Shi's Tale ~ Chap 3 - Joining

I finally managed to type this... X.x

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Darkness all around me...
Crying... Wails...
Where...? Where was I...?
The first thing I felt upon waking up was a splitting headache, then a wet cloth pressing on my forehead. My eyelids felt heavy, almost as if beseeching me to fall back into the clutches of slumber, but I forced my eyes open.
“AAAAH! TOO BRIGHT!!!”
I shut my eyes again as my mother lifted the wet cloth. “Aiko? Are you okay?” she asked worriedly, placing her hands on my eyes. Slowly, I opened one eye, then the other. “Ka – san, I’m fine. But it’s too bright...”
I pushed myself into a sitting position, blinking slowly to adapt to the degree of light. Where was I? Had I not been by the town port?
“You’re in your bedroom. You awoke your ability too fast, Ai. After that, you fainted.”
Nanashi was standing by my room door, glaring at me and looking every bit the part of a protective elder brother. Had I really fainted at the town port?
Then I remembered.
Oh.
I did.
Then, as my mother went out of the room to help the other clerics heal the injured, Nanashi exploded.
“WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING, AIKO?! YOU KNOW AWAKENING YOUR POWER BEFORE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS DANGEROUS!”
Nanashi had always been more of a parent figure than our parents. Ka – san had to work shifts at the hospital, while Tou – san, as head of the clan, managed the family difficulties. That gave them little time to spend with us. So Nanashi had always been looking out for us.
“Gomen, Nanashi, but that criminal was escaping! I just wanted to help...”
His eyes softened. Then he shrugged and exited the room, but not before telling me that three girls were looking for me.
Three girls?
Before I had a chance to think about it, the three girls themselves had burst into the room. It was Miyuki and the two other girls from before, the sniper and the gunslinger. “Ah! Aiko – chan, you’re awake! That’s a relief.” exclaimed the gunslinger, smiling happily. I remembered the explosion from before and stared nervously at the gun slung around her shoulders.
“Thanks for helping us catch Kondou Kazuma. Not that we needed help.” yawned the sniper. Once again, the explosion came to mind.
“Yu! Don’t be so rude! She risked her life just to help!”
“She had a choice, didn’t she? Geez, Puri.”
Why were they arguing in my room?
Miyuki seemed to notice my discomfort and hurriedly moved in to break up the fight. Upon realising that they were causing me to feel displaced, they immediately apologised and introduced themselves. The gunslinger was called Yunamiko Popuri and the sniper Yu. I asked Yu if that was her given name or her surname, but she glared at me and told me not to be nosy. Apparently, she preferred to remain mysterious.
Miyuki cleared her throat. “Um, if I may? Well, Yu, Popuri and I were thinking of forming a guild. I was wondering if you would like to join us?”
Join a guild? ME? For a moment, I thought she was joking. But the looks on their faces were completely serious. And when I say serious, I mean it.
But why would they ask me? A future cleric of the water who had not come of age and fainted upon activating her gift?
“Back at the port, before you fainted, you started to emanate a darkish-blue aura. Then you passed out and none of us could go near you. Your aura started casting dark blue orbs at whoever got too near. We think that all of us have something like that, just that we can’t awaken and control them. Our guild will focus on trying to unlock that aura.” Popuri explained with a smile.
“And catching the bad guys, of course.” added Yu.
I had started emanating a dark blue aura? And that aura had cast spell orbs at people? “Are you guys pulling my leg about the aura part?” I asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.
“We are perfectly serious, Aiko – chan. So, will you join us?” asked Miyuki.
I contemplated it for a while. If I really did have an aura that strong, then maybe I wasn’t so weak, after all. Maybe if I trained in a guild, my Mag. Power would strengthen. Maybe...
“I’m in.”

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Phew...