"You guys are weird," I mumbled, poking my head out from beneath the blanket.
I sat up and yawned, rubbing my eyes. I felt better than I did yesterday, but wondered what we'd do now. I knew after the last incident, I needed to be prepared and strengthen the magic within me. Even if it was only temporary, I needed to learn how to use it to my advantage.
"Woof!" Uru appeared through the crack in the door and ran up to the bed. I smiled and watched her jump onto the bed, moving over Aki to reach my side.
"Morning, Urufu," I greeted, petting her for a moment before I noticed Aki begin to tie his hair. A thought came to my mind.
"Thank you, Akihiro and Yoshimitsu," I stated softly.
They both glanced my way.
"What's with the sudden thanks, Crim?" Yoshi asked.
"Ya. We didn't do anything," Aki added as he began to tie a bow with the silky red ribbon with gold incantations.
"I never thanked you two for everything you've done. I was quite a burden in my opinion during the whole break up and even before that when I was unconscious. It wasn't your duty and still isn't really your responsibility. The least I can do is say thank you." I bowed my head to them.
They were both silent; Urufu howled softly before nudging my head as if to make me lift it.
"We care dearly for you, Crimson. You may not realize it, and maybe it will take time for you to adjust to how we are compared to Mr. Bipolar, but we’ll do anything to ensure your safety and happiness," Aki declared.
I lifted my head and saw the conviction in his green eyes.
Yoshi nodded and uncrossed his arms. "I can see why Storm chose you. Your love has no bounds, yet your humbleness is a rarity, even with how everyone has treated you. Never change, Crimson," Yoshi whispered solemnly.
I smiled at them and rose back up to sitting on my knees. "What's the plan?" I asked, wanting to move on to the more serious matters at hand.
Yoshi and Aki exchanged looks before meeting my gaze.
"Are you up for some training?" Aki asked.
I nodded. "Yup!"
"Let's see how you do. If you do a decent job today, you and I will get to do something tonight," Yoshi revealed.
I gave him a serious look and I nodded in agreement. "Bring it on."
"That was fucking cheating!" I swore.
Malachi and Itsuki both laughed.
"You pissed her off to the point of swearing, Malachi," Itsuki pointed out.
"I'm teaching her to react faster so no one jumps her again," Malachi argued with a grin which just pissed me off.
I rose from the blue mats and inspected my bare legs that were covered in bruises. I groaned in frustration. I swear if Haru can't heal these, someone will die.
After we all had breakfast, the guys gave me a detailed breakdown on everything from the running incident to the current status of Storm Yuna's investigation.
The culprit who tried to kill me had been charged and the Emperor would make the final decision whether he would live and serve time in jail, or be executed for his crimes.
Yoshi explained that the Emperor and his team of higher-ups were getting tired of all the recent crimes and were hammering down on those who were caught. If people realized that their punishment would be death, maybe that would help lower the crime rate.
The culprit wouldn't admit to doing anything, and even with magic involved, they couldn't get any info out of him.
When I asked about it, Itsuki explained that the group of men must have taken an oath with whoever hired them, just like how I'd forced James to make a magic oath to conceal the guys’ location.
Yoshi and the others reassured me the Emperor would figure things out and deal with it, so my priority now was learning how to defend myself with magic. I had to take advantage of Storm's powers and learning how to evade surprise attacks would help prevent the guys from having heart attacks, especially Quil.
I could tell the ambush pissed him off and now he was trying to make sure I never left his sight. Even now, he was leaning against the wall next to Aki and those pink eyes were a dark purple as they focused on my every movement.
To me, it wasn't creepy or weird. I knew in my gut that was just how Quil was; out of all the men he could be the most protective.
"Oh, Hottie. Don't look so upset. Haru can heal you. Right, Haru?" Malachi called out to Haru, who was sitting on the bench acting as a referee.
He pulled his eyes away from the book he was reading. "Sure," he replied distractedly before returning to his book.
"He doesn't even know what you said," I pointed out.
"He said he could," Malachi countered.
I rolled my eyes. "Haru is totally zoned out just like how I zone everything out when I paint. I've studied him long enough to know that much," I grumbled, crossing my arms.
I noticed Aki and Quil grin at my comment. Itsuki chuckled and Malachi groaned.
"Let's get back to training, Hottie," Malachi announced before he literally vanished.
I bit my lips, immediately getting into my fight mode as I used a tiny amount of wind magic to help me spot Malachi's speedy movements.
Saying he was fast was an understatement. With magic, he could have reached the speed of light. I sensed the shift in the air and dodged just in time to avoid Malachi's kick, but completely forgot about Itsuki who managed to move right behind me.
With ease, he flipped me over flat on my back for the forty-eighth time.
"You guys shouldn’t be that rough on her," Yoshi chastised, entering the room with water bottles in his hands.
"A hired assassin isn't going to go easy on her, Yoshi," Malachi stressed.
"But she's new at this. She's only done sword training. She hasn't been trained to fight to kill," Aki reminded.
"Sword dance training is a fighting technique too, you know," I pointed out as I slowly sat up. My body ached and I felt like I got hit by a bus.
"It's an art which can be used as a form of defense," Malachi countered.
I frowned and narrowed my eyes at him. "Hakua would murder you if she heard you say that," I huffed.
Itsuki offered his hand to help me up. I thanked him and rose to my feet, but then the world began to spin. I wobbled for a few seconds, but was able to steady myself as I waited for the spinning to fade. Quil, Yoshi, Aki, and Haru were at my side in seconds.
"You alright, Crim?" Haru asked worriedly.
I quickly nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. It's nothing."
Aki and Yoshi exchanged looks and Quil frowned.
"I think that's enough for today," Quil suggested.
"No," I argued. “I can keep going.”
"Crim, we don't want to push you," Aki pointed out.
"I don't want to be babied either. You guys are saying you want me to train and get stronger for an ambush or whatever the case may be. You guys won’t always be there for me. I have to learn how to fight and protect myself without your help. I'll take a break, but we WILL continue," I stressed, my eyes specifically on Quil.
He sighed as his eyes shifted from dark purple to a navy blue. I took a hunch that meant he was worried. The other guys exchanged looks and nodded.
"Fine, break," Itsuki agreed.
I moved toward Quil, slipping my hand into his and pulling him to one of the benches in the corner of the room. The others didn't follow, taking the hint I needed a moment with Quil without interruptions.
When we reached the black bench, we sat down and stared at the others in the middle of the room.
Malachi and Itsuki removed their drenched t-shirts and began to train with different wooden weapons. Aki and Haru approached a bench on the opposite side of the room and appeared to have a quick discussion before Aki took his shirt off and joined the others. Haru sat down and returned back to reading his book.
Once I knew the others were occupied, I turned to Quil and squeezed his hand. "What's wrong?" I whispered.
"Nothing," he mumbled, looking at our joined hands. He pulled my hand into his lap and squeezed it gently.
It hurt a part of my heart to see him trying to hide his fear. I needed to learn more about Quil as well as Malachi, Haru, and Itsuki, but it was difficult with everything going on.