20XX Higashiosaka, Aiko Murakawa, and Seiko Tani’s apartment
Solomon propped his head on his hand as he sat at the dining table of the Police Girl’s shared apartment dressed in only his undershirt and a pair of sleeping pants, waiting for the cup of instant noodles in front of him to finish cooking. Due to some rather unfortunate implications, it turned out there weren’t any apartments in the area willing to host him.
Fucking typical. Solomon thought.
He couldn’t complain overly much. As small as the sofa was and the fact it was hell having to share space with an adrenaline junky and a spastic neat freak, it still beat most of his living conditions he’s had the displeasure of being in for the last near-decade. At least Speed Freak had decent comics to read.
It had been five days since the fight with the level six daemon he had taken to referring to as ‘One-eye’; his handlers were voluntold to host him until proper residence could be found for him. Poster Girl wasn’t pleased one bit; neither was he if he was being honest. Speed Freak didn’t mind; commenting that it was like having a little brother around the house. The thing that got to him the most--outside Speed Freak’s tendency to leave her underwear lying around--was the boredom. Outside token patrols where they’d putter around the city in their rinky-dink kei truck, the most Solomon had to shoot at was a level one that manifested on the freeway. It wasn’t even worth the bullet he put into it. It almost made him wish he was still back in Nevada. Finally the noodles were done.
Solomon peeled back the top cover of the cup noodles and reached for his fork. Scarfing the noodles and broth. He’d kill for a proper meal but apparently, most of the Police Girls’ pay went into the rent of the decent-looking two-bedroom apartment. Though his gut instinct told him that they were both utterly useless at cooking as the house had nothing but prepackaged food where the most effort you’d put into it was perhaps boiling an egg and they even had several pre-boiled eggs on standby in the fridge next to the beer and soda. He was in the process of knocking the cup noodles back to drink the broth when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Mornin' mister Hunter~” Seiko’s singsong voice broke him out of his thoughts. Solomon didn’t bother to give her a glance. Seiko was really bad about getting dressed in the morning but she at least got it in her head to put shorts on instead of prancing around in a tank top and panties after the first day. “How’s the bruise?” She asked, giving Solomon a poke in the side into the area where One-eye had tried to constrict him to death and thrown him around; making him wince. Solomon swatted her hand away and went back to his food with a huff.
“Would be better if you’d stop poking and prodding me every fuckin’ minute,” Solomon muttered as he finished off the cup noodles and stood to toss it into the trash, slinking into the kitchen to raid the fridge for a soda. “Think they’ll finally find a place for me today?” He asked as he stuck his head into the fridge. How much fuckin’ beer do two women need?
“Awe, tired of living with a couple of good-looking girls like us? Don’t tell me I'm starting to show crow’s feet now.” Seiko snickered as she bumped him with her hip to move him aside so she could do her own fridge raiding; her medium-length hair cascading to the side as she plucked a light beer from the fridge.
“Drinking already?”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere in the world! Sides, it’s our day off and I don’t have any intention of going out. The new season of Osaka Speed Star is dropping today. You wanna binge it with me?” She gave him an excited smile as she hopped in place. The woman was coo-coo for anything racing related and she’d been blasting the soundtrack of that show in the house since he’d gotten there after the One-eye hunt. Solomon only gave a non-committal grunt and Seiko took it as a yes; cracking open her beer knocked it against his soda bottle in a toast.
“Seiko! I know you’re not drinking beer first thing in the morning!” Aiko shouted from her bedroom. Seiko jumped in place and hastily swapped drinks with Solomon, who loudly protested.
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“N-No! I was trying to keep mister Hunter here from dipping into your stash!”
“Speed Freak, you fuckin’ bitch!”
“I know you’re lying Seiko. Get dressed, the both of you! We got orders today. Hunter, take a bath first, I know you skipped taking one last night!”
Seiko slumped her shoulders. Muttering about days off and snatching her beer back from Solomon before slinking back off to her room. Solomon shook his head in annoyance, knocking the soda back before returning to the living room to fish around in his duffle bag to pick out a fresh undershirt and underwear along with a pair of pants. Taking it all with him to the changing room in the common hallway across from the kitchen. Thankfully, Japanese apartments separated the toilet from the actual bath/shower room, so he was free to lock the door behind him as he stripped down and entered the bath. Knowing he’d be chewed out if he didn’t do it properly this time, he drew a bath as he showered. Wincing as the action of washing himself aggravated his bruises and wounds.
He had refused to be taken to the hospital with the injured ADOTF officers. In fact, he had refused to let the medics so much as lift his shirt to inspect his injuries. It wasn’t so much as pride stopping him as much as the fact he had the scarified Seal of Binding taking up nearly the whole of his back. He’d learned from painful experience never to let people see it lest they start asking difficult questions. Thanks to his time in the Nevada Guard he was quick on the shower but apparently it was customary to soak after a shower and frankly the hot water would do his bruises some good. Sighing as he slipped into the soaking tub and sank into the water.
Man! It’s been ages since we could get a proper soak in! One of his demon’s commented. Numerous murmurs of contentment rang out in his head as he let the water do its work. He had to admit it was pretty nice, practically the lap of luxury for his standards. While he was content with just relaxing with no thoughts of his own, he could feel Andras stir from the back of the crowd.
Not that I wish to ruin this moment of respite; but I feel inclined to remind you that your Magnetite levels are low. Why haven’t you called back Decarabia? You know it takes more effort for you to keep him manifested when he’s beyond your Domain. Do you want to end up more gaunt than you already are?
Solomon lifted his head out of the water to give it a hard listen. He heard Seiko and Aiko bickering in the living room with the TV on. Determining they wouldn't hear him talking to himself, he replied, “I’m making him map the area out. I’d rather have half an idea of where everything is than get lost. You see how windy and samey the place is?” He heard Andras make a hum.
Valid point, it’s prudent to be as prepared as possible. Speaking of which; we’ve reached a consensus. No more using target ammunition; you’re to primarily load at least the Silver Labels into your magazines from now on.
Solomon groaned, propping his head against the wall. “It wasn’t that bad…” He offered weakly.
If you were in a position to summon one of us with no fallout. But the truth of the matter is that the daemon in the manor almost killed you and by extension us. I will not fault you for following Eligor’s urge to pursue; likely it would’ve tapped into the Magnetite in the basement and become an even bigger threat. Gemori is fully willing to henpeck if you do not comply with these wishes.
Don’t think I won’t Summoner! Gemori pipped in, already putting on her overbearing mother tone of voice.
Solomon bit his tongue and bowed his head like a scolded child. “Fine, I’ll put in an order as soon as I get my HCOMP on. But I’m still loading the first few shots as Reds, so I can deal with the trash daemons without wasting money. You see the markup we’re paying out here?”
I’m fully aware of that fact. Just try not to let there be a repeat of the manor hunt. I’d rather not bring this up but---
It’s your fault those Easterners were nearly killed. Asmodeus butted in, cutting Andras off. Solomon felt his jaw set as his mind exploded in an uproar.
Asmodeus!
Asmodeus snickered cruelly in his head. Solomon couldn’t see it but the stirring of outrage in his soul gave the impression that Asmodeus was being dogpiled by the others. Still, the demon’s words stung.
Do not listen to the ingrate Summoner. If anything, the fault lies with me for urging you to try and stretch out every dime you can. The comely voice of Bune rang over the uproar. Solomon would vaguely make out Asmodeus being gagged, though he could only hear it internally.
Solomon sighed, momentarily shutting the voices out. He wasn’t going to act like it was some great failing of his. Logically, everyone involved was taken off guard during the One-eye hunt. Only the most well-off Hunters would willingly go straight to their best ammo and blast away. That was what he was going to tell himself anyway. He was just grateful that the survivors of the ADOFT team didn’t hold him accountable for their comrades' injuries. But as the Old-timer told him; the one called Two rushed in after him when he gave chase to One-eye and the rest of the team followed suit. They had put themselves back in danger when they had the property contained. They could’ve happily sat in relative safety while Solomon dealt with One-eye and while Solomon was sure he wouldn’t have died; it was a non-zero percent chance that he’d have gotten even more beat up or even had to resort to summoning one of his demons and answer some very uncomfortable questions.
Don’t focus on ‘what-ifs’ Summoner. What happened happened; keep pressing on. Andras’ words echoed in his head, sensing his line of thinking. Solomon briefly dunked his head into the water, murmuring appreciative words. Keep moving…that's all a Hunter can really do in the end.