6

Elena & Souta

Kaito remained still underneath the bright sky, hands buried in his pockets.

For once, the loud cheers of Remrin city couldn’t reach him.

The wind swirled in melodic beats. The city breathed deeply.

He counted each breath as he gazed at the faint moon, overshadowed by the bright sky.

Elena took a step closer, crossing her arms.

“Hey, you’re doing it again.”

Kaito blinked.

She stood a few feet away, foot tapping against the roof in rapid beats, eyes narrowed—not annoyed, but searching.

“I’m just standing, though?” He asked, his brows raised. 

“I mean, you staring off into space again.”

“Wow.” He chuckled, turning to his side nervously. “Can’t even relax without being scolded, can I?” 

She didn’t laugh back, only responding with squinted eyes.

“The thing is,” Kaito added, scratching the side of his head. “I was thinking about my history test.”

Elena smacked him with no hesitation. 

“We don't have school, idiot,” Elena exclaimed, shaking her head. “Don’t lie to me.”

Kaito took a deep breath, masking it as exhaustion, and shook off the lingering mental distractions.

“Right, my bad.” He chuckled sheepishly.

Taking one more deep breath, the soft aroma of the city returned.

“Tell me what’s really going on?” She raised her fist, clenching it tightly before letting a tiny seed drop to the floor.

In an instant, the seed erupted into a thick bush around half her size, thick and round. She walked around it and sat down, rustling as if synchronizing with her irritation—Elena’s abilities had always listened to emotion more than command.

“Come on, we don’t have all day.” She said, fidgeting with a leaf.

“Really, it’s nothing.” He sighed, annoyed, trying to throw his younger sister off her interrogation game. His hand reached over his other hand, stopping it from tapping its fingers.

“I don’t buy it.” She crossed her arms and rubbed her fingers, removing the dirt from her smooth hands.

“You know how I am, spacing off and all.” Diverting his sigh to that of exhaustion, he shrugged dramatically.

“I hope you’re not lying.” She rested her head and hands, adjusting to the bushy cushion.

“I’m not, I swear.” He bounced a bit away, backing off from the close space.

“Alright, guys, remember that we’re on the clock.” Souta approached the two, resting a hand on Kaito’s shoulder. “Let’s go now. I bet he’s waiting for us.”

“Souta’s right, we’ve wasted enough time here.” Elena got up from her bush and picked up the container capsule rather quickly.

“Yeah, I think today went well,” Kaito commented, cracking his knuckles.

“For us, sure,” Souta added, snorting. “You, on the other hand, needed one to come towards your direction. And even after that, you couldn’t even capture the thug.”

“Yeah, okay, how many did you capture?” Sour expression and all, Kaito stared down his blue-haired friend.

“Seven of them, all in one easy swoop.” Souta crossed his hands proudly, smirking at Kaito’s frustration. “Our leader over there got the remaining fifteen, how about that?”

“It’s really not that impressive, they’re only humans after all.” She scoffed, placing the container with the rest, a few stacks as tall as them. “In fact, today’s mission is nowhere close to our best records.”

“Look, I’m just saying we would have caught them all if Kaito had done his job. He needs to take our missions a bit more seriously.” He took another glance at him.

“Okay, Souta, enough with teasing my brother. You know how he is.” She approached the two annoyingly.

“I do take these missions seriously. It’s you two who think it’s a game, always comparing scores and performances.” He exclaimed, pointing at them judgmentally.

“You do know that Aki tests us on these,” Souta turned away, avoiding his face.

“Guys, please, not again.” She stretched her hands between them.

“Yeah, Kaito, let’s just agree you failed miserably and call it wraps.” Souta chuckled.

“The two of you are reckless when it comes to causing damage, forgetting how fragile humans are.” Kaito pushed slightly against her arm, trying to get him to take accountability.

“Wait, what?! Kaito is defending humans? Pinch me, Elena, I think I might be dreaming.” He jolted backward, playing a shocked expression and all.

“They feel and breathe like we do, so they mustn’t be treated like pieces of property you could just throw whenever you feel like it.” He lowered his sister’s hand as he grew closer.

“Didn’t you kick one into a building?” Souta chuckled, grinning mockingly, hoping to provoke him further.

“Doesn’t compare to lightning and giant trees for goodness sake.” He jabbed at his chest repeatedly with his finger, looking straight into his eyes.

“Both of you,” Elena demanded fiercely, rapidly spreading her arms open. “Stop!”

Vines settled around both of them, rendering them quiet and frozen like hostages.

“We don’t have a choice now, do we?” Kaito mumbled behind the vine, looking like a penguin as he tried to move back.

“Nope.” Souta agreed, hopping a step back as Elena sighed disappointingly.

“We’re supposed to be home by now, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” She commented, dragging her hand across her face in exhaustion.

She reached for her pockets and threw a few tiny seeds at their feet.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Kaito panicked and tried to hop away.

Souta followed soon after, trying to reach the roof’s edge.

“Making sure we don’t lose any more time than necessary. Uncle gets worried quickly, and you two know that.” She walked over to their scurrying attempts, smirking.

Another few vines burst out of the seeds, tremendous growth and speed, and caught up to Kaito and Souta. Before they tripped onto the roof’s concrete coating, Elena caught them, one under each arm.

“Brace yourselves.” Elena smiled, placing her foot against the roof’s rim. “It’s been a while since we played this.”

She leaned forward slightly, tightening her grip on the two.

“We didn’t volunteer!” They whimpered in unison, trembling repeatedly.

Only a minute later, Elena finally stopped skipping around the grand city's roofs, reinforced with steel and strange metals sometimes to prevent paradigm destruction, mainly due to their hatred for rebuilding.

And then she dropped the two in front of a nearby forest, dusting her hands in accomplishment.

Kaito let himself remain flat on the ground, resting his head on the dirty pathway as he stared off into the vibrant bushes nearby.

"How would you feel if someone did this to you?" Souta asked, holding his head as his mind spun around.

Elena, not bothered at all, stretched her arms as Kaito slowly got himself up.

She pondered it for a second before answering. "Nothing really."

Souta now rested on his knees, finally catching his breath.

"But those heights?" He sighed dramatically, his arms looking like noodles.

Kaito's attention was caught, stopping his funky-looking stretches.

"Eh, I've been through worse." She shrugged, spacing off for a second.

The forest glanced at Kaito and Souta, annoyed by their arrival.

"Yeah, she was." Kaito stood up harshly, approaching the conversation.

"I wasn't asking you." Offended by his sudden arrival, Souta also stood up.

The breeze sharpened as the little critters around ran away.

"And I don't care." Kaito tilted his head as if they were wrestlers in an argument.

Elena took a deep breath and traced her hand across the air, calming down the very forest and all its inhabitants as if she were their gentle mother.

"You should, stupid." Smiling proudly, Souta crossed his hands over one another.

"Shut up already!" Elena groaned, dragging her hands on her face, worried that Mother Nature would act on her own.

"Yeah, do you know he has a crush on you?" Raising his hand over his cheeky smile, Kaito chuckled mischievously.

"Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious. Even an idiot can't miss it." Elena closed her eyes and sighed disappointedly.

"Embarrassing, in your face, Souta!" Shocked at the revelation, he began to laugh uncontrollably.

"I wouldn't want you as a brother-in-law." Trying to get himself out of the situation, he tried to put himself in the spotlight.

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Both siblings simultaneously blurted out, staring deep into his soul in sync.

"Damn, nothing like brutal honesty." Souta lowered his head in shame, letting out a sad sigh.

"Screw this, I can't handle being around idiots anymore." Elena scratched the bottom of her chin, walking past them onto the flattened path with nicely placed rocks on the sides.

"Aren't you one too? You took us to the wrong pathway." He rubbed his arm, still feeling some of the impact from his chase.

Elena turned around and threw the single suitcase at their feet, stretching her wrist tiresomely before raising her hand high.

"No, I did it on purpose." A vine from one of the nearby trees wrapped around her hand. "Race y'all home."

Rustle! Elena had vanished into the greenery, leaving behind falling crispy leaves from each branch she leaped off. 

The forest grew silent again.

Still somewhat tired, the two stood still as the forest shot them a sideways glare.

Souta scratched the back of his neck, turning his attention to the pathway in front.

“So,” He muttered, taking a hefty sigh. “Are you gonna tell us what happened…or are we pretending nothing happened?” 

Kaito didn’t answer right away.

He watched the leaves sway overhead, his breath mixing with the cold breeze.

“...It’s nothing, really.” He said.

The forest didn’t believe him in the slightest.