Chapter Twenty-Two; Part 2.5

Jinny's P.O.V.

I started to wake up as the sun rose, light shining on my face due to my position in the tent. I sat up, yawned, and stretched, looking around to see I was the only one awake in the tent. I stood up and quietly walked out, making sure not to wake any of the others. I noticed Sanda wasn't in the tent, but shrugged and assumed he was inside or enjoying the morning view.

I decided to head inside before I would hopefully join him in enjoying the morning view, a blanket wrapped around myself. I made some coffee and a small snack, grabbing a book on my way back out. Sometimes in my mornings I just watched the sunset, other times I read while I basked in the warmth of it. Though there were times when I just liked to mess around with Sanda too. I snickered to myself as I remembered hitting him in the face with a water ball once. "I really feel like my old self around Sanda..." I blushed at the thought, recalling the night before as well.

I shook my head and went to the edge of the plateau as always. "Huh? He's not here..? Strange..." I muttered, taking a bite of the toasted bagel I made before shrugging. "I guess he's taking a shower or something. He'll join me when he's done I'm sure." I sat down and read, finishing my bagel and my coffee, smiling as I saw the sun rise fully.

After a few minutes I noticed the light in the sky fade. Confused, I looked up from my book, seeing dozens of really dark clouds in the sky not too far away. "Oh wow. I should probably wake everyone up and head inside. I guess Sanda sensed the storm and that's why he's not out here." I stood up, racewalking inside with all my things, being careful not to drop any dishes and such. I washed my dishes and set my book back in my room. The storm clouds seemed pretty far so I wasn't in too much of a rush, though I was still worried so I tried to be a little fast.

I started walking back outside, though stopped as a thought crossed my mind. "Wait a minute... If Sanda knew there was a big storm coming...why didn't he get the rest of us..?" I looked toward his room and saw a little ball of paper on the floor. I tilted my head, walking over and kneeling down to pick it up. I uncrumbled it, reading the words to myself silently. My eyes widened as I read it all and I quickly threw it down, running outside. I saw several sparks flying through the dark grey clouds and I now noticed that the clouds didn't actually seem to be moving. "No no no..! Come on Sanda, I know you're in here..!" I opened the flap of the large mix of tents, looking to see everyone else still asleep.

I looked around, scanning the inside with my eyes, even counting what I sensed to make sure. Sure enough, Sanda was gone, which means he saw the note and crumbled it up himself before accepting Raito's challenge. "That idiot!" I shouted at the top of my lungs before running out. I heard a few confused mutters and felt a couple of them jolt up, but I didn't care. I wasn't about to lose someone else I cared about. Sanda was my student, my comrade, and practically my best friend now. I couldn't lose him. I wouldn't lose him. I refused to lose him too. I trusted him and had faith in him, but he had been through so much already. I don't know if he'd be able to take anymore.

I jumped up, water encasing my body and I flew off in the direction of the dark clouds. "Dammit... It's so far away..." I clenched my fist. "Cheeky bastard probably made it so far on purpose so we none of us would make it on time to do anything about the fight... We'll see about that you asshole!" I fired jet streams of water from my feet, flying much faster. "Hold on Sanda... I'm coming! I won't let you die today!"

I watched as more clouds formed in the sky, becoming darker. The lightning sparking through them started gathering in one spot. Sanda was either gathering up all the power he could, or he was losing control of his emotions. "Sanda...please be okay..." I muttered, feeling a tug on my chest at the thought of going there to find him dead. That thought alone propelled me forward even faster.