Finally the next chapter for you is up! This will be the last chapter for quite some time, because I'll try to continue writing on my other fic 'Digimon Adventure 04: The next Generation'. Wish me luck.

Busan and the Vixen

"There are more things in heaven and earth,

Then are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet, 1, 5

Taichi was happy to finally get an opportunity to find something out about the principal who gave order for a contract kill, on the other hand he felt uneasy to visit Busan. This city was absolutely the wrong place to be for his 15 year old sister Hikari and also for his 16 year old squire Takato. At least he didn't have to worry about Takato; the boy hadn't shown any interest in women or men yet.

As soon as they saw the city walls of Obama in the far distance, Koushiro went back into the cabin he shared with Taichi. He came back quickly giving everyone except Sora a long, but thin, dark brown cloak.

"I assume you would prefer to wear your own cloak?" he asked surprisingly friendly.

"Yes, it's under deck." Sora gave her best to sound friendly, even if she didn't like the Master yet.

Taichi walked up to the quarterdeck next to Takato, so that he could talk to everyone.

"During our stay in Obama and Busan we'll have to hide our identity, so never tell anyone your last name and we will only use nicknames when we talk to each other."

Sora looked a bit confused at the others. "Nick names?"

"Just call me Kari." Taichi's sister spoke with a gentle smile; somehow she had already found a soft spot in her hart for Sora.

Koushiro forced a smile on his face. "You can call me Izzy."

For a moment Sora looked expectant at Taichi. He smiled at her with a sheepishly grin. "I'll be just Tai. And Takato well will stay Takato since it is a very common name."

Takato shrugged his shoulders and was unsecure if this was a good thing or not. She didn't know why but for a short moment Sora felt a little bit sorry for Takato. Taichi walked down from the quarterdeck back to his cabin.

"Taichi, wait please." She called after him."

"Huh? You want to talk about something?" he asked her.

"Yes. I absolutely agree with your plan to stay as anonymous as possible and if you don't mind I could help you even more with that task. I only need my gem and I can make sure that nobody will recognize us." She said with an honest smile.

Koushiro who had overheard their conversation stepped closer and looked curious at Sora "Elaborate!"

"With my gem I have the ability to make all our faces unrecognizable, for everyone who will see us we will just be strangers." She looked challenging at Koushiro "and before you ask; no I'm not able to kill someone with the powers of my gem."

Koushiro wasn't exactly happy and satisfied with her answer but before he could say something, Taichi had already given her the onyx necklace.

"I hope I won't regret trusting you Sora."

She smiled at him. "You don't have to fear me."

Moments later Sora started to feel the energy, guided it through her gem into her body, until it reached her hand. She touched everyone's forehead and murmured. "Ire sine vertigo."

For a short moment they felt a cold chill on their faces and then everything was normal again. Sora whipped the sweat drops from her face and took a few heavy breaths. "As soon as you put on the hoods of your cloaks the spell will unfold its effect. But don't forget the spell will only work as long as some shadows are on your face."

Taichi carefully put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Thank you Sora."

It had taken them a bit longer than expected to enter the river harbour of Obama, Koushiro had taken the rudder to manoeuvre the ship next to a quay. A city official and two boys were waiting for them. Taichi threw two ropes to the boys, which they used to moor the small hulk. Takato put a plank from the ship to the quay so that they had an easy way to leave the ship.

At first only Taichi and Koushiro left the boat to speak with the city official.

The city official approached them directly. "Welcome to Obama. Your name and five gold please." he spoke routinely.

Taichi sighed and took out a small bag filled with coins. "Let's say I give you fifteen gold and we forget the name."

The official smirked. "Twenty and I will forget you, your comrades and your ship."

"Fine." Taichi handed the man the gold.

The city official nodded, turned around and left without any more words. The two boys were also about to leave.

"Hold on boys, I have a job for you." Taichi yelled after them.

The boys turned around and one of them started to talk. "What can we do for you sir?"

"Take the luggage from the ship and bring it to a cheap inn next to the sea harbour. Afterwards you'll forget that you ever met me." Taichi explained quickly.

"Of course sir, you can trust us we know the best inn at the harbour."

Taichi smiled weakly. "I'm pretty sure about that."

One of the boys took a handcart that was standing on the quay while the other boy took the trunks with the personal belongings of Taichi, Koushiro, Takato and Hikari. The unspoken promise of good gold made the boys work really fast. A little while later they stood in front of an inn. Taichi looked at his companions. "Please wait here I go in alone first. " The others nodded and Taichi entered the inn.

Even if it was early afternoon and the stun was still shining bright outside, inside the inn the light was very dim. The windows of the inn were coated with a thick layer of dust and a very unpleasant smell of old ale, sake and sweat filled the guest room.

A thick old man with a white beard and a very big hook nose was standing behind the bar and was cleaning some wooden jugs with a dirty cloth. As Taichi had approached the bar the man ignored him at first. Realizing that the man wouldn't do something as long he wasn't asking, tasking spoke rather harsh to him.

"I need two rooms for the night, quiet rooms."

"For whom?" the man asked disinterested.

"For me and my friends, they are waiting outside." Taichi answered him.

The old man raised an eyebrow. "Names?"

"Not necessary!" Taichi answered with some emphasis.

"Alright, two rooms you said? For how many person in total?"

Looking at the man's face Taichi realized that this wouldn't be cheap. "Two rooms, five persons in total. And a meal for tonight."

For a short moment Taichi could see a greedy shine in the man's eyes. "Thirty gold and your word that you'll stay out of trouble in my inn."

Taichi forced a smile on his face. "Fine but I really hope that the food will be good."

A mischievous smile appeared on the man's face when Taichi gave him the gold.

"You'd be surprised." he gave Taichi two keys "On the second floor the last two rooms on the right side."

"Thank you." Taichi went outside and told his friends about their stay for the night. The two friends took the luggage and brought it to the rooms Taichi had paid for; he gave each of them five gold.

"For your effort and please forget that you have met me." The boys nodded and left quickly.

Taichi made Koushiro nearly faint when he told him that one room was for the men and one for the women. For Koushiro it was unbelievable how much Taichi already trusted the assassin, but Taichi made clear that there was no discussion about his decision.

While everyone was on his own business in the rooms, Taichi went to the man behind the bar once more.

"How can I help?" asked the man now friendlier.

"I and my friends need a quick passage to Busan, without asking many questions." Taichi said with a low voice while he put two gold coins on the counter.

The man avoided to look at him. "I don't know there are many ships in the harbour."

Taichi sighed heavily and put three gold on the counter a big grin appeared on the man's face revealing his yellow teeth. "Quay 6, there is a ship the 'Golden Hinde', they'll take you to Busan real quick without much questions, as long as the payment is good."

"Thank you." replied Taichi as calm as possible, but the greediness of the man had really pissed him off.

Their meal in the evening had been surprisingly good, even if the dark sauce with rice hadn't looked good; the taste had been really nice. They had gone to bed early, so that they could get up at sunrise. Neither Taichi nor Hikari had a problem with Sora sharing a room with Hikari, only Koushiro had mentioned his doubts again but Taichi had ignored them.

The group stood up with the first sun rays and left the inn, this time they had to carry their luggage themselves. It was a cold and misty, reminding them that it was already autumn; in this moment they were thankful for their cloaks.

For Hikari it was all very interesting, she had never seen such a big harbour with so many different ships and so many men working on them already in the early morning.

Quay 6 was rather easy to find as it was one of the main quays. As they approached the quay they immediately found the 'Golden Hinde' as it was the only ship which wasn't a bulky hulk. The 'Golden Hinde' was a slender elegant caravel.

Some men were taking packages and tons on the ship while a short man was watching them. Even if the man was a bit short, even shorter than Koushiro, there was no doubt that the man was the captain, it seemed like an aura of authority was surrounding the man.

Together they walked closer to the man who seemed to be the captain. As they were a few steps away from him he turned around and looked at them curious. The first thing they noticed where his steel blue eyes which inspected Taichi and his companions thoroughly. He was a bit smaller than Koushiro and a bit thickset, but with his thick and curly reddish hair and a beard in similar fashion he was still a very impressive appearance, making clear who was in charge.

"Are you the captain of the Hinde?" asked Taichi friendly.

"I am, Captain Drake at your service." the captain answered politely.

"We need a quick passage to Busan, an unofficial passage." Said Taichi while he pulled out a small bag witch contained his gold.

A knowing grin appeared on Drake's face. "So I guess no names? No problem if the price is right. But I'm a bit concerned to take two women on my ship. Women on board bring bad luck and they make the men nervous. But if they stay in the cabins and don't confuse my men, I'll take them on board for some extra gold of course." Captain Drake spoke with a smirk while he played with his moustache.

"How much?" asked Taichi angrily.

"Ten gold per person and ten more in total because of the women. No reason to be pissed my young friend in four days you'll be in Busan. Follow me I'll show you your cabins. " said Drake in a charming way.

Taichi gestured Koushiro to take the lead and held Sora back at her arm. He put one of her daggers he had taken in her hand and closed her fist around the handle. "I want you to do whatever is necessary to protect my sister is something unexpected will happen.

Sora looked deep into his eyes. "I'll protect her as if she was my own sister."

Taichi gave her hand a tender squeeze. "Thank you."

Sora blushed a little bit and went off on board, while Taichi started to help Drake's men to bring the luggage on board and then also went on board.

He was very reliefed when he saw that the cabin of Hikari and Sora was very clean and properly furnished.

The flood had come quickly and soon the 'Golden Hinde' had left the Eastern Provinces behind.

Their travel to busan had been rather uneventful, appart from a bit rough sea during a storm. For Taichi, Sora, Koushiro and Takato it hadn't been the first time to travel by ship so it wasn't a big problem for them, but for Hikari who had never travelled over the seas before it was the hell she had become seasick quickly. Captain Drake's strictness hadn't made things easier, he still insisted that no man was allowed to stay in the women cabin for a longer amount of time not even Taichi.

It had been all on sora to look after Hikari and Sora had done everything she could to make things easier for Hikari.

Finally after nearly four days on the open sea the entered the harbour of Busan and the struggles of the travel had come to an end. Even Koushiro had to acknowledge Sora's engagement in helping Hikari dealing with her sea sickness.

As they left the 'Golden Hinde' they saw Busan for the first time, only Sora looked worried, for her it was not the first time in Busan and she didn't connect positive memories with the city.

Even if Taichi and Captain Drake really hadn't become friends they shook hands and wished farewell. Taichi looked a bit clueless at Sora and the luggage. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

Sora smirked. "Well we could go to the Vixen immediately or we could take a look around the beautiful city of Busan, it's up to you."

Even if she was still not feeling so well because of their journey across the sea Hikari couldn't help and started to giggle because of Sora's slightly sarcastic answer, earning a stern look from Koushiro. Taichi took a handcart from the quay for their luggage and Sora leads them deeper into the city.

Soon they came to the part of the town Taichi wanted to avoid the most. The most establishments in this part of the town were bars or houses were men payed for favours from ladies, which was nothing that he minded. But the fact that some of those establishments made advertisement with their famous selection of very young boys or girls, even younger than Hikari, to serve customers made him really worried and angry.

Hikari was too young to understand what was happening in those houses, but she was old enough and pretty enough that someone could try to kidnap her. Taichi walked much closer than usual beside her and put his left arm protective around her shoulder.

As they continued their way through the "Pleasure Quarter" they came to another harbour, a much smaller harbour than the one the 'Golden Hinde' had used to dock. According to the smell and what they saw this harbour was used for the fishing boats.

Sora lead them through a tight alley to a small marketplace. They turned left and stood in front of a big three storey house. While the walls of the two lower storeys looked a bit dirty and not very impressive, the wall of the third storey was painted with a dim yellow and surrounded by a wooden balcony, also the windows in the highest storey were covered by red and white curtains.

"This way." Sora said like she had been here hundred times before, while she opened the unlocked wooden front door.

They entered and found themselves in a small but nicely furnished lobby, the lobby only had one exit, appart from the one they had used to enter. Sora lead them straight to the door on the other side of the lobby. On both sides of the door stood guards with very colourful leather armour and helmets that hide their faces.

The guards nodded and let them pass through the door, directly behind it started a colonnade which was illuminated by the midday sun. the colonnade led them to a patio with a small pond in the middle. Taichi and Hikari were very impressed they had never seen such an architecture before, also Koushiro, who had once read in a book from the far west about similar architecture was amazed. Sora who had been here a couple of times before still was fascinated by the beauty of this place.

They walked through the atrium to the opposite side of the house and entered room with a big door which was already wide open. In the room the light was much dimmer than outside, but a few candles were lit for a welcoming atmosphere.

Inside the room was a big counter with a young girl behind it, wearing a skimpy dress. Next to the counter lead huge stairs to the first floor. The rest of the room was filled with six round tables with four chairs around each table. On the side opposite to the counter was a bar with a wide selection of various liqueurs.

Sora immediately walked to the girl behind the counter, at the same time two very muscular men with bald heads, wearing black togas came out of a side room and approached Taichi.

"Excuse me Sir, would you like to have your luggage stored during your stay?" one of the man asked with a surprisingly high and friendly voice.

For a moment Taichi wasn't sure how he should react.

"Yes this would be very nice." Answered Koushiro quickly before Taichi's silence became to awkward.

"As you wish." Both men bowed and took the luggage into a side room Taichi and the others hadn't noticed yet. When their luggage had been stored one of the men returned and gave Koushiro a wooden coin with a 17 engraved in it. "Show this coin to get your luggage back when you leave."

Koushiro thanked the man and gave him two gold, the man bowed and vanished into the side room as quickly as he had approached.

Sora gave the girl behind the counter a warm smile. "Hey is Rosann here I'd like to speak with her."

For a moment the girl looked very unsecure at Sora. Sora used that moment to take a closer look at the girl. She was pretty, her long black hair was branded together in a ponytail, her face was very filigree, her eyes sparkled like emeralds and her cheeks were covered by a lot of freckles, but her nose looked a bit odd; like it had been broken a couple of times in the past.

Eventually the girl started to speak when she heard that someone was coming down from the stairs. "I'm sorry but Rosann is currently with a customer."

"I understand, could you please tell her that: Sora is here and waiting for her." Sora said very kind.

The girl nodded. "Of course."

While sora was talking to the girl behind the counter an older woman in her 40's came from the stairs. Like the girl behind the counter she was wearing nothing but a skimpy dress that revealed a lot of her big busts. Her blonde hair already had lost a bit of colour, she came to the table where Taichi and his comrades sat. She looked at the three men and licked her lips.

"Hello I'm Clea, what can I do for the gentlemen?" the older woman asked with a very seductive voice.

Taichi and Koushiro told her friendly but stern that they weren't interested in any kind of service. Takato on the other hand had been a bit overwhelmed by the situation and before he had been able to answer, Clea had sat down on his lap.

"Uhm … e … exc … excuse me … m … madam, but I … I …don't think … that uhm this … you ... me … tha this is … not a good idea." stuttered Takato.

Clea just laughed. "oh what a shy boy you are, I like it." She said seductive and bit his ear, then she pressed his head against her big bust. "Come to mama, I know what's best for you."

Takato's head had been red before, but now it changed into an even more intense shade of red. Taichi and Koushiro needed all their self-control not to burst out in laughter while Hikari still tried to figure out what was going on.

By that time, Sora came back from the counter and immediately realized what was happening. "Come on Clea he is a young innocent boy don't ruin him."

The older lady sighed and stood up when she noticed Sora. "I just wanted to have some fun."

"You only live for the fun." Sora said while laughing a bit.

Clea also started to laugh, but much louder than Sora and went upstairs. As she had walked up the stairs halfway she turned around and beckoned at Takato. "That's true."

Sora went closer to the table and sat down next to Taichi. She locked at Takato and shook her head. "What a shame, so much blood and it's all in your head."

In this moment both Taichi and Koushiro lost it, they burst out in laughter.

"Brother what does Sora mean?" Hikari asked with all her innocence.

Immediately Taichi's body stiffed hearing the question of his sister. "I'll tell you when you are older."

Of course Hikari wasn't satisfied with Taichi's answer.

"I'm sorry Kari but this is adult talk it's nothing that should bother you until you are sixteen."

"That's unfair I want to know it right now." demanded Hikari.

Sora realized how uncomfortable the situation had become for Taichi and tried to intervene. "Hey Kari do you remember the trick I showed you on the ship?"

"Of course I remember ." responded Hikari proud.

Sora grabbed her dagger and slide it over the table towards Hikari. "Show it to your brother."

Hikari took the dagger and threw it up into the air, catching it with two fingers only a few seconds later. She repeated the task a few times again with a proud grin.

Taichi was absolutely not happy to see Hikari playing with a dagger, but it made him less uncomfortable than giving her 'the talk'. But nevertheless he wanted to complain about it, but was disrupted by another female voice.

"Sora, how long has it been since we met the last time?" an attractive woman in her late 20's, with curly black hair and rather dark skin, came down from the stairs. Her dress was even skimpier than the one from Clea.

Sora stood up and turned around. "Rosann" she said with a smile. "nice to see you." The two women shared a brief hug.

Taichi noticed that Rosann was a bit smaller than Sora, but definitely must be a few years older than sora or himself.

"So Sora what brings you to this glorious place." Asked Rosann curious.

Immediately Sora became very serious. "We need to see her."

Rosann understood what sora meant and also became more serious. "Is she waiting for? Does she know that you are coming?"

Sora shook her head. "No and no, but we need to meet her, it's pretty urgent."

Rosann for a moment looked very intense at Taichi like if she knew something about him, then a light smile appeared on her face. "You are lucky, you're the first who want to see her today. Follow me."

"Thank you a lot." Sora gave Rosann a few coins and gave the others a sign to follow her.

They approached the stairs and eventually reached the first floor of the building. The walls on the first floor all had been painted with a pattern of exotic floral ornaments. It felt like they walked around the whole first floor, but it was hard to tell how much they had actually seen, because the pattern on the wall always looked the same and also all the doors looked exactly same.

Finally Rosann opened one door and they entered a small room, which was poorly illuminated, but the really surprising thing was that the room was completely empty expect for some wooden stairs to go upward. They carefully walked up the stairs to the second floor which looked completely different than the one they came from.

The whole floor was made out of unpainted wood and was only illuminated by a few candles. Also the floor was rather tight and they didn't saw a door yet. On the end of the floor they saw a single spot of light which had to be a window.

As they came closer they noticed that this was one of the windows they had seen from the street. The only door they had seen so far on this floor was a on the right wall close to the window. The doorframe was covered with some runes of the Mori and old religious symbols of Taoism.

Rosann knocked the door three times very carefully. For a moment there was nothing but silence until the door swung open with a small creaking sound.

"You can go in now." Whispered Rosann to Sora and hurried back to the stairs.

Sora nodded and entered after giving the other a sign to follow her. As expected the first thing she saw was Benkei the Vixen's mute bodyguard. For Sora who wasn't here for the first time, Benkei's appearance wasn't that authoritative as for the others.

Benkei was at least a head taller than Taichi and was wearing a traditional Samurai armour, on his back he had a big No-dachi Katana while he was holding a Naginata in his right hand. Taichi noticed that Benkei's armour was completely grey which was a very unusual colour for a Samurai armour, for a short moment the idea that the armour could be completely made out of iron popped up in his head. A mask in the same colour hide his face.

As they walked further into the room they saw a huge escritoire in the middle of the room, with a slender person behind it. The face of the person was covered with golden mask shaped like a vixen's head. The mask only covered the face so that her red hair which she wore in spiky ponytail was still visible.

In the moment everybody had entered the vixen started to speak. "You are in big trouble Sora." The vixen said with a feminine but stern voice.

"I know Rika that's why I'm here." said Sora with a lot of concerns in her voice.

And this is where I'm going to end this chapter. As mentioned in the beginning I'll put this story on a little hinatus to continue with my other story. If you like this story please follow or favourite to keep track of it, because I absolutely don't know when I will update again, but I certainly will upgrade, at some point.

As always pls R&R, I see you next time.

sayonara