change

8 - back at the mall.

The sliding glass doors opened wide as Chris and Chizuru stepped through, heading to the mall where the former apprehended a criminal along with Klein, Arielle, and the mysterious electric girl. A gust of wind blew from the front as they started taking a look around.

"So," Chris said, "Have you been in a mall before?"

"Not really. This does look like a market, though. Back where I used to live, my dad would only let me follow him if he was heading to the market. It's way hotter than this place."

"Wait, don't tell me you've never been to a mall before?"

Chizuru nodded sadly.

"Alright, let me give you an easy description. A mall is a market inside a really big building."

"Shouldn't it have one floor, though? All the markets I've seen had tarps above the items they were selling."

"And since you're putting it all into a building, you're also using the upper floors. That means you can put a market on top of a market and it'll still hold up. You know how buildings work, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. Now, I'd like to show you something. Follow me."

Chris playfully grabbed Chizuru by the hand and dragged her to Tomfishery as she struggled to keep up.

"Wah, that was too fast! Go slower next time, will you?" she shouted after they got to the front.

"Sorry, I just got too excited. Anyway, here's a place where me and Klein like to eat on the weekends."

"Good afternoon," the attendant said, standing at the entrance.

"A table for two, please."

"Alright. Please follow me."

The attendant led them to a table next to the window with 2 seats next to it and put down 2 menus. The both of them took a seat and immediately opened them as the attendant left.

"Woah... "Fish and Chips", "Salt-Sprinkled Cod", "Thomas' Grilled Fish"... There's a lot here!" Chizuru exclaimed as she flipped through the pages, amazed at everything.

"Yeah. Whenever me and Klein ate here, we always took the "Fish and Chips". You wanna order it? I can pay for it."

"Sure!"



Meanwhile, the same sniper who watched them a few days ago walked along the railing of the 4th floor, blending in with the crowd. He wore a camo hood over his face covered with a black mask and carried a black backpack with him. As Chris and Chizuru were walking out from Tomfishery, he glanced at them before slowly walking away.

He made his way through the crowd to a little corridor between the shops which he walked into. Turning right after the corridor, he spotted a door with a sign which read "Authorized personnel only" and a camera installed inside. He looked at the camera, allowed himself to be scanned, and opened the door after it was unlocked, making sure to close it behind him. On the other end was a ladder with a latch at the top.

Climbing up, he took out a phone which was ringing in his pocket. Someone was calling him. He answered the phone and said, "Is there anything wrong, sir?" His voice was heavy like he was a retired war veteran.

"May I ask about the target's condition?" a man's light voice asked from the other end.

"The target is safe and sound. She's being accompanied by a friend."

"Good. Please keep an eye on her in case things go wrong."

The other person hung up, leaving the man alone again. He pocketed the phone and continued climbing up the ladder.



A few moments later, Chris and Chizuru suddenly ran into a little incident. A masked man was on the floor, being apprehended by a blonde policeman and a tanned lady in a beige military uniform. They seemed to be interrogating him and the duo didn't want to meddle in their affairs, so they quickly left only for the lady to spot them trying to slip away.

"Kids, do you mind coming here for a bit?" she asked, making them freeze in their tracks. Chris noticed that Chizuru was suddenly acting a little weird, and his suspicions were confirmed when she started walking towards her without hesitation.

He sighed, before mumbling, "Guess I'll follow along. No good in disobeying the military."

After the two of them walked up to the lady, she asked, "Have both of you seen a girl with a blazer going around lately?"

Chizuru shook her head, while Chris said, "Yeah, around like a week ago."

"Would you mind telling me where she was?"

"... I can't say I remember for sure, but-"

"Are you sure about that?" the young policeman asked.

"Wha?! Lie Detection?!" Chris thought as a drop of sweat started running down his head. "I last saw her nearby the apartment I live in," he said, the nervousness not leaving him.

"Nathan, is he telling the truth?" the lady asked her partner.

"Yes, Vivian. He's just nervous."

"Is the masked man smiling?" Chizuru asked, pointing at the man on the floor. He looked like he was grinning as if the two grownups hadn't even apprehended him at all. Almost immediately, he disappeared into thin air, taking everyone by surprise.

"Ah, he got away..." the lady named Vivian said, sighing as she put a hand to her head.

"Sorry about that earlier. My name's Nathan Volpandir, and the lady here is Captain Vivian Meniru," the policeman said.

"It's alright. My name's Chris. Wait, do you need my full name?"

"No need. Haha, it's already been a few minutes since we first met and now we're conversing like friends..."

"Nathan, we should go," said Vivian, turning to face him. "Who knows what other incidents have happened here."

"Oop, our time's already up. I look forward to working with you again."

"You too, sir."

The two duos parted ways amidst the slight amount of chaos they caused. After a short while, Chizuru said, "This was fun, but I think I'll head back now."

"Oh, alright. Do you know the way back? There's a little something I gotta do here, if you don't mind."

"Nah, it's alright. I can go back by myself."

She quickly bowed before skating out the mall, managing a front flip over the small stairs at the entrance.

"I wanted to go first, but she took the initiative..."



The sniper was crouching on the roof as he saw Chizuru skating her way back to Chris' house when his phone rang again. Picking it up, the voice on the other side said, "Be careful, Daniel Halcyon. There's an enemy in the building."

He put the phone down without hanging up and unzipped his backpack, revealing a Barrett M82 (a really good sniper) and an M4A1 (a really good rifle). He took the Barrett, connected the attachments, and then aimed at Chizuru without the intent of pulling the trigger. Sure enough, a man was running right behind her as if he were chasing her, a knife in his hand. The man leaped into the air right as he was in range, but just before he could gravely wound her...

BANG!

ZAP!

The sound of a silenced sniper hid the bullet that went into the man's shoulder, offsetting his path and setting him down on the line separating the sidewalk and the road. Thunder rang the place right after as a cyan lightning bolt shot the knife out from the man's hand and into the street. Daniel lowered the sniper and looked to his right, seeing the mysterious girl.

"You know, young lady, you could definitely use a suppressor while firing a shot from this range," he said.

She turned to face him with a pout and said, "I'd look weird if people saw me with a hollow stick around my finger. Plus, I don't usually snipe people."

"Tell that to the media. They literally caught you firing a bolt at a running criminal around a month ago."

"He was closer than the man I shot just now."

"...you shot his knife."

"To disarm him."

"Ah, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll keep an eye on him."

While Chizuru quickly skated without looking back after hearing the thunderous sounds behind her, the man was quickly apprehended by Nathan and Vivian. After confirming that no more harm would be done, Daniel and the girl left the rooftop.



Chris opened the door and saw Chizuru quickly dashing to his bed and throwing the blanket on herself.

"You alright?"

She pulled down the covers and confirmed it was Chris before exclaiming, "I nearly died!" Tears formed in her eyes as she quickly ran to hug him, saying, "I'm not going alone again."

"Ah, I'm sorry about that. Don't worry, he's been taken care of. I saw the policeman and the military girl arrest the man."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Chris hugged Chizuru as he closed the door, getting ready to wash himself up.