Chapter 30

That night Oboro didn't return like he usually would, and worry began to stir in the room. But then we got a knock at the door, which was a pretty loud one.

Aizawa walked over to the door and opened it, and a scruffy man in uniform looked at him, smoking a cigar.

"Does Oboro Shirakumo live here?"

Aizawa nodded, gulping a little.

"He does, who are you?"

A little uncertainty rose in Aizawa's voice, but the man only stepped into the room and looked around it.

"Well..."

The man sighed, removing his cigar and puffing a tiny cloud of smoke into the air. He then turned to look back at us.

"Your friend has been shot."

I could see our eyes collectively widen and the smell of shock fill the room like a stench. 

"Do you know who shot him?"

I asked, taking a few steps back and sitting in the chair, staring into the officer. He only sighed and pulled out a small note.

"No, we don't...we only heard the gunshot and ran over, they probably disappeared into an alleyway since that street was chock full of 'em."

After he said that, I suddenly remembered something. 

"Ramp Street didn't have any alleyways, maybe they escaped another way?"

I sat there and pondered it for a little more, then Shinso approached me and sat down on the chair next to me, looking at me with a concerned gaze.

"You ok?"

He asked me, laying a hand on my shoulder, but it was hot to the touch for some reason, so he immediately retracted his hand.

"Damn, you're hot!"

Aizawa turned to us.

"What's wrong?"

He approached me and also laid his hand on me, and it was hot to the touch as well. He also immediately removed his hand and blew on it for a few seconds.

"I know what's wrong with the boy."

The officer approached me before taking out a small bottle of a green liquid, and handing it to me.

"Drink, kid."

He demanded me, his face a mixture of concern and frustration, the wrinkles on his face now clearly evident.

"Ok..."

I opened the small cap and drank the liquid, it tasted similar to lemonade without the sugar, so really just a sour concoction, which made me silently spasm.

"What's this do?"

I asked him, holding the bottle in my hand, looking at the remaining drops of green liquid sloshing around.

"That's control serum."

The man replied, my eyes widened slightly as I looked up at him, puzzled.

"Control serum?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, once you become a seeker, you're opening your eyes to a whole nother level of danger, and you gain less and less control over your body."

I leaned against the table, pondering what he just said before speaking up.

"Does that explain the voices and murmurings I've been hearing?"

The officer nodded again, before taking out a small note sheet and handing it to me. The note had the ingredients to control serum.

"¼ tablespoon unfiltered milk from the hornicys squid, ½ drops of paladum mixture, 1 tablespoon of mortal blood and ⅓ cups of water."

I read the ingredients mentally before looking back up at him, letting out a small sigh.

"Thank you...uhm..."

"Names Officer Palau."

He said, tipping his hat before sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs, looking at the 3 of us.

"Well, Oboro's not dead, he's in the hospital right now, luckily the bullet only struck his chest and no vital organs, but it'll be a little while until he walks again."

He gave us a small smile before looking around the room.

"You guys got any coffee?"