Haruki just stood there for a few seconds.
Nobody said anything.
"What is this variant?"
Amirion just leaned back in his chair.
"That is exactly what we're going to find out."
Haruki frowned. "And how are we supposed to do that?"
Amirion smiled.
"We find an almanac."
Haruki blinked.
"A what?"
"An almanac."
"I heard you. I just don't understand why we're suddenly looking for a book."
"Because" Amirion said, getting up. "apparently there's an old book in town that contains records about variants, strange abilities, heroes, villains, and every other weird thing people have tried to pretend doesn't exist."
Aunt Lucy immediately raised her hand.
"Does it have autographs?"
Charlotte sighed.
Haruki rubbed his forehead.
"I've been here for less than an hour and somehow this is already my life."
"Get used to it"
Charlotte said.
---
By noon the four of them were walking through the busiest part of town.
Haruki pulled his hood up low.
Not because it looked cool.
But because Amirion had spent the entire morning telling him that getting recognised by a hero organisation while being labelled a potential villain was probably "not ideal".
Which Haruki thought was a very generous way of putting it.
The streets were packed.
Cars crawled though traffic while vendors shouted over one another. Crowds huddled around food stalls, buses occasionally came to a stop every few minutes, and huge screens mounted to buildings showed news reports.
Haruki glanced up at one.
A reporter stood in front of a burning building.
"Authorities are still investigating the sudden appearance of another unidentified powered individual-"
Haruki immediately looked away.
"That's comforting", he muttered.
Charlotte noticed.
"You ok?"
" Yeah."
"You're staring at the news like it's personally insulting you."
"It kind of is"
"Fair"
She smiled.
Aunt Lucy suddenly appeared between the two.
"So..."
Haruki looked up at her.
"So what?"
"You and Charlotte."
Charlotte nearly tripped.
"What about us?"
Aunt Lucy grinned.
"You two seem awfully close."
"We've known each other for five minutes", Haruki said.
"Exactly. That's practically marriage."
Charlotte stopped walking.
"Aunt Lucy."
"What"
"Stop"
"I haven't even started"
Amirion walked a few steps ahead of them.
"Please ignore her."
"I am trying" Charlotte replied.
Aunt Lucy leaned into Haruki giving him a cold grin.
Haruki laughed despite himself.
It was the first time since everything had happened that his shoulders had relaxed.
Then Amirion stopped.
"There."
Everyone looked up.
A narrow bookstore stood between a closed electronics shop, and a pharmacy.
The sign above the door was faded.
MORROW & SONS - BOOKS, MAPS AND RECORDS
Haruki stared at it. "This place looks like it hasn't been open since the invention of electricity."
Amirion pushed open the door, a bell ringing as he did. "Then we're probably in the right place."
---
Dust floated through the sunbeams.
The shop was crammed from floor to ceiling with books.
Haruki walked between the shelves, staring at titles he couldn't pronounce.
Charlotte picked up a thick book.
"HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES"
She opened it.
"Nothing."
She grabbed another.
"HEROIC INCIDENTS: VOLUME THREE"
"Nothing," she said again.
Amirion disappeared behind a shelf.
Then-
"Found something!"
Everyone rushed over.
Amirion held up a small paperback.
Haruki stared at it.
"That?"
"No,its the latest volume of a romance novel I wanted to read"
"You read romance?!",Haruki said.
"Whats that over there"
Everyone looked into that direction
Amirion flashed out of the scene
"No Wait come back here"
"Leave him Haruki,Thats what he likes best do not ask why"
Suddenly, Haruki sees a person with a huge book
"Thats an almanac "
"Wait where exactly "said together by Charlotte and Aunt Lucy
"Over there the guy with the cowboy hat"
They chased him down until.........