Chapter 2: Arrival (2)

Mind racing as it made connections, assumptions and conclusions Cayman only realized that he was staring at the pair of women as the Chinese pinkette approached him with a narrowed glare and confrontational air, coldly asking, "Is there something we can help you with?"

Snapping out of his slight daze the young man shrugged, responding, "Maybe, it's just that the two of you were being pretty loud, that's all. Kind of hard to ignore that, even though I was a few apartments down."

That briefly threw Jinglei for a loop, Cayman inwardly amused at the fact that he'd barely recognized them at first, so used to seeing the Taimanin wearing their more revealing and alluring bodysuits. While simple jackets, jeans and flats didn't detract from their beauty at all it had definitely been a bit of a paradigm shift.

"Well, that and the fact that they aren't 2D anymore, that took a few moments of getting used to."

Once again paying attention to the present he noticed Yukikaze stalking towards him with a suspicious expression on her lovely features, accusing, "A few apartments down? What, you're saying you live here or something?"

Blinking at the odd point Cayman slowly replied, "Well, yeah. This is an apartment building."

Feeling like he was missing some kind of incredibly important bit of context Cayman belatedly realized that both Taimanin - who were no doubt magnitudes stronger than he was - were staring at him with outright suspicion, Yukikaze holding out a hand before sharply 'requesting', "Your apartment key. Let me see it."

In any other circumstance he would have told her to buzz off but in this kind of scenario?

Yeah, better to just comply and not get pummeled into the ground by a pair of highly dangerous and wary ero-ninjas.

"Should probably stop thinking of them that way, now that I think about it. These are living, breathing versions of what were just images on a screen before...things are gonna be kinda different from here forward."

Wordlessly handing the Taimanin the requested key she spent a second staring at the serial number engraved on its metallic surface before shoving it into his door's lock, turning it and blinking as it smoothly opened without protest.

"Convinced? Or do you want to see my papers and get a court ordered urine sample while we're at it?"

Both Taimanin gave him narrowed glares, Cayman smirking at their mutual disgruntlement...and was caught off guard yet again as Yukikaze sharply asked, "How were you given a room here? You're just a normal Human-"

"It's fine, Yukikaze. If he lives here then he lives here. And we still need to go out and get something to eat, since someone neglected certain parts of their duty."

"Oh come off of it, you messed up just as much as I did!"

The duo devolved into an argument once again as the tan-skinned female distractedly handed Cayman his key back, the male absolutely noticing the odd slip of the tongue about him being a 'normal' Human to the Taimanin's senses, as well as a plain Human apparently not being allowed to stay at the apartment complex.

"Odd...wonder what's up with that?"

[Context is Key!]

[Details: Discern why current residence has such odd restrictions on it.]

[Rewards: 50 EXP, 1 Reign.]

Cayman snuck a glance at his EXP meter and inwardly sighed, noting that by completing the quest he was only going to get halfway to his first level up...although the bit about him earning his first Reign - whatever that was - held some promise.

"Dammit, and we still have to work later tonight. Way to go, gamer girl."

"Hey, everyone has their own hobbies and ways to relax, don't go poking fun at my gig! Besides, I'm way more popular than you are, the few times you've tried to double up on streaming with me everyone just wonders why you suck so bad at video games!"

"A-as if I've ever had time to waste on such frivolities, of course I'm not as uselessly skilled as you are!"

Clearing his throat before the argument could continue further Cayman interrupted with, "Look, not to break up your little bonding session or whatever but it sounds like you could use dinner, right?"

Two pairs of eyes snapped his way.

"As it just so happens I made some chicken alfredo not more than a few minutes ago, either of you interested? We clearly got off on the wrong foot, there's some secret shit that's going unsaid and how about we just focus on being nice neighbors for now?"

The pair of Taimanin blinked, Cayman briefly entering his apartment before exiting with a simple tupperware, handing it to Yukikaze who blankly accepted the container.

"If it's not to your liking just return it, otherwise leave the thing outside my door or knock, whichever works."

"Umm...right. Thanks."

Offering the pair of women - who were a bit caught off guard by the sudden shift in conversational tone - a pleasant smile Cayman stated, "Then hopefully I'll see you around. Later."

Shutting the door to his apartment and leaving behind the pair of staring ninjas the male let loose a quiet breath, taking a seat on the floor, back to the wall as he tried to get his thoughts in order.

"So...that was Structural Analysis there."

Peeling back the sleeve on his sweatshirt Cayman idly observed the thin, glowing lines that denoted magic circuits crossing his flesh in random patterns, ethereal glow already fading into nothing.

Instead of the usual Analysis skill associated with Gamer things he'd used a bastardized and makeshift version that fit with the lore of this universe, the man frowning even more deeply as he recalled the stats he'd seen upon examining the pair of ninjas when they were busy arguing with each other.

Yukikaze Mizuki, LVL 59

HP: 1000

MP:4000

STA: 1400

STR: 120

AGI: 340

DEF: 90

MAG: 370

MAG DEF: 330

Su Jinglei, LVL 62

HP: 1200

MP: 3000

STA: 1700

STR: 150

DEF: 110

AGI: 280

MAG: 250

MAG DEF: 200

Those were some mighty impressive numbers...even more so if he was to apply what he knew of the Taimanin universe to their stats. Inbetween heavy training, body modifications and enhancements that was probably the pair's base state. If they began channeling their Taima particles he didn't doubt their power would jump even higher than it already was.

And wasn't that an even bigger can of worms, the state of this universe? If the Taimanin universe was the dominant setting then that meant political entities like the United States and China had been altered into completely different versions, the USF and Chinese Union respectively. Both far larger than their original counterparts and embroiled in a cold war of sorts, both factions jockeying for position and influence with the various neutral entities that still existed, all while racing to capitalize on both magic and science that had boomed in the wake of the discovery of the realm of Demons...not to mention aforementioned Demons had their own agendas, constantly scheming and plotting to expand their influence and pull off all sorts of various doomsday plots.

"Shit, how does the Fate world mesh with this?"

Depending on what variation of the convoluted timelines were present in this one he could imagine that the Magus Association, Atlas and a dozen other factions would be keeping a very close and interested eye on the state of the world. Hell, would Magi even be all that concerned about keeping a low profile when it's common knowledge that 'supernatural' events and beings are real?

"Alaya also said that this was an amalgamation of different franchises...I doubt it's just Taimanin and Fate that are in this screwed up crossover."

Sighing to himself Cayman rose to his feet, flipping through his phone and bringing up a map of the city he was staying in as well as its waterbound neighbour.

"If I'm going to level up at anything approximating a steady pace I need to find a way to efficiently hunt and farm...problem is, I currently don't have anything nearly so convenient."

Unless the 'game' decided to throw a bit of extra aid his way then he was stuck fighting in the 'real' world, no easy access to hammerspace dungeons or anything so simple...he'd already tried when out shopping and hadn't gotten shit.

And it wasn't like it would be as easy as just patrolling the back alleys for easy pickings, given his low level and currently lackluster skills the slightest bad roll of the dice could have him facing down something way outside of his league...and going on a murder spree of all the homeless wouldn't do either. That kind of activity would get aforementioned group to ally and be on guard against him...draw the attention of law enforcement if he was really unlucky and quite frankly he wasn't all that enthused about kicking the people who were already down if he didn't need to.

Sighing as he rubbed his temples in annoyance Caymen decided that mulling over possibilities or coming up with half-baked plans wasn't going to solve anything, pulling out his recently purchased futon and deciding to call it a night...after all, it'd been a pretty busy day.

Right as he let his eyes drift closed a soft chime caught his attention, perfectly overlayed text reading,

+5 Reputation with Yukikaze Mizuki and Su Jinglei!

[5/100] and [5/100]

Cayman smirked, letting his head drop into the cheap but workable pillow's embrace.

"Guess I'm off to a good start in that regard. What do you know, learning how to be a house husband for half the week paid off even after death."


"We need to figure out what that guy's deal is."

"You think? Any other pearls of wisdom you want to share with me, Yukikaze-"

"Oh save it!"

Both Taimanin shared a feisty look between them before huffing in unison, Jinglei pulling out her phone before rapidly tapping out a number onto it, a few rings sounding out before a male picked up with, [Dohnaseek. What do you need?]

Both Taimanin blinked, glancing at each other as Jinglei switched it to speaker mode, Yukikaze smirking as she asked, "What landed you on administrative duty, huh? You're always talking so much shit but here you are, a glorified phone operator~!"

[Case of mistaken orders. Now tell me what you need or fucking hangup.]

"Or maybe it's because you're a pathological asshole."

[These conversations are recorded for record keeping purposes. No one will blame me if I accidentally end the call.]

Relenting somewhat the tanned Taimanin said, "We need an ID check on someone who's also a part of Sanctuary, I've got his key number and he's staying at the same safehouse we are."

[Right. Well whenever you're ready, the sooner we can drop this conversation the better.]

Rolling their eyes the pinkette rattled off the serial code of Cayman's key, Dohnaseek tapping out the numbers before waiting for their system to spit out the information, both young women sharing knowing looks.

Sanctuary, for all the good that it did, was hardly the unified and united organization it was famed and pretended to be. How could it? A joint task force that was a combination of Taimanin, Moonlit and Supernatural factions was a conglomerate of differing interests, ideals and methodology that still seemed like it was untenable at times...but the whole apparatus chugged along despite all expectations to the contrary, making use of its wide range of knowledge and practical skill to solve the ever present list of problems that arose in their world.

...Even if it felt like the operatives spent most of their time fighting each other, rather than the enemy. There were a lot of people with dubious moral qualities than ended up in Sanctuary one way or another and it always paid to know who was more likely to slip a knife in your back, your allies or your enemies.

And the blonde-haired, green-eyed man of decent height that wore smooth confidence and lackadaisical calm was definitely a suspicious 'ally' to have suddenly popup out of nowhere.

[Alright, I've got our results. And to my great joy I don't think you're going to like it.]

Both Taimanin mnetally weighed the odds of successfully assassinating the asshole and getting away with it. Maybe they could get Nanase to have some paper's explode in his office and call it an accident? Tell Asuka he was working with Edwin Black and have her beat him to a pulp during interrogation? They both worked for Sanctuary on occasion and typically operated in the Tokyo area, after all.

[While our mystery man doesn't have any records or past actions that I can pull up I can tell you that he's being personally sponsored by the Kaleidoscope.]

The Fallen Angel's tone took on an amused tinge.

[You want to go and pick a fight with someone that has that old Vampire's eye then go right ahead, two less annoying operatives to call and bother me.]

"You're a fucking prick."

[An alive fucking prick, which I wager you won't be if you go and kick that hornet's nest. Have fun and feel free to never call me again.]

The line clicked, both Taimanin scowling at the phone while Yukikaze grumbled, "Alright, what the hell is one of the founders of Sanctuary doing sending one of his personal watchdogs here?"

"One that feels very weak, at that. I detected almost no spiritual or extrasensory energy from him and his body language didn't exactly scream highly trained warrior."

The tan-skinned woman crossed her arms, lips pulled into a deep frown as she mused, "Think he's here because of our mission?"

"Who can say? But I say the safest thing to do right now is try to ignore or accommodate him as best we can. Anyone that has the ear of the Second Magician is bound to be just as crazy and deranged as he is."

Both Taimanin glanced towards the still warm container of dinner.

"...Think he did something weird to it?"

"That'd be a pretty blatant way to ensure we try to slit his throat in his sleep. And even by Sanctuary standards trying to kill someone barely a few minutes after meeting them is pretty extreme."

Both young women carefully scooped some of the meal onto a pair of disposable plates, brought a forkful to their mouths...and paused, eyes widening.

"That's...actually not half bad."

"Agreed. If nothing else at least he can cook."

While it was no culinary masterpiece it definitely had the quality of a high-end restaurant, causing their mouths to water and eagerly go back for seconds. Taimanin had what could best be described as a 'healthy' appetite even on their most tame of days, a consequence of their bodily enhancements and strict workout regimens.

"If we're not going to do anything about that guy a few apartments over then tomorrow we can start looking for Dr. Hoestia in earnest. If the intel we received is right then he was last spotted somewhere in Kabuki-chō, possibly using the network of tunnels and other passageways beneath Tokyo to make his way to Yomihara."

Yukikaze grimly nodded to Jinglei, muttering, "I've been to Yomihara before...it's a damned maze straight out of nightmares, finding him down there will be almost impossible."

The ex-union Taimanin elected not to comment in a rare showing of kindness, knowing her comrade and friend - even if they would rather get gangraped by a bunch of Orcs than admit it - had less than pleasant memories of that place, having gone on a mission to find her mother and while she and her friend had escaped the trap that had been set...both suffered illegal alterations that required daily medication to mute and reverse, never mind the mission having been a wash right from the start.

So instead the pinkette went for another round of Alfredo-

-and felt her eyes widen, angrily shouting, "You took all of the food!"

"Huh?! No I didn't, you ate way more than I did!"

"Like hell I did! I don't know why you even bother consuming as much as you do, none of it goes to the places that need it!"

The pointed glare towards Yukikaze's chest caused the Lightning Taimanin to flare up, retorting, "Big words from a washboard like yourself, get out of here with that!"

The argument that ensued was a familiar one that neither seemed to tire of.


Short but quick chapter to round off the into to this new story.