Shizue eyed her daughter but did not see any signs of her lying. Because of this, she let out a sigh of relief. "I have to ask, how long do you plan to take off from school?"

"Just this year. I promise in due time I will explain everything. Just believe in me this once. I promise you will understand very soon." Ai said seriously. She was happy that she could talk to her mother like this. She did not like hurting her mother. She would prefer to be completely honest with her but right now was not the time.

"Alright, I will let you do it this one time but next year you will go back to school no ands, its, or buts! But if I find out that you are on something, or become pregnant, I will kick you out of my house! Do you understand?" Shizue still had misgivings but she knew if she pushed her daughter to go to school it would have the opposite effect and make Ai not want to go to school even more.

"Mom, you have my promise. No drugs or boys." Ai said as she smiled and gave Shizue a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright enough. I will deal with your father. For now, take your plate and come downstairs to eat. It's lonely eating by myself." Shizue shoved the plate in her hand to Ai who happily took it. In her past life, the thing she missed most was her mother's cooking.  Even before her mother died, Ai could remember her mother giving her, her last home cooked meal. Although it was nothing but a can of beans her mother gave her mostly all of the can, to make sure she was getting her fill. At that time Shizue was almost skin and bones but even still she made sure Ai ate very well. She sacrificed her own health and well being and suffered through her hunger, starving herself, to make sure Ai was well fed.  thinking of this brought a tear to Ai's eyes. Her mother truly loved her.

Ai and Shizue had a nice chat while they ate. Around ten at night her father came. Ai gave him a hug good night before running upstairs. She had already gotten a decent nap earlier after dinner. So she was wide awake now. Her plan tonight was to find a jackhammer to break apart the rocks easier and allow for Mai and her to make better progress. It was not until two A.M. that her father and mother had finally gone to bed that Ai slowly opened up her window and jumped out.

She went straight for her shopping cart and picked it up carrying it instead of pushing in order to not cause any noise. Tonight she had less time than normal because her father worked late. And she knew her mother would be up by five am, so she had a short time frame to get things done.

Earlier in the day, she remembered seeing a construction site and hearing the sounds of heavy machinery. She hoped she would be able to find what she was looking for at the construction site.  Once she was far enough away from the house Ai put the shopping cart down and began pushing it. She quickly made her way towards the construction site that was five streets over.

The construction site was surrounded by large temporary walls to keep people out. This of course would not stop Ai at all. She stood in front of a sign that read "Warning Keep Out, Construction Underway. Danger Of Falling Objects!". After stashing her shopping cart to the side. Ai made some distance between her and the fence before running full speed towards it. Once she was close she stepped on the wall trying to run up it as much as she could before launching upwards and grabbing the top edge of the fence. She then continued to use the momentum to pull herself up before finally seating herself on top of the fence.

"This body is still too weak! If a first type machina were to come at me right now I do not think I would be able to survive… In any case, I will need to up my training a bit more. But now for the task at hand." Ai lamented over how weak she felt compared to her past life. In her past life, she would have been able to jump this fence with much more ease. She struggled to get to the top of the fence just now.

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Shaking her head she flipped her leg over the wall and jumped down. "Now if I were a jackhammer where would I be..." Ai looked around her and only saw dirt mounds and large machinery. This was a new construction site so there was not much around except bags of cement and piles of dirt along with the machinery to dig out the basement. After spending a half hour searching in the dark Ai finally laid eyes on a storage shed at one side of the construction site.

She walked up to the storage shed that was only a few meters wide and long and frowned when she saw the big padlock. "Figures they would lock up their equipment but that will not stop me. Luckily this is not a combination lock."

In order to scavenge for food, Ai had to learn how to pick locks. She had also come prepared just in case things were locked up. She reached up and pulled the bobby pin from her hair and began bending it into the right shape before going to work. After a few seconds of fiddling with the lock, a smile crept up on Ai's face as she heard a clicking sound and the lock popping open in her hands. "Just as easy as I remember it to be."

During her ten years of hell she had to learn many skills and lock picking was an essential one. She had broken into many houses and even cars to grab useful things. She even broke into a military camp in order to get weapons. But she mainly used the skill to break into houses to find food. Besides lock picking, she had learned simple first aid and many other survival techniques such as botany in order to identify plants and tracking so she could hunt easier. Plants were good for when she needed to use herbs to heal injuries and for cooking. She was not a genius that's for sure. She was not a medical expert either, she could only do minor first aid and make simple balms. These few skills she learned were good enough to keep her going for all those years. If not for these skills she would have either died of starvation or from a wound becoming infected.

"Let's see here… pickaxes, drills and... " Ai's eyes glowed as her gaze fell on the jackhammer leaning against the wall. "At least now Mai and I will be able to dig faster! Now to get the shopping cart over here to load it up."

Ai quickly went over to the wall where she had jumped over and looked for a weak point where she could pry it open and force the shopping cart through. Unfortunately, when she got near the wall she heard footsteps on the other side. "Are you sure you saw someone hop the fence here?"

"Yes, officer, I saw someone who looked like a youth dressed in black climbing over the fence."

"Alright, it's late. Go home, I will check it  out, thank you for reporting this."

Ai's face sank. She did not want to be caught by the cops or everything she had set up to this point would be ruined instantly. Ai quickly looked for a place to hide and only had time to duck behind a few barrels when she saw two hands grabbing the top of the fence and a voice full of complaint coming from the other side. "It was getting close to the end of my shift as well, now here I am trying to track down a trouble maker. I am getting too old for this shit."

The officer jumped down to the ground and turned on his flashlight. Ai stayed absolutely still and even held her breath waiting for the officer to walk by her. But he was taking his time as he slowly swept the flashlight in his hand around looking to see if he could see anyone. "Hello? I know you are here. Quickly come out and I won't arrest you."

Ai frowned even more as the light swept in her direction. She knew it would not be easy to get out of here now with this officer here and she still had to get these tools home.  She stayed low to the ground as the light swept past her. She stayed in this position until the cop walked right by her. She grabbed a metal pipe that laid to the side and slowly and quietly got up off the ground and crept up behind the officer. She raised the pipe over her head and slammed it down on the backside of the officer's neck, knocking him out. She quickly caught him before he fell to the ground. She did not want the officer to get hurt while he was just doing his job. But she could not let him get in her way of getting the tools she needed either.

Ai looked at the gun in the holster attached to the officer's side. She was tempted to take it but figured it was best not to at this time. If it was ever found, not only would she get in trouble but so would her parents.

Knowing she did not have much time, Ai quickly went to work and created an opening big enough to push the shopping cart through before bringing it into the construction site and filling it up with tools and quickly leaving. She had covered the top with a tarp to hide what was inside. And hurried home. She had only an hour to get things downstairs before her parents would be up.  After she was done Ai got changed and lay face first on her bed. "I think I will sleep tonight… But for now, I will take a few hours nap before I have to meet up with Mai."

A few hours later Ai was woken up by Shizue. Sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes she looked at her mother who had just sat on her bed. " I will be going to work. Is Mai going to be skipping school with you today as well?"

"MMm… She will be going with me to work out this morning. Before coming back here for lunch." Ai said honestly. Since her mother had already agreed to let her take the year off she had no issues telling her mother her plans for the day.

"Alright, if Mai has an issue with her parents I will go over and talk with them. She is like my daughter as well, so I do not mind sticking my neck out for her. Just remember your promise to me." Shizue said before standing up.

"Mmm, I will remember it mom, and thank you for believing in me."