Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

- ゼロ -

December 23, 2095

A lone figure stood in a darkened room by a large panoramic window, overlooking the brightly lit streets far below, cars and people winding their way through the night streets indicating the bustle of the day had not ceased despite the late hour. Most of the office's employees had retired for the day, with only a handful of analysts and researchers continuing their toil. A subtle ping from his workstation indicated the changing of the date; he allowed himself to linger for a few more minutes to savor the silence. As busy a person as he was, truly rare was the moment that his precious time wasn't occupied by one demand or another, and as such, it was typical for him to maintain the graveyard shift to address any action items for the business and his own personal projects.

Not that he required much sleep anyway. One of the many blessings afforded by his unique constitution.

"Enter."

The terse command punctuated the stillness of the air. The entrance slid open, allowing the visitor into the office, only dimly lit by the stray street lights and what little illumination was offered by the waning moon. The newcomer dipped into a deep bow and remained silent, waiting for permission to speak.

The figure by the window finally turned away from his ruminations over the city below. His tall and sturdy frame towered over the other man, still bowed over. His gaze, as piercing as the blue of his eyes, which shone through his cloaked countenance, studied his visitor.

"I trust that the implementation at Rosen has been a success?"

The other man took that as his signal to rise.

"Yes sir. Our contact at Rosen has confirmed that they have started incorporating the technology into their equipment. It took quite a bit longer for them to understand how the device worked than we had anticipated, but the first production batch should be ready for their evaluation by the end of the first quarter."

A low huff sounded from the taller man.

"Ernst never was bright," the taller man remarked, "And Frederick was always too ambitious for his own good. They are as predictable as always, jumping at the opportunity to claw back relevance. I always had more respect for Bastian," he continued wistfully, "I trust that they didn't suspect a thing?"

The informant nodded.

"The member leading the team in Germany is one of our most competent. He has the material qualifications to make even such an implausible breakthrough as this seem believable." He paused. "As you have said, the company's executive management team did not even stop to question where he had obtained the device, sending it straight to their lab for reverse engineering. Of course, our team ensured that enough setbacks occured so that Rosen felt like they had worked out our technology for themselves."

"Good," the man said, turning back to look out the window. "Yes, very good. Approximating the time for them to sufficiently saturate the market, the plan should be in place and ready to proceed in about a year and a half."

Shuffling sounds came from behind him.

"Don't get impatient," he said. "We've waited for so long already. What is a few more years?"

The other man dropped his head at the rebuke.

"Yes sir. I apologize."

The tall man kept his back turned.

"And as for Maximilien, what is the status update on the USNA?"

"Yes sir. The USNA is progressing within our estimations. The first generation containing the device has been on the market for about 3 months now, and our team lead there has indicated that the first batch of their second generation should soon be released. There will be no delays in the western hemisphere."

"Good," he nodded to himself before continuing, "If there are no other updates you are dismissed."

The tall man sensed hesitation from behind him, and glanced over his shoulder.

"There is, actually, something else," his visitor said slowly and uncertainly, "Unrelated to Rosen or Maximilien. The Feynman National Laboratory has been performing some experiments over the past month."

The visitor paused, as if afraid to speak more.

"And?" the taller man asked, voice tinged with impatience.

"They were attempting to create micro black holes in an effort to understand the core principles related to…the Material Burst."

The taller man grunted.

"We believe that they don't realize the fundamental properties of it however," he continued quickly. "Rather we speculate that they are trying to design something to challenge it…" he trailed off.

"Hmph," the man responded tersely. "It would have been foolish to believe Yokohama would not bring that back to the forefront of the world's headlines, although I think I should hardly be afraid of anyone learning the secrets of my magic. It is unparalleled in scale and destructive capabilities. There is nothing to fear. If that is all…"

"There's more."

The visitor immediately averted his gaze and dropped to his knees.

"Forgive my interruption, but there's more."

The tall man turned back around to face the stooped figure.

"What else…?"

"While the micro black hole experiment did not produce any significant results with respect to the creation of any new breakthroughs with respect to Strategic-class magics…our informant there noted that some additional entities have crossed over."

At this mention the tall man's eyes narrowed, and light flickered through his ice blue irises.

"Most curious."

The visitor remained kneeling, trembling slightly while the tall man pondered the words he had just heard. He waved his hands at the crouched man in dismissal.

"Your comments are forgiven. This is a most curious occurrence indeed."

He crossed his arms in contemplation.

"Primitive, and an inefficient use of energy. I supposed in theory it works, but it's such an absurd method that it did not enter into our wildest considerations. I have to say it is impressive that they were able to accomplish such a feat, even unintentionally. Although this complicates our plans somewhat."

"Get up," he commanded the other man after a few more moments of silent thought. "Find out where the new entities are heading. We need to evaluate their quality. That information will inform our next actions. The global network is at your full disposal to secure this information."

"This is our number one priority at this time," he emphasized.

The blue of the man's eyes glowed with electric intensity.

"We will not tolerate these interlopers exposing us."

- しば - シールズ -

January 1, 2096

Tatsuya gently took hold of Miyuki's hand to help her out of the car before turning to survey their surroundings. As was to be expected, Hie Shrine was rather busy as a popular venue for hatsumode. A gentle breeze swept along the base of the hill, his own dark bangs ruffling while the dark green leaves danced in the playful wind. The bright but earthy aroma of the cedar grove surrounding the complex was the first scent that he picked up, but smoky notes from burning incense could be detected in the air. Kimonos of all colors mingled with more casually dressed shrine goers ebbed and flowed around the two siblings as they paused to take in the balmy morning sun.

He was conscious of the gazes that were being passed in their direction, no doubt due to Miyuki's presence, garbed as she was in her deep scarlet floral kimono bound with her royal purple obi, a striking contrast against the pale blue sky and his own black hakama and charcoal haori. Despite the attention they were receiving, the river of people who were coming and going to pay their respects gave them a wide berth, possibly either in deference to Miyuki's charm or regard for his own solemn aura.

"Oiii! Tatsuya!"

The lively buzz in the atmosphere was abruptly broken by a bellow belonging to a familiar face. The owner of the voice gestured towards the siblings with an energetic wave while sporting a good natured grin. Making their way over they found Leo flanked by Mizuki and Honoka, who had been obscured by the crowds. Honoka was the only other person dressed traditionally, in a pale yellow kimono. Mizyuki and Leo had chosen to forgo a traditional outfit; Mizuki was garbed in a dark green sweater and a cozy brown shawl, making her reminiscent of a forest maiden while Leo sported a casual leather jacket over a burgundy shirt.

"It's a good thing you're a good head taller than ninety-five percent of the people here," Tatsuya remarked pointedly as they joined up with their friends.

"Quite," Miyuki giggled. "I do believe we would have had a slightly more difficult time finding Mizuki and Honoka within the crowd."

"Even if you couldn't have found us, the way the crowd parted before you two would have been more than enough indication for us to find you," Honoka joked.

Choruses of "Happy New Years!" were exchanged between the group of friends.

"Oh! That kimono looks beautiful on you, Miyuki-chan!" Mizuki admired, hands clasped in front of her chest, while Honoka nodded in agreement

Miyuki laughed and grasped both Mizuki and Honoka's hands in excitement.

"I appreciate the compliment!"

Leo looked Tatsuya up and down for several seconds before nodding in approval. His classmate set a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"You were born to wear that, Tatsuya," Leo said, smirking, "You've got the air of a crime boss."

Tatsuya brushed Leo's hand off with a sharp scoff.

"I would appreciate not being compared to the Yakuza."

"I supposed it's just the five of us?" Miyuki asked.

"Shizuki is spending the day with her family and also finalizing packing for her trip" Honoka replied.

"And Erika-chan and Yoshida-san also mentioned that they had familial obligations today," Mizuki added.

For an important day such as New Year's, it would be important for members of the Hundred Families and the Ten Master Clans to show some face…

Tatsuya caught a glance of the knowing look Miyuki cast in his direction but pretended not to notice.

"Well, if this is everyone, we should make our way to the shrine if we don't want to get caught in the rush," Tatsuya remarked stoically.

Despite his comments, the five took their time to approach the main shrine courtyard.

"Man, another semester is already upon us, huh?" Leo muttered, hands interlocked behind his head.

"So you better watch your grades. The year-end exams are going to cover everything since last April," Tatsuya commented flatly.

Leo sighed in defeat before cracking an eye open to look at Tatsuya.

"Hey Tatsuya, you think you could tutor-"

"I'm sure you and Erika both can work out some sort of arrangement with Mikihiko," Tatsuya cut Leo off as they approached the chozuya. "I will be busy with Vice-Chief duties," he continued as he used the hishaku to run the ice cold water over his hands.

Leo muttered beneath his breath as he snatched the next hishaku, from which Tatsuya caught some snide comments about "cold hearted" and something about "no regard for the plight of those bestowed with less brains", much to the girls' amusement.

"Honoka-chan, Shizuku's flight is on the 3rd?" Mizuki asked after all of them had finished at the chozuya.

"Mm-hmm!" Honoka nodded enthusiastically. "We can see her off at the gate! Three months is such a long time though…" Honoka hugged her kinchaku to her chest and worried her bottom lip as they approached the main hall.

"I'm sure she'll have a wonderful time, not to mention all the stories she'll be returning with," Miyuki consoled after they had all paid their respects.

"Hmm, the announcement was really sudden. I'm surprised that they're even allowing her to travel. Isn't the government pretty strict about this sort of thing?" Leo wondered out loud.

"Apparently it's a part of some foreign exchange program," Honoka answered. "She mentioned that First High would be receiving a student in her place."

Tatsuya noticed a member of their group had stopped in her tracks on the way to the omikuji stall.

"Mizuki? Is something the matter?"

"Huh? Oh, pardon me! It was just that the crowd seemed to be looking at something over there and I was a bit curious…"

He did notice that the hubbub had somewhat died down and hushed whispers had emerged in its place but didn't want to draw undue attention to their group. That another had pointed it out allowed himself and his companions to all turn in the direction that Mizuki had indicated.

"Oh? She's pretty," Leo commented appreciatively.

"Careful now. Just because Erika isn't here doesn't mean you can say anything you want about other women."

Leo sputtered at Tatsuya's deadpan jab, which he ignored, instead narrowing his eyes at the newcomer's entrance.

The woman was obviously not Japanese, given her azure eyes and golden blond tresses, secured in a ponytail with a white ribbon and a cluster of flowering apricot blooms that tumbled around her shoulders. Her radiant hair and accessories were a stark contrast to her tasteful midnight black kimono accompanied by a matching kinchaku, which did not seem out of place on her person despite her foreign complexion.

Tatsuya noted that most of the eyes in the temple complex seemed to linger on her every movement. The woman washed at the chozuya before approaching the temple; while her steps seemed to be certain, he could detect minor uncertainties in the way her eyes occasionally darted to the side as if to verify that she was performing the same ritual motions as the other temple goers.

As she passed by where they had stopped in front of the omikuji stall, her azure eyes briefly locked with his own ocean-blue irises for a split second, before she smoothly turned and continued on her route to the front of the temple.

"Ah come on, 'Future Curse'?" Leo suddenly burst out from next to him.

"Better leave your slip over by that pine tree over there, Leo-kun," Mizuki offered.

"Onii-sama, what did you get?" Miyuki asked, snapping Tatsuya out of his concentration. He looked down at the slip he picked up prior to the distraction.

"Looks like 'Future blessing'." He answered after scanning over the paper.

"Oh, how lucky! I wonder what it could be!" Honoka exclaimed.

He glanced back at the shrine but noted that the foreign girl had disappeared. He frowned to himself; there was something about her appearance that did not quite sit right with him.

"Well, if we're all free after this, why don't we grab some food? There are some restaurants across the road that sound interesting," Miyuki said.

Voices of agreement came from the rest of the party as they checked on what sounded interesting.

"Onii-sama? Is something the matter?"

Tatsuya turned and shook his head at his sister and offered a soft smile.

"It's nothing. Let's head off."

The group started heading down the hill, laughing and talking on the way, but despite his assurances to his sister, he continued to remain aware of his surroundings as the two siblings walked alongside their friends.

…

Lina sighed in relief as she shrugged out of her black kimono and worked her hair out of the ribbon it was tied up in. She combed a hand through her hair, letting it tumble about her shoulders freely. Once her hair was properly messy, she was careful to properly air up the very expensive kimono on a hanger that Sylvie had secured for her usage in this operation, as she knew the older woman would have some choice words for her if she didn't. After finishing the proper maintenance for the dress, she unceremoniously flopped onto her bed.

To say that the day was eventful would have been an understatement: putting the kimono on, navigating the public transport system, and then going through the correct rituals for the hatsumode took all of her concentration and energy, not to mention the focus that she had to put into her rusty Japanese. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep till next February. She groaned at the thought of going back to high school in a week.

She heard the door to her apartment open and close.

"Lina? Are you home?"

Lina lay there for a few more seconds, contemplating just letting Sylvie find her in her room before she decided to be responsible and rolled off of her bed and made her way into the living room.

"Welcome back, Sylvie," she managed to get out through a large yawn.

"Hmm? What's this? Don't tell me that you're tired from a day at the shrine?" The short-haired woman glanced in Lina's direction as she was hanging up her handbag. "I do believe one might even consider this to be a vacation compared to your normal routine?" she continued, planting her two fists on her hips, the hem of her skirt swishing as she turned towards her.

Sylvia McClure, or Sylvie for short, was both Lina's roommate, and also meant to serve as the support personnel for the duration of Lina's stay in Japan. She was a friendly and outgoing woman, and despite only meeting her a few weeks ago, the two of them got along swimmingly, Sylvie treating her almost like a younger sister.

Lina huffed and plopper herself down at the glass dining room table and dropped her head onto her crossed arms.

"You know very well that my background doesn't lend me to undercover operations."

"You're an intelligent girl, I'm sure that you can use that big brain of yours to find a method that suits you."

Two soft clinks indicated that Syliva had set two cups onto the table, which perked Lina up immediately. She reached for the darker drink, still steaming. She inhaled appreciatively, savoring the aroma before indulging in a sip.

Sylvia shook her head as she grabbed her own lighter brew and settled across from her.

"With the amount of that stuff you drink it's a wonder you're not bouncing off the walls all the time."

"Black is the proper way of drinking coffee, not like that watered down imposter in your hand there."

Sylvia rolled her eyes and took a sip of her own latte.

"Yes, yes, of course Ms. Purist. Anyway." Sylvia grabbed the terminal that had been sitting beside the pair. "The complete dataset should now all be available for review. You get to spend the next few days familiarizing yourself with the persons of interest."

Sylvia spun the screen around so that it was facing Lina. She took a moment to smirk as the younger woman's eyes grew as she scanned the screen, finally looking up.

"I don't have the time to sufficiently check 57 people!," she demanded. And just what opportunities am I going to have when I'm in a room with the upperclassmen?"

She continued swiping through the profiles that were loaded onto the device.

"You're telling me that we couldn't narrow the list down more?"

Sylvie sighed.

"This situation is rather delicate. We can't just hack our way into their database. Most of the potential targets at First High School for our phantom Strategic-Class Magician were identified as high potential based on the results of the Nine-Schools Competition last year. Others were noted from a review of the publicly posted test scores from the past several years, both for High School and University level."

"Ugh. And there's not much data to go off for some of these profiles," Lina muttered as she tapped on a profile that had some video attachments. "I suppose the most prudent course of action is to identify the likeliest targets with the highest potential for contact and network from there," she mused as she watched a replay of the Speed Shooting event, the slim girl on screen blitzing through a qualifying round. "That's an interesting looking spell, I don't recall ever seeing something like this before…hmm…'Active Air Mine'...Do the profiles have details on known magic usage?"

"We have as much information as we could determine. We've had experts try to identify or categorize that magic that could be seen as much as we can, but we're still looking at a whole lot of gaps in our knowledge. To be honest, I kind of agree this is an exercise in futility, finding a person-sized needle in the haystack of an entire country's education system. Maybe our mystery SCM isn't even in high school."

Lina looked up from her screen.

"How many people did they mobilize for this operation?"

Sylvia shook her head.

"I'm not privy to that information, but based on what I know about the magic education in Japan, it would make sense to at least send assets to at least Second, Third, and Fourth High School, as well as the University. It's very unlikely we could have slipped anyone into the Defense Academy, however."

Lina frowned.

"I don't suppose I have any choice," she grumbled. As a Special Officer, she had little say in what plans the USNA Military were conducting. "Categorizing the profiles based on the type of magic exhibited could be useful, but I think indication of interference strength would have been much more so. There are too many methods of producing an explosion with magic, but the scale of the event at Jinhae Naval Port might give some clues to what we are looking for. Now, practical exercises are probably the best way of gauging some of our targets capabilities. Sylvie, do we have a dossier on the First High School facilities? I'll need to…"

Lina glared up from the terminal at the laughter coming from her roommate.

"Sylvie, I fail to see how this is amusing at all."

Sylvia waved away Lina's comments.

"Sorry, sorry, it was just funny to see how much you change when you get into the zone. Despite your comments on this assignment, you seem to be much more into it than you realize."

"Alright, then," she finally continued after calming down. "You will be happy to know that the school has some of the most state-of-the-art equipment. Students are able to book practice rooms with so long as advance notice is given to the Student Council, Disciplinary Committee, or the Faculty. But before we look into that, I suggest that we take a look at your class schedule, as there are some practical exercises built into the curriculum. Let's start coming up with our strategy here."

- しば - さえぐさ -

January 9, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Tatsuya slowly chewed on a piece of pork katsu as he tried to be an attentive listener to Erika as she was regaling the group with her stories from over the winter holiday. It was good to hear that her relationship with Watanabe-senpai had improved somewhat over the past couple of months, at least tolerating when her second eldest half-brother brought her along for a small post-Christmas get together among the Chiba siblings. And somehow her older half-sister managed to get their eldest brother to drink perhaps a little too much; who would have known that the scion of the Chiba clan was quite the pushover Erika described him as, blathering on about a particular pretty military officer that he had the chance to work with in Yokohama, a fact which, when revealed, forced him to cough into his cup as he was taking a sip.

"By the way, did any of you get to see the new exchange student?" Erika asked after she had concluded her account, finally deciding to dig into her bento.

Leo made as if to say something but a muffled grunt and a jolt suggested that Mikihiko, who had been sitting on the other side of Leo, had kicked the bigger man to prevent him from saying something stupid. Leo shot a "what gives" look over at his friend while Mikihiko just shook his head ever so slightly.

"I heard she's incredibly beautiful," Mizuki added.

"Yeah, she's got luminous blond hair and bright blue eyes, even the upperclassmen went to go look," Erika continued excitedly, waving a piece of egg in the air with her chopsticks.

"You didn't manage to get a look?"

The basis for such a lively conversation was nothing more than rumors, which was somewhat of a concern for Tatsuya, which prompted his interjection.

"There was a crowd of people around Class 1-A earlier, so there was no way to look," Erika answered before taking a bite of her egg. She cracked an eye open towards Tatsuya. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know anything about her would you, since, you know, Miyuki is in Class 1-A, and you're the Vice-Chief of the Disciplinary Committee?"

Tatsuya took a sip of his coffee, his cup clinking softly onto the table.

"I don't. My sister and I aren't attached at the hip, and none of my duties involve escorting new students around. I believe that falls under the purview of the Student Council."

"Mmm, if you say so."

"In any case, I believe the novelty of the situation will wear off sooner rather than later," Tatsuya concluded.

"I suppose it's to be expected," Mizuki picked up. "That's because this is a magic high school with no precedent for transfer students. Everyone would naturally be curious about students from abroad."

"Apparently we're also not the only school that received transfer students," Mikihiko interrupted. "Second, Third, and Fourth High all received short-term transfer students. Not to mention the University, which also has some visiting researchers."

"Oh yeah, I heard about the University too. With the incredible edge Flying-type Magic lent to the military in Yokohama, there are rumors that they are frantically trying to get more information."

The whole group went silent for several moments.

"So…the transfer student in Class 1-A is a spy?" Leo posed the question, leaning back into his seat.

It was Erika's turn to kick Leo.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"First: we all know that didn't hurt you," Erika hissed under her breath, looking over her shoulder around the cafeteria. Thankfully, they were seated in their usual corner, near the edge of the room near a planter of boxwoods, sufficiently far away from other groups of students. "Second: you can't just make claims like that!"

"She's in Class 1-A, isn't she?" Leo rebutted through a mouthful of rice.

"You idiot, Miyuki is in 1-A, and she'll probably have to watch over her for appearance's sake until the transfer student has fully acclimated to the school. So long as this impacts Miyuki, you can't just regurgitate whatever comes to your mind," Erika reprimanded.

"As students, we have to at least maintain a somewhat cordial relationship…" Mikihiko added.

Leo glanced towards Tatsuya.

"Sorry," Leo apologized sheepishly before continuing. "But it wouldn't be the first time we've had to deal with this kind of situation. There was Sekimoto, and then that Jiro guy…"

Mikihiko kicked Leo again causing him to nearly spill his coffee, and glared at him. "Leo!"

"Jiro…?" Mizuki asked confusedly. "Who's that?"

"Uh…"

"Aaaanyway," Mikihiko chuckled nervously, "We should probably give this topic a rest…"

Tatsuya sighed and turned his direct attention back to his lunch.

"What Mikihiko said."

Ironically enough, the "relationship" that Mikihiko had alluded to materialized before Tatsuya could finish his second piece of pork katsu.

Beginning with a low buzz, the atmosphere in the cafeteria suddenly grew to a full blown cacophony as a mob of students entered the area. As he had anticipated, the group was headed by none other than Miyuki, Honoka, and a third, familiar-looking girl with sky azure eyes and golden tresses, this time secured in blue ribbons in a twin-tail style. Tatsuya's expression did not change, nor did he say anything about recognizing the girl from their New Year's shrine visit.

His eyes briefly scanned the mass of people who had accompanied his sister and friends; a mob might have been an incorrect assessment.

His attention shifted back towards his sister. While indeed Miyuki, Honoka, and - whom everyone assumed - the new transfer student were the first ones into the room, the other students certainly gave the three female freshmen a wide berth, mingling in individual groups and discussing among themselves, the subject of their focus very clearly the three girls.

Leo leaned over towards Tatsuya as they observed them walking over to vendor counters to get food.

"Hey, Tatsuya…I think I've seen her somewhere before…?"

For the fourth time that lunch, Leo was kicked under the table again, this time from Tatsuya himself.

Unfortunately Erika didn't overlook Leo's comments.

"Huh?"

"...Now that you mention it, indeed."

Mikihiko looked uncertainly at Mizuki.

"You too, Shibata-san? Unless she's an artist or model…But that's rather unlikely, right?"

"Hmm, Miyuki alone grabs a ton of attention, but seeing the two of them together certainly demands that people turn and look." Erika glanced at him. "What do you think, Tatsuya?"

He made a point to not look in their direction and took a long drink.

"No comments."

As Miyuki led the two other girls towards the table, all discussion and speculation surrounding the three girls from among the five Course 2 students dissipated in an unspoken agreement. Tatsuya felt a massive number of eyes turn towards their direction. While pretending to go about their business yet unable to contain their curiosity, gazes were resting on them from all four directions. Though Miyuki still drew the usual amount of stares, the number of surreptitious looks had increased substantially compared to usual.

"Pardon our intrusion."

Miyuki placed her tray next to her brother while Honoka sat across from him and the blond haired newcomer filled in next to her.

His younger sister turned to face everyone at the table, holding out an arm to feature the girl.

"Apologies for the delay everyone, I'd like to introduce everyone to Angelina Shields from America. She'll be joining class 1-A for the rest of the school year."

The exchange student - Angelina - bowed slightly in her seat, golden locks swaying at the movement.

"Thank you everyone, I'll be in your care!" she said after sitting back up, a dazzling smile on her face. "My full name is Angelina, but you can call me Lina."

Tatsuya led the way with the introductions in place of his friends who were drawn in by her bright smile and friendly countenance - or in the case of Leo and Mikihiko, perhaps her lovely features.

"Class 1-E, Shiba Tatsuya. In order to differentiate me from Miyuki, please call me 'Tatsuya'".

Lina turned her attention towards him and flashed another brilliant smile.

"Thank you. A pleasure to meet you. Please call me Lina. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you don't use honorifics with me."

Tatsuya bowed slightly in acknowledgement.

"I understand, Lina."

One by one the rest of them made their introductions.

"I'm Chiba Erika! You can call me Erika," Erika continued cheerfully.

"My name is Shibata Mizuki. Please call me Mizuki"

"Saijou Leondard, but everyone just calls me Leo. I'm a little rough and speak like this, so please don't take offense.

"Yoshida Mikihiko, you can call me Mikihiko."

Without asking to repeat their names, Lina managed to remember all their names on the first try. However, for whatever reason 'Mikihiko' didn't quite roll off her tongue as easily as the others, a fact which Erika picked up on.

"If it's a little hard to pronounce, you can go ahead and use 'Miki'."

At the statement Mikihiko suddenly turned and made to reject Erika's proposal but not before Lina could assent.

"Ah, is that so? Then allow me to do so. Miki, is that ok?"

Tatsuya noted that Mikihiko's face seemed to flash through the five stages of grieving, losing this thunder and settling on futile acceptance in the face of Lina's charming smile.

"...Yeah…" he acquiesced weakly.

Erika certainly doesn't miss an opportunity he thought as he took a mouthful of rice while the conversation continued and Erika and Mizuki kept Lina busy with a steady stream of questions.

…

"What do you think, Mayumi?" Mari asked from beside her. The seniors were standing on the second floor observation deck of Practice Room 2 along with a gaggle of other third-year students who had the freedom to select their course schedule for their last semester.

The new exchange student certainly knew how to make an entrance. On the first day of her transfer, her appearance alone was such that no one on campus had not heard the rumors of the American.

Before her arrival, the throne of the most beautiful girl in the school belonged to Miyuki alone, the unspoken consensus of the student body. However, with the addition of Lina, the title of "Queen" had morphed into that of "Twin Beauties"; the fact that Miyuki had been helping Lina around the school to get acclimated, and therefore were often found in the same company served to give credence to their designation. Luminous blond hair that shone in the sun and clear azure pupils and midnight tresses deep as night and eyes as deep and gleaming as black pearls, equal in beauty, yet diametrically opposed in appearance.

"On some level, as the American representative to Japan, it isn't strictly out of the question. Still, it's hard to believe that someone in the same generation as Miyuki is able to stand up to her Magic Power."

The energetic atmosphere in the room abated slightly into pockets of whispers as Lina spoke. Mayumi noted that while her initial visage appeared friendly, the American's expression had lost its enthusiasm and morphed into an expression of collected contemplation, a mannerism that was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place her finger on why it was so.

"Three, two, one, go!"

At the moment Lina called out 'go', both girls placed their hands onto the console and activated the built-in CADs.

A dazzling array of psions exploded in bright light around the room, concentrated on the set up in the middle of the room as the two magics clashed.

Some of the observers on the ground floor surrounding the match were visibly affected by the impressive display.

The light faded after the brief moment the metal ball on the stand wobbled and then rolled off where it was sitting towards Lina. As the outcome of the match became apparent the room's energy returned as the students turned to each other excitedly to discuss what had happened.

"That's 3 for Miyuki and 2 for the exchange student."

"In terms of Activation Speed, the exchange student is actually faster isn't she?" Mari asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes, but Miyuki wins in interference strength, so she managed to seize control before her opponent's magic was finished," Mayumi replied. "Although…"

Mayumi frowned and looked back at the blond haired girl. Lina was back to smiling, but the expression did not seem to reach her eyes. Her vision drifted towards a man standing behind the crowd, lounging against the wall of the practice hall, his expression pensive.

That's who the exchange student's expression reminded me of!

"Hello? Earth to Mayumi…"

Mari startled her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry I was thinking about something."

"Something…or someone? Don't think I didn't notice a particular gentleman hanging towards the back of the crowd on the opposite side," Mari indicated with her head.

She forced her expression to remain neutral at Mari's tease, but she couldn't help but glance in Tatsuya's direction again. He did look rather fetching in that pose…

The students on the ground floor were setting up for another round, but she did notice that the wall where a certain first-year had been standing was now empty.

"I'm going to the library to review with Rin-chan. Let me know if anything interesting happens," she said as she turned away from the railing towards the stairwell before Mari could say anything about the last minute cramming or a certain blue-eyed man.

Mayumi slipped through the hallway and made her way in the direction of the library. As she stepped outside of the Practical Skills building into the nippy winter weather, she felt a subtle presence fall into step with her.

"Ojou-sama."

Mayumi scoffed.

"Hmph. You could put a little more effort into being patronizing, you know, Tatsuya."

The edge of Tatsuya's mouth curved upward ever so slightly, but he did not look down at her.

"I see. I could always use 'kitten' instead."

She mock-glared up at him, this time he did meet her gaze.

"I do recall someone saying that this kittens' fearsome little claws pack a punch."

"Indeed," he chuckled, "How was your winter break and the Saegusa clan's New Year's?"

Despite the chill, the fact that Tatsuya took the time to inquire about her holiday warmed her spirits and drove away some of the cold.

"I got to spend some time with mother, Mari, Rin-chan, and Kasumi and Izumi. Other than that, it was dreadfully tedious. The holiday galas are always socially draining, and between those is study, study, and more study."

Comfortable silence stretched for a few seconds. She noticed he was nodding at her words.

"Mmm. If I recall correctly, the entrance examination is on the 17th?" he asked. "I would have expected your studying to be done already."

"I don't want to hear that coming from you," she huffed. "The New Year's hatsumode was a nice break though the hectic season," she added, her face flushing red while she fidgeted with the CAD on her wrist.

"I'm glad you had at least some enjoyable moments," he replied, a hint of an upturn playing around his lips.

The pleasant quiet returned. The main square field in the center of the school complex was empty and silent save for the two of them, but she noted that despite that Tatsuya still maintained a socially appropriate distance between them. She opened and closed her right hand a few times recalling the few times he had held her hand in his; it would have been nice to feel the security of her hands in his.

"Is everything alright?" Tatsuya asked.

"Fine! Fine! Everythings fine!" she answered hastily, perhaps a little too hastily.

"Hm. Ok." Tatsuya replied, glancing down with slightly knit eyebrows, his way of showing concern.

"There were a lot of people in the practice hall, wasn't there?" she asked in an attempt to distract herself.

"Yes," Tatsuya said, "It was quite an impressive display. What were your thoughts?"

"Honestly, I was surprised that someone was able to match Miyuki-chan. I don't think any of the seniors can match her, maybe except Katsuto."

"It's a rare opportunity for Miyuki. Her growth has already far outstripped all of her classmates. Apparently the teachers have decided it's meaningless for her to practice with other students." He paused as if to consider something. "I guess I'll need to take a look at her CAD soon. Might need to add a larger magic calculation area inside."

"I did get the impression, however…" he continued, a small frown on his face. She recognized it as the one he wore whenever he was contemplating something. "Something didn't quite seem…right with Lina's display."

Mayumi shot him a glance.

"So you thought so too? I did mean to see if you had an evaluation of her."

"It's hard to say. That was the first time I had seen her perform any sort of magic."

"And I suppose there was no reason to use Elemental Sight either," she mused, mostly to herself; she knew he did not flaunt his abilities needlessly lest he draw unwanted attention.

"It's just a feeling…but I do believe she was holding back."

At his statement Mayumi turned and looked at him.

"Holding back? But why would she need to do that?"

"I do believe you know that First High wasn't the only school with exchange students," Tatsuya stated, his voice dropping.

"Well, yes, but what does…" Mayumi's voice trailed off as her eyes widened at what he was implying.

"You don't actually believe…?" she whispered.

Tatsuya shrugged.

"Who knows. But after Yokohama, it's hard to believe the world is just going to let Japan lie."

Tatsuya seemed to pick up on her troubled look.

"I wouldn't think about it too much. There's nothing we can do," he said. "Besides, it's your last semester right?"

The two of them had made it to the library. Tatsuya stopped and turned to look at her.

"Mayumi."

She looked up into his pacific-blue eyes.

"Relax."

She sighed, shoulders slumping momentarily before straightening back up. He was right. There was zero information, and if he was right, this stretched beyond what the Saegusa should be handling on their own. Plus she still had the University entrance exam to handle in less than two weeks.

She turned to go into the library building, but paused to turn to look at Tatsuya.

"Take care of yourself?" she asked him.

A wry smile appeared on his face.

"You know I will."

- しば -

January 10, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

The crisp winter air felt refreshing on Miyuki's skin.

She contentedly strolled along the sidewalk, blowing out puffs of vapor in her breath and observing the way the late-morning sun glinted off of the school buildings.

"...and now that we're at the football field, you've seen all of the campus!" Honoka concluded happily as she stopped by the plexiglass exterior of the campus football field and turned to face her tour group. Lina joined Honoka and smiled appreciatively at the bubbly girl.

"I appreciate the tour of the campus. It's certainly impressive," Lina admitted. "Certainly a much more modern look than my own high school. I did find the labs and the equipment fascinating, I've never gotten to work with international equipment before. Most of our equipment comes from Maximilien."

Sounds of cheers and yells erupted from the field, as Miyuki joined the duo from where she trailed behind them during Lina's campus orientation and the trio looked out over the football field to observe the match in progress.

"Come on, come on! Outta my way!" a loud voice roared above the din.

"Hey, that's a familiar voice…"

Miyuki looked towards the scoreboard on the other side of the field as one Saijou Leonhard cut through their field of vision, followed by Mikihiko close behind.

"It does appear that Class E is on the pitch today," Miyuki affirmed.

Lina cocked an eyebrow at the point count.

"Well, they certainly are destroying Class F." The exchange student turned to face Miyuki. "Are the teams always this lopsided?"

Miyuki gave a gentle smile.

"Class 1-E is known to be a bit…special, shall we say?" Miyuki offered.

"Oh yeah!" Honoka exclaimed excitedly, "Last year's Monolith Code match was really something! We still can't believe that Tatsuya-san walked away from what was definitely an illegal spell-"

"Honoka" Miyuki interrupted the excitable girl's jumble of words.

"It certainly sounds like it was exciting," Lina replied, casting a sideways glance towards Miyuki. "I'll have to see if I can find a recording sometime."

Another clamor came from the direction of the field as another goal careened into the net, this time delivery by her own brother.

"Speaking of Tatsuya," Lina said suddenly, turning towards her. "I noticed the other day that you two share a surname…"

"Oh you didn't know? Tatsuya-san is Miyuki's older brother," Honoka answered chirpily.

Lina looked at Miyuki.

"I had suspected that you were related, but didn't have time before to ask between classes and getting up to speed on the schedule."

Lina turned back to observe the game. Miyuki noticed that her eyes seemed to have locked onto her brother, watching him dribble the ball between two defenders, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I guess that would explain why you two are close with the Class 1-E students," Lina continued. "I believe the correct term is Course 2 students? From what I've seen there's not a lot of mingling between Course 1 and Course 2."

"It has gotten quite a bit better since last year," Honoka remarked. "Nakajou-senpai, Miyuki, and the Student Council have made steps to address some of the concerns of the student body, not to mention Tatsuya-san is Vice-Chief of the Disciplinary Committee."

"Is he?" Lina asked, glancing at Miyuki. "I didn't know that. All of the students with Disciplinary Committee armbands that I've seen are Course 1."

"Uh…" Honoka started, glancing at Miyuki with uncertainty.

"The previous Student Council laid a lot of the groundwork for us. Saegusa-senpai certainly wanted to make some changes, but not everyone saw it from her perspective," Miyuki asserted, amending her friend's prior statement. "And if you're asking about onii-sama's ability, he has a…specific skill set that makes him ideal for the position, if that is what you are asking."

She tried to not stare too hard at the exchange student, but it was hard to not suspect anything behind what she felt to be probing questions. She didn't like to think ill of someone she had just met, but it was difficult to not at least be wary.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off that way," Lina apologized, putting her hands up as the buzzer for the match sounded. The players on the field were giving handshakes and highfives before heading back to the benches to grab towels and water.

"It seems like the show's over, shall we get back to the classroom? The next period will be starting soon," Honoka asked.

"Lead the way!" Lina nodded. Miyuki caught her giving one last glance back at the field before falling in step with herself and Honoka.

She didn't enjoy it, but being cautious now was better than being caught in a bigger problem later.

- パラサイト -

An unbroken stream of pedestrians meandered beneath the night sky. Despite the hour, the streets were rather lively, although there were lulls in the rhythm of the throng, creating small pockets where no one was around, typically towards the periphery of the city. The major streets were at least partially illuminated by streetlight and the soft glows emanating from buildings adjacent to the pathways, but many of the narrow alleys between taller buildings and skyscrapers, as well as the small parks that dotted the cityside landscape between the intersections of larger boulevards and smaller lanes did not share in the warmth of the nighttime luminescence.

Still, just because no one was walking or watching did not mean that the area was abandoned.

Two humanoid entities stood near a park bench, concealed by the cover of darkness. The taller figure was shadow-like, garbed in a long overcoat and scarf with a round short-brimmed hat covering the eyes, completely concealing any features or hints of gender. The shorter, clearly in the figure of a young woman, wore a thick coat over a knitted weather and mini skirt and sported a pair of thick-heeled shoes.

After covering the female corpse on the bench, the individual wearing the hat rose from their crouched position and turned back as a new figure materialized to their rear.

[Still incompatible?]

The new figure, too, was clad in a long overcoat, scart, and hat, very similarly to the first individual. The question was posed, yet the night air remained still.

[Negative. The connection was lost after transferring the replica this time, but just as before we could only absorb psions from the blood before the replica lost stability and returned.] The first individual responded to the third in the same soundless voice.

[So replication remains beyond us?]

[Based on the knowledge we have that should not be the case.] The second asserted.

[Hm…then, even if they possess the required compatibility, they cannot become one of us without desire of their own?]

[A most perplexing condition. In order to determine the truth, we need more samples.]

[Indeed…let us reconvene to discuss if the others have any other success. There is no need to rush.]

Signals of content resonated between the three individuals. Leaving the corpse on the bench, the three figures melted back into the murky deep of the midnight watch.

[After all…there is no shortage of potential candidates to test…]

- しば - シールズ -

January 14, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Tatsuya frowned in contemplative thought as he stared at the reading screen in front of him. With the beginning of the new year, and with that the beginning of the second semester, he had wanted to put some additional time to studying the Nino Magatama that currently resided within a secured room in the Third Division's laboratory.

In reality, the team had not made much headway with the examination of the relic. They had so far limited themselves to only performing the least intrusive chemical studies of the component, documenting its physical properties such as mass and volume. From its appearance, it was thought that the Magatama was fashioned out of some variety of red agate, but the results showed that it was a bit heavier and denser than what was characteristic the agate, leading them to conclude that they had mischaracterized the material, or it was hiding something within that they were not able to detect with the basic instrumentation that they had limited themselves to. If they wanted to better understand their sample, they would have to get a little heavier handed with their methodology.

That was what he was evaluating at the moment. He had thus far stayed away from chemical characterization methods due to the concern of either damaging the sample or perhaps activating something that they did not know was there or did not want activated quite yet.

There was a reason these were referred to as 'Out of Place' Artifacts; the time in which they were created would have been far removed from the present day, and without understanding their construction, who could say how they would react to modern analysis methods?

This was also the reason why he had not relied on 'Elemental Sight' to aid in his study, out of consideration that any magic or related abilities would also activate something unwantedly. It certainly would have been useful for identifying individual elements or molecules, but for the time being he was not so desperate to as of yet resort to such measures.

For the next steps for their study he was evaluating the potential of X-Ray Spectroscopy. The other idea he had, but quickly discarded, was the usage of Ionizing Mass Spectrometry, but that would have definitely damaged the sample.

"...On the other hand, X-Ray Spectroscopy poses the risk of activating something within the sample simply by the way of excitation of electrons within the atoms…" he reflected to himself.

During his ruminations, he heard the door to the reading section of the library where was sitting open. He was mildly surprised to see a pair of golden twintails turn the corner, the ends swinging as their owner's head turned this way and that, looking around the library.

When she turned in his direction, her eyebrows shot upwards slightly, perhaps surprised that she was not alone in the room. Her bright sky-blue eyes met his own across the top of the terminal screen he was using.

"Ah…pardon the intrusion!" she exclaimed. "I apologize if I disturbed you."

"No apologies necessary," Tatsuya said, inclining his head, before turning back to his reading material.

"Tatsuya…right?" Lina continued, walking over to where he was seated. "Miyuki's been a great help for me getting adjusted. She and Honoka had showed me around campus, but we didn't walk around the inside of most of the buildings. I was most curious about the library. Oh! Miyuki also told me how you two were related."

"Yes, that's something most people don't realize when they meet us." Tatsuya's lips turned upwards slightly in a polite smile and nodded. "This is the reading section, where most of the unclassified material within the National Magic University archive can be accessed by students and faculty, along with other access to some of the other university databases within the country."

"Do you mind if I ask you what you are reading?" Lina asked curiously.

"Go ahead," Tatsuya answered. He currently did not have any documents relating to the Magatama, or what he was trying to accomplish currently, so he felt no risk in letting her see what he was researching.

"Truth be told, what I am working on has nothing much directly to do with magic in the traditional sense, rather I'm reviewing some documents on material sciences," he answered simply.

Lina raised an eyebrow.

"Not many students of magic would deign to devote their time to the physical sciences. At least, that's what I can say about the magicians in America, although I can't say I have observed anything much different during my few days at First High. Personally, I believe it's a gap that would be so easy to fill in, given that proficiency in overwriting phenomena could be so much more improved by a better understanding of the natural world."

Tatsuya tilted his head, his own interest now piqued. He had never heard someone else affirm his own thoughts on the matter quite as well as this curious exchange student had. To be fair, the idea wasn't something he was so passionate about that he went around espousing its benefits, but rather he stuck to his habit of doing things as he had always done: putting his head down and working on things he found interesting or useful.

"It sounds like you yourself have your own topics that you are interested in as well," Tatsuya said.

The blonde-haired girl shrugged.

"My subject of choice broadly falls under the category of electromagnetism, ranging from atomic behavior to macro phenomena. Helps me better understand my own magic," she replied. "What do you use material science for?"

"I'm more interested in magic engineering than increasing my personal abilities," Tatsuya answered. "Currently I'm trying to determine some material properties of a hypothetical compound for some applications for CAD design."

He felt no need to present the whole fact on the matter of his work, so he settled for providing a half-truth.

"A CAD designer huh? I'm guessing there's a reason why you didn't consider an Absorption/Release spell for the classification and are looking into more established methods? I overheard you mention X-Ray Spectroscopy earlier."

Of all the things he had expected out of Lina, an educated discussion on a topic only tangentially related to magic was not one of them.

"The proposed material has an unknown chemical and magical volatility. I would rather not introduce any magic to it until I'm fairly confident I can predict how it will behave under applied spells."

"I see, so you're limited to more traditional analysis methods then. X-Ray Spectroscopy is fairly accurate for determining chemical compositions," Lina mused. "Mass Spectrometry?"

"That would require me damaging part of the sample for the ionization, which given the limited quantities, is far too risky."

"Then it sounded like you also had doubts about the X-Ray Spectroscopy."

Tatsuya folded his arms.

"My main concern with that was inducing a chemical reaction simply by way of exposing it to radiation. Fairly low-risk, but it's still there."

"In the end, everything has risks doesn't it? I'm inclined to agree with your assessment though. It sounds like your sample is small enough that for any reaction to occur, the reagent would have to be present nearby and in sufficient quantities. And given that you expect the material to be a CAD component, its reaction should be driven by either electricity or psions, so I believe you shouldn't have anything to worry about with regards to radiation. Unless there's another application you were wanting to use it for?"

Tatsuya maintained a neutral expression, but had to admit he was impressed.

And wary.

This little conversation had shown him that she was not only knowledgeable, but her last question had a tinge of accusation in her voice, immediately alerting his danger senses.

A fellow scholar to respect? Or an enemy hiding behind the face of a friendly face? This dichotomy within him was a sensation he had only experienced after healing a certain crimson-eyed woman.

"I appreciate the feedback. And are you looking for information for any particular topics?" he asked, electing not to answer her last question but directed his own at her.

"Oh…nothing in particular. I was curious to see if there was any documentation on the topic of FAE, but it seems a bit unlikely."

At the mention, Tatsuya's eyebrows raised.

"I haven't met that many other people who were aware of that concept. The papers I've seen it referenced in did not go into much detail of particulars of its mechanisms. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been a practical actualization of its applications as of yet."

"Hmm…I suppose based on what you say I can't hope to find much information here either then," Lina wondered out loud.

This conversation was becoming curiouser and curiouser by the minute. Just who was this person? He was almost positive that Lina was no ordinary high school girl. Could she be like him?

He was certain that there was information within the database on the concept of Free After Execution, but it was likely held within a higher access level than he had been granted. He mentally made a note to look into it a little more.

"Ah, Tatsuya here you are…"

A familiar voice interrupted their conversation, but trailed off. He looked up to see Mayumi come through the door, footsteps fading with her voice. Her bright smile dimmed into something more polite.

"Oh, apologies, am I interrupting something?"

Tatsuya thought that her voice sounded a bit stiffer than usual.

"Saegusa-senpai, no, Lina and I were just wrapping up our conversation," he replied simply. "Did you want to discuss something?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing urgent that can't wait till later. I'll catch you later?"

Without waiting for an answer, she bowed and left the room from the direction she came from. His eyebrows furrowed slightly out of confusion, trying to determine if she had been a little more agitated than usual.

"Oh, Saegusa-senpai, that was the former Student Council President, right?"

"Right," he answered absently.

"Hmm, I would have liked to have had an opportunity to talk to her."

"Well, I'm sure Miyuki would be able to help you with that request if you asked," Tatsuya offered.

"Oh, you think so?" Lina asked, a tinge of surprise in her question.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem," he affirmed.

"I'll have to check with Miyuki then," Lina said.

Tatsuya looked after where Mayumi had left, still wondering what had caused her to leave in such a hurry.

…

"Well it seems like someone's been busy."

Lina glanced up from where she was seated in front of a terminal to where Sylvia was taking off her shoes in the main doorway.

"You could say that I've made some progress," she replied, continuing to type on her device.

Sylvia deposited what Lina assumed was a bag of groceries onto the kitchen counter before walking over to where she was busy at work, dropping her overcoat onto the back of the chair next to where she was seated. The older woman's eyebrows shot upwards.

"Are you sure? How can you be so confident?" she asked picking the terminal up from where Lina had situated the device for her work. Lina huffed and glared upwards at Sylvia.

"You know I was using that, if it wasn't obvious from the keyboard and all."

Sylvia returned Lina's look with a dubious expression of her own.

"You've eliminated nearly 40 people out of the 57 potential targets?"

"It's a soft elimination. And I wouldn't say confident," she replied, extracting the terminal from Sylvia's hands and placing it back in front of her to resume typing. "It's more of an educated gamble. Like I said: two months is not enough time to vet everyone on this list."

"Then…?" Sylvia asked, still appearing to have a hard time accepting that she could dismiss two-thirds of their list.

"You could say I was presented with a rather…unique opportunity this week." Lina made a few swift keystrokes, bringing up a single profile onto the display. Sylvia leaned over to look.

"Ok…and it had something to do with Shiba Miyuki?"

"As we've seen from our review of the data, Shiba Miyuki is far and away one of the most powerful and capable magicians within the First High student body, even as a freshman." Lina glanced towards Sylvia again. "You might even say…irregularly so."

"However," Lina continued, "Even discounting her abnormal strength for her age, it's my understanding that very few among the entire student body are capable of matching her ability."

"You're one to talk about 'abnormal strength'," Sylvia muttered.

Lina pretended not to hear what her roommate said.

"As I was saying, I was given the unique opportunity to take on Ms. Shiba in a minor test of strength. I can personally affirm that she has the raw magic power to be our mystery Strategic-class magician, making her our primary person of interest. Based on my evaluation, I've reviewed the data and found others that, while they might not be as strong on paper, could have potential."

Lina toggled tabs and handed the terminal back to Sylvia for her to peruse again.

"Juumonji Katsuto…Saegusa Mayumi…Shiba Miyuki…Shiba Tatsuya?" she asked, glancing down at Lina.

"Let's just say I've learned some interesting pieces of information. On paper he might not be the most potent magician, but he's demonstrated he's very knowledgeable on a wide range of cutting edge topics. He seemed to carry himself with a lot of confidence as well. I was just making a note of his profile in case some other things came to light. Call it intuition."

"Hmm…" Sylvia hummed doubtfully. She put a hand on her chin and looked back down at his profile. "Are you sure it's not because you have something for the tall, dark, and handsome type? Although he is rather plain looking, but not in a particularly bad way…"

Lina sputtered and snatched the terminal back out of Sylvie's hands, blushing bright red.

"I'm appalled that you would question my professionalism!"

She cast a quick glance down at his profile picture again.

He did come off as rather brilliant. And his face isn't that bad to look at either…

If possible her face turned a shade redder. She glared at Sylvie.

"ANYWAY! Back to the topic at hand," she said firmly.

Sylvie's cheeky grin faded and was replaced with a more contemplative one.

"Handsome men aside, are you sure about your investigative results so far?"

Lina crossed her right arm in front of her chest while gesturing with her left.

"I know what you're going to say…'What if the actual person slipped through the cracks?' or 'What if we are chasing the wrong leads?' or something else of the sort. I agree that there is a measure of risk associated with my method, but I would challenge you to find a more optimal solution. If you can do so, I'll put this away and follow yours."

Several different emotions and expressions flickered over Sylvia's face before she let out a resigned sigh.

"You're right. It's the best course of action from a process standpoint and gives us a good opportunity to help us identify our target, or even narrow the options, even with all the associated risks. I apologize for doubting you."

"Apology accepted," Lina said. "Now, I've been staring at this terminal for the greater part of 3 hours parsing all this information and I am getting rather hungry."

She let out a long yawn.

"...and sleepy as well. So what's the plan for din-"

A sudden series of urgent beeps emanated from Syvlia. She frowned and handed Lina's terminal back to her before fishing out her own personal terminal from her pocket, frowning at it.

"This notification is only reserved for urgent information delivery. What could it…"

The older woman's eyes widened at the device in her hands. She hastily shoved the terminal back into her pocket and grabbed her overcoat again, swinging it over her shoulders.

Lina looked confused from where she was seated.

"Sylvie, what's going on?"

"There's been an urgent assignment from the States," she answered as she grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter. "Just for me. Nothing to do with you," she continued hurriedly. She pointed towards the terminal in Lina's hands.

"You keep sticking to that. Unfortunately I won't be back for dinner, so you'll have to make do."

Lina frowned and crossed her arms.

"I know how to take care of myself, even if I'm not the best cook. Are you sure you'll be ok? Can you tell me what it is?"

Sylvia nodded.

"Of course I'll be alright, but I was strictly told not to mention anything to anyone else. If everything goes right, it'll get resolved within the week. I might be in and out at odd hours, but don't mind me."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," she turned back, her body halfway out the door. "Mia should be dropping by sometime over the next couple of days or so to drop off some packages, just in case I'm not in when she swings by."

As the door closed with a solid thunk, Lina made her way over to the kitchen, figuring she might as well start preparing something to eat, still wondering what could have put Sylvie in such a rush.

- いちじょう -

January 17, 2096, Third National Magic University Affiliated High School, Kanazawa

Masaki was not sure how an entire school could lose a single student.

Nor was he particularly happy that he was the one that needed to track him down.

Like First, Second, and Fourth High School, Third High School was also the recipient of their own foreign exchange student from the USNA. At first, the school had been in quite the uproar over the curiosity surrounding their new classmate, but surprisingly enough, the fanfare around their arrival died out almost as quickly as it had arisen.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that the exchange student had been placed into a General Studies class.

He would have thought that if someone came all the way from across the Pacific that the USNA would have at least ensured that they got placed into the Advanced track, but apparently that was not the case.

Regardless, as the freshman representative for his year, and as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, he had been asked to keep an eye on him to ensure that the student settled in properly.

It was a duty that he accepted without much protest; after all there was another reason that he possessed that made it in his best interests to not let him wander too far out of his sight. It was a discussion he had with his cousin, during their New Year's family gathering with his mother's side. Airi was in complete agreement that the sudden opportunity for such an exchange program was more than just coincidence. Despite their suspicions, the two of them both encouraged Shiori to seize such a chance to study at Berkeley for the semester. From what he was told, the Kitayama girl from First High would also be in attendance, so hopefully she would have at least one familiar face while she was abroad. But they were also very much aware that they would need to keep their eyes out for any dubious activity on their end as well.

However, it did make it hard for them when said person they were supposed to be keeping an eye on was nowhere within their vicinity for the greater portion of the school day, or even school week for that matter.

Which was how Masaki found himself snaking his way through the halls of Third High during lunch, to hunt down their missing student. Several students had claimed that he was in class for a few lessons but somehow disappeared partway through the period before lunch.

How the hell does this happen…

He ground his teeth and his eyebrows were set in an uncharacteristic scowl, which caused most of the students loitering in the hallways to part hastily before his warpath, lest they be plowed out of the way. On a normal day, he was rather amicable, allowing himself to be stopped for a chat here and there, but today no one dared to interrupt his mission.

He came to an abrupt halt at the center of the main hallway of the classroom building where there was a large window that opened to the inner quad that allowed the passing students and faculty an unobstructed view of the rest of the Third High campus. The trees surrounding the buildings were still not in full bloom yet, just only now recovering from the worst of winter's bite. That being said, the campus itself would be a magnificent sight come April, when the the Chrysanthemum Cherries would be in full bloom.

But for now, he had to settle for running his hand through his auburn mop in frustration, staring down at the courtyard which was filled with maroon uniforms milling about instead of pristine white blossoms, as the students made their way to their next destinations or stopped to converse under the clear, but chilly sky.

"Someone's being a grumpy-pants this morning."

Masaki turned at the voice that rose above the bustle of the hallway.

"Tsukushiin-san," Masaki greeted with all the politeness he could muster to his diminutive classmate, who was positive bouncing. No matter what Touko always seemed to be in high spirits. He did not know where the girl got her boundless energy from. As the heir to her family's Shinto lineage, he would have thought that she would have behaved more like one of those reserved shrine maidens manning an old temple, but her enthusiasm and positivity had a way of lighting up the space around her.

"Airi," he added flatly.

"My, you really are in a bad mood today. Is that any way to greet family?" his blonde haired cousin and classmate standing next to Touko tutted in a clipped tone, folding her arms across her chest. Airi usually was cold and standoffish, at least to those she chose not to let into her circle of acquaintances. Despite their apparent antagonism, he got along surprisingly well with his mother's niece, partly because they had been around each other for the greater portion of their lives. As an only child, she had spent a lot of time around his family, and even though she wouldn't admit it, she did have a soft spot for his two younger sisters.

"So? What's got the Crimson Prince in a tizzy? Trying to avoid another love confession from one of your-"

"I lost our guy," he interrupted her barb, already fed up enough.

Airi frowned, reading the gravity of his voice. .

"What do you mean you lost him? Wasn't George supposed to be keeping an eye on him at the dorms to make sure he was on campus during school hours?"

"Yes, he's on campus, but no one's seen hide nor hair of this kid," Masaki groused. "It doesn't help that he could pass off as just another Japanese local. Is that kid seriously American?"

"I suppose you're right. He did come off as fairly low-key and nothing particularly stands out about him," Airi admitted.

"Oh! Are we talking about Naga-kun?" Touko asked spiritedly.

"Touko, his name is Nagaso. And you really shouldn't be treating him with such familiarity," Airi reproved disapprovingly, and Masaki nodded in agreement.

"Hmm…he seems like a nice guy though! At least he's suuuper friendly!"

Masaki had to agree with that statement. From what he had observed about his interactions, everyone who had gone up to talk to him found him to be affable without a single criticism or negative word about him.

That being said, whatever word was being said about it, it seemed to be precious little. While he was willing to engage in conversation, their exchange student was not particularly outgoing himself, and he had a curious knack for turning conversations away from himself. It was subtle, but he could see that he had a skill for redirecting topics back onto others without them even realizing it.

Curious, but nothing they could call 'incriminating' with any real confidence. Perhaps that's all he was - a really nice guy.

"Do you think you could use your Student Council access to see when he last logged in to the classroom terminal?" Masaki asked, turning back to Airi. "Might be the best way to retrace his steps."

"That's not a bad idea. But we really are going to need to be careful in the future. It's barely the first week of school, and I can't keep querying the system or it's going to flag someone.," Airi responded.

"Alright, I'll try to figure out a better solution going forward. I'm going to do another sweep, shoot me a message when-"

"Hey, isn't that Naga-kun over there?" Touko interrupted their conversation, pointing a slender digit directly out the window.

Both of them spun at Touko's words, Airi's eyes widening and he himself swearing in a very ungentlemanly way and feeling a massive headache coming on at what they saw.

The exchange student was perched at the top of the bell tower directly in the center of the courtyard.

"Stay here and tell me if he moves!" he shouted backwards, taking off at a sprint for the nearest stairwell.

Masaki burst out through the door of the classroom building, nearly plowing over some other students trying to make their way indoors, still keeping an eye upwards to ensure that his target was still there. Sure enough, the exchange student was still settled at the edge, one leg dangling just above the clock face.

He made the decision to take the fast route.

Pushing up his left sleeve up enough to expose his bracelet-type CAD, he quickly tapped a sequence in and leaping off the ground. About a second later he felt the Flying-type magic activate and counterbalance the force of gravity. Even though it wasn't a new experience, he still marveled at just how smooth it felt, something he had to thank Shiba for for following through on his request.

His flight had caught the attention of many of the students still in the quad, but he put their gazes and murmurs out of his mind.

Reaching the peak of his path, he altered the magic to allow him to deftly touch down besides the errant exchange student, who didn't even bother to turn and acknowledge Masaki's presence.

"Beautiful weather isn't it?" the seated teen remarked appreciatively. "It reminds me of Virginia, down to the taste of the air."

Masaki only frowned in response.

Nagaso Hiroshi was, in some ways, even more of an enigma than his First High rival.

Hiroshi was clearly of Asian descent, of medium build and a bit shorter than him with dark, ashy hair tied into a loose ponytail, umber eyes bright, reflecting the early afternoon glare. His Japanese was nearly flawless, although the few times they had engaged in conversation, he had detected some hint of an accent, although he couldn't place it. He had mentioned he grew up on the east coast of the USNA, but didn't talk about his family much, if at all. Then there was the question about his magic. From his evaluation, there was nothing especially outstanding or noteworthy, but he never seemed fazed, despite wearing a uniform without an emblem. He wasn't the one to make the decision, but he was still uncomfortable with how easily the school administration allowed it. It seemed disrespectful.

"Students aren't supposed to be up here. How did you get up here?" Masaki asked flatly, blatantly ignoring Hiroshi's comment.

"Oh, is that right? Apologies, I wasn't aware; it won't happen again. As for how I got up here, the stairs were unlocked," Hiroshi responded flippantly, also not paying too much attention to his cross tone.

Stairs?

Over half a year he had been on campus and he didn't realize that the clock tower had stairs. He turned to where the exchange student was pointing, and sure enough, there was an access door on the floor of the tower roof.

Huh.

He glanced back at Hiroshi who had just stood up to dust his uniform pants off, still with his blase attitude, as if he were still enjoying the breeze at the top of the tower.

Nagaso Hiroshi…just why are you here…?

He flashed a forward grin at Masaki.

"Ichijou-san, right? Sorry for making you come up this way to tell me something I probably should have known, I was drawn to the vantage point. You're on the Disciplinary Committee right? Maybe I could shadow you around, take a look around campus a bit more. Kichijouji-san at the dorms was kind enough to show me around most of the school, but I still haven't had a chance to take a look around the practice fields."

"Yeah, Ichijou Masaki," he replied guardedly, uncertainty tinging his words. "And sure, I don't suppose there's anything stopping you from tagging along."

Hiroshi's smile widened.

"I appreciate it, Ichijou-san. I guess we should be heading down now?"

Masaki tried to smooth his wrinkled brows.

"Sure. After you."

He gestured towards the access door, allowing the exchange student to move ahead of him.

More opportunities to keep an eye on you and maybe- uncover some more of your mysteries.

I guess.

- さえぐさ -

January 19, 2096

Saegusa Koichi drummed his fingers against his stout wooden desk, several stacks of papers sitting in front of him, before removing his sunglasses and pinching the bridge of his nose in thought. A slight pulsing sensation could be felt from his right eye, giving him a minor headache; today was not a good day for his prosthetic eye.

Another Saegusa operative fallen victim in the past week alone to the mystery attacker. There was only so much his resources could do to conceal these occurrences. No doubt that this information would slowly be trickling its way down the grapevine of the other clans. His home court advantage and head start would be lost if they did not start getting results. The other clans would soon be sending in their own agents into the jurisdiction, with their sticky fingers getting in the way.

Even he wasn't quite sure what would be awaiting at the end of the trail that they were searching. But no matter what it was, it was imperative that the Saegusa be the first to arrive at the conclusion, to evaluate whether it would be useful to them…or perhaps dangerous to threaten their interests. He had a feeling, however, that whoever - or whatever - was behind these attacks, if they were strong enough to get the best of his operatives and stealthy enough to evade the web of his intelligence network, they would surely have something he could extract that would serve to benefit the clan.

He picked up his left hand to shift through some of the reports again, giving them another look.

If their current investigative track wasn't yielding any results, perhaps it was time to try a different approach. Certainly, it would risk some information falling into the hands of others that he did not wish, but at least if he started now, he could at least guide the flow of information away from where he absolutely did not want.

A deft touch rather than the heavy hand.

Yes, an alliance with the Juumonji would help serve to present a front and a warning against the others who might dare to interfere. They did not have the manpower or much in the way of ambition to risk his own play.

Maybe Maya would finally take a clue. He grimaced. Knowing her, she couldn't care less about his maneuvering. But with Kazuki at his back, she might be more inclined to at least stay out of his path.

He made a few keystrokes on the terminal on the side of his desk to request Mayumi's presence in his office.

He leaned back in his chair.

Yes, there was also the subject of Mayumi's graduation close at hand. He knew that his eldest daughter had thus far been resistant to his proposals regarding her future marriage, and he had so far let her get away with it. But there would be a time coming in which she would not be able to avoid this discussion.

He always wanted the best for his children, but the longer the two of them put off this discussion, the more difficult it would be for the both of them. He wouldn't be able to provide his advice if his daughter refused to talk to him about it. This would at least serve, hopefully, to give her some food for thought for what her future would hold for her for now. Depending on the outcome, a firmer guidance might be necessary.

- シールズ -

January 24, 2096

"Ah…uh…welcome back."

The timid words reached Lina as she stooped over at the front entrance of her apartment to take off her school boots. The voice was familiar but did not belong to the other resident of the flat.

"Ah, Mia!" Lina exclaimed, walking over to the dining room and depositing her shoulder bag on the floor. "Sylvie did mention that you would be swinging by to drop some stuff off. Were you waiting long?"

"I…uh…helped myself to a glass of water. I hope you don't mind!" Mia said the first sentence softly but rushed through the second apology with a much higher pitched tone, almost a squeak.

"Mia, you need to relax, it's fine!"

"Ah…oh…ok…thank you…" the other woman trailed off.

Lina walked over to the pantry and grabbed the bag of coffee beans she had stashed.

"Would you like something else to drink? Coffee?"

"Oh…no thank you…water's fine…"

Lina went about preparing some coffee for herself but kept an eye on the other woman. Michaela Hongou, or Mia as most other people called her, was a slight woman. Like Lina, she had some Japanese-American heritage, but unlike Lina she could more easily blend into the Japanese crowd by nature of her more oriental features. Despite being several years older, Mia's oversized sweater coupled and pleated navy skirt and dark brown hair tied up in a similar twin-tail fashion could have allowed her to pass off as a high schooler.

Mia took a sip of water from her glass before putting it down. The index finger on her left hand tapped against the container. Lina knew the woman to be both intelligent and talented, as a researcher and as a magician. However, if she had one weak character trait, it was that she was terribly reticent in almost all circumstances.

Lina finished brewing her coffee, bringing it over to the dining room table and sitting across from Mia. She inhaled deeply, humming appreciatively before taking a sip and sighing contentedly.

"Ah…that's good…so…" Lina started, pausing as she brought her mug to her lips, "How's Japan been for you so far? If I remember correctly, you've been here for, what, two or three months? It must have been difficult not being able to spend the holidays with your family." She took a long drink allowing Mia to answer.

"It's been…uh…ok I suppose," she answered flightily, fidgeting with the class in her hands. "My parents made sure to call on Thanksgiving and Christmas. And my brother sent me some winter clothes."

Mia seemed to grimace at the last sentence.

"Oh? Have you been able to make good use of it? The weather has been quite chilly since I've been in the country."

"That is…uh…not really…" she replied, shrinking and turning away.

Lina frowned.

"Why not?"

"Well….you see…my brother is currently living in Dallas…and…well…you know…"

Mia shuffled in her seat.

"Give me a second…it's easier to explain this way…"

The timid woman pulled out a terminal and tapped quickly through several screens before handing the device over to Lina, which she took. Unfortunately for Lina, she happened to take a rather large sip of coffee before receiving the terminal and she almost spat out her mouthful.

Swallowing quickly, she coughed several times to clear her airway.

"Are you alright!?" Mia asked alarmedly, but Lina simply shook her head and laughed hysterically.

"I-" she began, speaking in between fits of laughter, "I completely understand now."

On the terminal screen was a picture of the loudest, most brazen ugly Christmas sweater she had seen. The article of clothing was emblazoned with the shape of the state of Texas decorated in garishly bright red and blue stripes and stars paired with snowflakes.

"I suppose there is something to be said about Texas pride…"

"It's where it belongs," Mia shook her head, "At the very bottom of my drawers."

Still giggling, she handed the device back to Mia. She noticed that Mia didn't stutter at all during that exchange; maybe she was successful in getting her to relax a bit.

"So…uh…how about…yourself?" Mia asked hesitantly, stuttering back. Oh well, at least she was comfortable enough to ask after Lina herself.

"New Year's was nice enough. More people that I care to be in a crowd with, but the weather and Hie Shrine were both beautiful."

"School however…" Lina pulled a face, "Never thought I'd step foot in another high school again to be honest. Not many fond memories of that time. And not much progress on my assignment either. Is being back in college treating you any better?"

Mia shook her head.

"Well…I can't speak for the undergrads, but…grad school seems to be even more taxing over here. Although I do like the access to the research materials here…I found some interesting papers with some ideas I'd like to take home and propose…"

Mia's face fell slightly.

"But like you, there's not been much progress with the University team."

Lina looked apologetically over at Mia as she took a sip from her glass of water.

"First High has 600 students…and I thought I was going through a haystack…the University must be an entire barn…"

Mia glanced at the watch on her wrist and suddenly stood up.

"Ah! I lost track of the time! I need to go now!"

She brought her glass over to the kitchen and deposited her glass in the sink.

"I'm so sorry! I hope you don't mind me leaving so suddenly like this…"

"Oh! Not at all!" Lina replied standing up as well. "I can take care of the dishes. I appreciate you swinging by…"

Mia was already putting on her shoes when Lina suddenly recalled the reason for Mia's visit.

"Wait! Before you head out, Sylvie mentioned you had some items to drop off?"

Mia nodded while putting on her overcoat.

"Oh yes! There were some items that Sylvia needed. I left the package in her room as soon as I arrived, so you don't need to worry about that."

Lina opened the door for the other woman.

"It is a pity you have to leave so soon. Maybe next time you can stay for dinner? Hopefully Sylvie will be around then to make something, her cooking is rather good."

"Uh…ye-yeah!" Mia flashed a nervous smile. "Until next time!"

Tucking her scarf into her jacket, Mia made her way down the hallway.

As she disappeared around the corner, Lina made a small frown. First Sylvie, then Mia. Both seemed to have been in quite the rush. She had the feeling that both of them were concealing some sort of secret from her. She was tempted to check in to see what Sylvie's package was, but what if it was something personal?

She decided to err on the side of caution, but she could not shake the feeling that something was amiss.

- さいじょう - じゅうもんじ -

January 28, 2096, Shibuya

Cutting his way through the throngs of youngsters congrating on street corners and slouched against building sides and lampposts, a young man of sturdy build and finely chiseled features roamed the night.

Dressed in a sweatshirt and a jumper pulled over it and a pair of jeans, unthinkably light clothing for the deep of winter, Leo strode through the streets of Shibuya. His footsteps were confident, yet by the leisurely pace of his stride, it was clear that he had no specific destination in mind.

Leo had one bad pastime, or rather a habit.

The habit of roaming.

Not walking or running, but rather every once in a while something within him would drive him to randomly wander in the night.

As a third generation of the Burg Folge series developed in Germany during the early rise of magic as a prevailing force in the world, Leo suspected that something related to these urges and instincts had been carved into his body's genes during the experiments.

The idea of a "super soldier" that could use magic had taken a grave toll on the individuals who were subjected to those treatments. Possibly as a result of the human body's resistance to this genetic remodeling, many among the Burg Folge did not survive past childhood, and the majority of those who did make it to adulthood went mad and died.

Leo's grandfather was one of the few survivors.

He had a fear.

One that another person would be hard pressed to see, given his vivacious personality and larger-than-life attitude, but it was nonetheless a fear that he carried deep within his being.

He, too, wondered if he would one day go mad. Whether his inhuman enhancements would devour his humanity, losing his senses to more primal instincts.

By staying true and releasing his impulses, he hoped that it would, by some measure, delay what seemed like the inevitable. He knew from example that his grandfather was able to freely live a natural span of life.

…

Juumonji Main Family Residence

Tiny droplets of sweat beaded on the big man's forehead as he suspended the barbell in the air above his chest. He made sure to inhale and exhale with a steady cadence during his exercise.

Slowly, he inhaled, drawing in a slow stream of air through his flared nostrils and filling his lungs as he lowered the weight towards his chest, feeling his pectorals and triceps tense as the barbell came to a rest just a few centimeters above his sternum.

In a swift but clean motion, he thrust the bar away from his body with a low grunt and forcefully expelled his breath through pursed lips. He allowed the barbell to remain suspended as he mentally prepared his body for another repetition of the motion.

Inhale. Lower. Exhale. Push.

During his fourth rep, he heard the door to the gymnasium slide open and footsteps pad into the hall. As he attempted to push the weight up a hand carrying a stack of papers materialized in front of his eyes, which were promptly dropped onto his face.

He instinctively created a small iridescent platform to catch the documents as they fell which landed with a slight thunk suggesting that it was heftier than it first appeared.

Katsuto smoothly completed the rep and carefully reracked the barbell but the weights still hit the J-hooks with a much larger thud and clank than the documents had. He reached up with his left that his visitor had tried to unceremoniously dump onto him.

"You should know better than to distract someone while they are in the middle of an exercise, Yuuto."

The second eldest Juumonji son simply shook his head. Juumonji Yuuto was of much slighter build and narrower face than Katsuto, with lighter brown eyes and ash-gray hair. Despite their differences in appearance, it may have been more accurate to say that Katsuto was the outlier among his siblings, taking after his father, with his broad chest and towering physique. Yuuto was only in his third year of middle school, so he did have the potential to fill out as Katsuto did, but it was not likely. While he was the second eldest Juumonji child, in reality he was Katsuto's cousin by blood, but since his own parents had passed while he was still young. Juumonji Kazuki had adopted him as his own, and the rest of the Juumonji family had never treated him any differently in spite of it.

Yuuto looked around at Katsuto's setup and raised a single eyebrow.

"You know, only you would consider this as exercise. Isn't this a bit…excessive…?"

Katsuto gave a sideways glance to the rest of the space in the gym and deftly canceled all of his invocations of Phalanx. Ten boxes weighing 50 kilograms each dropped to the floor with an even louder crash, causing Yuuto to wince.

"Relax, I caught them. The floor is undamaged."

Yuuto simply responded with a click of his tongue and more headshaking.

"Exercise is not just limited to the physical body. Magic is like a muscle that needs to be pushed to grow. Now what's this about?" Katsuto asked, holding aloft the sheaf of papers.

"Better shower first," Yuuto replied, throwing a towel at Katsuto, which he caught easily. "Otou-sama wants you to take a look into that. Don't-" Yuuto interrupted, despite nothing indicating that Katsuto was about to say anything. "I know that look. I've already read everything. There's nothing to be done for now, but he wants you to be aware of what's been happening and to get an opinion."

"What's been happening?" He glanced down at the papers with a frown.

"You'll see, just give it a read," Yuuto answered, already turning and heading out of the gym, the door sliding shut behind his retreating form.

…

When his urge to wander arose, Leo never picked the same area twice in a row. One night in the center of the city, one night in the shopping district, another in the suburbs, and yet other nights on secluded mountain roads. On a whim, he would choose a road by the mood of the day. That he was in Shibuya today was merely pure coincidence.

As he made his way down the street, a figure of a young man in a dark suit with a gray trench coat, which even though new, had creases here and there, caught his eye.

"Huh? Erika's older brother, Mr. Inspector?"

The person in question was also coincidentally an acquaintance. Despite not being in the habit of calling out to acquaintances, some sort of whim had prompted him to do so.

The next moment, a wave of noise surged towards him.

Leo could make his voice loud when he wanted to, but in this case it was just enough to call a passing figure to stop. Despite that, gazes that would certainly not be classified as friendly were drawn from both sides of the street.

"You, come with me."

A second voice came out from behind him, causing him to spin. He studio the second man's face for a few seconds, and recalled the name to go with the face.

"Inagaki-san, right? What is it all of a sudden?"

Without answering the question, Inagaki grabbed Leo's left wrist.

It would have been easy to shake off the offending grip, but Leo decided to quietly follow the undercover detective.

The police duo brought Leo to a small bar inside of a back alley.

"Boss, we're borrowing the upstairs for a moment." Inagaki called out to the proprietor of the shop, who was polishing a glass on the other side of the counter, before heading upstairs and the far end without waiting for a reply.

Leo was brought to a cramped room that really should have been called a closet or storeroom, filled with only four folding chairs arranged around a small round table.

Chiba Toshikazu leaned against the wall of the room, arms crossed with a wry smile on his face.

"Saijou-kun, right? Quite impressive that you managed to spot us-"

"Even though," Inagaki cut in, "we should have more properly concealed our presence."

Based on the brief exchange, Leo picked up on the situation.

"...Have I…perhaps interrupted an investigation?"

Toshikazu seemed to be surprised by Leo's question.

"Hm…It appears you're not just brawn. Well, Erika wouldn't back up a mere muscle-brain, I suppose."

Leo reflexively frowned. He wasn't sure what to make of the man's comments, although he was keenly aware of the fact that he was taught techniques and supported in various ways, even discounting the specialized weapon sitting at the bottom of his drawer. Weighing his options along with the discrepancy in power between a high school student and two police officers, he chose to not say anything.

"Don't mind the investigation," Toshikazu continued. "We were just trying to conceal our presence in order to avoid meaningless trouble. It's not like we were tailing anyone. It's late at night here, in a place where police would draw looks of resentment."

"Looks of resentment, huh…It's certainly like that."

Inagaki's eyes seemed to relax at the commiserate comment.

"Inspector, why don't you ask him about 'that'?"

With the ambiguity of that question, Leo naturally did not know what 'that' was. The eldest Chiba nodded and turned to face him.

"Saijou-kun, what business do you have in Shibuya today?"

Leo shook his head.

"No business in particular."

"Do you often come to Shibuya?"

He crossed his arms.

"Not often, just occasionally. Just here for a stroll, really. Last time I was here was on New Year's Eve."

Inagaki glanced at Toshikazu who continued.

"Two weeks ago…do you happen to know of the strange events that have been occurring in the shopping districts?"

Leo looked confusedly from one face to the other.

"Strange events? I thought that things just happen every day."

"By the way," he continued, squirting at Toshikazu. "Aren't you two stationed in Yokohama? Aren't you a little far from your beat?"

Toshikazu leaned back against the wall, flipping a wrist nonchalantly.

"We're police. We've been transferred here and there and all over Japan. We're currently investigating-

…

"-a series of unnatural deaths in the metropolitan area." Katsuto enunciated deliberately. "The latest victim was found in Dougenzaka Park three days ago. The estimated time of death is around 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM."

He frowned and looked up.

"Otou-sama, what is the meaning of this?"

Juumonji Kazuki folded his arms. In terms of familial appearance, Katsuto took after his father, who had a similar build with wide shoulders, broad chest, and square chin. His face was an aged version of Katusto's own, sideburns framing his countenance with deep frown lines, accentuating his thick eyebrows.

"I do not yet know what to make of this myself. Only that something does not seem right."

Katsuto leafed through the documents, glancing over images, tables, and paragraphs of information

"And the rest of these papers…?"

"Autopsy reports. In total there's been seven other documented victims. The police department has graciously compiled the report in your hand"

Katsuto's brows furrowed, mirroring that of the elder Juumonji.

"Victims…a serial killer?"

"You read the cause of death?"

"No trace of external injury, blunt force trauma, lacerations, or other bruising," Katsuto reported stoically, recalling the contents that he had just read. "No trace of adverse chemicals in their systems or anything out of the ordinary within the blood stream itself. The only curious finding was that all victims had a discrepancy of about ten percent of their blood volume from the expected values."

…

"I see what you mean by 'unnatural death'. Rather than stranger murders, it's a strange incident in itself," Leo muttered.

"While it may seem to be unnatural, the fact of the matter is that these are real incidents, and real victims," Inagaki affirmed solemnly.

"Saijou-kun, I don't suppose you would happen to know anything about this, perhaps a guy perpetrating this by imitating something occult? Particularly with foreigners these days-"

"Anything," Inagaki cut off Toshikazu, "Rumors? Shady characters?"

Leo crossed his arms, but before long uncrossed them with a look of resignation.

"Nothing in particular, really…"

Toshikazu sighed.

"No, it's fine. This sort of thing is the job of the police."

"But Inspector, it is Shibuya at night, you know? Having adults, and policemen at that, snooping around and asking questions might be difficult."

"...Well, that might be so, but…"

The two older men glanced at each other, as if they suddenly realized the challenge of such an investigation, and how far they had gone to reveal the details of an undercover investigation to a teen who was simply an acquaintance.

…

"There's not enough information here to draw any conclusions. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason to the victims," Katsuto's frown lines deepened. "Too small of a sample size for age, even the geographic distribution of where the victims were found.

"I don't like it," Katsuto concluded.

"Mmm," his father grunted in consensus. "Indeed. Unfortunately, the most we can do now is monitor the situation. I can imagine there will be quite a stir tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Katsuto asked.

"The police can no longer keep this under wraps. The media will be breaking the story to the public. Any investigation will simply get harder from here on out."

"We can only hope that the announcement will deter people from roaming alone," Katsuto said, again frowning at the papers in his hand.

…

"I'll keep an eye out if I come across anything," Leo offered.

"Really!? Then-"

"Inspector!" Inagaki raised his voice.

"It's fine, Inagaki-san," Leo said. "I don't intend to stick my nose into danger. I have confidence in my instinct."

Toshikazu, having none of the reservations of his partner, drew a business card from his breast pocket.

"If you find anything, mail me here. You have our gratitude Leo-kun."

"Will do."

- さえぐさ -

January 31, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

"Mayumi, if you keep that up for much longer you're going to wear a path into the floor."

She glared crimson-rose daggers in the direction of Tatsuya, who was currently occupying the Disciplinary Committee Chief's desk. As expected, her action did nothing to alter his expression, which remained neutral as he continued typing away at the terminal.

Normally, Kanon should have been the one completing this particular set of paperwork, however Tatsuya had offered to work on it in her place. Knowing him, he had done so under the pretext of creating another private space for the two of them to talk; she supposed that if they kept using the library reading booth sooner or later someone would catch on. His forethought and thoroughness were two of his characteristics that she admired.

Now that her examinations were over, for the past few days, her thoughts had been dominated by the so-called 'Vampire Incident'. The Saegusa clan had been in a state of near chaos as they tried to figure out a solution to the enigma. And then this morning the news had officially broken, and then everywhere she went, every conversation, continued to be dominated by the incident.

Not to mention that the part of her thoughts that wasn't dominated by the 'Vampire incident' was taken up by her memory of Tatsuya and Lina in what she thought was a pretty intimate discussion.

Ok, so intimate might have been an exaggeration, but she clearly remembered that it was only the two of them in the room, and that Tatsuya appeared to be very interested in the topics of discussion. Of course knowing Tatsuya, it was highly unlikely that he was partaking in any flirting and that he was just having an educated discussion on some magic topic or other. The same could not really be said of Lina, but then again, she was not as familiar with the foreign exchange student as she was with Tatsuya. Their engagement thus far had been her observing the match between her and Miyuki, and then a short conversation that Miyuki had set up between the two of them.

It was difficult to remain objective and not let her thoughts drift back to suspicion on the fact that she was a foreign exchange student in what could be called perilous times, and not cast some doubt on her motives, dubious as they might be.

There I go again…

"I'm trying to think," she snapped. There was too little information, no solution, and between this, tomorrow's exam, and her father's expectations, she couldn't settle her mind.

"All you're doing is working yourself up," Tatsuya replied calmly.

Mayumi continued to pace the room, hand crossed over her chest. Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one dealing with mysterious murders and bouts of jealousy, not to mention a father that was dropping less than subtle hints about prospective marriage candidates.

Argh, why are things so complicated!

The typing stopped and she heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor. As she was making an about face on what felt like her 200th loop, she felt two sturdy hands gently press against her shoulders. She looked up to meet twin pools of pacific blue.

Tatsuya removed his right hand from where he had used it to halt her steps and moved his left hand around to her back. She absently let him guide her to the desk and pulled out a chair.

"Sit."

Mayumi complied with his soft command. She waited a couple seconds for him to return to his original post, positioned across from where she was seated.

Tatsuya powered off the terminal screen and turned his attention back towards her.

"Let's review all of the information that we have so far," Tatsuya prompted. "There's been a lot of misinformation going around. You've already given me the gist of things, but maybe there was something we missed."

Mayumi sighed, but appreciated his gesture. He was right, as usual. Maybe going over everything again would help get at least a portion of what she was preoccupied with off of her chest. And the fact that she was the one here with him instead of the blonde haired girl had to do something for her other anxiety, right?

"Twenty-four victims of what everyone is calling the 'Vampire Incident', three times more than what was publicly reported in the news," Mayumi began. "All of the victims had no signs of external injury, but all of them were found to have somehow lost ten percent of their blood by volume. All bodies were discovered in metropolitan urban centers. And all victims were magicians, or had some inclination towards magic."

She frowned.

"Juumonji-kun was at least aware of the eight publicly announced events, but not much more than that," she said.

Tatsuya folded his arms.

"And as you have mentioned, all the other unreported victims were people attached to your family in one way or another. Is there a reason your father is purposefully not revealing this information to the authorities?"

"Knowing him, it's either something to do with not showing weakness, or not revealing our network," she growled.

"Mmm."

She studied the man sitting in front of her, turning over a thought that she had been nurturing for a while now. It was implicitly understood that the Ten Master Clans were supposed to monitor and address most of the magic related incidents under their unofficial jurisdictions. But as she had been seeing more often, especially with her own father, how could they effectively carry out their job if there was no accountability? It seemed to be more and more that whatever they did, it was not without an ultimatum of protecting their own interests. In recent weeks, she was becoming increasingly skeptical about the effectiveness, or even the necessity of the Clan system's existence.

"The culprit is targeting magicians…" Tatsuya muttered. "If it's someone who is capable of killing a Saegusa agent, they would either have to be an enhanced human or another magician.

"Or both," he finished, looking back at her. "Then there is the possibility that the culprit - or culprits - are foreign nationals."

"On the topic of foreign nationals, there's been a large influx of foreign magic students and magic engineers who have entered the country from the USNA over the past few weeks," Mayumi confirmed.

There's even one exchange student on campus right now, she thought darkly.

The intrusive statement flitted through her mind, but she refrained from voicing it aloud.

"But requesting records on all the personnel who have entered is sure to put a strain on Japan-USNA relations," Tatsuya concluded her thought for her. "I think the only way to get more information is if we can get some first hand evidence."

"Which is why Father wanted me to meet with Juumonji-kun earlier," she groused. "To discuss an alliance. I think he's snubbing the Yotsuba on purpose."

Internally she winced at the mention of Tatsuya's clan. It wasn't something that wasn't brought up often between them so she still wasn't quite sure how he felt about them.

Tatsuya seemed to pick up on her change of mood.

"It's fine, Mayumi."

"If you say so…" she continued hesitantly.

"Do the Juumonji have the resources to support such an investigation?" Tatsuya continued asking. "I was under the impression that this was something that your family could handle on their own given their manpower resources."

She had a hunch on why she was specifically asked to talk to Katsuto but she didn't want to bring it up now.

"Knowing my aunt, there is no way that the Yotsuba will not get involved in at least some capacity," Tatsuya mused. "But knowing their methods, a clash between the two clans is unlikely to happen. Even among undercover operations, as extensive as the Saegusa network is, I don't think they will be able to uncover any Yotsuba operatives assigned."

"There should be little risk in helping you," Tatsuya concluded.

It took a few moments for her to process what he had just said.

"Wait!" Mayumi stood up suddenly, slamming her hands onto the desk. "I can't ask you to do this! What about your aunt?! She can't discover you're still talking to me! Much less…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say about their relationship, looking away awkwardly.

"If I recall, you didn't ask me," he stated pointedly. "I'm offering to help."

She wasn't sure if he hadn't picked up on her embarrassment or if he just ignored it. It was times like these where his stoicism annoyed her, and she wished she could be a little bit more neutral about these things as well.

Damn it all! She yelled internally.

"Are you sure…?" She asked, voice filled with uncertainty.

"Positive," Tatsuya affirmed. "Although I probably should try to stay out of the way of the Saegusa and the Juumonji joint operations." he asserted.

Mayumi sighed again.

"Mayumi," he prompted.

"I won't think about it," she acknowledged his unasked question with mock annoyance, rolling her eyes. She wouldn't admit it to him, but having his support on this felt like a great burden was lifted off of her shoulders, more reassurance than the entirety of the Saegusa or Juumonji clans could give.

And also maybe…just maybe… assuaged some of her other concerns regarding the two of them as well.

- さいじょう- シールズ -

February 2, 2096, Shibuya

For the second night in the span of a week, Leo found himself treading through the night streets of Shibuya. Yet this night, his steps lacked the usual unintentional characteristic meandering of his nightly roaming. He had received some rather incomplete intel from an old middle school friend on the subject of suspicious individuals and was pacing along to the indicated location to corroborate the eyewitnesses.

Truthfully, he himself did not understand why he was so inclined to do this sort of detective work.

It wasn't out of a sense of justice, nor out of a sense of securing his territory, or even curiosity.

In any case, he felt that this wasn't something he could ignore, which was the best reason he could come up with for himself in that moment.

His path caused him to straddle the transitional zone within the city between the lively urban center and a dimly lit park. He pulled out his terminal to confirm the area.

Even though he did check that he had arrived at the right location, his instinct told him that he was in the right place. There was no wind and no voices to stir the stagnant air, but there was a disturbance that felt like the wingbeats of an insect, giving off the impression of some annoying fly buzzing around somewhere in the room you were in. It almost felt like something was vibrating and resonating deep within his consciousness. There was a heavy presence in the atmosphere.

It felt…sinister.

Yoyogi Park was the largest nature preserve within the Shibuya City area. During the springtime, it was one of the premier locations for hanami, but during the winter, the normally full sakura trees were barren, woody skeletons only collecting the January snow. There was a different kind of beauty than the pinkish hues of the sakura petals, but the brilliance of the collected snow piles could only be appreciated during the daylight hours.

At night, the asphalt walkways were perilous, slippery due to the icy conditions, while wandering off the the designated footpaths posed a different danger, one caused by the poor illumination and the build up of snowdrifts, which could conceal any myriad of tripping hazards, such as fallen branches or underground rodent burrows.

All in all, Yoyogi Park at night was not a place anyone in their right mind should have been traipsing around at this time of year.

Leo paused at the West Gate entrance, frowning. It was impossible to see through the darkness and the dense treeline. The vibrations did seem to get slightly stronger the longer he stood there. Rolling his shoulders, he decided that there was no point in just standing there and not investigating. And so, checking his footing, he started the trek into the heart of the park.

As he walked, he made sure to turn his ear in all directions. The meager moonlight peeking through the spindly tree limbs was not sufficient for him to fully trust his vision, so he was forced to focus on his other senses to alert him to any danger.

As he continued to follow down the West Gate path, the vibration continued to disturb the air. Even though he was not quite focusing his attention on it, it seemed to him that there was a vague impression of some sort of pulsating, where the feeling would get bigger, then lesser, louder, then softer. Along with it the tension in the air was steadily growing, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to rise.

Leo's footsteps came to a grinding halt at the four-way intersection of the pedestrian footpath at the first sound of tangible noise in the atmosphere. Up till that point it was only a feeling in his consciousness, but now there was definitely the sound of shuffling, and maybe even someone - or multiple someones - speaking in low voices. He sniffed the air, then opened his mouth to get a taste. Yes, it was definitely there. It was faint, but there was a sharp metallic scent. Metal weapons?

Or maybe blood?

He wasn't lying to Inspector Older Brother when he said he wasn't planning on doing anything dangerous. His instincts were screaming that the area ahead of him wasn't somewhere he could safely treat out of curiosity alone.

He pulled his terminal from his back pocket and sent a concise message to the address that Toshikazu had given him. The contents were simply "suspicious individuals here". The detectives should be able to come immediately to investigate, and if necessary, arrest any suspects. He had planned on leaving the area before he got involved in any incidents, so he turned around, only for something in the shadows to catch his eye. To be more specific, there was something within his field of vision that seemed to disturb the shadows, the faint impression of the moonlight folding in an unexpected way.

Concern, curiosity, and caution all warred within him before caution lost to the other two in the end. Even then, the caution within him bade him shuffle hesitantly up to the distortion in the night air. As he neared the spot, he found that it was the figure of a young woman strewn across a park bench.

Alarm then shoved caution out of the way as he hurried over to the figure's side.

"Hey! Are you OK?"

Leo carefully reached out a hand to shake her shoulder, but the woman failed to reach in any way. He pressed a hand to the woman's neck to check for a pulse, but found that her skin was ice cold. He almost pulled his hand away, but there seemed to be a faint sensation. He left his hand there for a few moments longer. Yes, there was something, a very faint pulse, but it was still there.

He frantically pulled out his terminal and this time dialed for an ambulance instead of the police. He barely managed to finish the distress call when he sensed something in the air around him had shifted.

He didn't have time to turn his head around but instead reflexively threw himself to the left, catching himself with a roll. He managed to get himself into a kneeling position, shivering as some of the freezing snow deposits got swept up into his shirt and jacket.

A dark mass rocketed towards him and Leo was forced to again jump back to avoid getting hit. Something like an appendage swung out which he narrowly avoided, but the terminal he was holding in front of his chest shattered, but his hand managed to avoid the brunt of the blow.

He growled, shaking his left hand out to take stock of the damage, opening and closing his fist. Nothing seemed to be broken, but he could still feel the reverberations of the strike up and down his left arm.

He cast a glare in the direction of his opponent, who had stopped their onslaught for some reason, allowing him to get a good look at who he was facing. Underneath a round hat, he could make out the reflection of a pair of eyes, but that was the only feature he could tell, as everything else was covered by a bone-white mask. They were a long overcoat that draped all the way down from shoulders to their feet, obscuring any human form or hint of gender. Forget gender, Leo couldn't even tell if the figure standing before him was even human.

Inside his consciousness, he could feel a sudden spike in vibrations and pulses, catching him unawares. The masked individual, taking advantage of his distracted state, suddenly charged towards him. He recognized the movement as personal acceleration magic, but there was no sign of any Activation Sequence. He didn't even have time to Fortify himself, so he was forced to take a glancing blow off of his right arm, managing to again deflect most of the force. In the dim moonlight, he was able to see that his opponent was wielding a baton, approximately 60 centimeters long; with its range and heft, he was at a clear disadvantage.

His opponent pressed the advantage, using their forward moment and body weight to keep him off balance, not giving him time to think. Only his reaction time and instincts kept him from a heavier injury. The masked individual was disciplined, all of their swipes and stabs aimed towards his torso and joints, never overextending themselves. They clearly had training, military if he had to guess. It was a stark contrast to himself, who mainly got through scraps with his physicality and instincts.

A shadow passed overhead as he was pushed back under the shadows of some branches, while his opponent stepped into the light. They went for a diagonal strike from above, aimed at his neck, in which he saw an opportunity. Under the illumination of the moon, he dodged underneath the weapon and threw himself into a roll in the opposite direction of the baton's line of travel, making several quick key taps onto the CAD on his wrist. His jacket and pants solidified in key places, effectively turning his clothes into a suit of armor.

As he came to a halt, he pushed himself off of the ground. Digging his toes into the frozen dirt, he leapt into a run towards his assailant, throwing his entire weight behind his right fist in his own diagonal strike from above, aimed at his opponent's face.

They had to raise their baton to deflect the blow. His fist came crashing down smashing the baton in. The force of the blow caused the masked figure to stagger away while Leo landed heavily in a half-kneeling position. The Fortification magic absorbed most of the impact but he still shook his right hand out, flexing his fingers, which were protected by a brass knuckle, an item he picked up recently. He would still have to thank Tatsuya for the new CAD and helping to optimize his sequences onto the new device.

"A little more fair now, huh?"

His opponent did not react visibly to his comment, but sprinted directly towards him again. This time, he was more confident about engaging his enemy; he was the one advancing, focusing more on offense and letting his magic handle the majority of the counters. His more reckless style favored him in this particular matchup, and he was able to land several blows to their body and chest.

He was maintaining his onslaught until he over extended by attempting a right cross knockout blow. His opponent read the attack and ducked right, then caught his arm. In the next moment, he felt weakened, right arm going slack. He managed to get his left leg up to deliver a push kick. The figure let go while he himself staggered backwards, nursing his arm from the strange sensation.

The masked figure rushed in again. He saw that they were coming in with their own right cross, so he raised his left arm to block the strike, but at the last moment, the figure pivoted to his left to grab onto his forearm which he had raised into a defensive position. Again, he felt as if his strength were being drained away.

In desperation, he struck out with his right hand again towards their neck, but the figure danced away.

This was not good. Whoever…or whatever this person was, this power they possessed would not favor him in a drawn out fight.

Suddenly a shout came from behind him, and a high pitched whistling pierced the air. He immediately dropped to the ground, seeing several flashes of steel fly overhead to where his body had been seconds before.

He instinctively rolled left towards the treeline while five knives came dropping out of the air, embedding themselves into the ground up to their hilts.

Leo looked up to see another similarly masked figure, several paces off producing more knives from their cloak. He grimaced; a two-on-one situation was not one he would be likely to walk out of alive.

He weighed his chances. It had only been about five minutes since he sent out the distress calls, and he was unsure of how soon and how accurate the police's tracking systems were.

As he was considering his next move, a green beam flashed before his eyes, which he thought looked like Phonon Maser. The second figure side- stepped out of the path of the beam and turned to fling the daggers towards the new arrivals.

The woman in the vanguard was short. It was difficult to make out, but she seemed to have east Asian features, with her hair tied into two ponytails, clad in a black jacket and pants. As he observed from his position on the ground, she fired off another Phonon Maser, this time towards the first masked individual, who Leo was fighting with. The second was also a woman, taller, with short black hair, sporting the same gear. At first look it seemed like she was also using a pistol-type CAD, but the barrel looked to be a little too long. She flanked the opposite direction from the short-haired woman and raised her weapon. He recognized the soft, but sharp cracks as a silenced handgun.

The arrival of a third-party distracted his assailant from advancing on his position, instead peeling off to engage the other two. He did not know who exactly had arrived on the scene to his rescue, but he took the opportunity to move himself into more cover. Sluggishly, he managed to get himself up and stumble back to the bench where he found the victim. He had to catch himself on the trunk of a nearby tree when his vision swam at the exertion.

He glanced back to see how the conflict was going. The close-combat individual had reached where ponytail-woman was and was sending a flurry of jabs and swings, forcing her back. Ponytail had produced a knife in her offhand to parry a few of the blows and slash and stab back. Meanwhile, the knife-thrower was trading projectiles with handgun-woman, the occasional flashes of light indicating that she had blocked the seeking missiles with some sort of barrier magic.

Leo suddenly dropped to a knee, fatigue even more pronounced. It did not look like the fight was going well for his would-be saviors. As he continued to watch, the handgun woman managed to barely dodge a pair of flying daggers but did not fully escape unscathed, with the blades managing to hit her right thigh and upper left arm, causing her to yell out in pain.

It was a struggle to keep himself awake, much less think. If the two of them went down, then it was an almost certainty that all three of them would certainly die here. But if there were some way to turn the tide…

Leo definitely was in no shape to be engaging in hand-to-hand combat. And as Erika loved to point out, his long range capabilities were nothing to write home about. His only option was to gamble it all on a single attack.

At least if it failed, he wouldn't be awake to know.

He didn't have the versatility of Mikihiko, or the brains of Tatsuya. But he did have raw brawn and endurance.

Forcing himself up to a standing position, he entered a series of keypresses into his CAD. He had seen Erika do this many times, but had never really done so himself, as he did not have the practice. Nevertheless, he had asked Tatsuya to add it to his device, on a whim.

Making his final entry, he inhaled deeply and started off at a hobbled run, forcing himself to accelerate, pumping his legs, even though he felt he would pass out at any moment. He felt his clothes solidify against his body once more as the fortification and self-acceleration magics kicked in. He rapidly closed the distance between himself and the knife-thrower, but instead of slowing down, he pushed even more. Unlike Erika's controlled movements, his goal was to put as much force behind his one attack as possible. He squeezed his eyes shut the moment his body crashed into the other figure, using his own body as a make-shift projectile.

The knife-thrower didn't even realize Leo was upon him until the last second.

The masked figure's body crumpled underneath the impact of his shoulder, and Leo's momentum - which had not abated - carried both of them an additional ten meters, straight into the thick trunk of a cherry tree. The last thing he was aware of was a sick crunch of bones and the crack of wood before he was knocked unconscious by his own blow.

…

Lina was startled out of her sleep by a loud crash coming from outside of her door.

She instinctively grabbed her CAD from the nightstand and then rolled right, off of the bed and landed in a kneeling position on the ground. She continued to hear sounds of shuffling from the direction of her doorway, so she crept swiftly, but silently around the foot of her bed, and knelt by the doorway, pressing her body up against the wall.

She tapped a few keys, readying a simple Movement spell to knock back the intruder. She tried to look through the crack in the doorway, but couldn't make anything out from her view of the kitchen or the living room in the inky blackness.

She took a deep breath and in a single movement, opened up her bedroom door and stood up, right palm extended ready to fire.

"Waitwaitwaitwait!"

A familiar high pitched voice rang out, piercing the silence.

Lina flicked the nearest light switch to the kitchen hallway, illuminating the scene before her.

"Mia!? What are you-"

Mia was on the ground, disheveled with a frantic expression on her face, but what had stopped her mid-query was Sylvie.

The taller woman, too, was collapsed onto the ground, one arm slung around Mia's neck, half sprawled on the ground, half leaning against the wall, but in much worse condition. Her face was pale and clammy, and her black jumpsuit was ripped on her left sleeve and right pant leg around her thigh. Despite the dark color of her clothes, she could tell that it was soaked in blood, as indicated by the angry red gashes where the rips were. Scattered around were shards of the ceramic vase that ordinarily sat on the cabinet next to the entryway, which was probably the source of the noise that woke her; Sylvie must have knocked it over as Mia tried to help her into the apartment, but clearly both of them were exhausted and Sylvie was most definitely injured.

"Holy shit, what happened, who did this!?"

Lina hurriedly grabbed the kitchen towel and slung off her nightgown. She wrapped the nightgown around the wound on Sylvie's thigh while she extended her arm to hand the towel to Mia.

"Mia!"

Lina's shout shook Mia out of her daze.

"Pressure on her arm!" she commanded.

"Sylvie," she tried to speak levelly to the woman, looking into her eyes. "I need you to stay with me, ok? I need you to hold this." She gently, but firmly took hold of her right hand to where she had positioned her bloody nightgown to staunch the bleeding.

Lina felt that Sylvia was burning up, but she was visibly shivering. She managed to give a weak nod.

"Mia," she turned back towards the other woman. "She's lost too much blood. We need to get an ambulance-"

"No!" Sylvia suddenly interrupted attempting to push off the ground, "No…" she repeated, weaker this time, slumping back against the wall.

"Sylvie, if we don't-"

"No hospital…" Sylvia insisted weakly. "We…can't risk…the operation…" she continued, but her subsequent breaths were becoming more and more laborious.

Lina swung her glance towards Mia, who shrunk back. She averted her gaze.

"Uh…uh…Syl-Sylvia is…right…If we go to a hospital…the police are sure…to ask questions…"

Lina frowned and looked back towards Sylvia.

"Good God…" she muttered. "First aid now…answers after," she asserted, sending another firm glare towards Mia, who flinched yet again.

She glanced at the nightgown, now soaked through with blood.

"The bleeding hasn't slowed down at all," she mumbled. "How did you two even make it back here…? Please tell me that we at least have some medical equipment on hand."

Mia nodded furiously, pointing towards Sylvie's room.

"Y-Yeah, the package that I dropped off for Sylvia."

Lina jumped up and dashed to Sylvie's room, flinging the door open and punching the lights on. Out of respect for her roommate-slash-coworker, she hadn't asked about or looked into seeing what exactly the package Mia had delivered really was, but now that she was in the room, it was impossible to miss the large black crate in the corner.

She hurried over and found the clasps holding the lid shut, and quickly popped the clasps open. She lifted the lid and immediately her blood ran cold at the sight of a familiar large-caliber rifle-shaped CAD. She gingerly reached out to touch the device, as if it were a venomous snake, but had to shake herself out of her thoughts when she recalled that Sylvie was slowly bleeding out on their doorstep. Angrily, she snatched the device, removing it from the top of the pile inside the crate and set it down on the side heavily, making a mental note to confront Sylvie about what exactly it was doing in her room later.

Digging some more she found more weapons, body armor, and several satellite phones before finding the one thing that she needed. Swiftly she picked up the medical kit and ran back out of the room. Getting back to where Mia was desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood on Sylvie's leg, she opened up the kit and tore through it.

"Disinfectant…Bandages…Painkillers…here, sutures…" she trailed off as she made to grab the twine and forceps to hand to Mia, but she saw that the other woman's hands were shaking violently.

"Shit!" she breathed.

Lina didn't know how to suture, and clearly Mia was in no condition to stitch Sylvie up either.

"Change of plan!" she declared. "Mia, we need to seal the cut on her thigh. The one on her arm doesn't look as serious, but her leg is looking really bad. We're going to cauterize it. I need you to watch her while I grab another towel."

She didn't wait for Mia's confirmation, who was also clearly in shock, before dashing to the closest closet to grab a hand towel off of the shelf. She ran back to the doorway where Mia and Sylvia were. She folded up the towel and shook Sylvie awake again.

"Open your mouth. I need you to bite down on this," she instructed.

The other woman complied, opening her mouth just enough for her to fit the bundle between her teeth. She took the opportunity to take her pulse. It was weak and erratic.

"Mia, you're going to need to hold her still. It's going to be really painful. I'm not a doctor-"

Sylvia grunted, causing her to scowl at the woman.

"Honestly, Sylvie, at a time like this. You know what I mean."

She reached up to grab her CAD that she had left at the edge of the cabinet when she was busy wrapping Sylvia's thigh with her nightgown. She made a few keypresses then paused. She looked at Mia.

"Mia, on the count of three, I need you to remove the nightgown.

"Sylvie, you better close your eyes," she finished apologetically.

"One…two…three!"

In a swift motion, Mia unwrapped the makeshift bandage from Sylvie's leg, while Lina activated the magic. A Magic Sequence appeared over where the wound on Sylvia's thigh was. A hint of burning flesh emanated from the area, but was quickly sequestered by the Magic Sequence. Sylvia's jaw clenched as she bit down on the towel and a muffled groan was heard. Her body went rigid, and Mia had to wrap both of her arms around Sylvia's torso to prevent her from squirming.

As quickly as she had started, the operation was over. Mia and Sylvia both collapsed back onto the ground and wall, respectively, both panting heavily from the experience. Where there was once a large gash on Sylvia's thigh, there was now a bright red scar from where the magic had cauterized the wound.

Lina also slumped from the effort, as the adrenaline in her system slowly wore off.

"Ok…," she started. "Let's get Sylvie cleaned up so she can rest, and then answers."

Mia, too tired to stutter out a response, merely nodded.

The two did their best to wash away the sweat and grime from Sylvia and dressed her wounds before allowing her to sleep to recover some strength in her own room. After Mia had taken her own shower to address her own disheveled appearance, Lina finally was able to sit her down at the kitchen table to hopefully make heads or tails of the situation.

"Talk," she commanded, leaning back and folding her arms.

"Uh…well…ok," Mia averted her gaze, shuffling in her chair.

"Do you remember the Micro-Black Hole Experiment at the Feynman National Laboratory?"

Lina scoffed.

"Of course. A reckless and irresponsible experiment. They should have known better. There's so much we still don't understand about black holes, and then there's the subject of the Hawking Radiation. And all of it because the USNA government always needs to be at the forefront of the magic arms race…"

She narrowed her eyes.

"What does that have to do with you and Sylvie coming back in such a state?"

"Uh…The experiment itself went off mostly as expected, although I don't think that they got the exact results that they wanted."

Lina nodded, recalling that Mia had been some of the support personnel for the operation. She herself was approached to lend her support as well, since the topic somewhat fell under her area of expertise, but she vehemently declined for the reasons she had just mentioned.

"Well…after everything was completed, there wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. But about a week later, some of the military personnel that were present in the experiment started behaving…erratically."

At this mention, Lina straightened up in her chair.

"Erratically?"

Mia nodded.

"At first it was small things, like not responding when called, not doing day-to-day tasks, and sometimes staring off in the wrong direction. But then…"

"Then?"

"Several of them started…disappearing. Their commanding officers couldn't get a hold of them, and they weren't where they were supposed to be stationed. They went AWOL.

"Then, the USNA military suddenly found them. Except again they couldn't be contacted…They weren't even in the country."

"Those were the people who you and Sylvie were fighting," Lina concluded. "The deserters. They came to Japan."

"But why you two?" Lina pressed. "Why can't the USNA government notify the Japanese government?"

"Have you heard about the vampire incidents on the local news?"

A pit formed in the middle of her stomach.

"You don't mean…!"

Mia nodded slowly.

"They are the USNA military deserters."

"So then the Micro Black Hole Experiment…?"

"Something…happened during that experiment. We still don't fully know what caused the change in behavior, but that's part of the reason why I was sent over. As support for the experiment, I'm tasked with bringing them in…"

Mia shuddered and averted her gaze.

"...dead or alive…"

Lina studied the woman in front of her. She could not picture the demure, meek person in front of her carrying out field operations, much less potentially taking another life.

"So Sylvie…"

"Was supposed to be the primary operative. Technically I'm supposed to be more of a support role, but we vastly underestimated the targets. It seems like…they no longer need CADs to use magic."

Lina's eyebrows crashed together.

"...Pardon!?"

"It might be an effect of their new condition. We don't know. We still haven't been able to take one down."

Lina didn't respond, turning over all the information in her head. Mia slumped over while the uncomfortable silence punctuated the air.

"...Show me the profiles," she said abruptly.

"...What…?"

"Show me the profiles," Lina repeated. "I know how the USNA military operates. Show. Me. The profiles. They wouldn't send you in blind."

Mia shrank into her seat, but nodded. She stood up, and walked over to where her bag was sitting against the side of the couch in the living room. Shuffling around in her bag, she fished out a terminal. She turned it on and handed it to Lina when she got back to the table.

Lina accepted the device, scanning her eyes over the information on the screen.

"...Charles Sullivan…Rank: Sergeant…Specializes in projectiles and trajectory alteration magic…"

"...Sergeant Sullivan was the first target we were supposed to apprehend. But we didn't count on him luring us into an ambush."

Mia stepped next to her and swiped the screen to the left.

"...Leila Dahlberg: Second Lieutenant…close combat and bladed weapons…"

"Between Sergeant Sullivan's range and Second Lieutenant Dahlberg's pressure, we were overwhelmed."

"So what exactly happened?"

"Everything initially was going to plan…The intel told us we would find him at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya. But when we intercepted him, he started running and led us to another part of the park with the Second Lieutenant…our advantage was lost and we were hard pressed. From what I was able to see, there were already two other victims on the scene, but luckily, one of them was still mobile enough to knock out Sergeant Sullivan with a tackle…But then local police and emergency services arrived on the scene, forcing everyone to flee the scene."

"...How many more?"

She couldn't see, but she could tell that Mia was hesitating.

"Mia. How many?" she repeated.

Mia tapped on the terminal screen several times, backing out to the home screen to show the rest of the deserters that they were tracking.

Lina shook her head.

Twelve in total.

How did this happen…?

Most of the names were foreign, but her gaze lingered on one. Alfred Formalhaut. Alfred was the one that had shown her around the base when she first arrived. She shivered, but not from the cold.

"Sylvia is in no condition to deal with these deserters," Lina stated factually. "What was the military's plan if things went sideways?"

Mia didn't answer, but Lina already knew.

"What about my current operation?" she asked.

Mia remained silent, but shook her head.

Lina closed her eyes. This was exactly why she didn't want to get involved with the military, but given her abilities, she had precious little choice.

- ちば - しば - さえぐさ - ちば -

February 3, 2096

Erika's day started very early in the morning. On a normal day, she would wake up when her alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning; since her last year of middle school, her daily training regimen always started with a long distance run, followed by some practice by herself in the dojo, then she would grab something to eat on the way out the door to school.

But this day would not be a normal day.

By temperament, Erika was not a morning person. Fighting off a yawn, she swung her legs off the side of her bed to make her way to her bathroom, but for an unexplained reason, she paused, instead reaching for her terminal. The glare from the screen suddenly illuminating her face and the still-dark bedroom caused her to squint out of reflex. Allowing her eyes to adjust, she noticed that the icon indicating unread messages was present at the top of her terminal screen.

She tapped on the notification bar, eyes scanning through the message. By the time she was done reading, she was wide awake. Her teeth audibly ground against one another as she swore underneath her breath.

What the hell did my idiotic brother ask that blockhead to do…!?

She tapped out two messages, one to her said idiotic brother, and the second to the First High school office notifying the school that she was taking the day off. Violently tossing her pajamas to the side, she threw on a sweater and a pair of warm leggings before catching a car to the police hospital in Setagaya, arriving just before 6:30.

She stalked through the front entrance, making a beeline straight for the administrative room in the hospital. She didn't turn her head as she stormed past the front desk, but she did hear a shout and a scramble from the receptionist who tried to stop her, almost tripping as she tried to cut her off from the hallway.

"Excuse me! Young lady, I cannot allow you to pass here without an appointment!"

At this she turned and looked flatly at the receptionist.

"Chiba Erika, here to see Chiba Toshikazu," she replied tersely, dropping her family name, pushing past the unfortunate receptionist.

"...Gah…uh…"

She turned and gave a much harsher glare when she tried to protest again, but her stare quelled any further argument from her lips.

She navigated the hallways easily before barging into the room without knocking.

This early in the morning, the police administrative room was largely empty save for a three or four officers quietly working at one of the many workstations spread through the room. The two people she was looking for were at the far right corner of the room. Making her way, the man in the suit noticed her presence and tapped on his companion who was seated, dressed much more casually and sporting a police vest. The seated man turned to face her, but before any words could be exchanged, she delivered a full crossbody slap across his face.

The sound caused the few other occupants in the room to sit up and turn in their direction, while the suited man winced.

"Chiba-san-" Inagaki started but Erika ignored his weak greeting.

"If you hadn't mentioned that he was in no danger of losing his life I would have punched you instead."

Erika nodded towards the screen, which apparently was a security feed of the patient room where Leo was resting. She could see that he was resting, with a nasal breathing tube and an IV drip bag running to his arm. Three figures besides Leo were inside the room, one woman sitting beside the head of the bed while a man and a younger looking woman stood on the other side. His parents and sister she assumed.

"Now that I know he's alive; how is his condition actually?"

Her words were presented less as a question and more of a command to speak, which her brother understood well.

"There were no life-threatening injuries. The worst one was a large bruise he sustained over the right side of his chest, which we're not sure how he got frankly. The doctor said that he'll need a week or two of bedrest, but he should make a full recovery," Chiba Toshizaku answered soberly, rubbing his left cheek.

"What the hell were you thinking getting him involved in your case!?" She burst out. "As tough as he is, he has no business with whatever you're doing."

"Chiba-san, I realize your boy-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" She turned her glare towards Inagaki. She continued in a stern, but still forceful tone. "Whatever you were about to say…don't. He's an important friend, and now he's lying injured in a police hospital bed, so do me a favor and butt out of my discussion with my idiotic older brother."

"Now, what was he actually doing for you?" she continued in the same matter-of-fact voice for the interrogation of her brother.

"We just asked him to keep an ear to the ground and to let us know if he heard about any unusual going-ons in the area," her older brother replied, frowning. "We never thought that he would have tried to actively investigate himself-"

"Area?" she interrupted. "What area?"

"Shibuya," Inagaki continued in her brother's stead. "Yoyogi Park. That was where he dropped the location pin and that's where we found him."

"Shibuya?" Erika frowned. "What was he doing-"

She abruptly cut off and narrowed her eyes.

"Are you two investigating the 'Vampire Incidents'?"

Toshikazu sighed.

"I suppose there's no point hiding anything at this point. Yes, we were investigating the 'Vampire Incidents'. As police, it's hard to get our own people's eyes and ears on the ground, so we were hoping to have another informant, just in case anything did go down. Which-" he turned to look back at the monitor screen, "-I guess something did happen."

"And did you gain anything from what Leo found?"

Inagaki glanced away while Toshikazu grimaced slightly.

"When we arrived at the scene, all we found was Leo-kun collapsed near the edge of the treeline and another woman on a nearby bench, also in pretty critical condition. It was clear that there was some sort of altercation in the area, with how the snow was messed up along with the traces of blood. Not-" Toshikazu blurted out quickly to stem the words he knew would be coming out of his sister's mouth. "Not Leo's. Or the other woman's for that matter. Whatever analysis our forensics ran on it couldn't identify who it belonged to."

"So just a whole lot more questions then," Erika remarked caustically.

She snorted.

"Alright, I've had as much of you as I can stand right now. I'm going to check on him myself."

She stalked out of the room without waiting for a response from Toshikazu or Inagaki. The two didn't bother trying to stop her either since they knew she was a walking tempest at the moment and would blow through anything or anyone in her way.

She made her way down the hallway and found the room number that matched the camera feed from the police administrative room. She knocked softly on the door before sliding it open and stepping into the room.

"Excuse me."

The three conscious people in the room turned at her intrusion.

"You must be Leo's family," she said, breaking the relative silence of the room. "As a member of the Chiba family, I want to offer my sincerest apologies for what happened to Leo. The police shouldn't have asked for his help. I know that doesn't address what happened to him or why he's in that hospital bed, but I hope you can accept the apology regardless. I can promise you that the hospital is doing everything they can to help him recover as soon as possible."

She concluded her words with a deep bow.

"Ah, please stand up," the woman sitting next to Leo replied, getting to her feet. "What happened with Leo is unfortunate, but we've always trusted him to take care of himself and to do what he believed was right. Although," she glanced down at Leo's unmoving body, "he may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew with this one."

The woman turned back to look at her.

"Based on your words, may I assume that you are Chiba Erika?"

Erika's face betrayed her surprise.

"I wasn't aware that you knew of me."

"Leo has told us a lot about his friends at First High, and your name came up quite a few times."

The woman seemed to catch herself.

"Ah, apologies, we have yet to introduce ourselves. I'm Leo's mother, Saijou Mitsuha." She gestured towards the man and the other woman. "This is my husband, Saijou Kai, and our eldest daughter, Kaya."

Erika took a moment to quickly observe the family. The two parents looked to be in their early 40s. Mitsuha was on the petite side, with softer features and ebon-black hair, while Kai had broader shoulders, and sharper angles about his face structure. If she were to guess, Kai had a mixed European heritage along with his Japanese blood; it was clear that both Kaya and Leo had inherited most of their features from their father's side.

"Back to the subject at hand however, we have no reason to hold any ill-will towards the police. We understand it's a very stressful time for everyone, with the mystery surrounding these events, and that they are doing their best to protect the public. Kai and I are aware that Leo has some instinctive tendencies to protect and defend, even if he isn't aware of it himself."

She looked over towards her husband.

"It was something that Leo inherited from Kai's father."

Erika took note of the piece of information. Leo had never mentioned anything about his grandfather before. It was a unique opportunity to learn about him. She might have to ask him about his grandfather sometime.

She nodded.

"Yeah, it's something I've come to realize about him as well. He may be clueless and hard-headed, but I know that underneath all of that is honor and courage."

Erika abruptly went quiet, realizing that she had said too much. She looked sheepishly towards Mitsuha, who only had a gentle smile on her face. It was strange, talking with the older woman, even in the presence of the rest of the family, had awakened a memory in her, like she was talking with her own mother. She didn't know how to continue, so she simply nodded and remained silent.

Mitsuha seemed to understand and moved to fill the vacuum.

"I'm glad that Leo has such good friends surrounding him," she smiled.

Oh. Right, I should probably let the others know about Leo's condition.

"I'll leave you to be with Leo," she said, stepping towards the door. "I'll be in the administrative room handling some stuff, but I'll be available if you need someone to watch over him. I know it's very sudden and I'll try my best to help as much as I can. Please let me know if he wakes up."

With Leo's family smiling and expressing their thanks, she stepped out of the room to give the family some privacy.

…

Tatsuya folded his arms across his chest as the rest of their friends filed into the patient room. Erika and another woman, probably around four to five years older than they were, were already present alongside Leo. He observed that if they had been a little more craggy and accounting for gender differences, she would have been a carbon copy of Leo.

"This is Saijou Kaya-san, Leo's older sister," Erika introduced, before any of them could ask, confirming her identity that Tatsuya and company had surmised.

The eldest Saijou sister rose and respectfully nodded to them in greeting. She excused herself, wanting to give the group some privacy to catch up.

They turned back to look at Leo, who had, with much effort, propped himself to a sitting position in the bed.

"You really were put through the wringer huh?" Tatsuya commented.

Leo let out a weak chuckle before wincing and pressing hand to his rib.

"Kinda lame, isn't it? I guess I only have myself to blame for this one, unlike Monolith Code. I'm still a bit tired but you managed to catch me while I was awake."

Leo grunted and leaned himself back into the headboard of the bed.

"Leo regained consciousness not too long ago," Erika added.

"What was the extent of your injuries?" Mikihiko followed up.

Leo pulled aside the top part of his hospital robe, revealing the bandages wrapped around his chest.

"Physically, mostly just a massive bruise across most of my chest."

"Someone managed to cause that amount of injury to you?" Mizuki asked surprisedly.

"Uh…" Leo looked down in embarrassment. "Actually, I did that to myself."

All of the eyebrows in the room except Leo and Erika shot in various directions in confusion at the statement, either upwards or scrunched together.

"That…just makes it more confusing," Tatsuya said, trying and somewhat failing to keep the flatness out of his voice.

"It was the result of a last ditch effort to take down my opponent. Everything just happened so quickly, I can't really recall what exactly happened, but I figure that as I'm sitting here in front of everyone, the gambit mostly worked," Leo answered. "There was one point in the fight where one of my opponents managed to catch my punch. At the moment of contact, it felt like I suddenly lost all of my strength. I managed to do a final tackle, which probably took out one of the perpetrators, but that's how I ended with this injury."

"Must have been some tackle," Mikihiko muttered.

"I'm guessing there was some self-acceleration magic that was thrown in the mix," Tatsuya said. "Regarding the feeling of weakness, there was no poison?"

Erika shook her head.

"There was no sign of lacerations or punctures, and the blood test came back clean."

Very strange. Tatsuya tilted his head, ruminating.

"Did you see their features?" Mikihiko chimed in.

"Well…I did see something. The first perpetrator wore a hat and a long overcoat. Based on the hits I managed to get in, they were wearing some sort of body armor, and a mask. There wasn't a way to tell aunty facial features or physique, but I got the feeling that it was a woman. I couldn't get a read on the second. "

"A woman had the physicality to go toe-to-toe with Leo?"

"That's hardly unheard of," Erika cut Mikihiko off tersely. "Even an elementary school girl could strangle a big man to death if she drugged him first."

"That's true…but…"

"But?" Erika demanded.

"There's also a possibility that Leo wasn't up against a human in the first place."

"You're telling me that you buy into the Vampire stuff?" Erika asked, folding her arms and frowning.

"You have a hypothesis then," Tatsuya stated simply.

Mikihiko hesitated briefly before addressing Tatsuya's comment.

"I think-"

Before he could fully express his thoughts, he was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by a low "Excuse me".

All eyes present swiveled to see the door to the room slide open and allow two more figures to enter the room.

…

Mayumi was the first of the two into the room, followed by Katsuto. There were a variety of surprised expressions at their arrival, but she noted that Tatsuya's wasn't one of them, maintaining his characteristic neutral countenance.

It was clear from the freshman students' body language that they had interrupted their conversation. She would not have said that she was close with this group of freshmen, especially those in the same class as Tatsuya, but she had seen them in action during the Nine Schools Competition and Yokohama. She was notified that Saijou Leonhard, one of the victims of the latest Vampire Incident had only recently woken up, so she and Katsuto had come immediately after school, but apparently even then they had not been the first to arrive.

Katsuto apparently was not expecting such a crowd as well, and paused for a few moments. His eyes found Tatsuya, who he identified as the de facto leader of the group.

"Shiba."

"Juumonji-senpai," Tatsuya acknowledged.

"Apologies for interrupting you, but Saegusa and I would like to have a few minutes with Saijou regarding what happened to him last night."

Immediately, she could see Miyuki, Honoka, and Mikihiko tense up, while Erika's frown deepened. Tatsuya remained impassive. She internally bemoaned that Katsuto still lacked a certain finesse and nuance about these sorts of interactions.

"Is that a request to vacate the room?" Erika challenged.

"To be frank, yes. We may be discussing some controlled information, and for now we would like to maintain some of the confidentiality surrounding these strange turn of events. I hope you can understand," Katsuto replied diplomatically.

"If you mean to say that there is some sensitive information with regards to the affairs of the Ten Master Clans, you can simply say that," the redhead countered hotly. "But I believe Leo's testimony and what is discussed here would also be of interest to public safety? In that case, the police also need to be aware of any potential leads, no?"

The tension and heat in the room was slowly climbing with Erika pushing back against Katsuto's request, so she decided to step in to try to mend the situation.

"Juumonji-kun, I believe it's alright," she cast a quick smile towards Erika. "The information Juumonji-kun is referring to is mainly with regards to the identities of the victims, several of whom have strong ties to the Saegusa. Saijou-kun, the young lady whom you found last night was someone affiliated with our Clan, and for that I want to thank you," she continued, dipping politely in thanks towards Leo. The injured teen didn't know how to respond and simply nodded.

"Now with regards to Erika-chan," she tried slipping in a more familiar tone to judge how well it was received. From the corner of her eyes it seemed like it was fine to use her name like that. "I believe that she, and everyone else here, is just as concerned as the Juumonji or Saegusa with what has been going on regarding these events. I think for this, putting together more brains might result in the fastest resolution?"

She let the question hang in front of Katsuto; she could see him frowning and turning over the proposition. She glanced quickly towards Tatsuya, who seemed to catch what she was implying.

"Juumonji-senpai, Mikihiko here was about to share some information that may be helpful to solving this mystery. I believe if you let us stay, it would help yours and Saegusa-senpai's investigation as well," he added, locking eyes with Mayumi. It took quite a bit of willpower to not blush, looking into his eyes like that.

After a few more seconds, Katsuto let out a grunt of acquiescence. He nodded.

"If Saegusa-san has no problems with the sharing of this information, then I am in agreement. You are correct in that ultimately, we are all working towards the same goal."

She observed Tatsuya incline his head to Katsuto in thanks, while Katsuto seemed to scrutinize Tatsuya again. She wasn't sure if his expression was one of wariness, or if something else was turning over in that expression of his.

"Mikihiko, you were about to give us your thoughts on the matter," Tatsuya prompted once more.

"A-As I was saying, I think that there's a chance Leo encountered a 'Parasite'."

Katsuto's eyebrows knit together.

"Yoshida, you don't mean a literal parasite, right?"

The first year seemed taken aback by the question, and seemed to contemplate how to phrase a response.

"The proper name I suppose would be a 'Paranormal Parasite', or just Parasite for short. In recent times, what we currently call modern magic isn't the only area seeking global standardization. Ancient magic also cannot remain stagnant to there have been several international conferences aiming to come to a mutual agreement on the terms and concepts for-"

Mayumi opened her mouth to say something about the perceived rambling on the more bureaucratic aspects of magic theory but apparently Tatsuya had the same thought and beat her to the punch.

"I know that in terms of progressiveness, Ancient Magic is much further along in terms of international cooperation. Is that important to the subject at hand?"

Mikihiko gave a small cough and recovered from the interruption.

"Well, Parasite is one of the more widely acknowledged terms. Monsters, evil spirits, djinn; of all the various entities in different countries, we call the magical beings that infest human beings and turn them into inhuman creatures 'Parasites'. It's not a common phrase, as Ancient Magic practitioners, despite their global cooperation, still tend to keep their secrets to themselves."

"To think that monsters and djinns actually exist," Honoka murmured.

"In the past, no one believed that magic existed," Mayumi pointed out. "However, everyone in this room is capable of using magic. Even if we were ignorant of their existence, I don't believe there's anything to be afraid of," she consoled.

"So that's the vampire's true identity," Tatsuya stated factually, glancing over at Mayumi.

"Leo," Mikihiko suddenly said.

"Yeah?"

"Can I examine your spectral form?"

"Spectral form?" Miyuki repeated, questioning. Mayumi saw the same question plastered over the faces of several of the other people present.

"The spectral form refers to the information body that is shaped like the physical body, linking your physical state with your spirit. You can think of it like a bundle of life force. It's thought that monsters that consume human flesh absorb this life force through the physical blood and flesh to nourish themselves."

"So, this vampire, as we had thought, is taking blood in order to absorb the life force that they need to sustain themselves?" Miyuki clarified.

Mikihiko nodded.

"But if we're talking about non-physical creatures, then theoretically, all they should need is just the life force itself."

Tatsuya tilted his head.

"I see. So it wouldn't be crazy to have 'vampires' that only absorb life force itself."

"If I can examine Leo's spectral form, I think I should be able to find out. Honestly speaking, I was never convinced that this incident was caused by normal human beings. They seemed to be something more than just serial homicides, and not just because there was no trace of blood being extracted. My instincts as an Ancient Magic user tells me this, except I have no concrete proof, which is why I hadn't brought the idea up in the first place."

Mikihiko glanced at Leo.

"But now one of us has become the victim of these attacks."

"Go ahead, Mikihiko."

Leo bumped a fist to his chest, sounding confident, but the motion and contact caused him to wince again and let out a small fit of coughs.

"...Are you sure?" Mikihiko asked after he had recovered.

"Yes," Leo continued. "Actually, now that I know about this, I'm requesting you to do so. There's nothing we can do about it if we don't understand the cause.

"Alright then."

Everyone in the room watched as Mikihiko rummaged through a bag near his feet. He pulled out a set of talismans. The room remained quiet as the teen closed his eyes and activated the talisman, which glowed iridescently for a few seconds before fading.

When he opened his eyes again, there was some shock clearly visible within his gaze. Mikihiko frowned slightly.

"How should I say this…While Tatsuya is also in a league of his own…Leo, are you really human…?"

"Hey, that's a fine response."

Clearly from Mikihiko's tone, he didn't ask it as a joke, and Leo also didn't laugh it off.

"No but…How are you awake right now? The average Magician would still be unconscious if so much life force was removed…"

This time it was Mayumi who was curious.

"Setting aside exactly what life force is, can you quantitatively detect how much is missing?"

"The spectral form and the physical body possess the same shape. Since the current maximum capacity is set, the original amount of life force compared to the current level is more or less detectable."

Mikihiko squirted at Leo.

"Currently at his level, forget even crawling, the average person would be comatose right now. To be able to sit up and converse like this, it speaks to his exceptional endurance."

At this Leo chuckled.

"What can I say? My body is specially designed."

His face turned serious.

"So what you're saying is, the reason why I feel so weak right now is because that person - thing - leeched away my life force?"

"I think so…" Mikihiko mumbled. "But…"

"But?" Erika prodded.

"But if they're able to drain life force on contact, that doesn't explain why the blood is gone…"

"Hmm," Katsuto rumbled, causing everyone to look up at him.

"Regardless of this detail, despite all the new information we have regarding the beings responsible for these acts, we still don't have a way to hunt them down."

"About that…" Mikihiko spoke up again. "I may have a solution for that. But before I propose it, I would like to propose a cooperation for the Yoshida," he paused, glancing at Erika, "and the Chiba to join the Saegusa-Juumonji investigation team."

Tatsuya locked his pacific-blue eyes with her, his gaze communicating a tacit understanding that he also approved and would participate in the joint initiative.

She turned and nodded at Katsuto.

"It seems like everyone agrees that this is the most effective mode. We accept your proposal. Now, what is your plan, Yoshida?-"

"Before we talk about that, we should let Leo rest," Tatsuya interrupted. "Visiting hours are just about over, so we can discuss the plan in greater detail elsewhere," he stated plainly, nodding at Erika and Leo.

…

After making sure that the seniors and the freshmen had left, Leo collapsed back onto the bed, exhausted. Although Erika was still in the room, it was clear that he had pushed himself to his limit.

"There's no need to keep bluffing any longer. You're a real trooper to work that hard."

"...I'll just…take that as an honest…compliment…" Leo managed to mumble out.

"It was an honest one. Compliment, I mean," she assured him, smiling warmly even though he had already fallen asleep.

- シールズ -

February 5, 2096

Lina's eyes trailed down the edge of the CAD.

Her gaze started at the tip of the muzzle, then slowly made its way down the barrel, tracing the sleek contour of the body, down and around the outline of the butt. Her hand twitched involuntarily looking at the weapon, a…thing...she was more familiar with than she wanted to admit.

A soft tapping on the other side of her bedroom door startled her out of her concentration.

"She's awake," Mia interrupted softly, poking her head into her room.

Lina let out a sigh of relief.

The past several days had been incredibly stressful for the two of them. Lina had taken leave from First High while Mia had done the same with the University while they monitored Sylvia's condition, but with her regaining consciousness it seemed like the worst was over.

This also meant that she would be getting more answers regarding a certain device she had found in her room.

"I'll be over in a moment," she replied, nodding in thanks, before turning to look back at the rifle-shaped CAD leaning against her dresser.

For most of the hours that she wasn't spending doing tasks around the apartment or looking after Sylvia, she had been in her room, staring at the offending object, willing it to disappear, to pretend that it was only a figment of her imagination that it was here.

How had all of this happened?

She had worked out a conclusion for herself, but she wanted to hear it from Sylvie herself.

The truth of why she was really here.

Finally working up her courage, she slid off of her bed and walked over to the CAD. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the weapon by the forestock and made her way over to Sylvia's room. Her hand reflexively tightened around the device, turning her knuckles white.

She knocked on the doorframe to alert the two of them to her presence; Mia was just coming in from the bathroom carrying a fresh set of linens while Sylvia was sitting upright in her bed, looking a little worse for the wear, but alive. She looked up sharply at the sound of her arrival, wincing slightly but smiling.

"Lina, there you are! Both Mia and I have to thank you for your…" her voice trailed off as her eyes alighted on the CAD in her hand. "I see."

Mia froze when she, too, spotted the device.

"L-Lina…? Why are you holding that…?"

She lifted the device up and tossed the CAD onto the edge of the foot of Sylvia's bed. She folded her arms and stared intensely at the woman.

"Lina…?" Mia asked again.

"I could ask the same of Sylvia," she said flatly.

Mia's gaze flicked from Lina to Sylvia, then back to Lina, uncertain as to what was going on and visibly uncomfortable within the tense atmosphere of the room.

"Mia has filled me in on most of the details regarding your operation. It's far from ideal, but I understand why the USNA government and military would mobilize personnel, but that-" she punctuated her words by jabbing her finger at the rifle-shaped CAD "What does that have to do with anything!? Why is it here!?" she asked angrily.

The more timid woman recoiled at Lina's outburst; if only by her reaction, she knew that Mia had no clue as to what was going on on the subject of the CAD.

Sylvia remained silent, so she turned to Mia.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked intensely.

If possible, Mia's eyes widened even more while shaking her head.

"...Brionac. The CAD for the most powerful magic within the USNA arsenal…"

Lina turned back to look at Sylvia, who had finally chosen to speak. She sounded resigned, knowing that she would not be able to dance her way around Lina's confrontation.

"Heavy Metal Burst," Lina confirmed. "The only known user of the spell is 'Sirius' of the USNA."

She locked eyes with Sylvia and refused to waver. The room remained deathly quiet while Lina let her question continue to hang in the air for Sylvia to answer as to why the weapon was in Japan.

"...In that case…" Mia squeaked suddenly. "The identity of 'Sirius' is…!?"

Lina's jaw tightened.

"Yes," she said. "The identity of 'Sirius' is none other than Angelina Shields, Special Officer of the USNA Army."

"But why!?" Mia spun to face Sylvia as well, towels still in arms.

"If you don't want to spit it out, I will," Lina said coldly. "At 10:57 Japan Standard Time, an unknown Strategic-Class Magic was deployed and destroyed the GAA's Zhenhai Naval Port and Geojedo Offshore Base. Satellite imagery showed that the outpost was completely obliterated. In the week surrounding the event, four of the Thirteen Apostles were mobilized, Liu Yunde of the GAA who had been at Zhenhai was killed from the unknown Strategic-Class Magic, Itsuwa Mio of Japan was moved to Sasebo, Igor Andreevich Bezobrazov of the New Soviet Union was reported to have been activated, and 'Sirius' of the USNA was summoned to Washington D.C."

Lina began pacing back and forth as she started her exposition.

"In the weeks following Scorched Halloween, as the event was publicized by the media, the Japanese government refused to clarify any details regarding the attack on the GAA fleet, referring to it as a "national security secret", even though it was clear that Strategic-Class Magic had been utilized. This could have been for two reasons. One: it was a necessary cover for the unknown SCM that the Japanese Military enlists as another Strategic-Class asset, and two: they had to be careful to avoid justifying the use of magic for mass killing and large-scale destruction on the battlefield, lest other nations respond with their own Strategic-Class Magic.

"As a result, in January 2096, the USNA government sent several groups of personnel to Japan to infiltrate the Japanese magic education system to try to identify the as previously mentioned unknown Strategic-Class Magician. However, rather than having a few persons of interest to investigate, it seems the government chose to try to cast a wide net among high potential institutions."

Lina paused mid-stride and turned back to the bed.

"That seems like a highly inefficient use of resources, especially for supposedly the most potent military force on the planet. Does that sound about right so far?"

She didn't wait for a response before continuing.

"Furthermore, based on either the timeline for mobilizing or manufacturing of Brionac requires a minimum of two months for all approvals to be submitted. Which means the government could not have sent it over to assist with the 'Vampire' operation that you two were tasked with.

"This Vampire incident in itself could turn into a diplomatic fiasco by itself if Japan were to ever find out the cause and identities of these Vampires. However, I can't even imagine what would happen if they found out there was another nation's Strategic-Class Weapon on their sovereign soil."

Lina slowed her pacing and finally turned back to Sylvia.

"Which means one thing. The USNA government and military fears this unknown Strategic-Class Magic enough to knowingly covertly send their own Strategic-Class asset into another sovereign nation's borders, which is all but begging to start World War IV. And I know the reason why."

She resumed her intense stare at Sylvia.

"I'm not here as an operative at First High, am I? I'm meant to be an assassin."

Sylvia was visibly pained as she closed her eyes, and she could see defeat in her expression.

"In the off chance that an opportunity arose, the military was willingly to authorize the use of Heavy Metal Burst to potentially remove the threat of the unknown Strategic-Class Magician."

At Sylvia's confirmation, Lina felt all of the built up tension in her body suddenly release, and she slumped over, deflated. She had known the truth, but deep down she had not wanted it to be true, praying that she had been wrong. She caught herself with the wall, leaning against it, then sliding down to sit on the floor.

"What the hell, Sylvie!?" she asked softly, pain in her question. "How could you agree to this?!"

"I didn't want to!" Sylvie responded. It seemed that once the truth was out, the floodgates had opened. "But I had no choice!"

"Why!" Lina demanded. "Why!"

"The order came from the high up. We couldn't just disobey the order!"

"How high up," she pressed.

Sylvie sighed.

"The directive itself came directly from the Joint Chiefs of Staff," she said quietly.

The admission stunned Lina into silence. Mia too, seemed to be shell shocked.

"Good God," she hissed when she finally recovered her wits. "Shit. Holy SHIT. The cowards. I just…UGH!"

She pushed herself off of the floor angrily.

"Alright, this is what's going to happen. Brionac does not leave that box," she practically shouted pointing towards the case that Mia had delivered. "I'm not using Heavy Metal Burst, clear? If it comes down to it, I'll destroy that CAD myself."

She planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"I'm making the calls for this operation now. We do this my way now, military protocol be damned."

- よしだ - しば -

February 10, 2096

The sound of the wooden cane clattering to the ground pierced the night air, disturbing the relative quiet of the neighborhood. He glanced in the direction that the cane was pointing in, before bending over and retrieving the fallen object.

"Yoshida," rumbled a deep baritone from behind him. "I know I've asked before but…are you sure this method is reliable?""

Mikihiko glanced backwards at his senior as the two of them walked in the direction he led.

At first, he was somewhat glad that he was paired up with Katsuto Juumonji for this night. The previous few nights he had had the joy of trekking through the city with Erika, a full five evenings of "Miki this" and "Miki that" or "hurry up, which way". But he still didn't quite know how to treat the Juumonji scion. His limited interactions with the man were restricted to some preparation for last summer's Monolith Code and some personnel training for the Thesis Competition. Certainly his reputation preceded him, between both his academic achievements and social presence.

But after just an hour with him, he was no longer sure their partnership for the night was preferable to the alternative.

Certainly, he didn't call him nicknames or make demands of him, but if he could sum up the experience he had had so far with Katsuto, it would be 'heavy'.

Katsuto was both physically imposing, towering over Mikihiko, but he also felt as if his every move and motion was under intense scrutiny. It didn't help that the man did not talk often, but when he did it always felt like he was being tested.

"Ah…well, as to be expected, 'fortune telling' has a much larger window of error than traditional data sciences, but in time it will eventually lead us on the right trail. These non-physical magic entities cannot avoid leaving traces of their path in the information dimension, and that's what this engraved cane is doing, picking out these minute traces and giving us a heading."

Katsuto nodded.

"Hmm. I see. I apologize if you took that as a doubt, it's just…like many other non-practitioners of the Ancient Magics, I am unfamiliar with many of these techniques and methods. Much of the modern magic is used day in and day out has been thoroughly documented. It's definitely a curious thing, how your Ancient Magic works, but nonetheless amazing. And you are right, given the lack of progress that has been made from a more scientific approach, it seems your method can provide us with some concrete action we can take in the meantime."

The praise and admission took Mikihiko off guard, but he did feel like he could drop his guard a little bit. Of course, even someone as distinguished as Katsuto could not know everything, but his willingness to ask questions and listen did make him a little bit more personable than initially attributed.

"Speaking of which, I'm assuming Erika hasn't picked anything up on the street cameras?"

Katsuto pulled out his terminal, glancing at it before shaking his head.

"Nothing from Chiba, Saegusa, or Shiba."

Mikihiko frowned as they came to another open intersection, and he set his engraved cane before him again. He had thought that gaining access to the street security streams would have sped up this process somewhat, as other people could triangulate the direction they were heading and then quickly scan the area, but his presumption was proving to be false.

Well, he supposed that there was a reason neither the police and the Chiba, nor the combined might of the Juumonji and Saegusa clans had not made any headway.

He was standing there lost in contemplation that he did not observe what was happening in front of him.

"Yoshida."

A baritone voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Is it supposed to do that?"

He looked at where Katsuto was pointing, with the wooden cane surprisingly still remaining upright. That was an incorrect assessment. Not only was it remaining upright, it appeared to be bobbing and wobbling. He stepped closer to take a look, but suddenly the cane gave way and dropped with a resounding thud, rather than the typical clatter that they had expected, pointing firmly in the direction of the highway. He leaned down to pick it up, but before his startled eyes, the tip of the cane slid in a counterclockwise direction.

He cast a quick glance up at his senior.

"It's close."

Katsuto nodded and made a hasty call on his terminal.

"Saegusa, Yoshida's locked on to it. It's heading parallel to National Route 20…Yes, Yoshida and I will be approaching from the north, from Shinjuku."

Mikihiko quickly snatched the cane off of the ground, now stationary.

"The real chase begins now, Yoshida. I trust you can keep up?"

Without waiting for a response, Mikihiko's senior took off at a brisk run, forcing him to scramble to catch up. Even without the use of magic, he was surprised that his large frame could maintain such a pace.

The two men ran south, parallel to the Ushigome Moat until the Route 20 highway was in sight. Katsuto took a hard right, leading the two along the pedestrian walkway beside the main road.

"Saegusa, some direction would be helpful right about now!" he yelled into his terminal, pulling out an earpiece and fitting it into his ear. Mikihiko did the same, fumbling a bit before managing to insert the communication device.

The two ran for ten more minutes before they received any response.

"Juumonji-kun, Yoshida-kun, keep heading west. The feed from the cameras nearby have picked up two figures in dark clothing heading towards Shinjuku Station. If you increase your pace I believe you can intercept them at Shinjuku Chuo Park," the voice of Mayumi suddenly lit up as she spoke into their headsets.

"How many kilometers out?" Katsuto asked, breath unflagging.

The voice on the other end went silent for a few seconds before reappearing.

"Two kilometers. Shiba-kun and Erika-chan are fifteen minutes out."

Katsuto didn't reply, but Mikihiko felt the pace accelerate. The man could definitely run.

Within a few minutes, signs indicating the location of the park appeared. Without stopping, Katsuto peeled off of the walkway parallel to the highway and sprinted straight towards the park, Mikihiko a couple steps behind.

The sounds of footfalls were deafening amid the night silence, causing the two figures being chased to realize that they were no longer alone. The closer figure hurled a volley of daggers in their direction, using the distraction to put some distance between them and their pursuers. Mikihiko instinctively dropped to the ground and quickly removed his CAD from where it was stowed in his sleeve while a barrier materialized to deflect the projectiles. He glanced at Katsuto, who lowered his palm, causing Phalanx to dissipate. The big man pressed a finger to his ear and yelled out.

"Shiba!"

…

The security broadcasting room was completely silent, not that it bothered Tatsuya.

Normally, civilians would not have been allowed into such a restricted area, but having a combination of both the eldest Saegusa and youngest Chiba daughter had a curious way of getting people to dismiss protocol.

Sitting to his right, Erika let out a large yawn, and on his left, Mayumi was rubbing her eyes.

The lack of productivity the past few nights seemed to be taking its toll on the investigation team. Almost all of them were running on empty, whether they were out, walking through the city streets or inside the broadcasting room, staring for hours on end at security feeds. After day three, they had taken to working on shifts, but Tatsuya had never taken his scheduled naps, instead opting to catch up on his rest in the twilight between the end of the school day, waking up at 10:30 to get ready for the continued search.

There wasn't much to be said; most of their time was spent watching the empty streets away from the main city centers. It was dry work, even for himself.

A low growling sound came from his right.

"Gah, this is so frustrating!"

Erika leaned back in her chair. Knowing her, the Chiba swordswoman was getting fidgety just sitting around. The rest of the group had convinced her to take a shift monitoring the feeds, but it was obvious to everyone that she would have rather been out scouting.

"It can't be helped, Erika-chan," Mayumi offered sympathetically from his other side. He cast a look out of the corner of his eye which she caught, and the two of them shared an understanding look. She cocked her head and shrugged; he understood what she said without her speaking: All they could have was patience that Mikihiko's magic would eventually find their target. He knew she didn't say it out loud because it would have only agitated Erika further.

Mumbling to herself, she snatched her terminal off of the console surface.

"Still nothing from Miki or Juumonji-senpai," she grumbled.

Tatsuya glanced up at the map projected on one of the screens, which displayed the GPS location of Mikihiko and Katsuto's terminals. Right now they were tracking through the center of Shinjuku. He felt a light tap on his left shoulder. He turned questioningly towards Mayumi, who was gesturing for him to lean in. He checked to make sure that Erika was still distracted with her terminal before inclining an ear.

"I forgot, I wanted to ask you, why does Erika-chan call Yoshida-kun 'Miki'? Should I call him that too?"

He let out a humored exhale before replying.

"You can just call him Yoshida-kun or Mikihiko. Let's just say that 'Miki' is something between two childhood friends."

Just as he finished answering her query, Mayumi's terminal started ringing, startling both her and Erika.

"What is it?" Erika asked anxiously.

"...Shinjuku? Copy that, we see where you are."

Mayumi glanced up at the screen displaying the field team's location.

"You're in pursuit?" She glanced at Tatsuya. "Understood, backup is on its way."

She hung up the call and expanded the map of the region on the lower screen.

"Juumonji-kun and Yoshida-kun are approaching from this direction. Tatsuya, you and Erika-chan will need to follow along National Route 20 from the west."

She pointed at the closest highway entrance.

"I'll keep monitoring the street cameras and will notify you when I find the target."

Tatsuya grabbed his bike helmet from the table behind them and handed the second to Erika. For a split second, he caught Mayumi staring at the second bike helmet. Maybe she was thinking of New Year's. He suddenly became slightly uncomfortable and had to turn away.

"Understood Saegusa-senpai. If all goes well we'll regroup here."

He gave one last look back at Mayumi before following Erika out as she slipped on the bike jacket Tatsuya had prepared and grabbed her katana on the way. They both slipped earpieces in before putting on their helmets and climbing onto the bike.

Thankfully, there was limited traffic and he was able to quickly jump onto Kannana-Dori Avenue heading north.

"Saegusa, some direction would be helpful right about now!" Katsuto's voice pierced through the earpiece.

"Juumonji-kun, Yoshida-kun, keep heading west. The feed from the cameras nearby have picked up two figures in dark clothing heading towards Shinjuku Station. If you increase your pace I believe you can intercept them at Shinjuku Chuo Park," Mayumi replied.

"Shinjuku Chuo Park, huh?" Erika muttered while Katsuto and Mayumi communicated back and forth a few more times as the two of them pulled onto Route 20.

"Koen Dori exit, coming up," Tatsuya said. "Hold on tight."

Tatsuya felt Erika tighten her grip on him as he took the left exit at an illegally fast speed.

"There!" Erika shouted.

Tatsuya was glad that Erika's swordsman eye was able to catch the blur of four figures sprinting through the park.

"Shiba!" Katsuto's baritone cut through his earpiece again.

Tatsuya accelerated and made another hard left onto Kita Dori. He didn't even have time to dock his bike before Erika quite literally leapt off of the back of the bike, dropping the helmet onto the grass as she sprinted in the direction that they had seen Katsuto, Mikihiko, and the two other figures.

After turning off his vehicle, Tatsuya followed behind his classmate until he came upon an open field. He arrived to see Erika unleash a vertical slash to incapacitate the leading figure's left arm, but sensing the attack, the figure danced to their right, causing the blade to go wide. Erika recovered quickly, and followed up with a flurry of attacks keeping them off guard.

Behind, he could make out the silhouettes of Mikihiko and Katsuto in hot pursuit of the second figure. The cloaked figure threw a volley of knives forward towards Erika and the first target, locked in combat. Tatsuya could see that the attack had been enhanced with magic. He unholstered his Silver Trident and blew away the Movement and Fortification Magic, causing them to drop out of the air.

That was troubling. Despite seeing the magic, he was not able to detect neither sight nor sound of an activation sequence. Meaning the magic sequence was being direction shaped and applied without the expected medium.

He mentally shelved the concern; there were more present and pressing matters at hand.

The first figure noticed the falling blades that Tatsuya had knocked off trajectory and snatched one of them out of the air before it hit the ground, and with a rolling dodge to maintain their momentum, sprung up once more, this time rushing Erika with a weapon of their own. Even with the lesser reach of the knife, Erika was forced to take a few steps back from the sheer ferocity of the blows.

From the initial confrontation, Tatsuya could see that the supposed Vampires were working in a ranged and close combat team, with one fulfilling each of the roles. In a split second, he determined the best course of action to contain, not just one, but both of their targets.

"Erika, keep this one contained! Mikihiko! Erika needs long range support! Juumonji-senpai, get Phalanx ready!"

As he rushed past the first Vampire who Erika was still trading blows, he saw Mikihiko unfurl his fan-shaped CAD and activate 'Thunder Child' to provide some ranged support for Erika.

Another hail of knives were thrown at him, but he once again used Gram Demolition to render them useless. In a flash he was within an arm's length of the ranged Vampire. The Vampire attempted to grab a hold of Tatsuya, but he slipped underneath the arm. Planting his left foot, he flipped his opponent, striking the Vampires abdomen with his right knee and the back of the neck with his right elbow. Following through with the motion, he spun, turning his entire body to get into position. Swinging down with his left fist, he activated a basic move-type spell with flash cast, driving his opponent's face into the ground; but despite the simplicity of the magic, he felt like it took some effort to activate. He didn't have time to dwell on the disturbing fact.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that in the couple of seconds he had kept the Vampire occupied, Katsuto had moved into range.

The body on the ground beneath him stirred; normally, such a series of blows should have knocked any non-enhanced being unconscious, but the Vampire managed to push itself up onto its hands. Pulling a knife from its person, it leapt up to slash at Tatsuya, who simply deflected the blow, leaving the Vampire open once again. This time, Tatsuya used his leg to send a powerful kick to the chest, causing them to lose balance once more and stumble two meters back. As they hit the ground, a Phalanx half-dome appeared, trapping the Vampire within.

With the ranged Vampire secured, he turned around to see how Erika and Mikihiko were faring with the second, just in time to see Mikihiko's 'Thunder Child' land a direct blow onto the Vampire, causing it to stagger. However, the electricity didn't dissipate, instead still cracking about the figure.

Release-type magic?

Instinctively, Tatsuya fired off another round of Gram Demolition, just in time to prevent the Vampire from firing the built up electricity at Erika, and also creating an opening for her to act by interrupting its attack. In a motion almost too fast for his eyes to follow, she spun past the Vampire, delivering two blinding slashes, severing the left distal bicep tendon and left achilles tendon, causing the figure to collapse onto its knees. Erika grabbed its head from behind and held her blade to its neck to ensure it did not move.

"...Is it over?" Mikihiko asked wearily.

Tatsuya looked down at the kneeling figure and glanced back at Katsuto's Phalanx, seeing the second Vampire slash futilely at the barrier.

"I believe we can call it in," Tatsuya answered.

"Saegusa, two suspected Vampires secured," Katsuto spoke into his earpiece.

And then everything went wrong.

It was too late when Tatsuya heard the sound, as if something was bursting. He turned around just in time to see a dark fountain erupt from the close-combat Vampire's chest, slaying it instantly. Erika stumbled back, from an impact or shock, he was not sure.

"What just happened!?" Katsuto shouted.

"Uh…Miki, do Parasites do that?" Erika asked numbly from where she had somewhat collected herself, pointing over at the captured Vampire.

Everyone present turned to look at what Erika was indicating. Strangely, the Vampire had begun glowing before suddenly exploding in a violent burst of light, blinding everyone present.

"What!?"

When everyone regained their vision, they saw that there was no longer anyone or anything beneath Katsuto's barrier.

"...What just happened…?" Mikihiko muttered.

Tatsuya waited for a few moments to ensure that there was no other present danger, physical or otherwise, before grimly reholstering his CAD. He had tried to see if he could track the Parasites through Elemental Sight, but other than a vague impression of two somethings moving away from their current position at a high speed, he wasn't able to pinpoint anything.

They had gone from tracking down two of their targets, to capturing both, to losing everything in an instant.

He looked at the other body that was still bleeding out on the ground.

No answers and only more questions.

- さえぐさ -

February 14, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Everywhere she went, she realized that recently the atmosphere and mood surrounding her was way too heavy for a high school student such as herself. Granted being a Saegusa, it was difficult to not get involved in the occasional high profile incident, but even then, she was certainly not having an easy time trying to enjoy her last semester.

But even then, would it be too much to ask to not have to think about all of this, especially on Valentine's Day?!

She would have forgotten about it, but Mari had cheekily asked if she was planning anything special for a certain "You-know-who" (Mari's words, not hers). However, with how late it was when she received the teasing message from her friend, it was almost certainly too late to try to make anything by hand. She would have to settle for something store-bought, unfortunately.

It really was distressing, especially with the knowledge of just how much time Tatsuya had put into his Christmas present for her. She had told herself that she would try to make it up to him when she had more free time to re-do the chocolates, hopefully when there weren't Vampires running around tearing up the city.

"Mayumi?"

She had arrived early in order to make sure that she could hand over the chocolate discreetly, away from prying eyes. She had no idea how Tatsuya got to school so early, but this time she was grateful for it. Despite all of her mental preparation, her mind still went blank and mouth dry when Tatsuya walked up to her in front of the Disciplinary Committee Office.

"Ah-" Oh great, real smooth Mayumi! She mentally berated herself.

"Ch-Chocolate," she hastily pushed the package of sweets in his direction, averting her gaze. "For you," she finished clumsily.

"Oh. Thank you."

She felt Tatsuya take the box out of her hand. His fingers made a gentle contact against hers as he received it, brushing up against her skin.

She would have enjoyed the sensation, if she hadn't been wholly caught off guard. His action caused her to jerk her hands back to herself and her face to flush crimson.

"I'll see you later!" she managed to yelp before darting off.

You idiot!

Mayumi was still repeating that phrase in her head, even though it was now the end of the school day and most of the other students had vacated the campus. Whether she meant 'idiot' as in Tatsuya for doing that to her, or 'idiot' as in herself for responding that way, she still hadn't quite decided.

However, reality came crashing back down the moment she stepped foot in the meeting room.

Mayumi found herself seated in a very familiar seat at the head of the Student Council Office's conference room table, hands properly folded in front of her. Mikihiko had taken a seat near the middle of the table and was sitting stiffly, head bent over with an intense gaze, as if he were tracing the individual wood grains within the surface of the table. Erika had taken up post leaning against the window, scowling at no one and nothing in particular; she believed that everyone in the room could share with the bitter aftertaste of the previous evenings.

She glanced to the left at the workstations within the office, which were occupied by the two Shiba siblings. From what she could tell from their terminal screens, they were handling Student Council and Disciplinary Committee matters, respectively. Apparently that even the recent developments with the Parasites was not enough to faze either of them.

Correction. Knowing them both, Tatsuya was definitely unfazed, and Miyuki simply trusted her brother enough that if he wasn't concerned, then there was not really a reason to either. And she also definitely knew that Tatsuya was still unfazed about this morning, although now that seemed like a distant memory in the face of what they were about to discuss.

A firm knock was heard from the door to the office, followed by a low "Excuse me" and the large frame of Katsuto, a sheaf of papers in hand.

"Is that…?" Mayumi asked, thoughts changing gears to the topic at hand.

"The autopsy report has been completed," her classmate confirmed.

"Time to figure out what the hell is going on," Erika muttered from the window.

Tatsuya and Miyuki both immediately stopped what they had been working on and joined the conference room table for the discussion that was about to take place. Only Erika remained standing.

"Well then," Katsuto began, palms flat on the table. Almost everyone was staring at the stack of papers in the center of the table with varying degrees of wariness, as if it were a viper. Hopefully, this viper contained some of the answers that they were seeking.

"As it stands, I believe that all of us here can agree that there are at least three questions that need answering," he continued.

He held up his index finger.

"One, we need to determine the identity of these people that these Parasites have possessed."

His index finger was accompanied by his middle.

"Two, how are these…Parasite hosts…able to cast magic so quickly and efficiently?"

Katsuto glanced at Tatsuya.

"From what I understand of Shiba's assessment, those of us present were not mistaken. None of us saw any activation sequences being created, and therefore they are casting magic in a way that bypassess much of the requirements of Modern Magic, although it did not look like Ancient Magic either," he said, turning to Mikihiko this time.

The ring finger went up.

"And three, we have been operating under the assumption that the only parties interested in this case already had representatives among us. We now know this is not the case. Who is interfering with this investigation?"

"I am in agreement that these are some pretty fundamental questions that have important bearing on this case," Mayumi assented. "Juumonji-kun, I trust that you have reviewed these documents already?"

"Yes," Katsuto nodded, passing the papers around the table. Mayumi received the stack, taking a bound set of papers and continued passing the stack on to Miyuki before quickly leafing through.

"Unfortunately, I believe we may already be at an impasse with the first question."

The sound of shuffling papers continued while Katsuto paused.

"Based on the results of the autopsy, we can definitively say that our Parasite host is not Japanese, or of East Asian descent at all."

Mayumi studied the portrait of the deceased woman at the top left of the autopsy report that detailed the profile of the subject. As Katusto mentioned, she sported zero features that could have been associated with East or South East Asia, having pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, upturned nose, full lips, and high, prominent cheekbones, common characteristics indicating Northern European descent. In life, she would undoubtedly have been very beautiful.

"So we can likely assume our Parasites are not local?" Mayumi asked. "Which then almost certainly means they came from overseas, likely Europe, or maybe the Americas?"

"I'm guessing we already ran the images against the database that the Immigration Services Agency has for foreign nationals," Erika ventured.

"Zero hits," Katsuto confirmed.

"Illegal immigrants?" Mikihiko posed. "Why does this situation sound familiar…"

"How about question two?" Tatsuya asked. "I did notice that there were some curious discoveries in this report."

Mayumi glanced over to see that Tatsuya had flipped to a page near the end of the package. She flipped through the pages to try to find what had so piqued his curiosity.

"So you noticed that, Shiba," Katsuto answered. "Indeed, that was quite curious to see as well. Page 7, for everyone trying to find what Shiba has referenced."

"During MRI evaluation of the subject's brain, an unexpected discovery was made that found that there was what appeared to be a large bundle of fibers with a similar appearance as that of the corpus callosum located between the right and left hemispheres in the region of the prefrontal cortex. This is the first documentation of such a phenomenon within the Japanese Medical Association, and as such it is not known how such a feature has developed within a human brain or for what purpose it serves…" Tatsuya read out loud.

"Can someone translate that for me?" Erika asked, raising her hand.

"It sounds like they found something in this Parasite host's brain that should not be there," Miyuki replied, voice troubled.

"The prefrontal cortex is closely associated with thinking and judgment, but…can such a feature affect the human mental capacity to this extent, and in such a specific way associated with magical ability?" Mikihiko frowned.

"There is a theory that the brain is not an independent thinking organ, rather everyone, magician or not, has a unique Pushion Information Body, and the brain's role is to serve as an intermediary to receive and communicate information to this…'Pushion Mind'," Tatsuya summarized. "If…this hypothesis holds, there is a possibility that this new…neuronal structure may unlock previously never before seen mental functions…"

That…was also troubling to say the least. The sudden return of the silence and the heaviness seemed to reflect that this was also what everyone else was thinking.

"...And the last question?" Mayumi spoke up after a few moments, trying to drive the discussion forward to place all the information they had on the table.

"This one…is the hardest. We have no information on where this outside interference came from, only that now we know there is another party involved in this. We previously believed that the only players in this investigation were the Police, and by extension the Chiba, and then the Saegusa-Juumonji alliance. Upon our consolidation into this single investigative team, it was believed that everyone was now working towards the same goal."

Katsuto's eyes narrowed.

"In hindsight, that was naive."

Mayumi forced herself to flip to the page that showed the images taken by police at the scene of the confrontation. She had seen dead bodies before, but the sight of the cavity in the Parasite's chest and sheer amount of blood splattered on the concrete and the park grass was grotesque.

"...at least…"

Everyone turned at the sound of Tatsuya's low voice, spoken almost beneath his breath.

"Shiba?"

"There is 'at least' one other party involved in this. I know the odds are not high, but if there is one interfering party, what's to say that there aren't others involved as well? This whole situation…we're playing blind. The information we have is paltry at best, maybe misleading at worst?"

Mayumi grimaced. As loathe as she was to admit, she had seen situations like this before. She hated feeling like a puppet dancing on the string.

The room sat in silence for a few moments more before Tatsuya raised his hand.

"I'd like to add one more question for consideration."

"Go ahead," Mayumi prompted.

"That night, we saw two of these Parasite hosts die in front of us. My question is: What happens when a Parasite host dies?"

Tatsuya looked squarely at Mikihiko.

"Does killing the Parasite host kill the Parasite?" he asked levelly. "What happens when a Parasite host dies?"

Mayumi felt the pit in her stomach deepen and grow colder, and similar expressions of dread appeared on everyone else's faces. Miyuki raised her hands to cover her mouth, Erika and Katsuto looked elsewhere in contemplation, while Mikihiko's eyes slowly widened.

It was clear that that was not a question that he had considered before.

Silence reigned until the clock rang, signaling the end of their designated meeting time, thus ending Valentine's Day on a much more somber note that it had started.

- パラサイト -

The stillness of the night air was once again disturbed by the sensation of insects communing, the subtle hint of pulling and pushing of air currents, present, yet not.

Typically, the impression was that of orderliness and control.

Yet this night, the noise was chaotic, almost nausea inducing, too many voices trying to convey their thoughts and feelings at once.

[How!? How could this be!?]

[Patience. In the realm of discovery and experimentation, the unexpected is to be expected.]

[But the very premise of our testing itself is being threatened.]

[Yet shall the threat of failure uproot the conviction of our goal?]

[We shall not be coerced by a single act.]

[Silence yourselves.]

A stronger, more dominant idea emerged amidst the silent cacophony.

[Discord does not suit our being. We are the only ones that may drive a wedge into our midst. Why should we fear those who can kill the body, but not the soul?]

The intangible waves that created this noiseless symphony resonated for an instant before another dissenting chord struck out.

[But how shall we respond? Even if the magnitude of our consciousness remains unchanged, the medium by which we may bend this new world to our will inevitably weaken if we continue with this passiveness. We must take action!]

[And risk drawing more undue attention?]

[What would we have ourselves propose?]

[Clearly these grounds have already established a defense. It is inadvisable to continue our testing elsewhere.]

More humming reverberated soundlessly around the room.

[Let us wait one more cycle to allow these vessels to recuperate. They are frail, and fragile, of poor constitution. When all have gathered, we shall depart.]

- しば -

February 16, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

"Well, glad to see that your little stint at the hospital hasn't altered your ability to vacuum down food," Erika commented wryly, voicing the thought that probably everyone at the lunchroom table was thinking.

Tatsuya watched Mikihiko out of the corner of his eye amusedly, seeing his classmate's eyes widen as Leo inhaled another mound of rice.

"Leo-kun, better be careful with the grilled saba, there are some bones in it," Mizuki cautioned.

For the first time in two weeks, a sense of normalcy had returned to their lunch table. Leo had finally been discharged from the hospital late yesterday afternoon, and from their group messages it was clear that being detained and watched 24 hours a day had made him antsy. And even though the doctor's recommendation was to avoid immediately going back to his normal routine, he had promptly thrown all advice out the window and came straight back to First High.

"Man, it's so nice to be able to eat real food again," Leo sighed contentedly after draining his bowl of miso soup.

"I'm sure you're being dramatic," Erika replied, rolling her eyes.

Leo snorted.

"I understood the reasoning for the liquid diet for the first four days, but c'mon! The doctor said I had pretty much recovered almost all of my strength by day 5, and they still wouldn't let me eat the food from the cafeteria."

"Suuure, if by 'recovered your strength', you mean face planted when you attempted to get out of the bed to use the bathroom by yourself, despite the nurse telling you otherwise," Erika snickered.

"H-Hey!" Leo protested, face changing shades slightly, a response that caused Mikihiko to chuckle and Mizuki, Honoka, and Miyuki to giggle. It was definitely good to have Leo bring some levity back.

"A-Anyway," Leo started, after he had somewhat composed himself. "There wasn't a lot more news about these Vamp-Parasite incidents, I guess I should say. Tatsuya, weren't you all working with Saegusa-senpai and Juumonji-senpai? Erika had mentioned that some people had been going through the city trying to track them down but didn't mention much else."

Tatsuya glanced at Erika, who shrugged. There weren't really any restrictions of confidentiality about the investigation, but it did feel a little strange to be talking about it in the middle of the school cafeteria.

"Is it really fine to discuss that right now?" Mikihiko dropped his voice, looking at Tatsuya.

"It's probably ok to talk about it, I think. It's unlikely that what's discussed here would get leaked out, and it's just us today," Tatsuya said. "There's not much else to say. It's true that some of us have been supporting the investigation but the truth is there really hasn't been any real progress to make mention of in the first place."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I haven't seen Lina around for a bit," Mizuki commented. "Is she doing ok?" she asked Miyuki and Honoka.

"She's been showing up to class, but it seems she's had to relinquish some of her duties as a temporary officer of the Student Council. Seems to be some personal matters came up?" Honoka answered uncertainly. "But it doesn't seem to have slowed her down academically in any way. Her theory and practical scores are pretty much neck-and-neck with Miyuki's for the top of the grade."

"I see, I hope she's doing alright," Mizuki commiserated.

"Huh, ok," Leo also added simply.

The expression on Leo's, Erika's, and Mikihiko's faces reflected what he himself was thinking, that despite having been around the American exchange student for over a month now, it was difficult to shake the nagging sense of suspicion surrounding the blonde girl. Miyuki, he knew, also shared his thoughts, but she was much better trained at keeping her expressions and emotions in check. One thing for sure he knew was that it probably was not the norm for an exchange student such as herself to be missing quite so much time away from school, but none of them were so close with her that they could go about asking these sorts of questions without coming off as rude.

"Back to the topic of your 'Vampire hunts', you wouldn't happen to be recruiting would you…?" Leo asked, following up on the topic from earlier.

"Not for you," Tatsuya rebuffed him resolutely. "As you mentioned yourself, the doctor's orders were for you to stay away from physical strain or other taxing environments. And I would say what we've been doing falls under those categories."

"Seriously? But I feel fine! Besides, I also have first hand experience with them. I know how to handle myself for the next time. Trust me, it's an experience that I don't want to go through again, or anyone else for that matter."

"Are you serious? Tatsuya just reiterated what the doctor told you and you still want to get up close and personal with them right after you got out of the hospital?" Mikihiko asked, bewildered.

"If this has something to do with wanting to 'redeem yourself' or some crap like that," Erika growled menacingly, causing him to wince slightly.

"The answer is still no," Tatsuya asserted. "For now, you're still in no physical condition to be out and about. You'd be more of a liability to us, and with how fast things can change, we can't risk it. Your only job now is to rest and recover."

Tatsuya stood up and stacked Miyuki and Honoka's tray on top of his own, and turned to bring them to the tray return.

"Actually, you have more than one job. You also still have two weeks of material to catch back up on, so you better get a jump on that. I'm sure Mikihiko would appreciate not having to set aside even more time to tutor you."

Tatsuya's lips tilted upwards as he heard sounds of protest from Mikihiko and sputtering from Leo at the jab, while Erika made a light snide comment on the side, causing the rest of the table to laugh as the soft chime signaling the end of the lunch period rang over the intercom.

- よつば -

Yotsuba Maya was not happy.

Currently she was sitting alone in her study, having sent Hayama away to give herself some time to think alone.

What had caused this deviation? When did it occur?

She already knew why. But what she didn't know is why she let it continue in the first place. Had she been naive enough to believe that Miyuki would have been enough to control him? Surely not.

So then why?

She absently drummed her long, slender digits on the redwood desk. Before her lay a few sheets of paper, one that she was very familiar with. She had lost track of the number of times she had read it, then re-read it.

She knew her sister. The two of them had been inseparable. Up till the day that would be forever seared into the collective memory of the Yotsuba.

The wording of this report, the nuances.

She knew. Miya had tried so very hard to hide the fact, but after hundreds of readings, she had figured it out, read between the lines.

Of course, it would have been so much easier to just confront the good doctor herself, but she was surprisingly good about disappearing into the nether. Oh, she had leads for sure, but she was almost certain that no it would not have mattered, as she had probably left the mortal coil.

No matter. In every situation, an opportunity. She had the awareness, the knowledge.

And where knowledge was to be had, understanding.

And where understanding was held, control could be grasped.

So despite him not cooperating with her plans, she could still control him, it would just have to be through a different method.

Content with that conclusion, she decided that it was time to re-insert herself into their little game.

"Hayama, I would like to have a short chat with my cousin, you should be able to reach him at the Royal Park, Room 523," she called out, despite her butler not being in attendance.

The communication hub in her study rang a few times before the connection on the other end was picked up.

"Hello, it's me," a voice answered.

"My dearest cousin, do you have a moment out of your busy, busy schedule for me?" she asked sweetly, hands folded across her lap.

Even though the call was voice only, she could visualize Mitsugu straightening up from the surprise.

"Maya-sama…Of course, what may I do for you this evening?"

She involuntarily let the edge of her lips quirk upwards. Oh how she did enjoy toying with Mitsugu, watching him warily navigate their interactions.

"Is there an emergency? Please give me your orders."

"Hey, Mitsugu…Could you please change that overly dramatic speech pattern of yours?" she replied languidly.

"My beautiful itoko-sama, I can assure you that I have always spoken with utter sincerity."

Maya sighed into the air. Her cousin had already composed himself enough to play along with her, although she was still able to detect a note of hesitation.

"Then let's cut to the chase…Mitsugu, have you finished identifying the Parasites' hosts?"

"There are a total of 12 of them. Two of them were eliminated by the Saegusa-Juumonji coalition. The Americans have yet to make any progress, but they are certainly getting in the way. I have identified the last 10, along with their base of operations."

"Ho…Efficient as always. Just as expected of you, Mitsugu," she drawled.

"No, the Saegusa and Chiba families were very industrious in drawing their attention. This saved me from baiting them out."

"How humble of you."

She knew that the Kuroba had only just identified the remaining targets as of yesterday evening, but even then, she let his comment slide. Better to keep him on his toes.

"Given the circumstances, it is unacceptable for the monsters that are contaminating Tokyo to raise any more havoc."

"How stringent. But Tokyo isn't within the Yotsuba's responsibility."

She detected a hint of hesitation within his rebuttal.

"Given the case, you are to finish this," she insisted.

"Finish, meaning…?"

She could not help but feel a twinge of annoyance, but she knew he was trying to cover his own bases, hence the clarification.

"Eradicate all the hosts."

"Not subjugate, correct?"

"Indeed. Annihilate them all."

"But if the hosts die now, the Parasites will fly off to seek other hosts. More time would be required to identify the new hosts-"

"That's not a problem," she cut him off, growing tired of this discussion. "I'm more interested in how the Parasites detach after the host dies, and how far they can move as information bodies. How long does it take to fully assimilate within a new host? And how much time is indeed before they can move again?"

The voice on the other end did not respond immediately.

"Would you like me to report in after I observe this?" he finally acquiesced.

"I believe this will be valuable data. Can you do this?" she asked.

"It is as you wish."

She could imagine the man bowing to nothing and no one by himself in his hotel room.

"Check back in with me after destroying them."

"Please give me until the day after tomorrow."

"That will be fine. That is all."

Maya terminated the call before Mitsugu could say anything else.

She narrowed her eyes in anticipation and allowed a predatory smile to grace her features.

"Now, your move, my dearest nephew."

- しば - シールズ -

February 18, 2096

Miyuki cast another lingering backwards glance towards the kitchen sink as she made wide, sweeping motions with the damp washcloth in her hand, wiping the surface of their dining table down after their dinner had concluded. She was slightly concerned because, despite this being the fourth time wiping the table down, her brother hadn't seemed to have realized that she was still loitering in the dining room.

For his part, Tatsuya was mechanically going through the motions of washing the stack of dishes stacked neatly next to him. Like clockwork, he would grab the piece of tableware that was at the top of the stack, scrub it down with the soapy sponge in his hand, then set it down inside the sink. Even in these seemingly mundane actions, he carried them out with careful, deliberate motions. However, she could tell there was a distinct lack of sharpness to some of his motions, a tell tale sign that his thoughts were preoccupied with something else than the task at hand.

She knew what was troubling him, of course. Their meeting regarding these 'Paranormal Parasites'. Despite having a theoretical understanding of what these creatures were and how they behaved, it was still difficult to grasp in practicality. She couldn't imagine how the victims felt.

Did they know what was happening?

Could they feel the invaders taking over their minds?

Or were they still conscious and cognizant of the foreign entity controlling their bodies, like a puppet dancing on a string?

That last thought was particularly disturbing, and shook her out of her waking trance. She caught a ghostly image of herself reflected off the now-pristine surface of the table, worry etched into her brow and the turn of her lips. She scrunched the cloth in frustration.

She made her way back towards the kitchen counter, and shot another sideways look at Tatsuya. He had finished soaping all of the dirty dishes and was in the process of rinsing them off. She could see that his own brows were furrowed in thought, his eyes staring down at the dishes but gaze still looking a million miles away, as if he were concentrating on some faraway star.

Miyuki poured herself a cup of coffee into her mug, making sure to leave another cup's worth inside the carafe for her brother when he was finished with the washing. She quietly stole her way out of the kitchen and made her way to the living room, and settled down on one of their couches, leaning back into the cushion and elegantly crossing her slender legs. She took a small sip of the dark brew and turned her attention to what her brother had been staring at on the screen for the entirety of the afternoon before dinner.

One half of the television screen was a projection of the greater Tokyo area, with angry red X's marking scattered locations around the city. Bordering to the left were some scans of information that he had acquired over the course of his investigation. She noted that he had highlighted some documents that he had found to be noteworthy, mainly blood work reports, MRIs of the Parasite hosts as well as the relatively sparse information he could gather from the magical testing on their remains.

Miyuki's eyes wandered back to the map of Tokyo. In addition to the twenty-four crosses marked, he had added two white circles onto the map, one at Yoyogi Park and the other at Shinjuku Chuo Park, the site of the two incidents where they had physically encountered the Parasites for themselves. She could see that her brother had also shaded some regions of the map in light yellow, mainly surrounding notable other parks and areas that had fairly good access to highways and major roads. Despite the work he had done, it still looked like a significant portion of the map was annotated as potential retreats for their targets.

"Oh, did I leave that on the screen?"

The question came from behind her. Tatsuya had apparently finished with the cleaning and was currently hovering behind her shoulder, coffee mug in hand.

"It's really troubling you, is it, onii-sama?"

Her brother settled on the couch opposite from where she was seated. She had turned to look at him to gauge his response, but his eyes were still tethered to the map.

"It wasn't really a serious effort," he began slowly. He took a sip of his drink. "This was more of an attempt to distract myself than anything. I know both the police and the Saegusa would have narrowed down the search area to something a bit more manageable. I was going to ask Mayumi for their conclusions to compare, see if there was something that we had missed."

Miyuki looked back at the screen.

"Still, there is some sense of futility seeing what we have to comb through. Or maybe it's a sense of urgency? The news has been ominously quiet on the subject if there have been any more victims."

Tatsuya shook his head.

"If there were more, Mayumi would have been the first to tell us about it. But I do think there is a new element of uncertainty that wasn't there when we started our investigation. Mainly with regard to our new parties. Are they friendly? Or do they have more nefarious intentions?"

"Mmm."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, ruminating on Tatsuya's set of heavy questions. She stared down into her cup, feeling the somber air wrap about her body like an oppressive cloak.

"Onii-sama, you mentioned that this was a distraction," she said suddenly, touching on what he had mentioned earlier in their conversation.

Her brother furrowed his eyebrows.

"During our meetings, Mikihiko was able to shed some light on the nature of these Paranormal Parasites, and the reasons for their vampire-like behavior. But he also couldn't provide many other details on how they continue to exist and manifest their presence in the physical dimension. For all the advancements we have made in our understanding of magic and phenomena, one key piece of information we are missing is where the energy for overwriting phenomena in the physical plane comes from. From an outside perspective, it looks like energy is not required if the alteration was done by magic, and there is no sign of physical energy being supplied. It appears as though magic is in complete violation of the law of conservation of energy."

Miyuki opened her mouth to ask what this had to do with the Parasites, but she knew better than to question Tatsuya's line of thought; it may take a while, but this preposition would surely help shed some light on things she had not considered yet.

"You're referring to the 'First Paradox of Modern Magic'?" Mikyuki asked, to humor his explanation.

Tatsuya nodded.

"More specifically, the law of conservation of energy is only applicable to a closed system. Which means if you did observe a variation in the total amount of energy, it either means you've made an observational error, or the system wasn't closed in the first place."

"Which means that magic observed in the physical world is not operating in a closed system," she concluded for him. "You're referring to Extra-dimensional Theory. Energy needed for magical processes is supplied from an alternate dimension."

"The working theory is that gravity is what is supporting the dimensional barrier between the observable universe and this 'alternate dimension'. If we assume that magic can pass through the barrier without breaking it, then that would be a reasonable proposition that the energy used to fuel changes driven by magic processes might also be sourced from the same place, thus closing the apparent gap in the law of conservation of energy for magic."

Miyuki started to grasp the train of thought that her brother was following.

"So you're saying that magic and energy can phase through this barrier through controlled spell casting from our side."

"But say this dimensional barrier fluctuates…"

"Magic energy behind the control of magic sequences can breach the barrier…?"

"Maybe it's not just energy that crosses over into our world."

"...The Paranormal Parasite," she whispered softly, throat suddenly dry.

Tatsuya nodded gravely.

"This in itself opens up a whole other host of questions. What is their true nature, are they just information bodies, or something more? Do they inherently have sentience, or is that something retained from this hypothetical 'alternative dimension? And how do we respond to their instinct of self-preservation; both individually and as a group?"

Miyuki now understood why it was easier to focus on tracking the Parasites rather than trying to understand them. What seemed to start out as a study in magic processes was slowly turning into a well yawning chasm of philosophical questions.

A flash from the television screen drew both of their attention. Miyuki frowned.

"Were you expecting that…?"

Suddenly, the screen started breaking up and various windows and popups started appearing.

Tatsuya grabbed the keyboard that he had stashed in the shelving beneath the coffee table and began typing rapid-fire. It appeared that someone was again trying to hack into their home network. She knew better than to interrupt him while he was this deep in concentration to fend off the cracking attempt, instead just watched him as he operated in his element, brows scrunched and mouth set in a concentrated frown.

As suddenly the popups and typing began, it stopped.

"...Is it over…?" she asked tentatively.

Tatsuya drummed his hand on the cushion beside him.

"I didn't manage to identify the perpetrators, but everything seems to still be in order. Although they did leave one peculiarity, almost as if they wanted me to intentionally find it.

He made a few quick taps on the keyboard and one more window expanded on the screen.

"They've left a message for us," he said simply.

Miyuki scanned over the words on the screen, eyes widening.

From his lack of response, clearly her brother didn't know what to make of this intrusion either.

There was no greeting, no explanation; the contents of the message was made up of a single address and a time: 2 Chome-39 Tamagawadai, Setagaya City; 2:00 A.M.

…

Lina rolled off of her bed and trudged into the kitchen living space of the apartment, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The continued days of late nights and lack of proper rest and recovery, not to mention she still had to make the occasional trip to First High to keep up appearances. For over a week, she had been scouring the unfamiliar streets of Tokyo, trying to locate the phantom deserters.

Sylvie was sitting at the kitchen table, also visibly exhausted if the the bags beneath her eyes were any indication, nursing a mug of coffee, her right leg sticking out awkwardly from the bandage wrappings to help with the recovery of the gash on her thigh.

Mia was curled up on the couch fast asleep like she herself had been only a few minutes ago, catching up on what little rest she could snatch before they headed out again tonight. Frankly, none of them were in any condition to be operating like this.

Mechanically, Lina walked over to the coffee maker to prepare a drink for herself as well. She would need all the support she could get, especially since other than the two women in the apartment, the USNA had not provided additional personnel resources. Whether this was to maintain confidentiality of the military's involvement in this case, or to minimize the risk of USNA nationals being discovered operating on the soil of a sovereign nation, or perhaps they overestimated the abilities of who they already had in-country, she didn't know.

She took her mug and sat down in front of Sylvie after she had finished brewing her drink, watching the older woman tap away on the terminal.

"I'm assuming you haven't been able to dig up any more information regarding the Vampires? The news has been surprisingly silent on the matter over the past few days."

Sylvie confirmed her observation by shaking her head.

"There's been nothing. I've tried poking around in their databases, but nothing has changed regarding their information on these Vampires."

She glanced over the terminal again, eyes roaming all over the screen.

"I've been trying to trace the paths of the psion wave signatures of the deserters that we've been tracking, but other than the fact that they tend to stick to groups of two and three, there doesn't seem to be a convergence point anywhere. I suppose, if they are able to communicate without congregating in a single place as the experts back home have theorized, then that makes it all the more trickier for us."

Lina sighed. As expected.

"Mmm. Is it possible our methodology is wrong?" Lina asked.

"What do you mean?" Sylvie frowned, looking up from her work.

"I'm just saying maybe we're missing a piece of the puzzle," Lina clarified. "There's a lot of information we're still in the dark about. Like…" Lina trailed off thinking.

"How about the blood loss from all the victims. We still don't know why exactly this occurs, right?"

Sylvie scrunched her eyebrows more.

"Well…the USNA scientists have some theories, but nothing concrete. I've been reading up on some reports hypothesizing that it could be some sort of possession, by an information body. The fact that several personnel all exhibited this strange and sudden desertion, which does not appear to be coerced in any way, is troubling. Almost all of the twelve had some family or connections alive and waiting for them. It's not like people to just up and disappear for no reason."

"An independent information body, huh?"

"You think that's relevant?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But it's another approach to take I suppose. What do we know about information bodies?"

"Well, avoiding getting into the heavy theory, it's the psion structure of a given object in the Eidos."

Lina set her mug down with a thump.

"Ok, psions themselves are the basis of the world in the Eidos. But they behave according to the physical laws of nature. Whether they are the basis of the physical laws or they simply obey them is a question for another day, but I believe that a cluster of psions don't - can't - act on their own."

"So you're saying something else is driving them?" Sylvie prompted.

"What if…these information bodies aren't just psions? What happens if pushions get thrown in the mix?"

Sylvie tilted her head.

"There's not much emphasis on the study of pushions. All we really know is that they don't seem to have any inherent uses, unlike psions. But it's an interesting possibility to consider, I guess."

"Does our equipment have the capability to track pushion waves like it's able to do so for psions?"

"Currently, no. But I do think I can get some data from our Low Earth Orbit satellites for the past two weeks or so. Give me a moment."

Sylvie began tapping on the keyboard for a few minutes.

"Ok, I ran the data through the system and managed to identify a couple hot spots where pushion activity was detected," she said when she was finished. She passed the terminal to Lina for her to study. Definitely a lot fewer places, but it was still overwhelming when comparing it to the size of the greater Tokyo area.

"Can we superimpose the psion wave signatures over this map as well?" Lina asked, handing the device back.

"Sure."

Sylvie made a few more adjustments, before suddenly letting out a soft exclamation. She excitedly gave the terminal back.

"Look!"

Before their eyes, the overlay of the two data sets had revealed a pattern forming over the city. Sylvie had circled ten spots around the greater Tokyo area that had a convergence of strong signals from both the psion wave tracking and pushion map.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Lina announced confidently. "This is much more manageable than what we were working with before."

"Agreed," Sylvie said. "Although let's not get our hopes too high up. These might prove to be more false leads."

"Well, it's a better lead than searching blindly. I'm going to get Mia up, let's head out in ten minutes," Lina asserted, standing up and making her way to the kitchen.

"Sylvie…?" She poked her head out when she did not get an affirmative response from the older woman.

"Uh…" Sylvie's eyes were glued to the terminal screen. She could see flashes of something reflecting against her eyes. As if suddenly galvanized into action, Sylvie began typing furiously, key presses reverberating throughout the room.

"Sylvie!"

She hurried back to the kitchen table to see what had gotten her so incensed. Her eyes widened at the sight of the terminal screen going beserk with text and numbers flashing across different programs.

"Sylvie, what's going on!?"

"Someone is trying to hack into the system," she growled.

Abruptly, the terminal screen cut to black. The two women remained staring at the terminal for a few more seconds.

"Did…you manage to repel them…?" Lina asked uncertainly.

The screen flickered back to life, displaying a string of text before cutting back to their map.

Lina glanced down at Sylvie.

"Do you know what that was about?"

She shook her head.

"It didn't seem like they were after anything. I chased them through the system, but that was all they left.

Lina had a growing sense of suspicion in the back of her mind.

"Sylvie, can you overlay '2 Chome-39 Tamagawadai, Setagaya City' on the map?"

Sylvie looked confused but did as she was asked.

"Oh my…"

A chill crept down Lina's spine as she saw the location pin drop squarely within one of the circled areas that they had found earlier.

"It looks like our first destination is Setagaya City; target time: 1:30 A.M."

- くろば - シールズ - しば -

February 19, 2096, Setagaya

1:23 A.M.

"Two seconds…It truly is quite difficult to match oji-sama."

Kuroba Mitsugu muttered to himself as stepped into the dim illumination of the warehouse. He took a moment to lean down to retrieve the pin that had fallen to the cold floor.

As tasteless as he found assassination work, it was difficult to deny that 'Poisoned Bees' was effective at carrying the task out. There was no mess to clean up, and there was no way to confirm a cause of death, which ensured that no one could come calling. Just a little prick, and the Sensory Interference Magic did the rest of the work.

Clean though it was, painless it was not, unfortunately for their targets.

The Parasite hosts never knew what hit them.

Standing up, he frowned as he deftly rolled the thin needle between his thumb and his index figure, ignoring the three bodies lying at his feet, and instead opting to study the barren space that the Parasites had been using as a hideout.

The building that they had swept through happened to be a self-storage facility in the heart of Setagaya within a business park, far away from easy access to major highways and a predictable ebb of foot traffic during the small hours of the night. Intel suggested that none of the units were actually in use at this satellite location, which is probably why they were able to get away with operating out of the basement.

If they were any other organization than the Yotsuba, it would be nearly impossible to find this place.

"A needle in a haystack, if you will," he said to himself humorlessly despite the irony of the analogy, holding up his weapon of choice to the dim lamplight.

There was not much of anything around the room. He could see a clothes rack hanging a varied assortment of shirts, pants, and outerwear while a desk off to another side had a stack of bone white masks. Other than that, there was nothing else. No food, no equipment. He wasn't sure how these things survived, but he tried not to think about it too hard.

That wasn't his job after all.

"Sir."

Mitsugu turned his head to look towards the stairwell from where he descended to the basement. The newcomer gave a stiff, but quick bow, eyes concealed behind a pair of black shades, and a hat casting a shadow concealing the rest of their features.

"Report from upstairs?" he asked brusquely.

"Execution complete," they replied equally tersely.

"Casualties?"

"None."

Mitsugu nodded in satisfaction at his subordinate's words. These were opponents that had greatly troubled the USNA force. He could be forgiven if he took a small measure of pride in their accomplishments.

"This order came from the head of the house. Don't be lax while tracking down the information bodies that fled the hosts. There's nothing we can do about it if we lose them in the end, but they still need to be hounded to the best of our ability.

His subordinate gave off a peculiar expression after Mistugu gave his orders. Should his backhanded speech be interpreted as being too lax or simply not strict enough with his subordinates? It was difficult to conciliate this image with his calm orders of mass assassinations or cold demeanor to decisively sacrifice his agents.

Kuroba Mitsugu was a difficult man to understand.

With multiple masks in place, there was no way to see his true self.

For that matter, it was very much in question whether he even had a 'true self'.

"Sir. We're picking up signals that the USNA military dispatch team is heading towards this location."

His subordinate's voice interrupted his musings with the unexpected information.

Tch. How did they-

He stopped himself from getting carried away. He had to be careful to not show any sign of surprise. That wouldn't be good to show here in front of his operatives.

Better clear out quickly.

"That's it for this operation. Tell the others to disperse and rally at safehouse 27 for debrief. Dismissed."

He gave one last glance at the three bodies strewn on the ground. Even if he wasn't thrilled with getting his hands dirty himself, he would at least have the satisfaction of pulling one over the Saegusa and Miya's bastard son.

He immediately quashed the thought. Better get those thoughts out of the head before contacting Maya again. He was certain that that woman couldn't read minds, but he wasn't going to take those chances with his cousin.

…

1:31 A.M.

"Hermes, this is Apollo, radio check, over."

Clad in a black jumpsuit and sleek full-face helmet, Lina peered around the corner of the building from where she was crouched, eyeing the self-storage facility from the cover of darkness behind a stone wall that was concealed by some dense shrubs. The undercover uniform allowed her to blend into the darkness.

"Apollo, this is Hermes, roger, over."

Sylvie's voice resonated in her ears, completing the radio check. For operations like these, her flexibility and control over 'Voice Transmission' was extremely useful, being much more efficient than an earpiece, and without the risk of communication interception, as well.

There wasn't anything immediately that stood out to her as unusual.

The facility looked to be like any other warehouse in the residential district; there wasn't anything to indicate that it was occupied, which was to be expected given it was the middle of the night. However, perhaps she wasn't as familiar with how commercial buildings such as these functioned, but she also wasn't able to make out any sort of security measures in place. It was, effectively, as much as they were able to verify in the little time before they arrived, an abandoned building.

For this operation, Lina, Sylvie, and Mia had agreed to prioritize caution above all else. They have precious little information to go on, especially since the information regarding the time and place had been itself provided by a mysterious outside party. Who they were, what their intentions were, and just how much they knew about the USNA agents was ominously unknown, and there was every chance that they themselves were being observed.

But, that being said, something was better than nothing.

Lina had taken vanguard of the operation: get in, quickly comb the building, then get out. She was also the only one with enough firepower to overcome any amount of significant retaliation.

Mia was currently using the resources available to her as an undercover representative of Maximilien Devices to backdoor her way into the satellite feed in the area to monitor the surrounding situation so that Lina wasn't caught off guard by unexpected developments.

Lastly, Sylvie was camped out in a nondescript van near the intersection of National Highway 20 and Metropolitan Road Route 311, serving as the communications facilitator for all three of them. Access to two major roadways ensured that she would be able to make any quick evacuation required, and also intercept Lina if things went sideways.

"Apollo, making my approach now. Coms going silent from this end," she whispered into the chilly night air. She received no response from Sylvie, but trusted that the other two would be monitoring her carefully.

Sticking to the shadows, she stole her way to the pedestrian entrance by the main vehicle entrance gate. She extracted a medium-sized hand knife from its sheath holstered to her thigh, but to her surprise - and unease - she didn't need to cut through the lock mechanism. Instead a gentle push on the door allowed it to simply swing open.

Troubling.

She knew it was almost certainly a trap. She could walk away now. She had the authority to call off the operation. There was something very, very wrong here. But something prompted her to go onwards.

She held her breath as she stepped foot inside the compound, but thankfully the overhead lights remained dim, and no alarms or sirens shattered the night silence. Keeping close against the building wall, she slipped over to the front entrance. Again, a single weak tug was enough for the door to come ajar.

She kept her knife arm loose but mentally prepared herself for a potential ambush. Her other hand held her terminal CAD, fingers primed to fire off an activation sequence as well.

Slipping into the darkened interior of the building, she gave herself a few seconds to adjust to the helmet's built in night vision lens.

From her position besides the entrance to the facility, she scanned around what appeared to be a lobby or reception area. The space was largely empty save for a single counter facing the front doors, only wide enough for a single person to man the desk. There were no security officers, or cameras that she could see in the room. The only other access that she could see to the front area was a set of double doors to the left of the counter. There was nothing to indicate that the door was unlocked, but she knew that it was the case. She kept low as she made her way over, once again pausing before slowly pushing her way into the hallway.

Unlike where she had just come from, the walkway was dimly illuminated by a handful of small emergency lights. The pinpricks were not enough to disrupt her night vision, but she remained vigilant regardless. The long hallway was ominously silent as she continued her investigation. There was no sound other than the soft padding of her feet on the floor, and the air was uncomfortably still; she supposed it would make sense that the air conditioning wouldn't be in use for a supposedly empty building.

She came across the first body at where the hallway made a sharp right angle turn left.

It had been concealed just out of her field of view, hidden behind the wall. She instinctively tightened her grip on the knife handle while readying a defensive spell while shuffling backwards in a practiced move.

After several moments of the standoff, she concluded that whoever - or whatever - it was, it was probably not going to come at her. Stepping closer, she could see that the body was lying in a supine position, legs and arms tucked close to the torso. It didn't look like a natural pose that someone would just fall into. It almost looked like the body had been staged.

She nudged the body's leg with her foot, still on guard in case it did spring to life. When it did not, she crouched lower, still wary. She hadn't encountered a zombie yet, but she could have said the same about vampires less than a month ago. She pressed two fingers against the body's neck.

The lack of a pulse confirmed that the body was not alive.

She activated the camera function on her helmet's HUD to snap a couple pictures of the figure for later review before moving on. She hadn't memorized the faces of each of the suspected Vampires but from a cursory examination, the face that belonged to the corpse before her did look caucasian.

Still unsure of whether she was alone in the facility or not, Lina decided that she was starting to linger too long and began to accelerate her pace of her sweep. It wasn't long before she found the second body, and then the next, and the next, making her way through all three floors and then the basement. By the time she completed her investigation of the basement, she had accounted for ten bodies, all lying in the same bizarre supine position as the first.

There was no obvious indication from her examination that suggested any cause of death, no lacerations, bruising, or blood of any kind. Although one common factor she did notice after the fifth body was that they had all been wide-eyed in their deceased state, which did disturb her.

What did this….

She was turning to climb the basement stairs to leave the building when Sylvie's voice reappeared in her ear, startling her and causing her to jump slightly in surprise.

"Apollo, we have some personnel arriving on scene. Additional unknowns also arriving shortly."

Shit!

She had no time to contemplate why Sylvie had warned her so late, after people had already arrived on location. Right now she had to find an alternative exit.

"Hermes, this is Apollo, roger that. Requesting alternative exfil route, over," she whispered into the air, bounding up the stairs.

"Apollo, there should be an emergency exit in the stairwell that you took to clear all the floors. It will take you to the back of the building, but it's still within the compound. You'll need to cut through the back fence, which will take you to the neighboring commercial building. If you go south, it will take you away from the Tomei Expressway, but you have a chance of losing them within the neighborhood."

"Hermes, roger that. Cutting comms now, will alert you of the rendezvous location."

Throwing all sense of diligence away, she bounded down the hallway towards the emergency exit.

…

1:58 A.M.

"Well, it seems like everyone got the message," Tatsuya noted as he removed his motorcycle helmet. Beside him, Miyuki did the same, shaking her head to allow her long hair to fall about her shoulders in her typical free hairstyle.

The group had congregated in an empty business lot across from the communicated location. Erika and Mikihiko stood off to one side, and like their previous outings, sported katana, and fan, respectively; they must have taken a late night car. Katsuto was leaning against what Tatsuya assumed was his vehicle, a Mega Cruiser, which he supposed was appropriate, given its resemblance to its driver, although he hoped that it wasn't his everyday vehicle of choice.

Mayumi, was once again accompanied by her silent bodyguard that he remembered from their infiltration of the Blanche base last spring. She stopped her pacing when she saw them pull into the lot; knowing her, she was probably overthinking things, again. He cast a brief glance towards her bodyguard - Nakura-san - he remembered. He was still wary of him, since he had seen so much already, but he only had had very limited contact with him, and he didn't have any Saegusa agents snooping around, at least other than a single crimson-eyed woman. Mayumi had so far kept her word that she was keeping his information guarded the best she could.

He turned his attention back to the situation at hand, which had all begun with their mysterious tip.

"Looks like we're the last ones. Have any of you taken a look around the property yet?"

Erika opened her mouth to say something, but Katsuto cut her off, shaking his head.

"Not yet. We wanted to make sure that everyone was here before we did anything; it is technically private property after all, and despite the reach of the Ten Master Clans, it would not be wise to do anything without good reason," the big man stated simply.

Tatsuya nodded in agreement, for more reasons than one. He was glad the senior was also able to keep Erika in check, although with his imposing presence it was unsurprising. With her feisty personality, she would probably have charged in as soon as she arrived.

"In that case, we shouldn't delay any more. It's almost time."

Taking point, Tatsuya led the group towards the darkened building, unholstering his Silver Horn. Behind him, he sensed that the rest of the group had also tensed up. Miyuki tightened her grip on her terminal while Mayumi brushed a delicate hand over the custom bracelet-type he had gifted her; Mikihiko's fan jingled softly and Erika loosened her sheathed blade with her thumb. Katsuto was the only one without an overt display of unease.

The moment he came within sight of the pedestrian side door, swinging in the night breeze, he knew his suspicions would be confirmed. Accelerating his pace, he disregarded the soft exclamations and warnings of caution and pushed through the door. He came to an abrupt halt just a few meters within the property boundary.

"Shiba-kun?" Mayumi asked hesitantly, addressing him in a more proper way, still conscientious of the fact that they were not alone and couldn't let their guards down.

Outer-Systematic Mental Interference Magic.

He could make out the faint residue of magic lingering within the building. It was not a spell he was familiar with, but he had a pretty good guess as to the group that had been here just prior to their arrival.

"What is it, Shiba?" Katsuto pressed more firmly.

Tatsuya made sure to keep his face neutral as he considered just how much he could conceal. If the Yotsuba had decided to become involved, that could potentially add unwanted complications for his involvement, although if his Aunt had not contacted him yet, there was reasonable evidence to conclude that he was playing into her hands. Or was he?

As he was considering these questions, and tracking through the Eidos he identified the trace of another individual on the premises.

Someone else was still here.

"Come on!" he barked, taking off at a sprint, alarming his companions.

A chorus of "wait" or "hold on" followed him, and Mayumi even broke character by yelling his name,, all of which he disregarded.

He practically flung open the front door, already knowing it was unlocked, navigating his way towards the hallway where he had identified the information trail.

There.

He barely caught a glimpse of a movement in the dark disappearing around the corner of the hallway, only seeing it because he was expecting it. The individual was wearing dark clothes, which faded into the inky shadows cast by the emergency lights onto the floor and walls, which was difficult to see with the naked eye.

Tearing down the hallway, he spared only a quick glance at the body squashed into the corner where the floor met the wall. The traces of the Outer-Systematic Mental Interference Magic he had sensed earlier was lingering on the body, but he would have to leave additional investigation after their current objective of tracking down the fleeing figure, who hopefully would reveal at least some hint of the answers they were seeking.

He heard Katsuto shouting something to Erika about alerting local police to the address and locking down a perimeter.

The runner ahead led him towards the stairwell, and broke through a door leading to what he supposed was a back entrance to the building. The individual activated a quick sequence, allowing them to leap over the fence. Tatsuya followed suit, tailed closely by Katsuto, Erika, and Mikihiko; Mayumi and Miyuki probably stayed behind, being less useful in a cross city foot chase.

He sensed a presence beside him as they kept up the pursuit.

"Another magic user," Katsuto noted between breaths. "It can't be a coincidence that someone else would be at the scene just as we arrived."

"Then we just have to apprehend them," Tatsuya replied simply.

"This person is a fast bastard for sure," Erika grumbled from behind.

Little did they know things were about to get slightly more complicated.

For a several seconds, they were keeping pace, maintaining the distance between their quarry and themselves, but as soon as they passed beneath the dim illumination of the streetlights at the intersection of Kampachi-dori Avenue and Komazawa-dori Avenue, the black-clad figure fuzzed out of focus and suddenly split into three distinct, but identical looking figures, each splitting off into a different direction, one turning left on Komazawa-dori Avenue, another turning right, and the last continuing to sprint dead south along Komazawa-dori Avenue.

Erika swore beneath her breath and Mikihiko's footsteps faltered.

"Erika and Mikihiko, go left! Juumonji-senpai, right! I'll take the southern copy!" Tatsuya shouted backwards, not relenting on his pace.

He received back a curt grunt from the senior. Erika and Mikihiko didn't say anything but he could feel that they had peeled off in the direction he ordered.

He himself kept the last clone within his sights, mind racing as fast as his legs. Something didn't feel right, but he pushed forward to gain on the figure.

There was a thought nagging at the back of his head, like he had felt something similar to this before…When was it…?

He continued wracking his brains until he made up his mind. In a swift motion, he skidded to a halt and swung his Silver Horn and aimed squarely at the center of the retreating figure's back, loosing a fast Oscillation-type singularity sequence with some effort causing his head to pulse in pain slightly. The magic slammed straight onto target.

Or at least it should have.

The sequence phased directly through the illusion, disrupting it momentarily.

He had suspected that he had been following a dummy. No doubt the others were as well. That was the confirmation he needed to know he was working with a Sensory-type magic user. And a powerful one at that.

There was only one way to locate this individual. He could only hope someone would be close by to hit them.

He quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway, concealing himself between the shadows of the surrounding buildings, closing his eyes. His normal use of Elemental Sight would not be of use here; he would have to draw on additional resources. He reached with his mind outwards, dispersing it, expanding his search within the Eidos in a sphere centered around his current position. In dedicating more of his resources to a deeper version of Elemental Sight, he was at his most vulnerable, even only for a few moments, as we would be unable to move or defend his physical body from anything that might happen. He rapidly parsed through the information that he had gathered in a fifteen kilometer radius around himself, guessing that was enough to find what he was looking for.

In less than a second, he found what he was looking for. He found the real body of their target had fled back north, circling around from where it had led them on the merry chase. He looked ahead of the direction it was heading and targeted a realistic interception point.

He put a hand to his earpiece to relay the change of plans but hesitated for a moment, then lowered his hand upon changing his mind. It would be faster and less riskier to apprehend her himself.

He took off again at a brisk lope, mentally trying to ascertain the least conspicuous interception point, choosing to settle a smaller neighborhood in Akatsutsumi, concluding that if he wanted to hit the timeframe he would need to cover the roughly 6 kilometers from his current location in less than 7 minutes, a nearly superhuman pace. He set his jaw in determination and pushed his pace, activating an self-acceleration spell and feeling another wave of pain through his temple that was seeming to become more and more common these days.

Weaving his ways through the streets, he approached the target zone from the south.

Skidding to a half at the intersection of Saifukuji-dori, breathing just slightly heavier than normal, he shifted his awareness into the Eidos.

Based on the road with the greatest accessibility and escape options, she should be right about…

There.

Facing directly north down the road, he lifted his CAD and fired directly at nothing-

And shredded the illusion and revealed the physical body of his quarry.

The destruction of this illusion must have resulted in the removal of the other phantom clones because he heard the confused questioning of Erika and Katsuto within his ear, but he muted the headphone to concentrate on the battle at hand.

The figure picked up that they had been found out immediately after the magic had taken effect, but they too, were not stunned for long.

He shifted his consciousness back into the physical dimension, just in time to perceive that his opponent was readying an activation sequence. He acted swiftly, raising his CAD and firing off a bullet of psions to destroy the sequence before the magic could complete. That action also seemed to stump his opponent, but again not for long, as she swiftly recovered and started compiling numerous sequences, back-to-back.

Her activation speed really was something else, even exceeding that of Miyuki, but even still, he did not have a difficult time keeping up with their pace, tearing apart each activation sequence faster than they could be constructed.

Inasmuch as he was able to maneuver her into a magical stalemate, it had not yet exhausted all of her options. His adversary had unsheathed daggers in either hand, and had begun hurling them in his direction.

He deftly dodged out of the path of the blades, but in the split second he was preoccupied with evading, his quarry had managed to throw up several new copies around her. Each of the copies took out two more knives and proceeded to sling them in his direction.

How bothersome.

The information bodies that were created contained the correct colors, shapes, sounds, position, and thermal signature, making them indiscernible by the naked eye.

In order to break through this Perception-type magic, he would either need to locate the body between the time when the old illusion broke down and a new illusion was created, or to completely disregard the five senses to find the coordinates of the body direction in the Information Dimension, as he had done earlier.

He already knew that her activation speed was blindingly fast, not to mention that she probably had practiced this magic to death. The latter was not really a possibility anymore, as the threat of a physical blow would be a considerable gamble as he would not be able to heal himself while his consciousness remained completely away from his physical form.

Tatsuya decided.

As he was unable to locate her actual body before she created a new illusion, he settled for a third option that he had prepared as a contingency.

He withdrew a small cylindrical can from inside his jacket and threw it lightly upwards.

For a split second, he could detect confusion from his opponent's body language, but it was clear that they realized what it was.

"Shi-" a feminine voice swore out just as the canister grenade exploded, throwing up a barrier.

Tatsuya himself cast 'Fixed Deceleration' with some effort from his memory using Flash Cast, successfully reducing the speed of the shrapnel raining over the area from lethal to merely very painful as the shards rained over his flank, thigh, and arm he used to shield his face.

He felt 'Regrowth' activate but he forcefully canceled his self-restoration, instead taking the opportunity to leap towards his opponent, who was completely unscathed behind a barrier.

However, his ruse had done its job.

He leapt towards the figure, immediately decomposing the barrier that she had created. Shattering through the remnants of the magic he used his left arm to burst open her guard and followed up with his right arm to throw her bodily to the ground, knocking the wind out of her and producing a pained grunt.

He pinned her right arm behind her head and pressed an open palm firmly against her chest.

"Stand down. It's over Lina."

- さえぐさ -

February 19, 2096, Shiba Residence

Despite this being her first time at Tatsuya's and Miyuki's home, Mayumi was having a difficult time concentrating on anything else than the situation at hand, the cup of coffee that Tatsuya had left for her on a coaster on top of their living room table long gone cold. Under any other circumstance, she would have tried to fully immerse herself in their hospitality, but she didn't even have the ability to bemoan that fact in this moment.

All eyes on the room were fixated on a certain blonde-haired, blue eyed, first-year exchange student. All of them had displayed some mixture of surprise and shock at the reveal that the person that they had caught this past night was none other than Angelina Shields, although notably, Tatsuya's expression had remained rather muted throughout. From what she had known, most of them had harbored some amount of skepticism when Lina had first shown up at the beginning of the semester, but it did not feel good that their suspicions of infiltration had been proven founded after all.

The decision to use the Shiba's personal residence had been proposed by Tatsuya himself. He had argued that perhaps this was all some massive misunderstanding, and that escalating the matter to either one of the two great houses of the Ten Master Clans, or even the Chiba or Yoshida, would be tantamount to starting the next global conflict. And so both she and Katsuto had agreed to this arrangement out of a n attitude of prudence, to first use this opportunity to ascertain whether they should be concerned or not.

Still, perhaps the fact that her coffee had gone cold or the fact that the atmosphere was downright frigid had less to do with the tension in the air, but rather to do with Miyuki's disposition, which if she had to use one word to describe it, it would probably be 'frigid', but even that barely scraped the surface. The younger Shiba was sitting on the other end of the couch from where Mayumi was perched, legs folded elegantly, with her hands resting gently over her lap. However, it was clear that she was barely managing to hold in her emotions, her back ramrod straight, and her shoulder blades tensed. However, the most tell-tale sign was her eyes, piercing straight ahead, as if she were trying to bore a hole into Lina's head. Her mouth was set in a nuanced, but practiced smile, reminiscent of the Mona Lisa, but Mayumi could tell there was a certain strain about her eyes, so faint that she could barely perceive it.

Lina herself, sitting on the other couch facing towards herself and Miyuki, had an unreadable expression on her face, arms folded across her bust. Her neutral gaze flickered from Miyuki, tracing around the room, before settling on Mayumi. The way Lina carried herself, giving an impression that was both languid, yet alert, reminded her somewhat of Tatsuya.

As for the rest of the group, Katsuto was leaning against the wall next to the large screen at the front of the room with a deeper frown interrupting his typical stony expression, while Erika had taken a chair at the dining table adjacent to the living room, her katana within arms length, propped against the cabinet, Mikihiko sitting in the chair across the dining table from her. Both freshmen seemed to be agitated, with Erika drumming her fingers on the table softly while Mikihiko was bouncing his feet.

Even though it was only a few minutes since all of them had arrived, the awkwardness of the situation made it feel like an eternity.

"Are you ready to tell us who you really are?" From sitting between herself and Miyuki, their host finally broke the silence.

Tatsuya placed his mug back down onto the coffee table from which he had taken a sip. The motion drew her attention to his right shoulder. From underneath his shirt, a mass bulged out, from where she knew he had bundled his shoulder in gauze and wrapped it with bandages, the location from where he had taken the bullet from Lina's gun. It was only for show, and she knew that he was already completely healed from his magic, only doing it to keep up appearances for everyone in the room other than herself and his sister. Still, Miyuki had also picked up on the movement, and despite her restraint, bristled slightly.

Maybe it was only her imagination, but had the temperature dropped again?

The silence stretched for a few seconds, before Katsuto followed up.

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be; the relationship between our two countries is at stake."

Lina cast her eyes around the room, meeting each of their gazes. Mayumi recognized the resignation in those eyes. The blonde haired girl let out a sigh.

"Angelina Shields, Ph.D in Atomic Physics, MIT. Special Officer of the USNA Army," Lina said, enunciating each word slowly and deliberately.

Mayumi's eyebrows shot upwards.

Each part of that self-identification was a bombshell in of itself. A graduate degree? At her age? From MIT? And also a USNA military officer?

The announcement garnered similar reactions from around the room. From behind Lina, she could see Erika frown while Mikihiko fidgeted in his seat. Miyuki and Katsuto had more carefully concealed reactions, but she still noted that both of them glanced at Tatsuya out of the corner of her vision. She had to clench the hem of her skirt to not follow suit, even though she needed to see his own reaction.

Tatsuya remained unfazed, and pressed on with the questioning.

"I see. So indeed your enrollment at First High was a cover for your assignment, is that correct?"

Lina's lips thinned at the direct line of questioning.

"That is right," she answered in the affirmative.

Tatsuya crossed his arms.

"You realize that is a serious breach of Japanese national security," Katsuto responded.

"It was not our intent to encroach on the Japanese government's authority," Lina pressed. "We were hoping that we would be able to do what we came to do and leave, without tipping anything off."

"Well, it looks like that objective ended in failure," Mayumi continued their line of questioning. "There is nothing stopping us from turning you in right now."

"Then why haven't you?" Lina demanded. "Two representatives from the Ten Master Clans, with witnesses from the Hundred Families, and the public. Why?"

Mayumi was surprised by the sudden parry from Lina, not to mention her abnormal display of knowledge of the Japanese magical community. Whoever she was, she was knowledgeable about the intricacies of their governance.

"We haven't yet, because we have yet to confirm your true reason here," Tatsuya answered tersely. "So I'll ask you: What is the USNA's purpose in Japan?"

His voice was low, but deeply acute. She turned and looked in his direction, and was taken aback by the intensity in his eyes, almost smoldering. His expression clearly communicated what he would do if she lied to him.

Now it was Lina's turn for her eyes to widen and shrink under the ferocity of Tatsuya's gaze, causing her to hesitate for the first time since the interrogation began.

"The Vampires," Lina said simply after regaining her composure. "We are hunting down the Vampires."

Mayumi glanced at Tatsuya out of her peripheral vision. He remained silent, seeming to weigh her answer against his judgment.

"So the USNA is aware of these Vampires as well," Katusto pressed on while Tatsuya contemplated her answer.

"Yes," Lina asserted. "Unfortunately, the Vampires are a result of a USNA experiment gone wrong."

"So why didn't the USNA give warning to Japan? Why resort to these tactics, this attempt to sweep it under the rug? Our countries are supposed to be allies."

"You are right," Lina said, this time looking pained. "I agree, this…this is wrong. But I cannot speak for my government. I can only offer my condolences for the wreckage that our mistake caused, and try to fix what I can."

"You shot my brother," Miyuki stated factually, voice flat.

Lina's eyes fell further, looking away.

"I…was desperate and I made a grave mistake. I can only be grateful that it turned out to not be fatal. I apologize for that."

Miyuki looked like she wanted to say more, but Tatsuya held up a hand to stop her.

"We can sort personal issues out later. But for now, we're willing to not report your activities to the authorities-"

Mayumi opened her mouth to protest but was beaten to the punch by Katsuto. Her classmate pushed himself off the wall and stalked over to the couch.

"Shiba! What is the meaning of this!? You mean to make a deal with her?!"

"Yes, Juumonji-senpai. Right now, we are still shooting in the dark. We have ten dead bodies being processed right now, but still no sign of any of the Parasites. If we are to have a chance of closing out this case before anything more happens, I believe Lina is our best shot," Tatsuya said, not once taking his eyes off of the faux exchange student. "Not to mention, are you willing to risk the fragile peace between two of the world's magic superpowers on the basis of some running around that Lina and her cohort may have done?"

It was Katsuto's turn to look furious, struggling to rein in his words.

"If she does betray us, or does something we tell her she can't do, we can still turn her in at a later time. What I'm requesting is at least a chance-" he glanced at Mayumi, "-for her to share some of the information they have with us. Because I know they have information." He finished the sentence with another flat look in Lina's direction.

"What if I take full responsibility for this decision? If it comes down to it, both Lina and I would be submitted as enemies of the country. Is that enough guarantee?" Tatsuya offered.

Both Mayumi and Miyuki shot upwards to protest, but Tatsuya's gaze, locked on Katsuto, did not once waver.

Katsuto's visage flashed through several different expressions before settling on one that could only be described as resolute and severe.

"Very well. We shall go with your plan. But I'm warning you, Shiba, it will only take a single misstep," Katsuto rumbled.

Tatsuya nodded while she herself shuddered slightly. She hoped that he knew what he was doing with his promise.

"Thank you, Juumonji-senpai."

He turned back to Lina.

"The offer is on the table. Share everything you know, and work with us, and at the end of the semester, you can return to the USNA without incident. Do we have a deal?"

- パラサイト -

February 20, 2096, Kazanawa, Ishikawa Prefecture

The beings awoke from their slumber, one by one rising from the beds that served as their resting places until ten figures stood in a haphazard arrangement, each examining their new bodies and surroundings.

[This…is a sight we are not familiar with…this place…these bodies…]

[And yet, we remember a moment like this…our birth.]

Vibrations permeated the air.

[We sense that we are not in danger…how could this be?]

The impression of a low buzz replied.

[Regardless of our new circumstance, shall we waste this opportunity?]

[Indeed, I sense that our abilities have been strengthened.]

[And there are many new candidates in our vicinity.]

The eyes of the largest figure glinted.

[It is time to return to our hunt.]

- シールズ -

February 21, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Lina worried her bottom lip as her eyes traced across the screen in front of her.

She, for one, was glad for some measure of normalcy after what had turned out to be a very long weekend, and was grateful that she could, at least for a short time, put out of her mind all thoughts relating to why she was in Japan in the first place. And, so, instead of taking her lunch in the cafeteria, she had chosen to forgo food to spend some solitude in the library.

Part of the reason why she had gone out of her way to avoid human interaction was to relieve herself of much of the agitation in the air; she very much did not want to have to try to pretend everything was fine, especially around her first-year classmates, especially one Shiba Tatsuya.

The way he had conducted himself when they had brought her back to the Shiba's house, she was more sure than ever that he was not just a normal high school student. The intensity of his stare, and the way he so easily picked away at her defenses. The way he controlled the direction of her interrogation.

It was unnerving.

Needless to say, she had no choice but to accept his offer, even though she could see that the Juumonji heir was less than pleased with the outcome. As part of her agreement, all of the information and data that they had would be shared with them, and she had also pledged that Sylvie and Mia would assist in their efforts. Now the agreement wasn't a complete one way wash, in that Tatsuya also acknowledged that there wasn't any point in concealing any of their findings from them either, making it much more of a cooperative effort, albeit a very strained one at that.

So they had spent the greater part of the afternoon and evening reviewing information, and asking, but mainly answering questions. She could see the skepticism and confusion in both Sylvie's and Mia's eyes, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Thankfully, Sylvie seemed to trust her judgment and did her best to work with the Japanese students; Lina left most of the information sharing to her, so she played a more background role, adding in comments here and there as needed. This event proved enlightening for herself as well, as she could only really claim to have a cursory understanding of the background.

So it was to her complete and justified surprise when the door to the reading room in front of where she was seated opened and produced none other than Shiba Tatsuya.

She immediately froze, not knowing how to react.

Tatsuya seemed to wrestle with none of her inhibitions, only barely raising a single eyebrow. It did take him a few seconds to decide what to do, and in the end, he opted to lay the tablet in his hands face down on the table and take the seat facing opposite to her.

"What are you reading?" Tatsuya asked, simple and direct.

She was almost certain that her mouth was hanging open like an idiot, but it was quite ironic just how opposite this current meeting was from their first encounter in the library. She struggled to put together a coherent response amid the tension permeating the room.

"It's, um, the thesis on the Weight-type Cardinal Code."

"Interesting choice of reading. The author is quite remarkable, even if some of his theories are not quite correct."

Lina frowned.

"Are you acquainted?"

"In a way. If you had chosen to attend Third High it is quite likely you would have met him."

Lina's eyebrows scrunched together.

Another high schooler? Who was assigned to Third High, and just what was it with these Japanese students…!?

"A freshman as well, actually," Tatsuya added, as if reading her mind.

Wait…don't tell me he can read minds…!?

She did her best to neutralize her expressions.

"I'm wondering if you can help me understand something as well," Tatsuya continued nonchalantly.

Lina cocked her head ever so slightly, wary of what he was about to ask.

"What can you tell me about 'Parade'?"

At the question Lina stiffened. Again, out of everything she was expecting, Tatsuya still managed to sneak a dagger between her defenses.

He leaned backwards in his seat, apparently satisfied at her response.

"If you tell me just how you are related to Elder Kudou, I will in turn present all of my deductions here and now. Actually," Tatsuya continued, folding his arms, "I'll go first.

"I think that you are lying about the true reason why you're here," Tatsuya leveled the accusation at her. "At first glance, your skill set suggests that you are meant to serve in an infiltration role. Your activation speed is unparalleled, allowing you fast. Your magic," his eyes narrowed, emphasizing the sentence, "allows you to redirect attention away from yourself. Or perhaps conceal.

"But, from our fight, I could tell that you weren't trained in stealth. Your methods are sloppy. No, I believe your strength actually lies in combat. I just haven't decided how potent you might be yet."

His eyes appeared to unfocus for a moment, as if looking behind her.

"Ah yes. As to 'Parade'. The effect of your magic, it is very similar to something I experienced once, in the presence of the Elder. That is how I concluded you are somehow related to the Kudou clan. As a family secret, it could only be shared within the family. That's not the only thing that gave it away. You have too much knowledge of the inner workings of the Japanese Magic Community for a true outsider. You recognized the names Juumonji and Saegusa, not to mention even Chiba. So then, I ask: What is your true purpose here?"

Lina clammed up at the barrage information. Those intense blue eyes petrified her. Everything he said was true.

Just who was he..?!

From the moment that he had sat down, she had gotten ten words in, and from the rest he had dominated the conversation. She could feel the danger rolling off of him, as if he had wrapped himself in a cloak of it.

As soon as he had sat down he stood up.

"Consider this a warning," he said coldly.

He picked up his tablet and strode past her, pausing just before opening the door to leave the room.

"One last question. What would it take for you to execute a command to kill someone, without knowing the reason why?"

She felt, rather than heard, that he had left, leaving her alone with her thoughts, the words on the pages in front of her long forgotten.

- いちじょう -

February 23, 2096, Kanazawa

Hyakumangoku dori Avenue was still relatively active late in the evening, with cars still traveling up and down the motorway. The brisk winter breeze stung the back of his throat as he inhaled, causing him to wrinkle his nose and readjust the scarp wrapped snugly around his mouth and nose in an attempt to guard against the chilly air.

Masaki wasn't really walking around the city with any particular destination in mind, just taking an opportunity to clear his head, and also to get a brief period of respite from his two younger sisters. And as the heir of the Ichijou, it was also good for him to get some boots on the ground to maintain a feel on the pulse of the city itself.

Kanazawa itself was a more modest city when compared to a metropolitan center like greater Tokyo, but it still had ample nightlife, with other pedestrians flowing in both directions along the commercial district, mostly teenage students and young adults making the most of their Tuesday evening. The region was equally abundant in history and culture as Tokyo or Kyoto, and in some ways, it was more evident due to being less urbanized. Still, the white noise of the ambiance of the neighborhood helped him relax somewhat into the background, just another person, living their life.

Unlike the other carefree individuals walking down the avenue, chatting about one trivial matter or the next, his mind was still trying to organize its thoughts on the freshman exchange student.

After more than a month with Nagaso Hiroshi, he had had to come to the uneasy conclusion that he had absolutely zero grounds for continuing to hold suspicion against the man. Sure, he still didn't know much about him, but that could be chalked up to him being more private. As much as they could, he and Airi had used their access to keep tabs on Hiroshi's whereabouts during the day, and George had reported nothing out of the ordinary in the evenings. From what he could tell, Hiroshi seemed to have settled very nicely into his temporary accommodations.

So why does something still feel amiss?

He sighed into his scarf and shoved his gloved hands deeper into his overcoat, scowling straight ahead. Instead of feeling annoyed, shouldn't he be a little more relieved? Or was it the weight of his name weighing down on his shoulders again? Then again, it was doubtful that any other organization was required to be as vigilant as the Ten Master Clans. So was that it? Was he actually resentful of his responsibility, the one he had such a firm grip on that he didn't want to let go? Or was it the other way around, that his responsibility had a chokehold on him?

He swore underneath his breath at the fact that he was even questioning his duties.

The muted sounds of a commotion from up ahead distracted him out of his musings. He focused a curious gaze forwards, trying to make out the source of the disturbance.

A crowd seemed to be gathering in the middle of the pedestrian walkway, taking up the greater breadth of the path. There didn't seem to be any discernible reason why, but he figured that he would see for himself after a few seconds when he passed by. He still didn't think too much of it until the screaming and yelling started.

In an instant he spurred himself into action and pulled his hands out of his pockets to dash over as something was clearly not right, readying his CAD, just in case. As he arrived on the scene, the huddle of people just happened to surge backwards, so he took the opportunity to maneuver his way to the center of the throng, using his larger than average frame to firmly but carefully push people out of the way.

In the center of the crowd, was a single body, on the ground, back propped against one of the walls of the buildings that made up the alleyway that the passerbys had congregated around. At first glance he thought it might have possibly just been another drunk passed out on the street, but by his estimation it was a little too early for that to be happening that evening. Upon closer inspection, the body looked to be slouched at a rather odd and awkward looking angle, and the man's eyes were very much open and staring at nothing.

"What's going on here?" he demanded to no one in particular.

"He-he-he's dead…" a woman on the other side of the alleyway across from him answered dumbly, clearly in shock. The yelling had died down, but the crowd was still in a muted uproar with people mumbling to the people standing next to them.

A dead body?

"Did anyone call the police?" he asked, kneeling down next to the body and took off his left glove, pressing his fingers against the neck of the figure on the ground.

No mistaking it…he's very much dead.

He turned at the lack of affirmative response.

"Well? Was the police contacted?"

His forceful tone seemed to have shaken some of the watchers out of their shocked stupor. Apparently, no one had taken control of the situation, and no one seemed to be questioning what someone as young as him had chosen to do so.

"I-I'll do that now!" another man yelped.

"Who was the first one to discover the body?" he asked assertively, scanning the crowd around him. The walls of the huddle seemed to shrink back under his forceful gaze.

"T-That would be us," a timid voice sounded from behind him.

He turned around to see who the owner of the voice was.

The owner turned out to be a scrawny looking boy with slate gray, almost navy hair, and amber eyes in a black gakuran. He looked to be a teenager, surrounded by a handful of other students, classmates he supposed.

"We were just leaving from dinner at the restaurant next to this alley when I saw this man leaning against the wall over there. I just wanted to make sure he was ok before calling the police, but when he didn't respond, we all kind of froze up and didn't know what to do," the kid answered hesitantly.

Masaki frowned.

For such an exposed area, with significant foot traffic, it was troubling that no one had seen what had happened. He cast a backwards glance towards the alley. It was open to the street on the other end, so maybe someone might have seen something on the other side? In any case, they would need to wait for the authorities to arrive to question everyone.

He squatted back down to eye level with the corpse. There was something strange, for a supposedly dead body, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"Everyone please stay calm, and wait until an officer has talked with you. We need to get statements from everyone here."

Right on time.

He stood up and turned around to see that the police had arrived on scene.

"Officer," he greeted simply.

The policeman raised an eye at the offhand greeting.

"Hmm? And who might you be?"

"Ichijou Masaki, sir."

The officer raised an eyebrow at the introduction.

"Ichijou, huh? How are the Ichijou tied up in this?"

Masaki shook his head.

"Just taking an evening walk, sir, when I happened to come across the crowd. It seemed that everyone here was shocked and confused, so I was just trying to make sure no one else got hurt in the commotion."

"I see," the policeman nodded. "It seems like you're the most involved one here so far, besides those kids that told us they found the body. Can I get your statement?"

Masaki dipped his head.

"Of course. I don't think I can provide much else in the way of information to illuminate this case, but I will admit that I touched the body to check for a pulse to verify he did die. Other than that, I just think it's a very curious case. There's no obvious external injuries from what I can see, and the fact that the body was found in such a public area. On behalf of my father, I would like to keep notified of the investigation and any findings, so I can report to him, if that's ok with the department?"

The officer made a couple notes in his tablet terminal.

"I'll check with the Chief. While I would have outright said 'no' to other civilians, your family does carry a certain weight around this city. I'll let you know if your request is approved."

Masaki bowed one more time.

"Of course, I appreciate your time officer."

The police turned to talk with another person, so Masaki figured that he was free to leave. It seems like this is where his evening stroll came to an end. He gave one more look at the body on the ground. Looks like he would have something else to preoccupy his thoughts with in the meantime.

…

February 24, 2096, Ichijou Main Family Residence

"Otou-san, how was your business trip?" Masaki asked his father almost immediately as the elder Ichijou was in the process of removing his shoes at the entryway of the Ichijou family mansion, barely enough time for him to have greeted the rest of the family.

The main house that the immediate Ichijou members lived in was divided into two sections, one in a more western-style for the family itself while the other was in a more Japanese-style in the spirit of the ancient samurai homes of yore for the reception of guests. The building was a strange dichotomy that somehow worked, blending both the traditional with the modern.

The older man straightened up and glanced over at his son as he picked up the briefcase he left on the floor while he was taking off his footwear.

"What's this about then? It's not like you to inquire about the family business," Ichijou Gouki answered sternly.

The current head of the Ichijou was best described by the single adjective of "manly", with close cropped coffee hair and an overly tanned body, which was a result of his many hours underneath the unrelenting sun. His toned physique was evident beneath his business attire, indicative of someone who was careful to maintain the state of his body even with a busy schedule, and despite his darker complexion being less common among the majority of the populace, it did not detract at all from his poise or commanding aura.

"You better talk with your son, dear. He's been pacing back and forth in the foyer since I confirmed that you would be joining us for dinner tonight," Ichijou Midori called from the kitchen. "Akane, can you please check to see if the oil is hot enough…" his mothers voice trailed off as she returned her attention back to the dinner preparation.

"I see…" Gouki frowned at his eldest taking off his jacket and loosening his tie. "Must be serious then if you've been waiting out here. Very well then, we can discuss in my study."

Masaki nodded and followed his father back to the book room that he referred to as his office space.

"So what's this all about, then?" his father prompted after he had shut the door to the room.

"Have a look at these police reports," Masaki replied simply, handing over the terminal that he had been holding the entire time he had been waiting, he himself having read through the contents of the report several times that he could quote several sections from memory.

His father wordlessly took the offered device and scanned the screen, eyes sweeping back and forth as he scrolled down on the document. He gave his father the time and space to complete his review. It took about fifteen minutes for him to finish his reading, and afterwards, he, too, wordlessly passed the terminal back to Masaki.

"Since when did you have any interest in police work?"

"I happened to be walking by when the incident happened, that's all. However, the details surrounding the incident itself were dubious at best, which is why I requested the report," Masaki replied. "You can't honestly tell me that there's something familiar about that autopsy report."

His father's frown lines deepened as he looked at his son pensively.

"You're referring to the 'Vampire Incidents' that were reported out of Kanto last month."

Masaki scrolled to a particular section of the report in his hand and read the document aloud.

"No indications of external wounds. No poisons detected in the system. Only finding of note is that the victim had a discrepancy of about ten percent of their blood volume from the expected value," he finished. "You can't tell me that this is a coincidence. The report speaks for itself; these perpetrators may have spread up to Kanazawa, Otou-san."

The elder Ichijou remained silent for a few seconds before nodding.

"I trust your judgment. I will reach out to the police department and work with them to request that we are allowed to partake in this investigation. If indeed these are the same perpetrators as the ones in Tokyo, we will need more information. I am sure that Juumonji and Saegusa will have some knowledge on this subject, although I expect that Juumonji may be more forthcoming in our request. I will leave that in your hands. Keep me updated on any further developments you have on your end."

Masaki bowed his head in acknowledgement of the assignment.

"Of course, Otou-san."

- いちじょう -

February 28, 2096, Kanazawa

"Remind me again, why is it that you've dragged me out on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter?" George grumbled from beside him. "Right, it was because someone couldn't be bothered to heed his father's instructions to coordinate with the police and instead opted to be the one traipsing about the city, in the cold, not to mention this rain."

The sounds of muffled shuffling barely could be heard above the constant, yet irregular beat of water droplets plinking off of their two figures, wrapped as they were in waterproof trench coats. Despite being wrapped in so many layers, the damp still managed to penetrate through their clothing. He suppressed his own need to shiver, but the same could not have been said about George. Masaki did feel bad that George had tagged along, as it was evident that the other man was quite uncomfortable, but neither did he request his friend to do so. He had intended for George to run as intel support, but in the end he elected to come along with him.

"It wouldn't be right," Masaki answered tersely, trying to speak above the patter and droning of the drizzle. "How can I ask others to do something that I wouldn't do myself? As a member of the Ten Master Clans, it's my duty to put the safety of the community of highest importance."

"And there you go 'Ichijou'-this and 'Ichijou'-that, not that I have anything but the utmost respect for your family name."

Masaki glared backwards at his friend who didn't even bother to twitch at the look. He knew that George had been treated as nothing less than another son, which George in turn had accepted, rather he was trying to plug a hole in what he knew was the beginnings of another lecture from his best friend.

"But, you do realize that there's not only a single way of carrying out your duties, right? That you're not being asked to shoulder the burden of anything and everything?"

"So what are you saying, that I should just stand from the back and give the orders?" Masaki demanded.

"Sometimes that's what's required of a leader, yeah," George retorted.

"Fine, maybe, but father is still around to handle that. Maybe once I'm a bit older I'll take on more of those roles, but for now, I can do the things that father can't commit to. I can be his hands and feet out here," Masaki pushed back as they continued down the sidewalk.

"You-Look. There's a reason why your family is a part of the Ten Master Clans, right?" George pressed. "You're supposed to be the strongest Magicians in the country."

"What are you saying now?"

"I'm saying that you're supposed to be there to fight in the arenas that the rest of us aren't able to. Right now, you're participating in this investigation. It's nothing extraordinary by any accounts, but say you keep taking on these duties. What if one of these days, some freak accident happens and incapacitates you. What's going to happen if something that seriously needs your abilities comes up while you're injured, what then, huh? Sometimes, we need to keep our ace up our sleeve. Safely. So when you actually are needed, you can be there for us."

Masaki frowned. His friend's logic had a way of making sense, but it didn't make him any happier. He should be out here, getting his hands dirty.

"Your silence is telling me that you are actually considering my words. Good," George said, without any hint of smugness or conceit. That was one of the things he appreciated about his friend. He was no-nonsense about his thoughts and was not afraid to say it either.

"It still doesn't feel right," Masaki said plainly.

"And why's that? Don't tell me you're comparing yourself to Juumonji again."

Masaki's brows furrowed at the mention of the older man. Despite their differences, Katsuto was someone worthy of his respect, even if he didn't particularly like the man. Perhaps it was out of spite that he was trying to emulate and outperform him, and he was already annoyed from having to contact him to get the information his team had already done for this case.

"You don't have to be like Juumonji, you know. For one, you are very much not invincible, and therefore you need to play to your own strengths."

"I would hardly call logistics and coordination a strength," Masaki growled sarcastically.

"Even then, I still don't know why you've elected to go chasing these phantoms in the cold. And the rain. And did I mention the cold?" George countered. "Speaking of which, even if the data from Juumonji is…surprisingly extensive…we still don't have a definitive method of tracking these people down. We've been out here for close to two hours now."

"Yeah…as you've mentioned for the fourth time now. If you want to head back, feel free. You can give me an update on the areas that we still haven't hit tonight.

George scoffed, then shivered.

"I can hardly leave you out here with your stubbornness and short-sighted planning."

"Fine, 30 more minutes, and we'll call it a night."

The two Third High students continued their walk south-east. Through the hazy rain, Kanazawa station was visible at the very end of the road.

"About the information we received from Juumonji…they did mention that all of the original hosts are deceased. In that case…what exactly are we looking for…?" George asked suddenly.

Masaki shrugged.

"For now, I was just looking for anything out of the ordinary. Something that doesn't seem right. From their report, the behavior of these 'Vampires' - I guess we should be calling them 'Paranormal Parasites' now - are rather inhuman in nature. Either that or - heaven forbid - another body."

"And if we did find something? How were you planning on dealing with that? Apparently not even the Juumonji Phalanx was able to deal with it. And now we know we can't go around killing these things either, as they could potentially just possess another person and then we have to go chasing it down all over again. "

"About that…I'm very well aware that we can't completely remove them by physical means, like damaging their bodies. Now, I'm not sure if Juumonji had thought of it, but maybe attacking this problem from the physical realm is completely the wrong direction. I was planning on talking with Touko to see if she had any suggestions from an Ancient Magic perspective."

"Hmph. I'm somewhat impressed, actually," George glanced at him from the side. "You have put a modicum of thought into this, even if I still think being out and about is not the most effective use of our time."

"If we do find something, the best we can do is try to chase them down."

"Although, I'm curious as to why the guys in Tokyo didn't look at it from the Ancient Magic angle? Yoshida-san, was it? He's an Ancient Magic user as well."

"Maybe they just didn't have the opportunity. From what I read, the two that they nearly captured were both killed by an external party, and the other ten were just found dead on the floor," Masaki said, shifting the hood of his rain cloak. "Whatever is going on, something bigger seems to be moving in the background where we cannot see."

The two friends fell into an uneasy silence as they continued their trek through the city streets. As they got closer to the station, Masaki elected to lead them off the main roadway, turning onto a smaller street, figuring that the denser neighborhood surrounding the train station would be less suspect.

Perhaps it was due to the relentless beat of rain, or his mind had started to wander off to other topics, that he didn't see the figure leaned over by a bench at the side of the road. George was the one to pull him out of his inattention with a sharp grab of his shoulder.

"Masaki," he hissed under his breath, pulling him out of the open towards a wall bordering the walkway.

Masaki looked to see where George was pointing at the mysterious person, covered from behind with a large umbrella. It was difficult to make out what exactly he was doing in the rain, but the one thing he knew for sure was that no sensible person would be caught out in this weather.

Without making any more noises, he motioned towards his wrist, indicating that his friend should prepare his own CAD for the unexpected. Then, doing his best to conceal his presence by sticking close to the buildings and walls, he led the two of them down the street across from the figure was preoccupied with whatever they were doing.

In this case, the deluge served to dampen their own footsteps such that both of them were able to steal up behind the black-garbed person without any notice. Either that, or they were so fixated with whatever they were attending to that they didn't need to bother turning around.

He would soon find out it was likely the latter.

"Excuse me, can we ask you what you're doing out here in this weather?" Masaki called out;

His voice breaking through the monotony of the precipitation seemed to galvanize the person into action, causing them to jump clear off the ground.

"Oh-oh, thanks goodness! I-I need some help, please, he's not responding!"

The person - kid actually, in the strictest sense - suddenly called out in a timid treble.

Both he and George frowned at the sudden cry for help, glancing at each other before speeding up to stand beside the kid to see what had him in such a state of agitation. Before them lay a bench, and on the bench, another person, slumped awkwardly, without any rain gear. They appeared to be completely drenched from head to toe.

Alarmed, he stepped towards the bench quickly, placing a hand on the limp figure's shoulder to shake them.

"Hey! Hey! Are you ok!?"

The slumped person didn't respond. He placed a hand on the person's neck, the cold touch confirming his dreaded assumption. He whirled around to face the boy.

"What happened here!?"

The kid shrank backwards from the sudden outburst.

"I-I don't know! I just found him like this, about a minute ago!"

The gangly boy was shaking, from his questioning or from the rain he did not know, but the ends of his slate navy gray hair, at least whatever wasn't plastered to his scalp, was shook off tiny droplets of moisture, amber eyes wide.

Masaki's eyes narrowed as he studied the kid's face. For some reason, the voice, hair, and eyes seemed somewhat familiar…

"Wait. Aren't you that kid from the alleyway from a few days back?"

Somehow the boy's eyes got even wider as he in turn recognized Masaki.

"Ah-ah-uh-Y-Yeah…"

Masaki's countenance turned harsher causing the boy to flinch again.

This couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?

"Who are you and what are you doing out here!?" he questioned severely.

"My name is Reisen Keito. I-I go to school around here!" the boy squeaked. "Nagata Junior High! I was on my way home when I passed by this area! L-Like I said, I didn't know what to do! But I couldn't just leave him!"

An autopsy would need to be performed to confirm, but his intuition told him that they had just found their second Vampire victim in Kanazawa.

"George, I need to call this in."

Masaki turned back to the boy, eyes sharp.

"Reisen Keito. We're going to need you to come with us to answer some questions."

- いちじょう -

March 1, 2096, Ichijou Main Family Residence

Masaki stood silently in his father's study, hands behind his back in a loose imitation of an at attention posture. Beside him he was also accompanied by George, who was a little bit more antsy, doing his best not to shuffle his feet from side to side. As much as he had been functionally adopted into the family, George was still much more comfortable interacting with the matriarch of the family rather than Ichijou Gouki, who by virtue of his duties tended to be absent whenever George was present.

He did have to admit that the atmosphere was more weighty now than when he had been in the room with his father a little over a week ago. But he also knew that the acting role had changed slightly, from a father to one of the representatives of Japan's Ten Master Clans. His father was seated behind his office desk, a wide piece of furniture, its metal frame cut in clean lines within the modern looking office, both imposing yet maintaining a sense of its owner's utility.

His father set down the paper report in his hand from his concluding reading, his left hand resting flat against the cool surface of the table while he drummed slowly with his right.

"First, it is confirmed that the person that you two found last night is our second known victim of the Parasites in Kanazawa. The indications align with the victim found last week, as well as all of the reports that the team in Tokyo have graciously given to us. As unfortunate of an occurrence this was, I am glad it was you two that found the body," his father started, voice a little too level for Masaki's liking.

He opened his mouth to say something, both to thank his father and to hopefully forestall some of the storm that he knew was about to blow into his face very soon, but his father held up a single finger,

"I was not finished," he continued, in an equally level tone, which forced Masaki to swallow his words.

"Next, I would like to address your decision to take part in the sweep operations. I had intended for you to run as the point of contact for all the search teams, but I am not bothered that you decided to take a more active role in the investigation, rather I think you made an informed decision of what you needed to do, and I accept that."

Masaki forced himself to restrain a smile, and instead settled for what he thought to be a solemn nod in acknowledgement. He was also glad that George was here to hear that what he had done wasn't completely irresponsible either.

"And with regards to the student?" Masaki asked.

Ichijou Gouki frowned.

"Now that is a sensitive topic. After you alerted the police to your location and passed off the investigation to them, there was nothing that they found to indicate suspicion on the boy. Taking him down to the station without any concrete evidence is dubious in and of itself and makes the relationship between the station and the public all the more tenuous. In addition, we are not supposed to be participating in any official capacity in order to maintain our neutrality in the public eye."

"But it can't just be a coincidence, can it?" Masaki pressed. "I will admit that the student doesn't seem to know anything about the topic, but two incidents of sufficient distance between them cannot be chalked up to happenstance."

"Reisen Keito…" his father picked up the paper again. "Third-Year middle school student at Nagata Junior High. Lives with his grandmother. There's little else on his public file, and there is nothing to indicate that he had any inclination towards magic."

Masaki folded his arms in thought. He wasn't allowed to read the report himself, so he only had what his father told him to go on.

"George, what are your thoughts?" his father turned towards his friend, who straightened up from being addressed.

"Ichijou-sama. Well, if what you say is true, then that throws an additional problem in the investigation. Thus far, all of the victims have had some amount of magic ability. I would find it hard to believe anyone without magic ability in equal measure would be able to carry out something like this."

That was the same thought Masaki was turning over in his head. If Keito did not have any magic ability, then that would likely rule him out as the actual perpetrator.

"But it doesn't rule out the possibility that he is still involved somehow, right? After all, he did end up in both locations on both nights, intentionally or not," Masaki pointed out.

"Also true," George admitted.

"Did the police at least take up our recommendation to have the student observed?" Masaki asked.

"Thankfully things are a little less complicated there. We are not supposed to act in any official capacity to maintain the neutrality of our affiliation between the public or any one organization, so we are only able to make recommendations and requests. However, in this case, the police and the family of our student of interest did acquiesce to be monitored, at least from a distance. It seems like Keito himself is willing to do his part to aid in the investigation, so the local station has dispatched two officers to at least observe nearby while he's at school or at home," his father confirmed.

"It's not much of a lead, but it's something I suppose," Masaki said uncertainly.

"I don't suppose we could take coordinating duty for the next couple of days?" George asked tiredly.

His father surprised both of them by making an amused huff.

"Good job both of you. If anything else of note arises, I expect you will let me know. You can expect the same from me."

Masaki felt a bit of pride well up in his chest from the affirmation of his father, not that he was stingy with his words, but rather that it was a little bit of confirmation that he was at least moving somewhat in the right direction.

"Shall we join the ladies for dinner," his father offered.

"Yeah, I could do with some food," Masaki agreed.

He and George turned to exit the study while his father was standing up when they heard a sharp alert from his father's desktop terminal.

He initially thought nothing much of it, just pausing to wait until his father had cleared the notification, but when the silence stretched for a few seconds more than he had anticipated, he looked back quizzically at the elder Ichijou.

It was only when he picked up on his grave expression that he knew something was wrong. His father looked up at the two of them.

"They've just found another body. The officers assigned to monitor Reisen Keito were the ones to report it," he stated grimly.

- さえぐさ -

March 2, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

"It's been nearly two weeks, and between us and the police, we haven't found another Parasite victim since the raid on the storage facility," Erika grumbled from across the table.

"Isn't that a good thing though?" Mikihiko replied, looking up from the report in front of him.

"Yeah, I guess, but isn't it kinda frustrating? You can't tell me that this is the end, pack it up, case closed, right?"

Mayumi could sympathize with both Mikihiko and Erika. While it was good that there had been no more casualties due to the rampaging Parasites, there was a certain lack of closure from getting to the root of the issue, not to mention that although there were no more victims in the present, that it guaranteed that there would not be a repeat of the incident in the future - near or far.

Their investigative group were still gathering together every few days or so to parse through the police reports that could be released to them, although their nightly patrolling had gradually lessened in intensity and scope, with Katsuto and Tatsuya the last ones to be actively involved in those activities. As a result of the lull in the investigation, on the whole the mood of the team had somewhat lightened, albeit still not "improved" in the sense of the word, but it was - say - less cantankerous, with Erika's humor being the most notably improved by virtue of her rather large range of emotions.

The group on the whole had settled into a comfortable stability, everyone having a rather established method of interacting with everyone else. Katsuto and Tatsuya were still on tenuous terms, while everyone else tried to not rock the boat more than necessary. The only person who still stuck out like a sore thumb was Lina. One didn't have to know Tatsuya to see that the man had put some distance between himself and their exchange student, with Miyuki deferring to her brother's judgment. And once Erika and Mikihiko had picked up on the two sibling's attitude, they had chosen to follow suit, interacting with practiced politeness.

"Shields-san. Are you absolutely certain that Sylvie and Mia can't track down the Parasites that were dispersed?" Erika challenged again for the nth time since they had stalled on progress.

"I know what our capabilities are, and we're not capable of tracking individual information bodies without having a grasp of its composition or what we're looking for," Lina shook her head.

Erika grunted and turned away, no doubt trying to conceal a scowl at receiving the same negative answer as all the other times.

The day was growing long, especially on a Friday evening, and they had already been in this particular meeting for an hour and a half. Clearly they were not likely to find anything or be productive so she made the executive decision to call it a day.

"Alright everyone, thanks for your hard work today as usual," she tried for a chirpy tone, clasping her hands together in front of her, but she only managed to get the instruction to sound a little less enervated than everyone else's.

Katsuto, at least picked up on her words and nodded in assent.

"Yes, it is quite late already. Everyone, please wrap up what you're reading and consolidate the material in an organized fashion," her classmate directed.

The group silently compiled the documents under Katsuto's watchful eye.

"That should be everything," Tatsuya commented once the documents were securely in Katsuto's hands.

"Everyone, take care on your way home," Mayumi said, again trying for a less weary air. She was able to make her words sound a little warmer this time.

"Shall we walk to the station together?" Erika asked, slinging her school bag over her shoulder.

"Ah, please don't wait for me," Mayumi replied quickly, glancing over at Tatsuya. She hoped she wasn't being too obvious. "There are a few matters I would like to take care of."

Katsuto frowned and opened his mouth as if to say something but was interrupted before he could reply.

"Same for us," Tatsuya added. "We'll let everyone know if anything happens?" he continued, eliciting sounds of agreement that everyone would be kept in the loop.

Herself, Tatsuya, and Miyuki followed the rest of the group out of the Cross-Field Club room, but they split from the direction of the school entrance, instead opting to follow the route towards the Disciplinary Committee office.

"I hope I wasn't too overt with my intentions and putting you two out like this," Mayumi offered apologetically.

"It's not a problem," Miyuki acknowledged.

"Maybe it wasn't obvious to the others, but it's clear to me that you had a question," Tatsuya continued.

"Am I that much of an open book to you?" she muttered in faux annoyance as he unlocked the door to the office.

Miyuki giggled while Tatsuya shrugged.

"Now, I'm guessing it has to do with the Parasites?" Tatsuya asked, cutting straight to the topic.

"The thought hadn't occurred to me until now, but your ability to read and decode Activation and Magic Sequences, would it extend to Information Bodies in general?"

Tatsuya folded his arms and leaned against the heavy conference table in the center of the room.

"Ah. Right. I haven't told you about the full extent of 'Elemental Sight'."

Mayumi cocked her head in curiosity while Miyuki pulled a chair out to have a seat.

"Yes, my ability. We call it 'Elemental Sight'. In a nutshell, it allows me to connect to the Information Dimensions itself and read any and all data that is recorded there."

Mayumi's eyes widened. She remembered she told him that she didn't want him to tell her the in's and out's of his magic, but given the circumstances, he probably thought it was prudent to begin with an explanation. The ability to peer into the information dimensions itself…it certainly was, for a lack of better word, an overwhelming ability to wield.

"Since we've more or less established that these Parasites are likely information bodies, it does fall under the purview of my abilities to see their incorporeal forms, at least in theory," Tatsuya finished.

At Tatsuya's caveat of 'in theory', Mayumi scrunched her eyebrows.

"So you haven't seen one then? Even after that encounter at Shinjuku Chuo Park?"

"I might have seen one," Tatsuya concluded after what she felt to be several seconds of contemplation.

"Might have?"

Now she was even more confused.

"Onii-sama had mentioned to me that he did see something fleeing the scene of the confrontation at the Park," Miyuki said.

"But I wasn't able to make out anything useful other than an impression that there was something occupying that space I was looking at," Tatsuya clarified.

"That certainly makes things much stranger…and a whole lot more complicated," Mayumi remarked thoughtfully.

"It may not be as unhelpful as we think," Tatsuya speculated. "Elemental Sight can definitely pick out psions within the Information Dimension, so the fact that I couldn't clearly make out the Parasite implies that-"

"-Maybe there are pushions involved? Like some sort of magical molecular structure that we aren't familiar with yet?" Mayumi continued the hypothesis.

Tatsuya inclined his head.

"Perhaps. But then again, perhaps not. Maybe it's an entirely new type of physic particle that we have not yet encountered. But at this point, speculation is all we can make. Without being able to perceive it properly, we are still floundering in the dark," Tatsuya summarized.

"Grm. I guess it wasn't going to be that simple after all," Mayumi sighed.

"It was a good try, but yes, I'm afraid this will not be solved in a simple way," Tatsuya affirmed.

"Well, in that case, I guess there's really nothing else to be done today but head home," Mayumi accepted.

"We'll walk with you to the station, Mayumi-nee," Miyuki offered, smiling.

"Thank you, Miyuki-chan."

The three of them left the office, letting Tatsuya lock up once again. They were walking in comfortable silence, through the courtyard and towards the school gates when suddenly Mayumi's terminal received a notification, breaking the relative peace.

"Give me a moment, I hope it's not father asking where I am," Mayumi voiced, pulling out the device.

She could not have anticipated the message on the screen.

Eyes wide, she looked up at the two Shiba siblings, worry etched on both of their faces at her changed expression.

"Katsuto passed a message from Ichijou Masaki. They've identified Parasite victims. We've been asked to come to Kanazawa."

- しば - シールズ - さえぐさ -

March 4, 2096, Ichijou Main Family Residence

Tatsuya lowered his duffel bag onto the tatami flooring of the Ichijou family reception hall, and quickly glanced around the grand room while the other members of their troupe did likewise. A Japanese-styled home was not something that he thought to expect from the Ichijou, but on seeing the residence for himself it was somewhat fitting.

The sitting room itself was quite spacious, the traditional rice-paper walls enshrouding the sitting area and large swath of the east-facing wall set with a sizable window overlooking the garden. At the center of the room was a larger than normal chabudai, with several sets of zabuton surrounding it. On three of them sat two girls and a boy, all of high school age. He recognized Cardinal George, and the other two looked to be Isshiki Airi and Tsukushiin Touko from when he had seen them at the Nine Schools Competition.

Miyuki and Mayumi set down their luggage in more decorous fashion while Erika dropped her bags with a muffled thump. Mikihiko and Katsuto deposited their equipment in the ground in a more amenable way as he had. Lina awkwardly did the same, looking very much out of place once again.

"My father and our clan are very appreciative that you all could come to Kanazawa on such short notice."

Tatsuya looked at Masaki who had turned around and was the first speak to their group after leading them into his home.

"We came to the conclusion that at the rate this is progressing, we were going to be unable to avoid another casualty in this investigation."

"It's of no consequence, Ichijou-kun. After all, the Ten Master Clans are supposed to support each other in times of need for the betterment of all of Japan," Mayumi replied cordially in her elegant way of speaking.

"We weren't getting anywhere in our own city anyway, so it's good to pick up on a lead again. Who knows, maybe this will help us on our investigation back in Tokyo," Erika added nonchalantly.

"In any case, we hope that we can wrap this up soon without taking up too much of your time," Masaki said.

"You have a proposal then?" Tatsuya folded his arms at the question.

"We think we have a way forward," Masaki nodded. "But first, some introductions, then I'll give you a summary of our idea, and afterwards let you get settled before we really dig into what we are thinking. Please do not worry about your belongings, one of the HAR will come and set them in your rooms."

The auburn haired man motioned behind him to recognize the three other guests in the room.

"These are my classmates and friends. Tatsuya and Mikihiko should already be acquainted with George. The lady on the left is Tsukushiin Touko, heir to the Tsukushiin Shinto practice, and the one in the middle is my cousin and youngest daughter of the Isshiki, Isshiki Airi."

"Oh! New friends! Nice to see all of you are doing well since the Thesis Competition!" the shorter girl waved excitedly.

"Touko…" Airi chided disapprovingly before nodding to them in recognition.

Tatsuya had had limited interaction with the Third High student population outside of Masaki or George, so he wasn't sure if Touko or Airi had any interactions with his sister or even their seniors, but they were surprisingly laissez-faire about the introductions.

Pleasantries were exchanged as their own group went around introducing themselves and before long everyone was seated around the chabudai.

"It's good to see both of you again, Yoshida-kun and Shiba-kun…but I'm surprised that the third member of your team didn't come," George said to Mikihiko and himself.

"Oh trust me, he tried," Erika growled. "But he's in no position to be exerting himself after that ordeal. The three of us made sure that our other friends are keeping a close eye on him."

"You certainly came armed…" Touko commented offhandedly, looking back at their pile of belongings.

"I would hope so, given what we might be taking on," Airi murmured in response.

"Maximizing our chances of success, right?" Miyuki chimed in.

"Indeed," Airi glanced at her Mirage Bat rival, tone lightened.

"Ichijou," Katsuto rumbled, interrupting the side conversations and signaling that he would like to begin getting down to the business of why they were here. "So what's this plan you have in mind?"

"Straight to the point, as always, Juumonji," Masaki grunted. "Right. So first things first, again, the intel we received from the investigation on your end really was most helpful in corroborating everything that we've seen so far, especially their modus operandi as well as the characteristics of their victims. The only thing that's troubling us so far is the fact that all of the attacks have occurred in much more conspicuous places than what was documented, closer to central districts and residential areas."

"We also read the report on your encounter with live Parasite hosts," George continued for Masaki. "Between that account and the medical examiner's reports we believe that there might be a better way of securing these Parasites."

"And how would that be?" Erika probed.

"Actually…a 'way' might be pushing it," Masaki grimaced abashedly. "It might be better to call it…an avenue worth pursuing…"

"So you called us here without an actual plan," Katsuto summarized succinctly and flatly.

"Juumonji-kun, I don't think Ichijou-san would have called us out here without a reasonable proposal," Mayumi rose to defend their host. "Ichijou-san, I can sense you have more to tell us."

"From what we have seen over the past few days and backed up by the documents, it is clear that physical attacks against these beings have proven ineffective."

"And you would suggest…?" Katsuto echoed Erika's line of questioning.

"That would be why I've asked Tsukushiin-san to be in attendance. We were thinking that Yoshida-kun," Masaki nodded towards Mikihiko, "and Tsukushiin-san, together with their experience in the Ancient Magics might be able to come up with a solution to 'seal' the Parasites, with them being creatures of the Information Dimension."

Tatsuya contemplated Masaki and Geroge's proposal and recalled what had transpired that night. He had had time to consider what had happened, and also was able to debrief his thoughts and experiences with both Miyuki and Mayumi. It wasn't that physical attacks weren't not effective against their adversaries, but they were correct that the quandary was how to incapacitate their abilities completely. As he had told them, he wasn't able to clearly 'see' the Parasites within the Information Dimension, and therefore he was also unable to comprehend them. It would be reasonable to think Ancient Magic already had a solution to the incapacitate part, but Mikihiko had not yet mentioned a solution to the 'perceive' part of the problem.

"Mikihiko?" Tatsuya asked.

"I think that sealing is definitely within the realm of possibility, however a proper seal requires a comprehensive understanding of the entity we are dealing with. Without knowing the true nature, if we use any old method, we would, at best, be trying solutions randomly, and at worst, be strengthening instead of weakening them if we cast the wrong incantation."

"And are you in agreement Tsukushiin-san?" Tatsuya asked.

The navy-haired girl shrugged.

"Miki-kun has the right idea," she echoed, causing Mikihiko to wince out of the corner of his eye at the use of his nickname. "If we had more details, the methodology could be tailored to exactly what we are dealing with."

The group descended into another uneasy silence. From what he had recalled Mikihiko had said about Mizuki's 'Crystal Eyes', she might have been able to identify the Parasites' constitution, but she was in Tokyo, and besides, she probably would not be able to withstand seeing them for long. He had never tried to compare 'Elemental Sight' to 'Crystal Eyes', but at least in theory he should also be able to eventually produce something comparable…

Tatsuya spoke up.

"If you can isolate and control a single specimen, I might be able to get the information you need," he finally declared.

"Shiba? Are you certain?"

Katsuto, unsurprisingly, took his comment in stride, not even commenting on how Tatsuya could do so. Focused on the results, as usual.

Miyuki had concern etched on her face, and he could also see Mayumi made as if to object, but she closed her mouth when her crimson-rose met his pacific-blue.

He nodded.

"It will likely take a significant amount of time, but if you can buy that for me, I'll get what Mikihiko and Tsukushiin-san need to craft a seal. However, I won't be able to do it by myself. I will require both of their help as well, as I'm not experienced in what to look for. Mikihiko, Tsukushiin-san, can I count on you?"

Both of the people Tatsuya identified nodded, Touko bobbing enthusiastically while Mikihiko looked more somber and uncertain. That would have to do.

"So now all we need is to find one," Erika said dryly. "It seems like we're back to needing to comb every street and nook again."

"Actually we might have a solution for that as well," Masaki replied.

As if on cue, the front door to the mansion opened again, revealing another figure at the entrance.

"Everyone, this is Reisen Keito."

Tatsuya eyed the kid. Skinny with slate navy gray hair, his narrow face matched his proportions and his amber eyes were filled with uncertainty. The boy looked to be even more uncomfortable than Lina, given that he was shifting his weight from foot to foot, and even appeared to be shaking slightly.

"H-Hello…" Keito managed to squeak out.

Tatsuya looked back at Masaki and George.

"Reisen-kun has had the unenviable record of being near the scene of the crime for all three of our Vampire incidents in Kanazawa. We're keeping him on our family grounds to protect him while the investigation is still open."

Erika whistled.

"So he's bait," Airi said flatly.

"For a lack of a better role…unfortunately, yes," George answered. "Keeping him near the bastion of magic in this region is the safest place he could be from the Parasites, and we have the benefit of controlling the playing field for the next encounter."

Next encounter…

Tatsuya looked at Keito again out of the corner of his eye. For whatever reason, the air surrounding him seemed to be…uncomfortable, for no discernible reason.

"For now, everyone should take the next hour or so to get settled in the rooms prepared for you," Masaki said abruptly. "Afterwards, we should meet back here to hammer out some of the finer points for this plan."

…

For the most part, Lina was an observer of the discussion and proceedings for the planning leading up to properly securing a Parasite sample for tracking and sealing purposes. She knew that there really was no actual reason for her to be so far away from her posted position, and that she had been requested to join them under the pretense of being observed, at least on Juumonji Katsuto's part. However as for Tatsuya, she still couldn't quite get a reading on just what his play was.

It had been two weeks since she had that rather…difficult discussion with him, but since then, he hadn't continued his line of questioning towards her. It was tenuous to call their interactions anything close to cordial, but on the other hand, neither was he particularly contentious towards her. Definitely she had not felt anything of that menacing aura surrounding him since that day, but the sheer intensity of that feeling guaranteed that her presence was not a topic that would so easily slip his mind.

Well, irrespective of her experiences with the First High students, she could not think of anything worth contributing to the planning.

Truly, these students were something else.

The sheer efficiency and knowledge of them was reminiscent of her graduate student classmates at MIT or military personnel. Drawing up plans and contingency scenarios and assigning key roles to each of the attendees, it was incredible to see them put together pieces of information into a cohesive and viable strategy.

So seeing as her input was not strictly necessary in this circumstance, she let her mind return to a familiar set of thoughts that she had been ruminating on since she had received the truth from Sylvie, namely, what was the USNA planning, why they were here, and most importantly for herself, if she truly wanted to continue down this path.

For the first two questions, she was almost certain it was related to the Scorched Halloween incident. She had rewatched that footage from the USNA's low orbit satellite several times over for her to understand the world's fear of such a powerful unknown Strategic-Class magic. But going to such drastic measures was too much of a gamble. Experimenting with black holes as unfamiliar as they were with the science had been asking for a disaster to happen, and here she was dealing with the fallout, and sending what, at best, spies, and at worst, a strike team, into an allied nation at such a magnitude of scale could very easily turn in a diplomatic fiasco, as she was also very familiar with currently.

But by and large, the question that she had wrestled with the most was the last.

Magic and science. At first glance any non-magician would look at these two subjects and claim that they were diametrically opposed to each other, but magicians knew better. Science and the natural order of things were the fundamental foundation of the wonders of magic. By understanding one, the other is illuminated in the same vein.

That had been her aspiration, to better understand her world through the application of magic, the crux of her research into the atomic building blocks of her world.

She had never wanted to be a weapon.

But in the eyes of the world, magic was a weapon.

Her journey through the forest of knowledge had drawn the gaze of more martial characters, who had taken her research and contorted it into a fragment of calamity incarnate. She had been tasked to put the finishing touches on the magic known as the Heavy Metal Burst, the curse she now bore, only and alone.

So engrossed in her thoughts, she failed to recognize the sound of her name being used to regain her attention.

"...Lina..?"

By some miracle, the voice recalled her back to reality.

"Huh?"

Her back shot upwards and she swiveled her head around the table frenetically to see who it was that was calling out to her.

"Lina," Tatsuya repeated, his current expression unfamiliar to her.

She took a moment to study his features. His brows were knit quizzically, mouth set in a slight frown. If she didn't know any better, she would have interpreted his countenance as one of concern, but given their history, that definitely couldn't be the case.

"Ah, I apologize, I was preoccupied with another matter," Lina confessed.

The other gazes around the room clearly communicated her companions' doubts, but no one pushed her further.

"We were just trying to see if there were any other considerations we may need to make, based on the USNA intelligence information. We've all had a read through what was shared with us, but it is still possible we may have missed out on a crucial detail," Tatsuya reiterated.

She folded her arms in thought before looking back up and locking her gaze with his.

"The only thing I haven't heard being discussed is how we might address the Parasite's telepathic communication. I realize they are still using human hosts and are limited to human reaction times, but it might be possible for them to still coordinate in a manner we as individuals may not be able to handle."

Mayumi nodded.

"I see. So far all of our encounters with these Parasites have been in pairs. We would be increasing our encounter size by an order of magnitude. It seems like coordination will be key here."

"I believe the two people best suited to laying out such a strategy would be Shiba and Kichijouji," Katsuto said. "Based on their experiences in the Nine Schools Competition, I believe between the two of them they should be able to come up with an organized method of attack."

The conversation continued on from there. Lina sensed that they would be coming to a critical point soon, so she again forced herself to put her questions out of her mind. She readjusted her seating position, as she felt that her legs were starting to go to sleep in the unfamiliar posture.

As she leaned forward to better hear what was being discussed, her eyes happened to meet Tatsuya's intense blue gaze once more. The exchange lasted barely a few seconds, but it left her again feeling uncertain of just what Tatsuya was thinking.

…

Mayumi found him leaning over the railing overlooking the garden.

The garden next to where they were staying within the Ichijou family mansion complex truly was exquisite, nothing like what her family home had. Whereas the Seagusa mansion was meant to be imposing, representing the bastion of strength of her family, the Ichijou home, while large, had a more delicate touch, with the carefully curated nursery one of its highlights.

Towering and sprawling mainly around the periphery of the enclosure was a mix of Japanese Plum and Cherry trees. The tender leaves were just beginning to emerge from their season of hibernation, but their volume was already blanketing the branches that had stood barren not many weeks ago. Interspersed with the large flora were meticulously placed clumps of Japanese Maple, with their feather-soft green fronds tinged with carmine, and the young stalks of Japanese Iris, Azaleas, and Hydrangeas. In the middle of the garden lay a modest pond, the gentle ripples playfully dancing in the early spring breeze, surrounded by proud sprigs of Horsetail Reed, their segmented foliage swaying in time with the water.

She wanted the tranquil scene to last forever. Maybe one day she could have her own garden escape, a little piece of eternity.

She wouldn't mind sharing it with a certain someone…

"Are you certain you made the right decision?" she asked him.

He remained silent as she joined him at the railing, centimeters separating the both of them.

"I'm not sure there was any decision for me to make," Tatsuya answered simply. "Only what duty dictates."

"You know that's not true," she countered, a tinge of anger in her voice. "And I don't believe that you believe yourself either."

He had shown her that that fact wasn't true. That there was another way, not bound by the shackles of their position.

"Our time together, all that we've been through, speaks in the face of your claim."

Tatsuya shifted his weight ever so slightly away from her, such that she barely perceived it. She took it as an invitation.

She stepped closer to him, until their shoulders made that soft communion. When he didn't move away she leaned into him a little more, a comfortable weight.

"You're troubled, aren't you?" she murmured.

He exhaled sharply, an indication of his amusement.

"I really should watch myself around you," he replied, equally softly.

She laughed soundlessly.

"Now then, Shiba-kun, is that any way to talk to your senior?" she ribbed, continuing their tête-à-tête. "But in all seriousness, are you really alright in potentially drawing even more attention from the Clans? You won't just be on the radar of just the Juumonji now, but potentially Ichijou and Isshiki are now in play. Surely there has to be another solution, something we haven't considered. Just because Ichijou, Juumonji, or Saegusa don't have a solution to this problem doesn't mean that the other Clans cannot. And now that three of the Ten are united on this front, surely rallying support from here is feasible?"

Tatsuya shook his head.

"I'm willing to risk it. No, there's something different about the situation this time, here in Kanazawa. The sense of urgency in my mind has sharpened, but I don't know why. You've felt it too, right?"

Mayumi had to admit that there was something different this time. She had chalked it up to Masaki's tone, the accelerated attacks, and the sudden revival of their adversary, but she had sensed something deeper, a sinister undercurrent in the region.

"How did the discussion with Yoshida-kun go?" she asked.

Tatsuya wrinkled his eyebrows.

"He tried his best to explain some of the theory behind examination of the spectral form. If I understand correctly, the essence of it is contained within another plane within the information dimension. Something along the lines of how imaginary numbers relate to the real number plane."

"That sounds…complex."

Tatsuya exhaled amusedly at the mathematics joke.

"You think you can do it?"

"I experimented a little bit with him. It will take a little bit of practice, since I'll have to shift my Sight along a different axis, but I was able to achieve some results from our session. Given more practice, I should be able to look consistently.

"What did you make of that boy, Reisen Keito?" Tatsuya asked suddenly.

Mayumi frowned at the sudden change in topic, still leaning against him and staring out at the garden.

"He didn't make much of an impression on me, but he seemed to hold himself together rather well considering the recent circumstances surrounding him, especially given the fact that he is insofar unfamiliar with magic and the intricacies surrounding those who wield it."

She pulled away from him to look at his face.

"Where's this question coming from?"

"Another hunch," he replied simply. "Maybe it's nothing. I won't weigh you down with my thoughts, but one thing for sure, I'm skeptical about Ichijou's claim that he can't wield magic."

Mayumi tilted her head.

"He's a bit old for it to only be manifesting any abilities now, isn't he?"

Tatsuya shrugged.

"Who knows? Stranger things have occurred in our lifetime."

Mayumi contemplated Tatsuya's words. She wondered if the Ichijou had any plans for monitoring the teen when - if, this situation ever cleared up.

"And what about Lina?"

"What about her?" Tatsuya sounded surprised at the mention.

"Don't try to evade the question. I know there's something going on between the two of you."

Tatsuya huffed amusedly.

"You saw through even that, huh."

Mayumi remained quiet.

"Maybe I've been reading her wrong. Over the past few days, I've had the chance to better observe her, and what I see now isn't what I saw when I first met her. She may be an expert on atomic physics, and a military officer, but all I see now is doubt. She doesn't know where to turn or what to do. Her Special Officer status may just imply she's a spy, but it's also possible it's something more."

Mayumi stiffened.

"She's a Strategic-Class magician?"

Tatsuya shrugged.

"I have no ground or basis for my postulating. I'm just saying she wouldn't be the first."

Mayumi knew he was referring to himself.

"You think the USNA would be so brazen as to send an undercover Strategic-Class magician into an allied country," she summarized angrily.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about, but I'll still keep an eye on her."

Silence descended between them again.

"Seeing her makes you think about yourself, doesn't it?" she asked quietly.

Tatsuya didn't answer immediately, as if considering his own response.

"I…I don't know," he finally spoke. She pulled away slightly to look at him. It was uncharacteristic of him to sound so uncertain.

"You don't have to figure out everything right now," she whispered.

Tatsuya made a small grunt of consensus.

"You're right in that we should not be worrying about these things before this upcoming operation. We'll have enough to think about soon enough."

"Especially yourself," Mayumi affirmed. "So it's goodnight then?"

Tatsuya nodded.

"We'll see each other in the morning. Sweet dreams, ojou-sama."

- つくしいん - きちじょうじ - いっしき - しば - シールズ - ちば - じゅうもんじ - よしだ - いちじょう - しば - さえぐさ - れいせん -

March 5, 2096, Kanazawa

The skyline of Kanazawa shimmered like a sea of brilliant stars from the Utatsuyama Bokodai Observatory. Situated at the heart of Utatsuyama Park, at the highest point of Mount Utatsu, the bright outline of the city lights was one of the few things that could be made out by the naked eye. Between their current location and the city, the only other objects that could be identified were the inky darkness that created vague impressions of dense forest foliage that followed the mountain profile, the occasional breeze causing the branches to sway in accord and the smell of turpentine mixed with scents of smokey citrus permeating the atmosphere. Behind them, the sea of pines receded into the countryside, demarcating their current location as the very edge of Kanazawa.

Touko strained one more time through the pair of binoculars in her hands to make out anything that wasn't plants, plants, or more plants through the undergrowth before sighing and giving up. Despite Utatsuyama Bokodai Observatory giving the best view of the city, the same could not be said about being able to view the rest of the park. Granted, she didn't really need to see the rest of the park to fulfill her role in this operation. Airi had given her an exasperated look when she saw that she had brought one along, but her friend hadn't said anything at the time, probably because Airi was used to her antics.

She closed her eyes and reached out with her sense the water spirits that she had dispersed throughout the entirety of the park. While not the same as seeing, it would give her a very good indication if people or things were moving around under the canopy of pine leaves that her two eyes could not.

She plopped down on the bench of the viewing deck, setting the binoculars to her right and letting her legs dangle, swinging back and forth. While her job was arguably one of the safest out of all the assigned roles, being safe meant that it was also the most boring job. The two of them could only wait to hear from the teams on the ground.

She wracked her brain for something, anything, that could occupy her attention in the meantime. She cast a glance behind her to see what her partner was up to.

From what she could see, Mikihiko had decided to do a full re-organization of all his equipment, stacking some pre-prepared ofuda talismans to his left within his reach as well as taking out a set of blank ones, with ink block and brush close at hand.

She did not know the First High student very well, but she remembered him from the Monolith Code matches at the Nine Schools Competition. He was clearly a competent magician, meticulous as well, as evident by his current actions. But he also came across as a bit high-strung, and based on his interactions with Chiba Erika, a bit of a pushover as well. He wouldn't have been her first choice as someone to hang out with, but seeing that only the two of them had any extensive knowledge of Ancient Magic and seals, it made sense for them to be farther from the action, as support and rearguard.

Oh well.

Just because she wouldn't have picked him first didn't mean she wouldn't at least try to bother him.

"Hey, Miki-kun, what are you up to over there?"

The man's shoulders seemed to twitch instinctively at the sound of, as she had figured out, his less than preferred nickname. She giggled at how easily she was able to fluster him.

"Just making sure that I have everything I need before things start getting really heated. The last time we ran into one of these things we - I - spent most of the time on the defensive. I didn't have any opportunities to prepare any talismans. This time I won't be caught off guard."

Touko tilted her head in interest. Everything she knew about these Parasites were from reports and debriefs. She hadn't had anyone to actually discuss first hand experiences with.

"They were that tough, huh?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her question.

Mikihiko absently picked up his strange metallic fan, etched with runes, his casting device, she supposed.

"It was more like they were really, really fast. In terms of casting speed, I don't think I would consider myself slow, but despite that I didn't have any openings to properly cast anything. The only reason why we were able to come out ahead was because of Juumonji-senpai and Tatsuya's defense.

"You mean Phalanx and Gram Demolition?"

Mikihiko nodded.

"At least that's my opinion. I would consider both of those to be innate magics to the two of them, which is why they could outspeed even those Parasites. Erika's just as fast with her sword, too."

"Mmm," she hummed to herself. "About your family name, Yoshida. You wouldn't be related to the clan that follows after the Shinto tradition, would it?"

Mikihiko nodded.

"The very same. My ancestors were devout students of the Onmyōdō and the Shugendō, and along that line our brand of Ancient Magic was gradually codified."

"I see. I've heard that your clan's magic is rather powerful in terms of scale and power among the Ancient Magic practices in Japan."

Mikihiko's lips cracked a self-deprecating smile.

"Powerful, yes. But fast, not quite, especially for me. There was an…accident…about two years ago."

Mikihiko went silent, even making someone as unflappable as herself feel somewhat awkward. Searching for a topic that would be less serious, a thought suddenly came to her mind.

"And then about you and Erika-chan, are you two dating?"

Mikihiko erupted in a fit of coughs at the question.

"Definitely not," he answered tersely.

"Ah, I see. Then are there any other special ladies in your life?"

"Ah…uh…er…that is…"

Even in the darkness Touko could tell that he was blushing like mad, causing her to giggle again at the exaggerated reaction.

"I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, if that's what you're asking," Mikihiko finally managed to get out after he had collected himself.

"Hmm…in that case, I'm not dating anyone either! I'm from a Shinto tradition family as well, so it would work out wouldn't it? How do you feel about Kanazawa?"

She delivered the last line with a cheeky wink. She could see the gears turning in his head as he processed what she had proposed.

When he had finally understood her statement, he jumped up with a startled yelp causing her to laugh out loud. It really was too easy.

"Just think about it," she said, punctuating the statement with another wink while Mikihiko continued to stutter in embarrassment.

Suddenly she felt movement from the water spirits stationed towards the east side of the park, causing her to focus her attention to the area.

She glanced at Mikihiko to the side, who had composed himself and was also on alert.

"You felt that too?" Touko asked him.

Mikihiko nodded gravely, all traces of fluster gone from a few minutes ago.

"Looks like things are about to get started."

…

George had always prided himself on his more analytical personality.

As a side effect however, his other, interpersonal skills, such as the burden of small talk were rather…lacking, and though he would not admit it to anyone, it was also something that he found himself to be slightly self-conscious of, elevated by the fact that he often was in the esteemed company of the likes of Masaki and Airi, due to the nature of their upbringing. And although the two of them, Airi especially, tended to surround themselves with friends and acquaintances of more selective nature, he had many opportunities to witness firsthand their charisma and their abilities to effortlessly navigate social encounters.

And so it was that he found himself paired up with the bundle of nerves that was magic-less, third-year middle school student Reisen Keito.

The pair had not exchanged a single word since they had been dropped off in the neighborhood of Koraimachi, right on the edge of Utatsuyama Park, and he wasn't quite sure that it was going to.

He had understood the rationale of course.

From their current experiences, all the victims of the Parasites had been found within a roughly 2 block radius from wherever Keito had been located. They - he - had postulated that because Keito himself had never come into contact with the Vampires, that, for lack of a better analogy, Keito was more akin to the scent of bait than the bait itself.

Granted, he was still working off of information gathered from three data points, hardly the confidence-inspiring sample size.

However he also knew that with the location sharing that they had done, if something did go sideways, backup could arrive in a timely manner.

So his job was to accompany Keito and make sure that the Parasites definitely picked up Keito's trail to lure them into the area, which they would then find was a prime location for finding another Magician to victimize.

But whatever Parasite thought Utatsuyama Park was going to be a prime hunting ground was going to be sorely mistaken.

George pulled out his terminal to check their current position against the path that they had pre-determined with the group, another contingency measure that they had agreed upon. He also quickly swept his eyes across the map to verify that everyone was in their assigned positions.

Erika and Airi were posted at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo, a cultural center towards the northern part of the park, given that the two of them were the most mobile and would likely be the fastest in the event support was required away from their starting position. The Shiba siblings and the mysterious First High school exchange student Angelina Shields were at the Overlook Hill, closer to his and Keito's position on the west side, while Katsuto and Mayumi was posted more centrally, at the monument to Shusei Tokuda, a little ways down from the Bokudai Observatory where he could see the indicators for Touko and Mikihiko were unmoving.

And as for Masaki…

George looked up at the pitch black sky, the sea of stars glinting back at him. He knew he wouldn't be able to see his friend, but he at least hoped that he was managing his psions carefully…

Otherwise, so far so good for the plan.

"Uh…Kichijouji-san…?"

George looked up, surprised at Keito's hesitant voice, and put away his terminal. He had so far given up on any sort of conversation with the boy that the fact that he was the one to prompt was highly unexpected.

"Yes?" George answered the query but started up his walking again, as he still had to make sure that they stayed on pace.

"I've had this question for a while, but I've never had anyone to actually ask. What is magic?"

The question made George stop in his tracks and turn around to look at the boy, eyebrows cocked, before he recovered and turned back to continue leading them, unsure of how to respond.

"D-Did I say something strange?" Keito stuttered out.

George frowned at the ground and shook his head.

"No it's just…out of all the questions I had expected you to ask, that was not on the list. I would have thought you would have asked about the Vampires, what we were trying to accomplish, or about our general safety out here."

"Ah," Keito responded simply, also going quiet for a bit before continuing. "Well, with regards to the three points you raised, I have a pretty good idea that these Vampire things are highly dangerous, and that you are trying to find a method to subdue them, and that this operation is not without significant danger. I picked up on that much in the meetings…even though I didn't understand most of what was being said."

"...I see," George said. This kid was taking all of this much better than he had initially gauged. Maybe he had a good point that they shouldn't dwell too much on that topic, and he certainly knew a thing or two about magic theory. It would be a good distraction at least.

"Well, to give the layman's definition without getting too caught up in the technicalities, Magic is best defined as 'the ability to alter reality through the modification of individual information bodies," George started. "Everything in the world, that we see and do not see, has what I would call a 'record' within the information dimension. Now when something in the world changes, like this rock for example." He picked up a pebble lying on the ground. "When I pick it up and move it around." George tossed the pebble up and down in front of him. "The properties and information associated with it is changing: its position, velocity, and acceleration. All of that is recorded within the information dimension. What we are seeing in the real world, and what is being recorded in its information body is directly tied to each other. Do you understand where I'm going with this example?"

Keito looked thoughtful.

"You mean you're able to change all of those properties you mentioned by interacting with this information body?"

George nodded.

"Exactly. We alter the information in the information dimension, and a change is effected in the real world."

"I guess the follow up question is, how do you alter the information dimension then?"

George chuckled.

"That's where it gets a little bit more technical. I would have to get into describing what Psions and Sequences are, and I'm not sure I can cover it all right now."

"Oh…that's fine, I was just curious."

George glanced beside him to look at Keito.

"You seemed to pick up that pretty quickly at least. If you don't mind me asking, what prompted the question?"

"Ah…about that. M-My mother…actually she was some sort of Magic Researcher."

George's footsteps halted at the sudden revelation, eyebrows crashing together.

"...She was? And you don't know anything about Magic?" he blurted out.

Keito looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

"W-Well, I haven't seen her in a long time. I live with her parents, my grandparents. I don't know much, but apparently one day she just disappeared. I tried asking about her one time and my grandfather got angry, and he forbade me from asking about her again. Grandmother, too, won't talk about her."

"O-Oh," George said awkwardly. He knew a thing or two about missing his parents. "I'm sorry I brought that up."

"I-I'ts ok," Keito replied softly.

Clearly it was not that ok for him. George was also surprised that he had something else in common with the boy, with both their parents being magic researchers.

"L-Let's keep moving," George coughed, wanting to move the conversation away from the uncomfortable topics. They still had a schedule to keep after all.

"Will they be ok?" Keito asked again suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Ah. I meant, everyone else here tonight."

George was relieved that Keito had given him another thing to talk about.

"Oh. Yeah, I think everyone should be fine. Most of them are at least paired up. Tatsuya, Juumonji-san, and Masaki should have no problems, Yoshida-kun and Touko should not be in any danger, and Chiba-san and Airi should be fast enough to handle anything that comes their way. And besides, based on these Parasites' past behavior, they mostly hunt alone or in pairs, which should not be a problem for any of our groups."

…

"So you're a World Junior Fencing Champion, huh?"

Airi looked up from where she was examining the blade of her rapier beneath the illumination of the Waxing Gibbous.

"And?" she replied dismissively.

Chiba Erika tilted her head.

"Mm. Nothing really. I was just curious, since I'm only familiar with Japanese sword arts."

Airi paused studying her weapon, considering her companion's words. As the daughter of one of the Eighteen Assistant Houses, she had grown accustomed to the flattery and platitudes that came with the connection, and she had found that the easiest way to deal with these unwelcome advances was to simply put up a cold front. Unlike the more personable characters, such as Saegusa Mayumi, she had neither the time nor the patience to tolerate the vapid adoration of the masses.

Touko was a special case. Her bouncy personality allowed her to make friends with nearly everyone, battering down interpersonal walls like a fluffy wrecking ball.

Shiori's disposition was much more in line with herself. Intelligent, conscientious, and direct and to the point. As much as she enjoyed being around Touko, she did find herself missing Shiori's more tempered aura.

Initially, what little she had seen of the youngest Chiba daughter, she had pegged her to be too rambunctious for them to feasibly get along. But the question and answer that she had communicated in as few words just now gave her pause for thought. Maybe she didn't have Shiori's straightforward approach or Touko's charm, but there was a certain air of indifference in her body language that she hadn't received from anyone other than possibly that cousin of hers. Like she didn't care either whether she got an answer or not. It was intriguing being on the receiving end of such nonchalance from someone who wasn't family.

"I…see," Airi replied, turning around and mustering as much humility as she could summon, in an attempt to smooth over her initial course response. "Forgive my…indiscretion. I don't often have the pleasure of conversing with others outside of my close friends with such candor. To answer your question: yes, for the past two years."

Her apology did not seem to phase the other girl, who simply shrugged.

"No need to apologize. I've seen Miyuki deal with that kind of thing all the time, so I get that it comes with the territory. I was just interested in hearing more about your experiences, as well as Fencing in general. I have a friend who was also a world-class middle school Kendo swordswoman, so I was interested to hear another perspective, and maybe learn a thing or two."

"In that case, as an experienced sword-wielder, it's probably faster for you to just get a feel for the sword itself."

Airi extended her arm, grasping her sword by the ornate crossguard and offered the hilt to the other woman, which only now seemed to startle her. She hesitated for a moment.

"May I?"

Airi nodded, and in a smooth motion Erika slipped her right hand into the guard and lifted the blade up to get a better view of the weapon.

"This hilt feels…restrictive," she finally said while offering her own weapon to Airi, her turn to look at her companion quizzically.

"I can't try it out if I'm holding two weapons at once," Erika explained, as if that really clarified anything. She took the sheathed weapon but didn't take it out of its holder.

She watched on as Erika tried some stances and forms with her rapier.

"It's strange. It's about as long as my sword, and about as heavy as well, but I'm not used to the balance or shape."

"The rapier is designed to be a thrusting weapon," Airi advised. "Run your hand along the blade."

"It's not sharp," Erika noted, hint of surprise tingeing her comment as she tentatively touched what would have been the equivalent of a cutting edge on a katana.

"Try a different grip; rotate your forearm forward and angle your fingers more so that your thumb and pointer finger can touch."

She tried to mimic the instructions she was giving Erika on the grip of her katana, but she also found herself struggling slightly with the unfamiliar geometry of the katana grip.

"Like this?"

Airi took a few steps over to stand beside the other woman to examine her adjustments.

"Better. Now the motion is mostly in the wrist and forearms, to probe the opponent and find an opening and for deflection. Then once you've found that in, you use the entire body to lunge forward for the lethal strike."

She backed up to give Erika some space to try out her pointers. She observed as her companion handled the blade with steady hands and deliberate motions, picking up on the theory of how to wield the rapier faster than she had expected.

"How about that?"

"Hmm. Twist your body a little bit more to reduce your unprotected areas, and then sword hand a little higher."

Erika nodded, before lunging forward in a sudden burst of speed past Airi, rapier flashing and dancing in the moonlight, almost faster than she could keep up with.

She swiftly turned to see what had caused the other girl to lash out so suddenly to catch a cloaked figure jumping backwards, several short cuts ripped into the cloth. She was shocked that the Parasite had been able to sneak up on her unnoticed, but apparently not stealthy enough to evade the Chiba swordswoman's senses.

"Still too much slashing I guess," she said calmly, sword back out in an en garde stance. Airi cast a quick glance at Erika to see if she was joking, apparently not even bothering to mention that they had found their target. Or rather their target had found them. She turned back to examine their newest arrivals.

"So that's a Parasite," Airi muttered warily.

"Silent, broody type, with a penchant for overcoats and masks. Yep, that's a Parasite," Erika answered.

"I guess we should call this one in?" Airi proposed.

"Probably. There's only two of them for now, but there's sure to be others. Want to swap swords back? I'll keep this one busy while you hit the comms," Erika muttered backwards. "Then we'll lead them towards the rendezvous point?"

"Remember, we can't kill them. Ready when you are," Airi acknowledged, right hand with Erika's katana at the ready.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Erika waved with her off-hand in exasperation. "Go!"

The two girls tossed their current weapons at the other, Airi's rapier soaring above Erika's katana, which Erika grabbed and unsheathed in a single, unwasted motion and immediately began harrying the Parasite with a furious flurry of slashes to keep them on their toes.

The operation was officially underway.

…

From her seat underneath the sweeping pergola Miyuki could see her brother standing on the far side of the viewing platform. His back was ramrod straight, and the rest of his body seemed to be unmoving from her perspective. It was difficult to tell with such little light, but based on his posture, he was probably monitoring the area with Elemental Sight. As usual, the ever dutiful, keeping watch over them.

She turned to look to the right, where their other companion had elected to lean against the railing overlooking the rows of flower beds, the first signs of spring barely beginning to poke out of the ground. Lina also did not seem to be moving, rather deep in thought herself. Being in the presence of the two of them, especially in the silence, made her consider again the circumstances surrounding them. It was one thing to see her brother contend with the struggles of duty, but to see another acquaintance wrestle with the same?

It only emphasized more what was broken in their world.

Tatsuya, she knew, bore his burden silently, but with Lina, whenever she looked at her face, uncertainty was etched in all of her features.

She studied Lina, the way she wrapped her arms around her body, how she looked up at the stars, as if searching for an answer, and she had to consider that she didn't really know Lina at all. These past few weeks, the time that she had spent with her, just how much of it had been genuine? She and her brother had shared their experiences with each other, and despite the warning from Tatsuya, she hadn't wanted to doubt Lina's intentions, but in the end she was glad that they were at least not caught off guard.

Before she realized, she had gotten up from her seat and walked over to join Lina at the handrail.

"Tell me about your life in America," Miyuki requested.

The blonde-haired exchange student looked surprised but did not immediately refute Miyuki's words. Lina had looked at Miyuki for a moment before turning back.

"It used to be a lot simpler, when I was young," Lina sighed. "When I first learned about magic, and our heritage, I was filled with…wonder. Of the amazing things I could do…It was like something out of a fairy tale, or a fantasy story," she chuckled softly.

Miyuki remained silent. She couldn't say she was able to resonate with that sentiment. Ever since young, it had been drilled into her that she was powerful, that she had responsibilities, and that she would comport herself as such. Days of tutoring, and training, not unlike the kind that her brother went through, just…different. The pressures to live up to her expectations had always been present.

"Simple didn't mean a lack of responsibilities," she continued. "But as long as I generally followed my parents' rules, I could do whatever I wanted, really. I can't say that I had any of the responsibilities like Juumonji-senpai and Mayumi-senpai, even though technically I am a Kudou…And so I chose to learn. About magic, about what made it work. Childlike wonder turned into an academic interest. A different kind of captivation, if you will.

"But all of that changed in college. My research on atomic physics using magic drew the attention of some faculty, and before I knew it, my project had changed into something I no longer recognized. And by then, it was too late," Lina said. "The wrong people saw my resume and my abilities, and I was immediately pressured into enlisting as a Special Officer, even in order to continue my work."

Now that was a familiar story. She refrained from looking to her left. Once out in the open, it was impossible to conceal again. There were some nuanced differences, but in the end, the result was the same.

"I try to make the best of it. They don't interfere too much in my day-to-day life. Just show up at the base every once in a while, write up a paper for them on a topic occasionally…an order to get stationed somewhere for a few weeks…" Lina trailed off, a hint of pain in her voice.

Miyuki looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Do you regret it?"

Lina exhaled sharply.

"The magic? Never. And neither do I regret my curiosity and where it took me."

"But," she said after a pause, "Sometimes I wonder…if I had made different choices…how I would have turned out."

Miyuki didn't dare to probe anymore. Even if Lina said so, it was hard to reconcile the words out of her mouth with the tone of sorrow. It was then that she knew…Lina was as much a victim as Tatsuya was. Maybe she was only now realizing it.

The silence between the two girls was suddenly shattered by footsteps. The two of them turned to see Tatsuya join them on their side of the platform.

"It's about time," he said grimly.

"It's here?" Lina asked. Miyuki noted that she had hitched the sleeve concealing her bracelet-type CAD up.

Their earpieces abruptly came to life.

"We've made contact with two Parasites at the cultural center, requesting backup," Airi's voice spoke into their ears.

The spacing of each of the groups was supposed to allow them to cover a wider area, with everyone converging at the location of contact. The plan allowed for sufficient combat power that a single group could reasonably keep one, or maybe two Parasites occupied while the others rushed to their location. Tatsuya, in particular, needed to be on-site to do his examination with Elemental Sight.

"We're on our way," Katsuto rumbled into their headsets in reply.

"No, switch to the backup plan."

She and Lina both looked questioningly at her brother, who had turned to face the treeline behind and put his left hand to his own earpiece while raising his right, Silver Trident in its grip.

Without warning, he loosed a spell, seemingly at nothing, but it collided with something, shattering the illusion, revealing three more Parasites at their location.

"We've made contact with three Parasites at our location as well," Tatsuya continued. "The original plan only considered encounters at one of the locations."

Miyuki hastily withdrew her own CAD with Lina steadied her outstretched palm, sequence ready.

"Juumonji-senppai and Saegusa-senpai have the most defensible position, and Phalanx can only shield one group at a time. Everyone, lead the Parasites to the park monument," he ordered calmly as he fired off several rounds of Gram Demolition. "Erika and Isshiki-san, can you handle that?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be fine," Airi's voice echoed back.

"I can provide additional cover," Masaki's voice cut through.

"Negative, keep circling the area to keep a lookout. We can't afford to get hit from behind, especially Mikihiko and Tsukushiin-san," Tatsuya rebutted.

"...Understood," Masaki affirmed after a brief pause.

"Juumonji-senpai, please get ready to receive a lot of guests."

Tatsuya lowered his left hand from his earpiece.

"Lina, you'll be the vanguard leading us towards the monument. I'll serve as the rearguard to disable their attacks. Miyuki, support as needed," he directed Miyuki and Lina, as two of the three Parasites attempted to circle around them. Tatsuya withdrew his second Silver Trident and fired off several Oscillation-type spells towards the back and at the wing angles where they were being flanked, causing the Parasites to dodge out of the way, before recovering and coming at them in a dead sprint.

"Let's move!"

…

Lina led the two Shiba siblings as fast as she dared through the treeline. Ordinarily, it would have been faster, and easier to reach the park monument where Katsuto and Mayumi had been posted, but it was explicitly agreed upon that all movement around the park would be through the darkened woods. The reason was twofold.

Firstly, despite the wide area for them to use, the edges of the park where they, and Airi and Erika, had been stationed were still relatively near to some residential areas. They had wanted to be identified close to these areas, but did not want any collateral damage to befall the residents of the region, hence taking a more difficult path through the undergrowth to stay away from housing.

Secondly, while the forest would serve to slow them down, it would also slow down their targets, and provide ample cover conducive to guerrilla tactics, better for hampering and hindering, rather than powerful, area-of-effect coverage, which given the magic power present had the potential to shred the physical vessels before they could incapacitate the true forms of the Parasites.

The sounds of small blasts echoed from behind her as she picked her way around trees and shrubs, careful to try to lead them down the clearest path while still ensuring that their trek was not too far off course from their destination. She quickly glanced at the terminal screen mounted on the inside of her left forearm, which was also on standby to launch a spell at a moment's notice from the CAD on her right wrist, then back up.

She knew she shouldn't have, but she cast a quick look backwards to check on how the Shiba siblings were handling their tails. What she saw astounded her even after having read their files and clashed with both of the siblings separately.

She had already known Tatsuya was a soldier and seasoned combatant from their interactions and that he was willing to resort even to self-harm to finish the job. He operated tactically, following the road leading to the greatest chance of success. So it was mesmerizing to see him, despite his apparent lack of a more diverse magic skill set accessible to him, use the abilities he did have to keep the Parasites on the defensive from the rear. He was dual-wielding pistols, Gram Demolition and the Oscillation pulses interweaved with surgical precision, right at the moment needed to destroy a sequence or strike back.

Miyuki was even more impressive, mainly due to the overwhelming magic power she felt coming from behind. She could sense that Miyuki had covered the entire path that they had tread with her Zone Interference, just enough to hamper and force the Parasites to break through the power threshold to cast anything. Lina knew that Miyuki had cast a weaker Zone than she was capable of, which was astounding in and of itself of the level of control she had over her power. In addition, she could see the ground glisten off meager moonlight that slipped through the crevices of the canopy above them. If she were to guess, it was probably a layer of frost to slow the Parasites' movements even more.

Compared to the sibling combination, the Parasites were simply outmatched and out of their league. If they wanted to, either one of the siblings would probably be able to incapacitate the three of them without breaking a sweat. But as it were, Tatsuya and Miyuki made sure to give up enough ground to entice the Parasites to keep coming after them, straight into their trap.

"One hundred meters to rendezvous!" she called out behind her as she continued the lead.

"Lina, notify Juumonji-senpai!" Tatsuya shouted back in kind.

…

"Juumonji-senpai, coming up on the last one hundred meters to your position!" Lina's voice reverberated through Erika's earpiece.

"I think…we can afford to…pick up the pace…now," she said to her companion in between sword strokes.

Erika tried to maintain a steady cadence of breaths that matched the speed of her blade. After Airi had notified others of their encounter, she had immediately pulled out her own rapier to participate in the defensive. Unlike the other groups, half of their route from the cultural center to the heart of the park consisted of a rather well maintained concrete roadway. It gave them plenty of space to flourish their blades, but that also gave the Parasites room to maneuver as well.

"We just…have to maintain this tempo…until the treeline. Then we can…take off," Airi replied.

Erika simply grunted in reply.

They had started off with only one Parasite, but as soon as they started retreating towards the meeting location, two more had joined the first. Ordinarily, three enemies would probably would have been quick work, especially for two as fast as them. But they were supposed to strictly keep the Parasites occupied and within their sights, which meant slowing down just enough to entertain their adversaries. Additionally, she wasn't sure, but it felt like these Parasites were more aggressive than the two that they had fought with, launching attacks that were more reckless, exuding brutal physicality, forcing them to actually hit flesh on occasion.

The measured tread that the two of them set, along with just the right momentum of sword swings really was starting to take a mental toll on her, and she sensed that Airi was much the same. Both of them thrived off of speed, and taking that away from them for an extended period of time was an exercise that took extra effort.

Erika's vertical slash transitioned seamlessly into an upward diagonal strike, the slower speed than usual allowing the Parasite to evade the attack. Out of the corner of her vision she felt rather than saw its companion accelerate towards her position, and she swung back down, forcing the Parasite to either take the hit or dodge out of the way. Apparently, it chose the former, twisting just enough to receive a glancing blow before countering with a close range blast of electricity.

She danced out of the way, grunting in annoyance.

The Parasites had settled into a troublesome strategy, rotating each of the three of them between herself and Airi, in an attempt to throw them off with different magic and techniques. So far none of their attacks had found their mark, but the longer they kept on the defensive, sooner or later the Parasites would catch a lucky break.

"I really…think…we should move…now," Erika grunted. She glanced back quickly, seeing the retaining wall for the earth where the forest began anew within 10 meters of their position.

Airi weaved out of the way of a grab attempt and returned with a precision strike grazing the inside of the Parasite's forearm while darting backwards.

"Fine," the blonde haired girl's single-word response terse.

They would have to be fast, and sprint through the trees, dangerous as it was. They, she especially, would have no room to wave a blade between the trunks. With the way they had preoccupied their adversaries, there was no way they wouldn't give chase.

"Ready…"

Erika evaluated the movements of the Parasite that was coming at her that Airi had just warded off, mentally anticipating to make sure that this last movement wasn't wasted.

"Now!"

Airi delivered a flurry of piercing blows on her Parasite, knocking it backwards before swiftly returning the rapier to its sheath. Erika had to speed up her horizontal counter-clockwise slash, which forced the Parasite to stumble backwards or risk decapitation, using the momentum of her movement to bring the blade to her off-side and quickly sheath her katana while ducking below the other Parasite that came to fill the place of the one she just drove off before smoothly using the bounce to give her the impetus for the Acceleration-type magic to take over and carry her towards the cover of the thicket with Airi.

…

Lina's words were clear through the communication devices, confirming that they were indeed dealing with more than one group of Parasites. Which meant that it was also very likely that he and Keito might be running into their own batch. At least they were given a heads up.

"Keito, stick close to me," he told the younger student while readying his CAD.

George checked their current position. They were just to come up on the Overlook Hill where Tatsuya, Miyuki, and Lina had been posted initially. From his evaluation of the area, he could not sense the presence of any Parasites; hopefully whatever individuals who were in the area had been led away by those three. Although, that would mean that there was a group of Parasites between them and their goal regardless.

"This way," George instructed, leading Keito up the steps to the top of the platform.

"Look!"

George turned to see what had caught Keito's attention, a shimmering path a few meters ahead.

They jogged over, and he bent down to get a better look at the phenomenon. Brushing his hands against the path, his fingers came away cold and wet.

"Ice. Probably Shiba-san's, which means this is the path they took"

"Are we following them?"

"We'll trace the side of the path. Walking on the ice that she created is sure to result in one of us falling."

A light thump came from behind and he whirled around, palm opened to fire off 'Invisible Bullet'.

"Hey, watch where you're aiming!" a voice cried out.

"Masaki? What are you doing here?!" George whispered loudly.

"Leading you two to the rendezvous site. Everyone else has been accounted for, but not all of the Parasites. Currently they're dealing with nine of them at the monument, so breaking through that line will be somewhat troublesome."

Nine!?

"Nine? I only heard we found five."

"That's outdated information. Airi and Erika had a third Parasite on their tail, and somehow three more cropped up from behind the observatory. I managed to pick them up before Mikihiko and Touko could be hit, but it still took a while to get them down the mountain."

George frowned.

"How did they even sense them that high up? It's hard to believe that so many of them would congregate in such a relatively small location."

Masaki shrugged.

"We can think about that after we handle them all. Let's move."

Nodding slowly, he turned back to lead the three of them in the direction of the monument.

"Behind me, now!"

Before he realized what had happened, Masaki had tacked both him and Keito to the ground, with the younger boy crying out in surprise as a few spells whizzed overhead while some others collided against Masaki's anti-object barrier.

"Looks like we found the last three," Masaki grunted, whipping out his pistol-type CAD and firing off a weak set of 'Air Bullets' into the ground, throwing up several plumes of dust.

"Change of plan, we're flying there," Masaki said definitively.

"Are you crazy?" George asked, incredulous.

"Maybe a little. Can you pin them down for thirty seconds? Keito, when George gives the signal, climb onto my back."

"...You-...You're crazy," George mumbled to himself. "Three…two…go!"

George sprang up and hit the three Parasites with 'Invisible Bullet' in quick succession, knocking them all to the ground. Meanwhile, Keito scrambled onto Masaki's back.

In sync, George and Masaki turned to grasp each other's left forearms as Masaki pushed off of the ground awkwardly due to the uneven distribution of the load he was now carrying.

"Hold on tight!"

…

Katsuto absently deflected another bolt of magic away from where the group had assembled in the clearing near the Utatsuyama Park monument. In between the bouts of spells from the Parasites, Mayumi and Miyuki would return with a volley of their own, shards of ice spraying through the trees and forcing the Parasites under cover.

"Well…I don't think this was part of the original plan," Erika offered, looking at their surroundings.

They had pulled a little deeper into the park, away from the observatory and the monument. Currently, they were surrounded on all sides by nine Parasites, furiously attempting to break through. Behind him, Tatsuya and Lina's combination of Gram Demolition and Zone Interference were handling the attacks coming from that direction.

"So what now?" Airi asked. "We have them all in one spot, but still no way to seal them."

"Yoshida?" Katsuto asked without looking at the freshman.

"We'll need to isolate one of them, then Tatsuya will need to examine its spectral form to give us an idea of what the Parasite's actual structure is. From there we can start crafting something that can hopefully contain it."

Katsuto frowned at the relative lack of confidence in Mikihiko's answer. It felt like they were on the cusp of solving everything, they just needed the last, critical piece of the puzzle, and from the sound of it, it was a gamble at best, and he was not sure how long they would be able to keep the Parasites in one place. If it came down to it, he was prepared to enclose all the Parasites within his barrier, but there was also the question if they would just self-destruct and loose the Parasite information bodies all over the place again.

"Tsukushiin, can you check where Ichijou is? He said he was looking for Reisen and Kichijouji," he called behind him to the short shrine maiden, not once taking his attention away from the Parasites in front of him.

"The map says…they're here?" the diminutive girl replied confusedly.

"COVER AND INCOMING!" Masaki's voice broke in from above, this time causing him to turn and look.

From what he could tell, Masaki was carrying both the middle school student and his friend, and dropping very, very fast. He also caught sight of the last three Parasites cutting their way through the underbrush.

"Shiba! Cover the Parasites!"

Seeing as one of his arms was occupied holding onto George, Katsuto activated a deceleration sequence from his CAD to buy Masaki time to steer them into a softer landing. From his expression, he could see Masaki felt their descent slow, and about two meters from impact he dropped George, who was also clearly not expecting that. The smaller boy twisted in the air and managed to catch himself in a somewhat controlled fall, while Masaki twisted into a forward break fall the best he could. All three landed heavily, as evident from their pained groaning.

"I guess everyone is accounted for," Touko remarked, with a tinge of humor in her voice.

"Ugh, not funny Touko," Masaki glared upwards, pushing himself off the ground.

"That's also all twelve Parasites accounted for, too," Mikihiko added, much more matter-of-factly.

"Is it just me, or are these guys getting more aggressive?" Erika asked.

The Chiba swordswoman's comment gave him a moment for pause. It was subtle, but it did seem like he had to cast Phalanx with greater frequency and scope.

"Certainly feels that way," Lina acknowledged.

Katsuto knew that most of them had the stamina to keep this effort up for a while, but it was in everyone's best interests to not test their limits and bring this confrontation to a close as fast as possible. And for that they needed information.

"Shiba, Yoshida, isolate one and get to work!" Katsuto commanded. "Ichijou, Isshiki, and Chiba, there's about to be a hole in the back while Tatsuya is working on that seal so shore it up!"

"Switch off on my cue!" Tatsuya said to the three others.

"Go!"

…

Mikihiko took stock of their surroundings, feeling somewhat fatigued already from everything that was going on. Katsuto, Mayumi, and Miyuki were handling one direction, while Masaki, Erika, Lina, and Airi faced the other. That left himself, Tatsuya, George, and Touko to work on the Parasite seal. There was Keito, but it was clear the middle schooler was not going to be of any help given his lack of magic and the fact that his eyes were wide watching the spells being flung around.

"So we have to isolate one of them. Which one?" Touko asked.

From what he could see, most of the Parasites were using some form of Movement or Acceleration-type magic to maneuver around the battlefield in attempts to outflank their group. However, it seemed to be a poor matchup, as their team consisted of several individuals adept in long-range combat. The few individuals he observed using ranged techniques seemed to be limited to some type of Oscillation pulses that seemed to travel in a line but fanned out in a conical shape. Maybe it was the undulating of the shadows cast about through the forest backdrop, but he was having trouble concentrating on any single Parasite.

"One from the backline is preferable, since it will allow Chiba-san and Isshiki-san to be targeted by one less Parasite, since they're using their swords," George proposed, still sounding a bit in pain from the earlier fall.

"That seems reasonable…there's one on the far left that's somewhat separated from the group, Mikihiko and I…" Tatsuya started talking but paused. "Mikihiko, are you alright?"

Mikihiko put a hand to his head, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

"Sorry…just…a bit uncomfortable…It'll pass in a bit…I think…"

"Now that you mention it, I'm feeling a little weird too…" Touko added.

Both of their responses seemed to give pause to Tatsuya and George.

"There is…?" George frowned at the two of them, before his eyes widened suddenly.

"Shiba! There's something wrong, one of the Parasites is-"

Mikihiko's legs felt like they were collapsing underneath him, and he found himself sitting hard on the ground, vibrations pounding his temple.

"This attack, I recognize it!"

Mikihiko barely registered George's voice, sounding like something in the far distance.

"...I see…we…locate the Parasite…causing…" Tatsuya's voice also faded in and out of recognition before he lost consciousness.

…

Out of the corner of his vision, Masaki saw Mikihiko drop to his knees, Touko and Keito not long after.

What's going on?

As far as he could tell, none of the Parasites had been able to break through their line. Katsuto, Mayumi, and Miyuki was a veritable fortress between Phalanx, Hale Particles, and Deceleration Zone. On their side, his Air Bullets, Lina's Spark Discharge, and Erika and Airi's swordwork had so far kept the Parasites at bay. So what was happening?

"Masaki, something doesn't feel right!" Airi called out to him.

He wasn't sure, but it seemed like the Parasites were starting to move faster and increasing the frequency of their advances. But they had kept their defenses tight so what could be…

"This attack, I recognize it!"

The realization hit him at the same time that he registered George's yell towardsTatsuya's group.

He recognized this attack as well, the same place that George had experienced it.

Sado.

The Parasites' hosts that they were fighting were soldiers from the New Soviet Union.

He had to suppress the sudden rage that welled up inside him from that event, a reminder of what he was meant to defend and the brutality that the enemy was capable of - and him as well. Shoving down the urge to destroy each and every one of the Parasites, he had to rationalize to himself that they had more pressing issues to worry about, but he made a mental note that he would need to find out just how the New Soviet Union soldiers had made it so far down the island.

It was a sensory disruption spell for disorienting the opponent and could be deployed as a support magic. From what he recalled, the effects took time to ramp up, and there was a greater effect on those with weaker constitutions, probably why Mikihiko, Touko and Keito were the first to collapse.

He felt some lightness in his own head, but it would still take a while for him to completely succumb to the magic. They had to stop it before it progressed much farther.

So far, he had only been using his Air Bullets to cause some disturbance to the Parasite's formation and to interrupt their attacks to give Erika and Airi more openings, but he decided he needed to increase the power and actually cause some damage to identify which individual was the caster.

He adjusted the setting on his CAD and leveled the weapon at the advancing Parasites, releasing rounds of the barrage systematically across his field of vision. Where the Air Bullets made contact with their adversaries, they stumbled backwards for a few steps. At the current power level, the hit was sure to cause large bruising, but not enough to be lethal. His main purpose was to see if he could interrupt the casting to help identify their culprit.

One of the stronger Air Bullets struck a Parasite on their right-hand side, and he felt the vibrations on his eardrums waver ever so slightly. He sent a hail of several more waves to confirm, and the feeling subsided noticeably.

"George! The one on the far right side!" he called behind him, but before he finished, Tatsuya had already been moving in that direction, seemingly already picking up on which one they needed to deal with first.

…

Tatsuya looked for traces of the magic with Elemental Sight.

George had given him the quick summary of the magic and the effects, and that it was critical to eliminate the magic before it crippled their team. This group of Parasites behaved quite differently than the ones that they had dealt with in Tokyo, with their tenacity and aggressiveness two of the major characteristics that he could see. The encounter was steadily getting more and more drawn out, and yet there was no indication that their enemy wanted to retreat, instead throwing everything at them. It was something he would need to contemplate later.

Searching the eidos, he picked up on the Oscillation-type magic causing the disturbance. From what he could tell, the vibrations were all at a relatively low frequency, so he was unsure of what exactly it was supposed to target, but regardless, they needed it gone. Reading the sequence within the information dimension, he ripped the magic apart, causing the ringing to stop.

Without missing a beat, he delivered four strikes of Decomposition into the body of the Parasite, two into the shoulder and two into the kneecap, incapacitating its movement, then used Flash Cast to accelerate the body towards his location closer to the center of the group, before delivering swift strikes to the neck and temple, knocking it unconscious.

Hopefully with the sensory interference magic out of the way the rest of the group could concentrate on holding the rest of their number off, and with the double benefit of retrieving the individual for examination.

He took a quick look around their area to make sure the others were still holding up. It did seem that they were able to push back slightly better against the eleven other individuals.

"Sample secured," he called out loud, to no one in particular. "George, I'm going to begin. Make sure Mikihiko and Tsukushiin-san are alright, I'll likely have some questions for them after I've done a preliminary examination."

He did not wait for a confirmation from the Third High student before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, diving into the Information Dimension.

…

Mayumi observed Tatsuya kneel beside the body of the Parasite through her Multi-Scope.

"Miyuki-chan, how are you doing?"

The younger Shiba reinforced the Deceleration Zone on their half of the field.

"Fine, Mayumi-nee," Miyuki replied.

She cast a glance backwards.

"Is my brother…?"

"Yes, it looks like he's started looking," Mayumi confirmed.

"You think he can do it?" Katsuto asked.

"He will," Miyuki confirmed.

"Mm," Katsuto grunted. "I can't claim to understand what he's doing, but let's hope he finds what we're looking for."

Mayumi cast an uncertain look in Katsuto's direction. That line of questioning came too close to Tatsuya and his secrets, which was why she had asked him if he was certain earlier. A display of his abilities like this was sure to cause people to become curious. For the Ichijou prince and the Isshiki daughter, she was not as concerned, but Katsuto, he was another variable altogether. She just hoped that he would not think too much about the 'how', and just focus on the fact that he could provide the information they were looking for.

…

Tatsuya focused his attention onto the information form of the Parasite host in front of him. He still maintained his awareness of the rest of the world during this time, but he consciously shifted more of his Sight to search for what Mikihiko had called the 'Spectral Form'.

He started at the surface level, sifting through the pieces of information that he did not care about at the moment: colors, temperatures, velocity, and other physical properties, delving deeper. As he continued, he began to encounter more detailed data, skeletal structure and muscle distribution, as well as some more esoteric properties, picking up on chemical properties and atomic structures. It would all have been quite interesting to look at, if he had given more interest to these subjects or the time to examine it in more detail, but so far, he had found nothing tying the host to the Parasite itself.

Thinking back to his practice with Mikihiko, he forced his vision to shift, the sensation best described as pivoting about some imaginary axis within the Information Dimension itself. He struggled for a moment as his mind continually tried to pull him back into more familiar territory, the space where variables were, if not quite tangible, measurable and shapeable. The feeling he was experiencing as he was filtering through the information was almost like vertigo, as the things he was looking at phased in and out.

He forced himself to keep looking at the same location, the heart and the brain specifically, trying to focus on areas where the Parasite should theoretically have the most influence. The edges of his vision slowly solidified, and gradually the space around him became…firm, was the best way to describe it. The body below him still looked distorted, but what appeared to be a single strand of white fiber came into focus. He had seen something similar the night before, and it seemed to align with what Mikihiko had talked about.

Carefully, without touching the strand, he traced the thread through the information dimension. As he followed the trail, he noticed more and more white ribbons materializing all around him until he felt something give way and the whole picture was illuminated clearly.

He had to take a moment to perceive the full extent of what he found.

Where the body of the Parasite's host was in the real world, now in the Information Dimension lay a swaying, thrumming conglomeration of what appeared to be white strands in the figure of a human body. At first it was dizzying to look at, shifting and shimmering, almost iridescent in its appearance. The filaments seemed to twirl and fold in on themselves, an infinitely tangled knot, but as he approached the Information, he was even more surprised to discover that it was even more complex than he had initially thought. Each individual fiber, while gossamer thin already, he found to be constructed of three thinner, nearly translucent, threads, wound in a triple helix pattern, resembling DNA.

Is this…a soul?

The soul - or spectral form - was nothing like he had seen before. It was completely different from the psions that he was accustomed to seeing. Indeed, in this plane, he could see nothing but souls. Now that he was more cognizant of what he should be looking for, whenever he looked around, he could see white shapes all around him, the rest of the group battling the Parasites.

He turned his attention back to the incapacitated Parasite. He had a job to do and he was the only one who could do it. He tried to lean in closer to get a better idea of what exactly he was seeing. His impression was that the density of the white strands seemed to be higher where the heart and the brain would have been in the physical realm, and the fibers extended outwards from those points, almost like a system of blood vessels, or possibly the nervous or lymphatic system. As he scanned over those two areas, he perceived the subtlest hint of change in shade of the filaments surrounding the heart and the brain. It was barely indistinguishable from the base form, tinged slightly more gray, and as the inspection continued he found that the foreign substance had nearly encapsulated the host's own soul-heart and soul-brain.

But where is the connection?

He thought for a moment before coming upon an idea. Keeping a close watch on the two souls, he gradually shifted his perception back into the area of the Information Dimension that he was well aware of. The souls glimmered slightly, but only faded minimally, until he reached a point where he could once again observe psions the faintest outline of the physical form, finding his answer.

Overlaying the two regions of the information dimension, he found that the Parasite's soul was littered with pushion nodes where it had latched onto the host body, with a sort of psion shell surrounding it. This was the answer. This was how the Parasites had invaded the hosts' bodies.

It was just a bit surprising just how much this information body behaved like a real parasite.

A Soul Parasite.

Without taking time to appreciate the breakthrough he had made, he looked again with renewed energy, now instead of trying to decipher what he saw, taking in as much information as he could to give to Mikihiko and Touko. He made a note of approximately how many nodes and tendrils there were, and where they had attached themselves to, any peculiar structures or patterns, before returning his consciousness to the physical dimension.

His eyes came into focus just as George managed to rouse Mikihiko out of the Parasite's sensory attack, Touko also still gripping her head in pain. As much as they probably needed the time to recover, that was time that they did not have.

"I've found how the Parasites are manipulating the mind and the body of the hosts," Tatsuya said matter-of-factly.

"You did?" George asked. "That was…faster than I was expecting."

"The sooner we end it, the better. Mikihiko, Tsukushiin-san, I'm sorry to ask, but I have information to share."

His friend winced and shook his head.

"Sorry…still recovering my bearings…so, what did you find?"

Tatsuya tried his best to communicate clearly and exactly all of his findings and everything that he observed. George didn't say anything during his explanation, looking mostly intrigued about the whole topic, while Mikihiko and Touko have more pensive expressions.

"So…that's what the spectral form looked like to you," Mikihiko started. "As I had suspected, the Parasites bound themselves to the 'Centers of Being', the heart and the mind. If the Parasites are as entangled as you had described, sealing them off will take some work."

"Can you not just seal the whole spectral form?" George asked, glancing at Mikihiko. "If it's as Shiba-san says, it sounds like there's no going back once you've been affected by the Parasite."

"It's not quite that simple," Touko responded, the most serious Tatsuya had ever heard the girl speak. "The larger and more complex the spectral form - or Soul - as you referred to, the more layers and power the seal will need to contain it. Now, if Miki-kun and I were to work together, we might be able to contain three, maybe four combined hosts and Parasites, before we exhaust ourselves. But the Parasite itself is smaller, and more compact. If we can isolate the Parasite's soul from the host, we'll be able to seal all of them, and have a more secure seal."

"The challenge is going to be dislodging the Parasite," Mikihiko thought out loud. "Unfortunately, my Divine Earth Magic isn't great for such a delicate operation. Tsukushiin-san?"

"The 'Court of Suijin' might be able to accomplish what we're looking for, but I can't be certain without trying," Touko answered. "It's a purification ritual, and may just agitate the Parasite enough to make it want to release itself."

"Are there any repercussions for failure?" Tatsuya inquired.

The small girl shrugged.

"Not really, so it should be safe to try."

"How long will it take to get ready?" George asked.

"Give me a minute to draw the talisman," Mikihiko said.

Tatsuya and George watched in stoic silence as Mikihiko swiftly, but decisively painted a series of characters onto an ofuda while Touko retrieved a gohei that she had kept hidden underneath her jacket.

The two Ancient Magic practitioners cast one look at each other, before nodding in unison.

Touko closed her eyes and began chanting, shaking and waving the gohei at specific intervals. As the ritual progressed, Tatsuya could feel the air become charged with magic, and dampness accumulated on his hair and face. A circle encompassing the Parasite emerged under the moonlight, seeming to shimmer with the reflection of water, an ethereal glow accompanying the phenomenon and bathing them in gentle cerulean light.

With a final shake, she struck the ground and the ghostly water surged inwards and inundated the Parasite, causing the body to spasm.

"Yoshida!" she yelled.

Mikihiko did not have to be told twice.

With the ofuda firmly held between his pointer and middle fingers, he swung his arm straight down and struck the Parasite dead in the center of the Parasite's chest, a bolt of light striking in the same spot. The afterglow of Mikihiko's talisman hung in the air tracing the path it had traveled, but there was no longer any remnant of the talisman itself.

Instead, two glowing spheres of luminescence were left on the body, one over the host's heart and the other over the host's skull.

Both Touko and Mikihiko were breathing heavily, watching the Parasite with bated breath to see if the seal would hold.

"Did…did we do it?" Mikihiko asked.

Tatsuya had already transferred his vision to the Information Dimension to check. He still saw two sets of white strands indicating the presence of the human soul and its intruder, but from where before the Parasite had entangled itself within the core of the soul, now a glowing golden cage had encapsulated the Parasite's true form, where it was now squirming and struggling to break free. However, it looked like Mikihiko's seal was strong, so there seemed to be no risk of it escaping.

"It worked," Tatsuya confirmed. "The Parasite is sealed."

…

Mayumi showered the Parasites with another wave of dry ice, continuing to keep them at bay. While still feeling relatively all right, she did feel slightly more tired than when they had first started. If it continued at this rate, she could probably last for another forty-five minutes, maybe an hour, tops.

"Is it just me or are they getting even more aggressive?" she voiced out loud.

"It's not just you…it seems there's been a spike in the frequency of their attempts," Katsuto answered. "And I think I know why," he finished, casting a quick glance back.

At the prompt, Mayumi frowned and looked back for herself, seeing Tatsuya and George kneeling by the body of the Parasite they had captured. The dark haired freshman met her gaze, and gave her a subtle nod, a cue which she understood even without an exchange.

They had successfully contained a Parasite.

She turned back to her battle at hand.

"Looks like this will be over soon. We need to keep buying them time to seal each and every one of them," she announced.

Miyuki nodded in agreement, while Katsuto just gave a low grunt of acknowledgement. With renewed vigor, the three of them continued their repelling of the furious Parasites.

…

"Looks like we're finally getting somewhere," Masaki said, seeing Tatsuya and George crouched around the fallen Parasite.

"About time," Erika grumbled through another sword swing.

"And you think you could have done better?" Airi asked, eyebrow raised.

"Keep your eyes peeled, you two," Masaki directed the two swordswomen. "It looks like whatever Tsukushiin-san and Mikihiko did made the rest of them mad."

"You don't say," Lina muttered as she threw another volley of her knives followed by a sharp electrical discharge.

…

While Tatsuya and George were examining the Parasite for any lingering trances or unusual characteristics, Mikihiko set about creating the next seal, pulling out several more ofuda, and quickly painted the two talismans with hurried brush strokes. They had been holding off the Parasites for about thirty minutes now, and even with the significant power of their party, their reserves were not finite. Hastily, he put the finishing touches on the talisman, and turned to look at Touko, who nodded back at him.

She began her ritual again, this time casting it towards the two Parasites that Erika and Airi were dealing with. The ground below the two Parasites glistened again before again erupting and striking the Parasites' chests, causing Erika and Airi to jump backwards. They did not have time to give warning, and he could only hope that everyone else's reaction times would be just as swift.

Seeing the two figures writhing through the waters, he flung the two talismans, one after another in quick succession, hitting both in the heart, causing them to collapse in a heap.

"Nine more to go," he muttered to himself, pulling out two more ofuda. In the heat of the moment, he nearly missed a brushstroke, but managed to catch himself in time; while they did need to hurry, a mistake at this time would delay them more than if it was correct the first time.

He stood up as he finished the next two talismans.

"Ready," he said to Touko, who started to raise her gohei.

Before anyone had time to register what had happened, the gohei erupted in a burst of flames, causing her to cry out in shock and drop the now charred wood onto the dirt.

"Tsukushiin-san! What happened!?" George exclaimed.

Before she had a chance to respond, one by one the nine other Parasites ignited in much larger and brighter flames, completely engulfing the hosts' bodies. The abruptness of the event caused everyone else to also fall back into the center.

"I don't think that was supposed to happen…right?" Airi asked tentatively.

"Shiba, Yoshida, what's going on!?" Katsuto bellowed, as he encapsulated the group in a Phalanx dome preemptively.

"Mikihiko?" Tatsuya asked him.

His mind was racing at what could possibly have happened. His seal should not have had any side effects, and neither Touko nor anyone here wielded any sort of fire or flame based magic that he knew of. And with the intensity of the blaze, it was strange that there was no accompanying heat…

There was only one conclusion he could come to.

"Someone intentionally set the Parasites ablaze," he stated simply. "And I don't think it was anyone here."

"A third-party tampering?" Katsuto asked, eyebrows crashing together, while Tatsuya looked troubled.

"Possibly," he affirmed.

"Then these Parasites…" Mayumi began. "Are we going to lose them again?"

The group watched as one-by-one the Parasites' hosts crumpled to dust, and a disturbing silence settled, made all the more unsettling by the din that had just been going on just moments before.

"What do we do now?" Airi voiced what everyone was thinking at the moment.

Without warning, a massive blow struck the top of Katsuto's barrier, and despite the protection, the reverberations could be felt beneath the dome, causing some of them to lose their balance.

"What was that?!" Erika shouted.

Everyone looked around, but still could not see anything that could have caused such an impact. Even so, he could feel the hairs on his neck stand up as he sensed the presence of something. The only person that wasn't visibly confused or concerned was Tatsuya, who was staring intently out of the dome at a single point in particular.

"Tatsuya?" he asked.

"It's the Parasites," his friend answered levelly, still staring out.

"What do you mean? I don't see anything. Is it only one of them?"

Tatsuya shook his head.

"No…It's all of them."

Another blow struck the barrier. And then another, which kicked off a storm of impacts and magic, aimed squarely onto the area they were gathered under.

…

Even though Tatsuya had seen many things with Elemental Sight before, this was still something new to him. If he had not seen it with his own two eyes, he probably would have been doubtful if someone else described to him using only words what he was looking at, but he had no choice but to acknowledge his own Sight.

The structure of the Parasite's form in the Information Dimension remained unchanged, an ugly pulsating, gray web of strands and fibers, weaving between and through itself, but the form it had chosen to take was vastly different from what he had seen when it had latched onto the host's form. Now, the nine Parasites had grown and congealed together with an appearance of a draconic abomination, with nine distinct heads coiling and weaving around each other, leading down to its body, which could only be described as a squirming mass that eventually split back off into nine thrashing tails.

From what he could see, several of the heads were smashing themselves into Katsuto's Phalanx barrier, while the others snaked from the sides blasting away with various magics. He was not sure the reason that the Parasites had now combined, but it possibly had something to do with the fact that it had now decided to try to hunt and consume them instead of fleeing. In any case, with what Mikihiko and Touko had done with the three other Parasites just to seal them as individuals, he had a hard time thinking that they would ever be able to seal a behemoth such as this.

"Shiba! Explain yourself!" Katsuto yelled at him in between impacts. The older man still sounded strong, but there was an edge of strain in his voice. Frankly, Tatsuya was impressed that he was able to withstand the intensity of the blows; even through Phalanx Tatsuya could feel the waves of magic roiling off of the beast.

"The Parasites have combined to be some kind of…thing, and it's attacking us with everything they have!" he called back.

He glanced back at the draconic mass.

"We need to split up. With the current situation we can't support you, and you won't be able to maintain that barrier indefinitely."

Tatsuya took Katsuto's lack of response as an affirmation, although he had a feeling the man did not really want to admit it. But no magician could last for a prolonged length of time without suffering serious damage or consequences, and that was the fact.

"You have a plan, Tatsuya?" Masaki asked.

"...No."

"But if it's as bad as you say it is, we can't just run away!" Airi stated the obvious.

"We're not running…we just need some time to come up with…something," Mayumi replied. Even though she was backing him up, she still sounded very much uncertain.

Tatsuya looked at Touko and Mikihiko. Both of them looked lost, and Touko had lost her gohei that she had been using while Mikihiko had a severe look of concentration trying to come up with a solution.

Physical attacks were out of the question. If there was any chance, it would be magic that affects the mind. In the moment, there was a single answer that floated to the forefront of his thoughts. If he could establish a Psion Transfer link with Miyuki, she would be able to freeze the Parasites with Cocytus.

His eyes first met Miyuki's, then drifted over to Mayumi.

We need time.

Mayumi nodded in understanding. Hopefully, in the chaos that was sure to come they would be able to conceal just what it is that they planned to do.

"Mikihiko, how long can you and Touko contain that thing for?" Tatsuya asked.

The Ancient Magic user hesitated.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Based on your description that it's a melding of spirits, I can't guarantee anything."

"What if Masaki, George, Lina, Saegusa-senpai, and Juumonji-senpai kept hitting it?"

"The odds are slightly better, but still not great," Mikihiko shook his head.

"We'll have to chance it. I need you two to contain it for ten seconds," he commanded. "The center is approximately 40 meters forward, 20 meters up, straight ahead."

"...All right. We'll try our best. Tsukushiin-san?"

Touko nodded in agreement, determination visible on her features.

Tatsuya turned back to the group.

"All right. Here's the plan. Erika, and Isshiki-san, you stay with Juumonji-senpai. Saegusa-senpai, you pair up with Lina, and George and Masaki will be together. Keito-san, needless to say you're with Juumonji-senpai as well. Mikihiko and Tsukushiin-san will bind the Parasites for ten seconds, while Miyuki and I will suppress it for good. All clear?"

Tatsuya looked at the faces around him, with varying levels of concern and tiredness. It was time to end this for real.

"Go!"

With a grunt, Katsuto shrank the existing barrier to shelter himself, Erika, Airi, and Keito, while the rest of the teams scattered in four directions. Himself, Miyuki, Mayumi, Lina, Masaki, and George all immediately started casting spells in the direction of the Parasite dragon, although he was the only one who could see what sort of effect it was having. Even though no one else could aim well, all of the magic struck their targets in one way or another, mostly along the head and necks. For his part, he cast Gram Demolition on the heads that were missed, disrupting their attacks. Even though they kept up a steady stream of attacks, it had little effect on the Parasites themselves, as they seemed to be able to continually regenerate their structure.

"Mikihiko!" he yelled.

From the edge of his vision, he saw Touko and Mikihiko begin casting their magic the best they could. Touko had raised both her hands in a command to the water spirits in the area while Mikihiko had unfurled his Fan-shaped CAD, with the last two talismans he had created for the individual Parasites pressed against the center and raised it to the sky.

Through Elemental Sight, he saw a bright beam of light fall straight down onto the dragon, while a wall of water spirits encapsulated it.

Ten.

Miyuki turned to face him as he placed both of his hands against her temple.

Nine.

Tatsuya closed his eyes as he extended his consciousness into the Information Dimension to trace the souls of the Parasites.

Eight.

Through the Information Dimension, he could see Masaki rain down a torrent of air bullets at the Parasites.

Seven.

On the other side, Lina unleashed wave after wave of electrical bolts.

Six.

The Parasites trashed and struggled underneath the weight of Touko and Mikihiko's magic.

Five.

Tatsuya began establishing the Psion Transfer link between himself and Miyuki.

Four.

The seal created by the two Ancient Magic wielders began to strain and distort against the struggle of the Parasites.

Three.

The Psion Transfer link solidified and information started flowing from Tatsuya's Magic Calculation Area to his sister's.

Two.

Katsuto was yelling at the group for them to reassemble beneath his barrier as the seal finally gave way.

One.

A pulse exploded from the epicenter of the Parasite mass, surging towards the unprotected individuals. He caught sight of her crimson-rose eyes, looking at him.

Mayumi.

He would never let that happen again.

Tatsuya canceled the Psion Transfer link, breaking the flow of information from himself to Miyuki, immediately, unleashing an equally large burst of Gram Demolition, annihilating the Parasite's magics.

Zero.

The Parasites reared backwards from the aftershocks, but swiftly recovered and began its assault anew. In the meantime, Katsuto had recast Phalanx over the entire area, shielding everyone once again.

They had failed.

Mikihiko had keeled over on the group, while Airi rushed over to catch Touko.

"S-sorry, Tatsuya…It-It's too…strong," Mikihiko offered weakly.

"Shiba. What now?" Katsuto asked once more, as the blows hammered down again and again.

…

Mayumi watched as Tatsuya remained silent under Katsuto's questioning. The fact of the matter was that they had failed, and the bleak outcome looked more certain with each passing moment. If only Mikihiko and Touko could have held out for one more second. If only they had other means of protection.

There were many if's, but none that would save them now.

She had felt that they had been on the brink of obliteration, and that Tatsuya had sacrificed whatever plan that he had in order to save them - her - another time.

And now it seemed like they truly had run out of all options. For all the burdens he bore, it seemed that this was another one that they had all placed on him. Again.

…

The voices of Katsuto and Tatsuya faded as Keito focused on the impression in front of him. He had not understood a lot of the discussion that had happened through the night, or the magic and talismans that had been created and cast. But he had felt something. A slight tug, a sensation that something was there, just out of reach.

He slowly, tentatively, stretched out his left hand, reaching towards that thing, drawing him.

And Keito Connected.

His eyes snapped backwards as he saw what Tatsuya had described, the black pulsating mass.

The Parasites.

And he knew what he had to do.

Returning to his senses, he looked at Tatsuya.

And stretched out his right hand.

And Connected.

…

Mayumi knew something was wrong when Tatsuya abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence and his body went as stiff as a board. She rushed over to his side and grabbed his arm as if to catch him, but he was planted firmly on the ground. His head had snapped backwards and his eyes were open wide.

The event was over in a flash, and Tatsuya's body unseized and his head came forward again.

"Tatsuya? What happened?" she whispered.

He blinked a few times before looking straight at her, those pools of pacific-blue.

"I…I see now," he answered.

…

Tatsuya gently pushed Mayumi away as he stepped forward.

He didn't know what had just happened, but he knew it had something to do with Keito.

He wasn't within the Information Dimension, but it felt like someone had shown him clearly, anything and everything about the Parasites, down to the placement of each psion and pushion, and the soul filament that threaded throughout.

For a moment, it was as if he was the Parasites.

And he knew he could destroy them.

Raising his right hand, he pointed his palm directly at the heart of the draconic Parasites.

And unleashed Decomposition.

- 曾 -

March 5, 2096, Kanazawa

Ezekiel Cheng watched from his vantage point at the top of a water tower nearby Utatsuyama Park and tried to comprehend what had just happened.

He had come to the park on reports that another USNA operative, one Angelina Shields, had joined up local forces to handle more rogue Parasites, namely three of the Ten Master clans with several other individuals of note from the Hundred Families, and he had been ordered to observe.

Getting to this spot had been challenging enough, as apparently the Ichijou had worked with the local law enforcement to cordon off the Utatsuyama Park area, and it had taken him a little bit longer than expected to sequester himself in a good vantage point.

He had made very little progress with his original assignment, easily ruling that Japan's secret Strategic Class Magician could not be any of Third High's Students. The most prominent of them, Ichijou's Crimson Prince, was the most promising lead but after several weeks of surveillance even he had been ruled out.

So he had been glad he had something, anything, to get him out and about. It wasn't good to leave him to his own thoughts for too long…

Ezekiel's ashy ponytail fluttered in the wind, and his umber eyes glistened underneath the pair of dark sunglasses as he observed the encounter unfold. The beginning was nothing spectacular, as Lina's group became surrounded, but it quickly shifted into what seemed like a battle of attrition, with neither side visibly gaining ground. Then Cardinal George and another, tall male that he didn't recognize took down a Parasite from the fringe, a curious choice, and did some sort of examination over the body, shortly after which, the Tsukushiin shrine maiden and another teen boy performed some sort of Ancient Magic ritual, at least from what he could make out at this distance.

Things swiftly seemed to go downhill after they had dealt with the two other Parasites, with the rest of the group spontaneously combusting and some sort of…presence hung over the group. It was clear that it took nearly everything for the Juumonji heir to shield them all from whatever was attacking them. Despite the distance, he could practically taste the waves of magic emanating from the epicenter. Even if he wanted to, he knew that his magic would have had little impact on the outcome.

And then as suddenly the onslaught had started, it vanished. The oppressive air all but disappeared, leaving an ocean of stars to decorate the night, once again still, and he with his senses and intuition, he knew that somehow they had eradicated the intruding spirit bodies.

The group definitely looked tired, but still able to move. He stayed for a few more moments before deciding that his presence was no longer required.

But before he could hop off of the edge of the water tower, a soft, but sharp thunk sounded from behind him.

Without hesitation he spun around and flourished the staff in his hands, sending a flameless fire towards the unexpected arrival, but as he continued dodging out of the way, he felt his Ancient Magic be dispersed in two directions, towards the ground and the sky.

"Who's there," he growled.

There was no response for several seconds, but eventually, with staccato steps, a large, black bird strutted into the moonlight.

He frowned, but did not let up his guard. The bird - an eagle he thought - stared at him intensely, its gaze, somehow too intelligent.

"How did you like the show?" a soft voice came from behind him.

Startled, he turned again, back towards his original direction, quickly stepping backwards.

"Impressive display just now, that was 'Ding', of the Eight Trigrams was it not? I have not had the pleasure of encountering the combination of 'Li' and 'Xun'," the voice added.

Ezekiel frowned at the fact that his magic, modified from the Taoist tradition, had been recognized.

"If you're wondering how I figured it out, it was your staff that gave it away. The engraving on it looks shoddy, and missing several runes, but it's enough to be potent as a weapon. I would guess that this is not your usual casting aid, and you had to improvise. Impressive nonetheless."

His grip around his makeshift weapon tightened, as the voice's owner, Ezekiel surmised, stepped into the light. It was true that he was not able to bring his own engraved spear into the country, so he had carved out a substitute for his time in Japan.

The man was rather good looking, with features that appeared soft, yet sharp. His ebon hair extended far down his back, past his waist, with a single lock dangling in front of his face concealing one of his aureolin eyes.

"So you're the one who was behind the Parasites?" Ezekiel demanded.

"Oh, hardly," the man chuckled. "This was just…a little experiment. And I do say, the results far exceeded what I had hoped for!"

"What do you want?" Ezekiel continued questioning. Even though the mysterious man had no weapon or CAD that he could identify, he still knew in his gut that this person was dangerous, even with his nonchalant tone, as if they were just discussing the weather.

"Oh, my boy. The question is not what I want, but what you want. Right, Ezekiel Cheng?"

Ezekiel stiffened at the use of his real name.

No one should have known who he was…!

"Oh pardon me, for this operation, you're going by Nagaso Hiroshi, correct?"

His grip tightened around his octagonal staff as eyes widened at the casual revelation of his undercover identity as well.

[Or maybe...you would prefer Tzeng Hao-En?] the man continued in perfect Mandarin.

The man's eyes glinted sinisterly as he revealed another long buried piece of information, his birth name.

"Who are you!?" Ezekiel did his best to keep his voice level, despite the distressing situation.

"...You can call me Zhou Gongjin," the man finally answered, returning to Japanese. "And I was serious about my question. You…want revenge, don't you, Ezekiel Cheng? Revenge against the Great Asian Alliance, for what they did to your home."

"You know nothing," he retorted.

"Oh, but I think I do," Zhou Gongjin answered with a coy smile. "Don't feel the need to answer me now…but when the time comes, keep my offer in mind, would you?"

And before his very eyes, the man called Zhou Gongjin had disappeared into the shadows.

You…want revenge, don't you?

The words echoed in his ears.

With a start he turned back around to see that the black eagle was still there watching him, with its too-intelligent eyes. And then without a sound, it spread its wings, and with a great beat, it, too, faded into the inky night sky.

- いちじょう -

March 10, 2096, Third National Magic University Affiliated High School, Kanazawa

Masaki made his way around his patrol route of the Third High Campus, Disciplinary Committee armband on his left bicep and reflected on what had occurred over the past week.

While nowhere near as heavy as the attack on Yokohama, his experiences dealing with the Paranormal Parasites had left a nearly equal impression on him, as it was the first time he had encountered something so esoteric. He had experiences with conflict, even war, but always against flesh and blood, physical things that he could see, smell, and touch.

But what happens when you're fighting something that is beyond your sphere of influence, that laughs in the face of your futile attempts to best it?

And that was the question that scared him the most.

He had thought he was prepared for anything. That he had everything he needed to defend his family and his nation.

This past week had shown him clearly that this was not the case.

That sometimes, even he could be reduced to desperate scrambling.

It was not a fact that was easy to digest.

He had seen others struggle with it, at Sado, and Yokohama.

But to be the one experiencing it himself…

Well, at least he knew now what he needed to learn about. He was sure that George and Airi would be just as interested to hear Touko's thoughts on the matter.

After Tatsuya had, for a lack of better word, destroyed the Parasites, their small Parasite-hunting group did not do much other than getting some much needed rest. He and Katsuto had stayed behind for a little bit, just enough for the Ichijou agents along with some local police representatives to lock down the area and make sure that everything truly was over.

His father had personally overseen the transfer of the sealed Parasites to the main headquarters of the Japanese Magic Association in Kyoto. He wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen to the Parasites that they had captured, but at least now all of the Ten Master Clans would know about what they had done there that night, but probably they would let the various research institutes perform their own studies to determine their true nature. No doubt they would also have to get some input from the various Ancient Magic schools. It was sure to be a long and patient exercise for many.

As for the outcome of their collaboration with Mayumi, Katsuto, and the First High freshmen, it certainly shed some light on just what a cooperation between different magicians could look like, and he, for one, saw the benefit in more joint work with them. For certain, Erika and Airi seemed to get along better than he had expected, while Touko and Mikihiko were successful in their own collaborations.

After a night of rest, the First High students left back for Tokyo early in the morning, leaving them just a few moments to offer their well wishes and offseeing. But he had no doubt that they would be seeing each other soon, if not at least at the upcoming Nine Schools Competition in a few months.

A few short beeps sounded from the terminal in his pocket, reminding him of one more task he had to take care of before heading home.

He turned and made his way towards the front gates of the school. At this time of day, the campus was largely devoid of people, but there was one person he knew would be waiting there.

A figure in a black gakuran with slate navy gray hair was fidgeting by the entrance, looking like he was debating crossing the threshold to step onto the grounds. The boy's amber eyes looked up to meet him at the sound of his footsteps.

Reisen Keito.

There was something curious about him.

He had the opportunity to discuss with Tatsuya some of what had happened after, and while he did not get much info out of his rival, he did leave him with a suggestion that he keep a close eye on the kid. And if Tatsuya was to be believed, Keito had some latent magic abilities that they had yet to see.

So he had offered the backing of the Ichijou to try to enroll him into Third High for his freshman year. And surprisingly enough, the boy had accepted.

"Are you sure about this?" Masaki asked as he stopped on the other side of the Third High gate from Keito.

"I'm sure," Keito answered, resolution in his voice, despite his shaky form.

"Again, this is just an evaluation exercise and interview," Masaki cautioned. "There's no guarantee that the results are enough to warrant a continuation into the enrollment process."

"I know," Keito replied again, voice sounding stronger.

"Very well," Masaki folded his arms. "Then welcome to Third National Magic University Affiliated High School,."

- さえぐさ - シールズ - しば -

March 15, 2096, First National Magic University Affiliated High School, Tokyo

Mayumi stepped to the side of the gymnasium where the end of year party was being held, passing by the drinks table to pick up a fizzy drink, offering and receiving congratulations from classmates and juniors alike, as well as politely declining offers for dances.

She had just finished a round with Hattori, and clearly her former Vice-President still harbored some sort of innocent infatuation with her, as she had felt from the tension in his shoulders. He probably knew that she only saw him as nothing more than that, but it was still quite funny to see him so worked up for one last twirl.

Her last day as a First High School student was bittersweet to say the least. The past three years had been some of the most wonderful and memorable years of her life, with this last one being particularly eventful.

She thought back on everything that had occurred, from her enrollment address, to the Nine Schools Competitions, her tenure as Student Council President. Her thoughts drifted away from the brighter times, to the struggles she had faced trying to mend the rift between Course 1 and Course 2, Blanche…Yokohama and the latest incident with the Paranormal Parasites.

All around the gymnasium were students dancing, laughing, and crying. She could see Kanon and Isori swaying on the other side of the hall, while Midori, Koutarou, and Mari were talking around one of the standing tables. Many of the first year boys looked like they wanted to ask Miyuki for a dance, but her classmates had formed a loose human barricade to protect her. One of the strangest sights had to be Katsuto and Rin-chan dancing near the center of the floor, but somehow it seemed to work out.

Never could she have imagined her life becoming both so exciting, and at times, hair-raising. But the curtain on this stage of her life was finally drawing to a close.

The Parasite Incident had resolved itself. In the week and a half since their encounter in Kanazawa, there had been no more reports of Parasite victims. Local law enforcement, with the support of the Ten Master Clans and Eighteen Assistant Houses spread throughout the country had been briefed with the high level details of what had transpired and to keep an eye out for any repeat events, but it seemed like the Parasites were truly gone for good.

Incident after incident had reared its head, and in due time they had been resolved…but somehow, her gut told her that she was just barely scratching the surface of the things to come.

But for now, she had a new stage of life to look forward to.

The results from her entrance examinations had been revealed, and officially she would be enrolled in the National Magic University at the end of spring. She wasn't sure what she had expected…excitement, maybe some apprehension? But she hadn't really felt anything of the sort when she had heard the news. She managed to keep up a cheerful demeanor for her family. Mother and father were particularly proud, while Kasumi and Izumi were delighted that their older sister would still be around.

Instead, there seemed to be a hollow pit inside her, of emptiness, that there should be something more. When did this idea grow within her?

She knew the answer of course.

One Shiba Tatsuya.

She smiled into her drink at the thought of him and his pacific-blue irises, wrapping her up and filling her with warmth. The way he looked at her, pushed and encouraged her outside of what was familiar and expected.

The moments they shared. Okinawa. Their reading room. Their New Year's Shrine visits.

She would have included the closing evening of the Nine Schools Competition in that list, but that had been cut short when she inadvertently brought up some painful memories.

Thankfully, that had all been reconciled after a difficult few months at the end of last year.

The thought occurred to her that maybe they could try their dance over one more time.

She had not seen Tatsuya the entire night, and she was almost certain he would have tried to be as far from any social event as possible. A few potential hiding spots came to mind…she would let her hunch guide her.

Setting her flute down, she slipped out of the gymnasium as discreetly as possible.

…

Lina stepped out of the gymnasium to get some time and space away from the crowd. The atmosphere inside was festive, the energy of celebration positively filling the air. The mood was a stark contrast to how she was currently feeling about the past three months that she had spent in Japan.

A few hours before, she had just managed to finish compiling the report of the Parasite incident with Sylvie and Mia to send back to the USNA, which would no doubt be thoroughly reviewed. A large amount of their time and effort had been dedicated towards dealing with the Parasites that her primary objective had been largely forgotten and neglected.

Not that she minded in the slightest of course, after she had discovered the USNA's true intentions. She had a feeling that there was another report to be written sooner or later on that mission as well.

But for now, far from the bustle and excitement of the celebrations, she could at least take a few moments for herself to pretend to be a normal girl.

Away from prying eyes, she wandered through the darkened hallways of First High. In the midst of her investigations, she hadn't had the opportunity to appreciate the sensation of being a student again. She paused in the center of the first-year hall, imagining the sights and sounds of the beginning of just a regular day, students mingling in the hallways, shouting at each other from different classrooms, organized chaos and flurry of action swirling around her imaginary passing period.

She closed her eyes, and slowly inhaled and exhaled, dragging out her fictional creation for as long as she was able to.

"You're quite far from the party, aren't you?"

A familiar voice sounded from behind her. Opening her eyes, she turned around and came face to face with Tatsuya.

"I could say the same about you," she retorted. "Are you here to drag me back?"

The tall freshman shook his head.

"No. I understand the need to get away from the commotion as well."

He came to a stop next to her.

"Care to join me?"

She frowned but didn't say anything, and neither did he wait for a response before starting on his stately stride once more. She followed behind quietly, unsure of what exactly he was trying to pull. Unlike the last few times they had talked, she detected no hint of danger in his voice.

"With the semester over, I suppose you're leaving soon?" Tatsuya asked levelly.

"You really want to get rid of me that soon, huh?" she responded, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"...I apologize if it came off that way…I know that due to…circumstances, our time together has been less than affable…" he replied.

She immediately regretted her response. In truth, she was the outsider, and whether she willingly went along with the plan or not, she was the hostile one between the two of them.

"No…you're right, a lot of things happened, and if there's a party to blame, it would be the USNA and the people they sent over, myself included…" she admitted.

Tatsuya led the two of them out of the building into the central courtyard, where the crisp air rustled with the hint of a spring breeze, causing her twin tails to dance in the wind.

"So what did you think of your time in Japan?" he asked.

Lina took a moment to think about her answer.

"Well…putting aside the reasons why I came in the first place…it was…nice. The people, and the memories I made will stick with me for a long time."

"I see."

The two of them walked in silence for a bit longer.

"I also would like to apologize for something," he suddenly said, causing her to raise an eyebrow sideways at him, but let him continue.

"It took a bit of time, but I understand that a lot of what you were asked to do here was against your wishes. And watching you for the past few weeks…it reminds me of my own struggles."

She came to a stop and stared at his back, unsure if she heard him correctly. From the way he was talking about similar experiences, it seemed like he was all but admitting that…

"Before you keep going, are you sure you know what you're saying?" she interrupted him.

He turned and looked at her, the barest hint of surprise on his features, but it soon faded.

"I know what I'm saying," he confirmed.

I'm trusting you with this information was what she understood from the tone of his voice.

"All right," she said, indicating that he could continue.

"I would say that I've lived most of my life under one feeling of obligation or another, and that I had just accepted that that was going to be a part of my life," he carried on. "But seeing you and your struggle, I've made up my mind. I won't be beholden to anyone or anything that I don't believe in. This was something that I've learned from my first year here with the help of many important people. And I hope that someday you can discover that for yourself."

He looked her straight in the eye, holding the gaze for a few moments, before turning and continuing on his patrol.

Lina did not know what to make of his declaration, or the fact that he did not once mention her attacking him, or the Parasites, or her spying. But it seemed like their relationship had improved vastly over their prior encounters.

"To answer your question, I'm leaving in three days time!" she called out to him after he had traveled several paces.

Tatsuya turned to look at her and nodded solemnly.

"In that case, safe travels, Lina."

…

Tatsuya knew without looking behind that Lina had wandered off on her own again, which was perfectly fine with him.

He had left Kanon and the rest of the Disciplinary Committee to handle the security of the graduation party, and had assigned himself the patrol route to allow him to stay out of the vicinity of the event as much as he possibly could. As much as he had done for the school, apparently seeing him with the Vice-Chief armband for the Disciplinary Committee still rubbed some students and staff the wrong way. No need to stir the pot anymore than he had to.

In reality, he only really needed Elemental Sight to make sure that there were no stragglers or roamers, but he enjoyed the freedom the patrol route gave him for his own wanderings.

His feet led him through the First High courtyards, around and through the many sakura trees dotting the campus. He inhaled deeply, picking out the faint scents of the new growth: lilac, almond, and rose, taking the opportunity to enjoy the gifts of nature. He reflected once more on his situation; how strange it was for him to settle into the life of a normal high school student, when his life was supposed to be anything but. He continued his stroll through the well-tended foliage, the gentle winds and his own messy fringe tickling his cheek and forehead, and he allowed himself to enjoy this moment of silence and tranquility. His wandering brought him to a small copse, a three-person bench under the branches of a large Japanese Maple.

"Found you," a soft bright voice tinkled from his back.

"You should be inside," Tatsuya murmured softly to Mayumi as she came up beside him.

"As yourself," Mayumi countered lightly, nudging him gently. "Let me guess, you told Kanon you wanted to handle the patrol duty."

The edges of his lips quirked upwards.

"You didn't have to come find me, you know," he said.

"But I wanted to," Mayumi answered. "I wanted my last night as a high school student to be memorable."

"By being away from the party? I'm sure there are people who are missing you right now."

She shook her head.

"There was one more person I needed to see to complete it," she replied gently. "I thought I saw Lina walking around out here."

"We had a short talk," Tatsuya said simply. Mayumi gave him a look but did not comment on his words any more.

She looked up to see where they were standing.

"Interesting location you picked to hang out," she commented.

"It's…important to me," Tatsuya replied, looking up.

"That makes two of us."

The two of them stood in comfortable silence, Mayumi leaning into his side.

Mayumi perked up from beside him, tilting her head towards the gymnasium.

"I think they're playing the last dance," she whispered.

Sure enough, it was faint, but he could also hear the slow waltz being played by the band.

Tatsuya understood what she meant by her words. She was probably thinking of the Nine Schools Competition when he had left her on the dance floor.

He thought back to everything he had experienced. Ostracization from his family. Enrolling in high school. Scorched Halloween. The Parasites. The smiles of his friends, his sister.

Mayumi's smile.

At the time he had thought that the safest place she could be was away from him. But now he knew that he was right where he needed - and wanted - to be. He could choose his own terms. And he chose her.

Fate.

"Mayumi, may I have this dance?" He offered her his left hand.

Mayumi's face broke off into a dazzling smile, and for a moment he lost his breath.

"The honor would be mine," she answered happily, taking his outstretched hand.

Wordlessly, like clockwork, they came together, he putting his right palm on the small of her back, while she placed her left hand on his right shoulder, and leaned against his chest. He could feel the sound of her breath against him and the beating of his heart.

In one motion, the two of them moved, with one movement, with one rhythm, in perfect cadence.

The moment seemed to last forever, yet ended all too soon.

As the final notes faded away on the wind, he heard her murmur into his shoulder.

"Tatsuya…I think I'm in love with you."

Something grew and expanded inside his chest, a warmth that washed over his body.

And he leaned down and answered.

"I think I'm in love with you, too."

Pacific-blue eyes met crimson-rose, and ever so slowly, he leaned down and delicately pressed his lips against hers, which she reciprocated with equal gentleness.

And for a moment, underneath the starry sky and the spring air, it was just the two of them embraced before eternity.