Two Days After Judai's Attack

As the night retreated and dawn heralded a new day, Yoshino lay comfortably in her bed. The rhythmic beeping of her alarm stirred her from her slumber. The clock displayed 7:41. A sigh of relief escaped her. She'd finally had a restful night. She silenced the alarm, rose from the bed, and began her morning routine, preparing herself for the long day ahead.

Yoshino stepped out of her house. The crisp morning air brushed her pensive face. Her mother's parting words echoed in her mind: Oh, Yoshino, I almost forgot—Henry, Ambrosius, and Youya mentioned they would visit us soon. When you come back home today, help me organize their rooms!

She felt a pang of conflict at the news. Under better circumstances, she'd relish the break in monotony that her uncle's visit would bring. Yet, after the terrifying events of two days ago...

If you kill me, they'll escalate the situation. That would be bad for you and everyone in your group, Judai's chilling words reverberated in her thoughts.

Gripping her schoolbag tighter, Yoshino couldn't deny the temptation to seek their help. Henry and Youya, at least, could defend themselves. However, the memory of Judai's monstrous resilience left her shaky and doubtful. It felt inevitable that they'd tire and fall, just like she almost had.

For how much longer will I need to endure this? she pondered. Despite Nozomi's success in killing those two monsters, they were still in the dark about their true nature. The knowledge that someone orchestrated these attacks was small comfort when faced with the haunting memory of nearly drowning in a monster’s blood.

Rounding a street corner, lost in thought, Yoshino collided unexpectedly with a man wearing a battered fedora.

"Sorry, I—" Yoshino's apology was cut short as she realized who stood before her. "Uncle Henry?!" she gasped in disbelief.

With his usual bright smile and a thick accent, Henry replied, "Hey, long time no see, lass! How’ve you been?" He bit into a chocolate bar he was holding. His attire—authentic old-west cowboy clothes—added to his distinctive appearance. Unlike the costumes seen in movies, his outfit was an honest testament to the era, except for the fedora replacing the expected rancher hat.

"I-I'm good, great, actually," Yoshino stuttered, holding up her schoolbag. "Just on my way to school. I didn’t expect you to visit so soon, hehe..."

Henry's cheerful expression momentarily faltered, but Yoshino attributed it to the stress she'd been under recently. "What can I say? Had some time to spare when your mom called."

"How’s school? Hopefully not too stressful," he probed, pointing at her bag.

Yoshino forced a smile, avoiding his gaze. "It’s been... fine." A blatant lie, considering her near-death experiences.

Henry tipped his fedora. "Anyway, don’t let this old fart keep you. I still need to talk with your mom. We'll catch up properly when you get back."

With a pat on the back, he walked past her, leaving Yoshino feeling drained before her day had even started. Glancing back to ensure she wasn’t followed, she sighed in relief and continued to school.

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While Yoshino made her way to school, Henry reached her house and stood facing it. "It's been a while since the last time I've been here... but the place looks the same as always."

As Henry stared at the two-floor house in front of him, his thoughts wandered to the conversation he just had with Yoshino and how she had reacted to his questions, especially about school. He sighed. "Hopefully, it's nothing to be worried about, but you can never be too careful. Kurai might give me a better context of the situation... after I test her to see if she has kept up with training."

With that, Henry took one last bite out of his chocolate before he entered the Kettei's home with a key that Kurai had given him.

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Meanwhile, in an ancient castle where night perpetually lingered, Kurai, assured that Yoshino had left for school, changed into her magical robes. Settling in the ruined garden, she immersed herself in her spellbook, knowing she'd be there a while.

Mid-reading, she sensed a familiar presence. Just in time... Closing her eyes, she whispered, "Great Master, grant me the power to surprise my enemies, [Shadowy Pursuit]," ensuring her lips mouthed different words.

She vanished just as a gunshot shattered her chair. Reappearing atop a castle tower, she swung her staff like a baseball bat at the figure's head. They blocked her attack with a sickening crunch, though the impact sent them plummeting.

Kurai looked down at the floor below to see where the figure landed. A few seconds later, she heard a familiar voice by her side. "I think you've got him." Kurai instinctively turned to face them and, just as she expected, it was Henry, one of her teachers and one of the people Yoshino had adopted as an uncle. It took a while for Kurai to internally accept that, but eventually, she came around when she saw Henry's expression when Yoshino called him uncle for the first time.

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The man tipped his fedora to her. "Howdy partner, you called?" He said it to Kurai in English instead of Japanese as he smirked.

It took a few seconds to process what he just said before she replied, "Yes, Henry, I've called for your help. Thank you for coming so soon."

Henry waved her concerns off. "Don't sweat it, Kurai. I know you're not the kind of person to call me for something trivial."

"But, answer me this..." Kurai raised her staff so it was pressed against his neck. "What's with the big idea of trying to shoot me, partner?" She imitated the accent of an old-west movie that Henry once recommended.

Henry casually took a step back. "Now, now, no need to be so dramatic. I was just testing ya! To see if you've kept up with your training, and besides... we both know that regular bullets would do jack shit while you're transformed."

Kurai raised an eyebrow at that. "And... I suppose you can tell when I'm transformed?" When Henry nodded, Kurai sighed before she looked around. "Are we on the other side of the castle?"

As if Henry had waited for her to ask that question, he immediately gave her an enthusiastic answer. "Correct! And if you paid attention to this spot..." He pointed at where the figure that attacked Kurai was once located. "You will notice that it would be only a meter away from the maximum range of your magic senses from the last time we trained them."

"I see..." Kurai slowly nodded. Although Henry's methods of training could be sometimes... questionable, to say the least, she could always be sure that Henry had a point to them while making sure that no one was hurt.

"With that out of the way, how is he doing? Have you also asked for his help?" Henry's cheerful expression became serious at that last part.

When she realized who Henry was referring to, she shook her head, her expression turning conflicted. "No, I... I'm still not sure if I should. Like, I know he's grown stronger, but at the same time, I can't in good faith just... throw him at something I don't even properly know. No, for the moment, I do not plan to talk to him about it."

Henry closed his eyes and slowly nodded. "Fair, the boy may have proved himself to be a difficult opponent even for Youya, but I can understand where you're coming from even after seeing how capable he is." Henry opened his eyes. "By the way, I've met Yoshino on my way here."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense. You didn't stop to talk with her for too long, right?" Kurai teased, knowing that if anyone gave him the chance, Henry could go on about almost any subject.

"No, not this time, unfortunately. How's she, by the way? I wanted to ask her, but I could see she wouldn't have the time to answer." He casually asked as he turned to look at the vast view of the ruined castle they both had from their vantage point.

"Oh, well... she's doing fine. She's still good friends with Nozomi, and her grades are better than mine when I was her age," Kurai chuckled at that last part.

"Good... good." Henry slowly nodded as his gaze from the castle seemed to grow distant.

When Kurai was about to ask if something was wrong, Henry faked a cough. His cheerful demeanor soon came back as if nothing had happened. "A-anyway, you didn't just call me for family affairs. So, what's the problem that you need me to fix?" A revolver appeared in one of his hands in a cloud of darkness as soon as he asked.

Kurai stared at Henry for a few seconds before she let go, figuring it would be for the best. "Well, see, more than a week ago, I summoned a nekomata to collect negative energy for our master around the city, but something weird happened. I lost my connection to it, and even when I tried to use the recall ritual, it still didn't work."

Henry raised his free hand to his chin, intrigued by her story. "That does sound concerning..."

Kurai nodded in response. "Yes, I even told konchu about it and ordered him to track down whoever is responsible... luckily, although he had been ambushed, he still managed to escape."

"Konchu?" Henry raised an eyebrow at that.

"You called?" Asked Judai as he finally climbed the tower. When he walked up to Kurai, Judai gave her a light bow. "Please, excuse this servant of yours for not detecting our guest in time to tell you."

Kurai rolled her eyes and waved his concerns off. "It's okay, don't worry about it. He's WAY more experienced than you, so it's inevitable. Henry, this is konchu. That's the name of his species, not his actual name. Konchu, this is Henry, your superior. He came from America to help us out, so give him all the information you managed to gather from your encounter."

Henry tipped his hat to Judai and gave him a welcoming smile. "Howdy, partner, always happy to meet a new face in this line of work." He walked up to Judai. "I hope we can work together just fine." Henry raised his hand and spat on it before offering a handshake to Judai.

Judai raised an eyebrow at that before he glanced at Kurai. Once she noticed his confusion, she rolled her eyes and waved for him to play along. Not seeing another way out, Judai reluctantly accepted the handshake. "Atta boy! Now... tell me about your encounter with this enemy."

Judai proceeded to give Henry the same report he gave to Kurai before. Henry's eyes widened only for a moment before he closed and opened them again, his eyes turning focused when Henry mentioned that the individual that attacked him had white hair and wore white clothes.

After Judai finished his report, Henry raised one of his hands to his chin in thought, his expression completely serious. "I see, if that's all..."

After a few seconds, he noticed that both Judai and Kurai were now looking at him, the latter slightly worried at the change of expression on his face. He faked coughing while thinking of a way to alleviate tension.

To ease up on the mood, he summoned a second revolver in his free hand and proceeded to juggle them for a few seconds before grabbing both guns and turning to shoot at blinding speeds at six men who suddenly appeared around the group. The shots blew their heads off with such force that they all fell back and hit the floor at the same time. When they did, they immediately turned into black smoke, soon disappearing without a trace.

As he made both guns disappear from his hands in a cloud of black smoke, Henry turned to Kurai with a smirk and a thumbs up. "Consider it done, ma'am!"

Seeing that made Kurai feel less worried. Henry turned to face Judai. "Show the way, lad."

Judai slowly nodded. Henry noticed that his attempt to ease the mood might have surprised Judai. Before Henry could ask if he was okay, Judai jumped off the edge of the tower's ceiling. The tower was so tall that Henry barely heard Judai as he hit the floor. "Well, not the worst landing I ever saw, I guess."

Just as he was about to jump off, he heard Kurai's voice from behind. "Be careful out there, you hear me... that's an order!" Henry turned around to see Kurai, who showed visible worry in her expression as she clenched her staff with force.

Henry turned away from Kurai before he faced the ground below. "No promises!" He said as he jumped off the edge with reckless abandon.