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... Idiot Shirogane ... 
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(Late post is late.) 


“I’ll eat anything you make, Shirogane~! You have not disappointed my pallet with any of your meals thus far!” 

Perhaps any other person might have felt the malice of Shirogane’s words, but to someone who had limited hardships after her admission to the Abbey. She was just glad she would be able to eat something great like she always liked. 

The howling of the wind. 

If anyone was sensitive to “that” feeling, it would be Nero. Or rather, it would be the “invisible” fae dancing along with the muses of Shirogane that those born without that innate sense of the “other” which Nero was blessed [Cursed] with. That fae was the great spirit of the wind, whose power was granted to Nero by contract.

The green, fae-like spirit was a simple being that seemed to be enjoying herself in the winds generated by Shirogane, though Shirogane did not seem to understand that his actions were merely causing joy for that which exists to not be seen. 

[i][color=39b54a]“Yaaay! The wind is moving fast~! Thanks for the ride, Spiky-hair!” 
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Truly a simple spirit.

But Nero contracted with the Sylph for a reason. The sovereignty over the wind was seconded to none as a spirit. But it was strange. Spirits tended to avoid things created by humanity. After all, the progress of humans is what caused mystery to no longer prevalent itself upon the world as it had years ago. Therefore, one could consider “progress” the natural enemy of the “World”.

So for a spirit to take a liking to an Esper … 

Her mind wavered for a moment, focusing on the “being” that did not exist to anyone else but what she assumed to be herself, staring at what should not be there and away from Shirogane for that moment. However, the man brought her attention back with his words once he began to speak again. 

“I mean, you are a very nice person, Shirogane. You do not hesitate to assist those in need, and you always seem happiest when making someone else happy. That is what I noticed about you, at the very least. I think you are a superhero; a great one at that!” 

A genuine smile was shimmering on the face of Nero as if the innocent smile of a maiden. The smile of someone who genuinely believed what they were saying was an indisputable truth. Though one might question how a person who had only known Shirogane for but a few days could determine his entire character, Spirits tend to dislike those without pureness in their heart. So the fact that Sylph did not mind “showing” herself in front of Shirogane was enough for Nero to place her trust in him. 

… At the very least, that is how she felt until he continued to speak about a certain “incident” that brought the two together in the first place. 

Her face shone a bright red all the way up to her ears, blushing a deep scarlet. Her face contorted into some sort of a cross between complete disgust, likely towards both of them, shame, and cringe. An unintelligible garble escaped her mouth as she attempted for the moment to compose herself, failing to do so, and repeating that unintelligible garble until she could finally (poorly) compose her thoughts into words.

“I-If you are going to bully a cute girl like myself, you will never find someone who’d like you, y-you idiot! I hate you!” 

It was something that she would rather not talk about. The issue of taking in “others” into the “self” was the same regardless of what one committed themselves to; it would muddy the meaning of “self” and that would transmute itself into “another”. Of course, to someone like Nero, “action” committed was not due to the transformative nature of her power, but rather the requirement of “contracts” in order to “act”. 

…And, much to the chagrin of Nero, Shirogane had seen her while she was most vulnerable to her contract. 

“I’m mad now,” Nero said, turning her head away from Shirogane and puffing her cheeks. “I take back what I said. You are the worst. An enemy of womankind! Don’t talk to me until you apologize!” 


Whispering to herself, Nero continued under her breath in a tone that she didn’t believe Shirogane could make out. 

“And just when I gave you a compliment too. Sheesh.” 

Nero stormed into the other room of the apartment, rather upset with Shirogane for his actions. Regardless of her position on the matter, it was very unlikely she still did not expect Shirogane to cook, as well as unlikely she would miss a meal. 

Such is the life of a homeless vagrant.