Note: Yes, it's been awhile for updates. Sorry. I do one or two chapters a week on my various fanfics, with work and all...

Ga Rei Hime

Nine

Without any warning, Reito Kanzaki fled town like the hounds of hell were chasing him.

"Wait, he did WHAT?" Mai asked, blinking in surprise.

"He apparently dated a pastor's daughter in town, at some point," Shizuru observed as she drank her morning cup of coffee.

Nao looked amused, "Dated as in, 'got her pregnant,' apparently."

"Oh you are kidding me," Mai looked disgusted. She had KNOWN that Kanzaki was a bit of a man-ho... but REALLY?

The group had gathered back at the motel Rena had dropped them at. Mai and Nao had picked up breakfast and more coffee, as well as some decent tea for Shizuru. Then they tried to figure out what to do, as they were likely stuck there a few days, at least. And now, of course, no longer even having a driver on hand.

"We got an update on the Yomi Isayama case," Shizuru noted formally. "Her adopted sister, Kagura, has reported she's been sighted as a spirit Entity."

"Oh fuck," Nao cursed softly.

"Yeah," Mai agreed.

Yomi had been dangerous enough as a still-living swordswoman, if cursed. She and Kagura had been, arguable, the Agency's best two Hunters. The fact she was now a vengeful spirit... well, they had no idea HOW bad that could get.

"We should be helping go after HER," Nao complained as she drank her coffee, "not be chasing this Natsuki woman."

Shizuru drank a bit of tea, "However we may feel, that is our job. And worse, we seem to be without a driver."

Mai and the others exchanged glances as they wondered what to do. "Ask Rena Sayers, maybe?" Mai suggested.

"As none of the rest of us drive, we'll need SOMEBODY," Nao sighed.

Shizuru gave Nao an arch look as she observed, "Ah would have thought getting laid might help your mood."

Nao smirked, "I didn't get much sleep last night..."

"I don't want to know," Shizuru quickly decided. She flipped open her phone and dialed, "Miss Sayers? I hate to impose again..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The 'red cap' looked harmless enough. A goblin, basically, that was about the size of a child.

Appearances were deceiving, however. The 'red cap' name came from the creature killing people and dipping it's cap in their blood. Worse, as an 'entity' it was functionally invisible to normal people and could hunt at will.

Thankfully, Natsuki Kasuga had never been 'normal.'

The black haired woman calmly took aim with her rifle, laying concealed in the greenery. She waited until she had a good shot, then fired her rifle. The Red Cap had no time to react as the enchanted bullet blew it's head to red mist.

"Oh, nice." Sara Gallagher noted as she saw the burst of blood. "It's eerie how it goes visible after you kill it," she added.

Natsuki stood up, stretching out from having waited there awhile. "Yeah, tho the body will dissolve pretty quickly," she noted.

Sara snuck a glance of Natsuki's cat like stretching, then quickly looked away. The woman was DANGEROUS, dressed in all that tight black leather.

"Did the chief say there were other targets?" Natsuki wondered.

Sara flushed, realizing she had missed the question in her distraction. "Targets? Oh, they just had the reports that made them think it was a Red Cap," she mused.

"Ok, then let's head back to town," Natsuki agreed as they walked over to where her motorcycle was sitting. She climbed on the bike gracefully, then slapped the leather seat behind her. "Climb on," she invited.

"Right," Sara did, then as the engine started up with a growl she wrapped her arms firmly around Natsuki's waist.

"You okay back there?" Natsuki checked.

Sara leaned into the other woman, "Oh yeah."

They raced off, and Sara held on. At times like this, riding with Natsuki, she was certain motorbikes had been made for women.

Sara almost wanted to ask Natsuki if she had picked up biking because of the powerful vibrations of the engine, but she knew that would embarass the stoic woman. Mind you, she was also really cute when she blushed.

"Why did you just chuckle?" Natsuki asked.

"Never mind," Sara said, laughing.

They pulled up in front of the police station, and Sara reluctantly got off. "You want to come in with me?" she asked, stretching.

"I want to swing through town again," Natsuki said, "just in case."

"You work too hard, Natsuki," Sara noted. She smiled archly, "Doing anything tonight?"

Natsuki looked away, appearing embarassed. "I uhm... patrol. Will be patrolling." Before Sara could press her, Natsuki was on her bike and gone.

"Oh poop," Sara sighed.

"Morning!" the officer at the front desk waved as she came in.

"Morning," Sara waved, "is the chief in?"

"Yeah, she just got back from the Mayor's office," he waved her by.

Sara nodded and waved to several cops she knew. She reached the closed door and knocked as she said, "Chief?"

"Come in," Elliot answered. She was sipping a coffee, looking moderately annoyed.

"Meeting went badly?" Sara asked. "Did they not take the news about Smith well?" she wondered, referring to their finding out he may not have just vanished, but was possibly dead.

"Deputy Mayor Suzushiro was NOT happy, no," Elliot admitted. "And your friend Rena dropped a bombshell on us, too."

"She's not really my friend," Sara started, then let it go. "What's wrong?"

"There's an official Hunter team in town, from the Agency," Elliot said.

It took only a second for Sara to jump to a conclusion, "Is Natsuki in danger?"

"I don't know," Elliot admitted. "Rena doesn't know why they're in town," she added.

Sara scowled as she realized, "She doesn't have a portable phone, either. We can't warn her..."

"Relax," Elliot ordered. "They're not going to do something public, the Agency is big on secrecy," she reminded her.

"Okay, point," Sara conceded. "Still..."

There was a disturbance out front, and Elliot frowned. "What the..." she started, when her phone rang. She answered the phone, "Yeah? Huh. Okay, send them back."

"What?" Sara asked.

"Speak of the devil... it looks like the Agency team is here to check in with te local cops," Elliot noted dryly.

"Do you want me to leave?" Sara offered.

"Stick around. I have an idea," Elliot smiled thoughtfully.

"Oh that's comforting," Sara muttered.

Rena Sayers lead the way, nodding a greeting to Sara. "Chief Chandler, sorry to intrude," she said politely.

"No problem," Elliot waved that off.

Rena gestured to the three, "This is Shizuru Fujino, Mai Tokhia and Nao Yuuki. They are from the Agency, and will be in town for the next week or so."

"Week?" Nao muttered.

"Hush," Shizuru murmured back. She smiled charmingly at Elliot, "Ahm very please to meet you, Chief."

"Hmm," Elliot replied neutrally. "I used to be a cop in Tokyo, and I've heard a LOT about the Hunters and the trouble you can cause."

"Hey...," Mai started.

Elliot just ignored that as she continued, "And we're not going to have any of that HERE. If you need to go out Hunting, you'll need to take a liason officer with you."

"Is he cute?" Nao wondered.

"She is Officer Gallagher here. So, get along now," Elliot ordered as she waved them out of her office.

"That was abrupt," Mai muttered as they ended up in a meeting room, led there by Sara.

"Sorry, I didn't know the chief was going to spring that on you," Sara admitted.

Shizuru sighed, "Well, having local help usually comes in handy."

"Well, at least you ARE cute," Nao added.

"NAO," Mai sighed.

To be continued...

Notes: Wanted to strand them in town a little longer, so had Reito take off.