Chapter 85: Arc 2, - 63: Char
"Why is there smoke!?" white puffs covered Asobi's face; the three of them headed into grasslands from the city, tyres trudging through snow as if it were simply road.
"They set fire to our house!?" Jotou peered; they were not too far away.
Hotaru's ears caught something in the grass—footsteps. "Jotou!" she warned. The blonde twisted the handle, redirecting herself to whatever was sneaking across the snowy grass.
Two yellow glows met Jotou's glare. "Crash!" The yellow was hit by a bike at full enchanted speed. The assassin grunted as the tyre bounced off his body and Jotou fell to the side.
She groaned up from the bicycle and stomped over. Before he could make his next breath, a hand chocked his neck. Only then did the blonde notice, dozens of assassins retreating the way they came, escaping like gazelles in danger.
Hotaru and Asobi steered up to the two. "If you value your life, talk! Did you set fire to the house!? What were your orders!?"
The redhead stared with furrowed brows—Asobi with an unsure expression watching... The assassin, put his hands up, coughing, "Our orders are to retreat! Don't know where yet!"
"The fire, answer her," Hotaru added.
"Mataya!" he chocked, "Mataya set fire to the house. We were supposed to catch a girl with brown hair when she escaped," he tried grabbing Jotou's wrist to lighten her grip.
"We surrounded her, but we didn't see any shadow magic and she couldn't have slipped past us. She never left the house-" her hand lifted off his neck; only for a sparking fist come crashing down into his face.
Asobi hid behind her hat as Jotou got up, wide-eyed. "Hotaru, make sure he's not dead. If Meko's still in there... She wouldn't! Why would she stay in there!?"