12 .Second day.
...
Earlier that day...the day where Ryo encountered the people with the exousia stone.
The woman arrived at a place someone told her to go into. An abandoned wardrobe not far from the hotel grounds. She stood in front of the door, her heart almost jumping out of her chest and her breathing speed increasing. She slowly and carefully opened the wooden door, revealing a silhouette in the middle of the room, sitting in a wooden chair with its legs crossed under the flickering light bulb.
She slowly walked up to this figure and clenched her fist. As she was about to open her mouth to speak, the figure puts its finger on its lips, signaling her to stop. She stopped motionless and just stood there.
The figure then took out a phone, then began typing something on it. Then, it pressed play.
"You...have you done it...?"
The robotic male voice from the phone said.
"Yes...I did...and if you may, would be so kind to let me go now?" She asked in a determined manner. That's when the figure suddenly summoned its amplitude on its index finger and burned off the tracking device attached to her. It watched as it slowly turns into ashes and fall to the ground.
"You should be careful. All this time, you let someone put a tracker device on you. Carelessness can kill you." The figure said in a deep, man's voice.
"H-How?!" She cried out in puzzlement.
"So you did it, but did you do it properly?"
"O-Of course!" She said, now in a shaky voice. The man slowly walked up to her and leaned his face toward her. They are only a breath away from each other. The man stared directly at her with vicious and murderous eyes, before he knocked her to the side and made his way toward the nearby table.
"Leave before my sight, you are an eyesore!" He exclaimed. The woman immediately ran outside with tears falling from her eyes.
....
___________
6:00 am
A new day was born and it's now the second day, just a few more days before the actual test. The morning sun skimmed through the horizon, the golden rays giving brightness to the sky and meadows. At exactly 6 in the morning wakes up Ryo.
He groggily and lazily stood up and stretched out like a cat. Yawning as he got out and made his way down the stairs, he spotted Kyouko in the kitchen wearing her casual clothes with an apron and is currently making some pancakes. She noticed his presence and turned her head around.
They stared at each other for what seemed like a minute before Kyouko turned her head back to what she was doing without saying anything. He ignored it and proceeds to go to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
He opens the door and flipped on the light switch as he entered inside. After he washed his face and brushed his teeth, he goes back to the living room. He flipped on the television and relaxed on the couch.
"Want some?" Kyouko asked as she approached him while holding a plate of fluffy pancakes.
"I'll just have one." She firmly puts a plate in front of him and places a pancake before sitting next to him, albeit 4 feet away.
"I have the news." She said as she stuffs some pancakes in her mouth.
"What news?"
"About the exousia stone."
"What is it?"
"I talked to Ryujin and he said he'll take care of it. Yesterday, he found some lingering scent of the exousia stone near the test venue. Some footprints were leading to the old wardrobe but upon entering, he found nothing, only a bottle of alcohol. And another thing that he found is the trace of a woman's footprint leading towards this hotel."
"Woman...huh?"
"Yes. And because of this, the council will be busier than ever."
Just as the void was about to fill the atmosphere, Kyouko's phone rang, the buzzing echoing throughout the living room. She picked it up and it was someone from the council. She stood up from the sofa and made her way to the kitchen.
Ryo casually shifted his attention from the television to the phone call.
"Hello?.....Yes.....I see...I shall get onto it as soon as possible!"
The conversation is looking pretty serious. Kyouko hangs up and hastily made her way upstairs. He only stared at her as she got up the stairs, pondering to himself what it was all about. He then proceeds to finish his last bites of pancake and brought the plate to the dish sink.
He then returned back to his room.
12:57 pm
Exactly at that time, Ryo's phone rang as he was lying on his bed. He forced himself to stand up and picked up his phone on the table near his bed.
"Who is this...?" He answered sluggishly as if he had only woken up.
"Kyouko. Ryujin and I are currently investigating the wardrobe." This somehow wakes up Ryo's sleepy brain.
He pulled himself up and sat.
"What's up?"
"Come here...Ryujin wants you here."
"Hey, now, don't tell me you broke your promise?"
"Stupid. He already knew it was you. That was the first thing he told me as soon as we met."
"Seriously?" Ryo looked bemused and at the same time, flabbergasted as he heard her announcement.
"Why would I be joking?"
"I'm coming. Wait there."
"I can't believe you're making a woman wait."
"Like hell, I care whether you're a man or a woman."
"Whatever. Just hurry up."
And with that, he rushed his way outside.
