“Do you really want to go into an active gate district?” Kaden scrolled through Emi’s phone and looked at the sign-ups sheet that conveniently showed both their names, “And you want me to go with you? I feel like you could have asked me.”

“If I asked you, you would have said no.” Emi leaned on the other side of the counter, already changed into her normal clothes.

“And I would have.” Kaden grumbled, “Did you not recall the encounter that we had eariler today?” Talking to Emi was simliar to talking to an unstoppable force.

The first law. Newton? An object in motion stays in motion. Or something like that. He remembered something like that from his grade school days. 

“He wasn’t that bad.” Emi grabbed her phone back and tossed Kaden’s jacket towards him.

“He looked like he was about to punch you.”

“Yeah. And I was about to punch him too.”

[PERCENT OF FAILURE: 100%]

“If you say so, Emi.” He knew there was no point to try to get out of it. Last time that Emi wanted to do something, she stole the keys to his room and texted a photo of them in front of the pho place.

‘Come get food or sleep outside’ seemed more like a threat during that time.

“If you don’t hurry , we’re gonna miss the subway.” Emi was already waiting by the door. The cafe closed in the afternoon anyway. The owner was retired and carefree. All that mattered to Kaden was that he got paid and he could sleep upstairs.

Call it the dead parents discount. It was really a package deal, if you thought about it.

“Hold on.” Kaden finished closing out the register and sent a text to Ms. Park, who was the owner of the cafe. It was a slower day, but still filled with assholes. Of course. He’d finish the rest of closing when he came back.

He hurried towards the door and locked it behind them. Emi had started down the street, quite literally skipping with excitement. They didn’t have many public gate barriers and it was normally posted the day of the raid.

Emi basically started kicking customers out before closing once she had recieved the notification. And it wasn’t like Kaden particularly was against it. The doors just needed to be locked on time. It was a win in his eyes.

“Why am I here?” Kaden grumbled, as he followed his coworker into the subway station.

“Because if you don’t go, you owe me the registration fee.” She scanned them in, “And the subway fee too. Plus…ah wait was it the red line or the blue line…” Emi paused.

“We’re taking the red line then switching to the yellow after two stops.” Kaden pointed her down to the sign.

“Ah yes!” She continued with her previous statement, “Well anyways, you’ve never been to one of these before. And it’s one of those things where you need to see it at least once.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait to stand in front of an unstable dimesional incursions while hunters glare at us for getting in there way.” He really couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice. It was an impossible task.

“You…” Emi spun around while they were waiting for the train, “…are a buzzkill.”

“Hunters are the last people you’d want to get close to, Emi.” Kaden hoped she’d see reason, but that was pointless. He knew that.

“I’m a hunter. I got registered after college entrance exams.” Emi reminded him.

“Oh wow. I’m honored that you’re hanging out with a civilian then.” Kaden faked a shocked face and held his hand on his heart. Like an asshole.

Emi hit his hand away, “Shut up! You know my rank.”

“It’s the first letter of food. And it makes sense after the stunt you pulled on me last winter.” He was referring to the stolen keys at the pho resturant incident. Kaden had walked three blocks without his coat during a snowstorm.

The subway was packed during lunchtime. Most people were dressed up in suits, tourists, occassionally a hunter would be lurking around. However, it seemed like they were all at the gate by this point.

Kaden watched as the first train passed, part of him peering down to make sure that Emi was still in front of him. People pasted past to catch the doors, barely caring if they slammed their bags into him.

“It won’t matter when I’m working frontlines in the World Order Council’s support department.” Emi was scrolling on her phone and looking at walking routes.

“I can’t imagine working for a place that treats their workers like bodybags.” Kaden muttered under his breath. His opinion on this topic was fully known to his coworkers. If not, it was shown in his impatience for rude hunters that showed up in the cafe.

Emi was able to tell when people were lying. It was a good skill to have to figure out problems. Less useful on the fields when it came to protecting yourself. They’ve talked about it before. Her main goal was supporting her little brother, so frontlines wasn’t in the picture.

F-Ranks were not treated well on the field. It was a known fact in the hunting world. You want to join with a low rank? Be prepared to be used as a human shield.

“You’re not even registered. You're one to talk.” She scoffed, probably rolling her eyes.

“I don’t think my humor counts as a skill.”

“Humor or crudeness?”

“Depends on who you ask.” He shrugged.

"I bet you could defeat a boss by rolling your eyes." 

"Please. I can't touch my toes." 

They moved forward as their train pulled into the station. Both pushing through the crowd of people, as everyone fought to board and fill up the space. Kaden and Emi stood in the corner of the space, nearly crushed as people kept filing in.

[NEXT STOP: 4TH DISTRICT]

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[CIVIL SAFETY ALERT] 

[CHECK IT]

[yes]   [no]

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[yes]

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!   [WORLD ORDER COUNCIL ALERT!]

UNAUTHORIZED OBSERVATION OR INTERFERENCE IS PROHIBITED.

COMPLIANCE ENSURES STABLITY

CITIZENS ARE ADVISED TO FOLLOW ORDERS OF OFFICERS