Yamiyami's Solve Everything Agency

It was hard to think that things would feel so mundane after what happened with Miharu and Honoha. But things really did return to normal. We got some rest, got some reward money, and took up a few more jobs.

I welcome that normalcy, as I dunno if my poor mind could handle multiple city-wide threats in a short period of time. Today was a simple day of babysitting Yoshio, though I didn’t have any jobs lined up for after that.

The kid had a test reasonably soon, but I was pretty confident he’d ace it.

“Ms. Lady! Ms. Ghost Lady! What do you think of my work?” Yoshio showed the piece of paper to us. It was almost perfect, he was studying hard.

“Great work, Yoshio. Just keep on doing it and maybe you’ll get some ice cream later,” I said.

“Yay!” Yoshio said, before immediately going back to writing.

As he did that, I looked back over to Miharu. I wanted to have a chat with her while the kid wasn’t listening. “Hey.”

“Yes, Akina?” Miharu asked back.

“Are you gonna tell the kid about, y’know. The fact that you’re his sister?”

I thought it was an important detail to cover, especially because he didn’t know a single thing about it yet. We’ve been keeping it a secret from him for now, because Miharu wanted to ponder on whether she should or not.

“I’ve thought about it, and I decided that… I think that secret is best kept between us,” Miharu said. “I don’t want to burden him with the thought of a sister he doesn’t even remember he had. And I think what we’re currently doing allows me to watch him grow up in time.”

“Don’t you want to live with him though? I think it’s only fair,” I said back.

“I do… but… I’m a ghost. I don’t think I should cling onto a past that only I remember, and instead stick with the one that I currently have. Having the memory is nice, but living with you is more than just a memory now.”

“...Fair,” I shrugged. Couldn’t argue with that. It was her choice after all. In the meantime, the door opened, the voice of Mrs. Lio rang throughout the house.

“I’m home!” Mrs. Lio said. Yoshio didn’t run off to greet his mom like he usually did, mostly because he was focusing on the test. So, Miharu and I did the honors instead.

“Hey, Mrs. Lio,” I waved. The one thing I noticed was that she was holding a very large cake in her hands. One with nineteen candles sticking into it.

“What’s the cake for?” Miharu asked. “Is it someone’s birthday?”

“Why yes! I can’t believe you don’t recognize it, actually. I noticed it was a certain someone’s birthday on the property paperwork, so I thought it would be a good idea to throw a party.”

“Wait…” I paused.

“It’s your birthday, Akina! Happy birthday!” Mrs. Lio said with a cheerful smile.

All of the sudden, Yoshio got snapped out of his test preparation and ran to the front of the door. “It’s Ms. Lady’s birthday? Happy birthday, Mrs. Lady! I didn’t know!”

“Happy birthday, Akina,” Miharu also patted me on the shoulder. “You should be more open about these things.”

“I… If I had to be honest, I completely forgot too,” I scratched the back of my head. “Thanks, everyone. I guess I don’t have anything else to do today, so we can have a party.”

“That’s great, because I invited a bunch of your friends here as well,” Mrs. Lio said, walking to the table and putting the cake down.

“Friends?” I asked.

“Yeah, you got it,” a familiar voice came from the entrance. Officer Junpei, for once not in a police uniform, dropped by with a gift. “Happy birthday to the saviors of Yamiyami.”

“Oh, good to meet you, Officer,” I waved.

“I had to drop by. Pay my respects,” Junpei said. “Plus, who am I to say no to a fun party? The entire precinct recognizes you two as an important ally to our operations. Might as well try and stay on your good side if anything.”

The horse-officer made himself at home, and another face came in. “Akina! It’s so good to see you again!”

I was immediately greeted with a hug by the doll-eyed influencer collapsing into me with a hug. I gave her a small hug back. “It’s good to meet you again too, Shiori.”

“Do you want me to make a video about this? I could promote your agency!” Shiori offered.

“I suppose you could. Thanks,” I said. Who am I to say no to free marketing? I saw Shiori run off and take out her recording stick, as another face came in.

Yoshio immediately took notice of this. A kid around his age, with his parents dropping him off in the back. “Ouki!”

“Yoshio!” Ouki said back, and the two kids had their own little reunion. It was pretty nice to see.

“I wanna show you some of my magic tricks. I came up with a few more,” Ouki said.

“Definitely. I want to see the coolest tricks you got!”

The two kids began to run off to the back of the house, to show each other the new magic they developed. It was great for me, and Miharu to see Yoshio developing his friends. I couldn’t ask for more.

“What an annoying obligation,” another complaint came from the doorway. Azana had appeared, with a groan. “Happy birthday, Akina.”

“Hey, Azana,” I waved begrudgingly. She did so too.

“I’m surprised you lasted this long, y’know, in this city,” she said. “You’ve blown past my expectations. Maybe you’ll be on my level soon enough.”

“I think we surpassed you a long time ago, isn’t that right, Miharu?” I put my arm around my ghostly companion.

“I don’t think it should be a competition…” Miharu said. “It’s good to see you again, Azana.”

“Bah. I’m just here cause it’s gonna be a good time,” Azana responded, walking off.

“Seems like everyone is here,” Miharu said. “Might as well enjoy the party while it lasts. I think we deserve a nice night, with everyone.”

“Yeah. Same.”

***

The party raged on for a few hours. We played games, sang karaoke, and talked about the future. Drinks, cake, and treats were all enjoyed throughout the entire night as the party began to wind down. A lot of fun happened, and it felt like the night was going to last forever. But as all things do, it eventually had to end.

Eventually, everyone had to leave. We ate our cake, we made our wishes, and soon it was just us, Yoshio, and Mrs. Lio left at the party. And it was finally our time to wrap up.

“I’ll see you two tomorrow!” Mrs. Lio said as she and Yoshio waved from the front porch.

“Bye Ms. Lady! Bye Ms. Ghost Lady!” Yoshio also shouted. We waved back, and began to walk into the distance, back to the apartment we called home.

Miharu and I began to walk home in the dead of the night. The familiar street that we first met on by chance.

It was nice, and quiet. I liked that.

“It really has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Miharu said. “You barely even knew how to use my powers.”

“And now we’re the best problem solvers in Yamiyami. And looks like we’ve still got more work ahead of us too.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, partner.”

“Same.”

The two of us laughed at the cliche sentence we just shared. But, I was happy. I first came to this city not knowing what I wanted to do, and just wanted to drift about until I could retake my entrance exam again. But, this wasn’t so bad. There were a lot of things that could be better, but it sure as hell could be a lot worse too.

“Here’s to solving another hundred more cases,” Miharu said.

“That’s if I can stand you for that long,” I shot back.

“We’re soulmates, idiot. It doesn’t matter if you can stand me or not, you have to,” she responded.

“Is that a challenge now?”

The two of us continued talking smack to each other throughout the entire walk home. Eventually, we reached our dingy little apartment. Our office, even. It was small and cramped, but it was more filled than it had ever been before. The bulletin board we bought was full of potential cases, and a lot of things that we needed to do.

But tonight was the night that I had a good rest. Goodnight, Yamiyami. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. For as long as you’re weird, the Yamiyami Solve Everything Agency will be here to solve the case.