Nothing is Ever as it Seems

“Midoriko-nee! You can’t go on a date with that guy! You have Papa!” Itoko whined as they walked home.

“It’s not a date…” Midoriko insisted. Before Akira left the playground, he said he’d pick her up from the train station after work the next day so they could go out for drinks. He wasn’t leaving any room for her to turn him down this time.

Whatever. She could humor him and test her own feelings for Ryouma. They’d slept together multiple times, but it just left her thoughts more muddled than before. So, if she thought about Ryouma the whole time she was with Akira, then that would confirm it for her. Then, she could firmly turn down Akira and draw that line between them.

“Midoriko-nee, he’s a bad person…”

“What makes you say that?” Midoriko sighed. She stopped walking and crouched down next to Itoko. “Do you think he’s trying to take me away from you and Papa?”

Itoko bit her lip and nodded. “And…And he has painted skin…”

Midoriko furrowed her brows in confusion. What does she mean by that?

“Well, at any rate, he’s not going to take me away from you,” she said, taking Itoko’s hand as she stood up. “But let’s keep what happened today between us.”

“Buy me ice cream,” demanded Itoko, pouting.

“S-sure…” Midoriko’s eye twitched at the thought of having to buy her silence. This little girl was just too shrewd sometimes. But she couldn’t let Ryouma find out about what happened—not only because he’d be upset she was careless with Itoko, but because Akira was involved too.

How was Akira able to touch Itoko and be completely fine? Did it mean her curse was lifted? As Midoriko tried to think of ethical ways to test that theory out, a thought struck her. Maybe she could test something using the kīla as cover?

The kīla was supposed to exist for purification purposes, so what if it could work for curse cleansing?

“No. Absolutely not.” Ryouma crossed his arms, his brows stitched together in confusion and disbelief.

“You didn’t even let me finish!” Midoriko insisted, holding a potted plant in one hand and the kīla in the other. Her perfect idea was to have Itoko try using the kīla, then touch Ryouma for one second.

Itoko silently looked between the two of them, enjoying her ice cream.

Midoriko set the houseplant down on the coffee table. She lifted the kīla in her hands to mime the act of stabbing it into the houseplant. “Look! You just drive it into the ground like this and pray for purification! We won’t know if it works until we test it!”

“Give me that.” Ryouma sighed and held out his hand. “I’m going to test this out.”

She handed him the kīla. Ryouma looked it over with a furrowed brow for a moment, then used two hands to stab it into the soil.

He released the kīla and stepped back, scratching his head. “I don’t feel any different…”

“It’s…still glowing…” Midoriko admitted through gritted teeth.

“I knew it couldn’t be that simple…” Ryouma mumbled, pulling the kīla out of the dirt and brushing it off.

“M-maybe you just didn’t do it right!” she insisted. “Maybe there’s more of a ritual to it! I’ll look them up online, then we can try ag–”

“That’s enough,” Ryouma cut in, handing the kīla back to her. He brought his hand to her face, gently lifted her chin, and smiled. “I appreciate the thought, but my time with you is already limited. I don’t want to reduce it even more with a risky test.”

Midoriko pouted and mocked stabbing him in his cursed arm with the kīla. For a second, when it touched his skin, she thought she saw it flicker.

Ryouma snatched it away from her. “Alright, that’s it. I’m taking this away from you.”

He held it out of reach when Midoriko tried to take it back. So much for that idea, she thought bitterly.

As Midoriko lay in bed with Itoko that night, the scent of peaches hit her nostrils. She’d grown so used to the fragrance that it took her a moment to remember that was the sign of Itoko’s curse. Just like how she’d gotten used to Ryouma’s scent as if it were cologne, this smell was also not unpleasant and easy to ignore.

In her observations, the kinds of curses that carried fragrances were ones with specificity behind them. The kind that targeted a particular person or group of people, created through strong malice.

She felt stupid for forgetting that it was a surefire way to test for Itoko’s curse. It was also disappointing to realize that the child’s curse was still present. She’d have to apologize to Ryouma in the morning, considering he was right after all.

Midoriko remembered Akira, though. What happened with him was even more troubling. Does that mean he’s also a neutralizer?

Wasn’t it supposed to be such a rare ability that it made them super desirable to all kinds of groups? The odds of her living next door to another neutralizer seemed insane to Midoriko. That alone was going to keep her up all night.

***

Akira alternated between sips of beer and drags from his cigarette as he waited in an izakaya for his boss. He shook his leg impatiently. Bumping into Midoriko and the girl earlier was planned, but this was not. What was so important that he needed to meet up in person?

Finishing off his first beer, he was about to wave down a waitress when his boss arrived alongside a man he’d never seen before. The other man was about the same age as his boss—maybe mid-to-late forties—hair greying at the temples. He wore glasses and a nice suit, which stood out against Akira and his boss’ more casual attire.

“Man, you kept me fuckin’ waitin’ so long, I’m already one beer deep!” Akira chided. He signaled to the waitress for another round for the three of them as the other two sat across from him.

“Kuroiwa, show some respect. Our guest is your employer, Mr. Shishiba,” his boss said flatly, pulling out a cigarette.

Akira shot up out of his seat and bowed from the waist. “I meant no disrespect, sir! It’s an honor to meet you!”

Shishiba rolled his eyes and wordlessly gestured for Akira to sit down.

“Um…To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting with you gentlemen tonight?” asked Akira, taking his seat once more.

“You’ve been slacking. Give us a progress report now, or we cut you off,” his boss declared, struggling to light the cigarette with his lighter.

Akira was about to hand him his own lighter when Shishiba produced a small flame in the palm of his hand. His boss gladly accepted the offer and bowed gratefully to Shishiba. After the cigarette was lit, he clamped his hand shut, extinguishing the flame.

Akira swallowed hard. That wasn’t a polite gesture—he was demonstrating that he was a sorcerer. A sorcerer making a show of power in the presence of a neutralizer was akin to them saying, ‘I think nothing of you.’

“Right.” Akira cleared his throat and flicked the ashes off his own cigarette. It was clear that if he continued to withhold information, he would face punishment. Even if it was just conjecture, he had to share everything.

“I believe that the girl Suwa Midoriko is claiming to be her relative is actually the missing Inukai child.” It was technically information he wasn’t supposed to know, but if he delivered on it, then it shouldn’t be a problem. He looked between the two men across from them, trying to read their reactions.

“Why didn't you say somethin’ sooner?” grumbled his boss as their round of beers was brought to the table. Akira took this as an invitation to continue.

“I was tryin’ to make sure my suspicions were correct before sayin’ anythin’. Didn't wanna drag any civvies into it,” explained Akira as he poured for his superiors. “Anyway, I'm like, ninety-nine percent sure about it now.”

His boss took a swig of beer. “How so?”

“Just multiple things. The kid got spooked when she saw my tattoos, for starters.”

“That doesn't mean anythin’!” interjected Akira's boss.

“Hold on, I'm not done yet! Geeze…” Akira took one last drag off his own cigarette before grinding it out in an ashtray. “I caught the kid when she was about to fall twice now, and both times the reactions were…abnormal.”

“Abnormal?”

“Normally you'd be thankful for somethin’ like that, right? But this was like, shock. Like somethin’ they'd expected to happen didn't.”

Akira's boss raised an eyebrow. “Her powers don't work on you because you're a neutralizer?”

“Exactly!” He nodded. “But Suwa can also touch the girl unaffected. So if I'm right about this kid, then that makes her a neutralizer too.”

“Hmph.” A smirk found its way onto Shishiba’s otherwise stone-cold face.

Akira straightened up, wondering if he'd just said something absurd.

“Did you find anything else on Nishikawa?” asked Akira's boss.

“I’ve seen his real face, and his aliases are sloppy. He's going by Nishikawa Ryouta right now. And…” Akira paused to swallow his jealousy. “He's playing house with Suwa and the kid.”

“How close are they?” Shishiba asked, speaking for the first time since he sat down. He hadn’t touched the beer in front of him, but started into it with a blank expression.

“The little girl calls him ‘Papa,’ so they’re like family, I suppose…”

“I meant Nishikawa and Suwa Midoriko.” Shishiba wore a perfect poker face, but his jaw muscles tensed up when he asked that question.

“They’re lovers, sir,” Akira said firmly.

Akira’s boss froze, eyes wide with shock. “I thought you said they weren’t.”

“Well, I was lied to…Or she’s two-timin’ him,” mumbled Akira, taking a sip of his own beer.

“Dammit, Kuroiwa! Watch your mouth!” his boss snapped.

“What? I don’t see what the problem is! We can use her against him if that’s the case!”

Akira’s boss opened his mouth to speak again, but Shishiba held up a hand to shush him.

“Can you get her away from him?” asked Shishiba.

“Yes, sir. She trusts me,” confirmed Akira. “I have plans with her tomorrow night, so I could get it done as soon as then.”

“Good. Then I think this will work out better than expected.” Shishiba reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He slid it across the table to Akira. “Bring her to this address. Once she’s there, you will proceed with retrieving the Inukai child.”

Akira looked at the address before pocketing it. It was a restaurant, so she’d never suspect a thing. But still, it bothered him that they told him to stay away from Midoriko, and now they were asking him to help kidnap her.

“Can I ask what you want with her?”

Shishiba steepled his fingers and smiled. “A reunion with my long-lost daughter.”