4 Chapter 4: Asking for help Part 1

"Huh?! W-What did Shirayuki just say?!"

Tatsurou thought both embarrassed and a bit panicked, as he tried, to no avail, to contain his surprise when he heard Shirayuki asking if she could stay with him, and Tatsurou's reaction couldn't be more justified upon hearing this.

After all, he was still a teenager, that wasn't very popular with the girls in his school, that usually stayed away from him mostly thanks to his, delinquent appearance and now by consequence, Tatsurou found himself in a scenario, where no girl, in his 15 years of life, ever asked or said something similar to this to him and it was needless to say, that he didn't have a clue of what to do.

"Wait, wait, wait, a minute! This is too sudden! No, this isn't just sudden, this came right out of the left-field! What should I do? It's not like I don't want to help Shirayuki...I really want to help her...but staying with me? Does that mean that Shirayuki...w-wants to stay at my place?!" Tatsurou thought once again embarrassed, as he began to blush a bit before he looked at the still blushing Shirayuki that was still holding the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

"By all the Kami...I probably shouldn't have asked something like this...Tatsurou must think...that I'm a weird girl for asking to stay with him out of nowhere…"

Shirayuki thought with an embarrassment, equal to Tatsurou's embarrassment, after she blushed a bit, while she briefly glanced at Tatsurou then away and in the meantime, Tatsurou kept looking at Shirayuki while his mind began to fill up with not so very safe thoughts that were normal for boys his age, upon being asked by a girl, if she can stay with him and what would or could supposedly happen after the said "staying with him".

But those thoughts were suddenly erased from Tatsurou's head, as he slapped his forehead, without Shirayuki noticing, to remove all those ill thoughts.

"Get your mind outta the gutter right this instant, Kurokami Tatsurou, you moron! Shirayuki could be asking something else entirely different here! She probably wants to stay with me for a bit, before I bring her back to whoever came here to Takamagahara with her...!" As Tatsurou angrily and embarrassedly thought this, he suddenly stopped, as if he had realized something.

"Hold on a minute...now that I think about it, is Shirayuki alone here in Takamagahara, or did someone come here with her and they got separated after that woman showed up? Hmm, I think that it's better to ask instead of trying to figure things out by myself here…"

Tatsurou thought a bit curious and worried as he slowly moved his hand away from his forehead before he looked at Shirayuki for a brief moment.

"Say, Shirayuki-san...when you said that you wanted to stay with me just now...do you mean that you don't have a place to stay, so you want to stay over at my...my place or do you have someone we could meet up with and you want me to stay with you until that happens?" Tatsurou asked, both curious and embarrassed as he scratched his cheek with his right hand before he looked at Shirayuki that jolted a bit upon hearing his question.

"W-Well...this is my first time here in Takamagahara...and...and I...I don't have a place to stay...so...if it wasn't too much trouble, I would be happy...if you let me stay with you, Tatsurou-san...as for the rest of your question...well...it's a bit...complicated and well…"

Shirayuki said with a very embarrassed tone, as she kept holding Tatsurou's sleeve, while her ahoge wiggled a bit before she began to fidget around and it was obvious to anyone that heard Shirayuki, that she didn't want to talk about how she came to Takamagahara or who came with her in the first place and Tatsurou wasn't an exception, as he quickly interrupted Shirayuki.

"You don't have to say anything else, if you don't want to, Shirayuki-san...I understand…" Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone, as he smiled at Shirayuki after he scratched the back of his head.

"Thank you...and sorry about this...Tatsurou-san…" Shirayuki said with an embarrassed and faintly happy tone, as she blushed a bit before she nodded a bit.

"Don't worry about it...it's alright…" Tatsurou said again with a reassuring tone, as he looked at Shirayuki blushing, while she slowly looked down before he dived into his thoughts once again.

"I see...so Shirayuki came here with someone after all....and I bet that they were being followed by that woman with red hair that I saw this morning...I just wish that Shirayuki could tell me more so that I could help out...but then again I don't blame her, she doesn't know me that well and I bet, that she doesn't want to bother me or anyone with her problems...looks like I have to gain her trust some more so that she tells me what's going on...but right now I have other problems at hand…"

Tatsurou thought a bit worried, as he looked at Shirayuki looking a bit down before he slowly began to blush from head to toe, while he began to tremble.

"I can't believe that Shirayuki wants to stay over at my place!? What do I do? What do I do? Wait, wait...let's think for a moment here...well, Hime isn't home so there's no need to worry about asking her to let Shirayuki stay and she can stay for a while without having to tell Hime about it...but then again, the big problem here is none other than Wise herself! If she sees me coming home with a girl, while Hime is away, there's no telling where her gossiping and teasing will go and worst of all she could tell Hime about it too! God, just what do I do?!"

Tatsurou thought extremely embarrassed, as he blushed a bit before he began to imagine how Wise could misunderstand everything and cause a lot of problems if took Shirayuki with him to his apartment and so Tatsurou began to think of ways to smuggle Shirayuki, but as he thought and thought of plans to achieve that, the idea of having a girl over at his home and staying there just the two of them, began to make his brain enter in what could only be described as a meltdown.

But just as smoke began to pour out of Tatsurou's head from overthinking all of this, he was suddenly brought back to the real world thanks to Shirayuki, that pulled a bit harder on the sleeve of his jacket, while she blushed a bit and upon seeing this, everything became clear as the crystal blue sky over the island of Takamagahara for Tatsurou, while he put on a determined face.

"What the hell am I even doing here and overthinking all of this? Shirayuki needs help and I simply can't leave her all alone and fending for herself...something that no one in this world should have to deal with all by themselves...I just have to make sure that no one finds out and if someone does...I'll just deal with it when the time comes…" Tatsurou thought determined, as he clenched his right fist before he looked at Shirayuki, that was lost in her thoughts.

"Tatsurou is going to say no...isn't he? Of course, he is...there's no way he would let me stay with him...I'm probably just bothering him and being a nuisance with all of this…!" Shirayuki thought more worried than embarrassed, as she blushed a bit, but just as she kept thinking on and on how she wasn't going to get any help from Tatsurou, he suddenly brought Shirayuki back from these thoughts, by clearing his throat.

"Ahem...Shirayuki-san?" As Tatsurou called Shirayuki, with a calm tone, she quickly turned her gaze towards Tatsurou, after she jolted a bit.

"Y-Yes...what is it?!" Shirayuki asked with a curious and embarrassed tone, as she blushed a bit, before her ahoge pointed upwards, something that made Tatsurou smile a bit upon seeing this reaction.

"Well...if you're really ok with the idea of staying with me...then I don't mind that you stay at my place...but...but you have to be a good girl and behave!" Tatsurou said with a faintly embarrassed tone, which turned into a mischievous one, as he smiled a bit before he looked at Shirayuki, that was smiling with her mouth open wide, while her ahoge wiggled around quite a lot.

"I can, really?! Then I'll behave! I'll be a very good girl, and I won't bother you at all, I swear Tatsurou-san!" Shirayuki said with a very happy and somewhat excited tone, as she let go of Tatsurou's sleeve, before she clenched her hands, and once again Tatsurou simply couldn't contain his smile, as he placed his right hand in front of his mouth, before he giggled a bit.

"I was just joking a bit, Shirayuki-san! I know that you will be a good girl and you're not bothering me with this, in fact, I'm more than happy to lend a hand and help you out!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he moved his hand away from his mouth and placed it on top of Shirayuki's head to give her a head pat.

"Oh my! Shirayuki's hair is...so smooth and silky…" Tatsurou thought a bit impressed as he kept gently head patting Shirayuki's natural pink hair.

"I'm not being a bother...Tatsurou said that I'm not being a bother…" Shirayuki briefly thought, as she slowly closed her eyes, while her ahoge moved back and forth, upon being gently head patted.

"Tatsurou-san...thank you...thank you very, very much for doing this!" Shirayuki said both with a happy and a relieved tone, as she gave Tatsurou a big smile filled with gratitude and happiness, while she clasped her hands, before placing them close to her chest, and it was needless to say that upon seeing this, Tatsurou heart felt as if it skipped a beat, as he blushed from ear to ear.

"You don't have to thank me like that, Shirayuki-san…" Tatsurou said with an embarrassed tone, as he stooped head patting Shirayuki before he began to look away from her so that she wouldn't see him blush.

"But I have to thank you, Tatsurou-san! You're being a true lifesaver here…!" Shirayuki said with a worried tone, as she opened her eyes to look at Tatsurou, that placed his right hand in the pocket of his pants, from where he took his phone out.

"Come on now, you don't…! Wait, no way, it's already 14:50 pm!?" Tatsurou said with an impressed tone, as he looked at the time on his phone's screen, while he opened his eyes wide.

"Time sure flies away when you're busy or distracted...but right now, this is the least of my problems...for starters, it's still too early to go back home and there's the risk that we could be found out by Wise if we go home now since she takes care of the garden and threes after lunch...what should I…!" As Tatsurou thought this, he kept looking at his phone, while he placed his left hand in front of his mouth before he began to think of ways to go home without being found out, but as he did that, Shirayuki brought him back from his thoughts with a very small gasp.

"Oh my! Time sure flies when you're distracted doesn't it, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she got close to Tatsurou, that looked at her for a moment in silence, until he got struck with an idea that could help them out with all this, not being found out by Wise.

"Whoa there, you just took the words out of my mind, Shirayuki-san! But say, what do you think about walking a bit around town, before we go to my place?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he put his phone away inside the pocket of his pants before he scratched the back of his head bit.

"Walking around the town a bit?" Shirayuki asked with a very curious tone, while she tilted her head a bit before her ahoge made a question mark.

"Well, since it's your first time here in Takamagahara, I thought that you would like to see a few things and whatnot before we head to my place, so what do you say? Would you like to go and see the town?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and happy tone, as he raised his index finger a bit, before he looked at Shirayuki, that placed her hands together, while she looked to her sides before she blushed a bit.

"Is it...is it really okay...to do that, Tatsurou-san? After all, we would be wasting time by doing something like that and...well...it would just be a bother to do that…" Shirayuki said with a worried tone, that unfortunately didn't match her blushing and excited expression or her ahoge wiggling ahoge.

It was obvious for anyone that looked at Shirayuki, that she wanted to go, and once again Tatsurou wasn't an exception, as he began to laugh a bit upon seeing the way Shirayuki was acting.

"Don't worry about it, Shirayuki-san! This isn't a waste of time or a bother! After all, I don't have any more classes today and I would love to show you around and have some fun at the same time, so let's go to a place called Shopping Square, there's a lot of fun things to do there!" Tatsurou said with a happy and reassuring tone, as he placed his hand on top of Shirayuki's head, to give her another head pat.

"But...is it not a bother to go and do all of that, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a curious and worried tone, as she clasped her hands a bit before she looked at Tatsurou, which gave her a reassuring smile.

"Nope! It isn't a bother at all! So let's go and have some fun already!" Tatsurou said with a happy and reassuring tone, as he stooped head patting Shirayuki, before he placed his hands on his waist and what followed was a rather small silence, as she Shirayuki covered her mouth with the long sleeves of her kimono, while she thought about going or not, until…

"W-Well...if that's really ok, then...then I accept your invitation to walk around the town and go to that...Shopping Square, Tatsurou-san!" Shirayuki said with a happy and very faint embarrassed tone, as she moved her sleeve away from her mouth to reveal a beautiful smile, that made Tatsurou's heart skip a beat again.

"God, Shirayuki's smiles are something else…" Tatsurou thought a bit embarrassed, as briefly looked away from Shirayuki, while he regained his composure.

"Ahem...alright then, with that said let's go! Oh, and let's use the monorail to get there faster!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he placed his hands inside the pocket of his hoodie before he began to walk towards a monorail station, that wasn't too far from where they were standing.

"R-Right!" Shirayuki said with a happy and nervous tone, as she began to walk in the same direction as Tatsurou, while she stood to his side.

"Tatsurou-san...if you don't mind me asking...what's a monorail?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she tilted her head a bit.

"Hmm? What is a monorail? Well, a monorail is a bit like a train, but instead of traveling on two rails, like the other trains, it only needs one rail, hence the name monorail and they also tend to run on tracks that are elevated on iron or concrete beams, instead of being on the ground…!" Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he raised his index finger a bit before he looked at Shirayuki that was looking at him with a very impressed expression covering her face.

"Oh my, oh my! A train that uses a single rail and is elevated? That has to be impossible! I've only ever seen trains that use two rails and that ran on the ground, back in Japan!" Shirayuki said with a very impressed and surprised tone, as she placed her hands together, while she kept looking at Tatsurou.

"Wait? So, you've never seen or heard about monorail's before, back in Japan, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and impressed tone, as he looked at Shirayuki that nodded upon hearing him.

"Weird...I'm pretty sure that there are monorails back in Japan...say, from which region do you come from, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked with a very curious tone, as he rubbed his chin a bit.

"My region? I'm from the Kansai region, to be more precise, I'm from the town of Kashihara in the Nara prefecture, where the Shinto shrine of my family is located!" Shirayuki said with an informative and happy tone, as her ahoge wiggled around a bit.

"I see...so you're from Kashihara? That's pretty close to Kyoto and if I'm not mistaken, they do have some monorails there...it surprises me that you never have seen or heard of one if you take all of this into account…" Tatsurou said with a surprised tone, as he moved his hands a bit before he looked at Shirayuki that began to blush a bit.

"W-Well... Kashihara is indeed very close to Kyoto, but I never went there...I stayed most of the time in my family's Shrine and I would sometimes go outside to visit the town, where I had a chance to see normal trains a few times, instead of seeing them in picture books or magazines…" Shirayuki said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she intertwined her fingers a bit, while she looked at Tatsurou, then away.

"Hmm, well now that explains why you never saw a monorail before...and now that I really can't wait to show you a real one, Shirayuki-san! Come, the station is right down the street!" Tatsurou said with a happy and excited tone, as he gave a wink and a thumbs up to Shirayuki, that blushed briefly as she looked at Tatsurou in silence for a brief moment.

"Y-Yes, let's go!"

Shirayuki said with a very happy tone, as she placed her hands together, while her ahoge wiggled around once again before she and Tatsurou kept making their way towards the monorail station and once they got there, Tatsurou bought a ticket for Shirayuki with his monorail pass, before they made their way towards a long white monorail with a blue stripe on its side, that had its doors open with people getting on and off...

"Oh my, oh my! So this is a monorail? It looks so modern and I wasn't expecting the bullet shape at all!" Shirayuki, said with an excited and happy tone, as she stopped to look at a monorail that was shaped a bit similar to a bullet train before her ahoge began to wiggle around.

"Really? What shape did you think the monorails were, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he smiled a bit, upon seeing and hearing Shirayuki's excitement.

"Hmm...well...I thought that they would look similar to normal trains, Tatsurou-san! You know, rectangle-shaped and with no curves!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone, as she raised her index finger a bit, after some quick thinking and upon hearing Shirayuki, Tatsurou placed his hand in front of his mouth before he giggled a bit.

"I see...so you weren't lying when you said that you never saw a monorail before…" Tatsurou said with a happy and mischievous tone, as he giggled once again, before he looked at Shirayuki, that began to pout, a little bit.

"Tatsurou-san, I would never lie about that!" Shirayuki said a bit angry, as she kept pouting before she looked at Tatsurou, that slowly moved his hand away from his mouth before he placed it on top of Shirayuki's head.

"I know that, Shirayuki-san! I was just kidding a bit…" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he began to gently head pat Shirayuki, which quickly turned her pout into a smile, while she blushed a bit.

"Now then, let's get inside the monorail before he departs without us...oh! And watch your step when you get in, Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a happy and faintly worried tone, as he stopped head patting Shirayuki before he raised his index finger a bit.

"Yes, I will!" Shirayuki said with a reassuring and happy tone, as she began to follow Tatsurou, towards one of the many available carts of the monorail and once inside the monorail…

"Whoah! The inside of the monorail looks even more modern than the outside, Tatsurou-san! Oh, and the seats look so comfortable!" Shirayuki said with a very impressed and surprised tone, as she looked at the modern white interior of the monorail and its light blue cushioned seats with thin white stripes, that consisted mostly of sideways seats close to the window and the odd pair seating placed along, the cart and we could not forget the vertical and horizontal bars, that people held on to when there weren't any seats available.

"Shirayuki looks like a child, that's going out for the first time…" Tatsurou thought happily as he looked at Shirayuki walking around and observing every detail of the cart, while her ahoge wiggled around quite a lot, it was needless to say that this made Tatsurou and the passengers of the monorail smile.

"If you're already impressed by both the outside and the inside of the monorail, I can't wait to see your reaction, once it starts moving!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he got close to Shiryuki, which quickly turned towards him.

"What's going to happen once the monorail starts moving, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a curious, but also worried tone, as she tilted her head a bit.

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen once it starts moving! But well, you have to wait and see for yourself, Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he raised he placed his hands inside the pocket of his hoodie before he looked at Shirayuki that had a curious and worried expression covering her face.

"So I have to wait and see...hmm, I wonder what could it be? Is it something the monorail does that normal trains don't? But Tatsurou-san said it was something that I should see...just what is it?" Shirayuki began muttering with a curious and worried tone, as she tried to find out what was going to happen, while her ahoge made a question mark and upon seeing this, Tatsurou began to giggle again.

"Alright then, Shirayuki-san! Why don't we take a seat? The monorail is about to start moving and I believe that it's better to think while sitting, no?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he briefly looked at the doors of the monorail closing up.

"S-Sure, let's do that!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone, while she placed her hands together after Tatsurou brought her from her back from her thoughts and so they quickly made their way to one of the many sideway seats close to the windows and once they got close, Tatsurou and Shirayuki took their seat.

"Hmm...I wonder what is going to happen…once the monorail begins to move...!" Shirayuki thought curiously, as she got comfortable on her seat, but as she did that, Shirayuki briefly looked out the window and her ahoge suddenly pointed upwards, while she opened her eyes wide, upon seeing the monorail moving.

"Ah! I got it, Tatsurou-san!" Shirayuki suddenly said with a happy and excited tone, as she turned her gaze from the window to Tatsurou, that jolted a bit, upon hearing Shirayuki.

"What's wrong, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked a bit surprised and worried, as he tilted his head a bit.

"You said that the monorails run on elevated rails...but this one here is on the ground! So that means that we are in a rare monorail that runs or the ground or is this one going to change from the ground rail to an elevated rail?" Shirayuki asked with a curious excited tone, as she briefly pointed at the window, while her ahoge wiggled around and what followed was a rather small silence that came to an end with Tatsurou laughing, and of course, this confused Shirayuki a bit.

"Did I say something wrong, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she tilted her head a bit, as she looked at Tatsurou calming down with the laughs.

"No...you didn't say anything wrong, Shirayuki-san! It's just that monorails run on both ground, elevated and subway rails...so there's nothing rare about seeing a one on the ground level!" Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he looked at Shirayuki, that began to blush from ear to ear, upon hearing Tatsurou's explanation.

"I-I can't believe that I got it wrong...this...this is so embarrassing…" Shirayuki said with a very embarrassed tone, as she tried to hide her face, behind the long sleeves of her kosode to no avail, and upon seeing this Tatsurou smiled a bit, before he let out a sigh.

"Come on, you didn't know that monorails also ran on other tracks that aren't elevated, and besides you did get something right, Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he raised his index finger a bit.

"I did?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she lowered her sleeves a bit so that Tatsurou could only see her eyes.

"Yes, you did! You see, the monorails here tend to change from ground to elevated lines when outside of the downtown's here in Takamagahara...so you were right when you asked if we were going to change from a ground line to an elevated line!" Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone, as he placed his hand on top of Shirayuki's head, to give her a quick head pat.

"I see...but still...I should have given it another thought, instead of just blurting out an answer…" Shirayuki said still with an embarrassed tone, as she moved her sleeves completely away from her face.

"No, that's wrong...I should have just told you what you're going to see, instead…!" As Tatsurou said this, he glanced at the window and as he did that, he became silent for a short second, before he turned his gaze towards Shirayuki.

"Oh, speaking of the devil, look out the window Shirayuki-san, there's the thing that I wanted you to see!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone as he smiled a bit while pointing at the window with his thumb.

"Really? I wonder what...it...is…!" As shirayuki said this, she turned her face to the window and upon doing that, Shirayuki became speechless, as she was now seeing the main island of Takamagahara and her sky-piercing and lance-shaped Tenko-no-to tower, that stood on the island's middle, tall and imposing.

"I present to you the island of Takamagahara and its surrounding islands or Districts, Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he looked at Shirayuki that was now standing on top of the seat on her knees, with her hands placed against the window, as she observed every building, street, and other islands.

"The islands, the town...they are so beautiful…especially that tower over there!" Shirayuki said with an impressed and awe-filled tone, as she turned her gaze towards the Tenko tower.

"It sure is...and that tower over there, is the Tenko-no-to tower or Tenko tower for short, it's quite literally Takamagahra's postcard landmark and in a way, the symbol that proves the existence of magic…"

Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he also looked at the Tenko tower, which could be seen from all the other islands or in this case Districts and even for Tatsurou that had lived for almost 9 years in Takamagahara, in the Esper District to be precise, he couldn't help but be impressed by the tower's height, every time he caught a glimpse of it and as he said, the mere existence of a tower as tall as the Tenko-no-to was living proof that magic was real, as this tower was built in a mere three days.

"So that tower is called Tenko-no-to? That's a pretty cute name for a tower if you ask me! Oh, and by the way, those small islands that are connected with bridges and surrounding the one with the tower, are the so-called Districts you just mentioned, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she looked at Tatsurou before her ahoge turned into a question mark.

"They sure are! Every one of the 10 small islands that surround Takamagahara is called a District, that is used to research various types of magic and every District belongs to a different magic organization, that supplies Takamagahara with different magic items, that are then studied once they arrive here...the only Districts that are an exception to this and belong to Takamagahara, instead of belonging to one of the many magic organizations are...District 4, where we currently are as of now, District 5 and District 6! But as you can see, besides the research centers, the districts also have towns with tall buildings, residential areas, schools, and whatnot, that turn them into a sort of "small country"!"

Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he raised his index finger a bit and it was true that the 10 Districts that surround Takamagahara were used mostly as magic research centers, but they also had residential areas, downtowns, schools, hospitals, police stations, Fire department, pools, museums, shopping centers and so on, that in all honesty made newcomers to the districts or tourists believe that they were in some sort of independent small island.

But of course, the truth was far from that, although the Districts that belonged to Takamagahara had some sort of independence, they still had to obey all the direct orders from the main island, for example, if a district had a research project underway and the main island tells them to cancel it, they have to do it, regardless of how far or how much time was poured into said research, which sometimes led to illegal researches, unfortunately...

Now, as for the structure of Takamagahara, we have the main island that is independent and the center of Takamagahara, as for the Districts we had:

District 1, belongs to the Supreme Cross Organization.

District 2, belongs to the Black Bear Unity.

District 3, belongs to the Lion Emperor Organization.

District 4 was the Esper Studies Community.

District 5 was the Beastkin and Mythological Creatures Association.

District 6 was the General Magic Studies department.

District 7 belongs to the Asgardian Gods Organization.

District 8 belongs to the Elephant King Association.

District 9 belongs to the Crescent Moon Organization.

District 10 belongs to the Dragon's God Organization.

These were the 10 districts that made Takamagahara the island it is and allowed all the research on magic to be done without major problems, that is, if we don't take into account the rather small problems that had been surfacing between Takamagahara and some of the Magic Organizations they usually worked with, as of late.

But this was mostly a sort of cold war where these Magic organizations kept themselves at bay, since going against Takamagahara is, in short, a fool's quest that would end badly, if someone had to answer.

"I see! Now that explains the somewhat big city landscape those other small islands have!" Shirayuki said with a very impressed and happy tone, as she kept looking at the scenery in front of her, while her ahoge wiggled around.

"But say, Tatsurou-san...what kind of research is this, District 4, known for, since they don't belong to a Magic Organization?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she regained her normal sitting position before she looked at Tatsurou.

"The research District 4 is known for? That's pretty simple! District 4 is known for research on Esper-based powers!" Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he moved his hand a bit.

"Oh, I have heard of those Esper-based powers! They are that type of magic that doesn't need magic circles or enchantments to work, right?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she looked at Tatsurou that nodded a bit upon hearing Shirayuki.

"Exactly! But we can't call Esper powers, magic, since there are several theories where Esper powers are said to come from breaking the natural human limiter and other theories are stating that Esper should be considered its own thing, instead of being paired up with normal magic...but if you ask me, Esper is magic that has the advantage of being used without needing any enchantments or magic circles, people just tend to make it more complicated than it needs to be..." Tatsurou said with a happy and informative tone, as he rubbed his chin a bit after he let out a sigh.

"I do have to agree with that! But I have to admit that the idea of not needing to learn or do anything special to use magic, is something a bit enviable, to say the least!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone, as she placed her hands together before her ahoge wiggled around a bit.

"But speaking of Esper powers...Tatsurou-san, if you live here in this Esper District, then does that mean that you can use Esper powers, right? Oh, or can you use magic?" Shirayuki asked with a very curious tone, as she turned towards Tatsurou, that opened his wide while he jolted a bit, and upon seeing this reaction, Shirayuki became a bit worried.

"Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a very worried tone, as she saw Tatsurou looking down with his eyes still opened wide, as he gripped his pants tight while he trembled a bit, but what caught Shirayuki's attention the most, was the scared expression that covered Tatsurou's face.

"Tatsurou-san, what's wrong?" Shirayuki asked again with a very worried tone, as she placed her small right hand on top of Tatsurou's hand that was gripping his pants and as she did that, Tatsurou came back to his normal state, after he took a deep breath.

"I-I'm sorry about this...Shirayuki-san...but...my powers...well…they..." As Tatsurou said this, he was suddenly interrupted by a female robotic voice that was heard across the monorail...

"Attention to all passengers, we will shortly arrive at District 4's shopping square, attention to all passengers..." As the robotic voice said this, Tatsurou quickly got up from his seat, before he placed his hands inside the pocket of his hoodie.

"W-We should get ready, we will get off on the next stop, Shirayuki-san..." Tatsurou said with a very faint happy and embarrassed tone, as he briefly glanced at Shirayuki, that couldn't hide her very worried expression.

"I wonder what's wrong with Tatsurou-san...that scared expression he had just now and the way he kept so silent...does he dislike his powers or is something else?" Shirayuki thought very worriedly, as she slowly got up from her seat before she approached Tatsurou.

"I...I probably shouldn't ask him about this...but...I can't just stay put after everything he did for me and witnessing his reaction!" Shirayuki thought both worried and determined, as she grabbed Tatsurou's sleeve before she pulled on it a bit.

"Tatsurou-san...I'm sorry to ask this but...is there something wrong with your powers...or do you dislike talking about them?" Shirayuki asked with an embarrassed and worried tone, as she kept holding Tatsurou's sleeve and upon hearing her, Tatsurou became a bit surprised with how, direct Shirayuki was, but at the same time, he was happy that she asked, instead of simply brushing it off.

"Please...you don't worry about this, Shirayuki-san...it's just that...I'm not the biggest fan of my powers and...well...I tend to only use them whenever push comes to shove and even then...I would rather not use them, to be honest…" Tatsurou said with a faint nervous tone, as he looked a bit away from Shirayuki, while clenched his hands a bit.

"I'm really sorry, Shirayuki-san...I probably worried you...with this weird reaction of mine, didn't I?" Tatsurou asked with a very embarrassed tone, as he glanced at Shirayuki, that held his sleeve a bit tighter.

"You did worry me, Tatsurou-san...but in all honesty, I feel bad for asking about your powers and magic so suddenly...so to compensate, if you want to talk about it, I don't mind listening, but if you don't want to, that's alright too!" Shirayuki said with a very faint embarrassed tone, as he looked at Tatsurou, that blushed a bit, upon hearing Shirayuki.

"Thank you...Shirayuki-san...but right now I don't want to talk about it, but just knowing that you're ready to listen to my troubles...already makes me more than happy!" Tatsurou said with a happy and embarrassed tone, as he briefly head patted Shirayuki, that also blushed a bit upon hearing him and as this happened, the monorail finally stopped and opened his doors, as it had arrived at its destination.

"Looks like we're finally here! Let's go then Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he looked at Shirayuki letting go of his sleeve before they made their way out of the monorail and as they got out of the monorail's station and into a sidewalk with buildings of various sizes, a silence ruled over Tatsurou and Shirayuki, as they walked side by side.

"God, why did I react like that, when Shirayuki asked me about my powers! Now she thinks I'm a weirdo or something, doesn't she?"

"Why did I ask that to Tatsurou so suddenly? I just hope that he doesn't think I'm an inconsiderate girl, because of this…"

Both Tatsurou and Shirayuki thought at the same time, as they avoided making any eye contact, while they blushed a bit, upon remembering what happened in the monorail, but it didn't last long...

"We need to break this silence, right now!" Tatsurou and Shirayuki thought again at the same time, as they tried to come up with something or anything that would break the silence between them, and after another bit of silence, Shirayuki broke the silence.

"T-Tatsurou-san! The monorail ride just now was really fast, wasn't it?" Shirayuki asked with a nervous and embarrassed tone, as she looked at Tatsurou, which jolted a bit.

"Yes, it sure was! But that's to be expected of the monorails here since they run on Argravite!" Tatsurou said also with a nervous and embarrassed tone, as he raised his index finger a bit.

"Argravite? What is that?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she tilted her head a bit.

"Well...Agravite is essentially a source of magic that comes out of a mineral that emits infinite energy, that you can find under the main island of Takamagahara and once it is refined it can be used to power anything from, trains, cars, monorails and make them go a bit faster, but the most impressive thing about Argravite, is that it can be used as electricity that will never run out and best of all it is environment friendly!"

Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he scratched the back of his head a bit before he raised his index finger a bit and it was true that in Takamagahara and a few countries, used Argravite as its main source of energy and electricity, as it was clean, effective and most important of all it was infinite and truth be told in the 40 years of Takamagahara's existence, there was never a blackout and the best part, no one in the island needed to pay a thing for all this energy or electricity.

Honestly, If Nikolai Tesla was still alive he would have seen its dream of free energy for everyone come true, but only part of said dream, as Takamagahara had the total monopoly of Argravite, so it was the only place that used it for free the other countries that used Argravite had to pay Takamagahara to have this infinite energy.

In a certain way, this alone gave Takamagahara monetary power that surpassed almost all the nations of the world.

"I didn't know that there was a source of energy like this in Takamagahara! Must be so good to never worry about the electricity going out when there's a thunderstorm...or does the electricity go out when that happens, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with an impressed tone, which soon turned into a curious one, as she tilted her head.

"Actually, you're right about that, Shirayuki-san! Whenever we happen to get a thunderstorm here, there's no need to worry about things like the lights going out or damaging any electric equipment!" Tatsurou said with a happy tone, as he moved his hand a bit, while he looked at Shirayuki.

"That's so incredible and great, Tatsurou-san! Whenever there was a thunderstorm in Kashihara, I usually had to run around and unplug everything, or else we could end up with faulty home appliances in my home! You're so lucky!" Shirayuki said with a very faint jealous tone, that didn't last long as she smiled a bit and Tatsurou responded with the same gesture.

"Well, I never had to deal with that kind of thing to be honest...but I imagine that it's quite a nuisance…! Is something wrong, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he looked at Shirayuki that was looking up at the rather tall office buildings that surrounded them, while her ahoge wiggled a bit around, until...

Hmm? I'm so sorry, Tatsurou-san! But I have never seen so many tall buildings...so I got a bit distracted here…" Shirayuki said with a very embarrassed tone, as she looked at Tatsurou, after realizing that she ignored him.

"Come on! It's alright, Shirayuki-san!" Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone, as he gave Shirayuki an equally reassuring smile, which made Shirayuki blush a bit.

"I know but still…!" As Shirayuki said this, Tatsurou interrupted her by placing his hand on top of Shirayuki's head. before he gave her a head pat.

"It's ok, don't ruin your head thinking about it and focus instead on all the fun we're going to have once we arrive at the...! Oh, speaking of the devil, we finally arrived at the Shopping Square!" Tatsurou said with a reassuring tone, which turned into a surprised one, as he stopped head patting Shirayuki, before he pointed with his index finger, towards the Shopping Square.

"We did, Tatsurou-san…!" As Shirayuki said this she began to look in the direction Tatsurou was pointing and once she did that, Shirayuki became speechless, as she was looking at the big open-air Shopping Square of District 4, that had various stores that were arranged in the style of an alleyway, as for the restaurants, they were located at the of the said alleyway, but they were arranged in circle shape and in the middle of this circle was a large resting area with various seat and a few trees.

But the two things that caught Shirayuki's attention was the retracted glass roof, that stood over the Shopping Square, that was used to cover everything during the rain and the second thing, was the numerous people that walked around the Shopping square, that went from Beast-kin to regular people using magic or esper abilities to carry their bags.

"Whoa! So this is the Shopping Square? It's so big and there are so many people here, it's simply incredible, Tatsurou-san!" Shirayuki said with an extremely excited and happy tone, as looked at Shopping Square and its patrons, with sparkling eyes, while she placed her hands together and upon seeing this, Tatsurou couldn't contain his smile, as he saw Shirayuki's reactions that melted his heart with cuteness.

"Say, Shirayuki-san what do you want to do first, now that we're here?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and happy tone, as he got close to Shirayuki that quickly turned around to look at Tatsurou.

"I'm not sure what to do, since I've never been to such a place...so how about you be the one choosing, Tatsurou-san?" Shirayuki asked with a very happy tone, as she looked at Tatsurou with big and great expectations, but Tatsurou on the other hand, couldn't think of anything in concrete or special and so, after a bit of quick thinking...

"Let's see...since it's your first time in such a place, we should go and do something fun...hmm...oh, I know! How about we go to an arcade?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone, as he looked at Shirayuki, that smiled brightly as she heard Tatsurou's proposal of going to an arcade.

"Going to an arcade? I don't know what it is, but it sounds like a fun place! So let's go to that arcade thing, Tatsurou-san!" Shirayuki said with an excited tone, as she placed her hands together before her ahoge wiggled around, but Tatsurou on the other hand began to laugh a bit, upon hearing Shirayuki.

"What's wrong?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone, as she looked at Tatsurou laughing some more.

"Nothing's wrong, Shirayuki-san! It's just that...I can't wait to show you the arcade, now that I know that you never been to one! Let's go then, we don't have any time to waste! Oh and while we make our way towards the arcade, do you want to hear a few things about it or be surprised once we get there, Shirayuki-san?" Tatsurou asked with a happy tone, as he finally calmed down with the laughs, before he began to make his way towards the arcade inside of the Shopping Square, with Shirayuki, following suit and walking right next to him.

"I sure love a good surprise, Tatsurou-san...but this time I would like to hear a few things about this arcade before we get there! So that I'm not completely clueless about it, unlike what happened in the monorail earlier!" Shirayuki said with a happy and faintly embarrassed tone, as she briefly nodded, after placing her hands together and upon hearing this Tatsurou smiled a bit.

"I see...if that's the case then I'll tell you everything you need to know about arcades! Are you ready for it?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and happy tone, as he looked at Shirayuki, that nodded once again, while her ahoge wiggled around.

But as Tatsurou and Shirayuki were on their way to the arcade of the Shopping Square to have some fun, something bad was about to happen, somewhere in District 4…

---------------------------------

Meanwhile, outside of District 4's downtown area, to be precise

a large black truck with the acronym of the AMDF stamped on his trailer was making its way to the highway that led to the main island of Takamagahara, but before this truck could reach the said highway, it had to drive through a small residential area that consisted mostly of small 5 story tall apartments and onboard said truck there were two men.

The one driving was an old man probably in his late 50's, that had gray hair and a fluffy-looking beard that made him look a bit grumpy, as for his clothes he wore a black jumpsuit with an orange vest over it and black boots and next to him, on the passenger's seat was a young man probably in his late 20's or early 30's that had dark blue hair, as for his clothes he wore a cap and a black jumpsuit without a vest over it and black boots, and these two men were having a rather friendly argument, inside the truck.

"I'm telling you, kid, this job of cleaning up after the Soteria or the Strike Force takes care of all the dangerous stuff, is not that bad! And like I told you the other day, the pay isn't that bad...considering how easy the job is!" The old man said with a calm tone, as he briefly glanced at the young man.

"I know, I know...you're always saying that! But in this line of work, nothing happens! And we only go after all the action happened, that's why I want to be part of the main force, I want some action to happen in my life, not just cleaning up after the AMDF had it's fun!" The young man said with a very faint angry tone, as he moved his hands a bit before he looked at the old man letting out a sigh.

"Listen, I get where you're coming from...I was like that when I had your age, but please believe me, when I say that the main force is not that good! Simply because if you don't know how to use magic, you will go to the Strike Force section, where you will literally become the shield for the Soteria, and I should know that...since I speak from experience!" The old man said again with a calm tone, as he scratched his beard a bit and he was telling the truth.

The anti-magic force or AMDF had 3 main sections the main one was the Soteria unit, which are the main protectors of the Takamagahara and deal with most of the troubles involving magic since everyone in the Soteria knows how to use magic.

Then we have the Strike Force that is Takamagahra's SWAT team of everything involving magic, but they work mostly with the Soteria section and with the occasional transport or protection of magic items, its members can't use magic, so in place of it, they use regular or magic-induced firearms and lastly, the cleanup unit, they were the ones that took care of cleaning up everything after the other units did their job and they were known to put everything back together as if nothing happened to begin with.

"Yeah, I know that you're right...but even so, next month, when they open the exams...I will try to join the Soteria or the Strike Force and if I don't get in...well, I'll see what I will do after it..." The young man said while he placed his hands behind his head, as he prepared himself to take a nap.

"Well, I'm just giving you all these warnings, because I'm worried about you...and besides, if you get into any of those units...I will lose my favorite drinking partner!" The old man said with a rather mischievous tone, as he laughed a bit.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I'll still take a drink with you…!" As the young man said this, the truck suddenly stopped and if it wasn't for the young man wearing his seat belt, he would have hit his head against the truck's panel.

"Hey, what the hell are you…?!" As the young man was about to ask the old man why he stopped so suddenly, he looked forward through the truck's windshield and saw the reason why the old man stopped, as in the middle of the road, stood a woman with red hair tied into a ponytail, that was wearing black and red priest robes and holding something in the shape of a large needle in her hands.

"What the hell? Who is this woman?" The young man asked with a confused tone, as he gave the old man a confused expression.

"I have no clue..." The old man said with an equally confused tone, as he started honking at the woman so that she would get out of the way, but it was all in vain, as she kept standing in the middle of the road.

"She's not budging from there…" The young man said with a faintly angry tone, as he adjusted his cap a bit.

"Well whatever, let's just go around her since she won't move…!" As the old man said this, he began to slowly turn the steering wheel, so that he could pass this woman, but as he did that, the woman approached the front of the truck and threw the nail towards its engine, and sure enough, both the loud noise of the truck's engine and the truck itself stopped working.

"What the?!" The old and young man said at the same time, as they looked at the woman, that began to walk towards the back of the truck's trailer, as she passed through its right side, where the young man was seated.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The young man said with an angry tone, as he got out of the truck, while he got close to the woman, and once he was close the young man grabbed her shoulder.

But when he did that, the woman turned towards him, and slowly placed her right hand in his chest, a small magic circle with a drawing of wind lines appeared and before the young man could ask or say anything else, the woman pushed him with such force, that he was sent crashing against a nearby lamp post.

"K-Kid!!!" The old man screamed with worry and fear, from inside the truck as he saw the young man's body lying on the ground in front of the lamp post that was now with a bump and a bit bent.

"Damn you...you will pay for this...!" The old man said with an angry tone, as he got out of the truck, after grabbing an extendable baton, but as he prepared to attack the woman, she suddenly interrupted him.

"I would consider your next action very carefully...if I was you..." The woman said with a stoic angry tone, as she gave the old man a scary and chilling glance, that made him stop and tremble in fear, the woman then proceeded.

"Listen up and you better listen up good...if you don't wanna end up like your friend over there, you better run away now, while I'm still in a good mood...or you can try your luck and take me down...so what will it be?" The woman asked with a very cold and harsh tone, as she looked at the old man, that briefly glanced at the young man, before he clenched his teeth a bit and then, after a small silence, the old man dropped his extendable baton.

"I...I...I'm sorry..." The man said with a scared and guilt-filled tone, as he turned around before he began to run away and as the woman saw this, she let out an annoyed sigh.

"Cowards as always...but I don't blame them..." The woman said with a stoic and somewhat disappointed tone, as she turned around before she began to make her way to the back of the truck's trailer and once she got to the doors on the back of the said trailer, she slowly opened them up to reveal the bump covered knight armor that attacked Tatsurou and Shirayuki, earlier this morning.

"Good grief…you were beaten up quite badly, weren't you?" The woman asked with a surprised and disappointed tone, as she got inside the trailer before she looked at all the deep bumps that covered the knight's body and his equally bumped weapons.

"I have to wonder...just who did this to you? Not that it matters, honestly..." The woman said again with a stoic tone, as she raised her right arm horizontally and as she did that, her arm began to shine in a faint red aura.

"All that is created is destroyed, all that is destroyed can be reborn, so by the power of the creator of all things, I humbly ask you for the rebirth of this brave knight!" The woman chanted with a calm tone, as a small dust cloud began to pour out of her arm and onto the knight, which began to slowly get his original form once again, and after a few seconds, he was as good as new.

"Very well then, you slept long enough already! On your feet, now!" The woman said with a faint angry tone, as she looked at the knight, that quickly got up, but he was stopped thanks to the trailer's roof.

"Need some help?" The woman asked with a very faint joking and stoic tone, as she looked at Knight opening up the trailer's roof as if it was a can of sorts before he jumped out.

"Say aren't you forgetting something?" The woman asked with a curious tone, as she got out of the trailer, and upon hearing this knight placed his right hand on his head for a moment, as he realized that his lance and shield were still inside the trailer.

"It's scary how he acts so human-like…" The woman thought a bit impressed, as she let out a sigh before she looked at the knight taking his weapons out of the trailer.

"Very well then, now come here! I want to see what happened before you got trashed..."As the woman said this, the knight quickly made his way towards her and once he was close, she placed her right hand on the knight's chest.

"Memories are created, but never erased, they live for as long as there are ones to remember them, so by the power of the creator, I humbly ask you to show me the memories of this brave knight before his demise and before his rebirth!"

The woman chanted with a calm tone, as her hand began to shine again before her mind was invaded by the knight's last and most recent memories.

"I see...so this kid here, trashed you so that he could protect the little shrine maiden? I have to admit that I'm impressed…as for you I'm disappointed and this failure here, makes me doubt if that woman was saying the truth when she told me that you would be useful...I was honestly expecting that you could pull your own weight here and that you didn't need me to go and find you when you're in trouble..." The woman said with a mocking tone, as she got a few glances of the fight between the Knight and Tatsurou, and upon hearing her, the Knight began to clench his fists.

"My, my...no need to get all angry and riled up, because of one single comment, right?" The woman asked with a curious and mocking tone, as she moved her hand away from the Knight's chest, while she let out a sigh.

"Now then, we have to find and retrieve that shrine maiden girl..." As the woman said this she looked at the palm of her hand where a magic circle with a light red flame and the kanji for "following" appeared.

"I still don't understand...how this tracking magic with kanji's works, but it's the only way to find that shrine maiden, according to that woman…!" As the woman thought this, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of police sirens in the distance.

"Tsk, it's the police...we better get out of here and stay low for a bit, before we go after the girl again…woah!" The woman said with an annoyed tone, as she turned towards the Knight, that suddenly and gently grabbed the woman before he placed her on his shoulder.

"Good thinking! Now go, before they catch us!" The woman said with an impressed tone, as she pointed forward and in the blink of an eye, both her and the Knight vanished from the scene and so, a few hours would pass...