Eya patted Reon's sleepyhead. "Sleep well," she muttered in a hushed voice.
While looking at the sleeping Reon, she wondered what her parents might be thinking. Where is their daughter, what happened to her, and is she even alive? Eya could not believe it when she recalled she was helping a scientist.
I never thought scientists would be so loving… she thought. Reon was vulnerable, more than loving. She needed a place to sleep and food to eat, Eya appeared at the right time and gave her that. She needed protection, Atama-sensei stepped in.
She patted her head last time and was about to get up when her eyes fell on her hand. At first, she thought how tiny her hand is, but then remembered her hand. Second, she saw something missing.
Eya frowned and leaned over Reon to take a look at her hand. It was under his breast, but the pinky part of her hand was visible.
'I have been tortured.' She remembered what Reon had told her.
"That bastard took her finger." Eya clenched her fist. "How can he be a human?"
To stop her from overthinking and to bring her back to reality, Kakashi knocked on the door and came in.
"I have closed the shop as you told me—"
"Shh!" Eya shushed him. He stopped at the door with a blank expression. He was confused but then saw Reon lying in the bed.
He walked to Eya and whispered in her ear. "Let her sleep. We are getting late."
She pursed her lips and nodded. "Should we take her?"
"No. Let her sleep. I will cast a protection spell around the shop, if anything goes wrong, we will hurry back."
"Okay. I will leave a note for her."
They closed the staff room door. A piece of paper was hanging from the door that read: 'Will be back soon, does not leave the shop– Eya-nee.'
They checked their cards in and entered the forest. It was their first time in two months. When Eya stepped in, she remembered that one of the most horrible events of her life had occurred in this forest.
They took the right side and continued on the path. The right side was denser than the left side. They believe the Dragon rests on the forest's north side, so they focused more on clearing the left path rather than the right first.
They enchanted their cards and threw him in the air like throwing an origami plane. Just like before, their cards start floating above their heads.
"How far is the lair?" Kakashi asked.
"From what I have been told… it is around half a kilometer."
"And the threats?" He drew his wand and lightened a torch on his finger.
"B to A Grade threats. I wonder how can he even sleep at night."
"Let us ask him!" Kakashi bolted from his spot and she followed him.
They went through the thick woods and within a minute, they entered the fog area. After twenty seconds, the fog around them got thicker than before.
"Just keep track of the path!" Kakashi shouted as he led Eya into the forest. He cleared their way with explosion spells and tried to create a path that is usually created by the tires of the heavy-ass trucks the scientists have.
"How do we find the lair?"
"Ah, that…" Eya paused and that worried Kakashi. He was about to take a stop and ask her when she said, "You will know it when you are within its fifty-meter radius."
"Fifty-meter radius?" He frowned. "What do you—"
"Slow down," she said. "Slow down!!" she shouted and Kakashi applied brakes.
And bam! He came to a stop. A resistance, a sort of barrier, or a sort of wall hit Kakashi flat on the face. His nose cracked at a strange angle, and his knee banged against the invisible barrier.
"Fuck!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. If he had not slowed down… god knows what would have happened.
Blood fell on the brown leaves, barely visible in the fog. From behind, Eya came to a slow and perfect stop. She drew her wand and cast a healing spell on Kakashi.
"Damn it, Himbo, your nose is twisted in an—"
"Whose fault do you think it is? You should have warned before!" Kakashi threw a few spells at the wall in anger.
By the time Eya stopped the bleeding, someone approached them in the shadows. He was the height of a tenth-grader, and his face was hidden in the dark. He had a wand drawn, anyone could figure out that much from his silhouette.
Eya rose from the ground, she helped Kakashi get up, and they both stared at the boy coming toward them.
"I can not believe he grew up so much… he is a teenager now," Eya muttered.
"Indeed. He was still a baby when we last saw him." Kakashi held a block of ice on his nose. "What is his age?"
"Somewhere around thirteen," Eya replied. Then she thought for a while. "Maybe fourteen… he is… I do not know." She sighed.
Kakashi frowned, his nose hurt, but he looked at the guy who was still walking suspiciously at them. "What happened to his psychic abilities?"
"Yeah… he is still… he still thinks we are monsters. Maybe we should—" Eya stopped when the boy stopped.
"I think he recognized us."
Just as Kakashi had said, the boy had recognized them. He raised his wand to his face and lit it, revealing a big grin on his face. A grin of happiness.
Eya grinned and raised her hand. Kakashi smiled beside her. "Akira!" she shouted, "Hey!" She waved at him.
The boy with green eyes and a bright smile dropped his wand and ran towards the invisible barrier, shouting their names, "Eya-nee! Nee-san!"
He spread his hands when he reached the barrier. He passed through it and hugged Eya in his arms. She stumbled and almost fell, but balanced herself somehow.
"Did you miss me?"
"Oh, I was dying to see you!"
Kakashi giggled and rubbed the boy's brown hair. Akira let go of Eya and gave Kakashi a hug. He barely reached Kakashi's chest. He was like a son hugging his father after a long time of not seeing each other.
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