29 Intruder

—13th September 12:01p.m.—

Accelerator walked through the bustling crowds of Academy City as children's screams and cries of joy passed him.

"(Tch...how annoying.)"

He expected the days of the Daihasei Festival to be an eventful and joyous time since his misfortune had stopped escalating. However, as eventful as it was, joyfulness it was not.

And it was only the first few hours of the first day.

Accelerator stopped thinking positively and is now expecting the rest of the Daihasei Festival to be a troublesome one.

"What's next? Someone from the magic side coming to complain about their life to a passerby?"

Right after he whispered that under his breath, he chuckled.

"Well whatever. I'll just beat them into a bloody pulp."

Just then he spots one of the Sisters talking to a spiky blonde haired fellow. He looked like a student from Ester's school with the blue shorts and plain-white T-shirt. He also had a weird necklace dangling around his neck, and he had aviators on.

The Sister on the other hand, was wearing a white singlet with red rings complementing it around her arms, neck,and waist. She was also wearing a pair of white shorts with a red line by the side of each sleeve.

"(That guy looks way too suspicious.)"

Accelerator slowly approached the two of them with his cane tapping the ground. Unsurprisingly, the Sister and guy turned their heads to face him, obvious to the fact that he was approaching them from the way his gaze was fixated on them.

"Nyaaa~ I really got to go. Sorry about that, pretty lady."

"Mm. Misaka understands, says Misaka as she starts finding another target."

The blonde haired boy paced away with his hands in his pockets as he gave a final nod to the Sister.

Accelerator stopped behind the Sister, but she ignored him and kept walking away.

"Oi."

He tugged on her left wrist which was almost as skinny as his.

"Misaka believes that she has no problems with you, says Misaka as she tries to run away from you."

"I don't care whether you have a problem with me or not. What were you planning with that guy?"

"Misaka doesn't understand your question, says Misaka as she looks for your clarification."

The Sister turned to face him as he lets his grip go.

"What did you need from him?"

"Nothing. Misaka only wanted him to follow her back, says Misaka as she answers your question truthfully."

"Huh? Why did you want him to follow you back?"

"It's only for a task that Misaka has to do."

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of paper and shows it to him.

"See?"

Accelerator bent forward to take a closer look at the paper and on the paper, it read: A male participant from the first event.

"Misaka is doing the borrowing race right now. The next event for her is the three-legged race. Her partner for that event will be Kongou Mitsuko."

"..." Accelerator was left speechless for a second. But he soon regained his thoughts and clicked his tongue.

"Don't waste my time if it's for nothing."

He walks away as his cane taps loudly on the floor, gaining the attention of everyone who walked past him. The Sister only tilted her head in confusion, she looked down at the note in her hand and shook her head.

---------------------

"For such an event to be occurring yet be so boring appalls me. Watching others have fun bores me."

Then just as he said that, a particular ribbon came into his view. It was bobbing through the crowds in front of him. He stopped, turned around and walked away.

"(I might have spoken too soon.)"

Then a soft female voice calls out to him. He paid no attention to it and kept walking.

"Accelerator!! Hey! Stop right there! Hey, can't you hear me?"

That girl was Tobio Yumi, and below her was a girl with pigtails sitting on a wheelchair.

"If he doesn't respond, you don't have to make him respond you know? It's typical for apes like him not to be able to communicate with people like us who possess such immense knowledge."

That girl in the wheelchair was Kuroko.

"Hm? But he seems a bit down, don't you think?"

"Of course he is feeling down. Without my majestic Onee-sama not being beside him, how can he not be depressed? I would feel depressed if Onee-sama wasn't with me."

"Uhhh...for someone who is supposed to be depressed, you sound oddly enthusiastic." Yumi comments as she pushes Shirai closer to Accelerator.

Having to walk while being supported by a single cane did not help Accelerator walk any faster away from the two nuisances in his sight.

And soon enough, they caught up to him.

"Hi!! Can you hear me nowwww????" Yumi pulls the final word out as she tries to catch his attention. And she did.

But the response she received came back negative.

"Of course I can hear you when you are standing right behind me screaming your lungs out. I didn't think someone of high intelligence would think that I can't hear them behind me. Seems like I was right!"

"Gh!? B-But what did I do..." Yumi sheepishly answers back.

"You arrogant little...rrrrgghhhh...!!! If I wasn't in a wheelchair, I would bring your cane all the way to Antarctica." Kuroko growls at him.

Accelerator waves his hand back as he continues walking away.

"Ah wait! Which events are you competing in?"

Accelerator didn't bother facing her to reply her and only told her," Look at what I'm wearing and you'll know."

"Huh?" Yumi tilts her head sideways as she tries to see where the school logo is only to be faced with reality by Kuroko.

"He's a dropout. You won't see him anywhere on the big screens. And speaking of big screens..."

Kuroko turns her head up to face the massive televisions broadcasting the matches which the students are partaking in. The male commentator spoke the final line in the borrowing race.

"...And we have Tokiwadai's ace student coming in last place! How disappointing."

The other female commentator added on to the final line: "Ah yes indeed. We were expecting a major win from Tokiwadai Middle School this year. Everyone was placing their bets on Tokiwadai this year. I think they might be regretting it now."

Kuroko pulled her face down in frustration and only lamented," NO! My dear Onee-sama... you will always be a winner in my heart. Even if that's not the real you, I would still be behind you."

"You're really obsessed with that girl huh?" Yumi says as she continues pushing Kuroko while following Accelerator.

"Of course! She is my idol. The embodiment of perfection. A role model that everyone should look up to, but not get too close to. BECAUSE SHE WILL ALWAYS BE MINE!!!"

"Tch, shut up already! And can you stop following me?!" Accelerator turns his head back as he scowls at them.

"We're not following you. If anything, it should be you who's following us!" Kuroko retorts as she pushes her petite frame up with her two arms. "Besides, it's not like you have anything else to do, is there??? Hmmmmm???"

The tapping of Accelerator's cane only grew louder after each step he took.

"We're actually just patrolling around here. On this day, Judgement does get pretty busy." Yumi adds on.

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not. Right where we are, there are no students."

Yumi and Kuroko looked around to see waves of adults just walking past them, high-rise buildings that surrounded them.

"Hm...but we were told to patrol here, were we wrong?" Yumi takes her phone out as she leaves her index finger on her chin.

"No, there's no need to check. As a senior, I will take full responsibility for this mistake. It seems that my health has led you astray. It seems like we are needed near the stalls outside the stadium. We'll have to catch some thieves."

"But we haven't received any calls or messages yet."

"No, it's fine. My intuition is never wrong."

"Uhh...I think you just want to get away from him, is that right?"

"N-Nonsense! Duty calls, yes! In the end, this is all about being professional. Work comes first, yes!" Kuroko sat up straight on her wheelchair as she pushed her flat-chest out proudly.

"*Sigh* I'd be happier if I was left alone." Accelerator said in a low voice, but the both of them could hear him perfectly. Their faces contorted as they recalled the person he was.

"I'm sorry..." Kuroko said as she lowered her head.

"I don't need your apologies. I'm used to it already. It's basically a living condition of mine."

The both of them kept quiet for about five seconds before Kuroko broke the silence.

"A-Anyway, let us go, recruit. We have Judgement business to attend to."

"R-Right!"

Yumi quickly turned Kuroko's wheelchair 180° back and started to push slowly. After pushing a few steps, she turned around and waved at Accelerator.

"Bye bye! Hope you'll drop by mom's place tonight! Let's go see the Night Parade together!"

The Night Parade is a roadshow that happens at 6:30p.m. and at that time, everyone in Academy City could see fireworks.

Accelerator didn't acknowledge her. He continued walking the way he was going, without a single destination in his mind. Right now, he only thought about 'rehabilitating'.

But to him, it felt like everyone he has met will reopen his injury rather than helping him. The adults and students who walked past him gave him an open space to walk through, so he didn't have to maneuver around that much. It was probably because of the fact that he was a handicap that they make way for him, and also the fact that he looked like an old man.

He closed his eyes as he thought about all that has happened so far.

"(A messed up opening, an annoying girl that doesn't leave me alone and a strange attacker. God, this is so...)"

As he was about to fill up his last word, he bumped against something soft and fell back. He hit the floor with a thud, sending his cane dropping to the floor with him.

"Fuck, who's the retard that placed a bouncy castle in the middle of nowhere?!" Accelerator shouted as he rubbed the bottom of his spine. When he looked up, he was greeted by a shadow looming over him. Well, almost a shadow. The sun behind this person hit his or her back, making recognition difficult.

But after he adjusted his view, the person became clear. It was a woman who looked like she was in her twenties, wearing plain working clothes. Her eye-catching blonde hair and blue eyes made it clear that she was probably a tourist from an English country. The curvature of her breasts were so large that it blocked out half of her face from where Accelerator was sitting down. Her hips also curved nicely and her overall appearance gave her a sense of dangerous sex appeal. The lady's hair seemed to be either curled or waxed, and it seemed like a lot of effort was put into it. It was like she had separated her hair into many small bundles, and curled them using an electric perm, before she tied them into bundles of three.

Accelerator didn't know how much a girl had to do to make themselves look presentable. It could also be natural, but the top part of her hair were straight and not at all curly all the way. She was most likely a painter, judging by how paint covered parts of her clothing. Or it could just be a roleplay for something she is shooting for.

She was holding a 1.5 by 0.7 meter-large billboard that was covered by a white cloth. The tip of her fingers barely managed to grab the bottom of the board even after she stretched her other arm.

Not only was her appearance already very attractive, her clothes were also in a very dangerous situation. Her shirt only had the second button buttoned up, which made it look like her chest would pop out if she made one fatal move. Her brown pants looked very loose, as if it could drop down from a single hard tug.

The 'foreign' woman tried speaking Japanese to Accelerator, but her Japanese was sorely lacking compared to the people in Academy City. Accelerator still managed to make some sense of her words.

"Oh my! My apologies, sir. Are you hurt anywhere? Can you still walk?" The lady asks as she caresses his back and head.

"Tch, don't touch me!" Accelerator yelled as he whacked her forearm away with his right hand.

"Ah...I'm very sorry. Here, I'll help you pick up your cane."

The lady bent over, picked up his cane and handed it to him.

"Here, you dropped this."

The painting which she was carrying rested under her right arm, and she used her left hand to pick up his cane.

"But I have to say, this cane is pretty heavy for an old man like you, ehehe~" The lady teased him as she places it in front of him

"Tch, can't you tell the age of someone from their voice and appearance?"

"Huh? What do you mean? You're an elderly, yes?"

"No, I'm a dropout. And I may even be younger than you."

"Huh?! S-So I've got it all wrong?"

"..."

"Ah! My apologies! I was certain that you were an old man because of your fashion sense and your white hair."

"I don't care about what I wear. As long as it covers me, I'm fine."

"My, you're not a very picky boy, are you?" The woman says as she ruffles his hair with her free hand.

Accelerator was on the brink of exploding. Having someone treat him like a child annoyed him and he wanted to just rip her to shreds. However, this woman was not hostile, there was no reason to act aggressive towards her.

"My, you're quite the thin boy! Have you been eating properly?"

Instead of helping him up, she kept messing with him. Raising his right arm with her free hand, she intentionally blew cold air on his skin.

"Would you like big sister to blow on your injuries?" She teased him.

A vein had popped in his head and he forcefully pulls his right arm away.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted at her.

The woman flinched, causing the painting in her hands to almost slip out of her grasp.

"I'm sorry. I may have overdone it. Here, let me help you up."

The tone of her voice became more genuine as she reached her left hand out. Accelerator eyed her down and clicked his tongue. With his left hand, he rejected it.

"I don't need your help."

He slaps her left hand with the back of his hand, and suddenly, the sound of glass shattering could be heard nearby. Accelerator stared blankly beside the woman. He looked at the painting and then back to her.

Her face showed a look of fear. It was like Accelerator's red pupils pierced her soul like a sword. Her lips trembled for a while before forming a smile. However, that smile was too fake, and Accelerator could see through her.

However, to make sure his intuition was not wrong, he looked around to see if anyone happened to drop anything fragile. While he did that, the woman straightened up and prepared to pace away.

"I'm sorry but I am in a rush right now." The woman said while looking back at Accelerator.

"Ah...okay. Yeah, it's all okay." Accelerator grinned as he picked up his cane and stood up.

"Yeah, I'm the best when it comes to a game of tag."

-13th September 12:45p.m.-

"(Is that kid following me?)" The lady thought as she glanced backwards every so often. It didn't seem like he was following her, and if he was, she'd be able to recognize his pale hair.

"(Whew seems like I'm off the hook for now. Mmmm but now I feel so exposed...ahhh...)"

Suddenly, a voice in her head spoke to her.

"(Oriana, I'd appreciate it if you don't make such revolting remarks. You are a member of the church, yes?")"

"Ohyaya, Lidvia, I'm just saying that without that spell, I won't be able to ignore others now. What perverted things might you be thinking of, dear Lidvia?" In order not to make herself look like an insane person who had just escaped from the asylum, Oriana turned into an alleyway. Walking through that path and taking a right turn, the whole alleyway was empty.

"Oh my. Do you think there would be anyone here to molest me without that spell?" Oriana remarked, however Lidvia didn't respond.

"Hello, hello? Do you not have any signal with you, Lidviaaaa?"

"(I'm simply not interested to entertain you as of this moment.)"

"Hmmmmm...how boring."

Then she heard a loud thud behind her. But before she could even turn around and react to it, the ground beneath her suddenly pushed her up and made her lose her footing.

She landed chest first onto the concrete floor, and when she turned back, she saw the same white haired boy again.

"It seems I've spoken too soon." Oriana whispered as she gripped onto her painting tightly and started running through the alleyway, all while Accelerator smirked and watched as his prey ran off. He manipulated his voice to project through the whole alleyway and he calmly said," You can run, but you can't hide."

Upon hearing this, Oriana clicked her tongue. From her pocket, she pulls out a stack of small papers shaped like a rectangle with English writing all over each piece, each paper written with a different colour.

"This boy, is quite arrogant. Maybe big sister should put him in his place." She whispers as she looks back. Once she turned a corner, she continued running and running.

"(Oriana, what happened?)"

"Oh, it's nothing, I just found a new toy to play with and he is very stimulating."

"..."

Oriana placed a flashcard on the side of a wall as she was running and dropped a flashcard on the ground. Accelerator's voice echoed through the alleyway again.

"Tricks like that again? What is your monster going to be, huh?"

Oriana scanned the whole area as she ran, but she still could not see him. Was his white hair blending in well with the colour of the sky? And she wondered when the endless tunnel would finally reach the end.

Suddenly, a rock spiked the ground in front of her and she fell back. It didn't seem like Accelerator wanted to attack her head-on yet.

It was like a cheetah chasing a deer. The result is inevitable, the deer will get eaten alive and the cheetah doesn't need a fortune teller to tell it that it can catch up to that deer.

Oriana clicked her tongue and picked herself and sprinted off into the same direction again.

"Seriously, you really want to go there? Exit's that way, you know?"

Upon hearing that, Oriana sprinted with all the energy she had and turned the left corner. However, to her dismay, the only thing she saw was the darkness in the alleyway. Why isn't there anyone around at this time? Oriana fell to her knees in a bent over position as the painting in her hands dropped to the side.

Accelerator just about had his fun.

"Sad that this chase has to end. But I only have fifteen minutes to deal with you, so that means only ten minutes of playing time." Accelerator says as he raises his right hand up to his shoulder level.

"Play? If you wanted to play, you should have said sooner! Big sister would be glad to play with you~"

"Sorry, but I'm into rough play. Heheh." Accelerator gave off a very sinister laugh as he slowly approaches Oriana, and all she could do was stare and pray that a miracle comes to her.

Was what Accelerator thought.

When he was just two feet in front of her, the ground in front of him suddenly rose, and he almost fell on his back again, if not for his manipulation of gravitational vectors that made him stand horizontally on the wall.

Then he heard footsteps scurrying away from where they were.

"Running away already? Come on, don't be such a boring little bitch!"

He got on top of the wall and lunged at her while manipulating the vectors under his feet. When Oriana looked back, she saw the pale boy right in front of her face, right fist ready to plow into her face. However, she wasn't going to have any of that. She moved to the side, and Accelerator landed on his feet two meters away from her. His fist plowed into the concrete floor and a crater was formed underneath.

"Aww, why'd you dodge it?" Accelerator taunted her as he slowly approached her. However, even though he acted the same way and had the same eyes as before, she wasn't afraid. Not because of his age, but because he had stepped into her trap.

When he took one step forward, a pillar of flames engulfed his entire body from the bottom of his soles. Oriana thought that was the end, but it wasn't.

She didn't even have the time to drop her shoulders because Accelerator touched the flames with his left hand, and even though he got burnt a bit, he was still fine.

"Tch, why didn't my redirection work?" He says as he pats himself off from the charcoal on his clothing.

"Now look at how dirty you got me. Now my question for you will be..." Accelerator raises his index finger up and points at her. "Are you a magician?"

Oriana looked confused for a second as she slowly backs off.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm not!"

"Hmm...thanks for answering. People tend to tell the opposite when questioned. Especially the stubborn ones."

As he approached her, she clicked her tongue and suddenly steam filled the whole area. Through the slits of his eyes, he could see a thin paper approaching him fast, he reached his left hand out and grabbed it, instantly triggering a 'window breaking' sound effect.

"Again with the tricks!"

He still had a bit of time left, but at the rate that she was going, he might overextend his powers.

"(Have to end this game fast...)" Was all Accelerator could think of. He slammed the palm of his hand on the wall and blew the steam away from his area. She was gone already. Only an opened manhole remained of where she previously was.

"Fuck! I played with that bitch too much!"

Accelerator was stressed. His body size could definitely fit in that hole, but trying to crawl through that might lead him into a death trap, especially if it's a magician. Which unfortunately, she is.

"Less than 10 minutes. Fuck, how do I do this." Accelerator mumbles as he scratches the area around his battery. Time was inevitably running out. And the longer she wanders around, the more danger she might bring to Academy City.

He considered some options in his head. But ultimately, he prefers doing this alone.

"If those brats were to try and help me, they'd only get in the way."

He jumped up onto the roof of a high rise building, overlooking the whole arena, and a bit of District 7.

The ball was in his court. How would he find her? He would just have to wait.

And so, the game begins.

--13th September 1:15p.m.--

The ball rolling contest just finished, and Ester's team came out on top. They were all celebrating with high fives, laughs, and are now getting around the festival to try out some snacks to recover a bit of their loss energy.

"Wahoo!! We're on a winning streak! At this point, our school might get first in the Daihasei Festival! We will finally get sponsors from the Board of Directors!"

"Nyaa~, that is so right, then we can impress the girls from the other schools!"

"And then we don't have to suffer as virg..."

Before the blue-haired boy could finish his sentence, Fukiyose came from behind and whacked his and Tsuchimikado's head.

"Being confident is fine, but being over complacent is too much! It might bite us back."

"Ah...yes boss..." The both of them replied weakly.

Ester watched from a distance as she isolates herself from the class. She wasn't familiar with the class yet, and doesn't mind opening up to them. However, with the people she communicates with, she was afraid that the things she might say might creep out her classmates.

"Are you okay?"

"?!" Ester was startled when Fukiyose suddenly appeared in front of her face, waving a bottle of sports drink like a metronome.

"You need more electrolytes, you seem very tired. Can't blame you. I can see that you are trying your hardest to help us win." The corner of her lips tilted up to form a smile for Ester. "Good work out there, keep it up."

She says as she presses the cold drink onto her face.

"Ah, thank you very much! G-Good work as well!" Ester replies as she bows down to her. At that point, the whole class was glaring at Fukiyose. Probably because they thought she was bullying the freshie in their class. Fukiyose's face flushed red and she quickly placed her hands on Ester's shoulders.

"P-Please! You don't have to be so polite! J-Just speak to me like how you would speak to a friend!"

Ester looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? I've never really had a friend before."

Fukiyose stared at Ester and raised an eyebrow as well.

"What do you mean? Don't you have someone you can trust?"

"I do...but I relied on their help too much, and I don't want to bother them anymore."

Fukiyose's lips curled as she tries to find something to say to Ester.

"Hmmm...? Are you perhaps talking about your family?"

Upon hearing that, Ester's facial expression relaxed a little.

"Family...yeah, I guess I can call them my family. We've eaten like a family before, and we've fought and quarreled like a family, even if the fighting does get intense."

"(W-What kind of family does she have?!) U-Uhhhh yeah! So, if it's your family, you can trust and rely on them, and they will be relying on you as well. And if it doesn't work out, you can always come to us."

Fukiyose moved aside and showed Ester the smiles of everyone in class. Everyone was happy as they chowed down on snacks and messed around like monkeys.

"You're one of us as well. Don't feel shy to talk to any of them. But I recommend talking to the girls instead of the guys." Fukiyose lowered her voice when she spoke the last sentence. "You never know which guy might take advantage of you."

Ester made an 'O' face and nodded her head profusely.

"Anyway, drink up. The next event is the bread eating race. You're one of the participants, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Yeah, then you better stay hydrated. It wouldn't be good if you suffered a heat stroke out of nowhere."

"Mm. Thanks for the drink, uhhh..."

"Fukiyose Seiri. Just call me Fukiyose is fine, no need for formalities."

"Ah, thank you Fukiyose. My name is Ester Rosenthal."

"Hmm...Rosenthal, huh? Sounds weird, but it's nice."

As Ester drank the sports drink, someone suddenly bumped into her, causing her to spit out a mouthful of the drink at Fukiyose.

"Gyah?!" Ester looked up at Fukiyose who was now covered in a sticky liquid. "I-I'm sorry, Fukiyose!"

"It-It's okay..." Fukiyose murmured under her breath. She wasn't angry or disappointed at Ester, however, she was more annoyed at the fact that the boys were now ogling at her.

"Oh my god! There it is! Good job Ester!" The boys shouted out as if they were cheering on someone in a race. Fukiyose curled her fingers into a ball as she stormed off.

"When I get back...I'll make sure to bash those perverted thoughts out of your heads." Fukiyose creepily smiled at them as the vein on her head slowly started becoming visible.

"Ah..." Before Ester could properly apologize to Fukiyose, she was out of her sight.

"Haaaa..." Ester sighed out loud to express her disappointment in herself. "I didn't want to make a bad impression of myself, but it seems I have failed again..."

Ester left her head down, but still turned her head to the left to see who bumped into her, and she caught a glimpse of a blonde haired woman holding a long board.

"(That woman...she was the one who knocked into me, but she didn't apologize to me. She did this to me... I'll make her apologize!)"

Ester clenched her fist tight and tried keeping up with the lady. But she was rushing. As Ester followed her, she wondered if what she was doing was the right thing.

"(She could be in a rush. She might be late for something. If I stop her for something as ridiculous as...no no no. That's not ridiculous. Fukiyose has her pride as well. I can't just take advantage of her kindness. I'll make that lady apologize to me and Fukiyose.)"

As Ester stared down the woman's back, she realized that the woman was aware that Ester was following her down a hallway leading to the outskirts of the field.

"Hey, stop right there!" Ester raised her voice at the woman and that was when the blonde haired lady started running.

"Hey, don't run!"

Ester and the lady were apart by fifty meters, and it didn't seem like Ester was going to catch up to her. That lady had trouble losing Ester, not because she wasn't fast enough, but because the whole arena didn't have many hiding places and was very spacious.

"(Why is she running? Isn't she late for work? Is...Is she a drug dealer? Back in the olden days of China, people would drink turtle blood just to run faster. But it was later found out that they were using drugs...)"

That was when Ester realized that she had to stop that lady. She didn't want the integrity of the competition to be lost. Many people were watching from all over the world. If the other countries are noted of the use of drugs in Academy City, Academy City would suffer backlash from it.

"I cannot allow this!"

But she couldn't catch up. The faster she got, the faster the lady went. They walk passed many students, but not Anti-Skill officers. The only reason for that could be, they were guarding the outside to prevent any outsiders from entering the field. Even the Anti-Skill officer who only wore a sports gym attire wasn't present.

"Come on...there has to be a way for me to catch up."

There really wasn't.

Ester was more than warmed up already. She was probably ready to take on the whole competition without resting. The lady too had enough of the cat and mouse chase and bit on a paper and spat it out on the ground.

"Hey, that's littering!" Ester shouted, but before she could advance, a wall slowly formed beneath the ground, blocking her path. "No way! Damn it! I can't let her escape!"

But Ester couldn't do anything about that. She had no weapons on her. Her fists were the only ones available, but she also didn't have the strength to punch down that bulky wall. That hallway blocked one path leading up to the field.

They had maneuvered through the different paths for so long, that Ester's match was about to start.

"How can I catch up with her? I don't have my talismans on me right now..."

She wrapped her index finger around her chin but then shook it off.

"I'm so dumb...Why am I wasting my time trying to chase her. I should get going to the gathering area right now."