Akasha Agency - Prelude
Japan, May 4th, 2020, 9.30 AM.
"…The pattern has remained stable throughout the past 3 months. We believe we are due for another surge at some point this year or next year," A bespectacled young man said. "But we are sure that it will be well within our capabilities. As usual."
Fukuda(福田) Sora(空). A young(relatively) member of the Akasha Agency's main branch. Though the main branch does keep a large amount of their strongest combatants on hand, enough to defend Tokyo in case of invasion, a large amount of the branch's personnel was devoted purely to administrative duties. One such person was Fukuda Sora.
In the darkened room, before a small conference table, at which sat five other figures, the young man delivered his report. Unlike him the one speaking, they were visibly much older. A few attendants stood at attention around the room, but not many. These were some of the most powerful men and women in the country. A special panel of the Minister of Defence, Minister for the Environment, Minister of Occultism, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, and the Prime Minister himself.
This was a 6-monthly briefing on the state of the Akasha Scourge. Carried out within the central headquarters of the Agency itself. Begun in the outbreak's earliest stages, it had continued throughout the years, unbroken save for times of national emergency. Before the Agency would deliver their report in front of parliament and the public as a whole, they would deliver it here behind closed doors.
"The specific numbers are enclosed in those folders," The young man said, indicating the manila folders the aides held.
The folders held copies of the report they would be formally giving. The Ministers would be free to make redactions as they saw fit before the report saw the light of day. In a time when the goal of the Agency had been to counter panic at all costs, this was something which had seen heavy applications, but it would be truly rare now if any of the Ministers decided to raise the black marker.
"And that makes the conclusion of our report. Thank you for being very patient with us, Ministers(大臣)." Fukuda said, doing a short bow.
He remained keenly aware of their gazes as he raised his head and met the ministers' eyes which were all on him. Because now came the dreaded call.
"Do you have any questions for us now, Ministers(大臣)?"
Fukuda watched carefully for anything out of the norm. Any indication of displeasure or distaste.
"Where is Musazishi Zoroya?" They said.
There it was. Fukuda kept a thin smile.
Of course it was the same question. It was always worded in a way that could not be misinterpreted. And that strange, strange name. They were of course, asking about the Akasha Agency's founder.
"…I'm very sorry to say," Fukuda answered carefully. "He has not made his return as of yet. We will endeavour to inform you as soon as we have word that he has been sighted. Please rest assured, we can operate at full capacity even in his absence."
He was an eccentric by all accounts. Many suspected he was a foreigner, and the strange name certainly added to the rumours. But the thing about Musazishi Zoroya was that no one had seen the founder in many years. Fukuda Sora had never even seen a glimpse of him, save for the few pictures there were of the man himself.
This was the exact same answer he had given the six or so times he had conducted this meeting. The response he'd honed and trained to deliver under these… circumstances. A misstep could end his career, or even the whole Agency if it was dire enough. He had to give the answer purposefully, with confidence.
The deadly silence continued.
"…Very well." They replied. Fukuda was flooded with relief.
It was over. In polite unison, they rose from their chairs and allowed Fukuda to vacate the room. They said their goodbyes, and the curtains were closed on that short, chaotic chapter of his life.
Fukuda stepped outside and sighed loosened his tie. As always, it felt like he aged a good 6 months every time he had that meeting. By all accounts, it had gone swimmingly so he really shouldn't complain, but the way his muscles tensed left always left his back sore afterwards.
As he stretched his arms, he heard the faint flick of a lighter, and caught the distinctive smell of cigarette smoke in the air as a figure rounded the corner.
"Akemi-san!" Fukuda called out.
The sight was usually a surprise to many who toured the Agency headquarters for the first time. Kurosawa(黒触) Akemi(明美). She stood almost 6 feet tall, and was always clad in a stark grey suit. She was a Yokai. A Kitsune to be precise. She was one of the most powerful members of the agency. Both in standing, and combat prowess.
She was a Kitsune with 7 tails. The highest among the Kitsune who remained as Operatives of the Agency. Reason being, Kitsune with even more tails were close to being their own Divinities. They were almost too powerful to really have to deal with such mundane matters, even when it was to do with the Scourge. Even to the Agency, who often dealt with the Spirit World, it was rare to see one a Kitsune with so many tails.
She looked him up and down as if reaffirming who he was.
"Ah, Fukuda." The senior kitsune said.
She looked up as he approached, a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Her face had the tell-tale creases of weariness from overwork. But there was an untouchable aura of youth. She was older than Fukuda. Older than the Agency, even.
"How did the meeting go?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
"As well as it ever has," Fukuda replied, bowing his head. "A few small hiccups, but I think the Ministers were still alright with me."
"That's a relief," The kitsune smiled. "You're the one they like the most, it'd be difficult to replace you if they decided to act odd all of a sudden."
She took a drag of her cigarette and look out over the blue morning sky. That's right, if she was here this was her smoke break. It would be good of Fukuda to let her enjoy the moment in peace. She worked the hardest out of almost anyone in the Agency. Part of that was her position, part of that was her nature, or at least he guessed so.
When the Kami made contact with the human world to deliver their ultimatum, long before he was even born, they had decided to send some of their servants to remain in the human world as a permanent point of contact between the Human World and the Spirit World.
She was one of them.
A servant of Amaterasu. She had been given the task of keeping watch over the Akasha Agency, and by extension almost all official operations of Yokai in the human world. Not only that, but she was a highly skilled Arts practitioner, and was second to none with the sword. And even though she looked stern, she was remarkably kind. She insisted on being called by her first name whenever possible, even by the new staff.
"Ah, Akemi-san!" Fukuda suddenly piped up. "I didn't notice, you've formed another tail! Congratulations!"
He didn't know much about Kitsune, but he knew for all Kitsune, growing another tail was quite a feat. Kitsune used their tails to store power. Once they had accumulated enough power over their long life, it formed into a new tail to join their others. It wasn't as easy as he was making it sound, he was sure. It was quite a long and arduous process still.
"Hmm? Oh. I suppose I did." She said, looking back at her own tails as if she was counting them for herself.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Yes, she was an 8-tailed Kitsune now. But she still seemed the same as ever.
"Are you going to celebrate Akemi-san?" Fukuda asked excitedly.
"…Mmm, I suppose we won't have as much work in the upcoming season so now would be an opportune time," She replied.
"…" Fukuda was mystified. It wasn't his place to just assume what he felt was wrong, but…
"…You seem distracted Kurosawa-san," He said hesitantly. "Is something on your mind?"
She seemed to stop to think for more than a few a moments before she replied.
"I suppose there is something on my mind," She finally sighed.
She rubbed the back of her neck and massaged the bridge of her nose. As if she was letting out something that had been weighing on her for some time, but the burden wouldn't be lifted yet. Not for some time, it seemed.
"…You wouldn't have known, but shortly before I joined the Agency was the time when I gained my 7th Tail," She said after a while.
"Really?" Fukuda said. He was certainly surprised.
Akemi-san had grown used to human perception of time after a while, but he remembered her talking about her time serving as one of the many kitsune under Lady Amaterasu as if it had, in essence made up a majority of her life. At least for a large amount of the time she had spent serving her, she had 6 tails and not 7.
But crucially, as the gears worked inside his head, he realized…
"That means you gained a new tail within the last 50 years…?" Fukuda said as he did the calculations in his head.
"That's right." Akemi replied. "Forming a tail within 50 years is normal for your earliest tails. The first, second, third, could all probably be obtained within 50 years, although every Kitsune is different. But the energy required increases exponentially every time. 50 years for your eighth tail? That's certainly unheard of."
She paused to take a drag of her cigarette.
"…It's just a little odd." She said after a time. "How long have you been in the Agency, Fukuda? 3 years? 4 years? You started as an intern and now you're already giving reports to the Prime Minister."
"Those in the Agency see their talents grow and flourish at a blistering rate. Is it just the environment, or is it something else?" She let the question hang in the air.
Fukuda was speechless. Of course, she was right. Fukuda was young, by almost anyone's standards. He was only 26 years old. He had risen fast in the Agency, to a position where no one could replace him, and his only direct peers were almost a decade older than him. While it had its share of challenges, he was privileged. That's all he knew.
"…I'm afraid I don't have an answer Kurosawa-san," Fukuda said sheepishly.
He had to admit that he really had no idea what it could be. Though he was at such a high position, he hadn't had time to stop and look at the base of the mountain, so to speak. He couldn't say everything that went on in the organization. And by the way Akemi had confided in him led him to believe that even she wasn't sure of the root cause.
He lifted his head to see Akemi looking over him with a tired smile.
"That's quite alright Fukuda, treat it just as the musings of a tired old fox," She said.
She looked up towards the sky once again.
"Some mysteries just aren't meant to be solved yet. I'm sure the answer will present itself with time."
Once the break was over, the two headed back inside to discuss the details of a personnel shift with some particular significance to Fukuda on the way back to their stations.
"You're asking about Sentouji?" Akemi asked.
"Yes, it's my home town so I'm a little worried about it," Fukuda sheepishly admitted. "I heard they were replacing the person who runs the Shokuden because he's retired now. I know it's been a problem area before, but it had been going well for some time from what my relatives in the area told me."
"Ah, you're concerned about his replacement?" Akemi said.
"Yes, I've heard he's quite young," Fukuda said. "I met the dispatcher for Sentouji coincidentally, once upon a time. I've heard it hasn't become any easier to deal with her since then…"
Akemi gave him a look which had become very familiar over the course of his time in the Agency. The look of 'oh, what an adorable human problem', which she did every so often. It was hard to see it coming because while many things in the way Yokai and humans perceived things was different, there were areas of similarity and between these areas was when that look occured.
He supposed she'd had prior experience with someone difficult like that, which prompted the look.
"I don't think you'll have to worry much," The Kitsune said. "The replacement was trained directly by the previous head for a time, and besides, he's highly qualified for the position."
"You might know him as 'Five-Finger Gotou'."
Fukuda had in fact heard of him him. He had made waves in the Agency for rising through the ranks extremely quickly as a Specialist. In less than a year, he had already been running solo missions, and now he was even running a Shokuden?
"He's even younger than you are, although I don't imagine you'd envy his position much if you know our Dispatcher in the region as well as you say you do." Akemi said with a light-hearted laugh.
"I think I'd have to agree, Akemi-san…" Fukuda said.
Fukuda wasn't sure where the future was going.
He hadn't been here for the fight against the Scourge in its prime, but the scars could be felt even by a civilian like him in this day and age. At any moment he knew that it could return one day in its full force and utterly overwhelm the Agency. But being here, it felt like being next to possibility itself.
He couldn't see anything but a bright future on the horizon.
