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Senku dragged himself off the train, a wide yawn escaping as he blearily looked around.
Spying a 24-hour coffee shop, he shouldered his bag higher and made his way inside. It was empty at four in the morning, but that suited Senku fine as it meant he didn’t have to deal with anyone but the barista.
He eyes said barista suspiciously for a few minutes, shrugging as he decided the dead eye look was of one who was a college student and not a zombie.
He could be forgiven for his warrines, he thought, ordering a cup of black coffee. One could never be to careful, after all.
Monsters liked to appear in the most unexpected of places.
He downed his coffee, tossed his cup in the trash, and was out the door within five minutes.
Letting the caffeine work its magic, Senku quickly grabbed his next train, sitting down for the two hour ride and started checking his notes for this assignment.
By 6:30, he was relieved to find himself falling face down in a bed, easily ignoring the musty smell, letting the sounds of traffic lull him to sleep.
He wakes up to five missed calls and a dozen text messages.
He continues to ignore them, taking a hot shower and grabbing a quick meal before he finally calls Kaseki back.
"Oh-ho. We thought you'd died, Senku."
Senku scoffs, "Not a chance old man. Just catching up on some sleep. What do you have for me?"
"Suika-chan is sending you a file. Since we're dealing with a warlock and a powerful one at that. We've been researching spells to help track him easier."
Opening his e-mail, Senku grimaced, looking over the various spells sent to him.
"Yeah, no shit. He's killed half a dozen people, that we know of, with almost no fucking evidence"
"Mhm. Stealing their life force, by the looks of it, to keep themselves alive."
He groaned, "Yeah. That was my conclusion as well."
"Be careful, Senku. If something happens, we don't have anyone available right now to send to you for help."
"As if I need it." He said, going through his bag to see what ingredients he had for a protection spell. "I'm going to go now. I need to restock on supplies and then stake out the building before tonight."
"Be safe."
"Yep."
Sticking his phone in his pocket, Senku picked up a flyer, carefully analyzing the smirking man on the front.
"Tonight will be your last show, Asagiri Gen."
---
Senku had been hunting the monster ever since they caught wind of the third mysterious death.
He'd had no luck getting information out of people. No witnesses. The police were, as usual, no help. And the autopsies showed no cause of death.
It was like these people had just decided to take a nap in a random alley and died. Except for the look of terror on their faces.
Senku followed the trail of bodies like crumbs, each death with no new lead, leaving him frustrated and annoyed.
Until the last town, when a thorough search around the alley turned up a crumpled flyer, advertising a fairly popular magician putting on a show two blocks down.
A little bit of digging later, Senku was 10 billion percent positive the magician was the killer, using his shows as a cover.
Senku wasn't sure yet how he was picking his victims, but he fully planned on stopping him before he could choose his next meal.
Which is how he found himself, annoyingly enough, seated in the front row, waiting for the show to start.
He was going to just go around the back and go through things backstage, but he’d gotten caught, forced to buy a ticket, waiting for the lights to go out so he could sneak out.
Finally , the show started, Senku begrudgingly forced to admit the charismatic man on stage deserved his fame.
If he, you know, wasn’t a crazed homicidal maniac.
Easily finding the warlocks dressing room, Senku set to work setting up the wards to trap the man and keep him from using his magic.
It would be easy to chop his head off afterwards.
He sat himself in a corner, his mind running through various formulas to calm him down, and waited.
---
It felt like hours later when Senku finally heard movement outside the room. A lot of banging and shouting. Stagehands, he assumed, helping to clean up.
Two voices directly outside the door, making plans for later, then the door opened and in walked Asagiri Gen.
He flicked the lights on, giving a deep sigh as he leaned against the door for a moment. He took two steps forwards, right over the holding circle on the floor, allowing Senku to make his move, popping up out of his corner.
Gen jumped, giving a loud shout, causing Senku to pause and frown.
“Fucking- don’t do that!” He gasped, raising a hand to his chest. “You about gave me a heart attack.”
Senku said nothing, still staring at him in confusion.
“What are you doing in here anyway? How did you get in here?” Gen huffed. “Lousy security. Listen,” his mood shifted, a charming smile crossing his face. “I’m honored you wanted to meet me so bad you snuck into my dressing room, but I have meet-and-greets after every show. You need to wait like everyone else.”
“Shit.” Senku muttered, wary now. “I must have fucked up the warding. I hate magic.”
Gen blinked, “What? Nevermind. Look if I give you an autograph, will you leave?”
“I don’t want your damn autograph.” Senku snapped, flashing his knife.
“Whoa, whoa, okay.” Gen yelped, backing up, out of the holding circled, hands raised. “Let’s talk, yeah? No need for violence. What can I help you with?”
“Let me chop off your neck.”
“I like my neck where it is, thank you.”
Senku snorted, amused despite himself.
“I’m sure you already know, but I’m Asagiri Gen. What’s your name?”
“Are you trying to bond with me?”
“It’s a negotiating tactic, useful for high stress situations, in which you get your opponent to view you as a person, not a thing, and possibly an ally.”
Senku couldn’t help being intrigued, relaxing his body, watching Gen do the same. “Does it work with you telling me what you’re doing?”
“It could, depending on the situation, however you were already well aware of what I was attempting to do.”
Senku nodded, having easily recognized the tactic.
“I’m impressed.” He admitted. “You’re very good.”
“I am.” Gen preened.
Flipping his knife back up, he smirked. “Not good enough.”
Gen raised his hands again, back against the wall, “At least let me know the name of my killer.”
Senku knew what Gen was trying to do, but he couldn’t stop himself from answering.
“Ishigami Senku.”
“Alright, Senku-chan.” He grinned. “What did I do that made you want to kill me?”
“Well using your magic for evil is generally frowned upon.”
Gen gaped, “I’m sorry? What?”
“You know,” Senku bared his teeth, smiling darkly. “Those poor people whose life force you stole for yourself.”
He stared in disbelief, muttering, “Great. I’m being held hostage by a crazy person.”
“What-?”
“Look, Senku-chan,” His tone gentled, making calming motions with his hands. “I’m glad you like my magic tricks, but that’s all it is- tricks. Magic isn’t real.”
Senku watched him through narrow eyes, “Fuck. You’re serious, aren’t you? You have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“Obviously.” Gen drawled.
---
Senku wasn’t sure how he ended up back in his hotel room with Asagiri Gen lounging on his bed, going through his books on the supernatural.
“I can see why you thought it was me.” He said, flipping through some notes. “All of the victims had some connection to me in one way or another. Very suspicious.”
Senku grunted, staring at his laptop, trying to find a new lead.
Gen continued, “It’s odd, though, isn’t it? Typically, an hour after my show, a new victim appears, but it’s been four hours now and we haven’t heard anything.”
“That makes you sound even more like the culprit.”
“I’ve proven my innocence!”
Senku grunted again, scowling furiously.
“Senku-chan?”
“Hmm?”
Gen slid off the bed, frowning at book in his hands, walking towards him, he pointed at a picture.
“This tattoo here- it says those of the Azhar Society has it?”
“Mhm.” He took a quick glance. “Yeah, a group of sorcerers bent on raising a crazy demon. Why?”
Gen, pale face, swallowed hard, “My manager has this tattoo. He said he had a family emergency and left town right before my show began.”
They stared at each other in disbelief.
“Fuck!”
---
Senku scowled, packing his stuff.
A new victim had been found, a district over which is why Senku hadn’t learned of it until after Gen had said his manger left town.
Gen had given all the information he could concerning his previous manager, but after some digging it was discovered that everything about the man was fake.
No real surprise there, though it made everything else ten times harder.
Fortunately, there had been no more reports of people getting their life sucked out of them.
Unfortunately, this also meant Senku had no idea how to hunt down the sorcerer to learn if he was acting alone or if it was all part of a plan.
He had a feeling it was the latter which meant life was about to get so much harder than it needed to be.
Senku sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do until more information appeared. He had already called Kaseki, informing him of everything that had happened. He agreed it was best to put this case to rest for now, already having a new case for Senku to take care of.
Leaving the hotel, he wondered if he had time to eat when he heard his name being called.
He frowned, glancing around, spotting Gen hanging out the window of a car parked a rows down.
“Senku-chan!” He called, smiling brightly.
“What are you doing here, Gen?”
Gen pouted, “Get in! Get in!”
“Why?” He asked, baffled, even as he opened the door to toss his bags in and sit down.
“I’ve decided to join you.”
“What? No!”
“He was my manager.” Gen’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He used my shows. He-he used me. To hurt people. To kill them. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
Senku bit his lip, nodding slowly, thinking of his own reasons for hunting the supernatural creatures that hurt the innocent.
“Yeah. Okay.”
Soon, they’re on the road, and Senku realizes the benefits of having a partner who can drive.
“Besides,” Gen says, as if they had never paused their conversation. “You can’t tell me magic is real and then not expect me to pursue it.”
Senku laughed, expecting nothing less.