Disclaimer (1): This is a fan written work based on the works of J.K. Rowling. It might possibly also have some elements of a number of other works. There is no money being made from this, it is merely a work meant for the entertainment of myself and the masses. This is merely for fun, and no profit. I repeat: I am not making any money out of writing this.

Disclaimer (2): I also do not own anything that has to do with Juuni Kokki, Juuni Kokuki, Record of the Twelve Kingdoms, The Twelve Kingdoms. The only things that will probably be mine to claim are some of the names that will appear in the fic.

Warning: OCs OOCs Sues, and some crack. You have been warned.

Note 1: Post-DH Disclaimer (2) anime/novel Crossover

Legend: # denotes change of time, while "*" denotes change of scene/perception/POV/center of attention/small change in time

Satisfaction

Chapter three

"While I do believe in giving everyone a choice, I do believe that I keep giving you the very same one each time I come visit and delight not only in the food prepared in this establishment but also in your company," Rnajou said, "So once again I ask, won't you come and join me, instead of working here? It would really please me to have another to speak with that also enjoys talking about the finer things in life."

"And once again, good sir, I must decline," Kasumi said, "I rather enjoy my present situation, and you do seem to have a habit of visiting me often, so why change what already is for something else that is of lesser value. I would not want to part with those I now live with."

"So my suspicions were indeed correct," Ranjou somewhat theatrically said, "My assumptions are correct in that you have found yet another that vies for your attentions or affections."

"Oh, I have several of those," Kasumi admitted yet again to the ire of Ranjou, "But my heart and soul belong to one that has yet to be found, and I assure you it is not you."

"Why not? Kasumi, while I have only known you for such a short time, I believe that you would be happier with me," Ranjou said, "You'd have a better life, even though you'd have to deal with Risetsu though why she can't stand you I'll never figure out."

"I won't help you with that problem," Kasumi said, "So are you eating, drinking, or willing to pay my boss for any more time I shall be wasting in your presence?"

"Ahh, yes, food, can't forget that, I skipped lunch just for your company after all," Ranjou said.

"Just order up already," Kasumi said, "We both know that you don't have that much time in this part of the country."

"Right, sorry," Ranjous said, gave his order, waited for his food, and tried to get the attention of his conversation companion once again, but she only returned to his table to deliver his order before she was off again to serve the other customers as well as her other would be suitors.

When he was leaving the restaurant he bumped in accidentally with a boy he didn't think he'd ever meet again in his life having thought that the boy had truly died that last time they had met. He only realized that it was the boy when he helped the boy back to his feet as well as collect the various parcels that were dropped in both their haste.

"Fuka..is that you?" Ranjou asked, he was of the belief that he was seeing a ghost of all things.

"Err...sorryaboutlasttimegottago!" Fuka said quicky got all of his things and ran faster than any normal kid away from the ruler, he wasn't planning on meeting the man anytime soon or any time at all after their last meeting, it would rouse far too many questions than he was comfortable with answering.

It was a move that had surprised Ranjou, but instead of trying to locate the runaway, he decided that he'd have a chat with his kirin first before sending her or someone that knew what Fuka looked like out to search the city for him. There were many questions that needed answers, such as why the boy hadn't looked like he had aged even a year since they had last encountered one another.

It was true that Kurai and his other forms hadn't aged a day since they had arrived or been created, it was due to the fact that he, Kurai, was an emperor a king of the world and now a minor diety though he didn't really like acknowledging that fact as it still partially pissed off Tentei when he wasn't acknowledged for something that had to do with him.

It was bad, or so Fuka thought, now that someone that wasn't supposed to know him found out that he was still the way he was. Soon someone was bound to connect the dots, and he'd have to take a hike and find somewhere else to have a vacation in, which would mean reintegration in just another part of the world. It was taxing enough to insert themself into this capital's society. There was also the fact that some questions would need answers.

So Fuka did what he thought was best for the whole, he finished all his errands and left town for somewhere else. He was a fugitive, but at least it gave a third of Kurai something to do for the time being. Sure he wouldn't get to see that nice girl he had met some time ago again or for a while, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with Ranjou and his kirin more so than usual.

All it took was one chance meeting and now there was a can of worm open for all sorts of things to do wrong. It was quite troublesome.

The other two thirds were updated on the most recent of events since they were all one and the same, though sometimes they were thought of as separate persoalites. Kurai really was powerful, since as proof, he could be proven to be certifiably insane at this point already.

At least something good would come from the sudden change of plans. Kurai found himself more spread out than he would like but at the same time he could cover more ground this way and get more used to dealing with normal people with more normal lives as compared to his experiences in Tai and in Ryuu.

He needed to hire some new help, and Kasumi would be needing to get some information on what Ranjou's plans were, now that the man knew of Fuka's continued existence.

Ryuuki would also need to be informed of the split so as not to assume that Kurai was entirely in one place should the kirin ever encounter Fuka somewhere that wasn't the city that the rest or core of him was in.

Kasumi was allowed to leave work earlier than usual since she said that something had come up after. Her boss knew that she was a kind of relative of that boy that had bumped into her favorite customer, and some trouble must have been brewing for her to request an early end of shift. While it wasn't like her to request such, they knew the importance of family, even ones like the one she considered herself to be a part of.

Her employers knew that she stayed with some baker somewhere in the city and that one of her housemates was a kid that had done some errands for them in the past like fetching some supplies ands uch.

Something was up, or so her other suitors felt as some of them watched her run off in the same direction that the boy had run off to. Some had made to follow her and see what was up and add to the gossip of the city. But found that as soon as she rounded a corner she was gone from their sights and no one around that corner could remember her, even with her unmistakeable beauty.

She was the assassin Kasumi, while Fuka had returned to the thief Fuka.

Fuka left the city after picking up some essentials, while Kasumi arrived some time later to brainstorm with Kurai what to do next. Plans had changed but not by much. They would continue living as they had been. But Kurai had decided to inform Kouko and Shushou about the change, they knew of the Karasu Trio after all. The servants were also informed of the sudden change of plans.

Kurai continued with his day to day, but made sure to keep an eye out for any of Ranjou's people that were sure to be out and about the city scouring for Fuka, or for Kasumi now that she had quit her job and and gone off to work elsewhere, which was sure to cause Ranjou to become a bit more suspicious of events.

That king had indeed sent out some of his people into the city to search for Fuka, but they all turned up with nothing after a week's worth of searching. While they had found people that knew Fuka, none of them could say that they knew where he lived or where he was now.

Some people had been sent out to find Kasumi but they too were unsuccessful in locating exactly where she was, but they were able to find out that she was somewhere in the city. Large as it was, it was hard to locate a single person, even one whose beauty was unmistakeable, she really knew how to hide herself.

Kasumi had decided that the best place to hide was right under the one finding her's nose. She found work as a cleaning lady up in the palace, changing her looks was easy enough. It was as simple as a thought, no one outside of Kurai really knew about that of course. So it was easy to hide in plain sight.

It was a bit of a game of cat and mouse. Fuka hid off in another country, Kasumi hid in the palace and spied on the events that transpired there, while Asari remained in the city as a baker listening to whatever gossip was presented in his presence.

#

Since not everyone really could say that they knew all the important things about Kurai, no one could come to any real conclusion about him other than that he was an occasional pain in the ass for some higher ups and a certain god. He was very helpful, kind, caring, and a right pain in the ass. He was also very powerful and a pain in the ass. Was it already mentioned that he was a sometimes annoying and irritating pain in the ass? Well he was that too along with a few other things.

Kasumi spent her time familiarizing herself with the palace while getting to know here workmates a bit better than at her last place of employment. It wouldn't do for her to find herself doing something not that good in anyone's eyes only to be ratted out on her deed because she chose to confide in the wrong person.

The palace was probably the most dangerous place in all the land, due to the fact that there were many more powers at play in there than in anywhere else in the country. From the cleaning ladies all the way to the court. Politics was played everywhere. There was a social pecking order from the very bottom to the very top.

At the very bottom of both orders were only two people. Kasumi, being a newbie, and a black haired and red eyed semi-beauty, Kousui. Kousui was at the bottom of the ranks due to her unfamiliarization with anything to do with the world in general. She was a taika after all, she admitted to Kasumi after meeting her for the first time.

Some of them weren't all that well liked, thanks to some events in the past, and the pride of some of the natives or true natives that hadn't had the misfortune of being blown off course by a stray and sudden shoku.

Some time passed before Kousui actually confessed to only have met one person that was not a real visitor to the palace. A boy that had been brought to the palace for the protection of the people down in the city below, as well as to sate the interest of Hanrin, the kirin of Han. Kasumi filed that bit of information away for later, since it was only when she was told of that event that she remembered Kousui.

Kasumi, a few days later, admitted to Kousui that she knew Fuka, the boy that the veteran cleaning lady had met that one time. From there the two women became rather closer friends as Kousui wanted to learn more about the world as well as about that boy that she couldn't believe had died as he seemed a bit different from the rest of the people that she had met in her lifetime.

"How was he the last time you spoke with him?" Kousui decided to ask one time when they were alone cleaning one of the many rooms of the palace.

"He was well, he still is I still keep in contact with him you see," Kasumi said, since it was the truth why lie about that anyway with a friend than generally seemed concerned for her/him, "He's on the run from Han-o though."

"Why's that? The King isn't that bad of a person," Kousui said.

"Well Fuka is a suspicious character isn't he?" Kasumi said, "I mean, he hasn't aged a day since the last time he was in this palace after all."

"How do you know that?" Kousui asked her.

"You could say that I knew that friend of his that spoke about a ball of some sort," Kasumi said.

"Who was it then? I'd really like to know," Kousui said, "Also, how's his dream coming along?"

"His dream?" Kasumi said, falsely, "What dream?"

"He told me that he wanted to save the world," Kousui admitted, "It actually brought back some of my older memories from before I found myself here. Still can't remember much of how that happened though."

"Oh?" Kasumi said.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to save the world," Kousui said, "What's rather coincidental about it is that I met a boy like him years ago that said almost the same thing...I wonder how he's been doing."

"Well, I can say that he's gotten good at it, one person at a time and all that," Kasumi absentmindedly said as she continued scrubbing the floor clean.

Her words had quite the effect on her companion, which she was a bit oblivious to herself. Kousui had stopped moving at those words, it cause her to have another flashback, back to the same memory as the last time she had had a flashback. It was a bit creepy.

"What did you say?" Kousui asked once out of her reverie.

"I said that he's gotten quite good at it, one person at a time and all that," Kasumi repeated while continued doing her job.

"Oh," Kousui said and went back to work as well.

"Why? What's up?" Kasumi asked not looking up from her work, their short pauses might cause them to be late for their next task.

"Its just that...well.." Kousui began to say but was interrupted by Ranjou and Hanrin entering the room the two were working in, and while in the presence of such people it was the protocol to be invisible. So they kept to themselves, invisible. They didn't want to be on the receiving end of Hanrin's wrath, kirin though she may be she was still quite strict.

"...I'm telling you I wasn't just imagining things! I don't have a guilty conscience at all!" Ranjou shouted at his kirin, though he didn't mean to shout he was just frustrated at the situation.

"Maybe you were hallucinating and it wasn't him! He couldn't have suvived that fall!" Hanrin said in just as loud a voice, "If he were alive, I have a few questions of my own that want answers. But we're wasting resources on finding someone that could have just held a resemblance to him."

"He ran! What more proof of the authenticity of my claim do you need!" Ranjou shouted back, it was a real argument that had nothing to do with the affairs of the state, which was why no one else was involved.

At this point in such an argument, any servants in the vicinity would have got it in their minds to get away, since such conversations weren't for their ears.

"You two! What are you still doing here?" Hanrin redirected her anger, frustration and irritation, in almos the right direction, though it would have been better had Kousui not been in the blast range as well, "I'm skipping protocol, you've heard too much, pack your things and leave. It looks as if we have too much incompetence in the palace as of late."

"Now, now Hanrin, let's not get to hasty," Ranjou said, "Let's not get too hasty, they have their uses.." but at the look that his kirin was giving him, he had no other choice but to agree with her. They had stayed too long in their presence while other servants would have had the common sense to get away.

"B-but.." Kousui said, how could things go from mediocre to bad for her in such a short time. They had been too caught up in the gossip potential that they had forgotten to use their common sense.

"Leave!" Hanrin shouted, it must have been that time of the month for her, "LEAVE NOW! YOU DISRESPECTFUL POOR EXCUSES OF SERVANTS! OUT! AWAY!"

"I said that out loud didn't I..?" Kasumi rhetorically asked.

"Yea.." Kousui replied as the two of them ran from the wrath of the kirin, while she didn't have that problem, the bleeding part, she still suffered from the hormonal imbalances part of it, luckily not the pains though she sometimes led Ranjou to believe that she did.

They soon found themselves as the laughing stock of the servants and found themselves out of the streets of the capital with only what they owned, which wasn't really much considering what they had each brought into the palace. Kousui of course really only had the clothes on her back.

"Come on," Kasumi said, and pulled her companion to follow her, "I might as well take you somewhere you can work."

"Where? Why?" Kousui asked as she was dragged through the city by the gradually changing in looks Kasumi, "Hey, what's happening to you?" she noticed the changes after all.

"Don't mind it for now, just follow me!" Kasumi continued on, they passed a number of corners and some of Kasumi's former suitors. She didn't kow it but Ranjou would be sending out some people to find her once again, since she had been spotted all of a sudden once again in her former haunts. The former suitors would also be informing those they reported to for some money about her companion.

The two girls arrived at the bakery as the sun was going down. Since Asari already knew about it, he waited outside for the two of them. He was rather interested in Kousui, something told him that she was special, he just didn't know why yet.

"Welcome back," Asari greeted Kasumi as she appered before him with a slightly panting Kousui, "Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Kousui," Kasumi introduced her friend, to one that need no introduction really...most of the time anyway, "Kousui, this is Asari, he's...a friend."

"I take it you both have a reason for visiting?" Asari said.

"Yea," Kasumi said, "We were fired by the kirin."

"I see," Asari said, "So did you happen to comment about her red tide?"

"Yea, pissed her off good," Kasumi said, "Poor Ranjou."

"Haha," Asari said, accompanied by an uncharacteristically infectuous laugh.

"Uhm..Kasumi...what are we doing here?" Kousui asked.

"We'll be staying here from now on," Kasumi stated, "You'll be working for Asari for now, and through him you'll learn about all the things you've been missing out on."

"What makes you think she'll be doing that huh?" Asari said, playing along.

"What? Why? I couldn't really impose," Kousui said.

"You don't really have anywhere else to go do you?" Kasumi said, "Plus, he doesn't really have that many people looking out for him right now. He needs companionship, while I do my own thing."

"Follow me," Asari said, "I'll show you to your room, Kasumi I need you to run an errand for me."

"Oh sure, order around the returnee," Kasumi whined a bit, which caused Kousui to giggle a bit at their interaction with one another, "What'll I be doing boss?"

"I need you to deliver some supplies to Fuka, he's settled in Tai's capital, but doesn't want to draw any attention to himself, which is why I need someone I trust to deliver his supplies to him," Asari said.

"Fine, but you better take care of my friend while I'm gone," Kasumi said, and pulled out a hidden blade and threatened her core form with it.

"Worry not about your friend, I'll make sure she is taken care of," Asari said before directing Kasumi to where the supplies were.

It was the beginning of a new homelife for Asari, or Kurai.