61. Professional Conduct
「Haruki」
"Its just to ease us in," Chie is saying. "If anything that the debacle-which-will-not-be-named told us-"
"The break up?" Mayumi drawls. Chie continues as if she didn't hear.
"…its that we need a good system! So my idea is that before we do a job, we have a meeting here to propose it to the group and we talk it over. Ins and outs. What do ya think?"
Chie looks around to us expectantly, sitting at her kitchen table. Chie stands at one end while Mayumi sits at the other, chin in her hand. Hotaru and Katsumi sit opposite me, eyeing each other skeptically.
"Yeah, question," Katsumi begins, "So, you want us to meet up to decide when we meet up?"
Mayumi snickers.
"No! We meet to decide whether we conduct a mission with life-or-death consequences! This is serious and we need to be serious if we keep this up!"
"I am so serious right now," Mayumi perfectly deadpans.
I hide my smile behind a fist. Hotaru and Katsumi do not, giggling together. Chie pouts.
Schooling my expression I come to her rescue.
"This is serious business," I assure, "but you gotta admit that all endeavors live or die by scheduling. These meetings of yours will eat up a lotta time that we could spend on the streets."
She crosses her arms, her frown deepening, which unfortunately makes her look even more adorable. Keeping a straight face is a struggle as she launches into a stern tirade.
"Don't care! We are not having a repeat of The Debacle…
"We're calling it the Debacle now?" Katsumi mutters to Hotaru, who shrugs.
"…so from now on if we wanna do a job, we're gonna be meeting about it. We're gonna discuss it in detail, and we will not act until we all vote unanimously! That is how it will be or we won't do it at all!"
Chie finishes with the most imperious look she can muster. I can't take it, my hand goes over my smile again.
Almost as if echoing my thoughts, Mayumi purrs, "Ya know, you're really cute when you're trying to be assertive~"
Our laughter accompanies her sputtering.
────୨ৎ────
Its late in the evening when we arrive at the warehouse. It stands cold and abandoned, surrounded by the telltale signs of industrial decay. Many demons feed on such things. Decay, rot, rust, or carrion—it doesn't matter to them. Lucky for us, there are plenty of decay eaters in the city hiding in forgotton places. Businesses that went under, discarded factories, or even crumbling and overgrown bunkers and shelters from the war. All of it gives us opportunity.
Mayumi walks beside me, sticking close.
And an opening for Chie's 'reset'.
No matter what I do I can't shake the feeling. That horrible, icy feeling of seeing Mayumi hurt and wondering if it will happen again. When Chie proposed this little mission as a proof-of-concept for her solution to our team's issues, I… well… half of me wanted to just call hunting off for good. But Mayumi wants to continue this—to stop another tragedy before it can begin—and I am her girlfriend, not her mother.
All we can do is keep each other safe.
As we approach the main entrance, Chie hums.
"What?" I ask.
"The lights are on."
Now that we're closer I notice it too. A dull glow coming out from under the double doors that serve as the main entrance.
"Most abandoned buildings have power," Mayumi says. "Big ass buildings are usually on a big ass power grid. Can't turn one off without messing up everything else. Plus, keeps the security cameras on."
"How do you know that?" Hotaru asks.
Mayumi catches my eye, smirking. "We used to sneak into places as kids," she explains. "It was a fun hobby."
"Minus the getting chased off the premises a few times," I remark. Mayumi's retort is instant.
"What do you mean? That was the best part!"
Chie groans.
"Strange hobby," Katsumi remarks.
I shrug. Looking back, it was thrill-seeking, in a way. Grief makes people do funny things. At the time a part of me wondered if she was looking for a demon like we are now. Only she wanted to… I don't know. I shouldn't think about such things. It never ends well.
On the other side of Mayumi, Chie walks beside. Almost as if she wants to keep her safe. Something in me relaxes at the sight. I don't have to worry anymore. Well… as much at least.
The main doors are before us now, and baring any further chatting, I try it.
Unlocked.
I hum low in my throat.
"Yeah," Mayumi says, "Suspicious as fuck."
"Are we sure this place is abandoned?" Hotaru asks.
"The alert on the app said so," Chie answers.
Mayumi grumbles. "Not the app again..."
"It's straightforward and easy! Plus, nobody bothers with infestations in abandoned buildings. Dangerous and no bonus from the owners. If there are any…"
"Then why are we doing it?" Mayumi asks.
"I just went over this at our meeting. The meeting I specifically called to…"
"Yeah, but why this specifically? Why not just hit that B-class again?"
"Because we obviously aren't ready!"
"Sure we are. Katsu-chan took down one in a duo."
"Umm, I just… watched." Katsumi mumbles.
With a grumble Chie says, "Just come on will you!" Before she storms inside. I follow, kicking the door aside for the others.
The inside of the place is small for a warehouse. Just big enough to fit a couple houses side-by-side. The little lighting that is here hangs low and dim, shrouding most of the place in darkness aside from three pools of circular light up and down the space. Trash is piled high all around in little mounds, giving off a nasty stench. Rot-demon nests.
With a gesture of silence to the others, I move in further. Leading the way through a path between the trash piles, arms raised, ready to summon my sword at a moment's notice. My gaze shifts left and right, suspicious of every shadow. Chie's little briefing said there was one C-class here and a slew of lower classes. I wouldn't rule out this being a little trap where they ambush the unsuspecting.
As such, the battlefield is tight. Too tight. Catwalks line the space high above, but I can't see any stairs through all this mess. First thing is to get Mayumi, Chie, and Hotaru up high. Then me and Katsumi can deal with those on the ground. I gesture at the girls, then to the catwalks. They nod.
I continue in, stepping lightly to not disturb what demons lay about. No wonder no one wants to deal with these types of infestations. How are we supposed to find anything in this mess?
I round the corner of a stack of containers coated in a thick layer of dust, and see an open area near what looks like a loading bay. Its all bare concrete with a wide roll up door—the way they moved stuff inside—only those doors are open. The darkness of night mixed with the pollution of the city lights.
"What the fuck?"
I tense, the slimy, masculine voice eerily familiar. A look left reveals a featureless man shrouded in shadow, just beyond a cone of light a few meters away. Behind him is a van, where four larger men are throwing wriggling sacks into the back, one after the other. On the ground, a centipede-like demon squirms in a net, biting at the netting fruitlessly.
No… It can't be…
The man who noticed us comes forward until he enters the light, and a near-silent snarl of disgust escapes my lips. I know him. His head is cocked to the side, cigarette dangling from his mouth. His hair is practically dripping with gel and his clothes are caked in the remains of the garbage that surround us.
Silently I curse whatever Kami is responsible for our fate. What are the odds that we would run into the same sleezeball muhōmono that set us up months ago?
His narrowed brows rise.
"Well, well…" he says, "If it ain't the damn dyke parade."
"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" I groan.
He chuckles. "Oh this is too good. Hey boys, come look at this shit!"
On his cue, his croneys drop their work and lumber over. True to memory, they're all tall and stocky men, barely indistinguishable between each other. The muscle to sleezeball's brains. The only way I can tell them apart is from their flashy, expensive clothing. One wears a red designer jacket with a popped collar, the gaudy logo emblazoned in the center. The man next to him is wearing several gold necklaces worth thousands. Among the other two, one is wearing a silk purple shirt and crocodile leather shoes and the other a suit.
Who wears a suit while hunting?!
Completely impractical.
"No way," the one with the necklaces grunts, "Is that…"
"Them dumbass girls who took our bait? Yeah." The leader's eyes are leering as he looks over us, and my skin crawls. At my side my fists tighten, begging to just shut this bastard up.
"What's up?" he says, "Couldn't get enough of us? Don't worry, we gots enough for all of you." He finishes with a yellow smile.
I don't hide my disgust. Neither does Mayumi.
"Absolutely the fuck not," she spits.
A scoff and he speaks again.
"Don't tell me you was here for the demons, cause that shit? That'd be funny. I might almost piss myself!" He laughs, and like a his own personal laugh-track, his goons join in, chucking heavily.
"And what if we were?" I say, slow and measured.
"Then I'd say ya too late!" He laughs again, and I spare a glance over my shoulder at the girls, eyebrow raised as if to ask, 'Are you seeing this shit?'
Hard stares look back at me, and I meet each one. Words don't need to be exchanged. I can see their thoughts clear on their faces. We have faced so much worse than this band of morons. Even having to stand in their presence is insulting
The leader calms, chucking. "But, uh, its for the best. Our ahem… bait didn't make it this time."
All of them burst into laughter again, the one in the suit saying, "Casualties of war, am I right boss?"
"Heh, more like the price a doin business."
It's been bubbling up inside me the entire time, anger. A slow simmer like food in a pan, but just that one line is like pouring oil on the fire. All at once my body shakes with rage, trembling, because how dare they? How can they even show their faces, much less laugh?
They don't have their weapons summoned. They think they're in control. My hands go behind my back, the flick of my finger subtle. I know the girls can see.
First you decapitate the snake. Then you deal with the rest in order of arrival. Katsumi and Chie in the rear and Mayumi and Hotaru with me.
My steps are unhurried closing the distance.
"See," sleezeball says between chuckles, "All worked out. Wouldn't want ya pretty things gettin eaten by all them bastards we got in the back. Y'alls better off with us."
Mayumi speaks under her breath, tone dripping with hate. "Just say the fucking word, babe."
"What was that?" he says, holding a hand to his ear. "Speak up doll."
Silence.
"What? Nothin? Ah what am I sayin." He looks back to his men, exposing the side of his face to me. "Women are better qui-"
I hear the crack first. A slow-motion image of my fist connecting with his jaw, spit flying in a graceful arc under the light, all before the force of it travels up my arm in a bone shaking jolt.The cigarette flies. With him extended, my second fist punches deep into his abdomen.
Then, time seems to speed up, and he goes down like a folding chair smacking concrete, out cold in a satisfying thump.
For a second there's only silence as the four goons stand stunned, staring down at their leader, slack-jawed.
It will be a few beats before the sleazeball will be able to scrape back his senses. A snake without its head.
I tactfully place one foot on his back, casually flexing my fingers.
"You know," I begin, cracking my knuckles and wiggling my fingers. "We came here expecting a fight, and we're going to get one."
Behind me Mayumi growls a heady "Fuck yes."
Just as Hotaru mutters, "Oh no."
The moment explodes with all the force of a bomb. The one in the red jacket, the closest, comes at me at me wildly, swinging wide. Its easy to brush aside. The edge of my hand smacks his throat, stunning him for the second I need to grab his shirt and toss him at the one in the suit with a roar.
In a flash Chie and Katsumi are on them, wielding mana quarterstaves, not letting them get their bearings. I grin, proud that they know what to do.
As I turn my attention on the remaining two, they falter. Mayumi comes up beside me, holding a quarterstaff of her own. Raising my fists I waggle my fingers at them and grin wide, showing my teeth.
"What's wrong fuckers? Come to mama."
"Fuck, you are so hot right now," Mayumi says.
Golden Necklaces and Mr. Crocodile boots summon their weapons, sharp blades, with the intent to kill. They rush me and Mayumi. No backing down, not this time.
They make it about a meter before a mana barrier at shin height blinks into existence. Both eat concrete.
Hotaru leaves them no time to respond. With the two square on the floor a large barrier manifests directly above them weighing down on them like a boulder. Painful yelps from both of them.
Mayumi and I both turn in response to face Hotaru, only to catch an even stranger scene. Chie has red shirt on his stomach tying his hands with enormous zip ties, his feet having already received the same treatment. While Katsumi, brandishing a smile, extends a hand to the Mr. Suit on the ground, her glowing quarterstaff held behind her back.
"Better stand up〜"
Confused but willing, suit guy takes the offer and makes it almost off his knees before Katsumi's staff races forward in a motion so fast it barely registers and sweeps suit guy off his feet, making him hit the floor with a hard thwack.
"Oops〜 still unsteady on your feet? Better stay down then." Our miko remarks in the sweetest tone.
He tries to move but Chie has his feet tied in an instant, and with a hard jab from Katsumi for his lack of cooperation later, his hands are granted the same immobility.
I hear a groan, and their leader raises his head from the ground, blearily blinking at the scene. I step over and plant a foot on his back again, forcing him down.
"Nope," I taunt, watching Chie tie up the ones under Hotaru's barrier. When she finishes she comes over, intent on doing the same. My foot presses harder. "Now you be good for my girl, or you'll regret it."
All I get from him is a pained grunt.
Coming up beside, Mayumi teases, "Why'd you have a bunch of zip ties in your bag, nerd?"
"Oh you know, random acts of bondage."
Mayumi's laugh is more of a bark.
"Honestly tho, do you know how much you can do with zip ties? And they're so lightweight! Weight adds up when you're carrying stuff around."
"Fuck, I love your nerdy ass."
Chie blushes.
When the leader is tied up, I catch Hotaru and Katsumi standing around the van. We head over, Katsumi asking before we arrive, "Does it count as poaching if its from these guys?"
Mayumi's answer is instant.
"Fuck no, fuck them."
"Would rather not…" Chie mutters. Hotaru rolls her eyes.
Summoning her naginata, Katsumi stabs the sacks of wriggling demons, one after the other, finishing them off. Chie collects the hearts. Throwing them in her backpack.
"What do we do with them?" Hotaru asks, gesturing to the pile of groaning men.
Mayumi grins. Without a word, she goes to the leader, searching his pockets. She takes his phone, using his thumb to open it, then… calls the police. She gives no info on herself, just says that she had an altercation with some muhōmonoand that they are incapacitated at this location. Then she drops the phone, still on the call, on top a box the men can't reach.
"Kay, lets go babes."
I grin. After everything this is exactly what they deserve. Let them explain a van full of demon capturing gear at a place like this. I go to follow Mayumi out of the big door, when the leader grunts, "We'll get you for this."
"No," I say over my shoulder, not even looking at him, "you wont."