The darkness didn't feel like sleep.
To Kenji, it felt like a debt he couldn't pay off with skipped meals and just four hours of sleep.
Somewhere in the darkness, a clock ticked. The rhythm was off. It sounded like a dull fist hitting ribs.
Thump. Thump.
He needed to get up.
He still hadn't finished the grocery list. Milk, eggs, and the blue magnet for the fridge. If he didn't wake Hiro by 7:00 AM, Hiro would miss practice. If Mei didn't see him at the stove, she'd start her day pouting, and he couldn't fix that from afar. All these responsibilities weighed on him. He was the only one who could carry them, and the weight made it even harder to move.
Kenji: [I'm late… I'm late for everything.]
He tried to reach for his phone, but his arms wouldn't move. They felt heavy and far away, as if separated by static.
Student Council files ran through his mind. The numbers blurred and wouldn't add up. He'd spent so long being the reliable one, the person holding up the household, that he forgot people need rest. Pillars like him don't.
Pillars didn't wonder, in the quiet hours between midnight and dawn, what would happen if they simply stopped holding.
He'd considered stepping into the city blur and not coming back. Leaving everything behind, just to know the air without the weight.
The emptiness he'd felt in his bare shelves and tidy stacks of textbooks started to grow. It spread from his chest, pushing away the memory of his room and the weight of his responsibilities, until it seemed to fill everything.
He was no longer Kenji, the older brother. Kenji the student council president. Kenji the night-shift cashier.
He felt like nothing more than a set of bruises, useful to someone for a short time.
The silence began to fray.
A sound drifted in, melodic and soft. It was like a bell ringing in a place too clean for an alley. Then came another voice, raspy and familiar, with the kind of concern that showed up as complaining.
Subaru: [Hey. Wake up. Come on, don't die on me now — that would be a seriously lame ending for a secondary protagonist.]
Kenji: [...Subaru.]
He tried to groan. His throat felt like the inside of a gym bag.
He was lying on something soft, not the alley floor. There was warmth against his face, steady and alive, like a hand kept in a coat pocket. He let out a slow breath and stayed still a little longer. Everything hurt, but the softness was the only good thing right now.
He gradually became aware of a texture.
It wasn't cotton or the rough fabric of his school shirt. It had a faint, wild scent, like lilies in a cold place. He noticed it but didn't react right away.
His internal alarm, the one that had kept him on schedule for three years, cleared its throat.
He did not own a cat.
Kenji: [Why does my pillow smell like a cat?]
He opened his eyes.
He was looking up at a face.
He saw a cat's face, but something was very wrong. Huge, glowing blue eyes looked down at him from a head as big as a beach ball. Pink, pointed ears twitched above silver-grey fur. This wasn't a normal house cat. It stood five feet tall on two legs, with paws that looked strong enough to crush a skull.
Kenji stared.
The creature stared back.
Kenji stared back, forcing his breath to slow. Was this real?
Kenji: [Ah.]
He went completely still.
Kenji: [Right. So, that's... what? Okay. I need a moment to process this situation, and I'm going to do it calmly, because I am a calm person. I am absolutely not going to make this weird.]
???: [Oh, look who's finally decided to rejoin the living?]
The creature made a chirping sound. Its voice was high, playful, and sounded much too human.
???: [You were out for a while, kid. I was starting to think your brain had turned to mush.]
It watched him with a look that seemed to be sizing him up.
Kenji: [The cat is looking at me like it's taking notes.]
???: [You took a fairly impressive beating for someone with no apparent combat training. The bones are intact, which is more than I expected. You're welcome, by the way.]
Kenji: [The cat just said, "You're welcome."]
Kenji: [The. Cat?]
Kenji: […I'm going to sit up now.]
He sat up slowly. His vision blurred for a moment, then cleared. Subaru was a few feet away, his tracksuit dirty and his face covered in bruises, grinning like he found the whole situation amusing.
Subaru: [Takaito-san! Easy. You were out for a while. She saved us.]
He nodded toward the silver-haired girl, his eyes giving away his interest.
Subaru: [She used ice magic. Actual, real ice magic. Crystals everywhere, and the three of them went down like they'd hit a wall.]
The girl ignored Subaru's obvious interest. She watched Kenji with a careful, cautious look, as if she were rethinking the situation.
Kenji looked at her. Then at the cat. Then back at her.
Kenji: [A stranger healed me, let me use her cat as a pillow, and said nothing. Now she's watching like it's my turn to make it weird. Why would I?]
He noticed something out of place in the dirty alley. Her long, silvery hair fell over her shoulders, and her deep violet eyes seemed to hide some sadness. She wore a white and purple outfit that looked both royal and unusual. She didn't look like a thug or a member of the market crowd.
She was, he noted distantly, very beautiful.
Kenji: [Thank you. For stopping them. And for— The rest.]
The girl blinked. For a moment, she looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected that to be his first words—probably because of Subaru. Then she pulled herself together.
???: [You two are incredibly reckless. Do you always go around picking fights with three men at once in back alleys? If I hadn't been passing by, you would have been in much worse shape than just a few bruises.]
Kenji: [ ? ]
The small cat made a sound that was not quite a cough.
The girl sighed, crossing her arms.
???: [Don't think I did this because I'm some kind of good person! It was a completely calculated move to put you both in my debt. Someone stole something very important to me, and now I'm going to make you pay me back by giving me every bit of information you have on this area. I really don't have the time to play babysitter for free, so don't go getting any weird ideas about me being "helpful" or "nice" or anything like that!]
Kenji: [Yeah…Right…]
Subaru: [We'll help however we can! Honestly, we're pretty lost — actually, totally lost, no map, no money, no—]
Kenji: [Natsuki-San.]
Subaru: [Right. Yes. Summarizing.]
Kenji stood up slowly, his legs feeling like jelly.
The silver-haired girl tapped her chin, her eyes drifting toward the alley's entrance where the city buzzed with energy. The cat, now small enough to fit in her hand, curled into the crook of her neck, its tail twitching with curiosity.
???: [A thief ran through here. She took something from me. An insignia. Have either of you seen a girl with blonde hair and a very... annoying amount of speed?]
Kenji looked toward Subaru, whose brow furrowed as he leaned against the damp stone wall.
Kenji: [An insignia?]
Subaru shifted, his hands shoved deep into his tracksuit pockets.
Subaru: [Think of it as a way of identification that shows your status.]
Kenji looked at the ground, remembering the path the small, frantic girl had taken before the three thugs appeared. He recalled the wind rushing past his ear—a blur of yellow hair and a defiant look in sharp red eyes.
Kenji: [A girl sprinted past us right before the welcoming committee showed. Small, blonde, in rags—moving like her life depended on it. My bet's on her. Usually, getting my head bounced off the pavement filters out the useless details, but not this time.]
The girl stiffened, her hands turning into tight fists. She looked like she might run, but stayed where she was, watching the two beaten-up boys.
???: [ So you've only seen her, then that's... that's perfectly sufficient! That counts as a massive piece of information. In fact, it's so helpful that I've decided our deal is done. Your debts are completely paid off. We're even. I don't owe you anything, and you certainly don't owe me a thing.]
She turned quickly, her white cloak flaring out in the cold alley.
???: [I'm leaving now to find her. And please, try to use what little common sense you have to stay out of dark corners. Not everyone who finds you will be as selfish as I am and demand information instead of just leaving you there.]
She walked quickly toward the street, not looking back, her shoulders tense. The cat gave a small, sympathetic wave before hiding in her hair. The alley fell quiet, broken only by the distant clatter of wagon wheels. Kenji watched the spot where she disappeared, narrowing his eyes as he tried to process what had just happened.
Kenji: [She's a terrible liar. She just made up an excuse to let us go because she felt sorry for us.]
Subaru let out a long, weary breath and nodded, a lopsided grin pulling at his bruised lip.
Subaru: [Yeah. She's definitely the worst kind of "selfish" person I've ever met.]
Subaru: [She's also amazing.]
Kenji shot Subaru a sharp look when he said that.
Kenji: [She…]
He looked down at his scuffed shoes, the laces tight, matching the knot in his stomach. In the last hour, he'd been insulted by a fruit vendor, ignored by others, thrown into a river, and nearly beaten to death in an alley. Nothing here made sense. He couldn't read the language, the money was worthless, and the rules were confusing. Everything he knew had been stripped away.
Kenji: [Looking at her clothes.... that's quality silk? intricate embroidery. That's not what commoners wear, is it? That's nobility, isn't it?]
He remembered Subaru describing how she made ice appear out of nowhere and sent the thugs running with a simple gesture. That was real power. That was influence. It was everything they didn't have.
Kenji: [She's the only person in this entire city that hasn't tried to exploit or kill us… In a sea of hostile unknowns, she is the only person who has demonstrated a moral code we recognize, however poorly she attempts to hide it.]
A cold, analytical part of his mind, the part that meticulously balanced the Student Council budget and planned Hiro's study schedules, clicked into gear. This wasn't about gratitude. It wasn't about heroics. It was about survival.
Kenji: [More importantly... she has status. Status means access. Access means information. And information is the only way I'm getting back to Hiro and Mei.]
He pictured his younger siblings. Hiro, with his boundless energy, depended on Kenji for his morning protein shake. Mei, with her quiet smiles, looked to him for comfort after a bad dream. He was their anchor, their constant. Leaving them, with no way to contact them, was an unbearable weight. A weight he refused to drop.
He could not fail them. He would not fail them.
Not now. Not ever.
Kenji: [We're going after her.]
Subaru blinked and wiped dried blood from his chin. He'd started to go after the girl, but paused to see what Kenji would do.
Kenji: [We have no money, no food, no shelter, and no information.]
He stopped at the mouth of the alley without turning around.
Kenji: [She has all four. So yes, we're going to follow her and ask for help, but quietly.]
Subaru: [That's... that's actually...]
Kenji: [I know. Don't need to say it.]
Subaru: [Really smart—]
Kenji: [I said, Don't say it.]
*****************************************************************************************************
She hadn't gone far. She moved quickly, her silver hair catching the late afternoon light and making her easy to spot, even as the marketplace grew quieter for the day. Subaru jogged to catch up, wincing every few steps and hoping no one would notice.
Subaru: [Hey — wait up!]
The girl's shoulders tensed. She didn't stop, but she slowed down just a little.
Kenji: [Miss.]
Then she stopped.
She turned around, looking like she'd expected this and was ready. She was calm, a bit impatient, and had the practiced look of someone used to handling others. She glanced at Subaru, then at Kenji, her eyes staying on him a moment longer before she pulled herself together.
???: [I've already told you. You saved me from a delay. I saved you from those men. The debt is settled. There's no reason for either of you to follow me into danger. And there will be danger.]
Subaru: [Danger?]
He grinned, already clutching his ribs in a way that rather undermined the effect.
Subaru: [Please. I eat danger for breakfast.]
Kenji: [He had a face full of brick for breakfast, but sure.]
The girl noticed Subaru holding his ribs but chose not to mention it.
???: [You're hurt. Both of you.]
Subaru: [Details.]
He waved a hand.
Subaru: [Look, I know what you're thinking. You think we want gold, or a title, or something. Right?]
She didn't answer. The slight adjustment of her head was an answer.
Subaru: [Wrong! I'm doing this entirely for me.]
He pointed at himself, his grin turning a bit wild, showing he really meant what he said, even if it sounded odd.
Subaru: [My conscience is a real nag, okay? If I let someone who just saved my life walk off alone into an actual dangerous situation, I won't be able to sleep. So really, I'm helping you for my sake. Completely selfish.]
The girl blinked.
Her mouth opened. Closed.
Kenji: [She wasn't expecting that. Looks like she had a speech prepared for someone angling for a reward, and he completely bypassed it.]
Kenji: [Huh...He's actually very good at this.]
Kenji: [I'm not going to say that out loud.]
???: [That... doesn't make sense.]
But some of her careful distance faded, just a bit.
???: [Even if I let you come — I'm telling you honestly, I have nothing to offer. No money. Nothing of value. If we find what was stolen, I can't pay you for helping me find it.]
Kenji: [We're not asking for money.]
She looked at him.
Kenji: [Subaru's right about the conscience. But if you want a clean transaction—]
He kept his voice steady, using the same tone he used for council budget discussions: information first, everything else second.
Kenji: [We're new here. Completely new. We don't know the layout of this city, the customs, basic common sense — nothing. You clearly know all of those things…Help us understand where we are, and we help you find your thief. That's a fair exchange.]
Kenji: [It is, in fact, an extremely favorable exchange for us. She loses nothing except time and gains two additional people.]
Kenji: [She is very committed to not appearing to be a good person, and I respect the bit even though it is completely transparent.]
The girl studied him with a careful look, like someone who had learned to be cautious and was sizing him up, even if she tried to hide it.
Then a voice drifted from the vicinity of her shoulder. Light, unhurried, carrying the specific energy of someone who had been listening the entire time and had simply been waiting for the right moment.
???: [I'd call that a bargain, Lia.]
???: [Puck!]
The small grey cat shifted on her shoulder, its tail curling as if it was perfectly at ease and interested in what was happening. Its blue eyes moved from Subaru to Kenji, watching them both closely.
Puck: [Neither of them seems to mean you harm. Though they're both in fairly poor shape.]
His gaze settled on Kenji with an expression that was pleasant and slightly too perceptive to be entirely casual.
Puck: [One more solid hit, and I think this one folds completely. Are you sure you want these two as backup, Lia?]
Kenji: [What the hell…]
Subaru: [Hey! I'm sturdier than I look!]
Kenji: [I'm not sure I'll get used to a talking cat.]
Puck: [Most people don't. You're doing better than average.]
Kenji: [That's worse, somehow.]
The girl—Lia, it seemed, though that felt like a private detail—looked at both of them, then at Puck, as if her companion had just made a choice for her and she was still processing it.
Lia?: [I...Fine. But you follow my pace, not the other way around. And if it becomes dangerous, you do exactly what I say, immediately, without discussion. That means no heroics.]
Subaru: [Understood completely.]
Kenji: [He is going to do heroics.]
Lia?: [And you—You're still bleeding above your eye.]
Kenji: [ ? ]
Kenji: [I was not aware of that.]
He touched the spot above his eyebrow. His fingers came away damp.
Kenji: [It's fine.]
Subaru: [I think you need to get that fixed, Takaito-San.]
Before Kenji could say anything, the silver-haired girl moved her hand towards Kenji's forehead, where the wound was, and slowly applied her magic. Kenji was about to deny, but came to the conclusion he needed all the energy he could get.
He watched her finish healing him. The warmth was gentle and practiced, easing the pain in his temple and leaving it feeling better, though not pain-free. It was enough to function, and he made a mental note of the difference.
Kenji: [Thank you.]
The girl nodded once, her violet eyes moving between him and Subaru with the careful attention of someone who'd made a decision she hadn't fully finished making yet.
Subaru: [See? What did I tell you? She's basically a healer on top of everything else. Takaito-San, we are very lucky men.]
He straightened up and adjusted his bag strap, which was what he did when he needed a second to organize his thoughts into a workable sequence.
Kenji: [Before we go anywhere — a few questions, if that's alright. Just so we're not walking around blind.]
The girl tilted her head slightly. Not suspicious. Curious.
Lia?: [...Sure. Go ahead.]
Kenji: [The insignia. What does it look like?]
Lia?: [It has a jewel in the center — about this size—]
She showed the shape with her hands. Kenji looked at the size and tried to picture what it would look like from far away.
Lia?: [—triangular. Black with gold along the edges. It's very distinct, actually. You'd know it if you saw it.]
Subaru: [So basically impossible to fence without someone noticing. That's actually useful, right? It narrows it down — she's not trying to sell it to a random stall, she'd need a specific buyer who already knew what they were getting.]
He said it with the easy confidence of someone who had watched enough heist anime to think this was already solved. Kenji glanced at him.
Kenji: [That is... actually correct.]
He chose not to say this out loud.
Kenji: [When was it taken?]
Puck: [About a quarter past three fire time.]
Kenji: [Fire time? No idea what that means. Maybe fifteen minutes ago.]
Kenji: [So, within the last half hour. She hasn't had time to go far. Why would someone want it specifically? Not what it means to you — what makes it worth stealing. Is it rare?]
The girl paused. She wasn't offended; she was just surprised by the question.
Lia?: [There are only five like it. You can't... replicate them. They're not something you'd find at a market stall. They are also very, very important.]
Subaru's eyes went wide.
Subaru: [Only five?! That's — okay, that's basically a legendary item. That's literally a legendary item. Takaito-San, do you understand what's happening right now? We are on a fetch quest for a legendary item on our first day. This is exactly like—]
Kenji: [Natsuki-San.]
Subaru: [Right. Yes. Continuing.]
Kenji: [If there are only five, then it isn't far off to say whoever took it already had a buyer, just like Natsuki-San said. This wasn't opportunistic, I think.]
The girl's expression changed. She glanced at Puck, who sat on her shoulder with his tail curled, watching Kenji with steady blue eyes.
Lia: [You think so?]
Puck: [He might be right, Lia. The girl who took it moved with purpose. She wasn't looking for something to grab, she already knew what she wanted and where it was. She didn't even search for a coin purse. I could feel the intent before she even moved.]
Subaru: [Hold on, you could feel her intent? Like, psychic cat stuff?]
Puck: [Something like that. I can generally sense what people are feeling when they're close. Sometimes what they're planning.]
Kenji: [...]
Kenji: [Can you still sense where she went then?]
Puck: [The feeling fades. I lost the thread here, so tough luck.]
Kenji: [That's enough. Last question, where exactly did the theft happen?]
Lia?: [Near the central market. I was—Why does the location matter?]
Subaru: [Oh! Oh, I know this one—]
Kenji: [People in the market see patterns. If this girl works the same area regularly, someone will have noticed her. It gives us a starting point for asking around.]
Subaru: [—yeah, that. What he said. We're going to canvass the witnesses. Very detective. Very cool. Do they have detectives here? Actually, don't answer that, we'll find out organically.]
Lia, as Puck had called her, looked between them for a moment with an expression Kenji couldn't quite place. It was somewhere between amusement and caution.
Lia?: [Near the fountain at the market's east end, I would say.]
Subaru: [Takaito-San, the market's our next stop, yeah?]
Kenji: [Yes.]
He picked up his gym bag. The information wasn't complete, but it was enough to keep going. Find the market. Ask questions. Figure out where the girl was headed.
Kenji: [One thing at a time.]
He walked a little behind the girl and Subaru, staying quiet. Up ahead, Subaru was already asking if this world had anything like convenience stores, and the girl answered thoughtfully, as if she'd really thought about it.
On her shoulder, Puck looked back at Kenji once.
His blue eyes were just as focused as before, like he'd noticed something important and was waiting to decide what to do.
Kenji met his gaze for a second.
Puck looked forward again and said nothing.
Kenji: [ ? ]
They kept walking.
******************************************************************************************************
The lead came from a child.
Near the eastern fountain, they'd found a little girl sitting alone on the cobblestones with her knees pulled to her chest, clearly losing a private argument with herself about whether or not to cry. The silver-haired girl had gone straight to her with no discussion, no hesitation, just immediately across the square.
It didn't go as well as anyone would expect. As soon as the girl started speaking, the child lost the argument and started crying, startling the silver-haired girl. However, an otherworlder arrived immediately to the rescue.
Subaru had crouched down and started talking to the girl in that loud, warm way he seemed to do everything, then did a magic trick. Within a few minutes, the girl had stopped sniffling and started paying attention to whatever nonsense he was saying.
Kenji had stood back and watched the crowd. Watching the entire thing unfold, seeing how Subaru had dealt with the crying kid, made Kenji think Subaru would get along with his little sister.
Kenji: [Mei...]
Her mother found them about ten minutes later, cutting through the market at the speed of a woman who had passed through worried and arrived somewhere considerably angrier. The reunion was loud and involved what looked like a hug that could have broken something. Then the mother turned to them with wet eyes and started trying to say something that was clearly too big for the moment, and Subaru said something that made her laugh before she could finish.
Kenji had stood there, feeling useless, the way you do when things have already worked out.
It turned out the woman's husband sold apples three stalls north. The same guy who yelled at them in the morning.
He also knew exactly who had taken the insignia.
Kenji: [Of course he did.]
The apple seller or 'appa' seller knew Felt the way vendors know the usual thieves. Tired, specific, and oddly a bit fond of her. She was blonde, very fast, and lived somewhere in the slums, though he didn't know exactly where.
They thanked him. They left.
That had been forty minutes ago.
The city changed as they walked south. The stones underfoot grew older and rougher. Buildings crowded closer, letting in less sky. The market faded, replaced by woodsmoke, damp stone, and the smell of food from poorly ventilated kitchens. The light turned orange, and long shadows stretched ahead. Sunset was about an hour away.
Subaru talked almost the whole way. Kenji had stopped paying close attention after a while, letting it fade into the background like TV noise at home. Lia answered Subaru's questions patiently, as if she really found them interesting. They learned about the currency, the ground dragons pulling carts, and that their clothes looked strange to everyone else, which explained the stares, or so Kenji thought.
The writing came up naturally when Subaru pointed at a sign he couldn't read and asked whether it would always be like that.
Lia: [There are three scripts. Most people start with I-glyphs, they're phonetic, each symbol is a sound, so once you know them, you can read most common things. Ro-glyphs are more formal and are used in official documents. Ha-glyphs are the oldest and most complex, and most people never learn them fully.]
Kenji: [So I-glyphs are learnable in a reasonable timeframe?]
Lia: [A few weeks to read basic things, if you're focused. Writing properly takes longer.]
Subaru: [You're already planning to learn to read, aren't you?]
Kenji: [Isn't it practical?]
Subaru: [We've been here less than a day.]
Kenji: [That doesn't make it less practical.]
Subaru opened his mouth, thought about it, and closed it again. Puck made a small sound from Lia's shoulder that was almost certainly a laugh.
They'd also gotten her name. Subaru had asked, in his direct and relentless way, and she'd paused just a moment before answering.
Before she could answer, however, Kenji spoke first.
Kenji: [It's Lia or something, isn't it? Sorry if I'm being rude, but Puck-San —Sama? called you that.]
Lia: [...Lia is fine.]
Puck: [Just Puck is fine.]
Kenji: [...Thank you, Puck.]
Kenji: [What's with her hesitation?...]
Subaru had accepted this and moved on immediately. Kenji, however, had filed it under doubt and left it there, though he was beginning to think the reason might be sitting right in front of him.
It had started all the way back at the fountain.
When the mother first saw Lia, something moved across her face before gratitude took over. It wasn't fear, and it wasn't quite recognition either, but it was a bit of both. It was more like the look of someone placing a person in a category before realizing it.
Kenji might have ignored it if he hadn't started noticing the same thing everywhere else. An old habit of his.
The spice vendor glanced at Lia's silver hair, then her ears, then quickly looked away. Kenji saw it was pointed. A group of older women near the textile stalls whispered to each other, though Kenji couldn't hear what they said. A merchant's child stared openly until his father gently put a hand on his shoulder and turned him away. That last gesture stood out as not mean or angry, just the automatic reaction of someone used to the rules.
And through all of it, Lia walked the same way.
Kenji kept thinking about how she moved through the stares. Her shoulders stayed relaxed, her steps steady, eyes forward, and she kept talking as if nothing was wrong. He recognized that posture.
Kenji had spent many years learning to carry his own eyes the same way, for as long as he could remember.
He stayed quiet. He didn't know what to say, and this wasn't the time for a pity party or to say he had the same issues. He just took note of her name, her careful walk, and the way people watched her. He adjusted his idea of who Lia was and what she'd taken on by coming into the city.
Then he set it aside, because that's what you do with things you can't use right away.
Puck had been quiet for the last part of the walk, sitting on Lia's shoulder and mostly watching the road ahead. Still, Kenji kept feeling like the spirit was watching him whenever he looked away. He couldn't prove it, but every time he checked, Puck was looking elsewhere.
Kenji: [What do you want?]
He didn't say that. He was tired, not irrational.
Speaking of tired.
His legs had been aching for the last hour or more, not in a dramatic way, just with the heaviness that comes from too little sleep. He'd started walking slower without realizing it. His gym bag was making his shoulder ache even more.
Lia had noticed, and she'd slowed her pace to match his without making anything of it, which Kenji appreciated more than he'd have said out loud. Subaru hadn't noticed yet, which was better, because Kenji didn't particularly want to have that conversation.
Puck, naturally, had no such restraint.
Puck: [You've been slowing down for a while.]
Kenji: [I know.]
Puck: [Just mentioning it.]
Kenji: [Noted.]
Subaru: [Wait, he's right —Are you okay? You look like my uncle after he tried to run a marathon...]
Subaru: [...He didn't finish it.]
Kenji: [I'm throwing you into a fountain.]
Kenji: [I'm fine.]
Lia: [We could stop for a moment if you need—]
Kenji: [I'm fine.]
She looked at him with those violet eyes that took in more than was comfortable. Then she nodded and let it go.
He appreciated that too.
The buildings around them were old, leaning together at odd angles, as if no one had planned them and each generation just added on. The streets were so narrow that two carts couldn't pass. People moved through the alleys ahead, unhurried and familiar with every corner. A few glanced at Kenji's group, at their strange clothes, the silver hair, the gym bag, then looked away without any reaction.
Lia stopped at the edge of where the street opened into something darker and more compressed.
Lia: [The slums start here. Felt's somewhere inside. We'll have to ask around to narrow it down.]
Subaru: [Ask around. Right.]
Kenji looked at the slums. Old stone. Cramped streets. People who'd already clocked them as outsiders from twenty meters away. One hour until dark, approximately.
Kenji: [Let's get it over with.]
He adjusted his bag strap and walked in first.