With Lots of Baggage

AN HOUR OR TWO AT MOST. That was how long Ryuuji had agreed to stay in Sumida, but lo and behold, the sun was setting over the horizon and Akari had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

“We can’t patrol with all these bags,” said Ryuuji, carrying a good share of Akari’s treasure trove. So much for working today, he thought.

“Hehe, sorry…” replied Akari with a sheepish smile. “We’ll be busy tomorrow, so I thought I’d better help myself today.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” said Ryuuji, struggling to keep the pile of boxes from toppling.

“How about this?” started Akari. “You can go leave our stuff with Ponko-chan, and I’ll find us a place to have dinner. I’ll treat you.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t broke yet,” Ryuuji noted. “You’ve spent more today than I paid you this month, you know?”

“Oh, I’m not the one paying for this,” Akari replied nonchalantly.

“You didn’t steal my card, did you?” Ryuuji asked with suspicion.

“Of course not!” barked Akari in indignation.

“So who did you rob, then?” Ryuuji pressed her.

“My brother, of course,” Akari replied. “But I’ll let you know he volunteered for it. He gave me his card this morning and told me to buy myself something nice, so I did.”

“Aha,” said Ryuuji, full of doubt. “But did he agree for you to buy half of the shopping district?”

“Weeeeeellll…” Akari looked away. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“You’re terrible,” said Ryuuji, vowing never to let her get a hold of his wallet.

“Oh, you know he’s happy to treat me,” Akari shrugged it off. “And he’s with Amaterasu; the guy is loaded with cash.”

“Well, not arguing with that,” Ryuuji gave up on it. It was Ren’s money to do as he pleased, so if the man wanted his sister to spend it, then so be it.

“Here, take these with you,” said Akari, handing her bags to Ryuuji. “I’ll find us a nice restaurant; just look for my chip.”

“Sure, sure,” said Ryuuji, accepting the luggage.

Thanks to their affiliation to the Auxiliary Tactical Corps, they had tracking privileges to each other’s Omamori Chips. These were universal identification cards issued by the government, which doubled as a tracking device.

“See you in a bit!” said Akari waving her hand, before sprinting off on her own.

* * *

WITHOUT AKARI IN TOW, TAMING PONKO WAS A NIGHTMARE. The Kami stubbornly refused to open the trunk, until Ryuuji threatened to smash the window instead. He’d been seriously tempted to, more than once.

“Piece of junk,” Ryuuji cursed it, slamming the trunk shut.

In response, Ponko blew a plume of dark smoke from her exhaust.

The two of them kept squabbling for a moment, until their fight was interrupted by the ringing of Ryuuji’s phone, the name on screen reading “Reina”.

“This is for work,” Ryuuji told Ponko before picking up. “Stay put.”

“Vrrrmm…” the car replied reluctantly.

“Ryuuji here, what’s up?” he greeted Reina.

“I have a contract for you,” she replied, straight to the point. “It’s a big one.”

“I’m in Sumida. What’s the situation?” Ryuuji asked.

“I’ve got a report of a Greater Yōkai in Gunma,” Reina explained. “A moth spirit of sorts. It must’ve escaped from an ancient seal or something; it appeared out of the blue and is currently roaming the area. The ACU and ATC are on its trail, so if you want to hunt it, you’ll have get to it quick.”

“Do you have an estimated risk level?” asked Ryuuji.

“Only from remote readings,” Reina replied. “It’s at minimum a Manifestation Class 4, but it could be a Class 5.”

Ryuuji grimaced at the news.

The Bureau of Harmony measured the threat level of yōkai using a system called the Manifestation Class Index, ranging from levels zero to six. A Class 0 was harmless. Class 1 could cause serious injury. Class 2 could kill a person. Class 3 could kill a group of people. Class 4 could take on a military squad. Class 5 could wipe out a small town.

Akari had only faced threats as high as Class 3 throughout her mercenary career. Together with Ryuuji, she might be able to face a Class 4 and live to tell about it, but a Class 5 was completely out of the question. With her current experience, she could die.

“There’s a base bounty of 100 million yen, up to five times that if it’s a Class 5,” Reina elaborated. “I know, it sounds like shit. There’s hardly any intel on this thing, so if you pick up the contract, you’ll be going in blind. But it is a lot of money, and if you’re lucky, there’s a bigger fish you may find over there...”

A lot of money indeed.

That kind of cash would all but solve Ryuuji’s financial troubles, even if the target was only a Class 4. But the Bureau of Harmony wouldn’t issue such a reward if they expected the fight to be a walk in the park. More likely than not, there’d be casualties… with Akari potentially among them, if Ryuuji brought her along.

Like Reina herself had admitted, it was an awful contract. A straight up bargain with the Devil.

Yet Ryuuji didn’t balk at the idea of accepting it.

Not because of the money, but because of the contract’s location…

“It’s in Gunma, you said?” Ryuuji asked into his phone.

“You’re quick to catch on,” replied Reina. “Indeed, it’s in Gunma. The same place where the Wandering Songstress was seen the other day. And she just so happens to be drawn to Greater Yōkai, so...”

Kurogiri Reina was a devious one, expert at pressing people’s buttons.

Ryuuji was in no position to turn her down.

“Get me the coordinates, and ready the teleportation circle,” he replied, before taking his Omamori Chip out of his wallet and tossing it to ground. Then, he added… “And don’t tell Akari a word of this.”