A/N: 14K reads?! THANK YOUUUUUU!
A song for this chapter in particular
Saturn - Sleeping at Last
Enjoy ~
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Never..
There would never be time enough to know everything in this life and the ones to come; and even if the answers are given, we might not understand them all.
That's how life works.
That's how merciless time is.
So many wonders can be seen with the eyes and so little with the heart, there's not wonder why humans like to question the worth of everything including themselves, humans want to find the logic to the smallest things in life that they start to question theirs.
How can you measure the value of something like that? How many mistakes do humans have to make to get to the conclusion their life is worthless?
The answer it's hidden where it all starts.
Society
Like that pink haired boy who is trying so hard to give his future death a value rather than appreciating life itself and the infinity below his feet.
The imperfection of the human existence.
We will all die one day, that's the unavoidable truth.
That Clan knew that very well.
Principal Yaga's office wasn't a place Y/N was at so often; she knew she wasn't in trouble otherwise the man's expression would have been sour when he called for her, but there was an odd feeling, he looked tired but not the physical tiresome a person would have after a workout.
He looked nostalgic, sorrow peeking out his throat when he tried to drag a few words to greet her when she entered his office.
"Y/N, there's someone that wants to talk to you" Mr Yaga said trying to be expressionless but his curved downward lips weren't helping him at all.
As soon as she looked to the right an already known figure walked towards her, getting hit by the light from the office, blonde hair and his glasses covering his eyes.
"Nanami-san?" was all she could say before he bowed at her to greet.
"I apologise for getting you to be here without telling you beforehand, but I think there's something you have to know" Nanami said in his monotone and relaxed voice, removing his glasses "It's related to your clan" as soon as he said those words the room felt somewhat cold.
Y/N's smile was gone.
She was there in complete silence, wondering about what the sorcerer was going to say next. L/N's Clan is a topic that Sorcerers barely know nowadays, it was like they were trying to pretend her family never existed; she didn't hate that, in fact she was okay with that, the reminder of that horrifying massacre wasn't something she liked to talk about to people.
It terrified her.
Nanami watched her, worried; because no matter how powerful and strong she was, she was still a teenager and by that time she was a little girl trying to comprehend that her beloved parents weren't going to come back.
How can you talk to someone who already lost everything they had? How can you explain a kid that their family is gone forever? So young, so innocent, so powerless
How can the world be so harsh to an innocent girl who would be forever marked with those seals on her hands.
Just how..
"When I graduated I got was told to be part of the Sorcerers that looked for your Clan's executor" Golden eyes watching her gently, looking for the right words to didn't wreck her heart, more than it already might be "We were prepared to encounter a Special grade Curse, because those were the assumptions we had".
"But" she whispered, holding on by a thread.
"We spent two years with that case, but we got nothing. The cursed spirits we encountered didn't share the same characteristics that could connect them to your Clan's case" he dragged those last words before rubbing his temples.
"I was already with my adopted family at that moment" she tugged the sleeves of that black hoodie, like a kid looking for a place to find comfort "I didn't know about that. My mom was no longer with me".
The day M/N left was a sour moment, the poor girl waiting for her; watching patiently through the window for the reunion that never happened.
She was a strong woman with a kind heart, a woman that left her daughter in a place she knew she would find love and support despite her new family being non-sorcerers. She left her with clues, with notes about how her technique worked but the information was somewhat poor.
She was a kid after all.
How can a kid process all this?
"I'm sorry, Y/N" Nanami's shoulders relaxed but he wasn't calmed at all, he was just tired, hurt, remembering why he had left this job once after seeing so many shattered families, so many homeless kids.
Y/N became one the day he and the rest of the sorcerers stopped looking for the executor.
Nanami doesn't respect this job because at some point, they all give up.
Just like he did a couple of years ago.
"There's nothing to apologise for" she said softly, holding back her tears, holding her family motto strongly "You have a life too".
That line broke him, she was giving up her Clan's justice for him, caring more about his life than her pain.
"Y/N, your family-"
"My family never left, Nanami-san" a single tear on her left eye "They never left me at all" she was now looking down, smiling at something so insignificant.
Smiling at her gloves.
Her father's gloves.
A small piece that covered part of her skin, something that could mean she didn't want people to notice the L/N seal, but for her it was a childish attempt to hold his hands one more time.
The hands that used to lift her to reach the apple trees, when she wanted to touch a cloud, the hands that would take her to bed when she was so tired of playing. Hands from the man that asked his wife to teach him how to do braids for her daughter.
He was kind and generous, but he left earlier.
No, he never left at all.
Because Y/N knows how to do those braids perfectly.
"As long as I remember them, they would never die completely. They cannot die because I am alive".
Her voice was already breaking, but she refused to stop; she couldn't stop. She became a sorcerer to help people, the ones that asked for it and the ones that begged for it in silence.
The help she wanted a long time ago.
"Thank you, for looking for the murderer" rising her head and smiling, she then bowed in gratefulness.
"I'm sorry that we could never find them" Nanami furrowed his eyebrows, mad at himself for his actions almost a decade ago.
She kept smiling eyes shut, he was regretting his life choices when he was young; maybe he could've done something different that could lead him to a clue, something; anything.
But he didn't.
That's how life works
"If we keep apologizing and regretting things from the past we won't be able to fight for the things that are in front of us" Nanami stated, more for himself than the other two in front of him.
"Y/N, if you could remember anything that could help us, we would really appreciate it" Yaga said taking a few steps towards the girl and the other man.
"What do you mean?" she tilted her head.
"Nanami" Mr Yaga now glancing at the blond man, he nodded.
"One of the members of your family was found with a mark on their neck, but it wasn't a wound, it looked like a seal" he looked at her and she removed her gloves "The seal was different from this one, but I couldn't identify it".
"A person with two seals? Is that possible?" Nanami shrugged.
"We're not sure, but something told me that it was related to their deaths" he sighed, preparing himself for what he was going to do next "He wasn't the only one".
Her eyes widened, trying to put all the words together in her brain to process. She knew she had some relatives who couldn't do anything without help just to later be completely asleep, but she thought it was just an illness.
"A curse spirit?" She asked confused.
"There's a big possibility, but for now we only have a drawing from the marks they had" Mr Yaga said, both man crossing their arms.
"Those marks might have affected them from the inside" she sat for the first time, it was a lot of information coming all at once "I had relatives who were sick but I never see them myself".
She was now trying to remember anything about them, if her parents ever mentioned something about that illness, if they ever tried to help them.
But there was nothing, nothing that a kid's brain could have kept this whole time to help.
"They could've been one of them" Nanami sat as well "There weren't signs of fighting back on there hands. But keeping in mind how you're family worked, they could've surrendered before a fight started".
She understood at that moment how hard the investigation was for the sorcerers, a family that was extremely kind to hurt a fly being murdered by an unknown living being that clearly hated them to the point to erase them from the planet. Considering all the information and the quantity of members there was one thing for sure
There was more than one murderer.
But these were all assumptions, the only legit clue they had were the bodies and the marks, but nothing else. They were looking for a needle in a landmine.
They took two steps back for every step they took forward.
"It's happening again" said Mr Yaga finally.
"What do you mean by again?" Y/N stood up abruptly, not by anger but by fear.
He saw the horror in her face sending chills through her spine, she even had to blink several times just to remind herself that she wasn't dreaming, that she didn't misheard his words.
"Y/N, how does your technique work?" Mr Yaga asked avoiding the first question for the moment, she looked at him for a few seconds.
"I can transform any type of matter by my own will" she said monotone not know it why he was playing dumb.
"Can you feel exactly the components of the said matter?" He continued with those weird questions, but she was willing to answer if he was going to be sincere later.
"Yes, that way I can transfer curse energy to the objects I shape or create. Like Kugisaki transferring her curse energy to the nails and then realising them" Y/N collaborated with the information, being startled by the hand of Nanami touching her shoulder.
"Does that include humans?" He got nausea asking that question.
"Yes, but we strongly refused to do that" she stepped back "The only way would be to heal people".
"If we could ask you to help us with someone, would you do it?" Mr Yaga brought the topic back "You might find something that Ieri hasn't found yet, sharing information to understand what's going on".
"Sure, but is the person that ill?" she asked now concerned and both men nodded.
Nanami walked to the door and looked at her, tilting his head.
"Follow me, please".
She walked next to Nanami who avoided explaining what was going on, because he barely had information about this case in particular; there was someone else more subtable for the topic.
She saw the person at the end of the hall waiting for them in silence, a little worried for the things they were going to discover in a couple of minutes or the defeat of not finding a single thing.
"He can explain you better than us" Nanami glance at the person in front of them.
"They haven't arrived and I don't feel like we should share information until they come back".
"It's crucial for the investigation, they're doing their part outside and it's our responsibility as adults to do so as well" Nanami tried to make the other person understand, but they still hesitated.
"Let's wait an hour more, please. This is not going to be easy" they begged.
"As long as you let her do her job" the sorcerer turned around and walked away "Time is merciless".
She looked back to the man who was pale as snow, he seemed like he was about to pass out so she placed her hand on his shoulder to snapped him out.
"Ijichi-san" she called him gently "Can you explain me what's going on?".
"There's-" he swallowed to continue "There are things related to your Clan's case that somehow feels like a deja Vu with this one" his lower lip shaking "But Principal Yaga wanted you to check on this person system and trace sometht that might be odd for a human body".
"Like a malfunction? A curse?" she tilted her head a little.
"Precisely, the problem is that there's so little information that we're not sure what is a clue and what is not" he sighed, he was tired mentally and was trying to save some time "I just want them to be back so we can proceed, or rather to ask for permission".
If this case was the same as her family it was going to be difficult as well because there were more questions than answers, specially that this one had no apparent reason.
It was just tracking an anomaly on a person, it shouldn't be that hard, but then again not finding anything would be bad news for the now affected family.
"Permission?" She took a step forward "Who do all of you want me to check on?".
He shut his eyes.
Scared of what was going on, scared of what was going to happen.
Scared of the merciless of life.
"Tsumiki Fushiguro".