Chapter 7: Arrival (7)
"Well? Gonna tell me why you were obviously trying to make tracks and get away from here? You came to this building for a reason, right? The Bounded Field wouldn't have let you in otherwise."
Touko Aozaki flicked on a lighter as she brought its wavering tip to a cigarette dangling from her lips, Cayman's mind running a mile a minute as he decided to mix in some kind of truth to his response.
"Well we did need some investigative work done but after I found out it was you who runs this place I don't think I can afford the price. Smoking kills, by the way."
Instead of being offended Touko merely looked amused, her three other companions looking at the pair of them with the first hints of bare curiosity while Cayman's own party was also no doubt wondering why he seemed so unexpectedly on edge.
"The hell's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
Jinglei's response was met by a sidelong glance from the Gamer, his tone wry as he said, "You're the intelligence officer, the name Touko Aozaki ring any bells?"
The Taimanin's eyes slightly narrowed as she stared at the woman in question, idly puffing her cigarette with the barest hints of interest at their presence.
"Oh. You mean the Blue's-Hmmgrh?!"
Cayman had quickly used his hand to squeeze the pinkette's lips shut, cutting off the rest of the woman's sentence. It also earned him a sharp blow to the inside of his elbow that made his arm go numb and an annoyed scowl but that was a small price to pay for potentially not pissing off the very scary woman still patiently waiting for them to get to the point of their visit...he had no idea what point in the Fate timeline or timelines he was dealing with, whether Touko had somewhat buried the hatchet with her sister or was still harboring a massive grudge.
And the presence of Lugh Beowulf also made things complicated, since the Phantasmal Beast had been abandoned by Touko after it 'lost' to Soujuurou Shizuki which was well before Shiki Ryougi had entered the picture.
"And what the fuck is up with my ability whenever I try to view Lugh's stats? Is that the universe's way of saying 'do not fuck with, turn around'? If so point taken."
He quickly snapped out of his inner monologue as Touko spoke up with, "While I'm happy that my reputation precedes me at the end of the day business is business. And I'll admit whatever business brings an Exorcist, Taimanin, Fairy and guy that doesn't really give off much of an impression-"
"Even better...he doesn't smell like anything~!"
Lugh's sudden comment had Cayman inwardly grimacing, knowing that the Phantasmal Beast's nose could tell a great deal about a person simply from scent alone...if he didn't smell like 'anything' then that meant his abilities were - to an extent - noticeable and unusual.
"That right? Guess you're still useful for something after all."
The golden-haired and fairly androgenyous youth wilted a bit at the statement, giving Cayman a clue as to the status of their current relationship as Till whispered, "That's kind of mean, don't you think?"
Turning her attention back to Cayman Touko idly commented, "Well the fact of the matter is that we're a business and have bills to pay...and rent's due in two weeks. So what's your request?"
Warily gazing around the gathered group Cayman decided to go for broke, stating, "We're here to hunt down and capture or kill Dr. Hoestia. Normal sources of information haven't been able to turn up shit and I had it on good authority that this little establishment is a pretty good alternative to know about."
That got a visceral reaction from Kokutou - probably the only sane and normal person among all of them - as Touko simply nodded, idly commenting, "The famed Alchemist and 'mad doctor', huh?"
"I see he's also got a reputation that precedes him. But to sum up we're pretty sure he's hiding out somewhere beneath the Kabuki district, maybe making his way to Yomihara and a base or client there while using the area beneath the city to cover his tracks."
The landscape beneath Tokyo during the Taimanin timeline was an utter mess. Inbetween constant warfare, the introduction of the Demon world and what was no doubt additional issues related to DxD and Fate being thrown into the mix the earth beneath the city had been turned into a honeycomb of shelters, tunnels, final redoubts and half a dozen other methods of hiding away from the world, all of those myriad pathways no doubt ending up near the closest stable gateway leading to the Demon world, the city Yomihara.
"Hmm...well let me be clear about something, I don't work cheap. And while Hoestia is a rogue element he was pretty popular with a lot of people back when he was among established circles...you all might be insulated from the fallout because you're just doing as ordered but I don't have that kind of clout, if word of my assistance spreads that's a lot more enemies I'll have possibly made. And I already have a lot of enemies."
"Your previous actions regarding not aggravating others contradict what you just said."
"Zip it."
A greedy smile spread over Aozaki's face, even as she tried to ignore Shiki's idle comment.
"So, payment? What do you have to offer? Mikiya, what's our outstanding debts?"
"Err, we need 800,000 yen to cover all of our-"
"2,400,000 yen for our help, take it or leave it."
Jinglei scowled, wariness of Aozaki obviously outweighed by her annoyance as she bluntly pointed out, "Just in case there was some kind of miscommunication that's three times the amount you need."
"It sure was. Final offer, take it or leave it. I don't operate at a loss."
Caren politely smiled, angelically pointing out, "Yet that is the definition of debt, is it not? The state you were self-admittedly in?"
"...3,200,000."
"Oh to hell with-"
Placing a finger over Jinglei's lips - and smirking at the malevolent glare she sent his way that fit the fury of the Black Dragon blood she had flowing in her veins - he turned to the rest of the room at large, pointing to a nearby table before asking, "Mind if I borrow that?"
"Sure, just knock that crap aside."
"Hey wait those are the month's budget-"
Cayman promptly shoved the pile of folders, cartons and other assorted junk onto the floor as Mikiya's protest died in his throat.
"-reports."
Flicking through his inventory he selected one of the Dark Beast corpses, commanding it to materialize-
-and with a dull THUD it landed atop the table, spread-eagled and extremely dead as the sole normal Human among them yelped and almost toppled over in his chair.
Touko's eyes instantly narrowed.
"A Dark Beast, huh? Hate to break it to you, but those aren't exactly rare."
Not having any point of reference for the magus' words - his short time in this reality hadn't exactly afforded the opportunity to get acquainted with the black market, believe it or not - he simply smirked, bluffing his way to success as was the norm for the past few days.
"Yeah? Care to see just how fresh and unmarked this specimen is?"
Curiosity piqued Aozaki scraped her chair backwards, flicking on her glasses and instantly adopting a cool and dispassionate air, fitting what he knew of her quirks to the T. Stepping aside he let her perform a rudimentary inspection, fingers deftly checking eyes, teeth and other bits and pieces as Till moved her mouth practically inside his ear so as to not be overheard.
"Do you think it's actually worth that much?"
He lightly picked her up and placed her head so that it was in front of his lips, barely so much as moving them as he whispered, "No idea, play along."
The Fairy offered him a wry glance that he shrugged at, figuring that she may as well get used to his talent in improvising his way through adverse situations.
"How'd you kill this thing? No sign of curses or residual magic, or any specific kind of outward trauma."
"Electrocution, just enough to not turn it crispy."
Nodding to herself Touko leaned back, removing her glasses and once more shifting to a relatively easygoing persona.
"Well it's a hard bargain you drive...but I guess this'll do as payment. Hey, everybody clear out your lunches in the fridge, I'm putting it in there."
"H-huh?! But what about actual money that we actually need-"
"Relax, we can just sell off the parts I don't want once I've taken this thing apart."
Without further ado the redhead opened up the beaten down and old fridge, tossing aside what few cartons and other things rested within before throwing the corpse over her shoulder, seemingly unbothered by its weight.
"Well, since the deal is made how are we going to go about completing it?"
Grunting as she shoved the body inside of the cooler with some difficulty she announced, "Lugh, make yourself useful and look in my bag, grab the bottle marked 'asshole'."
"Okay!"
It was actually kind of painful to see a once freakishly strong being go running off to carry out Touko's orders like an eager puppy aiming to please but Cayman figured that was just the Aozaki intimidation hard at work...besides, he now had some kind of basis for how much a Dark Beast corpse would go for. Sure, the Magus had probably shortchanged him a bit but for now it was better than nothing.
"Just a bit of advice, last I heard from the rumor mill Hoestia was getting close to creating fully fledged hybrids of both Daemon, Demon, Supernatural and Taimanin descent. Real reason he's on the run is that he stepped on the wrong set of toes in both the Church and Association, enough so that his clout and more wealthy backers couldn't protect him. So if you do go ahead and track him down, expect a fight with some pretty nasty customers."
"Noted."
He mentally thought back to the Orc mercenaries and Stray Devil and mentally thanked the fact that both Yukikaze and Jinglei were there. He, Caren, Till and Asia weren't exactly front-line material - at least not yet, at any rate - and he wasn't confident in the slightest he could take them all on alone...never mind the beasts Aozaki said the mad doc apparently had in reserve.
"Found it~!"
Pulling out a small vial of some kind of clear fluid Lugh bounded back over to Touko, the magus nodding dismissively as she said, "Good. Now take a whiff and lead them to the source of the scent, return here once finished."
Nodding as if he existed for no other reason to please Cayman couldn't help but ask, "And just what, exactly, is in that vial?"
"Something I swiped from Hoestia one of the times I ran across him. You don't need to know what it is."
"Not unless I pay, right?"
A knowing smirk was sent his way.
"Exactly."
"Fair enough. Then if that's all we'll be on our way."
+5 REP with Touko Aozaki [5/100]!
Bewildered by the sudden increase - and mildly horrified by the alert - Cayman shook his head, sternly reminding himself that sticking one's dick in crazy was generally not recommended.
Without further ado he turned around and gently steered both his companions back through the door, Lugh following in his wake as both Caren and Jinglei gave him unamused looks at his pushiness.
"Feel free to visit, paying customers are always wel-"
He closed the door, cutting off the rest of Aozaki's sentence as Lugh gave him an odd look, the 'werewolf' inquiring, "You seem pretty scared of Touko."
"Any reason I shouldn't be? And if you don't mind me asking why are you here? Last I heard from rumors you and she weren't working together anymore."
The slim blonde appeared mildly sheepish, explaining, "Well it's kind of silly but every now and again I want to check in on her and make sure she's doing okay, even if she just seems annoyed that I do so."
Cayman just gave the Phantasmal Beast a pitying look, having a fair understanding of what was happening.
"Oh my god. The poor bastard really is like a dog that was neglected by its master. Still wanting to make sure they're all right even if they found a new family."
Shaking his head as Lugh popped open the vial and took a whiff he cheerfully strolled off, Cayman all too easily able to imagine a tail wagging behind him as the being announced, "Okay, follow me!"
The quartet did so, Till turning to her contractor before asking, "Is that woman supposed to be really scary or something? You all seemed pretty wary of her."
The Taimanin grimaced, remarking, "Touko Aozaki has done more in her few short decades than most Magi families have done in several generations. When you consider the kind of usual shit Magi pull that statement becomes pretty significant."
"Oh."
The Fairy tilted her head.
"So what exactly do Magi families get up to? I've heard stories but so far everything in this world has been pretty new."
Caren and Jinglei shared mutual looks of resignation at the tiny woman's naive nature, Cayman electing to let them handle the explanation and only step in if they were giving the little lady too skewed of a picture.
Instead he thought back to Aozaki, reflecting that it wasn't so much that he thought she would backstab him the first chance she got and more that she was simply an extremely opportunistic and wily woman. As he was now, floundering around in this world and woefully ignorant to the most basic of history and commerce...she would eat him alive and he wouldn't even blame her. Once he had a more solid foundation to work off of and some kind of capital to work with he'd feel far more comfortable working with the Magus.
Sure, she was one hell of a sharp cookie and would no doubt try to weasel him out of house and home...but as long as he minded his manners and kept his wits having the woman as a business partner would provide dividends and then some.
"R-really?! Magi eat babies?!"
Rolling his eyes as Caren told Till a blatant lie - although considering some Magi's inherent callousness maybe it wasn't too much of a falsehood - Cayman stepped in to properly instruct his Fairy on the topic of one of the denizens of this world.
"I-is this really where the trail leads?!"
"Yup! Trust me, my nose is never wrong!"
Seeming completely unaffected by the sights and sounds around them Lugh led the group further into the depths of Kabuki district, oblivious to what Jinglei and Till were experiencing while Cayman and Caren were pretty unaffected by the environment...hell, the Gamer was outright intrigued with the offerings on display.
Back in his old reality Kabuki (or Kabuki-chō if one wanted to not be lazy and shorthand it) had already been a pretty interesting place, consisting of quite a number of red light districts and other such vices as well as a decent chunk of crime that naturally popped up around such enterprises.
In this reality, where the sex appeal factor was cranked to eleven and everyone was one 'bad ending' away from events that would earn the MA rating three times over?
Yeah, that made for quite the sight.
Some were pretty standard fare - or at least as standard as brothels in this universe could be - with beautiful women and a few men sending the group sultry smiles or come hither flashes of skin. Some headed a bit more towards the exotic side of things, with members of the Supernatural or Demon World community holding themselves for sale. Succubi, Devils, Fallen Angels, Harpies, Elves, Mermaids...the list was pretty extensive, to say the least.
And while some places were gated off or surrounded by security detail that clearly wanted someone to start trouble to alleviate their boredom he'd caught a glimpse of one of the establishments within and was fairly certain that it was an arena unique to the Taimanin setting, one where the willing or unwilling participants would fight until one emerged victorious.
As for the loser? MA rating six times over.
And as morbid as the whole scenario was Cayman couldn't help but find himself growing fascinated with the world, at all of the wild and chaotic mixing of cultures it was turning out to be. The world of DxD clearly hadn't bothered hiding itself with the presence of the Demon World being such a prevalent place and that was a LOT of big societal changes that could have arisen from it.
"U-um, Cayman? H-how are you so relaxed right now?"
Snapping out of his meandering thoughts the Gamer turned his attention towards Till, the Fairy clearly ill at ease with things if the way she was blushing madly and trying to hide in his hair were any indication, the stare of a security contingent of Orcs who eyed the three girls with less than kosher eyes no doubt not helping.
"Eh, I've been down this proverbial road a fair few times myself. You get used to it."
"Ah, you are already inundated with sin, I should have expected no less."
"I would say it takes one to know one but I simply don't have it in me to belittle such a pure woman of the cloth. My soul is squeaky clean, after all."
"Indeed. As shining and transparent as mud on a cloudy night."
"Oh for the love of-would you two stop flirting already?!"
Jinglei's agitated shout caused both Caren and Cayman to smirk at each other for a brief moment, the Taimanin a bit more composed than Till but not by much, no doubt overwhelmed by all of the blatant eroticism.
"Yukikaze worked in a place like this? What the fuck…"
While the whisper was no doubt meant to go unheard Cayman nonetheless commented with, "Under Eden is both better and worse than this place, Jinglei. Probably not as much of a risk as having your wallet lifted or kidneys sold on the black market but the terms of employment are...strict, I suppose I should say."
The pinkette suddenly zeroed in on him, coldly asking, "How do you know about that mission? It was redacted and I only know about it because she told me."
Inwardly smacking himself for blathering about Yukikaze and Rinko's mission to Under Eden that was indeed not exactly public knowledge he yet again improvised, offering an enigmatic smile while stating, "Being a Surveyor comes with benefits...and I know all sorts of interesting tidbits about all sorts of stuff. And relax, that info is staying within current company who already knows about it."
The Taimanin sent a pointed glance towards Caren, Till and Lugh.
"Okay, Till and Lugh aren't going to be blabbering about that in the first place and Caren suffers from random bouts of incurable deafness."
"Indeed. I am surely not vindicated in my earlier estimations that Taimanin are all sluts and will certainly not belittle you further, when you are so obviously a blushing virgin who has never known the touch of man or woman."
Jingle looked half-a-second away from punching Caren's head off...and subsided with a grumble, muttering, "The fact that I'm starting to get used to you really pisses me off."
Before they could resume their interplay Lugh suddenly laughed, cheerfully commenting, "You're all funny, you know that?"
"Just a shame I think we hate each other. And how close are we?"
The Phantasmal Beast replied to Jinglei's blunt words with a happy, "Not far, in fact I think we're-"
A few quick sniffs accompanied a cheery smile, the Phantasmal Beast skipping down an alleyway - because what the hell was going to be able to hurt it - and stopped in front of a small and battered door, remarking, "Huh, weird. The smell just kind of stops here...I think it's a bounded field of some kind?"
Till hopped off Cayman's shoulder, floating towards the door and closing her eyes in concentration, slowly stating, "Yeah, there's definitely some kind of magic on this door...not sure what it is, though."
"No biggie, we've got a solid lead now and that's good enough. Best we head back and prepare to actually go hunting with the rest of our merry band."
Neither Caren or Jinglei disagreed with his assessment, the Gamer turning to Lugh as he said, "Appreciate the guidance, assuming this is where we part ways. On that note, mind if we see that vial Touko gave you?"
The blonde tilted his head, slowly stating, "She didn't say I could give it to you…"
"But she's also really smart and if she didn't want you to part with it would have kept it back at the agency, right?"
Lugh's expression cleared, the werewolf replying, "Hey yeah, you're right!"
"Exactly. Besides, I don't need the whole vial, just a small bit of it."
Jinglei wordlessly held out a small vial from her pockets, shrugging defensively at Cayman's raised eyebrow as she said, "What? It's handy having something to put physical samples in."
Deciding not look this gift horse in the mouth Cayman dumped a few drops of the odd liquid into the offered container, Lugh sniffing him as he did so while curiously asking, "You smell...different. Cloudy, but also clear. What are you?"
Completely at a loss of how to explain his strange nature Cayman merely shrugged, stating, "While I'm definitely half Human the other half I can't speak for. Sorry."
While appearing mildly disappointed for a moment Lugh's expression cleared a moment later, easily replying, "Oh well, maybe you can tell me the next time I see you. Bye for now~!"
And with that the effeminate Phantasm skipped away, drawing a few calculating eyes as the Gamer pitied the poor soul that tried to get handsy with the golden werewolf. No doubt they would quickly find themselves missing aforementioned hands as well as a few extra bits if they were unlucky enough.
"Alright, then if we're all done here we can-"
"Are you on your period?"
Jinglei's sudden question directed towards Caren had the male raising his eyebrow, the Exorcist opening her mouth to no doubt respond in a biting fashion-
"It's the presence of Daemons nearby, isn't it? We have a healer on hand, Caren. You could have said something."
Yellow eyes blinked innocently, the Exorcist blandly replying, "Oh, yes. I forgot to be honest."
Sighing to himself Cayman wryly commented, "Alright, show us where you're all fucked up."
"Asking a woman of the cloth to disrobe in front of so many wandering eyes? You are quite the bold one."
She nonetheless did as requested, Jinglei holding back her comments as she and the Gamer examined their pale-haired ally, noting that odd, spiky growths had begun to cut and damage her legs beneath the knee, clothing already turning damp with blood.
"Till, can you heal these?"
"Probably not all the way but I can get close!"
Swooping in to do so Cayman additionally knelt in front of the Exorcist, motioning for her to hop on as he said, "C'mon, no sense in you walking on damaged legs if we can avoid it."
To his surprise there was no further comment from the pale-haired woman, Jinglei noting this and snorting in dry amusement.
"Well I'll be damned, I guess even you can be docile."
"I am not so petty as to turn away assistance when it is offered. Alas, I shall have to cleanse myself afterwards, since such a lustful man will have handled me rather intimately."
"You know, just for that…"
Letting Caren press up against his back he let his arms twist slightly, cupping her soft and warm ass as added support before easily standing upright, teasing, "Now where shall your loyal stead go, your highness?"
"To the nearest cleansing station, preferably."
Chuckling at her words as Till retook her position atop his shoulders - the bleeding gashes and injuries already clotted and scabbed over thanks to her efforts - the quartet made their way out of Kabuki, Cayman enjoying the sensation of Caren's slim form pressed up against his...and apparently she did as well.
+5 REP with Caren Hortensia [35/100]!
The little notification made it easy for him to ignore the wolf-whistles and other comments sent their way, the crowd understandably reading way too much into him going someplace with a nun, Taimanin and Fairy in tow.
