A Bad First Impression - Part 1

It was still early in the morning. The sun was high in the sky, wrapping us in its strong rays as people walked through the streets and cars passed by, most of them in a hurry.

Adachi’s Central Park. According to my GPS, once I got there, I had to keep walking north and turn right at the second street, which I did, only to turn left afterward. After walking straight for a couple of minutes, I finally reached my destination: the place where I would be working for a full year, an agency that didn’t even have a name yet, which is why the teachers at the academy called it the blank agency.

The absence of a name worried me, but I wasn’t ready for what was coming.

“What… is this?” I asked myself in disbelief.

The façade of the place, situated on a corner inside the block, looked very neglected, and the building itself looked more like a mechanic’s shop than a hunters’ agency.

What kind of place had I ended up in?

With more and more doubts and worries weighing on me, I kept moving forward, trying to motivate myself.

“Calm down, the façade may not look good, but that’s not what matters,” I whispered, giving myself a few taps on the cheeks before moving on.

Once I arrived, I knocked on the door, but received no answer. I tried again a few more times, but the result was the same.

“Could it be that he’s not here?”

I was about to give up and wait outside, but I decided to try opening the door, and to my surprise, it was unlocked, so I took the chance to enter and wait inside. However, what I found made me lose any hope I had for this place.

“Kaito, I finally found you!” exclaimed an actress from an old television sitting on a desk.

The place was also messy and filled with old, worn-out furniture, but what caught my attention the most wasn’t the surroundings—it was the guy sitting with his legs on his desk, leaning back in his chair while eating instant noodles and watching dramas on the television.

Seeing the scene of who would be my instructor for a whole year, the only thing I could do was fall to my knees, with a blank, resigned look, realizing that my future as a hunter was completely ruined.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked my instructor, putting down the noodles and standing up to see how I was.

“Yes…” I replied listlessly. “I’m here for the internship. My name is Touka Kisaragi, a student at the Tokyo Magical Hunters Academy.”

Upon hearing about my situation, the instructor seemed surprised, as if my presence were some sort of strange event.

“I see. My name is Yu Takahiro, owner of this agency that still doesn’t have a name!” he said in an incredibly carefree tone, with a relaxed smile. “My apologies for the mess, Touka, I didn’t expect anyone would actually want to do their internship here.”

I know. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have come near a place like this, but since my academic average wasn’t exactly high, I had to settle for the last option that nobody chose… Damn it.

Also, being called by my name with such familiarity, as if we were acquaintances, irritated me even more. Speaking of names, now that I think about it…

“Wait, Yu Takahiro? Like that famous actor?”

“The very same!” he snapped his fingers. “But don’t get confused, I may be just as handsome, but I’m just an ordinary hunter.”

“Yeah, right…”

Just as handsome? No way. While the Yu Takahiro on TV had fine features, shiny and silky hair, and perfect skin, this guy was almost the complete opposite. He was quite tall, with messy black hair and a white streak, a scar on his cheek, slightly grown beard, and more robust features.

They didn’t look anything alike!

“Anyway, since you’re here, I guess you want to get started with the activities, right?” he asked, picking up a worn navy blue trench coat. “How about we patrol the area? It’ll be good for you to get to know the surroundings.”

After so many disappointments, he finally said something that interested me. Patrolling the area in search of magical beasts, my first official activity as a trainee hunter. The first impression might not have been the best, but the day wasn’t over yet.

“Yes!” I replied with renewed enthusiasm.

“Well said! In that case…”

“What do you mean, divorce?! Are you out of your mind?!” yelled the actress on the television.

Upon hearing that, the instructor turned sharply to the screen, and after a few seconds of silence, as if debating something in his head, he finally spoke again.

“…Well, I don’t think it would hurt anyone if we start after my show ends, right?”

I guess I expected too much from him again.

In the end, we left an hour later, after his drama had finished, but finally, it was time to get to work.

***

We spent a few hours patrolling. We were going around the surrounding areas, mainly the areas near Adachi’s Central Park, but it was nothing like I expected it would be.

“Here’s your dog, Mrs. Fujisaki. Be more careful, this is the third time it’s gotten away from you in the past few days.”

“Thank you so much, Yu! I’ll be more careful with Hachi, I promise.”

During the hours we had been patrolling, all we had been doing was running errands for the local people, like finding lost pets, helping carry things, getting toys down from trees… Why were we wasting time on this?

After receiving her pet, the lady left with a smile, bidding farewell to the instructor, which he returned.

“Alright, let’s continue with—”

“What the hell is this?” I questioned, catching the instructor’s attention. “What the hell are we doing?! We’re supposed to be hunters, fighting monsters… what are we doing running errands for people?!”

I joined the academy with the idea of becoming a hunter capable of fighting the magical beasts that threatened civilians, and instead, I was just wasting my time doing favors for people… What a waste.

The instructor just stared at me before sighing and scratching his head, as if I wasn’t understanding something.

“Listen, Touka, we…”

“Don’t talk to me so familiarly!” I reproached. “I… forget it! I’m out of here! I’ll talk to the academy teachers to switch to a more competent tutor!”

My words were direct and clear, and even though the instructor tried to stop me, I didn’t look back and walked away, irritated for having wasted my time and for having even a tiny bit of hope in someone so cowardly who preferred doing favors instead of fighting magical beasts.

What a horrible first day…

***

After parting ways with my tutor, even though he said he’d go to the academy, I ended up wandering aimlessly for a while, finally arriving at Chuohoncho Chibikko Park, where I sat on a swing to review my current situation.

“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” I whispered to myself. “Why did this have to happen to me?”

It was unlikely the academy would approve such a sudden change. Not only because of my low academic average, but also because all the other options had already been taken, and it was complicated to find someone else.

“…What am I going to do now?”

I was reviewing my limited options, but the park’s silence didn’t last long. The place, once empty, began to fill with people, parents coming to pick up their children from the daycare located right next door.

The park, once quiet, filled with the shouts and laughter of children still playing with their friends outside the daycare. It was a comforting sight, as well as a nostalgic one, as it reminded me of my own childhood.

I could remember how my older sister would come to pick me up with a big smile, asking about my day, listening as if it were the most interesting thing she had ever heard, as if she, being a hunter, didn’t have much more interesting stories to tell me.

Thinking about my sister was nostalgic, but also painful. She was a very skilled hunter, and in contrast, I was just a mess with bad grades and a deplorable tutor.

“Sis… I’m sorry,” I murmured while looking at the sunset sky. However, the calm didn’t last long.

Suddenly, a sphere of red smoke began forming in the sky, spreading across the entire area, creating a thick scarlet fog. Seeing it, I was scared, but I quickly readied my rifle. Not only me, the parents also began to panic, and it was no wonder, as everyone was already familiar with this event: the appearance of magical beasts.