"The headquarters has assigned you a mission."
"Well, that certainly didn't take long," Kiniro muttered as he sat across from Masamichi, his arms outstretched across the back of the couch, "I don't suppose I have the option to decline."
"No mission assignments are mandatory," Masamichi answered curtly, "Though even if they could be, I don't see you as the kind of person to run away from danger."
Kiniro grinned, "That almost sounds like a compliment."
Masamichi grunted, "It's not, you're arrogant and brash even with your current situation."
"I'm not complaining about it," Kiniro shrugged, "It's actually made my life pretty interesting. I mean, wouldn't you enjoy life a bit more if you knew at any moment it might end?"
Masamichi let out a tired sigh and shook his head, "Your assignment is in Seki. Several girls have gone missing over the last couple of months, and cursed energy residuals have been found at the sites of their disappearances."
"Any chance they're still alive?" Kiniro asked casually.
"Not likely if a curse is responsible," Masamichi answered, "That would only be the case if we were dealing with a highly intelligent curse."
Kiniro grinned, "Don't curses get smarter the stronger they become?"
"That tends to be the case."
"Well then, hopefully they're still alive," Kiniro said as he sat forward, "When do I leave?"
"As soon as possible," Masamichi grunted as he reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope, "Here, your ticket, a mission brief with all the details you'll need, and a stipend of 150,000 yen for mission expenses."
Kiniro's eyes lit up as he quickly took the envelope and opened it up to see the stack of bills. "So what you're saying is I basically get a paid vacation?"
"Get out of my office," Masamichi sighed, trying to fight the headache that was pressing against his temple, "And try not to die out there. I don't want to deal with that moron coming back and throwing a temper tantrum."
"I'll try, but no promises." Kiniro laughed as he stood up from the couch and pocketed the envelope of cash, "See you in a couple of days, Principal."
Walking out of the office, Kiniro closed the door behind him and turned to smile at Hakari and Kirara, who were sitting outside, "Looks like we're going to Seki!"
"Seki?" Hakari muttered with a click of his tongue, "Man, there's nothing fun to do in that backwater city."
"Well, anywhere is better than staying here another week," Silva countered.
"What's the mission?" Kirara asked, getting the conversation back on track.
Kiniro shrugged, "Oh, just the usual, young girls disappearing in the night without a trace."
"Damn, even your mission is boring," Haraki sighed before he cracked his neck and stood up, "Alright, go pack a bag and let's get going. No need to drag this out any longer than necessary."
Kiniro stared at Hakari with a blank look before glancing over at Kirara, "Is he always this much of a bummer?"
"Don't mind him, his fever is just running cold," Kirara explained as she stood up as well and playfully nudged Hakari.
"Huh, I can almost sympathize with that," Kiniro muttered, making Hakari glare at him, "I'm already starting to regret this."
---
"Arriving at Seki City Terminal."
Kiniro and Kirara stepped off the bus with grins across their faces as they shared a tourist pamphlet between them, "Says here that Seki is the cutlery capital, famous for its knife and sword making. They even have a swordsmithing museum."
"Any casinos?" Hakari asked as he stepped up behind them and peered over their shoulders.
"Not that I can see," Kirara shook her head, making Hakari sigh loudly, "Guess I'll have to look around then."
Then, without another word, Hakari turned and started walking away, "See you guys at the inn. Though if you could solve this in a day, that would be great."
"Bye, Kin!" Kirara cheered as she saw Hakari off.
"You two are just adorable," Kiniro muttered even as he continued to stare at the pamphlet, "Is he really just gonna wander around and hope he gets lucky…Well, I guess he is."
"Don't let him get to you too much," Kirara apologized, "Kin takes a minute to warm up to people. He won't open up until he sees your fever."
Kiniro raised an eyebrow, "And just exactly how would I do that?"
Kirara coughed and couldn't help but blush at the innuendo, "N-nothing like that."
Kiniro chuckled, seeing Kirara flushed, "Relax, I'm just fucking with you. Wouldn't want to break up the happy couple. Besides, he's not my type. Way too nonchalant."
"Not all the time," Kirara muttered to herself with a small twitch of her lips.
"Unfortunately, I know, we share a wall," Kiniro muttered as he flipped over the pamphlet where a map of the city was printed, "I need to find a vantage point to get a layout of the city. I could take you along, but it's better if I do this part solo. That's alright with you?"
"Y-yeah," Kirara squeaked as she fought the urge to curl up into a ball and die from embarrassment, "I'm just gonna go to the hotel."
"You have fun with that." Kiniro replied casually as he pocketed the pamphlet and tightened the straps of his bag, "Be back in a couple of hours. I'll keep you posted."
Then, without another word, Kiniro took off, leaving Kirara blushing at the bus stop.
---
'Alright, let's see what we're dealing with,' Kiniro muttered as the wind whipped at his hair and howled in his ears. Using his cursed energy, Kiniro held up a map of the city along with the mission report that listed where the girls had disappeared, 'The only thing the disappearances have in common is that they were mostly secluded areas, and occurred at night.'
Moving the papers aside, Kiniro looked out over Seki City as his eyes slowly shifted into glowing pink stars. Compared to Tokyo, Seki City had far fewer cursed energy signatures, which made sense due to the disparity in population.
However, there were some noteworthy exceptions.
'Well, that just about confirms it.' Kiniro thought with a grin as his mission suddenly became a lot more interesting, 'But I still can't pick up the trail from this far away, looks like I'll need to investigate in person.'
Gathering all his things, Kiniro took out his phone and entered the number Kirara had given him. As the phone rang, Kinrio vaulted over the safety railing and entered a free fall as he plummeted.
"H-hello?"
"Hey, Kirara, what's up?"
"I-I'm at the hotel, I can barely hear you. What's going on?"
"Sorry, I'm moving pretty fast right now, but I discovered something pretty important," Kiniro shouted to be heard over the wind, "We're not dealing with a curse."
"What? How do you know?"
"The abductions, they're too far apart." Kiniro replied as he continued to free-fall, "Curses don't like to wander far from the places they're born. Normally, that would mean we're dealing with multiple, but the residuals are identical."
"A curse user," Kirara muttered, inferring what Kiniro was alluding to, "The headquarters should have caught that."
"Well, they probably did," Kiniro muttered as he infused his body with cursed energy, "They just decided not to share that minor detail, hoping that I would wander in blind."
Without a sound, Kiniro hit the ground in a crouch, using his cursed energy to absorb the impact. "I'm heading over to investigate one of the abductions. Once I get a taste of the cursed energy, I should be able to track the culprit down."
"Alright, where should we meet you?" Kirara asked.
"Eh, no need to stress yourself out, I should be able to handle this one by myself," Kiniro replied as he brushed himself off and fixed his hair.
"We were paid to protect you." Kirara insisted.
Kiniro grinned, "Then just ask Hakari to find me, all he needs to do is choose the right abduction. Hopefully, he hasn't spent up all of his luck today."
"Kiniro, don't you-"
Hanging up the call, Kiniro pocketed his phone and started walking towards the closest residual, 'Let the fun times roll.'
---
"Seventeen black."
A collective roar rang through the seedy underground casino as the mountain of chips was pushed across the table. Staring at his earnings, Hakari grinned as a small jump shot through his heart. "Let it ride."
Another roar boomed through the air as Hakari went all in again while the dealer grinned, no doubt in relief as he spun the roulette table once more. Watching the ball go round and round, Hakari couldn't help but grin as he felt the thrill.
But before the ball could come to a stop, Hakari's phone went off, "Hey, Kirara, what's up…That brat did what?!"
"Seventeen black!"