Chapter 20: Interrupted Delivery

I was pulled from my thoughts by a loud thud.

"What happened?" I was instantly awake and alert.

"Ow..." Chiyuki winced, crawling up from the hard wooden floor.

"You still fall off your bed?" I asked.

Chiyuki nodded, her face pink again.

"I guess old habits die hard." I shrugged.

"Mmm..." Chiyuki suddenly jumped up. "You... you remember me now?"

"Yeah, I got my memories back." I smiled. "So what are you doing here, Yuki?"

In my memories, I referred to as Chiyuki "Yuki," and she called me "Nii."

"Remember the graduation rule of the Kitano family, Nii?" Chiyuki asked.

Clearly not.

"Get in an academy as a special apprentice." Chiyuki told me, seeing I was confused.

After asking a bit more, I learned that special apprentices were disciples of academies that were of a higher level than elites. Instead of going to different lectures given by different masters, they had their own master. To become one, you must be personally picked by a master.

"But the festival only gives you a spot as an elite, does it not?" I asked.

"Mhm. But if you already got in as an elite, it's much easier to rank up and become a special." Chiyuki nodded. "That's why I wanted to win. Why are you doing the festival, Nii?"

"Used to be just for fun. Now I have to clean up a mess I made." I said and explained the situation to Chiyuki.

"Well... you didn't have the responsibility to give your chance to win away," Chiyuki said.

"True. But I feel like something that someone else desperately needs while I have no use for shouldn't belong to me." I replied. "It's like giving your glass of water to someone who has been travelling through a desert."

"Still, you weren't aware, so it's not your fault." Chiyuki rolled her eyes. "Nii, you're still like this even after so long. You always blame yourself."

She then gave an innocent smile. "But I like it."

Oh, I see where this is going.

The promised day had come. Well, it was only a day after my reunion with Chiyuki.

In any case, all our patience paid off. As expected, Yune's group exited the city a bit early. Montei had some weird contraptions that could detect air movement, which helped us notice Yune's vehicle as it used a wind element rune to propel itself.

We followed them for an entire day. When dusk was nearing, we jumped out.

"Area denied." I said calmly to the Hayashi family guards who were surrounding Yune's vehicle.

"Attacker! Protect the Miss!" The guards shouted as the three of them formed a wall in front of the vehicle, and all three of them activated their spirit at once.

"You're 'protecting' her, huh," I analyzed. "They aren't that strong as individuals, but this formation seems to unify and amplify their spirit energy."

"Are they stronger than you, boss?" Montei asked.

"Quite possibly, yes." I nodded, then turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi, can you take care of one of them?"

"I can take care of all of them." Kasumi shrugged. "Just go save Yune."

I nodded. There was no point in not trusting Kasumi; I did win against him, but that was an outsmart, and I also felt like Kasumi's full power had yet to be unleashed.

I carried Yune out of her vehicle. Forgetting she could see with her butterfly, I told her it was me.

"I know." She replied, with the same smile on her face.

"Um..." I scratched my head. "Sorry for having you do this, but..."

I explained our plan to her. She simply nodded.

"I said I'd trust you fully, so I'll do whatever you say."

When I came back with Yune, Kasumi had already finished. He was panting slightly, and the four guards were lying all over the ground, unconscious.

"Moye," I said to Moye privately. "Can you erase their memories of this event? Like, make them think they never came here?"

"I can erase their memories, but I can't add in a false one." Moye replied.

"That's fine, just do that."

Moye swiftly erased the three guards' memories, and Montei, Kasumi and I took their attire. We then continued to go to our next destination, disguised as Hayashi guards assigned to Yune.

"May I ask where you plan to hide me?" Yune asked from within the vehicle. "As much as I trust you, I have to let you know that my position is being tracked."

"How so?" I asked back.

"They're using some sort of spell to track my unique spirit energy." Yune answered. "So I don't think there's any way to stop them unless I can completely hide my spirit."

"Can you do that?" I talked to Moye.

"Yes, but I'm not sure if it'll prevent her from being tracked."

"It's our only option now."

Moye went silent for a minute. When she spoke to me again, I found that Yune's spirit energy had miraculously disappeared.

"Well, I suppose I'm fully blind now." Yune sighed. "For the better, though."

"Our next step is to arrive at Yukizakura*, according to this map." I held out a map I got after being promoted in the festival. "So once we get there, we'll find a place to settle Yune, preferably somewhere close but not too close, in case the Hayashi family starts looking for her and suspects us."

"Moye, can you-" I asked Moye, but she replied with an annoyed voice in my head.

"If you're going to ask if I can change her appearance, then it's a yes." Moye replied.

"How did you know that?"

"I know you well enough. It's also written clearly on your face."

"Well... anyways, do that."

In the time of me blinking my eyes, Yune was gone. In her place was a much younger girl with a pink ponytail wearing a pink yukata.

*Yukizakura: 雪桜, literally "Snow Cherry".