Author Note: Sorry for missing a chapter yesterday, it was my Dad’s birthday and I spent the day fishing with him. Hope you all understand!
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoying our peaceful meal together, I began noticing that some customers coming into the restaurant were looking a bit uneasy as I grabbed another plate. Noticing that they were looking outside instead of at the children, it was clear something was amiss outside. Walking back to our private table, I got on my cell phone and hacked into the restaurant’s camera system with my Quirk. Quickly pulling up a live feed of all the outdoor cameras, the source of their unease became apparent.
Spotting several undercover and uniformed officers around the building, clearly, the officers I had let go reported the incident back to their superiors. In addition to the officers, several Promoters and Initiators were standing back just on the edge of my view. Realizing that the customers thought a Gastrea had been spotted in the area, it was honestly no surprise that they were on edge.
‘At least those idiots have not stormed the place. They would have probably killed several bystanders on accident before realizing we were in a private room.’, I thought looking over at the children who were still eating while blissfully unaware, ‘We have sometime before they will make a move so I do not have to rush the children.’
Finishing our plates roughly ten minutes later, the girls told me they were ready to go. Thanking me for taking them someplace nice, all of them admitted that it was the first time they had been able to eat their fill in their lives. Assuring them that it was no problem at all, I felt a pang of guilt as this place was not really all that good. I had brought them here so they could eat all they wanted, but they thought it was the finest dining in the world.
‘These children are too good for this world.’, I acknowledged, ‘I know hundreds of couples that would give anything to have children like you.’
Having several thousand wounded veterans in my population that were unable to sire children of their own, I knew some of them would likely jump at the chance to adopt these girls. They would have all the love and affection they could take, and then some. No longer would they have to starve or freeze every night, they would finally get to have the family life they so desperately crave.
‘That settles it, I will find loving homes for all of the Cursed Children of this world that will accept my help.’, I thought looking at Lily, ‘Those that I cannot find homes for, I will adopt personally and raise them as my own. I am sure Eri will be happy to have sisters to play with.’
Looking at me with a confused look, Lily must have sensed what I was thinking. Patting her head with a smile, I asked if they were ready to go get dessert. Shooting up from their seats, all of them began jumping where they stood with excitement. Since going out of any exit would put us in someone’s crosshairs, I decided to take the expressway out…through the power grid. Leaving a generous tip for the busboy before leaving, we quickly vacated the premises just moments before several officers stormed the building.
—Several Minutes Later, 3rd Person POV—
“What do you mean they vanished!?”, the Commander in charge of the operation shouted as his officer, “A full-grown man and several dozen children just do not vanish into thin air!! Someone must have been slacking off, are you sure no one saw them leave!?”
“Yes sir, we had men all around the building. Somehow they managed to evade all of us, and disappeared into thin air!”, one of his subordinates stated, “That said…the owner said the man tipped them handsomely for their services. The busboy has never seen so much money.”
Trying to lighten his commanding officer’s spirits, as a lot was riding on this operation, his humor was not taken well. Seeing the commander’s eyes twitch with anger, the officer puckered his lips realizing he had made things worse for them.
“Does this operation feel like a joke to you Officer MacKnaw?! Our Governor’s life may be at risk, and you are over here making light of a life or death situation!!”, the Commander howled in anger, “I want all available men searching the area for that man and the children!! Get me choppers in the air and snipers on the highest points around the area. We are going to find this son of a bitch, and put him down before he has a chance to harm our Governor!! Not get moving you idiots!!”
“Sir!!”, the officer shouted as they saluted him before scattering to put his orders into action.
Turning to the Promoters who had been sent as backup, he told them to fan out and search for the group as well. Looking at the Commander with an irritated expression, most of the Civil Security Officers were not happy to be ordered around like grunts. Many of them were well-respected, hard-working individuals who did not take to being micromanaged well. Had the order not come down from the higher-ups, only a handful of them would have shown up.
“This is a sketch artist's rendition of the man we are looking for, do not approach him without backup.”, the Commander told them as he handed them copies of the drawings, “If you locate the group, call it in immediately so we can surround them. Do not play Hero, any damages caused by your antics will be billed back to you!!”
“Whatever, let's just get a move on!”, a Promoter named Shougen grunted as he kicked his Initiator, “Do not just stand there, get moving! I am sure you know some brats out here that can help us track them down. Who knows, I might give a few Yen for helping haha!!”
Watching from the back with a scowl on their face Rentaro, Enju, and Kisara were not happy with the way the man was acting. Part of a minority among Civil Security Officers, Rentaro and Kisara believed that Cursed Children were human and should be treated like family. Unlike many of their peers, Rentaro treated his Initiator Enju like family and went out of his way to help many of the orphaned Cursed Children he came across.
“Did we really need to take this job?”, Enju complained just loud enough for them to hear.
“Unfortunately we are in the red this month.”, Kisara stated having already triple-checked their firm’s finances, “The pay was good for this, and I thought it would be a simple job.”
“Hopefully this does not take too long, we have to make it to the market for the big sale today!”, Enju reminded Rentaro, “You promised we would have meat tonight, remember!”
“Crap, I forgot about the sale!”, Rentaro replied as he pulled the ad out of his pocket, “The sale ends at six tonight, we should be done way before then…hopefully.”
Watching the other Promoters break off in different directions with their Initiators, Rentaro pulled his phone out to look up some information. Having only a small amount of information to go on, based on the police report, he assumed that the man genuinely cared for the children he had with them. Since they had just eaten, the next place they were likely to visit would be a place to eat dessert since the restaurant did not offer any.
“You think they are going to get sweets..?”, Kisara asked with an unsure tone, “If he knew we were out here, I think he would have left the area to avoid us. I doubt they would do that, but…you are the one that usually handles the fieldwork. We will follow your gut instinct this time, that said, if you are wrong I am taking it out of your pay.”
“I hardly get paid at all as it is…”, Rentaro commented.
“Well if you stopped handing out your money all the time, you would not be broke!”, she scolded him, “Jeez, I get that you want to help people but you need to worry about yourself sometimes too.”
“I know, I am sorry.”, he agreed, “Alright then, the nearest sweet shop is an ice cream shop a few blocks ahead of us. Let’s start our search there.”
Acknowledging him, the three of them started running toward the shop hoping to catch the perp before he disappeared again.
—Cole POV—
“That was fun!”, Lily giggled as we came out of a street light several blocks away, “Do it again!!”
“Haha, we can do that later…or do you not have room for dessert?”, I questioned with a disbelieving expression.
“Oh no, our dessert sides are still empty!”, one of the younger children told me as if it were a matter of fact, “We have two different stomachs, and the dessert is bigger!”
Patting the young girl on the head with a smile, I apologized for forgetting that fact. Having the children lead us toward a nearby ice cream shop for dessert, my focus turned to hacking into the city’s security systems. Gaining access without only a small amount of effort, the entire deployment of Civil Security and Police Officers was made available to me in real time. Verifying that only one Promoter was enroute to our location, I recognized his name and knew he was not someone I needed to kill. Putting my phone back in my pocket, we started picking up the pace as the ice cream shop came into view.
Getting up to the window to order, the gentlemen looked at all the children and then at me. Making a gesture that suggested it would be pricey for us to eat here, I slapped a million yen on the counter and slid it to him.
“Not a rude comment to the children, understood?”, I said in a low voice as I stared at him in the eyes.
“Sir, I do not care who or what my customers are. All I care about is that they can pay, that is it.”, he remarked accepting the money, “Special occasion?”
“It is this young girl’s birthday today, do you have any ice cream cakes?”, I inquired.
Quickly doing a headcount, he shook his head and said that they did not carry cakes big enough for the number of children here. Telling him to give us several cakes, plates, utensils, and water to drink, the owner handed everything to me through the window. Getting the children settled at the tables outside the shop, the owner came out and told me that he did not have enough change for the amount I gave him.
“Use it to cover any children like them that come by.”, I told him.
“Alright, it is your money man.”, the owner replied with a shrug as he went back inside.
Once the man was gone, I placed the candles on Lily’s slice and lit them with magic. Staring at them with wonder and excitement, it was plain to see that this was the most exciting part for her. Singing the typical happy birthday song, with the mandatory chachachas, to her Lily promptly blew out her candles as her friends cheered for her.
“Did you make a wish?”, I asked as I started plating slices for everyone.
“Yes, I did!”, Lily assured me as she looked at the slice of cake for a moment, “Mister Cole, do you have extra room at your house?”
Knowing where this was going, I nodded my head and told her that I had plenty of room at home. Nervously looking at her sister for a moment, Lily made a request of me.
“Could you…could you take my sister Estia home with you? She gets sick really easily, and I do not want her to continue suffering where we live. If you could do that, I will do whatever it takes to pay you back for her care. I…I know that you will take care of her and she will be happy with you.”, Lily said attempting to lessen the burden by just asking me to take her infant sister in.
“Hmm…I do not know if I can do that, it would be unfair to all of you if only she got to have a family home.”, I remarked.
Stopping what they were doing, all of the children looked at me to see if I was serious. Likely having been told this before by government agents trying to make them into Initiators, they were all unsure how to react if I was serious.
“I know a lot of families that would love to adopt children like you because they cannot have children of their own. If you would be up for it, I can introduce you to them and see what you think. In the event you are not happy with them, you can stay with my family till you are full-grown adults.”, I offered them.
“You mean…there are people out there that would take kids like us in?”, one of the older girls inquired with a skeptical look.
“Yes, I promise you that they would jump at the chance to have children like all of you. All of you could see each other every day, and go to school together. The only difference would be you would go home to loving families, have a warm bed every night, and have all the food you could possibly want to eat.”, I told her, “I personally can vouch for all of these families, I have fought alongside most of them and know they are truly good people. They are not perfect by any means but all of them will shower you in the parental love you have been searching for.”
Looking at one another for a moment, they started to discuss things as Rentaro and company arrived on the scene.
Author Note: Sorry for missing a chapter yesterday, it was my Dad’s birthday and I spent the day fishing with him. Hope you all understand!
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoying our peaceful meal together, I began noticing that some customers coming into the restaurant were looking a bit uneasy as I grabbed another plate. Noticing that they were looking outside instead of at the children, it was clear something was amiss outside. Walking back to our private table, I got on my cell phone and hacked into the restaurant’s camera system with my Quirk. Quickly pulling up a live feed of all the outdoor cameras, the source of their unease became apparent.
Spotting several undercover and uniformed officers around the building, clearly, the officers I had let go reported the incident back to their superiors. In addition to the officers, several Promoters and Initiators were standing back just on the edge of my view. Realizing that the customers thought a Gastrea had been spotted in the area, it was honestly no surprise that they were on edge.
‘At least those idiots have not stormed the place. They would have probably killed several bystanders on accident before realizing we were in a private room.’, I thought looking over at the children who were still eating while blissfully unaware, ‘We have sometime before they will make a move so I do not have to rush the children.’
Finishing our plates roughly ten minutes later, the girls told me they were ready to go. Thanking me for taking them someplace nice, all of them admitted that it was the first time they had been able to eat their fill in their lives. Assuring them that it was no problem at all, I felt a pang of guilt as this place was not really all that good. I had brought them here so they could eat all they wanted, but they thought it was the finest dining in the world.
‘These children are too good for this world.’, I acknowledged, ‘I know hundreds of couples that would give anything to have children like you.’
Having several thousand wounded veterans in my population that were unable to sire children of their own, I knew some of them would likely jump at the chance to adopt these girls. They would have all the love and affection they could take, and then some. No longer would they have to starve or freeze every night, they would finally get to have the family life they so desperately crave.
‘That settles it, I will find loving homes for all of the Cursed Children of this world that will accept my help.’, I thought looking at Lily, ‘Those that I cannot find homes for, I will adopt personally and raise them as my own. I am sure Eri will be happy to have sisters to play with.’
Looking at me with a confused look, Lily must have sensed what I was thinking. Patting her head with a smile, I asked if they were ready to go get dessert. Shooting up from their seats, all of them began jumping where they stood with excitement. Since going out of any exit would put us in someone’s crosshairs, I decided to take the expressway out…through the power grid. Leaving a generous tip for the busboy before leaving, we quickly vacated the premises just moments before several officers stormed the building.
—Several Minutes Later, 3rd Person POV—
“What do you mean they vanished!?”, the Commander in charge of the operation shouted as his officer, “A full-grown man and several dozen children just do not vanish into thin air!! Someone must have been slacking off, are you sure no one saw them leave!?”
“Yes sir, we had men all around the building. Somehow they managed to evade all of us, and disappeared into thin air!”, one of his subordinates stated, “That said…the owner said the man tipped them handsomely for their services. The busboy has never seen so much money.”
Trying to lighten his commanding officer’s spirits, as a lot was riding on this operation, his humor was not taken well. Seeing the commander’s eyes twitch with anger, the officer puckered his lips realizing he had made things worse for them.
“Does this operation feel like a joke to you Officer MacKnaw?! Our Governor’s life may be at risk, and you are over here making light of a life or death situation!!”, the Commander howled in anger, “I want all available men searching the area for that man and the children!! Get me choppers in the air and snipers on the highest points around the area. We are going to find this son of a bitch, and put him down before he has a chance to harm our Governor!! Not get moving you idiots!!”
“Sir!!”, the officer shouted as they saluted him before scattering to put his orders into action.
Turning to the Promoters who had been sent as backup, he told them to fan out and search for the group as well. Looking at the Commander with an irritated expression, most of the Civil Security Officers were not happy to be ordered around like grunts. Many of them were well-respected, hard-working individuals who did not take to being micromanaged well. Had the order not come down from the higher-ups, only a handful of them would have shown up.
“This is a sketch artist's rendition of the man we are looking for, do not approach him without backup.”, the Commander told them as he handed them copies of the drawings, “If you locate the group, call it in immediately so we can surround them. Do not play Hero, any damages caused by your antics will be billed back to you!!”
“Whatever, let's just get a move on!”, a Promoter named Shougen grunted as he kicked his Initiator, “Do not just stand there, get moving! I am sure you know some brats out here that can help us track them down. Who knows, I might give a few Yen for helping haha!!”
Watching from the back with a scowl on their face Rentaro, Enju, and Kisara were not happy with the way the man was acting. Part of a minority among Civil Security Officers, Rentaro and Kisara believed that Cursed Children were human and should be treated like family. Unlike many of their peers, Rentaro treated his Initiator Enju like family and went out of his way to help many of the orphaned Cursed Children he came across.
“Did we really need to take this job?”, Enju complained just loud enough for them to hear.
“Unfortunately we are in the red this month.”, Kisara stated having already triple-checked their firm’s finances, “The pay was good for this, and I thought it would be a simple job.”
“Hopefully this does not take too long, we have to make it to the market for the big sale today!”, Enju reminded Rentaro, “You promised we would have meat tonight, remember!”
“Crap, I forgot about the sale!”, Rentaro replied as he pulled the ad out of his pocket, “The sale ends at six tonight, we should be done way before then…hopefully.”
Watching the other Promoters break off in different directions with their Initiators, Rentaro pulled his phone out to look up some information. Having only a small amount of information to go on, based on the police report, he assumed that the man genuinely cared for the children he had with them. Since they had just eaten, the next place they were likely to visit would be a place to eat dessert since the restaurant did not offer any.
“You think they are going to get sweets..?”, Kisara asked with an unsure tone, “If he knew we were out here, I think he would have left the area to avoid us. I doubt they would do that, but…you are the one that usually handles the fieldwork. We will follow your gut instinct this time, that said, if you are wrong I am taking it out of your pay.”
“I hardly get paid at all as it is…”, Rentaro commented.
“Well if you stopped handing out your money all the time, you would not be broke!”, she scolded him, “Jeez, I get that you want to help people but you need to worry about yourself sometimes too.”
“I know, I am sorry.”, he agreed, “Alright then, the nearest sweet shop is an ice cream shop a few blocks ahead of us. Let’s start our search there.”
Acknowledging him, the three of them started running toward the shop hoping to catch the perp before he disappeared again.
—Cole POV—
“That was fun!”, Lily giggled as we came out of a street light several blocks away, “Do it again!!”
“Haha, we can do that later…or do you not have room for dessert?”, I questioned with a disbelieving expression.
“Oh no, our dessert sides are still empty!”, one of the younger children told me as if it were a matter of fact, “We have two different stomachs, and the dessert is bigger!”
Patting the young girl on the head with a smile, I apologized for forgetting that fact. Having the children lead us toward a nearby ice cream shop for dessert, my focus turned to hacking into the city’s security systems. Gaining access without only a small amount of effort, the entire deployment of Civil Security and Police Officers was made available to me in real time. Verifying that only one Promoter was enroute to our location, I recognized his name and knew he was not someone I needed to kill. Putting my phone back in my pocket, we started picking up the pace as the ice cream shop came into view.
Getting up to the window to order, the gentlemen looked at all the children and then at me. Making a gesture that suggested it would be pricey for us to eat here, I slapped a million yen on the counter and slid it to him.
“Not a rude comment to the children, understood?”, I said in a low voice as I stared at him in the eyes.
“Sir, I do not care who or what my customers are. All I care about is that they can pay, that is it.”, he remarked accepting the money, “Special occasion?”
“It is this young girl’s birthday today, do you have any ice cream cakes?”, I inquired.
Quickly doing a headcount, he shook his head and said that they did not carry cakes big enough for the number of children here. Telling him to give us several cakes, plates, utensils, and water to drink, the owner handed everything to me through the window. Getting the children settled at the tables outside the shop, the owner came out and told me that he did not have enough change for the amount I gave him.
“Use it to cover any children like them that come by.”, I told him.
“Alright, it is your money man.”, the owner replied with a shrug as he went back inside.
Once the man was gone, I placed the candles on Lily’s slice and lit them with magic. Staring at them with wonder and excitement, it was plain to see that this was the most exciting part for her. Singing the typical happy birthday song, with the mandatory chachachas, to her Lily promptly blew out her candles as her friends cheered for her.
“Did you make a wish?”, I asked as I started plating slices for everyone.
“Yes, I did!”, Lily assured me as she looked at the slice of cake for a moment, “Mister Cole, do you have extra room at your house?”
Knowing where this was going, I nodded my head and told her that I had plenty of room at home. Nervously looking at her sister for a moment, Lily made a request of me.
“Could you…could you take my sister Estia home with you? She gets sick really easily, and I do not want her to continue suffering where we live. If you could do that, I will do whatever it takes to pay you back for her care. I…I know that you will take care of her and she will be happy with you.”, Lily said attempting to lessen the burden by just asking me to take her infant sister in.
“Hmm…I do not know if I can do that, it would be unfair to all of you if only she got to have a family home.”, I remarked.
Stopping what they were doing, all of the children looked at me to see if I was serious. Likely having been told this before by government agents trying to make them into Initiators, they were all unsure how to react if I was serious.
“I know a lot of families that would love to adopt children like you because they cannot have children of their own. If you would be up for it, I can introduce you to them and see what you think. In the event you are not happy with them, you can stay with my family till you are full-grown adults.”, I offered them.
“You mean…there are people out there that would take kids like us in?”, one of the older girls inquired with a skeptical look.
“Yes, I promise you that they would jump at the chance to have children like all of you. All of you could see each other every day, and go to school together. The only difference would be you would go home to loving families, have a warm bed every night, and have all the food you could possibly want to eat.”, I told her, “I personally can vouch for all of these families, I have fought alongside most of them and know they are truly good people. They are not perfect by any means but all of them will shower you in the parental love you have been searching for.”
Looking at one another for a moment, they started to discuss things as Rentaro and company arrived on the scene.
