Standstill (Erityian Tribes Novella, #3)

04 : Jack Jr.

"Do you see him?" tanong ko kay Hayate.

"No," sagot naman niya. "Too many people and things blocking my sight."

Good thing was, there were a lot of trees surrounding this school so staking out wasn't a problem. The faculty room was about fifty meters away from us but we couldn't just trespass.

Napatingin naman kaming tatlo kay Hiroshi dahil bigla siyang tumalon pababa at buti na lang ay walang nakatingin na mga estudyante sa direksyon namin.

'What the heck are you doing? Are you out of your mind?' Kana asked and I was about to say the same thing.

'Not really,' he retorted. 'But hey, no need to worry. This school is actually a chakushoku.'

Chakushoku? So this school is inhabited with Erityians. Someone from our tribe must be monitoring them. Hiroshi showed his KT's screen and a guy's face was displayed there. Somehow, he reminded me of someone but I couldn't pinpoint who.

'Who's that?' tanong ni Hayate.

'Manuel Salas,' he said. 'Principal of St. Joseph Academy and cousin of Akira.'

The mention of her name stirred some unpleasant memories. It was just several years ago when she was killed by those Elites and I still couldn't forgive myself for not being there. If I was only a minute early, maybe I would be able to save her. Maybe her daughter wouldn't have to experience that kind of trauma.

I tried pushing those thoughts aside as the three of us went down and followed Hiroshi. Pumunta kami sa main gate para magtanong pero may kakaiba akong naramdaman sa lugar na 'yon. I instinctively reached for my dagger but I realized I only brought a taser and a handcuff. But what surprised me was the guard did the same thing—his hands hovered over his holster, as if he felt some kind of danger.

"Excuse me." Kana approached the guard. He tried to focus on us but I could still see the worry in his expression. "We want to ask if Mr. Sa—"

"A Shinigami, right?" tanong ko at napatingin silang lahat sa akin. The three looked at me as if I just did something stupid, which was a bit true, but this guy seemed to know what was going on.

Naging seryoso naman lalo ang mukha niya at tiningnan niya kaming apat nang pabalik-balik. He eyed me curiously and I tried to talk to him using my inner voice but it seemed like he couldn't use it.

"Main or branch?" he suddenly asked and and my lips curved because I was right about him. He was also a Shinigami tracker.

"Branch, Castro family," I responded.

Tumango naman siya at nginitian ko ang tatlo dahil tama ang hinala ko. They were about to kill me a few seconds ago so I was really relieved when my suspicion was right.

Sinabi namin ang concern namin sa kanya at tinuro naman niya kung nasaan ang Principal's Office para makausap si Mr. Manuel Salas. Naglakad kami sa corridor sa first floor at ang daming estudyanteng nakakalat. Mukhang break time nila kaya naman may ilan kaming nakakasalubong. I could still feel the faint presence of the Black Dimension but I couldn't determine the direction where it was opened.

Kakatok pa lang sana kami pero sakto namang lumabas ang isang middle-aged na lalaki mula sa office. He went out of the room to meet us and the first thing I noticed was how his hair gleamed red like a Custos' eye. A Rua, I thought.  Ate Akira and Akane were also from that Senshin clan which was usually depicted as red-haired combatants.

Ngumiti siya sa amin na para bang alam na niya kaagad kung ano ang pakay namin dito at pinapasok niya kami sa loob ng office. Umupo kami sa couch sa gitna at sinabi ni Hayate ang sitwasyon namin ngayon.