Kagura: "Alright, listen up!"
Chairs scraped. Someone dropped a fork. Ariel poked her head over the couch with crumbs on her lips.
Chifuyu: "Maybe a little warning before you suddenly start shouting next time."
Iris: "I just dropped the last clean fork…"
Nicholas: "And I just scratched the floor with the chair…"
Kagura: "Sorry, anyway… We've got an Odd Job," she continued, grin already dangerous. "A good one."
Yuji: "I'm dying to hear it."
Kagura: "Good to see your enthusiasm. A client from a VERY wealthy family," she said, rubbing her fingers together in the universal sign of greed, "wants us to hike into the mountains about a hundred and ten miles east. There's a legendary insect called the Golden Beetle."
Shinatsu: "There's no such thing as a legendary insect."
Chifuyu: "Yeah, it isn't a Pokemon."
Kagura: "It might as well be. It's shiny, extremely rare, and worth a lot of money. He's asking for 4 heads."
Chifuyu: "Well, I've been wanting to go camping. I'm in."
Ariel: "Then I'm in too."
Kagura pointed at them: "That's two."
Beatrice folded her hands in her lap: "I'd like to go."
Diego's chair tipped back: "Well, guess I'm going too."
Shinatsu: "Despite how she comes off, Beatrice always volunteers for Odd Jobs."
Yuji: "The complete opposite of you."
Shinatsu: "You're one to talk."
Kagura: "Perfect, we have our 4. Client's getting dropped off here tomorrow morning at 6 in the morning. Beatrice, you'll be driving."
Beatrice nodded: "Understood."
Diego groaned: "6 a.m…?"
Chifuyu: "Hey, it's not like you're the one driving."
Ariel: "I can drive if Beatrice gets tired.
Chifuyu: "Absolutely not. We'll be driving in the canyons, and I don't want us flying off a cliff."
Ariel: "No faith in your partner…"
***
Golden Festival Day 32
October 2nd, 2024
Beatrice stood by the car, keys already in hand. Diego leaned against the hood, half awake. Chifuyu and Ariel both yawned, they only got 4 hours of sleep because they decided to start binge-watching Breaking Bad.
A car arrived and passenger door opened. A boy stepped out. He was younger than all of them, 15 years old, but he had this confidence about him. Brown complexion, slightly darker than Chifuyu's, long black hair. His posture was straight, he bowed politely.
"Noah Ibrahim," he said. "Thank you for accepting my request."
Chifuyu blinked: "Whoa, you're young."
Noah smiled faintly: "I'm 15, but I'm a Hunter just like you all."
Diego raised an eyebrow: "You're a Hunter?"
Noah: "Yes."
Kagura: "Alright, have fun guys."
They piled into the car.
Chifuyu called shotgun by default and immediately plugged his phone into the aux. As soon as they took off, idol music exploded through the speakers.
Diego's soul visibly left his body: "…This is gonna be a long ride."
Chifuyu grinned: "Oh yeah. This is my jam."
Noah tilted his head: "This genre is… energetic."
Diego: "That's one way to put it," he muttered.
***
About 20 miles into the drive, Noah decided to give some background information on their target: "The Golden Beetle," he began, "is native to these mountains. It's nocturnal, drawn to mineral-rich soil and bioluminescent fungi. But there has still been sightings of it during daytime. Its shell refracts light in a way that appears metallic gold."
Chifuyu paused mid-headbang: "You know a lot about it."
Noah: "I like knowing what I'm hunting."
Diego leaned forward: "So… how hard is it to catch?"
Noah: "That depends," he said slowly, "on how patient you are."
Beatrice: "So it's a battle of waiting out the clock."
Noah: "Indeed, the beetle reacts to vibration. "Too much noise, and it burrows. Too much light, and it disappears. People have chased it for decades and failed."
Diego whistled: "Sounds fun."
Chifuyu nodded seriously: "So we most likely will be camping."
Noah: "Yes, I brought supplies. A tent, thermal blankets, rations, a bug-safe container, and scent dampeners in case someone lets out a bit of gas."
Ariel: "You came prepared."
Noah smiled: "You don't hunt legends unprepared."