"Okay, it was great spending time with you all. It's late and I have work to do, so I'll take my leave."
Ryuga got up from his seat and turned to leave before Rion called out to him.
"Actually… when can we meet you again? If you don't mind, that is…"
"Hmm. About that, I'll try to be here around this time. I usually leave as quickly as I can because of 'work,' but my friends usually hang out here. The ones you met before."
"Oh… that's great. Hope we meet again then. It was nice talking to you."
"Right back at you... Kk, I'll be going now. Take care."
Waving his hand, he quickly turned to leave. The first years waved back, watching him disappear into the distance.
After he was gone, Tomoe nudged Rion's shoulder.
"Did you fall for that guy, Rion? Isn't it too fast to fall for someone? I didn't expect you to be so 'loose.'"
"Fuck off. We just share the same interests, that's all. I'm interested in him because of that. Falling for him? C'mon, girl, he doesn't even have the single most important quality I love… believing in ghosts."
Saki squinted her eyes in suspicion. She knew Rion took her interests to extremes, but was that even a quality?
Still, she didn't voice her opinion. It wasn't like she was any better, she believed in them too. And if she ever looked for a guy, she'd at least want him to believe in them as well.
After all, it wouldn't feel good being called delusional by your partner.
"We should head back too. No point in staying here now. Also, do you guys wanna come to my room? Let's play some games."
"No, Rion. I have some assignments to finish. We'll play tomorrow or the day after."
"Kk, duly noted."
…
The 'work' Ryuga was talking about was helping Naoya-san with his cases. Though Naoya-san usually handled ordinary criminal cases, there were times when people contacted him for problems that weren't exactly 'physical'.
Possessions, ghost sightings, cursed artifacts, and other supernatural incidents, he got those too. And whenever that happened, the person he sought help from was Ryuga. Naoya-san was, in a word, a broker for him. He found the cases, they solved them together, and then split the payment.
Today was no different. Naoya-san had called Ryuga for another case.
As such, Ryuga stood in front of a very mediocre-looking building. From the outside, it looked like a shop that hadn't even been properly built.
Sighing, he stepped forward and pushed the door open. Inside, he found Naoya-san pacing back and forth across the room.
"Hey, energy packet. Where are we going today, and what's the cash prize?"
Naoya-san stopped pacing when he heard the voice and let out a sigh. "Finally, you're here. I've been waiting for a while. What were you even doing?"
"Ah, nothing much. Just dealing with a bunch of kids. What's up? You look stressed."
Naoya-san gestured for him to take a seat while he sat down in his chair.
"Things have been a little rough lately. Cases are piling up all across Akebono."
Ryuga grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the side table. Taking a bite, he joked, "Isn't that a good thing? More cases, more money. Makes our life easier."
"Hey! That's not a good thing to say. What if someone from your family gets scooped up in this nonsense?"
Ryuga stopped mid-bite. His voice darkened as he tilted his head and smirked.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I don't like leaving a case unsolved. Digging deeper and eradicating the source is kind of my forte… you know that too, right?"
Naoya-san shook his head, though a small smile tugged at his lips.
"It's good to see you back in work mode. Let's get to the case. It's a possession type. The Kurodo family filed it—their only child, Kurodo Renji, seems to have lost his appetite. But according to them, it's not just a simple case of not eating.
"No matter how much or what he eats, he doesn't gain any weight. At first, they dismissed it as an illness, but the reports came back clean. No allergies, normal metabolism. If anything, he's malnourished but he's been eating vigorously. Nothing adds up, so now they suspect a ghost is haunting their son. They're terrified."
Ryuga stayed silent for a moment, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Slowly, he started nodding as if the pieces were beginning to fit together.
"Great. Let's deal with this kid. How long will it take to reach their place?"
"About half an hour. It's already five in the evening, but they should be home."
"Call them and confirm. Let's visit today. I've got a hunch it won't take long to solve this case."
Naoya-san shrugged. If Ryuga said he could handle it quickly, he believed him. After working together for over a year, he had a decent grasp of the guy. He could say he knew at least forty percent about him.
'Eating vigorously but still staying skinny, huh? Sounds like the usual life of a skinny person. Maybe the family's just exaggerating. Still, I can't make assumptions. Being biased is the worst thing in this line of work. I'll need to meet this "skinny" guy before I can judge.'
Either way, it was time to be an exorcist.