"Rin. I'm sorry!" Yuna insisted after the training as she followed her to the dressing room.
"It's all right. You can't be blamed if I'm careless."
"Nevertheless. I made you look bad in front of Niimura-senpai and the Sensei. I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Maybe I got a little cocky." Grinning, Rin rubbed her sweaty hair. "Did you have some fun?"
Yuna thought for a moment, then nodded, smiling. "Yes. Somehow I really missed it."
"I told you. Then you come to training on Wednesday?"
The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes upward as she thought. "I guess so. If nothing comes up."
Rin raised an eyebrow. "What could come up?"
Yukiko's face flashed in her mind, and she squinted. "Oh... you never know."
"What do you think of Aizawa?" the spectacle wearer asked as she pushed open the locker room door.
"Isn't that obvious? I can't stand her."
"Is there a reason? Except that she's flirting like crazy with Wada-san?"
"I'm jealous of her hair color?"
Incredulous, Rin blinked at her friend. "Seriously?" As Yuna raised an eyebrow, she had to laugh. "All right. I was wondering."
"I just feel bad about her," the blue-haired girl admitted.
Nodding, Rin replied, "I feel the same way. Something's wrong with her." She added something in her thoughts, but she didn't want to say it.
Outside of the school grounds, their ways parted. Yuna went straight to the pension. Sporadically, she looked around, but she couldn't find her enemy anywhere. She was convinced that Yukiko wouldn't give up. She was lurking somewhere for an opportunity.
As she strolled home, she pulled out her phone and checked her messages. She thought twice about writing Hikari - just to make sure she didn't hang out with Yukiko.
"Yuna Masuda," it sounded from a side street, and alarmed, the girl jumped. She stared at the person who was examining her with two red-glowing eyes.
"Who are you?" The oni appeared in a completely human shape. Only the eyes betrayed him. His right hand moved to his left little finger, which lacked two limbs.
"My name is Kimura. I was told that you have a problem."
Yuna looked at him suspiciously, then checked her surroundings before she went to him into the alley. "Who sends you?"
"A mutual friend. What is the problem?"
"Listen, Kimura-san. I don't want to be a burden to Narusegawa-san. I'll fix this myself."
A deep chuckle sounded from him. "Apparently not, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"Kenji has interfered once before and only made it worse."
Kimura's eyes narrowed. "Tanaka? The sheriff?"
"Who else?" Yuna rolled her eyes incredulously. "I'll take care of Yukiko myself."
"What Yukiko?"
"That doesn't concern you. Stay out of it!" The girl started to turn away, but the man's right hand shot up and grabbed her upper arm. She flinched briefly, but then her instincts took over. "Let me go!"
"Listen carefully, girl. Tanaka is just a clown who shoos beasts around. If there are real problems, I will be there. Who is this Yukiko? An oni? A human?"
Yuna broke away and glared at him. "Yukiko Aizawa. An oni. She wants to kill me."
Kimura's mouth opened, but he said nothing. Again his eyes narrowed to slits. "Aizawa... an ice oni?"
"You know her?" Nodding, the man retreated. "What's going on? What about her?"
"Whatever you do, don't kill her."
Perplexed, the girl blinked at him. "What?!"
"Please. Don't kill her. Let me talk to her."
In one fell swoop the whole appearance of the man had changed. Now he seemed more like an old beggar than a dreadful man. "What about her? I don't understand anything anymore."
"Please, Yuna-chan, leave Yukiko to me. Don't hurt her."
Slowly, the blue-haired girl nodded as she stared at the man. Out of sheer confusion, she even missed the strange familiarity that resonated in the man's voice. Before she could say anything else, he pushed himself off the ground and flew up before disappearing over the edge of the roof.
What did all this mean? And who exactly had sent Kimura-san to her?
***
Haruka entered her office from a small balcony. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair as she became aware of the oni in her office. "How did you get in here?"
His sharp teeth flashed as the light of the ceiling lights broke on his scales. "Through the door, Haruka."
"What do you want here, Shinji-kun?"
The undertaker rose from a small couch that stood in a corner. "We haven't seen each other for a while. I wanted to see if you're all right."
"Hm." She eyed him suspiciously, then she walked past him to her desk and sat down at it. She took a file, opened it, and immersed herself in it.
"You don't want to talk to me?" he asked.
"What for? You poke around in my brain anyway and get what you want to know." She focused heavily on the file.
The telepath made a deep chuckle. "You really know your stuff." He went to a small bar and prepared a drink. "You bombard me with intense, superficial thoughts, so I can't get to your deeper thoughts. Very advanced technique."
"Hm." She turned the pages and read on.
"What are you trying to hide, Haruka?"
She looked up for a moment. "What do you know about Yukiko Aizawa?"
"Only what I know from you. She was your... daughter." He cocked his head. "Why?"
"Have you heard anything from her lately?"
Grinning, the oni spread his arms. "What time span would that cover?"
Snorting, Haruka returned her attention to the document in her hand. "I'm not in the mood for games."
"She's been out of town for over thirty years. How should I know something?"
"Thanks to your gift you are an excellent information broker. Could it be that you picked something up?"
"What exactly is this about? You know you can trust me, Haruka." He stepped to her desk and stared at her, but she ignored him.
"I don't trust anyone. You know that very well."
The undertaker cleared his throat. "I trust you. As a token of my trust, I put my cards on the table."
"Ah yes?" She looked up at him, brow raised.
"Do you think it's a good idea to use Kimura?" The mayoress' lips hardened. "You can't keep me out of your head. I know everything when I share a room with a person."
She put down the file and put her fingertips together. "Interesting."
The next thought caused Shinji to jump briefly. He took a step back, avoiding the leader's gaze as he swallowed audibly. "Um..."
"I play this game longer than anyone else, Shinji-kun." She emphasized the -kun explicitly. "Don't think you can mess around with me, do you understand?"
"Please forgive me, Narusegawa-sama."
"Kimura is my problem, understood?"
The undertaker nodded quickly. "I just thought... it's dangerous."
"That's not your problem. If Tanaka was more reliable then I wouldn't need Kimura." Shinji nodded in agreement. "Do you know anything about Yukiko Aizawa?"
"She was seen in the city," he muttered meekly. "She's looking for Tirr's killer."
"I understand." Sighing, the leader of the oni put a hand on her forehead. "That's why she's after Yuna-chan."
"What will you do?"
"I'll have to talk to her. Yuna-chan will surely kill her if the two fight. I don't want that."
"What should I do, Haruka?"
She studied her advisor for a moment. It had always bothered her that he mostly knew what she was thinking. She had spent many resources trying to find a way to block his gift. Yuna Masuda was one of them. If she absorbed the girl's powers, she could keep him out of her thoughts. In addition, she would then be armed against most attacks.
But that was exactly how she differed from her dead husband. While no price was too high to reach his goals, she tried to avoid sacrifices. In addition, the Han'yō were a new phenomenon. She couldn't yet guess what rules were applicable to these hybrid beings. To her knowledge, there was only this one, and as long as she cooperated with her, she didn't want to destroy her.
And then there was the emotional connection of her foster daughter. She didn't want to hurt the cat girl.
"You don't have to do anything. I'll take care of it."
"I can help you," the undertaker asserted.
"I renounce. Yukiko Aizawa is my problem."