Chapter 56 – Mariya’s idea

Third person POV

 The next morning came, and Hoshi woke up in his bedroom in the Takada estate's main house good and refreshed. The time was 6:30 a.m. Although he came back home from his night patrol at midnight, he managed to get some sleep. Looking at the partial sunlight emanating from his bedroom windows, which were covered by the curtains, he got up and went to the windows to open the curtains to let in some sunlight. He did so and opened the windows themselves, letting in fresh air. He then took a deep breath and thought with positivity, "Wow, today is a new day."

 After that, he walked back to his bed, which was a mattress instead of a Western-style bed, and tidied it up, before getting some books from his roller bag to do some reading before leaving his room. It turns out that last night, once everyone in the house was fast asleep, he, as Kuro, had snuck out of his room through a window to do his vigilant night patrol, and he snuck back in once it was finished at midnight.

 After reading a few pages, he put them away, left the room, and to the main house's courtyard. There he did some exercises by walking around it for 5 times. After that, he sat down and thought about what had happened, including his chat with Kioko as Kuro.

 "That must be him…" he thought, making Shuten Dōji the possible culprit for the abductions of three women.

He then looked at the zen garden of the courtyard.

 Later, at 6:45 a.m., he stood up and went to the dining room to eat breakfast with his family and friends. There they gathered up while Hoshi's grandmother and aunt and Mariya are still cooking the meal at the kitchen. His grandfather and uncle are sitting down while reading their daily and traditional newspapers. Paulo and Reo are watching some cartoons on TV. His friends are watching the TV with them as well.

 "Good morning," Hoshi greeted them.

They then looked at him.

 "Good morning!"

 "Morning!"

 "How are you, Hoshi-kun?"

 "I'm fine as usual," Hoshi replied back happily, before sitting down next to Taro.

 "You seemed to be happy as usual, aren't you?" Sha asked him.

 "Yup! Why are you asking?"

 "N-Nothing…"

 A bit later, breakfast was now served, and all of them are now eating it. The breakfast consisted of Japanese food, but Mariya included fried eggplants, which was one of her favorite foods to eat, to spice up the meal. As they eat, Hoshi revealed to them the possible culprit responsible for the disappearances of three women in the city. They were then surprised to hear that.

 "That Yokai?"

 "No way!"

 "Our hypothesis is actually true?!"

 "How did you know that?"

 "Well…" Hoshi responded back, "…I actually met that Yokai last night, in person."

 "Woah!" Taro replied back.

 "Really?" Bokuto asked.

Hoshi then nodded. "Yes, I met him when he tried to abduct Kioko-san."

 "No way…" Saki gasped in mild shock.

 "Yes, and Kuro and I went out last night to do some patrolling, actually."

 "Dude!" Bokuto responded back strongly. "You didn't tell us about that!"

 "Sorry, me and Kuro had decided not to tell you that."

Bokuto then calmed down, understanding why they did that.

But in his mind, he wished he would come with them.

 Meanwhile, in her apartment home, Kioko was eating her simple breakfast, thinking about her encounter with Shuten Dōji and how Kuro had saved her. "He is like an angel guardian," she thought as she ate her meal. After breakfast, she grabbed her purse and left the apartment, locking the door and going downstairs to go to work on foot.

 Later, at her detective agency, as she was doing some paperwork at her desk, one of her coworkers came and asked her how her walking towards home was last night. "Oh, it's fine," Kioko replied back, hiding her encounter with Shuten Dōji and Kuro last night. The reason why is that she wanted to maintain her public image as someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural. Understanding and not being suspicious of her, her coworker nodded and went back to his desk.

 Back at the Takada estate, Mariya got an idea: What if she would become Shuten Dōji's next victim so Hoshi and his friends would catch him easily? Hoshi and the others were shocked at her idea.

 "What the…?"

 "Mariya-chan?"

 "Are you sure about that?"

 "That sounds dangerous."

 "It'll be fine," Mariya responded with a confident smile on her face. "Let's wait until nightfall to do it."

After much consideration, they agreed to her proposal, and Hoshi, who had Kioko's phone number yesterday, called Kioko, informing her of Mariya's idea. Kioko, in response, agreed, but she wasn't skeptical about it at all.