A Shark Tale

The sun was setting. We really spent all day at the beach, did we? Well, there were still a few more things I wanted to see around here before we headed back home. There was a fireworks show going on later, that I just had to stay around to see. It was made by this lava lizard man combining sparks of magic with another species that specialized with light magic. It was an interesting idea, so I had to see it.

Miharu and I were standing on a hotel patio just outside of the beach. We were expecting a fireworks show in the distance, and just waiting for it to start. A few other people were here. We were both still in swimsuits, but I threw a jacket over myself because it was getting cold.

“The view is nice,” I said absentmindedly to Miharu, staring off onto the ocean. The orange sunset was beginning to fade into the water, as the moon was beginning to come back up.

“Yeah…” Miharu said. “I guess it is.”

“You seem a little down. We had a fun day at the beach, didn’t we?” I asked her. “Is there something else on your mind?”

“The beach was fun, yeah. It’s just…” Miharu sighed. “I was just thinking about how I really haven’t recovered any of my memories yet, despite how much we’ve been helping people.”

Ah. That was a complicated subject. One that I haven’t really figured out yet, especially because I was definitely no expert on ghost memories or whatever. How do I make her feel better…

“Well. We’re working towards finding ourselves, haven’t we? I had no idea what I was going to do when I first came here, yet here I am, with you. I think I’ve found what I’m meant to be.”

“Yeah, and I’m happy with that too. I just wonder who I was before the Yamiyami Solve Everything Agency, and all,” Miharu responded. “It’s just frustrating to have that mystery just above my head.”

“I doubt you were any different back before I came. I’m sure you were just as annoying and justice-loving as when I met you.”

“Hmph. Someone needs to remind you why we started this agency.”

The two of us had a small laugh together. I was glad I was able to cheer her up. As if on cue, fireworks began to shoot up into the air and explode into a mix of pretty pink and blue colors. The sounds of the bursting created a nice harmony, as the two of us watched the sight.

“Pretty view, ain’t it?” A familiar voice approached our side. I looked over to see, and I saw a face that I remembered. Four ears, black-hair, and a very casual hoodie and skirt leaning over the balcony. This was a person I saw multiple times whenever I had to go to the convenience store for food.

“Honoha? What are you doing here?” I asked her.

“I’m taking a vacation. You do know I don’t only exist in the store, right?” Honoha responded. “Though, I didn’t think I’d see you two here.”

“Same. Uh, is your work doing fine then?”

“As fine as it’s ever going to be. I think you’re more successful than I am at this point, so congratulations.”

“All in a day’s work for the Yamiyami Solve Everything Agency!” Miharu said with a proud smile. A good face for the company.

“Right. I was actually meaning to ask you both about something, actually,” Honoha said. “A quick job. Sorry to ask during your vacation hours.”

“I…” I was about to say something, but then Miharu cut me off.

“Of course we’ll help you! What exactly do you need?” The ghost girl excitedly jumped in front of Honoha.

“It’s not much, but I think I dropped one of my earrings at the beach. If you could do me a favor and search to try and find it?”

Really? That was it? Couldn’t you go searching yourself. Well, I suppose I did have super-eyes when possessed by Miharu, so it wasn’t the worst idea ever. Plus, I’m not going to turn down an easy job. “Sure. The rate is three thousand yen. A bit extra because you’re making me work on my vacation day.”

“That’s fine,” Honoha said, taking out a set of bills and handing it to me.

Miharu’s eyes glowed with excitement. “We’re gonna find those earrings for you, just you wait!”

***

“Jeez. Honoha really went out there, didn’t she?”

I was attempting to look for Honoha’s earrings. Apparently, they were enchanted with magic that could be seen if I used Miharu’s enhancement of my senses. I was following a faint trail that led to a rocky area of the beach.

Walking here barefoot is a pain in the neck, but Miharu’s magic helped with that too. I was hopping across rocks, following this trail… before…

“I think I see it,” Miharu said. “In between that crack.”

I walked towards a small wedge in between two rocks and saw a glowing gem staring back at me. That had to be it. Exerting Miharu’s power on the rocks, the crack opened and shot out the earrings into my hand. A job well done, I’d say.

I was about to turn around and head home, before I heard the sound of water crashing behind me. I turned around, expecting to have to dodge a wave.

Then I realized I had to dodge a shark.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” I screamed. Leaping out of the way, I just barely managed to avoid getting swallowed whole. The creature had gems for eyes, matching the color of the earrings I was holding.

“Is that a bluegem shark?” Miharu asked. “It might be attracted to the earrings!”

“What do you mean?!”

“A bluegem shark is naturally attracted to the kind of earrings that Honoha wears, I think. It’s also incredibly tough, that’s why it’s heavily ill-advised to wear your jewelry while swimming!”

“That’s ridiculous!”

Miharu and I had this discussion as I leaped from rock to rock to avoid the oncoming shark attack coming towards me. I couldn’t let my client’s jewelry go, it was too important to my paycheck.

With a stamp of my foot, I channeled Miharu’s power into the ground to begin making more stable platforms for me to jump on. The shark floated through water right next to me as it waited to pounce on my next move.

“Why do they even make this kind of jewelry at all?”

“It looks pretty! Though it’s common sense to not go near a beach with it. To your left, also!”

“EEP-!”

The shark crashed into one of my platforms and almost took me off balance. I almost fell onto a sharp rock edge, though I channeled all of the spiritual energy in my body to make a pulse that flung me upwards and back onto my feet.

“Is this thing gonna leave me alone?” I asked Miharu. I didn’t have Kyoha on me right now, so my best offensive weapon was out of my reach.

“Only if you show it that you’re not worth it!” Miharu responded. With that, I saw the shark lunge towards me with its teeth bare.

I had an idea. I grabbed a nearby rock and put as much spiritual power into it as possible, before it exploded into blinding dust around us.

The shark let out a disturbed cry, and I would have too, if Miharu wasn’t able to protect me. Luckily, a soft shield formed around my eyes as I began to run towards the beast, channeling my power and letting out a punch with all of my might!

The shark went flying into the air, and I hoped that would’ve shown the creature that I was too much for it to deal with. But it was a stubborn creature, and it didn’t want to stay down. In fact, it began to dive headfirst straight at me.

With a crash into the ground, I jumped out of the way as it just barely missed me, before flopping over onto its stomach. There was no way a fish could chase me down without getting back in the water-

CHOMP!

“AHHH!”

That damn shark ran towards me and put my entire arm holding the earrings in between its teeth! With a pained shriek, I began to pull out of instinct, but stopped out of fearing my entire arm would get ripped off.

“Miharu- just… focus all of your energy into my arm,” I told her. As I took a deep breath. I could feel the teeth grinding against my flesh, piercing into my bone, as Miharu’s energy worked to quickly repair it as soon as it pierced. With my other arm, I grabbed the shark by its teeth, and began lifting its entire jaw up.

My bloodied and battered arm was able to slide itself free, allowing it to be repaired. With a heave and a ho, I began to lift the entire beast up by its teeth. Taking it off the ground, I began to spin and spin around… all energy concentrated into my arms.

Before I released it, sending the shark flying back into the ocean, and hopefully sending a message to it to not mess with me anymore. I watched as it became a spot in the distance, before disappearing from sight entirely.

I took a deep breath, and watched as my mauled arm healed itself back to working capacity. This mission was a lot more stressful than it had any right to be.

With the earrings in my hand, my job was complete. Miharu left my body to say some words.

“Do you think we got it?”

“If it scared off Azana, it’ll scare off a shark,” I said.

“Fair. Your arm should be good by now. Let’s complete this job!”

I nodded, before starting to walk back towards the hotel where I met with Honoha. As we did so, Miharu glanced at me and gave me a small smile.

“You know. Maybe you were right. This is what I feel happiest doing, and maybe that is all that matters right now.”