Kakine looked across the table, studying the woman seated opposite him. This, apparently, was the owner of Gara no Dō. Her red hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail, a few loose strands framing her face, and circular-framed glasses rested neatly atop her nose. She carried herself with an air of casual confidence. Her gaze was sharp, assessing, lingering just long enough to make it clear she'd already sized him up and found him interesting in spite of herself. This woman's name was Touko Aozaki, a grand class magus and a sealing designate.
"So," she said at last, voice even but faintly amused, "you're the one who wanted to strike a deal with me about the ley lines?" She asked, with no discernable expression on her face.
Kakine met her eyes without flinching. "I wouldn't call it a deal," he said calmly. "More like a non-aggression pact. I don't interfere with whatever you're doing here, and in return I get limited access to the ley lines."
Touko hummed softly, fingers tapping once against the arm of her chair.
"Mm. That's a very confident way to phrase a request," she said. "Especially when we're so close to my workshop. Her eyes slid over him again, slower this time. She was assessing him more now, down to every minute detail.
The silence stretched. The pressure in the room thickened, just enough to be uncomfortable.
"You don't actually want permission," she went on. "You want to experiment without consequences. You want to fail without being noticed. That tells me two things." Her eyes met his again. "One: you're afraid of someone stronger than you. And two: you're not a complete idiot."
Kakine decided what to really think on what she said, she wasn't totally wrong, but it was more of he didn't want to catch the attention of any crazy magus that might try to gut him. This woman in front of him seemed reasonable enough, so hopefully this deal wouldn't crash and burn.
Touko laughed quietly, like she hadn't meant to.
She reached into a drawer and slid a thin folder across the table. It stopped just short of his hands. "You work for me. Not full-time or officially. You show up when I call, you help when I say help, and you don't ask what the end product is unless I decide you're allowed to know."
Kakine's eyes flicked to the folder, then back to her. "And in return?"
"In return," Touko said, adjusting her glasses, "you can use the ley lines under this city as long as you want."
Wait, was that it? That was actually rather simple.
The thought barely had time to form before Touko continued.
"Don't misunderstand," she said, her tone light, almost bored. She tapped the folder once with a finger. "You don't get free access. You get access as long as I don't find you annoying. As in, don't expose the mystery of magecraft and don't draw the attention of the Clock Tower."
Kakine leaned back slightly, considering. So it wasn't complete freedom, it was more like controlled access. "And the work?" he asked. "What kind of help are you expecting?" Touko shrugged. "Errands. Cleanup. Occasionally fixing someone else's mistakes when I don't feel like getting my hands dirty." She tilted her head, studying him again.
Kakine's eyes dropped briefly to the folder, then returned to her. This woman was insufferable, but insufferable didn't mean unreasonable. As long as she didn't interfere with his experiments, he could tolerate her presence.
This wasn't something he could brute-force his way through. Losing Dark Matter had done more than strip him of power; it had stripped him of certainty. Back then, as an esper, he'd never questioned whether he could overpower someone if things went south. Now? Now he wasn't even sure he could beat her using magecraft alone.
And that was before accounting for the environment.
Touko's workshop sat directly beneath them, steeped in layered foundations, bounded fields, and whatever other preparations she'd embedded into the building over the years. Walking into a fight here would be suicide. Kakine wasn't foolish enough to believe he still occupied the same position he once had.
Kakine exhaled slowly.
"…Fine," he said at last. "I'll work under your conditions."
Touko's lips curved faintly, not quite a smile. "Good choice."
She leaned back in her chair, then reached beneath the desk and pulled out a thin, black document case. She opened it and slid out a single sheet of paper. It wasn't long; it was just a few sentences and an underlined place where he'd put his signature.
Touko tapped the page with a finger. "This contract doesn't have a geas of any sort, nor will it force your obligation. It's just a mutual acknowledgement. You work when I call you, you don't leak any mystery and I won't interfere with the use of the ley lines."
After a moment, Kakine nodded. He picked up the pen she slid toward him and signed. The moment the ink dried, the document folded itself neatly and slid back into the case, as if satisfied. Touko stood and extended a hand. Kakine hesitated for half a second before taking it.
"Welcome to Gara no Dō," she said. She released his hand and turned away, already reaching for something else on her desk, the conversation clearly over.
Kakine took that as his cue.
He stood, gave a short nod, and left the room without another word.
The door had barely closed behind him when another opened.
Kokutou Mikiya stepped in, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat. He glanced at Touko, then at the empty chair across from her.
"…Weren't you a little harsh with him?" he asked gently. "He's only a kid." Touko didn't look up from her work. "He's not," she said flatly. Mikiya frowned slightly. "He looked young." "He is young," Touko corrected. She finally glanced toward the door Kakine had exited through. "But he's already decided what kind of person he's willing to become. That puts him ahead of most adults."
She adjusted her glasses. "If I treated him kindly, he'd misunderstand and think I'm underestimating him. Children hate being looked down upon, and I don't have the patience to reassure someone who's already decided to walk into danger."
Mikiya sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You could've at least told him he did well." Touko snorted softly. "I did. I didn't kill him."
That earned a small, resigned smile from Mikiya. He glanced at the door again. "He didn't seem scared." "He was," Touko replied immediately. "Just not of me."
She leaned back in her chair, eyes unfocusing slightly as if tracing something far beneath the floor. "He's afraid of being seen. Of drawing attention before he's ready. That's why he came here instead of trying to steal access outright."
Mikiya's expression softened. "So you're giving him a place to hide?"
Touko's lips twitched. "I'm giving him a place to work. Whether it becomes a shelter or a grave depends on him."
A day later, Kakine found himself standing in Touko Aozaki's office with a cardboard box in his arms. It was heavier than it looked.
The office was exactly as chaotic as he remembered, except now several boxes were stacked haphazardly near the wall, some half-open, others crushed under their own contents. Sunlight spilled in through the window, illuminating dust, clutter, and a disturbing number of receipts scattered across the floor.
Kakine set the box down and peeled back the tape.
He stared.
Inside were a chipped ceramic mug, a tangle of cheap plastic keychains, three mismatched screwdrivers, a novelty lighter shaped like a skull, and, after digging a little deeper, a cracked snow globe depicting a place he didn't recognize.
He blinked once. Then he slowly looked up.
"When you called me and said you needed my assistance," he said carefully, "I was under the impression this would involve ley lines. Or magecraft. Or at the very least something that wasn't a, how should I put this? Moving useless junk around?"
Touko didn't even glance up from her desk. She was reclining in her chair, feet propped up, flipping through a mail-order catalog with no care whatsoever. "Just get it done so you can go home and stop complaining." she said lazily. Kakine reached into the box again and pulled out a small, battery-powered fan that looked like it had died years ago.
"This is broken."
"Yes."
"And mundane."
"Also yes."
He exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Then why am I touching it?" Touko turned a page. "Because I don't want to." Kakine lifted the fan slightly. "You're telling me you summoned me here to clean out your shopping mistakes."
Touko finally looked over, expression perfectly neutral. "Those are not mistakes. They were deeply necessary at the time."
Kakine went quiet for a second, then resumed sorting, setting mundane junk aside in a growing pile. This woman's shamelessness was absolutely intolerable. Kakine was rather exasperated with her, but he'd get this done quickly so he could go back to his house and continue his research.
"You're awful with money." He finally responded. Touko smiled faintly. "You're very perceptive." He glanced toward the other boxes. "How many of these are there?" She tilted her head, thinking. "…Eight. Maybe nine. Depends on whether you count the one under the desk." Kakine stared at her.
"That one's heavy," she added helpfully. "Don't drop it." "…Of course it is." Touko leaned back, watching him with mild amusement. "Think of this as orientation. If you can survive my clutter, you can survive working for me."
Kakine snorted quietly. "This is extortion." "Yes," she agreed pleasantly. "But you're still getting access to the ley lines, so I'd say it evens out."
He picked up the snow globe again, turned it once, then set it down more carefully than he meant to. "…You really don't discriminate between priceless artifacts and trash, do you?" Touko shrugged. "If it caught my interest for five seconds, it came home with me." Kakine glanced around the room, then back at the boxes. This was gonna take awhile.
By the time everything was finished, Kakine was completely exhausted.
He sat in the back seat of a car, being driven home by one of the servants at the mansion. He was staring blankly out the window as the city passed by. His arms were sore. His clothes smelled faintly of dust and old cardboard.
And this was only his first day. He leaned his head against the glass and exhaled slowly. "…So this is what working for a magus is like."
...
Honestly, these first few chapters are mostly dialogue and no combat. But please bare with me and give this fic a chance.