Chapter 19 - Sometimes, Mom's Are More Intimidating Than Hollows

In a room filled to the brim with giant screens and unearthly technological equipment, a rather ordinary man with black hair and eyes noticed a small blip on the device in front of him. At first, his eyes squinted. Then, he leaned closer to the screen and adjusted his glasses.

"Is somebody from the West District taking a vacation in Japan right now? That reaction was very similar to theirs," The man wondered aloud in a quiet voice. As a relatively new transfer to the squad, he wondered if he should report it.

After mulling it over for a few moments, he stood up and walked over to an adjacent room. Upon entering the room, the man ignored the numerous devices that looked like medical equipment or incubation tubes. He approached a man wearing a white coat with the Japanese character for '12' on the back. Doing his best to ignore the two-pronged sideways-pointing hat above his superior's head, the man stood straight and reported what he saw.

"Captain. There was a blip on the map similar to somebody from the West District. Do you know if any of them are active here right now?"

The captain turned his head slightly, revealing his face, every inch of it painted black and white. His eyes rolled around in their sockets for a moment before he replied, "Why the hell are you asking me? If it gives a reaction similar to that of somebody from the West District, then it's somebody from the West District. Maybe they're on vacation or something. None of my business. Now, go back and stop bothering me, you nimwit."

"U- understood, Captain!" The man nervously exclaimed with sweat on his brow. The latent spiritual pressure in the air unsettled him.

* * *

On his way home, Jin did his best to come up with an excuse to tell his family about his previous and upcoming absences during the duration of the tutorial missions. Glancing at the chat group, he sighed at the countdown that still had almost twenty-four hours remaining until it would send him to the next world.

Finally, he reached his house. Entering through the front sliding door, Jin, without expecting a response, calmly said, "I'm home."

To his surprise, quick footsteps sprinted from around the corner. When he looked up, he saw his mother's face contorted with anxiousness. Hints of worry and rage swirled in her normally laid-back purple eyes.

"Jin. Explain your text. Where have you been?"

"Ah, about that. I didn't originally plan to be gone that long while helping my friend. I'll fill you in, but I'd like to clean up first."

The woman sniffed the air near him and frowned.

"You smell like smoke. Fine, go bathe, then tell me where you went."

With that, Jin nodded, took a long bath, and then joined his mother for an afternoon snack at the dinner table.

"Why didn't you tell us where you were going?"

"Like I said, I didn't think I'd be gone that long."

"...You're not going to end up like Haruki, are you?"

"Hah. No. It's just helping some friends with some freelance work. I'll probably be rather busy for the next week or so with it, though I'll do my best to keep Friday open so we can still go to the family diner."

"What kind of work is it? Is it dangerous?" Jin's mother asked, her eyes narrowed out of suspicion.

"Hmm. Not really? It's basically cleaning up disaster sites, and they're a bit short-handed at the moment, so I'm going to help out from time to time," Jin lied without a change in his expression.

'I don't like lying to her, but she'd more likely think it was a lie if I told her what I've actually been up to.'

"Does this have something to do with all the earthquakes that have been happening more often lately?"

"Earthquakes? Ah, yeah, sure."

'No idea what she's talking about, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of hollow activity or something.'

"Will you be okay while doing that?"

"I'll be fine, mom."

Then, his mom frowned and said, "But you skipped school to participate."

Averting his eyes, Jin retorted, "Well, yes. I personally think it's more important than school."

"Don't skip school. You're a student. You should let adults take care of that kind of clean-up thing."

"...Just let me do it for a week or so. Even if I miss a few days, it won't hurt my grades."

"But what about your perfect attendance, Jin?"

'Like I care about that in the first place.'

"I'll stop by the office to request leave for community service tomorrow, then. Should be fine."

Glaring back at him, she sternly said, "Jin."

"I'm going to be stubborn about it, mom."

"Why are all the men in this family like this?"

His mom shook her head and stood up from the table. She brought the empty plates in front of them to the sink in silence, but eventually said, "Y'know, Jin, I've never seen you so animated about something. Do you like it that much?"

Lowering his eyes, Jin rubbed his chin and said, "Rather than liking it, it's more like finding something fulfilling, I guess."

"...Sigh. Fine. I'll talk to your dad. If you need a sign-off on a school leave, let us know. It better not be more than a week, though. Also, don't go missing on us without telling us anything next time."

"Sure thing. Glad we got it figured out, then. Knowing dad, he'll probably be fine with it."

"...Right."

* * *

The next morning, Jin arrived several minutes early at his school and made a beeline for the faculty office. Arriving at the door, he knocked and announced his entry by stating, "I'm coming in."

Inside, a handful of teachers looked at him. A few recognized him and nodded. In particular, the advisor of the kendo club waved at him from the other side of the room. The middle-aged man still had a noticeably muscular build as if to spite his age and loose-fitting dress clothes. His somewhat wavy black hair was cut as short and neat as possible. Several national kendo medals adorned his desk, alongside pictures of his family. A particularly old photo displayed a man who looked similar to the teacher. The photographed man held up a medal from a decades-old national competition in one hand and carried a young kid on his opposite shoulder. Both showed wide toothy grins.

"Hideyoshi-kun! Good morning!" The man greeted, waving for Jin to come over.

Nodding, Jin walked over and said, "Good morning, Natsuki-Sensei."

"Are you here about the club, or are you looking for your homeroom teacher?"

"Yes. Is Sato-sensei not here yet?"

"Well… he is not. I'm sure he'll be here soon. What exactly did you need? I might be able to help you with it."

"I see. I need to ask for a week of leave so I can participate in some community service. Is that possible?"

The man's already big eyes widened slightly, but then he smiled, chuckled, and said, "You want to do community service? How unexpected."

Jin shrugged.

"Participate in the next competition after your leave, and I'll make sure to get your leave settled."

Pressing his lips together, Jin silently stared at the man for a few seconds. Since the man showed no signs of changing his mind, Jin sighed and said, "Fine. Don't blame me if anything happens when I participate."

The man showed a wide smile, gave a thumbs-up, and assured him, "As long as you participate in even one competition this year, we'll get a lot more funding. I also want to see you swing your sword again."

"Just fight me yourself, then," Jin grumbled.

"Hahaha! I'm getting too old for that, but maybe I'll take you up on that someday!"

"So, am I good?"

"Yes. I'll go grab forms for you to have one of your parents sign. How's your dad doing, by the way?"

"He's alright, but he's been working a lot recently."

"Hah. Sounds like him. Alright, give me a minute to grab those permission forms for you."

Jin nodded and waited by the man's desk for him to return. While waiting, he glanced at the female teacher sitting at the adjacent desk since he had never seen her before. She also looked back at him and nodded before giving a formal greeting, which he politely returned. However, a similar vibe of familiarity to when he first met Uesugi Fuutarou threw him off.

Glancing at the brand-new nameplate sitting on the desk, Jin blinked a few times out of blatant surprise. Then, he looked at the woman again.

'Hah. Haha. Didn't see that one coming.'

Again, he looked at the nameplate, hardly able to believe his own eyes. If not for recent events, he would have thought it pure coincidence.

[Hiratsuka Shizuka]

'Well, what a coincidence.'