[Part 1]

On that day, Hiei didn't even answer the suggestion to eat together, silently disappearing up the mountain. Inabayama decided not to risk following her, instead opting to just dedicate herself to a proper rest that she needed so much.

Same suggestion did not fly the next day either, the King of the Mountain simply throwing a cold glance at the dragon before disappearing again. The dragon was not even sure why she descended in the first place - even if she took any of the offerings without Goodra looking, it was a completely unnoticeable amount. Was the scary lady just keeping an eye on her?

On the third day, though, she didn't leave immediately.

"Why."

"We could share stories in the meantime. Or useful information. Or we could just talk, I'd be up to that as well" Inabayama shrugged "Also, food is tastier when you're eating with others"

Hiei blinked. Looked the dragon dead in the eye. And without breaking the eye contact, picked a bird carcass from the offerings, took a few worryingly effortless, crunchy bites out of its head, and threw the rest of the poultry back into the pile. (And did all of THIS daze the dragon for a few moments)

"Tastes the same to me" deadpanned Hiei, wiping blood from her lips and then turning to float to the top of the mountain again.

"Oh, come on, humour me for a bit" sighed Inabayama "Even if you don't want any small talk, you probably want to hear more about what's happening outside. The guys that bring you food probably don't go that far from here. Also, they're likely too busy gathering food to pick a lot of info"

"…" the pondering look of the King of the Mountain was on her for a few long, long seconds. Until finally, an answer. "Fine"

[Part 2]

The bloody annoying necktie still refused to cooperate. Turning the awful piece of fabric into something even remotely presentable was quite a challenge, and while Michihito enjoyed challenges, even he knew to pick his battles. This particular battle was proving to be too much for him.

Finally, the last vestiges of his waning patience were completely extinguished, and he untied the freaking noose and shoved it into his pocket. Then he covered the pillow in the back seat with a large worn out towel, nearly spilled the leftovers of this breakfast's instant noodles over his good pants, and exited the beat up rental car into a parking lot. At this point, he took a moment to size up the building in front of him.

'Pokemon League Kyoto HQ' looked about the same as the branches in any other major cities. Big, imposing monstrosity of steel and glass, towering over the street like a horrible god emperor on a throne of breathing bodies. Both the entrance and the giant League emblem were even decked in decadent gold plating, to make that analogy work all the better. Sheesh, compensating much?

Trying his best not to power walk in, and to look like THEY need HIM more than the other way around, he rather quickly went through the tired receptionist, the half-crowded elevator with a freaking FISH TANK full of exotic Pokemon, and the indifferent secretary at the very top floor, before being forced to wait in front of a pair of particularly pompous-looking doors. Mahogany and gold, bloody hell. The car he parked by the building, and with everything inside to boot, was less expensive than one of these, and he didn't even OWN the car.

Fingers absentmindedly brushing across his freshly shaved chin, he noticed two prickles of missed stubble, mood dropping by a few more degrees. Then finally, the ridiculously expensive doors have slowly opened before him. Are these automatic too?!

Walking inside, he found himself at the lowest part of a harshly lit auditorium, with four figures sitting in what practically amounted to thrones set in a semi-circle. He couldn't see their faces because of the lighting, but he was able to tell that there were not four, but five thrones in the room. The one in the very middle was empty for some reason, meaning he currently was not acquainted with anyone in the room.

"Mr… Michihito, correct?" the figure at centre-right asked in a tone that clearly lacked interest in hearing his answer "We are glad that you were able to join us on such a short notice"

"We presume that you are aware of the incident that happened in Kyoto just three days ago?" added the one at the far-left. He guessed that THIS question needed an answer.

"The one with that new Team Brute making a mess of the north of the city, before running away? Yeah, it was hard not to, the thing was all over the news" Michihito shrugged. Yeah, all those officers and their Pokemon dying was a shame, but it is what i is. With but a pang of worry, he nodded at the empty throne "Did something happen to our glorious Champion during that?"

"Indeed. Yoshihide was killed in the line of duty, I'm afraid" the one on the center-left informed, not sounding in the least distraught.

Crap.

The two of them were not that close in the last ten years, but they used to be close rivals back in their teen days. Michihito did hold a slight grudge because the guy repeatedly defeated him in the finals every single time, but he never wanted… Well, that.

"Oh…" he only managed to squeak out, eyes slowly glazing over.

"This is why you were brought you here, in fact" the one on the far right interjected "You and Yoshihide had a history, and you are practically equal in skill. We know where to find the killer, but we need someone skillfull enough to subdue them"

"The information about this case is highly classified" the one on the… Center-something? It was getting difficult to see "The non-disclosure agreement is extremely harsh, and breaking it would ruin a man of… Much higher resources, than yourself. Though you will be given the resources necessary for you to succeed in the task"

"Close this case, and you will be granted Yoshihide's position until the next championship in three years. Then it's up to you to keep it. Or you can just choose a check that covers all your debts instead" yeah, he couldn't even hazard a guess which throne said this.

And yeah, they had him at 'we know where to find the killer'

"I'll do it"

[Part 3]

Inabayama took a healthy bite out of a deer the rats managed to drag in today. She was glad to be able to consistently eat a reasonably large amount of FRESH food for a change, though she was even more glad to finally have a talk with the scary lady from up the mountain. Even though said scary lady clearly had no interest in eating after that headstart of a poultry snack.

"Ooookay, so… Are there any topics we should avoid?"

"I do not have secrets"

"Maybe not, but do you have things you don't feel comfortable discussing?"

"…" the tired red eyes peered at her as if asking wherever Inabayama plans to waste any more of the precious time that could be used for sleep. Okay, so it might've been better to just ask a question and see how Hiei reacts. It was kind of hard to think of an appropriate topic in these conditions though.

"Soooo, I remember you saying that this mountain is a 'place of mourning'… For what?"

"For my kin"

"Oh…" the dragon mentally kicked herself for the choice of topic. What DID she expect? "I'm sorry for your family…"

"Not my family. My species," the red eyes had a dangerous glint for a moment, before dulling into melancholy, "This is the place the last of my kin perished. In captivity, in misery, at the hands of humans"

Inabayama gulped, not exactly sure how to answer that.

"The humans called my kin 'Gardevoir'. They used my kin as protectors, as playthings, as disposable pawns. But that was not enough. Never enough. The thing about humans is that they force the rest of the world to adapt to their whims. For my species, it was an artificial evolution. The males were forced into a form that was a cruel, misshapen mockery of my kin. At first, it were just a few unfortunate souls, but as the children of their children mutated further, it became much, much worse," Inabayama could practically feel the terrible heat of all-consuming rage boiling under her skin, "The mutation took over. Every male of my species was forced into that mockery of a form. Every child born of such male was male as well. Less and less females born with each generation. And as my kin's numbers dwindled close to extinction… The humans began their 'preservation initiatives'" the horrifying implications behind the term were absolutely obvious.

At this point, the shock and rage in the dragon's body boiled to the point where she was nearly deafened by the war drums of her own frantic heartbeat. Not that it prevented her from hearing what came next.

"I found my very last sister in the human building up this mountain. Mere moments before her death."

Inabayama felt torn between wanting to scream, punch a hole in the mountain, go out to raze a city, or risk it all and try to hug the Gardevoir she barely knew. Wanting to do SOMETHING to make processing this information easier. For now, she settled on desperately trying to level her out-of-control breathing, oblivious to the fact that Hiei's gaze on her got slightly warmer.

[Part 4]

The Goodra was lucky to come to this mountain while she was awake. If the dragon's arrival woke her up, she wouldn't even bother to talk. Wiping someone's existence was always much, much easier than talking.

And if it happened during winter… Well, let's just say Inabayama had Fortune's own blessing since she did not reach the mountain just a few weeks ago, when it still was cold.

Still, Hiei could feel for the plight of someone on the run. Long ago, before growing into her power, she herself had to pathetically, desperately hide from any and all humans, in fear of being killed. Being captured. Being subjugated. Which is why she decided to give this girl a chance. Let her live here.

She was even feeling gracious enough to wake up early on the next day just to introduce Inabayama (that's a mouthful) to the Pokemon she allowed to bring tributes to the mountain. Well, it was partially due to wanting to avoid a headache if she didn't - and she was right to do so as well. The Goodra was going to be quite a troublemaker.

Something made her almost tempted to stay when the dragon suggested to eat together. Almost. But she was too tired for that. She was always too tired, and the slumber, despite constantly drawing her in with the promise of rest, never really fixed that. She didn't eat much either. Inabayama persisted on the next day, and on the day after that. And persisted despite Hiei's explicit efforts to push her away with a casual display of threatening force. At that point, the Gardevoir decided to just go along with it, just this once.

And of course, the Goodra went for the heaviest topic possible. Maybe she panicked. Either way, Hiei did not mind talking about that - she had a century to come to terms with what happened. And she was a bit interested in how Inabayama would react.

She tried to tell that same story to some of the local Pokemon - but it always went over their heads. At most, it ended in feeling sadness or pity for her, with any complex implications completely lost on them.

But Inabayama? Inabayama got angry. And she wasn't just angry at the humans that were killed on this mountain either. Not even angry at humans as a species. It was anger at humanity as an institution. At everything it did, and everything it represented. It was the kind of anger that would give one strength to move mountains.

And after all these years, seeing that righteous anger in someone other than her? Gave her more vindication than she would ever admit.