Chapter 35- Stalker?

"You know what you are doing is practically stalking right, Souta?"

The voice of his co-worker broke Souta out of his daze before he turned to look at the silver-haired maiden standing there, wearing a dark blue kimono with white obi and a solemn expression spread on her face as always.

Her cropped hair cascaded just to her shoulders, and her aquamarine eyes sparkled with a hint of mockery, yet Souta could tell a thin line of concern present there.

Sighing he responded, as he closed the terminal he was holding his left hand, "It's called, being cautious. Haven't you heard? Being cautious is better than relying on the cure?"

The reason why the silver-haired girl in her late teens called Souta—a stalker, stems from the fact that he had been tracing Chiaki's location for a while now. He hasn't implanted any tracking chip on her, the testimony of his remaining conscience, rather he was stalking her through street cameras and such.

And the current location of his targets worried Souta, a lot.

"Didn't you say, your relationship with Chiaki was just a pretense to save yourself from unnecessary hassle?" Souta was surprised hearing the girl talking this much, maybe for the first time, since from her reputation, even the squad administrator chooses to speak with the girl, when it's only necessary.

Getting up from the window sill, Souta replied in nonchalance, "I don't know what are you talking about. I am just ensuring an innocent girl's safety from a vicious demon."

"Vicious Demon? Do you have any proof of that? I mean we conducted a Barrier just two days ago and being a lesser Demon, he should have been dead by now." The lady's words were firm and no roundabouts manner she utilized to direct the truth.

She didn't fear even for a moment to speak her mind in front of one of the strongest Defenders, which indicates how courageous the girl was.

Souta sighed at that before he said something that even he found a little outrageous, "Maybe Ryouya is a Noble Demon?"

A lower-tier demon could easily be vanquished by the Light waves emitted by the Defenders. Hence, it was evident that Ryouya was either not a demon or perhaps one of a higher rank.

"How can you even consider that guy a High-ranked Demon? Don't you know how arrogant and mighty those beings remain since their birth? Forget about the disgrace of living in human flesh, a Noble Demon's presence would have become evident by now, without a doubt."

The Nobilities among Demon Ranks are just like high-class humans. If someone tells the richest man on the planet to live as a boar or goat they surely wouldn't agree. And it was the same for the Demons in the aspect of living as a Human.

Not to talk about the Aura of a Noble Demon was something that could not remain under wraps for long because of several reasons.

"But, Kaori, didn't we sense the possibility of a Noble Demon, just this morning, not so far away from Ryouya's house?"

The morning incident, the emergency case, where two Defenders were gravely injured. Souta's team partner, Chiyo was also one of the two.

The assailant was unidentified but that Demon was undoubtedly wearing human flesh.

"We both know that based on mere assumption we cannot regard one as a criminal or innocent. "

The silver-haired maiden, whose name Souta called out to be Kaori, seemed borderline fuming with the ludicrous presumption her team leader was making one after another.

However, "I am not sure why you are bothering so much about someone you don't even know."

Souta sighed while shaking his head, somehow feeling tired by her behavior as he began walking toward the door, only to find his arm behind held by the woman.

"...why did you steal the artifact?"

"..." Now Souta understood the reason for her annoyance and why in the first place, this maiden even bothered coming here.

"I am surprised you can sense things with such a minimal amount of Light." Souta, while speaking, withdrew his left hand from his pocket, revealing a red thread tied around his index finger with a small bell dangling from it.

The bell, golden-hued and about the size of a golf ball, appeared quaint and charming at first glance. Yet, its seemingly innocuous exterior belied its true nature.

"This act could snatch you from the post of Nexus...and all of this just because of that single girl? What is there, in her, that made you this insane in love?"

Kaori's head was hanging low, her face covered by her bangs as she asked in a shaky voice.

Souta remained frozen at his spot, a frown marring his charming face before he decided to end this conversation,

"It's not insanity rather caution. Whatever you think, I am just looking out for a friend."

Jerking his arm away, Souta made his way out of the room.

Left alone, the woman remained frigid at her spot for a moment, before all the strength from her legs gave out and she plopped down on the ground.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as a faint whisper left her grieving heart,

"Why is it her...?"

****

Ryouya was in discomfort. He hasn't been able to release his pent-up frustration despite experiencing his heat twice since morning.

The first time his System cut off his consciousness to save Ryouya from a heavy guilt trip and the second time, it became so awkward with Chiaki that they didn't continue.

It wasn't that Chiaki said no to any of his advances or Ryouya was not prepared for it, the way things turned out after Chiaki tried her first blowjob, the idea of continuing their physical act was never even crossed their minds and before Ryouya realized, it was already evening.

It was Aiko's inclusion in the group that they ended up mostly conversing all day long. Ryouya was able to rebound with his mother and spend some quality time with his friend.

And now, he was on the way to seeing off Chiaki.

"You didn't have to come you know," Chiaki suggested, however, the smile her lips arched with, clearly told how elated she was.

Ryouya remained silent since he had already told her the reason why he was with her on this return trip.

His mother.

The silence between them was short lived as Ryouya asked Chiaki whether she had a little time to hang around.

"Yeah sure...should we look for a café."

Ryouya wanted to sigh at how casually these rich people advised going to eateries. Shaking his head, he gestured toward the nearby park and said, "Let's just walk around in there a bit."

Chiaki bloomed with another smile, already considering this small trip as their first date.

The park was mostly empty, considering it was a weekend evening and most of the people like to visit places, party all night, and such.

Ryouya walked beside the fidgety Chiaki as he finally asked something he had been getting worked up about since afternoon,

"Hey, Chiaki...can you break up with Souta?"

Ryouya was unsure if he should say that or not. The reason he wanted such was because if Chiaki progresses in her relationship with Ryouya, then the only person who would get hurt is Souta.

Despite how she saw it, Souta was indeed a little bit serious about Chiaki, so it was better if she cleared things out when it had not fallen too deep.

Chiaki was about to respond to his question in assent when suddenly,

"You don't need to bother about that Ryouya-kun...after all, Chiaki needs no one else but me."

*****

A/N:- Here comes a delusional. Well, believe it or not, Souta isn't a villain. I have only portrayed him from one aspect of the story so expect some twists and turns.

Sorry for skipping a day, teehee. Now donate PS and drop some comments~