Meanwhile, a few hours later after Tatsurou and Marie got home, something ill was about to transpire in district 4, that "Something" was going to happen in a public park 1, that was between district 4's new town and old town...
It was around 22:09 pm, and in the said public park, was a group of 3 male students, perhaps in they're last year of high school, still with they're school uniforms on, they were close to a bench, one was sitting on the said bench, while the other 2 were standing, they were talking and laughing, if one had to describe this with one word, it would be, loitering...
"Say, how's your prep for the upcoming exams, coming along?" One of the boys, that was sitting on the bench, asked the other boy that was standing next to him.
"I have been going to cram school, for about, two months, giving it my all, I'll ace this month's exams!" The boy that was standing, answered with a happy and determined tone, as he smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, you said that last time, on the Spring exams! No way you're going to "ace" this month's exams!" Another boy that was leaning against the bench said in a mocking tone, as he laughed and looked at his friend.
"S-Shut up! I will ace them, no problem!" the boy said as he crossed his arms and looked away, from his joking friend.
"I will only believe it when I see it! And if you're really giving it your all, shouldn't you be in cram school right now?" The joking boy asked, as he glanced over to his friend, that looked away once more.
"The teacher, canceled last minute..." The boy said in an embarrassed tone, as he kept looking away.
"Yeah, right! I don't buy it..." The joking boy said with a suspicious tone, as he looked at his friend.
"Come on, you two! Stop that, he has been trying his hardest, for the last two months, why not let him rest and have fun, before those hellish exams start?" The boy that was sitting said as he shrugged and glanced at both of his friends.
"Alright...I'll stop...but since you've been, studying hard, you could help out your friends, right?" The joking boy said as he rested his head on his right hand.
"No problem! But that is going to cost you!" The boy that was standing said as he laughed a bit while pointing at his friend.
"Sure, whatever your heart may desire, oh lord of the cram school!" The joking boy said as he stooped leaning on the bench and gave a bow towards his friend as if he was a king of sorts, this made the other two laugh, pretty hard, but this beautiful image of a group of friends, just having mindless fun and enjoying themselves, was about to be brought to a sudden halt...
"My, my, now that is, what I like to call "friendship" right there!" A voice said this to the group of friends, in what sounded like a mocking tone.
"Uh?" The group of friends said, almost in sync as they looked to their right side, to see who it was that said this, and the person in question was a rather tall boy, with round eyes that had a certain sharpness to them and a smile that looked mischievous by default, he also wore a white gakuran school uniform, but what made it stand out, was the equally white student cap that hid his short black hair.
"You shouldn't be worrying about things like exams, when there are other, much more important things, you should be worried about..." The boy in the white gakuran said as he adjusted his cap a bit, and as the group of friends saw this, they gave each other confused looks, as none of them knew him.
"Right...I don't get it? What should we be, so worried about?" The joking boy asked, as he walked towards the boy in the white gakuran, stopping more or less a meter away from him.
"Didn't you know? Rumor has it that, there is a person out there that likes to go out at night and hunt down, Magic-users, as of late..." The boy in the white gakuran said, as he opened his arms a bit while explaining.
"Yeah, I kind of heard about it, but I'm not scared if that's your point..." The joking boy said as he shrugged a bit, and decided to turn his back to this boy, that he thought was just some weirdo.
"Oh, but you should be scared, very scared, after all, you and your friends are magic users, am I right?" As the boy in the white gakuran said this, the group of friends all looked at him surprised but, they're surprise turned to fear, as they looked at him and saw a devilish smile plastered across his face as he tilted his head, but of all the boys of the group the one that initiated the conversation and was the closest to him, didn't let fear take control of him.
"Listen, I don't know what type of game or joke you're trying to pull, but you better stop, cause it's not funny!" The joking boy said as he approached and placed his hand on the shoulder of the boy in the white gakuran, that just smiled for a bit until this smile turned into, a disturbing giggling.
"Hihihi, please do, believe me, I don't make jokes or games..." The boy in the white gakuran said as he placed his hand, on the joking boy's face.
"Huh?" this was the last thing the joking boy said, as the sound of an electric charge echoed through the silent park, for a mere 3 seconds, that was enough to make the heart of the other two boys stop, as they were both witnessing his friend fall to the ground, as small bolts of electricity sparked out of his twitching body.
"My, quite the weakling...this wasn't even 50 volts..." The boy in the white gakuran said in an unimpressed tone, as he walked towards the other two boys.
"H-Hey, w-what the hell is going on?!" One of the boys asked his friend as he trembled, unsure of what to do.
"No idea, but I won't let this guy go anywhere!" The other boy said to his scared friend, as he began running towards the boy in the white gakuran while drawing a circle with his left hand.
"Eat this! "Flame claw"!" The boy said as a fire red magic circle appeared and his hand became covered in fire, he lunged himself at the boy in the white gakuran, that just smiled as he saw this.
"Not bad, but unfortunately, too slow..." The boy in the white gakuran said, as he made a quick side dodge to the left.
"What!?" was the only thing his attacker could say as he looked at him.
"Now it's my turn!" The boy in the white gakuran said, as he dashed to the boy that attacked him, while he closed his hand into a fist, that started to pour out electricity and when he was within range, he punched him in the face, and the sound of an electric discharge was heard once more, before the boy was sent flying against a tree.
"Two are down, that leaves..." the boy in the white gakuran said as he glanced to the remaining boy, that began to run away after witnessing everything that happened, something that proved useless as he was hit by a lightning bolt, that came out from the index finger, of the boy in the white gakuran.
"What...just what...have we...done to you?" The boy said, as he lied on the ground his body still twitching, from being hit by that lightning bolt.
"You and your friends, did nothing to me, it's just that you had the misfortune of being weak and useless magic users..." The boy in the white gakuran said, as he got close and squatted next to this boy, that became even more confused, with everything that was happening.
"Now, all of this is just to make my message come across, and a means to an end so be happy, that you are part of it..." The boy in the white gakuran said as he opened his hand and electricity started to come out of it.
"Good night..." He said before placing his hand on the boy's back, which screamed, to no avail, as this time the sound of the electric discharge was louder, than the pain-filled screams that followed suit...
Now some long hours later, Tatsurou was sitting on his bed, wearing his usual T-shirt and shorts, in the process of reading the "Violet evergarden" books he bought earlier today, he started reading around 22:04 pm, and now, he was about to finish reading the 4th and last volume, and the face he had was one that was both concentrated and curious, and as he turned to the next page, Tatsurou looked as if he stooped breathing, he looked as if was about to devour the page he was reading, and sure enough a few moments later...
"I don't believe it! The ending was so beautiful!" Tatsurou said as he teared up a bit, while he closed the 4th volume and looked at the cover for a while.
"This one is going to my favorites! But more importantly, the best, of course, was saved for last!" Tatsurou said, as he placed the 4th volume on the nightstand, on the right side of his bed, with the other volumes and grabbed the latest volume of "Princess of dawning light" but, as he was about to read it...
"I'm a bit thirsty..." Tatsurou thought as placed the book on the nightstand and got up from the bed, then he went to the kitchen to drink something, and when he got there, he opened the fridge and took out of it a bottle of water, and from the cupboard above the sink he took out a glass.
"I wonder, what time it is?" Tatsurou said as poured the water in his glass and looked at the watch in the kitchen, and both surprise and shock covered his face as he saw the time displayed on it.
"05:39 am?! No way!" Tatsurou said as he kept looking at the watch in complete denial.
"I was so engrossed reading, that I didn't even see the hours pass...I'm such an idiot..." Tatsurou said as he sighed a bit.
"Well, after drinking this, it straight to bed to get a bit of shut-eye, before going to school..." As Tatsurou finished saying this, he drank his water, placed the cup in the sink, and placed the water bottle inside the fridge again, and as he was about to make his way to his room, something quite unexpected happened.
Suddenly, the apartments bell began ringing, scaring Tatsurou a bit.
"What the...who could it be at this hour?" Tatsurou asked himself, as he made his way to the entrance, and as he got close to the door, he looked to the wall on his left side, that had an intercom, that unfortunately didn't have a camera, so Tatsurou had to answer, to know who it was.
"It could be Wise or just a prank but, at this hour?" Tatsurou said, as he rubbed his chin a bit, but then the bell rang once more.
"Looks like, I'll have to answer, I don't want Shirayuki or Marie to wake up..." Tatsurou said, as he picked up the intercom and placed it close to his ear.
"Hello, who is..." As Tatsurou was about to ask, who it was that had the bright idea to ring on the bell so early, he got interrupted.
"It's me, Kurokami, you idiot!" The voice from the other side of the intercom said, in an angry tone to Tatsurou.
"Wait a sec, this is the voice of that Naoki girl..." Tatsurou thought as he sighed a bit.
"Even to answer a simple bell, you take your time, unbelievable!" Naoki said still with her angry tone.
"Say, Izumi-san? Why are you ring at my bell so early in the morning? Or even better, how do you know, where I live?" Tatsurou asked both confused and annoyed.
"Didn't you see the message, in the Soteria app? Kuroiwa-san, as already given us our mission! It was also Kuroiwa-san that gave me your address!" Naoki said from the other side but this time her tone had a faint hint of excitement.
"God! I forgot to download the app..." Tatsurou thought as he placed his hand on his forehead and ran it down his face.
"So?" Naoki asked from the other side a bit impatient.
"Sorry, I haven't downloaded the app yet..." Tatsurou said, in a tone that had a faint hint of embarrassment, as he scratched his cheek and laughed a bit.
"YOU IDIOT! How can someone be so irresponsible! I was right, your lazy and unreliable!" Naoki literally screamed this, prompting Tatsurou to move the intercom away from his ear, and even so, he could still hear her.
"I'm sorry, a few things happened, and it slipped my mind, but honestly, I should be the one angry, right now! Just go home, we have the whole day to start it!" Tatsurou said a bit annoyed to Naoki, as he placed the intercom in its place and walked away.
"I don't believe it, Yumeko, you got me quite a partner..." Tatsurou said as he sighed and began to walk back to his room, but he didn't go far as now the bell began ringing nonstop if we had to guess, Naoki was probably button mashing it, Tatsurou then went back to the intercom, and picked it up.
"Stop ringing the bell! I have people that are trying to sleep, here!" Tatsurou said in an angry and annoyed tone as he placed the intercom close to his ear.
"You either come down here, this instant or I will keep ringing on this bell, until you come out!" Naoki said with an angry tone, as she ignored what Tatsurou told her.
"Alright, alright, at least give me a few minutes to get dressed..." Tatsurou said as he sighed, and complied with Naoki's demand mostly because he didn't want her to disturb Shirayuki's and Marie's sleep.
"You have 5 minutes! If you're not here in 5 minutes, after we stop talking, I will ring on the bell again!" Naoki said, still with an angry tone in her voice.
"Ok..." Tatsurou said, as he sighed again and placed the intercom down, then he began walking towards his room, but as he was traversing the hall that separated the kitchen and the living room, he came across Shirayuki, that had her hair tied into a folded ponytail and was wearing her usual long pink nightgown, and Marie that had her hair tied into a low ponytail and was wearing her usual shorts and a tank top, that were both still, with very sleepy expressions on.
"Tatsurou-san, what's wrong? We heard the bell ringing a lot..." Shirayuki asked with a sleepy tone as she looked at Tatsurou and yawned.
"Sorry about that, you two, but if you don't mind, I have to go get dressed and quick..." Tatsurou said as he sighed a bit, this caught both of the girls by surprise.
"But why? It's still early..." Marie asked with a sleepy, but curious tone.
"It's that Naoki we met yesterday, she wants me to come with her, to take care of that mission that Yumeko was going to give us..." Tatsurou said as he scratched his head a bit, this made Shirayuki and Marie look at each other, then back at Tatsurou.
"What! Why would she want to start that "mission" so early?" Shirayuki asked a bit confused as her sleepiness suddenly vanished.
"I swear that girl has a problem! Doing something like this so early in the morning!" Marie said as she too lost her sleepiness, and crossed her arms, Tatsurou just sighed again.
"It's either going with her, or she will ring on the bell, until I come out...not a lot of options here, so let's get this over with..." Tatsurou said as he started walking towards his room again.
"Then, let me at least make you, something to eat..." Shirayuki said, as she started to make her way to the kitchen.
"Don't worry about that, Shirayuki-san, I'll grab something to eat in a convenience store or something, Oh! And I will also come and pick you up for school Marie, so you two can relax and go back to bed, ok?" Tatsurou said as he smiled and made his way back to his room, to get dressed.
"Ok..." Both Shirayuki and Marie said as they saw Tatsurou walk away.
"I just hope that girl, doesn't cause him any trouble..." Both Shirayuki and Marie said this as they looked at each other, while making their way back to bed...