Limitless

Chapter 29: Running Again

It had been a week since Maki turned eighteen. Since celebrating her birthday, she started to be more open to everybody. She has finally been able to talk to the other Limitless without them worrying about her doing something to them. She could communicate without them referring to her as "Murder Girl" like they had done so before. It helped to make her feel more comfortable with talking to them. She had gotten out a lot more too. Some days she would find herself walking around town or sitting in the park during the early hours of the morning to try to get some time to herself. She always lets Kaito or one of the others know that she's going out on her own as to not cause a panic. It was the lark that she visited more often, especially when it was early in the morning. She enjoyed watching the winter sun coming up and start brightening up the town. It felt soothing to her.

Currently she was sitting int he upstairs apartment where the girls resided. She had done some hand to hand combat training with Tenko, but decided to take a break after going at it for at least an hour and a half. She was sipping some tea that she had made for Kaede and herself. She had stopped wearing a black hoodie or dark red jacket for now. She had decided to wear the jacket that the girls had given her, to show that she truly appreciated them for the gift and how comfortable they were with her.

"So, what's going on between you and Kaito?" Kaede suddenly asked, a smile making itself known.

"What do you mean?" Maki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw you kiss him on the cheek." Kaede giggled, remembering what happened when she and Shuichi watched the window for Kaito and Maki to get inside the apartment on the night of Maki's birthday. Immediately understanding what that meant, Maki's face turned bright pink. "So what's going on between you two?" Seeing Maki like this, Kaede couldn't help herself. She had been suspecting something going on between the two for some time now. She honestly thought that they had gotten together by now considering how close they were.

"Nothing!" Maki protested, suddenly feeling defensive. Why was she being defensive? She suddenly felt her heart beating fast just thinking at how she had kissed Kaito on the cheek. She wasn't in love with him. At least, she didn't think so. It was just a sign of how grateful she was for what he did.

"Are you sure?" Kaede asked, her smile looking mischievous and knowing all of a sudden.

"Do you wanna die? There's nothing going on between us." Maki protested again, her face suddenly becoming the same shade of red as her eyes. She felt an odd feeling in her chest as she denied the accusations, as if something inside her told her that she was wrong to say it. Kaede didn't seem convinced. She was ready to ask something, her mouth opening. However, she was suddenly cut off at the sound of the door slamming open. None of the doors had locks, so it was that easy to burst into an apartment uninvited. All the girls looked to see Rantaro at the wide open door, his face looking pale.

"Hey! You degenerate! No ma-" Tenko started to rant.

"Downstairs! Now! We have an emergency!" Rantaro shouted, ignoring the martial artist's outburst. He suddenly dashed back downstairs, going so fast that he was risking tripping down the stairs. The girls each exchanged a worried glance before dropping everything and following him. They rushed to the boys' apartment seeing the commotion.

"Gonta such an idiot! Gonta sorry! Gonta sorry!" Gonta cried, holding his head in despair as tears started to roll down his face.

"Gonta, calm yourself." Kiyo tried to calm the giant down, gesturing for him to sit down.

"What's going on, big guy?" Kaito asked gently. He must have been up here before Rantaro warned the girls about the trouble. With Gonta still upset, Kirumi was able to calm him down just enough so she could explain.