8 Chapter 8: Forgotten Friends I

Touya stood in front of Elijah's desk and took a deep breath. After what happened yesterday, he was sure that he was in for a scolding.

"Touya, you look tense. Are you doing okay?"

"Huh? Oh-yeah! I'm fine."

"Is it about your mission with Kowaima yesterday?"

"Y..y..yeah. I collapsed, so I don't even know what happened. Is she alright?"

"No need to worry. Kowaima made it back safe and sound. And your friend, Kieran, handled your healing."

His body relaxed as he heard the good news. "Wait. Healing?"

"Yes. We have a healing hot springs in our monastery. Kieran brought you there and took you home after you healed."

"Oh." He knew that he'd have to visit the hot springs on his own time later.

"And before I forget to tell you, your funds have been deposited into your account as well."

"I forgot about that stuff!" He pulled out his Exo-Com, and felt his heart stop when he saw the $500 on his balance. "Five hundred dollars?!"

"Yes, you went on a C-Rank mission, so that's the amount of money you earned."

He felt like running a lap around the entire monastery, but he kept himself calm. If he kept this up, he'll have a fortune in no time. He couldn't wait for the look on Namika's face when she saw this.

"Um...Elijah? Do you think that I can go on a mission right now?" He anxiously wanted to earn even more money, and he wanted to do it as soon as possible.

"Of course!"

He internally cheered as he received the green light to continue his work.

"Since you're so excited to continue, It'd be perfect for you to keep your momentum going!"

"Alright, I'll check the mission feed on my Exo-Com."

"Sounds good."

Touya stepped out of his office with a beaming smile on his face. He searched the C-Rank mission feed for a good mission to take right now.

As he turned the corner, he bumped into a soft object. It smelled of a fragrant perfume, making him take another deep whiff of it.

When he actually looked up from his phone, he realized that what he bumped into wasn't some inorganic object. He bumped into Red.

"R..Red!? I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine." She gave him a captivating smile, easing his nerves. "Where are you headed?"

"Um...nowhere in particular. I was about to go out on a mission..."

"What a coincidence! I was just returning from one!"

Touya's aggressive curiosity ate at him, trying to get him to ask a question; However, standing in front of Red once again made him nervous. It was like he was standing in front of a being far beyond his comprehension. This was only further amplified by the information he received from Kowaima yesterday.

He decided to ignore his fear and ask the question pending in his mind. "Um...Red? What rank was the mission?"

"Oh, it was an S-Rank."

That answer confirmed his suspicions: she was clearly one of the strongest around the monastery.

"Why did you ask?"

"Uh, I was just curious."

She stared at him with her alluring eyes, seemingly analyzing him. "Touya? Are you still mad at me?"

"Huh? Why would I be mad?"

"You don't have to hide it. I know you were upset about our prank. I just wanted to know if you were still upset."

"N..no. To be honest, I forgot about it."

"Well...does thinking about it make you mad?"

"Nope. It was definitely messed up, but I'm good now."

She continued to gaze into his eyes before grabbing a hold of his hands, "In that case...Would you like to go on a mission together?"

He froze up as she held onto him. Her intrigued tone reminded him of an innocent child asking to go outside. There was just something eerie about her.

Her delicate, composed appearance seemed like bait. Just when you let your guard down, thinking she's a normal woman, your dead.

"Are you sure about that? I just started not too long ago, and I think I'd only hold you back."

"Don't worry about it. We'll pick a C-Rank mission." She gave him one of the cutest puppy dog faces he had ever seen, winning him over.

"F..fine. If you're that excited to work with me, I can't say no."

"Perfect!" She let go of him and walked in the direction of Elijah's office, "Let's meet at the dining hall at 1 in the afternoon!"

"Yes ma'am!"

He subconsciously called her ma'am. He wrote it off as an effect of her intimidating presence.

-

Touya stood in a movie theater parking lot by a black car. He had a small gift bag in his hand, waiting for a certain someone to come out.

"Touya!"

He looked up to see his beautiful girlfriend, Namika, running towards him.

They embraced each other as soon as she reached him.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I got a promotion today! I'm the manager now!"

"That's amazing!" He lifted her into the air and kissed her.

"I know right? How's your job going?"

"Well...I didn't get any promotions, but I got my first paycheck."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was five hundred dollars."

"Damn!"

"I know right? I'm gonna get a lot more soon." He let her down and handed her the gift bag, "I bought you a gift too."

Namika smiled before opening the small bag. Inside was an amulet with a purple gem in the center of it. On the back of the amulet was a small picture of two doves. The necklace part of it was silver.

"Oh...my...God..." She covered her mouth and nearly dropped the bag, "It's pretty Touya! Come here!" She grabbed him and pulled him into a deep kiss before embracing him.

He was overjoyed with the fact that Namika loved the gift. Making her smile was always one of his favorite things to do. It truly made him feel like he did something great.

"Put it on me!" She handed him the amulet and turned around, letting him put it on her neck. She pulled out her phone and looked at herself in her camera, "I look so sexy right now!"

"I'm glad you like it, but we should hurry up and get to the hospital, I have to go to work at 1."

"Kay, let's go then!"

They both hopped in the car together and drove to the hospital.

-

Touya and Namika made their way through the halls of the hospital with a nurse leading them.

Namika forced herself to speak. Even though Tineka had been in a coma for almost a year now, she still wasn't comfortable with the hospital visits. She loved seeing her best friend of course, but it was also tear inducing. "So...she still hasn't shown any signs of waking up?"

"I'm afraid not; Although, her health is still perfectly fine."

"That's good." Namika looked at Touya, who was as silent as always.

Whenever they visited Tineka, Touya remained quiet for the most part. He only spoke up when he needed to comfort her. They'd usually come with both of his parents, but they had to stay home for some reason today.

One thing she did notice was the look in his eyes. Instead of his typically dejected expression, his face was filled with conviction.

They finally reached Tineka's room.

Namika grabbed one of her hands and held it close to her chest. "Hey Tineka, it's me and Touya again. We just wanted to check on you." The tears were already coming. "Your parents couldn't come today." She desperately searched for something positive to say, "Hey, I got a promotion today..."

She looked at Touya, who was standing on the other side of the bed, not saying a single word. "T..Touya got a new job today..."

After all of this time, things were the same. While she spoke to Tineka, giving her updates on everyone's lives, Touya stared at her. She didn't get upset at him or anything. She couldn't imagine just how painful it was for him to be in this situation.

His breakdown was the first glance she got into his mind, and it was more tragic than she realized.

"T..Tineka. Hey..."

Her eyes went wide as she heard Touya speak out. She made sure to keep her shock to herself, letting him open up without any judgement.

"I'm not gonna say much, but I want you to know that I'm gonna save you." He leaned down and gently pulled her into a hug.

Even though it was fleeting, hearing Touya say anything to her was more than enough. That one sentence was a large step towards his growth.

"I'm gonna be outside Namika, you can stay here if you want."

"Okay."

-

Touya had Namika drop him off at the monastery, and it was exactly 1 o'clock in the afternoon. He made his way to the dining hall, but he didn't see Red anywhere; However, in the back of the hall, he saw Kowaima and Hayami sitting at a table.

"Oh, what's up Touya?"

"Yo!" Touya sat down in front of the sisters. "What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing much really. We just came here to eat something."

"I see." He looked over to Kowaima, who was absolutely silent. "Hey Kowaima, I'm sorry about my spirit yesterday."

She jumped as he spoke to her, "N..n..no! You're okay!" Her face was flushed, and she couldn't stop herself from shaking.

"If you say so...Are you okay?"

"Y..yeah!"

"Alright."

Hayami glanced between both of the two exorcists and let out a sigh, "This is ridiculous. Touya, Kowaima-"

Before she could finish her statement, Kowaima covered her mouth. "S..stop!"

"Alright!" Hayami pushed Kowaima off of her and let out a sigh, "You damn teenagers..."

"Wait...how old are you?" He didn't mean for that one to slip out.

"I'm 20."

"Oh, you don't sound all that old."

"What?"

"No, I'm just saying that the way you spoke to Kowaima made you sound like an old lady. Even though you're barely an adult."

"I don't know if you're trying to sass me up or not..."

"I'm not! I was just thinking out loud..." Before anything else weird could happen, Touya decided to change the subject. "Have either of you seen Red around?"

"What do you want with her?"

"Well...we're supposed to be going on a mission together."

"Oh. Well, I haven't seen her. What about you?" She looked at Kowaima.

"Huh!? Oh-I haven't either..." Kowaima continued to jitter, doing her best to avoid looking him in the eyes.

Seeing her look so flustered made Touya want to speak to her. "Kowaima! I had fun on our mission yesterday!"

"Y..you did?"

"Yup. Looking back on everything, it was a good time. Did you like it?"

"Y..yeah..." She covered her face with her hands and started squealing.

"Well, I say that without taking the whole collapsing thing into consideration; Although, that was kind of fun too. It almost feels like we're superheroes."

Hayami scoffed as Kowaima nodded her head yes.

"I wish you could've seen the look on Blaze's face when I told her the job was done." She relaxed for the first time and smiled, "Even though I hate exorcising demons, seeing the relieved faces of those you help makes it all worth it."

"I bet it does." He imagined how it would feel to see Tineka open her eyes after so long. Everyone would cheer and cheer, and shower him in affection. Most important of all, he'd get to see Namika smile with every ounce of her being.

"So Touya, do you have a girlfriend?"

He was thrown off by Hayami's sudden interjection, "What?"

"I know you heard me."

"Volume wasn't the issue. That was just random as hell."

"Just answer the question peachy boy."

"NO! Please don't call me that..." He clenched his fists and slammed his head against the table, "My girlfriend calls me that...and I hate it."

"So...that's a yes." She looked at Kowaima.

"I knew that already!"

Touya and Hayami both stared at her in confusion as she sat back down.

"Oh dear...What's going on here?"

All three of them turned around to see the charming Red standing at the table.

"Oh, hey Mommy!" Kowaima stood up and hugged her.

"Hi Mom."

"Good afternoon Red."

Instead of her usual nun attire, she wore a black faux leather jacket on top of a white shirt. Her tight leggings were also black, and had on some black heels. In her ears were some golden earrings, and her hair was tied into a ponytail.

She looked like she was about to go to a party instead of a mission, but she looked absolutely stunning.

"Hello. It's good to see that you all are getting along." She rubbed Kowaima's head and smiled at Touya, "I'm sorry for running a little late, I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"No ma'am, you're timing was perfect."

"Well isn't that wonderful? Shall we be off?"

"Yes Ma'am!"