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?

8. Under My Feet

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?

Wow, it actually took my a year this time. I'm sorry, I have no excuses. I just lost interest sometimes and continued whenever I picked up interest. :( But I've got to finish this! I have such dreams for Kotone, and a sequel. (I know, right, impossible at the rate I'm going...)

It's been forever, but I'll reply to reviews anyway! In general, at least. I'll try to answer most of your questions. Here goes!

Yes, 'tis a Dahn/Kotone/Louis pairing. Dahn is more evident and is the main contender, and Louis - well, he's there. He isn't actually trying to seduce her or anything, he just knows he's beautiful. Not that this won't go anywhere. But at this early stage, Louis' interest in Kotone does not stretch beyond the interest of a player to a pawn. Fighting Louis may happen in the sequel that may or may not occur! When she is more powerful. And thank you for saying that she's in-character! Well, as well as that may go with a silent protagonist, at least. Haha! Thanks for all your reviews! If anyone still bothers to review this chapter, I'll go back to reviewing them one by one in the next chapter. I just didn't want to with this one because you've probably already forgotten you wrote them and I don't want to pressure anyone into reviewing. Haha!

Also, here we see Kotone going the other way! Er, alignment-wise. Hehe! Not to mention Jack Frost is here! Just for a bit. He doesn't quite fancy being in fanfiction. Also, thank you Materioptikon for the mano y mano/mano a mano correction. I was wondering about it!

Previously on Sparks:

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."

---

Chapter 8: Under My Feet

The ceremony was quick, but hardly painless. Raidou watched Akijiro for its duration and saw that though he had lived longer and experienced a lifetime more than Akane, his own daughter was steelier than him in moments that counted. His voice was steady, but his hands shook as he handed her the sakazuki cup filled with sake to sip three and a half times, while she accepted it and swore to serve the Tento Lords with the poise and constancy of an empress.

Akane returned the cup to her father, her stony gaze meeting his resignation. "Well…" he nodded purposefully. "The sake might not have been the best, but the ritual is now comple—"

Raidou's hand gripped her sword hilt. His presence sang volumes of emotion to and within her, loud and clear. She ignored how she rejected it with wavering determination.

"Oh no it ain't!"

His black-masked Fukoshi appeared all at once, cornering them into the Tento-Kagura with their –maru pets descending into the area. Raidou whipped her head at Akijiro. Were his men so weak that they couldn't sense the very boys they had trained and lost to Dahn's leadership? Had they been foolish enough not to guard the Fukorutsubo channels?

When Dahn appeared, giving the go-signal, she understood. The youth of Dahn's blacks matched the experience of his father's greys, to the point that Kotone wasn't sure whose bugs not to attack with the lack of discrepancy in their skill levels. The man himself pushed forward in his red jinbaori, sauntering towards the Tento-Kagura as though there wasn't mayhem all about him.

He met Nagi at the bottom of the stairs, where they exchanged words, briefly, before his power spiked considerably. Geirin turned to Raidou, worry striking his wrinkled features for a split second. Determination overcame it. "Nagi—"

"Go," bade Raidou. Geirin drew his weapon and raced down the steps. Turning to the black cat at her feet, she said, "Gouto, boss, stay with Akane."

"What are you doing?" Gouto demanded, keeping his paw on her foot. "You're Akane's most powerful detail! You can't leave her – again!"

Nagi fell and cried out in pain, as did many of the grey-masked Fukoshi surrounding Dahn. From above, Raidou felt a fraction the burning attack he'd used on her in Narita's mansion topple Akijiro's men. Geirin was able to withstand it, keeping on his feet; however, he grasped at the center of his chest with considerable pain.

"Don't you fret about him none, Nagi. It wasn't a serious shot," taunted Dahn.

"I thought we could agree…in a process of compromise…but…" Geirin stopped his wheezing and regained his composure. "If it is a battle you wish, then so be it. Your opponents will be Nagi and I. Abandon any theories you may have about holding back."

"Stow it, Geirin, you're not the one I came for," Dahn snorted, his eyes focusing on the Great Summoner arguing with a cat in the Tento-Kagura. "I got bigger fish to fry."

"Dahn wants the pride of saving his sister himself," Raidou said to Gouto, shaking off his paw when she lifted her foot to follow Geirin. "If I can defeat him, his men will fall back. Boss?"

"I've got it covered," Narumi nodded, rolling up his sleeves and tilting his neck side to side as if in preparation. "…I hope."

Gouto growled, but nodded his assent at Kotone. "Don't let it be an if."

"Of cour—"

"Raidou, watch out!" Geirin shouted from below. "Dahn is on his way!"

Red colored the shrine's dull browns as Dahn's figure appeared beside Akane before an expectant Raidou, sword clutched firmly in her right hand. "Dahn," the Great Summoner acknowledged. "If I must be surprised, it is only at your permitting the Ritual to come this far."

Dahn shrugged and gave a condescending wink. Akijiro frowned speechlessly; had they battled many times before? They seemed much too comfortable in each other's presence. But then Dahn had always been known to flout rules, whether it came to protocol or social situations. Raidou must have been unfazed simply because of her own experience.

"I overslept a tad, but it looks like I managed to make it just in time!" cackled the wayward son. "The guest of honor oughtta arrive fashionably late to get the crowd goin', don't you think?"

Raidou breathed evenly. "I think you should already know the outcome of this battle."

"Tch. And I thought I was pretty damn arrogant."

Akane only stood still. "Brother…!"

Dahn turned his attention to his sister. "I'm here to rescue you, Akane," he said excitedly. "Just like I promised."

"Y-You…" Akijiro finally found his voice. "And right in the middle of the ritual, no less! You're a disgrace!"

"Well, dad," Dahn sneered, "I figured there's no need to stand on ceremony when the ceremony's as ridiculous as this." Straightening his back, he declared, "The Tento Lords' rule ends today. There ain't no need to listen to their demands anymore."

Akijiro's face turned almost as red as his son's stolen jinbaori. Unable to contain his frustration, he shouted, "Heathen! Traitor!"

"Playing tough guy, huh, Dad? Well I know the truth – the day Akane was chosen as the next Tento bride? You spent it cryin' in your room till your eyes went red," Dahn dismissed Akijiro's wide eyes with a snort. To Akane, he said, "You're probably mad at your brother now, but…" He trailed off, waiting for her to say something. Anything to validate his rescue.

Akane stared at him, eyebrows furrowed. "You…shouldn't get agitated and shake your leg," she began. "Also, you shouldn't scratch your head while you eat..."

"What…?"

"It'll be okay, Dahn," Akane insisted, her eyes growing mistier by the word. "I'm your sister, after all. I'll make a good bride. You should go apologize to the villagers. And try to be nice to father…"

Dahn appeared only more frustrated, but he humored her for now. "Look, Akane…" he scratched his head, as was characteristic of him, thought Kotone. "That thing you made for me…you remember? The, uh, cream thing – what was it?"

"The cream puff?"

"Yeah, that!" Dahn smiled slightly. "You oughtta make some more o' those. I wanted another one."

Akane looked taken aback, but nodded. "I…I remember now. I did tell you that, didn't I? That I wanted to become a patissier…"

Akijiro turned his head away. Kotone hoped it was in shame, for all of them, before steeling herself once more into Raidou.

"Thank you, brother," said Akane, voice trembling, recalling what Kotone had said before the ritual. It was he who'd tried to do more for her than anyone else. The summoner had recognized it even as she foiled all his attempts. "Thank you…for coming…"

"Hey now, don't cry! Any…any brother would've…" Dahn sputtered. It was always like this, at the thought of his sister crying. Until he felt eyes on him, and saw that gumshoe, the cat, and, as she'd said so herself, the one obstacle to his success. Shaking his head, he turned to her. "I'll be takin' Akane with me, Raidou. I got a promise to keep."

Raidou nodded. "As do I."

"And I still owe you for that time at Narita's…" he began, riling himself up. If Raidou's way was control, his had always been lashing emotion.

"No pulling punches," she said.

"No holdin' back," he agreed.

"Brother," Akane said with obvious worry, and Narumi agreed. "Raidou—"

"Too late to back out now!" Dahn announced to their spectators, laughing wildly before rearing his head at the summoner with a serious expression. "Go."

"Out of the way," Raidou ordered Narumi, who pulled Akane behind him, and pushed forward with her sword.

Once Dahn defended himself with his sickle nunchaku, it turned into a dance, stepping forward, then backward, countering, twirling, dipping. They hadn't fought each other frequently enough to know what to expect, but their experience of each other's presence had given them enough to attempt to predict one another's moves.

"Break through his defense!" Gouto shouted. "His abdomen is his weak spot – when he maneuvers his weapon!"

Raidou glanced at her ancestor briefly, having completely forgotten his presence. Never had she faced an enemy quick enough to respond to this distraction. As soon as Raidou turned her attention from him, Dahn took the split second chance and rushed forward into a tackle. Only barely able to hold her ground, Raidou tried to stop him, only to have their battle spill out of the Tento-Kagura and fall down the stairs into the fray.

They landed a few feet from each other. Kotone jumped back to her feet, kicking one of the blacks who'd cornered Nagi before she choked on her cape and was pulled backward. Dahn had tugged at it, hard, and swung her around to sock her in the face. She staggered sideways.

"I'm the one yer facin'," he snarled.

Raidou gritted her teeth, convincing herself that he was merely an opponent. It was what they had agreed upon, after all. With that thought, she grabbed him by the shoulders and headbutted him. While he was dazed, Raidou returned his earlier favor by landing her fist on the side of his head. That would give her a good ten seconds to formulate a new plan.

Or not – Dahn recovered with a grunt after a mere three and retrieved his sickles, holding one and swinging the connecting chain at her. Kotone lowered herself to the ground outside the brick path, crawling under the men and hiding from Dahn amidst the battle, dodging pincers and sharpened katana between the warring Fukoshi and their familiars. She'd lost her sword when they fell down the stairs.

"Losin' your game, Raidou?" Dahn taunted, appearing before her anyway. She dodged when his fist moved close to her, only to realize he was returning her sword. "The way you're playin' this, s'like you want me to win."

"Never," she declared, running past him and up the spindly legs of some –maru bug, propelling herself and slicing her sword backward as she flipped herself over. Dahn deflected it, however, lifting his sickles just in time. When she landed with her back to him, he kicked, slamming her into a grey ordering his –maru to attack Kin.

"Thanks," Dahn's friend said with a salute.

"No proble—"

"Your battle is with me," said Raidou, removing herself from the grey and swinging her sword at Dahn's legs. He jumped back, but she managed to graze the skin of his thighs just enough to produce a stinging pain when he moved.

"Damn," he muttered, watching the blood seep from his open wound before brushing it off with a grin. "Guess you don't like me that much."

Raidou ignored him, moving to jab her sword hilt at his head, but he grabbed her fists just in time to stop her. They wrestled for control, neither looking at the other, concentrating on their own power. Finally, Raidou tired of it and released her grip, moving to the side as he fell forward, and connected her knee to his stomach. Her elbow met the side of his head, and Dahn let himself hit the ground.

"Surrender," she raised her voice over the fighting, pointing her weapon's tip at his nose, reminiscent of a night on the Ginroukaku roof. "I promised Akane that her wishes would be fulfilled. A Great Summoner keeps her promise."

When he didn't reply, Raidou realized he was muttering something under his breath. She had been so preoccupied with her victory that she hadn't felt the heat creeping up on her feet, coursing through her spine, burning through her temples–

"So does a brother. What do you think about my new an' improved Burning Resolve, Great Summoner?" asked Dahn, getting to his feet while Raidou's eyelids fluttered from the pain. She dropped to her knees, the searing heat spreading to her eyes until she could see only white. Jack Frost flashed across her mind briefly before the pain reached an unbearable intensity in her body, like a million tiny open wounds scratched beneath the surface of her skin that she couldn't reach. And then it filled her mind that there would at least be one good outcome: brother and sister would both live, though in hiding, perhaps.

That was a lie. There was still the Pojitrawn.

The memory strengthened Raidou's own willpower. She fought against the pain, repeating to herself a mantra that said Dahn's Burning Resolve was merely all the moments that she'd endured the Purification Ritual put together in one instance. Kotone struggled, starting to numb the pain, or it could have been that Dahn was finally letting up on the magic.

It was the latter. Dahn had stopped uttering the spell and was bent over her prone form, one sharp end of his sickle nunchaku poised over her neck. He had never felt so powerful; but then all his past targets were helpless little ants that were easy to squash. "I win, Summoner."

Her life was in his hands, now. The pale skies over them made it so that only he could see her eyes, but there was nothing in them that resembled fear or desperation common to people facing death. Only a foolhardy fierceness, as though she didn't believe for a second that he would kill her. Dahn hated that she knew.

He placed a hand over her heart and felt it pounding almost faster than his own. It should have made him resent her, that deception – as if she could hide how she really felt with that damned empty gaze of hers – but he only knew more, then, that she was no ordinary opponent. Not just a mission or some self-righteous Summoner, not Raidou but Kotone, no matter how he'd convinced himself otherwise this morning, and—

Kin removed his mask and hurled it at his leader in an attempt to move him, but missed by mere inches. "Dahn!"

It was too late. Dahn moved to turn his head, tell Kin not now, but felt himself being drained of energy. He thought it might be Kotone's closeness, nagging at his eager senses as always, but he'd fallen on top of her without meaning to, and in an odd angle, too, like something existed as an obstacle between his left side and her right. All of a sudden, and he couldn't understand why, Kotone's eyes were filled with an emotion he hoped to read. His eyelids had begun to close, however. The last thing he saw was her mouth, those soft lips that betrayed her femininity along with the soft angle of her face, telling him something that slipped his mind every time he tried to understand.

When he awoke much later, trapped in a prison chamber below the storehouse where he was unable summon even the smallest of bugs, he would realize it was "I'm sorry."

Kotone pulled her blade from his side and rolled him over with some difficulty. She looked over him for a length of time, checking his neck for a pulse, though she had little time to do so. The rest of the blacks had turned to face her, stopping at the sight of their fearless leader's defeat.

"Fall back," Raidou advised, hardening her gaze though she was still slouched from the pain of Dahn's attack. "You are powerless without Dahn's leadership."

"No!" Kin shouted. "Don't—"

As much as strength in numbers or true skill, Raidou's demons had taught her that morale was a deciding factor in battles. As soon as the grey-masked Fukoshi witnessed Dahn's fall, their confidence shot through the roof – and successfully drove back their younger black-masked counterparts.

Those at the Tento-Kagura had witnessed their battle from afar. It was difficult to miss the blur of the red jinbaori and the black cape amidst the rest. Narumi and Gouto followed Akane as she ran towards her brother. "Dahn!" she cried as she went. "Dahn!"

"He's alive," said Kotone, watching Akijiro phase into the battlefield with them and hold back his daughter. "I touched nothing that was vital."

"Why?" asked Akane. She didn't mean to sound ungrateful. "Dahn… He tried to kill you."

"His fate will not be left in my hands," she answered, and hoped Gouto and Narumi wouldn't be able to translate it into I could not kill the target. "He is your son, Lord Akijiro."

"My son…" Akijiro rubbed a hand over his balding head, reminding Kotone of Dahn's own scratching habit. Snapping his fingers, he summoned two of his men without their grey masks. "Take him away."

Akane ceased her struggling when the Fukoshi placed him on a makeshift stretcher, along with the rest of the injured Fukoshi, be they black or grey. Akijiro placed a guiding hand on her shoulder, steering her back to the Tento-Kagura. Raidou watched, ever an outsider. The continued existence of the Pojitrawn still hung in the air, but there was something to be said of the scene; a finality Akane sealed when she spoke.

"Goodbye, brother."

---

Kotone wasn't even able to bid farewell to Akane herself; Geirin had asked for her help to collect the stragglers, but in her search in the Tento Woods she realized there were none. All of Dahn's black-masked Fukoshi were so loyal to him that they had either gotten knocked out or slain fighting or surrendered along with their leader to ensure his recovery. She wondered if she could ever possess enough charisma to convince her demons to fight alongside her no matter the cause.

Akijiro called for a meeting after Lord Tento received Akane, but Raidou declined to attend, leaving Narumi, Geirin and Nagi to meet with the Chief. If he had anything to say, words of gratitude or regret or anything at all, she hadn't felt like hearing them. After all, the mission was complete. Akane was married and Dahn was captured, an outcome she had expected from the beginning even before they met Akijiro. But success was not as pleasing as it should have been.

Nagi seemed to have shared her sentiments, though Geirin had forced her to attend the meeting anyway – Kotone found her waiting outside the Fukuroku Inn after wandering about the Resort Environs portion of the village, receiving suspicious glares from the farmers and townspeople. She hadn't needed Lilim's powers to know that they wondered why an outsider should be permitted to witness Akane's wedding ceremony and not they who had watched their mistress grow. As always, she overlooked them.

"Raidou," Nagi greeted as soon as she spotted her cap. For the black cat, a bow. "Gouto."

When she reached the Inn, Kotone nodded. "Nagi." Gouto said the same with a more accommodating smile.

"Mr. Narumi is looking for you," she informed them, and then added as an afterthought, "…You did not attend the meeting Lord Akijiro requested."

"It was unnecessary," replied Kotone. "Don't you think? We summoners have no need of his thanks. We were only doing our…duty."

Nagi pursed her lips. "You mean to say that the process of going through with the Marriage Ritual was not a personal choice."

"Was there any other way to indicate one's reluctance?"

Had Gouto been a gecko instead of a cat, he might have scolded her with a tsk, tsk, tsk. "Kotone…"

Nagi watched Raidou's facial features the way Dahn had in the Tento Sanctuary, but she betrayed only a distinct stoicism bent towards indifference. Previously, prior to the acquisition of knowledge about the Marriage Ritual, Raidou was reticent but generally pleasant. Nagi noted that it was suddenly no longer this way.

"Raidou…would you like to train with me?" she asked, recalling the sparring session the day before. It bore the weight of nostalgia for a lifetime ago, now, and made her muscles ache, but if it was what Raidou needed...

"That sounds like a plan," said Gouto. "You've got some energy left from the battle, haven't you, Kotone? To take your mind off things."

"Right," Nagi agreed. "And not just for your blood. Well, in theory, yes, but my conjecture is that…"

Kotone replied with a scrutinizing expression before shaking her head. "Thank you, Nagi…but you must be tired. The truth is that I'd rather not stay here longer than we must."

"I see…" Nagi played with the ends of her long hair with some uncertainty. "Then you will be returning to the Capital soon?"

"I hope."

When it didn't seem like Raidou would say more, Nagi sighed. "If that's the case, then…thank you for your help, Raidou," she said, taking a step closer. It was almost as if she was preparing for an embrace, but Nagi only offered her hand.

Kotone accepted it. She seemed apathetic, but her grip was strong. "Goodbye, Nagi."

"Y…es." Dropping the handshake, Nagi turned around and headed back for the Tento Woods.

"Are you tired?" asked Gouto, flicking a tail at Raidou's pant leg. "It's not often she's the one reaching out and you're the one…well, not."

"I feel fine," insisted Kotone, not quite caring what he thought at the moment, but felt some guilt upon recalling her fellow summoner's strange and sudden amicability. "Nagi," she called after the girl, who whirled immediately. "You and Geirin are always welcome to visit us at the Capital."

Nagi's eyes widened as she smiled. "I am sure Master appreciates the company of another Great Summoner every so often…you are also welcome here."

Unbeknownst to Kotone, Nagi's invitation had lifted her spirits somewhat. At least she would always have someone with whom to commiserate the outcome of this unfortunate mission, doomed to failure even in success. When she ventured into Narumi's room at the inn, he was already packing his bags.

"You wanted to see me, boss?"

"Ah, Raidou," he briefly glanced at her before folding his clothes into his suitcase in a fashion that would have upset Kotone's mother. "I just got an interesting call from the Capital. I don't know what to make of it."

"Who was it?" Raidou snatched the rest of the clothes and shooed away Narumi when he tried to 'fold' more of his clothes in. Fold in this sense meant tossing everything in with him. Men, her mother would have groaned.

"Er—okay," he shrugged. Tae probably would have gotten mad at him for allowing a woman to do his housework (or something to that effect), but he'd noticed from last year that Raidou took comfort in fixing what was chaotic. She'd done the same after they thought Gouto died, too. "That's just it – I'm not sure who it was. All I heard was a bunch of breathing sounds amidst the crackling. Their connection must be pretty bad. I tried to listen past the creeps I was getting, but all I heard was your name. Mistress Raidou. I don't think we can ignore this…"

"I don't intend to," Kotone replied, slapping Narumi's suitcase closed and rising. Louis came to mind, and his words before that blank area of her memory when she wasn't certain what was exchanged between them – he'd mentioned King Abaddon, and the bottomless pit that would engulf the Capital once despair had swallowed its people whole, but she knew there was something more she was forgetting. "I have Dr. Victor's Tesseract Box; the journey will be quick. Shall we?"

"Sure," said Narumi, watching her leave for the hallway. "Hey, wait, aren't you going to bid your fellow summoners goodbye?" When she pretended not to hear him, he quirked an eyebrow at Gouto. "She feeling okay?"

Gouto could only reply with a shrug of his cat shoulders.

---

They arrived in the Gouma-Den after a few minutes, which felt unnatural to Narumi though they'd done the same during their previous trip. He was supposed to feel weary after the trip from Tsukigata, and while he did, it was in a way that was even more uncomfortable than just a boring trip stuck in a passenger car with a black cat and a more-taciturn-than-usual assistant. Not to mention that Victor assaulted Raidou with a barrage of questions about how well her blade worked as soon as they arrived, and he'd witnessed Kotone almost shrug off the good doctor. Actually, he was pretty sure she'd shrugged him off and Victor was just dense, which brought Raidou back to her senses. She answered properly and they were finally able to leave.

"I feel like I've used this line before, but home sweet home at the Narumi Detective Agency – nothing's better than this!" Narumi declared as he stepped into their office, leaving his suitcase at the door and tossing his keys at the rack. To his shallow delight, the hook on the rack caught them. "Don't you—whoa!"

The rest of their luggage fell into the office while Gouto snarled, leaping over what might have crushed him as the ground beneath them shook with great intensity and the door shut in Raidou's face. Kotone jumped off the steps before she could trip, but the quake did not cease and she landed unevenly, rolling until she righted herself in a crouching position right over the river. She had almost fallen – clutching the red boxes on her waist, Raidou took a sweeping glance at her surroundings. The other humans were relatively safe, keeping close to the walls of the nearby buildings.

"Not again!" a woman with a death grip on her son cried, grabbing a fish vendor by one of his containers. It caused him to lose his balance, tilting and moving sideways as if in a dance until he bumped into a fruit vendor who kept his wares in a pushcart. The fruit vendor bumped into the handle of his wagon, knocking the wind out of him, and fell flat on his face as the cart rolled on down the road, stopped only by the Konnou-Ya merchandise on display outside as people dove out of its way.

There was a distinct crashing sound before Victor's landlord hobbled out of his store, waving his cane in the air. "What in the–what's happened here?" he demanded, his voice getting screechier by the moment. "Who did this?" Turning on the pile of humans nearer Raidou, he shouted, "You're going to account for—bwahh!"

The earth shook again, and Kotone scrambled to get up before she fell into the water for good. Spurred on by the tremors, the wagon filled with fruits rolled on, eliciting screams from people almost crushed in its wake, until it hit the maroon-colored building close to a bridge. Raidou shook her head, watching the fruits fly in varying directions or stay put, squashed and wasted.

"Raidou!" Narumi called out, swinging open the door to the Agency. "Rai—! There you are."

Raidou took a last look at the mess down the road and decided she could do nothing to help them that didn't involve revealing her demons completely. She followed Narumi inside and asked, "Are you all right, boss? Gouto?"

The two nodded, but Narumi stared glumly around the office. It wasn't in complete tatters, but books had toppled out of their shelves and his treasured gramophone had fallen on its horn. "Wish I could say the same about the office…does this seem like a coincidence to you? Do quakes usually happen one after another like this?"

"I think so, boss," Raidou nodded. "Aftershocks are common post-quake. But it is extremely inconvenient for the Capital's people. Just outside, I witnessed…quite a spectacle."

Noting the thought on his assistant's face, Narumi asked, "Something wrong?"

"No," she replied after a pause, but watermelon-masked Raidou and Geirin occupied her mind. "What I meant to say was, perhaps the misfortune of the people have accumulated into this one earthquake. Does it sound far-fetched?"

"Given our experience with luck lately, no," Gouto mumbled.

"Whatever Gouto said is probably right," Narumi agreed blindly. "So – you never mentioned who'd be calling you Mistress. You didn't try to seduce another yakuza boss, did you?"

"No," Kotone answered without a hint of amusement, setting the gramophone back in its place and returning the books in order. "I think I know who it might be. Although, why he attempted contact using human technology instead of simply waiting for me to return is beyond me."

Well, Narumi couldn't say he didn't try to lighten the mood. Slumping in his seat, he asked, "So the one who called you was a demon?"

"Most certainly. He's only upstairs."

"Wha…?" Narumi's eyes followed Raidou's disappearance up the stairs before the detective sighed and lit himself a cigarette. Gouto glanced between the two before choosing his descendant and following suit.

Keeping occupied tubes on one's vest was taxing on magnetite, so Kotone had kept those whose demons were elsewhere in her room for safekeeping. She trusted them enough not to cause trouble outside while she was away, and so far this was the first time since she arrived in the Capital when any of them tried to speak with her.

Taking five tubes from the hidden compartment behind her closet, Raidou laid them beside each other on the floor. The first three were distant. The latter two felt near, but only the fourth glowed willingly. Without hesitation, Kotone summoned a tall demon with swarthy features, wrapped in dark gray clothing. He appeared overjoyed to see her, but controlled himself and knelt on one knee, shining blond hair rivaling Leanan's falling gracefully past his ears.

"Mistress Raidou," he greeted, the horn on the top of his head pointing at her as he lowered it. He inclined his head a second time for Gouto. "Master Raidou."

"Abihiko?" asked the cat with obvious surprise.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kotone took his hand and motioned for him to stand. "You've been gone for a time."

"It was not my intention to keep you waiting, mistress," said Abihiko. They had met during the Red Cape incident, when he and Nagasunehiko found themselves in Sukuna-Hikona's employ, and Abihiko offered her their services when she defeated them with the aid of a newly recruited Hiruko, whom the brothers came to love dearly. He was the older one, was always obeisant, pleasant, and smiling, while Nagasunehiko insisted he needed to maintain a rough reputation to preserve people's fear of them despite their loyalty to a devil summoner. He disliked Abihiko's title for Raidou, but never said so before her. "My brother's illness was more than—"

"How is Nagasunehiko?" asked Kotone. "Mezuki mentioned that he looked terrible when he met him last."

"He might recover faster if he refrained from meeting with friends," muttered the demon. "He is better, but his fever has not completely gone. Mistress, forgive me for calling on you in such a crude manner. Both his energy and magnetite were dwindling and there was little else I could do but share mine. It weakened me…and I could not go to you on my own."

"I understand," Kotone nodded. "It was intelligent, how you sought me out. How did you come across such an idea?"

"Indeed it was our Uncles' recommendation," answered Abihiko. "They send their regards, mistress, and deepest apologies for keeping you waiting, as well."

"I know our Uncles are busy," she dismissed. "Why did you call on me? Is Nagasunehiko in grave danger? How did it come to this?"

Abihiko's eyes were downcast when he spoke. "Mistress, you know Nagasunehiko takes every opportunity to see your world… He grew impatient during your training and left to see the Capital again, hoped to ride something you call a 'cab.' Without bothering anyone, of course. I could not change his mind, and saw one day that he'd gone. I followed him…we arrived by our own magnetite." He looked up sharply, then, as though expecting her to scold him, then dropped his head. "Forgive me. I did not mean to undermine your authority!"

Kotone gave only a shake of her head. It was expected of Nagasunehiko. She was surprised he hadn't sought to take Gozuki along with him. It was why she'd instructed Mezuki and Abihiko to watch over their closest friends, who were sure to cause trouble without guidance. "And so? What happened?"

With utmost relief, Abihiko replied, "We…sat in an empty cab. And to our surprise, mistress – there you were!"

"That can't be," said Gouto. "She was at Kuzunoha Village."

"We knew this truth, and yet there she was – or so we thought. It was a Jack Frost, mistress, wearing this uniform of yours."

"That is peculiar," Kotone finally agreed.

"That is the least of it," said Abihiko. "He was able to summon other Jacks! He called himself the future Raidou Kuzunoha the 15th... Ah – forgive me. He retained the tick of the Jacks, and Hiruko. He is Raiho."

Gouto snorted. "That's ridiculous."

"Perhaps, but when we attempted to tell him otherwise – intimidate him, even – he attacked us! Even alone he was not weak; he seemed almost as powerful as our own Jack Frost, and he is without a summoner. It humiliates me to admit…that is the reason why the common cold remains with Nagasunehiko."

"Can you take me to this Raiho?"

"I do not know where he resides in the Dark Realm, or in both our worlds, mistress," said Abihiko, eyes downcast in shame. He held out for her his hands, containing a strip of black cloth of the same make as her uniform. "But my brother managed to take this snippet of his cape in battle."

"This should be enough," said Gouto. "Bring out Leanan."

As soon as the thought entered Kotone's mind and she reached for her tube, the blonde beauty sprung from the green glow of her summoner's magnetite. "Gouto, I'd like to make clear that I am no bloodhound," she said, so silkily that those unaccustomed to her presence would have replied, no, of course not, never. Raidou gave only a hint of a sardonic smile, however. It shocked the demoness into a double take, during which it disappeared and she nodded coolly at another golden-haired devil in silky gray. "Abihiko."

"My lady," he greeted, floating over to Leanan and giving her right knuckles a light kiss.

"I've heard your excuses," said Leanan, withdrawing her hand. "Kotone, you forgave him too easily."

Gouto's mouth curled. "Don't tell me…"

"Yes," Kotone replied to Gouto. "Abihiko's lack of the usual deference to Leanan frustrates her in many ways. And attracts her, simultaneously."

Abihiko's eyes lit up. He came close to the woman, and when he spoke his mouth hovered precariously over her ear. "Does it, mistress?"

Leanan concealed an excited shudder and shot Kotone's tubes a glare that could dry up an ocean. "Lilim."

"Undoubtedly," answered their summoner, looking out the window to avoid the sight. "But this isn't the time for that discussion. Leanan, I need you to track down a demon."

Lilim reached for the cloth and appeared confused. "This is yours, dear. Is Jack Frost missing?"

Gouto rolled his eyes. Only women could choose what to hear when eavesdropping.

"Not ours," Abihiko replied. "Nagasunehiko and I found one dressed as Mistress Raidou."

"Oh," Leanan murmured. She and his brother were on highly unfriendly terms. He had called her a brother-thief, and she called him secretly-happy-about-answering-to-a-summoner. That had certainly set off Nagasunehiko. "Follow me, then."

---

They arrived at a Training Hall southwest of the Capital by way of the Tarrasque, who commented that he was only too happy to oblige a 'nice couple' that would surely propagate the rest of their kind. At this Gouto groaned. Abihiko gave a small, pleased smile and took no notice of Leanan's affected huff. Kotone nodded, smiled perfunctorily, then turned and strolled forward.

Leanan followed her summoner and placed a pretty hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Kotone? You seem a little edgy."

"You needn't worry about me, Leanan," Raidou replied. Abihiko reached out futilely when Leanan was returned to her tube.

"What is the matter, mistress?" he asked, staring slack-jawed at her. She only ever did that to Lilim as a joke, or when it was most urgent. This seemed almost rude. What had passed in the last year that changed the most mannered adolescent he'd ever met? "If anything troubles you…"

"Heads up," Kotone interrupted, looking straight ahead. A white blob was wearing her cousin's uniform, though it seemed tailored to fit him as well. The only difference was that he had no tube vest.

"Hero worship at its finest," Gouto remarked with a snort.

"But he professes not to know our Jack Frost," said Abihiko.

Kotone advanced menacingly, but he only grinned at the sight of her. "Woo-hoo-ho! Hi, Raidou! It's been ho-seven years! Or three…or four! It depends, hee…"

"…Forgive me, but we've never met," said Raidou, lifting an eyebrow. "You might remember my friend" –she motioned to Abihiko, who curled a lip at the Frost– "whose brother you attacked unnecessarily."

While she spoke, Raiho – she refused to acknowledge him that way, but she had no other name for such an odd Jack Frost – stared at her curiously, coming closer until he stood at her feet. Fortunately, he didn't climb her back. Only their Jack Frost could do such a thing. "Hee-ho! You're not Raidou!" he said with a laugh. Then, circling her and sniffing, he corrected himself. "Well, may-hee a little. You're just like me, ho! Hee-ven less! And if the fans are gonna auth-hee-nticate the next Raidou from the two of us, it's gotta be me, ho!"

"What are you talking about?" Kotone stared at him, barely hiding her disbelief. Even Decarabia had made more sense than this little devil. "If it's a battle you want, you will receive it."

"No-ho," Raiho said, wagging his finger sagely. "I bel-hee-ve in giving competition a chance, ho! Besides, whoever made you probably would just make you ho-win, anyway. The fans won't be able to-ho vote if we go head-to-head! We'll just have to strive to become the next real Raidou individually, hee!"

It gnawed at Kotone that she should resist the urge to scratch the side of her head in confusion. Anyone else watching the exchange would have already.

"An-hee-way, I should get going. Good luck, hee!" said Raiho, and then finally found his way to Kotone's back. It was only a matter of time. "By the way," he whispered, "Raidou is a boy! So you should work on that, hee. You might have a be-hee-tter chance that way."

"What makes you—" Before Kotone could finish her retort, Raiho jumped off with a spin and disappeared.

"That was bizarre," Gouto muttered. "You were right, Abihiko."

"It is only a pity he did not engage us in battle. We would have fared much better with you, Mistress Raidou," said the demon. "Shall Leanan track him down?"

Kotone shook her head. That little Jack Frost wasn't worth the trouble battling, though she wondered how he learned to summon other Jacks, as Abihiko professed. What she was truly curious about was why 'Raiho' refused to recognize her as the real Raidou – going so far as to say that the real one was male. He could have known her father when he was a schoolboy, but she was certain the uniform style was at least a little different from all those decades ago. Or did the Jack Frost see that she doubted the precepts of the Kuzunoha clan lately? There was nothing she could do but ask her father's King Frost if any of his children had gone astray the next time she saw him in the village.

Taking a bottle from her belt pocket, Raidou handed Abihiko the Medicine. "You may return to caring for Nagasunehiko, but you know now to come to me sooner before any sickness of his or yours becomes too serious. If he is not healed, we will hunt that Frost down again."

"Thank you, mistress," Abihiko bowed, gratefully accepting it, but he looked uncharacteristically uneasy.

He and Dominion got along rather well, and he'd worn the same expression when he forcefully came out of his tube to report that Pyro Jack had accidentally set fire to a boat in Harumi-Cho in his excitement a year ago. "What's the matter?"

"There…is more, mistress."

Kotone exchanged glances with Gouto, who said, "Go on."

"Do you remember what I told you about my brother? That for all his acts he possesses the gift of – at the very least – vague foresight? Such as when our home was about to be overrun?"

"Yes, I remember he predicted the death of Gouto and our friend, though he didn't understand his own premonition at the time."

Abihiko nodded. "Of late, mistress, thoughts of the Capital have distressed him. It is partly why he wished to see it in its splendor."

Gouto frowned. "Do you mean to see its splendor in its last moments? Because that's what it sounds like. And I hate to say it, but it would be fitting – with everything that's happened."

"I cannot say," said Abihiko. "But he never foresees things that are not ominous. My brother is loath to admit it, but he worries, mistress. About you, Gouto, and your friends at the Capital."

That pulled at Kotone's heartstrings more than she expected. She and Nagasunehiko had never been on more than cordial terms, and that may have been seeing too much into it. "Thank Nagasunehiko for his unexpressed concern in my stead," she said. "But what did he foresee for the Capital? What was this threat?"

Abihiko now looked extremely uncomfortable, and regretful about his decision to speak. "My brother…was surely delirious at the time. He told me at the height of his fever, you see—"

"I've heard of seers in worse conditions with more accurate predictions. What did he say? What was the threat?" the Great Summoner insisted.

"You," Abihiko blurted out. "…It was you, mistress. The threat to the Capital."

Kotone's temples throbbed. Nagasunehiko was hardly ever wrong. And if his interpretations were mistaken, his visions still always meant something. But Abihiko was right. He must have been delirious. She only ever wanted to protect the Capital. Below her, Gouto looked very thoughtful, but shook his head and appeared to pass it off as nothing. She didn't notice his tail actually lowering in apprehension at the thought.

It gave Kotone enough resolve. "Ridiculous," said Raidou, and sent Abihiko back to his tube.

---

The door clicked shut. Raidou entered the Agency, but it was Gouto's paws Narumi heard tapping on the ground as she dropped her key on the rack and propped her cape on the railing near the door.

"Welcome back, Raidou," he greeted, looking up from the paper. "What happened with the impostor?"

"It was a simple misunderstanding, boss," she answered, approaching the shelf next to him. "Are there any pending case files?"

"Nothing serious," said Narumi, taking her straight-to-business attitude in stride. Not a single quip about how lazy he was, or how he should fund more of her escapades. "Just a few retrieval requests. Why?"

"I have nothing to do, boss."

"Why not rest?" he suggested. "Maybe you forgot since our trip took less than a minute, but we did just get back from Tsukigata today."

Raidou gave a lopsided smile. Narumi cringed at the affectedness of it when she wasn't looking anymore. She'd pulled out his folders and begun to scour them. "I don't wish to be idle when something can be done."

"Not necessarily idle, but—you know—"

Raidou paused in her perusal of the case files. "Yes, boss?"

Narumi sighed. "Look, Raidou—"

"This looks interesting," said Raidou, rising from her crouched position. "Dr. Victor's landlord is looking for a Ouija Board."

Gouto frowned. "That's dangerous."

"What was that, Gouto?" asked Narumi, then glanced almost hopefully at Kotone.

Shutting the folder and returning the case files, Raidou said offhandedly, "He said it was dangerous, boss. I'll be going. I should find someone in Shin Sekai willing to pawn me one."

Gouto hopped onto Narumi's desk before promptly jumping off again, though Kotone didn't seem to notice as she took her key and drew her cape over herself once more. Shaking his head, Narumi picked up the piece of paper lying on his desk and read with a wave of disappointment, She translated me.

Kotone didn't return until later that evening, hours past dinner. Narumi's office was wracked by earthquakes that grew ever more frequent, so that almost every other hour was spent fixing the damage caused by the tremors. He'd stopped trying once it was dinner time, after Raidou managed to slip away from all his calls.

He called Satake, but the yakuza boss was busy and his consigliere was apologetic as he told him Raidou had just disappeared from their establishment. Dr. Tsukumo, who'd gotten a socket to which he could connect a telephone in the junkyard he lived in some time when Raidou was gone, said the detective's assistant had borrowed some materials from him before promptly running off. And then answering the Shin Sekai phone was a mellifluous male voice that unnerved him. It said he'd answered the phone in the bartender's brief absence – and that he'd missed Kotone, to his misfortune. Narumi thought it was odd that the stranger knew her real name, but the idea was slippery for some reason and he forgot all about it soon enough.

When she finally returned, Tae had already come and gone with dinner. He was so accustomed to only the earthquakes breaking the silence that when the door opened, Narumi nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Where have you been all afternoon?" he asked, standing and composing himself, smoothing his vest and pulling down his sleeves. "I don't want to sound like your father, but…I couldn't get ahold of you at all, Raidou. At least let me know you haven't been swallowed up by the earthquake every two hours or so, huh?"

"I'm sorry, boss. Work was—invigorating." Raidou inclined her head briefly as she reached into her cape and stretched out her hand. "Although, boss," she said, placing the object in his curious hand, "you know an earthquake could never swallow me up."

"Not the way work does," Gouto remarked. "That was one busy afternoon. I don't think we've been able to do this since before the Red Cape Incident."

"I did," recalled Kotone. "During the reparation efforts afterward. The boss and Miss Asakura were there. In hindsight, perhaps that is when they were able to develop their relationship beyond the platonic."

"I know it sounds farfetched, but I do hear when you talk about me, my devil-summoning pals," Narumi said with a half-snort, partly at their conversation in which he was left out, again, and partly at the huge wad of cash Kotone had just dropped into his lap like it was a bunch of used cigarettes. "But you know, Kotone, you don't have to work so hard. I mean, this is great, but…"

"You're right, boss. I should rest. Have a good evening," said Kotone, bowing for the first time in a while with another affected smile he found eerie, and went up to her room.

Narumi watched her depart to the stairs, again, in disbelief. "Only Raidou can be overly polite and rude at the same time," he muttered, glancing at Gouto, who'd jumped up to his desk, detective notebook ready. It was the manner in which they could converse. Why they hadn't thought of it before Narumi could only chalk up to their general distrust of each other as guardians of a single detective assistant and/or summoner, but he no longer thought of the cat as anything but a friend and ally.

Kotone lifted her feet quietly up the stairs, refraining from trudging. It was a task not to, though she didn't allow even Gouto to see that in the way she carried herself. She remembered her training too much to bear that, and the worry of her great ancestor was the last thing she wished on her plate, as Satake would say. Gouto had passed on the burden of enduring to his son and he to his son or grandson, and she wouldn't share it with him again if she could help it.

Her mind was in complete disarray, just as Lilim had insisted days ago. Kotone could feel the demoness' attempts to break out of her tube – she was almost successful, once – but she didn't want to hear anything that might prove that Lilim had known her mind more than she did. That was unheard of for a Raidou Kuzunoha, least of all her, Gouto's greatest descendant yet.

Raidou couldn't say whose fault it was. Akane's, for making her existence known to the Agency at all. Dahn, for being the main cause of Akane's selfless worries and worming his way into Kotone's peaceful, orderly life. The Mushibito, for giving him the luck locusts. Akijiro, whose decision made Dahn decide to ask for the thieving insects. The Tento Lords, for requiring such a sacrifice in exchange for the Tsukigata livelihood. The Yatagarasu, for commissioning the 8th Fukoshi clan to begin with—

Kotone whipped her head around sharply, like a child afraid of getting caught taking snacks from the larder. Her hand lay on the doorknob of her room, but she pulled it back and decided to head for the rooftop instead. She didn't ever think the Yatagarasu might hear the gist of her thoughts. But if a lesser demon like Lilim wielded such a power, why couldn't the divine crow?

Kotone wondered if she was in danger now, if she would suffer the Gouto-douji like Raidou Kuzunoha for thinking such blasphemy. But no lightning split the sky, giving way to a three-legged crow to land fiercely before her, and Kotone felt resentment at the idea of such a terrible fear gripping her. There was a fear of failure, and there was fear itself. The latter was unforgivable and she had caught the stink of it from her own gut.

But then even the first Raidou Kuzunoha had committed a grave mistake, whatever it was. And while there was room for error, the 14th knew he wouldn't want her to; at all, if possible. So Kotone put all these things out of her mind and came closer to the edge of the Ginroukaku rooftops, where a handsome man in a red jinbaori once smirked at her.

Almost to her dismay, no sudden swing of a sickle, not even a breeze, sent her cape flying. The world seemed still, devoid of life. Kotone saw the twinkling of the stars above and saw the same stars she noticed the night they set out for Tsukigata village. She could see the monkey wrench, and in her eyes it took the form of a fox with its paws bound by a crow. The sounds and vibrant colors of the Capital were cold and lifeless when faced with the thought of the suffering of a friend far away. The suffering of two friends. Narumi said that the roof would clear her mind, but the only clear thing was that Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th was exceedingly unhappy.

---

Kotone opened her eyes and turned her head to the side. Five o' clock in the morning. She pulled her blanket up to her nose and exhaled. It was chilly and the sky outside was still dark, though she'd left the light on the night before. Kotone had not been afraid of the dark since her father taught her to summon demons when she felt that she was in danger, but the silhouette of a bird sitting quietly in her room from the corner of her eye had bothered her and she couldn't sleep. She had called out to it, asked it to leave if it was a demon, but she was only talking to her imagination.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt like bathing in the morning today. Sitting up, she set out of her room with a towel and a clean uniform and knocked on the bathroom door. When nobody answered, Kotone entered. Her hair dried easily because of its length. The strands were naturally thin, too, which both her mother and Gouto said were Kuzunoha traits. Her black, sometimes gray eyes she inherited from her mother, for her father's and his before him possessed almost honey brown eyes.

Kotone watched herself dry her skin in the bathroom mirror. She was in no way gaunt. Lilim was right when she said her body was toned well because of training. Of course, no human besides Satake and his men could know of her build because she only wore her uniform outside the village, but when Kotone reached for her eyes with a pruny, pale finger she saw that the skin under it had darkened, almost like she was nine again and the training her masters had thrown at her, still new and unknown, was utterly exhausting.

Shaking her head, Kotone put on her uniform and stepped out of the bathroom. Light already filtered into the hallway. She wanted nothing complicated for breakfast – neither could she cook anything like it – so she would have toast and butter, probably. Narumi would want some, to be certain, though Gouto preferred a more traditional meal.

A wonderful aroma wafted into the air surrounding Kotone as she opened the door to the stairs. It smelled almost like her house at the Kuzunoha village, when her mother finally awoke and made them breakfast, but with coffee, too. Her mother preferred tea.

"Good morning, Kotone," said Gouto, sitting on Narumi's desk.

An entire meal filled the dining table, with proper place mats and plates and utensils for two humans and a cat. Rice, soup, and side dishes that were too familiar to her were served side-by-side at the center.

"Oh, morning, Raidou!" said Narumi, stepping out of the kitchen carrying a tray filled with two cups of coffee and glasses filled with water. A plain, salmon pink apron was strapped to his body, it seemed, for Kotone could never imagine her boss wearing anything like it.

"Pink aprons – accessories of the modern man?" she couldn't help but ask. Her face brightened, a sensation Kotone felt she hadn't experienced in a while. "This looks tasty, boss. What's the occasion?"

At this, Narumi beamed genuinely. "Tae left it here last night," he said, pretending to tip an invisible hat. "And there isn't. I learned a thing or two from our sessions with Tae and Akane, so I thought…oh." The detective inwardly groaned. Kotone's smile wavered when he doffed his hat and fell completely at the mention of Akane. "Anyway, Gouto lent a hand, too. He wrote down your mom's best recipe and we tried it. Looks like we're naturals."

"I see," said Kotone, trying and failing to bring back her smile. Dahn had 'tipped' a hat at her when they first bumped into each other, before his existence possessed any meaning. Akane was a great chef. Taking a seat, she said, "Thank you, boss. Gouto."

Kotone reached for the side dishes and quietly ate. She wanted to say something to Gouto and Narumi, but couldn't find any subject on her mind besides the Tsukigatas…and the weather. It's very cloudy outside, she might say. And then…? She might as well keep quiet. Halfway through her first helping, Kotone looked up and saw that her companions were watching her. Intently.

"Boss? Gouto?" She motioned to the food. "Won't you eat?"

Narumi took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. "Oh, no. We already ate when we were taste-testing."

"Right," said Gouto, licking at his own cup.

Kotone nodded, briefly wondering why Narumi set plates for the pair of them at all, but the silence continued until she finished her second helping, avoiding their gazes. Then she set aside her utensils and drank water. "Thank you, Gouto. Boss. It tasted almost like mother's. You should have some."

Narumi frowned. "You're not going to eat more? You usually have this voracious appetite."

"Right," said Gouto, nudging the rice closer to her. "Have at least two more helpings."

Kotone stared at them curiously. "Did mother call you? She isn't supposed to—"

"No, no," Narumi laughed. "It's just—"

A brief earthquake interrupted his explanation. The next minute was spent protecting the plates from falling off the table, Gouto yelping and Narumi mumbling, "No–no–no—" And then the phone rang.

Kotone sprang to answer it. "Narumi Detective Agency. How might we be of assistance?"

"Kotone!" Tae shouted from the other end. "Listen, the Capital—it's in the most gigantic tub of trouble I've ever seen! Well, maybe not as big as that Oumagatsu contraption, but this is huge!"

"Miss Asakura," Kotone replied, "Let's meet at once. Where are—"

"Keep Narumi safe, okay? Because," said Tae, as if she hadn't reiterated it enough, "the Capital's in trouble!"

Kotone set the phone down with a peculiar expression before turning to her companions. "It was Miss Asakura. She bade me protect you, boss – because she alleges that the Capital is in trouble."

Narumi blinked, and then started as though Nue had attacked him with a thorough Shock Wave. "That must mean she's right in the middle of it. Where did she say she was?"

Raidou paused. "She put down the phone before she could say."

Narumi was already putting on his coat by the door. "Someone at the soda joint should know."

"What about this food?" asked Gouto.

"Boss, Gouto is asking what we'll do with the food."

Narumi looked at Kotone worriedly before glancing at Gouto. "We'll clean it up when we're sure Tae's okay." And then he pushed open the door.

The trio arrived at Ginza-Cho by streetcar for free. For some reason, Kotone had a streetcar pass in her belt pocket, which Gouto slipped to Narumi past the attendant after she used it. By this time the sky had grown considerably dim, the sunlight from that morning completely shunned out by gathering clouds. But the atmosphere around the Shin Sekai alley remained the same; shadowed by its surrounding buildings, Kotone didn't notice the figure behind her when she dropped down to fold her falling pant leg. She mustn't have ironed it well the night before.

Narumi and Gouto, focused on the scent of alcohol inside the soda joint, entered the establishment without a backward glance.

Pinching at the folds with her fingers, Raidou rose and came face-to-chest with a grey coat. Stepping back, she nodded. "Louis." It was almost entertaining, watching for anything that might indicate his paying her any actual attention. Or simply distracting. "Do you come with another omen?"

He set down his bag to adjust his tie. With his usual half-smile, he asked, "There is beauty in absolute sorrow, don't you think?" Louis peered so closely into her eyes that she felt almost violated. Kotone's trained senses wailed at her to shove him away, to step back, but they fell to whispers when her body only caused her breath to hitch.

"Beauty is intrinsic to the world," was her answer. Even Raidou thought it fell short. "I suppose sorrow might be part of it."

"You are beautiful tonight, Kotone."

Kotone blinked. That certainly removed all her doubts about his attention. "My companions are waiting for me inside. Please excuse me." It took willpower – for some reason she didn't have the presence of mind to question why – but she made it past him. At least, until he touched her shoulder. Her arm buzzed and whirled at him immediately. "Louis," she said, almost apprehensively.

He smiled at her. "Kotone?"

"You shouldn't…" Kotone felt her mind slipping away, until she averted her eyes and clutched it tightly, though her control was the equivalent of grasping at straws. She stared at his perfect nose instead. "You shouldn't do that."

Louis made no apology, of course. Only the reply, "You shouldn't burn bridges before they're built."

"I have no intentions of severing our—ties of acquaintanceship."

The blond smirked, and somehow Kotone knew she'd gotten it wrong. What in the world had he meant, then?

"Raidou?" The colorful door to the soda joint opened slightly to fit half of Narumi. Gouto managed to slink through the tiny space. "What were you doing out there?"

"I was only…" Kotone turned her head back. Louis was gone. "Only waiting to see if Miss Asakura might come by."

"Not gonna happen," said the detective, fixing his hat so she wouldn't notice him watch her for ticks. He realized he knew her well enough now to see past her unaffected façade. It was how he knew she was lying. "She's at Ishigami-Cho."

Kotone nodded and followed Narumi and Gouto to the station silently, unable to refrain from berating herself. In that brief conversation with Louis, the events in Tsukigata Village slipped her mind. She had almost completely forgotten Akane and her father. Only Dahn remained at the forefront, the memory of his smile pulling her out of the spell. His was always ear-to-ear, as though he had nothing to hide. Dahn was of the rare kind who never held back his laughter.

A tower scarred with blue veins had sprouted in the middle of Ishigami-Cho. Judging by the reactions of those gathering nearby, someone had managed to pass it off as a stage prop. That or a giant catfish existed beneath the tower but was no longer pinned down by it, thereby causing the earthquakes. Kotone wondered how anyone could believe it. She wasn't even certain how Oumagatsu had been explained to the public. All she knew now was that the Capital was more gullible than she imagined.

It benefitted summoners that the general populace remained unaware of things, all the well to keep their sanity amidst the waves of misfortune eating away at the Capital; but it was disappointing that for all their superstition, they could never think beyond the boundaries their own minds placed over them. Not as disappointing as foolish, she supposed. After all, the occurrence of angels, demons and spirits were only as natural to her as humans.

Tae was the remarkable exception. Unlike Narumi, she had no past to secure her belief in what others called the supernatural; only her will to discover the truth, no matter how frightening. Kotone wondered how she'd react to the sight of demons, too. She wondered how they all would.

Narumi, Gouto and Tae were talking about a Lord Ishigami, research about whom Tae insisted would prove beneficial, but Kotone thought entering and seeing what the matter was would solve the problem more quickly. She strayed from their group and saw not far from them a stone statue of a fox inside a building near a shop, like a small version of an Inari statue.

Talkative fragments of the Ukanomitama spirit, the Inari statues she knew spoke their minds without hesitation. Like Dahn. Those at Shinoda especially felt more like old friends than anything. She appreciated their honesty, which was inconsistent with the enigmatic instruction of the Herald and the Kuzunoha council.

Kotone had made to approach the shrine when a small hand took hold of her wrist. A little girl no taller than her shoulders stared up at her. The child's eyes were honey brown, and instead of round pupils hers were vertical slits that strengthened Kotone's sense of her special aura.

"Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th," said the summoner. "Is there something you need?"

The girl smiled. "I'm lucky to have met you here in Ishigami-Cho, protector of the Capital. Now…" She pulled at Kotone's wrist so that she would come closer. "I'm only telling you this because it's you, Raidou, but the tower protruding from the earth is Lord Ishigami. You can go inside him if you want."

"I heard youuuu, I heard youuuu! I know your seeecreeet!"

Tae darted past Narumi and Gouto to reach Raidou and the girl. To the former, she said, still nearly bouncing in excitement, "You're a real smoothie! This little dame wouldn't say boo to me when I tried to interview her. So the tower itself is Lord Ishigami? I never thought of that!"

Narumi glanced down at Gouto. "How did she hear that while…?"

"Women," mumbled the cat. Narumi had a feeling he understood.

Tae ignored them dutifully and asked the fox-eyed girl, "Hey sweet-cheeks, think you could tell me more of that story?"

In turn, the child only stared at her. She said to Raidou, touching her palm, "I'll be waiting for you inside Lord Ishigami."

To say she walked past Tae would have been misleading. From all angles, the reporter's especially, the girl had phased through her. And disappeared.

"Huh?" Tae whispered at first. The more she spoke, however, the greater she rose in volume. "What? What? Wait—she—that girl!"

"I forgot you were afraid of ghosts, Miss Asakura," Raidou thought out loud. She almost smiled at the memory.

"Th-That was…a ghost? A – A ghost!"

"No, no, that was a spirit," Raidou corrected herself, though it appeared futile. Tae's knees were already buckling.

"Tae?" Narumi frowned, coming closer. "Are you gonna—"

"I—I'm all right," she insisted, holding out an arm to stay balanced on her heels. "If I got all weak-kneed every time I saw a ghost, I'd never be able to do my job!"

"Hey, attagirl! You held on!" laughed the detective, proudly squeezing her shoulder. "See that, Raidou? Tae saw a ghost and didn't hit the dirt!"

Raidou nodded in agreement. "You've come a long way, Miss Asa—"

The ground shook. Narumi cursed and caught Tae in his arms, then swore again when he realized she was dead weight. When the tremors paused, he looked regretfully at Raidou. "Guess it was bound to happen sooner or later… Hey, where are you going?"

Raidou had sidestepped them during the quake and attempted to move forward. She only managed a step, but it was farther than she expected, and better than rolling around like she had the afternoon before. "I'll enter the tower and fix it, boss."

"Wait up," said Narumi, taking Tae's legs up with his left arm. "I'll drop her off at her place and join you."

Raidou shook her head. "I'll be back before lunch. Gouto, stay with the boss. We don't know what's inside there."

The cat frowned. "When has that ever stopped me?"

The two Raidou stared at each other until Kotone turned her eyes back to Ishigami. Arguing was a waste of time. "If that is your wish."

The tower appeared to operate on an aura so powerful that it took the form of blue particles that shot straight up from the ground. As easy as it seemed to reach the top, it was not. Kotone summoned Dominion as soon as they entered, asked him to fly them up to see the extent of this Lord Ishigami, but there was an unseen barrier stopping them from merely taking such a path. Only lights, emitted by circular platforms scattered around the level, were the mode of transportation available in the tunnel.

"Thank you for coming, Raidou."

Kotone ceased her surveying of the area, put-out by her inability to reach the top and solve the problem immediately, and lowered her eyes to the girl.

"We're inside Lord Ishigami's body right now. It's the tunnel below Ishigami. There's so much I want to tell you, but…I need you to come to the top of the ninth floor. I'll be waiting there," she said.

"Wait." Kotone reached for her wrist this time. "Tell me now. This roundabout manner will only cause more accidents."

The girl looked up at her as if in confusion, but tempered her expression into one imitating Raidou's blank one. "It is only safe on the ninth floor. Please, meet me there."

Kotone reluctantly released her. Gouto sighed. "Not that I don't agree with you, Kotone, but we're going to have to find a way up there if we want to be briefed on the situation."

"Very well."

Lord Ishigami was hardly the Tento Sanctuary. Some beams of light brought them back down, some beams of light led only to platforms where she was ambushed by demons foolish enough to take her on, and few truly led to the higher levels. The formulaic manner of the tower only darkened Kotone's mood. The mission was to find a way to stop the earthquakes, if Tae was correct, and this tower was truly the cause. Now she understood Gouto's irritation towards Nagi when she took them to the Great Summoner's Hall instead of simply handing over the Tento Talisman. That little girl, whom she was certain was an Inari, was inadvertently causing more quakes.

Pyro Jack had just finished fighting off a clowder of Nekomata who'd attacked her by 'hee-ngeniously' setting their hair on fire when she felt it. The better term, perhaps, was smelled it – the rot was thicker now, more permanent. Kotone inhaled by mistake and thought she could taste it on her tongue, feel the slick attach to her neck and slink past the folds of her collar.

"So cooold… I'm…so coooold…"

"Not again," Gouto echoed her thoughts. Pyro Jack lost his earlier smug and perched close to her shoulder. "Didn't we get him before, Ko-ho-ne?"

The giggle. "Warm me up! Warm me with your whip of love!"

Kotone still remembered motion-by-motion what happened in their last battle. "He's come to collect."

He appeared right before her, hanging upside down from his grey cloud, his clothes grimier than before. The stench of his breath would have knocked her out if she hadn't caught the odor previously and built a weak immunity to it. Kotone jumped backward right as he reached out to touch her. "I knew we'd meet again!" cried Binbou-gami, in that slow, bawdy whine of his. "I haven't forgotten your whip of love. Please…beat me again!"

Kotone kicked her foot backward. "Gouto, out of the way. His power has strengthened."

"If only its stench didn't, either," remarked the cat, clearly dismayed, but scampered off the platform.

With a swipe of his arm, Binbou-gami slammed Kotone into the ground. Her back would ache the next morning if she didn't have a bath tonight. "Oh, stop teasing me! Can't you see destiny has drawn us together once more? You promised, after all!"

"I did," Kotone affirmed, getting up and drawing her blade. "Pyro Jack, return to your tube."

Binbou-gami clasped his hands together and swung sideways, eyes closed as if swooning. "Oh, I'm so glad! I like it better when it's just you and me… I must say, though, my skin's a bit thicker this time. You'd better whip me hard!"

Kotone nodded and bounded forward. As before, the Fiend disappeared only to hurl himself at her from behind. Anticipating it, the summoner whirled as she jumped right over Binbou-gami's face. Kotone landed heels into the back of his chin with enough force to break his neck, but as she returned to solid ground he only stretched it out and shuddered, loudly.

"O-Oh," he moaned. "It feels…too good! Am I being greedy, hogging your overwhelming love for myself?"

Circling him, Kotone slashed her sword at his back. He giggled and turned in her direction, swinging with his arms stretched to her. It grew increasingly cringe-worthy to hurt him; his cries of pleasure were extremely distracting and irritating. She would finish it quickly if she could.

If…? It was a hypothetical word Kotone found she hated. The summoner broke into a sprint around Binbou-gami, spiraling toward him. The Fiend rotated on his cloud, holding his head.

"Oh, my!" he gasped. "There is so…many of you—perhaps to give me a better—"

Close enough to reach for him by hand, Kotone grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him close. He had only begun to giggle when she thrust her sword into his throat. Binbou-gami spluttered blood, clutching at his throat.

"I punished you, as promised. Now, you will leave alone the Raidou Kuzunoha line. Yes?"

The Fiend said nothing, hacking still, eyes wide. Kotone pulled out her blade for a better view. As soon as she drew her eyes from him to wipe her blade, Binbou-gami reached out for her sides.

"Let me..." he coughed out, voice raspy, and yet his breath smelled even worse, rot mixed with the corroded iron, "return the favor…"

Raidou called out to Aeros and Dominion to volley her back, but for some reason it was as though they weren't there, or their tubes were nowhere near her. Kotone's only thought as she hurtled off the platform was that next time, she would stab Binbou-gami in the head. And if that didn't kill him…

It was not an evil darkness Kotone found herself trapped in when she fell. There was no 'landing'. It was the electric blue of Ishigami, first, and with no warning only the black, next. No camera flashes, no eerily-masked figures, not even demons. She could not summon her friends or call out to Gouto. She recalled now that her head had been attacked by pins and needles before this happened, almost numb, but the feeling was now lost.

Fear would have been a viable emotion at that point, but Kotone had learned long ago that it was a futile one. In the face of insects she had not managed to control herself, perhaps, but she had faced it when they battled Tentomaru, or when she rolled around before the Tento-Kagura with Dahn, avoiding their pincers as the old grey fought against the young black.

So Kotone chose peace. Although she could see nothing – not even her own hands – she could feel them, and that nothing attacked her here was…nice. It was good to, as Narumi said many times before, take a breather. He was right. To rest from the world and all its folly. But Raidou knew at once that the peace couldn't last. There was a battle outside, earthquakes shaking her Capital. Gouto was bound to be terribly worried. The last time this happened with Binbou-gami, he had been with the boss. He was alone now.

With some guilt, Kotone rose from her position, which had been prone, she realized. It was difficult to untangle her limbs that suddenly weighed a ton, but she did, and Kotone breathed deeply. No rest for the Protector of the Capital. Time to find a way out.

A candle shone forth, as though her thought had brought it alight. But she didn't hold it – a baboon did. Even against the flickering light he appeared a silvery-blue, as though bathed in moonlight, and on his head sat figures of a crescent moon under a perfect sphere made of pure gold. Still he seemed unhampered by them.

"Thank you," said Kotone. It was only polite. "Where are we?"

"Lord Ishigami is quite dangerous these days," said the baboon. The thick patches of hair on the sides of his face ruffled to an unknown wind, neither hot nor cold, simply there.

It amused her, at least, that she already had a certain feel for enigmatic beings – so she knew he would not answer her question. "I will take care of it," replied Kotone, instead. "Once I return. Will you tell me the way?"

The baboon released the candle, which floated now in the air, to scratch his chin. With his other arm he clutched a thick book to his chest. Symbols she didn't quite recognize appeared on its old brown surface. "Fiends roaming about and all that…"

"I am here to solve that problem," Kotone insisted.

"Oh!" the baboon smiled. Even then, his golden-yellow eyes like stars narrowed, measuring her. "In that case, you will find him near the bottom of this great edifice. Say…" He tilted his head. "Were you not the summoner in that...that old Hiruko tower?"

"Yes. Forgive me, but I never saw you."

"Oh, but I saw you," he grinned. "You aided a friend of mine. You look different."

Kotone frowned, reluctant to dwell on how many things had changed over the past year. Things seemed much simpler then, when gray was not a color she considered. "People change."

"That is true for humans, who are short-lived," agreed the baboon.

"Is that not the case for your kind?"

"We are quite set in our way of life since birth," answered the baboon. "The few who decide they desire change tend to cause trouble."

"There is nothing wrong with improvement."

"Perhaps. But there is always a price for change."

"Hmm," was all Kotone offered. Then, out of curiosity, she asked, because he had not yet provided the solution to the problem of being trapped there, "What is that book you're reading? I have never before seen such writing."

"That is not surprising. It is a coveted book; only one of its kind," said the baboon, proudly.

"Is that so?" she asked. "How did you come to possess it?"

"Why, I wrote it," he laughed. His voice sounded high-pitched, but his mirth gave it resounding depth. It was daunting yet pleasant to hear.

"Oh." Kotone's blank expression was the equivalent of any other person wrinkling their nose. The baboon could hear it in her tone. Even her own snarkiness surprised her, it seemed, for she adjusted it into a more polite one. "That explains the rarity."

The baboon only smiled. "You are troubled."

"You…" Kotone did not look any more closely at the baboon than she already had, but suddenly he seemed to glow. The way only Thor had, when he wished to exude his presence. "You are no mere demon."

"Indeed," said the baboon. "And you are no simple summoner yourself."

Kotone's mouth twitched near a smile. That was always good to hear, she allowed herself to admit, even with her position as a Great Summoner. "What makes you say so?" she asked.

"I have never seen such conflict in a summoner," he said. "Humans like to think differently, but you often choose your lot in life early. Rare are the ones who shift sides."

Kotone lifted an eyebrow. "You said humans often change in their short lives."

"Yes," said the baboon, ignoring her, "the rule of dichotomy. In their limited view of the world, humans call them…good and evil. Light and dark. Law—"

"Limited?" Kotone repeated. "So you believe there is no true evil in the world?" Her mind flitted to a shimmering underground cavern and her fists clenched.

Thoth's mirth didn't waver. "What do you believe in? Duty? Or what is best?"

"Why should they be any different?"

"And yet you know they are." His voice was deep, now. Rumbling. Not angry, just more intense. Even then, the smile on his face indicated only pleasure at the turn their conversation had taken. "More than any human I have ever met. Your own behavior disturbs you."

"That is not your business," said Raidou, almost sharply. But after a pause, when the baboon appeared to take no offense, she ventured, "How did you know?"

"I see it in people," he answered. "Often I restore the balance…but you seem to be doing a fine job of it yourself, Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th. Or do you prefer Kotone?"

Kotone blinked at him. "Your book begins to interest me. Just like Louis' traveling bag," she murmured. If the baboon knew all this, anything written by him would be enlightening. It was the first she had heard of a demon who could weigh such things in anybody.

"You know Louis?" the baboon chittered in amusement. "And you know the Herald! It is no wonder you are in such conflict. I cannot decide whether to count you fortunate or ill-fated for this. Perhaps there is a reason we met here."

"To provide me with a spark?"

The baboon burst into laughter. "No," he said with a knowing smile, making Kotone feel like a silly child. But his next words contained all the solemnity of a great spirit speaking to another who might be one. "Girl, do you know what it means to perceive the gods themselves?"

"It is not a thing I aspire to know," she answered honestly. "My world is with the humans."

The baboon accepted it with no outward reaction, only a nod. "Perhaps. There may come a time when you desire to, however. And when it does, my book will be of great interest to you."

Kotone appeared doubtful, but returned his gesture. "I will think to search for you, then."

"You will," said the baboon, certainly. "Now, a Dragon Vein courses in the earth beneath us. These earthquakes your humans have experienced are caused by the great misfortune you have wrought amongst yourselves. A Sacred Stone lies at Ishigami's lowest levels. Your nation will be lost if you do not restore it, but as Protector you already know this. When you defeat the Fiend taking advantage of this catastrophe, you will gain the access you need."

"Thank you," Kotone repeated, appreciating his use of when instead of if. She didn't bother asking how he knew. If he, too, was an acquaintance of Louis, he would probably be as cryptic, and she was grateful enough for this single straight answer. "You have been a better aid than any other I've come across."

"Consider it a parting gift for an interesting meeting," he shrugged. "Run along, now. You possess all the information you require."

"Except one," objected Kotone. "You know my name, but I don't know yours, sir." Sir…because he was more powerful than his aura let her feel. It was obvious in his golden eyes. Lesser demons, no matter how powerful, hardly possessed any color other than black or red. It was possible that he was greater even than their ice-eyed Thor.

The baboon grinned. "Thoth," and once the words escaped his mouth Kotone found herself lying on her side against a platform inside Lord Ishigami, Gouto's yelling piercing her ears.

Heaving herself up, Kotone looked around, breathing heavily. She bolted up, searching for Binbou-gami, but the Fiend had gone. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Gouto repeated with disbelief. "You tell me, Kotone! One minute you're flying off the edge and the next, you're ricocheting in the air, ripping that Fiend apart! He barely escaped before you destroyed him completely…"

"I did that…?" Kotone looked down at her clothes. There was no blood, but her limbs were weary. "I do feel somewhat tired. But…"

"I think you were possessed," Gouto said darkly. "Your eyes…they were golden. But I must admit: I've never seen such brilliant swordsmanship. You didn't feel anything at all?"

"…No," lied Kotone. It would be too much trouble to try to explain Thoth, not to mention Gouto would certainly scold her for not having the sense to realize the baboon had possessed her. And if he had defeated Binbou-gami for her – the truth of it was that she wanted the pleasure for herself, but what he had done was well enough, she supposed, though the thought that she was not in control of her own body upset her greatly. Was it all to tempt her with a book?

"Anyway, let's move on," said Gouto, eyes still slightly narrowed. "To the ninth floor, right?"

"No. The lowest floor," said Kotone. "While I blacked out, it…came to me that we must realign a Sacred Stone to return Lord Ishigami to its place. And to reach it I must battle another Fiend."

Gouto's tail flicked in surprise. "Are you sure?"

Kotone nodded. "To save time. Perhaps the Inari spirit put it in my mind while I was elsewhere," she said absentmindedly, walking across the narrow bridges connecting the platforms. Her sense of direction had flared after her encounter with Thoth, like his presence in her body had left in her the tiniest scrap of his knowledge of the place.

"Maybe," murmured Gouto. "Well, the faster we finish this, the sooner the earthquakes will stop. Let's hop to it!"

Glad that her mentor gave no outward protests, Kotone pressed forward and took a circle of light in descent. Demons still persisted, but she had required the aid of only a few of her friends to defeat them. The Jack Brothers, for example. Hiruko. Nue and Gozuki. Those who would not inquire about what 'troubled' her, as Thoth had excellently put.

He appeared from nowhere, as all Fiends did. Lying suggestively against a thick, thundering storm cloud, hand against his thigh and a ruined parasol floating behind him, the Fiend was bald, save for bits of hair right above his ears. It was the first thing Kotone noticed. And then his long, slick tongue, swinging in place of oily hair. He must have been four times Binbou-gami's size, his face half of her entire body.

"I am bad luckubyoou!" he laughed as he announced himself. "Yakubyou-gami!"

"Not again—look at the size of him!" Gouto exclaimed, paw on Kotone's foot. "So he's the one behind all the calamity about to hit… He's misfortune in demon form!"

"Daaaance!" ordered Yakubyou-gami, waving a hand and a tongue. She wondered how he could speak with that thing hanging out of his mouth. "Scatterrr! The wooorrst calamity everrr!" With that, he picked up the tattered parasol, a mottled umber, and swung it at Kotone.

"Gouto, move!" she shouted. The cat leapt back from the platform, but Kotone hadn't been able to avoid it. An invisible wall had risen from the edges of where they stood. She did not fly off or fall, only hit the air and fell to the ground, crumpled instinctively before hoisting herself to her elbows. She had not been prepared for something of that size in a long time.

When she finally stood, the Fiend chose to speak. "I love the Capital now!" he told her gleefully. "With the sacred stone misplaced and luck at an all-time low, it's home sweet home for me! See the humans run…see them suffer from earthquakes, disease, despair! The police, the army, the government, all circling the drain! I give this catastrophe four stars!"

"I'm here to put an end to it," she replied, summoning Aeros.

"Hmm?" the Fiend peered down at her suspiciously and frowned. "Who are you?" Before she could answer, he swished his parasol at her again—only for her demon to push against the wind with all his might. Yakubyou-gami pushed, but Aeros forced back the weapon.

"A Fiend," noted Aeros, when Yakubyou-gami relented for a moment. "Of disease and disaster, at that. What do you propose we do, Raidou?"

Kotone liked Aeros for battle, especially. Dominion sometimes asked too much about her health as they fought, while the elemental simply focused on defeating the enemy. Still, she noted his translucent eyes searching hers for something. The others had clearly put him up to doing it.

"I thought you might take me to him," she suggested.

"It's what I do best," smiled Aeros. With the elemental one could never actually tell, but he was of the same temperament as Dominion despite being the embodiment of the winds, and the breeze surrounding Kotone picked up into a torrent that lifted her from the waist with such speed it seemed as if she was hurtling towards Yakubyou-gami. Leaping over his shoulder before he could react, Kotone stabbed the Fiend in the back.

Yakubyou-gami hissed. Aeros imitated him. "Disease indeed!" he exclaimed in wonder as miasma swirled out of the Fiend's wound. Kotone certainly hadn't been prepared for such a poison, and sheathed her sword hurriedly to cover her mouth. Aeros whisked it away, but even then the coughing fits were inevitable and Raidou could feel the poison whittling away at her energy.

"You're quite a disaster yourself if you managed to harm me," said Yakubyou-gami, slit eyes still narrowing at Kotone as she returned to the ground.

The summoner knew now it was better to maintain a certain distance from disaster personified if she was to survive the battle. Long-range attacks. Mezuki and Gozuki, the demons she had always favored in an intense battle for their sheer strength, were out of the question. So it was Nue with lightning and Pyro Jack with flames in Yakubyou-gami's face.

Pyro Jack had grown in agility since their last battle with Binbou-gami, and cleverly avoided Yakubyou-gami's tongue. Eventually his antics and hoarse laughter frustrated the Fiend enough to stop trying, and resumed throwing his parasol at them, an attack much more difficult to avoid.

"MOVE JACK MOVE," Nue roared, noticing the Fiend's hand movement even as lightning crackled out of his mouth.

"Burn the parasol!" Kotone ordered. Pyro Jack obeyed, breathing fire into the umbrella, now in crisps over Yakubyou-gami's robes. The flurry of attacks and constant electric shocks had distracted the Fiend, who scowled.

"Such a sprightly youth! I hate it. But if you're a building fire, I'm a forest fire – the ultimate disaster!"

Nue and Pyro Jack braced themselves when the Fiend whipped his head at them angrily, as though weighing which to destroy first, but all along his target was Kotone. His tongue lashed out at her, rolling her up little by little until she nearly reached his widening jaw.

"Nue! Continue," she ordered, noting Nue's hesitation. It warmed her heart as much as it displeased her that he would doubt her ability to withstand his attack. "Nue, obey!"

"OKAY," cried the beast, as though he'd been backed into a corner, and dealt successive bolts of lightning at the Fiend holding her.

"Ko-ho-ne!" gasped Pyro Jack.

Clearly having heard the exchange, Yakubyou-gami had braced himself for the attack and did not release Kotone from his grasp. Raidou bit down on her lip and refused to scream, the shock passing through her in increasingly violent waves. When she realized the Fiend wouldn't let go, she opened her mouth – shaking – and bit down on his tongue.

"Ow!" Yakubyou-gami whined. Kotone rolled out of his tongue, falling into his cloud.

It must have been a part of his body, thought Kotone, twitching. Even then, her cap was still on her head. Everything was fine. She would recover from this. Raidou stood, thoroughly encouraged, but she was surrounded in the white mist. The stench was familiar – Yakubyou-gami's poison miasma. Kotone pushed herself forward, exhaling and then holding her breath, but nothing worked. She was growing weak. The fumes were reaching her head, passing through her body. Aeros, she thought, but Yakubyou-gami was faster.

"So unlucky," he sang from all around her. "But unfortunate children are always a good meal! I'm going to enjoooy digesting your misfortune and chuuuurning out more disaster!"

Kotone coughed. Nothing positive would come out of replying to such taunts. "Aeros," she summoned, but the mist had taken all her magnetite. She felt Nue and Pyro Jack fall back to their tubes. The miasma began to deplete her body.

"Kotone!" she heard Aeros outside. "Get up. Kotone!"

"Get the Anti-Poison," Dominion insisted from the same detached distance. It was like bags of cotton had been placed over her senses. Even the angel's ruffling through her cape and pouch felt numb.

Within the mist, Kotone could see nothing until her waist began to shake. Not from her friends' search but from the red box strapped there—the grown luck locust Dahn had given her. It rattled around the cage wildly, attempting to get out. Raidou put all her strength into reaching her hand towards the red box, sweating profusely, and felt a warmth close around it – Dominion and Aeros, having seen the activity themselves, but in her growing delirium she thought only Dahn – then opened the cage.

The luck locust buzzed, flitting loudly into freedom. She couldn't be sure if it understood her intentions, but it emitted such a great light that Yakubyou-gami trilled in frustration, loosing his hold on her consciousness. For Dominion and Aeros, their summoner awoke. For Raidou, she fell out of the mist.

"Kotone—"

"Dia. Take me to him," she demanded, struggling to rise. Yakubyou-gami was down, his tongue sagging weakly. Luck was his weakness. Kotone felt the locust settle in back in its cage as Dominion sent bouts of energy her way and Aeros carried her to the Fiend once more.

Her sword was poised over his neck. She was slightly dizzy from the sudden barrage of health from Dominion, but Kotone steadied herself on the grip she had on Yakubyou-gami by his right ear.

"I am Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th," she answered, finally, and released him to swing her sword at his neck.

She frowned in dismay, grabbing his collar to stay aloft. Kotone had expected a quick beheading, but his neck was thicker than she expected. She pulled her sword out from his half-neck, ready to swing again, when Yakubyou-gami lifted an arm and shoved her off.

"I remember now," groaned the Fiend, miasma pouring from his neck. "Yooou're the devil summoner that protects the Capital! Sooo baaad...to have met you again… What a disaster," the Fiend whined. Kotone fell, hurtled away from Yakubyou-gami, and Aeros breezed her to safety. "My own personal calamity…"

He disappeared. Bidding Aeros return to his tube, Raidou fell back despite her attempts not to lose her composure. Dominion supported her by the waist. "Are you all right?"

Kotone nodded. Dominion concealed a skeptic look, casting Dia over his summoner multiple times. The angel knew she had been avoiding them, so he spoke before she could order him back to his tube. "Lilim worries."

Kotone shrugged off his helpful arm and forced herself to stand. "I'm fine. Lilim was not summoned because she isn't fitting for this battle. We discussed this last year."

"If you're certain," Dominion sighed, prepared to surrender, but stood his ground. "If I am to be candid," he said, "You seem to concentrate on keeping Lilim within her tube the most out of us all."

Raidou's only show of guilt was her look askance. "I have much on my mind I would prefer to keep Lilim out of."

"Is pushing away a friend truly the best option, Kotone?"

Kotone stared at Dominion, looking thoughtful, but in truth she was tempted to glare. She disliked being told what to do, but often she could dismiss it with the thought that at least she knew she was right. But Dominion's words were wise, here, and Kotone knew she was acting foolishly. Lilim didn't push her away when the demoness first began to lust for Dominion, the first male she had actually cared for. His nagging personality had apparently appealed to Lilim, who soon fell in love with him.

Still, the story of the two wasn't something she pried into unless Lilim offered stories, and sometimes Kotone even preferred to stop Lilim when her descriptions turned to the physical. Demonesses like Lilim had no concept of marriage and rituals displaying union, and Dominion had found companionship in Lilim he could not in any other being. He had expressed to her a few times the harassment he received from other angels for his association with Lilim; in fact, his eyes had turned red instead of their natural blue, for he was once a relatively high-ranking angel.

Gouto once expressed dismay for Dominion's fall, but never passed judgment on the angel for it. Curious, especially since Gouto showed a certain dislike for Lilim through his teasing and irritating, but Kotone simply thought that perhaps Gouto respected Dominion too much as an effective demon to damn his choice in a mate. She wondered if he would feel the same if she chose an enemy, too.

Not that she would, of course. It was all hypothetical.

"Ask her to wait a little longer," Kotone told Dominion. "I must sort my thoughts, alone."

Squeezing her shoulder in agreement for the time being, Dominion disappeared. In the clear, Gouto approached his descendant, circling her and checking for wounds. "Are you all right?"

"The Fiend warranted the title," she answered, standing straight under his scrutiny. "His festering wounds were toxic to me, but we have never met."

"He meant your father," Gouto clarified. "We met him before, when Katsu was still a young man. I didn't think we would ever see him again. It took him all these years to recover…only to fall at the hands of the same summoner." The cat seemed amused amidst his concern for his descendant.

"My father faced that Fiend?" Raidou asked, genuinely interested. "He never mentioned it. And how did he defeat him?"

"As you know, Katsu was pure strength," said Gouto. Kotone did know that. Her father's friends possessed elemental power, and demons made for physical attacks such as Gozuki and Mezuki were rare. He sacrificed speed for bone-crushing blows. In terms of style, her father was the extreme opposite of Nagi's lightning quick attacks. "He had a bit of trouble at first, but once he figured out Yakubyou-gami, he wiped the floor with that Fiend."

"Oh." Kotone was glad the Fiend had not put her father in too much danger, but it disappointed her that he hadn't put up much of a fight against the 13th, either. A testament to her father's power.

"Don't feel bad," Gouto flicked his tail at her foot. "Katsu was about Dahn's age by the time he was that powerful."

Kotone shook her head. She never compared herself with him because he had made it very clear that they were two summoners with different styles no matter their direct relation, and Gouto said she was his best descendant to date. She saw now that it might have been because she was faced with the great problem of the soulless army on her first year of operation while her father's crises had been numerable, but smaller in scale. It made her doubt. She didn't like it. Still Kotone answered, "I would never compete with father. Let's move on."

Gouto agreed with thoughtful acquiescence, and they encountered no more malicious demons on their way down. Thoth was nowhere to be seen, but she didn't count him much as a malicious being than a meddlesome one. While she couldn't deny the fortuity of his interruption, she would have liked to know how it felt to handle Binbou-gami on her own.

The sacred stone out of place was a sleek, obsidian pebble no larger than Dahn's palm. How could this tiny rock cause such calamity? She supposed it was the proverbial ripple that unexpectedly moved tides of history, and in a brief moment of deep reflection found herself lucky to understand what had caused these. Ever did time brush over the fine details of the truth, like the existence of otherworldly beings and young men whose only wish was to save both their martyrical sisters and home though it was impossible.

The thought dampened her triumph. With the sacred stone locked in place, the tower rumbled menacingly and Kotone understood that they were now deep in the earth once more. It both froze and seared her from within, as though the change was both physical and a condition that could be treated only from the soul's core.

Gouto went ahead to tell Narumi of the good news in case he was worried, and the cat knew the man well enough now to say he was.

Once Kotone explained that her knowledge of the sacred stone was based on pure intuition, she listened to the girl – an Inari statue in human form, as she'd suspected – lavish praise on her as had all the others. She was aware enough of herself to know that their gratitude had not yet become platitudes to her simply because it pandered to her adolescent ego. She wondered if the feeling would leave when she grew older, but for now, she happily accepted and replied that it was her duty, of course.

And it was. But in the back of her mind she wondered if the Inari could not have just told her to begin with instead of allowing such calamity to pass without resistance. Although they often depended on Kuzunoha summoners to pass each other messages and simple greetings, she was the kind to – well, today was a day when she simply did not understand why other humans couldn't speak with them. And not just them. Demons and spirits, too.

Although members of her family and other, lesser summoner clans were born with the ability to see the supernatural, humans could be trained to see them. What had once been considered a gift was now a curse, however, for the sight only garnered fear, not wonder, to those born to it without proper guidance. What a ridiculous notion.

"We are certain that your continued actions shall bring a bright future to the Capital. Take care of yourself, Raidou," said the little girl, startling Kotone when she touched her hand. She smiled like a forgiving adult, as though she knew that the summoner had drifted. Raidou realized it was the first time such a thing ever occurred and scolded herself for it. Squeezing her small fingers around the summoner's dry palm, the Inari waved it in a pseudo-handshake. "You bear all of our hopes."

"I know," said Raidou, bowing before the child. The Inari grinned, her eyes stretching to slits as she stepped back into her statue and faded. Turning her back on the fox, Kotone sighed.

---

Tell me what you think! :) As I said earlier, Kotone's getting a little Chaotic. It happens when people important to you are taken away, even if you think you're prepared for it. She thought she might be able to get a hold of herself and control her reaction and response to Akane's marriage and Dahn's incarceration/possible death, but evidently she's become more emotional than she thinks. Also, she's starting to point fingers! Naughty summoner, Kotone. The Fox against the Crow? It can only end in disaster.

The Chapter title is a reference to the song "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King. It starts with "I feel the earth move under my feet/ I feel the sky tumbling down/ I feel my heart start to trembling/ Whenever you're around..." Refers to many things in this chapter. The effect Kotone and Dahn now have on each other, whether or not they can help it, the earthquakes in the Capital, the looming disaster in the sky which we'll see in the next chapter, and you may or may not see it as something Kotone may have for Louis, too. But on a physical level, not an emotional one, as that belongs wholly to Dahn, I assure you. (I personally dislike love triangles. I've found a solution to it. You'll see. Hehehehehe)

And, well, happy new year, everybody. :) I hope you are all doing great. I've missed this fandom.

Also, this updated on January 28, 2013, which is why Raiho says it may have been 7 years, or "maybe 3 or 4". (Soulless Army was released in Japan/NA in the year 2006, so that should have technically been the last time they saw each other, but at the same time since this is fanfiction on the actual game which was released in 2008 for Japan and 2009 for NA, it may also have been 3/4 years.)