Old Solutions

Kumiko was shocked to see men dressed in Jade Chrysanthemum outfits board the bus. Everyone around her was quiet as a mouse, unaware of what was going on.

The one in the lead pointed to the girl next to Kumiko, the one the men in suits had been guarding in class. Haruna was shaking as the goons approached, taking out her bodyguards one by one with half-hearted strikes.

The lead goon was now at Haruna and Kumiko’s seat, grabbing Haruna by the shoulder and starting to pull her away. Kumiko lunged towards Haruna, trying to pull her back and strike the goon in the head with her backpack.

“Get back! Go away!”

The goon looked to Kumiko with a sneer; his mask exposed his mouth in a rectangular hole. “Shut up, kid!” He pulled back his hand to punch her –

A winged stuffed bear launched itself from Kumiko’s backpack, slamming its butt into the goon’s face with all the force it could muster.

It shook his tiny little head, his wings flapping furiously to keep him afloat. “So stuffy in there… Alright! Have no fear, Kuma-chan is here!”

The next goon froze in place a moment, but the man behind him was one Kumiko recognized from the train earlier in the week. The one who’d tried to kick her in the face.

Aoji stared at her, grinning. “Screw this. Take ‘em both! We can have the loli bitch for dinner.”

---

The bus was surrounded by Jade Chrysanthemum goons, wary of letting anyone get too close to their special operation. Everything depended on this going right.

Half a dozen of them watched the doors fall odd of the red van they’d smashed into to trap the bus, with two men piling out. One resembled the bodyguards on the bus, but the other was just a man.

One of the goons stepped forward, holding up a hand. “Back off if you know what’s good for y -”

The world would never know who it was good for. The man in the suit shot a blast of red light at his friend, sending him flying back a full three meters. The other man socked him square in the jaw, and he went crumpling to the ground.

A scream on the bus broke Hideo’s concentration as a winged stuffed bear was thrown through a bus window and tumbled down to the pavement below.

“KUMIKO!”

---

Consider the alpha wolf.

Unlike popular pseudoscientific myth, they were not the most dominant or strongest amongst rivals. They were the head of a family unit, alongside their chosen mate for life.

He is the father, raising his pups in his image. He is the provider, hunting for food when his mate is nursing. He is the protector, a creature whose greatest concern was the health of his chosen mate and his pups.

The alpha takes those responsibilities seriously. And to those who would harm his mate, harm his pup, there is no safe place to hide. There is no mercy. There will only be death – his or yours.

It was not a question of ‘if’ Yasuda Hideo would kill these men. It was only how painful their deaths would be.

----

The next Jade goon had his neck snapped in a fluid motion, Hideo charging in like an animal. Blasts of magic screamed around him as Fuku stayed in the back, keeping him from being surrounded.

Hideo did not care if he got punched or struck with a pole or kicked. He would shrug off their attack and immediately savage them with his bare hands. Blood and bodies littered the pavement as he worked his way through the goons.

He could hear someone kick out the back door of the bus, four men jumping out the back. Three Jade Chrysanthemum goons were running towards the back of an open van, as well as some punk in a leather jacket holding a young girl under each of his arms.

Aoji was running full tilt towards that van, shuffling his arms to keep Haruna and Kumiko in place.

His feet move before his mind can understand what’s happening. Those girls weren’t going anywhere if he could help it. Hideo could almost feel the pavement give way under him with each step he took.

The doors slammed close, the van’s tires squealing as the remaining goons were thrown aside by a magical shockwave cast by Fuku. “Damn it,” he cursed. “If Jade Chrysanthemum’s got the next Prime Minister’s daughter, they could compromise the entire Japanese government!”

Hideo wasn’t paying attention, raising an arm to the sky. With a fluid motion, he snapped his fingers.

----

Things were quiet at the Yasuda residence.

Inside the Yasuda’s garage, something purred to life. Beneath the beige tarp a pair of headlights flipped on. Handlebars began shaking around violently, kicking up a decade of dust until the tarp was thrown free.

A black motorcycle with blue and white highlights revved its engine, a pair of ‘eyes’ roaming across the headlights.

“Finally,” a deep voice rumbled. “I thought I was going to sleep forever.”

Its engine revved, wheels squealing as the bike spun around towards the garage door. Without hesitating, it blasted through the closed garage door. Dragging what remained behind it as it turned into the street, the bike shook it loose and roared down the street.

“Let’s go! Wolf Blazer rides again!”

-----

Miho couldn’t believe it.

Of all the people to run into at Sayuri’s support group, Fuzukawa Chika! The woman who’d been the host of the yokai she’d fought for the better part of her time as Sweet Bear!

The corner of her mouth twitched.

Sayuri gently put her hand on Miho’s shoulder. “Miss Fuzukawa was one of the first people I brought in when I started the support group. For all the highs and lows she’s shared, she’s never given up on trying to get better.”

“I was always afraid of what would happen if we came face to face again,” Chika admitted. “I was so angry at first when I saw our fights on television…”

Miho sighed. “I changed names and details where I could. I’m sorry all the same.”

“I’m not angry,” said Chika. “I’m more scared than anything.”

Sayuri briefly explained Chika’s situation. Being possessed by Zetsuboru had cost her dearly. Her daughter Ayumu barely spoke to her, not letting her see her new granddaughter. Chika had been forced to scrape together a new life without any of the professional contacts she’d spent a lifetime cultivating. All she’d had was the support group.

“I can hear it, Miho. I can hear Zetsuboru.”