Who are you?

Part 29

The next day marked the beginning of her training. Akira was careful not to push her and took things slow. Shiori was stubborn, but she appreciated the gesture. They trained until lunchtime.

After lunch, Shiori headed to the library to help Daichi organize some reports. The reports were already piled; she just had to put them in boxes so they could be moved to the archive room.

She got to work quickly. She ensured each box was neat and the reports were arranged so they wouldn't be a mess when someone needed to grab them. She also made an index for each box so they would be easy to find.

It took a few hours, and Daichi left to grab them some tea and refreshments. Shiori was almost done when she suddenly heard a sound from deeper in the room. It sounded like scratching.

She got up to investigate. It was probably a small animal, maybe a rat. She turned behind some bookshelves, following the sound. It was coming from the archive room in the back.

As she turned the last corner, she saw that the door was slightly ajar. It was strange. She was sure that the door was always kept locked due to the sensitive documents kept there.

She was not allowed to go in for the same reason, but the door was ajar. She had seen Daichi go into the room before, but he always closed the door fully behind him.

She could hear the scratching sounds coming from the inside. She didn't want to break the rules by going in, yet she took a step closer. She heard a small crunching sound from beneath her feet.

She looked down and saw a broken raven feather. Had one of the birds ventured inside? She calmed herself down and decided to check it out. If it was a bird, all she had to do was open the door and let them out. She didn't need to go inside and break the rules.

She took a few steps closer, approaching the door slowly. As she got closer and closer to the door, her heart was racing in her chest. She was about to break a rule set for her by the gracious host who had done so much for her, no matter how she looked at the technicalities.

She was hesitant. Disappointing Akira and the guardians was more scary to her than her sense of curiosity, so she decided to back away.

Right as she heard a loud crashing sound from the inside, she reflexively reached for the door. Just as her hand was about to reach the handle, it was gripped firm and solidly. She turned her head to see Daichi looking at her.

"You are not allowed inside." He said sternly.

Shiori calmed her rushing heart before speaking. "I heard some scratching noises. I followed them here to see the door ajar, " she said as she showed him the feather she was holding in her other hand. "I found this over there. I thought that maybe a raven ventured inside and got trapped, " she said with as much honesty as she could muster.

Daichi looked into her eyes, and when he found no lies, he let go of her arm. "Go back to the table. The tea and snacks are there. I will check out to see what made the crashing sound," he said. His tone had the usual warmth back in it, so Shiori knew he wasn't mad at her.

She headed back towards the table, not looking behind her.

When Shiori returned to her room that night, another book was waiting for her. This was probably what Scar was talking about. She quickly checked the rest of the room, and just like previous times, nothing was amiss.

She grabbed her futon, made it ready for the night, and sat on it to read. It seemed to be a storybook, much thinner than the previous book. Maybe there was something in the story, so she started reading carefully. This time, she won't take the book for granted and will make sure to memorize every detail.