[DISCLAIMER: Still just me using Hololive characters in a fictional story.

Thank you all for reading. I appreciate your reviews, and it makes me think maybe you all like the story. I hope I don't disappoint in this slightly longer chapter with a little of everything. We will get to see Inugami Korone in her god form.

Thanks again for reading and the faves and follows and mostly the reviews.]

Chapter 13 – Something's Can Never Be Lost… or Found

Inugami Korone had spent her life looking at life with the question, "What if," always there. She was a philosopher at heart. They wrote her off as silly, or strange, or possibly a crazy psychopath. She read enough books in her life to know that's how others perceived her because she would always push boundaries.

But then, to Korone, what is life if not to push the boundaries? It wasn't really worth living if you didn't play with scenarios and make another squirm, and question existence.

Being comfortable just meant that you stopped thinking. And she never wanted to stop thinking.

There was only one that truly understood her. There was only one person on earth that took her with all her strangeness, and oddity, and never judged or looked down on her. She would simply laugh and realize, "Oh, that's just Korone." As if, it was an actual quantifiable characteristic.

Korone had texted her and she didn't respond. She kept her phone close, wondering why Okayu wasn't responding. She was always so fast to respond to her text. In fact, she was known for being the first to respond to all of their friends.

Korone went to the studio, her manager's assistant, a strangely odd woman with an Australian accent named Iaka Otaah, and who had started working for them only a few months prior, greeted her at the entrance.

"I have some bad news," and lowering her eyes, "horribly… bad news."

Korone wasn't sure how to read what was about to be told to her, but she knew it wasn't simply a change in dance steps or a new song they'd suddenly have to perform.

"I'm so sorry, but we got a call from the police. They found her…"

And then Korone stopped hearing what was being spoken as a void surrounded her and she couldn't get past the darkness.

A dark veil fell across Korone's soul, and she felt she kept sinking further and further into a black hole of despair, and there would be no leaving. Not for Korone.

She had one anchor of sanity. When that anchor was gone, all that was left was her being buoyed onto a constant moving ocean, and once on that ocean with no anchor, there would never be stability. It would be in constant movement, going nowhere, and being carried everywhere.

She was told the news of Okayu's death. Where the body was found. All the details.

She listened. She simply listened. No emotion. No change. No words.

She turned, walked out of the building, and kept walking.

The assistant walked back inside, climbed to the top floor, and then jumped off. She had done her work. The Ancients would be pleased.

In the shadows, once again, the Reaper stood watching it all. She lowered her eyes in thought, knowing this was only the beginning. Something worse was brewing and it was bad enough she had to deal with the Neko the night before, but now this one.

What did the Ancients have to do with the Inugami? Why now? She walked over to the next victim.

She was actually still alive.

"Whoa, that's a surprise. She's a sturdy one."

And then Calliope Mori walked away, a vapor of blackness following her.

She decided to go to the beach where the earlier body was taken, and watch and see what would happen. Something was just very off, and she didn't want to be played with on the whims of Ancients, or anyone for that matter.

First the Neko, and then this strange person who didn't die after falling six stories.

She also wanted to head to Holios and ask a certain spokesperson a few questions. She wasn't necessarily butting into anything, in her mind, just doing a little research for this next apocalyptic turn of events.

And then she saw that beautiful redhead waving in the distance.

"Kusotori, man…" How did she always find her?

"If things aren't bad enough…" she muttered, deciding perhaps she'd stop by the 50th Street Bar for a quick afternoon drink first, as Kiara ran over.

###########################################################################

Korone walked down the street. Her pace quickening with each step until she was running.

Something broke inside; and something also awoke inside. The Inugami spirit was always kept at bay. There was never a need for an Inugami, and so it stayed asleep.

But knowing someone had taken her Okayu from her made the spirit release, in all its darkness and fury, and she was soon running to the beach, where she knew they'd found her body. She'd find who did this and kill them. As simple as that. They would die.

Anyone who tried to stop her – would also die.

#####################################################################

Dr. Watson Amelia walked up, waving to Detective Botan.

She wore her usual casual slacks, a warm fur collared sweater, that went down to her knees, and boots. She was stunning. Even for Amelia, she could see that Detective Botan was a stunning and beautiful lioness.

Botan waved her over, and as Amelia approached, she could see this crime scene was slightly different. It was messy. The past deaths were all very neat and the bodies were placed meticulously for another to find. This body was a mess, with blood everywhere, just outside the cave, as she entered, following Botan inside to look over what they'd found.

"So much blood and this one put up one hell of a fight."

Amelia walked up to the corpse. "If she put up that much of a fight, I'm sure forensics could get some fantastic clues of the perps DNA."

"Exactly." Botan grinned, her one fang showing. "Cats – gotta love our tenacity."

Amelia simply nodded, and then she saw the back of the head, her hair a light silvery pink or purple; the body haphazardly thrown as if they wanted to just get rid of it and leave. She might have even brought unnecessary attention, and so she knew they might actually have a witness this time.

It was a rushed scene, meaning the killer might have been disrupted -meaning he or she made a mistake.

"I'm with you," Botan answered before she asked, "we've got guys everywhere asking around. We'll find something this time."

The coroner was ready to bag up the body, and Amelia couldn't help but continue to think she'd seen the Neko before. She just wasn't sure where to place her.

"Did she have ID?"

"Yeah, they already bagged it." Detective Botan looked around the area. "It's actually someone famous, and I actually had dinner with her and her girlfriend last night."

"What?" Dr. Watson's eyes widened, "You knew her?"

"Looks like its Nekomata Okayu. Your girlfriend's landlord's girlfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"It was her ID, but we'll know for sure once they run some tests. She's a mess and nearly unrecognizable, and I'm not going to be able to look for sure until the autopsy. Don't want to unnecessarily disturb the scene." Botan emphasized, "unlike the others, and this time she was probably drowned in this cave in that pool back there."

"I can see why you said it was personal."

"Yep. She was really nice. Korone is so in love with her. I don't look forward to telling her about her girlfriend."

Amelia felt saddened, knowing how hard the landlord would take the news.

She perused the interior of the cave. It was the time of day it wasn't covered in water, but the tide would soon come in and so they had to work fast.

There was still a large pool of water at the back.

"It's unusual. The killer wanted to kill her here instead of transporting from somewhere else. I wonder why?" Amelia questioned, while continuously looking for clues around the area.

"Ambience? A nice spot?"

Amelia Watson snickered at the comment, but then walked closer to the rocks and pool of water. "This cave goes deep."

"Very."

"Do you know where it leads to?"

"No."

Amelia, pulled on some gloves before walking over the area. She headed further in and began to reconstruct the scene in her mind. She could see what looked like cloth further down and wondered if maybe he had chased her to this part of the cave. That means there might even be an entrance from the other side.

She kept walking further, looking over the ground, wading through the pool of water and then it grew too dark.

She walked back out, "Shishiro, can you send in a crew all the way back? I think they might find something here."

"Sure."

There was just something that seemed off with the area and the Neko.

"Let's enlarge the perimeter, Shishiro."

"Already on it." Botan waved to the forensic team, instructing them, and then headed into the cave past the pool.

#######################################################################

Gura stayed back, watching, not wanting to intrude on their police stuff, but she did glance over the area, noticing the cops and investigative team, moving about and then she saw the coroner and the crew wearing their gloves, searching for clues.

She nonchalantly walked over listening to them talk.

"She was cute," one commented.

"Yeah, a cat-girl. Always had a thing for Neko's."

The guys laughed, probably making light of a murder scene because after a while you just place it as another day at work.

Gura was curious, after hearing it a was a Neko. She thought over all the cat types she'd met in her life. They were plenteous, because cats really did have nine lives. They had luck up the wazoo, and so to find a dead cat was pretty rare. They just didn't die that easily.

Doggo's, on the other hand, there just weren't a lot in their world. Mostly, you found canine pets and the Inugami's of the past had all died off. In that, she knew Korone was a strange addition to the world, and maybe that was another reason she grew in popularity and was so unique.

Something inside her, maybe from years of living, just didn't feel right and she turned to see how the sun colored the sky in a morning's dusty blue and yellow toward the edges of the world, and then she knew she saw what she saw.

It was Korone. Standing at the top of the cliff, overlooking the ocean. She stood there and there was something that seemed off.

Gura began to wave, but stopped herself. That wasn't Korone.

In a second, Gura took off running toward her landlord, knowing something was gravely off and she needed to get to her. She stumbled past rocks and climbed up on the small dirt trail that led down to the beach. She ran fast to reach the top of the cliff.

Once there, breathing heavily, "Yo Koro, how's it goin?"

Korone looked past Gura, not noticing anything of reality in the world at the moment.

"Koro!" Gura stood in front of her, snapping her fingers. "Come on, now, look at me."

She pulled the Trident out from her clothing, and then yelled, "Look at me, Korosan!" She didn't want to hurt her friend, lowering her Trident, knowing she'd never use it against her; she tucked it back in her clothing.

"Please Koro," she cried, "look at me. Stop changing." She muttered to herself, "this is how the legend of La Loup Garou started."

She could sense the pain and hurt. In an instant she put two-and-two together. They had found a Neko.

She glanced back, realizing that was Okayu down there.

She wanted to wake her up. She considered a verse of long ago in the Atlantis annals:

"There is one thing in the land of mortals and gods, and that is if a god awakens, it does not go to sleep quietly."

She needed Korone's inner Inugami to go back to sleep. But she was fully in her doggo god form. She needed to stop her and wake her up.

"Koro, it will be okay, come on, we'll go down together." Gura held out her hand.

The Doggo glanced down at the small shark girl, growled and then in one swift movement, her claws fully extended, plowed into her, ripping her body in a millisecond and throwing her backward, over the cliff and to the ocean.

Gura had never been hit so hard, all air punched out of her, flying backward, and then down into the rocks below, hitting the waves in a second. She sunk into the ocean below, being pulled out with the morning tide.

Dr. Watson looked outward, a sudden pang toward something, and then heard shouting outside the cave along with Detective Botan. There was a commotion developing, and she stepped out from the overhang to see police being thrown across the beach.

"Stand back," Botan moved in front of Amelia, as a dark, swirling blackness entered the cave.

The sky was already beginning to darken with a morning rainstorm.

Amelia couldn't believe what she was seeing. It looked like Korone, but larger, much angrier. She was no longer the happy and bouncy doggo she'd seen earlier.

"Stay back," Botan growled at the doggo. "I don't want to hurt you."

Korone was growling and frothing from the mouth, her eyes red, a black mist encompassing her form, as she entered slowly, her eyes glancing at the dead Neko at the back of the cave.

"Korone," Botan held out her hand, "We'll find who did this, you need to calm down."

Korone sniffed, her head moving this way and that, and then she began to slow down.

Botan kept her hands up, watching the doggo carefully.

Amelia realized Gura had been outside. She hadn't seen her. She wanted to leave and look for Gura, but also help Botan, who was standing in front of a doggo god.

Amelia stood at the side, when Korone howled, a sad and loud howl and then she stopped, and kept sniffing the area.

"Okayu," she suddenly said. "Where's Okayu?"

Botan straightened up, "What do you mean?"

Korone was on her knees, continuing to sniff the area. "Where's Okayu?" She was finally beginning to go back to her old self, and walked up to the corpse. "This isn't Okayu."

"What?" Amelia asked, turning around.

"Where's Okayu?" Korone wasn't so much a god, but was now just an angry person. "I was told she was dead, and this isn't Okayu. But where's Okayu?! Why did they say she was dead?!"

"That's not Okayu?" Botan walked up. "Who told you she was dead? We haven't even filed a report yet?"

Korone shook her head. "I smell her, but this isn't her."

"But it had her ID. They found it next to the body."

"Maybe you should just hire doggo's," Amelia stated. "She sure keeps out the guess work."

"Wait that's…" Korone walked up slowly to the side of the Neko, "…that's Okayu's cousin, ShiiShii. She came by last night asking to stay at her place and I dropped them off together, but..."

"What?" Botan and Amelia asked nearly simultaneously.

Suddenly a group of cops ran up to the entrance of the cave holding out their guns.

"Hold up," Botan lifted her hand. "She's okay. It's under control."

They all placed their weapons back into holsters, as Botan walked over to talk to them and ask if anyone was hurt. They were just bruised and no real damage.

Amelia walked up, standing closely beside Korone. "I'm sorry."

"Ame-san… where's Okayu?" And then sadly, "poor ShiiShii. But then where is Okayu? She never returned my text this morning, and if this isn't her, then, where is she?"

##########################################################################

Ina sat at the top of the mountain overlooking the shore. She was meditating and listening. It seemed the Ancients were very quiet in the last few days. She both was happy to be free of their constant voices, but also knew that the silence could mean trouble. She wanted to meditate and listen to the earth.

The strange goddess from another world walked up and sat down beside her, "Hello Ina."

Ina kept her eyes closed, sighing at being disturbed.

"This is a nice place. A place where it all begins and ends. Holios."

"Where did you hear that?" Ina opened her eyes, turning to the goddess.

"I didn't hear it – I knew it."

Ina stared at the odd minor goddess. "Is that what they talk over on your planet?"

"No. We talk of more important things – boring things."

"And that's why you came here?"

"Yes, I was bored. And I had to return something… of which, I may or may not have forgotten what it is."

"Hm…" Ina wanted to close her eyes and continue with her morning, but the blonde was staring her direction and talking strangely again.

Ina did find her intriguing and finally said, "good morning," not wanting to be rude.

"Do you want to help me?"

"Help you what?" This time Ina simply turned to the blonde, and they both stared into one another's gaze in the morning light when souls fluidly transcend the boundary of the body and shine.

"That's it," Nene smiled. "You are stunning."

"Thank you." Ina giggled. "You are kind of stunning too."

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Do you want to help me return what was lost?"

Ina didn't speak for a moment, considering what was being asked and finally said, "If I help you, will you leave me alone?"

"Hm, if I can touch your hair again?"

"Ugh, you're lucky to be alive from the first time."

"I don't break easily." Nene chuckled nasally, "but you like when I bother you. You just have to act like you don't because you're trying to be aloof. But I find it kind of sexy and cute."

She made Ina laugh again, and they both sat on the edge of the mountaintop as Nene copied Ina's poses, trying to meditate along with her, laughing and talking over how to spend their day on a date Nene planned.

Enma stood in the distance watching. She sensed a shift in the world. She just wasn't sure if it was good, or bad and foreboding.

####################################################################

Gura washed up on the shore further south. Someone yelled, "Hey, look at that!" A few onlookers soon gathered. "What is it?" All were murmuring, but staying back.

The commotion caused Gura to wake up, her vision blurred, but once she shook her head a few times it cleared up.

"Oy, that was painful." She held to her side, her clothing ripped and torn across the mid-section.

She worked her way to standing, as folks stepped back and away from her. When she noticed she was a sightseeing attraction she did a quick wave.

"Yo, I'm here every Saturday."

Someone yelled, "it's not Saturday."

"Well, it's Saturday somewhere."

She bowed a quick a little nod, and then quickly walked up the beach and to the street to figure out where she ended up.

It looked familiar, and she kept walking along the sidewalk until she noticed the lighthouse. She was near her place.

She continued down the street, soaked and missing a shoe. "Oy, that Korone packs a punch. Ah," she held to her stomach. "Thought I was gonna die."

She walked toward her residence, looking like she'd been in a fight, and was instantly grabbed into a blackness.

"Whoa!" Gura screamed, "What the… what?!"

"Come with me, now."

"Oh man, am I dead?"

"No," Calliope laughed. "You don't die, do you?"

"Um, cause I was just grabbed by a Reaper." Gura was being pulled along by the Mori Calliope, which was odd. She giggled, "We have to stop meeting like this Callie."

"Ssh, oh yeah, listen you have to see this and I am not supposed to get involved, but I can't just stand by on this one and I see you met the Inugami I just saw a moment ago. She's super cute, isn't she?"

"What?"

"Never mind, so like this time…" Calliope was constantly glancing back and forth nervously. "You can save this one. This guy just gives me the heebie-jeebies, and he served me the worse drink."

"What? Am I having a weird dream right now?"

Calliope laughed, "You're so funny, but no. I have to get back to Kiara, so see ya."

Gura was suddenly standing alone, behind the 50th Street bar. It was an alley and the Reaper was gone and she stood there in one shoe really wishing she could have at least gotten an extra pair of sneakers because this alley was really disgusting.

A man walked out from the back of the bar, carrying a trash bag. He was a canine-type and Gura watched him walk past her.

He had a bunch of scratches along his arms, and didn't look happy.

"What are you doing here?" he grumbled, his hair black with white fur tufts at the side.

She didn't know how to answer, but asked, "looks like you had a fight with your cat," pointing to his arms, and then also up at his cheek, which had the longest scratch.

They stood staring at one another.

He gave Gura the heebie-jeebies too, and she didn't know why, but figured this was who the Reaper was talking about.

Maybe 30 seconds passed of them staring at one another.

And then, he took off running.

"Oy, not this early." Gura didn't know why she was here, or who he was, but Callie brought her here for a reason, and so she took off after him, kicking off her one shoe. "Why do they always run?"

She screamed, as he moved faster than expected, "Yo, get back here!"

[END NOTE: Thanks for reading. Looking forward to any comments. Next chapter will be a chase, and possibly catching a killer.]