Wise started at the high-pitched chimes of Random Play's front door, his drooping eyelids snapping wide open in expectation of the day's first customer.

"Good morning! Welcome to Random Play, can I hel- oh, is everything okay? You're not scheduled to work today, are you?" The obviously forced enthusiasm sliding into an easy, drowsy tone as Wise recognised the twin-tailed girl eagerly hurrying into the store. Something was… different, though.

Sjal stood for a moment, her breath still misting as she soaked in the gentle warmth of the room. As though suddenly remembering where she was, she steadied her shivering and strolled purposefully towards the desk, unzipping her thick puffy coat and rummaging around inside of it.

Her make-up? No, from what Wise had seen, Sjal rarely wore anything more than the basics, and didn't seem to be doing so now.

A full minute of exasperated silence later - accompanied by poked-out-tongue, frustrated frown, and strained squint - she found what she was looking for and pulled it out with a flourish, as though the prior sequence had never happened at all.

"Morning manager! Special delivery from Hand HQ!" Sjal practically yelled. Wise knew this tone. It was the same voice she used when she was handing out flyers across Sixth Street. He braced himself for the incoming pitch.

"Courtesy of Eridu Personal Delivery, the number one stop for cross-Eridu couriers! Your prized packages delivered by our caring hands!" Sjal finished cheerily. Wise took the small envelope from her and flipped it over to discover a bright yellow flyer advertising the very same company.

Her clothes?? No, she wore her thick winter coat of course, but underneath it her usual daily work attire was clearly visible. Was she… taller maybe?

"Another new part time job? Is everything… okay, Sjal?" Wise asked tentatively. He had known Sjal for a while now, but it was never as somebody particularly flushed with dennies. In truth, he did worry for her on the odd occasion it came up, though that always came to a grinding halt when he remembered why that was the case.

"Uhhhh, heh. Rent is due soon and the new set of limited Starlight Knight surprise boxes released last week. But hey, I got the SSR this time!" Sjal beamed with pride.

Wise sighed, trying desperately to keep his warm smile from fading. A bolt of inspiration momentarily threatened to strike as the idea of providing her with Billy's contact details buzzed close like a confused housefly. He swatted it down even faster. The only people he knew that were more broke than Sjal were the Cunning Hares, though for different and, perhaps, altogether more respectable reasons.

"I see. Well, make sure to stay warm out there, it'll be trouble if you get sick. And let me know if you need more promotion work, okay?"

"Of course, thanks Manager! I've gotta get going, more packages to deliver before I pick up today's flyers!" She said hurriedly as she re-zipped her coat, wandering begrudgingly back towards the door and the frigid outside air. As she finished with her zipper, she raised her arms and swooped her hair out from inside the coat in one quick, smooth motion.

Her hair ties? No, they didn't seem any different, and obviously her hair style was the same as ever. But maybe… ah. That was it. Wise was certain her hair was a shade or two lighter than it had been the last time he had seen her. He could never figure out why, but it seemed she subtly changed the shade every month or so.

The short blast of frosty air that blew in as Sjal exited caught the edge of the neon EPD flyer, snapping his attention back to the mail in his hands. He could feel the edges of something hard and rectangular through the thin paper. Wise flipped it over and inspected the front.

'Wise Belle

Random Play

Sixth Street

Janus Quarter

New Eridu'

Written precisely and neatly in the kind of computer-esque handwriting that could only belong to one Ms. Tsukishiro Yanagi.

The door to the storeroom next to him opened abruptly as Belle strolled out, two steaming mugs in hand. She set one down in front of Wise, rather conspicuously trying to catch a glimpse of the envelope in his hands.

"Is it the electric bill again? Looks thinner than usual! Has Fairy finally learned to tone it down on the power draw?"

The sound of Fairy's undoubtedly sarcastic retort was too muffled by the now-closed storeroom door to discern. There was now assuredly going to be a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation prepared for the pair outlining a definitive cost/benefit analysis of the brusque AI's assistance.

"Unfortunately not. Apparently it's a special delivery from HAND HQ. HSO6, if I had to make a guess." Wise explained. He tilted the envelope towards Belle, who smiled and nodded in recognition as she brought her coffee to her lips and gently blew on it.

"Well? Don't keep me waiting! What's it say?"

Opening the envelope, Wise slid its contents out onto the counter. Two thin plastic cards clattered onto the surface alongside the letter. Unfolding the paper, Wise read aloud;

'Managers,

My apologies for the short notice and that I could not come to you in person, but I urgently request your assistance at the HSO6 offices.

Certain circumstances have arisen that require oversight only by someone with our deepest level of trust, and we could think of nobody more trusted than yourselves.

Please arrive as soon as you can,

Tsukishiro Yanagi

P.S. Due to our newfound partnership, I have taken the liberty of arranging HAND ID's for you both. You should be able to skip the guest registrations and security checks from now on, for all of our sakes.'

To the detriment of the letter's serious tone, in the very bottom right corner lay a short addendum, written shakily in what seemed to be sky-blue pencil;

'Please bring snacks!

Soukaku'

As he spoke, Belle picked up the two ID cards, turning them over in her hands.

"'Independent Consultants to Section 6', huh. This feels… uhhh…"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. Just looking at the cards set off Wise's fight-or-flight instincts. After so many years of hiding their activities from the authorities, being formally recognised as a collaborator with one of the most successful units in New Eridu felt more than a little like filling a wetsuit with chum and jumping into a shark tank. While Section 6 themselves were understanding and in agreement, no other units had been made aware of the true nature of the arrangement.

Not only that, but should their new partnership come to light on the inter-knot, Wise suspected that their regained 'legendary proxy' status would quickly sour into 'legendary turncoats'. He wouldn't blame them. It would be hard to see it as much else.

"Well, it is what it is" he shrugged, attempting to portray the very picture of nonchalance. His widened eyes and subtly shaking hands told tales on themselves. "Rock paper scissors for who goes?"

To Wise's surprise, Belle shook her head.

"I think you should go. I took the day off yesterday after all, I should take over the store today. Besides, I could never deprive sweet little Soukaku of her Big Brother Wise"

The manipulation was as transparent as it was effective. Wise put on a show of slumping his shoulders and sighing in defeat, though he picked up his ID badge and pinned it to his jacket with little hesitation.

"I suppose I can make the run this time. But the next trip into a bustling enemy hive is all yours!" Wise quipped, trying but failing to stifle the incoming yawn.

He had slept well the night before, right up until he was awoken by Belle silently shuffling into his bed at around 3am. She hadn't said a word, but she didn't need to. It happened on occasion, mostly when she felt lonely or sad or had nightmares, and seeing Bringer's transformation and that… hand, again… it had brought back a lot of feelings for them both. Lately she'd spent more nights in his room than her own, and whenever she wasn't out visiting their friends she tended to be hovering within arms reach, as though if she lost sight of him a small localised hollow might swallow him up and he'd be lost to her forever.

In truth, he had been glad of the company, and he was always happy to be a safe place for his sister. She was all he had left. If she hadn't been the one to draw closer, it would've been him.

Wise was slammed back into reality as the keys to the van bounced off of his chest and clattered noisily down onto the counter.

"Hellooooooo, Wiiiiiiiiiiise? You still with me bro? Or are you too busy zoning out trying to think of the perfect greeting for Miyabi?" Belle goaded, grinning teasingly at the tinge of red flushing through her brother's cheeks.

"Alright alright, I'm going."

Picking up the keys and giving Belle a half-hug on his way past, Wise paused for a moment. He simply couldn't let it slide.

He opened the store room door.

"Hey Fairy, Belle said she'd love to go through that list of improvements she could make to her work as second assistant while I'm out!"

He was out the door and into the carpark before Belle had even finished yelling his name in anguish.

The drive to HAND HQ was a peaceful one, skirting along many of the riverside roads and mostly away from the busyness of the inner city. It was a short journey in the early morning traffic, not accounting for the quick stop into a convenient 141 along the way for Soukaku's snacks, but it felt even shorter when it was immediately followed by 10 minutes of walking from the HAND car park to the front door. He would never understand why they placed it quite so far away.

Wise took a moment to reassert himself as he walked through into the building. Entering as a guest and entering as a registered contractor seemed world's apart in his mind, and he was not helped by the sheer number of agents bustling around. Whatever he had been called here for, it was clearly something major; he'd never seen quite so many investigators with quite so many concerned faces congregate in such a fashion.

He decided it was best for him to make his way to Section 6 and be out of the way as quickly as he could. Strolling towards the security desk ahead, he caught the eye of the officer on duty, who did a firm double-take at the ID badge on his chest.

"Section 6 huh? What exactly is it you do?" The guard questioned. He eyed Wise carefully, unsure of what to make of the unsuspecting young man in front of him.

Something broke in Wise's brain. He hadn't been expecting it, hoping to simply waltz through as Yanagi's letter had suggested. The lack of sleep and stressful environment felt like a paste sticking to the gears of his usually well-oiled white lying reflexes.

"I- uh, well, we- I-..."

Fortunately, through some miracle of mercy, divine or otherwise, Wise was cut off before he could blurt out the first lie to come to mind.

Unfortunately, that cut off came in the form of a blue lightning bolt striking him squarely in the chest and nearly bowling him over outright.

"WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!" yelled his chest, as the security officer looked on in surprise.

"Good morning Soukaku" Wise managed to wheeze out as he fought to regain the breath that had been knocked from him.

He reached his arms around and gave the diminutive Oni a brief hug. Over the few weeks that he'd become acquainted with her, he had gotten significantly better at keeping his footing during these unexpected 'attacks'. She was a true force of nature packed into an extremely slight frame.

Soukaku pulled away from Wise, her face beaming with a grin so bright it hurt his cheeks just to look at, and turned to the desk. Wise noted the almost imperceptible flinch from the officer as she did so. Clearly he was familiar with the lively greetings of their mutual friend.

"Hi Marv! This is Wise! He's our very very good friend, so make sure you get along, okay?" boomed Soukaku. He couldn't be sure, but Wise suspected that for once her volume was less natural enthusiasm and more for the benefit of the dozens of agents nearby.

It made sense; the sooner Wise became known to the office as just another employee, the less scrutiny he would face. She might still have been young and excitable, but she was certainly smarter than she often received credit for.

Marv barely had the time to respond when Soukaku grasped Wise's hand and began walking towards the elevators at the far end of the room. By delightful coincidence, an elevator car released several more agents into the now-bursting entrance floor as they arrived. Once inside, Soukaku looked up at Wise, gazing at him expectantly as she swayed back and forth and fiddled with her hands. Her eyes lit up when Wise reached into a jacket pocket and retrieved one of the several snacks he had gathered.

"So, what do you need our help with? Ms Tsukishiro's letter sounded serious." Wise asked, gently patting Soukaku on the head as she tucked into her gift.

He watched as the contented look on her face flickered and dimmed and, more to his surprise, she stopped mid-bite to remove the treat from her mouth.

"The chief really needs your help."

The elevator dinged as it reached the floor of the Section 6 office and the doors silently slid open. With no further elaboration, Soukaku strode down the corridors and finished eating as Wise trailed along just behind her, still a little hazy on the building's layout.

It struck him that despite the intense bustle of the entrance floor there seemed to be no staff at work here. The several offices they passed on the way were occupied only by cold mugs of half-drunk coffee and stacks of uneaten breakfasts. It kind of gave him the creeps, reminding him of the kind of ruins he'd frequently traverse in a hollow; filled with all the occurences of humdrum existence but lacking any of the warmth of life, as though reality had snapped it's boundless fingers and shuffled everybody to the next universe over.

Wise was so engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly walked right into the back of Soukaku, who had stopped right outside of their destination. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, opened the door, and stepped into the office. Wise followed her in.

Sounds to his left led his gaze over to the small but comfortable lounge area of the Section 6 office, where he spotted Yanagi and Harumasa busying themselves with… something. They had either not heard the pair come in or were simply too engrossed in their tasks to notice as he approached.

"Good morning! So where's the chi-"

Wise froze. Whatever sounds lingered in his throat were words no longer. His prospects of a nice friendly morning chat drained almost as fast as the colour from his face.

There, sprawled out on the sofa, was the unconscious, battered, bleeding form of Hoshimi Miyabi.