Saturday morning arrived with a cherry blossom scented breeze blowing into the room. 

Sumire left the window open and enjoyed the brief respite. Normally her weekends would be spent studying in peace, but her grandfather had already asked for her presence in half an hour. He told her that a client was coming to ask for her expertise as a yokai hunter, so she needed to be at her best.

After some consideration, she decided to wear a sage-colored shirt and beige loose skirt. It should be comfortable enough, should she need to fight a yokai. After letting down her hair and putting on light makeup, she admired herself in the mirror, before deciding that it was about time she met with her grandfather.

The clock struck ten when she arrived at the central pavilion, where her grandfather was already waiting with a middle-aged man. The man wore an expensive suit, and his salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back neatly.

She bowed at the two men before entering the room and taking a seat next to her grandfather.

“This is Kazahana Sumire, my heir”, her grandfather proudly introduced her. “She’s a brilliant yokai hunter and a pupil of mine. She will be the one to assist you with the yokai problem.”

Doubt flashed in the middle aged man’s eyes before it was replaced with an impassive, polite mask. Sumire knew that she hadn’t proved her worth enough, having recently acquired her license, so she didn’t really mind. All she needed to do was to try her best to fulfill her task.

The two men continued to negotiate, allowing Sumire to gain bits of knowledge about her task. The man, Suzuki Ichiro, was a wealthy businessman who had only recently bought a new mansion. However, the mansion seemed to be plagued by eerie singing from the attic every night. Ichiro’s wife suffered from insomnia due to the singing, while their son refused to go home until the problem was resolved. Thus, the family decided to hire a yokai hunter.

After the deal was sealed, her grandfather excused himself from Mr. Suzuki’s presence to talk to Sumire privately. They used the small room behind the pavilion.

“Did you gain anything from the conversation?” Sumire’s grandfather asked.

“Yes, Grandfather”, Sumire answered. “The yokai may be a tenjokudari.”

“Good”, Sumire’s grandfather praised, making Sumire’s heart swell. “Do you understand the importance of this task?”

“Yes, Grandfather”, Sumire answered again. She would fulfill her task and stop the yokai from terrorizing the family, earning herself merit from the success.

Her grandfather eyed her, his expression inscrutable.

“You are excused, then”, he said, in the end.

Do not disappoint me, was left unsaid.

—

Sumire arrived at the Suzuki mansion in Mr. Suzuki’s car. By then, it was midday.

The mansion was unlike Sumire’s own house, with its modern architecture and too many glass walls. Sumire wondered how a house so new could be plagued by a yokai already, but chose not to mind it too much.

She followed Mr. Suzuki into the mansion, scrunching her nose slightly when he walked past the foyer without taking off his shoes, but ended up following his example anyway. It didn’t seem like the household provided slippers.

“Dad, you’re home!” A young man appeared from the adjacent room. He would look handsome, in Sumire’s opinion, if not for of his dyed red hair. It clashed horribly with his white turtleneck sweater and bright yellow jacket.

“Urgh. You’re bringing a yokai hunter home? I told you, my new boyfriend can handle it!” he mocked, scrunching his nose as his eyes met with Sumire. 

“Shigeru! Not in front of our guest!” Mr. Suzuki looked like he was about to explode, but his expression was friendly when he turned to Sumire, pleading sweetly. “Please ignore my son’s manners. He has none.”

“Dad!” Mr. Suzuki’s son, Shigeru, cried out dramatically. “Ugh, whatever. Let me introduce you to my new boyfriend.”

Now, Sumire didn’t mind in the slightest about other people’s preferences, bright red hair aside, so she was unfazed by Shigeru’s antics. No, what surprised her most was when Shiba Natsuno walked into the foyer, looking the most sheepish Sumire had ever seen.

“Ah”, was all Natsuno could say when his eyes met Sumire’s. It was safe to say that he was just as surprised as Sumire herself.

“Dad, this is Akai Hozumi. He’s a student at Osozakura International School”, Shigeru introduced his ‘boyfriend’. Sumire raised her eyebrows, knowing for certain that Natsuno had used a false identity, for some unfathomable reason.

Sumire found it somewhat confusing.

“Well, whatever. Don’t let him get in the way of an actual professional”, Mr. Suzuki scolded, turning to Sumire once again. “Make yourself comfortable, Miss Kazahana. The yokai won’t appear until dusk.” Then, to his son, he said, “Shigeru, come.”

A servant brought Sumire (and Natsuno too) to the guest room. They sat on the plush velvet couches, a few meters apart from each other, and an awkward silence fell between them.

“So”, Natsuno began.

“Akai Hozumi?” Sumire asked.

“Unlike you, we yokai cleansers don’t have government-issued licenses, so I had to be creative”, Natsuno shrugged. “Easier to play the fake boyfriend ruse than forging a fake license.”

“I see”, Sumire said.

“I know what goes in your head”, Natsuno groaned.

“Do enlighten me”, Sumire returned.

“You old families are the same. So judgey about the whole… you know”, Natsuno paused. “You know.”

“I don’t”, Sumire said, confused.

“Hell, do I really have to spell it out loud?” Natsuno asked. “A boy dating another boy?”

“Oh.” Sumire blinked, not expecting Natsuno to bring up that. “I don’t mind that at all.”

Natsuno looked taken aback. “Wait— Really?” It was his turn to look confused now, leaning forward as if to find lies in Sumire’s face.

“Really”, Sumire repeated, thinking about her brother, Kazahana Shigure, who had been happily married for ten years now.

“Huh”, Natsuno hummed, though he still looked tense. He tapped his knee with his fingers several times, looking anxious, and Sumire couldn’t understand why her opinion mattered so much to him. 

“My brother is gay”, Sumire revealed. She also couldn’t understand why she wanted to reassure Natsuno. It wasn’t like they were close. They were rivals, at best.

“I see”, Natsuno said, and he relaxed into the couch. It seemed that her words really did reassure him. “Well, it’s not like it matters, anyway. Like I said, it’s all fake. It’s all so that I can investigate this case, you know?”

“How did you know?” Sumire asked.

“Hmm?” Natsuno asked, blinking in confusion.

“How did you know about this case?” Sumire repeated. She didn’t know about this particular yokai until Mr. Suzuki came to her residence and asked her grandfather for help.

Now that she thought about it, Natsuno was also quite well-informed about the enenra from last week.

“Now, now”, Natsuno chided him. He put his forefinger in front of his lips and smirked. “That’s a trade secret.”