Magic within the city of beasts
Here's the next chapter of my crossover story. Sorry for the long wait everyone. I was having a bit of a writer's block when it came to writing down this chapter. Not to mention that I was busy with some of my other stories. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and leave a review to tell me what you think of it.
"Talk" Normal speech
'Think' thoughts
{Think} Telepathic mind-link
Chapter eight
Morning soon came around as Kagami woke up bright and early before Gem could start his crowing. Kagami threw on Shirou's shirt that she had borrowed yesterday and blue jeans. She slipped on her runners before she started to make her way towards her bedroom door. But she quickly paused when she remembered something, and turned to walk towards the bedroom desk. On the desk sat the crystal marble, but it was wrapped up in net of grey nylon thread and attached to it was a thick leather cord. Kagami had gotten the nylon thread and leather cord from Melissa, who had stopped by a crafts store the day when she had had gone shopping for Kagami's new clothing. Kagami was a little surprised at first by the craft supplies and asked what they were for. Melissa replied that Kagami can use them to create a necklace for the crystal marble. At first, Kagami wasn't really into the idea of making a necklace, but that changed after her meeting with Mayor Rose about her quick healing ability, and being nervous about the next day of the mayor taking a blood sample from her. After asking Melissa and Gem to look after the children, Kagami had retreated to her room to be by herself for a while. Kagami had been a bit of a nervous wreck as fearful thoughts ran through her head before she decided to take up the idea of distracting herself with something else.
Kagami took out the craft supplies and began to make the necklace for her crystal marble. She had to admit, putting all her concentration into something else really helped her push away the disturbing thoughts that plagued her mind. It took almost the whole day to finish the necklace, but Kagami was happy with the results of her work.
Kagami picked up the necklace and slipped it over her head. The crystal marble hung just above her chest before she tucked the marble underneath the collar of the shirt. She patted the marble underneath her shirt before she turned and made her way towards the bedroom door again. Kagami quietly opened the door before looking up and down the hallway to make sure that nobody was walking about. Once she saw that the coast was clear, Kagami walked out into the hallway and headed towards the children's bedroom. She soon came to the door before quietly opening it to make sure that the kids were still asleep. Kagami smiled when she heard the light snoring of Kaito and the twins.
'You kids be good for Mrs. Melissa and Mr. Gem, alright?' thought Kagami to herself as she stared fondly at the children's sleeping forms. 'I'll be back as soon as I can.'
Kagami then quietly closed the door to the children's bedroom and began to silently make her trek towards the kitchen. As she drew closer, Kagami caught the whiff of something bitter floating within the air. It was a bitter scent that she had never smelled before back on her homeworld. She soon arrived at her destination and saw Shirou at the table drinking a dark brown liquid from a cup. On the table was an empty plate, which made Kagami think that Shirou had already eaten.
"Morning," greeted Kagami as she walked passed Shirou and headed towards the kitchen.
Shirou only gave a grunt of acknowledgement as he looked through the news paper. Kagami got in about three steps before Mrs. Melissa suddenly appeared around the corner with a smile.
"Well, you're up bright and early," she said.
Kagami was slightly surprised that Mrs. Melissa was up early before smiling at her: "Yeah, I've decided to get a head start on the day. Don't want to waste the whole morning sleeping in."
"Shirou told me that you two are going out again today," said Mrs. Melissa as she headed back into the kitchen. "So I decided to make you some breakfast before you leave. Sit yourself down at the table and I'll bring your breakfast out to you."
"Oh...thank you," said Kagami in gratitude.
Kagami walked back over to the table before sitting herself down across from Shirou. She let out a quiet sigh as a soft frown appeared on her face, while her eyes looked down at the surface of the table in thought. For a while there was silence at the table before Shirou spoke without looking up from his news paper.
"What's on your mind?"
Kagami blinked as she looked up at Shirou for a moment before shaking her head with a soft smile on her face: "It's nothing. I'm just thinking that maybe I should try making my own breakfast sometime. I don't want to depend on Mrs. Melissa and Mr. Gem all the time."
"Whatever," said Shirou as he flipped to the next page of his news paper.
Kagami's smile turned into a pout as she gave Shirou a annoyed look before leaning her right arm on top of the table. She then rested her cheek on the knuckle of her fist. She turned her gaze away from him as she stared off in a different direction from him.
'Geeze...who knew that he would be this grouchy in the morning,' thought Kagami to herself.
Melissa soon came over to the table and placed a tray that had a Kagami's breakfast. The young teen looked down, and saw that the tray had a bowl of rice, a plate of cooked fish, a piece of toast with jam on top and orange juice.
"Here you go," said Melissa with a smile.
"Thank you Mrs. Melissa," spoke Kagami as she gave Melissa a nod of gratitude.
Once Melissa turned and walked back into the kitchen, Kagami got down to eating her breakfast. She made sure to eat at a steady pace so as not to choke or accidently bite her tongue. Kagami soon finished after gulping down her orange juice before letting out a satisfied sigh.
"That was good," said Kagami with a smile.
"You finished that quickly," spoke Melissa with a chuckle.
"Well I wanted to make sure that I didn't make this guy wait too long," said Kagami as she gestured to Shirou before standing up from the table.
Kagami picked up her tray and carried it to the kitchen. She placed it on the kitchen counter and was about to unload the dishes before Melissa stopped her.
"It's alright. You two should get going."
"Are you sure?" asked Kagami with reluctance.
"Of course," replied Melissa with a wave of her hand.
"...Okay," said Kagami as she turned and began to make her way out of the kitchen. "Make sure that Kaito and the twins don't sleep in too late."
"Don't worry. Gem and I will make sure that the children get up early enough for breakfast. And if they ask about where you are, I'll just tell them that you had to help Shirou out with something."
Kagami paused to give Melissa a smile before she walked into the dinning room to see Shirou placing the news paper down on the table. He then stood up and made his way to the coat hanger to grab his trench coat. Kagami quickly followed as he slipped on his coat and began to make his way towards the door. But they were stopped by Melissa, who once again gave them the good luck charms. Once that was done, Kagami and Shirou made their way out the door and outside the Beastmen Co-op building. As they walked down the street, Kagami watched as Shirou once again opened the good luck charm and started to eat the offering inside it. She sighed mentally to herself while shaking her head in disbelief.
'This guy...does he always eat every luck charm that is given to him?' thought Kagami to herself.
They continued to walk in silence for a while, even after Shirou finished eating the offering, before Kagami decided to speak.
"So what's the plan?" asked Kagami with a raised eyebrow.
"We're going to the police station to see if we can't get the weasel there to tell us where he met that human," answered Shirou bluntly.
"You think you'll be able to get that weasel to spill the beans?" questioned Kagami as she shoved her hands into her pockets.
"If he doesn't give us the information that we want from him, then it might come down to force."
Kagami grimaced at Shirou's words before a nervous smile appeared on her face: "I hate to see how you'll get him to crack when forcing information out of him."
"It's either that or I get you to use that ability of yours again."
Kagami paused in her tracks at Shirou's words as a frown appeared on her face. Shirou noticed and turned to look at her with narrow eyes as he waited to hear what she would say. Kagami stared at Shirou with an unreadable expression upon her face before sighing as she walked towards him. She then stopped to stand an inch in front of the tall beastman.
"You know if you're going to bring up my abilities every time we talk, then I think I have a better way for us to communicate so that nobody else can overhear us." Kagami said in a low voice so no one within earshot could hear her.
"And what's that?" questioned Shirou as he glared down at Kagami suspiciously.
Kagami didn't reply to Shirou's question. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the mana within her linker core. What happened next had Shirou blinking in shock and surprise.
{Can you hear me?} spoke Kagami's voice inside the wolf beastman's head.
Shirou looked down at Kagami in astonishment, before she opened her eyes again to look up at him: {This is another magical ability that mages have. It's called telepathy and mages use this type of magic to communicate privately with each other. They can even use this type of magic to communicate long distances. It's a direct mind-to-mind magical ability, but since you don't have any magic then this ability is pretty much a one way communication link.}
Shirou lightly frowned at what Kagami had just said before closing his eyes. Kagami blinked as she stared up at the beastman in front of her in confusion before think that he was developing a headache over what he had discovered.
'Can't really blame him,' thought Kagami with a playful smirk. 'After all, magic is pretty complicated to understand.'
{And you're an expert on that category?} questioned a familiar voice inside Kagami's head.
Kagami jumped slightly in surprise before glancing up at Shirou, who was looking down at her with his usual stoic expression. She blinked at the tall beastman in surprise before huffing in slight annoyance.
{Beginner's luck,} grumbled Kagami as she began to walk down the street.
Shirou easily caught up with Kagami with his long stride before he was walking beside her. After a moment of silence, Kagami began to communicate with Shirou through their new mind-link.
{So...you want me to look through that weasel's memories if he doesn't spill the beans?}
{If it comes down to it,} replied Shirou as he continued to look straight ahead. {The only question is, do you need to be in contact with him to look into his memories?}
{No,} replied Kagami with a small shake of her head. {I can look into people's memories without touching them, but only at a short distance.}
{How short of a distance?}
{Um...about ten to eleven feet. If it was any father than that, then I can't really get the clear details of their memories. If I had a magical device, then that would be a whole different story.}
{A magical device?} questioned Shirou as he glanced down at Kagami in confusion.
{A magical device is a tool that mages use to utilize their magic. You could say that it helps the mage to concentrate their mana into powerful attacks or spells. Though they aren't all the same. There are different types of magical devices that are used by a mage that chooses one of them. There are also magical devices that have an AI system programed into them that makes the device stand out from the rest.}
{So basically they're machines that obey their master's commands.}
{Not exactly. You see, the magical devices that have the AI program can be pretty particular when it comes to choosing those who can handle their powers. The mage they are partnered with has to have the same mana frequency as them before they can really become partners with each other.}
{Partners?}
{That's right. When you're given a magical device, then that device will become your partner for life.}
Shirou let out a quiet hum as he turned to look ahead of him again: {You're homeworld sounds like a strange place.}
{And this city isn't?} quipped Kagami playfully.
Shirou gave Kagami a flat look as she smirked up at him: {Don't start getting cocky, human. You still got a lot to learn about beastmen, and this city you're living in right now.}
Kagami blinked before frowning as she turned her head away to the side, while the young teen closed her eye in the process.
{Sheesh...you really don't have a sense of humor, do you,} stated Kagami with a grumble.
Shirou didn't reply as he only turned his attention back in front of him. The wolf beastman quickly spotted two young beastmen teenagers walking down the street towards them. Shirou lightly nudged Kagami with his elbow, which caused the young teen too glance up at him in confusion. She then looked in front of her to see the two boys walking towards them. Kagami tensed slightly before turning her gaze downwards to look at the ground, while staying close to Shirou's side in the process. They walked passed the teenagers as they continued on their way down the sidewalk. Kagami waited to hear one of the teenagers speak up and tell their friend that they caught her scent. But all she heard were the two boys talking about Anima-City holding a festival in the next three days. At the mention of the festival, Kagami became curious about it and decided to ask Shirou.
{Hey...is it okay if I ask you something?}
{What is it?} grumbled Shirou in slightly annoyed voice.
{When I first got here to Anima-City, a couple of girls were talking about a festival. Do you know what this festival is going to be about?}
{It's a festival that will celebrate Anima-City's ten year anniversary. It's an anniversary of when this city was built for beastmen.}
{Sounds like fun. I'm sure Kaito and the twins will enjoy it with Mrs. Melissa and Mr. Gem.}
Shirou looked down at Kagami with a raised eyebrow: {You aren't going to complain about going?}
{No,} answered Kagami with a sad smile. {It's a festival for beastmen only and I'm just a human. Plus, I don't really like being in crowded places very much.}
Shirou became quiet after that as the wolf beastman turned to look ahead of him again, and Kagami decided that he was done talking with her . Kagami let out a light sigh before looking forward and saw a building coming up just ahead of them. It was a large building with multiple windows and the large words 'ANIMA-CITY' imprinted on the flat curved overhang above the front doors. There were also two large garage doors stationed on either side of the building.
'I guess this is the place,' thought Kagami to herself as she followed Shirou across the street.
They walked up the stairs towards the front doors of the police station and entered the building. Kagami saw that the inside of the building was in different shades of blue, and that there were many police men and women walking about. Kagami can sense a stiff aura throughout the police station, and knew that this place wasn't suitable for people who don't take the law seriously. The aura of the place also made Kagami a little tense as she unconsciously ducked her head between her shoulders. She lowered her eyes to look down at the floor so as to avoid looking at the officers within the building. She made sure to stick close to Shirou as he talked to one of the officers at the front desk.
{What's wrong?} asked Shirou in annoyance through the mind-link.
{It's nothing,} replied Kagami as she continued to look down at the ground. {It's just that...this place has such a tense aura. I can understand how criminals would feel when they're brought into this place.}
{Not surprising since you were a criminal yourself,} stated Shirou flatly.
Kagami's eyes closed as a exasperated expression appeared on her face, while her right eyebrow twitched slightly: {You're never going to let that go are you?}
Shirou didn't reply to that question as he only turned and began to head in the direction of a long hallway. Kagami quickly followed after him, while making sure that she didn't accidently bump into anyone along the way. After walking down the hall for a few minutes, they came upon a man that looked to be in his early forties.
The man had a light tan complexion, large, dark gray mustache, and thick eyebrows. He wore a gray suit, a white collared shirt, mint turquoise tie, light olive overcoat, and a purple-gray newsboy cap.
The man was talking with one of the police officers before he noticed Kagami and Shirou walking towards him. The man turned to look at the officer and said something to him before the man walked towards the duo. Shirou paused in his steps with Kagami stopping behind him to look at the man that was coming towards them. The man came to stand in front of them before giving Shirou a welcoming smile.
"Good day, Ogami," greeted the man. "I suppose you came here to question the weasel beastman that you caught yesterday."
"Yeah," replied Shirou with a nod of his head.
The man then noticed Kagami standing behind Shirou, who nervously smiled and gave him a wave: "And who might this young lady be?"
"Just a tag-along," answered Shirou in a cool voice.
Kagami gave Shirou a flat look before politely bowing to the man: "My name is Kagami Kage, sir. I came here to hopefully help you discover who had hired that weasel who tried to capture one of the kids that I'm currently looking after."
"A yes," spoke the man with a smile. "The mayor told me about you a couple of days ago. She said that you're the caretaker of three orphan children, correct?"
"Yes sir," replied Kagami as she straightened up and nodded her head at the man.
"Glad to finally meet you," said the man. "I'm Yuji Tachiki. I'm one of the officers of the Anima-City Police force."
"Nice to meet you," said Kagami as she began to relax a little.
Kagami could sense that Yuji took his job seriously, but she could also tell that he was a beastman that had a kind heart towards others who were in need of help. Yuji held out a clipboard for the Kagami and Shirou to sign. Once that was done, he turned and began to lead the duo down the hallway. Yuji soon brought the Shirou and Kagami to the interrogation room. He opened the door to reveal the weasel beastman in his human form sitting at a table, while one of the police officers kept a close eye on him. The weasel was now wearing a white long sleeved shirt, pants and white shoes. His hands were bound together by metal handcuffs so as to make sure that he didn't try anything funny. The weasel beastman, who had his head bowed, looked up to glare at the trio when the door to the interrogation room closed. He then smirked before he began to speak in a casual voice.
"So...the one who brought me in here has decided to come and have a friendly chat with me, huh?"
"I don't do friendly chats, weasel," said Shirou in voice that carried a sharp edge to it.
"Aren't you cold hearted," muttered the weasel beastman before he turned his attention on Kagami, who stood quietly behind Shirou. "I also see you brought the bitch with you as well. Are you going to sic her on me like last time at the park?"
Kagami gave the weasel an unimpressed expression before she spoke: "Does your mother have to wash that dirty mouth of yours every time you soil it with those nasty cuss words of yours?"
Her question caused the weasel beastmen to twitch as his smirk changed into a scowl: "What did you just say!?"
Kagami only turned her head away and leaned herself up against the wall of the interrogation room. Shirou glanced over at her and gave the young teen a firm look that said to stay out of this conversation, but he also sent his thoughts to Kagami on what she would need to do.
{If we can't get any real information out of him, then you'll have to use your magic to look into his memories. See if you can find out what he's really hiding from us, got it?}
{No need to tell me twice,} spoke Kagami gently through the mindlink. {If he starts lying or is giving you and Mr. Tachiki a hard time, then I'll get straight to work on looking through his memories.}
Shirou only nodded before he and Yuji walked towards the table before stopping in front of it. Shirou continued to stand, while Yuji took a seat within the chair that faced the weasel beastman before the inspector began to talk.
"Now then, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you," started Yuji before the weasel interrupted him with a scoff.
"Like hell I'm going to talk to you!" exclaimed the weasel rudely as he glared at the inspector. "You'll find that getting information out of me isn't going to be easy! I'll never talk, no matter what kind of threats you throw at me! My client isn't the type of man to give out information easily, so don't expect me to have all the answers for you mutts!"
'This guy is seriously annoying,' thought Kagami to herself as she glared at the weasel beastman.
"I see," replied Yuji in a calm voice before he continued on with his questioning. "Still, can you tell us what your client wants with the child that you tried to captured?"
The weasel scoffed as he smirked at Yuji and Shirou: "If you want that information then you'll have to beat it out of me. Besides, even I don't know what my client wants with young beastmen. All I know is that he wants them for testing or something."
Kagami frowned at what the weasel said before closing her eyes, and casually leaned against the wall of the interrogation room. As she did that, Kagami heard Shirou's voice speak to her through their telepathic link.
{Start looking through his memories. We'll continue questioning him to divert his attention from you.}
{You got it,} said Kagami before she concentrated on her magic.
Kagami blocked out all noises from within the interrogation room as she dove right into the weasel's memories. She watched and listened to the scene of the weasel talking to Nakamura. Kagami heard Nakamura tell the weasel beastman about capturing young beastmen (whether they'd be teenagers or kids) before handing the weasel a piece of paper. She watched as the weasel tucked the piece of paper into the back left pocket of his pants. Kagami continued to watch and listen careful so that she didn't miss any important information. After a minute of looking through the weasel's memories, Kagami decided that she had seen enough and pulled out of the weasel's mind. She opened her eyes and watched as the questioning with the weasel ended with neither male getting anything out of him. The weasel beastman had a smug look upon his face, thinking that he had won.
'Too bad the jokes on him,' thought Kagami secretly to herself.
The trio then began to exit out of the interrogation room, but paused when the weasel beastman rudely called out to Kagami.
"Hey, bitch! Just so you know, you're not fooling anyone with your pretty looks! You're nothing but an ugly girl with an ugly body to boot!"
Kagami frowned at what the weasel had said, but she didn't say anything for she didn't want to give that beastman the satisfaction of egging her into getting violent. She did turn to look at the weasel as a cold expression appeared on her face, which caused the weasel beastman to freeze up in fear.
"Just be lucky that Mr. Ogami knocked you out and brought you here to jail. Otherwise I would have broken every bone in your body." Kagami said in a calm voice, which held a sharp edge to it.
The weasel shivered within his chair before the trio walked out of the interrogation room, while closing the door behind them. They walked down the hallway until they were about twenty feet away from the interrogation room before they stopped. Yaji let out a sigh as he adjusted the cap on his head before he spoke in a tired voice.
"So much for getting any information out of him," said Yaji in a exasperated voice. "That weasel is a tough nut to crack. I'm afraid that it'll take some time for us to get him to tell us where his client is hiding."
"Not to mention using a bar of soap to wash out that mouth of his," added Kagami in teasing voice.
Shirou rolled his eyes at Kagami's stupid joke, while Yaji chuckle as the tension from his body relaxed a little.
"You're probably right about that Ms. Kagami," said Yaji before he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "Still though, it'll be hard to get him to talk."
"Mr. Tachiki, when you bring a criminal in, what happens to the clothing that they were previously wearing?" asked Kagami in a curious voice.
Yaji looked at Kagami in surprise before taking on a thoughtful look: "Hm...well, we usually keep the clothing in a special room before giving them back to their rightful owner after the criminal served their time in prison. Why do you ask?"
"Let's just say I have a hunch on something that could be hidden within the weasel's clothing," answered Kagami with a secretive smile. "Do you mind if we'd take a look at them?"
"I don't see why not," said Yaji with a shrug. "You two go wait in the lobby while I go get the weasel's clothing."
Shirou and Kagami nodded before they headed back to the front desk. As they walked, Shirou began to talk to Kagami through their mind-link.
{Did you discover something from the weasel's memories?}
{Yeah,} replied Kagami with a smile. {Let's just say that it could be a clue to where the culprit might be hiding. It's a piece of paper that Nakamura handed to the weasel beastmen. I'm not sure what it is, but it could be directions to where his hideout is. Or it could be a list of victims that the weasel was ordered to kidnap.}
{Either way, it's our only clue,} said Shirou as they entered the lobby and stood waiting for Yaji to come back with the weasel's clothing. {Where exactly would the paper be hidden within the clothing?}
{Left back pocket of the weasel's pants,} answered Kagami with as a playful smirk appeared on her face. {You glad that I came along to make you're job easier for you?}
Shirou only huffed as he turned to look away from her: {In your dreams, human.}
Kagami let out a quiet huff of amusement before ending the link between them. She then sat down in one of the chairs, while Shirou stood leaning against the wall next to her. Kagami let out a quiet sigh of content as she sat back in the chair and relax. She was relieved to sit down and rest after using her magic to look through the weasel's memories. Though, she was kind of surprise that she wasn't as tired like she usual was after using her magic.
'Not to mention I don't feel the usual burning within my throat either,' thought Kagami as she raised her left hand up to her neck. 'This is really strange. Just what in the world is going on with my body?'
Shirou, who had been quietly watching Kagami, started to speak to the young teen through their mind-link: {What's wrong?}
Kagami blinked in surprise before lowering her hand from her neck: {N-nothing...just wondering about something that's all.}
{Does it have something to do with why your body is able to heal itself faster than normal?}
Kagami became quiet as she hesitated in answering Shirou's question, but soon let out a mental sigh before answering in a small voice.
{Yeah...It's so strange. Usually I would feel exhausted after using my magic to look through people's memories, but today I don't really feel that tired after looking through that's weasel's mind. Also...I don't feel that intense burning within my throat anymore.}
{A burning in your throat?} questioned Shirou with a light frown on his face.
Kagami gave him a small nod before she explained: {Sometimes, when I use too much of my magic, my throat will start to burn. That's when I'd start coughing up blood.}
Shirou's eyes narrowed at what Kagami had said: {You've coughed up blood before?}
{Yes,} said Kagami as a soft expression appeared on her face. {It happened before those men came and took me away. I was just practicing some simple magic when I suddenly started feeling tired. That was when the burning started to build up within my throat and I began coughing up blood. I was scared and I wasn't sure if I should tell my formal parents about it.}
Shirou frowned as he mulled over what Kagami had just told him. From what she had told him, coughing up blood was a sign that something was wrong with a being's body.
{Has this continued to happen back on your homeworld?} questioned Shirou.
{For five years,} answered Kagami as she looked down at her lap. {But it only happens if I either use too much of my magic, or if I used a powerful spell to protect myself.}
Shirou hummed thoughtfully to himself as he cut off the mind-link and began to think over the information that he had gotten from Kagami. This human had been having trouble with her body ever since she had been a little girl.
'But ever since she came to Anima-City, she hasn't shown any signs of coughing up blood, only being tired and passing out from blood loss that one time.' Shirou thought silently to himself as he turned his gaze towards the ground. 'Just what exactly is she hiding that she doesn't want anyone to know about?'
The two sat or stood in silence as they waited for Yaji to come back with the weasel's clothing. It took about ten minutes before the officer came back with the weasel's clothing, which were wrapped in an air tight plastic bag. Yaji came to stand in front of the duo before he began to unwrap the plastic around the clothing. He then handed the clothing to Shirou, who pushed himself off from the wall and took the clothes from him. Shirou took the pants out from underneath the shirt, and looked in the back pocket for the paper that Kagami said it was in. He soon found it and pulled the paper out to examine it, while Yaji blinked in surprise when he saw the paper.
"Now that's a surprise," said the officer. "I never thought to look in his pant's pockets to see if there was a clue in them. How did you know that there was such an item hidden in the pockets of weasel's pants?"
"Just a hunch," replied Shirou as he handed the clothes back to Yaji.
'Along with a little help from me,' thought Kagami as she mentally smiled to herself.
Shirou held the piece of paper flat on the palm of his right hand before he shifted into his wolf form. Kagami watched as Shirou closed his eyes and sniffed at the paper with his nose. She raised a curious eyebrow at his action and wondered if he was able to track down Nakamura just by smelling his scent. After a minute or two, Shirou shifted back into his human form and opened his eyes to look at Yaji.
"Nakamura is hiding in a warehouse twenty miles north of the city," said Shirou in a serious voice. "Gather up some of your best men and meet us there as soon as you can."
"You got it," said Yaji before he turned and made his way back down the hall.
Shirou also turned and began to head towards the front doors of the police station, while shoving the piece of paper into his coat's pocket. Kagami quickly followed after him with an amazed expression upon her face. They walked out the doors and made their way down the stairs before Kagami spoke up.
"So you're able to find anyone just by sniffing out their scent?" asked Kagami as she walked beside Shirou as they made their way down the street.
"Yeah," replied Shirou flatly as he looked straight ahead of him.
"That's pretty impressive," said Kagami with a smile. "I'm guessing you must have one of the sharpest noses within Anima-City, huh?"
"You could say that," answered Shirou.
Kagami frowned at his short reply before sighing as she looked straight ahead of her, while shoving her hands into her pockets.
'He sure is blunt with his questions,' thought Kagami quietly to herself.
{And you're too nosy for your own good,} said Shirou through the mind-link.
Kagami nearly tripped at suddenly hearing his voice in her head before she looked up to glare at him: {The mind-link is supposed to be when we can privately talk with each other. Not read the minds of someone who wants to think in private!}
{Well you're the one who's keeping the mind-link open,} said Shirou as he glanced down at Kagami with a raised eyebrow.
Kagami puffed out her cheeks in anger before huffing as she turned her head away from Shirou, while crossing her arms over her chest in the process. Shirou secretly smiled in amusement at Kagami's actions. He had to admit that the young human was growing on him, but he still didn't trust her very much. He soon turned to look ahead of him again before speaking to Kagami.
{For us to get there, we'll have to change into our beastmen forms.}
{Why?} questioned Kagami as she turned to look back up at Shirou again.
{Because it'll be a lot faster,} answered Shirou before adding one more thing to Kagami. {Also, like the mayor said, you need to practice whenever you morph into your beastman form.}
{I guess you're right,} said Kagami with a pout.
Shirou only huffed before he morphed into his wolf form with Kagami following after him. Once they did that, Shirou turned to look down at Kagami before speaking to her through their mind-link again.
{Try and keep up,} said Shirou before he sprinted forward.
Kagami shot after him after a hesitating for a second. She ran a few paces behind Shirou, who ran ahead with his nose pointed towards the air. Kagami was surprised at how fast the wolf could run and she was glad that she was able to keep up with his speed. Yet being in her beastman form was still a new experience for Kagami. She had to admit that changing into her beastman form was still strange to her. Whenever she shifted into her wolf form, Kagami could feel this sense of power coursing through her veins. It was just as overwhelming as her magic, but it also held a soft comfort that gave Kagami a sense that it was a part of her.
'Still...I need to be careful when shape shifting into this form,' thought Kagami quietly to herself as she kept her gaze on Shirou. 'This new ability is still unpredictable and I don't want to accidently hurt anyone.'
The duo continued to run for about an hour before they arrived at their destination. Shirou came to a stop behind some crates and knelt down with Kagami following his lead. She quietly panted as she quickly caught her breath. Kagami was slightly surprised that she was able to even out her breath in less than a second.
'I guess being a beastman has its perks,' thought Kagami to herself before looking at the warehouse.
When her eyes landed on the warehouse, Kagami felt a cold chill go down her spine. The warehouse was made out of black brick with multiple upper windows. The outer edges of the building's walls showed holes and some of the windows were broken.
{This place is creepy,} said Kagami with a nervous expression upon her face before she glanced at Shirou. {So what's the plan for sneaking in?}
Shirou didn't reply to Kagami's question. Instead, he closed his eyes and used his nose to sniff the air that surrounded the building. Kagami waited patiently as she watched Shirou for a moment before the wolf beastman spoke through the mind-link again.
{There are at least twenty guards within the building, and our target is on the top floor within the building.}
Kagami frowned when Shirou said that there were twenty guards roaming around within the building. She then closed her eyes as she used her magic to scan the inside of the building. An image appeared within Kagami's mind as she focused to see what kind of security was stationed within warehouse. She saw thirty one security cameras set up on each floor of the building. Kagami also saw something else, but she wasn't able to get a clear image of it as it was in the far back of the warehouse. She soon came back to reality when Shirou gently nudged her in the arm.
{What are you doing?} questioned the wolf beastman in a firm voice.
{Sorry, I was using my magic to see inside the building,} explained Kagami as she looked up at the wolf beastman beside her.
{And what did you see inside?} questioned Shirou as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
{I saw thirty one security cameras within the building,} answered Kagami before frowning in thought. {And something else, but I wasn't able to get a clear look at it. It was too far back within the warehouse for me to see.}
Shirou frowned slightly at what Kagami had just told him before glancing back towards the warehouse: {Sneaking into the warehouse is going to be difficult with those humans and security cameras scattered throughout the building.}
{I have a magic spell that can help with getting us inside,} said Kagami as Shirou glanced at her again. {It's called 'Shadow Concealment' and it will make us invisible. But there's a time limit on it.}
{How long?} asked Shirou.
{About 15 minutes,} answered Kagami firmly. {So we'd better make it count when comes to sneaking into the warehouse.}
Shirou nodded his head before adding one thing to Kagami: {We'll sneak in together, but after that we'll split up.}
Kagami looked up at Shirou in shock and disbelief before frowning as she glared at the wolf beastman before turning away from him in a huff, while closing off her telepathing link from him.
'Typical. He wants to do things on his own without me getting in his way,' thought Kagami privately to herself in a huff.
Kagami then felt a nudge within the mind-link before she opened it up again. When she did, Shirou's voice held a scolding tone as he spoke to her in a firm voice.
{Don't start acting like a child. The reason I propose we split up is this. I'll be facing Nakamura myself because I've had more experience with fighting him. So, while I'm keeping him busy I want you to look into the father section of the warehouse that you had seen a moment ago. Whatever is in there could be important.}
Kagami looked at Shirou in surprise before blushing in embarrassment: {S-sorry...I'll try not to jump to conclusions again.}
Shirou only let out an exasperated sigh before speaking again: {Let's get to it.}
Kagami nodded before raising her hand up and formed the hand sign, then whispered the name of her magical ability: "Magical technique: Shadow Concealment."
Her mana flared before both Kagami and Shirou vanished from sight. Shirou glanced down at his invisible hand in slight surprise for a moment before glancing to where Kagami was. Even if she was still invisible, Shirou was still able to smell her.
{Let's get going,} said Shirou.
Kagami nodded her head before she followed Shirou into the warehouse in hopes of capturing Nakamura. What they didn't know was that Kagami was about to discover a terrible secret. Something that will make her relive the past that she had hoped to never see again.
To be continued