her action, he hisses, "what the hell are you doing?! At this rate, you will attract the attention of others soon."
Giving a half-shrug his way, Aimi says. "I wasn't the one who chose a lonely street. Just give me what I want and we all go home happy."
The fact that she had shown no visible sign of her ability, mocked his combat skills, her knowledge on his flash drive, and knew his name were all warning signs he couldn't dismiss.
'An enhancer rank, maybe?' He wonders, observing Aimi who stood with her hands akimbo.
"You're trying to guess my rank, aren't you?" Aimi giggles, wiggling her brows to spite him.
"You get nothing, cherry head. I'd pretend all of this never happened."
Her upbeat mood fades and her face darkens with a frown.
"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent," Aimi warns, looking at her broken gun.
Tossing it on the ground, she lets off a disappointed sigh, "that was one of my favorite toys."
Engaging with an awakener armed with gadgets wasn't part of his plans while sneaking out.
'I can't stay out for too long! I need to get back.'
His eyes searched for a possible exit from the situation he was in.
Spotting an opening through a narrow path between two buildings to his left, which he could use as a means of escape, he walks to the left slowly while maintaining contact with her.
"I can't help but wonder, why did you attack me? I'm no danger to anyone." Rai gives a half-shrug.
Aimi laughs, "you may not be dangerous, but you are an anomaly nonetheless, just as I am. We have the potential to become one."
"Speak for yourself." Rai counters.
Picking up his pace as he approaches the path, he skids to a stop and does several backflips to avoid getting crushed by another car thrown his way.
Crash!
The camouflaged drones deactivate their reflective surface to reveal 10 inches-wide octagonal-shaped metal plates.
Rai looks at her with a hard expression, the unsettling familiar drones hovering beside Aimi had him bark with rage. "You work for Collux Haven!!"
Aimi rolls her eyes, pulling on one and hugging it rather fondly, "you remember these little things?"
Clenching his fists, his eyes glows, blinded by rage, 'they had killed all in my orphanage and blamed it on me!'
Patting on one of the drones, she secretly inserts a poisoned senbon into it.
"My superior would rather not be affiliated with Collux Haven." She mumbles, observing the jagged edge of her dagger.
His hair flies wildly around him, snarling in response, "yet you use their technology!"
Creating a static wave of electricity at the drones around him, they dropped to the floor with a crash.
Zwp!
Rai's eyes return to their normal state, and his hand immediately goes up his neck.
Pulling out a senbon that had pierced through his skin, he gasps for breath.
Under a dizzy spell from the poison, he looks at Aimi speechless, unable to process what had just happened.
"Relax, it was meant to be a surprise." Aimi giggles, stepping closer to him with a wicked smile.
Looking at his hands, he tried to manipulate lightning and his mouth slightly opened as he realized that his ability was gone.
"You'd feel lightheaded for some time and your ability blocked, it's a special gift from my superiors." She explains with a grin.
Rai tries his best to create distance between them amidst unsteady steps to reach the narrow path.
"Did you think I would fight fair?" Aimi mocks, easily catching up to him.
Pulling him by the arm, she flips him onto his back.
His vision doubles as he tries to get to his feet but fails miserably.
Bam!
Aimi cackles as she pulls her fists from his face, punching right back once more as she laughs hysterically.
"Do you know why I enjoy hunting down anomalies?!"
'Get... off... me!' Rai yells in his thoughts, grabbing a handful of sand.
"You bleed, feel pain, but can't die that easily! An infinite loop of endless torture I can play with!"
Bam!
Aimi stands over Rai with a triumphant smirk to his bloodied face, "you really are a cheap Zeus."
Her moment of victory was cut short by an order from her surveillance earpiece.
"I understand, ma'am. I got lost in the heat of moment." She mumbles to herself.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Rai throws the sand into her eyes, pushing her to the floor.
Aimi let out a yell in rage, blinking and scratching at her eyes.
Left with no choice, Rai runs towards the path, colliding with the wall instead.
"Fuck!!" He yells in pain, cursing at the Aimi for making him disoriented.
Pulling himself back up, he wasn't going to wait for her to regain her sight.
Feeling his ability and vision stabilizing, he sprints through the path.
"I will get back at you one way or another!" Aimi yells through clenched teeth.
–––––––––––
30 minutes later,
Creak!
Slipping in, Rai had his back against the door. Hyperventilating and muttering under his breath.
His heart thumps at the thought of the possibility of someone hearing him.
He had managed to sneak inside the settlement undetected, yet he still felt uneasy.
'What did I forget?'
Slipping out of his pocket is a silver coin.
Tak!
Tak!
Rushing to stop its bouncing motion, he quickly places his foot over it.
"You're back early." Mae greets from behind.
Stiffly turning his head, he sees her standing there with a smug look. Her hair was wet and wrapped in a towel.
"What are you doing here, aren't you meant to be sleeping?" He asks, feeling his heart beat faster at the sight of her.
"That stroll must have been a long one, you must be in luck that the rest–well apart from Winston are sleeping." She smirks, walking circles around him.
Rai lets out a sigh of relief, "thanks for helping me out, Mae."
"Do you really need to thank me? I do it cause I care. I am your girlfriend after all." She says, grabbing him by the collar and sniffs.
"You smell like shit, though! Your clothes are also ruined!" She scolds him, pulling on his ear.
"I... I fell and then..." he stutters.
Mae puts her finger to his lips, "I understand, it's fine. I'm just glad you're safe." She says in a whisper, turning around and leaving.
Feeling something was off, he reaches out to her and calls out in a whisper, "wait!"
Her back facing him, she doesn't reply.
"Mae?"
She finally turns back to face him, "get some sleep, we all need it."
"Your milk..." Rai begins, averting his gaze. "...I couldn't fulfill my end of the bargain."
Mae grins widely at him, "that's alright. I'm not that petty to fuss about some milk."
She swings at Rai's head and pulls him close.
"Keep the coins, you could buy that packet later!" She whispers in his ear before biting it lightly.
Watching from the shadows, Winston narrows his eyes at the two heading to Mae's dorm.
'Inni de beninging yeh…'
'oh no, that damn video is stuck in my head,' Winston pauses before ironing it out.
'It's just the beginning...'
–––––––––––
Author's note
¶ A lovely 'inni de beninging' addition from B3AST ( ꈍᴗꈍ), how do you all see it?
If you want to contribute to the story as it progresses, join my discord server - https://discord.gg/WDgja32NPe
¶ Do check out the weekly auxiliary chapter[Bonus chapter task] to know how you can participate.