"C rank, huh? I have no doubt that you'll be able to handle it."

Hasegawa-san looked relieved when I told him what had happened.

He seemed really busy when I first came to his office, but quickly dropped whatever he was doing once he spotted me.

The bespectacled man quickly filled out a form on the desk as he spoke. "Let me explain the ranks more clearly to you. The lower ones, such as E or D, are usually just pests, or just mind their own business."

I thought about the Kasa-obake at the convenience store. It did seem rather docile. The annoying Youkai that tripped me was rather weak too. Kinda wish I measured their strength.

"Around C rank is when they start to become strong enough to cause injuries. B rank is rather capable of killing a person, and A rank Youkai are terrifyingly powerful. It's best to subdue one with a team just to be safe."

There was still something that was bugging me...

"Hasegawa-san, what about Kumo? You said it was around B-rank, but how did you know how strong it was?"

"Good question. We'd been investigating it for a while at the time, but the fact that you were an eyewitness really helped us finally track it down. By the time of the mission, we could make a rough estimate on its capabilities, despite not using the app. Unfortunately, it seems it had a hidden trick up its sleeve..."

The image of the glowing red eye appearing on Kumo made me shudder. "What happened there? It was like a second phase in a boss fight."

Hasegawa-san sighed. "That's essentially what happened. Some Youkai, usually the more powerful ones, can hide their strength. That's why stronger Youkai aren't necessarily easier to locate. Although I suspect that the Youkai wasn't aware of this strength, and only awakened to it when it was close to death. I'm quite sorry that you had to deal with that on your first mission..."

"Oh, no worries. Nakamura-sensei and Abe-senpai made sure I was never in any real danger. By the way, is Abe-senpai's arm alright?"

Hasegawa-san grinned. He suddenly looked like his age again. "Yep! It healed faster thanks to the You-Kuai bandages. I really should find a way to further develop those. Maybe if I ask Kochan for a little bit of field testing, and then modify the bandages so that-"

"Um, Hasegawa-san?" I didn't really want to interrupt him, especially with how excited he was getting, buuuut...

"Ah! Sorry about that. Just me geeking out. Anyhow, since we don't know much about the Youkai, we can't exactly give it a fitting name. Anyways, just be careful since you'll be in its territory. On top of that, you don't really know Hoshi's ability yet, huh."

I smiled assuredly. "I should be fine. I have Hoshi, after all."

"Good! Just make sure to prioritize your safety. I'll be calling you in order to give you support, so you don't have to worry too much. If you manage to complete the mission, you'll be a C-rank exorcist!"

"C rank exorcist?" It does make sense that there'd be a ranking system for exorcists too, but I wanted to know the details.

"Yep! It's quite simple. A C-rank exorcist should be able to take on a C-rank Youkai by themselves. The other ranks are the same. Anyhow, I'll get this paperwork done. You should prepare for the mission and go tomorrow, if possible."

"Yes sir."

_________________________________________________________

I should make sure to bring some bandages, and my shoes, and my naginata, and-

"Miyake-san."

Eh?

"Did you hear the question?"

Crap, did Ueda-sensei call on me? Quick, look at the board!

"U-uh..."

Ueda-sensei looked into my eyes. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. My thoughts disappeared down a drain with her gaze. My face felt hot with embarrassment.

"Watanabe-san, do you know the answer?"

What? Why didn't she chew me out for not paying attention?

Because of that incident, I ended up paying attention for the rest of the day, despite also stressing over the mission.

After the bell rang and class ended, I started walking down the hallway with Mika. For some strange reason, I seemed to be acutely aware of my surroundings.

I heard someone say "Good luck!" behind me, and the students gossiping to my side. But I hardly registered what these words meant, wholly thinking about tonight.

"Sayuri, you okay?" Mika looked over at me with a strange expression.

"Oh! Yeah, I didn't sleep much last night. I'm still a bit nervous about school."

"Mhm..."

Mika didn't say another word until we parted ways at my train stop. I felt a bit bad that we couldn't hang out more, but it was just for today. I wanted to ensure that I would be completely ready for my mission.

I double-checked and even triple-checked that I had all of my supplies ready. My mom helped and also made dinner for me before I went out.

"Make sure to eat properly! Here, I made some tonkatsu!" She came bustling out of the kitchen and placed a ton of food in front of me at the table.

"This isn't an exam, though??"

Hoshi sat on a chair beside me and excitedly banged on the table.

"You can't even eat!"

But the absurdity of her actions did help me relax a bit. I was glad that I had her. My mom, too. Too bad Kenta and my dad are busy-

"We're home!" My older brother and father rushed into the room and sat in front of me at the table.

My dad looked at me with serious eyes. "Sorry, we rushed back home to be able to send you off. Have you eaten proper-"

"Yes, father."

What in the world is going on? Now they're making me all nervous again!

Kenta smiled with amusement. "Mom, Dad, I think you're making Yuri's anxiety worse."

Thank you, Kenta.

But I did notice that he was rhythmically tapping the table rather quickly...

My phone started to buzz, and I pulled it out to check who was calling me.

Ah, it's Hasegawa-san.

I picked up the call.

"Hello, Miyake-san. I meant to call your parents, but they both didn't pick up."

I coughed a bit. "Yeah, they seem a bit occupied to check their phones."

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"Ah, that's okay. I'm glad I managed to reach you. Do you think you can get them right now?"

I coughed again, this time a little louder. It was hard not to laugh. "They're in the room with me right now."

Kenta was also suppressing a laugh. "We can hear you, Hasegawa-san."

There was a bit of silence. "Oh! Good! Sorry about the interruption, I just called to fill you all in on more details, just in case."

My dad coughed and cleared his throat. "Thank you very much, Hasegawa-san."

"Of course. Anyhow, I'll make this as convenient as possible. I believe I have given your daughter an earpiece to take with her during the mission."

I pulled out a small, black device that Hasegawa-san had given me the other day. It felt smooth, and cool to the touch. It was made of metal but was rather light.

Hasegawa-san continued. "Because your daughter has her ears pierced, I gave her a version that she can wear as an earring. It'll make it easier to keep track of during the mission. What it does is allow her to call me directly. Why don't we test it out?"

I pulled out my current pearl earrings and inserted the small devices into my earlobes. "Okay, ready. How do I use it?"

"So, what you're going to want to do is hold on the right side surface of the device for about five seconds. It'll ask you for a confirmation."

I did as instructed, and sure enough, I heard a small voice in my ear. It was a woman's voice.

"Would you like to call headquarters? Tap twice for 'yes'." The voice sounded strangely familiar, like those sensations you get when you feel like you've been somewhere before.

I tapped the earpiece.

"Calling headquarters..."

"Testing, testing." It was Hasegawa-san.

"Hello, Hasegawa-san!"

"Oh! It looks like it works! Alright then, let me end the call here so you don't get too confused with both calls."

The earpieces once again spoke, almost as if it were directly to my brain. "Ending call."

"Alright! Looks like they work! These will let me give you support during the mission. I can use my computer to keep track of your Youbidase app too."

That's quite relieving. Even though I wanted to be able to complete a mission by myself, going there with no one to talk to was really scary...

"There's also a built-in SOS feature, like the app. Just say the words, "It'll be okay" and it will ask you for a confirmation.

It'll be okay? That's a strange word choice. Well, at least it'll be easy to remember.

"Anyways, here are the details for your parents. Miyake-san is going to be going to an abandoned apartment complex near Kiyomizu Academy. The infrastructure is safe, and your daughter already knows the general layout of the area. The Youkai that she measured is C rank, meaning that it is on the weaker end. The goal of this mission is to eradicate the Youkai, as well as train Miyake-san and Hoshi. I will personally be on call with her and have an agent on standby in case she ever needs aid. Of course, she will be paid for the job, and I'll make sure the amount is deposited into your bank account. Are there any questions?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Good, let me know if you ever think of any. Just for the record, are you okay with Miyake-san taking this mission?"

My dad took a deep breath. "You did a good job in ensuring my daughter's safety in the last mission. So as long as Yuri's okay with it, I will trust in your judgment."

My mom glanced over at me. It was hard to read her expression. "Sorry, Yuri. I doubt we'll ever not be nervous for you. Kind of annoying having us fuss over you, isn't it?"

Oh, Mom.

I smiled to reassure her. "Of course not. If I'm ever in too much danger, Hoshi will drag me out of there anyway. I'll make sure to be back in a few hours."

Kenta patted me on the head. "Stay safe out there, Yuri. As your older brother, I wish I could go with you, but..."

"It's okay, Onii-chan. I've grown up now, but I'll always be your little sister."

But he still looked rather frustrated at himself..."How is Yuri going to get there and back? The trains might be closed by the time she finishes the mission."

Hasegawa-san's voice piped up from my phone speaker. I'd almost forgotten about him and nearly dropped my phone. "Oh, I already arranged for that. She'll be driven by one of our agents. She's already familiar with them."

Just as he said this, the doorbell rang.

"Ah! That must be them. I'll call you once you get there, okay?"

"Okay."

Hasegawa-san hung up.

My Mom left the room to open the door quickly and was met with Nakamura-sensei and Abe-senpai. I could hear their voices drifting from the hallway.

"Hello. I'm Nakamura Kaitaro, and my pupil here is Abe Yusuke. We were the exorcists who supervised your daughter at Akihabara, and we're here to escort her to the next mission. We'll ensure her safety."

"Thank you so much for protecting my daughter. Why don't you two come inside?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry, but we should save it for another time. Don't want your daughter coming home too late, after all."

Thankfully, it's Friday so I can sleep in tomorrow.

My Dad seemed to sense my relief and chuckled. "Feel free to sleep in all you want tomorrow. Why don't you go with them now?"

Well, looks like this is it. Hoshi helped me gather up my belongings, and I walked to the front door. Nakamura-sensei, Abe-senpai, and my mom were waiting in the doorway. Abe-senpai had his arm in a sling.

"Hello sensei, senpai."

"Awww, she's calling us sensei and senpai now, Yusuke! Anyway, you probably already heard from Hasegawa, but we're here to escort you, young one. Should you ever need help, we'll step right in and blast the place apart. Bahaha!"

Abe-senpai looked at my parents nervously and added "What sensei means to say is we'll be there to make sure you're safe, even if it is a solo mission."

I glanced at senpai's arm, which was still wrapped up in a cast. I felt bad since it was largely my fault that he broke it. "But, you're arm's broken... Why did you still come?"

Abe-senpai raised his bound arm, and said "Oh, this? I've suffered worse. Don't worry, you won't be hurt like this if that's what you're worried about. I decided to come anyway because I can still summon Raijin, can't I? I have to make sure my kouhai's safe too."

At his words, a yellow glowing ball of yellow flew out of Abe-senpai's heart and the Raijin materialized next to him.

My parents were rather amazed. My dad asked "Ah! Is this another Kami?"

"Yep. His name's Raijin. He uses electricity."

My mom looked at Raijin in wonder. "They do look rather similar to their users. I can see the resemblance."

Nakamura-sensei guffawed. "Bahaha! They have similar personalities, too!"

Fujin materialized next to him and spun his hand around my Dad's, creating a miniature cyclone in his palm.

"His name's Fujin. Anyhow, we should get going. Thank you for putting your trust in us. We'll ensure your daughter is safe and gets home in time too!"

My parents both hugged me, squeezing the life out of my lungs.

"Take care of yourself, Yuri."

"We love you."

Just as I turned around to follow Nakamura-sensei and Abe-senpai into a nearby parked car, I heard Kenta call after me.

Yuri.

"Hm?"

I turned around, and Kenta pulled me into a hug.

"I know you'll do great."

I smiled. "Thank you, Onii-chan."

_________________________________________________________

"So. About that fire you used the other day."

I was sitting in the back of the car next to Abe-senpai. Nakamura-sensei was driving. As expected, he was pretty talkative even when driving.

"Is that Hoshi's ability?"

Hoshi, please don't come out, there is no space in here and I won't be able to see if you do.

A-anyway. "I think it was. And I don't think it was."

"I don't get it. Bahaha! Do explain. I'm getting old and my brain isn't as fast as it used to be."

I thought for a little bit about what I'd say before responding. "Well, I do think it was a part of Hoshi's ability. But at the same time, I don't think her ability is exactly fire. I have a theory as to what the ability might actually be, so I'll have to try it during the mission. But what I think is that when Hoshi uses her naginata to-"

"Nah, I wanna see what it is in real-time. Plot twists are best unspoiled, you know." Nakamura-sensei drove past the grocery store near my school. We were getting close.

I did have to agree with what he said, though. The amount of times I would spoil my own stories to Mika was comedic. But was that really applicable to real life?

Abe-senpai spoke for the first time in a while. "Oh yeah, Miyake-san. Have you met the Director yet?"

"Who?"

"Oh, I suppose you haven't. The Director was out on a mission until recently. The funny thing is, Hasegawa-san's filling in for her. Usually, the missions would be handled by her, while Hasegawa-san works on the equipment we use. But since she was out, he took over."

Nakamura-sensei piped up from the front of the car. "Oh yeah, the Director recently got back from her mission. I swear she overworks herself. They say she works a day job, too. How she manages it is beyond me. Bahaha!"

This Director figure was making me curious. "How strong is she?"

I could see Nakamura-sensei smirk from the front mirror. "Oh, she's the strongest Exorcist in the Tokyo branch. She's always going on S-rank missions alone. She's not the Director for nothing, you know."

Abe-senpai sighed. "S-rank exorcists are out of my understanding. How can you feasibly be so strong? Even this old man here is several times stronger than I can hope to be."

"Nah, you're stronger than you think, Yusuke. Pretty soon you'll have to be the one taking care of me. With Miyake-san joining, this next generation is shaping up to be the most powerful we've seen. It makes me excited to see what happens next, bahaha!"

We finally drove to the apartment complex from earlier. It looked much more ominous now that it was dark. My heart kept pounding from anticipation. I could feel Hoshi restlessly wanting to come out.

Nakamura-sensei parked the car and stepped out. "Well, here we are One C-rank mission, coming up! All right, Miyake-san, remember what we taught you about imbuement."

"Do you have your shoes, smoke bombs, shock bombs, ban-"

"Yes, senpai, I already checked when I left the house."

Senpai smiled, albeit a little nervously. "You'll be fine. We'll be on call with you the whole time, waiting right outside the building."

I smiled back at him and Nakamura-sensei reassuringly, almost as if trying to calm myself down too.

I walked over to the entrance of the apartment complex and looked up. Some of the windows were shattered, and the ones that weren't almost looked as if there was movement behind them. I could tell that something about it felt different, now that it was nighttime.

"Sensei, are people able to just... feel a Youkai's presence?"

"Correct, young one! It's how I knew the mascot Youkai was there, even though I couldn't see it! You'll train that sixth sense as you get stronger. Soon enough, you won't even need Hasegawa's fancy app! Bahaha!"

I pulled out my naginata, and Hoshi did too. We looked at each other and nodded.

"I'll count down for you if it helps," Abe-senpai started. "One... two... three!"

We stepped forward into the pitch-black lobby and...

...disappeared.