Ch.1-2 ¤ Wildcards

I used to work for the Ninth. Even though back then I scored pretty high on the Bitch-o-meter, I still like to think I had fairly solid standards; and now I'm being coerced into what may or may not be a sparkley terrorist group. Well ok, I'm being of horrible faith right now, but I guess maybe deep down I'd actually find it funny if it were true.

I ended up following the tall girl with the long purple hair. From up close it looked soft, much more than it had any right to be in our line of work and with the half-fruity half-sweet smell to boot. I'd like to think that anyone who spends this much time grooming themselves and not training is doing it wrong, but I found out soon enough she was a Callidus so I supposed she could have a free pass. Her name was a bit more difficult to get out of her. She acted like it was all some kind of game again.

Suzume, she said she was called. Before long she brought me to the industrial district - a section of town I was a little bit less familiar with I'll admit. More specifically the old part of it, behind the more thriving ones. I... honestly didn't recall it being this run-down, but I just chalked it up to another of the differences and reminded myself to stop forgetting this wasn't the Mitakihara I knew anymore.

When she stopped we found ourselves in front of some large closed down factory. Well, I say "front" but to be fair this place was big and decrepit enough that it might as well have been any side so long as it had a big door.

"So, is that a Despair factory?"

"..."

"Just kidding."

"Your humor needs work." Suzume responded with an annoyed tone. Score, managed to get her out of that obnoxious always-composed appearance of hers. "A lot."

I shrugged lightly and put on an innocent smile. "Maybe you just need to get that stick out of your arse." my own tone remained neutral and calm to add insult to the injury.

To her credit if she was pissed off she didn't show any of it, again. I could almost start to think it was one of those Callidus Tricks of hers; Perpetual Dildoness or something. "Cute, but you'll need to try harder if you want an unsightly reaction out of me." she finally spoke calmly before adjusting a stray purple lock.

"Don't mind if I take that as a challenge." I smirked, more than intent on getting through that armor.

"As a matter of fact I don't" she responded with a small smile and a spark in her eye. It seemed like she took it as a challenge as well and I certainly recognized that flame. She took it seriously. That was when I realized we may still have a chance to get along yet. Or at least not end up wanting to murder each other. "But we've wasted enough time already."

Without waiting for me she went ahead with a quick pace. It's as I followed her inside that I truly realized just how tall she was. I had to quicken my pace to keep up with her longer steps. That much wasn't a big deal, but what really hit me was precisely that it took me this long to realize it. I gave a glance back at her and it seemed so obvious now, but before she looked perfectly.. average. Callidus and their tricks, you never know when they're playing you or aren't.

The factory itself was just as decrepit inside than outside, though it seemed a bit bigger.  Lighting was practically inexistent and most of it came from holes through the ceiling. Most of the equipment and doors were rusted almost to an unnatural degree and I couldn't really wrap my head around why the place hadn't been demolished just yet considering how valuable space is here in Japan.

soon enough we reached a small door to what turned out to be some sort of rest hall for the former employees. It was.. pretty shockingly contrasting with the outside. The room was sizable and furnished with fairly lavish furniture even though it was a bit of a mess. There was couches, a kitchen section, an over-compensatingly large TV with surround sound and all other sorts of conveniences, but it was all in one big room. I took a second to give it a look over but my main concern was elsewhere.

"You know, it was a pretty straightforward path from the entrance, people could stumble around this place pretty easily." I voiced my concerns with a detached tone that caused her to just laugh. That was new. Somewhat insulting, yes, but new.

"Callidus tricks~" she simply replied with a hint of smugness.

"..."

"..."

"Not buying it."

"Fine, fine." she sighed lightly and made a small dismissive hand gesture. "You were able to find your way because I was here and allowed it." she put emphasis on 'allowed' with just a little bit of that thick, slimy arrogance. "This entire building is under a Barrier, any intruders who enter it go through a rigged maze full of natural hazards and with no exit besides the one they came from."

That sounded legit enough, but there was just one little detail with that explanation that didn't really satisfy me. "And what about when you're not around? you can't keep that Barrier up 24/7 or when you're far away can you?"

"Callidus tricks~" she replied once more. I stared at her again. She stared back. It lasted a while longer this time. Finally she responded with a completely deadpan and straight "I'm not telling you that one."

Well, it was fair enough. After all even though she was going at lengths to make me trust her, -she- didn't have much of a reason to trust -me- with sensitive information just yet. Even this location, according to what she just explained I couldn't find again if I had wanted to backstab them myself.

"Hey, Suzume. Who's this?" another, much quieter and softer voice came from the other end of the room, but it was strange, as if mechanized by some sort of device. I turned to check and saw someone come in from an access to some other part of the complex. There was just one tiny problem: I recognized that one.

"What the fuck is this!?" I roared and brought one of my black claws  up to Suzume's neck in a blink's time, the twisted, cold metal just a hair's breadth away from skin. The Callidus remained firm and calm, but the other girl did not. Before I knew it I found myself reeling on the ground with a pain sharp enough to make it feel like my head was being grinded by several chainsaws all at once.

"Suzume are you alright?" I could hear the other's steps quickly running this way, but I couldn't see; my eyes had gone blank from whatever it was she had done to me.

"Yeah, I'm alright Silke, you overdid it though." The Callidus sighed faintly once more, causing the second girl to let out a small concerned gasp. "Did you two have some kind of history you didn't tell me about, Silke?" she continued with some sort of big sister tone; comforting, yet with authority at the same time.

The pain finally lessened and I was able to get back to my feet slowly, even if it had grown manageable, my head was still pounding with the mother of all bad headaches for a reason I couldn't fully grasp. "E-eh? n-no, I.. don't know her" 'Silke' 's voice responded, in its same mechanically-corrupted yet somewhat soft tone. I'd even say she sounded innocent, but there's no such things in our line of work.

I was then finally able to get a good look. It was the girl in the weird-ass leather suit and biker helmet I saw in the parking the other day alright. The one I stumbled on when trying to not become Vindicare target practice. "..you were there..." I managed, pain still grasping me mercilessly. "You were there in the underground parking lot..."

Suzume gave a look between the two of us, allowing herself to show some amount of confusion while Silke let out a small yelp. The Callidus glanced at the shorter girl and tilted her head with a look that just said 'Well?'. "A-ah that!" she managed.  "I was.. just keeping eyes on something.. There was a..  big anomaly and we thought a really mean witch was going to appear... but nothing came.. so I stuck around to make sure..."

Now it was my turn to be confused. "Witches? I'm.. pretty sure I know what anomaly you're talking about..." I winced a little, the pain making it difficult to focus or talk. "There was only me there... with a bunch of Vindicare on training who probably thought the same thing you did..."

Suzume's expression seemed to become a little worried at my pain and she stepped in on the story. "Silke, is something wrong with your suit?" "No, it should be functioning perfectly. Let me set it to the maximum." There was a small silence for a few seconds and the pain lessened to tolerable levels. I sighed deeply with relief. "Sorry for interrupting, go on." Suzume finally stated.

"Alright, what the fuck was -that-." I let out with an exasperated voice. The other two exchanged a glance again, as if I was saying something incredibly stupid. No need to tell it put me in even worse of a mood than I already was, but I knew better than to have another outburst.

"Didn't you learn about Culexus in Basic?"  Suzume asked with a somewhat intrigued expression while Silke remained silent. I remained quiet for a moment as well, biting back an acrid reply.

"I didn't -go- through Basic" I finally spat with a little bit of embarrassment. "It's.. let's just say things were pretty complicated back then and I had an history... As for 'Culexus' yeah I kinda recall the name and the suits but that's about it.."

Suzume blinked once and literally facepalmed with a small, measured motion. "I see.." she took a small breath. "This might be an issue, but we'll fill you in about that in time." she headed over to a large, comfortable chair and sat down, crossing her legs before continuing. "No need to stay standing there like birds though."

I rolled my eyes before flopping on the nearest available surface. Silke picked a couch on the opposite side of me and I could feel my headache finally fully disappear at the distance. Strangely enough, I felt like I heard a very faint 'sorry' when she left.

"Alright, now that this is over... let's start again properly." Suzume broke the silence and shifted her position ever so slightly in her chair. She cleared her throat softly and looked up slightly before joining her hands. She couldn't look more blue-blooded even if she tried. "My name is Suzume Oyashima, ex Callidus to the Third." she then gestured to her friend. "This is Silke Schreiber, my adooorable little German Culexus, also formerly from the Third."

I glanced over at Silke who remained silent and almost looked like she was trying to disappear into the padding of her seat. Tough luck with the suit though, but I could practically sense her blushing. I reported my attention back on Suzume and took a small breath. "Ryuko Tatsuki, Eversor... Used to work for the Ninth." I stated with a small bit of hesitation.

Suzume nodded lightly and joined back her hands. "Alright, that's good enough. No need to get into the more painful details until you're comfortable with it." I raised an eyebrow and she just gave me that warm smile again. I wanted to distrust it, I really wanted to, but I couldn't help but find myself thinking it was starting to look genuine. Was it just my paranoia again? "Now what was that earlier? How you two supposedly met up."

I produced my bottle of Vodka from my inventory and took a long gulp before setting it down next to myself. All this talking was getting me thoroughly dry and I was being way too sober for this shit. "To keep it short; I was fighting some Witch and her Barrier had some sort of metaphysical seizure - I honestly have no idea what the fuck it was - but the end result was that when I was able to get my bearings again I was attacked by a bunch of ambushed Vindicares. I fucked off and took cover in some underground parking lot where I saw... Silke... I thought she was with them."

Suzume remained a quiet listener until I finished, not even commenting on my drinking. "I see. We have two Vindicares, but they aren't around at the moment. Your situation does look rather strange however and I have no doubt it's tied to this anomaly Silke sensed and it explains your reaction earlier."

The little Culexus nodded lightly and finally spoke up again. "F-for all it's worth, I apologize... I didn't mean to startle you like this.." Even despite the Vox-caster, the words seemed genuine. "It's fine, shit happens and all" I raised a soothing hand.... on second thought that was a bad idea; I saw her flinch lightly at the sight. "I don't hold it against you, but never ever use... whatever the fuck it was you did to me just now."

"I-I can't make any guarantees... but I'll try..." she responded before Suzume interfered. "Now that you 'bring' the topic. Would you mind explaining what happened to your hands? I think it's disturbing her."

I sighed deeply. I knew this question would come sooner or later, but I was still a bit early for it. The marks of my Failings. "Let's just say I used to play a very dangerous game and I ended up burning myself on the flame. Those are permanent reminders of that."

The explanation didn't seem to satisfy Suzume while Silke's expression was unreadable behind that visor. They were polite enough not to press further about it. "As for your eyes, can I assume it's related?" Suzume shifted the topic with her usual calm. Now that I think about it, it really made her look like really in control of things, to be always so composed like that.

"Yeah, somewhat" I nodded lightly. "It's kind of difficult to explain actually, but if we end up sticking together then you'll understand soon enough - gotta see to understand." the Callidus remained quiet for a few seconds, taking in the answer but not voicing her dissatisfaction if she had any.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Feel free to make yourself at home, I have a few things to take care of." She stood back up and headed to the door at a leisurely but poised pace. "Play nice now~" and with this she left me with the short Culexus who had been silent for a while longer.

This was going to be awkward.