Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 3===

Curry shop, cafe, massage parlor, used bookstore, DVD shop, etc.

Anastasya Rubashvili aka Asya was currently on the fourth floor of a multi-tenant building. To be precise, she was inside a used bookstore called Mirokudou.

Even more precisely, she was at the cash register.

Nevertheless, she was not in the middle of a part-time job. Originally, she had simply come here as a customer.

Sighing lightly, sitting on the round stool, Asya turned her gaze to a book on her thighs. Two hours had passed since the shop manager, the only member of the sales staff, had asked her to help watch the store.

During this time, not even a single customer arrived. In other words, the shop was in a state of being open but halted in business.

As commonly seen in shops of this type where nary a comic book was put on display, this hard-line used bookstore had never undergone thorough organization at all. Books that could not fit on the occupied shelves were piled up haphazardly like towers of waste paper all over the store's interior.

Asya's appearance was very out of place in this old and filthy store.

She was a beautiful young maiden.

The delicate features of her well-proportioned face seemed somewhat dreamy while her blue-tinted silver hair also gave off an intense air of mysteriousness.

Her slender body looked fragile enough to break from a single hug. Naturally blessed in appearance, this Eastern European girl possessed a body that could be described as like a fairy's.

"Good work. You really helped me out by looking after the shop."

Kagetsudou's glass door suddenly slid open sideways as a young man entered.

The man had an elegant face that one could describe as handsome without feeling like a liar at all. However, his unkempt beard and wrinkled shirt made for a big minus on favorable first impressions.

Kenjou Genya. This bookstore's owner. A young man roughly twenty-five or six in age.

"This is a local specialty, curry bread. Consider it a gesture of thanks."

"Compared to local specialties, I'd prefer if you could have returned at least thirty minutes earlier," grumbled Asya while accepting the paper bag that was handed to her.

It was past noon when Asya had visited the bookstore to check out the latest shipment of used books. Then the young Mr. Kenjou had asked her to watch over the store. Thinking he would return quickly, Asya had casually agreed without thinking.

"Why did you spend two hours when all you did was have lunch at a curry shop in the same building?"

"Well, that's because I was chatting with the shopkeeper about 'How's business going?' and 'So-so I suppose' and stuff like that. Then after the meal, I read four sports newspapers while drinking coffee, which ended up taking quite a bit of time."

"Please find a better excuse than slacking off, no matter how true it may be. By the way..."

Asya peered into the bag of the gift:

"This appears to be baked curry bread... But compared to the baked version, I like deep-fried curry bread even more. If it's not too much trouble, please buy the deep-fried one next time. I enjoy the crispy texture of deep-fried bread."

One of Asya's talents was the ability to adjust to any country's culinary culture without any difficulty.

Having started living in Tokyo New Town less than a month ago, she had already reached the level where she was able to critique pedestrian bread varieties innovated by the Japanese.

"You're a girl after all. Try to eat a little healthier."

"Don't worry. Just as you can see, I've got the type of constitution that never gets fat no matter how much I eat," declared Asya as she placed her hand on her flat chest.

Despite ingesting vast amounts of food every day that would astonish any onlooker, her fairy-like body of fantasy never accumulated any weight in fat at all.<!--Mark Kadi-->

Nevertheless, Kenjou refuted her while making a fool's expression on purpose:

"Rather than constitution, it's thanks to the metabolism of your youth, isn't it? After a certain age, abnormal eating habits will reflect on your body all at once, you know? Especially Caucasian females, their body mass tends to expand sideways after they grow up, causing their overall figure to go out of shape."

"Th-That'll never happen to me! Absolutely never!"

Asya could not help but yell after hearing his offensive comments.

As a side note, her retort was completely baseless, no different from a spinal reflex.

"Putting that aside, Kenjou-san, I'd like this one and that one."

"Thank you for your patronage. It's wonderful that something managed to catch your eye, Asya-san," thanked Kenjou after seeing the secondhand books that Asya had picked out.

The titles were ''Nicolas Flamel and the Magic of Kings'' and ''Anthology of Secret Love Poetry from Past and Present''. This unique combination comprised an ancient foreign text with a Japanese book dating from the early Shouwa period, but Asya was capable of reading both without any trouble at all.

Awakening as a witch conferred a number of special powers.

One of them was an exceptional capacity for linguistic learning. Even foreign languages with absolutely no prior exposure could be used as fluently as a mother tongue after merely two months of training.

"Can I pay the usual way?"

"Sure. Just transfer the funds into this branch's account before the end of the month."

Kenjou nodded in response to Asya's question for confirmation.

The Mirokudou was not just an ordinary used bookstore where business was slow.

At the same time, it was also a branch of the research organization SAURU. That said, this branch was so small that it could not accommodate more than eight assigned members...

"Although I've traveled all over the world, this is my first time seeing such a small branch."

"That's the way it is. This store was originally just a place for selling strange books about supernatural phenomena or purchasing them in return. It only became the branch office after the organization withdrew from New Town," muttered Kenjou after hearing Asya's comment.

The two books Asya had just bought were both part of the Metaphysical Body of Knowledge&mdash;in other words, books about magic written by "researchers" in olden times.

"Although my title is shop manager, I was originally just a direct subordinate under our boss&mdash;Hiiragi-neesan."

"Speaking of which, I noticed that this store only opens for business two days a week."

In order to access the store when the manager was out, Asya and Haruomi both held a spare key each in their possession.

Seeing Kenjou smiling lightly, Asya shrugged and asked, "Come on, SAURU is a global organization after all, isn't it?"

"Yes. But if a city doesn't have many of their members, the organization will only provide relatively lukewarm support for that branch. You see, isn't this what's known as a rational business model?"

"I can't believe that a secret association is devoting its efforts towards streamlined management, that's so mundane..."

"Despite having members distributed globally, the organization has nothing to do with the various urban legends about secretly controlling the governments of various nations. In fact as of right now, there are perhaps only three people officially registered with headquarters who are actually living in New Town. Me, Asya-san and&mdash;"

"Haruomi, I guess."

"Indeed, Haruga-sensei's son. You'll be meeting him shortly, right?"

"...What are you talking about?"

Asya immediately played dumb in response to having her plan exposed.

She was not committing a crime. There was no problem even if she told her plans to Kenjou.

Nevertheless, she tried to conceal the fact because she found it embarrassing.

Asya turned her body away unobtrusively in an attempt to block Kenjou's view with her slender body, preventing him from seeing the basket at the checkout counter.

However, the young man said tactlessly with great curiosity, "That basket is giving off the aroma of sauce. Is it a packed lunch? Did you bring it along in hopes of eating it together with that boy?"

"O-O-O-On what grounds are you making such a claim!?"

"Nothing much, Asya-san, I was just thinking you'd have finished the food during the time you were waiting for my return if the packed lunch were only meant for yourself. It happened to be noontime too."

Young Mr. Kenjou had gone out during 12:30pm to 2pm.

Asya's stomach had subtly growled dozens of times already to express her hunger. Ever time her stomach rumbled, she kept staring intently at the basket she had brought.

But each time, she was able to dispel the temptation by thinking of the childhood friend she was about to meet.

"P-Please don't get any strange ideas. My plan today is gathering research materials, not going to see Haruomi... Then I'll be off."

"Oh sure. Say hi to the boy for me," said Kenjou cheerfully to Asya while she was hurrying towards the exit.

Although the young man looked dense and idle on the surface, he definitely must not be underestimated.



After leaving school, Hal received a text from Asya on his cellphone.

The text told him that her task was done and also where they were going to meet. Hal originally expected a fast food shop or in front of the train station.

"Why are we meeting in a park?"

It was true that the weather was nice today and staying outside would not be unpleasant...

Walking, Hal made his way to the large park, located closest to Ryougoku Station.

Then only after he waited casually on a park bench for ten-odd minutes, Asya made her overdue arrival.

For some reason, Asya blushed red to her ears as soon as she saw Hal's face.

"I-I didn't come here to see Haruomi, okay."

"What nonsense are you speaking? Asya."

Hal made a jab at his childhood friend's weird murmurings.

Although the reason was unknown, Asya was acting awkward, looking very shy.

"You're the one who called me here, right?"

"Y-Yes, that's true indeed! But it's not like I mean anything special. Today, I simply wanted to ask for your help in research. The thought of going out with you, Haruomi, never crossed my mind at all!"

"I know that even if you don't explain explicitly."

Hearing Hal's calm answer, Asya inexplicably glared at him in anger.

Then she set her basket down hard on the bench.

"Anyway, wars cannot be fought on empty stomachs. Have some lunch first."
[[image:Leviathan 01 045.jpg|thumb]]

"Go ahead and eat if you want. I've already had lunch."

"&mdash;Haruomi, what did you just say?"

"Like I said, I already had lunch."

"I-I can't believe I endured so desperately, yet you already went ahead to have lunch on your own!?" said Asya while her eyes accused him of betrayal. Again, the reason for this was a mystery to Hal.

"Of course. I've been attending school obediently all this time, after all. Naturally, I'd take care of lunch at the cafeteria during the lunch break."

"No way... I was thinking you'd skip school for a whole week straight, Haruomi."

"Don't underestimate how serious I can be. However, I do intend to find a random excuse to transfer to a distance learning high school after going to school dutifully for a month or so."

"This type of scheming and lack of seriousness is certainly very much in your style, Haruomi... Oh, however."

With surprise showing on her face, Asya suddenly came back to her senses and said, "On further thought, Haruomi, you are a boy after all. You shouldn't have any trouble eating a second lunch. Come, let's have lunch together."

"Please allow me to refuse your kind offer. You made it yourself, right? In that case, surely as one would expect&mdash;"

Hal unceremoniously opened the basket.

Arranged neatly inside were sandwiches as the main course along with cooked vegetable side dishes and fruit.

Asya was not only a voracious eater but an excellent cook as well. However...

"Just as I guessed. What are you thinking, making all the sandwiches with pork chop cutlets as fillings? I just had a pork chop cutlet rice bowl for lunch, so this is a bit hard to stomach..."

"You are mistaken. Please look more carefully."

"Whether the golden color of the outside layer of batter, deep-fried to perfection, or the whiteness of the pork's cross-sections, there's no room for misunderstanding at all. A total of twelve pork chop cutlet sandwiches, am I wrong?"

Asya began to snicker in response to Hal's accusation.

"Although they're all deep-fried cutlets, there are a total of three variants: steak, pork chop and chicken. This is your chance to enjoy their respective flavors and textures."

"...I see."

Taking a closer look, Hal found the red meat of four deep-fried steak sandwiches mixed among them.

Hence, the two of them opened the handmade packed lunch on the park bench and began to enjoy a lavish meal&mdash;Asya's first lunch for today but the second lunch for Hal.

The weather was bright and clear with a gentle breeze. The spring sky was blue and refreshing.

Despite the excellent picnic weather, Hal's appetite was naturally quite subdued.

Trying to minimize damage to his digestive system, Hal went for the ratatouille and pickles.

"Don't just keep eating vegetables. You need your meat and carbs too. Compared to biased vegetarianism, a balanced diet is the shortcut towards good health."

"That's totally unconvincing coming from you," responded Hal to Asya's advice.

Then Hal finally picked up a cutlet sandwich and took a bite.

The noteworthy(?) first sandwich tasted of pork.

The outer layer was still moist despite the passage of time since the deep-frying. The pork chop was thick and chewy in texture, while the sauce was especially delicious. Only a mixture of store-bought sauce with ketchup and mustard could produce this type of complicated flavor.

The ratatouille serving as a side dish was also rich in flavor while the pickles were personally made by Asya herself.

To be honest, Asya was an excellent chef no matter how unflattering Hal's view of her.

"...So long as the choice of food isn't on the heavy side and the volume isn't so excessive that there are leftovers..."

"What did you say, Haruomi?"

"No, nothing. By the way, let me give you a bit of honest advice."

After she had consumed four deep-fried cutlet sandwiches, Hal said to Asya with a serious look, "I know that you're proud of your constitution that prevents you from getting fat easily, but that's only because you're young, right? We'll be in our twenties and thirties eventually. I think it's best if you start now to slowly get used to applying restraint, so that you won't have to worry about dieting in the future."

"E-Et tu, Brute!?"

"Why are you quoting Julius Caesar's last words...?"

Seeing Asya sulking dramatically, Hal cocked his head in puzzlement.

The contents of the basket were definitely in the process of decreasing. As a side note, out of the twelve cutlet sandwiches, Hal's share was three while Asya's was nine.

"By the way, how's Rushalka's condition?"

"Not too good... No, it's terrible. I fear that her days are numbered."

Asya answered Hal's question while she was eating.

Rather than consoling Hal, she probably hesitated for a moment because she wanted to say something optimistic to comfort herself.

But in the end, she did not do that. She had already prepared herself to accept the depressing ending.

Due to their deep friendship, Hal was unable to offer Asya comforting words irresponsibly at such a time.

Sighing, he changed this tone and said, "I see. She was such a good 'serpent.'"

"Yes, she was a reliable partner."

Hal was using past tense prematurely while Asya was presumably misusing it on purpose.

As childhood friends, the two of them had shared many joys and happy memories. The same went for unfortunate, sorrowful, unreasonable or irrevocable experiences.

Hal did not have the sentimental sense to offer appropriate remarks for times like these.

Hence, he silently chewed on the bread and chicken cutlet of his sandwich while sitting side by side with Asya.

It was the same back when they had met up shortly after the passing away of Asya's grandmother. Meeting up three months after Hal's father passed away from illness, she had also leaned herself against him on her own accord without saying a word.

Perhaps this might be what Asya called their "bond."

"Now that our stomachs are filled, it's time to go," announced Asya cheerfully, having finished lunch.

Hal could not sense from her body any trace effects of either the hearty consumption of nine cutlet sandwiches or the depressing subject of conversation.

Her tone of voice was the same as usual. On the other hand, Hal chose to nod silently in response and could not be bothered to speak due to his overloaded stomach. But ignoring the weight in his gut, Hal quickly stood up.

Although Hal and Asya were absolutely dissimilar, they did share one common feature.

Namely, neither of them was prone to the wasteful behavior of letting sorrow hinder their ability to take action. This was perhaps due to courage distilled from a life filled with danger and final farewells combined with their rugged personalities.