After the Encounter

Mizuki was lying down on the black pavement.

It helps her think, and boy, did she have a lot to think about.

She lay there, her hands outstretched, her messy hair filling up the little cracks in the asphalt. She stared at the sky, clouds sauntering in dark heavens smeared with oranges and yellows. A siren moaned in the distance, almost rhythmically, like the city's twisted version of cicada noises.

Firstly, the man, the Ronin Gunslinger. From the small glimpse of the fight (if you could even call it that) she was just involved in, everything lines up. Just like the file said, his skills in a gun and blade are apparent.

Even if Mizuki only saw him fight for what was probably less than a minute, she could tell he was a seasoned warrior. All the technique was there, but just the aura (is that the right word?) around him screamed of power and wisdom. The way he switched his gun to a katana the instant the third oni ran to him? That required a lot more than just luck. And the way he did it so calmly; it wasn't just skill for him either, it was instinctive.

But that part about the scent. Her scent.

The Ronin Gunslinger exhibited signs of superhuman strength, endurance, and being able to survive a beating from that oni-thing based on her research. So it isn't insane to think that his sense of smell is enhanced too.

But how? And why?

"I don't know. Magic or something..." Mizuki mumbled aloud "we got the magical cowboy and big bad oni!"

Holy Fuck.

The onis.

She saw a fucking oni.

So firstly, the monsters we heard in all the folk tales are real. Essentially demons, embodiment of fear, destruction, and chaos. Just what she needed today.

And one of them called her pretty.

Mizuki angrily mumbled something she later realized with just gibberish.

Of course, she reviewed all the videos of the fight in central Tokyo. The huge hulking red monster beating the absolute living hell out of the Ronin Gunslinger who was covered in rubble and blood. But he gets back up and eventually chops the beast's head off, only for it to float in the air and bite him on the left shoulder. Mizuki pretty much examined every single video of it she found online, but for all of them, it's almost impossible to tell what the two fighters were saying to each other; it was always covered up by gasps, shuffles, mumbles, or the literal street getting desomated.

But all of that could have been a really elaborate movie stunt or something!

Of course not.

She knew magic was real the moment she saw the videos. But actually coming to terms with it and being face to face to an actual oni? It makes you feel like..."Holy Shit." That's a good way to put it.

So pretty much:

The Ronin Gunslinger is magic.

And demons are real.

She buried her hands into her face and groaned.

Why does everything have to be so confusing? First it's the Kuzesachi cases, and now this?

"I just want to shoot guns and beat up criminals!" her voice muffled by the hands covering the face.

She pushed her body back up. She was just sitting on the asphalt now. She propped her head on top of her bent knees. Little rocks tumbled out of her tornado of hair; Mizuki honestly took no care of her hair, so she couldn't care less.

The government's probably gonna cover this whole oni thing up.

Say it was some ad campaign gone wrong or just another really elaborate prank. Secret Service loved using that excuse. Keeps the public from going insane, it's probably for the best.

The entire intelligence agency probably has no idea what's going on either.

So I'm alone, pretty much.

Except for the Ronin Gunslinger since he was so warm and cuddly when we met for the first time. Looked so helpless and afraid in that dumpster, too.

She stood up and took a deep sigh.

She pressed the small earpiece on her right ear.

"Agent Mizuki Kushogasha. Target has been spotted and commencing surveillance..."

The agency has had its hand full for the last few months. She doubted anyone under her case was gonna spend any more than an hour on her, so might as well make some half-baked truths and get this stupid report over with.