Chapter Text
Gaining Miyabi’s trust was no small feat. Long gone were the early, naive days of the Void Hunter, where she walked into traps or scams without even realizing it. No longer was she the same person that once would have lost her family heirloom for certain if it weren’t for the sympathy and guilt of the Cunning Hare that had swindled it from her just a moment prior. Her’s was a dangerous profession after all, and relying on people to have her back when she didn’t possess unconditional faith in them could very quickly lead to dire consequences.
Thus, under any other circumstances, Miyabi would have never teamed up with the Proxy in the first place. She had all the time in the world to wait for her companions to catch up with her and help her out of the Hollow after all, her own ether resistance allowing her to waste a bit of time on simply sitting there and keeping an eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t vanish at the first opportunity. And yet when the Void Hunter realized her suspect did not possess the luxury of time, she agreed on letting him guide the two of them out of their situation.
And how fortunate she was that she did, considering how they had exited it just in time, the Video Store manager already suffering from their time inside the Hollow as he had passed out not long before, hanging on by the skin of his teeth until the others finally caught up to them.
It was a proof of his noble character that he chose to spend precious moments helping her sheathe her sword instead of making his way towards the exit they had prior and saving himself, risking becoming corrupted or sustaining injuries through her blade. His courage in that single moment was enough to convince her to hear him and the Cunning Hares out about the supposed grand conspiracy they had tried to convince her of before being ambushed, despite the flimsy at best evidence to boot.
When more information came flying in confirming various of their points and making the whole affair more suspicious, it only proved her resolve right.
And yet Bringer was defeated now, the Vision Scandal entering a new round with new investigations being opened and interrogations with Perlman and the other actors taking place once more. Despite her grand proclamation that he was her Proxy now, the further development of their relationship was left awfully vague.
“We should consider our next steps carefully, acting rash would be very unwise”, the voice of one of her fellow Chiefs broke through her thoughts and registered in her mind, an ever so faint smile suddenly adorning her face as she couldn’t help but let out the briefest of chuckles.
“Unwise.” As if activating a sleeper cell, all eyes in the room were suddenly fixated on her, as Miyabi finally remembered she had been in a debriefing all along, correcting her posture ever so slightly as her gaze moved away from her notepad, her hand finding its way on top of it to subtly obscure whatever non work-related notes she had taken so far.
“I agree, we can’t allow ourselves to take one wrong step. Especially in times like these.” She rechewed whatever ideas currently floated around the room, seemingly satisfying her fellow Chiefs as she received a few nods in agreement and the discussion once again moved on from her, her attention soon following suit as she continued scribbling onto her papers.
…
“How was the debriefing?” Tsukishiro Yanagi asked the moment she saw her Chief pass through the door and into their office, the young Oni Girl immediately lunging from her seat to greet her as the Void Hunter came to a sudden halt, eyes widening ever so slightly while confirming the woman’s fears that she had been lost in her thoughts once again.
“Alright.” Miyabi offered in her usual stoic, almost curt manner, only to press her notepad closer to her chest as Soukaku began orbiting her like a satellite.
“Oh, you drew something?! Let me see!”
“It’s just scribbling to pass the time”, she responded while absentmindedly hugging the papers with her arms to obscure them further from the curious girl’s eyes.
“So it’s alright for the chief to slack off in an official meeting but when I don’t do anything for a single moment I get assigned more work?” Harumasa chimed in with a playfully offended voice, a small sigh escaping his lips as he didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
“A busy mind is a healthy mind. And considering how you’re on sick leave often enough, it's the responsible thing to do to make sure you’re as healthy as possible”, Yanagi responded with a smile as she turned to face the rest of the crew.
“But I guess with everything that has been happening these past few days, a small chance to unwind might not be too bad.”
Even though it was Miyabi with the Fox ears, Tsukishiro could swear she saw the young man’s ears turn and twist in interest, as his eyes bored into her, wide with careful hope and joy as he anticipated her next words with every breath he took.
“What do you have in mind?” The Fox Thiren asked with a hint of curiosity, only for her ears to follow Harumasa’s example and give away her feelings when the woman spoke up once again.
“I was thinking about picking out a movie for us to watch, what do you think?”
Almost immediately, Yanagi received an enthusiastic response from Soukaku, the girl immediately fired up by the idea as her chief gave her a thumb’s up. Asaba, for his part, let out a brief dejected sigh before seemingly thinking things through once again and giving a more excited answer.
“That being said, I expect everyone to pay attention.”
And gone was his brief spurt of enthusiasm.
“There’s this videostore on sixth street that lets you rent Movies. I already borrowed a few every now and then, so I can go and pick one up”, the deputy chief suggested, receiving a raised eyebrow from the young man as he finally got his head up once again.
“You mean the proxy’s?”
As if activating her with a codeword, Miyabi’s eyes suddenly widened with interest, the girl raising her hand ever so slightly as she spoke up. “I’m not busy, I’ll go in your stead.”
“Don’t worry, I just finished up with everything myself. That and I already have a membership, so I won’t have to go through that anymore”, Yanagi explained, and yet it soon became clear that her words entered through one ear and immediately left through the other.
“My father still insists on inviting the Proxy over for our celebration of the operation. I can do that while picking up a movie.”
“Kill two birds with one stone”, Harumasa remarked in support, the realization that she wasn’t going to budge soon causing the woman to give in with a small smile, before addressing the others in the room.
“Alright. So what movie do you want to watch?”
…
Typing away at their computer, Wise was able to make out the sound of the front door opening, a sound luckily not uncommon at their store as customers came and left all the time. And yet by this time business usually slowed down or came to a complete halt already, the only reason they didn’t officially close any earlier so they could close at the hourmark.
Today, Belle was the one to staff the front, their usual part-timers on leave as the store was manned by just the two siblings. He had always known his sister for being the more extroverted and talkative of the two of them, the girl accidentally shouting with excitement before she whispered, so hearing her voice from the other room was something he was all too used to. And yet it were her words themselves that piqued his interest.
“My brother? Y-Yeah, he’s in the back. I can get him if you- Sure!”
Was it Nicole or one of the others asking for him? But why would Belle sound so nervous then? If it were the Cunning Hares she’d hardly show any stress, knowing far too well how much they owed them to be anything but informal with them.
Zhu Yuan? That would make more sense, considering what occurred last time she came by the store, and yet they had already apologized and made up with her…
Before he could form another guess in his mind however, the door flew right open as his sister rushed into the room, slamming the door behind her as she leaned against it and took heavy breaths.
“Wise! Ha- Miyabi’s at our store. The Miyabi!” Her excited announcement, which Wise had little doubts could be made out muffled in the other room, caused him to turn around and face her with a slightly confused look on his face.
He always knew his sister was a huge fan of Section 6, her behaviour almost matching the description of fangirling whenever she got to spot one of them, and yet he had assumed she would have gotten more used to seeing them after working together with them.
“Does she want to rent a movie?”
“Who knows? She asked if she could speak to you”, Belle responded with a small shrug of her shoulders, seemingly calming down as she stopped leaning against the door and took a few steps forwards, taking his place by the computer as he walked towards the door.
“Let’s not keep her waiting then”, he spoke, partly with his sister, partly with himself as he pulled the door open and walked into the main room of their store, a small smile on his lips as he greeted the Void Hunter.
“Hello Miyabi, what brings you here? Did Yanagi recommend our store to you?”
“Greetings”, the young woman responded in her usual tone before taking a brief pause speaking up again just in time to cut his attempt at filling the silence off before he even had the chance to open his mouth.
“I’d like to rent a movie, Yanagi recommended we watch one to unwind after the operation.”
As he nodded along, it quickly dawned on him that he’d have to ask another question if he wanted to get more information from her. “Do you have a movie in mind already or would you like some recommendations?”
“Recommendations please. Something to unwind to, that is thrilling and entertaining but is also a movie one can turn their brain off for”, Miyabi went on to describe the requirements, “That’s the consensus the others came to.”
“And what about you? Anything specific you want to see or have in your movie?” Wise questioned further, noticing how she never mentioned her own wishes for the film, only to receive a small shrug.
“I’m fine with anything.”
“But what movies do you usually watch on your own?” Making notes of the movie she asked for, the boy checked their catalogue for anything that matched her description.
“Something I watch on my own…”, she repeated while seemingly losing herself in thoughts, “Documentaries.”
As soon as the word left her mouth, Wise cracked a small smirk, the thought of telling his sister he wasn’t the only one to like them after all enough to brighten his day, only for him to snap out of it when he heard Miyabi speak up once again.
“...Is it weird?”
Seemingly having noticed his expression, the girl looked ever so slightly nervous as he could swear he saw her ears droop faintly. “Not in the slightest. I enjoy them too”, he assured her, breathing a silent sigh of relief when it seemed to work in improving her mood, even if the difference in expression was barely possible for the naked eye to make out.
The brief silence that followed only came to a close when Wise walked over to the wall covered head to toe with movies and pulled out one that seemed to match her description, presenting it to the Void Hunter.
“From what I could gather, this one might be what you’re looking for. Although you should feel free to come over again if you’re interested in borrowing a documentary. We have more than enough of those as well”, he offered as the young woman took the case out of his hand and took a closer look at it.
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind”, she responded before pulling out her wallet, only for Wise to stop her just in time, a small appreciative smile on his face.
“Don’t. The first one’s for free. See it as payback for Section 6’s help, just make sure to bring it back on time.” Almost instinctively, Miyabi tried to refuse, only to stop herself when she realized this seemed to be the hill he was ready to die on, growing silent for a few moments as she stared at the movie in her hands, before finally looking back up at her Proxy.
“I’m also here to invite you to Section 6’s celebration of the success of our last operation, considering how you played such a large part in it.” Her words immediately succeeded at catching his attention, the Manager’s eyes widening ever so slightly as he put on a small smile.
“I’m honoured, but-”
“I know the celebration carries Section 6’s name on it, but it’s more so my father wanting to meet with you.”
For a brief moment, Wise found it difficult to think of reasons why the head of the Hoshimi family would want to meet with him, and yet after briefly recollecting the previous days’ events, the invitation became far less surprising…
“If that’s the case, I’ll accept the invitation”, he responded while offering a small smile, receiving a small nod from Miyabi in response as she threw a quick glance at the clock.
“I’ll have to go back now. You’ll find out about the remaining information soon”, she explained before vanishing out of the front door. The moment he heard it close behind her, Wise’s shoulders dropped ever so slightly, only for his sister to re-enter the room as if she had been keeping track of when their guest would leave, a sudden realization popping up in his mind as his gaze fell onto the counter in front of him.
“I could have made her sign up for a membership…”