The horned man pointed a finger in my direction, and I quickly brought the Kamera down from my face. He must have said something to the other three men because they all stopped fussing over their wagons and turned to face our direction.

"Hey, you!" the leader yelled with impressive volume. "What do you think you're doing?"

I gulped and whispered to Thoma, "Did I do something wrong?"

"He probably thought you were trying to take a photo of him without permission," he whispered back and waved to the group. "Don't worry, I can clear it up."

"He sounds angry." I grabbed Thoma's arm. "It was me holding the Kamera, so let me handle it."

"Are you sure?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"I'll be right beside you." Thoma squeezed the hand on his arm.

Squaring my shoulders, I walked toward the mysterious group just as their leader strutted toward us. As we got closer to each other, I noticed that his demeanor seemed more proud than angry. The white-haired man wore a bold smile, but his bright red eyes looked fiercely serious. A short, white stick was trapped between his teeth, and he pulled it out of his mouth to reveal the end of a lollipop. He was stunning in the most obvious way. His shirt—if one could call it that—covered only the top half of his chest, exposing red markings that complimented his horns. Everything about him was so loud—not to mention his muscles. They were staring at me.

I forced my eyes to remain face-level, and I made a point to speak first. "Hi, sorry if the Kamera bothered you. I wasn't looking to get photos of you or anything, I was just trying to get a closer look at those boxes and crates."

The man's smile fell in an instant, almost comically so. "What? Are you kidding me? I was hoping we could strike a deal for a couple of headshots. Those stupid wanted posters that the Tenryou Commission plasters up always have the worst visuals. I mean, come on. How hard is it to draw a symmetrical pair of horns?" he sighed dramatically. "Anyway, since you guys look like students, I'm willing to bargain a little. I charge fifty-thousand Mora for headshots normally, but I'll knock it down to forty-five for ya."

"Wait," I took a step back to process. "You want me to take photos for you? And you're trying to charge me for the service I'd be doing?"

"Um, yeah. I am Arataki 'The One and Oni' Itto, leader of the Arataki Gang. You haven't heard of me? I'm practically a celebrity back in Inazuma." He flipped his hair. "I'm a busy guy. Fighting monsters left and right, defending my honor till dawn, rising through the beetle-fighting ranks. If I'm gonna be taking the time for an impromptu photo shoot, I've gotta be sure it's worth my while."

"I don't want any photos of you, though."

"You—what?" he balked before laughing off his surprise. "There has to be some kind of misunderstanding."

I tapped the Kamera in my hands. "Itto, was it? We're doing an assignment for our Vision Studies class, and I'd like to take a photo of one of your boxes."

His jaw dropped. "You're passing up the chance to capture all of this," he gestured to himself. "For some boxes?"

"Or barrels," I shrugged. "Either or. As long as they've got a Dendro attribute."

"That's…that's…" he sputtered and stuck the lollipop back in his mouth. "You know what? I can respect the hustle. From what I've heard, this place is pretty hardcore when it comes to getting done what needs to get done. I can resonate with that."

Oh, good. At least he was both energetic and understanding. His brazen demeanor hadn't diminished in the slightest during our conversation. Rather, it looked like he was getting amped up for more. It was a relief to know he wasn't upset over being watched by the Kamera, though I didn't expect him to actually want his photo taken. I wondered if the other three guys were the same as Itto.

"Phew," Itto suddenly exclaimed and shielded his eyes from the sun as he took in the campus surroundings. "Celestia Academy sure is something. I can never get used to the look of all these buildings. They've always been so stiff and boring, which is exactly why I declined the offer for me to attend so many years ago."

I'd been eyeing the Dendro opportunity up ahead, but his comment drew that attention away. "You were accepted into Celestia Academy?"

The golden glint of his Geo Vision caught my eye. It hung at his collar and was a sign that Itto must have some source of great power. Still, his personality was unlike anything I'd expect from a prospective student.

"Pssh, I was offered a spot without even applying." He scratched his chin. It was the first sign of uncertainty I'd seen him express. "I had to turn 'em down, though. Being cooped up all day in stuffy classrooms isn't my style."

One of the other men jogged forward and yelled, "Hey, boss! We need some help moving these wagons."

"Be right there, Genta! I'm just catching up with a few fans."

I held up a hand. "Fans? This is the first I've ever heard of you. Right, Thoma?"

"Arataki Itto," Thoma mumbled in thought. "I do think I've heard of the Arataki Gang before."

"See?" Itto pointed to Thoma with a wide grin. "I told you, we're famous."

Thoma chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "More like infamous."

Itto waved a hand, dismissing the detail. "Point is, my gang and I are well known. Anyway, I've gotta get back to our haul over there. Those monsters were a real pain to round up on such short notice, but it's nothing we couldn't handle."

Did he just say monsters? Were they in the boxes? I took a second look at the wagons, but the load looked harmless to me. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed those boxes were full of produce for the kitchen.

"Why'd you bring monsters here?" I asked warily. "I don't know if you've heard, but we had a bit of a monster problem a while back. Bringing in more seems like the last thing Celestia Academy would want."

"Oh, right. That Sakoku Order thing was a real pain in the butt." Itto scratched his head. "Me and the gang do what we what when we want, but it's easier to live life freely with a few Mora pouches in our pockets. We've been hired as official Celestia Academy bounty hunters for quite some time now, but that suddenly stopped a couple of months ago. It was hard living without the extra cash, but the gang is back in business, baby!" Itto began to walk backward, still facing us. "You're welcome to grab a few photos of the boring boxes and crates stuff. As long as you don't get too close, I'm sure Shinobu won't mind."

I followed him, Kamera ready. "Who's Shinobu?"

"Deputy Leader of the gang, of course! She's off handling paperwork somewhere over there." He pointed to the campus buildings. "I actually asked if she could strike a deal with the head honchos so that the gang can eat for free in your cafeteria. We've been surviving off of Lavender Melon for the past month after getting cut off, so it's only fair."

"Only Lavender Melon?" I held a hand to my mouth and gasped.

Itto laughed. "Right? You get me. Shinobu's been in there for a while now. Since you two are students here, do you think you can just bring us to the grub yourselves?"

"You mean, sneak you in?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm not built for sneaking around. Besides, if you think about it, we belong here. Without us, you'd never get to test your fighting skills against these awesome monsters. We've got 'churls, whopperflowers, vishaps, specters, slimes—all the nasties. A few of 'em weren't easy to nab, but they were put in as a special request from the Conquistador of Devils."

I stared at him blankly. "Do you mean the Conqueror of Demons?"

"What's the difference?" Itto shrugged.

"Boss!" the man from before—Genta—waved Itto over. "One of the wagon wheels just popped off. We're gonna have some toppled monsters in no time."

"What?!" Itto, still walking backward, stumbled and turned on his heel.

Genta and the other two gang members were struggling to hold up one end of a wagon, but their battle against the weight of so many monster boxes didn't look good. Itto sprinted at full speed with his muscular arms reaching forward. Not wanting to uselessly stand around, I also ran forward with Thoma at my side. Chongyun and Bennett noticed something was up, and they joined in.

By the time we got there, it looked like the gang had everything under control—mostly. Three of them held up one corner of the wagon while Itto chased after the runaway wheel. My Vision Studies group was on standby, and we watched as Itto came running back with the wheel in hand. He held it over his horns, pumping it in the air triumphantly before trying to fix it to the axle.

He was struggling.

"Do you need some help?" I offered.

"Nope, nuh-uh," Itto grunted. "Nothing to see here. Just a bit—urgh—more."

One of the men holding up the wagon flinched back with a yelp. "I got a splinter!"

The whole wagon wobbled with the lack of support, and one of the topmost boxes teetered to the side. I watched as it fell—almost in slow motion—and Itto wildly threw the wheel to the side. He jumped up, trying to catch the box in mid-air, but it was no use. The box barely grazed the black tips of his pointed fingernails before splintering onto the ground.

I held my breath. There's no way whatever monster waiting inside wouldn't escape now. What would it be? A wild vishap? A horde of cicins? Pesky whopperflowers? I gripped the Kamera tightly, prepared to use it as a weapon if necessary. I'm sure Professor Minci would understand.

Panels of wood fell away to reveal a family of slimes. Geo slimes.

My body relaxed. It could have been worse.

"They escaped," Genta wailed. "Shinobu's gonna kill us!"

"Not if she doesn't find out." Itto cracked his knuckles and assumed a wide stance. He pulled his right hand back in a fist, and a faint Geo aura surrounded him. "Get 'em, Ushi. Attaboy!"

Never would I have guessed that he would summon a miniature bull onto the quad, but there it was. The bull—Ushi—made contact with the smaller Geo slimes, harmlessly knocking them back. Ushi mooed with an angry frown. Then, the bull swished from side to side. I waited for Ushi to attack for real, maybe shoot rocks from his mouth or charge forward. Ushi continued to swish.

The Geo slimes were unfazed. Instead of cowering, the largest one launched itself high into the air.

"Scatter!" Itto shouted, and we scrambled.

The men still holding up the wagon had no choice but to stay put, and Itto pulled out a gleaming red and black claymore to shield them from the brunt of the slime's attack. I saw Thoma dive to the side and snatch up the discarded wagon wheel, and he didn't hesitate to try fixing it on his own.

"Hey!" Itto lifted his claymore with a single hand, pointing it at the slime. "Who said you could do that?"

Genta shook his head, bracing himself under the wagon. "You can't kill it, boss! We have to bring the monsters in alive if we want to meet the quota. Shinobu made sure to get the count down precisely before we arrived. She'll notice if a few are missing."

"Moo," Ushi said.

"Alright, alright," Itto cracked his neck to either side. "Do we have any more of those nets, Mamoru?"

"Yes, boss! I can pull them out as soon as we get this wagon—"

"There," Thoma pulled away after popping the wheel back in place. "The wagon should be steady now."

"Alright," Itto cheered. "Mamoru!"

"On it," Mamoru dove into the wagon and pulled out a bundle of nets. "These are special grade Omni-Ubiquity Nets. It's a good thing we brought some extra. Everyone, catch!"

He tossed each of us a net, and I barely caught mine while also holding the Kamera. Class assignment forgotten for now, I set the Kamera on the ground and turned my full attention to the Geo slimes. There were eight of us and eight of them. Easy.

"Get into formation," Itto commanded. "Surround 'em so they have nowhere to go. I'll take care of the big guy."

The big guy in question launched rocks in Itto's direction, each of which he smacked away with his claymore like a baseball bat. We closed in on the slimes, and I gingerly held out my net. It was a green ball woven with reinforced threads that crisscrossed all over.

"How do we use this?" Bennett asked with a puzzled look.

"Just throw it." Itto chucked his net at the large Geo slime. "Like this!"

Itto's net missed.

He grumbled, dashing around the slimes to retrieve his net. "Okay, like that, but better."

"Moo!" Ushi said.

"Who's ready for some Akira Action?" One member leaned back and launched his net forward. It landed on a slime and swallowed it whole. "Now, that's what I'm talking about! Did ya see that, boss?"

"Get a load of this." Genta readied himself. "Genta Grenade!"

Another slime was captured.

"Mamoru Madness!"

Three down, five to go.

Bennett buzzed with energy. "This looks fun. How about a little Bazooka Bennett?" He jumped in the air, net in hand, and spiked it downwards.

The net bounced off the ground and soared in the air right toward Itto's face.

"Watch it!" Itto swung at the net with his weapon, directing it straight for the large Geo slime.

This time, the net found its mark, and the smaller slimes jittered erratically in a panic. Itto tossed his own net into the air before successfully batting it at slime number five. I trained my eyes on one of the monsters and prayed my aim wouldn't fail me. Should I come up with a cool attack name, too?

Chongyun clutched his net tightly in both hands and murmured a mantra. Faint wisps of Cryo wafted from him as he concentrated. "Heart be pure, evil be erased. Mind be purged, world be...world be…Chongyun Charge!"

There were just two slimes left now. Thoma and I exchanged wild grins and lifted our nets in the air together. Itto and his gang cheered us on from the sidelines as the two Geo slimes huddled together. I almost felt bad for them, but the hype couldn't be stopped.

"Thoma Thunder!"

"Lightspeed Lumine!"

Right as our nets made contact with the slimes, our hands smacked together as we high-fived in celebration. The Arataki Gang whooped together, shaking each other by the shoulders and pounding their fists in the air. The poor slimes were wrapped individually in their nets, and it hit me that I was looking at the perfect Geo subjects. Alongside the Dendro boxes, we were on a roll.

"The Arataki Gang does it again," Itto laughed. "I knew we had it all under control. Lumine, was it? Not bad, not bad. If you ever feel like dropping out of school, feel free to swing by Inazuma and hang out with us."

"Moo!"

"What did the cow say?" Bennett asked.

"Moo," Chongyun translated.

Itto laughed again, patting Chongyun's shoulder with excessive force. "Close, but not quite. Ushi was just reminding us not to get too distracted and to stay on schedule. Next to Shinobu, our auxiliary member is always keeping the gang on track. Ain't that right, Ushi?"

"Moo, moo!"

"Of course, of course," Itto nodded. "Ushi also knows a thing or two about exorcising demons."

Chongyun gaped. "That cow…is also an exorcist?"

"Moo."

Those nets sure did come in handy, and I thought about what else they might be able to capture. Akira began to bundle up all the captured slimes, but then I remembered my plans to take a photo of them for the Geo element.

"Wait," I bent down to pick up the Kamera. Luckily, it didn't get stepped on or attacked by the slimes. "Can I take a photo of them?"

"Uh, sure!" Akira held the captured slimes up to his face and smiled.

Having him included in the photo wasn't the plan, but I couldn't deny Akira with that pose. I fiddled with the knob and dial until both the Geo slimes and Akira were in frame. Just as I snapped the photo, Itto lunged in the background to make a last-minute appearance.

Once the photo rolled out of the Kamera, I turned to the wagon full of boxes and barrels. Now that I knew monsters were in there, I understood why Shinobu wanted us to keep our distance. Right as I took the Dendro photo, Itto once again slid into frame with a flashy grin.

I handed the photos to Bennett, who flapped both of them in either hand vigorously.

"Amazing technique, Bazooka Bennett," Itto said, standing over him excitedly. "Well, how did I turn out? What the—why am I so blurry?"

"Geo and Dendro specimens only," I reminded him. "For class."

"But you got Akira," Itto wilted. "Look at him with his smile. Can I get one, too?"

"What happened to charging me forty-five thousand Mora?" I smirked.

"Pfft, that?" he rolled his eyes. "I was joking! Here, let me hold the Kamera. My arms are the longest, so I could probably grab a shot with all of us in it."

It'd be a lie to say I didn't want a group photo—not after the team effort and high energy we shared after defeating those Geo slimes. For all of Itto's big talk, it was nice to see he was a down-to-earth guy with friends who really respected him. Thoma mentioned that the Arataki Gang was infamous, but I sensed no danger coming from them.

I gave Itto the Kamera, trusting he knew how to use it, and we huddled together. Thoma wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. Bennett and Chongyun crouched in front of us. Akira, Genta, and Mamoru struck poses that mimicked their Omni-Ubiquity Net throws. Itto held the Kamera out with one hand and beckoned Ushi to waddle over with the other.

"Everyone say 'Onikabuto' on the count of three," Itto instructed with a bright smile. "Ready? One, two, three!"

"Onikabuto!"