"Okay, Shido - just *why* are we going in here again?" Yayoi looked at the front of the curio and antique shop and shivered a little. "It feels creepy, and we're still on the sidewalk."
"Call it a hunch," he said unhelpfully. "We've spent several hours looking everywhere else and found nothing. This place - I don't know - calls to me. So, let's see what it has to say up close and personal."
She gave him a sour look as she followed him in, stifling a sneeze from the dust raised by the open door. "Don't they ever clean in here?"
A small, wizened figure peered over the top of one grimy glass counter and its whitish eyes widened. "Oooh! Hello! Hello there...how can I serve you?"
Yayoi moved toward the counter, but Shido's hand blocked her progress after a step or two.
"Don't," he said softly. To the person behind the counter, he said, "I'm looking for something - someone, actually. Very special."
"Mmmm, of course. You want to come with me, then. I will take you to visit the mistress."
Shido exchanged a quick glance with his partner, and nodded, following the old woman, as it turned out the shopkeeper was. "Thanks. Can we make it a surprise?"
"Oh yes, yes…it will be a surprise." The figure moved sturdily on without looking back.
Yayoi slipped one hand back, touching her handgun for reassurance, and followed grimly in his wake. Whatever her thoughts, she didn't bother to voice them. The entire place still made her skin crawl, and it wasn't just the dust.
They went up a shallow flight of stairs to a long hallway. No lights were visible except for murky flickers from the candle sconces every few feet along the walls. The hallway seemed shorter than it should somehow, but Shido registered it only peripherally; his eyes scanning the walls as they passed for doors or other exits. There were none that he could see.
"Odd," he muttered, glancing up at the door ahead of them, the only one other than the one they had entered the hallway by. "Unless-"
The old woman hobbled ahead with a burst of speed, and opened the door in a quick motion, pushing it inward.
Shido turned, giving a cry of warning as he pushed Yayoi back away from the door. He felt a sickening twist as his feet left the floor, and the darkness grew, his sight now a mere pinprick of candle flame in an ocean of blackness. Then something sharp slashed through him, causing incredible pain, and the lights went out.
Yayoi had her gun in one hand, and only wavered a little on her feet as she faced the end of the hall. "Shido? SHIDO?" There was no answer. The door - open only a moment ago, was now closed. "Dammit Shido, where are you?"
Yayoi moved toward the door, biting her lip a little. "You'd better be in there." She reached out and turned the knob on the door to push it open. It ignored her efforts. Frowning, she turned harder, and felt the knob give, as the door splintered along the edge and the handle came off in her hand. "Wha-"
The door swung slowly open to reveal an old, empty, long-unused room, both dark and silent. Yayoi stared at the doorway for a moment, then dropped the broken door section and very slowly walked over and stuck her head through the doorway. Nothing happened.
"Oh damn, where are you?"
She turned, giving the door a seriously hard kick, and stalked back down the hallway, hoping to meet the little shopkeeper or someone, but the place was deserted. As she pulled the front door shut behind her on the way out, she blinked. The sign on the door said, "Shop closed for vacation." It was not due to open again for a week.
Gun under her jacket and out of sight, she quickly walked down the street in front of the building, looking at the windows. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The back of the building had no windows, and only one door with a fire escape from floors two and three. The opposite side looked normal as well. By the time she was back to her car, Yayoi was out of ideas.
"Just great," she muttered, slipping her gun back into hiding, and striding for the car. She was going to need help.
There were sixteen messages from the chief on Shido's phone when Yayoi got back to the office. When it rang again, she picked it up. "Shido Detective Agency."
"Where the hell are you? Where is the Prime Minister's grandson? Why haven't you answered the phone all morning. Yayoi! I know that's you – what the hell's going on?"
Yayoi rolled her eyes, but her voice was calm, and professional. "Hello Chief. We are still looking. The lead we had last night did not pan out, and Shido is right now tracking the breed to its lair. I just came back for – um – ammunition."
She held the phone away from her ear as he continued to yell. "You really should calm down, sir, you're going to have a stroke—"
She was still holding out the phone like a noisome creature when Riho walked in. "Hello Ms. Yayoi. Where is Mr. Shido?"
"I'll tell you in a minute," she said quietly, away from the phone. Into the phone, she put on her best professional "don't mess with me" voice. "Sir – Chief! Listen to me. I have to go – I can't stand here on the phone, I have to go help Shido. I will call you back when I know something. Yes, hopefully soon. Thank you sir. Goodbye sir." She hung up the phone.
Riho was still standing, watching her. "What was all that about? You look tired – you want me to make some coffee?"
Yayoi looked over at the younger girl and smiled. "That's a very nice offer, Riho, but Shido needs us, I came back here to get you and Guni, if she's around."
"Guni's always around," came a sleepy voice from the pile of cushions on the sofa. "What's he done now?"
"Well, that's the thing. He's been tricked-kidnapped, something. It has to be some magic thing, and I don't know what to do about it, but I'm hoping the three of us can figure it out."
"Magic, huh? Okay, let's go," Guni flew up to land on Yayoi's shoulder. "You can't let him out of sight. It's like having kids."
"Is there anything we should bring along for him?" Riho looked around the office. "I – don't get to be involved in much of his work, you know."
"You're fine – let's go so we can figure out where he ended up. I have to find him – and the Prime Minister's grandson – in the next 24 hours or I think I'll be waiting tables on the Ginza." She held the door open, to let them file out first. "Which, come to think of it, might be easier, at least."