Chapter 10-Painting the Town

Emi waited anxiously at the bus stop for Kira and his friend to arrive. She fiddled with the helm of her blue skirt as she watched people walk past her. She knew it was foolish to feel this way, but it had been a rough week and she couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous being outside alone, even in the daytime.

On account of the supposed terrorist attack on the school, the school was closed for a few days until it was deemed safe to return. That gave students some time off, though what worried Emi more than the recent yokai attack was that she hadn’t from Kira. According to Yukino, even Saya had gone silent and her friend had been unable to reach her or Kira. Emi was beside herself with worry after learning that the twins had ran into the forest behind the school where the explosions were occurring, and she could only assume the worst.

And the worst did happen. Kira had called her up just two days ago and explained about the incident that left his father critically injured in the hospital. It was terrible, but at least the twins were alright. Kira sounded better and had even arranged a little get together-a day just to relax and have fun. Just the two of them…and Sai’s mysterious friend.

‘Does this count as a date?’ Emi thought. ‘No, don’t be stupid, Emi. It’s just an outing to take his mind off his father.’

Not that the atmosphere really inspired good feelings. The downtown area was normally a lively place; busy with shoppers and housewives who were there as much to chat as to buy; lunch goers hustling away back to work; and every now and again a sightseer to visit the shrines. Today, the bright, hurried atmosphere of a thriving community was smothered under a pall of fear and uncertainty. Neighbors barely took the time to exchange greetings, few salarymen could be seen at the restaurants or booths. Fewer still lingered in the street, except for a wizened old man in a suit barking into a cellphone.

There was a time people wouldn’t care about any serious retaliation from yokai, but as Nippon became more modernized and open to the rest of the world, the people’s relationship with their country’s native fae became strained.

‘I organized this outing to help Kira forget about the local tragedies,’ Emi thought with a sigh. ‘But how can we do that when everything around us is just one big reminder?’

“Hey, Emi!” Someone called out and she smiled at the familiar voice.

“Over here, Kira!” Emi waved back as her friend appeared from around the street corner.

“Sorry I’m late.” Kira said, leaning hard on his knees as he sucked in big gulps of air. “I had to deal with Sai and Saya arguing over who got dibs in the bathroom this morning. They made me miss the bus.”

“Did I call you too late last night?” Emi asked.

“No, I just didn’t get too much sleep last night. Turns out movie night with Sai and Amaru puts a lot of emphasis on the “night” part.” He said, smiling sheepishly.

“I see. And Saya couldn’t make it?”

“She wasn’t up to going out today. She’s back at Sai’s place watching anime or something.” It wasn’t a total lie. Saya wanted to brush up on her energy training with Sai a bit more. Then they were going to binge watch some anime.

Emi glanced at something behind Kira and pointed over his shoulder. “Um, who’s your friend?”

Kira looked at the odd looking teen wearing a gray hoody who say across the plaza and had her face buried in a newspaper. Kira spotted her once and hissed.

“Damn, I was hoping no one would notice.”

Emi’s heart fluttered when the handsome boy folded up his newspaper and dejectedly stumbled over. He was a head taller than Kira, with messy silver hair, with a shinai bag over his chest. Emi gasped as he swept the pink, kitten patterned sunglasses off his face, revealing a pair of sparkling blue eyes like a winter lake.

“Kira, what’s going on?” She asked.

“Sorry, Emi,” Kira said. “Sai’s gotten a bit paranoid and wouldn’t let me out until I went out with at least one other person. This is Amaru.”

“H-Hello.” Emi greeted him politely. “Please to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Amaru smiled. “Kira’s mentioned you a couple of times.”

“Really? I hope it’s nothing bad.” Emi gave Kira a playful glare. “I know what kind of things boys talk about in private. My heart goes out to Saya being the only girl in the house.”

“I’m a girl by the way.” Amaru revealed. Emi’s eyes shot halfway out of her head.

“Seriously?” She said, with no small amount of surprise. “I mean, of course you are. I knew that right away, haha!”

“It’s okay, Emi. Saya and I didn’t know that either.” Kira said. “Sai had been playing Amaru up as a boy until we found out the truth…the hard way.”

“It’s okay, you’re not the first nor the last person to make that mistake.” Amaru said, hands in her pockets. “So we going to get started or what? We have the whole day to ourselves.”

Within a short time, the kids took to the street, wander the block with no clear plan, stopping to admire whatever caught their eye in the store windows, sometimes going inside for further inspection. Emi tried to let herself be content. Kira sounded terrible when she called about meeting up, but now he seemed to be at ease. Hell, he even seemed chipper than he normally was, energetic even. But there was something in the way he acted-like it was the last day he’d get to do this and he wanted to make the most of it.

“Hey, Emi.” Kira said. Emi blinked, idly nibbling on some fries. “You okay there? You look like you had something serious on your mind.”

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing.” Emi said, trying to laugh it off. “I was just thinking how better this would be under normal circumstances.”

“Maybe,” Kira said, taking a bite of his burger. “But what’s normal, anyway?”

Emi stared at Kira. So she wasn’t imagining it.

“Why do you mean?” She asked. “Are you talking about your dad, or…” Kira’s face fell and she almost slapped herself for her stupidity. “I-I mean, how’s he doing? Or-oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Kira said through a clearly forced smile. “The doctor said the yokai avoided any vital areas, so he should make a full recovery.”

“That’s a relief.” Emi said, looking away nervously. That was a stupid thing to say! She even saw tears in his eyes. But why did his response sound so…rehearsed? “So, what’s it like? Having Sai and Amaru as roommates?”

Kira’s expression softened as it lost some of its forced cheerfulness. “Weird, at first, but kinda nice.”

“And loud?”

“That too. I was surprised that Sai was living alone with another girl, but then you put them in a room together and you’d think they were squabbling siblings.” He gave a rough sigh. “I swear, if they aren’t arguing about whose turn is it to clean up or do laundry, or who gets the console, then they’ll find something else to fight about.”

“So, like you and Saya?” Emi grinned.

Kira opened his mouth to argue, but paused and gave a slow nod. “Yeah, that’s about right.”

Amaru came over to their table wearing her new pair of bright pink Hello Kitty glasses that totally clashed with the rest of her outfit.

“What’s with the glasses?” Kira asked.

“I thought they were cute, so I bought them.” Amaru said defensively. “Don’t diss my taste in accessories.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He replied.

“Now that we’ve eaten, do you guys have anywhere else in mind? I still have some time before I have to go home.” Emi said.

“Let’s held to the old bookstore.” Kira said, getting looks from the girls. “I just…want to see if she has anything new.”

“An old bookstore?” Amaru blinked.

“Yes, it’s this small bookstore that sells old books that are mostly out of print or extremely rare. The old woman who runs the store was a good friend of my grandmother. She’s a kind woman and you’ll love her.”

XXXXXX

Henry lay back in his hospital bed, enjoying the brief silence. It felt good to take a break from the daily struggles of fighting for humanity, even if half his body was numb, and he needed Anya to keep him from dribbling everywhere when he ate. He had spent the better part of three days reading and napping, and he was beginning to feel restless, but for now, he’d take advantage of the peace. Margareta was coming, and that meant a return to business.

He stared at the television without attention, not even listening to the news report going on. He hardly cared about what program it was, but the noise helped him sleep. The newscaster’s voice had just begun to make his eyelids droop when there was a loud rap at the door, and a tall mass of auburn curls bounced into his room before he could answer.

“Henry!” Anya chirped happily. Hendry grinned at her, pretending he was doing it on purpose. She wore a yukata of an almost fluorescent shade of purple that could probably be seen in the dark, and teetered about on a pair of overly tall wooden sandals that sounded like a herd of horses on the tile floor.

“I…see you’ve done some shopping.” Henry said, slurring through his lopsided grin. “And studying on local customs.”

“You did say we should try to blend in.” Anya said. She rocked back and forth on the edges of her sandals, a pleased grin setting on her lips as she pendulumed.

“Ugh, it was embarrassing to be seen with her.” An accented voice came from the doorway. Henry’s humor vanished as his commander was wheeled into the room by a dazed nurse. “Honestly, she was jumping up and down at the airport like a child in a candy craze. You’d have thought we weren’t wanted criminals, the way she carried on.”

“Hello, Margareta.” Henry said. “I trust there were no problems getting here?”

“Not on the flight, no.” The tiny Britannian woman answered, her voice playful as if she didn’t have a mind controlled orderly hovering like an expectant puppy behind her.

Sixteen years old and as whispy as a ghost, Margareta Walcott somehow made her wheelchair look like a throne. She crossed her fragile arms across her chest and met Henry’s gaze with imperious expectation. Henry couldn’t help but scowl at the look, as if she were expecting him to get down on one knee and ask what her bidding was.

“What about her?” He asked, pointing at the orderly who continued to smile pleasantly into oblivion.

“Oh, don’t worry about her,” Margareta answered, brushing imagined lint off the shoulder of her sleeveless blue dress. “I was worried Anya might hurt herself toting me about in that costume, so I just enlisted this helpful girl. I promise, she volunteered, and she’ll have nothing but lovely dreams while we conduct our business.”

Henry crossed his own arms and matched her stare as best he could with his drooped face. “No, you’ll release her right away. We don’t treat non-mages like toys. They are not the enemy here.”

“And yet all seems fair against our own kind.” Margareta replied with a nasty smile. “Very well, I supposed there’s no point in risking another pair of ears.”

She did a hand gesture and the orderly gasped as the spell on her was broken. The poor girl looked around, clearly confused as to how she had gotten there, but Margareta spoke a few words and sent her away.

“Is that better?” She asked once the door was shut.

“Well enough.” He said, ignoring her condescending tone. “Anya’s been doing some scouting around. The route to the twins’ school is well monitored, but the local monsters have been getting more and more riled up over the past few weeks, so we may be able to-“

“No, I don’t believe so. The local monsters are amassing in response to something, and are clearly being directed by a more powerful monster, possibly a kitsune or similar being.” Margareta said. She pulled at the lank bangs hanging over her right eye, another one of those mysterious smiles pulling at her lips as she twisted a strand around her finger. “We should distance ourselves from future attempts, and bypass the government’s security measures entirely. I have already made the arrangements.”

“But how are we going to do that?” Anya asked. “Even if the twins go off by themselves, the STAF mages are going to have all sorts of measures in place. You can almost smell the scrying spells around them.”

“I thought we’d give our newest asset a try.” The Englishwoman answered and pulled aside the curtain of hair, revealing the patch taped over her eye. Henry’s jaw clenched tight at the sight of it.

“You actually went through with it.” He muttered. “Does it work?”

“It ensured my escape from Araluen.” Margareta said with all the pride of someone discussing their new car. She tore away the patch without ceremony, a slight whimper escaping as the tape pulled away. Raw, angry flesh ringed the eye, a nauseating spider web of stitching radiating from a glittering gemstone eye of pearl and sapphire. Its green twin brightened at his disgust.

“The Eye of Khonsu is a remarkable tool.” She said. “It’s exhausting, to be sure, but well worth it. Of course, it doesn’t look too pretty.”

“I think you look wonderful.” Anya said. “Scary yet sexy at the same time.”

Margareta raised a brow at Anya, then turned to Henry. “Did you contact the operative I asked you to?”

“Yes, Anya did.” He said. “Though I have my doubts about them. He’s a little…”

“He’ll do fine.” Margareta said. “All we need is a distraction, and he’ll do that well enough. Once they’ve worn themselves out, Anya and I will go to collect them.”

“And do you plan to do that-“

“In my condition?” Margareta arched an eyebrow.

“Without drawing attention?” Henry finished. “We don’t have any intelligence on that other mage, but Sai is a strong opponent. Strong enough, at least, to stall for stall for a response. And I’m scared to hell of being in the same city as Mai Asakura.”

Margareta grinned. “Just wait and see. Didn’t I say arrangements have been made?”

Anya took her cellphone from her pocket, hot pink and weighed down by half a dozen dangling phone charms. She put it to her ear just as it began to ring. “Hello, hello! What’cha need?”

Margareta shook her head and frowned. “I can read minds, and I still don’t know how she does that.”

Henry wanted to smirk, but even he had to agree that it was unsettling.

“Good news, ma’am,” Anya said as she covered the receiver with her hand. “Kira’s been sighted out in the city. Saya is not with him, but he has that other mage with him.”

“Perfect,” Margareta purred. “Send our man to intercept them. Now, Henry,” She added with a chilly grin.

“I believe you were wondering about the arrangements for this place. Care for a demonstration?”

XXXXXX

Kira, Amaru and Emi walked down a side street that was near the marketplace. It was a familiar path that set Kira at ease, something normal for once. It made him smile

They reached the small bookstore Kira and Emi knew so well and they entered the shop.

“Ms. Kana? It’s me, Kira, and I’m here with-“

“Kira!”

Ah!” The trio screamed at the sudden appearance of the old woman. Kana smiled at their reaction.

‘Never gets old.’ The old woman thought. “Kira, Emi, I wasn’t expecting you two to suddenly drop in with all the craziness going on in town.” She said. “Did you need something?”

“We were just showing Amaru here our favorite spots in Makura.” Emi said. Kana’s eyes went over to Amaru, who stiffened a bit at the old woman’s intense gaze.

“Amaru, I’m guessing that you’re from up north. Hmm…I take it you hail from Otori, young lady?” Kana asked.

“Y-Yes, I am.” Amaru said. “Um, how did you know I was a girl?”

“Please, no boy straight or gay has eyes as pure and beautiful as yours.” Kana grinned, earning a blush from Amaru.

Kira looked at the bags sitting by the cashier. “Ms. Kana, are you going away?”

“Yeah, it’s high time I took a vacation. With all this stuff involving yokai and terrorists, I figured it was better to spend some time at my family home in Edo until things calm down. All this stress is not good for my heart, you know.” She added with a wink.

“Do you…know when you’ll be coming back?” Kira asked sadly. Kana sighed.

“A couple of weeks at the most. Maybe even a month or two. Depends on how travel will be affected by all the spirits acting wonky.” Kana saw Kira’s sad expression and patted his hand softly. “I’m sorry you’re just learning this now. Things have been very busy lately, as I’m sure you’re aware of.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

“Chin up, dear. I’m not moving away. As I said, it’s a vacation. A woman my age needs to be conscious of her own limitations, after all. Before you know it, you’ll be seeing me very soon.”

“When do you leave?” Emi asked.

“If I stop procrastinating, within a week. If I keep getting distracted by what’s going on around here, possibly two.” Kana answered. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you two a call to let you know when I’m leaving. I can’t leave my two favorite customers hanging, right?”

After saying their goodbyes to Kana, the children left the bookstore looking a bit less lively than when they entered it. Amaru especially noticed that Kira was quiet and inquired into his feelings.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m just feeling a bit down. It’s just that learning that she’s leaving town is another reminder of how everything’s gone upside down. All these changes…it’s starting to get a little depressing.” Kira said.

“Hey, don’t feel like that. You just need to process this at your own pace.”

“Hard to do that when you’re trying not to get killed or kidnapped.” He muttered.

“Kira, I know it’s hard, but trust me when I say there are plenty of kids who are having the same problems are you are…and some who have it worse.”

Kira noted the change in Amaru’s tone. “Amaru, do you know any Nephilim?”

“One, but…she’s not around anymore.” Amaru said cryptically. Kira decided it would be best not to pry further.

“Well, Emi, what do you want to-hey, watch it!” Amaru caught him as a thick shouldered stranger bowled right through the middle of them and knocked Kira aside. “Watch where you’re going, moron!”

“Oh, he dropped something.” Emi said. She picked up a heavy gold medallion and tossed it in her hand. “Karma.”

All the color fled from Amaru’s face. She struck the medallion out of her hand. “Get away from that!”

The disc bounced into the street and stopped just of a sewage drain.

“Amaru, what are you-“

“Not now, Kira,” She said. “Just run!”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away. Just as a ten pointed star burned white on the medallion’s surface and exploded into a searing nova.

XXXXXX

The ringing of a telephone was like a drill to Mai’s head. She had been awake for some time already, but now she lost her excuse to stay in bed and was all the grouchier for it. She let her arm shake across the sheets and kept her head buried in the pillow, hoping to stave off the inevitable assault of sunlight on her bloodshot eyes.

She plopped the phone on her ear. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Asakura!” The voice on the other line sang in high pitched soprano.

Mai groaned. “What’s this ‘good afternoon’? It’s…” She tilted her head to read her dresser clock. The red glow of fourteen hundred stared in accusation of her and she cursed.

“Oh no, you’re still in bed?” Said her colleague, Suzuki Komoe, so perky that Mai just wanted to toss that girl down a manhole somewhere. “You shouldn’t stay up so late. It’s bad for your health. You need to set a good example for the students even in our private lives, you know?”

“I thought I would have some time off, seeing as the school is shut down and my brother is still in surgery.” She managed to sound stern, right until she slurred “surgery”.

“Oh. Forgive me, Ms. Asakura, I almost forgot.” Mai gave a small, grateful smile as the girl’s voice dropped an octave. It didn’t last. “But that’s still no excuse to go wild with the drinking.”

Mai rolled her eyes and regretted it as another stab of pain went through her brain. Yes, she had a like sake, but her superior officer kept hammering on about proper security measures for Kira and Saya, and she had needed a little something to help stay awake. Then she accused her of being negligent with her duties, leading to a fierce argument that led to another bottle. Of course she would never tell Komoe about this, even if the girl wasn’t a civilian. It wasn’t any of her damn business.

“What do you want, Suzuki?”

“Just checking up on a colleague.” Suzuki said. “You seemed stressed lately, and after what happened, I thought…”

Mai rolled over in her bed and began to count the rotations of her ceiling fan. It would be a while before the girl got to the point. She flexed her arm and rolled her shoulder about, trying to work out the stiffness that had been building up lately. She’d probably have to see someone about that later, especially if she was going to go back on regular patrol. That was something she could do without.

Resting the chattering phone between her shoulder and her ear, she grabbed her electronic planner off the nightstand and began to go over her schedule for the day. Most of it was shot to hell already, but it was still important to work out a training regime with Kira and Saya.

It had been careless of her not to have done this before. She had always known the seals would wear off, and not that the twins had reached that age, two Phantom Society agents were running around in her jurisdiction. So much had slipped by her at once, all of it stupid and preventable. Of course, it had been even more stupid of Takeo to indulge the twins with another month of innocence with increasing spiritual activity in the area. Not that Mai had exactly rushed Kira home after that yokai showed up at the school. She breathed a sigh, craving a cigarette. Had she really become so complacent, thinking she could protect the children all by herself?

Surely not so much that two yokai and two wanted criminals had broken in on her watch. With a captured nue and multiple mutated faeries all over Makura, something wasn’t adding up.

“Ms. Asakura? Ms. Asakura!”

Mai jumped. “I’m sorry, I was grading some papers. What did you say?”

“Always working.” The frustration in Komoe’s breath carried through the phone, though her cheeriness was undimmed. “I said that I’m trying to put a party together with some of the other teachers in our department. Tonight at that new Celtic place on the plaza. What do you say? I bet it would help you get your mind off of things.”

“No thank you.” Mai said, not even pretending to consider it. “I already have plans.”

“That’s what you always say.” The woman whined. “What is it this time?”

“I’m going to visit my niece and nephew, then go with them to visit Takeo.” She said, all of which was true.

“I see.” Komoe said, her voice deflating yet again. Mai almost felt sorry for her. Komoe meant well, but she wasn’t the most receptive of other people’s feelings. Such as that some people don’t care to socialize. “I guess I should have realized that. You’re all going through such a hard time. Still, it’s good that you’re adjusting to things so well. I know I wouldn’t let my brother’s kids out on the street right after a terrorist attack. Now if only you were that relaxed about everything else you’d be able to find yourself a husband.”

Mai hurled the phone into the receiver and went back to her scheduling, muttering to herself about busybodies and dewy-eyed newlyweds. Nearly a minute passed before her retching brain realized what had been said.

‘I know I wouldn’t let my brother’s kids…’

She all but threw herself onto the phone and stabbed out Komoe’s number.

“Hello?”

“What did you mean? Are you saying you’ve seen the twins today?”

“Huh? Um yes,” Komoe said, sounding flustered. “Or at least I’m sure I did. I thought I saw Kira with some cute silver-haired boy a few minutes ago at the plaza. I’m sure Emi Ohara from my class were with them. I spotted them out of the corner of my eye and went over to talk to them about festival preparations when I bumped into another one of my students. But when I looked back up they were gone. It was so strange, I was sure I’d seen them.”

Mai cursed. She told them to notify her if they left the house. “When was this?”

She could hear the woman recoil from the urgency of her voice. “I don’t know. Ten minutes ago, I think. Seeing Kira is what reminded me to call you and…hello? Hello?”

Mai left the phone on the floor. She was already out the door.

XXXXXX

Kira blinked, swayed, and fell on his face. His head throbbed, and he wasn’t sure if it was the blinding light, the sensations of magic, or the pulsing anger. All he had asked for was one last, normal day before diving headfirst into this crazy world of magic and deadly terrorists, and now this. He crawled into a sitting position, his red aura crackling like flames in response to his feelings.

“All right, who the hell did…what the hell?”

The strange world around him looked just like the square in Makura Town, down to the misspelled sign on the bookstore across the street. But there were no signs of life. No cars, no trash on the ground, no distant honking of car horns or chattering voices. There wasn’t even a sun or moon, but everything seemed refracted, like he was standing in a mirror.

“You alright?”

Kira jumped as a hand was placed on his shoulder. He almost laughed when he saw Amaru standing by his side. “Don’t scare me like that.”

He blinked at the sound of his voice. It had a ghostly echo to it, like he was standing in an empty space and not a replica of his hometown.

“What is this place?”

“Looks like we got dragged into a Shadowrealm.” Amaru said, scanning the prismatic world around them while rummaging through her pocket. She missed the blank look Kira sent her.

“Okay, that’s cool.” Kira said. “And for the people who don’t know what a Shadowrealm is?”

“It’s an alternate dimension connected to our world. Think of them as private worlds created by powerful monsters, complete with their own ecosystems and environments. They’re created by either a single powerful monster or a group of monsters combining their energies. It’s not common knowledge, but there are hundreds of Shadowrealms like these connected to Terra.” Amaru looked around at the mirror world around them. “I think I know this place. It’s a mirror Shadowrealm created by a powerful monster named Maya, who was worshipped as a goddess of illusions in Indus.”

“So, if only a monster can do this, does that mean we were attacked by a monster or something?” Kira asked.

“Possibly. On the bright side, whatever happens here can’t affect the real world. Though I’m sure the STAF operatives will be wondering where we are.”

“Oh…” Someone groaned.

Kira froze and spun around, seeing Emi sprawled along the pavement looking dazed. “Emi!”

He ran over to her and gently picked her up. He felt a huge swell of fear as he noticed that she was hardly breathing. But before he could even put a hand to her, Emi began to cough like a drowned swimmer brought to life.

“She’s stable, thank the gods.” Amaru said. “Crossing into a Shadowrealm can be hard the first time around, and being dragged into this place abruptly must have put her into shock. She should be fine after a few minutes.”

“Are you sure?” Kira asked.

“Yeah, I’m positive. I myself had suffered from some…symptoms of trans-dimensional sickness.” Amaru’s cheeks reddened and she looked away. “Not my proudest moment, that’s for sure.”

Kira had a feeling that was a story Sai was going to tell him one day if he asked him. “So how do we get out of here?”

“You’re not going anywhere, kid.” Kira turned around and found a man across the street perched on a parking meter like an oversized pigeon. He was a shallow, pale man, late twenties and dressed in a suit at least fifteen years out of style, and chomping on a cigarette. “Shadowrealms like these are hard to escape from without outside help.”

“Still, I’m kinda surprised, though.” The man said and hopped to the ground. “Snatched up more people than intended. Oh well, it’s not like I don’t mind babysitting for a while. I like kids, so long as they behave.”

Amaru laughed. “Oh, is that what you want us to do? Si tight and wait for your Phantom Society friends to come and take Kira off to who knows where? And I suppose you’ll just let us go if we don’t give your any trouble.”

“Hey, you’re pretty sharp, aren’t you, little guy?” he said, lighting up like his kid had come home with a perfect grade on his test. “Just out of primary school and already picking schemes apart like a pro.”

“I’m a sixteen year old girl!”

“Oh, my bad. Sacred Host Kira Asakura, I am Shirahata Kenichi.” He said, offering a bow. “And as your friend guessed, I’ll be the one keeping an eye on you from here on out. Or at least, I’m one of them. The guy they had me working with doesn’t seem to have shown up yet. Must have gotten lost; he didn’t sound very bright over the phone.

Kira thought this guy didn’t seem all that smart himself, but he held his tongue. This guy was no doubt a powerful mage, so no need to provoke a fight until absolutely necessary. For now, they’ll keep him distracted until they found a way to keep Emi safe. His stomach turned with guilt at getting her involved in this mess.

“Ow…”

Kira’s head shot down to Emi. “Emi? Are you alright?”

“Kira…what happened?” Emi groaned, holding a hand to her head. “Where are we?”

“It’s…hard to explain.” Kira told her. “Look, I’ll explain everything later, okay? Let’s just say that there’s magic involved and settle with that for now.”

“Nice excuse, kid. Better than trying to play it off like some hallucination.” Shirahata remarked. Kira glared at him and stood up with Emi.

“Don’t act like I’m just going to sit around and wait for your masters to come get me!” He shouted. “If you think I’m going to let that happen, you’re even stupider than you look!”

“Whoa, calm down, kid. I mean it when I say I’m not here to hurt you, but I do have permission to get rough if you don’t behave. I’d rather we play nice here in this little reality bubble and wait until my employers get here to explain things.” Shirahata said. “We’ll even let your friends go, honest. All we want, Kira, is for you and your sister to help us make the world right.”

“Like hell you are.” Kira spat, surprising himself with how vicious he sounded. Shirahata sounded so earnest, not like those Europian assassins from before, but he wasn’t fooled. “If you guys are so good, ten why didn’t you use you all-powerful magic for this instead of causing so much destruction near my school? Why did you set all those monsters loose on innocent people downtown? Why not come to us instead of having your dogs try to kill Sai first?”

Kira felt his body grow hot and his mana surge into his limbs. His burning gaze was focused on Shirahata as his aura glowed a deep red, leaking from his body like smoke. He didn’t notice the air swirling around him in response to his growing power.

Shirahata retreated a step and raised a hand. “Don’t do it, kid.” He said, a line of restrained anxiety on his face.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. Why don’t you call up Margareta or whoever the hell holds your leash and tell her to go to hell? Because the minute I see her or her little pet assassins, I’ll rip them apart!” Kira shouted and long blades of light formed around his hands.

Kira didn’t know what he’d do next if Amaru hadn’t stepped in, placing a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

“Whoa there, cowboy. Hold your horses.” Amaru said. “I can’t let you just rush into a fight like that.”

“But—“ Kira tried to protest, but Amaru shook her head.

“Don’t, Kira. You’re still a novice mage and you barely know how to use your powers. Up against this guy, you’ll lose.” She told him. “Why don’t you leave this to your bodyguard, huh?”

Kira knew she was right. He wasn’t that skilled in magic or fighting in general. It’d do no one any good if he acted like Saya and ran headfirst into a fight without thinking. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down and let his flaring aura simmer down.

“You’re lucky, old man.” Amaru said, swaggering into the street. She drew a scarred bokken from the case on her back and selected two ikupasuy from the pocket of her hoodie. “Kira’s not in the mood for your bullshit propaganda. He would’ve run you through if he had the chance. Still, it’d be nice o see if you would wet yourself if you were reminded of who you’re trapped in here with.”

Shirahata’s mouth pulled into a thin line. “Why yare kids so vulgar these days? Especially the young boys.”

Amaru’s eyebrow twitched.

“As a matter of fact,” She said in a tight voice. “There’s no need to worry about having to fight him at all. A puppet like you, you’re not even worth his notice.”

“Is that right?” Shirahata said. He bore a mournful expression as he clenched his fist, a black blade formed from a hundred fluid ribbons rising from his hand. “So, you plan to fight me?”

“Actually,” She smirked. “I’d call it more of a workout.”

The assassin sighed in resignation. “If that’s what you want. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

And without even a grunt, he hurled the blade.

The projectile spun end over end, emitting an eerie whistle that had not been there before. Closer and closer it came, but Amaru did not move. Kira tried to shout a warning. A might crack cut him off, and Amaru gave a shout and struck the projectile with a two-handed cut. It broke in half, then turned into black vapor and disappeared.

“The name’s Koizumi Amaru,” She said. “And I’m going to kick your ass!”