A treat for bubbly (Part 2 of 3)
Back to Part 1
He saw this dark, crumpled, familiar place and Ohno standing in the middle of the hidden room. Jun was standing next to him, they were talking, before they both faced the direction of the door, just when Aiba entered the room. What was Aiba doing here?
“I didn’t know there was a hidden room like that. How does it work?” Aiba said as he looked around and back to the direction he came from, probably seeing their bedroom.
What? Had Nino left the door open? It never happened before.
“Who are you? Nino’s friends?”
Aiba, get out of here, we will talk about it later.
“Yes. I’m MatsuJun, and this one here is Ohno” he introduced both of them.
Hey, stop talking to him. Aiba has nothing to do with all of this.
“Hello, I’m-“
“Aiba Masaki, right?” Jun smiled, looking him straight in the eyes.
“How did you know? Does Nino talk about me?”
“Yes, sometimes”
Liar. Jun probably saw it all in his eyes yesterday. Nino never even once mentioned Aiba to him.
“And where is Nino?”
“Not here right now”
Not here? Nino thought about it. He could see and hear them… but they couldn’t see or hear him. That would explain why his words had the same effect they could have had on the wall. But why? Was it a dream? At that realization, Nino lost most of his interest in what he was seeing.
“I see. He would get mad if he saw me discovering this place, I’m sure”
Of course I would be.
“But you still want to be here, right?” Jun asked.
Aiba nodded. “He always pretends, but I know it. Nino really can use magic, right? I never saw him doing that before but I’m sure”. That’s the Aiba for you. Always friendly, even with weird people appearing out of nowhere in their flat.
“You would want Nino to tell you everything about magic, right?”
Aiba looked honestly surprised. “Is it written on my face or something?”
Yes, it is, Nino admitted.
“Kind of.” Jun answered, still smiling in his predatory way. “Tell me, Aiba, what do you want? I might be able to talk with Nino about it, maybe he will change his mind. But I’m sure he won’t teach you spells or let you touch any magical stuff”
“Yes, I know. He apparently has some reason for not telling me anything as well”
“But you would prefer for this to be different?” Jun insisted.
“Yes, I would prefer for him to stop keeping this a secret from me. But I don’t want him to find out I was here today either.”
[One] Nino heard an unknown voice suddenly without being able to locate the source of it.
“Take it. If you light it up, he won’t know” Jun handed him something.
Aiba took the candle from Jun. “Is that some kind of spell? Wow” and he did as he was told.
“Make a wish, it may come true” Jun encouraged him further.
Aiba smiled, unsure if it was for real or not. “I want to be by Nino’s side, even when he does magic!” he said and blew the flame away. “Is that good enough?”
[Two.] Again, Nino heard it and looked around. Was it some kind of countdown?
“If you said it all, then yes”
“But… I know… that I shall not come in Nino’s way” Aiba said. “So I’m sure he will never tell me his secrets”
[Three.]
At this moment, the candle broke in half.
***
The next morning, he woke up to Sho and Aiba's cheerful chatter, which tyi was not his usual wake-up call. He furrowed his brows through sleep and fought the urge to hit them both with his alarm clock, before finally giving up. He opened his eyes to the sight of Aiba’s smile full of toothpicks and Sho looking completely mesmerized at the side.
"Of fifo!"
"For god's sake Aiba, don't talk with those in your mouth," Nino growled instead of "Good morning".
"What has happened to him actually?" Nino asked Sho instead, as he tried to get out of the bed, but for now, he still couldn't recognize his left side from right.
"He said he's trying to beat a Guinness record in swiveling toothpicks in his mouth.", Sho explained.
Nino took a look again, and saw Aiba trying to swivel the toothpicks with his lips, causing most of them to fall out of his mouth, while managing to only keep around five in his lips.
"Oh crap, I failed," he only said.
"Just how many did you shove inside your mouth?" asked Nino, trying to roll onto his other side when he didn’t manage to get up.
"About twenty?" he heard his friend’s disturbingly carefree answer.
"And what’s the world record?" Nino growled hiding under his blanket.
"Around twice that much?"
"You don't even know?!" his annoyed answer reached from under the covers.
"Since I can't even do twenty, it's pointless" Aiba explained like it was as clear as the sun. "Sho-chan, you should try it too. With your mouth you may be able to beat the record!"
"Eh?", Sho exclaimed, obviously startled. Aiba didn't know much about his tendency to fail at everything yet. "No, it looks like it could hurt... or... wouldn’t it actually pierce the inside of your mouth? It's sharp at the ends!" he shuddered a little while his voice remained perfectly concerned.
"No, it's fine as long as you keep it away from your gums!"
"Uh, I think I will skip that attraction," Sho quickly turned to Nino. "Nino, did you found out something yesterday?"
The person in question looked at him quizzically as he finally stumbled his way towards the kitchen, giving up on sleeping altogether.
"Is it why you came today? No new leads?"
"Well, we’re still investigating.” Sho began to explain, even though he saw how sleepy Nino was, which meant the mage was probably unable to process information now. But he still tried. “For now, we’re only speculating at the length of time the body had spent in the park, as we were unable to get any conclusive data or reliable results from the autopsy, just like I thought. And your request about searching for wax at the crime scene… sorry, but it’s impossible for the moment. I’m the only one on this case. So I hoped you found out something, since I count on you."
"Yeah yeah, me doing all the work...", Nino mumbled, and Sho’s expression sank a bit. Nino realized he said the wrong thing, he could see and hear that Sho was in pinch. "I don't have anything yet. I'm planning on working my ass off today, so I will contact you in the evening, hopefully with some results, so before that time, do not interrupt me. And now excuse me, but I’ll listen to you after I shower."
Sho’s expression sank even more, while Aiba cracked up, this time showing only ten toothpicks.
"So is Sho-chan so useless?" he took a guess.
"Yeah, a busybody only waiting for results. Hopeless. Aiba, take care of him, so he can let me do the real work. Let’s see… we will knock him out, tie him to the table, you tell him it was UFO that kidnapped him once he wakes up and then you can do some alien experiments on him. Play with him all you want, you have my permission"
“I can hear you, you know…” Sho mercifully declared.
“And that’s the point” Nino nodded.
“How can you endure being with him all the time?” Sho asked Aiba.
“Sometimes I wonder about it as well” Aiba confessed.
“Anyway, take care of our guest” Nino said before vanishing into bathroom.
Aiba giggled when Sho looked a bit uneasy as they were left alone.
"Don't worry, Sho-chan, I won't do anything to you. But I might want you to be my assistant, since Nino is denying me half the things I come up with"
"I wonder why" Sho faked a laugh. He had actually heard some things about Aiba's inventions. He suspected most of these were Nino’s lies. Well… most of them..
***
The two investigators left Nino's flat together.
"Does he usually do that?" Nino heard the question as soon as they left.
"What? Alien experiments?" he teased him.
"No, Guinness records," Sho clarified.
"Ah, that's been his goal since a week ago. He tried already doing the biggest puzzles in the world, but he realized we don’t have enough space to put them on so he gave up. Then he started to challenge the one with repeating the whole alphabet without any mistake. He got tired after third hour."
"And he did it all in one week?" Sho asked, not without feeling in awe.
"He gives up quickly and tries another one."
Sho nodded. He could understand that. He was the same type.
But Nino was already in his own thoughts. He frowned as he remember his dream. Honestly, Jun’s visits were only bringing him crazy nightmares. He hated how deep his dream was on psychological level with all his exaggerated fears and frustrations.
***
The next time Nino came back home, Aiba still wasn't there. He decided to spend his day at his secret “laboratory”. He mostly just had gone to kill some time until Aiba would leave their flat. It was troublesome, but he couldn’t do it any other way.
He took his keys this time, mumbled an "Open, Sesame", completely unnecessary, but he just felt like it, and did a shiny arc in the air. There appeared a shape in the wall. "Oh, so it's here today," Nino realized and pushed on one side of the wall, making it rotate. He took a step inside to a place that looked like a small basement. A very tiny and dim basement that looked like an unused wine cellar, filled with shelves full of bottles, one sink and a whole lot of clutter including all kind of things. Almost none of which looked magical.
"Hey, Ohno, time to wake up," he said, going straight to the skull located on the table in the center of the room and knocked lightly on it's scalp. It was his way of waking him up, instead of setting an alarm or shaking him - which he couldn't do anyway as Ohno was well, a ghost.
After half of minute or so all he received was a slight light filling the eye holes, but it went off again in a way characteristic of a blackout.
"Oi, you said you want to help me, get up! Or I will pour water over your skull, giving you a morning shower for free!"
But Ohno didn't even stir. They both knew those threats were empty, a ghost wouldn't feel anything. Nino sighed.
"I will give you something? Allow you to watch TV?"
In a minute or so, Ohno finally came out and yawned.
"Good morning," he told him with a smile to which Ohno just nodded.
"A murder case," Nino said without any introductions, but then thought it over. "Or so Sho believes. What really is sure is that they found a dead body in Ueno Park. Cause of death is unknown. Body looks unharmed and preserved like it died just a second ago."
"...sounds troublesome." was all of Ohno’s contribution and at the same time his first words today. "And why did a high-ranking vampire visit you yesterday?" he frowned.
And by this point, Nino knew he had failed. He had to again go at Ohno's pace.
"Didn't you hear it? I had a talk with Nagase-senpai without his knowledge. I guess this lands me on his black list..."
Ohno nodded, slowly, lost in his thoughts, while Nino waited. He wondered if he could hear a tick of understanding or not, if he observed his teacher long enough? But after a minute, Ohno just shrugged, so Nino would never know.
"I went to him because I thought some drugs might be responsible for the state of the body," he explained, not sure if Ohno got it, as all he was doing was staring at him, yet not saying anything.
Nino wasn't really skilled at talking with Ohno. They kind of worked on different waves and Ohno's lack of physical presence put a huge distance between them. Ohno rarely talked when not asked something and his main activity was painting big pictures in the air, which he seemed to enjoy the most in the world. Or in any world, considering that Ohno didn’t belong exactly here anymore.
And for a teacher, Ohno had some knowledge and was skilled in many fields, many not related to magic at all. But over all of that he seemed to prefer watching some boring shows in TV, the more boring the more interested he became, like lately with the late-night fishing show. But he could watch it only when Aiba was not at home and Nino allowed him to spend some time in the other room.
In other words, Ohno was strange, a ghost or not.
"Oh-chan," Nino tried the nickname, because another weird thing about Ohno was that you couldn't really treat him too seriously. "Tell me, what can cause a body state like that? Or, possibly, what method can cause a death like that?"
"Well, black magic...", Ohno tried.
"Not possible. No harm to the body. Black magic doesn't make your victim pass away peacefully like that. There is some serious hate required and that means harm. Usually lots of harm," Nino was almost patient as he reminded Ohno of what he had mostly told him already.
"Yes...", Ohno looked up somewhere. "Then maybe it's negative power. Like, you know, every act, every word holds its consequences... and they sort of cumulated in that person."
"Wait, I don't understand?", Nino was first of all surprised, and second of all, slipping out of his pace.
"It's a magic based not on the energy of the caster, but on another-a mediating power."
Nino took a moment to rotate the concept in his mind while Ohno drew the scheme in the air.
first party ---> mediating power ---> the (targeted) other party
"What's this? The scheme for energy flow?" Nino asked as he looked briefly over the flying, flaring letters.
"Kind of. Basically it means the caster, in this case, a murderer?” Ohno asked himself, frowning. “Anyway, that person gives his intentions to the mediating power which then executes the proper punishment on the third party. A magic bond created between three kinds."
"What's the mediating power in this case?" Nino asked, confused.
Ohno paused. "...Must be something really powerful" he decided.
"A demon?” Nino asked, figuring it out before Ohno even finished saying his own guess. It caused a death, it couldn’t be anything short of very powerful. “But summoning a demon is impossible without producing a lot of energy first..." and there they returned to the topic of black magic again, Nino thought bitterly, yet the next words surprised him.
"No, it has to be something of the white magic nature."
If anything, Nino only looked more confused.
"Like what?"
"...like... God, perhaps?", Ohno tilted his head and Nino didn't know if to crack in laughter, or to admit that his teacher wasn’t a very practical help.
"I guess that means it's not an option either. Any other not impossible guesses?" he asked, growing suddenly tired.
"No, no white magic can work like that. Actually, no other spell can work like that other than what I told you."
"But that's impossible! Some other theory, please."
"A potion...?" Ohno proposed.
"Ok, Oh-chan, so is there any potion that won't leave any magic energy behind?" Nino asked, his voice growing even more tired. He already thought about all those possibilities yesterday.
"...I don't think so."
"So, that's a dead end as well" Nino sighed. Somehow, there were too many dead ends in this case.
"Maybe something blocked the magic energy?" Ohno guessed, trying to be actually helpful.
"No, there was nothing..." he replied just when his mind brought back the mental image of the photos he saw, with the body covered in leaves. "WAIT. Maybe those leaves..."
He then quickly went to the nearest shelf, took the mixer, a few empty tubes, and water.
"Ohno, tell me, what do I need to check those dried leaves?" he asked, as he took out the leaves from his pocket to put them inside the mixer, which he first filled with water. He smiled. A real magician-or investigator, actually- needed to be ready in every moment. Good that he snatched those leaves the first time he went to the crime scene. Of course, unnoticed, like every artist making bunnies or cards disappear and reappear somewhere else.
"Left shelf, third row from the top, furthest on the right." Ohno said, looking at the shelf. He looked at this place everyday; he easily remembered all the details that Nino was sometimes forgetting. He could paint the whole shelf from his memory, he thought and smiled.
"Good, thanks" Nino said and summoned the necessary item with his finger, adding the contents without even checking what it was.
He then mixed the substance and turned it around once or twice, and waited. There should be some smoke appearing if it had been used magically as a blocker.
He waited and waited. And waited.
Ohno came over to him and looked inside.
"It seems to be proven negative," he nodded.
"No... no. I need to do it one more time."
"It's not magical, Nino. They’re just dried autumn leaves."
Nino looked at Ohno and something in his calm expression, though irritating, paradoxically calmed him down as well.
"I give up.” He said, flopping abruptly in the chair. “There is nothing in this case. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. Why do I have such a bad luck?” at this point, he really just wished to abandon the whole thing. He kicked the leg of the table. Serves it right, could have helped him instead of standing in the middle of the room, uselessly like that, watching him in distress!
"Don't give up, Nino. Let's check all the things you brought. Maybe something will give us some idea," Ohno tried to cheer him on with a small smile. "So, empty out your pocket"
Nino looked him in the eyes this time. This method didn’t actually worked with ghosts. Besides, he was sure he wouldn't see anything other than paintings and fishes in Ohno's head. Definitely not the worst possibility, even if it wasn't that fascinating.
Actually, he appreciated Ohno's presence a lot today. He was very grateful for yesterday as well. And his simple smiles had really started to feel soothing, too.
So he nodded and took all of the found items out at the table and they both stared at them for a few seconds. There was some dirt, and a tiny bit of white wax (he snatched it before handing it down to Sho. He wasn’t a magician for nothing), besides the already used leaves. All in all, it really wasn't much.
"Wax?" Ohno asked after what seemed to be a minute.
"Ah, we found a candle on the scene. A single one, made of bee wax. The only thing there aside from some leaves"
"That's the lead, Nino!" Ohno exclaimed like Nino missed the sight of something as big as an elephant.
"It's actually a very doubtful lead. Like I said, no magic used, and what can a single candle do?"
"A lot. Then the ancient spell I told you about could work. You light up a candle with the intention to send some ill or good intention to someone, and then-"
"Then it still doesn't work. The candle wasn't lit up or used in any way," Nino cut off his explanation. "More than that, it was actually broken in half."
"Oh. Well, then… it's not it," Ohno admitted defeat. "It was broken?" he asked, his expression puzzled. Which actually meant his eyes had a stern look, eyebrows almost a straight line, while the rest of his face remained unchanged. It would usually be pretty funny, especially counting his chubby cheeks in the whole picture.
But right now it wasn't.
"Yeah. Odd, right? I know this candle has to have some meaning, but I can't think of anything. It's a mystery I can't solve. All leads turn into dead ends".
"Kazu... I think..." but then he stopped and instead added quietly, "Let's just check if we can trace back the owner of this candle?"
"Yeah, let's do that," Nino sighed and got himself to work.
Funnily enough, it lead him to Sho. And Aiba. And Nino himself.
It was obvious the spell had failed. But it made him think that there was something extremely fishy about this case.
***
On his way back from Sho’s office (he had followed the spell all the way to the police station), Nino decided to visit Ogurin's bar again. This time he decided to get all the information he needed from Nagase, even if it all could turn into a false thread. It didn’t matter if he had no other guesses. But as he entered the bar, he didn't expect the sight before him.
"Boooaaah” Nino heard a strange sound between wailing and growling, followed by equally despaired words “…and then she said she will never go out with a bad guy... am I really a bad guy? Tell me, am I???" a very pitiful cry filled the whole of the bar.
"Um, how should I tell you this... well, I think she meant you're a drug dealer and that kind of makes you a criminal..." he recognized Toma's voice giving the answer.
"Booooooaaaaaaaah"
"Unubore, please calm down!"
"I'm not called Unubore..."
Nino stood at the entrance, not understanding what was going on at all. He felt like he landed into some different dimension all of a sudden. He even decided to check on the name of the bar, but it proved to be the right place.
And it was indeed Nagase-senpai bawling all over the table.
He decided to first approach the counter and ask Oguri what was going on.
"Ah, he was rejected again" said Oguri with a knowing smile.
"Rejected?" Nino repeated, like he heard the word for the fist time in his life.
"You know, by a girl. Heartbroken. Like every week. Falling in love only with police officers. It's like a curse, isn't it? Or more like his fate, getting attracted to his archenemies."
"Haa..." Nino said, feeling like it was some earlier version of April's Fool today, if not for the fact it was autumn. He looked in their direction again and tilted his head to the side at the sight reality presented him and which he couldn't comprehend.
"I heard they even did a drama based on this,” Oguri added, taking a remote control and searching through channels, like a sudden thought hit him.
But by this time, Nino had given up on understanding the situation and instead settled on approaching the table.
"Nagase-senpai", he tried, sweeter than he ever was, so much that at first Nagase didn't even recognize him. His senpai looked at him, surprisingly looking like the old, bad Nagase he knew, if not counting his glistening eyes. But after three seconds, counted by their shared eye blinks, something weird happened which caused his face to grow long, his eyes squeezing to tiny slits and his mouth opening unnaturally slowly in a huge, wordless cry. Though what came out was only a short, low “aa” and a gesture of desperation.
"Uh, sen...pai...?" Nino didn't want to admit, but he was feeling more and more lost with every second.
"Well, well, she's not the only fish in the sea," Toma again took the part of cheering his senpai up, to which the latter only nodded, still with his mouth open and only tiny, low strange moans escaping.
"Sorry, Nino, but you probably won't find out anything today," Toma said apologetically. "You know, heartbreak is a serious matter for a man."
Nino nodded, and then tilted his head, looking at Nagase senpai, then he closed his eyes and opened them again.
And decided to go away, after weighing his options. He sneaked out, looking behind himself like he had witnessed something indecent.
"You know, I always wanted for her to say that line, you know… I sentence you to marry me! Marry me and I won’t lock you in prison! isn't that every bad guy's most inner wish?!” Nino heard just as he reached the door and at this point, he just hoped he wouldn't have any nightmares about his senpai bawling tonight.
***
Just as he was thinking what to do next, standing for a minute outside, Toma caught him.
"Nino, there is something..." he said hastily, obviously in a hurry.
"Calm down, I'm not teleporting or anything" Nino joked, seeing his serious expression. It didn't exactly suit Toma yet he always appeared this dead serious whenever something was going on.
But despite being so obvious, Toma was really something. Nino could assure anyone of that.
"I shouldn't be telling you this, but..." Toma started. "The White Council is actually... suspecting you of the latest... events."
What?
"Is that true, Toma? Is that why you're here recently?" Nino asked. "And hell, why me? Why me of all the mages around this area?"
"I don't know, but I heard them say... that some powerful spell was used near your place. Your magical trace was spotted a week ago near that park... and yesterday, as well, somewhere close to your flat."
"That's... impossible," Nino said, not understanding a thing.
"I know. I don't believe it's you. But they want me to investigate. You might get a suspension, until they settle it."
"Thanks, Toma" Nino said, meaning it.
Ikuta Toma was his guardian, who the White Council, the one responsible for taking responsibility over the magical community in Tokyo -and maybe the whole of Japan, had put to watch over Nino.
Nino already had a past history with the Council; they had placed him under observation a long time ago. It had been years already and they still didn't trust him. Nino wasn't sure why, but he suspected it was because of his uncle Nakai, who had taken care of him when he was little. He had been declared a traitor of the Council and all of his family had been immediately suspected of the same crimes. That family was Nino alone. It was shitty luck, but Nino already gotten used to this.
He still hadn’t expected that they would blame him first if something happened in his district; which was his mistake, he probably should have expected it coming.
At least his guardian was a really nice guy who didn't look for fault in him without any proof. He was almost a friend. Or actually, he was a friend, he thought when Toma hugged him and patted him on his back.
It was nice to be trusted.
He wished he could place his trust in a certain someone as well. Life would be so much more easier then... or not.
"I will watch out, thanks." Nino declared.
"You can always ask for help in need, ok?”, Toma grinned. “You know where to find me.”
"Oh, and tell Aiba about this one day. I still want to meet him!" he added before vanishing back behind the doors again.
Okay, so maybe Toma was sometimes too direct for his liking. And it definitely wasn't a good thing to recommend to do now, as it would just meant more troubles with The Council.
Nino definitely had too many easy-going friends for his own good. He should probably reconsider the part about counting on them. Though in the corner of his heart, he was so delighted to have them, regardless.
***
Before going after an endless trail of failed attempts to get any information, Nino finally decided to drop by Sho's workplace. He didn't have anything new to tell him, but he knew any detail was of utter importance to Sho right now. And he had promised to come by evening today. He looked at his watch. Well, at least it was still “today”.
"Oh, Nino..." the sight of sleepy Sho sitting over his desk with a huge pile of papers before him welcomed Nino. He looked completely out of it for a few moments, before he snapped back to reality. "NINO! Do you have anything new? Perhaps... case solved?" he asked the last question in tiny voice and tired eyes, not daring to hope for that kind of miracle.
"Not yet, Sho-san," Nino said, his eyes in the direction of floor in wordless apology. On every weird case Sakurai had to handle, there was an axe hanging above his head.
"Anything at all?" Sho then asked, nodding.
"I think it may be something big in our world. Possibly involving some big people", Nino said, a bit wrecked. "Do you know what it means, Sho-san? It might lead to war, if that happens"
He didn’t share those suspicions with anyone before, not even Ohno. But the more he investigated, the less he found out. At the same time only more big name people appeared before him, the White Council was now desperately searching for the culprit, and all of this made Nino think of that worst scenario. One more reason why he shouldn’t sniff around more.
"War?" Sho asked, completely worn out, but still in work-mode. "You mean between mages, werewolves and vampires, and so on?"
"Yeah...” he smiled at the funny way Sho put it. “It’s very possible. And since vampires control most of our world and hold influence outside of our city, I'm afraid it will became out of hand".
"I see" Sho accepted it and yawned. "Sorry."
"It's okay. You know, Sho? I think I owe you a beer. Or coffee. Or better yet, a tea. Please get some sleep," Nino explained. "I will solve it till noon and bring you some explanations. I promise"
"Nino...",Sho tried to say what he felt, but couldn't really find any words for it. "They possibly don’t pay you enough".
Nino laughed.
"In that case, they don’t pay you enough either".
Sho tried to return the good-natured smile, in spite of his constant struggle not to yawn or to hit the table and just get some damn sleep at last.
"After this is over, I will try my best to speed up your pay" he said and Nino couldn't have been more grateful. He went and got him a tea, even if it was from a vending machine in their hall.
"Thanks."
"Go to sleep really," Nino insisted, he couldn’t look at him in that state.
"I can't. The case isn't solved yet" Sho insisted, opening his eyes widely, then squeezing his eyelids, and opening them again; only after that he took some papers.
"Then at least let me show you a card trick," Nino said, taking out the cards which he never separated himself from.
"Oh? Some new trick?" Sho asked. "Or are you just trying to cheer me up?"
Nino smiled at him and asked him to choose a card. The secret of magic tricks was really all about focusing your viewer’s attention on the outer look of things, and this way to hide your actual goal. Sho fell for it like always and didn't last five whole minutes, which was the exact moment Nino had been waiting for. He made Sho focus on his cards while the trick to put him to sleep was all along in the tea he gave him.
Nino took him to the couch in the waiting room and covered him with whatever he could use as a blanket.
"See, my sleeping potion added to your tea works better than any sleeping pills. Have nice dreams, Sho-san."
Though that was just the beginning for Nino. He couldn’t quit the case, he felt like he owed it to Sho. And now he had less than 12 hours to solve it all.
***
Trying to be a hero soon proved to be pretty tough. Once Nino got back to his room that night he felt so drained and sleepy that he decided to take his own advice and get some rest as well. He set his alarm clock for five in the morning so he could still have seven hours to solve the damn case. Now he could just hope the alarm clock wouldn’t snap and would actually manage to wake him up.
He dreamed of Aiba this night. Probably he was thinking about their last talk about rainbows; here, on this very bed.
They used to catch rainbows as kids. Not really, no. But Aiba used to be really obsessed with it. On a much different level than his obsession with beating a Guinness record these days. They used to run around, trying to find the goblet full of golden coins on the other side of the rainbow. A legend which Aiba once found in the library. Sometimes it was guarded by a dwarf, so they ran with all their might holding branches in case it was an evil one they needed to beat up like a boss in Nintendo game.
Only later they were told that they wouldn’t see anything if they reached the other side of the rainbow. Because if you do reach that place, you can't see the rainbow at all. Because a rainbow was just an optical illusion.
It still didn't cause Aiba to give up chasing after them every time there was rain. Nino, of course, usually accompanied him, although he only sometimes was thrilled to do it.
Only later, as they grew up, they tried to make a rainbow by themselves; of course, failing miserably.
It turned out it wasn't as easy as the popular explanation about the small droplets of rain reflecting the light and breaking it into the six main prismatic colors. They had been so proud of this knowledge in their kindergarten, impressing the other kids. But it turned out the real mystery of the process was hardly solved with that.
For example, it didn't explain why the rainbow always formed an arc form. And why, if all the droplets reflected the light, it showed such a pretty, flawless, and symmetrical form? Were only chosen droplets used for the effect? Then why those exactly? And why did the colors appear in those cute stripes?
It all turned out to be so intriguing, that it consumed half of their lives. One day they finally did reach the other side of the rainbow. After all the mathematical struggles, constant observations, and a lot of running and failed tries. They didn't find golden coins, nor a dwarf guarding it or living there. And it was hardly impressive in every other possible way. But Nino was sure that Aiba still believed he would find at least one of them there. He wasn’t easily discouraged. Nino didn’t even bother with comforting him, didn’t lie that "maybe the dwarf was having his toilet time now" instead, he told him straight "they were never there".
He was a mage in the making already, so he knew.
But Aiba only smiled and said it didn’t matter. And declared he would instead... what exactly?
Nino felt puzzled, probably because the lack of sleep was numbing his brain. It didn't matter anyway, he thought almost rationally. Wasn’t it in the rainbow’s nature to vanish? It will appear again, he answered in his mind to his best friend’s last night worries, before losing completely to his dreams.
***
The following morning, Aiba vanished.
On to Part 3
He saw this dark, crumpled, familiar place and Ohno standing in the middle of the hidden room. Jun was standing next to him, they were talking, before they both faced the direction of the door, just when Aiba entered the room. What was Aiba doing here?
“I didn’t know there was a hidden room like that. How does it work?” Aiba said as he looked around and back to the direction he came from, probably seeing their bedroom.
What? Had Nino left the door open? It never happened before.
“Who are you? Nino’s friends?”
Aiba, get out of here, we will talk about it later.
“Yes. I’m MatsuJun, and this one here is Ohno” he introduced both of them.
Hey, stop talking to him. Aiba has nothing to do with all of this.
“Hello, I’m-“
“Aiba Masaki, right?” Jun smiled, looking him straight in the eyes.
“How did you know? Does Nino talk about me?”
“Yes, sometimes”
Liar. Jun probably saw it all in his eyes yesterday. Nino never even once mentioned Aiba to him.
“And where is Nino?”
“Not here right now”
Not here? Nino thought about it. He could see and hear them… but they couldn’t see or hear him. That would explain why his words had the same effect they could have had on the wall. But why? Was it a dream? At that realization, Nino lost most of his interest in what he was seeing.
“I see. He would get mad if he saw me discovering this place, I’m sure”
Of course I would be.
“But you still want to be here, right?” Jun asked.
Aiba nodded. “He always pretends, but I know it. Nino really can use magic, right? I never saw him doing that before but I’m sure”. That’s the Aiba for you. Always friendly, even with weird people appearing out of nowhere in their flat.
“You would want Nino to tell you everything about magic, right?”
Aiba looked honestly surprised. “Is it written on my face or something?”
Yes, it is, Nino admitted.
“Kind of.” Jun answered, still smiling in his predatory way. “Tell me, Aiba, what do you want? I might be able to talk with Nino about it, maybe he will change his mind. But I’m sure he won’t teach you spells or let you touch any magical stuff”
“Yes, I know. He apparently has some reason for not telling me anything as well”
“But you would prefer for this to be different?” Jun insisted.
“Yes, I would prefer for him to stop keeping this a secret from me. But I don’t want him to find out I was here today either.”
[One] Nino heard an unknown voice suddenly without being able to locate the source of it.
“Take it. If you light it up, he won’t know” Jun handed him something.
Aiba took the candle from Jun. “Is that some kind of spell? Wow” and he did as he was told.
“Make a wish, it may come true” Jun encouraged him further.
Aiba smiled, unsure if it was for real or not. “I want to be by Nino’s side, even when he does magic!” he said and blew the flame away. “Is that good enough?”
[Two.] Again, Nino heard it and looked around. Was it some kind of countdown?
“If you said it all, then yes”
“But… I know… that I shall not come in Nino’s way” Aiba said. “So I’m sure he will never tell me his secrets”
[Three.]
At this moment, the candle broke in half.
***
The next morning, he woke up to Sho and Aiba's cheerful chatter, which tyi was not his usual wake-up call. He furrowed his brows through sleep and fought the urge to hit them both with his alarm clock, before finally giving up. He opened his eyes to the sight of Aiba’s smile full of toothpicks and Sho looking completely mesmerized at the side.
"Of fifo!"
"For god's sake Aiba, don't talk with those in your mouth," Nino growled instead of "Good morning".
"What has happened to him actually?" Nino asked Sho instead, as he tried to get out of the bed, but for now, he still couldn't recognize his left side from right.
"He said he's trying to beat a Guinness record in swiveling toothpicks in his mouth.", Sho explained.
Nino took a look again, and saw Aiba trying to swivel the toothpicks with his lips, causing most of them to fall out of his mouth, while managing to only keep around five in his lips.
"Oh crap, I failed," he only said.
"Just how many did you shove inside your mouth?" asked Nino, trying to roll onto his other side when he didn’t manage to get up.
"About twenty?" he heard his friend’s disturbingly carefree answer.
"And what’s the world record?" Nino growled hiding under his blanket.
"Around twice that much?"
"You don't even know?!" his annoyed answer reached from under the covers.
"Since I can't even do twenty, it's pointless" Aiba explained like it was as clear as the sun. "Sho-chan, you should try it too. With your mouth you may be able to beat the record!"
"Eh?", Sho exclaimed, obviously startled. Aiba didn't know much about his tendency to fail at everything yet. "No, it looks like it could hurt... or... wouldn’t it actually pierce the inside of your mouth? It's sharp at the ends!" he shuddered a little while his voice remained perfectly concerned.
"No, it's fine as long as you keep it away from your gums!"
"Uh, I think I will skip that attraction," Sho quickly turned to Nino. "Nino, did you found out something yesterday?"
The person in question looked at him quizzically as he finally stumbled his way towards the kitchen, giving up on sleeping altogether.
"Is it why you came today? No new leads?"
"Well, we’re still investigating.” Sho began to explain, even though he saw how sleepy Nino was, which meant the mage was probably unable to process information now. But he still tried. “For now, we’re only speculating at the length of time the body had spent in the park, as we were unable to get any conclusive data or reliable results from the autopsy, just like I thought. And your request about searching for wax at the crime scene… sorry, but it’s impossible for the moment. I’m the only one on this case. So I hoped you found out something, since I count on you."
"Yeah yeah, me doing all the work...", Nino mumbled, and Sho’s expression sank a bit. Nino realized he said the wrong thing, he could see and hear that Sho was in pinch. "I don't have anything yet. I'm planning on working my ass off today, so I will contact you in the evening, hopefully with some results, so before that time, do not interrupt me. And now excuse me, but I’ll listen to you after I shower."
Sho’s expression sank even more, while Aiba cracked up, this time showing only ten toothpicks.
"So is Sho-chan so useless?" he took a guess.
"Yeah, a busybody only waiting for results. Hopeless. Aiba, take care of him, so he can let me do the real work. Let’s see… we will knock him out, tie him to the table, you tell him it was UFO that kidnapped him once he wakes up and then you can do some alien experiments on him. Play with him all you want, you have my permission"
“I can hear you, you know…” Sho mercifully declared.
“And that’s the point” Nino nodded.
“How can you endure being with him all the time?” Sho asked Aiba.
“Sometimes I wonder about it as well” Aiba confessed.
“Anyway, take care of our guest” Nino said before vanishing into bathroom.
Aiba giggled when Sho looked a bit uneasy as they were left alone.
"Don't worry, Sho-chan, I won't do anything to you. But I might want you to be my assistant, since Nino is denying me half the things I come up with"
"I wonder why" Sho faked a laugh. He had actually heard some things about Aiba's inventions. He suspected most of these were Nino’s lies. Well… most of them..
***
The two investigators left Nino's flat together.
"Does he usually do that?" Nino heard the question as soon as they left.
"What? Alien experiments?" he teased him.
"No, Guinness records," Sho clarified.
"Ah, that's been his goal since a week ago. He tried already doing the biggest puzzles in the world, but he realized we don’t have enough space to put them on so he gave up. Then he started to challenge the one with repeating the whole alphabet without any mistake. He got tired after third hour."
"And he did it all in one week?" Sho asked, not without feeling in awe.
"He gives up quickly and tries another one."
Sho nodded. He could understand that. He was the same type.
But Nino was already in his own thoughts. He frowned as he remember his dream. Honestly, Jun’s visits were only bringing him crazy nightmares. He hated how deep his dream was on psychological level with all his exaggerated fears and frustrations.
***
The next time Nino came back home, Aiba still wasn't there. He decided to spend his day at his secret “laboratory”. He mostly just had gone to kill some time until Aiba would leave their flat. It was troublesome, but he couldn’t do it any other way.
He took his keys this time, mumbled an "Open, Sesame", completely unnecessary, but he just felt like it, and did a shiny arc in the air. There appeared a shape in the wall. "Oh, so it's here today," Nino realized and pushed on one side of the wall, making it rotate. He took a step inside to a place that looked like a small basement. A very tiny and dim basement that looked like an unused wine cellar, filled with shelves full of bottles, one sink and a whole lot of clutter including all kind of things. Almost none of which looked magical.
"Hey, Ohno, time to wake up," he said, going straight to the skull located on the table in the center of the room and knocked lightly on it's scalp. It was his way of waking him up, instead of setting an alarm or shaking him - which he couldn't do anyway as Ohno was well, a ghost.
After half of minute or so all he received was a slight light filling the eye holes, but it went off again in a way characteristic of a blackout.
"Oi, you said you want to help me, get up! Or I will pour water over your skull, giving you a morning shower for free!"
But Ohno didn't even stir. They both knew those threats were empty, a ghost wouldn't feel anything. Nino sighed.
"I will give you something? Allow you to watch TV?"
In a minute or so, Ohno finally came out and yawned.
"Good morning," he told him with a smile to which Ohno just nodded.
"A murder case," Nino said without any introductions, but then thought it over. "Or so Sho believes. What really is sure is that they found a dead body in Ueno Park. Cause of death is unknown. Body looks unharmed and preserved like it died just a second ago."
"...sounds troublesome." was all of Ohno’s contribution and at the same time his first words today. "And why did a high-ranking vampire visit you yesterday?" he frowned.
And by this point, Nino knew he had failed. He had to again go at Ohno's pace.
"Didn't you hear it? I had a talk with Nagase-senpai without his knowledge. I guess this lands me on his black list..."
Ohno nodded, slowly, lost in his thoughts, while Nino waited. He wondered if he could hear a tick of understanding or not, if he observed his teacher long enough? But after a minute, Ohno just shrugged, so Nino would never know.
"I went to him because I thought some drugs might be responsible for the state of the body," he explained, not sure if Ohno got it, as all he was doing was staring at him, yet not saying anything.
Nino wasn't really skilled at talking with Ohno. They kind of worked on different waves and Ohno's lack of physical presence put a huge distance between them. Ohno rarely talked when not asked something and his main activity was painting big pictures in the air, which he seemed to enjoy the most in the world. Or in any world, considering that Ohno didn’t belong exactly here anymore.
And for a teacher, Ohno had some knowledge and was skilled in many fields, many not related to magic at all. But over all of that he seemed to prefer watching some boring shows in TV, the more boring the more interested he became, like lately with the late-night fishing show. But he could watch it only when Aiba was not at home and Nino allowed him to spend some time in the other room.
In other words, Ohno was strange, a ghost or not.
"Oh-chan," Nino tried the nickname, because another weird thing about Ohno was that you couldn't really treat him too seriously. "Tell me, what can cause a body state like that? Or, possibly, what method can cause a death like that?"
"Well, black magic...", Ohno tried.
"Not possible. No harm to the body. Black magic doesn't make your victim pass away peacefully like that. There is some serious hate required and that means harm. Usually lots of harm," Nino was almost patient as he reminded Ohno of what he had mostly told him already.
"Yes...", Ohno looked up somewhere. "Then maybe it's negative power. Like, you know, every act, every word holds its consequences... and they sort of cumulated in that person."
"Wait, I don't understand?", Nino was first of all surprised, and second of all, slipping out of his pace.
"It's a magic based not on the energy of the caster, but on another-a mediating power."
Nino took a moment to rotate the concept in his mind while Ohno drew the scheme in the air.
first party ---> mediating power ---> the (targeted) other party
"What's this? The scheme for energy flow?" Nino asked as he looked briefly over the flying, flaring letters.
"Kind of. Basically it means the caster, in this case, a murderer?” Ohno asked himself, frowning. “Anyway, that person gives his intentions to the mediating power which then executes the proper punishment on the third party. A magic bond created between three kinds."
"What's the mediating power in this case?" Nino asked, confused.
Ohno paused. "...Must be something really powerful" he decided.
"A demon?” Nino asked, figuring it out before Ohno even finished saying his own guess. It caused a death, it couldn’t be anything short of very powerful. “But summoning a demon is impossible without producing a lot of energy first..." and there they returned to the topic of black magic again, Nino thought bitterly, yet the next words surprised him.
"No, it has to be something of the white magic nature."
If anything, Nino only looked more confused.
"Like what?"
"...like... God, perhaps?", Ohno tilted his head and Nino didn't know if to crack in laughter, or to admit that his teacher wasn’t a very practical help.
"I guess that means it's not an option either. Any other not impossible guesses?" he asked, growing suddenly tired.
"No, no white magic can work like that. Actually, no other spell can work like that other than what I told you."
"But that's impossible! Some other theory, please."
"A potion...?" Ohno proposed.
"Ok, Oh-chan, so is there any potion that won't leave any magic energy behind?" Nino asked, his voice growing even more tired. He already thought about all those possibilities yesterday.
"...I don't think so."
"So, that's a dead end as well" Nino sighed. Somehow, there were too many dead ends in this case.
"Maybe something blocked the magic energy?" Ohno guessed, trying to be actually helpful.
"No, there was nothing..." he replied just when his mind brought back the mental image of the photos he saw, with the body covered in leaves. "WAIT. Maybe those leaves..."
He then quickly went to the nearest shelf, took the mixer, a few empty tubes, and water.
"Ohno, tell me, what do I need to check those dried leaves?" he asked, as he took out the leaves from his pocket to put them inside the mixer, which he first filled with water. He smiled. A real magician-or investigator, actually- needed to be ready in every moment. Good that he snatched those leaves the first time he went to the crime scene. Of course, unnoticed, like every artist making bunnies or cards disappear and reappear somewhere else.
"Left shelf, third row from the top, furthest on the right." Ohno said, looking at the shelf. He looked at this place everyday; he easily remembered all the details that Nino was sometimes forgetting. He could paint the whole shelf from his memory, he thought and smiled.
"Good, thanks" Nino said and summoned the necessary item with his finger, adding the contents without even checking what it was.
He then mixed the substance and turned it around once or twice, and waited. There should be some smoke appearing if it had been used magically as a blocker.
He waited and waited. And waited.
Ohno came over to him and looked inside.
"It seems to be proven negative," he nodded.
"No... no. I need to do it one more time."
"It's not magical, Nino. They’re just dried autumn leaves."
Nino looked at Ohno and something in his calm expression, though irritating, paradoxically calmed him down as well.
"I give up.” He said, flopping abruptly in the chair. “There is nothing in this case. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. Why do I have such a bad luck?” at this point, he really just wished to abandon the whole thing. He kicked the leg of the table. Serves it right, could have helped him instead of standing in the middle of the room, uselessly like that, watching him in distress!
"Don't give up, Nino. Let's check all the things you brought. Maybe something will give us some idea," Ohno tried to cheer him on with a small smile. "So, empty out your pocket"
Nino looked him in the eyes this time. This method didn’t actually worked with ghosts. Besides, he was sure he wouldn't see anything other than paintings and fishes in Ohno's head. Definitely not the worst possibility, even if it wasn't that fascinating.
Actually, he appreciated Ohno's presence a lot today. He was very grateful for yesterday as well. And his simple smiles had really started to feel soothing, too.
So he nodded and took all of the found items out at the table and they both stared at them for a few seconds. There was some dirt, and a tiny bit of white wax (he snatched it before handing it down to Sho. He wasn’t a magician for nothing), besides the already used leaves. All in all, it really wasn't much.
"Wax?" Ohno asked after what seemed to be a minute.
"Ah, we found a candle on the scene. A single one, made of bee wax. The only thing there aside from some leaves"
"That's the lead, Nino!" Ohno exclaimed like Nino missed the sight of something as big as an elephant.
"It's actually a very doubtful lead. Like I said, no magic used, and what can a single candle do?"
"A lot. Then the ancient spell I told you about could work. You light up a candle with the intention to send some ill or good intention to someone, and then-"
"Then it still doesn't work. The candle wasn't lit up or used in any way," Nino cut off his explanation. "More than that, it was actually broken in half."
"Oh. Well, then… it's not it," Ohno admitted defeat. "It was broken?" he asked, his expression puzzled. Which actually meant his eyes had a stern look, eyebrows almost a straight line, while the rest of his face remained unchanged. It would usually be pretty funny, especially counting his chubby cheeks in the whole picture.
But right now it wasn't.
"Yeah. Odd, right? I know this candle has to have some meaning, but I can't think of anything. It's a mystery I can't solve. All leads turn into dead ends".
"Kazu... I think..." but then he stopped and instead added quietly, "Let's just check if we can trace back the owner of this candle?"
"Yeah, let's do that," Nino sighed and got himself to work.
Funnily enough, it lead him to Sho. And Aiba. And Nino himself.
It was obvious the spell had failed. But it made him think that there was something extremely fishy about this case.
***
On his way back from Sho’s office (he had followed the spell all the way to the police station), Nino decided to visit Ogurin's bar again. This time he decided to get all the information he needed from Nagase, even if it all could turn into a false thread. It didn’t matter if he had no other guesses. But as he entered the bar, he didn't expect the sight before him.
"Boooaaah” Nino heard a strange sound between wailing and growling, followed by equally despaired words “…and then she said she will never go out with a bad guy... am I really a bad guy? Tell me, am I???" a very pitiful cry filled the whole of the bar.
"Um, how should I tell you this... well, I think she meant you're a drug dealer and that kind of makes you a criminal..." he recognized Toma's voice giving the answer.
"Booooooaaaaaaaah"
"Unubore, please calm down!"
"I'm not called Unubore..."
Nino stood at the entrance, not understanding what was going on at all. He felt like he landed into some different dimension all of a sudden. He even decided to check on the name of the bar, but it proved to be the right place.
And it was indeed Nagase-senpai bawling all over the table.
He decided to first approach the counter and ask Oguri what was going on.
"Ah, he was rejected again" said Oguri with a knowing smile.
"Rejected?" Nino repeated, like he heard the word for the fist time in his life.
"You know, by a girl. Heartbroken. Like every week. Falling in love only with police officers. It's like a curse, isn't it? Or more like his fate, getting attracted to his archenemies."
"Haa..." Nino said, feeling like it was some earlier version of April's Fool today, if not for the fact it was autumn. He looked in their direction again and tilted his head to the side at the sight reality presented him and which he couldn't comprehend.
"I heard they even did a drama based on this,” Oguri added, taking a remote control and searching through channels, like a sudden thought hit him.
But by this time, Nino had given up on understanding the situation and instead settled on approaching the table.
"Nagase-senpai", he tried, sweeter than he ever was, so much that at first Nagase didn't even recognize him. His senpai looked at him, surprisingly looking like the old, bad Nagase he knew, if not counting his glistening eyes. But after three seconds, counted by their shared eye blinks, something weird happened which caused his face to grow long, his eyes squeezing to tiny slits and his mouth opening unnaturally slowly in a huge, wordless cry. Though what came out was only a short, low “aa” and a gesture of desperation.
"Uh, sen...pai...?" Nino didn't want to admit, but he was feeling more and more lost with every second.
"Well, well, she's not the only fish in the sea," Toma again took the part of cheering his senpai up, to which the latter only nodded, still with his mouth open and only tiny, low strange moans escaping.
"Sorry, Nino, but you probably won't find out anything today," Toma said apologetically. "You know, heartbreak is a serious matter for a man."
Nino nodded, and then tilted his head, looking at Nagase senpai, then he closed his eyes and opened them again.
And decided to go away, after weighing his options. He sneaked out, looking behind himself like he had witnessed something indecent.
"You know, I always wanted for her to say that line, you know… I sentence you to marry me! Marry me and I won’t lock you in prison! isn't that every bad guy's most inner wish?!” Nino heard just as he reached the door and at this point, he just hoped he wouldn't have any nightmares about his senpai bawling tonight.
***
Just as he was thinking what to do next, standing for a minute outside, Toma caught him.
"Nino, there is something..." he said hastily, obviously in a hurry.
"Calm down, I'm not teleporting or anything" Nino joked, seeing his serious expression. It didn't exactly suit Toma yet he always appeared this dead serious whenever something was going on.
But despite being so obvious, Toma was really something. Nino could assure anyone of that.
"I shouldn't be telling you this, but..." Toma started. "The White Council is actually... suspecting you of the latest... events."
What?
"Is that true, Toma? Is that why you're here recently?" Nino asked. "And hell, why me? Why me of all the mages around this area?"
"I don't know, but I heard them say... that some powerful spell was used near your place. Your magical trace was spotted a week ago near that park... and yesterday, as well, somewhere close to your flat."
"That's... impossible," Nino said, not understanding a thing.
"I know. I don't believe it's you. But they want me to investigate. You might get a suspension, until they settle it."
"Thanks, Toma" Nino said, meaning it.
Ikuta Toma was his guardian, who the White Council, the one responsible for taking responsibility over the magical community in Tokyo -and maybe the whole of Japan, had put to watch over Nino.
Nino already had a past history with the Council; they had placed him under observation a long time ago. It had been years already and they still didn't trust him. Nino wasn't sure why, but he suspected it was because of his uncle Nakai, who had taken care of him when he was little. He had been declared a traitor of the Council and all of his family had been immediately suspected of the same crimes. That family was Nino alone. It was shitty luck, but Nino already gotten used to this.
He still hadn’t expected that they would blame him first if something happened in his district; which was his mistake, he probably should have expected it coming.
At least his guardian was a really nice guy who didn't look for fault in him without any proof. He was almost a friend. Or actually, he was a friend, he thought when Toma hugged him and patted him on his back.
It was nice to be trusted.
He wished he could place his trust in a certain someone as well. Life would be so much more easier then... or not.
"I will watch out, thanks." Nino declared.
"You can always ask for help in need, ok?”, Toma grinned. “You know where to find me.”
"Oh, and tell Aiba about this one day. I still want to meet him!" he added before vanishing back behind the doors again.
Okay, so maybe Toma was sometimes too direct for his liking. And it definitely wasn't a good thing to recommend to do now, as it would just meant more troubles with The Council.
Nino definitely had too many easy-going friends for his own good. He should probably reconsider the part about counting on them. Though in the corner of his heart, he was so delighted to have them, regardless.
***
Before going after an endless trail of failed attempts to get any information, Nino finally decided to drop by Sho's workplace. He didn't have anything new to tell him, but he knew any detail was of utter importance to Sho right now. And he had promised to come by evening today. He looked at his watch. Well, at least it was still “today”.
"Oh, Nino..." the sight of sleepy Sho sitting over his desk with a huge pile of papers before him welcomed Nino. He looked completely out of it for a few moments, before he snapped back to reality. "NINO! Do you have anything new? Perhaps... case solved?" he asked the last question in tiny voice and tired eyes, not daring to hope for that kind of miracle.
"Not yet, Sho-san," Nino said, his eyes in the direction of floor in wordless apology. On every weird case Sakurai had to handle, there was an axe hanging above his head.
"Anything at all?" Sho then asked, nodding.
"I think it may be something big in our world. Possibly involving some big people", Nino said, a bit wrecked. "Do you know what it means, Sho-san? It might lead to war, if that happens"
He didn’t share those suspicions with anyone before, not even Ohno. But the more he investigated, the less he found out. At the same time only more big name people appeared before him, the White Council was now desperately searching for the culprit, and all of this made Nino think of that worst scenario. One more reason why he shouldn’t sniff around more.
"War?" Sho asked, completely worn out, but still in work-mode. "You mean between mages, werewolves and vampires, and so on?"
"Yeah...” he smiled at the funny way Sho put it. “It’s very possible. And since vampires control most of our world and hold influence outside of our city, I'm afraid it will became out of hand".
"I see" Sho accepted it and yawned. "Sorry."
"It's okay. You know, Sho? I think I owe you a beer. Or coffee. Or better yet, a tea. Please get some sleep," Nino explained. "I will solve it till noon and bring you some explanations. I promise"
"Nino...",Sho tried to say what he felt, but couldn't really find any words for it. "They possibly don’t pay you enough".
Nino laughed.
"In that case, they don’t pay you enough either".
Sho tried to return the good-natured smile, in spite of his constant struggle not to yawn or to hit the table and just get some damn sleep at last.
"After this is over, I will try my best to speed up your pay" he said and Nino couldn't have been more grateful. He went and got him a tea, even if it was from a vending machine in their hall.
"Thanks."
"Go to sleep really," Nino insisted, he couldn’t look at him in that state.
"I can't. The case isn't solved yet" Sho insisted, opening his eyes widely, then squeezing his eyelids, and opening them again; only after that he took some papers.
"Then at least let me show you a card trick," Nino said, taking out the cards which he never separated himself from.
"Oh? Some new trick?" Sho asked. "Or are you just trying to cheer me up?"
Nino smiled at him and asked him to choose a card. The secret of magic tricks was really all about focusing your viewer’s attention on the outer look of things, and this way to hide your actual goal. Sho fell for it like always and didn't last five whole minutes, which was the exact moment Nino had been waiting for. He made Sho focus on his cards while the trick to put him to sleep was all along in the tea he gave him.
Nino took him to the couch in the waiting room and covered him with whatever he could use as a blanket.
"See, my sleeping potion added to your tea works better than any sleeping pills. Have nice dreams, Sho-san."
Though that was just the beginning for Nino. He couldn’t quit the case, he felt like he owed it to Sho. And now he had less than 12 hours to solve it all.
***
Trying to be a hero soon proved to be pretty tough. Once Nino got back to his room that night he felt so drained and sleepy that he decided to take his own advice and get some rest as well. He set his alarm clock for five in the morning so he could still have seven hours to solve the damn case. Now he could just hope the alarm clock wouldn’t snap and would actually manage to wake him up.
He dreamed of Aiba this night. Probably he was thinking about their last talk about rainbows; here, on this very bed.
They used to catch rainbows as kids. Not really, no. But Aiba used to be really obsessed with it. On a much different level than his obsession with beating a Guinness record these days. They used to run around, trying to find the goblet full of golden coins on the other side of the rainbow. A legend which Aiba once found in the library. Sometimes it was guarded by a dwarf, so they ran with all their might holding branches in case it was an evil one they needed to beat up like a boss in Nintendo game.
Only later they were told that they wouldn’t see anything if they reached the other side of the rainbow. Because if you do reach that place, you can't see the rainbow at all. Because a rainbow was just an optical illusion.
It still didn't cause Aiba to give up chasing after them every time there was rain. Nino, of course, usually accompanied him, although he only sometimes was thrilled to do it.
Only later, as they grew up, they tried to make a rainbow by themselves; of course, failing miserably.
It turned out it wasn't as easy as the popular explanation about the small droplets of rain reflecting the light and breaking it into the six main prismatic colors. They had been so proud of this knowledge in their kindergarten, impressing the other kids. But it turned out the real mystery of the process was hardly solved with that.
For example, it didn't explain why the rainbow always formed an arc form. And why, if all the droplets reflected the light, it showed such a pretty, flawless, and symmetrical form? Were only chosen droplets used for the effect? Then why those exactly? And why did the colors appear in those cute stripes?
It all turned out to be so intriguing, that it consumed half of their lives. One day they finally did reach the other side of the rainbow. After all the mathematical struggles, constant observations, and a lot of running and failed tries. They didn't find golden coins, nor a dwarf guarding it or living there. And it was hardly impressive in every other possible way. But Nino was sure that Aiba still believed he would find at least one of them there. He wasn’t easily discouraged. Nino didn’t even bother with comforting him, didn’t lie that "maybe the dwarf was having his toilet time now" instead, he told him straight "they were never there".
He was a mage in the making already, so he knew.
But Aiba only smiled and said it didn’t matter. And declared he would instead... what exactly?
Nino felt puzzled, probably because the lack of sleep was numbing his brain. It didn't matter anyway, he thought almost rationally. Wasn’t it in the rainbow’s nature to vanish? It will appear again, he answered in his mind to his best friend’s last night worries, before losing completely to his dreams.
***
The following morning, Aiba vanished.
On to Part 3