Chapter 67

As the sun begins to rise, letting a small beam of light pass through the curtain gaps, Layla sat up from her bed.

"What time is it?" Looking at the clock, "oh yeah, today's rest day," she said, slowly getting off the bed.

She began doing light stretches, warming herself up in the morning, "Yukina told me to rest, but some stretches shouldn't hurt,"

Doing her regular morning routine, she washed her face, grabbed some money, and went outside of her apartment.

"I feel like cooking today, I wonder what I should buy,"

The cold breeze of the morning air brushed through her skin, feeling the coldness, Layla slightly shivered as she went back inside the apartment.

After a few moments, Layla was walking on the quiet early morning road, bringing groceries from the store.

"I'm glad I thought of wearing a jacket, it would have been really tough with this cold,"

As she was walking, she took a glance at the people who seemed to be working on something in an open area.

"What's that? They placed a long line of wood, a wall?"

With a curious mind, she walked over towards the area.

"Hm? What is it, ma'am?" A man in uniform asked.

"Oh! Umm, I was just curious about what this is, this wasn't here yesterday so..."

"Ah, you know the recent incident about City D?"

Layla nodded.

"That was a tragic event, for some people who are still unsure, we're placing the list of some people who didn't make it to City A here,"

"I see... For closure, isn't it?"

"Yes ma'am, the first batch of people to be placed here will be the ones that lived in the central district of City A, including the students of a school on the premises,"

"Central district... That's where Ace academy in City D is located, does that mean the students there will be placed here too?"

"Yes, we will be hanging their pictures beside their names as well, we heard some wasn't able to say a proper farewell and wasn't given a single item to take memory of,"

"I see... That's rather considerate,"

"You seem to be quite interested in this ma'am, are you perhaps a past resident of City D too?

"Too?"

"You see, I was a past resident too, I lost my wife in the catastrophe and wasn't able to gain anything in memory of her, that's why for me, this is something to give me closure with,"

"I see, I'm sorry to hear that sir,"

"It's ok, I'm just glad I could finally have something in memory of her. There will be guides here later on, they will explain how you can get a picture of someone listed here personally," the man began to walk away.

"Thank you, sir!"

After that, Yukina headed straight back to her apartment.

Later on.

Knock* Knock

After knocking, Layla waited outside of Erina's door, "I wonder if she's awake..."

Not long after, Erina opened the door, "it's still early in the morning you know? I thought I told you to rest,"

"I know and I am, I just got back from buying groceries in the store nearby, and I wanted to tell you about something I encountered on the way,"

The cold breeze slipped through Erina's door, making her slightly shiver, "why don't we talk inside? It's cold over there,"

Layla smiled, "good thing I brought eggs!"

Meanwhile, from Yuji's perspective.

Somewhere in City A, wearing a jersey, Yuji was taking a jog, exploring the area.

"That little girl... Gabriela, I definitely caught her suspicion," Yuji thought.

"That's what you get for being careless," Alicia said.

"How was I supposed to know her ability wasn't visible!?"

"You could have just left no comment on what she did right?"

Yuji groaned, "grr... You got a point but..."

"Anyway, knowing her ability is something useful for you though, so I guess that wasn't too bad,"

"I pray that I won't need to use that knowledge someday,"

After a few moments, Yuji went back to his condo.

"Phew, that was a nice run," Yuji stood outside of the condo, observing the large building carefully, "I can't believe I slept here last night, is this really ok?"

From the second floor of the condo, Yukina walked out, wearing a jacket, "oh! Yuji, good morning!" she said, waving from the second-floor hallway/ balcony.

"Good morning!"

Yukina quickly walked downstairs and met up with Yuji outside.

"I was just about to go to your room, I didn't expect you to run around so early in the morning,"

"I wanted to see the surroundings as soon as possible, it also helps me clear my mind a bit,"

"I see, how far did you get?"

"I'm not sure, I remember I saw a park-like area with a fountain over there,"

"You went that far!?"

"Yeah, it seems they were working on something over there, it seemed like some sort of wall,"

"Oh, that? That's the area where they're going to place the list of dead people from City D,"

"Like a memorial or something?"

"Yeah, they'll be placing the first batch, the people who lived in the central district,"

"I see,"

"You're going to be there,"

"..."

"..."

"What do you mean?"

"Your name I mean, I still haven't submitted the papers about you being alive to the government yet,"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that,"

"That's what I was going to do this early, so I was going to tell you,"

"How long will you be gone?"

"Probably a while today, why? Will you miss me already?" Yukina teased.

"I just don't want you ditching me, now that I only know a bit much about the City," slightly being flustered.

"We live next to each other..." Yukina laughed, "I see, I see, anyway if your planning on going there later on don't suddenly tear your picture and name out of there,"

"Why?"

"I'll just call you when you can do that... Wait a minute, now that I think about it, do you have a phone?"

"No..."

"And I have to leave this early too... Hmm," Yukina paused as she thinks.

"Oh!" Remembering something, Yukina rushed back to her apartment.

After a short moment, Yukina went back along with a card in hand, "here it's got my contact information on it,"

Getting the card from Yukina's hand, Yuji felt shocked, "an S class ID!? Are you sure you should be giving this away so easily?"

"I got a lot more on me, so it's ok, plus you can use it for other things,"

"Other things?"

"I'll tell you about it soon, for now, you have the case of our money in your room, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Buy yourself a phone later on, and when you do call me as soon as you can,"

"Alright,"

"Ok then, that's settled for now,"

Yukina looked around, "it's still early, I should get going while it's like this,"

Yukina's mechanical bag suddenly transformed to its wing form, "see you later then," she said, as she began to fly away.

Putting the card in his pocket, Yuji walked inside the condo.

"Well, that felt sudden,"

"Miss her already?" Alicia teased.

"Shut up,"