As the final bell rang at Tokyo Seishin Gakuen, the familiar murmur of students gathering their things echoed through the hallways. Another long day had ended, and with it, another intriguing class taught by Instructor Kroos. Today, he had shared clever tips for grinding value points—something every Paranormal Officer candidate was eager to master.
"Honestly," I sighed, turning to Nana as we exited the classroom together, "I didn't expect becoming a Paranormal Officer candidate to be this much work."
It had become routine for me to hang out after classes with Nana, Sam, and Haruwa. Even in the physical realm of the school, we found ways to stick together, earning us the reputation of being an inseparable group.
"I thought we'd be doing more combat training," Nana complained, crossing her arms in frustration. "But all we get are tests and assignments."
"Right?" Sam chimed in with a nod of agreement. "It's all theory—information about the Order, its three main bodies, and the companies. Sometimes we learn about Hell-Borns and the outer world, but still... I signed up for action."
Nana groaned and raked her fingers through her hair. "I can't even focus properly during training at our base anymore."
"Did you ever focus before?" Haruwa teased, smirking.
"Hey! I always focus," Nana protested, giving Haruwa a playful glare.
Curiosity got the better of me. "I wonder how your company operates," I mused. "We barely get to do anything exciting in mine."
Nana's expression softened, happy to explain. "Yuzuara is a decent-sized company. Not massive, but big enough to have branches across Asia. You know companies can be either family organizations or groups of independent Awakeners, right?"
"Yeah, I figured," I replied, grinning. "Considering your last name, I'm guessing Yuzuara is a family-run company."
"Exactly. Our main headquarters is right here in Tokyo. We're trained by high-ranking Awakeners who are already official Paranormal Officers. After our coming-of-age ceremony, which also serves as a ranking event, we get sorted into four teams to form the ultimate squad—the one that will inherit the best force in the company."
"So let me guess—you guys ranked first?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Unfortunately, no," Sam answered, looking downcast. "We came in second."
"Second isn't bad," I offered, trying to lift his spirits.
Sam shook his head. "I'm not mad about second place. What frustrates me is that Nana should've been in the first-place group, but she chose to team up with us instead."
"You make it sound like I did something wrong!" Nana shot back, glaring at him.
"But Nana—" Sam began to argue before Haruwa cut in.
"There's a lot of internal politics in our company," she said, folding her arms. "The main family always gets special treatment, while people like Sam and me have to rely on pure talent to climb the ranks. Luckily for us, the current generation of the main family only has five kids, so it was easier for us in the branch families to secure good rankings."
"So Nana, you're from the main family?" I asked, surprised.
Nana nodded, looking a bit downcast after the earlier argument.
"Only Chifuyu-sama and Nana treat us branch kids well," Sam added with determination blazing in his eyes. "That's why I want to support either of them in challenging for the leadership position."
Before we could continue, Toto and his gang appeared in front of us. "Still hanging around?" Toto asked with a smug grin.
"We were just finishing up," Nana replied coolly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at him.
"We're heading out for a leech spirit hunt," Toto said, puffing his chest. "Deluke, up for a challenge? You've dodged my first two challenges because you were busy learning Spiritual Spells, but I think you're ready now."
I considered it for a moment. "You're not wrong. I've been meaning to earn some points."
"Great! We saved a spot for you," he said with a smirk. "You Yuzuaras can come too—especially you, Nana. Come watch me beat your boyfriend."
That earned him a sharp punch to the face from Nana. "Do you have a death wish?" she snapped. "Let's make it a competition—see who racks up the most kills." Grabbing my arm, she dragged me toward the hunting grounds. "Lead the way, Behemoths."
"Ouch," Toto muttered, holding his cheek as we followed behind. "What a feisty woman."
Leech spirits loved feeding around school grounds, where kids and teens left behind traces of rich spiritual energy. Everyone knew the routine: reserve a hunting spot and try to rack up points. Each leech spirit was worth 0.5 value points, making it the easiest mission for trainees like us. This was one of the tips giving to us by Kroos.
After the hunt, I returned to the Izana Café, expecting the usual quiet. Ever since that one bizarre encounter with mysterious customers, I hadn't seen anything unusual again. Shizu sat at a table, absently stirring her spoon in a glass of ice cream, looking utterly bored.
"What are you staring at?" she barked without looking up.
"Why do you always have to be so annoying?" I shot back. "I wasn't even looking at you—I was looking around the café."
"Excuses, excuses," she huffed.
I ignored her and walked over to where Roger was wiping down glasses. Of course, Shizu trailed behind me.
"Deluke, Deluke! Are you ignoring me now?" she pestered.
Before I could answer, Freed and Diana walked in. Freed was on a call, while Diana strolled over and casually draped her arm across my shoulders.
"Welcome, Diana," I greeted, trying not to squirm under her touch.
"Hi Deluke," she said sweetly. "How's school? How's grinding for value points?"
"Fine," I replied awkwardly. "Can you, uh, get off me now please?"
"Weakling," Shizu muttered from behind me.
I rolled my eyes. "Tsk."
"Roger, we've got a mission," Diana announced, removing her arm at last. Roger nodded, setting aside the glass and towel as he prepared to leave. Meanwhile, Shizu rushed to Freed, who had just finished his call.
"Uncle Freed!" she squealed, grabbing his hand and looking up with an exaggeratedly cute expression. Freed recoiled, creeped out.
"Shizu, what the hell? That's creepy," he said, stepping back.
"Sheesh, can't I greet my uncle?" she muttered, annoyed. "Anyway, I was looking through the list of missions that are easy for E-Class Awakeners and found this." She thrust a paper at him.
Freed snatched it from her hand, frowning. "You went through my stuff?" He scanned the paper. "A night-time murder investigation... near here. Nope, not happening."
"Why not?" Shizu argued. "It's just an investigation—what's the worst that could happen?"
"No means no," Freed said firmly, dodging her attempts to grab his arm again. "Diana, Roger, let's move out."
As they hurried to the door, Shizu shouted after them, "Wait, Freed!"
Diana blew me a playful kiss on her way out. "Bye, guys. Shizu, behave yourself!" She added a finger-pointing "I'm watching you" gesture before disappearing through the door.
The café settled into its usual quiet, but something told me the night wasn't over yet.