Chapter Text
Makochi wasn’t a huge sprawling metropolis filled to the brim with a mad mixture of the magical and nonmagical. In fact, the nonmagical were kind of rare in the little town tucked a comfortable distance from the closest major river and the sea. Despite its almost picturesque location, it had gained a somewhat seedy reputation as the home of magical beings of ill repute. Even the all boys high school had a rumored notoriety for being filled with delinquents of the magical variety. It’s all this that had brought Haruka to the town originally.
Being in Makochi made all the difference though. The city was nothing like its whispered character and had flourished beyond its checkered past. There were still gangs, still stupid punks who threw fists first, and still people of disrepute. All that bad was handled now though. The change had begun in that all boys high school, Furin, and rolled throughout the town.
Haruka had been a part of that change. He’d come to Makochi just a couple of years after it had started at Furin and helped kick off the change in other parts of the city. Bofurin, as the boys at Furin came to be called, had joined forces with Shishitoren and Roppo Ichiza before slowly gaining ground all over. The idea of a “friendly” gang still made Haruka roll his eyes, but it wasn’t exactly an untrue label. He was proud to have been a part of it.
Nowadays, he assists with the needs of the semi-newly established Bofurin Guild. Never let it be said that Umemiya was original when it came to naming. Haruka mostly did odd jobs around town and when they’d occasionally come through, a seeking or hunting job that usually took him out of town. He preferred the odd jobs that let him stay in town, even if the pay was less. Haruka was a bit of a homebody, so what. Sue him.
Makochi was beautiful in Haruka’s opinion. He loved walking down the street and getting friendly greetings from kind neighbors. The spirit lanterns in the trees that lit up at dark in a bright array of colors and the tinkling sound of witches bells whenever someone opened a door… it was home. Haruka had a hard time not loving this place when he’d first come here, no matter how much he’d resisted it.
The bells on the door for Cafe Pothos jingled merrily as Haruka stepped in. Nirei and Tsugera are already at their usual table, chattering loudly about… some protein something flavored like a fuzzy navel? Haruka doesn't want to know actually. Kotoha smiles wearily at him. He’d feel bad for the maneki-neko, except he knows she enjoys the gossip she gets from them.
“Kiryu ain’ here yet?” Haruka cuts Tsugera’s rant off as he slides into the booth.
Nirei grins widely at him, reaching his hands out across the table and making grabby gestures. “Nope! Said he’d be a little late. What did you bring back?”
Haruka drops a kirin scale necklace in front of Tsugera and slides three of Nirei's favorite notebooks to him. Predictably they both begin rapidly thanking him and talking at each other (and Haruka) about the items. It’s a decent way to pass the time while they wait for Kiryu to arrive. The pink haired bakeneko looks a good bit more harried than usual, but considering he’s fifteen minutes late… Haruka decides to not point it out.
“Sorry I’m late,” Kiryu is all smiles as he slides in next to Haruka. “I had to handle a last minute request.”
The conversation glides past the apology easily. They talk about the gifts, the city Haruka went to for the job, what happened while he was gone for the entirety of the evening. Kotoha swings by when there’s lulls to add her two cents to their conversation. It’s nice. An easy, comfortable way to reorient himself with the city and his friends. He ignores the strange feeling he has that there’s something missing. Just like he’s been ignoring the strange itchiness that’s been crawling up his arm since he’d landed in the city hours ago.
It’s not until the next morning that he notices something is wrong. A thick black band wraps around his left wrist and pulses with his heart beat. Haruka feels too warm, like he’d stood too close to the oven, and confusion smashes over his head. This wasn’t there yesterday but it was the same arm that he’d had pins and needles in. The itchy, almost numb feeling was gone. Haruka almost wanted that feeling back.
He decides that he’ll ask Hiragi about it when he heads to the guild. It can’t be that bad.
Except that it is that bad. It takes Hiragi, Momose, Tsubaki, and Mizuki to finally identify the marking as a curse. Honestly, it probably would have gone faster if Haruka had gone to Mizuki first but eh. Haruka can’t be expected to be efficient all the time. Umemiya frowns as they report the curse to him.
“We’ll need a cursebreaker,” Umemiya mumbles mostly to himself. Haruka thinks smoke may start coming out of his ears if Umemiya thinks any harder on this. “But we don’t have any in the city.”
“No,” Hiragi somehow both agrees with Umemiya and sighs like he’s done with him. Haruka counts at least eleven gas-kun tablets in his hand already. “We do know someone who might though.”
Tsubaki snaps their fingers before Haruka can voice his confusion. “That’s right! Sakura-chan! Call Kiryu-chan!”
“What,” Haruka says with every ounce of confusion he feels.
He doesn’t get much of an answer past Umemiya and Tsubaki both trying to manhandle his phone out of his pocket. All in all, it takes nearly twenty minutes of shoving, yelling, and hugging before they actually get around to calling Kiryu. Haruka still doesn’t know why.
“Ah, I see.” Kiryu’s voice hums through Haruka’s speaker. “Let me ask around, I’ll text Sakura-chan with the details once I’ve got them.”
“Sounds good,” Umemiya half shouted at the phone. Hiragi’s groan is mostly drowned out. “Thank you for your help!”
“Of course.” Kiryu sounds distracted. A tapping noise comes from his end. “I’ll talk to you later, Sakura-chan. Bye everyone.” He hangs up.
It’s six hours later before Haruka hears back from Kiryu.
Kiryu Mitsuki
Okay I got someone but we gotta go to him.
Who is it?
Kiryu Mitsuki
Have you heard of the Veiled Fox of Bankoku-Gai?