"Let's cut to the chase," Motohama Ken leaned forward in his chair, sitting in a small family-owned Cafe at the corner of a street, "Something is going on with the local Kami, and you have a clue about what it could be, so what do you know?"
Across the table, a girl around his age stared at the menu in her hand, biting her lip as she tried to focus on the words before her.
"Are you even listening to me? This could be serious business!" Motohama whispered loudly, trying to gain the girl's attention.
"Nothing ever happens here," The girl spoke up, her eyes still on the menu. "I doubt whatever's happening is super serious," She bit her lips before flipping the menu over and pointing at one of the options, "The chocolate croissant, what do you think?"
"It looks good," Motohama said, nodding at the description of the food before shaking his head and returning to the topic at hand. "Don't try and change the subject! People are being placed in danger! And you have knowledge that could help- The Cinnamon bun does look good..."
"It goes very well with the cool cider here," Tsubasa said lazily before she lifted her hand to call over a waiter.
"Would you two like to order?" The waiter, an older teenager wearing an apron with the Cafe's logo on it, asked.
"Yeah, one Chocolate Croissant, one Cinnamon bun, and two cold ciders, please," Tsubasa said before taking out her wallet and passing the waiter a credit card.
"Wha—" Ken gasped, "Yura-san, what are you doing?!" He whispered, his eyes wide in horror at the idea of needing to pay someone back for a purchase.
"Don't worry," Tsubasa waved her hand to try and reassure him, "I have a large allowance." She placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward as the waiter walked away to ready their food, "Now, let's talk about business..."
Motohama Ken swallowed loudly as he nodded at the girl's words.
"R- right~" Ken started speaking, "Recently, the local Kami has-"
"Don't talk about that here." Tsubasa shoved her finger in front of Ken's lips, shushing him. "We'll talk about that later, in a more private area."
"Bu- But you just said that we're going to talk business, like, Five seconds ago!" Ken pointed out, already confused as to what was happening and to why this girl was acting the way she was.
"I didn't mean that literally, that's just something people say when they sit in front of each other," Tsubasa told Ken from the other side of the table.
"Yeah, that's a saying people say when they actually want to talk about important matters!" Ken whispered loudly, hissing through his teeth as he tried to get the mysterious girl to talk about what she knew.
"Now you're being pedantic~" Tsubasa rolled her eyes before perking up when the waiter came back with her credit card.
"Wha- you know what? I don't get it." Ken crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, "You said we'll speak about what's going on with the-" Ken watched Tsubasa's eyes harden as if threatening him not to mention the issue, "Summer Homework,"
Tsubasa relaxed as Ken quickly covered up his words.
"I know, but the Principal has been acting off for weeks, and the rest of the faculty are worried about him." Tsubasa explained, nodding in thanks to the waiter as he brought the two young teens their food, "We need a place where we are one-hundred percent sure the faculty can't listen in on us, before we talk about the homework."
"We can talk at my Grandparents' house," Ken said simply, "My boss at Shin-Corp told me they... gave the security system an update." Ken said, removing any mention of supernatural elements from what he was talking about, "There's no way any member of the Faculty would be able to sneak up on us if we're there."
"Good," Tsubasa said with a calm smile as she started drinking from her cider, Ken joining her in eating the food they ordered.
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"Oh my, bringing a girl here already?" Motohama Kaho smiled warmly at the flushed face her son was making as he walked into her parents' home, with a girl walking beside him.
"Mom, Yura-san and I just need a place to speak privately." Ken tried to explain that it wasn't what she was thinking.
"Yo, Yura Tsubasa, nice to meet you~" Tsubasa waved a greeting to Kaho before giving her a bow, "Sorry for the intrusion."
"It's fine, dearie," Kaho smiled at the girl, "But Ken," She turned to her son, "What would Ruruko or Aika think about this?"
"Hm? What do you mean- No, it's not important!" Ken raised his voice before the conversation could shift once more, "Yura-san and I are going to my room. Don't bother us!"
"Oh?" Kaho smiled mischievously as she watched Ken grab Tsubasa's hand and drag her behind him, his face blushing brightly.
"You got any snacks here or-" Tsubasa asked as Ken started pushing her back as if trying to move a pillar.
"WE JUST ATE!" Ken managed to shout as he finally dragged the girl into his room and closed the door behind him.
Only for the door to once again open, allowing Kaho to see Ken laid down on the ground and Tsubasa poking her head out, "So you can bring snacks, right?"
"Of course, sweetie, you two have fun now~" Motohama Kaho told Yura Tsubasa, the teenage girl nodding at her before closing the door.
"Ah~ They grow up so fast without even realizing it~" Kaho smiled to herself before making her way to the kitchen to come up with a snack platter for the kids.
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The Kumamioso Shrine was under the care of the Benri clan, a group of Priests tasked with taking care of the local Kami and Shrine with the blessing of the Goddess Benzaiten over four hundred years ago.
According to Yura-san, the clan is led by a man named Benri Togashi, who takes care of the religious and mystic duties of the shrine, while his younger brother, Benri Kobayashi, takes care of the mundane aspects of the shrine.
According to Yura-san-
"Call me Tsubasa~"
According to Tsubasa, Togashi has stopped interacting with the rest of the priests around a week ago, roughly lining up with the time the Kami's range of influence began to shrink.
Following this, Tsubasa discovered the tunnel dug under the wall of the shrine's compound, which she kept hidden in case whoever dug it wouldn't suspect she knew.
My current theory is that the Kami's shrinking range, the tunnel, and even Togashi's odd behavior are all connected. But I can't confirm any of it without confronting Togashi. And I can't really confront Togashi about his behavior since I never met him.
Alternatively, all of this could just be several coincidences stacked upon each other, and the only way to confirm them is to gain access to the Kami directly, something that I suspect Togashi will not allow.
So the question is this.
"Where do we go from here?" I asked the god of storms on the other side of my phone.
"You've done a good job, Ken-chan! I'll send Connla over tonight, the two of you will receive your orders then," Susanoo-no-Mikoto said, his voice sounding more proud of me being able to get this information than worried about Kumamioso.
"What'll I do?" Tsubasa asked me, forcing me to turn and see her lying on her side on the tatami floor, her head resting on her elbow as she grabbed some sliced fruits from a nearby platter and popped them into her mouth.
"You told us what you know, now you can go back to-" I tried to tell the girl that she doesn't need to do anything, only for her to interrupt me.
"From what I heard, it sounds like you're planning on confronting Togashi-sama tonight. I want to help." She said, her eyes staring intensely into my own. What could have been a serious moment instead looked like a joke as she popped a salty peanut into her mouth.
"Old man, did you hear that?" I spoke into the phone.
"Yep, I got it all! Tell Tsubasa-chan that she's your new temporary teammate for tonight!" Susanoo said with cheer, "Try and catch some rest before the mission begins, have a little sleepover or something. Have fun!" Before I could protest the god's decision, he hung up the phone.
"Cool~" Tsubasa said simply as she stood up and stretched her back, causing her shirt to lift slightly and expose her midriff in the process, "I'm going to tell your mom I'm staying for the night."
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"So, Yura-san, how did you and Ken meet?" Motohama Chiyo smiled gently as she looked at the girl who sat next to her grandson on the other side of the dinner table.
"I threw him onto the ground and held him down," Yura Tsubasa said before taking a bite of her food. "This is really good." She told the old woman, ignoring the look of despair that spread on Motohama Ken's face as he stared at her in defeat.
"How do you still have room to eat? You were eating nonstop the entire day!" Ken pointed at as he stabbed his food with a fork.
"Ken, it's rude to talk like that about a girl's eating habits." Motohama Chiyo told her grandson.
"It's fine, I'm a growing girl." Tsubasa said simply before she lifted her arm and flexed her bicep, "I need all the food I can get." She slapped her right hand onto her left bicep.
"Then take as much as you need." Chiyo smiled as she placed more servings of dinner onto the girl's plate.
"Thank you very much," Tsubasa said, giving a slight bow to the old woman.
Meanwhile, Motohama Ken was silently staring at his grandfather.
Motohama Hirosuke met his grandson's stare before smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up, silently mouthing the words "Good luck."
Motohama Ken silently wished he could have a regular vacation with his family without any supernatural incidents.
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I woke up in the middle of the night as a cold wind brushed against my face.
"Get up and get ready," I blinked my eyes as I watched a familiar Samurai-armored deity stand on the balcony of my room, the sky behind him a supernatural shade of purple, indicating our current place within Otherworld.
"What time is it?" I asked Hachiman as I stood up and began to change into my Shin-corp uniform, making sure I grabbed all my equipment.
"Three in the morning," Hachiman said, "The girl is already waiting outside with Connla." He turned around and began to walk off, forcing me to follow him.
"I'll explain what your mission is on the way," The god of Archery and War said as the door to the balcony magically closed behind me as the two of us walked to join up with my two teammates.
Well, my Shin-Corp partner and my temporary local partner. Still technically both teammates right now.
As we met up, I took a deep breath to focus myself as we began making our way to confront Benri Togashi.
Preparing to solve the problem regarding the local Kami.
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And so, on July 24th, 2005, Motohama Ken prepared himself to finish his second official mission as an Agent of the Shinto Faction.