Yuki stared silently at the screens before him, his eyes going back and forth as he read. Occasionally his eyes would flicker to the side and he’ll grab a new screen to read. At last, he closed the file and slowly laid back.
‘That’s interesting,’ he thought. ‘Very interesting.’
He already knew that Yuna was an orphan much like him. He knew that she was raised by the LIA for much of her life. What he didn’t know was the circumstances behind all of that. And what she actually did within the LIA.
‘I can see why Firestorm wanted me to read this.’
Yuna’s parents, much like Yuki’s own parents, did not die from an accident. They were killed. And from the video footage and the records of the events that led up to their deaths, they were killed by demons.
‘A devil and two imps from what I saw.’
The reason for why they were killed was unknown. Or at least, was undocumented. Yuki could only create assumptions based on what was actually inside the LIA database. To say that there was barely any information in the database would be an understatement.
‘The names of the parents aren’t even known. I’m impressed that they even managed to capture footage of the killers.’
But even with little information, Yuki managed to piece together something. The reason for the deaths of Yuna’s parents was indiscernible, but it was apparent that it wasn’t some random accident.
‘A dispute of some sort. I don’t have enough to make any assumptions past that.’
He closed his eyes and mulled over the rest of the data. Yuna was brought into an orphanage by someone who claimed to be her “protector.” This “protector” told the people at the orphanage that Yuna’s parents had died and that Yuna had to go to an orphanage because the protector had no means to support her. After the orphanage accepted Yuna, the protector left in what was described as a hurried pace.
‘So this protector left Yuna at a random orphanage filled with other kids her age and then left in what could be interpreted as a panicked state.’
Yuki combined this with the idea that Yuna’s parents were targeted and came to the conclusion that this protector was trying to hide Yuna. The fact that the protector never came back for her meant one of two things.
‘He died or decided that it was safer to never contact Yuna again. I’m leaning toward the died scenario.’
According to the orphanage’s records and Yuna’s LIA file, she lived there for nearly six years before she was discovered by Firestorm. How Firestorm found was something that Yuki found interesting.
‘The orphanage was burned down and the doors were locked. It’s a bit ironic that the person named Firestorm had to respond to an arson call.’
Yuki read how Firestorm had barged his way into the building to find that a group of three had sneaked their way into the orphanage. In his report, he detailed how he saw those three try to kill one child in particular but were repelled back by what he wrote was “a shimmering, seemingly impenetrable barrier”. Firestorm took the opportunity to incapacitate the three people and make sure that everyone within the orphanage was safe.
‘Then he spent the rest of the time putting out the fire. After that, he made so that the LIA adopted Yuna. She was a natural talent, according to him. And she was being targeted for whatever reason and so he took it upon himself to protect her. Then the three were captured and questioned with led to the investigation that uncovered Yuna’s parents’ deaths.’
One thing that stood out was the fact that it took nearly six years for someone to attack Yuna. Her parents were long dead and probably so was her self proclaimed protector. That meant one thing in Yuki’s mind.
‘They didn’t know she existed, did they. Whoever went after her parents.’
That would also explain why Yuna was able to escape in the first place. If she was already known about, she most likely would have been killed already.
‘She was only a few months old at that point so it’s entirely possible that word hadn’t reached whoever ordered the deaths of her parents that they had a child.’
The rest of the file after that were about Yuna’s time in the LIA. It was nothing surprising. She was trained to use a sword and had a significant amount of instruction in the basics of combat and magic. She had almost no social life, her world almost completely within the LIA. Yuki had read about how Firestorm took as many precautions as he could to insure that nothing happened to Yuna the few times she stepped out into the real world. Some of those precautions included a secret entourage that consisted of a dozen people and complicated communication line.
‘That’s a bit much. But understandable.’
Yuki knew what Firestorm was trying to show him with this. He was trying to show Yuki that he wasn’t an evil person. That Yuna had some unfortunate circumstances and that he had helped her whenever he could. That he took care of her for years.
‘I guess that’s nice. Not that I really care about that. The information on her parents was interesting, so I guess I can thank him for that.’
“Uriel,” he said as he pushed himself out of the bed. “Isolate everything related to Yuna’s parents and copy it into another file. I’ll be looking into it more at a later time.”
“Sure. Do you want to title the file anything?” she asked.
“Name it Yuna’s parents or something of that nature. Also include anything related to three demons that were discussed in Yuna’s file in there.”
“Anything from my entire database?”
“Mhm.”
“Alright,” she said. “You’re going somewhere?”
“I promised Yuna that I’ll be at the Hideout. We’ll be talking about some things,” he replied. “I might ask you to do something for during that conversation so be ready.”
“I’m always ready. Have fun~.”
“Sure.”
Yuki walked out the room and into the living room. Taking a glass, he drank a cup of water as he watched Akira and Erica playing what looked to be some sort of strategic board game.
“I’m going out,” he said to them. Their heads perked up. “Want to come?”
“Where?” Akira asked, already standing from her seat.
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“The bar. I’m meeting Yuna there,” he said. “We’ll be talking about the Academy tournament and then probably discuss training later.”
“Oh, then I’ll come,” she smiled. “Let me change first.”
“Alright.”
“I’m coming as well then,” Erica announced. “If both of you go, I’ll be alone here.”
Yuki nodded.
The two went to their rooms as Yuki waited outside. As he waited, he sent Yuna a message, telling her that he was on his way to the Hideout and would be there within ten minutes. A reply was sent back quickly, telling him that she understood. There was a small pause and then a smiley face was also sent with it.
‘That’s interesting,’ Yuki thought, tilting his head.
“Let’s go,” he said out loud, glancing to his side. Erica and Akira had finished changing.
He opened the door and held it briefly for the two to walk through. It locked automatically when he closed. Then the three of them made their way to the nearby park to take the transporter that was hidden there.
“Did you two change shampoo?” Yuki asked as they walked. He sniffed gently.
“How did you know?” Akira replied, looking back at him.
“You two smelled different.”
“Oh, you make it a habit to sniff young girls like us~?” Erica asked, grinning.
“I don’t make it a habit, but I do that sometimes. But young would be subjective now wouldn’t it, Erica?” he said.
“I’m not that old,” she pouted. “I’m only in my hundreds.”
“Older than me.”
“Hmph. If we go by maturity, I would say that we’re the same.”
“Doesn’t change the age,” Yuki said.
“Oh come on. Between demons, age is really not that big of a deal,” she said. “I’ve seen plenty of people together that were separated by a bunch of years.”
“So you’re comparing our relationship to those? Planning to marry me or something?”
“I mean, if you and Akira are fine with that, I wouldn’t mind,” she laughed.
“If it’s Erica I wouldn’t mind,” Akira smiled.
“Good to know,” Yuki said. “We’re here.”
With a small burst of mana, he scanned the area around them. When he found no one around them, he opened the entrance to the transporter and gestured to Erica and Akira to go through. They quickly ducked into the small room and Yuki closed the entrance behind him.
“Uriel, take me to the Hideout,” he said, tapping on the glass console as he briefly checked the system.
“Sure,” she replied.
The transporters fired up with a hum. The three of them stepped onto their respective plates and with a bright flash, they appeared inside a dimly lit room. Yuki waited a bit for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light before sliding the door open. Akira and Erica followed him out, Akira sliding the door shut until it blended seamlessly with the wall around it.
“She’s already here,” Erica commented as they stepped out of the hallway.
“Mhm,” Yuki replied.
He walked up to Yuna who was sitting at a table by herself. She was looking out at the street, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.
“Yuna,” he said.
She turned her head about and her eyes landed on him as he approached her table. Her eyes lit up as she recognized him.
“Yuki,” she nodded, giving him a small wave. “I forgot you could come that way.”
“Mmm,” he said as he pulled out a chair. “Let’s start, shall we?”
“Our plans for the tournament?”
“Of course.”