"As if today, both of you are suspended from the VEO for two whole months."
"What?"
I was standing in the room with Jas as this bombshell of a statent was dropped on us. I did expect sothing like this but still, a two-month suspension is too severe of a punishnt. Also, why was Ai given that suspension? I was the only one who disobeyed direct orders from Jas, Ai did nothing wrong.
I clenched my fist and took a deep breath calming myself. My eyes fell on Ai seeing her hiding herself behind from Jas. I don’t know if this was out of self-defense or fear but for so reason the entire ti since the morning, she has gotten a lot clingier to . It wasn’t sothing that bothered but thinking that we made so progress with Ai to not just obsess over and open up to even more people was all for nothing.
"Wait here Jas, I understand you want to suspend , but why Ai?" I asked and he glared at . Yeah, he was very angry with trying to put up a rebuttal. He let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead. "She is lucky that she is not considered as a rogue and killed off."
"What do you an?" I asked worried about what actions might have been taken at Ai. She grabbed my t-shirt and I felt her breathing getting ragged. I moved my hand behind to place it on her back to keep her calm.
"Well, if you don’t know, Tsubaki here was not only under the suspicion of abandoning her duties and running away, she also attacked so pursuers the VEO sent to bring her back who ca back in an appalling state. To top it all, the little bar she entered, not to ntion with multiple eyewitnesses present had so human casualties," he explained and I was taken aback by what he just told . During this ti, I was not conscious and the mont I got up, I asked Akira to find Ai and take where she was but to think all that happened, it was beyond what I expected.
"B-but I didn’t kill any of them…" Ai mumbled and we all looked at her which made her hide behind again.
"What is it that you said?" Jas asked in a more assertive tone.
"She said she didn’t kill any of them," I repeated what she said.
"She is lucky that she didn’t. The forensics departnt luckily didn’t find any tracks of her fingerprints or DNA in any of the victims which was why I was sohow able to get her off the hook," Jas explained. Wait, so he was defending her? "The other officials really wanted to expel her and treat her like a target to hunt her down which I can’t allow to happen."
"Jas…"
"Don’t get wrong," he looked at sternly, his voice still full of anger. "The only reason I defended her was because she was under my command and they didn’t have proper evidence against her. I like to treat my subordinates justly but that also ans if there was any solid evidence against her, I would not have done what I did. Take this as a warning for next ti."
"I…see…"
"And now you, Shiba Kazuki," he brought his attention back to .
"Wait, I thought we were done with my punishnt," I said taking a step back not understanding what he was about to bring up.
"I am repeating this because even after saying this again and again about this, you went on a very dangerous mission where let’s be honest, you just survived due to re luck," he scolded. "It is about ti you understand that disobeying your superiors is taken and dealt with very seriously here. You could have very easily compromised the mission due to your incompetence."
"But was the one who invited - "
"He is dead."
"What?!" I shouted banging my hands on the desk. Jas looked at and I took my hands off the table. "Wait, but it doesn’t make any sense."
"After you and Tsubaki had your encounter with Dominic, the other two teams also ca face to face with them," he said and paused for a second. Wait, don’t tell it gets worse. "Only the twins returned."
"What…"
He leaned back on his chair and rubbed his forehead again. I could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes so it is not wrong to believe he didn’t get much sleep lately. My eyes fell down to the floor and I clenched my fist. So, you are telling out of the seven people who went on the mission to get Ai back only four of us returned? Not to ntion two of them being S-rank hunters. Don’t ss with , just how strong is this bastard?
"Sigh, look here Kazuki," Jas called out to and I looked up to see the look on his face being more relaxed. "Don’t bla yourself for this because of this. I got a full report from the twins and it looked like whatever transpired had none of your involvent to bla for."
"Okay…" I mumbled.
"Now, before you leave, submit your weapons over to Ama, but you have to co here once a week to get checked by her. That’s it, dismissed" he said and I turned around. I looked at Ai only to see a worried expression looming over her face, I forced a smile at her the best I could and stepped out of the room.
I started walking down the hallway towards the elevator. No matter how hard I tried, nothing more hurt than knowing that I just lost more people.
Yuna, and Hotori-san.
Losing Yuna was already a big shock for and it was kind of at the back of my mind this entire ti mostly because I had to look for Ai but knowing about them too just reopened the wound. I started to feel compelled to go see Akito and Haruto and I just realized that I forgot to ask Jas where they were. I wanted to turn around and go back but I was left too confused. Nothing was making sense right now. No matter how hard I tried.
I am currently suspended from the VEO along with Ai, the sister I thought was dead t again and she died again before my eyes and now and Hotori t the sa fate. This is too ssed up.
"KAZU-KUN!!"
"AAAAH!! Huh?" I turned back seeing a worried Ai holding onto .
"I was calling you so many tis, why didn’t you respond earlier?" she said, so tears welling up in her eyes. Huh? Wait, why is she crying? "Please don’t do that again."
"I’m sorry, Ai," I said and grabbed her hand. She looked a little more relaxed and clung to my arm. It is starting to worry now seeing Ai getting like this. It was almost like she had beco a little girl scared of anyone she was unfamiliar with.
"Kazu-kun, who is ?" she asked. Oh right, she doesn’t even know them.
"The mission for rescuing you was not sothing I was allowed by Jas to be in," I started to explain. "It was given to two S-rank teams. One of and Hotori-san, and the other of two twins nas Akito and Haruto."
"Oh, okay," she said calmly and I looked at her not seeing a change in her expression.
"Wait, Ai, does this now bother you?" I asked her and she looked at confused. "Those two who passed away were there to co to rescue you."
"Yes, but they were not the ones who rescued ," she replied as if it was sothing not to think about more and I was a bit shocked by her calmness. "I an, they didn’t really rescue , right? You and Akira did."
"What? B- "
Before I could say anything, the elevator door opened before us, and in front of us appeared Natsumi-san along with Iwaguchi-san. "Flirting in broad daylight, do you two don’t feel embarrassed?" she asked.
"Welco back Natsumi-san," I replied, relieved to see that she was okay. "How was the mission?"
"It went well, did you cause any trouble when I was gone?" she asked and I froze in my place conflicted about what to say. I know if I told her the truth, I would face the wrath of the devil but if I lie and am found out by her later, I will face the wrath of Natsumi-san. It is better that I say the truth and not hide anything.
"Well…things happened and Ai got captured by Dominic…" I started to explain everything. She stood there with Iwaguchi-san listening to intently and I made sure not to lie anywhere or miss any detail. On the other hand, Ai was standing behind having shield her from Natsumi-san. I am worried about seeing her act this way because this is the first that I have seen if this goes on, having her go to school and continue with her daily life will be hard.
"And that brings us here," I said.
SLAP
As expected.
"How dare you!" Ai shouted and jumped at Natsumi-san.
Not expected!
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