As Tatsurou left the school roof's garden, he ran down the stairs, and in a blink of an eye, he finally reached the first-floor hallway, but as he was making his way out of the school he bumped against Yumeko that was looking for him.
"Sorry Yumeko, but I got to go!" Tatsurou said as he passed Yumeko without stopping.
"Wait, Tatsurou, where do you think you're going?" Yumeko asked with a confussed tone, but it was mostly useless as Tatsurou was already too far and with other things on his mind.
"I'm sorry Yumeko, but there's something I got to do, so classes have to wait, but don't worry, I will go to all the extra classes you want after! Oh! And keep your phone close to you!" Tatsurou said as he kept running, and Yumeko just stood there dumbfounded by his sudden change in attitude.
"You did it Hime-chan, you brought our usual Tatsurou back!" Yumeko thought to herself as she crossed her arms with a smile on her face, but then...
"HEY, don't go calling me Yumeko when were at school, you idiot" Yumeko shouted at Tatsurou, but once again it was mostly useless as he was already too far away to ear her.
"Heh, doesn't matter I will talk to him later..." Yumeko said as she scratched her head and went back to the classroom, meanwhile, Tatsurou was already crossing the school gate, and going in the direction of the monorail station...
A while later inside the monorail, Tatsurou was sitting in one of the monorail's many seats breathing heavily, after almost not being able to catch it...
"That was close, I thought my leg was going to get stuck on the door!" Tatsurou said to himself as he caught his breath.
"Alright then, now to find Tiana and Shirayuki..." Tatsurou said as he got his phone out and started looking through his contacts, after a while he found the contact he was looking for and pressed call and waited until the person on the other side answered, and after a long wait, that someone answered.
"Yes, what is it?" A sleepy voice of a girl was heard from the other side of the phone.
"It's me..." Tatsurou said to the sleepy girl on the other side.
"What, Kuro-chan, do you know what time is it?" The sleepy girl aked Tatsurou with a surprised yet angry tone, Tatsurou then looked at the watch in the monorail.
"It's exactly 9:58am..." Tatsurou answered the girls question with a stoic tone.
"Listen, I know the time, I'm just asking why you called so early in the morning and so suddenly?" The girl said as she sighed, but Tatsurou didn't let her question get cold.
"I need your help..." As Tatsurou said this he could feel the girl gently face-palming because of him being too direct.
"You, can't?" Tatsurou asked with a worried tone.
"Well, it's not like I can't, but you could not be so direct at least start a conversation before saying you need help!" The girl said with a serious yet why try tone as she sighed.
"I know, but this can't wait, so I'm going to your place right now..." As Tatsurou said this, the girl suddenly went silent.
"Wait, wait, you coming to my place now!?!?" The girl asked with a surprised yet distressed tone.
"Yes, see you soon!" Tatsurou said as he took his phone out of his ear and as he was about to turn it off.
"Wait! Kuro-chan..." You could still hear the girl talk as he turned the call off.
And now all Tatsurou had to do, was wait until he arrived at the last monorail station to meet this girl, and meanwhile a bit further away...
In district 4, inside a warehouse with containers and wooden boxes that ranged from small to big, was Shirayuki, she was sitting on a small wooden box with a depressed expression on her face, she looked as if she had lost the will to live, her blue eyes almost looked as if they lost its color and they were also red from the tears she shed since she left Tatsurou, she was spacing out thinking about him, when suddenly.
"Hey..." A voice called out to Shirayuki, but she didn't react.
"Hey..." Again the same voice said, but she didn't react, but on the third time.
"Hey! Stop daydreaming already" The voice said louder and with a more aggressive tone, and Shirayuki looked up, as she was brought back from her thoughts to the real world thanks to Tiana that was the one calling her, while she held a loaf of bread on her hand.
"What is it?" Shirayuki answered her the same way she looked depressed, Tiana looked at her with an uninterested yet angry look.
"I hate it, when I call people and they don't answer, here!" Tiana said with an angry tone, as she handed Shirayuki the loaf of bread.
"I'm not hungry..." Shirayuki said this to Tiana still with a depressed tone, and for a while, Tiana didn't say a thing.
"Well, I don't care if your hungry or not, so I will just leave it here, and you eat it if you want..." Tiana said as she placed the loaf on top of the box next to Shirayuki, and turned her back to her, but just as she was about to leave.
"Why are you doing this?" Shirayuki suddenly asked Tiana as she was about to leave, this question took her a bit by surprise
"Why am I doing this? Well, it's not like I have to tell you, but just so you know, I'm doing this, because I promised someone that one day their death wouldn't be in vain...more than that you don't need to know..." Tiana said to Shirayuki in a way that was neither friendly nor unfriendly as she looked at her.
"And does this person want you to do all of these things really or is it just your twisted interpretation of a promise?" Shirayuki asked this as she looked at Tiana, and she suddenly appeared before Shirayuki and grabbed her, by the collar of her shrine maiden kimono.
"Who the hell you think you are? To start and question my objectives like you know me or something, huh?" Tiana said as she lifted Shirayuki up, trying to scare her, but her plan fell flat as she wasn't scared, if anything she looked at Tiana as if she felt bad for her, as if she was worried about her even after all the things she made her go through, upon seeing her face, Tiana put her back down.
"Forget it, it's not even worth it..." Tiana said as she put Shirayuki down and turned her back to her once again and as she left the warehouse, she signaled the knight to keep an eye on Shirayuki, and after a bit, Shirayuki was left alone with the knight, he looked at her and she did the same, after a while, the knight placed himself close to a wall sitting down in a way, that made it look like he was meditating, it felt as if he knew she wouldn't get away, so he just decided to rest, and as he did that Shirayuki took her sit, on top of the box again, but this time she placed her arms around her legs and placed her head in between her knees and as she did that, she began crying again.
"I know what I did, I know what I said...I know I'm being selfish again, but...I'm so scared, please...save me...Tatsurou..." In between tears, Shirayuki asked for Tatsurou to come and save her but deep down, she thought that after what happened and the spell she used, Tatsurou would never come or that she would never see him again, and yet she wished for him to come and save her, even if it was another selfish request, but then again she thought that it was probably impossible for that to happen, but little did she know, that Tatsurou was already on the case...
After the long, but fast monorail ride, Tatsurou finally got to the last station of district 4, the station belonged to the old town part of the district, and as the name implies, it's the old part of the town of this district, but unlike many old towns this one was almost completely abandoned, few to almost no people, lived here, and the ones that lived, was because of the cheaper rents and the like but despite that, this part of town looked like all the others it was clean at least, as for the rest everything looked abandoned.
"Looks like this part of town hasn't changed much since my last visit..." Tatsurou said as he got out of the station and started to walk towards the building of the girl he was meeting, on his way there, he didn't pass by anyone, except for some old folks and a few kids that were playing around, after a little bit of more walking Tatsurou was finally facing the building he had to be at.
It was an old 6 stories apartment, it was probably the tallest building in the old town, and in times it was probably also the most luxurious one, but time took a toll on this one, and as Tatsurou stepped inside this apartments complex he looked around to see if someone was watching, after a quick look around, he went to the main entrance, put his hand on the handle and to his surprise it was open.
"It's open?" Tatsurou thought to himself, but then he realized that the girl probably opened it up for him, and after going through the main doorway, it closed behind him.
"As I thought, you're still controlling everything from up there, huh?" Tatsurou asked himself but in all honesty, he knew the answer, he then made his way to the elevator and when he pressed the button he was impressed that it still worked, as he got in, he pressed the button for the 6th floor, the doors of the elevator closed and after a bit, it started to go finally up but it sounded as if the elevator was about to breath its last, Tatsurou started to pray mentally, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally got to the 6th floor.
"Ok, next time, I'm taking the stairs..." Tatsurou said to himself as he got out of the elevator scratching his head and with a scared face on, he then turned right and started to walk towards the girl's apartment, it was the last one so you couldn't really miss it and when Tatsurou finally stood in front of the door, he first rang the bell, and nothing, he then knocked, also nothing, he then knocked a second time but with more strength this time, also nothing, he then knocked a third time.
"Alright, alright I already know you're there stop knocking, jeez, you could at the very least let a girl get ready!" The girl Tatsurou was on the phone with just a while, answered from the other side of the door
"You had 25 minutes to get ready, you know that, right?" Tatsurou said this to the girl and just as he finished saying it, the door opened up, and it revealed a cute petite girl probably smaller than Shirayuki, she had dark blue messy hair, and her eyes were black and she was wearing a one-piece white and black dress, that made her look even cutter, this girl was Miyama Michiko.
"H-Hi, Kuro-chan..." The girl said as she looked at Tatsurou and blushed, and after a while of no response.
"Hi there Michiko, you're going out?" Tatsurou asked Michiko innocently, this made her blush even more, than she already was.
"N-No, I'm not, you idiot!" Michiko said with an angry tone towards Tatsurou.
"Then why the cute outfit, then?" As Tatsurou said this Michiko blushed again, but this time her whole face became red.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to wear something different for a change of pace, come in..." Michiko said, as she looked away from Tatsurou and signaled him to come inside.
"Pardon the intrusion..." Tatsurou said as he got in and closed the door, after taking his shoes off, he fowled Michiko and when they got to the living room.
"This placed hasn't changed a bit, since I was last here..." Tatsurou said as he looked around and saw all the computer screens, computer towers around the living room, in all honesty, it was impressive how Michiko could walk around, he then looked to his right side.
"This, hole on the wall is new..." Tatsurou said as he couldn't stop looking at the hole, that looked like a door, that led from Michiko's room to the living room, he turned to Michiko again, with a face that asked the question for him, just why.
"Don't look at me like that I'm all about efficiency!" Michiko said with a smug tone and expression towards Tatsurou.
"And can you tell me, how tearing a hole in the wall will make you more efficient?" Tatsurou asked while he crossed his arms and looked at Michiko with a puzzled expression.
"Like that, if I have an emergency and I have to get to the computer I can shave at least 6 seconds from the timer!" Michiko said with a proud tone and expression.
"This makes it hard to believe that you have such a high IQ..." Tatsurou said as sighed and Michiko looked at him angrily, but he was right despite the questionable attitudes and things that Michiko did, she had an IQ of 188, putting to shame a lot of people, that think that they are smart.
"Very well then, Kuro-chan, and what brings you to my humble home?" Michiko asked as she took a seat in her chair, that was placed in front of the desk that had 5 computer screens, one in the middle and the other 4 around it.
"I'm looking for a woman..." As Tatsurou said this, Michiko looked at him for a while in silence.
"Ahhh, I see, I see, so Kuro-chan is looking for women now, well no surprise you are reaching that age after all..." Michiko said in a stoic, yet somewhat depressed tone, this remark made Tatsurou hit her with a light chop on the head.
"You know, what I meant!" Tatsurou said with a tone that had a faint hint of anger as he looked at Michiko.
"I know, I was just joking! No need to get all defensive like that!" Michiko said as she turned to the screens proper and started stretching, as if she was about to run a marathon.
"So who is this woman you looking for?" Michiko asked, as she did one last shoulder stretch.
"Tiana Sokolova..." Tatsurou said this at the same moment that Michiko finished her question, she then began typing away on her keyboard, really fast, and in all honesty, no matter how many times Tatsurou saw Michiko do that, it always impressed him, and after what was, basically a few seconds she stooped.
"Here she is, Tiana Sokolova, age 32, Russian, affiliated with the Black Bear organization, belonging to the orthodox church, rank priestess..." Michiko said as she looked at her main screen and then shifted the information on it, to a screen on the top right for Tatsurou to read, and at the same time, she also put a picture of Tiana on the same screen.
"That's her alright..." Tatsurou said as he read the information, but the picture was honestly all he needed to confirm that it was her.
"She is kind of cute for her age, Kuro-chan, I didn't know you liked them older..." Michiko said with a rather mischievous smile on her face, but this comment made Tatsurou hit her with another light chop, and as she was rubbing her head.
"But this is rather weird, you know..." Michiko said as she looked at the screen, with a curious expression.
"What do you mean it's weird?" Tatsurou asked and Michiko proceeded.
"What I mean is, that everything on her file is real, but it's her name...I'm pretty sure it's fake..." Michiko said as she scratched her head and looked at the screen then at Tatsurou.
"It's fake you say?" Tatsurou asked with a mix of confusion and curiosity.
"Well...I can look into it...but it's going to cost you..." Michiko said as she looked away and back at Tatsurou as if she was waiting for him to get the idea, without her saying it.
"Alright, alright I get it a box of 5 eclairs with cream from the usual store, right?" Tatsurou said after a small sigh, as he knew his wallet was going to get hurt.
"Make it, 8 and we got ourselves a deal!" Michiko said as her eyes lit up, but Tatsurou on the other hand shivered.
"Very well then, deal 8 eclairs and you do your magic..." As Tatsurou said this Michiko looked as if she was dancing on her chair humming the word eclairs.
"Alright, it's time to start the show and you are in luck, Kuro-chan, you are on the first row seats!" Michiko said as she cracked her fingers, and then as placed her hands on the keyboard, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
"The eyes that see it all..."God eyes"..." Right after finishing saying this Michiko opened her eyes and they were now blue with a magic circle substituting her eyes pupil, the "God eyes" the magic Michiko was gifted with, it was a type of magic that belonged to the ocular section of magic abilities and it was also one of the four God Gifts, it is a strong power and gave the user the ability to know everything from a person's true nature and self, to their magic power, its abilities, its weaknesses, and it was even believed to be capable of a lot more, and as it stood it was one of the most wanted powers in the world.
But this power, was the reason Michiko hid and lived like this, as everyone wanted it and she suffered a lot throughout her life thanks to it, to the point she doesn't trust anyone but two people, those being Tatsurou and Yumeko, Michiko used this power mostly for what she was doing right now, to observe files on the computer and look for information and differentiate the fake from the real and to crack codes that no hacker in the world, no matter how smart or skilled could get, there was just one downside...
"Ow, it hurts to blink..." Michiko said as she rubbed her eyes and then proceeded to continue, yes to use this ability the user had to not blink for a long time, not that it was because it only worked if the user had its eyes opened, it was because it hurts to blink, thanks to the magic circles that substituted the pupil, and after just a short 3 minutes.
"Finally done, sending the data to the screen!" Michiko said with a relieved tone as she closed her eyes, to shut down "God eyes".
"Very well, Michiko, you did great!" Tatsurou said as he patted Michiko's head, he then proceeded to look at the screen and he was surprised, beyond belief.
"No way! Is this true?" Tatsurou asked Michiko as he couldn't look away from the screen.
"Yes, it's true as they come, there's no way around it...wait you didn't suspect a thing?" Michiko asked as she looked at Tatsurou with a puzzled expression.
"Tell me, just how I was supposed to know?" Tatsurou asked as he looked at Michiko.
"It's just that, Tiana, is one of the most common female Russian names, and Sokolova is also one of the most common family names, it's pretty obvious if you ask me..." Michiko answered in a joking tone, as she scratched her head.
"Well, not everyone would suspect something like that, don't you think?" Tatsurou said in an annoyed tone to Michiko, but she paid him no mind.
"I'm already printing the info, so you can go ahead and grab the papers that are coming out of the printer..." Michiko said as she pointed to the printer, next to her desk.
"But wait a sec..." As Tatsurou was about to say something, he was interrupted by Michiko.
"I know what you will ask next and since you were, oh, so kind with your offer, I put in the bonus of the place she's hiding at, you can thank the surveillance system of Takamagahara for that..." Michiko said with a smug smile plastered across her face.
"No way, Michiko, you're the best!" Tatsurou said with a smile on his face as he grabbed the papers fresh out of the printer and got ready to leave.
"Hey, Kuro-chan, can I ask you something?" Michiko asked as Tatsurou was leaving, something that caught him off guard.
"Sure, ask away..." Tatsurou said as he awaited Michiko's question.
"Why are you doing this?" Michiko asked not out of curiosity, but as a friend.
"It's just that, this is something I have to do..." Tatsurou answered with a determined tone as he looked at Michiko, that looked at him in silence for a bit.
"And don't worry about your eclairs, I will tell Yumeko to come and bring them to you...and by the way, you should think about moving in with her, she's kind of hard to deal with, but it's better than living alone..." Tatsurou said this to Michiko, but she just brushed off the idea by making a weird face at him.
"No way, she wouldn't be able to handle me..." Michiko said this in a way that made it look like she was better off alone, but at the same time, it didn't seem so.
"Well, give it a thought then, see you around Michiko!" Tatsurou said as he once again began going his way but the second he got out of the apartment and closed the door, Michiko left out a sigh.
"This is something I have to do..." Michiko repeated Tatsurou's words as she looked at the ceiling.
"You better be careful Kuro-chan..." Michiko said as she placed her hand in her chest, praying that Tasurou didn't do anything that would hurt him...