Beryl looked over her animated army and smiled. Rubeus walked over and stood by her side, all the while trying not to gag on the smell of the unwashed dead. He wondered how she kept from showing any disgust, even though they were her secret weapon.

She turned to him. "Head back to Japan. I'm sending them there too. Balm has her instructions for her first task. I want you to oversee my new organization from Tokyo and to report back to me on her progress."

Rubeus, not pleased with someone else being entrusted with the task, said, "I assure you I could-"

"She is immensely dispensable, just like Morgana was. You misunderstand my goals. If she gets exposed, my instructions to you is to eliminate her immediately. I don't want her inevitable failures to lead back to the organization."

Beryl kept herself from laughing at his self-satisfied smirk. She was assured of his loyalty and blind adherence to her every command. He would act as her proxy in Tokyo, and she could stay safely hidden. The truth was to her; he was only marginally less dispensable than Balm was.

She waved her hand, and the walking dead were loaded into the cargo bin that would be lifted onto the ship and transported to Japan. Rubeus had a connection at a small port there that would look the other way for the right amount of money. The contact excelled in human trafficking, and that was exactly what she planned on it to look like.

Rubeus said, "I leave for the airport in an hour. I'm taking a flight to Thailand and then on to Tokyo." He had first-class tickets for both flights, so he wasn't too worried about the flight time, he would be as comfortable as he could be.

Beryl turned and tried to pretend that she would miss having him around. Her lies to him in bed had made him expect that. It was all part of her plan to get him to trust her and be loyal to her and only her. "I will miss you." She was proud of herself for not choking on her words. "I will be lonely in bed without you." Another lie among the many she told him. She already had a man lined up for the night.

Hatori had, astonishingly quickly, made good on his promise to Mamoru. By the following afternoon, during what had been his regular intern time, he was back working with Yamato. He felt a vast difference being in the new morgue, and now being a hybrid, it felt like a completely different job. Yamato was all that felt familiar.

He frowned down at the body on the metal table in front of him. "I thought the smell was unpleasant before," he commented to Yamato. He wasn't complaining; he was observing the stark differences since his transition. "He also has a faint bruise on the right side of his neck."

"I saw that under the special lights. Wow, your vision must be amazing."

"It's been an adjustment. It's been hard not almost giving myself away already. And I spend most of my time around people who know. Still, university has been hard. I recognize people from so far away it isn't natural."

"How has that been a problem?"

"Not a huge one, but I went jogging up to my professor the other day to ask him something. He was shocked that I noticed him from that far away."

Yamato frowned, "what did you say?"

"What could I say? I'm a vampire werewolf hybrid? I said I had exceptional eyesight and asked him a tricky question trying to distract him."

"What did Usagi say?"

Mamoru chuckled at that. "Compel him to forget if I have to. I didn't even think of that!"

Yamato laughed, "this will all become more natural for you. As for me, you're like cheat codes in a game. Take a look at this guy's writs," he said pointing at a different dead body. "I haven't gotten far with him, but I think I see something."

Mamoru cracked a small smile and walked over and did as he was asked. "He had a weird bruise forming under his skin. It looks like… could it be a figure eight?"

"So I was right, but that doesn't really clarify anything." Yamato sighed. "Unless you have any idea what that means."

"No, it seems like good old research and detective work is still needed."

Yamato nodded, "I'll get that all written up and send it on. The other coroners are handling…." He trailed off, growing morose.

Sighing, Mamoru added, "yeah. They didn't work with them day to day like you did. I hear the identifications are coming along well."

"They are. Anyway, I take as many homicides as I can to reduce their workload. I appreciate what they're doing."

"And you'd do the same thing."

"True, but… it's to help me too. It's a good distraction during the work day."

"And after work?" Mamoru asked.

"I'm in the know with the group that stopped that monster. It gives me a focus then too."

"Good." There was a long pause and Mamoru said, "everything has changed so dramatically. It's a lot to keep up with."

Yamato smirked, "and the man who had a ten-year plan from the age of nine became a vampire for a pretty woman."

That got Mamoru to laugh, he knew Yamato was over simplifying it on purpose. "She is really pretty, though."

They were both chuckling when Hatori entered the room and shut and locked the door behind him. Yamato's immediate response was to say, "no recording devices are running right now."

"Dare I even ask what's so funny?" Hatori said, looking nervous. For the life of him, Mamoru couldn't figure out why.

Yamato wasn't similarly confused. He knew quite a lot about Hatori by reputation before ever working for him. The man was incredibly smart, inquisitive, very connected, it was how he had his big job so young and a devoted family man. He wasn't married, but he went to all his niece's and nephew's events and his brother-in-law would joke if his wife ever left him he wanted her brother in the divorce. Everyone laughed at his joke because he obviously adored his wife and he was complimenting her brother. That and because the man's own brother was such a colossal creep. The man was in prison for stealing their father's identity and racking up massive amounts of debt. Hatori wanted to be accepted by Mamoru into his life as Usagi's husband. He almost laughed that the man wanted something so badly and Mamoru had no clue.

He felt a suddenly humbling moment when he realized that meant that he would have to step in carefully and facilitate things. He blushed to think of Usagi referring to him as a pseudo-father to Mamoru. One he was going to try to be now.

So Yamato said, "Hatori, your great-something Aunt is pretty. Right, Mamoru?" He left it there, prompting him to let Hatori in on the joke.

Mamoru got an uncharacteristically sappy look on his face. "He commented that I had ten-year goals since I was nine, and yet I made a split decision to become a vampire for a pretty girl."

"Nine?" Hatori asked, confused.

"Yeah. My parents died on my eighth birthday and I decided I wanted to be a doctor. After physical therapy and other therapy, I decided I needed goals. I wrote them down from the age of nine on."

Yamato was blinking trying to hide his shock. Hatori was more surprised over the goals than the idea of deciding to become a vampire.

Mamoru smirked, "I joked it was an easy decision. Usagi is really pretty, after all."

"She really is. And before that annoys you, I always pictured her as very different. I didn't know we were related, but I've heard of her and read about her since I was young. In my head I pictured her as six feet tall and battle hardened." Hatori shrugged. "After all she defeated grown male werewolves in their packs!"

Yamato kept quiet and just stepped back a bit letting them get to talk more. Mamoru said, "and she was just this breathtaking woman in an arcade for me. That was how I met her. Later I found out my friend was scared of her, but I had no instincts to be afraid."

Hatori said, "from what I understand about bonded love in vampires your instincts were right. You shouldn't be afraid. In fact, you should have felt safe."

"I felt absolutely out of control for the first time in my life. I had the same ten-year plan when I was nine and I'm even achieving it! Then she came along, and all my careful planning felt ridiculous."

"And you couldn't be happier."

"Exactly." Mamoru smiled. "You get it. Yamato says you're a good family man. I heard him telling Kunzite about how you even go to piano recitals for your sister's kids. I didn't get the idea of family before."

Hatori admitted. "I read your file. You were in an orphanage growing up. Something was weird with that. Your scores were exceptional and you were the perfect kid. I got curious and looked deeper into your file. You were flagged."

"Flagged?"

"Yup. As aggressive. Thing is there were no incident reports. It makes someone wonder if people in the system knew you were a latent werewolf and what they were hiding."

Yamato stepped in when he saw Mamoru's face. "He's never been!"

"I know." Hatori stressed. "He's not aggressive as a hybrid and he wasn't as a child either. I read that and took deep offense. And now, I am going to get to the bottom of it." He looked Mamoru in the eyes. "If you want me to."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because what I find could hurt."

"Still? I have Usagi. How can my past hurt me now?"

Testing him and still telling the truth Hatori said, "you were told your parents died when they accidentally drove off a cliff on your birthday. There wasn't a cliff anywhere near where the accident was reported to have happened."

"Enough!" Yamato yelled. "Why say that?!" He of course already knew that fact. He just didn't feel the need to hurt Mamoru by telling him there was a mystery around his parents' deaths.

Mamoru turned to Yamato. "You knew?"

Yamato sighed. "Yes. Usagi is so right about so much. For the first time in my life with you, I found I couldn't be professional about a coworker, and I look at you as a son. So yes, I downloaded the incident report and the autopsy reports for the death of your parents."

"And?"

"The autopsy report exists but the person who wrote it doesn't. All I know is they must be dead, or they would be with you."

Hatori nodded. "'Ideal son' is written all over him. They wouldn't leave him behind. I know two things that didn't kill them, a car accident or Usagi. She would have admitted to that."

"Usagi?"

"She has been known to kill werewolves. Well, and vampires and even a few witches. Oh! And now an Immortal –that was very satisfying."

Yamato frowned. "You can't think she would have killed his parents."

Hatori screwed up his face and looked at Yamato. "No. I just said that. She couldn't have. She would have said…." He paused, and then it dawned on him. "Oh! You mean she wouldn't leave an innocent child to suffer."

"Exactly."

Mamoru shook his head in amusement. Then he tried to redirect things. "Who put in my file that I was violent?"

"No idea," Hatori replied. "The document wasn't signed, and the handwriting differs from anyone else's who wrote in your file."

Shaking his head, Mamoru said, "I wanted a family so badly, and someone had actively sabotaged me. It does actually make it feel less personal that I didn't get adopted."

"It's too bad that Wiseman's son was killed. It would have been interesting if he had any information," Hatori mused.

"Why?" Mamoru asked.

"Wiseman did a lot for the werewolf community. He might have known of your parents, even you. But now he's dead. Killed by some sniper."

Mamoru and Yamato both looked at each other, and Yamato drew a long breath. He said, "yeah. Some random sniper."

"You know who killed him? Why haven't they been brought in?" Hatori asked.

"It was a hit ordered by Diamond. And…." Yamato paused. "Well, we didn't want to. He was a mole working for Diamond and…."

"And he's a friend?" Hatori asked, exasperated. "One who worked for Diamond?!"

Mamoru said. "He did, and then he turned against him. He's…. Actually, a nice guy." He finished lamely.

"He's a killer!"

"So is Usagi, and you aren't dragging her into the station for killing Diamond."

Hatori deflated a bit. "True. You know what, never mind. I'm not having this conversation. I'm going to go up and get back to my work. Well, that and figuring out about Mamoru's parents. I'll have Shingo ask around with some witches he knows too."

The conversation wrapped up quickly after that, and they all got back to work.

Sapphire furrowed his brow, and Naru rolled her eyes at him and bumped his shoulder to get his attention. "What has you scowling at your phone?"

"Rubeus, I flagged all his credit cards for Diamond. I left that all in place after my brother was killed."

"Did he buy a flight here?"

"Well, yeah. But that was days ago. He's purchased what sounds like a word problem to me. Who needs one hundred baseball bats and five cases of air freshener?"

"Smelly thugs?" she asked, giggling.

"Thugs?"

"Yeah, it's not as… is sophisticated the right word? I don't want to sound like I'm complimenting your brother. Anyway, it sounds like he's arming people to bash things up with bats. Are they metal or wooden?"

"Both, actually." He looked at her appraisingly and then kissed her nose. "It would be nice if it were that straightforward. It's easier to stop petty crime. Well, as long as they aren't bashing people with the bats."

She snuggled into his arms. "Whatever it is, we can stop them."

"We?" he asked challengingly. "I thought you said you'd stay out of this fight."

She scoffed. "So? I lied." Naru looked up at him sweetly. "But you love me, so you'll let it slide this time."

"I will not!"

"You don't love me?" she asked in mock offense.

"You know damn well what I mean. You said you'd stay out of this!" He was desperately worried about her getting hurt.

"I won't do the actual fighting, but I will help. I decided I couldn't live with myself if I didn't help you. I'm going to be your wife. I'm not going to just let you take all the risks." To him, she reminded him of a stubborn kitten.

He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "You're going to make me turn you sooner than we planned, aren't you?"

"That was your plan. You wouldn't listen to me."

He shook his head in fond amusement. "You are a force of nature."

Grandpa Hino had his arms crossed, glaring at Mars. "You encourage her to be reckless."

Mars scoffed at him. "You raised her to be reckless. You enabled her from the moment you took her in."

"But you want her that way!"

"I want her to be herself! Just like you, and I would point out, I picked a very protective man for her."

Grandpa Hino smiled fondly. "He is perfect for her."