Chapter 19: Run Before You Walk (Part 6)

"I take it everything is to your liking?"

Real's superior tone of voice made it obvious that he'd noticed Cayman's eager indulgence in the provided meal, a rich offering of well-done steak that dripped with juices, asparagus that was marinated to high-heaven with some kind of zesty sauce and red potatoes liberally sprinkled with bacon and cheese.

The funniest damn part was that Shirou and Sakura's food was still better - even if not by much - but the gamer kept that thought to himself and instead gorged heartily on the offered sustenance, Till gracefully accepting the bits and pieces he cut off and passed to her.

"More than 'to my liking'. I'll freely admit this kind of cooking is the kind of indulgence I would be happy to partake of more often."

"And I would certainly be happy to provide aforementioned indulgence on a steady basis to those who work readily and loyally with Under Eden."

"That's a strong bonus to any prospective entrants, I bet."

The invitation was less than subtle and Cayman elected to just let it pass without further comment, turning to Natsume as he asked, "Although I imagine the lovely woman over yonder is treated to no shortage of high class establishments on a daily basis, how does this compare to your undoubtedly refined pallet?"

The Taimanin vapidly smiled from where she sat across from both Cayman and Real, replying, "It's true that in my line of work I'm treated to a wide variety of impressive culinary institutes, although I will freely admit to this being one of the more pleasing."

Real predictably didn't look entirely satisfied at the Taimanin's conciliatory tone, Cayman perfectly happy with letting the awkward atmosphere simmer and set as he peaceably munched on his food, trying his utmost best to appear calm and in control.

The three of them were seated at an ornate dining table with a passive aggressive air he would have attributed to The Emperor's New Groove, Natsume all calm smiles as she let her eyes wander between he and Under Eden's owner with polite interest, the pudgier man alternating between glaring at the Taimanin representative and buttering up Cayman while he was content to interact with Till and let the other two do their own thing.

The cyborg Orc thing and brainwashed Taimanin had taken up position by the dining room's doors while Mai stood behind Natsume's shoulder, bright pink eyes relentlessly scanning and inspecting the area for any hints of potential threat with a tenacity guard dogs would have approved of.

It was honestly rather adorable.

"Of course, exquisite cuisine is not the only benefit that comes with affiliation to Under Eden. You have already expressed interest in the various bodies we come by but there exists more than one currency and vice I have access to."

Real yet again tried to butter him up, assuming that Cayman's easy acceptance of the drink and food meant he was genuinely interested in the offer instead of just playing along to humor the host without offending them.

"Then again, said host's backup plan is for the guest Taimanin to fuck me up after this meeting so screw em', I'll eat his food and then take my leave."

"Should you continue to provide resources and experiments of a suitably exotic - and physically attractive - appearance your prize need not stop at one or two forms of compensation."

Inwardly sighing as Mai noticeably stiffened at the latest conversation starter and Natsume merely gazed at him with a polite sort of vague interest that was total bullshit Cayman decided it was time to stop dicking around, taking a final bite of his scrumptious plate and wiping his mouth on a silk napkin that probably cost more than his current outfit did.

"Oh well. At least this is a battlefield I'm somewhat versed in."

"Much like your cook's talents it's a tempting offer. Too good of an offer since you're coming on way too strong. And we might as well address the elephant in the room in that you're trying to get me killed or whatever by the Taimanin duo over there."

His blunt acknowledgement of what everyone had assumed to be either a topic that would go uncovered or ignored earned the gamer a second of mute surprise.

"Come on now, you thought I wasn't going to notice?"

He hiked a thumb towards Natsume and Mai as Real's expression slowly turned sour, the male continuing with, "You invited them specifically to screw me so I think I'll extend the same courtesy and screw any future deals between us. I came here with the intention of a fair game and you're trying to have me offed by the lovely pair of assassins over yonder. Until you stop trying to fuck me, no deal beyond what we have today."

He leaned back in his chair, snapping a finger with lazy grace before stating, "My slave please, if you would."

The moment stretched, Real's eyebrow twitching as the man clearly entertained the notion of calling off the deal and killing Cayman right then and there...and swallowed his irritation, slyly glancing at where Mai stood off to the side, glaring at the gamer with no lack of ill intent as he adopted a gracious smile.

"Got him."

"Very well, I suppose it was my fault for being a poor host. Come, let us meet with your prize and let it serve as the basis for future negotiations of a more respectful and lucrative nature."

Cayman merely shrugged, hiding his smirk of victory. In any other case that little bit of spite would have no doubt earned him a bullet to the head or express ticket to some fucked up torture dungeon...but Real's own plan naturally came back to bite him in the ass. He was still under the assumption the Taimanin were going to wring his spine like an accordion and was content to let them take care of business.

"Oh if only the poor bastard knew just how much I'm not going to be hurting after this deal."

"Consider yourself welcome at my fine establishment whenever the fancy strikes you in the future, young man. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot but I'm sure the potential exists for us to have a healthy and mutually beneficial contract."

Real's eyes darted away from Cayman's to instead glance at where the pair of Taimanin were no doubt waiting for him to emerge from, the secure room they were holed up in occupied only by Cayman, the cyborg Orc and Real himself.

"Assuming you are still alive after all this. Many things can go wrong in the world, after all."

"Real subtle. And yes, pun intended."

The man's expression yet again soured as Cayman smirked, moving the conversation along with, "So explain to me the rules of this contract and what not. How exactly do I keep my slave from slitting my throat in the middle of the night?"

Wordlessly gesturing to a desk located off to the side of the room Real exposited, "While the female in question would normally undergo an extensive process including no small amount of remodeling for a rush order such as this a few of our more grateful and powerful patrons have provided extraordinarily rare slave contracts."

The man offered a patently false smile.

"Consider this investment of resources a small bit of compensation for prior behavior. If both parties sign this sheet of enchanted parchment - and the slave in question is marked with a special sigil - they will be unable to refuse the commands of the one who holds the contract."

A smile of pride appeared on the older male's expression.

"While we had to tie the woman down to properly ensure the sigil was applied it took without issue. All that remains is for you to sign before your future slave, her signature is already present."

Hiding his annoyance and distaste for what was no doubt a nasty series of occurrences in the depths of the brothel Cayman glanced towards the parchment in question, an ancient looking thing with a crusted sprawl at the bottom that read 'Yumi Kiba'.

"Okay, I know shit's messed up in this universe but why is her name actually Yumi Kiba? Rias was the one who gave her that new name and it didn't sound like she was taken from her Peerage or anything."

Biting back an internal sigh - of all the messed up things in this universe he had to deal with naming conventions was definitely on the lower end of the list - the gamer instead asked, "So how do I break the contract if need be?"

"And just why, if you don't mind me asking, would you need to do so?"

"Funny, I do mind you asking. Consider it an insurance policy."

Glaring at the gamer Real eventually turned away in irritation, bluntly stating, "You need only burn the parchment. And only you, if another attempts the act it won't work. The destruction of the engravings will also work, hence why they are often put onto the neck."

"Got it."

Till remained silent from where she rode on his shoulder, obviously ill at ease with the whole situation as Cayman reflected on the nature of these slave contracts and whether they could be useful to him.

First impressions weren't great, it sounded like you had to carefully inscribe some kind of marking onto the person in question, get them to sign and then ensure you didn't accidentally destroy the contract or have some stranger mess up the engravings. Granted, it was probably for the best that it was a bit of tricky business to apply otherwise everyone everywhere would just be branding fools with slave contracts and calling it a day.

A knock on the door preceded the mind-broken Taimanin walking in, followed by a distantly familiar face as Cayman got his first proper exposure to what Yumi Kiba looked like in 3d.

In a word? Beautiful. Even before becoming a Devil and having mystical mumbo jumbo enhance her features she was a stunning young woman, light blonde hair falling to the small of her back while steely blue eyes roamed the room with vague and dispassionate interest, as if the act of living was just too much effort. To his relief Under Eden had given her a simple white dress and heels instead of the slutty stuff normally provided, the girl's modestly curvy figure tastefully accentuated rather than provocatively.

And around a thin neck was some manner of jagged inscription that couldn't have screamed 'esoteric' any louder than if it tried.

"Slave, introduce yourself."

Real's sharp words were met with a dull glare from the girl, her defiance seeming to come more from a place of apathy than genuine rebellion as Cayman resisted the urge to smirk. He could work with this.

"Don't worry about it, the strong silent types are a personal favorite of mine."

Completely misinterpreting his words Real merely snorted, motioning to the Taimanin assistant as he announced, "You'll be shown out by my subordinate."

A cruel, childish smirk adorned the man's features.

"Do enjoy your time outside of Under Eden. And come visit should the opportunity arise."

This time not even bothering to hide his eye roll Cayman retorted, "Yeah, I'll do that. Follow me, Yumi."

Pocketing the slave contract and watching as the sigil around her neck forced the blonde to follow with a pulse of unnatural light, heels clacking on the finely finished floors Cayman kept his grimace of distaste to himself and instead pretended to enjoy the show of domination, trying to ignore the way Till bristled at the entire situation as best he could.

Instead he eyed the pair of Taimanin watching his every move as he entered the main lobby of Under Eden, guided by their presumably brainwashed compatriot.

"Alright, let's nip this bud at the stem before it flowers into a real pain in my ass."

"Ladies?"

Motioning for them to walk alongside him the gamer fought back a smile at their individual reactions. Mai's lips curled at his obvious mistreatment and exploitation of Yumi while Natsume merely adopted a pleasant and friendly smile, as if the sight of a young woman with her will stripped and subverted was an everyday occurrence she found no wrong with.

"Lead on, Surveyor. I'm sure we have much to talk about."

WHAM!

"Well this is a more direct approach than what I expected. Oh well, it ultimately makes things easier."

"W-wait, I know that what Cayman did looks bad but he-"

Raising a hand to halt Till's worried and frantic intervention Cayman instead met Mai's narrowed eyes of brilliant pink, smiling politely as the Taimanin held a piece of bladed origami paper to his throat, the edge no doubt lethally sharp thanks to her powers and an errant wrist twitch away from slicing open his jugular due to the charming fact she'd slammed him into the wall of a nearby alley.

"Don't worry, Till. Let em' air their grievances, I'm sure they have no shortage of questions to ask."

"An understatement, to be sure."

Natsume's cheerful and seductive words didn't exactly mesh well with the ominous way she handled the knife strapped to her thigh, the duo having silently followed in Cayman's wake until they were on the outskirts of Yomihara before abruptly manhandling him into their current location.

"But you have been involved in some rather suspicious activity, wouldn't you say? Using Sanctuary resources to purchase for yourself a slave, all while providing a less than reputable establishment and man the tools to craft highly dangerous specimens."

Ignoring Natsume's cheerful tone for the moment Cayman instead met Mai's unwavering gaze, boring into his own while Till nervously dithered off to the side, Yumi wordlessly and expressionlessly watching the proceedings as if they were of middling imortance.

"All of that is perfectly true. Now if you're willing to entertain me for a moment why don't you go ahead ask yourselves why I did any of this in the first place, let alone went ahead and admitted it in front of you? I'm going to feel fairly insulted if you think I couldn't wriggle my way out of Real's amateur hour attempt at wringing a confession out of me."

He let a more sinister smile pull at his lips as he met Nanase's unwavering stare.

"I mean, if we're going to assign guilt to action based solely on their end results then you, young lady, are just an admittedly lovely assassin who's part of a unilateral organization that kills for money and influence."

The normally taciturn Taimanin obviously didn't like his implication, bringing the enhanced origami crane close enough to slice his flesh as a popup flashed across his vision.

-5 REP with Mai Nanase [-5/100]

"Yup. DEFINITELY didn't like that one."

But naturally it was the more mature and experienced woman who stepped in, setting a hand on her younger ally's shoulder before curiously asking, "Then by all means, inform us of your reasoning. I'm sure a Surveyor of all people has justifications most convincing."

"It's your lucky day, that just so happens to be the case."

Turning to Yumi he ignored the brief and sour taste in his mouth at what he was about to do, ordering, "Per our contract you are to answer my next questions with complete honesty, is that understood?"

He didn't get any real joy out of watching the defeated obedience flare to life in her beaten down eyes, a minute nod leaving the girl as both Taimanin gave him looks of varying severity, making it patently clear that they weren't in the mood for bullshit.

"If you were to be in complete control of your destiny at this very moment, free to do whatever you wanted or pleased, what would your ultimate goal be?"

There was only a moment of hesitation as she obviously fought against the compulsion, quickly folding before replying in monotone, "To kill the people that tried to turn both my family and myself into vessels of a worthless weapon, that tried to dispose of us when their sins came to light as if we were mere afterthoughts."

While the words were monotone the slowly curling fists weren't, Yumi's posture becoming noticeably stiff and angry.

"And what was this weapon?"

"The Holy Sword Excalibur."

Both Taimanin tensed, Natsume hiding her surprise better than the younger Taimanin as Cayman breathed a sigh of relief that canon hadn't changed in that regard. And it also begged the question of there being multiple renditions of the weapon since DxD and Fate had fused. In DxD it had just been one artifact among many, split into seven different forms after it was purportedly destroyed. In Fate it had been a straight up weapon of mass destruction formed by Gaia to combat Velber before being picked up by Arturia as her personal pointy stick. A bit of a downgrade - alien slayer to personal blade and all that - but a bit more impressive in terms of lore than the DxD version.

"Add that to spot 10,987 on the 'to research' list. Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with that shit right now."

Continuing to strike while the iron was hot the gamer further inquired, "And if I could provide you with the means to achieve that ambition, to provide food, shelter and training...would you follow and assist me with my own ambitions, despite not knowing what they are? Or would you prefer to take your chances in Under Eden?"

The response was gratifyingly swift.

"You. Without a second thought."

Natsume frowned, pointing out the obvious problem.

"That is hardly much of a choice."

"No, it isn't. But since we're on the topic of choices…"

He manifested his spear, causing Mai to tense as the weapon appeared-

-and a lazy flick of his wrist launched the contract into the air, spear glowing with fire and catching the parchment full on before turning it to cinders within a second, both Taimanin blinking at the unexpected action.

His eyes were mostly focused on Till and Yumi's response, the Fairy beaming at his move while the blonde went legitimately slack-jawed for a moment, scarcely able to believe what just transpired as the sigil around her neck flared with unnatural light once before dying completely.

Delicate fingers tentatively explored now unmarked skin as Cayman gave the lethal women a pointed look, Mai's expression souring while Natsume merely seemed pensive. Personally he thought it was just a smart move to do away with any chance of betrayal and held grudges if provided the opportunity. In canon - which in this particular scenario seemed to be mostly intact - Kiba had been intensely loyal to Rias because she treated him with kindness, only his hatred and grudge towards the Excalibur sword fragments outweighing his sense of duty and kinship. If he could provide both of those at the same time? Well, who needed slave contracts? Yumi would be happy to stick by his side and he wouldn't have to worry about her accidentally or purposefully being freed and carrying a grudge.

"Well? Any further point of contention we need to work out? Just in case it isn't blindingly fucking obvious I was playing Real so that I could free Yumi over here, I trust that dude no further than I can throw him. And that's before he tried to have you two shank me for my kidneys."

Mai didn't look entirely convinced but Natsume set a hand on the younger Taimanin's shoulder, pulling her back even as the pale-haired girl neutrally grumbled, "I don't trust him."

"Neither do I - at least not entirely - but the point of contention between us has been settled and it never hurts to play nice with those who may be friends further down the road."

Rolling his neck as Mai took away the origami knife he gave the older woman a playful smirk, teasing, "If there remains any doubt I'm well aware of how your Taimanin art works, I'm plenty happy to offer myself up as tribute so that you can 'verify' my honesty.

+5 Rep with Natsume Amadare [5/100]

A sultry giggle left the violet-haired woman, eyes glittering with amusement as she mused, "The option will always be on the table, I suppose."

Till huffed, evidently having had enough with the constant threats to her contractor as she planted tiny fists on equally tiny hips, complaining, "What more do you want? He gave you plenty reason to stop being so aggressive and annoying!"

Raising a hand in a gesture for calm that only slightly mollified the Fairy she continued with a clearly displeased cadence, sharply asking, "And what were you doing in that place, hmm? Kinda suspicious, don't you think?"

Chuckling in amusement at how protective his favorite little lady was being the gamer answered, "They were there on assignment to keep an eye on Real after he and some Taimanin operatives had a nasty run in a while back."

"We aren't required to tell you anything anyway."

Mai's cool and collected response just made Till even more irate, the Fairy's wings buzzing like an angry hornet's as it was Natsume's turn to play peacemaker, quickly stating, "Now now, I don't think there's any harm in sharing at least the general purpose behind our visit, he may even be able to help us in that regard."

While the younger Taimanin clearly wasn't of the same opinion she nonetheless followed the more experienced woman's lead, Amadare explaining, "Before your arrival we had been questioning Real if there have been any sightings of Nomad operatives and activity in the Kabuki district, as of the past few months we've heard disturbing rumors of them interacting with an unknown but powerful organization whose name, composition and purpose we're still attempting to divine."

Cayman listened with interest, sensing this was going to somehow end up involving him one way or another.

"Ever since Edwin Black's death Nomad has become fractured and lost much of the influence they once held but they are still powerful and have no shortage of ways to exert said influence. The prospect of them courting an alliance or merging with an unknown third party is worrying, to say the least."

Cayman nodded, hiding his cry of relief that Natsume had been kind enough to provide some context as to what the fuck was going on in this world. The news of Edwin Black's death was also one less headache he would have to deal with in the grand scheme of things. The guy had been a reality warping Vampire that could basically reset the world whenever he died and one overpowered Vampire that could affect the timestream of the universe was bad enough. And at least Zelretch was a guy that tended to take actions for the better, whereas Black basically had a boner for Asagi that led to who knows how much destruction and x-rated home videos.

"Well you have me convinced that it sounds like big trouble. Do you really think Real would ever admit to anything that bluntly, though? I get that subtlety isn't exactly his strong suit but you'd think he'd be a bit more wary around known threats rather than unknown ones like me."

Till alighted upon his shoulder as he stroked her leg with reassuring motions, Natsume continuing with, "It's certainly a possibility, one we will have to explore at a later date if our continued search doesn't bear fruit. We were about to procure lodging before continuing our search."

Smelling an opportunity Cayman posed, "Well instead of running the risk or inconvenience of staying at other places why don't you crash at the Sanctuary safehouse? It's not far from Kabuki and is pretty darn safe."

Mai blinked at the abrupt offer while Natsume merely tilted her head, asking, "Is that allowed? To bring in others not currently on the Sanctuary roster to one of their buildings?"

Spewing his usual brand of bullshit Cayman waved a hand as if it was no big deal, languidly replying, "As a Surveyor I get a fair bit of say so in how things are done. And it's not like anyone is currently in there anyways, the place is empty while I'm cleaning up the Hoestia job."

Mai let her hands drop to her sides, flared sleeves covering her hands from sight as she suspiciously asked, "And why should we trust you?"

"Uh, because I willingly let you corner and threaten me with potential death without complaint? C'mon, give me a little slack here."

Natsume stared into his eyes with an unreadable emotion, eventually nodding before curling her lips upwards in a smile as she stated, "We would be happy to take you up on that offer. And you're correct, a little bit of mutual trust is due between us."

Grinning in satisfaction the gamer replied, "To sweeten the deal I'll cook dinner for us, no poisons or drugs to be found. Fair?"

+5 Rep with Natsume Amadare [10/100], Mai Nanase [0/100]

"Shit, maybe I should have looked for a cooking skill or something. Or is that just because the conversation is over now and we're all sort of allies?"

Setting aside the eternal question of how his powers even freaking worked Cayman instead turned to Yumi, the girl having silently watched the entire exchange with nary a peep, one hand still cautiously tracing the skin of her neck where the sigil had been removed.

"You ready to leave this place, Yumi? Sorry, I'll sit you down and explain all the context for this first chance I get, as well as how we'll go about fulfilling our mutual ambitions, sound good?"

"...Yes."

Her words were blatantly hesitant and unsure but the gamer didn't begrudge her that in the slightest, no doubt the whole day's events had been a whirlwind of confusion and distinct lack of control.

For now, it was enough that he get a chance to sit down and simply think, it had been a long day for him as well.

"Shower, I promise I'll never take you for granted."

Quietly grumbling to himself Cayman shut off the scalding water and luxuriated in the afterglow of a good scrub, running a hand through his dripping hair.

The journey back to the Sanctuary safehouse had thankfully gone without issue, the gamer cooking dinner for his company as they had taken up residence in Yukikaze and Jinglei's old room, a spare futon rolled out for Yumi a fair distance away from his - for her sake of mind since he doubted she was all that comfortable sleeping anywhere near others - and good god the male had been tempted to take up Till on her ever present offer to fuck, a round of supernatural sex seeming like a great means of stress relief after his earlier stunt.

But the sounds of frantic fornicating probably wouldn't have put Yumi much at ease so he'd held off-

"Wait, if I have a roommate now...did I blow my chance to have sex with Till?!"

Rapidly shaking his head and ditching the stupid thought before it could take root the gamer reminded himself that they were a ten minute walk from the edge of a red light district. If they really wanted to bone there was no shortage of opportunity and love hotels to be had.

"Speaking of, I wonder if Till is going to smother Yumi with affection since she was-"

His train of thought came to an abrupt end as a burst of surprise and distress emanated from the Fairy, Cayman leaping into action despite being soaking wet and bare as the day he was born, spear manifesting and smacking into the palm of his hand as assurance and certainty flooded his mind, benefits of his affinity for the weapon.

"Till, are you-"

He caught a glimpse of white and blonde fleeing down the street from where his door swung open, a blanket thrown onto the floor wildly thrashing and jumping as he unwound the fabric, revealing an extraordinarily upset and worried Till, so distraught she didn't even notice his nudity.

"Yumi, she threw that blanket on top of me and then ran, I don't know what she's-"

"Easy does it, Till. It's fine."

Gently stroking his partner's hair the gamer huffed out a resigned sigh, quickly throwing on whatever clothes he had ready.

"C'mon, let's follow her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble. Hindsight being 20/20 it was probably too much to hope that she would feel at ease here, too much has happened too fast."

He gave the Fairy a quick kiss on the head, stating, "Go, follow her from above and keep an eye out for danger. This city is what I would describe as the opposite of safe."

"G-got it!"

She zoomed out the door without further ado, Cayman rubbing his eyes and swiftly chasing after his airborne companion.

"I should probably buy some sleeping pills, I get the feeling proper rest is going to be a rare commodity these days."