Beyond a Thief's Power Version 2 (Mature, for Ages 18+)

Episode 12

Bundles of Stress

Inside of what appeared to be a Japanese-style home, Sayuri was standing in front of a scroll that read: "Under the blue sky, the power to heal is near but far. Yet, it is obtained through many sources."

"It's not as easy as anyone thinks," the orange-haired magician noted. There seemed to be something on her mind, but she did not let on much about it. She stared at the scroll for a few more seconds. "...I better go now. It's about time I meet up with them."

She turned around, bringing herself to the other world that awaited her, disappearing from Neon. She soon appeared inside Le Renard Noir with a sitting position and landed on one of the chairs near the bar counter. Her wings had also showed themselves again with a gentle movement, and vanished afterward. The guys and Rina had been busy setting the table up with reheated plates and dishes of food, and took notice of Sayuri's elegant arrival within a short amount of time.

"Uwa!" Kenshi's shouted in a surprised tone of voice. "Sayuri?!"

"Looks like you made it after all," Riki smiled in a pleasant manner. Something was a bit different about his usual sense of hospitality, though.

Takuto glanced at the firefighter. "Why are you so surprised? She told us she was going to be here, didn't she? There's really no need for you to get riled up at a time like this, Kenny."

"I-I know!" Kenshi stuttered. "I was just... a little out of it, okay?" His cheeks were clouded with pink blushes that made him look somewhat cute in a boyish way. "Not like I meant anything that would be a big deal, but it just happened."

Rina smiled when she saw her best friend. "Did you get your wound all healed up at home?"

Sayuri nodded. "It's not like I could get a scar from leaving it untreated, but it felt nice to be back in Neon. I suppose you went back home?"

"Well, I kind of had to," Rina smiled. She felt somewhat awkward when she brought her words up. "Mom was giving me stuff to bring to Le Renard Noir since I'm staying here. I moved out of my old apartment in this world and gave it away for free. It's always nice to be in our world again for a change, but I'm not sure about Riki over there." She turned her head to her left, looking at the government official who was sitting at the table the majority of the group was going to have their dinner at. "He's been like that for a while, so sulking's his specialty sometimes. On the other hand, he's probably controlling his urge to drink while Mitsuki-san's not right by him. They're always joined together by the hip, so there's a disheartening atmosphere he emits when they're apart occasionally."

Sayuri blinked. "Like Takuji and Asuka? They're so in love that it makes the human girl living with them in Roppongi annoyed by watching their interactions with each other. What was her name? Kirie Kuroki? It's rare to see humans with vibrant eye and hair colors. But there's a dot in the center of both her eyes."

"Yeah," Takuto breathed. He was still as indifferent as ever. "That's called a pupil. Some people have a more prominent one in both of their eyes in this world, but magicians don't have them, do they?"

"That's because we're beautiful people," Sayuri replied as she turned her head toward Takuto. "Our eyes are fine the way they are."

The programmer smirked. "So I take it the girl you mentioned isn't good enough to compare to you guys because she can't land on your standards?"