Frozen shelf, frozen lamp, frozen sofa... and zombie and cloud wrestling each other.

  "Stop it already, Julia." Nata begged, as trying to get her hands off her.

  "Come on, you were willing to use it to defend yourself, could at least give me couple ice cubes to use." Julia noted in annoyance and excitement, as trying to grapple a hold of Nata.

  But their action quickly stopped as they heard doorbell, outside door opening and "We are back," from Hiroshi.

  "Oh my..." Olivia commented, as they didn't even need to take a step inside to see the chaos that has been caused in the house.

  Taking steps in, Olivia quickly realized the air of threat was coming, alongside Julia and Nata, as they noticed Hiroshi come in, shoes still on, and cane in hand.

  "So, girls... Better explain." He muttered, with a smile still on his face, which made the situation more worrying for Nata, while Julia was surprised how well Hiroshi was able to make her skin crawl with his tone.

  "SHE TRIED FORCING MY POWERS TO MAKE ICE CUBES!" Nata quickly spilled, as Julia was only to be able to stammer before Hiroshi took a firm grip on her shoulder.

  "My room, now." Hiroshi muttered, before starting to drag Julia away.

  She tried to give excuses in her shock of the sudden situation, but it didn't slow down the situation, as before Nata and Olivia knew it, they were in his bedroom, and door was shut hard, leaving them alone in the livingroom.

  "Are you alright, Nata?" Olivia asked, as she took wary step to check on Nata.

  "Yeah. Just... help me melt this ice." She muttered, not happy with the situation, but at least she wasn't hurt, as they went to defrost the furniture.

  With the door closed, Julia sat down on the bed, as Hiroshi kept an clear annoyed look at her.

  "So... not just forcing her, but for ice cubes?" Hiroshi asked, just to make sure he got it right of her audacity.

  "Well, yeah." Julia noted with confidence. "It wouldn't be too hard for her to do that."

  Hiroshi sighed at her words, it was true, but also missed a lot of context, "I won't deny that, but you cannot force her. Especially as she clearly harbors bad feelings from it, thanks to Vaska."

  "Sure, so it would help if she got used to using her powers, than cowering by. She is strong. You wouldn't need someone like me to keep your ass save, when she could do it easily." Julia noted with light annoyance.

  "Then take it slower. And especially don't try before I have gotten her comfortable to do it." Hiroshi quickly countered. "I know she is strong, not just by her ability. She has her own issues she has to work over, that you just cannot force."

  "And what gives you the right to presume your way is the better way." Julia noted with angst, leaving Hiroshi get more heated. "I never said I had the right, I am just noting that it is most reliable way, without hurting her or anyone around her."

  Julia was about to speak up again, before Hiroshi stopped her with a quick "AH!" and putting finger up.

  "You may not be my foster, but that doesn't mean you wont go by my rules. I have dealt with troublemakers like you before in my life, so don't expect me to go light on you, when you cause trouble." Hiroshi noted with a threat, not easing Julia's mind, as she just scoffed it off.

  "Fine, do it however you want it. Just don't come crying to me when you fail." She noted with venom in her words, as Hiroshi turned to head out of the room.

  "I don't intent to fail." He muttered, before returning to the living room, easing his mind, and leaving Julia by herself to think through what she had done.

  Coming to the living room, he got to see Nata and Olivia working hard with hairdryer trying to get the sofa into comfortable use.

  It eased his mind to see Nata was seemingly alright for now, as he joined on helping.

  "If Julia causes more trouble, just inform me." Hiroshi made clear, as Nata and Olivia nodded in understanding.

  But as they kept defrosting, and seemed to start to get to the finish, he felt the familiar dread come onto him, and seeing trio were alright for now, and Julia hasn't come out yet, he swallowed hard and leaving the two, went to check on her.

  Opening the door, he could hear scrambling coming from the room, before seeing Julia calmly sitting on the bed, calm as his other hand kept to her pocket.

  "How long are you going to stick there?" Hiroshi asked, to which Julia responded simply, "Shortly." as she got up from the bed, as she straightened herself.

  His dread seemed to calm down, but he knew it wouldn't have appeared without reason.

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  "Good, just come apologize to Nata and things will be alright. It was only a one mistake." He noted, before leaving her be again, as when she got some privacy again, she gave a deep sigh, returning her hand into the pocket, before pulling out her knife, to check it over.

  "Calm down." Julia muttered silently, as with some hesitation, she put it back in her pocket. "Remember, they are not ruthless."

  Day returned to mostly normal activity, while Nata and Olivia were gaming, Julia browsed on her laptop, and Hiroshi was making dinner for the group, during which he had a thought to make a call.

  After a couple rings, the call was picked up.

  "Edith speaking."

  "Hey, Hiroshi here. Got a new phone since the previous one was lost, so you will know this is my number. Also informing that I probably will be able to return to work in couple days. At least by wednesday for sure."

  "That's amazing to hear. And how are the rest doing? Especially with Julia there."

  "It's... complicated, but everything is going good for now. Nata doesn't seem to have changed, Olivia's recovery is coming along, which I could have a talk with Sophia, and Julia is adapting, but she did get in a small scuffle, but nothing too bad thankfully."

  "Not that surprising. And while you are still recovering, I hope you wouldn't mind me asking you of a favor? In the 'work' sense."

  "Sure, what's the problem?"

  "With the leads we got thanks to Julia, things have gotten much more complex than we first expected. So it would be nice if you went to the dungeon museum. There are couple friends there that would know better, but look for something notable, and something that Chuvaki could have interest in."

  "Fine by me. Good reason to go out and stretch with everyone."

  "Thank you so much. Oh, and if you don't mind... the director might want to talk about your experience, so don't get surprised by his enthusiasm?"

  "I doubt I am able to talk about everything, but sure, I don't mind. Just hope nothing bad will happen."

  "Same here. Anyways, I will update your new phone number, and can't wait to hear more from you. Bye!"

  "Goodbye."

  Call finished, and food slowly finishing being made, he wasn't expecting to get more work already, but considering he wasn't sure what locations he should visit around city to fill the time, getting to know a museum wouldn't seem bad of an prospect.

  "Dungeon museum?" Nata asked, having overheard their conversation, and by now curiously waiting by kitchen door.

  "Ah, yeah. I haven't visited one, but they should be some advanced museums focused on the ancient world. You know, something like your dire wolf origins." Hiroshi noted, as he was plating up food.

  The prospect got her excited, while the other two looked curiously from the living room, getting to hear about the museum.

  "But why is it called dungeon museum exactly?" Nata continued the probing for answers, as he put food on the table, and noting the food was ready for all.

  "Most of the knowledge we have of the old world is thanks to the libraries held in some ancient dungeons scattered across the world, and these museums are built on top of them." Hiroshi informed, as the group sat down to enjoy a dinner, first time having full table with four of them.

  "And where is this museum talk coming from?" Julia asked in curiosity.

  "Edith asked if I could explore it. Work stuff as usual, that includes you Julia. So while we do our research, I doubt it would trouble to let you two explore some history." He noted, pointing out Olivia and Nata.

  "Sounds nice." Nata commented, as Olivia nodded in agreement.

  "Not so nice when you find out the great war was the cause for these dungeons to be found." Julia noted with confidence.

  "That's expected, It was only about time, the large area of impact just made it faster." Hiroshi added, but Julia only smirked in return.

  "You say that, but I heard it was more than a coincidence. Couple monsters that happened to awaken and not knowing of outside world, causing a whole lot of ruckus. Leviathans, dragonkin, and even heard there being a mimic, but I think that was contested." She explained, not fully sure, but sure enough to say in factually.

  "That sounds so cool." Nata noted as her tail happily wagged hard, clearly showing there was plenty of energy to blow off.

  "Sounds cool, but I will tell you, to most it was just politics that hit them hard, as minority in the conflict were the soldiers. You couldn't imagine what chaos such aspects brought around, though. Thankfully I was around to see it."

  "You were?" Nata asked, clearly surprised by the fact.

  "I am a zombie after all. death date of 1933, when I was 20." She said with dignity, clearly something she is used to.

  "Oh, sorry to hear that." Nata commented, leaving Julia to process it for a moment, before getting it. "Ah, right, yeah... Thank you." She said, slightly flustered, not having had someone care about the fact she had die in a long time. "And... sorry for causing you trouble before."

  "I don't mind. You are new around here, so it will take time to adapt." She noted with a smile.

  "Then thanks, again." Julia noted, as their troubles thankfully didn't stick around for now, as they enjoyed their meals, while Hiroshi sighed a air of relieve.

  'Thank god things didn't get worse.' he thought to himself, as things returned to calm enjoyment.

  With meal finished for the day, and while the girls got ready at prospect of museum visit. Nata and Olivia out of curiousity on history, and Julia out of curiosity on why exactly.

  Meanwhile Hiroshi went to put his phone in order, and during it, as evening was coming and night time was coming, he decided to call up Sophia.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, this is Hiroshi. Wanted to ask you on couple things."

  "Sure, I will see what i can do."

  "Thanks. Firstly, I was wondering if you knew someone, or would be willing to help Olivia in flight lessons. her wings seems to have recovered well enough to get her to learn."

  "If that's what she wants, sure. No doubts would be useful. In return, she could be doing some small work for me. Nothing serious, just some housekeeping and deliveries."

  "Nice, bet she will be happy to hear that. But I was curious to ask about also possible training or just teaching Nata on magic. She had some... trouble today, and while it is still troublesome for her, I feel she could use some self-control."

  "That makes sense. Wouldn't want to see you turned into frozen icicle for the second time."

  "Ha, true."

  "Well, if I will be training Olivia, helping Nata alongside doesn't sound too bad."

  "Thanks a lo-"

  "But if you are giving me this much work, better give me couple more drinks some day"

  "R-right... yeah, I don't mind. Just don't try emptying as much as you did first time."

  "I'll try. Oh, also I heard from Edith you will be doing the research work. I will just warn, inform the staff that Nata is a ancient species. It won't cause trouble, just to ease their mind if something does happen."

  "uhhh.... sure."

  "Anything else?"

  "No, that's all."

  "Then it was nice hearing from you. Goodbye."

  "Goodbye."

  With the call finished, and informing the girls.

  While Olivia was happy at prospect of getting flying lessons, Nata was left doubting, as Hiroshi was left to wonder about the warning for now.

  As today came to close, tomorrow would be exciting and curious day of exploration.