The Irregular at Magic High School: The Black Dragons
Chapter 7: Enrollment VII
Outside the Blanche Japanese Branch.
Tatsuya, Jonasan, Kurisu, Jyumonji, Erika, Leo, and Miyuki were in a jeep that was tearing its way toward the abandoned factory that Blanche was hiding out in.
"Shiba… This plot is your brainchild. You issue the commands." Jyumonji said.
"Right. Leo…" Tatsuya said, looking at him. "You secure our retreat. Erika, you assist Leo, and deal with anyone who tries to escape."
"Don't you want any of them captured?" Erika asked.
"No need to take on any undue risk. Just make sure you do it safely and securely." Tatsuya then looked at Jyumonji. "Chairman, please head for the rear exit with Kirihara. Miyuki, Jonasan, Kurisu, and I will continue on and break-in."
"Gotcha. You can count on us!" Jyumonji said as Kirihara looked at his sword.
Jonasan then saw the facility through the tree line. "There it is."
The jeep then came barreling around and corner and was flying toward the closed gate of the facility. As they prepared to ram the gate, Kurisu and Jonasan looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement.
"Hajime was theirs, one way or another."
"Now Leo!" Tatsuya said.
"Panzer!" Leo shouted as he glowed red from a fortification spell that spread over the jeep.
Jyumonji put the pedal to the metal and the jeep went flying toward the gate and smashed through it as if it were paper. Jyumonji quickly brought the vehicle to a stop just outside the door to the facility and everyone exited and went to their respective locations.
The factory was desolate, as expected from an abandoned facility. It actually reminded Jonasan of how HQ used to look when they first laid claim to the place, although that quickly changed as their empire expanded. There were broken shards of glass as well as wires dangling from the ceiling.
As they rounded a corner to a long hallway that ended in a set of doors, Tatsuya closed his eyes for a moment. Kurisu and Jonasan both knew he was using his elemental sight to sense what they were sensing. The room ahead of them was filled with Blanche members that were armed to the teeth. Tatsuya opened his eyes.
"Let's go, Miyuki." Tatsuya said.
"Right." She replied and the two walked forward.
Kurisu and Jonasan then flanked the two as they approached the door. Tatsuya cracked the door open and peered inside before completely opening the door. To three of the four members of the group, the room was pitch black. To Jonasan, however, the room was bright as day and, as such, he could easily see the Blanche members that were daring to point their weapons at them. A few shrunk back in fear in the dark at the sight of Jonasan's glowing, slightly red eyes. They walked into the room with Tatsuya and Miyuki looking around cautiously although Kurisu was staring dead ahead much like Jonasan was because he knew that Jonasan knew where the members were.
Jonasan quickly closed his eyes just as the shutters high above them were opened, letting the fading sunlight shine into the room. Once Jonasan's eyes switched back to normal, he opened his eyes and saw a new individual in from of them. It was a man with glasses and dressed in white, this was the head of the Japanese Branch of Blanche, Tsukasa Hajime.
"Welcome!" the man said.
Tatsuya, who was shielding his eyes from the sudden intrusion of sunlight, lowered his hand.
"So nice to meet you, Tatsuya Shiba! And Her Highness standing next to you… that must be your younger sister, Miyuki, no? The two to your left and right must be the Cosmos brothers.
Jonasan lightly growled at the man as Tatsuya stepped forward.
"Are you the leader of Blanche?" Tatsuya asked.
"Ah, that was rude of me. I'm the leader of Blanche's Japan Branch, Tsukasa Hajime."
At those words, Jonasan pulled Phantom, Kurisu drew Dragon Knight, and Tatsuya drew Silver Horn and they each pointed their weapons at him.
"I see. Well, I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you surrender." Tatsuya said. "All of you, put your weapons down and put your hands behind your heads."
"Or else." Kurisu said.
Hajime started to laugh. "Hahahahaha! If you think magic is such an absolute power, you're sadly mistaken!"
He chuckled again and raised his hand, causing his minions to prepare their weapons.
"Tatsuya Shiba… become one of us! Your ability to perform cast-jamming without the use of antinite… I'm keenly interested in that technique. And Jonasan, you simply must tell me how you managed to destroy those two spells with just a flick of your hand."
"So, using Ms. Mibu to make contact with me, and having your brother assault me… That was what you were after?"
Miyuki scoffed and Kurisu and Jonasan looked at each other. This man had potentially figured out one of their secrets, he needed to die, and soon.
"Nothing I like more than an intelligent child." Hajime said with a hand on his chin. "But the fact that you were aware of all that, yet still showed up here…" he took off his glasses and raised them high above his head. "…proves that you're a child after all."
He then threw his glasses in the air.
"You four! You will join us as our comrades!"
He lifted his hair and his eyes began to flash, sending out purple waves at them. The three guys jerked but nothing else happened. Miyuki was unaffected and, although she wasn't worried about her brother, she was worried about the Cosmos. The two seemed to shake off the spell with a slight shake of their heads although Jonasan was shaking slightly.
Hajime chuckled.
"Consciousness Interference Type Magic, Evil Eye. Or so you call it, but in reality… The flicker of those light signals with their hypnotic patterns is projected onto your subject's retinas… It's a Light-wave Oscillation Magic spell." Tatsuya said as the brothers finished shaking off the spell's influence.
The brothers' inherited magic defended them from having their minds altered, allowing them to shrug off the spell with little effort, but for Jonasan, the spell had the side effect of undoing some of his mother's work.
"Hahahahahaha."
Jonasan paled a bit and began to shake as he heard his voice in his head.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? Some pathetic mortal that thinks that he can take over my host for his own needs, hm? I don't think so."
Jonasan felt him attempting to force him to move and quickly restrained himself.
You, vessel, cease this interference at once. I'm going to tear that fucker apart."
"Back in your cage. This is my mind, my body. Fuck off."
"You… you think that just because Death restrained me that you can tell me what to do. You are sorely mistaken."
Jonasan felt that hewas trying to overwhelm him so Jonasan decided to employ a trick his mother used to keep the monster in line. Jonasan jerked on one of the many shackles that kept the monster contained, throwing him deeper into the recesses of his mind where his cage should have been. To Jonasan's horror, the spell had damaged the cage and allowed the monster to destroy it to the point where it could no longer contain him.
"Muhahahaha! Now you see what this mortal has done, but no matter. You don't want me to kill him, fine. I will retreat for now, but, my cage is broken and with that wretch being occupied for the next few months, you will be at my mercy. I can't wait to see Death's expression when she returns to see her precious son's broken and insane mind. Leaving you nothing more than an insane vessel for my return."
Jonasan felt him retreat deeper into his mind. This left Jonasan badly shaken as he was far more powerful than he was the last time he escaped. The only thing that was keeping him semi-safe was the seals that mother had placed on him. Jonasan quickly remembered that he was in the middle of a situation and shoved the recent developments into the back of his mind to deal with later.
"…used to replace Ms. Mibu's memories, too?" Tatsuya said as Jonasan came back to reality.
"Brother, are you saying that…?"
"Yes." Kurisu said. "Her memories were altered so that she believed that Ms. Watanabe had slighted her as a Course 2 student. The strength of her memories of that day was a dead giveaway."
"You vulgar rogues!" Miyuki said.
"You… Why…?"
"How pathetic is that? You tried to draw our attention to your right hand by removing your glasses, thereby diverting my gaze from your left hand, controlling the CAD. As if a cheap trick like that would work on me!" Tatsuya said. "As long as I can see the Activation Sequence, all I have to do is delete a part of it to render your tacky spell into mere light signals."
"How could you… Wasn't your magic counterattack cast-jamming, you bastard?" Hajime asked in shock.
"Devolving to insults now, are we?" Jonasan said coldly. "What happened to the bravado from a few minutes ago?"
"Fire…" Hajime said, pointing at them. "Fire!"
They never stood a chance. Even before his minions could take aim, their weapons glowed before dissolving into their individual pieces. Hajime looked back at his soldiers in shock.
"What the hell is going on?"
He looked back at Tatsuya who was glaring at him with his cold blue eyes, then to Kurisu, who's green eyes showed no mercy, and finally to Jonasan whose eyes seemed to bore into his soul, one of them was completely red.
Hajime screamed and shoved his followers aside and fled toward the back of the room. Kurisu moved to follow him, but Jonasan stopped him.
"Why did you stop me? He's right there, it would be simple for me to nab him and end the problem." Kurisu whispered to him.
"Let Tatsuya take care of him; I have something special planned for him later." Jonasan whispered back.
"Brother," Miyuki said. "Please pursue him! I'll take care of these people."
"All right." Tatsuya said and gave the Cosmos a silent order. Guard her. The two brothers nodded.
The crowd of Blanche members parted as Tatsuya calmly walked through them after Hajime. Until one cheeky member decided to attempt to attack him. Keyword being attempt.
"You…"
The man never made it. Just as he was approaching Tatsuya's back, Miyuki raised her hand and ice quickly crawled up the man's body, freezing him. He slowly fell to the ground.
"You fool." Miyuki said, and the other men were looking at their frozen comrade in shock.
"Don't overdo it." Tatsuya said just as he was walking out the door. "This bunch isn't worth you getting your hands soiled over."
"Very well, Brother!"
Kurisu and Jonasan cracked their knuckles.
"If it gets that far…" Jonasan said.
"We'll handle it." Kurisu finished.
Tatsuya looked at them for a moment before the walked out the door.
"You people are certainly out of luck." Miyuki said as she glowed blue from preparing a spell. "If only you hadn't raised your hands against my brother, you would've gotten off with just a bit of pain…"
A massive spell circle appeared below the Blanche members as frost started to fill the room. Ice then began to crawl up their bodies, freezing them solid.
"My body!"
"I can't move!"
"Don't tell me this magic spell is…"
"Say your prayers. That you'll at least be spared your lives." Miyuki said as the last man was frozen.
Jonasan and Kurisu then walked forward and inspected the frozen men as the frost in the room dissipated.
"Wide-range Oscillation-Deceleration Type Magic, Niflheim. An A-Rank spell that few can cast. Most impressive, Miyuki." Jonasan complimented.
Miyuki blushed at the praise, but as she cast her eyes over the frozen men, she seemed a bit uncomfortable.
"Miyuki," Kurisu said. "using Niflheim was not overkill. In fact, this was one of the least painful ways of dealing with the large number of opponents we had."
Miyuki looked at him confused.
"You could have dealt with them in three different ways," Jonasan explained. "One, you could have let them go. The police are probably almost here by now as they had to have questioned Mayumi and Mari by now and they would have caught them as they fled out the door. Two, you could have ordered me and Kurisu to deal with them. It would have been quite painful for them, but they would have not caused you issues. Or three, capture them yourself, which is what you did. I'm sure you know how Niflheim works and as such, you know that it works nearly the same as cryogenic freezing. They are not dead, nor will they be in any pain when they awaken."
They then heard gunfire from the other side of the facility.
"Seems like Jyumonji and Kirihara are having fun." Kurisu said.
…
Other side of the complex
The Blanche soldiers were uselessly unloading their guns into Jyumonji's Phalanx. Jyumonji was calmly walking forward with this shield when he stopped.
"Kirihara!"
"Yo!"
Kirihara raced forward, his sword glowing with Sonic Blade. He quickly and effortlessly dodged the bullets flying at him and began to slice the weapons of the attackers and knock into them to knock them out. He was about to strike a downed Blanche member with his sword when Jyumonji threw his scabbard at him.
"Kirihara. Let's go."
Kirihara looked down as he realized what he was about to do and then followed after Jyumonji leaving a destroyed hallway full of bodies, discarded ammo, and weapons.
…
An hour later
An hour later, several special agents showed up and hauled away Hajime and his minions. Kurisu, Jonasan, Erika, Leo, and Miyuki were standing outside the building, after being interrogated, background checked, and searched, waiting for Tatsuya to exit.
"So that's it, huh? Anticlimactic, much?" Leo asked.
"We came all this way only to be left on the sidelines… What a bummer!" Erika said.
"Well, not that the Chairman, Tatsuya, and the Cosmos would let anyone slip through the cracks." Leo said as they watched Jyumonji explain to the agents what happened at the facility.
"And having to hold down the fort with you made it all the more lame." Erika said in a teasing manner to Leo.
"What did you say?"
"Don't want for battle, Erika. It's better that you did not engage in combat as you may have gotten seriously hurt." Jonasan said.
"Huh?" Erika said. "Do you think I'm not capable of defending myself?" She asked, insulted.
"That's not what I'm trying to say Erika. Being a Chiba, I know you can defend yourself, but do you have a way of blocking several bullets at once, coming from multiple directions?"
Before Erika could reply, Tatsuya walked out of the building.
"Onii-sama!" Miyuki said and ran toward him.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
"I'm fine." He replied.
Miyuki looked happy, then said, then ashamed. "Brother…" she said, holding her CAD close to her chest. "I…"
"It's all right."
"Huh?"
One of the Blanche members that were frozen was then carried past them on a stretcher. He was breathing fine and only had minor injuries. There was only one way that the ice melted that fast.
"Regrowth." Jonasan and Kurisu muttered at the same time.
Miyuki asked him a silent question and he gave a small nod.
"Brother…" Miyuki said, her eyes wide with happiness, she placed her head on his chest. "Thank you very much." She whispered.
…
Cosmos Mansion
The following evening
"All right. What is your special plan for Hajime?" Kurisu asked Jonasan as they sat in their living room.
"Simple." Jonasan said closing the book he was reading. "We break him out of prison. Then we experiment on him."
"Explain."
"Both you and I have several spells that we haven't tried on human targets yet and didn't want to use in the middle of a battlefield with allies because we didn't know what they would do. This gives us the perfect opportunity to test them on an unwilling subject."
Kurisu grinned. "I like it. Where is he?"
"He is currently residing in a secure facility nearby until the 10 Master Clans decide what to do with him."
"So, shall we test the security of one of the 10 Master Clans facilities?"
Jonasan gave an insane grin. "But of course, dear brother, and we will show them how weak it is."
...
Clan Facility 22
Location: Unknown
(A/N: Play Heist by Noisestorm)
Clan Facility 22, a pseudo-high-security prison for the 10 Master Clans. It contained inmates that either were of great interest to the 10 Clans or had assaulted a Clan directly. Death and Time knew that somewhere in that facility were two rooms dedicated just for the two of them, should they ever get caught. The two were looking over the prison from about a block away to see what they were dealing with.
"I count at least 2 dozen guards on patrol outside, with a 5-minute gap in between patrols." Death said.
"I spy a ventilation grate about halfway up the western wall, it's not big enough for a human to crawl through but your Wraith should be able to get in no problem." Time said.
"Ok so here is the plan. I'll use Wraith to get in that vent grate and make my way to the security room. Once I'm there, drop a Time Stop over the area and make your way toward me."
"Got it."
Death dissolved into a black cloud of smoke and moved toward the facility and quickly made his way to and into the ventilation grate. Time waited about five minutes before dropping a Time Stop over the area and making his way inside. It was always a rather novel experience for Time to stop time. To see everyone frozen in place while he was free to move. He, of course, made sure to leave everything exactly the way he found it as he made his way to the security office. Even Death wasn't exempt from the time stop and as tempted as Time was to mess with him while he was frozen, he dropped the Time Stop after he closed the security office door behind him.
"You had no problems I trust?" Death said as he noticed Time suddenly appear out of nowhere as his fingers flew across the keyboard in front of him.
"Did you expect me to?" Time asked in response.
"Not really. Now let's see... where are you... Ah! There you are!"
Death quickly memorized the cell number Hajime was before leaving the room. The two made their way through the facility, avoiding guards or killing and hiding the bodies of the ones that they couldn't avoid. As they approached Hajime's cell the two noticed that he had a four-man guard, evidently, they thought the man would try to escape. Death quickly used Wraith to sneak over to the four guards and snap their necks. Time then walked over and waved a hand over the steel door, the two watched as the door quickly rusted before crumbling to dust revealing a terrified Hajime.
"You...what are you doing here?" Hajime asked.
"Getting our revenge." Death said as he leapt at Hajime.
Hajime opened his mouth to scream but Death got to him first and he was quickly covered in shadow, when it retreated, Hajime was out cold.
"Drop the coin and let's go." Time said as he slung Hajime over his shoulder and Death flicked a coin into the cell.
As the two walked out of the cell, however, the alarms suddenly went off throughout the facility, alerting the guards.
"Shit! Someone must have found the guards!" Death said as they began to run for the exit.
The two rounded a corner and came face to face with several guards.
"Freeze!"
Death didn't even slow down, literally carving his way through the guards using both his scythe and shadow magic. The two quickly made it out of the facility and, after a brief chase by police, disappeared into the night. Their entire breakout was caught on camera and when the 10 Master Clans found out about it the next day, there were none too pleased. The only piece of evidence that was recovered from the breakout aside from the footage was the gold coin left in Hajime's cell. On it was an hourglass on one side and a scythe on the other with the words "Black Dragons" around the edge of the coin on each side. It was the personal calling card of the two heads of the Black Dragons, and it drew the attention of a certain Yotsuba when it was brought before the Clans.
...
(A/N: Play Nightcore-God Syndrome)
When Hajime awoke, he was strapped to a chair in a room with a solid steel door. Surrounding him were several strange machines and sensors that were pointed in his general direction. The steel door creaked open and Death walked in. Hajime paled as he realized just how much trouble he was in.
"Good you're awake, that means we can get started."
"Get started?" Hajime asked in fear.
"Yes. You intruded on our territory and you know what we do to those people, do you?"
"I-I-I didn't know!" Hajime said, trying to save his skin. "I would have never-"
"You didn't know?" Death asked coldly. "We made sure that everyone knew the boundaries of our territory and you didn't know? More than likely you were blinded by your own greed."
Hajime said nothing.
"But for now, let's get started." Death said as he drew his scythe and began to approach.
Hajime started to shake. "W-W-What are you going to do to me?"
"I have a variety of spells that I haven't tried on a human target yet so you will be my, ah, guinea pig."
Hajime started to shake even more.
"Don't worry you will live for now, but soon you will wish you hadn't." Death said as he tapped the tip of his scythe against Hajime's hand.
Hajime screamed and began to thrash about in the chair in pain as his hand began to wither from the spot where the scythe touched. The effect stopped at the wrist.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Hajime screamed.
"Fascinating." Death muttered, completely ignoring the man's remark. "I wonder how far it goes at range?"
Jonasan then pointed the scythe at Hajime's arm and cast the spell again, causing him to writhe and scream again while Death simply watched. When the withering stopped his entire arm was affected despite the fact the spell struck his forearm.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
"Decay." Was Death's response.
"What are you? A demon?!"
Death didn't respond and simply studied the effect for a moment.
"Might not be one I use very often but could be useful in battle." Death muttered to himself.
Death's eyes flicked to the door for a moment before checking his watch.
"Hmm. I'm out of time for today but I can leave you with one final spell."
Death held his hands about 6 inches apart. In one hand was a ball of shadow while a line of shadow connected the ball to his other hand. As Death dragged his hands further apart, Hajime's eyes began to widen as he saw something which no one else could. As Death left the room, Hajime began to scream again as he was assaulted by his own nightmares.
"It seems that Nightmare Realm is working well." Death said as he walked away.
...
A short while later, Death sat in front of a monitor waiting for a call to connect. It wasn't a number that he called too regularly, only when they needed a large amount of material moved. The call connected moments later. On-screen was a very peculiar individual, it was a man in his mid-twenties and the most noticeable thing about him was how much white he wore. White dress shirt and pants, white gloves, white shoes, even his hair was white. This man's name was, unsurprisingly, Shiro. He was a mercenary for hire and one of the Black Dragon's greatest assets.
"Shiro."
"Death."
Death leaned to the right to look around Shiro as he noticed something on the bed behind him, it was a woman. Death looked at Shiro.
"Did I interrupt?"
"Not at all." Shiro said while waving his hand. "We were merely enjoying time with each other."
"Oh? Has the White Assassin finally settled down?" Death teased.
"Ha! Hardly. I'm too young for that. It will be another few years before I consider that. That being said, she has stuck around longer than most and is rather good at what she does. Perhaps I'll lend her to you for a weekend, let you have some fun with her, and then see if she'll stick around. But I hardly think that this is a social call. What do you need from me Death?"
"Asset acquisition." Death replied. "The Japanese branch of the Blanche organization's assets have recently become...available. I need you to acquire them. You may, of course, keep half of what you find as payment."
Shiro rubbed his hands together in glee. "Ah, Death you do give me the best contracts. I've got a couple of contracts before yours, but it should be done within a week. Drop it at the usual location?"
"Yes. Let me know once you've acquired all of it and we will divide it up accordingly."
"Very well. I'll be in touch."
...
Time skip: 1 week
Death arrived at the warehouse that was the usual meeting point for their dealings with Shiro. After a quick check of the perimeter, Death entered the building to find Shiro waiting for him along with several large, neatly sorted crates.
"Judging by the smile on your face, you made out like a bandit." Death commented as he approached.
"You could say that." Shiro said.
"What did you end up getting?"
Shiro pulled out a list and began rattling off everything on it.
"3000 semi-automatic rifles, 1500 automatic rifles, 30,000 rounds of ammunition for each, a couple of warehouses scattered around Japan totaling to 2.5 million USNA dollars in property, and 30 million USNA dollars in cash."
Death whistled. "Quite the amount."
"Indeed." Shiro replied.
"Alright, you can have the warehouses, we have enough of them as it is, 1500 of the semi-autos, 500 of the automatics, 3/4 of the ammo and half of the cash."
"Deal."
Death put a finger to the earpiece he was wearing. "Alright boys, bring the trucks in."
The warehouse doors were hauled open and several trucks drove in as members of the Black Dragons began to load up their half of the haul. As the Dragons began to load the trucks, Shiro spoke to Death.
"Hey Death, I didn't want to mention it during our little negotiation session but, are you alright? You sound tired."
"I'm fine Shiro. Just lack of sleep is all." Death waved off the concern.
It was actually a major concern Jonasan was facing and Shiro wasn't the first to notice. Mayumi, Jyumonji, Tatsuya, and Miyuki had all expressed concern at the bags under Jonasan's eyes. Since Hajime's little stunt with Evil Eye, Jonasan's inner demon had been tormenting him nightly. Usually with dreams of that bitch catching up with them and finishing what she started, although the past few nights have been about Miyuki in some way, shape, or form. The result has been Jonasan getting about 2 hours of sleep a night before being driven from his bedroom. The lack of sleep has also given him splitting headaches during the day, making it hard to focus. But he would endure until his mother got back from her trip and could deal with the issue. He had to endure.
...
Another week had passed and Jonasan was at his limit. The demon was tormenting him near constantly now, phantom pains, head-splitting headaches, full-blown sleep deprivation, and constantly describing to him the various methods of torture he was going to perform on the people around him once he was free. Jonasan was up on the roof of the school after classes were over, hoping that the sound of the wind would drown out the demon's latest description of what he would do to Miyuki as well as ease the pounding of his head. It did not.
"...Then I will gouge out her pretty steely-blue eyes and keep them in a jar. After that, I will abuse her broken body to my heart's content before throwing her to a pack of hellhounds once I grow bored of her."
"Volroth. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Jonasan growled.
"What? You can't tell me that you wouldn't enjoy that last part. To have her moaning beneath you as... hello what's this?"
Volroth stopped talking as Jonasan heard the door to the roof open. Looking behind him, he saw that Miyuki had come on the roof.
"Good evening Miyuki. What brings you up here?"
"Mayumi sent me up here to check on you since she couldn't come herself."
Jonasan looked back out over the school. "Thank you for the concern, but I am fine. Merely lack of sleep."
Jonasan had to suppress a groan of relief as he felt Miyuki place frost-covered fingers against his temples, causing the headache to recede a bit. Jonasan was surprised to hear Volroth let out a growl of pain.
"Get your hands off my vessel, whore."
"You are not fine." Miyuki said. "Sleep deprivation is not normal Jonasan. The rest of us are getting very concerned about you, Mayumi has even given some serious consideration to calling her family doctor to look at you."
While Jonasan was touched at the concern, he knew a doctor couldn't hope to deal with Volroth and the issues he presented. It would be like trying to put out a fire with an ice cube, ineffective and a waste of effort.
"Please tell Mayumi that, that is not necessary. It's just some... personal demons that I have to work through."
"You don't have to do everything yourself. You have friends, let us help."
"Ha! As if they could help you."
Shut up.
"Miyuki, not everyone has had an easy life like you and Tatsuya have. Some of us have had to do things we're not proud of."
"Every light casts a shadow, Jonasan." Miyuki said. "You have to be willing to let others help when things get rough. Mayumi, Jyumonji, Onii-sama, and I all want to help." Miyuki tapped his forehead with her finger. "Quit being stubborn and let us in." Miyuki then abruptly hugged him.
Jonasan's eyes widened.
...
Volroth was glaring at Miyuki from within Jonasan's mindscape.
"This is my vessel you whore, nothing you do will "save" him from me. Get your wretched hands off of him."
Volroth then noticed Jonasan's mindscape was becoming colder and ice was beginning to build up on the ground.
"What the... Gah!"
Volroth took an involuntary step backward as his foot came into contact with some of the ice and hurt him.
"Who is doing this?! Show yourself!" Volroth roared as he attempted to melt the ice.
"Hahahaha." A female voice chuckled. "Now why would I do that? It would spoil all the fun."
"I will burn you alive!" Volroth shouted as fire erupted around him. "This is my vessel! Fuck off!"
"Ara, ara, aren't we a hot-tempered one." The voice said as the ice pressed on, smothering Volroth's flames as it went. "Then again, most of your kind are."
"Show yourself you bitch!" Volroth demanded as the ice stopped inches from him, leaving him a small circle of fire.
"Foul-mouthed too." The voice commented.
Volroth began to panic as the ice began to build up around him, forming a cylinder with walls several feet thick.
"This is my vessel, you harlot! Mine! I waited for Millennia for this vessel! You won't take it from me!" Volroth shouted as he attempted to melt away the ice cage that was surrounding him to no avail.
"Oh, I have no intention of taking him from you." The voice said as Volroth noticed a pair of ice-blue eyes glaring at him through the frost. "I already have a vessel. I'm just making sure you stay under control."
"I will destroy you, you wretched Yu..." Volroth's voice was abruptly cut off as the cage was completed.
A smile came across pale lips as the woman observed her work. The woman was still mostly obscured by the lingering frost so not much detail could be made out. The woman watched as Volroth raged from within his cage, but no sound came out and the ice did not budge. Satisfied with her work, the woman turned to watch what the human was seeing.
"The demon has been contained, human. You will have to pardon my intrusion as I will have to remain in order to keep him in check. Do make sure to thank my vessel for this, would you?"
...
Jonasan felt an odd chill spread throughout his body and felt Volroth's presence abruptly fade away after Miyuki said that. The headache was still present, but it was significantly reduced in intensity. Jonasan was still kind of in shock from Miyuki abruptly hugging him. Kindness from people who weren't their parents was an extreme rarity for the youngest Cosmos and thus threw him for quite the loop.
"Umm...Miyuki? What are you...?" Jonasan managed to get out.
Miyuki let go of him and stepped back. "You needed a hug, so I gave you one."
"Umm."
Miyuki turned around and began to walk back to the roof entrance. "Onii-sama is waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow Jonasan."
Jonasan blinked as Miyuki closed the roof entrance behind her. "What just happened?"
From that night onward, Jonasan slept peacefully with Volroth nowhere to be found.
...
5-10-2095
Today was the day that Mibu was to be released from the hospital. Jonasan, Kurisu, Tatsuya, and Miyuki were entering the building when they saw Mibu talking with Kirihara.
"Isn't that Kirihara?" Miyuki asked.
"Indeed. He and Ms. Mibu seem to be getting along quite well." Kurisu said.
"They do look quite intimate, don't they?"
"Apparently, Kirihara's been coming every day!" Erika said, appearing out of nowhere.
"Really? Who knew." Tatsuya said.
Erika pouted at Tatsuya before taking a few steps forward. "Darn, there's just no surprising you, is there?"
"No, I was surprised. Who knew that Kirihara was so diligent…"
"Not that part!" she shouted, turning back toward Tatsuya. "Humph! Everything you do and say is so twisted… No wonder Saya dumped you!" She finished speaking by pointing her finger at Tatsuya.
"We aren't going to go there that the two were never a couple in the first place, right?" Jonasan said.
Miyuki blinked. "Erika… Did you say 'Saya'? Are you talking about Ms. Mibu?"
"Sure, that's who." Erika replied. "And that's not important, Jonasan!"
The Cosmos raised skeptical eyebrows but said nothing.
"You've gotten really chummy, then." Tatsuya said in response to Erika's accusation.
"Leave it to me!" she said, wagging her finger in Tatsuya's face, Tatsuya just sighed.
"Ms. Mibu?"
"Huh?" Kirihara said.
"Shiba!" Mibu said.
Out of the corner of their eyes, Jonasan and Kurisu saw a man wearing a brown coat with a military haircut turn toward them at Mibu's shout.
"Congratulations on being discharged!" Miyuki said, handing Mibu some flowers.
"Thanks." Mibu said.
"Really, Saya!" Erika said. "You don't know how worried we were about you!"
The Cosmos saw the brown coated man approach them. "Are you Shiba? My name is Mibu Yuuzou. I'm Sayaka's father. Do you have a minute?"
"Yes, sir."
The two Cosmos watched as Tatsuya walked off with the Chief of Foreign Affairs and had a private discussion on the far side of the room. The two stood with Erika and Miyuki as Erika and Mibu discussed Mibu's love life. Tatsuya rejoin the group a few moments later.
"Hey, Shiba!" Mibu said. "What were you talking about with my dad?"
"Someone who took care of me long ago was a friend of your father's, and we were talking about him."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, the world is a small place."
"So, you two have a strong connection then!" Erika said.
"Hey, Saya. Why did you jump ship from Tatsuya to Kirihara?" Erika asked with her hands behind her back, causing Mibu and Kirihara to blush. "You were in love with Tatsuya, right?"
"H-Hey, come on Eri!"
"If it's just a matter of looks, I think Tatsuya wins, you know…" Erika said facetiously
"You're just beyond rude, aren't you?" Kirihara said, clenching his fist at her.
"Kirihara," she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "when it comes to men, looks aren't everything!"
"Grr. Seriously, I'm gonna make you bawl, damn you!"
"Now, now. Anyway, Saya, was his diligence the clincher for you? Like, did you get all weak-kneed over the gentleness of an awkward guy?"
Mibu held the flowers that Miyuki gave her close to her face, the massive blush still present. "Yes…Just like you said, Eri, I think I was in love with Shiba…"
"Eh?" Kirihara said.
"Whoa!" Erika shouted.
"Because he has something I admire… an unwavering strength. But even as I felt admiration, I think I was also afraid." Mibu looked at Tatsuya. "No matter how hard I ran after him, I could never, ever catch up to Shiba."
Miyuki looked down at those words and Jonasan placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look at him. He gave her a small smile.
"I could never become strong like him… But Kirihara… Even though we fought sometimes, I thought that he was someone who would walk at the same pace as me." She then faced Kirihara. "I guess that's why…"
This caused Kirihara to blush and awkwardly rub the back of his neck.
"Right, thank you very much!" Erika said.
She then laid her gaze on Kirihara and took a step forward, rubbing her hands together. "So, what about you, Kirihara? How long have you been in love with Saya?"
"Man, give it a rest, will you? Who cares about that stuff? It's none of your business." Kirihara said.
"He's right, Erika. It doesn't matter how long it's been." Tatsuya said, causing everyone to look at him. "The important thing is that Kirihara is seriously smitten with Ms. Mibu."
"What the… Hey, you!"
"Oh, yeah?" Erika asked.
"I can't go into detail on privacy grounds, but… When I saw the gallant figure Kirihara cut, facing Blanche's leader, as a man, I knew that I was no match for him."
Erika placed a hand on Tatsuya's shoulder. "Hey, Tatsuya…"
"What is it?"
Erika pulled him over to speak in his ear. "Tell me in secret later, okay?" she sent a knowing look at Kirihara as she had spoken loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Chiba… Why, you…! That goes for you, too, Shiba! If you talk, I'll make you pay!" Kirihara turned to the Cosmos brothers. "That goes for you two as well!"
"Hoh? You two know something as well?" Erika asked with a smile.
"Maybe." Jonasan said with a smirk.
"Oi! Cosmos!" Kirihara shouted.
"I won't breathe a word." Tatsuya said.
"Come on! What does it matter?" Erika asked.
"You skank!" Kirihara said as he made to grab Erika, she dodged and began to run away. "Of course, it matters! Come back here!"
"Hey, Erika! Swing by our homeroom after class sometime and we will fill you in!" Kurisu said.
"COSMOS!"
The two brothers laughed and walked out the door. As they walked away from the hospital, Tatsuya called out to them.
"Cosmos."
"Hm?" The two said as they turned around.
"How did you two know what was going to happen on the day the school was attacked." Tatsuya said bluntly while looking at them with suspicious eyes.
The two Cosmos looked at each other for a moment as they silently agreed to tell the one aspect of their, ah, business.
"We're information broker's Tatsuya." Jonasan revealed. "If you need to know something, odds are, we know it. We knew several days in advance that an attack was going to happen at the school, and we prepared accordingly."
"And you didn't say anything, why?" Tatsuya demanded.
"Nobody asked." Kurisu replied. "We don't give away information for free, that's bad for business. That being said, we will cut you guys a deal since we are going to school with you. Any information concerning the two of you will tell you for free, anything else will cost you."
"What happened to Hajime?" Miyuki abruptly asked before covering her mouth and looking at Tatsuya in concern.
"That one's free Miyuki, don't worry. For future reference, however, we take cash or information of equal or greater value as payment." Kurisu said.
"To answer your question," Jonasan said. "Hajime is dead. His body was discovered just last night floating down a river. We don't know what the Dragon's did to him though, his body was a withered skeleton with a stab wound over the heart."
"Who are the leaders of the Black Dragons?" Tatsuya asked.
Kurisu just laughed while Jonasan shook his head.
"Tatsuya, there is no piece of information or sum of money you could give us that would make us tell you that." Jonasan said with a grim look. "Do we know? Yes. However, those two promised us a fate worse than death if we gave even the tiniest hint of who they really were."
Tatsuya's expression didn't change but the two Cosmos could tell he was mildly aggravated.
"Sorry Tatsuya, but I like staying alive and in one piece." Kurisu said.
Tatsuya sighed. "It's fine."
"We will keep you guys updated if anything comes up. See you in class Miyuki." Jonasan said as the two walked off.
A/N: I apologize for the long delay, real-life decided to show up and remind me that she needs some attention every now and then.