Gaea's Locket Ch. 9

“This is weird... why would her symbol not be there.” Yuki wondered. “We found Kei... unless...”

“Unless what?” Daiki wondered as Keito said, “Maybe it was that we haven't united him with the others. The other three already meet each other.” Yuki sighed, “Let's test this out then. I'll try to get in touch with Kei. You get Yuto, Rena, and Ryosuke.” They nodded as she called up Kaori.

“Hey, what's up?” she stated as Yuki answered, “Hey, Kaori. Kei's with you right? Mind if I speak to him?”

“No, he's not here with me. We're not exactly on speaking terms right now.” she explained.

“Oh, is it because of yesterday's argument?” she wondered.

“Sorta, but its not your fault. Don't worry about it. Kei's just being a big baby.” she sighed. “I'll text you his number right now so you can talk to him.” She nodded, “Alright thanks.”

“Anytime. I'll see you this weekend right?” she smiled. “With your very many boyfriends?”

“Haha, yea, well be there.” she laughed. “See you.”

“Who's Kaori?” Keito wondered, overhearing the conversation.

“My high school friend. You met her the other day.” she explained. “She happens to be Kei's best friend.” As she got the text message she asked, “So where are they all meeting?” Daiki said, “Where everyone meets... World Cuisines!”

“Ok, we seriously spend way too much time there...” Yuki said calling Kei and giving him all the details.

~Elsewhere~

“So Monday is fine...” Mai questioned as Rini nodded, “Yea, that's no problem. I'll just bring in new cats and birds.” She nodded, “I'm sorry that you can't bring in dogs... if only I wasn't...”

“Don't worry about it. We all have our fears.” she smiled reassuringly. The two were hanging out at the mall as someone approached, “Mai!” She beamed, “Satomi! There you are! Rini, this is my best friend, Satomi. Satomi, Rini.”
“Nice to meet you.” Satomi smiled as Rini did in response. “So what are you two up to?”

“Planning career day for the kids.” Mai explained. “Would you like to come to?” She nodded, “Sure. Hopefully I don't bore the kids too much.”

“Okay~! I got two career choice!” she smiled happily. “Let me get a few more and I'll be set for next week.”

“My sister's an animator. I can ask her to make an appearance if you'd like.” Rini suggested. “And her friend is an architect.” Mai nodded, “That's great! This will work. Psychologist, Animal Trainer, Animator, and Architect. I think the kids will be fine with these.” They continued to plan as they shopped around.

~Near the Park~

“Ah...” Shirika was walking through the park. She went over to a small bird, weakly flapping its wing. “Aww, poor thing. Your wing is injured.” She picked it up and looked around. She sat down behind a tree as she smiled, “Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit.” She touched the bird's wing as the bird began chirping excitedly. As she moved her hand away, she stated, “Good as new...” The bird moved its wings happily and began flying off.

“Shirika?” she heard as she tensed up. She turned around and panicked, “Kaori?!” She approached her, “D-Did you just--”

“Please promise you won't tell anyone!” Shirika pleaded. “I know it's weird, I don't want anyone thinking I'm some kind of a freak... It's actually... really cool...” She has a worried look on her face as Kaori sighed, “Hey don't worry about it...I think it's awesome too.”

“Really?” she said surprised. Kaori nodded, “Yea... actually. There's something I need to tell you too--”

“Hey!” they heard as they turned to see a guy run over. Kaori giggled, “Hey... Yuto right?” He nodded, “I thought it was you. You know you owe me for paying for your lunch the other day...” She shrugged, “You wanted to hang out with us when we were having a girls ONLY day. It's what you get for not leaving us alone.” Shirika laughed, “Haha, nice move Kaori...” She nodded, “I know right?”

“Look, I'd let it go, but that was over $30! How much do you girls eat?” he questioned surprised. She smiled, “Haha, hey! I can eat as much as I want ok! At least I work it off.”

“Anyways, you owe me lunch next time.” he stated as he looked at his watch.
“What makes you think there will be a next time?” she raised an eyebrow. He smiled, “I got this feeling... I gotta run. Or I'm gonna be late to work. See you around!” He left as she sighed, “Anyways... back to our conversation...” She and Shirika quietly talked in an isolated area, making sure no one was listening.

~Satomi's office~

“Kota, so how are things going?” Satomi smiled as he came into her office. He smiled, “Great actually. My powers aren't occurring randomly anymore..”

“Randomly? So it's still happening...” she wondered as he nodded. “Yea. But I feel much better about it. My brother found out and he was excited to hear about it.” A surprised look came on her face, “Your brother has seen your powers?” He nodded as she thought to herself, “Ok... this is just weird. Both he and his brother have the same problem...”

“But don't worry about it. I think I have it under control now.” he smiled happily as she sighed, “Well... if you don't mind. Can I see this power?” He looked around and then went over to the fully grown rose on her desk. He focused on it when suddenly it started growing larger and larger. Satomi gasped in surprised as she quickly said, “Alright! Stop! It's gonna break the roof!” It finally stopped growing, but it was way taller than both of them.

“... I didn't just imagine that did I?” she asked Kota, touching the super large flower to see if its real. He shook his head, “Nope. It's real...”

“Can you... make it smaller again?” she wondered, unsure of how to explain this to people who would walk in. He shrugged, “I dunno. I'll give it a try...” He focused on the flower again as it grew bigger.

“Ah! Don't make it bigger!” Satomi panicked as it touched the roof.

“Hang on! I'm trying!” he said focusing harder, and finally. It began to shrink. It now sat back on her desk, back to normal size. She sighed in relief, “Okay, this is just too much for one day...” He nodded, “At least now I know I'm not crazy... Thanks for helping me get through this Satomi.” She nodded, “No problem, Kota. It's probably best if you don't tell too many people about this... they might want to use that power for themselves.”

“Don't worry about it.” he smiled. “I'll be careful with it.”

“Good.” she beamed back.

~Computer Building~

“Oh, Chiharu!” she heard as she began began printing out the posters for their new product. She turned to see Yuto as she asked, “Hey, Yuto. What's up?” He answered, “Well, nothing important... I was just wondering... What's your relationship with Yamada Ryosuke?” At the sound of his name she tensed up. She glared angrily, “Urgh, is he telling lies about me?! What did he say?! I swear I'll kill him--”

“Calm down. He didn't say anything. I just wanted to know.” Yuto said soothingly. “Or is it too personal?” She sighed, “He's just a jerk I grew up with. We were next door neighbors growing up. When I moved into the college dorms, I thought I was finally free of him. But unfortunately, he was at the same college I went to.”

“Oh, so has he always been that conceited?”

“Yes!” she said right away, annoyed. “Seriously, since he was born, he's been obsessed with himself and how 'perfect' he is. Perfect? Ha! As if! He thinks he's so good looking he can get any girl he wants.” Yuto thought, “What about his sister? She's a mystery isn't she?”

“Rena? I don't mind her. We were okay with each other when we were little.” she thought. “She was a happy, cheerful girl then now that I think about it. Last time I saw her, she was just like her brother. A flirt. Ugh... He's becoming an influence on her. As if one Ryosuke isn't enough...”

“Do you know why she changed?”

“Nope. I haven't talk to her in a while.” she shrugged. “Why the sudden interest in the Yamadas?” He answered, “I met them a few days ago. Just thought I should know about the people I'll be with.”

“Oh, no...” she groaned. “Yuto, do you really have to? I hate it when we're friends with the same people...”

“Well... we're sorta... working together...” he thought. “So yea. I have to.”

“Ugh... whatever. Just don't let his stupidness and over-ego influence you.” she stated. He laughed, “Haha, wouldn't dream of it...”

~Animal Shelter~

“Man... where is she...” Kei wondered impatiently as he sat behind the counter in the animal shelter. It was a slow day and all the animals were calm. He looked at the time, “She should be here by now...” As he heard the door open, he shot up, “Kaori! I have to--”

“Heh, sorry to burst your bubble.” he saw his boss come in. “I'm not Kaori.”

“... Sorry I was just waiting for her.” he sighed sitting back down.

“Well, you'll be waiting long. She's not showing up today.” he explained as Kei wondered, “What?! Why?!” He shrugged, “Not sure. She just called me a few minutes ago. Said something came up so she can't be here today. And since Hakufu is out sick, and its Rini's day off, its just you and me.” He headed to the back as Kei quickly gave Kaori a call.

“I hope you're calling to apologize...” Kaori said as she answered her phone, a bit annoyed.

“Look, Kaori. There are more important things going on. I really need to talk to you.” he said. “You know what this is about. It's really important!”

“I don't want to talk about this Kei!” she groaned. “Seriously, you're worrying to much about it. It's nothing bad. I can handle it!”

“I think I found answers.” he said. “You've been wondering about it too! I know it! So get over here so we can talk!”

“I'm a little occupied right now...” she sighed. “Look, I'm finding a way to get through this on my own. This isn't your problem Kei so don't worry about it. I got this under control..”

“Kaori!” he said as she hung up. “Ugh... so stubborn...”

~Outside the Psychology building~

“Here we are...” Keito said as he, Yuki, and Daiki stood in front of another building. Keito looked at the locket in his hand. “A symbol of a crop on the Earth... A crop. Harvest is Demeter's symbol. Whoever has her powers is in here.” Yuki looked and gave a little giggle, “This is a psychology building... a weird place to find someone with powers, don't you think?”

“She... or he, might have thought he was going crazy...” Daiki shrugged. “Let's go--”

“So where are we going?” they heard as a women came out followed by a guy. He smiled, “World Cuisine... it's the best around...”

“Thanks for offering lunch. I'm starving.” she beamed as he nodded, “It's the least I can do. You've been a really great help..”

“hey! He was with Rini and Kaori at the animal shelter the other day!” Yuki recognized him as the locket soon shot a light at him. The two stopped chatting as he saw a light pointed at him. He looked at the locket in Keito's hands as it then showed an image of Demeter's symbol.

“Wow.... that was easy enough.” Yuki smiled, walking over to him. “Hi--”

“Whoa... what is that? That's Demeter's symbol isn't it?” he said quickly coming over to look at the locket and the holograph image.

“Well, what do you know.. a mythology fan.” Daiki smiled. “Do you know what this locket is?” He shook his head, “Nope. But I know that symbol... was the locket pointing at me?” They nodded as he turned to his friend, “Satomi! This might be the answer I need. Demeter!”

“What?” she said confused. “Look Kota.. this is bizarre... why did they appear now, when you just told me a couple minutes ago... It's too weird--”

“You have Demeter's powers right?” Yuki questioned as Satomi asked, “How would you know that anyways?” She answered, “The locket pointed at him. It hasn't been wrong yet, so it shouldn't be wrong now.”

“It hasn't been wrong yet.... Wait!” Kota said excited. “Are you saying there's more people with powers like me?!” Yuki nodded, “Yup. In fact we already found four of them. We were on our way to meet up with a them.”

“Really?!” he said excited as Daiki nodded, “Yea, if you aren't busy, why don't you come with us and we can explain all this.” He then said, “ah.. well I was about to get lunch with Satomi here...” She nodded, “Yea, we were going to World Cuisines--”

“Great! That's where we're meeting the others.” Keito stated as Kota then asked, “You don't mind having lunch with them do you?” She sighed, “Well, I guess we'll both get the answers to your weird situation... and I'll still get have some food. Let's go.”

~World Cuisines~

“Oh.. well that makes sense, I guess.” Kota said as they finished explaining at World Cuisines. They awaited their food as Satomi, still confused questioned, “Wait... let me get this straight. These powers came from that weird locket when it was unlocked?” Yuki nodded, “Yup. The power the Gods gave Gaea to hold. And when it was opened... the powers were released and one is in Kota.”

“But why him?”

“That's what we're trying to figure out.” Keito said. “We want to do some research with these powers, see what we can find.” Kota nodded, “I'd be glad to help. I really want to learn about this too.”

“Great-”

“Hey, sorry I'm late.” they heard as Yuto took a seat at the table with them. “I got held up at work.” Daiki shrugged, “That's fine. Yuto this is Kota, he has Demeter's powers. Kota, this is Yuto, holder of the power of Zeus.”

“Awesome. Thunder power.” he smiled as Yuto nodded, “Yup. So you grow stuff.”

“I control plants, I guess.” he thought. “So where's the rest of them?” Keito looked, “Right there.”

“Hey, guys.” Ryosuke smiled sitting down, Rena sitting next to him. “So... where's this Artemis power?”

“He's not here yet, but we found Demeter's power on the way.” Daiki explained pointing Kota out to them. “This is Kota.. and his friend Satomi. Kota, Satomi. This is Rena, holder of Aphrodite's power, and her brother Ryosuke, holder of Poseidon's power.”

“Nice to meet you.” they said to each other.

“... so you're just a friend?” Rena asked Satomi. “You don't have any powers yourself?” She shook her head as Rena turned to Kota, “You must be a very trusting person... I didn't even tell my brother about my powers until a couple days ago when I found out about his.”

“Well, I thought it was a hallucination. She helped me straighten things out. So I trust her with this.” he stated as Satomi smiled, “Don't worry. I swear I won't tell anyone about this.” Keito nodded, “That's great to hear. It's best not too many people know about this.”

“Anyways... the last one should be coming soon... right Yuki?” Daiki wondered. She nodded, “I'll give him a call to see where he is. Be back in a few.” She left the table as Yuto wondered, “So is there any new information you managed to gather?”

“Just that you all received your powers on the same day and it came naturally... nothing strange about it.” he thought. “I'm not too sure--” He was interrupted by a bunch of police sirens passing by the restaurant.

“Geez... what's with all the police lately...” Daiki wondered. “Those sirens have been annoying me all day. A waitress had brought more drinks as Rena took a sip of her soda, “There was a bunch of prisoners who escaped last night. They're on the search for them.”

“Escaped prisoners... seriously the government needs to have better funding for better prisons.” Keito sighed, “Anyways, I was saying that, I'm not too sure there's much we can figure out now. When we have all 8 of you guys together, it might be better. Easier to see comparisons, contrast, and all that.”

“Hey, bad news guys...” Yuki said coming back. “Kei can't make it.”

“What? Why?” Keito wondered.

“He's the only one at the Shelter besides his boss and there's a bunch of customers today.” she sighed, “He can't get out of work until later.” Daiki then said, “Hey... check to see if Demeter's symbol appeared.” Keito did and say it was there.

“But was it there when we first found him?” Yuki wondered.

“... I dunno. I didn't check. Sorry.” Keito sighed. Yuki did too, “Well, then we still don't know about if its them uniting that cause the symbols to appear. We need Kei to come meet you guys already so we can figure this out...”

“Why don't we just go to see him?” Yuto wondered.

“We should... but he did say it was crowded.” Yuki said. “Well plan that out next time. Sorry to call you guys out here.”

“It's cool. We at least got some food.” Ryosuke stated.

“And we know about this now. And where these powers came from.” Satomi said as Kota nodded. “Well I should be getting back to work now. I have clients to help.”

“Kota, we'll be keeping in touch.” Keito told him. He nodded, “Alright. Just let me know.” And they headed off on their own ways.

~That night~

Police sirens were circling all over the town, looking everywhere for the escaped prisoners. As one police car drove by an old smelly dumpster, something peeked out from behind it. It looked around and quietly snuck through the shadows, easily evading the police's sight.