A Lead
Rikuo side-stepped another jab from the sharp raptorial leg of the mantis onryo. He cussed silently to himself as he almost dropped the young 6 years old.
Kazuha wasn't heavy by any means and Rikuo did get stronger from the training but he was not an experienced fighter, so it was hard to fight while holding a child. It forced him into defense as he was hesitant to attack with the kid still clinging to him.
The blond coated his dagger carefully, holding it out to block the incoming attack. As expected, the sharp blades of the mantis leg hit, only to be deflected away by the coated blade. It shrieked loudly, jumping away from them. The onryo eyed the pair warily as they circled one another.
Rikuo hummed nervously as the small around his neck tightened. The people around them had already been evacuated by Officer Asahi with the excuse of a bomb so it was only the three of them in the playground.
He crouched, about to attack the onryo so he could get it over with.
The mantis and Rikuo parried relentlessly, trying to bring down the other without a pause. He winced as one of the legs nicked his side, cutting rather deeply. The blond ignored the wound, instead slashing towards the onryo with his coated dagger.
As someone who had only learnt coating and by extension, little bit of shaping the day before, it required Rikuo to consciously feed the dagger with reiki after every swing.
It was hard as the coating only worked for a short while before the reiki dissipated into the air and filling the dagger with the correct amount so it wouldn't blow up made things more difficult but he made do.
Rikuo blocked another swipe then returned it by pushing his blade into the mantis's leg, managing to sever one of its weapons. The onryo shrieked in agony and anger before it shot something that instantly set every alarm in the teen's body off.
He jumped few feet back from the monster, careful to not jostle the child much when-
"ZUKKUN!!"
"MA'AM!! CALM DOWN! IT'S DANGEROUS!!"
"ZUKKUN!!" came a distressed voice of a woman from behind them. It was followed by shoutings of Officer Asahi for the woman to be careful. The blond felt Kazuha perk up into his shoulder.
"Mama?..." The boy sounded hopeful. There was a rustling as the red head lifted his head up. Suddenly the boy lurched forward over his back with a shout.
"MAMA!!!"
"ZUKKUN!!"
Rikuo rushed to catch the kid, so he wouldn't fall over. However he dropped his knife in the process and that was all the chance the onryo needed. The mantis rushed forward with a gust of speed, legs poised ready to attack.
The blond who had realized his error too late,wrapped his arms around Kazuha, turning so the boy wouldn't be hurt. The sharp pointers descended on the boys with speed invisible to normal eyes until it wasn't anymore.
He gripped the boy tighter, eyes closed shut, reading himself for the inevitable pain when a blur of green and white crashed into the onryo, sending it flying over the ground.
Rikuo gaped, stunned. In the place of the mantis, stood a majestic wolf with unnatural colors of green and white. The body was huge as what seemed to be clouds from traditional paintings weaved around its legs.
It stared down upon the teen with piercing golden eyes.
'An Iwa?' he thought, his grip around the red headed child slackening. Kazuha took that as a chance to make his escape towards his mother.
"Mama!!"
"Zukkun! Kazuha! Oh god you're okay!"
Turquoise eyes widened and quickly turned around to see the red head hugging a woman with prettiest teal eyes he had ever seen. Her dark hair hung in a low bun and she wore typical clothes one would expect from a housewife. But none of it disputed the sheer amount of power that radiated off of her.
'If that's his mom then the wolf must be…'
Rikuo trailed off, gazing back at the majestic creature who disregarded him to focus on the fight. The onryo stood up from where it landed, body covered in wounds.
"KHEEESH!!!!!!!"
It shrieked as it stumbled away from them to run who knows where. The blond got up to chase it before it could hurt anyone else yet he was interrupted by the surprising cold voice of the lady.
"Lucky, kill it."
The wolf didn't need to be told twice. It took off after the mantis, catching up within seconds. Before he realized what happened the onryo's head was sent flying as the body disintegrated into a black dust.
The wolf then trotted back towards its owner calmly moving past Rikuo. He hurriedly turned back towards the mother and son. Officer Asahi came to stand beside him, together they watched as the mother soothed her crying child.
After several minutes passed and Kazuha settled into a nap, the woman turned back to them.
"Thank you for saving my son. I don't know what would have happened without you." She smiled kindly at them. Rikuo blushed.
"U-umm just doing my job, Ma'am."
"Still, thank you. I am Suzuharu Keiko and this is my son Kazuha."
"Nice to meet you ma'am. My name is Asahi Miwatoshi and he is Tsujimura Rikuo. Are you a champion as well?"
Keiko smilled, nodding to answer Officer Asahi's question. Rikuo eyed them silently, not really wanting to deal with the wolf who kept staring at him.
"Chirp!" Ruhia who summoned herself chirped as she settled herself on top of her partner's shoulder. Keiko's smile widened more than before when her eyes landed on the mocking bird.
"To thank you for saving my son, can I invite you for dinner?"
Officer Asahi nodded, checking his watch. Rikuo hummed, doing the same. He sighed in disappointment as the time on his phone read 04:21 PM. They had to report back to the cafe at 05:00 PM if Rikuo didn't want extra framing from Irina.
"I'm sorry Mrs.Suzuharu, but we have to get going." He refused politely. Keiko gave them an understanding look.
"Yes, I suppose you need to report back. Then please take this."
The woman pulled out two small lucky charms from her pocket, handing them to the duo before her.
"To help you in your endeavors." was all she said before the woman bowed and left with her son in her hold and the wolf in tow.
They watched her go before Officer Asahi gave Rikuo a small grin. The older man ruffled the blond locks affectionately as the teen protested.
"Shall we head back now?"
He gave the policeman a huge grin in return.
"Sure, lead the way!."
….
Shuuji groaned loudly and slumped into the chair in defeat. There were files upon files cluttered around him, all neatly stacked by letter and year. Officer Kunichi watched him from the side with an amused tilt to his lips. The ravenette glared at the man.
"Did you guys never clean this place?"
"Well, maybe once or twice after it was converted."
"That's blasphemy!! How are we meant to find the files in here then!?" The blue eyed teen hissed like an angry kitten, though the hisses came out more snake-like.
"I already found it, like 30 minutes ago."
Kunichi snorted and held out the file he found. Shuuji glared harder.
"And why didn't you tell me?"
The round officer smirked at the impatient teen. It made the revenette want to tear it off of his face but 'Deep breaths, Shuu. No need for violence yet.'
"It was far more amusing to watch you organize the files. God kid, you looked ready to set it on fire."
Kunichi snickered. Shuuji took a deep breath before he exhaled and held out a hand for the Officer to hand the file over. Once he got it, the teen quickly read through the report.
At first glance it looked like a normal if slightly confusing report but for someone aware of the otherside, this file held more than what a civilian police could find.
With a huff the boy placed the file in its correct place. He then stood up and dusted himself.
"Well, Officer Kunichi, it looks like we need to go somewhere."
"Go where kid?"
"The former headquarters of the Momotsuki Yakuza."