Chapter 21: Run Before You Walk (Part 8)

Knocking on the door leading to the room that had once been housing Yukikaze and Jinglei he was greeted with the suspicious but always lovely pink eyes of Mai as he cheerfully commented, "Morning, sunshine. Mind if I come in?"

Her gaze briefly narrowed - clearly an attempt at subtly telling him his presence wasn't appreciated - before wordlessly stepping aside and allowing him in.

The interior wasn't much to speak of, not that he'd expected it to be. Mostly just a few futons and traveling bags with the already installed appliances, nothing more than what they needed for an assumed couple of days layover. Hell, his apartment wasn't much better, having only a few more pots, plates and pans he'd got for cheap. No time or money to go buying a TV or computer aside from his thankfully still functional phone.

"Ah, good morning, Mister Lute."

"Morning to you too. Am I early?"

Stepping out from the bathroom and toweling off her hair Natsume offered him a charming smile, replying, "Right on time, I would wager. I actually wished to speak to you regarding our plan for today."

The woman that wore maturity and sensuality like a second skin was adorned in surprisingly simple clothes, a simple button down and slacks that made her look more like a secretary than femme fatale while Mai had jeans and a frilly shirt, flats adorning dainty feet that didn't do her height many favors. She'd been fairly short even when wearing the vertical-enhancing Taimanin footwear.

"Well I'm all ears. Either of you ate yet?"

He hefted a container filled with fruit pancakes.

"I brought breakfast."

"Well isn't that polite of you. Thank you for the offer, Mister Lute."

"Cayman is fine, you don't need the mister part."

Setting the peace offering on the table Natsume happily cracked the container, breathing deeply of the aroma as she cast an amused smile at her wary comrade.

"I don't think he poisoned them, Mai. And a little bit of professional courtesy isn't too much to ask for in this situation either."

The slightly chiding words had the pale-haired Taimanin flushing briefly before quickly sitting at the table, appearing like a chastised child due to her height.

"A chastised child with a nice bust and killer thighs but yeah."

He obviously didn't get any thanks from the younger girl but he'd honestly kind of expected that from the perpetually quiet Taimanin...what he didn't expect was for both women to take bites and then not get any REP, despite the fact that it had been such a solid way to do so beforehand. Hell, even when they had been wary of each other Caren, Yukikaze and Jinglei had gotten increases from his cooking.

"Maybe they're just dumber than these two?"

Inwardly snorting at the idea of anyone considering Caren an idiot - weird, but not an idiot - he instead asked, "So what was your plan if Real didn't spill the beans? I doubt you embarked on this mission with only one plan in the works."

Humming in appreciation as she elegantly swallowed a cake Natsume replied, "You would be correct. We were supposed to meet with an Enforcer in a few day's time after we conducted individual investigations but with nothing much to go on we shall have to meet with him early and hope that the short time allotted has borne fruit."

"An Enforcer? He a part of Sanctuary?"

"No, he isn't."

Raising an eyebrow at that admission he pointed out, "I thought the Clocktower would have exclusive dibs on their armed extension."

"While he is an Enforcer he tends to work more as a mercenary among many extranatural circles. While there exist no shortages of trouble in the Moonlit World both Supernatural and Demon sides of the equation also seek out capable personnel willing to work with few questions asked."

Cayman nodded, grateful that Natsume had been kind enough to do a minor bit of exposition without him having to ask what could have been a fairly awkward question. It certainly made sense that Enforcers, if there was a shortage of things to do in the Moonlit world, would put their expertise to use elsewhere. In the original Fate universe that wouldn't have been possible - or at the least a major hassle - but with DxD and Taimanin thrown into the mix there was all sorts of opportunity just flying about.

"So is he trustworthy?"

This time it was Mai who answered, the girl having been quietly eating his pancakes at a steady but enthusiastic pace.

"Mostly trustworthy. Very mercenary in mindset and not so much of an Enforcer. Has a reputation for success and honoring contracts."

Grinning at the lovely young lady Cayman teased, "Technically Enforcers are mercenaries."

The unamused look she sent him made it clear she didn't share his sense of humor, the gamer finding that he actually quite liked teasing the Taimanin.

"Quibbles over word choice aside, do you really think he's going to have anything for us?"

"No way to know unless we go and meet with him ourselves."

Nodding at Natsume's perfectly sensible words he paused for a moment, suggesting, "If you're not against it I might have another contact in the Moonlit world that can perhaps give us a pointer in the right direction."

"Do you consider them able to stay silent about the nature of the assignment?"

Tapping his lower lip at Natsume's inquiry Cayman felt a small smile creep onto his lips, replying, "As long as we keep to our end of whatever bargain is struck I think we'll be fine. She's like this mercenary in the sense that they follow the terms of whatever deal is struck assuming it won't lead to them, you know. Dying or whatever."

While Mai didn't seem impressed Natsume agreeably nodded, no doubt understanding that a foolproof guarantee was a hard thing to come by in their line of work.

"Then unless you have anything else to add we shall be off in a few short minutes."

"Works for me. Glad to be working with the two of you."

He received the expected smile from Natsume and mildly suspicious glare from Mai, inwardly smirking as he wondered if they would be so agreeable to the idea if they knew who he was talking about.

Products. Wealth. Colors. Sounds. Smells. And people.

So, so many people from what looked like every race and religion under the sun as well as a few that definitely hailed from the more godless spectrum. Going from a relatively isolated existence in an orphanage then secret facility with only rare trips to deserted or sparsely populated areas left one with little experience in dealing with heavily populated and busy areas, let alone ones that had a noticeable metropolitan tinge.

Yumi felt like a stranger in a strange land, held steady only by the constant presence of Till either floating within arm's reach or on her shoulder, wordlessly reassuring the blonde that she always had a helping hand close by.

Which was morbidly amusing on quite a few levels, considering that she had been trained and raised to believe that creatures other than Human were dangerous and not to be trusted...yet here she was, wholly dependant on the reassuring presence of a small individual barely a few inches tall while she was pulled from one end of the sprawling shopping complex to another by the seemingly infinite energy of her three guides.

Who just so happened to also be Demons and apparently the best of friends with each other, chatting and gossiping loudly and freely as she could only wonder at the strange camaraderie they shared, their words and body language oddly...hypnotic.

It was like staring at what she'd lost.

"Ehh...hmm...no way, he was definitely trying to make her into a sex slave! What kind of girl is all red-eyed and clothed in his pants if she isn't being groomed as a hoe?"

The topics were a fair bit different, granted.

"Would you two stop trying to make it seem like Cayman is a bad guy?! He saved her and me and barely asked for anything in return!"

Minatsuki and Hatsukaze both pointed at the Fairy as if they had been vindicated in some kind of grand philosophical debate, exclaiming, "Hah! That's just what some mind broken slave would say in defense of their master!"

"Yeah, you're a Fairy, too! I bet you'd do anything and everything to serve his every whim without question, wouldn't you?"

Till squawked in indignation, jumping off Yumi's shoulder to fiercely debate with the duo as the blonde felt her lips twitch at the synchronous behavior of the sisters, startled out of the reminiscing a moment later as Lilim poked her arm, the urge to grab the offending limb and snap it in two almost overwhelming before she managed to control herself.

"Hey, that Fairy isn't here anymore. He's not really raping you or anything, is he? I don't want to work for some creep like that."

Finding the words as embarrassingly blunt as they possibly could be Yumi nonetheless kept her cool, softly replying, "He isn't. He...actually saved me from a bad situation, like Till said."

"Hmm…"

Finding it hard to meet the slitted gaze of the Succubus - who had thankfully switched into a more normal outfit of skirt and long-sleeve instead of the fetish strips she called clothing - Yumi averted her eyes, unsure of what to make of the girl's interest in her or their unconditional amicability.

"Aw, I guess you're telling the truth. Darn, I was going to blackmail the guy with that incriminating info and make all sorts of money off of it!"

Swallowing nervously - she didn't know if asking this kind of question would offend a Demon or not - she quietly asked, "How...how do you know Cayman? What's he like?"

"We don't know him~!"

The sudden chirp from Minasaki heralded she and her sister abandoning their argument with Till in order to come back and start chatting with the duo, Lilim tilting her head before retorting, "Shouldn't we be asking you if he's a fucked up creep or not?"

"I...I've only known him for a day at the most. It seems like he's known all of you for longer, right?"

Even less sure of her assumptions than she had been before as the trio of Demons shook their heads Hatsukaze explained, "Sis and I have never heard of him until Lilim came over and said he was looking to hire."

"Yeah, and the first time I met him was barely a week ago. And he molested and threatened to kill me if I didn't work for him!"

"She chased my contractor and I into a creepy underground bunker and then had her life spared when anybody else probably would have killed her. Or worse."

Panicking at being caught between two conflicting reports - the Yatagarasu sisters seeming to enjoy the debate - Yumi watched as Lilim further protested with, "And then he dragged me to the Fairy realm where I almost got eaten by a bunch of Dark Beasts!"

"It was an accident and Cayman made sure she was safe before anything actually happened."

"Worst of all, before he let me go he forced me to kiss him and I got groped!"

"She got groped and he offered her a job she was excited about."

There was a moment of awkward silence as Yumi felt herself break out into a nervous sweat, genuinely uncertain as to who she was supposed to believe-

-and Till wrapped her neck in a hug, the Fairy angrily scolding, "Stop exaggerating, you're making her worry!"

The trio instantly pouted, Minasaki leaning in to stare at the blonde's face as she complained, "Aww, the Fairy is right. She's all panicky."

"Darn it! At least Cayman looks like he can take a little teasing…"

Blinking at the sudden turnaround Yumi hesitantly asked, "You, you were joking?"

"Eh, mostly. He's pretty alright and if you say he really didn't try to fuck you against your will or anything then I guess he's actually okay."

The Sacred Gear holder could practically feel Till radiating ire and - before she realized what she was doing - gently traced a finger over her head.

Which obviously drew the Fairy's surprised look, Yumi hastily pulling her hand back as if burned only to be met with a beaming smile from the tiny woman, the gesture containing no annoyance or violation of any kind.

"Why was she so happy when I did that?"

At the pointed glance to her hand the girl slowly and warily returned to petting the tiny Demon's head, drawing a sigh of bliss from her.

"Aww, she's not scared of Demons at all~!"

"Hmm, I guess we can be her friend."

"Yeah, if we're all going to be working for that big meanie we should stick together! Unionize and make him pay us real wages!"

"Why don't you start by doing the work he originally hired you for?"

Even as she enjoyed Yumi's attention the Fairy cracked the proverbial whip over the trio, all of them grumbling but nonetheless getting back on track as Lilim posed, "Okay, so he isn't having sex with you and you need daily clothes. Hmm...oh, I have an idea! C'mon, this way~!"

She grabbed the Human's arm and dragged her towards a flashy store entrance, the enthusiastic movements drawing the crowd's eyes as Yumi belatedly realized that while there was definitely a wide range of shoppers there was certainly more Humans than they were any kind of Extranatural species, Minasaki and Hatsukaze with their ornate dresses and Till's small size drawing the attention of the crowd.

Her breath caught, palms growing clammy as hands instinctively lowered themselves to her sides, ready to grasp a blade's hilt should it become necessary as phantom pain and helplessness rose up in her mind, the hiss of polluted air and feeling of something hard and disgusting pressing up against her body-

"Hey, it's alright. You aren't in danger right now."

Blinking away the haze of fight or flight that had caused her heart rate to spike and pulse to soar Yumi glanced at Till, the Fairy smiling at her without judgment as she added, "Those three's spending habits are probably a bigger threat right now."

"Woah, are you some kind of PTSD war vet or something?"

While the observation was blunt Hatsukaze's words caused Yumi to take a shuddering breath, paying more attention to her surroundings and coming to the embarrassing observation that she had overreacted greatly. No one was giving them more than cursory glances, said glances usually being more shy or amorous - at least she thought that's what they were - from usually younger men.

While Extranatural beings were the minority they were obviously not a strange sight in the city, more a temporary novelty.

"No, I'm...okay."

Forcing herself to remain calm she was startled out of the last vestiges of stress by Lilim pulling her further into the shop, holding something up for her to observe-

-and almost choked at the utterly shameless bit of fabric seemed custom made to cover as little as possible while highlighting a woman's assets.

"Wha-no, certainly not!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Gesturing wildly at the 'clothing' and trying to ignore the highly amused store employees Yumi stammered, "I-it's too exposed! It's not casual!"

"Well duh. But if the jerk didn't house you for sex then you should always have a backup plan to fuck him and have him give you things in return~!"

The blonde stared, dumbstruck as she quickly realized that she was talking to a Succubus.

Although she did find it odd that a Succubus was blushing when talking about such a subject, Till thankfully coming to the rescue a moment later with, "She said no. And not only is that not casual it's not cheap, either! Look for something normal!"

Minasaki and Hatsukaze huffed while Lilim sullenly returned the 'clothes' and waved down one of the employees, Yumi breathing out a sigh of relief as Till floated off her shoulder to keep a close watch on the trio.

"This...isn't what I thought it was going to be at all."

The blonde wiped a hand down her face, feeling exhausted even though they hadn't even actually started shopping yet-

-and paused, slowly touching her lips as she belatedly realized they were curved upwards in a small but noticeable smile.

"I...what?"

The blonde looked at her four companions running back-and-forth across the store and couldn't help but feel completely and utterly bewildered by the odd warmth percolating within her chest, a heady feeling that chipped away at the ice that had taken up residence within her heart.

...If someone had told her a few months ago - a few weeks ago - that a group of Demons were going to be what made her feel alive again she would have laughed and carried on training or whatever else she had been doing at that moment in time.

Now?

"Now...now I need to keep moving forward. Isn't that what they wanted me to do? To live?"

Forcing herself to take a deep breath and quash both her fear and nervousness Yumi hesitantly approached one of the employees, asking, "E-excuse me? Do you know where cheap items are?"

"The sales rack?"

Shrinking in on herself at both how weak her voice sounded and the wrong terminology Yumi nonetheless nodded, the man thankfully not giving her a hard time about it and simply leading her to the desired location, the blonde nodding to herself and immediately started trying to make sense of the prices and value of each respective item.

The road to both revenge and justice had to start somewhere.

"This is almost painfully perfect for an out of the way meeting place. Does that mean this is the first location people will check or the last?"

Natsume smiled at Cayman's idle musings as they strolled into a small and slightly rundown cafe on the borders of the Kabuki district, the building not quite ramshackle but not quite pristine as it occupied a unique position between the two flavors.

"It serves our purposes, we have quite the database of possible restaurants or other kinds of businesses that will offer both excellent cover and a quiet locale to unobtrusively carry out dealings in."

"It sounds oddly nefarious when you say it like that."

Giggling at his observation the older Taimanin led both he and Mai inside, the interior matching the exterior as it was constructed mainly out of old brick walls and hardwood floor, the place trying for quaint and classic but only making it halfway and just generally coming off as peculiar.

"Smells good, though. Might just order myself a coffee, I'm probably gonna need it. Although I'll have to have one of these guys pay for it, I'm almost broke."

Briefly commiserating over his thus far perpetual lack of money Cayman snapped himself out of it as they approached a booth, occupied by a solitary figure that screamed 'do not approach'.

Wild, untamed brown hair that fell across his shoulders while dark shades covered his eyes. A bulky figure that was lent Terminator status by the scuffed combat boots, leather jacket and pants while a variety of pockets and holsters hinted at all kinds of contraband hidden within.

...The man just so happened to also be an individual Cayman knew by sight alone, one Kairi Sisigou.

"Well this is interesting. I suppose I shouldn't really be all that surprised by the timeline being out of whack anymore but it still never ceases to amaze. And thank god it's this guy instead of some whack ass Enforcer I'm not familiar with."

Kairi was similar to Touko in the sense that he had a set of morals and guidelines that - while by no means standard or even 'righteous' - meant they weren't looking to harvest his organs the moment he slipped up or anything. As long as he played it straight with them, the most they might try to do is wheedle every last bit of compensation they could from his depressingly empty wallet. Hell, the man had managed to get along with Mordred in Apocrypha, if he could do that then he could get along with their little band of misfits.

"You really need to stop dragging me out onto dates that are hazardous to navigate, Amadare."

And he was evidently familiar with Natsume as well, casually speaking to the Taimanin as she smiled pleasantly, withdrawing a roll of Euros from her pocket before handing it to the man. Cayman noted that he didn't bother counting it before pocketing the cash, suggesting a level of familiarity with each other as Natsume commented, "You are well compensated for that hazard, are you not?"

"That I am. Who are the kids?"

Raising an eyebrow at being called a kid - he wasn't that young looking - the gamer nonetheless kept his silence, following Amadare's direction as sat himself in the booth alongside Mai while the older Taimanin gracefully descended to be at the shoulder of the Enforcer.

"Mai Nanase is an accomplished young lady who is to act as the more combat-oriented arm of this team. And Cayman Lute is a Surveyor who offered his services to this mission after hearing of its contents."

Kairi's head swiveled Cayman's direction, the young man just offering a cheerful smile and wave of his hand while the older individual didn't exactly look convinced.

"I'm liking what was an already dicey situation less and less, Amadare."

The Taimanin wordlessly slid him another stack of cash, Kairi resignedly staring at it before taking only half, sliding the remainder back to the woman as he stated, "You called me out early before I got any real surveillance done, only thing I can tell you right now is that in the western parts of Kabuki there is a Nomad presence out and about, not much else though."

Natsume frowned, teasingly remarking, "Perhaps you should have only taken a quarter of the cash, if your information is limited to that."

"Not my fault I haven't had time to do proper reconnaissance. I haven't even found any good grunts to follow who will then lead us to the bigger fish, we're several steps behind where we need to be for an op like this."

"Maybe you should return all of that money."

Mai's cool and collected words drew Sisigou's gaze, the man idly commenting, "Why, exactly, is a baby face Taimanin that looks like she's fresh off the playground along for this mission instead of someone more dangerous?"

The words hit home, Mai's pale eyebrows twitching with annoyance as she no doubt warmed up a rebuttal of her own-

-and Cayman was quick to intervene, stating, "It sounds like the crux of the problem is that we don't have a good place to start, right? No solid info aside from a general location and that's it."

Natsume nodded while Kairi gave him a guarded expression.

"Okay, then what do you all say to me bringing in an outside source that would be more than happy to help as long as I pay them?"

The Taimanin made no outwards comment while the Enforcer skeptically said, "You sure we can trust them? The last thing we need is for an already rough mission to have a rogue element introduced...assuming you yourself are on the level."

He shrugged at the obvious suspicion, bluntly replying, "Well hopefully you'll quickly come to see that I'm no crook. And as for how reliable this person is? As long as we get them paid on time and don't ask for them to do anything we didn't pay them to do they won't abandon us to the wolves."

"You got a name? They must have some pretty solid cred if a Surveyor is all over them like that."

Cayman watched the man raise his coffee to his lips, grinning before innocently replying, "Sure, you familiar with Touko Aozaki?"

Natsume stiffened while Kairi's drink slipped from numb fingers to clatter onto the table, Mai frowning as she obviously tried to place the name.

"Oh I just love seeing people's reactions to that."