Kumiko's First Hunt

At the Yokosuka Branch Office of the Protection and Research Agency, several dispatchers sat in a room with many computers and phones, monitoring any reports of magical beasts in Yokosuka, Miura, Zushi, and Hayama while Hana and Hideo had their meeting. There were four of them on duty during the daytime, and with there being no active calls, they all passed the time by watching a television in a corner of the room. Three of them were women and one was a man, and as they watched a variety show on the screen, the oldest of the three women, a brunette in her late thirties, commented to the others, “This shit looks stupid. It makes you wonder who they’re dragging onto these variety shows nowadays.”

“I can change the channel if you want,” replied the only man in the room, who was in his early twenties. Just as he was about to reach for the remote, however, phones at each of their desks began to ring. “I got it,” he said before he picked up his phone to answer it. “Protection and Research Agency, do you have an emergency?”

“I, uh,” said a man on the other end of the line in a worried tone of voice. “I was told to call this number in case of this, but, um…”

“Is something wrong?”

“I see this giant, like… Black mass next to my house. It’s really weird.”

The male dispatcher began typing at his computer as he asked him, “Where do you live?”

“I live at 2406 Kamiyamaguchi in Hayama, and, uh, I can hear something roaring out of it.”

“Okay, do you see anything coming out of the mass?”

“No,” the caller replied. “It kinda looks like a portal a little bit.” Then, the dispatcher heard some kind of noise in the background, followed by the caller frantically yelling, “Holy fucking shit, that bastard’s about two and a half meters tall!”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like… Like a person, but it’s no person.” The caller was clearly frightened by whatever the thing was, and could be heard rushing back into his house. “It looks naked, but its skin is pale like a ghost. You better get someone down here!”

“We’re getting help to you now,” said the dispatcher as he pressed a few more keys before hitting the enter key to send a preliminary description of the call out via the app to all magical huntresses and huntsmen within a two mile radius of the man’s house. “I notified some people who are gonna get to your house and take care of that monster for you, okay?”

“Thank God, because that thing is starting to walk around a bit,” said the caller before he gasped on the other end of the line. “Holy shit, a car just narrowly missed it. What the Hell is that thing?”

“That’s a magical beast, sir,” said the dispatcher. “Stay away from it as best as you can, and do not attempt to make contact with it.”

“I’m gonna try not to,” said the man. “What the fuck does that thing have to do with magic?!”

“The term is used because of how those things get into our world,” the dispatcher explained before turning to another dispatcher to ask her a question. “Do I have anyone on the way?”

“I have one older magical huntress in her car,” said a woman in her mid-twenties as she looked at her computer screen. “And it looks like I got two more coming on foot.”

“Good.” The male dispatcher then turned back to the phone call. “As of now, I got three people coming to help you. They should be there very soon. I’m gonna hang up with you now. If anything changes before they get there, call us back immediately, okay?”

“Okay,” said the man on the other end of the phone call. “It’s just walking away now, like away from the road.”

“Alright,” said the dispatcher. “We’ll let them know. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

After the dispatcher hung up, he sighed and told the others, “This one’s a big one.”

“There’s been more of those recently,” said the older female dispatcher. “It’s weird. When I was a magical huntress all those years ago, we’d get a big one like that maybe once every two months. Now we’re getting one a month, sometimes even two.” She then shrugged. “But eh, what do I know? I’m a dinosaur compared to the girls out working now.” All four of the dispatchers in the room shared a laugh alongside her at her remark. “Thirty-six doesn’t sound old to outsiders, but here, you’re basically a grandma when you manage teenagers.”

“Aw, come on,” said one of the other female dispatchers. “That’s not too bad. We have older women working here.” The phone consoles then rang again, but rang differently than before, indicating it was a non-emergency call. As she picked up her phone, she answered it with, “Protection and Research Agency, Dispatcher Kitamura.”

“Hey there,” said Kaito. “It’s Miyashita Kaito. I’m calling to let you guys know we’re gonna have a meeting with some higher-ups from headquarters next Saturday. Can you transfer me to the branch head’s office?”

“Sure thing, Miyashita-san,” replied Dispatcher Kitamura as she selected the phone number for the head of the Yokosuka Branch. “I believe he should still be in his office, so you’ll get an answer.”

“Thank you.”

It was essentially just another day at the Yokosuka Branch Office, one of many throughout Japan affiliated with the Protection and Research Agency. They would keep magical huntresses and huntsmen in the loop, notify them of reported sightings, and communicate with the agency’s headquarters in Tokyo. Similar to how Daisuke had begun working on the administrative side of the agency after retiring as a magical huntsman, most of the dispatchers were themselves retired from hunting magical beasts.

…

At a local park near Hiroshi Junior High School, all of the members of the Fox Knights met up, including their newest member, Kumiko Murata. As the seven of them gathered around, Hana began speaking to the group as a whole. “You all probably notice the unfamiliar face among us today. Well, that’s because I’d like to welcome our newest member to the group. Murata-san, step forward and introduce yourself.”

“Hello,” Kumiko said somewhat shyly as she bowed to the group. “I’m Murata Kumiko. I, uh… I go to a different junior high school than you guys.”

Yoshiro asked her, “Which school?”

“Nanami Junior High School,” Kumiko replied to him. “It’s right next to the American naval base.”

Yoko, interested in the response, replied, “The base? I used to live over there.”

“You lived in the naval base?”

“Yeah,” Yoko nodded. “When my parents were still together, I lived in the base since my dad was an American. I left there well before I got to junior high school, though, and besides, I went to the elementary school on the base itself.”

Ruka thought to herself as she watched the conversation go on, “So that explains how she looks. I knew she wasn’t fully Japanese when I first saw her, but I never asked her how or why.”

Kumiko then paused and turned to Hana, whispering to her in a worried tone, “Should I tell them?”

“It’s up to you,” Hana assured her in a similar whispered voice. “Me and Ruka support you.”

Sayaka, curious as to what they were talking about, asked them, “What’s up? Is something wrong?”

Kumiko then took a deep breath to prepare herself mentally and told the group, “Everyone, there’s something you all should know. I… Um… I wasn’t exactly born a girl.”

Sayaka, confused by what she meant, asked her, “What do you mean by that? You look like any other girl to me.”

Yoko turned to her and said in annoyance, “Come on, don’t be rude to her.”

Kumiko assured Yoko, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not offended. Don’t worry.”

“I wouldn’t have initially guessed,” Tenko added.

“You see… I’m transgender,” Kumiko explained with a slight blush. “I, uh… I appreciate the nice comments, by the way. It feels good to hear people reaffirm your identity, especially after, well…” It was clear that Kumiko was going to struggle to explain why she had joined the Fox Knights, given how hurtful her former comrades’ words were the day before when she got kicked out of her old group.

“I can take it from here,” Hana said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. “You see, me and Ruka found Murata-san at a battle. Her old group found out about her gender identity and were rather intolerant of it. Yoshiro-kun, you’ve certainly experienced incidents where loner magical huntresses or those in other groups have looked down on you for being a boy in this line of work, haven’t you?”

“Yep,” Yoshiro nodded. “I can only imagine what those assholes must have thought of you.”

“They… They called me a boy pretending to be a girl,” Kumiko admitted with a dejected expression. “Those bastards threw me out of their group after that battle.”

“Trust me,” Ruka told the group. “Those girls were horrible to her. I told them off, and they just flipped me off and walked away.”

“Well,” Hana assured her. “We won’t be so unkind and intolerant. After all, we have Yoshiro-kun as our second-in-command.”

“I’m glad I found Hana-senpai when I did,” Yoshiro explained. “She helped me get started as a magical huntsman.” He took a deep breath and chuckled, admitting to the group, “Without her, I would probably be a loner at best and dead right now at worst.”

Ruka thought to herself after hearing Yoshiro’s words, “So that’s why he’s so devoted to her. He may be a dick a lot of the time towards me, but even I agree that he’s a damn good swordsman, and with someone like Hana teaching him, I can see why.”

“If you have any concerns about anyone here,” Hana told Kumiko. “Let me know. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks,” the new girl to the group replied with a smile. “So, uh, moving on from all of that… I‘ve been a magical huntress now for about two months, and my main weapon is a sledgehammer.”

Tenko, curious about her choice of weapon, replied, “A sledgehammer, huh? That’s not a common weapon for magical huntresses. What made you decide on that?”

Kumiko blushed and admitted to the group, “Truthfully, I just really wanted to smash shit and vent my frustrations out on magical beasts, so I chose that.”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” Yoshiro replied to her. “We’re a diverse group of huntresses, and one huntsman of course, when it comes to weapons. Me, Kishio, and Hana-senpai use different types of swords. Tenko-chan uses a pistol and throwing knives. Fujimori-senpai uses a crossbow. Miyamura-senpai uses a bow and arrow. Your weapon doesn’t sound so ridiculous now, doesn’t it? You’ll fit right in.”

Kumiko asked Tenko, “A gun, huh?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “I usually wield two, actually. The throwing knives are there as a backup.”

As the rest of the group all conversed with each other further about their weapons, Yoshiro turned to Ruka and told her, “I know Hana-senpai put you in charge of training new members, so I’m gonna tell you this once and once only: Don’t teach Miyamura-san or Murata-senpai anything too stupid, okay?”

Ruka, annoyed, replied to him, “I wasn’t going to.”

“I know how you fight,” Yoshiro replied. “It’s like you don’t give a shit about your own life or the lives of anyone else around you as long as you get to fight someone or something.”

“Okay, listen,” she retorted, somewhat angered by his words. “I like fighting, alright? I’m not gonna apologize for that. However, I won’t just stand here and let you say I don’t care about the people around me. Do you think I wanna see anyone in the Fox Knights get killed? Fuck no! Do I know that sometimes, magical huntresses die? Absolutely! I’ve seen magical huntresses get killed in action, Arikawa. It’s not fun. Trust me. Even so, I know that it happens.”

Yoshiro simply turned away, not in the mood to argue with her any further. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Like I said, I’m not planning to.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Hana then said to the whole group. “But there is something else I’d like to talk about. I was thinking of arranging a trip of some kind next Saturday, and I think you’ll all enjoy it…”

…

Later in the day, Hana and her parents ate a rather fancy and well-crafted dinner together and talked about the day they all had. “So,” Kaito asked Hana. “How was your meeting with your friends?”

“It went very well,” she replied with a smile as she placed several pieces of sushi on her plate with a pair of chopsticks. “We got a new member of our team, so we introduced her to everyone else.”

Ayako asked, “A new member?”

“Correct,” Hana nodded. “She’s new to this. She only has about two months of experience, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on her in battles.”

“Just be careful,” Ayako warned her. “I know I say that a lot, but I’ll say it as long as you’re a magical huntress, Hana.”

“I understand,” she assured her mother. “You’re worried. It’s a mother’s job to look after their children, after all.” She thought to herself as she then ate a piece of sushi, “…When she isn’t busy having an affair with another man, of course.”

Kaito then told the family, “That reminds me. Next week, I have a meeting with some executives from HQ. They’ll be coming to Yokosuka, so I won’t be around for most of the weekend.”

“That reminds me of something as well,” Hana then brought up. “Me and the rest of the Fox Knights are planning a trip to an onsen next Saturday. Am I doing anything on that particular day?”

“Not that I know of,” Kaito replied. “Did you already arrange it?”

“Fujimori-senpai’s mother did,” Hana replied.

Ayako then asked her daughter, “What time will you be home, and what about that boy Arikawa you’re friends with?”

“He has some friends coming along, too,” Hana assured her. “As for when I’ll be home, what time works for you?”

“Preferably no later than eleven at night,” Kaito explained. “I mean, if something happens and you’re a little late, that’s fine, but try not to go past then, okay?”

“I won’t,” she assured him. As the three of them then ate their food together, Hana was confident in what her true plan for the next weekend was. In reality, she had lied to her parents about both Yoko’s mother and Yoshiro’s other friends from school coming. “They don’t suspect a thing,” she thought to herself. “Perfect. My plan is coming together very well.”

…

October 9, 2023

Kumiko was waiting outside of her school after it had let out for the day. She had gotten a text saying that Ruka and Sayaka would be coming over to meet her. In contrast with the relatively feminine casual outfit she wore when she first met the Fox Knights, she was dressed in a suit and pants instead as part of her school uniform. As she looked around, she said to herself, “I need to make a good impression. This will be my first time patrolling with them.” She then noticed both of them looking around a group of students and talking to them, seemingly oblivious to her standing right there. “Hey, guys, I’m over here!”

Ruka and Sayaka looked up and saw Kumiko waving back at them. “Oh,” Ruka said to Sayaka. “There she is.” As they walked over, Ruka noticed the uniform Kumiko had on and commented, “That’s odd. It looks like you’re in a boys’ uniform.”

“I am,” Kumiko sighed dejectedly. “I haven’t been able to get a girls’ uniform. My best bet is when I go to high school next year.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Ruka commented. “Why won’t the school give you a girls’ uniform?”

As the three of them walked away from the school together, Kumiko explained, “They’re dragging their feet about it. I’ve been out of the closet for a little under a year now, and it’s frustrating as Hell.”

“That really sucks,” Sayaka commented. “I hope they get you a better uniform in high school.”

As they passed a corner store, Ruka told the two of them, “We’re gonna go out on patrol for an hour or two. The areas we’ll focus on the most when we go out on patrol include areas where there have been mysterious deaths or disappearances. Many times, these were caused by magical beasts emerging from portals and not getting caught or even reported before going back into them. I’ve been on my fair share of calls that led to me finding nothing, and so has Hana.”

Kumiko asked her, “Are we gonna stick to the area near the base?”

“Yeah,” Ruka replied. “Obviously, we can’t go into the base itself.”

Sayaka then asked Ruka out of curiosity, “How do they deal with magical beasts at American military bases?”

“It depends,” Ruka explained. “Sometimes, there’ll be a magical huntress who lives at the base for one reason or another. However, the Americans have their own ways of dealing with magical beasts that’s very different from Japan. Most of the time, the military or the police deal with them when they do happen in America.” As they walked across a street, Ruka further told them, “Most sightings are in Japan anyway. We’re the epicenter of magical beast attacks. They’re a lot less common in America.”

Kumiko chuckled, replying to her explanation with, “That sounds like something right out of an anime.”

“This whole thing does,” Ruka agreed. “I mean, teenage girls fighting monsters? That’s not something that happens in the real world, or at least, that’s not something people think happens in the real world.” She then got a text on her phone and pulled it out, seeing that it was from Daisuke. She quickly sent him a text back and then told the two of them, “You know, speaking of phones, magical huntresses didn’t always use these. I remember being told about how they did it back in the day.”

Kumiko, curious, asked her, “How did they do it before they used cellphones?”

“They used to patrol a lot more frequently,” Ruka explained. “They would also make use of public pay phones to make reports and get more information from the dispatchers at their local branch office. They also kept the house phone numbers of all magical huntresses on file so they could call them if they needed them. We relied on our rings glowing whenever we got close to a portal or a magical beast a lot more than today. Information traveled a lot slower back then, but they made it work.”

“I can’t imagine trying to work without a cellphone app now,” Sayaka commented in disbelief. “It’s so foreign to me, like, wow. I can’t even picture it in my head.”

“Me neither,” Kumiko agreed. “Like, holy shit.”

After crossing another street, the three of them walked up to an abandoned building just outside the perimeter fence of United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, the American naval base in the city that sat on what was once the site of a major Imperial Japanese Navy shipyard and arsenal before the Second World War. Ruka commented to the others, “Abandoned buildings are a good place to look for portals. Hana actually found a dead magical huntress in one of them last month and rescued an injured one.”

“Oh yeah,” Kumiko replied. “I heard about that. I also heard they didn’t find the original magical beast that was reported to the branch office.”

“They didn’t,” Ruka confirmed. “They still don’t know where the Hell it went or even if it’s still alive.” Her tone had become more informal now that they had walked up to the abandoned building. “By the way, Murata-kun knows this already, but Miyamura, if you hear me switch from sounding like an old lady to a delinquent, that’s normal.”

“Oh, come on,” Kumiko assured her. “You don’t sound like an old lady, Kishio.”

Confused, Sayaka asked her, “Like an old lady and a delinquent?”

“I speak very formally around people I’m not totally familiar with,” Ruka explained to the duo. “And when I get to know them better, I drop all pretenses. Of course, get on my bad side, and I’m not gonna hold back. If you act like a dumbass or an asshole, I’ll call you one.”

Sayaka then asked both her and Kumiko, “Why do you call her Murata-kun even though she’s a girl?”

“We knew each other before I was out of the closet,” Kumiko replied. “Besides, -kun isn’t restricted to just boys. That being said, aside from her, I’d prefer if you didn’t use that for me.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Sayaka assured her, worried that she had offended her by accident. “I’m sorry for asking.”

“Don’t be,” she assured her with a pat on the shoulder. “You’re fine. I think it’s better that you asked, actually. It shows you care.”

Sayaka blushed slightly in response to her hand being on her shoulder. “I see…”

All three then heard a loud banging noise inside the abandoned building. Ruka turned to the other two and told them with a grin, “Sounds like we could have something. Let’s try to find an entrance and head in.” She thought to herself as they began to look for a way in, “Whoever owns this place boarded it up pretty good. I can’t find an open window or door in the front at all.”

As they walked around the boarded-up building to try to find an entrance, Sayaka began to feel a sense of dread loom over the group. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“You and I both,” Kumiko agreed.

Then, Ruka saw that the boards on one of the windows on the right side of the building had been torn off, giving them a way in. “Over here,” she said in a quiet voice. She then looked at her transformation ring and noticed it was now glowing, albeit not as much as when she would transform. “There’s definitely something here. Check your rings.”

Sayaka and Kumiko checked their own transformation rings and saw the same thing. “It shouldn’t be far,” Kumiko added.

Then, all three of them heard frantic footsteps up above them on the second floor of the building. Given how they sounded, they knew that whatever it was, it had four legs and was not human. “That’s either a magical beast or an animal,” Ruka said to the group before she held out her hand and began to transform. In a flash of light, she changed into her magical huntress outfit before drawing her sword. “I’d advise that you two transform as well.”

“Got it,” both Sayaka and Kumiko said as they held out their own hands to begin doing so. The transformation process took less than a few seconds from the outside, but indeed, as many magical huntresses and huntsmen would testify, it felt a lot longer from their perspective. Once they were both done, Sayaka asked Ruka as she readied an arrow for her bow, “Where do you want us to go? Do you want us to split up?”

“Stay together,” Ruka told her. “But you two can look around on your own as long as you don’t split up from each other. I’ll stay down here. You two go up to the second floor. Hana gave me a small bit of healing dust just in case anyone gets hurt.” She then showed them a tiny vial of the aforementioned powder she kept hidden in her clothes. “It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to get some of the job done on one person.”

“Got it,” Kumiko replied as the two of them began to look for a set of stairs to the second floor of the abandoned building. “My first hunt with the Fox Knights is going good so far,” she thought to herself. “I hope it stays that way.”