Chapter 9: Devil in the details
"School?" Karasuma raises her eyebrows. "Haruto, being a Hunter is a full-time job. If you wish, you could have tutors, but all we expect in terms of education is that you pass your exams. After that, you have no obligation. Unlike other occupations, this doesn't require a degree."
"Wow," Haruto says as their drinks arrive, "I really lucked out!" He smiles his thanks at the proprietor before tossing back his Coke.
His drink half-gone in one gulp, the brunette woman shakes her head, stirring her coffee. "But I'm glad you have some thought to your future. What about you, Yurika?"
The blonde girl smiles and shrugs. "Hey, if I don't have to go to school, I won't," she says simply. She takes a dainty sip of her café au lait and sighs happily. "It's the least my parents can do for me. Besides, if I'm going to be in any danger, I don't want to have to worry about grades, too. Stress makes me break out."
"You're a teen, zits are normal," Haruto laughs.
Yurika looks offended. "Maybe for you," she says, her tone putting kilometers of distance between herself and the boy with the shaggy dark hair, "but for people like me, it's unacceptable!" And she sticks her tongue out again, as if she's no older than twelve.
The tall man clucks his tongue as he serves them their meals. "Perhaps you should postpone your conversation," he says in his slightly hoarse alto, "you'll enjoy your meals better."
They all nod obediently and thank him. When he leaves, Yurika gives Haruto's helpings an incredulous look. "I can't believe you're going to eat that," she says, taking a small bite of her tiramisu.
Haruto doesn't answer her, practically inhaling a sandwich whole. "Don't worry," he says, "I'll have more when I get home."
Yurika makes a disgusted face, and Karasuma pauses, her spoon full of her miso soup not reaching her lips. "About that," the brunette says, "we're going to have to look into alternatives."
"What do you mean?" Haruto asks around his second sandwich.
"Well, like I said, being a Hunter is a full-time job," Karasuma says patiently, "but sometimes our hours are like those of police officers. You'll need to be on-call 24/7 and I doubt your parents will appreciate being woken in the middle of the night."
"Oh," he nods thoughtfully, then stuffs the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.
"But we don't have to worry about that just yet," Karasuma says brightly, "and apparently, you don't have to, either," she says to the blonde girl.
Yurika nods, swallowing her gulp of milk and coffee. "They're so busy, flying all over the place," she says dismissively, "I can't imagine what living with parents must be like. They must drive you crazy."
"Sometimes," Haruto admits. "But my mom's cool." The blonde girl raises her eyebrows. "Well, not cool cool, but she lets me do what I want. My dad, he's kind of uptight." The two females nod and he suddenly feels self-conscious. "But it doesn't matter. So where will I go? Not the Walled City, I hope," he says, half-joking in his horror.
"No," Karasuma chuckles, "we do our best to find good accommodations for our Hunters. And transportation. Do either of you drive?" She gets blank looks from both. "Okay, we'll have to teach you to drive, and then get you cars. We can't have you catching the trains or buses when the quarry's escaping another way."
"Could I have a motorcycle?" Haruto asks. "I'd rather have that than a car."
The brunette is surprised, but she nods. "Okay. Yurika, any preference?"
The blonde shrugs. "As long as it's red, cute and classy, I don't care what kind of car it is," she says breezily.
Haruto laughs. This job is looking better and better. He doubts regular cops would get these kinds of benefits, or even allow someone like him, much less Yurika, into their ranks. Yeah, he'll do whatever it takes to keep this job, stay out of his dad's way, and bring the bad guys down. He never was into goals or purposes or that sort of thing, but he finds having a purpose feels really good. And Karasuma (he can't think of her as Miho, she seems way too old for that kind of familiarity), she's changing his mind about what he thinks of Craft users. This is going to be good, he grins, and shoves another sandwich into his mouth.