Rosa turned around and began to tiptoe away, hoping that Ximena wouldn't notice her.

"Who is this girl?" the college-aged young-woman asked, glancing at Rosa.

Rosa jumped as soon as she heard her ask. "I'm no one!" the girl said, laughing oddly.

Tetsu chuckled. "She's an odd one, alright," he whispered to himself.

Rosa leered at him. "I heard that!"

The green-haired young woman snickered. "Don't believe you've introduced me to her." She nudged him. "Ahh, don't tell me that Little Tetsu finally got a girlfriend?"

Rosa glanced up at the six-foot-seven-inch tall guy standing next to her. "Uh, little?"

"She's a childhood friend," Tetsu whispered as his face reddened. His golden eyes narrowed at the newcomer. "As for you, Xime, how many times have I told you not to call me 'Little Tetsu'? If you haven't noticed, I have long outgrown you."

The five-foot-nine woman chuckled as she walked past Rosa and him. "Anyway, I'm off to get lunch, wish to join me?"

Tetsu nodded. "Yeah! We were actually about to get some ourselves."

Xime grinned. "Alright then, then let's get going."

Rosa nodded as she rubbed her growling stomach. Yeah, or else I might faint.

***

The smell of cheese, bread, and meat filled the air around the cafe Ximena took her and Tetsu to. Rosa's hazel-eyes rose toward the transparent glass ceiling then shifted back down to the milky-white floor. She wanted to guess the flooring was marble, but its sheen differed from the kind she has seen.

"You sure do love to stare, don't you?" Tetsu asked with a snicker. "Go and sit down, then you can do it without blocking the entrance. In the meantime, I'm going to go and order."

Rosa's face flushed. She directed her eyes toward the nearest table. It and the others were chrome and made up of multiple rings.

"Is this a rotating table?" Rosa asked.

"Yeah," Ximena said as she took a seat at the table. She looks up at her with a mischievous look in her eyes. "So, you two never responded to my assumption. Are you Tetsu's girlfriend?"

Rosa blushed even more than before. She waved her hand. "No, no! He's simply serving as my tour guide. We barely met," the brunette young lady said as she moved the outer ring clockwise. "Why the interest?" A smug smile formed on her lips. "Don't tell me that you have a crush on him? Wahh, childhood romance!"

Ximena snickered and waved her hand dismissively. "You're off. Tetsu is simply a friend." The verdant-haired girl crossed her hands and pressed her chin against them. "Now, the one I'm interested in is his cousin." Her emerald eyes drooped down. "Sadly, that is but a hopeless romance."

"Ahhh, forbidden love!" Rosa squealed. "Let me guess. He already has a girlfriend?"

Ximena didn't remove her eyes from the table. "A fiancée to be exact."

Rosa's smile vanished. "Fiancée, huh? Is he a noble?"

"Sort of, he's..."

The screeching of metal against marble cut off her words. "I'm back," Tetsu said, taking a seat across from Rosalba. "Our meals should be here shortly."

"Thanks for ordering for us," Rosa said, bowing her head. "Promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

She had forgotten her purse in the limo. To make matters worse, it had her charger too. Her best hope was that Zafir or her chauffeur would notice and look for her. Preferably her chauffeur as she had told Zafir to care for the task given to him by her father.

Tetsu leaned back against his seat. "Don't worry about it. I might not be wealthy, but a bronze riku isn't something to be a loan shark about."

"How kind of you," Ximena said as she took out a book and placed it on the table. "Though, shouldn't you be studying for our Industrial Revolution II final exam or the whole host of other tests?"

"I already did so yesterday and the day before that and the one before that one and the day before that one too." He placed his head down against the cold metal surface. " Can't wait until we finish them. Want to go back home and enjoy life a little."

"That sounds nice," Rosa said, smiling. "So, where are you two from?"

"I'm from a small village about a three-hour drive south of the capital," Tetsu said.

"I used to live there until I was five. Currently, I live in the outskirts of the capital," Ximena said.

"The outskirts? Never been there, except for the southern ones. Is it nice?"

Ximena stared at her for a while. "I take it you're also from Kaguya?"

"Yeah. Though I have only been to the center and southern portions."

"I see. Well, all I'll say is to never go alone to the northern or western parts of town. Especially dressed like that."

"Why not?"

"You'll get mugged," Ximena responded, calmly.

"Is it that bad?" Tetsu asked. "Don't you usually take care of errands by yourself?"

"Yeah." Ximena put a silver cross on the table. It was an angel tool, an item that could manifest the power of one's guardian angel into the physical realm. In some cases, even summon said angel to serve as a sentinel.

"But I have this to protect me. For one to go into the slums unarmed is akin to suicide or at the very least idiocy."

"I... I see," Rosa stuttered. I never knew that my hometown had such troubled areas. But now that I ponder over it, it does explain why Father forbids my sister and me from going there.

Tetsu stared at the silver cross. "Wish I had a usable one."

"Still haven't been able to use that rosary, huh?" Ximena asked.

"Nope, I have pretty much given up on it. It simply isn't mine to use."

"You too, huh?" Rosa muttered as she stared at the red beaded bracelet on her left arm.

"Nowadays only seventy percent of the population can use them," Tetsu said, keeping his head down. "Luck simply wasn't on our side."

"Yours is special, though," Ximena said as she put back her cross on her black choker. "It requires a chosen one."

"True. If only I had the money to buy a cheap one. Sure it'll likely result in a weak weapon, but something is better than nothing."

Rosa continued to stare at hers. According to my father, I am Caelio's destined wielder, yet I cannot even activate its weapon form, much less call upon its angel. But, at least I can still use its powers.

She looked up at Tetsu and jumped as she realized he was staring at her ruby-beaded bracelet.

"That looks familiar," the young man said as he tilted his head.

Rosa pulled her arm away and covered the bracelet. "It's probably because of how prevalent this design is these days," she laughed.

Tetsu rubbed his chin. "I don't think that's it..."

She gulped and turned to look at Ximena. "So, what's your tool's weapon form?" Rosa asked.

Ximena's hands clasped the cross once more. A radiant pine-green light erupted out of the gaps between her clenched fists, catching the attention of the few other customers, as well as the waiters and cashiers.

Rosa, Tetsu, and the others adverted their gazes as the light intensified. Once they felt the light die down, Tetsu and Rosa returned their gaze to Ximena's hands.

The verdant-haired young woman's hands were grasping a silver pommel, which in turn gave way to a long but thin blade.

"A rapier!" Rosa exclaimed, bouncing up from her seat. "So beautiful. Hey, can you call upon your angel too?" She only knew a handful of people who could call forth an angel. It was said that only a fifth of all angel tool users could summon theirs. In the past it used to be much higher. No one was certain about why the decline, but most theorized it had to do with a decline in spirituality among the people. That theory was further collaborated by the fact that the most spiritual of the four clans, the Kasai no Ki, also had the highest number of angel summoners. 

While Kuroriku whose spirituality was the lowest had the least angel summoners out of the four major nations.

Ximena grinned. A green aura suddenly flared to life around the blade of the rapier. "Come forth, Olivine!" she yelled.

"Lady Ximena, you called on me?" asked a feminine voice as leaves danced behind Ximena. From the vortex emerged a green haired angel with emerald wings dress in a simple white dress.

Ximena nodded. "I did, but I'm fine. I'm just showing you off to this girl."

The olivine haired angel stared at Rosa. "This girl..."

The angel summoner sat up straight. "Something the matter?"

The guardian angel tilted her head at Rosa. "It's... gone. How odd."

Ximena gasped as she felt the strange sensation from Rosa's bracelet. "I see."

"What's are you talking about?" Rosa asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I sensed something from that bracelet you're wearing, but it quickly vanished," Ximena said. "You claimed it was just a popular item, but no normal piece of jewelry does that. That has to be an angel weapon and a powerful one at that. You aren't some normal high school girl, are you?"

Rosa's eyes widened as she looked forward.

Tetsu snickered. "You got that right. She is far from normal."

Rosa sank slowly into her seat and sighed.

I shouldn't have talked to myself in public. Now he won't ever let me live it down.

"Number Seventy, your order is ready," called out a guy. He placed a tray with three half-wrapped subs on the table along with glasses of water. "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thanks, Ali," Tetsu said as he took his sandwich. He bit into it and smiled. "Awww, so tasty!"

Rosa's stomach grumbled once more. "Excuse me. I'll be taking mine."

Tetsu chuckled. "No need to be formal. Go on ahead!"

She reached over for the turkey sub and quickly bit into it. Her lips widened into a smile. "Ahh, it's divine!"

The handsome young man chuckled. "Told ya! Here's where one gets the best sandwiches in all of campus."

"Olivine, thanks for appearing. Tell me more about this girl later," Ximena whispered as she turned toward her angel.

"Yes. Farewell, Master. Enjoy your meal," Olivine said, bowing. The angel's body disintegrated into a swirl of foliage and green light before finally fading completely.

Ximena turned her gaze toward Rosa, who was too preoccupied with her sandwich to have paid any attention to what she had just said, despite being seated next to her. She smiled. Surely, whoever she was, she wasn't a bad person.

She returned to eating her sandwich.

***

"That was exquisite, but it was not filling," Rosa said as she put down the sandwich wrapper. She picked up a napkin from the table and wiped her mouth. Her hazel-eyes glanced over at the cooks as they prepared more sandwiches and other food on the other side of the counter. She rubbed her stomach and sighed.

"Wow, you sure ate fast," Xime said, staring at her half-finish sandwich.

"Or maybe you just ate too slow, Xime," Tetsu said as he threw his wad-up wrapped into the trash can, a meter away.

Ximena scoffed. "I like taking my time with my food is all."

Tetsu sighed. "You know, if we hadn't grown up together, I would swear you're royalty."

She laughed. "It would be nice if I were."

He grinned. "Yeah, it sure would."

He glanced back at the absent-minded girl across from him. He snickered at the hungry face she was making.

"Want me to buy you another?" he asked, tapping the table to grab her attention.

"I..." She gasped as she realized she had been drooling. She lowered her head and wiped it away with the napkin still in her hand. "Thanks, but no. So, uh, don't you have a class to go to?"

He jumped to his feet and grabbed his red backpack from underneath the multi-ringed metallic table.

"Ah, that's right!" he said as he put it back on. "Thanks for the reminder! See ya! Hope that you find what you were looking for!"

Rosa giggled as she watched him rush past the crowd, which had started to show up. She glanced back at Ximena. "And you?"

"Me? I have another hour to go," the verdant-haired girl said as she calmly ripped a clump of her sandwich and popped it into her mouth.

"Ohhh, I see. Well, I'll be on my way now. I need to find Alota dorm."

Ximena tilted her head at her. "Wait, did you say Alota? That's Tetsu's dorm."

"Huh? Really? Hahaha. Wow, it would've been so much easier if I had just had him show me there himself." If only I had asked...

Ximena looked around at other tables as they were starting to become filled. She finished up the rest of her sandwich and pushed herself up from the table. "Well, this place is becoming noisy. Come, I'll show you to Alota dorm."

"Really?" Rosa asked, clenching the pamphlet the lady from the reception desk had given her. "I have a map here, so if you're busy, I can simply go on ahead--"

The college-aged female picked up the book she had taken out earlier and place it back into her green backpack.

"It's fine," Ximena responded as she strapped on the backpack. She smiled slightly. "Besides, I might just run into a certain someone there..."

"Ooohhh?" A smirk formed on Rosa's face. "Not to pry, but it's that boy, right?"

Ximena averted her gaze. "Which boy are you talking about?"

"You know, Tetsu's cousin!"

Ximena adjusted the collar of her blouse to cover up her reddening neck. She picked up the glass of water the waiter had left and chugged down the liquid before walking on ahead without another word.

Aww. Xime''s shy! Hmm, I should probably tread carefully, though. She might abandon me on the way to the dorm if I continue to poke into her private life, then what will I do?

Rosa chased after the older girl. "Hey!"

"What is it now?" Ximena asked, not turning around.

Did I make her mad?

"A-Are you by any chance a Kasai no Ki?"

The college girl came to a stop at the entrance of the cafe.

Without turning back, she asked, "What makes you think that?"

"Your hair and eye color. They're traits of that clan."

She lowered her head and sighed. "I am. Do you have a problem with it?"

Rosa shook her head. "No, no, of course not! It's just, I've never had a Kasai no Ki friend before."

Ximena smiled as she stepped out of the cafe. "Tetsu was right; you are a weird girl. Come, Alota isn't far away from here. We need to walk past the statue of the previous king, and then we'll be there."

Rosa beamed. "Thanks, Xime! Uh, is it fine to call you that? Or would you rather I call you by your full name?"

The older girl giggled. "Whichever one is fine, I don't mind."

**Solar Note: Hope that you're enjoying the story thus far :). A fair warning, the start will be rather slow pace, but I hope that toward the end it'll pay off :3**