"Kaharu, we've got a person you need to confront as soon as possible. Which is probably on Monday, honestly speaking."

Standing far away from everybody else working at the shrine, out of worries on Kunma's side that someone would notice, Kunma said his words with a serious face. It was a different look from his usual self, as he usually carried a half-aloof face that hung in a limbo between being serious and being casual. But his straight, half-visible, mouth told Kaharu that it was about something more serious than their otherwise casual and entertaining chats.

Kaharu lifted his sleeve to scratch his arm as he said

"Whaddya mean?"

The God scratched his slightly purple skin as he explained

"I got information from this month's Reiraku meeting yesterday that there's an all-powerful person that needs to be taken care of. His spiritual powers seem to be way too strong for someone who isn't in a God candidate position. Although we don't know exactly where he is, we have an area of three schools where he could be.

Also, the reason they picked you was because 'Hey, Kunma. You have that new God candidate, don't you? Let's have him try his ability by taking care of this fellow'.

Geez, they sure try and word things nicely. They're like deadbeat parents, avoiding responsibility and pushing it onto others, how careless. Like you're supposed to…

Of course you would have those eyes..."

The three-horned god sighed as he witnessed the God candidate Kaharu Kahari smile with ignition in his eyes. The opportunity to both prove his own strength, which he'd wanted to do for a while, and to best a person who received the title of 'all-powerful' was very tempting for him.

Kaharu smiled and stretched his shoulders like he was about to compete in a small-scale sports event. He had the same excitement a participant at such an event would have if they wanted to reach for the glory of succeeding. Kunma commented to himself

"You're still annoying, but I guess that's beneficial in this scenario."

Kaharu heard his comment and instantly leaped forward, grabbing Kunma's collar and saying

"What'd you say, geezer? Don't forget I'm able to touch you now!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Also, I gave you the tools to be able to touch me, remember? Isn't it kinda cruel to use them against me!?"

Kaharu thought through what Kunma had said previously and realized something that had slipped past him in his excitement, he asked

"Wait, what's a 'Reiraku meeting'?"

Kunma managed to get out of Kaharu's grip as he dusted his gray kimono off, and said

"Now you ask?

Well, we have an observer that could probably tell you."

He pointed at a bush by the forest that used to have a cold feeling extruding from it, and shyly standing by that bush was Ranna, the member of a well-meaning terrorist organization.

Afraid of a sudden attack again, Kaharu subconsciously took two steps back. Ranna, realizing she'd been seen by her adversary, stepped forward out of the bushes and situated herself properly, next to Kunma. She threw an emotionless stare at Kunma as she said

"Why do I have to do that?"

Kaharu shrugged easily, turning around as he said

"It's fine, I don't care that much. Well, then I'd better go and prepare for----"

"Wait, Wait, I was joking! I was only playing cold!"

Kaharu turned around slightly, as if he'd accepted her quick apology as she straightened her back, making a *Hum-HUM* noise as she cleared her throat. She started talking

"The Reiraku meeting is a monthly event, first started by Yamatou a long time ago, between the 17th and 21st, depending on how urgent it is, where the main Gods of this area gather to discuss things that are ongoing in the spiritual world. But it's not mandatory, so some gods usually skip it, including Kunma."

She threw a more emotionally-charged stare at Kunma as she said the last part, as Kaharu nodded and started walking away.

She was left in shock as he left in complete silence, Kunma nodding slowly as he stared back at Ranna.

…

Kaharu started to return to his planting place, with a spaced-out look. His mind was full of thoughts about different things, he had no idea that there were meetings and such in the spiritual world. The fact that he didn't know proved to annoy him slightly as he started thinking about what other things were hidden from him. Maybe his situation was like being on top of an outlook point over the whole city, but right in front of him sat colored glass that blocked the view. Despite the view being right in front of him, and the glass should've enabled him to see it, but yet it was far from his reach.

More than the annoyance, there was a fear in that. The fact that something that could've been prevented could strike him was unsettling. His thoughts wandered to the potential power user. He was labeled as 'all-powerful' without even being a member of a shrine, while Kaharu was weak while being part of a shrine.

But that thought turned his head into a striking-ground for lightning again as he tightened his fist around the gardening tool he held, saying to himself

"Bastard thinks he's so much better…

I'll definitely show him who's better"

Tsukino, who squatted beside him, thought to herself

- What scary stuff is he saying!? -

Kaharu looked over to his right, noticing Tsukino, and said

"Well, I'm back. Wanna continue?"

"U-Uh, sure."

…

Kaharu spent his Sunday in a similar way, making conversations with Tsukino during Shrine hours and spending the rest of his time in a mix of casually lounging at arcades and considering his future mission.

By the end of the day, he laid in bed considering that mission he was going to do. He had a bit of a mental conundrum as he realized he'd accepted an order from someone of authority. Which gave him an uneasy feeling as it didn't feel quite correct. But he reasoned to himself that since the mission he was given was something he wanted to do, it was fine.

But the problem he faced later was the fact that he'd have to skip school to even investigate for a suspect at the schools he was given. Thinking about his parents, he felt even more uneasy about doing it. They'd explicitly wanted him to attend school properly if anything, and he'd tried to abide it for a while at that point. His thoughts slipped to the high school takeover he'd just defeated.

- If Amatsuyu could've had that thing on until Monday, everything'd be fine. -

Kaharu regretted his desire to continue the power he'd spent several days defeating, it was ultimately a selfish desire to continue everyone's suffering for his own benefit. Parallels were drawn to Amatsuyu in his head, but he quickly shook them off as he tried to take his mind off of that topic specifically. He remembered he'd gotten the number of Amatsuyu on the day they'd gone to the arcade, so he decided to send a text either way

"Amatsuyu, are you able to reinstate that mind-control thing tomorrow?"

Amatsuyu replied scarily quickly with

"I'm so sorry, brother! But that's too soon, it would take two weeks to set up that. Why?"

Kaharu felt a slight wave of relief as he'd avoided the pain of making that choice completely, he replied

"Don't worry 'bout it. It's nonya business."

Several texts came back in response, but Kaharu had already flipped his phone down towards the bed as he rested his arm on his forehead, saying quietly to himself

"I guess I'll have to skip school, then."

…