Checkboxes Chapter 13

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I am Iwako Same, and I have to say, there are many things that I do not expect to see at a moment's notice.  I do not expect to see vehicles indoors, I do not expect to see animals which are not native to Japan (Or at the least, common invasive species) and I do not expect to see that a food item has suddenly become inedible.  All of these are unlikely scenarios that don't often cross my head as something to expect, though I know they're all possible.

Likewise is what I happen across this morning.  Improbable, but clearly possible, as it's just happened.  I open the door to the infirmary, my infirmary, and I find the target of my disdain is standing there, looking like an absolute fool before my eyes.  Of course she is, because why would she have anything better to do than continue to bother me?  She wasn't a very competent spy, but if she was in here alone, then she could have found any number of confidential things.

Not that I keep incriminating papers just lying about, but my computer at work is a desktop, and all the encryptions in the world might keep an IIA agent from getting remote access, but a determined one who had the keyboard in their hands would stop at nothing to access my email, files, and anything else they want from me.

"Sakazaki Yuu," I address her, and she's startled.  Well, that's a good sign.  She was startled, but not sleeping on one of the cots, instead curled up in the corner of the room, hugging her knees to her chest.  I look at the door, and it wasn't locked or anything.  She very well could have left, so I do have some confusion on why she didn't leave by now, what she could possibly be so afraid of.

"I swear, Doctor, I didn't look through any of your things," She's hyperventilating as she forces the words out, "I came in here because I was hiding from something, and you know, that would be really, really bad spy etiquette I wouldn't do something like that to y-"

"Get out," I cut her off.  She's rambling, and I can't say I give a damn about what spooked her, either.  It doesn't seem like the type of thing which should matter to me.  I don't even care to address the fact that she's clearly already aware that I know what she is, "Get out of my infirmary.  We'll discuss this on Sunday.  I think, Sakazaki, it may finally be time for you to retire from your position.  Box Hako will be a fitting replacement."

"...I understand, Doctor," Sakazaki nods and rushes past me, back out into the hallways where the other students are filing in for the day.  I groan, and sit down at my desk.  My computer... The monitor's off, but I left it on when I left.  As soon as I turn on the screen I realize.  I left it in the middle of a number of updates, which are still going.  I really let them pile up.  I set them up to run overnight because they lock up the computer's functions while they're going.

They're still going.

I suppose, maybe Sakazaki didn't get into my computer, if that's the case.  Nonetheless, finding her here first thing in the morning, and in such a strange way... It's unsettling.  I know that she's still in contact with the main branches, so I may need to make her disappear if our plans are to go off without a hitch.  If she were to find out about Apollo...

Well, if she told the main branch about Apollo, then everything would be ruined.  Roxie would likely be terminated as well, and I have no idea what that would do to my dear Mitsu-kun.  Mitsuru, I mean.  Well, I don't know why I'm correcting my thoughts.  I can call him a cute nickname in my head if I so please.

In any case, now that she's shown some degree of caring beyond observing me through aid periods, it's likely that I'll need to dispose of her.  Her direct superior is somebody who I personally am on good terms with, and who Mitsu-kun will be mad at me for upsetting, but I just can't risk it.  If Tina wants to hate me for it, then I suppose she will, and there's nothing I can do about it.

It's gotten so far that I can't just let it fail now.  I don't even know the details of the project, but what I do know, is that it would be very easily compromised if somebody found out.

-------------

Today, I think, is a pretty good day.  I made plans with my new friend group to hang out in the evening, since Sayaka has the day off of work.  School went normally, and in the time between it ending and when we agreed to meet up, I think that I should make an effort to convince Rei to let me check the cameras, as Natsuki told me the first day back at school after the trip.

She wouldn't let me check them, but she couldn't control what Rei did if I could convince her.  That was a quest objective if I ever heard one!  Shizuka told me last night about all sorts of game stuff while we ate her pasta, and I think it helps to think of my life lately as something like that.  And boy, do I have a lot of quests!

Finding Rei to talk to her seemed difficult at first.  She's in my class, but she always gets out of the classroom right away, and I can never seem to find her after that.  Today's a Wednesday, though, which means that the science club is meeting.  Therefore, I know exactly where she will be, the only tough part now is getting an audience with her.  I take a deep breath, sighing it out, then knock on the door for the science club.

"...Hako-chan," Yamiko answers the door, speaking slowly, and I'm caught off guard.

"O-Oh, you joined the science club too?" It seems a little odd to me that a God of Death would join this club rather than the occult club.

"Of course I did.  I love studying animal biology... Birds especially," She answers, staring a hole right through me, "That's been my hobby for a very long time now.  Hirocchi and I wouldn't be together if we didn't have things in common, and we both love science.  What do you want anyway?  Were you looking for her?"

"She still attends club?" I ask, still just confused by the situation.

"Of course.  Akabane-chan and Nishikikouji-senpai can see her just fine, and Nagata-senpai just has to take us all at our word," Yamiko answers, then gives a slow blink before she asks me again, "So what is it that you want, if you're not here for her?"

"I was looking for Akabane-chan, actually," I explain, leaning to try and look around Yamiko.  Despite her small frame, she's thoroughly blocked any view I could even try to get into the clubroom, "Is she available to talk right now?  I have something I need to ask her."

"...I guess," Yamiko shrugs, then closes the door.  A few moments later, Rei opens it and fixes me with a hard stare.  I fidget under her unrelenting gaze.

"What do you want?" She asks, tilting her head to the side.  Her eyes are red, just like Yamiko's.  That bit seems odd to me, but I won't ask about that.  I need to stay on-message for once in my life.

"I wanted to ask if I could use your cameras to check something," I get right to the thick of it, for emphasis pointing up at one of the cameras in question above my head, "I'm sure you know by now, I'm not sure I was actually sick.  I think there may have been some type of foul play at hand, so I'd like to see if anything happened to be captured on my last day before the coma."

Rei redirects her gaze to the camera I'm pointing at, then takes all the time in the world to shrug, her shoulders hanging for a long time in a tensed position, as if held up by strings, "Oh, those?  No, I'm afraid that I can't let you see any of that footage.  Privacy reasons.  I can certainly take a look for you.  What, as far as you're aware, was the date and time of the potential mishap?"

"Well," I think back, trying to determine exactly when it was, "I think it was June twenty-sixth?  It was sometime near marine day, anyhow.  I do know what the time was, though.  Seven-thirty PM, because I left something at the school and came back after hours to retrieve it.  Which is kind of weird, I know, I was breaking the rules, but I still ended up here and I still ended up... In the hospital."

"Well that does give one very obvious suspect," Rei speaks, narrowing her eyes, "June, after hours?  The only person who's likely to have been here at that time is Yuu-senpai.  I can't see what possible reason she would have to do something like that, though.  Unless you're hiding something, Hako-chan."

"Me?" I question, holding a hand to my chest, "What would I be hiding?  I'm just your average Korekara student."

"That's the point," A smirk plays at Rei's features, which surprises me.  I can't say she struck me as the type to smile much, "You are a Korekara student, and everyone here has got something wrong with them, or something wrong that happened to them at least.  Everyone has something to hide.  Some type of secret.  Don't you?"

"Oh... Well, I'm not really in the business of just giving my secrets away," I give a nervous chuckle, shrugging.  It somehow did slip my mind that everyone who doesn't know probably is under the impression that I've got some horrible secret, like most of them do.  Just thinking about what happened to Natsuki is enough to make me shudder, and she says that there's plenty worse than her.

Well, I guess that if I had to number trauma, then Sayaka had it worse for sure.  Shizuka, maybe, but I don't really think that 'worse' is the right word to use in this case.  After all, the extent of how bad something which happens to somebody is, is how much that person is impacted by it.  One person's worst case scenario is different from another person's, so their worst days to date would have just as much variance.  It's horizontal awful, not really a sliding scale.

"I assumed as much," Rei steps out from the doorway and shuts the door behind herself, leaning in a strange contortion to look up at my face.  She's much shorter than me, but seems opposed to looking me directly in the eyes, "In that case, I have to wonder... are you in the business of trading your secrets, then?"

"I can trade," I nod, rolling my shoulders, "Sort of, anyway.  There's some things which I'm not supposed to tell anybody ab-"

"I know about Artemis," Rei stares right through me, "I know you had an AI called Artemis, before your coma.  You don't still have her, do you?  The coma was related to your AI.  I know that much, but I want to know more."

"How could you possibly know that?" I question.

Rei stands up straight again, looking past me, "That's my secret.  After I tell you, you'll have to answer my questions.  Will you agree to that deal?"

"Yes, I can abide by that," I nod.  If she already knows that much, the seal is broken, and I can't get in trouble for breaking the rules.

"Okay.  See, I know about Artemis because I'm an electropath," Rei explains, pointing to her eyes, "Do you know what these mean?"

I hesitate a moment, but I figure it can't hurt to just give a theory, "Do they mean that you're a demon?  They're the same type of red as Tori-chan's eyes."

Rei nods, "Yes, she did tell me that you knew about her.  You know, it's only because there are so few demons that it's not common knowledge yet.  Humans are gradually coming to accept our existence, though I don't blame them for finding it odd in this day and age.  Every type of magic we once used, humans learned to harness in entirely non-magical ways.  Science is amazing.  And with such amazing science, why take an explanation like magic for anything?"

I can't help but be curious, "Are you a shinigami too?"

"No, I'm nothing like that.  I'm hardly powerful at all, really.  I'm just an electric elemental.  My little sister is a water elemental," She explains, and even goes so far as to demonstrate it by pulling out her phone and showing me the battery level, which jumps up to 100% after a small spark seems to jump from her fingertip to the phone's charge port, "I can manipulate electricity.  Things like this.  I can mess with magnetic fields, too, and I can tell when an electronic device is being used.  The moment I met you, I knew you had that chip in your head.  So tell me about it."

I take a deep breath, then steel myself to give a real answer, "Akabane-chan... It is an AI, you're right about that.  I was in a coma for months because Artemis got... stolen by somebody, is the working theory.  My body shut down because it didn't know what to do without that part of my brain, so I needed to get a new one.  This one's an updated version, it has less of a personality than Artemis did, but more functionality.  It's been helping me make friends."

Rei gives a slow nod, shifting between her feet, "If I had to pick between those, I'd prefer the old one.  If you had an AI with a good personality, then why would you need one that helps you to make friends?  Though I suppose you do strike me as the type to be dissatisfied with anything short of a true human connection."

"Artemis was my friend too.  Why do you think I'm so worried about finding out who stole her?  I'm really worried," I rub the sides of my arms, glancing around, "I just hope that wherever she is, she's happy, and helping whoever took her as much as she always helped me-"

"I can't speak with any authority," Rei interrupts me, "I can't claim to know anything about this situation, I have no part in it, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that wherever... Your AI ended up, they'll be happier there than they ever could have been trapped inside of your head."

That's comforting, somehow, "Thank you, Akabane-chan.  And... You'll check those cameras for me?  It doesn't make any sense to me that it would have been Yuu-senpai.  Actually, I can't say that it makes sense to me that anybody would have done it.  I know some people aren't fond of me, but stealing my microchip is a little extreme."

"That's a good point," Rei says with a nod and a contemplative look, "You got these from Assis-co, right?  Their biggest industry competitor is Feru Innovations, of course.  There's always the possibility of corporate espionage to consider, though I can't imagine how a random employee would have gotten onto campus.  Maybe they followed the steps you took to break in?  I will absolutely check and see if I've got anything on camera."

"Nagata-senpai thought that convincing you would be an impossible task," I giggle, "She said that she wouldn't do it for me, but that I was free to try my very best to convince you."

"Natsuki said that?" Rei gives me a wide-eyed look, but regains her composure moments later with a soft smile, "Huh, she'd never say that under normal circumstances.  It would be a hard no, no negotiation, no going behind her back to me.  I guess that she does have a soft spot for you," She pauses, then a laugh more bitter than anything I've heard before escapes from her lips, "Maybe it's for the best she has no time for things like that..." It's barely a murmur to herself as she returns to the science club meeting.

I'm left standing alone in the hallway, but not for long.  I'm looking up at this hallway's camera when I can see, reflected in the shining black of its dome shape, that Sayaka has walked up behind me.  I didn't even hear her.  I take a few more breaths and put on a smile before I turn to face her with a greeting prepared, "Ah, Sayaka-chan.  Did I make you come looking for me?"

"I wouldn't call it looking for you," She rolls her shoulders, glancing around, "You're out in the open, in the middle of a hallway, in front of exactly the club I would expect you to be in front of.  So, no.  You didn't make me come looking.  However, yes, I did come to fetch you because whatever business you had with the innovators of the future had you miss our meeting time."

"Of course it did," I groan, falling into step with Sayaka as she leads the way to the others without a moment's hesitation, "I... Well, I can trust you.  I was asking about Akabane-chan's security cameras, because I want to know what happened to me."

Sayaka nods, "Yeah, that makes sense.  That's why I figured you'd be here.  You've been curious a lot lately, haven't you?"

I can't help but offer up a nervous chuckle in response to her question, "I guess I have been.  I'm a curious person.  I want to know what happened to me, and I want to know what happened to the class of 2015, and just... I want to know about this place.  I could never live with it if the same thing as what happened to that class happened again, and I could have done more to stop it."

"What happened to the class of 2015 is never going to happen again," Rena states as she approaches me, clearly having overhead.  She has a sad look in her eyes, "I can't say that it won't happen because No Boys will protect it from happening again, but the thing is... That year was the perfect storm, so I've heard.  They look to blame a teacher, or a dead student, but Kaiba-kun says that it really was just a string of disastrous consequences.  The kind of alignment of everything terrible that can only happen once in a century."

"Why do you believe that?" Amai questioned, stepping up to stand next to Rena with her brows furrowed, "Why would you believe it if she says it?  She works for the school."

Rena pauses, then looks between the rest of us before giving a slight shrug, "Kaiba-kun doesn't work for anybody.  She was always going to send people to Korekara, they just finally buckled and gave their blessings.  Besides, I didn't just hear it from her.  There were other members in the school when it happened."

"It doesn't matter what really happened," Sayaka shakes her head and continues walking despite the fact that the others have convened, "It happened, and we can't change that.  Let's forget about it and just focus on having fun this evening, right?"

"Easy for you to say," Amai rolls her eyes, "We're going to see your dumb movie."

"Um," I cover my mouth to stifle a giggle, "Amai-tan, since when do you think romantic comedies are dumb?  Last I checked..."

"Nobody asked for your opinion, Box!" Amai snaps at me, her face flush with embarrassment.  I just let that giggle free.  Mission accomplished.  That's the definite benefit of making new friends while having known her since we were kids.  I can make fun of her all the time.

We go to the movie, and it's good.  Everyone but me tears up at the sappy ending, which I find hilarious.  This new group of friends I've found all front like they're tough, but they aren't, and that's becoming more and more obvious.  Well, maybe they are tough, but not when it comes to bad romcoms.  It's kind of endearing.  By the time we're finished, however, it's late, and we need to part ways to go home and get some sleep before the upcoming school day.  That's the problem with weeknight movies.

-----

My name is Riko Asahi, and I almost went to Korekara Academy.

I had my reasons to refuse the invitation, however.  I had an older sister who went to that school, and for most, that's enough to want to attend a school themselves.  Especially a private school, if they've got something to prove.  I have to admit I felt the same way for a little while there, but the thing is, most people haven't heard firsthand the sort of horrors that await at Korekara Academy.  Usually, the majority of a class graduates, but not the graduating class of 2015.  There were fourteen of them.  By the end of 2013, all but one of them were dead.

That one was my sister, so of course she got the blame.  Why wouldn't they pin it on her, when she was dead too?  It didn't take long at all, after the rest of them were gone.  She was the only one who saw the incoming first years, and then she disappeared too, and I was left alone.  I've never really been alone before.  Yui was always there, ready to help me handle people.  Ready to translate, because I never learned a single spoken language, and I can't much comprehend it out loud.  It's not that I can't hear, but I learned to write, and I learned sign language.  I've never been able to speak.

I guess that's why Korekara wanted me.  They wanted my sister so she wouldn't be left out when a little further down the line, I got a legitimate invite for my 'troubled' nature.  The speech problem is a physical thing, though, the result of a disease, so I can't say I fit their image of a traumatized youth.  Not the way that Yui's classmates must have, to end up that way.  I have all of her letters in a box, every single one, and they tell a story that I'll never share.  How everything just fell apart before her eyes.

Why should Kira be surprised I'd refuse the invitation after hearing about something like that?  I'd rather just work on fixing my own life.  Learning what to do with myself now that I'm alone without Yui's help, and now that I'm the sole heir to my family's company.  Whose bright idea was that?  Surely there's some other relative, maybe less immediate than me but more competent.  Yui was the one who could run a company.

I'm just the shadow who followed her around.

Today is different, though.  Today, I've gotten a personal letter.  Not addressed to Asahi, meaning me, in the business manner, but addressed to Riko Asahi, handwritten.  It's barely noticeable that it isn't just a font with how precise it is, but every 'a' looks a little bit different from the others.  I snatch it up before anybody else has a chance to see this oddity, and take it with me to my room.  I pull it open and find that it's written as being from a doctor.  Not one of my doctors, but 'Doctor Iwako Same'.  I recognize that name.  Yui knew her.  She was new in the infirmary Yui's first year.

After checking the sender, I read the actual letter.  It's similar to the type Yui would send me, telling me the horrors of that school, for a paragraph or two.  The second half is speaking of somebody who's not a horror of the place at all, but curious.  Somebody who's expressed an actual desire to find out what happened to the class of 2015, and that I'm the only possible link to that past.  She also asks me that if a sweet girl with orange hair comes calling and asking me about Yui, that I don't reveal anything.

I was never planning on revealing anything, but this statement just makes me want to do it.  A student who wasn't even there for the year, but wants to learn about it?  I guess that makes sense, in a way.  The ones who would have been there, third years now, were probably so shook by the incidents that they would prefer not to dig any deeper.  This one obviously sees it more as a mystery to unravel than a tragedy, sure, but the very fact that I've been warned against teaching her what happened...

Not like that matters, seeing as I don't have a name of this student.  Iwako's too smart to do something like give me the name.  I have no idea what she's up to, but it can't be anything good if she's on Kira's side, as it seems to me she is.  I have no way of getting in contact with the curious girl to give her the information that I have.  Really, this letter is inconsequential.  How would anyone even find out that I had anything to do with that year?

Most people don't think of me, and I very much doubt a single remaining third year at that school has any intention of thinking about that time at all.  I can only imagine they feared that the fate of the upperclassmen would befall them too, their second year.

---------

Rena arrives home pretty late.  She immediately goes to her room and changes from the uniform into pajamas, which she returns to the living room in moments later.  She sits down on the couch next to Umi, turning her attention to the TV.  Kaiba's the only one who's able to use the remote, but we all have similar taste in television, so that's not too much of an issue.  Today, it's pawn stars.

"How was the movie?"  Umi asks without looking up from her phone.

Rena shrugs, "It was fine.  I mean, I wasn't really the one who wanted to see it, but it wasn't bad either.  Hako-chan has been asking about the class of 2015 a lot, though.  She seems to be under the impression that something so awful couldn't just happen."

"That's what Kira wants them to think.  Let her," A Korekara Alumn named Kotomi waves it off as she walks into the room and approaches to lean on the arm of the couch, "Why bother trying to explain the truth to anyone who doesn't have to deal with it?  The only reason I tell new members about what happened is cause I don't want any of you blaming Asahi-chan, or Mars-sensei, or any singular person but Kira for how Meiko died.  She was one of us, so you need to be able to honor her properly."

Rena sighs and presses her hands between her knees, "I know.  It's Kira's fault for mixing those personality types so badly, if we have to blame anyone.  The thing is, though, shouldn't Hako-chan be allowed to honor Meiko properly if she wants to?" She glances away, "I know she isn't one of us, but..."

Kotomi hesitates, then looks to the ceiling as she answers, "That's too complicated.  Besides, if we started just telling anyone about all of that, who knows what could happen to us.  Kira doesn't have any limits to what she'll do."

Rena pauses before looking to Kotomi, "Have you ever... Met the headmaster?"

"Me?" Kotomi points to herself, and Rena nods.  She gives an answer, "I haven't.  Almost nobody has, and very few people ever will.  Even Kaiba-chan's only spoken with her on the phone.  I guess that's part of how she's able to get away with so much.  If nobody knows who she really is, then she never needs to see any consequences for her actions."

"Oh," Rena notes, leaning back against the couch as she crosses her arms, "I guess... You do have a point there, huh?  We've already suffered because of her, so if we start spreading real information, she wouldn't hesitate to hurt us, right?"

"Yeah," Kotomi agrees with a heavy sigh, "I know you weren't here when Meiko was around, but if you'd met her, you would understand.  The fact that she was in that class was always going to turn out badly.  She was such a sweetheart, she'd always help us up when we fell down.  Maka-chan would have died if Meiko wasn't around during her first year... But don't go asking her or Netsu-kun about it, okay?"

"We won't," Umi says, shaking her head as she finally sets her cell phone down in her lap, "I understand that it was traumatizing for them.  You already saw some of your classmates die, and you had graduation soon, but they had just gotten to the school and suddenly, everyone was dying.  Right?  Is that the reason?"

"It is," Kotomi nods, looking over toward Umi now, "Wouldn't you feel the same yourself?"

Umi hesitates, then stands up as she shrugs, "Well, I can understand it.  I don't think I would be so afraid, myself, though.  I am not very easy to kill, or even to injure."

I roll my eyes and finally decide to join in on the conversation, speaking up from the corner in which I've been reading while sat on the floor, "Umi-chan, you do realize that four of the dead killed themselves?  It wasn't just physical warfare going on between the students that year."

"Randy-kun?" Umi questions as she steps toward me, hands on her hips, "Just how long have you been sitting there?  There's still space on the couch.  Anyway," She flips her hair, "I am not so weak mentally, either, though my upbringing may give a different impression."

"I'm reading," I answer, closing the book on one finger as I look up at her, "I can do that over here just fine."

"You say that," Umi notes, "But I don't think you can be very comfortable here.  Is it because of Rena-san and I?  It's perfectly fine if you come sit with us."

"Are you sure about that?" I question, standing up, "Last year, you were pretty shocked to see me here when I got back from my business trip."

She squirms a bit under my statement, which actually satisfies me more than it should.  I am trying to respect her sensibilities, but there's still a cruel part of me that enjoys calling attention to ways that I've been wronged in the past.  She gives a good answer, though, "You can't blame me for that.  The group's called No Boys, so how was I supposed to know that you're Kaiba-san's close friend?  I was convinced you were an intruder."

I can't help but laugh at the explanation now, holding up my arm to point near my elbow, "Yeah, that was pretty obvious.  I still have the scar from where you hit me.  Well, maybe I should take it as a compliment that you looked at me and immediately thought I was a strange man.  Proves I'm less feminine than I feared."

"Heh.  Well, anyway... I'm sorry that I misjudged you at first.  Don't let that turn you off of spending time with me, okay?"

"Yeah," I nod and offer her a smile, "Thanks, Umi-chan.  Oh, and Kotomi-chan?  I think you should tell that girl about what happened to Meiko."

New Book!

My NaNoWriMo Project from this past year is now available!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078YC3WKN

Mahou Shonen Just Say No Chapter Eight

<-----First Chapter

<-Previous Chapter

Yuuri Ruka was at work when the first sign of something being wrong dropped, when he first got the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  The several different news stations which played in the grocery store included one American station, since Shibuya was such a common tourist location.  The station was obviously in English, which Yuuri wasn't about to comprehend when he wasn't transformed, but there were Japanese captions added in at a delayed rate.

He tended to read those captions when work was slow, and work was always slow on weekdays, with his midday shifts.  Except for people who wandered in to grab prepared foods for lunch, nobody was doing their grocery shopping at the time of day when everyone with an office job was at work, and kids who could be sent on errands or shopped for themselves were at school.  What he saw today on that news station, however, was shockingly relevant.

Usually, the American station meant nothing to him.  All his friends were right here in Japan, so even hearing about bad things happening overseas didn't tend to have an impact on him.  This one did.

"We have today discovered that the ex-child star Clarence 'Tyler' Hale, better known these days as confirmed magical boy 'Pretty Fighter Ribbon Stripe' has disappeared.  His grandmother is insisting that the disappearance is strange, as he is usually upfront with her when he leaves to perform magical activities.  We recommend that any in the Hollywood area exercise special caution over the next few days.  Even if this known magical boy hasn't decided to go on a crime spree and has indeed gone missing in a strange manner, that strange manner may also endanger humans."

Yuuri was confused by that broadcast, but it made him worry.  Stripe, he knew, was Blade's highest ranking magica.  Not at all the type to get killed by Lionhardt, or to be caught off-guard enough to vanish without a trace in the first place.  That wasn't normal.  Nothing about magica was normal, of course, but this was unusual even in that context.

With the day crawling by at such a slow, awful pace, Yuuri unfortunately had plenty of time to stew on this information.  It was even more unfortunate, then, when Sayaka walked into the store, hands on the straps of her backpack.  She walked straight up to Yuuri's aisle, but before she was able to say anything to him, he reached over the counter and tore her backpack away, throwing it onto the ground behind the register to stomp on it.

A sharp pain coursed through his entire body, which told him he had been correct in his assumption that Blade was in the bag.  Distributors weren't fragile, but they weren't invincible either, so one of the stipulations of contracting with one was that any magica who attempted to utilize their superior combat abilities and size to attack a distributor would find whatever pain they inflicted quadrupled back to them.

"Blade!" Yuuri hissed, picking the bag up again and shaking it till the distributor fell out, "Care to explain what happened to Pretty Fighter Ribbon Stripe!?  Is that same disappearing act gonna happen to Sayaka!?  What about me, or Kyosuke-san, or Uamake, or Horace!?"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Blade shook its head, climbing out of the register area to sit beside the plastic bags at the end of the conveyor belt, "I have no idea what happened to Stripe.  He's definitely not dead, that's all I know.  I can't tell where he is.  Oh One can't even tell what country he's in, either... And Prince Horace has also disappeared."

"We came here to talk to you about it," Sayaka said, frowning, "In the future, please don't take that as an invitation to start kicking Blade around.  What seems to have happened is each distributor's highest ranking magica have vanished off the grid in full.  Fizzy Pop, Diamond Dust, and Forever Sparkling Into Eternity are also gone."

"...Uamake?" Yuuri questioned, citing Sugarcanesugarcane's best magica.  He'd never met her, but he respected her abilities.  The entire island chain of Hawai'i had two magica, and she was one of them.  If she and all her power had vanished, then that area could very well be left without meaningful protection.

"No," Blade answered, "Only Horace.  I think whoever's behind this considered your whole posse as just one distributor, or maybe... Uamake, Lullabye, and Snowy Rose just never received their letters of commendation.  There might be a connection between those and these disappearances, since at the time this morning when Stripe disappeared, Sayaka had actually become rank 27, and him rank 28."

Sayaka nodded in agreement, "Right.  If it was actually based on rankings, then I would have been the one to disappear.  But five months ago, when everyone got those letters of commendation, he was above me.  So I'm guessing that's at the heart of it.  Blade and I are going to start an investigation to see if there's anybody who has one but never opened it, to try and figure out if there's a magic signature of some sort, something to tell us what type of magic was used, even if we can't figure out who used it."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?  What if you get taken in the process of the investigation, huh?" Yuuri questioned, leaning towards her, "Why don't you let me handle it?"

"Cause I don't want you disappearing either, idiot?" Sayaka curled her lip, glaring at him, "Plus, you'll have your own job to do.  Distributors are meeting up later this month to put together a plan of action, and it's pretty damn likely your posse's going to be saddled with the job of actually rescuing the missing magica once they've been located.  Way more dangerous than just playing detective."

Yuuri nodded, then sighed as he leaned against the register, "Figures that something like this would happen, God.  Fizzy Pop and Prince Horace... That level eight never would have been beaten without them there, right?  What are we supposed to do about the next one?"

"..." Blade looked down, "Don't know.  But some newer magica we've all been collecting are promising.  I've made three since that monster, after all.  Ribbon Green has potential," It explained, "And as much as I hate to admit it, it isn't like Skorgles' magica ignore monsters.  There was one of them at that level eight battle anyway, and a lot of them are very strong.  Usually they fight monsters which appear away from urban areas, since they aren't good people, but something so strong is a good draw for them anyway, even if the side effect of it is helping civilians."

"And we're all getting stronger, too," Sayaka noted, "Everyone who's already a magica is improving a ton, which is why the rankings don't shift much.  We're all becoming powerful as time goes on.  I think that five months from the first level eight, the next one would have to be much easier to defeat, assuming its power stays the same."

"I can only hope," Yuuri shook his head with a grimace.

-----

The missing person's reports rolled in over the next few weeks as people realized that the magica in their lives weren't coming back.  The soonest ones came from people who had no idea their relative had magic, of course, but even those who knew came to the conclusion that something was wrong.  The heir to an important company, Riko Asahi, was declared missing, and any magica who knew anything could surmise, even through glamours, that she was one member of Fizzy Pop, the less enthusiastic one.

"I'm glad to see that we've all gathered here," Chikd was the first at the distributor meeting to speak, "Even you, Skorgles.  I was surprised that you decided to grace us with your presence."

Skorgles looked around the room.  They'd picked an old hotel's rec room, using the pool table as a conference table, "I wouldn't miss it for anything.  Just because I don't care about rankings and I encourage my magica to murder yours, doesn't mean I haven't been impacted by these disappearances.  One of mine went missing too, after all, and it's imperative that you know it wasn't Goddess, but Solar Applause."

"Solar Applause..." Blade mumbled, "26th lowest in the rankings, but that would be your highest rank, wouldn't it, Skorgles?  So that's a good point.  It is the highest rank, or it was the highest rank five months ago.  Solar Applause received a letter of commendation, right?"

Skorgles nodded, "Yes.  I'll assume that you know because Stripe received one too."

"All of our missing magica got them," Captive Ham added in, looking around the table, "Forever Sparkling Into Eternity was so surprised and proud.  She didn't even know until then that she was my best magica at rank 44..."

"I'm worried about Diamond Dust," Desire Train sighed, staring at the ceiling, "My magica all kind of think that I'm a jerk, but I do care about them.  Diamond Dust's husband... He knew that he was a magical boy, and was the second one to file a missing person report after Stripe's grandmother.  We need to find our missing magica, because we know that they aren't dead.  There's no way we can let this go without discovering the truth behind their disappearances."

"That's right..." Oh One mumbled, dejected.  It seemed to have nothing but sadness in its voice, "Guardian Angel is so worried about Prince Horace, and so am I, and so are all our friends.  My posse and our magica, especially in Tokyo, want to do all that we can to find the missing magica."

"Hey," Skorgles spoke up, its voice a bit condescending, "Wasn't Guardian Angel the last person to be seen with Prince Horace?  And didn't he rocket to spot number four as soon as you contracted him?  Haven't you considered that it could be an inside job by a magica?"

Must Pope looked over at Skorgles, eyes wider than normal, "Why would you bring up that possibility?  That implicates your magica more than it could possibly implicate any of ours!"

"That's where you're mistaken.  Not a single one of my magica would ever kidnap a high ranking magica without killing them.  Even Giftwrap wouldn't let her own desires get in the way of collecting magical power," Skorgles laughed, "If you're so mistaken on the Modus Operandi of mine, how can you be confident in any of yours?"

"The only magica of mine that I'd ever think would do this," Desire Train spoke up, "Wouldn't have.  I can never predict Future Style, but I do know that she wouldn't take part in making Forever Sparkling Into Eternity disappear.  That's the only thing I would ever put past her."

Captive Ham nodded along, "I think that's true.  Sparkling and Future were friends.  When it comes to my magica... Sunday Devil doesn't like consequences, so he'd be a suspect if the disappearances were unranked magica between the bottom thirty and top hundred.  And similar to Skorgles' magica, there's no way Lady Justice would ever keep anyone alive if she kept them this long.  She's impatient."

"So it isn't a magica belonging to a superpower," Blem spoke up, waving its eyestalks, "If it's a magica at all, then it's somebody unranked, or in the rankings who's a fluke, not a trend.  I'm not convinced it is a magica, though.  All of us... This is our first truly human universe, right?  Our group's first foray into a world fully capable of free will and creative thought.  Every other universe we've dabbled in, the humans have been tools, not people, before we even got there.  So of course things would be more interesting here."

"That's right," Sugarcanesugarcane agreed, "We would never have a conversation like this in our past universes.  I think what Blem is saying is that... Monsters level 9 and 10 may actually have the ability to spawn in a world like this.  We have no idea what those could be.  For all we know, monsters really could be responsible for this."

"Nonsense," Skorgles scoffed, "Monsters can't think that much.  It's the only way most of your weak little magica can stand a chance against them, after all.  All those small fry have going for them is strategy, not power.  The only magica who can actually match a monster in power levels are probably Goddess, Bluebird, Prince Horace, Uamake, or Fizzy Pop.  And lest we forget, two of those in the list have disappeared off the face of the planet."

"Skorgles..." Captive Ham spoke up, "Who is Bluebird?"

"The second worst magica, of course.  She's surpassed Sunday Devil.  She became a magical girl last July.  It's been almost a year for her now, since it's June," Skorgles answered, "Goddess created her, which is why you all didn't know when she came into existence.  I've only recently convinced her to go public on the rankings."

"There are a lot of year-old magica now," Must Pope noted, "I'm surprised, less of them have died than I was expecting.  Well, of course there's still been a lot of death, but less than I would have thought would happen.  The rankings hardly even shift around that much."

"Of course," Oh One spoke up again, this time masking its sadness behind the fact that it, as the top distributor, had more information about the universe available to it, "Not only is this a truly human world, but there's also the matter of magical culture as it existed before we arrived.  Admittedly, we did base our methods on that culture, deeming it more effective in this universe than calling our magically gifted beings mages, wizards, or any other term... But it also seems that thanks to these correlations we created, everyone already knows what it means to be a magica, and what has to be done.  The dangers, and the required skills.  It isn't often we recruit somebody who just can't handle the job."

"Their distrust of us leads them to be more effective magica," Blem added in, "Thanks to the divide between stories about magical girls who are all sunshine and rainbows, and the stories where becoming a magical girl is just some ploy to get something else more sinister from them, nobody knows what to think of how upfront we are with the dangers of becoming one.  Still, if they think our goal is for them to die fighting monsters, that only motivates them to fight harder."

"Enough philosophical talk," Desire Train snapped, then grumbled, "We need to determine what tasks should be given for the purpose of resolving the case of these missing magica!  I vote that we still focus on fighting monsters, but with a side goal of finding these magica.  Wherever they are, they'd still just die if we dropped monster-hunting to look for them.  We all need orbs."

"My posse and our magica will follow up on dangerous leads," Oh One decided, "Blade and I already discussed that would probably be the case.  It's going to try and figure out what type of magic could be at play here."

"I'm not going to participate in this side-quest," Skorgles decided, and none of them could really argue with it.  It always did what it wanted, no matter what anybody said to it.  All they could ever hope to do was stay out of its way and avoid starting trouble with the one distributor who relished in it, "I don't care that Solar Applause is missing, and with your top magica all out of the way, it just makes my goal easier.  Informing you of my own magica's situation is the most kindness I'll show to you."

"That's more than anyone expected of you," Sugarcanesugarcane confirmed, swishing its tail, then looked around the table, "Anyway, Captive Ham.  The rest of your magica aren't especially strong or high ranking, right?  With that in mind, I think that you should follow up on less dangerous leads.  Desire Train, your ability may be useful too.  The magic used might not bypass your skill of telling where in the same city as you somebody is, so if you have a magica with travel magic, that could be very helpful of you."

"Of course," Desire Train agreed, "I'll gladly do that.  I don't have any magica like that right now, but I can try to create one, since I have a charge currently."

"I can assist you," Sugarcanesugarcane offered, "I'm able to appear at somebody's most likely moment to become a magica.  I can take you along when doing that until we find someone who's likely to end up with a travel ability, like a... Devoted flight attendant?  I don't know.  Usually I wouldn't offer help to my rival, but if it will help to find Prince Horace and the other missing magica, then of course I will."

"Why thank you," Desire Train nodded, "That is one thing we can all agree on.  We can't have magica disappearing like this, none of us want that.  So we can work together for this purpose."

---------

Yuuri Ruka felt, for the first time, that he might regret having become a magical boy.  It was strange that now was when he became so worried, with everything Sayaka had said to reassure him, but that really didn't help.  Her statement that a level eight monster could be defeated without Horace and Fizzy Pop hinged on the idea that a level eight now was exactly as powerful as the last one.  That couldn't be assumed

It was the kidnapping in general that shook him more than the idea of fighting a monster so strong without the best magica, however.  His reasons for becoming a magical boy were simple enough; he wanted to have agency over himself and his choices.  If it was possible for anything or anybody in this world to kidnap the strongest magica out there, then what choice did he have?

It was terrifying.  For the past month, he'd been fighting through it, carrying on despite the dread which sat in his stomach.  He could be fine, if he tried, but trying all of the time was just something he wasn't capable of.  Not tonight, anyway.  There was a trigger for it, of course.  He'd been to see his mother.

That was never a good idea, of course, and he certainly hadn't wanted to go.  It was required of him, however, because of an incident while he was in high school.  A violent outburst against the wrong person had earned him a probation period, and to this day he was required to "see firsthand the effect of prison" by having regular meetings with his mother, even with the technical probation finished.

Not that they could do anything to him if he broke the rules, given he was a magical boy now, but he'd had the fear of authority put into him.  Of this authority.  Logically, he knew that he could give up on the whole deal and nothing would go wrong.  Still, he found himself going.  She was just as awful as ever, every time.  Prison didn't dull her blade at all.  Just seeing her face reminded him of how his life had been ruined, and she always asked about Hikari.

Hikari... Yuuri had never felt bitter towards his little sister.  He only envied that she had been spared the full wrath of Komaru Ruka.  She almost hadn't been.  It had almost been her, until Komaru's criminal contacts informed her that thanks to the number of people like her, there wasn't much demand for young girls.  Her son was a much more viable option to sell off at this point.  Hikari still needed to feel the sting of knowing her mother had considered it, and she was so young then.  Yuuri was the better part of five years older than her.

He didn't blame her for running away.  Everyone thought that Hikari was murdered by the Vagrant Killer, but Yuuri didn't buy into that, especially when Ayano resurfaced.  His theory was that his sister, tired of growing in the shadow of their mother's misdeeds, ran away with her best friends.  She was still out there somewhere, but he didn't worry about her.  She would be fine.  He didn't say that to Komaru, though.  Their mother could think Hikari was dead.

His sister didn't need to keep living in that shadow, even as he was forced to.  If he ever stopped seeing his mother, it would still hang over him, because it influenced his entire life and the way he saw the world, interacted with the world.  It was the reason he was in this hole now.  Becoming a magical boy was his attempt at clawing his way out of that hole.

But now that the dirt was falling back in around him, he found himself lying on the floor of his apartment, looking up at the ceiling.  He was probably going to lose the client he bailed on tonight, and he didn't really care.  As he tackled adulthood, he did begin to understand why his mother did such an awful thing to him.  Everything costs so much, and he could barely afford rent on his grocery store wages, let alone any other bills or food.  His mother wanted nice things, and she didn't want to work, and both of those ideas were beyond him.  He still needed to supplement his income.

He put his hand up in the air, staring at the question mark on his arm.  He'd been drinking that night, more than he probably should have.  The edges of his vision were blurry, and he definitely didn't want to try standing up.  He could sit up, though, so he did.  He kept looking at the mark, and he wondered.  He'd been warned to avoid letting it come to harm, but he was just depressed enough and just drunk enough to want to find out what that could be.

He pulled his pocketknife from his jacket, and flipped the blade out, narrowing his eyes at it.  It wasn't like he'd never cut human flesh before, but it hadn't been his own.  He wasn't quick to draw it, but he also wasn't against bringing a knife to a fistfight if he had to.  Being kind of a scoundrel about town led to some situations like that; it was a shame that as a magical boy, he was known for prostitution, and as a human he was known for petty crimes, but it was better than having his flaws all on display at once.

He certainly considered the former a flaw, but only as it reflected on himself.  It wasn't something he wanted to do, or enjoyed at all.  It was something he wanted to leave behind, but instead all he could do was take pains to make it 'less awful'.  The petty crimes and violence didn't bring him so much shame, since those did bring him friends like Kotomi.  That much was in his nature, and he felt at home with people like her.

Even so, it felt like a flaw right now.  Like another aspect of aftermath, not a part of his personality like it was.  Just more aftermath, and he wasn't fond of that idea in the least.  He figured, even if harming the mark resulted in some horrible fate like the loss of his magic, or his death, it was fine.  He sighed, and brought the knife to his mark, applying light pressure.  He saw one drop of blood bead up, then everything went foggy and sharp all at the same time, like smoke with a strobe light inside of it.  He tossed the knife across the room and gritted his teeth as that feeling crashed down on him.  His entire body hurt, all of it, more than he'd ever felt before.

It was only a second.  No, half a second, it wasn't any time at all, and as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.  He fell forward onto his hands, breathing heavily, and retched, unable to even move to avoid emptying the contents of his stomach directly onto the floor.  He stayed there for what felt like forever, but had to only be a single minute when he heard a knock on the door.  God, he didn't want anybody to see him in this state.  He didn't answer at all.  Even if it was Kotomi, the worst she'd seen him was this drunk, not in this much overall disrepair.

Another knock came, accompanied by a shout through the door, concerned, "R-Ruka-san?  Are you okay?  I heard you scream!"  Of course it was Kanoshi.  He groaned.  He didn't even realize he'd made a sound, but with the amount of pain he'd felt, it made sense.  He didn't respond, but Kanoshi just wouldn't give up, "If you don't answer then I'll break the door down!"

"God!" Yuuri yelled at the door, getting off his hands to sit back again, coughing as he moved, "I'm fine, sensei!  Just leave me alone!"

He realized his mistake right away, but not before Kanoshi opened the door, realizing that Yuuri had forgotten to lock it.  Quietly, he moved to sit down next to him and sighed, keeping his voice gentle, "Ruka-san, that's exactly what you said to me the day your mother was arrested."

"...Fucking, call Kotomi," Yuuri groaned, bringing an arm up to cover his face, "You don't gotta see me like this, okay?  She can deal with me.  She can deal with my bullshit, I won't make you-"

"Shush," Kanoshi stood back up, "I understand," He did, too.  He realized that though Yuuri spoke as if he was trying not to inconvenience Kanoshi, it was that he would prefer Kanoshi didn't see him in this state.  He would do the same thing himself, though.  He wouldn't have wanted anyone to see him the night that the high-ranking magica disappeared; he'd been hit especially hard by Horace's vanishing, and had only recovered in the weeks following thanks to the help of the other Tokyo Magica.

He turned around and pulled out his phone; Kotomi had given her his number, 'just in case', and this had to be one of those just in case situations.  He sent her a text saying that Yuuri was having a bad night and needed her.  She responded straight away, saying she'd be right there.  Kanoshi wasn't going to leave Yuuri completely alone until she arrived, but he would do as much as he could for Yuuri, just staying in the room but not looking at him.

Kotomi was there much sooner than Kanoshi expected, and she motioned for him to leave the apartment.  He complied, and she went to sit next to Yuuri once he was gone, "Hey, Rucchi.  The fuck happened to you this time?"

He moved his arm away from his face to look up at her, eyes puffy, and shook his head, "Can't keep saying shit's happened to me.  This time, I just fucked up, yeah?  This ain't anybody's fault but mine.  I had to see my mom today, so I came home and got drunk off my ass.  Not coping well, that's what this is, and nothing else.  The missing magica on top of it, and..."

Kotomi nodded, then stood up and went to his kitchen, retrieving a roll of paper towels, "And you did whatever made you puke your guts out, yeah?  That never happens when you drink," She started doing her best to clean up the floor, but kept her eyes on him, "You better tell me."

"I only wanted you here because you were the lesser of two evils to see me, compared to my middle school teacher," Yuuri sighed, but he answered anyway.  He couldn't get away with keeping it from her, "I wanted to see what would happen, if I injured my question mark," He held his arm out, "Turns out, it's just a ton of pain.  More than anyone could imagine.  More than I could imagine before it happened."

"More than you could imagine's quite a feat," Kotomi noted, holding her own hair back with one hand as she cleaned with the other, "Look, I'm not against magica or anything, but if you're gonna be one then you damn well better be careful about it.  If you're gonna do stupid shit anyway, you may as well be a human.  I'm in fights all the time, and I get by just fine, because I'm smart, okay?"

"If you're so smart, then why are you wasting time on a fucked up idiot mag like me?" Yuuri questioned with a bitter chuckle, which earned him a glare.

"Cause you're my friend, and cause you've been my friend for a while now.  If you can't understand that, then you really are an idiot," She shook her head with a grimace, "It ain't like you've never been there for me when I've screwed up.  I know you'll find a way to pay me back for this.  You always do, even when you don't need to..."

--------

"Oi, Moron-sensei," Sayaka got Kanoshi's attention as soon as he left Yuuri's apartment, and he jumped half out of his skin.

"Y-Yamaguchi-san!?  What are you doing here?" Kanoshi questioned, holding his arms in close to himself.  Even after fighting against monsters alongside her, she was intimidating on a personal level.  Especially since she continued to insist on calling him a moron.

She shrugged, stepped up from the wall she'd been leaning against, "I live with Tanako-chan now, and I figured it'd be faster if I brought her.  That van of hers may be great, but even it can't bypass eight-pm traffic around this neighborhood.  Figured we should get here as quick as possible.  So what happened to Rukkun?"

"Your nickname for him is so much kinder..." Kanoshi sighed, holding a hand to his own forehead, "I don't know.  He wanted me to call Kotomi instead of helping him myself, I think he was embarrassed.  So I wasn't about to pry."

"Lame," Sayaka scoffed, looking away, "You could have at least peeked!  Come on, if you called, then you gotta know something about it."

"I heard Ruka-san scream from my apartment under him, then I came up here to try and find out what happened.  He didn't answer the first time I knocked, then he yelled at me to go away, but I got worried because he said it the same way he said it back when some... stuff happened when he was my student, eight years ago now."

Sayaka narrowed her eyes, staring right through him, "Yeah, I know what happened.  With that in mind, you still turned your back on him until I brought Tanako-chan here?"

Kanoshi fidgeted under her gaze, shifting between his feet, "I know if I was in that situation, I'd want to be left alone if I asked to be... I was trying to respect Ruka-san.  He is an adult."

In response to this, Sayaka just turned away from him and crossed her arms, "Yeah, I'd wanna be too.  If you found me for sure, I'd probably tell you to get Kaiba-nee, but you know what?  She's nowhere around here.  Tanako-chan might not have been either.  What people want in crisis is never what they really need... You should have kept an eye on him."

"What does it matter if I should have?  I didn't, and it worked out fine," Kanoshi defended himself on principle, but there wasn't much conviction in his voice, "I'm a teacher, not a therapist.  I don't know how to deal with adult problems at all.  I barely know how to deal with kid problems as it is!"

"You were a teacher," Sayaka tilted her head, glancing back at him, "You're not a teacher now, because you became a magical boy.  I won't expect you to know how to deal with adult problems, or kid problems, but I swear to God, Kyosuke-kun, with Prince Horace gone you're the oldest magica in Tokyo.  So you better learn how to deal with magical problems.  You're a support type, so act like it."

"...Yamaguchi-san," Kanoshi gave her a nervous smile, "You really care, huh?"

"No!" She snapped back, bringing her hands up to try to hide the embarrassed blush on her face, "You're my comrades, not my friends.  I just don't want to go back to how tough it was to fight on my own if you screw up and all end up dead because you're a bunch of grown men less competent at being adults than a damn schoolgirl!"

"Sure," Kanoshi chuckled, then turned as he heard the door of Yuuri's apartment open again.  He was surprised to see Yuuri there rather than Kotomi.  He frowned, "Everything good...?"

Yuuri leaned against the doorframe to steady himself, and nodded, "Kotomi talked some sense into me.  I won't do anything so stupid again.  I... don't want to talk about it, but I guess I do have to warn the two of you.  It really is important that you don't get even a little hurt, where your mark is.  If you do, you'll regret it."

"Hello everybody," Oh One appeared suddenly, again.  It did that often, "Well, Kanoshi and Yuuri, I suppose.  I'll talk to the others soon.  It seems that you're not having a good night.  I hope I can remedy that.  I have good news.  A possible lead, we'll investigate as soon as possible.  Some monsters have been behaving strangely in Nagasaki prefecture, so I'd appreciate if your team could make your way in that direction.  After getting your affairs in order to leave for a period of time, of course."

"I'm good to go anytime," Kanoshi nodded, straightening up, "The eSports league that recruited me is salary, so as long as I play often and stay well-ranked when I am able, it's fine to go on hiatus."

"My boss knows I'm a magical boy, and I pick up so many extra hours and shifts to help out," Yuuri agreed, holding a hand to his head, "I can leave... The day after tomorrow.  I'll need some recovery time."

"Recovery time?" Oh One questioned, its eyes immediately going to the small wound on Yuuri's arm.  It made a strange, concerned noise, taking a step backwards, "A week.  We'll need to wait at least a week.  Yuuri, don't do any fighting until that's fully healed.  That's an order," With that said, it turned around, "Anyway, I'll go speak with Infernal and Lullabye.  You two... Ugh, stay out of trouble, okay?  Get some rest."

Oh One took off again to inform the others of this lead, and Sayaka pulled out her phone.  She was informing Blade of her intentions to join her 'comrades' in their investigative trip to Nagasaki.  It would be the first time she went back to that prefecture since the Korekara Massacre, a year and a half later.

At least this time, she'd have people she could rely on.  Yuuri and Kanoshi would definitely protect her; and that was just what they were thinking, too.  Of course they'd all have each other's backs.  Sayaka still tried to mask her involvement in their battles by showing up fashionably late, but being friends with adult men wasn't unusual for her, once they proved she could trust them.  That was her life back in Kobe, after all.

Kanoshi was excited to follow this lead.  Some part of him was optimistic, and another part knew that optimism was unfounded, but maybe this strange monster activity really could lead them to the missing magica.  That was the best case scenario, and Kanoshi was hoping it would be the one which they ended up with.  Even with the blow to his confidence of the incident occurring in the first place, even with whatever just happened to Yuuri... He still felt that becoming a magical boy wasn't a mistake.

If he hadn't become one, after all, how could he hope to help with any of those issues?  As a magica himself, he stood a chance at protecting everyone he cared about, a better chance than he ever could as a human.  

That was what mattered in the end.

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