Joint Effort
"Right, Let's get you brats out of the medical wing first, then I'll debrief you all on the mission."
Irina decided.
Within an hour, the two boys were admitted out of the hospital and the group of five were sitting in the cafe down the entrance to Midnight Tokyo.
The moment they sat down around the small booth, the brunette woman proceeded to order a huge amount of sweets with 2 cups of cappuccino and 3 glasses of juice. Kunichi eyed the woman warily while Miwatoshi accepted his cup of coffee gratefully.
Once they were comfortable and full. Irina started debriefing them on the mission given out by the council.
"Now that we have engaged the culprit in a fight, the council wants to try and catch him quickly. And with the powers he has, leaving him out there free is unacceptable. With that, Rikuo with Officer Asahi and Shuuji with Officer Kunichi, team up!!" She said cheerfully.
"Uhh, teacher. What about you?" Rikuo asked hesitantly. The brunette woman grinned at the blond, sharp teeth visible.
"Alone of course! Unlike you all, I have enough field experience and I am your teacher so I would be going alone."
"I see, then Colonel Rostavich, what are we to do?" Asahi questioned, wanting the woman to finish debriefing. Irina nodded at him.
"Officer Asahi and Rikuo, I want you guys to go question the witnesses. I am sure the officer has the last." She then turned to the other team, who were sipping their juice peacefully.
"Officer Kunichi and Shuuji, I want you to review the files of the previous case. Now that you know about the Midnight Realm, more information should crop out."
"And?" Kunichi pushed, placing his empty glass on the table.
"And?"
"What will you be doing?"
"Ah, I will be meeting some acquaintances to hopefully try and find out just who our despicable criminal is!"
With that, the brunette woman finished her coffee and stood up.
"Now that we're done, get to your assignments! We will meet back here around 5pm."
Rikuo glanced at the clock to see it saying 11:57, satisfied that they would be able to get the job done, the blond stood up with Officer Asahi in tow, leaving the round officer with Shuuji.
"So Officer, who are we visiting first?" Asahi sighed, bringing out his notebook to check.
"Since we are still in East Shinjuku, Let's visit Fubuki Satomi and Pei'Min. They live near the red light district, which is only about 3-4 km's from here."
The blond nodded. The duo called for a taxi and left the area to go fulfill their part of the mission. Time was of essence, they did not have single second to waste.
….
Back in the shop, Shuuji watched the other two leave from his seat by the window. The ravenette turned back to his slightly round partner calmly.
"Shall we leave then, Officer?" The man grumbled.
"Yes, yes we shall."
They left the cafe and walked back towards the police department of East side Shinjuku. They didn't speak much during the talk and were quick to arrive at their destination.
From there, Officer Kunichi took the lead. He navigated through the confusing building easily, leading them to the archive. They passed by confused officers and interns without a problem until they entered the archive room.
'It's messy…'Shuuji thought distastefully, looking over the dust covered room. Kunichi pushed past the teen, rummaging through the files. Sighing, the ravenette rolled up his sleeves to help the search.
"What are we searching for?"
"Files labeled as Shinjuku, Yakuza murder case."
"Hn.."
….
Irina whistled as she walked(more like skipped) her way down the hall of the administrative building of Midnight Tokyo. The halls were empty the further the brunette woman went.
Her blue eyes scanned the door at the end of the hall for a moment before she raised her leg and kicked it open with a "Thud!!!"
Smirking, Irina walked inside to see resigned looking Kousuke Kousuke alongside a strict looking woman dressed in dark blue suit and high heels.The woman's red eyes twitched irritatedly as she eyed Irina.
"Can't you enter like a normal person for once, Rostavich?"
"Ah but we aren't normal people, Zekin. We are exorcists! the Chosen ones!" Irina wailed dramatically, pulling a light snort from the fellow brunette on the couch.
"Ugh just get in Rostavich and tell me what you need from me."
The red eyed woman mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. Irina eyed her amused.
Zekin Ritsuka was a high ranking member of the Midnight City government. She was the head of the human resources that oversaw the champions of Midnight Japan and was a former warrior miko.
She was also Irina's rival from her Academy days.
"Well Zekin, I need you to find someone for me."
"Unless you have an official permit, you know I can't-"
"I do have a permit. This is for an official mission given by the council."
Ritsuka sighed once again. Irina knew she won her over.
"Fine! Who do I need to find?"
"You need to find every champion that fits the description of silver hair, heterochromic eyes of lilac and silver. In the age group of 13-19."
"An academy student? Missing exorcist or priest?"
"A rogue."
Red eyes snapped open to meet Irina's blue ones, stunned.
"A rogue? We haven't had a rogue since 9 years ago. Rostavich what's going on?"
"I don't know Zekin. That's what we are trying to find out. The boy summoned onryo of at least B rank and his reiki was absolutely drenched in corruption."
"I see. Alright, both of you out."
Ritsuka pushed Kousuke and Irina out of her room with urgency. She nodded towards Irina before she slammed the door in their faces.
"I'd contact you once I find something."
Stunned, the brunettes shared a glance before they burst into laughter. Zekin Ritsuka, the most serious person they knew, really kicked them out of her office like that.
They shared a laugh for a moment or two before they calmed down.
Kousuke glanced at the horribly dressed woman beside himself, warmly.
"Irina, are you free next friday?"
"Oh sorry, Kousuke. I am busy. I have to take
my cute brats out on another mission."
"I see…" he mumbled, a bit put out. "Then what about-"
Irina waved him off as her phone pinged. The brunette woman read over the message sent to her. She frowned for a moment then turned around to leave the building, after bidding her goodbye to the defeated man.
"I apologize but I gotta go. See you later, general bastard!"
"Stay safe…"
Kousuke whispered before he, too, went on his own way.
…
Rikuo slumped against the park bench he sat on with a sigh, watching Miwatoshi question the witness in the name of reaffirming their statements. Which, he admitted, was an excellent excuse but did they have to ignore him?
The blond sighed again, bored out of his mind. Turquoise eyes roamed around the playground in front of him. There were lots of kids running around playing and parents in the name of watching their kids, gossiping about everything and anything.
"That foreign kid-"
See? Now they were gossiping about Rikuo. It was rude and the blond was just about to let them know he could hear them when one of the women pointed at the tiny child at the edge of the sandbox playing alone.
"The one with the red hair-"
'Oh, they weren't talking about me..' He realized. The child had the brightest red hair he had ever seen and Rikuo could bet his entire school fee that it was as soft to touch as it looked. He tuned out the women to focus on the child.
The blond could see that none of the children around moved to play with the kid and the said kid looked pretty miserable about it too. It-
It reminded Rikuo of his own childhood.
He glanced at Miwatoshi to see him still questioning the witnesses. So the blond took that as a permission to go check on the kid and got off of the bench. Rikuo walked up to, then kneeled down beside the red headed child.
"Hey there." He greeted the kid, smiling warmly. The kid looked at him before turning away.
"I am Rikuo, what's your name?" Rikuo tried again.
"Mama told me to not talk to strangers."
"Well, mama is right. But since you know my name and if you tell me your name then we won't be strangers anymore right?"
The blonde reasoned. The kid's eyebrows furrowed, his bright blue eyes flashing with confusion over his logic. Finally, the kid answered him.
"I'm Kazuha. Mama calls me Zukkun!"
"It's nice to meet you, Kazuha! Are you alone?"
"Mmh, mama went to get ice cream."
"I see, what are you making?"
"I'm making Lucky!"
Kazuha gave him a toothy grin, pointing at the dog-like shape he had drawn on the sand. Rikuo nodded, he pushed his sleeves up to his elbows and pushed his hands into the sand.
"Well then, let me help you! Is Lucky your dog?"
"Nope! He is mama's wolf." The boy exclaimed happily.
'Wolf?' Rikuo paused.
Why did Kazuha's mom have a wolf? Weren't wolves supposed to be extinct in Japan? Wasn't it illegal to own wolves? Maybe it was a dog? A husky? But Kazuha said Lucky wasn't a dog. Maybe it was a game? Kazuha's mother was an evil witch with her wolf familiar that Hero Kazuha had to stop-
Rikuo pulled the red head into his chest and rolled out of the way barely moments before the sand went flying everywhere from the sharp legs of the onryo that landed right where they had been.
He quickly stood up,pushing the kid's head down so he wouldn't see the terrifying Onryo that stood before them. If Kazuha could even see them that is
Rikuo pulled out the spare dagger Irina had handed him to practice with and coated it. The blond could hear Officer Asahi yelling for him but he was too focused on the onryo to take the chance and look back.
Kazuha's grip tightened around his neck as the boy whimpered into his shoulder. Absently, Rikuo gave him a careful pat.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."
He murmured, and blocked-