Keitaro was having a nice morning when Rei interrupted his daily routine, requesting him to meet up at the library from which the male was still trying to forget the memory of the latter's activities yesterday along with the magenta haired girl who is now a 'blank'.
"So, what did you call me here for?" The blue haired male asked as Rei responded instantly, "Internship. I don't wanna try signing up for anything related to either Eunji nor Rinka's internship. I need something that could be fine with me since Sylvie is mostly gonna go along with me due to her condition."
It made sense since if he went either to Eunji or Rinka's internship, people would view him to be useless or a troublesome person that the others would try to avoid.
Ha-eun had told Keitaro to at least sponsor the internship that he was going to go at since the two of them had stayed at the same place as always. So, he recommended Rei for the internship that he had always signed up for.
"I see. I'll suggest the internship that I've always attended with Ha-eun. It's the Ethereal Bureau of Investigation Unit. Decent place where you could both learn how to handle a work environment with paperwork, in person training regarding of apprehending a case or to be on duty to join an ongoing investigation."
Keitaro's answer had intrigued Rei as the latter had taken note of it. "I see… Also, are there any sorcerers or people in Ethereal that know something related to shadows?" He asked which brought the blue haired male's attention.
"I could think of one or two but the latter would be the most difficult one since they've always operated related to underground work which tends up to be dirty work like extermination and using any means to finish the job. Although, they've been warned several times by the academy and Ethereal authorities to lessen their ruthless behaviour and work environment."
His statement made Rei nodded his head before Keitaro continued, "The thing is that those two that I mentioned are siblings so if you wanna look over to that. Then it's best to ask the little sister since she's easier to approach than the brother." Rei was confused as he asked him how he knew about it.
"Well, the guy was Eunji's senior before the latter graduated while she was still attending her third year in the academy. I thought she would've told you about it but I guess she never tells people about him since no one asks her." Keitaro said in which Rei looked dumbfounded but accepted it either way.
"I see. Thanks." Rei was about to leave but halted as he looked at Keitaro with a soft look on his face, "Also, can you do a favour for me?"
Keitaro was confused but allowed him to continue, "Can you take care of Sylvie for me if I'm not with her?" His tone was gentle and kind which was confusing to him but the blue haired male nodded his head.
"Thanks. I'm counting on you." Rei said before leaving first as Keitaro questioned himself with what kind of situation did he sign himself to.
......…
While Rei got the answer that he needed, looking for the girl was the hard part as he had forgotten to ask Keitaro for their name. "No need to tell me twice…" The male said into his mental link between him and the ancient being who was laughing at him.
Rei tried to use his passive ability but would prove useless since he can't tell the actual prowess that the people around his area possess. He was about to give up until seeing Sylvie being helped around by a girl with brown hair.
"Oh- Rei?" Sylvie called out as the latter immediately went to help her while the girl was breathing heavily. "Thank god. Almost died out there…"
Rei looked confused before Sylvie explained the situation to him. From her encounter by practicing her hand to hand combat to suddenly being ambushed by some mid-tier that still didn't learn its lesson then the brown hair girl saving her.
"I see. Thanks for helping her." Rei said as the brown haired girl just giggled before dismissing it as something to be normal. "Anyways, I'm Jinah. Jinah Sung. It wasn't me that found her but my summon did!" She said in which confused Rei before Jinah's shadow started to flicker as a wolf manifested out of it.
"Shadow?" He asked while Jinah nodded her head eagerly, "Yup! I was training to make them stronger but didn't expect that their instincts would also heighten as well… Although, it takes a lot of my spiritual energy to do it."
Rei nodded his head, his passive ability enabling to sense Jinah's current reserves that were almost depleted down the drain. "You should train with spiritual energy recovery and output first." He advised as Jinah easily accepted his statement.
Sylvie was taking a rest with her head on Rei's lap as he and Jinah were talking. "Hey… Can I ask for a favour? It's about your brother…" He said, Jinah's face turned gloomy as she was about to dismiss his request but his reasoning and proof was what surprised her.
There it was, a small shadowy tendril that Rei had managed to manifest out of his palm before flickering off. "I see… I guess it's for the internship… Right?" Jinah asked while Rei nodded his head, "Yeah. I'm struggling with this new technique of mine since I can't seem to get it done. I did a bit of research and now I want to know if I can apply for an internship with him…" He uttered while Jinah was debating for a while before sighing.
"I'll try. I don't know if he will accept but if he does then that's a rare phenomenon. I'll tell him about the shadow that you did since those are rare in Ethereal or either anywhere in the region." Jinah said before saying her goodbyes not before leaving her number to him as she left the two alone.
"Looks like I'm getting close to finishing the first phase…" Rei thought to himself, caressing Sylvie's face softly as he smiled softly. "I'll protect you. So, just wait for me until then." He uttered softly before kissing her on the forehead, making the magenta haired girl shuffle in her sleep as a smile and relaxed expression had gone over to her face.
......…
The next day, Rei checked his phone to see Jinah's text that had informed him that her elder brother decided to accept his request since the brown haired girl had also told her brother about the shadow that he showed her.
In addition to that, Rei had also received an email from the man itself. An email that contained an offer for his internship as the male could only feel himself getting closer to his goal.
His heart hurt when he had to lie to Sylvie about him joining Keitaro, after all, if she was around then he wouldn't be able to go all out and improve since his goal was to remove his hesitation and doubts which was a part of how Sylvie managed to shaped his mindset.
"Alright. I hope things go well." Rei muttered to himself before meditating in his room, ready to train once again with the ancient being as he opened his eyes to barely dodge Keith sending a punch towards him.
"Getting better now? Although, you need more experience to gauge one's strength and weakness for gaining an early advantage." Keith said before Rei activated his prowess to start training.
"Yeah. Usual training or fighting?" The male asked as the ancient being could only smirked, "You should know by now…" Keith responded as his eyes glowed brighter before giving Rei a headstart.
......…
The headmaster was having a headache with the amount of things that he needed to assess such as the internship and the current situation along with the paperwork that he had to deal with.
"Tengen… What in god's name are you doing?" He questioned himself, looking over the internship offer for Haru, Rei and Sylvie.
What was he supposed to do? Accept it and let the man control Rei to his content while Sylvie is treated like a queen without doing much work to make her feel useless and be like a housewife that only obeyed the man in charge?
An absolute blasphemy as Sho had to check every paper and email until he received a particular email. A name that he had not expected as he immediately opened it, clicking on the icon as the content on the computer screen had surprised him.
'Internship offer for Rei Nishimura, Underground Sorcerer Work Studies'
Sho was surprised but was wondering if he had to accept it since if the magenta haired girl was going to follow Rei, then it was no doubt that she'll be likely left behind which would be more difficult.
A knock was heard behind the door as Sho called out for them to enter. To his surprise, it was that Rei entered especially when he looked so serious and intimidating for some reason.
"Young Rei. How may I-" Rei interrupted him, "Headmaster. May I have selfish request?" he asked in which intrigued him but allowed him to continue.
"When the internship offer arrives later for us to submit immediately. Can you put all your power to keep Sylvie safe in the Ethereal Bureau of Investigation Unit?" He asked in which Sho was surprised but nodded his head, "I can do that since her safety is more important due to her condition but why the investigation unit?"
His question was immediately answered, "Keitaro Sasaki and Ha-eun are interning there again. I've told her to join the investigation unit…" Rei uttered weakly as if he was guilty.
"Alright. Then you're joining her as well-" Rei dropped the bombshell.
"I'm planning to accept the underground work."
His statement made Sho more shocked as usual, standing up from his seat as he held him by the shoulders. His face is all worried, especially with Rei's current situation.
"Young man! Are you really going to join that? After everything that has happened?" Sho asked while Rei nodded, no hesitation in his action which surprised him.
"I apologise but I can't let you do that as your mental health is on the line. Your current condition… may not be appropriate for underground studies…" Sho apologized while explaining although Rei uttered a word that he understood, his face immediately looking frowning as he had no choice but to accept his condition before the young man left his office.
"Young man. I hope this will help you rather than making you worse…"
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