Almost three in the morning.
I've decided to end it a little while ago so I can catch the train back to the station nearest to U.A.
No matter how little it is, I still need a few hours of sleep. I already cleaned myself up before arriving at the station --The hair dye was a pain to remove-- since, after all, I didn't want my 'Reona' identity to be recognized by anyone outside of it's intended purpose.
It would have been convenient if I could manually set the exit point point of the society's corridor, but I suppose the creator didn't want his subspace to become a reststop in the middle of a street.
Since the Inkfall Society is located in a separate space, it counts as 'other' than this side and the Otherside. Meaning, since that I've left from Cen's corridor, then I would arrive at her place even if I used mine.
Inconvenient, but it's not like I want to offend whoever runs the society.
About ten minutes after three in the morning, the train arrived. The doors opened and I waited for the other spirits to leave first. Their forms started to rapidly deteriorate for the worse as soon as they set foot out the train, becoming ever-shifting silhouettes the closer they reach thee station's exit.
Stepping out after them where the other students of U.A. that have come to investigate. They number a bit less than I expected so it seemed that those ones felt it was better to search elsewhere, I'm assuming.
How smart of them.
I adjusted the strap of the larger bag carrying my things and walked past a dumbfounded Manga while ignoring the confused and possibly indignant expressions of the other students, entered the train and waived my ticket to thin air.
As the piece of paper disappeared from my hand, I closed my eyes without waiting for the train to fill up.
With the carts being significantly more empty, the ride back was expectedly peaceful. It was a tad tempting to take a nap thanks to the gentle rocking of the train ride but I managed to hold back by thinking of how much more comfortable it would be to fall asleep in my own bed.
Finally arrived at my stop, I hastily and sneakily left the platform by flying. I bypassed most security this way and it wasn't long until I've arrived back at U.A. Grounds.
With of how the train ride made me drowsy, I decided to leave the organising and reporting for tomorrow. Because for now, now is the time for sleep.
I've stepped foot inside the dorms and quietly walked pass Tsuburaba, Awase and Tetsu who were knocked out in front of the TV with snacks scattered around them, the fighting game still running on the screen.
My eyes lingered on the kitchen for a moment before a bitter taste made it's way into my mouth.
'Should have just flown to my veranda.' I thought while shaking my head as I entered the elevator. As soon as I entered my room, I threw the bag on the floor near my work corner and jumped into bed.
It didn't take long for sleep to claim me.
Hours later, refreshed and well rested, I stood in front of the principal's office holding an envelope of nearly organised papers, and once more, the door opened by itself.
Stepping inside, I was immediately greeted with the strong scent of tea. "Welcome! Please have seat and enjoy a cup!"
My lips, ever so slightly, pulled into a thin line. "Sure."
Sitting down opposite of the rat, I handed over the envelope in my hands and reluctantly brought the cup close to my face. A pause, briefly looking up to see the rat watching me closely with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, before cautiously taking a sip.
Spicy.
Ginger, lemon, pepper, mint... And others I can't recognize. Does this guy really drink this stuff?
I brought the cup down while the sounds of shuffling paper brought my attention out of my instinct to spit out the drink. The rat is leisurely parsing through my report as if nothing just happened.
I held back from clicking my tongue. "As you can see, there isn't much depth with the information I've brought back. But, it is only a single night's worth of investigation so I don't see it as a complete loss."
"Hm, Indeed." He nodded. "The string of disappearances in rural areas seem to be going in for quite a while now. I did have my suspicions beforehand but now I can deliberately say that supernatural forces are at play."
"Probably used as food or fuel." I shrugged. "Can go either way honestly."
"Food I understand, but please elaborate by what you mean by fuel so I can paint a clearer picture."
"By fuel, it's pretty straightforward: Fear, worship, negative emotions, positive emotions, ritualistic sacrifices... The list goes on but those ones are what appear at the top of my head."
"How utterly appalling." Way to say that with a deadpan. "Don't they realise how limited of a resource that is?" He flips a page. "Yes, see here how half a dozen small villages have been wiped clean. Government investigations have declared it the work of a group of villains rather than admitting it was a mystery slaughter."
"To be fair, I wouldn't put it against them. Probably got blackmailed, bribed or mind controlled to compliance."
"Hmhn." He hummed in response, not in acknowledgement the validity of my words but simply to let me know he heard them. "What worries are not just the disappearances, but also the unconfirmed rumors you've placed by the tail end of everything."
"Yeah, I haven't seen a live dragon myself."
"I meant the local rumors."
"Oh that. Yeah, no clue." He held up a state, beady little eyes boring a hole through me. "Like I said, no clue. Can't really expect me to find out about everything in one night, right? I mean, you probably can with the internet or something but the Otherside is almost completely rustic with how unprolific tech is."
"Hm... I suppose it is too much to ask for efficiency when the mor modern methods aren't applicable."
"Right? Like don't get me wrong, there is technology there. Most of it is just at the level of flip phones and landlines. But even then, those are definitely infected or possessed by somebeing that rely on them to survive."
"Would it be possible to pull those being unto our side? Or at the very least, barter for their services?" That glint in your eyes don't comfort me in the slightest, Nedzu.
"I can try to? No promises, though. In the first place, their numbers aren't that high so it wouldn't make much of a difference."
"Fantastic!" He flips through the papers again, revisiting the earlier pages. "I am curious, however. I fail to see where exactly you spent the first hours of your investigation despite the others being timestamped. Can you enlighten me on this?"
"No. I can't." I refused without hesitation. "That place is invite-only. And before you ask, no. Only certain people of status can invite someone, I don't have that kind of authority." A partial lie, but I don't really feel like going above and beyond to get someone like him into a place for artists.
I don't wanna imagine the chaos.
"A shame." For someone who sounds disappointed, he sure doesn't look like it. "I see what you have in mind with this other tactic of yours. I'd like to know: can you succeed?"
"Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. All I have to do is pretend everyone is beneath me and act like an entitled child. If someone call me on my bluff, I just have to solve my problems with violence and those guys would generally become more accepting."
"I meant your disguise." He corrected. "How can you be so sure that, without a doubt, they will actively try to win you over. Your plans to become a sleeper agent won't proceed if you aren't accepted in their ranks to begin with."
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." I smirked.
"I suppose so." The rat gave me his own feral grin. "That'll be all for today. If there are any new developments, you know both my office and my number."
"Alright, have a good one."
As I left the office under the cackling of Nedzu, I just realised that not once did he even touch his cup of tea.
~~~
Nedzu hummed to himself as he kept rereading the report in his hands. Moments pass as the tea sprawled in front of him gradually turned cold.
Eventually, the door opened once again as a plain man with magenta safety goggles entered the room. "You called for me, sir?" He drawled, not in disrespect but in a show of casualness that displayed their close bond.
"Survey, just on time! I'd like for you to look into a few things for me and validate the truth behind this claim." Nedzu stood up from his seat while still clutching the papers and made his way up to his own office chair. He typed in something for a minute before printing it out and handing it to the man Infront of him.
Survey read through what was written before his brows furrowed, it was then that he began murmuring to himself. "Hn. I'll have it done by the afternoon." He nodded without looking up from the piece of paper. Survey's eyes never left the print as he walked out of the office, all the whole still muttering to himself.
Nedzu chuckled at that display. "Some things never change." He spoke to himself as he began to write up a few anonymous tips with coordinates of suspicious location.
If they were right, good. If it isn't? Then that's fine too. Sending human resources over to areas that needed it is as good of a conclusion as any.
~~~(Omake)~~~
Being given a few days off because of the attack left a lot of students with free time. Even if the most hardened students were to push themselves into training and pursue improvement, rest is also just as equally vital to development. Not to mention that the attack also left nearly everyone craving for company, even if it's just to ease their mind of any potential attacks.
Which, somehow, for some reason, translated to the Class-1B's's very own Game Night.
Everyone can pick their own little niche and stay there, or they can also try out what the others were doing. Although there were also those who opted to do their own thing, such as Shishida and Ibara.
Most of the boys just played video games in the living room, Kendo has this whole meditation and martial digestion thing with Rin and occasionally Tetsu. Manga has his manga and Yui has her Super Sentai.
Yanagi? Silent, spooky, little Yanagi?
She played DnD 9e.
And she pulled others along with her, sometimes literally. "Unfortunately, Kuroiro-kun won't be joining us today. Fortunately, I found other to fill in his spot. Since they're new to this game, I figured we should let them introduce their characters first."
Like Honenuki, a guy that always goes with the flow. "My character's name is Leonard Belithazar, a human paladin of the Holy Radiant Order who seeks to uphold justice across the land. Raised as noble scion, he was banished from the shouse due to in-fighting but not before he saw his parent poisoned with their deaths pinned as his crimes. When he was first baptised in the light of divinity, he made an oath to spread the word of his Radiance and provide due justice to those in need."
Yanagi nodded to him as he handed her his character sheet before she turned her gaze to me. "My character is Donathan Guinevere Mcflynn, a teifling sorcerer orphan who grew up in the city slums making money using his gift of magic. When he was younger, he was kidnapped by a group of wizards conducting experiments, one of which was a summoning ritual they required the blood of a multitude of species including teiflings. The ritual was botched by a started cat-kin and they somehow ended up summoning one of the Keeper of Keys from the City of Doors. Using his quick thinking, he convinced the being that the wizards are his sacrifices turning him into a patron after striking a deal. Now in addition to his personal goals, his patrons gave him powers and a hit list of targets who's long overdue."
"Feeling daring today, aren't we?" Yanagi nodded as I handed her my character sheet.
"Alright, my turn!" Setsuna exclaimed excitedly. "The name's Barina the Breaker, an Amazonian Barbarian. She's clumsy and sometimes narrow-minded but actually pretty smart and wants to open her own library one day."
"Could be interesting." Hummed Yanagi, taking her character sheet. "And yours, Pony?"
"Mine's Tiny! He's a celestial-touched shrimp cleric that gets around using a floating, divinely-provided fishbowl that's also his medium of choice!"
"Very unique." Yanagi nodded as she took her character sheet. "I look forward to how this campaign goes. So, let's begin session 0, shall we? You all find yourselves in a cell..."