Chapter 9
Amateurish Investigation


"First, I learned that shark people are real, now we're hunting an immortal being in a fast food chain. What happened to my normal life."

The next day had arrived fast, almost unnaturally so. My mind still hadn't completely accepted the massive blow from last night's revelation, its mark still stinging in my thoughts. Some unknown part of me had already moved on from such a find. However, the rest of me did not.

Having Gura walking - sorry, hopping and skipping around - by my side was contradictory to my disbelief, but my skeptical side could pretend that I had never seen Gura before. It also didn't help that she could not remember her age, always throwing some random numbers over 9000. Oh how I wished I had a scouter that could read people's age at that moment.

"Why are you assuming she's immortal? She could just have a higher lifespan than humans." Speak of the shark, she shall bite. I turned my head to face her, the pint-sized Atlantean busying herself with the task of jumping every square in the street. Woman, this isn't a playground!

"While you were busy snoring on the couch, I was actually committed to researching what we were dealing with. Other than Vampires, Angels and Demons, I haven't seen a single creature that could live for that long without lasting side effects." I briefly explained with a side of scolding, slightly glaring at her. Of course, she did not care in the slightest, unaffected by my shift in facial expression. "Clearly she wasn't a Vampire, I mean she's out here in broad daylight. I also didn't see a single halo or demonic trait, so those are out of the question."

"What about a Myth similar to my kind?" Gura questioned as she finally decided to glance at me, stopping her self-imposed game. Shiny sapphires stared into mine with curiosity and a slight dash of hope, the two emotions entangling themselves in a confusing combo. I almost felt like scum for having to snuff out the latter part…

"No dice on that one either, unfortunately. Myths like you usually have an extra limb that's very hard to cover, like your tail for an obvious example. So, if I can't find a specific age, I might as well assume she's immortal or something. You sure you didn't find the fountain of youth?" I asked cheekily to the shark girl, softening the blow to her crushed hope. An eye roll and a fake laugh was my response to my joke.

However, if Kiara truly was immortal, we would have a serious issue on our hands. As far as I knew, there was no way to actually defeat an immortal Myth. Not that I had any talent or skill to defeat one in the first place. Not that it mattered to me, it wasn't my job to bring Myths to Cover Corp, I was only tasked with the simple job of finding out who was the mysterious Myth in the building.

With every thought came a ripple. And this time, it was the conversation of last night. The Shrimp had made a good point: Would Kiara Takanashi even accept Cover Corp's offer? Would she even have a choice in the matter? As childish as it was, I couldn't help but wonder: are we the good guys or the bad guys in this story?

"Ooooh, can we get ice cream?!" she asked knowing that I am legally binded on a contract to follow her request, with innocence gushing out of her tone. A sigh escaped my throat as I checked my phone to check on my funds. Contract or not, I wasn't going to rob an ice cream store for Princess Sharky.

"W-wha…" I gasped out weakly as my eyes threatened to jump off their sockets, my entire body shaking in utter shock. I had opened up my bank account, expecting to see the usual amount of money I had saved. What awaited me was beyond my wildest dreams.

"Wow, that's a lot of zeros. I guess that means yes for the ice cream?" Gura whistled beside me, tip toeing as she jutted out her neck to see my phone properly. Sadly, I was currently occupied with dealing with a mental breakdown at seeing so much money in my account to jest at her height. God save the queen, because he sure won't catch me after I faint.

A notification popped up on the top of my screen, signalling a text message from Enma. I somehow managed to tap the screen with a trembling thumb, opening the messaging app.

"This is your monthly payment, only use it for your caretaker needs. Otherwise, always ask permission before purchasing something. Don't worry about your bank becoming suspicious of the balance in your account, Cover Corp has already taken the steps to deal with this matter. That is all, no need to reply."

"M-Monthly?!" I shouted out loud in the street as my mind reeled back, Gura jumping back away from me in shock as she stumbled on her own feet. Bystanders and passerbys looked at me with either discontent, confusion or amusement, some having a mix of all three. Normally, I would've been worried about my normal status being compromised, but currently, I was dealing with something far greater than my pathetic status.

"...So...ice cream?" the white haired shark quietly asked again in a hopeful manner, the last words filled with uncertainty. As I shifted my gaze toward my roommate, my previous surprise quickly drained itself off from my being. Her begging grin simply reminded me too much of a puppy whining for a walk. So I did what I do best…

"Let's get that ice cream…" I sighed out.


"This isn't ice cream..."

We were, once again, back in the orange building of the KFP. The smell of fried food constantly assaulted our sense of smell, my tastebuds aching at the strong odor. The place was still crowded with plenty of customers, the murmur of them entangling itself with the beeping of the machines in the kitchen.

"Buddy, I think you forgot what ice cream looks like."

Another day, another buck spent on this chain. We were even sitting at the same table as last time, the condiments still at their appropriate place. Even the weather hadn't changed, the sun lazily shining it's hazy rays on the city as a few careless clouds floated by.

"You see, ice cream is cold, chicken is usually hot. And I know for a fact that boneless ice cream sounds wrong."

With the most energy-consuming eye roll I've ever done, I finally faced Gura, who was practicing the art of setting me on fire with her mind. Funny shark she was. She probably tried to master mind reading too, since her eyes narrowed even further as soon as I finished that thought.

"You do know that there's ice cream in here, right?" I asked with a slight exhale of breath, one eyebrow raised up. Gura responded with an eye roll of her own, quickly rivaling mine in dramatic flare. Was this a contest? When did I sign up?

"You do know that chicken and ice cream don't mix, right?" She imitated my tone, lowering her voice on purpose to taunt me. But me being the adult in the room, did not rise to such a low insult...I lied, I was not an adult and was not gonna stand here while this runt is making fun of me.

"You do know that you can just order ice cream without chicken, right?"

"You do know that Hunter is a mega dumbass, riiiiiiight?"

We glared at each other like we're in a staring contest or something. Neither side refused to blink, showing no signs of backing down, because by doing so, it would prove the other party correct.

"Lover's quarrel?" The voice of the manager of KFP clashed with our showdown, forcing us to stop our epic battle and face the intruder. Ms. Kiara was in front of our table, the hand holding the menu placed on her hips as one eyebrow was raised toward us. A moment of silence managed to pass before the words that she had thrown in the air so carelessly registered in my brain.

"Please, don't even joke about that, I don't wanna end up in jail for pedoph-" my automatic comeback was promptly interrupted by a powerful kick hitting me straight in the shins, a gasp of pain replacing the last lines of my sentence. My hands quickly gripped at the spot I had been attacked, my head slamming against the table as the noise of cutlery shifting around complimented my moans of hurt. "Y-...you l-little fu-"

"Don't joke about that, that's an insult to my taste." Gura, once again, stopped me from ending my insult by talking over me, crossing her arms as she did the same with her teeth. I could tell by her eyes that she did not appreciate my rebuttal.

"Damn, you aim straight for the throat, Mr. Fake journalist." the manager decided to chime in once more, taking a seat at our table as Gura moved to the side to give her some space. She laid the menu down on the table, propping her chin up with the back of her other hand. "Then again, karma is quite the bitch."

"Yeah...I'm well aware of that one." I gave a nasty eye to the shrimp, gritting the words out of my mouth.

"So, how can I help you today, Mr. Fake Journa-'' She started again, her pink hue digging into my soul for any sign of malice.

Last time, she had been aware of our fake identity the entire time, meaning that she would be way more cautious than last time. If she had her guard up during our previous encounter, this time she would bring an entire wall to stop us from learning anything significant.

I could always show her the picture we found. It was proof that something was going on...but that was it. She could easily respond that this was her long lost grandma or something of the like, and that the reason why she looked so similar must be because of genes. Hell, the worst case scenario would be for her to completely shut down any attempt to learn more.

Lying wouldn't get past her either. Making the assumption that she was either ancient or immortal, it was clear that Ms. Kiara is no stranger to lies. One look into her eyes was enough to confirm any suspicions, their pupils reflecting wisdom and experience.

The only thing to do...was to be honest.

"Look, I get it, we lied to you and we're sorry...but how the hell were we supposed to get information when we're nobodies?" I cut her off before she finished that needlessly long insult of her's, confronting her directly as I forced myself to look directly in her eyes.

"Why would you want info on this place anyway, Mr. Nobody?" The orange haired woman questioned once more, a smirk slowly creeping on her face as my nickname was once again changed. Yet, her eyes spoke differently, as they were occupied with identifying my sudden change of attitude.

"Would you believe me if I said I was bored and curious? Can you blame me? I have to spend my days taking care of the devil's child over here." I sighed with fatigue, mustering the strength to jab a thumb in the direction of the shrimp, who was still ever so busy with her important task of setting me on fire with her mind.

The KFP manager aimed her sight on me, her smile fainting ever so slightly over my statement. I wasn't exactly lying when I replied that I was bored. It was a white lie! Sure I didn't mention the fact that I was working for what was probably a black company/secret society hellbent on ruining my normal life...but that part didn't matter. I was simply twisting the truth to my liking. The classic trick of mixing the truth among lies never fails to work...at least, it never fails in the detective mystery novels I read…

"Something tells me you aren't telling me the full truth…" As soon as the results of her investigation came out of her mouth, my heart sank in the pit of my stomach. If she was a Myth, she was definitely a damn lie detector! "...buuut I don't sense any malice from you. So I'll accept your half-baked lie once again, be grateful~"

"Nice try, bud." Gura chimed in with an annoying remark, sipping on her drink.

Ugh. Brain, activate dramatic eye roll of the century.

"Anyway, is it okay if we ask a couple more questions?" I decided to ignore her, choosing to tempt my luck with Ms. Kiara. I didn't exactly gain her trust, but she wasn't so defensive anymore. However, one wrong move could crush all my effort into dust, which would kill any future questioning with her. No pressure.

So, I decided to gamble and risk it all with a question. "Hey, do you know anything about Myths? Mysterious, omnipotent, immortal Myths?"

As soon as the sentence left my mouth, the shark girl choked on her drink. The woman in front of me couldn't but blink a few times, emotions completely unreadable in her face. I casually tossed a couple of napkins to my roommate, who greedily snatched them from the table as she coughed the drink away from her lungs.

My face was completely neutral, not letting a single emotion slip by as I simply stared back at Ms. Kiara. Well, that was my goal. But in reality, my heart kept throbbing in my chest as if it desperately wished to escape my ribcage, my throat was drier than any desert in the world, and a tempest of stress and anxiety bounced around my cranium. Once again, no pressure.

"I'm sorry, a what now?" Was the only response that I managed to receive from her, all the while the Atlantean was frantically waving her arms around as if to stop me from digging my own grave. Too bad for her, as I grabbed my shovel and took another chunk of dirt off my metaphorical tombstone.

"Myths, creatures that aren't exactly humans. Ya know, vampires, werewolves, angels and hell, even shark people-" I continued only to be rudely interrupted by none other than the shark girl herself, hastily covering my mouth with one of her hands as she reached over the table.

"I-Ignore what he said! I think he didn't take his meds! Isn't that right, H-Hunter?!" Gura shakily yelled to the woman dressed in orange, turning her head to glare at me while mouthing the words "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't take meds, first of all. Second, get off from the table, you dumb brat!" I yelled back as I pushed her back into her seat, sighing in exasperation. "Look, it's no use hiding the truth, we need some leads and if we don't tell her what's going on, she'll never believe us-"

"Believe what, exactly?" This time, it was Takanashi that interrupted me, growing more impatient this time around. She seems fixated on something Gura said. Lucky hit! A crack had formed in her professional attitude, allowing me to finally strike a blow.

"Me and this runt are looking for Myths. We both had some paranormal activity happen to us recently, and after researching it on the net, we found out that creatures known as Myths existed." I once again continued, in high hopes of not being cut off again by the small inconsiderate brat. The manager seemed to raise an eyebrow at the word "paranormal", crossing her arms across her chest.

"Huh, and you believe in those 'Myths' existing?" She suspiciously asked, her eyes filled with doubt. Judging from her tone and gestures, it seems that she wasn't buying the whole Myth thing. I decided to respond in stride, putting an arm around my chair as I made myself comfortable on my seat.

"I told you I was bored, didn't I? So, want to indulge us with just one question?" I confidently pleaded with a smirk. I was hoping that I looked confident or at the very least, cool...but judging my Gura's grossed out expression, she didn't think much of my faux-bravado.

"On one condition." She shot back immediately, displaying an aura of actual confidence around her.

"Shoot."

"Order a meal or something, at the very least. Come on, here you are talking crazy and all you ordered was some glass of water." She laughed as she offered her conditions, her laughter changing octave with every syllable. Even with tension wracking my body, I couldn't help but chuckle at her so-called condition.

"Manager of the KFP till the end…" I shook my head as I leaned forward toward the menu, pointing a finger on the picture of a bowl of ice cream. "Get me one of those for the Shrimp here."

The woman simply nodded and called one of the employees, ordering her to bring a bowl of the frozen treat as Gura grinned like a child. For a girl swearing on her aquatic life that she was 9000 years old, she sure couldn't act her age, even if you held her at gunpoint.

"Would you like to add some of our world famous chicken with that?"

"I know I said I was bored, but I'm not wealthy." I joked with a small exhale, getting a groan of disappointment from the woman like a teenager being told that she couldn't go to a highschool party. Looks like Gura wasn't the only person in the room that couldn't act her age. Maybe I was the one acting too old.

"Well, while waiting for your order, how about throwing that question of yours at me?" A sigh escaped the manager's throat, getting up from her seat as she placed a hand on her hips. My roommate and I looked at each other, nodding to ourselves before I handed the cash over to .

"We heard some rumors about KFP's old staff, that one of them might be a Myth...an immortal Myth." Gura took the lead this time, asking the question to the orange woman. Takanashi's expression was, once again unreadable, like her entire emotional system simply stopped functioning. I just can't read her poker face.

This woman was too used to my tactics and questions, which is why Gura was the one who interrogated this time. Meanwhile, I could focus on observing any weakness in her armor from the sidelines. It was important to mention the immortal part, as it was the only lead we had a grasp on, and even then, it was a loose catch.

After what felt like forever and a day, our suspect finally released a puff of air, almost irritated. Her eyes seemed void of lights, staring at us with such focus that I couldn't help but shiver at the sight.

"I'm sorry to tell you that I know nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to work. Enjoy your food."

Those words were lacking in...everything. Warmth, passion, and emotions. They were too cold, too precise, and just too robotic. The carefree, lively Takanashi Kiara had been replaced with someone that only delivered a scripted line.

I could only watch her leave toward the counter, her figure getting smaller with each step. I could glance at Gura with uncertainty, the two of us incapable of saying anything. Even when Gura's order arrived, the atmosphere was still too tense to joke around.

"I think this confirms we're on the right track." I spoke.


"I'm not sure we're on the right track…"

The bustling streets of New York greeted us once more as Gura and I slowly made our way home. The sun was still burning high in the sky, which meant that we didn't have to be careful not to bump into someone by accident.

It also meant that we could discuss our encounter with our number one suspect with much worry about bystanders hearing us. Besides, it's not like someone with a working brain would suddenly believe in mythical creatures because they heard a conversation in the streets about it from strangers.

"Wha- where did all that annoying confidence go?! Did you leave it at the KFP or something?!"

At least, that was my theory as to why the Atlantean decided to yell at me like an irritated soccer mom, her pitch reaching levels of highs that I hadn't heard before. I could only sigh with discontent as I pinched the bridge of my nose, my brain working to appease the great shark.

"Look, I just don't know if what we saw is enough to conclude this dumb investigation." I answered back with fatigue crawling in the back of my voice, shooting Gura a tired glance. My words clearly had no effect in calming her, indicated by her cheeks puffing up and her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You have to be kidding me! We both saw how she reacted to the mention of the old crew! If it ain't her, then that Myth gadget or whatever must be busted!" She screeched, pointing at the general direction of the KFP as if it would prove her point. I agreed with her, but that was not my problem…

"All we have are speculations and assumptions...that's not enough." I responded in a low tone, not sure whether I was answering Gura or myself. Enma had specified in the written instructions that definite proof was required, otherwise, they could potentially get themselves in trouble by arresting normal humans.

Hello Irony, it is so nice to see you! Why yes, I am still a caretaker for a shark girl after getting attacked by Enma, a manager at Cover Corp, that's kind of you to ask!

Knowing Enma, she would probably say that I'm an exception to the rule since I was hanging out with Gura when she arrested the Atlantean. Plus, considering that I was one caretaker of many branches; Enma's words, not mine; it would see that I wasn't the only "exception" to the rule.

"That picture isn't a definite proof?! It's on the internet, come on!" Gura threw her hands in the air as she let out a roar, stomping the ground angrily.

"She could just say that the picture was edited or that it was her distant grandmother that looks a lot like her or some other bullshit like that!" I shouted back, her attitude getting the best of me. Why was she so mad anyway?!

"It's because you constantly warned me to never show my powers or say that I'm from Atlantis, but then suddenly, it's okay to blurt out to a KFP manager that Myths are real!" It looks like I had blurted out my inner thoughts, as the shark beside me answered my question with even more anger than before.

"Now you get mad at me?! Why is that even bothering you, I had to do it becaus-"

"I don't care for what reason you had to do it, you never told me anything about your stupid plan!" She roared once more, this time, panting loudly to catch the precious oxygen she had propulsed at me.

We had stopped walking, now in the middle of an alley as the sound of the city bounced around the brick walls. I hadn't even noticed where we were going, too focused on our argument. Gura's face was shadowed by her unique shark hood, her hands tightened toward her waist as her tail stayed immobile.

"I didn't know how I was supposed to react or what to say! I looked like a damn clown in there! It was frustrating, do you get it!? I'm doing my best to respect all the rules you and Enma told me, but what's the point if these damn rules are getting broken the next minute!?" Her words were sharp and relentless, the girl throwing them with ferocity as frustration consumed her. All I could do was stare at her with...an expression. I don't know what I was feeling or what my face looked like, but I knew that it didn't feel good.

Just like I hadn't noticed where we were going, I hadn't noticed Gura's annoyance at being left out of my wild plans. I hadn't intended to, but my intent did not matter, I had still done it regardless.

I always liked to believe that I was self-aware of my own flaws. I knew that I wasn't perfect, and I knew my pros and cons. I didn't have a choice to learn them, as if I wanted to lead the perfect normal life, I had to know which quality to nurture and which flaw to curb to achieve my goal.

It was safe to say that I was good at improvising, especially with my last job in my background. It had led me to positive results before...when I was working alone. Improvisation could be a good tool, but if you didn't tell anyone about your plans when working as a team, it could lead to the others being surprised, caught off guard, or flustered. Now, that good skill of mine has turned into an annoying habit: Selfishness.

I was lucky that Gura could ride the wave I created and play along, but I hadn't imagined the irritation at being caught off guard constantly with no chance to prepare. Maybe I wasn't as self-aware as I thought.

"Look...maybe I'm overreacting but-" The Myth started more calmly, looking up toward me with a hurt look in her eyes. Sapphires seared with a flash of pain took me out of my head. Now wasn't the time to begin a self-pity party in my head, I had to fix my mistake!

"No. You're right." I interrupted her, speaking the words with complete conviction. The Atlantean gawked at me with surprise, her mouth wide open in shock. "I didn't think about you at all, I was being selfish with my wild plans, like you call them. I...I'm used to working alone, so I'm not used to putting a partner in my equations inside of my brain."

Gura closed her mouth, looking on the side as her eyebrow conveyed an unknown emotion. She looked conflicted, like her own brain was going haywire with numerous thought processes.

"I'm not used to this whole caretaker/investigator lifestyle yet. It's completely new to me...but I'll try my best to fix my mistakes." I continued, never leaving my sight off of hers. "I can't promise that I'll never do it again...but I can promise that I'll do my best to consult you first, or atleast give you a warning. So please continue to tolerate my inexperienced self."

The girl in front of me was now back to staring at me with shocked eyes, her mouth gaped open like a fish once more. I expected her to accept my apology, or at the worst, chew me out again for my ignorance. Instead…

"Gaaah! Alright, I get it! I forgive you and all that mushy crap, stop being so serious already!" She whined as she sucker punched me on the shoulder with a small hop, her face red with shame. I couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain from the strike. "...I'll try to talk to you when something pisses me off before blowing up on ya."

"I'm counting on you, then." I gave an easy smile to her, to which she reciprocated with her trademark razor grin. I could tell that talking about her own feelings was an uncomfortable area, so I wasn't going to push it any further. I had apologized, she had forgiven me, that's all that mattered.

"Now, how do we solve this stupid case?"

"Beats me, I don't have the genius detective gene in my DNA, sorry." I shrugged uselessly to her question, letting a sigh of despair escape alongside my half-baked joke. Now that one issue was solved, our previous enemy had popped back up to haunt us. This day sucked…

"Did I hear something about a genius detective?" The voice of a familiar woman had made itself known in the alley, both Gura and I turning our head toward the source. A silhouette stood in the middle of one of the exits, standing confidently as one of her hands held her hat with a stache on top of her head.

One push of a finger on the bottom of her cap was enough to raise the piece of article, revealing sky eyes and a toothy grin from none other than Amelia Watson.

"Looks like you two need my help!"

Somehow, silence managed to reign the small alley as the three of us seemed to be stuck in place, not moving a finger at her statement. The wind did it's cheeky routine and flew by in a whistling manner and...did I dream or was that a damn tumbleweed?!

"Let's go home, Gura."

"Yeah, let's go."

"Wait! Don't ignore me again!"

God, this day really sucked…


"You two are the worst clients I ever had!"

My roommate and I decided that we had done enough investigation for a day. Hell, I'd even take the entire week off if I could. Sadly, our break wouldn't come just yet as we were ambushed by Amelia Watson.

"Hunter, she's still following us. Should we try to make a run for it?" Asked my partner in crime with a hushed whisper, nudging the sleeve of my shirt as her other hand subtly jabbed her thumb toward our...guest.

"I can hear you, stop trying to get rid of me when I'm trying to help you!" Watson cried out with a slight edge of irritation hiding beneath her words, walking toward us at a faster pace. Great, now she was probably mad at us, just what we needed.

It's not like Watson was a bad person or annoying. She would be quite helpful in our case, as a matter of fact. However, we were dealing with Myths and supernatural events, something that Gura and I were prohibited to share with anyone. Bringing in a regular civilian in the mess that was my life would be throwing the kids into the Niagara falls before they even learned to swim.

Then again...she did know that something was off about the KFP. Could she possibly be an enthusiast of the paranormal of some sort?

"Alright, what do you want?" I demanded as I turned around in an instant, making sure to speak with haste in my tone of voice. I didn't want to stand around here all day, afterall. Gura and Watson both stopped in their tracks, looking at me with surprise in their eyes.

I would've normally tried my best to ignore her under any normal circumstance...however, curiosity was ravaging my mind with a whirl of questions, making it hard to focus on the task ahead of me. Combine this with the fact that it could potentially help us...maybe breaking the rules once again couldn't hurt too much.

"I want to help you find that mysterious Myth you guys are talking about!"

As soon as the words left Amelia Watson's mouth, silence crashed around the space we habited. Gura and I tensed up immediately, the shark girl going as far as to summon water in her hand that was hidden behind her back. I immediately shot her a glance of worry, one that she quickly saw and simply nodded back.

"...the hell are you talking about-" I feigned ignorance to the woman in front of me, but quickly got interrupted as she took out a recorder from her pockets. With a confident smirk, she lightly tapped the play button, audio coming to life from the tool.

"No dice on that one either, unfortunately. Myths like you usually have an extra limb that's very hard to cover, like your tail for an obvious example. So, if I can't find a specific age, I might as well assume she's immortal or something. You sure you-" I immediately recognized my voice with ease, my eyes widening in shock and tinge of fear. This conversation...it was from this morning.

"H-how did you-" I tried to shake the fear from my vocal chords, only to be interrupted once again as she raised her hand in front of me, putting the recorder back in her pockets.

"Calm down, I don't want to hurt you two at all!" She tried to warn us, but her words had the complete opposite effect as we both prepared to run. "Look, I know that makes me seem like a stalker or something, but you gotta believe me when I say that I just wanna help you solve this case!"

Gura and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do. I could feel sincerity in her voice, but my instincts weren't as sharp as Ms. Kiara. The Atlantian beside me seemed just as lost as me, her hidden hand still enveloped in water. I decided to trust my partner and give her a small nod of the head, slightly relaxing my body in the hope that she would understand. The shark simply nodded back in return, still hiding her hand as she stood up straighter than before.

"How much do you know about Myths?" Gura asked with a seriousness rarely heard in her voice, her eyes staring straight into Watson's sky ones.

"Cover corp aren't the only ones to know about the existence of Myths, you know? I'm a detective. At some point, I was bound to find out about them." The beige clothed woman explained as calmly as she could, making sure to not do any sudden movement. She probably understood that we were on edge.

My sight once again crossed with Gura's, uncertain on how to proceed. She was aware of Cover Corp and she both knew we had contact with them, which didn't help ease our worries. However, her answer was pouring with honesty, and as much as my instincts couldn't compare with an immortal being, I still trusted them.

"You say you wanna help us. What's in it for you?" I decided to continue the sudden interrogation, crossing my arms defiantly as I glared at the detective. Her eyes unlocked from Gura's and swiftly targeted me, giving me a small smile.

"Would you believe me if I said to satisfy my own curiosity?" She replied back as she helplessly shrugged. I couldn't help but remember my own pathetic excuse that I gave the same day to the manager of the KFP, except this time, she wasn't lying compared to me. "I know this is the shittiest of reasons, but I promise you it's the truth."

At this point, I was conflicted. I couldn't detect a single lie in her answers, and her motivation had a degree of credibility. However, once you added the stalker behavior of recording us and following us, this degree could only get dirty with all kinds of accusations.

There was also the question of where she even heard of Myths. If I could trust Enma, Myths couldn't be exactly found in an alleyway, they were supposed to be hidden from society, so much so that speaking about it in public would get you laughed at and bullied.

One glance at Gura quickly changed my mind on that information. Maybe Myths could be found in an alleyway afterall?

"'Scuse me, but you can't expect us to believe that you want to help us completely free of charge. There's a catch, and we want to know." Speaking of the shark, she decided to take the lead this time by questioning the detective. Her eyes were narrowed at Watson, her hidden hand vibrating with the power of water.

"The shrimp has a point, even if we believe your motivation, you helping us for good girl points is putting us in your debt." I continued for my roommate. We couldn't afford to be indebted to someone we barely knew anything about, especially in our first case. Plus, if Enma and management learned that someone not working for Cover Corp knew about the existence of Gura, I'd lose my position as a caretaker in no time.

"What if we did an equivalent exchange instead? You share some intel about that mysterious Myth and I'll share some of mine, can't be indebted if we traded instead, right?" Watson proposed with a grin, although it was a shaky one. Hell, it seemed as if she was pleading with us, almost as if she was desperate.

Another shared glance with Gura was concluded. At this point, we were communicating with body gestures. I decided to keep on staring at my partner in crime, as if to signal that the choice whether to trust Amelia Watson or not was hers. A slight pause ensued before the water in Gura's hidden hand completely disappeared, the girl giving me a slight nod as she completely relaxed.

Some would call us fools for trusting someone who had spied on us all day, some would even go as far to call us complete imbeciles for letting down our guard against someone who knew about Myths...Yet, I didn't feel like I was in the wrong.

My heart kept insisting that she wasn't a bad person, that the detective truly wanted to help us in earnest. She even went as far as to make a fair deal just so that we wouldn't feel indebted to her. It could be argued that she's doing all this for some dark and nefarious purpose, but trying to unsheath an evil plan was grasping at straws at this point.

Even if I was naive or blinded by my own emotions, the logical being inside of my head still thought that I was on the winning side. She couldn't blackmail us with that recording unless she was a complete masochist and enjoyed being ridiculed by people, and she couldn't harm us right due to the incredibly obvious fact that we were out in the open during the evening with plenty of witnesses around, even if it didn't feel that way.

Locking eyes with the Atlantian, I could tell I wasn't the only one feeling this way. If a seasoned warrior such as Gura was able to let her guard down after hearing her pleas, then all I could do was trust her and do the same.

"Alright...We'll go first then." I concluded the deal, which seemed to cheer up the blonde girl in front of us as her face lit up like a christmas tree. I took out my phone from my pocket and swiftly tapped the link of the forum that I had saved yesterday with practiced motion. With a couple more thumb motion, I had found the picture once more, handing it to the woman in front of me.

"We think Takanashi Kiara is the Myth" Gura said, the seriousness gone from her pitch of voice. With all the stressful ambiance gone, I could hear the cars passing by as well as the citizens of New York talking around us. "This is a picture of the old staff way back in..uhh 19-something…"

"1927, Jesus Christ, Gura." I couldn't help but moan at her sad attempt to remember the date. How could one girl be this bad with numbers was beyond me.

"Shut it…" She growled out lowly in her hoodie, embarrassment quickly overtaking her features. "Anyway...you should see a familiar face in the picture."

"Wow...you're right...she's right there. So does that mean she's…?" Watson trailed off as she couldn't help but look with awe at the cellphone in her hands. I slowly and carefully picked it back up, which seemed to have the effect of taking her out of her trance.

"She's either super old...or immortal. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised you didn't find this picture yourself." I muttered out with a scoff, putting the device back in my pocket. The detective awkwardly scratched the back of her head with a forced chuckle at my remark, deciding to avoid eye contact with the two of us.

"Y-yeah...I'm not very good with technology...ha ha…" She mumbled apologetically, looking like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. That certainly explained how someone with impressive detective skills could miss such an obvious clue.

"Well? This is all we have, so I guess it's your turn to fulfill your end of the bargain." Gura spoke up with an impatient tone, resuming the conversation forcefully. Watson only nodded in response, ruffling through her coat as if she was searching for something. After rummaging through it for a while, all the while grumbling, she finally pulled out a plastic bag.

"I decided to do a little bit of investigating around the building and found this little thing!" She swiftly demonstrated its content, the sound of rustling reaching our ears. We both approached our faces closer, squinting to see what exactly she was displaying.

"A...feather?" The shark girl asked with curiosity in her voice, raising an eyebrow at the item. I slowly offered my hand to Watson, as if to ask to see the object closer. She carefully opened the bag, letting the content slowly fall on my hand. The feather touched my hand, it's cyan hue glowing in the palm of my hand.

"It's warm…" I whispered mindlessly as my eyes widened, a comfortable heat spreading through the nerves in my arm. Small embers floated upward in the air, vanishing immediately as soon as they departed from the source. I had never heard of an animal with similar feathers...so this could only be from a Myth.

Suddenly, an image formed in my mind, materializing the answers we've been looking for. Everything cleared up in my brain as I held back a gasp of realization.

Her earrings...Kiara's earrings...they looked just like the one I was holding in my hand. Cyan feather, burning with a strange flame.

Her human appearance, the age mystery, and the evidence in my hand. All of it linked to one species of Myth that I had seen in one of the books Enma gave me.

"The phoenix…" Gura mumbled beside me, catching my attention as I turned toward her. A smirk grazed my lips. Looks like I wasn't the only one who had reached the conclusion.

"Yeah...looks like we found our Myth…"