Irina carefully scooped her blond student up then made her way down the roof with Shuuji not far off behind them. She jumped down into the ground, careful not to drop the unconscious boy.
Sirens flared in front of the store as paramedics ran around treating the injured. The brunette growled under her breath. Because she lowered her guard, three people died and her students almost got killed.
Irina had gotten overconfident.
Just because she was declared one of the most powerful exorcists did not mean she was omnipotent. It just made her stronger than her peers by a slight advantage. She gritted her teeth and walked out of the alleyway, only to be flooded by the MT emergency squad.
They took Rikuo out of her hands, then dragged Shuuji along just for good measure. Irina nodded thankfully towards the medic, (a priest in his early twenties), refusing treatment. Her wounds were light anyway, she did not need healing.
"Madam Rostavich!"
Irina turned around to see Officer Asahi advancing towards her. Her eyes hardened upon the sight of his wounds. Steadying her breath, the brunette replied.
"That is Colonel to you, Detective." Her voice came out cold, distant. She saw the man's posture tense and anger flash through his eyes.
"Three of my men died to those- those things! Monsters!. So excuse me if I don't give a fuck about proper titles right now!" He yelled, grabbing the woman's collar.
"Tell me Ma'am! What were those things!? What killed my men!? Speak up!" When the brunette remained silent, Miwatoshi grew even more frustrated.
"JUST FUCKING TELL ME DANG IT!!! WEREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO FILL ME IN!? SO WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SILENT NOW!?"
He bodily threw Irina away, who didn't even stumble a bit. Sharp blue eyes gazed at the shocked man, understanding clearly in them. It just served to make the man more irritated.
As he moved forward to do- (what? He didn't know. But he moved to do something-)
Miwatoshi was caught by the hands circling around him to keep him in place.
"Miwatoshi Calm down!!"
Kunichi growled, doing his best to restrain the furious officer. The round man motioned for Irina to move away while he calmed Asahi but the woman shook her head. Instead, she pulled out the official exorcist badge, invoking the privacy barrier, invisible to people without reiki.
"Officer Kunichi Sugito, Officer Asahi Miwatoshi. From this moment on, what you will hear is an internationally protected secret. Do you swear that what you heard shall never be repeated to another?"
The stunned officers stopped to stare at the serious woman. They wondered just what they had gotten mixed in.
….
When Rikuo regained consciousness, the first thing to greet him was the all too familiar ceiling of the hospital room and the dull ache in his muscles that had become constant in the last week. Groaning, the blond boy pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning his back against the pillow.
Turquoise eyes looked around the room before they settled on the familiar sight of Shuuji on the bed beside them. The ravenette waved at him.
"Yo."
"Yo, uhh what happened?"
He greeted me, confused. Last he remembered, they were on the rooftop of the store where their mission was taking place. Then the circle he drew blew up and someone he didn't recognize said something before everything went black for him.
Shuuji blinked at him.
"You don't remember?" he asked, hesitant.
"Remember what? Did something happen while I was out?"
The ravenette looked at him strangely. It made Rikuo feel tad self conscious wondering if something had happened. Shuuji opened his mouth to explain to the confused boy what happened when their teacher's voice cut through the room.
"You engaged a rogue champion in a fight, brat."
They turned towards the door to see Irina leaning against the frame, looking more serious than Rikuo had ever seen her. Behind her stood the police officers that were in charge of the case they were working on.
"A Rogue champion? Teacher, what do you mean?"
"What do you remember about Rikuo?"she asked, brushing aside his question.
"I-... I don't remember anything past blacking out after the cleansing circle blew up. I mean, I did hear someone say something afterwards the explosion and that's it." He explained. Irina nodded.
"Tsujimura Rikuo you engaged in a fight with the culprit of the case. A Rogue champion whose name is unknown and is able to use Absolute Authority. According to the report provided by exorcist Harukami Shuuji, you broke out of the enemy's control then managed to break your partner free."
The brunette woman took a deep breath before she continued.
"You were then poisoned by corrupted reiki in an attempt for the enemy to control you. You were ordered to kill Harukami Shuuji-" Rikuo's face grew paler the more he heard, wondering if he was the reason why the blue eyed boy was hurt.
"- you refused. The enemy was forced to retreat as I joined the fight. You, who was poisoned, used your authority to purify the corrupted reiki out of your body. That is when you collapsed." She ended.
"I- I didn't hurt Shuuji right?" Came the quiet voice of the blonde, who looked so guilty it bothered the mentioned teen.
"Idiot, you think you can beat me in a fight?"
"That's true... Thanks Shuu."
"Anytime Riku."
Irina let out a small smile watching her students interact. The brunette woman however did not have time to waste so she got to the point.
"Due to the increased difficulty of this mission, you are given the option to withdraw." She explained. "So what would you like to do?Will you withdraw?"
The two teens shared a glance with each other, the look in their eyes made the brunette teacher hide the smirk forming on her face. 'Ah, I knew it.' She thought.
'These two will definitely stay.'
"We'll stay." Came a twin, determined replies.
Irina threw back her head, laughter bubbling out of her chest.
"Well then, Team Rostovich, meet Officer Kunichi and his partner, Officer Asahi. They have been introduced to Midnight Tokyo just today. Treat them well."
"And, Welcome to your first official B-rank mission."