A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay! I'm currently working or rather, trying to work on a few personal projects that I want to get done and ready by the end of the year...so, yeah, there's going to be a few delays for the chapters...but on the plus side, next chapter is at least half written up (and has been for months now) so it might be coming sooner than you think! At least by early July, if I'm lucky.

Anyway, there's a few things to clear up here, mostly about the coming days; you see, I noticed the previous chapters were a bit confusing to read, so I will be adding dates and locations and probably making a few edits...also, I noticed I've been referring to one of the Iron Frill girls by the wrong name, so I have to correct that, too. Plus, there's a small little mistake with the time frame that I messed up, so there's that to look towards. This chapter does correct it a bit; so you might notice that.

Well, with that out of the way...

41 / Wolves of a Midnight Story

1883, Saga-han

Kyushu, Japan

Years ago, Sayuri Sato swore she'll never return to the red lights; they brought memories of a time she wanted to forget, a time where she had been but a figurine on display, playing along with the men with sexual desire, stringing them along until the desire left their bodies.

Sayuri had been sold by her parents almost fifteen years ago to pay a debt that was incurred after the rebellion. Her father had lost sons to their foolishness and a daughter to greed.

That daughter had learned many things in the red light district but at the same time lost part of herself little by little. The girl wasn't special, wasn't talented enough, but was good-looking enough to stay and the debt just kept on piling up, one yen after the other. Years later, she'll meet a little girl, also forgotten, and the daughter would come to care for the child, teaching her as best as she could, loving her as best as one could love in their wicked world. But then, the daughter met a man.

He was from Kyoto, well-dressed, well-mannered. He had lost his way and landed unto the daughter's arms and their fates were forever changed.

The daughter left one day and left the child alone and years later, that child was dead.

(dead, dead)

An old acquaintance had sent Sayuri a letter weeks back.

Yugiri was dead. Killed in her sleep by a mad woman who accused her of stealing her husband. The woman had been caught and sentenced while her husband feigned ignorance and cleaned his hands of the matter but he had suffered nonetheless.

Sayuri's friend wrote that the man had been ambushed days by a group of hooligans who beat him within an inch of his life and warned him never to step foot in the district ever again. There were rumors that an old client of Yugiri's had hired the hoodlums to wreak havoc on the man's body. Days later, the woman was hanged and Yugiri's legend was over.

Years ago, Sayuri had sworn she'll never return but then she'll be reminded of the little girl she left behind and her will would crumble. Yugiri had been her only comfort in that world. Kuno's courtesans were snakes, all waiting to poison one another, out of fear of being discarded to the world beyond. The child Sayuri took under her wing had understood her place in the world rather quickly and offered comfort to her big sister while the latter was slowly breaking apart like porcelain. And then, Hikaru Sato took her away to be his wife and Yugri was left behind.

Sayuri didn't try to pretend that she hadn't abandoned Yugiri to her fate. Yugiri had accepted her fate so long ago; she was popular at such a young age, a legend. Sayuri figured that in a few years, Yugiri's contract would be bought and she would be free. But Yugiri was dead and Sayuri had left her behind to die.

And Sayuri was back, back again in this bloody district, guards at her side,a lament in her heart.

The least she could do was bury the child away from this darkness; she had been shocked to find that a man had already beaten her to it.

He had paid Kuno handsomely for Yugiri's ashes, and had disappeared never to be seen again by the man. Jofuko, the girls called him. Jofuko, he was gone.

(but he had been too late to save Yugiri from her fate)

Present

Sakura let out a loud sigh as she finished the sandwiches; four days and counting, and still Kotaro was locked up inside his office. The zombie was glad he at least ate the food she had left him by the door but other than that, nothing. Other than complaining to Genji to stop bothering him, Kotaro was just not himself anymore. And that worries Sakura, she knows how enticing it can be to just stop caring.

The zombie sighs again, putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches before she grabs a plate, places a few of them in it, and walks towards the locked office. She walks into Renoir on the way, who waves at her before noticing the plate of sandwiches in her hands. "Is he still not coming out?" Sakura shook her head. "...he's eating?"

"Yeah...my worry is that he stops...or that Tae or Romero eat the food before he gets to it," Sakura commented, shaking her head. Renoir nodded.

"He reminds me of a neighbor I had in Shibuya...he was a writer, so his editor came by at least five times a week to get him something to eat because he was just too busy…" Renoir shrugged. "Except Mr. Tatsumi isn't really working…"

"He's working himself to a certain point," Sakura agreed with a sad smile. "I'm worried he might一huh?" Once Sakura and Renoir reached the door, they noticed it was slightly ajar. The zombie quickly opened the door completely but just found a snoozing zombie dog at the desk but no Kotaro Tatsumi. Sakura walked towards the desk, placed the plate and walked around, checking every nook and cranny, wanting to make absolutely sure the man was nowhere to be seen or worse. "He's gone…"

"Well, that's good right?" Renoir asked.

"In his state of mind, no," Sakura replied, quickly walking out of the room with Renoir behind her.

The two of them found Genji and Yugiri at the end of the hall.

Before her brother could complain about his cigarettes again, Sakura blurted out, "Kotaro's not in the office." Genji raised an eyebrow.

"...okay. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"You guys haven't seen him?"

Yugiri, noting the slight worry in Sakura's tone, shook her head slowly. "No. We have not. Did you check the room?" Sakura nodded.

"I did. If he's hiding, it's not in the office."

"...Let me go and check if the car's still in the garage," Genji seems to have finally taken note of Sakura's worries. "Renoir, why don't you help the girls look around? Just in case he passed out somewhere else." The younger man nods and follows after a worried Sakura. He and Yugiri exchange glances before the corutesan follows after the two of them, barely hearing Genji mutter, "Fucking jackass…"

"...so, what's the verdict? We still chasing after ghosts?"

Oki just stared at nothing as he put his phone away.

Days ago, he had been worrying about One liking his present that he hadn't bothered about his old man but now, the man had come calling to complain. The man had been asking for update after update and was never satisfied with Oki's calm assurances. "We're still looking into it," he told him but the old man didn't care.

"You have until the new year," the man had grumbled. "If not, I'm sending someone else to fix it." Oki's smile had deteriorated after that. He had a pretty good idea on what his father meant by sending someone else to "fix it". The old man had built a business out of fixing things, to put it lightly.

Oki knew the moment they failed he would send someone to finish the job and Oki couldn't afford that. There was too much at stake.

"You did tell him that Dorami's done for good, right?" the redhead asked, taking note of their leader's sour look. "I mean, if the rumor's worth it's salt...then Dorami has been gone for a while…"

"What about that blog?" Glasses whispers, shaking his head. "Is there a chance your dad checked it out?"

"He's too lazy to check blogs," Oki reminded him. "He's probably hired some poor fella to check the happenings of Karatsu while we are here…" The young man sighs. "What a mess...I don't know how long Yojimbo can keep up...if the old man finds out…" Oki shook his head.

The old man wants Dorami gone, permanty. It doesn't matter to him if Oki tells him they disbanded years back, if they are no more, what did it matter. To the old man, so long as Kirishima was around, Dorami was still around. Problem was, Oki feared the old man wouldn't bother targeting the former boss of Dorami but her daughter out of spite. And Oki was stuck.

A few hours later, Sakura and her brother were outside the mansion, looking for one Kotaro Tatsumi.

They had looked all over the mansion and found nothing and so Sakura, Genji and Renoir had decided to look around the area, with Yugiri and Tae staying behind in case Kotaro returned. The courtesan promised the worried girl that if Kotaro returned she would slap him good for making them worry so, with Genji telling her to please slap him more than a few times if he bothered to show his face back home.

Sakura and Genji had wandered around the forest near the mansion for a few hours, trying to find the man. Renoir had run into them as he was coming back from the beach, shaking his head.

"...where is he…?" Sakura whispered, as they made another lap around the forest.

"Let's go back to the mansion," Genji remarks, patting his sister's shoulder. "There's a chance he might have returned." Sakura just sighs and nods.

Damn that idiot.

Why did Kotaro have to go and get himself lost when he was like this? It reminded Sakura too much of herself when she thought about it; she had felt just as miserable when she had been alive too many times to count to not see it in Kotaro.

(didn't he say he wasn't going to give up?)

Sakura shook her head.

"...do you think we will need to call the police if he doe一" Genji stopped her with a pat on the head.

"Don't think about it...he wouldn't be that dumb to actually risk an investigation. Maybe he went out drinking...didn't Yugiri say he had a habit of going out to drink once in a while?" Yugiri had mentioned that she had followed him to a bar not too far away from the mansion. She didn't remember the name but she was more than willing to give them directions. "We can try going looking for him there, if he's not, there's a chance the bartender might remember an idiot." Sakura didn't even get angry at that last remark.

Kotaro was an idiot.

People were worried about him and this is how...Sakura couldn't even get angry. Hadn't she been like this not too long ago? Wallowing in her misery, remembering the past, forgetting the present?

(her luck had ruined her a long time ago)

"L-let's just take another look," Sakura says after a while. "Just in case." Genji sighs.

"Fine."

Another ten minutes pass by, and they can't find him.

"Okay, let's get going...I'll get directions from Yugiri and drive to that bar and find that fool," Genji tells her. "He's not an idiot...he wouldn't dare risk it, Sakura…"

"I know but…"

"Umm...guys…" That's Renoir. He's suddenly nervous, eyes darting from the ground towards the zombie and her brother. "W-were these tracks here before?" He's pointing at the ground, near his fancy shoes, at rather large pawprints on the dirt. The prints are deep, as if the animal had stepped on mud but it was solid rock. "...umm...what animal do you guys think it is?"

Genji frowns. He looks 's a few birds in the distance, a few cars passing by, maybe a radio or two, it's hard to tell. If the animal that made these footprints is nearby, he can't hear it.

"We need to go back," Genji starts, grabbing unto Sakura's shoulder and gesturing at Renoir with his head. "Let's go...there's a chance the animal that made those tracks is nearby." Renoir gulped before quickly taking the lead, followed close behind the two siblings, with Sakura making sure to stay behind the two living humans just in case. Genji hadn't noticed.

"Do...do you think we should call animal control once we get back?" Renoir asked.

"Might be wise," Genji commented, letting out a breath. "They'll know better than us, anyway…"

"Yeah…" the zombie said, turning her head towards the forest andー

ーa bear.

It's fur is black, like coal that's burned up with how frizzled it looked. The bear stood on its hind legs, it's large belly bouncing with every breath. It's tall, taller than Lily's father by at least a head or two. And it's face, oh, it's face. It was absolutely terrifying. It's jaws were parted open, drooling, foaming. The skin seemed about ready to fall apart, the eyes looked unfocused, as if they were trying to look for them, as if it was blind and...then sniffed the air and turned to look at the zombie and let out a wicked grin.

A/N: So...who forgot about the bear?