Kenjiro Ryano rose from her seat on the couch, where she had been waiting since she received the phone call from Hevn, informing her that the protecters would be by within the next few hours. They weren't the Get Backers, like Ryano would have preferred, but Hevn had said they were just as good.

Ryano had a particular reason for requesting the Get Backers. They had, at one time, helped her mother recover a very valuable necklace from a gang of vicious thugs. That had been quite a while ago, but the memory of it had stuck in her head. So, naturally, when she needed help, they had been the first ones to pop into her head. She called her mother right away and gotten Hevn's phone number so that she could try to reach them.

However, if Hevn was right, which Ryano saw no reason why she wouldn't be, then these two that would be coming would do just as well at the task she needed them to do. She quickly made her way to the door, waving away the butler that had been headed that way himself.

"I've got it, Takei."

"Yes, Miss Kenjiro," he bowed, leaving the room. Ryano opened the door and was slightly disappointed to see a man and woman, rather then the two men she had been expecting. Obviously these were not the hired help she had called for. Ever the lady though, she put on her best smile.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to see a Miss Kenjiro," said the man. He was a muscular man, wearing a white shirt and black pants. A headband was wrapped around his forehead, keeping his thick black hair out of his eyes. The woman wore a longer and looser white shirt with blue pants underneath. Her long brown hair hung straight down her back, save for two sections tied with string in the front that framed her beautiful face.

"I'm Miss Kenjiro," Ryano responded. Try as she might she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the woman. There was something odd about her, but for the life of her, Ryano couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"Ah. Miss Kenjiro, I am Fuyuki Shido and this is Fuchion Kazuki. Hevn sent us."

Ryano looked taken aback a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please come in." She stood aside so the pair could enter. "Forgive my rudeness, but I was lead to believe that you were both men."

Shido and Kazuki paused inside the door. Kazuki turned to face her with a radiant smile.

"I am a man," he laughed. Ryano flushed a violent red and bowed so deeply that her head nearly reached her knees.

"Oh, I am so sorry! Please forgive me!"

"It's alright," said Kazuki light-heartedly. "Many people make that mistake."

"But it was terrible of me, and I should not have made such a mistake," Ryano continued in a slight panic. The last thing she needed was for these two to become angry with her and leave. Kazuki gently laid a hand on her shoulder and as Ryano looked up at his serene, smiling face, she saw that he truly was not bothered in the least.

"It's alright," he repeated. Ryano sighed in relief.

"Thank you. This way," She led them into the sitting room. "Please, have a seat." She straightened the glasses on her face and brought them each a cup of tea.

"Hevn said you had someone, a Miss Jando Yusagi, that needed protection," Shido started as he took a sip of tea. "We usually do retrievals, but she said that you were desperate."

"Shido," Kazuki started to chastise Shido, but Ryano held up her hand to stop him.

"It's alright." It was Ryano's turn to smile. "She was correct to say so. I just hope that you can help."

"I'm sure we can," Kazuki said.

"What exactly is the problem Miss Kenjiro?" Shido asked.

"Ryano, please," she replied. "I'm a governess here. I've been the governess for the last two years. Miss Yusagi is my charge. She's seventeen. I fear that someone may be trying to kill her."

"What makes you say that?" Kazuki asked.

"Well, you see, Miss Yusagi has taken ill as of recently. She believes she is seeing and hearing ghosts. It has me quite worried actually."

Kazuki and Shido watched Ryano as she fiddled with the napkin on her lap. She was a tall woman, and reminded them both of a young school marm. Her long, brown hair was tied into a loose bun at the back of her head and held in place by long, wooden hair pins. She was dressed conservatively in a pale green shirt and dark green slacks. She wore a-frame glasses that completed the look, as well as a rather serious, yet soft, demeanor. It was an odd look for such a sweet woman.

"At first I thought that maybe she was simply under too much stress, but when we tried to reduce the stress and get her to rest, it didn't help at all. Soon she began complaining that her father was haunting her."

"Her father?" Shido asked.

"Yes," Ryano continued. "Her father died six months ago. She started hearing the ghosts four months ago and started seeing them two months ago. It's been downhill ever since. We've sent her to a psychiatrist, but that's been no help. And no one but her seems to be able to see or hear these supposed ghosts."

"Well," commented Shido. "I can understand your concern, but I am unsure how we fit into this. From what your describing it sounds more like an illness of the mind."

"Yes, that's what I thought as well. Then a few days ago, I saw some people on the hill above the mansion, watching Miss Yusagi. I had seen them before, when Takei and I brought Miss Yusagi back from the doctor, but thought that maybe they were surveying the property line or some such. This time though I had stayed at home while Takei and Kouda took Miss Yusagi. When they returned, I heard a commotion outside and saw that Miss Yusagi was having another one of her spells. I started to turn from the window when I noticed the people on the hill again."

Ryano paused as she looked out the window of the sitting room to the front lawn.

"Anyway," she continued. "I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to take out a pair of binoculars that Miss Yusagi and I usually use to bird watch and get a better look at the people. There were two of them and they weren't dressed as surveyors at all. In fact the only equipment they appeared to have was their own pair of binoculars, with which they were watching Miss Yusagi."

Looking back at Shido and Kazuki, Ryano shuddered deeply. "They were still there two hours later and were still watching the mansion, and have been back three times since then."

"You're thinking that they may be responsible for the spells Miss Yusagi is having?" Kazuki asked.

"Yes," Ryano nodded. "Miss Yusagi is set to turn eighteen in three months and officially inherit all of her father's estate. If something happens to Miss Yusagi between now and then, though, it forfeits to one of her father's business associates. And it would be accurate to say that some of his business associates have been dubious to say the least. With everything that has been happening lately, I'm worried that miss Yusagi might hurt herself. Or worse, that someone else might do it for her."

"So you decided to call for help," Shido said.

"Yes. I was hoping that maybe you could protect her. At least until she gets better. I'm sure that once she has someone good to watch over her that these spells will stop and everything will return to normal."

Kazuki looked over at Shido. "I think we can handle that, don't you?"

Shido nodded. "Yes, I think we can."

"Thank you ever so much!" Ryano stood up and bowed in gratitude.

"Now, now," Kazuki blushed slightly in embarrassment. "There's no need to be formal about it. We are, after all, under you're employ now."

"Very well," Ryano smiled, standing up. "In that case, if you will follow me, I shall introduce you to Miss Yusagi." Shido and Kazuki followed Ryano back out into the main entrance and up a grand staircase that led to the second floor. At the top the small group turned left into a wide hallway, stopping just outside the second door on the right. Ryano knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in," called a soft voice from the other side. Ryano opened the door and walked in, with Shido and Kazuki close behind her.

"Miss Yusagi? I'd like to you meet some people."

Yusagi turned around. Kazuki inhaled deeply while Shido let out a mild expression of shock. There was no doubt that Yusagi was most likely quite a beauty normally, but at this moment in time, she looked more ill then anything else. Her face appeared slightly hallowed with dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, her skin looked overly pallid and Kazuki couldn't be positive, but he was sure that a girl her age shouldn't be quite that thin.

"Oh no! Miss Yusagi, what did you do?" Ryano cried as she rushed to her charge's side. A long thin line of thick red was running down her left arm, while small penknife sat in her right hand dripping the same color of red.

"What?" Yusagi looked at her governess and then laughed wanly as she realized what was happening. "It's just paint Miss Ryano. Nothing to worry about." Ryano sank to the floor sighing in relief as Yusagi turned to the two men standing in the room.

"Hello. I'm Jando Yusagi. And you are?"

"I'm Fuyuki Shido."

"And I'm Fuchion Kazuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm sorry about the confusion," Yusagi said as she turned to wipe the paint off of her bare arm, giving the others a glimpse of the painting she was working on. It was a canvas splattered in reds, yellows, and blacks. Brushes and penknives covered in various shades of paint lay next to a small palette. Ryano eyed Yusagi with sudden frustration.

"Miss Yusagi!" Ryano jumped up, hands on hips, brows furrowed and her voice filled with authority. Suddenly the school marm look fit the personality as Shido and Kazuki even stepped back in surprise at this sudden change in attitude. "Aren't you suppose to be resting right now? What are you doing out of bed, young lady?"

Yusagi stopped in mid-wipe, her eyes focused on the floor. "I couldn't sleep," she apologized, her voice faint and filled with fear.

"I ... I ... I saw him again!" she turned and flung herself into Ryano arms as tears burst forth. Her body shook with sobs. "Please make it stop Ryano! Please make it stop! I want it to stop!"

"Oh, Yusagi," Ryano whispered as she held the young girl.

Shido stood watching as rage boiled up inside of him. The idea that someone would do this to such anyone, let alone a young, innocent girl, was unthinkable. He clinched his fists in rage.

Meanwhile, Kazuki, his face a mask to whatever emotions he might be feeling, walked over and gently placed a hand on Yusagi's head.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll help you."

"Definitely," concurred Shido.

Ryano looked up at the pair. "Thank you," she mouthed, barely holding back her own tears.

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Koroku listened to the rest of the tape, his fingers tapping impatiently on the desk before him. The other men in the room stood silent, waiting to see how their boss might react to this new turn of events.

"So someone else has been watching the house," Koroku growled in disgust.

"Apparently so. You don't think Okaboha had the same idea as we did, do you?" Tashi inquired. Out of all the people in the room, he was the only one that was relaxed. He leaned back in his chair, chewing on a pencil, his black eyes studying the ceiling as though something interesting might pop out of it. He was Koroku's second and ruthless to the extreme. The other members of the organization tended to say that he must have been born without a conscious, but that didn't bother him.

The truth was that nothing really bothered Tashi, as long as there was a steady paycheck in it. He didn't believe in "innocent creatures" much less "innocent people," and thus felt that anyone stupid enough to get in his way deserved to die. Slow and painfully if necessary.

"It doesn't matter," Koroku sneered. "Even if Okaboha was stupid enough to get involved in any of this, once the girl is out of the picture, the majority of Gieko's business holdings will legally be ours anyway."

"But, what if the girl doesn't kill herself," Synabe piped up. "With protectors following the girl, they could keep her alive for months."

"You want to take that one, Tashi?" Koroku laughed.

"If the girl won't kill herself, I'll just have to do it for her. And believe me, no protector is going to stand in my way." As if for emphasis, Tashi bit the pencil he was chewing on in half, spitting out the part in his mouth. It flew through the air, embedding itself deep into the wall and the picture that hung there. When it had stopped, only the eraser poked out, right in the center of Yusagi's forehead.

Koroku continued laughing, with Tashi joining in.