December 3rd
"So, you're telling me you saw a girl yesterday at the meeting? Was she cute?"
"It was a child Rin, so no, I didn't find her cute. Not the way you think anyway."
"A child? How did she get inside?"
"That's what I'm wondering as well."
The twins stood in the hall of their dorm, busy brushing their teeth as Yukio tried to explain what happened the day before. He hadn't had the chance to explain it yesterday as Rin had been asleep when he came back. Despite the meeting only taking a few hours, he had spent most of the evening trying to find the mysterious girl. It couldn't have been his imagination, and whether she was a spirit or a normal human being, he had no clue. All he knew, was that she didn't belong there.
"Maybe she's a child of one of the teachers?" Rin asked before spitting into the sink. He was a bit better today, and him and the other exwires had agreed on meeting again to study some more. There would be exams soon, and he would have to attend those whether he felt like it or not.
"No, she's not a child of a teacher, she was covered in dirt and her clothes were worn. It looked like she had patched up her pants. It's more likely that she's poor, and none of the teachers have less than minimum wage. That would explain why she was stealing fruit."
Yukio finished up as well before reaching into his pocket to look at his phone. Two new messages.
"Maybe she's homeless?" Rin offered, watching his brother's focus shift as he read whatever message he had received. "What? Is it important? I was hoping we could eat breakfast together for once."
"That would be nice, but I don't have the time. They found a key in the catacomb, meaning that something of value might be hidden down there. I'll have to go and see that for myself." Yukio put his phone back in his pocket and took on his jacket. "I shouldn't be gone for long this time, but don't wait up for me in case it takes longer than expected."
It was getting colder, and the snow was there to stay. It was only a few millimeters so far, but if it continued, then it wouldn't take long before the city would be covered in a duvet of white. It wasn't even afternoon, yet a good amount of people was already outside buying presents. To his surprise, a lot of children were outside as well. A lonely guy was standing in the middle of the street banging on his guitar while singing Christmas songs, and not far from him stood another fellow, dressed up as a cheap version of Santa, handing out free samples of cookies. As Yukio approached the dressed-up man, the thought of free cookies tempting him, he noticed a child sneaking up on him from behind, a gloved hand reaching into the basket. She looked exactly like the girl he saw yesterday, and upon getting eye contact, she ran off again.
"Hey! Come back!" He yelled before running after her. This time she wouldn't get away, he would be sure of that. What he hadn't expected, was that she would run straight into a stall, cans of soup toppling over which almost made him trip. He stopped up and looked over at the woman now approaching him.
"Nice doing kid, you better clean up the mess you've made."
Yukio was baffled. Was he being blamed for this? That girl was right there! How didn't she see her? Not that he could do much to prove his innocence, so he accepted the blame and started stacking the cans without even trying to explain himself.
"Don't worry, I saw her." A deep voice suddenly sounded behind him. It was the cheap looking Santa. "Why don't I help you with that, you look like you're busy." With that, he sat down beside him and started stacking cans.
Yukio somehow ended up helping Lewin when he reached headquarters. The key had been hidden inside a skull, and he now had to hold said skull while the other was preparing a display. He wasn't sure why he couldn't just put it down on a table, but an order was an order. Maybe it was to annoy him? Or perhaps it was too fragile to risk putting it down on a random surface.
"I can't believe we found a skull! Isn't it great? Who knows how long it's been down there, hidden away. I bet we can find the rest of the body as well, just gotta dig a bit." Lewin looked up, smiling like a lunatic. "Too bad you're not allowed to go there, I'm sure you'll find it as interesting as me. There might be secrets down there, perhaps something they've tried to cover up for decades. You know, I found some interesting papers the other day, something about True Cross being built on top of an older city, and something about an ancient relic that was never found. It just might be right under our very feet! Now isn't that just fascinating? Oh, you can hand over the skull now."
Yukio gave Lewin the skull and watched as he carefully placed it on the display.
"Thanks for the help, you can go now. I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this so, keep your mouth shut, alright? You can see it as thanks for helping me out. Really couldn't have done it without you."
"Any idea where the key is? I was told to come here to have a look at it." He was starting to get impatient. He felt like a delivery boy, being send back and forth between higher-ups as if they didn't have anything for him to do. If that's what this was, then why couldn't they just give him a break?
"What, they didn't tell you? It's been sent off to get analyzed at the science department, and no one's allowed to enter the lab without permission. They may have given you the wrong information… But you know, just because you're not allowed there, doesn't mean you can't break in if need be. You didn't hear this from me. Now go and get me some coffee, I'm parched."
Yukio ended up leaving with more questions than answers.
