Ahhh, it's been quite a while since I've made an update. I've been struggling on how to continue this particular part of the story, and with all the new games coming up, and the anime-convention in July, I've also been looking for a summer part-time job to get some money. But I don't think that's a good excuse, so let me apoligize to you all for the long delay, and I'm sorry that I've broken a promise. I said that this chapter would contain action, but it's actually a couple chapters more, so please be patient!

Anyways, here's the next chapter of the"Tainted Waters" sidestory...

"This is a problem…"

Ichijou was walking through the street of Musashi, following a stranger he met just moments ago. He was stupid to let his guard down for a moment, just because the outsider seemed pathetic (He still does). He had no idea what the outsider's plan was, and it was too dangerous to attack without knowing whether he had allies or not. As Ichijou began thinking about the best possible action to take at this point, the stranger suddenly turned around and gave a small smile before speaking.

"Actually, as long as we're traveling together, we should probably introduce ourselves. My name is Ryuuji. Ryuuji Tamiya "

"…Ichijou…" he replied after hesitating for a bit. He decided that it would've been best if he left out his last name, just in case.

"Ichijou huh?" Ryuuji turned back to the front and continued walking through the district. He started humming to himself, making it harder to believe that he gave such a dangerous stare moments ago.

"Why does he want to go to uncle's home? Does he plan to assault him? But if that's the case, why did he risk showing himself in public instead of a silent attack?" Ichijou's thoughts began to swirl inside his head of the possibilities and reasons until he started to feel something on his forehead and brought himself back to reality. Ryuuji was tapping his head while trying to grab his attention. Ichijou knock away his arm with his own, and scowled at him.

"Ah, so you're awake!" Ryuuji said. He smiled cheerfully as he saw Ichijou's face. "Hey, no need to be so grumpy! I just wanted to get your attention because you weren't answering my question!"

Ichijou relaxed his face and crossed his arms. "Sorry. What was your question?"

"Well, I just wanted to know if you could tell me if there was anywhere people would go to hang out. Like a restaurant or a bar, maybe?"

Ichijou closed his eyes as he went into thought before opening them again.

"The only place I can think of is 'Blue Thunder', but…."

"Well then, let's get going!"

As he started to walk faster, Ichijou started to relax his guard for a moment before remembering what happened earlier, and kept a cautious nature as he followed Ryuuji.

"He looks stupid, but I should still be careful. I can't trust him…can I?"

"Furyon?" Hituro and Asama chimed together as the figure went silent.

"They're supposedly special beings from Germany that can drain energy from other people." Neshinbara began to explain. "More or less vampires, in other words."

"Wait, aren't vampires supposed to be blood suckers?" Hituro asked confused.

"Well the vampire story was supposedly originated from the really old times, when people were very superstitious about evil demons and such. However, all myths involved blood, more or less, so that's why they were considered blood suckers. In fact, one of the most popular vampires, Dracula, originally came from someone called Vlad III, a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler. He was known for…."

"Um, Neshinbara…." Hituro interrupted. "You're more or less boring us here with your off-topic lecture."

"Oh, sorry about that…" The novelist rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before giving a slight cough.

"So vampires is more accurately a life thief…" Hituro said as he softly scratched his cheek. "Then I guess Makiko-sensei is a vampire as well…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, during her lectures, it always seems like I'm getting weaker and sleepier as the day drags on…."

"I'm pretty sure that's just a lack of interest…"

Hituro laughed embarrassed while the figure just sat silently. Neshinbara remembered his original question, and turned his head back to the suspected Furyon. "So, are you one?"

There was a moment of silence before the figure answered softly.

"Half…"

"Huh?"

"I'm a Halfling." He repeated in a slightly louder tone.

"Hafling? So you only have half of the blood of a Furyon?"

"Yeah…my Furyon blood used to be dormant inside my body, but something happened to forcefully release it, so I can't really control it well. As a result, almost every woman that gets close to me would end up asking for a lot." The figure gave a cold laugh, like he thought it was a bad joke. But the three of them could tell that he was more spiteful of this fact than he tried to sound.

"Then, that serum you gave Adelle…"

"Apparently, it's the magic that's released from my pores, so I gave her something that made her a bit more sensitive to magic in general."

"I see, that's why Asama wasn't going head-over-heels for you and strip…." Asama gave a sharp blow to Hituro's head, making him drop his bags and clench the sides of his head as he tried to lessen the pain. He turned his head to see her face darken and a cold stare piercing into his mind before shaking a bit and deciding to shut up before he died.

The figure sighed before continuing. "Pretty much. I assume she's a shrine maiden, so her body's already magically aware, and naturally protects her from my…condition…. As for guys…well as far as I know, it doesn't affect them…"

"I see," Hituro nodded his head as he started to recover from the pain. "So in short, you're a natural womanizer…" He felt another sharp glare from Asama as the figure gave a small chuckle.

"That may be true, but I prefer to find a woman someone who wasn't attracted to me because of my….sex appeal…" the figure answered. "Well then, she'll wake up in a couple minutes, it's probably better that I'm not around just in case." He stood up. "Do you all mind telling me where the Sakai household is?"

Asama was about to speak before Neshinbara held up his hand to stop her, and glared.

"I think you should give us your name first. We've already given you our names, so I think it's fair that you share us your own…."

There was a small pause as the two stared at each other. Then suddenly, they grinned.

"Grey Kageyama That's my name…"

Neshinbara lowered his arm as he told Grey how to reach his Halfling qaved as he covered his head with the cloak and walked away. As the three of them watched a waking Adele, the novelist clunched his hand into a tight fist as he thought about the fierce strength he could sense behind the calm eyes, and couldn't help but tremble in both fear and excitement.

P-01s was dusting the entrance to Blue Thunder as a dark-skinned young man appeared in front of her.

"Hello young miss," the man spoke while brushing the front of his hair. "I was wondering…"

"I'm sorry, but my master has informed me to never speak to perverts while working." The automatron spoke without even pausing from her duties. The man twitched his eye before giving a small cough and trying to speak more normally.

"Then, how about…."

"It is considered bad manners if you do not introduce yourself in a conversation. If you are trying to annoy me, then you are quite successful…"

The man was beginning to lose his composure, but maintained control as he tried to smile.

"Sorry, my name is Jake Reynolds. Nice to m….."

"I did not ask for your name. Strangers can easily take advantage of such information if it is carelessly given away." The automatron looked up to the man named Jake "Are you an idiot?"

Jake started to slump as he went into a depressing state. His body was in the fetal position as the automatron continued to sweep without paying any attention to the damage she had unintentionally caused. Shortly after, two figures appeared carrying stacks of books, games, and other assortment of entertainment from the local stores. One of the figures tripped and tumbled into the ground, spilling the contents and rolling into ground right underneath P-01s. The figure looked up underneath the automatron's apron, and gave a thumps up.

"Nice view!" he shouted as P-01s suddenly started brushing on the boy furiously. Her face was still as emotionless as the other automatrons, but the anger she felt was obvious through her actions.

"There appears to be a large piece of trash in this area. I must perform my duties and sweep it away…"

As the automatron continued to sweep furiously on the boy (who appeared to be enjoying the treatment like a masochist would), the other figure called out to Jake.

"Kurotetsu? Is that you?"

Jake looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Kagare…"

"Ehhh?! The two of you know each other?"

Tori, Kazuma, and Jake sat together at a table inside Blue Thunder as P-01s was in the back getting them water. Jake sat while supporting his head with his arm, looking at the window outside. Kazuma grinned as he spoke to Tori.

"Yeah, we're pretty much part of the same group that's visiting Musashi right now. But we all decided to meet up later. I really wanted to see all the stuff I could get from here, so I'm grateful that you decided to show me around…"

"Ah, no problem, no problem…" Tori replied while waving his hand like a gossiping woman. "I wanted to go get a new eroge game from that place anyways, so it wasn't really any trouble!"

"Huh? A new eroge game?"

"Yeah!" Tori reached into his pile and brought out a hard case of the recent release. Kazuma held it and brought it closer to his face as he gasped in amazement. P-01s returned with a tray of cups, and gave a slight bow before leaving. As the three started to drink, Kazuma noticed Jake wasn't talking much, and tried to get his attention.

"Hey, what were you doing in front of Blue Thunder anyways?"

The question obviously took him by surprise since he suddenly choked on his water and started gasping for air. The other two looked confused as he stuggled to answer.

"I was….just...talking….to…."

"P-01s?" Tori asked slightly surprised.

"Hitting on her is probably more like it…." Kazuma answerd while smiling devilishly.

Jake's face turned a bit red as he pretended to ignore them. Tori gave his usual bright smile as he waved his finger.

"You aim high, don't you! But you can't just try talking to her…" He crossed his arms while closing his eyes and giving a confident smile. "You need to let her know through your actions…." He opened his eyes. "For example, I show her my love by checking the way her suit clings tightly to her skin. Especially around the butt. Looking at it, you can just imagine how wonderful it is to just reach out and…."

"Oops…" The automatron exclaimed in the usual dull tone as they all heard something fall. They turned to see P-01s had spilled food and drinks all over the pile of recent purchases. Tori and Kazuma yelled out in horror as they rushed in to salvage as much as they could from the damage.

"It was a simple accident." P-01s explained. "I didn't expect the orders to suddenly fall onto your pile of purchases…" Jake looked up and saw that despite her claim, the way she held the tray and the way that their orders were spilled had obviously proven that it wasn't an accident. However, he decided to keep quiet as a personal revenge to their talk earlier.

The doorbell chimed as two more figures entered the store. P-01s turned to the door and bowed.

"Welcome Ichijou-sama, would you like to order something for you and your friend?"

"We're not friends…" Ichijou replied as he scratched his head. He looked around and suddenly saw Tori digging through the enormous pile of objects. Tori raised his head while crying in despair until he noticed him and waved his arm while giving the usual stupid smile.

"Ichijou! What are you doing here?" Tori asked while wearing a silly grin.

"That's my line…" Ichijou thought to himself as he noticed two other strangers nearby. He was about to put them out of his mind when Ryuuji suddenly walked up to them and greeted them casually.

"Yo! Kazuma! Jake! How are you guys doing?"

Ichijou raised his guard once more. His arms stiffened as he prepared for a sudden attack. However, the other two looked as harmless as Ryuuji appeared to be. Kazuma was sobbing from his…apparent loss… while Jake just waved his hand without changing his posture. He held his breath as he waited for someone to make their move. He felt an unusual pressure on his whole body as he slowly moved his hand toward one of his swords. He became more self-conscious of himself, his breathing felt louder; his body felt like it would go crazy the moment something happened. As he told himself to start moving….

"Ichijou-sama, is there something wrong?"

His mind yelled as he came back to reality and turned his head to Horizon, who was standing next to him and staring at his face. He touched his forehead and noticed that he was sweating. He sighed and walked over towards the table nearby and sat down.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much about this" Ichijou thought as he glared at Ryuuji, who was laughing at Kazuma's pathetic appearance.