Chapter 2 - Unexpected Coincidences

"Ah! Stop pulling, it hurts!"

As Shiraishi dragged Ryuusei through the shopping area, Ryuusei's wrist started to hurt from her pulling. Moreover, her grip was quite strong, making it harder for Ryuusei to escape her clutches. Whilst getting dragged along, he constantly turned and craned his head, looking around the streets for any signs of Akiko. Ryuusei's worry grew yet again. It had been at least 45 minutes since the pair entered the shopping district and they had looked through various alleyways.

The street was quiet. Dead quiet. This was to be expected, the time was already 7:23PM and no one dared to be outside with the Helix on the loose, after all. Even Holders would much rather stay indoors and avoid any trouble. The only light in the area originated from streetlights that were set up every ten or so metres apart, none of the stores were open. As they walked, Ryuusei noticed an unlit store in particular which he recognised. The store named <Lize's Pastries> was a pastry shop that Akiko frequented due to her love for their signature bun, the <Strawberry Cream Delight>. Incidentally, Ryuusei knew the owner due to the many trips he'd made when Akiko was too lazy or tired to buy some herself.

"Shiraishi-san, let's search around this shop here."

Pointing to <Lize's Pastries>, Ryuusei decided that it would be more likely to find a lead closer to Akiko's favourite shop.

「Fuuuuuuuu」

The wind blew past Ryuusei's ears. Of course, little details like the wind direction were picked up by his enhanced hearing, but it was... quite creepy to say the least. No matter how much he strained his ears, the only sounds Ryuusei heard were the either wind blowing or Shiraishi's and his footsteps.

「Fuuuu」

Ryuusei grabbed his phone and quickly dialed Akiko's number, looking around as he did so. After two rings, a melodious ringtone could faintly be heard coming from deep in an alleyway just beyond <Lize's Pastries>. Recognising the ringtone to be one of Akiko's favourite pop songs, Ryuusei broke off into a dash. Shiraishi's grip loosened at the sudden change in speed, causing her to let go of Ryuusei's wrist.

"Hey! What's this all of a sudden?! Slow down!" Shiraishi cried out as she quickened her pace in an effort to keep up with Ryuusei.

Turning the corner, Ryuusei noticed the origin of the sound coming from behind a stack of small crates, stopping in his tracks. Shiraishi, who was still catching up to Ryuusei, crashed into his back.

The alley was dark. Perhaps 'pitch black' would be more accurate, though. Not only was it dark, but it was somewhat narrow, too. The alleyway probably could only fit two people standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Walking further into the alleyway, the first thing he saw was a white-coloured shirt, it had a collar and an emblem was sewn onto the front pocket, though it was too dark to see the emblem clearly. The next was a dark-blue skirt that was just a bit shorter than knee-length. Her hair was black, and freely flowed down her back till her waist level. A petite and somewhat round head sat on her shoulders, and upon looking at her, Ryuusei successfully identified that this was his sister, Akiko.

"Aki! Are you okay?!" Ryuusei raised his voice slightly as he ran over.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuu" was all that came out from her mouth.

Ryuusei kneeled down next to her and quickly looked at her, checking for any injuries or the like. Why was she here, alone? And on the ground, no less? Questions ran through his mind, but he ignored them for now, prioritising her safety above his curiosity. For now, it was more important to get Akiko back home, away from any potential Helix attack. He carefully picked her up and carried her on his back, walking back to the main street.

"What happened? What're you carrying on your back?"

Shiraishi squinted her eyes to make out the object Ryuusei carried on his back. Oh yeah, there was Shiraishi, too. Ryuusei pretty much forgot all about her when he saw Akiko on the floor.

"Ah. This is my sister, Akiko. Um, sorry, but I'll have to bring her home now. So maybe I'll see you around town next time. Bye!"

"Wait!"

Just as Ryuusei was about to dash off, Shiraishi grabbed his wrist again, this time with a godly amount of strength. Ryuusei could almost feel his wrist getting crushed. He winced and nearly dropped Akiko, luckily, he managed to regain his grip. Phew, that could've been bad.

"You're gonna let a girl just go back by herself this late at night? Even after a Helix attack?"

She had a point. Ryuusei tended to forget about Helix being a problem. Well, one of the reasons for that would be that he encountered them often. But that aside, she had a point.

"Fine, I'll drop Aki off at my house first, then accompany you back. Come on."

"Kay~"

With that, the Holders walked back the way they came. Hopefully, there wouldn't be another Helix attack. When subjugated, Helix dissolved into those black particles like earlier. The particles had a scientific name coined by scientists in <Cross>, but nobody bothered remembering it and just called them <Remnant Particles> or <Remnants>. <Remnants> sometimes attracted other Helix to the area, since weaker Helix would absorb them to become stronger. The stronger Helix would either absorb Holders, whose powers would drastically boost their strength, or they would even go so far as kill other Helix for their power.

"By the way, how'd you summon your Core that way? Doesn't everyone's Cores just appear slowly? Why's yours so fast?"

Normally, Cores took between one to ten seconds to appear, depending on the Holder's skill. Ryuusei's Core was special. <Nightfall> was already summoned and was in physical form all the time, as the black rim on Ryuusei's bracelet, and as such, Ryuusei didn't need to go through the whole summoning process. All he had to do was to call for <Nightfall> and it would transform into that 'X' shape for Ryuusei to grab. It was really convenient, especially for the line of work he was in.

The reason <Nightfall> was different from other Cores was because it was passed down from Ryuusei's father. Normally, Cores were bound to a single Holder, and could only be called by that one Holder, but things were different for Ryuusei and <Nightfall>, for it wasn't his, but his father's. When his father had passed away from an... accident, Ryuusei inherited <Nightfall> in its fully released form. Though it took much training to master <Nightfall> and keep it in its bracelet form, it was really worth it in Ryuusei's opinion, especially since he didn't have to lug such a long sword around on his back. His hips weren't high enough above the ground to keep [Nightfall] there, so if he had to carry the fully released <Nightfall> for whatever reason, he would have to sling it on his back.

"Huh, really? I don't really know, but it's probably not important." Ryuusei supplied no information to Shiraishi, choosing to feign ignorance.

"Hmmmm, okay then, if you say so. Then what about its name?"

"Oh, it's called <Nightfall>."

"Ehhhhh, that sounds so cool! Then can you teach me how to fight properly like you?"

Ryuusei made a wry smile. Should he? He did promise her earlier, so perhaps...

"Okay, I guess. I'll teach you the basics, then."

"Yay~"

Around then, they reached Ryuusei's house. After laying Akiko down on the sofa, he put Akiko's share of the food into the microwave. Leaving the food to reheat, Ryuusei went back out to escort Shiraishi home.

"Okay! Let's go~"

Shiraishi led the way enthusiastically with Ryuusei in tow.

Around fifteen minutes later, they reached a two-storey house, which was located smack in the middle of four more houses donning the same design. Each house had its own different colour scheme, Shiraishi's seemed dull, it was simply white and grey. As they opened the gate to enter, Ryuusei noticed that none of the lights were switched on in the house. So no one was home? Did she live alone?

"Well, here's my house. Since you came all the way here, why not you come inside for a snack before going home? It's the least I can do after you brought me home."

"Um, okay then, I'll take you up on the offer. Please excuse me." Ryuusei decided that it would have been rude to reject the offer, and accepted it. Another reason for accepting the offer would be Ryuusei simply feeling a tiny tinge of guilt from lying and hiding information from such a cheerful girl.

Both of them went into the house and lined their shoes up on the shoe rack. The shoe rack didn't have any other shoes on it apart from a pair of black leather business shoes. Obviously, it wasn't hers, it was a number of sizes bigger and was for males. So her father lived with her, then. So where'd he go at this hour after curfew?

As they walked into the living room, Shiraishi gestured for him to sit on the sofa while she went to make some tea. The living room was connected to the kitchen, but to be more accurate, they were basically the same room, apart from a counter separating the two sections. Next to the counter was a dining table with two chairs. Single parent, huh? Must be tough for Shiraishi and her father. As Ryuusei started to lean back on the sofa, Shiraishi returned with two cups of what seemed to be green tea. Ryuusei gratefully accepted the cup and took slow sips. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw her doing the same, peeking at him during each sip, but looking at the floor when she wasn't drinking. This was awkward. There had to be something to talk about! As soon as he thought of a topic, Ryuusei broke the silence.

"So, what school do you go to?"

"Oh, um, I go to the <White Lions Academy>."

The <White Lions Academy> - a prestigious high school for only Ranks B and above. Majority of the Holders above Rank B have studied there, apart from the Rank S Holders. Those classified as Rank S were taken in by <Cross> and trained as soon as they were identified, namely, when they reached the age of 10 and summoned their Cores. The summoning of a Core was always held at <Cross>'s labs, under strict supervision and many safety precautions. It was there that Holders were gauged and ranked according to the system. This ranking would stick to them for life, but it was possible to take examinations to go up a rank. Ryuusei saw no point in this examination system, wasn't strength still strength no matter what rank they were? It was a system that Ryuusei felt was redundant, but since majority of the people followed it, he chose to keep quiet about his views.

Coincidentally, Ryuusei also attended the <White Lions Academy>, and was now regretting the little lie about his Holder Rank earlier. There was no way she wouldn't cause a commotion if she spotted him in school, and a commotion was the last thing Ryuusei wanted in school. He had no choice but to take the initiative.

"Ah! I attend classes there too, what a coincidence."

"Really?! But I'm sure I would've heard about a Holder that attends school who's below Rank B..."

Ryuusei preferred to keep a low profile in school, sitting in the corner, pretending to listen to class to avoid attention, things of the like. After school, he would either go straight home or go to Kendo Club, nothing more, nothing less. Not many people noticed him, and those who did treated him like some kind of social outcast, which was perfectly fine by Ryuusei. This was a great help to Ryuusei, no friends meant no obligations after school, which allowed him to freely do his job.

"Ah, as for that, I try not to stand out since it's pretty inconvenient. Oh and please don't tell anyone else my rank or about me, either."

"But why? You're skilled in combat! You could probably top your class in battle training!"

"I have my way of doing things. Shiraishi-san, what class are you in?"

"2-C."

"Eh? That's my class, too!"

"Huh? I never noticed that Ryuusei-kun was in my class...!"

Perfect. That meant that Ryuusei's concealment was pretty much flawless. Honestly, he felt a bit bad for not realising she was in the same class, but then again, he barely paid any attention in class, be it to students or teachers. The only reason he actually told Shiraishi that he was in the same class was so that she wouldn't freak out when she saw him in class the next day. She probably would do that, wouldn't she? He could picture it now...

"Ah! Ryuusei-kun! Why are you here?!" Shiraishi would proclaim in a loud voice.

Multiple pairs of eyes would look over and notice him.

Nope, definitely didn't want that! With that, he snapped back to reality and asked Shiraishi,

"Okay then, what club are you in?"

"Ah, I'm part of the Go-Home-Club."

Wow, did she really just say that? Though, she seemed quite lively, so it was a wonder how she managed to bottle all that energy in without being in some kind of sports club, or maybe even the Drama Club...

"Hey~ You still here, Ryuusei-kun?"

Shiraishi waved her hand in front of Ryuusei's face while he was thinking, breaking his train of thought and snapping him back to reality.

"Huh, what?"

"Geez, at least pay attention to people when they're talking to you!"

A wry smile formed on Ryuusei's face as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment for being caught out.

"Haha, sorry about that, was thinking about some things."

Shiraishi puffed her cheeks out like a hamster and her eyebrows knitted together in slight annoyance. Was she really annoyed or was she faking it? That said, she looked quite cute when she did that... wait what? She was just someone he met on the streets at night, just that day, no less. She was pretty much a complete stranger! What was he even thinking? Hormones. It had to be the hormones. Hormones and the lack of social interaction with his classmates probably caused him to behave like this. Ryuusei convinced himself it was his raging teenage hormones that did the 'thinking' for him at that moment.

"As I was saying! Why don't we become friends at school? We could hang out and stuff! Then I could follow you home for training too! Hehe, I'm such a genius~ I can finally have a new friend!"

Her long string of words shot out like a bullet train. Woah, too much to process! Wait, did she say that she'd follow him home? No can do, he had his work at irregular times. Okay, best get things straight first.

"First things first, you are not going to be following me home after school. Secondly—"

"Wait, what? Why?!"

"I just have my own things to do, too!"

"Ah~ I can wait for you to finish your club activities! What's your club anyway?"

"I'm in the Kendo Club, but that's not the point! I have... work after school. It's a pretty on and off thing, so you just can't follow me home!"

"Uwah~ Kendo eh? Maybe I'll join too! Is that what made you so strong?"

She was hopeless! How could he convince her that following him home was bad? Nope, absolutely no way, huh?

"Ah, fine. You can follow me after school and feel free to join the Kendo Club, but when I need to leave for work, promise you won't bother me!"

"Of course Ryuusei-kun~ Now I'm your apprentice! Since we're classmates and I'm your apprentice, stop calling me 'Shiraishi-san'! Call me 'Hikari'!"

"Okay, fine, fine... Hikari-san."

Upon relenting to call her by her given name, Hikari's face broke into a large grin. Hikari's smile was so sweet and contagious that soon, even Ryuusei couldn't help but smile. An apprentice, huh?

Just then, Ryuusei's phone vibrated in his pocket, pulling him out of his thoughts. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. 'Aki' it said.

"Ah, excuse me for a moment."

Ryuusei pressed the 'answer' button and put the phone to his ear.

"Ryuu-nii? Where are you now?"

"Hello? Aki? You're feeling okay, right? I'm just at a friend's place."

"Yep! You brought me back home right? Oh by the way, dinner was delicious~ And since when have you had friends?"

So, calling Ryuusei was second to food, huh? That stung a little, but that's how Akiko was, glutton first, little sister second. She even commented on his lack of friends! This rude kid!

"Hahaha... I'll head back now, then, we're gonna have a talk."

"Kay~"

With that, Ryuusei hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He stood up and stretched his arms out before informing Hikari that he would be excusing himself.

"Well, as you probably heard, I'll be heading back now. Is there anything else you need?"

"Ah! Your phone number!"

Ryuusei took out his phone and they quickly exchanged contacts.

"And done...! I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, remember to keep this all a secret! Bye!"

"Of course! Bye bye Ryuusei-kun!"

Ryuusei walked out the door and headed home after that, deep in thought. What he didn't notice was a shadow hiding around the bend, watching from afar.