Kibishi's POV

  When I got a good look at the face of the person with that hair color, I realized her eyes were the same shade as my hair. Ruby.

  She wore a warm smile. The girl had on a long, sleeveless bck shirt with a white belt and a bck skirt. She also wore bck shoes.

  Ba-bump!

  No. I was wrong about her clothes.

  Let me try that again.

  She was wearing—

  Static!

  A surge.

  S-she was w-wearing—

  Static!

  My head throbbed in pain. I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes.

  Out of all the times—

  "Hey, are you okay there?" The same voice—the girl's—spoke again. I slowly opened my eyes and saw her up close. She tilted her head cutely, then smiled and giggled.

  "Whoa!"

  I jumped back in panic.

  "Hehe, did I scare ya'?" she teased with a cheeky grin, her hands behind her back.

  "..." I couldn't say anything.

  I was in complete shock. No, more than that. My mind pounded, making it hard to think straight.

  Why? Why did her face seem... familiar?

  But that couldn't be right. We'd only just met. Yet every time I looked at her, my mind panicked.

  *Calm down, Kibishi. You're losing it because of that daydream. Think logically. Her yellow hair fried your brain for some reason, right?*

  It wasn't the first weird thing I'd done either.

  That meant it had something to do with my strange powers.

  Yeah... that had to be it.

  I slowly smiled at the girl, feeling my nerves settle. It wasn't completely gone, but at least I could think properly now.

  "Sorry about that. I panicked because of the daydream I had," I ughed it off, scratching the side of my face.

  "Is that so?" The girl kept beaming at me.

  "Yup!" I nodded.

  Not wanting to make things awkward, I gnced at Tao, who was holding her right arm again. Worse, she looked... disturbed. Was Tao uncomfortable? Why?

  Ba-bump!

  My heart raced—just like back in the cell. My eyes glowed briefly before fading.

  I didn't understand what was happening, but—

  "He's been staring at her for quite a while..."

  Those words fshed in my head. Huh? What was that?

  "I wonder if I should talk to Kishi? No, that'll make things uncomfortable..."

  Another set of words—this time in Tao's voice. Was she speaking to me?

  "Uh... It's okay, Tao. You could never make me uncomfortable," I reassured her. But instead of gratitude, Tao looked more shocked than happy.

  Uh... did I do something wrong?

  My eyes glowed again before fading.

  My surroundings wobbled slightly, but it wasn't as bad as before. Soon, everything steadied—until a chuckle cut through the silence. I turned and saw The Founder smirking.

  "Hehe! Interesting. Very interesting indeed." He gave me a sinister grin and cpped as if appuding me.

  No... he was appuding me.

  "I see we've struck gold with this one. Just as the description said." The Founder stood slowly. "Akuma, guide them to their rooms afterward. I want them to speak with Yosei first—though perhaps not all at once, lest it overwhelm them. I shall have Kevin create some super codes for them as well."

  "W-wait, I don't understand. What's happening?" Tao raised her left hand.

  "..." I stared at the ground, sweating.

  What was wrong with me today? And why the sudden mood shift?

  "Wait, before that, I have a question for Kibi." Akuma studied me. "Why did you say those words earlier?"

  "Huh?" I broke into a cold sweat but forced a smile. "W-what do you mean? I was just answering Tao's worries."

  "H-huh? But... I never... said anything..." Tao murmured. My body tensed.

  "W-what?! I-I did hear it... didn't I?" I clutched my head.

  "A-ah! I didn't mean you were lying! It's just..." She nervously csped her hands. "I only thought it..."

  "...Ah!" My eyes widened. Her thoughts?! I'd always had a sense of how she felt, but now that I knew I had supernatural abilities... was I reading her mind?!

  I covered my mouth with my left hand and stuffed my right into my jacket.

  This was bad.

  "..." I groaned from stress.

  Reading thoughts? I never wanted that.

  "Hold on. I might have an expnation." Yosei's calm voice cut in. She wore a composed expression. "It could be a connection between friends."

  "Between friends?" Akuma scratched her blue hair.

  "You know, when the bond is so strong, you think you hear their voice? Like how I thought I heard yours, Kuma, even though you didn't call me."

  "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. But wait, if Tao only thought it, how did Kibi respond?"

  "..." I lowered my head, my mind spinning with questions.

  No.

  Akuma's skepticism wasn't the problem. It was the way Tao looked at me—like I'd vioted her privacy. That sank my heart.

  I hadn't cared about how strange I was... until now.

  ...I'm sorry, Tao. You must hate me—

  "Ah! T-that's right! I-I did the same thing! Back in prison!" Tao blurted out, sweating.

  "You did?" The Founder sounded skeptical.

  He was right. Tao shouldn't lie for me.

  "You don't have to lie for my sake—"

  "Kishi can vouch for me!" Tao forced a nervous smile. "When the Forbidden attacked, I *felt* words in my head! ...R-right, so, um, I forgot and reacted weirdly!"

  "Are you sure that's what happened?" The Founder pointed at her.

  "It HAS to be!" Tao insisted.

  "Tao..."

  Tao had always been thoughtful. Even though it was true that she'd sensed my stress earlier in prison, she was going out of her way to defend me now. Seeing that side of her always made my heart feel warm.

  "Well, now that that's settled," Yosei began, cutting through the tension, "how about we move on? I'm sure these two need some rest. Not to mention, I heard some noise coming from the other department—someone calling these two's names?"

  ...........

  ......Huh?

  For a split second, the world froze. Yosei's words sent a tremor through me.

  "Wait, what? Isn't that...?!" Tao's brows shot up.

  "They wouldn't...!" I gritted my teeth, swallowing hard.

  David and Riley wouldn't cause trouble, right?! I gnced at The Founder—his eyes narrowed in anger.

  Crap! They'll get kicked out!

  I grabbed Yosei's shoulders in panic.

  "Yosei!" I shouted.

  "E-ehh?!!" Yosei blushed, her calm demeanor crumbling into flustered surprise.

  "Where are they?! Please, tell us!"

  "Hey, Kibi! Calm down!" Akuma gripped my shoulder.

  "Please, Yosei! I need to know now!" I begged, eyes shut.

  Damn you, David! Why can't you behave?!

  It's only been a day!

  "T-they're being held by soldiers in that department. Getting investigated as we speak..." Yosei answered softly.

  "Akuma! Show us the way, please!" Tao grabbed Akuma and dragged her out of the room.

  "W-whoa!" Akuma tried to compin but was overpowered by Tao's urgency.

  "Thanks, Yosei!" I said with a small smile, then let go of her shoulders.

  "No problem..." Yosei held her right shoulder and looked downward. I sensed a hint of happiness—probably from helping us earlier and now.

  She smiled at me and pointed behind her.

  "Aren't you going with them?"

  "R-right! See you ter!"

  With a quick bow, I sprinted after Tao and Akuma.

  Whatever happened, I had to keep them safe. More importantly, I had to stop them from making things worse! We couldn't afford to lose them on our first day here! If they messed up badly, they might get expelled from the city!

  Please let me be overreacting...

  Hold on, David, Riley! I'm coming!