Hyde sat up surrounded by the white space he 'loved' so much. Not again…

The only difference this time was a lance stabbed into the ground in front of him. It shined much like Mary's halberd but there was a pink bow neatly wrapped near the spike.

Why was it here? Dunno, but it was the only object of interest in an area of nothing. So Hyde grabbed it and pulled it from the ground, giving it a few swings. It wasn't heavy like Mikael or Mary said… Was he the chosen one?!

Then the weapon suddenly vanished from his hands and a voice echoed. "This weapon is yours to command..!"

Tiredness grew over Hyde and when he closed his eyes.

The next day…

The dream replayed in Hyde's head a few times during class. Why was the weapon his when he wasn't the one to take it, Mikael deserved it more. Either way it was up to Midare to decide as she was in possession of them for the time being.

"Hyde!" The teacher called. "Can you solve this equation on the board?"

Hyde nervously dropped a sweat "Erm… I don't know the answer."

The teacher chuckled. "Upsetting. Maybe you should've paid attention instead of dozing off."

Seriously uncool… The snickering of nearby classmates filled his ears making him feel awkward throughout the rest of class.

Afterschool, the detectives gathered at the dormitory to talk about their net plans of action. They were authorized to use magic at last, and now they awaited their next instructions.

"How was the meeting guys? Did we get authorized to use magic?" Ibuki asked with a smile. She held up her hand and her fingers became pink and metallic-like from the magic she concentrated there "I've been practicing a lot while you were away. I call this, thorn claw. I can block swords and stuff with my hands."

"Well dandy! That's neat." Mikael commented.

Hyde looked at his hand. "You'll have to teach me how to do that later. And about the magic we'll be learning…" he looked over to Yamiko.

She lifted her head up from the fashion magazine she read. "You'll be learning... non magic techniques. However Midare will be teaching Mary… personally."

Mikael crossed his arms "I guess you'll be teaching us Yamiko."

Ibuki frowned "Can I be trained by the knights instead? My sister is with them."

Yamiko returned her gaze to the magazine. "I'm hesitant to get too close with the Blue Corp. Reanne is… odd." she then closed the magazine and grabbed the edge of the counter, flipping up on top of it. The flexible feat was impressive and was just a peek of the abilities they would learn. “Alright Mary… good luck.”

They watched her awkwardly make her exit before getting into what Yamiko was going to train them for. She looked at Hoka who was peeking her head out from the stairway. Yamiko clapped her hands together “Time to get to work!”

────── 〔✿〕──────

"You gotta be kidding me…" Hyde muttered. They were sent outside the city to do another one of Midare's dirty work given to them by Yamiko. They had to find a lost cat.

This had nothing to do with being a detective or magic! How was this training at all? Unless… was this Yamiko's secret way of teaching them to be knowledgeable of their surroundings so they would be able to better fight Soap and his lackeys?

"H-Hyde focus..."

That can't be the case…

Hyde looked up to see Ibuki inching towards the cat on the edge of the tree branch. She was clung onto the branch, hesitating to make sudden movements.

"Meow…" the grey cat had to be taunting her right? Normally in this situation the cat would jump on its savior's face and claw it up in a bloody mess.

"Hehe. I have a way with cats." Ibuki smiled. Then the cat pounced on her causing her to reel back and fall on Hyde. Just before she crashed, the cat jumped off Ibuki into Mikael's arms.

"Nice work guys!" Mikael held up the cat like a trophy. Ibuki rolled off Hyde and the boy gave a weak thumbs up. Levin took out his cigar to blow out a puff of smoke. He looked at Hoka standing beside him, the girl worried about Hyde and Ibuki being injured.

"It's nothing to worry about Hoka. They need to build up their strength." He chuckled. "Alright boys, wrap it up! The owner's house isn't too far."

Hyde stood up and brushed the grass out of his hair. This was the final 'case' they had to do before reporting back to the agency. Thank goodness for it, the countryside of Japan was largely long stretches of road and nothing but grassy fields. There were houses few and far between. Whenever they asked the inhabitants about Soap, none had anything to say about his appearance. It narrowed down his location to Osaka, Kameoka and of course Kashiwara. How he got around was still a mystery.

The sounds of the moped's motor stopped when they parked by the owner's house. Mikael and Levin were the ones to return the cat and while Hyde waited he spent the time to think about the hotel murder. The smell of the blood bothered him the most. Why was it so unpleasant?

"Ibuki… you remember what the blood smelled like?"

Ibuki nodded, sitting on the side of her motorbike. "It was foul."

"Does blood normally smell like that?"

Ibuki's yellow eyes widened and something clicked. Back when she joined Midare and Lambda to investigate the magic shop, the blood on the dead shopkeeper didn't have a smell at all. Well, not one similar to the rancid smell in the hotel hallway. "No it doesn't..!"

"What could it mean..?" Hyde needed to think outside the box. The explanations filling his head first were all wrong, they made too much sense. He needed to think like a detective, and so he snapped his fingers "This may be a bit of a stretch, but what if that officer we rescued is the culprit?"

"Meaning he disguised himself as one of them to escape." Ibuki nodded. Hyde added on, "And there isn't a police station in Kameoka. Maybe there's one in Osaka, that's where Nakata got that weapon."

Soap was possibly manipulating the law to meet his ends. When Mikael and Levin returned, Hyde explained this revelation. All roads seemed to lead to Osaka. Although…

"It ain't that easy. There's a lot to unveil." Levin replied.

Mikael lowered his hat "Really now? So far all our clues are leading to the police station in Osaka."

Levin took out his cigar. "So the blood was fake and the disguised officer escaped. There's more to this such as it simply being a temporary disguise. You didn't get a look at the body either so we don't know if he stole the clothing or is apart of their ranks."

Hyde's connected dots started to fall apart.

"We know nothing about the culprit either. They might be completely unrelated to Soap. In fact, they are as Soap works independently." Levin said.

Then what about Nakata?

Mikael shrugged "That's a mystery too. Why would Soap give him a special weapon? He is just some delinquent."

Now there were a lot of questions up in the air. Levin placed a pin on the police station question for later. They may have figured something out, but still many questions were unsolved. Levin reminded them that being a detective is all about certainty. Picking the wrong suspect would be a disaster and will damage the already crippling reputation the agency has. Whatever that meant…

They returned to the agency while Levin went to the dormitory with Hoka to inform Yamiko of Hyde's findings. Upon seeing a young boy with black hair, Hoka rushed to hug him.

Levin approached the counter Yamiko seemed to never leave. "First time I seen the boy not locked away."

Yamiko didn't avert her eyes from the newspaper. "I try to keep Oscar out of sight. If Soap knew the whereabouts of both siblings... then he could easily take them."

"What makes Hoka so different?" Levin questioned. Yamiko stared at the section Rine wrote about the agency. It told of their involvement with the fire in city hall, trying his best to uplift their reputation while remaining truthful. They couldn't do much to stop Soap there.

"Hoka is… strong."

Levin leaned over the counter. "Y'know Yamiko, for all the times Soap appeared I never see you. Why are we still chasing shadows?"

This made Yamiko look up from her newspaper and gaze through his sunglasses. Her annoyed glare said it all, "Are you... insinuating something..?"

Levin moved away. "Just a joke."

The tension dropped like an anvil and Yamiko gave him a small (blunt and sarcastic) teehee at his funny comment.

────── 〔✿〕──────

Midare took Mary to her house for afternoon tea and to train her with only the best non magic techniques. Midare had received bags of tea from the Director as an apology gift for Reanne's hostility. Midare thought it could be poisoned so she made tea anyway, to give to Mary.

After sniffing the aroma she held out the tea cup. "You should try this."

"You can still see me?" Mary lifted the white cloth draped over her like a ghost costume. The technique she was supposed to learn would allow her to become invisible with the cloth. It seemed more like a cheap magic trick than something that would help in their efforts against Soap. "I feel silly trying this spell Midare."

Midare stood up from the kitchen table with a hearty laugh escaping her mouth. "It takes some time. Here…"

Mary took the cup eyeing it suspiciously. "I never had tea before."

Midare returned to her seat. "Earl grey tea."

Mary sipped the tea then her eyes lit up. "Wow! This tastes really good."

"Perhaps it wasn't poisoned then."

"Guh?!"

Midare snickered "I'm kidding. The Director wouldn't do that to me. Now then where were we?"

The technique known as 'none in view' was a difficult one to get a grasp on. To blend in with her surroundings, Mary had to match the wavelengths of the area around her. Altering the flow of magic within to be just below the visible light spectrum. It made her heart feel tight. Mary lowered the cloth and returned to the previous topic, "How did the meeting go with the Director anyway? Is she a nice person?"

"She's shallow." Midare poured herself a cup of tea "If she were any younger then she'd be the protagonist. But… the same could be said for me. Heheh, I would kill her if I had the chance."

Mary gasped "That means you're the antagonist to her!"

"Rival." Midare corrected. "Her ambitions are too grand. She'll hurt herself.” Her opinions on the Director weren’t too grand. However her case was. Since Mary and Hyde had let their culprit get away it was up to Midare to find him.

“I thought you were already doing that case and gave it to us as your dirty work.” Mark tilted her head slightly.

Midare groaned “Well now it’s really my dirty work. I hate having to stain my hands with dirt. You’ll be assisting me with this Mary.”

“With what?”

“Paper work!” Midare cheerfully exclaimed.