Tiptoeing Away from the Crime Scene
"Rain! Get up, quick!" There was no time to sit around like this. Chuchu, with Rain's bag clamped firmly in his jaws, had already pulled so far ahead that his fluffy backside was almost out of sight. I had just caught a final glimpse of him vanishing around the corner of the hallway. For such a massive creature, he was incredibly fast.
"My bag!" Rain's hands were still trembling, as if she were in shock. I pulled her up from the floor and lightly dusted off her backside, though the hallway was so spotlessly clean that there wasn't any dust to begin with.
"We have to go get it back," I said calmly. Rain nodded. "Right. I have to find it!"
Pitter-patter— Rain's small feet tapped against the floor. She suddenly dropped into a running stance and bolted forward. Startled by her sudden burst of energy, I quickly gave chase.
Pitter-patter— Shine's light footsteps followed closely behind, blending with mine and Rain's to fill the entire hallway. As we rounded the corner where Chuchu had vanished, we spotted a staff member cleaning. She was a tall, slender, and quite pretty woman. I ran up to her to ask about Chuchu's whereabouts.
"Excuse me! Have you seen Chuchu?"
"Chuchu? He just ran that way." The woman answered calmly, bowing her head slightly. I gave her an awkward smile.
"Thank you!"
Pausing for a brief moment, I ran back to Shine and Rain and pointed in the direction Chuchu had gone. "That way!""Run!"
The hallway split into two paths ahead. The place was so vast that it was impossible to tell where each path led. We just ran blindly in the direction the staff member had pointed.
Whoosh, whoosh— The scenery blurred past us. Thanks to all the physical training I'd been doing lately, I wasn't even out of breath. My legs pumped, my arms swung, and my eyes darted around, searching for any sign of Chuchu hiding nearby.
"There he is!" Chuchu was sitting quietly at the end of the hall. He was lying on his belly with his chin resting on his paws, gently pressing down on the chick bag in front of him.
Squeak! Squeak! At the distant sound of her chick bag screaming, Rain shrieked. "Ahhh! Chuchu!"
As if amused by Rain's reaction, Chuchu let out a huffing sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. We dashed toward him, but the moment we reached the halfway point of the hallway, he sprang to his feet and bolted again. It was hopeless. No matter how hard we ran, our short legs were no match for him.
After running for what felt like forever, I finally started to lose my breath. *Pant, pant—* I let my tongue hang out a bit, gulping down the cool air as I looked around. Rain and Shine still looked perfectly fine, as if they could keep running forever. I should have taken my physical training more seriously. Slacking off on my workouts to play trivia games with Rain was clearly coming back to bite me.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
"Are you tired?"
Talking while running only made it harder to breathe. I just nodded, panting heavily. Shine, looking completely unfazed, turned to Rain.
"Rain."
"Yeah!"
"Why are we running?"
"What do you mean why?! To get my bag back, obviously!"
Pitter-patter— Our small feet kept up their rapid rhythm. We rounded another corner. In the middle of the sharp bend, Chuchu was sitting once again. He looked as if he were waiting for us to catch up, which only made Rain more furious. "You pest! You're in big trouble when I catch you!" Chuchu huffed in amusement again.
"Why don't we just use our abilities?"
I was about to charge forward again, but Shine's words made me freeze. Right. We were ability users. Instead of chasing him on foot, using our powers would obviously give us a much better chance of catching him.
But using my ability came with its own set of problems. My power was lightning-based. Activating it inevitably discharged electrical currents into the surroundings. Lightning abilities were notorious for frying nearby machinery. Unless the equipment was specially insulated, ordinary devices could be ruined in an instant.
"Shine, it's too risky for us."
"Not us. I meant Rain's ability."
"Ah!" Rain gasped, nodding as if a lightbulb had just gone off in her head. Stopping in her tracks, she immediately stretched her arms high into the air. Her tiny, adorable hands wiggled, and the moisture in the air began to coalesce around her.
Woof! Sensing something unusual, Chuchu, who had been sitting idly, sprang up and began to bark. *Woof, woof!* "Just you wait, you rascal! Rain is coming for you!"
Whoosh! Water gathered rapidly, swirling around us to form a perfect sphere. It looked exactly like the hamster ball Rain had shown me before.
"A hamster ball!"
"No, it's not!" Apparently, the skill had a proper name. "It's the Rain Ball!" Rain declared, poking the watery sphere with her finger. At her touch, the liquid barrier stretched forward. "Pretty amazing, right? It absorbs all external impacts, so we can run around as much as we want!"
It certainly seemed like an incredible ability. But Rain wasn't done yet. She stomped her foot hard. *Splash!* With the sound of splashing water, a torrent began to pool beneath her feet. A massive vortex of water, large enough to fill the entire hallway, surged upward and lifted our Rain Ball.
"Here we go!" Rain shouted enthusiastically, looking every bit like a captain sailing the high seas. Carrying us inside, the Rain Ball charged forward without hesitation. Riding a wave of water down a straight hallway—who could have ever imagined such a thing? It was incredibly thrilling. Clinging to Rain's back, I burst out laughing. "Go, go, go!"
The original goal of retrieving Rain's bag from Chuchu's mouth completely slipped my mind. I was just enjoying the moment. The scenery whipped past us at a speed far greater than running. Whenever I used my own abilities to run, I could never appreciate the view because my dynamic visual acuity didn't improve along with my speed. But the speed Rain was moving at right now was just perfect.
Woof! Seeing us hurtling toward him, Chuchu flinched in surprise. Rain smirked triumphantly at his reaction. The distance between us was closing much faster than before. In just a few seconds, the giant dog would be in Rain's grasp.
But then... Chuchu suddenly spun around and bolted with an explosive burst of speed. It was incomparable to how fast he had been running earlier. His legs blurred, and his thick white fur whipped in the wind. Instead of closing, the distance between us began to widen again.
"Ah! Chuchu!" Rain cried out in frustration as the dog pulled away. She pushed her ability even harder. *Splash!* As she stomped her foot, a massive wave surged forward in response. *Whoosh!* The decorations lining the hallway were swept away by the torrent. An antique-looking candelabra snapped and was sucked into the rushing water.
"Oh no..." But Rain didn't seem to notice. She only channeled more power. The powerful wave propelled us forward, and the Rain Ball sloshed violently as it accelerated. *Thump-thump-thump—* Chuchu's running speed kept increasing. Was that thing really just a dog?
"Rain. Are all dogs that fast?" Shine asked, looking just as bewildered as I felt.
Rain shook her head. "No! Chuchu isn't a normal dog! He has an ability too!"
"A dog has an ability?"
"Yes! Though he usually only used it when it was time to eat!"
I had never heard of an animal possessing an ability before. Could non-human creatures even have powers? I began to search through my faint memories. *Crash!* The sheer force of the raging wave began to shatter the hallway windows. The faster we went, the higher the water pressure became. The waves splashing in all directions were absolutely devastating the hallway and the adjacent rooms.
I fumbled with the bear-paw button in my pocket. There was no way Rain would stop now just because I asked her to. Up ahead, Chuchu seemed to be tiring, as his speed began to drop. His floppy ears whipped around as he glanced back, his mouth falling open in surprise. *Boom!* With a loud burst, our speed suddenly surged. The distance closed in an instant, making Chuchu flinch in shock. His speed was now slower than our wave. The wave was about to swallow him up!
Just when it looked like he would be swept away, Chuchu leaped straight toward Rain's Rain Ball. Startled, Rain quickly gestured with her hands. A hole opened in the front of our protective sphere, and Chuchu slipped right inside. *Whoosh!* Perhaps because Rain had lost her focus, the wave that had been propelling us forward lost its momentum and began to disperse.
"Gotcha!" *Woof!* Rain hugged Chuchu with all her might, though it looked more like she was clinging to him for dear life. Delighted, Chuchu began to lick her face all over. But there was no sign of Rain's bag in his mouth anymore.
"Rain. Where's your bag?"
"Huh?" Now that Chuchu was inside the Rain Ball, he couldn't leave without her permission. The problem, however, was that the bag was nowhere to be seen inside the sphere. Where had the bag he was carrying gone? The answer lay behind us.
The hallway was an absolute disaster zone from the violent waves. Windows were shattered, doors were broken, and the hallway decorations lay scattered everywhere. And right there, amidst the wreckage, was the little chick bag. It was completely waterlogged, its yellow belly bloated and sagging heavily.
"My bag!" Rain shrieked and lunged forward. Her sudden movement sent the Rain Ball rolling, tumbling all of us head over heels inside. "Aaaah!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around Shine to protect her. The world spun wildly. Chuchu tumbled right along with us.
Once we rolled to a stop in front of the bag, Rain deactivated her ability. *Splash—* With the sound of a gentle splash, the Rain Ball vanished. "Found it!" Rain had successfully retrieved her bag. She held the soggy, dripping bag high in the air with a triumphant grin. Chuchu trotted over and resumed licking her face.
While Rain and Chuchu were playfully wrestling, I gently took Shine's hand and began to back away.
"Jeff?"
"Shush, Shine. If we get caught, we're going to be in so much trouble."
I tiptoed carefully, making sure not to make a sound. But it seemed we couldn't fool Chuchu's ears. His large, floppy ears twitched, and his gaze shifted toward us—though, to be honest, his eyes were completely buried under his thick fur.
*Woof!* Chuchu trotted over and began to mimic me. Tiptoeing softly, he walked right beside me without making a single sound.
*Gasp.* Rain's eyes began to drift toward us. I held my breath, nervously watching her reaction.
"I want to do it too!" Without even thinking about what we were actually doing, Rain ran over to join us. She probably just thought whatever we were doing looked fun. And so, we tiptoed and crept away, leaving the scene of the crime without making a sound.