Freshly updated, October 4th, 2014. Most of the bugs should be fixed... I hope.
Check out the "Training" series. This takes place in this universe between chapters 5 and 6 during that 2 month time skip - May and June. It documents the adorable and feels-filled moments of Yosuke and Naoto learning how to become Human.
Christmas brought a stand-alone adventure of the animal demons trying to change a burned out bulb on the Dojima family christmas tree.
This is obviously a Persona 4 AU fic, and the most adorable story I've ever written. My friends love this idea, and even created fan art. They're complete enablers. :3
Please enjoy.
1st SCENT: THE BOX
April 12th. Tuesday...
She'd awakened when something rough slammed into the box she was curled up in. Someone had dropped it. The sound of wind, a battle cry, and a deep roar of defeat snared her focus. Her ears pulled forward. Whatever creature made that horrific sound had met its end with an unseen weapon. And something powerful. She could feel it.
She yawned and shook her head, fighting the need to go back to sleep as she listened to a man's voice cry out an attack, followed by more monsters bellowing in agony. A great battle waged outside the box. Her curiosity to discover the truth gave her the strength to resist the need to succumb to unconsciousness.
A pale red light leaked through the closed slats above her enough to make out the forms of two others nearby fast asleep on a bed of towels. At least they were until the impact woke them up. It wasn't a large box, but could comfortably fit the three of them. The little dog demon blinked tiredly, stretched, then curled back up with a whimper as he fell back into sleep. The little fox demon rolled over onto his stomach, facing her. He was the tallest of the three, so his bare feet were flat against the opposite side of the box. He could barely keep his eyes open, though he managed a weak sound of confusion to his friend as they locked gazes. He wasn't strong enough to fight the urge to sleep, and was soon curled back up in slumber.
She mewed in kind, but he was already out. The desire to close her eyes pressed down on her once more. She almost gave in, but snapped awake when the box shook again. This time, it continued in a steady slight bouncing motion, as if someone was carrying it. Both boys were still asleep, though she couldn't figure out how they could stay that way through the jostling movement. She stretched and bumped into the fox-boy demon, who grumbled and buried his face in a towel. Her small dark blue ears twitched as she stood, using her slim tail for balance in the darkness, and pushed up a cardboard corner enough to look outside. She could barely see over the edge.
A melange of swirling black and red oozed across the blue sky, covering the beauty with its murk. A verdant hill to the side morphed into a twisted pile of metal rigging and girders when the red stain leached over it. The ground cracked, the sunlight dimmed, and the beauty succumbed instantly to the oozing infection. It looked like something was contorting the whole world –and everything in it- into a sinister version of itself.
She blinked and rubbed at her eyes with the too-long sleeves of her dark blue shirt. A thick fog rolled toward them tailing the red stain, threatening to crush them. Somehow, the one carrying the box managed to stay just barely ahead of the influence. They ran at full speed toward...
She scrambled over the other sleeping lumps of the fox and dog demon, and peeked out the front. She had to stand on the dog demon to see, which didn't seem to bother him that much beyond a whimper and a foot scratch at his black floppy ear. She, too was exhausted, but curiosity kept her eyes open. She glanced up at the silver wavy hair of the box carrier, to his red and gray uniform with a patch of stitched letters reading—MOEL—then up ahead at a quickly approaching large black window with a numerical dial on the side. The man wouldn't stop. In fact his pace picked up as the scene around them bled in toward a focal point just behind the window. The beautiful world would be completely consumed by it in seconds. She scrunched her eyes shut, fearing they would slam into it. Instead, the man dove through, box and all, sending ripples along the window's surface. It swallowed them up like the hungry, giant beasts behind them.
The little cat demon fell back onto the towels with a meow of surprise. The vortex propelled them to who knew where. All she knew was that the trip was steadily making her more nauseous and sleepy the further away they traveled from the crimson, foggy world. If only she knew what it was. Everything and everyone it touched turned into black, shapeless masses with masks, and eyes that glowed jaundiced-yellow.
A heavy thump told her they'd stopped. She flopped backward over the fox demon. The next sound she heard beyond the silver haired man's quick footsteps was water pattering the closed box. The chill air was making her ill. She curled up next to the fox demon for warmth and comfort, and closed her eyes in favor of the sleep that begged to take her away from the sensations. Nothing about the air outside felt natural at all. It was light, and she felt lightheaded in it. Whatever was chasing them was gone, so she let herself obey the call of sleep.
The next time she woke up, the box was open, and they were inside a room with an overhead light. She could see through the high window that the storm had broken up and the sun was shining. She looked over the passed out form of the fox demon, but they were the only two in the box. The dog demon was gone, leaving only his imprint on the towel. She nudged the fox with her tiny hands.
He grumped and curled up.
She bit his ear and pulled.
"Yip!" He jerked away, scowling at her and flicking his tail.
The tiny cat demon mewed slightly and pointed to the empty towel space.
He looked, then back to her with a questioning noise.
She couldn't answer him. She didn't know where the other young demon had gone. She didn't even know why they were in this box, or where they were, and her friend didn't know any more than she did.
He curled up with his arms pressed over his stomach and groaned.
The nausea had hit her, too. What could she do about it? What could she tell him other than to just breathe until is passes.
He gave her a short simple 'yarf' in response.
She narrowed her eyes at his tone. Of course it would pass! Who would want to constantly live like they wanted to puke? He could be such a whiny little shit sometimes.
Footsteps pulled her away from her irate companion.
"Good, you're awake. I was afraid the trip through the portal would be too much for you young ones to handle."
She looked up at the face of the box carrier. He wore a cap with light silver hair curling out from beneath it, and a smile. She didn't know him at all. Ignoring the want to curl up against the nausea with the fox demon, she stood guard in front of him instead and hissed.
The fox turned his sleepy gaze up at the man.
"Easy, little one. Your safe here, and your friend is going to be fine." He gently put the small dog demon back into the box.
When she'd first seen him, his ears and tail were entirely black. Now only one ear remained the shade of onyx. She kept her eyes on the giant. It took her a moment to realize the three of them were wearing oversized clean shirts. The fox in white long sleeves with a red v-neck collar, the dog in orange, and she in her familiar navy blue.
"I almost didn't get to him in time." He ruffled the ears of the dog demon. "I removed as much of the poison as I could, but I still fear for him. I'll need you two to keep an eye on him." The man put two orange bowls into the box – one with food, and one with water. The fox demon moved enough to sniff the food, then curled up. "Ah, right." he reached in, touching a fingertip to each of their heads.
At first she wanted to bite that finger off, but when the nausea disappeared, she rethought her reaction. It would be illogical to bite the hand that heals you. The fox demon seemed to be doing well as he picked up a handful of food and devoured it.
"It's a side effect of crossing boundaries. Normally being over here will make you sick until you go back, but you won't have to worry about that anymore. You should feel better soon."
She mewed.
The man just smiled. "I almost didn't make it, but I had to at least get you out of there. You three are the luckiest cat, dog, and fox yokai in the world." He stood, then moved to the other side of the room.
She and the fox stood to look over the edge, though she had to climb onto his back to see. The room was a type of garage without any kind of vehicle. Tools were scattered around on benches, the floor was stained with oil around a rack that looked like it could hold something heavy above the floor, and it smelled of grease and cleaner. She noticed the same letters on a few of the drawers as was on the man's uniform.
Her friend yipped in demand to know what had happened.
"All you need to know is that you're safe. I have a plan. Just be yourselves, and you'll figure it out." The sound of a car pulling up outside interrupted.
They watched him walk out the door to great the new customers, and could catch bits of the conversation.
"So, you in high school?"
"Yeah,"
"We need some part timers here. Interested?"
"No thanks."
"Still trying to get used to how dull it is compared to the big city? You'll be bored to tears if you don't have a job, or somethin'. Hey, look. Just give it some thought. Sound good?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Both young demons strained to hear in the silence that followed.
"Cool," they heard the attendant's voice. "All right. Back to work, then."
"Are you ok?" A little girl said. "You look bad. Are you car sick-ey?"
"I'm fine. It passed."
The attendant walked back into the garage at that moment and up to the box where he crouched down to their level. His tone of voice changed completely. "You need to go back to sleep now." He grinned. "Don't worry. You'll be exactly where you need to be. Just remember what I said." Gently, he ruffled the fox and cat demon's hair with both hands to reassure them.
She and the fox-boy flopped back to the towels, once again overwhelmed with sleep. Her fight against it weakened as her questions faded away with memories of the red world. The little cat demon struggled to remember why she needed to stay awake. She leaned heavily against the other two, hearing the fox demon complain lazily about not wanting to go to sleep. Soon, he, too, was out cold.
The gas station attendant closed the box again, leaving his face the last thing she saw before she lost the battle.
"'Adachi, where's my coffee? Adachi, get me some sausages. Adachi, stop staring like you didn't go to college.' Sometimes I wish Dojima would get me coffee with all the hard work and overtime I put in for him." He frowned. Of course, Ryotaro Dojima was the best, and if he wanted to learn every nuance of being a good detective, shadowing the older man was the best way to do it.
He cut sharply across the street to the gas station and stepped out into the crisp morning air when the attendant greeted him.
"Hey, what can I get ya?"
"Regular. And do you have a pot of coffee going?"
"Sure do. Just started it, so it may be a minute."
Tohru Adachi rolled his eyes. "Awe man, just my stupid luck." He was already late to work. Even if he did show up with the town's most amazing brew, he was bound to be put on paperwork duty. "Charge me for the biggest cup you have and a bottle of asprin for when he reams me a shiny new one for being late."
"You got it." The attendant's reply met with air, because the young detective had disappeared into the gas station market. He smirked. The pot would take a good five minutes to percolate, which gave him more time than he needed. He hooked the lever on the gas handle deftly with one finger to lock in the auto shut-off, and left it to fill the tank while he walked back into the garage.
The box was still closed in the corner. His little guests would be waking soon. Carefully, he opened the four cardboard folds. The three were still fast asleep, and the bowls were empty. The fox demon was in the middle, sprawled out over as much space as possible. The dog demon muffled softly into the towels from a dream with his feet up against the side of the box and his head over the fox demon's arm. The cat demon formed a tiny ball completely curled up into her long-sleeved shirt up against the fox, who's tail wrapped over her like a blanket.
The three of them had started out as friends in their world, but the attendant noticed that the other two tended to give the dog demon more space ever since they got here. That worried him the most. Animal demons who form bonds this young carry them throughout their lives, no matter who its with, or how far apart they travel. He could tell the dog's brush with darkness seemed to be eating away at that bond. Without it, his future was grim. The attendant gently pet the dog demon's ears.
It looked up at him briefly with solid black eyes and a blank expression, as if it could see through the attendant's own disguise.
He would do the best he could—he'd already set the wheel in motion with that transfer student and the young detective in the store, as well as another he would soon visit—but ultimately, it was up to these three to follow the clues. This would be a trial for each of them, but when they find each other again, they'll be stronger for it, and there just might be hope for both worlds.
The clock clicked over to 8:00am. He gently lifted the cat demon out of the box in both hands. The little fox yawned broadly and reached out where his companion used to be, though he stayed asleep.
He moved quickly out of the garage, cupping the smallest of the three in his hands.
Opening the backseat door to Adachi's black sedan was a simple matter of passing his finger over the locking mechanism. The lock popped up on the inside. He opened the door and gently set the cat demon on the seat. Thankfully, Adachi had been too busy to remember to grab his jacket, so the attendant covered the little creature with it.
"Follow your instincts and find the truth," he whispered.
The cat demon yawned and stretched out beneath the jacket. Her navy blue tail poked out from beneath.
He closed the door and locked it, then moved back to the gas pump. With a smooth motion, he unhooked the catch and stopped the meter right at 'full.'
Adachi marched out with a large cup of coffee in hand, and a bottle of pain killers.
"Hey, sorry I didn't get in there to help you," the attendant smiled. "Your car was nearly on empty. She's all set."
"Eh, that's fine. I left some money on the counter. Keep the change or put it toward my next coffee."
"Will do. Have a nice day." The attendant tipped the brim of his hat.
Adachi took his place in the drivers seat, turned the ignition on, and sped away from the station into town toward the Inaba police department.
The attendant watched him leave. One down, three to go.
The car slowed briefly at a stop sign, then turned right toward the middle of town. The motion pulled the small cat demon from her sleep. Too much had happened to her in the last couple of days, that all she wanted to do was curl up with her friends and go back to the way things were—if she could remember the way they were. She'd been somewhere else before, with two others, but the memories were hazy. She fought to recall the face of the attendant, though it repeatedly slipped away, like it was trying to hide from her. Their smell was still on her shirt, so she inhaled deeply. It was powerful enough to draw a few of the memories out of the darkness. She held on to them—the faces of her friends, the box, glimpses of a red sky swirled with black—and was relieved when those stayed. Maybe there was more, maybe not. Either way, this was all she had. She mewed softly and curled up into the memories of the fox and dog demons. Sure, the fox could be annoying, and the other was just weird, and gave her a bad vibe, but they were her companions. They were together in the box. Why weren't they here? Where were they, and why was she alone in something else that was moving? She feared it was taking her too far away to ever see them again.
She lifted her head and sniffed the air. The floor beneath her feet was different, fuzzy, and it was a dark charcoal gray. Plus, the heavy scent of cologne threatened to overpower her sense of smell. What kind of creature had to severely disguise their own odor? It must be incredibly rank by nature. She wiggled over to look down at a travel can of body spray on the floor.
She sneezed. Then hissed at it.
"Hm?" Adachi pulled the car into a parking space at the station and shut off the engine. He glanced into the rear view, though couldn't recall moving his jacket to the back seat. He reached back to grab it when it suddenly moved. He froze as the cat demon's head popped into view.
Her ears twitched once.
They stared at each other for the longest minute to ever exist in the history of awkward moments. It wasn't a cat, but it looked like a really, really tiny child.
'Mew.'
"Holy shit!" Adachi jerked back against the horn, making it honk once.
The sudden loud noise startled the cat demon into a fit. She scrambled out from under the jacket and onto the side seat looking for a way out.
Adachi rammed his hands against the door latch several times before it opened and he spilled out onto the pavement. "What..what the... How did you get in my car?!"
Finally, an escape route! She dashed out of the car and ran straight for the nearest open door.
He stared after her, watching the creature run on two legs, then bound inside the police station on all fours. "Oh no... I'm so dead. Wait! Get back here!" He got to his feet, slammed the door of his car, and hurried inside.
She ran through the hall, dodging a woman in a business suit and heels. The sleeves of her shirt kept getting in the way, so she shifted to running on two legs. That decision failed her when she reached a sharp corner. She tumbled behind a trash bin and knocked it over. Papers scattered all over the light colored floor.
"Hey! Stop! S'cuse me, Mrs. Shirogane," Adachi nearly ran into the same woman. He barreled forward. "Someone stop that cat! Whoa!" He'd stepped on a grease paper from someone's breakfast burrito that was once in the trashcan, and faceplanted near the stairs.
The little demon's tail flicked from side to side as she looked at the skinny, clumsy man, and giggled. She sort of liked this guy, though she still wasn't about to trust him.
"You. How did you get in my car? What are you?" His eyes widened when she took off up the stairs in a dark blue blur. "Little shit's fast. No, not up there! G'yah!" He took the steps two at a time to the second floor, then stopped, puffing and panting as he looked swiftly from side to side. He ran for the first door, an interrogation room. Nothing there. He moved on from door to door, room to room. She had to be on this floor, and he had to catch her quickly before she ran into-
"Adachi! Where's my coffee?!"
—Shit.
Dojima poked his head out of the main investigation room where the desks of Inaba's detectives were kept, including theirs. "I don't see a cup in your hands. Are you tryingto get paperwork duty?"
"No, sir. I left it in my car, but I was chasing this cat through the hall and—"
"A cat? In the precinct?"
"Well, it's not really a cat in the traditional sense. It's more of a cat...thing."
Dojima studied the newbie good and hard, looking for any sign of senility. "Right... Boy, they're comin' out of the academy more and more green these days."
"I'm telling you, sir, it looks like a kid, but it's got ears," he put both hands on top of his short cropped dark hair, "and a tail," he waggled his hand behind his butt—as if this explanation needed charades, "but it was only as tall as a ruler, and I was—"
"I've heard enough. Either get your ass in here and get to work, or go to the break room and get me my coff—"
The same blue streak of ears, hair, shirt, and tail rushed past Dojima's feet into the office room.
"Wah, there it is!" Adachi pushed past his superior to chase it down. He dropped down when it ran under a vacant desk, then stood and looked around. "By the window!"
Shenanigans had been called. They now demanded the attention of the five other detectives in the room.
The cat demon climbed a bookshelf, hauling herself up at the expense of a couple of books, and jumped to the desk next to it. She ran across manilla folders stuffed with papers, knocked office supplies to the floor, dodged coffee cups with cheesy sayings on them, and ran across keyboards, all to avoid the grasping hands of the Humans chasing her. Her footsteps left random letters across computer screens, and she even turned on a Vocaloid screensaver when she tripped over a wired mouse and hit the 'sleep' button. She stood with her back to a Caramel Dansen Rin, Len, and Miku gif and caught her breath.
She turned to look at the screensaver, and cocked her head to the side with one ear quirked down in confusion. What was this? She raised both hands in a mimicking motion to her ears for a moment, but shook her head. That was just weird.
The little cat demon was officially ready for this chaos to be over, although a small part of her enjoyed the thrill of the chase.
"Adachi. You flank it from the right, I'll go from the front. Myomoto, take the left and guard the door," Dojima softened his voice.
She smirked. Really? They were missing one vital escape route in this scenario. She grabbed a rubber band with a paperclip, jumped up, avoiding Adachi's hands, and slingshot the paperclip at Dojima's forehead.
He cried out and covered the new red mark on his face, though it gave the tiny creature the out she needed.
She launched herself off of his back onto a rolling chair, pushing it with inertia, and leaped to the floor. She rolled to a stop in the hallway, dizzy. That landing hurt more than she'd expected. Her tail whipped from side to side for balance. When she looked up, she was completely surrounded. The mischievous smile on her face disappeared. She was in real trouble now.
"See, sir? What did I tell ya?"
"It's not a cat, or a kid," someone else said softly.
"What is it, then?" Myomoto wondered.
"Whatever it is, we need to get it to a shelter or something," another detective added.
Her eyes widened and her ears drooped. Somehow, the word 'shelter' brought up an image of the box, only much more harsh and lonely. She would surely never see her friends again. She stepped back, turned when she got too close to Dojima, and backed away again.
A deputy called to the circle of people to move to the side so they could pass. He tightened his grip on a high school student's forearm to pull him by. Behind him, another deputy walked with a young man who wasn't restrained at all, and followed behind. The first boy was blond with a skull and crossbones tattoo on his left upper arm.
It was the first time she'd seen someone with that color of hair.
"I'm tellin' ya, you got the wrong guy!"
"Keep your mouth shut, Tatsumi," the deputy snarled.
"So, yeah, I roughed up the leader of the gang a little, bloodied his nose, but it was just between us. Mano a mano. An honor fight. I don't know who the hell took on the rest of them!"
The other boy following behind frowned deeply beneath black eyes and dirty hair. His frown shifted to a smirk.
The little cat demon looked from one to the other as they walked by. She locked eyes with the blond one for a moment, and sniffed the air. That was enough for her.
One of the female detectives folded her arms in disgust. "That Tatsumi kid causing trouble again. Some people are just bad eggs."
The cat had to trust her instincts. She took off in a run at the other boy and dove at his leg. Without thinking, she sank her teeth into his thigh.
He screamed in pain and tried to shake her lose, hopping around the hallway.
She held on, climbed until she reached his back pocket, and grabbed something from it. He spun around, finally catching her and smacked her back to the floor. She cried out at the impact and curled up, clutching her red cloth prize. That hurt worse than the jump from the chair. She missed her box and the fox demon.
A deputy and Adachi had to calm the boy down as he shouted obscenities to the little cat demon about how it attacked him, and should be put down. It could have rabies.
She whimpered, not knowing what any of that was, just that she hurt.
Mrs. Shirogane had followed Adachi up the stairs and watched the proceedings until now. She'd witnessed everything from the chase in the office to the attack. What everyone failed to notice except for her was the strip of red cloth held in the tiny clenched fist of the creature. She knelt down and gently took the fabric to unfold it. The letters RR stood out in black script, and there were blood stains on the color.
"Detective Dojima?" She stood. "I think you should see this." She held out the cloth.
He took it, turning it in the light to look it over, then regarded the boy. "Where'd you get this?"
"It's mine."
"Its' initials are RR. Who does this belong to?"
"Fine, it's belongs to a buddy of mine."
"A buddy in a biker gang? If I recall, RR – Riku Rinkosu –was in here last month for trying to hold up Konishi Liquors, and this is his signet. You're a part of that gang, too, aren't you."
"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just here to give my testimony!" The boy started to back up toward the stairs. A deputy grabbed his arm to stop him.
Dojima looked to Kanji Tatsumi, then to the boy. "We found out that biker gang was involved. Profits didn't split well between you?"
"You got it all wrong!" The boy demanded, starting to sweat.
The little cat demon hissed at him from the floor. He was spouting pure bullshit, and she could smell it as strongly as Adachi's cheap body spray.
Dojima stood nose to nose with the kid. "Really. Because if there's blood on here that doesn't match the leader of the gang, but matches someone else in the gang, you'll be in a world of hurt."
The teenager's eye twitched. He was trapped. "I... I... I was sick of them treating me like a kid! Sick of it! I deserve respect!"
The older detective backed up. His tactic had worked. "Get him out of here." A deputy pulled the boy's wrists behind his back and lead him down the hall to a holding room. Dojima turned to the original suspect. "You're off the hook, Tatsumi. I don't want to see you in here again."
Kanji frowned, and nodded. He wasn't sure he knew what had just happened. His gaze locked on the small cat creature as Mrs. Shirogane picked it up. It mewed as though it were in pain, and Kanji grit his teeth. Something that small and cute should never be in pain.
She held it in her hands carefully. "You'd better thank this little one, Mr. Tatsumi. She just saved your ass."
"A cat...thing?" Kanji touched the creature's ear. It was as soft as angora fur.
She looked at him, snarled a little, but let him be. He made her feel uneasy, though nowhere near the level of that punk brat they just hauled away. She mewed at him lightly and locked eyes.
His eyes dilated at how adorable this thing was, but he quickly looked away, praying no one saw that. Kanji stuffed his hands in his pockets, wanting to thank the little thing, and wanting to keep petting it even more, but he stepped back instead and cast his eyes to the floor. He let his gratitude pour out in his mind, though it would never be voiced beyond, "Whatever it is then. It's hurt. Probably should get it looked at. Does it... have a name?"
"Since she doesn't have a tag, I suppose we should call her something." A twinkling idea lit up in her eyes. "You name her. Call it your payment."
Kanji stepped back. "What? Why me?" He could have gone off on a tangent, but Mrs. Shirogane gave off the kind of aura that was both disarming and dangerous. Plus, being in a police station meant he had to be very careful in what he said and did until he was outside.
"She can tell when someone's being truthful or not. I know. What do you think of 'Naoto?' I know it's a boy's name."
"Huh," he tried. "It fits, I guess. And I do owe it—her—one." He conceded. Kanji bit back his pride for a moment to ruffle her ears again. "Yeah, I like the name. So," he scratched behind her ear, allowing himself one more second to enjoy the softness, "Naoto has a name, now."
Something within the tiny cat demon changed. She couldn't take her eyes off the blond haired giant.
Mrs. Shirogane smiled. Animals were always amazing at breaking through a persons tough exterior. This little one didn't have to work hard at all to get through his. "Thank you, Mr. Tatsumi." Kanji walked away down the stairs, glancing back at the cat girl before heading out.
Naoto. A truth seeker. That is one thing she clearly remembers. 'Follow your instincts and find the truth.' She watched him until he was out of sight. He wasn't that bad. … maybe.
"I believe you were looking for this," Mrs. Shirogane turned to face the two men again. The office had gone back to normal. "You said you found her in your car, right, Adachi?"
Adachi scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, but I don't know how it got there."
"Then you should keep her."
"What? Nah, I can't take care of a...cat... thing...girl...whatever it is." He held up his hand. "You keep it, or report it, or something."
A dispirited sound escaped from the cat demon.
Mrs. Shirogane stared at him with deep brown unblinking eyes. "Then write up a report. Do you really want to explain this to the Chief—to my husband—how an unknown, foot-tall, feline-like creature with a Human appearance solved a case in five minutes? I didn't think so."
Naoto looked up at the kind woman curiously. So far, she'd gone against everything she'd experienced from these people.
"We can't have a cat running through here," Dojima said.
"She's not a cat. She's a... She's a mystery." Mrs. Shirogane scratched the ears of the little creature in her hand. "Smart, too—I saw what she did to you with that rubber band and paperclip. You can put that in your report, too, Adachi. Besides, look what she just did. She seems to have a nose for justice. This place could use a mascot."
Dojima rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry. Adachi gets litter box duty." Mrs. Shirogane smiled jokingly.
"What?! I object! I get enough crap from Dojima as it is!"
The cat demon laughed, though not much since the motion flared up a pain in her side.
She curled up against Mrs. Shirogane as the woman took her to have her wounds cared for. She would solve the mystery of her friends, and the red world, and find the truth. She would live up to her name.
"Adachi?" Dojima worried the bridge of his nose as he walked back into the office.
"Yes, sir?"
"Change your screensaver."
He sighed. "Yes, sir."
"And get me my coffee."
Next Scent: Free
