Watching a High-Value Target

April 16, 2026

Hideo Kawase was shaving his face early in the morning in the bathroom. As he was halfway through, he got a call on his cellphone from a number he did not recognize. Confused, he picked up his cellphone and answered it. “Hello?”

“Is this Kawase Hideo?”

“Who‘s this?”

“This is Yamanaka Toru,” said a male voice on the other end. “I was directed to call this number to speak to Kawase-san.”

“Yamanaka Toru, huh… That name sounds familiar. Are you familiar with the Protection and Research Agency?”

“Familiar?” Toru laughed over the phone. “I work there. That’s my day job.”

“Ah, I see. I can confirm that you are indeed speaking to Kawase Hideo. What do you require, Yamanaka-san?”

“My brother is on the executive side of the Agency,” Toru explained to him. “He’s pretty high-ranking, actually. The current Agency president Sakamoto Ken had some controversy recently that tanked his popularity among those working for us, but it isn’t enough to get him to resign and get my brother in as the Agency president.”

“Hmmm… Let me guess… You want some dirt dug up on him that’ll force his ass out?”

“You read my mind.”

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Yamanaka Hiroto,” Toru replied, grabbing a pen and a notepad. “I can take down notes if you want. If you need me to do anything, I’ll do it.”

“I won’t need you to do much,” he assured him. “Just… I’ll need some cash payment for our labor.”

As Toru got ready to write down the info, he replied, “I can arrange that. How much?”

“Hmmm… Let’s start with a down payment of 500,000 yen. Does that sound fair?”

Toru sighed, realizing that he would probably not get a lower amount from him as he wrote down the amount on the notepad. “Yeah, yeah, I can arrange that.”

“Aside from handing me some cash, you won’t have to do anything besides keep your head low and deny, deny, deny. My guys will do all the work to dig up those pesky little skeletons in President Sakamoto’s closet. If he’s fucking some broad behind his wife’s back, we’ll find out. If he’s blowing men, we’ll find out. If he’s wasting all his money on gambling or drugs, we’ll find out. Anything that he doesn’t want to be made public will come out. Trust me. He won’t see it coming, and we’ll make sure he leaves and puts your brother in charge.”

“Thank you,” Toru replied, genuinely grateful for his help. “When do you want the down payment?”

“Meet with some of my associates at the Ten-Go Bar tomorrow around five in the evening,” Hideo explained, using a bar he owned as a cover operation as a meeting point. “Don’t stand out too much, okay?”

“You got it. I’ll be there.”

…

Later that day, Hana was at kendo practice, now able to practice for the first time since the fight with Chignash. After donning protective gear, she grabbed her shinai and stood opposite of another club member who was similarly equipped. As the advisor and coach of the club stood between them, he told the two students, “Since this is Miyashita-san’s first practice since she got hurt over the weekend, I want you both to take it easy and do not go too far. Act like this is your first day doing kendo if you have to.” He then stepped out of the way of them and declared, “Now… Begin!”

Hana struck first, her blow blocked by her opponent. As the two of them duked it out, she thought about the words Chignash had said to the Fox Knights before he left them behind. “He said that a great tragedy would befall all of us at the hands of someone we care about,” she thought to herself. “But I have no idea who that would be… Also, he mentioned a storm, too. Will this great tragedy happen during a typhoon or something? The hint he gave was too cryptic. It could mean anything, honestly. More importantly, though, why did he spare me after he saw my amulet? Is it really that important? I mean, it looks pretty, but I don’t really feel too different when I wear it. Also, what did he call it again?”

Her thoughts were soon interrupted when she lost the round due to her opponent striking her in the chest area with his shinai. The advisor called out, “Halt! We have a winner!” He then walked over and said to both of them, “Alright, not bad. Thanks for taking it easy today. It’s not often I say that, but I’d rather not risk having Miyashita-san get hurt further, after all. That said, it seemed like you were distracted by something, Miyashita-san. Were you?”

Hana admitted with a bow, “Yes. I was. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t do that in a real match,” the advisor told her. “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you need to leave it out of your mind when you step onto the floor for a match. Your opponents in competitive play won’t go as easy as today, after all.”

“I understand,” she replied. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good. Aside from that, it wasn’t actually terrible. Are you sure you’ve never done kendo before?”

“Not until this school year,” Hana replied. “Why do you ask?”

“You play like someone who has at least some experience. I was just curious.”

As Hana took off her mask, she thought to herself, “Oh, right… Now I remember. He called the amulet a Calling Stone. What the Hell does that even mean?”

…

April 18, 2026

The entirety of the Fox Knights had been picked up and driven to the Yokosuka Branch of the Protection and Research Agency. As they all stepped out of a black van, Ruka said to Hana, “This better be for something good.”

“I’m sure we aren’t in trouble,” Hana replied to her. “Calm down.”

Then, to everyone’s surprise, a familiar face stepped out of the building, surrounded by two magical huntresses in their full outfits as his guards. “Ah, welcome.” Ken Sakamoto, the current Agency president, walked over to them with his two guards. “I’m glad you all made it in time. I myself was almost late due to some road construction on the way to Yokosuka from Tokyo.”

Hana was breathless, shocked that she was meeting the president of the Agency on such short notice. “Uh… President Sakamoto.” She immediately bowed in respect for him, prompting everyone else to do the same. “It is an honor to meet you. I wish I had known sooner so that I could be dressed in more formal attire for this occasion.”

“It’s fine,” Ken assured her. “I understand that you all have things going on. I heard you recently began doing kendo, and that Kishio-san and Arikawa-san have begun doing fencing.”

“Correct,” Hana replied. “The three of us began doing sword-related sports this year to keep up our skills even when we’re not in battle.”

“That shows you care. If all magical huntresses and magical huntsmen were like your group, we’d kill every magical beast out there in a year’s time.” Both he and Hana shared a brief laugh. “Now, come with me. All of you.”

As they all followed the Agency president into the Yokosuka Branch office building, Ruka asked Yoshiro with a whisper, “Have you ever met the president?”

“No. Have you?”

“I did once through my uncle a long time ago. Has Hana?”

“She’s met him a few times, including right after we killed that Class One back in junior high in 2023.”

“Makes sense given her family name and what her dad does.”

Yoshiro, annoyed by Ruka’s remark, asked her, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Ruka replied. “I wasn’t implying anything, Yoshiro. Come on.”

…

Inside a large meeting room, all of the Fox Knights sat down at a table alongside Ken. “The reason I called you all here is because I want to thank you all for your valiant efforts against Chignash,” he explained to them once they were all seated. “That monster has been around for many years, and not many magical huntresses or magical huntsmen have lived to say they’ve fought him and survived. Sadly, a woman did die at his hand, but because of your efforts, you did save the lives of two of our own. This is, of course, not the first time your group has gone above and beyond the call of duty. After all, you saved the lives of a young girl and another magical huntress fighting a Class One and a pack of Class Fives almost three years ago, while also having to unfortunately deal with two magical huntresses who went rogue. There are many who would have been reluctant to defend themselves against other magical huntresses, but none of you hesitated for even a second since you knew what was at stake. That quick and decisive decision-making is what I like to see in the young people today.”

Then, one of the magical huntresses guarding Ken said to him during a brief break in the speech, “President Sakamoto, Yamanaka-san’s daughter is here, but not her father yet.”

“Ah, right. She can come in and sit. I don’t mind.” At that moment, a girl who was roughly a year younger than Yoshiro and Tenko came into the room. She was dressed in a sweater and a skirt, and seemed very shy and reluctant to greet the girls. “This is the daughter of Yamanaka Hiroto. Her name is Tomoyo. She’s not a magical huntress, but her family has been involved with the Agency for a very long time, including her father, who is one of my vice presidents. Her mother, in fact, was once much like you, hunting magical beasts as a girl. Her father should be here soon.”

“I’m right here, actually,” then said Hiroto Yamanaka, who was about ten years younger than Ken. “Sorry for that. Traffic was a pain. Did the meeting just start?”

“You didn’t miss anything,” Ken assured him. “Come on in and take a seat.”

As both Hiroto and Tomoyo took their seats beside Ken, the former said to the Fox Knights, “Apologies if my daughter seems a bit antisocial. She’s rather shy.” He then told his daughter, “Tomoyo, introduce yourself to the Fox Knights.”

“Oh, uh…” She then stood up and bowed to them. “Pl- Pleasure to meet you all. My, um… My name is Yamanaka Tomoyo.” Her jet black hair, perhaps even slightly darker than Hana’s, was neatly combed and styled, extending down to her lower back.

Sayaka thought to herself as she looked at her, “Wow… She’s beautiful. I would have never guessed she was Yamanaka Goro’s cousin.”

Hana thought to herself, “She’s quiet and very reserved. Her looks would definitely attract plenty of suitors when she gets a bit older. I’ve never met her before, even though I know her cousin. Perhaps she lived in a different area of Yokosuka from the rest of us.”

“When you don’t have a family of your own,” Ken explained. “You tend to sort of adopt another as your own.”

Hiroto chuckled in agreement. “He isn’t wrong. Tomoyo will tell you that she considers President Sakamoto to be like a second father to her.”

“Now,” Ken then said to get the meeting back on track. “Going back to what we were talking about earlier before Vice President Yamanaka and his daughter arrived, when I see the Fox Knights, I see the best and brightest the Yokosuka Branch has to offer. The reason I called you all here is because I want to make you guys at least somewhat official.”

Hana asked Ken, “President Sakamoto, how would you do that?”

“I have ordered the Yokosuka Branch Dispatching Office to group you all together as one unit so that you all get notified of any reported sightings that occur within one mile of any of your members. That way you all can get a notification immediately even if some of you are initially out of range. I’ve also authorized them to put you on a special call list.”

“A special call list?”

“Basically, if any major incidents happen in the Yokosuka Branch area, we can call you guys up to assist.”

“I see… So you think that highly of us?”

“I sure do. You’ve all proven yourselves to be very competent fighters, and you’ve also proven that you’re willing to risk it all to save others… And that brings me to the next part of this meeting. I have received a recommendation for you all to be awarded the Order of the Golden Kite.”

Everyone in the Fox Knights immediately looked at each other in surprise. Hana asked him, “You have? What class?

Ken’s answer shocked Hana. “First class.”

“First class… Oh my… Did they give a specific battle we were in as to why?”

“They mentioned both the battle from 2023 and this most recent battle against Chignash,” Ken explained. “I’ll have to run it through the Awards Committee at Agency Headquarters in Tokyo first, but so far, I don’t see any major reasons why you all shouldn’t at least get a second class award.”

Hana smiled, grateful for the opportunity to be given the highest award in the Protection and Research Agency, one that was based on a previously-used award by Japan prior to the end of the Second World War. If they were all given a first class Order of the Golden Kite award, they would all be entitled to a yearly stipend of 1.5 million yen. “Thank you for the kind words, President Sakamoto.”

“You’re welcome. Now, for our third point of discussion, I’ll let Vice President Yamanaka take the lead.”

“Thank you,” Hiroto said to Ken before turning to the Fox Knights. “To make a long story short, my daughter has recently been the subject of threats against her life and the lives of the rest of our family. A week ago, someone set fire to our mailbox, even. Thankfully, I was able to put the fire out before it spread, but it was still a rather frightening experience. Additionally, she is considering attending Baron Samejima Kazunori High School next year, and she wants to explore what the school is like before she commits to it. I figured that we could do two things at once and have her temporarily live with someone among you for the time being.”

“I see,” Hana replied. “I’ll have to figure out who can d-“

“I can do it,” Ruka immediately offered. “I have room where I live.”

Yoshiro sighed, annoyed that Ruka had interrupted Hana during a meeting, and was about to say something to her when Hana put a hand on his shoulder and smiled to assure him everything was okay. Hana then told Hiroto, “Then I guess it’s settled. I can have her live with Kishio Ruka for the time being.”

“Excellent,” Hiroto replied. “This was a pretty difficult decision for all of us to make, but we have no choice at this point. The police haven’t been able to catch whoever’s doing this yet, so until they do, she’ll live with Kishio-san. The last thing I want is for her to be unsafe, and I know that even if these threats follow her to Kishio-san’s residents and somehow escalate, she’ll be in good hands.” He then turned to Ruka and told her, “And if you can, show her what it’s like to go to Samejima High School. I want her to make an informed decision about what she does when she graduates from her junior high school, after all.”

“Of course,” Ruka replied, using the more formal and polite tone that the others in the Fox Knights only rarely heard from her. “I will make sure she’s safe while also assisting her in any way I can. You have nothing to worry about when she’s with me, Vice President Yamanaka.”

“Thank you.”

Tomoyo then turned to Ruka and timidly told her, “Thank you very much, Kishio-senpai. I, um… I won’t be too much of a bother.”

“Worry not, Yamanaka-san,” she assured her. “I am very adept at housekeeping, cooking, and cleaning. As long as you do not do anything really bad, I can deal with it.”

“I won’t do anything bad, I swear.”

Ruka smiled at her to calm her nerves. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m honored to host the daughter of such an esteemed member of the Protection and Research Agency.” She then turned back to Hiroto and asked him, “Vice President Yamanaka, when would this arrangement start?”

“It would start this coming Wednesday on April 22nd.”

“Excellent. I’ll be ready to accommodate her by then. If you have anything else you need to tell me that’s more private, just let me know.” She then turned to Tomoyo and said to her, “That goes for you, too. In fact…” She then grabbed a pen and a piece of paper nearby before writing her cellphone and house phone numbers down on it and passing it to Tomoyo. “Here are my cellphone and house phone numbers. If you call either of those, I will answer. If you text my cellphone, I will answer as soon as I can barring any battles against magical beasts or other events that would preclude me from being able to use my cellphone.”

“Thank you,” Tomoyo replied, taking the paper for herself.

“I’ll add those to my contacts as well,” Hiroto also said. “It wouldn’t hurt, I suppose.”

…

April 21, 2026

As Ruka was sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework for the day, she heard the doorbell to her apartment ring and got up. When she opened the door, she found Tomoyo in her middle school uniform carrying a luggage bag alongside her bookbag. “Good afternoon, Ruka-senpai,” she said with a bow. “I apologize for not letting you know beforehand. I was supposed to come here tomorrow, but I had to reschedule to today on short notice. I hope you do not mind.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Ruka assured her. “Come on in. There’s a spare bedroom here for you to use.” Tomoyo then walked in and took her outdoor shoes off before slipping her indoor shoes on, prompting Ruka to say to her, “You don’t have to wear indoor shoes here.”

Tomoyo, confused, replied, “What?”

“I don’t wear shoes in the apartment at all,” Ruka explained. “I got indoor shoes, but I rarely use them outside of school.” She then reached out to grab Tomoyo’s luggage. “I can help you with that.”

“Oh, um, okay…” Tomoyo timidly handed over the bag to Ruka, who walked with it to the spare bedroom and then opened the door to go inside. “Is that the spare bedroom?”

“Yeah,” she replied as she put the bag down and zipped it open. “I’ll let you unpack so you can set it up how you want. I don’t really care how it is as long as you pick up after yourself.”

“Of course,” she affirmed. “I will gladly pick up after myself.”

“Thanks. By the way, you got anything in mind for dinner? I was gonna order out tonight since I got busy with Fencing Club shit after school.”

“Oh, um…” Tomoyo, confused about how Ruka was talking, asked her, “Uh… Are you…?”

“What’s up?”

“Are you… The same person I met in the meeting?”

Ruka sighed, holding back some laughter at her question. “Oh, you mean the way I talk?”

“You sound completely different in your own home.”

“When I’m not in a formal situation,” Ruka explained. “I don’t speak as politely or formally. You should hear how I talk to people in the Fox Knights sometimes.”

“I am not too familiar with you, though, Kishio-senpai…”

“I mean, we’re gonna live together for a while, so I figured we should act more familiar and informal around each other, Yamanaka-san. You don’t have to speak to me like I’m your father or a teacher at school. Relax a little bit.”

“It’s just…” Tomoyo admitted, “I have always been taught to speak very formally around others, even around people I have known for a long time. My family is nobility, after all.”

“I knew that. Hana’s family is nobility, too.”

“But Miyashita-senpai comes from a line of counts,” Tomoyo explained. “We’re from a line of princes.”

Ruka, surprised, replied to her, “Wait, princes?”

“Yes,” Tomoyo nodded. “My father would be a prince if it were not for the American occupation after the war. Our family was the last noble family to be upgraded to princely status before the war ended. We were marquesses for a long time, but we only enjoyed princely status for seven years before they abolished our titles.”

“I see. My family was never nobility, but we were pretty upper class, or at least, my father’s family was. They ran a business installing heating and air conditioning units, and got some pretty lucrative contracts over the years worth tens of millions of yen.”

“What kind of contracts?”

“Well, a few months before I was born, they got a contract to install new heating systems in every elementary school and junior high school in Yokosuka for about 600 million yen.”

Tomoyo, surprised by how much money had been awarded, replied to her, “600 million yen for that?”

“To be fair, there’s a lot of schools in this city, actually.”

“My family’s net worth is a little over two times higher than that.”

Ruka sighed and replied, “Of course it is…”

Tomoyo, afraid she had offended or otherwise hurt Ruka, hurriedly said to her with a worried expression and tone of voice, “Now, wait, hang on! I didn’t mean to offend you, Kishio-senpai! I’m sorry!”

Ruka replied out of surprise, “Woah, woah, woah, calm down, Yamanaka-san. I’m not mad at you. I don’t care if your family’s rich, okay?”

“I really should watch what I say about how much money we have…”

“It’s fine,” Ruka assured her. “You didn’t mean to brag or anything, Yamanaka-san.” She then heard her phone on the nearby table vibrate with a text. “Hang on, I gotta see what it is.” As she walked over and picked the phone up, she saw that it was a text from the Agency reporting a nearby magical beast sighting. “I’d love to stay and chat more, but there’s a Class Four nearby I gotta take care of, and it looks like so far, I’m the only one going to go kill it.” She then put her phone away down her uniform shirt and told Tomoyo as she left, “Make yourself at home, Yamanaka-san! I’ll be back!”

As Ruka left to go fight a magical beast nearby, Tomoyo said to herself, “So that’s how it works… I hope she’ll be okay.”