Megumi wondered how this had happened. In the office of the Head Superintendent of the LGD, there lay a white wolf, a black wolf, and by the side, an abnormal tiger being held by a Senior Superintendent.
What was the Ten Shadows user doing now? Sitting by said Head Superintendent who was focusing on her paperwork. Well, half of her was, the other half was petting the white Divine Dog, which could be shown by her right arm writing, and her left arm lowering at times.
Swire in particular? It seems she was still on break, patting the miniaturized Tiger Funeral while it laid on her lap.
Megumi wasn't innocent either, sorting out the rejected and accepted papers while the black Divine Dog laid to the right of his chair. At some intervals, when Ch'en was focusing on reading the papers, he would lean down and give it a few pats.
Recalling the situation before, while scratching his Shikigami under the chin, it had happened when he had decided to call upon Divine Dogs for Ch'en; seeing how she would... jealously shoot glances at Swire from time to time.
The Ten Shadows user found it weird to look at. So, he decided to attempt to appease her via giving her own animal to pet.
It worked out, who would've known that the dragon lady was a wolf person? Well, certainly not Megumi a few minutes ago.
But didn't Ch'en also worry about his Shikigamis doing something bad earlier? Where did all that paranoia walk off to?
He wasn't going to pester the woman.
Moving on, Swire was, interestingly enough, actually helping out Ch'en with her paperwork. Or rather, she was helping Megumi organize the signed ones, but it was still inadvertently being of use for her blue haired rival.
"Hey, for files like these, you usually separate them from the..." Swire's lecturing voice continued on while Megumi followed her instructions. The woman was pointing to other sections of the desk while her other arm held Tiger Funeral.
It seems that even while on break, the Senior Superintendent known as Swire could still be productive with what she does.
Megumi found it odd too, the woman carried the demeanor and air of a rich lady, and she could be one altogether if his assumptions were correct. The only piece of evidence the Ten Shadows user had to go off of was when said she would buy Tiger Funeral off of him no matter the price.
"How much longer is your break?" Ch'en inquired from the side, tapping her pen on the desk. About 90 percent of the overall paperwork had been finished, and the dragon lady was itching to get back on active duty.
"Hm?" Swire turned to stare at the watch on her right wrist, a brand from Columbia that would cost almost as much as renting an entire expensive apartment complex. "About 15 minutes, why?"
"We need more information about whatever those Blood Hounds are doing," Ch'en paused her writing when she realized something, "hold on, Megumi, haven't you encountered them before?" The blue haired Lung remembered that he had been sent that white haired Lupo to hunt him down.
Swire started on in curiosity, finding her interest piqued at that statement, 'well, I wasn't there when Hoshi and dragon lady over here encountered Megumi, so I wouldn't know too well what happened.'
"The Blood Hounds?" Megumi recalled that time where he dealt with two members of them, extorting protection money from that one food stall. The second time was when he stopped some bastard from using a child to deliver drugs. "I don't know much about them, but I've dealt with a few."
"Oh?" Swire cupped her right hand under her chin and glanced upwards, "was it because you killed Hanshi, or..."
"I just encountered them," Megumi shrugged, not really thinking much about them when he did. In terms of difficulty, they were no harder to deal with than delinquents, especially with how he had progressed so far. "Didn't like what they were doing, so I took action most of the time."
"Let me guess, drug trafficking, demanding protection money, kidnapping, and assault?" Ch'en listed the crimes that were common with the Siracusan gang, "is that about right?"
"The first two, yes, but that was the only time I've met them," Megumi paused his words, wondering if he was missing something. "Nevermind, that white haired woman was with the Blood Hounds too, I believe."
"Her?" Swire instantly knew who he was talking about, "it's hard to draw any conclusions about that Lupo, but we can confirm she isn't a part of the Blood Hounds."
Megumi had to wonder why she seemed to want to chase him down then, 'if she isn't with the Blood Hounds, then why was she after me in the first place?' Was she just a crazy woman who did whatever?
"That's new," Ch'en commented.
"Yup, me and my team have been pretty active, unlike a certain somebody," Swire took the opportunity for a light jab at her co-worker.
Megumi witnessed the scene of an angry dragon glaring at a smug tiger, 'why are they like this...? No, scratch that, I can see why.' His mind instantly came back to a certain schizophrenic man, and that was all that was needed to throw away all disbelief.
Honestly, he just hoped he didn't get caught into the crossfire, considering he was supposed to be watched by these two women every week from now on.
His mind tuned out their bickering, finding comfort in black Divine Dog. At the very least, Ch'en was still filling out her paperwork while arguing with Swire, so they could leave this room eventually. Once she's finished of course.
'Then again, won't I just be dragged into her field missions?' Or whatever Ch'en did as part of the LGD. Seeing how different this world was, the woman probably raided criminal gangs with a squad.
Instead of guns, though, the people of this world used crossbows and swords. It was a bit of a jarring sight, but Megumi had somewhat gotten used to it. It seems gun technology is either overlooked or just doesn't exist. He was betting on the former.
"Oh, right, Megumi," Swire called out to him by waving her hand in front of his face, "so you can summon animals with your 'Sorcery,' right?" She asked him inquisitively.
"Yes?" Megumi still hadn't returned to the real world from his mind, so he gave her a dumb response. "Sorry, I mean, I do, yes." The man berated himself mentally for letting his guard down too much.
"It's really strange, though, how did you summon a gigantic purple flame then?" The woman lightly caressed Tiger Funeral's head while she questioned him. 'Also, didn't Ch'en also mention that he sent an air slash or something?'
Then that black electricity that sparked around when he punched the white haired Lupo.
Her thoughts were confirmed when Ch'en also included her own two cents, "and that air slash you used to nearly decapitate me," she pointed out casually, but a slight venom laced those words.
"Oh, really, you never told me that," Swire's free hand landed on her hip. "Just told me he cut air, or something."
"You didn't need to know the full details," Ch'en countered back to her, "besides, you barely handled his case before, there was no need to fill you in." With those scathing words, she quickly turned to Megumi before Swire could retort, "so, are you going to explain?"
The other woman clutched Tiger Funeral tighter, as if holding a plushie close to her, and looked to the side in an annoyed look, 'wise dodge there, dragon bitch.'
Megumi leaned back on his chair, before black Divine Dog leapt up and onto his lap, "you have more than one Innate Technique." He didn't feel like it was something he needed to keep as secretive as Cursed Energy or Cursed Spirits.
"I see," Ch'en nodded to herself, "it's weird, since most Arts users have powers that are usually singular, and it's on them to make the most of it." The woman moved a piece of paper to Megumi's side.
'So, not too different from a Cursed Technique?' Megumi didn't know if Arts could get as complex as Cursed Techniques, like Limitless and the Ten Shadows. Perhaps it could, since he recalled that wolf battle maniac who had Arts which could disable abilities.
"So... were you just born lucky to have multiple, then?" Swire inquired, walking away from the desk to pace around the room. She didn't feel like sitting down all day.
"Lucky...?" Megumi's complexion became worse with those words, "I wouldn't say I'm lucky." Considering how much shit was thrown at him on a daily basis, and the constant events during and after the Shibuya Incident.
Swire paused in her steps, and put on a scrutinizing look, 'well, I guess I can't deny that he's pretty unlucky.' From what the Feline knew, the man had his entire home destroyed, woke up in Lungmen, had Chi Xiao drawn on him, and practically had no other to go than crime.
"It doesn't add up..." Ch'en continued scribbling, "you said you were born in a clan that holds that Ten Shadows ability of yours, but you were born with multiple?" Her assumption at the moment was that Sorcerers could just be born with numerous Innate Techniques.
"Ten Shadows?" Swire's animal ears jerked downwards when hearing those unfamiliar words, "am I missing something?" Her legs were in motion again, starting to pace around the room while petting Tiger Funeral.
"My Innate Technique, the ability, is called Ten Shadows," Megumi simplified it as best he could to not drag it any longer, "it lets me call upon ten different summons through shadows."
Swire's eyes opened further, a ray of recognition flooding into her mind, "oh...! That makes so much more sense now!" She remembered him summoning his animals from the shadows, them coming out from some sort of black puddle.
That wasn't even including the information Ch'en had given her when she had fought with the man.
"Yes, it's an Innate Technique, the slash I sent... Ch'en's way..." Megumi winced when the woman paused her work to give him a glare. It seemed as if she hadn't moved on from it, "...Is not an Innate Technique, but an Ingrained Technique."
"New term?" Swire spoke out with annoyance, "ingrained... it means it was literally or metaphorically ingrained into you, right?" She decided to save him the explanation and deduce it herself.
"That's exactly how it works," Megumi gave her a look of recognition.
"Wow, didn't know you had the brain to connect the dots like that," Ch'en half-heartedly spoke from where she was, crossing her legs to get into a different sitting position.
"Yeah, I'm just that good, unlike a certain somebody~," Swire's body shifted to her, giving a self absorbed smile to get under Ch'en's skin. It worked.
"Tch," the Head of the LGD moved her hand to massage her forehead, having already had enough of the tedious paperwork. "You're lucky I'm no longer in the mood to deal with your stupidity."
"Aside from that," Megumi interrupted them with a sudden voice, "it was ingrained into my brain after I had... been exposed to it for a long time." The Ten Shadows user decided to keep it as that.
"Brain? Isn't your brain...?" Swire blinked a few times in confusion while coming back to his brain scans from yesterday. 'So his abilities come from his brain, even though it's practically made with a bunch of scarred tissue at this point.' The scans were still lingering in her mind.
"Did I forget to include that detail?" Megumi muttered under his breath, before shrugging. It was no use to cry over spilt milk, "my Innate Technique comes from the brain."
Swire and Ch'en paused whatever they were doing to stare at each other. Instead of the sparks of an electric tension forming between their eyes, it was one which held the same thought.
"...Megumi, I've probably already said this before, but you do know that you reveal things too easily?" Ch'en turned back to him first, looking at him as if he were a wild animal. Honestly, where was that mountain of corpses she remembered seeing? Why the hell was the man actually a young adult?
The black haired man had to actually consider her words, remembering that he was in a completely different world. He didn't like reminding himself of that fact, but it seemed that speaking of his Cursed Technique to people in his previous world made his explanations become a habit.
But wasn't that a good thing for these LGD officers? Why were they giving him that look?
"You gotta be kidding me," Swire was the one who started to feel stress welling up within her now, "you do realize that if you say shit like that out loud, entire nations would wanna open up your head and study it."
"That's... fair," Megumi hastily replied, placing a hand to pat black Divine Dog on the head. "I guess I'm too used to it being common knowledge back home." To other Sorcerers, such information was indeed as common as seeing the blue sky.
However, to the outside world of Jujutsu Society, even for the military, something like that was not known at all. Maybe that's what the U.S. would have done when they kidnapped a Sorcerer, open up their brain and dissect their body to study whatever secrets they held.
The experiments relating to the part of the brain that controlled the Cursed Technique honestly made Megumi feel a little sick, but he's seen worse.
"Hey, come on, since you've been acting pretty reasonable so far," Swire waved her hand in a reassuring motion, "we won't spill any secrets about you. Well, if you keep up with that attitude, I have no problems with you."
"Ugh... Swire," Ch'en groaned out loud and rubbed her eyes to dispel the exhaustion from them, "get all records of his brain scans burned if they're physical and deleted if they're digital. We can't leave a chance for it to circulate around anywhere."
Speaking of his brain, they were still wondering how he was still functioning as a normal human being. Well, that was the least surprising and mysterious part about him, even if Megumi didn't know why he was alive himself.
"Well, I guess I agree with you on one thing," Swire hesitantly admitted, turning her head away with a harrumph, "oh, and Megumi, it's best for you to lay low... Actually, we're here to make sure you lay low, especially with all the public unrest happening."
"No thanks to me, huh" Megumi rhetorically concluded it for her, finding that pressing his back against his chair was therapeutic to some extent. Looking back at everything in a larger lens, wasn't he practically responsible for all the bad things that happened after Shinjuku?
"Does anybody ever tell you you're not that expressive?" Swire called out to him, "you're almost like that dirty rat in terms of demeanor."
"...Lin?" Megumi recalled that woman. 'She's reserved, but I don't think we're that similar,' from what he knew, the Zalak woman stayed silent and usually analyzed the scene calmly before acting. Megumi? He could keep himself calm, but most of the time, he remembered panicking many times.
Once, against the Finger Bearer, next against Ryomen Sukuna, and finally against that Heavenly Restricted stranger.
Unless Lin Yuhsia herself could panic, then he couldn't find clear cut similarities between them. Neither could he say the same for Swire, considering they seemed to be enemies, to an extent.
It was then a low ringing sound coming from Swire was heard. All heads turned to the noise, the tiger lady blinking after realizing what it was.
"Oh, hold on," Swire glanced at her watch before realizing what time it was, "ah damn, I'm 5 minutes past my break!" The woman's tail and ears raised upwards, like a cat that had been shocked.
Megumi was about to say something, about how Swire still had Tiger Funeral, but closed his mouth. It didn't really matter much anyways, considering it would de-summon itself eventually.
Ch'en shook her head amusedly, watching the tiger lady leave. She needed to finish the rest of the paperwork anyways.
***
Megumi silently sat in the car, watching it go down the late morning streets of Lungmen. The blurring scene of people bearing different racial features moved by.
He had only gone into the main city of Lungmen about once or twice, not getting too accustomed to the sight of this place.
It was far different from the slums, even the more 'commercial' districts of the slums didn't have this sort of... vibrancy to it. Megumi couldn't quite place his finger on it, but it just felt more natural to be in the main city of Lungmen.
Or maybe it was just his thoughts.
"Know where we're going?" Ch'en inquired from the wheel while still keeping her eyes on the road.
"Not sure," Megumi shook his head. He remembered the woman saying she wanted to get on the field, but they had abruptly left the LGD Headquarters right after the paperwork was finished.
"We're getting food, you haven't eaten, have you?" Ch'en answered for him. She had arrived to a small realization that Megumi most likely hadn't eaten anything yesterday, and all that activity and 'Innate Technique' usage must have burnt a lot of energy.
"I haven't," Megumi responded to the obvious rhetorical question Ch'en gave him. 'I'm not too hungry thanks to Cursed Energy,' although that was the case, he wouldn't think it would be a good idea to skip a meal.
"Thought so, we've only had coffee so far," so Ch'en decided the field duty could wait until they were in better condition.
"...About the field duty..." Megumi asked her, "...will I be participating too?"
"Do you want to?"
"Not really?"
"You're going to," Ch'en gave him her ultimatum.
"...So," Megumi could feel a sense of discrepancy developing in him, "won't I need professional training...?"
"You've had experience before, haven't you?"
"It was for missions, not something like police investigations."
Ch'en decided to elaborate further to clear his confusion, "I'm bringing you along because I still need to keep an eye on you, might as well make yourself useful."
"Aren't you worried I might cause trouble?" Megumi genuinely asked.
"Doubt it, you're not stupid," Ch'en bluntly answered, like hitting a hammer on a nail.
"Should I use my abilities?" Megumi had far too many questions regarding this.
Thankfully, Ch'en didn't mind replying to questions, "not the Chimera- I mean, Nue," she shook her head. "Aside from that, some people might recognize you, since you got recorded being attacked by that Tiger Funeral."
"...I don't think they'll recognize me instantly," Megumi didn't know what it was like to have 'internet fame,' but he didn't think people would know it was him in that video.
After all, his face was pretty bloody from his forehead bleeding, something he promptly healed using Reverse Cursed Technique during that time.
Speaking of that time, he hoped that the woman named Arturia took the cue after his Incinerator blast to leave Lungmen, or to leave him alone entirely.
That should have done the trick, right?
The dragon lady stepped on the brakes at a red light, stopping the car. As if on cue, the phone in her pocket let out a notification sound, prompting her to quickly fish it out of her pocket and glance at it.
Megumi noticed how her eyes scanned it with a more serious look, before nodding to herself and pocketing it once more.
"Change of plans, we're going to a different restaurant," Ch'en told him.
"Okay," Megumi honestly didn't know why, but she was the driver. He wasn't one to complain about these sorts of things anyways.
Watching the light turn green, Megumi couldn't help but ask, "Ch'en, do you know who that... Sankta Woman was?" He took a slight moment to recall what Arturia's race was. Somebody who used her Arts as irresponsibly as her should be a known criminal.
"The music Arts user?" Ch'en turned the wheel while contemplating, "no, nobody in the LGD knows either."
"That's unfortunate," Megumi placed his elbow on the platform below the car door window.
"Scared she'll go after you again?" Ch'en asked, giving a side-eye.
"No, not really," Megumi was confident he'd be able to fend her off in a fight. He had access to Tiger Funeral and the Inverted Spear of Heaven, meaning that whatever Arts she used to tamper with his mental state would be useless.
"Confident, aren't you?" Ch'en let out a disapproving breath.
Megumi's brain was on autopilot, so he responded as he would with Yuji or Nobara, "I could probably handle her better than you." He didn't know when, but during the time they took missions together, he might have developed a small competitive spirit.
Gojo's lectures about selfishness did not help either.
"...Come again?" Ch'en abruptly stepped on the brakes and swerved the car to the sidewalk. "Care to repeat that?" She asked him again, turning with an expressionless look.
"I... sorry," Megumi continued staring out the window, nearly cursing at himself for not thinking his words over.
An awkward silence followed.
Ch'en took a short moment to stare at Megumi with her piercing eyes, before wordlessly stepping on the gas and accelerating the car.
The scenery around them started to pass by once more, but this time, the rest of the ride was in silence.
***
The restaurant they arrived in was a relatively standard one, something Megumi didn't particularly mind.
After all, he wasn't one to be picky about his food, Tsumiki taught him that first hand. Now, it's become a habit for him to eat whatever was placed on his plate. Of course, unless it had poison in it.
Ch'en received a few stares, it must be due to the fact she was the Head of the LGD, Megumi assumed.
...But why were they so tense? Was it because she had two swords attached to her waist?
They walked up to the restaurant receptionist, Ch'en taking the lead and asking them for a private room.
The receptionist didn't seem to mind Ch'en's swords, most likely because he knew she was a part of the LGD, and there was nothing to worry about.
Megumi assumed it was like in America, where police officers there carried guns without concealing them too much.
He took a bit of time glancing around the restaurant while Ch'en spoke with the Lupo receptionist. For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of wolf eared people around. 'Lupo, that's what they're called,' He hoped Ch'en would eventually let him visit a library or a hub that held any information about this world.
It also had a distinct decoration, one Megumi didn't really know, but it wasn't Chinese, the country Lungmen was based off of in this world.
Another sight that caught his eye was a red haired Sankta woman, black haired Lupo, and what he assumed to be a Feline with yellow hair.
Two of them seemed to be wearing some sort of matching uniform, while the third one wore her own outfit.
Compared to everybody else in the room, they seemed the most vibrant out of them, if only because they were pretty short compared to the Lupos all around.
Eventually, Megumi and Ch'en were walked by the receptionist to a private room where they could eat in peace, something the black haired man was familiar with back in Japan.
Once they entered, the door was closed behind them, the receptionist saying that a waiter would most likely knock on their room to ask for their order.
Taking a seat, a sense of unease filled Megumi, not because of Ch'en, but because... well, he didn't really understand himself.
"Do you visit this place often?" Megumi couldn't help but ask, not caring about the silence that had been plaguing them after he hurt Ch'en's pride.
"No, first time," Ch'en responded, "I saw it while driving yesterday, so I decided to check it out today." The woman seemed calmer than previously, much to the Ten Shadow user's relief. "I don't recognize any restaurant like this either, probably a new one."
"I see," Megumi nodded to the woman sitting in front of him. He grabbed the menu already prepared on the table, and flipped it open to see its contents.
For some reason, his instincts were telling him that Ch'en was sending a scrutinizing gaze at him, but he kept his head lowered and tried his best to ignore it.
'All of these foods are unfamiliar,' Megumi narrowed his eyes. They seemed like Italian food rather than Chinese food to him, 'Is this place supposed to be some sort of ItalyTown? Like how Japan has a ChinaTown and KoreaTown?"
But he's never heard of a thing such as ItalyTown back in his world-
"Megumi," Ch'en called out to him, her voice more stern than before. It was as if she was inquiring to him about something.
"...It feels weird," Megumi replied to her, setting the menu down. The details started to disturb him.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," the dragon lady crossed her arms and leaned back, seeing Megumi's expression shifting from his usual stoicness to a stern one. 'He's definitely shifting to a flight or fight response.'
"So you know too?" Megumi glanced around the room, expanding his senses with Cursed Energy and narrowing his eyes.
"It's too obvious, Lupos, Siracusan culture, it seems like I got really lucky today, huh?" Ch'en's hand moved to her sword's hilt. "Or would you say we're unlucky?" She sarcastically spoke the last part.
"Unlucky," Megumi despondently answered, before standing up.
"I saw some familiar faces here, Penguin Logistics was it?" Ch'en stood up right after him, finding some humor in his response.
"Who?" Megumi asked, turning to the door of the private room they were in. He could sense movement from outside.
"A logistics company that also delivers packages, they've done it for the LGD before," Ch'en explained, "it seems they got pretty unlucky themselves, walking into a lion's den."
"...Are we completely sure this place is run by the Blood Hounds?" Megumi didn't want to cause any misunderstandings if this was actually a normal restaurant.
"While you are busy looking around the restaurant," Ch'en chided him, "I saw concealed daggers on them, specifically stilettos."
That was all he needed to hear, "I'll go outside first, then," Megumi fixed his black haori to look 'presentable' and prepared himself to walk outside. It was most likely going to be a bloodbath, even if things go right.
Ch'en immediately grabbed his shoulder and stopped his advance, "no," she spoke with a finality that left no room for argument before continuing; "are you stupid?"
"I know what I'm doing," Megumi turned back to meet her gaze. He didn't like sitting in the background while not contributing much, it always irked him to an extent.
"You're the one being monitored, do I need to remind you?" Ch'en's tone was harsher than usual, the situation making her let go of her casual posture from before.
Megumi was about to reply to it, but closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"...Fine," He relented after a short moment of deliberation, stepping to the side to let Ch'en walk out of the door first.
"I'll go outside first, then, walk behind me," Ch'en walked past him and approached the exit. "Remember, don't engage unless provoked by them first," It was a discipline ingrained in the LGD.
Megumi wondered if him running away from her warranted that 'engage' from her red sheathed weapon before.
Watching her move, Megumi wondered if it was just sheer unluckiness that they arrived into what seemed to be a mafioso's or Blood Hound's front restaurant. 'Didn't Ch'en say she'd changed plans to go to a different place?' He remembered when they had halted at a red light, the LGD Superintendent pulling out her phone after a notification was received.
Her look was quite grave during that time, before she stated that they were going to go to a different place. Megumi theorized that this might have been on purpose.
"Ch'en I have to ask," Megumi called out to her, "was this planned?"
"Oh?" The blue haired woman was about to reach for the doorknob, but paused her steps and looked pretty surprised. She turned to him, "what do you think?"
"...I think it's planned," Megumi's voice was dry, "you changed where we wanted to go after that message in your phone, right?"
"You're pretty sharp," Ch'en nodded with her eyes closed, before turning back to the closed door. "Yeah, I received a message from Hoshi, she's discovered where most of their 'fronts' were, acting as normal businesses."
"You could've at least told me first," Megumi tried to keep his tone away from a complaining one, 'while also trying to play off not being fully aware of what this 'restaurant' was.'
"I'm sure you know why," the dragon lady tilted her head, as if stating an obvious fact.
Megumi didn't retort, she had a point.
"Enough chit chat, we're gonna get to the bottom of this," Ch'en motioned towards him, placing a hand on the door knob before opening it.
***
"Hey, Texas," Exusiai took a bite out of the apple pie she ordered, half expecting this place not to serve it. Color her surprised when they actually did, "did you see the two people who walked in?"
Sora chimed in instead of the black haired Lupo, "ah, I know!" She raised her hand, "it's the 'monster inspector,' and..."
"The Chimera Bird summoner," Texas spoke that part in more of a whisper, so that the people around them wouldn't hear. Especially with who they were...
"Hm, should we hold off on our plans, then?" Exusiai looked at her nonchalantly, grabbing a sundae on the table and taking a sip of it. She held a relaxed posture, her back leaning back on the chair. "Besides, what is that summoner doing with the Head of the LGD anyways?"
The Sankta didn't imagine they were working together, unless it was far more complex than that, 'I guess it could be plausible, they looked like they were helping him out on the outskirts before...' Texas recognized somebody, and immediately took control of the wheel to drive away.
Although Sora and Exusiai were complaining about it after, they were grateful after an unholy blast of purple fire ravaged the area.
So they were quite hesitant to act when the LGD Head and that walking orbital laser of a summoner was walking around.
"You think they'd help us?" Sora asked out, "this is the Blood Hounds after all, enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?" She whispered out while speaking innocently.
"Something like that," Texas replied, glancing around suspiciously at the Lupos. They had discovered this place when striking back at the Blood Hounds for disrupting one of their deliveries; something Penguin Logistics was still irritated about.
What better way to resolve this transgression than to pay them back two fold?
"Probably best to wait it out for now, that monster inspector wouldn't come here just to buy Siracusan food, after all, right?" Exusiai recalled how this was a new establishment, something that would definitely pass by somebody as busy as Ch'en's eyes.
"I just hope it doesn't blow up," Sora nervously asked out, "since that guy is here too."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Exusiai patted Sora on the back, "focus on your performance today instead, yeah?"
The idol visibly calmed down at the gesture, nodding her head with renewed vigor.
Texas silently grabbed a pocky stick and bit down on it, waiting for anything to happen now. With all the variables that had made their way here, she wasn't expecting this to go smoothly.
Especially with the hidden stares being sent their way.