Catching Up

MEANWHILE, unaware of the fate that had befallen Akiko, Ryuuji and the girls bided their time at the shrine close to Hotaru’s apartment. They’d last visited a few days ago during Tanabata but hadn’t met any of the staff. Now, at Hotaru’s behest, they dropped by again to say hi.

“Oi, Miyuki!” she called out, peeking into the temple next to the shrine. “I know you’re there! Stop hiding!”

Ryuuji shook his head, embarrassed by his girlfriend’s rudeness.

Nevertheless, an elegant priestess soon walked out of the temple’s doors. She was short and slim, quite young for her position at first glance, but the refined air about her hinted otherwise.

“Good morning, Hotaru-san. It’s been a while.”

“Since when do you use ‘san’ with me? Stop being silly and let me introduce you. This my boyfriend, Hasegawa Ryuuji, and this here is my friend, Minase Akari.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Hasegawa-san, Minase-san. My name is Jōnoha Miyuki; I am a priestess of the Divine Veil.”

“Likewise,” replied Ryuuji, and the three exchanged respectful bows.

“I’ve heard plenty about you, Minase-san. Your older brother, Ren-dono, treasures you deeply. You are present in his heart every day.”

In other words, he never shut up about her.

“Oh Gods, I’m so sorry…” said Akari, covering her mouth. “He isn’t here, is he?”

“As a matter of fact, he is. Would you like me to—?”

“No!” Akari interjected in a panic. “I mean… He must be busy. There’s no need.”

Miyuki smiled quietly, glossing over the fact that she didn’t believe a word of it.

“Indeed, it’s a shame. Perhaps he will join us in due time.”

“Right. Thanks,” said Akari, scratching her cheek. “By the way, you can just call me Akari. We could get confused otherwise.”

“Thank you; I will. You may also call me Miyuki, if you like.”

“Miyuki-san, then,” Akari and the priestess exchanged smiles.

At the same time, Hotaru leaned over to Ryuuji and whispered…

“She’s acting all prim and proper, but don’t let her fool you. Give her two beers and she’ll turn feral in a heartbeat.”

“Did you say something, Hotaru-san?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Ryuuji was getting a good idea of what kind of relationship these two had.

“Anyway, do you mind if we go inside? We have plenty to talk about,” said Hotaru, to which Miyuki nodded.

“Indeed. I shall prepare a room for us; please wait a moment.”

With that, she briefly stepped into the temple, and soon returned for Ryuuji and his entourage.

* * *

“AND THAT’S THE GIST OF IT,” said Hotaru, having finished the retelling of recent events. She included not only her meeting with Ryuuji and Akari, but also details about previous investigations from the past few months.

“It is as I feared,” replied Miyuki, closing her eyes for a moment. “We have also observed suspicious movements from the enemy, and the portents do not bode well. It shames me to admit, but we were at a standstill until Ren-dono gave us the relic from Reigetsu-sama.”

“Right, the Moon Mirror. Do you have it here?” Hotaru asked.

“We do. It has been safely enshrined and consecrated.”

“Any chance you could lend it to us?”

“If you use it within the temple grounds, yes. Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to lend it beyond that. Besides, the stars are shrouded these days. You might not be able to glean any more than we have.”

“I’ll take a look at night. But for now, can you tell us what you’ve found?”

“Yes. In fact, I was expecting you to arrive today.”

“I wanted to visit sooner, but things kept popping one after the other.”

“No, you arrived at the time you were meant to. The stars were clear in their message: something major will happen today, and it won’t be good. You are in danger, Hotaru-san. All of you are.”

It was a chilling declaration, coming from someone with a gift for clairvoyance.

“Do you have any specifics?” Ryuuji asked.

“There is a fox hunting you, cunning and swift. He will strike when you least expect it, and he will kill you if you’re unprepared. You must be vigilant.”

“So, an ambush…” said Akari, stroking her chin.

“Got any pointers to counter it?” Ryuuji continued.

“I’m sorry. I don’t.”

So they knew there was a trap, but not what kind, or where.

“And what about the festival?” Hotaru asked. “Have you confirmed the date of the coming incident?”

“It’s meant to happen at some point during the 16th, but I don’t know the exact time or nature of the event.”

“So we still have a few days. We sent Akiko-chan plenty of samples, but I don’t think the ACU will be on time to take action. We’ll have to launch a raid.”

Just as Hotaru was saying that, a notification rang from her phone. She took the device out of her pocket, and a spam message was displayed on screen.

“Speaking of the devil... Based on the code she sent, Akiko-chan reached the same conclusion. We’ll strike tonight.”

“Tell me about the plan. I trust you have a detailed operation ready to go.”

“Of course we do. There’s a cursed energy processing facility over in Gunma, close to where Ryuuji found me. It’s disguised as a geothermal energy plant, but I’m positive they’re refining cursed energy there.”

“And the ACU never bothered to check.”

“They did check, but the facility is deep underground. They couldn’t sniff it out at the time, but if we go and crack it open, they’ll be all over the Red Thread like ants. If all goes well, it will be enough to derail their schemes for the 16th.”

“And what about the resonance dampeners?”

“Akiko-chan is working on it. She reverse-engineered a damaged one I got for her, and she’s almost done with a countermeasure. She’ll leave it for us in a locker in a few hours.”

“Can’t you summon it here?”

“Nope. It could get damaged if I do.”

“Hmm… I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like this.”

“What part?”

“All of it. You’re counting on a piece of untested technology to fight an enemy that is waiting for you. It can go wrong in so many ways.”

“I know that, Miyuki, but we’re all out of options. If we don’t do this, then all that’s left is to react to whatever scheme the Red Thread has planned. And if it does come to that, I’m not confident we can stop them.”

The priestess fell silent, frowning in frustration.

“Did you manage to secure the Amaterasu Unit’s service?” Ryuuji asked.

“Yes. Thanks to Ren-dono, they’re working for us now.”

“Good. We can hold them in reserve, and have your people deploy them where they’ll matter the most. You can see that with the Moon Mirror, I trust.”

“Yes,” Miyuki nodded. “I’ll stay here and run surveillance for you. Also, just in case… I’d like you to take these,” she continued, before taking out three talismans from a small chest nearby.

“What’s this? Teleportation charms?” Ryuuji asked, reading the inscriptions.

“Correct. If something happens and you are in peril, I’ll extract you.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” said Akari, smiling at her.

“I just hope there’s no need for them,” Miyuki replied. Emergency teleportation was a risky business, especially in the thick of battle. Ryuuji knew this well, as he had lost soldiers to it before.

“Well, then. Shall we go get Akiko’s present?” asked Hotaru, with a tinge of excitement in her voice. “There’s this ice cream shop nearby, oh you can’t imagine...”

Ryuuji sighed with mixed feelings. On one hand, it was good that Hotaru was in high spirits. But on the other, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread welling within…