Kira

~

"We're pretty sure the Oracle Stone is somewhere in the United States." Kuro's piercing eyes sweep the length of the the Council Chamber. The world map constructed by the glowing thread of his garrote wire changes, unwinding before taking shape anew into the landmass of the US.

My heart jumps and I cringe slightly but I stop my thoughts spiraling out of control. This wasn't the time to contemplate my messy and melodramatic thought processes of the past.

"That's...quite beyond our reach," Shigeru breathes out in a contemplative murmur.

"It's only natural," Tokiya shrugs, the cracks of his excitement breaking through the cool facade he's attempting to put on, "I'm sure even those in the room not as well versed in the nature of Relics know they come come in two forms. Those that are created by magic users or spirits, like the Plane Rendering Daggers or Demonic weapons, make up about ninety percent of all Relics between the planes."

"The other ten percent consists of naturally occurring Relics, are formed under very special conditions if specific locations," Kuro finishes for him thrn moves to the cleaned up chalk board, redrawing the circular shape from the last time but adding a lot more detail to give the impression of a jagged spherical rock with rougher gems inlaid within. "The Oracle Stone is one of those Relics and we were able to trace the earliest rumors about it to ghost hunting stories from secret societies in the States."

"It got its name because it was used to find Cracks where Demons and were likely to emerge and this allowed the hunters to prevent major disasters. It could also Seal up those cracks permanently but only one every fifty years," Tokiya notes with a more solemn edge, "Let's just hope we're not too early."

"Or late, depends really," Lady West drawls while loudly filing away at her nails.

"Permission to speak your Graces?" One of the Captains' shoots up in her seat, wavy black hair covering half of her face that's also hidden in Mask. She's wearing a simple black jumpsuit with her badge shrunken gold notch in her collar.

"You may," Motoichirou gestures vaguely.

"How does this Relic disconnect Planes and track Cracks? It seems a convenient weapon to have remained out of the public eye for so long."

"I don't think American Agencies are jumping at the chance to tell the word of all the powerful Relics on their land," Kuro sneers, earning himself a glare from the questioner and several other Captains.

Inuoe sides up to me, "Shin, Captain of the Second Division, they deal with removing Relics from civilian possession so this is bit personal."

I nod, making a mental note to tell Kuro to lay off our new work partners a bit.

"Now, now Kuro-kun," Tokiya soothes, he turns to the Captains' box, mainly Shin, "There's little information due to the reasons he's just hinted at but we can only theorize that core components of Oracle Stone were created during the birth of the Barrier in that part of the world, when it's was a lot weaker than we know today. Humans, or Spirits even, could have added means to streamline it's use but I believe there was always more to what it could do."

Inoue raises his hand, "Respectfully, your Grace, I don't think any of this matters in the face of what we have to do. Our mission is to find it."

"On point as always Inuoe-kun!" Motoichirou snaps his fingers before rounding on Tokiya, "Get to good part already!"

"You guys never appreciate the work I put into this!"

"I picked the scouts to search the archive," Yasushi points out.

"But I still had to oversee them!"

Shigeru coughs pointedly and Tokiya takes that as his cue to get back on track with a ragged breath.

"Fine," he claps and the outline of Kuro's thread map is filled with the finer details of the states within the country, each border a wavy translucent line of dark blue. Five however are filled in with their names in glowing white, "Rumors over the last two centuries have claimed its presence in five separate locations. Whenever it's key function is used, the Stone leaves the user to a new location with the highest concentration of Magic activity in the country. Two priority locations are Salem, Oregon and New York city."

"What about the other locations," Troy asks.

"They'll of course be investigated but for an operation on that scale, we'll have one talk to the ones in charge," Tokiya surmises.

This elicits whispers from the Captain's box and I can guess relations within exorcist Agencies outside the country aren't exactly airtight.

"But we can send three teams at least, right?" Hayahiko chips in, leaning heavily on the armrest of her seat.

Shigeru nods and Tokiya smirks.

"Exactly, and we'll be sending team Demona to the location of highest Priority! Hope going to New York was on your summer vacation list Keeper-chan~"

Sweat trickles down the side of my face, the smile I'd plastered to my lips trembling ever slightly as I'm addressed, "Huh?"

***

My solemn footsteps drag in defeat behind Inoue's more alert ones as I contemplate once again how I'd gotten myself into this mess.

Five minutes since leaving the Council chamber and ten since the Captains had been sent out so the Council members could only address me and my team.

'I told the others in our mindspace during the meeting. New York is just a diversion for the mole to lock in on,' Tokiya had announced almost immediately.

Yasushi's addition didn't quite help, 'Indeed, we'll be sending a specialized third unit to the other location we've let them believe as unimportant, the town of Baton Rouge in New Orleans.'

I wasn't able to keep the incredulity out of my voice, 'So we're just bait?!'

'I know how this looks Demona but now we've joined forces, Nightmare's eyes will follow your team especially; anywhere you go, whatever agents he has there will make a big deal of your presence and I'd appreciate if you let us make use of that." Shigeru had said with the ever so slight traces of comfort in her voice.

'Well...when you put it that way.'

'Come by in a week, we'll teleport you with Inoue-'

'Absolutely not! We'll make our way and I'll send our location so he'll meet us there!'

Kuro and Troy had turned to me, disbelieving, 'We will?'

And now I had to come up with a believable plan to make Ares take all three of us, and Kat maybe, to New York before the end of the week.

I sigh heavily, face-planting into the nearest wall which draws he attention of my escort, "I hate my life."

Inoue turns back, to me, his face an expressionless mask devoid of whatever he might be feeling inside. For Troy it's pretty easy to guess between the three options of disgust, slightly less disgust and anger, but Inoue had shown a greater range of emotion which he just seems to keep to a minimal.

"If this about the mission, would you prefer for someone else to accompany your team?" He asks.

I wave him off, groaning and caring little for the stares thrown my way by the passing scouts going about their duties, "I can't go running off to the States out of nowhere for who knows how long! I've got people here you know?!"

I slide to the ground, excuses building up in my mind only to fall apart. Ares, Momo and Haru, the volleyball team, what the hell was I going to tell all of them?!

There's also the fact my summer relaxation plans never had 'search one of the world's most populated cities for an ancient Relic' among them in the first place.

Go to the beach, go shopping, maybe give that whole summer love thing a try if some cute guy or girl would look my way.

I bury my head between my knees, knowing none of that matters if the world's going to end this summer anyway but mourning my loss helps me think better regardless.

Inoue rubs at the back of his neck, "If that's the case we could put anyone you don't want worried in a coma until your return."

I peer up at him, "Please tell me that's your attempt at a joke."

All I get in return is a blank stare like I'm the unreasonable one.

With one last pained moan I stand, wiping myself down, "Nevermind, what did you want to show me anyway?" Once we got that over with I could get beaten up by Troy a bit more before we had to leave, that always helps me think even more than mourning my sorrows.

He coughs into his fist, "I remembered a few locations I left out of tour earlier, but given I'll eventually have to stop babysitting whenever you come here I figured I should show you."

"Hey! I didn't ask to have you hovering..." My voice trails off towards the end when I notice the deepening creases in his brow, "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head before tapping one ear, "I just got news my Vice Captain is back from Kyoto, I should meet her for a debrief."

I'm curious but I have half the mind to remember team Demona and the Overseers are still two entirely different groups. And this is clearly an Overseer only thing.

I fall back into an undignified heap in the corner of the passageway, "Well don't mind me, I'll be right here, not causing any trouble."

He gives that amused small smile reminiscent of of the last time I'd seen it on the night of Shiro's attack, "I'll hold you that Keeper."

He dashes down the corridor to a set of wide double doors that lead out to a balcony, the moon doesn't overlook the Sub-plane tonight so it's a pitch black night dotted with dim stars. He lauches himself over the wooden balcony, falling out of sight and for a long while I sit, staring in silent awe at how effortlessly he makes everything look.

Just like Troy.

It's a wonder they don't get along.

After a bit I pick myself up and head past the doors to the balcony, tempted to pull down my hood so I can feel the wind even more. I don't catch sight of Inoue's form anywhere down below but since this part of the temple overlooks the training grounds off to side rather than the front gates I'm guessing that's where he's headed to meet his Vice Captain.

I try to picture what she might be like to be working alongside him, maybe she's just as serious and strict.

Footsteps interrupt my train of thought, and I turn around, "That was fas..."

Rather than Inoue though there's a lanky exorcist that's just about the same height with only his build and closely cropped hair giving me any indication of who he might be. The top half of his face is shrouded in Mask leaving only the sneer pulling his mouth and nose into an ugly shape visible.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

My fingers tighten around the railing as recall seeing him throw poisonous looks at our team during the two meetings in the Council Chamber.

"Well, if it isn't the Shape-shifter's little sympathizer?" His roughly pitched voice is filled with snark and loathing.

Don't cause trouble, I remind myself, looking down his jacket to see the Captain's insignia on it's lapel. It's not not the first time the exorcist have been openly antagonistic since our arrival. Painfully pointed not-whispers at a distance or distrustful looks are pretty common but until now, no one's really walked up to us.

"That's not how you say 'hi' to someone you've never talked to before," I say coolly.

"And why should I lower myself to greeting scum that fights with Demons and will happily welcome the enemy into their team?" He scoffs, one hand on hip as he swaggers even closer. His jeer gathering the attention of other passing scouts, some walking past after a glance and others stopping entirely to watch.

Tension builds in my jaw but I shake it off, "I was trying to be polite since you're trying so hard to get on my nerves."

The white slits of his eyes flare in fury, "You might be swimming in the Council's good graces but you better watch your tongue, many of us aren't to fond you fifth Keeper," he steps closer and I brace myself for action, the thought of calling the Demons to take care of him surfacing ever so briefly. With his next words, I realize the only proper action will be punching him in the face myself, "With you feeling oh so bad for the criminal who killed your own predecessor why should we can count on you not to let Nightmare off the hook if hesobs just enough tomstroke your ego?"

My hairs raise in response to his taunts but there's a heavy lump of guilt settling in my gut at the realization that a few months ago I would have wholeheartedly agreed.

Joining Nightmare to protect everyone I loved.

But now the circle of those I cared about had brown wider and Nightmare's path was the furthest from the life I wanted; if he can be stopped, I'll make it happen.

The unnamed Captain glares at me, smirking triumphantly, "Am I right wild little Keeper? Did I strike a nerve in your little emotional-"

There's the soft tinkle of bells off to the side which cuts him off, quiet but so out of place it pulls my attention into looking for the source but I force my attention back to the Captain only to see his mouth opened in a terrified silent scream.

He's scared.

Of what?

I find out only a second later when a figure dressed in loose dark pants appears seemingly out of nowhere behind him. It takes only a spit second, like they had materialized out of thin air with their right leg raised high above his head before bringing their wooden sandal clad foot down with frightening force.

"If it ain't my favorite little straggler!" The voice is playful, cutting through through the painfully loud crunch of the Captain's nose connecting with the temple's marble floors. The stanger simply laughs, flicking back loose strands of her pale blue hair while squatting down to grab him by the hair, lifting his face up to meet hers.

Stranger than her entrance is the wrap of bandages hiding her eyes from view.

"Y-y-y-you! You'll p-p-p-pay for this!" He squeaks, blood dripping down his now mishapen nose and past his lips to stain the scattered tile.

"Weren't you talking about how you won't lower yourself to Demon scum a while ago, you should shape up if you're gonna talk big~" she coos, tapping his chin. The golden bells attached to her choker, fingerless glove and different parts of her outfit jingle ever so slightly with each movement.

He flinches away from the touch, falling onto his ass and dragging himself halfway down the corridor before finding his footing. He points her with one hand while hiding his bloody nose behind the other, "You're going to regret this in time foul wretch!"

"What's that? I don't speak Shakespeare, Nagasawa-kun," she calls after him but he's already running down the hallway.

The strange bob-cut girl then turns to me, flashing a peace sign, "So you're Demona, huh? Don't look like much up close."

I eye her wooden sandals wearily, choosing my next words very carefully, my speed would be pretty useless against an attacker that could teleport.

"Um, yeah, that's me, not-much-up-close Demona."

"That meant to be a joke?" She grins, coming closer and allowing me to see even more details of her clothes; a plain white shirt over baggy pants that stop just above her ankles to reveal two more bells on either ankle. The shirt is rolled up to her elbows, with only a worn-out baby blue sweater vest giving it any shape. Save for the bells tacked in random places, a glimmer of silver at her collar catches my eye.

A Vice Captain's badge.

By the time my mind catches up to her words she's merely a foot away, inspecting my face closely as if trying to peer past my Mask.

She's not all that tall but the two inch gap isn't helped by her damn shoes. She chuckles in my face, breath blowing down my nose, "So that's how a Keeper's aura looks, hm?"

I blink dumbly, "Huh?"

"Nothing!" She hops back, beaming like a kid reluctant to divulge a secret they're all too happy to keep and giving me a playful salute, "Nehalaenia, Vice Captain of the First Division but everyone just calls me Neha."

I swallow thickly, this was a lot further from what I'd been expecting but given she's spared me the trouble of getting involved in a troublesome situation I'm more grateful than put off.

For now.

"Inoue-san ran off to find you-"

"Eh?! Don't talk about him right now, I just wanna quick break before he starts throwing more paperwork at me," she fake sobs, hopping onto the railing and squatting low like one wrong move in balance won't send her toppling over. She grabs my forearm, "Hope you mind filling in on the juicy stuff while I lay low for a bit ~"

"Huh?" I blanch as I'm pulled over the railing, the world blurring as I find purchase around her neck before she speedily takes us to back of the building by running along the roof slats.

Tears run down my face the whole way, was it too much to ask for a calm night?!

***

"So that's how it went down huh?" Neha hums as I bring my narration of Shiro's attack and switch to close. I'd given her a shorthand version including the bits of Kirai's appearance and what Kuro had told me from his attempt to save Shiro.

"Yeah," I pull my knees up, studying the high wall of hedge that serves as our hiding place. There's another wall of foliage in front of me, stretching for several meters on either side, each end winding a different direction with thorns along the creeping vines reminding me of that night.

My fingers start trembling again, despite my resolve, I can't stop myself from wondering just how much of theis new mission would stay on track.

If Neha notices she doesn't say anything about it, conjuring a small pack from nowhere and reaching in to pull out two wraps of triangular shaped onigiri, "Can see why the other scouts aren't too fond ya." She hands me one which I plan to refuse but my stomach proceeds to do that embarrassing rumbling out loud thing .

I sigh defeatedly at her pleased grin.

"Thanks..." I peel open the translucent cover and dig in, it's pretty plain compared to Troy's or the ones from my school shop but it decent enough to distract my mind from spiraling, "I don't blame them, but I wish he could have stayed alive to prove them wrong."

"With his mind breaking from his Abilities, I don't think he'd last long either way," she retorts through a mouthful of rice, "Us Dark Maguc users without the Universe's Blessing bullshit are pretty much cursed, blood magic wielder or not, the longer you're alive, the more you use, the easier it is to give into your desires."

The leaves rustle lightly as she relaxes into the hedge, completely ignoring the thorns.

Her words however remind me of the other Keepers' warning, could using any more of my abilities really lead to me becoming a Demon?

From the bits and pieces, it seemed like Dark Magic users went haywire, flat out turning unto a Demon looked extreme by comparison.

"That thing you said earlier about my Aura..."

"You'll have to promise me something if you want an answer~" she sings.

"Why?!"

"Can't go around revealing my Ability just like that," she wags a finger in my face, "I mean, I can since it won't give you an upper hand, you're not all that string y'know-"

"I know, skip that part," I grumble.

She laughs, waving nonchalantly, "What I can I say is that a side-effect is that I'm supper good at sensing Magic Energy traces, it looks kinda like some smoky blob. The same goes for Aura, even when you're not using your powers, it's the same for everyone."

I gawk a bit , impressed. The most I've heard about from Kuro being able to feel another Magic User's Aura, the deadly intent behind their attacks that could throw one balance if unprepared, "What does my Aura look like?"

Her smile wavers a bit but it's like flicker of clear picture on a TV that's been showing snow for far too long, "Not important but shouldn't the more important be," she leans in close, "'Neha-sama if we met on the street could you tell I was the Keeper?'"

My heart stops, "You can?!"

"Ding, ding, ding."

"But she won't," Before I ask anymore questions a hand emerges from the expanse of shrubbery between us, we both scream but fortunately for me the hand grabs at Neha's collar instead, tiny balls of light incinerating an Inoue shaped hole into the wall as he lifts her to eye level, "Right, Vice Captain?"

"Tsuki! C'mon I was just messing around! I promise!" She's kicking her feet furiously, looking to me for support, "I'd never, that wouldn't be fun!"

Inoue, still unconvinced, gives her more of a dressing down, forcing me to sit in awkward silence as my new companion is scolded to an audience of one.

Lazing about in the maze without even handing a report over, dragging off one of the Overseers most important guest, injuring a lower ranked Captain, damaging non-training ground property....

"Honestly! Why can't you be responsible for once?!"

"I plead innocent on accounts of needing a break."

I can see the the veins at the side of his head throbbing.

"Here's your break," he growls right before chucking her through several walls of the hedge.

"Neha!" I cringe, watch her limp form skid tk a halt just a couple meters ahead.

"She's fine," Inoue dusts his hands, "Unfortunately it'll take more than that to make her docile," he turns to me with his gaze a lot less intimidating than how he'd been glaring at her, "The Council can't force her to use that aspect of her Abilities unless it's crucial to the success of a mission, all our associates have a right to privacy if they wish to keep their identities outside Magic a secret."

"Is that why Lady West tried putting a tracking charm in our medicine?" I ask mock politely, still not over that.

"Neglect to notice something so obvious on your part would be entirely your fault."

"Huh-uh..." I scowl, standing to leave, this was fun but I had holiday lies to sort out and put in motion.

Neha appears out of nowhere hugging me from behind with her chin resting on my head, "Heard that Keeper? Stay out of trouble I won't come huntin' ya down like a coke dog."

"Good to know."

Inoue grabs her by the ear, pulling her off me with far more pleading and tears, "The Council wants you before them right now you walking disgrace."

"I'm your Vice Captain! Can't a girl get some respect?!"

"Regrettably," he sighs tiredly, he turns back to me, "We'll finish up he tour another time, I need to make sure this one does all she's meant to."

I nod in understanding, more sorry for Neha at realizing how thankful I am that my dynamic with Troy and Kuro limits physical abuse purely to our training sessions.

"N-E-H-A. Neha! The name's NE-HA!" She screams still trying to pull away from his grip on her ear and failing.

"Whatever."

I follow them out of the maze and from there we go our separate ways. Them to the Council chamber and me to my team, Troy and and Kuro at the open gates waiting for me.

Though a part of me had been looking forward to having a new teammate in Shiro, I'm just as grateful I haven't lost either of these two yet.

And I don't plan to.

***

The weekend arrives in a flurry of activity but it's all worth it as the opportunity to make my move finally arrives.

Ares holds a hair brush to his lips, eyes glinting as he fans out a line of brochures on our coffee table. "Vacation plans! Ready. Set. Go!"

Kat one ups him, by hijacking the whole TV, picturesque beaches and and winding streets in the backdrop of some place I can only guess is in Italy taking up every inch of the plasma screen, "We've got two weeks, I say we make the best of it."

Financially speaking we could afford to go wherever but Ares had made it a point to spend money within reason except on rare gift-giving occasions.

"True," he nods, "But we can spend a week in Italy after a week wherever we've gone where your sister picks."

I grin, perks of being the youngest meant we spotted at wherever I wanted to go first.

Kat tosses me an icy look from across the table, "Just don't make it boring."

"We've got time Kat," he squeezes her nose affectionately, "Kira, take as long as -"

"New York," I state bluntly, ignoring Kat's death glare to give Ares my most innocent smile, "With Kuro and Troy too, and before the start the week after if possible."

"New York?! Are you kidding?!"

Ares blinks at me, "I don't mind taking Troy and Kuro since they're your friends but your sister's right Kira, NYC isn't all that impressive."

"We've been there before! The hell are you wasting a perfectly good vacation for?"

I grin, chuckling masterfully to myself, the chance I'd been waiting for. Pulling out three rainbow barf colored concert tickets from my pocket, I slam them down on the table. I'd spent way too much time in last two days searching for bands of singers performing anywhere in New York. My only option had been my least favorite internet pop star but Long Island was scenic enough not to suck for a vacation and close to the metropolitan to meet up with Inoue.

"Leon Tower's going to be on Long Island for a concert that week and we really wanna see him perform."

Kat peers down at the tickets before her narrowed gaze shifts up to me, "You said his music's too mainstream and the equivalent of a terrible gacha game with naked men for hormonal teenagers to project on. What changed?"

My jaw drops, literally, "You were listening?!" No wait, that's not the problem, "People change, I change. Junk food, gambling video game music isn't all bad."

Ares taps his chin, "Well, I guess we could-"

"Dad! Don't tell me you believe her? She's clearly up to something!"

"Kat, chill, it's my vacation location," I say soothingly, my excitement at getting past this hurdle threatening to blow my cover with how fast my heart was beating.

"True," Ares points out.

"Ugh!" Kat leaps to her feet, "Fine, let's spend a week in boring New York! GREAT."

I wave innocently as she exists the room, about to deflate from relief at just how little work it seemed to have taken. The money from the tickets and Kuro's travel credentials I was working on were enough of a blow to my savings as it was.

"That settles it I guess," Ares beams, standing as well, "I'll work everything out from here but I need to make sure your friends' parents are fine with us taking them."

The sound of my masterfully crafted house of cards falling to the ground in the background echoes in my ears, "Huh...parents?"

He turns too me, still obliviously cheerful at the expense of my turmoil, "Or guardians, whichever, we could have dinner. Tell the boys, I've been itching to meet everyone for a while."

Practically skipping out of the room to set everything in motion he leaves me a sobbing mess at the coffee table as I ponder how to tell my guy I'll need their help with a little bit more identity fraud.

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