Hand it over to the authorities

“Any words from the authority? What about everyone else?” Asato asked as soon as the pair made their way out the corridor. The talk between Asato and Ten was put on hold as soon as the comment of colour had passed the other’s lips.

This was not a place where they could discuss it openly. If Asato’s guess was right, then they could not discuss it in front of any one period.

“Dead, wait, authorities here soon. I stay and inform” Nate informed, his tone back to the short and childish snips. Erin passed him a side-eyed glare but did not protest otherwise for there was no point.

If the other was playing this game then Erin could do nothing but look on from the side as it continued.

“I see. For now, it’s better that I take this child under my protection. Nate?” Asato asked, a twig in his heart for calling the other a child, but he ignored it fully for the favour of making himself heard.

“Ok” Nate agreed and a certain tension left the frames of everyone present. Ten looked on in confusion throughout the whole exchange, head tilted aside.

“Right, we should get going then. Erin, follow me and don’t you dare snoop around right now” Asato warned his cousin who looked on in a guilty way. Far too many times a problem arose due to his snooping in places he was not supposed to.

“Sorry” with a mutter, the party of three left the place. Asato felt himself inhale better as soon as they were out of the range. Something about the place had irked him but the further they went the more relaxed he felt.

“Where are we going?” Ten’s soft voice echoed, still small enough to be a mere whisper. But it had gained a small amount of strength to it which brought a small smile to Asato’s face

“It’s alright, we’re going to a place arranged for us. As soon as our work here is done we’ll head for home” Asato assured the other teen. All the while, Erin took the rear to keep an eye out for enemies.

There was something about this new teen he could not put his finger on, but he did not comment since Asato seemed to be quite taken with him as he had never with anyone before.

However, the uneasy feeling didn’t go away for him.

Soon the gigantic building of their residence came into view and Erin let out a soft whistle. There was no one in the vicinity and the area looked relatively untouched by the smoke from before.

The walls and the plants, everything shines with the sun's reflection on its surface.

The entrance gate welcomed the three directly into a traditional Japanese garden which was a first for Asato. The country his name originated but one he had never visited before.

Between the actual building and the entrance garden, there was a small flowing river with a wooden curved bridge one needed to cross to get to the other side. While crossing it, the three looked down in the shallow water which was sparkling clean and gave off a sweet smell.

The trees bloomed in every imaginable colour and the building itself shone with the white oak, polished to perfection and crafted out of an unmatched mastership.

A golden cage beautiful enough to distract one from the horror that it had left in its wake. The funding of this place must have been cut off from various other projects and yet Asato felt himself not in a position to protest the generosity of their hosts for it would come off as an insult.

It was tough to have such a job as him, to appease everyone was a constant pain. Yet one he had to undertake for a greater good.

The inner building had a door made of really tough and solid wood. It made a creaking sound as it opened. The inside of the building was well maintained but deserted. It opened directly into the inner courtyard corridor with remarkable craftmanship.

The inner courtyard followed the same principle of water and flowers as the outer areas but lined by rooms on all the other sides, just behind the corridors.

The rooms had paper sliding doors with beautiful craftsmanship in build and as decorations. It was overall very domestically Japanese and yet so cold in its abandonment.

“Let’s settle down and rest for now. I’m expecting guests soon and we need to prepare as such. Erin, make yourself as unremarkable as possible so that they don’t catch you here. I’ll keep Ten with me” Erin looked confused at the name with a single gesture toward the child, he understood.

“So close so soon? What magic did you bewitch this person with?” Erin joked as he leaned a little toward Ten.

It spooked him enough to let out a yelp before putting Asato between himself and the older man. The hold on Asato’s back was borderline painful but he adjusted to it fast.

“Erin, stop playing around. Our guesses will be here any moment now and we can’t afford to make mistakes here” Asato diverted the attention of the eldest who humoured him as he left with a crackle.

“He’s scary” Ten called out from behind him. Asato just shook his head at the scared boy behind his back.

“Scary? No. But he’s overbearing which can come off as such. Ignore him if it gets too much for you. For now, let’s get your clothes to change into” Asato called out the other who needed it and followed him outside the room.

Although Asato had brought a limited number of clothes, he could always buy more, but the priority was to have the child change. Seeing the state of the child, Asato pushed the child into the bath.

There was something wrong with the appearance of the child under all the soot which covered him and Asato wanted to find the background of the child.

And his instinct turned outright as soon as Ten exited. The soot-covered grey hairs were not grey at all but fluffy white and the eyes which he never took notice of were red.

The very same shade of his, and yet totally a contrast to his blood cold ones.

The others were a live inferno that threatened to drown the looker in flames. They gave even Asato a chill for a second. They were an abnormality on that sweet face of the other.

The clothes that had been chosen out for the other were Asato’s own since they were quite similar in build. The other was thinner than Asato but not by much, but it was made up by the slight height advantage he had.

Ten fit right in the clothes as if he had always been there and once again the feeling of acceptance and similarity hit Asato full on.

“They’re not uncomfortable?” Asato asked the other who took the vacant seat in front. Ten was still spooked a little but Asato vowed to make him as comfortable as he could.

“No, they are alright. I’m just nervous” Asato nodded at the words. His own nervousness was well hidden behind his polite facade.

Erin had delivered the message that the authorities were already on the site and to expect them at any time for a meeting. He had also made himself scarce, but not before giving Ten a weird outlook.

Asato wanted to get in between those two but his nerves had taken over, his mind coming up with the scenario about how to proceed.

“It’s alright. It’s not my first time facing them so let me take over. If anyone asks, you are employed by me and were stationed here for research purpose” It was a well-known fact that his family had a well-connected network of workers.

Medical workers were stationed everywhere. When he had inherited this occupation of the architect, it came with a well-known cover of being from that family. It also explained the nurse from his childhood.

So this lie would be irrefutable unless someone had the list of every worker ever employed by his family and then some. After all, secret servants and associations were always present and it was an open secret that they were in every sector without fail.

No one would question if they went with that route.

The talk with the authorities went as well as they had planned. Nate had kept any sensitive information away from them. Due to his status and neutral expression in interest, his involvement was quietly dismissed.

The talk had been frustrating for the other party with no outcome, but for Asato, it went phenomenally.

When Erin returned after the sun had set his face was grim. As expected, there was no clue about who had started the fire. Or about how it had been started.

The orphanage itself was a questionable one which had no written records available anywhere. It made everything even more complicated in the long run. Nate returned with a similar report but soon had to leave. The incident had shook the whole structure of their society which meant that they needed to rework it.

So, the party of three turned into four and returned to three who currently occupied the central courtyard, enjoying the play of light and shadows during the late hours under the stars.

Asato and Erin looked out at the moon’s reflection in the darkest water of the garden pool as Ten snored away at the back.

“What now? Do we go back or should we take our chance with the dayless city? This time was no coincidence right?” Erin asked, his words broke the grave silence that had descended upon the people gathered.

“This was not the first, second or even the third time. Little things like this have been building up but they were never of concern till now. However, we can’t go back right now too or the body back home would be unusable” this was much more than about the power inheritance now.

It had made Asato realise back during the orphanage, the reason for the black smoke from the body at his home.

It was an attempt to destroy a crucial piece of information, so the body had to burn beyond recognition. But the spells he placed stopped the fire and the body survived. Now they were against a clock to find a solution - before the main culprit found that the body still existed.

“I understand but I don’t like the situation at all. It feels fabricated” Asato knew what he meant to say.

Somehow, it all felt as if it had been orchestrated by someone to lead them toward something, but in the way, something had been messed up and resulted in a tangled mess.

He did not like it and the sooner they resolved it, the better for everyone involved.

The next day, the party of three left the residence toward the day less city.