Caught?

The day was over and Anna had looked after the shrine while Ayame bashed her head on her desk about university. Tomoe was going to yell at Ayame for leaving all the work to Anna, but seeing her preparing for uni decided to not bother.

However, the time had come for Ayame to go out on her mission which she almost completely forgot about.

Tying up her hair into a bun and putting on her dark clothes, she also quickly gathered her equipment.

"Alright, I'm off." Ayame made a quick visit to Tomoe's room to see if there was anything else she needed to know.

"Be careful and don't take too long. Remember if it is too dangerous, leave." Tomoe gave Ayame one last warning and waved her off.

Exiting their house, Ayame opened up her phone with the meeting place where her target would make the deal.

'Now let's hope I can find a place to hide.' Being worried since it was a stadium, she struggled to think of ways to stay hidden.

'I could use the chairs, but then my mobility would be awful and I can't guarantee they will leave through the player entry tunnels.' Ayame considered waiting in the small underground section for her target, but there were too many ways of escape for that to be guaranteed.

'I will have to see when I get there.' Ayame felt uneasy, but she was good at thinking on the spot, so she hoped when she arrived it would all come together.

*

Once Ayame reached the end of the park, she diverged off the track and into the artificial forest that was placed by the city council. Arriving at a relatively large stone, she traced a flame circle with a few inscriptions within the circle. A kitsune symbol lit up on the rock and flames rose up from beneath Ayame, engulfing her.

Shortly after the flames suddenly dispersed and Ayame vanished on the spot leaving no traces.

Somewhere on top of a nearby building, the same looking stone was present and the same symbol that Ayame drew lit up on the stone. Flames then arose from the ground and Ayame appeared from behind them once they dispersed.

"Bleh, I will never get used to travelling by these waystones." Ayame felt a little dizzy as although it looked like teleportation, it was just extremely fast travel which made it impossible to see with the naked eye.

Once Ayame got over the dizziness she went to the edge of the building and looked to the side. Spotting the stadium she checked her phone and confirmed it was the place she had to go to.

'Looks like I can go by roof.' Being on a line of buildings that reached near the stadium, Ayame could avoid going through the streets.

'It's still rather early and it's a central area so there will be a lot of people. I better hide my tail for now.' Knowing that there are still a bunch of people out needed to be extra careful to not be seen with her fox traits. Luckily cameras are unable to pick them up otherwise the kitsune race would have been long found out.

Pulling her hoodie over her head and putting on her mask, she went up to a different edge. The next building was only a jump away as there were alleyways between the buildings.

Getting on the ledge Ayame jumped across with ease and began her sprint along the roofs of the buildings. However, once she got closer to the stadium there was a much taller building that she would not be able to jump on to.

This was not a problem as when Ayame reached the side, she quickly put her hands in front of her.

"Power of wind." Quickly chanting a spell, Ayame jumped up into the air and was able to run up the side of the building. Although her powers were that of fire she had some control over the other 3 elements.

Once she was up to the top of the building, she cancelled her spell and softly landed on the roof. This was the last building before she made it to the stadium and would most likely be how she would get in.

'Hopefully with the gliding spell I can get into the stadium without being seen.' Ayame walked up to the side of the building looking down at the rather busy road and one of the many stadium entrances. Looking further into the stadium it was a massive grass oval with lights shining onto the field.

'I don't see anyone yet.' Ayame checked the time and she had 30 minutes before their meeting would begin.

'I need to get into position.' Putting her phone back in her pocket, she once again stood on the edge of the building.

"In the name of the kitsune god Melgrid, bestow upon the ability to glide." Pronouncing the name of a different god, suddenly Ayame started to feel the air around her swirl.

'It's so tiring to say each of the gods' names every time.' Ayame in order to use certain spells needed to do a small incantation in honour of the god of the respective element. She knew after repeated use there would be no need to call it, but it took forever to get the blessing of the gods.

Jumping off the roof, it felt like she was walking on air and was easily able to cross the distance between her and the stadium. Slowly descending towards the stadium Ayame easily went over the road and headed straight for the small roof that covered the seats from rain.

Rolling on top of the roof, Ayame let her tail go free as it restricted her power. She also knew she was in enemy territory so it wouldn't matter if she was seen as generally most people of power knew of their existence.

'I need to get down before they meet.' Ayame quickly rushed to the edge and saw there was a spot just above the tunnel where she could hide for the time being.

Running along the stadium roof, once she was above the tunnel, once again called for the power to glide. Jumping down she landed softly above the tunnel and sat down on the ground behind the barrier.

'Alright, there are 15 minutes left.' Checking her phone one last time she made it in time and only needed to wait.

*

The 15 minutes went by quickly and the sound of footsteps echoed out from the tunnel Ayame was just above.

'Okay, now let's see who this mysterious person is.' Remembering the second part of the mission, she hoped it would be possible to do as it seemed like there was a big reward if she managed to find out who it was.

Getting to the edge of the barrier, Ayame peaked around the corner while casting the concealing spell. The spell itself covered a small area and made Ayame blend in with the environment making hiding rather easy.

The person that walked out of the tunnel was Ayame's target making whoever came out the other side would be the mystery person.

Ayame's heart rate increased as time went on the more nervous she got.

Across the stadium, a hooded figure wearing a mask emerged alongside a few bodyguards.

'Damn I can't see their face.' Ayame gritted her teeth in annoyance as now it would be impossible to find out who it was without confrontation.

'I can't take that risk, I need to hope they take off the mask during their deal.' Not wanting to endanger herself opted to wait and see if they would reveal themself.

The target and the mysterious person met in the middle with Ayame's target passing over what looked like a briefcase.

"That should be the funds, now I expect by the end of the week for it to be completed."

"Ara~ don't worry, you should see it by your doorstep in only 2 days." The mysterious person spoke revealing that it was a woman.

"If that's all I will be heading back, I have other meetings to attend to." Adjusting his glove he went to walk back to the tunnel he came from while the bodyguards of the women checked the case.

"Everything is all good ma'am." Reporting back to the women all the money in the case was indeed real, making it a successful deal. The target entered back into the tunnel, but the women had stayed in the middle.

"We should get going." The guard bowed suggesting they leave as it was not ideal to be in an open area for too long.

"Hold on, I think we have a guest." Raising her hand, she looked directly at the tunnel where the target was.

Ayame looked at the woman and seemingly made eye contact with her. Being mesmerised by her purple eyes it took a moment to realise she had been found out.

'Shit!' Knowing she only needed to kill the target, pulled out the knife with the orange gem and quickly jumped over the barrier to the tunnel.

However, as she landed on the ground the woman appeared in front of her, stopping Ayame from chasing the target.

"Power of Sh-." As she went to cast a shield spell the woman was too fast and managed to grab Ayame by the neck and pin her to the wall.

"Look at who we have here, a fox assassin on a mission." The woman looked deeply into Ayame's eyes while she struggled to break free.

"Now tell me who you are after~?" Reaching underneath Ayame's mask, she held her chin.

"T-the man." Barely being able to speak, once she gave her answer felt the grip on her neck loosen.

"Oh good, that saves me time from doing it myself, now my little fox, go and finish your mission." Letting go of Ayame and stepping away, the woman looked down at her wondering what she would do.

"W-why?" Ayame was coughing while on her knees trying to recover from being choked.

"Hmm, I have no reason to kill you, plus you are doing what I planned to do anyway. Now I mustn't hold you up for too long otherwise he will get away." After these words, she suddenly vanished from the spot leaving Ayame alone.

'I-I see why it was said it wasn't a requirement.' Witnessing the woman's strength she knew there was no way she could win and was at her complete mercy.

'Anyway, I need to finish this mission, I can think later.' Not wanting to waste this chance she quickly sprinted into the tunnel hoping she wasn't too late.