Vacation

It's the next day, and Akeno and I are in the sky.

Having a lot of money makes some things easier in life. Namely, I don't need plane tickets to get both of us into the air. Why would I, when I have the money to purchase my own private jet. It's faster, more private, and I don't have to wait for hours. No one knows this but us, of course.

Although, now I'm reminded why I dislike flying.

Well, I don't dislike it, but it's not something I'd rather go through if I can. I have no fear of heights or planes or whatever, but being stuck in a flying metal coffin is beyond boring, and it didn't take me long at all for my mind to start wandering towards more dangerous perspectives. Then again, Akeno is just as guilty as I am.

Which is why we're flying right next to the jet. There's an 'Illusion' Ofuda inside the jet, just to make sure the few attendants I hired aren't going to freak out when they find that we're missing.

I did say we're in the sky. I just meant it literally.

"This is nice." Akeno says, her voice somehow clear despite the rushing winds. There's a wide smile on her lips as she soars around, her black wings trailing with purple sparks. "Everything looks so small from up here."

"I know, right?" I say, grinning as I leap across empty air by kicking bursts of Ki from my feet. It's not that difficult of a technique to learn, though one that's hard to master. Thankfully, my eyes have given me quite the edge on learning things. "I would've liked to do this the entire way. Would've been faster too." I sigh. "But we need this. For legal reasons and all."

Of course, I could just not do all this, but that could open me to further issues if something happens during our vacation, and I really rather not waste my time on that.

"How're you doing?" I ask leisurely. "Your wings doing alright? You haven't flown in a while."

She laughs freely. "I feel better than ever!" She says with a wide grin.

I smile. It's nice to see her having fun, at least. I'd worried she'd plummet from the sky or something; it's been nearly two years since she last used her wings after all. But I'm glad my worries turned out wrong. Akeno flies easily, her wings not the slightest atrophied from the lack of use.

If anything, her wings seem better than ever. As if degradation isn't even a thing her body knows about.

Which makes sense, really. Her Primal Energy must be keeping her body in perfect shape, regardless of what's happening in her life.

"Don't get too excited there." I say, gently pulling her away from the jet. "Keep control. I don't want to see you plunge head first into the jet."

She huffs. "I'll be fine."

I smirk. "Wasn't worrying about you, girl. The jet's probably going to explode, and you'll be completely fine."

"Boo-hoo." She says, faking hurt as she puts a hand on her chest. "To think you care more for the plane than me—how worthless I am."

I roll my eyes.

We spend the next hour just chatting. It's nothing too exciting, aside from us literally flying next to a private jet that is. We talk over what places we'll visit, and what foods we'll eat. Neither time nor money will be a problem for us. I can easily cover both.

Before long, we begin descending through the clouds, parting through the white to see the massive continent below. Satisfied with our flying, we quickly rush back into the jet, pulling the emergency door open and shutting it behind us before anything can happen. Naturally, the Ofudas stuck all around the jet makes sure we're not spotted.

For the next few minutes, we sit tight as we continue to descend. The jet jostles as we touch down, and we're pushed back into our seats as the jet slows down.

It's late at night when we finally stop.

Considering we flew right after school ended today, that's not that bad.

It takes us minutes to settle into our lodgings for the next couple days. Our baggage, our hotel; all paid for and dealt with by people I hired. I mean, we're hardly going to use any of them, but they're there.

Being rich is nice. Makes things a whole lot easier at times.

So instead, we have the entire night to ourselves. We could go visit some place, or take some time talking with the locals, or maybe learn about the culture here, or-

Well, none of those happen. Instead, the moment we're left alone, Akeno turns to me with burning fervor and demands we go eat some pizza. It's one of the first things she wrote down in our bucket list for the trip, and she's insistent we do it now.

Which is fair. We are in Italy. Capital of pizza and all.

And I'm glad we did. Because the pizza here is so good. It's actually criminal how tasty even the simplest looking pizza was. I don't care that we got looks for ordering every type of pizza from the restaurant we went to. We were more focused on enjoying some actually damn good pizza for once.

No offense to Japan, of course. My home country has some wonderful food, and I don't think I can fully give up ramen and takoyaki without losing some part of myself. But western foods? Not Japan's strongest suit.

By the time our pizza feast ends, it's close to midnight. The restaurant's just about to close, and the streets have turned slightly more quiet. If we're normal, we would've gone back to our hotel and slept for the night.

Thankfully, we're not normal people.

So instead, we take to the skies, hidden under the cover of our 'Invisibility' Ofudas. Our time in this country is short, and we want to visit as many places as we can. And that means forgoing any normal means of transportation and blasting across the skies.

Which, considering our newfound love for flying large distances, is hardly an issue.

From Prato to Terni to Civitavecchia. We travel from one city to another, taking in the sights and enjoying the local delicacies. The latter especially rings true; we've eaten more food in the past few hours than we have in the past month, I think. At least we don't have to worry about getting fat. Our Primal Energy just takes care of that.

We've visited nearly a dozen cities once the sun rises from the horizon, and neither of us are satisfied quite yet. There's more places to be. More food to taste. More sights to see. Our travels don't slow in the slightest.

Perhaps then, it's inevitable we'd encounter something on our way.

On the morning of our second day in Italy, we arrive at the edges of Rome. We've both heard of Rome. The capital city of Italy; it's the entire country boiled and condensed into a single city.

None of that matters to us. We're just here to see the colosseum, eat some food, and then move on.

We buy an entire bakery's selection for our breakfast. As per usual, we get odd looks for our early feast. Neither of us notice nor care. We take a seat, and in no time we begin eating through the small mountain of baked goods.

It's during my third croissant that I feel something. I quickly activate my eyes to see what it is, and I blink.

A bell jingles as the door opens, and in comes a young man. His hair is a bright blonde and his eyes a cutting green. He's wearing a simple priest's robe, and I can see a silver cross worn over his chest as a necklace.

Dulio Gesualdo is his name. An exorcist working under the Vatican, and the wielder of the Longinus known as Zenith Tempest.

The man walks in, and immediately he begins…buying out the entire bakery. The store owner gawks as he sees another person buy out his entire selection, and Dulio pays for his meal with a bright smile.

Then, his eyes finally meet mine. He stares for a moment, and so do I.

It doesn't last long. Because he then turns to our tray and sees the manu pastries we still haven't finished. And his eyes practically glitter as he finds a kindred spirit.

So, with no caution whatsoever, he walks up to us and greets us with a bright smile. "Good morning! Mind if I sit here?"

Akeno stills, finally realizing that Dulio is even there. She blinks, and then turns a wary glance my way. She doesn't know who he is, but she can feel his strength. It certainly doesn't help that she doesn't have the best grasp on Italian just yet.

Thankfully, I have my eyes to see through his intentions.

And I find nothing suspicious. If anything, he's the one who's completely oblivious. He's hungry right, a little sleepy as well, but he's very happy to find someone who's gouging on as much food as he plans to in just a moment.

He's just that carefree, I suppose.

I smile, amused and intrigued. "I don't mind, sir. And it'd be quite the sight to see our pile of baked goods get even bigger."

He smiles wider as he sits down, and indeed, our combined tray looks ridiculous. Two mountains of pastries, one fresh and the other already half-finished. And paired just on the side are a couple cups of warm coffee, with trails of steam rising into the air.

And so, our interesting morning begins.