Nadehiko returns to HQ after dropping Rina off at her place and continues work on both the cafe and the team. He leaves for his apartment at ten and upon arriving gets changed and sleeps. Toshiro pores through news articles and reports looking for info. As to what happens to Gunpei, he spends the night watching TV until he decides to sleep, as usually happens. The area around the fire station sleeps as much as any other part of urban Tokyo but he has decided to keep himself out of the nightlife for as much as he can.
A few days pass by with no incident, Toshiro texts Nadehiko that he would be unavailable for a few days to do some research about the enemies and that they should only visit him if necessary. Each man finds their way of fitting in practicing for fighting into what they're doing, one way or another.
-----
Gunpei sleeps on his bunk bed while the rest of the station gets busy for something important.
"Hey, get up." A firefighter wakes him.
"What?"
"The chief's coming for a visit with other officials, you know what that means."
"I know." He sits up from his bed. "See you again tonight, then."
He leaves the building, looking up at a cloudy sky. First thing he goes to is the noodle shop for breakfast, then his next stop is a certain internet café.
"Didn't expect you to drop by." Nadehiko greets the least dressed guy in the building.
"They're doing something at the station."
"Great timing, I'm about to continue looking for the other guys."
"You're the leader, you call the shots. Where's Robin Hood, by the way?"
"He said he'll be busy looking for more information about the guys we fought."
"So how do we go about looking for guy number... four?"
"I just let the eagle guide me, worked last time."
Just like last time, Nadehiko has the bird lead them to someone, this time to the steward of the golden tiger.
The bird stops before a building: A repurposed warehouse. Its mostly offices, though there are stores on the outside for the general public.
"This place doesn't look like anything." Gunpei looks at the building's facade.
"Based on this list here it's trying to be everything."
"Any clue which one has the guy we're looking for?"
"We'll just have to guess."
The variety of establishments inside almost makes the place a mall if not for the stereotypical narrow hallways not revealing what lies behind their doors.
"For rent... Engineering firm..." Nadehiko reads through the doors.
"Hey, this one's interesting." Gunpei points at a different door.
"These posters, all these are art exhibits, must be a gallery."
"Well, have fun." Gunpei wanders off. "I'll be somewhere less boring."
"Come back!" Nadehiko's words go nowhere.
Nadehiko opens the door and finds himself surrounded by metal sculptures of a modern style, but instead of tangled messes of shapes and abstractions it's stylized people and objects.
Someone from inside comes in wearing some gear, though the upper part of his jumpsuit is unzipped and hanging around his waist, at least he's wearing a tank top underneath. "Welcome in," He greets Nadehiko, raising his visor. "you're today's first visitor, hope you like the work."
"You made these?"
"Yep, all these are my own creations."
"Full-time?"
"Yeah, I also make other things on the side, I'm a full-on metalsmith. Wanna see my studio?"
The large studio is filled with random tools, small pieces, large pieces and a furnace. A piece sits in the middle unfinished, interrupted by the arrival of a visitor.
"What's this thing you're working on?" Asks Nadehiko.
"It's a commission, once it's done you'll see it on the entrance of an anime convention place."
"Is that your biggest yet?"
"I've done some bigger stuff."
"I don't think I've seen your work until now."
"Yeah, I'm just lucky to get a project. By the way, welcome to my studio, I'm Torahiko Kurogane, and you are?"
"Nadehiko Izuki."
"Nice to meet you! I don't get visitors often so thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Did you bring anyone else with you?"
As if obliged by comedic timing, two shadowy figures barge in through the front door and head for the two young men.
While Nadehiko gets his sword out, the other man is startled at first, but immediately smirks.
"Now's my turn!" He then summons a halberd made of light and goes for the enemy's throat. The rouge blocks this but Torahiko keeps at it swinging, any attempt at holding onto the polearm thwarted by making spikes come out of the halberd.
Nadehiko fights sword against dagger, disarming him with a slash on the hand. The enemy nonetheless rushes at him but gets shocked at contact and goes down on the floor. Torahiko lets the other guy go and he flees in a jiffy carrying his mate.
"Thanks for the help."
"It's nothing, it's what I'm supposed to do with my powers." He responds with a smile, which disappears upon looking at the broken shelves. "But now there's this mess to clean up."
"You don't seem that mad that I might have ruined your work."
"I can fix them up, if that doesn't work I can just recast them. The most important project is over there, so hopefully nothing more like that happens-"
From out of left field Gunpei appears slamming a different humanoid, taking down a piece of wall along the way. The two continue fighting and in the process get close to a pile of sand molds.
"Whoa, that's not human." Torahiko moves stuff out of the way.
"I need some help here!"
Nadehiko takes stance close to the scuffle and shoots a bolt at the demon, stunning it. It recovers rather fast and now the scuffle is 2 to 1. Torahiko gets into the scene with his halberd, now shining metallic, and swinging at the back. With the demon intercepting the attack all three men are now in the game.
Using the deflection to buy himself time, Nadehiko unleashes another stun on the demon, constraining it with lightning bolts. Gunpei then starts beating the pulp out of the man with his fists.
"Hey!" The blonde guy shouts. "Throw him over here!"
Gunpei, with the upper hand, shoves the monster at said direction, Torahiko then does a final stab and kills the thing.
"Is that all?" Nadehiko dusts himself off.
"I hope so." Gunpei answers, and no one speaks a word after. "What?" He looks at them.
"We just trashed a stranger's place."
"Better this than get killed." The blonde man shrugs. "Didn't expect you to have powers, too."
"Yeah, it's why I'm here, to look for the other stewards of the high guardians."
"So you're the one! Glad to be part of the gang. With all that dealt with, welcome to my personal studio." He looks at the mess. "Now under renovation. Is he also with y- us?"
"Yep, that's Gunpei. He likes going around like that. Gunpei, this is Torahiko."
"Nice to meet you."
"Where did those things come from?"
"All I did was peep in another room and didn't know I was interrupting some ritual."
"Which room?"
"The farthest one on that hall over there."
"That one? Wait a minute..."
The other two men follow Torahiko after his sudden rush out of the hallway.
"I knew something's up with those guys when they set up shop a month ago, but I couldn't show anything to the complex's owner."
"Why are you so riled up?"
"No one should be playing with stuff like that in the first place, besides, I can even hear them chant in the middle of the night."
He opens the door to the shop, and inside, in the middle of a ring of people, is a spirit, lanky but sly.
"I didn't expect any of you to come here." It says to them.
"I knew it." Torahiko says.
"The Enemy has sent the cavalry, it seems. But our numbers are growing and you can do nothing about it."
"I'll deal with this."
"I'm supposed to be scared of you? I'll tell you now, your blade is worthless against me."
"I don't need to hear your sass, cause you're all talk." He closes his raised hand into a fist, and before anyone notices, sends a bolt of lightning through a window and into the spirit, leaving only a broken masu on the floor.
To no one's surprise this provokes a fight. A lot of things are happening at once, the first two rouges fleeing then the rest of the men circling around the three men. Gunpei fires off at them with some fireballs and with that bright light Nadehiko vanishes himself and hides somewhere. The scuffle continues with Torahiko hitting with both ends of his halberd and Gunpei knocking a couple of guys unconscious.
Nadehiko sneaks into a back room and catches the leader about to escape. The cloaked man summons a sword of his own from an umbrella and fights the other. Still in the dark, Nadehiko keeps himself unseen as the glowing sword is the only thing showing his location. The leader slashes at a floating armband and the sword vanishes; its holder let go in a flinch, he attacks some more in an attempt to hurt the Now in the dark, Nadehiko doesn't summon his sword again and silently moves at a favorable position to land an electrified fist on the other's face. The startled leader also loses control on his weapon and unwittingly swings an umbrella at him. The invisible male grabs it, throws it away and kicks the other male.
The other two enter the back room and flip a switch. There stands the floating clothes of Nadehiko and a man on the ground now obviously pleading to stop.
Torahiko notices the floating blue armband turning red. "Hey, you're bleeding too!"
The building's clinic becomes filled with injured patients. Authorities start taking information at the studio and the rented room.
"I thought you only got me on my arm." Nadehiko talks to the leader as they get patched up. "I'm only seeing these other ones now."
"You only felt the one?"
"Yeah."
"Never thought I'd actually fight the big guy. It's not over, though, they're not stopping any time soon."
"'They?' Aren't you also one of them?"
"After this? Hah, not anymore. I have better plans in life than die like this."
"How about them?"
"Little insider secret, I only know a few of these men, they get switched around so we don't get too close."
After getting the clear, the three exit the clinic. The studio is under investigation, which poses a problem for someone.
"Where am I going to stay while the studio's closed?" Torahiko shakes his head as they leave the building
"Don't you have anywhere to go home to?" asks Nadehiko.
"The studio's my house! I don't have any family close by. Looks like I'll have to ask some fellow artists, they've been nice to me since I first set foot in Tokyo."
"How are you going to explain what happened?" Gunpei asks.
"I'll just show them my halberd."
"Foolproof."
"What say we check out the other works I made since I was in the middle of touring Nadehiko."
"You have exhibits?"
"I'm taking a break from that, but a mall commissioned me a ton of sculptures, let's go there."
The mall is only around five minutes away from the studio, one of the fancier types that has both an indoor and outdoor area, the latter in the form of outdoor areas in each floor and a rooftop plaza. While not a place to view the Tokyo cityscape, it's still the highest point of the block and looks like an idyllic slice of street elevated in the middle of the city. In the center is a garden park with each patch marked with a sculpture.
"Welcome to the Sky Plaza." Torahiko speaks up as he reaches the central fountain.
"You designed all this?" Nadehiko looks around.
"An architect did. I did make every statue here, though."
"Great job," Gunpei says. "I feel like I'm not allowed to be here."
"I've made other things for this mall, but I think the best work is here. Thanks to this I got myself the studio."
"They look really nice, like something I'd see in a video game." Nadehiko comments. "By the way, are you gonna go back to the studio later?"
"I'll take some things to bring, yeah. That reminds me, I should start asking, just go look around a bit while I contact my friends."
Nadehiko looks for Gunpei, who's looking for something to eat. He finds him ordering a burger, so he joins in and orders one himself. They check on Torahiko who's making some progress from the looks of it.
"Guys, someone said yes, just in time!"
"That one problem solved." Gunpei says.
"Hey, you didn't get me a burger?"
--
"The designers must have loved your work." Nadehiko comments while sitting on an indoor bench Torahiko made.
"Yeah, someone recommended me. One day I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to make something for a new mall. Biggest project I took but it's worth it."
"My other team's still trying to make a name in the scene."
"What kind of team?"
"E-sports team."
"Oooh, I heard it's hard to get ahead in those."
"Yeah, we're pretty new and just got into the more popular competitions, then this new mission is given to me and now I have two responsibilities."
"Hey, you're not the only one who has to fit saving the world in their schedule."
"At least I'm halfway done with getting this group together.
-----
Torahiko goes back to his studio and is allowed to grab some personal items in his studio. He takes a taxi to the place where he's staying in for a while. He arrives and rings the bell.
"Hey, Torahiko, come in."
"Thanks for letting me stay a while."
"It's nothing. So what happened to the studio?"
"Long story short I fought occultists renting a nearby unit."
"You definitely would do that. How did you fight them?"
"With this!" He shows off his halberd.
"How did you do that?"
"Isn't it obvious, I have powers now!" He lets go of his weapon, though his friend looks unconvinced. "I also met new people."
"They have powers too?"
"Yeah."
"What a way to make friends, one second they're visiting your gallery the next you're fighting alongside them."
"Where do I put my things? I'm still tired from today."
"Right, I'll show you. Tell me more about what happened when we get there."
-----
With the studio temporarily closed, the three men start cleaning up the fallout of yesterday.
"Oh man." The guy holds up a broken item. "I gotta redo all these. Thanks for helping out, guys."
"It's nothing, I have to be there for my mates. This isn't my first job as team leader, after all."
"Can't be a leader without a team." Gunpei says, carrying some heavy load.
"We couldn't bring the other teammate along today; he's still busy."
"There's a better time to meet him, I hope."
The men finish cleaning up, now waiting for the renovators Torahiko called to arrive. Torahiko sits on his bed, Nadehiko on a scaffold and Gunpei on a work table.
The blond guy looks at his new mates. "Say, I've always been looking for a male model-"
"If it involves anything sleazy count me out." Gunpei interrupts.
"I don't do stuff like that."
"Whatever, why don't you ask the walking clothes display next to you?"
Torahiko looks at Nadehiko up and down.
"He meant this." He turns invisible.
"Oooh, I almost forgot that. You two ever did modelling? You have the looks, you know."
"I get that suggestion every now and then, but I never did any serious modelling." Nadehiko answers as he shows himself. "Not sure about him."
"Never did that."
"So what do you do?"
"I build and fix computers," Nadehiko answers first. "and like I said I'm also involved in an e-sports team."
"And him?"
"He'll do most things no one else does, odd jobs."
"He does look like it."
"What makes you think that?" The redhead asks.
"You obviously can't afford a shirt; you're wearing the same thing as yesterday."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"Don't you have any?"
"I don't wear those."
"Even in winter?"
"I'm used to it."
"So you just like being shirtless, got it."
Nadehiko changes topic. "So, this thing you're working on..."
"It's on hold. I'm getting this studio rearranged while I'm at it: make the front gallery bigger, renovate my work area. Let's finish this up since they're coming soon."
The builders arrive and begin work on the studio. The three hang out by a convenience store at the edge of the building.
"So what would you be doing if you can't do any work?" Nadehiko asks over coffe. "I'm not the best guy to ask, but maybe Gunpei knows a thing or two about killing time."
"Can't we go visit... him?" asks Torahiko.
"He told me not to disturb him and that he'll say when he's available."
"Someone I know is opening an exhibit today, wanna come?"
"Sure."
The gallery is about the same size as Torahiko's, but has a colorfully-painted exterior made for the upcoming showcase. The three men are stopped at the door.
"We're still closed." Says the guy at the door.
"Here." Torahiko pulls out a card from his wallet and hands it to the guy.
"Are the two with you?"
"Yeah."
"You two aren't allowed in, especially that beggar."
"I'll talk to him, just stay put." Torahiko enters the gallery, while Nadehiko restrains Gunpei from attacking the doorman.
"Stop that! This isn't something to cause a scene over."
"He said you're good." Torahiko comes in time just as Nadehiko is about to lose his hold. The two get inside, Gunpei leering at the doorman along the way.
While there are still people setting up the exhibit, it's almost ready for viewing. The walls inside are painted the same way as outside: layered shapes of varying colors. This fits the artwork on display which are mostly made of colored glass. Gunpei looks at the place in a confused disinterest as Torahiko brings the artist to introduce to his companions.
"This here is Gunpei, he gets by. Wait, where's Nadehiko?"
"Beats me."
At a nearby wall an invisible figure moves forward, scaring them.
"Cool hiding spot." Nadehiko laughs. "Nadehiko, by the way."
"How did you meet these people, Torahiko?" The artists asks the other artist.
"It's a weird one. Oh guys, my friend Haruki."
"Been a while since I met someone not within my circle who are just as weird."
"I get the invisible guy, but how is being shirtless weird?" Gunpei snarks.
"I only see people wearing that much as part of the exhibit, never the viewer."
"Is he the one whose place you're staying in?" Nadehiko asks Torahiko.
"It's someone else, actually."
"Is it Sanka?" The artist interrupts. "He was talking about it in the group chat."
"Yeah."
"Has he seen them yet?"
"No, you know how busy he is."
"Did he mention us?" Nadehiko interrupts.
"In chat, but we knew you there as 'Torahiko's new friends.' Let's make this formal, nice to meet you two, and welcome to an exclusive first look at my new exhibit. Are you sticking around for the opening ceremony?"
"Sure we can, right?"
"I still look out of place." Gunpei comments.
"There's food."
"When's it gonna start?"
"Lunchtime."
As more guests slowly fill in, the two men fill them in about the two gatecrashers. The exhibit formally opens with a few introductory remarks and an unveiling of the centerpiece: a wireframe sculpture of a human figure made out of metal with some glass panels. Applause from the gallery. The three men stay for lunch, Torahiko introducing the other two. While Nadehiko courteously engages in conversation, Gunpei is more interested in the food. The three spend some more time in the other nearby spots as the area is an artists' hub.
"I just remembered," Nadehiko says as the three walk, "there's this museum where I caught some people trying to steal an artifact. I say I but that's where I met the guy who couldn't come with us, Toshiro." He pulls out his phone and calls the museum.
"Is it anywhere nearby?"
"I don't even know the name, excuse me, hello?"
"Do you really know every art place in Tokyo?" Gunpei asks Torahiko.
"Of course, part of the trade."
Nadehiko finishes his call. "They said I can reserve a private viewing, should I tell him?"
"How important is it?"
"You're right."
The three continue their day looking at more art.
-----
Now a traitor in the eyes of the cult, the lone defector from before leaves the tiny apartment he's hiding in, carrying a number of items to discard. He finds a random dumpster behind a library and tosses the items. As the morning begins someone walks to the library to start her work when she notices what looks like a discarded stack of books nearby. Upon further inspection she sees a few notebooks and a black cloak, which she takes into her workplace and begins examining.
In a different library Toshiro wakes up from his slumber, the first thing he sees is a newspaper screaming at him its headline "RELIGIOUS GROUP LEADER ARRESTED" Slowly he starts seeing things he overlooked, by the time he starts his formal shift he has one question down: who.
-END
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