Author's Note: Just got my LiveJournal contently working. Whoo! Sorry for the lateness, I've been busy with last minute Christmas shopping, hell I'm still not done.

The Story So Far: Hiruma unconsciously sucks magic out of other things, this causes him to have several enemies (including his father and the other Elders) and some very strange allies (Musashi the normal human, Mamori the Mage, and Kurita the Sensitive). Now that Deimon innocently decides to infiltrate Oujou, Hiruma's presence has caused a stir in all the wrong places….

Hidden

By: Bar-Ohki

Chapter 9: Hidden Strength

Tsubasa Tama was livid. That thing had gotten to run around completely uncontrolled for a good bit of time, long enough to eat the magic completely out of one of her students. Two of the other Elders were present, along with the girl's parents and Shin Seijuro, the Sensitive that was on duty.

"Well!?" Tsubasa demanded, looking Shin in the eye.

"…I had been released from your lecture for about five minutes when I received the call stating that Hiruma-san was present." Shin told her simply. "Even with my speed, it would have been impossible to have been at the entrance in time to have intercepted Hiruma-san."

"…I suppose that couldn't be helped then." Hiruma Yuuya admitted after a long moment.

"Elder, she can be healed right?" The girl's mother was in tears.

"No, it was the magic was completely eaten out of her." Hiruma shook his head. "Seijuro-kun confirmed this earlier."

To Shin, the girl's aura was perfectly normal.

"Will she wake?" The girl's father asked.

"Yes, but she will never be able to use magic again." Genkei informed the parents. "This is partly my fault, the two watchers I posted on the thing weren't successful in keeping it contained either."

"…I'm sorry." Shin bowed to the parents, feeling responsible.

"So there is nothing that can be done…." The girl's father shut his eyes and bowed his head in defeat.

"Can't we destroy this thing that did this?" The girl's mother asked, her voice pleading.

"The situation involving the thing is very complicated, it cannot be readily destroyed, I'm sorry ma'am." Genkei explained to the woman quickly.

Shin noted that Hiruma looked as though he would have agreed to the woman's proposal.

"Seijuro-kun, leave now." Tsubasa ordered him. Shin bowed to the Elders, then bowed again to the girl's parents and left without another word. In the outer room was the monk Kurita.

"Kurita-dono!" Shin was startled by the appearance of the man who had taught him how to understand his extra senses.

"Seijuro-kun, it has been a long while." Kurita admitted after a while. "…I'm sorry to see you were involved in this accident."

"…What is Hiruma-san exactly?" Shin asked after a long pause.

"You weren't told?" Kurita's eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "Youichi-kun is a half-Succubus, he eats magic to survive."

"That's why everyone speaks of him like he's a monster." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact.

"Youichi-kun is half-human too, not enough people remember that." Kurita sighed. "In fact, beyond his slightly demonic appearance and the magic eating, he's a normal boy."

"And an excellent quarterback." Shin nodded, agreeing.

"Seijuro-kun, please don't treat Youichi-kun differently and watch over him." Kurita asked his old student.

"I will." Shin assured his old teacher.

"Thank you, Youichi-kun needs more allies in this world." Kurita looked wistful.

"Kurita-dono?" Shin was a little confused.

"…There are several parties that want to use Youichi-kun like a weapon, other parties that want to experiment on him, other parties that just want him dead. But Youichi is a good boy, he doesn't deserve any of this." Kurita explained.

"…I'll do what I can," Shin began, "right now I want to play my best in the next game against his team."

"…Then best of luck in the game!" Kurita smiled. "Though, I'll be cheering for my son!"

Shin bowed and took his leave. After a short while, Genkei came out of the room, looking particularly pissed.

"What the hell happened, Kurita!?" Genkei demanded. "That thing is to have someone watching it constantly!"

"Gen-chan was with Youichi-kun the entire time." Kurita answered. "Kuirta wanted to have a few minutes to enjoy the fair with another friend, so he was not present when Youichi-kun ate that girl's magic."

"Your son should know that's its far more important for him to be present than that Takekura-boy!" Genkei growled.

"Perhaps the fault is that we have been leaving our observations in the hands of children." Kurita pointed out wisely. "I doubt it occurred to them."

"That thing won't let anything that isn't its own age near it!" Genkei hissed.

"Then you should change your expectations." Kurita gave him a level look. "But, if it will please you, I will go discipline Gen-chan and Ryokan."

"Do it." Genkei hissed. Kurita bowed and took his leave of the man.

-later, with Musashi, Kurita, and Ryokan-

"…Is that girl okay?" Musashi asked when he arrived at the Kurita family shrine. Both father and son had been there to greet him.

"We will speak of this inside." Kurita the monk answered. Both boys nodded and followed the old monk into the temple. Eventually they came to a large ceremony room, all three sat down.

"…Youichi-kun ate every bit of magic that girl had. She is no longer a Mage." Kurita announced. Musashi punched the mat in front of him.

"Dammit!" Musashi muttered.

"This is all my fault!" Ryokan cried.

"…Not entirely. We could have given you pictures of what the Mages at Oujou looked like, we could have told you what booths those Mages were working and when, and we could have coordinated your surveillance over Youichi-kun better with Seijuro-kun." Kurita explained to the two boys, his voice full of wisdom. "The two of you did your best considering the circumstances."

"They aren't going to send Hiruma to jail for this? We have a match soon-" Ryokan cut himself off when his father calmly held up a hand.

"Youichi-kun is not in any trouble, your match with Oujou will continue as scheduled." Kurita assured them. "The girl is not hurt, she is just no longer a Mage. I need the two of you to continue to watch over Youichi-kun, as his friends."

"Yeah, we'll do what we can." Musashi assured the monk. "Speaking of which, does this man look familiar?" Musashi held up a copy of one of the blackmail photos Hiruma had taken of the purple suited man that was sitting in on their practice earlier.

"…He's a Hunter for the Elders of North Europe." Kurita answered after a while.

"A Hunter!?" Kurita's eyes got wide and fear crept into his voice. Musashi looked confused.

"Hunters in the magic world are like special operations in the non-magic world." Kurita explained to Musashi. "They were probably ordered to capture Youichi-kun."

"…Could you explain Elders too?" Musashi asked after a minute.

"Oh, the Elders are the head of the magical government for their respective region." Ryokan explained. "We are ruled by the four Elders of the Eastern Ocean Isles, which includes all the islands in the Pacific with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska."

"Ah, I see." Musashi nodded.

"…North Europe and Southern Europe are in a lot of conflict right now, I think they want to use Youichi-kun as a weapon." Kurita admitted after a while.

Musashi and Kurita nodded seriously to one another.

"We won't let them take our friend for some sick political game." Musashi vowed.

'Genkei, you are a fool for insisting we keep these children in the dark, the more they know, the harder they will fight.' Kurita thought to himself, smiling in a proud, satisfied way to the two boys before him. 'Youichi-kun will be save as long as he has friends like these.'

_=_=_=_=_=_=_

And now we have seen the aftermath of what happened….

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