25 That Long Summer Night, Part 1

Mura and Lilith looked out upon the marvels of the human world while Kirin crossed her arms with a smirk. The summer heat beat down on their skin while cicadas chirped within the dense trees behind them. The trio had emerged from Zozo's safehouse onto a dirt biking path high up on a mountainside.

In the distance was the city of Ema, located within the Monido prefecture. Mura could visibly see many tall skyscrapers from the distance, their windows reflecting the sun's light. There were also patches of green trees littered throughout the city with harbors and ships located near the sea's border. Such sights could easily be found in Yomi, however what surprised the demon was the architecture.

The skyscrapers weren't rectangular structures like in Yomi. Instead, they looked incredibly angular; as if someone had carved diagonal slices off the buildings. Nearly every construction Mura could spot was a different shape. Some were grouped together and linked by sky-bridges while others resembled obelisks and spires.

"Whoa! Hey Captain, what are those floating dots in the distance??" Lilith excitedly questioned.

Mura could several glittering dots hovering between buildings and around the skyline.

"Those are flying vehicles. Humans developed the technology to levitate their means of transportation, so what you see in the distance are human beings commuting via airborne cars," Kirin said.

"Impossible! Flying cars?!" Mura gasped.

"My short time on Earth has taught me humans believe nothing is impossible. Believe it or not, I had that same wide-eyed stare you two have now after seeing this," Kirin smiled. "If you think this is something, wait until you see the Shinizu Pyramid—"

The blue-haired captain was cut off by Mura pointing up at the sky with disbelief.

"The sun is white!!!" Mura shouted in shock. "Why is the sky blue?! It's too bright!!"

Oh yeah, I forgot the sun wasn't black here," Lilith said.

"How could you forget something like that?!!"

"Shut up!!" Kirin snapped. "Gods, how can anyone think with you both around?"

As Kirin grit her teeth and Mura argued with Lilith, a bicyclist rode past them on the dirt path. He gave both demons a thumbs up and a wide grin.

"Hey guys, nice cosplays!" the bicyclist shouted as he drove past them, ringing his bike's bell while kicking up a small dust cloud.

"Cos… play?" Kirin and Mura murmurs in unison.

"It's a human thing where you dress up as fictional characters, guys. Don't you have it in Yomi?" Lilith turned, looking at them both.

"No, that sounds stupid," Kirin said. "Anyways, you'll need to start by investigating the location of the most recent disappearance. The human in question is a teenaged female named Junko Takagi. She attends a school called Sekien Academy."

Kirin unfolded her arms, stepping back into the shade of the tress behind them.

"One more thing. During this operation, I won't assist you in any way."

Mura and Lilith's hearts jumped slightly.

"What do you mean?! We have no idea of where to go or what to do!" Lilith yelled.

"Not true. I've provided you the information you need regarding your target, plus the needed tools to blend in during your time here," Kirin bluntly replied. "I've been tasked to provide these to you. Other than that, I'll keep a close eye on your location at all times. If you wind up dead, I'll escort your corpses back to Yomi."

"Joke's on you, I'm already dead!" Lilith retorted.

"So you are…"

"I'm sure we won't have any need for assistance anyway, right Lilith?" Mura said optimistically and his friend nodded back.

Seeing this, Kirin's pale lips extended into a light smile.

"I'm pleased to see you trying your best. Don't mistake my words for not caring, I truly wish to see you both succeed."

Mura smiled earnestly as Kirin slightly lifted her head.

"I just remembered! Lilith, you didn't have to deal with this in Yomi but as of the moment, you're invisible to humans," Kirin said.

Lilith's eyelids fluttered in disbelief.

"B-But! The bike guy from earlier, didn't he—"

It was then that Lilith remembered. She had been standing between Mura and Kirin, yet the bicyclist's gaze never diverted down towards her.

"Whoa cool beans! I'm invisible! Does that mean I can spy on people changing?? Oh, or rob some banks!?"

Kirin and Mura let out a disappointed sigh.

"I suppose you could engage in such… activities. However, all yokai such as yourself possess this power. You'll still be visible to demons and shinigami. If you want human beings to see you, just run the thought through your head. It's that simple," the captain instructed.

"Oh , I'll have to try that out later~" Lilith said mischievously.

Lilith peered down the trail and noticed a familiar sight.

"Whoa! Hey guys, look! A little more down the path is a railway station! I remember taking these years ago," she shouted with elated joy. "Come on Mura, let's go already! I wanna ride the train!"

Mura sighed with a simple smile. He waved farewell to Kirin as she simply nodded in response. The captain leapt up into the thick trees and disappeared from sight as Mura chased after Lilith, who was already running toward the station.

❇ ❇ ❇

Sekien Academy, Ema — Four hours later. The familiar chimes signaling the end of a school day echoed throughout the grounds. Students dressed in the academy's black and plaid uniform hustled, sliding papers and folders into their backpacks and satchels. Like horses out of a starting gate, the teenagers rushed from their desks and out of the sliding classroom door.

"Don't forget class, we'll be having our anatomy test this Monday! Have a good evening and enjoy your day off." Mr. Oka said.

One girl in particular was shuffling between other students in the crowd, trying to avoid detection.

"Stay right there, Miss Nagata," the teacher said in a stern tone.

The girl froze in place, her shoulders falling in defeat. Exhaling softly, she turned to face her teacher as the last of her classmates left her behind. Tucking her hands inside the pockets of her black slacks, she gave Mr. Oka a warm smile.

"What's the matter, teach?"

Mr. Oka held his hand up, before she could say anymore.

"First of all, I told you not to call me that. Second, how many times… How many times have we been through this, Nagata?" he said with an exhausted sigh.

Her demeanor soured as the sheepish smile disappeared. Placing a hand on her hip, she adjusted the messenger bag that was slipping off her shoulder.

"Come on, it's 2098! I told you and the principal before, I don't get into fights so why can't I wear my gloves at school?"

Sure enough, she was wearing reddish-brown mixed-martial arts gloves; bearing padded cuffs and a cushion on the back of her hands. They were snug on her, with faded coloring from constant use.

"It's not up for debate! The principal deemed them a weapon, so you can't wear them on school grounds. If I catch you wearing them again, you'll have to be suspended."

"Suspended!? What the hell!!"

"Listen. You walk around every day with your blazer tied around your waist like it's some hoodie! Not to mention that beanie too!" he complained, pointing to the ensemble she was currently wearing.

"What can I say, it completes my look? I hate blending into the crowd here, I feel like a… like an amoeba! You know how boring amoebas are, sensei?!"

"No."

"So then it's fine—"

"Please, Nagata. I'll let it slide this time because of… your friend. But I can't keep covering for you, okay? Get some rest, leave those gloves at home and please fix that uniform."

She pulled off the gloves and stuffed them in her bag, puffing up her chest with a confident smile.

"I will, sensei! You can count on me!"

Mr. Oka smiled as she rushed out of the classroom. With a slight pause, he interlaced his fingers together and collected his thoughts.

"Tomoe Nagata… What are we going to do with you?" he said to himself with a worried shake of the head.

Meanwhile, Tomoe put her gloves back on while briskly walking down the hall; past the chattering students and the various rooms occupied by school clubs. The hallway was a long stretch of darkened wood architecture and pristine windows, with the occasional wooden door or staircase to break up the monotony.

—I have to see if it's there, I need to!

She quickly hopped down the steps, rushing to the bulletin boards located on the first floor. It was there students could post various flyers dealing with activities, clubs and announcements. Some flyers were drab while others were sporting whatever internet meme was popular at the moment.

Tomoe clutched onto her bag to keep it from falling off as she quickened her pace. The red beanie snuggled on top of her orange hair bobbed with every leap she took down the flights of stairs as she raced towards her goal. Translucent lights from the ceiling reflected on the metal guitar pick pinned to her hat, giving off an almost glowing glare.

As she ran faster to the board, her movements turned into sprints. In what felt like an eternity, she reached her destination. With a glance, her eyes scoured across the dozens of papers pinned to the overly-punctured cork.

It was missing. They all were.

"Goddamn you all!! Who the hell keeps doing this, don't you give a shit that your classmate is missing?!" Tomoe screamed at the top of her lungs.

All of the posters Tomoe had pinned up this morning, every last one was taken down. She starred forward as her eyes started tearing up, blurring her vision. She didn't dare look at the occasional girls and boys who passed by her not wanting to start trouble.

This was the fourth time this week it had happened. They were never in the trash and nowhere around. She even checked with security yesterday to see who was pulling such a horrible prank. But alas, footage turned up nothing.

A synthetic female voice spoke out from Tomoe's pocket, slightly muffled and low in volume. Tomoe wiped her tears using her arm and pulled an ivory plastic device from her pants. The mechanical object sprung into the air from Tomoe's palm and began hovering in place on its own.

It had an oblong shape, cased in white pearly plastic with only a curved screen and a few visible rotors keeping it afloat. On the device's screen was a girl's cartoonish face, resembling a design one would see from an anime. The avatar had pink eyes and white hair with brown highlights, a design Tomoe had chosen herself.

"Tomoe, are you troubled! Is everything okay??" the device spoke as the girl's face on the screen grew worried.

"I-I'm alright now… Thanks, Ai."

Ai blinked happily and laughed as she flew around Tomoe's head. The robotic drone girl positioned herself to look at the bulletin board.

"Oh no! They took down the posters again…" she whimpered.

"Yeah, but I always have more," Tomoe said with a fierce drive to her voice.

She opened the magnetic flap on her messenger bag, pulling several posters from the satchel. With spare thumbtacks on the board, she began to pin them up one by one. After she had finished, Tomoe looked at the posters with a sense of heartache.

On the posters was the name and smiling face of Junko Takagi, with personal information below and various numbers to call if she was located.

"We're going to find you, Junko… When I find who's responsible, I'll kill them." Tomoe said through gritted teeth.

The delinquent walked out of the academy's main entrance as Ai hovered alongside her. She looked up at the towering green trees that lined the walkways, remembering the moments she had spent with her best friend on their regular strolls to class.

—She has to be somewhere in the city, there's a pattern I haven't figured out yet… but I sure as hell will.

"Hey Tomoe, who's that??" Ai chirped, her animated face showing an inquisitive expression.

Tomoe was pulled away from her thoughts and looked ahead at Ai's request. Sure enough, someone was ahead near the gates to the academy. It was a police officer.

"Look Tomoe, a nice policeman! Maybe we can ask him some questions about Junko??"

Tomoe scoffed in response.

"Please, if it's my luck the cops are probably here to complain about my damn uniform…"

As she approached the officer, Tomoe tried to avoid eye contact. However he quickly began to walk towards her with a rapid pace.

Tomoe stopped in her tracks, as she had become well-acquainted with the law in her past. She looked at the policeman's face and Ai flew close by. He was young looking, mid-twenties with long shaggy black hair.

"Excuse me, miss. My name is Detective Mura. I'd like to ask you a few questions."