Hey, guys. So how's your guys summer? Good? I hope so. Here's another chapter for you guys.

Remember, Only Kasumi and Kanna are my characters. The rest belong to Natsumi Eguchi!


From what I heard from the side, no one knew where I was for about 2 days. Since I was only conscious of where I was for about 1 day, this is a recap from Hozuki. The first few hours, no one suspected anything because inspections take a long time; Shangri-La is no small place. After it became night, O-koh-san inquired to Hozuki about where I was. That was when they started getting suspicious. The Tengu-police spread all out through Shangri-La, but by then, I was back in Hell, hauled in a sack of bugs. Yes, bugs. How do I know that? I had bugs in my hair when I woke up in that bag. Yeah, I was not happy.

Suffice it say, Hakutaku-san got a beating thanks to that; Hozuki took it as his pleasure to make sure he suffered, although this time, Hakutaku-san took it more mildly than usual. Guilt did eat him after all; that honestly surprised me. Judging based on how Hozuki noticed the cart marks near the area I supposedly disappeared from, he presumed that I was being dragged away in something, hidden in a package. About half an hour after I was knocked out, Horse-head noticed a cart with proper paperwork going through the gates. My guess is they copied one of the newer stamps or something. Either way, I was shipped along with other sacks into one of the smaller hells: one specifically filled with women who committed seduction crimes. Not Mortal Hell, but something more severe.

Hozuki actually didn't rest for a bit. I guess the fact that he felt guilty for leaving me in Hakutaku-san's hands; that and he probably finally got a lead as to who destroyed his goldfish. Yeah, I was betting on the latter of those reasons. Suffice it to say, he was destroying everything in his path. Everyone was scrambling; even some of the girls who were furious at me were actually trying to find me. I guess they got the memo: you can't bring personal feelings in if it gets in the way of work. That and they got wind of what was happening to Hozuki, so they actually appreciated me who got the brunt of the wave and still respected Hozuki's personal space.

When I woke up, they were carting me with a bunch of sacks and dumped me into some room, filled with torture tools. Whips, rope, saws, you name it. It was probably there. Ah, right, I was tied up with some pretty strong rope, so it took me a while to get out. How ironic that they didn't put a guard inside; the rumors about my strength must have not been strong enough at that time. Either that or they expected me to be out for a little longer. In any case, it took me about an hour to get out of the bindings. Hey, they were rather difficult to get out of, especially when they wrapped me in the weirdest of ways. Bondage 101, guys. If you do it correctly, it'll feel good for the person (if they're M, which I'm not). If not, it'll be a pain to get out of. This was the latter option. Well, I had my fair share of wounds. A few minor bruises here and there. Not to mention, the rope actually burned into my skin. I guess you could say the bonds were loose. Yes, loose. If they were tight, they wouldn't constantly moving against my skin.

By the time they actually sent someone inside, I was already loose and waiting with a whip in my hand. Well, if you are categorize me, I'm not S because I don't enjoy it; will I not use violence? That's a different matter altogether. Well, this time, I made sure he thoroughly remembered the pain and stayed in that room. It was just one of the hired guys; no point in wasting more energy than needed. That and I have no need to punish him more than needed. I hid behind the corner, trying to listen in on a conversation. Closing my eyes, I let my ears do the rest of the work.

"I can't believe it… this woman got Hozuki-sama's heart? Not to mention, she's not a demon originally. She was a bloody human! She must have done something, that bitch!" Hey, hey. I didn't do anything I wouldn't do normally. Also, what could I have done about my heritage, man? Seriously, don't blame genes. I pulled out my mirror to see in a little. Judging by the looks of the room, there was both a guy and girl. The one I heard though was male. I could already tell that this was not going to end nicely.

"Calm down. She's for you to torture in that room. We need to wait through until we get those items, so we can frame her. Be patient." Items? I wondered what they could have stolen. I took the liberty of changing my outfit to one of the attendants in the area. I figured they could spare one. I changed my hairstyle and hid away my tanto. Luckily, I had only a few wounds, so a little makeup covered them up very nicely. I pretended to be a shy new helper who was delivering some new supplies to the girls; guards always fall for that act for some odd reason.

Unlike what I presumed would be torture, these girls were being treated with rather… unique ways. Instead of torture, they were forced to wear… rather different clothes and hairstyles. They were turned into dolls of sorts. If I have to say what they look like according to current aspects, think of gothic Lolita with curly hair, put in pigtails. Yeah, that's probably the best description. Now, how did they have that? Don't ask me. I'll take a guess that they visited the European hell once and started going nuts about designs. The only girl that didn't have that was wounded severely. This girl became one of my best friends in the future. Stubborn, prideful and very… how to say it… straightforward.

"Who the hell are you?" Yeah. Straightforward.

"I was captured too, but because I was Hozuki-san's 'lover'. More or less, I got out of the bonds and here I am. Help me release the other girls." As if she was feverish, she reddened and looked away from me. I was wondering whether or not she had an actual fever, but after looking at her, she was just incredibly embarrassed. What an adorable girl. Yes, adorable. Her expression gives away everything.

"W-w-why should I care for these weak girls?!" Well, give her credit for saying that in this situation. I took that as a personal challenge. I pinched her cheek and broke her ropes.

"Because A.) you try to help out others when possible, B.) they'll be helpful in the future and C.) you're not leaving here until you do as I say." Yeah, just like a teenage girl. Who knew why she was hired, but she wasn't so bad once you got to know her.

"What's your name?"

"…mi" Yeah, she said it so quietly that I couldn't hear her.

"Say it louder."

"SEITARO Kasumi!" Yeah, a little too loud.

"Good. Kasumi-san. Stay here with the girls. I'm fairly certain you can handle what comes this way, right?" Her blush and stuttering said yes.

Once the bonds were off everyone, I told them to stay put for a little longer until the situation outside was remedied. Although Kasumi-san clearly didn't want to stay, she held her word and kept a close guard on the door. Once I left, the guards simply watched me from behind. I'm fairly certain that they were staring at my neck; not surprising since I've heard from some of the male demons that I have an irresistible neck. I do find that weird, but I bore with it at the time. I walked past the corner and then spotted a closet to hide in for a short bit.

Inside, I found everything that was stolen from the department: papers, utensils, stamps, you name it. I even found one of Hozuki's pens; I actually noticed that it was the only one put in a box. I immediately saw the connections; the two culprits were doing it for different reasons. The girl was probably the clever one, looking for an opportunity to sell items to the right buyers. It wasn't like people here were doing it for money; it was for favors, bribes, that sort of work. Money here doesn't work like it does in the Mortal world. Only the poor here could really be bribed like that; jobs here were more valuable than money. After all, the morals system here was actually more simplistic and pure than even in the Mortal world. Makes me somewhat proud to be a demon now.

Since there were no photos back then, I labeled the location of the place and took one of the stamps as proof that this was not a lie. True, they would suspect me, but it was unlikely since I was a direct victim and these crimes started before I came. In any case, I grabbed the wabizashi that I had, which they so conveniently left in the evidence room and stormed out. The guards were shocked and thus reacted too late to my kicks. Yeah, they'll be cursing me for a lot of reasons, so it was fairly obvious where I kicked them. That was when the two I overheard came into the hallway.

"Y-you… HOW DID YOU BREAK THOSE BONDS?" Please, you don't know much about bondage, do you? You didn't do it tight enough, nor did you use the correct knots. Why I know this, thank Hozuki. He gave me a thorough lesson about the correct way to do bondage. It was completely terrifying, but useful.

"Like I have to explain myself to you. But let me ask, why did you agree to work with that lady? Not really something I'd think you'd do, judging by your reactions."

"She had the plans, everything I thought I could use."

"But you also indirectly became an adversary to Hozuki. Did you think a small stamp meant nothing? Those verify fake documents in the government and ensure that we don't have false charges. Furthermore, the staff that you take away had to be filled in temporarily by newbies, which make Hozuki's jo-"

"Don't call him that. That's Hozuki-SAMA for you!" Well, he had quite the punch. He had metal knuckles, so his punches did hurt a bit, but I just stood there, taking the blow.

"Why didn't you move?"

"Cause I don't need to." And that was when I slapped him right in the face. For guys like him, the hardest hits won't be the ones to wake him up, it'll be the simplest ones. His 'partner' was just about to leave when I threw a wooden beam to keep her from leaving. Yes, a wooden beam. How else would I have made her stop? With a pen? Doubt that would have been effective.

"You know… I was going to use this whip to get out of here. I'm thinking of a different purpose now." Yup, for those of you guys, this was quite the tiresome task actually. Whipping this guy on the cheek in the process, I jump around, avoiding each ones of his punches. The girl tries to run away again, but I pull her back with my whip and push her down onto a chair.

"Look, I can understand both of you guys feelings, but this isn't the way to go. For you, lady, I don't care what sort of deal you did this for. If you think you're going to get power through this, you'll die not from the likes of me. And for you, crazy bastard, if you wish to like Hozuki-san, that's fine, but don't get in his way. You should at least do that." That was the difference between professionals and amateurs; professionals did their jobs correctly regardless of what sort of crap they had to deal with in their own lives. I decided to beat that into his head.

"Y-you… WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" Like that, he tried to trample with a stampede, but he was really simple, just charging in without changing directions; child's play to dodge. That was when he just lost it.

"I've always loved him. His scowl, his way of punishment, the sternness of his attitude, the respect he accumulated, the way he moved, EVERYTHING! What right did you have to take that away?" … my eyes were literally disgusted with him. Stalker would be the correct way to describe this guy. Not to mention, he was literally what the girls back in the HakutakuxHozuki fan club wanted; something to spice up the imagination of all those female fantasies. It was honestly creepy.

"*sighs* You do realize that Hozuki-san and I were only acting like that TO LURE YOU OUT?" His jaw dropped to the ground.

"W-w-what did you say?" Oh, this was going to be a long explanation…

"Hozuki-san and I agreed to pretend to be lovers to lure you guys out. O-koh-san was an alternate, but considering that I was already being targeted, we thought I'd be best if I became the lover. All of this was so you guys would fluster long enough to reveal yourselves and looks like you did." The guy just went limp there. He bent his back in complete defeat and just stares down at the ground as I grab the girl and tie her up.

"H-hozuki-sama is looking for me." I nodded, but I made it clear it wasn't cause he was thrilled to see this guy. The girl in the corner simply bites down on her nails as if she was screwed, which she pretty much was. And I made it very clear that they wouldn't get off nicely. You could already imagine what I had planned for those two fools. That and there was a mountain's worth of sorting needed to be done. I thought that I should get to it.

Within the next few hours, Hozuki-san along with the rest of the Tengu-police comes in to see quite the side. Both of those two were tied up and swinging from the ceiling with their mouths stuffed with rags. While those two were swinging, I was cataloguing the items that were there to make sure that we had all of the items there that were missing. All of the women who were kidnapped were assisting me in this filing cause honestly, they were kind of annoyed at the kidnappers too, but they had jobs just as I did. The expressions of our 'saviors' were priceless. I'm fairly certain that the Tengu-police started respecting me then. Either that or they were so frightened of me that they wouldn't dare say anything rude or rash at me.

"Ah, Hozuki-san. These two are the culprits. I took the liberty of also disabling the guards out back. Don't worry; they won't resist. They're just hired hands. They're not sticking their necks out for these two." I think the Tengu-police were genuinely thinking of having me join the force, but frankly, they offered the same thing to Hozuki-san some decades ago. Not that I personally cared too much. As stress relieving the job may be, all the culprits might be dead before the end of the week.

"Minamoto, are you all right?" I put down the pen and set aside the inventory.

"Hozuki-san, I think it's time we explain it to the rest before we actually confuse more people than we need to." That was right in my opinion. We weren't lovers nor was I particularly close to him; I technically only knew him for about 2 months. Hardly enough time to call each other lovers. Hozuki-san just tilted your head and remembered that I was your fake lover. Ironic that we forgot that fact a few times.

"Minamoto-chan. Are you all right?... You're wounded!" Ah. Right, I had a small bruise from the guy punching me in the stomach, but it wasn't so serious that I needed hospitalization. I just waltzed right out with the sword by my side while Hozuki-san hit the guts out of both of the culprits. I would have normally said I pity them, but as far as I was concerned, both of them got their just punishments.

While O-koh-san examined my bruises, I closed my eyes for a bit, trying to sort through all of my thoughts for today. The pain in my sides have gone now; believe it or not, the pranks were continuing. I just failed to mention them. That and dealing with those girls were hardly what I considered to be even flies. They were ants just underneath my toes. Besides, I guess I got kind of used to Hozuki-san acting like he cared in that sense. Well, it was fine for me to let it slide; it wasn't like I was going to have a romantic life in Hell. That would be truly an interesting spectacle worth getting a legend.

"Mina-chan~! You all right?" … with my eyes like bags, I highly doubted that I looked all right. Well, it wasn't like it was his fault; I was expecting something like this to happen at some point. Glad that it was over with, but still a little bit weird, I guess. It was brilliant in its own unique way. Didn't know what to expect anymore. I think at this point, I stopped getting surprised at all anymore. I simply stood up before O-koh-san finished tending to my wounds and started walking away.

"Neh… Mina-chan~" … I was not up for dealing with him so I gave him a back fist punch as he tried to hug me from behind. I felt some force back on my hand that didn't come from hitting Hakutaku-san, so I looked back and saw Hozuki-san punched Hakutaku-san on the back of the head.

"Hozuki-san… I think I could handle him." Hozuki-san grabbed Hakutaku-san by the collar and walked up to me. Checking the wounds on my arm, he pushed me onto a chair while he was inspecting my wound. At this point, there was no need for concern. While tending my wounds, Hozuki-san scolded me for quite a bit of time. It was somewhat amusing, really.

"Why did you not leave immediately after removing your bonds?" Oh, I don't know. Just didn't feel like it.

"Since I was already here, I thought it would be best to handle the situation and I did not see any viable escape route." Yeah, that was kind of true... Not that I couldn't make one, but do you expect me to leave the women behind? Fat chance.

"Even so, you must have seen something for communications purposes?"

"So I am supposed to call for help even though I was clearly capable of handing the problem?"

"More than the problem, if you were hurt, we could at least see what we would need to heal you, you fool." That stung a little…

"Like you can say otherwise, sir." Have you begun to notice a pattern here?

"Remind me why that would be the case." Wait for it.

"Every time something similar occurs, you would handle it at the spot. Being your assistant, should I not follow suit?" Wait for it…

"Take a moment to listen to yourself, woman." Caught him.

"You lose." Yup, now you noticed. Word "Yank My" Chain. I was really just pulling at his strings. To be honest, it was a serious conversation, but someone needed to lighten the mood. That and it was easier to deal with an annoyed Hozuki-san than a worried one. Besides, I already knew that arguing about what I did would never solve anything. Was I wrong to not call out? Depends on who you're talking to. To me, I would say no because I solved the issue and without having to deal with many consequences. To Hozuki-san who spent 2 days without sleep trying to find me, you could say yes. With that done, the fiasco of the homosexual tackler and the scheming lady was over.


How was that twist there? And for those of you who have been constantly reviewing, THANK YOU! It's nice to know I have a steady audience for this fanfic. ^_^