I Ruin Dr. Kawaguchi's Day Off

Dr. Kawaguchi was here. 

I could ask her right now, what happened on that hunting trip with my brother five years ago. What happened to my father and why didn’t she bring this up to me yesterday. She was so reasonable yesterday, why would she keep this from me. Did she think I wouldn’t want to know. Was she thinking it wasn’t her place or that Kei would’ve already told me.

All of this was racing through my head.

President Sukimoto looked at Hiyori, then to me. I interrupted him though:

“There’s no time to explain, that monster caused the breakout yesterday!”

Doctor Kawaguchi and the President immediately looked serious and turned back to the Arch-monster. Their magical essence began to clump around them.

Throwing the dodo over to me like a sack of potatoes. Hyottoko did a little innocent pose, and put his two pointer fingers together.

“I was just looking for my little sister. Rei you wouldn’t be mad at someone helping a little sister. I mean look at her!”

He held up Okame out of the pool, and pinched her chubby cheeks.

“Isn’t she the cutest!”

“Monsters don’t have sisters!”

“COPY, PIERCE. COPY, PIERCE!”

Two more shots of magical essence shot from the president’s fingers, smoking with motes of magical essence.

“Man you two aren’t fun. Hey what do you call it when a dodo goes golfin-mmmhmhgg”

“MUTE”

Doctor Kawaguchi was done casting she had summoned a large remote, and suddenly Hyottoko was incapable of speaking. It raised its eyebrows and gave her a little opera clap. She had seen my rank up footage, if she hadn’t, she’d be rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter right now.

“MIRROR IMAGE”

A second President Sukimoto appeared. It also began finger gun shooting magic at the Hyottoko, who was now holding the screaming Okame above his head, doing a belly dance technique to dodge the artillery of magic.

Hyottoko then threw Okame high up into the air. The small girl reached into her pouch taking a bubble wand and blew a large bubble around herself. She began gently floating on the wind, her face pressed to the bubble looking down at her brother.

The hyottoko was busy spray painting the walls of the square, "See isn’t she the cutest."

"You're just another feather in my cap arch monster!"

The twin presidents flanked him. Hyottoko, pulled up his pants like he was about to go wading into the river, his legs below the knee grew large and his feet grew long and he began stomping around trying to step on the Doctor and the Presidents.

“Hiyori, we got the bird lets get out of here.”

I held the dodo close to my chest. Taking off my hoody, I put it on the dodo backwards so that the hood would cover its face. If it recovered any more essence, it could teleport again.

“You’re right, Tomoki is more than capable of handling such a monster.”

“Tomoki?”

Why was she on a first name basis with the president.

“That’s Sukimoto Tomoki right, the diamond rank hunter?”

“Most people just call him the president?”

“Oh good for him. Congratulations Tomoki!”

Ms Hiyori, cupped her hand to her mouth and waved. One of the two presidents turned, and gave her a confused nod.

“That was like two years ago, we really should go Ms. Hiyori.”

“Alright Baby, put it in reverse.”

The summoned unicorn, reared back and then turned to trot away.

“Ms. Kawashima, don’t think there won’t be an investigation on this.”

Dr. Kawaguchi was still in the corner where her lunch sat half eaten on the table. Her giant remote, beeping and blinking. I did feel bad, she probably doesn’t get much time off. I would've bothered her but in the office like a normal person. Though she could choose her company a little better, that guy seemed a little full of himself.

Doctor Kawaguchi went to push the slow button on her remote. Hyottoko appeared out of the fake bushes behind her and moved her finger to  push the fast forward button. Shaking with laughter. He then began to move fast running around her and the president creating a little one-man tornado.

The President it seemed had finished summoning two more spells as thunder and ice emerged from inside the whirlwind.

I yelled back as Hiyori’s steed barreled down the alleyway.

“You answer my questions and I’ll answers yours, how about that!”

I was a platinum rank, it's not like i didn't have any weight at the MaMA.

It was a shame i couldn't ask her now, but I knew where to find Dr. Kawaguchi. If I didn’t get this dodo back to my desperate brother, who knows what he would do.

I felt a small presence behind me, and two little hands grab my waist.

“Brother will be fine.”

Okame had taken a seat behind me on the horse.

“How do you know my brother?”

She laughed and pointed.

“Not your brother, MY brother. Look go there.”

She pointed towards a mural with a fence and horses grazing behind it.

“Go in there Ms. Horsey.”

“I’m on it!”

Maybe Ms. Hiyori was a little too trusting of other people's magic. And she turned Baby to gallop towards the mural.

“Hiyori, that’s a wall. WALL HIYORI! HIYORI THAT’S A WALL!”

“It’ll be fine Rei!”

Ms. Hiyori leaned forward. Okame giggled and laughed as I panicked, but the essence started clumping around the girl shooting towards the mural.

“Wheeeee!!”

Baby jumped into the wall and over painted the fence.

We passed painted horses, and painted clouds. The horses turned to whinny and run with the large unicorn.

“Ms. Hiyori, I’m going to throw up.”

Then Baby the unicorn galloped  through the meadow and leaped over another fence. It was dark and then fresh air hit me. We were galloping out of a mural a few blocks away. I looked back and it was of a tunnel, with an ad for two for one shrimp baskets.

I began to lose my shrimp per say, over the side of the horse.

“That’s nasty.”

Okame pulled out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped the corners of my mouth.

“Um thank you.”

I stared at her.

“You should probably get off here, and wait for Hyottoko.”

“Aww she’s not coming with us?”

Ms. Hiyori turned back with a pouty look, unusual for women her age.

“But she’s so cute, and she’s all alone. And she doesn’t seem harmful at all. We’ve already got one monster with us.”

I guess that was true. Already suspicious riding a big horse. Domesticated monsters weren’t really rare, people used magic for business and travel. You may think twice when interacting with other essences, but seeing magic around town was now a daily occurrence.  

“Let’s just go back to my place. Okame like snowcones?”

She dispelled her unicorn.

“Let’s take the subway, Tomoki wouldn’t be caught dead on the train. And he’ll be looking for Baby.”

I was going to ride the subway with a dodo? I mean Okame wouldn’t really stick out.

“Alright I do have a train-pass.”

-

Back at my Brother’s house, the dodo had fallen asleep on the train. Okame was now dressed in a little raincoat we had picked up to cover her robes, working her way through the candy we had also picked up. She was riding on Ms. Hiyori’s back singing a nursery rhyme.

“Brother brother, from same mother, call him that cause he’s a bother.”

The train ride had been uneventful but my anxiety was running high. If it was true and I had helped Hyottoko sneak into the MaMA, now here I was in front of the president getting help from it. It was wanted in like five different cities. No matter how much Captain Kawakami liked me or knew my brother, I couldn’t talk my way completely out of this one. I was even here with it’s sister.

Now they got me saying it.

The door to Keisuke’s house flew open, and Kei stood in the doorway. He didn’t cross the doorframe though, and Hiyori’s groceries from before still lay sprawled out on the ground from where she left it hours ago.

“You got it thank goodness!”

He fell to his knees, and I thrust the dodo into his arms.

“Thank you rei, thank you rei. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Me and Ms. Hiyori made our way inside. Okame now holding Hiyori’s hand.

“Who's the little girl?”

“She’s a monster, elite rank, I think. Maybe Jokes or pranks, or rhymes.”

“I’m Okame!”

She blew more bubbles out of her ears.

Kei got up and started back into his poorly lit house.

“Very nice to meet you, I’m Keisuke. Ms. Hiyori thanks for your help too.”

“Of course Kei!”

I kind of got up into his face.

“You owe me big time! We ran into an Arch-rank monster, he helped us but now we have to take care of his sidekick. And the president of the MaMA saw us get help! I’m screwed, my life as a hunter is over! Now mom’s gonna have two people who can’t leave the house but it’s because I’m going to be put on house arrest!”

Kei nodded solemnly as he put a sleeping mask over the dodo’s face and dropped it over near a little food bowl.

“Okay wait what, you saw Sukimoto?”

“Yeah he was out on a lunch date with Dr. Kawaguchi.”

He twinged at the mention of his former best friend, on a date with a one-sided rival. 

“Doctor Kawaguchi? That’s weird I didn’t think Sukimoto swung that way.”

I had bigger problems than the president's orientation but that comment was a little confusing.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Sukimoto is such a ladies man,"

Ms. Hiyori nodded to that.

"Why would he go on a date with Doctor Kawaguchi?”

“Why not Doctor Kawaguchi is pretty enough?”

I did concede that even though she was kind of shady.

“You think Doctor Kawaguchi is pretty?”

“ Yeah I mean I don't really like her, but she cleans up nice.”

"Her? Dr. Kawaguchi is a man."

"No she's a stuck up lady with glasses and poor taste in men.”

“No he’s a guy my age, skinny black hair, Dimples. Talks a lot?”

“She said she was on a team with you!”

"There was never a girl on my team!"

We just stared at each other.

Hiyori looked back between the two us, now seated on an old couch with Okame in her lap.

“I think the two of you really need to talk more about things besides the weather and food.”