Welp, finally returned. Thanks for your waiting and sorry as well.

The group heads to the building where the 'leader' of the village stays. Upon seeing the structure of the building from afar… "Yeah… this is triggering WAY TOO MANY bad memories…" Kuro puts the tips of his fingers under his chin while mumbling to himself. He then turns to Keine and asks: "Miss Keine…"

"Just Keine is fine." Kuro's sudden call causes the group to stop a bit, as the teacher politely answers him.

"Keine… Who was really in charge during the time I was… available?"

"You." The teacher replies. "Of course, you weren't that impressive at first since you are just an Outsider, like the ones from before. It took a few months to people to recognize your work for the village. And… well, you got elected to the position by the majority."

"Obviously." Masato adds. "When I first met you, you looked extremely 'clueless', and I honestly thought that you were going to get 'eaten' by a Youkai soon. Then, you basically dealt with things better than the leader at the time, and showed them how to properly take care of the village."

"Now that's something different with your first met." The Shrine maiden comments.

"That sounds so obvious that I was faking my identity." Kuro now puts his hands behind his head and looks up at the building before them. "…Now I suddenly feel like I shouldn't step in just yet."

"Really? You want to back off now?" Reimu is a bit disappointed at how her father just decided to not go with them.

"…I need to gather more information." Kuro decides. "I know that you three have 'rocky' relationship with the people in that building, but 'going in and directly asking without information' is not something I would take a risk. Even when these people are obviously weaker than me."

"That's the Kuro we knew." A smile occurs on Keine's face.

"Without you, we can't actually kick the front door down and walk in." Reimu reminds him of the current situation. That makes Kuro start rubbing his chin and think of the decision…

"And you are planning to call me." An unknown, yet familiar voice speaks up behind the group, causing the native trio to turn back…

"I don't. I am actually planning to throw that plan away and just go ask directly. Guess I have a third choice if you are willing to help." Kuro replies, not even turning back to see who is shocking the trio.

"…Okay, this is creepy." Masato speaks up, shivering with his back turn cold. "I didn't remember you talking about a twin."

"You… you are the one talking to us previously, correct?" Connecting the dots, Reimu takes a guess of who the person before her is.

"Correct. The name is T.O, or The Observer." The person pulls the black fedora out of his head and places it on his chest then bows down to greet the trio. The three could immediately see that, despite having Kuro's appearance, his expression is more serious and no-nonsense than the easy-going Outsider. "I believe my own name gives you an idea what I do daily."

"So… you watch over our life?"

"Close enough, madam Keine." That makes the woman slightly blush up a bit at how polite he speaks. "I can only observe Kuro's journey, though if things are necessary, I will be given permission to observe the world he is currently in."

"So… you are basically a stalker." Masato concludes.

"If you say that to people like Yama, I'm sure she will drag you to Hell and punish you for hours straight." Even if their personalities seem to be slightly different, T.O is Kuro in a sense, so he's not immune to making some jokes.

"You are scaring them a bit." Kuro chuckles as he turns one-eighty back. "So, did you check the items?"

"I can only say that they are still in there, and they're not going to move itself for about an hour or so." Putting back the hat, T.O replies. "I can go with them and explain some more. Go and find out your…"

"Actually, I want the reverse this time." Kuro interrupts. "I will go in, you gather information as a mercenary. Even if they think it's true, direct it elsewhere."

"Hm… very well. Guess time changes you. Have a good day." T.O tips his fedora and walks away, somehow blending into the natives' crowds with no problems.

"…How can we distinguish his voice from yours, father?" Reimu turns to Kuro and asks, feeling that the answer might be very complicated.

"There are three of us." The man laughs at the dumbfounded looks he receives. "You will find out the differences. Anyway, let's get in there, shall we?"

…

"The leaders are having a meeting, miss Keine." The guards, obviously, stop them from advancing as the younger one speaks to the group. "They would like nobody to disturb them. You can come back later on."

"Oh quit with that 'meeting' thing. We all know what they do every day." Reimu is patting the gohei on her hands impatiently. "Those lady bums do nothing but fooling around, not making any good products for the village! Hell, none of them are freaking older than freaking mister here!"

"I'm a little offended of that lady." Masato argues, though he has a small smile on his face. "But she's right. They're only there because they are the sons of the village's previous leaders. They have no talents…"

"Don't badmouth them. Leave, or I will use force to do so."

The older guard just stands aside, letting the younger one do the talking while he checks on the group. He knows most of them, and the one catching his attention the most is the young man who looks twenty-ish. He gives him a sense of familiar, like he has seen this person before…

"Look here, buddy. Keine is an important person in this place, and her place just got trashed." Masato leans to the younger guard, causing him to slightly move his spear back to not stab him accidentally. "Thankfully no one is hurt, and we are here to tell them what happened and tried to find out who did it. If we didn't catch the person on time, he or she might cause bigger problems than just a trashing room."

The younger guard knows what happened, but due to the fact that he's currently working under them… "We will send the report later on. Please leave."

That makes Reimu groan and turn away a bit, Masato back away in disappointment, which Keine shares the same feeling…

"Alright. Guess it's my turn." For the first time, the guards hear the last person speaking up. He then points towards something inside the garden of the building. "Do you see those two armors? Do you know what they are?"

The guards briefly turn to see what he's pointing at, and the slightly younger guard replies: "Those armor things? Heard they stood their ground there for over a decade. Nobody could move them, and the new leaders just built the place around them. Some more around the village with the same states. Heard rumors that only one leader in the past could move them with his commands. Actually there is one more in the underground if I'm not mistaken."

"…This building has underground?" That makes the man ask back in surprise. "Since when?"

"This building has been rebuilt a few times." Keine explains. "Perhaps 'underground' here means that they have to build the first floor higher than the ground level so that one armor is not blocking the way."

"…Maybe." He is doubtful, but decides to not dwell further. "Alright, back to the matter. Those armors…" He then makes a gesture for the guards to come closer as he whispers into their ears: "They can fight Youkais non-stop for days without stopping, until their cores are broken."

After backing away, the younger one holds his spear tighter. "What are you trying to say?"

"Because, I have two different offers for you, and you must take one." The man raises his index finger up. "First, you can open the gate and let us through peacefully." He then raises his middle finger. "Or second, I will order those armors to let me in. Your choice."

"…What are you, a lunatic?" Deciding to not take that kindly, the younger guard points the tip of the spear right at the person's face. "Even if those things move, they are decade old, and they would fall apart."

"Oh, want to bet on that?" The man decides to test the younger guard's strength, so he grabs the handle of the spear, then watches as the guard trying to pull his weapon back without success. He then turns to the older guard to see that he's not reacting to the situation at all. "What, no comments?"

"…I know you…" Connecting the dots, the older guard finally realizes who the person before him is. "…Lord Kuro?" The memory returns, as the guard sees that the person before him is exactly the same as the village leader years ago.

"…Given that you called me like that, I believe you have either served me before or dreamt of about it, correct?" Kuro asks back, then breaks the tip of the spear which causes the younger guard to lose balance and fall to the ground. "If you can remember, can you give me a brief summary of what happened after I disappeared?"

"…I can only say that things get worse overtime." Confirming that this is indeed the old leader, the older guard drops his guard and replies. "Someone replaced you, obviously. Good ones, bad ones. We are currently have the bad ones."

"Fantastic." Kuro says in sarcasm as he throws the broken tip on the ground. "So, about my offer. First or second?"

"Isn't it obvious, Lord Kuro?" The older guard then stands aside…

"Hey hey, we are at work…"

"You want to serve those drunkards, or a leader who can actually help the people?"

Seeing that the older guard is willing to let the group in, the younger one has no other choices but to also stand aside, since he definitely cannot fight them without a weapon.

"Thank you." Kuro nods and gestures the trio to follow him into the building to find out more about the missing items, and the current 'leaders' of the village.

"Well at least he recognized you." Reimu sighs in relief as the group starts finding where these 'leaders' could be. "What do you think father?"

"Drunkards." That's all Kuro could reply as he starts running through the possible situations they're currently in. "I can bet with you that they are f-ing playing Mahjong right now."

"Pretty much what they do every time." Keine sighs again. "People depend on me to protect the village, not them. And I can't get myself to be elected as the 'leader', since I won't be able to teach the kids if I accept the role."

"And nobody kicked them off?"

"Tell that to the previous leaders, father."

"Come on, those guys can't be…" Due to his own monologue, Kuro doesn't take a good look enough at the blind side, so when he takes a turn at the corner, he accidentally bumps into someone, causing the person to fall down along with something in her hands. Immediately he uses his magic to hold the person and the items in the air… and blushes up when he sees the person's current situation.

"Who is… wow." Masato peaks out of Kuro's shoulder to see a female servant wearing undergarments… and nothing else. "I didn't remember you having that kind of hobbies to shred down people's clothes."

"Obviously because I don't have one… publicly." He then helps the servant standing straight up while catching the food she was holding before with the tray in the mix. "Sorry miss. I wasn't looking while walking."

"It's alright." The girl bows down respectfully, then looks up to see Reimu and Keine on her sight, and the girl's face slightly whitens. "Do you have appointment with the leaders today? They are currently in a meeting…"

"Drinking." Reimu rudely corrects.

"…So they have ordered the guards to tell people that they are not going to meet anyone…"

"Quick question, lady." The girl turns to Kuro. "Why are you wearing this? Is this… normal in this place?"

"It's… just occasional." The girl flusters. "The leaders want us to wear like this when they gather once a while."

"…I will bring those food to the 'lords'." He changes his tone in the last word, but he maintains his smile to the girl. "You can return to the servant's rooms or wherever you can find some clothes and dress yourself up."

"I would love to, but I need to…"

"Don't worry, I can defend you. Just put on clothes."

"…Thank you." The girl bows gracefully, then quickly exits out of the scene.

"…Count Mott all over again." Kuro releases a deep sigh, then picks up some grapes and gives them to Reimu. "Want some? Not poisoned."

"Well, screw them. Free food for me." The girl takes it with no hesitation.

"If I remember right, the meeting… or the dining room is two floor above."

"I can feel that, thank you Keine for helping further. Let's go."

"So those are all you could get?"

"That woman didn't put that much things in her school. And her house is well-protected that we couldn't get in."

"Never mind. All of these will show everyone her true face. A fake protector she is."

"Pretending to be human, what a joke."

"We will kick her out of the village, along with those Youkai kids. What the hell were those elders thinking, letting them run around like that?"

"…I remembered that we have discussed that with like, EVERYONE, right?" Reimu rubs her right temple, trying to work her brain on getting that memory. "The kids knew that you are Youkai years ago, the older villagers knew too and were okay with it once you guys proved that you did nothing evil. What are they up to this time?"

"Those punks want full control of the village." Masato replies. "If Keine wasn't still trying her best, I'm sure the village's walls would have collapsed years ago. And yes, I did know about your rules, but the damn normal Youkais don't care."

Right now, the whole group is standing outside of the room where the 'leaders' are discussing about items they have taken from Keine's school. For some reasons, it seems the guards are placed inside the room, probably ready to catch anyone trying to sneak in instead of stopping the outsiders from the get go.

"So, jealousy plus power they don't deserve plus their status…"

"And we have a combination of disaster." Reimu confirms Kuro's annoyance.

"Keine, my argument couldn't be that weak, right?"

"It was one of the strongest, actually. But…"

"They are just arrogant and idiot, that's all to think of." Masato shakes his head. "Let's just get this done quickly."

"Right." Using thermal vision in his glasses, Kuro starts counting the guards inside. "Two guards right behind the door, two more in the far corners. One is standing on the other side of the table..."

"Need help?"

"No need, Reimu… Actually, how are you going to deal with it?" Stopping mid-count, he asks his daughter of her own plans.

In response, she draws out her Talisman. "Simple, bind them up. Lend me your glasses so I know where they are."

"Here." Nodding, Kuro gives her his glasses. Once the girl wears it, he gives her an overlook before saying: "You know, you look good in glasses too."

"…Really? You are flirting with me now?" Reimu sends him a disappointed glare.

"Hey, can't I admire cuteness?"

Deciding to not think too much of his antics, Reimu focuses her power and spreads out the Talisman, effectively chaining the guards in place hanging them up in the air. The group then hears the leaders shouting about what happened with surprise filled in their voices.

"That's our cue." Masato says then opens the door forcefully, revealing the leaders on their foot while looking at the group in surprise. "Hello, little brats! Having fun trashing others' places, I see!"

"What the hell? Kirisame? When did you…" One of the leaders, which looks just slightly older than Reimu, asks up in surprise. His face turns pale when he sees the old man's companions. "What the hell are you all doing here?"

"Tracking her stolen items. Which led us to you all." Reimu points her gohei towards Keine while focusing on the 'leaders'. "And why the hell did you force the female servants to serve you with NO clothes?! What is wrong with you all? It's just the start of spring!"

"We pay them to work for us! How we order them is…"

"Violating the moral rules." Kuro immediately interrupts the second one as he heads to the third one with his katana ready in his right hand, causing the person to quickly back away. "Put that aside, I would like to ask you a lot of things. First, the items you have stolen from Keine's school. We're taking them back."

"What items? We didn't steal anything! Those are ours!" The 'leader' replies in fear, as sweat drips from his forehead due to the sight of the weapon.

"Oh, really?" The tip of the sword then points towards the table in the middle of the room where the items are spread on it. "Are you sure about that?" He then taps the tip at one strange object amidst the pile. "Do you know what that is?"

"That's just a box we put our things in there. What's wrong with that?"

"…That's all you can come up with?" Kuro facepalms as he sheathes his sword back, then picks the item up. He reaches his thumb towards a square and presses it…

And the room's filled with the previous conversation of the 'leaders', including their death threats towards the teacher. Kuro's not surprised at all since he knew exactly what he 'gave' Keine, but the others are having their eyes widen at how accurate the thing played the whole talking back with no wrong words.

"Well, hard evidence. You won't be about to go around that." Putting the object into his pocket.

"Hey! It's…" The third one tries to argue.

"Mine, buddy. Don't try to lie anymore." Kuro then turns to Reimu and Keine who are checking the items while the other leaders back away in fear. "I noticed one more below us, along with the armor I think. Is there anything else missing?"

"…I don't think so." The teacher replies. "While I'm glad most of them is here… something important is not here, but I cannot point out what it is."

"…Who's the one you three ordered to trash the school?" Kuro asks, his voice changed to full authority, sending shivers on the restrained guards and the 'leaders' backs. "Looking how pathetic you are, I know that you are not the ones directly going into the school…"

"Could be that one." Reimu's words interrupts him as he turns to her, and sees her pointing her gohei towards the ceiling. A second later, a person's dropped through it, nearly face-plant the floor if the restraining Talisman don't hold him up in the air. The maiden then pulls out a small ring out of the person's hand, then sends Kuro glare of disdain. "What is exactly your limitation of…"

"That's to control my power." Keine quickly intervenes, as Reimu and Kuro turn to her. "It was before we revealed my identity to the village…"

"And we should have kicked you out of the village years ago!" One leader finds enough brave, or stupidity, to shout up while pointing his finger towards Keine. "Youkai like you and those Youkai sympathizers are making fun of the human village for too long! This place will only be run by us human and…"

"Let the people be killed by aggressive Youkai? Are you serious?" Masato shakes his head as he interrupts the person's speech. "You know how powerful Youkai are compared to human, right? Do you really expect normal people could fight against them? Are you delusional or just stupid?"

"You are not in the position to speak, Kirisame!" The second one manages to gather his 'bravery' as well. "Your daughter left this village…"

"Because of your sh!tty rules." Reimu defends her friend. "And I'm sure many would like to do that too if they have the power…"

"You are the one defending those…"

"Say the next word and your head is gone." Kuro threats the last one by pointing a flintlock to his head. "Like Masato said, you are stupid. Not just because you didn't know or care of the power of the Youkai, but also the ignorance of people's will to serve under people like you. Heard of the mansion near the Misty Lake? The residents in there could wipe this village out by themselves if her rules…" He sends a small gesture to the Hakurei Maiden. "Are not there to stop them entering killing spree."

"Those Youkais are lower than us in…"

"Ignorance, again. Since when is human on top of the food chain? Never, and there would be nothing in the top. In fact, there is no top since it's just a loop of infinite relationship between creatures." He then notices one of the guards stop squirming around in trying to escape the Talisman prison. "Well, one finally stops, heh?"

"…Kira?" Recognizing the person, Masato walks to him and pulls down the Talisman blocking his mouth. "You picked the worst day to work mate." He seems to be as old as Masato given how he speaks, but his appearance says that he's a few years younger. Kuro also feels stronger Aura from him than the rest, so he assumes that he could be one of the commanders.

"Yeah. If I knew I would have to face our Lord today then I would have retired myself."

"…Just, to clarify, Keine." Pointing his gun down, Kuro turns to the teacher and asks with a tone of 'I don't like to know but I need to ask'. "Did I EVER tell the people to call me Lord whenever they met me?"

"Do you really expect us to NOT call you that if it is disrespectful to you otherwise?" Marisa's father laughs when he sees Kuro's face after hearing the feedback. "Of course, some people like me and Keine are close to you, enough, to freely call you however we want." He then asks the maiden: "Can you put him down?"

"Well, if you know him, then it might be safe…" Reimu replies a bit uncertainly, but decides to just go with the flow.

Kira then lands on his feet and quickly bows down to Kuro and speaks: "I was not informed of your return, Lord Kuro. My apology for not sending a group to…"

"Stop, please." The soldier looks up to see the person rubbing his nose bridge in embarrassment. "First off, I have heard of the situation from Keine, and I want you to NOT treat me the same as the one you respected."

"But… you are him, right?" The person before Kira looks exactly the same as he could remember, and the way he talks can't be mistaken.

"I… will be. Time travel is really confusing sometimes." Putting the hand down, Kuro continues: "Second… stand up please." The soldier quickly follows. "I want to know your current position now."

"He was only…"

"I was the leader of the regular guards in the town, before… well, if you are him, you can guess." Kira gestures to the 'leaders' who are looking confused but angry at how they casually speak before them.

That makes Kuro place both his hands on his hip and sigh in frustration. He then takes a deep breath and says: "Mister Kira, those guards here… can you command them?"

"Yes."

"Then please restrain these three and the one who did the stealing, please." Kuro knows that he's not exactly the right one (at the moment) to just order people around, so he's trying to be polite (over-polite) as possible.

"…*Pst*!" Kira nearly bursts out laughing if he doesn't stop himself in time. "Sorry, but the more you speak, the more my belief is confirmed." Masato laughs after hearing that. "You agree, right?"

"At this point, yeah." The man nods, followed by Keine and Reimu.

"You really think you can just…" The first 'leader' shouts up, as he reaches to something below the desk.

However, Kuro quickly calls out his katana and stabs on the ground just before the person's face, stopping him before he could do anything else. "Don't even try. I can stop time, and Reimu can teleport. You stand no chances." Then, two swords appear and point themselves at the other two's throats. "And that's just the corner of our powers."

"Well… serves you all right." Kira grins at the former 'leaders'. "I'm sure you will like the air in the cells. Let's go."

Chapter 9 end!

So yeah, my first thought when writing this story is to make it a joy ride. Then, well, I decided to derail it from here. Reason? Not even sure myself XD. Let's see how I can surprise myself further.

Reference:

Count Mott is a character in Familiar of Zero.

That's it. See you in the future!