Chapter Text
Usapyon nudged his mug onto a coaster and sighed happily. It was a school day so there was no one to bug him at the agency. A warm drink to himself and plenty of peace and quiet. But it didn’t last long, of course it didn’t last long. Inaho’s laptop pinged and he groaned. She’d set up notifications when a post was added onto their agency blog. It could wait until the girls finished school.
The clock hands struck one o’clock and almost on queue, the door of the agency swung open.
“Oh, good afternoon, Usapyon.” Yagyo stepped in, Shutendoji in tow. Usapyon grumbled, turning away. “I saw there was a new request, so I came over.”
“You didn’t need to.”
“Yeah we did!” Shutendoji added with a grin, clearly unaware of Usapyon’s annoyance. “Gotta show the girls we can be helpful!” Yagyo headed to the laptop and lifted up the screen.
“Hm, they haven’t put a request, just to meet them.”
“That’s suspicious.” Shutendoji followed him to lean over his shoulder. “Should we not bother?”
“N-no… we never leave a request unfulfilled… “ Yagyo glanced over at Usapyon who’d pulled out his Yokai pad, doing his best attempt at trying to not look interested. “I’m going to do it!” Shutendoji grinned at his enthusiasm and turned to Usapyon.
“Usa? Wanna come?” He paced over and pulled down his Yokai pad with two fingers, making Usapyon scowl. “He wants to spend time with you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “So try, just this once.”
“And why should I listen to you, dani?!” He grumbled, tugging the pad away from his grip.
“Cause anyone who makes Yagyo upset has to deal with me.” Shutendoji’s eyes glared, a hidden surge of magic flaring up. Usapyon was no magical Yokai but he certainly felt the change. It was hard to hide his body shivering.
“Just this one request, then I’m not having anything else to do with him dani!”
“Sure.” Shutendoji stood up straight, displeased but it was the best he could do. Yagyo closed the laptop and passed by with a smile.
“Are you coming, Usapyon?”
“Yeah… “ He hopped down from the sofa begrudgingly, chugging his cocoa.
“Oh! Wonderful! I’d love for you to come!”
Usapyon’s nose twitched at his enthusiasm. Why did he have to be so persistent, why couldn’t he just leave him alone. It still frustrated him how Inaho and Fumi had been so lenient. He’d lied to them all just so he could weasel his way in to where he wanted to be. They were too soft for their own good, at least he had some sense. He followed the two oni begrudgingly to the Ungaikyo. Perhaps if he let himself daydream, the task would be over sooner.
“She asked to meet us here.” Yagyo stopped at the play park in Gourd Pond.
“Nice, we can play while we wait.” Shutendoji made a beeline for the swings and instantly set himself off. Yagyo chuckled as he watched him kick himself back and forth far further than the swings intended.
“Do you want a go, Usapyon?” Yagyo looked down with a smile.
“No.” He replied blunty and turned away. Why did he always try to greet him with a smile, did he not know his disdain?
“Well I’ll take it then.”
“Oooh! Couples swing!” Shutendoji skidded to a halt to grin at Yagyo beside him. “If they were closer, we could kiss!”
“N-not here, Doji..!” Yagyo turned away bashfully.
“Awhh no fair.”
Usapyon rolled his eyes and stomped off, clambering onto the panda statue in the park. He pulled out his gun, relieving his annoyance by imagining getting to chase someone about.
“Are you from the detective agency?” A sweet voice caught his attention and he looked up to see a young woman looking towards the two oni. She had sugar pink hair in two conical space buns and a white summer dress.
“Oh, yeah!” Shutendoji piped up as he stood from the swing. Usapyon waddled over, his interest piqued a little. The woman looked down as he approached and smiled.
“I was hoping you could help with Yokai tasks and I was right.”
“You’re a Yokai too, wonderful!” Yagyo smiled, clasping his hands together. “Well what can we help you with?”
“Well, first things first, my name is Rina. And I… I need to get to the moon.”
All three Yokai staggered back in shock, a wave of silence torrenting across them.
“Uh well… “ Yagyo was the first to break it, tapping his fingers together nervously. “I’m not sure we can… “
“Easy!” Usapyon blurted out, eyes darting towards him.
“Oh, you’re confident!” Rina chuckled. “It won’t be easy. It’s alright if you can’t help.”
“No! We can help! I’ve built a rocket before dani!” He neglected to mention said rocket was an enlarged model that didn’t make it past the height of the treeline. Rina smiled and crouched to his level. She clearly noticed he’d taken a certain interest in her.
“Then I’m counting on you, little moon bunny.”
Usapyon let out a little squeak, his helmet heating up. With another chuckle, Rina stood again. “Thank you and good luck.” She bowed before leaving.
“Ohhh, she liked you!” Shutendoji sneered, pointing down at Usapyon.
“Shuddup!” He scowled.
“There’s nothing wrong with that! But the problem is… how on earth will you do that?” Yagyo mused as he tapped at his cheek.
“I can do it! Of course you’re doubting me!”
“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”
Shutendoji glared down at him, ready to strike if he continued to insult Yagyo.
“Whatever. I need to go think.” Usapyon stomped off before he could think of another point to jab at him. Yagyo sighed, sitting on the swing again.
“Bastard.” Shutendoji snapped, kicking at the sand.
“Don’t call him that… “
“He doesn’t respect you! You shouldn’t respect him!”
“That wouldn’t fix anything! Kindness will always be reciprocated eventually!”
“Not always… “ Shutendoji grumbled as he looked away. “But if he doesn’t fix his act soon… he’ll regret it.”
Usapyon pottered up to the school gates as students poured out. He clambered onto the bike shed to get a better view. It was always easy to spot Inaho since she often waved her arms about when explaining things. Indeed, it seemed like Fumi was getting that treatment right that second. He hopped down from the roof and weaved through the legs of students to greet them.
“Oh! Usa! You don’t usually come greet us!” Inaho grinned.
“Good afternoon, Usa!” Fumi added with a smile. “Did you need something?”
“Yeah, help with a request.”
“Yagyo said he was gonna help with that one.” Inaho pulled out her phone to get to the message. Usapyon winced, he didn’t expect them to know. “Since we were at school and all.”
“Well he isn’t, cause he’s useless!”
“Usa..!” Fumi gasped. Inaho took more drastic measures, slapping his helmet.
“Mean little oik!” She grumbled. “More useful than you! And he doesn’t threaten to shoot us if his temper boils over!”
It felt like that was going to happen there and then. His fingers instinctively moved to the buttons on his helmet but he was scooped up before he could.
“Now, now, Usa.” Fumi smiled in a sweet tone. “We should talk this through before we start the request.”
“But what is it? I wanna know!” Inaho’s chirpy demeanour returned as she jumped up and down in excitement.
“Let’s get back to the agency first.”