The Letter of the Law

A familiar set of cuffs went around Miho’s wrists and a collar to her neck.

She broke into a cold sweat as she sat quietly in the back of an unmarked black car. The energy Miho had built back up by binging sweets was being bled out of her body by these new restraints.

But as uncomfortable as she was, it was nowhere near what they’d done to Sayuri. Someone had wrapped a silver straitjacket around her and practically muzzled her with a matching gag over her mouth.

If Sayuri was in pain, her face didn’t betray it. She glanced to the side at her old friend before keeping her eyes locked on the back of the driver’s seat.

Mr. White was sitting there, pulling the car into reverse and starting the long drive. Miho wondered if Fuku and her husband were in one of the other cars following this one.

She knew exactly where she was going. It was where they’d put those jade bands on her all those years ago.

----

In the beginning, man lived in a world of magic. A world with kaijin. Tension always brewed between them; kingdoms rose and empires fell over it. The scale of their conflict kept growing, and some saw a final conflict between them as inevitable.

And then, after a tragedy somewhere in the West, a change. The world was to be split in two: the natural and the supernatural.

With the rise of the shogunate, Japan followed in their footsteps. The world of man and the world of kaijin were not to cross again – and magic was trapped in the world of kaijin.

Since those days, some unspoken part of the government was tasked with enforcing the new status quo. Its current version came about around the time Miho and Hideo had retired.

Miho looked up as it finally came into view. The Human Protection Agency looked no different than the other buildings towering over the streets around it. That was by design. No one wanted anyone to ask questions about who was in there or what they did.

----

Miho and Sayuri were escorted into a small interrogation room, a chain tying their restraints to a hook in the center of the table. The table itself was covered in papers that a cross Mr. White was reading through.

Neither of the women dared to speak up. Sayuri more because she wasn’t able with that gag, but both had dealt with Mr. White before. There were limits to his patience. The fastest way to reach those limits was to interrupt him.

After an eternity of reading those papers, Mr. White sorted them into a single pile and set them aside. “Do you remember the conversation we had,” he started, “when you told me you were thinking about getting out of the magical girl business?”

Miho nodded. “You said I scared people.”

“I said that you were a walking weapon of mass destruction,” Mr. White elaborated. “And that meant the guys upstairs weren’t going to let you go free without some strings attached.”

Miho shuddered as she remembered the jade bands being put on her for the first time. Sayuri’s eyes narrowed.

Mr. White let out a labored sigh. “If it were up to me, it wouldn’t matter. But it’s not. They’re not going to let you off the hook for doing magic without a license. Or,” he pointedly turned to Sayuri, “a werewolf transforming in the middle of a public street.”

Miho didn’t care. “They have my daughter.” She let Mr. White figure out if that was more a statement of fact or a veiled threat. “I was attacked.”

But the way she stared Mr. White down said more than words could.

Even through the restraints, a dull sheen resonated over every surface of the room. The lights flickered on and off. And a muzzle flew off Sayuri’s face and onto the table.

Mr. White did not flinch. Nor did he beg for mercy or cry in fear as many others in his position would when the sheen intensified. He met Miho head on in this unbidden staring contest.

The mood was dispelled only by someone else’s arrival. The door swung open, a haggard-looking Hanzo spilled into the room panting for breath. He carried his own stack of papers that he slammed onto the table.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” apologized Hanzo. “But there is some information I’ve just uncovered.” He plucked a single piece of paper out from his pile and held it in his hands. “Her license isn’t expired. It was renewed a month ago, along with all of the relevant certifications. It’s just been sitting in a pile.”

Renewed? Miho couldn’t believe it. She didn’t. The only thing she’d gotten done last month was buying tickets for an idol concert. It was going to be Kumiko’s big birthday present.

Mr. White didn’t seem to believe it either. “Really.” He slowly turned to look at a triumphant Hanzo, his voice flat. “After ten years of inactivity, her license renewal is magically found in a pile. Are there any other miracles you’d like to inform me of?”

Hanzo pulled out another piece of paper from his stack. “There was one other license that we found.”

“Let me guess,” Mr. White sighed. “It’s for Yasuda Hideo’s license, also renewed at the same time.” He shook his head, lightly tapping it on the table. “If I didn’t know any better, Hanzo, I’d say someone heard they were in trouble and forged their license renewals to get them out of a bind.”

Hanzo laughed a little too hard. “That – that would be pretty funny if that happened.”

“Hilarious.” Mr. White lightly banged his head again on the table again. “Especially since anyone who did that would end up in just as much trouble.”

Hanzo’s laughter died down before suggesting, “Of course, that’s only if finds out the renewals aren’t signed.” He handed Mr. White the second paper. “And before you say there needs to be some exigent circumstances, I’ve got Fuku out here saying Ogawa-san wants them on the team investigating who tried kidnapping her daughter – and we don’t want to get on the next Prime Minister’s bad side, right?”

Miho stared at this exchange, slowly realizing what was going on.

Mr. White pulled a pen out of his suit pocket. With a rare smile he started signing the papers. “No, we certainly do not.” After the last stroke of his pen he got up from the table and began removing Sayuri’s straitjacket and Miho’s restraints.

Miho felt a wave of relief the second they came free – in more ways than one. Hideo was now in the door with Hanzo. He gave his wife a great smile, only to be shocked when Miho launched herself across the room and tackled him in a great hug.

She nuzzled her head in his chest and felt his hand cradle her head. It was just like the old days.