Creating a Scandal, Part 1

April 28, 2026

Sayaka and Kumiko were at the latter’s house eating dinner together with the Miyamura family, which consisted of Sayaka herself, a younger sister who had just started middle school, and her two parents. “So,” Sayaka’s father, who shared her hair color but had differently-colored eyes, asked Kumiko. “How are you two doing?”

“We’re getting along well,” Kumiko replied to him. “We’ve been out on a few dates, and I’m really enjoying it.”

Sayaka’s mother then asked her, “How did you two meet?”

“We, uh,” Sayaka then explained, not going into detail about her work as a magical huntress. “We met when we were in middle school together.”

“I’m just surprised she hasn’t been here since before now. We don’t bite, Sayaka.”

Kumiko chuckled. “No, no, no, it’s fine. I’ve been pretty busy, so usually, we’d meet up after school and then have to go our separate ways.”

“You know,” Sayaka’s father pointed out. “When Sayaka told us she was gay, I was worried that perhaps she would not have good luck in finding a girlfriend, but it seems my worries were for nothing. Sayaka’s pretty shy, or at least, she was. I’ve noticed in the past two or so years she’s become less and less shy. When she was younger, she barely spoke to other people, but now, she not only has a group of friends, but a girlfriend.”

Sayaka, a bit embarrassed by her father, said to him, “Dad, come on. I wasn’t that bad, right?”

“You once apologized to your uncle after he startled you by accident during a family reunion,” he reminded her. “Let’s be real here.”

Sayaka blushed upon being reminded of the event, while Kumiko chuckled slightly and thought to herself, “That sounds so cute.” She turned to Sayaka’s younger sister and asked her, “How’s middle school so far for you?”

“It’s alright,” she replied. “It’s different from elementary school, though.”

“Get used to it for the next six years of your life.”

“I know, but still…”

“You’ll be fine,” Sayaka’s father assured his younger daughter. He then noticed Kumiko’s glass of water was empty, and asked her, “Do you want more water?”

“Oh, I can get it,” Kumiko replied as she got up.

“No, I got it.” Sayaka’s father then took the glass and went over to a sink to fill it with tap water. “You’re our guest, after all.”

“Wow,” Kumiko thought to herself. “Never in a million years did I think I’d have a girlfriend at all, much less one whose family was so accepting of me. I was so worried before I got here that they’d look down on me for who I was, even with them accepting Sayaka’s sexuality, but they don’t mind me one bit.”

…

After dinner, the couple were now alone together in Sayaka’s bedroom, both of them sitting on the bed together and blushing as the realization that no one else was around set in. Sayaka turned to Kumiko and asked her, “So, uh… Did… Did my parents talk to you about… Anything?”

“No,” she replied. “Did… Did your parents talk to you?”

“Yeah,” Sayaka nodded. “I, um… They… They said to not go so fast with, um…”

“With getting physical?”

“Yeah, with that.” Sayaka then leaned on Kumiko’s shoulder, telling her, “I’m glad dinner went well, Kumiko.”

“I am, too.” Kumiko then wrapped an arm around her girlfriend. “You know, I was so worried that they’d not accept me given I’m trans, but they’ve been so open… It makes me wish my mother was like this.”

Sayaka remembered how Kumiko’s mother refused to accept or even acknowledge that she was transgender and a girl, while her father accepted and cherished her. “I still can’t believe she can’t come to terms with it. It’s been so long since you’ve been out, and yet…”

“I know. At least my father accepts me and loves me for who I am. It could be worse, so much worse. I know people who aren’t accepted by anyone in their family, and it hurts to see what happens to them.”

“That sounds horrible…” Sayaka then rested her head against Kumiko’s chest, telling her, “You’ll always have a place here if anything changes.”

“Thank you,” Kumiko replied while blushing, feeling her girlfriend’s warmth against her body. “I, uh… I know there’s not a lot there… I’ve only been taking hormones for a year and a half after all.”

“It’s fine,” Sayaka assured her. She then looked up at Kumiko and closed her eyes, surprising her with a kiss. Kumiko, for her part, was unprepared, but soon closed her eyes and returned the kiss. When the two split, Sayaka told her girlfriend, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Kumiko replied as she initiated a kiss this time. As the two made out, they laid down on the bed and began to slowly get more physical with each other, not stopping for anything as Kumiko began to massage Sayaka’s own chest through her clothes, eliciting some moans from her as she also planted kisses down Sayaka’s cheek and neck.

Once she stopped, Sayaka took over, kissing Kumiko’s face several times, including her nose once, causing the two of them to share a brief laugh. Sayaka told her, “You really are eager, aren’t you?”

“What about you? You haven’t resisted anything I’ve done.”

“Because I like it.”

Kumiko remarked, “Wow, that’s bold. Who are you and what did you do to the real Sayaka? What’s your secret to gaining so much confidence?” Sayaka giggled and began to kiss her girlfriend more, but as she was about to reach down and feel her crotch, she suddenly stopped. Confused, Kumiko asked her, “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh…” Sayaka paused as she tried to find an answer. Meanwhile, she began to think that perhaps going that step further would not be good for Kumiko. “Wait a minute,” she thought to herself. “Kumiko-senpai is trans and she’s only taken hormones, which means… If I touch her down there, could it bother her? What was that word she used for that sort of thing with her body again?”

Kumiko meanwhile thought to herself as she looked down at her skirt and underwear, “Wait a minute… Now I get it… Sayaka might be turned off by my… My penis.”

“Maybe we can just do that another time,” Sayaka then said to her. “I, um… Let’s just stick to kissing each other for now. How about that?”

Kumiko nodded. “Of course. If you’re not ready, I’m not ready.”

Sayaka then got up from the bed and asked her, “So, what did you think of us doing that?”

“I thought it was fun,” Kumiko answered honestly. “I enjoyed it. Did you?”

“Yeah… I did.”

…

May 1, 2026

Hana was finishing her homework in her dorm room with Riko following a kendo match against another school. Riko, who had already finished her homework and had taken off her prosthetic arm, asked her as she walked into the dorm room, “Hana-san, how was kendo today? I heard you guys played against Ayase High School.”

“It ended with a draw,” Hana explained. “An equal number of their players and our players won their matches. We got another match tomorrow around noon against them, so hopefully, we will be victorious that time.”

“How did you do specifically?”

“I played three matches. I won one and just barely lost the other.”

“Not bad.” Riko then laid down on her bed and pulled out her phone, checking her texts before pulling up a rhythm gacha game and playing it. “Alright, let’s see if I can get an S rank on this song…” To make sure Hana would not be distracted by the song, Riko pulled out a set of earbuds and put them in each ear with her one hand before then beginning the song.

Just as Hana finished her work and Riko completed the song, she was suddenly interrupted by a notification on her phone. She looked over and saw that it was not an alert for a magical beast sighting or attack, but a text from someone. “Hmmm…”

Riko then excitedly proclaimed, “Hell yeah! I got an S rank! Fucking finally!”

Hana smiled before picking up her phone and telling Riko, “Ayano-san, I gotta head out. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

As Hana got up, Riko, who was on her bed looking at her phone with her non-amputated arm, turned to Hana and asked her, “Hana-san, where are you going?”

“I have to meet with someone. It’s Agency business.” Hana then left the dorm room and closed the door behind her before walking down the hallway. She thought to herself, “It’s not officially Agency business, but it is someone affiliated with them.”

…

At the Ten-Go Bar in Yokosuka, Hana walked in to find several customers staring at her from the bar, confused as to why a teenage girl had walked into an establishment she was not old enough for. However, the bartender had been expecting her. “Are you Miyashita?”

“I am,” she replied to him as she looked around, finding the bar to be packed to the brim with various objects hanging from the ceiling and the wall and barely any room for people to squeeze by both the bar and a set of tables along the wall, an average Japanese izakaya.

“The meeting’s in the back,” he told her as he pointed to a door that led to a billiards room. “There’s no one in there playing pool, so you guys won’t be bothered.”

“Thanks.”

As Hana walked past the customers and into the billiards room, one of the customers asked the bartender, “That girl who walked in looks pretty cute, but she seems a little young to be going in a place like this.”

“She’s not here to drink,” the bartender explained. “She’s here to meet with the boss and a contact they both share.”

In the billiards room, Hideo and Toru were waiting for her. Hana took a deep breath as she looked at Hideo, still haunted by what she had done with him several years prior. Toru then said to her, “Welcome. Is this your first time here?”

“Yeah,” Hana replied as she set her bookbag down. “I haven’t seen you since the night we shared, Kawase-san.”

Toru looked at Hideo with an annoyed look and remarked, “Really? You did that with her of all people? Don’t you know how much of a big deal her family is?”

“Was,” Hideo pointed out. “That whole divorce between her parents has really fucked everything up.”

“You’re right about that,” Hana agreed. “Besides, Yamanaka-san, it was necessary, and it’s in the past anyway. I’m not here to sleep with anyone. I’m here to talk about our current Agency President.”

“Of course,” Hideo nodded. “Your president Sakamoto-san is already in some hot water, but I hear you have more information that could finally get him to quit.”

“I do.” Hana then zipped open her bookbag and pulled out a small folder with some sheets of paper in it. “This folder contains photos and screenshots of text messages between him and another woman. He’s been cheating on his wife for about two years now.”

“That will only add to the troubles he’s facing,” Toru replied as he picked up the folder and opened it to see its contents, also sharing it with Hideo. “Already, he’s in hot water due to that IT and radio contract the Agency made. I’m sure you’re already aware of the details.”

“Yeah. He accepted a twenty-five million yen bribe for that contract… Allegedly, of course.”

“Allegedly,” Hideo chuckled. “I always love it when people use that word for things that are so obviously true. How did you get this anyway?”

“Funny enough,” Hana explained. “You may be familiar with the family of the girl I got this from. I’m sure you recall that magical huntress you were doing compensated dating with a few years ago that got killed, right?”

Toru turned to Hideo with a look of disgust and remarked, “You did that with a magical huntress? Really?!”

Hideo replied to Hana in annoyance, “Damn it, I didn’t think you’d bring up that about her!”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Hana shrugged. “Anyway, that girl’s mother is the one whom Sakamoto-sama has been with for the past two years. Reportedly, she and her husband divorced soon after their daughter died. I got these texts and photos from Furukawa Ai’s cousin, Furukawa Kyosuke, a friend of one of the members of the Fox Knights. He won’t say how he got them, but he said it was a pain in the ass to do it.”

“I see,” Toru replied as he read one of the texts. “Wow, I never realized how dirty-minded Sakamoto-san could be. These texts are filthy, and yet he always told me how his bedroom with his wife has been dead for at least a year at this point.”

“This is probably why. However, that’s not the only thing, right Kawase-san?”

“Correct,” Hideo replied with a nod as he then presented his own folder. “Through some contacts with some of the girls I’ve… Associated with, I found these two girls that were hooking up with him, too.”

Toru took the other folder from Hideo and opened it up to read its contents as well. “Yep. Same thing as the first folder. Sakamoto-san is a sex fiend.”

“And that will be his downfall,” Hana explained. “Having sex with the mother of a fallen magical huntress while he’s married to someone else is scandalous enough, but having sex with two active magical huntresses is worse, even if they’re both over eighteen. Once I scan these photos, I’ll anonymously post them online for the whole world to see.”

Hideo, impressed with Hana’s work, asked her, “So, for all this, what do you want from us?”

“Does one million yen as a down payment for my services tonight sound fair?”

“I can make that work. If you want more, you know what to do.”

Hana shuddered at his last sentence, knowing what Hideo meant by that. “No thanks. I’m fine with just one million yen.” Those words seemed to really disappoint Hideo, but he said nothing, indicating he was willing to begrudgingly accept her refusal.

“When my brother becomes Agency President,” Toru then promised to her. “Me and him will be sure to give the Fox Knights some preferential treatment. I must say, I’m happy with how your third-in-command has been with my niece. From what she’s been telling me, Kishio Ruka has been nothing but kind and welcoming to her.”

“Thank you,” Hana bowed to him. “It’s our pleasure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to school. Have a wonderful day.” As Hana left the billiards room and then walked out of the bar, she thought to herself, “Of course, he couldn’t help but make a pass at me. As soon as this deal goes through and Yamanaka Hiroto-san becomes President, Kawase is going to die.”

…

May 4, 2026

Ruka was doing her homework with Tomoyo at the kitchen table, the former having just gotten home from a meeting of the Fencing Club and the latter having just gotten home from a meeting of the Literature Club. “So,” Ruka asked her. “How’s the Literature Club at school treating you, Yamanaka-san?”

“Oh, uh,” Tomoyo replied to her. “They’ve been really nice to me. I’m starting to open up to the others there.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she replied before passing her a cup of tea. “Here. I made enough for a few cups for both of us.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a bow before sipping some tea. “You know, uh, I didn’t think you could be like this, Kishio-san.”

“Hm? How so?”

“I always thought you’d be, like, uh… Rough? More… Informal?”

Ruka giggled and explained to her, “I’m not always like how I am in battle or around those really close to me, Yamanaka-san. People have always said to me how I act like my mother one minute and like my father another minute.”

“Are you acting more like your mother now?”

“Actually, you’d think that would be the case, but no. My father was always the more formal and polite one. My mother grew up in a poor working class family, so she was more rough around the edges than my father. That’s one of the reasons he fell in love with her, in fact.” She then looked down at her reflection in the tea. “I don’t mind when people say that, honestly.”

Tomoyo then asked her, “What happened to your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I figured this would come up at some point.” Ruka sighed and sipped on some tea before continuing. “My parents died when I was young. They lost their lives in a car accident. I don’t speak to most of my father’s family for reasons I can’t really get into, and my mother’s family isn’t particularly large nor are they well-off. I’ve lived on my own for a few years now, albeit with some help from my uncle.”

“Kishio Daisuke-san is your uncle?”

“Correct,” the blonde girl nodded. “He’s the only one in my father’s family I really speak to. Again, I won’t get into why, but trust me when I say that it hasn’t always been easy dealing with them.”

“I see…”

“But enough of me.” Ruka then leaned over and asked Tomoyo, “How about you?”

“As in my family?”

“Yeah.”

“My father dotes on me a lot,” Tomoyo admitted. “My mother died when I was young, and he sees her in me sometimes. I’ve never really been, uh… Good with other people.”

“I could tell you were pretty shy, Yamanaka-san. You can open up to me if you want.”

“Yeah. I’m shy. I’ll admit that. So, with my family, we’ve been involved with the Protection and Research Agency since its inception in 1948. Before then, we were nobility like Miyashita-san, but we were ranked higher. My great-grandfather was a marquess.”

“That is pretty high in the prewar nobility,” Ruka noted. “Hana’s family were counts, and if it were up to her, they’d still be.”

“My father wishes it were that way, and so does my Uncle Toru.” Tomoyo then turned back to her homework and wrote down a short paragraph for an answer to a question. “We’ve had family members lead the Agency before, and my father is hoping he gets to lead it after Sakamoto-san leaves.”

Ruka remarked with a chuckle, “With everything going on surrounding him, that may be sooner rather than later.”

“I don’t talk to him too much about Agency business, but I overhear him talking with others sometimes, and what I hear would kinda scare me if I was a magical huntress, especially recently.” Nervous that she had accidentally told Ruka too much about matters she thought could be confidential, she quickly apologized. “Ah, uh, I’m sorry! I probably shouldn’t have told you that!”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Ruka assured her with a pat on the shoulder, making her blush. “If anything you tell me is secret, I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

“Oh… Okay…” Once Ruka’s hand was off of her shoulder, she snapped back into reality and said to her, “You know, I don’t think I could do it. I’m afraid of fighting, and my dad would be… Well, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if I got hurt… Or worse.”

“Being a magical huntress isn’t for everyone. Just because your father works for the Agency doesn’t mean you have to be one. Besides, you’re an older teenager at this point, so if you were to sign up now, you’d be stuck as one until you're in your late twenties unless you paid enough money to buy out your contract.”

“How long are you gonna do it?”

“You know,” Ruka replied as she thought about Tomoyo’s question, not sure of the answer herself. “I haven’t really thought of when I would stop. At this point, fighting magical beasts has been such a big part of my life that I can’t picture myself giving it up, at least not now. I still have another three years to go before I can retire if I wanted to, but I’m not sure if I’ll stop right then and there.” She then looked down at the papers before her and pondered that question as the two of them quietly returned to their homework. She had not pictured such an event occurring because for a while, she had assumed she would not make it to the age of twenty, which would be when she would hit her ten-year mark.

…

Meanwhile, Yoshiro was sitting at home, having just finished his homework and dinner as he scrolled through his phone when he got a text from Tenko asking if he had a minute to talk. “Hmmm… Alright.” Yoshiro then scrolled to his contacts and called her.

Tenko immediately answered with, “Hello, Yoshiro-kun?”

“You said you wanted to talk. What’s up?”

“It’s about Yoko-senpai,” she explained. “I’m kinda… Worried about her.”

“How so?”

“I feel like she and Yamanaka-senpai are moving too fast. I mean, they went from going on their first date to having… Well, you know…”

“You can just say sex,” Yoshiro replied. “Don’t dance around it, Ikezawa-san.”

“Okay, yeah. They went from dating to having sex in less than a month. I’ve never really seen that before.”

Yoshiro shrugged. “It happens. Sometimes, people just don’t want to wait. What’s the concern?”

“It’s Yamanaka-senpai,” Tenko stated. “You know how he is.”

Now realizing what she was saying, Yoshiro replied, “Oh, that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I want to believe this will work, but I’m still afraid he’s gonna fuck this all up and break her heart, especially now that they’ve gone this far.”

“Look, I understand you’re concerned, but…” Yoshiro sighed as he thought of what he was about to say to her.

“But what?”

“Fujimori-senpai is her own person. She can make her own decisions, Ikezawa-san. If she wants to be with him despite his past, we can’t really stop her. We can advise her against it, but it’s up to her to listen.” Curious as to her reasoning for the call, he asked her, “Why did you call about this now of all times anyway?”

“Because I saw the two of them walking home together, and when I texted her, she said they were going back to her place for some quote-unquote ‘fun’ because he wanted to.”

“Hmmm… Did she seem like she was up for it, too?”

“We just texted back and forth,” Tenko explained. “So I couldn’t really read her mood. It’s kinda hard to do that when all you see are texts, after all.”

“Are you afraid he’s pressuring her into sex?”

“I want to believe he isn’t, but I have doubts given his past.”

“Listen,” Yoshiro assured her. “This is Fujimori-senpai we’re talking about. She’s a tough girl. She’s not some naive pushover that Yamanaka-senpai can just fuck and forget.”

“I know, but my concern is that her feelings for her are causing her to let her guard down.”

“Look, I get that, but I feel like she would tell us if something was happening.” To Yoshiro’s surprise, Tenko paused, not responding to his retort initially as she pondered what to say next. “Ikezawa-san? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I… You aren’t wrong. Maybe I am just a little too worried.”