Yuria Wasn't Alone / A Dispute Between Departments Behind the Scenes

Chapter 88: Yuria Wasn't Alone

When Yotsuya Miko returned to the classroom, the first thing she saw upon entering was Yurikawa Hana hunched over her desk, angrily devouring a piece of bread.

"Are they picking on you again?"

Hana shot her an indignant look, then kept eating, tearing off huge bites.

"Relax, it'll all be over in a few days anyway."

Miko patted her on the shoulder and shoved her shoulder bag into her desk, showing no guilt whatsoever as the culprit.

"You wrote an apology, your parents came in, and the school made an announcement. Doesn't that mean it's all settled?"

"...Miko, I hate you."

Hana muttered the words, her mood easing a little after being teased by her classmates.

"If it happens again, I'm really ending our friendship."

"Okay, okay. I swear there won't be another time. Is that good enough?"

Yotsuya Miko raised her right hand and made her promise. It wasn't going to happen again, anyway. She treasured their friendship all the more after getting it back. Why would she ever want to cause trouble between herself and Hana again?

"How about I treat you to some Butt Mochi after school?"

As she spoke, she wore a pained expression and held up three fingers in front of Hana.

"Three."

"Three? Really?"

At the mention of food, the orange-haired girl's mood brightened like the sky clearing after a cloudy day. But when she saw Miko's not-quite-convincing look of reluctance, she burst out laughing.

"Didn't you win prize money in the calligraphy competition? You can't afford three mochi?"

"Couldn't you play along and let me treat you to just two?"

Miko looked at her, her own expression relaxing.

"How about two?"

"No way. Three means three."

"Wow, that's rough."

Hana didn't find Miko's teasing funny anymore. As she looked at her friend, someone suddenly came to mind.

"Should we invite Yuria? She hasn't gone out with us lately. I thought maybe she'd misunderstood, too."

"That's not it."

Yotsuya Miko shook her head. She knew what was going on with Yuria.

Ever since Miko had introduced her to Takeda Mie as an apprentice, the little girl had gone straight to the fortune-telling shop after school to learn how to use Spiritual Power from the Downtown Godmother. Miko had no idea how far she'd gotten.

"As for her, I don't think we'll see her after school for quite a while."

"?"

Hana tilted her head, unsure what Miko meant.

"She has things of her own to do. If you miss her, can't you have a nice chat with her at lunchtime?"

Miko said that and sat down at her desk.

She didn't know much about training Spiritual Power, but her Spiritual Sense still couldn't detect any trace of it in Yuria. It seemed difficult to cultivate. In that situation, Miko didn't intend to interfere with Yuria's training.

"True...but lunchtime's way too short."

Hana nodded, still looking a little put out.

Soon, Yuria sensed her resentment.

She nibbled at her bento, watching Hana, who was unusually not talking to Yotsuya Miko and instead kept talking to her. She was starting to feel overwhelmed.

"After school lately?"

Yuria glanced at Miko beside her. She knew Miko probably didn't plan to tell Hana about the Ghosts, so she stammered out an excuse.

"Well...I've been working part-time lately."

It was more or less true. Takeda Mie's fortune-telling shop was still open. When there were no customers, Yuria practiced her Spiritual Power; when there were, Takeda Mie had her help with various tasks, saying it would give her some experience.

"Working part-time? Does that mean Yuria doesn't want us to know where she works?"

Hana leaned eagerly toward Yuria, making her shrink back. Seeing this, Yotsuya Miko grabbed Hana by the back of her collar and pulled her away.

"Don't put it so bluntly."

"I know, I know. Right, Yuria?"

"Uh..."

Yuria glanced at Miko's expression again, then at the orange-haired girl she still found hard to deal with. She shook her head and refused.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to tell you where I work."

If Yurikawa Hana found out that she was practicing Spiritual Power at the fortune-telling shop, she'd make things difficult for her—and might even seriously disrupt her training.

"Is that really necessary, Yuria-chan? Aren't we friends?"

"Even friends need their privacy."

Yotsuya Miko said this as she looked at Yuria, making her position clear.

"I can't help you with it, but I can at least let you do your own thing without worrying. If you run into any trouble, please tell me, Yuria."

"Okay, I will. Thank you, Miko."

That promise meant more than any other words could. Yuria knew what Miko was saying it as. As she looked at the two of them, she realized that they truly cared about her, aside from her parents.

"And me! I'll come help you, too!"

"Okay, thank you, Hana."

At last, a smile appeared on Yuria's face. She was genuinely happy to have these two friends.

That happiness lasted all the way until she went to her teacher's place.

"Oh? You seem happy today, Yuria."

Takeda Mie looked at her expression, slightly surprised.

"Did Miko say something to you?"

After Yuria became her apprentice, Mie had visited the Nibutou family. Yuria's parents had struggled to accept her sudden visit, but once Mie had explained Yuria's eyes, they had accepted the situation and told her about Yuria's past.

What a poor child.

That was what Mie had thought. But she had no good solution; she had no experience raising a child like this. Otherwise, Rom wouldn't have taken a path so different from hers.

"Yeah. Master Takeda, are we going to keep training today?"

"Yes. We'll keep training until you can sense that presence inside you."

Takeda Mie set the thought aside and focused on Yuria's training. It was also part of her promise to Yotsuya Miko: no matter what, she would train the girl until she could stand on her own.

"There probably won't be any customers today, Yuria. You can start training now."

"Understood, Master Takeda."

Yuria nodded and was about to find somewhere to begin training when Takeda Mie suddenly stopped her.

"From now on, call me Granny Saegusa."

The Godmother looked at her and made her request.

"Rom calls me that, too. I prefer Granny Saegusa to 'Master Takeda.'"

"...Okay, Granny Saegusa?"

Takeda Mie smiled and gently patted her on the head.

"How lovely. I wish I had a granddaughter like you."

Chapter 89: A Dispute Between Departments Behind the Scenes

Yuria kept her eyes tightly shut, meditating intently as she tried to sense the strange but difficult-to-control energy inside her. That energy was Spiritual Power.

She carefully guided the Spiritual Power until she could make it flow from all over her body and gather at the tips of her right-hand fingers. Then she gently placed them on the Divination Orb in front of her.

Soon, a faint white light flickered inside the clear, colorless glass, visible to the naked eye in the dimness. Even after Yuria lifted her fingers away, the orb continued to glow for several seconds before finally fading.

"Did it work?"

Yuria had opened her eyes as soon as she lifted her fingers. Looking at the Divination Orb that had just gone dark, she finally showed her excitement.

"Granny Saegusa, did I do it?"

She eagerly asked Takeda Mie, who stood beside her. The older woman nodded with a smile and gave her an affirmative answer.

"Wonderful. You can finally control this power."

Takeda Mie looked at the Divination Orb and ran her hand over its smooth surface, dispelling the faint Spiritual Power that remained inside. She carefully placed the test object in its box and put it away.

"Now you can start learning other things, too."

Though she said this, Takeda Mie was still amazed by Yuria's talent. The girl seemed born for this work. In less than a week, she had cultivated Spiritual Power and learned to use it. In the past, a talent like that would have drawn the attention of the great families. But now...

As she pondered, a power she didn't want to deal with came to mind. Yet, with Yuria there, she went on to say what she had originally intended.

"But before that, Yuria, what do you think of those spirits?"

"Spirits?"

"Yes, the nonhuman beings people call ghosts and evil spirits."

Takeda Mie spoke slowly, watching Yuria in silence.

"The first thing you need to do when dealing with these beings is understand them."

"The first thing you need to do when dealing with those charlatans is understand them."

Okita, the head of the Investigation Department, spoke as he looked at the dozen or so Special Affairs Department colleagues standing in front of him, then tossed the documents in his hand toward them.

"These are all the old foxes living in this area, along with their disciples. Your job is to go from house to house and inform them about the Shepherd. Tell them to keep an eye on their own disciples. And remember to make an official inquiry to the ones who haven't joined Divine Gate, too."

"Yes, Director Okita."

After taking their respective files, the group quickly left the Special Affairs Department office to carry out their assignments. Watching them go, Okita turned to the man sitting in a chair behind him and shook his head.

"Have your people found any leads on the Shepherd?"

"Unfortunately, nothing at all."

The man in the chair, his face covered in scratches, shrugged helplessly.

"Those guys hide like dogs. Even after we sealed off the exits from the area to the outside world, the government still couldn't find any suspicious groups or organizations. We're short on manpower as it is, and it's hard for us to help with ordinary people's work. For now, all we can do is see what your Investigation Department can manage."

"Expecting the Investigation Department to handle it?"

Okita glanced at him, his tone full of resentment, as if something had just occurred to him.

"The Investigation Department has even fewer people than your Special Affairs Department. You recruited all the capable psychics into the Special Affairs Department. Because of the agreement, my people have to do the work of three people each. We can barely handle our own workload. And you still expect us to help?"

"Heh—"

The head of the Special Affairs Department showed no embarrassment at his resentment. He looked at Okita and stood up from the chair.

"I've already filed a request with the higher-ups. Director Okita, are you saying you haven't received the order to investigate the Shepherd? Or—are you planning to defy an abnormal incident of such importance, one that could very likely threaten the safety of an entire city's residents?"

Faced with the director's blunt pressure, Okita said nothing. He simply held out his right hand.

"Hand over Shimizu Tenpu and the few of my former Investigation Department members."

He hadn't come there just to complain. He'd come to ask for manpower.

"You know Tenpu's abilities are better suited to investigation than combat, don't you?"

"I know. Better than you do."

The head of the Special Affairs Department looked at him and picked up the landline on the desk.

"But he doesn't want to be part of the Investigation Department. We both know that."