Okuda observed the decaying plants a knot of sadness forming in her chest as she remembered how they used to be green and flourishing under the care of Aguri and Koro…But the floras' death signified Koro had not come back to the cove and she wonders why? Akari told her Koro fled the scene after he killed Aguri and they had stayed the last few days in Aguri's house so it made sense he didn't come back then…but he didn't come back even after they left…That just made him look guilty…
….Come on there has to be something…
What if he couldn't go back inside even if he wanted to…but that doesn't make sense as both she, Akari and their familiars were able to make it through….So if anyone could make it through…That also doesn't make sense as Aguri stated the reason she made her cove in the mirror was to prevent normals and mostly Shiro from finding her…If a normal so much as touched the mirror they could get in so it has be reserved for only magic users.
Shiro was a magic user though and he lived in this house 24/7 why didn't he find the cove? Perhaps if she looks around she can find the spell Aguri used to make this pocket dimension…
Meanwhile, Akari was looking through every textbook, parchment paper, and notebook she could get her hands on. She was looking for some form of shrinking spell that would allow them to move the mirror more easily.
She could hear light footsteps come up the stairs so she glanced up from the book she was reading to see who it was. It was Manami. A tired smile graced Akari's features as she saw her best friend climb up the stairs to help her.
"Any luck?" Akari asked to which Manami simply shook her head no in defeat.
"I was thinking… maybe you could use some help."
"That would be great…I'll take the left you take the right."
"Okay."
As the two witches searched the large numbers of spell books Karma and Nagisa remained downstairs to search… well in Karma's case he was just wondering around while Nagisa actually searched for anything that could prove Koro's innocence.
There was a desk and some file cabinets right in from of the mirror's main entrance perhaps something from there could help…Nagisa concluded as he rummaged through the drawers…He didn't find anything that would help, so he made his way towards the plants and crystal orb…One of the plants had outgrown its pot and had tipped over spilling it's dirt over the floor…
Nagisa flicked out his snake tongue in search for Koro's scent by tasting the air….and he found it was heavily concentrated in this area…He glanced over to a small table with a crystal orb sitting on top of it…the dirt from the plant had made it all the way to the foot of that table….
That's when he saw something poking out of the dirt…a small corner from a piece of paper…He picked it up and scrapped the dirt off to see what the paper said….he recognized the hand writing. It was definitely Koro's and from the looks of things it was a letter addressed to…him… His eyes scanned the contents of the letter…It was just like all the other letters he received from Koro; a status update on what's happened and what's going on alongside some questions directed at Nagisa about his situation…
Koro wrote about Okuda and Akari and how much he enjoyed the two's presence and how the two witches seemed to really cheer up Aguri who was still trying to get over her abusive relationship with some Shiro guy…It seems like Koro was…happy, like he really cared for all three witches…This could be useful to prove his innocence… So he folded up the letter and put it in his pocket to give to Okuda later today.
"Find anything cool?" Karma asked as he opened up the ingredients cabinet his hand already reaching in to grab the itching powder.
"Nope." Nagisa lied.
Meanwhile Okuda searched for clues up on the loft…finally she found something…well she found two things…One was the original spell to create a pocket dimension and it's entrance but in that very same book were additions and notes Aguri wrote down to modify the spell to fit her needs…But just as she was about to read it Akari announced she found the spell she was looking for….Without hesitation Okuda quickly bagged the spell book intending to read it's content later with Nagisa.
"Let's go!" Akari cheered feeling accomplished knowing that she managed to find the right spell.
After exiting the mirror Akari quietly mumbled the spell and both familiars looked on in curiosity. The mirror began to shrink considerable and it finally stopped shrinking when it was as big as a hand held mirror.
"Perfect!" Akari cheered.
"How are you going to make it big again?" Nagisa asked
"Easy watch. Dispendo Prolato!"
Immediately the mirror began to expand again to its original size.
Okuda let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god I forget we also had to look for an enlarging spell."
"Good thing it was right next to the shrinking spell." Akari said as she shrank the mirror down again.
"Soo…. Now what? We don't have any clues much less any leads as to where Koro went." Karma asked curiously as a cloud of silence over loomed them.
"Y-yeah I was just thinking that too…" Okuda added.
…
…
…
…
Suddenly a growling sound was heard…It was loud and guttural and coming from Akari's stomach.
"W-why don't we go get something to eat first." Manami suggested as Akari flushed in embarrassment.
"Y-yeah that's a good idea." Akari agreed. "We also need to get our things from the hotel and find a place that's closer to the guild."
With that said the four of them made their way to the city to find a cheap place to eat unaware of the eyes that followed them.
They had settled down in a small ramen shop called Matsuraiken that was tucked away in a corner by a small alley. They placed their orders and waited. Okuda took out her pocket alchemy book and flipped to a random page before she started to read…The atmosphere that surrounded the four of them felt…uncomfortable….
"This is awkward…" She mused unaware that she had voiced her thoughts out loud as she was so engrossed in her book.
Nagisa let out a nervous laugh in agreement but he didn't really know what to do to break the ice…
"Um…I'm really excited to taste this human food, aren't you Karma?" He asked in an attempt to create some sort of friendly atmosphere and he begged god all mighty that Karma would throw him a bone.
"Nope!" Karma said happily as he watched Nagisa scramble to think up another conversation topic.
"Human food?" Akari pondered out loud…now that she thinks about it…she doesn't really recall seeing Koro eat that often…was there a reason…
"Is it different from demon food?" Okuda asked curiously putting her book down to turn her attention to Nagisa.
"Oh well demons don't really need to eat physical food, we can if we want to though."
"Then what do you eat?" Akari huffed wanting to know the answer but not wanting to start a friendly conversation.
"The souls of the innocent...!" Karma taunted as he slightly lunged at Okuda his teeth and nails sharpening as his horns sported out of his head.
"E-Epp!" Okuda instinctively caressed her pendant as she slouched down on her chair. "R-really." She stammered slightly afraid but all the same curious.
"Karma, stop it!" Nagisa demanded reprimanding Karma for scaring the timid witch.
"What I was just teasing~" Karma insisted with a lazy smile as his demonic features slowly disappeared.
"Ugh typical demon…." Akari grumbled bitterly before turning to comfort her friend.
"Huh…oh no it's okay I wasn't that scared…really its fine d-don't be to h-harsh on K-karma okay?" Okuda reassured.
"…" Akari didn't say anything but complied none the less.
"W-well Karma is half-right. Demons are known to eat human souls…but they're usually the souls of sinners and such…But it is much more common for us to consume emotions more specifically negative ones." Nagisa explained not wanting to return to the awkward era of silence.
"But you said you can eat physical food too right?" Okuda asked already over her little scare…
In all honesty she didn't mind Karma's light teasing, it was kind of nice not being treated so delicately…although she was still a little scared of him for good reason…
"I've never had any…but I'm really excited to try it!" Nagisa confessed with a stellar smile.
And at the moment their food arrived. Both familiars looked at the dish with curiosity…they kept starring for a few good minutes…
"Do you not know how to eat it?" Okuda questioned as Akari was already slurping down the noodles with unrestrained joy.
Instead of answering Karma took the hot bowl in his hand and chugged it down as if it was water and he was a dehydrated traveler. Both Okuda and Nagisa let out a surprised yelp as they watched Karma drink…Okuda's braids stood on end in shock as she watched her familiar guzzle down the still considerably hot noodles and bubbling broth…
"I-If y-you do it like that you'll g-g-get burned!" She cried already reaching for her wand to heal the inevitable burns that would marry her familiars face along with a napkin to wipe off the broth.
"Geez Karma; at least give me a heads up you almost spilt some on me." Nagisa commented as he slowly raised the noodles to his own mouth to cool them off before gingerly eating them once they were sufficiently cooled for his taste.
"Huh?" Okuda titled her head curiously surprised to see her familiar was unscathed.
"Oh! Karma is a fire demon and he lived in the fire domain so hot things like these don't really affect him; Bathing in hot lava would be the equivalent to taking a dip in a hot springs." Nagisa informed Okuda.
Karma licked his lips savoring the taste of the rich broth before making eye contact with his witch.
"What; do you care about me~?" He teased with a mocking pout.
"Yes!" Okuda exclaimed honestly, earnestly leaning forward as she did so.
"Tch…no fun…" Karma quietly mumbled under his breath as he avoided Okuda's intense honest gaze.
He had wanted to get a taste of her anxiety and embarrassment, but her reaction was not one he had calculated. It was only ever fun to tease people when you can get them to react a certain way.
Nagisa lowered his gaze spacing out as he looked into the golden abyss of the broth his grip on the ceramic bowl tightening as the hot liquid began to cool down exceptionally….He didn't feel…pleasant…perhaps the human food was having a negative effect on his body…
"If I'm being honest I really don't get why she cares about an asshole like you." Akari retorted as she too felt a strange unpleasant feeling wrap itself around her heart when Manami bluntly said she cared about Karma.
"Because he's my familiar!" Okuda explained.
"Is that…the only reason?" Nagisa asked shyly looking up from his bowl to meet Okuda's eyes unsure of why he needed to know so badly.
"Umm…I guess…"
Akari let out a laugh at Manami's response.
"Hahaha! Well yeah that had to be the only reason but man Manami you are so cold sometimes… I love it!" She exclaimed as the unfamiliar unpleasant feeling disappeared once Manami explained herself.
"A-Ah I-I didn't m-mean it like that what I mean w-was…I uhh…well I mean it's true but…like its…you know…i-it's only been a few d-days so I can't…really say if I gotten a-any closer to him…" Manami stammered her cheeks growing red as guilt started to consume her along with shame…
If he wasn't so full Karma wouldn't mind snacking on those delectable emotions.
"Oh! I see…" Nagisa commented his grip on the bowl loosening…
Seeing as everyone had, had their fill the four of them went to check out of the hotel promptly followed by a strange man in a business suit which didn't go unnoticed by Karma…He recalls seeing that man stare at them from across the street for a while now...It wouldn't be any fun to say something now as he wanted to know why the man was following them but he made sure to at the very ast keep his guard up for the time being.