At 3am, Taki found herself wide awake as usual. She perched on a sturdy wooden stool next to her bedroom's expansive window, fully embracing the tranquility of the night. The curtains were drawn back, granting the ethereal moonlight permission to gracefully illuminate her room.
Her eyes stared longingly at the big and beautiful bright moon which sat high and proud in the night sky, accompanied by billions of bright stars which helped light up the dark night. Sitting by the open window, she felt a gentle breeze caress her face, prompting her to snugly embrace the blanket while wisps of her curly hair danced in the air.
"Dearest grandmother Ritah, in this moment of my life, I need your guidance now more than ever," she whispered, her eyes shimmering with unspoken sorrow. With a heavy heart, she rested her head upon her folded arms, leaning against the broad windowsill, her gaze fixed upon the endless sky, as a whirlwind of thoughts consumed her mind. "Lord knows I can't do this on my own."
Startled by the shrill sound of her phone ringing on the nightstand, she lifted her gaze in confusion, scrutinizing the darkness that filled her room, pondering about the identity of the person daring to disturb her at such an unearthly hour. With a grunt, she rose from her cozy spot near the window and made her way to the nightstand. She picked up her phone, her eyebrows furrowing as she examined the screen.
"What does he want?" she wondered out loud to herself, looking at the screen in distaste. She let her phone ring in her hand for a couple more minutes, and after he called again when the call cut and she saw that he wasn't giving up, she finally answered with a rude "can I help you?"
"Are you always this rude when you answer the phone?" came his amused voice through the phone's speaker, making her want to roll her eyes in annoyance. He really had the nerve- Taki wanted to cuss him out and possibly use her powers to have rain poured on him wherever he was.
"Only when I get calls past midnight from some stranger who threatened me not too long ago," she smartly replied. She brought her shoulder up to hold the phone against her ear, ensuring it stayed in place. Once she closed the window and adjusted the comforters on her bed, she wasted no time diving into the warmth and coziness of her blankets.
"Oh, don't be like that. Ever since we met, I've been nothing short of a perfect gentleman," he chuckled, his words piercing deeper under Taki's skin, fueling her growing disdain for him.
She laid on her right side and pulled the blanket over her head, putting her phone on loudspeaker and placing it down on the space next to her. She wasn't going to sleep, but it wouldn't hurt to just lay down for a bit, "What do you want Kenji? And why are you calling me at this time?"
"I had a feeling you'd be awake," he cackled.
"Are you always giggling to yourself like a deranged hyena or do I make you feel some type of way?" She shot back with sarcasm, she had half the mind to hang up the call and delete his number after blocking it, but she really wanted to know what he needed to tell her so bad that he called so late, and they do say that curiosity killed the cat.
The man chuckled, the sound of his deep voice reverberating through the speaker, making her blush at how deep his voice was even though she was not his biggest fan at the moment. "Well, I do like to be joyous fellow."
"Seriously, what do you want?" Taki was tired of the back and forth with him and needed answers to her questions with no beating around the bush.
"I want...you."
Taki nearly chocked on air, "what?"
"No, no, let me rephrase that-I want your powers, I want to use yours and your brothers powers," Kenji said, being so straightforward with his words that it completely caught her off-guard.
For what? Why? How do you know about our powers? Who are you really? -were all the questions swarming around in her head, but she only asked one-
"Are you always up this late?"
She facepalmed as soon as the words left her mouth, it was silent on both ends for a while as her question lingered in the air.
"Well," his gruff voice broke the painful silence, making her heart leap in fear of what he was going to say. "That wasn't a question I was expecting, but to answer your question-yes, evil never sleeps darling."
"So you're evil? Do you plan to kill me and my brother?" Taki asked the question that had been lingering in her head since that day at the café.
Not even a beat passed before he broke into a loud laughter, laughing for a full minute as if she had just told him the biggest joke he had ever heard. Taki turned her head to stare at her phone in confusion, wondering what part of what she said tickled his funny bone.
"Oh don't look at me like that," there was humor still evident in his voice as he spoke.
As soon as Taki registered his words, she snapped upright in bed. The blanket slid off her waist, exposing her to the chilling room. Frantically scanning the darkness, she half-expected to see him lurking somewhere in a dark corner, observing her every move like the unsettling creep he truly was.
Her trembling hands hurriedly brought the phone to her ear, and he wasted no time in speaking again, "No, I'm not in your bedroom with you. I'm not creepy... but that doesn't mean I can't see you."
"I-I don't care about whatever it is that you want from us, stay away from me, stay away from my brother, just...stay away. This is the last time I'm being nice, if you try anything, I don't care if you have good or bad intentions, I will hurt you."
Kenji sighed, "sounds like you need to get some sleep."
Taki scoffed, feeling irritated, "stop watching me or whatever it is you are doing! I don't appreciate my privacy being invaded." And with that she hung up the call and wasted no time in blocking and deleting his number. She rose from her bed and gently settled her phone on the nightstand where she connected it to a charger, before stepping into her bathroom for a refreshing shower, starting her usual early morning routine.
A few hours later, when the rest of the world had finally awoken, Taki emerged from her apartment for the first time in three days. She headed towards Sarah's office, where Sarah had specifically asked her and her brothers to come so they could begin their training.
"Good morning Sarah," she politely greeted when she walked into her great-aunt's office, the smell of freshly brewed coffee greeting her nostrils.
"Good morning my dear, sleep well?" Sarah looked up from her computer with a kind smile. Taki forced a tight-lipped smile with a curt nod.
Naki soon stumbled into the office and quickly locked the door behind him, then turned to face the two women with eyes wide as saucers. "I think Himari wants me dead."
Taki rolled her eyes while Sarah chuckled in amusement, "give the girl what she wants," the elder told him with a teasing smile.
Naki shrugged as he walked further into the office, "I'm afraid I don't know what that is-morning Sarah, Taki."
"Morning," Taki and Sarah chorused their response.
"Naki, open the door, we're leaving," Sarah got up from her seat and walked around her table.
"Leaving? Why? And to where?" Naki questioned as he unlocked the door, letting his sister and great-aunt step out first.
"Well you didn't think you'd be training in this little office now did you?" Sarah gave him a bored look.
On their way out they bumped into Himari in the lobby. "Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you!" she tried making a beeline for Naki who ran to hide behind Sarah.
"Not now Himari, we have to be somewhere, we'll be back in a couple of hours, you can bully him then," Sarah told her. Himari huffed but got out of their way and went back to her duties.
After about thirty minutes of driving, they finally arrived at an open desolate field, just on the outskirts of the city of Tokyo. "We're here!" Sarah announced after parking her car and wasting no time in jumping out.
The twins looked at each other but jumped out after shrugging, "where is here exactly?" Taki was the one to ask as they followed behind Sarah, who led them to what looked like the middle of the field.
"I chose this place specifically because it's always deserted, making it the ideal training ground for both of you. Here, you'll have complete freedom to use your powers without worrying about frightening anyone off. Please don't take offense," she said, turning to them with an apologetic smile, as if she felt responsible for the impact their abilities had on ordinary people.
"Don't sweat it, great-aunt," Naki grinned teasingly, knowing Sarah didn't like being referred to as "great-aunt."
"Shut up, don't play with me," she scolded her great-niece, causing Taki to giggle at the exchange between the two.
"So," Sarah looked at the beautiful twins expectedly, "tell me what your abilities are."