"Thanks for your cooperation," the local policewoman said as she dismissed us.
We stepped out of the police station after voluntarily answering their questions. Somehow, we had managed to slip past the authorities without raising further suspicion about the incident in the woods and that monkey.
Truth be told, Isadora carried most of the weight when it came to bullshitting our way out of that mess. She had the foresight to start filming ahead of time while I was busy fighting to show some semblance of proof that we are not involved, acting like a reaction vlogger by copying the style of MrBreast and Logan Pope the moment the smoke began to thin.
Now I understood why she said we were going to test our acting skills for this. We were making the story up as we went on why we ended up there, doing our best to keep it at least believable.
Frankly speaking, this session with the police made me convinced that my partner could pass as a qualified professional actress, or maybe even an expert politician with the amount of random bullshit she produced.
The kid we saved backed it up with his testimony too. He said a man had rescued him and vaguely remembered something about a Kamen Rider stopping the monkey when it tried to attack him.
Hearing THAT name come out of the young man's mouth, the police were visibly stunned.
Most of them already knew about him, but they weren't authorized to share anything with the public regarding the masked man, despite reports of his appearances in Kofu and at the Reverse Ogre Gate in Mato. It was yet another problem tied to the outlier's involvement.
We just played dumb about it, and the police told the boy not to worry about the Kamen Rider.
What came afterward was the most unexpected part for me.
Some women wearing traditional Japanese clothing took the unconscious monkey away and left without giving any explanation. I had no idea what that was about, but my gut instinct is saying it was something fishy.
"Let's go back to our camp and clean up," Isadora said. "Then we'll head straight home."
"Yeah, sounds like a plan to me," I agreed, cracking my neck. "This has been a busy camping trip… just not in the way I expected it to be."
The police offered to give us a ride back to the campsite, and we didn't refuse the gesture. The entire drive was quiet on my end, but Isadora kept chatting with the woman behind the wheel.
Her social battery was endless. How she could act like this after everything that had happened earlier was a complete mystery to me.
Upon arriving at the place, Isadora and I stepped out of the car.
"Good luck on the way, Kishimoto-san," Isadora said, waving goodbye to the officer who had driven us.
The policewoman smiled through the open car window and nodded.
"Sorry for the inconvenience you and your boyfriend went through because of this."
"Nah, we're just glad the missing persons were found, right, Hideo?" Isadora looked at me with an innocent expression.
I nodded in response.
Right, I almost forgot. We were supposed to be on an anniversary trip, which explained why we were here in the first place. A trip ruined by everything that had happened.
After a brief exchange of farewells, Kishimoto-san drove off.
Once the police car was out of sight, Isadora's smile faded.
"I want to eat a lot of Ice cream right now," Isadora said, looking at me.
I gave her a dry stare.
She responded with puppy eyes.
We had a brief stare-off before I clicked my tongue.
"Fine. We'll buy a lot when we get back."
"Yay! As expected of my boyfriend," she said, winking and blowing me a flying kiss.
A random shiver ran down my spine out of nowhere when she did that.
"Stop calling me that already," I told her as we entered the campsite.
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The noise of people eating and chatting filled the newly opened ramen shop we were in.
Instead of ordering verbally, an order sheet system was used. You just checked off what you wanted, and a staff member would collect it once you were done. The menu was customizable too, which was a nice touch.
After deciding on our orders, Isadora and I called over a nearby staff member. He smiled as he took our paper, telling us he'd be back with our meals shortly.
"Where did you even find this place?" I asked curiously, glancing around the shop.
"Online," Isadora replied, resting her chin on her hand. "They were advertising a discount for their opening. Figured we might as well try it."
She was the one who brought me here after we returned from Doshi, suggesting we grab a late dinner. Late might have been the right word but the shop was still bustling with people.
"While we wait for our ramen," Isadora said, setting a deck of cards that is stacked to one another. Each no larger than a playing card onto the table, "we should talk about that monkey."
I tilted my head to that.
"Why don't we just discuss it at my apartment?" I asked, curiosity creeping into my voice.
"It's fine," Isadora reassured me with a small wave.
She began to shuffle the deck, then drew a single card. Revealed on its surface was a detailed illustration of a peach.
"A peach?" I asked.
"Yeah."
She placed the card on the table and drew another. This one bore the image of a white monkey.
"This incident during our travel made me think about this monkey," she said, lifting the card between her index and middle finger.
She set the monkey card beside the peach, aligning them carefully.
"Fusing these duo leads to this result."
With a swift motion, she shuffled the deck again and drew another card. It depicted a laughing monkey biting into a roll of tobacco, thick smoke curling around its face.
"The smoke monkey you faced last night."
She placed the tobacco-biting monkey card on top of the other two, completing the arrangement.
"The biggest question for both of us back then was how in the world that monkey managed to get one."
I nodded.
"Yeah. It's not like a Peach is something you can just find lying around on the street."
Isadora snapped her fingers and pointed at me.
"I might know some people we should check in regarding that," she said, then lowered her hand.
People she was suspecting?
Curious, I chose not to interrupt as she drew another card from the deck. This time, it wasn't an image, but a word boldly printed across the surface.
Onmyou Agency
"Mhm? Isn't that the research division of japan?" I asked, recognition dawning as I read the name.
Isadora nodded.
In short, they were the people who provided information on Mato and Shuuki related matters, and the main group that is responsible for researching them.
"Yes. You're probably wondering why I think they might be involved in something shady."
She followed that up by tapping a finger against her ear.
"I might've eavesdropped on the conversation between the police and those women wearing traditional clothing," she said with a smirk. "Those women were researchers from that agency."
My eyes widened slightly.
Those people were from the Onmyou Agency?!
That genuinely caught me off guard.
She set the card down, and I leaned forward, looking over the cards spread across the table and shared more of what she heard.
"So you're saying you have a suspicion that the Onmyou Agency is doing something behind closed doors?" I said, scratching my head.
"I don't even think it's a suspicion anymore," she replied, as if stating something obvious. "I'm almost certain they're the reason that particular monkey exist. Whether by accident or not."
The government really sucks, huh?
If this turns out to be true, then they've been letting that agency do whatever it wants. Maybe the higher-ups are even backing them. But hey, who am I to say anything about that?
What really pissed me off was the fact that innocent people could've lost their lives if I hadn't taken down that monkey.
"Why are they even doing this?" I asked.
"Obviously, you already know the nature of researchers, right? They want answers," Isadora replied, squinting slightly. "And for the Onmyou Agency to find those answers, they need experimentation and test subjects."
A heavy feeling settled in my chest.
To be honest, I'd rather wipe out every Shuuki problem in Mato than deal with this kind of crap. However, there was no way in hell I would stand by if they were truly doing this.
Hopefully.
No, I really hope they weren't conducting human experimentation.
That would be the line.
If they crossed it, they would receive no mercy. I wouldn't care about the potential backlash as long as it was stopped.
So please let it not come to that.
Because if it did, I might end up facing the Defense Force as well and that would be a terrible situation. I still needed their cooperation.
After talking a little more, Isadora gathered the cards from the table and made it disappear when she noticed a staff member approaching with a tray.
I swear, she's a freaking Houdini.
The ramen was set down in front of us, and the staff bowed slightly, wishing us an enjoyable meal before heading off to attend to another customer.
"Looks like we've got another problem to think about, huh?" I sighed, snapping my chopsticks apart.
"Damn right. This is way more annoying to deal with than the usual fighting," Isadora clicked her tongue as she split her chopsticks as well.
Staring down at the spicy ramen we both ordered, I picked up the renge and scooped some broth, carefully bringing it to my lips.
The ramen was bright red but it was no surprise, considering we asked for the maximum spice level. I expected it to be hot, but tasting it was on a completely different level from just looking at it.
So what did I think?
It was freaking spicy!
I was confident in my spice tolerance. Back then, I used to eat tons of peppers with my cousins for dumb challenges but this was cranked up to eleven.
The broth alone set my mouth on fire, and with the noodles still piping hot, it felt hotter than it had any right to be.
And yet—
Even with all that heat…
It was delicious. Seriously good.
The noodles and chashu actually complemented the abomination of a liquid they were soaked in. I didn't know why, but the pain and agony my tongue was suffering through somehow made the flavors stand out even more.
I was in pain.
But damn… it felt great.
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Author's Note:
I might be moving a bit too slowly with the story right now but oh well.
There are some plans I have made for future matchups (just plans, these may not happen, but there's a higher chance they will. The only guaranteed fight is the first one on the list).
Warning: Please refrain from pressing the this paragraph if you think that the plans outlined in the paragraph comment here may involve potential spoilers.