A cane clacked against the tiled floor as Kazama Ushio made his way to the Environmental Excursion Club. The students and faculty alike thought he was an odd choice as the overseer for the club. How could someone with a busted up back lead students on hikes through the mountains? Perhaps it was a question the hunters hadn't planned on. But, humans always found one oddity or another to question, so it posed no real threat to the secret. He unlocked the door and looked around at the old classroom. Bare walls with paint cracking, completely unadorned with any posters or colors. The windows faced to the east, so by the time the club was in session, not much sunlight got through. The chalkboard had some crudely drawn stick figures on it, and when Kazama-sensei went to erase them, the eraser just smeared the chalk around.

With a sigh, he finally sank down into the chair at the desk. The chair rocked to the left. He shifted his weight and it rocked to the right. He shook his head, thinking he'd have to fix that, but he'd wait until he met his new students. Eight young hunters were entrusted to him, most of them about to graduate this year. The organization said he was the best for the job. He had decades of experience to give them. He could prepare them to spread their wings and set out on their own. Of course, it was all just flattery to make him accept the position. He was the only Kusuburiha in town, and he was overdue for watching over a group like this. "Whelp, it'll be a learning experience for both of us," he said, stretching and leaning back in the chair, letting it rock obnoxiously. "Let's see what these kids can do."

The stomping of boots echoed down the hall from the clubroom, accompanied by the rattle of chains as they drew nearer to the door. The heavy footsteps came to a halt in front of the door that Kazama-sensei had unlocked for his students, which was then thrust aside. The figure in the doorway was shadowed by the setting sun streaming through the windows in the hall behind them, but they struck an imposing silhouette. A spiked and studded leather jacket with heavy shoulder-pads gave them a brutal, top-heavy look, as approachable as a porcupine.

Seishiro stepped into the clubroom, his combat boots all the louder in the smaller space, and the chains strung from his jacket jangling discordantly. He kept his eyes on the floor as he walked, eyes nearly closed, in a carefree and cocky sort of mannerism. He swaggered as he walked, shoulders dipping from side to side, making the metallic adornments on his heavy coat jingle all the louder. As he finally approached a desk, he kicked the seat out away from it, dropped into the chair with all of his weight, and then hoisted up his heavy boots to rest on the desk. Then, at last, Seishiro looked up at the empty clubroom around him.

Empty. Well, save for their teacher. Seishiro made eye contact with Kazama, and nodded at him with a friendly, nearly sheepish grin. "Sensei," he merely said in a demure tone before glancing up at the clock. Oh. It was still early. He had gotten too excited, and was the first one here. He did his best to not let his disappointment show on his face, but that was difficult, as he had practiced that entrance quite a bit. He had even spent his lunch break that day memorizing the number of steps needed to get to the desk he wanted, so he wouldn't have to look up and check to make sure. Introductions were do-or-die in high school; if he had learned anything from the stack of banchou manga his father had entrusted him with, it was that. Well, there was still time for that. Perhaps if he coyly pretended to be nodding off as the others approached... Yes that could do.

---

As it turns out, Isana would be the next one to arrive at the appointed room, coming in as soon as she was done with her regular class duties for the day. Her arrival didn't have any matter of flare or pizzazz to it, just the dull sound of well-mannered, somewhat graceful footsteps hitting the creaking the floorboards until she made her way in, after making her presence known with a knock on the old semi-derelict door.

As soon as she came in, she bowed respectfully as her eyes darted through the other occupants of the room. One them was clearly their instructor, and the other one of her peers, who didn't strike a good first impression for her—evidenced by the sharp glare she threw at him—given his delinquent-like attire and behavior.

"I'm Isana Fujiwara, it's an honor to be under your presence," she said, introducing herself in a curt, yet polite way.

"I take it that you are our instructor, right mister Kazama? I'm honored to have the opportunity to learn from such a distinguished member of our community."

"Before we proceed, or anyone else arrives, would you allow us to begin cleaning this room? It's unbefitting to conduct our activities in such an unorganized space," Isana asked, volunteering both herself and the other student for the task without even asking for his opinion. After all, cleaning up and maintaining the rooms was the least responsibility a student had to bother with.

---

“That’s so like you Fujiwara. If you wanna waste your time cleaning like a shrine maiden, go right ahead. But don’t rope me into your duties,” came the third voice to enter the club room. Unlike the others, Shuro Murota at least had some common sense in dressing like a student, glancing first at Isana’s traditional robes and then at Seishiro’s biker get-up. Seriously, did they think they were blending in with the other kids looking like that? “Sensei,” Shuro said to the man sitting at the front of the room before she walked over to take a seat.

Unlike the others, she figured the back of the room was the most unclaimed and so took a seat to the furthest away from the door. Lollipop held precariously between her teeth, she leaned back in her chair with crossed arms, wondering how long the other Hunters to be would take. Well, she’d given her greetings of sorts to Fujiwara so she might as well acknowledge the boy too. “Yo, Seishiro, what’s with the lone wolf look? You trying to impress the others on the first day back?” she called out to the boy behind him, leaning over her desk slightly.

Of course, that was assuming he wasn’t going to play clean up duty like Fujiwara wanted him to. “You do realize more than half of us already know each other, right? What, were you trying to impress our new Sensei?” Regardless of an answer, Shuro sighed and flopped onto her desk some more until her body was slouched atop it like a tired student. That was exactly what she was, considering Hunter duties only added to stress in piling on top of their youth.

“First day back isn’t even over and I already hate the school year,” she bemoaned to no one in particular, though she visibly prepared herself for an answer anyway. No doubt that shrine maiden Fujiwara would lecture her about the importance of their studies or some such. It would have fallen on deaf ears anyway, Shuro sighing as she tuned out the world around her except for the direction in front in case their Sensei wanted some remarks of his own.

---

Arriving late had been a constant staple of Soga Emishro’s first day in Ayabukuro. Ever since he’d first stepped off the train, his fingers still sticky from the honeyed rice he’d eaten Emishro found himself falling ever further behind. Could one really blame him? He was from the country, in the distant and sparsely populated northern islands, and for the first time he stood amidst the hustle and bustle of daily city life, completely awestruck by the sheer enormity of it all. The crushing shock of people milling about like so many sheep in a pen, the menacing high-rises disappearing amongst the smog clouds, challenging even the volcanic mountains in altitude, their mirrored flanks reflecting the absolute brilliance of the morning sun. Emishro could not recall how long he stood on that dirty train platform, turning in slow circles his jaw agape in wonder. It was some time certainly, his first day of classes completely forgotten. He was fortunate then, that a nearby policeman, his face flushed from blowing his traffic whistle took pity on the hapless boy, approaching him and requiring after his good health, and wondering if there was any way he could assist the young sir on this fine afternoon?

Afternoon?! Emishro nearly jumped out of his boots at this realization. The policeman’s rapid city accent brought him back to the present reminding him that morning was long past, and the day’s first classes would already be wrapping up, and Emishro was horribly late. After a hurried conversation, and some good directions provided by the polite policeman Emishro set off, descending from the elevated locomotive platform and onto the vender packed street beneath, his suitcase bouncing on the rough asphalt as he ran. He could not spend the time he would have liked sightseeing or people watching. Foreigners and locals alike mingled here, westerners with their pale flesh and bright hair, and even a few southern men from faraway places like Africa, their skin dark as charcoal. The sweet smells from carts tempted Emishro at every turn, his rumbling stomach reminding him he hadn’t eaten since early that morning. An empty wallet and a tight schedule kept him running.

At long last he arrived, even as the sun passed its zenith and continued its steady march across the western sky. He was met at the front entrance of Yasuragi High by an irate principle and prefect duo who looked more worried than angry, but still very much angry, threatening a week’s worth of detention among other punishments. After a good talking to, and a great many disappointed sighs the principle directed the prefect to carry Emishro’s luggage off the dorms, while he personally escorted the wayward youth to his evening classes. From that point on the day was a long one, seeming to drag even as Emishro’s stomach growled louder and he developed a cough from the stagnate air. Finally, the last class was called, and he could rush off to his final destination, worried he would be late for the one event he actually wanted to attend.

“Apologies for my tardiness Sensei!” Emishro gasped, bursting into the clubroom’s door, sending a mop that’d been leaning against the wall clattering to the floor. With surprising agility, he stooped mid slide snatching up the cleaning utensil, and in the process nearly crashing face first into a boy’s desk. He grinned awkwardly at the boy in question, taking in his strange foreign style of clothing, the way his feet were propped up on his writing table, his chair leaning back as if he hadn't a care in the world. Embarrassment hit Emishro like a truck on the freeway. Here he was acting the fool, and he wasn’t even late. In fact, it looked like everyone else was just arriving and settling themselves in their seats. With whatever dignity he still possessed he straightened, his face burning with mortification at how absurd he must look, he bowed first to Kazama, and then the other members of the class. They were all unfamiliar to him, perhaps if he had shown up on time he might have met some of them outside of the club. Kazama-sensei most definitely, the stern older man was supposed to teach history, a class Emishro had missed altogether. “My most sincere apologies master, I think I missed your class this morning, er, sorry.” He replaced the mop he was still holding to its rightful place on the rack by the door before scurrying to an empty seat at the back of the classroom next to a pretty young blonde whom Emishro daren’t even look at. He sat straight in his seat, holding his face in his hands, wondering if the day could get any worse.

Sorano was neither early nor late; she was right on time, her foot swinging into the room at the very second she needed to appear. Her eyes closed for a split second to relish the sensation of being perfectly punctual, before she bowed once towards their new club advisor. "Good afternoon, Kazama-sensei. It's an honor to be receiving your instruction."

That was all.

She righted herself, glanced briefly in the direction of Seishiro and Shuro, before sitting in the front row of the dingy classroom. Her surroundings didn't bother her, of course. The Hunter's Clubroom was, at best, just a meeting point for newcomers to converge upon. To bother to clean this place up was an exercise in wastefulness; she doubted there was ever a need to return here once everyone got into the swing of things. And even if her seat happened to be tainted with dust and chewing gum, it was none of Sorano's problem. She wasn't sitting at all. No, with her core engaged and her back as straight as an iron rod, the bespectacled Hunter hovered an inch above the chair as she retrieved a textbook from her backpack. Idling while waiting for other students to come was inefficient at best, slothful at worse. With the couple of minutes it'd take for the rest to sloppily file in, Sorano strived to finish a chapter or two while putting her glutes to work.

Her steely eyes flickered upwards briefly, pulling at a recent memory.

Yup, she had one-third of the almond-cashew mix left over from lunch. She'll eat that in nineteen minutes and twenty-two seconds.

The distinct crunch of potato chips and wrinkling of a foil bag filled Yayoi's ears. As the sun beamed down on her, she pondered the same two questions she always had. First, why was snacking on the school's rooftop exit always so enjoyable? Second (and more importantly), why were chili squid chicken and beef potato chips top tier? In fact, they were so good that Yayoi always kept a bag of them in her pack. Maybe it was the spiciness of it all, or perhaps the fact that it contained the power of the sea, sky, and land. Whatever the case was, the local conbini always contained had a shelf full of them. It was as though nobody ever bought them, but that couldn't be the case, right? They were good chips.

As she munched and lounged, she suddenly shot up. Wasn't she supposed to be at her club? She took a deep breath and put the mostly empty back in her pack.

Hopping off of the rooftop exit, she hit the ground running. Instantly performing a 180, she flung open the door and stormed down the stairs. Like a movie straight out of the good-vibe 80's, she slid down the railings on her posterior. Though, that was less because she was in a rush and more because it was fun. Seeing Yayoi storm through the school wasn't a new sight for the students. It usually only happened at lunch time, especially on days where they sold the mint chocolate chip and condensed milk yakisoba jumbo melon bread. Which was especially odd, since she was the only person who actually bought it.

The path to the club was filled with students shuffling to their own club after the schoolday was over.. By now, most of the students learned to get out of the way when they heard the telltale clapping and screeching of her shoes. Those who didn't were suddenly surprised by a flying Yayoi, leaping onto the ground to avoid them, only to get up and keep running. In fact, she did that twice to two freshman on the way over, landing on her pack with a unique crunch.

Her mad dashing wasn't panic, no siree. It was 100% pure and unmitigated efficiency in moving from one location to another.

When she finally reached the door, her rush instantly vanished. She carefully opened the door to an unfamiliar figure sitting where their mentor should have been.

Yayoi stared at him for a brief moment. As always, it was like a fish staring at one while in its throes of death.

And, just as slow and carefully as she opened the door, she shut it and took a few steps back. That certainly was new. Did she have the right club? It was unusual of her to mistake the entrance of her club, considering how she'd been opening the same door for the past two years. She gave the entrance an ocular pat down. It was the same as it always was, which was weird.

She carefully opened the door a second time, but stuck her head in and peered towards the students in the room. Familiar faces. She had the right room after all.

With a shrug, she walked in to her usual seat. Always exactly two seats behind Sorano. The reason? Avoidance, mostly. The pure, unadulterated lounging that Yayoi did was the exact opposite of her. Just being in her field of view made the young Kon feel pretty self-conscious about her actions. If Sorano was a hard type A, Yayoi was a type _^b. With a lazy peace sign shot to the teacher, Yayoi was finished her greetings to him. There were definitely new faces in the club. Well, that didn't really matter. What did matter was her bag of chips. She reached over into her front pack and pulled out the open—and now crushed—pack of chips. Now reduced to dust, she did what any aspiring patrician would do: lounge in her chair, place the foil bag over her face, and let the crumbs fall into her mouth.

Another year of school had begun, and Keiji tiredly listened to the teacher drone on about classroom procedures and supplies, and all the same stuff they said every year. Did people really forget what school was over the summer? Oh well, at least it gave him time to draw. His hand absently scribbled the scene of a battle beneath his supply list. Hunters versus youkai, with the hunters emerging victorious as always. An Okami fled from the scene, with hunters chasing it to the next page of the notebook. "Why are they being mean to the doggy?"

"Hmm?" Keiji looked up in surprise and blinked a few times, noticing a classmate looking at his drawing. "Oh, it's not really a dog. More like a... wolf I guess?" It wasn't against the rules to depict accurate representations of youkai so long as they were branded as fantasy. After all, plenty of humans depicted monsters and mythical creatures in their art. But, Keiji didn't want to come off as a total weirdo on his first day of school, so he played it off as some random thing he drew on a whim.

"Still," The girl continued. "That's pretty mean chasing a wolf off like that. What did it do?"

Keiji shrugged. "Probably ate somebody." Probably would have been easier to call the hunters the bad guys in this one.

"But, wolves don't eat people. They rarely even attack people unless they're sick."

Keiji sighed and closed his notebook. "Yeah, it's just a dumb drawing." And at that, the teacher dismissed them. The last class of the day finally over. He wasted no time packing up his things and scurrying away from the awkward situation. Great, now his classmates would think he hates animals or something. But, that was okay. He knew the club would get it. No misunderstandings about why you need to hunt down a feral Okami with them. As he walked down the hall towards the club room, he wondered what kind of youkai they'd encounter this year. He heard they'd gotten a new mentor and that he was one of the best. The thought was exciting, but also nerve racking. He had a hard time keeping up with his fellow hunters sometimes, and if their new mentor was super-strict, he might be in for a hellish year. But, as he pushed open the door, he stayed positive.

"Hey, everyone!" he said cheerfully, the familiar faces a breath of fresh air after all the weird looks he'd been getting all day. He noticed a couple of new faces as well apart from Kazama. "Nice to finally meet you Kazama sensei," Keiji said before taking a seat next to Kon. He liked sitting next to her, as she seemed to struggle with the hunter regimen as well, and it made him feel like a bit less of a weakling knowing he wasn't alone in it. "Hey, Kon, did you see the new chip flavor? Pickle Marinara. Seriously, where do they come up with these flavors?" He chuckled and took out his notebook, picking up his drawing right where he left off as he waited for the last members to arrive.

---

In the halls of Yasuragi High School, a snow-haired foreigner began to make his way towards the "Environmental Excursion" club. It was strange being in a new country, especially away from his family and home, but this is what he was prepared for. Despite the unfamiliarity, Jack Whitestone had been greatly enjoying his time in Ayabukuro so far. It was fascinating learning about all the different customs and especially the food! Jack had never tasted anything like it! The School itself however was a different story. While the academic side wasn't his biggest problem, it was awkward when he came across a word he didn't know. Even more awkward was the fact that he hadn't really talked to anyone yet. However, he was hoping to fix this at the Hunter's Club.

Having finally found the room, Jack took a deep breath as he hurriedly straightened out his uniform, making sure his appearance was absolutely spotless. Exhaling, he opened the door to see many of the students already there as well as the apparently new supervisor: Mr Kazama Ushio. He gulped nervously. Was he late already? Jack cleared his throat as he took a deep bow to his new peers, finally able to practice his new language. This was correct, right? Mother did say that the proper greeting was a bow. Was he bowing too low? Too high!?

"Uhm... Good Afternoon... My name is Jack Whitestone. It's a pleasure to meet you all!"

---

Isana sighed and relaxed her shoulders as more and more of her peers began to filter into the room, at least until Shuro made herself known. Trying to instill a sense of discipline on them was going to be pointless but Isana was going to let a hooligan like Shuro get the best of her.

"Fine. I'll do it myself, then. I'll come early tomorrow and do it during the morning if I have to," she said as she realized that trying to clean this place while there were so many uncooperative people around wasn't going to work. Waking up early and coming to clean the room wasn't going to be a chore for her.

After giving up on her ideas of ordering the place, Isana took the seat at Shuro's side. "Don't think you've won just because of that. I just don't want to inconvenience anyone, if they aren't going to help," she said in a begrudging voice before turning around to face their instructor wondering how long he would wait until he spoke something.

---

As to be expected of a secretive club like their own, the number of actual members was small and far in between. But that just meant there was more time to get to know each other in their hypothetical budding years. Of course, Shuro already knew a fair amount of the faces that walked through that classroom door. Sure, there were some newbies that looked like either transfer students or even just first years, but the vast majority of people were ones she’d known for some time. One by one they filtered in and gave their new teacher a greeting.

The one that caught her attention the most was the boy who had the shakiest introduction she’d ever seen in her life. He even bumped into the class mop, almost causing a scene before swiftly correcting himself. A smirk persisted on her face even as she watched him sit next to her, snickering mentally to herself. The others came in orderly enough, the last boy to walk in looking like he was trying too hard to impress anyone. But Shuro’s attention was directed to someone else at the moment anyway and she rolled her eyes to turn to Isana.

The other girl decided to sit next to her, an opportunity Shuro wasn’t going to waste. “Sure, do whatever you want shrine princess. No one’s stopping you from working yourself to the bone,” she said with a smug smirk. It gave her great joy to see no one even acknowledge Isana’s attempts to get them doing manual labor for a classroom that’d just get dirty again anyway. There was just no point. “Whatever. Who said it was a competition?” she answered back with a shrug, turning forward too, but still smirking.

---

The students entered the room one by one, each either trying to make a good first impression or not caring whether or not they did. The first one to enter seemed to wear the mien of a punk with pride. He cocked an eyebrow as he used his desk as a footrest. If this were his History class he would have reprimanded him and told him to sit properly, but his academic integrity had waned by the end of the day and he frankly didn't care how his students sat. Let the kids be comfortable, yeah?

As the next couple of girls entered the room, he could already see storm clouds a-brewing. Order and Chaos, coalesced into human form, neither of them shy about sharing their feelings for one another. That was all well and good, but why... why were they sitting next to each other!? Thank god for limiters, he thought, wondering if he should separate the two. Eh, maybe they just needed to blow off some steam, and a good hunt was just what the doctor ordered.

He was ripped out of his musings by the clattering of the mop hitting the floor. Oh my, the poor kid. He could tell from his accent that he was from the country, and anyone could tell at a glance that he was in over his head. He couldn't help but chuckle at how deeply apologetic Soga was for missing his first class. Well, the kid had just moved in, so it was understandable that he would be running behind and disorganized. As long as he didn't make skipping class a habit, Kazama saw no reason to get on the poor boy's case. He clearly had enough to worry about.

One by one, the next students entered, and then something struck him. Kids these days were freakin' polite. He remembered hunter kids being rowdy gremlins, fitting in better with the delinquents than any other clique. After all, a life of fighting youkai makes one see how frivolous things like bowing and courtesy are in the grand scheme of things. But, at least it meant he wouldn't have to break his back reeling these kids in.

Once it looked like everyone was here, Kazama cleared his throat. "Alright everyone, let's get this meeting started. As you guys seem to already know, I'm Kazama Ushio. I've read your files, so I think I've got your names and faces down as well. I hate all those routine introductions, anyway, so let's just jump into things, yeah? First thing's first, though, I'm not anyone's master, so please, please, don't call me that." He gave a quick glance at Soga. It was less of a reprimand and more of a plea. It was hard enough being a teacher. Being called "master" was just way more responsibility than he was prepared to take on. "With that said, though, I am here to help you kids along in your hunting. I'll teach you guys about whatever youkai decide to cause trouble, I'll help you practice chopping off heads and stuff, and if you want life advice, have at me."

Kazama leaned back in his hair and chuckled before taking a deep breath. "Now, I'm expecting this to be a busy year for us. Youkai activity has been spiking and they've redistributed hunters to key areas. Lot's of complicated stuff that you guys don't really need to worry about yet. What you do need to know, is that Ayabukuro is gonna need you." He pulled out a manilla envelope from his bag and set it down on his desk, taking out some papers and fanning through them. "Who here likes bakekonchu? They're starting an unauthorized hive in the woods. The last report was at least eight confirmed youkai, five of which are not registered with the hunters. I'm sure you know the song and dance by now. Won't disband, won't cooperate, same old nonsense." He let out a sigh and spread the papers out on the desk. "You want info, it's all right here..." He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and smiled. "Instead of introductions, how about you kids show me how you hunt."

198...199...200.

Sorano sat down properly, letting out a deep breath as her core relaxed. Rolling her wrists a couple of times, she began to massage her thighs. For all the reputation that came along with him, Kazuma looked to be relatively new to the teaching business, didn't he? Any Kusuburiha deserved such reverence and respect, perhaps even more, considering his particular deeds. Still, it was good to be back in the Club. Receiving one of the handouts, Sorano scanned through the details quickly enough, picking out whatever was the most important. Eight confirmed. Five unregistered. Three registered. The woods was isolated enough that human casualties haven't occured from this, but it was still a danger to the rest of humanity. She slid out her smartphone, punched in the coordinates printed on the documents, and nodded once as a route towards the area was marked.

Rising from her seat, Sorano removed her gloves, then her glasses, then put on new gloves, then new glasses, before taking a sip of her protein shake. It'd be a twenty minute drive before any of them reached the edge of the woods, where it'd be safe to travel at magically assisted speeds. Until then...

"Anyone need a ride?"

Seishiro got very little "sleep" as the room quickly filled in with the other students that were part of the Hunter's Club. Some he had met earlier in his classes, but he was still unfamiliar with most, being a transfer student. He stared wide-eyed at the others, trying to divine what bloodlines they might belong to, or what knowledge he could associate with their names. He knew a little Hunter lore from what his father told him, but most of what they knew was centuries out of date.

Regardless he was fascinated as he watched them bicker and chat among themselves; Seishiro had not grown up with others around his age, and the energy of other highschoolers was amusing to him. Many of them seemed quite nervous or high-strung, having obviously not practiced their introductions sufficiently. Preparation was the key to success, or so told an old Hunter aphorism. A few of the more casual students intrigued him, as did the foreigner in their midst. He was very curious about what Hunters were like in other countries. However, their teacher spoke up, and he withheld his curiosity for the moment.

After he was finished, Seishiro decided that he liked their teacher. Based on the first impression, at least. He seemed self-assured, but not overbearing. He had little frame of reference for other experienced hunters, the only other one he knew being his intense, tightly-focused father, and so it was an interesting change of pace. He consulted one of the handouts, intrigued by the data these city Hunters considered relevant for their task. Indeed he was quite familiar with bakekonchu; they were a frequent enough pest out in farmlands, and he had several dealings with them over the course of his training thus far.

Seishiro swung his feet off of the desk, his heavy boots thudding loudly against the floor, and he rose to his full height, sending the accoutrements covering his jacket jingling. He made eye contact with the bespectacled girl that had offered transportation to the location marked in the dossier, showing his interest in her offer. Really he could have ridden his bicycle there without much trouble, but he wanted to get to know his peers better. He raised his fist up to eye level in a gesture of determination, his studded leather gloves squeaking from the strength of his grip.

"Let's rock!" He offered the group, with a rough-and-ready affectation learned from long hours trying to imitate foreign movie actors and rock stars on old video tapes.

---

"I want to see you act like this the next time you ask me to come over and clean your room," Isana said to Shuro after the other girl tried to dismiss her words.

She forgot their bickering in a moment however, after their instructor made their first mission of the semester known. Isana had heard the rumors about the irregular Youkai in the forest, through some of the templegoers. It seemed like it was yet a small business. Hopefully, they could stop it before it escalated into an actual problem.

"There's no need to bother with myself. The there's a train station right next to the nearest entry point of that part of the forest," Isana said.

"Either way, I don't think we should leave each on a whim. At least making sure we have each others' contact would be appropriate."

---

The hive of bakekonchu has three known members.

Kiruma Hachise: A centipede youkai that registered with the hunters to live in the human realm. However, he got in trouble with human law on numerous occasions, mostly for crimes like robbery and shoplifting. He did not resist arrest and served his jail time, so the hunters let the human legal system take care of him, however in joining this hive the hunters have given the okay to take him out. He is not considered a major threat on his own, but could easily cause trouble as a member of a larger gang.

Ine Yurai A wasp youkai that arrived in the human world just recently. She briefly registered with the hunters, but refused to wear a charm or follow the rules of this realm. She has a violent temper and is considered dangerous. One Nenshouha was sent to hunt her, but she eluded capture and sought refuge in this new hive. The hive refused to hand her over or send her back to the youkai realm, which began the conflict between the hunters and this hive.

Gin An old mantis Youkai that refuses to go by any family name. He has been living peacefully in the human realm for decades, mostly just practicing martial arts in the mountains, and has acted as a liaison for the hunters and the leader of the hive. His connection with the hive is concerning, as he has often been referred as a mentor for bakekonchu trying to assimilate into human society. He likely has many connections and could be a major recruiter for the hive. Why he decided to join the hive, though, is a mystery.

The leader of the hive's name is Kumogori, but little else is known about him. He has never shown his face to the hunters, and the only information he conveyed was a demand to be left alone along with refusals to comply with and hunter requests or demands. The hunters consider him dangerous and want him eliminated.

The other four members are confirmed bakekonchu, but they have only recently arrived from the youkai realm. Almost nothing is known about them, so caution is advised.

---

---

Despite his initial wariness and embarrassment by his haggard entrance only compounded by Kazama’s gentle chiding, Emishro’s interest was immediately piqued by the instructor’s straight forward attitude. There would be no beating around the bush it seemed. Nervous eagerness filled Emishro melting away his shyness like spring snow; this was why he was here, to fight youkai and follow his ancestors’ footsteps. He approached the teacher's desk at once, shuffling through the offered papers. reading the different variables, facts and known components to himself.

“Why would Gin break contact, and suddenly start disobeying Hunter Mandate.” He asked Kazama suddenly, after finishing Gin’s small portion of the file. That part stuck out to Emishro for some reason, worrying him, yet he simply could not think of why. “He’s been here cooperating, and even being helpful longer than I’ve been alive. Wouldn’t he know what happens to Youkai that do such things?” He looked to some of the more experienced members, concern evident in his tone. “Surely this isn't a normal occurrence?”

"Pickled plum and spicy marinara fell out of production a month ago," she corrected Keiji with a mouthful of crumbs. As she spoke, the now truly empty bag slipped off, resulting in Yayoi snatching it out of the air. Back into her front pouch it went, as though she was some kind of garbage kangaroo.

The old man teacher introduced himself and declared himself as a nega-fan of routine introductions. Thank goodness, Yayoi thought. If she had to sit through one more of those games where someone introduces and says a fact about themselves and then everyone else had to repeat it, she would have straight up dipped until it was over. With such a simple introduction out of the way, it was apparent that they were going out of a job as soon as possible.

Well, that was a rapid pace. Not much time to sit down and enjoy the roses. While she received a handout, she didn't put in much effort to read. Beat up Yokai that refuse to cooperate, that was the only official instruction that she needed.

Despite her fear of Sorano, she still needed a ride. The last time she went on public transit, she woke up two hours away from her destination. If the limited edition flavour of 'extreme caffeine chocolate marshmallow cream blitz' canned coffee didn't have its reputation of being pure caffeine mixed with sugar, they might have run out by the time she arrived at the mall.

"Yes, me." Yayoi answered Sorano. While being utter emasculated by the sheer amount of effort Sorano put in, Yayoi would not refuse a free ride.

Shuro felt pleasant surprise once their teacher finally introduced himself, enjoying the fact there was going to be a casual air between the class. Good, lest they be saddled with more unnecessary work like the school loved piling onto them. Best yet, they were going out hunting tonight instead of doing lame ice breakers. By the time Kazama was done, Shuro was near-grinning, ear to ear. “Sure, whatever you say Sensei. Bugs are just more prey on the list to hunt.”

With the papers passed around, Shuro glanced at the descriptions labelled on each. It gave her an excuse to ignore Sorano’s offer and Seishiro’s outburst, especially when she read the descriptions even closer. Odd. From what the paper was saying, most of the known members of the Bakekonchu hive seemed to be small time offenders. None of them looked like particularly powerful threats either and she wondered only briefly if death was the appropriate punishment.

She might have shrugged it off as a Hunter’s duty had Soga not immediately brought up the concern too. When he looked at the older members of the club for some form of guidance, Shuro acted on her shrug. “Who knows? Hunters and Youkai think differently so maybe you can ask him that yourself; if you can. We’re just supposed to kill what we’re told to kill and that’s that.” Perhaps it was a bit shrewd, but Shuro wasn’t aiming for kindness. Instead, she watched for Soga’s reaction, wondering what he’d reply with, before her attention snapped to Sorano.

“Nah, I’m good. Was planning on heading there on my own time.” Her gaze lazily focused on Isana next. “Figured I’d take a train too. Maybe I’ll even let you tag along.” Still, the shrine maiden had a point and Shuro figured now was the best time to strategize. It’d be stupid to jump to the forest without a plan. “So wait, we’re all gonna meet up at the forest and then go as a group? Just making sure we’re all on the same page here,” she said with a yawn.

---

Keiji couldn't help but chuckle at Kon's little correction about the chips. That girl sure knew her junk food. "Yeah, I figured I was forgetting a couple ingredients. Sucks that then stopped making them though. Guess it took me too long to muster up the courage to try them." He was glad that Kon was just as he remembered, and Shuro was bickering with Isana like always. Even with the new faces, it was good to settle in to a bit a familiarity. Their new sensei, however, was not what he expected. He'd heard of Kazama, and the little bit he was able to read of the man just didn't mesh with what he was seeing now. One of the greatest Tenha that the hunters had ever seen, and here he was just casually handing out mission papers like they were any other school assignment. Maybe this mission was just too far beneath someone like him...

Before he could ruminate any more, though, one of the new hunters spoke up, apparently concerned with why one of the youkai decided to rebel. "I'm with Shuro on this one. It's hard to understand how youkai think sometimes. What I am concerned with is that this mantis guy has been practicing martial arts for longer than we've been alive. Definitely not someone we want to take on alone. And let's not forget the four youkai we know literally nothing about... We definitely need to meet up at the forest before we dive in. Keiji always wanted to do a bit of recon before any mission, but given the sheer number of variables here, he felt it was particularly important. "I think I'll take the train. Nothing personal, Sorano, but I just like to study maps on the ride, and the train has a bit more room."



"A Youkai can have any number of reasons for going rogue like this," the sensei chimed in. "You're right, Soga. Gin most definitely knows what happens to youkai who break the rules. But, there are also youkai back in his realm that are much scarier than any hunters. Youkai don't typically come to the human realm on a whim. It's not easy for them to blend in with us, but it does let them escape whatever problems they had back home. For a youkai like Gin... I'd bet his past is finally coming back to haunt him. But, that's all just speculation. Don't hesitate out of sympathy. Bakekonchu hives are dangerous, and you can expect a lot of dead humans if one gets away." With that, Kazama leaned on his cane and got out of his chair. "Seems like you kids know what you're doing. I'll meet you all down by the woods. Someone's gotta be there to clean up if you screw this one up." He gave a little chuckle and made his way out of the classroom, cane clacking against the floor with every step.