3:30 a.m.
I walked in complete silence for several minutes through a few intersections, gradually moving away from the more central part of the neighborhood.
I stayed a few steps behind Ino.
I still didn’t completely trust him, but I didn’t have many alternatives either.
For now, I’d have to follow him.
At the very least, it might get me some answers.
“By the way,” he said suddenly, glancing back at me.
“You haven’t even told me your name.”
“Nagi.
Nagi Shirokawa.”
“Nagi Shirokawa…” he repeated, as if trying to memorize it.
“All right, Nagi.”
We kept walking for a few more meters.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked back, although from there I could no longer see the building.
“And what’s going to happen to those offices?
The building’s wrecked.
Is it safe now?
Aren’t more monsters going to show up?”
“Curses,” Ino corrected me.
“They’re called curses.
And yeah, relax.
We’ll take care of it.
Every curse inside has been eliminated, and the cursed object has been recovered.
We’ve got everything else covered.
The building should be operational again before too long.”
That took a weight off my shoulders.
At least everything I’d done that night had actually helped keep my father safe.
“Who’s ‘we’?”
Ino smiled slightly and kept walking without bothering to look back at me.
“They’ll explain it to you.
For now, just relax and switch your brain off for a bit.”
I shoved my hands even deeper into my pockets and kept following him.
Eventually, we reached a plaza from which the famous Kyoto Tower could be seen rising above the buildings, its huge white structure and red-lit tip standing out against the night sky.
At that hour, there were barely any people around.
Ino moved off to one side and pulled out his phone.
He started sending a few messages and, not long after, called someone.
I took the opportunity to drop onto one of the benches.
“Fuck…”
I leaned back and stretched out my legs.
Now that I’d stopped moving, I could really feel all the exhaustion that had built up throughout the night.
My muscles were so tense that I’d probably have trouble even getting out of bed tomorrow.
I pulled out my phone out of pure boredom and opened Pokémon GO while Ino kept talking a few meters away.
He said earlier that using my powers without a license is forbidden.
How forbidden are we talking?
Am I getting fined?
Am I going to jail?
Ignorance of the law doesn’t exempt you from following it.
That’s in the Constitution.
But in that case, the laws are public.
Here, there was literally no way for me to have informed myself.
Hopefully there’s some clause that reduces the punishment, assuming there even is one, if you had no way of knowing the law existed.
I glanced at Ino.
Should I try to run?
…
Yeah, no.
Impossible.
Even ignoring the fact that I barely had any strength left, I couldn’t use Chronostasis either.
That guy had destroyed in a single attack the same curse I hadn’t been able to do practically anything against.
On top of that, he’d been moving through the building at high speed by sliding around on that weird black water.
After a while, Ino ended the call, put his phone away, and walked over to the bench.
“First things first,” he said.
“I’ve been asked to take you to headquarters so they can ask you a few questions and evaluate your situation.”
“Uh-huh…” I muttered without taking my eyes off my phone.
“But we’ve agreed it won’t be right now.
It’ll be tomorrow morning.
The principal is pretty old, and he doesn’t exactly enjoy being dragged into work in the middle of the night.
Better for you too, don’t you think?
You’re completely wiped.
Go home, shower, get some sleep, and we’ll come pick you up around nine.”
I locked my phone and looked up.
“What if I run away?”
Ino smiled with complete calm, like even the idea amused him.
“You wouldn’t get very far even if you tried.
I’ve been a sorcerer for quite a few years, buddy.
There’s no need to make things complicated.
Besides, relax.
Doesn’t look like anything bad is going to happen to you.”
“So I’m not in legal trouble?”
“Nah, probably not,” he replied with a shrug.
“There have been other cases like yours.
And from what I’ve seen, you’ve only used your powers to get rid of curses.
Basically, you made my job easier.
There isn’t much reason to give you trouble over that.”
Well…
I’ve also used my powers for other things, but I can keep that information to myself.
Ino seemed to consider the matter settled.
“By the way, give me your phone number so I can contact you tomorrow.
I’ll take you home.”
“I live in Nishikyō-ku.
It’s pretty far from here, so we’ll have to take the train toward Katsura and—”
“We’re not taking any train,” he interrupted.
“I’ve got a car waiting nearby.”
I stared at him for a second before giving him a thumbs-up with a grin.
“Premium service.
Five stars.”
A while later, we reached the parking lot of a shopping center.
At that hour, it was completely empty except for a single black car parked beneath a streetlight.
A man was leaning against the hood, calmly smoking a cigarette.
Between the deserted parking lot, the black car, and the lonely streetlight, it looked like a scene straight out of a crime movie.
When he saw us approaching, the man took one last drag, dropped the cigarette to the ground, and crushed it beneath his shoe.
He didn’t say a word.
He simply opened the door and got behind the wheel.
Ino took the passenger seat, and I climbed into the back.
When I finally recognized my neighborhood, I sat up straighter.
The car stopped a short distance from my house, and I got out, giving the driver a small gesture of thanks.
Ino got out too.
“Why are you getting out?”
“I need to make sure you actually live in this house,” he replied.
I started walking toward it with Ino a few steps behind me.
My plan was pretty simple: go around the side of the house, climb up to my room, and squeeze through the small gap I’d left open in the window.
Exactly the same way I’d gotten out.
That way, my parents would still think I’d spent the entire night asleep.
I started drifting toward the side of the house, Ino stayed across the street, leaning against a lamppost and watching me.
Then he knocked on the front door.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Three hard knocks, the bastard had a huge grin on his face.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
A light turned on upstairs.
…
Motherfucker. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Ino was already calmly walking away down the sidewalk.
“Sleep well, Nagi!” he said, keeping his voice low enough not to wake the entire neighborhood.
“Nagi?” My mother’s voice sounded dazed and half-asleep as she opened the door.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Sorry…” I muttered.
“I ended up staying out a little later than I expected.”
My father appeared behind her in the hallway, his hair a mess and his face looking like he’d woken up about ten seconds ago.
“Where the hell have you been this late?” he asked, much more seriously than usual.
“Uh…
I was staying late at a friend’s house to finish a school project and…
we lost track of time.”
My mother crossed her arms.
“Until three in the morning?
You couldn’t have sent us a message?”
“Mom…”
“A friend?” my father asked, tilting his head and giving me a tired half-smile.
“Or a girl?”
“Masaro!” my mother snapped, turning toward him.
“What are you saying now?
This isn’t the time for jokes.
I’m sick of both of you.
I don’t know what you’d do without me.”
“I’m just proud of my son,” he replied with a shrug.
“It was about time.
Having a special girl in his life wouldn’t hurt.”
“It’s not that,” I answered quickly.
“Seriously, it was just a school project.
Come on, go back to sleep.
I didn’t do anything wrong.”
My mother sighed.
She was far too tired to start a full argument at that hour.
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” she said.
“Now go to bed.
And you’d better not have gotten involved with any weird people.”
“Sorry, sorry,” I repeated as I stepped inside.
Before closing the door, I looked back toward the street one last time.
In the distance, Ino raised a hand to wave goodbye.
I gave him the middle finger.
I yawned, went upstairs to my room, and collapsed onto the bed without even changing clothes.
My body felt as heavy as lead.
I think it only took me a few seconds to fall asleep.
The next morning, I had to apologize to my parents.
For quite a while.
After breakfast, I sat down on the couch with my phone in my hands, waiting for them to contact me.
I still had no idea who exactly “they” were, what kind of place this center was, or what evaluating my situation actually meant.
But one thing was clear.
I’m definitely not bored anymore.
My phone vibrated in my hands, showing a message from the newest contact in my phone.
Takuma Ino
Ino: It’s time.
Come outside, I’m here.
“Dad, Mom…
I’m going out for a while.”
My mother looked at me from the kitchen while peeling potatoes.
“All right, go ahead.
But this time, send us a message if you’re going to be late coming home.”
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