𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛

15.5 : Interlude

. . .

   
The sky had begun to brim with soft gold, and meld into a pale purple as Shirai was released from the Lux Aeterna headquarters. He had gotten a text earlier as he finished his training for the day, and dreaded the rest of his night from then onwards. "I just want to go home already.." Was a common phrase to leave his lips. He was requested to rescue someone who got themselves into a stupid situation, because they were a stupid person, taking a stupid job that would barely benefit anyone at the end of the day. His inner monologue was spouting curse after curse towards this person, and he hoped that when he reached them, they would have known that this was how he felt. He didn't even mind if he was being overly dramatic about it. He hadn't had a good day in over three months, so he excused himself for feeling such things.

He began to drag himself down the expensive and built-up avenue, and made his appearance seem unwelcome to those who might want to start something with him. He was quite good at that, and the two scars running down the tendons of his neck added to that skill well. Shirai threw his headphones over his ears, and turned into a back alley costume shop. According to the law, the shop shouldn't even be in business, but also according to other more hidden laws, the owner was free to do whatever he pleased as long as he stayed out of trouble. Shirai wasn't greeted, and he didn't acknowledge the cashier either. The shop was empty and cheap, but it was easy to maneuver. He reached the mask section and grabbed the first thing he saw. The design of the mask didn't matter. He threw a 10 dollar bill on the counter and left without even sparing a glance to the tired, red-haired girl who simply took the bill and registered it.

Shirai took multiple shortcuts to get to where this person was. The mask made its way up to his face, perfectly concealing it and blocking any potential 'old friends' from interacting with him. He knew the scars and hair would most likely give him away, but he couldn't care. His shortcuts spit him out onto the street he needed to be on, and only needed to walk a bit further to the next alley opening to find his friend. He was greeted by a sight of disintegrating flesh colored stalactites, slowly freeing the mangled body of Maddox. The image of the small blonde girl back at Torain's place, and the wanted poster flashed across his mind, he didn't think the girl was capable of this type of damage. "Help a guy out already...?" Maddox said through hoarse and torn vocal chords, his neck slowly cracking back into place. Shirai simply stood there and judged him for getting himself in the situation he was in.

Eventually the spike holding his head in place snapped, and his face and neck contorted back into their original places. He shook his dreads, and registered what was on Shirai's face. "Is that a goddamn Hollow Ichigo mask from Bleach???" "It was the first thing I grabbed.." The mask also had a cheap voice modulator, and Maddox began nerding out about it. Shirai only grumbled and shoved the thing off his face, and lifted his sleeves, twin snakes adorning his arms. The snakes retreated off his skin, and the braid that laid clean down his back began to take the form of a snake, no longer hair, but an armored beast that shot off his shoulder and shattered Maddox's prison with ease. The snake retracted, and the braid returned to its position. His tattoos also crept back down his arms, and settled back into his skin. Maddox was thrown aback, and as he went through the air, his bones and muscles like his head began to twist and break themselves back to their original shapes and positions. "I always freakin' forget you Kaen turned Red.." He spat as he rubbed his backside. Shirai's eyes were a deep blood color, with a sea of black surrounding the iris. He shut his eyes, and converted them back to white and regular brown.

"You walked up on the girl right?" Shirai asked and glanced at the rot-colored crystal bits on the ground. "I did, but I thought for once in your life you'd be right about something!!" Maddox spat and threw himself up to his feet. He then kicked around the metal shrapnel that used to be his gun. Shirai didn't even react to Maddox's outburst. "How long did it take her?" "Four fucking seconds! She was faster than the bullet!" It was very obvious that Maddox was throwing a tantrum out of frustration. Four seconds, Shirai thought. He thought for a moment. He knew he shouldn't take Maddox's words at face value, so he guessed shorter than four seconds if he was this angry about it. And with that sort of time window, he assumed she had the power level of either a Blue or Green Seer. A sigh cut through the air and brought Shirai out of his thoughts. "Well... it doesn't really matter now does it?" Maddox looked up and around, and finally down to Shirai. "Tomorrow's the first right?" "I guess..." Shirai grabbed the mask lying on his temple and removed it, and he then chucked it at Maddox to keep, who caught it with ease.

"You doing anything for Måltr?" Maddox asked as he gleefully fumbled with the mask. "Probably not." "Oh yeah! You got that promotion didn't you? Good for you!" He looked up and gave Shirai a toothy smile, but it wasn't reciprocated. "It got nulled last minute." Shirai spat and put his sleeves back down. "Oh- did it go to your.. uh.. trainee?" "She's.. not a trainee. But yeah." Shirai knew that in this open air, anything that he might say might be used against him both on and off the field. A look crossed Maddox's face; he understood the lack of clarity. "You're right. Not anything I should be knowing. Sir." He was a bit sassy and sarcastic sounding, and put a hand to his temple in a lazy salute. Shirai only rolled his eyes. "Don't call me to save your ass again." "I know, I know! You were the only other person I thought of that would actually show up." "Who the hell was the first person you thought of??" "Torain.. haha.." "You know damn well she would've ignored you." "I thought you would too!"

The last glimmers of sunset faded, and a dark blue began to paint the sky over. "Go home." Shirai turned and began to find his way out and around the alley. "Oh right... Torain said something about checking out Mergi on your next run?? She heard some stalls are going up but y'know what that really means." This stopped Shirai. "Why? Last time I was there, nothing was wrong." He turned to face the dread head. "Yeah but.. she thinks one of her girls sold her and the girl out to the cannibals." Maddox admitted, and the image of three or so days ago appeared in his mind, standing in Torain's lobby, and the image of the frail blonde girl. "Well fuck.." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going over there unless she tells me to. I'm not dealing with that shit off the clock." "Yeah I know! You think I'm not in the same boat?? We work the same job after all." A suspicious glare from Shirai made Maddox rethink his words. "Employed by the same people." He then put his hands up in defense. "That's all. I'll let you go." "Thanks.." Shirai spat and returned to his path home. A spot in his senses disappeared, and he assumed Maddox shifted away. He wasn't too sure on what his Daaen or abilities were, but they had something to do with fast jumping, so fast that his presence seems to just vanish in front of you.

He glanced at the time, it was almost 8:00. He lived with his 'trainee' in Maddox's words, but there were really no benefits to living with her. She was a short, black haired blind girl who needed almost constant attention. She was at least 10 or so years younger than him, and she cried. A lot. He never looked forward to going home except for going to bed since he got the notice that she would be living with him, even if it was only for a few months. And now she was supposed to be his boss? After all that work he did to even get considered for a promotion to Phantom, and it went to a little girl who made it through the Human-Seer experiments they did in record time. However, despite his front-faced feelings, Shirai had begun to think of this girl as an adopted sister, deep down in his soul. He had no clue as to why, and he really didn't want to accept such a fact, since she was just ordered into his life like this. She didn't know that he really was a Seer being a Hellcarver, and he didn't want her to know either. Treat her like everyone else who didn't know.

As he walked, the brisk air pricked at his lungs, and he returned it with a harsh, warm exhale. "Kobē better not give me shit for coming back late again." He mumbled.