Beast [Irregular at Magic High School fanfic] (Boyxboy)

Chapter 14

We found him.

Or rather, we found them. The wolf had been trying to free his body from the debris. We hadn't expected to find him here. I don't think we would have destroyed the building if we had. Maybe. War waits on nobody, I have found.

He didn't look the same. He didn't look at all like his brother. He was taller, with black hair. Like ink. His skin was much much paler, probably from lack of sunlight both from the magic disguise blocking it and his time indoors. He never seemed like the type to want to go kick a ball around at the park in his spare time.

He was frail. Well, he always was, but now he really looked the part. You could see his skeleton through his skin, which really wasn't pretty. He only spent two days in our base's medical tent before he was helicoptered to a private hospital owned by the Yotsuba. It was weird. When I'd first seen Tatsuya, before we'd attacked their camp, he seemed almost robotic. Now he was acting like he always had. The different was small, but I guess it must've been from his brother.

They hadn't known where he was for years, after all. We could never figure out why he left, and Juumonji didn't ever elaborate on what happened. I guess it didn't matter now. The Yotsubas had their Minoru back, and the Shiba's their sibling. There wasn't much time to dwell on things these days. Our enemy was determined, and it wasn't like magicians like Tatsuya were at every front.

Now, four months later, the fighting was even in the cities. Their forces would sneak in and start attacking any military hospitals or CAD-wearing citizens. Volunteer armies were everywhere, only causing more confusion in identifying those who'd sneaked in. It was chaos.

A bloody, horrifying chaos.

Nobody had seen Tatsuya at our base outside of Akita, but then again we had more time to sleep than to ask such a simple question. Juumonji was back, though. It was a relief for us soldiers, frankly. We lost so many before, and so few when he showed up.

"Leo, you've been called to the command tent."

I thank my bunkmate, who must've been informed on his way back from guard duty, since he looks more exhausted than usual. I head towards the command room. We've been staking out in a partially collapsed building, but we've been in tents so much that it just feels natural to say 'command tent' rather than 'command room'. There wasn't even a door anyways.

I knock on the doorframe, Juumonji looking over from the map displayed over the table as nodding his permission. I stop opposite him, across from the table.

"You called me?"

"I've been summoned to a strategic meeting. I'm taking you with me."

"Yes, sir. May I ask why..?"

"First of all because of your skill. Second, because of personal reasons. Minoru is awake, and Shiba's sister has given us clearance to see him."

"I understand."

"Good. Be ready to leave in an hour."

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Getting out of the city, thankfully, wasn't so difficult. However, I understood why he'd chosen me to come with him. If I hadn't, the car might not have stayed in one piece. There were little obstacles on the way, but the road was an absolute mess from all the fighting, and the car bumped and jumped more than drove. We had to swerve around places where the road had crumbled and go around abandoned vehicles lay forgotten. And then there was the traps.

Some were fresh, but most were old. Just small things that would just jostle the car for a moment, long enough for a magician to make quick work of us. Not that there were any around. It didn't do much damage on its own, but if my fortifications hadn't been in place, the sheer number of the traps would have worn out the tires.

We had been exhausted before, but by the time we arrived at our destination four days later, we were nearly at wit's end. There weren't many of us, just four in the rear guard, two on each side, and two more in front. I rode with the guys in the front car, leaving Juumonji and another soldier in the middle car since the front car took most of the brunt of the traps.

Our destination turned out to be an interesting place. It was an underground military base apparently built by the Saegusa Clan and the Juumonji Clan as a joint project to symbolize trust between the two. The inside wasn't too special, exactly what you'd have expected of an underground base. We drove downwards for quite a while, enough to time to begin to recognize the tiny details on the large defensive weaponry hanging upon the walls. When we finally reach the end, we were met with a party of soldiers on foot, who took our vehicles for repairs and our things to the place we'd be staying.

It surprised me a bit when I notice Juumonji had them take my things with his, and began to wonder if we'd be somewhere special. The soldier led the others to where they could rest, while their captain walked over to Juumonji, who had moved to stand next to me at some point.

"Would you prefer to rest after your journey?"

"We left behind a rather pressing situation. The faster this meeting is held, the sooner we can return."

"Yes sir. Please follow me."

The man led us into the main base itself, moving quickly through the hallways. I noticed the walls were bare, giving the place a bit of a sterile look, but there were some minor decorations and potted plants in some of the more open areas. Juumonji began to speak after a while, calling me away from my observation of the base.

"Where is the private hospital of the Yotsubas in relation to here?"

"Ah, it's pretty far away... but the main Yotsuba estate is fairly nearby. In fact, a lot of their forces are either stationed here or pass through quite often. Just the other day some strange guy with these big dogs showed up out of nowhere. They just dropped the dogs off before leaving. I'm not permitted to ask why, but it is strange."

Two big dogs? I hope they're not giving us genetically modified war hounds now... That sounds like more of a pain than anything. Rations are already low back at our base.

What has the world come to...?