A door opened with a click. A white beard entered the room before a man dressed in a silver-white robe. The man turned around to close his office door. He adjusted his silver frame, whitish-gray eyes gleaming under the white lamp lights.
When he turned around, he once again admired the white beauty of his office. His hands reached for his waist as he nodded; walls-- pure white as always, windows-- silver and polished, wooden shelves and cupboards-- polished in white and shining.
"Good work today," The old man said, nodding his head, in his rusty old man's voice, as he climbed a white stair to his table.
But when the man reached his table, he froze to see a brown longhand letter with an eleven-inch long thing wrapped in a black metal-like substance.
A frown appeared on his face after noticing the brown and black color, disturbing his office's whole color grading system. "Who could enter my office?"
He lifted his white brows before pulling them together. The man took a step forward as he pulled his silver color wand from the side of his robe.
He closed in the distance between the stick on his table and himself. Just when he was close enough to his table, he ran a detection test to detect any harm.
No poison, no enchantment, and no bomb or an explosive inside. The old man took a step forward and grabbed the letter. The wrapped stick slid to the side when he pulled the longhand letter and stepped back.
'To Atama,'
He read the text and his heart calmed down. It was a formal letter, so it meant it was safe. Not much safer though, if someone managed to deliver the letter personally then...
'It took us time, I know.' Atama continued reading. 'But it was not easy since your teleporter was shut down, your contacts were closed and I could not get in touch with you, and with the guards in front of your office-- god bless us.'
Atama examined the letter by taking a pause. His already wrinkled face wrinkled more when he frowned. And soon the colors fade from his pale face. The letter was written in ink but Atama was afraid that it was written with an ink PEN!
It was from a scientist, he was sure. Atama had to find who had sent that letter to him, so he continued reading.
'Still here is the wand you asked me to get for you.' Atama raised his head to take a glance at the wrapped stick.
His eyes dropped back to the paper. 'We killed the maid---'
Atama's eyes widened. 'Killed?' And the page trembled in his hands.
'The maid, but could not kill the boy, he was out. Besides, it was not in the plan to kill anyone.'
Atama lowered his hand and moved his eyes from the letter. He pushed his white hair and moved his hand down the long silver beard.
Atama pulled the letter back and continued reading: 'Tell us if you would like the boy dead too-- that would cost you extra money.'
'Money?' Atama sighed.
'But we will kill him-- we can, anytime-- if we can get that letter into your office, we can kill that boy too.'
'Oh, my beard.' Atama rolled his eyes and leaned against his table. He placed the letter on top of his table, then he put a snowball paperweight over it.
Then Atama's eyes fell on the wand wrapped in a malleable metal. When he unwrapped the wand, his eyes widened when he saw the black color wand with blue vines wrapping around it.
"Hiro-Kun's wand!" He exclaimed and jumped off the table.
Atama made sure no one was listening and looking, then he covered the wand back in the wrapping. He was afraid he might have a blood pressure problem-- or a heart attack.
'My beard, how did that man get hold of Hiro-Kun's wand?' Atama took away the paperweight and searched if the writer had left a signature, it was a formal letter after all.
And he was relieved to find a signature at the end. But when he figured out who the signer would be, his heart jumped inside the cage.
'Your business partner,
Signed:
Tengoku Kagaku.'
'White!' Atama gulped. 'Tengoku... the mercenary... he got Hiro-Kun's wand---' He froze, his eyes wide and mouth wide open. 'Hiro-Kun!'
Atama threw the letter on his table and jumped off the little stair. He was about to grab the door when he came to a sudden stop.
'It is Hiro-Kun... although Tengoku is strong, he can not stand Hiro-Kun.' As if Atama was consulting himself, he walked back to his table and unwrapped the wand.
'But then this wand... Hiro-Kun would not hand it to someone like that...' Atama continued to chat with himself in his mind to try to come up with clues and work out his logic to unravel the mystery that had haunted him right after his lunch.
When Atama was sitting on his chair and studying both the letter and the wand, he saw a few flashes of the old times from his remaining store of memory.
A young man who had the same deep blue eyes as Hitori kept an arm on Atama's shoulder and said:
'Atama-sensei, I will be with you even if I am not present physically.'
And Atama remembered how his eyes were teary and his heart was beating. His greedy self wanted to stop Hiro from going.
And besides, I will come back. You will have to take care of them for now.'
'Hiro-Kun...'
'Come on, you are a great teacher, Atama-sensei and I am sure you will never leave your students alone.'
Atama did not want to leave Hiro either, but he and Kaori had decided to leave.
'These people here... they need someone to guide them. So, before I leave, I want to ask you one thing.'
'Say it, son.'
'I will pay for the expenses but could you teach other people how to use magic? They need a teacher now, more than ever. If they choose the wrong path... it will be over before we can start again.'
'You mean, you want me to make a SCHOOL in this apocalypse? Hiro-Kun...'
'Please. I request. Consider this as my last request, sensei.'
Atama pulled the part of his long white sleeve and rubbed his eyes while holding his glasses in another.
'I never thought you really meant it. The LAST request.'
A science professor, and a mercenary. Atama pulled back his glasses. And Hiro-Kun's wand.
Saibai Hitori.
Atama got up, wrapped the wand back, and raced towards his office's white wall. A pillar erupted from the wall and then opened a smaller compartment.
Atama placed the wand in the compartment with care. Then he turned around, the compartment closed and the pillar went inside, walked to his table, and grabbed the letter.
'Tengoku.'
He folded the paper. Atama raced to the other side of his table, a drawer came out, he placed the paper and closed the drawer.
Atama pulled out his wand and called, "Ray, I want you in my office with your best of the best men."
And placed down his wand.
Atama did not have to wait another second before Ray, a man in his thirties, appeared in his office with three more men.
"Sir?" He bowed.
"You know Saibai house's address?"
"The one you were searching for?"
"Yes, that one. I want you to take your men and check on a teenager living in that house. Saibai Hitori, black hair, deep blue eyes, and wears the academy's tracksuit-- wait, he would not be right now."
"Yes. It is cold."
"He would be wearing a black cloak then. Go now! Search for him if you have to but do not come back till you make sure he is safe."
"Yes."
"Leave now. If there are scientists, mages, or anyone you suspect of being a threat-- catch them and bring them to me. If you have to, kill them on the spot."
"Of course, sir."
"Well, now!" Atama got up from his chair. "Ah, and take a look at Tengoku Kagaku."
Ray paused. He hesitated but nodded. "Sure, sir." He and his men teleported out of the office.
A magic door slides closed as Hitori and Kamiya, wearing cloaks, and carrying shopping bags, left the shopping mall.
"We will take a Mage Bus from here." Kamiya took the lead and walked to a bus station. "They are quick."
It was the twenty-fifth of December 2022. Christmas. People and snow covered the mall and the streets. Cheers, happy cries, people celebrating all over the place.
But in the midst of the celebration, there were a few people who were not celebrating. Atama, Ray, and... Kakashi.
Kakashi walked out of a small storeroom-like closet with a metallic case. "Eya-nee! Hurry!"
The stairs thumped as Eya ran downstairs before teleporting in the middle. "What have you found?"
"A wand case." Kakashi showed Eya the metallic case. "The Legendary Wand's case."
"They left the case but took the wand... maybe we can track it down?"
"Not possible... it is too late." Eya crumbled on the sofa once again.
The mage bus pulled over and stopped near the bridge-- it was rather a small bus. Hitori and Kamiya walked to the exit door when the driver said:
"Sorry boys, I can not go near the borders."
Hitori and Kamiya were not pleased to know that they were supposed to walk for eight minutes from the bridge.
While on the other side, Ray, a man in his thirties, appeared in front of a house that stood alone.
"Look out for the trees." He commanded his men.
They were fully armed with potions and wands and extra wands.
Just to make sure the plants would not attack and they would not have to retreat after reaching the middle of the house, Ray fired a beam of green light at a patch of dry plants.
The plants burned but they did not make a move. "Alright. The enchantment has been lifted." Ray gripped his wand beside his waist. "Be prepared for a visitor."
When Ray burned a path, due to the bond, Kakashi felt a burning pain in his forearm-- dropped the wand case.
"Kakashi!" Eya jumped from the sofa.
"Get your wand, someone has burned a patch down." When Kakashi focused on his forearm, he saw what happened outside. "Ten-Tengoku's men are here!"
Eya reached for her wand, which was tugged in the side of her skirt. "How many?"
"Four." The pain left soon. Kakashi reached for his wand kept in his coat's inner side pocket. "Eya-nee, take cover."
Kakahi saw that Ray had reached the porch, he threw himself in the dining hall and levitated the table upside down.
Eya jumped down the single stair boundary, below which was the sofa, hence the drawing hall. She flipped the sofa upside down.
Kakashi's wand popped from the table's side, and Eya's wand leaped forward from above the sofa. They both were ready when Ray kicked the door.
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