Chapter 17: Feelings
...
Kairi and Val soon arrived in front of Kaito's door.
The surrounding area is unnaturally silent and Kaito is not opening even when he is being called. Val tried shouting but it also didn't work.
"Is he not at home?" Val asked Kairi.
"Maybe, but if he's not here, where would he go so late at night?" Kairi replied as she peeked through some windows.
"Should we try tommorow?" Val suggested.
"It's getting very late, my parents would be worried"
"You can go back Val" Kairi responded.
"But what about you?"
"I'll try for a few more times, if he still doesn't come out, I'll leave as well" Kairi answered.
"Then, I hope you'll be safe"
"Thank you"
"I'll be going then"
Val then left Kairi alone.
Kairi breathed a sigh and tried to knock at the door, to her surprise, it opened and Kaito was there. He was still wearing the Academy's uniform.
"What took you so long??"
"It's already night, aren't you supposed to be home?" Kaito replied with another question.
"I have questions for you and I won't leave without it" Kairi responded.
Kaito looks like he was hesitating whether he would agree or not.
"How about we talk on your way home?"
"Fine"
The two of them then headed on their way to Kairi's home.
"Firstly, do you and Jake have something against each other" Kairi started asking.
"None"
"Then why do you have to beat him badly?"
"Personal matters"
Kairi knew that prying into someone else's personal life is bad, but she was still curious about Kaito's "personal matters".
"Secondly, why did you show your strength in battle, even though you denied my request for your help, saying that you don't want to stand out. How can what you did, didn't make you stand out"
Kaito stopped after hearing what Kairi said.
Kairi stopped to listen to what Kaito has to say.
"You said that the Academy will change your partner if you lost right?"
"That's right" Kairi replied. She was thinking why Kaito brought this up. Does he want to continue being paired up with her?
"The Academy only wants you to have a better partner for the Competition. That way, you can have a better chance of winning when you arrive at the Holy Competition"
"..." Kairi remained silent.
"By doing what I did, I'm sure nobody in the Academy will be opposed to me being your partner. They will also try to re-check my background thinking that I may be a Noble in disguise"
"Why do you need to keep being my partner? You don't with to stand out, being with me is just the opposite, so why?" Kairi was very curious.
"So that I'll see to it that you won't hurt yourself again"
Kairi blushed. Although she always receives protection, it was provided by her family. However, this time, it made her embarrassed.
"Wh-Why would you d-do that?!"
Kaito avoided her question and changed the topic.
"Your opponent earlier at the Academy, I believe her name is Jessica. She is no ordinary Noble, someone is backing her"
"How do you know that"
Kaito and Kairi arrived at a magnificent house. It was at least a hundred times larger that Kaito's house.
"It would be wise to avoid her now"
"Wait, you aren't answering me!"
"Whether you believe me or not is up to you"
"Answer me first!"
Kaito then suddenly vanished.
"What's with him?"
...
Kaito's house:
"I can't believe I really said that. She might even think I'm a weirdo" Kaito talked at himself while looking at a mirror.
"But"
"She really does remind me of you"
"I... miss you"
...
Shou Household:
"That idiot"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You aren't even answering my questions"
"Uhhh, Lady Kairi, can't you sleep?"
"Ahh, I can, thanks for you concern"
"Geez, I really need to stop thinking about him"
...
"Our plan failed, her partner had done something that we didn't foresee"
"It seems so"
"It will be even hard for us to capture her because she is now important to the Academy"
"Should we use" Him"?"
" Fine, we'll set a date for "Him" to capture her"
...
The next day:
Kaito woke up as usual, ate as usual, took a bath as usual, dressed as usual and accidentally looked at a mirror and saw himself.
"Damn it"
"I always remember what happened yesterday, I really need to do something else"
Kaito then breathed in and out before finally calming himself and went outside. As he walked his way to the Academy, he noticed something was amiss. He checked his surroundings but didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. He then dismissed the thought as he still has many things going on his head.
He then continued on his way, but a bit more careful. As he traversed, he always kept having a bad feeling but can't see nor sense anything.
"What if someone that can completely hide his presence is here?" Kaito thought.
But if that is really the case, why and who would send someone like that at this kind of place. It only has commoners living here and nothing that catches the eye can be found. Unless the target is someone not something. But who would that someone be?
As Kaito dwelled on his thoughts he didn't noticed that he is almost at the Academy.
He entered the Academy and was walking to class through the hallways. The students were noisy as always. But now, a rumor is very famous. Because Kaito is a commoner and Jake was seen to be strong, only a few who liked seeing commoners get beaten attended Kaito's fight and saw what happened. They then started to spread what they saw. Many of the students said that it was not true, some believed this.
"Hey, isn't that the rumored student that can use different elements?"
"Yeah, you're right"
"Do you think the rumor is true?"
"There's only one way to know"
"Are you sure, what if he really can use different elements?"
"Relax, I'm not gonna fight him, I have my own way"
A student then approached Kaito.
"Hello".