Evicted

After Kasumi claimed her personal dagger and returned home with Ayame, not much happened afterwards. The semester started in about a week, and as it turned out, they both got every class together. This made it easier to plan their week as well as study together when needed.

However, two days before they had their proper class, there was a knock at the door just before they planned to go to bed. Kasumi instantly became alert and checked the time, suspicious of whom it may be.

[9:30 pm]

"Shit, it must be them." Kasumi began to sweat as she had a good idea who it may be.

"What's wrong, Kasumi? Did you want me to get the door?" Ayame was somewhat oblivious, thinking it might be the hotel staff.

"No don't! I think it might be my father's men." Kasumi bit the bottom of her lip, trying to think of what to do. She thought she had a couple more months before they made a move, but that wasn't the case.

"Wait, why would they be here now?" Ayame's heart sank, as clearly, it was bad news since Kasumi wasn't even meant to be here in the first place.

"I don't know..." Kasumi's legs began to shake as if she opened the door, it might be the end of her little life here. However, before she could decide, the door would be busted open by a squad of people in suits. They all had the signature dark purple colour, signifying it was indeed Kasumi's family.

"Miss Kasumi, you are to come back home and stop playing house now!" One of the men shouted as they walked deeper into the apartment. Currently, Ayame and Kasumi are in their bedroom, freaking out about what they should do.

"Kasumi, are we going to fight them?" With a wave of her hand, Ayame summoned her real kitsune mask and pulled out the dagger with her magic.

"I don't know; I can't really go against them." Kasumi bit the tip of her nails as the nerves skyrocketed. She was conflicted about staying with Ayame or betraying her own father. She, of course, preferred going with Ayame, but the best choice to protect her might be to go back.

"Kasumi! We won't hurt your friend as ordered by your father, but you are to return home immediately." The voice got closer, and the steps of their boots echoed out until they finally reached the door.

Kasumi felt the presence outside the door, and her breath came to a halt as she realised who it was.

"Ayame… sta-" Before Kasumi could warn her, the door blasted open with a surge of black flames, and the man behind it charged in. It was a middle-aged man no older than Sebath, but he terrified Kasumi.

"Darik." It was Sebath's personal butler and head of the elite bodyguard kitsune service that her father ran. He was someone on par with Sebtah in terms of power, meaning there was no hope from the beginning.

Darik targeted Ayame straight away, as he sensed the use of magic and assumed they would defend themselves.

"No!" Kasumi screamed out, even though they said they wouldn't hurt her; it was more likely to be a bluff.

Ayame, seeing the charge, activated the gemstone on her dagger, causing it to be covered in fire. It was a function she had yet to use, but she wasn't about to destroy her new home. As soon as the dagger finished coating itself in fire, she waited for the last moment that Darik would throw an attack.

Darik, knowing his strength, aimed for a plain punch to the face. He also revealed his kitsune traits, revealing his six tails. Ayame, seeing the tails, instantly felt all of her hair stand up as she was no match.

It didn't stop her from trying; it only meant that she needed to try to survive rather than beat them.

With only a metre gap between them, Draik finally swung, and luckily it was slow enough for Ayame to read. Ducking down to the ground, she completely avoided the punch. However, that wasn't all; a kick then came flying right into Ayame's face, but she expected this and launched herself back into the wall.

"Not bad." Darik smirked as he expected his punch to land and two of his attacks to be dodged.

Ayame knew talking would waste time, so jumping off the wall, she tried to get around Darik, which she did successfully, but before she could reach the door, it would be blocked by Darik's squad. They were just henchmen, but with how many there were, Ayame would be unable to fight them without using magic unless she had the kind of control that Kasumi has.

"Shit." Ayame wanted to fight, but committing murder may have a worse outcome for her.

"Just stop, Ayame. Please, I don't want you to get in trouble." Kasumi yelled for Ayame to stop and not fight, as it would indeed only make it worse.

"You should listen." Darik walked up behind Ayame and grabbed her by the hair. She wanted to fight so badly, but she dismissed her dagger and tried to lessen the pain from her hair being pulled.

"Good, now take Kasumi." Darik gave the order to his men, and they all funnelled in to apprehend Kasumi.

Grrr, let go of me." Ayame tried to kick with her feet, but they were completely ineffective, only making a thud sound.

"Tch, pest." Although Darik didn't feel a thing, it was still like having a fly buzz around you, so to stop her from kicking, he slammed Ayame into the ground.

"Ayame!" Kasumi, in her moment of freedom, tried to dash to Ayame to help her, but Darik's men tackled her to the ground before she could do anything. By this point, tears were flowing down Kasumi's face, and she wanted nothing more than for Ayame to be safe.

"You're lucky we were given orders not to kill her; if it had been me, she would have been dead." Darik lifted Ayame up by the hair again, but this time she did not move. Ayame had passed out from the blow, as evidenced by the blood that began to streak down her face.

"B-bastard." Kasumi gritted her teeth as she was being handcuffed, which was imbued with an anti-magic rune. However, still in her hand was her phone, and in a last-ditch effort, before she was taken away, she prepared to send a message to Tomoe. Just as her phone was about to be taken by one of the men, she pressed the send button and turned her phone off.

"Now come along; your father is awaiting you." Darik dropped Aayme to the floor and walked up to Kasumi, about to teleport them, but as he approached, a crushing presence suddenly filled the room.

In the middle of the room, a ball of orange flames appeared and quickly dispersed. Tome elegantly landed on the ground and kneeled next to Ayame.

"Who are you?" Darik, on the other hand, did not falter under the pressure and was prepared to fight.

"Did you do this to my daughter?" Slowly turning to look at Darik, her eyes were completely void—not that of emptiness but one filled only with anger.

"That pe-" Before Darik could finish his sentence, Tomoe vanished, and the next thing he knew, there was a dagger up to his neck.

"No need to answer, Darik; it's been a while since I've seen you around, but I'm guessing Sebath sent you to get his daughter back." Tomoe didn't need an answer, as she already knew who it was, and judging from every other person in the room, he was the only one who could have done something.

"What of it, bitch? She is the one defying her father's will; we are just correcting her." Darik gave a chuckle, finally realising who it was.

"Maybe now is a good time to kill you since I failed all those years ago." Tomoe made her dagger tantalisingly close to his neck, but just as it was about to make contact, black flames engulfed his body.

Sadly, that is not part of the mission brief." Using the flames to push Tomoe away, he quickly took that chance to grab Kasumi and crush a stone in his hand.

"No, you don't!" Tomoe tried to stop him by throwing her dagger, but it disappeared and instead hit one of the men that were behind Darik.

Tomoe clenched her fist as she let them get away, but now her priority was to help Ayame. Quickly going to her side, Tomoe lifted her up from the ground and placed Ayame on the bed. The people that were left behind had no idea what to do and stared confused.

One tried to take a step, but as his foot hit the wooden floor, it made a creek. Tomoe snapped her head and glared at them, telling them to leave. The dagger that was lodged inside the person's head vanished in a blaze.

With that, they quickly grabbed their dead squad member and left as quickly as they could.

"You just left home... Looks like my warning wasn't enough." Tomoe was furious and contemplated chasing Darik, but that would likely draw too much attention from the higher-ups.

*Sigh* "I'm sorry, Ayame."