34 Chapter 33

"So there's nothing?" I asked Reiko-nee while spinning around on one of the office chairs in their base.

"None at all." She huffed exasperatedly. "For someone asking for help, they sure are making it difficult to help them."

"Perhaps it's a test?" Added Hii-chan as she brought out tea for everyone.

"Such a pain." Sighed another voice. "They should've gave ya an address or a place to meet up, not send ya on some wild goose chase. Heck, We're not even sure if they're part of [This Side], right? Can't ya just forget this even happened and go on like usual?"

"I can't." I said, looking over at Cen. "It is technically my job. And it'd would have left a bad taste in my mouth if I just ignored it outright after they specifically chose me."

Hearing my answer, she just rolled her eyes and gave a grunt, refocusing her attention back to a heavy-looking chunk of metal between her hands as she molds it around like clay.

Cennis, nicknamed Cen --True name Renka--, is a Petit girl whose height just barely reaches my chest. She has short blonde hair and cute features on her face that's almost always accompanied by a scowl.

Despite her small stature, she not only wields formidable strength that can casually uproot trees and use them like sticks but she also has a personal great recovery trait that allows her to fight near-endlessly. Cennis is the primary vanguard and tank of the group. She was even one of the founders that made the group in the first place.

That was because Cen is a Zashiki-Warashi, a Japanese house spirit with the appearance of a child that brings good fortune to the family it watches over.

Unfortunately, Cen not only lost her home and family during the early quirk era, but she was also contaminated during the [Downfall]. Her condition was so bad that she lost her original powers and had them replaced with that of a western giant. But despite the abrupt change in body and ability, her heart remained the same.

When she was struggling to grasp and learn her new powers, she was easy to stumble and quick to flare her temper, leaving her alone most of the time as people are scared to associate with her. It wasn't until Reiko-nee, who had just lost her dear friend Hanako, that they met and hit it off.

With Reiko-nee that never gave up on her, Cen eventually had a proper control of her new self and they bonded even closer, like family. It was then that she had a great idea, to form a group that was like a family and a new place they can eventually call a home.

That's why, even if she acts like a delinquent most of the time and pretends to not care, I know that she's just a --very violent-- tsundere.

With how old this group is, you would have thought that there would be more members. But it is precisely because of how old this group is, that there are hardly any current members. The others have already left the nest and either retired, started their own groups, or are just doing there own thing.

With how well connected they are, I thought it would be easy to find something about the sender of the note but there had been nothing so far meaning that this case is siding more with the natural side of things.

The only reason I assumed they were one of us and asked this group is because they were somehow able to ellude my active senses despite the close proximity, which is something that the mundanes would struggle with.

"I'll just continue to look around, then. It can't be hard to find a single person in an entire city, right?" I groaned as I sat down and drank the tea Hii-chan poured me. "Not hard at all..."

"Keep telling yaself that." Cen teased, not even looking up from her makeshift statuette. "who knows, it might come true."

"Have you asked your friend? The one with flowers, I mean." Said Reiko-nee. "You mentioned that she was good with computers so it would make sense if you run it over to her."

"I was gonna do that tomorrow. Or later. Whichever one I feel like it."

"Flip a coin on it, see where it gets ya."

"On an unrelated note, Mugi-chan mention something of a scuffle?" Asked Hii-chan. This got the other two listening in as well but they're trying --not really-- to play it cool. "And in a hospital, no less? This is the second this has happened, aniki..."

"No scuffle or fight ever happened." I rolled mty eyes. "You know she likes to exaggerate her gossips."

"I am aware, yes." She nods. "But there is some semblance of truth to her words, correct?"

"It was nothing, really." I said, waving my hand in denial. "The patient woke up and his guest, a little nun who happened to be visiting, somehow guessed he woke up-"

"Women's intuition." Snickered Cen.

"And barges in his room as soon as I finished explaining his condition. As soon as we locked eyes, she just glared daggers at me and moved around the room like I was a landmine."

"She got some spunk to her." Cen grinned.

"A nun, huh..." Muttered Reiko-nee. "Was she dangerous?"

"Not at all." I shook my head. "She probably sensed I wasn't human and kept her guard up. I let her be since it was adorable watching her be so protective of the guy." I chuckled as I remembered the scene. "Ah, but I do recall that she didn't have any magic inside her."

"That isn't uncommon." Added Reiko-nee. "Just because someone is affiliated with the supernatural doesn't mean they're supernatural themselves."

"I know, I know. Let me finish first. So the nun didn't have magic in her, but like, her clothes do, or at least they used to, they're broke somehow." I said, not mentioning Touma's right arm. "But from the design and material of it, I can tell she's pretty high up that ladder. Meaning that she's definitely magic. I was thinking she's one of those that draw from external sources."

"Ah. One of those." Nodded Cen. "Haven't seen those in a while. Folks that practice like that are a dying breed nowadays."

"The ambient magic is dwindling. It is both more surprising and unfortunate to know that she treads such path." Hii-chan sighed.

Magic users would typically use the magic inside of them to use their spells. Even with how little they have, they can still be used by wielding a magic foci --typically a wand, staff or ring but other unconventional foci also work-- to amplify what they have. Those that relied on external power sources are usually limited by what they can carry, the location, or even the weather.

"Not really our place to say anything. If she chose that path, then let her. It's her choice anyway." Reiko-nee said as she got back to whatever it was she was doing.

I just shrugged and sank into the chair when the serious conversation died down. Relaxing moments should be cherished after all. For a little while, the only thing that was heard was fluttering paper and Hii-chan softly humming.

~~~~~~~~~~

She had been skeptical at first.

But with every story, with every piece of information and evidence he kept bringing out, she was slowly but surely convinced.

The supernatural is a part of her world. And it is REAL.

A notion that both excited and terrified her. Kuroko's minds was filled with all sorts of thoughts and fantasies, ranging from miraculous cures and spells to haunting terrors beyond what she can comprehend.

Shuzenji-san did inform her of what little he knew about the downfall. That too, terrifies her but she didn't let it show. Who wouldn't be? A mass extinction event similar to what the dinosaurs had experienced has happened a mere few centuries ago.

He had eased her into his world. She supposed that he had wanted to talk to someone about it for so long that he took the first chance he got? No matter.

But still, some of his stories can't help but put a frown on her face.

There had been tales about supernaturals fading into obscurity, falling into nonexistence. Tales about about their being corrupted one way or another because they wanted a chance to live longer. Or even tales about how some gave in to despair and let themselves become nothing more than a convoluted silhouette.

And magic! She couldn't forget about that.

She had also gone through a phase when she was but a child, playing magical girl and running all over the mansion.

But from what he told her, it was so much more than simple hedge magic.

From the run-in with those casters from the hospital incident alone, wards had intrigued her. Although she glossed it off, the way those wards layered upon reality and seemingly subjected space to its whims were fascinating.

The eleventh dimensional calculations that ran through her mind in order to properly use her quirk were indeed pushing her limits. However, that it good.

She did felt like she was in a bottleneck for months now. If she can acquire an opportunity to study the nature and inner working of those wards, or any ward in particular, she feels that she can achieve a breakthrough.

She's going to ask him about that next time. In their first conversation, he mentioned something about aplitude. She hopes that she has one for those.

Speaking of, he also told her about his own aplitude for healing magic, the one he uses to help others and he denied the notion of his heads being another form of magic, saying that it was an ability he was born with.

What was surprising to her was that he said he was only adopted by Recovery Girl and that they weren't really blood-related.

The reveal was shocking to her but the more he said, the more she only felt sympathy.

From the day Shuzenji had saved her and her senpai, Kuroko had looked up to the boy, Idolised him, even. She remembered wanting to become stronger so she wouldn't have to feel so weak, She remembered studying late into the night so she wouldn't be so brash.

Until one day, they became co-workers.

She noticed that he wasn't what she thought he was. He wasn't a paragon of kindness or perfection that she thought, a notion that she have been obvious from the beginning. He had been a boy the same age as her that came with his own shortcomings.

Then came the day they snuck in the place.

She had been suspicious of him. How can someone like that have experience in something like espionage. From his records, there had been no mentions of such a thing. He never attended primary school and had been homeschooled, which is odd considering that he supposedly lived a normal life before being brought under Recovery Girl's wing.

Yet, despite being curious, she brushed it off and focused on the task at hand. But that same night, she found footage of him at the Bathhouse seemingly dragging something away.

Her curiosity was peaked again so she decided to confront him about it.

When she did just that, he was silent. She gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him tim to think things through.

Time passed and he still said nothing. Her curiosity had been eating away at her and she did something she never thought she would. She stalked him.

She never told anyone else and did it on her own. The gadgets at the office would have been helpful but they would leave traces that Uiharu can recover.

So she did it the old fashioned way.

The only problem being was that he was adept at losing his tails but she persevered. The first few days had been mundane and normal as she had expected. But she found out that he has a liking to take night walks. It had eaten away at her sleep and he managed to lose her every time.

One day, she decided on another tactic. Shuzenji had a phone he rarely uses so she snuck in and bugged it. It had made her job so much easier and coincidentally, something had happened.

The day of the reveal.

Since then, they had talked so much, like a dam had been broken from both sides. Just as he had told her about his side of the world, she had also learned much about his past.

From his home in a countryside village. The joys she saw from his paintings --A hobby she was surprised to know--, the faithful day of tragedy, the time he spent alone and so much more.

The boy she thought was suspiciously to adept at things he shouldn't have been, was just a boy who had been through things she only ever heard about.

Far from the initial impression she had, Shuzenji Kizuki was just another person with ups and downs and many other shades to them. And she can't help but want to learn more.