Sparks

by haliyam

We all know the story: a year after the Red Cape incident, the Yatagarasu senses another disturbance in the Capital and the mantle of Raidou Kuzunoha must be taken up once more. Narumi's still a bum, Tae's still fighting for recognition in the workplace, and Gouto still denies his love of Foxtails. Only this time, the 14th is...a girl?

7. PreWedding Jitters

Full summary: We all know the story: A year after the Red Cape incident, the Yatagarasu senses another disturbance in the Capital and the mantle of Raidou Kuzunoha must be taken up once more. Narumi's still a bum, Tae's still fighting for her rights in the workplace, and Gouto still denies his love of Foxtails. Only this time, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th is...a girl?

HEYYY GUYS! I know I'm half a year late and I'm so sorry! No excuses. I'm not sure if I said that last time too. But my inspiration rises and falls in intensity. I'm definitely going to finish it, though!

Review-replying time!

Nitewind: I've thought about it, and I'm not going to write a Kotone version of the first game, but I may write a sort-of sequel where she may encounter the Fiends. Just a possibility though! I toyed with the idea over the course of writing this hehe.

minaseiko1: Like I said to Nitewind, I might write a sequel where fem!Raidou deals with the Horsemen :D I'm just thinking about it, though. If you played the game, you know that Raidou is required to face them later on, but I mean something different from that. And thank you! One of the reasons I wanted to write the fic was to write more interactions among the characters because everyone seemed to deal with Raidou individually instead of all getting along together by themselves. My favorite interaction in the 2nd game was the movie cutscene with Narumi and Tae after Taotie though, if you saw that, haha!

Loyalty: I'm glad you liked those parts! And yesss! If I were Akane, I'd probably have fainted already TEEHEE

Lupus-Cantus-Grimoure: Ahaha! Not really a harem, just a lot of male associates/friends, as opposed to normal girls who spend time with friends their age and sex, especially since they don't come from co-ed schools. (I think I read somewhere that during Raidou's time, they didn't have co-ed schools, even if the Alice job makes it seem like Raidou has female classmates.) And yes, Satake is pretty attractive for an adult haha!

The Fujoshi: I'm still working on it, and your reviews really encouraged me to go on despite my wavering inspiration! So thanks :)) Funny you should say that...I wouldn't write off the possibility of Louis being an end choice for Kotone. And you should play DS2! Tell me when you do, because it's fun :)

Materioptikon: Thank youuu! Raiho will be making an appearance, yes :D Later on when we're not knee-deep in the serious parts of the game, for sure!

a review: Thank you! As for the Kantou Haguro-gumi guys, it's really funny you should say that! It's briefly mentioned later in the chapter. But yeah, I never imagined it to go the same way as it did with the male Raidou. I think they would have thought fem!Raidou was some girl offering herself to them, and Kotone ends up hitting them because she's conservative and starting a fight.

Thanks for the reviews, everybody! And the people who put me/Sparks on alert without reviewing. (Yes, that was meant to make you feel guilty. Haha! But really, I appreciate the alerts!)

Previously on Sparks:

As Satake watched Akane tuck her curls behind her ear and think of how someone who could be so empowered was so meek and apologetic, the river roared and out came the Tarrasque, grinning toothily. Akane felt her knees buckle.

"Goin' somewhere, sonny?"

---

Chapter 7: Pre-Wedding Jitters

Akane didn't faint. It was easy for her to accept that the Tarrasque was a demon (something Satake wondered about), and soon the four returned the Mannen-Cho. Narumi was not to be found in the baths, however, as he'd insisted on returning home as soon as possible. Akane, Gouto, Kotone and Satake parted with unsure goodbyes and the first three returned to the Narumi Detective Agency to find a worried Tae nursing an exasperated Narumi.

"Quit your worryin', Tae," Narumi said, watching the reporter pace in his office from the couch. "I'll heal soon enough. This isn't the first time I've gotten a rough beating, y'know."

Tae whipped her head at Narumi. "I'm supposed to be on the beat, so it's Kichou," she drawled, "and you're not the one I'm worried about. You sent Kotone and Gouto to face a bunch of…of gangsters, alone!"

Narumi sighed. It was the nth time they'd had this conversation. He didn't think the opinion would come until later into the relationship, but she was like a broken record about this. "Trust me, it's like sending a lion to a wolves' den. And they didn't go alone – Satake likes taking care of his own business. And didn't you say you were glad I'd stayed behind?"

Tae narrowed her eyes at him before sighing. "I know…and I stand by it, Shouhei. If anything happened to you—"

Narumi was grinning at her smugly. He looked handsome even with his bruised and swollen face, but also more irritating.

"Don't make me give you two black eyes, Shouhei."

"Yes, ma'am," Narumi laughed, dodging a punch to his shoulder. Catching Tae by the wrist, he pulled her down to him on the couch and buried his face in her hair. It was shorter than he normally liked, but it was hers and so he didn't quite care. "But really," he breathed into her neck, "Raidou will be fine. She fights demons, Tae. Gangster peons are a walk in the park to that kid. And Satake—well. Need I say more?"

Tae nodded in acceptance, rare silence passing from her lips as she enjoyed the moment, but quickly shoved Narumi off. "Shouhei," she hissed. "If Kotone walked in at that moment—"

"Why would that be a problem?" Narumi honestly wondered. She should have been worrying about Gouto.

"You said it yourself," Tae replied. "She's still a kid. She sees us as her friends, and if she realized that you and I…it'll be awkward."

"Don't think so," said Narumi, remembering the night Kotone told him about Louis. Thimbles and kisses, that was Raidou. "She'll ask how long it's been, then mind her own business. Raidou hasn't even talked to Kaya since she arrived – she'll finish this Tsukigata business before she even thinks of prying, and knowing her, even then that'll be the last thing on her mind."

"If you say so…" Tae muttered, falling back down with him, only to jump nearly ten feet in the air when the door creaked open.

"Boss?"

"Kotone!" Tae smiled, smoothing out her dress, unsure of where and how to stand so as not to look suspicious. "What took you so long? Narumi was so worried."

"To death, in fact," said Narumi, knowing his assistant would catch the sarcasm and take it with good humor. "How'd it go?"

"Negotiations failed, boss," Kotone answered. "But Satake has always handled his business in…a different manner."

"Figures," Narumi laughed, but stopped when Akane entered the agency with a shy smile. "Akane! Sorry—"

"It's all right, Mr. Narumi," said Akane, shaking her head. It amazed Kotone how she could forgive the matter so easily. Kaya's kidnapping could have been blamed on her, partly, but Akane, she had promised to protect and failed. "No one could have taken so many thugs all at once in an ambush like that."

Except Kenzou Satake, perhaps. But she didn't want to insult Narumi.

"Hi there!" said Tae, stepping forward with the amiability her job required. "I'm Tae Asakura, but call me Kichou when I'm working. Which I am."

Akane bowed. "Miss Kichou—"

"Just Kichou," the strong-willed woman interrupted, wagging a finger at her. "I'm not that old, y'know, geez…"

"Oh, sorr–all right. My name is Akane."

Tae nodded, eyes squinting as though she should remember something. She did. "Right! You're Dahn's sister?"

Akane replied with a startled expression.

"Miss Asakura joined us in our trip to Tsukigata village," Kotone informed her. "In fact, she found the village when we were almost out of leads."

"Almost," Narumi repeated.

"Really?" Tae stood, arms akimbo. "If I remember correctly, you wouldn't even have known what the Tento Crest was for if I didn't mention it."

"Miss Asakura helped us move the case along," Kotone corrected.

Tae shot Narumi a triumphant look, causing the man to sigh. "Fine. But you're still not getting a cut."

"It's fine. I want no part in your Tawara-Ya or Ryugu debts, anyhow. Only the gods know how Kotone saved your tush from your pile of debts last year," Tae laughed, explaining to Akane, "Narumi has a habit of raking up tabs he can't pay."

"They slip my mind, I don't mean to collect them," Narumi grumbled. Raidou coughed at this, hiding a chuckle. Gouto followed, and Tae was so amused by the cat's glee that she did, too.

She had grown up in a happy home – as far as happy could get with her favorite older cousin Makiko being chosen for the Marriage Ritual when she was seven, and her father's general mood significantly dropping after that, leaving only Dahn as her true family – but Akane had never been in a place where they could laugh out loud like this. In their mansion, her laughter with the servants or Dahn was always hushed. Dahn had always said 'to hell with 'em gods and their quiet, I feel like laughin' and I'm gonna do it,' but then they had never quite seen eye-to-eye, and Dahn had only stopped teasing her for her blind obedience when he'd broken out of his teens.

In any case, Akane couldn't help but laugh. Her mirth fluttered out of her throat, butterflies enjoying their first flight, and though she covered her mouth in shock, she didn't stop until Narumi feigned offense and set his mouth to a downward u.

"Oh Narumi, don't get your trousers in a twist!" Tae teased, still laughing with Gouto and exchanging amused glances with Raidou, but Akane didn't know the man well enough and felt it was about time that she stopped.

While Narumi and Tae launched their second bout of banter, Kotone (who had always felt her input unnecessary in such a situation) noticed Akane's silence. "Miss Akane, I still haven't apologized for—my hubris," the Great Summoner spoke the sentence barely above a whisper. It had never been difficult to apologize because she'd never needed to. Not for a grave error in judgment like this. Louder, she said, "Had I not been so selfish in my desire to have a new weapon forged, this wouldn't have happened. The delay is my doing."

"Don't apologize," Akane said, startled. She didn't think Raidou was the type to – or make mistakes at all. "I love to bake…but I don't have to. I can make do with the ingredients Mr. Narumi has here."

"Ingredients?" asked Tae. Truly a reporter with an ear, she'd heard their conversation even while teasing Narumi. "If it's ingredients you need, I have an entire room in my apartment filled with them!"

"Why?" Raidou could only ask. Back in the village, her mother kept the ingredients in a storage room, but it was hard to imagine such a modern woman as Tae Asakura having a stockroom for ingredients.

"My mom visits a lot. Says I should learn how to cook!" Tae scoffed. "Because bombarding my apartment with ingredients and equipment's gonna teach me, right? Akane, Kotone, you should come over! Those ingredients will only rot. I really can't cook to save my life, y'know…hey!" she pouted at Narumi, who was nodding solemnly in agreement with her last statement.

"All joking aside," Narumi cleared his throat. "Do you really think that's wise, given what just happened?"

"Narumi has a point," said Gouto. "But Satake's move was smart – they won't be bugging any of you for a while. It's fine if you go, but keep an eye out, Kotone."

"Gouto says he'll stay here and take care of you while we're away, boss," Kotone smiled at her human guardian.

"I didn't say that," Gouto sighed, but his descendant didn't have such a bad idea.

"What's that? How about dinner?" Narumi said, mostly to his feline housemate. "I don't think anyone's gonna peddle food to a cat…or to a face like this."

"Oh, hush," said Tae. "Gouto's right. You need your rest, Narumi. We'll be back in time for dinner after Akane's worked her magic!"

Akane blinked in surprise at the sound of her name, having been in deep thought as to why Kotone was talking to her cat, and why the adults appeared to trust in her translations of his meowing. "I'm…not an excellent cook. Baking – and cooking, on occasion – it's just a hobby of mine."

"At least one of us likes to," Tae laughed. "Oh, or do you too, Kotone?"

Raidou jerked her head no. She was a Kuzunoha, first and foremost, and that did not entail great skill in synthesizing any sort of edible material (except eggs and steamed rice). In the realm of the kitchen, she would remain a mediocrity no matter how hard she tried.

"There. Now come on!" Tae pat Narumi's shoulder gingerly before bounding to the door. "My kitchen awaits!"

"I'll call you at Tae's apartment in case anything comes up," said Gouto. It was the first time he'd seen Kotone really converse with other females about…female things…without appearing too uncomfortable. As much as he hated sounding like Kotone's mother, there would be hope for the Kuzunoha line yet. "Have fun, Kotone."

Holding the door open for her two older companions, Raidou glanced back in surprise. That was a rare thing to pass from his whiskers, but she appreciated it all the same, these times when he was like a father to her instead of just a mentor. "Thank you, Gouto. Stay safe. Oh, and you too, boss."

Narumi slumped into his chair and sighed.

---

When Tae unlocked the door to her apartment, Akane thanked her and walked in with her mouth slightly ajar. A small living room greeted them at the entrance, containing (she assumed) a low table surrounded by couches not unlike the one in the Narumi Detective Agency, all covered in newspapers and stick-on notes filled with illegible writing. A plant stood off to the side, crowded by a shelf stuffed with disarranged books, leading to a kitchen with plates barely washed in the sink. Across it was a door that opened to the bedroom, which contained the bathroom and a walk-in closet past it, but Tae's clothes appeared to be all over the bed (from what Akane could see), while bonnets hung precariously on the coat rack by the door. To say it was a complete and utter disaster would not do the chaos justice.

"Don't mind the mess," Tae said with a sheepish chuckle.

Entering last, having dropped off the little materials she had to Dr. Victor (who'd said they were enough for a small upgrade) before catching up with Tae and Akane, Raidou allowed her eyebrows to furrow. Her hand moved slowly to her sword's hilt. "Miss Asakura," she said slowly, "be careful. I sense no demonic presence, which can only mean that someone's broken into your apartment. I should search it thoroughly before—"

Akane couldn't contain her grin. Tae scoffed. "It's not thatterrible, is it?"

Raidou recognized the reporter's indignant tone; she'd used it on Narumi on countless occasions. Releasing her sword, Kotone asked, "You mean to say…that daily, this is the state of your home?" she paused, watching Tae narrow her eyes. "It wasn't my intention to offend. I thought—"

"It's fine," Tae laughed. "I guess living under Narumi's roof doesn't make you as messy as him."

"No," Raidou agreed. "If there was anything my mother was determined to instill in me, it was tidiness."

"I think it's wonderful," said Akane. The other two glanced at her in shock. Her silence made it easy to forget she was there, but they listened intently when she spoke. "It must be amazing to have such independence. Growing up in our mansion, I...never had much freedom to move about. Our help commanded the state of affairs within. Your apartment reminds me of my brother – only he could get away with doing what he wanted." Akane wore a distant smile, returning to her childhood days. "He managed to charm his way out of everything."

Dahn? Charming? Kotone doubted it highly. But he did have a way of turning the flow of conversation where he wanted it to go, not unlike Louis, whose apparent omniscience and unclear intentions unnerved her. He was a character she looked forward to seeing again, and yet hoped to avoid. She didn't understand it, either.

Tae thought it was also easy to forget who Akane was related to. From what Narumi had told Tae of Dahn and his actions, she could hardly believe the fierce-spirited young man was a blood relative of the sweet girl before her. Leading Akane and Kotone to the kitchen and taking out the ingredients Akane pointed out as useful, Tae said, "I'd rather have grown up in a mansion with servants! If you had one messy brother, imagine how it was being the only girl with eight."

Akane set to delegating tasks to Tae and Kotone, who followed obediently. She would have preferred to bake, but she was glad enough of the freedom to command her "own" kitchen that she simply enjoyed it. "Eight?" the assassin's daughter wiped a hand on her apron to cover her mouth with as she suppressed a giggle. "It couldn't have been so bad, Tae."

"Well, yeah…" Tae recalled the years before her brothers had all grown up and married. She looked back on them fondly, but she wouldn't go back. What would they think of Narumi, she wondered? "They did teach me to be the feminist I am now. I had to survive somehow."

Akane laughed with approval and turned to Kotone, smiling ever-so-slightly as she listened to their conversation. The summoner had left her cape in Akane's bedroom and rolled up her school sleeves so as to assist them. "What about you, Kotone?"

"Yeah," Tae agreed. "I'm curious – I've only heard the usual things about your village. How did you grow up?"

Kotone thought hard. People didn't usually ask about her – she was accustomed to them thinking of themselves. But she obliged them gladly. "I grew up training to receive the honor of the title, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th. You see, the title is earned – when the last Raidou is incapacitated, the elders choose the most promising child summoner in the village to train to uphold the mantle, and when he or she is of age, it is officially bequeathed to her. Or him. However, my family has been able to keep the title within itself ever since the first Raidou Kuzunoha, and it would have been a disgrace for me not to receive it."

"But you did, didn't you?" Tae couldn't help but ask, even if she already knew the answer. "When Narumi said Gouto was your great-something-grandpa, I thought it was a gibe!"

"Gouto—your cat?" Akane sounded reasonably confused.

Kotone nodded. "His soul is encased in the cat's body; a punishment for a grave sin he committed during his time, though I am uncertain as to what he did. He is a great mentor and a caring friend."

"It sure puts him into a new perspective for me," said Tae. "That must be why he seemed so appalled and upset after enjoying all those Foxtails I gave him."

"Yes." Kotone's mouth twitched, tempting her to smile. "He abhors that weakness of his."

"So," Akane moved the conversation along. "The training must have been difficult, Kotone. The training Dahn underwent – there was a time he barely survived. And he was ranked first in his group."

"It was," Kotone replied. Her muscles ached just remembering again. "Every morning, my mentors would wake me to sprint through different natural obstacle courses in the forest, repeating until I could come out unscathed or I needed to dress for school, and after school, I was permitted three hours to finish schoolwork. I was required to train for combat, both unarmed and with swords and guns, until a few hours after dinner. On Saturdays, I was brought to the Dark Realm before sunrise, training to sense demons and defeat the simpletons foolish enough to attempt to ambush my masters. For weekends in general, we stopped only for meals that would last for a quarter of an hour, rest for an hour afterwards by learning the different demons, their weaknesses, personalities, and orders, and then combat again."

At the end of it all, Akane was nodding, recalling Dahn's cuts and bruises, while Tae appeared disgusted and filled with pity mixed with admiration. "Didn't you ever just want to lie down and die?" the eldest of them asked.

"Yes," Kotone admitted after a pause. "But only during the early stages of my childhood. I knew it was my duty; it was for my own good and the Capital's that I undergo these trials."

"Incredibly harsh trials, but they definitely paid off," said Tae. "I can't imagine waking up so early in the morning..."

Akane could, but it had been a self-imposed decision, so she could watch her brother train. He had once done his duty and trained no matter how difficult the task; she'd adored her big brother for that. And here was Kotone, having trained since childhood, same as Dahn, now steadfast in fulfilling her duty as a devil summoner devoted to the protection of the capital. Back home, though she didn't know the girl very well, Nagi was training under Geirin to become like him. Akane had been trained to be a wife since childhood – she had just never known whose wife she would become. Was she shirking her duty, being a truant, by cooking here now, enjoying the company of Tae and Kotone?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Akane returned to her senses and was greeted by a worried Tae. "You all right there, Akane?"

"Oh, yes," Akane smiled. "I was only thinking of what we were to do next."

"All right," Tae accepted for the time being. "So, Akane...what do you know about your future husband?"

"I..." She was visibly stunned by the question. "Not much. I…have never met him. I will on the wedding day."

"What?" Tae frowned. "I get that it's tradition for you to get married off, but to some stranger, really? How—you can't just stand for this!"

"I must," Akane shrugged almost coldly. It wasn't something she liked to talk about, to be honest. "It's my duty."

Tae sensed the mild hostility and let it pass. She would have argued it out, but she didn't want to fight with the woman helping them make dinner. "Well, if you say so."

"And you, Miss Asakura?" Kotone asked in an attempt to diffuse the tension. She understood Akane's reluctance in talking of a marriage to a god. Before Sukuna-Hikona, she might have thought it not such a terrible fate, but now she grimaced at the thought. "If you don't mind me saying – you and the boss have become very close over the past year."

It was Tae's turn to be tongue-tied. She hadn't expected Kotone of all people to pick up on it. "You—you know, then?"

Kotone shook her head. "Satake informed me this afternoon. Please don't be angry with him – the way he spoke of your relationship, it seems it should have been apparent to me."

Nobody noticed Akane turn attentively at the mention of Satake, and Tae sighed in relief. So they weren't that obvious, if Kotone hadn't thought of it herself. "Narumi and I...yes. I hope this doesn't change anything."

"Why would it?" asked Kotone with genuine confusion, turning to Akane for an answer.

Akane shook her head, unable to understand Tae's train of thought as well. "You two appear compatible," she said with a smile. "It's clear...that you're both very happy in each other's company."

"We are," Tae seemed to admit to herself more than anyone else. She was glowing now, though she glanced at Kotone with some guilt. "Honestly, I...thought you might feel something for 'im, Kotone. Something beyond your apprentice-employer dynamic."

Kotone let out a short ha of laughter that Tae wished she could have recorded. Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th had never appeared so amused. Oftentimes it seemed she was only tolerating them.

"Why would I feel anything for the boss? He..." She thought of the best way to describe it without insulting Narumi. He was a good man and a great friend, intelligent and suave, kind, but he was too messy, he smoked and left his cigarette butts in the container to the point that it was so dusty that he always sent her out to purchase more, his room was a disaster, and he was extremely lazy. These days he was no longer so languid, but he was still simply a friend she highly respected, in his own way. "He is not...my...cup of tea. My ideal. You two are much more compatible, Miss Asakura."

"Oh?" Tae was extremely relieved to hear that. She didn't want to tell Narumi her worries because of course he wouldn't really know if Kotone liked him or not no matter how much he thought he did – he was a man – but Kotone was always honest. And the conversation was taking an interesting turn. "And what isyour ideal, Kotone?"

Akane expected, along with Tae, that Kotone would flush at the question, but as the girl did not and had never truly had anyone in mind, she only replied, "I've never really thought about it... But I suppose I would like a man who can carry a conversation. It would...please me...if he asked about me every so often. He should be able to hold his own in a battle, and stand up for what he believes is right."

"That's..." Not very romantic at all, Tae and Akane thought, except for the part where she wanted him to ask about her, but it had gone downhill from there. Tae cleared her throat. She guessed she shouldn't be surprised that Kotone wasn't the type of girl who needed to be swept off her feet and wrapped in her lover's arms. This was Raidou she was talking about. "What about his looks? You wouldn't just want some ugly mug, right?"

Food for thought. Tae and Akane had been giving her a lot. "No. But he needn't be an Oberon."

"Huh?"

"He needn't be a prince," Kotone explained. "I've come to understand that this is the norm? I wouldn't want a prince. Neither of us would be able to cook."

Tae burst into laughter. "You've got a point there!" She said to Akane, "All right, so Kotone's got the personality stuff down. We all want that. When you were a little girl, what did you imagine your future partner to look like?"

Truthfully, Akane had never thought of that much, either. She'd had a few infatuations with some of her brother's friends, his fellow Fukoshi whom he now commanded, but it wasn't as though they would take an interest in her. They were much too busy. A trend she suddenly realized, however, was that she liked a man with bulk. Dahn was lean – muscled, and yet trim. She loved her brother, but she'd never thought he would attract women with his body alone, perhaps only with his face and charm. But what did hewant? He'd never spoken much about relationships.

"Akane?"

"Oh!" Akane turned red, remembering her answer. She would sound so childish. "I...I'd like him with muscle. A-and...he should be tall."

"Oh, I agree," Tae giggled, mind already drifting to her own ideal as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The kitchen could be so hot. "Definitely has to be tall."

"I wouldn't want him with unkempt hair," Akane added, still red but encouraged by Tae's girlish giggles. Kotone watched on curiously. "A nice, clean cut would be nice. And he shouldn't look boyish—he must be a man."

Akane was about to say that tattoos might be attractive, only to realize… Now? She was to entertain these ill-chosen thoughts now? Kotone and Tae would surely pick up on her silence, so she continued. "That…is all, I think. He must possess the ability to protect his family."

"Power is attractive," Kotone admitted. To Tae, she said, "Miss Asakura, I didn't peg you for the type to speak of her ideal man."

"Partner," Tae corrected with a grin. "I said partner."

That she had, Kotone realized, and yielded with a smile. Their conversation soon spanned into any other topic that came to Tae's mind, with Akane and Kotone engaging her in conversation they never thought they would otherwise, and after a little more than an hour in Tae's apartment, they were finished preparing the meal. As though he knew, Gouto called Tae's apartment as soon as dinner was complete and requested that they return home immediately.

"Is something wrong?" Kotone asked over the receiver.

"Not really," Gouto replied quietly. His tone made him sound like he was trying not to sound exasperated, or roll his eyes. "It's just that—"

"We're starving," Kotone heard Narumi's whine in the background. "It's way past dinnertime, right?"

Gouto paused. "You heard that?"

"Yes, Gouto. We've only just finished, but we will return soon. Yes. Please tell the boss – somehow – that there's more toast in the kitchen if he is truly hungry. Goodbye."

Akane and Tae watched her expectantly as she returned the phone to its base, the latter woman rolling her eyes. "Lemme guess. Narumi's starving."

Kotone nodded, and Tae expertly swept up their cooked food into a container. She explained, "I'm a grab-and-go type of girl."

"All right," said Kotone. "Miss Asakura, you can go ahead and bring the food back to Gouto and the boss. Miss Akane and I will clean up here."

"You sure?" Tae looked at the mess they had inadvertently made in the kitchen with a grimace. "You don't have to. I wouldn't clean that up on my best days."

"…Go ahead, Tae," said Akane, already grabbing a piece of damp cloth to wipe the table with. How the reporter could even suggest that they leave all the dirt alone astounded her. "Kotone and I are more accustomed to cleaning up. You should attend to Mr. Narumi and Gouto."

"Well…okay," Tae shrugged, took the food, and left the apartment. Akane and Raidou proceeded to clean up their mess. They hadn't actually made much, but Tae's scattered equipment to begin with added to what they used recently made for some work. But Akane was a great cook as well as a quick worker, and they finished faster than Raidou had expected.

The two were silent throughout the process, something Kotone wished wasn't so. She often stayed out of the way of women her age – something she learned from school of which only Rin and Kaya were exceptions, but Akane was their client and if there was anything she thought would help their investigation, Raidou needed to hear it.

When they packed the last of the ingredients and exited Tae's apartment, she asked, "Is something the matter, Miss Akane?"

Akane had almost forgotten she wasn't alone. "No, nothing," she said with a start.

Akane was always hiding something. Raidou thought it was finished with the revelation of Dahn as her brother, but there was something in her stance that told the devil summoner this was not so. "I don't mean to pry," she tried again after much consideration, "but are you thinking of Dahn Tsukigata?"

"I wish he would understand that I'm doing this for the clan," Akane answered almost immediately, as though she had been expecting the question.

Kotone's face was blank. She was deep in thought, and then she spoke again. "It isn't my place to speak for an…" Enemy, she would have said, but Akane might react to it. "For an opponent, but Dahn Tsukigata's apprehension towards your marrying a god isn't difficult to fathom."

Akane frowned. Raidou realized it wasn't the answer she wanted. "But you understand duty, don't you, Kotone? The sacrifice of personal desire for the greater good…"

Her tone was one that begged for approval. Duty, Kotone reflected. It was clear now in Akane's eyes that she did not want to marry this god. Duty was forcing her hand, whereas Kotone had never been forced into anything. She wanted to train to become Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, to become the greatest devil summoner in existence. She wanted to fight soulless armies and crazed little gods and work under a private detective who made her do all the leg work, and the only thing she had ever sacrificed was the chance to become normal, mediocre, to have friends in school, things she never cared for. There was that Purification Ritual for the Admiral in the past year, but how could that ever compare to marriage to a god and leaving family behind?

Duty. Kotone forced her thoughts to a staggering halt. She didn't like that feeling – guilt. She had done everything that had ever been asked of her and had fulfilled all her duties. Was that not enough? "I understand," Raidou insisted, to herself as much as to Akane. "My mother was devastated when news came that I would become a Great Summoner. After what happened to my father, she resolved to have me run away rather than accept the title. She cried to the council, begged them to reconsider, but…she accepted it eventually."

"I…doubt Dahn is as prepared to accept my fate."

That a brother was more resilient than a mother surprised her, but then their circumstances wereabsolutely different. "You shouldn't worry, Miss Akane. You are our client and you will be protected, even from your brother."

Akane paused. "Kotone," she said carefully, adding a small smile, "I was hoping we could be friends."

Kotone's eyebrows lifted slightly. The renowned assassin clan's daughter was pleased to see her surprise, little though it might be. "Of course," agreed the scion of a line of Great Summoners. "Of course, Akane."

---

When they returned home, Gouto and Narumi were already eating heartily with Tae, who had made sure there was enough left for the two younger women. Narumi escorted Tae home soon after, and once her companions were in bed, Kotone went up to the Ginroukaku roof.

She sat alone, playing her father's game. Lilim and Leanan Sidhe were out of their tubes, but had gone out to see the Capital's "night life", promising to be back before midnight. Judging by their excited expressions, she highly doubted it. But she didn't mind the solace – it was comforting in its own way. Akane had given her much to think about.

In any case, the stars still looked different tonight. Tonight she could see a polite-looking horse – Mezuki, she grinned in amusement to herself – and Dahn.

Dahn…?

Kotone rolled away and jumped to her feet, her sword hand quick to reach her hilt. "Dahn Tsukigata."

"Fancy meetin' you here." Dahn chuckled at her guardedness. "Should I have called first 'fore comin' over?"

"Yes, though I doubt any of my protests would have succeeded in stopping you."

"Well, aren't we gettin' to know each other real fast?"

Kotone drew her sword. "What do you want, Dahn Tsukigata?" After his hasty exit the night before, she hadn't expected him to return.

"To talk," he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and she was at fault for not knowing. "You talked so much yesterday, I hardly got a word in!"

Kotone frowned at the embarrassment that raised cold prickles on her back. She was always the more quiet one, always being bothered for not talking enough, but he was right – she had spoken too much last night. The realization stunned her, though her pride told her to retort. "Well…"

"Well…?"

"Talk, then, if you must."

Dahn snorted. "Thank you, I will."

Only silence passed between them.

"I'm tryin' to help you understand why I'm doin' this, summoner," he said when she thought he had finally gone. She didn't want to look at him and see the intensity burning in his eyes. There was a conviction in them that unsettled even her.

Kotone watched him lean against the rooftop edge with his hands to his sides. "Would you care to explain, then?"

Dahn's eyebrows furrowed. "You got any siblings, Raidou?"

Kotone shook her head.

"Only child," Dahn scoffed. "No wonder yer used to gettin' everything you want."

"I work towards what I want," Kotone said, hiding her indignation. "Only then do I receive it."

"That's what I'm doing," Dahn insisted with a sigh. "I'm workin' towards what I want. Why do you have to get in my way?"

"Why are you doing this?" Kotone asked in return. "Are you afraid to let go of Akane? She has chosen freely to accept this marriage."

"Asked you first."

Immature, but Raidou had always been taught to be the better man – woman – and acceded. "It is Akane's will to pursue the marriage despite your wishes and her very own. She asked Mr. Narumi to help her, and I aid Mr. Narumi in his cases."

"And you just follow orders blindly, s'that it?"

Kotone frowned. He was beginning to grate on her nerves. "I am no one's puppet. But Shouhei Narumi's counsel is valuable to me; if he believes we must stop you to abide by your sister's wishes, then I shall."

Dahn rolled his eyes and lay down on the roof, his hands piled at the back of his head. Arguing with her was like fighting it out with a training doll – she always hit back, no matter how tired he was already. He wasn't used to anything like this; in the Tsukigata village, he'd always managed to convince everyone to his side. Except his father, he guessed, when it really mattered, and now Raidou. All that charm everyone talked about him having seemed like a damn waste if he couldn't use it. He snorted in exasperation, "Whatever. Just watch the stars with me, Kuzunoha."

Kotone obeyed only because she wished to. Sitting down some feet away from him, she hugged her knees and looked up at the stars, her revolver clasped firmly in her left hand for good measure.

"What do you see now?" asked Dahn.

"A wolf." Kotone replied, but she was watching him, watching the slight tilting of the tips of his curls by an evening wind. He confused her to no end. If he were only as clear as Matsumoto and Rasputin, he would be an easy opponent. Perhaps she would desire to kill him or bring him to his father if he did, but now she only wanted to sate her growing curiosity about his foolish determination and character. "And you?"

Dahn shrugged. "A monkey wrench."

"What an odd thing to say," the devil summoner blurted out. When Dahn didn't reply, she turned to him, still staring thoughtfully at the sky. "Dahn Tsukigata."

He returned her curious gaze. "Yeah?"

It baffled Raidou why they were on speaking terms. He should have been attempting to kill her and she should have brought him back to Akijiro last night, but she felt she owed him something for what she allowed happen to Akane today. Just one last night of speaking with him, one night of pretend mediocrity where a young girl spoke with a handsome man and the man was good, strong, kind, with no intention of killing her at all, though she would never admit it to anyone. It was a nice dream, the surprising kind a girl doesn't realize she desires until she wakes up, or at least that was what it felt like if she understood what Rin and Kaya often spoke of in their letters, and Raidou never dreamt. Kotone owed him a night, and no one would ever know. "Do you understand duty?"

Dahn knew where this conversation was going – Akane had attempted to give him this talk long ago. "Yeah. But to hell with duty if Akane's gonna be unhappy."

A crude answer, but she found insight in it all the same, and Raidou resented that. "Last night, you informed me that another group kept tabs on my actions besides your Fukoshi. They kidnapped Akane today."

Dahn clenched his fist, but Kotone didn't see it. "I know."

"You failed to take advantage of the chance to retrieve her."

"Didn't fail at anything. I coulda stepped in if they tried to hurt her," Dahn shot back, shrugging. "'sides, I wanted to see how you would do."

Raidou tinkered with the safety on her revolver. "I don't believe you would risk Akane's life to test my skill."

"Whaddya wanna hear, summoner? That I believe in you?"

"No." Kotone found herself lying, of all things. She didn't think the answer would be one, but she could tell when she was lying. Her heart beat a little faster, her eyes wanted to look every which way and her tongue felt dry, not that she would give any indication of it. "Only the truth."

"Didn't have much of a choice," Dahn answered, finally. "Found some o' dad's old grey Fukoshi grunts staking out near our place when I came back last night…couldn't risk 'em trackin' us down again, through here or the Fukorutsubo. They only left a little while back. Believe it or not, summoner…I know how to bide my time. So I sent a little friend o' mine to help out instead."

Kotone pursed her lips. "You sent that false locust."

"Ain't false," Dahn grinned and gave a soft whistle. A locust appeared from nowhere, causing Kotone to back slightly. Its mask was silver, unlike the bronze Gouto had earlier seen. At Raidou's skeptical expression, the assassin said, "It's the same one. Them luck locusts take about a day to get from their bronze stage to the silver stage…not that you'd understand. They don't respond to cages much when they're still kids. This one will now, though."

The locust neared Kotone, who would have shot it like a Pixie several times if not for the weight on her waist. She opened her empty insect cage, still with the birdlime inside, and the locust entered willingly.

Dahn stared at the red cage. "A gift from dad, huh…"

"In exchange for bringing you in," Raidou confirmed. "But I do not appreciate that he would send his men when he asked me to do this."

Dahn laughed. "Don't take it personally," he said. "Dad's always been a jerk. He didn't expect you to keep an eye out for me all the time, what with you bein' the Protector of the Capital and all…and I guess he was right in suspectin' that you wouldn't bring me in, right?"

Kotone grasped her revolver again. "I wonder what your men would think of you visiting the Summoner who defeated them in battle."

Dahn snorted in acquiescence. "What can I say? I'm smart, handsome, strong, and nice to pretty girls who want my attention."

Kotone would have replied with sarcastic indignance as she reared her head at him, but she saw his careful expression. "…Or you want to know your enemy."

Dahn didn't look surprised that she would catch it. Flippantly, he replied, "Maybe."

"Won't your father's Fukoshi catch you here?"

"Guess my dad trusts you enough that he only sent 'em greys to look fer my men," said Dahn, an indiscernable emotion crossing his face.

"Are you envious?"

Dahn turned to glare at her, only to stop short at the sight of her genuinely curious expression. He laughed in disbelief. "You just tell it like it is, summoner. Don't know if I should resent that."

Kotone quirked an eyebrow. "You didn't answer my question."

"Doesn't matter if I do," said Dahn, standing. Raidou rose with him. "Anyway, take care of my locust. Youngest one yet."

"Its fortune will be well-used with me. However, I question your giving an opponent something she could use to your disadvantage."

"Heh. Yeah, you'd say that, wouldn't you?"

"What?"

Dahn shook his head, jumping once more on the roof. "Think of it as…compensation fer when I get my sister back after your humiliatin' defeat…but a simple thanks'll do for now."

Kotone smirked at his dream of her defeat, but was humbled by his last statement. "Thank you…Dahn."

The assassin smiled before a ripple of reality sent him on his way.

---

The train ride returning to the Tsukigata Village was not as boring as Kotone remembered, but perhaps it was because of their new addition to the party. She no longer sat in her side of the booth alone across Narumi and Tae; between her and Akane lay Gouto, and she felt no urge to sleep despite how late she had come to bed the night previous.

Although she had little knowledge compared to Dahn of the bugs used by their clan, Akane had said that the (disgusting) critters could not report back to their masters by way of telepathy. It had plagued Kotone's mind that her hasty acceptance of Dahn's 'compensation' was Raidou walking into a trap, but her discomfort was allayed by this information.

Akane was nothing like Kaya. While Kaya had also been resigned to her fate, their personalities were worlds apart. In every other aspect besides her supposed possession, the Ouran schoolgirl was a fighter, and constantly though politely insisted on speaking her mind and having her way. On the other hand, Akane was only constantly being persuaded to speak her mind, especially by Tae and her feminist ideas and Narumi's general amiability.

Still, the woman and her conversation were engaging, and Kotone was genuinely glad to have come to friendly terms with her. Women in her age group often possessed an aversion to her, as though her 'eccentricity' were a disease they would catch. Her schoolmates were especially silly, but she understood that they knew nothing of the real occurrences in the world, so Kotone was even more pleased to have such a well-mannered, cultured – though all too docile – woman as a friend.

"You're not looking so lively today, Raidou," Narumi said halfway through the trip, while Tae discussed her favorite pastries with Akane. "Been burning the midnight oil?"

"Falling asleep has become a task lately, boss," Kotone explained. Surely he knew nothing of Dahn's odd visits – he would have said something otherwise. "However, the rooftop lulls me into a harmonious fatigue."

Narumi smiled. "You've been away from your village a while now, haven't you? I know it's hard getting used to the city noises all over again."

"It isn't that, boss," Kotone assured him. The Ginroukaku building was as much of a home as her house in the Kuzunoha village now. "In any case, my demons make rounds in the night. It helps me sleep." If demons making rounds meant Leanan Sidhe and Lilim gallivanting, that was.

"Ah. If that's the case, you should get some sleep now."

"No thank you, boss," said Kotone with a finality Narumi decided not to question. The thought of sleeping anywhere close to the Tsukigata Village kept her awake. She remembered the tampered food and the numbing poison, and also expected Dahn to appear by the car door at any minute as he had days ago.

But the train ride was pleasant, and as they switched buses and stops without a problem, Kotone wondered if it was the extra luck locust at work. When they reached Tsukigata village, the cranky housekeeper at Fukuroku Inn apologized for her rudeness before, promising not to drug their food again (though Gouto, Narumi, and Raidou highly doubted it), and Tae settled into the hot springs before jumping into work while the Narumi Detective Agency returned Akane to her true father.

Narumi and Raidou explained what occurred in Councilman Narita's mansion upon Akijiro's request, to which the assassin reacted with some disappointment.

"Tasuke was a well-known Fukoshi back in the day," Akane's father explained. "I thought he might be able to handle Dahn, but it seems his life at home playing at being councilman has caused his skills to wither away."

That would explain the councilman's apparent strength, Kotone thought, but Narumi spoke first. "Right. Akijiro, there's one thing I want to ask you. Raidou here tells me Dahn apparently wants to 'save' Akane. His plan is to become some King Abaddon."

Akijiro scratched his head. "I have no idea what he means by that."

"I don't get it, though," Narumi continued, having felt as though Akjiro would deny any knowledge of the term whether or not he did. "If all he wants to do is bust up the wedding, then all this about taking the forbidden luck locusts, and trying to become King Abaddon… It all has to do with Akane's groom, doesn't it? What'd you call him? Lord Tento?"

Raidou nodded in agreement. "Lord Akijiro, who is Lord Tento?"

A grave silence passed the room. It wasn't the tense sort that had passed Kotone and Dahn many times, or the awkward one that passed Raidou and Narumi during their first days of working together. It was the kind that gave Gouto the feeling that they had broken some sort of glass they weren't even supposed to approach.

Finally, Akijiro spoke. "You have helped me a lot, searching for Dahn and saving Akane…but you're still outsiders. And you mustn't go around talking about Lord Tento. Please don't ever mention him again." He gave his thinning hair a stroke, and Narumi wasn't sure if he was aggravated or pained to have said those words.

"U-Um…" Akane had reverted to her silent self once they returned to the mansion, as though she hadn't spent the last two days enjoying the company of Tae and the Narumi Detective Agency. "Father, why don't you leave it at that? These three must be tired from the long trip… Mr. Narumi, Raidou, Gouto, I've arranged a room for you at the Fukuroku Inn. We may be out in the country, but just think of it as a vacation."

"At least someone in this town has manners," Gouto sighed.

"Yes, Miss Akane," said Raidou, slightly startling the older woman with the honorific. But if she wanted to show that no bond had been formed from her time with them, then Kotone would honor it. "Thank you for your kindness."

Akijiro waited for Akane to nod accordingly before solemnly warning them about an area in the Tento Woods called the Centipede Road. Once they thanked the man and went on their way back to the Inn to meet with Tae, Narumi glanced at Raidou and Gouto.

"That place he talked about in the Tento Woods…"

Gouto chuckled. "I think I know what he wants to do."

"What was that?"

"You read Gouto's mind, boss," Kotone translated, scattering satchels of Repulse Water wherever she stepped. She didn't want to fight demons again with Narumi still recovering from his injuries and with the possibility of his becoming involved. "We'll visit this place soon."

Narumi laughed, fixing his hat. "Sometimes, Gouto, I really think we might get along."

Gouto didn't call it misfortune so much as it was a disaster. He and Kotone had seen the sign leading to the Centipede Road and parted ways with Narumi, who would keep Tae safe in case the hostile inhabitants of the village attempted to lace their food with anything again.

There was a stone carving at Centipede Road's entrance, surely indicating instructions of some sort, but Kotone could understand it as much as she understood foreigners and went forward anyway. Each time they did, they would find themselves back at the entrance. They tried it for more than a dozen times until Gouto grew tired and resigned, vexatedly, to returning to the Fukuroku Inn without answers for Narumi.

Kotone's boss wasn't too disappointed. They still had three days to attempt to get past whatever magic was in the Road, after all, and for now there was an issue he wanted to discuss; the matter of Akane's husband. It was clear that the fastest way to save Akane from a marriage was to kill her husband, Lord Tento – to which Kotone agreed, because nothing was more impregnable than the veil of death – and since Dahn seemed determined not to take this route, there must have been something special about this Lord Tento.

"Besides the fact that he's a god?" Gouto had asked, though even the great cat, having lived for more than a thousand years, had never heard of such a deity.

In any case, Narumi came to the conclusion that King Abaddon was the real threat to the Capital, especially since Dahn, one of the better Fukoshi of his clan, was under the impression that only by becoming so would he be granted the power to defeat a god. When Tae returned from the bath, the three and Gouto split up to investigate and learn more about Lord Tento and King Abaddon.

Half an hour passed and Raidou was not so much exhausted as she was bored. It was clear that none of the villagers were willing to talk, and only when she and Gouto had decided to attempt the only more futile effort of the day – getting past the magic surrounding Centipede Road again – did they come upon an interesting man.

He was foaming at the mouth, stumbling about outside the village in the woods. There was a crazed look in his eye and Raidou had half a mind to walk past him quickly or have one of her friends put him to sleep before she was forced to do so herself, but the man had already reached her and asked her, surprisingly cordially, what she was doing there.

"Exploring the Tento Woods," Raidou said, in case this was a Fukoshi masked as a civilian. "As you are, sir."

"You…" He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're the outsider who's been associating with the Tsukigatas!"

"Perhaps," replied Raidou, stepping away from him slightly. The spit was forming at the sides of his mouth again.

"Then listen—" he said with a gasp. "Twelve years ago, I was walking through the Tento Woods on the day of the Marriage Ritual…when I saw a strange, small man covered in a shroud and a hat. He wouldn't answer me when I talked to him! But when he – when it looked at me…its eyes shone bright red! It was unhuman!" The man began to sob, curling into himself and yet keeping his wide eyes on Raidou. When he calmed himself, with Kotone and Gouto glancing at each other as though debating whether they should leave, he said quietly, "In three days…he'll be back for the Marriage Ritual."

Kotone and Gouto left him for the Centipede Road soon after that, though the man's words rang clearly in their minds. After much thought, Gouto glanced at his greatest descendant (so far). "You don't think that lunatic was talking about who I think he was talking about?"

Kotone appeared just as troubled, at least as much as a Raidou Kuzunoha could. Shining red eyes were a common trait for demons; not for gods. "Lord Tento…?"

"A strange, small man in a shroud and a hat," Gouto repeated. "Doesn't sound like a god to me."

"This calls for further investigation," was all Raidou could come up with. Despite their experience with Sukuna-Hikona, she couldn't picture Akane marrying a creature with red eyes. Gouto was right.

"We've gotta find a way to get past that barrier," her ancestor agreed, and as their luck would have it, they stumbled right into a pale young girl with long, ebony hair and distinct ice blue eyes.

"Raidou…?" Nagi gasped at the sight of her fellow summoner. "I…heard you returned to the Capital after the incident at the Tsukigata Mansion."

"Hello, Nagi," Kotone nodded. While she and Nagi were on barely cordial terms, she still found a kind of kinship with the girl she could have with no other. Perhaps it was because they were both young devil summoners, and she had long dreamt of having a friend she with whom she could discuss from a summoner's perspective. Gouto had never counted; he was her mentor, and her cousins had all been too busy competing with each other and her to spare time for conversation. Kaya and Rin wouldn't understand, and her demons themselves had always been out of the question. Even Lilim.

"Dahn found Akane hiding in Councilman Narita's estate. We retrieved her before he could take her, and upon her request returned her to Lord Akijiro. The boss had hoped to learn more of her fiancé, Lord Tento, but the chief was adamant about keeping his silence…and so are the villagers, it seems. Before we left the mansion, Lord Akijiro warned us not to tread near Centipede Road. So we believe that this Road is the key to Lord Tento."

"I see," Nagi said, eagerly taking in the information. "So now we must find out more about Miss Akane's fiancé, Lord Tento. Weren't you in the process of investigating the Centipede Road? All I know of Lord Tento in theory is his name, but... I do know that past the Centipede Road is a place where some sort of god is enshrined."

Gouto tilted his head. "Enshrined?"

"The place where Lord Tento is said to descend upon the earth," Nagi confirmed, "the Tento-Kagura. But the process of navigating the Centipede Road that leads to the Tento-Kagura is filled with traps. It is widely known that those who do not possess the Tento Talisman are incapable of passing safely."

"Tento-Kagura," Kotone repeated. "The place of the Tento Lords."

Gouto pawed at his face, an action his descendant recognized was usually performed out of frustration. "Makes sense. But, sorry to say, we don't have a Tento Talisman. So how can we get our hands on one?"

"You are very lucky that you met me here," said Nagi, the pride flowing through her voice. "In theory, my mission is to do daily patrols of the Tento Woods. The process requires me to constantly carry a Tento Talisman. I have a spare as well, for emergencies. If you wish, I can give it to you."

Raidou appeared thoughtful. "In exchange for what?"

Nagi hid her surprise. "As a reward for helping me with something, I will offer this Tento Talisman to you. There is something worth a Tento Talisman to me – I hope that you'll accept my request."

"We don't have much of a choice," Gouto sighed.

"I'm grateful for your acceptance and kindness," said Nagi, and the cat wasn't sure if she was being smart or if she really was so clueless about social cues. In any case, she continued. "The details of the process are perhaps best related elsewhere. Please come with me."

Raidou and Gouto followed Nagi through an untrodden path, so thick with shrubs and sharp bristles that after a little more than ten human steps, Kotone started to carry Gouto for fear of him scarring his body forever. He pretended it was only a shell, but even Narumi knew that the cat prided himself on his clean, almost shiny black fur.

When Kotone was no longer sure of how much time had passed, she ventured, "I must admit, Nagi…"

Nagi stopped, glancing curiously behind her as though she hadn't expected Raidou to say anything. The Great Summoner hadn't, either. When she didn't stop walking, however, Nagi resumed.

"I didn't expect you to aid me in a quest that might put your master at odds with Lord Akijiro. This must mean a great deal to you."

Nagi's eyebrows furrowed. "At odds?"

"You are Geirin's responsibility. Should you act against Lord Akijiro's wishes, the blame will rest on him."

Raidou was walking beside her now, so it was easy for Nagi to look at her, wondering if this was a test. Would this Great Summoner report her to her master? But why would she? Passing through the Centipede Road was forbidden and she was certain that Raidou wanted to keep this as much of a secret as she did. "It is important," she agreed. "You see, Master is on a mission in a neighboring town now…"

The young summoner parted thick leaves to reveal something that looked very much like the Nameless Shrine at Shinoda, and judging by the bell at the center, Gouto didn't doubt that the Herald could be summoned here, too. The only difference to what the Raidou Kuzunoha were used to was that directly west of the shrine, there was a great circular door that looked much like the lock to a safe, only its design consisted not of numbers or simple lines but intricate symbols – magic. Kuzunoha magic. Gouto recognized it as a Great Summoner's Hall.

Before Nagi could continue, Gouto spoke for her. "And while he was gone, you decided you might train some in the Great Summoner's Hall."

Nagi's eyes widened at the cat. "This theory–" She was clearly amazed. "–if it is within the bounds of your conjecture, then perhaps…!"

"That's nothing to be so riled up about," Gouto said, in a matter-of-factly way. "The trials you'll face in the Great Summoner's Hall will be no walk in the park."

They could see that Nagi was attempting to hide a frown. "But…"

"Oh, hello!" said one of the Inari statues before the Nameless Shrine, as soon as Kotone came into their line of view. "It's not often a Kuzunoha other than Geirin comes to visit. Make yourself comfortable!"

"Yes," agreed the other. "There is nothing we can do for you at present, but make yourself at home."

Raidou bowed to both foxes. "Thank you. I have only ever been graced with the presence of four Ukanomitama spirits. It's an honor to meet you."

"How polite," said one. "You must send our regards to the Inari statues back in the Kuzunoha village."

"And to those in Shinoda," agreed the other. "Commend them for aiding one of the Great Summoners; we know the burden you and Geirin bear, and so must they. Carry on, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th."

"Good day," said Raidou, and moved past them to a space between the Nameless Shrine and the Great Summoner's Hall to wait for Nagi and Gouto, whose conversation had been sidetracked by the Inari statues' greeting.

Nagi was still looking back at the foxes when she caught up. "How peculiar…they have never spoken with me before."

"That's because you're not a Kuzunoha yet. Not really. They only see those who have earned the title of Kuzunoha from their predecessor," Gouto said, already impatient. He wanted to reach this Tento-Kagura already and he didn't appreciate being sidetracked by an aspiring summoner, Geirin's apprentice or no. For as long as he'd existed, the first Raidou Kuzunoha had always been difficult to please; he almost forgot that he had treated Kotone much the same way when she was first instated as the 14th in his line. Still, he appreciated Nagi's moxie – even Kotone, or at least as far as he'd heard, had never attempted to advance her own combat training, preferring to sleep or count fish in the lake near the village.

Nagi cleared her throat, turning to Raidou as though she hadn't heard Gouto's explanation, as though she'd never asked the question to begin with. "As you must know…in order to enter a Great Summoner's Hall, one needs the blood of a true Kuzunoha. It's embarrassing to say so, but…my process of training is stuck at the front door. Part of my request is that I would like to borrow your blood…"

Kotone traced her fingers on the symbols surrounding the door, like practice. Her masters had done this before. "Geirin didn't grant you permission to do this, did he?"

Nagi pursed her lips, allowing a long pause to still the conversation. "My Master still mentally categorizes me as a neophyte. I wish to train in the Great Summoner's Hall to show him my true skill. In theory, Raidou, what would you do? If you were in my shoes…acting without my Master's permission…is this the wrong process of doing things?"

Although Nagi had asked for her opinion as Raidou, it was Kotone who gave it some thought. At the back of her mind, she wondered when she and Raidou had come to possess different approaches to matters like this, but brushed it away for the time being. In truth, she never would have even thought of training on her own. It could have been for lack of determination on her part, but mostly it was because she had been the Kuzunoha clan's focus during her training. She learned under different masters, colleagues of her father who hadn't taken the mantle, and was never without one, so the Great Summoner's Hall had not at any time been forbidden to her. That and after Lilim was taken away from her, she preferred to spend what little free time she had either sleeping, knowing better the demons of her masters and her father, or sparring with her cousins.

In any case, far be it from her to deter Nagi from pursuing her own 'theories'. Kotone herself had her own way of doing things – using some demons on humans, perhaps, which Gouto was dead set against – and she didn't like being opposed. Although she certainly wanted it, she hadn't needed Gouto's approval to shock those Fukoshi black masks with Nue's Zio magic, and neither did Nagi need hers for this. All her fellow summoner needed was her blood, and Raidou had spilled much of it before, especially fighting Rasputin, who was pitiless before he began to develop amorous desires for Miss Asakura. (She still found that odd, and highly unhygienic in case Tae ever pursued a relationship with him. It was not to be, however. Understandably, she chose a charming man like Shouhei Narumi over a lecherous, arrogant android who repulsed her.) Kotone thought out loud, "I require a Talisman and you require my blood. Would it matter?"

Nagi released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Your theory is reassuring. I did begin this process on my own, after all. Master will be pleased to see that I've gained strength. If you acquiesce, please stand still in front of the pattern…"

Kotone did. Nagi reached out for her index finger, which she supplied, and pricked it with the tip of her blade. Raidou traced the pattern on the door, refusing to let out a wince even as the small wound stung, and the two girls watched as blood red magic spread throughout the markings engraved in the door, until the circle dislodged itself from the wall with a rumble and rolled halfway to the right to allow them entrance.

Nagi beamed. It was the most cheerful Kotone had ever seen her. "Thank you for your cooperation with the process… In theory, I should now be able to enter. I will begin my self-training and proceed to defeat the major demon inside. According to my conjecture, I stand a thirty percent chance of winning currently. But with the self-training done along the way, I believe that will rise to forty. Plus…"

Kotone stared at Nagi. For one with not so many human friends, like her, she certainly possessed a penchant for talking. Then again, Raidou liked explaining things to those she thought might not know enough of the subject she wished to discuss. That made Kotone think – was Nagi under the impression that she knew little of the Great Summoner's Hall? Although it was discouraged within the clan, Raidou was prideful. On normal days she might have taken offense and perhaps reacted accordingly (if not in action, at least in thought), but most of her energy was still devoted to theories on who Lord Tento might be.

In any case, she and Gouto were both grateful when High Pixie somersaulted into the air before them, her presence stalling Nagi's rambling. Her mouth was open, ready to call Nagi's name, but she quickly caught sight of the black cap and cape and blinked. "Huh? You're Raidou… Nagi actually managed to convince you to come here? Wow, how did she—"

"High Pixie!" said Nagi, turning to the fairy with a hasty furrow of her eyebrows and a jerk of her head. In the darkness, no one could see her reddening cheeks. "Are you in the process of talking or training?"

High Pixie looked only confused, placing a hand to her waist. "What're you trying to act all mature for? You sound like Geirin always does when he's training you…"

Nagi's eyes widened. She turned her back on Raidou and Gouto, her shoulders hunched in a manner they would never have imagined she could do, and hushed High Pixie with an index finger to her lips. "S-Stop that!" she whispered furiously. "We're in the presence of Raidou…!"

His cat mouth stretching to reveal all his teeth, Gouto grinned in amusement. Raidou was a name known to all summoners. Even the apprentice of another Great Summoner should be intimidated. He looked at Kotone, but she only looked away, pretending not to have heard anything. She had felt much the same way, once, about the many Kuzunoha masters who trained her; even about her own father. And he had encouraged the disparity in power and knowledge she possessed with her schoolmates.

Nagi cleared her throat as she turned around. "I also have this demon," she said, composure fully regained. "With her, my chances of success increase to over sixty percent. The process of getting there will require more Kuzunoha blood…I'll need you to come with me. For your blood, in theory. I'll…wait for you inside."

Kotone watched her rush into the Hall and glanced down at Gouto. "Thoughts?"

Gouto shrugged, shaking his fur as though brushing away a shiver. "As nice as receiving hero worship might be, I feel like we're being played here. But if it's for the Tento Talisman, let's go along with it."

Although the Hall was within a natural cavern, red beams that resembled shrine gates held up the long, dark pathway leading into the actual proper, lamps as dim as those outside the only light leading them along.

"Well," Gouto remarked, looking around as they made their way inside, "if Geirin foresaw his apprentice's trespassing, he didn't skimp on the discouragement."

Kotone nodded in agreement, but remembered the Great Summoner's Hall in the village less fondly. This seemed almost homely compared to the place their elders made her traverse through the first time she'd been chosen to start training for the title. Of course, she was eight years old then and deathly afraid of disappointing the council, forcing herself to grow accustomed to stumbling about in the dark and using only the thought of living up to her father's name to push on, and when she returned eight years later she wasn't as terrified as she was eager to defeat the demons and start work, but the memory of the Kuzunoha clan's Hall that remained with her was that of the more distant past's. "Maybe…but Geirin knows that Nagi fears more than just the dark."

"What would she fear?" Gouto smirked up at her, his whiskers wrinkling with amusement. "Bugs, you think?"

"No," Kotone shrugged him off. She stood by her opinion that insects were the most disgusting creations known to the worlds. "The failure to fulfill her duty should her strength not suffice."

Gouto gave a small hum. "You think she's ready for that duty? For Geirin the 18th?"

"I wouldn't wish it on the 17th," said Raidou. "But Nagi seems to possess a certain spirit…" Although, she didn't appreciate how the girl always challenged her position. Nagi didn't seem to understand that the name Raidou was the most prestigious and often most powerful of the Kuzunoha clan's titles – of course she would be given charge of the Capital. Then again, Nagi had never met the Kuzunoha clan and wasn't taught the importance of hierarchy.

Gouto shrugged his cat shoulders. "She looks to Geirin too much. If he gets incapacitated, she wouldn't know what to do. Not the way you did after I took that first class trip to Tai-Itsu with..."

"Do you really think so?" Kotone asked him, nearing the actual Hall. The tunnel was surprisingly long. "I believe I was such a wreck when I thought you had died that I stayed in my room all night afterwards. The next morning was the first time I descended the office in only my pajamas."

Gouto stopped and glanced up at her, a rare smile on his face. It wasn't amusement or derision; just a smile. "I remember that. But I hadn't recovered enough yet to even speak, and Narumi had no idea what to do with you."

"He gave me coffee," Kotone recalled with fondness. "Despite the knowledge that I needed to pursue our descendant, I simply stared at it and, after the boss attempted to lighten the mood by saying it was cooling, I interrupted him – I surprised even myself, then. I swore that I would never allow another sacrifice like yours and his."

"He – died for the Capital's sake. It was an honor for him. That deserting starfish, on the other hand…"

"He was Decarabia's closest friend. It was never my intention to stop him."

Gouto shrugged his shoulders. He liked that Decarabia of hers almost as much as he liked Ippon-Dataras, and he understood the demon just as much. Until now, he still didn't understand how Kotone had gotten her hands on a starfish whose Japanese was completely off.

The sounds of Nagi's sword clashing against thick demon skin were clear now, no longer adrift in the tunnel they exited. The summoner's silver blade drew violet blood from Tsuchigumo's spotted yellow skin far from the entrance, and the demon toppled over on its arachnid back. Nagi wiped her sword against its bulb and sheathed it, breathing heavily as she resumed the straight, dignified posture expected of all Great Summoners.

Behind her, High Pixie somersaulted in the air and cheered. "You did it, Nagi! Great job!"

"It was only a victorious process because of you," said Nagi, inclining her head, her breathing slowly steadying. "Thank you."

High Pixie beamed. "You and I are unbeatable, huh? We could probably even take Raidou…"

Behind them, Gouto laughed. Nagi and High Pixie whirled. "Uh-oh!" gasped the latter.

"Raidou," Nagi cleared her throat. "You came…?"

Raidou looked genuinely confused. "Haven't we agreed to share this mutual obligation? A Kuzunoha doesn't go back on her word."

"Of course," Nagi immediately agreed, then turned around and cast a gaze over the rest of the Great Summoner's Hall, which looked familiar to Kotone though she had never stepped into Geirin's. It was painted in the traditional Kuzunoha colors, with red pillars, dark bistre flooring and soothing yellow lamps that were meant to dull the summoner's senses, so that it was up to the Kuzunoha to keep their wits about them. Occasionally, a friendly demon would provide some light, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

"To be honest," Nagi continued, "I feel more motivated and focused from just being here."

"There are many who would say otherwise," said Raidou. "The purpose of the dim lighting is to lull the summoner into some state of comfort."

High Pixie yawned. "Maybe that's why I felt kinda drowsy before that Tsuchigumo ambushed us…"

"No matter the surroundings, you must stay alert at all times," Nagi scolded lightly. High Pixie only sighed, reminding Raidou of a less shrill version of her relationship with Lilim. "Regardless, the theory is that after several obstacles, an especially strong demon awaits. We should be on our way."

Kotone nodded in agreement, drawing her sword. "I will pave us a way."

"Huh?" High Pixie flitted after Kotone with a little effort. "Shouldn't Nagi be the one clearing the path? This is her training, after all…"

"Tsuchigumo are…relatively formidable," Kotone offered, remembering when she was forced to rescue Rin. "There is always a greater demon waiting. Defeating that is better training than defeating demons less than your skill level."

High Pixie crossed her arms. "Well, if you say so, but—"

Gouto was growing impatient with the fairy's interruptions. Hadn't she done enough in the Tento Woods? He didn't hold grudges – he was a little too old for that, except for Ippon-dataras, because they were just infuriating – but stalling their progress for something so immaterial at the moment as training grated on his nerves more than anything. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Kotone, but didn't you defeat three last year?"

This seemed to strike Pixie into silence and belief in the power of a Raidou Kuzunoha, which pleased Gouto well enough to say nothing more of how they also saved the Capital. Besides, he knew Kotone was the type to brag more subtly; to show skill rather than talk of it.

Kotone ignored High Pixie and nodded at Gouto before walking forward with Nagi. She was glad to see that Nagi's favorite demon had decided to keep silent – for the time being, if Lilim's somewhat similar disposition was anything to go on – but she had hoped that her fellow summoner would speak a little more. She had felt some unease about a foreigner inheriting a Kuzunoha title, but she brushed it away because power came from different sources; Louis proved this well, and Nagi was raised in the Kuzunoha discipline, to an extent. It was with this thought that she hoped to learn more of the future Geirin, since the other two Great Summoners were male. She liked to think there was no difference, but there always would be – hence her schoolboy clothes, though Kotone did adore the schoolcap – and to have another girl someday be on par with her was, as Tae had said before, pleasant.

As they neared a door into the next area, a wall of flames burst up from a small crevice in the floor, causing High Pixie to yelp backward. The fairy touched her face and hid behind Nagi. "It's too hot!"

Nagi drew her sword. "But…" She glanced from left to right, and up and down. The flames reached the ceiling and spanned the area. There was no way around it. "This is our only way through."

Gouto sat down away from the fire and licked a paw. "Stumped. Really? Just summon a Frost-order demon to extinguish this."

Sheathing her sword, Nagi brushed a hand down her hair with some hesitation. "I…do not possess a Frost-order demon. As you can see, High Pixie is a Skill—"

"Why is that a problem?" Gouto frowned. "If you're going to be a Great Summoner – actually, even if you're just a run-of-the-mill devil summoner – you're not gonna cut it if you don't adapt. You can't depend on that High Pixie forever."

"Hey!" High Pixie scoffed, ever more reminiscent of Lilim. Kotone was possessed with the urge to summon her oldest friend, but knew that might only slow their progress. She tightened her will over Lilim's tube as Nagi's partner continued. "I can do a whole lotta things besides just flying around and being pretty, y'know!"

"You don't have to tell me twice – stalling seems innate to you."

"Ugh! What gives you the right to talk to me like that, anyway? You're – you're just a little talking cat!"

Gouto stared at High Pixie, a glare fixed in his narrowed kitty eyes. "If by little talking cat you mean the very first Raidou Kuzunoha."

High Pixie went pale, and if it was possible, so did Nagi. The fairy blinked numerous times. "Buh…but…so why—"

Watching the exchange with little interest, Raidou flicked out a tube, easing her will over it. "Jack—"

"Don't," Gouto said, whipping his tail at her foot. He obviously hadn't been the best Great Summoner – and maybe that was why he wanted to make sure the new generation of Great Summoners would always be better; more efficient. "Nagi, being a proper summoner entails not just fighting well, but possessing the ability to draw demons to your cause. Now, demons, they'll bend to power. But if you convince them instead of coercing them, they'll stay with you no matter what."

Nagi nodded, eagerly taking in information from a being older even than her Master – not that she entertained any thoughts that might imply that her Master was a lesser summoner than the first Raidou Kuzunoha. "Your theory, then…is that I must capture a Frost-order demon in order to overcome this obstacle."

"That's right. And make it quick; that Tento-Kagura's waiting for us. Kotone, wanna pitch in to your first trainee?"

Kotone wouldn't say Nagi was a trainee, but she nodded and released her grip on Lilim's tube.

"Yeah, stick with you no matter what even if you always stick them back into their tubes while they're still talking!" Lilim whined even before she fully materialized outside Kotone's magnetite. "It's like I didn't grow up with you!"

"I let you gallivant around the Capital, didn't I? That takes magnetite. And for two energetic demonesses…"

"Yeah, right," Lilim huffed. "You want your magnetite sapped so you can finally get to sleep. It has nothing to do with me or Leanan. And don't think I don't notice you favoring Leanan a lot more these days!"

"Oh, stop," Gouto said, getting in between them and rolling his eyes. "It's always this argument. You act like a married couple!"

The two friends were silenced. Kotone spoke first. "…We do not."

"Obviously," Lilim crossed her arms. "I don't know if Dominion would kill me or Kotone first. Besides, if Kotone had to marry anyone, uhh…never mind."

Kotone slowly turned her head to Lilim. "Do you want me to fuse you?"

"It was just your sub-conscious!" Lilim gasped, her seductive tail flicking out in alarm, her hands clasped together. She had known her summoner forever, and she knew that no matter what, Kotone had always made good on her threats when it counted. "I didn't even read it, it just came to me! Your mind's been overactive lately and…"

"What did I just say?" Gouto sighed. "Argue about this later, if you have to. Lilim, these are Nagi and her High Pixie. Say hey."

"Oh!" Lilim finally noticed the two females staring at her with some shock. Nagi had seen demonesses before, but never one so scantily dressed as this one. The same went for High Pixie, who looked her up and down before glancing at her own figure. "I'm Lilim, daughter of Lilith. I was cast out of my family for the sake of my best human friend, the daughter of my mother's worst enemy, and she pulls me into a tube every time I try to talk. Pleased to meet you."

"…Hello," Nagi was able to say. It was so scandalous. How would her Master feel about such a demoness? And what was she saying about being the best of friends with Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th?

"Hi," High Pixie squeaked out. "High Pixie. I've known Nagi since we were kids, too."

"I hope she doesn't stuff you inside your tube all the time because she's so busy with work."

"Oh, no," replied High Pixie, encouraged by Lilim's friendly attitude. "But she does nag a bit. She can be so serious sometimes."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Lilim laughed. Nagi and Kotone glanced at each other. "It's like—hey! Ow!"

Kotone was exerting her will over Lilim's bind to her again, but only slightly. The small tugs and pinches were always the most painful.

"This is abuse!" Lilim exclaimed.

Gouto groaned. "Four teenage girls. Really. Where's Narumi when you need him?"

"I was only trying to catch your attention," Kotone said with a hint of a smile. "We'll speak of your trespassing later. For now…please recite that spell you attempted in the Fukorutsubo. Try to attract a Frost-order demon. Nagi needs one."

"…Yes," Nagi agreed after some time.

"Oh, now you're saying please," Lilim grumbled, but sent a grin Kotone's way before chanting her spell again. The violet aura surrounded her, and then a sound of the tiny padding of feet towards them.

The demon was blue with a long chin, large ears and a heavy stomach, his hands rubbing over his bellybutton greedily. Red eyes stared at them thoughtfully and grinned, creepily laughing in a manner that made High Pixie cringe.

"A Preta? That's all you could muster? Even Tatsumi could summon Preta…" Gouto clicked his cat tongue pitifully.

Lilim opened her eyes and made a grimace. "Well…that's probably the only Frost-order demon around in this area. How should I know? I'm just the—don't you put me back in my tube, Kotone!"

Kotone raised her hands in defeat after returning Lilim's tube into its slot on her vest. "Very well. Go ahead, Nagi."

Nagi gave on eager nod and stepped forward. "Preta," she ventured bravely, despite never having spoken with other demons cordially besides High Pixie and her masters'. "Join me."

Gouto covered his own face with a paw. Even Raidou blinked awkwardly, and Lilim giggled.

The Preta stared up at Nagi in confusion. "Sooo hungryyy," he groaned. "Who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Nagi—"

"Not that," the Preta laughed, his stomach bouncing as he dismissed her with a downward wave. "Your Summoner title."

"I…see…" Nagi stiffened for a moment before finally turning and glancing questioningly at Raidou, as though asking for help pained her.

Kotone nudged Lilim, who whispered in High Pixie's ear, "Get over there! This is a teamwork type of thing."

"Right!" High Pixie flitted between Nagi and the Preta, hands square on her waist. "Hey, Preta! I know it's not too obvious, but Nagi's a great summoner and you should join her! Okay?"

The Preta frowned. "Huh? I don't care about that…"

Gouto was shaking his head. Kotone wondered if she should step in, and Lilim decided for them both.

"Oh, just watch," she said, happy to sound like an experienced demon. To her credit, they did save the Capital. Maybe they were young, but she didn't understand why the Kuzunoha clan still treated her and Kotone like new blood.

Lilim flapped her batlike wings over to Preta and spun in the air, allowing her hair to flip before her attractive features settled for her usual seductive smile. "Hello there," she said, her voice suddenly deeper than usual; husky. "I've heard of you Preta…your greed is insatiable. That's exactly why you should become Nagi's demon."

The Preta lifted his head curiously, his wide lips turning up for a smile again. "Why'd you say that, pretty demon?"

Lilim grinned at Nagi. "All yours."

Nagi stepped forward. "I am a devil summoner. You may conjecture that—"

"No, no, no!" Gouto snapped, his tail flicking impatiently. "You're supposed to convince him to join you. Not bore him to aggravation!"

"Your instructions did say to convince the demons to her cause," Kotone whispered.

"Talking cat," the Preta noted, rubbing his stomach. "You look tasty…"

"Do you know what else is tasty?" Lilim asked, taking the reins once more. She had never seen a more clueless female summoner – then again, she had only ever known Kotone, which spoke even greater volumes of Nagi's naivete. Perhaps she wasn't a Japanese beauty, but she was a beauty all the same! The girl didn't know the power she wielded. "Your hunger will be as nothing with Nagi – but you'll have to work to be filled. How about it?"

"Sounds interesting," said the Preta, patting his stomach lightly like a drum. "But first you have to gimme a life stone!"

"What?" High Pixie scoffed. "You want us to bribe you into—"

"Just do it," Lilim sighed, realizing she didn't have the patience to be a wise old demon. Then again, her mother was one of the oldest in existence and she was a catty, impatient old lady. Still fiercely attractive, however, and never looked older than thirty. The demoness reached a hand into Raidou's cape and tossed the Preta a Life Stone. "There."

"Thanks!" the Preta gobbled it up gleefully and sighed contentedly. Approaching Nagi, he handed her a small, rectangular piece of hard, durable paper – a business card. "I'm Preta. Nice to meetcha!"

Nagi blinked, but received the card, tucked it into her jacket, and bowed accordingly. "…My pleasure, Preta. I am Nagi."

"Nice name. Sooo," Preta said, searching Nagi for possible tubes. He'd heard about tubes before. His own friends who had befriended the humans who would be their summoners spoke of a certain fulfillment from living under the binding influence of a tube. It could be a collar if used harshly, and paradise if one built enough rapport and trust with his summoner. That pretty demon looked happy enough. "Are you…gonna put me in a tube or did you want me to do something for ya?"

"Yes," said Nagi, surprised at how easily that went. She felt somewhat undermined, since Lilim had done most of the work, but Raidou seemed to take no pride from it, so she decided to address it later. "These flames bar our passage. In theory, our best interest wills that you cool it down."

"Piece of cake!" Preta laughed, and Nagi felt some amusement, watching him hobble with his stomach out and his arms flapping. Her new demon inhaled sharply, and then blew out a gust of cold air, some particles crystallizing into ice from the cold, and the fire dimmed. It was a weak ice attack compared to those dealt by her master's Jubokko, whom she often encountered wandering around the Tento woods, but it was an ice attack by her demon all the same.

"Thank you," said Nagi as they stepped over the small crevice. She almost expected it to fire up again and narrowed her eyes at it as though that would stop it from happening, and glanced back at Raidou and Gouto in relief when, as they crossed the fire gate, it dissipated into nothing.

"No problem! Anything else?" asked the Preta, smiling almost eerily, eyeing Gouto with a lick of his lips.

"I think it's time you let him rest in his tube," said Gouto, keeping close to Kotone's ankles in case the demon tried anything. "Get an empty one and will him into it. Be careful about thinking of releasing him, because that weakens the tube's control. If your will is weak enough, he might escape his tube into the human world. Got it?"

"All right," said Preta, closing his eyes and bracing himself. "I'm ready!"

Nagi retrieved a tube from her jacket and performed the task as instructed. With a green flash of light, Preta disappeared. It amazed her, though she showed it only with a small, triumphant smile. Her master didn't use tubes often; he allowed his friends to wander the Tento Woods, keeping the free demons in order as much as possible, or guiding the way of lost villagers. High Pixie had never been fond of her tube, either. She preferred the human world to the demon world, since she had spent most of her time here. But if it was what the Preta preferred, then so be it.

"Wow, Nagi!" High Pixie clapped her hands. "Your first demon! I mean, you know. One that you got yourself. Sort of…"

"Next time, try not to talk about your actual reason. Only the higher level demons care about that stuff, and most of the time, even they don't want to hear it. Try to get a feel for what they like to talk about; like normal humans. With a body like yours, though, you can convince most of them to do anything. To recruit female demons, get a cute demon like Jack Frost," Lilim said, having been surprisingly quiet until then. Kotone's mind was brimming with new thoughts, her mind completely out of the situation at hand. Granted, her friend had her own Hall that looked much the same as this, but the 14th wasn't even trying to concentrate.

She trusted the Nagi girl with the responsibility of handling a Great Summoner's Hall more than Lilim thought was appropriate (and Lilim knew inappropriate) mostly because she was a summoner her age, but it was easy to see just by how inexperienced the foreign girl was with negotiating with even a simple Preta that she was way in over her head with this. It was almost funny; in situations like this, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th had always been the epitome of a good soldier. She was efficient, silent, and focused – the only differences she had in that state with those Yomi-kugutsu, if Lilim were to be honest, were that Raidou was living flesh and her uniform was black. At the moment, Kotone was just haywire and throwing her trust around like Lilim threw kisses.

Nagi and High Pixie both looked startled at Lilim's passing mention of their bodies. This demon wasn't at all what they had expected Raidou to keep company with. Perhaps Nue, a beast who tore at his enemies, a fighter, but not a seductress. And for her to have been Raidou's oldest friend?

But Nagi hadn't the time to conjecture about another Great Summoner when she could be training to show her master her progress, and pressed open two doors that led into a small chamber, at the end of which was a foggy Onmyo Mirror, resting on an elaborately crafted altar. The path outside was blocked by a seal, which would only be undone after smearing Kuzunoha blood on the mirror.

Gouto cringed as they approached it and glanced up at Kotone. "The only thing about Great Summoner's Halls is that you're anemic by the time you get out."

Raidou stared contemplatively at her right index finger, squeezing it slightly to draw more blood. Without turning, she asked Nagi, "Are you prepared?"

Nagi nodded, almost in confusion. "Please daub your blood on the mirror." She tensed when Raidou did, unsheathing her sword and frowning. "Wait! I sense something dangerous…!"

Lilim had felt it, too, but that presence was already looming over them when they entered the room. She knew because though Kotone's mind was as chaotic as the Akarana corridor all on its own, her friend was still instinctively tense.

A voice sounded out from everywhere. Lilim had always found it difficult to detect the free demons; this was Nue's job. "Ho-hohh… You seem to be pretty true to yourself, youngster. That's all fine and dandy, but I think you're a mite hard-headed. I think I'll give you a test just to see how strong them convictions of yours are…what do you think?"

"Show yourself!" Nagi demanded.

"Go ahead," replied Kotone. A great flush of energy signaled the arrival of innumerable Obariyon. She had felt something similar to this before, when she'd fought Dahn in Narita's mansion. The sudden spike his energy took had nearly nauseated her – she had never felt such power – but these Obariyon were low-leveled. What had surprised her was their number, and how their energy seemed to stack to create a more powerful force.

Amidst them lumbered an Obariyon almost as large as a Tsuchigumo, whipping his head back and forth to shake the hair from his face to no avail, as Fury-order Obariyon were wont to do. She certainly didn't want that climbing on her back.

Nagi advanced with her tiny blade and stabbed at the silver swirl on his chest that seemed to serve as a bullseye, only for it to bounce off and annoy the Obariyon quick enough for it to attempt to swipe at the young summoner and throw her against the wall like a rag doll. Geirin's apprentice was swift if anything, however, and backed away quick enough to dodge, still in perfect stance as Gouto was certain she practiced.

Raidou drew her sword and hopped onto the railings surrounding the mirror, then climbed the Obariyon by the hair. He cried out, cursing at Raidou until she managed to saw his braid off and distract him long enough to plunge her sword into him as a finishing blow. She had been a neophyte, too, though that seemed long ago now – and had also made the mistake of believing that its chest was its weak point. Why else would there be a target there, and on its elbows, fingers and palms, if not to aid a young summoner in finding its weakness?

It did serve as an aid, but only to teach new summoners that though the weakest point of a human was his heart, devil weaknesses varied per actual demon. Gozuki's, for instance, was his foot. A fatal attack to the Obariyon meant the nape of their necks, right where their braids began.

Once their leader fell, the Obariyon were easy to dispatch. In the haze of the battle, Lilim couldn't pay attention to Kotone and was sent back to her tube. Aeros and Dominion were summoned, pleasant as always and ready to perform tasks without complaint.

"Flurry!" she ordered as soon as they materialized, motioning all around the room. They had trained and fought together enough to know where to angle their Force attacks so that Gouto was kept safe, and Nagi and High Pixie, attempting to fight Obariyon one by one, were mostly unharmed. Devil numbers were decimated, and soon their bodies dissipated back to the Dark Realm, where corpses of demons who died in the human world without summoners remained forever.

The Onmyo Mirror glowed as Dominion and Aeros returned to their tubes, signifying the disappearance of the barrier that hindered Nagi's progress. Said summoner focused on regaining her equilibrium and catching her breath, and then glanced at Raidou in amazement. She watched her master do as much; she had never expected Kotone, who seemed so quiet the first time they met and unconscious the next, to be capable of ending such a battle this quickly as well.

"And that," said Lilim, squeezing out of her tube with a slight glare as Kotone willfully lessened her grip on it, "is why you want to get different types of demons. One for every order, you know? Although nothing could ever have prepared us for Oumagatsu, huh?"

Kotone sheathed her sword, feeling odd as she recalled the memory. She was like one of her childhood masters. "Yes. However, demons necessarily created for Evil purposes are difficult to come across."

"Which makes Hiruko a collector's edition devil!" Lilim said. When Nagi and High Pixie exchanged clueless glances, she sighed. "Never mind. The point is, that's how Great Summoners with their partner demons do it. Understand? You'll get used to it eventually. Sometimes," she yawned affectedly, "I don't think we're challenged enough anymore..."

"I should like to see Binbou-gami again," Kotone agreed. "When this is over. I owe him a victory."

Lilim grimaced. She hadn't seen the Fiend, but Dominion had told her stories about him. "You'd better, after what he did to poor Pyro."

"Moving on," said Gouto, clearing his throat. He suddenly remembered why he recommended that Kotone practice away from her demons. "Is there anything else we need to do here?"

"No," said Nagi, still finding it difficult to wrap her head around Raidou talking so friviously with such a scantily clad demoness. "We almost have the means to fight the guardian demon. Now, uhm…I know this may not be the best time to ask, but…"

Nagi's inability to meet her gaze was so surprising that Kotone glanced at Gouto inquisitively, but the cat only shrugged. "What is it?"

"I'd like to hear your opinion on something else. Uhm…Raidou, you…" Nagi adjusted her collar. "Ahh, no…Umm, never mind. Please forget it…"

This wasn't like Nagi at all. Or she supposed it was, but Kotone had never seen this side to Nagi. And directed at her. At Geirin, perhaps, whom she clearly adored. "Yes?"

"Right," Gouto frowned. "If there's nothing else—"

"Oh, let her finish, Gouto," said Lilim, tapping her tail viciously at the cat's head.

"Uggh, what are you doing, Nagi?" High Pixie groaned, glancing at Lilim briefly in embarrassment. She didn't want to feel inferior to the demoness, but it was difficult not to, with her seeming so experienced, having seen so many battles with the Protector of the Capital, even if they were only the same age. "Why are you being so shy? You should just ask Raidou, the way you asked me earlier. Remember, I'm always right behind you! Just pull yourself together and go for it! Do it!"

"Yes…I see your point." Nagi cleared her throat several times before facing Kotone again. "Raidou, what I wanted to ask you...there are two prevailing theories on how to keep demons. One says they should be treated as tools necessary to complete the mission; no more, no less. The other prescribes treating them as comrades… Sharing your joy with them, to grow together. I might already theorize as to what your answer will be, but…hypothetically, which theory do you believe in?"

"They should be treated as tools," Kotone replied as though it was the most natural answer in the world.

Nagi appeared surprised and then thoughtful. "So, according to your theory, and this is only hypothetical, if this Pixie died during combat… You believe we shouldn't shed a tear for her. I…" She looked almost ashamed, but indignant, at the same time. "I don't know if I can be that way…"

High Pixie was horrified. "B-But…! Lilim! How can you stand there while Raidou says that?"

"Oh, she's not done talking yet," Lilim snorted.

"Hypothetically," Kotone repeated. "Devil summoners become so not to foster friendships with demons but to manipulate their power for their own goals. Hypothetically, when you acquired that Preta, it should have been the same as acquiring a new blade. Hone it well, but throw it away when it rusts and becomes useless to you. Acquire a new one, as would be logical."

"In theory," Lilim repeated. "Working with us is different, isn't it? No matter how irritating your summoner or your demon might be, you learn to care for them. Growing together and sharing joys and pains aren't avoidable…whoever says otherwise has a stone heart. No life should ever be treated as a tool."

"So…what you mean to say is…one's beliefs and one's actions do not always coincide?"

"Sure, if you want to go deeper," Lilim laughed. "Not that this isn't already too morally uplifting for me."

Nagi paused, nodding. "It sounds so simple in theory."

"Doesn't everything?" Lilim asked. "You're born with your mom telling you, don't go near that devil summoning brood! You tell yourself you won't ever do that, of course, but the next day you can't help but be friends with that lonely little girl chock full of colorful bruises on her body from training."

"Do you speak of Raidou and yourself?" Nagi asked curiously.

"Yeah! Let me tell you, when she was a kid, she always loved…" To Kotone's chagrin, Lilim began telling Nagi stories of their childhood. Engrossed in their conversation (though it was something more of a monologue by Lilim), the two made their way out of the room with the Onmyo Mirror without so much as a glance at their companions.

"Isn't it nice how they talk about you like you're not there?" Gouto asked, whiskers twitching. Before Kotone could open her mouth to answer, he frowned. "Now let's go."

High Pixie and Raidou followed Gouto outside, the pixie pulling the latter aside for a moment to tell her that her presence had brought forth a change in Nagi. She thought harder now, High Pixie said, and shared her concerns more often. Not to mention she spoke of Raidou almost always, a fact that certainly shocked Kotone. She, too, had thought much on Nagi as a future Great Summoner, but the girl had always dismissed her in favor of her master, which struck Kotone as somewhat…disrespectful, given her position, but she tried to think nothing of it. Raidou was only too pleased to have a girl her age training to possess a title like hers.

Another Onmyo Mirror stood in their way to the guardian, and as Kotone wiped her bloody finger on it, a set of demons with relatively low skill levels launched themselves on their party. They were defeated, and after much prodding from High Pixie, Nagi asked Raidou one of the questions her demon had mentioned she was thinking a little too much about.

Nagi had asked her why she battled constantly. Was it to improve herself and gain strength, or to maintain peace according to the duties of a devil summoner? Kotone admitted to herself that it was a difficult question. The first had been easy to deflect, but this – she wasn't certain herself. Raidou was supposed to be strong. Without power, a devil summoner was defenseless, and so would be the people she protected. On the other hand, her father was always at the back of her mind. She refused to have a fate like his.

Kotone cheated and said that it was for the sake of the people that she fought. In theory, as Nagi said, it shouldn't have been a lie. But her answer had nearly felt foreign on her tongue. True to her character, Nagi doubted her answer and questioned it, but if she was as impressionable as High Pixie had mentioned, then she would follow the Kuzunoha ideals to the letter yet.

The barrier fell. They encountered physical obstacles behind it, specifically made for demons of the Fury and Pyro order, but Lilim couldn't summon a demon for every task, and so Mezuki and Pyro Jack did the work without Gouto having to suffer through another sad attempt at recruitment by Nagi. She and High Pixie entered the room with the guardian demon ahead as Kotone took care of stray demons set to block their path.

"Nagi, there is a staggering amount of demonic energy in—" Raidou looked back after defeating an aggressive horde of Fury-order Slimes, sheathing her sword, but Nagi was already inside. "Hmm."

One round of Dia for all her demons later, Raidou pressed open the doors leading to the guardian.

Nagi's swordwork took Raidou's breath away. For all her inexperience in recruiting demons, her speed was astounding. Granted, the girl's weapon was much lighter than Raidou's blade, but she was impressed nonetheless. Had Kotone been any less trained in the art of swordfighting, she would have seen nothing past Nagi's elbows as she pulled back, thrust forward, and slashed at her opponent.

The guardian demon was too skilled for her, however. Blue with one small head on top of the larger other and eight arms, two pressed together calmly and six with different kinds of weapons he threw at her at different intervals, Nagi was both outmatched and, in a sense, outnumbered. Despite High Pixie's Dia spells and own attempts to distract the demon by flitting around his face, the duo faced an inevitable loss.

Raidou stood back. Upon hearing her enter, Nagi had thrown her a look that said not to interfere. She hadn't intended to, given that this was the girl's training session and she was only truly here to receive a Tento Talisman, until the side of the guardian's stave hit Nagi across the chest and hurtled her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her. Had he thrust its blunt end at her instead of its shaft, Nagi's ribs would have shattered.

Nagi wheezed, looking up at the demon in disbelief. High Pixie attended to her worriedly, but her partner was already tired and could barely keep her eyes open. "It was far…outside the bounds of my conjecture…!"

"Know your fragility, little human," the guardian's voice boomed as he stomped heavily over to Nagi. "You are unworthy to be entrusted with the protection of this land."

High Pixie gave a pathetic cough, the flapping of her fairy wings faltering as she stumbled over to her partner. "U-Ugh…Nagi…it hurts…"

"If only Master was here…" Nagi forced out, touching her body where the demon had hit her before. The pain of her wounds and caught up as the adrenaline drained from her. A little more and she would cry. "Master…please help…!"

This was enough for Raidou, who made herself known by drawing her blade. The guardian saw her through his peripheral view and narrowed his eyes at her as though she were a bug unworthy of his attention. "Are you my next opponent?"

"I would challenge you," said Raidou, bowing.

His haughty expression faded into one of quiet regard. "Very well. I am Atavaka, the Fudo Myo-o and guardian of this country. Show to me that you are worthy to be entrusted with its protection – your limits shall be tested under the brutal force of my assault!"

Atavaka launched himself at Kotone. If Nagi hadn't been able to match his speed, neither would Raidou. Her technique of choice drew its power from force, which had always made up for lack of agility. Nagi, at least, had managed to keep up with the demon and parry his blows, but Raidou jumped away when she knew his barrage of attacks using a stave, a sword, throwing stars, and even a whip would become too much.

Jack Frost attempted to heal Nagi and High Pixie with Dia while Kotone ran away from Atavaka. He bounded after her until she jumped towards the wall, propelling herself hard enough against it to perform a backward flip over his head and pulling out her revolver, shooting at his top fingers before landing behind him. Atavaka's golden throwing weapons clattered noisily as they hit the ground. Atavaka howled in pain, silencing the room – even Raidou stopped to watch for his reaction – but the demon gave only a serious nod and bowed for a moment.

"Hmm," he said flippantly, "your capacity is much greater than the girl before. The way you live is doubtlessly reflected in the way you fight. That is the sort of opponent I cherish."

Raidou breathed heavily. She couldn't stop moving, or the bruises he had dealt her would start to pin her down as they had Nagi. "You are a challenge, yourself."

Atavaka smirked, then twirled his stave in the air once more. "Then shall we continue the test of your abilities?"

Raidou said nothing and ran at him, only to duck as he swung his sword, then turned to slice at his back with hers. The back of his head contained not hair, however, but another face, and he stepped forward to evade her blows.

"Let me help, Ko-ho-ne!" Jack Frost squealed from the sidelines, briefly glancing back at High Pixie with fatigue in his voice. "There's no-ho-thing else I can hee-do here…"

Raidou grunted her assent when it was impossible to penetrate the sphere Atavaka had created for himself with his weapons, throwing his arms around in a terrifyingly calculated manner. There would be no better swordsmaster than him. It would be impossible to beat him physically. Could that be the point...? He existed, after all, to test not a swordsman's abilities but a summoner's as a whole. This included cooperation with devils. Kotone had always tried to fight demons herself, having grown accustomed to the law that demons were not to be used against human opponents, but perhaps it was time to throw that away. She had deserted it long enough.

Kotone paused, standing still before Atavaka. He loomed so that her head did not go higher than his stomach, and raised his stave and sword, ready to strike.

"Cocytus again, Jack!"

Jack Frost obeyed. Raidou ducked, covering her head with her hands. The freezing crystals surrounded Atavaka's arms and froze him solid long enough for Raidou, shaking her fingers free of the cold that had reached her, to draw blood from Atavaka's knees.

When Atavaka broke the ice the way Dahn's Taromaru had been unable to, he roared fiercely and staggered forward. Stopping, his eyes lowered without his head and it dawned on him what had happened. Falling to his knees, he hissed in pain. "Splendid!" he admitted through grinding teeth. "You are…well-suited to protect this country without succumbing to any diversions, Devil Summoner! What do they call you?"

Returning his bow, she spoke. "Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th. Protector of the Capital."

Atavaka's smirk returned. "A title duly earned. If my brutal strength can be a help to you, you are more than welcome to call upon me for support. I will…" he raised his head and met Kotone's eyes in acknowledgement. "I will see you again."

Gouto cheered triumphantly as Atavaka disappeared for the time being, but there wasn't a moment to spare. He, Raidou and Jack Frost surrounded Nagi and High Pixie immediately.

Jack Frost's eyes were downcast. "I…I hee-led the human, Ko-ho-ne, but…the pixie was too-ho injured…"

Nagi cradled High Pixie in her hands, her eyes misting. Before she could speak, the pixie weakly gave her best smile. "I'm sorry, Nagi…it looks like…this is the end for me…"

Kotone glanced at Nagi for a moment before bowing her head. "N-No…you can't! You can't give up that easily!" the latter girl demanded, a whimpering sound stuck in her throat. "I won't allow it!"

High Pixie shook her head. "Bye, Nagi… Become a great summoner, like…like Raidou…"

"No…!" Nagi cried out, touching her best friend's lifeless body to her face, but swallowed down a sob. She wouldn't cry yet. "Curse my lack of experience…"

Gouto nudged Kotone, urging her to say something. She was closer in age to the beginner summoner, after all, but Raidou didn't know what to say. There was nothing she could do. Words of comfort from her had always been a promise – to avenge, to give, to take, to do. Not meaningless words from the air. "Nagi—"

"I-If, in theory, she had been your demon rather than mine," Nagi started, a hardened, almost angry expression on her face, "would she have had to go through the process of dying? Could you have saved her…Raidou?"

Kotone pursed her lips. High Pixie would have been better-trained in battle. In fact, she wouldn't even have participated in it. "Yes."

A hiss escaped Nagi's lips as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm so angry…but not at you, Raidou… It's because you're right that I'm angry with myself!"

Gouto sighed, pawing his nose slightly before speaking. "Don't turn sob sister on us or you'll never make the grade. Demons can become friends, but with a job like yours, they come and they go. That's how it is for a devil summoner."

Jack Frost took High Pixie's limp body from Nagi and returned her to her tube from the time being. The young summoner's will had been so weak that even he was able to do it.

"If you're going to be one of us, Nagi," Gouto added, "you'd best understand that."

Ashamed, Nagi stared at the ground. "Devil summoners… Raidou, has this…?"

"Yes," answered Kotone. Tai-Itsu had never been far from her mind. She would have explained had the familiar clicking of heeled boots not entered the room.

Nagi gasped. "M-Master!"

---

Geirin Kuzunoha the 17th crossed his arms, a heavy frown evident on his mouth and eyebrows as he listened to his apprentice explain her actions after apologizing to Raidou. Nagi had been honest – she wanted to come closer to his skill level. She had been very honest – she believed Geirin deserved a greater position than Raidou.

"It's not outside the bounds of my conjecture," she had stammered, "that you would even be entrusted with the Capital."

Kotone had expected her to say something to that effect and deftly deflected it, while Gouto tried not to snort in derision. In the end, Geirin appeared quite unhappy. Disappointed, he'd described himself, and left. Nagi looked like nothing worse could possibly happen, and picked herself up only when Gouto spoke, saying that reprimands were part of one's training. Biting her slightly trembling lip, Nagi nodded and thanked the two Raidou, finally handing over the Tento Talisman she had promised. Kotone was glad when she acknowledged and apologized for her derisive words pertaining to Raidou's strength.

Nagi sighed. "Wh-What should I do?" she asked, obviously distraught. "When Master touches his hair, it is a sign that he's upset, but now he won't even look at me! Should I begin the process of reconciliation and apologize to him? Or should I wait for things to smooth over on their own?"

Kotone felt cold sweat forming at the nape of her neck. No one had ever asked for her advice concerning this. She had always been such an obedient apprentice, she now realized, never overstepping her boundaries and following orders to the letter. She had understood that her masters meant to create the perfect summoner, and she had wanted that for herself, as well. They'd had her complete trust. Why speed up or slow down the process? Why create a situation where an apology was necessary?

Clearly, she hadn't known any better. Perhaps if she'd been more challenging like Nagi from the start, her decision to go her own way about dealing with meddlesome humans, to state her own opinions, wouldn't be so shocking to the council.

Nevertheless, Nagi stared at her as though her world depended on the answer, and Raidou would rather turn into a demon herself than disappoint. "I would apologize," she answered, making herself sound knowledgeable. She had done the same when she first faced the Kantou haguro-gumi, and that had worked well enough, hadn't it? "You have every reason to lie, but a master should know his student better than anybody else."

"That…that's your theory?" Nagi took a deep breath. "Truthfully, um, I'm a little scared. But if you say so, I'll apologize. I'm glad I talked to you…I feel a little better now. I'll be waiting for you at the Tento Woods. Thank you, Raidou."

Gouto and Kotone watched her go, and the former chuckled. "Someday, when you have a pupil…"

Kotone appeared thoughtful. "Will I?"

"If you're lucky like the 12th was, you'll be training both your child and your grandchild," Gouto replied, a little jarred at the thought of the 14th being with child. It was much too soon to dwell on that. In any case, she was seventeen and she spoke of blades more fondly than the opposite sex… "Anyway, let's go. Finally, we can get to the thing that started all of this drama – the Tento-Kagura."

Having apologized to Geirin upon advice given her, Nagi was fully composed when Kotone and Gouto returned to Centipede Road, and instructed them in the ways of the tablets scattered around the area. They were riddles, telling the wanderer when and where to pass to reach the end of the road. She offered to take them the whole way as thanks for helping her come to the decision of apologizing to her Master, but Gouto had insisted that they were fully capable of solving the riddles themselves and refused.

Curious enough, it was Mezuki who solved them all, having forced himself out of his tube in his thirst to 'challenge his mind.' It suited Gouto well enough later on, when he couldn't figure out the riddles himself.

Well-tended shrubs lined the path to the Tento-Kagura, an elevated sanctuary that resembled a typical kagura-den. A long flight of stairs climbed up to the darkness; a fitting hiding place for a hideous god, if the frothing man in the woods was to be believed. Raidou couldn't see beyond the front pillars, but she did see a Fukoshi black mask at the foot of the stairs.

"Heads up," said Gouto, noticing the same.

"Peculiar," Nagi remarked, tilting her head ever so slightly in curiosity. "The 8th Fukoshi clan warriors wear grey."

"Those who wear black have defected to Dahn's cause," Raidou explained.

"Then Dahn's here…!" Gouto frowned, glancing up at Nagi. "Look alive. Kid's not a bad fighter."

Drawing her sword, Nagi would have replied had the Fukoshi – who'd been staring at them curiously in return – yelped in surprise. "Y-Yew!" he rudely pointed a finger at Raidou, "We…we met at Mannen-Cho an' Narita's place! Dammit! Daaaahn!"

Kotone hadn't forgotten him. This one had never quite been a threat. If he didn't want her dead, she might have remembered him fondly.

The Fukoshi, sputtering about Dahn and a Devil Summoner, quickly turned on his heels and faded from the world.

"If Dahn has returned to the Tsukigata Village…" Nagi's eyebrows furrowed before she asked Raidou, "You were not surprised that he'd be here. Did you know…?"

Kotone paused. "It was a conjecture of mine," she answered. "Didn't you, of his obsession with finding Akane?"

"I suppose that isn't a far-flung conjecture," Nagi acceded.

When they reached the top, two black-masked Fukoshi flanked a taller figure in a familiar red jinbaori. Behind them all was a hole in the wall where that should have been a door. When she looked more closely at it, she realized that the wall seemed to have been built around the hole. Were those – rocks – inside?

"Dahn," said Kotone with a familiarity that went over her companion's heads. When she realized her mistake, she added, "Tsukigata."

Dahn snorted from behind his red mask before tilting his head in acknowledgement. While his men had their swords drawn, he possessed an easy-going stance. "Well, well. Fancy meetin' you here," he said. Kotone could almost feel the grin emanating from him, if that made sense. But he hadn't made sense since the moment she bumped into him on the Ushigome-gaeri bridge.

"Your average devil summoner couldn't have gotten past Centipede Road… But I shouldn't be surprised, right? Because it's you, Raidou." He turned his head to the other girl in their presence. They had known each other, vaguely, since their childhood, like ornaments present in a home but never viewed in detail. "And you. You're Nagi, ain't you? Geirin's little apprentice."

"Then it should not be beyond the bounds of your conjecture that I can battle as well as any of you," Nagi retorted, her hand at her hilt, but Gouto pressed a paw on her boots, signaling for her to desist.

Dahn's shoulders shook, as though he were laughing quietly. He waved a quieting hand at his men, who'd been insulted by her remark. Nagi's face burned with embarrassment at the way he had so flippantly dismissed her. "I get it, Raidou. You had Nagi guide you through Centipede Road, didn't you? Still, that makes you the first outsider to get through." He crossed his arms. "Looks like I'd better quit takin' you lightly, Raidou…not that you can beat me or nothin'."

Kotone couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. That was false and he was completely aware of it. She didn't know if he was playing around or not with his attitude, and that made her want to remove his mask and punch him square in the face. Raidou realized what passed through her mind moments later and reprimanded herself quietly. Control was key. Control was power. When Dahn continued, she forced herself to listen calmly.

"After I lost myself a locust, I couldn't find Akane anywhere in the Capital," Dahn said, and if he hadn't a mask on he would have winked at Raidou. "Heard you'd up and left, too. Wasn't hard to put two and two together and figure she went with you to Tsukigata Village. I mean, where else would y'go?" He motioned to the black-masked Fukoshi surrounding him. "That's why me'n my boys rushed back here so quick… And we were right on the money, weren't we? Akane's in the Tsukigata Mansion, huh?"

Dahn nodded to himself, obviously very pleased. "Whaddya think? I'm not just strong, I'm smart, too."

"If you already know this, Dahn, why waste your time here?"

"Kotone!" Gouto scolded, but was ignored.

"Same reason you are," Dahn shrugged, tilting his head in a way Kotone knew meant to patronize. It was difficult to pretend that she hadn't spoken with him since the incident at Narita's; especially since he kept making references to it. But she wouldn't break. "You're plannin' to check out Lord Tento, ain't you, Raidou?"

Raidou stared into his mask, wondering how he could see her through it. It was unfair how he could look upon her when she couldn't see his face. "Yes."

Dahn scratched the back of his head, noting her cold reply. "Well now…I was plannin' to lay low till the day of the Marriage Ritual, but I got some time to kill. Consider this a personal invitation," he said, extending a hand out to her, "a free one-day pass to the Tento Sanctuary, just for you, Raidou!"

Nagi ignored Dahn's laughter and glanced at Kotone. "Tento Sanctuary…? I've never heard of…"

Dahn dropped his arm, glancing at Nagi for a moment as though he'd overlooked her presence "Sorry, little lady. The invite's only for Raidou." He waved at her away with a shake of his head. "You run along home now, all right? What I'm gonna show her might be a little too much for you."

Nagi was clearly displeased, but she thought of throwing herself into unknown places and was reminded of High Pixie's demise only an hour previous. She kept quiet.

Dahn took it as his cue to say more. "This hole past the Tento Entrance – it's the Tento Sanctuary where Lord Tento lives. Once we get in there, there's somethin' I want you to see, Raidou. Three, four things, come to that. I'll be waitin' inside – see ya."

Kotone stared blankly at where Dahn stood after he rippled away with his men, returning only to her senses when Nagi spoke. "I wonder what the things he wanted to show you are…I'm drawing a blank on theories as to what they might be."

Raidou nodded, finding nothing useful to say on the matter, and stepped forward. Gouto followed before looking back at Nagi. "Well? Are you coming?"

"Dahn said…"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained, kid," said Gouto.

There was a steep decline immediately after the entrance. Gouto leapt down effortlessly, landing always on his feet, while Kotone and Nagi took opposite sides of the rocky walls – caverns, in fact, said Nagi – and groped their way down through the darkness, following something that glowed blue in the distance below.

Crystals, and not lights, as Nagi had previously theorized, and why should there have been lights here? It was only right, but peculiar all the same. Blue crystals scattered throughout the cavern walls lit a series of underground tunnels so long, Raidou couldn't see the end of them. She was certain they spanned the entire village, if not further.

"The Tento Sanctuary," Kotone repeated, wiping the dirt from the walls on her knees.

"Raidou. I may be speaking out of turn, but…"

"What is it?" Gouto asked.

"The process of Dahn inviting you here to meet Lord Tento – the theory seems unsound. I refer to these tunnels under Tsukigata Village, of course, but also Lord Tento's image as a god. Gods are usually high up…but here, it's as if the people of Tsukigata Village have been stepping on them all this time – such a frightening place." Nagi shivered. "Is Lord Tento really here?"

Kotone was vexed for not having thought it sooner. Even Sukuna-Hikona had sought the heavens through Waden-One, through Oumagatsu and the Tai-itsu. That this Sanctuary was an end and not the means was thought-provoking, indeed.

"Kotone, Nagi," Gouto suddenly spoke, stopping before them. "I feel a presence nearby."

A sourceless breeze blew past them, carrying a familiar tune to their ears. "Stop the…fret ful baby's…wail…" said the sound, and it took them time to realize it was a voice, cracked and dry like desert land.

"Takef rom the earth…" the voice continued, closer this time. All of a sudden, Nagi yelped and jumped into Raidou, causing them to crash into a nearby cavern wall.

Feeling the sharp crystals digging into her back, Kotone nudged Nagi off her slightly, wondering what had caused such terrified panting. She had heard herself breathe much the same way in the face of Jiromaru and Taromaru.

"Oh…" said the cracked voice, nearer than ever, "There's still time…before the Marriage…Ritual…"

There it was – whatever it was. A figure in a shroud and an oversized hat on its head, poorly hunched with spindly legs. The frothing man came to mind, but Raidou was too busy staring at its disfigurement to speak. This couldn't possibly be a god. Sukuna-Hikona was small and hateful, but it was powerful. This was just…

The figure, shaking about wildly as though excited, saw only Nagi. "You, girl…! Are…you…a Tsukigataaa…?"

Nagi took one look at it, catching a glimpse of its shining red eyes, and turned back to Raidou, shaking her head in disgust. "Aaahhh…!"

Kotone grunted as Nagi involuntarily pushed her against the wall, and then resisted.

The figure didn't seem to be dissuaded by her disgust, but appeared to notice something and stared closely at Raidou as she pushed Nagi to the side, away from the figure and from her. "Yous…mell likew oman…but appeara sa man…! Whata re you…?"

Raidou stood, looming over the figure. Nagi grimaced from behind her. Lowering her voice, Kotone asked, "Being constantly surrounded by women gives one their scent; what is it to you, stranger?"

The figure tilted its head upward, meeting Raidou's eyes with a fierce glare, but she still couldn't see its face. His throat rumbled lightly. Kotone assumed that was a growl as it approached her, smelling of waste and other unpleasant things she couldn't name.

"Y-Y-You will…bes truck down…by god…himself…!" he screeched, promptly throwing himself at Kotone and pounding its fist at her arm. "S-So haughty…you are jus ta hu man… Re member yourp lace…!"

It shocked the devil summoner, but not enough, because she threw him off just as easily by grabbing the scruff of his neck through his cape and tossing him against the crystals.

"Are you all right?" Nagi asked, supporting Raidou by the arm as she caught her breath, eyes on the figure. "What is that?"

"How dare you…?" the figure cried, lifting itself from the ground. "How dare you…harm a god!" It threw its head and arms back, revealing the contents of its cape – at least six brown insect cages – and then faced them, mouth open. In the brief moment that it wasn't screeching at a volume that could have shattered their eardrums had Nagi not pulled them aside, Kotone saw jagged teeth.

It spun dizzily, recovering from the force of its own shriek. Kotone took the opportunity to stumble forward and throw her fist at the figure, and then stood back to watch for its reaction.

The figure had a more difficult time rising the second time, but did so. Persistent as a cockroach. "I…I'm a god…so why…? Why do hu mans disresp ect us?"

Nagi's grip on Raidou tightened. "It can't be…!"

"You lowly human!" the figure hissed, spitting at Kotone's feet. "You…hitme? Me…a god? I will…Rem emberthis!"

The cavern visibly flowed, and the figured disappeared.

Nagi released Kotone. "Th-Thanks, Raidou," she said. "But…it said it was a god – you don't think…?"

"We'll find out when we catch up with Dahn," Gouto interrupted, just as thrown off by the creature's attack as the two girls. "If you're coming, Nagi, let's go. Just make sure to stay sharp – that creature might come back for round two any time."

Although the thing had been easy enough to throw off, the thought made Kotone's hairs stand on end. Still, Raidou shook it off as she and her companions wandered through the wide underground paths that led them in circles, swirls, and other accursed shapes absolutely nowhere. No Fukoshi in sight, no creature that sang and spoke in an eerie staccato. The tunnels were empty, and only droplets of water created any sound throughout their lengths. Even Nagi grew tired of talking about Geirin, eventually.

Every living being possessed a certain energy level. Most humans had such little power that she wouldn't be able to tell them apart if forced to depend on her sense of them, but those who did possess power had a certain…flavor that allowed her to tell each of them apart.

Her father's signature, for example, though powerful had always felt like an evening breeze and the calming night sky. Raw power like Satake's was invigorating, like afternoons spent sparring with her cousins. Gouto no longer had real energy, but there was something in his ancient spirit that made her feel feeble. Louis's power had been a golden mean at first, powerful enough to possess his own signature yet too weak to be taken notice of, but had grown to remind her of moments in her childhood when she was so exhausted and powerless against her masters that she might vomit. She was uncomfortable reflecting on his state of power. And Dahn's…was traveling on the Large Tarrasque's back, free-falling from Oumagatsu in an attempt to save Kaya, exhilarating but with the nagging feeling of losing something dear to her if she let her guard down.

Kotone wasn't certain if Dahn was spying on them, but just as they had been about to turn back, she felt his energy levels spike. She followed his wafting signature and minutes later – wondering how they had ever gotten lost – found him, a black-masked Fukoshi with a larger build than Dahn, the hat-wearing figure that attacked her, and another creature possessing the same spindly body; it did not possess a shroud or hat. Its black hair was greasy, not like Binbou-gami's but almost, and a mask covered its forehead till his upper lip, revealing spiked teeth and an unnatural-looking lower jaw.

When they approached, Nagi clearly stiffened at the sight, but shook her shoulders loose as soon as she noticed that Raidou and Gouto gave little reaction.

"Yo, Raidou," said Dahn, giving a slight wave as though they were meeting for tea in Ryuugu. "Been waitin' for you."

The creature in the shroud snarled, rudely pointing a shriveled finger at Raidou. "It's… him…! H-he…hitme…!"

"Him? He?" Dahn tilted his head. "Heh…"

Nagi appeared to realize something and frowned at Dahn with unconcealed disgust. "Why is he with you, Dahn?"

Dahn scratched the back of his head and sighed. "You came too, Nagi? I thought I told you to go home…"

"We came to discover the truth together," said Raidou. "It's—"

"Who's that fellow in the mask, standing next to Hat Man?" Gouto asked, pointing at the creature with the greasy hair. What was Kotone doing explaining herself?

"I'm uncertain," Raidou replied. "He appears to be a kinsman to the shrouded one." She paused at Gouto's odd name for it. "…the Hat Man."

"Tsuuukigata… kill theb oy… He isaf ool… defy ingme…" snarled the Masked Thing.

"You want me to kill Raidou?" Dahn repeated, cracking his knuckles as though thinking, but swiftly added, "You know what? Nix to that. I don't take orders from nobody."

Kotone didn't know why, but she liked the sound of that. Not necessarily coming from Dahn – but she repeated the words in her mind, and somewhere beneath her ribs something told her they were perfect for her. Thoughts such as this would shatter the foundations of the Kuzunoha clan tenets, however, so she stored them somewhere hidden, for the time being.

"'Sides," Dahn continued. "I'm the one who brought her—him here."

"Tsukigataaa!" the Masked Thing growled, pointing a finger at Dahn. Their – race, kind? – had a rude habit of doing that. Kotone remembered a time when she would have been sermoned for that. But if the Hat Man really was who they thought it was, then why was there another just like it? "You…you dirt crawler!"

Dahn waved at the Thing the way he had done to Nagi earlier and turned back to Kotone. "Raidou. The man in the hat – he's what I brought you here to show you." The summoner wondered if he was grinning or frowning under that mask of his. "Feast your eyes and take a good, long look! Pretty gross, ain't they?" he laughed. "If I asked you to make nice with 'em… You think you could bring yourself to kiss and make up?"

"Absolutely not…" Nagi mumbled beside her, but the question had been directed to her. Kotone felt Gouto's eyes on her person, but she could only stare at the Hat Man and the Masked Thing. If they were one and the same kind, then that would mean…

Her silence angered the creatures. "You…darelook down onme?" the Masked Thing clenched his fists. "I…I ama god…!"

"My, my," Dahn chuckled. "Looks like you've made 'em ornery."

"I was in deep thought, merely attempting to discover what they might be," Raidou replied, even though Kotone didn't think she needed to explain herself to the rude creatures who believed they were deities. Sukuna-Hikona, who had at least great power, would scoff. "You, not I, called them unpleasant to look at."

Dahn shrugged. "Anyway, you'd better apologize – to Lord Tento. The fella in the hat, the one in the mask, everyone around here… say you're sorry to all of 'em."

"Impossible!" gasped Nagi.

"Heh, yeah. But you already knew that, didn'tcha, Raidou?"

"Raidou," Nagi whispered to Kotone, "do you…do you believe it? These monsters…?"

"It seems that way," Kotone replied warily, still watching the Masked Thing and the Hat Man sway to an unsung tune. "But…"

"Monsters?" Dahn burst into laughter. "I'd take that back, Nagi, if you don't want to be cursed by the gods…"

The younger summoner only furrowed her eyebrows, attempting to piece together the reason for his blatant disrespect, if these hideous creatures really were Lord Tento.

Dahn took her silence as his cue. "Okay, c'mon, Raidou. There's two or three more things I wanted you to see. I'll be waitin' up ahead. See ya!"

With a wave of the black-masked Fukoshi's hand, Dahn and his companion disappeared. The creatures howled after him, but took no more notice of Kotone, Nagi, or Gouto. They ran off, taking the nearest curve. Raidou gave chase, but they had already gone.

"Lord Tento…" Nagi shivered. "Contrary to all our theories, he was a race of monsters living beneath Tsukigata Village?"

"I don't understand it, either. Or I suppose we could, but the facts that would necessarily follow are – jarring," Raidou answered. Her mind refused to go beyond the thought of the Marriage Ritual.

"And we still have to figure out why those Tento kooks are singing the children's lullaby," Gouto reminded them. The old soul had already ventured into the thoughts he knew his young companions didn't want to fathom, but maybe this could distract them, if only for a little while. They would have to face the truth soon. "Let's be on our way, but don't let your guard down."

Dahn's energy was faint again, leaving Kotone to fend for herself, but that didn't bother Raidou much. From that point on in the tunnel, there were many fairly leveled signatures floating about which she followed with innate caution, and the travel didn't seem to take too long, even with the thick silence in the air among her companions. Raidou didn't need to ask Nagi for her opinion on anything, them being of the same mind for once. In any case, small talk was the last thing on her mind.

The tunnels soon opened into a broad cavern, with two small cliffs on each end connected by long bridges. Smaller natural caves within contained shelves and undiscernable Fukoshi equipment as well as a number of black-masked Fukoshi fiercely loyal to Dahn. The sight of Raidou clearly irritated them, though they were at times distracted from it by what was surely Nagi's foreign beauty, but the men were under orders to keep their hostility to themselves.

When Nagi was finished exploring the place and one of Dahn's higher ranked black-masked Fukoshi – the same who had kept his company when they met with the Masked Thing and the Hat Man – grew tired of watching his subordinates peek out of their caves to watch the summoners, Kotone approached what seemed to be the cavern exit. It was just as well for Dahn's friend, Kin, who cleared his throat beside Raidou as she peeked into the next series of tunnels.

"Dahn asked me to tell yew the way. He's waitin' for yew up ahead, says he's got somethin' to show yew."

Raidou nodded, beckoning to Nagi and Gouto, who were discussing the purpose of the Fukoshi equipment they had seen. Kin stiffly strode ahead of them, and as she noted that the man was sorely tempted to reach for his katana whenever her pace was so quick that she would walk beside him, Kotone reflected on Akane's words – that Dahn could charm his way out of everything. How did he possess such influence over a large group of men? It couldn't be age – this Fukoshi sounded much older than him. Was he really so articulate?

"…and you'll be there in a jiffy. Heh…just take care now to make sure yer heart don't stop."

Kotone's head snapped up. The man had been giving directions. "I'm sorry?"

"I got it," said Gouto, pawing at her foot while Kin repeated his convoluted instructions. "Come on."

"Thank you," Raidou told the Fukoshi before he was finished, and walked on ahead. The man only shrugged before disappearing.

"Why does Dahn insist that we traverse these roads alone?" asked Nagi, while Gouto led their party.

"I'm uncertain," answered Kotone. "Perhaps he shuns the burden of entertaining us as he takes us to the next spectacle." Raidou shuddered. Spectacle. Suddenly, she remembered herself and Geirin in that silent world, but Nagi's slight giggle, completely out of place in the tunnel, reminded her of her presence.

"You speak of him as though he is a host," she said, still with a rare smile. Despite her ill-timed words, Kotone liked seeing it on the girl. "One might conjecture as to the length of your acquaintanceship."

"One might," Kotone repeated, but her amused expression hid the alarm that shook her concentration. "But you've known him longer, haven't you?"

Nagi nodded. "We never spoke, however. Miss Akane was always quiet…and Dahn cared little for Master or me."

"Hmm." Kotone dared to imagine Dahn as a child, but found she could only imagine his face on a child's body. The image would have been comical had they not arrived at their destination. Hat Man and Masked Thing were snarling at Dahn for his insubordination, threatening to eat him, but the assassin only laughed them off. He insisted that he would become King Abaddon.

"Hey, Raidou," Dahn waved when they arrived, as though she was late for a family dinner. (Which Kotone had never been. Punctuality was a valued Kuzunoha trait during her days as a trainee.) Kin was already at his side; he must have performed that teleportation spell. "You don't mind a li'l history lesson, do you?"

Kotone furrowed her eyebrows, which Dahn took as a no. He proceeded to speak of a time long past, when Tsukigata villagers and the 'Tento clan' lived together on the surface. Eventually, however, the humans grew to fear their race's unnatural appearance and drove the clan away. The creatures took refuge underground, in those very tunnels, and had lived in the Tento Sanctuary ever since.

"They got a real thing about bein' picked on – guess they ain't ever gonna forget all that time ago, so they mind their business here in the Tento Sanctuary. But not these Old Ones. No, sir."

"Old One?" Nagi shuddered even at the name.

"Ggggh… That's right…" the Masked Thing twitched as he spoke. Kotone narrowed her eyes at him with disdain. "Iaman Old One!"

"See, you got more'n one type of Tento Lord," Dahn explained, when he noted the confusion on the summoners' faces. "There's the kind that ain't fond of the villagers – the Old Ones, always playin' tricks on the folks above. Time was, they were called monsters and worse, livin' bad lives up in the village. Now they call themselves the gods of Tsukigata. We been livin' under their thumbs for years.

"So you understand. Someone like you who fights monsters day in and day out… You know what it's like to be us, forced to do whatever the monsters tell you."

"No," Kotone said as soon as Dahn suggested that their situations might be anything alike. Monsters didn't tell her what to do. The Yatagarasu was taught to exist as a divine being, its word Law; these Things were mere mortals. She could run her sword through one now and Dahn would be free of them, but Raidou knew it couldn't possibly be as easy as that, or the assassin would have already done it himself. "I don't understand."

Dahn was quiet, but he nodded his head. "Yeah…it's hard to understand where I'm comin' from, less'n you're one of us. You're willin' to call a spade a spade. Always liked that," he said, his tone less harsh now, but it shook angrily as he faced the creatures. "But y'know what, Lord Tento? Your time as a so-called god is nearly up! Once I become King Abaddon, you won't be so high and mighty, got it?"

"Gggh!" the Masked Thing clenched his fists. "Tsukigataaaa…!"

Like he'd said nothing at all, Dahn straightened up and shrugged. "And that's that. Raidou, come on ahead. I've still got a couple of things left I want to show you."

When Dahn left, angry creatures trailing after him, the three summoners pressed forward. Or downward, it seemed, but the crystals grew only brighter and rougher. After the steep descent, the ground evened, and there was a bright, yellow light in the distance.

Nagi squinted her eyes. "What is that?"

Gouto prowled ahead of them. "We'll see."

The light belonged to a tiny room, the yellow from two partition screens whose unified design consisted of stretched lotuses. Behind those, a rocky crystal archway separated them from a translucent pink screen, where the soft silhouette of a woman cast shadows that almost touched their feet. The flowery scent of strong perfume invaded their noses, but failed to mask the stench of something Kotone couldn't place – something she could only call vulgar. Even without Nue's nose, the room stank of the Tento Lords.

Nagi tilted her head. "Who…"

"…en the sky…is pierced right through…" sang a voice, feminine but hoarse, crackling like a short-circuiting machine. It hurt Raidou's ears to listen. Mottled a sickly yellow and grey, a hand reached out from behind the pink screen. "…pier…ier…ced…"

A hand clamped down around Raidou's arm. Sufficiently startled, Kotone jumped back, but the sound of Nagi's scream left her own dying in her throat.

Gouto hissed in surprise, more at the shout than the hand, but said nothing. Nagi tightened her grip on Kotone. "Wh-What is…!"

"Whoops," said the familiar deep voice behind them, "you got ahead of me. Guess that makes me a bad host – sorry about that, Raidou."

Kotone turned around with the intention of glaring, not for her own anger but for her pride, as though it was Dahn's fault that the peculiar sight had shocked her so. She replaced it with her calm glance, however, when she noticed that Nagi was furious enough for the both of them.

"Speaking of which, Nagi, it ain't polite to shout."

Nagi shot him a glare that would send most men cowering. "Wh-What was that? Answer me!"

Dahn clearly wasn't most men. Taking a glance at Raidou, whose lips were pursed expectantly, he only said, "Let's step outside and jaw about it there. Stinks in here."

Kotone didn't need an explanation; one look from Gouto had confirmed everything she suspected. Although the truth loomed over her head long before that moment with the tainted woman, to see proof of it made even Raidou's blood run cold. She had shuddered inwardly when one of the Tento Lords made contact with only her sleeve; what more could their bride possibly feel when consummating their union? What came most as a surprise was the hideous transformation undergone by the woman. One could only imagine what other insectile qualities she might have acquired.

It wasn't her desire to, however, so Kotone steeled herself away from the line of thought. It became easy to, when Dahn removed his mask as they moved forward through the tunnels and scratched the back of his head furiously. Against the light of the underground crystals, his frown lines were more prominent.

"Seems there's no natural born women in the Tento clan," the assassin continued his explanation. "Village law says we fork over the Tsukigata girls so they can have their young'uns, but when the Tento Lords are done with 'em, that's how our girls end up."

If Raidou thought Geirin's foreign apprentice couldn't appear any paler, she was wrong. The girl was the only reason Kotone hadn't given a solid reaction of disgust; she had always found it easier to maintain her composure when in the presence of another less collected companion. Nagi's already round eyes were wide, her lips trembling slightly as Dahn spoke, but even then it was more than Raidou often expected of anyone. She admired her fellow summoner, in a way, because she spoke despite the circumstances. Kotone preferred not to; she kept her silence and no one noticed her gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.

"Th-Then you mean," Nagi ventured, with a high-pitched, heady voice that she only ever used when fearful, "Akane is…?"

Dahn appeared both slightly relieved and further angered, but he kept his eyes on Raidou, who was unnervingly quiet. "Now you see. If my li'l sis goes with the Tento Lords, she'll eventually be…" He shook his head violently as though it would remove the possibility completely. "But if I become King Abaddon, them Tento Lords will have to listen to what I say. It's the only way."

Kotone finally opened her mouth to protest, to ask if he even knew what becoming King Abaddon meant – because she certainly didn't – when a screech echoed throughout the cave.

The Old Ones snarled behind them, sending a wave of ominous dread over Kotone as she turned, but she soon realized the undaunting creatures couldn't possibly be the cause. A purely white grasshopper shimmered into existence before them, much bigger than Dahn's Jiromaru and much noisier. Its ivory mask lifted to reveal sickly red eyes and teeth like blades, and the ground shook when it pounded its arms against the cavern floor.

"Fool…who…hitme! Andyou…Tsuuukigataaa…you whode…fyme!" the shroudless Old One hissed, stretching out his arms and shaking epileptically, to the point that Gouto might have laughed if he wasn't certain Kotone would freeze and get crushed by this giant bug, "Pay! Pay…with yourdeaths! I call onyou…mylove lyTento…maru!"

"That rat just called Tentomaru – he ain't playin'!" Dahn exclaimed. It was one of the few times Kotone had ever seen him display anything besides anger or condescending amusement, and it was a distraction she would have welcomed if their lives weren't on the line.

Kotone squeezed her fist so tightly she might have broken her own bones.

"Come on," Gouto shouted, pawing at her feet. "This should already be customary! The only difference this one has is size!" That was a lie, of course, but he knew his descendants had pride if nothing. When he glanced behind him, he was surprised to see that a blue ox had taken the place of his descendant, glowing as Gozuki uttered the spell for Rakukaja.

Nagi's eyes followed the black blur that was Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th zipping past Gouto-douji towards the enormous insect. For a moment, the Capital's Summoner stood before Tentomaru, knees bent in a taunt, before – right as it screeched and reached with its mouth to snap her in half – she leapt over the arms that darted at her and sliced a shiny new blade at its eyes.

"Nuh-hice, man!" Gozuki whooped, and then picked up his axe to join his friend in battle.

Tentomaru yowled, drawing back and lowering its mask over its face. Nagi gasped, but Raidou either was too engrossed in battle or didn't care enough to respond. Encouraged by the small, upward tug of her fellow summoner's lips, however, as well as the ox demon's excited cheering, Nagi drew her sword fearlessly and headed for the bug. Speed had always been her specialty, so it was the attribute her master helped her cultivate. Nagi was glad to see all her training come to fruition as she performed seemingly effortless footwork dodging Tentomaru's swift legs, and then jumped high enough to grab hold of one of the antennae slipping out of its mask.

It was slick yet twisted in a wiry fashion, which should have caused Nagi to release it if she were any other girl. Growing up in the Tento Woods gave her the advantage of meeting insects varying in color and size each day, however, and while High Pixie never cared for them, she had at least been curious enough to discover their different textures. So when Tentomaru attempted to bob its head and throw her off, Nagi only held on tighter and reached for the nook between its neck and the base of its upper leg.

The Old Ones were shrieking at them incoherently. Raidou turned on them, and when she did Gouto realized that at that moment she was a stranger. At least, to him; he had never seen such emotion in her jet black eyes, if at all. Why had she returned Gozuki to his tube when he could have helped her thrash these pretenders? She had always enjoyed battles, but battles meant honing her skills or simply protecting the Capital. He watched Kotone remove the hat from an Old One and sock it in the face multiple times before it could scream again; when she dove for the ankles of another and swung it around, sending it crashing against the cavern wall, it almost seemed as though she had joined this battle only to inflict as much harm on these so-called gods as possible.

The Tento cried out in pain, gasping and attempting to stand, but Kotone gave no reaction save for the tiniest smile, only stepping on the back of one as it howled. This is what they deserve, something mellifluent inside that didn't belong said, Isn't it, Kotone?

Kotone raised her head at the sound of her name in thoughts that weren't her own. When she realized that someone outside her mind was calling her by her title, it was already too late.

Nagi had climbed Tentomaru successfully, but was hard-pressed to keep herself on it. The insect had felt her presence and knew she was unwelcome as a rider, so it flitted its wings, trying to send her off, which forced her to grab hold of its mask as support. And then the thought passed that its mask should have been covering its face, which it wasn't, which only meant –

"Raidou, move!"

Kotone had only stood still, however, busily digging her shoe into an Old One. Nagi grabbed Tentomaru's antennae and tugged, hard, but failed to dissuade it from its attack. When it shrieked, letting out a harsh gust of wind from behind its teeth, Raidou was taken by the current and smashed against the blue crystals, much like she had done to Tentomaru's creators.

Raidou wiped the blood from the side of her face and rose from her crumpled position. Gozuki's Rakukaja spell always had the longest duration. But never mind that, she thought, or anything else for that matter – to the point that she completely missed Dahn's wide-eyed, almost, almost concerned more than surprised shout of Raidou – there were still the Old Ones to take care of, and their disgusting spawn.

Nagi was having a difficult time wrangling Tentomaru, who seemed to chirp and cackle at the sight of Raidou's blood. From her peripherals she could see Kotone rising, heading again for the Old Ones. Hadn't she thrashed those weaklings enough?

"Raidou!" she yelled, grunting as Tentomaru shook left and right to send her flying, but she held her ground. "My theory is that the Tento will be helpless without this insect!"

Kotone looked up, her eyes slightly clearing. Nodding, she leapt towards Tentomaru – hissing as she touched its slimy, stick-like legs to climb its back – and sat beside Nagi. With the way she moved so gingerly against the insect, Nagi might have thought she was afraid of it, but that seemed impossible for Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th.

"Do it," Raidou commanded, grabbing Tentomaru's mask and Nagi's left arm. Suddenly, the girl knew what to do as if they had talked it over several times already – was this certainty something Great Summoners always felt? – and shakily unsheathed her blade. When Kotone tightened her grip on her arm, Nagi plunged her sword into Tentomaru's head.

What sounded like a dying screech had come from its creators, the Old Ones, who watched Tentomaru's mask slip over its face as it tumbled into its own heap.

Dahn's black-masked friend grunted disconcertedly. If Nagi and her friend could defeat Tentomaru, and without their demons…it couldn't bode well for them. Kin glanced at his leader, but Dahn was so still that the only indication of his even being alive was his slow breathing; he barely blinked, his eyes unmoving from their gaze on the black-caped summoner. It unnerved him that the girl barely reacted when she had been blown away in a fierce gust, how she gave Nagi the go-signal to simply kill… He had something of a bond with his own Jiromaru, and to see the girl persuade Nagi into treating Tentomaru like a mere demon in the Tento Woods – she was some sort of machine, he was sure. Suddenly, Kin wasn't so certain of Dahn's judgment, if his young but powerful friend thought this girl was trustworthy.

The Old Ones backed by a step, appearing almost fearful, but his kind was tougher than Raidou expected. Despite Nagi's and her display of power, he had the audacity to point a finger at them. "Y-You…kill edmy…precious Tentomaru…! Filthy humans…Iam…your…god…!"

"No," said Nagi, sheathing her blade as they removed themselves from Tentomaru. The Old Ones snarled in return, clawing out at her, but she seemed to have frightened them enough so that they disappeared with a wave of reality. (She didn't take into account that Raidou was watching them from behind her.) When she was certain they were gone, she gave her companion a victorious smile.

"Not bad," Gouto remarked, figuring the young girl could use a compliment after her humiliating defeat at the hands of Atavaka. He watched his descendant from the corner of his cat eyes, watching for signs of the stranger he had witnessed breaking the Tento for what seemed like personal enjoyment, but Kotone's face was blank again, and though her eyes were somewhat clouded, she was Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th.

Kotone shared in Nagi's triumph, but paid more attention to the man in the red jinbaori a few ways from them. She couldn't help the irritation, even as they started for what he would show them next. "While unnecessary, your aid might have been appreciated. Or is your fear of your gods so great that you had frozen?"

Dahn frowned, but replaced it quickly with a smirk. "I wanted to see how you'd do."

Raidou shook her head, trying to still the nerves that urged her to carry on with her rampage. She didn't really care that he had only stood and watched as she and Nagi struggled to defeat the most disgusting creatures to walk the realms. Rather, the spawn of such creatures, but Tentomaru had, admittedly, slipped her mind during the fight.

When Nagi wondered how Raidou could speak with him in such a familiar manner, and so calmly after her violent thrashing of the Tento, she chalked it up to the confidence surely required of every Great Summoner. Her attention switched back and forth between Dahn and Kotone, the latter of whom walked stiffly while the former watched her, almost as if he were waiting for the most minute change in her facial features. When Raidou granted him none, Nagi spoke. "Is there a point to this, Dahn?"

Dahn snorted, though she wasn't certain whom it was directed at. "Even you can't save her, Raidou. Only I can do that, when I become King Abaddon." He gritted his teeth when the girl in the schoolcap only furrowed her eyebrows, but stopped before a cavern and put on his best smirk. "This is it."

Kotone didn't know what she was staring at when she entered. An uneven sphere wrapped in what appeared to her like dirty bandages sat precariously on thin, wooden beams. Rays of blue light shone from broken patches in its peculiar cocoon. "And that would be…"

Dahn's face was surprisingly emotionless, mirroring Raidou's when he spoke of Abaddon. "When a luck locust has eaten all the luck it can stomach, it brings that luck back to this here Pojitrawn."

"So, er…in theory…" Nagi touched her hair thoughtfully, glad of the distraction from the Tento bride. "There's a large store of luck inside the Pojitrawn?"

"I doubt it remains a theory," Kotone replied, but her eyes were on Dahn.

"That's right. You always were a sharp cookie, Nagi," Dahn said in turn, but he returned Raidou's meaningful look, breaking his stoic façade with a grin. "See, before too long, there'll be a whole bunch of 'em fallin' from the sky – huge bugs, heh. The destroyers that stop at nothin'. When this here Pojitrawn becomes a perfect sphere, that's the day they'll fall from the sky. And when the destroyers come – a Fukoshi like me can control them!" Raidou opened her mouth to retort, but he wasn't finished yet. "Sure as Sundays! After all, I'm strong, I'm smart, and I'm good-lookin' to boot – I'm Dahn Tsukigata!"

Nagi and Gouto blinked.

"Whew, boy." Dahn's composure returned, but his grin remained plastered on his lips. "Sometimes I scare myself. I must've looked mighty fine…"

Kotone released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been keeping. Normally, her enemies' arrogant outbursts served only as momentary sources of amusement. While his last words had been somewhat laughable, a part of her hadn't been able to stop her heart from beating rapidly, her anger long gone. She dearly hoped it was caused by…the danger the Pojitrawn caused. Of course. What else could it be? Her heart was beating in anticipation of the Pojitrawn's effects.

"Destroyer insects," said Raidou, clearing her mind. Attempting to. "Destroyer insects that stop at nothing. They sound like they would sooner ruin the Capital than ransom Akane."

"Just listen," Dahn hissed. "King Abaddon, the one who controls them – that's what I'm aimin' to become!"

"Raidou's theory is valid," said Nagi, resting a hand on her hip in confusion. "By what process will becoming the ruler of the destroyer insects help save Akane?"

Dahn gave a long, weighty sigh, swaying between exasperation and surrender. "The bugs us Fukoshi use to kill folks come from the Tento Lords. We get 'em in exchange for the Tsukigata daughters, so we gotta keep on their good sides, else our supply of the bugs dry up – and the Fukoshi'd be done for. Nothin's more important to me than savin' Akane, but I've also got the Tsukigata livelihood to consider."

Nagi raised a hand to massage her suddenly pounding temples. "That's right…the process of angering the Tento Lords would put Tsukigata Village's future outside our conjecture…"

"That's why I aim to cut out the middleman. I'll replace the Tento Lords as the village god!" Dahn declared. "Y'see, I heard from a certain Tento that these destroyer insects are the servants of the Great Ma they all worship. When I become King Abaddon, I'll be at the same rank – which puts me above the Tento Lords, don't it? And when that happens…"

"How noble of you," Kotone cut him off with an almost unnaturally flat tone, putting a sour expression on his face, "to attempt to protect both your village and Akane. But many in the Capital have died for this Pojitrawn of yours."

Dahn rubbed a hand over his face. "I know. I know it's your job to protect the Capital, Raidou. That's why I wanted to talk this over with you. I hate to ask favors of anyone, but…y'think you could look the other way, just this once? Please?" The word appeared to anger him for some reason. "I mean – Akane's your friend, ain't she? You saw the last bride – that's what's gonna happen to her! Are you that damn unfeeling?"

Kotone watched Dahn's features crumple with emotion. He tried to steel his features, but his shaking hand betrayed him. She knew instantly that she should reach out and touch his shoulder, stroke his hair backwards, tell him yes, of course, anything – and she hadn't ever really known what to do in situations like this; not innately. Proper social customs were learned, not felt, not something she yearned to do. It was unnerving, and she felt as though she were betraying Gouto, Geirin, Nagi, and everything that reminded her of the Kuzunoha name. Keeping her feet in place, even going so far as to take a step away from him, she shook her head no.

No, she wasn't unfeeling. Seeing that Tento bride had shaken her to the core, made her feel indignant for her sex the way no chauvinist had ever done. Kotone had wanted to take the Tento Lords by the neck and beat them into submission without something so artificial as a blade, wanted to feel their bones crack under the impact of her bare knuckles. She wished she could ram their heads against the crystalline cavern repeatedly, listen to them beg for their lives and watch the blood trickle down their torn, open faces. She hadn't wanted the battle to be over quick – she wanted to see red, thick and viscuous. Even Tentomaru's presence didn't dissuade her. Fury had meant nothing to her until that moment, when Dahn explained everything.

But the Kuzunoha clan tenets maintained an objective take on all things, which was why the elders had taken such a shine to her in the first place – she cared for many things, but none had ever truly affected her. Save for what had happened to her father, losing Gouto and a friend on the Tai-itsu – and there the list ended. That changed, today, but she was still Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, no matter how much she desired to lay waste to this so-called Sanctuary.

"Will the Capital's misfortune increase tenfold?"

"Kotone!" Gouto yelled – Raidou Kuzunoha did not negotiate, in cases like this – but his descendant had already grown accustomed to ignoring him. Nagi continued to observe without judgment.

Dahn lowered his eyes. Were Kotone any less observant, she wouldn't have noticed his slight nod. "Only…only for a while longer." When he met her eyes again, he already knew her answer.

"And there exists no other way…" Raidou said it more as a fact than a question.

"You think I wanna cause all this bad luck?" Dahn snapped, but turned away from Raidou's furrowed eyebrows. Squaring his shoulders, he shook his head. "No way around it, Miss Devil Summoner…and I think you've seen everything you need to see here at the Tento Sanctuary. I'm headed out."

"Raidou," Gouto reminded his descendant, "Dahn's within arm's reach – we can't let a chance like this slip away! Nagi, give us a hand!"

Kotone swiftly reached for her swordhilt. It wasn't anger – but she felt an emotion stronger than mere annoyance or irritation. What had she expected? She and Dahn were not friends, and certainly he had only met her on civil terms those nights ago to attempt to convince her to allow him this one act. And perhaps it was that which struck her so, though it was an idea she turned away immediately. Foolish. It was foolish to see an enemy as anything but that, especially one who wished to send her away after speaking so cordially before, after watching constellations as though they possessed some variation of friendship.

"I'll give it to you straight," Dahn said when he parried her blow with confidence that rivaled Louis, "there's no point tryin' to catch me. After all, the luck of everyone in the Capital is on my side."

Kotone gave no reply and only swung, right as the ground rumbled. Dahn's sickle nunchaku sent Raidou's blade flying from her hand, its edge almost catching Gouto's tail like a barbecue. When the summoner lost her footing, the assassin caught her by the arm.

"Raidou," he muttered, his eyes boring into hers. For a moment, hazel was her entire world, before his smirk drew her out. "I'll be seein' you again."

And their vision faded.

---

Nagi woke with a headache clamping down on her temples. It took a moment before her blurry eyesight cleared and she realized that she was lying on a futon inside the Fukuroku Inn, and that there were two figures in black inside the room. The first was a cat, curled up on the table, and the other was a caped human, perched on the open windowsill like a statue.

"Raidou," she spoke, once she remembered the name of the latter. Then again, she supposed, that also should have been the cat's name… Even her mind was hazy…what had the Fukoshi done to her?

The Fukoshi. They were in the Tento Sanctuary… Nagi cleared her throat when Kotone looked over her shoulder. "How?"

Lifting her legs and bringing them inside the room, Raidou took a seat beside Nagi. Not a question as to her health, and the latter summoner was glad of that. The last thing she wanted to admit was how weak she felt. "Dahn brought us here after using the Fukorutsubo. You've never experienced it, so you must feel vulnerable," explained Kotone, who had woken in between, only to return to unconsciousness when the rebel Fukoshi leader strengthened the spell. "I suppose he knew that I would attempt to destroy his Pojitrawn and restore the Capital's fortune. Now we have no way back; the Tento Sanctuary is hardly traversable to those unfamiliar with its depths."

Nagi soured at the idea of being perceived as vulnerable, but she couldn't deny it. When Raidou said nothing more, she looked down and noted the white bandages around her companion's knuckles. If Kotone noticed, she gave no indication, so Nagi took the opportunity to speak, even as she noticed that Raidou's usually neutral features were disturbed by the slightest downward tilt of her lips.

"Raidou…"

It took a few moments, and even then Kotone looked at Nagi only from the corner of her eye. "Yes?"

"I…hesitated to aid you when you chose to apprehend Dahn."

"I didn't apprehend him," Raidou replied, neither condoning nor rebuking her choice of action. "He escaped, returned us here when he could have left us somewhere to rot." The fact appeared to upset her.

Nagi felt undermined again, but continued. "You see, I…thought about it. But that began a process whose end I couldn't conjecture."

Raidou nodded, which to the latter summoner could only mean elaborate. "Akane took it upon herself to hire you so that the Marriage Ritual would continue for her village's sake, despite the consequences on her part…because if Dahn stops it, the next step would be the Tento Lords abandoning the Village. I…" Nagi kneaded two fingers against her temple painfully. "Whether we should proceed with the Ritual, or allow Dahn to stop it – I don't have enough evidence to support either theory anymore. This…this is beyond the bounds of my conjecture…"

Nagi hung her head, her nose wrinkling as she sniffled slightly. "I can't do it…"

Kotone glanced at Gouto for assistance – asleep, of no use – before finally looking at Nagi. While she didn't feel a yearning to comfort the girl as she had for Dahn, their positions as female Kuzunoha summoners bound the two of them. Nagi had become something of a responsibility to her; one she willingly took. Now, Raidou wasn't one to lecture, especially since she disliked being lectured herself, but she chose Gouto's style of 'encouragement', which had worked on her long ago.

"Did you think that becoming a Great Summoner didn't entail circumstances like this?" A dark part of her wanted to, just to watch Nagi's world come crashing down around her, but Kotone didn't suggest that Geirin must have known all of this for years and still allowed it to happen. "When you become one, choices like these will barrage you constantly." That wasn't true at all. The 14th had never been faced with such horrible options, but Nagi wouldn't benefit from that knowledge. "Will you break down in each instance that they do?"

Nagi's shoulders stiffened. Nobody liked insinuations about their weaknesses. "No." And then she relaxed, knowing that projecting her frustrations on Kotone would help neither of them. Sighing, she asked, "Then which, in theory, is best for Akane?"

Nagi needed to stop asking about what she thought hypothetically. Kotone disliked dealing in theories. She preferred reality, what could be dealt with now, because hypothetically, anything was possible, and it was only more difficult to face the truth that way. "Stopping the Marriage Ritual, Nagi. That should be obvious."

"I see. Your theory is that she may not have her own best interests at heart."

"Of course not," Kotone replied, so quickly it might have been a snap, but Raidou didn't snap. And her tone was reserved, as always. "Or the boss and I never would have met her."

"Forgive me for stepping beyond my bound, but…do you say that as a Devil Summoner? Or as…as Kotone?"

"As Kotone," said the summoner. "Perhaps you've never met her – but you should know what the Herald of Yatagarasu would ask of me, should I present her with your options."

Nagi nodded. She only knew the Herald from her Master's stories, but the woman (if she truly was that) seemed to believe in the greater good than the safety of an individual like Akane. "So your theory is to act according to your own feelings in any given situation – perhaps so. It's hard to believe one who has forgotten human emotion can protect the people."

That gave Raidou pause. The 14th watched Nagi like an Orthrus ready to pounce, but even she didn't seem to be aware of it. "Do I seem that way? One who has forgotten human emotion?"

Nagi suddenly felt as though Kotone had grown considerably over the past few moments and that she was very small. It was the way Geirin made her feel, often. "Sometimes," she answered. "When you reacted so little to Akane's future, my theory was…"

Shaking her head, Nagi corrected herself. "But there is evidence against such a preposterous conjecture. I saw you battle the Old Ones with a passion that was certainly human."

Passion. Kotone never imagined it would ever be applied to something she had done, but she accepted it. She hadn't even known she could feel that way. The Kuzunoha clan taught that control was key, but in that moment in the Tento Sanctuary when, deep down, she knew she had lost it, Kotone had actually felt…right.

That was enough contemplation for now.

"In any case," said Raidou, "you're awake. Lord Akijiro has summoned the Narumi Detective Agency to the Tsukigata mansion. The boss only left to search for Miss Asakura."

Nagi had hoped to further their conversation, because in a way, Kotone's dispassionate demeanor had always reminded her of her Master's, but she painfully understood more than anyone that a Great Summoner had duties to fulfill, appearances to keep. Standing, she asked, "Do you know why?"

"The boss says it's about the job," Kotone answered, leaning over the table to rouse Gouto from his rest. When he wouldn't budge, she picked him up and escorted Nagi out of the Fukuroku Inn. "It's…fortunate that we returned just as he sent for me."

"Do you think he has knowledge of Dahn's presence?"

Before they parted ways, Raidou shrugged. Better he knew of this than those instances on the rooftop. "We'll see."

---

"Are you out of your gourd, Akijiro?" Narumi growled. It was the first time Raidou saw him so upset for another individual.

She and the boss had met on her way to the Tento Woods. He couldn't find Tae, so they decided to see Akijiro without her; it was probably for the best that she stay away from the Fukoshi, at any rate, Narumi had said, though the worry was clear in his uncertain voice. Sprinkling Repulse Water ahead of her two companions, she paved the way through the Woods to the Tsukigata Mansion, only to come to a lurching halt at the sight of two grey-masked Fukoshi holding Tae prisoner.

It hadn't been that bad for Tae, actually. Akijiro was a little crazy and his Fukoshi, a little pushy, but they treated her well enough. Her only complaint was that they had interrupted her naptime to tell her she was being held hostage. And while she didn't appreciate being tossed into the sexist stereotype of damsel-in-distress, could Shouhei Narumi possibly look any more attractive than when he was angry for her sake? (On the other hand, Kotone could stand to look more concerned.)

When Narumi demanded an explanation, he was ignored. Akijiro frowned instead at Kotone. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"So those Old Ones went and tattled on us, did they?" Gouto lashed his tail at the ground in annoyance. "Cowards."

"Yes," Raidou answered, in agreement with both her ancestor and Dahn's father. In his furrowed eyebrows she saw the old man's resemblance to him.

"You've seen things no one was meant to see," Akijiro muttered with a regretful tone. "We can't let any foreigner who's laid eyes on the Tento Lords get away. I thought I told you not to go near Centipede Road…"

Raidou stared at Akijiro expectantly. What did he want her to do? He couldn't possibly involve Narumi and Tae; though she related everything that occurred in the Tento Sanctuary with her boss (save for a few details concerning Dahn), they were still innocent. She had been the one to thrash the Tento Lords and would gladly take the cudgels for it.

"I propose a trade, Raidou," said the Tsukigata chief. "You for Ms. Asakura. Do we have a deal?"

And what would they do with her? Keep her there forever, or execute her? The Yatagarasu would never allow that…would it? How hurtful it was to realize that her doubt of the institution by which she'd been reared spoke volumes.

"I'd like to know what makes you believe I wouldn't fight your Fukoshi as soon as Miss Asakura is in my boss's safe hands."

Akijiro snorted. "Even if you did win against the small number I have here, do you think my men would allow you to flee the region? You must remember our Jiromaru," he said with a knowing glint. He had also heard of her aversion to them.

"If the Tento Lords have spoken with you," she said, when she meant if the Tento Lords have returned to you with their tails between their spindly legs, "then you should know that a Tentomaru died at our hands not many hours ago."

Akijiro narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you think you would fare against more than a dozen of them?"

Flashes of green evaded only Tae's and Narumi's vision, and the violet horse and the blue ox that came afterwards. They stood tall beside Raidou, sword and axe at the ready. Even Gozuki carried a stern countenance, staring down the humans whose faces he couldn't see. Kotone tilted her head in acknowledgment of them. "Shall we see?"

"Actually, Kotone, I don't think this is such a great idea," said Gouto, but the standoff was set. Akijiro clenched his fist, and the grey-masked Fukoshi drew their katana in obeisance.

"Whoa, whoa!" Narumi gasped, but took a step forward to reach out for Tae. Only when Mezuki held a hand out to block his way did he realize what the invisible walls were made of.

Akijiro shook his head, as though she had failed some sort of test. "Perhaps you shouldn't have challenged me until Miss Asakura was safe with you. I can still send her to hell."

Now it was kind of bad for Kichou Asakura. "Guys…!"

"Father! Raidou!"

Their eyes snapped away from each other at the sound of Akane's voice. She appeared from the path to the mansion, carrying her purse and a disappointed frown. That was enough for the Fukoshi and the demons to ease their stances, though it was clear that Akane couldn't see the latter.

"When Raidou didn't arrive, I came here to see what was going on. Father, what are you thinking?" Although the reproving tone was meant for her father, Kotone felt the whiplash of her tone on the chief, from whom she was certain Dahn inherited his short temper. Still, she was pleased to witness this side of Akane.

"Outsiders would take interest if word of the Tento Lords got out. That would upset the Tento Lords, and if that happens, our village is done for," Akijiro said very quickly, like someone who didn't want to hear any more reprimands from their mother.

Akane sighed. "Father, don't you remember? Raidou saved me from Dahn. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, taking her friend hostage and threatening her?"

Akijiro's eyes were downcast with shame. Narumi had enough presence of mind to keep his mouth shut, but he would have paid good money to get a photog of that.

"Okay, so, will you let me go now?" Tae asked, raising her hand slightly.

"Take her to the Fukuroku Inn," Akane said to the grey-masked Fukoshi in a commanding tone of voice. "And treat her well."

Without a protest from their chief, the Fukoshi obeyed. Kotone watched on, duly impressed – Satake would have been proud to see that exchange – not knowing how much her thoughts would mean to Akane.

Tae disagreed rather loudly with the idea that they should move on to the Tsukigata mansion without her, but Narumi managed to persuade her after many a plea. They were ushered into Akijiro's office, where under Akane's supervision the Tsukigata chief asked (demanded) that Raidou explain what had occurred in the Tento Sanctuary.

"That damn son of mine," Akijiro hissed when Kotone was finished, "I didn't think he'd be here already!"

Kotone could understand some of his confusion. Even she had underestimated Dahn – the Pojitrawn was something she never expected. Then again, she hadn't expected Oumagatsu, or her descendant from a century later. But Akijiro was his father – had the chief been so worried about pleasing those insects that he hadn't realized the extent of his son's capabilities?

"Akane, Raidou told me," Narumi admitted to the girl sitting across him. "About the Marriage Ritual, the Tento Lords, everything. We know. And…I know there's reasons behind the relationship between you, but – there's something to be said about resisting the status quo. You're entitled to a future too, y'know? Even," he said, glancing at Akijiro briefly, almost as if he was wondering why his throat hadn't been slit yet, "if it is something you learned from a certain young man."

Akane gave him only a smile. "Giving up my life is necessary to ensure a future for Tsukigata Village. I…wouldn't dream of resisting the wedding to the Tento Lords. It would hurt the Tsukigata name and the pride of the Tento Crest."

Akijiro listened to his daughter with pained pride, but turned to the outsiders with honest regret. "Narumi. Raidou. I asked you to chase after Dahn – and if Dahn entered the Tento Sanctuary – then of course, unaware of the circumstances, you'd follow him. I went too far, and I hope you can forgive me."

Narumi, Gouto and Kotone exchanged glances, maintaining their silence and allowing Akijiro to continue.

"Dahn is here, and things have gotten serious. I need your help. We can't let the Marriage Ritual fail…please…"

Kotone searched Akijiro's face for signs of pride and deceit and found none. He earnestly wanted to sacrifice his daughter to those insects – but he did it for the good of the Village. Nagi was correct. This was impossible.

"I'm asking you too, Raidou," said Akane, the only one who'd noticed the uncertainty in Kotone's blank visage. "Mr. Narumi. Completing the Marriage Ritual successfully…That's my last wish."

Akane's bottom lip quivered only once, and then her features were set as stone. Her resolve should have strengthened Raidou's, to complete the mission and do as she was told, but if anything it only began the process of its corrosion. At the moment, she could only keep up appearances for her friend's sake. "Miss Akane," she said, while her boss struggled to overcome his own reluctance to accept a poor girl's fate, "you have my word."

The next morning passed without much occasion. Akijiro became extremely worried about Dahn's possible attempts to steal away Akane before the Marriage Ritual and asked Kotone to stay with his daughter as reinforcement to his grey-masked Fukoshi. Narumi and Tae were joined at the hip during this time, just in case Akijiro went screwy again, and Gouto was only too happy to prowl around the scenic gardens of the Tsukigata Mansion. One advantage that came with being a cat was that no one really took notice of him.

Once, Geirin dropped by with Nagi, and while he would have preferred to say no, he couldn't refuse Tae's invitation for his apprentice to make a meal with them. Nagi hadn't much feminine interaction under his tutelage and, since it would only last till Raidou Kuzunoha remained in the village, he had even encouraged it. In any case, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th appeared to appreciate mellow company, seeing as Akane and Tae seemed to enjoy making a mess of the kitchen. How the Tsukigata daughter remained smiling with the Wedding hanging over their heads even he would never know, but he admired her for it all the same.

The eldest Summoner waited by a guest room within the Mansion in the company of Narumi and Gouto, who was pleased with Geirin's arrival. Even Raidou, tense as she was these days though no one appeared to notice, had a mischievous streak, it seemed, by mistranslating her ancestor with ease, so the cat thanked him when he did not follow her example.

Narumi saw it as something of an overgrown playdate, and was amused by the entire scenario: a beautiful feminist reporter, a daughter of an assassin's clan who loved baking, a foreign girl whose Japanese vocabulary was more complicated than an average citizen's, a female Great Summoner who dressed like a boy, all walk into a kitchen…seemed like a set-up for a bad joke. Later, when he was alone in his musings because Gouto and Geirin were caught up in their own conversation about being ancient summoner folk, Narumi thought that maybe it was.

That evening, as Akane slept (did she? Nagi herself was hard-pressed to), the Narumi Detective Agency minus the eponymous ex-army man scoured the Woods for Dahn with no results, not even a trace. He could only be found when he desired it, something Kotone wished didn't make her admire him to some twisted extent.

Another day passed without sight of Dahn. Security was even tighter, and Akijiro even requested Geirin and Nagi's presence in the Mansion. He no longer cared if the outsiders found this desperate. Geirin sensed the tension in the air and knew that even baking or cooking would not ease the nerves of his younger companions. In his youth, only one thing could ever remove the troubles from his mind, lighten the burden on his shoulders if just slightly.

"Sparring?" Narumi repeated, raising his head from its slouched position on the kitchen counter.

Geirin nodded. "The Marriage Ritual is tomorrow. If Akijiro's theory is correct, Dahn will attempt to stop it…and training will do you some good, Mr. Narumi. Gouto-douji tells me you were once a member of the army."

"Well, yeah," Narumi muttered. "But…"

"If it is necessary," said Akane, turning away from her kitchen duties, "then perhaps you should, Nagi, Kotone."

"If my Master suggests it, then the theory is surely sound," Nagi said to Tae.

"Come to think of it, I guess I've never really seen you fight," Tae agreed, grinning at Narumi. "I say go for it."

Narumi mumbled something about having to prove himself under his breath but pulled himself upright. "What do you think, Raidou? Wouldn't you rather rest before what might be a big battle?" He looked over his shoulder where Raidou had been kneading dough, only to find her station deserted. When he returned his gaze to the others, she was already waiting by the door, looking almost eager again. This was one hell of a week…but fine. A real gentleman would never back down from a challenge, right?

One of the Mansion's open areas was empty and deemed safe enough by Geirin. Tae and Akane had taken to watching by the sidelines while Geirin took the opportunity to train Nagi. Kotone had secretly desired to spar with the older Summoner, but revealed no disappointment when she saw that Nagi had asked him first. She needed the training, she supposed. Which left Narumi, who said he didn't know the first thing about using a sword, being more of a pistol man, so Raidou challenged him to a mano a mano fight instead.

"I don't think it's mano a mano if you're a girl," Narumi said, having already been reluctant enough to even step into the grass. "No offense."

Kotone's lips tilted upward in amusement. "Boss, I meant combat with no weapons."

"Oh," Narumi muttered. "Great."

"Is that the best idea?" asked Gouto. "He might be a little rusty. Especially from what happened with Hishida's goons the other day."

At Narumi's inquisitive glance, Kotone replied, "Gouto asked if you were afraid to fight a girl merely a little more than half your age."

"Gouto!" Tae frowned, crossing her arms at the cat, who only pawed at his face in frustration.

"Really?" Narumi's quirked an eyebrow, but he couldn't deny that his masculine pride was urging him to agree. "You're playing that card, Raidou?"

"Boss, it's only for training," said Kotone, removing her cape and tossing it beside Gouto. "I'm curious as to your fighting style, as is Miss Asakura."

"Yeah! Go, Narumi!" Tae whooped, clapping her hands while Akane chuckled. Sighing, Narumi showed his acceptance by removing his hat.

Of course, he thought a few minutes into the bout, it was silly for him to expect Raidou to remove her schoolboy cap. Was there ever a time when he didn't see her wearing it? Come to think of it, maybe she was hiding something under there. It was very unnatural for a girl to want to hide one of her best assets under that thing, after all—

The side of Raidou's arm hit the skin under Narumi's ear. "Concentrate," she said with a certain inflection he hadn't heard before.

"Right." Narumi lunged at Raidou with full force, but he couldn't throw his arm without some restraint. He landed a punch in her gut, which seemed to knock the wind out of her. Eyes widening, he asked, "Uh—Raidou—are you okay?"

"Fine," she answered, waving a hand towards her. She was asking for more? This wasn't sparring for nothing, he guessed, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't help but see Raidou as…a girl. Someone he wanted to take care of, like a little sister he never had.

Until he saw that glint in her eye. They had probably been at it for twenty minutes already. Tae was cheering for them both, and Gouto was meowing in a way that seemed to be yelling or coaching in cat-speak. He had hit her shoulder, enough to hurt but not seriously, not the way she was starting to hit him. He could feel bruises forming in his arms where she hit him in an attempt to rile him up.

"Why, boss?"

"Why what?" asked Narumi, ducking from a swing and jumping from one of her surprise low-kicks. He was going straight for the hot baths in Fukuroku after this…

"Would you wish to lose before Miss Asakura," Kotone whispered, hitting him backward with the base of her palm.

"I" – her throws were beginning to get faster – "don't."

Kotone paused in her attempts to hit him only to speak. "Are you certain, boss?" There it was, that thing in her eyes that wasn't like Raidou at all. It was – something baser – something he'd seen in many of his comrades years ago, and recently in the demons he'd caught sight of in the Fukorutsubo. A desire for conflict. He wouldn't give in. "Even now, when intellect has begun to take importance, strength is still a deciding factor for societal structures. Structures like relationships."

"And?"

"I exchanged fisticuffs with the Tento Lords. At this rate…" Even Kotone felt like the lowest form of dirt for saying it, but she wanted a real fight with real blows exchanged, and this was the only way he would respond. Raidou hoped he would forgive him later, as she gave it a second thought, but Kotone didn't change her mind. "Should Akane not befit them for a wife, you might find Miss Asakura…missing…"

Narumi stopped, his eyebrows furrowing almost as deeply as they did when he saw Tae in the clutches of the Fukoshi days ago. "You don't mean that, Raidou."

"Perhaps you won't," Kotone shrugged, too eager to stop now, "if the Tento Lords pull their punch—"

He wasn't sure, but time must have stopped as Narumi's fist connected with Raidou's face. Everything seemed to come at a standstill. It was so surreal that he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't heard the blow himself, seen her eyes widen as she flew across the yard and felt the bruise forming in his knucklebones.

When Raidou hit the ground, time came rushing back.

"Kotone!" Tae gasped, before rearing at Narumi with a frown. "Shouhei!"

Still staring at his closed fist, approaching the still Raidou slowly, the detective shook his head. "I didn't—!"

Kotone propelled herself against her arms, lifted her legs, and leapt forward. Her feet landed on Narumi's stomach, throwing him off as well.

Groaning, Narumi didn't even bother getting up anymore. He was getting too old for this.

"I'm sorry, boss," said Kotone, when he accepted her hand and she pulled him to his feet. His stomach ached, but her eye was going to be terrible. Did he really do that to her? She also appeared to be genuinely apologetic, with that concerned twitch of her eyebrow. "I didn't mean anything I said. I only wanted—"

"A decent fight, I know," Narumi said, waving her off with the hand that wasn't lightly pressing his stomach. "It's my fault, too. Shouldn't have forgotten why we're here in the first place. I should know, right? With Tae?" he asked with a chuckle.

Kotone gratefully replied with a small smile. "Indeed."

The spar had ended on a light note, with Nagi properly chastised for being distracted by the fight between Narumi and Raidou, but the brief spar remained with Kotone until that evening, after dinner. Akijiro had allowed them to retire to the Fukuroku Inn, where Tae and Narumi raced to the hot baths before the reporter was summoned back to the Capital for an assignment. Gouto fell asleep immediately, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was cold.

She had felt lightheaded during the battle. What in Yatagarasu's name was happening? Control had always been her veil, her security blanket, and now she lost it faster than Gouto succumbed to the temptation of playing with Foxtails. Ever since Nagi had said that word – passion – everything went awry. No, it was much earlier than that. Ever since Dahn had bumped into her on the Ushigome-gaeri bridge…

Kotone tiptoed to the door and slid it closed when she left as quietly as possible. She had left her containment tubes in Narumi and Gouto's room – she hoped they'd be sound asleep. As she collected her white vest and situated it around her chest, throwing her cape over her shoulder, the tiniest purr broke the silence of Narumi's constant muttering as he tossed and turned and the creaking wood beneath her feet.

"Kotone…?" Gouto pawed at his face, his green eyes bright with moonbeams from the window as he yawned. "What are you doing?"

"Gouto. I'm going to make one last search."

"You should sleep," replied the cat, frowning, though it was clear that he could barely keep his eyelids open. "Tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow, if Dahn appears, we'll be ready. But if I can preempt…" Kotone nodded, slightly amused, when Gouto's snore reached her ears. "Sleep well, Gouto."

Light shone from Nue's eyes and mouth as he illuminated her path around the village. With the Repulse Water she had purchased yesterday morning, they reached the Mansion with little difficulty, save for Nue's heavy grunts whenever his paw pressed down on small, painful pebbles.

Why had she expected to see him tonight, or any other night after those two on the rooftops? If she were to be honest with herself, Kotone had considered the visits an unspoken agreement to continue them despite Dahn's status as the enemy of her client's father. And – she supposed – as her own.

It was wrong, obviously, thought the Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th who had worked herself to the bone to become worthy of her title. But their conversations had made them more than just (were she to base assumptions on Kaya's many pocketbooks) protagonist and antagonist, black and white enemies.

Even so, Raidou argued, she made a promise to Akane. And true warriors never swore to what they couldn't keep.

"Pointless," Kotone muttered, scratching the back of Nue's head and motioning for them to walk past the Fukuroku Inn, into the hot springs where she could relax. Maybe she could sleep here; it was too cold everywhere else.

"RAIDOU TIRED," Nue observed thoughtfully. "SLEEP NOW. NUE PROTECT SUMMONER."

Kotone nodded, patting Nue gratefully, when the fur on his back rose straight. The chimera began to snarl, baring his teeth at something ahead of them in the mist. Raidou squinted her eyes at the fog, briefly contemplating summoning Dominion or Aeros to clear the air, but the intruder made himself known before she could.

With a bemused grin, Dahn flowed into view, tossing something up and down in the air. He gave it to Nue, saying, "Down, boy."

Nue caught it between his teeth and looked about ready to maul the thing when he realized, with a cautionary hiss by his snake tail, that it was bread. Looking over his shoulder, he dropped it into his paw and held it out for his summoner to inspect.

Dahn caught Kotone's slight headshake of disapproval and sighed. "It ain't poisoned, if that's what you're thinkin'. Wow, did you walk into a door or somethin'?"

"Very well," said Kotone, nodding at her favorite pet demon while shooting down Dahn with an almost sour expression. The man in the red jinbaori raised his hands in surrender, grinning all the while, and she missed the furrow of his brow as he took a last focused glance at her swollen eye.

Oblivious to their exchange, Nue devoured the slice within a second. His bright eyes stretched into thin red lines as he grinned, patting his large belly. "MAN GIVE MMM DELICACY!"

Dahn quirked an eyebrow at him."It talks."

"He," Kotone corrected, expression blank as she added, "Most demons can speak, however narrow their vocabulary."

Dahn looked at her for a moment before shrugging. "Well, whaddya know," he said, and tossed Nue another piece of bread. The demon gobbled it up with gusto that pleased the assassin.

"Is there something you want, Dahn?" asked Kotone, crossing her arms. That was odd. She had been taught never to do that in a conversation, lest she reveal her inner thoughts; insecurity, fear, or something else entirely; to cross one's arms was frowned upon in hostile company. "Besides, of course, stopping the Marriage Ritual. We will surely meet in battle tomorrow."

Dahn smirked, the hot spring mist hiding the anger she had seen so vividly in the Tento Sanctuary. "Actually, I thought you might want something, seein' as you were goin' round the Village lookin'for me."

"You presume beyond your capabilities," said Kotone.

Dahn wouldn't hand her the lie. "Well—was I wrong?"

Raidou gave no reply, so he only chuckled. "Since we're here, I thought I might get your name."

"Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th," Kotone answered, obviously. "Protector of the Capital."

"I know that ain't your real name," Dahn grumbled, dismissing her attempt to keep secrets from him. "It's just a title – the way Nagi's gonna be Geirin when she gets over her little crush for the old man."

The assassin wore a proud expression for knowing. To his credit, citizens of the Capital were mostly clueless about this, but she had gathered from the villagers here and the way they spoke of Geirin and his apprentice that this wasn't rare knowledge in Tsukigata. Still, she nodded. "Not many know it's just a title."

"Must be hard goin' around with everyone wonderin' why you got a boy's name."

"Not particularly, no," said Kotone, unconsciously easing, failing to notice that the space between them could no longer be called a distance. "Most think I am a young man."

"Really? With that little button nose?"

Kotone's right hand flew over her nose.

Nue growled slightly. "NOSE OF SUMMONER FINE. IT CUTE."

"Didn't say it wasn't, big buddy," said Dahn, only too entertained by the demon's interference. It looked like it could maul him anytime it wished, but obviously it had a soft spot for the little cross-dresser before them. He found that he couldn't argue.

Kotone's black eyes met his hazel. Her back was still straight and her shoulders were as stiff as an armor's, but her expression was one of slight fatigue. He couldn't know how cold her fingers were, how hot her ears felt now. "Dahn—"

"See, that ain't fair," said the man, clicking his tongue and feigning a pout. "You get to call me by my given name whenever you want. Dahn, finally, I've found you. Dahn, thank you for the luck locust. Dahn, I find you really interesting despite the fact that I may have to kill you… while I just know you as that pretty little summoner I'm gonna have to beat to save my sister tomorrow."

Nue may have been a demon, which, Dominion had taught him, was entirely different from a human, but if he knew anything about both races, he knew that sparks were essential to their lives. He felt something odd – something electrifying between his human and this food man. "MAN WITH FOOD HAVE POINT," he said, throat dry from the breadcrumbs, "WHY YOU NOT GIVE NAME, KOTONE?"

Dahn's eyes lit up. "Kotone…"

Nue smiled. Something sparked in his human when the food man said her name. He treasured her, knew they would give their lives for each other, but Kotone had always been rather dull – or maybe it was that most things were rather dull to her. There was hardly anything he had seen that could inspire sparks within her. The threat to this place, the Capital she had sworn to protect over all else, had sparked some renewed determination in Kotone, an inner power that demanded his respect as a demon to a worthy summoner, but the food man's spark was different; exciting.

Kotone would never have admitted it, however, as she sent Nue back to his tube. It wouldn't do to have Dahn curry the beast's favor. "Yes, Dahn?"

Dahn cleared his throat. "Finally, I've found you. Kotone…"

Kotone frowned, her hands dropping to her sides. When had he gotten so close?

He continued. "You're welcome for the luck locust. Kotone…"

Kotone swallowed involuntarily. So this was what Lilim had coerced her into doing to Satake? In her most stern voice, she replied, "Wh…at."

"I think you're interesting," he said, and like a wisp of a feather his finger lightly touched her cheek before swiftly pulling back, "despite the fact that I may have to kill you, too." Dahn grinned again, that same one he gave her when they first met on the Ushigome-gaeri bridge. It was overconfident – fitting, Kotone thought – but now, under the moonlight, she saw that it was also terrified and angry.

"You could be visiting Akane," said Kotone, forcing down a shudder. "Why waste your time with me, the one obstacle to your success?"

"Geirin and Nagi're gonna be there tomorrow too, y'know."

"Yes. But you know very well with whom it is your father trusts Akane now."

Dahn snorted, the hand nearing her face withdrawing and reaching up to ruffle his own hair. "I wondered if all the winnin' ever got to your head."

"There is always somebody stronger," said Kotone. "Perhaps Geirin the 17th was more powerful in his prime, but the sands of time have weathered him down."

Dahn appeared thoughtful. "What are you gonna do when that somebody stronger comes along?"

"I've often wondered," said Kotone, shrugging. But the truth was that she had never considered it. "We'll see – when the time comes."

Dahn smiled. "It's cute when you do that."

Kotone sucked in a heavy breath. The close proximity was beginning to suffocate her. "Do what, Dahn?"

"Try to sound all smart and mature when you're around me."

Kotone forced a smirk. "I do no such thing."

"You just did. I've seen you with that detective and your cat, y'know. You act different when you're with 'em. Or with anyone else. Even Geirin and Nagi."

Kotone wondered if he was right. She didn't think it might be a possibility until he'd pointed it out. After all, she'd never thought of anyone in the manner she had of him. Still, nothing would come from proving his conjecture sound. "What are you trying to prove?"

"That—"

"Dahn," Kotone interrupted. She was – afraid? – to hear what he had to say.

"Kotone."

She peered into his eyes. He was so handsome, so caring to those he loved. But the Pojitrawn, and Gouto, and—the Yatagarasu.

Kotone tore her gaze away. She couldn't understand why he was too much for her to handle, tonight, but she knew in her soul that if she'd looked any longer, she would never be able to kill Dahn Tsukigata.

"Wait, don't go." Dahn grabbed her wrist as she turned to leave. Mechanically, she half-turned, clenched his upper arm, and flipped him over. "Ow! Damn!" he cried in a whisper. "What in the hell was that for?"

She released him as though scalded. "Oh—my mistake. I'm not accustomed to" – men – "touching. Me. Without warning."

Dahn pulled himself up, his amusement stopping him from shooting her a dirty look. His tailbone would suffer in the morning for that. "Okay then…come with me. There's one last thing I want to show you. Woulda shown you sooner, but with Nagi nosin' around an' all…"

"Nagi means well." And Kotone had been immensely grateful for her presence. Had she not screamed at the sight of the Old One…

"I know, I know," Dahn sighed, reaching out to take her wrist again, but refrained from it just in time. "Now, you comin' or what?"

"You heard Gouto earlier—or perhaps you didn't," she realized. He'd only figured out that Raidou was a title, after all. She shouldn't expect him to know everything about her. "I was supposed to apprehend you in your Pojitrawn chamber."

"Pretty sure my dad made it clear that you were s'posed to apprehend me on the rooftops," Dahn retorted. "But you didn't care much about his orders then. This ain't a trap, Kotone. You know I'm not that type of fighter."

Kotone watched him carefully, suspiciously, but the action was halfhearted. "I know."

"Then shut up and follow me," said Dahn, making his way out of the Resort Environs. He'd prepared a boat with which to cross the river and reach the larger farming proper of the village.

Kotone stared at the boat thoughtfully. It looked rickety and swayed about as if her stepping in would cause it to fall apart, though she knew it was only the water. She thought to call the "Great" Tarrasque, steady, stable and swift, but he was certain to be asleep or so drunk that they might have better chances on the boat. "That trick of yours you use to disappear and appear wherever you wish—why not use that?"

Dahn replied only when he'd already jumped into the boat and held onto the oars. "That involves goin' through the Fukorutsubo. Sure you wanna put yourself through that again?"

Kotone stayed silent and joined him inside, taking careful steps as opposed to his precarious leaping. "Row on."

Dahn chuckled and obeyed. A breeze riding aloft the river tousled his hair again, but his curls seemed planted firmly on his head and only the wisps at the edges followed it willingly. It was nothing like the air atop the Ginroukaku roof – this air was cold, eerie, filled with chirping insects. A woman near the entrance of the village had once said to her that the insects were rejoicing – she knew now why. Bugs abounded in Kuzunoha village, too, but at least she knew those were proper insects – insects created from forced copulation between bugs and a human female were unnatural; downright abominable.

"Guess you really are a girl."

Kotone brushed aside her disgust to pay attention to the man rowing the boat. Dahn was smirking at her. For some reason, she didn't find that as challenging as she might usually have. "What do you mean?"

Dahn shrugged. "You won't get wrinkles – that's why you don't smile, right? I can count all the emotions you've ever shown on my fingers. Mild surprise, mild irritation, and a whole lot of smug."

Kotone's eyebrows furrowed. "Don't presume to know me. Knowing one's own power isn't wrong."

"Oh, I think I know you–" Dahn growled. "You work your ass of for your clan and you never get any thanks. That should be fine, right? You're only doin' your duty. And you have so much power – only you won't use it for something good. Maybe you got to convince yourself that you actually liked the hell you went through, but you know your clan owes you for savin' its ass more than enough times you can count. And the one time you ask for somethin'…"

He trailed off. His words made her feel uneasy, like and yet not so like many things about him did. His voice, his smile, his close proximity. His words possessed weight, and truth, but he wouldn't invade her inner thoughts like Lilim. And she had never asked for anything from the clan, save for the restoration of her friend who joined Gouto to the Tai-Itsu. That was still pending.

"You speak of yourself," she said, hiding her surprise at her own realization of it. "You asked them to spare Akane. I yield that you were raised an assassin under the Yatagarasu's orders, but you have the power to do good, greater, and yet you waste it and instead hope that by driving people into despair with your luck locusts, you might save both your clan and Akane."

Dahn's eyes flashed. "They…they won't always despair. Don't you get it? Just until I become King Abaddon! Then I'll return their luck and your Capital will go back to normal! I told you that, right?"

His voice echoed across the river, breaking the music of the crickets and driving the world into absolute silence. Dahn seemed to notice it, too, and remembered his assassin's stealth, but the whisper his voice took wasn't a product of that. "Why can't you get it…?"

"In folklore, Abaddon is a—"

"We're here," Dahn interrupted, clearly wanting to hear none of it. He'd brought her here to convince her, not have her persuade him out of everything he'd started. What other way to save Akane was there, and when did she have any kind of influence like that, anyway?

They tiptoed through the village proper quietly past some trees to climb a small slope towards what the Tsukigata villagers called the Tento Springs. It was a plateau dotted with old, identically brown but mossy wells separated by large crevices in the ground. Dahn jumped across where a broken hanging bridge should have stood and looked back, a smirk spreading across his face. In the darkness, Kotone only looked at him curiously. He had been upset moments ago. It wasn't like humans to let go of their anger so quickly.

"I know you can jump this," said Dahn, holding a hand out tauntingly. "I got a bruise from our first battle to prove it." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as though realizing that it was still quite painful to remember.

Kotone took a few steps back for a running start and then bounded over the crevice. It hadn't been necessary, but Dahn caught her by the hand and cut her momentum short all the same. "You're welcome," Dahn whispered.

Kotone didn't think it was necessary either, but her mind was elsewhere. She could feel the humming of his throat on her own neck, and her eyelids fluttered in her attempt not to shiver. She cleared her throat when she mastered herself again. What in the world had happened? "Yes," she muttered, tugging her hand from his, if slowly. Touch gave one such odd sensations. "Thank you."

Dahn shrugged and strode over to a well near the edge of the hill. At its base was a Tento Crest and the number 3. He held out his hand again. "Gimme your talisman."

Kotone stared at hm.

"Really? You're doing this now, after you followed me to a secluded area in the village without telin' your friends?"

Kotone handed him the talisman. Dahn etched something into it and then returned it, saying, "Put it over the crest."

"And then…?"

"And then you'll know what to do. I'll meet you inside."

"Why?"

"Why?" Dahn laughed. "What, miss me already?"

Kotone continued to watch him without a definite expression, knowing that showing anything else would prompt a laugh.

Dahn shook his head, still grinning. "Got some appearances to keep up. Can't have my men wonderin' where I am, now, can I? I'll be back, quick. Anyway, the Mushibito aren't jerkwads like the Old Ones. I want you to meet their Lord – my benefactor. Hopefully he'll be there – if I can't convince you, maybe he can."

"Mushibito?"

But Dahn was already preparing the Fukorutsubo spell, and only gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. Before she could react, he disappeared with a ripple.

Kotone touched the edges of the Tento Talisman. She didn't like walking into unknown territory – at least, not without Gouto. He had always been with her for these things. But she figured that if a Great Summoner could not function without the aid of a cat, then she wasn't much of a Great Summoner at all. So she pressed the Talisman into the Crest.

The well rumbled disturbingly. Kotone drew her sword instinctively, half-expecting a great demon to appear and laugh at her naivete, but it didn't happen. She peered into the well and saw that all traces of the water had vanished. There was only a ladder inside leading deep into the earth. Far below she could see a familiar source of unnatural light, but she wasn't yet certain. Safely inserting the Talisman into a belt pocket, Kotone climbed down.

It resembled the Tento Sanctuary; whatever this place was. The lights were the caverns, dark blue and sparkling with minerals like the stars Gouto described as having seen in space. She felt somewhat guilty about lying to her great ancestor, but he wouldn't have understood. He would call it consorting with the enemy and order her to apprehend Dahn at once – which, said something in her mind she once called common sense, might be the proper thing to do, but only if this entire case was made of circumstances black and white. There were so many variables here that made her doubt even Gouto and Narumi, in whom she had always possessed complete faith. And even they were uncertain.

Dahn was the worst variable of all.

But Kotone had little time to think on him, because something that sounded suspiciously like a bug was buzzing just a little ways from her. Raidou drew her sword, whirling at the source, but it was only an Old One. She would attack it, but he wasn't hissing at her or cursing her or summoning great grasshoppers to destroy her. He seemed as if he was talking to himself.

"Gggh… He's here… He's real lyhere… The hu manfrom the well… Jus tasthe prophecy said…"

"Prophecy," Kotone paused. "What might—"

"Ohh…Finally…She will come! Great Ma…in thes ky…is watching!" said the Old One, waving his hands in the air in an almost humorous manner. But he was serious in his rejoicing, and it was quite unnerving to Kotone. Great Ma, from the lullaby? He continued. "We Mushibito…theb roken…thes tun ted…we willb esaved! Ahh…I must…tellthe Lord…"

With another wave of his arms, he ran off into the caves. Kotone stared after him, taking small, wary steps to follow him. A Mushibito that Dahn had mentioned. How were they any different from the Old Ones? Besides, she supposed, the fact that they didn't attack her on sight.

The Mushibito cave was much like that of the Old Ones. In fact, it was nearly identical, and she almost expected Dahn's older friend to direct her along the area. Unstable wooden bridges connected the Mushibito's homes in the fashion of the Old Ones, and they stood about idly, too. They seemed much more relaxed, however, greeting her anxiously as she passed them – but they greeted her nonetheless.

They were also quite eager to talk. One spoke of how he had created the children's lullaby about Great Ma, while the others scorned the Old Ones. They were of the same race, but these insectile people did not wear shrouds or hats or attempt to hide their disfigurement save for a mask that showed only their pupilless eyes and antennae. The Mushibito did not pretend to be gods, nor ask for females to mate with. Apparently, they had given Dahn the luck locusts, but how they created them without humans she did not understand. Kotone had been about to ask the Mushibito with whom she was conversing when another reached up and tapped her on the shoulder.

It was easier not to feel disgust when she knew the Mushibito didn't take advantage of human females. And she wasn't entirely sure, but Kotone had a feeling it was the same Mushibito who'd danced at her arrival earlier at the base of the well. "Yes?"

"Your arri val here…wasin the prophecy," he began, leading her into a smaller room with several shoeboxes and cases. "Our Lord…told us…the hu manfrom the well has…two names...When Iask thehu man's true name… the onefrom the well…I will know…for certain…"

"Kotone," said the summoner, hoping it would speed up the process of their conversation. These bug-men spoke awfully slowly. "That is my true name."

Raidou's eyebrows furrowed when the Mushibito appeared to convulse and moan. After a minute of the episode, the Mushibito collected itself and said, "It is…the same…asthe name…in our Lord's…pro phecy…!"

Kotone would have reacted curiously if she hadn't felt a familiar surge of power discharge from behind her just as the Mushibito cried out joyfully, "Lord Bellzeboo!"

"Bellzeboo…I see." Setting down his traveling bag, Louis tightened his gloves and stared at the entranced Mushibito. "To he who calls himself a Mushibito…it seems that I am the Lord of the Flies."

Then he wasn't human. But Kotone had always known that, somehow. "Louis," she greeted, for the sake of formality. Although she no longer expected an answer, Raidou still asked, "You are the Lord these Mushibito speak of?"

The jewels in the cavern brightened his blue eyes – or was it the other way around? – as the young foreigner arranged his tie. "If you're here, Kotone, then I think I may safely tell you – just as I appear differently to this Mushibito than I do to you, a man's actions may bestow hope to some, but not to others."

"Dahn sent me here, saying you might convince me to his cause." Kotone nodded, urging him to continue. His words were always meaningful; now she only wished she could understand what they meant before his clues manifested into real events. Hishida, for example. What puzzled her was that Louis was an outsider, so how could Dahn have faith in him? But perhaps he, too, could sense that Louis possessed true power.

"According to the Scriptures that contain God's word to man, when people obtain the key which opens the bottomless pit, the King-Who-Is-The-Abyss will descend upon us from that pit. I believe you call him Abaddon."

"So Abaddon is truly an existing entity? Not a—"

"The bottomless pit will open once the people's despair in God is sufficient to become that key. To despair in God, after all, is to despair in the world God has made. Now that the balance has swung towards misfortune for the place you today call the Capital…why," said Louis, appearing genuinely thoughtful, as though he hadn't rudely interrupted, "misfortune will only breed more misfortune, won't it? Imagine it – a future where one can expect nothing but misfortune. Do you think the Capital's denizens can bear it without despairing in the world God has made?"

"I won't allow a future like that," said Kotone. Where Dahn's eyes had burned into hers, Louis's left her feeling cold. But then he smiled, and though rational thought insisted it felt ominous, she was hypnotized by the soft regard that appeared to have overcome his features. It became him, and she couldn't help the sideward tilt of her head, the slight parting of her lips in awe. His beauty was otherworldly.

"I know," said Louis, and suddenly Kotone felt as though she could tell him absolutely anything in the world, even the darkest secrets within the deepest recesses of her soul.

How she missed Kaya and Rin's company; how the visions she had been presented with in the Akarana Corridor left her reluctant to face the future. How she'd tried to explain what would happen two decades from now to the council, only for them to dismiss her, to her great frustration, and how this weakened her trust in the Kuzunoha elders. How she had begun to trust solely on her own abilities and her demons' in her duty to protect the Capital thanks to the Red Cape Incident rather than the advice of the village council, and how Dahn Tsukigata, though human with his temper and troubles and handsome though not quite as beautiful and collected as Louis, had occupied her mind for the past few days in a way she refused to acknowledge—

"Interesting."

Kotone broke out of her stupor. "Pardon me?"

Louis only smirked, his kind smile but a memory. "It seems," said the blond foreigner, "that in our meeting here, you have provided me with a spark."

Raidou had no idea what he was talking about, but it was in his nature to be cryptic and impossible, so she only nodded. "I see."

"I would thank you," he said, his fingers brushing her cheek lightly, and then disappeared. Her face buzzed from the touch of him, but Kotone knew better than to wonder at the hot twinge below her stomach and his disappearance.

Outside, the Mushibito danced to a melodious tune from a flute one of their kinsmen was playing.

"Thep rophecy…it came true…!" another cheered, while the rest whistled joyfully. The first Mushibito Kotone had ever seen was blowing the flute; he stood on a bridge post, surrounded by the rest, their buzzing creating a celebratory din that made her almost smile. She had never received such praise, and for something she hadn't even consciously done. The Mushibito convulsed at different rhythms, a disturbing sight (to say the least), but Kotone recognized it as a dance and kept her distance as she searched for the man who'd sent her here. Had he known of the prophecy?

"There you are," said Dahn, hand clasping around her shoulder, releasing Kotone only when she acknowledged him with a whirl. "Been lookin' all over for you." Chuckling at his friends celebrating around him, he said, "Never seen 'em so happy. What did you say to 'em?"

"Nothing," she answered, concealing her sudden uneasiness. If Dahn was unaware of the prophecy that Louis had given his trusted friends… "It was – Louis. But he said nothing to persuade me."

"So you did meet him," Dahn muttered. Kotone couldn't tell by his tone if he was glad or dismayed to hear it. "Said he wanted to meet anyone who ever stood in my way... Can't say I didn't try. What'd you think?" His eyes narrowed and a stiff grin formed over his lips. His accent was suddenly as thick as the rest of his subordinates'. "Y'like 'im, don't yew? Yer both so calm…"

Kotone shrugged, purposely forgetting her encounter with him in the small cavern – she had been so dazed that she could barely remember what had transpired. "He is confusing, at best. How did you come to know him?"

"These guys," Dahn explained, spreading his arms to signal the Mushibito. "They've been loads of help to me."

"Something I've wondered," Kotone started. "You say the Marriage Ritual is necessary for the birth of new familiars for the 8th Fukoshi clan. These Mushibito, however, crafted the luck locusts for you without so much as a thought to a woman."

Dahn seemed to have expected this and shook his head as if to say he admired her failed attempt at making a point. "They can only make little ones, like luck locusts. Nothin' fatal."

"Luck locusts are fatal," Raidou insisted with a frown.

"Not fast enough is what I mean," Dahn countered, rolling his eyes. "They can't make the big ones without Tsukigata girls, like my Taromaru and the Tentomaru."

"You possess such fear of Tentomaru," Kotone noted aloud as she grimaced inwardly in disgust. Virility, then, was the key to these great locusts. "You must've known he was not undefeatable."

"Right…" Dahn supplied no reason for their immobility during the battle, but she'd somehow gotten past that when he rowed her across a quiet river in a tiny rickety canoe and when he grinned all of a sudden. "Y;know, when you beat them and that thing into the next decade – that was amazing."

The cheering had gotten louder all of a sudden, rendering his voice unheard. Kotone wondered if they could be heard from above; if not yet, then soon, to be sure. "I'm sorry?"

He leaned closer, pausing right over her ear, before weighing his words and shaking his head. "Nothin'."

"Tell me," she insisted loudly, craning her neck to meet his eyes, and unknowingly frowned.

Dahn stared at her for a moment. If she thought looking at him like that was going to make him say anything, well – he grunted. "Let's get outta here," he shouted, and paved a way through his friends out of their own Sanctuary and up the well.

To Kotone's lasting surprise, she could hear nothing as soon as her feet touched the ground above. "What was it?"

"When you kicked them Tento Lords' asses – and Tentomaru's," he said reluctantly, "it was pretty impressive. Thanks."

"…Oh." Kotone paused, waiting for him to reveal the joke, but it didn't come. Deep in the caverns, she'd thought he spoke of his amazement at himself for some reason or another. "I see."

Dahn scratched the back of his head as they returned to the river, wrinkling his nose at her. "Well, don't start blushin' on me or anythin'—"

"You shouldn't thank me – I didn't do it for you."

Dahn stopped, hopped into the boat and took a second glance at her. He considered offering her a hand as she moved to step in, but by the time he made his decision, she was already sitting across him. "…I know. You did it for Akane. Am I wrong?"

Kotone caught the hope that glanced his expression and shook her head. "That meant nothing. It was a moment of passion – I can't allow it to happen again."

His slighted pride – or something else – revealed itself in a frown. "Why?" he demanded. Dahn slowed his rowing for a second, but after what appeared to be a second of contemplation he sped up against the river flow and reached the other side much faster than their first trip across. When Kotone jumped to land quickly, he noisily dropped the oars into the canoe and followed her. Dahn caught up easily and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to face him. "You feel. Ah know yew do. And yew care about Akane! Why're yew bein' so stubborn?"

Raidou made a move as if to swipe his hand away, but he'd already released her. Until now, nobody had ever made her want to scream at him, shove him, demand why he couldn't understand her side of the argument. Even for Rasputin, whom she'd considered some sort of pseudo-rival (only because he cheated), Kotone had only felt a collected indignation. "Dahn," she asked very slowly, "would you say – that we are friends?"

Dahn maintained his frustrated countenance, but his expression softened. He looked almost as confused as she felt. "I don' know," he muttered, his thick accent fading with his anger. "If we were…you'd understand why I've gotta do this. You wanted to talk about duty? What about my duty as a brother?"

"If we were," Kotone nodded reluctantly. Suddenly she felt like a hypocrite, criticizing Nagi for all her hypothetical situations – when she'd dreamt up her own, too. Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th had never felt as fallible as she did now. "You would understand that I have my people to consider. My duties as a summoner far encompass those as a friend – to Akane, or to you. It prides me little to say it."

"Your people?" Dahn scoffed. "They don' even know yew! They'll never appreciate what yew do for them! To hell with duty!"

"You say that, but it goes the same for you and your villagers, doesn't it?" asked Raidou, slowly detaching herself from the conversation as she had trained to as a child, ignoring the searing pain in her left chest. In truth, there was no point in arguing. They had already chosen sides. "If you cared not for the welfare of your villagers, you would depose the Old Ones without causing such mayhem in my Capital, but you go these lengths precisely because you want to keep them and Akane safe. You said it yourself days ago. Am I wrong?"

Dahn had never been one to lie. He looked almost regretful as he said, resignedly, "It's moot, then. I was hopin'…we wouldn't end this like it did in the Pojitrawn chamber."

"It needn't," said Kotone. "It was Gouto's desire to apprehend you; not mine."

"Who's Gouto?"

She always forgot others couldn't hear Gouto. "Oh. He is an agent of the Yatagarasu, much like Mr. Narumi, who monitors my every action."

Dahn wondered how that was possible, when she was only ever with that black cat, but grinned. "Oh. Well, figured that, too."

Raidou broke his mirth with a shrug. "I can't go easy on you tomorrow if you interfere."

Dahn's features hardened, his expression cold. "I don't expect you to, Kotone."

The Kuzunoha shook her head and made ready to turn back for the direction of the Fukuroku Inn. "Good night."

The Tsukigata watched her go. "…Yeah. Wait, Kotone."

She glanced back. "Yes, Dahn?"

"I ain't gonna hold back, either."

Raidou inclined her head in acknowledgment, and then he disappeared. During their encounter, the temperature in the area surrounding her had increased, but rest wouldn't come. Kotone wasn't certain how long she was turning uneasily in her futon when she saw light creeping in through their window – she hoped it was only the moon – and she realized, more than anything, how much she wished for both Akane and Dahn Tsukigata to survive the ordeal tomorrow, before sleep finally claimed her.

---

"Are you ready…?"

Raidou glanced to her left. Nagi stood facing the Tento-Kagura, but her ice blue eyes were downcast. The girl's voice was so soft that if she hadn't felt the fluctuation of her companion's signature behind her as she heard the question, she wouldn't have been certain if Nagi spoke at all.

The three summoners had arrived much earlier than the rest of the attendants to survey the area, make certain there were no rebel Fukoshi in sight. Gouto and Narumi had stayed behind with Mezuki and Akane to make sure she arrived at the Tento-Kagura safely. It was pointless, since Dahn's men possessed the Fukorutsubo, and while Akijiro's grey Fukoshi could probably find them, there was no doubt in her mind that Dahn would find a way to interrupt the Ritual no matter the obstacle.

"As much as one can be," she replied for answer's sake. The truth of it was that Kotone couldn't remember a day she dreaded more than this; her awful exam weeks in high school paled in comparison, altogether a different world from this. If the Marriage Ritual was completed, Akane would be lost to them forever – and she couldn't fathom how Dahn would react. Going berserk was a distinct possibility, though it might seem a stretch. And if she didn't, because Dahn succeeded in stopping it – well, Kotone thought remorsefully, she could never allow it to happen.

"All we can do is watch Miss Akane sacrifice herself," Nagi continued, her voice almost wavering, but she controlled it before it reached a childish tremble. She was a little more collected than days ago. "I've never felt so powerless. Even as Devil Summoners, we can't interfere – Raidou, isn't there anything we can do? Is this truly what the Yatagarasu wants?"

"Only the Herald can speak for the Yatagarasu," Raidou answered. But indeed she had asked the question herself this morning, only to come to a stunning realization. She wondered if she had already felt this way a year ago – or if it had occurred after both the Herald and the council had brushed her away like a child instead of an equal. "But Great Summoners are trained to think not in terms of the Yatagarasu's happiness but the safety of the people under their protection. Geirin is the reigning Summoner here – if he believes in supporting Akijiro, then…" Kotone felt so small. "Then his judgment is final."

"That is correct, Raidou. Your consideration is appreciated," said Geirin, accompanied by the heavy clicking of his boots. "Nagi, prior to a mission is not the time to express doubts." His tone became one of a reprimand, so Kotone turned in the other direction and pretended not to hear. "You must eliminate this uncertainty. How many times must I tell you? You may struggle all you want in theory, but the situation will not change."

His last words made the newly ignited fire within Kotone roar in sudden resentment. When she trained all those years ago, when she continued to fight until now, she had never expected to be faced with such a statement. She fought exactly so that nobody could ever tell her such a hateful thing. Still, Raidou tempered her thoughts and kept a pleasant countenance.

It didn't escape Geirin's notice, however. "Is something the matter, Raidou?"

"No," she said, meeting his gaze and then looking opposite the direction of the Tento-Kagura. To her good fortune, she could see Narumi, Akijiro, Akane and the rest of the bride's party coming down the road. "I sensed a presence and realized it was only Gouto-douji. His old soul is a wonder."

"Ah. Indeed," agreed Geirin before setting his sights on Akijiro as well. To Nagi, he said, "You will stay here," before beckoning to Kotone. Nodding, Raidou set out of her station beside Nagi and went forward to meet the unfortunate bride

Akijiro put her, Narumi and Geirin in the last line of defense, right next to Akane. Kotone had never participated in a war, but she would suppose that if this was one and the mission was to protect something sacrosanct, then her position was one of great importance – at least, if she lacked the heart to think of anything but Akane's fate. A part of her wanted to slay Akane if only to spare her, but that would strip Akane of her choice and help only her peace of mind, and Great Summoners always worked towards the greater good.

Nagi was lucky, in her opinion – she stayed at the foot of the stairs leading to the shrine, behind the lines of grey-masked Fukoshi ready to repel Dahn's forces. She wouldn't have to endure the ritual itself, though Raidou knew her duty was just that – to endure. She reminded herself of the Purification Ritual and remembered there were worse things; if she could only think of anything that was.

Narumi was discussing something with Geirin below while Akijiro's men set up for the Ritual. The chief himself had entered the Tento Sanctuary, perhaps to inform the bug-men below that the ritual was about to begin. Kotone still curled her lip inwardly in disgust at the memory of one of the Old Ones sniffing Nagi and mentioning that he had some time left before the Marriage Ritual.

"Hello, Raidou." Akane took a seat beside her as they waited. She was beautiful, of course, wearing traditional wedding garments and make-up that was neither lacking nor excessive, that if combined with a genuine smile from her mouth would make for the perfect bride, but Kotone had spent enough days with her to know the one on her lips was merely theatrics.

"Miss Akane," she greeted, because before Akijiro's other subordinates Raidou was still an outsider, and so their chief's daughter must also treat her like one, though only a little more amicably, and she respected this.

Kotone couldn't find any more to say. She was hoping they could part with her uttering some sort of wisdom, as many would expect of a Great Summoner, but in a case like this Kotone could only offer one thing. She was reaching for her revolver when Akane finally broke the silence.

"Please tell me about Mr. Satake."

Kotone wore a curious expression without knowing it, but understood that in times of pain, many focused themselves on everything but the situation at hand. She would humor her friend before she sacrificed herself completely. "I had nearly forgotten – that in the beginning, I disliked Satake."

"Why is that?" she asked with a hint of true pleasance on the edges of her lips. Kotone's spirits lifted a little. Akane's face seemed brighter already.

"Satake spends much of his time in a bathhouse. When I first entered, I insisted on wearing a towel, unable to hide that I was a woman. His men attempted to…harm me, believing I'd come from the Red Light district."

Akane looked horrified. "No!"

Raidou shrugged. "An honest mistake on their part, though they came out of the tussle more than quite scathed. But the main reason was that the boss immediately informed me that Satake led an organized crime business," she explained. "When the council first sent me to the Capital, I believed that anything labeled as crime should be punished. But I discovered that there are greater evils…and there existed an honor and dignity to Satake that I could not find easily in other men. And some things, though not innately good, are not always evil."

Had it been any previous time, Akane might have listened, but as it was she only glossed over Kotone's words and continued the conversation how she had intended it. "Is he married?"

Raidou blinked down at Akane. Oh, yes, they were talking about Satake. "No," she answered. "One might say he is married to his work. But he has shared with the Narumi Detective Agency his desire for a permanent relationship."

"I…I see," said Akane, and suddenly her mood seemed darker. Kotone was confused. Had she said something upsetting as she answered the question? Perhaps Akane envied Satake because he was free to do as he wished without the constraints of family ties, her complete antithesis?

Akijiro's subordinates were finished with the preparations and were moving down from the Tento-Kagura to review the security detail with the others downstairs. Raidou was glad they looked with disdain upon her, because she needed time alone with the bride.

"Akane," said Kotone, switching out her gun and demonstrating as she spoke, "You cock, you aim, and you shoot. Take it in the small chance that you change your mind.

Akane's eyes widened. She tried to shake the gun from her hands, but Kotone kept a firm clasp over them and forced her to take it. "Kotone, I cannot…I could never kill the Tento Lords."

"It has six rounds; you understand that the solution needs only one."

Akane took a sharp breath in comprehension, but continued to shake her head. "But this is your weapon."

"Take it as a gift," Raidou insisted, suddenly feeling very old and weary. "Because there's nothing else I can give you."

Tears welled up in Akane's eyes, blurring her vision, but she could see none in Raidou's, swollen eye and not. Had it cleared she might have seen them misting, but Kotone blinked quickly when Akane pulled her into an embrace. She accepted it with a few genuine pats on the older female's back.

"No one has ever done anything like this for me before," said Akane, blinking away a sob when she released Raidou.

"There is another," said Kotone, glancing around, but she could sense no exhilarating presence within her immediate vicinity. She disliked that these Fukoshi men could travel without detection. "He is late. I am certain he will arrive, no matter the cost."

Akane looked at her fondly. "Kotone…" But the expression turned businesslike, suddenly, as she set her eyes past her companion. "Thank you."

Raidou discovered the reason why seconds later. Akane rose gravely from her seat; Akijiro emerged from the Tento Sanctuary. No one had thought it possible, but the air grew heavier and more oppressive. The skies darkened, or perhaps it was her imagination as the Chief spoke.

"It's time."

---

What did you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts on the chapter! It was very difficult writing this one - I didn't feel like I balanced Kotone and Raidou well enough, especially since she's starting to give form to and acting on her emotions regarding Akane, Dahn, and the Yatagarasu/the Kuzunoha clan. I'm not so sad about how it came out, but I could've done better if I thought on it more, maybe?

My perspective on it was that when faced with a problem she wasn't prepared for (and she was prepared for many things, I would think), a Kuzunoha village summoner like Kotone would refer to the basic rules taught to her as a child - like control, etc. - to try to make sense of things, only to find that the formula doesn't work so well when there are extraneous variables like the Tsukigata siblings involved than when it is learned in theory, in the safe confines of the Kuzunoha village. I just think. Plus after she became friends with Kaya and Rin, I think Raidou forgot that there's such a thing as conflict of interest when you get involved with people from a case you're working on. It doesn't help that she keeps it a secret from Narumi, who could have been able to advise her otherwise.

Still, I'm not so sure that even if he did tell her, that she'd be able to resist Dahn ;D haha! After all, girls like Kotone wouldn't really get hit on where she comes from, so Dahn's nature would be something new to her. She'd definitely be more aware of it though. Why am I saying these things? I guess it's just to let you know my train of thought when it came to writing Kotone here. If you think differently, please share! I'm curious XD

And of course, what did you think about the other scenes? :)

REVIEW! And see you soon, I hope!

Have fun with your festivities during the break, and Happy New Year in advance, everybody!