Chapter 15 – Rebellious Soul

"…Excuse me?"

"I don't think I stuttered kiddo," Seta said calmly as he let off another puff of smoke into the air, the toxic wisp breaking apart in the dusky orange of the sunset sky, "Of all the restaurants you could pick, you went straight for the one that was owned by a member of the very clan you hate so much. A different person in your situation would probably stay as far away as possible from such a place. Not dive straight into the lion's den with a cheap disguise."

Keitaro wrapped his hand around the banister to keep himself from making a fist, "The identity of the owner was inconsequential in my search. It was a popular spot in town, the pay was pretty good, and the schedule was lenient enough for me to take the time away from the dorms."

The older man shook his head in disappointment, "Yea…nice try Kei. I'd say your story was perfectly believable…if it wasn't for the fact that the owner and his club ended up blown to pieces only a week after you started working there," he caught the landlord's gaze with his own, "You know he was just a kid right?"

"A kid who damn near raped Naru's sister! Or did you miss that little detail in your little investigation?!" Keitaro fumed, getting into Seta's face in an instant, "On our graduation day of all days…a day that was supposed to be one of the happiest of her life! I'm glad that wannabe rapist asshole got what came to him for his crimes, you hear me?! Glad!"

"Take it easy kiddo, I honestly didn't hear about that last part…and I definitely feel less bad about his death now," Seta admitted, holding his hands up to stymy the landlord's encroachment on his personal space, "but see how angry you're getting? Plus with everything you just told me, you can't possibly explain away how you just happen to get a job at that kid's club only for him to get wasted seven days later. I know you, Kei. I know you a lot better than you think."

Keitaro scoffed, "Says the man who's been mostly MIA over the years. After that whole fiasco between you, Haru, and Sarah's mother happened, you went off on your globetrotting sojourn, only coming back to Japan a handful of times and give nothing but grief to Haru," he sucked his teeth at the look of remorse that came over Seta's face briefly, "what the hell could you possibly know?"

"…I know how after every murder takes place, you seem to be absent from school the next day…"

The blood in Keitaro's veins froze in place, though on the outside he only narrowed his stare further, "what kind of nonsense are you trying to-"

"I know that you were always distancing yourself from people ever since the Urashima took you in and got you back in school…I know how Naru-san and Konno-san were the first people not of the Urashima clan that you allowed to get close to you in the past couple years," the archaeologist continued as his argument began to build steam, "I know how reluctant you were to claim the role of landlord here as opposed to just staying home with Saigo-san and Nao-san."

The young landlord cracked his knuckles as his hand clenched the wooden beam tighter, "So…Haru has been keeping you in the loop, huh?"

"Despite what you may think, me and Haruka talk every once in a while when I'm away. She didn't tell me about Naru-chan's sister, but the fact that Ranmaru was killed not too long after that doesn't really help your case. Along with that, your part-time buddies still remember you a lot better than you give them credit for," Seta noted the minute flinch Keitaro made at the mention of his former co-workers, "You definitely have talent in the kitchen, if their praise was anything to go by. All the chefs I spoke with about you had nothing but good things to say…as well as concern for how you just vanished afterwards."

"So you spoke to some random chefs you came across downtown who knew me a little bit…still not seeing the part where I did anything wrong…" Keitaro shot a mild glare at the older man, though internally he was doing his best to stay calm while knowing Seta might just corner him, "So far all you've highlighted is that I got a job at a place owned by a horny, entitled prick who skipped the safety inspection on his pipes, and that I was a willing shut-in during the past few years with no friends up until high school. Spare me the history lesson on my own past and get to the point already."

The older man took one last puff from his cancer stick before flicking it off the rooftop, "You may not have pulled the trigger, but you have motive to help the person that did Kyo," he dropped the avenger's guise to emphasize his point, "and it won't take long before someone else in the Urashima clan, someone smarter than me, puts all those pieces together and start getting a better picture."

Seta turned and made his way to the steps, lightly brushing past the taciturn form of his old pupil, "I didn't come here to argue with you…personally I'd like to go back to how things were back when we used to train together…the good old days, y'know? But you've been on notice since that stunt you pulled a couple years back. You know Haru and I can't let that happen again…or it'll be your ass for sure."

Keitaro's eyes narrowed at that reminder. It was during one of his earlier murder attempts against a pillar that had gone swimmingly according to plan until Seta somehow wound up in the vicinity and threw everything into chaos. The avenger had never forgiven his mentor for that. It was the one time he was nearly caught red handed.

The hell he caught from Haruka and Seta that day still burned in him even now. Thankfully they hadn't told Hina since they believed it to be just a one-time thing. Had they alerted the Urashima matriarch of what he had done, his head would have rolled that day.

Seeing the man disappear into the stair well, Keitaro sighed and did his best to channel his rage through breathing exercises, unaware that the wooden bannister he was holding before had been crushed effortlessly, "…so you are going to be a problem again…just my luck…"

"Hmmm, I wonder what those two're talkin about up there," Kitsune questioned openly as she peered up the stairs leading to the upper floors. About a half hour had passed since the archaeologist disappeared to find the missing landlord, and in all that time curiosity had peaked in everyone.

"Nothing that is any of our business, Konno-san," Motoko responded disinterestedly, the kendoka shaking her head at her roommate's nosiness, "I am sure it is something inconsequential to the rest of us."

"But doesn't Taro-kun know?" the fox woman raised an eyebrow at her other friend sitting on one of the couches sipping tea, "Seta-kun was your original crush Naru…what if Taro-kun is…y'know..."

Naru gave her friend a blank stare, "No. I don't know. Please enlighten me as to what's probably going to be an overblown guess as to what they're doing."

"It's not overblown! They could be goin at it to decide once and for all who gets to win the hand of the fair maiden!" Kitsune jumped from her seat, fist held before her face in mock determination. Naru and Motoko fought the urge to facepalm, while Shinobu and Suu looked on confused.

"W-Wait, do you really think they would fight?" the resident cook asked haltingly, "I-I mean…Sempai did look upset before he left…maybe there's s-some history between them already?"

Hearing of her boyfriend's attitude was a bit of a surprise to Naru, "Wait, he was mad when he left? You sure about that, Shinobu-chan? He seemed fine when he left…"

The blunette nodded, "I-It's hard to tell with him sometimes…but w-when everyone was talking to Seta-san, h-he was really quiet…and there was this s-strange look in his eyes…"

"Suu noticed it too!" the blonde foreigner jumped up, surprising everyone with her attention to detail, "Keitaro had a really cold look in his eye. Never seen it there before ever, so maybe he doesn't like Seta for some reason!"

Naru took a contemplative sip of her tea, doing her best to rationalize what it seemed everyone but her had noticed, 'He was a bit quieter than normal…wait, he couldn't really be jealous of Seta-san, could he? No way…'

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door sliding open, followed by soft footsteps, "Hey…anyone home?"

"We are in the lobby, Haruka-san," Motoko responded, rising from her seat to properly greet, while the others turned in their chairs to see the tea shop owner walking up to them. Noticing the pensive looks on some of their faces, the older woman inquired, "So why does everyone look so serious? Did Kei-kun up and vanish again?"

"No, nothing like that," Naru began, but was pushed out of the way by an excited Kitsune, "Taro-kun and Seta-kun are up on the roof duelin it out for Naru-chan's favor!"

Haruka blanched, "…wait, run that by me again? That idiot's actually here? And he's talking to Keitaro upstairs…alone?"

"T-They've been up there for about 30 minutes," Shinobu chimed in, casting another worried glance at the stairway, "W-We haven't heard anything…but Sempai was upset w-when he left, and S-Seta-san went to go look for him…"

'That stupid, tactless buffoon!' she groused mentally as she made her way to the foot of the stairs, 'If Kyo hasn't killed him yet, it'll be a damn miracle!'

Fortunately, the sound of two heavy footsteps alerted her to the men in question coming down from the deck at last. Upon coming into view, Haruka hid a sigh of relief as neither of them looked like they had been fighting, 'Well thank Kami for small favor…'

"Haru-chan! Hey there!" Seta greeted with his usual grin, missing Keitaro's brief but baleful glare, "I was hoping I'd get to run into you while I was here."

"You should've called before just showing up here you dolt," the tea shop owner grumbled, taking a satisfying puff from her cancer stick, "I see you still haven't matured a bit since the last time I saw you."

"Awww, that's cold Haru-chan…"

"Warmer than you deserve," Keitaro mumbled under his breath before standing next to the couch were Naru was seated. Seeing his still present agitation, the brunette reached up and held his hand. The feeling of her soft grip calmed the avenger down a bit, and he looked down with a grateful smile.

"Aww, well ain't you two so cute!" Keitaro blushed and shot a mild glare at Kitsune, the older woman watching her friends with a playful smirk on her face, "so Taro-kun, what were you two up to on the roof for so long? Was there a duel? Did you win?"

"Does it look like we fought?" the landlord asked with a deadpan tone, with Naru turning to also give her friend a deadpan stare, "We just…talked for a bit. I'll be honest and say we're not as close as we used to be…and his very existence irks me to the core…but we have no reason to fight…" 'yet.'

"Darn…and here I was hopin for some action," the mischievous woman snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. Keitaro simply shook his head again and pointed at the now bickering adults, "Well you might still get that action. Keep watching."

"So you left her at the university by herself? Do you have ANY sense at all?"

"S-She's with one of my colleagues. I wouldn't just leave her alone, Haru-chan!"

"With a colleague…who's terrible with kids and keeping them in line…honestly, I can't with you sometimes."

"I-I know he's had a couple incidents before while looking after her…that's why Sarah will be coming to Hinata-sou within the next three days or so at least. See? I got this handled-"

"Handling it would have meant bringing her with you from the start, idiot."

"Ok…but at least it gives us the chance to talk like this, right? I missed you-"

"Uh-huh…that's why I didn't hear from you for almost six months before the last time I called…"

The residents and landlord moved their heads back and forth between the two arguing adults, as if they were watching a riveting ping-pong match. Kitsune shook her head to break herself from the trance and turned to her favorite target, "Hey Taro-kun…do they always do this when they meet up? Like, what's the deal?"

Keitaro sighed, "Not that its really your business, but Seta and Haru have…history…"

Naru didn't miss the bitterness in her boyfriend's voice when he said 'history', "You mean…they dated or something?"

"Yea…or at least they tried to. I don't really get all the specifics," Keitaro explained as he shot a slight glare at the older man, "but they were together in college…then something happened and they split up. Seta-teme has been trying for the longest time to win Haru back, but she rebuffs him every time."

"Y-You mean he's been in love with Haruka all this time?!" Kitsune nearly yelled, before drooping on the sofa dejectedly with a rain cloud above her head, "Damn it…there goes that fantasy into the wind…"

Keitaro shot the crestfallen woman an almost pitying look, "Trust me…you're being spared a lot of drama and insanity that you would NOT want in your life. I'm not even directly involved in any of it and it still gives me a headache."

Rubbing his forehead with his free hand to alleviate the oncoming migraine, the landlord reluctantly let go of his girlfriend's hand and made for the stairs, "I have a couple phone calls to make. Tell those two," he pointed at the still bickering not-couple, "that I turned in for the night. I'll see you girls in the morning."

Without waiting for an answer, Keitaro headed up the stairs and made for his room. Once inside, he pulled out his smartphone and keyed in the single number in the phone book. Within a few rings, a familiar voice picked up, "Hey there kid…calling a little late, don't ya think?"

"Sorry to interrupt...whatever you were doing Lawliet," the avenger apologized, pretending not to hear the sensual moaning in the background, "But we may have a situation on our hands…a very annoying and potentially dangerous one at that…"

A sigh rang out through one of the many opulent bedrooms of Minato Tachibana's mansion, the source flopping back onto the soft crimson sheets of his bed once his energy had been exhausted from his investigation efforts. At the door to the room, Kimiko stifled a small laugh with a manila folder in hand, "Had enough of toiling through nonsense already, Ruumari-kun?"

"Why the hell is it so hard for people around here to record information in a way that makes sense?" came the muffled complaint from the crimson-haired man, "I've gone through every digital file and most of the paper documents we have on the past assassination cases, and all of them have swaths of missing facts that make it impossible to see the full picture."

The lovely assassin sighed as she sauntered inside and took a seat at the rich wooden desk on the far side of the room, the top covered in old newspaper clippings, evidence reports, case files, and photographs of the gruesome crime scenes where Kyoshiro had successfully enacted his vendetta. Kimiko almost took pity on her beloved cousin since she was actually responsible for a good deal of the information going missing.

She couldn't let her family get too close to the truth…not just yet anyway.

"Well you know how 'Hachi and the rest of them are so prideful. Having to put down certain things related to the murders must've rankled them too much…that or they tried to make some poor sub-branch kid do it on pain of death."

Ruumari cringed at the thought, "You know, I actually wouldn't put it past them to do something like that. Seriously, I never could understand how they could treat family like that…stupid, outdated system…"

"Careful…remember the last time your dear old dad heard you curse out the sub-branch system?" the assassin reminded playfully, earning her a chuckle from the decorated inspector, "But I'm glad we both agree on that front. Anyway, what's got you stuck now?"

Getting up from the bed and walking to the desk where she sat, the red-haired detective grabbed another chair and pulled up next to Kimiko, pointing at the topmost file, "I started from the beginning, with the deaths of the four sub-branch family members. Compared to the murders of our uncles and aunts, these guys died peacefully-"

"If you can call getting drawn and quartered peaceful, sure…"

"Anyway," he continued with a roll of his eyes, "the assassin starts to show a definitive pattern with the 7th and 6th Pillars. By that point, he or she had killed primarily using gruesome torture tactics followed by finishing them off with fire in some way."

Kimiko nodded, "Yes that was pretty apparent to me from the 8th Pillar to be honest. After that it just became dull watching them use the same tricks over and over…"

"It wasn't the same trick, at least not really," the inspector corrected, pulling out a few photos from each of the different files, "while I said that he was using the same means to kill, they definitely weren't killed the same exact way. This assassin, whoever they are, got really creative with a lot of these."

Unseen by the slightly younger man, Kimiko smirked slyly, 'I always knew the boya had a vicious streak in him, and he really let it shine with a few of these insects…'

"But…I was able to find two discrepancies here," at that, the assassin quickly glanced over at her cousin, "Discrepancies?"

Ruumari nodded, brushing his bangs away from his face, "That's right; I found them while looking into Tomoko-obasan's murder…and Ranmaru's"

Bringing out a timeline he had created, the detective brought Kimiko's attention to the beginning, "From the time the murders started with those four sub-branchers, the assassin killed seemingly at random, as if they were either an amateur or desperate. For example, Amagai-ojisan and his family were killed almost a year after Yusuke-ojisan. In contrast to the earlier assassinations, the four sub-branchers he took out at the beginning of his spree three and a half years ago were killed on the same day in January, followed by Ai-obasan a month later, then Mamoru-ojisan after another month."

"Seems like they were running through them pretty quick-"

"But then for Tomoko-obasan he waited six months," Ruumari pointed out, "he was quick to off the others, but slowed down for her and her family. Then after she's killed the assassin disappears for four months before striking again, followed by a longer cooling period."

Kimiko narrowed her eyes, not liking where the conversation might be headed, "So he learned to become more cautious with Tomoko. That doesn't seem outside of the realm of possibility…we both remember what kind of person she was."

The detective fought off another shiver, "Oh yea…batshit crazy and a sadist on top of that. But that brings up my other point about her case: he was extra creative with her death…and he prolonged it for a lot more time than the others."

"But that just sounds more circumstantial than anything. It doesn't point to an alternative motive."

"That's what I thought at first…before I started really investigating Ran's murder," Kimiko's eyes widened a fraction in mild surprise, "his assassination seems like the usual one and done, but if you look closer you find that he also languished for longer than normal compared to the other murders."

'Dammit, why the hell do you have to be so sharp Ruumari-kun!' the beautiful assassin ranted mentally as she looked over the files to noticed that Kyoshiro did indeed delay killing both of them in order to make them suffer longer, 'Both Tomoko and Ranmaru were a lot more personal than the rest up until now…of course boya would want their deaths to be extra painful…'

"This leads me to my theory that maybe these two stuck out because they wronged whoever came after them in a more personal way than the others," Ruumari concluded before pressing a button on the wall. Seconds later, a young female sub-branch servant dressed in a simple black kimono entered, "You called, Ruumari-sama?"

"How many times have I told you to drop the –sama at the end? I'm your cousin, not your lord," the inspector griped, earning a blush and smile from the woman, "Can I get some tea for myself and Kimiko?"

"Right away, Ruumari-sama."

"Kami-dammit Yuko!"

Kimiko raised an eyebrow at her fuming cousin, "I didn't know you already learned the names of the sub-branch servants here."

The gruff lawman palmed his face, "Yuko's been in our 'service' for a while…she knows that when the rest of my family isn't around, I don't want them to stand on ceremony, but she just does it to annoy me on purpose."

Shaking his head, he eyed the folder Kimiko still held to her chest, "I've been meaning to ask, what's in that folder?"

Taking a second to figure out what he meant, Kimiko looked down before holding the manila folder out, "This is a list of contacts I gave to Rikimaru while he conducted his investigation into Ranmaru's murder. Chances are whoever got to that brat is probably on that list somewhere."

Accepting the folder, Ruumari quickly ran his gaze down the list of names and addresses, as well as occupations and, if applicable, criminal records, "You really have a lot of contacts in the underground…I can't imagine any of them would betray you if they really knew who they were dealing with."

"No honor among thieves I guess," she answered flippantly, "So back to Ranmaru and Tomoko's cases. If you think they were different because someone held a grudge then that just makes the search more complex. You know for a fact the both of them burned countless people during their lifetimes. It'll be hard to narrow it down to just one person."

Taking those particular case files up again, Ruumari glanced through them again, "Very true…but I figured I'll start from the most recent transgressions and work my way back."

As he checked his late brother's file, grimacing at the litany of rape, assault, and battery charges against his youngest brother, one particular mention stood out, "Hold the phone…this one's a bit weird…"

Seeing Kimiko's attention on him, he pointed to an entry no more than a couple months old, "There was a case that was thrown out here…Ran was brought into a station by an unknown and accused of attempted sexual assault on one Narusegawa Mei..."

A chill went down Kimiko's spine at the mention of that name, 'Wait…isn't that the same name as…oh boya, you just had to play the white knight didn't you…'

"According to the report, the guy that brought him in didn't leave a name or any contact information. The victim didn't know who he was either," the curious inspector's eyes narrowed a fraction at the paper in his hand, "that's not normal behavior. Did anyone try to find out who this guy was?

"Nope, and that's something I've been working on in my spare time."

Kimiko and Ruumari turned to the door, where Akisora stood with a small grin on his face as he took the tea tray from a still-blushing Yuko, "I'll take these in. Thanks for your help Yuko-san."

"N-N-Not a problem at all Akisora-sama! P-Please forgive me, I didn't know they were expecting you-"

"Don't worry about it, I just popped up now," the youngest of Heihachi's sons reassured before sending the woman off. Turning back to the adults in the room, he walked further inside and placed the tea on a small table near the desk, "Hope you don't mind me eavesdropping, but I heard you were going over the cases again."

Ruumari chuckled, "I don't mind at all. So you're telling me that you've been trying to look into this thing too?"

Akisora nodded as he took a seat on the bed, "I kept having a niggling feeling about it to be honest. It really is irregular for a witness to a crime to not leave their information behind in case the lead inspector on the case has to do a follow up."

"Maybe he was afraid of retaliation?" Kimiko offered, trying to deflect the conversation away from Kyoshiro, "It's pretty well known around Hinata that if you mess with the Tachibana, then you can expect payback in some form…and it's never pretty."

Both men nodded in agreement, though they did so with looks of shame on their faces, "Yea, that does make some sense."

Tossing the file to his younger cousin, Ruumari asked, "Hey Aki, who ended up throwing out the case? Any idea?"

Akisora leafed through the case file, "I believe it was the sergeant over at the police koban by West Hinata High School. That's where Ran and that Narusegawa girl were brought to."

Rising from his seat, Ruumari stretched and grabbed his coat, "Then that's where I'll start. There could be a chance he managed to get a decent look at the guy."

"I'll go with you," Akisora decided as he also rose from his seat, getting an amused look from his older cousin, "I could use a break from all the monotonous training and studying around here."

'Dammit, I don't think I'll be able to convince them not to do this without making myself look suspicious,' Kimiko glanced between her two favored relatives as they prepared to head out, "You sure about this? If that sergeant was stupid enough to drop an obvious case just to win favor with our clan, then who's to say he even remembers what this random hero looked like? This could just be a complete waste of time."

"That may be 'ba-chan," Akisora replied as he fixed his Imperial Guardian haori on his chest and grabbed the sword he had left outside the room, "but there's still a chance this might lead to something. Besides, it's not like we lose anything except some time if this is a bust."

The two men left before Kimiko could get another word in, the lovely assassin face-palming as soon as they were out of earshot.

'Boya…I hate to admit it, but your nobility is about to bring you some unwanted guests really soon…'

"Achoo!"

"Bless you…and you didn't even flinch. That's pretty good control."

"Well, this isn't the first time I've done something like this so you can say I'm used to adapting."

"I guess so…by the way, this is totally not what I had in mind when I said we should spend time together."

"…judging from how you're comfortably reading a book while sitting there, I don't think you're too unhappy about it."

Naru blew a raspberry at Keitaro from her spot seated on his back as he went through a series of push-ups in his room. When the beautiful brunette had opened the hole in her floor to ask the landlord if she could come down for some rare quality time between boyfriend and girlfriend, he had been in the middle of some indoor training. Not wanting to make her wait though, Keitaro had agreed to her request, leading them to the current situation.

Unorthodox? Absolutely, but that's how they made things work.

"998…999….1000," Keitaro counted out before stabilizing and allowing Naru to stand up, "Hmm…that still seemed a little too easy. I might have to invest in a weight vest after all."

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment," the bespectacled girl replied coolly as she watched her boyfriend place his gi back on and sit at the small desk in the middle of the room. She took a seat on a pillow right next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder and taking in his scent, "Wow…I really missed this. Go figure."

Keitaro raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? I didn't think it was that long ago that we spent some time together away from the others."

Naru pouted, "Of course you wouldn't realize it. Between your chores here, training, studying, and going off on your own x amount of times during the week to do 'clan stuff', we barely get to just relax together. I only ever really see you at meals or when we study together."

The landlord felt a pang of guilt at her words, not having realized he was neglecting her so much, "…It seems I haven't been the boyfriend you deserve lately…I'm sorry Naru-chan. Even after all this time at the Hinata-sou I still fall back on old habits rather easily."

"Well…while part of me can understand since this was such a huge change of pace for you," she started before getting up and planting herself on Keitaro's lap instead, arms going around his neck and her forehead leaning against his own, "the rest of me still misses you and wants to knock your block off every time you vanish at random."

Wrapping his arms around her slender waist and pulling her closer, Keitaro chuckled "I can't blame you for that. That won't stop me from dodging though…as I've said before, you're punches are the devil."

The brunette giggled before moving in to kiss her beloved boyfriend. Their lips lingered on each other, both basking in the euphoric feeling of being with the one they loved, before Naru pulled away. Sighing in content, she moved her arms to hug Keitaro's back and placed her head in the crook of his neck, "Kei-kun…do you ever miss it? Living at home?"

Keitaro perked up a bit at the question before taking a moment to think, "I would say that…I do miss my family from time to time. Especially my little sister, despite her creepy behavior," he felt Naru giggling into his neck and chuckled himself, "but while it was a surprise, I think that I'm happier here than I was back at home. Why do you ask?"

Hiding her face in his neck still, Naru hesitated before continuing, "That's because…I still remember when we first found that letter that Granny left you in this room…and how angry you were. You said that 'she's always meddling with my life…'"

The Mononobe heir frowned as he remembered that day, realizing Hina's ploy to keep a better eye on him in the wake of the Sixth Pillar's assassination. Gently pushing his girlfriend up so he could see her face, Keitaro noticed the nervousness in her eyes as she looked at him, 'She's really anxious about this…have I really been so distant with her lately?'

"Naru…I'll be honest with you. For the past few years, Hina-obaasama and I have not been on the best of terms," he started, the brunette in his lap hanging onto his every word, "We've had several disagreements on things…clan related stuff that I can't really mention in detail. When she put me in charge of this place, it was so out of left field that I snapped at a time I probably shouldn't have."

Naru could feel her heart go out to the landlord a bit, as this was the first time he had ever opened up to her about his take on the whole situation of inheriting the dorm from his grandmother, 'That's just so strange…why would she just offload responsibility for the dorm on him like this?'

"Now that I have thought about things a bit more, I realize that Granny was just trying to look out for me…in her own strange, inconsiderate, and irresponsible way," he finished with a wry smile. Seeing that the wilted expression on Naru's face had lifted somewhat, Keitaro placed a finger under her chin and tilted up her head, "So to answer your question, I do miss home…but I am happy that I'm here now."

"…I'm happy you're here too," Naru smiled as she hugged him again, "and…sorry for getting all emo on you. I'm not normally so…girly."

"I don't know…kinda suits you," Keitaro laughed, causing Naru to pull away from his grip and push him onto the floor, "Baka!"

Keitaro continued to laugh even as Naru climbed on top of his prone form and beat his chest with her fists. Eventually, the landlord pulled her arms and caused her to lie on him flat, her chest squishing against his in a position both had found themselves in several times before. This time however, was no accident.

"Hmph…" the pouty brunette huffed but didn't make any moves to get up, instead enjoying the feel of her boyfriend's arms as they held her against him. Cupping his face in both hands, she kissed him again, unable to get enough of his lips and doing her best to make up for lost time.

On his end, Keitaro was perfectly fine with handing control over to Naru this time, 'There's still time before the next operation against Minato-teme…I'll use this break to spend more time with Naru…'

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when Naru suddenly moved his hands from the small of her back to her skirt-covered behind. She hadn't worn stockings that day, so Keitaro literally had only a single barrier between him and the soft, supple flesh of his girlfriend's shapely rear.

'…yep, DEFINITELY need more Naru-time…Lawliet and Kimiko can wait…'

"I'll take care of it right away, Minato-sama."

"See to it that you do woman, or else it'll be your head!"

Yuko bowed deeply to the surly Tachibana lord and made her way back to the first floor the mansion, slightly adjusting her dark brown hair out of her face. As she walked down the hall to the kitchen, she passed another sub-branch member wiping down the walls. He was around his late teens, a touch younger than her, with matted black hair and dull brown eyes. His scrappy dark cargo shorts and t-shirt were slightly damp from both splashes of water as well as the sweat he'd built up from cleaning all the walls in the hallway and several other rooms. As he placed his sponge down to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he noticed the beautiful servant girl walking past, "…another day at the beck and call of Minato-sama, huh Yuko?"

"That's the life of the caged bird, but it still sings of the day it flies to freedom."

At hearing the somewhat strange line, the young man carefully looked around for any main-branch clan members. Seeing none, he packed up his cleaning tools and placed them into a cupboard not far from the hall before motioning to Yuko, "This way, Yuko."

He then led the servant girl through the rest of the mansion, and out the back entrance where she noticed a couple other sub-branch members weren't at their usual posts or conducting their usual chores. Staying silent, she followed behind the cleaning servant as he turned onto a hidden path in the shrubbery, going deeper into the imperial palace grounds before coming up to a spot by the stone wall surrounding the Fukiage Omiya Palace. Feeling along the large barrier, the young man found a hidden button and pressed it. Yuko barely seemed surprised as a small section of the wall opened up to reveal one of the wings of the abandoned home, stepping inside quickly after the young man before the opening resealed itself.

"Did you check the surrounding area for bugs, Takeshi-kun?" she asked her fellow sub-branch clan mate. He nodded, "I've been checking every day since Kiba first found this place. The main-branch idiots never even thought to survey the palace over here when they built that eyesore of a mansion."

Giggling at his disparagement of their main-branch family members, the brunette smiled, "Good, it would suck if they discovered us here…and that's putting it lightly."

Assuming a more relaxed pace, Takeshi and Yuko headed down the ancient halls before walking into one of the old guest rooms, where they found three of the sub-branch clan members who had been missing from their stations. One was a woman older than Yuko by a few years with chestnut brown hair, emerald green eyes and a more buxom frame. Another was an older man close to Heihachi's age with slightly greying black hair and green eyes, and the last was a young girl with black hair and dyed red bangs about Takeshi's age. Her crimson eyes narrowed in a scowl at the latecomers, "What took you two so long, Takeshi-nii?!"

"Had to go the long way to make sure we didn't attract attention from those mercs Minato-teme hired recently," Takeshi explained as he ruffled the hair of the slightly younger girl, much to her irritation, "I'm touched you were worried, Sakura-chan."

"Whatever," the girl pushed her older brother's hand away with a slight blush, ignoring the chuckling from the older family members in the room, "So how's our progress with the plan?"

Yuko sighed as she took a seat on one of the covered chairs, "Slow unfortunately. Few of our other sub-branchers seem up to the task of aiding us, though the sentiment of fear and resentment is strong in just about all of them. Despite the blessing of Ruumari-sama joining his father here and giving us a break in the rough treatment, Minato-san has completely broken our brothers and sisters."

"Arrogant pig," the older woman cursed and sucked her teeth, "always acting so high and mighty just because he was blessed with timing at birth. If my father had been born a bit sooner…"

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to pull Minato back into our mother's womb and take his place, Eri," the older man spoke up. Eri looked back at his abashedly, "I-I didn't mean anything malicious by it, Otou-san…"

"Are you two finished?" Yuko glanced at them with an annoyed look, "As I was saying, there aren't a lot who wish to come onboard, but the small number that are have been emboldened by recent events. I've heard whispers again about the 'Ghosts of Mononobe' claiming vengeance once more."

Sakura huffed, "Just more baseless rumors. I mean sure I'd love to believe a Mononobe came back to kill off those pricks, but they're all dead."

"What Sakura says is true, we can't rely on assistance from a ghost," Takeshi spoke up from his spot on the floor next to his sister, "which leaves only ourselves and the other sub-branchers willing to take up the cause. Jin-san, how are your preparations going?"

The elder man pulled out a scroll from his yukata, "I was able to find a discreet enough vendor for the materials you requested. He gave me a listing of prices, and they seemed reasonable though I wanted you to go through it first."

Taking the scroll, the young Tachibana servant read the list of materials and prices, nodding when he came to the end, "That seems reasonable. Tell him we can pay him half up front and the other half when materials are received."

Jin took back the scroll and leaned against the wall. Takeshi then turned to Eri, "What do you have to report?"

"I was able to get a copy of the security deployment for the signing ceremony," the buxom woman recounted, reaching into the belt around her kimono and pulling out a folded piece of parchment, "one of the organizers can be very talkative when he's had enough drinks and some subtle coercion from a gorgeous woman."

"Tch…giant boobs aren't everything!"

"What was that, bee stings?"

Sakura growled and jumped to her feet, "You wanna go, you cow?!"

"Enough," Takeshi spoke softly but firm, and the two bickering women stood down, "This will go a long way with helping us plan the rest of the operation. Sakura-chan, how's the rest of our design coming along?"

Sakura sat back down with her arms crossed over her smaller, but still shapely chest, "I finished the components that were giving you a headache before. Just give me another two days and it'll be all set Takeshi-nii."

"Glad to hear it," the young man then got to his feet and dusted off his backside, "That about wraps up this meeting, we should head back before anyone gets suspicious." Walking to the doorway with his sister behind him, the young rebel gave one last look at the gathered sub-branchers, "Soon, this nightmare will be all over. Those murderers who look down on their own family like animals will pay for their crimes. This is for our parents…"

"For my mother," Eri whispered as Jin half embraced her around the shoulders in support.

"…for my little brother," Yuko spoke softly, clenching a fist to her chest.

"If the Ghosts of Mononobe are real…then this time it's our turn to help em out," Sakura growled as she remembered her departed mother and father, "Tou-san…kaa-san…we'll fuck em up good for what they did to you…"

The group then dispersed from the palace grounds and snuck back to Minato's mansion, no one else having even missed the presence of five lowly sub-branch servants.

They would regret their negligence in due time.

"So Seta-kun did arrive on time for once…I'm glad to hear that, though leaving his daughter at the university was rather irresponsible…"

"Tell me about it Granny," Haruka spoke dully as she sat in her apartment above the tea house, dusting some of her furniture as she conversed with Hina on speaker-phone, "It's like he refuses to grow up past a certain point. I really do wonder sometimes…"

"Still having regrets?"

"…you know damn well how I still feel about that whole situation," the younger woman said softly, doing her best to keep the anger and frustration she felt bubbling up from entering her voice, "I've told you a million times, there's a reason why Seta and I will never be what you and he want us to be."

"That's not fair to him Haruka, and you know that."

The phone receiver cracked under the crushing grip of the tea shop owner, "You dare talk to me about what's not fair? After what you made me do to-"

A face flashed through her memory, its features blurred save for a small, sly grin. Haruka shook the image in her head away before she completely lost control, "…and even when it was all said and done…even when I listened to you and did what you asked, look where it got everyone anyway…"

Hina was silent for several moments on the other end, giving the trembling young woman the time to recompose herself. Had anyone else been present, they would never believe the sight of the strong, aloof woman looking so emotionally torn apart.

"What's done is done my child. We cannot change what has already happened," Hina spoke softly, but Haruka could hear the melancholy in her voice as plain as day, "when will you finally let it go and move on?"

'The day you finally get Kyo-kun to let go of his hatred,' Haruka thought to herself, but she wisely chose not to put voice to those words, "That's not important though. Before he left, Seta told me about the chat he had with Keitaro. Sounds like he made some headway."

"Did he now?"

Haruka placed her dusting brush down and sat on the tatami floor, a lit cigarette already making its way to her mouth, "Oh yea. He mentioned his investigation into the lounge incident and running into Kei-kun's old coworkers. From the sound of it, Kei-kun wasn't all that rattled, but he did seem a bit tense…or at least more tense than normal."

"That could have just been due to Seta's presence. I still don't know what happened, but ever since their disagreement a few years ago, Keitaro-kun has been very guarded around Seta-kun…as well as bitter and resentful."

'Still hope you never find out the real reason, or Kyo's a dead man…' Haruka thought to herself as she took another hit from her cancer stick, "Well it was something to note, since there haven't been a lot of times that Seta could get under Keitaro's skin. Normally he's a lot more composed and damn near impossible to read."

"The Mononobe trained for years to master their emotions and, if necessary, shove them into the deepest recesses of their hearts to focus on their tasks. Kazuya was the exact same way once. It took Sakuya-chan quite some time to break through that wall and let Kazuya's inner goofball free," the elderly Urashima laughed at the memory, savoring the moments she had observed between the Mononobe clan head and his wife, "and speaking of significant others, how are Keitaro-kun and Naru-chan getting along?"

Haruka smirked, "I haven't been around as much, so I can't really say for certain. They seemed to be doing ok, mostly spending their time studying," she paused to take another hit, "though I did see them leave on a date or two here and there. Problem is, Keitaro seems to go train more often than anything."

At the other end of the line, the Urashima clan head frowned, "That is…somewhat distressing to hear. Do you know if he's made anymore progress with the curse?"

"I felt it for a moment the other day, while he was meditating out in the bamboo grove behind the dorm," the tea house owner shivered slightly, recalling the malicious feeling of the oppressive ki despite being at the bottom of the hill at the time, "It's…it's so foul…and so powerful…I'm starting to think he might have taken that scroll you kept from him after all. I've looked in all the usual stashes you keep around here, but it's nowhere to be found."

"That scroll was his birthrigtht, so in all honesty I had no right to keep it from him…even if withholding it was to protect him from the temptation…" Hina lamented, "if it truly is in his possession now, then there is no point in trying to take it back. The best move now is to simply continue to monitor his progress."

Haruka nodded, putting out the last of her cigarette and glancing over at the calendar that hung up in her room, "I might have a way to do that for at least month or so. It's a bit early to think about now, but at the end of July when school is out for the summer I planned to take the girls to Hinoshima to help me run the beach café."

"Ohoo! I think I see what you may have in store Haru-chan," the Urashima clan head giggled, "in that case, feel free to do what you must in order to convince Keitaro-kun to go with you. He will most certainly try to fight you at every turn."

"Not if I get Naru involved."

The two conversed for a bit longer before Hina had to leave to begin Kanako's training for the day. After saying goodbye and hanging up, Haruka sighed in relief, "Right…time to open shop. Early summer rush is always the craziest…"

As she walked past the calendar again, she took note of the date and felt the ache in her chest from earlier return. It was a pain that had was becoming more and more difficult to repress over the years.

'Tomorrow's the 7th…I'll need to get lavender incense again. It was his favorite…'

The next morning found Keitaro climbing the familiar, creaky steps of Lawliet's apartment building, his mind focused on the next steps of his path of Tenchuu. Things had been rather dull since his successful assassination of Rikimaru, and the avenger was starting to feel the burning urge to spill more Tachibana blood.

The Ryuketsu no Shinsei was most likely responsible for that.

'The visions of Saya have stopped lately, even though my training with the curse has been stepped up,' he thought as he approached the door way, careful to knock this time instead of barge in, 'Maybe I need to dig deeper…if there's a chance I can talk to her, if it even IS her in the first place, then I want to take it…I have to…'

"Come in kid," the muffled voice of the hacker came thru the door, and the avenger pushed his thoughts away to prepare for the coming meeting. Stepping inside, he noticed every window in the apartment had been covered up, leaving the living space in complete darkness save for the light coming from one of the back rooms. Heading there, Keitaro found Lawliet at a desk covered in large computer monitors along with several folders which undoubtedly contained information that could be used to smear the Tachibana name in the eyes of the public.

"Why is it so dark in here?" he asked before noticing another oddity that caught him off guard, "…and why are you sitting in that chair upside-down?"

Opening one eye to look at his house guest, the infamous hacker replied, "Helps me to think better. Those crimson-haired asshats have been trying to clear their servers before I can get to them, so I'm thinking about making a bug that'll shuffle those files to me under the radar before they can wipe them."

"Those files are the least of our concerns, I'm afraid," the voice of Kimiko echoed through the apartment before the beautiful assassin appeared in the doorway. Something about the frown on her face didn't sit well with Keitaro, "Is that right? What happened?"

"I had the pleasure of talking to Ruumari and Akisora the other day," Kimiko began, sauntering over to where Lawliet was now seated correctly in his chair, "they've decided to start in a new direction regarding the case of Ranmaru's murder. Just the other day, the two of them took a trip to see the officer that you brought that little girl and the brat to and asked if he could remember what you looked like. Thankfully the officer could only remember the fact you were a high school senior and nothing else."

Keitaro's brow furrowed, "Well that's a good thing then, isn't it? There are at least five high schools in that section of town. Without my facial features or the color of my hair and uniform, those two can end up scouring around for weeks, maybe months before they even get to me."

"That would normally be the case, but you forget the fact that this whole thing went down at your high school," Lawliet countered, the light of the monitors causing his blue-dyed hair to glow and cast a shadow over his eyes, "Those two aren't stupid. They'll know that it was most likely a student from that school that interfered, and if they go to Mei and ask her if she remembered what her savior looked like, it'll narrow down the pool enough for them to get a better picture."

"Not only that, it's common knowledge that you are dating the victim's older sister," Kimiko chimed in, "and that means you'll be one of the first people they look to since you have a flimsy, but viable motive."

The avenger cursed under his breath, "Damn…I suppose I was a little short-sighted when I took her to the nearest koban. I didn't have much time to think about where I was taking them since everything happened so fast."

Kimiko placed a gentle hand on the teen's shoulder, along with a rare, reassuring smile, "You did the right thing, boya. Don't ever think otherwise. It just happened to be a stroke of bad luck this time."

Keitaro felt conflicted, on the one hand he had just been comforted by someone he had claimed he would kill one day, and yet on the other hand there was just something about Kimiko's expression that sent a flood of relief through his entire being.

"In any case, just expect Ruumari to pop up at the Hinata-sou at some point," Lawliet interrupted, breaking the Mononobe heir from his thoughts, "I give it a week, maybe two at the most. So long as you have a good alibi prepared, I'm sure you'll be able to throw him off your scent for the time being."

"Right…no pressure…" Keitaro sighed and took a seat on one of the free chairs in the room, his uncharacteristic bad posture slightly alarming the other two, "to be honest this is one extra headache I didn't need."

"Oh? What else has your blood pressure spiking kid?"

The swordsman shot the hacker a mild glare, "That connection you had at Tokyo U to get me a job? Turns out that job offering was from someone who I would very much rather avoid. He's been on my ass for years doing his best along with Hina and Haru to get me to see the light and let go of my hatred of the Tachibana."

Lawliet cringed, "O-Oh, forgot you had to deal with that old bat and your aunt on top of everything…" the hacker suddenly seemed a bit withdrawn, something that drew Kimiko's attention immediately.

'Well this is new…'

"Well for the foreseeable future, they'll have help from one of the most annoying people I know…as well as a damnably good fighter. I don't think I ever told you this Kimiko, but you weren't my only master when I started training seriously all those years ago."

"Oho! So you mean to tell us that this new thorn in your side is also an adept combatant? Seems like your bad luck just refuses to let up, boya."

"Don't remind me," Keitaro rubbed his eyes as he felt his irritation climbing, picturing the source of that discontent, "Damn you, Seta."

Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Both Keitaro and Kimiko felt the chill that normally accompanied killing intent, and turned to the last person they would expect to sense such a malicious spike of negativity from.

"….L-Law-kun?"

"…did you just say…Seta?"

Slowly raising his head, Lawliet faced the other two fully, and Keitaro had to fight the urge to draw his sword as he noticed the unquenchable rage in the hacker's eyes, "Lawliet? What the-"

"AS IN NORIYASU-FUCKING-SETA?!"

The avenger knew at that very moment that for reasons he had yet to discover, everything had just become a lot more complicated.

If only he knew…

Author's Note: Hello and Happy New Year to you all! Hope you all got the start to 2019 that you wanted! And I didn't do too horribly with the wait this time...just 4 months as opposed to 8. Killer.

So Kyo is finally getting the squeeze put on him from two directions, one of which can actually get to him where he sleeps. But with what appears to be some form of resistance popping up within the sub-branch of the Tachibana, he might get the distraction he needs to get some space. Or not.

And it looks like Lawliet might have some history with everyone's favorite archaeologist as well. Can't wait to see how that goes.

Once again, huge shout out to my beta reader Cloud Link Zero for constantly reminding me to get my ass in gear. If you're an aspiring writer, get yourself a beta that won't let you get lazy. It's a huge help.

Until the next installment, stay frosty people.

Ciph signin' out

P.S. - HUGE thanks to UltimateEzel for catching some rather embarrassing errors I left here. Brother, I owe you a solid to be redeemed whenever you wish.