By the time I entered the kitchen, she's halfway through a piece of toast.
Her progress is glacial though, with most of her attention directed to her phone.
After flopping into the chair across from her, I start wolfing down on my own breakfast.
"Any news today? "
Vignette nods, her eyes still glued to the screen.
"Another raid downtown last night. They hit a museum this time. "
"Jeez... Did anyone get hurt? "
Vignette: "A human security guard was left with minor injuries. He came across the mikrosi rebels while they were busy looting the place. "
Vignette: "Why they left a witness is another question? "
"Remind me, mikrosi are lesser demons like you, right? "
She nods distractedly.
Xion: "And greater demons are—"
"Malteri"
Vignette glances over her phone with a look of disapproval.
"This is basic stuff, Xion! "
"What are they teaching you at school? "
Xion: "Hey don't blame me! It's not my fault that the education system can't keep up with the times we are living in! "
Vignette: "Even so, I would expect you to know a little more about your best friend's native culture. "
She tucks her hair behind her ear with a sharp huff, revealing her pointed ears in the process.
"I know more than most?! Your kind appeared from that portal, what... about eighteen years ago to escape from persecution?
"Eventually a deal was struck with the government that allowed you to stay. Tengu city was built to house you and now here we are as...
One big happy family! "
"Alright you pass. I am not sure 'happy' is quite the right word though, as long as the Faithful are around. " ""
I shrug off at reminder.
Xion: "There will always be dissenters, especially when it comes to such upheaval and changes on this scale. Still any word in why they would target a museum, of all places? "
"Nothing they are reporting"
"I find it hard to believe they would go to all that trouble over a bunch of old and useless relics. "
"Nothing is off limits when you are waging a cultural war, I guess. "
"The same goes for suppressing the truth, doesn't it? "
"Odds are the authorities know more than they are willing to reveal to the public. "
She shrugs distractedly before continuing her doom scroll.
Careful to not draw her attention, I watch her as we eat in silence.
'So cute the way she mouths whatever she happens to be reading at her phone '
"Anything else catching your eyes? "
"Not really. "
"Well, nothing that would interest a human like you, anyway. "
When I give her an expectant look, she sighs in defeat.
Vignette: "Apparently they have detected unusually high levels of ambient mana around the city. "
Xion: "And that means—"
She shrugs.
Noticing the time, we race to finish our breakfast then hurry out for the school.
As we make our way along the usual route to school, the streets are eerily quiet.
'Not that it should come as any real surprise. '
'Tensions are always high after one of these attacks. '
'Even so I can't seem to shake an unsettling sensation.
'It almost feels like someone is watching me. '
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