We don't talk about Jouno

A moment to herself

It was rare that Kyoka got a moment to herself. After the incident in the airport, and Chuuya's overpowered corruption blowing her arm off, the whole armed detective agency had become her helicopter parents. Kyoka shivered at the thought of that terrible day. Chuuya was one of the kindest people she'd ever met, but even she had to admit he was beyond terrifying when he got possessed. Things had been a bit awkward between Chuuya and Kyoka ever since. He felt bad, even though it wasn't even remotely his fault. It was like she'd lost her brother and sister in that horrible stretch of time.

Kyoka sighed. Today was her birthday. She'd just turned fifteen. Normally, that would be a cause for celebration. Now, she felt hollow inside. Guilty for wanting to have a happy moment to herself when so many people were sad and grieving in the world. Kyoka shook her head. Don't think about that. Today was about Kyoka. She would take a walk in the park, and she wouldn't enjoy it.

It was a nice day today. It wasn't too cold, and there were flowers in bloom everywhere. Kyoka smiled to herself. This was a very pretty place. Normally she would have taken her other big brother, Atsushi, to see this with her, but he was being so overprotective recently. She saw the way he winced when she grimaced with phantom pain, then immediately schooled his expression and thought she didn't notice. He'd hold the door, like she somehow couldn't get it herself now. He'd also insist on tagging along whenever she had a mission. It was nice to just have some time to herself.

It was then, of course, that Kyoka heard the tree fall, followed by a scream. Kyoka rolled her eyes. Of course. Whatever this was, it had to have happened while she was here. Kyoka flipped open her phone, and summoned her protector. It was time for her to do what the task force did. Save the day.

Kyoka ran forwards, trying to gauge what the situation could possibly be. She'd thought she was the only one in the park. It was a small, secluded place. Kyoka shot forwards into a clearing, still unsure of what the problem was. She got her answer when she saw the massive downed tree. And next to it, the prettiest girl she'd ever seen.

She was tall, and leanly muscled. Her light brown skin was covered in freckles, and she wore her hair in multiple braids; half in two buns on top of her head, and half hanging down to just above her hips. She wore black combat boots, ripped jeans, a form fitting black shirt, and a gray leather jacket. When she turned around, Kyoka could see she had a smile that would melt Antarctica.

"Uh, hi." Kyoka said awkwardly, internally cursing herself. Kouyo was always so good at talking to women she liked, and Chuuya was a walking boy magnet. Why was she the sibling that had no idea what she was doing in the romance department? Even Atsushi and Akutagawa managed to figure it out. Kyoka couldn't even think of something to say.

"Hi." The girl said. "My name is Alex. I'm sorry about the whole tree thing." Oh, yeah. Kyoka had forgotten all about that for a minute. "I was just out for a walk, and I crashed into it, and it fell over." Kyoka blinked in surprise. She was pretty sure that didn't normally happen. Usually, it was the person that went down, not the tree. "Are you okay?" Kyoka asked. Alex didn't seem harmed.

"It's okay, these things happen to me all the time." Alex said. "When my mom was alive, she used to joke about me being a magnet for badly built infrastructure." Kyoka wasn't quite sure what that meant. "I frequently pull doors off their hinges by accident." Alex stepped backwards, looking sadly at the old fallen tree. Kyoka shook her head. This Alex person sounded very much like Kenji.

"I have a friend like that." Kyoka said, remembering the amount of desks that had been broken by Kenji bumping into them. "What's your name?" Alex asked. "You know mine, so it's only fair." Kyoka blushed. "My name's Kyoka."

Alex tilted her head to the side. "That's a pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty girl, that makes sense." Kyoka rubbed the back of her neck. Alex thought she was pretty. "What were you doing here before I rudely interrupted you?" Alex asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I was going for a walk." Kyoka didn't want to creep Alex out with her whole agency stuff. "My friends and brother have been pretty protective recently." Kyoka gestured to her prosthetic arm. "As you can tell, I was in an accident recently." Alex shrugged.

"I don't like to make those kinds of assumptions." Alex said casually. "You could have been born like that, like me." Alex pulled up her pant leg to reveal a prosthetic leg, made out of a similar material to Kyoka's arm. Immediately, Kyoka's gut squirmed with embarrassment. She didn't want to make Alex feel awkward.

"It's okay." Alex said quickly. "I get it. You're just adjusting and all." Kyoka nodded. "There's all sorts of things I have to learn how to do in different ways. It's been sort of difficult, to be honest." Alex nodded. "I get that. It must be hard to try to figure out how to do everything completely differently." Kyoka smiled. Alex got it. It felt good to talk to her.

"You know, you sort of look like someone." Alex said. Kyoka frowned. Did Alex know about the agency? "Yeah, I saw the news a small while back. Are you with the armed detective agency?" Yep, she knew. Kyoka froze. She knew the agency had been exonerated, but people still had mixed feelings about her organization.

"Uh...yes." Kyoka finally said. Honesty was the best policy. Alex grinned from ear to ear. "Oh My God that's perfect!" She exclaimed, and closed the distance between herself and Kyoka to give her a hug. It's not like Kyoka was blushing furiously or anything like that. "I've been looking for the agency. I have a problem I think they can help me with." Not for the first time today, Kyoka wondered if Alex had an ability.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Kyoka asked. She could score some serious points with Alex if she knew what it was. "Have you heard of my mother? Alexander Dumas?" Kyoka had heard the name. "Sort of." Kyoka remembered her being part of the French government, or something like that.

"Well, I have her ability. The Count of Monte Cristo. Someone thinks that makes me good with swords, though." Kyoka didn't really see what the problem was here. "I don't know if I should show you. Someone sent me something, maybe they think I can use it because I'm good with swords, but I'm worried people won't like me if I have it. Even if I'd never use it, and I want nothing to do with it, but I just got it in this box and I don't think it's safe to just try to get rid of it."

Kyoka was completely lost. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand." She said as diplomatically as she could. "It's okay. This might have been a bad idea." Alex took a step back. "No!" Kyoka said, before she could stop herself. "It's okay, I mean." She continued quickly. "You can tell me whatever it is. I'm your friend." Apparently, Kyoka was channeling her inner Kenji.

Alex's violet eyes widened. "Really?" She asked. Kyoka nodded. "Of course." Alex bit her lip. "Even if the thing someone sent me was bad?" Kyoka shrugged. Alex seemed like a very nice person. How bad could it be? "Of course." She said. "Okay." Alex said, steeling herself for something. She reached into her pocket. "You have to promise not to run away, though. I know how to control it." A shiver crept down Kyoka's spine. She was getting an increasingly bad feeling about this, but she wanted to help Alex. Whatever it was, Kyoka could handle it. "Here goes." Alex said, and drew the handle of the infamous time traveling sword.