Chrono X Angel, Book 7: Trial By Fire

Chapter 9

It was just past dawn as the Tachibana sisters began making their way to the airport on foot. They had sent the bulk of their luggage on ahead with Sarah, who was meeting them there, with the pair opting instead to get some exercise in along the way. The flight to Ireland would be a long one, with one stopover in London for a few hours, so Usoko wanted to make sure she would tire easily later on so as to maybe get some better sleep on the plane. As they half-jogged, Kuroko was the first to notice the pair were being followed and subtly nudged her sister to get the girl's attention. Looking back, Usoko sighed and felt her stomach drop a tad to see Kanata catching up with the pair. From her sloppy manner of half dress, it was clear that Kanata had not "just" been out for jog that morning, but Usoko knew before the raven-haired girl even opened her big mouth that it would be her excuse.

"Sup Tachibana," she fake-smiled, "You and the munchkin heading out then? Running away for parts unknown?"

Kuroko's face turned bright red with an anger Usoko had never seen on the usually shy and quiet girl.

"We aren't running away from you, you stinking bully!" growled Kuroko, her pink pigtails beginning to float upwards, "We're going to train and find a way to beat you up! Count on it!"

"I'm shivering in terror," giggled Kanata as Kuroko just continued to fume, "Look I don't really give a damn where you two are going, but the boss'll give me hell if I don't at least try to stop you from leaving so..."

Kanata's sword suddenly manifested in her hand. Instinctively, Usoko dropped her backpack and fell into a combat stance. She was sure she still could not handle Kanata's strength, even with the girl being half awake right now, but Usoko was ready to give it her all just the same. The two stared each other down for a solid minute before Kanata vanished in a flash, reappearing behind Usoko and... lightly clonking her on the head?

"Boom. There. I did my best to stop you, but you got away anyway," yawned the extremely tired Kanata, "Of course it would be more realistic if you hit me back so-"

Before Kanata could finish that sentence, Usoko decked her in the schnoz, sending her reeling to the ground.

"Hey what the FUCK?!" Growled Kanata, now genuinely pissed off. She had let Tachibana off with a literal love tap, and this was how she repaid her??

"You wanted it to be believable right?" Replied Usoko smugly despite herself, "Besides, I owe you a lot more pain than that Kanata. Next time I see you, you're gonna wish you'd never come back. Count on it."

Kanata glared at Usoko, but another part of her was starting to get... excited about that proposition? Though she would have never said so to her face, there was a small part of Kanata that respected Usoko. Liked how she would always manage to stand up for herself no matter what.

"You better," she smirked, "That last fight was barely a test of my abilities. I hope you'll actually be able to fight back next time."

Not wanting to waste any more time, Usoko picked her bag back up and motioned to Kuroko to keep moving. While not scurrying off, the sisters did not want to stick around in case Kanata changed her mind. Kanata simply watched them go, truly unable to care less at the moment. If Usoko really was trying to get stronger, she might want to report that to the fox... on the other hand, Kanata really did want to see just how strong Usoko could get. There was a part of her that had been awakened when she became a magical girl, a part that seemed to crave getting stronger and facing off against strong enemies. The idea of Usoko, her number one foe, becoming strong enough to actually give her a challenge? Yeah, she would let her go for now. Leave it to fate. For now though, she needed to head back home and catch another hour of sleep before having to get ready for school that morning...