PUPA's Agent

“Are you still there, Yuuya? You haven’t lost your sanity, have you?”

“Where is Akame?”

“She ran away. Probably went home.”

I sat on the bathhouse’s sofa in the empty ping pong room. Tsutomu handed me a cold can of strawberry milk. I denied it, so he drank the whole can himself.

I could not describe how I felt. I was in denial about everything happening around me. My sister was a monster. My step-mother threw a pan at me. I was sick with some weird disease triggered by encounters with my monster sister. My father was hiding something. Something very big.

“You screamed and passed out. Well, if that were me, I’d have reacted the same way.” He was trembling.

“Yeah…”

I was exhausted. Just then, the owner came into the room, led by Izayoi.

“Hyakuya-san…” That moment, anger fueled me. “Why did you let this happen?!”

“I must apologize. It is my failure as the owner for not overseeing these matters.”

“Kazakiri-san…” Izayoi shot me a glare. Right, getting worked up over this would not improve anything.

“I’m sorry… I’m a failure as her guardian.” I slumped. Tsutomu held a cold bottle of water to my face, trying to cheer me up, but that just made me feel worse.

“No, the fault is mine and mine alone. I will contact your parents, if that is alright with you.” The owner said.

“Alright.”

But before I could say anything else, there was a crash. Hyakuya-san rushed to the store front so fast that Izayoi had to run after him.

“We should go as well.” I pulled Tsutomu’s arm.

“Come on, I’ve already had enough surprises for one day!”

Izayoi and the owner were standing near the crashed store front. At the site of the crash, there was a woman in navy blue uniform, the headlights of (probably her) car shining behind. Her high heels stepped on the monkey-mermaid tapestry that decorated the entrance.

“You are Ningyo no Hone’s owner…Hyakuya Lain.” She spoke, and pulled something from her uniform’s jacket. I could not see her face clearly because of the backlight. “My name is Kawaguchi Fumi, from PUPA. I have a search warrant for this bathhouse. Apologies for my intrusion, but—whoa?!”

She tripped on the tapestry, and the thing she was holding went flying right towards my face. I caught it and took a look. It was an ID holder, with her identification and a crest that had the word PUPA printed on it.

“Return that at once. Please.” She held out her hand, but I stuck the card holder into my yukata.

“Answer my question first.”

She stepped into the bathhouse. The neon bulbs illuminated her black hair, pale skin, and curvy features. She wore a navy blue uniform with proper pins and everything. Her bright green eyes glared at me.

“You are not in a position to make demands, young man. Wait, now that I…” She stepped closer, and I could smell her forest-like scent. “I have seen you in the files. Your name is Kazakiri.”

“Why do you…”

“I have no business with you today. Please return my ID.”

“Answer my question first.”

“Don’t test my patience. Please.”

Her inky black hair moved like black little arms, trying to grab objects around her. Kawaguchi Fumi whispered into my ear.

“Return my ID, if you don’t want to get hurt.”

“Youkais are real.” I trembled. It was surreal. It was too real.

“If you return it to me now, I will not hurt you.” Kawaguchi kept glaring at me. Tsutomu and Izayoi dared not interfere. I could not move a muscle. Kawaguchi may be clumsy, but she was a youkai. She could easily kill me if she wanted to…

“Let my customer go. Using force on innocent civilians is not how PUPA does things, no?” The owner spoke up calmly, as if he could not sense the pressure in the air. However, his words told me that he was all too familiar with this kind of thing.

“Hyakuya-san, excuse me for the intrusion, but I am here to search your establishment.” She replied.

“Just who are you people?!” I shouted when Kawaguchi finally turned the other way. She slowly turned back to face me.

“PUPA keeps order in the world of the supernatural. We will soon deal with you, but let me first get the issue at hand sorted out.”

She turned around again, and I could see the skin of her scalp separating into a mouth, with blood red lips and large white teeth.

I screamed.