One Above All

Chapter 23: A Day Like Any Other at Work.

Notes: As I write these notes, I'm fairly certain that this chapter might not be that long.

Maybe.

Well, we'll see.

But first, just like before, I want to take my time to say hello to the fanfiction community. I'm going first with the ones from chapter 21.

0O0O

It was around 2:30 in the afternoon, and the sun was at its peak, illuminating the streets and radiating its constant warmth. The day, in general, was beautiful to say the least; there was not a person walking the streets without a purpose in mind.

It was a common thought because Tokyo was a city known for its consistency, very consistent, in fact. It seemed like there wasn't a Japanese person who had nothing to do, especially on just the second day of the week, so work activities and agendas were still pending.

Everyone was working.

If everyone wanted this country to progress and not fall behind other world powers like the United States and the Soviet Union, they all had to contribute to developing the country as much as possible.

That also meant that all defense lines, even the smallest ones, had to carry out their daily routines to maintain the hard-earned consistency.

Security in Tokyo, and practically all of Japan, had been maintained at normal levels, even somewhat acceptable. Violence persisted; there was no crime-free city, so no one could boast of being the "safest city in the world." But cases like thieves, criminals, and organized crime, in general, were left to the police officers and detectives nationwide. It didn't matter if their world included beings from the underworld; they couldn't afford to lose security and intelligence agencies, even if they were traffic officers or special forces soldiers. Everyone would be necessary at the end of the day.

But despite the equal priority given to all agencies, there was an unspoken agreement that the Japan Public Security Agency, responsible for devil extermination, was considered the most important of all, above all police forces. It was contradictory to give more benefits to devil hunters, but one had to think carefully and put themselves in their shoes to realize that the lives of these people were not always rosy.

The same could be said for almost any security agency, but they paled in comparison to the experiences lived by devil hunters, who often couldn't even recount their own stories because they tended to die before sharing their versions or how their work affected their lives. In the end, everything would come to light through people who could barely hold conversations with them.

So, the least they could do was give Public Security a little more priority; it would eventually bear fruit, and hunter agencies were recognized worldwide, even above the military forces of each country.

Over time, the world got used to the idea that hunters were the country's first line of defense, even though it seemed surreal to categorize people who dressed in elegant suits and looked cool wearing them as such. But, one had to admit that only hunters were capable of protecting them from devils.

Even if it hurt the guys in military academies, training to the death, only to end up with a lower rank than people who dressed well and looked great doing it.

Everyone would also admit they had style.

Perhaps that's why no one was surprised by what happened today.

Kishibe stared at his reflection in the cafe bathroom mirror. There were many ways to describe his face-tired, sad, melancholic, with a hint of post-traumatic stress he had learned to deal with over the years. But it was always there, deeply hidden, ready to remind him of his suffering and mistakes at the most inconvenient moments.