Part 1
This happened before Ayumu came to Kuoh
In fact, this event was the very reason why Ayumu was allowed to go to Kuoh town
And it's also the reasons behind our anxieties.
That day I stood frozen in place looking at an hologram casted from my device.
There stood the face and bust of a man wearing a suit
The signs of age were clear on him, the white hairs beggining to settle on his head and the occasional wrinkle across his stern face.
Everything about the man screamed business-like. His suit, the well groomed hair and his analytical gaze that shifted from looking at my projection to the file he had in his hands.
"So if I understand correctly, you sent a direct request to the Esper Community's directory of operation for a permit for an undercover operation?"
I nodded, stiff in place, the mere presence of this man in the other side of an hologram is enough to send shivers down my spine
Even more due to the fact that I was about to lie to him.
"Therefore you request the presence of Ayumu Yatsushiro, to partner with you?"
Again, another nod
"Yes sir, I believe she is the only one I can trust enough with this. For this operation I need as few trustworthy people as possible by my side"
The man nodded and once again read the file.
"Uhum and according to your request the reason for such secret operation is because the devils in question are holding not only an entire school, the school I personally recommended to your parents, but the entire town hostage?"
I confirmed
"I understand your doubts sir, at first glance I also didn't see nothing wrong, but the devils in this town not only own the whole school sir, they run it and every part of this town as well. The slightest mistake could cost thousands of lifes."
"And you claim that the reason why we shouldn't just send an entire platoon of our highest ranking members to deal with it is because they would notice immediately and attack civilians if a strong force approached the town. And the reason of the urgency of this mission is because the two devils leading the town are... related to the Maous?"
I gulped down, I knew it would sound ridiculous, but if this lie had any chance of suceeding, there would have to be some kind of truth to it.
"Yes sir..."
The man barely showed emotion, merely shifting his attention from the file to me before finally closing it and taking a deep breath.
"Tatseyo Kageyama"
I straightened myself up when the man spoke my full name
"Y-yes sir?"
The man gazed at my hologram with piercing eyes and calmly said
"Do you understand that your rank and the name of your parents are the only reasons why I even gave this ridiculous idea an actual face-to-face meeting?"
I bowed my head
"Yes sir, but-"
"You are claiming that the town is in a B-class danger situation, that could fully scale onto an S-class, and yet only you and another level 4 can solve it?"
"...It is the best way sir"
I pushed back, however, despite the defiance, the man did not become agitated or even seemed confused, simply making one question
"Do you care to elaborate?"
"Like you said, sir, I have my family name and all my achievements as an esper. I lived and served the Esper Community ever since I was kid, I'm not throwing any of this away by making this all up"
I looked at the man deep in the eye and went on
"Sir, with all due to respect, I'm presenting to you an opportunity that we might not have in any of our lifetimes again. I'm already infiltrated in the school and the devils believe I'm one of the students, I'm confident that me and Ayumu Yatsushiro can not only defeat, but capture them. If the Esper Community can capture someone related to the Maou, imagine the victory this would be for us"
The man looks at me, still unfazed.
"And imagine the mockery that would be of me if nothing became of it? Or the chaos that would ensue if something were to happen to you or miss Yatsushiro? You must understand that a man in my position cannot allow such risks to happen"
We finally reach the point I wanted to talk about. To him, I might seem cornered, but I rehearsed this conversation so many times in my head, all the points he made are logical, but are nothing out of what I believed he would say.
Now it's the turn to use my final move.
"I will assume full responsability with my current enforcement rank, this is why I request authorization for a Black Operation"
For the first time, his expression changes
"A... Black Operation?"
"Yes sir, I know that the way I intend to fulfill this mission is a huge risk that you cannot possibly shoulder with your position. That is why I intend to keep everything off the Esper Community's books and even if I suceed, I do not need or expect to get any credit for it. There is no need for anyone to know I was involved, not even my parents."
He puts a hand in front of his mouth and goes silent for a moment
"Tatseyo..."
"Yes sir?"
He moves his hand away and speaks only one word
"Why?"
I process it for a moment
"Why am I doing this?"
He nods
"Precisely, what do you expect to gain from this? I'm honestly starting to think there's something personal involved"
Nervousness starts to settle in, I think he's almost convinced, but if I mess up, I could screw up everything.
"Sir, honestly, the reason is... the people"
He raises an eyebrow at my answer
"The people?"
I nod
"To be honest, sir, I've never been so attached to the civilians involved with a mission before. All my life I've been so involved in the Esper Community and I love them, but now I have actual normal friends, teachers and neighbors, I finally experienced what being a normal teenager is and... I want to protect them, but above all, I want to protect this life. I know that if I have the right support I can make it work. Please sir, let me protect this normal school life that my parents and you have given me the chance to experience"
It's not a lie, I do want to protect the people of this city and I am indeed grateful for being able to experience what a normal school life is at least for a few hours a day, I put my heart on every word and I stay stiff, waiting for the response
But to my surprise, a smile actually appears on this man's face!
"Hahahaha!"
I'm taken back by the sudden laughter and the man suddenly starts talking, his tone a lot more youthful.
"I knew it! Well, I can't blame you, it's youth and you were always involved with the Community's issues, no wonder something like that coming up all of a sudden when you finally get the chance to act like a normal boy would piss the hell out of ya"
He's also suddenly talking with a lot more ease! Did it really work that well?!
After laughing for a while, he returns to his serious expression and answers
"Oh, what the hell, I'll allow it. But son, aside from miss Yatsushiro's consent, which I don't think will be a problem, you realize what a Black Operation in the Esper Community means, correct?"
I nod
"Yes sir, nothing can be traced back to you nor anyone from the Esper Community"
He agrees with me and adds
"It also means our aid to you will be next to zero, aside from the initial resources and what you are already receiving as a member of the Community, you won't receive support, communication, nor should you file any reports, regarding anything. No one aside from you two, me and the high command will know what's happening, that means nobody will come to save you if you screw up, are you okay with that?"
"Yes, sir!"
I say with a smile on my face, barely containing my excitement
The man turns off his recording with one last message
"You will receive miss Yatsushiro's date of arrival as soon as I aprove it, officially she'll go there to help with an "Undisclosed case", good luck Kageyama and godspeed"
I salute
"Thank you for your trust, mister Chairman!"
The hologram disappears and I finally breath out in relieve
My excitement was so great that I lay down as I try to process what just happened
I finally got Ayumu to come here and a permission to not have to answer about anything I do as long as this mission's duration.
But the cost for that was...
"I just lied to the elected chief of the Esper Community..."
I say under my breath
Part 2
Japan, Undisclosed Location - Japanese Esper Community Headquarters
As the call with Tatseyo ended, the man who had just given him permission to perform a Black Operation rested his back on his chair and whistled impressed
"Honestly, your ability to make predictions is both amazing and scary."
He said, gazing to his side at the figure who was watching the entire conversation
"Huhuhu, I'm good at it, ain't I? But you deserve praise as well, it really looked like you wouldn't give him the permission."
She said and the man nodded
"Well, I did had to play the part, if I simply handed it over he would suspect, so I made him fight for it a little, though that last part..."
He adjusted his bowtie and stood up from his chair
"He really owned me there, spoke like a real go-getter, even if I wasn't planning to give him the permission right from the start, he might have gotten it. And the Black Operation idea, real smart, that way he doesn't have to officially report to any of us while there"
She giggled again
"That's some high praise comming from the Chairman of the Esper Community, so I take it Tatseyo has your seal of approval too?"
The man nodded
"Untill now I only saw him as the heir of Tornado of Terror and Shigeo Kageyama, a kid with a lot of potential, but not much else. Now though, I'll wait for his next moves with much more interest. I can see why you took such interest on him... Kuriko"
The pink haired girl gave a sly smile as she handed a file to the Chairman
"This is the permision for Ayumu to go to Kuoh, I had them prepared already"
He took them from her hand and read
"Stamp and everything, I didn't expect any less"
He closed the document and placed it neatly on his desk
"So what now?"
Kuriko floated in the air and stared at the glass wall that gave a full view of the city beneath.
"We wait, in a few weeks Tatseyo and Ayumu will leave for Kyoto and that's when it will all begin"
The man laughed while looking out of the same window as Kuriko
"Ah, yes, the Hero Faction. Did they began their movements already?
Kuriko's voice resounded inside the man's head
"Yes and once he, the Spear and the Red Dragon are in the same place, I assume things will follow it's natural course"
The Chairman became serious once again, looking at the floor
"Are you sure it's a good idea?"
Kuriko looked at him with a smile
"Ara? Are you starting to have second thoughts? That's not good, you have a big role to fulfill on our plan, you know?"
Her sarcastic voice said inside his brain.
He shook his head
"None at all, except that... not even you or your mother could predict what will come out of this"
Kuriko's expression dropped at this
She remembered what she saw that day, the day when she offered to use her powers to find Tatseyo's [Skill]
"..."
The Chairman who was looking at her shivered, Kuriko never showed such face. That was enough for him to understand how critical the situation was.
"The result of this will define how our plan will proceed. This is why you need to be ready. Are you prepared, Ryotaro-kun?"
He nodded at the mention of his name
"Don't worry, when the time comes, I will not hesistate to do what has to be done."
He the looked at Kuriko, comfortably floating by his side
"For humanity, for this world, we must be prepared to give whatever it takes."
Kuriko whistled and laughed for a bit
"Now you're talking like a Chairman, but I'm not worried, after all, I can see what goes on in that pretty little head of yours. Inclunding that you have a particular question for me right now."
The Chairman groaned, he hated when she did that
"Since you've read my mind, I guess I don't have to ask you, do I?"
Kuriko nodded
"No, you don't, just understand this:"
The pink haired girl raised her hand, poiting towards the nightsky
"What you see as a sacrifice, I see as an evolution. This world is about to go into a new phase, but unlike many others, we get to dictate how things will go"
She then put her index finger against her thumb and approached it to her eye, aiming at the moon
"And I see a bright future ahead of us"
A smile crept across Kuriko's face as Ryotaro clutched his fist, determined.
"Whatever it takes..."
Afterword: Ok, this doesn't really count as a chapter since it's more of an extra, next one will really begin the Kyoto Arc. With Rias and her peerage at the Gremory castle and Issei's first sparring with Sairaorg, however, there will be more to it of course. I plan to release it this week so stay tunned.
As for your comments: Thanks, it's good to know you are enjoying my story and I really appreciate the suggestions you make.
As for your question, I gotta say that I don't know when I gave the impression that I'm english, since I'm not even european LOL. But if you want me to guess which country you are from you really didn't gave me enough clues. You said your country is smaller than England and has an eagle on the flag, which does narrows it down a lot but it still could be Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Virgin Islands, Moldova, there really are a lot of small countries with eagles in their flags!