Hana's Birthday, Part 1

September 26, 2023

Ruka and Hana were racing towards a reported sighting of a portal opening up near Perry Park, a small local park with a monument to Commodore Matthew Perry, the American naval officer who visited Japan in 1853 and subsequently led the way to the re-opening of Japan to the outside world following 265 years of isolation. As they ran down a street and the sun began to slowly set in the evening sky, Hana pulled out her phone and saw something on the app. “Kishio-san!”

“What’s up?!”

“There’s already someone taking the mission in,” Hana told her as they both stopped and she showed her that indeed, another huntress was already heading to the mission.

“Damn it,” Ruka muttered as she caught her breath. “All that running for nothing.” They then both got another update from the app, prompting both of them to look at their phones. As Ruka read the update, she sighed and said, “Oh shit…”

“That’s not good,” Hana also said. The update they got indicated that not only was a Class Five beast reported at the portal, but now a Class Three was as well. “Now we gotta go.”

“Fuck it,” Ruka agreed before putting her phone away. “Let’s go!” Two magical beasts coming in through a portal was rare, but not unheard of.

As they arrived at the park, they found a dark void where one of the trees was supposed to be. Both of them knew exactly that that was where the portal was. Hana told Ruka, “Transform now!”

“Got it,” Ruka replied before both of them held out their left hands and their rings began to glow. Within less than a second, both of them transformed and then ran into the void to go through the portal.

Upon entering it, they saw a girl around their age desperately trying to battle back two different beasts at once with a bow and arrow. She had pink hair and was dressed in a pink and red outfit with a ruffled white skirt, and as she fired two arrows at once at a beast with a snake-like head and a lion-like body, Hana yelled at her, “We’re right here! Just hang on!”

“Give me your backup sword,” Ruka told Hana.

“Oh, right,” she replied before pulling out a katana from a sheath on her right side and handing it to Ruka. She then pulled out a much nicer and newer katana from a sheath on her left side.

The girl with the bow and arrow was then suddenly struck by the other beast, who was shaped like a bear, as large as a kei car, and roared at her after swiping at her body with its claws. The girl yelled, “Help me!”

“Hang on!” Ruka then charged at the bear-like beast, who was the Class Three beast and had several arrows sticking out of it, and began to battle it as the other girl watched. The beast tried to bite Ruka, but she sliced through its mouth, spilling blood onto the ground and causing the beast to roar in pain. Ruka yelled at the beast, her ears ringing from how loudly it had roared, “Shut up already!”

The girl told Ruka, “I got ambushed by that bear-like beast just as I was about to kill the lion-snake one!”

“That sucks,” Ruka replied. “You really got screwed, huh?” She then charged at the beast again, slicing off one of its paws when it tried to swipe at her.

Meanwhile, Hana was battling back the elongated head of the lion-snake beast, who was also trying to spit venom at her and had several wounds from arrows it had managed to rip off of itself. The venom got onto her clothes and armor, causing her some worry as she tried to swing for its neck, only to miss. “Shit,” she said to herself as she dodged a bite from the beast. “It got venom all over me!” She then managed to strike the beast’s neck, and was able to cut partially through it before she was forced to retreat again to avoid being bitten.

The girl then got up and aimed an arrow at the snake beast, telling Hana, “Back up! I can hit him!” She then fired an arrow at the beast, blinding it in its right eye and causing it to yell in pain. With this distraction, Hana was able to complete her cut and swung at the beast again, beheading it with a hard blow to the neck. For extra measure, she then stabbed the beast in its back as it fell to make sure it stayed dead.

Ruka meanwhile had just sliced off a second paw of the bear-like beast. With its two remaining paws, it tried charging at her on them and its stumps. Ruka jumped up and sliced through the beast’s back with the sword she had been given by Hana, causing it to stop in its tracks in pain. She turned around after landing on her feet and said, “Now, let me-“

Before she has a chance to actually kill the beast, the other girl fired two arrows at once into the bear-like beast’s head, killing it and finally ending the battle. The other girl stepped around the beast’s body and told Ruka, “I got it.”

Somewhat annoyed that the other girl took the final blow away from her, Ruka replied, “Of course you did…”

Hana walked over to the other girl and asked her, “Are you okay? You looked like you were in a lot of trouble when we found you.”

“I’m fine now,” she replied as she turned to Hana. “How about yo-“ She suddenly stopped when she saw how Hana looked now that neither of them were busy fighting magical beasts. “Woah…” She was taken aback by her appearance and demeanor, which, to her, seemed almost overwhelmingly pretty. The other girl even blushed slightly as Hana looked at her with a sense of concern about how out of it she now seemed. “Oh, uh…”

Hana asked her, “You seem pretty out of it, actually. Were you hit in the head?”

The other girl then snapped out of it and replied, “Oh, no… I’m fine. It was nothing…”

Ruka asked the girl, “What’s your name, anyway? I haven’t seen you around here at all. Are you new to being a magical huntress?”

“I am,” the girl replied before she bowed. “I’m Miyamura Sayaka. I became a magical huntress about two weeks ago.”

“Two weeks ago, huh… That explains why I haven’t ever ran into you, then.”

Hana asked her, “So you use bows and arrows?”

“Yeah,” Sayaka replied as she showed them both the wooden bow she used. “It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done. I can’t really afford anything nicer.”

“One of the magical huntresses I’m friends with uses a crossbow,” Hana explained. “So I got interested when I saw what kind of weapon you use.”

“A crossbow would be nice to have one day, but like I said, I don’t really have the cash to afford one.” She then put her bow back and pulled out her phone to begin taking pictures for the report. “So, uh… I know this is gonna sound odd, but can you guys help me with writing the report? Writing them isn’t my strength as it is, and, um…” Sayaka seemed embarrassed to ask the duo, and also somewhat shy now that she was asking them for help. “It’s just… Two beasts at once is… I’m sorry…”

Hana placed a hand on Sayaka’s shoulder, causing her to blush once again. She smiled and told her, “Of course I’ll help. Me and Kishio-san over there helped you kill the beasts, after all.”

After a brief pause, Sayaka asked Hana, “What’s your name?”

“Miyashita Hana,” she replied before turning to Ruka. “And that over there is one of my partners, Kishio Ruka.”

“Hey,” Ruka replied with a neutral expression and a wave before she began taking photos of the two slayed beasts with her phone for the report.

Sayaka asked, “Do you guys fight together a lot?”

“I have a group of magical huntresses who fight together, actually,” Hana replied. “Right now, there’s five of us, including a magical huntsman.”

“Magical huntsman?” Sayaka was confused to hear about magical huntsmen. “I didn’t know boys did this, too.”

“It’s not as common,” Ruka explained. “But it happens. We have one boy in our ranks.”

Hana then showed Sayaka a picture of Yoshiro on her phone. “He’s our second-in-command, in fact. He’s fought alongside me ever since he became a magical huntsman.”

“I never knew boys did this. Again, though, I’m new to all of this, and I haven’t been in a lot of fights.” Sayaka sighed, feeling somewhat embarrassed that she did not know about magical huntsmen. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Hana assured her with another pat on the shoulder. “You’re new to this, like you said.”

Ruka asked Hana, “Are you offering her a spot in the group?”

Hana turned and replied with a smile, “Why not? She could use some guidance from experienced magical huntresses like us.”

“Fair enough.”

“Woah,” Sayaka replied in anticipation for an answer. “You’re gonna invite me to your group?!”

“Certainly,” Hana nodded as she turned back around to face her. “With the right training and guidance, I think you’ll make a good addition to the Fox Knights.”

“Fox Knights… That’s such a cool name!” Sayaka was clearly excited to be part of something greater than herself. As the three of them walked out of the other world and through the portal back to the real world, Sayaka asked them, “So, when do we start?”

…

September 27, 2023

Yoko said to Tenko as the two of them talked after school, “We got another new girl?”

“Yeah,” Tenko replied as they walked past the front gate. “Miyashita-senpai and Kishio-senpai found her during a battle yesterday and helped her out. She’s new, like, brand new.”

“Okay, but how new?”

“Literally just two weeks as a magical huntress. She’s that new.”

Yoko had some apprehensions about taking on someone so new so soon after taking on Ruka. “I don’t know how to feel about that, honestly. Taking Kishio on gave us enough work, but now we’re taking on another girl who’s still brand new to this shit?”

“We can’t control who she lets in,” Tenko pointed out. “Besides, I only had a little over a month of fighting experience before Miyashita-senpai took me in, and I think I turned out alright.” Tenko gave Yoko a smile as she finished her sentence.

“I mean… Well… You’re different, you know.”

Tenko playfully asked her, “How so?”

“You just are,” Yoko replied with a slight blush. “That’s all I’m gonna say, Tenko.”

“I think with the right guidance, this new girl will be a good fit.” Tenko then pulled out her phone to show a text she got from Hana about Sayaka, which included a photo of her. “This is her in her transformed state. She uses a bow and arrow, but I guess she says she’s open to upgrading to a crossbow if she gets enough money.”

“Okay, hold the Hell up,” Yoko replied with a somewhat annoyed tone. “Crossbows are my thing. A bow and arrow is fine, but do we really need two crossbow users?”

“It wouldn’t hurt, Yoko-senpai. More people is a good thing since it means we can cover more ground and fight more magical beasts.”

Yoko begrudgingly agreed with, “Okay, fine, I guess.”

Tenko then asked her as the two rounded a corner, “I wonder what Yoshiro-kun and Miyashita-senpai are doing. Did you see them at all when school let out?”

“No,” Yoko replied as she shook her head. “I texted Miyashita-san when I got out, but she left me on ‘read.’ I doubt Arikawa-kun would answer back either.”

“They’re probably talking about the new girl together.”

Yoko jokingly replied, “Or Arikawa-kun’s finally growing a pair of balls and telling her how he fee-“ Yoko stopped her joke when she saw that it bothered Tenko. “Oh… Sorry…”

As the two walked silently after Yoko’s attempt at a joke, Tenko thought to herself, “I get what he sees in her, but surely he knows by now she’s not willing to be someone’s girlfriend with how busy she is.”

…

Yoshiro and Hana were talking about the new girl that the latter had invited into the group while they walked together down a hallway at school, having stayed after school for a bit together. “She doesn’t go to our school,” Hana explained. “Hence why we haven’t seen her until now.”

“That would explain it,” Yoshiro replied with a nod. “I’ll have to reserve judgment until I see her, but from what you’ve said of her so far, she sounds pretty good.”

“For a beginner, she isn’t half-bad, actually.”

Yoshiro then asked her, “What does she think about magical huntsmen?”

“Actually,” Hana replied. “She didn’t know they existed until we told her about you. She didn’t have anything negative to say about it, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know not every magical huntress is welcoming of boys in our profession, but she just seemed genuinely interested that boys could do what we do.”

“Well that’s good. The last thing I want is her getting turned away by my presence.”

“Believe me,” Hana assured him. “I can spot magical huntresses who don’t like boys.”

Yoshiro then asked her to change the topic of the conversation, “Changing topic, what time do you want us over to your house on Saturday?”

“Around five in the evening,” Hana answered. “Be sure to dress semi-formally.”

“Of course,” he replied with a smile.

…

September 28, 2023

“My name is Miyamura Sayaka,” Sayaka said as she bowed in front of the whole group, now dressed in her school uniform, which was gray with a white shirt and a red tie. “It’s an honor to be invited to join your group.”

Hana smiled and began to introduce the other members of the team, starting with herself. “You’ve already met me and Kishio Ruka-san. Our second-in-command is Arikawa Yoshiro, the boy I mentioned yesterday.”

“Hello,” Yoshiro said with a friendly wave. “Welcome to the Fox Knights, Miyamura-senpai.”

Confused, Sayaka asked, “Miyamura-senpai? How old are you, Arikawa-san?”

“I’m a grade below you,” Yoshiro explained. “So is Tenko-chan.”

“Which would be me,” Tenko replied with a bow. “I’m Ikezawa Tenko.”

“And finally,” Hana then said as she turned to Yoko. “Last but certainly not least, our oldest member by age, Fujimori Yoko-senpai.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Yoko said as she extended a hand to Sayaka as opposed to bowing for her. As Sayaka shook it, she told her, “I’m a grade above you, hence why I’m the oldest member of the team by age.”

“So,” Ruka then asked her. “How many hunts have you been on since you enlisted, Miyamura?”

“That fight on Tuesday was my fourth,” Sayaka explained, somewhat embarrassed by what seemed to be a low number to her. “I haven’t done a lot in the last two weeks. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ruka assured her. “I only got five fights done in my first month as a magical huntress when I was eleven.”

Sayaka was shocked at how young Ruka was when she enlisted. “Eleven?! Holy shit, you can sign up at eleven?!”

“Yep,” Hana nodded. “Ten is the bare minimum, which is when I signed up, though my eleventh birthday wasn’t too far away when I signed up.”

“That seems too young…” Sayaka, thinking she had accidentally insulted both of them, then assured both of them while slightly panicking, “Not that it affected either of you! I’m not trying to insult you by saying that, I swear!”

Ruka chuckled. “It’s fine. We aren’t offended by it.”

“Besides,” Hana assured her with a pat on her shoulder, making Sayaka blush. “Age isn’t everything. I see a lot of potential in you, even with how new you are, Miyamura Sayaka.”

Given Sayaka’s reaction, Ruka thought to herself, “Miyashita might say she’s not gay and I’d believe that, but I’m starting to think I wouldn’t believe Miyamura if she denied liking other girls.”

Sayaka said as she continued to stare at Hana, having seemingly been put under a trance, “Potential… Maybe I do have potential, Miyashita-san.”

“Of course you do.”

Yoko then told Sayaka to snap her out of her trance-like state, “That all being said, we aren’t gonna go easy on you, so make sure you stay ahead of the game like we do. We pride ourselves at being the best at what we do.”

“She’s right,” Yoshiro agreed. “Being a magical huntress is inherently dangerous, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, this job will kill you.”

“I know it’s dangerous,” Sayaka assured them. “I’ll take this seriously. Don’t worry about me.”

“Since you’re in the Fox Knights,” Hana then said to Sayaka. “Are you available this Saturday, and do you have a semi-formal dress to wear?”

“This Saturday? A semi-formal dress? What for?”

…

September 30, 2023

The Fox Knights as a whole were celebrating together at Hana’s house alongside her family and several close family friends. The cause for the celebration that had earlier been discussed had in fact been her birthday, and many had attended, most of whom were adults her parents knew rather than her peers. As she had requested, all the members of the team had attended the party in semi-formal wear, with the girls in dresses and Yoshiro in a dark suit and jacket.

Yoshiro and Hana were talking among themselves as people congregated in the well-furnished living room of the latter’s home. “Kishio is late,” Yoshiro replied, annoyed. “We told her five in the evening, and it’s already twenty minutes past five. What the Hell’s taking her so long?”

“Maybe she got held up by something,” Hana assured him, wearing a dark blue cocktail dress. “I’m sure it’s not intentional, Yoshiro-kun.”

Then, both of them heard someone walk through the front door of the house, greeting several people as they entered. Both of them turned around to see it was Ruka, wearing a red cocktail dress. In contrast with her normally relatively crass personality and language, she was being very polite with the guests she encountered. “Good evening to you. It’s nice to meet you, sir.” She said to an older woman with a warm smile as she bowed to her, “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. My name is Kishio Ruka.” The two then shook hands when she raised her head from her bow.

Seeing someone like Ruka in a semi-formal dress surprised Yoshiro, but not Hana. As Ruka walked over to them, Hana said to her, “Welcome to the party, Kishio-san.”

“Sorry for being late,” Ruka told them both. “I had to run to the Agency’s Yokosuka branch office in Isogo, and my train got held up. Apparently some guy pulled the emergency brake and got off the train further up the line. It was fucking annoying.” She then handed Hana a small gift bag. “I got you something, Miyashita-san. Happy birthday.”

“Why thank you,” Hana replied with a smile. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“It’s nothing special. I just feel like I’d be a dick if I came here without a gift.” Ruka’s change back to her normal tone of voice once again left Yoshiro speechless. She noticed this and turned to him, asking him, “What’s up? You’ve been staring at me ever since I walked over.”

Yoshiro attempted to reply, “It’s just…”

“It’s just what?” Ruka then noticed a man that she immediately realized was Hana’s father walking over to her. She once again flipped back to the same tone of voice she had when she walked in. “You must be Miyashita-san’s father. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You must be Kishio Ruka,” Hana’s father replied.

Ruka bowed to him and replied, “I am.”

“My daughter has said a lot of good things about you,” said Kaito Miyashita as he grabbed a small glass of white wine from Yumi as she passed by with a small plate of wine glasses. “It’s good to finally meet you in person. Now, by any chance, you wouldn’t happen to be related to the Kishio family who ran that real estate business?”

“Indeed,” Ruka confirmed. “My father’s family still runs that business, as a matter of fact.”

“I met your father a few times before he passed away,” Kaito explained to her. “In fact, it was him and your grandfather who sold our family our vacation home.”

Ruka asked him, “How is that working for you?”

“Very well,” Kaito assured her. “We love staying there.”

“I’m glad we could help you.”

“I also see your uncle Daisuke a few times while working,” Kaito added, being careful not to say exactly where he worked. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing very well. He and his wife just had a son half a year ago, so he’s busy with that.”

“I see. Tell him I said congratulations next time you see him.” Kaito then turned to go see other people and told her, “Anyway, enjoy yourself. You and the rest of Hana’s friends deserve it after the hard work you’ve all done.”

“Why thank you,” Ruka replied with another bow. When he walked away, Ruka reverted back to her more informal tone of speaking and asked Yoshiro, “So, what is it?”

Yoshiro admitted, “It’s just… I was surprised to see you like this.”

“You mean in a fancy dress and speaking politely to people?”

“Yeah.”

“As I said,” Ruka explained to him. “I’m not isolated from how high society behaves. I was raised in it for about eleven years of my life. I’ve learned to act mature and be the prim and proper girl when I need to be.”

“I guess I wasn’t expecting that from you,” Yoshiro admitted. “I think you look nice with the dre-“ He immediately stopped himself, blushing and turning away as he realized the implications of his statement. “Pretend I didn’t say that.”

Ruka chuckled. “I can’t just forget that, Arikawa.”

“Come on…”

Hana assured him with a pat on the shoulder, “We know you meant well, Yoshiro-kun. I personally think you look very elegant in that cocktail dress, Kishio-san.”

“Why thank you,” Ruka replied to Hana while giving her a short bow. “And I think both of you look good as well.”

Yoshiro somewhat nervously replied, “Th- Thank you, Kishio…”

“Don’t be so damn nervous,” Ruka told him. “It’s just some banter among comrades. Nothing more.” She then turned to Hana and said to her, “I didn’t know my family sold your family a vacation home.”

“It was years ago,” Hana replied. “I was only five years old when that all happened.”

“So about three years before my parents passed away,” Ruka realized. “Maybe we met somewhere without even knowing it. My dad did meet with your’s, after all.”

Yoshiro, feeling sympathy for Ruka, told her, “I had no idea your parents passed away, Kishio. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Ruka assured him, “Thank you. It’s fine, though. I’ve learned to keep going even if they can’t be here in person.”

“If you don’t mind us asking,” Hana then asked her. “What happened?”

Ruka sighed before explaining to them what happened to her and her parents in the past, her tone of voice becoming rather serious and solemn. “When I was eight years old, my parents and I were in a car accident. They both were killed, and yet I got out of it with only a broken arm and some bruises. After that, I lived with my grandfather for a few years before my uncle Daisuke, my father’s youngest brother, began taking care of me instead.”

“I see,” Hana replied, feeling bad for her. “Like Yoshiro-kun said, I’m sorry that happened to you.” Yoshiro was also visibly saddened by what Ruka had told them, now being given a somewhat clearer picture of Ruka’s past.

“Thank you, but like I said, it did happen a pretty long time ago. I’d say I’m doing better now than I was back then.” Ruka looked out among the many guests inside Hana’s home, many of whom were also connected to the former nobility of Japan, or the Kazoku, in some form, which was different from the upper-class company she was used to from the corporate world. “But enough about the past,” she then said to change the subject. “Let’s focus on the now. Is everyone else here?”

“Yeah,” Yoshiro replied. “They all got here around five.”

“They’ll be glad to know you’re here with us now,” Hana said. She then walked towards a staircase to the second floor, telling both of them, “Come with me. We’ll all meet in my room.”

“You know,” Ruka said as she walked up with Hana and Yoshiro. “I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be at the birthday party of a girl who almost killed me in a sword fight.”

“To be fair,” Hana pointed out. “You did want to fight me first.”

“You got me there.” Curious about Hana’s parents, she then asked her, “Where’s your mom, by the way?”

“She’s busy greeting some other guests probably,” Hana explained as they walked down to her room. “I’ll have you meet her when we’re done in my room.”