I stretched my arms, yawning as the four of us exited the shopping center together with bags of stuff in our arms.

It was a bit awkward carrying around so much stuff, but it wasn't too heavy or cumbersome.

Albert looked pretty pleased with himself, his lips curved up into a smile, as he held his shiny new phone in his hand. "Well, that wasn't too bad. Thanks, guys. This one's got a great camera and it was pretty cheap."

"Suspiciously cheap," Stella said.

"Yeah, well. Not my fault I got lucky." Al smirked at her. "You jealous? That's not a good look for a nepo princess, y'know."

Stella scoffed, looking away. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, nerd boy."

He chuckled. "Ouch, burn. That toootally hurt my feelings."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, alright. So... what now?"

"Weeeeellll," Ichigo hummed, glancing at the time on her phone. "Dinner?"

"Mm. Yeah. Sounds good." I nodded. "Where to?"

"Something light. Or cheap," Albert suggested.

"I believe I may have a suggestion," Stella offered.

I looked over to her curiously. She smirked slightly, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I happen to know a rather quaint little restaurant nearby," she said.

Ichigo gulped, her face paling. "Is it too late for me to go home? You know what, it is, I'm leaving now. Bye bye. Nice knowing you, but nope."

I chuckled. "Ichigo. Relax."

"No way in hell." She shook her head, her shoulders slumping. "Do you know what kind of place someone like her would pitch?"

Stella put on an exaggerated pout. "And just what are you implying about my tastes, hm? How rude. I'm hurt."

Ichigo whimpered. "Oh no. My bank account. My poor wallet. My sad savings..."

I laughed, shaking my head.

"Relax," Stella smiled. "Just this once, it's on me. And they've recently had to cut back their prices and offerings due to... you know. The Cataclysm and everything."

"Oh?" Al raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Cut back, you say?"

"You a fan of steak?" she asked him. "Or seafood?"

His eyes lit up. "Both."

Stella giggled. "Well. In that case, it's not that far from here."

She turned around, pointing at the distance towards the eastern harbor. "It's an old, famous steakhouse called Amadeus's, and it's over in that general direction. We could just walk over if we want, it's not that long of a walk."

I looked up at Stella. She met my gaze with a wink.

The weird sensation in my gut was slowly coming back. Something felt off.

But... I couldn't figure out why.

I glanced over at the other two. They both looked completely oblivious and unaware.

I frowned. Was it just nerves?

I couldn't tell, and that made me nervous.

We started to move, and the feeling got worse and worse.

The hairs at the end of my neck were standing up now.

"Sienna, you okay?" Ichigo asked, looking at me with a raised brow. "You seem a little out of it."

"I'm fine," I lied, trying to hide my unease.

She nodded slowly. "Alright, if you say so."

I glanced back at the others. Al and Stella were both walking ahead of me.

The weird feeling was getting worse.

I bit my lip. I wasn't sure if it was just anxiety or if it was my magical girl powers or something, but this was starting to bother me. A lot.

"Hey, guys," I spoke up.

The three turned to me, raising an eyebrow at me in question. I bit my lip.

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"Something doesn't feel right," I explained.

The others exchanged looks with each other before looking back to me.

"I... don't know what that means?" Ichigo tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "But I can't shake the feeling something's not right."

Stella furrowed her brow, staring into my eyes intensely. Then, suddenly, her expression softened and she nodded to me, a small, knowing smile forming on her lips. "Say, Ichigo means Strawberry, right? Just to confirm?" she asked, turning her attention to the girl in question.

"Er, yes? Why?" Ichigo blinked, shifting nervously.

"No reason." She turned to me. "Well then. What's not right?"

"I'm not sure," I mumbled. "It just doesn't feel right. It's like... something's going on and I can't figure it out."

"Yo, 'scuse me," a youth's voice suddenly cut in right between me and Stella. The others turned towards him, confused.

Wait, I recognized that —

Before I could process what was happening, he had shoved his way through the group and pushed past me. "Whoops!" he exclaimed.

Stella reacted instantly, grabbing him into some kind of judo hold with one hand around the neck of his hoodie, the other twisting his wrist.

The youth yelped, trying to pry his way free.

I gaped. I knew him. He was —

"Oh come the fu—" He twisted in her grip, trying to get free.

"Your aura is a void. Suppressed and concealed, but there's something there. And I know a thug when I see one. What did you do? What did you steal?" she interrogated.

"Oi! Easy there, Cinderella! First of all, don't you have any idea how rude that was? And second of all, that really hurts. You live up to your mom's reputation, don't you?"

She froze, narrowing her eyes. The boy glanced around with his eyes and I followed his gaze.

A 20-something dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket with its hood up stood at a distance, glancing over at the commotion while smoking a cigarette next to a parking meter.

He was watching the scene intently, his eyes narrowed as he watched. I narrowed my eyes, turning my aura sight on only to recoil as I saw a dense, malicious red aura around him. If I had to classify him relative to the knights I'd scene, his aura's presence was easily comparable to mine or Ichigo's.

And he wasn't thhe only one.

I looked left and right, only to see similar auras in two dark, unmarked cars parked along the road. There were also multiple cars with dark windows with auras that emanating within that revealed four passengers a vehicle.

We were being watched, and we were surrounded in a concave formation on all sides.

A chill ran up my spine. "Stella..."

"So uh... you guys need to run. Right now," the youth said. "Someone's after your friend giving me an owie, and you know how much I hate owies. They're so not fun. And I don't like them at all."

She glanced down at him and frowned, but then she paused and glanced back at me.

"Friend of yours? Is he trustworthy?" Stella whispered.

I gulped. "Um. I think? Questionable? Ok yeah. I'd definitely call him a friend."

She rolled her eyes, groaning.

The boy coughed awkwardly, struggling against the hold Stella had on him. He looked over at me, to Ichigo and Albert, then back to her. "Seriously. We've gotta go. You'll thank me for this one, I promise."

Stella's frown deepened.

"Act natural, I just picked your purse when you went for the grip," the boy muttered. "Right pocket. I'll make it look organic and give you a path out. Don't take my knife."

Stella shoved him onto his knees, her face contorting into a sneer as she reached into his hoodie's right pocket.

The others watched in awe, confused, as Stella dug through it for a few seconds, and then her expression turned into one of faux shock.

"Huh?!" She exclaimed, pulling out a wallet and flipping it open.

"Play along," I nodded to Ichigo and Albert.

Ichigo quickly understood, and started screaming bloody murder as she ran forward to help Stella. Albert's eyes widened as realization set in. "Right."

Making a scene would cause civilian eyes to focus on us instead. Stella was smart to go along.

"Oh fuck off!" she yelled at him as he grabbed her wallet and bolted. "Give me back my wallet!"

Stella sprinted after the kid.

Albert, Ichigo and I gave chase, running after her. "Wait!" I cried.

The others quickly caught up and we ran together.

"What the hell?" Al muttered, running beside me. "What's even going on? That was who I think it was, right?"

"Yup. I'd recognize that flippant smartass anywhere."

"Wait, you guys actually know that kid?" Ichigo asked. "Is that who I think that is?"

"Unfortunately," I grumbled.

We chased after him as the boy ducked through a small alleyway, Stella hot on his heels. He was fast.

"Get back here with my stuff, thief!" she screamed. "You little punk!"

We ran through the streets, following Stella and the hooded youth.

People quickly stepped out of our way.

"What's the deal with him? Who's chasing us?" Albert asked.

"Bad people. The kind who probably won't hesitate to use deadly force."

Stella slowed down as she neared a street corner, turning back to face us as she continued at a jogging pace. Her face was serious and stern.

"Seven Pioneer mana signatures, five large and two smaller. Two are a bit ahead of the others, but all of them are moving together, in our general direction. Likely Depravities in play, implying supervillains. Dozens of foot soldiers moving to cut us off."

Ichigo blinked. "Huh?"

"I used my Aura Sight on the guy watching the entrance. His aura was dense and dark. He's almost probably a Depravity user," I explained without missing a beat.

"Wait, does everyone here know your iden —" Ichigo stopped, shaking her head. "Actually, you know what? Whatever. I'm used to weird things happening by this point."

The youth turned the corner and quickly waved us over disappeared behind a building. We followed, and found ourselves in a back alley, filled with garbage bins, old furniture, and various other random items scattered about.

What caught my eye, however, was a well-constructed, makeshift shed built into the alley. There were a couple of boxes and some chairs, but most of the stuff seemed to have been salvaged from somewhere else. There was a power generator connected to a cord that snaked up along the wall of the building it was built next to.

A few posters were tacked to the walls outside, one being a crude crayon drawing of a knight with a sword that had a smiley face on the pommel, while the other was an anime-style depiction of a young, blue haired magical girl with twin pigtails. The third was a wanted poster, but I couldn't quite make it out in the dim light of the alley.

The shed was a decent size, at least six feet tall, eight feet wide, and maybe fifteen feet deep.

And there in front of a folding table with an electric kettle in hand and a cup of instant ramen waiting to be boiled, sat the boy that had saved my ass a month ago. He was dressed in the same dark, baggy hoodie he had been wearing earlier.

Tall and lean, with messy, long black hair that fell in his face. Sharp dark brown eyes with tanned skin.

"Black Star...?" I whispered.

He smirked at me.

"Yo! Been a minute, Sparkle Princess. Now, it ain't sushi like we promised, but do you want the lime chili shrimp or spicy miso?"