The Incursor Project

by JanSL

[Welcome to the Incursor Project, lucky soul! Thanks to winning this afterlife lottery, now you get to explore infinite worlds based on media from your world while being incredibly powerful! ...No, we don't care that you're a hobo that doesn't know any of this, you won the lotto, stop complaining and choose your build, asshole. Yes, you can take the gun.] Hobo meets Gamer system.

4. Hobo-Tourism: Kyoto Edition

For all the big talk I made of finally leaving Kuoh and how much it would change my life, I had completely failed to consider that most of my wishes here had to do with pretty tourism and murder. Sure, those were some pretty good wishes, I wholeheartedly wanted to explore the city and drink in all of that sweet Japanese culture, and of course I wanted to exercise my right to bear arms and feed lead to a bunch of petty criminals and stray demons.

But I failed to consider one small, yet glaringly obvious bit.

Mankind's ruler was and would always be money, and as a son of Man that I was… I just had $48 bucks.

And since both of my prime interests in Kyoto were tourism and murder, it wasn't hard to notice that neither of those activities in any way, shape or form generated money, they just consumed it. Consumed it a whole lot more now that I needed to rely on [Coin Flipper] like a junkie.

So, before I could even begin doing the activities I really wanted, I needed to hustle.

And Daniel García might have been a homeless, unclean, rude, crass, unkind, hateful, spiteful, impulsive, petty, selfish, indecent, stupid and in general a big asshole.

But he was also a hustler.

"Alright! Who wants to see this gaijin juggle THREE knives!?"

And like birds to the sky, and fish to the sea, the hustler would hustle.

As the crowd cheered for me, the three knives (two of those stolen) kept getting juggled, my hands busy and my mind alert. I knew that just juggling funny little balls wouldn't net me much money, the earnings I made last time I hustled were quite meager before Rias came and donated me those $140, so I decided to step it up a notch.

Now that I had my bearings in this accursed 'DxD' land and more or less knew what was going on, I felt confident enough to attempt actual crime, and with the aid of Eyes Everywhere, it was painfully easy to enter a small restaurant and steal a couple knives.

Daniel.

What.

That was fucking disgusting, weren't you supposed to improve yourself?

Hell yeah I did, those infinite eyes made stealing shit a cakewalk. Never in my world could I have performed such flawless theft.

That's what I was talking about! You said you were going to stop being a homeless bum! We all knew you still didn't own property but… baby-steps and all that! Stop stealing!

All cool rich people were thieves. Therefore, if I wanted to be rich, I needed to steal… but in a cooler way.

THAT'S NOT-

Frankly, I had no clue as to why I had this little voice called Conscience complaining about my existence now, at least so loudly compared to before. If I had to retrace my steps, I guess it came after… after I died and became Undead? Was this the insanity bit the flavor text warned about? Insanity in the form of a nagging shithead?

I was already an expert in ignoring sagely advice. If this truly was my brand of insanity, then I would be the sanest Undead in the whole world.

"And for my next trick… FOUR knives!"

My sanity notwithstanding, the novelty of a foreigner talking with probably a bit of an accent while juggling knives and making funny voices was a good crowd magnet, which inevitably led to some good earnings after an hour of performing, which was about $15.

As I said goodbye to the crowd, saying the usual charity-seeking phrases (I really love Japan and I'm REALLY HUNGRY) I was left staring at my donation hat. Hoo yeah, 15 bucks for an hour of juggling knives like an asshole. If that wasn't a dream job then I had no clue what was.

I kneeled down and began pocketing the bills and coins. Currently, I had just finished my performance in what was a fairly traveled pedestrian street. It was noon, so a fair amount of people were getting lunch at this hour, which meant a lot of people with free schedules to give me money, and since it was also a Sunday, it meant that my profits would skyrocket.

So far, Kyoto had been quite the peaceful stay. I had bought myself some breakfast this morning (a nice bento as the cashier called it, just $4) and after just walked around the city taking in the sights. So far, this city had been mercifully free of any supernatural beings.

I knew however that the peace could end at any moment, since I had thought much of the same in my first day in Kuoh. However, since there wasn't a teenage devil ruling the bustling city with an iron fist, I doubted much of importance would happen.

It was with those nice thoughts that I picked myself up, slung my backpack over my shoulder, took out and lit a cigarette, and began walking with a pep in my step through the city.

I figured I'd ask the locals which were the best spots for tourists, then simply enjoy the day until night fell, after which I'd begin hunting whatever I stumbled upon that seemed to have a nasty disposition.

"Esa es mi nena, nena~ Dulce y buena nadie~"

With a tune from my homeland, I began walking towards the nearest 7-11. I'd get some lunch, then would begin the tourist trip proper.

Ah! What a nice day!

---

This day was absolutely abhorrent.

"Oh, what a lovely young lady! Might I know what you need from this weary old man?"

She gave the geezer one of her practiced perfect girl smiles.

"It's nothing, Ojii-san. I was just wondering if you had seen a foreigner this tall with hair up to his neck? He looks a bit messy and wears a gray parka."

The old fuck hummed and rubbed his chin.

"A foreigner? I don't think I've seen anyone like- Huh? Oi!"

The second she realized the geezer didn't have any info on the HOMELESS SHITSTAIN she dropped her act entirely and simply walked away, paying no mind to the geriatric's complaints. She made no effort stopping the hateful snarl from taking over her face once more, her beautiful visage now more accustomed to expressions of hate than any other over the last twelve hours.

Raynare was feeling pissed, and not only because the disgusting, filthy homeless human still lived, but also because flying to Kyoto had taken… longer than she thought.

Firstly, her plan had been simple: make a magic circle, teleport to Kyoto and be there before the human got off the bus. His absolute demise and torture would ensue. A perfect plan, in her opinion.

However, she was woefully reminded that the Yokai of Kyoto didn't take kindly at all to her kind, and thus she was unable to teleport there, her spell failing miserably in her hands.

Fine—she had thought, bloodlust still high and rampant—I'll just fly there. It can't be that far from Kuoh.

She was a Fallen Angel, so of course she wouldn't tire from flying; that would be unthinkable! Raynare had this murder already committed, as far as she was concerned.

Raynare wasn't bothered by flying. She was, however, very much bothered when getting lost.

The reminder that she had been bested by human roads made Raynare let out an animalistic growl, turning a few confused heads in her direction. Those fucking roads were absolutely confusing and unhelpful when flying, and since all the road signs telling the humans where to go like little sheep weren't visible from the sky…

She had made an unwilling visit to Tokyo instead of Kyoto.

It WASN'T HER FAULT that she didn't know where Kyoto was and she needed to follow human roads! Why WOULD she know!? She was a Fallen Angel! A respectable one, at that! Why in the fuck would she have to know the gathering spot for those annoying Yokai!?

It had taken a whole lot more hours of backtracking and following her intended path, but alas, she had arrived at Kyoto at 5 in the morning. It had been an all-nighter flight for her.

So not only was she now sleep-deprived (which wasn't that Raynare needed the sleep, since she was a superior lifeform and all that, but it was still nice to sleep) but she was also absolutely behind her 'HOMELESS-MAN SLAUGHTER' schedule, forcing her to ask passersby for information on his whereabouts. Surely, a foreigner walking around would attract the attention of these Japanese humans.

Kyoto was considerably bigger than Kuoh. Much, much bigger. Which meant that the HOMELESS FUCKING PEST could be hiding anywhere. ANYWHERE. Which also meant that she'd most likely spend the next week simply asking around like some sort of lost girl desperately wanting to know where the nearest disgusting and unsightly hobo could be located.

…She had to compose herself, for she could feel a trickle of spit running down her chin, her snarl still stuck on her face with the ferocity of a rabid dog. The thought 'like a poodle' briefly ran through her head and it almost undid her efforts in appearing normal with a fresh wave of hatred.

No, Raynare was going to accomplish her quest of killing that fucking human, and she would do so quickly. She didn't forget that there was still much to be done in Kuoh, and that the possibility of finally serving her glorious leaders and be finally loved, finally useful were on the horizon.

Finally, after falling from Heaven, she would be loved, cherished, and useful…

…But first the homeless human needed to go. No way around it. No one called her a floozy and just fucked off with no repercussions. There's a reason she fell from Heaven, and it wasn't because she let those worthless humans live without repercussions for their comments.

---

This was the greatest shit.

I grinned as I gazed upon the tall, tower-temple structure. If I had a cool phone with an actual good camera on me (unlike the one I pillaged from the exorcist since that one was old as fuck) I would've been taking photos like an enraged madman.

It was a cool afternoon, and alongside me were hundreds of other people, families with children young and old taking in the sights and posing for pictures. This whole area seemed taken straight out of some ancient Japanese times, with how the houses, walkways, gates and general structure of everything was built. Even with the great influx of people taking the scenic routes, it felt somewhat peaceful with the lovely architecture.

Taking my fill of that tower-temple whatever, I decided to simply follow the waves of people traveling the streets. It seemed like there were hundreds of these fucking temples and I wanted to see them all, and while at it, I'd try and check if among these people were any petty thieves or criminals. This still was at the end of the day a business trip, so it'd do me good to identify potential targets right now.

Route set, I walked down the lovely walkway, surrounded by ancient houses and street sellers.

Sadly, I caught sight of something odd. Again. The moment I gave my back to some of the street vendors selling candy apples, melon bread and other foodstuffs, a good number of them stared concerned at me. Really concerned, as if at any minute I'd start shooting innocent children for fun.

I frowned at the sight, Eyes Everywhere having provided a full view of this occurrence every time. This had been happening in every part of Kyoto that seemed to host any sort of cultural relevance. If the zone was littered with beautiful Japanese houses and astonishing temples to gaze at, there would be groups of people (presumably the owners of these houses) giving me terrible looks.

It had never occurred to me that I'd have to experience racism (or xenophobia?) at this day and age, but hey, what the fuck could I do? I had experienced absolutely nothing like this in Kuoh, but apparently now that I was in Kyoto and there was more old-timey shit, it also increased the amount of retrograde assholes.

Again, in the same way I did all those other times, I snapped my head back to them like I was psychic, stared at the racists assholes in the eye, and glared as hard as humanly possible.

I also did a hand motion heavily resembling jerking off, then followed it up by throwing up the hand, as if violently ejaculating.

Like all the others, their eyes widened, looked mildly scandalized and caught off-guard because why would they ever think I'd notice their rude stares, then pretended they weren't looking at me. Some took their phones out (which were also really old ones, 2008-types) and made a call with some sense of urgency in them.

The call part always left me a bit confused. Who the fuck were they gonna call, the Japanese KKK? What a bunch of assholes. Hopefully they went and tried crucifying me so I could harvest some Souls and XP.

Still, now that dominance had been firmly established with the KKK (if I had failed I would've been forced to go piss on their legs) I continued walking my way, trying to pay no-mind to the next set of racist assholes I'd inevitably find at the next street stalls.

A bit pissed with them, though, I took out yet another cigarette (which seemed to be considered really rude if the stares of the street vendors were to be trusted) and lit it up. It also bothered some of the families that were simply walking around and enjoying the sights like me, but I didn't relent.

If the racist Japanese were out to try and ruin my stay, I'd make sure to give little Timmy and his nanna a healthy dose of second-hand smoking.

No matter, though! Fuck these people! I would enjoy Kyoto and its sights in spite of these shitheads! I would have so much fun and they'd have to fucking watch me.

"He barrido el sol de este lugar~ Arrastré el calor del basural~"

With another tune in my soul, I walked merrily down the beautiful walkway, disapproving frowns all around me.

---

Raynare stared with absolute contempt at the stupid temple-tower bullshit in front of her, an absolutely abhorrent walkway filled with chatty humans while surrounded by ancient human houses and street vendors.

She had been trying her luck on the more modern part of the city, but if she had to approach another old man (with wandering eyes, those geriatric fucks) and be sent on another wild goose chase in a maze of tall buildings and human parks then she'd LOSE IT.

She knew that there was a possibility that the homeless man might be loitering around these parts, but it didn't make the decision of her (a FALLEN) to intrude upon Yokai territory so carelessly any more easy. Yesterday her lungs had been full of bravado and fury, but now that her emotions were cooler (but no less HATEFUL) she needed to actually tread carefully.

The second a Yokai saw her, everything could go to hell. All that she had been working towards, all her careful planning, her being finally loved, all that to the trash because she got too eager in killing a chatty homeless man.

She'd need to be discrete, blend-in, not attract any attention. She'd just walk among the crowd and try to spot any foul-smelling foreigners who spoke like they personally resented the concept of basic decorum and hygiene.

Raynare took one quick look at herself. She was wearing some trendy clothes, which she knew were trendy because she took the painstaking effort of keeping up with fashion magazines and watching human girls in the 17-21 age range to make her 'perfect cute girl' persona flawless.

A cute pink short-sleeved top, a tastefully short black skirt, a black coat and some boots. Of course, these clothes were ready to shift into their true appearance—that of the revealing combat attire she proudly used as a Fallen—which meant that she was the perfect incognito agent.

Under her cute persona, Raynare allowed herself a small, satisfied smile, which would've been a manic grin with drool spilling out her mouth if she wasn't in character.

She'd be undetectable, the accursed homeless man wouldn't see her coming. His guts would soon paint Kyoto's pavement, and his cries would be drowned by the howling wind.

Revenge was hers.

---

"Yes, Lady Yasaka, that weird… man-thing everyone's been reporting just went past our spot, too. Yes, he also mimicked masturbating. Not only that, he-"

The Yokai on the phone stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening as another highly-unusual presence just walked past him, her Ki hilariously off-tune with the crowds', sticking out like a gigantic, raving light. It was clearly trying to go undercover, yet the bloodlust simply irradiated without a single care to anyone who could detect it.

He felt his mouth go dry, words coming out of his lips before he could properly think them.

"Um, there's also a Fallen Angel just walking around too, I guess."

Raynare lasted a total of thirteen seconds incognito.

---

Somehow, I managed to sneak into a guided tour. With real tour guides and everything! As the plain yet pretty guide talked about the shrine such-koji-and-such to her audience of elderly people and small families with children, I was simply drinking the sights and following the group wherever they went.

Sure, this was technically not legal. Maybe. But I was legally just going in the same direction as their group. And stopping every time they did, although I don't think they blamed me too hard on that one, since the sight of the big, red, giant gate-like structure was just fascinating.

"-and the purpose of these great shrines was to ward off demons from ever entering the city! Now, if you look-"

Although I got the odd look from some of the old folk in the group (which wasn't the same type of glance the street vendors gave me, thank fuck) no one really gave much of a shit and I fit in rather neatly into the tour. The words that came out of the guide's mouth failed to move me, however, my interest in the gates residing more in the architectural rather than the crazed lunacy ancient people attributed to them.

It was thus that I found myself simply staring at the gates, the tour guide's words going from one ear to the other… and it was thus that I felt it. Someone was staring at me.

Idly, I checked and no, E.E didn't detect anyone glaring at my back, everything within my 12-meter radius was as normal as it could be with no drama whatsoever. Sure, I could begin looking in everyone's pockets, but my focus was on the gates, not on random people's underwear.

Which meant that the feeling of being stared came from outside my radius, and it wasn't really a factoid, it was just a primal warning. The primal instinct that told me that someone out there was giving me a real mean look.

Expecting to find another one of these oddly racist vendors, I stared back, a mask of harsh contempt already on. It fell apart the second I saw who was looking at me.

"...Oh?"

There, amidst the crowd of bustling tourists and joyful people, there was one sour glare, directed straight at me coming from one pretty young lady. I couldn't really tell from here, but it almost looked as if her head was twitching, and her intense glare became even more hateful the second we made eye-contact. Our stare down went uninterrupted despite the dozens of heads between us going about their business.

She began moving forward, the same intense glare still on. I idly noticed that her mouth was also twisted into a very unsightly snarl. A very familiar snarl.

A disbelieving laugh comes out of me as the girl enters my 12-meter radius. "No fucking way."

The feathery angel bitch was here, in Kyoto. And we were both staring at each other, her stare much more violently charged than mine, which judging by E.E, was a very amused one.

That probably didn't help her temper, if the quickening of her steps was anything to go by.

As she approached, I silently made some calculations, specifically about what the fuck I was supposed to do now. Sure, I could just shoot and forget, but I was surrounded by people. The whole point of me being here was to harvest XP and blowing my cover like that seemed astoundingly stupid and counter-productive.

Weaponizing the coins would definitely not work on her, that's for sure. Even by using [Coin Stacker] I doubted they'd manage to deal a killing shot. Sure, it'd give me the Stacks and I could use [Coin Stacker] again to earn even more, and eventually it'd kill, but I doubted she'd just stand there and let me throw coins at her without a single care.

Right now, I was in a really bad spot. I could only hope that she cared about being incognito as much as I did.

So, I let her approach, and once she's face to face with me, her glare hateful and one of her eyes subtly twitching as she tried killing me with a stare, I told her, a shitty little smirk on my face.

"So, you liked the dick-pic that much, huh?"

Her barely held together crappy mask of 'normal human' broke instantly, and the expression that followed was, to describe it very lightly, 'a bit angwy'.

"You will regret those words when I splatter your guts across the-"

As she spoke, I noticed the tour group I was following began moving.

"Oh, shit. Can this wait? I'm kinda busy right now."

With one dismissive wave of my hand, I gave her my back and trailed behind the group of jolly tourists. The angel froze in place at my casual dismissal, soon after turning into yet more visible hatred.

Gosh, it must've been so tiring living like that, getting so angry at every word. It made it so easy for me to just say random bullshit and have her fuming. Still, aside from the calculated wound to her pride, following the crowd was actually the only thing I could do for now. The second I was by my lonesome a fight would ensue and I didn't like my chances this very second, so…

To the angel's absolute disbelief (and further anger, but at that point it should just be assumed) I simply walked away from her. After a second of bafflement, again anger (because what else) took over her face and trailed behind me.

"Where are you going!?"

"I'm touring. These shrines are really pretty, let me tell you. Have you come here to tour, as well?"

Before she could answer, I laughed obnoxiously, intentionally in a snobbish manner.

"Ah, what am I saying? Of course not. You're really like a violent rabid dog, are you? Came running all this way, sniffing my trail like a dog just to bite me in the ankles. I'd say it's cute if you weren't an ugly little feathery bitch."

I seemed to poke where it hurt, because she actually almost attacked me. E.E saw light gather in her hand for half-a-second, as if forming a sort of spear, before fading out quickly. Instead, the angel walked up right next to me, and put on a very pleasant smile directed at the couple grampas that were glancing back in concern after my demeaning comments.

"My, those are some very funny words coming from a homeless little shit who at the first sight of danger went running out of Kuoh. How is it that you humans call it? Right, like a chicken."

I glanced at her, very deliberately raising an eyebrow. She wanted to engage ME in a verbal pissing contest? Boy, oh boy, she really sucked at decision-making.

"Very self-aggrandazing of you, feathery fuck. Has it perhaps crossed your mind that small little Kuoh is kind of a shithole bum-house and that's that? Why would I ever want to stay there? Nevermind that, why is such a mighty angel, with her mighty black wings chasing me? I think it says more about you than me that you get pressed enough to chase me to another city."

Little feathery bitch kept her smile on rather pleasantly, but the clenching of her fists was still painfully visible to my infinite eyes.

"Hm? Why would a superior lifeform like me have to allow such crass comments from your kind go unpunished? Is it that you're so used to sleeping in trash and hurling insults at passersby that you expected no consequences for your actions? Is that how you ended up a beggar?"

"For a superior lifeform, you have the ego of a little girl. Who would've thought that just by calling you a floozy I'd have you chasing me like a lovesick fan?"

The word floozy made the angel's smile tighten considerably, her nails digging into her palms painfully.

"Hmmm, it just seems to me like-"

I didn't let her finish.

"Floozy."

"Listen here-"

"Floozy little bitch."

She turned to me, her mask slipping and full anger filling her eyes.

"You pathetic fucking-!"

"Floozy little bitch who chases homeless guys."

Before she could open her mouth again, I suddenly pointed my index finger right at her face.

"You know what I've been thinking?" I said, conversationally. "You're a Fallen, right? That means you fell from Heaven for some reason or another."

I smirked, deliberately showing my teeth and putting on a nasty expression.

"Hey, tell me. Could it be that you fell from Heaven because of your pride? Could it be that little angel floozy got too fed up with being ordered around and fell from Heaven?"

As her eyes widened, I suddenly shook my head, holding my chin.

"No, no, that sounds too convenient. Too cool, even, and that just can't be! I TRUST in my stupid pursuer! Our floozy feathery bitch MUST have a reason much more pathetic than that, I'm sure! Let's see…"

"You'd better shut up before-" She tried interrupting.

I held up a hand and pulled a finger up with each item.

"First you get really offended when a human calls you names." I began. "You really seem to like going incognito, because that outfit is really cute and seemed to take quite the effort to make, which is a shame because an absolute whore is wearing it. THEN you become angry enough to chase the one who insulted you across cities. Ah, but it wasn't any names that offended you, it was… floozy that got you. And with such outward reactions…"

The angel looked at me with a glare and open eyes that screamed 'if you don't shut the fuck up right now, I'll murderize you in front of all these grampas and children', but I didn't stop.

Why, oh why Daniel? Why didn't you stop? Why did you keep pushing, when it was obvious it was a bad idea to anyone looking?

Because those who looked down upon me deserved getting fully shat on. No questions asked.

I looked at the angel and gave her a bright, bubbly smile and two open hands that seemed to say 'Ta-dah!'.

"You fell in love with a human!"

Now, all the numerous displays of anger the angel had shown me were getting repetitive. I called her a 'bitch', she would snarl, try to do a (pathetic) comeback only for me to get her twice as hard. It was routine by now, textbook 'bitch-handling 101', I knew all the steps.

But the Wrath the angel showed me as I dissected her was something else. If I could, I would've photographed the moment and hung it up on my wall as a trophy.

'Feathery Bitch reaches Breaking Point' - Taken by Daniel García, circa 2023. First pictured in the photo would be the hints of genuine surprise, absolute astonishment at the fact I actually managed to read her like a book and guess with pin-point accuracy why she fell from Heaven. This would be the part of the photo I'd enjoy the most, if it theoretically existed, because it showed that despite her best attempts at besting me in the equal grounds of a verbal sparring, I still succeeded handily and without difficulty. My victory, reflected in her eyes. Quite poetic.

But what's that? As her eyes were filled with surprise, her brows had also suddenly burrowed VERY deep! It was a death glare! And her mouth had opened, revealing a full set of teeth that seemed suspiciously pointy for what was trying to pass as human! This, of course, was another part of the theoretical picture I'd enjoy, because it showed that my words cut so deep that it threw off her entire character.

Of note, of course, was the now fully-formed light-spear held in the angel's hand. Big, pointy, and absolutely breaking any sort of incognito the angel bitch was trying to go for. In fact, what's that in the back of the photo? Why, it's the guys from the tour, looking back with concern and astonishment at the sudden weaponry the girl wielded!

Like the rest of the picture, this too, proved my absolute victory. It was quite the ego boost, I'd say.

However, if one conclusion could be taken from this small moment in time, from this quaint picture, aside from the fact the subject of the photo just got absolutely demolished by a homeless man in the realm of verbal sparring...

Was that the photographer was VERY much in danger. Lethal kind of danger, at that.

There wasn't much time to react, as soon as I saw The Picture™ happen, I tried stepping back, but it didn't help in the slightest. One light spear thrown, one light spear that now decided to make my tummy its home.

"AAGHH! FUCK!"

It hurt like a fucking bitch, that spear. And sure, any kind of spear burrowed deep in your stomach could do that, but this was different. I could FEEL it burning my insides and boiling my blood, it was debilitating like nothing else, it made me want to stop reacting in a way I'm sure if the spear WASN'T made of light it wouldn't have happened.

This must be that pesky Holy and Light damage weakness I got from being Undead.

The impact of the spear pushed me back and made me painfully cough blood, as my legs weakened unnaturally and forced me to my knees. All the people that were around us screamed for their lives and ran away, causing general pandemonium as I bled in front of the beautiful shrines and old buildings.

The angel, on her part, slowly walked up to me, the black wings that were firmly wound-up and hidden finally unfurling, displaying themselves in a show that I'd admit was kind of pretty, if only because this was a real-life angel. Her face, in contrast to the glory of her wings, fixed me with a cold stare.

"You worthless human. Was it worth it? Worth your life just to try and, what, humble me?"

I was an expert at feeling petty, and this bitch was very petty. She wanted to see me broken, pleading and in absolute pain. Instead of saying any more comments stating my immense pain (which was difficult since I was in immense pain), I just stared up at her and gave her my best smirk, teeth covered in blood.

"M-My, oh my. Breaking incognito just because y-you got read like a book? Next thing you'll tell me is that you hate being called a floozy because the one you liked ACTUALLY CALLED YOU THA- HUGK! "

She drove the spear deeper, making me cough out more blood. Instead of smirking, like she wanted, her face instead twisted into more anger.

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

She was way too easy.

It hurt to speak, with the spear burning me from the inside and all that. It was agonizing. Yet, I was immortal, so I took the liberty of staring right back at her and cackling as best as I could.

"You're PATHETIC! Literally a reject! Was it worth it, falling from Heaven because you got horny one night? Well, with a temper like yours I'm surprised you didn't fall sooner!"

Again, she twisted her spear, making me groan in agony.

"YOU ARE A WORTHLESS HUMAN! WORTHLESS! You don't know me!" Hearing my cackles once again, she snarled, twisting her spear again. "SHUT UP!"

Oh man, this hurt. Really, really hurt. I hadn't hurt this bad since I died back in my world, getting beaten to death slowly and painfully by a gang of people I angered much in the same way I was doing now. It gave me some flashbacks that I'd rather not have.

Still, now that the instance was repeating itself, I'd fix it. This time, I wouldn't allow her to kill me. Sure, I'd die.

But not by her hand.

"Well," I managed out, hacking coughs filled with blood following soon after. "Gonna put me down with some cool words? Gonna say your piece? Or is it that you already know that a homeless human humiliated you using only his mouth?"

The angel went and punched me in the face, driving me to the ground.

"I have not been humiliated," she stated, clearly humiliated from where I was looking. "You are the one bleeding to death on the ground. Ah, but don't worry, you won't die yet. I'll take my time. I'll take you back to Kuoh, where we're going to have a very extensive talk, you and I."

I laughed. Loud, painful, and mocking.

"God, you're fucking pathetic. The ego of a small dog, I'm telling you. I'm so glad whoever you fell for rejected you like the bitch you are."

Before she could hatefully answer me and probably punch me again, I used the last of my strength to take out my trusty Colt M1911. The action shut the Fallen up, and genuine amusement filled her face.

"Oh! The famous gun that managed to kill Freed! What, going to shoot me? Go ahead, I'll let you take the shot."

Ah, there was the mockery in her tone. It seemed as if wanting to fight back put her mockery on humans back on the menu. Clearly, a normal gunshot would do jack-shit to her.

Good thing I wasn't going to kill her right now.

"Oh, gonna let me? Why, you're a very good girl for letting me do so! Good dog."

As the anger overtook her again (she was so easy), I spawned a coin in the other hand.

"HEAR YE! HEAR YE!" I yelled to the high heavens. "Here is the Fallen Angel who got her petty small pride wounded by a human, and who's so incompetent that she couldn't kill him herself! Ah, but don't fret! I'll help you with that last one!"

Hearing my comments, her eyes widened.

"Don't you dare-!"

"Adieu, you incompetent fuck! I go out with STYLE!"

I threw the coin into the air and soon after shot my gun directly at it. I had just enough time to dramatically open my arms before the bullet ricocheted off the coin directly into my-

---

/ INCURSOR SYSTEM LOG /

[...]

[Incursor #0734 has died.]

[Incursor #0734 has { } status. Preventing any other post-mortem operations from taking place...]

[Operations stopped.]

[Initiating { .REBIRTH} subroutine…]

---

Raynare watched helplessly as the homeless man she wanted to torture due to his (accurate) read of her got shot right in the head by his own bullet, unexpectedly ricocheting off of the coin he threw in a maneuver she was forced to admit was impressive. The hobo fell onto his back with open arms, blood splattering everywhere as he lifelessly stopped moving and, thankfully, stopped talking.

In spite of her victory, she still felt angered beyond belief.

"You FUCK!"

She kicked the bleeding body, unsummoning her light spear and watching the corpse limply remain on the floor. The dead man, of course, offered no response or resistance, so she just kicked him on the side again.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Killing him was supposed to alleviate her anger, yet here she was, wildly kicking the body as if it would at any moment rise up and continue to berate her like normal. The thought gave her some pause, then began kicking the body even harder, now disfiguring the side and starting to leave a visible dent.

Maybe her anger was due to not having killed him herself, thought Raynare as she kept kicking the body. Perhaps that was just his last hurrah, leaving her absolutely angry at not having taken the last hit herself.

But she knew that wasn't true. It wasn't only his refusal at giving her the well deserved kill, taking it himself instead. No, it wasn't that.

Raynare had gotten humiliated where it counted. Not in a fight, but in an argument. He read her like a book, guessed all her major insecurities with three talks in the span of two days, and robbed her of the satisfaction of seeing him dead by happily taking his life and doing a stupid pose while doing so. There was no way she could take joy from this.

She just felt… more frustrated than before. She'd have to live knowing what just happened.

Her kicks broke the skin and meat on his side completely, also destroying his ribs. Not good enough. She kept kicking the corpse and screaming.

"WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS!"

She didn't know how long she remained on the street, kicking the corpse of the frustrating, insulting and now rotting homeless man, splattering blood on herself and anywhere in the vicinity. By the time she managed to cool down, her foot had pierced his heart, a mess of viscera and gore covering her right leg.

She slowly lifted it from his rib cage, giving it a cold, uncaring gaze, and looked up. Predictably, she was completely surrounded on all fronts by numerous Yokai of all sorts, having their tails and other animal traits openly showing. They probably evacuated the area as soon as she lost control. They also probably had been watching her do a tantrum on the corpse for a very long time.

Raynare, now not even angered, simply feeling a bit empty, didn't have much in the way of options here. The fucking homeless man had won. It didn't matter what she did, the second she lost her composure and attacked him, she lost. The Yokai had full liberty of tearing her apart and with their numbers she was absolutely screwed.

The homeless man won, just by talking. Even if it cost him his life, he won. She wouldn't get to perform the ritual and steal Twilight Healing from the nun, and she wouldn't ever re-experience being loved again. She'd die without ever becoming of use to her leaders, without being of use to anyone ever. She'd die being useless and unloved. It'd be as if she didn't exist at all, in the annals of history.

Raynare lost to a human.

She could feel the tears of frustration wanting to come out, but she managed (barely) to keep herself together. As the Yokai began closing in, she simply raised her hands in surrender, trembling and looking down at her feet, because for all her talk, Raynare was one thing at heart.

A coward.

How could her entire plan crumble into dust in just three days? Just by killing Freed, the homeless man made it so everything fell down on itself. All because he read her like a book and goaded her into doing what she should have never done.

With the Yokai so close, weapons and their magic ready to be unleashed on her at the slightest move, she had one, very silent, very shameful thought.

The homeless man had been impressive. His own life was sacrificed just to ruin hers. It had been so long since such strong feelings had been forced out of her, simply by accurately reading her. And it came from just a human. A simple human had beaten her thoroughly simply by dedicatedly spiting her and taking full measures to their extreme. Such dedication from him, such absolute spite, such meticulous hate used in a way so different than hers, refined into a fine, sharp blade meant to cause as much pain as possible in dozens and dozens of stabs…

For one second, she thought.

He was interesting. I wish I could've talked to him more. I wish I could've learned more about him. I wish I didn't attack him.

She looked at her bloodied leg, filled with his innards, bone and skin.

I wish he wasn't dead.

Raynare, for the first time in centuries, if not longer, had felt sadness for someone other than herself.

She felt one hand on her head and lost consciousness.

---

Without warning, my eyes opened suddenly, instinctively sitting up as if possessed. Reflexively, my hand went instantly for my forehead, where I felt the 0.45 bullet penetrate into my head in what felt like seconds ago. I shivered as I touched the skin and found it absolutely dry like sandpaper, but with no hole.

After a few seconds, I simply let out a breath, then laid back down on the floor near the bonfire.

"Fucking hell that hurt," said the Daniel-shaped zombie.

My hand went for my tummy, where the spear had pierced, and rubbed it idly. The whole experience had been, to put it lightly, rather unpleasant, and I really wasn't expecting her to actually break character and attack me in the middle of the massive crowd. I had the understanding that this whole supernatural shit was kept under wraps, so the fact she threw everything to shit in a moment wasn't what I really waited for.

But hey, that's what the glorious Darksign was for, yeah? One spear on the gut, and an hour later I was like new. Sure, looking like a dried-up raisin, but still kicking!

I stood up from my position and stretched. The mission right now was recovering the Bloodstain from where I died. I had 10 humanity on me, so I wasn't gonna just go running around looking like a zombie now, which meant that this mission would be laughably easy compared to last time. It'd be a drag getting there, sure, since I had been on quite the lengthy tour beforehand, but hey, if the price for immortality was just a little inconvenience, then this was a really good deal.

Gingerly, I went for my backpack, which thankfully also got transported with me on death, and began looking for those humanity sprites.

"Hey, asshole."

I stopped on my tracks and hurriedly looked around, a bit panicked. Where the FUCK did that come from!? E.E had detected absolutely nothing and I couldn't see anything outside the radius. Carefully, I began taking out my gun…

"You're not gonna find me, Dani."

…It called me Dani, like everyone did back in my country before I died.

A wave of realization washed over. Oh, for FUCK'S-

"Yeah, you fucking know it, don't ya, Dani?"

"SHUT UP! This is stupid! Why is there a voice in my head!? An actual voice, this time!"

I stood up and screamed this, holding my head painfully.

"Ooohh, you can take a really good guess."

"I'm not taking a fucking guess! Get out. Now."

"It's because you're going insane now, Dani. Congrats." Sounds of confetti somehow went off inside my head. It rang painfully.

I snarled at the comment and returned to my backpack, desperately reaching for Humanity.

"Oh, you poor thing. Think one of those suckers is gettin' rid of me? Just like that?"

Grabbing the sprite of Humanity, I instantly crushed it, feeling all the contained Humanity inside wash over to me. I instantly felt more whole.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Dani, but I'm here to stay."

"Fuck you! What the hell are you even supposed to do there? Annoy me to death?"

The voice hummed, which made it resonate inside my head. It was highly unpleasant.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just here to torment you over your bad, baaaaad decisions. Like, for example, goading a Fallen Angel into killing you. That was really stupid, don't you think?"

"Shut up."

"Or perhaps as a moral judge? No, you already torment yourself with such conundrums."

I winced as the voice kept speaking. Every word that came out of its mouth seemed to take the forefront of my mind, making it impossible to concentrate on anything except its existence.

"Oh, I know!" It suddenly said, somehow making a sound of snapping fingers which I found highly unpleasant inside my mind. "I came here to make you hopeless and kill yourself!"

"...What? I'm immortal, that's stupid."

"I agree, it's highly stupid. But I don't mean death in the physical sense, no. You already kill yourself a lot just with that. I mean the spiritual kind."

"That's stupid."

"Mmhm, I agree. How can someone spiritually kill a man who's already quite rotten to the core? Hey, what if you just stopped doing anything and simply looked at the bonfire? It's SOOO pretty, right?"

I groaned at the voice's words. This was fucking stupid, I needed this asshole gone, its terrible attempts at making me useless notwithstanding.

"Hey, I'm doing my best here! I'll have better material for making you a sad sack of shit on repeated deaths, okay? Also, who're you calling an asshole? Do you not recognize the sound of your own voice?"

I stopped… it was my voice. Fucking hell I sounded absolutely infuriating. No wonder the angel wanted me dead.

"So, about spiritually killing yourself…"

"Okay, I'm getting rid of you ASAP."

I made a beeline for the bonfire. I fucking hated the feeling of having a voice inside of my head. It felt wrong and it also felt invasive as all hell. I needed this thing gone. The uncharacteristic anger increased every time the thing inside my head spoke.

"Ah yes, the bonfire. It'll work, for now, but I assure you, you're not getting 'rid of me'. You're just deafening yourself, plugging your ears. Now that you heard me, you cannot pretend I don't exist."

"Shut up."

I extended my hand to the bonfire, and began feeding it the Humanity. Soon, I felt the words of the voice get quieter.

"This will be goodbye for now, Dani," it said, hints of taunting in the voice. "But I'll be here, waiting. The second you die again—and I assure you, you will—I'll be here ready to take up our chat again."

The bonfire helped the Humanity restore my previous visage, working it so the dried-up rotten skin and other nasty details were removed.

Before the restoration was fully completed, the voice put the last word in.

"And that time, I will be much LOUDER."

As soon as my face became completely human again, the voice shut up, and I was left standing in the middle of the alleyway completely by myself, where seconds before I was yelling at nothing.

…I looked at myself and frowned. This voice shit was concerning, I thought that the insanity bit would be, you know, a whole lot more SUBTLE. This was the complete opposite. This was so unsubtly stupid that it betrayed common sense of any kind.

Running a hand over my face, I sighed in annoyance. Fine, there was a fucking voice in my head, quite possibly listening in on my every thought and that's waiting for my every death to torment me into 'spiritual death', whatever that meant.

Gathering myself, I went for my backpack, grabbed it, and simply headed out of the alleyway. I wanted to get the Humanity I left on my bloodstain and fuck all else.

If Humanity could help me ward off this voice asshole, then I'd happily go and collect it.

Hopefully the angel bitch had already left the scene of the crime.

---

Lady Yasaka, leader of the Youkais of Kyoto, was soon to have a headache.

First came the reports that a man-shaped thing with absolutely no life-energy was walking around and doing rude gestures to her people. She wanted to take action against the Husk (which was the name the chain of command eventually agreed upon after the non-stop reports) and get it out of her city, but as it turned out, it was hard to just take care of someone who was constantly inside crowds and following every tourist route possible while looking with genuine wonder at the shrines of her city.

She'd say it was kind of endearing if the Husk didn't have less life-energy than a corpse.

But fine, one oddity on a normal, bustling day. No reason to worry. She'd look into it later.

The problem came with the Fallen, her terrible disguise, and that she just went and killed the Husk in broad daylight. In the middle of a crowd of hundreds of families. WITH HER LIGHT SPEAR. WITH HER WINGS OUT.

It was a disaster. By some miracle they managed to round up everyone in the area and apply the necessary spells to make them forget the experience, but the damage was already done. There was no way to pretend a murder didn't take place right by one of the most famous shrines of Kyoto, and although for the normal public it'd be a tragedy, for the supernatural it was a gigantic declaration of absolute disrespect.

'I AM A FALLEN ANGEL, AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR RULES, YOUKAI. DIE, TOURIST!'

The fallout from this incident would be enormous. No one just killed someone in broad daylight using their supernatural abilities without a single care given for the public. The entire faction of the Fallen now had a lot of answers to give thanks to the terrorist attack one of their ilk committed on what seemed to be a whim, and with that would come a lot of painfully boring meetings and political subterfuge.

And although Yasaka was an undisputed master of both of those things, it didn't mean that she wanted her damned vacation ruined because a pesky, stupid angel decided that her authority meant absolutely nothing and just killed a man. A man shaped-thing, rather, but still.

It was with such thoughts of annoyance and irritation that, as she took another sip from her tea, the door to her office received a polite knock.

"I bring the Fallen Angel."

She scowled unpleasantly at the calling but schooled her expression in a practiced manner.

"Let her in."

The door slid aside and the Fallen Angel they captured stepped in, another Youkai behind her holding her hands in special handcuffs. Her clothes were still morphed to appear as that of a young woman's, but they were covered in blood and little bits of gore. Her eyes, as opposed to the manic appearance they had at the time of the attack if the reports were to be trusted (they were), were now cold and unfocused.

Her sorry state made her even more annoyed, but of course it didn't show, because she was a professional.

"Leave us alone, please."

A nod, and the Youkai left the room, closing the door on his way out. Now it was just the two of them, Yasaka sitting in a relaxed manner on top of a cushion, and the Angel standing there looking quite dead inside.

"Well, are you not going to sit?"

The Fallen seemed to catch that she was in another room entirely and looked up to her. It didn't get past her how she swallowed spit as she recognized who her judge would be, and promptly she made to sit down on the cushion in front of Yasaka's. She kept her gaze down to her knees, not looking up.

Yasaka let out a loud sigh.

"So, I'm quite sure that you've already realized how… impolite what you just did was. If not by yourself, then I'm sure one of my lovely assistants made sure to let you know."

Were the circumstances different, Yasaka was sure she'd try to take this conversation with more of her usual tactics. A perfectly pleasant smile here, an insult disguised as praise there, Yasaka would play the part of the flawless all-seeing leader of Kyoto that everyone that knew about her was used to.

…But she was supposed to be on vacation, and thus she couldn't quite care at the moment. Besides, it wasn't as if the Fallen that was pathetically looking down at herself deserved any kind of performance. The bare minimum would do, she decided.

The Fallen didn't answer her comments, she simply kept her eyes down.

"Now, I have half-a-mind to just have you executed right where you're sitting. It'd take me no more effort than lifting my little finger to have your entire existence in this earthly realm eviscerated beyond recognition, and I'm sure you realize I don't lack reasons for doing so."

The words made the Fallen tremble. Good, she was susceptible to threats on her life.

"But I won't." Yasaka continued, holding her tea-cup and bringing it to her lips. One relaxed sip later and she continued. "Because, whatever the reason for your little outburst, it wouldn't be fair for just you to pay the price. No, that'd be far too merciful."

Yasaka kept her gaze trained on the little terrorist, gauging all of her reactions.

"Instead, I think you'd be of more use to me alive. For now, at least."

The angel raised her head slightly, looking at her with unbelieving eyes.

"...What?"

"You'll realize that having a loose Fallen Angel doing some attack or other in enemy territory would be quite the inconvenience for your leaders, but generally all that needs to be done is claim the attacker is unaffiliated, then executing them privately… But they can't just do that now."

Yasaka rested her cup back on the table as the angel's face turned into fear.

"I… no-"

"You couldn't just keep the attack against whatever the supernatural target was contained. No, you attacked in the middle of a crowd of normal humans. Against plenty of witnesses that, if we were half as competent as we are, we couldn't have contained properly… Can you begin to realize the consequences of what you just did if we couldn't contain it?"

Before she could answer, Yasaka shook her head.

"You're lucky that you're of use to me as leverage for now."

She smiled, that perfect serene smile designed to put people at ease.

"Although once we use you for a favorable transaction, I imagine that whoever's in charge of you at the time will put an end to your misery. Oh well, such is life."

The Fallen's eyes lowered once again, her form trembling. Suitably pathetic, thought Yasaka.

Still, that had been enough mockery for now. She still needed to interrogate the Fallen and although spending an entire evening making the little terrorist feel absolutely worthless seemed like quite the time, she was on vacation, and she promised Kunou a little outing before night came.

"If you answer my questions," began Yasaka. "Truthfully and without concealing information, then I could try to advocate for something other than your immediate death after all the proceedings are done. This is no guarantee for anything, obviously, but I'd say a chance at life is the most you deserve at this point. Too much, in my opinion."

She stared at the angel until she eventually nodded. Yasaka crossed her arms and fixed a stern gaze on her.

"For starters, what is your name?"

The answer came quickly. "Raynare."

"Why were you here in Kyoto?"

This one took more time. "I… I came here to kill a human."

"I got that. I'm more interested as to why you came"

She seemed to realize the deeper implications of the question. "I- I didn't come here for anything else. No one sent me."

Yasaka raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"So, you, a Fallen Angel, simply decided to kill this human on a whim? In the middle of a bustling crowd, no less."

Raynare winced at her words.

"...Um… yes?"

Yasaka felt slightly ashamed that she considered for even a second that she was a cunning agent meant to dismantle her reign on Kyoto.

"You're serious, aren't you."

Raynare stumbled on her words, excuses being clumsily stuttered one after another without much sense.

"H-He was interfering," she finally ended up stating semi-coherently after much pussyfooting. "I- I simply came here to neutralize a possible threat to my group."

"Your group, hm? Should I take that group to be the Grigori?"

That got Raynare looking panicked, looking up from her legs back at her and wildly shaking her head.

"NO! No! They have nothing to do with this! I- I am— WE are unaffiliated with the Grigori."

Yasaka deliberately let out a long hum.

"So, assuming you're telling the truth, your group was being threatened by this normal human? We inspected his belongings and only found some exorcist weaponry inside his backpack. Should we assume that this one exorcist was a big enough threat to warrant an execution in broad daylight?"

Something seemed to irritate Raynare, even in her sorry state as she clenched her fist and said the next words with the same tone one would wish a happy birthday to a dictator.

"He wasn't an exorcist."

"...Then why did your group need to eliminate this one human? Again, in broad daylight."

"I-"

"In broad daylight, little terrorist. How absolutely essential was this human's death to your group's integrity that you couldn't just wait until he was alone, or wait until nightfall, or practice the bare minimum sense of patience and constraint. How important was his death?"

Even though Raynare was a Fallen Angel prisoner being interrogated on a terrorist attack, she looked like a child being scolded by her mother.

"Um… he…"

Raynare thought for a second, as if she herself didn't really know why she slaughtered a man.

"He shot a member of my group," she ended up saying. "And ran away when confronted. I needed to settle the score."

Yasaka let out a very long, very unbelieving hum. Raynare did her best attempt at keeping a neutral face as she drew out the hum as long as possible.

"I think," began Yasaka, after a good ten seconds of humming. "That you are lying to me."

"I'm not-"

"I think," she continued, talking like a very disappointed mother. "That the reason you did such stupidity was, suitably enough, much more stupid than you're letting on."

"It wasn't stupid! It was-!"

"If you keep lying to me Raynare," interrupted Yasaka, scolding. "Then I'm afraid my little end of the deal's off. The second you're off my hands, or if you're unlucky enough still remain in mine after you're past your use, you're getting executed."

"But I'm not lying! I am telling the-!"

"Alright then," finally said Yasaka, starting to stand up. "This was a very unproductive talk. Goodbye, Rayna-"

"I killed him for personal reasons! Absolutely personal, petty reasons! He was no threat to my group and I just wanted him FUCKING DEAD because he called me a FUCKING FLOOZY and yes, I did it in broad FUCKING daylight!"

Raynare spat all of those words out in one breath, shaking and looking manic. After confessing the rather embarrassing secret she clenched her fists and kept her stare down at the floor, avoiding any and all eye-contact.

…

The leader of the Yokai narrowed her eyes at her, raising an eyebrow.

"And this whole incident wasn't meant as an attack against the Yokai or Kyoto?"

Raynare snarled at her words.

"No, there weren't any intentions of that kind."

"And you also acted absolutely independently of even your so-called group."

A few choice words seemed to bubble up in Raynare's throat, but properly knowing her place, she swallowed them up and instead answered painfully.

"Yes. I acted independently. This was entirely… personal."

Yasaka stared her down, gaze narrowed. She kept it going long enough for Raynare to get uncomfortable and look to the side, flattening her lips in a straight line.

Finally, she simply sighed and properly sat down, reaching for her teacup and serving herself more tea.

Taking a sip from the teacup and leaving it back on the table, Yasaka put a hand on her forehead, exasperated.

"I can tell when someone lies to me," she said, after her long silence. "And what I just got from you was absolute, bumbling and stupid truth."

Raynare didn't look happy at her words, but she didn't have a right to anything at this moment so it wasn't like she could complain.

Yasaka frankly didn't know what to do with this new information. It was of absolutely no use for leverage against the Grigori… but again, she had worked with worse pieces. She'd do for her plans, because she still attacked like a rabid dog in the middle of the day.

Now that just left one mystery left.

"Lastly, because I have better things to do than interrogate a sub-par incompetent little Fallen and I'm sure you're eager to return to the dank, tiny dirty little dungeon you're going to be sleeping in for the next few weeks or months… What can you tell me about the man you killed?"

Raynare looked at her, a complicated expression flashing across her face, and eventually answered.

"H-He was just some random homeless man."

The answer made Yasaka's opinion of the Fallen somehow fall even lower, but she remained steadfast.

"Then care to explain why his body turned to-?"

A yellow magic circle suddenly appeared next to Yasaka's ear, interrupting her query and emitting a low beeping noise.

"Oh, excuse me, little terrorist, I need to take this."

She ignored the Fallen's reaction to what seemed to be her new nickname and instead tapped the magic circle with a finger, confirming the connection.

"Yes?"

A stupid report that was absolutely impossible came through.

"...Excuse me?"

The same report came through, just as stupid as before. As the report was given a second time, the sounds of incoherent swearing and threats of violence could be heard in the background from what seemed to be heavily accented Japanese. It was promptly reported that rude gestures were also involved.

Yasaka processed the information for a second, accepted the stupidity as truth, and simply said.

"Bring him in, then."

She cut the connection after the order. Raynare stared at her confused, but she simply smiled with serenity at her, not saying a word.

Eventually, a commotion began to get closer and closer to the room, a commotion filled with swearing and expletives. And as the swearing and yelling got closer and closer.

Raynare's eyes turned more and more horrified.

---

"OKAY! OKAY, my bad! So I didn't know we were in the fucking 1920's! Big deal! Anyone would expect the KKK to not be a thing anymore, right!? SO WHAT IF I HAVE DARKER SKIN AND DON'T HAVE TINY EYES! DOES THAT MAKE ME A MONSTER, HUH!? DOES THAT MAKE ME A-!"

My long-suffering captors remained absolutely unamused as they kept dragging me by the arms through what seemed to be a very expensive hotel, of which we had already ridden an elevator to the penthouse. Of course, I kicked and screamed all the way through.

"And what's the deal with the dog-ears, huh!? YOU THINK THAT MAKES YOU CUTE!? Think I'm gonna go dawww as you perch me on a fucking cross!? I will chew your fucking tails and ears out your goddamn-"

Eventually, they kept dragging me through the penthouse hallway, and as I screamed and yelled at them, something entered my 12 meter radius, hiding behind an ominously big pair of doors.

One very beautiful blonde woman with very loose-clothing and massive tits (and a shit-ton of tails and a pair of fox-ears), and one very unappealing woman, who was covered in dried-up blood and was also looking absolutely horrified.

I ceased my yelling, widened my eyes in absolute panic and renewed my efforts to stop the dragging like a child who didn't want to go to bed.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I said, struggling fiercely against the impossibly tight-grip of my dog-eared captors, dragging me ever so closer to the room with my murderer. "There's no need to go there, yeah? You're not the KKK and you're not perching me on a cross and your ears and tails are absolutely cute. I learned my lesson. DON'T MAKE ME GO-!"

They opened the door and, like finally getting rid of a very heavy and talkative sack of manure, simply dropped me unceremoniously to the floor, right next to the Fallen Angel who murdered me two hours ago and in front of the impossibly beautiful woman who I was now suspecting ruled the mafia.

The angel looked absolutely horrified at my presence, while the blonde fox-woman-thing simply looked at me with curiosity.

Not wanting to kiss the floor any longer, I dragged my face out of the nice hardwood floor and trained my gaze to the blonde woman's face, making sure my eyes didn't drift down to her massive cleavage.

Not to worry, Eyes Everywhere was on ogling duty.

I gave the blonde fox-woman-thing my best smile, the same one I used when hustling that made me look sorry yet earnest.

"So, I know I'm not from here, and I know I- Eugh!"

The ones who dragged me here gave me a kick in the gut, probably really annoyed with my incessant ramblings (which was good, because they were meant to annoy them) and reported in their best monotone, ignoring my pained coughing.

"We found him at the crime scene," said one of them. "Sneaking past guards and hovering around the place where the body disintegrated. He tried pulling out a gun once he was spotted but we managed to disable him without any damage."

"I got damaged," I mumbled, still feeling the kick and the other injuries inflicted by the animal-troupe.

Again, I was ignored. "He still shows no signs of life-energy. Absolutely empty. Like a walking corpse."

The guard glared down at me. "There were also numerous insults against us, but using the sort of knowledge a normal ignorant human would use. We believe he has no idea we even exist."

"What, the fucking KK-"

Another kick. Another cough.

The blonde fox-woman sighed.

"Can you please stop kicking the man? I know you're frustrated but you're not helping in the slightest by doing that."

He seemed chastised at the comment, trying to compose himself.

"I-I'm sorry, Lady Yasaka! It's just-!"

"Just… leave me alone with the… Husk. You're both dismissed."

They both nodded, one of them more in a hurry than the other, and they promptly left me at the mercy of this 'Yasaka' person. Sensing that there wouldn't be any more kicks and punches against my humble form, I picked myself up and sat on the floor with my legs-crossed.

I then bothered acknowledging the murderer who had retained the expression of a child spotting the mall Santa smoking a blunt.

"So, I know this might be weird."

Her expression ran through a very odd mix of emotions, one of which for whatever reason was relief, the fucking weirdo, eventually settling on fury, as usual.

"YOU!"

A small clap resonated through the room. We both turned to look at Yasaka.

"If you could behave, little terrorist?"

She instantly shut up and abandoned the expression of fury, turning her gaze to the floor in front of her. She looked chastised and frustrated with herself. I again looked at the Fallen Angel, this time with disbelief.

"Oh God, the misbehaving poodle got trained."

Her fists clenched even more painful than before, and her expression visibly twitched and struggled to maintain a proper expression.

Yasaka frowned at me. "You too, Husk, I will not have you riling up the prisoner."

Turning to her, I simply shrugged. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I needed to be polite to my murderer."

"Yes, although I'm sure you realize that a murder victim talking to its murderer post-death isn't exactly a common occurrence."

I stared at her firmly.

"I guess not."

Yasaka sighed. "I have… many questions, but I need you to at least know who you're talking to."

She put a hand against her chest (which I didn't ogle at using my eyes).

"My name is Yasaka, Leader of the Youkai in Kyoto," she introduced herself, her voice serene yet powerful. "Now, could I please ask you to introduce yourself to me, Husk?"

"Why are you calling me Husk?"

"I'm calling you that because we do not know your name. Now, an introduction, please?"

I glared at her.

This whole situation, from the crime scene to here, had been a confusing shitshow. Personally, I just wanted to hunt Stray Devils and fuck all else, but here I was, suddenly getting murdered and now talking to what seemed to be the big boss of a whole faction of animal-eared assholes.

It seemed like a really bad idea to just tell her my name or who I was. Sure, there's no record of my existence in this world and it's not like I had any loved ones tied to my name that I could be threatened with. But it was the principle of the matter, it didn't feel safe to let the big boss of an entire race of shitheads know that I was bumbling around their place.

Then again, I was right in front of the big boss herself and it wasn't like I could just walk out of here without a care. Even if I wanted to go postal and shoot my way out, they had taken all my belongings to who-knows-where, including my guns, ammo and my wallet. It meant that if I wanted to fight I'd need to use my coins, but even if I won, I was kind of fucked.

I could die right here and be fine an hour later, sure, but I wasn't sure that I'd revive with my backpack and guns besides me, since they weren't on my person at the time of death.

This had the potential of becoming real bad if I died now. Dying could potentially set me back weeks just by losing my weaponry and wallet, AKA, funds, AKA, the source of all my coins.

So, after a few seconds of awkwardly glaring at the Yasaka chick, I simply stated.

"I'm Daniel."

Yasaka raised an eyebrow. "I need more than that."

"Daniel García."

She hummed at my answer, as if not entirely convinced.

"Well, García-kun, I hope I'm not crossing any lines with this, but judging by your name and your appearance, could I assume that you're not from Japan?"

"Hm, I don't know," I said to the obvious statement. "Maybe."

She brushed off my obvious attitude and instead tapped her chin with a finger.

"Now, why would a foreigner, specifically one from Latin-America, come to Japan? At this time of year, no less. It's not the holiday season, as I'm sure you know."

I didn't bother feeling offended at her (correct) assumption I came from Latin-America and instead answered as plainly as possible.

"Tourism. I just really, really wanted to visit Japan."

She stared me down.

"Not entirely untrue, but obviously a lie. Why were you in Kyoto?"

"Tourism."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Same as before. Please, do begin answering honestly or I will be filled with the sudden urge of testing why exactly you're still walking and talking after getting murdered."

I hummed, not willing to let her walk over me so easily.

"Such a nasty tone to take against someone who got attacked in what seems to be YOUR territory, hm? I just went to check what happened at the scene and I suddenly got taken here like some sort of mafia! Quite rude, I'd say."

The Fallen Angel stared at me as if I was crazy for talking back to the blonde big-breasted woman, but I ignored her.

Yasaka smiled, as if pleased that I was trying to stand my ground, but not particularly impressed either. It was the kind of smile a mother gives to her son after they present her a shitty drawing. They were simply pleased with the attempt.

"Well, I'm sorry for the treatment you received, but you'll understand we were quite on edge after seeing that a murder victim's body got turned to ash alongside all items on it, then an hour later seeing that same victim just walking around the scene waving his gun around without a care."

She smiled pleasantly.

"As the one who cares for this city's safety, I was simply concerned that a foreigner that seemed to defy death was walking around with multiple guns on his person."

…Touché.

My glare remained unmoving, but now that I didn't have any grounds to act with self-righteous indignity, I simply told her.

"I came to Kyoto for tourism, that is true. I was also running from the psychopath I have on my left, who attempted to murder me the day before."

At my answer, the Fallen turned her eyes at me with anger, as if condemning me for outing her to the dangerous fox-lady.

Yasaka hummed yet again, probably trying to unsettle me.

"I see. Could I know why the little terrorist was trying to kill you?"

I tried not to laugh at the Fallen Angel's cool new nickname, instead keeping my face with the same defiant glare I knew meant nothing because I answered truthfully.

"I have absolutely no clue. This psychopath just cornered me at a park disguised as a human to kill me, then when I tried leaving Kuoh she sent twelve—I repeat, twelve—exorcists at me. Inside a public bus."

The angel's expression almost turned to absolute anger. Yasaka on her part simply looked at her disappointed.

"Well, little terrorist? Care to tell García-kun why you tried to kill him?"

I didn't quite like how the Fallen bitch and I were being treated like misbehaving children having an argument, but I didn't voice the thought. The Fallen probably thought the same since she gritted her teeth and reluctantly answered.

"He killed an exorcist that was part of my group."

"I did?" I couldn't help but mutter.

She turned to glare at me. "YES! YES YOU DID! Your attempt to sabotage me was-!"

My hands went up. "Whoa, whoa, sabotage you? Girl, how can I sabotage you when I don't even know who you are?"

That factoid left the angel surprised.

"H- Huh!? What do you mean you don't know!?"

"I don't! If you mean killing that creepy exorcist, I just did it because he killed a woman in her home. And I was looking for things to kill at the moment. Mainly that second reason."

The 'little terrorist' looked absolutely shocked at the revelation that I didn't even know her name.

"...B-But you knew I was a Fallen! How did you-"

Crap, how do I explain this away without mentioning infinite ogling eyes? Uh…

"You suck at disguising yourself," I instantly settled for. "I could tell you weren't good news the second I talked to you."

That one seemed to really hurt her, because her shock quickly turned to anger.

"What!? That can't be-!"

Yasaka, who had been smiling with mild-amusement at the argument, coughed politely, drawing the attention back to her.

"I'll have to side with García-kun here. All the reports mentioned you got caught immediately. You're not very good at infiltrating incognito, little terrorist."

That seemed to put her into some sort of existential crisis because she turned a shocked and aghast gaze back to the floor.

"Now, García-kun," began Yasaka. "You're completely sure you've never heard of a 'Raynare'? Or groups of Fallen Angels in Kuoh?"

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. "Not a single thing. Is that the Fallen's name? Raynare?"

Yasaka nodded.

"Then never heard of her," I reiterated, much to Raynare's continued suffering. After a few beats of silence. "Can I go?"

"You still haven't told me why you were in Japan in the first place."

I mulled my answer over, knowing that if I told her there was a higher plane of existence filled with bureaucracy and grumpy YHWHs wouldn't help in the slightest.

After a few moments, I eventually answered.

"I came to Japan to kill Stray Devils. That, and exorcists, but honestly that one I just stumbled upon unexpectedly, my priority is still killing Strays."

While Yasaka simply bore a hole down my forehead with her eyes, I added. "I did hope to do much of the same here in Kyoto."

That addendum seemed to be enough for her, as she narrowed her eyes. "Just Stray Devils, correct?"

"Yeah, why would I kill anything else?"

"Because if I see a stranger coming into town with three light guns inside his backpack plus light swords then I think it's reasonable to think that my people might be in danger."

I processed those words, and I realized what she meant.

"What, you, uh, animal people are weak to light, too?"

"Yokai," stressed Yasaka, glaring at me for my descriptor. "And judging by your reaction and terrible answer I think you really didn't come here to harm us."

I swallowed. "Uh, yup. Only Strays. And exorcists. And I almost shot one of your people but to be fair they ganged up on me and I was a bit on edge."

"Yes, yes, which brings me to my next question and the one that frankly doesn't have much explanation still."

Yasaka leaned forward just a bit, her previous glare intensifying and for the first time the ambient in the room turned hostile.

"What are you?"

"Well, I am-"

"Any, any sense that you're lying to me and I will begin doing the tests for your odd little 'resurrection' myself. I talk to you and you behave exactly like a normal human but what my senses tell me is that in front of me is a corpse with no life energy. I'm talking to a walking corpse, so please explain yourself."

Yasaka took her teacup and drank. "Of course, this explanation must include why you didn't die when hundreds of witnesses saw your bloody and gutted corpse. Which turned into ash, might I add."

This was the big question, and I had been planning the answer to it the whole time this interrogation began. Even Raynare was looking at me, expecting the answer. As soon as Yasaka stopped talking, I began my tirade of half-truths.

"I am an Undead. I got cursed with the 'Darksign' back from where I came from, which was quite recently. I don't entirely understand all the details of the curse, but from what I've experienced, every time I die, I will resurrect an hour later with all my belongings. I have no clue as to why the body turns to ash."

After my explanation, I simply remained quiet and stared right back at Yasaka, who was digesting the information without betraying anything in the exterior while Raynare stared at me with widened eyes, as if properly looking at me for the first time.

My explanation, of course, left quite a lot of things out of it. It didn't mention bonfires, didn't mention my impending insanity, didn't mention Souls, Humanity, or the Bloodstains, and of course I didn't mention YHWH in the slightest. This was an explanation without a single lie in it, and since this Yasaka chick seemed to detect lies for whatever reason, I made sure to make it as clean and unhelpful as possible.

Yasaka probably sensed this, because she frowned.

"You're leaving things out."

"Okay, I am leaving something out," I replied quickly, making sure to stress I was just omitting one fact. "The reason I am hunting Strays is because, after killing them, I absorb their life energy, and that life energy can make me stronger."

One beat. "I assume that's why I have no life energy of my own, whenever I gain any I just consume it for strength."

That was a guess, of course. It didn't make much sense since even after consuming Souls I generally still had a paltry sum of 30 or so, which wasn't enough for upgrading. But hey, I wasn't here to explain inconsistencies even I didn't know about.

Even after my little addition, Yasaka kept glaring at me.

"You haven't told a single lie, but I know that you're withholding some information."

"...Sure," I acquiesced. "But that information doesn't really affect anyone but me. I have already told you that I simply came here to kill Strays and exorcists if they attack me. I truly, truly don't have any ill-will towards you and the Yokai, in fact, I didn't even know you exist."

Realizing I had the potential to give myself some fake background, I added. "I just came into the supernatural after being cursed with undeath. I'm very, very inexperienced, so I'm very sorry if I'm ignorant to some of your customs or other things that to others might be common sense. I'm not much different from a normal human in that regard."

Whoa, Dani, you have such a way with words! You almost looked like a polite and proper person for a second! Even Raynare looked surprised at your politeness!

Shut the fuck up. I'm not stupid, and this wasn't the first time that I needed to behave without yelling expletives every two seconds. This might have been a surprise to the entire world, but I knew how to behave properly. I tried being a proper student before homelessness hit, after all.

Yasaka, of course, kept her suspicious glare, but after a few more seconds of trying to make me piss myself, she simply sighed.

"You're not lying, that much I can say."

Victory.

"However," Yasaka continued. "I can't simply let an Undead walk all over Kyoto while carrying dangerous weapons unchecked."

Oh fuck.

Yasaka was about to say something… and then stopped. She visibly stopped herself from talking. I was about to ask what the deal was before she raised her hand, quieting me down as she thought about something.

Then, to my inward horror, a slow, satisfied smile crossed her face.

"Want to know something, Mr. Undead?"

I felt a bit miffed that I went from García-kun to that. It was like calling a Japanese person 'Mr. Asian'.

"...Yeah?"

"I was just thinking, and it seems to me that your… noble quest of killing Stray Devils, and my own interests might coincide. They compliment each other quite nicely, actually."

She smiled pleasantly, and the sweetest words a homeless man could hear came out of her perfect mouth.

"Would you be interested in a job?"

My eyes widened in surprise. Even Raynare looked at her like she was crazy. Before I could reply, Yasaka looked at me, slightly disappointed.

"Let's be completely honest, Mr. Undead. I know you're trying to deceive me into thinking you're some normal little human who just got inducted into supernatural dealings, but although the last part might be true, you're most definitely not normal."

She continued, listing all her points by lifting a finger.

"No normal human would, in the first place, own an actual gun and kill without much thought Strays and exorcists. 12 exorcists, might I add. You also seemed very willing to pull out your gun at, what you assumed at the time, humans that tried detaining you. Add to that the numerous weaponry you carry around without a care and your general disrespect towards my people…"

Yasaka smiled.

"That's the behavior of a criminal, Mr. Undead."

Crap.

"And," she continued, mercilessly. "I think it's very cute that you thought for a second that you'd be able to deceive me into thinking you were a harmless scared thing. Quite the adorable attempt."

"You don't have to rub it in, you know."

She shut me up again by raising her hand.

"Those guns of yours, how good are you at shooting them?"

I was being interviewed now?

I answered honestly. "Very, very good. I have perfect accuracy as long as it's not too far, which sounds bad, but it's good enough that it let me silently kill 12 exorcists inside my bus to Kyoto without anyone realizing. Using coins."

Yasaka nodded, suitably impressed. "I'll have you know that you caused quite the commotion once that bus arrived here. I've seen the reports on those corpses, and if their deaths came in the way of coins, then I'll say you're quite the impressive shooter."

I nodded at her. I was very impressive.

"Now, how good are you at, say, thievery?"

"Quite good," I replied.

"How good?"

"Ever since I gained the Darksign, my senses have… expanded, enough for me to know where people are at any given moment within a certain radius. I can enter a crowded place and steal whatever without being spotted."

"How willing are you to kill?" she asked, as if asking for the weather.

"Quite willing, if need be," I replied, as if commenting on the weather.

"You have so far expressed your willingness to kill Strays and exorcists. Are you, in the same way, willing to kill normal humans, Devils and Fallen?"

…These felt like real dangerous questions. The politically charged kind with very deadly intentions. And I knew a Devil, and it wasn't like they were much different from a human, at least from a personality standpoint.

But if it's required for getting a job…

"Yup. I'd shoot em'. No problem."

"Would you be able to infiltrate somewhere for, let's say, sabotage and not be spotted?"

…There wasn't a need to lie, was there?

"I mean, I can try, but if I fail I can just kill myself and get outta dodge without consequence."

The answer seemed to be the correct one, as Yasaka couldn't help but let out an ominous smirk.

"Why, that's true, Mr. Undead," she said, sounding very pleased. "You could be sent anywhere, perform what needs to be done, and escape without even requiring extraction. A perfect crime, one could say."

I didn't quite like the thought of suicide missions, because they'd end up with XP penalties, but it'd be stupid of me to go and correct her now that she seemed so happy with my immortality.

A few beats passed, and Yasaka clapped her hands.

"Well, Mr. Undead, despite your adorable, frankly insulting attempt at deceiving me, it turns out that an immortal, undying man willing to kill and steal is a set of skills I'm realizing I didn't know I could use right about now."

I stared at her, a bit confused on where this would go, but willing to listen since, you know, JOB.

"I'm listenin'."

"Daniel García," she began. "I'm extending to you a job offer as a 'Solo Agent' for us Yokai. The extent of your duties is… well, there are a lot of clauses, I will produce a paper including all of them in painful detail, but to summarize…"

She pointed a finger at me.

"I point my finger at something, and you deal with it. You will answer directly to me, and, of course, for every mission you complete, you will be remunerated accordingly."

Yasaka smiled gently.

"Is that agreeable?"

Raynare didn't seem to think so, as she answered even before I could.

"Huh!? What do you mean you're hiring this- THIS BUM! He's a vulgar homeless FUCK! You'll-!"

"Raynare, you will shut your mouth."

She shut her mouth promptly.

I didn't answer her proposition right away, holding my chin in pensive silence. This was quite similar to the situation I just had with Rias. Someone wanted my services, and they were willing to pay for them. There was a crucial difference though…

I wasn't a fucking slave here. This was an honest to god job.

I had some questions, however.

WIth seriousness, I looked at Yasaka, crossing my own arms.

"There will come a time where I'll have to leave Kyoto. It's largely unavoidable and I don't exactly know when, but I'll have to leave."

"Then your contract will be upheld until you have to leave. Of course, in that contract there's a very strict NDA attached to it that will still apply after your service is over and breaking it will have much heavier consequences than paying human money. Much, much heavier."

I nodded. Seemed fair enough.

"I just came from Kuoh rejecting a peerage proposition. Should I expect similar conditions with this contract to a peerage?"

Yasaka looked interested in my comment, while Raynare looked at me with renewed anger, as if I suddenly told her that I pissed in her cereal.

"YOU TALKED TO THOSE-!?"

Yasaka raised her hand again and, like a trained poodle, she shut up.

"My, a peerage proposition from Kuoh? I didn't know you had caught the eye of one of the heiresses there. You must be quite the catch, then."

Did I just give her useful info unwittingly?

"As for the conditions, you have nothing to worry about. On a normal day, you'll be expected to show up to this hotel for assignments or for whatever matters we dictate in your usual human 9 to 5 hours. Of course, since you'll have the position of 'Solo Agent', your work hours will vary wildly depending on the task, but once off-work there won't be any expectations from us."

I hummed, nodding along at her words.

"What does this nifty NDA entail, exactly?"

"The usual," she replied. "Everything that can't be seen in public within my organization is to be kept as such, which includes all your assignments, the things you did in them, and whatever you might learn in them. This talk we're having would also be kept secret."

"...If I were to, hypothetically, reject this offer, what would happen, then? There have been some serious dangerous implications going around."

Yasaka smiled. "Why would anyone believe you? Even if you ran back to whoever offered you a spot in their peerage back at Kuoh, I've lived long enough to brush aside such petty little threats."

"Fair enough." I paused, then finally asked the most important question. "How much would I get paid?"

At that question, Raynare glanced at Yasaka, curious herself.

Yasaka smiled. "Why, it would depend on the task, of course. But let's see, for example, if you just killed a Stray Devil for me…"

She tapped her chin and pretended to think.

"Considering that I want the immortal gunman agent happy and well-fed, without defecting to another faction, I believe that I'd pay around… 300000 yen."

…I tried my best to school my expression, because I could feel my eyes begin to roll like a slot machine. And they were fucking landing on the '$$$' slot. Raynare on her part looked flabbergasted at the number, but wisely shut the fuck up, lest she got killed on the spot.

I made a big show of thinking it over, although it was more for myself than anyone else because I doubted either Raynare or Yasaka were being fooled by my chin scratching and thoughtful nodding.

Truthfully, was there anything to lose here? As she said, our interests coincided quite nicely, and the allure of 30000 yen per Stray kill (which netted approximately about 200 USD if the exchange rate's right) was hard to pass up.

And what happened to your whole: master of my own destiny and all that?

I still was the master of my own destiny, and as the master of my own destiny I decided that taking up a job was the next big step in García's Odyssey, right before the inevitable ironic downfall. Besides, I already warned her that I'd walk away at some point.

Still, I wasn't stupid (big shocker). I knew that it wouldn't be as simple as just 'walking away' and I'd probably be met with some sort of resistance once the time to go came. I was, after all, an immortal fucker, and although my only talents at the moment came in the form of shooting, I was still immortal.

I had the potential of being really useful. Really, really useful to her. She wouldn't let go easily.

But I didn't care. There was no 'Evil Piece' being put inside my asshole, no turning into a devil, no slavery attached. This was just a job, and if there was one thing that could help a homeless man graduate from being one, that was getting a fucking job.

I'd ditch her once the time came. Hopefully by then I'd be strong enough to shoot my way out of anything she threw at me.

After a few more thoughtful nods and chin scratches, I finally told her, very decisively.

"Well, I'll take that offer then, Boss."

She smiled pleased at my answer, clapping her hands once, as if this whole conversation had just been wrapped up.

"Splendid. I will have someone show you to a good room in this hotel, where the finished contract will arrive for you to sign."

Yasaka raised a finger, and added with a hint of warning.

"However, you may stay in this hotel only tonight. Your employment is, in greater part, a secret and it needs to be kept one. If you wish to stay any more nights here you will have to pay for a room out of your own pocket, and I'm afraid to say the rooms here will be a bit out of your budget if you decide to sleep here every night."

Grunting in affirmation, I began to stand up. I dared a glance at Raynare using E.E and noticed how frustrated she looked at this whole turnabout.

Feeling petty, I smirked at her.

"Well, Raynare? This whole murder business didn't quite turn out how you expected, didn't it?"

E.E saw her expression turn into absolute anger and frustration yet again, but she bit her lip and refused to answer my taunts.

"Good dog," I told her, feeling not an ounce of pity. The comment almost made Raynare break and scream at me again, but she managed to hold it back.

Out of genuine curiosity, I turned to Yasaka and pointed my thumb at Raynare.

"What'll happen to her?"

She shrugged. "She'll be used in a political exchange, and probably be executed after all's said and done. You shouldn't be concerned with her."

Those words brought the emotions Raynare was trying to keep in check to come out in full burst. She yelled at Yasaka, shocked and angered.

"What do you mean!? I cooperated! I told you everything! You said you'd try to-!"

Yasaka simply rolled her eyes. "Please. You're an enemy, little terrorist, I can't believe you actually expected me to care about what happened to you after."

Raynare was left with no words, simply staring betrayed at my new Boss. I whistled, mildly impressed with the whole show.

"Whoa, harsh. Is it really that wise to show me you are breaking your word right after I accepted working for you?"

At my question, she, again, just smiled pleasantly.

"Why, but you're not an enemy, García-kun. Are you?"

"Not planning to," I replied, not bothered. So what if my Boss was a bit of a merciless bitch? I had done errands for similar types in my previous life. Nothing new. "So, when can I expect the full contract?"

Smoothly, Yasaka stood up from her cushion, proudly displaying her curvaceous and shapely figure at her full height.

"In about half-an hour or so. In the meantime…"

She snapped her fingers and, in an instant, two yokai appeared right by the door in a flash of smoke. I flinched in shock at the sudden entrance, the intrusion completely upsetting E.E and its purpose as 12-radius omnipresence with how little it mattered.

Hopefully such instant apparitions weren't common with the Yokai, because otherwise I'd have problems when the time to go postal came.

Yasaka pointed at one of them, their faces very stony and professional, and gave orders, her voice silky-smooth as always.

"Could you please lead Mr. Daniel García to a high-end room? He has become an agent, and is to be treated with the same respect as any of my other agents. Give him all the items required for his employment and return to him his confiscated belongings."

She then looked at the other one.

"Take the Fallen to the dungeon. For her cooperation, give her today's dinner from the hotel menu instead of the normal slop."

Instead of any gratitude, Raynare kept her gaze low, a nasty snarl overcoming her face, not quite happy with the treatment she was going through. Yasaka kept her ever-present smile on and told me lastly.

"Mr. García, I'm glad to have you on board. Tomorrow morning will begin your induction into all that will be expected of you. I already have an assignment planned for you, so you'll get to work and show me your talents right away."

She smiled, and although her statement was probably meant to be friendly, I couldn't help but feel it carried quite the ominous aura.

"Welcome to Kyoto, Mr. García."

---

Inside a broken down, abandoned church inside the city of Kuoh, three Fallen Angels were gathered in a circle, all of them with uncomfortable expressions.

"..."

"..."

"...So she's not coming back," said Mittelt, breaking the silence.

"She's not," the rest replied in unison.

It was a hasty conclusion, some might have said. After all, she had disappeared for just one day, and there was still time to execute the plan properly. They were within schedule.

But one thing one must keep in mind when developing plans that rely on seedy individuals that are out for themselves.

Is that the seedy individuals will turn against the leader the second they turn their backs to them, because they were all out for themselves.

Shocker.

"I'll take the Sacred Gear."

"NO! That's some bullshit! I'll take it!"

"You dumb idiots! If I take it will be best for-!"

After a few more minutes of intense arguing and shouting matches, Kalawarner shouted, particularly loud.

"STOP!"

They, miraculously, stopped.

"Whatever the case with who gets the Sacred Gear, we still need to move along the plan. Let's be honest, Raynare was getting a bit out of hand before she flew away. Very irrational."

They both nodded at her comments. Raynare in just one day broke completely. How weak.

"So, let's say that one of us gets the Sacred Gear—don't know who yet—but as long as one of us has it, and returns to the Grigori with it, we can ALL be welcomed back without issue. The novelty of a Fallen with a Sacred Gear will be massive, enough to welcome us as a group."

That much was true. Murmurs of agreement were let out and some nodding.

"Therefore," continued Kalawarner, feeling like she was talking to children. "If we want that scenario to happen, we need to secure the nun and get rid of all threats. The heiresses are a pain, but we'll just have to lay low, and the surprise homeless man ran off to Kyoto, so he's dealt with."

No one mentioned Raynare once the homeless man came up. They had already discarded her completely.

"That just leaves the boy with the Sacred Gear. We kill him, and we're all set. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Yup."

Thus, life kept moving back at Kuoh.

---

AN: What!? Updates!? Within less than two weeks!? WHO THE FUCK'S RUNNING THIS ACCOUNT!?

Nothing much to add. Tell me your thoughts in the review section, good and bad (with bare minimum politeness if they're bad, I just ask that) and please be wary of my upload schedule. I'm feeling quite motivated to follow-through on this story, so it should be fine...

But remember to never take me for my word. I say a lot of things.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thanks for reading.