Midnight Occult Civil Servants (真夜中のオカルト公務員)

Abe no Seimei?

Yes. A powerful onmyoji from the Heian period.

Our family, the Miyako clan, bear his bloodline.

I'll tell you all about how amazing he was—

Nah, I'm gonna play over there.

Hey, Arata! Arata!

No, Seimei!

Seimei!

You are Seimei!

I know it! Your blood smells the same as him!

No, I—

Oh, he's up.

Good morning.

Good... morning...

You collapsed at the Citizen's Plaza.

Well, I guess it's understandable.

Sounds like you had a busy night.

Hi there.

I'm Senda, head of the Shinjuku Ward Nocturnal Community Relations Division.

This is our boss.

Nice to meet you!

I was planning on making introductions tomorrow, but...

Miyako Arata-kun.

You've got Ears of Sand, I've heard?

#2 "The White Nekomata of Kagurazaka"

In other words,

Storage #1

Nocturnal Community Relations Division

when you've never heard a language before, but can still understand it somehow,

Ears of Sand

that's called "Ears of Sand!"

Have you ever had it happen when you were talking to a foreigner or something?

No...

So it doesn't work on human language, huh?

You understand what the Anothers say, huh?

That's an amazing new kid we've got.

Yeah.

Um, how have you dealt with the Anothers when you couldn't understand them?

We've used facial pallor, mannerisms, and circumstantial evidence.

Like trying to figure out what a cat or dog's thinking.

I've never heard of anyone in our line of work

in other wards or anywhere in Japan who could talk to the Anothers.

Not in the past, either.

Maybe it has something to do with them calling you Abe no Seimei?

Wonder what that means.

My late grandfather once told me...

Our family, the Miyako clan, bear his bloodline.

Nobody believed him.

Well, you can go for today.

Your shift's over.

Goodnight.

What a weird night.

Yeah, what's with that new kid?

Abe no Seimei, huh?

I thought the exam would get rid of anybody

who had relationships or experience like that.

Miyako

So?

You've come to investigate?

Yes. Here's a present.

April 6th Shinjuku Ward, Kagurazaka

If we know your connection to Abe no Seimei,

it'll provide evidence as to whether the Ears of Sand are real.

According to Senda-san, anyway.

Evidence?

Huh? Arata, you have guests?

Oh, Izumi.

Co-workers?

Thank you for taking care of Arata.

I'm Matsuno Izumi.

Her parents run that restaurant over there.

This is Sakaki-senpai from work.

And I'm Seo, his senpai. Seo's in katakana.

Nice to meet you.

Seo-san's the senpai?

That's right.

Seo got his job the same time Section Chief Senda did.

Huh?! He did?!

Surprised, aren't you?

Well, anybody would be surprised the first time they heard it.

Circular Notice

Hey, you work as a government worker on the night shift, right?

Yeah, why?

Is it something weird?

All my grandfather's things are in here.

I haven't opened it in a long time.

When my grandparents were alive I used to play in here a lot.

When they died and my family moved in, I stopped.

Wow!

My parents said you can take what you want.

That's nice of them.

Okay, I'll go check upstairs.

I guess we should carry out the papers, at least.

Sure.

What? A cat?

I-It stood up?!

Arata!

Arata! Arata!

Arata! Arata! Arata!

What's up?

There's an Another down here that really likes Miyako.

Two tails...

A nekomata.

How do you know my name?

We always used to play together!

A white cat with blue eyes...

Yuki?

That's right!

I'm so happy to see you again, Arata!

Hey, help me up here.

Wait, that's a huge nekomata!

You okay, Miyako?

Yeah.

Arata, what are you doing?

Taking some of the old books and stuff in here out and reading them.

You can't do that!

Your ancestor told me to protect what's in the storehouse.

Ancestors?

Your grandpa's grandpa's grandpa... a long way back.

My former owner.

You've been here that long, Yuki?

Yup.

In the last century or so, you're the only one who's been able to see me.

I see...

Yuki's been here... all alone... protecting the storehouse.

Okay, why not go with us and watch over them?

You must be bored in here all the time, right?

My ancestor wouldn't have wanted you to stay in the darkness forever.

But...

I want to be with you.

Is that okay?

Arata!

I'm so happy!

I actually... I actually...

I was so lonely by myself.

I'm sorry, Yuki.

I should've realized sooner.

Being alone is...

Arata, this place is huge!

It's not like the storehouse at all.

Of course.

Hey, you.

Over here.

Miyako Arata, right?

Arata, you know him?

Taroubou-sa...

What happened to you? Those bruises...

Well, some stuff happened.

I got beat up.

Everybody's against it,

and my dad and her relatives are fighting a lot.

I don't know what'll happen now, honestly.

But you cheered us on, didn't you?

I really thought you made a good couple. That's all.

That made me pretty happy.

So... thanks.

I'm happy, too!

Since I get to talk to you!

I always wanted to!

Yeah. Me, too.

Section Chief Director

Senda

Unsolved Missing Girl Cases in Tokyo

May 13th

Shinjuku Imperial Gardens

The Anothers are quiet today, huh?

Wish it were always like this.

What's that?

A bird?

No, it's way too big for that.

What's on top of it?

A person?

May 13th

Morning.

Hey, morning.

Everybody's here now.

We have something we need to deal with immediately.

On the Shibuya Ward side of the Shinjuku Imperial Gardens,

somebody witnessed a kisha.

A kisha?

Kisha

This is a kisha.

A Chinese Another. A monstrous bird that brings disaster.

It's got ten necks and nine heads, so it's also called a nine-headed bird.

We've been getting reports of sightings for a while now, actually.

In January, it was seen in Kyoto.

February, Aichi. And then it kept heading east.

Aichi in February?

Yes. The Izuna Incident.

What are you talking about? Izuna?

Aichi Izuna Incident Video Documentation

Aichi Nocturnal Community Relations

First, look at this.

Senpai, do we have to do this?

An izuna is a type of weasel Another.

Of course we do, it's our job.

Its tail is made of a metal so supple, it's called "living iron."