Big money contract

“Who are you?” Junepai slouched forward with a blank expression, examining the strange man before him.

“I’ve never seen anyone like you before.” He silently remarked.

“Dude.” Yuya flashed him a look.

“N-not like that! I mean, look at his hair!”

“Sorry, I should have introduced myself first. I have no official name, so you may refer to me as no-name or simply NN.”

“NN?” Yuya questioned.

“Short for no-name.” He clarified.

“Yeah, I get that, but-”

“What are you doing here?” Himeno's voice cut through their conversation like a steel blade, stepping between the trio with a sour expression. She was covered head to toe in different colored blood, her fists dripping purple and lime, her face painted with red and blue.

“You’ve got-” Yuya pointed at her face.

“I’m aware.” She stepped closer to NN, “Are you following me?”

“Himeno Takeba. What an amazing surprise, I should have known you’d be here.”

“So you didn’t come here to see me?”

“I actually came here for that one.” He pointed at Junepai, “But since you’re also here, why don’t we all talk together?”

“Nothing you could ever say will be worth my time.” She brushed past him and, without turning back, spoke to Yuya and Junepai. “I suggest you head home; that man is full of it.”

“That girl's intense,” Yuya remarked.

“Again, my apologies, she can be more on the rough side when it comes to her attitude.” The man from before bowed, rubbing a hand through his blood-stained hair, “Your money will be transferred directly to your accounts. We appreciate your help here today.” He scurried behind Himeno, shouting after her.

“You two know each other?” Junepai asked.

“We briefly discussed a contract, the same contract I’m here to present to you.”

“Ok.”

“Wouldn’t you rather we sit down and discuss-”

“No, not really.” Junepai dismissed his words mid-sentence.

“Right. Well, this contract is of high priority; I’ll spare you all the lengthy details. Long story short, there’s a shape-shifting monster lurking around Japan, and K-Corp wants it found; they’re willing to pay out one million yen to whoever can find it.”

“Split evenly?” Junepai cocked a brow.

“Well, the real reward is two million yen, between the two of us, that’s one million each.”

“Well, there aren't just two of us”, he pointed at Yuya, “I've partied with this guy, so that’s two million split three ways.”

NN looked over to Yuya, giving him a once-over and letting out a low grumble.

“Surely we can do this without the weakling.”

“That ‘weakling’ is my party member, there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“Junepai, it’s fine, I already told you I’m not big into this whole monster-hunting-dungeon-crawling thing anyway.”

“Quiet, Yuya, I won’t cut you out of a deal like this.”

“Seriously?” NN looked between the two with a sour expression.

“Look, you can keep your full million, and Yuya will split the other half between us both.”

He grumbled again, “Whatever, if you insist. But if the weakling dies, don’t go crying to me.” He turned away and began to walk off. “All the information you’ll need will be sent to your inbox. Keep an eye out.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and waved it over his shoulder.

“That guy was a total creep,” Junepai remarked.

“Takes one to know one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin.” Yuya smirked a bit, “Well, if that’s all.”

“You got anything planned?” Junepai asked abruptly.

“What?”

“What do you have planned? Now that the mission is over, I was wondering if you were planning on doing anything.” He nervously rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, not really…” Yuya's voice began to trail, eyes narrowed on Junepai's sad expression.

“Well, considering we just completed our first mission, I was thinking about going to Harajuku to celebrate. You wanna come with?”

A twinkle came to Junepai's eyes, as if he were a small child offered a handful of candy.

“For real?”

“Yeah, there are some amazing crepes there.”

“I'm down! Or… whatever.” He rubbed the back of his head again, trying to force the smile on his face away.