Jin’s POV
   They have played five rounds out of ten. So far, Jin is winning. By a wide margin. It’s kind of surprising, really. Both him and Estyshana are beginners when it comes to bowling. However, he’s much better at it than she is. Still, he knows better than to let his guard down. He always made sure to calm himself before throwing the ball.

   “Oh, come on! Seriously~?” Estyshana whines after she hits another gutter ball.

   “And it’s the third one in a row…” Jin mutters.

   The demon glares at him.

   “Quiet there!” she growls.

   “Do you want me to give you some pointers, Esty?” Wakaba couldn’t help but offer.

   “No. I’ll figure it out myself.” Estyshana declines stubbornly.

   “Um, okay. Just ask me if you ever fell like changing your mind.”

   No one would doubt that Wakaba gives out decent advice. Here she is, hitting another strike like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

   “By the way, why are you this good at bowling?” Jin asks her curiously.

   “Well, I kind of fell in love with bowling ever since my parents brought me to a bowling alley when I was twelve.”

   “I see. You thinking of going pro?”

   “No. Not one bit. I plan to become an accountant when I grow up, you see.”

   “What a shame. Still, it’s your future, so I guess you’re in charge of it.”

   “Well, enough about me. It’s your turn again Minase-kun.”

   “So it is.”

   He gets up for where he was sitting and grabs the ball he was using all this while. He faces the lane and throws. Four pins were struck. He takes another ball. Three more went down.

   “Hmm, I probably could have gotten a better score if I aimed a bit more to the left…” he mumbles to himself.

   Still, it’s a way better score than a gutter ball.

   Ayumi gets up from her seat, since it’s her turn next. She’s not as good as Wakaba, but she still managed to get some good scores. Watanabe, on the other hand, is kind of clumsy. Her overall score is only slightly better than Estyshana’s. and speaking of her, it’s her turn once more.

   This time, she has a more serious look on her face. She picks up the ball and looks at the lane for a few seconds. She takes a deep breath. She swings the arm that she’s holding the ball with backwards. She throws-

   And it’s another gutter ball. She stomps her foot in frustration.

   “Okay, now this is getting sad.” Jin says to no one in particular.

   “Don’t you dare take pity on me!” Estyshana tells him angrily. “And for the record, you haven’t won yet! Just winning!”

   And still, win he did. His overall score is the second highest among the five of them too. And Esyshana’s is the lowest. Jin was expecting her to cry foul, or at least moan about it. But nope. She’s taking it pretty well.

   “Well, I was half-expecting this result. I’ve never played this, after all.” she mumbles.

   “Beginner or no, there’s still our bet.” Jin reminds her.

   “Yes, yes. Of course I remember. Now what do you want me to do?”

   “Hold on. I still can’t decide what costume I want you to wear.”

   Estyshana is looking at him like she’s looking at a pile of trash.

   “Don’t you worry. I’m not going to make you wear something too extreme.” he assures her.

   “Doesn’t make any difference. Now get this over with and make your choice already!”

   “Hold on. I’m still thinking. Hmm, I’m seriously spoilt with choices here…”

   “How about a wedding dress?” Watanabe suggests all of a sudden.

   Estyshana’s face becomes bright red in an instant.

   “W-W-W-What a-a-are you suggesting there, Anri?” she stutters.

   “I’m just giving out suggestion that he might like since he can’t seem to decide.” Watanabe says innocently.

   “That actually sounds nice.”

   “Hey!”

   She shakes her head vigorously.

   “No! No way! Anything but that! We’re not married yet, for crying out loud!”

   “Not married “yet”?” Watanabe repeats while grinning like a mischievous imp.

   Estyshana’s face got even redder.

   “Anyway, I’m not wearing it! Period!”

   What a shame. She would definitely look nice in one. Not a white one, of course. For her, a black one suits her more, with short laced gloves and most importantly pantyhose-

   “DON’T IMAGINE ME IN IT!” she screams as she’s shaking him vigorously.

   “Okay, I’m sorry. Now please stop shaking me.”

   She finally calmed down after a few seconds.

   “Now what do you want me to wear?” she asks. “Nothing too crazy, or the deal’s off.”

   “Fine. I’ll make it simple. Christmas is just around the corner, so a Santa outfit will do.”

   She furrows her eyebrows.

   “You want me to dress up as a representation of a God figure? Me?”

   “What’s the big deal? It’s just a dress-up. If you don’t like it, I guess I could change it to bunny-”

   “Santa outfit it is. Boy, I can’t wait!”

   She pauses.

   “Still, won’t it be out of season if I wear it now?”

   “True. I guess I’ll wait until it’s Christmas. Well, that’s settled. Now what?”

   Jin looks around. Some of his classmates are already done with their session as well and are just hanging around and chatting with each other.

   “How about going for another round?” Watanabe suggests.

   “For your information, the fund we had is pretty much used up.” Wakaba informs. “It’s enough to pay for some groups, but not for everyone.”

   “Then I guess we should call it a day to make things fair.”

   “I’ll be seeing all of you tomorrow, then.” Jin says immediately.

   “Ever the sociable one, aren’t you?”

   “For your information, I have a legitimate reason to leave.”

   “Oh? What’s that?”

   Jin can’t say it out loud, so he typed it out on his phone instead.

   “I need to train Hanya Mask, K and Reina.” he wrote.

   The girls gather around to read what he just typed.

   “Well, I guess it can’t be helped then.” Wakaba says.

   “No, it can be helped!” Watanabe insists stubbornly. “You can just delay it for a little while, right?”

   Jin groans. This girl is really persistent.

   “Fine, fine. I’ll delay it. It’s not like I’ve made a fixed schedule, anyway.” he agrees grudgingly.

   “Yay, now that’s more like it!”

   She turns to look at their classmates.

   “Hey everyone! We’re going to a family restaurant next! Those of you who want to join, let’s gather around at the entrance!” she calls out.

   Turns out there were more than half of their classmates who have nothing better to do. Oh, joy. It’s going to be a large gathering. He so should not have agreed to join.

   Miraculously, the family restaurant they chose didn’t suffer any damage as well. The whole place is empty from customers, so they got the whole place to themselves. Needless to say, Jin is together with the girls again since it would be too awkward if he sits with anyone else.

   “I wonder what I should get.” Watanabe wonders out loud as she’s browsing the menu. “I have so many things that I want to eat, but my stomach won’t be able to take that much…”

   “Why don’t we share the things we ordered? That way, we can eat more varieties of food, right?” Estyshana suggests.

   “That’s it! You’re such a genius, Esty-chan!”

   Jin was quick to decide on ordering a steak platter and an access to drink bar since he doesn’t feel like getting anything else. Once the orders have been placed, he waits patiently until his food is here. But not before sending a LINE message to both Date Jr. and Kubo.

   “Training will be resumed tonight at 9. how are your schedules?” he asks the both of them.

   Kubo was quicker to answer.

   “I can make it. My schedule is pretty much empty nowadays.” he wrote.

   “What about Reina?”

   “Her shift today is until 8. We can reach the police station with lots of time to spare.”

   “Good. Make sure to be there.”

   Date Jr., on the other hand, can’t come.

   “My apologies. I would have to join my parents at a party tonight. As such, I cannot participate in the training.” she apologized through the text.

   “No worries. Just do training on your own if you have the chance.” he wrote.

   “Understood.”

   Once the communications are over, Jin continues to tap on the phone even though the screen is blank. The reason is simple. People around him are chatting and having fun in their own ways, but he wants no part of it.

   “So, when’s the next party going to be?” he hears someone asks.

   “I guess it’s the Christmas one. After all, it’s coming in next month.” Wakaba replies. “I take it that you want one?”

   “Hell yeah, we do!”

   “All right, more parties!”

   Jin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Great, another normie event.

   “You’re joining the party right, Jin?” Estyshana asks him.

   Jin gives her a withered look.

   “Is there a point of I say no? You and Watanabe would mostly try to force me to come anyway.”

   She sticks out her tongue in a really cutesy way.

   “You know us so well.”

   He rolls his eyes again. And he proceeds to act busy once more while the discussion about the Christmas party is ongoing. All of a sudden, he can’t wait for his food to arrive.

   He doesn’t really remember the rest of his time at the family restaurant. He ate, he drank, and then he said farewell to the usual girls and pretended that he’s heading home. Naturally he’s not. Instead, he heads to the police station while making sure that no one is tailing him.

Kinzo’s POV
   “How was work today, Rei-chan?”

   “Nothing worth mentioning has happened, Kubo-san.”

   A moment of silence.

   “I, I see. And the training is resuming after so long! How do you feel about it?”

   “My own opinion does not matter. I am happy as long as I gain enough strength to protect you.”

   Kinzo sighs. Every time he speaks to Rei, it was the same thing. She treats him with too much respect, and doesn’t even have her own opinion. Having a maid this obedient doesn’t make him happy at all. He hates his ability with each passing day. And don’t get him started on the training.

   Hanya Mask isn’t here today. According to Silver Wolf, she has a private matter to attend to. Not that Kinzo minds. He’s still somewhat terrified of her.

   “Tonight, you’ll be concentrating on high Level Spells. It’s time for you to learn Spells 6 and above.” he tells Kinzo before the training begins.

   Kinzo looks around at the small training room.

   “Won’t it be bad if I do that for real? This is too small a space.”

   “Don’t worry about it. Just give me a moment.”

   Kinzo hears Silver Wolf mutter something under his breath. After he was done, Kinzo notices something is amiss. But what, he can’t tell exactly.

   “Okay, now you can go all out.” Silver Wolf says.

   Kinzo looks around again. Everything still looks the same.

   “But, nothing has changed!” he points out.

   “Go outside and tell me the same thing again.”

   Kinzo did as he was told. Rei follows him from behind without a word. He got to the reception counter and doesn’t see the policeman on duty. He goes outside. The huge scary wolf known as a worg that was sitting next to the entrance is gone as well. So are the pedestrians that are supposed to be passing by a busy street.

   “I just cast Mirror World, a Level 10 Spell.”

   Kinzo turns around and sees Silver Wolf standing behind him.

   “Um, just out of curiosity, this. How long does it take for an average mage to cast a Level 10 Spell?”

   Silver Wolf thinks about it for a while.

   “I think someone mentioned, um, around an hour?”

   Wow, and he managed to cast it in less than ten seconds. That’s the Hero for you.

   “Okay, enough chit-chat. I’ll be teaching you some incantations, so go find a spot that makes you feel comfortable and practice.” Silver Wolf instructs.

   “Um, what about Reina?”

   “She’ll be sparring with me.”

   Kinzo shows a worried look.

   “Oh, don’t you give me that look!” Silver Wolf tells him irritably. “I know how to hold back my strength, okay?”

   “Right, I’m sorry.”

   Silver Wolf brought out a piece of paper. On it is some Spell names and their incantations.

   “Do you have anywhere you want to practice?”

   “Well, how about the empty spot next to the river?”

   “Sounds good.”

   After they’re there, Kinzo instructs Rei to spar with Silver Wolf.

   “And tell her to ignore you while she’s doing that. I can’t have her being distracted if you so much as gasps over a spell rebound or something.” Silver Wolf adds.

   “Understood. Um, please concentrate on your sparring session and don’t come over to my side, even if I’m dying.”

   Rei curtsies at him. “Understood.”

   And she took the orders just like that. Such a perfectly obedient doll. Kinzo was so used to this he can’t even be depressed.

   Now that that’s taken care of, it’s time for Kinzo to work on the new Spells. He sits down cross-legged on the grass and looks at the piece of paper in details. As he has guessed, these Spells have long and complicated incantations. For starters, he decides to try and memorize them.

   He was almost done with memorizing the first Spell when he hears the sounds of steel clashing against steel. So the sparring has begun.

   He tried to remain focused and concentrates on the Spells. Even so, that’s easier said than done. There’s the usual, that he dragged the innocent Rei into this. And there’s also the Ashura that he murdered a few days ago. Just thinking about it makes him want to hurl again.

   “Stop feeling bad about it.”

   Kinzo looks towards the duo. It was Silver Wolf who spoke just now.

   “It was a war. No one was at fault for any of the casualties that occurred.” he says as he’s continuing to spar with Rei. “You did what to have to in order to survive. Let’s face it. He would definitely take your life too if the position was reversed.”

   “Still-”

   Kinzo shakes his head just before he could say any more word.

   “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

   “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you’re causing any.”

   Still, Kinzo can barely concentrate. Silver Wolf noticed that and put a stop to the training after a while.

   “Just go home and rest. The training is postponed until you feel better.” he tells Kinzo.

   “I’m really sorry for wasting your time.” he apologizes.

   Silver Wolf waved his apology away.

   “It happens to all of us. Besides, it wasn’t a total waste of time. At least Rei-san got a little bit of training.”

   They went back to the police station before Silver Wolf undo Mirror World. After all, it would be bad if the three of them appeared out of nowhere and scared the life out of those who happens to passes by.

   Once again, the two of them walk in silence. Kinzo has long learned that it’s pretty much impossible to strike up proper conversations with Rei, so he has given up on it a long time ago.

   Soon, the two of them pass by a residential district. The war has caused some damage on some of the houses, but most are still in one piece. Right as they were passing by an alleyway, Kinzo hears the mewling of a cat.

   “Do you hear a cat mewling, Rei-chan?” he asks Rei to make sure.

   “I most certainly did, Kubo-san.” she confirms.

   He goes inside the alley cautiously, but not before taking out his phone and switches on the torchlight. Yup, there it is. A black cat with purple eyes and two tails.

   …Hmm? Two tails?

   Kinzo rubs his eyes and looks again. The cat indeed has two tails.

   “Is it me, or that cat has two tails?” he mumbles out loud.

   The cat’s eyes widens, and it looks at its tails.

   “Blimey, I’ve done it again.”

   This time, Kinzo is really dumbfounded. Did that cat just…talk?

   “And here I thought that I could fool some dumb humans into taking care of me. Me and my stupid mistake.” the cat continues to say.

   Based on the voice, that cat is a female. But Kinzo guess that’s not the issue here.

   “Are you a youkai?” Kinzo asks.

   The cat gives him a scornful look.

   “Are you stupid? What else am I?” she demands.

   “Um, I’m sorry.”

   The cat snorts haughtily. “You humans can be so stupidly ignorant. It’s a wonder that your species haven’t gone extinct yet.”

   This is just a guess, but based on her two tails, she might be a Nekomata.

   Based on Kinzo’s limited knowledge on youkais, Nekomata turned into a youkai after a cat grew old and died. Yup, that’s all he knows.

   “What are you waiting for, human? Bring me to wherever pig sty that you live and hand over your best room!” she continues to say haughtily.

   Yup, she’s a cat, all right.

   “Sorry, my place doesn’t allow pets.” Kinzo declines.

   Even if he’s allowed to, there’s no way that he’s taking care of a wrinkled-up, cat-eared hag. As he’s thinking that, the cat transformed-

   Into a black-haired, purple-eyed beauty around the age of a high-schooler. Naturally, her cat ears and tails are still there.

   And she’s naked. Kinzo looks away immediately.

   “Why are you looking away?” the Nekomata demands.

   “Because you’re naked. Youkai or no, I can’t just stare at a naked girl.”

   “Well, someone is a virgin.” she purrs haughtily. “Can’t look at a naked body without getting a nosebleed? You poor thing~!”

   …Yup, this one is really getting on his nerves. It’s such a waste, though. She’s quite a beauty, and for a brief second that Kinzo managed to see, she has a hot body too.

   “Come on, no need to be shy~. You’ve probably never seen the body of a naked girl before, being the virgin that you are. You can take a peek if you want. After that, you’ll have to be my slave for the rest of your live, though.” she continues to taunt.

   Grrr, if only Kinzo knows the proper way to activate his ability, she would be calling him master soon enough. And it’s really tempting too. She’s a cat-eared girl, for crying out loud. Kinzo always wanted a cat-eared maid…

   And then, the annoying taunts stopped altogether. Kinzo looks at the direction of the Nekomata while concentrating his sight on her face. She’s panting heavily, and her face is red. Most of all, she’s staring at him with a passionate gaze.

   “...ster.” she whispers.

   “I beg your pardon?”

   “MYASTER~!”

   “Whoa!”

   All of a sudden, the Nekomata leaps at him.