Anti magic Association

Chapter 3 - an old campanion

     In the innermost section of the Osta research facility in a dim office with metallic walls and CCTV images of the entire facility in the background
"Sir, the mechanism for the deconstruction of Eido particles is almost finished," a masked guy said to a tall man sitting in a chair
"It seems the machine is almost finished then"
"Yes, it's expected to finish in about 2 weeks"
"With this breakthrough, we finally be able to step up our defenses against crimes involving magic in the city" An evil laugh can be heard echoing through the metal walls.

***********
"Have you decided to work in my Cafe, Katou?" The owner lady asked me while we sat down on an early  Saturday afternoon. 
While I have to think about living a life without worries, I just felt it does not suit me "Just leave me alone, Old hag"
"And what is the job you have now"
"..." 
*sigh* Still as stubborn aren't you, You have to be able to express yourself, young man, keeping it all to yourself is not good for you, just tell me if you are trouble" She stands up and walked away going back to her work in the cafe. I stared at her wondering if I truly make the right decisions in life
"That never going to happen" I mumbled
I slowly walked and went outside to take a breather. Hmm talking about jobs, I still don't have any intel from that guy, how can I earn money without it? Should I go see him for once instead of just texting him? I took out my phone and asked if he was available

 XXXXXXXXXX
 partner
'What do you want from me, I'm busy 
'if you don't answer in 3 second, ill kill you ' 
'whats wrong with you'
'dinner is on me if you come'
'Oh, you're always like this'
'we been partners for a while, first time？"
"let's meet at the Newly opened cat cafe"

                                                                     "you love them don't you,"

Putting my phone in my pocket, I quickly went back in and into my room to get changed. My sense of fashion is non-existent so I just wore a white T-shirt and some jeans. I then wore a hat and some sunglasses When I went out, Maria walked down the hallway with her laundry basket, we stared at each other once again before leaving

Maria looked at me giggling

"what" I asked her but she just walked away and said "Shino said to come home earlier for dinner" I looked at her with a glare for a moment before looking at her nonchalantly

I left without saying anything back.I just nodded before walking towards the door. I put on my worn-out shoes and walked out of the shophouse and down the street to the cafe. 

XXXXX

I walked down 3 blocks before reaching the Cafe in disguise. A sign reading " Unleash the Pawsitivity with Paws cafe".  I entered the cafe and it was a traditional cafe with a section selling desserts and another section where you can play with cats. There used to be an event where you could use simple magic on the cats and make them jump higher than they normally can and have them jump over hoops. Not like i have tried these events before but hearing them from others sounds interesting enough

through the corner of my eyes, I saw my friend sitting by a window seat. 

"hey, Katou" he called out to me in a nonchalant manner while having his phone in one hand.

I walked over to him and sat down, thinking how he looked so relaxed when he got demoted from his job. He already got some coffee and looked all relaxed. That handsome face that could kill, still wearing that branded watch, he never changed.

"You looked rather calm for someone who got demoted" he looked rather annoyed when I said that, hitting one of his nerves

The waiter then came to take my order.I ordered a medium-sized Latte, it's my favorite drink and I always order it when it's available. He bowed and waved goodbye to me before serving the next customer

"You changed a lot the last time I saw you, Are you still working as a broker? " He talked back and crossed his arms on the table. I ignored him, thinking about how I just took on this job as a side hustle to get back into society. Depression, hatred, Betrayal. All these emotions I have felt these few years running away from my problems. It was like walking down a path that had turned upside down and I was falling to the furthest depths of the abyss, struggling to get back to where I was. 

He continued still crossed arms "How is life for you lately"

The mood suddenly changes when he says, "I'm not here to talk about my personal life, you got the intel for the new government policy yet"

he sighed" We finally met after so long time and the first thing you talk about is work, lets have some fun?"

"You don't reply to me at all." I said nonchalantly

"I already bought the documents here, If you were not my best friend, I would not have done this job for you" He took out some documents from his bag, On it read' Proposal to reduce Magic related accidents in Commerical areas". 

He continued and whispered to me "This is the document you wanted On how the new anti-magic machine would be used in public to reduce magic-related crimes. for example, laws on Using magic to steal or to fight. The details on how the policy would be acting out and when are also in this document"

"so you did bring the document " I smirked at him

"I know you too well Katou to think you would want to drink coffee with me, I had to secretly get these documents and it took a while to get these papers"

"Whatever" The waiter then came with my coffee and while I took out my mask to take a sip of my Latte. we talked for a while about our private lives. 

"you never change your attitude, do you, did your new job even help you grow at all"

"if that's all, I, leaving" looking away, my face dropped. this is not the first time someone asked me about my job. But it is the only way to achieve my goals. "the Bureau of Anti-magic has taken reign 10 years after the rebellion and look at our current situation, the war between the normal and Magicians has only escalated and ruined our lives, and everyone's lives, including mine so why should I quit now, stupid". i almost shouted but calmed down before the situation got worse. it won't be good saying all that in public. i haven't talked so much in a while. Only the Sounds of cats meowing ruined the silence as I said this. 

"It's not that I don't agree with you but its the people's decision at the end. Its not like we have not ruined the lives of many non-magicians.. hey where are you going" he called out to me. I wanted to leave already. I don't want to talk about this again, one person is enough telling me to move on.

While I walked away, I thought he would chase after me, but he prioritized the cats over me. I went back to the shophouse looking down, reminiscing, and thinking about what he said, how do I truly think about my past anyway? its like Im back planning at my old job.

XXXXXXXX

meanwhile, back to the room across the city.

August 6th, 2050,
The discussion on infiltrating the Osta research facility continues back at the old dark room. While Yuki, Aiko, and Misaki were discussing, Takashi was found locked out of the room by Misaka for being too annoying and listening from the outside
. "We have not done a mission on this scale in a while," Yuki said while looking at all the points and ideas written on a piece of paper for the operation on the wall
"We usually just raid Magic shops for weapons, don't we" Misaka added, Aiko looked at her while  clenching his fist,  with a subtle frown on his face, he stared at the wall
"Violence is necessary to bring this world back to its original place... The war seems to have ended but it's just the beginning of the end. they saw nothing of us yet "
"You're kinda scaring me, Aiko" Sakura said while holding a Magic weapon in her hands
"We will start in 3 days," he said while preparing to leave the room 
While the group started preparing for the operation and revising their plan. A voice can be heard outside. It's Takashi banging on the door and screaming  "Let me in".

"Guys, this is serious, if we want to reach our goals and be free, this is an important point in our journey. if this Anti-magic machine is ever implanted, it would make fighting in the city much harder and might ruin our plans for the future"

As they prepared to embark on their perilous journey, they knew that the road ahead would be fraught with danger and uncertainty