Gifted

V

"WAIT!"

I turn my head as Allan jumped into the air. My eyes went wide at the person standing on the ground.

"ALLAN, LAND!" I shouted.

"SQAAAHHH!" the bird glided back to the ground and skidded to a stop. I jumped off her back and went running towards Maze. She looked half alive. She was cut and scratched all over, her clothes were basically falling off of her, and she was limping on what looked like a sprained ankle. I grabbed her just as she fell to the ground. The others jumped off of Allan's back and ran over.

"Maze?" Rafe said. He pointed his hand at the ground and a bright purple light formed between the rest of the group and Maze.

"What are you doing?!" I said. Maze struggled to her feet and coughed up blood. The look in her hazel eyes was nothing but fright. She looked like a scared little kid, even if she was our age.

Rafe scowled. "She led us to that demon principal, I don't trust her at all." he said.

"SHE SAVED YOU!" I shouted back. I glanced at Maze and she began to cry.

"Please..." she said in a soft voice. "I cant go back there, not now..."

"What happened?" I said.

"I was fighting with my Mom when the dragon invaded the school. The students..." she began to cry uncontrollably. The students must have been overpowered. When the giant Ayakashi attacked the Academy in Rhode Island, only I was able to stop it. But there was no one like that at their Academy. Many students and teachers must have perished.

"I was the only one that got away," Maze said, sniffling. "Then HH came..."

HH. I remembered telling Kazuma to call Headquarters. Looks like he came through.

"What happened?" I said.

"HH came after everything was destroyed. The dragon had flew away before they could slay it. After they confirmed it was safe, they began helping the students that were, you know, still alive." She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Eventually they questioned me about my Mother's whereabouts. I told them everything I knew, but I didn't know where she was. They didn't believe me and..." She threw her hands in the air. "I ran away before they could capture me."

She looked at Rafe, who was still scowling.

"So your lunatic Mom and HH could be after you? Yuki! You still want her to come with us after hearing that?" Maze shot me a pleading expression. It is possible she could lead HH straight to us. And I've heard some pretty nasty rumors about them too. Supposedly they capture certain kids with extraordinary powers and run tests on them like guinea pigs. Maybe for some kind of super weapon. And if that's the case, I could be in danger as well...

Maze bear hugged me and sobbed into shoulder.

"Yukine, please! I don't, I can't, go back to that place."

Rafe stood with his arms crossed, unwavering in his opinion. Asuna and Ebi just stared at the ground, not willing to look me in the eye. But I had made up my mind already. I pulled Maze off my shoulder and walked up to the barrier Rafe created.

Then I shattered it to pieces with my katana.

"Listen Kuri, I'm the leader of this group. I make the decisions. We were assigned this mission, you simply tagged along. If you have a problem with it, then leave. Maze saved all of our asses in that school, its only fair that we repay her." I stared at him dead in the eye.

He sighed and put his arms down. "Fine, but if she pulls anything, I'll kill her." I could tell he was serious. I glanced back at Maze and she was crying tears of joy. We helped her onto Allan's back and strapped in.