Chapter 44.5

"Really, Mr. Chiba, I'm hoping you can help me with this endeavour."

Chiba turned away from the moving scenery only to gaze at the man sitting in front of him. He observed the latter's brown skin, his wavy mane of black hair, and the dark hazel eyes that were gleaming with hope. Both he and his guest were sitting in the backseat of his car that was being driven by his security guard.

"I'll try Ambassador Singh, but I can't guarantee anything," Chiba replied while massaging his forehead, a headache forming from Singh's favor. "It depends on my daughter, and she is good friends with him. I can only see if she agrees to your request.""

Singh, the ambassador of India to Sanctuary had requested a meeting with Chiba after several failed negotiations with Colonel Watson of AEM. His intentions were to meet Jason Sage, however Watson repeatedly refused his requests. Through some backdoors, Singh was able to discover that Chiba's daughter, Asami, was a student and friend of Jason, and thus he arranged a pronto meeting with his fellow ambassador.

"Thank you, I just need you to arrange a simple meeting with him, nothing more," Singh answered. "As thanks, I'll send some Imperial Dragon Fruit to your home, regardless of the result."

Chiba straightened himself and turned to look at Singh with a serious expression. The Imperial Dragon Fruit was a rare mutated version of the Asian cactus, rich with Aether, making it a precious commodity for those that wanted to gain strength. The seeds within the fruit was a shade of crystal green jade and would aid any Elementary Esper in levelling up.

This would be great for Chibi, Mr. Chiba thought. Meaning I owe Singh big time.

He knew that despite being so bright and cheery, Asami had an inferiority complex due to being a level one. For some reason, despite having the resources, Asami was unable to level up. But now, with the Imperial Dragon Fruit hanging in front of him, Chiba had hope again.

Chiba nodded and was about to reply when he heard a long honk from a nearby car. Seconds later, he was thrust forward as the car lurched sideways before flipping. Fragments of shattered glass grazed his face as he felt the world spin for what seemed like an eternity. The world around him settled down long before he managed to regain his wits, and Chiba quickly turned to look around at Singh even as his ears rang from the impact.

With a groan, he unbuckled his seatbelt and landed headfirst on what was once the roof of his car. His blurry gaze landed on his driver who had taken his gun out and exited the vehicle. Multiple gunshots rang out and Chiba flinched and ducked even though he was inside the car. Hearing a thump, he turned and saw his guard collapse, his legs jerking as he bled from his gunshot wounds.

Chiba turned and helped Singh out of his seatbelt before kicking the door that was opposite of the direction the gunshots came from.

"Go, go!" he pulled a stun gun from his waist and dragged Singh out of the car before dropping low to avoid the shots that came barreling towards him. "Stay low."

Counting to three, Chiba psyched himself before getting out of cover and returning fire, hitting one ambusher before ducking back down as the enemies showered him with bullets.

"Seikō wa sekyuritidesu ka?" Chiba swore as he and Singh flinched from the barrage of bullets that hit the car they were hiding under.

"Kya yah hamesha yahaan aisa hai?!" Singh yelled as he desperately used his holo-watch to contact someone.

A moment later a shout was heard and the clanging of metal reverberated before more gunshots were heard. Chiba furrowed his eyebrows when he realized that the shots were no longer targeting him and both he and Singh peeked over the car only to see his would-be killers being attacked by a single woman.

Her silky black hair was held up in a bun and her face was concealed in an oni mask. She targeted the enemies close to her, slicing their weapons while using their body to shield herself from the enemies that were farther off and aiming at her with their rifles. With a kick, she sent one shooter flying into another and stabbed her katana through the throat of a third before ducking and approaching a fourth. Within a minute, she had killed or maimed all the shooters and Chiba slowly emerged from the remains of his car once he saw it was safe.

"Honey?" Chiba asked in Japanese and the masked woman turned to look at him.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Chiba asked back mildly as she flung aside the blood that was dripping from her katana before sheathing it.

"I love you."

"I know."