Magic within the city of beasts
Here's the next chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and leave a comment on what you think of it.
Chapter six
Two days have gone by, and Kagami had to admit that in those two days things have been peaceful around the Beastmen Co-op. The Horner couple were nice folk who always tried to help make Kagami's stay within Anima-city as comfortable as possible. Kagami repaid in kind by helping around the apartment, while making sure that Kaito and the twins didn't cause any trouble. She had to admit that looking after the three children was hard work. But she somehow managed to keep the peace whenever the kids would argue or fight over the smallest of things. Kagami also made sure to keep out of Shirou's way, and not disturb him whenever they were occupying the same room. They never talked much with each other, but Kagami didn't mind for she knew that Shirou wasn't the type of person to be sociable with other people. Also, Shirou was still suspicious of Kagami so he made sure to keep a close eye on her. Kuro had become Kagami's companion on rare occasions whenever she ventured out onto the roof top to be alone, or reading a book that Melissa would kindly offer to her.
It was through one of these books that Kagami learned that there are many different types of languages in this new world. She also learned that there were different lands and cities spread out on different continents. Kagami grew more interested about what this new world had to offer, and wanted to learn all about it.
She was in the living room reading one of the geography books in one of the room's chairs. She was also in the new clothing that Melissa had bought for her. Kagami was wearing a white short sleeved wide neck T-shirt underneath a long sleeved white and light blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, brown shorts and white/green sneakers.
Kuro was sitting on the back of the chair asleep, while Kagami continued to slowly flip through the pages of the geography book. They were basically the only occupants within the room as Melissa and Gem had gone out to pick up some groceries. Kaito and the twins were taking an afternoon nap in the guest room they were sharing together. Kagami had just turned to the next page when she heard the sound of feet approaching from down the hallway. She looked up to see the door to the living room open and watched as Shirou walked into the room looking tired.
'He must have had a long day of stopping crime,' thought Kagami as she turned her attention back to the page she was reading in her book.
Kagami was just reading about the continent of Japan when Shirou suddenly spoke up: "What exactly are you reading, human?"
Kagami looked up to see Shirou sitting on the couch in front of her with a neutral expression upon his face. He had already hung up his coat just before he had sat himself down on the seat of the furniture.
"Just reading about the continents of this world," replied Kagami nonchalantly as she looked down at the book again. "I'm just on the page that talks about Japan, and I was going to find out where that continent is on the map within the book."
"I see," muttered Shirou as he leaned into back rest of the couch. "Though I thought that it would have been obvious on where you are right now."
Kagami gave Shirou a deadpanned look before answering: "I know that I'm somewhere in Japan. I just wanted to know where Japan is located on the world map, okay?"
Shirou only answered with a huff as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Kagami let out a sigh of exasperation before going back to reading her book again, while ignoring the man in front of her. Kagami quietly read her geography book for about a minute before Shirou spoke up again, but what he said had her stiffening up in surprise and fear.
"So how long are you going to keep hiding your healed injury, human?"
Kagami quickly looked up from her book and opened her mouth to shout at him, but quickly stopped herself before she lowered her voice in to a harsh whisper.
"How do you know about that?"
Shirou opened his eyes again to look at her before he replied: "Did you really think you can hide it forever?"
Kagami didn't reply to Shirou's question. Instead, she quickly closed her book, stood up and quickly set the book down on the seat of the chair. She then motioned for Shirou to follow her, which he did by calmly standing up from his seat on the couch. Kuro, who had awoken from Kagami's harsh whisper, quickly flew over to Shirou's shoulder and sat there. Shirou followed Kagami as she headed towards the guest bedroom that she was occupying. Once they had entered the guest room, Kagami quickly yet quietly closed the door behind her and locked it so no one would enter. Then, as an extra precaution, she summoned up a sound proof barrier so that Kaito and the twins wouldn't hear their conversation. Kagami stood at the door for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and turned to face Shirou, who was standing two feet in front of her. His gaze held a hard glare as he patiently waited to hear what Kagami had to say to him.
"I was hoping to keep it quiet until the week was over," said Kagami as she took off her flannel shirt and tied it around her waist.
She then pulled down on the wide neck of her shirt to reveal her injured shoulder, but when she did Shirou saw that her shoulder was completely healed. The stitches that had been sown into the skin were gone as well, but there were no new scar marks where the wound and stitches had been. Shirou's eyes narrowed at the sight of the healed shoulder before looking directly into Kagami's face.
"Did it just heal in two days?" questioned Shirou in a leveled voice.
"No," replied Kagami with a shake of her head as she pulled collar of her shirt back up into place. "It actually healed before two days."
Two days ago
Kagami was sleeping in her bed before she woke up to the sound of a rooster crowing. She let out a groan and tried to bury her head underneath the pillow. But soon gave up when the pillow wasn't able to muffle out the loud crowing. Kagami sat up in her bed as she rubbed the sleep from out of her eyes before sliding out of her bed. She walked towards the curtains of the window and opened them to reveal the sun shinning within the sky of Anima-City. Kagami winched slightly at the sudden light, but quickly got over it before turning and headed over to drawer. Once she was in front of it, Kagami began to pull open the middle drawer. Kagami then stopped when she became aware that she wasn't feeling any pain within her right shoulder. Kagami blinked before raising her left hand up and slowly pressed it down on her right shoulder. She was surprised when she didn't feel any pain flare up at her touch.
'What the...' thought Kagami before she pulled off her night shirt.
When she did, Kagami's eyes widened when she saw that her shoulder was fully healed with no marks of the stitching to be found. The stiches that had once been sown into her skin had fallen out, and were clinging to the inside of Kagami's night shirt. She slowly raised her left hand up to her shoulder again, and gently touched it with the tip of her fingers.
'It's just like what happened before,' thought Kagami with a light frown on her face. 'I know I'm a fast healer when I activate my magic, but I don't heal this fast.'
Kagami grew concerned about this new discovery before she quickly calmed down and began to think.
'Okay...the mayor expects me to take it easy, and to not do anything too strenuous for a while until she comes to check up on me next week. I just have to keep pretending that I'm still injured, and not cause anyone to be suspicious about why I'm not winching in pain.'
With that thought in mind, Kagami pulled on her night shirt again before she began to search for clothing to wear.
Two days to now
"So this has happened before?" questioned Shirou in a calm voice.
"Yeah," replied Kagami as she now sat on the bed with Shirou looking down at her. "It was when I first arrived in Anima-City after receiving the wounds from that enforcer."
Shirou's eyes narrowed before he spoke once again: "That's impossible. Human's can't heal that fast and beastmen, despite them recovering from even the most serious of wounds, don't heal very fast either."
"I know all that," grumbled Kagami as she brought her hands up to hold the sides of her head in frustration. "Ugh...this is just becoming one big headache to a question that I don't have an answer to. I mean...I've always been able to heal from my wounds using my magic, but it still takes at least a week for them to heal."
Shirou looked down at Kagami with an unreadable expression for a moment before speaking again: "In any case, we should let the mayor know about this."
Kagami sighed while nodding her head in agreement to what Shirou had said. It was probably better that Mayor Rose came over and found out about Kagami's sudden healing. Kagami got up from the bed and made her way over to the door to unlock it for Shirou. She was about to turn the knob when a hand suddenly slammed against the door near her head. Kagami quickly reacted as she turned to face the threat that had snuck up behind her, and strike out at it before she quickly halted. She gazed up in surprise at seeing Shirou standing in front of her in his wolf form. He stared straight into Kagami's visible eye with his icy blue eyes having a sharp edge in their gaze. Kuro had flown over to sit on the back rest of the chair that stood near the bedroom desk, and was watching from a safe distance. Kagami felt her heart pounding hard within her chest as she stood frozen, while leaning up against the door of her room for moment. She then quickly collected herself as she glared up at the wolf in front of her.
"What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack!?" exclaimed Kagami angrily.
"This is also another thing I'm curious about," said Shirou in a serious voice. "I've noticed that any time someone sneaks up on you or whenever you hear a sudden loud noise you'd always tense up. It's as if you're expecting to be attacked by someone."
Kagami froze as she looked at Shirou in shock before looking down at the ground in anger and frustration: "It's nothing. I just had some bad experiences with people who want to fight me back on the streets of Midchilda."
"Oh really? Then why is it that every time you react to these sudden noises or movements that I catch the smell of fear radiating off of you?"
"You wouldn't understand," grumbled Kagami as she clenched her hands into fists.
"That's you're lame excuse? You humans are all pathetic when it comes to hiding things from others of your own kind. You might be able to hide things amongst yourselves, but you can never hide the scent of fear from beastmen."
Anger flared up within Kagami as she lifted her head up to glare at the wolf in front of her. All the emotions that she had kept bottled up inside of her began to flow out as she started to yell at Shirou in anger.
"You wouldn't understand anything you stupid wolf! You wouldn't know what it was like for me when I was dragged off by a group of men when I was still just a kid, while my so called 'parents' just watched from the sidelines as they let those men drag me away! I've had to live a life of hell where I went through day after day of torture where I felt like I was losing my sanity in the process! Then when I'm finally free, I had to learn to survive on my own! I had to rely only on myself, because I could never trust anyone after what had happened to me! I've lived my life that was based on a lie, and I was abandoned by people who I thought that I could trust! That's why no one, not even you, can understand what I've been through and I'll never trust anyone ever again!"
After she said those last words, Kagami raised her right hand up, curled it into a fist and slammed it hard against Shirou's chest. Shirou let out a surprised grunt, but he still stood over Kagami with a cold expression upon his face. Kagami panted before she unconsciously leaned forward and pressed her head against Shirou's furry chest, while closing her visible eye in the process. The wolf beastmen was slightly surprised by this action, but he took this opportunity to take in her scent. He braced himself for the smell of the all too familiar scent of human that would waft up into his nose, but the smell that he caught was something that surprised and confused him. Shirou did catch the scent of human on Kagami, but it was faint underneath the other smells that lingered on her body. The first scent he caught was the powerful smell of sadness, anger and hopelessness. It was a bitter scent that made the wolf wrinkle his nose slightly. The second scent was something that he was all to familiar with. It was the smell of blood, both old and new, which lingered on the young human's body. Even though it was slightly faded it was still strong, and he could tell that it was Kagami's own blood for he didn't smell any other being's scent on her. The last smell that Shirou caught was something that he wasn't expecting. It was the mixed scent of vanilla and cinnamon, which were almost masked underneath the other scents that lingered on Kagami's body. The scent was barely noticeable, but it was there none the less.
Shirou focused on that scent so as to keep track of her if she ever tried to sneak out of the Beastmen Co-op. Once he had her scent firmly locked into his mind, Shirou felt Kagami pull away as her fist dropped down from his chest. He looked down at her and saw Kagami had her gaze turned towards the ground with a tired expression upon her face. She was quiet for a moment before she finally spoke in a horsed voice.
"Sorry for slamming by fist into your chest..." said Kagami softly as she continued to look down at the floor. "And sorry for leaning my head against you. I guess you'll wind up stuck with my disgusting scent lingering on you for the next few weeks, huh?"
Shirou didn't say anything as he only looked down at Kagami and his nose quickly caught the scent of tears beginning to form within the girl's eyes. He then watched as Kagami raised up her left hand to quickly wipe away the tears before they even started. The wolf frowned at the action as Kagami turned away from him and began to unlock the bedroom door. Shirou dropped his hand down from the door and stepped back a few feet away from Kagami, while shifting back into his human form. Kagami soon opened the door before she turned and walked around Shirou, while keeping her visible eye cast down to the floor. She stopped for a moment to stand side-to-side with Shirou before she spoke.
"Can you give me a moment? I just need sometime to myself right now. If that's alright with you?"
Shirou closed his eyes as he let out a quiet sigh before he answered: "I'll call the mayor in about five minutes. Hopefully that'll give you enough time to get your head on straight."
Kagami only nodded her head as she continued to looked down at the floor, while Shirou called Kuro back to his shoulder and walked out of the guest room. She stood in the middle of the bedroom for a moment before she heard Shirou closing the door behind him. Kagami looked over her shoulder to make sure that he was really gone before walking over to the bed and collapsing on top of it. Kagami grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it close to her chest like she did back when she had been a little girl. Kagami laid on the bed as she buried her face into the pillow, but unlike how she had been an innocent young girl, Kagami didn't cry. She just laid there with her face pressed into the pillow with a far off expression within her visible eye. Thought's swirled around within Kagami's head as she thought about what had happened between her and Shirou.
'That was completely embarrassing,' thought Kagami with a light frown upon her face. 'After spending so much time on the streets of Midchilda. I had learned to never give into my emotions, while also learning to be tough around people who would take advantage of me. But somehow that wolf was able to get under my skin by telling me how pathetic I am.' Kagami flipped over onto her back and shoved the pillow back to its original place on the bed as she gazed up at the ceiling of the bedroom. 'Though he isn't wrong on what he said about me being pathetic. After all, I've done a lot of things when it came to finding ways to survive on the streets.' Kagami raised her right hand up to her face as she looked at it before a light frown appeared on her face. 'But I'd bet he'd find me repulsive if he ever discovers what I truly am.'
Kagami then let her mind wander back to when she had slammed her fist against Shirou's chest. She had unconsciously rested her forehead against the wolf's fur when she tried to calm down from her outburst. It had only been for a moment, but that gave Kagami enough time to realize how soft and warm the wolf's fur was. Not only that...she was given the chance to breath in the scent that lingered on the beastman's fur. The smell that met Kagami's nose was something that calmed her down almost instantly.
'His fur had the smell of freshly fallen snow. I guess it fits his cold personality towards humans and others he dislikes, but there was also another smell. He smelled like...mint and pine trees.' Kagami's eye softened as she remembered that scent coming off of Shirou's fur.
It was back when she had escaped from the lab and had been wandering round the forest on her own. Kagami had found refuge underneath a pine tree and rested against its truck after walking for about an hour. It was underneath that pine tree that she discovered wild mint growing near the roots of the tree. The scent from both the pine tree and mint had calmed Kagami that day, while giving her reassurance of being safe after escaping the scientists that tortured her.
'I never thought I'd come across those two scents again,' thought Kagami as a small smile appeared on her face. 'To bad I can't get close to Shirou to smell it. Otherwise he'll get creeped out and kill me right on sight.'
Kagami let her hand drop down onto her stomach as she let out a sigh. She closed her eyes as she took in a few deep breathes to calm her mind. After a minute or two, Kagami was finally able to calm herself before she sat up from the bed and stood up. She dismissed the sound proof spell on her room as she made her way towards the door. Kagami grabbed the handle of the bedroom door and opened it as she walked out into the hallway. She was about to turn and go down the hallway towards Shirou's study before deciding to check on the kids first. Kagami walked over to the children's room before stopping in front of the door. She gently gripped the doorknob before turning it as she quietly opened the door. Kagami then looked into the room and saw the children still asleep within their beds. She could hear the soft breathing of Kaito and the twins as they slept within their warm beds. Kagami smiled before quietly closing the door, and turned to head down the hallway before blinking in surprise. Standing ten feet away from her was Shirou, who was leaning up against the wall of the hallway. Kagami rolled her eyes before walking towards him. He waited for her to come within two feet of him before he pushed himself off from the wall, and began to walk down the hallway with Kagami following close behind him. They soon came to his study and walked in as they waited for Mayor Rose to come to the Beastmen Co-op.
An hour later, with Kagami sitting on the red couch reading, Kuro sleeping on his metal perch and Shirou sitting at his desk going over work papers, Mayor Rose arrived. Shirou told the mayor about Kagami's quick recovery, which caused Mayor Rose to look at surprised Kagami in surprise. Kagami then began to tell Mayor Rose how she had the ability to use her magic to heal wounds. But added that her magic wasn't fast and that it took at least a week or two for her wounds to heal. Kagami's magic didn't have the ability to heal wounds in just one day so the young human was just as baffled by this discovery as the mayor. Mayor Rose went into thought after that and for a time didn't speak, which caused the room to go into a tense silence. After a moment, Mayor Rose spoke up as she turned her attention on Kagami.
"If what you say is true, then maybe it is something that needs to be researched on right away."
Kagami tensed slightly at the word 'Research', and she couldn't help feeling apprehensive about what Mayor Rose had planned. She gulped as she looked up at the mayor as the muscles within the young girl's body tensed slightly.
"W-what do you have in mind?" asked Kagami nervously.
Mayor Rose and Shirou quickly noticed how tense Kagami had become. Shirou frowned at Kagami suspiciously when he smelled fear rising up from her body, while Mayor Rose was slightly curious as to what had caused Kagami to be so tensed.
"If it's alright with you I would like to take a blood sample from you." Mayor Rose explained gently to Kagami while giving her a reassuring smile. "If we do that, then maybe we can figure out how you have suddenly acquired this rapid healing ability."
Kagami quietly gulped before asking her next question: "Um...does that mean I have to go to that Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals building for you to draw blood from me?"
A day ago, Kagami had asked Melissa and Gem to tell her a little bit about Anima-City. They told her about some of the places within the city, and which parts of the city were dangerous to wander through alone. Kagami had then asked them about the tall trident building that stood within the city. The couple told her that the trident building was the Medical Center. They explained that it was part of the Sylvasta Conglomerate which belongs to the Sylvasta family, one of the richest family's in the world. They mentioned that the building was both a laboratory and a hospital where beastmen could go if they were sick or injured. When Melissa and Gem had mentioned that the Medical Center had a laboratory in it, Kagami became sick with fear and anxiety. Memories of how she had been kidnapped and experimented on by scientists had rose up from deep inside her, which caused her to lose her appetite and she wasn't able to eat anything for a while. Her memories also caused her to have a terrible dream last night of how the scientists had caught Kagami again, and continued to torture her with their experiments on her. Kagami hadn't been able to sleep that night, but she was able to hide her tiredness from everyone by pretending that nothing was wrong.
'I've already escaped from one laboratory. I won't go near another prison that will put me through hell again.' Kagami thought fiercely as she unconsciously tightened her hands into fists within her lap.
Mayor Rose seemed to notice Kagami's anxiety before answering: "While that might be the case, I believe that it would be bettered if I took a sample of your blood from you myself. I found that when the people at the Medical Center take blood samples from the patients that are hospitalized there, they wind up mixing them up or misplacing the samples. When that happens, then it becomes nothing but a great headache for me, and to those who work at the Medical Center. If I take the blood sample from you then it would give me time to look at it without fear of misplacing it."
Kagami looked up at the mayor in surprise and confusion at what she had just said. Why would the mayor of Anima-City take the time to examine Kagami's blood?
"The mayor was the very first beastmen to ever earn a doctorate among humans, but mostly she's a specialist in beastmen genetics." Shirou spoke as he guessed what was going through Kagami's mind.
Kagami looked at Shirou in shock before turning her attention back on the mayor with an amazed expression upon her face: "Really? Then why did you become the mayor of Anima-City instead of taking up the job of being a doctor?"
"That's another story for another time," said Mayor Rose with a smile before she became serious. "But I must ask again. Will you allow me to take a sample of your blood, Kagami?"
Kagami looked at the mayor for a second before turning her gaze down to stare at the floor of the library. Kagami let her thoughts wander for a moment as she went over Mayor Rose's request. After a long minute of silence, Kagami finally looked up from the floor and turned her eyes on the mayor with a serious expression upon her face.
"Alright...I'll let you take a sample of my blood, but there's one thing that I would like to make a request of you."
Mayor Rose and Shirou looked at Kagami with the mayor gazing at the girl with a questioning expression upon her face, while Shirou gazed at the young human with a hard look within his eyes. After a second, Mayor Rose finally spoke after seeing the seriousness upon Kagami's face.
"And what is this request that you would like to make?"
Kagami hesitated for a sec, but finally answered the mayor's question: "Promise me that whatever you find in my blood...you won't send me to the lab within the Medical Center."
Mayor Rose and Shirou stared at Kagami after she told them of her request. They were befuddled as to why Kagami asked Mayor Rose not to send her to the Medical Center's lab. Shirou was the first one to speak as he gave Kagami a suspicious glare.
"And why's that?"
Kagami looked down at the floor again as her hands gripped tightly at the leggings of her shorts before replying to Shirou's question.
"Because...I have had a bad experience with places that like to experiment on other living beings."
Mayor Rose gave Kagami a sympathetic look before speaking: "I swear by the silver wolf Ginrou that I won't send you the the Medical Center if I find anything strange within your blood."
Kagami turned her gaze up from the floor to look at Mayor Rose to see the seriousness shining within the woman's eyes. Kagami had learned that when someone within Anima-City swears upon their god Ginrou, then that meant they were serious on keeping their promises. Kagami gave Mayor Rose a small smile of relief and gratitude before she spoke.
"Thank you...Mayor Rose."
Mayor Rose nodded as she gave Kagami a gentle smile before speaking: "I'll come back tomorrow to take a blood sample from you since I did not bring my equipment with me today. But since I'm here, I would like to see if you are able to use your magic to shapeshift into a beastmen."
Kagami was about to nod before remembering that Shirou didn't know about what she and the mayor had discussed on the roof two days ago. Kagami turned to look up at the man and was about to explain, but Shirou surprised her when he spoke.
"I already know about it," he said in a indifferent voice. "I've heard you and the mayor talking about it on the roof before I even went inside."
Kagami gave Shirou a deadpanned look: "So, just like the mayor, you basically eavesdropped on the conversation, huh?"
"Call it whatever you want," muttered Shirou as he turned his head away from her.
Kagami only frowned at him before turning to look at the window and muttered quietly under her breath: "Stupid wolf."
"I heard that, human," said Shirou without turning his head towards her.
Kagami twitched in surprise before growling as she turned to give Shirou a sharp glare. She then took in a deep breath to calm herself before standing up from the couch and walked away a few steps. She then stopped in front of Shirou's desk with a huff. Kagami turned to look at Mayor Rose, who had walked up to stand six meters in front of the young human. Shirou also turned his attention onto Kagami as he became curious to see what kind of transformation she will do.
Kagami placed her hands on her hips before she spoke: "Okay, just to make this clear. I've never once tried transformation magic before so don't expect me to get it right on the first try."
"I know," said Mayor Rose with an encouraging smile. "Just take your time and figure out what type of beastmen you want to be."
Kagami nodded before she let her hands drop down from her hips. She then closed her eyes, and began to take in deep calming breathes as she focused to form an image within her mind.
'Okay...I need to chose what kind of animal I want to be and change it to look like a beastmen.' Kagami thought to herself as she concentrated on her mana and had it gather to the center of her linker core. 'So I think the best animal that I should go with for now is a cat.'
Kagami brought forth the image of a cat to her minds eye before she started to sculp it to look more humanoid. While she was doing this, Kagami was unaware of a blue light glowing faintly within the left pocket of her shorts. Kagami nearly had the image of the cat beastmen made when suddenly the image flashed a bright blue. She let out a sharp gasp of surprise as her eyes flew open. Kagami stumbled back before bumping into the desk behind her, while panting as she tried to catch her breath. Mayor Rose quickly made her way over to Kagami before coming to stand at her side.
"Are you alright?" asked Mayor Rose in concern.
"Y-yeah," answered Kagami with a shaky nod of her head. "I just lost my focus for a moment, but I'll see if I can try transforming into a beastman again."
"I don't think that'll be necessary," said the mayor with a smile.
Kagami looked at Mayor Rose and tilted her head in confusion: "What do you mean?"
"Take a look at your reflection in the window," answered Mayor Rose as she gestured towards the study's large windows.
Kagami, still confused on what was going on, did what the mayor had said and made her way towards the window. She paused when she came to stand in front of the window and what Kagami saw had her blinking in surprise. Staring right back at her was the face of a female beastmen, but it wasn't the face of a feline. No...the face that she was staring at was actually the face of a female wolf.
The female wolf had the same midnight blue colored fur as Kagami's hair and it covered the wolf's whole body. The only parts that weren't covered in midnight blue fur were Kagami's muzzle, hands and the underside of her tail. They were covered in white fur with silver highlights within their strands, and there was also white sitting on the tip of Kagami's wolf ears and upper eye lids. Kagami's visible eye remained the same color, while a long bang of hair continued to cover her right eye. Her hair was a little longer as it grew down passed Kagami's shoulder blades to the middle of her back.
Kagami looked at her reflection before lifting up her right paw/hand up to touch her new wolf ear. She tugged gently on it before dropping her hand down to her side. Kagami then turned her visible eye down onto her tail before watching it wag slowly from side to side. She had to admit that it felt strange to have a new appendage, but luckily it didn't feel uncomfortable for her. Kagami then went crossed eyes as she stared down at her long snout to look at her black nose before giving it a twitch. After looking herself over, Kagami frowned in thought about her transformation before Mayor Rose spoke.
"How does it feel to you?"
Kagami looked at the mayor before scratching the side of her left furry cheek: "Well this wasn't exactly the form that I had chosen to go with. But as people always say: Baggers can't be choosers."
"If this wasn't the form you were going for then what was it?" asked Shirou with a raised eyebrow.
"I was going for a cat beastmen form," answered Kagami as she turned to look at him while crossing her arms over her chest in the process. "But as I said to you and Mayor Rose. I never tried a transformation spell before so I didn't expect to get it right the first time."
"So basically you messed up," stated Shirou in a flat voice.
An anime tick mark appeared on the side of Kagami's head as she glowered at Shirou before she shouted at him: "Sometimes magical spells get messed up you stupid canine!"
"You do know that you're a canine yourself right now, right?" questioned Shirou with an expression that, Kagami thought, looked amused.
Kagami growled at the man and was about to retort when her eyes caught sight of movement from the study's door. Shirou and Mayor Rose noticed Kagami looking towards the door before they also turned their attention towards it. It had only been a second, but they were able to catch sight of three heads poking around the corner of the door before it was quickly shut. Kagami blinked before sighing in exasperation at the realization of who had been spying on them. She then straightened and called out the names of the three that were behind the door.
"Kaito! Kiki! Akira! Come in here please!"
For a second the door remained close, but it soon opened to reveal the three children in their beastmen forms. They all chuckled nervously as they gave Kagami, Shirou and Mayor Rose shaky smiles.
"Konnichiwa," echoed the children from the door.
"What are you three doing up?" questioned Shirou with a frown.
Kaito was the first one to answer, but his reply came out as more of a question: "Um...we were heading for the bathroom?"
"All three of you?" asked Mayor Rose suspiciously.
Kaito and the twins flinched at Mayor Rose's question, and were about to answer before Kagami motioned for all three of them to come forward. With a nervous gulp, the three children slowly entered the room and walked up to Kagami with their ears pinned down to the sides of their heads. They soon came to stand in front of Kagami, who had her arms crossed and was looking down at them with a suspicious glare upon her face. Kagami saw that the kids were wearing the new clothing that they had bought with Melissa a few days ago.
Kaito was wearing a green short sleeved shirt with a white strip on the front, tan shorts and white sneakers. Kiki was wearing a pink jumper's dress over a white short sleeved shirt, white socks and pink slip on shoes. Finally there was Akira, he was wearing a short sleeved shirt with dark blue on top and light grey on the bottom, brown shorts and blue/white runners.
"Alright...just how much have you see in here?" questioned Kagami in a firm voice.
Kaito and the twins looked at each other for a moment before shouting out their answer. Unfortunately they blurted out a different answers to Kagami's question.
"We didn't see anything!"
"We only saw a little bit!"
"We only stood at the door for a few seconds!"
Kagami gave the three kids an unimpressed look before turning her eyes on Kaito, who gulped at her hard expression.
"Kaito…how much have you three seen within this room?"
Kaito didn't say anything for a moment, but soon cracked under the pressure of Kagami's hard gaze.
"We saw...and heard...everything."
Kagami let out a tired sigh before looking down at the kids in disappointment: "Honestly, haven't your parents taught you not to spy on other peoples' privet conversation?"
"We were curious about what was going on," said Akira in a small voice.
"That curiosity will lead you three into trouble if you're not careful," scolded Kagami in a firm yet gentle voice before kneeling down to be at the kid's heights. "Listen, you can't just go around snooping or eavesdropping on a conversation that you're not meant to hear, understand?"
"Yes Ms. Kagami," echoed Kaito and the twins sadly.
"So, will you promise me that you won't do something like this again?"
"We promise."
Kagami let out another sigh before Mayor Rose spoke up: "This has become a predicament."
Kagami stood up to gaze at the mayor with a look of concern upon her face, while Shirou held a neutral expression with his arms crossover his chest. Kagami frowned as she turned her gaze down toward the floor as she contemplated on what to do. The way she saw it there were only two options for this situation. The first option was to tell the truth to the kids and have them promise not to tell anyone about her nor where she came from. The second option was something that Kagami disliked the most. She could erase the memories of Kaito and the twins of ever finding out the truth about her.
'I don't know if I could do that to the kids,' thought Kagami sadly to herself. 'They were placed under my care and they trust me. I don't want to take away their memories unless...'
"We promise that we won't tell anyone!" exclaimed Kaito as he cut Kagami off from her thoughts.
Kagami, Shirou and Mayor Rose looked down at the kids who stared up at them with determined expressions upon their faces.
"We don't really know why you want to keep this from Mr. Gem and Mrs. Melissa, but we understand if you don't want them to find out. So we won't tell them," said Kaito with an honest expression upon his face.
Kiki and Akira nodded their heads in agreement with the same expression upon their faces as well. Kagami looked down at the children in surprise before a sad smile appeared on her face. She bent down to look at Kaito and the twins as she spoke in a soft voice.
"It's not just Mr. Gem and Mrs. Melissa that you have to keep this secret from. You also have to keep this secret from other beastmen as well."
The three children looked up at Kagami as they tilted their heads to the side to show their confusion. Kagami's heart melted slightly at the sight before she continued on with her explanation.
"I don't think beastmen are ready to know about magic just yet-"
"-Especially if it's a human who wields it," added Shirou with deep disapproval laced in his voice.
Kagami glanced at Shirou to give him a sharp glare before continuing: "The point is, is that if anyone finds out that someone abnormal as me has magical powers they might wind up going into a panic. And that could cause a lot of trouble for the beastmen who only want to have a normal life here in Anima-City."
A look of understanding came over Kaito and the twin's faces before they nodded their heads at Kagami. The young teenager smiled before she continued with what she needed to say to the three children.
"So, on that note, will you three promise me that you won't tell anyone about me having magical powers?"
"We promise!" exclaimed Kaito with a nod.
"We even swear upon the silver wolf Ginrou that we won't breathe a single word about you having magical powers to anyone," added Akira with Kiki nodding her head in agreement.
"Alright," said Kagami with a gentle nod of her head. "I'll hold you three to your words of promise."
Kaito and the twins glanced at each other with joy written over their faces, but their joy was quickly replaced by fear at what Kagami said next.
"But if you don't keep your promise then I'll have to ask Mrs. Melissa not to buy you guys anymore of those sweets you love so much."
Kaito and the twins let out cries of dismay before they shot forward and groped at Kagami's legs. They then began to talk rapidly as they told Kagami that they'll be good and that they'll keep their promise. While adding in pleading voices that she doesn't ask Melissa to take away the sweets they had come to love in Anima-City. Mayor Rose couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at the scene that was being played out in front of her. She remembered a long time ago how some parents had made the same threat of not buying their children anymore sweets if they misbehaved. Shirou watched with slight amusement before he turned to look at Kagami with a light frown on his face.
"You know that was an unnecessary threat, right?"
Kagami straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, while smirking at the man in amusement: "Oh, come on. Don't tell that you're parents didn't use the same method on you when you were a kid."
"That's none of your business," muttered Shirou with a sharp glare.
Kagami raised an eyebrow at the wolf beastman before turning her head away to hide a playful smirk from him: 'I bet they did.'
Then, as if hearing her thoughts, Shirou walked over and gave Kagami's right wolf ear a sharp flick. Kagami let out a loud yelp of surprise before turning to glare at Shirou.
"What was that for!?" exclaimed Kagami angrily.
"It's a hundred years too early for you to be mocking someone who is older than you," said Shirou as he gave Kagami a disapproving look.
"I didn't even say anything," grumbled Kagami as she rubbed her ear to soothe the slight stinging that tingled around it.
"But you were thinking it," said Shirou with a frown.
Kagami frowned up at Shirou: "Don't you know how to take a joke?"
"Not when it comes to humans."
Kagami placed her hands on her hips as her left wolf ear flicked in irritation: "Are you always this grumpy when waking up in the morning?"
"Are you always this annoying throughout the day?"
"I'm not going to answer that question!" growled Kagami as she crossed her arms and turned her head away from Shirou.
Kaito and the twins were silent as they gazed up at Shirou and Kagami arguing with each other. They were no strangers when it came to adults arguing for the children had seen their parents arguing in front of them. Usually the arguments their parents always had were tense and left the kids scared that someone was going to get hurt. But the argument that was going on between Kagami and Shirou was different from what they were used to. Sure the argument is slightly tense, but the kids could tell that the argument was more like teenagers bickering with each other over something silly. Mayor Rose was also watching Kagami and Shirou arguing with each other, and she couldn't help chuckling at the sight. She had known Shirou for a very long time and she had never really seen him arguing with anyone before. Now as the mayor watched, she could see that Shirou wasn't really showing much anger towards Kagami like he had a few days ago. Instead the wolf beastman seemed to tolerate the young human's existence, and only showed annoyance to her more than anything. Kagami also seemed to show that she was willing to tolerate the wolf's existence as well.
'They act almost like they were siblings,' thought the mayor in amusement.
Kagami and Shirou's argument soon ended with the young teen finally letting out a groan before shouting out in annoyance: "Ugh! This argument is so tedious! I'm done with being around you, you grouchy old wolf!"
"The feelings mutual, you stupid human," said Shirou as he looked away from Kagami with his arms crossover his chest.
Kagami huffed at the wolf beastman with indignation before turning to look at Mayor Rose and bowed to her while speaking in a calmer voice.
"It was a pleasure seeing you again Mayor Rose. I hope to see you again tomorrow when it comes to taking a blood sample from me."
"It was good to see you again too," said Mayor Rose with a nod. "Also make sure you practice with walking around in your beastman form. It's best that you'd get used to it every once in a while."
"Yes ma'am," said Kagami before she turned to look down at the children. "As for you three. It's time that we left and let these two talk with each other about adult stuff."
Kaito and the twins let out protests as Kagami ushered them out of the room. Once they were out, Kagami closed the door to the study behind her. Shirou and Mayor Rose stood within the room while looking at the door for a moment before the mayor chuckle once again.
"Kagami has grown to be more matured when it comes to looking after the children," said Mayor Rose with a smile.
"I'm still not confident that she can handle this sort of responsibility," spoke Shirou as he continued to look at the door with a frown on his face. "She's also growing too attached to them with each passing day."
"That's to be expected," said Mayor Rose as she looked at Shirou. "Though I'm quite surprised at how you two seem to tolerate each other after just being under the same roof for the first two days."
"Maybe, but I still don't trust her. Whatever secret she's hiding from us about her past can't be anything good for Anima-City."
"Still, it is best that we don't press her about the issue," said Mayor Rose with caution in her voice. "Whatever her past was, we need to approach her gently on it. Though what she said about labs has me wondering what had happened to her before she arrived here to Anima-City."
Shirou looked away from Mayor Rose as he looked down at the ground in thought. He remembered Kagami shouting at him about what she had gone through as a child. How she had been captured by a group of men who had put her through painful experiment tests.
'Could that be connected to her fear of laboratories?' thought Shirou as a light frown appeared on his face.
There was more to this young human's past that left Shirou wondering what exactly Kagami was hiding from them, and why she was reluctant to talk about it. He also can't help feeling curious as to why the young human was covered in the scent of her own blood. The memory of smelling that scent on Kagami's body made the wolfman narrow his eyes. He couldn't help feeling a bit sympathetic for the young human that had come to live underneath the same roof as him.
'What exactly had she gone through back in her world to have the scent of her own blood lingering on her body?' thought Shirou to himself as he turned to look at the door of his study again.
That girl was strange and Shirou knew that he needed to keep an eye on her whenever he can. Even if it means tolerating her existence when they were in the same room.
To be continued
Word translation:
Konnichiwa-It can either mean 'hello' or a greeting in either mid-day or early evening.