Chapter 49

"...Too normal..." I muttered under my breath.

"Hm? Did you say something, Shuzenji-san?" Apparently, I was still loud enough to be heard as Uiharu looked up from her desk and asked. Oh well, might as well.

"Doesn't it bug you?" I whispered over. Classes are still on going after all. "Compared to last year, everything's quiet. Too quiet..."

She closed her eyes as she gave it some serious thought, her pen tapping her chin. "Not at all, desu." She smiled. "According to statistics, major villainous events and criminal activity don't normally happen much in this city. Last year was just an outliner due to the onset of triggers and other circumstances." She muttered the last part so only I can hear and understand the implications pertaining to our Vigilante activities.

"Is that so..." She isn't aware of the other side yet so it would make sense why she isn't as suspicious. "Still feels wrong... Like something is lurking."

"It's probably just hypervigilance. That, or you're just paranoid." Preened a voice from my right. If I recall correctly... Shiina, was it? The harpy girl raised a feathered wing. "Dunno much about it, but I heard it was like anxiety or PTSD. Bunch of pros and retired veterans have it, especially when they're no longer out on the field. My granpappy has it too so I was wondering why you were so on edge today."

"Nothing really happened." Other than the fact that some kind of crazy cult might be after me for some reason. "Guess I was just being too high-strung. I'll try and tone it down." But not so much as to leave myself unguarded, I was taught better than that of course.

Shiina chirped in approval as Uiharu added. "Yes. Please do so. A good rest is vital for any activity, after all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was only a quarter of the way through my painting before I heaved a sigh as I reluctantly put down the brush in disappointment. The piece I was creating just didn't feel right even when it looked like it was coming together nicely.

There was nothing wrong with it on an objective standpoint per say, but it certainly lacked a spark of sorts. It is a good piece among many others. And it looks like a good painting made by a skilled painter, but it did not appear to be a good painting made by me specifically.

Turning something about Gensokyo into the theme would make the piece more 'me', yes. But what I needed to create right now are pieces of art that are good, viewable to the public, and last but not the least 'me'. These are supposed to be something to showcased in an exhibition. Hopefully next year, but progress has been slowed lately.

Making other heroes the main theme is an option, but I'd rather not be known as a fanboy artist...

Another sigh escaped my lips as I gave a cursory glance at the clock. It was getting late, as proven by the well-made scrap work and the darkened skies.

I understand that there is the heightened risk of getting attacked by cultists, alongside the other regular risk of getting attacks by who knows what. Truly, I do. But I'd rather they just come for me already rather than letting me stew in my own pessimism. So as opposed to better judgment, I bit the bullet and left for the other side.

I wasn't trying to pick a fight to get rid of my own boredom, but I would consider it a bonus if I was inspired and relieved of my creative block.

...I still hate The Toilet Hole entrance though.

Resolutely deciding to forget about that part, I start to wander the land of endless night. Taking notice of things that I have conveniently and perhaps even subconsciously ignored before.

Mirrored Academy City is a pitiful sight as usual. The fading silhouettes are sad enough, but the glaring blots of missing pieces of reality have always been a grim reminder of how far we have fallen. The lack of faith and belief has struck an essential core part of existence for most of the residents here. Sometimes, I wonder if some of these survivors here have ever come to regret lasting this long.

There aren't any ruins here, as it is a mirrored reflected of Academy City. Some buildings are hollowed out due to neglect and damage, Other areas are cleaned out, with residents or squatters moving about. Those stragglers just going about like normal, along with the occasional human that passes by alongside a supernatural.

I could not stress this enough but if a human came here alone, they would have a very terrible night. But those that are escorted by someone from this side, like that human girl with the guitar and a spirit of a little girl, are off-limits to anyone else.

I continued to wander afterwards to no avail. Fortunately, I was not attacked by anyone or anything.

Unfortunately, I was not inspired and had came back home with heavier thoughts weighted about something I couldn't change. Ideals are good to have, but realistically speaking I see no way for me to peacefully and smoothly change the global status quo when it comes to this supernatural-natural order.

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite my lessened need for sleep, there are still people out there that who would willing exploit child labor.

Normally, the protocol for this sort of thing is either A: Tell the appropriate authorities of the less than proper establishment, or B: If greedy bureaucrats line the pockets of local authorities, report to Recovery Girl and finally, C: If all else fails, sick Nezu on them.

However, I have been notified thanks by the recent addition of Hii-chan's group --Which I recently learned was named [Dusk's Grace].-- that this place is spiritually unstable and may or may not have been producing Silhouettes... Somehow.

It might be someone else's work, it might be a naturally occurring thing, it might be an accidental thing, heck, it might even be something completely new. No one knows for certain, and I am here to find out.

What's worse was that the core operatives of the criminal underbelly is currently churning. The calm before the storm, so to speak, and that Dusk's Grace is currently tasked with hunkering down and preparing to respond to the changes. It wouldn't do well if a societal powderkeg would blow up on them when they were caught unaware of, and weakened.

Which is why I am now wandering the halls of a sketchy hospital at night, with a clipboard on hand and doing rounds to make sure that the patients stay in their rooms.

Irritating, because it's still a weekday. Just because I didn't need much sleep doesn't mean I don't indulge in it. It's like putting good food in front of a starving man and telling him not to eat it. Not to mention that the lay in this place is deeply lacking compared to the other workplaces I been to. They even had the gall to use the excuse of me being 'too young' and 'too inexperienced' as their winning argument. Talk about being overworked and underpaid, I thought for sure I wouldn't experience something like this until after I go pro in the hero industry.

Grumbling more complains under my breath, I already steeled my resolve to have this place shut down one way or another. The silhouettes are just a bonus collateral.

Speaking of...

There are silhouettes here, just a bit more corporeal than normal. There are spirits around too, the kind that wander due to unfinished business. Not surprising because of how bad this hospital is.

Extending my senses, I did a bit more of wandering and investigating led me to believe that the silhouettes are a product of simple negativity from patients, the corrupt negatively from other people here, along with the stubborness of the spirits themselves that led to them becoming silhouettes. All factors seep into the hospital that it was starting to almost be physically painful to sense anything else, so I turned down my senses.

There didn't have an anchor or a sealing ward set up so I hypothesize that one spirit on a certain day didn't want to leave due to regrets or the like. And since they can barely cling to the real world as is, with how they were fading, they clung onto other spirits to stay longer than they should have. Something I didn't even know was possible.

That eventually came to me ending that spiritual amalgamation that cluttered that hallway. Or rather, I let the bell and bracelet eat them after I shot a few bullets. No need to use Danmaku when a couple of orbs can do the job instead.

They weren't the products of miasa catalysts and were already unstable enough by themselves so it was pretty easy.

A quick job well done, if I do say so myself.

Feeling a bit smug, fate decided to suprise me as soon as I turned around.

Quickly checking the patient files on my clipboard, I see that it's a patient a few years my senior suffering from a hard concussion and is on surveillance to see any abnormalities. Something I can use to my advantage since I cannot use memory magic.

I walked closer to the gaping high schooler and addressed her directly. "Yostuya-san, you shouldn't be out of bed."

She flinched.

I didn't need my senses to know that she's afraid, the tears welling up in her eyes were subtle in the dark but my eyes can see in dim lighting. The girl ignored me and resumed walking despite me being in front of her.

Inevitably, she bumped into me. This seemed to suprise her, much to her shock. "...You're real?"

Ah, she's ones of those. "And you're supposed to be in bed." I put my hands on her back and gently pushed her back to where her room should be.

"I- but, t-the... Those things were- you just... How?" She babbled.

Was it the concussion? Or is it because she was admitted here? No other patients can see those spirits. And she is the first human I've known to see them without supernatural help. "Let's get you back to bed, yes?"

"Wait, no!" She turned around. "Please tell me how you did that! I-I been seeing those things for months a-and I been ignoring them but I- Please, it's just too difficult..." And she's sobbing now. Great. She also said that she's been seeing them for months so there's probably more things I have to check. Great...

I could just knock her out and be done with it. No one needs to know. From the looks of it, her eyes are the ones at fault, the problem would be solved if she scooped them out and replaced them. Not like it would benefit me anyway.

'Just because we're bad youkai, doesn't mean we're evil.'

I glanced at the girl, I stopped listening to what she's saying a few seconds ago but it seemed like she is close to begging. I glanced to my wrist and saw the bracelet shake, radiating comfort.

I sighed, took him off and placed it on the girl's hand, much to her confusion.

"Lucky for you, there's a volunteer that's willing to help." I looked at her golden eyes. "Unfortunately for you, I'm a strict teacher. We start tomorrow, so for now, take this child and go to bed. You'll need the energy."