They Talk to Me, They Understand

Kagekatsu hadn't been able to think properly since the previous day, there was simply too much on his mind for him to get a mere wink of sleep or respite. Shoving his hands over his eyes, then his ears, in an attempt to block out his senses to induce himself into some kind of coma also had no effect. All the information buzzing around his skull knocked incessantly at the door that was his brain, acting more like an annoying neighbour that wouldn't get the hint to leave.

Two things stood at large in his mind. One: Subaru was in possession of something that he really, really shouldn't have been. It made Kagekatsu wonder how the clown even got his hands on a copy of it, and a shiver very much ran down his spine each time the impossible scenario was brought up in his head. No matter how many times he tried to sake the thought, though, it would crawl back like the shambling zombie it was, taking hold in his mind and making its nest. God, he never wanted to hear the name Akira again as long as he fucking lived. Life was too short.

But more importantly, Kagekatsu's thoughts had been equally dominated by what he had found stuffed in the bottom drawer of Subaru's desk drawers. It made him shake his head, running nervous fingers through his silky hair. His tail spasmed once in a while the longer he kept his feelings on Joseph's file at the forefront. How on Earth had it managed to get to that size? It was insanity! For someone that was way younger than him too!

Kagekatsu may have been pushing twenty, only a few months removed from passing that fateful date and saying goodbye to his current shitty teenage days, but if anything should've been true above everything else, it was that his file should have been much larger than Joseph's was. The energy demon was a full three years younger than him, 1095 more days where the Foxboy was culpable for his actions.

Whilst he had never managed to peak his own file, the object conspicuously missing from Subaru's desk, there was little doubt in his mind as to how long it was going to be. Kagekatsu grimaced as he dragged his hands down his face, pulling at the bags under his eyes as he stared into the mirror. The laundry list of shit he did probably read more like the Geneva Checklist than the Geneva Convention, which he had merrily complied with for the sake of what? Pleasure? Pride? Glory? A mixture of all three?

Whatever the reason was, it was nothing short of embarrassing. The look Father had shot him during that first prison visit was a sorely needed wake-up call, he still recalled how haunted the older fox looked... The image burned into his retinas, probably for the rest of his days as the Divine continued to taunt him. No amount of attempts to gouge out his eyes would ever prevent him from seeing it every time he closed them.

But now was not the time to think about his own issues again, that was a story for another day whenever Father thought to contact him again. No, instead, he had to be much more focused on finding out what the hell had happened in Joseph's life that allowed his file to look like the Necronomicon. The fact the file was practically burst apart at the seams, having been forced to hold all of those loose pages that had evidently been stuffed in without a care in the world, was so surreal. None of the others he had managed to get his hands on were even close to that length.

As Kagekatsu gently began to brush his hair for the day, trying to find the right angle in the mirror where he didn't look akin to some kind of ghoul rising from the grave, his teeth ran back across each other. Haru's file had been a joke, in no uncertain terms, the clear sign of someone far too blasé and annoyed to finish their work. The foxboy had seen shoddy craftsmanship before, and whilst it may get on his nerves from time to time, there was no part of him that blamed the author for wanting to treat the member in one of the dorms next to him with disdain. Hell, Kagekatsu often forgot the other was here! He didn't remember the last time he saw the chunni fuck, to be honest.

Few of the others had piqued his interest, barely earning more than a cursory glance and a small place in his mind as he poked the gash on the side of his head with a sharp, black nail. A couple were on the light side, probably befalling the same fate as Haru's but at least being complete. Others were bulkier, Kagekatsu still remembered the sensation of their weight in his hands, but they were no heavier than your average five-hundred-page novel. Really, the difference at the end of the day was negligible at best.

That was what had made Joseph's one stand out all that much more. Done with his hair for the time being and electing not to press the leaking gash any further, Kagekatsu slowly got around to getting himself dressed. His muscles still cried out in pain, howling to the moon like a baying wolf whenever any serious movement was made. It felt like the weight of the world and then some, which Subaru had somehow managed to lug around with minuscule difficulties. It made the foxboy's appreciation of the clown's strength peak that little bit further, and long for whatever forbidden secrets he must've had for the perfect workout…

Ack! Kagekatsu slapped himself across the face once his kimono was on. His mind was wandering once more, failing to stay on the topic at hand. There was just so much swirling all about the place in such a short amount of time that mixed too well with everything that had come before, creating the perfect distraction-laden concoction he was sipping at the teat of like a guinea pig. Well, whatever Joseph had managed to get his hands into, there was little doubt to Kagekatsu that it warranted extreme caution and poise to handle carefully. In hindsight, now that he thought about it, there was probably something relating to why he had broken the foxboy's nose after a simple touch…

In a way, though, it would make too much sense. Kagekatsu groaned as he slumped back against the wall and found himself falling all the way back down to the floor, his eyes staring up at the ceiling as was so often the case since he had found himself living in this sterile shithole. He knew everyone here was some degree of fucked up or fucked over in their lives, having to be picked off the streets, away from prison, or probably from the deepest, darkest, hottest parts of Hell if people like Subaru and Hideyoshi were being considered.

Yet, for some reason, every time he thought of the admittedly screwed-up Joseph, there was little his mind could supply to him in terms of evidence. He could still remember the first time he saw what the Energy Demon had worn to the Foundation, the name Avalon was a familiar one that always ended up stuck at the tip of his tongue. Had he read it in one of Father's books before? Or was it something else? The corner of his lips curled back into a snarl; it was always a pain whenever his shitty memory struck up again. One too many concussions in life would do that to a man.

Joseph was always dour, serious to a fault even. Not even the perpetually professional and poised Kyte seemed to hold a candle to the stick that had been shoved so far up Joseph's ass that the Energy Demon must've been eating bark. However, at the same time, Joseph's monotone droning never fit the violence that lay under his words. Nor did they ever match the insane actions and destructive potential he showed in every flash of brutality that came as natural to him as blood.

The brutality that he knew all too well… Like the pounding drum of an invincible fucking monster among men, or the cold cackle of the wind of destruction.

Kagekatsu shoved one of his arms over his eyes, the sleeve of the kimono working as a comforting cloak of darkness. Gently, he began to take a deep breath after a deep breath. He shouldn't be thinking about things like this, not when he was only a few minutes departed from waking up for the day. There were plenty of other things that would no doubt draw his ire over the course of the next twelve-something hours, forcing him to keep the ever-cantankerous side of his suppressed and sedated as much as possible.

However, over the past few days, even that had been borderline close to fucking impossible. Two days on the bounce, no less, Akashi, fucking Akashi, had been pounding on his door and wanting to peer into his room like the nosy little shit he was. Why was the cat fuck so insistent? Because the others had made the mistake of allowing him into theirs? Bah! What a load of horseshit! Kagekatsu felt his tail bristle at the mere idea of letting the chaotic mess of rejects that littered this place into his dorm.

No matter the fact that his dorm was as much a festering crapsack as Subaru's office was, that fact was inconsequential. There were many rules in life that he had cast away with a flagrant, flamboyant disregard. However, one of those that remained sacrosanct all these years later, was the rule Father had given him about others' privacy. "If you poke the bear, assume you're going to get your head ripped off sooner rather than later, Kage." He could remember Father saying to him, his voice as deep in his head as it was in person.

Did these idiots not understand that? Furthermore, what was Subaru on about whenever he crowed on about a bonding session? Kagekatsu wanted to punch the air, no matter how pathetic he would've looked doing it on his back. Anything that got all the desire for harm out of his system that wasn't resolved around him turning his head into a cheese grater would be much appreciated. He had a feeling that whatever Subaru had up his sleeve was going to be nothing sort of insanity-inducing.

Three sharp knocks on his door roused him from his reverie, his arm dropping from his eyes but his body not yet moving. What was the point in doing so? Whoever was behind the noise was just going to piss him off further, and the tired foxboy could scarcely think of a worse time to spend other than the first few hours of his day with someone else. If Subaru was feeling particularly Quirkist today, he might even shove the mutants together again, which would once more leave him at the mercy of the nattering annoyance that was Akashi.

Another batch of knocks struck the door, halfway between furious and languid. "I'm not suggesting." Ah, it was Subaru behind the door, Kagekatsu should've known all things considered. Akashi had rapped on his door with the enthusiasm of a child, and no one else had dared so much as to visit him. It left the clown, poised, strident with his icy, tired tone as the only solution to the equation.

"Fuck… What time is it?" Kagekatsu still made no move to leave his room, however, he did at least have the courtesy to rise to his feet. His hands pulled at his baggy eyes once more, said eyes darting back over to the mirror to make sure he didn't look like five pounds of shit in a ten-pound bag. The last thing he needed about now was another rant about fashion from Subaru, who he could already imagine was planning to run him down about 'ruining' the clothes that he bought.

From behind the door, Kagekatsu's ear picked up the sound of Subaru's foot tapping against the bottom of the door. Hasty, haggard breathing, as if he had been hurt and was trying to hide it, also perked up his ears as they twitched at every individual noise. "Time you came out here and joined the rest of us for what I said would happen yesterday. I think I've let you sleep on long enough."

They… They were already there? Kagekatsu tilted his head. How long had he really been out for? This shithole was underground with zero ability for him to look out for the changing night sky, nor did he check what time he actually went to sleep last night. He'd been too busy ranting and raving to himself, pulling out loose strands of hair, to know anything for definite last night. However, was this really true? Or was this just another sick game of Subaru's? Was the clown going to pull him around to do more chores for him, before revealing that it was somewhere close to three AM?

"You have about ten seconds to get out here before I bust the door down." Unfortunately for Kagekatsu, it didn't seem like Subaru was much willing to let the foxboy stew in all the factors when it came to making the decision. The clown wanted to have his meal raw, tearing at it with that icy voice that made the long-haired teen recall the previous day, where the exact same voice had wreaked his body with shivers.

Normally, Kagekatsu would've fought it off. Normally, he'd have already launched into a tirade about the many things that were wrong with dragging him out of his room. He'd done it to Akashi several times already and had no problem giving Subaru a piece of his mind about the training sessions. However, the foxboy was also more than aware that Subaru was going to pretend like he heard nothing, sticking his fingers in his ears like a child. "Fine… Fine…" Kagekatsu acquiesced, shuffling his feet to the door, and reluctantly opening it.

If there was one small sliver of solace, he could take it was that his eyes didn't explode when they adjusted to the Foundation's bright light, apart from that, Kagekatsu had little positive to go off of. Especially when he turned his gaze up toward Subaru, which forced him to physically grab at his jaw with one hand to prevent it from falling to the floor.

Somehow, Subaru looked even more dishevelled than the previous day. His overcoat was missing entirely, and so too was the tie that was about the only air of professionalism that one could glean from the manic clown. Naturally, that meant that the black button-up shirt was as haggardly put on as the rest of the outfit, with its top two buttons being undone and revealing the dip below his slender neck.

However, what caught Kagekatsu's notice above all else was the man's physical appearance and the awful stench he could feel trying to permeate his nostrils. Like yesterday, Subaru's hair was just about everywhere, and even though it looked like the make-up had been done professionally for once, there was little in the small movements that professed it had been done with any sense of joy. In fact, discounting the dark bags that matched Kagekatsu's own, it felt like the clown had only dressed in what was strictly needed to carry out his task.

If yesterday was Subaru on no sleep, what the hell was this?

"Hmph, you're learning to wear it properly for once. Glad prison didn't fry all your brains." Subaru spoke, taking one glance down at Kagekatsu before turning on his heel without any of the flair that usually possessed him. Once more, it felt like the foxboy was being compelled to follow a completely different man than the one he was used to. For some reason, following a Subaru that wanted to do his job was so much more terrifying.

"Of course, I am!" Kagekatsu said, his voice strained with tension as he tried to cover his nose from whatever was causing it to run haywire. Even in a situation like this, he couldn't help his ego from running wild. Least of all whenever Subaru was clearly devoid of irony and elected to punch downwards for the sake of it.

Without another crossed word, Kagekatsu fell into lockstep behind Subaru, who had continued on walking despite not checking over his shoulder to know if the foxboy was following him. Yesterday, it had been like this for the most part, but he could still feel, and eventually saw, the vestiges of the Subaru he was normally aware of. Right now, it felt like he was slipped behind another person entirely.

Furthermore, there was a hastiness to the steps that Kagekatsu could feel down to his growling stomach. Subaru wanted rid of him as quickly as possible, which shouldn't have come as much as a shock as it did to the foxboy. There was more than ample evidence that their self-proclaimed 'Co-ordinator' enjoyed torturing them with manic games, but whether the maniac himself actually wanted to be around them was another matter. One that Kagekatsu was in no place to comment on, regardless.

He'd have to remain vigilant, though. Whilst he already had his preconceived notion of this all being one long game to get him back for leaving his chore with Joseph early, there was a new thought that was coming to mind now, and Kagekatsu's eyes lasered themselves onto each step Subaru took. The clown wanted to read about 'The Other Side?' Kagekatsu had been there and back, it was not a place that anyone should dip their toes in without being aware of the shark-infested waters beneath.

Unfortunately, for someone that had a Quirk built around slipping in and out of shadows, Kagekatsu was not exactly the most subtle person on the planet. "I can feel your eyes on my back, take them off now." Subaru called out to him, sounding halfway between exhausted and growling like a wild animal.

Immediately, Kagekatsu did as he was told, feeling like he had just opened pandora's box. His eyes bolted to anywhere else they could find as the pair continued to traverse the twisting routes of the Foundation. Sweat pooled just above his brow, which he quickly wiped away when Subaru passed through another door. Why did it feel like he had angered an old age God? One with the power and temperament to vaporize him from the face of the earth.

"Won't be much longer now." Another thing that Kagekatsu started to notice, as the sleepy cobwebs in his head started to fade, was that Subaru was no longer speaking in the same dramatic prose as usual. Yesterday, all things considered, hadn't been an outlier either as the clown had taken to his usual mad poetic waxing within a few minutes. The foxboy couldn't help but compare it to the short, snappy utterances that were barked more like commands.

In a way, all he could do was pray to the Heavens that Subaru was telling the truth for once. The sick growling in his stomach that started when he had followed the other hadn't abated, but if he could recall the route the pair of them were taking, they were going to be passing by the cafeteria. A small smirk then worked its way up to his lips, if this version of the clown was willing to take him to get something to eat then maybe he could stay around a little while longer.

Kagekatsu was already deep in his hunger-induced daydreams by the time he started to hear voices float over the airwaves. By this point, he was too busy imagining finally getting to eat a substantial meal without the threat hanging over his head that he would get clobbered any second, and also that he hadn't managed to hurt himself before arriving there. The fact he was going to be walking in with a bunch of others wasn't relevant anymore!

He still maintained his position behind Subaru, still swearing off any kind of glare at the man and still hiding the effect the stench had on him, as the pink-haired adult opened the cafeteria door before them. "At last…" Kagekatsu heard Subaru mutter under his breath, the clown wiping down his hands on the loosely buttoned vest that shifted each time it was touched.

Bringing himself back down to ground zero, Kagekatsu scoured the room in front of him, squinting his eyes to make sure he passed over no man or woman. Basically, everyone worth their salt was here, and no, that did not include Haru thankfully. That was one less person to get on his nerves, with the added benefit of knowing it was impossible to bump into the phantom of the Foundation and scare himself shitless.

Kagekatsu could already spy the groups that had formed in his absence, lending further credence to what Subaru said, which made him sheepishly scratch the back of his head. On his left side, he could see the small group that had formed of Akashi, Fukuro, Hisumi, Mei, and Mahoro, the latter of whom was slightly more detached from the group as a whole. Although, that's not to say the intensely awkward energy Kagekatsu felt emanated from them like they were forced there at gunpoint.

On the other side of the room, the foxboy took in the most more splintered side of the Foundation's new intake. A very grumpy, very pissed-off-looking Ikariko was in the process of chewing his thumb off as he sat in one of the foremost corner seats, barely looking like he enjoyed living, let alone being here. Part of the reason was the very animated form of Yua that bounded around him, decked out in her hazmat suit, no doubt being a rambunctious little shit in the process. Hell, if Kagekatsu had to deal with her for any longer than five seconds, he was sure he would go as insane as Subaru.

On the other side of the table, Shiki was also present, but evidently not listening as her earbuds were lodged firmly in and her head was tilted down into a book. The small Dragonborn was one of the ones that Kagekatsu knew the least about, and frankly, part of him had also forgotten that she was a member here as well. Although, he had little doubt in his mind that her file could be any worse than Haru's, even if she turned out to be the most boring thing since a person who subsisted solely on white bread and vanilla ice cream.

Frankly, the more Kagekatsu looked, the less he actively cared about both sides. One side was beset with awkward small talk, uncomfortably seated close to each other, and with the absolute death knell that was Akashi sat with them. The other side seemed to be asking whether or not you wanted to sit in silence and suffer the inevitable explosion of wrath that came when Ikariko finally snapped, declaring that he was going to grind down Yua's bones to make his bread. The foxboy believed something to that effect, anyway.

Subaru noticed the dilemma too. The clown had been hovering behind the foxboy ever since they entered the cafeteria, his eyes wandering back and forth between the groups with a satisfied smirk on his face. Quick glances up to the cameras were also not caught by those at large. Then, he put his hands on Kagekatsu's shoulders, leaning his mouth down dangerously close to the foxboy's ears. "There is one space, Kage-kun. Maybe you can repay him for leaving so suddenly." The pink-haired adult said, sadistic mirth invading his whispering voice.

Shivering as a result, it was only now that Kagekatsu found himself staring at what was directly in front of him. Stuck on a separate table, like always, was Joseph. Just like Ikariko, Joseph looked like he would rather be anywhere else, as would Kagekatsu now that he thought about it. The Energy Demon had the perpetual resting bitch face on front and centre, regarding nothing that passed him by. Although, eager yellow eyes spied a slight twinge of movement in those fingers every time Yua's voice prattled on in the background.

Kagekatsu looked back up to the smirking form of Subaru, eyebrows furrowed, and nose crinkled in disgust. "You kidding me? Are you trying to force us together or something? Some fucking Cupid you are!" The foxboy said, top lip curling back once more into a snarl. He could feel his teeth sharpen in response too, walking in lockstep with his wildly swinging emotions.

"Hey, don't look me like that. We're all friends here, are we not?" Subaru said, patting Kagekatsu on the shoulders once more, his grip turning hard the longer his hands remained firmly planted on the foxboy. "Don't tell me you're not a little curious? Would've thought you'd jump at the chance to get some answers." He finished, the mischievous nature of his personality beginning to be sprinkled back in once more. Although, it was laden with a hint of emotion that Kagekatsu was unable to discern.

Growling, Kagekatsu tore his attention back to Joseph. At least, on the surface level, the Energy Demon hadn't heard anything so far. Good. Kagekatsu didn't know if he would die from embarrassment, or if he would have his mouth forcefully rearranged by the other or by Subaru for daring to talk back to him. "What do you mean?" Either way, the foxboy carried on. His question growled through gritted teeth.

Subaru shrugged his shoulders, sauntering around to the front of Kagekatsu, letting that pungent smell from beforehand assault the foxboy once more. "Come now, I'm being polite when I don't have to be. Jo-chan's there all by his lonesome, why wouldn't I want to give him someone to talk to that clearly takes interest in him?" The clown said, threading his fingers together with a coy smirk on his face.

Kagekatsu rolled his eyes, not having any of what Subaru was offering him. Especially with the way the pink-haired male was speaking like he knew exactly what had happened the previous day, more than aware of a pair of golden eyes landing on a file that was far too big. "He'll probably break my face for daring to do so, though." The foxboy answered, still defiant to the last and refusing to budge, no matter what looks he would receive.

"It's either that or I'll just have to take you on this little bonding session myself~!" Of course, Subaru was also having none of what Kagekatsu was offering him, irritation slipping into a voice that was starting to sound more malicious by the second. The clown was far too tired, far too busy with other matters to give much thought to what the annoying foxboy in front of him wanted to do. If he so deemed it that the other would spend the next hour with him, then so be it, fulfilling the current obligation was more important. "Think of it as punishment, if you will, for leaving my desk in such a mess."

The last comment made Kagekatsu's eyes bulge as he finally put two and two together, and it made him feel like such an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. Of course, Subaru had to have known that he had touched and rearranged all the files that were present in the drawers. Attention to detail had never been a strong suit of the yellow-eyed teen and changing where all the masses of papers were located tipped the other off to his nosiness. The feeling of wanting to be swallowed whole by the Earth didn't even fit the magnitude of embarrassment he felt right about now.

"Oi, oi, oi~. Don't be so worried about it, Kage-chan. It was a simple chore, and I appreciate you carrying through that part of the task." Subaru replied glibly, acting as if he hadn't been holding the knowledge over Kagekatsu's head like an atomic bomb for the past few minutes, waiting for the right time to spring his predatory trap. "Just allow me to indulge you this once."

Wanting nothing more than to rip Subaru's head off had become something of a pass time for many at the Foundation. It ranged from the frequent incursions into his room in the case of Ikariko, to the desire to get back at him for dumping him with Sateriasis in the case of Arius. However, when it came to Kagekatsu, who desperately fought himself back from carrying out the action that he knew would be successful, no one thought about it more than him.

"Fine." The foxboy grunted through his gritted teeth, taking one last chance to glare at Subaru before he robotically began to shift himself towards Joseph's table. He made a careful choice of the seat the furthest away from the other, regardless of the feeling of crimson eyes glaring through his back with the heat of nuclear meltdown. The last thing Kagekatsu needed right now was another incident where his nose would end up halfway across his face.

The second Kagekatsu had planted himself on the seat, he immediately heard a loud clap emanate directly from behind him, Subaru ready to dictate whatever horrible plans he had to them. With a grand sweep of his arms, like a dramatic actor on a stage, he proclaimed his decree. "Now, everyone! I have some news to tell you! We had an incident during Yuu-chan's test, and sadly Morales-sensei has to take a few days off to recover from it. Until now, it has been nothing short of a struggle to get all of you into a beneficial place at the same time. However, I think what Akashi-kun said the other day was a wonderful idea!"

Instantly, all the eyes in the room snapped to Akashi, who, in his infinite wisdom, was still smiling despite the copious amounts of sweat that was soaking his fur. The day that Kagekatsu was able to wipe that Stepford grin off his face was one he was very much looking forward to, and the looks the catboy received from the others appeared to show that he wasn't alone on that front.

Unperturbed by the frosty temperature, Subaru powered on. "For those of you that are unaware, Yuu-chan will also not be joining us for the foreseeable future as well. Niijima-sama, in his infinite wisdom, has decided that he will be spared from the more intensive periods for the time being while his body heals up!" However, the tension in his voice the second he began to speak was unmissable. For the few that might have remained unaware of Yuusui's situation, they were now more than assured that the clown was directly responsible for his absence in one way or another.

From his side, Kagekatsu frowned. Was Yuusui's test really that bad? Sure, all of them had come out of their own inductions looking like casualties of war, barely able to walk on their own two feet unless they were fully impregnable mountains of men. However, as much as he had relayed to the brunette that any form of test would cut his balls off in no uncertain terms, Kagekatsu struggled to piece together the picture in his head of how it could be so much worse than theirs.

The sentiment seemed to be shared by the others as well, twitching fox ears picked up the soft mutterings from the other side of the room that wondered the same thing. Whether it was out of spite or pity, Kagekatsu didn't know. Either way, at least they could all find some solace in their sympathy or hate. Even a cursory side glance at Joseph painted the portrait of a modicum of sympathy, the gripping of fingers that little bit harder on the fabric of his t-shirt.

"Yes, yes, it is such a shame that he won't be with us, but we can't let it get us down! Let us carry on in his stead and let him come back to a more worthwhile bond between us all!" Subaru declared, spreading his arms wide like he was back in the circus as some kind of ringmaster. Why anyone would ever let him lead anything was a mystery that was yet to be solved, though. Kagekatsu, though, had noticed the wince of pain as Subaru swept his arms up into the air and brought the infrequent chatter into full silence.

For now, though, he would remain silent and listen to what Subaru had to say. If he was in pain, it would explain an awful lot about his behavioural shift and why he looked like a flaming bag of shit. Plus, Kagekatsu had already spent the first few minutes of his day arguing with the clown, and the threat of being forced to spend more time talking to him deterred him enough to keep the clamps down on the motor mouth.

"Therefore! We're going to do a simple icebreaker!" At the eyebrows which raised before him, Subaru smirked and placed his hands on his hips. "I know what you're thinking. How could we have possibly waited this long to do one? Is it even worth it at this point? The answer is simple! We simply had to get you acclimated to your stay in the Foundation before we jumped into the matter at hand! Helping you all fix your broken hearts!"

The soft snort of 'Bullshit' reached Kagekatsu's ears, loosed from under Joseph's breath and he found himself unable to do anything but agree with the Energy Demon. The supposed mission statement of the Foundation had been one lost in translation the second they first stepped through those doors, drowned under a sea of bloodshed, isolation, and insanity. Like fuck were they going to get started now when they had already destroyed much of the trust people here had placed in them, Kagekatsu would never believe it for a second.

The lack of enthusiasm, Akashi and Yua didn't count, must've been getting to Subaru's nerves. Everyone even bothering to look at the clown could see the twitches that were beginning to overtake his body, his left eye shutting and opening like a perpetual motion machine. "I know we all might have gotten off on the wrong foot here, and I can place some of the blame on myself for that. However, after a lengthy discussion I had with Niijima-sama the previous night, we have elected to fast-track the scenarios we see as necessary to your advancement in our program." The robotic tone he spoke with did him no favours either. It was painfully obvious that he was saying this while metaphorically being held at gunpoint.

Whilst the idea might have been an innocent one, the feeling of sinister intentions couldn't be shaken. Maybe if it was Kyte dictating it to them, then there would be a case to be made that it had good intentions with the unintended side effect of blowing up in everyone's face. When it was Subaru dictating it, it made the hair on the back of the neck bristle.

"All we ask of you, at this moment in time, is to spend some time with the person or people you're sat with and maybe splurge a few details that you wouldn't mind sharing. Y'know, like people are supposed to do… For some reason." Subaru's impression of a corporate robot continued on, clearly running through it like he was reading the terms and conditions on a really long and boring project. To say he looked utterly thrilled to be doing this would also be the biggest lie since Kagekatsu was told what happened to his pet fish when he was six.

Frankly, Kagekatsu had about as much appetite for this 'icebreaker' as he did for getting his nose broken. What was he even supposed to say? They all knew his name, they all knew he was fucked up, and they knew he hated the majority of their guts for simply existing. Was he supposed to 'splurge' on stuff about his past? Oh, that would go just fucking swimmingly. Kagekatsu was sure that Joseph would take wonderfully to all those utterly delightful stories! Maybe he'd even crack a smile whenever the foxboy got to the one that landed him in prison.

The silence that filled the gap grew longer and longer, Subaru simply regarding them with a simple stare of cold crimson eyes. No official indication that whatever this group session was, one that was suspiciously like their first 'lesson' now that they thought about it, had been given. However, the withering glares they were all receiving from the tired clown seemed to suggest that the clock was ticking already.

Just Kagekatsu's luck. The foxboy grumbled as he turned his body and mind away from Subaru to Joseph on the other side of him. The other teen looked about as thrilled as someone at their first funeral. In fact, Kagekatsu wasn't sure the horned male had even made a single palpable movement since he had gotten here, besides the few glimpses he caught of tightening grips. "So… Uh, I guess I'm sorry about leaving you in the dust yesterday?" God… This was going to be so awkward.

At first, Joseph didn't reply, only further enforcing the awkward silence that lay between them. Arguably, it wasn't the worst offender, he could already feel the second-hand embarrassment coming from Akashi talking to Mei. Still, the lack of response coming from his purported partner was doing nothing to quell that feeling.

For what felt like the ten thousandth time that day, Kagekatsu rolled his eyes. Hands went up to pull at his loose hair, pressing stray strands back into place to give him something, anything to do whilst he tried his best to come up with a believable excuse. "Look, I get you're mad with me. That's fine. I just had to settle some things personally and I couldn't be around the room any longer." He said, trying to sound like he wasn't fighting an internal battle with his own thoughts at the same time.

Because what was he supposed to say?! 'Oh, one of our teachers has a bunch of books that were written by villains, including one that was penned by a guy I used to work with, so sorry for being a fucking wimp!' That sounded like a real award winner! The thought of having to reveal his connection to the Inner Circle was more than enough to keep him stum on that front. Why the hell did Painmaker have to keep haunting him? After all that Kagekatsu had done to assist that madman in his work, was it a punishment from the Divine again? At this point, he wasn't convinced this whole song and dance was anything other than an elaborate prank.

To make matters worse, he was once more met with a stone brick wall in the form of Joseph. Not a word he was saying went through those ears without immediately vanishing out the other side. At this point, with Kagekatsu's eyes wide with both annoyance and disbelief, he might have well spilt his entire life story. Alternatively, he could make some story up about him being some kind of lost prince from another dimension, the world might as well have been his oyster at this point. But all of that would be rather pointless. "Oi, are you even listening to me at this point?" He said with a snap of his fingers, careful not to touch Joseph.

For a split second, it seemed like he had gotten through to the other. Those closed eyes jumped open for a flash, revealing familiar dark orange eyes that were drowned in the sea of the black sclera. However, just as a smirk started to cross Kagekatsu's face, they were instantly shuttered back down and the foxboy couldn't help but deliver what could only be described as a feral growl. The likes of which he usually only gave at the end of his tether.

"Hello! I said, are you even listening to me at this point, you asshole?!" With his proclamation, he slammed his fist on the table, causing everyone present to suddenly jump at the noise. All except for Subaru, who looked like he was having fun for the first bit in a long time, and for himself. In fact, it was only the adrenaline that flowed through him that prevented the foxboy from crying out in pain. Who the fuck made tables out of steel?!

But fortunately, for once in his life, luck smiled on Kagekatsu. Not before pissing on him, of course, but it had been the small victories he was forced to take in his life. Whilst he was in the process of trying not to sound like the air escaping from a deflating balloon, unwilling to take another trip to Sateriasis, the teen across from him began to stir. Dark eyes began to flutter back into life, small stretches were undertaken, and his body began to settle into a more tense position with highly pulled-up shoulders.

Then, Kagekatsu heard exactly what he didn't want to hear. "Oh, sorry. I was tired so I fell asleep." Joseph said, without a hint of emotion in his voice or understanding of why that might not have been the best social etiquette in the world. Then again, Kagekatsu thought, this was the guy who broke people's noses if they grazed him and ate like a wild animal. Why didn't he expect something like this to come out of it?

The incredulous stare he shot back at the Energy Demon was nothing short of cinema, the type of art you would see in a postmodernist exhibition. "You fell asleep…?" Kagekatsu didn't even sound sure of it himself, refusing to believe he hadn't simply noticed the other had decided now would be a good time to practice their narcolepsy on him.

"You have a problem with that?" Joseph responded, raising his eyebrow, and folding his arms against his chest. Why was Kagekatsu even speaking to him? The last thing he could remember was that Subaru had dragged him out of his room in the middle of the night, dumped him here, and promised some weird circus routine of a prize if he followed through on staying here. Honestly, it was all rather perplexing. Not one part of Joseph actively cared about it either.

"No." Kagekatsu said, tersely. His voice snapped into the more typical pissed-off tone as the pain in his hand abated, allowing him to funnel his anger away at himself and towards the teen that had unknowingly embarrassed him in the process. He didn't touch him, though. There was no chance in hell, even in an enraged state, that Kagekatsu was going to make the same mistake twice. Instead, he kept glaring with the force of a thousand suns. "As I was saying, I would like to extend my apologies for leaving you high and dry yesterday." He forced out, trying to cool himself down.

Briefly, Joseph's eyebrow raised higher, wondering what Kagekatsu was talking about before his brain kicked into gear to tell him. "Hmph, it's not an issue. If anything, I was able to get it done much faster without your presence nearby." The matter-of-fact nature of the words did nothing to quell the raging fire within Kagekatsu's soul, but it wasn't like Joseph particularly cared. He'd followed his orders to the letter, and it wasn't his problem that the other was going to be punished for it. That's the way the world worked.

Kagekatsu dragged his hand down his face, desperate to keep them on his person and away from wanting to deck Joseph for the sake of his own safety. Only Joseph could end up turning the one attempt Kagekatsu had at an apology for the situation into another way to look down upon him, how did winning one fight and one training exercise give someone such a big head?

What was he supposed to do now? Compared to some of the others, who had at least spent some time with the others beforehand, he was left with someone who he barely knew, hated his guts, and the one common thing they had worked on together had already been buried. The only other topic that could be brought up was Joseph's file, and Kagekatsu made the rough estimate that if he dared to bring it up, he was going to be made into mincemeat by both Subaru and the Energy Demon. All in all, it was a lose-lose situation driven up to eleven.

"This is a fucking disaster…" He ended up muttering to himself, hoping that Joseph wouldn't hear him. Kagekatsu could bet his left ear and tail that Subaru was enjoying himself like no tomorrow right about now. This really was the punishment from hell, death by societal awkwardness and an emotionally constipated demon that had every power in the world to turn him into a smear.

"Agreed." He heard Joseph grunt, causing Kagekatsu to turn his gaze back to Joseph. The Energy Demon was looking over right behind him, where Yua and Ikariko were currently engaged in a game of 'Who will die first? Ikariko from stress, or Yua from angering Ikariko?' "Look at them. You'd think he's pulled half the stuff here out of ass, or he just really likes making sure his 'daughter' ends up annoying people to death." Joseph stated. Derision seeping into his monotone.

For once, Kagekatsu found it hard not to agree with Joseph. Tilting his head over, he could see exactly what was going on between the pair of them. Yua must've managed to ask a question that thoroughly pissed Ikariko off because the golden-armed, horror film-looking teen had a glare the likes of wish the foxboy had never seen. On the flip side of things, Yua looked entirely too peppy for the situation, no doubt having been given the low down from her beloved 'Daddy' before the rest of them. Squinting, Kagekatsu swore he could see a list in her hands.

Turning back, he nodded. "I pity him, having to be stuck with her," Kagekatsu said, idly hoping the subject change was one that would stick for the foreseeable future. Frankly, he very much didn't want to spend the rest of the time here fussing over how to deflect from talking about the file.

If he could take this moment of solace, he would allow himself to run all the way to the bank with it. With a sigh, and resigning himself to the awkward fate that befell them, Kagekatsu wondered how the others were getting on, his gaze wandering over to the other participants in this game.

On the other side of the room, it was a completely separate story. Mei had been here for a while now, more than about two hours by the time Subaru trundled Kagekatsu through the cafeteria doors. The reason? Well, it was a rather simple one that was quite embarrassing at the same time. Ever since the test, Mei hadn't exactly been, not to put too fine a point on it, able to sleep like she once did.

Now, it was no reason to panic! This sort of thing happened all the time! It wasn't like it was some sudden case of stress-induced insomnia! Oh no, when you were a master thief, the cream of the crop like she was, you were more than aware of the sleepless nights that would be spent planning the next great heist. All those hours spent drawing up elaborate diagrams, picking up the places where the cameras were bound to have blind spots, and finally collecting all the important equipment that would be needed to steal the prize. They were all as natural to her as breathing was.

It didn't matter that when Subaru had banged on her door at the crack of dawn, she was sitting there on her bed in a frazzled state with her hair sticking about everywhere, and copious amounts of sticky pads littering the different cameras she had picked out. Nor was it relevant that were eyes were heavily bloodshot, or her hands cramping up from all the insane scribbling that coated said sticky pads.

Sure, her room might have looked like an insane asylum at this point, but those were unnecessary details! She could clean it up at any time and it would be as good as new! This… This was simply her conducting her reconnaissance on the Foundation, nothing less, nothing more. Her time here wasn't going to be long, and she needed to know every nook and cranny for the sake of her proper goal. Time spent being idle was time being wasted, with the sand granules already ticking away there was no time for sleep.

So, really, she was fine. Her royal purple eyes scanned the surrounding environment. It had been child's play to find all the cameras that had been hidden in this location, it was like they weren't even trying. Mei had instantly spotted the ones in the top corners when she had first stepped in here, noticing how Subaru kept looking towards them during that fateful day. The same could be said about the ones that were in the ground underneath them, which could help but make her feel even more awkward than ever. What were they even planning with those ones?

But her mind was also at the biggest loss whenever she noticed where the last one was laid out. In total, there were about nine or ten cameras she was aware of. The four in the top corners provided security with a bird's eye view from all angles. The bottom four fulfilled the same topic, Mei believed, allowing for a more low-down view. Possibly to catch intruders that could shift into the ground?

However, when she spied the final one, she couldn't understand the thought process at all. It was a new one too, otherwise, there was no way she could've missed it the first time around. Placed above the doorway they entered, it beamed down on her like a stalking monster in the dark of night. Shuttering and clicking noises abounded with every move it made, scanning each person like someone was directly manipulating it as opposed to letting it roam freely.

An enigma. That was the only way Mei could best describe it. She knew not why it was there, nor what its ultimate purpose was, there was no way it was placed there for the sake of basic surveillance and that made her body break out in goosebumps.

"Hey."

Was there someone else that was spying on them? No, that couldn't be possible. At least, Mei believed it was impossible. If that were the case, Subaru would've torn it down the second he stepped through the door. But then, again, as she put a finger to her lips, what if he was complicit in it and was hiding it from Kyte?

"Hey…"

Then again, it would be foolish to believe that. Subaru wasn't the only staff member that knew what was going on here, and he certainly wasn't the only one who knew his way around the block. There was Sateriasis, there was Oscar when he was healthy, there was Shion, and then there were also the twins the followed the purported nurse around like glue. All of them were more than capable of reporting possible subterfuge.

"Hey!"

But what if they were all in on it? Worse, what if Kyte was all in on it and this had been an elaborate plan to capture her? He did manage to track her down with minimal effort, after all, destroying the months and years of careful image management and movement plotting that had been Mei's life since she was forced into that position. Now that she thought about it, there was just as much evidence to support that was the case. Did… Did that mean…?

"Never forget me, little lamb. The season may change, the weather may switch, and the wind might blow in a different direction, but one thing remains the same. I always come back." Did it mean that this was all that man's plan? The last phrase had been burned into her memory for as long as she had been on the run, but she had never wanted to consider it true. He was back in Hong Kong, and it didn't even sound like he was from China originally, and there was no chance she knew she was in Japan. Right?

Right…?

"Hey! Are you okay?" Mei's inner mania was quelled whenever she was brought back down to reality. Her saviour? None other than Fukuro, who had been the one calling out to her the whole time. "I mean, not to be rude or anything, but you've been shivering for a bit, and I was wondering if everything was okay." He added, wanting to qualify his concern as he fiddled about with his talons.

Mei was still stuck in a stupor by the time she noticed what was happening around her. Akashi, who she had assumed to have been nattering her since they started, had fallen silent. He looked oddly disassociated from the situation, for once. He wasn't smiling that much either, although the vestiges of it still pulled at the corners of his lips, despite looking like it was physically hurting him to keep it on his face.

By Fukuro's side, Hisumi also looked on with a twinge of concern. Of course, it was much more difficult to define with the harder contours of her face than it was with the others. However, as royal purple eyes continued scanning the Russian-accented girl with an analytical gaze, Mei was able to pick up the slight furrowing of her brow and the extra crease present on Hisumi's forehead.

"…I'm sorry, I was just thinking about… things…" Mei answered after a pause, streaking a shaky hand through her hair. Her answer was nothing short of awkward, the lack of confidence beholden in it reflected in the still present concerned gazes of those around her.

From behind her, she could hear the mild hum of interest that reverberated from the epicentre of Mahoro. "Hmm, an awfully long time, if I do say so myself. Akashi-kun there was spending most of his time trying to rouse you, and I think you might have broken him." The other ebony-haired girl said, the lilt of a mischievous tone slipping into her voice despite the somewhat muted facial expression she wore. Seeing the peppy catboy creeped out by someone else was always a spin she could get behind. Fully deserved too, that's what he got for muscling in on her room the previous day.

"A-Ah, is that so?" Mei responded, both hands streaking through her messy hair now. It had been a trait of hers since the days of her youth. Some had termed it a special kind of listlessness, where she would be totally unresponsive to any kind of external stimuli until a very specific task was dangled in her face. At which point, she would jump into a hyper fixation so deep that it became borderline impossible to bring her back from the edge.

"You spent it staring off into the dark, dead behind eyes." Whilst the rest of them had been very much trying to put it softly to her, Hisumi relayed the truth with all the harshness of a bitter Siberian tundra. The professional tone shirked Mei further into her seat, making her feel so much smaller than all of the others.

At the very least, the fact that there was even concern being shown a step in the right direction, but they would never fully understand it. She knew they all had their own individual burdens to bear, all so different from one other's that they were all tragic characters in their own right. However, Mei's own tale was so sordid and convoluted that even speaking the truth would make it sound like a lie. "I guess I got a little distracted… What were we talking about again?" She said, her voice as small as she felt.

The unease that had formed didn't go away with the question either. Fukuro was the first to respond, shuffling about in his seat. "Not much, I suppose. Honestly, it's kinda hard to talk about stuff without treading on people's triggers, you know?" He said, rubbing the back of his head in the process. His voice might have been steady, holding as firm as his footwork in battle, but the confidence was devoid in totality.

Hisumi gave a glum nod of her head, folding her arms neatly, mechanically onto the table. The blonde-haired werewolf had perhaps the second least emotional face in the Foundation, behind only Joseph, and even she was starting to look a little bit uncomfortable. Trapped, even. "Indeed. Especially for a second go around. It has been an honour to meet you all, but I have to agree with my friend on the left."

"Mhm, much less when our glorious staff is talking of us like fish and watching us like we're in an Aquarium," Mahoro commented, sounding much more frustrated than the last time around. The fact her gaze had settled onto the form of Subaru, who was still staring at Kagekatsu and Joseph, didn't help matters. Her hum of agreement resonated with Fukuro and Hisumi, who both nodded their heads in sync.

Even a vague mention of Hideyoshi was enough to cause shivers to run down Mei's spine again. The security chief, the only job that he must've had because he hadn't been seen anywhere else, was nothing short of unsettling at the best of times. His child-like demeanour rubbed her wrong in so many different ways that she needed more than two hands to count them all. It was clear the others all had their issues with him as well, even his brother seemed to be terse at the best of times from what Mei had seen.

In the background, Mei could hear the sounds of Akashi's chattering start up again. Something about how he agreed that Mr Leech looked very creepy and was a walking bag of sleaze more than likely. However, she had really stopped listening after Mahoro's comment, letting the rest of the conversation float past her once more.

As the conversation marched on in the background behind her, so too did Mei's eyes wander back across the cafeteria. This time, though, she didn't focus on the anxiety-inducing cameras. Instead, her gaze landed upon the same place that Subaru had been staring at for the past few minutes. She watched carefully as she saw the tense, awkward silence that pervaded the pair suffocate them whole.

More importantly, her eyes darted first towards Joseph. Compared to the obviously tense and terse Kagekatsu, the Energy Demon seemed to be in better control of his emotions in the master thief's eyes. It would make sense, all things considered. He had been the one that had been able to dissect her fighting style during their battle and had shown little visible emotion in doing so, even when Mei had caused his hairpin trigger to explode like a live grenade when she touched him.

Subconsciously, she placed a hand on her back in the exact same area where Joseph's horn had been stabbed right through. The phantom pain of the appendage was still very much real, and the butcher-like stitching had managed to somehow make everything that much worse. Frankly, if it wasn't for the last part of the fight, the memory of which she could still feel every time she moved her mouth, Mei would've called it the most painful moment of the whole ordeal.

But Joseph… Joseph must've been suffering from his neck now that she thought about it. Her Jet-Flow attacks were designed to target pressure points, knocking her opponents out in one clean blow. She didn't know much of the other's Quirk, but Mei had to reckon that there was some form of insane durability inherent in it, because he had taken those blows like a champion and no-sold them to such an insane degree that she didn't know if she had hit steel or man at that point.

The pain he must've been going through… It had to be immense, and Mei was the root cause of it. The pair of them had at least apologised on the surface level, for what it was worth as Mei wasn't exactly paying full attention at the time. However, the more time she got to mull over the consequences, the more a certain strain in her chest continued to beat harder and harder.

Feeling the crescendo build up and up, Mei nipped it in the bud before it could reach its fever pitch. Quickly, she slammed her eyes to look over Kagekatsu instead, not wanting to put much more strain on whatever was causing her chest pain. Furthermore, the more she looked at the foxboy, the more she could indulge in her true passion at the minute. Figuring out how much all of those expensive-looking clothes were worth!

The Kimono? That probably fetched a pretty penny. Mei had managed to touch a sliver of it beforehand, and the highest quality had evidently been spent on making sure the fabric was as perfectly pristine as possible. Its fancy look was no mistake, it had the ebony-haired girl practically drooling at the sight of all that money.

The turtleneck? If it was anything like the kimono, it was probably just as pricey. Already, Mei's stomach was surpassing the size of her eyes, fantasizing about all the feasts she would be able to afford. Anything would be better than having to go another day without meat, which seemed about as common in the Foundation as someone with sanity was.

Already, Mei was wondering about the best way to get her hands on all the funds. The next heist was already being laid out in her mind, however, the second she looked up to what dangled from Kagekatsu's foxy ears, her breath hitched with her thoughts doing a complete 180.

She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before, but the second her eyes landed on those red diamonds, everything seemed to finally click in her mind. "Hehehe, I see you've finally realised what I mean, Little Lamb. I always come back, in more ways than one." That time, it wasn't even that man's own voice from her memories. Her own head had turned on her, producing his mocking foreign tone all by itself.

Red diamonds were the rarest, most expensive kinds there were. It wasn't a dime a dozen like a regular diamond, which could be found to be about as worth as much Rhinestone on a good day. Nor was the elusive Pink Diamond able to hold a candle to them, despite them also causing a small fortune to own.

No, red diamonds were one of a kind. The finite amount of them in the world befitted only those that possessed extreme wealth to flaunt them as status symbols, and you could list the number of people who had managed to earn all that was needed to do so. For Kagekatsu to have them dangle from his ears, it would've been nothing more than a minor miracle if they were of his own discovery or purchase.

But Mei… Mei knew better than that. Because every time she closed her eyes the previous night, she could see the shimmering glint of blood-red diamonds swinging from pointed ears on the back of her eyelids.

Because… Because, just like the revolver under her bed, they belonged to the man who took EVERYTHING from her.

And at the sight of them rearing their ugly head once more, Mei's mind shattered.

Meanwhile, Subaru had watched it all unfold with a sinister smirk on his face. The pink-haired male had indeed spent most of his time staring at Joseph and Kagekatsu like some kind of voyeur, delighting in the awkwardness and embarrassment he had drowned the latter in. It was what the little fox fuck deserved. 'Clean' did not mean 'Rearranging the stuff I spent years carefully organising.'

However, once he was done delighting at the suffering he had caused Kagekatsu, he turned his attention to the other side of the room. He had no need to know how Yua and Ikariko were getting on, already aware that it could go only one way.

No, he took much more interest in Mei's plight for the last few minutes he was mandated to watch over the session before that snivelling mudperson parasite Sateriasis would take the reins from him. Never before had he taken much of an interest in the girl, and for good reason too. Whenever he had such steady streams of entertainment like Kagekatsu and Arius, and was already up to his neck in trying to break down Ikariko's shell on top of his normal work, there was little time to spare.

He hadn't so much as peaked at her file since the day he first got it, skimming over it before plopping it in the middle drawer of his desk. For all the smoke that Sateriasis had blown up Hiroto's ass, the resident parasite of the Foundation hadn't produced a very comprehensive report. It wasn't as poorly done on a professional level as Haru's was, more so just lacking in critical detail.

The rough story had been laid out bare to him thanks to the cooler twin's Quirk, and what a sad, tragic tale it really was. However, the actual details were messy. Like the little ruby bird was keeping secrets from herself. Therefore, Subaru couldn't see it as anything short of good fortune whenever his eyes had slipped to Mei.

Whatever had caused the episode, Subaru didn't know. At this point, though, he didn't need to know. What he needed to do was call Shion over and tell her that there was going to be a little realignment in her schedule. Some space was going to be opened up to make sure there was no stone left unturned. Oh god, Subaru was getting giddy goosebumps over it already!

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Unfortunately, though, that had to be quickly kiboshed by the unwarranted and unwanted arrival of Sateriasis. The nurse had somehow managed to slip his way in with complete silence, not even a footstep echoing on the floor as he took position right at the left side of Subaru. He spoke with a quiet whisper, not wanting their conversion to fall on waiting ears.

Subaru's right hand tensed, a grimace of pain shooting through his system as he brought up his arm to cover his mouth. "It's not on my list, but I can add it if you want?" He whispered back, eyes narrow and words curt. Seeing Sateriasis, at the best of times, was a pain. Right now? Death, death, and taxes for added torture.

His comment earned him a roll of Sateriasis' eyes. God, what was it with all these annoying assholes rolling their eyes at him? Did they not know who he was?! "Did you think wearing all black would make people lose their sense of smell?" The nurse said, pointing to the increasingly dark area by Subaru's elbow, the same one the clown had slammed into the mirror with little regard for his own wellbeing.

Sateriasis crossed his arms, stepping away from the side and closer to where he could be seen by the rest of the class that was present. "I saw what happened. More accurately, Hideyoshi saw what happened and relayed it to me. When were you going to make Niijima-sama aware of it?" He questioned with a tone that Subaru absolutely despised hearing.

"He doesn't need to know, and neither do you for that matter. Stay out of my business, Parasite." Subaru snapped; his voice still quiet enough to not reach the others' ear drums. However, it was filled with nothing more than unbridled anger and rage. All those fantasies he had about dragging the other to an early grave were sounding pretty good about now.

To make matters worse, Sateriasis gave no reaction. He simply carried on like he hadn't heard much of anything. "Oh, I intend on doing as much. However, whether Hiroto ends up involved is not up to me. So, make sure you pay the piper before he ends up leading the rats out."

The threat in the air lingered between them for what felt like an eternity, even if it did end up being a mere five seconds before they clumsily shuffled past one another, with Sateriasis taking the place of Subaru, who had taken position back in the hallway without crossing another word.

However, Subaru had one last thing to say to Sateriasis as he vanished down the corridor. "…I need to go and check on your charge before he breaks something. You should keep a fucking leash on him at this point." He had spent way too much time looking at the security footage last night to not know where the Immortal one was, and with all this tension in his body, Subaru needed a release before something else popped out entirely.

The incident with the mirror had to be forgotten, shunned to the back of his mind. It wasn't relevant anymore. Once, he had been lost in the darkness. Now, he had been given life after life, and Subaru would be a madman to spit in the face of it.

The night was as it always was. Cold, dark, devoid of any comfort as his boots clicked across the ground with a purpose they hadn't had for as long as they could remember. The icy breeze whipped across his skin like a Cat O' Nine-Tails, slashing at his cheeks like they were the claws of a ferocious tiger. The dreary night sky, lacking in any stars to twinkle through the black veil that had settled over it, left nothing more to the imagination than the hollowness it usually begat to him.

Why, oh why, had his friend chosen this night, of all nights, to meet up again? Did walking around shirtless really warp your perception of good temperatures to meet in? Or was it down to the bevvy of feathers he draped around him at all times, enough to make even the Delayer blush with the layers of protective outer clothing? No matter which way, though, it was a paradox that he couldn't work his head around.

The gravelly ground crunched under his boots as he pushed back some of the brown hair that had slipped into his vision. Locks that were already a windswept mess by nature had been tussled out of their combed prison and had harassed him ever since he stepped out of the door, no doubt more evidence that he needed it cut sooner rather than later. The man clicked his tongue in annoyance, pulling a little extra on his coat to trap even the slightest bit more heat in.

Usually, the cold wouldn't have bothered him so much, the hellish feeling of having limbs and digits frozen one by one was almost comforting for the brunette. However, the Delayer just had to drop by mere hours beforehand ranting and raving about how the "Japanese Winter" was going to make him freeze to death if he didn't get an extra layer of protection. His lips creased into a frown the more he thought about it, that coat was never going to be seen again, was it? Just wonderful…

One of his hands pressed up against a nearby wall, sharp, black nails pressing into the concrete with minimal effort. Jade eyes glared intensely at the building he found his hand attached to. Like so many of the ones nearby, it stood out as a supposed bastion of upper-class society, and one he very much would've liked to be in right about now instead of the arctic cold. With its smooth, sleek, white marble outside, gilded door handles, and expansive lighting scheme, a hint of bitterness grew on his tongue as he released his vice-like grip on one of the bricks.

However, that did nothing to quell the bitter taste that lingered the more he continued to stare. This… He knew this place was mocking him. Oh, it might full well have been a stationary building, something that obviously had no personality other than what the owners declared it to be, but he knew better. Places like this… They were the Delayer's favourite stomping grounds, and that spoke to the parasitic nature more than any words out of his own mouth could.

Yet, they would all snub their noses with that civilised look, dragging their depravity to a level matched only by those he worked with. They would act like the world's greatest performers, dancing and strutting their hour upon Life's stage like it was the only chance they received. Full of sound and fury… It signified nothing! The mere amateurs they were weren't even capable of changing their scene! Forever doomed to repeat the same tired old lines and polite platitudes that sicken him to his very core.

A core that was starting to get restless as his breathing got heavier by the millisecond. It took another second for him to realise his hand was now firmly lodged into the side of that sleek, white marble wall. His fist having punched through in the midst of his ranting mind, shards now littering his bleeding knuckles as lucidity quickly returned to him. Dull pain soon replaced the searing fit of anger.

What a pain, what a pain, what a pain… His pace quickened as he covered his hand under his coat, not taking any chances of being tracked down for property damage for the umpteenth time this year. The Delayer and the Wind might have had deep pockets, and his ones weren't too shabby either, but all three of them had come to a rather simple agreement upon their return to Japan. Unless it was for a contract, no harm would come to any person or building that could be traced back to him.

However, here he was. Hand bleeding and a destroyed section of wall he needed to run away from like the wind. His burgundy coat bellowed out behind him as the wind blew into him like a tempest, his lithe and elegant frame turning aerodynamic as his legs kicked up into maximum speed before he dared to second guess himself. If worst came to worst, he would push the blame onto some random vagrant that passed him by…

Running away, though, snatched at that fire which still dwelt within him. A ringing filled his ears as he began to slow down, making him slap his hands over them with such fury that it only served to allow the noise to get even worse. He should've known better by now… It wasn't the first time the action had made things worse, and it wasn't going to be the last. Endlessly, the cycle was doomed to repeat.

As he stopped fully to catch his breath, having trapped himself right at the side of a miniature side alley, he felt his core constrict within him. That raging fire in his soul, begging to be unleashed like so many times beforehand, was restless beyond words. A simple taste of violence was all it took at this point, huh? How much longer now… How much longer until he reached the point of no return? Went the way of his mother? Went the way of his extended family? What a curse… What a curse… What a curse…

The blood's metronome-like drip against the ground proved secondary at this point, serving as nothing more than a sign at the minute that he was still alive and very much not in some terrible, terrible nightmare. Each time a drop landed, it broke through the ringing for a split second, crashing in akin to a crack of lightning in the midst of a thunderstorm.

Each time a drop landed, it felt wrong. Like his skin wasn't his own anymore, like he was a prisoner in his own body. As insane as it may have sounded if he yelled it out to the world for all to hear, the sensation invaded his being right down the middle. His blood-soaked hand moved from his ears subconsciously, smacking itself over the top of his left eye, and dodging the sharp, demonic edge of the horns that stuck out of his temples.

He… He couldn't turn. Not here. Not now. Not when he had his friend waiting to see him, no matter what said friend might be doing in his spare time as well. More importantly, though, not in a place where he could be seen by the masses that were present in all the restaurants nearby. No one was EVER allowed to know, and no one MUST KNOW. NOW AND FOREVER!

If there was one thing he missed about Siberia, it was the lack of privacy. Back in the city, everything stared at you to the point it felt like even the eyes of statues followed your every step. People, naturally, were the worst offenders.

Still, he felt himself teetering on the edge… That hideous voice in the back of his mind threatened to subsume him with sweet words of vengeance against those that had left in his moment of need, uncaring for those that had come to rescue him when all looked lost. It was festering and he hated it with every fibre of his own being that remained. He could practically hear the ghoulish, dramatic cackle on the verge of escaping his purple-coated lips…

He…

He…

He…

He was on the ground. How the hell had that happened? The ringing in his ears cleared up as his free hand dusted around the ground to make sure he hadn't ended up in some kind of suspended animation, or that he hadn't somehow fainted in the process of trying to fight against himself once more. Surely, he was past that stage…

The answer to his question came in the form of a quivering, youthful voice. "I-I… I'm sorry, Mister! I didn't mean it! You just looked sick and I w-w-wondered-d-d…" Ah, that must've been what happened. A wry smile crossed his purple lips as he picked himself up off the ground, the little kid must've had a good head on his shoulders to notice the signs.

Even at the peak of his height, 5'8 as much as he hated to admit that fact to himself, he remained a towering figure over the little rascal who had saved him for the time being. Young thing couldn't have been much older than 12, at a push. He still had his chubby cheeks, dotted with little white freckles, and the inklings he saw of the Quirk, a semi-developed set of horns and wings, were right on the cusp of growing into something greater. "No, don't worry about it, I understand your concern perfectly. In fact, little one, you've helped me more than you could ever know." The brunette replied, nestling his free hand in the tangle of messy white locks before him.

The kid had obviously not been expecting that answer, his face going flush and the tips of his ears lighting up a crimson red at the praise. The feeling of any kind of affection must've been barren one for quite a while too, the little minx quickly melting into the touch of the brunette's fingerless glove-covered hand. "Ah-h, hehe. It's nothing, Mister. Mother always told me that if you wanted to be a true Hero, you'd see a person in need of help before they knew themselves." Additionally, whilst he might have started filled with gusto, there was no doubt the kid's tone grew more sombre the closer he got to the end.

"Your mother sounds like a very knowledgeable person. You did a good job listening to her." He replied, looking into those icy blue eyes, wondering what else hid behind them. Slowly, he began to remove his hand from the other's head, not caring for the small whimper that escaped the tiny boy's lips. Instead, with the one eye he had afforded himself at the minute, he scoured the landscape with a particular goal in mind. "Speaking of, where is your mother, young one? I'm not an expert, but it seems very irresponsible of parents to leave their children out here alone. In the dead of night, no less."

Amid him taking wide sweeping glances of the surrounding area, his mind immediately assuming it was a rather simple case of a kid wandering off and away from their parent, the green-eyed man missed the obvious happening right in front of him. "U-uh… Umm… I-I… Mother… Father… They're b-" The sniffle-filled voice came, the edges of tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

Immediately, the other male's gaze snapped down to the kid. Within seconds, he also spied the addition of small amounts of snot pouring out the young one's nose and fished a handkerchief out of one of his coat pockets. "Alright, alright, let's not talk about that, hmm? No use in dwelling on past regrets. Please, take this." He cooed, voice soft and measured with the air of a man who had done this exact same thing thousands of times before.

The young boy did as he was ordered, almost robotic in his movements as he took the red and black cloth away from the older male. Soft sobbing could be heard muffled behind it no matter how many times the child might have tried to hide it, nor the brave face he was clearly trying to put on. The man in front of him knew more than enough about masks to last a lifetime, so much so that one would never fool him again.

But there were more pressing matters at hand here as he knelt down, trying to get on a face-to-face level with the kid. The same wry smile he first gave was still plastered on his face, not exactly the most comforting thing in the world, but the best he allowed himself at this moment. "Would you like to tell me your name, Little One? If I'm going to get you home safely, I'm going to need to know if someone is yelling your name looking for you."

Icy blue eyes bulged for a split second and then tore away to the ground, a pattern of behaviour that could only be more suspicious if they were seen popping out of a vent. The way the kid chewed on the bottom of his lip too… If that wasn't the sound of the drums of war, then the brunette must've been deaf. "Jin… Isshiki Jin…" Came the confirmation the male craved.

Jin, huh? It made the green-eyed male smile wider, revealing the rows and rows of buzzsaw-like teeth that filled his mouth. "That's a lovely name you have there, you fit it very well. Would you like to know mine too so that we're even?" A nod soon followed, and he simply had to chuckle fondly at the sight. "Alright then, my name is Katsuyori. Katsuyori Hojo, at your service."

"What?! You mean that H-" Ah, Katsuyori knew he should have always expected that kind of a reaction to his last name. For it was ever doomed to follow him around until the end of his days, feasting on his energy and patience every time he would see someone's eyes go wide, or whenever they would burst into a flurry of questions.

Katsuyori's finger pressed itself against his lips, a coy smirk building behind it as his eyes began to dance with a kind of mirth that was present only within his extended family history. There were easily two ways he could go about it, but one of them was going to be much more… acceptable to his core. "Yes, yes, but please, do be soft about it. Wouldn't want to alert any villain in hiding, would you? Have you not seen what they've done to me already?" The brunette whispered, playing into the charade as he brought attention to his bleeding hand.

An "O" shape silently formed on Jin's mouth; the young boy was now aware why squawking the name out loud on a dark night might have been a bad idea. Katsuyori probably got enough of it in the daytime too, the last thing he wanted to do was make the affection he was receiving vanish because of his idiocy… That had happened too many times before. "Is that why you're covering your eye? Did some villain do something to it too?" Yet, Jin's curiosity would not abate. His icy eyes darted over to what the bloody hand was covering.

It came time for Katsuyori to baulk, visible jade eye bulging out of his skull for a split second. The tense hand over his eye gripped harder to his skin, nails breaking the top of his flesh and drawing more traces of blood out of the scar that already streaked through it. "Aha, very observant, aren't you?" He began, hoping general bluster was enough to see him through. "You could say something like that, yes. It's why you've got to be extra careful about the people you meet, Jin, they're not always going to be the most welcoming despite their outward appearances."

The vague platitudes appeared to have worked, much to Katsuyori's relief as he puffed a quick breath of cold air above Jin's nodding head. "Yeah… Nee-san used to say that too sometimes… I hope she's happy where she is now, though…" Jin glumly murmured away, burying his face down into his hands. "They looked really nice…"

Katsuyori raised an eyebrow. He couldn't help it; his curiosity had managed to bubble away all of the rage within that he was feeling moments prior and had superseded any other desire at this current moment in time. Even the cold, destructive wind was forgotten about, replaced by the growing urge to figure out what had happened to the small child who had wandered up to him out of nowhere.

Many things had been said about him over the years, populating the airwaves almost as often as all the nicknames had been through too via people like the Delayer and the Wind. However, one thing that could not be said about Katsuyori Hojo was unsympathetic, no matter what face he chose to put on that day. The painful familiarity of having a younger, male child seeking refuge in him… The bitter nostalgia and cynicism had to be measured, lest the demon at the back of his head perked up again.

"I'm sure they were, your sister must be a very happy and brave girl right about now, would you happen to know where she is? Did you run away from her in the first place before finding me?" Katsuyori mentally kicked himself as he spoke, both for sounding like he was interrogating the poor, lost child and once more bringing up the topic of family. It was very clearly a harsh topic for Jin to deal with, who was also evidently not a very gifted liar or good at covering up the emotions on his face and the heart on his sleeve.

Nervous, jittery hands twiddled tiny thumbs, shivering under the cold that was now starting to affect them once the adrenaline started to depart. Jin munched his bottom lip once more, eyes briefly glancing up to Katsuyori's curious gaze before dropping to the side once more. "No…" Came the only answer, stifled by what sounded like a choked sob. Katsuyori's handkerchief was also quick to zoom over to the edges of his eyes yet again, locking in the other's suspicions in one fell swoop.

Without another direct word said, Katsuyori offered his hand out for Jin to take it. The truth was so painfully clear to the horned brunette, reflective too. He'd seen these stories play out all of the time in the novels and scripts he used to scour out of Mother's old trunk in the Loft upstairs, they'd always end in heartbreak without action attached to them. Sometimes, they would end in it either way, despite the best efforts of both parties; such was the nature of the tragedy genre. However, he would be damned if he let something like this play out like one of those.

"You caught me as I was walking to meet a friend for some business at a restaurant he likes nearby. If we're lucky, we might be able to catch him in one of his moods where he doesn't yell at anything with a pulse." Katsuyori gave one of the more welcoming smiles he had in his repertoire, waiting to see Jin's reaction to the offer. No part of him would be sad if he had to go it alone, and he fully understood that he was acting like a walking Stranger Danger ad at the minute. If Jin wanted nothing to do with him, he would have no complaints.

The next few seconds hung heavier than others prior, the small buffets and harsh blasts of wind provided the only background noise until a small, tiny voice broke through its insidious grip. "…You mean it?" Jin's voice was innocent, full of a longing that had been bubbling away at his insides for God knows how long. Katsuyori could tell the boy was positively starving with just his tone of voice.

His one visible eye lighting up, Katsuyori maintained his polite smile, a gentle grip on Jin's hand forming. "I swear on my name and my future grave. Plus, it sounds like you could eat a horse at this point, so why not invite you?" Whether he was justifying it to himself or to Jin, it didn't much matter at this point. His friend was waiting, and knowing him, likely had already started to kick off to the point where he would chew Katsuyori's head off with words alone. A little… insurance policy wouldn't hurt, no?

The patient game Katsuyori had played paid off once he felt the sensation of Jin's hand nestle into his own, a gentle squeeze whisking the pair away on the rest of the journey. The core that had spent the previous minutes tearing at his very being cooled down too, starving under the lack of its basic sustenance. Good, the brunette wanted to keep it that way for the rest of the night, and if this little dragon kid was working to keep it under wraps, he would stay by his side as long as necessary.

Their destination wasn't too far away, Katsuyori knew these streets like the back of his hand despite all the time he had spent away from them. All the watching eyes could never be accounted for, but he would be damned if he didn't memorise every street corner to get to his destination faster, reconnaissance always was a strong suit of his. Additionally, when you walked in the circles he did, then gaudy people tended to be attracted to gaudy settings.

Case in point, the view coming over the horizon matched his friend perfectly. At the surface level, one might have thought it was elegant. Like the place he had driven his hand into the wall, the outer layer was a sleek, marble base that glistened under the nightlights like a Christmas tree. Reflective streams of red, yellow, and blue all converged into a singular point that bathed the mahogany doors with a special light, highlighting not only the painstaking mastery their craft had taken but also the gleaming golden handles that were attached to them.

Spread above them, in elegant writing that no doubt took many professionals to properly align, was the name of the restaurant. Providence was a place that few could afford to dine at with any kind of regularity, reserved only for the top one-tenth of the top one per cent and home to the same level of bourgeois debauchery that Katsuyori would expect out of people like the Delayer. Although, the Wind would also frequent the place by his side, and so too would his friend whenever the pair of them were free from the shackles their respective occupations placed on them.

Katsuyori turned his gaze down to Jin, who was staring at the place like it was some kind of Eden. A soft chuckle escaped Katsuyori's purple lips, filed with his family's trademark mirth. Clearly, the little tyke hadn't seen something like this his whole life and there was little the brunette could blame him for. Most people in the world would sell their left leg to even sniff the faint, delicious aroma that wafted behind these doors and out the small cracks in the windows. "Care to come inside, Jin?" He asked, mirth fading into a tenderness that was reflected in his eye.

Under the bright lights, Jin huddled in closer to Katsuyori, the faint slip of his wings jabbing into the older man's side. Unsurprisingly, there was a distinct hesitance in the way his head first moved up to Katsuyori and then travelled back down to the door, staring at both like he was seeing double. No doubt the colours were probably triggering some kind of sensory overload as well.

Not needing to know the reply or gain a confirmation, Katsuyori pushed open the door and ventured further into the restaurant. As soon as those double doors were breached, the faint smell turned into a full-on assault that was intended to make sure you were entranced before even being taken to your seat. The finest chefs in Japan worked overtime, day and night, 25/7 even, to make sure there was nothing less than the finest quality placed on those fine porcelain plates.

The sensation of the soft carpet under his feet was one that Jin hadn't felt in a long time, a special comfort being afforded to a pleasure he had taken for granted before even knowing it would be ripped away so soon. Curious blue eyes noticed the golden stitching on the sides of the expansive burgundy flooring, a sight he had seen on TV before whenever those famous Heroes would make their appearance at the debut of their feature-length films. The innocent side of him supposed it was only natural, then, that Katsuyori was more than at home on it.

"Ah, good evening, Hojo-sama, we've been expecting you." Katsuyori's pointed ears pricked up at the sound of the receptionist's respectful voice. The man was dressed to the nines and carried with him the serious demeanour that was necessary when dealing with people so rich that they could buy and sell you in the blink of an eye. "Michinoku-sama has been expecting your arrival for some time too, and he asked me to re-"

Whatever the man was about to say was cut off when he spied Jin tucked into Katsuyori's side, a fact that the horned adult was more than aware of. "Jin here is with me, I trust there's no issue with that, is there?" Compared to the gentler tone he had taken with the child, there was no sympathy or compassion present in Katsuyori's voice. A bleeding hand dropped slightly, a slight fleck of purple poking out from behind spread-out fingers.

"I-I… Ahem, no, of course not!" The man sputtered at first, only settling back down to normal with an intense clearing of his throat. His jittery hands were noticeable from a mile away as he plucked two more menus from behind the podium and lead the pair away into the deeper parts of the restaurant.

For Jin, the entrance alone would've been worth the price of admission. Simply being around that much luxury was a moment that he could only wish to be spent with his older sister, seeing how wide eyes would go would've been magical. Instead, as soon as he was whisked away by Katsuyori, his head was titled towards the floor, and he was back to chewing on his bottom lip like it was the last piece of gum with flavour.

In a way, maybe it was for the best. As soon as they entered the main area, stares abounded towards the young dragon child. Each table they passed, laid with the highest quality linen, was attended to by the upper crust of the upper crust, who snubbed their "civilised" noses like it was going out of fashion the second they believed Katsuyori to be out of sight. The mere sight of some ratty kid was far too much for some of these people, and even if his head was down, Jin felt the weight of the gaze upon him like a metric tonne of rocks.

"Hey," Katsuyori whispered to Jin, keeping his gaze locked ahead and words softly spoken under his breath. "Don't pay attention to all the rabble. If they end up becoming an issue, I'll be more than happy to deal with them myself. Just try not to focus on them, okay? They'll want to make a scene if you give them even the vaguest inkling of a script." The last part was spat out with such spite that it made Jin's eyes widen, forcing a quick nod before he knew what his head was doing.

Lucky for the pair of them, the journey was not much longer. "It's about fucking time you turned up!" Unfortunately, though, the destination might not have been all that better than the journey. Sat right at the time, feet kicked up on another chair right across from him, was the foul-mouthed narcissist of the Inner Circle, Osprey, who was immediately throwing glowering glares straight toward Katsuyori and Jin.

Katsuyori shared a glance with the receptionist, shooing him away with a nod of his head before replying to Osprey. "Apologies, I didn't mean to keep you waiting for so long. However, some other situation required my attention and the needed adjustments needed to be made." Katsuyori ignored the withering, ugly scowl sent his way and motioned for Jin to take up the seat next to him, the one that was the furthest away from the ebony-haired male who looked ready to grind both of their bones.

"I can see that; do you think I'm fucking dense? Fucking Christ…" Osprey snarled, muttering to himself as he trailed off to the end of his sentence. Slender fingers raked through his wavy black hair which had been left down and was cutting down his shoulders, the faint waft of hairspray mixed with sweat formed a natural musk that most in the world would find repellent. "Whatever, so long as he doesn't mess shit up, what do I fucking care?"

"See? Not so hard to adjust, is it?" Katsuyori teased, finally dropping his bleeding hand from his eye, but electing to keep it closed. The action earned a narrow glare from Osprey, whose own lurid eyes shot open with a speed unseen before now. As if he had just woken up from some nightmare. It was also the first time that Jin had been able to notice the long, jagged scar that carried on right through the brunette's being, and it made the young Dragonborn shiver.

"It's also easy not to drag along strays like you're some kind of mama bird," Osprey commented, electing to remain stum on Katsuyori keeping one of his eyes closed by turning the conversation to the tiny dragon across from him. The Danseur didn't know what exactly it was, but something about him was… Familiar… Like he had stared at this exact picture before during his research. "On top of that, it's also easy not to punch walls and bust your hand open the hard way. I thought your boss already told you to quit it on that front?" Instead, once more, his attention pivoted away from the topic like a hyperactive child more concerned with scoring petty victories.

Katsuyori looked back down at this hand, spying how caked the back of his glove was and how it had no doubt dribbled onto his face at this point. In the end, though, much to the surprise of Jin, the brunette shrugged. "Oh, Taka, surely you know how deadly these streets can be at night with all these villains wondering about it? Isn't that right, Jin? Some people can be so, so nasty whenever they pull back that façade."

Under the look of Katsuyori and the glare of Osprey, Jin looked like a dear in the headlights. He… What was he supposed to say? Sure, Katsuyori had been nice and affectionate to him so far, but that Osprey guy looked like he was ready to piss on Jin's grave the second the final drops of topsoil had been filled. "U-Um, y-yeah…" Came the eventual jittery voice, which made him want to be swallowed up all by the ground because of the second-hand embarrassment.

Osprey gave a half-committal grunt, repositioning his posture so he was sitting up straight like a normal person. Then, he leaned his elbows down on the table with his own lurid blue eyes mixing in with the icy ones of Jin. "I see… You got a name at all, Brat? Or did Katsu end up taking you away without even thinking about that?" For once, much to the shock of Katsuyori, Osprey managed to get a sentence out without swearing like a sailor in the process of it. What's more, he sounded interested, of all things. It was… Unusual, to say the least.

From the side, Katsuyori's one open eye watched Jin like he was some precious lump of diamond that he was battling to protect from hoarders. Withering would be the wrong word to use, but compared to the friendly, tender gazes he had showered the boy with before, this one definitely upped the hardness tenfold.

Under the weight of two conflicting powers, Jin crumbled to the question. Unlike before, where he had given Katsuyori his name in peace, this one felt like the long result of painful torture. "I-I-Isshiki Jun… Mich-Michinoku-sama." Tacking on the honorific felt only right, given how every sign so far had pointed towards Osprey being dangerous. Which only made the poor child wonder why someone like Katsuyori would refer to him as a friend. What was their relationship here…?

A smile spread across Osprey's lips and Katsuyori instantly felt his stomach churn, core tightening at the mere sight of the other adult's glee. "Isshiki? Well, well, well… That changes things. Excellent manners too. You may have found a good one, at last, Katsu. Took you long enough." The other blue-eyed male replied, laughing to himself as he rapped his fingers against the linen tablecloth.

Katsuyori shook his head, a scowl etching its way onto his face. The sleazy aura he was feeling around Osprey was one he knew all too well, it disgusted him no matter how much he had gotten used to it over the past few months since his return. "I'd prefer it if you wouldn't try to objectify Jin here. He happened to be quite helpful to me, and I may as well use this time to repay him for what he was able to accomplish." Still, the brunette attempted to retain an air of professionalism. Acting was second nature to him, after all.

Osprey shrugged, leaning back on the chair as he picked up a flute of sparkling champagne with two loose fingers. Glimmering lights hanged above him, twinkling like diamonds down in a coal mine with their soft purple lighting bathing his body in an ethereal glow, another sight that Katsuyori knew didn't fit the other at all. "Whatever, it's water under the bridge regardless. You can feed it so long as you actually pay for it, I'm not some walking fucking charity case."

Idly, Katsuyori's eye wandered back to Jin, who had his head stuck near the bottom of the menu and was no doubt gasping at the sheer value of half the stuff on it. "Don't worry, just order whatever you want," He began, finally removing his coat for the first time and revealing the white, ruffled dress shirt he wore underneath with the crimson red waistcoat neatly done up around it. "It'll be my treat." Katsuyori finished, flashing the young kid a small smile.

Across the table, Osprey narrowed his eyes once more, placing his free fist against his cheek as he took a sip of the champagne. At least this time, he wasn't in the business of spitting it over waiters and then dropping the bottle on the ground. Painmaker had made sure to not let him forget to reimburse the place when all was said and done. No matter how funny the Prince of Pain found it when watching, the bastard evidently liked exercising his authority over Osprey that much more like the sadistic bastard he was. "Better fuckin' be." He grumbled under his breath.

Hearing it, Katsuyori elected to ignore the comment for the time being. As of the present, feeding Jin and making sure everything was in order on that front had taken his number one priority. When that was all said and done, he could move on to proper business. Calling over the waiter that had been hovering around their table, for the time being, he led the young dragon through all of the options and let the bill pile up as high as he wanted it to be.

Sure, by the end of the time the selection process was done and the waiter had managed to use no less than four pieces of paper to write everything down, Katsuyori knew his wallet would be crying out for mercy. However, that was by the by when the Wind could make him money easier than breathing. The glittering red diamond earrings that hung just above his shoulders were more than enough evidence for that truth. "Don't worry, Taka, you won't have to worry your pretty little head about spending all that money you made on that wildly successful single show you did recently."

The shot landed with pinpoint accuracy, the corners of Osprey's lips turning into a snarl. "Why don't you worry about your shit for once, Jackass? Last, I remember you couldn't headline a show of Macbeth if all the fucking actors died. When they called it Phantom of the Opera, they didn't literally mean to disappear!" The Inner Circle's Assassin shot back with full force, knuckles turning white around the corners of the flute.

Now, it was Katsuyori's turn to see red. For the first time since he had Jin by his side, he could feel that disgusting pulling at his core once more, and it was hard not to dip his toes into it for this one riposte. "Duty calls. At least some of us have positive influences on the world, wanting to spread the shade of life's tree for all those that need to step under it to bask in its protection. Others, meanwhile, prefer to kick up a fuss because they get overshadowed by those more talented than them." The tone used made Jin beside him freeze up, it was the same unrelenting cold that was reflecting in his eyes, and the dragon boy swore for a second, he could see a shimmer of purple overtake the open jade eye.

Osprey scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process. However, he said nothing back to Katsuyori, oddly electing to bury the hatchet before it was used to crack someone's skull open. "Some of us also know when to make a scene and when not to." He stated a few seconds later, not caring much for the hypocrisy and irony of the statement as he pointed toward the glares they were both receiving from the people around them.

The ebony-haired male's moment of lucidity brought Katsuyori down from the peak, the brunette sweeping a shaky hand through his hair as he too noticed how quiet the bustling atmosphere had gotten. Furthermore, when he looked down at Jin, the young child had eyes as wide as dinner plates, clearly spooked by the vicious nature the horned male had momentarily taken on. "I-… Indeed." He coughed as he cleared his throat, wanting to pretend as if the whole incident had never happened.

For once, Osprey appeared to be willing to play ball as well, a different goal forming in his mind now. "Oi, Jin, was it?" He called out to the Dragonborn, directing attention away from Katsuyori. "Why don't you go and wash your hands for a bit? There's a kid's restroom nearby if you follow all the signs, the staff will be there to watch over you as well if you're worried about being separated from Katsu for a bit." Osprey gestured to one of the staff near their table to approach.

The even kilter of Osprey's tone was a surprise to Katsuyori too, the brunette's eyes widening slightly before quickly slipping back into business mode when he felt Jin's gaze come back on him. "It won't be a minute, and when you're back, all of the food will probably be here then you can eat to your heart's content with your nice clean hands. Sound good?" Fondness and tenderness returned to Katsuyori's voice as he tried his best to reassure Jin, knowing how intimidating it was going to be for the child to wander through a place that felt like it could eat him wholly at any given moment.

Luckily for Katsuyori, it appeared to have done the trick. A small nod had been extracted from Jin, wobbly legs pushed the chair back and touched down on the carpeted floor, following behind the staff member that Osprey had called over. Whilst the footsteps that he led himself away from the table were anything but long strides, at least Katsuyori could be assured that the hesitance on Jin's end would be the least of the issues. They'd get better next time arou-

Katsuyori shook his head, finally opening the eye that had been locked shut the whole time. Why the hell was he thinking like that already? The poor child might have been clearly starved of affection, but it was pretty fucking clear that he had his own family. Maybe not a mother and a father like would be healthy, but his sister was very much alive and kicking. It would be foolish to already attempt to do anything other than deliver him back to her.

Plus… He couldn't… There was no… There was no way he was going to subject an innocent soul to that kind of darkness. The tightness in his core flared up once more. Katsuyori grabbing at the corners of his shirt's collar and breathing deeply were some of the few methods he had left at the moment to prevent his curse from rearing its ugly head. What a curse… What a curse… What a curse…

"You owe me," Osprey spoke out, saving Katsuyori once more from his inner monologue. The taller male in the pairing leaned across the table, shifting the pitcher of water that had been stood in the centre closer to Katsuyori. Coming up with a way to get rid of Jin made their business a lot easier, but it was… Interesting to notice how quickly things changed upon departure.

Filling his glass quickly, Katsuyori dumped the brimming glass down his throat with one hasty swing of his arm. "…Y-Yes." He answered with a shaky voice, wiping his mouth clean with one of the cloths provided. "Today was another one of the failures, he told me that it would have to be fixed sooner rather than later. Otherwise, it may become irreversible." Even if what he had been told was only a few hours prior, Katsuyori felt like they had haunted him his whole life. In a way, though, they had.

In typical fashion, Osprey's reply was flippant. The younger of the pair by three years waved his hand down with a dismissive motion. His tone mimicked it to a tee, sounding more bored than concerned. "Doesn't matter, it's over now for the time being. As Akira would say, don't be the fool that lives to die by believing that yours is the only way."

Katsuyori shook his head, pitching for another glass to calm the raging fire within his soul. Anything to drown the head he could feel bobbing above the water. "No. It's not that simple. He gave me a double dose today of all things, and I could still… I could still feel its hand clawing at my inside… Feasting on my will… On my being…" Although he needed to do so, the event still so fresh in his memory, Katsuyori strained and struggled through recounting it. There… There… There was nothing good that would come out of it, but at the same time, ignoring it only made the situation worse…

"Then that kid rocked up, huh?" Osprey, though, retained his flippancy. He replied to Katsuyori with a breeze laugh, spying over to where Jin had departed before looking back over the clearly shook brunette. "Y'know, every time you speak to me, I wonder if it's possible for things to get even more fucked up than they already are. Feels weird to have to be the sensible one here for once."

Katsuyori gritted his teeth, grinding them back and forth as a pulsing feeling overtook the hands he quickly hid underneath the table. "Simul Justus et peccator." He said, the use of Latin was not something he was quite familiar with, stumbling over the pronunciation like Bambi on ice skates. However, he knew full well that it would perk up Osprey into acting like a responsible human being for once. At least, that's what Katsuyori hoped would happen. Whenever Osprey was in the equation sense went out the window, and madness would descend like the King of the Night.

Once more, fate interfered to parcel out Katsuyori's portion of luck for the year. Immediately, Osprey dropped hands that had been raking through his hair back down to his sides. Whether it was because of his shitty Latin or not, Katsuyori didn't care. "Pulvis et umbra sumus." The Assassin breathed out with lightning speed, not missing a single syllable in his flawless pronunciation. "Motherfucker, don't go spouting shit you don't understand. Call up whatever the hell his name is then and have triple the dose for all I care." He declared, nearly slamming his fist on the table.

Silently, Katsuyori took one last look at Osprey before one hand reached into his coat and pulled out a thick, black notebook that was bundled together with a thin piece of rubber holding all the loose sheets together. "I think you should take a look at this." Came Katsuyori's low, rumbling voice, a marked change in tone that had Osprey choking on air. "Effigy might like what she sees."

The notebook was received silently too, normally lurid blue eyes turned analytical as deft hands carefully extracted page after page of messy writing. Whilst it may have been written with the grace of an expert in their field, who could teach the subject matter in their sleep, it certainly wasn't easy on the eyes as Osprey squinted. "What the fuck…?" He murmured, unsure to make of what he was reading exactly. The additional mention of Effigy out of nowhere also added to his growing confusion.

"If anything more tips me over the edge, it would be curtains and the Delayer has spoken in no uncertain terms about what would need to be done." Katsuyori continued, acting as if Osprey had never spoken in the first place. A wry grimace formed on his purple lips the longer the other spent scouring the notebook for every piece of information. "Chemistry is a delicate balance, Taka, and without the necessary chemicals it will be hard to make more effective medicine in the future."

With a non-confirmational grunt, Osprey set the notebook back down on the table and bundled it together once more before passing it back to Katsuyori. A grim look overtook his eyes as they remained locked on the object that had thrown their conversation for six. "And that's why you want Effigy? Do you think she, of all people, is going to be able to figure this shit out? That fucking bimbo couldn't figure out that fire was hot!"

"When you're lost in the darkness, do you ignore every chance you get to turn on a light?" Katsuyori replied back, slipping the notebook away into the darkness of his coat and reclining back his chair with his arms crossed. "The Delayer was made aware of her recently, and I believe they would like to meet at some point or another. Says he wants to 'pick her brains,' like always."

Osprey scowled, folding his arms as well. Here he was, thinking that it was going to be a simple dinner with someone he could actually tolerate all things considered. However, now he was stuck trying to run message boy for Katsuyori to contact Effigy, whose name felt like poison on his tongue. The two of them hadn't spoken since… Well, he had lost track of when that was actually. If that was any indication, it was going to be a losing battle. "I'll see what I can do." He said, after a long period of deliberation.

For the first time today, without Jin by his side, Katsuyori smiled. It was a small one, barely noticeable, but a smile nonetheless. "I appreciate the effort. Rest assured, that will be all I ask of you for now."

For now… That phrase hung ominously in the air between them. Both of them knew that there would come a time when the situation became untenable, a seemingly inexorable march that continued on to its harrowing destination. The only thing that seemed possible right about now was a delay, and Katsuyori knew that window was running thin when the self-proclaimed 'Mind of the Century' appeared to be counting down the last drops of sand in the hourglass.

But, for now, he had to relish the moment. He had to take the last act, the final script that was placed in front of him, and he had to play his role for the sake of Lord Monsoon. For the sake of the Schism, his time on life's stage was not to come to an end until he chose to exit stage right. Many people required the shade their tree provided, and with the pitter-patter of tiny feet that emerged into his eardrums once more, heralding the return of Jin, a tiny smirk crossed his lips as his left eye closed once more.

"Hey… Jin… What would you feel like if I decided to tell you a little story to pass the time? It's something my cousin was always good at."

A/N: And that's another chapter in the books! One that was written in roughly a week, no less! I... I have a serious issue, okay? For those of you that are still actively reading the fic, I appreciate you for doing so, and I will be seeing you when the next chapter comes out.

Until then.