Help from the Shadows (Open Novella Contest)

14 (Ayame)

When I woke up at 5 a.m. today, I felt kind of conflicted as I drank some water before bathing and putting on my clothes, offhandedly wondering if the others were allowed to bathe. Probably not, I grimly decided. 

Then I looked at my calendar. I walked over and marked down another day. I stared at it. 

It's been 9 days since they got kidnapped. 4 days since I last saw them. 

I clutched my fists. 

Don't worry, guys, I'll definitely save you! I reminded myself, smiling a bit.

Since today was a Sunday, I used my bicycle, which my parents had bought for me a few months ago when we moved here, to get to the Agency. The breeze was really nice, and it calmed my heart before I got back into business.

Anyway, when I arrived at the Arihoshi shrine, I parked my bicycle just as I heard Chen-nii laugh his heart off. 

"Eh?" I blinked. Curious,  I grabbed my backpack and went in the shrine. 

When I got to the living room, I blinked for a while... before I burst out laughing. 

Why? 

Because Choi-nii was holding up the photo of Shutendouji and Douketsu last night as he squatted in front of our 2 captives, causing them to go red in the face and sputter like a bunch of idiots. Chen-nii was laughing his heart off with Rau-nii, while Jorogumo kept on cackling happily and Kino-nii was snickering under his breath. 

"You guys are so cute, you know that?" Choi-nii teased. 

"S-Shut up!" Shutendouji tried to look threatening, but since he was now Sakami Haruya, and he was completely red, it only made them laugh more. 

"Hi guys!" I then chose to stall for a while by greeting them. 

Upon hearing my voice, their heads swivelled over and they all chorused, "Hi, Yame-chan!" 

"Himeno! Save us!" Douketsu AKA Shimanouchi Ganryuu begged desperately. "They've been rubbing that photo in our faces since 5 a.m.!" 

I briefly looked at the clock, "Wow, you guys have been doing this to them for an hour? Nice!" 

"It's NOT nice if it's super embarrassing!" Shutendouji howled out. You make it sound as if you're completely innocent. A tiny bit of annoyance made me scowl. 

"Then think about how embarrassed Natsume-chan and I were because of your weird antics," I replied back, taking a seat beside Jorogumo. 

At that, the duo blinked. 

"What are you talking about?" Shutendouji -no, Haruya- was obviously confused. 

I scowled at them as I stood up and walked over to them, towering over them in their kneeling positions, "You don't seem to understand that humans don't bow down to others except for royalty." 

"But the Princess IS royalty-" I cut him off, "She's JUST the REINCARNATION of Shuka. She is NOT actually Shuka. Understand that already!" 

"Himeno, you don't seem to understand the circumstances here. The Princess is who she is-" Shimanouchi-sensei tried to retaliate. 

I had enough of their excuses, "I will just tell this to you bluntly; Natsume-chan is not the Princess. You had tried to hurt us so many times, and you think that just because Natsume-chan is Shuka's reincarnation, we would just up and FORGIVE you like that?! You haven't even DONE anything to prove yourselves! No wonder Natsume-chan doesn't like you. And frankly, neither do I!" I glared at them. "You've kidnapped Touma-kun, stolen the Fudou Raimei Ken, tried to kill us on numerous occasions, kidnapped Keisuke-kun to get the Youseiken and did who-knows-what to Leon and Shibumenken."