Kichi-san and Ichinose-kun came over to my place. "Yamada-san, first i want to thank you for teaming up with us." To my surprise, Ichinose-kun thanked me. "No, it's fine. It's a learning experience for me too. It seems like Ichinose-kun and Kichi-san use different kinds of magic or techniques than I do." Though, the cat-loving swordswoman is completely unhelpful and should not be used as a reference. "Hey, can I bring up something that's been on my mind?" "What? Is there something weird about my magic?" When I asked that, Ichinose-kun froze mid-sentence with a serious look on his face. "Huh? What’s up?" "Oh, no... It’s not that. It's something simpler. Yamada-san, you call me by my last name, right?" "Yeah, that’s right. Don’t you two do the same?" We're buisness partners, after all. Those don't usually call each other by first names. "Oh, well, that's true, but Yamada-san, you might not know this, but my family is quite old." "I don’t know much, but I've heard something along those lines." "Well, because our family is large and traditional, it feels awkward to be called by my last name." Is that so? "Is that how it is?" "Yeah, that's just how it is." Hmm... "So, it's Yuusei-kun then?" "Yeah, thats fine." I will have to get used to that first, but even Oda Nobunaga is called Nobunaga, not Oda, so maybe i can just look at it like that. "Well, if you are okay with it, then we'll keep it like that. Oh, and you can just call me Yamada." "Got it." Well, that's how it goes sometimes. "Um, excuse me, I..." Kichi-san timidly raised her hand. "Oh... is it the same case for you, Kichi-san?" "Yes, it's the same." Are families with a long history like this? So, should I call Kirigaya-san by his first name too? "Let's see, should we go with Kyouka-san?" "Just Kyouka. No honorifics." Kichi-san has turned into Kyouka the slasher. "Huh? Kichi-san, what about your hypnosis? You're not carrying a sword today..." "........" Wow. Even though we're making eye contact, she's completely ignoring me. "So no honorifics?" "No honorifics!" What is this fixation? "Then, I'll call you Kyouka." "Please do, Tatsuya-san." It might be better to stop trying to understand this girl. It's not something as simple as a generation gap.

"Oh well. So, shall we discuss the issue from before?" "Yeah, I guess so." "Yes!" I wonder if Kichi-san... Ehh I mean Kyouka will keep holding Miriam while we talk. "Did the association send a reminder for the report?" "Yeah. Today I went to the hospital with Kyouka to report the examination results and handling some fine print details. Oh, and Yamada-san, when you go to a hospital, you have to go to one designated by the association." I see... Makes sense though. If i go into a regular hospital with cut wounds or similar, I might get questioned thoroughly, and in the worst case, the police might be called. Well, I'll be fine because I have healing magic. "I see. So, did they ask you to report about the demon at school?" "That's right. On that day, I gave a brief explanation but decided to leave the details for later. After all, Kyouka had fainted." "That's true." Well, the reason she fainted was because she was scared of ghosts though. "So how should we go about reporting this demon? I mean how should we assess the level of danger? It was a named demon, and I am curious about him saying he was 'summoned'." That's about right. "I think classifying it as level C is fine. Let's also mention that it was a named demon and that it was summoned by someone." "Can we really classify it as 'C'? From what I saw, it was at least 'B'. You could even go with an 'A'." "You can include that too. It was kind of unclear. The magic power was high, but it wasn't that strong otherwise." The spell that blew away Yuusei-kun and Kyouka was impressive, but apart from that, the demon was slow and didn't seem all that powerful. "... I felt it was strong enough, but okey. I'll report it that way. Kyouka, are you okay with that?" "Huh? Oh, yeah." She wasn't paying attention... Kyouka had been staring at Miriam or nervously looking around the room. "Haaa... Oh well. By the way, about how we go from here, when are you normally available Yamada-san?" Yuusei-kun seems to have given up on something. I also stopped thinking about something. "I'm available anytime. I'll adapt to your schedules. I'm already making enough money, and I'll get my salary next week." Finally, I'll receive my fixed salary of 500,000 yen. "I'm so jealous." "Definitly." Both of them don't receive any money at all. "Wasn't this considered as a part-time job?" "It's under my parents' management." "I get my allowance based on my test scores' average..." I guess a students life is like that. Your parents are responsible, but I still feel awkward being the only one getting something. "Since your parents have their reasons, I can't exactly split the money, but I can treat you to lunch. How about we go grab something to eat? Order whatever you like—takeout is fine too." "PIZZA!" Wow, that was fast... Yuusei-kun really makes decisions quickly, huh... "Pizza, huh? Is that okay with you, Kyouka?" "Ehehe. that's fine with me." Kyouka shyly agrees. What could be making her so happy? I really don't understand this kid. "Wait a second." I stood up, left the living room, and headed towards Ruri's room.