Summary:
And the cat is out of the bag.
Tetsuya watches his aunt summon lightning to her fingertips, grows a pair of enormous black wings, and his uncle make a weird floating globe of ice with his bare hands, and nothing feels real anymore.
Kuroko wakes to the aroma of fresh bread from the oven, and instantly know that Hotaru-san is cooking.
His aunt, having grown up in a cafe, makes the best food in the house. Mafuyu-san isn't bad either, and Tetsuya is still very proud of his boiled eggs but when you have heaven on a plate next to a pleasant bowl of Kitsune udon or a mean boiled egg there really isn't much competition.
"Morning, Tetsu-kun." Hotaru-san greets as she tosses the coffee beans she's toasting. There are several machines running simultaneously in the kitchen, and everything smells like heaven, but such is the skills of someone who used to work in a cafe. His uncle is sitting cross legged in the living area, flipping through something on his ipad in what he usually wears to work.
"Morning, Hotaru-san." He greets. Something dings, and Hotaru-san glides around the kitchen with the grace of ten ballerinas as she kicks open the oven door and spreads out the toasted coffee beans on a tray, then turns off one stove just to check another's temperature. Something starts sizzling afterwards, just as a tray of fresh brioche is taken out and set on the kitchen island. Tetsuya would offer to help, but he gets a strong feeling that he's just going to get in her way.
"Breakfast will be ready in 5," she starts running the coffee machine as she says over the area, Tetsuya settles onto one of the couches, and glances up at the television, turned on with its volume lowered on the news channel, "there's also something your uncle and I have been meaning to tell you, do you have any plans?" He looks up, surprised, then shakes his head, "Good, um, it's going to be a little... shocking."
Next to him, his uncle snorts, Hotaru-san rolls her eyes in response, muttering something he couldn't quite hear, so with nothing else to do, Tetsuya turns his attention back towards the news, something about violent animal attacks in Saitama. Mafuyu-san sets his tablet down onto the coffee table, then leans back with a sigh.
"That's where we're headed later, right?" His uncle asks, glancing towards his wife, now frying up some tamagoyaki.
"Yep," She almost drawls, and Tetsuya listens in out of curiosity, "animal attacks is a pretty typical cover story, works 80% of the time, and they'd have a reason to close off the area to the public before they send us in. We will be working with mum's old department, too, so its going to be familiar faces."
"Oh, they're a decent lot, knows not to look where they shouldn't." His uncle seems pleasantly surprised, "Anything else?"
"Fire." She hums in English.
"Yes, ma'm."
He understood every single word that was being said, but Tetsuya couldn't help feeling like they were speaking in code or something. This is the first time he's heard them talk about work out in the open, and he's never been so confused. It sounds official and a little dangerous, but their tone is almost... bored.
Breakfast is delicious as always, Hotaru-san even made him a vanilla milkshake, topped with chocolate sticks and whipped cream, the food is a mixture of western and Japanese, they have rice, fish and tamagoyaki, but also a helping of bacon, slices of avocados and tomatoes, several brioche buns, and some fruits in a bowl. Mafuyu-san is drinking a mug of coffee so packed with milk and sugar and chocolate sauce it didn't even look like coffee anymore, while Hotaru-san is elegantly sipping a black. Certainly exceeding expectations.
The servings are larger than what he's used to back home, but with three athletic people in the same household having too much food is the last thing one should worry about. Hotaru-san is shorter than he is, just around 150, but he's seen the muscles beneath those baggy jackets and cardigan she drapes over herself all the time- there are very few things he would not face before a kick from that woman, and it is not a very long list. Not to mention Mafuyu-san, who is again, built like a martini glass. Tetsuya is fairly certain either can burst a watermelon without tools for assistance- one with her legs and the other with his arms.
Breakfast in this apartment is quiet, not much quieter than back home, but the three of them seldom have common topics to talk about. His aunt and uncle seems to realise that he's reluctant to chat about basketball for now, and he doesn't know enough about his new guardians to know what to talk about. Most of the conversation that does happen revolves around the food, which leads to aunt Hotaru's family cafe. Or about books, which sometimes, Tetsuya would chime in.
He ends up munching on a delicately crafted apple bunny as Hotaru-san clears part of the table, and doesn't move to put away the rest of the plates. Instead, she stacks them to the side, and the couple sits across him, still stirring their drinks as they share looks that almost looks... nervous.
"Mafuyu and I have been meaning to talk to you about our work." Aunt Hotaru opens the conversation, looking a little skittish, expression edging on grave. "It's... something that's going to impact your life to varying degrees, depending on how deep you want to be involved." She seems very hesitant, and his uncle glance up at his wife, there's something unreadable in his eyes as he reaches out and clasps over her hand in encouragement before he opens his mouth.
"This also concerns your mother, and her family-" Mafuyu-san speaks up, setting his mug aside, "our, family. Since we has been involved with the job for years."
Tetsuya blinks at the wording, processes it for a few seconds, and then frowns.
"Are you two yakuza?"
The couple blinks at him incredulously for several seconds, before his uncle groans into his hands and aunt Hotaru burst into laughter, clearing the room of tension.
They're not Yakuza. They're magical secret agents, and Tetsuya feels like nothing is real anymore as he watches with fascination as his aunt summon lightning to her fingertips, grows a pair of enormous black wings, and his uncle make a weird floating globe of ice with his bare hands. The ice is now slowly and pathetically melting in the sink because apparently, he can't just make it vanish.
They tell him about a magical side of the government, dedicated to monitoring paranormal activities, about ghosts, lingering memories that sometimes get confused and strong enough that they hurt people. And their job, to patrol and prevent these things from getting strong enough to hurt others, or hunt down the ones that are hurting people already.
"That's about all, for now," aunt Hotaru sips on her cappuccino, the black wings on her back are very distracting, "your mother was a sorceress too. She just left. You likely have magic, it's just dormant since Haruka haven't actively used hers." A pause, " the moment you start contacting denser magic, or live around frequent users like Mafuyu and I, it's only a matter of time before you start seeing ghosts as well."
Tetsuya finds a weird kind of irony that after all this time of being mistaken as a ghost, he's now getting to see ghosts. But he couldn't quite pin point why it is ironic, or why it's sort of funny.
"And that presents a new kind of danger." His uncle states. "Being able to interact with the paranormal means they will in turn be able to hurt you. While this neighbourhood is relatively safe, magic users tends to affect the area around them and attract paranormal activities. Have you heard of the broken window theory?"
Tetsuya nods, and his aunt takes the explaination, "It's not the same, but the metaphor translates. Once a sorcerer shows up in an area, the magic in in will increase and become denser. Denser magic increases the probability of the formation of ghosts, as well as attracts other magical creatures and beings. People living long term in dense areas also have a higher probability of developing magical abilities, thus encouraging the use of magic to defend against them, until the magic in the area reaches the highest available density, which varies with different places, and the situation reaches stalemate."
"Your mother is smart in that this particular area has a low threshold. Even if the two of us were to live here, not much would change outside of the apartment itself," his uncle's voice seems to lower when he talks about his mother, "this apartment complex is also heavily warded, we did the wards ourselves, so its safe."
"Then, what does this change?" Tetsuya asks, this feels like the most suitable question to ask. What changes? "Do I have to learn magic now? Or do I have to apply for a different school?"
"No- none of that, not unless you want to." Aunt Hotaru hurriedly clarifies, "right now you would be considered someone who is 'in the know', but not a official member of the society, but I'll get you registered the moment you develop sight. This won't change your citizenship or anything, it's just a label that helps with identification. You still get to play basketball as you like, grow up and live a normal life. You just have to be a little more careful while travelling."
"You can also choose to learn sorcery," his uncle says, but his tone sounds as though he would much rather he doesn't, "Hotaru is an Instructor at the Association, outside of our jobs as specialised response units and the patrols. So if you do want to learn you have the best right here."
Tetsuya's eyes trail back towards his aunt, curious, she frowns at the compliment, "I teach advanced combat for specialised patrols, not self defence." She protests, "I can get him some enhancements so if a ghoul finds him he doesn't die, but those counts as bodily modification. It will get him disqualified from any official sports competition."
What? He stares as he heard, looking for an explanation, and his uncle sighs. "Both your aunt and I, as combatants, have tattoos of certain spells on us that gives us physical advantages, like enhanced healing, strength, and durability. Your aunt got wings on top of that, since she also fights aerially. But while they can be taken off, once you get it on you its not an easy process."
"There's a hidden set of rules specifically designed against sorcerers in almost anything, that's what the Association is in charge of, and why we have this registration system," his aunt explains, "we have certain immunity as well as added conditions in laws, and in other places, we get more specific regulations. That includes competitive sports. There's a lot of rules against aquired bodily enhancements. Which is why we have to discuss this with you, just in case you wanted to learn."
"I don't mind learning," Tetsuya says, after a beat of silence, "but I also love basketball, and I want to play in games."
His aunt sighs, "that narrows things down," she nods, "you'll likely start sensing things soon, tell us when you do. We'll get you something after that."
She stands up then, and the wings behind her flexes before vanishing into her back. She then flicks her wrist, and a plate from the table shoots into her hand like a magnet, which she tosses over her shoulder, and it flies through the air and glides into the dish washer on its own. The rest follows suit before the door slams shut, and aunt Hotaru, who has walked over to the kitchen sink to wash her hands, turns the machine on and sighs.
"I missed doing that so much." She says with so much relief in her voice, and his uncle barks a laugh.
Life goes through a weird shift after that.
He starts running into them after work, often with weapons as they enter the apartment through every single opening except the front door. Aunt Hotaru seems to enjoy swinging into rooms through the windows out of no where, while uncle Mafuyu could climb up the balcony, two katanas hanging from his back. Aunt Hotaru starts gardening with magic involved, and he walks into the living room one day just to see her making a pot of weird vines curl help her water, before he speaks up and his aunt squawks and jumps high enough that she almost fell right off the balcony just to be caught by the vines. Things flying through the air becomes the norm, as well. And sometimes he feels robbed because being able to grab things from across the room without moving from the couch should be illegal.
And true to their prediction, he does gain what they call 'Sight' soon. He starts noticing strange lights, small scatters of what looks like multi coloured fireflies in parks, glowing moths and butterflies that linger around the alleyways near the nursing home his grandmother now lives in. He still haven't seen an actual ghost yet, but aunt Hotaru gets him registered still, and gives him a simple charm to keep on his person, just to keep him safe.
"It's not going to save you if a ghoul starts clawing at your back," she says as she presses the small metal tag on a black cord into his hand, it looks nothing like a protective charm, and more like a random necklace, "but they're more likely to ignore you when you have this. Your misdirection should also work for the most part, but do note that most ghosts don't only rely on sight."
"I still don't know what ghosts look like." Tetsuya deadpans.
His aunt grimaces like one thinking about a bad memory, "You'll recognise one when you see one." She says instead.
She then takes out a pouch of coins and set them on the table. "These are armillary coins," she picks one up, and presses a finger into its side- it slides apart and unfolds into a contraption of circles and small gears, and orbit on their own until they fold back down into a flat surface, "they're like... compact spells. These ones I custom made as a sort of smoke screen- they activat when you charge them, and only works against ghosts."
She spends that afternoon teaching him how to charge a coin, teaching him how to pull the dormant power in him. He writes symbols onto a paper for hours until he feels the words seemingly start burning without heat when he touches them. He picks up a coin, feeling a strange warmth in his palms, and it unfolds into rings of metal and gears and starts spinning in his palm. He pokes it, and aunt Hotaru laughs when it flies out of control and into the back of his uncle's head.
"So," she smiles at the curiosity on his face fondly, "want to learn grabbing things thing?"
He rips his eyes away from the 5th coin he managed to make levitate, he has never wanted to learn something so badly, outside of basketball, "please."
Turns out the variation of the skill he will be able to use is one that only works on items that are already imbued with a set of runes, which means he'll only be able to use it on either his belongings or in the house. Tetsuya also knocks over a number of plants, breaks at least 4 glasses and 2 windows while attempting to master the skill. But it is absolutely worth it.
Imagine if someone in your family, like your aunt, or just someone you got used to tells you magic is real and then sprouted wings. I think I would get an existential crisis.
