Chapter 6: The ANGeLS Descend

  I

  “Before we have an investigative team go and find our supposed Telepath Master,” Hina said. “We need Junshin-kun to take his Entrance Exams. Though circumstances say we need manpower to help track this criminal, so the Entrance Exam might be delayed.”

  Junshin’s breathe caught in his throat, a foreign emotion swelling in his chest at this entire revelation. It seemed plausible that they needed more than just one candidate to go after their Criminal X, though he didn’t know whether he felt relieved or disappointed he couldn’t prove his mettle in the entrance exams. An opportunity to work with the ANGeLS, the very same people his brother worked with when on his crime fighting escapades, caused his breast to rise with the same sense of pride warming his chest when he saw Kazuki on television having his accolades announced. Though he understood the importance of priority and the criminal must be stopped. Yet they needed preparation before they blindly headed out and confronted the Telepath Master.

  They coordinated their efforts into sweeping the underworld of Tokyo, finding nothing. Junshin used his Pyrokinetic ability to sense any heat sources nearby who would be spying on the area near the train jacking incidents. Though as soon as the challenge was issued, no more attacks have happened and the criminal stopped their activities, which could probably make it look like an entirely elaborate hoax. However, it still required investigation because threats such as these, though sometimes commonplace and rather silly, still needed to be scoured and thoroughly checked over to make sure that the streets of Tokyo are safe.Tokyo had a reputation to upkeep, after all, as one of the safer cities in the world to live in, thanks in part to the rules and regulations and the law enforcement that made it’s pulsing heart and soul. SeRAPH militarized young Psion soldiers from the ground up in institutionalism of their abilities, as the war from a previous era left everyone shell-shocked and prepared for another explosion of superpowers to blast the world asunder.

  When they gathered into the correctional facility in Tokyo specially designed for Psions where Shizuya’s father was being kept. The stark white building looked pristine and smelled like antiseptic and pine, almost astringent and austere in its bearings with the wardens and guards moving with a precision and military diligence like clockwork. Everything about the rooms, walls, and ceilings felt claustrophobic and Junshin’s felt his chest squeeze in tighter and tighter until he was sure his heart would burst. The prisoners in the correctional facility looked toward the teens walking in with scorn and some with curiosity, but upon seeing their red and black uniforms with modified trench coats and pockets, they immediately sneered and turned away. Rika flexed her fingerless gloves on her hand, before saying, “Let’s go.”

  “I’m not keen on talking to my old man,” Shizuya looked like a feral wolf. “So don’t expect me to be civil to that jackass.”

  “Don’t worry, the rest of us have it covered for you,” Rika said. “It will be hard, but you at least need to listen in and be witness to the information he will provide…if he is forthcoming at all.”

  “Why did you think of asking Shizuya’s father first, Rika?” Junshin asked. “Does he have certain special connections or know a certain list of names that would connect him to this theoretical Telepath Master?”

  “Who knows,” Rika said, before she stopped before a jail cell as a specialized Psionic prison guard watched over them. “We meet again, Kawasaki.”

  Kawasaki, the father of Shizuya Kawasaki, looked up from his place in the jail cell and smirked. The sardonic silence lay thickly in the air, and Rika frowned in disapproval as the man spat in the corner.

  “How vulgar,” Rika said with a hint of disgust in her tone. “This may be a waste of time, but we’re testing out options first. Do you have any information on our current ‘x’ factor—the Telepath Master that is possibly causing the psychotic breaks in the train hijackings?”

  “Can’t say I do, sweetheart,” Kawasaki said.

  “You’re not helping yourself here!” Kanna barked, before she rattled the bars of the cage. “Doesn’t that make him sound suspicious already?”

  “We need to question him further before coming to a conclusion,” Rika said, before she held up a hand against Kanna and pushed her back before questioning further. “I wouldn’t reveal my hand at play, whether in spoken or internal agreement. So I ask again, Kawasaki-san, in the barest traces of civility…do you have information.”

  “What makes you think that I would help you?” Kawasaki said. “My son’s there, isn’t he? That failure?”

  Shizuya gripped his hands into fists, though said nothing.

  “Shizuya is my partner and we made it together in SeRAPH at the top, no thanks to you,” Rika said coldly.

  “What’s the high and mighty heiress gotta do with a reject like that deadcell, anyway?” Kawasaki said. “He’s proven useless in the past, and he will only drag you down. I wouldn’t have been caught otherwise.”

  Junshin looked questioningly toward Rika, before Rika put a finger to her lips and whispered, “Another time.”

  “I would love to wipe that self-righteous smirk off your face,” Rika said with a slight frown tugging on the corners of her lips. “Though we are a civilized society and we don’t use and abuse our powers for that purpose, not even for criminals like you.”

  “If you’ve got compensation, maybe I would give you something good,” Kawasaki said. “Though alas, you ANGeLS cops are spinning around chasing your tails while the real criminal out there is planning and scheming whatever secrets he may be harboring.”

  “You do know something,” Kanna said as her eyes flashed. “I can smell something rotten in each criminal. This one fucking stinks.”

  “Ha!” Kawasaki said. “Honey, the only filthy unwashed bitch here is you. Need soap for your mouth?”

  “Well, we’ve devolved into pointless arguing,” Hina observed, before she said, as respectfully as she could to help soften Kawasaki. “Er…Sir? We would like you to help us, should you be inclined to. We really need information and we promise that we could potentially let you out earlier if you promise to cooperate.”

  “I have no reason to trust the ANGeLS,” Kawasaki said bluntly. “Heroes of justice, they say. Do gooders who stamp out the criminals on the streets of Tokyo. While they’re in their high and mighty ivory towers living the cushy life, they don’t save everyone.”

  “True,” Rika said. “It’s impossible to save everyone, though we can try to save as many lives as possible that are within reach. It doesn’t justify bad behavior or criminal acts.”

  “Pompous to the end, aren’tcha?” Kawasaki said with a sneer. “I can’t believe some snot-nosed little heiress brat is lecturing me about ideals and the justification of morality and qualities of justice.”

  Rika folded her arms, pretending to listen to him through, closing her eyes and keeping calm.

  “Well, Kawasaki-san, that is our proposal, you can take it or leave it. You will be kept under house arrest and under strict supervision by a constant surveillance Team of the Thought Corps, but it’s better than being cooped up in a jail cell, no?”

  “I would rather stay cooped up in a jail cell rather than have bratty teenagers babysit me.”

  “Well, since you’re not going to cooperate, we have other avenues of information,” Rika said as she twirling the jail keys around her finger.

  “Stay there and rot, you bastard,” Shizuya muttered underneath his breath, before shoving his hands into the pockets of his ANGeLS uniform and walked out with the rest of the group. Once they were out of the jail house, Hina let out a sigh, before saying, “Looks like that option was cut out from us. Shizuya’s father wouldn’t tell us anything.”

  “According to his actions,” Shizuya said. “I know my father. He’s waiting for something.”

  “Like the Telepath Master to bust him out?” Hina wondered aloud.

  Kanna’s eyes widened as she smacked her hand into her fist. “That makes sense, but wouldn’t the Telepath Master have done that already? We don’t know if he works in an organized group or whether he works alone.”

  “It’s safe to say that the Telepath Master hasn’t touched the jailhouse…for now,” Rika said. “Though as Shizuya said, maybe the Telepath Master is going to contact Kawasaki or maybe he’s giving him instructions as we speak that we can’t trace. That means the Telepath Master has a Level 5 Telepathy, perhaps higher, if he can do that.”

  Junshin thought about it for a moment, before he said. “This experience was enlightening today.”

  Everyone looked toward him.

  “I suppose we couldn’t get much,” Kanna said with a sigh. “But at least we can determine that Kawasaki doesn’t seem to have an alliance to the Telepath Master or is keeping quiet until he’s contacted. The Telepath Master might make his move soon, or just wait until we’re gone and relocate Kawasaki.”

  “The prisoners have been injected with nanomachines to suppress and record their abilities,” Hina said. “They also volunteered themselves for study in SeRAPH so they have the potential to elude the death penalty and also reform themselves with rehabilitation.”

  “Though if there are assassinations that need to be carried out…” Junshin said with a lingering pause.

  “Let’s try out next avenue of information, as Rika-chan says,” Hina said, before they went on a train line throughout Kanto. While making their way there and crammed on the bus, Junshin quietly mused to himself as he thought things through and was given the information that was provided through his interactions and the visit at the jailhouse today. First, an award ceremony was coming up for Kazuki. Second, Kazuki texted Junshin with a secret mission to do when he’s faced with a contact with from SeRAPH Academy, which was Hina. Third, the incident on the train happened when they started to go to school and they were late for class, which made them offer apologies and explanations to their teachers when they came into the school.

  Gin-sensei indicated that he would be a medicinal guinea pig in his trials, and he wondered if Gin was developing something that would counteract against these psychotic breaks that are happening in Tokyo. He didn’t know when these incidents have started to occur or how long the supposed Telepath Master had been operating under this alias, though news of the psychotic breaks came across the television screen as a little side bar underneath Kazuki’s award ceremony, though people viewed it as a strange coincidence at first rather than a coordinated attack because there was no evidence left behind. Though Junshin had a sour taste in his mouth that the Telepath Master was not just targeting the ANGeLS or SeRAPH—he was targeting Kazuki, and Kazuki was involved with something that even he couldn’t handle if he had to ask his little brother for help along with a psionic team of ANGeLS. The Self-Defense Force Team was working alongside them to discover this mystery, though according to the Self Defense Force Team, a Psionic Criminal might be the most likely case, though they didn’t want to stir up hatred for Psions or the ANGeLS when there was good publicity being made through Kazuki’s hard efforts to make Psions recognized.

  It could come tumbling down. Junshin bit the inside of his cheek as he contemplated it further. There were two categorizations of citizens, Psions and the Naturals, or humans without powers. The Naturals out numbered the Psions, with Psions making 1 percent of the population worldwide, though Psions being a rare occurence in nature was a modern day marvel that occurred twenty years ago. Humans naturally didn’t like those who were different from them, outsiders, though there was a tentative peace between Psions and humans at the moment, though there was a certain kind of antipathy that Junshin could sense in the Naturals thoughts, even though he wanted to do good and protect the peace. Because he was educated in the school that they were all one and a collective society, not selfish individuals that cared only about oneself. To change the world where both Naturals and Psions can coexist would be a dream that could be fulfilled through Kazuki’s courageous actions.

  What should they do?

  “We’re kind of in a pickle here,” Hina said as she thought about it. “The Telepath Master chose this time to issue the challenge to us…right when Kazuki had the award ceremony.”

  “The timing is too suspicious,” Shizuya said.

  Rika nodded. “I agree. Though we don’t have a name, a face, leads, or a clue. Just a theoretical probability that he’s a possible Telepath User. And if there were records on him, they were probably destroyed.”

  “Ah!” Kanna cried out. “This is pissing me off! This Telepath Master is a coward, hiding in the shadows, working behind the scenes, while we put on the public front and take the hatred of the masses if we mess up or slip up!”

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  “Calm down, Kanna-chan,” Hina said as she put her hands on her friend’s shoulders. The redhead pouted, but said nothing as her cerulean blue eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms across her scrawny flat chest. “We’re the ANGeLS, remember?”

  “Something is bothering me about this whole thing,” Junshin said uneasily, feeling a prickle of the back neck feeling as though he we were being watched. “He could coordinate people to do his bidding, right? If I were the Telepath Master, I would keep myself hidden and not show my face to anyone and delete all records of my existence from the face of the earth so I wouldn’t be tracked down. Then, let’s say if, I were a Telepath Master, I would use my telepathy to wire the minds of people through suggestion or compulsions…commanding them as I will. And if someone were to unmask me…”

  “I would use my telepathy to wipe my face from their memory,” Rika said as she furrow her brow a bit. “This will be quite a challenge, for certain. Though I believe it is achievable if we work to a common end.”

  “What’s the plan, then?” Shizuya said, thinking of idease as he ticked off his thoughts. “I’m thinkin’ that maybe…if my good ol’ man won’t help us…we can try other contacts. I’ve sort of got connections among the gang turfs in Tokyo.”

  “How do you manage a respectable school life while running in the turf wars with gangs?” Junshin asked.

  Shizuya smirked. “I made them submit. They acknowledge the strongest person in their gangs, so being a Level 5 Astrakinetic has its perks. Oh please, Rika, don’t look at me that way when you’re the Walking Calamity in SeRAPH.”

  “Walking Calamity?” Junshin said, before Rika shook her head and put a hand to her face.

  “I’d rather you not call me by that moniker,” Rika said. “Though yes, students at SeRAPH have dubbed me as the Walking Calamity because I have the strongest ability out of all the students in SeRAPH.”

  “Well, I think if you’re going by that,” Hina said as she folded her arms underneath her bountiful chest. “Shizuya would be like the Astral Wonder. Though SeRAPH tries not to do with gangs, Shizuya’s connections have proven useful…”

  Junshin nodded. “Okay. Perhaps they could provide useful information that we haven’t been privy to.”

  Rika smiled sightly. “Precisely. Which is why we’re going to a particular informant who will tell us about our supposed ‘x’ factor.”

  The train stopped, and the ANGeLS and people flooded out of the train. More security of the ANGeLS team were on high alert after the train incident that morning, so the criminal in question was probably playing more cautiously or planning their next move. Or perhaps there were other teams that wanted to acquire the million yen bounty on the criminal’s head that would disrupt the peace.

  Shizuya and the others went through a wormhole that Shizuya created to go back to SeRAPH Academy. Junshin found the portal rather disorienting as the disembodied experience drifted him through spatial distortions and time to make his way to the Academy, with all its glorious symmetrical splendor and rose bushes and gardens and bountiful fountains with sculped angels and fluted trumpets spouting water. Junshin clutched a long-fingered hand to his chest, taking a quick breath and trying not to hurl the contents of his lunch on the concrete, before Shizuya grinned toward him.

  “Hey, not bad, rookie. You didn’t throw up your lunch.”

  “I’m close to it, though,” Junshin said as he took a few steady breaths.

  “Don’t worry I’ll be sure to recall the time that Kanna hurled the first time she went through my wormhole,” Shizuya said with a smirk, before Kanna flushed as red as her hair and started to pound on Shizuya.

  “You were. NOT. Supposed. TO TELL HIM THAT!” Kanna roared.

  “So you were going to summon someone, Kawasaki?” Rika asked.

  Shizuya nodded.

  “Yup, one of my contacts should be here by now. I’m a retired delinquent but apparently they want me to come back and take part in their turf wars or somethin’ like that…”

  “As if someone like you could live your life on the straight and narrow,” Kanna said with narrowed eyes. “I know when someone is rotten to the core.”

  Shizuya stuck his tongue out at Kanna.

  “Please, Kanna. I am an upstanding citizen of Tokyo who provides the peace to the citizens and the city. What more do you want from me, eh?”

  “For one, I want you to cut that damned hair! It’s way too long! Second, you should—“

  “Nawh,” Shizuya said while flipping his long, feathered white hair playfully. “You’re not gonna win on this one, Kanna.”

  “Shut. Up!” Kanna said, before she reddened and started to stamp her foot. “I’m…I’m gonna roast your ass!”

  “Someone is coming,” Rika noted. “Look sharp, everyone.”

  A delinquent in a leather jacket and long black hair pulled back into a ponytail approached, with curiously crimson eyes and a red headband across his forehead. “The leader of our organization wants to see you, Shizuya.”

  Shizuya nodded, before saying, “So? Does he got the information I want?”

  The delinquent looked toward the rest of the group, eyeing them cautiously, before saying. “It does not forebode well that there are five Walking Calamities in the same place.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna cause any trouble,” Shizuya said. “My days of street fighting and tossing hands is in the past now.”

  “Mm,” the crimson-eyed male said. “Since I haven’t introduced myself, I am Kai Yorozuya. I’ve familiar with the Level 5 Calamities of the school and already have a dossier of information on your details and backgrounds.”

  “Hey, since when have you dug into our backgrounds?” Kanna said with a frown. “I don’t like the looks of this delinquent.”

  “He’s a Rank 5 Gravitakinetic,” Rika noted, to which Kai looked toward her with acknowledgement.

  “You’re well-informed,” Kai said politely. “Honestly you don’t strike me as the type to be the most powerful in the school—though they do say looks can be deceiving. And I make sure to never underestimate my opponents.”

  “I’m not here for a fight,” Rika said with a frown, wondering what kind of terrible rumors and images were spread about her. “Though in all honesty—I make sure to not underestimate my opponents either. It’s this sense of self preservation that has kept me from painful experiences and falling flat on my ass.”

  “Mm,” Kai said, before looking toward Shizuya. “Well? Will you agree to see the boss…without them?”

  “My friends come with,” Shizuya said. “This is information that we all need.”

  Kai let out a sigh, running a hand through his long hair. “I can pull some strings to get you there, though it won’t be easy.”

  “If there’s anyone who can do it, you can do it,” Shizuya said, folding his arms across his chest. “Just let me see the New Boss in my place.”

  “Are you trying to see if everything is in working order on the streets?” Kai said.

  “Nawh,” Shizuya said. “I don’t care about that. What I want…is information on a certain person that is behind the train and bus hijackings and the psychotic incidents.”

  Kai remained silent for a moment, before he said, “If you would give me a moment, please.”

  He whipped out his cellphone from his pocket, before he fingered a few numbers on the screen and waited for someone to respond on teh other side. He furrowed his brows, before saying, “He’s here. No…there are others…I don’t think I can stop them from coming in even if I wanted to.”

  He listened, sighed, then said, “Whatever you insist, oss…though Shizuya said he’s not coming back.”

  “Damn right I’m not,” Shizuya muttered, folding his arms.

  “All right, you can come,” Kai said. “Though you’ll be checked for weapons and such first, or any bugs or devices or phones on your person that would record our conversations. We want this off the table.”

  “Fair,” Shizuya said, before he latched an arm around Kai’s shoulder and grinned. “So Kai. How are you doing?”

  Kai took a deep breath, slight irritation on his face at Shizuya’s flippant behavior, before he said, “Get your arm off of me first, if you would please. Don’t act buddy buddy with me when you’ve betrayed the cause.”

  "Awh, c’mon,” Shizuya said with an easygoing grin on his features while he slid his arm off the man’s shoulders. “You know that you still love me anyway.”

  Kai kept his expression schooled, though Junshin could feels waves of displeasure radiate off of him. Though Junshin couldn’t read his thoughts directly, because the man kept his telepathic shields up vigilantly—as everyone was trained to do in SeRAPH, unless if telepathic hackers would extract important information about an individual. Junshin vigilantly kept his own walls up—to keep the Id from breaking through and from having others discover the Id. Though it also could mean the Id didn’t want to be discovered, not just yet, or so Junshin thought. The Id was a powerful entity trapped inside his Id, so Junshin imagined that no matter his precautions nad efforts, the Id could have escaped from his head anytime he could’ve wanted to if he had the means to. Or perhaps the Id had a use for him.

  “Well, we are at our destination,” Kai said smoothly, though the waves of displeasure still remained.

  “Thanks, knew I could count on ya,” Shizuya said, before all of them entered into the hideout’s Boss room where they saw a man reading a book in his lounge chair. When he saw the others enter, he raised a brow at Shizuya, before Shizuya said, “not to worry about it, these guys aren’t here to arrest you.”

  “Yet,” Kanna murmured underneath her breath.

  The Boss merely smiled, before saying, “Ah, Kanna Harada, is it? The Enforcer of the Academy. I’m afraid that your rules and regulations don’t quite apply here, as unfortunate as you may find it.”

  “We need information,” Shizuya said, slamming a hand on the Boss’s polished mahogany desk that held all kinds of knickknacks and paraphernalia and stationary that you would expect in an office. “You might have it.”

  “Information doesn’t come free,” the Boss intoned, thumbing through his book.

  “That’s the thing,” Shizuya said. “This information may affect you, and everyone here. We’ve had a tenuous relationship between the ANGeLS, the Student Council, and the gang members here at SeRAPH, and some really skeevy Telepath out there or something is manipulating people to do bad things. Know anything about it?”

  The Boss thumbed another page of his book.

  “Who can say?”

  “If you’re not gonna talk,” Shizuya said. “Then I can easily fight you and take over your position and reform it from the inside out. Everything that you’ve worked so hard for, your little empire, will be in tatters. You don’t want that, do you?”

  The Boss paused for a moment, before he looked toward Szhiuya and narrowed his eyes. “You think you can handle me in a fight?”

  “Sure,” Shizuya said with a grin. “I would’ve kicked your ass immediately at any sign of disagreement initially, though as an ANGeLS member, I don’t flex on people just because they displease me. Rules and regulations saved your ass there, buddy.”

  “Hm,” the Boss intoned thoughtfully, before he looked toward the reset of the group that Shizuya was with. “I’m guessing this is the prized Student Council that everyone hears so much about.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “We would appreciate your help,” Rika said, as she stood side by side with Shizuya. “If you could give us any information that we need, we would really appreciate it. No fighting is needed—and we can make it beneficial for both sides.”

  “Oh?” the Boss said, appearing amused. “Is this the Walking Calamity of the school I hear so much about?”

  Rika kept her expression schooled, though Junshin could sense a hint of displeasure at the moniker. Though her thoughts were kept well-trained as well. “That monikor is not my entire identity. My name is Rika Kobayashi, and I’m a member of the Student Council an the ANGeLS.”

  The Boss stood up, got up from his desk, and stalked toward Rika, who looked toward him evenly. He grinned wolfishly down at her, before saying, “I would love to have you in my team for our turf wars. We do a lot of battling on the school grounds, testing our powers and abilities. If you would agree to that, then perhaps an arrangement can be done.”

  Shizuya whistled before he whispered to Rika, “Kobayashi, you’re popular.”

  Rika frowned a bit, before saying, “Only because of a moniker that I didn’t give myself.”

  “Besides…Rika, is it?” the Boss said pleasantly. “You’re easier on the eyes than Shizuya is there.”

  “Please,” Shizuya said as he flipped his hair. “You’re just jealous that I’m prettier than you boss.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” the male said as he adjusted his glasses on his face, his ice blue hair falling over his eyes and draping down to his shoulders. His ice blue eyes glanced toward Shizuya, before they bore into Rika as he took her hand and kissed it in a gentlemanly manner. “Well, what do you say?”

  “I suppose that getting involved in these turf wars would be an interesting way of testing my capabilities,” Rika said in a measured tone. Kai entered into the room, noticing that the boss was holding her hand as Kai then frowned.

  “Boss?” Kai said. “You’re not possibly thinking of recruiting her, are you?”

  “She will be an honorary member, much like Shizuya is,” the Boss said. “Though oh, you should know something. The other members of your team, Miss Hina and Miss Kanna, right? Shall accomodations be made for you two as well.”

  “H-Hey,” Kanna said, blushing as red as her Carnelian Red hair. “I don’t know if it’s right for an Enforcer to become part of a delinquent group!”

  “I should hope that you would refrain from calling us as something as lowly as delinquents,” the Boss said. “True, sometimes things get a little rowdy in the fighting ring, but we are soldiers and Psions, who test our abilities and do turf wars in the city to lay claim our dominance against other schools and Psions. Having you on the team would be of a great advantage. I know of Hina Kihara and Kanna Harada as well with their talents and abilities.”

  “You sure have a lot of information about us,” Kanna said with a frown.

  “Mmhm,” Boss said. “It’s natural to have information, especially when it serves to your benefit and survival.”

  The Boss’s eyes then flicked towards Fujimoto Junshin. “However…what we don’t know…is this individual here. Who are you?”

  Junshin took a step forward and bowed out of courtesy. “Fujimoto Junshin.”

  “Ah, the brother of Kazuki Fujimoto?” the Boss said, pondering about that. “The beloved hero of city. He even reformed the delinquent gangs to a united front of cohesion and a vessel for information networks of organized crime. Quite an impressive figure…though what do you have to offer, little Junshin?”

  Junshin flushed as red as his hair. “I don’t have to prove myself to you.”

  The Boss let out a sound of dissatisfaction, while Kai took on an aggressive Stance.

  “You dare say that to the Boss?”

  “Please, Kai,” the Boss said. “Let’s be polite to our guests.”

  “I feel like we’re hostages here in enemy territory,” Kanna said as she bristled and radiated with worry. “Can’t I just kick all their asses and go home?”

  “Save that enthusiasm for the turf wars,” the Boss said with a chuckle as he too, went forward and kissed Kanna’s hand. “Ah, Kanna, you’re lovely too. To be honest I don’t know how Shizuya has a harem of such lovely woman around him when there’s someone like me around.”

  “They’re not my harem,” Shizuya said, folding his arms across his scrawny chest. “Though Rika is off limits. The only one who can be her top apprentice—is me!”

  “Interesting,” Boss said. “Are you willing to have a turf battle right now to claim possession over Kobayashi Rika?”

  Rika frowned again. “Instead of flexing at one another and acting like I’m a trophy to be won, maybe you guys should focus on the Telepath Master.”

  “Right,” Shizuya said, stomping one foot on the Boss’s desk. “You were gonna give us information, right? If we agree to your turf war thing.”

  “I want all three of your lovely ladies to join,” The Boss said.

  “Wait, we haven’t agreed!” Kanna complained. “Come on, Rika might want to challenge herself with fighting, though Hina, you gotta have an objection, right? It would be two against one then out of us ladies!”

  “Hm,” Hina said as she put a finger to her lip and considered it. “I dunno, it seems kind of fun, doesn’t it?”

  “Hina, sometimes you’re so smart and yet so air-headed at the same time,” Kanna said with slight dejection. “How is that possible?”

  Hina smiled and winked, before she said, “Sometimes to gather information about human nature and see how people act around you, you gotta play the fool.”

  “Miss Hina,” The Boss said, making a move to kiss her hand too as Junshin felt jealousy wrench in his guts. “You have quite the assets in both beauty, brains, and sex appeal. I should say that out of everyone here, you would be the one to be our mascot.”

  “Why does she get to be the mascot?” Kanna asked, furrowing her brows.

  Hina winked again. “Oh? I thought you weren’t interested, Kanna.”

  “Grr,” Kanna said, getting fired up. “That’s it! I will join this stupid turf war! And I will kick everyone’s asses and I will be the cutest girl left standing!”

  “Hehe,” Hina said.

  The Boss smiled. “So we‘ve come to an agreement, then?”