The sound of wind rustling filled our ears.
"Promise me." Amari turned around.
"Promised what?" I ask, my brows furrowed in frustration.
Amari moved closer, standing before me, reaching her hand out. "Promise me you won't use your power to hurt someone again." Amari's voice washed away my anger.
Moonlight illuminated the sky; it felt as if the heavens had put a spotlight on us— the sound of the fountain's water flowing added to the soothing atmosphere.
I did it again. This was the 8th time I had gotten into a fight since enrolling in the Academy, and it had barely been six months. And as always, Amari, being a benevolent senior, had to bail me out of getting into trouble. I didn't view it as my fault because it was the delinquents who always picked a fight by provoking me.
'I guess it's getting to her.' She had never complained before about me getting into needless fights, but every person had a limit. In fact, instead of giving me a lecture, she always comforted me until I calmed down. I dread to imagine who I'd become if she hadn't been there for me.
Amari smiled at me expectantly.
She was also good at unintentionally making me feel like a burden.
I placed my hands on hers "I promise…with a few exceptions."
Amari chuckles softly, "As selfish as ever." Her hands rose.
"It's my defining quality."
Her hand landed on my head, and she ruffled my hair.
"Ah!! My hair!! LET GO!!" I whine.
'From tomorrow, I'll try to be more patient.'
-----
I jolted awake.
An unfamiliar, white ceiling, and my body was covered in bandages.
I look to my right and see Amari, with the same kind eyes, dark raven hair, and a welcoming smile. She was wearing a simple white skirt with puffy sleeves under a green sleeveless sweater.
"Awake?" She questioned.
I exert myself and answer "Yes."
She sighs and moves closer.
"Your power…is truly incredible. You've been out for barely two hours, and you've already recovered almost fully." A smile graces her face.
Only then did I realise my ability was still active. A sound of static signalled the deactivation, the golden aura dissipating.
"Mm. I'm sorry." I look away in guilt. 'I've burdened her again.'
"No, don't apologise!" Amari waves her hands "I've kept a very important secret to myself… so, let's call it even."
"…?"
'Come to think of it, at the end of the fight, Amari had stepped in. But wait, why was she there? No, how was she able to parry Tsiene's attack? What was she—'
"Don't think too much. If you have any questions, I'll answer them." Amari breaks my chain of questions.
"Ahem… For starters, where are we?"
"We're in a special medical care unit in Sanctuary's Armament Wing." She responds.
Her response spawned further questions instead of clarifying anything.
"The Sanctuary is…a kind of secret organization that fights against any invaders who plan to take over the Earth. Its branches spread all over the world, and we're in one of those branches—the Seiron Sanctuary." She continued.
"And you are…?"
"I'm a super cool secret agent who's part of the Sanctuary!" She pointed to herself proudly.
"You're not some 28-year-old pretending to be a high-schooler just for a mission, right?"
"Yuuhi! Since when did you become so rude?! Besides, we grew up in the same neighbourhood!" She smacked my arm.
"Oh, right." I chuckle.
…
"What about Leon and Kusuo?" I gulp.
"We arrived on time, so they're unharmed. You're the only one who got hurt this bad." Amari smiled wryly.
"I'm sorry."
She stood up smiling, "It's fine, Yuuhi. I know why you did what you did."
A sudden knock at the door caught our attention. The door clicked and swung open. My face had instinctively returned to a neutral expression.
A dark-haired woman with a bob cut and snake-like closed eyes, dressed in a formal suit, walked in silently.
"It's good to see you've recovered enough to talk, Mister Kansai Yuuhi." She extended her hands as Amari helped me sit up with my legs folded.
I thought she looked familiar.
"I presume you know me. It's a pity we met like this, but it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Seiron's one and only 'Queen', Seiron Makise." Her eyes remained closed.
"Queen?" I reached out and shook her hand. 'Queen?! I-It's the principal in the flesh! I had never seen her aside from the appearance she makes at the start of each term.'
"Yes, it's the queen herself in the flesh. I trust my land's inhabitants are quite satisfied?" Her smile doesn't reach her ears.
"Sorry for the trouble Kusuo caused…" I apologise awkwardly.
"No, his stealing the documents wasn't unprecedented. What you should apologize for is your own actions." She replied sternly.
'My actions? Kusuo stealing the documents was a part of her plan?'
"Does that mean..."
"I had planned to use his 'curiosity' to find the Gremlin's main base of operations. 'Perhaps the imagination of a high school boy could beat the rigid investigations of the Sanctuary.' Is what I had thought." Her hand retracts.
'Huh?'
Holding back the urge to yell, my voice wavered, "You put students in danger, just because your colleagues were incompetent?"
As soon as I said so, the smile on her face reformed into a simple line of dissatisfaction.
"If only you hadn't provoked that humanoid gremlin and piqued the Gremlins' interest and then gone to your friend's dorm without a second thought, they wouldn't have attacked you head-on, and your 'friends' wouldn't have gotten involved!" Her brows furrowed in anger.
"They still would've been in danger regardless because of your reckless plan!" I yelled, my restraint starting to break.
"We would've gotten them out of danger before it ever got this serious!" She clenched her jaw.
Amari stepped in, stopping both of us. "Calm down, both of you! Commander, Yuuhi might be easily provoked, but what is the Head of the Seiron Sanctuary doing losing her cool in an argument against a high-school boy?!" She condemned the principal.
…
Miss Seiron sighed, "Right. Thank you for calming both of us down, Amari."
I look away, avoiding showing my face still filled with anger to Amari.
-----
After a while, I calmed down and managed to retain my neutral expression. Just then, Miss Seiron, seated on a guest couch, opened her eyelids.
The reason why she kept them closed all the time seemed obvious.
"She has…no pupils?" Even if I reacted with composure, I had to physically stop myself from jumping out of bed.
"How rude. This is merely a side effect of using a Catalyst. I can still see as normally as you do." She states.
"I see." I don't think I can get freaked out any more than this.
Miss Seiron sighed and stood up. "Anyway, everything is handled now. A simple 'diplomatic' conversation with the Elder Gremlin has settled everything. For now."
"I won't be chased by the humanoid Gremlin again?" My ears perked up.
"As long as you don't utter her name, yes." She replied, turning away.
"You can rest a bit more if you'd like." Amari says, smiling as usual.
"Rest assured, the security here is top-notch, ranked 31 out of the 358 Sanctuaries." Miss Seiron boasted, a smirk on her face.
"Wait, I still have many questions—"
A sudden rumble followed by a loud boom shook the room, startling everyone.
Alarms blared throughout the facility.
"Excuse me, seems like we have an emergency." Miss Seiron rushed out.
"I'll have to go too! Don't go anywhere until the situation is handled, okay?" Amari followed her.
What happened to the security?
…
I turned my head to the window on my right, and the view was…darkness. There was nothing outside the window, just endless darkness. 'Did they build windows for a secret underground facility?'
Never mind that, ever since I woke up, I've had this nagging feeling that I've forgotten something important.
To relax my legs, I get off the bed, intending to look around for a bit.
It had struck me like lightning.
"MY ON-TIME TO PART-TIME STREAK!!" I fell to my knees.
-----