"Potion... of invisibility?"
A tiny white vial fell into Mio’s lap.
[Received: Potion of Invisibility III x1]
Mask your presence and aura for 00:05:00
"Can I have it?" Nana said.
"I an, I guess."
Nana pocketed it before Mio could change her mind.
"Just don’t use it for sothing stupid."
"No promises."
Mio checked the ti. 11:47. Nana was fidgeting with her arm. She sucked at hiding it.
"Show your elbow."
"It’s fine."
"Show."
It was bruising. Purple already blooming under the skin.
"I’m sorry, Nana. I didn’t an it."
"I know." Nana pulled her arm back. "It doesn’t even hurt."
It did. Mio could tell.
"I’ll get OG to look after you anyway."
She said it before thinking. OG was definitely linked with Ezra. She didn’t favor that idea at all. But what choice did she have? OG was warm, maternal. And Nana trusted her.
Besides, Nana was all smiles already.
"Okay!" She was bouncing.
Mio changed into the standard Agent suit—black fabric, Bureau insignia on the shoulder. It fit better than the sweats. Colder, too.
"Stay here," she told Nana. "I’ll be back after a while."
"Bring snacks."
"I’ll try."
"And don’t die."
"I’ll try that too."
Nana didn’t laugh. She was serious.
Mio hesitated at the door. Then she pulled out her phone and handed it to Nana.
"What’s this for?"
"In case sothing happens. I’ll call you from another number to check in."
Nana stared at the phone. Then at Mio. "You’re scaring ."
"Good. Stay scared. Stay inside."
Can hopped onto her shoulder as she left. The hallway was freezing. She should have brought a jacket.
The elevator down was slow. She watched the numbers descend and thought about the other numbers. The ones in the train. The child.
Sixty-three.
The lobby was quiet. OG stood near the front desk, sorting through a stack of papers. Her blonde hair caught the fluorescent light. She looked up when Mio approached, and her face softened. Grandmotherly.
"Good morning, OG-san. Thank you for sending snacks to my sis."
"No worries, Mio-san." OG smiled—polite, warm. Then, quieter: "Did you find your travel this morning useful?"
Mio’s stomach dropped.
She knows.
"I guess."
OG nodded once and returned to her papers. Nothing else. No explanation. No follow-up. Just that knowing smile. I could ruin you.
"Could you look after Nana while I’m gone? She’s on the second floor."
"Of course, dear. I’ll bring her lunch."
Mio left before her face could betray anything else.
The briefing room was on the first floor, past the dical wing. The temperature dropped with every step. Fluorescent lights humd overhead, casting everything in a sterile white. By the ti she reached the door, her breath was visible.
She should have brought a jacket.
Segawa sat at the head of the table, cigarette unlit between his fingers. He rolled it back and forth—a habit, not a craving. Mori leaned against the far wall, examining her nails—caral today, freshly done. She didn’t look up when Mio entered. Shizuka stood by the window, frost creeping along the glass where her breath touched it. The source of the cold. Her white hair caught the light like fresh snow.
No Kaito. His chair was empty.
"Sit," Segawa said.
Mio sat. The chair was freezing.
"Kaito is on dical leave. Lung replacent surgery. He’ll be out for a few more days."
Three years of his life for that ritual. Now he was getting his chest rebuilt.
"How is he?"
"Alive. That’s enough for now." Segawa set down the cigarette. "Let’s discuss what happened at the apartnt."
Segawa laid it out. Two assassins. Sent for Nana. Kagami intercepted. The explosion leveled three buildings. Seventeen civilians dead. Cover story: gas leak.
"We had leads on the assassination attempt," he said. "We were right to be concerned."
"Who were they?"
"Don’t know for sure. But they were avatars. Remote-controlled bodies."
He pulled a file from the stack in front of him, slid it across the table. It was heavier than it looked. Red seal. Black border. Mio didn’t open it.
"DNA shows disturbing conclusions which you are still not qualified for." He tapped the file. "Level 30 clearance. I have made that clear twice now."
Mio bit back her response. Level 30. She was Level 16. The Bureau kept its secrets stacked like bricks.
"From now on, you and your sister are under protective custody. More so Nana—you’re an Agent. You can handle yourself."
Can I? She’d nearly died twice in the last week. The daemon. The assassins she never even saw.
"I’m aware your raid last night took an eventful turn."
Segawa sighed and massaged his eyes. The lines on his face looked deeper than before. He hadn’t slept either.
"Incursions are getting more frequent. More unpredictable. The patterns are breaking down." He looked at her. "I thought Kaito was capable, but turns out two broken things don’t make a right."
Mio held her tongue.
"Anyway." He straightened. "For the ti being, you will need to clear your debt. Once and for all. And I an it."
"By myself?"
"No. With Mori."
Mori waved, smiled. Her caral nails caught the light. "Hi, little deer."
Not this again.
"She is your handler, and this will prove firsthand experience with a competent delver. This exposure will be invaluable to you. Is that clear?"
"Yeah."
"Don’t fuck up, Mio."
She gritted her teeth.
"Shizuka will tag along," Segawa added.
Mio perked up, not expecting this turnaround.
"I cannot have any more assets go to waste. I almost lost two last night."
Shizuka bowed. The frost on the window thickened.
"Dismissed."
They all stood. Mori pushed off the wall. Shizuka glided toward the door.
Mio didn’t move.
"Can I speak with you alone, Segawa?"
Mori paused. Shizuka tilted her head.
"What is it now?"
Mio waited until the door shut behind them. The room felt smaller without Mori and Shizuka. Colder, even with the ice woman gone.
"Who is Nami?"
Segawa’s jaw tightened. "Watch it."
"She—"
"Not. Cleared."
"At least sothing." Mio’s voice cracked. She hated how desperate she sounded. "Why did Kagami threaten to kill in front of my sister? Why does her na rattle every single person here like she’s so kind of saint?"
Anything. If she could just learn sothing, it would be enough.
Segawa looked at her for a long mont. His eyes were tired. Not angry—tired. Like he’d had this conversation before, with soone else, and it hadn’t ended well.
"Clear that debt. Then we can co back around on that topic."
His phone rang. He answered without looking at her.
Done deal. Disregarded like leaves on a sidewalk.
Think on it, Mio. Nami-san needs our help.
Ezra’s voice. Still there. Still waiting.
Mio left. Her mouth tasted sour.
Shizuka stood at the end of the hall, keys dangling from her fingers. The air around her was ten degrees colder. Mio’s breath fogged as she approached.
She really should have eaten sothing. Or slept. Or both.
"It’s been a few days, Mio-san." Her voice was soft. asured. "You look so skinny."
"I actually... haven’t eaten anything."
"No worries. We’ll stop by for ran. Your favorite, right?"
Mio paused. How did she know? She’d never told anyone at the Bureau about the little shop near her old apartnt. The one she used to drag Nana to on paydays.
"How do you—"
"Mio-san."
"What?"
Shizuka smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.
"You sll awfully like death, you know that?"
Mio’s blood went cold. Colder than Shizuka’s aura.
The warmth from this morning. Ezra’s domain. Gaian and Kharon—old friends. The mist that clung to everything.
She knows. They all know.
"How’s the boy doing?"
"Don’t know what you’re talking about."
Shizuka giggled. It was unsettling—like wind chis in an empty house.
"Of course you don’t."
"Are we going or not?" Mori called from the entrance. She looked incredibly bored.
Mio walked toward them. Can shifted on her shoulder.
She stopped.
"Before we go—can I visit Kaito?"
Mori raised an eyebrow. Shizuka’s keys stopped jingling.
"He’s in surgery," Segawa said from behind her. She hadn’t heard him follow. "Lung replacent. He won’t be conscious for another twelve hours."
"After, then."
"You’ll be back by then. Focus on the mission."
Everything ca back to that. The mission. The debt. The red numbers.
Clear that debt. Then we can co back around.
That was for Nami. This was for Kaito. Everything had a price.
Fine. She’d clear it.
Outside, the sun was too bright. A black sedan sat by the curb, windows tinted. Shizuka unlocked it with a click. Mori slid into the passenger seat. That left Mio in the back.
She climbed in. The leather was cold.
Shizuka started the engine. The heater kicked on imdiately—and lost. Frost crept along the inside of the windows.
"Do you have to do that?" Mori said, rubbing her arms.
"Do what?"
"Exist."
Shizuka smiled. The frost thickened.
The Bureau shrank in the rearview mirror.
"So," Mori said, eyes forward. "Segawa booked us a C-grade about to pop. Overflow imminent."
Shizuka didn’t respond. She reached for the radio and scrolled until she found sothing—Korean R&B, soft and lancholic. She didn’t want to talk.
Can shifted on Mio’s shoulder. His visor caught the light.
Thirty thousand debt. One C-grade incursion about to beco sothing worse. Two won who knew more than they let on.
Let’s see what happens.
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