Chapter 3 - an old campanion

 In the innermost section of the Osta research facility in a dim office with metallic walls and CCTV images of the entire facility in the background

"Sir, the mechanism for the deconstruction of Eido particles is almost finished," a masked guy said to a tall man sitting in a chair

"It seems the machine is almost finished then"

"Yes, it's expected to finish in about 2 weeks"

"With this breakthrough, we finally be able to step up our defenses against crimes involving magic in the city" An evil laugh can be heard echoing through the metal walls

***********

"Have you decided to work in my Cafe, Katou?" The owner lady asked me while we sat down on an early Saturday afternoon. 

While I have to think about living a life without worries, I just felt it does not suit me "Just leave me alone, Old hag"

"And what is the job you have now"

"..." 

*sigh* Still as stubborn aren't you, You have to be able to express yourself, young man, keeping it all to yourself is not good for you, just tell me if you are trouble" She stands up and walked away going back to her work in the cafe. I stared at her wondering if I truly make the right decisions in life

"That never going to happen" I mumbled

I slowly walked and went outside to take a breather. Hmm talking about jobs, I still don't have any intel from that guy, how can I earn money without it? Should I go see him for once instead of just texting him? I took out my phone and asked if he was available

 XXXXXXXXXX

 partner

'What do you want from me, I'm busy 

'if you don't answer in 3 second, ill kill you ' 

'whats wrong with you'

'dinner is on me if you come'

'Oh, you're always like this'

'we been partners for a while, first time?"

"let's meet at the Newly opened cat cafe"

 "you love them don't you,"Putting my phone in my pocket, I quickly went back in and into my room to get changed. My sense of fashion is non-existent so I just wore a white T-shirt and some jeans. I then wore a hat and some sunglasses When I went out, Maria walked down the hallway with her laundry basket, we stared at each other once again before leavingMaria looked at me giggling"what" I asked her but she just walked away and said "Shino said to come home earlier for dinner" I looked at her with a glare for a moment before looking at her nonchalantly"the owner lady is cooking today, that's rare"I thought that we would order delivery since the Owner lady is already tired from work and she is of old age"Yeah, she said that there are some leftover ingredients that are going to expire soon "I just nodded before walking towards to the door. I put on my worn out shoes and walked out of the shophouse and down the street to the cafe.XXXXXI walked down 3 blocks before reaching the Cafe in disguise. A sign reading " Unleash the Pawsitivity with Paws cafe". I entered the cafe and it was a traditional cafe with a section selling desserts and another section where you can play with cats. There used to be an event where you could use simple magic on the cats and make them jump higher than they normally can and have them jump over hoops. Not like i have tried these events before but hearing them from others sounds interesting enoughthrough the corner of my eyes, I saw my friend sitting by a window seat. "hey, Katou" he called out to me in a nonchalant manner while having his phone in one hand.I walked over to him and sat down, thinking how he looked so relaxed when he got demoted from his job. He already got some coffee and looked all relaxed"you looked rather calm for someone who got demoted" I smirked at him and he looked rather annoyed, it's not his fault that he got demoted after all. The waiter then came to take my order.I ordered a medium-sized Latte, it's my favorite drink and I always order it when it's available. He bowed and waved goodbye"you changed a lot the last time I saw you, Are you still working as a broker? " He talked back and crossed his arms on the table. I ignored him, thinking about how I just took on this job as a side hustle to get back into society. Depression, hatred, Betrayal. All these emotions I have felt these few years running away from my problems. It was like walking down a path that had turned upside down and I was falling to the furthest depths of the abyss, struggling to get back to where I was. "He continued still crossed arms"How life for you lately"The mood suddenly changes when he says, "I'm not here to talk about my personal life, you got the intel for the new government policy yet"he sighed" We finally met after so long time and the first thing you talk about is work, you're still so serious aren't you?". "You don't reply to me so I thought you decided to stop being my partner in crime, " I glared at him "I already bought the documents here, If you were not my best friend, I would not have done this dangerous job for you" He took out some documents from his bag, On it read' Proposal to reduce Magic related accidents in Commerical areas". He took a sip of his coffeehe continued and whispers to me "this is the documents you wanted, On how the new anti- magic machine would be used in public to reduce Magic related crimes- for example Using magic to run away or stealing. The details on how the policy would be acting out and when are also in this document""OH so you did bring the documents even though I didn't tell you in my text " I smirked at him"I know you too well Katou to think you would want to drink coffee with me, I had to secretly get these documents and it took a while to get these papers , you know""whatever" The waiter then came with my coffee and while I took out my mask to take a sip of my Latte. we talked for a while about our private lives. "you're always like this, I only helped you cause of back then how terrible they treated you, you can't hate them forever"looking away, my face dropped. this is not the first time someone asked me about my job. But it is the only way to achieve my goals. "the Bureau of Anti-magic has taken reign 10 years after the rebellion and look at our current situation, the war between the normal and Magicians has only escalated and ruined our lives, and everyone's lives, including mine so why should I quit now, stupid". i almost shouted but calmed down before the situation gets worse. it wont be good saying all that in public. i haven't talked so much in a while. only the Sounds of cats meowing ruined the silence as i said this. "it's not that I don't agree with you but there is nothing we can do... hey where are you going" he called out to me. I wanted to leave already. I don't want to talk about this again. I'm sick an tired of this "Let's talk about this another time"While i walked away, he decided not to chase me and he went to play with the cats. "what am i going to do with him seriously?"I went back to the shophouse looking down, reminiscing, and thinking about what he said, how do i truly think about my past anywaysXXXXXXXXAugust 6th, 2050,

The discussion on infiltrating the Osta research facility continues back at the old dark room. While Yuki, Aiko, and Misaki were discussing, Takashi was found locked out of the room by Misaka for being too annoying and listening from the outside

. "We have not done a mission on this scale in a while," Yuki said while looking at all the points and ideas written on a piece of paper for the operation on the wall

"We usually just raid Magic shops for weapons, don't we" Misaka added, Aiko looked at her while clenching his fist, with a subtle frown on his face, he stared at the wall

"Violence is necessary to bring this world back to its original place... The war seems to have ended but it's just the beginning of the end. they seen nothing of us yet "

"You're kinda scaring me, Aiko" Sakura said while holding a Magic weapon in her hands

"We will start in 3 days," he said while preparing to leave the room 

The group started preparing for the operation and revising their plan. A voice can be heard outside. It's Takashi banging on the door and screaming "Let me in". What a stupid guy he is thinking they will just let him in :)

As they prepared to embark on their perilous journey, they knew that the road ahead would be fraught with danger and uncertainty