Chapter 97

As the three girls were stunned by the door, Gabriela moved out of the bed.

"Let's leave it at that for now," locking eyes with Yuji, "we'll continue this another time," walking towards the door with a smug smile, she excused herself and walked out of the room as the three girls get inside.

"What was that…?"

"What did she mean by we'll continue this another time?"

"asgasdfasd… Yuji… I didn't know you were so wild…"

"All three of you please calm down!" Yuji said, flustering with panic, "don't misunderstand, it's not what you think!"

Erina looked disturbed as she began to think out loud, "that girl… she seemed so young too, does her look deceive me?"

"Y… Yuji! She's in junior high you know!?"

"She's what!?"

"As I said, it's a misunderstanding! Please listen to me!"

After a few minutes, the girls calmed down, sitting beside Yuji's bed using the chairs placed within the room.

"S… sorry, we put you in such a situation, even though you just woke up," Yukina bowed her head.

"Don't put it all on us though! we couldn't help it since that was… a very… unexpected sight to see… walking into your room like that," Erina said.

Layla nodded, "very unexpected indeed…"

"I'm not blaming you on anything. In fact, I was as surprised as you are,"

Crossing her arms under her chest, Erina let out a sigh, "Anyway, you're telling us that she just suddenly grabbed your head and looked you straight in the eye and you don't know why?"

"Y… yeah, it was as if she was examining something in my eye,"

Yukina slightly flinched as she realizes something.

Noticing a slight movement from her, Erina looked her in the eye, "Hey, do you know something?"

"Huh? I…" as she was thinking of what to do, she looked at Yuji with concern.

"Yuji keeps glancing at me, yet he avoids prolonged eye contact… It's like…" she thought.

"Yukina?"

"Oh, sorry… I was just thinking If I should tell you about this, but… You see, Gaby can see deeper into something or someone with her ability if she focuses it on her eyes. Like seeing whether something is different or something is wrong with your body by looking deep into your eyes,"

"That's amazing…" Layla said.

"What kind of ability even is that? In any case, I understand why you would think twice about giving out such information, are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry, finding out something like that doesn't really get you closer to finding out or fully understanding their true ability, does it? Not that I fully understand it myself,"

"So even you don't understand it?"

"Yeah, and I've been with Gabriela for a long time now, that just shows how crucial and important information about their ability is,"

"I see…" Yuji thought, "so information regarding their ability is something crucial, that's another reason why I should keep quiet about Alicia's ability, I guess that's also why Yukina hasn't been asking about how my ability works when I told her it was probably from Alicia… Now that I think about it, she just tested me by making me do some things Alicia could do, and never asked more regarding that,".

Cough* Cough*

Erina let out a small cough, taking the attention of everyone, "anyway, going back to the real reason why we're here…"

"Oh yeah, what just happened was so bizarre and unexpected we almost forgot," looking at Yukina and Yuji.

"What happened yesterday? Why were you suddenly sent here?"

"Yeah! We were super worried, you know!? We were just walking nearby the hospital yesterday when we suddenly saw you being carried by Yukina with the girl from earlier!"

"Also, how do you know that girl? It seemed to me earlier that you two were more than just acquaintances,"

"Tell us Yuji!"

"Y… Yukina didn't tell you a thing?" looking at Yukina.

"We asked her, but when we did…" they looked at Erina.

She bowed her head, "I… wasn't sure what to tell, since I also didn't know much how it got to that situation… with the little amount of information I had, I didn't want anyone to look bad, so…"

"I get it, Yukina," Yuji said, interrupting her as she felt loss for words, "it's ok, I'll do the explaining, though let me think for a bit…" looking down.

Erina showed a slight flinch with a concerned melancholic expression, "s… sure, take your time," she smiled.

"Erina?" Layla approached her.

"I'm fine… really,"

Yuji looked up, "is something wrong?"

Erina shook her head with a smile, "no, nothing's wrong, go ahead and think so we can get answers to our question already,"

"Sorry, just give me a sec,"

"Let's see…" He thought, "I can't tell Erina about anything regarding Alicia's ability, but in that case… what can I tell her about anything that happened yesterday!? Yukina must have been in the same spot when they asked her, that's why she stayed quiet… maybe for now I should…"

Seeing Yuji struggle to think, Yukina reached out her hand, as she was about to touch him, Yuji suddenly raised his head.

"First, you asked how I knew her, that Girl earlier, Gabriela, right?"

Layla and Erina nodded, "we already know who she is, we just want to know how you got to know each other,"

"She was Yukina's friend, she introduced me to her,"

Yukina nodded.

"Also, when Yukina was busy with something, she took me to be her guardian as a substitute for Yukina,"

"I see, then what happened yesterday that got you into that situation? Together with the two of them,"

"I…." Yuji looked down, grabbing his head with his left arm, "I… I don't want to lie to her… I …"

Looking up, he looked forward showing slight signs of stress on his face, "we…. Got into an argument,"

Erina stood up in tension and concern, "you got into a fight!?"

"With one of this city's strongest!? What happened!?"

"That was… It's…" Yuji struggled for an answer as Yukina watched him with a guilty expression.

Seeing Yuji struggle, Erina forced herself to calm down, "I see… so you can't tell me the rest…" she said in a dismal tone.

Yuji looked her in the eyes, he felt his conscience shiver as he notices the dreary expression imprinted on Erina's face.

"It's ok," sounding melancholic, "I won't force you to tell any more than you have to… whenever you hide something you always have a good reason for it, I can understand that…" Erina looked away, "I just wish I could be someone you could put more trust with…" she whispered.

"Erina…" Yukina said, looking disconsolate.

"I'm sorry… I don't think I'm feeling well, maybe the heat is getting to me," Erina said grabbing her head as she walks towards the door.

"Erina!? Are you going to be fine?" Layla said, following her.

"I'll be fine, I just need some rest,"

As they reached the door Erina stopped and looked back at them, "the heat this season seems to be really concerning, you be careful and stay hydrated too, ok? Contact me when you fully recover,"

With those words, the door closed as they left the room.