Sector 1: STAM HQ- Morning Briefing [4 September 2121 05:00]
The agents were lined up in the same room they had been briefed in last night. This time in their morning training clothes. After the briefing they would do their morning training.
Shoutarou was a step closer to Shizune. He held a display in his hand and was tapping through his notes from the hospital. He yawned loudly before continuing, “...at 2:00 the tests came back positive for the mazoku drug being in the first victim’s bloodstream. Since then, 10 more have shown positive and due to the similarity in symptoms the Doctor’s are anticipating positive results for the remaining victims...” he rubbed one eye while continuing, “That being said it doesn’t seem like the victims are mazoku. As opposed to the studies conducted previously, the mazoku drug seems to have been ingested by these victims no earlier than 16:40 yesterday, but the drug broke down in a record time of 10 hours after ingestion. This doesn’t fit any of the determined mazoku testings and none of the victims have exhibited any change in form even after the breakdown of the mazoku drug.”
“So humans were taking the mazoku drug?” Shizune pulled up the conference-style display to project the lab results. Shou set his display atop the small projector and his full report came up in the air.
Kyou was squinting from his place to read from the now displayed report, “Why would humans be taking this?”
“We aren’t sure yet,” Seiji added from his spot in the line, he was scanning through a small display from his dog tags, “The officers were able to detain a handful of patrons of the Purple Hat but none of them seemed to know anything about the mazoku drug. There were some photos taken from the bathroom that mention Durim, the snake-mazoku-club owner, and ‘Free’.”
Shou tapped on the large display to show the pictures. There were several scribbles on the bathroom walls:
DURIM MAKES YOU FREE
FREE @ VIP
FREE SAMPLES OF F R E E - DURIM
“What’s Free?” Ryu furrowed his brow.
“We aren’t sure yet-” Shou began but stopped short.
“It’s a street name,” Kenji interrupted blankly. When the others turned to look at him he scoffed before continuing, “You Clean Sector folks don’t know about street names?” he waited momentarily and smiled, “Well, well, well… looks like you might have a need for this hirad after all,” his gaze landed on Kyou with a wide smile.
“So the mazoku drug is being rebranded by the name of ‘Free’ in order to sell to humans,” Shizune broke through the tension with her bland, flat voice. Her glare; however, was sharp and pointed at Kenji.
Kenji cleared his throat and stood up straighter in his spot in line, “Yes ma’am.”
“Were you able to interview any of the victims?” Shizune returned her gaze to Shou.
He shook his head, “One had awoken briefly, but within moments slipped back into an unconscious state. The medical team is keeping detailed reports on them as their situation develops.”
“Understood. Dismissed.”
The boys left the room without another word and proceeded to their morning training.
Sector 1: The Girls’ Apartment [06:30]
Keiko emerged from her room surprised to find Arisa asleep at the dining table. There were notes and displays sprawled around her. Keiko peered at the central display screen and smiled softly, this research…. She saw a long list of names- only 5 of which weren’t crossed out, suspects? She scanned over her notes, ah I see. Someone must be supplying the MS to be sold….perhaps someone with a criminal record...she looked back at the names and leaned over Arisa to scroll down the page.
Arisa shifted in her sleep, “Kei...” she opened her eyes crankily and then suddenly all at once, “AH!” she shouted as she sat up straight, knocking Keiko back slightly, “What time is it?!!”
Before Keiko could respond Arisa hastily grabbed the display screen and brought it close to her face, “6:30?!?!?!? Oh my god!!” she pushed away from the table and scrambled for the shower, “I’m late! I’m so late!!”
Keiko chuckled, “We have plenty of time! Calm down!”
“Arisa overslept?” Aku closed her bedroom door behind her and was braiding her long blonde hair over her shoulder.
“Hardly,” Keiko turned to the table to clear up Arisa’s research, “Looks like she was trying to find Durim’s supplier for MS.”
“It’s shocking he had anything to sell. Most of the people Arisa and I collected from had just a few spare pills left. Forget a surplus,” she tied off the end of her braid and sat down to pull her socks up.
“Oh yeah,” Keiko looked over at Aku after securing the research in a locked cabinet, “How did the mission with Arisa go?”
Aku nodded, “It went OK. She made a few mistakes but she bounced back.”
“That’s good. I think she’s nervous about the promotion evaluation-”
“OWWW!!!”
Keiko and Aku jerked their heads to the direction of Arisa’s room. They moved to speak but Arisa called out to them from her room, “I stubbed my toe!! I’m OK!!” she whimpered.
They both chuckled for a moment. “Oh-” Keiko started while she grabbed her uniform jacket and slipped her arm through it, “Do you remember the total count of MS you got?”
Aku shook her head, “Arisa brought them to the pharmacy. She probably knows.”
Kei cocked an eyebrow in question. While not against any official rule, it was an understood rule that missions taken in groups should be completed by all group members, “Why?”
Aku was now looking through her bag, “I had training to coach.”
“Ah,” Keiko stepped into the kitchen out of Aku’s view and her brow furrowed slightly. Hong canceled all trainings…why would she lie?
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Sector 1: Tenno Academy [7:05]
“See Arisa,” Keiko yawned as they set their bags down in the classroom, “We still have 25 minutes before the lesson starts.”
Arisa pouted, “My morning studying though!” she had rushed through her morning routine and from the apartment so fast she didn’t even tie her hair up properly. She set the two purple bands on the desk.
Keiko rubbed her eyes, “You want anything? I’m getting a coffee.”
“Ooh! A tea and some bread or something...get some for Aku too!”
She flashed a thumbs up and left the classroom. Arisa let out a breath of relief, she never came to school this late, but she supposed it was worth it this time since she narrowed down the suspects to 5. She grinned as she put half of her hair in a loose, low ponytail. Hopefully the information would prove useful to prevent any more human’s getting tangled in this drug scandal.
Suddenly, and without warning she felt the skin on her chest begin to bubble. An Uncontrollable Shift. She jolted straight up in shock and looked around the classroom nervously. Only Hiroto was here, but he looked asleep at his desk. She shuffled through her bag and pulled out a small black pouch before rushing from the room.
From his desk, Hiroto raised his head slightly, his eyes following Arisa from the room and then returning his gaze to her desk and her bag.
She walked with a sense of urgency, but tried not to draw attention to herself. Under her shirt she felt the skin on her chest find their shape in firm scales. As that shift settled she felt it start to slowly grow in all directions. She didn’t have much time before it creeped its way to her very visible neck.
“Oof!” she had been so stuck in her thoughts she hadn’t watched where she was going and bumped into someone.
“Ohh Kuma Arisa,” Kyoushirou was looking at her with a soft smile and an outstretched hand, “Are you all right?”
Arisa felt her face flush and wash away any sense of urgency she had. She stretched out her hand, but felt the skin around her elbow bubble and suddenly jumped to her feet without taking his hand. Her face completely red- she laughed, “Oh how clumsy of me haha!!” she stepped around him carefully and turned around, her destination just up ahead.
“Wait!”
She turned to see Kyou bending down to pick up a small black pouch, “You dropped this...”
She snatched the pouch from his hands, “Ah- that’s- uhm!” her face felt violently hot which only seemed to speed up the uncontrollable shifting, “That’s-” the bubbling had reached the bottom of her neck and she immediately turned away from Kyou and dashed into the restroom.
Kyou stood there, his hand still outstretched to hand her the pouch, completely dumbfounded. He chuckled and rubbed his face amused, Kuma Arisa you never cease to surprise me.
Arisa had locked herself in a stall, now safe from peering eyes. She pulled open the pouch and took a single capsule of MS from it and swallowed it. The bubbling continued to work its way up her neck, “Come on come on...” she whispered impatiently. After a few moments the bubbling weakened and then subsided all together. She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed against the stall door slightly. Regaining her composure, she shifted her skin back to its normal state and pushed the black pouch deep in her breast pocket.
Arisa splashed some water in her face and looked up at her reflection. She gasped. Only one side of her hair was tied off, the other side hung loose. Realizing that she had spoken to Kyoushirou in such a disheveled taste she whimpered silently, you idiot! You stupid, stupid- why? Why me?!
She pulled the band from her hair and peered out the restroom to see if Kyou was still out there. To her relief he was gone and she quickly shuffled her way back to the now busier classroom.
When Aku walked into class 2-A she saw Arisa searching for something, “You lost something?”
Arisa smiled, “Oh Aku hey!”she pouted, “I can’t find my other hair band. I could have sworn I put it on the table….”
Aku shrugged, “You probably just forgot it.”
“Hmmm. Maybe...” she slumped into her seat, “what do I do with my hair now?”
“And then the mazoku knocked Shou back with his big snake tail!!” Seiji walked into the room with his fan club following behind him. The girls cried out and squealed.
“The other mazoku sent a huge tornado of wind to stop me!” he flailed his arms broadly, “And that’s when the snake mazoku -” he paused and suddenly clapped his hand in front of a girls face, “BOOM!!!” the girls all jumped in surprise, “it crashed through the back wall and escaped!!”
“What about the other one??” one of the girls quickly jumped in.
Seiji flashed a smile at the girl who quickly tried to cover her blush. “It bolted too. Ran as fast as it could!”
“You let it escape??” the girls whined.
He shook his head, “Of course not! I ,the amazing and brave man that I am, gave chase!!”
The girls squealed happily again.
“Shou had managed to shoot the mazoku as it ran- but it wasn’t enough!!” he lowered himself slightly and pull out a pen from his pocket, “I took my time to make sure I aimed it perfectly and-” he held back his pen as if it were a dagger to be thrown. Many of the girls moved out of the way, but Seiji held eye contact with one girl who was frozen in place under his gaze, “-fire!” he threw his pen from his hand. It zoomed just to the side of the girl.
“Oi~ Arisa, is Aku-” Keiko had just entered the doorway with her tray of drinks and bread when a pen stabbed her in the temple. “Ah!” in surprise she dropped the tray and ducked her head out of reflex.
Immediately the room fell silent.
Keiko turned her head and saw Seiji, “You!”
Seiji’s face had gone wide in shock, but he quickly regained composure and coughed to clear his throat, “Oh- Keiko….” he stalled by walking a bit closer to her, “Sorry about that-”
Keiko’s hand grabbed his jacket and pulled him closer to her, “You’re sorry?”
Arisa jumped up and quickly came over to Keiko, “Now, now it was an accident RIGHT,” she jerked her head over to Seiji and then back to Keiko, “Just an accident-”
Seiji nodded very quickly while he spoke, “Yes of course it was just an accident!”
“See?” Arisa set her hands on Keiko’s shoulders, “Just an accident! And Seiji is going to make this right, right?”
Seiji continued to nod, “Of course! I’ll go get new drinks-”
“Croissant.” Keiko mumbled.
“Huh?” Seiji asked.
“And a croissant!” Keiko said again this time louder and glared at him.
“Yes, yes a croissant right away!”
“Awwww Seiji you didn’t finish the story~~~” the girls whined.
“Oh of course ladies I-”Seiji attempted to stand upright again but Kei’s grip held firm.
She glared at him.
“Uhhh-” Seiji looked back and forth, “I’ll finish the story another time hmm?”
“Awwww-”
With that, Keiko let go of him and he immediately left the class.
“Seiji wait!” the fan club followed.
Arisa let out a lung full of air.
Keiko sighed, “What a mess.”
[15:00]
The end of the day bell rang and Keiko immediately stood from her seat, “Finally!'' She stretched her arms above her head. From beside her, Seiji stared, his mouth slightly hanging open. Had she always seemed so...he didn’t have the right word. Something about the way her eyes were squinted shut, or maybe the soft strained hum she made while stretching- he couldn’t be sure. Seiji suddenly smacked his cheeks and shook his head. He looked back at Keiko who was now packing her things in her bag and felt the same flush creep on his face. What’s wrong with me?
“Come on. We’re gonna be late for the movie,” Aku was already leaning against the entrance to the classroom.
Arisa bounced happily to Aku, “It’s my turn to pick right?”
Keiko groaned and she walked behind Seiji to get to the walkway, “Grreat.”
Seiji’s ears felt hot. He needed to say something to her, to get her to look at him once more. His face reddened, “Keiko!” he shouted while standing, startling both Keiko and Arisa.
Keiko glared at him, “What?”
He gulped, “What did you do with my pen?” he blinked, “You cleaned up the drinks that got spilled so where is the pen I threw?”
Keiko raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you serious?”
Seiji wasn’t sure if he was, but now he had to commit, “It was my favorite pen!”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have thrown it across the classroom!” Keiko scoffed and walked away.
Seiji stood, “Hey I’m serious!” Seiji slumped back in his seat. Shou started laughing from the back row, “What the hell was that Mr.Popular?”
As Seiji turned around to quip at Shou, a pen hit him in the temple. He whipped back around to the door, “Ow!”
“Oh! Nice shot!” Arisa high fived Kei who was grinning.
“There, now we’re even!”
Seiji looked down at the pen. It wasn’t the one he had thrown at her. It was green with little cartoon designs. He smiled softly as he put the pen in his bag.