Chapter 42: Earned Life (Part 8)

The air inside the hotel's restaurant hadn't quite reached the point where people were steering clear but there was an undeniable uncertainty lingering about like a bad smell, what families, couples or friends were seated and eating sending wary glances to the center of the area, the group that had convened within quite the eclectic mix. A tall and broad-shouldered man cheerfully eating a plate of grilled fish, a redheaded woman casually sipping a beer, a depressingly normal looking young teen uneasily shifting in her seat and an albino young man who practically radiated irritation and anger on a tangible wavelength, simple glass of water set before him completely untouched as he glared at the unconcerned older man.

Some of the more conservative individuals having their meal felt a sense of resigned conviction that foreigners were bad news for Japan.

"Come now, young man, you haven't even touched your food."

"Water isn't food."

"By the dictionary definition it is."

"And you care about what others tell you to do? Not the impression I got."

Dramatically sighing Zelretch lamented, "Goodness, have I done something to earn your ire, young man? So confrontational."

"I fucking wonder. Guess I don't have much of an appetite after some jackoff tormented my friend."

Smiling as if he knew precisely what buttons to press Zelretch asked, "A friend or something more?"

"You know what? You're right, Manaka is something a bit more to me."

The ambient temperature rose, the homunculus' hair visibly bristling with released heat.

"I just remembered that I should be extremely upset with you."

Ayaka nervously swallowed before hesitantly setting a hand on Nanashi's arm, quietly stating, "U-umm, Nanashi? I think you should calm down just a little bit. Other people are staring."

Taking a deep breath in order to do just that the youth forced himself to not burn down the building around him, glaring at the unfazed Apostle as he reassured, "Relax. That whole little show back there was a simple test designed to get your measure, certainly nothing serious."

Turning his gaze towards Aoko as she calmly sipped at her beverage the youth growled, "Yeah, you mentioned that. What the fuck kind of test? Because if you need a repeat showing I'm more than happy to oblige, the walls around here look sturdier than in the rooms."

"It was to ascertain your character, whether you were a person that we had to be wary of or not."

Begrudgingly setting aside his anger for the moment Nanashi grumbled out, "And? Where do I stand?"

"While it wasn't quite flying colors you did suitably well, in the top eighty percentile at least."

Zelretch nodded in agreement with the woman's words, adding, "Attempted murder just because someone caused distress to a person you care about is a little extreme."

"Bullshit. I knew who you were and quite frankly I don't think I hit you hard enough."

"No need to worry, I can assure you it was quite the magnificent blow. Practically instant death, didn't feel a thing until my body reformed."

Still irate and riled up the youth grumbled, "Guess I better hit you softer next time, if you didn't even feel it."

Shrugging as if the threat was an everyday occurence the Apostle elaborated with, "Now obviously leaping to violence at the word go isn't great because of course it isn't…but to do so in defense of a wronged loved one speaks to your empathy and capacity to cherish others beyond yourself. That is a state of being of far greater boon to a Magician than it is a detriment."

Rolling his eyes Nanashi growled, "Well it just makes my day to impress you like that. Seriously, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

Swallowing nervously Ayaka yet again gathered her courage, saying, "Erm, Nanashi? I don't think sister would be very happy if you got into a fight with two other Magicians over her."

A ruby eye met her own with no small amount of skepticism as the girl quickly backpedaled, remarking, "Well, she would be happy but mostly unhappy."

Releasing an explosive breath the homunculus forced himself to relax and let go of his frustration and anger, instead crossing his arms and restlessly tapping his foot against the floor as a poor substitute for the desire to deck the Vampire across the face.

"Well? Aside from ruining my vacation and getting whatever answers it is you're seeking why are you here?"

"Well to be perfectly fair, young man, you and your companions mostly brought this visit upon yourselves."

"Oh really?"

Zelretch offered a confirming nod.

"Yes, really. Come now, did you think that revealing yourselves to the Magus association in the manner that you did would simply be forgotten or fly under the radar? Magus society recognizes an oddity when it sees it and naturally feels compelled to understand it, to all sorts of varying degrees and levels of intensity."

Aoko idly waved a hand, polishing off her beer with a satisfied sigh as she added, "As Magicians we were already vaguely aware of your gradual understanding of the Fourth, when you appeared within the Clocktower we naturally had to come and speak with you. That introduction was inspired, by the way. Certainly went quite the distance in ensuring most people would leave you alone at first."

"Okay…and? What are you getting at? You're here now, I'm here now and we still haven't really gotten to the point of why any of this is happening."

Zelretch took over, stating, "Well since you've proven yourself to be of decent character I think it's the natural course of things that we help you master and control the Fourth magic, much like I did with the young lady right here. Why run the risk of falling afoul of something you weren't aware of or prepared for when there's no need to?"

An all knowing smirk adorned the Vampire's face.

"I have been in this line of business for awhile."

Matching the man's holier than thou attitude with a sneer of his own Nanashi retorted, "Yeah, thanks for the offer but I already have one meddling father figure and you aren't even close to it."

There was a moment of silence at that proclamation…and the homunculus felt his face flush red at the implication, sending Ayaka a frantic sidelong glance that begged her to silence as the Magus merely giggled into her hand, trying and debatably succeeding in keeping her mirth under control.

"Oh hell. I'm never going to be able to live this one down, am I? I blame aforementioned father figure for doing this to me."

Despite his burning ears the youth stuck to his guns, staring down the Ancestor as he merely shrugged after a moment of contemplation.

"Well, if that's your decision then I certainly can't force you to accept lessons or advice you have no desire to hear. Even if it would be for the better."

Without further ado the pair of Magicians rose to their feet, Aoko remarking, "Besides, it seems pretty obvious that you're not here to cause mayhem and destruction with your power, or that you're some deranged monster that will fall victim to their uncontrollable strength or the like."

Zelretch offered a wink.

"After all, how many monsters go on vacation to a nice beach front resort with their friends and companions?"

Deciding not to say anything unless the duo changed their minds Nanashi watched in sullen silence as they left without further comment, only sagging in relief once they were fully out of eye sight as Ayaka turned to him with a conflicted expression.

"Was it really a good idea to turn down that offer, Nanashi? Especially when you already have things to worry about?"

Eventually releasing an explosive sigh the male pinched the bridge of his nose, reluctantly replying, "No. No it wasn't. But I also don't think it was the wrong one either."

"Eh?"

Vaguely gesturing to where the pair had exited Nanashi said, "Think about it. They came all the way out here to figure out what I was like, offer to teach me about True Magic and when I say no…they just leave?"

He rubbed his head, grumbling under his breath.

"If being taught this crap was really that big of a deal - which to my understanding the five Magics are - then would they have really just left when I said no?"

Ayaka caught on to the implication, quietly murmuring, "They wouldn't have…instruction in True Magic isn't something you offer flippantly."

"Yup. Either they didn't have anything to teach me or most of True Magic is self-taught with their advice mostly being ornamental or not important…they just wanted to make sure I wasn't some psychopath."

"That last bit is a little bit uncertain, Nanashi. You did punch the Wizard Marshal just because he made sister upset."

"And I'll fucking do it again."

Sighing in resignation Ayaka shook her head in disbelief, eventually asking, "So…do you want to head back to where everyone else is?"

"Mind if I just walk around for an hour on my own? I'll meet up with everyone at that shaved ice shack by the beach, sound good?"

"Okay, that's fine. As long as you're aware that everyone might be annoyed with you once I tell them what happened."

"Trust me, I'm very well prepared for that…"

Sending him an amused smile as she left for their room the homunculus rose to his feet with a tired sigh, letting his mind wander as he left the cafeteria.

"...They have a good point though. Here I am, messing around and taking it easy when I'm on the clock, execution awaiting if I can't get a proper handle on my powers. Why did I forget that, isn't it what I should be focusing all of my attention on? I can relax and enjoy vacations to my heart's content once I know for a fact I'm not about to drop dead."

Mood soured by those thoughts the homunculus released yet another heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair as he strolled across the beach filled with various people enjoying their time in the sun as he couldn't help but feel worn out by the direction his thoughts-

"HEY WATCH OU-"

THOCK!

Blinking as a solid blow to the head snapped him out of his ruminations Nanashi glanced in the direction of the strike, spotting a wincing group of young adults as their volleyball rolled across the sand, one of their number jogging his way.

"...Wait, is that-"

"Well isn't this quite the surprise, Nanashi~! Did I not say that we were destined to meet again? Although I will freely admit that this is earlier than I thought it would be!"

"Gil?!"

Standing before him with a brilliant smile as she deftly flipped the ball back into her grasp the Heroic Spirit chirped, "Oh? Am I so common that you need clarify that it is indeed me~?"

"No, that's not what I, I mean…what the hell are you doing here?!"

Pouting at his response the blonde tossed her free flowing hair over her shoulder, explaining, "Well you mentioned that you were going on vacation and I thought, why not go on one myself? After all, a future regent such as myself will likely have few opportunities to properly let loose and enjoy the luxuries of the land once my world dominion plot becomes fully underway."

"...I'm just going to nod and say yes."

Still a bit bewildered at coming across the girl so soon after they'd parted ways the homunculus belatedly noticed that she certainly was dressed for downtime. A sleek midnight one piece that flatteringly hugged her figure while a golden necklace hung around her throat, skin tastefully bronzed by the sun's rays.

"Wait, are those-"

Proudly smiling as she threw the volleyball back to the group of young adults and gave a wave for them to continue she explained, "They are indeed. When deciding to embark on my vacation I concluded that going alone would be boring so I reached out to any and all groups that would have need of an additional body for the trip. They were available and thus far the arrangement has worked splendidly. But enough of niggling administrative details, Nanashi…why do you appear so, to borrow the modern phrase, in the dumps?"

Blinking at the sudden and accurate question all the youth could do was idly shrug, mumbling, "It's nothing-"

"You can lie more convincingly than that, Nanashi."

The calm rebuke left the homunculus pinching the bridge of his nose, eventually responding, "Fine…I'm operating under something of a deadline right now - literally - and it just kind of hit me that I'm wasting my time hanging out at a beach resort when I should really be doing something about aforementioned execution date."

Sagely nodding as if being casually informed of imminent death was the most commonplace topic to be broached the blonde tapped her lip in thought, pensively musing, "Procrastination can be an insidious killer, true enough. But you are overlooking one matter in particular, Nanashi."

"I am?"

Cheerfully beaming the girl replied, "You are here in the now! What point is there in being dismayed and grumpy during your idle and relaxing hours when you can feel those very same emotions once you are done with them?"

The youth blinked, trying to work through how such simple advice was supposed to help him actually do that…and somehow felt the weight of his circumstances become just that much less overbearing, frowning in surprise as Gilgamesh smirked before murmuring, "Why…did that actually make me feel better?"

"Because we are better at giving advice than we are at taking it. And I can be very persuasive when I want to be. Especially when what I say makes sense, if I do say so myself. Now come on, Nanashi!"

The girl's hands suddenly closed around his own, jerking the surprised male forward as she dragged him towards the waiting group of older people.

"You're on vacation and I expect your companions will come looking for you soon, why not play with us until then?"

"That's not-"

"Everyone? This is Nanashi, a good friend of mine who's going to play a few games with us!"

To the male's surprise none of the older kids seemed to care, either shrugging or some other form of lacking surprise while one said, "That's fine, but we'll have uneven teams then."

"Nonsense. After all…"

Gil pushed the homunculus to one side of the net and shooed the others away, smacking him on the ass as he almost jumped out of his skin at the action before cheerfully stating, "We're going to play against all of you so that it's even~!"

Nanashi could only sigh in resignation as competitive spirit flared to life all around him.

"Is this what living a normal life is like, or am I just unnatural?"