A/N Hey guys, here's the next chapter of The Rogue and I can't wait to show you what's to come since you won't be expecting it so, without further ado, enjoy.
It had been a few days since I recovered memories of the first 18 years of my life and I had informed the mayor about it, which had surprised her since she wasn't expecting that I used to be human but she showed sympathy after hearing that my parents had been murdered by a beastman and asked how I was doing.
I had told her that I was doing okay and that I would let her know if I recover any more of my memories, then I had gotten a journal and spent the next few days writing my thoughts in it while also interacting with Michiru and the others or just exploring the city.
Still, I kept getting the feeling that I was being watched and it was unnerving me to the point where I was starting to get a little paranoid and I told Shirou about it, who was thoughtful and told me to keep an eye out in the event I was being watched by someone.
Other than that, it had mostly been uneventful apart from a few drones that were buzzing around in the sky and I assumed a bunch of kids was messing around at the park so I didn't pay much attention to them.
Now, I had gotten up and was doing my morning routine as I did my morning exercise, took a shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed, clipped my holstered gun and ammo pouch to my belt, and went to get breakfast as I saw that mostly everyone was at the table and having breakfast until I sat down and started eating.
I was lost in my own thoughts while I was having breakfast and drinking my cup of coffee, not sure what to do next since this sensation of being watched was really bugging me and I didn't know if it was just me or not but I've been getting the feeling that something bad might happen and I didn't know why, which was causing me to frown slightly just as I noticed Melissa looking peeved while she stormed up to the table and took out a father before glaring at Gem.
"Gem, I asked you not to take baths while you're morphed because your feathers will plug the drain," Melissa lectured and I couldn't help but feel slightly amused to see Gem hiding his face behind the newspaper he was reading.
"I want to take a bath the way I want to," Gem grumbled and I smirked from hearing him pout since it was never a dull day in this place with Gem and Melissa around.
"You can't even do the one thing I ask so watch yourself because the silver wolf is watching, you know," Melissa warned as she gestured at the nearby shrine of a silver wolf that was howling and I wondered what its purpose was since it has always been on that table that was near the dining table.
"The silver wolf?" Michiru questioned and I perked up since I remember hearing about the silver wolf from those orphaned kids a while back and forgot about it until now.
"You mean you never heard about the silver wolf?" Gem asked as he peered over the newspaper to look at Michiru curiously.
"Um, we kinda know a little bit about the silver wolf since we heard about it a while back," I spoke up and Gem looked surprised.
"Well, a little bit won't do so let me explain it to you both," Gem said as he gestured for us to follow him while he stood up from his seat and folded up the newspaper, prompting me and Michiru to follow him to the living room where he had gotten a book of some kind and we sat down on either side of him.
"Now, throughout history, beastmen and humans have co-existed in different ways but, at times, the beastmen have been in danger and when that happens, a savior appears known as the silver wolf.
There are many legends where the oldest is from a thousand years ago, which talk about beastmen being saved by the silver wolf," Gem explained while he had opened the book and showed us each page that had interesting pictures describing what he was talking about.
"Wait, did you draw all of those?" Michiru asked curiously as Gem closed the book and he nodded.
"This is how I'm going to earn a living once I retire," Gem replied and Melissa didn't look happy to hear that as she started shouting at him, though I stopped paying attention when I saw that Shirou was about to leave.
"Hey, mind if Michiru and I join you for a walk?" I asked as I stood up from the sofa and headed after Shirou while he was walking to the door with his hands in his pockets and Michiru got up from her seat to follow us.
"Hold up, you three," Melissa said, causing the three of us to look back at her and I saw that she was praying at the silver wolf shrine until she picked up what appeared to be offerings that were wrapped up in leaves and went over to hand them to us, and I wondered why she kept handing them to me, Michiru, and Shirou whenever we were about to leave.
"I'm curious, you always hand us these but you never explained what they are," I pointed out curiously as I took one of the offerings, prompting Michiru and Shirou to take the other two.
"It's a good luck charm, so if you or Michiru ever need help from the silver wolf, just give it to him," Melissa explained and I stared down at the silver wolf offering with a look of interest while Michiru did the same thing.
"Wow, thanks a lot," Michiru said as Shirou started to leave, prompting me and Michiru to leave the building as well as she and I put the offerings in our pockets but I frowned when I saw Shirou unwrapping the offering, which revealed that it was a strip of cured meat and he started eating it.
"Hey, I don't think you should do that because that seems offensive to Melissa's religion," I said with a look of uncertainty.
"There is no way there's a god who refuses to save you, just because you won't give it food," Shirou replied gruffly and I made a face at that while Michiru scowled.
"You don't have to talk that way about something everyone believes in, you know. That must be why you don't have any friends," Michiru retorted and I grimaced since I really didn't want to deal with another argument between her and Shirou.
"You don't seem to have friends, either," Shirou countered smoothly and Michiru huffed.
"For your information, I used to have a lot of friends and this may come as a surprise to you, I had a best friend," Michiru replied a little smugly and I cleared my throat to get Shirou's attention.
"In case you're wondering, her best friend is named Nazuna and Michiru here would tell me about her a lot," I spoke up, causing Shirou to look back at me for a second until he turned his gaze away from me.
I knew that Michiru would start explaining about Nazuna and what happened to her to Shirou so I became lost in thought while it was happening since I had heard it before, wondering how Sarah is doing right now since I wasn't sure if I had been in contact with her or not.
I let out a quiet sigh and lowered my gaze as I thought about her and hoped that she was doing okay since I felt guilty for not remembering her, wondering if we were still on good terms before I lost my memories so it still sucked that there were huge chunks of my memories still missing, though I was remembering so at least it wasn't all that bad as I looked up and was taken off guard to see that Shirou was gone and Marie was walking alongside me and Michiru as she was pushing a cart, then Michiru noticed once she was finished and flinched after seeing Marie.
"Hold on, where's-" Michiru sputtered as we all stopped and Marie looked at her.
"If you're looking for Ogami, he went to see the mayor but take this," Marie said as she reached for something and showed Michiru a slip of paper that looked like some kind of bill.
"What the hell is that?" I questioned and Marie looked at me.
"This is your friend's phone bill so it covers the month," Marie replied and I was confused by that, though Michiru took the phone bill and stared down at it with an unamused expression.
"I have to pay you for that, too?" Michiru asked dryly and Marie smirked as she wrapped an arm around Michiru's shoulders.
"If you can't pay, then go and earn some money," Marie said as she guided Michiru over to the cart that had what appeared to be water filters as they had smiley faces on them and a name that said Mizukirei.
"So, I'm guessing you're planning something with those water filters?" I questioned as I started feeling a little suspicious since Marie has already proven that she wasn't exactly trustworthy.
"I'm gonna sell these to those idiots in the slums for a boatload of cash, so either of you want in?" Marie asked slyly and I had a bad feeling about this as Michiru grimaced until she opened her mouth to give her answer.
"Doug, you really didn't have to come with me for this," Michiru told me as we were currently walking through the slums and I sighed.
"I know, but I still wanted to come along anyway to make sure nothing happens since I have a feeling it might," I replied and Michiru made a face at that.
"Doug, I don't always get into trouble," Michiru grumbled and I sent her a deadpan expression.
"Uh, no offense, but trouble has a habit of finding us so I just know something is gonna go wrong while we're here," I stated as I stayed alert while we passed a few shady-looking people that were glaring at me and Michiru suspiciously.
"Michiru, Doug!" a familiar voice called out, making me and Michiru look back to see Jackie running up to us while she was holding something that looked familiar.
"Hey Jackie, what's that you have there?" I asked as Michiru and I turned around to look at Jackie fully, then I saw that the thing she had looked like one of the water filters that were on the cart.
"Look at this cool water purifier, took a loan to buy it too," Jackie replied and I felt like groaning in disbelief.
'Fucking hell, Marie was already here? I swear to god she's giving Michiru this job just to mess with her,' I thought in exasperation until I picked up the scents of three people approaching, looking to see that one of them was a dark-skinned man with sunglasses and blond hair in a buzzcut while I recognized the other two that are members of The Family.
"Hey, which one of you is Jackie?" the dark-skinned man asked and other people that were nearby had pointed at Jackie without even blinking, much to my horror and much to Michiru's shock if her expression told me anything.
"Jackie, what did you get yourself into now?! I told you not to make lifetime payments!" Michiru exclaimed in disbelief as two of the three thugs were about to walk over to grab Jackie when I moved her behind me and gestured for Michiru to keep her safe.
"What seems to be the problem here, fellas?" I asked, trying to sound friendly but keeping my hand close to my gun just in case these guys were armed.
"That's none of your business so stay out of it, asshole," the dark-skinned man snapped irritably while the residents of the slums were slowly backing away from the possibility of this getting ugly.
"There's no need for that so how about you calm down," I placated and the man scowled.
"What, are you her friend or something? Let me make it perfectly clear, Jackie over there didn't pay up to clear her debt so now she needs to be taught a lesson so hand her over or we will hurt you," the man threatened and I narrowed my eyes.
"Here's my counteroffer, leave now and stay away from Jackie or I will be the one to hurt you and your friends so what will it be?" I warned as I was inwardly cussing up a storm since I really hate being right at the fact that trouble just seems to find me and Michiru, just as the man and his friends laughed at my warning.
"Well, looks like you are too stupid to live so let's put you out of your misery," the man declared before his friends changed into their beast forms and charged at me.
I changed into my beast form and got ready as my eyes turned cold and focused, just as the larger of the two thugs started swinging at me and I dodged each punch expertly and blocked attacks from the other thug.
I kept dodging and blocking their attacks while studying their movements and when they will strike to spot any openings they have, then I acted accordingly by catching the first thug's fist and twisting his arm behind his back as I pushed him against the second thug, which prompted me to let go and send a swift kick into the first thug's back until both men were knocked to the ground.
"Don't move!" the man shouted and I quickly looked to see that he had one arm wrapped around Michiru's neck while holding a switchblade up to her face.
"Doug, help me!" Michiru shouted while she sounded terrified and that's when I started feeling enraged as I snapped out of it and let out a vicious snarl.
"Don't even think about it, I will kill her if you so much as take a single step, now take out your gun and toss it!" the man yelled as I was studying him for any openings so that I could make him let go of Michiru, but the blade of the knife was too close to her face and any sudden movements might cause him to hurt her or worse so I had no choice but to comply.
I carefully reached for my gun and slowly pulled it out of my holster, tossing it to my right and making a note of where it landed so that I could get it later when I heard the two thugs getting back up and approaching me from behind, then I was struck in the back of the head and found myself collapsing as an exploding pain erupted.
They were not done as I was getting kicked in the back and abdomen more than once so I knew my ribs will be bruising from that later when I was kicked in the face, rendering me senseless as I felt my nose breaking from the force while I could hear Michiru yelling my name and begging for them to stop.
Pretty soon, the thugs did stop and I was left there dazed and quietly groaning in pain when one of them spat at me, the wad of saliva hitting my side before they walked away with a scoff until I heard Michiru running up to me and she knelt down to check on me.
"Doug, can you hear me?!" Michiru cried as she looked frantic and I grimaced as I went to sit up, groaning as my ribs protested from the sudden movement and my face felt like it was on fire.
Thankfully, I felt the pain quickly fading as my ribs and nose healed before I stood up while wiping the blood from my nose, shaking my head to clear it when I saw that Jackie had been tied up to a wooden log and seeing the firewood placed around it and the man holding out a lighter while most of the residents of the slums had become a crowd and everyone was in their beast forms cheering, I quickly figured out what was going to happen and felt nothing but pure horror.
"Oh god, they're gonna fucking burn her alive," I gasped in alarm as I quickly got up and ran over to where my gun was, picking it up and hurrying over to where the crowd was.
I could hear Michiru right behind me as I started forcing my way through the crowd, shoving people out of the way as I plowed through the crowd like an out-of-control bulldozer while people were knocked aside and yelled at me angrily but I ignored them as I was frantically trying to save Jackie from dying in a horrific death.
I made it through the crowd and was about to aim my gun at the thug who had his lighter out, the man in his beast form that had the appearance of a humanoid hippo as his eyes widened behind his sunglasses when he saw me aim at him when the howl of a wolf erupted nearby.
We all looked in the direction of where that came from as people in the crowd started muttering to each other while I could see what appeared to be boats out on the coast, the boats approaching the nearby dock and they got close enough that I noticed that they sported green flags that had an insignia of a sliver wolf's head with wings.
'What the hell?' I thought as howling came from the boats that had arrived at the dock and people were starting to disembark from them.
I frowned as I studied the newcomers, seeing them wearing green cloaks with hoods that were concealing their faces while they had necklaces that were in the same shape as the insignia on the flags of their boats.
The odd-looking people stopped moving and one man stepped forward, having long blond hair and a square jaw while his outfit consisted of a gray mask with wolf-related embellishments, a white coat, gray gloves, and what appeared to be a teal priest uniform.
"Enough...it's over, beastman," the priest stated calmly and I lowered my gun but was ready to snap it up and fire just in case the hippo beastman tried anything.
"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded but the priest didn't look phased by his threatening tone.
"The act of one beastman hurting another is...well, let's say worse than what humans do," the priest pointed out and the hippo beastman scoffed.
"What the fuck are you talking about? If someone doesn't pay, it doesn't matter whether they are a beastman or a human because they are as good as trash and trash has to be taken out," the man retorted.
"No, they're not trash so don't you see we're noble beastmen first and foremost? We must not ever forget our pride because remember that the silver wolf is watching," the priest stated and the hippo beastman sent him an amused grin.
"Are you stupid? The silver wolf is just a made-up story for the weak to believe in," the man mocked and a few people laughed while others looked skeptical but the priest didn't appear offended by the complete disrespect of his religion as he spread his arms out.
"May you all be blessed because the sliver light will shine down upon all enlightened beastmen!" the priest declared as I was starting to feel unsettled since he was behaving like a cult leader and if there was one thing I knew, it was that cults are never to be trusted because of how dangerous they could be.
As the priest continued to speak, I spotted someone in a white and teal cloak with a four-pointed star pattern and a hood as the newcomers parted to let the person through and I couldn't tell who it is but the priest called the person the leader of his group and told us the person's title, which was Deesse Louve but then the beastman hippo got irritated and threatened to burn him if he didn't stay out of his way, and just when he was about to light up the firewood and kill Jackie, I snapped my gun up and shot him in the shoulder.
The man went down like a sack of potatoes while his lighter went flying out of his hand, people screaming and ducking from the gunfire as I aimed my gun at the two other thugs who raised their hands and backed away while the priest simply watched the situation escalating.
I quickly headed over to the large pole and swore under my breath since the situation was getting ugly and I would need both hands to move the pole away from the firewood, which would make me vulnerable to any possible ambush.
Still, I had to free Jackie and get her to safety before someone else tried something so I holstered my gun and went to grab the pole, effortlessly moving it away from the firewood and lowering it to the ground just as I saw the two thugs were about to attack me again.
The crowd was cheering at that as I was forced to defend myself, dodging and blocking attacks until I kicked one of the thugs in the knee to knock him down and I rendered him unconscious with a hit to the chin that sent him spiraling to the ground.
I grabbed the fist of the other thug and twisted his arm behind his back as he yelled in pain when I kneed him in the gut and did an uppercut, finishing him by hip-tossing him to the ground and kicking him in the face to knock him out.
Once that was over with, I hurried right back over to Jackie and started to untie him as people were starting to shout at me and getting very agitated but I ignored them as I was undoing the knots when I saw a few people moving through the crowd as they had melee weapons such as bats, crowbars, and even a knife as they were fully focused on me.
I was alarmed by that since that meant they were with the three thugs and I was seriously worried about how I would be able to deal with them without Jackie getting hurt in the process, then there was the fact that the whole crowd was getting riled up and might also swarm me so my options weren't looking good as I noticed the person in the white cloak removing their hood and stepped forward.
I could see that the person was a female wolf beastman who had white hair with pink accents and pale teal fur while she started glowing and suddenly grew larger, taking on the form of a giant quadruped wolf with gold eyes and three markings on her forehead as she had a pink glowing aura.
"Holy shit!" I shouted in complete shock and pure disbelief since I didn't know what I was looking at and was trying to comprehend what I was seeing.
I wasn't the only one as the crowd was completely stunned and gasping from the sight of something that should be utterly impossible, then I could see the hippo beastman getting up while clutching his bloody shoulder as he was gawking up at the giant wolf when he shook his head to snap out of it.
"Die, you monster!" the man screamed as he pulled out a gun and went to aim at the giant glowing wolf.
The wolf let out a deafening roar that terrified him and he screamed before running for his dear life, abandoning his two friends that had woken up and were startled to see the giant wolf so they ran and so did the other thugs that got the shit scared out of them.
'My god, is that the silver wolf? How the fuck is this even possible?' I thought as I just gawked up at the giant wolf, just as Michiru went to finish what I started in untieing Jackie while people were cheering at the large glowing wolf and that's when I concluded that after what I've seen and experienced since arriving in this city, nothing would surprise me anymore.
"The sliver wolf is the god of the beastmen and graces our struggles and fears with its silver light, now worship our deity the sliver wolf!" the priest shouted proudly just as the giant wolf lifted her head and let out a howl.
I was speechless while the crowd or other people were just taking it all, getting down on both knees and clasping their hands together as I didn't know what to think anymore and I wasn't a spiritual man or believed in things like god or the supernatural but after what I've just seen and experienced other impossible things, it was safe to say that I'm now a believer in those things.
I saw the giant glowing wolf shrink and change into a teenage girl that was about the same age as Michiru while she had white hair with a single pink bang and reddish-brown eyes as two people in those green cloaks covered the girl up with her white cloak.
As the priest and the girl were speaking to the residents of the slums, I was struggling to understand what I had seen and that a god such as the silver wolf truly existed, though I wasn't expecting the silver wolf to be female since the deity was always depicted as male but I guess even experts on the silver wolf can be wrong sometimes.
I could hear Michiru calling out to the silver wolf in excitement and could hear the tanuki calling her Nazuna, much to my shock and disbelief since Nazuna was the name of her friend that went missing a year ago and that raised my suspicions as I stared at the girl the priest claimed was the silver wolf.
'Something's not right...I have a bad feeling about this,' I thought just when Michiru suddenly stopped calling out to who was, apparently, her friend and I quickly looked in the direction of where she was.
Michiru was gone and I couldn't see her anywhere, greatly alarming me as I started pushing my way through the crowd and tried to find her but I couldn't locate her anywhere and that seriously scared me, then I decided to see if I could track her down by scent so I closed my eyes and started inhaling through my nose.
An image appeared in my mind as I could see the wispy version of the crowd and everything started changing until I could see Michiru in a sense, the tanuki calling out to the girl when a group of four people in green cloaks had grabbed her and one of them put a hand over her mouth so that she couldn't call for help, then she was dragged away into an alley nearby and that's when I opened my eyes as a look of panic appeared on my face.
I made my way through the crowd and started running to the alley as I was frantic at the thought of how those people might be hurting her, which made me pissed while I made it to the alley and could see the people in green cloaks surrounding Michiru while she was tied up and gagged with a cloth.
"Hey, let her go or we're gonna have a problem," I snarled as I aimed my gun at them, causing them to look back at me and Michiru looked so relieved to see me.
I moved forward cautiously with a glare as the group in green cloaks backed away and I gestured for them to stay back while I made my way over to Michiru, kneeling down and making sure to keep my line of sight on the group in green cloaks as I went to untie Michiru and removed the gag from her mouth.
"Doug, thanks for saving me," Michiru said gratefully and I nodded.
"I think I'm gonna have to teach you how to defend yourself against multiple enemies because this is probably the hundredth time you've been in a dangerous situation," I said in exasperation as I helped Michiru stand up and we turned to face the group in green cloaks as I got ready to defend us if necessary.
"Stand back," a familiar female voice spoke up, just as I spotted the girl claiming to be the silver wolf as she was approaching us and the group in green cloaks turned to look at her.
"I sense strong auras of evil coming from them so do not approach until I tell you it's safe to do so," the girl instructed and the group in green cloaks bowed in response until they all left.
I gazed at the girl warily as I didn't know what to make of her since she was claiming to be the silver wolf but Michiru called her Nazuna, a close friend of hers who also used to be human until she turned into a beastman a short time after they went through that accident so I was suspicious of who this girl really is, just as she walked up to us and removed her hood before she started smiling.
"Michiru, it really is you!" the girl cried out in pure joy and asked, "What are you doing here and who's he?"
"Oh, um, this is Douglas Jackson and we met a while back while I was arriving in this city," Michiru said and I sent the girl a nod, though I guess she was Nazuna since Michiru did recognize her and called her by that name.
"So, you're Michiru's best friend, right? She talked a lot about you so it's nice to finally meet you," I said while I holstered my gun and shifted back to my human form, then Nazuna sent me a nod and a warm smile in response before she returned her attention to Michiru.
"So, I didn't know you also turned into a beastman so that's pretty neat," Nazuna commented and Michiru started tearing up before she wrapped her arms around Nazuna and hugged her while sniffling.
"I'm so happy that you are alive! You're safe, I'm so relieved!" Michiru bawled as she cried while Nazuna looked taken off guard by the sudden hug, but then she smiled softly and I relaxed since we weren't in any danger when Nazuna got a good look at Michiru's tail and started looking curious.
"A tanuki?" Nazuna wondered, then Michiru flinched and stopped hugging her friend.
"Uh, no, I'm a raccoon and I transformed a little while after you did...I started living here recently," Michiru said sheepishly as she tried to hide her tail with the back of her jacket.
Suddenly, someone called out for Nazuna by using her title and the person in question gestured for us to follow her and we started running after that, eventually making it up to the roof of the building as it was now completely dark and I let out a sigh while I was standing behind the girls, who were sitting at the edge of the roof when my phone vibrated in my jacket and I took it out to see that Shirou was calling me.
"Yeah?" I answered as I held the phone up to my ear.
"The mayor wants you to meet up with us so drop what you're doing and head over to city hall," Shirou informed me until he hung up and I lowered my phone, looking at Michiru.
"Hey, the mayor wants to see me so will you be okay on your own?" I asked and Michiru nodded.
"I'll be fine, and besides, Nazuna and I have a lot to catch up on," Michiru replied.
"Okay, I'll see you when you get home so try not to stay out too late," I said before I went and started making my way to city hall.
I soon made it to city hall and entered through the front doors, talking to the receptionist who looked tired and letting him know that the mayor was expecting me so he called the mayor on his phone to notify her that I was here.
After that, I made my way to the elevator and waited as it took me up to the top floor and I made my way to the mayor's office, knocking on the door and hearing the mayor telling me to come in until I entered the office and saw that it was dark as the mayor was at her desk while looking at her smart tablet and Shirou was standing in front of the window, looking out at the city.
"Mr. Jackson, good to see you," the mayor greeted and I nodded in response.
"You too, I got here as quick as I could after Shirou called to let me know you wanted me to come here so I'm guessing there's a reason why you had me meet up with you and Shirou," I said and the mayor nodded.
"Yes, I wanted both you and Ogami here to hear this so Anima city has new visitors, not sure if you've seen them or not but most of them wear green cloaks," the mayor told me and I perked up when I heard that.
"Yes, I encountered them back in the slums district when they docked there and someone with them who was dressed as a priest had started preaching to the residents of the slums," I replied and the mayor gestured for me to come over, then I walked over to her desk and she showed me what she was looking at on her tablet, which was a Youtube video about what happened in the slums.
"The Church of the Silver Wolf, they're a religious group that worships the silver wolf and travels around in search of freedom for the beastmen so I heard rumors about them, but I didn't know that the silver wolf was their leader," the mayor told me and I hummed thoughtfully.
"I'm not so sure that's the silver wolf because I was there when it happened and it turns out the so-called silver wolf that was leading that group is, apparently, Michiru's friend who was kidnapped about a year ago after she had suddenly become a beastman," I replied and the mayor looked at me with an expression of intrigue.
"Really? Who is this friend of hers?" the mayor asked curiously.
"From what Michiru told me, her name was Nazuna and she was human just like Michiru used to be but they were involved in some kind of accident that was severe enough to where they had to go to the hospital, then they made a recovery and Nazuna suddenly transformed into a fox beastman not long after that.
The last time Michiru saw her, she was walking to school when she thought she saw Nazuna being taken into a van by people wearing suits and sunglasses so as I said before, that was the last time she saw Nazuna.
Now, her friend is with that group but I really wasn't expecting her to transform into a version of the silver wolf or look like a wolf beastman," I explained while staring at Nazuna's giant wolf form on the tablet with a frown.
"Complete beast transformation," Shirou said but I caught a hint of stress in his voice and I was a little concerned as to how he was taking this.
"Normal beastmen shouldn't be able to do it, should they?" the mayor wondered as she looked at Shirou, but it was the slight knowing tone in her voice and the subtle expression as she looked at the wolf beastman that reminded me that they were hiding something and I had no idea what it is so I'll have to look into it later.
"So, what do we do now? Are you going to grant them asylum?" I questioned and the mayor turned her attention to me.
"Mr. Jackson, you already know by now that we accept all beastmen, which is the basic policy of our city but you don't agree?" the mayor asked and I frowned as I tried to come up with an answer that would express how I felt about this.
"I didn't say that, I'm saying just that I'm concerned since this group is acting like a goddamn cult, and if there is one thing I know about cults, its that they can't be trusted so we need to be extremely careful when interacting with this group," I pointed out tensely.
"I see...you have a point so what about you, Ogami? You don't agree?" the mayor inquired and Shirou looked back at her.
"No," Shirou replied bluntly and resumed staring out the window, causing the mayor to let out a slight chuckle.
"I thought so since I was putting off on meeting them to give us more time to investigate them, but we might be able to learn more about them if we meet them directly," the mayor said and I sighed.
"In that case, my point still stands about being extremely careful when interacting with this group because something about them has me on edge," I admitted and gently rubbed my eyes as I let out a tired sigh.
After that, we conversated for a little bit until it was time to return home and I yawned as Shirou and I was heading back to Beast Co-op, wondering if Michiru made it back safely since now I was wary of Nazuna because she spent god knows how long with the Church of the Silver Wolf so there was no telling what they did to her, though I was shaken out of my thoughts when I saw that we had made it home and went inside until we arrived in the living room, where Melissa was busy reading when she noticed us.
"Mr. Ogami and Mr. Jackson, welcome back," Melissa greeted and I sent her a nod.
"Yeah, thanks," Shirou replied and I rolled my eyes at his response before gazing at Melissa.
"Hey Melissa, sorry it's late since we had to take care of some business at the mayor's office," I said and heard someone approach me and Shirou from behind but I could tell it was Michiru from the way she walked.
"Hey guys," Michiru greeted as she looked a little excited.
"Hey, Michiru, looks like you got home okay so that's good," I said and Michiru nodded in response before she went into the living room.
"Melissa, is it okay if a friend of mine lives here too?" Michiru asked, causing Shirou to look at her.
"What friend is that?" Shirou inquired when Nazuna stepped into view.
I felt a little uneasy as I gazed at her since something about her was sending up red flags in my mind and I didn't like it, then I noticed that Shirou was slightly bothered about something as he gazed at Nazuna and I knew he probably felt the same way I did since something wasn't right about Nazuna and a part of me was screaming not to trust her.
"Impossible," Shirou said bluntly, much to the surprise of Michiru and to the confusion of Nazuna.
"Huh? But why not?" Michiru questioned as Shirou looked away with an unreadable expression.
"She can't live here," Shirou stated as I started feeling awkward when Michiru sent me a pleading expression.
"Doug, help me here," Michiru hissed and I quickly raised my hands while shaking my head, letting her know that I wasn't getting involved in this and she fumed at that.
"It's okay, I can leave," Nazuna said with a slight solemn smile and started to walk away.
"Huh? Wait, Nazuna!" Michiru called out to her and was about to go after her when Shirou grabbed her wrist.
"Hold on, that friend of yours is a human?" Shirou asked and I winced at his accusing tone and the glare Michiru sent him so I know this was going to get ugly.
"Yeah, that's right so Nazuna has the same disease just like me," Michiru retorted and Shirou scowled as I felt tense at the argument that was breaking out.
"Why is it okay for me to live here and not her?" Michiru continued while I noticed that Shirou was on edge and agitated if his body language told me anything.
"There's something strange about them, that religious group and I don't trust that girl either," Shirou said and Michiru glared at him.
"What do you mean? If you really think that, then why don't you kick me out too?!" Michiru shouted angrily before she yanked her arm away and stormed off before I could call out to her and I sighed as I looked at Shirou.
"I'll go talk to her," I said before I took off after Michiru, leaving the building and I managed to catch up to Michiru.
"Michiru, wait!" I called out to her and she quickly looked back before she scowled and proceeded to ignore me until I ran past her and got in her way.
"Michiru, I know you're mad but please don't ignore me," I reasoned and Michiru glared at me.
"Doug, why didn't you back me up?! You know how much Nazuna means to me and how it affected me when she disappeared a year ago!" Michiru snapped angrily and I grimaced.
"I know, and I admit that Shirou should've been a little less blunt when speaking what's on his mind, but he does have a point," I said and Michiru gaped at that.
"Are you serious?" Michiru gasped in disbelief and I held up a hand.
"Just hear me out, your friend had been taken a year ago by what could be government agents and she was probably being held in some government research facility and tested on so that they could figure out how she became a beastman, but how did she escape?" I questioned and Michiru scrunched her face up.
"That priest we saw at the slums, whose name is Boris, had rescued her and she's been with that group ever since," Michiru answered and I nodded.
"Exactly, we don't know how long she's been with that group or what Boris has been doing to her, and let's not forget that the group shows all the signs of a cult, so you might want to consider the fact that Nazuna might not be the friend you once knew since a lot of time has passed since then and they could've done god knows what to her," I pointed out logically and Michiru grimaced.
"Doug, I..." Michiru trailed off and I knew that she couldn't find a way to argue so I sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I just want you to be careful because we've had some pretty close calls ever since we arrived in this city and the last thing I need is to see you get hurt or worse...I've lost too much and I don't ever want to go through that again," I said quietly as I recalled my parents getting murdered and I let out a shaky sigh while Michiru softened her eyes.
"Doug, I'll be careful, don't worry," Michiru reassured and I was hesitant at first, but then I nodded and let go of her shoulder.
I watched Michiru walking away, no doubt heading to where Nazuna and that cult were in the slums and I sighed, hoping that she would be okay since losing my parents was devastating enough for me and I've come to see Michiru as a little sister so if I were to lose her, it would completely destroy me and I can't afford to go through that kind of tragedy ever again so I started making my way back to Beast Co-op and found myself barely getting any sleep after that.
A/N Hey guys, hope you like the chapter so far because I've decided to split it into two chapters since it was getting too long so the next chapter will finish the rest of chapter 6 and I hope you're ready since you won't be expecting what I have planned in the next chapter so, let me know what you think and stay tuned.