Inside a shinjuku izakaya.
Uchiha Ryo: "Hey, Hiratsuka-sensei. Even if it's your treat, we still have a high school student here, you know?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka clinked glasses with Yukinoshita Haruno, then drained her cup.
"Hmph, hmph. Seeing that woman look so defeated just makes me so happy I have to have a drink."
Yukinoshita Haruno rested her chin on her hand. "I have a lot of questions for you two today. First... Ryo-kohai, why did you want to buy Ryuko-san's game?"
Uchiha Ryo: "Because I've established a game circle. We have the personnel, funding, and hardware all lined up, but to create a galge from scratch would take at least a year or two. That's why I was interested in Maki-senpai's game build."
Yukinoshita Haruno: "I see. Then how is your relationship with Yukino these days? As upstairs and downstairs neighbors, you must visit each other often~"
Uchiha Ryo looked at the squinting Yukinoshita Haruno.
"Not often. I just went over once yesterday."
Yukinoshita Haruno raised an eyebrow. "Oh.... Yukino went to your place? Then your relationship must be really good. By the way, what could Yukino be doing at your place? Let me guess... cooking?"
Uchiha Ryo shook his head.
"Wrong guess. The answer is babysitting."
Yukinoshita Haruno almost spat out the mouthful of sake she had just drunk. She hurriedly patted her chest and looked at Uchiha Ryo in shock.
"You... what did you say?!"
Uchiha Ryo: "Nothing. Bring the next dish. Let's keep drinking."
Although Hiratsuka Shizuka and Yukinoshita Haruno were drinking happily, Maki Ryuko was a bit reserved, especially when facing Uchiha Ryo.
About an hour later, the four of them, full and satisfied, walked out of the izakaya. Yukinoshita Haruno and Hiratsuka Shizuka could only walk back because they had been drinking. The task of taking Maki-senpai home was left to Uchiha Ryo.
"Maki-senpai.... is the human world fun?"
Maki Ryuko stopped in her tracks, then forced a smile.
"Since Haruno-san calls you Ryo-kohai, I'll call you that too. But are you telling some kind of joke? I don't quite understand."
Uchiha Ryo didn't speak, just quietly looked at her.
After a long while, Maki Ryuko stopped in front of a rather secluded courtyard.
"If you don't mind, Ryo-kohai, please come in for a glass of water. Then I'll give you the game build."
It was a Japanese-style house with a rather ancient layout. Walking into the front hall, Maki Ryuko was kneeling on the tatami, with a USB drive placed on the table.
"Ryo-kohai, here's the USB drive. Just pretend you've never seen me, how about that?"
Uchiha Ryo sat down opposite her.
"You don't want the three million? Choosing to spend money to avoid disaster? I thought you would bring me in here to silence me."
Maki Ryuko shook her head.
"To be honest, I did think about that for a moment. But perhaps it's a fox's natural intuition. I believe the enemy in front of me is invincible, so I can only part with my money."
Uchiha Ryo didn't speak. There was no killing intent from Maki Ryuko. It seemed she was a youkai who was relatively friendly to humans, like Nyanko-sensei.
"You should still take the money. But I'm a little curious as to why a youkai would want to blend into human society."
Maki Ryuko looked up. After thinking for a moment, she decided to be direct.
"Pure curiosity. After my mother died, we three got tired of the fighting among youkai. We longed for the human way of life, so we found a great youkai and made a deal to learn the art of transforming into a human."
Uchiha Ryo: "Three?"
Maki Ryuko: "I have two younger brothers. One is in middle school, and the other misses the mountain forest, so he didn't go to school."
Uchiha Ryo: "Alright. You don't have to worry. I'm neither an onmyoji nor a youkai exterminator. Unless you make a move on the people around me, I can't be bothered to interfere. Take the money, I'll take the game. Let's end this matter here today."
"Wait!"
Maki Ryuko suddenly called out to Uchiha Ryo. After a brief silence, she pushed the USB drive on the table.
"I don't know if you take on commissions, Ryo-kohai? The commission fee is this three million yen! I hope you can help my little brother."
Uchiha Ryo sat back down. To be honest, he didn't want to take this three million for free. But since the other party had a request, there was no harm in listening.
Maki Ryuko: "I wonder if Ryo-kohai has heard of the Matoba clan of youkai exterminators!"
Matoba... Uchiha Ryo nodded. He seemed to have agreed to attend a gathering of youkai exterminators with Matoba Seiji over the weekend.
A month ago, Ryuko's younger brother's youkai identity was discovered by the current head of the Matoba clan, Matoba Seiji.
As a youkai exterminator, Matoba Seiji didn't make a move right away. Instead, he wanted Ryuko's younger brother to become his shikigami, but was refused.
But Matoba Seiji then settled for the next best thing, hoping Ryuko's younger brother could do him a favor. If he didn't help, he would expose his true form at school.
Maki Ryuko: "Little Chi... Little Chi had no choice but to agree to that Matoba Seiji's request, to attend a gathering of youkai exterminators as his shikigami."
Uchiha Ryo nodded. "Little Chi, that's your brother's name? In other words, your commission is for me to go to that youkai exterminator gathering and bring your brother out."
Maki Ryuko nodded.
"As a youkai, I can't possibly force my way into a gathering of youkai exterminators. But today, I met you, a human who can see youkai and is not simple. So... I want to use this three million yen as a commission fee to help my brother."
Uchiha Ryo took the USB drive in his hand. "Alright then, I'll take this commission! I'll attend Matoba Seiji's youkai exterminator gathering and bring your brother out safely. By the way, is your brother's name just 'Little Chi'? And youkai have surnames too..."
Maki Ryuko smiled.
"Because after our mother passed away, my siblings and I were under the protection of the thousand-year-old great divine tree. That's the only reason we weren't bullied by other powerful youkai. So we took the surname 'Maki' (True Tree) after coming to the human world."
"As for my two younger brothers, one is named Maki Chi, and the other is Maki Kozune."
A corner of Uchiha Ryo's eye twitched. So the little fox he was going to save was named Maki Chi? What an unlucky name. He kind of didn't want to save him anymore.
"Wait a minute. Why are you called Ryuko (Willow Fox), your third brother is Kozune (Fox Cub), but your second brother has a name like Chi (Thousand Hands) that sounds so... (evil)...?"
Maki Ryuko: "Mhm, because the divine tree's true form is a willow tree, and the great tree can control every one of its willow branches, just like having a thousand flexible hands. That child really admires the divine tree, so he took the name Chi (Thousand Hands)."
[note: Still havent found who is Maki Ryuko and her two siblings. Maybe an OC? I will update if I found info]