21 Chapter 21: Arrangement
With Abbadon dead and with no way of returning, Sora thought he could finally take a breather. With the help of Zatanna, he reluctantly dropped off the children at the police station.
They were unconscious for everything that happened so there was no way to trace anything that occurred to him. He doubted they'd notice something wrong with the church anytime soon seeing as how there was no evidence of a fight when observed from outside.
With that taken care of, he now had to think about his current problem. Sitting on his couch with a bag of chips in her hands was Zatanna Zatara, daughter of the famous Giovanni Zatara.
'How did it come to this?' He asked himself from his standing position behind the couch.
After the abducted children were dropped at the station, Sora fully expected and wanted her to leave. The only thing he was worried about was the matter of his identity.
She may not have known his name but for all he knew, magic could be used to identify someone which would bring a lot of attention to him.
For a split second he considered whether or not to let her live before discarding that thought. Although he would win in a fight between them, he wasn't strong enough to face the might of Zatara…not yet at least.
What he didn't expect were the words that came out of her mouth as they exited the police station.
'I'm coming with you.' That was all she said before sticking to him like glue. He let out a sigh as the girl balanced on his couch with a relaxed smile.
'What is she doing in Tokyo? Does Zatara know she's here? Is he on his way here right now?' He wondered as a small feeling of fear appeared at the back of his mind before it was quickly squashed by frustration.
'Damn! I should have thought of that before allowing her to follow me here. For all I know, Zatara could be on his way here.' He thought as he grit his teeth silently.
"Zatanna, do your parents know you're here?" He asked in a casual tone but his mind was anything but calm.
"Not exactly. My dad was out on league business so I took the chance to sneak out of the house. He's going to be mad when he finds me." She answered as her relaxed face formed a frown.
"How exactly does you sneaking out of your house lead you to Tokyo? You don't seem to be a local here." He asked, noticing the holes in the story.
'If I remember correctly, she lives with her father in New York. There's no reason for her to be here.' He thought as she parted her lips to answer.
"I wanted to try out a new spell. I guess something went wrong with the spell. When I came to, I was already in the church."
"I don't know how long I was out or how long I stayed there. You can't exactly keep up with time when you're tied up and captured." She answered.
"He must have known about you somehow seeing as you were the only one who had your mouth taped to prevent you from using magic." He concluded while she shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess so. I mean, dad did say that demons are attracted to magic." She said as she continued with her bag of chips.
"You seem pretty open and relaxed about your powers to someone you just met." He noted out loud for her to hear as he tried to figure out his next move.
"I haven't hung out with anyone my age in forever. Like hell I'm going to pass this up. Beside, I'm not the only one with special abilities." She said in somewhat excited tone.
"Good for you. You have an hour to leave my home. I suggest you start figuring out a way to find your dad." He said with a deadpanned look as the excitement on her face turned to one of slight hurt.
"For your own safety, I would advise you to avoid mentioning anything about me." He said as he left the living room to his bedroom.
'It seems that I have to speed up my plans a bit.' He thought as he took out a small wooden box and a blank notebook.
'I may or may not have entered the league's radar. I'll need every advantage I can have for when they come.' He thought firmly.
He sat in a meditative position as he reviewed the new memories that were added to his brain. From the graduation exams to fighting Haku. He looked for a particular memory.
As the last of the Uchiha, Sasuke was able to sift freely through the Uchiha clan's archive of jutsu and weapons. He wasn't after the weapons or the jutsu at the moment. His focus was on the stack of red tags that were neatly arranged along with other similar tags.
'An explosion tag.' He thought as he focused on that memory. With him being able to review his memories at leisure, he was able to take in more detail than Sasuke who just a brief glance at it.
It also helped that Sasuke had to learn how to use an explosion tag and a storage scroll which helped in getting the image of the symbol in his mind.
Upon exiting his memories, he quickly made a rough sketch of both tags on the first page of the note book, having his sharingan activated to imprint it in his mind.
He wanted to have his unwanted guest gone before he began his attempt to learn sealing jutsu.
He walked off towards the living room only to find Zatanna still seated on the couch in somewhat of a trance.
"You're still here?" He stated more than asked as she snapped up at the sound of his voice behind her.
"Don't worry I'll soon be out of your hair. I just thought…I thought it was cool to finally find someone like me I could actually be myself around. Someone that doesn't talk to me to get closer to my dad." She said downcast.
"It's for that same reason that I can't let you stay here. You being here will bring your father's attention and eventually, the whole league." He told her bluntly.
"What's the problem with them finding you? It's not like you're now a wanted fugitive or something. You're a hero." She spoke only to be rebutted harshly.
"Don't call me that!" Sora quickly said in anger, his eyes almost activating on their own.
"Why not?"She asked, taken aback by his outburst.
"Don't call me a hero. I am not one neither do I ever want to be one. Hero…such a pathetic thing to be. Hypocrites who claim to be good but act in their own self interest." He spoke coldly.
"Don't lump me in with them." He finished, causing her to shake at the hatred he had for the word.
"My point is that your involvement in this whole mess will bring a lot of unnecessary attention here." He said to her, his tone returning to their usual neutral tone.
"Even more reason for me to stay." Zatanna said, trying to prove her point.
Sora was silent for a while. He knew that despite her childish reason for wanting to stay, she had a point.
If she went back, her dad would find a way to grill out information on what happened, putting him in the spotlight regardless of what the result was.
'Besides, it may be nice to have a roommate to keep me company.' He thought with a sigh at the complications of the situation.
"As much as I hate to say it, you have a point." He said as he put his palm to his forehead, feeling a headache approaching.
A smile slowly grew on her face as each second passed, waiting for Sora to announce his decision.
"Fine. You can stay." He said in slight exasperation.
"Yes!!!" She celebrated with a happy smile on her face before it turned to one of confusion.
"I never really asked for your name." She said quietly under Sora's pointed gaze.
He was silent for a moment. Just when she thought he wouldn't answer, he spoke as he turned to make his way back to his room.
"Sora." He said loud enough for her to hear as he exited the living room.
'It seems like things are going to be a bit interesting around here for a while. Troublesome.' He thought as he entered his bedroom and locking it behind him to begin his project.
