It is possible that I have missed some lessons from Hunting 101. I haven’t the slightest idea about Echo or whatever that is. I wish there’s a mobile application like Hunters Dictionary or Hunters Hotline. That would be well used in this moment.

I have to find this Echo thing to get everything back to normal.

Goodness, there better be a pay rise if I succeed. And some trophies. Preferably a nod of acknowledgement from Dad would be great, too. Not that I would tell him, though.

I park my sedan and get out. I fish my phone form my jacket pocket and turn it on. There are few missed calls from Sora. And nobody else, as expected.

The word Echo sinks into my brain deeper and deeper. I must have read it somewhere. Wait, or I’ve heard about it? Dammit. I grab a handful of my hair and yank it, hoping some part of my overly clouded brain would clear. I’m so preoccupied that I mistake a girl for a sack of dump. Almost kick it out of frustration. Then, of course, I notice trash bags don’t have purple hair, although the black attire is a match.

“Dammit!” I yell and jump back as the supposedly trash gets up.

“You’re back!” she yells, taking one step forward while I take one back.

By instinct, I look around. There’s no one but I and Sora. For a change, Sora isn’t’ looking so sparkly. Good job, I want to say. She finally learns. “Where’s your ghost friend?” I ask.

“Why?” she asks back, making a face. She then crosses her arms, eyes squinted. “Don’t you want to talk to me first?”

I copy the crossed arms. “Don’t you have to go to works?” I ask.

Sora sighs. “You know what, let’s forget that. I tried to get to you but I can’t. Please, please don’t tell me I’m fired.”

I never really thought of firing her. I mean, I absolutely hate liars, but the more I think about her ‘lies’ the more I sort-of understand. It’s her choice if she wants to conceal her parental situation. The bit about the ghost, though, that’s shady.  The entire reason as to why she wants to be in this hunting gig could be an influence of that ghost and that the ghosts are secretly planning to take over the human world through her, then me.

Of course, I overthink.

I rub my chin. “Actually, I don’t know. It’s easier to work without someone slowing me down. Should I fire you?”

The girl ignores that, like she already knows I’m not going to fire her anyway. “Where have you been?” she asks.

“Why should I tell you?”

“We’re partners?” she suggests, raising a brow.

I nod. “Yes, yes, we are. Partners tell one another everything, right? Like if I have this morning job at the café and afternoon job at the bookstore, I absolutely would tell you. Oh, and just for your information, I didn’t go to school; homeschooled for Hunter purposes. Cool, right? Of course, I wouldn’t lie and tell you that I go to one. If I ever keep anyone shady in my house, you’ll be the first to know. There’s no way I’ll ever lie about anything to you. Why would I, you’re my partner!”

Sora purses her lips and uncrosses her arms. “You said you didn’t care about that at all. You don’t give the slightest about my miserable life or whatsoever. But here you are making sarcastic remark about it to make me feel guilty!”

I shrug. “It’s a good jab. It’s okay. I know you got secrets. Everybody lies, as quoted from that TV show.”

“House.”

“Yep, that one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to get inside my room.” I take out my key and open the door, Sora follows behind. “Don’t you have that jobs?” I ask. “That is not another smart remark, just so you know.”

I sit on the edge of my bed while Sora sits on top of my desk. A bit too close to my dagger collection but I say nothing. “I said I have family matters,” she says.

“Whoa, you’re a real natural at this lying—”

Absent, the thought of that word stops me. Series of ideas ran around my head. I just can’t put into words. Not now. But there is one similarity: Echo. I must find out what that thing is. And there is only one place that has my answer.

“Say, Sora …” I trail off.

“Yes?”

“This family matter,” I say, “can it get you a whole week off?”

“What?”

Author's Note: so.. yeah. Up to this point I've written this story a long time ago. There are some changes but I think I might have lost track of the changes I make. If there are any inconsistency throughout the story, please do tell me. I was thinking to just dump this story but it's a pity that I've written a total of 24k words and just trash it, haha.