It was a quiet afternoon on the weekend, in a quiet manor located at the edge of a forest, the manor was quite small and was that of old Japanese style.
Inside the Manor in the dining Area were gathered the top 5 JDHC hunters sitting around a table and enjoying a lunch together.
But the sounds of silverware against the plates and bowls was broken by chatter as
Tanmachi was the first one to speak up after gulping down a portion of her food, she was now dressed in more casual clothes, wearing some shorts and an orange hoodie.
"Seriously Miyuki, thanks for inviting us over for lunch. Your cooking is always an absolute blessing"
She said and started munching on food again.
Gahu nodded and looked at Miyuki. Also dressed in more casual clothes in the form of a white button up t-shirt and jeans.
"Tanmachi's right, I wonder what the secret to your cooking is…I only wish my ex knew how to cook half as good as this"
Gahu proclaimed with a bit of a chuckle at the end.
Gokkumon would give a slight laugh at Gahu's joke as he looked up at the group.
"Ain't that the truth, nobody told Kata I said that!"
Gokkumon added his portion of jokes to the pile. He too was wearing casual clothing, having a loose shirt and dad-pants on.
Bocchi in the meantime just sat in the chair, politely eating his food in silence.
Miyuki would smile a bit as she waved her hand off at the group.
"Don't mention it guys, we're comrades after all, if we didn't have some normal bonding moments we'd not end up as the best squad in JDHC"
Miyuki was dressed in a traditional Japanese Kimono, it was dark blue and decorated with many flowers.
"Not to mention, it's always a pleasure to have you guys over and not be set on work all the time…although we'll have to bite into that also, regarding Tomia and all."
Gokkumon nodded, smiling a little but still looking quite sad.
"Indeed that we do.."
Tanmachi looked up from her food and looked at Gokumon.
"Still don't know her whereabouts?"
Gokkumon shook his head and let out a sigh.
"Nope, but perhaps is better that way, would probably be bad if she was somewhere in public, and I doubt the girl passed out in a forest or something "
Bocchi finished his meal, wiped his mouth into his black jacket and looked at the group.
"The less we have to deal with her, the better, for us, DHC and her too"
Miyuki would frown a little as she looked at Bocchi, giving a slight nod.
"Unfortunately I have to agree, although I am quite worried, I wonder where she is and how she is doing"
Gahu intervened as he too just finished his meal, and looked to Bocchi also.
"Unfortunately there's no guarantee that it will stay that way, it's not about if we manage to find her, but more like when. The scouts are scanning the areas and spreading out more and more with each passing day, she couldn't have gotten that far."
Gokkumon pushed the food bowl a little away from him, losing his appetite a bit through this talk.
"Yea, no matter how hard we're gonna try we'll be forced into contact with her again…and we have to hope that the five of us find her before the scouts, so we can maybe warn her or get some proof to prove that she does not deserve to be hunted like an animal who escaped from a zoo"
Tanmachi looked to Gokumon with a slight frown, feeling bad for him.
"So we also start looking?"
Gahu nodded in place for Gokkumon.
"Indeed, we'll move our scouting schedule up by a week so we are ahead of the scouts, it's the only way we can prevent another bloodbath."
Gahu said and crossed his arms whilst nodding.
Bocchi would slouch back in the chair.
"And here I was hoping the world would forget about her already"
Miyuki would chuckle a bit as she stretched.
"Complaining about your work won't get you far Bocchi, sometimes I wonder how you made it to top 5"
Bocchi smirked as he looked at Miyuki.
"Simply a prodigy"
Tanmachi would laugh a little.
"Prodigy my ass, I got you beat in a duel multiple times and I'm 4 years younger, shorter and physically weaker."
The group would laugh except for Bocchi.
Who just poured a little and glared at Tanmachi.
"You're just a bigger prodigy than me I guess"
He then shrugged and shook his head.
The group would then continue their banter, moving on from the serious tone of work talk to a more tamer matter like weather lately and such.
After some time passed the group was found at the door, with Bocchi leaving first.
"Alright, have a great day. See you guys later, promised to go out drinking with my pals tonight so I gotta get going"
Bocchi said and settled down on his motorbike.
Gahu called out to him with a wave.
"Bring us over again next time!"
As Bocchi drove off, Gahu looked at the group and sighed.
"Gotta get going too, got some working out to do, besides my car still has not been fixed so I gotta walk back home"
Gokkumon looks at him, with a smile.
"I was wondering where your car was, I can give you a lift if you need it. I gotta go shopping anyways so it's along the way"
Gahu exhaled and shook his head.
"Boss you're a saviour, that would be great. Thank you so much."
Gokkumon chuckled and walked outside with Gahu. Giving Miyuki and Tanmachi a wave with him as they both sat into his car and drove off.
Tanmachi lingered a little longer with Miyuki.
"And the girls are left alone! Again…these guys sure are gentlemen"
Miyuki would chuckle whilst standing behind Tanmachi.
"I'd prefer the guys this way rather than acting like some high school boys while around us girls"
Tanmachi crossed her arms and sighed.
"Wouldn't hurt one of them to offer me a ride one day…not like I'd accept but the gesture would be appreciated."
Miyuki would laugh and pat Tanmachi in the back.
"You're asking too much of Tanmachi…anyways, have you thought about what we texted about yesterday?"
Tanmachi turned around and pondered for a second.
"The Idea of you and me helping out Commander more in his efforts of humanizing demons? Yea, I feel like it would be a good idea to show people that he's not just some crazy old man and that more people agree with him"
Miyuki would smile and nod.
"Good, I'll send you some ideas I have through the mail, so you can have a look at them when you get home "
Tanmachi would give a slight salute as she walked outside too.
"See you later Miyuki! I'll let you know what I think of your ideas once I get home, take a shower and read through them!"
Tanmachi waved to Miyuki as she jogged off.
Miyuki stood in the door waving back to her as she watched her last friend leave, she turned back into the house and closed the door. Walking through a hallway lined with family and friends photos, photos of her, Miyuki and Bocchi in DHC training camp, with her parents when she was little. A picture of the Top 5 welcoming Bocchi among them. And a picture of Miyuki's marriage, which Miyuki stops in front of for a second and smiles softly, patting the image of the man who was marrying her, a man with glasses and brown hair in a three piece suit.
"Oh Kazuto if only you were here to see how far I've gotten and what we're dealing with now"
She smiled softly, and turned away and began walking, the smile on her face quivering a little as she took a deep breath to calm herself down, then she looked back and gave the photo a slight bow.
Before she made her way to her own room, the manor was so large for a lone girl.