Chapter 88

As the match finishes, Gabriela turned off the Television using the remote on her hand, "now that that's done, it's time we talk…"

A cold wind brushes through Yuji's skin, making him feel a shiver up his spine as he notices the sudden change of mood Gabriela emits, "what's this… the aura she's emitting, it completely changed!" he thought, "up until now she was just like a little child… now it feels like I'm facing a totally different person, is this what she's like when she's serious? Or is…?"

"Yuji Amanda, is your full name, correct?" Gabriela said.

"Y… Yes," Yuji said, trying to hide his tension as he notices a spread of luminous blue particles covering the area,"

"Stay calm Yuji," Alicia said, "those things are harmless without form,"

"You seem to be tense, is something wrong?" Gabriela said in a cold tone.

"She's definitely being serious right now…" he thought, "well, you suddenly changed the mood to something like this, I can't help but feel a bit of pressure, can't I?"

"You say that, but your answer seems rather well thought,"

Yuji was shocked, showing clear signs of surprise and nervousness.

"Despite being this young and playful, I am involved with governmental affairs, and believe me when I say I can see it clear as day when someone is hiding something… I know all too well, so I'd appreciate it if you don't underestimate me,"

Yuji took a deep breath, "ok…" his expression suddenly switched, looking cold and serious as he looks back at Gabriela.

"That's more like it," Gabriela smiled, "then back to the topic at hand, do you remember what was stated in the letter I left you?"

"Yes, if I remember correctly it seemed like it was a threat,"

Gabriela giggled, "being quite frank now, aren't we? Anyway, what I said in that letter was not completely a lie as you may assume, though I do know you are hiding something, I do not know what it is,"

"What's your objective?"

"I… I don't have the obligation to tell you,"

"That's kind of unfair, Isn't it?"

"That's why I won't force you, rather, I'd be asking some questions and I'll be forming answers myself. it's up to you whether or not to react to my conclusions,"

Yuji nodded, "that seems reasonable,"

"It might be bad to keep challenging her authority in this situation, I should actually be thankful she's being this courteous," he thought.

"Then, the fact that you came from city D is true, correct?"

"…Yes,"

"You had a sudden gene evolution and you faced glutton and survived,"

"Thanks to Yukina, that is…"

"Why did you choose this city to settle in? If I remember correctly you've been to city B too, correct?"

"She's so well informed," he thought, "Yeah, Yukina gave me a tour of that city, and if you're asking me why this city… It's because Yukina recommended it to me,"

Gabriela suddenly felt slightly irritated.

"Also… you and Yukina live next to each other on that special condo, even though you can live for free in the Academy apartments, why is that?" she said, talking in a quick manner.

"What's with the sudden speed…?" he thought, "Well… I can't say…"

"you can't say? Is it because you two are hiding something very important?" she said, sounding suspicious.

"That's… it's not like that,"

"Then why!?"

Struggling to think of an answer as Gabriela pressures him, he suddenly let out a shout, "It's because I feel a special attachment with her!"

Gabriela was stunned in shock.

"eh… what did I just say?" Yuji whispered.

"OOOOOOOHHH" Alicia let out a high-pitched tone, "that was a serious and sudden answer straight from the heart! That was so smooth Yuji!"

"Eh?" Yuji faced Gabriela looking flustered.

Gabriela smiled, with a slight blush on her face, suddenly cracking the table, "are you kidding me?"

"The table cracked!?" Yuji thought, "um, Gabriela?"

"J… Just so you know!" Gabriela stood up, "I'm not giving her that easily to you!"

"Eh!? No, Gabriela, you're misunderstanding something,"

"UGH! This is so stupid!" she sat down scratching her head, "I'm just going straight to the questions I want now, then let's get this thing over with!"

"Ah… sure,"

As both recover emotionally, Gabriela took a deep breath, "now then… you better answer me with all honesty, I'm going to focus and notice even the slightest hint of hesitation,"

Yuji took a deep breath, "alright,"

"in all your life, even before going to City A, have you ever met anyone who has white hair and golden eyes, just like me?"

A short silence occurred.

Locking eyes with each other in all seriousness, Yuji knew he only had one answer.

"Yes…"

Gabriela's eyes shrunken, "when, and where?"

"Back at city D, I'm not sure exactly when but it was some time ago, I was a close acquaintance of Erina then, so whenever she appeared for Erina, I was always there to see her,"

"What did she look like?"

"Like you… but she was quite tall and had long straight hair, and in my eyes, she was pretty beautiful,"

"Yuji… you're making me flustered here," Alicia whispered.

"Also, earlier when you said you were always there to see her, what did you mean by that?"

"A chance!" Yuji thought, "whenever she talks or trains with Erina, I mostly watch from the corners the whole time, I even tried my best to listen and copy the way she fights from what I see,"

Gabriela lets out a sigh, looking relieved, "I see, I can tell you're not lying, what you said was pretty accurate from my information after all… also I got what I want,"

"I think I was right!" Yuji thought.

"I see, I think so too," Alicia said, "she must have noticed some sort of similarities between us, especially the way you fight earlier when we synced,"

"I let my guard down, I didn't even think this could happen,"

"Don't sweat it, it was quite unpredictable from the start. Also, now we have a reason for when you show a similar fighting style to mine,"

"Hey, Yuji…" Gabriela said, "you can skip the formalities now, interview is over."

Yuji let out a sigh of relief, "I… I see…"

"Just one more question,"

"Y…YES!?"

"Don't be so tense now, it's a simple one,"

"what is it?"

"her name… what was the name of that white-haired girl?"

Yuji paused, hesitating to answer, "I… think it was…. Alicia,"

Gabriela closed her eyes as she lies down on the floor, "I see, so it was her…"

Yuji slouched, breaking his tense posture as he let out a sigh of relief seeing the luminous blue light surrounding the area slowly disappear.

"Just so you know, Yuji" Gabriela sat up, "I still know you two are hiding something, whatever that may be, I guess I won't intervene, since it doesn't seem like it has anything to do with me,"

"was that your purpose from the start? To figure if it has anything to do with you?"

"Something like that, though I wouldn't worry about it though, all that matters to me is that you didn't lie,"

"I really hate liars…"

"when she said that… I could tell she was being serious, her expression and tone says it all,"

"oh… let me show you something," Gabriela stood up as she remembers something, walking towards a door by the side.

Opening the door, a broom fell out of the tight space within the door.

Picking up the broom, Gabriela walks inside, searching the tight space.

After a short moment, luminous blue light emerged within the door.

"what's that!?" he thought in caution.

Walking out of the door, Gabriela held two luminous balls, with a size of a basketball in each hand.

"Yuji!" Alicia said, alerting Yuji.

"I know… for some reason I could tell, one of those balls is made from her power, which means…" Yuji thought.

"We have to pretend we don't see it… however, looking at that ball, it's filled with quite a lot…"

"Yuji, catch!" Gabriela said, throwing the ball in her left hand.

"this one is not from her, I can catch this!" he thought.

Catching the ball, Yuji felt surprised, "It's heavy!" he said.

Looking smug Gabriela smiled, "it's filled with the weight of my sister's hard work after all!"

"Huh!? But you were carrying this so lightly earlier!"

Gabriela giggled, "I wonder why?" she teased.

Yuji took a quick glance at her hand, noticing luminous blue lights fading from it, "I see… I'll be asking you about that later," he thought, talking to Alicia.

"Sure, that'll take some explaining to do," Alicia replied.

"Anyway, what is this?" Yuji said, observing the ball of light, "this is…" he thought.

"I don't know what to call it but, It's something two of my sisters made with their ability, pretty mysterious, right? It's been there for ages!"

"Ages? But I thought your ability wasn't made to last permanently?" Yuji said in his thoughts.

"True, except for one of us, though I was the one that made that," Alicia said.

"huh?"

"I'll explain later… for now just focus on your situation,"

"Hey, what are you thinking? You're spacing out again,"

"Ah! Sorry, I was just mesmerized by this thing, looking close to it, it seems beautiful…"

"I know, I know right!?"

"then what about that one on your hand, I can see a faint silhouette of a ball, what are you going to do with that?"

"Oh… so you can't see this?"

Yuji paused, confused by her reaction.