A half day of rest was enough to make Yukari rejuvenated, she strolled around the house and accidentally met with Hikari’s father.

  “Ah… Mr. Kanzaki, you’re home.”

  Hikari’s father, Kanzaki Shigeru who was immersed in his newspaper, glanced at her. His expression remains cold as his eyebrows frown, expressing his irritation.

  But once he laid his eyes on Yukari, his expression softened as he put up a fake smile, trying so hard to look kind and pleased.

  “Ah, Genbu contractor, Ms. Hoseki. How did you feel? Is there anywhere that you still hurt?”

  Yukari shook her head in response, “Not in particular, Senior—Uhm… Hikari saved me a lot of times and I didn’t sustain any injuries at all. Just exhausted all my spiritual energy…”

  “Is that so… I’m glad then,” He bowed his head down slightly, apologizing to her. “I’m very sorry for the incompetence of my stupid daughter, putting you in a dangerous situation. I will punish her severely.”

  Hearing that makes Yukari feel uneasy, “No! You don’t have to!” Screamed Yukari in response.

  “Is that really okay?”

  “Yes! And I believe you have already disciplined her… So, please no more.”

  “If you say so… I shall follow your suggestion and thanked Ms. Hoseki's kindness to forgive my foolish daughter's mistake.”

  Kanzaki Shigeru, the person who holds one of twelve seats of power in Onmyouji, the seat of the elder council. Despite having that position, all he uttered was nothing but praise, flattery and flowery words, trying to curry my favor.

  Is this what it meant to be the contractor of one of the Divine Beast? If the person of such caliber is still talking that way towards me, that means more of those in a lower position will follow.

  It felt… somewhat amazing to be respected, but it somehow feels very uncomfortable… All they did was talk in a respectful manner towards you, as if not talking to your true self.

  Her senior sister… Hikari isn’t like that, she speaks to her like an equal, or even… her junior.

  For Yukari, who lived in an orphanage all her life, formal speech and flattery is one thing she isn’t used to.

  Yukari brushed off all that and asked him a question, “Umm… Mr. Kanzaki, I heard what will happen from Hikari.”

  His eyes widened in shock, “You did?! Uuh… that’s embarrassing but as you can see… the council pressed me about that matter, it will most likely be that you will be reassigned to a new clan to finish your training…”

  “No way… But…”

  Hikari’s father apologized once more, “Once again, I apologize for your discomfort during your stay here, and… I once you officially took the seat on becoming the pillar that protects humanity—I hoped that you won’t lash out your anger towards the Kanzaki clan…”

  “What? Of course not! I won’t do that!”

  “Truly? I’m very glad then… Ms. Hoseki kindness knows no bounds.”

  “E..Enough of that please, just tell me… can anything be done to change that? I don’t want to change my place of training, and I like my current mentor.”

  “...You mean, you enjoyed training with us? Despite what happened?”

  “Yes, and like I said, it's not Hikari’s fault. I was the one who insisted on doing a practical lesson despite not being ready for the real one yet. So, is there anything I can do to… stop that reassignment?”

  Shigeru pondered for a while then replied, “If you really felt that way—I suppose there IS a way we could do something about it… But a proper stage was needed to change their minds.”

  Yukari just quietly listens to his talk and doesn't understand any of the words he says.

  “So… what should I do?” Ask Yukari,

  “Ah, you don't have to worry about anything Ms. Hoseki. I'll take care of most of it, all you need to do is explain what you truly wished for, during the formal hearing before the Elder Council.”

  Seeing the opportunity to regain lost trust as well as raise the status of the Kanzaki clan, Kanzaki Shigeru rose from his seat and bid farewell to Yukari.

  “I will leave the house for a few days to make the necessary preparations, if you need something please ask my daughter for it. Well then, I'll excuse myself Ms. Hoseki. “

  Yukari nodded as she saw him go out in a hurry, directly towards the Capital base of Onmyouji, Kyoto.

  Yukari was feeling at a loss, so she decided to peek at her senior sister's activity.

  In fronts of her room, Yukari nervously knocked the door,

  *Knock knock

  “Yukari? Come on in.”

  She twitched, astonished that Hikari was able to tell it was her. Yukari slowly slid the door and found her glued to her study table, before standing up and welcoming her.

  “Excuse me… Senior sister, how did you know it was me?”

  Hikari chuckles, “You’re the only one in this house who’d knock first. My father often just barged in without warning.”

  “Oh… hehe, I think I have recovered. My body feels good, and I can move around now! Should we get back to training?”

  Hikari shook her head, “Not yet, your body still needs to adjust, not to mention this is the first time you both sprint and exhaust your spiritual energy. It may look fine, but—”

  Hikari took her pen and pressed it on both Yukari’s hamstring and calf consecutively, Yukari jolts in pain and started to back away.

  “Ouch… Ouch!”

  “See? Both your physique and your energy aren’t ready for practical training yet.”

  “But… You just said that we should resume training after I recover…”

  *Puk!

  Another soft hit to her head with a paper notes she rolled up. “That doesn’t mean it has to be now. Until you’re fully recovered, we won’t hold another training session.”

  “Oh, I see…” Yukari can’t help but smile, this is the feeling she adores. Acting casual with no difference in treatment.

  “Go back and rest, you still need time to fully recover.”

  Yukari can’t help but feel sad, “Can’t I sleep here? It’s quiet there, I want to talk to someone.”

  Hikari was astonished, but then her expression started to mellow into a warm smile. “But you’re supposed to rest, and not have a conversation with someone…”

  “I know… just until I doze off, please…” Her eyes glitter as if begging her to allow it.

  But Hikari just can’t say no to that,

  *Sigh… “Alright, I’ll go get your futon here, go brush your teeth first.”

  Yukari's face lit up after hearing that, she skips her way to the bathroom and brushes her teeth. As if a kid that just got allowed for sleepover.

  “Senior sister??” Upon returning, she still hasn’t seen Hikari. Curious, she strutted around the room and found writing on her desk.

  She tilted her head, trying to read the difficult Kanji written on it.

  “Yo—Kai, Bi–o–grap–hy??” Like a kid who just learned how to spell, she raised her eyebrow and wanted to flip the next page.

  “What are you doing?” Said Hikari from behind, and it made Yukari scream.

  “Ah! S..senior sister! Please don’t scare me like that!” She pouted and started nudging at her shoulder playfully.

  “Here’s your Futon,” She laid out her futon, along with some pillows and told her to rest.

  Yukari nods and starts lying down in her futon, then she glances at Hikari who returns to her desk and seems to write something.

  “Senior sister, are you writing that… Yokai Biography?”

  “Yes, I recorded most of the Yokai I encountered and recorded it as part of my diary.”

  “But doesn’t the organization have information on that? Why not just take it from there?”

  Hikari stopped and looked at Yukari, who’s poking her head out of the futon, like a turtle.

  “You can’t, that’s only for an official Exorcist to access. Not for general use.”

  Yukari tilting her head, “But aren’t you one? You said you were a mid–level exorcist, didn’t you?”

  She shook her head, “No, I did train during my younger days… and my skill was enough to be considered a mid–level exorcist, and I was also granted the temporary authority as one. But I am not an official yet,”

  “So, you have to take the test before you can officially become an Exorcist?”

  “Yes, but the flexible thing about Onmyouji is that your power and achievements determine your ranks. Even without taking the test, you can still rack up experience and merit, and when you take your test, you won’t be starting your journey from the bottom but based on all the achievements you’ve done before. If your power and achievements are high, you can even be directly assigned as a high–ranked exorcist.”

  “W…Wait! I have to note this.” Yukari took a small notebook from her pocket, during her stay here. She has experienced many moments where Hikari spurts out important information that she needs to know. Thus, she often carries notes around just to record that important information.

  Scribbling here and there, Yukari finally finished writing her note… the note that only she herself could read. “So what’s the difference between Official Exorcist and Unofficial Exorcist?”

  “The difference lies in your freedom, generally there are three kinds. Besides official Exorcists and Unofficials, there’s also Student Exorcists.”

  “Student… Oh! I was about to go there after finishing my training here, right?”

  HIkari nodded, “Once you become an official Exorcist, you are bound to do your duty and have to abide by the order of your superiors. On the other hand, unofficial Exorcists like me have freedom to do exorcism whenever and wherever, but the downside is that most of your achievements won’t be recorded.”

  “So, what is this achievement thingy? Is it like... an experience you have to gather before ranking up?”

  “Something like that, yes. During exorcistment or completing a task of assisting locals by exorcising a Yokai that plagued their home, you are rewarded by merit points. That point acts as currency within the Onmyo organization, a high-level exorcising spell doesn’t come out of nowhere, you have to earn it. As well as Yokai material for crafting offensive gear, defensive gear, charms, or array material”

  “I see… So, it can be either used for buying new spells, materials, or increasing your rank, right?”

  “Well, not much of a buying but more of exchanging. We exchange our merit for those things. You can even exchange your merit for real Money.”

  “Money too?! Hmmm… but it sounds like unofficial Exorcists are better, you won’t be restricted right? So, you can go anywhere and have fun.”

  “Of course not, each has its ups and downs. Even though we unofficial Exorcists have freedom, we can’t take official requests or tasks. Meaning that one of the methods to gain merit is to exorcise Yokai and exchange their Magatama for those points.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Hikari stands up and takes an old book from her shelves. She lay down beside Yukari and showed her the contents inside. Within that book is a recording of her task she finished.

  “See this paper? This is the task each Exorcist has to complete in order to gain merit.”

  Yukari frowned, “But senior sister, you said your unofficial exorcist, right? How did you manage to take one?”

  Hikari shook her head in denial. “No, I didn’t take one. It was taken by someone else and that exorcist asked for assistance from me. The deal was, I got to obtain twenty percent of the total merit gained from this task.”

  “Only twenty percent?! That’s a scam!”

  She giggles, “That is what it means to be an unofficial exorcist, in exchange for your freedom, you will gain less merit than those official exorcists.”

  “So why didn’t you become an official exorcist, senior sister?”

  Hikari remained quiet, until she finally sighed.

  “I… don’t want to lose my freedom. I still want to attend high school and live a normal life a little bit longer…”

  Yukari winced, she bit her lip and realized she just hit a sensitive topic.

  “I.. I see, so that means an official exorcist can take a task and get full points for finishing it, as well as the spoils during exorcism, right? What about students?”

  “Students are those in between the two. They can take official tasks while still able to gain little freedom during their stay in the academy. They also won't be forced to attend official duty on defending against Yokai attack, but even if they didn’t get forced, you can still attend it by your own volition and gain merit points from it.”

  Yukari scratched her head, “This is more complicated than I thought…”

  Hikari chuckled in reply, “Don’t worry, you’ll understand it soon.”

  She rose up and returned to her desk, continuing writing on her Yokai encyclopedia.

  “So… the only ones allowed to access information about Yokai are… Official exorcist and students of Onmyou Academy? Is that why you write your own Pokedex? I mean… encyclopedia?”

  Hikari nods, “And if what I record proves that there’s something they still don’t know regarding this Yokai, you will receive merit points based on how important that information is.”

  “Neat, so… What did you write there? Is it that monkey yokai we previously met? What was it again? Enzo?”

  “Enko, and not to be confused with another Monkey Yokai, Sarugami. Enko is a river monkey Yokai.”

  “Right, Enko… You already know about it, right? Did you notice something new in them?”

  Hikari remains in deep thought as she taps her pen to her chin. “... Not exactly sure, but.. Enko rarely swarms exorcists, unless you directly come to its nest or their packs. This one however, called their friends to swarm us, is it because it’s their leader? That’s unlikely…”

  It's not her first time encountering and exorcising an Enko, and their behaviour is certainly different than usual. But the most astounding thing is how unison their teamwork was. Despite looking like a stampede, they should have trample on each other and prioritized themselves first.

  The only difference she experienced when meeting Enko from yesterday and back then was…

  She turned her attention to Yukari, who was still adding more details and even trying to make her own Yokai notes.

  Hikari pinched the base of her nose.

  “What’s wrong, senior sister?” Asked Yukari, but she just shook her head. Saying it's fine.

  If her intuition is correct, the reason why Enko acts differently was because of Yukari's presence. On top of having a large amount of spiritual energy, she is also one of the Divine Beast Contractor. It’s understandable why they’re attracted to consuming Yukari.

  Hikari sighed, despite having a large spiritual reserve, the way Yukari uses her energy is considered still very wasteful. She needs to strengthen her in that area to ensure her survival.

  “Senior sister… I tried making one too, but I don’t know much about this Yokai. Can you help me?”

  “Sure, Enko is—”

  “No, not about Enko. But another Yokai I saw yesterday. The one that came attacking after all the Enko ran away, it was a turtle like Yokai with a bald head..”

  “Oh, you saw a Kappa? Kappa is a Yokai classified as Rank 3 Yokai that rarely attack humans unless under special conditions.”

  “Uhh… What does rank 3 mean? Yokai have ranks too?”

  “It’s danger level, the higher it is the more dangerous. Rank 1 is harmless. You have seen Kodama, right?”

  “You mean the small shining thing around a tree?

  She nodded, “Yes, but not just any tree, only on Old and Sacred trees. Kodama is a yokai, or often known to us as Tree Spirit, they are harmless and have no offensive power. They belong to the beneficial yokai class, meaning it's best to leave them be as they are proven useful to nature.”

  “I see, so this Kappa is Rank 3 because it holds significant danger to humans… is that correct?”

  “Yes, that’s correct. Although considered as rank 3, if you’re fighting it near water or even underwater. It’’s fighting prowess can reach up to rank 5. It has weakness on their head, it has the thing called Dish on top of its head that store water, if you manage to spill the water or break it, its scalp will dry out and Kappa will be severely weakened.”

  “How do you fight one?”

  “Depends, if it's alone. The general strategy is to separate it with any bodies of water, you can either seal its movement or completely separate it with an isolation barrier.”

  “So, Kappa is like Enko? Does it live in packs?”

  “No, most of them live individually. Only some that live as a group, led by another Yokai. Hunting one isn’t all that hard, but what you have to be careful of, is it’s death cry”

  Yukari tilted her head, ”Death cry? Was it like… super strong, suicide attack?”

  Hikari giggled, “Of course not! The death means it offered itself to death. A scream or dying call that attracts all surrounding Kappa’s to its location and tempt them to consume the Kappa remains, like a streak of cannibalism.”

  Her spine shivered the moment she tried to imagine one. Then Hikari continued her explanation.

  “Because of this terrible trait, almost no exorcist wants to hunt them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s pointless. Imagine forming a group to exorcise a single Kappa, only to be swarmed by dozens more the moment it lets out that death scream. Kappa are Rank 3 yokai—their magatama is small and nearly worthless. And even worse, you’ll lose all your spoils, since the yokai stampede will devour everything.”

  “A suicide attack that even destroy the drop item? That’s not fair!”

  Hikari chuckled, “If you think that’s not fair, wait until you hear what comes afterwards.”

  “There’s still more?”

  “Kappa is a Yokai species that’s mindless and only relies on instinct. But despite being mindless, it can understand human speech, and what makes them even more irritating is that each one of them has a good memory and can hold a deep grudge.”

  “Grudge? What does that mean?”

  “It means that if you were seen by another Kappa, hurting or even killing their kin, all that Kappa will remember your face and hold a grudge against you too. So, every time you go out and find yourself near one of the Kappa that held a grudge against you, that Kappa will chase you down and blindly attack you until either one of you perishes. So, what do you think? Isn't the risk not worth the pay?”

  Yukari let out a bitter expression as she slowly nodded in agreement.

  “It’s getting late, you should finish your note soon and go to sleep.”

  WIth Hikari finished writing her encyclopedia, Yukari also tried to finish her notes in a hurry. Then they turn off the light and lay down. Then they exchange good night.

  “Good night, senior sister…”

  “Mhm, good night.”

  Then, with one final burst of strength, the Kappa forced open its cracked beak and unleashed a deep, guttural scream that tore through the sound of the rain

  The rain couldn’t muffle it. That cry echoed across the riverbanks, vibrating through the ground itself.

  From both sides of the river, massive waves surged against the current—unnatural and fast, even blasted away the remains of the collapsed bridge. Within them, faint glimmers began to flicker beneath the surface.

  Eyes. Dozens of them. Glowing within the wave, watching straight in their direction.

  All the eyes fixated on one thing, the voice of the dying Kappa lying at Ryohei’s feet.

  “Wh... What the hell did you just do?!” Ryohei shouted, eyes wide in horror as the waves closed in.

  The waves crashed into each other with explosive force, and from within, a horde of Kappa erupted. Clawing, snarling, stampeding—not toward Ryohei, but toward their own dying kin.

  The Kappa swarm descended, as their frenzy blood thirsty nature leaked out.

  “Raisen! Hikage!” Ryohei called out.

  The two weasels zipped to his side without hesitation. Ryohei grabbed hold of them just as they launched into the air, narrowly escaping the frenzied mass of flailing limbs and snapping jaws below.

  Hovering above, Ryohei looked down, hand clamped over his mouth.

  The Kappa had summoned its own end, cannibalized by its own kin.

  A sickening squelch echoed under the rain—and within less than a minute, nothing remained of the Kappa but a blood-soaked patch of earth, as it slowly washed away beneath the downpour.

  Then the group of Kappa began to look up in unison, glaring at Ryohei who was hovering above them, their glowing yellow eyes in the rain.

  “Tsk, Hikage… Raisen, let's go back home.”

  Hikage and Raisen ride the wind through the forestry area, as the group of kappa keep their eyes on Ryohei until he completely disappears.

  As morning crept in gently, washing the sky with soft light. The chill of night slowly backed by the warm glow of morning sun.

  Ryohei was dead tired from his fight last night, still snoring in his bed, until someone climbed onto his bed.

  “...Hei…”

  *Puk puk puk

  A light tap on his face. But Ryo hei didn't respond and was still in deep sleep.

  Feeling that his previous action didn't do anything, he try hitting him harder and calls him louder.

  “Ryohei!”

  “Huh?! W…What?”

  Ryohei snapped awake from his slumber and frantically glanced around his room. Only to find the elder Korpokkur and Kururi standing up on his chest.

  “How long are you going to sleep?! Aren’t you going to take us home today?”

  “Ugh… seriously?” Ryohei groaned. “Do you even know what time it is? It’s barely 5:30. I got back pretty late last night—just let me sleep a little longer.”

  Ryohei pulled his blanket and moved to the side, as Elder Korpokkur lost his balance. Then a moment later, the next thing he felt was a splash of cold water right at his face, forcing him to wake up from his slumber.

  “I have been away too long! Vacation over, I need to be back asap!” Screamed Elder Korpokkur while still splashing more and more freezing cold water, Ryohei shields his face with his hand.

  “Alright, alright, I’m up! I’ll take you there! Geez…”

  With Elder Korpokkur that kept pestering him, he had no choice but to be awake right now.

  He heads to the bathroom and wash his face. Then returned to his room and took the necessary item for their trip.

  Right when he was about to leave the house, he found his mother sitting in the living room.

  “Ah, Ryohei! Yesterday where did you go? You didn’t come back until late at night.”

  Ryohei startled, but kept his composure from showing.

  “Uh that... sorry, I was hanging out with some classmates. We ended up helping one of them move some stuff, and it took way longer than I thought. Didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “Really? Well okay then, as long as you are happy.”

  As Ryohei slipped on his shoes and reached for the door, his mother called out again.

  “Wait—Ryohei, where are you going this early? Didn’t you return late last night?”

  He paused, hand on the doorknob, forcing a relaxed smile.

  “Just grabbing some fresh air. Thought I’d take a walk and maybe stop by the convenience store. Do you want anything?”

  “With that bag?” asked his mother as she peeked into Ryohei’s bag that he was trying to hide behind him.

  “Yeah! I carry this just in case….”

  His mother narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly not convinced. But she didn’t press further.

  “…Alright, but don’t push yourself too hard, okay? You’ve been going out a lot lately and hardly spending any time at home. Just… be careful out there.”

  Ryohei stood there in silence, but after some time, he replied with… “Got it,” Then stepped out of the house in a rush.

  After that he started to depart towards the city center. Suddenly, from under the folds of his scarf, a tiny figure peeked out—Elder Korpokkur sat on his shoulder.

  “Hey, why aren’t you transforming? You’re wasting so much time! We can just head directly to the station and—”

  Ryohei sighed, “Oh please… don’t sweat small things. The train won’t be around until six a.m. Besides… I am spent after yesterday's fighting.”

  “Oh is that so? Well, if it's like that… I won’t complain. As long as we keep moving.”

  “Then stay put inside!” Ryohei shoved him into his bag, then continued to find his way towards the Nagano station, located in the heart of the city.

  The crisp morning air blew Ryohei’s face as he strolled casually, hands tucked into his jacket pockets while he blew cold breath to the air. The streets were quiet, the warmth of the rising sun painting gold across rooftops and windows. It was a rare moment of calm—one he can let himself rest easy and enjoy.

  After arriving at the station, he made his way to the counter and bought a ticket bound for Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. With the ticket in hand, he walked over to a bench near the platform and sat down.

  Yet again, Ryohei felt another rustle inside his bag, he held it steady but a head popped out from within.

  “Hey! I told you to stay put.” Ryohei whispered harshly, glancing around. “Other people might see you!”

  Elder Korpokkur snorted, “Oh pipe down, will ya. I rarely get to town. I just wanted a short peek, that’s all.”

  Before Ryohei could argue further, the large TV monitor overhead flickered to life with a soft hum, drawing both their attention.

  “Breaking news—early this morning, officials confirmed the complete collapse of a local bridge spanning the Chikuma River. The incident is believed to have occurred late last night, though the cause remains under investigation… Luckily there’s no casualty—”

  The reporter’s calm voice was at odds with the footage being shown, a crumbled concrete, twisted steel, the river roaring beneath the remains.

  Ryohei’s breath caught. His eyes widened for just a second, before he quickly turned his gaze away.

  He stared at the floor as his jaw tightened, a bitter expression creeping across his face.

  The screen continued playing the report, but he no longer listened. His thoughts had drifted far from the station—to the destruction, the guilt, and the weight of everything he left behind.