Chapter 63 The meeting
Today was the 12th of June, in other words, today was the day that Tatsurou, Naoki and Miyubi, had a meeting with the Captain of the Soteria unit of District 4, but before this meeting would take place, we had to go to District 4's public Esper school, where classes had already ended for the day...
"Alright then, Marie's already making her way home...but before I go meet up with Naoki and Miyubi, there's one thing I have to do first..." Tatsurou, that was wearing his usual gakuran with a hoodie under it, said as he walked down the hallway of the school in the direction of the teacher's office and soon enough, Tatsurou was standing in front of the office's door.
"Pardon the intrusion..." Tatsurou said as he placed his hand on the door's handle and slowly opened it while poking his head inside the office and as he did that, he saw Yumeko, that was wearing her usual business suit and hair tied into a ponytail, sitting on the chair of her desk and tapping away on her laptop.
"N-No answer...this is bad...I better approach her nice and easy...ok then!" Tatsurou thought as he looked at Yumeko that didn't react to him at all.
"H-Hi Yumeko! How are you doing today?" Tatsurou asked with a cheerful and curious tone as he raised his hand while he approached Yumeko's desk, but again he didn't get an answer.
"She's still angry...but I have to push through!" Tatsurou thought as he slowly lowered his hand and sighed.
"So...Y-Yumeko, I'll go and meet up with Naoki and Miyubi for our meeting in the Soteria...and well...I wanted to know what you think of my uniform today...is it presentable?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he scratched the back of his head.
"Looks good to me..." Yumeko said with a stoic angry tone, as she kept tapping away on her laptop and without looking away from it.
"God, this is worse than I thought...but I can't run, not again!" Tatsurou thought while he let out a sigh and put on a determined face.
"Yumeko...are you angry, about what happened the other day?" Tatsurou asked with a worried and curious tone, as he looked a bit away from Yumeko, that sighed upon hearing him.
"Tatsurou, I'm not angry...just disappointed...that's all..." Yumeko said as she stooped tapping away on her laptop and turned her chair, so she could face Tatsurou.
"Disappointed?" Tatsurou asked more curious than worried.
"I'm disappointed because you ran away from me after asking you a simple question, instead of staying and explaining yourself...I thought I taught you to never run away from your problems, didn't I?" Yumeko asked this with a faint angry tone as she crossed her arms and briefly pouted.
"I know, that I shouldn't have run away but...you kind of scared me a bit..." Tatsurou said with an embarrassed joking tone as he looked a bit away from Yumeko, that began to blush.
"I-I'll admit that I probably exaggerated a bit...but what did you expect? I asked you if you did naughty things to the girls and you react by blushing and looking away from me! What was I supposed to think?" Yumeko asked with an embarrassed and angry tone as she pointed at Tatsurou.
"A-And how was I supposed to react?! Anyone would have reacted the same way if you were asked something like that out of the blue, right?" Tatsurou asked with a faintly embarrassed tone, as he also pointed at Yumeko, that responded by placing her hands on her lap and looking a bit down.
"I'll admit that your kind of right and that I shouldn't have overreacted like that...b-but now that I'm calmer, I want you to be honest with me! You're not doing anything naughty to Shirayuki or Marie, are you?" Yumeko asked with a very curious tone as she looked at Tatsurou that briefly jolted.
"No, Yumeko, I'm not doing anything like that to them..." Tatsurou said as he scratched his cheek a bit.
"Really?" Yumeko asked again with a curious tone.
"Yes, really and you don't have to worry about it, I would never do anything naughty to both Shirayuki or Marie, that would make them feel uncomfortable around me or doing something they don't want to do...they are my friends and I don't want to ruin or lose our friendship because of something like that!" Tatsurou said with an honest tone that made Yumeko look at him for a bit in silence.
"I-I see..." Yumeko said with an embarrassed tone as she smiled and while she turned her chair around to show it's back to Tatsurou.
"I'm such an idiot sometimes...acting all worried for nothing..." Yumeko thought as she let out a sigh and smiled quite a bit.
"Alright then I believe you, Tatsurou, but you better keep it like that and keep our hands to yourself, you hear! And also...sorry for the way I reacted and treated you these past two days..." Yumeko said with an apologetic tone as she blushed a bit.
"It's already forgiven and again you don't have to worry, I won't to anything like that to them and I'll keep my hands to myself!" Tatsurou said as he smiled.
"I'm happy to hear that!" Yumeko said with a happy tone as she crossed her arms again.
"Well then, now that everything's settled, I better be on my way...I don't want to leave Naoki and Miyubi waiting..." As Tatsurou said this he turned towards the door of the office to be on his way, but...
"Wait a sec, Tatsurou, before you go...do you mind telling me, why you're wearing a hoodie under your gakuran, today of all days?" Yumeko asked with an angry tone, as she got up from her chair and got close to Tatsurou that jolted upon hearing her.
"Well, I..." As Tatsurou said this he was interrupted.
"No excuses here! Honestly, why do you always dress up like a delinquent? Come here and let me adjust your uniform at least..." Yumeko said with a faint angry tone, as she got close to Tatsurou and began to slowly adjust his hoodie.
"What can I say? I always liked your delinquent style, Yumeko... " Tatsurou said with a joking tone as he remembered that in a way, his way of dressing was influenced by Yumeko, something that she knew, all too well and it had earned her various earfuls from Hime.
"I know that, but still, you can't show up like that to my Captain! But then again, I'm not one to talk, the first time I had to meet my supervisor's Captain at the time, I had just come out of a fight with a group of delinquent girls from the Misaiko school of District 3..." Yumeko said with an angry tone, which turned into an embarrassed one, as she sighed and finished adjusting Tatsurou's hoodie.
"R-Really?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and surprised tone as he looked at Yumeko, that was now adjusting the jacket of Tatsurou's gakuran.
"Really and believe me, I regret it a bit, but then again, if I didn't do that, I would have never met Aoki...so in a way, I'm actually happy that I showed up like that to my Captain back then..." Yumeko said while she smiled and finished adjusting Tatsurou's gakuran.
"I see...that's just like you, Yumeko..." Tatsurou said also with a smile that made Yumeko look away from him.
"F-Flattery only gets you that far! And you're not off the hook yet, for going dressed like that, you hear!" Yumeko said with a faint angry tone, as she briefly pointed at Tatsurou.
"I know, I know..." Tatsurou said as he let out a sigh.
"Good! Now go, I don't want you to be late!" Yumeko said with a happy tone as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Of course, see you later, Yumeko!" Tatsurou said as he turned towards the office's door while waving at Yumeko, that did the same, and when he was finally gone...
"I was such an idiot for giving him the "cold shoulder" and "silence treatment" like that...I should have asked instead of going completely crazy...I have to make it up for him somehow...hmm, perhaps a new hoodie or a new volume of that manga he likes could be a good apolegy gift! Yes, let's go with that and make him a surprise!" Yumeko said with a faint depressed tone that turned into a happy one as she turned to her desk and took a seat on her chair again, but just as she was starting to search for something to buy for Tatsurou, she stooped for a brief moment.
"Hold on a sec...just now when I was adjusting Tatsurou's hoodie...I...I looked like a housewife adjusting his husband's clothes before he goes to work..." Yumeko thought this and for a bit, she kept silent until her thoughts finally clicked and she began to blush.
"Kuroiwa-sensei, I brought the printouts you asked for..." A girl in a black sailor fuku, said as she entered the office, but...
"W-What the hell, am I even thinking!!" Yumeko said with a very embarrassed tone, that scared this girl that had just entered her office, quite a lot.
"I'm older than him and his teacher for crying out loud! I-I have to make sure no one finds out about this especially Hime or Emma! They would never shut up about it for as long as I lived!" Yumeko thought very embarrassedly as she placed her hand in front of her face while blushing so much that one could see it, through her hands...
And so, a bit later close to District 4's downtown...
"Let's see..."Misaiko is close to the 5th avenue of District 4, you can't miss it, the school building looks like an old castle with a clock tower in it's middle!"...or so Naoki says..." Tatsurou, that was on a sidewalk making his way towards Misaiko, said as he read a message on his phone that Naoki sent him yesterday.
"Well that's good and all, but I haven't seen any "old castle with a clock tower" yet..." Tatsurou said as he let out a sigh upon not having found Misaiko yet.
And so, after a few more minutes of walking, Tatsurou arrived at a crosswalk and from the other side of the street he saw a white and black building that looked like the Wellington college in England, that was surrounded by walls with pointy black iron fences on top of said walls, but the big difference, between those two buildings was the big and imposing clock tower that stood in its middle.
Yes, in this exact moment, Tatsurou was looking at the Misaiko all-girls private school one of the most prestigious schools and magic research establishments created in Takamagahara, that possed at least one school in every district.
"Whoa...it really does look like a castle and pretty classy to boot...but now I wonder how Yumeko even got enrolled into a school like this..." Tatsurou said with a joking tone as he began making his way to the other side of the street and when he got there, Tatsurou made his way towards Misaiko's main gate.
"Hmm...it's already 16:19 pm...but Naoki and Miyubi are nowhere to be seen..." Tatsurou said as looked at the school's clock tower.
"I'll just wait here close to the gate... they're probably on their way already..." Tatsurou thought as he took out his phone and leaned on a lamp post close to the school's gate...
"Oh, Miu Mizuzu is going to do voice acting for an upcoming anime? Cool, I wonder which one it is..." Tatsurou said as he browsed a news site on his phone, but as he was about to check this news, he was interrupted...
"What is that boy doing here?"
"No idea..."
"You don't think he's here to pick girls up, right?"
A group of girls that wore the Misaiko school uniform asked each other as they stepped out of the school's gate and while they looked at Tatsurou.
"Hmm?" Tatsurou thought as he looked at the girls that as soon as they met gazes with Tatsurou, the girls began to run away, surprising him a bit.
"What the...?!" As Tatsurou said this he looked to his right side and saw that all the girls that came out of the school's building either gave him weird looks, kept distant, or ran away as he looked at them and the reason for this was because of Tatsurou's delinquent look that didn't give the best of first impressions, something he didn't realize.
"D-Don't tell me, that it's a bad thing to lean on this lamp post or something..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at the lamp post for a bit, but it didn't last long...
"Hey there, Kurokami-kun! Sorry for the wait!" A voice called Tatsurou and when he turned around to see who it was he saw Miyubi, that was wearing her usual school uniform and hair tied into a braid, as she waved and got close to Tatsurou.
"Hi, Shimaki-san don't worry about it...wait where's, Izumi?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone as he saw Miyubi getting close, but she didn't get time to answer.
"Wait for me, Miyu!" A very cute voice called Miyubi and when Tatsurou tilted his body he saw a very petite girl with long black hair and white tips, that wore the Misaiko school uniform very properly and uptight, but something that stood out was the rectangular semi-rimless glasses resting on her nose, she looked like a typical role model student, in all honesty.
"Seriously...I told you to wait for me, didn't I?" The girl said as she got close to Tatsurou and Miyubi, as she huffed a bit.
"What's wrong Miyu...? Heh?! K-Kurokami, you're already here?!" The girl asked with an embarrassed tone as she looked at Tatsurou, that in turn looked at her in complete silence.
"Shimaki-san...who is this girl?" Tatsurou asked with a stoic curious tone as he looked at the girl then at Miyubi.
"Kurokami-kun...this girl is actually, Nao-chan..." Miyubi said while she looked away from Tatsurou and tried her hardest to not laugh.
"Heh?! She's I-Izumi?!" Tatsurou asked with an impressed and surprised tone as he looked at Naoki that was looking at Tatsurou with an angry face on as she blushed.
"Oh no! She's going to hit me!" Tatsurou thought as he looked at Naoki and prepared to dodge whatever would come towards him, but...
"Y-You idiot! How come you didn't recognize me?!" Naoki asked with a very angry tone while she blushed and flailed her arms around, a reaction that surprised Tatsurou a bit.
"Well I..." As Tatsurou said this he got interrupted.
"This is all your fault, Miyu! I told you to wait and let me get changed!" Naoki said with an angry and embarrassed tone as she pointed at Miyu, that tried to whistle her problem away, to no avail.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Nao-chan..." Miyubi said with a smug tone and expression, as she looked away.
"I just know that you did this on purpose...! Get back here!" Naoki said as she began running after Miyubi that in turn began to run away from Naoki and soon enough, Tatsurou was witnessing something befitting of a cartoon, as he saw Naoki chasing Miyubi as they ran around in circles.
"J-Just what's going on here...wait scratch that, I better stop them before we get more unwanted attention..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at the scene unfolding in front of him, that caught the attention of every other girl that was coming out of the school's gate, but it didn't last long...
"Hey! What are you two girls doing?!" An angry voice from a young woman wearing a red and white tracksuit, said this to Naoki and Miyubi as she ran towards them.
"C-Crap it's Kobayashi-sensei!" Naoki said with a worried tone, as she finally caught Miyubi, Tatsurou upon seeing this, just dashed towards them as he heard the woman.
"Let's get out of here! Izumi, you hold on to Shimaki-san's hand!" Tatsurou said as he got close to Naoki and grabbed her hand and began running away from the school's front gate.
"Kurokami, what are you..." As Naoki said this she got interrupted by Tatsurou.
"I'm sorry, Izumi, but it's better to run for now or we will be late, right?" Tatsurou said as he briefly looked at Naoki from over his shoulder.
"Y-Yeah...your right..." Naoki said as she held both Tatsurou's and Miyubi's hand tight.
"Not even an hour has passed and I'm already running away from problems again...Yumeko is going to kill me, if she finds out..." Tatsurou thought as he kept running and while he let out a sigh...
And so a bit later, close to the downtown's monorail station...
"That was close..." Tatsurou said as he looked at Naoki and Miyubi that were huffing a bit.
"Yeah...it was...but you can let go of my hand now, Kurokami..." Naoki said as she looked a bit away from Tatsurou.
"S-Sorry...Izumi..." Tatsurou said as he let go of Naoki's hand.
"C-Come on, it's nothing that needs apologizing..." Naoki said as she let out a sigh.
"Nao-chan's right, we should be the ones to say sorry, we caused a scene that would have gotten us all in trouble..." Miyubi said as she briefly bowed towards Tatsurou.
"Says the culprit behind it..." Naoki said with an angry tone as she glanced at Miyubi, that once again tried to whistle her problems away.
"I'm really happy that these two made up and honestly they look even closer than before in all honesty..." Tatsurou thought as he smiled a bit.
"Hey, let's not worry about that for now, and let's make our way to the Soteria headquarters...you don't mind leading the way, Izumi?" Tatsurou said as he pointed with his thumb in the direction of the Soteria headquarters.
"Sure let's go... we're already a bit late, after all!" Naoki said as she began walking towards the Soteria headquarters with Tatsurou and Miyubi walking next to her and as they did, a brief silence ruled between them, as Tatsurou looked away, then back at Naoki.
"Ok, ask away, Kurokami..." Naoki said while she let out a sigh and as she reached for her school bag, from which she took out a scrunchie.
"Heh? What are you talking about..." Tatsurou asked a bit embarrassed, something that made Naoki give him the silent treatment, while she tied her hair into her usual side ponytail while she glanced at him.
"You got me...so Izumi, what's with this new look of yours?" Tatsurou asked a bit curious as he looked a bit away from Naoki.
"It's not a new look, it's..." As Naoki was about to explain the reason for this sudden change in style, she finished tying up her hair, but she was interrupted by Miyubi.
"You see, Kurokami-kun, Nao-chan is usually a very well behaved and straight-laced student, that always gets top marks and always uses her uniform and hair properly, instead of looking like a delinquent girl!" Miyubi said with a honest and informative tone as she raised her finger.
"I see...that's a bit unexpected..." Tatsurou said with an impressed tone as he tried to imagine Naoki acting as a proper student.
"S-Shut up Miyu, that's not true at all! L-Listen, Kurokami, the real reason for this get up is...the meeting we have today...yes, it's because of the meeting! That's why I was dressed like that, I wanted to cause a good first impression, but now that I look at you, it's better to go with my usual aparence!" Naoki said with a nervous and embarrassed tone as she blushed and pointed at Tatsurou.
"I-I understand, it's better to go dressed as usual, than dressing in a way that dosen't represent the real you!" Tatsurou said as he laughed a bit nervous, as he looked at Naoki that nodded as she kept blushing.
"This is the worst lie I have ever heard in a while..." Tatsurou thought as he let out a small sigh.
"But speaking of which, Shimaki-san said you have top grades, is that true?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he tried to change the topic a bit.
"O-Of course it's true! I always score on the top 5 in the exams!" Naoki said with a smug tone and expression, as she took her glasses off.
"And I always score between the top 10 or 15! Oh, and you don't need to call me with honorifics, Kurokami-kun!" Miyubi said with a happy tone, as she smiled.
"I see, that not bad at all! Ah and feel free to do the same with me, Shimaki-san!" Tatsurou said as he smiled towards Naoki and Miyubi.
"Whoa, I didn't know that they were good students...as for me well..." Tatsurou thought, as he looked at the ground for a bit, but it didn't last long...
"So Kurokami, how about you? Where do you place when you take your exams?" Naoki asked with a curious tone as she placed her glasses inside her school bag and at that exact moment, Tatsurou froze up as he realized that he dug his own grave.
"Kurokami?" Naoki asked with a curious tone again, as she looked at Tatsurou that began to sweat nervously.
"Well...you see...my grades well...oh! Wouldn't you look at that, we're already close to the Soteria headquarters!" Tatsurou said with a nervous tone as he pointed at the Soteria building in front of them, and began to walk towards it as fast as his legs allowed him.
"Wait a minute, Kurokami!" Naoki said as she saw Tatsurou making his way towards the Soteria building and ignoring her.
"Just what..." As Naoki said this, Miyubi placed her hand on Naoki's shoulder
"Nao-chan...some things, you better off not asking..." Miyubi said as she looked a bit away from Naoki, as she realized that Tatsurou's grades weren't the best ever achieved, but Naoki on the other hand still didn't understand what was going on...
And so, a few moments later on the 3rd floor of the Soteria Headquarters, on the hallway where the meeting rooms were located, to be precise, Tatsurou, Naoki, and Miyubi were waiting close to a door with a small metal plate with the number 4 written on it...
"We've been waiting here for a while now..." Tatsurou, that was leaning on the wall next to the door, said as he looked at Naoki and Miyubi that stood next to him as they also leaned on the wall.
"Well, it's to be expected, after all, the Captain of the Soteria tends to be busy..." Miyubi said as she briefly looked at Tatsurou.
"But we're not talking about any Soteria Captain here, you know, Miyu?" Naoki asked with a faint nervous, but also excited tone as she crossed her arms.
"Really? What kind of Captain are we about to deal with here, Izumi?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone as he tilted his head a bit.
"You don't know, for real?" Naoki asked with an impressed tone as she stooped leaning on the wall.
"For real..." Tatsurou said with an embarrassed tone, as he blushed.
"I...don't know either, Nao-chan..." Miyubi said also with an embarrassed tone as she raised her hand a bit.
"Seriously, sometimes you two surprise me! Listen, Kurokami...the person was about to meet is none other than, Captain Terima Kaome, she's been in the Soteria unit for 27 years now, she has climbed all the ranks of the Soteria from Intern until Captain without skipping a single one of those ranks and what makes this even more impressive is the fact that she was always ranked number one in the Soteria units ranking system!" Naoki said with an informative but also excited tone as she raised her index finger a bit.
"R-Really?" Tatsurou and Miyubi asked at the same time with surprising faces on, as they looked at Naoki
"Really! She's literally one of the strongest persons in Takamagahara and rumor has it, that she isn't Major yet, because she still wants to keep fighting and there's also another rumor that she can even go toe-to-toe against no other than, Lady Youjo!" Naoki said with an excited tone as she turned and pointed towards Tatsurou and Miyubi, that couldn't hide their impressed faces.
"No way, we're about to meet someone like that and I came with my uniform like this, I'm such an idiot...!" As Tatsurou thought this, he suddenly stooped as he looked behind Naoki and saw an intimidating woman with deep blue eyes and wavy greyish black hair and that wore a dark blue suit with an equally dark blue tie.
"What's wrong you two...!" As Naoki said this she looked behind her and stooped as soon as she saw this woman.
"My, my! It always makes me happy to hear youngsters talking about me so eagerly like that!" The woman said with a rather cute and joyful voice, as she placed her hand on her cheek and looked at the surprised Tatsurou and Miyubi, then at the frozen in place Naoki.
"C-Captain T-Terima!" Naoki said with a very nervous tone as she trembled and looked at Kaome.
"Yes, that's me alright! Captain Terima Kaome, at your service!" Kaome said with a happy tone and a beaming smile that took away all of her intimidating factors and turned her into what could be described, as your everyday office lady.
"Is...is this really the so talked strongest person in Takamagahara?" Tatsurou and Miyubi thought as they looked at Kaome that was still smiling at them.
"I'm sorry for having made you wait for a bit longer, but something urgent came up..." Kaome said with an apologetic tone, as she briefly bowed.
"Y-You don't need to say sorry, Captain Terima we understand that you're a very busy person, so it's only normal that this would happen! Right?" Naoki said with a nervous and embarrassed tone as moved her hands around and while she looked at Tatsurou and Miyubi that nodded in agreement.
"I see...but I was the one that called you here, so I feel bad for making you wait this long and also you don't need to be that nervous, I don't bite!" Terima said with a joking tone as she winked and placed her hand on the door's handle to enter the meeting room.
And as she did Tatsurou and the girls followed her inside this meeting room that wasn't very big but also not too small, it had a rectangular table in it's middle with a chair on one side with a small computer screen and a keyboard and three chairs on the other side and on the wall left from the table there was a big projector screen.
"Alright, you three take a seat and make yourselves comfortable!" Kaome said as got to the side of the table that only had one chair and took her seat, Tatsurou and the girls then took their respective seats on the side with only three chairs with Naoki sitting in the middle, Miyubi on the chair to the left and Tatsurou on the chair to the right.
"Well then, let's start...wait! Do you want to drink something?" Kaome asked with a curious tone, as she tilted her head.
"No need to worry about that, Captain Terima! It's alright..." Naoki said with an embarrassed tone as she blushed, Tatsurou and Miyubi just nodded.
"Very well then, since your not drinking anything, I'll do the same..." Kaome said as she clasped her hands and placed them on top of the table.
"Well, without beating around the bush, I believe your Supervisors told you the reason as to why you are all here today, right?" Kaome asked as she smiled.
"Y-Yes, we do..." Tatsurou said with a faint nervous tone as he nodded.
"Good...so I'll start by congratulating you three for solving this three-month-old case about the "Magician Hunter" in a mere two days, it's something never seen before and very impressive, but in all honesty, this much was to be expected from interns that were chosen by Kuroiwa and Munesuki...but once again good work, you three!" Kaome said with a happy and proud tone as she moved her right hand a bit, something that made Tatsurou and the girls blush.
"Um...Captain Terima...since I got injured and didn't do a whole lot to help...so I don't think, I deserve such praise..." Miyubi said with a faint depressed tone, that made Tatsurou and Naoki looked at her with worry written all over their faces.
"Shimaki-san...you did get injured, but before that happened you were there with both Kurokami-san and Izumi-san, helping them with the investigation, right?" Kaome asked as she tilted her head, Miyubi just answered with a nod.
"It's only normal to think you didn't do anything to help because you got injured, but as I said, a lot happened before that, to me, you did a good job as an up and coming Soteria intern, you investigated together with your friends and when we saw the recordings of the shopping square, you protected civilians from the "Magician Hunter" with your magic when you encountered him, not a lot of interns would have acted as calm as you did in that situation! So in my eyes, you did a good job, that deserves equal praise!" Kaome said with a reassuring tone as she smiled, something that made Miyubi blush as she looked at the ground.
"As for being injured...it's only normal that accidents and injuries occur in any line of work, especially in one such as this, but I don't want you to let this one failure take you down, Shimaki-san, instead I want you to grab this failure and use it as a learning chance to get better and stronger, so that next time, and pardon my language here, you can kick some ass!" Kaome said with a reassuring and determined tone as she smiled.
"Yes, Captain Terima! I'll do just as you said!" Miyubi said with a happy and determined tone as she made a bow towards Kaome, Tatsurou and Naoki just smiled upon seeing and hearing this.
"Now that we talked about the good points...we also have to talk about the bad ones...don't we?" Kaome said with a calm yet faint angry tone as she looked at Tatsurou and Naoki, that jolted upon hearing her.
"Kurokami-san, Izumi-san, you two acted just as expected of Soteria interns, but after Shimaki-san got hurt, was when things derailed a little bit...first Izumi-san as the more experienced Intern, you should know that engaging a criminal, even if you're backed up by another intern, without the presence of your supervisor isn't allowed and it's very dangerous, even, if you're strong and experienced, understand?" Kaome said with a calm yet angry tone as she looked at Naoki.
"Y-Yes, I know, Captain Terima! I'm very sorry for acting recklessly like that and I'm sorry for having dragged Kurokami into it, it won't happen again, I promise!" Naoki said with an embarrassed and apologetic tone as she looked a bit down.
"And Kurokami-san, as a newly added and unexperienced Inter, you shouldn't do these kinds of things either, it just shows to me or other people that your reckless and that's very bad, especially since you were recommended by an agent, that's ranked as a Lieutenant in the Soteria, understand?" Kaome said again with a calm yet angry tone as she looked at Tatsurouthis time.
"I understand, Captain Terima! I'm also very sorry about this and, I promise it won't happen again and that I won't drag the name of my Supervisor around the mud like that, ever again!" Tatsurou said also with an embarrassed and apologetic tone as he looked a bit down.
"Honestly...these two remind me of a certain pair here..." Kaome thought as she let out a sigh and for a brief moment, she saw a younger Yumeko and Emiko, in the place of Tatsurou and Naoki, when she looked at them.
"Listen, I know that this happened, because Shimaki-san got injured, and that's why you acted the way you did and I also know how hard it is to keep your cool when someone you know get's injured and all you want is to help and catch who did it, but if you're just going to end up acting reckless, do as you please, get hurt and not helping anyone in the end, there's no point in being in the Soteria...so please promise me that you'll use your two-week work ban to think about this and never do it again, alright?" Kaome said as smiled a bit.
"Yes, Captain Terima, we will!" Tatsurou and Naoki said at the same time as they bowed.
"Good to know! And now that this is out of the way, it's time for your rewards and climbing up the rank!" Kaome said with a happy tone, as she began tapping away on her keyboard.
"Please wait, Captain Terima, after our reckless behavior do we still deserve to get to a higher ranking and be rewarded?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone as he moved his right hand a bit.
"Even if you acted recklessly, you still did your job and caught a criminal that wasn't going to stop hurting people, if you didn't stop him yourselves, so you still deserve to be rewarded both with a rank up and to get paid, of course with a small cut...but you still deserve it! Oh, and congratulations are in order for Izumi-san! You were able to solve this case together with Kurokami-san, so that means, you'll be able to change your supervisor!" Kaome said as she stooped writing on the keyboard and looked at Naoki.
"C-Captain Terima...do you mind, if I speak?" Naoki asked as she looked at Terima that nodded.
"Captain Terima, after everything that happened, after all the trouble I have put my friends through...I want to refuse, the supervisor exchange!" Naoki said with a determined tone as she looked at Kaome and a sudden silence filled the room, as Tatsurou and Miyubi looked at Naoki with shocked expressions on.
"I see...but do you mind explaining your reason behind this, Izumi-san?" Kaome asked with a curious and worried tone, as she crossed her legs.
"During this investigation...I acted in a way that was very unbecoming of someone that wants to become a Soteria agent and it wasn't just because I acted recklessly or because I couldn't protect my friends...no I..." As Naoki said this she briefly looked at Tatsurou.
"I...treated someone really bad, I said very bad things to that person and I underestimated that person, I thought that person was a weakling and nothing else...when in reality, I was the real weakling here, by acting in a way that can be described as childish..." As Naoki said this she looked a bit down.
"N-Naoki..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Naoki for a bit.
"That's why I'm going to stay with Munesuki-sensei! She still has a lot to teach me and I have a lot to learn from her, so only when I'm ready...only when I'm finally on the right path to be the best Soteria agent...is when I will become Kuroiwa-san's Intern!" Naoki said with a determined tone as she looked at Kaome that remained silent, meanwhile, Tatsurou and Miyubi couldn't believe what they had just heard as they looked at Naoki with surprise written all over their faces.
"I see...I won't lie, I'm impressed by your words, Izumi-san...but unfortunately, until Munesuki's suspension is over, both you and Shimaki-san will be under Kuroiwa's care..." Kaome said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away from Naoki that froze in place as she heard her, Tatsurou and Miyubi just looked at Kaome with confused expressions as they heard her.
"M-Munesuki-sensei...got suspended, again?" Naoki asked as she began to tremble, Kaome just responded with a simple nod.
"Why...why didn't anyone warn me?!" Naoki said with a very embarrassed tone as she got up from her chair and blushed from toe to head, as she replayed everything she said to Kaome in her head.
"I-I'm very sorry for screaming like this, Captain Terima!" Naoki said with a very embarrassed tone as she took her seat again and bowed.
"No need to worry, Izumi-san, it's ok..." Kaome said with a reassuring tone as she smiled and looked at Naoki being comforted by Miyubi and Tatsurou, but it didn't last long, as the sound of a ringing phone was heard.
"Sorry, it's mine..." Kaome said as she took her phone out from her blazer and looked at it for a brief moment.
"Looks like our meeting will have to be cut short, unfortunately, but we already talked about everything we needed, so we can end it, for today!" Kaome said as she got up from her chair, with Tatsurou and the girls doing the same.
"Well then, I hope that this meeting, we just had helps you grow stronger and better Interns than before, so that next time we see each other, I only need to congratulate you, understood?" Kaome asked as she looked at Tatsurou and the girls that said "yes" all at the same time, to Kaome that smiled upon hearing it.
"Alright then, Kurokami-san, Izumi-san, and Shimaki-san, you dismissed for today!" Kaome said with a happy tone as she smiled.
"Thank you for today, Captain Terima!" Tatsurou and the girls said at the same time, before taking their leave, and soon enough when Kaome was finally alone in the meeting room, she let out a sigh.
"Yumeko and Emiko better step up their game and be careful or else these kids are going to catch up to them in no time...I honestly can't wait to see what they have in store with my own eyes..." Kaome said while she placed her phone inside her blazer and smiled before she left the meeting room...
Meanwhile, a bit later on the outside the Soteria headquarters, on a bench close to the Monorail station, to be precise...
"That certainly was quite the meeting...don't you think so?" Tatsurou asked as he looked at Naoki and Miyubi that were sitting on the bench.
"I don't think that even begins to describe it..." Naoki said with an embarrassed tone as she looked a bit away from Tatsurou, while Miyubi head patted her.
"Well, I was never expecting that my first meeting would be like this either..." Miyubi said as she laughed a bit.
"Honestly...I wasn't expecting half of the things that happened in this meeting to actually happen...but the news that Munesuki-san got suspended...really caught me off guard, no wonder Yumeko seemed so down these past few days...and I can't even imagine what's going on in Naoki and Miyubi's heads..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Naoki and Miyubi that were a bit depressed with the news of Emiko getting suspended.
But Tatsurou's thoughts were interrupted by a sound of three notifications going off.
"Hmm? A message from the Soteria app?" Tatsurou said as he took out his phone and looked at the notification on the screen.
"Oh, that must be our payment and rank up confirmation..." Naoki said as she took her phone out from her skirt's pocket, with Miyubi doing the same.
"I see...but I wasn't expecting it to be that fast...!" As Tatsurou said this he opened up the message and stooped as he saw how much he got paid.
"I-Izumi...there's got to be something wrong or a mistake here, there's far too many zero's here!" Tatsurou said with a nervous tone as he pointed at his phone's screen.
"Hmm? There's no mistake, this amount is normal as we have to take into account the time it took us to solve the case and the fact that we got a cut for breaking the rules..." Naoki said as she raised her index finger a bit.
And this was how the Soteria interns got paid for their work by taking into account various factors that went from the time it took to solve a case, its difficulty, and the cuts that could happen for mistakes or the bonuses for doing better than expected.
"I see...but still, this is a bit too much..." Tatsurou said as he scratched the back of his head a bit.
"Come on, Kurokami, after all the work and trouble that went into this, you deserve it!" Naoki said as she let out a sigh.
"Well, I think that we all deserve it...we worked together on this, after all!" Tatsurou said as he smiled towards Naoki and Miyubi that smiled as they blushed.
"See, now you're getting it, oh and before you ask, to withdraw the money, you have to insert your credit card info on the app and transfer it to your bank account!" Naoki said as she raised her index finger a bit.
"Thanks, Izumi..." Tatsurou said as he looked at his phone again.
"I wasn't really expecting this...now I can go buy that for Shirayuki...but after hearing what happened to Munesuki-san, I can't bring myself to let Naoki and Miyubi go home, looking like that..." Tatsurou thought as he briefly looked at Naoki and Miyubi that didn't have the happiest of expressions on, as they were getting up and preparing to leave.
"Well, we better go now...see you..." As Naoki said this, she was interrupted by Tatsurou.
"Hey, Izumi, Shimaki, if you have time, how about we go to the shopping square, to celebrate a bit, before we head home?" Tatsurou asked as he scratched his cheek a bit.
"Huh? Going to the shopping square, now? Well, I..." As Naoki said this, she was interrupted again.
"That's a good idea, Kurokami-kun, just lead the way! Come on, let's go, Nao-chan!" Miyubi said with a happy tone as she held Naoki's arm.
"W-Wait Miyu! Don't go and decide things on your own..." Naoki said with a faint angry tone that didn't last long, as she was pulled by Miyubi, that followed Tatsurou towards the Shopping square...