Leon, babysitter par excellence
Clambering down the stairs to the pet shop, Leon wondered how quickly routine had set in again. When had he arrived in Japan? Four days ago? Yeah, about that. And yet, although he'd just been here for not even a week, going to the shop had already become familiar again. Though he felt that D was not happy about it. At first he'd thought the kami hadn't changed, but now he knew better. The glances he got from behind a curtain of dark hair were not teasing anymore. If the blonde didn't know better, he'd have said D was almost frightened by his presence.
But that could not be. D was never frightened, and certainly not by Leon.
He'd also noticed that D tried to keep Dana out of his sight. She was in the front room the whole time, playing with the pets and – to Leon's amusement – with building bricks, wherever D got those from. But she was always hidden behind the curtain. To the blonde's surprise, the girl was silent most of the time. He didn't know if she was afraid of him or if D had just trained her well.
Leon abandoned the thought and pushed the doors open. "Yo, hi D," he said and put down the bakery box.
The kami barely turned. "Hello Detective," he answered quietly. The human got curious and walked over to him to see what he was doing. Leaning over the kami's shoulder, he realised that the baby was asleep in his lap. D was not moving, probably because he was afraid to wake her up.
The blonde smiled. "Got tired, huh?"
"She has been playing all morning. Please help yourself, there is tea in the pot on the stove," D replied, voice still barely above a whisper. Leon did as he was told, looked at the unmoving frame of D, poured him a cup as well and brought it over. D's mismatched eyes flickered up in surprise, and for a second, Leon could have sworn he saw pain in them. He blinked, confused, but the moment was gone again.
"Why don't you go lay her down, huh? I can watch the shop meanwhile," he suggested, but D shook his head.
Tetsu, lying on the sofa, looked up and snorted. "Because she's going to wake up as soon as he moves, stupid!" the sheep-tiger growled.
"Oh, I'm sorry that I don't know anything about small children. I don't happen to have any," Leon gave back sharply, minding his volume carefully. He at least knew that much.
Had D just flinched?
Small sounds distracted the blonde again. D's stiff back lost its tension and he relaxed, talking softly to the girl on his lap. Leon discerned from that that she was waking up again. T-chan left the sofa and went over, poking her with his nose. "Good morning, Dana-chan," he said gently. From his point of view, the human could just see a tiny hand sneaking into the thick fur. The totetsu didn't seem to mind.
Leon kept silent, watching them attentively. His impression had been right. Everything in the pet shop was centred around D's child now, the pets as much as the kami himself. Yes, there had been a change. He wasn't yet sure if he liked it.
Dana crawled around on D's lap and pushed herself up to look over his shoulder. Leaning her small head onto it, she scrutinized the stranger who was here again. D kept on talking in Chinese, and she answered from time to time, mostly just with a little sound. She was still sleepy, and Leon guessed the hand playing with D's hair was more for support than because she actually wanted to play with it. For a split second he envied the baby. Being able to treat D so carelessly, so openly, what would it feel like? Simply to be able to touch him whenever one wanted to, without having to be afraid of the revenge?
Then she took her fingers from D's hair and pointed straight at Leon. "Bàbà!" she demanded, voice high, but decidedly. The kami turned around half and sent a glance at the detective. He said something in Chinese of which Leon only got the word "detective".
"She can call me Leon if she likes," he said quickly, wanting to add something if the discussion was about him. Again D sent him one of his strange half-glances and kept talking to his daughter. She wriggled in his arms and forced the kami to set her to the floor where she hesitated for a second, grabbed T-chan's fur again and determinedly made her way over to the blonde.
He looked down at her, she looked back up. Blue eyes met blue-golden ones. Then Leon extended his hand. "Hi, Dana, I'm Leon. Nice to meet you," he said. The girl tilted her head to the side, wrinkled her brow and tried to find out what she was supposed to do with his hand. He hesitated, then took her small hand and laid it in his. Tetsu growled, but Dana made no sound or move of protest, just watched him curiously.
Leon carefully shook the little hand. "Hi Dana." He smiled down at her.
"Hi Dana," she repeated with grave earnest. He bit his lip and pointed to himself.
"No, Dana, that's you. You say Hi Leon to me," he explained and emphasized by tipping her and his chest with his finger. A small sound, almost a choke, made his eyes flicker up to D, but the kami had turned away and the child demanded his attention again.
"Hi Leon," she said brightly and shook his hand back.
Leon felt his face split in a silly grin. "You got it, little missy. That's how you say hello. Very good."
Dana tugged at his hand and said something he didn't understand. He sent a helpless glance at the kami, but he still didn't look at them. Leon wondered for a second, but T-chan nudged him. "She wants you to play with her," he translated grumpily.
"Oh. Yeah, sure. Uh, where?"
Leon stood and was led behind the curtain. Now he finally saw what was actually hidden behind. There was another cradle, similar to the one in D's bedroom, and a few dim lamps. Dana's building bricks were lying on the floor in a box, and the plush cat he'd given her was sitting in the cradle. He smiled. "You really like that cat, don't you, sweetie?" he asked and sat down on the floor, following the girl's tug at his hand. She clambered into his lap and turned the box over so that the bricks were lying on the floor.
Pon-chan appeared and sat down, unusually quiet. Leon smiled at her. "Hey, Pon-chan, what's the matter?" he asked.
She regarded him with a strange pensive glance. "Oh, nothing. Dana's just not so open usually," she said and took one of the bricks. Dana said something. "She wants you to build her a bridge," the raccoon explained.
Leon wrinkled his brow and stared at the bricks, clearing his throat. "Well, it's been kinda long time since I played with them," he said. "But well, a try's not gonna hurt, is it?"
Pon-chan suddenly smiled at him. "No, certainly not. I'll help you," she offered and handed him some building bricks. "Here, take these."
Tetsu sidled away unnoticed and returned in front of the curtain to his master. D was sitting on his chair, he was pale and he was actually trembling. The totetsu nudged his master. "I can kill him if you like," he suggested quietly. The kami looked at him, discoloured eyes empty and wide.
"No, T-chan, thank you," he managed. "I cannot have him killed."
Tetsu snorted. "Well, of course you could. There's more than one in here who'd be just too happy to do that."
"He's Dana's father," D answered in a whisper. "I cannot have her father killed."
The totetsu looked at him and sighed deeply, placing his head in D's lap. Automatically the kami's hands started stroking him. "You don't have to do this, Count. We could leave anytime we want to. Just say the word and we'll be gone. He'll never be able to find us again. It was probably just luck."
D shook his head. "No, Tetsu, it wasn't. I do not know who told him, but it was not luck. I made sure he would not be able to find us here. He had help. Before I don't know who helped him, I cannot leave."
"I bet it was Honlon."
D startled. "Honlon?" he said, as if only now thinking of the dragon again. Then, more slowly, "Honlon."
"It would be like her," the totetsu grumbled into his cheongsam. "She hated leaving. She wanted you to tell Leon. Why should it not be her? Stupid hardhead she is."
"She would not act against my wishes," D said, but there was uncertainty in his voice.
"Are you sure? Don't forget that one third of her is Leon," Tetsu reminded him and suppressed, And the part of her that's you isn't happy with what you're doing either.
The kami sighed, a soft, fluttering sound. "Perhaps you are right, T-chan," he said and pushed himself up. "Still, I cannot find out now. It will have to wait until Leon has left again."
He walked to the curtain and stood there for a second, face pleasant, but the totetsu could see his hand cramping around the fabric. He was afraid, T-chan knew it. D was scared, and his pet didn't like it at all. He would gladly have done anything to get the human out of their sight, but not when his master had forbidden him to do so. But why? Why did he not want him to vanish, while at the same time evading him with all might?
Tetsu wasn't sure if he understood his master still. Once, it had been easy finding out what was going on in the kami's mind, but now – sometimes he doubted the Count himself knew what he wanted anymore.
"Detective, could you please stop playing? Dana has got to have her lunch," D said. His knuckles were white. The blonde looked up and scrambled to his feet laboriously. Dana watched him in confusion, but when her father got her up, she wriggled and started to complain. D, however, didn't care for that and carried her over, seating her on the sofa. Tetsu came out of the kitchen, carrying a plate with food. The girl stilled her protests when she saw it.
Leon idled around while the kami was busy with feeding his child. He didn't feel like sitting down, and it was so strange, watching D like this. For some unknown reason, for the first time since he knew D, he felt completely unwanted in the pet shop. Like his presence wasn't necessary anymore.
The kami surely didn't do anything to ease him. Expect a sharp "Would you please stop wandering around and sit down?", Leon got no sign that he was even aware of him, so hard were his eyes fixed on the small girl and her food. After she'd finished, D placed her on his hip.
"I have to teach her now," he said somewhere in the direction of Leon.
"Teach? Ain't she a bit young for that?" the blonde asked, happy to snatch the opportunity. D shook his head.
"Children have to be taught early, they learn more easily at a young age," he lectured.
Leon stood, feeling like a jerk for just being here. "Well, I guess I'll leave then," he said uncertainly, fiddling with his fingers.
"I guess you haven't seen much of Tokyo until now, have you? It is an impressive city, you should have a look at it," D replied with that smirk Leon hated so much. Only that it seemed he couldn't muster the strength to snap back at the kami for it today.
"Yeah, well, I guess so…" he said slowly, but before he could turn around, there were steps to be heard on the stairs and the door was flung open with force.
"Count!" someone cried out, entering. "Count, you have to come at once!"
Leon stared at the newcomer, a young man roughly his age who looked completely desperate. D looked at him, too, and asked something in Japanese, to which the guy replied with hands and feet, apparently urging the kami to come with him. D's face grew from pleasant to irritated and worried. He looked at his child, then again at the young man, who suddenly knelt down and raised his hands in a desperate plea. D's face set. He pushed Dana at Leon, who stumbled back in surprise.
"Hey, what's this going to be?" he protested. D's mismatched eyes flashed at him angrily.
"A pet I sold this young man is very ill. I have to go and see to it. Now take her, you imbecile!" he snapped. Dana blinked and seemed as confused as the blonde.
"But – why me?"
"Because you are here and I can't take her with me!" the kami grit through his teeth. "Stop fussing now and take her!" D snapped and before Leon could even think of a response, he had an armful of little girl and stood there, dumfounded, as D quickly went out the door.
"Well, okay," he said slowly, desperately wanting to scratch his head and being afraid that if he did, he would let the child fall down. "Then – any ideas what you want to do now, Dana?"
The little girl looked at him with big eyes, apparently not unhappy with the situation. "Leon, play!" she squealed and clapped her little hands. A lopsided grin appeared on the blonde's face.
"Let's go see where your toys are, shall we?" he suggested. Dana seemed happy, and so he went to the corner of the shop where her bed and other things stood again. Looking down on it, he shook his head. No, he'd never expected D to have a kid. Not like that.
"Leon." Pon-chan followed them, her face a little anxious. He turned.
"Yeah, what's the matter?"
She bit her lip, looked between Dana and Leon, then at the door through which the Count had vanished. It was clear she was fighting with herself and couldn't reach a conclusion. Leon knelt down. "What's it, Pon-chan? Is everything alright?" he asked, gently so not to press her. The raccoon looked at him with bright, unsure eyes.
"Well, it's just – that the Count – never leaves Dana with anyone," she started hesitantly. "It's – ouch!"
Before Leon could think, he'd slapped T-chan, hard. The totetsu growled, all sharp teeth bared, but the blonde was not impressed. "How can you bite Pon-chan?" he demanded angrily. "She hasn't done anything to upset you!"
"She's a stupid little brat!" Tetsu gave back hotly and glared at his friend who was looking at her tail with tears in her eyes. Leon patted her reassuringly.
"C'mere, little lady. We'll go play and leave that idiot sheep-tiger to his bad mood," he said coolly and scooped her up, too.
Dana chose that moment to crawl down. She tugged at Leon's hand again. "Honlon!" she said impatiently. Leon heard the sharp intake of breath from both T-chan and Pon-chan. The totesu started to scold her in Chinese, but she just pouted and continued to tug Leon into the back of the shop. He hesitated, too.
"Dana, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go there," he told the girl, but she, expectedly, didn't understand a word he was saying, and just kept on calling "Honlon". So Leon followed.
Tetsu grabbed his leg like he'd done when Leon followed D to his bedroom and thus very effectively stilled his movements. "Oh no, you're not going to her!" he growled. Pon-chan hopped down to Dana and tried to hold the girl back, too, talking to her. Leon didn't get the sudden uproar, and it sparked his curiosity.
"Who is this Honlon?" he asked and swore when Tetsu's teeth hit his flesh. "Dammit, you freaking thing! Stop that! I'm not even moving!"
The beginning fight between Leon and T-chan was stopped by Dana's shrill wail. "Honlon!" she whined and continued to cry despite Pon-chan's attempts to soothe her.
The blonde glared at Tetsu. "There you've got it, beast! Now she's crying, well done!" he hissed and got down, but Dana pushed his hands away and cried even louder.
"Ho-hon-lo-hon!" she sobbed.
Next thing Leon knew, a door somewhere in the back had flown open, a giant dragon head had appeared and snatched Dana up and vanished again behind that door. He stared. Tetsu let go of his leg.
"Oh shit!" he said with feeling. "I'm not going in there, no way!"
"Dana!" Pon-chan cried out and scuttled towards the door. "Kanan, what did you do that for?"
The blonde unfroze and went after the raccoon. Tetsu looked guilty, considered for a moment and then followed, too. They broke through the door just as Kanan swung her little sister through the air, the child squealing with delight. Leon froze on the spot. "Fuck!" he whispered. "Oh shit!"
Shuko noticed them and turned her head to look down on the human. "Welcome, Leon," she said, voice warm and friendly. "Don't you want to have a seat?"
"It talks," the blonde said, sounding completely stunned. "The dragon talks."
"Kanan, set Dana down!" Pon-chan cried meanwhile and tried to get the Leon-dragon to release the baby. Kanan snorted and at last brought Dana down to the floor, setting her down carefully.
Junrei at once guided the child over to her side of the chamber. "Kanan, you shan't do that!" she scolded her sister. "The Count told you not to play so roughly with her!"
She didn't get to say more, because Leon had darted in, snatched Dana up and retreated. The girl-dragon blinked at him surprised, while Shuko smirked and Kanan snorted bemused. "There is no need to protect the child from us," she said. "After all, we won't hurt our sister."
Dana wriggled around in Leon's arms until she could look up into his face. "Dana Leon play Honlon!" she smiled and the blonde sent the dragon a suspicious glance.
"How am I to know if you're telling me the truth?" he demanded, retreating even further. T-chan chose to add his two cents to the discussion.
"Stop fussing, you idiot, Honlon would never hurt the Count's child!" he snapped. "You can trust her, at least in this respect."
Kanan slid forward until she could look Leon in the eyes. "Yes, you can, father," she said deceptively softly. "Neither of us would hurt our little sister."
The blonde gaped and clutched Dana closer. "What the hell? I'm not your father! I don't even know you!"
"Oh yes, you do!" Junrei cut in and beamed. "You were there when we were born! That's why I'm older than Kanan is." She looked at her sister triumphantly. Shuko sighed softly and came to rest right in front of Leon, too.
"She is right, Leon. You are our – father. Well, mostly Kanan's," she added, sneaking a glance at the Leon-dragon.
A shiver crossed Leon's frame. "You're lying. I don't have a kid, and certainly not a dragon kid."
Shuko and Kanan exchanged a meaningful glance. "But you do!" Junrei blurted and then stopped, looking confused. T-chan had jumped up right on her head and was effectively keeping her mouth shut with his body. She blinked at him with wide eyes.
Leon's eyes darted between dragon, totetsu, Pon-chan and the child in his arms. "I don't know you, no matter what you say," he said firmly. "And we're going to leave now. D'll have my head if something happens to Dana."
He turned, but Kanan was quicker. The door shut with a pang, and no matter how much Leon tried to open it, it wouldn't work. "Oh no, you're staying here," she said with a growl. "I've waited so long for you to show up here at last, I won't let you get out of this so soon, father!"
The blonde frantically pulled at the doorknob. "Open that friggin' door!" he yelled and whirled round, still protecting Dana as good as possible. The girl seemed to take quite a delight in the events unfurling before her eyes.
Pon-chan scrambled up and crouched on Leon's shoulders. "Don't upset her!" she cried. "She's gonna blow up the whole city if she's upset!"
Something clicked. Leon stilled his frenzied movements and took in the form of the dragon more closely. "Fuck!" he breathed.
Kanan blinked. "Oh, seems you got it at last, didn't you?" she scowled. Shuko nudged her while Junrei still was too busy trying to get Tetsu off her head to do anything else.
"Be quiet, Kanan, you won't make him understand any quicker if you curse him," she said and Kanan's eyes tweaked dangerously.
"You are not going to tell me how I am to speak to my father," she hissed.
"You're the girl Chris was talking about," Leon said, cutting in without wanting to. He stared at the towering dragon heads. "Shuko, Kanan and Junrei, wasn't it? He talked about you. But I never knew you were a dragon – you were that dragon…"
"Oh, he remembers us, the forgetful father." Kanan's temper was rising again.
"Hush, you all!" Pon-chan cried out, having at last gotten fed up with all the drama taking place. "We're gonna leave now, and when the Count comes back, he's going to give you a lecture about this whole thing! Come on, Leon!"
The blonde didn't budge. "Not yet, Pon-chan," he said instead and scrutinized the dragon. "Not before I really know what's going on here. So, you were real, weren't you? I wasn't imagining things on that Christmas eve, was I?"
"Of course not," Shuko replied while Kanan mumbled something unfriendly under her breath. It sounded suspiciously like one of the words Leon was so fond of, too. "We never had a chance to thank you for helping the Count, and for giving birth to us, especially to Kanan." The words were accompanied by a mean glance in the direction of her sister who blustered at once.
"Well, just imagine that I wasn't too glad to have been born with you, either!" she snapped and turned blazing eyes to her father. "Fucking way to create me, father, really!"
"I didn't intend to create anything, and certainly not a dragon," Leon countered and hoisted Dana up on his hip. She was still quiet, following the events with bright curious eyes, as if aware something special was happening right now. "So, which one of you is who? One has to be the Count. I guess that's you, ain't you?"
He indicated Shuko with his chin and the head bowed. "Indeed, I am the Count's child. Your true daughter is Kanan here."
A weak smile flickered over the blonde's face. "Well, I kind of figured that out already. The last one is Junrei, then."
"That's me!" The girl-dragon had finally succeeded in getting T-chan off her head and beamed brightly at Leon. "How's Chris? I liked him so much, but the Count wouldn't keep him here. I wanted him so much to stay!" Her eyes filled with tears, but then she brightened again. "I'm so happy you're here at last! Kanan wanted to talk to you so much!"
"I didn't!" the Leon-dragon protested fiercely and growled. The blonde regarded her for a moment. There were certain character traits he couldn't deny resembled his greatly. But his child…?
For a moment he wondered why in all heavens he was taking this so calmly. He should have been freaking, finding out that the Christmas dragon had been real, and even more, was his child in some weird kind of way. But surprisingly, he wasn't too spooked. Only – a little run over. But not freaked, and neither too surprised. Perhaps because he'd long since given up being surprised by anything in D's shop.
"He never told me you're in the shop," he said instead, remembering the kami. Kanan snorted.
"That idiot would not do that," she said disparagingly. Leon decided he kind of liked his 'daughter'.
Shuko sent her a reprimanding glance. "He didn't think you would believe him, Leon," she explained. "Chris found us quite by accident, but the Count was afraid you would not take us for real."
"Well, he was probably right about that," Leon admitted. "I don't even believe it now. How in hell did that even happen?"
"You took the egg and created us. Me. That's the whole story," Kanan said impatiently. "What does it matter now? Much more important is the fact that now you're here at last. Was about time you took responsibility!"
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Much as I hate to tell you, but without even knowing you were there taking responsibility for you was kinda difficult," he said, but he seemed more amused than actually angered. Then he laughed and sat Dana down, intertwining his arms.
"I don't believe it. A dragon. I've got a dragon kid. Now that tops every weird I've ever seen in this shop, even that sheep-thingy."
"I am not a sheep-thingy!" T-chan growled angrily. Pon-chan stepped on his foot to keep him quiet. She was anxiously following the conversation and heaved a silent sigh of relief that Leon was taking the whole affair with humour so far.
Dana waddled forward and embraced Shuko with her small arms. "Play!" she demanded and tugged at her sister. "Play Leon!"
The corner's of Leon's mouth quirked. "Well, okay then, why not. What do you want to play, Dana?"
The girl hopped up and down and said something Chinese. Kanan translated. "She wants to play Pet Shop," she said.
"Pet Shop. You have got to be kidding me." Leon sighed and scratched his head. "Well, I'm for sure curious how that works."
"Easy!" Junrei cut in. "You are the customer, and Dana is the Count. You have to come and buy a pet, and Dana will give you one."
Leon did not look convinced, but he complied. He was pretty sure he'd have no real chance talking to the dragon in peace as long as the child was around. But he wanted to talk to D even more. The guy should have a good explanation ready…
They played for some time, but then he noticed that Dana's eyes were small and her enthusiasm had faded considerably. "What about a little nap, missy, huh?" he asked. Dana didn't answer, but her eyes kept falling close. Leon grinned and took her up. "It's about time for you, too. D'll have my head if you're not in bed when he comes home. It's –" he looked around, searching for a clock, but found none, "late," he conceded, sighing a little. How could he be expected to bring her to bed on time when there was no clock around? That was just so D again.
"Why are you leaving now?" Kanan protested and the blonde looked at her. He recognised the look in her eyes and hesitantly held out a hand. For a second the dragon looked at it, but then rested her head in it, returning the look her father was giving her.
"I'll bring the little one to bed. Perhaps we can talk some other day," he said calmly. "Bye, Honlon."
"Goodbye, Leon," Shuko replied while Junrei chirped her own goodbye.
All three heads watched as the blonde left the room, Pon-chan and T-chan at his heels. Then Shuko turned to Kanan. "Well, it went better than anticipated, didn't it?" she said. Kanan shrugged.
"Let's wait what he says when he finds out we're not his only daughter," she replied darkly. "I've got the feeling he won't take that so well…"
Leon was unaware of his daughter's thoughts. He carried Dana back to D's bedroom instead of the front room, following Pon-chan's instructions. She also helped him find the Count's bedroom again and convinced T-chan to go inside, who was quite averse to the idea. But the raccoon argued that D would be unhappier if Dana slept in the front room than if he found Leon in his bedroom. At last the totetsu gave in, grumbling, and allowed Leon to set the girl down on the changing table.
The girl held completely still when he undressed her and put her into the nightclothes that were lying in the little bed, which was lucky, because Leon wasn't quite used to undressing and dressing little girls. Big girls, yes, no problem there. But little girls in Chinese children clothes – more complicated.
By the time he'd finished buttoning all the little closures on Dana's nightdress, the girl was already half asleep. Carefully he put her into the bed and drew the covers over her. She was asleep almost the second he'd laid her down and then he just sat and stared at the little sleeping child without really seeing her. Tetsu growled, but again Pon-chan held him back and dragged him out of the bedroom. "Shush, Tetsu!" she scolded. "Let him think in peace!"
Leon didn't hear them arguing, and neither did he notice the door falling close, leaving him alone with the baby in the cradle. He looked down on Dana and thought. What was he going to ask D? Why he'd never told him about the dragon? If he was honest, that was the only real question he could come up with. He couldn't even ask why Honlon was there. He remembered that Christmas eve very well.
So what was he going to ask D about Honlon? And then, of course, there was Dana. Just great. As if he didn't have enough to think about already with just the dragon.
Two hours later D returned. He entered the shop silently, laid down his coat and sighed, a little, unhappy sound. His eyes searched his child, but he couldn't see her. Neither Leon. Suddenly his tiredness disappeared.
"Detective?" he called out, quickly going into the back of the shop, alert to the last nerve in his body. Pon-chan appeared and waved at him.
"He's in your bedroom. I told him to lay Dana to sleep there," she explained and looked a little bit uncomfortable.
D smiled, for some reason relieved. "Oh, I should have thought about that. It's already very late," he replied and floated inside the bedroom.
Leon turned on his seat beside Dana's bed. "She's asleep," he said, trying to sound all casual and failing completely at it. The young kami quietly laid down his scarf and stepped up beside the cradle, looking down on the sleeping child. A soft smile graced his face. He bent down and kissed Dana affectionately.
"Let us go to the front," he whispered and left the bedroom again, Leon close on his heels. He slumped down on the sofa while D prepared tea. His eyes followed the kami's familiar movements.
"So, what was the whole story?" he asked. D, uncomfortably aware that Leon's eyes were on him, refrained from hunching his shoulders and sat down, pouring tea.
"The pet is well again. She ate some poison, but fortunately her master was observant and noticed when she started to behave strangely."
"Huh," Leon replied. D sipped his tea. "And what did you and Dana do, Detective?"
"Actually, we visited my daughter."
The teacup fell to the floor. Leon held his hands up in defence. "Whoa, D, relax! What's the matter with you lately? You're completely strange!" he exclaimed.
The kami could just stare at him with wide, frightened mismatched eyes. "You – visited your daughter?" he choked.
Leon wrinkled his brow. "Yeah. For sure freaked me out, that dragon. At least at first."
His lungs were able to draw in air again. D took a deep, shuddering breath. "Oh. You mean Honlon."
Leon's blue eyes looked confused. "Yeah, course I mean that dragon. Who else should I mean?"
"No one, of course. I was just – pray excuse me, Detective. I am afraid I am quite exhausted. Poison is nasty business, it takes a lot of work to cure a pet." D's anxious eyes noticed the blonde relax. He sighed softly and allowed himself to relax, too.
"I do not assume you went into the back without my permission?" he asked sharply, wanting to keep the façade going. Leon shook his head.
"Dana went there, and then Kanan just snatched her up, and Pon-chan went in there, and well, I thought I should better go and get the kid out again." He grinned lopsidedly. "Couldn't know that it was my daughter in there, now, could I?"
"No, of course not," D replied. He picked his cup up and refilled it. "I do hope they were polite. Kanan has not quite the best manners."
Leon chuckled. "Well, she's my kid. Or something like it. I don't care for manners, either."
D's brow wrinkled deeply. "I noticed," he murmured and the blonde laughed.
"Yeah, well, anyway, I like them. Chris was absolutely crazy for them, too."
The kami sighed softly. "I know."
"You know what's really strange?" Leon mused and stared at the ceiling. "I could swear I heard Kanan's voice before. I just can't remember when or where…"
D perked up. "Was it perhaps in a dream?" he inquired sharply. The human looked at him confused, opened his mouth to deny and then blinked.
"You know, that coulda been," he said thoughtfully. "I had that one dream before I came to Tokyo, and someone was telling me to come here in it…"
The air around D suddenly seemed to sizzle. The blonde stared. "D?" he asked carefully and was favoured with such a strained fake smile that he shuddered involuntarily.
"Yes, I thought as much," D gritted through his teeth.
Leon wisely decided to take his farewell.
"Honlon!"
Junrei startled, while Kanan merely opened one eye to blink at the furious Count in front of her. "And especially you!" he hissed. "What did you think, luring the detective to Japan like that?!"
The Leon-dragon yawed. "I thought, I want to see my father again. And probably my little sister would like to meet him before she's grown, too," she replied and D's face contorted in fury.
"Dana is none of your business, and neither is my relationship to Leon!" he very nearly yelled.
Shuko, silent until now, rose and actually elbowed Kanan to the side. Her sister protested, but she didn't listen. Junrei was just looking at them with wide eyes, only slowly understanding what was going on here.
"What relationship?" the Count-dragon asked coolly. "You two don't have a relationship. Unfortunately, because you might be happier if you did."
The young kami gasped and sputtered. "I would not!" he insisted. Shuko smirked knowingly.
"You can lie to yourself, but not to me," she said. "You are a coward, Count. You are afraid Leon will be angry when he finds out, and so you solve the problem by simply not telling him. But that is not the right way and you know it. You will have to tell the human one day that he has got a biological daughter."
D's face set. "He will leave again soon. And I will make sure he won't be able to find the pet shop again. How did you send him those dreams?" His eyes turned to Kanan, burning with hot fury. The Leon-dragon stared back, unimpressed. "Your link to him seems to be quite strong. I will have to isolate the crystal palace better."
"Try," was Kanan's answer. "Go on and try, Count. We'll see which one of us is stronger."
Now D paled, just a bit, but he did. He knew full well that if the dragon really employed her whole strength, there was nothing he could do to stop her.
Shuko again got between them. "Please, Count, be reasonable. You know yourself you can't keep Dana a secret her whole life. She is not even two years old now, but one day, she will need the company of humans, for she is half-human. Do not be silly. Tell Leon the truth. Now is still the chance that he doesn't suspect anything. He will be shocked, but he will be angrier if he finds out himself," she pleaded. D swallowed hard. That was exactly what he had been thinking, too. But he simply could not…
"If you're not going to tell him, I am," Kanan cut in. "He's my father. I won't lie to him any longer."
"Kanan!" Shuko hissed, but her sister only glared.
"He's not going to tell him, don't you see that? He'll keep Dana from him until it's too late. Until Leon is dead, or has found a wife, and has children on his own."
The kami stumbled. His lips were white. "Kanan!" Junrei screeched in dismay and hurried to soothe her father. "Don't worry, Count, Leon's not gonna marry," she said. "He's not even able to hold a girl for long enough."
"I will tell him," D choked out. "I promise, dragon. I am going to tell him. But in return, you have to promise me that you won't tell him yourself."
He turned pleading mismatched eyes to the dragon. Kanan looked at him, hard. "Okay," she finally conceded. "I promise I won't tell him if you promise to tell him. Soon."
The kami nodded quickly. "I will," he got out, before he hurried from the crystal palace.