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There are two things that Otome is deathly afraid of. The first is something—anything—bad happening to Koharu. The second is burning to death in demon fire.
She's had the first fear ever since she adopted Koharu—ever since she realized that she was a mother, responsible for the well-being and development of another human being in a way that her medical training had never prepared her for.
The second fear, however, is something new. She doesn't know why or when it started, but one morning she just had happened to wake up with an all-consuming fear of burning. Fire itself is fine. Watching things being set on fire is fine. It is only the thought of burning away to ash in a matter of seconds that terrifies her so.
Which leads to some complications at work. Otome is the finest physician in all of JPs; she remains attached to the JPs medical building in most normal cases. Otome is the finest physician in all of JPs and a talented demon summoner; should a Class D or Class X incident occur, she will be out on the front lines, supporting and healing the others.
Otome has never feared Agi-class spells before her fear of burning to death birthed itself. Now she flinches if she feels demon fire graze her flesh, and all of her demon handling experience and training is pulverized by the panic that sets in when she feels the fire sear her clothes, her hair, her skin. She still handles fire demons excellently, but the moment she sees an opposing demon use fire, she freezes. Flinches. Withdraws.
She's experienced enough to know these actions will only put her at greater risk, and yet... And yet—
She burns their dinner.
"Moooom," Koharu drawls from the table, head resting on her arms as Otome stands over the sink and tries to scrape off the carbon remains with a spatula, "can we please go out to eat tonight?"
Otome drops the pan and spatula into the soapy water with a splash. It can wait. Learning how to cook can wait. Right now, she needs to feed her daughter and herself.
"Where do you want to go, sweetie?" she asks, and Koharu sits up, eyes bright, and suggests a place before Otome has time to even turn off the faucet.
They head out, and it's hot—still hot, even in late September. Koharu's humming something that Otome vaguely recognizes as the opening theme to a tokusatsu show, and they walk hand-in-hand down the street. It's been hectic lately at JPs, what with the string of heavy demonic activity and rogue summoners popping up all over Japan. Yamato choosing to come forward about JPs has only made things busier. Time spent with Koharu is rare, and rarer still are moments when the two of them can go out and enjoy themselves uninterrupted. Otome thinks, not for the first time, that he busy life is unfair to her daughter, and if it maybe is time for her to marry, even if only for Koharu's sake.
"Koharu," she says once they are seated in a western-style restaurant that Koharu loves, "what would you think of mommy got married?"
Koharu looks up from her glass of apple soda and stares at Otome expectantly. "You found a boyfriend?! When can I meet him?!"
"Er, no," Otome says, shifting as a few other patrons turn their heads towards them after Koharu's outburst. "But if I did... If I wanted to get married, would that be okay?"
Koharu thinks for a few seconds, blowing bubbles into her soda through the straw. "If you love him, then of course I'd be okay with it. Geeze, Mom, why wouldn't I be? I want you to be happy!"
Otome loves her daughter more than anything else in the world. If it meant Koharu's safety, she would face demon flame a hundred times over.
"Thanks," she says, picking up the menu and trying not to cry. "But, Koharu, I want you to know that I'm always happy when I'm with you."
Koharu smiles, bright and elated. "Me too! I'm always happy when I get time to be with you, Mom! Now let's order! I'm so hungry!"
For Koharu's sake, she will do anything.
Which is why she's crawling around in the belly of a dead dragon, wearing a hazmat suit and collecting samples with Fumi.
"Look at this digestive track," Fumi exclaims, pointing at something so wide that they would both be able to pass through comfortably at the same time. "It's so efficient, despite its size! What a waste for such a creature to die."
"If it wasn't dead," Otome says, scraping some tissue off its stomach walls, "then it would be trying to eat the town."
"Nothing too substantial would have been lost," is Fumi's answer, but she does stop looking longingly at the intestines to point a scanner at something green and smoldering at their feet. "Okay, I've got what I need. Ready to head back out?"
"Am I ever," Otome says, and they climb out of the open wound Yamato had inflicted a few hours earlier. The fresh air is wonderful, even if Otome can barely tell the difference through the air filtration system in the suit, and she and Fumi walk towards the biohazard truck together.
They pass Makoto on their way. She's speaking urgently into her cell phone as she commands a half-dozen JPs members at the same time through a combination of hand gesture and mouthed words.
"—keeping them at bay as you commanded," Otome overhears her saying. Makoto nods at them in acknowledgement, shakes her hand in a negative gesture at someone behind them, and then says, "No, sir. We've yet to learn about the summoner's whereabouts. Otome and Fumi have just returned from retrieving samples. We'll know soon enough whether or not they were devoured by the demon or not."
It is a long day. The heatwave doesn't help, because even though Otome spends most of her time in an air conditioned medical truck, the giant carcass begins to decompose at an astonishing rate in the sun, and everything inside and out soon smells like rotten flesh.
"This is why I hate old-school summoners," Fumi mutters. She's taken shelter in the truck, typing away at her laptop and feeding data to the various JPs branches. "I hope whoever summoned that bloated beast got digested slowly and painfully."
"Hm? But weren't you the one who said it was a waste for that 'bloated beast' to die?"
Fumi smiles. The rapid fire shots of her typing do not slow. "That was hours ago. Time changes things."
And time does change things. Koharu's vocabulary grows at an awe inspiring pace. JPs becomes busier and busier as the number of D-Cases drastically increases. Yamato grows more and more scarce. The heat wave goes from sweltering to unbearable.
The one thing that does not change is Otome's fear of being burned alive and her concern over Koharu's well-being.
It is mid-November, and the heatwave has now been confirmed as a demon's doing. Yamato has gone public with the information, and JPs has suffered for it, drowning in civilian complaints and riots. To top it all off, the acknowledgement of demons has only created an increase of failed demon summoners, and Otome spends most of her days hunting down rogue demons instead of tending to the wounded.
JPs is understaffed. There are too many incidents, too many mysteries, too many things to address and not enough people to address them. Makoto is practically running JPs solo some days, as Yamato is found increasingly in meetings with the rest of the Hotsuin clan. Rumors have started in his absences, and most of them are unkind. Makoto does her best and does a good job, but without Yamato's skill and knowledge about the seals scattered around Japan and the authority that comes from being head of JPs, there is only so much she can do.
This is why some of the others have taken it upon themselves to do as much as they can alone. This is why Otome finds herself investigating, alone, a fire that's broken out in between JPs' Osaka headquarters and the elementary school that Koharu attends.
The first thing she notices upon arriving is that the fire is supernatural in nature—a given, really, since JPs was alerted, but there are fires started by demons and allowed to grow naturally, and then there is this.
A perfectly cylindrical pillar of white flame, so hot that the concrete around the fire is melting, warping, being reduced to liquid stone. The civilian police barriers are set up far from the fire itself, yet Otome begins to sweat as soon as she sees the barriers and blockades in her field of vision.
When she sees the fire itself, she falters. She sweats even more, not only from the heat but from anxiety, and her legs tremble and shake. She whimpers, takes a step back, and as her knees are about to buckle beneath her, she turns minutely to the side and see's Koharu's elementary school in her peripheral vision.
They haven't evacuated. The police ordered a lockdown, just in case. Otome would much rather have Koharu home, or at JPs, where others could watch over her instead of well meaning people who have no power to deal with the threat that is boiling away at their city.
The air she breathes is hot, and it feels like its burning her lungs, but she takes it, then another, and another before steadying herself. Her legs are still shaking, her arms are trembling, but not proceeding is not an option. Not protecting Koharu is not an option. She would face demon flame a hundred times, a thousand times, a million times—
"My name is Otome Yanagiya," she says, holding out her JPs badge for the police to inspect. "I've come to take care of the demon."
The police guards examine her badge, look at each other, then look at her. No, not looking, examining. Questioning. Criticizing. She's a petit woman, young, still trembling. The badge won't mean anything if she can't convince them she's capable, so her first priority is to fake it. To lie and convince them that she will take care of the demon, even though she herself doesn't believe it. Otome stands up straighter, tenses her limbs so they stay still, and pushes her shoulders back.
"I know that here's nothing that civilians—even hardworking officers of the law like yourselves—can do against demons. JPs has declared this to be a D-Case and will take over from here on out."
One of the police guards scratches his hair beneath the cap, beads of sweat falling from his brow to his chin. "And by JPs, you mean you? Just you?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
The condescension is enough of a push to make her act become a little more real. "Yes," she says with as much authority she can muster. "Just me. I know I may not look like it, but I am one of the most skilled Demon Tamers JPs has. I will be more than enough to stop whatever is causing the fire."
The police guards exchange looks again, but she's either done enough to convince them or they're just sick of being forced to guard such an unpleasant scene that they're willing to let her in. She steps past the barriers and makes it only a few feet before the heat becomes too strong for her to handle.
Too hot for a human, but perhaps not for a demon.
She pulls out her cell phone at the exact same time it goes off. She's startled, but answers reflexively.
"Hello?"
"Otome?" Makoto says. "Have you gone to investigate the fire in Asahi-ward?"
"Yes. I'm staring at it right now. Honestly, I don't think I'll be able to even get close. The most we can do is send our demons for recon."
She hears Makoto inhale sharply. "Listen, Otome, get out of there. Don't summon any of your demons unless you need to defend yourself. The demon in charge of the heatwave is there."
Otome takes a step back and grips her phone. "What? That demon?"
"Yes," Makoto says. "Kagutsuchi. We've only just pinpointed its location and identity. Listen, Otome," she continues, speeding up her speech, "the Chief is on his way to the scene as we speak. I want you to continue your observations from a safe distance, but do not engage it unless absolutely necessary. The police should also have instated a lockdown of the surrounding area. Don't let anyone lift it until you've been given the clear."
Otome turns her back on the fire to look towards where Koharu's school is located. "What if the demon moves?"
"Not even then. Otome," Makoto says, "having people run around in panic when a volatile demon is on the loose is one of our worst case scenarios. You know this. Are you all right?"
Otome does not answer.
"Otome?"
"Yeah," Otome replies, still facing away from the flame and towards Koharu. "Sorry, I guess I didn't have my head on right for a moment. I'll keep an eye on things until Chief Hotsuin gets here."
Makoto is silent for a few seconds before she replies. "Okay. He'll be there in a few minutes."
Otome nods, makes some sound of confirmation, and then hangs up. Slowly, she turns back to watch the fire, shuddering as another wave of heat washes over her. When Yamato finally appears, he takes one look at her before turning his head away, pulling on a pair of white gloves and dismissing her.
"Are you sure, sir?" Otome asks even as she's already preparing to go. Yamato scoffs.
"You're in no condition to fight. Go see your daughter and calm down. You're useless like this."
She can't even feel insulted; that's how true his statement is.
Kagutsuchi is dealt with and the temperature drops rapidly—too rapidly. People are getting sick, and the increase of patients does not make Otome's job easier. She's still on leave from D-Cases, but her work as a doctor continues, patching up weakened immune systems and dealing with a cold outbreak. Koharu complains about the cooler weather, the sweaters she has to wear, and the fact that she can't have ice cream anymore, but she does not complain about Otome working late or the hours that she keeps in the hospital.
Otome isn't sure some days that she deserves Koharu, but that's all the reason for her to work as hard as she can. Finally, in early December, things slow down. It snows. The number of D-Cases decrease. The JPs hospitals return to the usual cases of accidents and mishaps.
Otome takes Koharu ice skating for the first time. Koharu takes to it naturally. Otome, not so much. She shuffles slowly on the ice, wobbling and clinging to the guard rails as Koharu laughs and skates in smooth circles on the rink. Otome laughs too, despite her own lack of success, and the evening goes well right up until the moment she decides to skate away from the edge and takes a tumble right into another person.
"Oof," the man who catches her says, and Otome scrambles around on the ice, trying to stand up on her own without taking them both down. She hears Koharu skate towards them, asking if she's all right, and Otome's about to answer when she looks up and sees the face of the man who caught her.
He's got blue eyes.
"Uh," the man says. She realizes she's staring. "Um."
"Wow," Koharu says. "You're handsome."
He flushes and helps her stand in very quick, efficient motions. "Um," he says again, and Otome shake her mind free of fog.
"Koharu," she says, then turns to him and smiles. "Sorry about that. Thank you for catching me. Are you okay?"
He looks panicked, and Otome is about to go into full doctor mode when he laughs sheepishly and says, "Jag kan inte tala japanska."
She stares at him. She doesn't know what he just said, but she can tell he's hiding something. She knows it.
She doesn't know how, but she knows.
"You don't have to be so shy," she says, letting her smile grow sly. "I just want to properly thank you for catching me."
"Nej," he says, shaking his hands in front of him. "Uh, jag är, um..."
Otome plants her hands on her hips and cocks said hips as best she can while remaining upright. In her best scolding voice, she says, "You could at least use a language you're more familiar with!"
He sighs. "I'm actually fluent. Just...not outside of work, apparently." He rubs his head and gives her a grin.
"Aw, see? You're so much cuter when you're not flustered."
He turns a bit red at that, and Koharu is tugging on her sleeve. "Mom," she whispers, "do you know him?"
Otome wants to say yes, even though she knows she should be saying no. She struggles with how to answer, but he beats her to it.
"No, we haven't met," he says, looking at Koharu and very pointedly not looking at her.
"Are you sure? Because mom's being really flirty with you right now."
"Koharu!" Otome exclaims, and the man lets out a short laugh.
"I should go," he says as Otome is about to speak to him again, to apologize for Koharu's comment. "It was...nice meeting the two of you!" He's still not looking at her, and Otome is considering grabbing him by the arm and making him stay for a little bit when he suddenly brightens and kneels down so he's on Koharu's level.
"Before I go, though, I'm going to tell you that there's a show going to start in an hour at the stadium next door. I think you'd like it," he tells Koharu, but there's something about the way he says it that makes Otome feel like he's speaking to her. "It's a traveling pianist and a classical Japanese dancer. Who knows? Maybe I'll see you there."
Koharu's eyes are bright, and Otome isn't sure if she likes the way that her daughter is looking at this guy. "Sounds fun! My mom can flirt with you some more!"
"Koharuuuuu," Otome says, but the guy laughs again and stands, waving goodbye behind him as he skates away in a manner far too calm to not be intentional.
"He's cute," Koharu says to her when he's out of their sight. "I think he'd make a good boyfriend."
"No way," Otome says, ruffling Koharu's hair through her hat. "He's too old for you. There's a fourteen year difference!"
She doesn't know how she knows that either, and it should be something that bothers her more, but her mind feels at ease for the first time in a long while. Koharu snaps her out of her thoughts by batting away her hands. "Mom, ewwwww," she says, face scrunched up in disgust. "He's so old and I'm not gonna date anyone ever!"
"That's fine too, sweetie," Otome says. She laughs, then trips on the ice and falls down.