On the Rooftop Before Battle

When night fell over the city, Mamoru and Yamiko were positioned on top of a dingy rooftop across from a mall inside No Go. The sun was just beginning to set so many other rule breaking students weren’t still walking around and socializing on the street below. What was a rundown mall still was plenty capable of housing people well into the evening, so the duo would have to be careful now that it was close to mission time.

Mamoru slowly geared up in black gear while staring off into the brighter city connected to No Go. Lights of all colors were coming on one by one, and the Subarashii headquarters stood tallest in center per usual. It was a bit of an advent guard architectural design, consisting of cylindrical sections that decreased in size as each was stacked on top of the next. Something like a wedding cake—but evil.

They called it Strength tower. One of three sister towers erected in the last couple of years. The other two were named Abundance and Freedom and were in cities Mamoru had never visited.

It’s hideous. Hikari obviously had the architectural sensibilities of a princess who lived in old castles, but on this she and Mamoru could agree.

“Quite,” he replied before putting a black mask over his face. With sword in hand, he struck a pose to show blade pointed and at the ready. It didn’t seem menacing enough, so he switched to appear as if he had the blade sheathed and ready to strike with a laijutsu technique.

You’re an idiot.

A childish part of Mamoru wanted to reply with ‘takes one to know one’ but he settled for just shaking his head and settling the blade back into his kendo bag. He turned to the purple hair girl who sat on a blanket near an air unit with one hand providing a headrest for her cheek and the other mindless scrolling her phone.

She didn’t look at him when he walked close but noticed his approach and started talking.

“Woah, like look at this. Suba is totally making an ugly flying contraption,” she looked at Mamoru and snorted, “Like, what are you wearing? You look like some bargain bin superhero had an ugly baby with a thug?”

Much as I hate to agree with the witch, she’s right.

“It would be bad if we were recognized, do you intend to fight in your school uniform?”

Yamiko made the sort of face that that suggested she was initially intending to do so and didn’t see the problem. She handwaved his concern away with a quick motion and turned her phone so he could see.

“Either way, look here, isn’t it like, totally gross?”

The vehicle looked like they tacked plane wings and drone propellers onto a helicopter’s body. It was attempting to look sleek, and had Mamoru still had any respect for the company he might have even taken interest. But now, he could only shake his head. The article said they were the future of flying taxis. Suba EV cars were already dominate in the market as of the last few years, his bike was one of the few none Suba brands left, and now the skies were about to be polluted with this company’s mass-produced waste.

“We don’t have much time.” Mamoru decided it was best to simply move on. Once he took down Subarashii there stocks, or whatever it was companies cared about, should fall in turn. Tonight was the first night he could take the first steps.

“Time to do what anyway? I, like, don’t see what dressing up is going to do to find the missing yokai?”

Yamiko put her phone away and stood up with care not to press her hands onto the rooftop or any other surface. “You haven’t explained a thing to me yet, you know?” She squinted at him, but she was always squinting so he couldn’t tell if it meant anything.

“There will be a drug exchange later today a couple of blocks down. I have good reason to believe Subarashii is behind it.”

“And, like, that helps find missing yokai how?” She didn’t try to hide any disapproval in her voice. Mamoru groaned. She had plenty of shady looking characters zombified in her little fighting force, so he figured she came to the same conclusion he did and didn’t need the explanation.

Hikari floated in her ghostly appearance next to Yamiko and pointed at the purple hair girl’s face.

You think with a face like this, she’s smart enough to assume the same things as you?

There was nothing particularly wrong with Yamiko’s face at that passing moment. Mamoru looked up at the blackened sky, so Hikari didn’t realize he was looking at her. The stars should have been coming out but never would as the city did everything in its power to outshine them.

“Whatever is causing their disappearance, there must be some clues.” He turned away and walked to the edge of the rooftop.

“I agree with that.”

“And we would probably find clues with the shadier characters in town. Therefore, the group I already intended to intercept would make a good target to do both. Kill two birds with one stone.”

Yamiko made a soft ‘hmm’ and moved to Mamoru’s side.

“You, like, already intended to do a drug bust? Shouldn’t like, the po-po be handling that?”

Hikari floated to his other side, though she was translucent, it still gave off the effect of being surrounded on both sides.

I also have been wondering about that, you’ve been avoiding thinking about it as much as you can, but it has something to do with your sister?

Alone sometimes seemed best to Mamoru. He had spent the last few months living as such. Even he stared out to the streets, he could see a girl on her walk home. She moved through the darkening streets, illuminated by the purple lights overhead without another soul to walk with her.

He had thought he would also have to walk alone. Planning to do as such was easy enough. All he had to do was get a magic weapon, take down some drug dealers, and he would get everything he needed to save his sister from Subarashii. Somehow. That was what he thought at least, but now he had two people—or at least one and a half if Hikari was really a ghost—who he had to work with. They at least expected some sort of explanation; they were at least owed it.

Mamoru closed his eyes and soaked in the darkness.

“I believe Subarashii is pushing the fetamayuku recently as a way to sort out potential grunt employees.”

“Like, woah, I didn’t take you for a conspiracy theory dude.”

You have good reason to believe, then? I sense rough emotion coming from trying to cover those thoughts.

Yamiko whistled and shook her head. She patted Mamoru on the back. He looked at her and she made a cocky grin.

“Well, being a magical girl like myself I can’t really say being a conspiracy theory dude is a bad thing.” Mamoru was certain she didn’t mean magical girl in the anime sense, or if she did it was a horrible way to describe herself. “But, I like your determination, you know. And these guys are totally bad, so even they don’t have any yokai information, you can totally count on me.”

She had an uncharacteristic kindness in her voice. Hikari had something similar. Mamoru was surprised; he had thought any allies to his cause would have run off. Though one was trapped in the sword, so perhaps become distant was the better descriptor. He shook his head and looked at each of them. Hikari made a face when he looked directly at her, but he ignored it and stared at the streets again.

“Thanks. I really do appreciate it,” he said softly. Yamiko chuckled and slapped him on the back.

Hikari simply added, of course.

Down below someone shouted out to the solitary girl, and she stopped and turned. Two more friends ran up, and they began to walk with the same pace while giggling.