It's been ten years since a gate to the spirit realm opened at the heart of Minaminagi city. Literally.

Monsters from the great beyond emerged from the gate and wrought havoc on the city. In one day the yokai infested an entire district. By the end of the week, they dominated the entire city, forcing thousands of refugees to flee. An entire city was lost overnight. They have no rules, no restrictions, no ideals, only blind instinct. They kill, kidnap, and raze because it's in their nature.

For better or worse, Minaminagi wasn't the first city to suffer from a Yokai incursion and thus, the crisis response was rote. To fight the supernatural, we tapped into the supernatural. The International Commission for Magical Girls, the ICMG for short, commissioned a hundred and one young girls to be trained, disciplined, and taught the ways of magic. A hundred and one magical girls to combat the otherworldly threat plaguing the city.

Four years of training, four years of active service, no more, no less. That was the deal the ICMG made with each and every one of those girls. They would serve as soldiers, beat back the Yokai, and reclaim the city in the name of humanity. All this in exchange for the honor of becoming a magical girl. Or at least, it used to be an honor.

Times have changed. Between the underground training regimens and the black market sale of Jutsu across the Japanese border, unsanctioned magical girls have never been more plentiful. As it turns out, the powers of a magical girl come in handy for organized crime. And not like the ICMG is doing much to combat it either.

The way they see it, there's going to be crime either way. At least the gangs are willing to cooperate with the commission. Tack on the fact that they don't like other criminals operating on their territory and, in a twisted way, they're basically helping to keep the streets crime-free. Or so it seems anyway.

In a brilliant marketing maneuver, the commission somehow managed to turn the boring, life-threatening, and demanding life of a magical girl into something filled with glitz and glamor. "Become a Magical Girl today! Wield awesome power! Get in touch with your second family! Boys will fawn over you!"

"Yeah right."

Still, it's not as though Shosuko regrets becoming an ICMG magical girl. What else was an orphan with no family to do? Still, for something she had to do out of necessity, she enjoyed herself quite a bit. Getting to beat on yokai was pretty fun. All the bullshit from school, all the bullshit from the higher ups, and all the bullshit from the other magical girls in her squad, she'd vent it all onto the yokai. Fuck those guys, Shosuko lives how Shosuko damn well pleases.

「Shosuko Kuze」- Yokai war veteran.

And what Shosuko damn well pleases is lying awake in her bed, staring at her ceiling. She reaches over to her bedside table, grabs a beer can, and downs it all in one go. Today was her last day as an ICMG magical girl. Starting tomorrow, she becomes a part of the reserve force. She finally gets to say goodbye to all her dipshit squadmates, goodbye to her dipshit commanding officer, and goodbye to fighting dipshit Yokai every night. Only one of those things she's going to miss.

The morning comes without her getting a wink of sleep. She sighs, throws the last beer can away, and gets up. Shosuko first checks her bag to see if she's missing anything before walking out the door. Ah, right. She forgot clothes. She promptly turns around and throws on her usual getup. Ripped jeans, a tank top, and a jacket with a fur collar. The subtle olive green of the jacket complements the dirty blonde dyed hair she wears in a ponytail. She turns to leave again but suddenly remembers why the world's blurry, she's missing her glasses. Shosuko picks them up, slaps them onto her face and walks out of the ICMG barracks.

Her squad leader nods at her as she passes her in the hallway. Shosuko nods back. They don't like each other, never have, never will, but they both owe each other one final goodbye, at least. Though, the same can't be said for her squadmates. She silently pushes past them on her way out, not even bothering to mutter an apology.

She hails the first taxi she finds. That, in itself, is a miracle. They only just cleared this district of Yokai last week. The fact that people are already starting to resettle is either a sign of humanity's unshakeable bravery or unshakeable foolhardiness. More likely the latter. Whatever, it works out in Shosuko's favor anyway so she figures that it's fine. She tucks her baggage away in the trunk and rides shotgun.

"Where to?"

"Inter-city train station." Shosuko kicks her feet onto the dashboard. "Make it snappy."

"You got it, boss."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"..."

Shosuko leans in close. "I asked you a question."

"N–no, ma'am."

"Good." Shosuko relaxes back into her seat. "Don't you ever talk to your superiors like that again."

The ride is long and silent. Minaminagi only has one inter-city train station and it's at the very edge of the city. By the time they arrive, it's already sunset. Shosuko leaves a small wad of bills on the car's dash. It's just enough to cover the taxi fare, and with an extra five-hundred yen for the driver's troubles.

The train ride to the city is also long and silent. Outside, a vast azure sea is stained orange by the setting sun. If Shosuko had an eye for beauty, she would appreciate the view. But she doesn't. So she instead opts to drift off to sleep.

"Ozawa City." The automated announcer voice wakes Shosuko up from her slumber. "Ozawa City."

It's the middle of the night. She steps off the train. The sound of crickets chirping invades Shosuko's ears. It's irritating, but it's not like she's going to go out of her way to punch some crickets so she just bears with it.

From here, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump before she gets to her ICMG-designated apartment. One last gift for her loyal service. From here onwards, the ICMG is completely hands-off. Various faded flyers are stuck on the apartment building's entrance. Shosuko rips one off advertising a fighting pit. That sounds like fun.

For something that came for free, she's surprised to see that the apartment actually has a working stove and a bathroom that's only a little grimy. She'll get to unpacking in the morning. For now, it's time to get some rest. She lays her head down on the surprisingly comfortable bed and drifts off to sleep.

———————————————————————————————————————

You can get addicted to a certain kind of violence. It's not the same way you can get addicted to alcohol or drugs or women. Violence is something Shosuko can find wherever, whenever she wants. The fact that she's getting paid is just a bonus.

It's been a full month since Shosuko came to Ozawa city. And already, she's managed to find a place she can call home. Through a maze of back alleys and lengthy shadows, in a nook so small no sunlight ever reaches it, at the bottom of a seemingly never ending staircase, is an underground pit fighting club. Its main draw is that anything goes in the ring. Taijutsu, Gujutsu, hell, even Genjutsu if you can get your hands on a scroll.

"UNF–!"

Shosuko delivers a gut-wrenching blow to her opponent's, well… gut. She stumbles backwards, teeters on her heels for a moment, and then falls over. Another absolute win by knockout for Shosuko, the undefeated.

She triumphantly pumps her fist into the air. The crowd's cheering doubles in volume as she does. She spits on her opponent and retreats back into her corner of the ring, exhausted, but ready for the next challenge. Though, it comes in a form she doesn't entirely expect.

Someone taps her on the shoulder.

"You Kuze? Shosuko Kuze?" That someone turns out to be a girl, maybe about half Shosuko's height. She's got natural blue hair with two tufts that stick up on either side of her head.

"Who's asking?"

"Name's Shiki Aragawa, of the Umi Alliance."

「Shiki Aragawa」- Umi Alliance Gangster

"I'm Shosuko Kuze… of the Kuze family, I guess."

"I'm in a good mood so I'm going to be nice and assume that you're new around here. You're on Umi Alliance territory, which means you've gotta pay up."

Shosuko scoffs, having left her manners at home. "Or what?"

"You seem like the kind of fella who likes walking."

"You threatening me?"

"Listen, Kuze. Do you know who I am? Do you know what kind of people I've got on my side?"

"You threatening me?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I am."

Shosuko grabs the girl by the collar, lifts her up, and slams her down on the ring. Shiki chokes on her saliva. This is probably a huge mistake, but the adrenaline coursing through Shosuko dulls what little sense she has.

"Listen here, Shiki." Shosuko kicks Shiki's side, sending her flying. A tiny whimper that sounds like a dog being kicked slips from her mouth. "I don't give a damn about your last name or who you've got backing you up."

Shiki tries to get up but Shosuko descends onto her, brutally slamming both of her fists down onto her back. There's a resounding thud as her ribs break and puncture her lungs. "All you need to know is that I love it when people piss me the fuck off."

Shosuko doesn't wait for Shiki to get up. Instead, she flips her onto her back, lifts her up, and then brings her spine down onto her knee. A satisfying crack echoes through Shosuko's leg, up her torso, and finally ending as a line of dopamine injecting itself directly into her brain.

She takes a second to catch her breath. Not because she's exhausted, but more to get her emotions back under control. The anger of being told what to do mixes with the joy of showing this asshole exactly who's the boss. "Get up. I'm not finished with you."

"..."

"I said get up–"

It takes Shosuko a moment to realize that she's not breathing.