Just the Beginning

Burden. Chapter 44

Disclaimer: The song above is called "Delicate" by Taylor Swift. I don't own the picture above and have done only some basic editing. Yeah, I edited a black and white picture. :/

- 5:03 am: Saturday morning, Lia -

I see two of the golden ranking leave a small alley between some huge rocks with huffed and raspy voices while they shout at each other. I turn my gaze away from the arguing devils so I don't get caught eavesdropping on them. 

"What do we say to him now? He wanted us to bring both of the intruders to him." One of the women says in a terrified voice.

"We'll say they left before we could reach to them. They won't have an appropriate reason to banish us." One of them says as their voices fade into the distance while they walk away to the tower. Not long after, I hear voices of another female and a male having a conversation. I go closer to the source, expecting a less threatening group. Both of the voices sound quite familiar so I reach closer to the narrow space between the rocks. 

"Looks like we have a reason to be in the tower six days later." The female voice speaks up and then after a pause, I hear her voice again. "I'll tell you later. Let's get home for now." I go closer to see Kou and Kino standing in the corner of the space. Kou suddenly starts creating a portal out of here when I decide to stop her.

"Kou! Wait!" I say and jog into the alley without a second thought. Both of the demons stop with what they were doing and snap their heads in my direction. "I'm sorry, but I had to stop you. I have some questions." They look at each other and then back at me. 

- 5:45 am: Saturday morning, Kou Gasai -

I step out of the portal and onto the school roof while Kino follows me. We look at each other and start walking towards the exit in a hurry after I close the portal. 

"Are you sure she will do her job?" Kino asks me and I look at him with a somewhat unsure expression. I look at the ground as we run down the staircase and end up slipping because of the darkness. "Ugh! Be careful." I hear Kino's voice as he wraps his arms around under my shoulders, preventing me from falling down the ten to twelve steps stairs. My breathing becomes heavy and I slide down to sit on the step with Kino's arms still supporting me. "Kou... What happened?" He sits beside me.

"The thing is: I trust Lia, I don't trust the higher ups." I answer his question and he sighs, then looks at me closely and intensely.

"I was not talking about her when you fell down. I meant, what happened to you? Why are you losing your balance and thoughts so much?" He says and I continue to look at the ground. I shake my head and start speaking.

"I... Don't know, Kino. It's really dark, I can't see anything. Plus, I feel like there is something I'm forgetting, and that's making me paranoid. It might just be traveling: I haven't been there for so long after all. Yeah, that might be it." I say and look at him, trying to convince him of my reasoning. He doesn't seem pleased with my answer but gets up nonetheless. He pushes his hand in front of my face and I look up at him. With a last look to the ground, I take his hand and get up. We get down the stairs and out of the dark building. 

"I'll teleport you to your house." Kino says as soon as we get out but I shake my head and point out towards the bike that is parked at a distance from us. He follows my gaze and sighs soon after, while rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

"I'm sorry, Kino. I never wanted to be such a burden. This is horrible- you go home and I'll drive my bike back home." I start walking and hear another sigh from him behind me. I continue walking and reach my bike to see him all ready to go with the helmet on as he starts the engine. I tilt my head to the side and he looks at me patiently.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" I smile at him and sit behind him on the bike. He straight away starts driving away towards my house as I put my arms on his shoulders. We stay silent the whole ride and finally reach my house. He immidiately stops the bike, making me hold onto him tighter. 

"Kino! What the hell?!" I say and he shushes me. In confusion, I look up at the mansion to see several silhouettes standing at a window that shows the living room. I gulp and get off the bike while Kino follows. We both enter the house to see all the brothers and Alisha standing in a semi-circle, looking at us as we come into the living room. 

"Welcome back. Where were you two? On a date to some lake where no one can find you?" Alisha says and we both look at each other with a little fear clear, then back at the huge group waiting for our response.

"I guess there's no point in hiding anything anymore." I see Kino snapping his head in my direction as soon as I say that.