Switches & Spices

Chapter Fourteen

"Last one there's a rotten Takoyaki!"

After getting to the Agency, I had been surprised with my own communicator, syncing it up with the main frequency they used, shown how to link to individual ones if needed as well. It was a neat little tool, sliding over my ear and leaving the inside of my ear free so I could also wear the earbuds for hearing protection during flight at the same time. I was used to simpler ones for team communications that merely stayed on at all times for documentation, so this was similar.

Fat Gum was made aware of my ex through the text group that Eijiro utilized earlier, making sure that I was okay to work for the night once I explained a little about the guy, almost making me frustrated as he gently probed about my emotions with the situation. It was strange to me, but not completely unwelcome.

I was quickly figuring out he treated those under him like family. He was concerned in his questioning, and that softened the annoyance I had. I didn't want to think about it to be honest; if I did and he kept pressing about it, then I really wouldn't be okay. I just shoved it down and slapped my smile on my face as usual, reassuring him that I was fine. Somehow, I didn't think he was fully convinced.

It was agreed from the night before that I would take to the skies and keep an eye out on the rooftops, landing to meet up with any of the team if they needed assistance in dealing with any trouble. I had a brief feeling of guilt, knowing that I wasn't able to spend much patrolling time with Tamaki as I had originally thought earlier, wanting to make sure he was okay from things earlier. Not to mention, catch up in general, one on one. I also couldn't check on Eijiro to see if he bounced back from the dickhead's taunting words.

Granted, this meant that I couldn't be drilled into about my wings, the clashing of backstory and present meaning only two things. Either it really was a fantastically rare late-blooming, or they weren't mine. I knew that they would be able to figure it out eventually if they hadn't already, I just wasn't sure when I would actually feel comfortable with them knowing the extent of the latter.

I had almost made them mine by this point, yet there was still a ton to unpack. I hadn't been joking with my comment to Mana the night before about looking like Frankenstein's monster. I felt that way, and it wasn't something I would want to bring to light for fear of rejection or pity. Acceptance was a thin sliver of hope, but I couldn't trust in that hope. Not yet. There'd be a time for it, right?

Wings spread into the air, no need for my water to fill the spaces of my wing like I had anticipated, I lazily circled around the town, hugging the edges of our listed routes while scanning the rooftops. Everything was incredibly quiet tonight, the first four hours of shift going without a hitch. It left a lot of time to reflect, though I couldn't chance heavier subjects in my mind, else I might miss something. Just numbed it out, stuffed it down.

Taking a break from scoping out each of the buildings, I floated down to the top of the building that I had gotten shot from, a phantom pain making me land a little harder than intended, walking off the stumble and grumbling to myself. At least my heart wasn't hammering in my chest with the echoes of pain from the night before, scanning the rooftop. Continual exposure would hopefully help.

Absolute silence, not a soul on the roof that I could tell, save for me. I saw a blood spatter, frowning to myself as I thought back to the shooter. What purpose could he have had? I still didn't know the actual target. I carefully walked the area, just in case there was someone ready to pop out behind standard building hardware.

#Ceru, where you at?

My head twitched to the side at the unfamiliar tone, though recalled the communicator distorted voices slightly, pressing my finger to the button on the side of it. These new earbuds that Keigo got me were fantastic; I could hear Eijiro clear as day while the whipping winds didn't hurt my hearing at all, even while powered off.