Homeward Bound

Chapter 2: High Stakes

Mahiru waited on a bench near by the store. The bags were set aside by his feet. He explained everything that happened to Misono and was told to wait there until the other Eve arrived. His hands were holding Kuro's cat bell on his lap, staring at it with a guilty expression.

"Kuro tried to warn me... that something bad would happen and I... ignored him"

An image of Kuro's annoyed and hurt eyes staring back at him when Mahiru ordered him to stay came to mind. The Eve of Sloth felt like an idiot for disregarding his partner and now the Servamp is paying the price for his Eve's incompetence. Mahiru can only hope that they find him before something bad happens . His thoughts were cut off by the sound of wheels becoming louder.

A fast driving limousine made a screeching stop by the store in a way that it almost fell on its side, startling Mahiru. He breathed a sigh of relief when the limo went back to its four wheels, only the Alisuin family driver is crazy enough to pull a stunt like that. A purple haired boy followed blond man exited the limo.

"Dodo grab Shirota's bags and put them in the trunk!" the Eve of Lust barked, earning a witty comeback from said driver, he glared at him before turning to Mahiru with an even more intense glare. "Shirota you bastard! How can you lose your Servamp!" the brown haired boy expected this from his callus friend, he remembered the long lecture on the phone.

"I'm sor-"

"Now, now Misono no need to get so riled up, I'm sure Mahiru wouldn't do such a thing purposely..." the blond man soothed his Eve as he sent the boy an apologetic smile. His hand went to strip off his shirt.

"Lily! Don't strip!" Misono smacked his Servamp before he finished the act.

"Tehe, I was only trying to lighten the mood, after all fighting won't get us any closer to finding Nii-san" Lily advised cheerily, with a hint of seriousness at the end.

Knowing what he meant by that, Misono decided to apologize, "sorry Shirota... it's just that if an Eve and Servamp are apart for too long you would surely die and who knows what would happen to Sloth without his contract item..." it was true that Misono was worried for his friends life, but his brash nature usually gets the better of him. Mahiru clapped his hand on Misono's shoulder and gave a bright smile.

"it's alright Misono, but I know that I'm still at fault here." He looked down, "I should of listened to Kuro, but I let my temper get ahead of me again. So you'll help me find him so I can apologize to him, right?"

Misono nodded nervously, "s-sure what are friends for..."

Lily smiled at his Eve as Dodo finished putting away the bags. "Hey cow-lick! I'm going to look if this place has footage of what happened while you guys look for a trail," the driver yelled as he went in the store, ignoring the angry threats of being fired from the small boy.

The Servamp of Lust tried to futility to conceal his laughs with his hand, earning a betrayed 'Lily!' from his Eve. "Now Mahiru would you kindly show us where you found Nii-san's contract item?" he asked.

"Y-yeah sure" he answered nervously while Lily pushed him away from the ranting boy and to the alley where he found Kuro's bell.

The second youngest Servamp inspected the spot where the bell has been and turned to Mahiru with a serious look in his red eyes. He held out his hand to Mahiru, "may I see the contract item" he asked. The boy quickly took the bell out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him. Lily grasped the precious item in his hand and closed his eyes in concentration. "About how long has it been since you've last seen Sleepy Ash?" He asked with eyes still closed.