We all gathered up in the living room, Motatsū told us about this Kechī. Somehow, this slouchy, expressive, and happy man became stern and serious.
"Okay, The Kechī is in the northern district of Kugōnki City, that's about a two hour drive from here." He says, looking at me as he continues.
"Shirō, since this is your first hunt with us, I'll come with you to ensure everything goes smoothly. Think of this as a learning experience." He says, looking at the other Executioners. "Anyone else?"
"Me! Me! Me!!" Airashī raised her arm almost immediately, her voice brightening up the room.
"Alrighty."
"I want to come too, Motatsū." Hikaru says, her voice at a medium volume.
"'Kay then, Karu." Motatsū responded. "That should be good. Shirō, are you ready?"
I stood in silence, considering how things could go. What if this monster is worse than the one that killed my brother? Or am I underestimating the capability of these guys? After a second of thinking, I say, "Yes."
"Alright then, maybe here you can fully manifest your Hyōmei's abilities." He says, this man seems to have high hopes for me.
I only nod and me, Hikaru, Airashī, and Motatsū all head out and begin walking. Why? He said it was a two hour drive. . . So why are we walking?
"Shirō," Hikaru's voice rang out. "Hold my wrist for a bit."
"Why?" I wondered what she even had in mind. This was gonna be a long walk, I thought.
"You'll see." Her eyes flicker with a light as we suddenly begin blitzing through the streets, far surpassing the speed of a vehicle. The wind was breezing across my face as Airashī and Motatsū are dashing with us, well, her. I'm just being dragged.
"This is called a Micare, Shirō. The Kechī who killed your brother used this. By surfing across streams of Enogu, we can travel far distances in mere seconds. Or use our own Enogu in-case there's none in the area, mainly as an amplifier to our speed." She informs me.
"We're about forty-five percent of the way there." Motatsū points out.
"F-FORTY-FIVE?! IT'S ONLY BEEN HALF A MINUTE!" I blurt out, just how?! We'd be there in another minute or two by now.
"Yep! That's the speed of our Micare!" Airashī says, in a lighthearted tone, giggling at the end of her sentence.
❖ ❖ ❖
We stopped in the eastern district of Kugōnki, which was filled with primarily Bear, Donkey, and Feline Variant Anima.
"Let's get you outta those clothes, Shirō. We can't have your school uniform getting torn up now, do we?"
"Y-Yeah. . ." I stutter, this was the most interaction I have had ever since Rui died. We head into a clothing store, filled with people of varying Anima variants. I felt odd, being the only Wolf in here.
"I got about 2,720 Aurum now, so don't blow it all kid! These little gold coins ain't common to come by, we're lucky that the government pays us so nicely!" He says, putting his fist in my snowy, ashen white hair and messes it up.
I walk into an aisle, browsing through many clothes until I come across a nice jacket, it had crosses on it where the grommets would be, thin drawstrings falling down. The collar had beige fur around it, fitting nicely with the soft black fabric. The edges of the coat and the sleeves even had fur. I pick up and checked the size of the jacket, luckily it was my size. I carry the jacket on my shoulder, walking to a jeans aisle, finding a pair that really stuck out. The top half of the pants were white, but had two belts overlapping each other on the right, but a jet black kept the rest obscured, some white lines overlapping each other, creating a diamond-shaped symbol on each side. At the lower end of the jeans, the black begins to disconnect via a zipper, two extra belts on each side hanging out with the white flowing out. I check it's size and thankfully, it fits. I already love these—love? I've never loved anything besides my family and what they've offered me. But, these clothes alone just feel like they were right here, waiting for me to pick them up. I go over to find a shirt, while the upper portion is open, drawstrings keep it together, creating a cross pattern. At least my whole chest won't be out. I pick it up, checking the size and like the rest, it fits. On my way back, I found laced grey boots with a white base around, having a black inner brim that went up, alongside a belt that was fashioned with many crosses. It wouldn't hurt to keep the cross theme up, I thought. I pick them up, walking back.
"Someone found a type of clothing they like, huh?" Motatsū teases.
"I just– I like how they look." I admit, I truly do.
"Well try them on in one of those dressing rooms." Motatsū pointed at one of the rooms not being used.
I quickly entered and took off my clothes, leaving my boxers on. Why was I so—excited to put these on? I tried on the shirt first, a perfect fit. Along with the coat, the pants were baggy though, but I didn't care. Hell, my tail was even wagging. I try on the pants, squeezing my bushy tail through a hole in the back of the jeans. Thank All-Father this is an Anima store, I thought. My tail would fall down, what would've been motionless was moving like crazy. I tried on the boots and belt, they fit but the boots were a little tight. Not like it matters though. I put my school uniform back on and walk towards Motatsū.
"They fit well." I say so fast, I couldn't even fully understand my own words until the second I was done.
"Neat, let me pay for 'em now." He grabs the clothes in my arms, handing them to the cashier. A kind man who was a Bunny Anima.
"1,210 Aurum, sir." The cashier responded.
"Not that much." He says, paying up but I was curious. That was nearly half his money.
We walked out of the shop, which took a while since I immediately changed into those new clothes in a dressing room. Heading out as they commented on how I look.
"Huh, didn't know you were that into all that grunge stuff, for a kid like you." Motatsū comments with a smile.
"I just liked the style, I guess."
Airashī immediately blurts out, "You look so cool!"
"It does fit. Black, white, and the gold color of your eyes. You look pretty good." She commented. I said nothing back, but I felt good, and guilty I didn't even say a simple "thanks", but hey— She's not a friend, just an acquaintance.
"I suggest we split up to find the target Kechī, Airashī and Hikaru will head to the right, Shirō, you and I will head further left. We could possibly flank it from both sides for an easy takedown, and get the money." Motatsū suggests.
"Alright." I responded, I felt some sort of surge, one of confidence. This man really has an effect on people, doesn't he? I and Motatsū began running down a street, taking sharp turns to get towards the northern district faster.
"-!" I immediately stopped as cracks formed in-front of us, small Kechī crawling out, they're more animalistic in their form and anatomical structure, as I prepared to get ready to fight them off with Motatsū, summoning The Canvas. I talked to him quickly. "Okay, help me out a bit Motats— Huh?"
"Yeah you're handling this on your own kid!!" Motatsū yells out, running in a very awkward manner past the targets.
"Wh-what?! Why the hell are you—"
"They're weak! Even someone like you, inexperienced and with an ability-less Hyōmei can take them out! I'll search for the target!!" He responded, before exiting my field of view. Damn him, I thought. I held The Canvas firmly, trusting in my gut I can handle them. As one leapt right at me, I immediately swung the sword towards the head, diving the upper half from the jaw.
My eyes became narrow, staring at the next. I lunged forward as I slammed The Canvas down onto the Kechī.
My feet stumbled back, it evaded and leapt onto my head, I grabbed it by the head, taking it away from my face as I slammed its body onto the other, quickly carving the two in half.
"Damn." I sighed, staring at the Kechī's bodies crumble away into dust. But, more appeared, huger, some were still animalistic and a few had a humanoid form. Help would be really useful right now, I decided to continue on, I'm not tired yet, thankfully— and they don't look strong. 'Slice!', 'Clank!', 'Crash!'. I was handling my own well, I thought. Swinging The Canvas through two as one of the humanoids leapt up at me. As I prepared to swing The Canvas down, an aura manifested around the blade, a white flame with a black center.
"What the. . ." I mutter, but I end up getting scratched on my right cheek. "Tch!" I yelp, crashing into a building in the middle of a street. There's people here. Shit! I thought, standing up with a bruised arm as I clenched the hilt of The Canvas tightly, that same flame-like aura emitting. Is this my Enogu? I wondered, swinging the blade forward as the Enogu across the blade launched forward as a stream of energy! 'BOOM!' An explosion through the alleyway ripped through many buildings and objects. I had entirely disposed of the Kechī.
I'm amazed, really. How my Hyōmei is capable of such a thing. I looked at the people behind me, not saying a single thing as I ran out and followed the path Motatsū took when he ran.
Is this really what Hyōmei– no, Enogu is capable of?