:|Another Time, Another Place|:

:|Chapter 8|: Ahnyx's POV

After I finished changing, I headed back towards the door. That was when I heard Akari talking on the phone. It sounded like a serious conversation and even though I was tempted to just listen to it, I decided to go ahead and wash up while I waited for her to finish up talking.

After washing up, it seemed like she was done speaking, so I walked in. When I walked in the room, she was walking towards the door and seemed to freeze. I rose an eyebrow at her when I saw a look of relief pass through her big, abnormal eyes. Deciding not to think much about it, I walked towards her. Then, I remembered that I had my cell somewhere. I looked around, then turned to Akari.

“Hey, do you know where my cell is?” I asked as I turned to look at her. She seemed to once again freeze at the sound of my voice before calming herself and lifting her gaze to mine. Her face was oddly emotionless when she spoke.

“Oh, you got a call from one of your… friends.” She said, and I could see the guilt in her voice. Shit, that was probably why she had frozen when I had walked into the room. Hopefully that wasn’t who I thought it was.

“Who was it?” She hesitated for a moment before speaking once again; the exact words that had my heart sinking.

“It was some guy named… well… he never really mentioned his name. He was pretty weird though.” She said this while looking at me with a sort of accusing look. I bit my lip at this, knowing exactly who would have called me to begin with. Sighing, I asked her the question I was dreading.

“What did he want exactly?” She studied me for a while when I asked her this, seeming to think of whether she should tell me or not.

“Well, basically he told me that some ninja organization you ran from was after you.” She said this, giving me a quizzical look before adding “Oh, he also said that you were going to be… murdered for speaking about the organization with me… but you didn’t say anything about an organization…?” She seemed to be really confused and I knew that I was an idiot for forgetting about my phone. I hadn’t been around someone in a long time that didn’t know about my ninja duty. I took a deep breath, unsure of what I was going to say to her about this.

“Look, you weren’t supposed to find out about the organization. I had escaped because I didn’t feel as if that organization was my destiny anymore. I know it sounds weird, but my gut was telling me to leave. I’m sorry for dragging you into this. I mean, I could leave if you want… but first, we have to destroy that cell phone because they could track me.” She nodded slowly at me, seeming to process all of this. She then moved towards the lamp by the bed and picked up my cell. She then walked over and handed it hesitantly over to me.

“I… it’s okay for you to stay with me you know.” She muttered as she handed me the cell. Her words for some reason made me freeze and made my heart skip a beat.  Not only did my actions surprise me, but the way she was taking all of this seemed to be too nonchalant, like she wasn’t surprised in the least. I looked at her, speculating her to see if she was just hiding her reaction from me; the only thing I saw though, was a sincere look and a look of curiosity. I held back a small smile at that and finally responded to her words.

“Are you sure that you want to risk your life by letting me travel with you?” At my question, a smirk slipped onto her soft lips.

“What, you think I can’t handle the pressure? Well, you met the right girl. I was made to understand the abnormity of this world. I can kick some major ass ok; you just wait and see! Also, maybe you can teach me a little bit of your skills…?” She said the last sentence with a puppy-dog look and I chuckled at the look because somehow, it seemed almost the most adorable expression I’d ever seen.

“Okay, if you say so Akari. I was just warning you that it would probably be a rocky road ahead if you allowed me to stay. Also, I guess I could teach you a thing or two.” She grinned up at me with my words and started jumping up and down in excitement.

“This is going to be so much fun! I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure with a ninja!” She seemed to feel accomplished and I rolled my eyes at her unique personality. I had only been around strict females most of my life because of the ninja organization. I hadn’t noticed that I was staring at her with a broad smile on my lips until she waved her hand in my face, looking at me as if I were the crazy one. Quite ironic being that she was the one who was just jumping around with glee.

“So, we should probably get going. We have a long road ahead. Does your gut tell you we’re going the right way?” She asked, her innocent yet mischievous eye beaming up at me. It was an odd combination of a personality, but that’s the words I would use to describe this rare beauty in front of me. Though, in a way, I believe that she is hiding something from me. There’s a look she gets sometimes that looks distant and deep in thought; though, I can’t really put my finger on what it could possibly be that she wants to keep from me so bad. Was it something to do with why she was now running away, or was it something else?

While I pondered about this mysterious girl, I went to go pack my bags and get ready to depart this hotel. I also had to destroy the cell though, because who knows how fast they had found my whereabouts.

As we entered the lobby, I told Akari to wait a moment and made my way towards the pool room. Looking around cautiously to make sure that no one was paying attention to what I was doing, I snuck into the room and nonchalantly dropped the cell into the hot tub before walking casually back towards where Akari was waiting for me.

When I made it back to her though, I froze because she was talking to none other than Ryan. I looked around to make sure that he was alone at that moment, and then I turned back towards a custodian walking pass me and asked to use his phone. He nodded and then handed me it. I then walked back around the corner and dialed Akari’s cell. We had exchanged numbers during the car ride here when she was asking different things about me. She answered rather quickly because she knew it was me.

“Where are you?” She whispered into the phone. I was grateful that she hadn’t said my name because then we’d both be in trouble.

“Akari, are you still talking to that guy?” I asked quietly, hoping that she didn’t give anything away. She murmured a yes, sounding a little confused as to why I wanted to know. ”Look, you have to get away from him this instance. He might not know that you’re the girl he spoke to this morning. Tell him that you have to go to the ladies room right now.” I could tell that it had finally dawned on her then and I heard her tell Ryan that she needed to go to the rest room. I heard as they bid each other farewell; I could also tell that she had now disguised her voice to sound a little different from how she had talked while on the phone with him.

That was when she came around the corner and I grabbed her arm because she hadn’t seen me. Before she could let out a squeak of surprise, I put my hand over her lips and whispered into her ear that it was me. She then relaxed when she heard my voice and then I let her go, allowing her to turn towards me.

“What are we supposed to do now that he’s out there?” She whispered frantically. I sighed through my nose and then motioned for her to follow me. We headed towards the back exit then, to scout out if he was alone or not. We did it just in time too, because I saw from the corner of my eye that down the hall, Ryan was walking towards the pool. I rushed our footsteps a little more so that we could be completely out of sight.

I cursed when we made it to the back door of the hotel because the place seemed to be surrounded. I could never get a break damn it!