Chapter Sixteen

Hoshi was covered in paint when Tony walked into the garage. He had cars, she had paintings. Most of which were monstrosities, both in size and content. She wore a denim outfit which was covered in layers of paint. She had her hair pinned up messily but it still fell into her eyes still. He could still see thee faint scars on her neck and jaw and he wondered how severe they were once upon a time. He also wondered if it was one of his weapons that scarred her.

She didn't lift up her head, "what do you think? Is the Ameterasu ready?"

He looked at the golden painting in the far part of the garage with bright yellows and whites, "too heavenly."

"Do you even know the story of Ameterasu," she scowled as she looked up. There was a smudge of blue paint down her cheek. "You're late by the way."

He knelt down next to her, "sorry, I was preoccupied."

She put her oil brushes down and sat up straight as she looked at him sternly, "not fooling around with cosmic powers are you?"

"No, scouts honor," he grinned as she grabbed his tie roughly and pulled him into a kiss. His goatee tickled her lips as he slowly lowered himself on top of her, knocking over the paints. He slid his body in to perfect position with hers and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Kayura should have knocked before she went into the garage. She closed the door tightly almost immediately and said as she knocked, "meeting in twenty!"

She heard a giggle and some awkward sounds before Hoshi managed to answer, "alright."

Kay shook her head trying to remove the images. She saw Ryo waiting for in the hallway, "dining hall in twenty. Tell the others please."

He crossed his arms, "I'm not their baby sitter anymore..."

Kay was tired of his attitude as of late, "you know I could have come back and made you pay for your treachery but I didn't . So don't you dare think about giving me any sort of bull."

He smiled, "you're kind of cute when you're all worked up."

She ignored his comment and turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist. She didn't look back at him and hissed, "let me go."

He asked softly, "had Mr. Awesome not come in the picture, would I have stood a chance?"

"No, you had a chance that you didn't take," she replied as she yanked her hand away. "What would make me think about giving you another?"

He shrugged and then said, "because I do..."

Kayura clutched her fist tightly and slapped him, "don't you dare finish that sentence."

He held his cheek, "alright. I let them know."

She turned away from him as she took a deep breath. The man made her so mad, he was not allowed to do that was he? Or was it seeing her happy with Steve that made him jealous. Was it jealousy? She was sure it had to because she didn't understand how a man could do something so stupid without it being something along those lines. Kayura made her way to the dining hall, trying to clear her mind.

She sat down just Junko came in. She scowled at her, "what're you doing?"

Kayura rolled her eyes, "having a meeting?"

"With him here?"

"He's here a lot as of late, I don't think its possible to have a meeting without him here," Kayura said understanding that Junko was talking about Stark.

Junko pouted as Seito came in with Sage and Ryo. Sage complaining, "I was in the middle of a beauty nap."

Cye came in behind him, and made a jest, "yes, sleeping beauty. Maybe princess charming will wake you with a kiss."

He scowled as Raleigh teased as she came in, "yes, hair like spun gold and woken by love's true kiss."

Sage mumbled, "damare (shut up)."

Seito sighed, "sometimes I think you guys stayed teenagers."

"They did," Junko added.

"Oh, brother," Sage said, "when you've fought a demon or two, then you get to insult me."

Hoshi pushed open the door, her pinned hair even more messy than it was earlier in the day and more paint smudged all over her. She had a ridiculous grin on her face and Tony came in behind her with paint all over his Armani suit. He had a matching grin, and Cye said smugly, "I hope you two enjoyed your painting."

Tony nodded, "almost more than Yves Klein."

Hoshi punched his shoulder, "he was a terrible man."

Kayura smirked to herself and Ryo asked, "I hope you're satisfied with yourself."

"I very much am," she replied quickly as Leah came in and she leaned against the far wall. Looking like she either wanted to participate or be snarky and Kayura hoping she would stay quiet either way.

Hoshi added, "I know I am."

"Ew," added Cye as Raleigh chuckled.

Tony sat down at the table and Hoshi sat in his lap, making them roll their eyes. Sage looked at Kayura, "what ridiculous reason would we have to suffer this?"

She saw him looking at Hoshi and Tony and Kay said, "onto official business..."

Hoshi smiled at her, "which is?"

Kayura smiled, "as of tonight, no one is allowed to put on their armor until we find out who or what brought this shard into our midst."

"You can't be serious," Ryo growled.

"I have to agree," Tony said.

Sage scowled, "we would appreciate you staying out of this."

Cye added, "he's rather smart, we should listen to him."

"He's not Ro," Sage grumbled.

Junko slammed her hands on the table, "I'm out."

Seito looked at his sister, "please, listen to them for a little bit before wigging out?"

She scowled at her twin.

Kayura noticed Hoshi's expression of disapproval, "someone paid miss Hardy to bring this into or midst. Someone knows about us, and they want to either push us out of the dark or they want our armors. Either way, its very dangerous to be a ronin or warlord."

Ryo asked, "Maria narced on us?"

Tony shook his head, "despite who she works for, Maria is no narc. She worked for me while working for S.H.I.E.L.D for a hell of a long time and I didn't suspect one thing."

Leah asked, "do you know who, Lady Kay?"

Kayura reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo of Runa with a young man, "something was bothering me today when Steve told what happened to Runa. Then I remembered she worked for Jay Jonah Jameson, which is a notorious anti vigilante syndicate."

Tony added, "anti hero."

"...but who else did she work for?"

Hoshi scrunched her nose as Tony looked at her, "my Mom was one of the originals that Strucker worked on but he must have..."

The room was quiet.

"Kuso," she cursed aloud. "My mother knew about the armors, and she worked for Strucker, who was Hydra that was part of S.H.I.E.L.D! Are you saying that Runa was informing on us?"

"No," she paused as she pushed the photo forward. "But maybe she told our secrets to someone. I ran into him once."

The group gathered close to look at the photo of the blonde man, and Tony asked, "who is he?"

"He goes by Black Cat," Kayura said. "I ran into him once in Paris, he likes old things and he's good at stealing them. Someone who used to pay me is trying to find him. The only man who I dare think could possibly find all the shards of the mirror."

Tony asked, "so who used to pay you?"

Kayura bit her lip for a moment, "you have to leave Tony."

He frowned at her, "what?"

"I can't have you involved in our affairs," she said quietly and looked to Hoshi.

Hoshi got up out of his lap, "sadly, she's right Tony. If someone is trying to push us out, it'll bring you down too."

"Fine," he said without a fight. He got up and gave her a kiss and then said to Kayura, "you better have a better reason than just that."

Kayura looked up, "because you'll be the only one on our side."

"Excuse me," he asked looking at the woman with the dark eyes.

"Steve told me how Ultron happened, you know the consequences of humans using magic," she replied.

He narrowed his eyes and turned to leave quietly angry. Hoshi asked, "was that really necessary?"

"It's not my fault he has an ego," Kayura replied.

Hoshi groaned, "so what's the big deal, Kay? Who did you work for while you were here by yourself?"

Kayura quietly ran a hand through her hair, "Wilson Fisk."