Previously on Sparks...

"Hey, Kuzunoha, hello," said Satake, waving a hand in her face. Kotone turned back to him apologetically. "Don't waste my time. What do you want?"

Sparks

Chapter 2: She's a Lady

"Oh. Here." Raidou showed the yakuza boss the picture she was holding. "I'm on a missing persons case. He's missing. The name is Dahn. Have you seen him?"

Satake looked away in irritation, crossing his arms again. "Now tell me, Kuzunoha… If you were taking a soak and someone barged in on you, coming on like a state interrogator, how would that make you feel? Not happy, am I right?"

Raidou frowned at Lilim, floating behind Satake. Things were swiftly going downhill. "I suppose I—"

"So get that photo outta my face." Kotone withdrew it slowly. "I guess it ain't your day today, Kuzunoha. You caught me in a real low mood. If it's a favor you're after, show a little respect. A gift or two to sugarcoat things might be nice. If you bring me something tasty, maybe things'll be different."

"Oh, he wants something tasty," Lilim tapped her chin, a sly smile enveloping her features. "We'll give him something tasty." Unable to speak with her before Satake, Raidou gave Lilim an urgent look. "Wrap your arm around his and say his name slowly."

Kotone gave the slightest cringe. In Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th terms, this meant complete and utter horror. Lilim knew this.

"Just do as I say, Kotone," said Lilim, sighing. "Come on, trust me. He may have been able to defeat a Yomi-Kugutsu, but not even he can resist a lady's charm! Now repeat everything I tell you to say. Dip forward a bit, then sit down, take his arm, and say his name slooowly. Kenzou Satake, right? I definitely remember those pecs from before."

Kotone grimaced inwardly. Well, Lilim had gotten her out of more tight situations than she could count, but her trust in Lilim wasn't the issue – it was her trust in her own negotiation skills that posed the problem. Still, she followed. Dipping forward slowly, she sat down beside Satake and took him by the arm.

"Kuzunoha, what the hell—"

"Kenzou…"

Satake stopped, his eyes widening. Lilim continued to coach Raidou.

"I'm sorry I barged in on you like this," Raidou said throatily, putting on a dismayed expression. Her mimicry of Lilim was near perfect. "I had just…gotten back from training in the village and…I…" It was all the devil summoner could do not to reach over and pluck Lilim's tail off for making her do this, or kick herself for actually listening to the demon. "And I…just couldn't wait to see you again."

Satake took a huge gulp. "Kuzunoha—"

"Kenzou…" Raidou repeated, and Lilim was thankful Satake confused her friend's horror with a look of need, "I really missed you. Didn't you miss… me? I've grown a lot since we last met – here…"

Satake seemed petrified as Raidou took his arm and wrapped it around her waist. Resisting the urge to close her eyes and imagine she was in a better place (the Akarana corridor, Waden One, anything), she pressed her hands against his chest and smoothed them over it fondly.

"Kuzuno—"

She leaned closer to silence him, pushing herself up so they were almost face-to-face, and held her lips below his, barely breathing. "I don't have anything on me but this towel… I'm sorry… Can I…Can I…"

"K-Kuzu…"

Raidou breathed heavily. "Can I give you…something else to make things better?"

Satake's half-lidded eyes glazed over for a moment, his throat drying up, before his eyebrows furrowed and he released Kotone. "Damn it."

Raidou glanced at Lilim in confusion.

Satake kneaded his right temple with his fist. "Damn it!"

"Satake?"

The young yakuza boss uncovered his face and took her in, from her eyes down past her figure in the water. "You – you're just a clever little thing, aren't you?"

Raidou knew – as Narumi would say – the jig was up. "Why? Did you fall for it?"

"Almost," Satake shrugged. "I'd love to have you right now, kid. But you're jailbait. And that is a no-no for Kenzou Satake."

That was a relief to the Great Summoner. That was as far as Kotone could have taken things, in any case. "So…"

Satake laughed. "What, Kuzunoha, did you think riling me up a little was gonna get you what you wanted?"

According to Lilim, however, negotiations were never over. Reluctantly, Raidoudelicately placed a hand on his arm. "What do I want, Kenzou?"

Satake shut his eyes and removed Kotone from his person. "Don't ever say I did nothin' for you, kid." Raidou's eyes lit up, though her expression showed nothing but her usual composure. "Yeah, I figured that'd make you happy, you little devil…"

"That's a compliment," Lilim winked.

"All right," said Raidou, eagerly giving Satake back his personal space, "what can you tell me about Dahn?"

"Nothin' much. I've never seen this one before," said Satake, cracking his knuckles tensely. "Looks like an outsider to me – Goro Tatsumi in Mannen-Cho's been dealing with their bunch, or so I hear. Ask that lucky bastard if you really want the skinny on them."

"Goro Tatsumi in Mannen-Cho. All right." Raidou rose, once more covering the drenched towel over her chest as she bowed. "Thank you for your help, Satake."

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes and watched her go. She really was still a kid – she didn't sway her hips or do anything tantalizing now that she had what she wanted. But who knew there would be a woman somewhere inside the little brat he met last year? "Hey, Kuzunoha."

The devil summoner whirled. "Yes?"

"Come back in a few years?"

Raidou paused. "You would wait?"

Satake smirked. "You'd accept?"

Kotone surprised herself by giving it some thought. Her mother did want a tall, strong, handsome man as her daughter's husband, and it looked like Satake was swayed enough by her feigned charm to be good to her. On the other hand, her father wanted a devil summoner for a son-in-law, certainly not a yakuza boss. And were all those tattoos really good for him?

"Kotone!" scolded her great ancestor. "I can't believe you're considering this!"

"How did you get in here?" Lilim put her hands to her hips.

"B-boss, sorry, it just pounced in!" said the guard at the door, now in the bathhouse. He backed off when Gouto hissed at him.

Satake ignored the eyes of his consigliere, his crew, and the rest of the outsiders for the time being. "What'll it be, Kuzunoha?"

"We'll see in a few years," said Kotone, honestly wondering if she would still be alive by then. Or if he would. Piles of dead bodies from her vision at the Akarana Corridor came to mind, but she brushed the image away. "Thank you, Satake."

Satake waved the guard away, nodding at Kotone in acknowledgement. "Say hi to Narumi for me, okay?"

"I will." Raidou exited the bathhouse quickly. Although no one besides Lilim could actually hear Gouto scolding her, she still felt embarrassed being yelled at in front of a lot of people, most of whom were already watching her.

Back at the bathhouse, everyone stared at Satake, who sneered. "What did I say about buggin' me during my bath time?"

Only his consigliere was brave enough to approach him. "But boss – Narumi's apprentice?"

Satake shrugged, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall smugly. "What can I say? She wants me."

"…and is that what they taught you in the village?" Gouto finished, his breathing heavy and his blood pressure rising. He hadn't witnessed the whole spectacle, but word traveled fast among Satake's men, and as soon as Kotone started touching Satake, the guards outside knew. Gossip these days was much more detailed than he remembered, too, and he wouldn't have a descendant of his waltzing around, resorting to the wiles of Lilith's children!

"I'm sorry, Gouto," said Kotone, bowing to the cat over and over again as they moved toward Mannen-Cho. "But we needed that information, quick. And you are fully aware that I wasn't going to marry him."

"You were thinking about it. I'm beginning to think Narumi should be accompanying you on these investigations."

"No," said Kotone. "I was just distracted for a few seconds. I know that's enough to be killed in battle, but it won't happen again. And you know father would never approve of a yakuza boss, anyway."

"No, he wouldn't," Gouto said with crushing finality.

Lilim stuck a tongue out at Gouto behind his back. "I think you did a great job, Kotone, especially for your first time."

"Don't encourage her, Lilim."

Half an hour's walk later, Mannen-Cho's gates were in sight. Kotone had never seen the guards before, but she hoped word indeed traveled fast enough for Satake's approval of her presence to reach their ears.

"Whoa, kid." One of the guards blocked her way when she tried to walk past them. "Name?"

"Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th," said the summoner perfunctorily, "working on a case in Shouhei Narumi's stead."

"Look, kid, even if you're working for that detective and all that, you gotta have Mr. Satake's go—"

A lady in a kimono approached the guard from behind, eyes steadily focused on Kotone. She whispered something in the guard's ear before stepping back.

"Ohhh," the guard's chuckle grew to a laugh, "so you're the frail who's been romancin' Mr. Satake, eh?" He eyed her appraisingly with the rest of his colleagues before shaking his head. "The boss sure has weird taste. Well, get in."

"Weird taste?" Gouto repeated the feline facepalm. "If this gets back to the village…"

"Oh, it'll die down eventually," said Lilim, patting Gouto comfortingly with a flick of her tail.

Kotone thanked the guard, reminding herself that as Protector of the Capital, she was well above summoning Nue and having him crush the guards with a single heave of his posterior or a little Shock Wave just because they called her odd. It was too bad; she liked throwing Nue's weight around. And she was no frail.

"Follow me," said the lady who had helped her through the guards, leading her past some little shacks. "Mr. Satake sent word that you were to be brought to the gambling parlor to…as he said, 'ease his troubles'."

"Really?" Kotone drew some interest from that. Had Satake wanted her out of his hair that badly? Maybe Lilim was smarter than she thought. "Please send my gratitude to Satake, then."

The lady smiled at first, almost unsurely, and stopped before the gambling parlor. She held the door shut, however. "Wait. Before you enter…"

"What now?" Gouto sighed.

The lady leaned closer to whisper, "How did you do it, Miss Kuzunoha?"

Kotone stared at her curiously. "Do what?"

"Ensnare Mr. Satake, of course." The lady looked desperate. "The man is all business. He's never even touched a girl from the Red Light district, and here you are, a high school girl without any experience in what we do, and he lets you touch him in all the right places."

"You touched him where?" Gouto gasped. Lilim doubled over at the thought of the cat having a heart attack.

"I didn't touch him anywhere inappropriate," Kotone said quietly, though Lilim knew that this was already her in a panic. If Narumi found out about this – if the Yatagarasu found out – would she be commended for going lengths to finish an investigation, or would they strip her of her title? She enjoyed her work and the company it ensured too much to let them go because of a simple mistake in a bathhouse. "And I don't think I ensnared him, as you say, miss."

"Oh, apologies," said the lady, bowing to her slightly, though she was clearly older. "Please don't tell Mr. Satake I asked. It's not just me who's curious – it's the rest of the girls in the district. Because – honestly, getting on Mr. Satake's good side is the one of the best things that can happen to anyone in the Capital. The only way for us to do that is to have him want us, obviously, but it would seem you beat us to the punch, Miss Kuzunoha."

Kotone sensed some contempt from the woman, but she didn't believe Satake would actually wait for her to break out of her teens before finally taking a woman for himself. He was much too proud and invested in his business for such a thing. "…Sorry?" she offered.

"No need to apologize," said the lady. "Some girls just have all the luck…"

"Speaking of luck," Gouto spoke, having finally recovered, "our purpose here?"

"Oh, yes. Miss, have you seen a man named Goro Tatsumi around here?"

At the mention of Tatsumi, the lady cringed. "Oh, that one? You just missed him. He usually stays past sundown just gambling these days, collecting all he can, but he went home relatively early today. Said he wanted to spend some of his earnings for a change…"

Kotone frowned. "Will he be back tomorrow?"

"Certainly. Listen, there's a rumor going around that he wins so much because he's in cahoots with us, but it's not true. If Mr. Satake needed it, we would help him for sure, but Tatsumi? No way. His luck is the real deal. It's pretty annoying…"

"I see…thank you, miss," said Kotone, bowing slightly. "I'll come back for him tomorrow."

"All right. Oh, Miss Kuzunoha?"

"Yes?"

"Could you put in a good word for us here working the gambling parlor?"

"Uh…" She tried to ignore Gouto's tongue clicking. "I won't be seeing Satake in a while, I think. But I will try when I see him again."

"Thank you," the lady sighed in relief, bowing in return. "Tomorrow then, Miss Kuzunoha."

"Tomorrow," Kotone agreed, and scurried back to the train station before any more of Satake's people could ask her for favors. Was this the sort of life Satake lived? It was no wonder he was in a sour mood.

Kotone and Gouto arrived in Yarai-Ku a little after sundown, bearing gifts for the man who spent for their lodgings. Lilim had returned to her tube earlier on, saying something about spreading the good news of another of her 'triumphs.' After all, being friends with a devil summoner had never meant letting go of one's avarice.

"We're home," Kotone called out, hanging her key on the rack. Narumi had always locked the door after dark, and if Gouto had seen the right signs last year, there was now one more person with a key to the Agency besides the detective and their protégée.

"Raidou. Gouto." Narumi was on the couch, his shoes on the floor, his socks exposed, and his head on the armrest. "How goes the search?"

"Dull. We bought dinner," said Kotone, dropping the food on the table. "Because Gouto knew you wouldn't."

"Good thing he's clairvoyant," Narumi mumbled, before allowing his assistant's words to register. He was up in a flash, sitting by the dinner table. "Hey, dinner!"

Kotone nodded, taking plates and utensils from the kitchen. "How's your headache, boss?"

"Better," replied Narumi, evenly distributing the food amongst the three of them. "Enough to join you tomorrow."

Kotone cleared her throat and began to eat. "No, it's all right, boss."

"Oh, I insist," said Narumi, a smirk playing on his lips. After moments of silence, he continued. "Lady Satake."

Gouto groaned.

Kotone asked, "What?"

"Word travels fast, remember?" Narumi shook his head. Kotone wasn't sure if he was disappointed or just amused. He didn't either. "I phoned Satake to make sure…and he says he definitely didn't start that nonsense. I doubt you did, either, but something must have happened to get all this talk going."

Kotone kept on eating.

"Do you want to tell me what happ–"

"I just visited him in the bathhouse," Kotone said quickly. "But he was in a bad mood. He wanted something tasty. I may have let one of my demons convince me to – are you all right, boss?"

Narumi had gone into a coughing fit after hearing the word tasty. Kotone thumped him on the back, but Gouto could only laugh. "My reaction exactly."

"I didn't do anything inappropriate," Kotone insisted, wondering how such a small decision could have brought things so far. Even her hand-to-hand fight with those two punks from before wasn't blown up to this extent. "I just used a little...lady's charm" –the words felt foreign on her lips– "with the help of a friend. Satake's response wasn't dirty; he just gave me the information we needed, and then I left…"

"I don't know. The look Gouto's giving me tells me not to believe every word you're saying."

"Boss, Satake may have actually treated me like a woman and not a brat for the first time, but–"

"You don't have to keep explaining yourself, of course," said Narumi, decidedly amused now. "I have a funny feeling Gouto already gave you enough haranguing to last you a year. Besides, now that word's gotten 'round about big, bad Satake waiting for a little girl to grow up, he can't just throw the blanket over it. Most people don't get how he's business-oriented, so saying he doesn't like you now is saying he doesn't like dames, and–" Narumi snickered. "He can't have that. And you know what that means for us."

Kotone's countenance brightened. "Special treatment from his cronies."

Narumi grinned. "There you go. But Satake has his enemies – and it's an age old tactic, cowardly though it may be, to go through the dames to get to their men. You're the closest thing they think he has to a weakness, and you know he isn't going to waste any goons keeping you safe, especially since you beat two of them in a fistfight last year. So be careful."

"All right, boss," said Kotone, finishing her food. Having been surrounded by older male teachers in the village growing up, she had grown accustomed to eating swiftly. She stood with her empty plate, but Narumi pulled her down.

"I'll handle the dishes today, Raidou," he said, waving her away dismissively. "After all, it was your treat. Not that you should get used to this…"

"Thank you, boss. I'll be up on the rooftop if you need me."

"Watching the stars again, huh? Don't stay up too late; we have a busy day ahead of us."

"Sure, boss."

When Kotone was gone, Narumi looked at Gouto. "You really let her in there without supervision?" he chuckled, shaking his head. "I didn't expect that from you, Gouto."

"I didn't know she was going to seduce him!" Gouto scoffed indignantly, though no one could understand him. "Who knows what occurs in the minds of teenage girls and their demons?"

"Yeah, I gotcha," said Narumi. He didn't, not technically, but he had an idea of the ire Gouto was trying to get across. Kotone had told him before that the soul in the cat was the first ever Raidou Kuzunoha, but that didn't mean he had any experience guiding teenage girls through their decisions. Even when it was Raidou. "Coffee?"

"KOTONEEEEE!" Nue's voice rumbled, the red dots on his face – eyes, Kotone had nearly forgotten – stretching out into joyful lines as he wrapped his arms around her. Kotone was crushed amidst all the yellow and brown, but she welcomed it and buried her face in his fur. "I MISS YOU, SUMMONER."

"As did I," said a silky smooth voice, its owner bowing like a true gentleman. Wavy blue hair over his simple robes, Dominion placed a hand on Nue's arm, prompting the beast to release their old friend. His eyes shone red even in the lack of moonlight, and his pallid smile was still genuine, however empty it may have looked to an outsider.

"I missed you too," said Kotone, shaking Dominion's hand, knowing an embrace would be too much for the demon. "How have you been?"

"ME THINK WE NEVER SEE SUMMONER AGAIN," Nue sobbed, rubbing his eyes roughly. "WHY YOU LEAVE LONG, KOTONE?"

"I was training," she explained, brushing Nue's fur. Her father had never let her keep a pet with the reason that she would grow too accustomed to its docility. Dogs, he insisted, were nothing like demons, but Nue came close to one, when he wasn't destroying his own kind for the sake of their friendship. The clan had forbidden her from releasing her demons during the interim to ensure both that she kept to her studies and trained using her own strength instead of theirs. "I'm sorry for such a long absence."

"ME UNDERSTAND," said Nue, settling down on the roof. More of a worrywart than their friend, Dominion looked relieved. He didn't want the detective's roof falling apart, after all, or Kotone and Gouto would have no place to stay. Wrapping his snake tail around Kotone, Nue made her rest beside him as she did in days long past. "WE FIGHT AGAIN, SUMMONER?"

"Not tonight, Nue," said Dominion, lying down beside the beast. "Do you remember when we watched the stars one by one, long ago?"

Nue nodded at the older demon and looked up. At the million eyes twinkling in the night sky, he smiled, happily baring his jagged teeth. "ME REMEMBER! KOTONE SAY STARS MAKE SHAPES, YES?"

"They do," said Kotone, enjoying the familiar sound of their voices. Each demon of hers had a partner – a best friend, she could even say – Lilim and Leanan Sidhe, for example, and Nue and Dominion. Now that she was powerful enough to summon two of them at a time without straining herself, they could fight side by side, more powerful than ever. "Do you see that one over there, to the left? It's a dung beetle."

"NOOOO," Nue sniggered, "IT DUNG."

"I would say it looks like a grasshopper."

"Dominion," said the summoner, "grasshoppers hardly look like dung beetles."

The angel shrugged. "It isn't uncommon, is it, for two people to see things differently?"

There was a ghost of a smile on Raidou's lips. "Right."

Nue shook with laughter. "DOMINION HUMBLE SUMMONER."

Kotone reached for a tube on her chest. "It may be time for you to sleep tonight, Nue."

"NO! NO!" Nue covered his mouth. "ME GOOD DEMON!"

The following morning was busy. The luck issue was growing, and the little crack between the lucky and the unlucky had widened enough to become a gaping, black hole. Oddly enough, Narumi, Gouto, and Raidou stood in the middle of it, unsure as to whether they were lucky or unlucky – they were on a fine median, Narumi insisted, a golden mean, but had he known how far the scales would tip against their favor that day, he might have been a little less smug.

The three were in Mannen-Cho as soon as the gambling parlor opened. Luckily enough, so was Goro Tatsumi.

"There he is, miss," whispered the lady from yesterday, "The one with the hat and the blue suit and that churlish stubble at the far end of the room. You can tell he isn't classy like Mr. Satake – but he sure as hell is lucky."

Raidou nodded gratefully before crouching beside Narumi, who had taken to watching one of the tables. Though he was on the lookout for anyone who might be an enemy of Satake, he reveled in the attention the man's people showered upon him. They offered him sake, a table with the worst gamblers in the house, and even women – he turned them all down, of course, because he was a modern man who liked coffee, he didn't gamble if he could help it, he liked to charm the dames his own way, and because he simply enjoyed having all these offered to him over and over again.

"Boss," said Raidou, ignoring his overjoyed grin as he turned another offer for sake down, "there's Goro Tatsumi. Will you speak with him?"

Narumi followed his ward's gaze and grimaced. He could see the arrogance in the man's posture, though he did remind him of a monkey somehow. He was going to have to restrain himself if he was going to deal with Tatsumi. It looked like his breath smelled, too. "Nah," he said, "you can take care of it, can't you?"

Narumi's magic words. One of the ladies found Raidou a seat beside Tatsumi, who gave the devil summoner an amused once-over. "This is a gambling parlor," he said with a smirk Gouto would have liked to smack off his face, "It's no place for a field trip."

"You're Mr. Tatsumi, aren't you?" the summoner replied, taking on the blond foreigner's tactics. She refrained from wrinkling her nose at the whirling mist caused by the cigarettes.

The man scratched on his hat uncomfortably. "What? You wanna shake my hand or something, kid? What the heck do you want?"

Slipping a hand into her cape and taking Dahn's photo, Raidou held it to his face. "I'm looking for this man."

"Wait." The confusion on his face was so laughable, Gouto couldn't help but snicker. "You're here about him? Nothing to do with me…?" Somehow, the confusion flickered swiftly into irritation. "…I've changed my mind. Get that photo outta my face. Entertain me a bit, then I'll think about talking to you."

She had to admit – the Satake business had its advantages. As soon as Tatsumi had spoken that way to her, the dealer whispered something urgent to him, her eyes wide – his stance afterward remained arrogant, but at least he dropped the disdain.

Tatsumi frowned and adjusted his collar. "Well…I guess I should be honored Satake's" –he coughed– "little girl is taking an interest in me. I'm Goro Tatsumi."

Raidou held the photo to his face again.

"Oh, that photo? Sure, lemme take a good look-see…" As soon as Tatsumi squinted at the picture, he personified panic. Kotone didn't think the man looked that terrifying – in fact, he looked much better in person, and though now she realized just how suspicious she should have been of him, he didn't look as much of a brute as Narumi and the rest of the people on the street insisted. "I – I don't know him," Tatsumi finally spoke, trying to wave the picture away. "Nope, n-never met him…"

"Really?" Raidou pretended to think hard. "Satake told me to ask you about him, Mr. Tatsumi."

"I – uh – can't imagine why!" Tatsumi exclaimed. "Why would I know a bumpkin like that? Hey, l-lady," he said to the dealer, his fingers noticeably shaking, "deal me another one!"

"Hold the phone," said Gouto. "How can he call Dahn a bumpkin if he's only seen him in a photograph? I'd wager this Tatsumi knows more about Dahn than he's letting on – but he won't spill it willingly, that's for sure. Even if we ask him straight out, he'll just feed us a line. So…"

"Understood," Raidou mumbled, taking a tube from her chest, and released Lilim behind her. Breaking out into a coughing fit, she ordered, "Read blue's mind to me, Gouto, and boss."

"Got it," said Lilim, sultrily grinning from ear to ear, and flew behind her target. Making a few choice facial expressions, she muttered some words and pointed to Tatsumi, then to Raidou, Gouto, and Narumi.

Narumi thought his ears had popped. Every sound seemed muffled; all but one voice that amplified itself among the rest: "Wh-Why does a student have a picture of him?" it gasped, its pitch higher than what seemed to be normal for a grown man. "Maybe… when I got drunk, I blabbed… C-Can't be! There's no way this kid knows about the insect…!"

All the while, Gouto and Raidou were staring at Tatsumi intently. He had known that she could read minds with the use of her demons; was she giving him a taste of that? It was interesting. Had she ever used it on him?

"Insect?" said Gouto, "We caught him in an outright lie, and he's thinking about some bug? Something's fishy here."

"I agree," said Lilim, "Let's read his mind some more."

"That'll do," said Raidou, and returned Lilim to her tube.

Having sensed the girl and her cat staring at him for the past minute, Tatsumi turned to her, his panic mixing dangerously with irritation. "Wh-what?" he demanded. "What're you still doing here, huh? Kids should be home doing homework!"

"Mr. Tatsumi," the dealer said, "please calm down…"

"Mr. Tatsumi, what if I know about the insect?"

Tatsumi dropped his cards. On the other side of the room, Narumi stood up warily. Scrambling to his feet, Tatsumi took his money and darted to the door; Narumi managed to grab him, but somehow – he was sure his palms weren't sweaty, and the material of Tatsumi's suit was rough in comparison to his own, but – the man managed to slip away.

Narumi, Gouto, and Raidou bolted out after him as he went deeper into Mannen-Cho. "He's rabbiting," said the cat, sprinting. "At least we know he's hiding something big!"

"Guess he's in cahoots…with our boy Dahn, huh?" Narumi panted, holding on to his hat. "All we have to do now is…make him spill…the beans about him… Wow, I…haven't had this much…exercise in a while!"

"I'm not surprised," said Gouto, "what with all the legwork he makes you do."

"What…was that, Gouto?"

"Gouto cannot believe you're more out of shape than a cat."

"Hey!"

"That isn't what I said…"

They followed Tatsumi into another house, where a plump man stood guard to the back exit.

"Excuse us," Narumi said, attempting to get through, but the plump man blocked his way.

"Who are you?" said the man, "Only Mr. Tatsumi's allowed through here."

Narumi gnawed on his lip. "We don't have time for this…"

Raidou reached for a tube. "Gozuki," she said to the blue bull in green, "put him to sleep."

Narumi blinked. "What? There's no need to shed blood here–"

An unknown force knocked the man over his head with its fist.

"Thank you, Gozuki."

"No problem, man! Glad you're back!" said the bull, picking up his axe and saluting to the devil summoner with a grin, and returned to his tube.

Narumi whistled at the man on the floor. Whatever Raidou's demon did had done the job. "Well, he's still breathing. Nice job, Raidou. Come on!"

Gouto sighed as they broke into another sprint. "Kotone, you could have just used Leanan to transform into Tatsumi. I took a lock of his hair from the gambling parlor just in case, see?"

"Seeing two of Goro Tatsumi would have been as odd as falling unconscious due to a mysterious headache," Raidou reasoned.

Ahead of them was a tiny dock descending into the rushing river. Tatsumi leaned over the railings, contemplating on whether to jump or face his pursuers.

"You've cornered yourself," Narumi pointed out, crossing his arms. "What's wrong, can't answer a few questions? Why are you so concerned about some insect?"

"How could I be so unlucky?" Tatsumi cried to himself, still backing away.

Raidou took a step forward– "What do you know about–agh!" – and slipped on a banana peel.

"R-Raidou!" Narumi gasped, unsure if he should laugh or worry as he moved to help his assistant, but slipped on a banana peel just as clumsily.

Tatsumi shook with relief. "Huh...? I've only seen that happen in movies! Slipping on a banana peel…? Really? Anyway, I guess I'm still lucky!" He ran past the two and laughed. "Maybe you should send your moms after me instead – they might be a little quicker on the draw!"

"I should've caught that," said Gouto, nudging Raidou up with his head. "Sorry. Stupid banana peel…"

"Where did these even come from?" Narumi dusted himself off and pulled Kotone to her feet. "Let's go, Raidou. I need to thank Tatsumi for that bit of business. No one talks about us that way…"

"Agreed," said Raidou, running past the curious townspeople into a clearing with a well and a vicious chicken. "Where did he go?"

"Excuse me!" a man screamed. His voice came from the more decorated section of Mannen-Cho, where most of Fukagawa-Cho's working girls were given lodging. "That's my house!"

"Up there," said Narumi, following the shriek. Going up some steps, he saw a woman in a kimono banging on the doors of a house. He wondered if the bright pink and yellow lanterns lining that row of houses deceived him, but – was that the person whose voice had led them here?

"You bastard!" the kimono woman screamed, only – she had the voice of a man. Narumi wondered why he was even surprised; this was the twentieth century, after all.

"Excuse us," Narumi repeated, gingerly moving the person away from the door and ignoring his screams of protest. "Raidou, in here!"

It was total darkness inside the house, and Raidou seemed to lose the door as soon as she closed it. She managed to find Narumi's back, however, by crashing her nose into it. Gouto managed to bump into her leg just as well.

"We'll never find him in the dark like this," the cat hissed. "Damn Tatsumi!"

"I didn't expect the inside to be completely dark," said Tatsumi, his voice filled with glee. "Lucky meeee!" he cheered. "Hey, I know you're there. Can you see me? Can you catch me?"

"Then again, Tatsumi can't see us either. He has to be close by," said Gouto, attempting to paw the numbness off his face. "I'm sure if we grope around the dark enough, we'll find him."

Raidou grabbed Narumi's arm and moved to her left, only to lose her footing and fall back against the detective. As he fell cursing somewhere in the dark, Narumi felt something soft and hairy under his left ankle, but something on his knee hindered his movement.

"Ngreeeeowr!" he heard Gouto cry out, and he didn't need a translation to know what that meant.

"Kotone," Gouto screeched, "move…move your foot!"

"That isn't my foot," Raidou replied, groping around for some leverage. She felt like the Great Tarrasque kicked over on his shell. "Boss, I think your foot is on Gouto's tail."

"My tail…" Gouto cried out, "M-Move your foot!"

"Move your foot, boss," Raidou repeated, leaning her arm on something firm enough to support her.

"M-Move your hand…!" Narumi yelled at her, reaching over from under the rubble of – whatever it was he had knocked over to slap her arm away. "Raidou, I think your leg is on my leg!"

"What? What?" came Tatsumi's voice, "I heard a cat? Kind of…screaming…"

"Shut your…" Narumi grumbled, making sure to keep Kotone's hands away from him. "Raidou, your leg!"

"Please… that foot…my tail's…going to rip!"

Raidou moved both her legs, still attempting to at least sit up, and Narumi managed to get off Gouto's tail. But the detective hit his head on something as soon as he sat up, and dragged Raidou by the arm down with him in an attempt to keep from falling again.

"Gahh!" Gouto screeched again, "Kotone, but I'm a cat, not a cushion…hurry and get up, I'm getting squished…you're heavy!"

"Gouto is asking if you've gained a bit of weight," Raidou told Narumi, whom she sensed was near her face. The buttons on his suit were digging into her shoulder, but his chest was enough support for her to stand.

"Owww, Raidou!"

"My whiskers…!"

"I'm outta here!" Tatsumi cheered, finally opening the door. The lantern lights didn't flood the room, but they did provide for some sight. "How lucky can one guy be!? Oh," the gambler added, laughing at them over his shoulder before he left, "and your mom's so fat, she makes Mount Fuji look like an anthill!"

"How dare you…" Kotone growled under her breath, taking her sword out and stretching her neck. She would have given chase, but she slipped on a book and fell – until Narumi grabbed her arm and pulled her back up.

Finally on their feet, Gouto and Narumi checked if their body parts were still intact. When all was well, the cat shook his head shamefully. "That was the most humiliating thing I've ever…"

"Come on," said Narumi, watching the murderous twist of Kotone's lips, "I can't believe we've lost him twice already…! What is with all the lucky breaks this guy keeps getting?"

"They seem almost unnatural," said Raidou, frowning. She was trained not to bat an eyelash at even the most unnerving situations, but no one would speak of her mother that way. Anger seemed reasonable. "But it can't be the work of a demon – we would know."

"My thoughts exactly," said Gouto, jumping out into the street and meowing for the other two to follow. "Kotone, ask this wom – er, man – oh, just ask them where he went!"

Raidou turned to the kimono person with wide eyes. "Miss, where did Tatsumi go?"

"This is unheard of! The police is going to hear about this…!" the person cried out, but at the sight of Narumi and Raidou's disheveled clothing – his hat, her cape – and the urgent, aggravated look in their eyes, she smiled sweetly and pointed north. "Oh, he went that way."

"Let's pick up the pace," said Narumi, going past another row of houses. "He's lost us twice – there can't be a third time."

"There, up on the roof!" Gouto shouted. Above them to the right, Tatsumi was panting. They wondered if he even knew where he was running.

"He's going to such lengths to lose us," Raidou said, following Gouto's guiding tail. "If this ends with us slipping on a banana peel…on a roof…"

Narumi was already on the rickety ladder going up. For a second, he thought he'd fall. "Come on, up, up, up!"

"Ngreeeeeeowr!" Gouto cried out, tears lining his eyes as Raidou tossed him into the air.

"Raidou, are you trying to kill Gouto?" Narumi balanced himself on the roof in an attempt to catch the cat, but a rush of wind sent him sliding back.

"He's all right, boss," Raidou reassured him, having sent Aeros flying out of his tube to soften her mentor's fall. "I would never let you down on purpose, Gouto," she promised. "And don't cats always land on their feet?"

"Since when has the Kuzunoha training entailed sadism?" Gouto wheezed, pawing at his poor heart and waving Aeros away thankfully. "You're lucky I've ridden a rocket already, or…"

"No time—" Raidou ran past Narumi and leapt over the gap to reach the next roof, her cape billowing behind her. The detective wondered how she kept that school cap on her head without even lifting a finger, but decided that Tatsumi was a more pressing issue.

"Maybe you should have jumped into the river instead," Narumi said when they found Tatsumi cornered against the last roof, after which there was only the hard ground to leap toward. "Why make this hard for yourself? All you gotta do is answer a few questions and things'll be peachy between us."

Tatsumi crouched down and stuck his head in between his knees. "N-No, this can't be…!"

"Oh, but it–"

The world around them began to shift – flow, even, as though they were engulfed in water – and their vision blurred. Kotone clawed at her eyes. Tears? No, she certainly hadn't cried since she thought Gouto died a year ago.

When the shifting stopped, there were two men clothed all in black blocking their way to Tatsumi. There were beetle horns on top of the masks they wore, and red boxes tightly strapped to their hips.

"Who…" muttered the first masked man, "are yew?"

"The Narumi Detective Agency," Narumi said, glancing at Kotone quizzically. The devil summoner had a penchant for making friends with the strangest characters, but judging by her quirked brow, she wasn't responsible for these fellows' appearance this time. "Who might you be?"

"None o' yer beeswax," said the second masked man. "Though we appreciate yer honesty, it ain't gonna do you any good… We ain't too fond of dogs who sniff around in the wrong yard. Lay off yer search for Dahn."

Gouto pawed at Kotone's pant leg. "These men know Dahn…?"

The masked man continued, "Yew lookin' for anyone else, Mr. Detective?"

"That's him, right there," said Narumi, rudely pointing a finger at the cowering figure behind them. "You're interfering with our investigation. Step aside, please – we have business with Mr. Tatsumi."

"Sorry," said the masked man, "but we can't let yew do that. If yew'd just stayed away from Mannen-Cho, we woulda left yew alone...Oh well, guess yew got no one to curse but yer own bad luck!"

"What–" Narumi frowned, letting Kotone take the reins and unsheathe her sword (it was like having a bodyguard, actually, only she was a little girl and he was a former spy, which made it just a little embarrassing). As soon as she tried to move forward, however, the world turned black.

Narumi woke to a burnt orange sunset – webbed in black? He blinked a few times and shook his head, but the black webs didn't go away. They spanned the area, this place with eternal sunset, and something was falling all around him. Snow? He looked up. It was all webbing, too – or wings, maybe. It reminded him of the intricate stirrings on insect wings. In any case, it wasn't snow. And there was the invasive scent of wet grass.

"Spores," said a voice behind him, not that he could understand it. It came out as a meow, and he turned to its source slowly.

"Gouto," he said, grabbing his hat from beside the cat. "Where…are we?"

The cat blinked at him once and turned around. He meowed out, which reminded Narumi – where was Raidou?

"Kotone, Narumi's awake," was what Gouto had said, and Raidou appeared from one of the tines of the fork ahead.

"Boss," she said, picking up her pace when she caught sight of him. "Are you all right?"

"Raidou…" Narumi accepted her offer to pull him to his feet. "What is this place…?"

"The Fukorutsubo, according to the men who placed us here. It's a spell," she shrugged, preoccupied with the two paths laid out before them. Of course, this part of the puzzle was no problem now – she had done a bit of exploring while he was out cold. "Now, these two paths lead to the same room. But entering it from different directions seems to affect how far we can get from this starting point."

"And how far have you gotten?"

"So far, I've only reached past that room before you are attacked by demons and I need to save you."

Well, that didn't make him sound like a damsel in distress at all. "Demons?"

"Yes. In fact, just minutes before you woke – Ice Bullet!" If she wasn't a devil summoner, Narumi thought, maybe she could have worked at a circus. With some sleight of hand he was too groggy to catch, she pulled a tube from her chest, switched out her revolver, and the sound of five gunshots rang out in the tunnel, bouncing around till it pounded in his ears.

Narumi turned around and watched a little green thing holding a spoonful of flames explode into a barrage of bright green orbs that flew into Raidou like dust into a vacuum. "So – demons – that's what they look like."

"Not all of them," said Raidou, voice slightly muffled. A puff of white wearing a blue jester's collar and earmuffs had its appendages – arms? legs? – wrapped around the summoner's neck, a childish squeal escaping its figure.

"Ko-ho-ne!" he chirped (at least, it sounded like a very childish he), with boots that matched his collar loosening from Kotone's neck as the white puff jumped off. "I hee-missed you ho much! Oh, hi, Ho-to!"

Gouto waved an indifferent paw at the little demon. Showing too much interest in him would earn him a bearhug, and the old soul wasn't up to being suffocated at the moment.

"I missed you, too. Good job, Jack," said Kotone, pleasantly patting the top of his head.

Upon closer inspection, Narumi realized Jack had a face. He was like a snowman – a lump for the body and another lump for the head, which had two black dots for eyes and a black abyss for a mouth with only two fangs as teeth. Jack seemed to notice him, too, and found himself cradled in Narumi's arms as fast as the man's own trigger hand. "Ho-oo are you?" he asked, rudely poking at his chest. Then again, if this was a demon, Narumi thought, he supposed he didn't have to have manners.

"Jack Frost," Raidou explained, catching Narumi's bewildered expression. "A Frost-order demon. He means well."

"Call me Narumi," said the detective, setting him down gently. "Nice to meet you, uh – Jack."

"Mr. Naru-hee!" Jack Frost clapped his hands and somehow climbed his way onto Narumi's back. It seemed he belonged to the circus with Kotone. "I'm hee-going to protect you now, ho!"

The tic was a little irritating, but he could put up with it. In a way, Jack was an…animal…wasn't he? And he had a way with them – even if this kind of beast could probably eat him if it wanted to. "I thought we normal humans couldn't see demons?"

"This place is somehow connected to the Dark Realm, where even you can see them…I suppose." Kotone tossed him her revolver. "Here, boss. If we come upon any more demons, tell Jack Frost to cast Ice Bullet. It should do the trick for most we encounter. Especially for Pyro-order demons. But remember to stun them enough so they can't retaliate at once, because Jack is weak to their attacks as well."

"What?"

"Never mind. Jack Frost, will you protect Mr. Narumi?"

"You hee-got it, Ko-ho-ne!"

Narumi received a crash course in demons and devil summoning for the next x-amount of time (his watch went crazy here; he had no way of telling). Now he understood why summoners were trained from childhood – they had to learn how to be able to tell their demons apart from the rest and memorize each weakness of every demon order and learn how to swordfight, shoot, and have proper negotiating skills all at the same time. He figured he wouldn't do too badly in the negotiating bit, but he had case files exactly so that he wouldn't have to take up too much space in his head when it came to information, and no doubt his brain would have exploded with all the skills and fusions (sick, really – he knew something was wrong with that Dr. Victor) he would have had to learn by heart.

He was introduced to Kotone's demons, too; at least, the ones who were available. Raidou had summoned letters from some tubes saying they would return at a later time because they had sick siblings and a bunch of other excuses (family reunions – really?), but most of them were all right – if a little odd. An abomination named Nue had tackled him with a thousand licks to the face, claiming he had missed 'FUNNY OLD MAN' as well. Jack Frost introduced him to his brothers Hiruko (creepy little thing) and Pyro Jack, who tested his hee-resilience by setting his hat on fire (Jack Frost blew it out immediately after receiving a look from Raidou). Gozuki introduced himself and his partner as 'the brutes', something Mezuki did not appreciate, and Narumi was forgotten soon after an argument broke out between them. Leanan Sidhe was graceful, truly a lady, but professed a secret aversion to men and disappeared quickly after. Lilim set to discovering the contours of the male body as soon as she appeared, but stopped when Dominion flew out of his tube and narrowed his eyes at her. Aeros and Undine seemed the most sane out of them all, both calm and well-mannered, if not a little distant.

"All right." Narumi stopped after their fourteenth battle with a pack of Fury-order demons, panting for his breath. That life as a spy seemed so far away now, and so mundane compared to seeing all these monstrosities pop out of Yatagarasu knew where. "I know we've been here for more than half an hour. And what was that just now?"

"A Fury Nezha," Kotone replied, wiping her sword with the end of her cape. Demon blood was a lot less viscous than humans', but it was still disgusting, watching the purple stuff drip from her blade. "They're nice when they're on your side."

"I'm sure they are," Narumi grumbled, thumping a fist at his chest. Any more of seeing big, red men with screws embedded in their temples and he was sure to have a heart attack. "Do we have an escape plan, Raidou?"

Kotone and Gouto exchanged glances. They had a penchant for simply finding the exit after roaming around for some time. Some might even call it luck.

Narumi groaned. "Then how are we ever going to…Oh. Look." Ahead of them was one of the butterfly wings that served as markers around the hellish place. Before it were the two masked men, who'd patronizingly told Raidou that she would be home by supper.

Kotone drew her sword and approached them swiftly. She hadn't even had lunch yet.

"H-hey!" one of them took a step back. His accent was so thick, Narumi could barely understand him. "How'd yew find us here? Yew must have some luck…but yer luck's run out now!"

The two strangers each unsheathed two katanas, bending their knees into a trained fighting stance. Kotone did the same, motioning for Gouto and Narumi to back away.

"Sorry to do this to civilians," said the other man, "but we can't have anyone takin' us lightly."

Despite the composure obvious in Kotone's ready stance, Narumi was worried. It was one thing to hear of the devil summoner's exploits and fight undead super soldiers with her by his side, but it was another one entirely to have to sit through a two-on-one battle with strangers in an even stranger place without being able to do a thing to help.

Kotone beckoned to the strangers with a nod. She wanted to leave this place as soon as she could. She could never admit it, but all the business with the insect wings and the spores made her shudder.

"Hey…" said the ninja to his companion, "let's use that thing. Once they see that, they'll wet 'emselves with fear!" Kotone could tell that he was smirking under his mask as he turned to her. "Get ready!"

The other one cackled in agreement. "Try not to piss yer pants when yew see this…Come, Jiromaru!"

A loud, grating screech filled the air. One of the spores in the distance neared them and glowed, brighter and larger as seconds passed, until it was right before Kotone. The spore released a great flash of light, and then there was a huge face in Kotone's, ticking and clicking with empty white eyes. It bobbed its antennae together menacingly.

It was all Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th could do not to scream. It was an insect – black and silver and snapping its teeth at her, and large and twitchy and it had wings. Translucent, hideous wings that made the most disgusting whirring sounds when they flapped together, and it was right in her face. Kotone could handle being ostracized from her classmates in school for her constant absences, demons, soulless armies, the dark, Dr. Victor's creepy laboratory, and mathematics, but this was too much. Now that was a grasshopper…

Next chapter quote sneak peek time!

"H-holy cats, you haven't…forgotten about me, have you?"

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