"Nothing new to report."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well."

Night had not yet fallen since the fight against the ice Demon before Michael started questioning Kyouko on why she'd locked up. Unfortunately, after the first few comments about how much danger she'd put herself and Mami in, Kyouko stopped answering in English, and after a few attempts at getting Mami to translate, she'd stopped answering period. "I dunno," Michael said in exasperation after a few more unanswered questions. "I just don't know."

"Perhaps she'll answer if I ask her, instead?" Mami suggested as Michael walked to the window of Mami's little apartment. "I've known her for longer, after all."

"Be my guest," Michael commented as he checked his phone for messages. Finding none, he pocketed it and turned to face the blonde. "I'm open to suggestions, and that's the best one yet."

Mami nodded and walked back over to where Kyouko sat, a frustrated pout on her face. Between the two started a lengthy exchange of Japanese that Michael couldn't pick any words out of. Then again, uninterested as he was, he didn't really bother to try. Somewhere during the exchange, Michael's phone started vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out to check the number, he noticed that it was already listed: his Italian employers. "Salute," he said into the phone by way of answering. "Si. Parlare." Apparently, they wanted to know why he'd left Florence on such short notice. Which meant the rookie that had replaced him hadn't connected with the Family

Michael silently cursed under his breath in English before explaining that he'd left instructions for whatever rookie Magi replaced him to contact the Family. He continued on to explain that he would be back, it would just be about a month or two before he returned to Florence. With that out of the way, he hung up and pocketed his phone only to find Mami standing next to him. He hadn't seen or heard her approach, and a quick glance over his shoulder showed that Kyouko was asleep on the couch.

"Kyouko-chan explained everything, but she doesn't want you to know," Mami explained.

"She probably doesn't want me to have more stuff to tease her with," Michael remarked quietly, continuing to glance at Kyouko from time to time.

"I'm curious," Mami said after a minute. "How do you know Kyouko-chan?"

"I spent a few weeks in Tokyo on business for the Family," Michael answered, only seeming to confuse Mami with his remark. "While I was there, I took the opportunity to fight some Demons. Bumped into Kyouko during one of those fights." He sighed. "You know how she is. She doesn't like working together with anybody. After the fight, she confronted me about stealing her kills and her Crystals. It took a couple days, but I convinced her to share some hunts with me while I was there. That's how she got my number, and my name, Michael Paladin."

Mami nodded to confirm. Before she'd gotten Kyouko to settle in Mitakihara and live with her, Mami knew that Kyouko had traveled Japan, taking the trains to various locations, following Demon hotspots. "I'm curious about one thing, though," she said. "The 'Family'. Who are they?"

"Oh, them," Michael sighed. "The Monticelli Family, of Italy. My employers. Minor Mafia family. They pay me for each Demon I kill in their territory."

"Sounds beneficial," Mami intoned hesitantly, unsure what to say, for once.

"Not as much as you might think," Michael warned. "They only pay for confirmed Demon kills. If there's not a Family agent there when you kill it, or if you didn't film the battle, you're not getting paid for the kill." He sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm not the type to wear a camera while I'm trying to fight, and most Mafia men aren't exactly willing to stick around where they could get cut in half, whether it's by me or the Demon I'm fighting."

Mami tried to say something in response, but cut herself off when a small groan came from the couch. Kyouko was shifting in her sleep, which wasn't unusual considering her history. After a minute of audible tossing and turning, Kyouko rolled off the couch with a surprised yelp. "Not a word, Reaper!" she said in annoyance as she picked herself back up. "Not a word."

"Something else to wonder about," Mami intoned. "Why did she call you 'Reaper'?"

"Oh, that?" Michael let out a short breath. "I have this . . habit . . of assigning titles, of sorts, to Magi I come across and fight with," he explained. "'White Reaper' is one I gave myself, for obvious reasons. You remember me calling Kyouko 'Dragoon' whenever she does something stupid, like just now?"

Mami just nodded, but Kyouko shouted "Hey! I said 'not a word'!" while blushing and climbing back onto the couch.

"That's part of the title I gave her," Michael continued. "The 'Crimson Dragoon'. I'm still working on yours. Kyouko, though, has apparently taken to using my title as a replacement for my name. Never should have told it to her."

"It's meant to show that she doesn't respect you, I believe," Mami said, showing a little bit of agitation.

"Well the feeling's mutual, I suppose," Michael said in slight surprise. "Regardless, it's getting late and we never took the time to organize sleeping arrangements." He gestured to Kyouko. "I figured I'd take the couch, but Kyouko seems to have other ideas."

"We usually sleep together," Mami said, referring to herself and Kyouko. "She must have worn herself out if she's going to sleep without eating first."

"I'd personally like to get some sleep myself. Fallen Archangel isn't a move designed to be used lightly."

"I understand completely."

Morning was uneventful, aside from Kyouko's irritated stares and snide comments at the breakfast table (quickly quelled by threats of food deprivation by Mami). It wasn't until midday that they started patrolling and things got interesting. Like before, they'd all taken separate areas, only this time, they were spread out over the city rather than over a single park. Michael himself, of course, was favoring the rooftops. While Mami preferred to mingle with the crowds and ask after strange occurrences, Michael and Kyouko instead went from rooftop to rooftop, examining the scenes below. Nothing was really out of the ordinary, which in itself was out of the ordinary.

Unless there was another Magi floating around doing business with their own cleanup crew, there should have been at least minor signs of Demon attacks. Strange murders, unusual micro-climates, localized negative emotional trends, and whatever else was out of the ordinary for Mitakihara. Those were all warning signs that a Demon was present, or if not, that a Demon had recently been defeated. Most Magi, while not specifically trained, at least had the experience to look for these signs when hunting. And so, for experienced Magi like Kyouko, Michael, and Mami, not seeing any signs of a Demon at all was disconcerting more than relieving.

After an hour of patrolling the city, Michael acted on his discomfort and gave Mami a call. "I thought you said the Demons here were multiplying beyond your control?" he asked when she answered.

"I did," Mami replied. "And they are, or so it seemed a week ago. At the time, two Magi didn't seem enough to hunt the Demons that were coming out of the woodwork."

"Well, then," Michael started. "There's probably another Magi going around that you don't know about." He sighed. "Whoever this mystery Magi is, I hope she's agreeable."

"'She', Michael-san?"

"Do you really think a Puerum is likely to be contracted here?" Michael scoffed. "A Puella is a hundred times more likely to be contracted, you know that."

"That is true," Mami admitted.

Michael scanned the area, but didn't hang up. "I'm gonna switch gears for a moment," he said. "See if I can't find our mystery girl."

"Understood. Would you like to tell Kyouko-chan, or should I?"

"You tell her. I doubt she'll listen to me for very long before erupting into another yelling match." Michael heard Mami giggle softly before he hung up. Apparently his closing comment was amusing in some way. Regardless, with the informing out of the way, he set to work on finding out who the mystery girl was.

Instead of him finding her, though, she found him.

[BGM: Galileo Was Wrong: Get Nice: Zebrahead]

An angry shout was the only warning he had before he felt a kick land in the middle of his back, knocking him forwards and off of the roof. Stunned, he didn't manage to recover before landing roughly on his back, stunning him further and almost knocking him out. After a moment, Michael pushed himself back up onto his feet and groaned in irritation. "Okay," he said to clear his head. "Who kicked me?" Not the smartest of questions, but his answer came in the form of a green-haired girl landing in front of him then getting into a fighting stance. The anger in her green eyes was obvious as they tracked Michael picking up his scythe.

She didn't give Michael a chance to ask another question before shouting again and charging him. With a quick hop, she brought one fist back and used gravity to augment the strength of her punch. Michael, unused to fighting someone who used fisticuffs, ducked out of the way and tried to straighten himself out before the girl could get another strike in. He wasn't so lucky, and ended up on the receiving end of another kick to his back.

"What is it with you and kicking me in the back?!" Michael asked as he got up again. "Seriously!" He turned to face the green-haired girl and brandished his scythe in a defensive stance, the blade positioned near the ground and the tail end of the shaft pointing into the air. Although angry, he still had his sense of mercy; the blade was pointed behind him, so he wouldn't inadvertently injure whoever this green-haired girl was. Magi were too scarce to be killing one another, or that's what Michael believed.

The girl said something in Japanese before charging again, apparently too angry to think clearly. Michael was ready for it this time, squatting down as if he was going to jump, then twisting around so his scythe was over his shoulder. With a quick and powerful yank on the end of the scythe's shaft, the blade was brought up and over his shoulder in a 180-degree strike. He heard the girl gasp, then yelp as he felt his strike make contact. Standing up and turning around to face her, he shifted his scythe into a one handed stance, leaving his front almost completely open. The girl was still angry, for a reason Michael had yet to figure out, but now she was rubbing her wrists and had a red spot growing on the underside of her jaw.

Now that he wasn't trying to fend her off, he got a closer look at her. Her outfit, in particular. Her hands, the part he was most interested in, were covered by armored gloves, with a glowing green jewel on her left, probably her Soul Gem, and her leading fist. Past the gloves, nothing, until her tunic, also green, and the skirt. It was a half-skirt, like Kyouko's, only instead of the front and being short and the back end long, the right was short, and the left was long.

A shot ricocheting off of the ground between him and the green haired girl distracted both of them and knocked them out of their standoff. Michael knew who the bullet belonged to even before he saw Mami standing on the same rooftop he'd been knocked off of. He heard her shout something in Japanese, obviously meant for the girl. He even picked out a name: Hitomi. Whatever Mami had said, it had convinced Hitomi to retreat, though not without glaring at Michael one last time.

Michael, though, just redirected the glare to Mami. "Yeah, thanks for interfering," he called sarcastically. "Again." Sighing, he walked down the alleyway, towards the street, only to stop when he almost bumped into the business end of Kyouko's spear. "Put that thing away."

Kyouko didn't listen. "Why did Hitomi attack you?" she asked furiously.

Michael gently pushed Kyouko's spear out of his face. "You know, you really should be asking her that." He stepped around Kyouko and continued walking, still irritated that his fight had been interrupted. Kyouko didn't follow, thankfully, but she did glare at him as he walked. He could feel it. As Michael reached the street and turned the corner, he dispelled his Magi uniform, going back to the outfit he'd worn that night in Florence.

"You look pale."

"I saw her fight."

"Ahh."

"The Berserker doubts that the boy is here to cause trouble. She reports that her friend told her that he's here as a favor for her."

"Very well. Have her join their group, teach her English, and continue to report."

"Understood."