Chapter 43
A Concerned Citizen
Sara wasn't actually too sure what she should do on her night off. She hadn't had one in a long time and definitely never in the middle of a festival. So, dressed in the elegant black kimono with a red rose print and not a sign of her Tenryou uniform or trusty bow, she decided to do what she would on a typical night of guard duty: walk around and check that everything was fine.
Mixed among the public, she began to walk with a calm step, scanning her golden eyes all around her, looking for some altercation, an argument, a drunk being too festive, or even some criminal trying to take advantage of the bustle of the festivities to profit. After half an hour of walking among the people and the stalls, she did not come across anything remotely similar. And although it shouldn't be the case, she actually (against all her instincts) began to wish that one of those things would happen. At least then, she would have an excuse so that her "night off" wasn't so off anymore.
She really wasn't good at that kind of thing...
"Lady Kujou, is that you?" She suddenly heard a voice nearby say above all the noise.
Sara stopped at that moment and turned to the side. Just to her right was a snack stand, primarily sweets, as she could see, attended by an older woman in fine-looking green clothes and two other younger boys supporting her. The woman looked at her with a broad smile of joy, which made it clear that the comment was for her. It wasn't like there were any other Lady Kujou around that night.
"Oh, hello," Sara greeted her, a little hesitant. The woman seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't immediately identify where she was from. But that wasn't so unusual; in her job, she had to meet a wide variety of people every day. "Good night, Madame. Everything's fine?"
"Pretty good, thank you," the woman replied, nodding. "You look very pretty in that outfit," she added, inspecting the black kimono up and down, and especially the rose pattern on it.
"I appreciate your words," Sara murmured, accompanied by a slight bow of gratitude.
"I don't think I've ever seen you without your uniform. Did you decide to enjoy the festival tonight?"
"Yes, well..." she mumbled slightly nervously, initially having trouble forming her thoughts. "I thought I'd look around here and see everything is in order."
"Everything is wonderful. But don't tell me you're working even tonight."
"No, not exactly. In theory, it's my night off, but it still doesn't hurt to be attentive."
"Always so responsible. But try to have some fun, okay? Here, taste one of my tricolor dangos," the woman suddenly proposed, taking one of the sweets she had on display: three sweet balls of glutinous rice, one pink, one white, and the last green, joined by a stick that went through them from end to end. She then extended the dango toward the tengu woman, offering them to her gently.
Sara became particularly nervous and uncomfortable at that moment, and even instinctively moved her body back when the three dango approached her.
"Ah, no..." Sara answered hesitantly, raising both hands in front of her. "I appreciate it, but..."
"Come on, here," the woman insisted, even at that moment taking the liberty of taking one of Sara's hands and placing the appetizer in it. Sara, by mere reflex, closed her fingers around the stick so that it wouldn't fall. "Courtesy of the house."
"No, at least let me pay for it," Sara exclaimed, apparently slightly startled.
"Nothing of that. Take it as a thank you for all your hard work protecting our city."
Sara hesitated again. She looked at the candy in her hand, then at the woman's smiling face, and again at the candy. She didn't usually eat that kind of thing, not even when she wasn't working, but... That part of her that prevented her from disappointing people pushed her to just accept it without further ado. After all, it was a kind gesture; why would she reject it?
"Thank you," she whispered slowly, smiling slightly and bowing her body in a discreet bow.
After another small exchange of words, Sara continued walking down the street, although her attention was more focused on the small gift that had just been given to her than on the people or the stalls around her. She didn't feel a particular desire to taste that, but... she wasn't going to throw it away either after it was given to her with so much appreciation; that would be totally dishonorable.
So, a little reluctantly, she brought the sweet to her mouth and took a small bite of the first dango, the pink one. She chewed the piece back and forth for a while and then swallowed it without further ado. She had survived without much problem.
It tastes good, I guess, she thought to herself, and continued to take another bite, this time with greater confidence. But I shouldn't eat this kind of stuff. They distract me easily.
That thought might seem strange to many, but it was derived from how Sara was raised and trained. For her, eating and sleeping were physiological needs to regain energy, but in general, they wasted time that could be used for more productive activities. So, the more efficiently you could perform either of those two tasks, the better. And sweets were low on that efficiency list. Not only were they distracting and slow to eat, but on top of that, they didn't even provide the required nutritional value.
But… well, for better or worse, Sara wasn't working that night. So it wouldn't hurt to take one more bite of the dango... or maybe two.
"You are playing with me?!" A deep, intense voice was suddenly heard forcefully. It was like a loud scream, full of courage, that immediately put Sara in such a state of alert that she even reflexively reached behind her back in search of her bow, remembering almost instantly that she did not have it with her.
She looked around quickly, trying to detect where that had come from and if perhaps it was a warning of some imminent danger. People walked around her, seemingly unconcerned, and Sara thought for a second that maybe she had imagined it.
"There's no way they wouldn't have fallen with that last blow!" repeated the same voice behind her. "Are you cheating on me?!"
Sara turned quickly and saw a few meters in front of her the tall, burly figure of a person, who at that moment turned his back to her; a broad and muscular back, over which white hair of medium length fell. He was standing in front of one of the stalls on the side of the street, and although Sara couldn't see his face, his very posture seemed aggressive.
"Are you accusing me of something, young man?" the man tending the stall exclaimed harshly, a robust man with dark hair and a thick mustache of the same tone, with his wide arms crossed over his chest.
"Of course!" the same tall man shouted, raising a hand and pointing accusingly at the man at the stall. "Of cheater and scammer to begin with!"
"Boss, calm down," a young man standing next to that person whispered in a low voice with a worried attitude. However, his companion didn't seem to hear him and continued yelling the same way at the man in the stall, whose mood was also heating up.
Little by little, the order was altered, and more people began to realize something was happening. Sara soon approached with firm steps toward the scandal's epicenter, with every intention of putting a stop to it before it escalated to the worst.
"What is happening here?" she questioned harshly once she was in front of the stall, placing both hands on her waist.
Everyone involved turned in her direction: the person in charge of the stall, the three companions of the man who was screaming, and, of course, the latter as well. As soon as she looked at him in front, Sara was a little surprised, especially by that pair of crimson horns that emerged from his head, by those eyes between red and amber that looked at her with curiosity and confusion, and his eyebrows bushy with a darker color than her hair.
An oni? she thought to herself. It was a little unusual to meet another youkai here in the city, but not impossible, especially during a festival like this.
"Nothing, miss," commented the man at the stall, apparently not attaching much importance to what happened. "Only this oni, who is making a fuss because he doesn't know how to lose with dignity."
"Lose with dignity?!" the tall man with light hair snapped, forgetting about her momentarily to turn back to the attendant. "I have no problem with losing in a fair game, but this one clearly isn't!"
Sara took a quick look at the stall. Apparently, it was one with different games, the main one consisting of six empty bottles stacked in a triangle at the back of the stand, which the player evidently had to knock down by throwing a series of balls. And, from the number of balls on the ground (which was at least more than twenty) and the number of bottles knocked over (which was zero), Sara could quickly deduce what it was all about.
"Are you accusing the gentleman of fixing the game?" Sara asked the oni in a calm tone, crossing her arms.
"Of course!" he responded without any hesitation.
"It is a very serious accusation. Do you have any proof of this?"
"Uh?" the oni exclaimed, turning to look at her again with apparent confusion. Only until that moment did he seem to have begun to question the girl's presence in that matter. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"I am..." Sara said quickly, intending to respond, but she fell silent immediately without completing her sentence.
She was just about to report that she was General Kujou of the Tenryou Commission, but… she wasn't actually working at that time, so she wasn't there as a general. Officially, she should not be able to act on behalf of the Tenryou Commission under those circumstances. She wasn't entirely sure if it would be something against the rules, but it sounded like it might be.
"I... I'm just a concerned citizen," she answered after a while, seeming to be the closest thing to reality at that moment.
"Who is this woman?" one of the three human men who apparently accompanied the oni suddenly asked. "I think I've seen her somewhere else before."
The other two shrugged. Did that mean they didn't really know who she was? Sara thought it was a little strange that they didn't recognize her, but she didn't overthink about it. She wasn't Kamisato Ayaka, after all; it wasn't like most people should recognize her for some reason...
"Well, Miss Concerned Citizen," the white-haired man suddenly commented, drawing the general's attention again. "If you're so interested, what happens here is that I spent a long time throwing those bottles over there," he indicated, pointing to the six stacked bottles, "and I couldn't throw even one even though I tried with all my strength! It's obvious that they must be tricked!"
"It's absurd," the man at the stall exclaimed belligerently.
"It is indeed a very grave accusation, sir," Sara informed him calmly. "What can you say about it?"
The man snorted indifferently, clearly completely dismissing the weight of such a complaint.
"What can I say? It's just obvious that this stupid youkai doesn't know how to behave among civilized people."
Those words were like a direct blow, which only inflamed the oni's nerves even more.
"What did you say…?!" he exclaimed furiously, advancing until his legs collided with the wooden post. The man on the other side remained peacefully in his place.
"Stupid youkai, that's what I said," he repeated dryly. "I don't know why they allow creatures like you to set foot in such illustrious events as this. You should be prohibited from leaving your forests and mountains. All you do is disturb the peace of good and civilized people like us."
Sara had remained silent all that time, listening stunned to everything that man said. She couldn't remember ever having heard someone refer to youkai in such a derogatory way, definitely not in her presence... but that was perhaps because everyone knew that she was the adopted daughter of the Kujou Clan, and they wouldn't dare speak ill of youkai in front of her...
Being herself one.
Although, in her case, her origin was less evident than the two horns that adorned that man's head. So, right or wrong, most of the time, she managed to blend in as just another human. Perhaps because of that and her position within the Tenryou Commission, she had never dealt with people who thought that way towards species like her. Something that was clearly not the case with that oni man...
His face had turned red, and some veins stood out on his forehead. He clenched his fists tightly, and it was clear that his entire body was tense, ready at the first excuse to simply explode.
"So you better leave," the man at the booth insisted, waving his hands as if he were scaring away a group of stray dogs, "or I'll call the Tenryou Guard right then and there to kick you out of the festival."
"I want to see them try it!" the oni declared aggressively. "I won't move from here until you give me the prize I deserve...!"
Sara stepped forward at that moment, stopping right in front of the stall. Her presence inevitably caught the attention of the two men, cutting their argument short. Sara searched the inner pockets of the kimono, extracting a few moras from them, and then placed them with some force on the wooden table in front of her.
"Give me three shots," she asked in a cold tone.
"Hey, I'm not done yet," the oni said with annoyance. The stall attendant, more than happy to ignore that loud man and focus on another customer, turned squarely towards her with a wide and gentle smile, remarkably contrasting with his attitude a few moments ago.
"As you wish, miss," the man said eloquently, placing three round green balls on the table. "It is evident that you are a decent person from a good family."
Sara did not respond to his apparent praise. Instead, she focused on the three balls and firmly placed one between her fingers. She squeezed it a little and then threw it into the air to catch it so she could feel its weight. It was, in fact, much lighter than it seemed at first glance. That first indication caused some distrust, but it was not enough to indicate that something out of the ordinary was happening.
She then fixed her gaze on the stacked bottles, pulled her hand back, and aimed precisely before throwing the ball forcefully forward. Archery and throwing a ball were not the same, but there were similar principles that Sara knew well, so as soon as the ball left her hand, she was sure it would hit the bottles right in the center of the pyramid. And so it did, but as soon as the ball hit one of the bottles, it bounced and was thrown to the side, and they barely wobbled in their place.
That surprised her enough for her right eyebrow to arch in an expression of intrigue.
"You see it?!" exclaimed the oni next to her forcefully, pointing at the bottles. "Do you realize the trap?"
Sara didn't respond. Indeed, it was strange that she had not at least managed to knock down one of them with that shot, but it was still not enough. The fact that the ball was a little lighter and the bottles perhaps a little heavier only made the game more challenging. However, a fine line existed between making things challenging and impossible for anyone to win. And it was up to her to decide which side it was on.
She took another ball and again got into the throwing position. On this occasion, she would apply much more power to her throw, using all the muscular strength that her arduous training had given her all those years, which, in theory, should be greater than the average strength of an ordinary citizen. The ball shot like an arrow from her fingers and headed straight for the bottles, hitting precisely the same place as before.
The same result: the ball bounced, and although the bottles wobbled a little more than the first time, they quickly returned to their original position.
Sara wrinkled her brow, annoyed and confused, and looked somewhat fiercely at the person in charge of the stall. He smiled with an annoying presumption that was difficult to hide.
"I'm sorry, miss," the man commented smilingly, shrugging his shoulders. "But perhaps your delicate and refined hands don't have the needed strength."
That single hurtful comment was enough for Sara to throw caution to the wind, even just a little.
She took the last ball firmly between her fingers and quickly assumed the throwing position. On that occasion, she would do it with all the strength in her body, but she would also apply an additional: a small dose of Electro energy; not enough to be noticeable to the naked eye, but enough so that when she threw the ball, it came out of her fingers like a bolt of lightning, cutting the air in its path and even ruffling the thick mustache of the man in charge as soon as it passed centimeters away his face.
The ball continued unhindered towards the bottles, not only knocking them over but even exploding one of them into pieces as soon as the ball passed through it, and continuing on until it passed through the store behind them and left a hole in it. The remaining bottles fell to the ground, and it was clear they were not actually glass, as none broke even a little when they collided with it.
The attendant of the stall, as well as the oni and his three companions, remained silent, staring with large, almost bulging eyes at the hole in the tent, as if they expected to see the ball return through it at some point.
"Bu... bu... but how...?" the attendant stammered, clearly stunned by what had happened.
Sara stood straight again, fixing her gaze on that man again. And with a firm and hard voice, she exclaimed aloud:
"What this man says is true: you have rigged the bottles so that it is impossible to knock them down with conventional force."
"What?! Of course not!" the man snapped in a defensive tone.
"Don't lie," Sara said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You should be ashamed of your behavior, sir. You were allowed to participate in this festival to bring joy and fun to the people of Inazuma, but instead, you let your greed cause you to act in bad faith."
"This is absurd!" exclaimed the attendant out loud, waving his arms furiously in the air. "I won't allow a stupid girl who knows nothing to accuse me without evidence."
"Be careful with that language!" the white-haired oni suddenly threatened, placing himself between Sara and the attendant. "If you think you are a real man, you should accept your guilt without complaining."
The scandal caused by their screams, and of course also by the ball that had been thrown and passed through the blanket, had already caught the attention of several of the people nearby. And it didn't take long for it to also call a couple of guards from the Tenryou Commission, who, as soon as they realized something was happening, quickly approached them with their spears in hand.
"What's going on here?" one of them questioned sternly.
"Guards! This woman attacked me!" the man immediately accused, pointing to the hole in his stall and then to Sara directly. "Arrest her!"
The two guards focused on the woman with dark hair and golden eyes. And even though she wasn't wearing her current uniform, they didn't take long to recognize her and stand confidently before her.
"Milady! Are you okay?" one of them asked in a firm voice.
Sara slowly nodded her head and then added in a harsh, authoritative tone:
"This man uses dirty tricks to scam the good people of the city and keep their money. It is a severe breach of citizens' trust. A night behind bars might make him reconsider. And report what happened to the Yashiro Commission."
"Immediately," the two soldiers responded in unison, and without waiting, they headed towards the man at the stall, each firmly taking him by one arm to drag him out of it.
"No! Wait," the man exclaimed as the two soldiers dragged him, and he struggled desperately, unable to free himself from their grip. "It's a misunderstanding! She was the one who attacked me! Aren't you going to arrest her?"
"Silence!" one of the guards warned him. "You don't know who you're talking about. You better shut up before you make things worse for yourself."
Still clearly confused without, in fact, fully understanding what was happening, the man was taken away by the two guards and quickly disappeared from their sight. Sara took a deep breath and ran a hand over her neck. Maybe she had exaggerated her reaction a little, but that dude's words and attitude had upset her more than they should. It was unprofessional to get carried away by emotions like that, and she knew it. She would have to think about that while filling out the incident report.
She began to walk by mere reflex to head to headquarters. However, she didn't make much progress before…
"Hey, tengu friend," a voice said from behind her, making her stop dead. "Wait a minute, will you?"
Sara turned around carefully, and saw that tall oni with red horns and white hair less than a meter away from her. His attitude seemed to have softened considerably, so much that even his lips were drawn into a wide, sly smile. Sara had forgotten about him for a moment without considering that perhaps his statement would be required, although she also did not want to further intrude on his night.
But what really made her stop and turn to look at him was how he had called her: "tengu friend." How had he realized it?
"What can I do for you?" Sara asked in a serious tone.
"Looks like you're really good at festival games, huh?" the oni commented cunningly, crossing his arms.
Sara blinked a few times, confused.
"Not particularly."
"Oh, come on. That launch was incredible, my tengu friend," the man added, pointing with a finger at the hole she had made in the stall's tent.
"Please don't refer to me that way," Sara mumbled, unable to soothe the slight harshness that accompanied her words too much. "My name is Sara."
"Sara, huh?"
She nodded.
"Would you be so kind as to share your name with me too, Mr. Oni?"
The smile on that individual's lips and the peculiar sparkle in his eyes increased in response to such a question, which Sara had considered harmless until a moment ago.
"Ha, so you pretend to have no idea who I am, huh?" The oni exclaimed boastfully, pointing to his own chest with his thumb. "As if my fame did not precede me even in the most hidden corners of Inazuma. But since you insist, I'll tell you."
Before Sara could reply or say anything, that individual turned around, his back to her, with his arms crossed in a somewhat stylized dramatic position that, coincidentally or not, was accompanied by a light breeze that made his hair and his long dark jacket flutter, also making some cherry petals fly between them.
"I am the one who brings peace and justice to the oppressed," he exclaimed in a deep, grave voice. "I am the guardian of the weakest and the champion of those who cannot defend themselves." He then turned completely back toward Sara, but in the middle of his turn, he jumped into the air a few centimeters and then fell with his feet apart but firmly planted on the ground until it shook a little beneath them. He then extended his left hand in front of him, towards Sara, and his right hand back, adopting a rather theatrical pose. "I am the illustrious Arataki Gang's leader and the Hanamizaka Hero! The Great Arataki Itto!"
And he ended his presentation with a loud and strident laugh that echoed through all the noise. And when his laughter died away, and although the other sounds of the festival continued, everything seemed to fall into an unusual silence. For their part, the three companions of the oni seemed a little embarrassed, and preferred to look elsewhere at that moment.
Sara watched him stoically as if waiting for him to say something more (if perhaps all that had not been enough). It was indeed a memorable way to introduce himself, Sara had to agree. Although quite loud and unnecessarily elaborate for her taste. When it was clear that that was all, Sara allowed herself to meditate a little more on the few words that guy had spoken.
"Arataki?" she whispered slowly, taking her chin with one hand in a reflective pose. She raised her gaze to the sky and quickly scanned her memory bank, searching for where she had heard that name before. After a few seconds, the answer came to her. "Oh, I know who you are."
Itto smiled contentedly upon hearing that.
"Ha, I told you about our fame..."
"You're that group of lazy troublemakers who spend their time causing disorder and destruction in Hanamizaka, aren't you?" Sara pointed out sharply.
"Exactly… What?!" Itto exclaimed with exaltation upon hearing that. "No! Nothing like that!"
"No?" Sara murmured, skeptical. "The last thing I heard is that you caused damage to a restaurant a few days ago, even destroying a wall of it. And the owner didn't press charges only because you agreed to pay and repair the damages yourselves."
"Oh, damn, she knows about that," one of Itto's friends exclaimed, surprised and a little scared. He, however, did not allow himself to be intimidated by the accusation.
"We did it to prevent an assault! Didn't you hear that?!"
Sara looked at the sky again for the additional detail of the incident. And yes, she remembered to have read a statement in the report that referred to a group of assailants who had threatened the owner and had been the cause of everything that had happened.
"Something similar, yes," Sara agreed. "Perhaps your intentions were good, but in the future, it would be better for you to leave such actions to the Tenryou Guard rather than endanger yourselves and other citizens."
"Ha, the Tenryou Guard," Itto said ironically, crossing his arms. "Yes, of course. As if those idiots could do anything for us."
Sara raised an eyebrow, confused, annoyed, but especially intrigued by that sudden comment.
"Boss, don't say any more," one of his friends whispered to him, more than willing to convince him to leave at that moment.
"No, wait," Sara said sternly, and then she approached the oni, standing firmly in front of him, even though she had to look up to look him straight in the eyes due to his height. "Do you have any complaints regarding the Tenryou Commission, Mr. Arataki?"
"If I have any complaints?" Itto exclaimed, sarcastic. "Do you have time to listen to the complete list?"
"Surprisingly, yes."
Itto looked at her, somewhat perplexed. It was clear that this response was not expected.
"Well, since you're so interested..." he commented, smiling confidently again like he did a while ago. "Let's do this. Come with us to the games, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."
As he made that comment, he pointed a finger at the other stalls up the street. Sara looked in that direction, somewhat lost because she didn't understand how that related to the topic they were discussing.
"Games?"
"Yeah!" Itto exclaimed, nodding quickly. "You obviously have a good eye for this sort of thing, plus a good arm. If we go through each game together, we can discover which are rigged and which are not. Besides, of course, winning some prizes. Help us, and in addition to fulfilling your duty as a concerned citizen, I will share all my comments about the Tenryou Commission in great detail."
Sara looked at him again with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to tell her it was some kind of joke. However, the smile and confidence on that man's face quickly made it clear that he was serious.
"What a strange deal you are proposing to me, Mr. Arataki," she commented thoughtfully. "But… okay," she responded suddenly, taking even herself by surprise. "I guess I really don't have anything better to do tonight. So doing something of medium benefit would be fine."
"Perfect!" Itto exclaimed, visibly excited by the idea. "So, for tonight, you will be an honorary member of the Arataki Gang, Sara-chan."
"I didn't say such a thing..." Sara began to say in defense, but he didn't seem to hear her.
"Let's go then; the night is young!" he indicated vigorously, pointing ahead and beginning to walk with a determined step. His three friends followed him closely without much hesitation, and Sara, evidently, had no choice but to do the same.
"Can I ask you a question?" the tengu suddenly commented as she walked behind Itto, and he turned to look at her curiously over his shoulder. "How did you realize I'm a tengu?"
"What? Was it a secret?" Itto exclaimed with a certain indifference. "Let's just say I have a good nose for that. Nothing escapes me," he replied smugly, winking at the end.
Sara started a little.
"Nose?" she whispered slowly to herself. Out of mere reflection, she brought her right arm closer to her face and discreetly sniffed herself on the fabric of her kimono. She didn't think it smelled like anything in particular, so she didn't know what that meant.
Maybe it wasn't something literal...