"If we happen to kill a witch in their territory, during the leadup to Witchzilla - you think they'd overgeneralize?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"Uuuuugh well I can handle hunting more witches if I accidentally make a couple people lazy, it's whatever." In he goes.

Wherever Haru goes, Yutaka follows, of course.

This witch is creepy as fuck. It looks like one of those hillside graveyards, rows of markers in gray and black and white stone, swooping up in steep cliffs all around where they step in and looming above in an impossible overhang. It's infested with plague rats the size of dogs, vicious and red-eyed and hostile on sight.

The witch, when they stop time and track it down, is a blindfolded ghost, dressed in white and soaked in blood and stinking of iron more intensely than any normal wound could, and Haru throws up his ramen.

"—Haru?? Are you okay?" He thought he was defective for feeling nausea in his brand new magical boy body but maybe not.

"I just reaaaally hate the smell of blood that's all. Usually doesn't make me puke but this is a lot."

"...that's a lot of hating it. Uh." Well now he's fretting. "Can I—help?"

"Just kill the witch," says Haru on as little air as possible, trying to line up a shot.

Yeah, that he can do. Probably. It is going to die with extreme prejudice for making Haru feel bad like that.

It dies to bullets like all the others. Haru catches his breath once they're in the normal air again.

Now Yutaka gets to fret some more. He's kind of hovering a bit.

"Where's a good place for me to get a glass of water?"

Yutaka can detransform and grab his phone to find the nearest drinking fountain for Haru. "That-a-way."

"Thanks." Haru goes and rinses out his mouth. "Was not actually expecting to have that problem. I should experiment with whether I can turn off smell like you can turn down pain, in case there's more of those."

"I'd be surprised if you couldn't," says Yutaka, drawing circles on Haru's back with his fingers. "Seems like stuff is pretty a la carte, with our bodies."

"Yeah." Sigh. Lean. "...did we leave the seed on the ground or did you get it while I was out of it."

"I got it. It's in my buckler."

"Thanks."

"Should we—try to find the magicals from here or just—go home? Maybe let Kyūbey know that we have a seed for them or something?"

Yeah. Kyubey, if the Shibuya folks object to hunting in their territory we're okay with handing over the seed.

Okay.

Yutaka is still not totally sold on this "being a superhero" thing, honestly. It seems like every night there's something bad. But, well, it's been less than a week.

"I guess we should go now?"

"Guess so. ...that would have really sucked to fight by myself, I'm glad you were with me."

...eeee.

"Always happy to be of service."