The First Day of Your Life (2)

Hiro glanced at the seat adjacent to him, and his eyes met the gaze of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Long sleek black hair cut down to her waist, a curved figure accentuated by the bright sunlight filtering from tinted glass, beautiful crimson eyes, flushed delicate cheeks. She wore a black jacket draped over a red camisole, denim shorts that tapered down to her knees, revealing just enough skin to stoke the fires of the mind.

Totally my type.

Hiro swallowed.

He could go on and on, but the subject of his attention caught his slimy gaze and frowned.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” she retorted.

“The heck?”

Just who was this foul-mouthed woman who shattered his idyllic image of the perfect girl?

“Stop undressing me with your eyes or I’ll fucking kill you,” The girl bared her teeth, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp dentition. “Swear to god. All men have the same lecherous look.” As she turned her head to one side in annoyance, Hiro caught sight of a red mark on her nape.

罪人

It was an irezumi, akin to a tattoo, bearing the characters that identified one as a sinner under Jinya’s employ.

“I don’t want to hear that coming from a sinner,” Hiro said.

“The hell did you just say?” The girl’s head snapped towards him. “You have a death wish or something, pal?”

As a self-proclaimed gentleman, Hiro knew that escalating this exchange would be pointless and dangerous. However, fiery compulsion burned within him that threw all sense of reason out the window. Maybe it was because of his volatile blood, maybe it was because he was an idiot, but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“With an attitude like that, you won’t be making friends anytime soon,” he crossed his arms and leaned back onto the couch. “You know, you sinners would be a lot more likeable if you weren’t so edgy all of the time. Keep that up and nobody’s gonna miss you if you die on a mission.”

The girl stared at him dumbfounded. As the weight of his words sunk in, he thought that maybe he had gone a tad too far.

Before Hiro could utter a word of apology, the girl leapt towards him with a clear murderous intent. Her right hand began to shift and squirm, taking on the consistency of sand. Then it solidified into the sharpened blade of a kitchen knife, aimed squarely at his neck.

She’s a tsukumogami, damn, he thought, referring to former inanimate objects given a newfound existence as yokai.

“Shit, shit,” Hiro scrambled backward in surprise, tripping over his seat. His thoughts whirled and not a second too late he willed his blood to solidify and take shape. With a twang, a spike of hardened blood burst through his uniform to block the girl’s strike.

The girl snarled and Hiro caught a glimpse of the bloodlust in her eyes as she raised her arm for a renewed strike. He prepared himself, willing more portions of his blood to burst forth on command. Thankfully, he would never get the chance. The irezumi mark on the girl’s nape glowed a bright red and burst into a myriad of crimson sparks. The imprinted curse activated, sending a wave of debilitating pain flooding into her body.

“Gaaaaagh!” she screamed, before dropping to the ground and convulsing in a wave of pain. The shock continued for a few seconds more before Hiro could muster the courage to approach her.

“H-hey, uh, you alright?”

The girl could only groan in pain as a reply.

By this time, the ensuing scuffle had garnered the attention of several employees, including Akane at the front desk who had calmly phoned in security. Hiro looked around the lobby at the many set of eyes staring at them.

Talk about a first impression.

“I’m totally going to get fired.”

“You think?” a calm yet loud voice cut through the tension. Hiro turned to look at the source and saw a tall white-haired man in bureau uniform. His expression was aloof, and his blue eyes hinted at amusement. “Entertaining as that exchange was, let’s not do it here at the lobby, okay? We don’t want Director Kawada to rake you over the coals, yeah?”

“Who are you?” Hiro asked.

“Me? Well…,” the white-haired investigator scratched his cheek. “I suppose you could call me Henry.”

“Hiro Watanabe,” he turned to Hiro and then to the girl who was being propped up by a squadron of paper dolls. “And Reo Yamada.”

Henry smiled.

“Welcome to the Bureau. I’m Henry Kirishiki-Williams. I’ll be your squad captain and instructor. Welcome to the team.”