New art! Just in time! Adorable art is adorable!

Chapter 53

Since this was supposed to be a super secret mission, I held off on my curiosity about the little bit of paper under the bread stick canister. I was good enough (not very good, but good enough) to slight of hand the paper into my palm, then my pocket without anyone seeing it. I mean... I think I was.

Of course, after all the children had their muffin (some kind of fruit muffin, rather tasty), and we all got underway again to finish our tour of the 'other world convention', Haruhime asked (very quietly), "What was that?"

Well, I knew what skill I'd work on next, when I had time, "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing some information." I replied, looking behind me to make sure that everyone had a tail to hold and was following. "Would be impolite to read it right away."

She smiled, nodded, and handed me the paper. I hadn't even noticed her sneaking it from my pocket either. Since we were in public, I used a free tail to curl around her far hip just for a moment, and opened up the paper.

"Hmm, seems the book dealer has an extra item for us." The message was a simple, 'Male book seller', and a small phrase, 'do you have anything about the night life?'

"We can stop there last then." Haruhime said, looking behind us, her keen eyes determining just how tired the children were after several hours wandering about. "Soon I think."

The book seller, one male, one female, were a lovely couple who I was pretty sure lived at Alnus. It wasn't just the reasonable Japanese they were speaking, but the nice 'modern' clothing they were wearing. I was pretty sure there was a tag on the back of the man's shirt that said '100% cotton'.

And, now carrying seven 'winding down' children in my tails, on my shoulders or in one arm, I asked him, "I know I was here earlier."

"Yes! Thank you for your purchases! I hope our stories and legends leave the same impression on them as they did me, when I was young." He smiled, "Was there something else?"

"Do you have anything about the night life?" I replied.

"Oh! I have just the thing. Where did I put it..." He turned his back to us and opened up the box he was sitting on. He rummaged a little, then with a pleased, 'aha!' he turned, closed the box, plunked his rear back on it, and handed me a wire bound '100 yen' notebook. "It's our only copy, so please, don't lose it!"

I accepted it, knowing that all of this was prepaid for (since both places had no use for the other world's currency, it was some kind of weird barter system based on a very strict inventory taking) I bowed my head in thanks, "I hope you do well when we visit your side." And I made the notebook vanish into my coat someplace.

And with that, we went home.

Thanks to the Guild, Ganesha Familia, and some valis, we had a small pile of goods just inside our Manor's wall. Spot and Chime were guarding it too, the Helldoggo laying in front of the small pile of crates, and Chime napping on the topmost box. Since I had all of the tails and an unbreakable grip, I traded sleepy children to Haruhime and Spot, and picked up all of our delivered goods. I didn't even bother to move Chime.

Once inside, and after I put the crates down and we deposited the children in the living room, Haruhime handed me the book.

"Now you are just showing off." I said quietly, giving her forehead a kiss, "It won't be very entertaining, but would you like to read with me?"

She accepted the kiss, smiling at me mischievously, "We'll be talking about it after dinner too, correct?"

I nodded, "We can put books away while I review this then?"

"Sounds lovely. Spot-san? Let the children know where we are if they wake up." A pause, "And we brought this back for you." She took a bit of dried meat from one of her pouches, "Giselle called it 'dragon jerky'."

Unlike most people with dogs, Haruhime didn't toss the strip of tough meat to Spot, but instead offered it to him like she would a plate to a person. Spot, being a somewhat awkward yet very civilized helldoggo, nipped the corner of the offered jerky, went to the fluffiest carpet, hunkered down to his belly, and nibbled at it while it rested over the backs of his front paws.

"Let us know how it is, so we can tell Giselle." I said, putting a hand on Haruhime's far shoulder and walking out of the living room with her.

"So." I started, holding up the book as I sat down in the living room after dinner, "We were given a rather thoughtful gift before our upcoming mission."

Everyone but the Oni were here. Since they were not going on the mission, and were back from the dungeon after almost a week, they very politely begged off and went to visit their children. My reply to that was a pat on the arm (since their shoulders were too high) and a 'have fun, really!'

"Was it Nanami?" Maki asked.

"She really came through for us." I nodded, "While most of this will bore anyone not going on our little trip, the information in here is pretty comprehensive. Names of people who might help or hinder. Places we might go or avoid. A general political overview. Current market trends. Some of the battle records from before the Gate closed and a few that had happened afterwards... It's very detailed."

"We may speak the language passable well now, but we would still be tourists without this kind of information." Mikoto said, "If we want any hope of blending in, we must study this gift."

"Sadly, it won't make a good story time." Ryuu said, "But if we wanted some place to start with our own infiltration, yes, this is quite the gift indeed." She looked to me, "Do you know how much support we may receive from the JSDF?"

"Hardly any." I said, "They have to continue to look like the 'shield' protecting the people living near them. Now, if we, say, capture someone who is working for Zorzal, they'd happily accept them and lock them up for us. Or if there were a 'disturbance' they would look the other way if we dealt with it cleanly before they got there."

There were a few nods. I knew I probably didn't have to, but I wanted the relations between 'the people' and the JSDF to stay warm. They'd worked hard and cleaned a lot of house to build that reputation, and I didn't want to turn 'the people' against them. We could retreat through the Gate, but they couldn't.

Well, actually... they could. But what a mess that would be... At least we had plumbing.

"So, let's get into the library and we can put our heads together for this." I said.

Hours later, when some of our team were starting to yawn (poor Kaede was excited for the mission, but not really much for reading or study), I noticed Finn nibbling his thumb and frowning. His free hand was holding up the book someplace near the back.

"Something bothering you Finn?" I asked.

"This Zorzal fellow seems... odd."

Maki, Kaede, Ryuu, Shinkage, Mikoto and I all looked at him expectantly. Sure, we'd outplayed him before, but that was all of us VS him. He was no less an expert tactician.

"Looking at these battle reports. Some of this you told me before, with the War faction trying to eliminate the Peace faction before the JSDF could rescue them, or the overzealous efforts of the 'special squad' that went about removing neutral nobles under the premise they were against Zorzal." He flipped a page or two, "I understand that. He was trying to suppress his opponents, while removing possible support."

"You are with me, or you are against me." Mikoto nodded grimy, "Troubling tactics, but yes. What of it?"

"The move itself, as well as others, seem quite brilliant. Disguising themselves as JSDF to try and discredit them, as well as rob merchants when they lower their guard. Two birds with a single arrow. Or drawing out a group of JSDF with a hostage far from support, yet close enough to attempt the mission at all." Finn turned another page, "Ultimately, those and many other moves failed. But most of these defeats seem to be either simple over extension, or the JSDF bringing down the hammer just a little harder."

I hadn't noticed that. I mean, I really just put all of those defeats to 'Meet the Heavy'. The closest they got to losing (the JSDF that is) was the Jade Palace incident, when the Japanese Embassy was put under siege. From the way Akeno read the report, and the newspaper clipping (written by that scum spewer Kazunari) was the JSDF were waiting for the go ahead from Japan to 'deal with it'. Sure, the picture Kazunari took showed the JSDF laying on a runway, and the title was something like, 'Are they playing around?'

But they were on that runway, in full combat gear. I was almost one hundred percent positive that they were on their feet and in the air to the rescue as soon as the helicopter's rotor was up to speed.

"If you ask me, the JSDF are using kid gloves for all of this. Though with how things are back Home, they had to be." Maki said with a shrug, "Zorzal is really lucky someone didn't just put one through his forehead after he brought out all his slaves in front of Itami."

Finn stopped in mid-nibble of his thumb, "Hmm?"

"Well, it started with a little quake..."

Story told, Finn went back to nibbling his thumb, "I see..." He stopped again, "I understand, but don't sympathize with slavery, but from what you tell me of the JSDF, and your 'home'" He gave me a raised eyebrow, letting me know I wasn't fooling him anymore with that, "the reaction was understandable as well. But at that point in time, the execution of the crown prince would have permanently soured relations between the JSDF and the Nobles, this Emperor most certainly."

"Indeed. Itami should be commended for his restraint." Mikoto said, "I'll admit I would have taken more... final corrective measures with Zorzal."

There were a lot of thoughtful faces around the table, mine included. Yeah... I probably would have lost my cool too. Ryuu maybe. Maki certainly. Kaede... maybe not. Shinkage? Eh, she'd probably have burned the castle down after being 'nice' and not killing anyone right away.

"But you are still nibbling your thumb." Shinkage said.

"Yes. It seems that the last little while, after the Gate was closed, that Zorzal has stopped being so aggressive, and gotten much smarter about how he has been fighting the JSDF." He stopped nibbling his thumb, looked at it to make sure he hadn't chewed a hole in it or something, then shook his head, "I want to pass it off as him getting a bloody nose and learning. But something just doesn't add up." He shrugged, "Just my opinion."

The rest of us nodded, "It's how we outplayed you that night." I said, "We got every opinion and idea and put together the best plan we could with the pieces we had." This reminded me, and I fished about in my 'delicate items' pouch and put a collection of little crystal beads on the table. Each one was fixed to a bit of super simple jewellery, similar to the things I'd seen in the '5 copper' display in Italica. "We also had tools you didn't. If it wasn't for these, we'd have lost that night."

Everyone chose something from the pile, and Finn laughed quietly, "I'll admit, I was rather sore about losing. But my opinion has softened on the Xenos. No soulless monster could make cookies like Weine does. Or sing as well as Marie. And I had no idea Spot was a Xenos until I noticed him at the Orphanage making his own water bowl with nothing but his breath and teeth."

I felt quite relieved to hear him outright say that. Sure, he'd never shown any hostility to any of our Xenos, but he, like everyone in the city, knew I would be very upset if something happened to one of my Family here in the Manor. And if you lived in the Manor, you were one of my Family.

"We are pleased you understand them now." Mikoto said, "And that your tolerance of them has helped the city start accepting them too." Yes, because if Loki Familia wanted to, they could easily have made it impossible for the Xenos to live up in the sun, or not, as they pleased. No matter how strong I was.

He waved it off magnanimously, "That aside." He chose a simple copper bracelet, giving it a squeeze to resize it for his small wrist, "I'll continue to think about what's bothering me on my own time. Have any of you thought of how you might start your infiltration?"

In the afternoon, the day before our trip, my 'delicate items' pouch started making little 'ding' noises. This was quite odd, since the 'sound stones' only vibrated (since sudden noise might give you away if you were hiding in the dungeon someplace). The Occulus of course would make noise if someone on either end spoke, but not 'ring'.

So, I took out the Occulus (because yes, it was making an overly cheerful elevator 'ding' noise) and looked into the 'smooth' side of it, "Hello?" I was only seeing a bright 'room' so I didn't know who was on the other end.

The dinging stopped, and Lelei's face popped into view, "Ah, it worked as intended." She said the background changing as she sat down, "I am reporting, since you'll be on your mission tomorrow."

"Well you've done something." I nodded, "Oh..." I picked up Toshi, who had once again managed to find me and cling to a tail.

"I heard a noise and found you O-ma." He said, "Hello Miss Lelei-san." He rubbed his cheek against mine, then waved politely at the Occulus.

"Hello little Toshi." She replied, "But yes, we are testing an idea out, and it seems to work well."

"Was calling out not working?" I asked, making sure Toshi was seated firmly in one arm, then giving him (quiet) mmmmmmwah on the cheek, just so I could get a giggle out of him.

"It occurred to us, that even if we do find things that are 'paired' with items in Japan, such as the block of adamant, or various trinkets given as souvenirs, it would do no good if they aren't noticed. Something like the adamant would be locked away, while other items may be in drawers or the like." She explained.

I had to hold my reply, so I could giggle back as Toshi gave me a (not-so-quiet) mmmmmWAH! Of his own back to me, then wiggled a little for me to put him back down. "Pardon." I said, getting a tiny smile from Lelei (maybe? I mean, the Occulus wasn't very big, so I might have been imagining things), "That's a good idea. You've found things that might be connected then?"

"Many things. The JSDF are very sentimental. Earrings, necklaces, engagement rings... And while Yao has yet to return from her village, she is almost positive one of the Elders of her clan wore a fragment of the adamant."

"Excellent news. Now you just have to make it work..."

"Since they do not have any magic, we may never know if it works. They wouldn't be able to reply."

I felt the little bit of 'victory' I was feeling flop onto its face, "Ah, that's right... Wait... Oh, I might have an idea... Once I go on the mission, I can't really help, but maybe I can set up something before hand..."

"The other issue, is what do we send?"

"Oh that's easy. Use Morse Code. I'm sure someone like you could set up a simple repeating message. Anyone who dates a military officer would at least clue in to that. That diamond would probably be under guard too."

She nodded, "A good idea. I will report that the initial test of cross dimensional pinging works to the Commander. If you can, let us know if your contact can do anything."

I shook my head, "I have to keep that information secret. I can tell them, but they will have to choose to act. Now, if you get a message back, you'll know if they risked exposing themselves or not."

"I understand. Good luck."

"You too."

Of course, I called Akeno. I used her Tarot, and left a message (basically whispered in her ear) that I wanted to talk. An hour later, just before dinner, she called back, and I had to hand Mikoto the ladle so I could get to the Lab and answer.

"Ko-san! Um... you have..." She motioned to her face.

I scrubbed my sleeve over my face, getting a bit of flour on my clothes, "Ah, air bubble in the flour surprised me. It's my turn to cook, but this is very important."

"Oh? An update on the spirit radio plan?"

"Yes." I nodded, "Lelei has tested a cross dimensional 'ping' magic. And it works. The problem though, is while it might get a message to Earth, there is no way to call back without magic."

"Oh dear... I see the problem then yes. But..."

"Yes... I'm asking. The way it works should be super simple, but actual magic power will be needed. The message will be in Morse Code too, so if anyone who got a souvenir from the special region starts asking the JSDF why their jewellery is making noise, well..."

"Very clever! But how to reply?"

"I need you to get in touch with Kurin. I'm sure that 'otherworldly jewellery is making noise' will hit the news, and when it does, well someone should 'appear' and see if they can do something about it."

"If she does that though..."

I nodded, "I know... but she's only human. There would be no way to trace her to any of you. So unless you know someone else willing to risk exposure, its the only idea I have."

"I will ask if she is willing then, and if not, we will find someone else." She smiled, "Speaking of your very first true worshipper, she's doing quite well for herself."

"I thought you were my first worshipper." I pouted.

"I am just an admirer." She winked, "You didn't let me deify you at all." She pouted, "But you never told her not to."

"If I ever make it back there, I will..." I paused, "Ask my wife permission to spank you." I nodded, realizing I almost promised something potentially awkward.

"Oh no, how terrible." She winked, "You should go rescue dinner. I will do my best here to have things in place. I'm sure Lady Rias and Lady Sona would be willing to help as well."

"Thank you Akeno."

After dinner, dessert (Weine tried to make flan, but Shinkage had to rescue it and turn it into Creme Brulee), a final check to see if we were all ready for the trip (this included the 'home team' since they had to keep the Manor from burning down while we were gone), I followed Hestia to her room.

I'd been really quiet while I followed her too, so she only really noticed I wasn't walking past her to my own room when I stopped walking as she got to her door. She knew why I was there, and without a word she opened her bedroom door, walked in, and left the door open for me.

To try and ease a bit of the tension I was feeling, instead of sitting in 'the chair' (5.0, comfortable for any and everyone, from Palum to Oni, tails or not! (available from Odds and Ends workshop for...)) I flopped face first across Hestia's bed. The nice mattress and comforter threatened to devour me for a moment before I sprung back to the surface again with a little gasp.

"That was strangely satisfying to watch." Hestia laughed quietly, closing the door behind her. I felt her weight on the mattress next to me and then her hand and arm swishing my tails aside so she could pat my back, "It's unlike you to be nervous."

"The mission with the JSDF is really just a side quest." I sighed, telling my tails to lay still so I could enjoy Hestia's hand on my back without them distracting her. "The real quest will be talking with Hardy, the Goddess who created the Gate."

"I know, but... why would you need to? She already rejected Lelei, right?"

I turned my head to look at her, "Yes, but Lelei, Fels, Ajuka and myself all think that if the Gate vanishes from here, the connection that Lelei made with my old world will come back, and everyone can go back to what they were doing before the mess happened."

She nodded, "Is having the Gate here so bad?"

"Some of the risks are not worth the potential fun." I said, "Aside from the weird distortion from having the Gate open too long, there's the risk of something meaner coming through. It happened to Alnus twice after all..." I sighed, wiggling a little so my hip was touching Hestia's knee, "And the JSDF are probably the nicest military force from my world. But if the word got out that they had connection to two places without 'modern weapons', well..."

"My room is a politics free zone." She poked my side.

"Yes Lady Hestia." I laughed, "But knowing what might happen, makes me want to just wash my hands of it all so we can get back to focusing on the more important things. Like the dungeon, or raising my children."

"How will you deal with this 'Hardy' person then?"

"With every scrap of power I can muster." I smiled, "Just like anything else. If I can't convince her to remove the Gate from our world, so the JSDF can reconnect with their home, then I'll just have to think of something else. But there's nothing wrong with a little deck-stacking."

"You almost sound like you're going to cheat." She laughed, "But this isn't a game. We Gods come down here, but leave our power behind."

"And Hardy stays where ever the Gods live there, but brings her power with her when she 'visits'." I slowly moved around, negotiating the super fluffy bed so I could sit up. "But it's no game, and I'm going to cheat as much as I need to so I can come home at the end of the day." Even with nine tails, both arms and legs, and an unbreakable grip, it took far too much effort to sit up and turn my back to Hestia, "I know it's been a long while, but please Lady Hestia? Would you update my status?"

Before I could make my usual mana-cloth robe vanish, she leaned forward and hugged me tight. With all her kitten determination she tried to squeeze the stuffing out of me. This was the physical limit of my Goddess, yet, it was all the strength she needed to be the pillar of support for all of us.

Without saying anything, she let go and waited until I uncovered my back. I heard her nightstand drawer slide open, then closed. Then with a warm little drop on my back, right between my shoulder blades, she started the update.

I felt a little light headed when Hestia's finger finally lifted off my back. Enough that I touched my hand to my forehead to try and clear the sensation. "Hmm, my horns are gone again." I mumbled.

There was a ruffle of paper, followed by a quiet 'bap' of it being pressed against my back. A moment of heat, and another quiet 'bap' lower down on my back, and the paper was passed around my side, "Just as complicated as last time." She sighed, "Oh... boop. Heehee."

That poke was low on my back, where I'd last seen my 'anima' my Kitsune soul, curl up around Hestia's emblem in the middle of my back. Even if it was 'sleeping', I still felt my leg want to twitch at the attention.

I leaned back a little, and Hestia's hands pulled me down so I was suddenly getting a lap pillow. I had meant to just look over my shoulder at her, but I wasn't going to complain. "Let's see..."

Not much had changed really. I'd been spending more time out of the dungeon than in it. And aside from the Balor, and very focused monster item gathering (like Minotaur horns), I'd hadn't spent more than a day in the dungeon.

Aside from mentally, and socially, I hadn't really challenged myself. After over two years, the first four stats had only gone up to the low hundreds. My magic stat, as usual, was right up to 999 again though... I always had it 'on' and had really pushed myself a few times. So that was basically 'normal' now.

Skills, still the same... development abilities unchanged... Aha. The single most important line.

Beloved Kitsune of Hestia. I felt just a little bad for thinking that, since I wouldn't have gotten this far had I not been gifted with falna, but this time it wasn't just to make me feel good about the world.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia." I said, looking past the paper and into her eyes, "But... if I don't get up now, your bed will devour me and I'll never get anything done."

She laughed and helped me sit up again, "Just so long as you come home at the end of the day." She smiled, "I don't suppose you could call Weine? I kind of want to read something."

I nodded, finally managing to get to my feet, "If the other world has anything going for it, its just how many stories they have. All those races gathered together made for some good books."

I had one more thing to do before bed, before the day of the mission. Something that I was always thinking about doing when I lived as a human, but just never seemed to find the time or money to actually do.

Getting some tattoos.

Using the same design Akeno had worked out, the one that would 'seal' my kitsune abilities willingly, I was drawing on my forearms. In my alchemy set, I was cooking up some special ink, that if I did it right, would make these only temporary. Lelei said she was basically unable to do anything but watch when Hardy had taken over her body. So with that in mind, I was going try and limit how much she could do while I 'talked' to her. Once I turned on the enchantments, only my will could turn them off again. Any power pushed against the binding would simply feed it an make it stronger. One hundred percent passive resistance loop.

The only other way to turn it off, was to cut off my arms. But well, I couldn't use a weapon, and I was almost positive I couldn't pull my own arm off. Lelei also told me that Hardy 'experienced' everything while she was in her body. Food, drink, hot, cold... So I doubted Hardy would inflict pain on herself. Overeat maybe, but probably not self harm.

I didn't intend to spend long cleaning up the JSDF's 'territory' so this temporary ink should still be effective when I got to finding a temple of Hardy...

Of course, since I couldn't poke myself with a needle dipped in ink, I had to call someone to help.

"You are lucky I only need to colour within the lines." Shinkage mumbled as she dipped the tip of a thin needle into the ink, then pushed that needle into my arm just far enough to break the skin. The weirdest thing about 'adventure toughness' it didn't actually effect the surface of your body. Well... Not as you might think. I could still be cut, clawed, poked, prodded, have my nose broken, not like getting dirt in my eye and have an arrow stick itself into my butt.

But past the surface, the body simply rejected damage. Those claws and teeth only drew dribbles of blood. I hadn't bruised in recent memory. My nose went back into (more or less) place with a little wiggle, and that arrow hardly drew blood and healed with a single potion pill. Even at explosion I'd been right next to, that had liquefied the young man's insides who was right next to me, had only ruptured my ear drums.

As it was however, while Shinkage could get the point of the needle just under my skin, she actually had to expend effort to do it.

Oh, and on a silly note, that 'just under the surface' toughness, or 'damage rejection' if you preferred, is why women still had 'boob physics'. I mean, if I, or anyone past level two, started to have their skin harden to reflect the almost metal like feel of getting punched, there would be no 'jiggle'. A travesty for sure! I mean... Haruhime girly abs...

"Just a little precaution." I said quietly, "We've both dealt with crazy Gods, and since I can't grab this one by the collar and shake them until they take me seriously..."

"I find no fault with your reasoning." She said, her hands steadily poke-dip-poke-dip'ing, "Just that you're lucky I can colour in the lines. Aisha would be far better at this, wouldn't she?"

"Eh-hehheh... Well this may be a 'ask forgiveness instead of permission' thing. And you are the strongest in the Manor who would understand why."

She chuckled quietly, "True. I thought you also had this on the inside of your bracers?"

"Wore through the layer that had it. And my armour would raise a zillion red flags for anyone who might have heard of our little group that visited." I watched her hands, hmm'ing, "How about that... your hands are actually a tiny bit bigger than they were when we pulled you out of the tank."

"You can tell? I haven't noticed much past my hair growing."

"It's very slight. But maybe you'll actually gain some height? And I wasn't the one who told you this, but the women here love thinking up clothing for you."

"I am cursed to be a dress-up doll..." She sighed, "But I'd rather that than fear. Odd, now that I'm 'older' I find the path of Domination just... not worth the effort."

"It's like that for humans too. Things that seemed important when you were young just... loose the sparkle. Growing up before my very eyes." I smiled.

"I could poke you in the nose with this, if you wanted to make jokes."

"I'd look pretty silly, wouldn't I..."

On the topic of 'red flags' and being recognized, I had one more thing to do before I could really 'disguise' myself properly. I mean, I was a Kitsune! I was supposed to be mysterious! And after surviving that blast in Italica, and probably getting seen by someone, I figured I'd flex a little of my 'Kitsune' nature just a little more than usual, and add another layer of deceit to my secret agent styled mission.

So, just to make sure I had everything right, I went to find a little reference material.

Sadly, the Hostess was closed when I got there. Well, not 'sad', since it meant that yes, Mama was still quite strict with the closing time and making sure her Girls went to bed at a reasonable time. But it meant I had to do a little bit of extra work.

Oh, and nearly get stabbed.

"Nyaa? Kodori?"

I had tapped (quietly) on Chloe's bedroom window above the Hostess of Fertility. And in an eyeblink, the window was raised up, and I had to clap my hands to either side of a curved knife before it stabbed me in the face.

So, palms on either side of a wickedly sharp long dagger, I tilted my head about five degrees and gave Chloe a smile, "Shh. Don't want to wake Mama."

She nodded, gave her knife a little tug so I would let it go, and moved back a little so I could climb in the window.

She was dressed in a thin 'long t-shirt', and probably nothing else, though thinking on it, I'd only ever been in her room once while living here. Much like my old room, it had a bed, desk and dresser. But in addition to that, it had a small 'weapon rack' mounted to the wall (with one pair of pegs empty) and the desk had been 'upgraded' with a mirror, some little nick-knacks, and a very small (like... three bottle) wine rack. Quite spartan really, but it smelled just like her and there was hardly a speck of dust anywhere.

So, very quietly, she asked, "Nyaa... what are you doing here?" She set the knife back in place, "I thought you were a stalker..."

I checked my palms, noting a had a very shallow papercut styled slash over one palm. No blood, but wow, I thought I caught that perfectly. "I need a little help for something I'm doing." I mumbled, "And I thought of you when the idea popped into my head."

"What is it?" She asked, sitting cross legged on her bed and patting it for me to sit down.

"Well... the JSDF has commissioned a little work from some the Alliance."

"Nyaa? Mercenary work? Don't you have enough to do?" Still quiet, she still had the same tone as just about everyone about a second before telling me to take a day off.

"If I tell you why, will you help me?"

"Nyaaaaa." She gave my knee a pat, "I'd help you anyhow. We're family too. But I am curious."

"While I was there, being a bit of a tourist after taking care of the 'wild' mosquitoes that had come in from the jungle, someone blew up a bakery while I was standing in front of it. They were targeting the JSDF, but there was a lot of collateral damage."

Still very quiet, she grr'ed angrily. Chloe never looked angry, even when she tossed people out of the Hostess. "Unforgivable."

"Yeah... I took it personally, and none too subtly said I would do mercenary work if they asked. Well, they asked. They are tied down by politics, so they can't deal with it directly. But that doesn't stop-"

"Nyaa concerned third party from dealing with it on nyere own time." She finished for me, smiling just a little bitterly, "So what did you need?"

"So long as you can keep a secret... I need a little reference material."

"Nyof course." She mumbled, looking a little... ashamed? Well, then again, I'd never asked her anything about her past, only that it was tied to Ryuu's near death...

"Can I touch your tail? Ears too?" I asked, "And don't make any loud noises."

Before she replied, she grabbed her pillow and hugged it tight, "Try not to tickle?" And she wiggled around so her back was to me.

Knowing just how sensitive her tail was, I only touched it enough to get a good idea of the 'texture' of her fur. Smooth and soft, not 'floofy' like mine. Even that made her bite the pillow to keep quiet. Wow... Then I let go, and reached up with both hands to take hold of her ears. Just enough to get a better idea of exactly how they felt. Fox ears had more 'fuzz' around the inner edges. Naturally, Foxes dug out their homes, or dug prey animals our of their lairs, so their ears had more protection to keep dirt out. Cats, not so much. They were ambush and chase predators, and didn't need to evolve that inner ear fuzz.

Of course, while I got a literal feel for an authentic cat-girl's ears and tails, I'd changed my own to match. And just so we wouldn't risk Mia Grande showing up in her night gown, ladle in hand, I kept the contact down to a minimum. "Thank you." I said, reaching up to my own ears, nodding in satisfaction, "What do you think?"

She took a deep breath, turned, and I clapped a hand over her mouth just before she could exclaim at what she saw. A golden eyed mirror image of herself.

"It's a little like Lilly's magic." I said quietly, moving my hand away and booping her nose, "They don't have foxes, but they do have cat-girls over on the other side of the Gate."

She blinked in surprise, put the pillow down, and reached up for my ears. I leaned my head down a little, and she gave them a little pat, "Wow..." A pause, "Though... I like your real ears better." She smiled, "Tail too..." She took hold of the end of my tail, and I felt my spine start to lock up at the contact, "Nyahaha." She giggled quietly, "It's like we're sisters..."

She let go of my tail, and I gave her a hug, "We are." I said, committing the changes to memory, then returning to my usual form, "Thank you."

She returned the hug, then gave my real ears a pat, "Much nicer... Good luck on your mission then."

"I'll bring back something nice for you." I stood up, "Get some sleep." I then went to the window and opened it again.

Mia's voice called out from the hallway, "Most people use the door." She said, "But I agree, good luck kiddo."

Chloe and I both did the 'starting from the ankles full body shiver' in surprise, but I replied with a, "Thank you Mama. I'll bring you something nice too."

"Just come home. But I wouldn't say no to something to add to the menu."

Thankfully, Haruhime and Aisha didn't complain about the tattoos. Haruhime knew about them from her contact with Akeno, and as usual was her supportive self when she saw I was taking all the precautions. Aisha looked at them from a more ascetic standpoint, and said something along the lines of 'would have looked better in red'.

This of course warranted a bit of 'before a long trip' bit of snu-snu, the two of them making sure I would remember why coming back home was a good thing. Not like I needed the reminder, but it certainly made me forget any of my worries.

The next morning, after breakfast and the usual practise, the 'away team' got together and showed off their disguises. Welf was present as well, handing out weapons and 'low end' armour that he'd been working on as well.

"Here you go Mikoto." He said, handing Mikoto something similar to a sabre. The curve wasn't quite right for her katana, but it would at least be familiar in her hands. And even though she was going to be our 'communication hub manager', she had dressed up as a sailor. Tough pants, wrapped feet instead of boots or sandals, canvas-like shirt and a nice bandana to keep her hair back. She'd make anyone from Nord Familia proud.

Yes, though I'd never EVER say it to her, she was basically a pirate ninja.

"And you." Kaede, like most warrior bunny we'd seen (or rather, I'd seen and reported about, as well as notes from that book Nanami gave us), was dressed in tough mobile leathers that were two steps above the usual 'Amazon Armour'. The weapons Welf gave her were a pair of machete.

"Thank you." She grinned, "Wow... these are so light..." It took her a moment to properly sheath the two weapons, but aside from the different ears, she looked like any other Warrior Bunny I'd seen, just shorter.

"Had to keep them at 'normal levels', since anyone stealing your weapon would know it wasn't from around their parts. Still made properly though!" He grinned, "And you." He handed Shinkage... a walking stick.

She accepted it, and 'hmm'ed at it for a moment, then with a little twist pulled out an arm length blade from the cane. "Well, I did watch Zatoichi..." Her outfit was basically 'young noble'. No frills of course, but a nice (tough) dress. On the Orario side of the Gate, it looked like something just about any merchant's daughter would wear. Nice but not 'fancy'. Over there it was an obvious cut above the normal persons clothing budget.

Maki laughed, "I'd feel sorry for anyone thinking you were blind, or helpless." And paused, "Oh thank you." Welf handed her a shorter blade, but with a nice 'ruby' in a claw grip setting on the pommel. As for the rest of her outfit, well, she stripped all the 'modern stuff' off herself, and went with 'battle cloth' all around. Aside from simple leather bracers, she had no 'real' armour, and would have passed off for a 'fresh from the rookie shop' level one adventurer, or a 'wandering adventurer' on the other side of the Gate. She'd hidden her tails, but had only trimmed the hair around her ears so she could hide them in her hair without changing them to 'human' ears, just like she had when in Kuoh.

"Someone might have seen your sword, so it's just a shorter version." Welf grinned. He looked to Ryuu, "All I got for you is a bow and arrows."

Ryuu's 'disguise' was... really simple. Using Tuka as an example, she'd returned to her original 'green upside down flower' cloak, and put on a simple headband that nudged her ears just a little so they had the same 'tilt' as Tuka's. Instant 'light elf'. She belted on the quiver of arrows, and tucked the unstrung short bow into a secondary slot.

"I dislike metal weapons." She said, "But thank you for the bow. I've been practising too."

Then all eyes went to me.

"What?" I asked, tugging the edges of my 'disguise' and bowing, "Nyaa?"

Maki utterly failed to contain her laugh, while the others sighed. "You're trying too hard, Kodori-san." Mikoto said seriously.

Taking Chloe's words to heart, I looked like her big sister. Using the properly sized and fitted maid dress, I was now a Cat-girl maid. Single tail, not quite so fuzzy ears, feral eyes, and 'paw fingers' (those took like an hour to get just right too!). The outfit also covered my arms and thus the tattoos as well.

"I'll work on my mannerisms." I nodded, "But I mean... maid outfits are the same in three different worlds... All I need to do is make it to Italica and ask Lady Miyu, or Kaine for a job."

There were understanding nods, even if everyone but Mikoto was trying not to laugh (or in Ryuu's case 'fu-fu').

"We still have about an hour before we meet with Royman." I continued, "One last time over the plan."

"I will be the only 'open' member." Mikoto said, "The JSDF have given me a small room in Italica, where I can 'live' like a dock hand on vacation, and be close enough to JSDF in case we need direct aid, or need to communicate to them a prisoner." She touched the crystal on her simple leather necklace, "As the only immobile member, I am also the communication hub for all of us."

Kaede went next, "I'm going to start in Italica, but wander towards some of the smaller villages looking for 'work befitting a warrior'. Bandit hunting, animal hunting." She crossed her arms, looking suitably fierce, "But also complain openly, quietly, that this is a far cry from the work I should be doing, and fighting the 'invaders'." She was going to be a 'lure', to try and find a sympathizer to Zorzal's cause.

"I am..." Shinkage siiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhed, "Going to play the helpless victim, and try and attract ne'er do wells, and hope I get lucky when I am dragged back to their lair, so I can maybe find someone connected to Zorzal. If so, I take prisoners, if not, I take heads."

We gave her 'the raised eyebrow', since she may or may not have been deadly serious about that.

Ryuu spoke next. "I am the hammer." She said simply. "If there is a situation that needs direct and quiet force, I will make best speed towards the call." She looked to the two 'rookies', "You two are not as strong as an Apostle, so I will be keeping watch."

Maki raised a hand, "Since I actually have a way to hide myself, I'll be doing most of the 'second story' stuff, if we need to do a little B'n'E." She smiled.

We all nodded to each other, "Now all we have to do is not get spotted by any of the spies we know they have watching Alnus." I said, "Let's go get in line like everyone else for the caravan to Alnus's little town and Italica."

Before anyone even started to turn and head towards the Manor's gate, we all did a quick equipment check. Even if we were 'over powered' in the other world, we were still adventurers, and treated everything as if it could kill us.

NOTES!

There, finally, mission starts next update. Really, honest, no lie.

Daeore on Ko-fi (more art soon! I hope? Should poke artists...) And in case you wanna know what Weine looks like, she has art now!

Daeore on Inkitt (for that book I hope people read, Were Too?)

And now on Discord, aKAQg4bnYu (with all kinds of sorted channels and everything!)

And Azur lane, Kodori (Washington server) 268452286 for my guild there. :) Or even if you're in a guild, be my friend. My friend list is very sad...