Kira

~

The sting on my palm as I spiked the ball onto the other side of the net sent tingles of excitement down my spine, especially when Sasaki and the others were unable to stop it.

I let out a whoop of joy and gave Kamura-san a high five for the nice pass. Wiping the sweat from my brow I gestured for Kaito bring over a water bottle.

"You're doing great Kira," He said sweetly, "The mid air twist was pretty impressive."

"Thanks I used to take gymnastics lessons back in the States." I grinned. Back then, I'd had issues with my body image so Ares thought lessons like that would help me build up confidence in myself. He was intuitive that way.

Which was why I worried my well kept secret wouldn't be well kept for too long.

"I just thought it'd be nice to start integrating some skill into my counters." I told Kaito.

"So you were a ballerina too, Vermillion?" Sasaki sneered walking under the net to my side. The neckline of her white shirt was drenched in sweat and showing way too much but it would be pointless to point out. She snatched the water bottle from my hand.

"Not really." I responded, I wasn't going to be baited by her tone.

"Oh, can you do those split things?" Tenya Fubuki asked, twiddling her fingers with a nervous smile.

"Well..."

"Go ahead Kira." Kamura-san egged as well.

I really hated when people asked me to do this. I sighed and stretched my legs before I slowly went down into a side splits.

There were claps from the few watching, Sasaki merely snorted and muttered, "Showoff."

"Can you do some flips next?" Tenya asked again but Captain Miura wasn't having it.

"This isn't the time or place for this, take your five minute break like regular people."

I gave a nodded as I got up, thanking Kaito for the water and jogging off to my friends who had become so regularly expected that they had another bench specially for them.

Haru ran towards me, grabbing my wrists excitedly and completely unbothered by my sweat soaked skin, "Kira that was awesome, you jump so high every time and you always hit the ball...and-and...it's all so cool."

"Told you," Kuro joined in.

It was actually Haru's first time witnessing me play, he had constantly refused to come along because of his anxiety but today he'd finally worked up the courage to come with the others.

I was happy for him, and also happy that my hard work was paying off. Kaito's compliments were enough to indicate that.

I was working my butt off and probably running on fumes at the end of every day but I couldn't stop. Our mission was tomorrow night and we had to be back before dawn I could get enough rest for Saturday morning practice.

"You look a little pale Kira." Jade said, point at me with the new manga she'd just started reading.

"Really?" I reached for my bag to pick out my compact mirror but Coach Makino's whistle signalled it was time to get back to practice.

I ran back to the court without a second thought, I was okay and all I had to do was put my all into practice.

Soon, it all came to an end and after we all cooled down, we got to cleaning up. I was helping Kaito put away some heavy equipment when my vision began to swim, black spots dancing in and out of sight.

The world seemed to sway, at least, that what I thought was happening. It took a second to realize that I was the one tipping over.

There was a loud bang, followed by panic screams. I heard the captain screaming something, in a flash someone was carrying me.

I could hear Troy as well, he was yelling at Kuro to call Ares.

As the world started to fade, my thoughts were about how much deep shit I was in.

***

"We've run numerous tests Mr Vermillion, your daughter is fine." The doctor said to Ares who was sitting beside my bed.

I was texting in an attempt not to make eye contact with my stepdad.

Nearly two hours had passed since I fainted in the gymnasium. I'd been asleep until thirty minutes prior, feeling a bit more refreshed but not by much.

Ares was already there, asking the doctors to run more tests and find anything wrong with me. He wasn't being his best self at the moment. He had refused to look me in the eyes as well so I decided to get in contact with my friends.

Apparently, Kaito had been the one to carry me to the school clinic. I'd only been there a few minutes and when Mr Nobutoshi, the school nurse, had found nothing wrong, Ares brought me here for proper tests.

I put it at the back of my mind to call Kaito to say thanks and sorry for the trouble.

At the moment, I was arguing with Troy and Kuro who were constantly trying to persuade me from coming to training.

Well, Kuro was the one trying to convince me while Troy just said he'd kick me all the way back into my room of I showed showed my pathetic face that night.

Yes, those were his exact words.

"It's probably just stress." The doctor said, her tone was calm and curt, Ares must have been getting to her with his questions and demands.

I put my phone down and turned to him, "Ares, the nice lady is probably right. I'll slow down and be all better by tomorrow."

He threw a slight glare my way before giving a nod in agreement.

In a few minutes, we were both seated in the car and driving towards home. I turned my attention to the world beyond the window, willing the tense atmosphere between us to go away.

Sadly, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Kira...what exactly is going on with you?" He asked suddenly.

"Nothing, Ares, I'm fine," I faced him to see that his eyes were still on the road but his grip on the steering wheel had tightened significantly, his knuckles were white and he looked more anxious than angry at this point.

"What is it you can't tell me Kira? You think I don't notice? I've been taking care if you for years now and you think I haven't learnt how to tell things are wrong?"

"Ares-"

"It's the little things, Kira. How the smile on your lips and eyes don't match, you suddenly started eating more, the way everything just feels different when I look at you. Like you're you but there's someone else there, something new, different, and I don't know how to handle it."

I said nothing

"I can tell Kira, you're not sharing something. I'll be waiting but until you tell me, I'll continue to be worried. If you still want to move back, just say so, I'll try to finish up work quick and we'll go back."

This man was the worst, making me feel more guilty than I already was. A few weeks ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity to get out of here.

Now, with all that was happening, I couldn't leave, not yet anyway. The responsibility of protecting the Seal was a shackle that bound me to city of Tokyo and until I found a new person to take these chains from me, I was stuck here.

I couldn't leave Japan without a Keeper. I couldn't leave Kuro and Troy to go on by themselves.

I had no idea what to tell Ares that would ease his dread. The truth was out of the question since that might only get him killed and he'd probably be able to tell a half hearted lie if I did say something.

I forced myself to settle into the seat, my gaze going back outside. The drive home felt much longer than twenty minutes and all that time I couldn't stop agonizing about how things were constantly yanked out of my control.

***

"We told you not to come." Troy hissed as I made my landing at our official training ground of the scrap yard.

I waved dismissively, not wasting time, chains sprang out from the cracks in the ground, "We're leaving tomorrow and I'm just starting to get the hang of it. No way I'm cutting back now."

"You just fainted a few hours ago, you shouldn't be putting strain on your body like that." Kuro said swatting away a particularly touchy chain that was creeping his way.

"I'm fine, they prescribed some meds which I took and I had a nap before coming."

"That doesn't mean you should-"

"Lucifer and Mammon haven't said anything, and unless they do that means I'm perfectly fine." I snapped at Troy before he could utter his sentence, "They trust my abilities and I'd like for you two to do so as well."

"It's not like that-" Kuro began calmly.

"You know they're still demons right, you have no idea what they do when they aren't lingering around you." Troy took a menacing step towards me.

Sick of him throwing his attitude around, as well as wanting to get a good hit in for all the beat downs I'd suffered as well, I met him halfway. I jabbed my finger into his chest.

"Look here Angel boy, they are my demons, my abilities and I'm in control here. I said I'm fine, don't bring your hatred or high and mighty bias over their kind into this."

He was glaring down at me but on seeing that I probably wasn't budging he stepped back.

The tension melted slightly from my shoulders, "Hey, if you're worried about me, just say it like a normal person."

The air around him sparked, he scoffed, "If you want to get injured, I'll be more than happy to oblige you."

"You're both too intense sometimes." Kuro sighed, looking relieved once it was obvious things wouldn't escalate beyond a training match.

"Unlike you, everyone isn't always on a sugar rush." The blond spat.

Kuro stuck his tongue out before facing me, "I still don't think you should be fighting so soon but if you say you're okay... I'll try to be supportive I guess."

"That's all I want." I managed a small sincere smile.

"And Kira, if you ever want to talk about something, or just make fun of Troy behind his back," He shrugged the others glare of, serious and caring red eyes on me, "You can always come to me."

The tides of frustration started to ebb away from my heart at those words. I swallowed thickly, giving a curt reply I didn't even think of before turning to Troy.

***

The next night came far sooner than I'd wanted it to. It was easy expecting it, dreading it, waiting patiently, but looking at the fading sun in the horizon dead in the eye brought a new sense of realness to it all.

Earlier, I'd told Ares that I'd be sleeping over at Troy's house so we could study together. I packed an overnight bag and everything for good measure.

He sent me off with a wink and warning not to do anything stupid. If I wasn't too happy seeing him back to his normal self I would have screamed at him and told him how wrong he was to insinuate Troy and I had that kind of relationship.

"So, is everyone ready?" Kuro asked, stretching his wings.

I gestured to Troy who was meditating in a lotus position not far off form us. The picture of serenity and peacefulness as the evening light bathed him on orange-gold hues.

"Hurry up Angel boy." The younger male called, "We don't have to do this today Kira-"

"I won't say this again Kuro, I'm fine." I said with a heavy sigh. I flexed my wrist a bit, "So which way are we going?"

"You both just have to follow me, I'll get us there no problem." He smirked.

"Let's get this over with, once we know what Nightmare's after, we can come up with better counters."

Troy got up from his position, the air glowing in glowing ripples around him as his wings sprouted, "We can leave now."

"Took your precious time, huh?" Kuro said taking off.

We went after him just as quickly, the thrill of excitement taking over me as flew through the air, alternating between swinging with chains and launching with my super jump.

Kuro had explained unless we drew attention to ourselves while out in broad daylight, no one would notice us. That was the the barriers between realms did. The normal human mind had become too fragile to handle abnormality on a regular basis.

Those with powers and abilities were far too few and there was special training for those like Xie Ren who came from old families that are still involved in keeping the balance.

I staggered a little on one landing, I managed to gain my footing once more before launched myself once again, catching up with Kuro who flashed me a smile before diving down into a twirl, stopping a few feet before he hit the ground and pulling up once more.

I wasn't a competitive person unless it came to volleyball, but I took that right there as a challenge.

Troy was about to start scolding the returning Kuro when I went down myself, spinning and enjoying the cool of the rushing breeze and the buzz of my instincts.

I created a chain mid fall, its other end connecting to a building in the direction of our destination, using some air, I pushed myself forwards, letting the moment carry me onwards.

"You're doing great, Demona." Kuro cheered.

"Stop drawing attention!" Troy growled pulling the darker haired boys ear, "Let's get going before it gets dark."

"So mean."

"Does the fox spirit we're seeing have a name?" I asked curiously as my focus returned to the mission at hand.

"He has many names, but right now he goes mainly by Yamagata." Kuro said, "He spends most of his days lounging in the forest and using his powers to stop humans from harming it."

"Very eco-friendly of him."

"It's his home Vermillion, of course he'll send others away." Troy said.

"Since we have powers, the enchantment won't work on us but there are other measures to keep outsiders looking for him out, I'm going to need both of you to not leave my side." Kuro instructed.

We voiced our agreement and continued the journey, and soon the tall skyscrapers gave way to shorter family homes whose roofs I had to treat delicately.