Jae-sung explained how their parents were all friends back in the day and were pretty close too, like really close. Tsukiko couldn't process this information for a moment and just smiled blankly at Jae-sung. After a while, the reality of what she had heard sunk in. She was almost starting to get flashbacks that she never knew she could have.
"So, you're telling me that for over 16 years, my parents, your parents and her parents were all in the same friend group in high school??!", she half-whispered half-yelled.
Jae-sung and Miyuki laughed in an embarrassed manner, momentarily unable to produce any words that would suffice for the situation. Thankfully they didn't have to as Tsukiko started answering her own questions faster than she could ask them.
This was starting to get a bit concerning and Miyuki decided to do something about.
"Miyuki, stop shaking Tsukiko for a moment. I think I heard something just now", he said looking left and right.
Miyuki did as he said and let go of the dizzy Tsukiko. They all stopped talking and listened for any more sounds. Miyuki had the sharpest hearing out of the three and also listened closely after regaining her balance.
Tsukiko's ancestor had incredibly good eyesight, hearing and athletic abilities which were all inherited by Tsukiko for the most part. Unfortunately, due to inability to control her emotions, she refrains from using these abilities and focuses on the more magical aspect of her powers.
They all waited for a while, but still, they couldn't hear anything. Whatever it was, was now probably long gone.
Only Jae-sung was able to hear it the first time which made him question if he had actually heard anything at all.
Tsukiko was the most confused of the three and spoke up first.
"What were we listening for?", she asked facing Jae-sung. Miyuki also looked at him asking for answers with her eyes.
Jae-sung closed his eyes was quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking about something. His brows were furrowed deeply as he propped up the hand he had placed on his chin with his second hand.
Finally, his brows eased slightly, and he opened his eyes. Prior to the deep and calming black irises, his eyes had taken a darker shade of something muddled and deeply upset.
"There was someone here, and it seems they were here to dig for information"
Miyuki was the first to speak.
"Someone got into your family's sacred Archives?? But that should be impossible, no?"
Tsukiko, "Why? Does it have a special security system?"
The Sacred Archives were also quite secretive only allowing certain individuals of the descendants of Aoiro Hikari's choosing to know about it. Tsukiko was of course not a descendant and only just knew of it. No ancient scriptures she's read contained anything about a sacred library, so she was quite curious.
Hearing her question, Jae-sung calmed a bit and answered her question.
"Yes, I'll show you", he said as he proceeded to walk towards the large blue flame located in the center of the room.
He stretched his hand over the fire and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they had begun to glow a fluorescent blue, a contrast to his constantly dark eyes.
The blue flames shot up to a terrifying height, enough to set half the Sacred Archive ablaze. Strangely enough, the books and scriptures were unaffected, and the fire looked almost cool to touch.
The fire blazed for a few minutes before going out slowly. It had now returned to its original size, only now, there was a blue orb levitating over it.
The blue orb looked to be a magical item and was made of thick glass. It was quite playful as it darted from side to side. Jae-sung, eyes still blue, calmly hovered his hand underneath and spoke softly to it. Though, it wasn't in Japanese or Korean, but an advanced form of magical Latin that could be spoken and learnt only in the Aoira Hikari clan.
Each clan had its native tongue that had been formed over the years as they all grew apart. Now, a member of one clan would possibly be able to recognize what language another clan was speaking based on the accents and intonation but wouldn't be able to fully decode their exact words.
It was an unofficial law that everyone had respected. They all felt the same way; 'I eat my rice; you eat your yam'
After speaking to the orb, it finally seemed to settle as it now lay motionless in his hand.
Jae-sung closed his eyes and opened them almost immediately. They had now returned to their usual color to the relief of Tsukiko who had been startled half to death after seeing his eyes glow like that.
He turned around and showed them the orb before explaining.
"This is a special magic tool that my grandparents made in the late 70s. After an attempted break-in, they decided to create a safer security system for not only the Sacred Archive, but the entire house."
He continued as he hovered his free hand over the orb, making it disappear, "All around the grounds of my family's land, are these orbs hidden by a special invisibility spell"
"Only those who place them in those hidden areas know their location. However, the orbs love to play pranks so sometimes even I don't know where they'd have gotten off to"
Saying that, the orb moved around and seemed to be laughing mischievously like a little child. Tsukiko found this to be very endearing and reached out to touch it which it let her do.
Jae-sung," Usually, if someone who didn't have the proper authorization even got within 300 meters of it, they would be badly scorched and detained"
Tsukiko, "Detained? By the ball?"
Jae-sung nodded, "That's right. After scorching the intruder, it'd expand and encase itself round them. My Grandparents were really proud of these little guys, I can see why"
His eyes always shined with pride at mention of his grandparents. Clearly, he respected them a great deal.
Tsukiko also loved her grandparents, though they weren't as inventive as Jae-sung's or a Guardian like Miyuki's, she loved them wholeheartedly.
Once outside, the trio went to the living room to discuss their findings. Unfortunately, they were cut short by his mother, who had just gotten back. Surprisingly [to only Tsukiko] she had gotten them all sorts of pastries, food and an extra gift for Tsukiko.
"This is for you Tsukiko. Jae-sung's never brought a friend home. It was always other people begging to visit the great Kim family estate", she said a little sarcastically to which Tsukiko giggled softly at.
"He's told me about you, but I didn't expect him to invite you here. He must be quite comfortable with you", she said with a smile.
Tsukiko only nervously waved her hands and laughed awkwardly. How could she tell her that he'd only done so because something was trying to make an attempt on her life.
Jae-sung's mother didn't question her behavior and simply urged her to open the gift which she did.
Tsukiko carefully unwrapped it and was shocked to see a white kuma-chan with a pretty ribbon tied around it. It was exquisitely made and looked like something that little girls in Europe would die for [same].
"Jae-sung told me you like cute things like this so I went out to get it for you. Do you like it"?
Her eyes brightened in excitement, but she still felt like it'd be rude of her to accept it. She was about politely decline it when Kim Ji-a stopped her.
"Please, accept it. It's to welcome you to the family. From now on, our doors will always be open to you Tsukiko"
She was struck speechless but got over it quickly. She took the bear out of its box and hugged it close.
"Thank you, I will always cherish these words"
Suddenly, Jae-sung's mother paused stiffly. Tsukiko noticed this and thought she'd said something weird.
"Um, I--", she was cut off as Jae-sung's mother hugged her aggressively, suffering from a serious case of cuteness overload.
"Jae-sung-a didn't tell me how cute you were!", she said.
Tsukiko could only laugh sheepishly as Jae-sung and Miyuki came over to separate them.
At the front of the main gate Kim Ji-a was almost dragging Tsukiko with her even though they were supposed to be leaving.
"Tsukiko, why don't you stay over for the night, you too Miyuki!", she said.
Both Miyuki and Tsukiko politely turned her down and Jae-sung had to get involved again just to make sure a human tug of war didn't break into action.
"Mom, they have to go now", he said with a slightly embarrassed face. Jae-sung's mother simply shooed him away though she already knew that what her son was saying was right.
After making them [especially Tsukiko] swear that they'd come back in less than a month's time, they waved goodbye to the mother and son pair and got into the Kim family car to be driven home. [boss lady's orders]
Ji-a waved until they had completely disappeared from view. Both her and Jae-sung were quiet for a while, gazing at the stars.
They seemed brighter that night.
Perhaps because someone far more dazzling than any star had come into their lives.
Only time will tell.