Yuma looked around, being met with the view of Akira's living room. The warm light of the morning sun peeked through the curtains. Squinting, his eyes were irritated by the sunlight, but it irritated him more by the fact that he woke up just before successfully conjuring the knife. With no time being spent on the coach, he got up and immediately held his palm out. Repeating what she did in her region, Yuma attempted one last time to summon the knife. Closing his eyes, he imagined the handle, the edge, the spine of the blade, and just like before, cold flames radiated from his palms. Feeling the weight of the knife in his palm, he opened his eyes. Yuma stared a little proudly at the fact that he was able to do it, but immense disappointment rushed afterwards. The blade looked... sorry. I hardly kept its form; it had cracks all over it, and it seemed so fragile that a small huff would turn it to dust. It looked nothing like what Serapheria demonstrated. With a heavy sigh, Yuma crushed it, losing its form in a smokeless blue burn. So disappointed, Yuma turned to the door, prepared to find Akira. Immediately, he screeched startled, Akira had been standing there in silence the entire time.
"WHAT- HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE?!" Yuma shouted at him.
"Long enough to see that sorry ass knife..." Akira plainly pointed out.
Yuma looked at him, annoyed mixed with frustration with his own failure.
"I'd like to see you do better..." Yuma shot back with his tone edged.
"...Or at all." Yuma stifled a chuckle, remembering what Akira said days before.
Akira looked at him, leaning against the wall with his palm out next to him. In a shimmering fashion, flakes of Ice swirled to his palm, creating a simple knife. Yuma stared at him, shocked. Akira returned his look with a smug smirk.
"WHEN THE HELL-"
"Chieno changed his mind ever since this whole thing started, started teaching me. I haven't learnt everything, but I'm getting there... Still mastered this in a night, though," Akira cut him off.
Yuma grinded his teeth, annoyed by him. Of course, he mastered it in a night, the prodigy of ice.
'Silver-headed freak.'
Looking at the ground and sighing, Yuma wanted to move on. Returning to Akira, he wondered where Keisuke was. Before he could ask, as if he could sense when he was thought of, Keisuke walked into the living room. He looked at Yuma sitting and smiled.
"Oh hey, Yuma!" Keisuke greeted warmly.
"Hey...' Yuma returned, disappointment from earlier still laced in his voice.
"You feel better?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm refreshed..." Yuma replied.
Keisuke looked a bit suspicious but accepted it regardless. Keisuke went back into the kitchen, grabbed some breakfast he had prepared for the three of them, and returned with the plate full.
"Everyone eat up, we have a long day ahead of us, and we gotta figure out where we'll start!" He cheerfully told the rest, handing out the plates.
Akira sat down next to Yuma and placed the food on the coffee table. Yuma followed along, placing his plate on the table as well as Keisuke's. The three ate in silence, Yuma's face disappointed, Akira as stoic as usual, and Keisuke grinning ear to ear like this was the best time of his life. While eating, Akira wanted to fill in the boys on what he found out about Daya and Aymar to ease the search.
"While Yuma was recovering, I had AR try to find anything on the two we're looking for..." Akira spoke calmly while taking small bites.
Yuma continued to eat while turning his head to face Akira.
"And?" Yuma asked with his mouthful.
"Hardly anything... No birth certificate, no address, nothing. Not even a photo. But..." Akira had hung his words, wanting to give some anticipation to the matter.
Keisuke now turned his head, his cheeks filled with food, waiting for Akira to finish. Akira looked both ways with his eyes to see if he had their attention. Once he was satisfied he had their attention continued.
"Someone reported a suspicious couple at Sutera Pureisu... Said some foreigners looked like they were stealing... could be them." Akira finally revealed.
Keisuke looked a little shocked, while Yuma just glazed over the fact that it's their lead. After all, it was the only thing they could use to find them, and that's better than nothing.
"So... they're criminals?" Keisuke asked carefully, swallowing his food.
"Not necessarily... the guy who reported it doesn't like gaijin at all, so it's likely he just saw them and assumed it. He does this every once in a while." Akira clarified.
"Well... I pray that's the case... still, how is RA able to get this information?" Keisuke asked curiously.
Yuma immediately paid attention too. It was odd that a "private security company" had this much pull.
Akira simply sighed.
"Rouge arrow is registered as a PSC but in reality was an organization my father built to handle tasks regarding conduit activities.... My dad was close friends with Tanabe Yuu."
Keisuke's jaw dropped.
"Tanabe Yuu? You mean the minister of defence?" He blurted out.
Akira looked at him as if it was not the biggest deal in the world to be friends with someone running the defence of the nation.
"Yeah? Why?" He asked curiously about his reaction.
"HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!" Keisuke raised his voice.
"... they served together..." Akira quietly added, still confused as to why this is such a big deal.
Yuma, in all the chaos Keisuke was causing, stayed silent until now.
"Your dad's military?" Yuma asked.
Akira simply nodded before taking another bite. Yuma didn't even attempt to press for more and just accepted it. Even though the curiosity was gnawing at his heart, he let the matter rest. Keisuke wanted to ask for more, but decided against it after the silence that followed Yuma and Akira's conversation. For the remainder of the morning, the boys simply ate and got ready the best they could.
Now they had to take on the task that could change things for better or worse.
***
Cloudy grey sky filtered the light from the sun as the mall bustled with business. Despite it only being an hour after opening time, the mall didn't fail to attract a multitude of people. Lively chatter filled the air as the boys entered. Akira, who had been walking a few steps ahead, paused at the sight of so many people. It was overwhelming how many people were here, many of whom were foreigners shopping for whatever reason. Yuma caught up to him and held his shoulder, gripping it to ask something.
"What's the plan?" Yuma asked, willing to follow what he had planned.
"We split up. 14:00 pm, we meet in the middle." Akira improvised in the moment.
Yuma could tell he just came up with that, but his tone of confidence made to hard to discern if that was true or not. Regardless, he let go of the matter and relayed the plan to Keisuke, who was looking at the display of a nearby store.
"Keisuke..." Yuma paused, wondering why he was staring so intently into whatever he was looking at.
Getting closer, Yuma looks over his shoulder to see what had Keisuke's undivided attention. With his hands on the case, Keisuke was looking intently at a pair of necklaces that looked very expensive. It was a gold-linked diamond necklace with a massive white diamond as its centre-piece. Yuma stepped to the side next to Keisuke and leaned in with him.
"Who are you going to buy that for?" Yuma whispered intently.
"My mom and sister... I really wanna get them something for their trouble... After all, it's my fault they got involved." Keisuke returned quietly, guilt latching onto his voice.
Yuma stayed quiet for a moment before giving him a sidelong hug.
"It's not your fault. It's that monster, Killian. We'll beat him to a pulp, and you'll be back with Akame and Aunty." Yuma comforted, biting back his own feeling of hatred.
It wasn't directed at him, simply born from uttering Killian's name. It was a curse he was now living with, something he would carry in his heart until he killed the man who took his mother from him. Keisuke turned to him, his face slightly saddened.
"I'm sorry, I'm getting distracted... Let's just get with the plan... what was it?" Keisuke carried on, wanting to move past his own feelings of sadness.
Yuma mentally stumbled over himself because of Keisuke, but gathered himself and continued.
"Akira said to split up... search the mall in parts..." Yuma turned his head to where Akira was last, but had found him already gone ahead and searched by himself. "... Guess he's already on it... We'll meet up in the middle at 2 pm" Yuma completed, turning back to Keisuke.
Keisuke nodded and patted his shoulder before leaving. Once Keisuke had disappeared into the crowd, he turned his head to the case where the two necklaces were displayed. Checking the price tag, his heart dropped.
'792,825 YEN!!'
He wasn't sure where Keisuke had the money to get that, but he sure as hell was never going to be able to buy it. In all honesty, he was just willing to buy it himself, but to throw all of his savings into it, he had a change of heart. Yuma slowly turned himself around and left immediately. Re-tasking his mind to the plan, Yuma walked westward of the mall following a path he didn't see either one of the others go. He walked for a while before coming across a suspicious looking man. He wasn't extraordinary, just and average looking guy who seemed American. Walking in the least suspicious way he could, he got within close proximity to him. Yuma tried to sense anything different about the man, but didn't feel anything. Sighing, he simply walked away, but as he took a step away from him, the man looked at him as he patted his pockets down.
"HEY!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs.
Yuma turned around, confused by the yelling more than what he said. The man immediately grabbed his wrist, shouting in what sounded like gibberish to Yuma. The man hadn't been speaking a lick of Japanese for Yuma to understand. Pulling his wrist away, he scowled at the man for grabbing him for no reason. The man was still screaming at Yuma, pointing at his pockets, going on and on. Yuma was beyond fed up with the situation, but the gesturing did help him figure out that he probably thought he had stolen something from him. Yuma tried to gesture back that he had done nothing to him, but the man, blinded by his own rage, didn't care. He continued his verbal assault towards Yuma, even trying to grab him at times, to which Yuma simply dodged with ease. Just as the man was reeling his arm back for a punch, Yuma got defensive and got ready to put the man down there, and then, to protect his secret. Just as Yuma bent his knees to dash in for the take down, a boy cut in between the two of them. He wasn't tall, maybe just 10 to 15 centimetres taller than Keisuke. If he had to be exact, Yuma would guess 14 or 13 exactly. Though his short stature was apparent, what stood out more to him was his skin tone. It was brown, comparable to milk chocolate candies. His hair was jet black, short, and curled as if it had a pencil spacing each of his curls. His chin had sparse hair, just barely visible to anyone seeing it. His clothes were all maintaining a muted color palette while not being complex themselves. A simple shirt, baggy sweats, and a hoodie hanging around his neck. The boy spoke calmly to the man in the same language as the man before turning to Yuma.
"Hey, could you show him your hands and pat yourself down to show you didn't take his wallet?" the boy asked. His voice settled low with a quiet weight, but lifted easily when he spoke, gaining a clear, ringing edge.
Ignoring the details of the boy, patted himself and showed he had nothing to do with his wallet. The man looked at him with a dissatisfied then turned to the boy, muttering something. Although he didn't understand him, he could tell whatever he said most definitely wouldn't slide if he knew what it was. Looking down at the boy, Yuma wanted to thank him for his help, but just as he was about to, the boy presented a wallet in his hands, taking whatever cash was inside. Once he pulled the cash out, he threw the wallet into a nearby trash can.
"Don't worry, the guy was an asshole. Call you a pretty bad thing, I'm fairly certain I can't repeat in English." The boy reassured him, clearly reading his disapproval on his face.
Yuma looked at him for a moment before stepping closer and tilting his head softly.
"Thank you for your help back there..." Yuma kindly thanked.
"Don't mention it, it's rough these days... everyone's so quick to jump the gun," the boy chuckled softly.
"You seem lost? Looking for something?" the boy asked inquisitively.
Not sure what else to do, Yuma figured this guy could help him find who he's looking for without even realizing it. Yuma nodded and just followed him.
"New to this mall, but you seem well-versed with it... Mind giving me a tour?" Yuma asked softly.
Without a word, the boy nodded and simply walked around, pointing at several stores and restaurants. Yuma felt a bit bad for using the kid, but whatever help his cause he would use, the whole situation excited him even more.
'THIS KID MIGHT BE THE KEY TO FINDING AYMAR AND DAYA!'