ESSENCE

Those two from the diner really seemed to like each other. Indigo and Ink. A small smile forms on my face as I remember the way they acted towards each other. They're probably a couple, if not, they'd make a great one. Sometimes I wish I had someone to look after me like that, but I know they probably don't have it easy either, and I'm too scared to trust anybody. It's not that I want to be a coward, I fight when I have to, but I'm just the type of person who hides in the shadows and evades -- it's who I am. I continue to walk down the sidewalk in the more "broken" part of town, the area that has vines wrapping through the cement walls that house gardens on the tops of them, sidewalks that haven't been well taken care of in a long time, tall buildings that aren't that old but give off an older vibe, a charming one though, with the way the wooden porches and wooden railings compliment the buildings made of concrete that were painted over and had siding added to them, and a brick building or two here and there with neon signs lighting up the neighborhood every so often. I love this part of Shibuya. My white boots slosh through the puddles, drops occasionally splashing onto my black thigh-high tights, the scent of wet asphalt and warm rain in the air, and when the wind blows I pull my dark blue jacket closer around me.

"I'm telling you, I don't know why he ran off," A male voice comes from nearby and I slow my pace, sticking to the shadows as I approach.

"I'm not blaming you, Asylum," A girl I saw earlier in the market with Jace sighs, "I just want to make sure he's safe."

"You know he can handle himself," Asylum sighs, "Besides, this wouldn't have been an issue if you hadn't seen him run off."

"Are you saying you wouldn't have told me?" The girl glares at the boy and crosses her arms.

The boy rubs the back of his neck, offering her a nervous smile as his blond, spiky hair sways slightly in the occasional gusts of wind that come. He looks up at the sky and sighs as they continue walking.

"Man, this is a drag," Asylum sighs once more, "Misa, seriously, I know you're like his sister but trust me, he'll be fine."

The black haired girl crosses her arms and narrows her blue eyes at Asylum, who runs a hand through his hair before adjusting his mech goggles which rest on top of his head, his blue eyes flitting about between her and the scenery as they hold an emotion I can't quite place.

"Fine," Asylum says after a little while, "We'll keep looking, but I don't know why you wanted to come here of all places."

"We'll keep looking? Of course I was going to keep looking, but I wasn't going to force you to stay if you hated it so much," Misa says bitterly.

"I wasn't implying that I--"

"And aw come on," Misa smiles as she throws an arm around Asylum's shoulders, "Try to admire the scenery."

"Yeah," The blond snorts as the pair continues to walk farther away, "Scenery..."

I sigh once they're finally out of sight and continue walking along the path in the shadows. However, as I round the corner, I bump into a boy who's wearing a black jacket with the hood pulled up over his blond hair and his silver eyes widen slightly, his hands reflexively reaching towards the daggers strapped to his legs, sliding around on the asphalt and kicking up water with his dark brown, calf high combat boots with his pants tucked into his boots. He catches his daggers in one swift motion and points one of them at me while holding the other down at his side. I step backwards as my eyes widen and a dark blue energy orb begins to form and swirl around my right hand as we stand there, calculating each other's next move.

"You don't work for White Rabbit, do you?" We ask simultaneously.

"No?" I ask in slight confusion and he narrows his eyes at me.

"Or Cessair?" He asks, "Maverick?"

"Who--"

"Nevermind, you clearly don't know," The boy raises a brow slightly before glancing around and slowly withdrawing his daggers, but keeps them at his sides.

Nearby, black birds fly by, spooked by a nearby being, and the boy in front of me clenches his jaw and his grip on his daggers tightens.

"What's going on? Who are you?" I ask as I keep my energy orb still ready.

"That's not relevant to --"

The boy pauses when a giant golden rune with intricate spirals and curves forms on the ground beneath our feet, gold light radiating from it and the spirals within forming something similar to a symbol for time, and the area around us seems to move slower as if we're in a completely different universe, the once spooked birds now flying in slow motion along with the rest of the outside world.

"Shit!" The boy exclaims and holds up his daggers in the form of an x right before a boy with blond hair and brown eyes leaps off of the nearest rooftop, swinging his great sword above his head and clashing his sword against the other stranger's daggers, the hooded stranger digging his feet into the ground and sliding backwards slightly, narrowing his silver eyes at the other boy, "Reece Maverick."

The other blond boy smirks wickedly and they stay in their current position.

"I finally found you, you pain in the ass assassin," Reece snaps, "Clattonia found out that Ryouichi and Mitsuko lost you in Osaka, and some of our other sources were so kind to tell us about your little encounter. Who knew you were secretly living in Shibuya all this time."

"And you came alone?" The other boy smirks back at Reece, "How stupid."

"I could've brought Caliber with me," Reece says and the other boy's silver eyes widen slightly, "You would've liked that, wouldn't you? To see the childhood friend that you abandoned when you ran like a coward when things pissed you off and you didn't know how to handle it so you ran, leaving behind Caliber and your family."

"Shut up," The mysterious stranger grits his teeth and slashes at Reece, who easily avoids the blow, "They're not my family. My family died when my mother did. You wouldn't understand--"

"You ungrateful piece of shit!" Reece snaps and the rune on the ground glows brighter as the carvings in his silver great sword begin to glow gold, "Don't tell me that I wouldn't understand. You know nothing about my family life. I know what it's like to struggle, to seethe with anger, but I put up with it, I didn't run. I'm not a coward!"

"Don't judge me so easily without knowing the full situation," The other boy's silver eyes narrow in anger and his grip on his daggers tightens so much that it turns his knuckles an even paler white than the rest of him.

"I hate hypocrites," Reece snorts before swinging his blade and knocking the other boy back into the brick wall of the nearest building, somehow catching him off guard.

The silver eyed boy grits his teeth and lifts his head to look at Reece, making me gasp when I notice that his eyes turned an icy blue and one of the sleeves of his black jacket became disheveled, revealing an angel wing made of ice.

"You do not define me," The boy growls.

"Whatever, Kazuki," Reece shakes his head and swings his arm back so that his blade is resting against his shoulder, "Whenever you decide to stop having tunnel vision, maybe you'll see that you actually do have a family waiting for you."

The sound of footsteps gets closer and Reece glances over at me before rushing over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist, and jumping up onto the nearest roof, my eyes widening in surprise and my protests dying in my throat during the process just as I see Asylum and Misa round the corner in slow motion. Reece lifts the rune just as he creates a gold and black time portal, the center of the portal being black with gold swirling around the outside in the form of a clock's gears and framework, golden lines of energy crossing back and forth at each point.

"Crap! They're getting away!" Misa shouts as she reaches for her pistols and Asylum grabs his sword in the form of a disc with clockwork off of his back, it unfolding and transforming into a giant blade with gears in the middle.

Kazuki grits his teeth and takes off his jacket before leaping up and flying off as Reece takes me through the portal and closes it once we're through.

"I believe I haven't properly introduced myself," Reece says as he brushes his clothes off and puts his great sword away, his fierce brown eyes meeting mine and his golden hair shining from the light of the setting sun, "I'm Reece Maverick."

"Essence..." I whisper quietly as I watch him study me, a small smirk forming on his face as his lips tilt up and he arches one of his eyebrows slightly, "Essence Kaori..."

And as I continue to watch this dangerous, cold, fierce boy I begin to think that maybe I won't be running any more.