All the pain is underneath, I'm listening

To everything, please tell me everything

I'll put my hand up on your chest

So you forget, your engravings.

-Engravings, by Ethan Bortnick.

Subject 24

Sex: F

DOB: 2XXX-11-13

Age: 12

Blood Type: O

Height: 139 cm

Weight: 30 kg

Test results

Intergration with Sanguis Lunae: Success

Note: Subject's has displayed extreme compatibility with S.L serum, and its properties have been integrated with its blood. Attempts to introduce its blood to subject 15 have resulted in failure- further experimentation needed.

Despite no abnormalities in it's make up, once it has left its host, Subject's blood display a level of toxicity that rivals that of box jellyfish venom- further testing needed.

It would seems that forcefully extracting blood from the subject would result in it becoming venomous.

Subject's blood does not display toxicity if extracted when subject is dead. This aligns well with the clients' requests of testing its regenerative abilities. Introduced subject's blood to mice from test group 4- 80% of them resulted in failure- the remaining began to display similar restorative properties to Subject 24.

Document, location unknown. Author unknown.

Over the next while, Kuroko's aunt stopped coming to the games and practice. Not that it was that common of an occasion for her to show up. But it is her replacement which startled them Kise has started crashing the end of their practices (with a mob of girls, and some guys), alongside a youthful stranger with vintage glasses who calls Kuroko by his first name. Kuroko doesn't seem to like the guy much, and neither does Kise. But when asked the former just says he's a family friend, and the other calls him a creep.

On the other hand, his own aunt arrives the following week.

Alex arrives at night, just after the two matches in a row, startling Taiga. He has just entered the apartment, expecting it to be empty, expecting the familiar cold, only to find the woman passed out on the couch surrounded by a copious amount of soda cans. He can feel the migraine rise in him then, as he treks through the trash and past the suitcase so he can get started on cleaning up the mess.

His shoulders ache in protest when he finishes, and his calves feel like they're about to go on strike. He notices then, however, two convenient store bento lies on the counter, one half eated, other still in the plastic. Taiga peels back the sheer, pale material Burger patty on rice, with cheese. And his go to brand of soda. He heats it in the microwave, and collapses into the couch, breaking out the disposables.

It's stale. The meat breaks apart too easily, and usually, far from appatizing. But he glances at the Pacific coast time on his homescreen clock, and find that he couldn't be bothered.

It's the thought that counts.

Alex stirs when he is halfway through dinner, when the plastic fork is starting to look like it's threatening to fall apart. She sits up with a yawn, straps of her tank top falling off under the jacket she didn't take off. She lies there for a moment before throwing her legs over the side to sit up, which is when she noticed him.

"Taiga! It's been a while ey?" She shifts, face breaking into a grin as she fixes her hair, matted from sleep and travel, she looks him over, "back from a game?"

"Two games in a row- Alex, what are you doing here?" Taiga sticks his fork into the rice

"I should be asking you that, what are you doing here now? It's it supposed to be later in the year?" Taiga swallows a piece of soggy cheese. "How's dad doing?"

"Geez, talk about a cold reception! Aren't you glad I came to visit?." Alex brushes off his question, something in her tone of voice betrays her, however, and Taiga may not be the most perceptive, but he's known Alex for years, and his dad, well, is his dad. He doesn't push, though, and simply pushes her half eaten bento (which he's since reheated) over. "Oh, thanks. He sent me over this time, actually. Takeru wanted to come personally, but you know, his boss was being stingy and would let him take the time off. So here I am!" She makes a motion of spreading her arms like a presentation, before turning to the meal in front of her.

"But what for?" Taiga asks, still not getting at why his dad would want to come over, personally, no less. "Did something happen?"

Alex sends him a look, and there is oddly, something careful about it. "About my sister's case." She replies, and her voice is lacking in her usual energy, instead there is something else, almost like she isn't very sure of how to approach the topic, either. "you didn't think that SSRA would just let a minor get briefed alone, did you? You'll need a guardian with you."

"Oh." Taiga blinks, Mrs Lysandra didn't mention that, nor did any of his correspondence with the specialist he's been referred to so far, but it made sense. They are known for taking care of cases involving extreme violence, after all.

"I thought it would be a little longer before we'd have to talk about this, but you are around the age people start finding out." Alex's next words snap him out of his thoughts, and Taiga meets her eyes. "I didn't find out until I was 22, but the earliest I've heard outside of those who are born into it are around 15 to 16."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'this'?" Taiga frowns, probably not his mother's death from the sound of things. "Find out?"

"About SSRA," Alex glances at him, raising a brow. Her expression then softens, "you're confused, ey?"

"No shit," Taiga deadpans, "what about SSRA? Why would your ex teammates know about them? Aren't they, like, some kind of really confidential police or something?"

"Not... just, police. Think of it like an open secret." Alex stabs her food with her plastic fork absentmindedly. "It's the thing you find out alongside taxes and politics. It's something most people know happens, but no one talks about it. No one likes taking about it." She glances at him, "I'm glad you're only getting into it now- your dad still thinks its too early, but I think you can handle it," she glances at him. "But, he said you were referred?"

She sounds almost worried, Taiga notes, "I was." Admitting was easy, after all there's nothing too out of place with how he stumbled across Mrs Lysandra, who could refer him, so he tells her as it is, going through their brief meeting and her being one of his teammates' guardians. Though, judging from Alex's expression, however, she doesn't seem to think so. "What about it?"

"No, it's nothing, really," she pulls a smile, and it seems strained. A clap of thunder sounds then, without rain, and she jumps at the opportunity to change the subject, "oh would you hear that, its going to rain. I'll go take the laundry in. Man, the weather really is unpredictable, ey?"

The conversation lingers on his mind all throughout the day after, surfacing alongside the grogginess and soreness from the games yesterday- he naps during classes, which earned him a few broken chalks from the teachers- and probably putting a mark in his class preformance records (not that he cares). Alex packed him a few more snacks for lunch, though, and he goes through them so quickly- they'd barely dented his appetite.

"You're eating more than usual," Kuroko notes from behind him, peeking over his shoulder to stare at the pile of sandwiches he's gotten from the cafeteria. Taiga sends him a look for it, and deadpans.

"Of course, we played two games yesterday, I'm starving," he glances at the store bought sandwich on the teen's table, that's unusual. "I'm surprised that's enough for you. And what's with the convenience store lunch? Don't Mrs Lysandra usually pack lunch for you?" Taiga usually steals the sides- he was actually looking forwards to doing that this morning.

"I am sore at least," Kuroko states, "also Hotaru-san had work overnight and wasn't home by morning," he shrugs.

Didn't she just do that like, at the beginning of the week? Taiga makes a face, and the conversation from last night surfaces in his mind again. Maybe Alex was referring to this ridiculous amount of constant overtime.

"DVD?" Shin-chan's brows crease, like they always do when something either confuses or annoys him, staring at the case in his hand. "Who even uses DVDs these days?"

"They're on Seiho's games. And, our school, appearantly, and public libraries," Kazunari shrugs. It's not the oldest kind of records he's seen, all of Constella and Karasuma's records are on paper, though with magic the concern of efficiency and security kind of flies out the window. And Shuutoku is an old school- well, school, a lot of their stuff still haven't updated. Their Sorcery Secretary complains about it all the time, "we're like, the only two first years this year, right? So we basically know nothing about them. Isn't better to prep?"

Shin-chan turns away, disinterested, "I'm not interested." He dismisses, turning away. Like always when Kuroko and Kagami aren't involved in something. Kazunari sighs.

"Don't be like that just because Kuroko and Kagami aren't in it." He huffs, "these are the guys to beat in the finals, ya know, besides we're both off today so its not like you've got anything better to do."

"You've been awfully busy though taking early leaves left and right," Shin-chan gives him a withering look, "we're in the middle f the inter high preliminaries, can't you at least put in some effort? You've been missing practice lately." Kazunari chuckles, laughing off the question, but Shin-chan continues. "Where even were you this morning? You might as well have taken the day off."

"Com'on, I actually had something important to do," Kazunari complained, it's Constella policy for patrol units surrounding mission areas to be briefed and go through intensive training before it takes place to ensure their safety. And while he's not Constella and Saitama is under Karasuma jurisdiction, the mission last night was supervised by Anthea Edgarson, who is Constella, making their policies valid in this particular case. And well, they ended up needing it, "and its not like I wanted to miss school. Again, you have nothing to do right now, right?"

"No..."

"Then its decided!"

"Oi," Shin-chan makes a face at him. And Kazunari grins in return. He's glad he pushed to come back to school even though it's long past noon. His supervisor wanted to excuse him for the whole week. He probably felt a little responsible for the incident last night, since he was the one who suggested them to Edgarson. But honestly coming to school might be better for him, something to make sense of yesterday night and the subsequent offer. He'd need time to think over it. Right now his mind is too frazzled, and he doesn't want to think of any of the SSRA's politics, possible trauma or anything else, just basketball.

(The soles of his shoes still feel a little too slick.)

"My towel..." Taiga mumbled as he winded his way back towards the gym lockers. After practice, he's gotten a little too stuck in his head and left without grabbing it- and knowing Alex she's probably hogging the one at home for her hair, so he's going to need it. No leaving it for tomorrow. It doesn't take long to find it, being first thing in view after he opens the squeaky metallic door- but the moment he presses it shut, a now familliar presence seems to fade into existence, and he startles.

Kuroko is standing right by the lockers, blocked from his view just moments ago. Taiga breaths out, this is not good for his heart. "What are you doing? When did you get here?"

"I forgot something. Also, your'e the one who came in after me." Kuroko gives him a flat look. By now Taiga can tell apart the looks in his eyes. This is what he looks like unimpressed. And Taiga is not impressed.

"Say something! You scared me!" He sighs, dropping his arms. It happens much less now, since they've started to get a little more used to his lack of presence, but sometimes when he doesn't pay attention, this happens. Taiga straightens, and stares back at the pale haired teen. His eyes are locked somewhere to his right, just a little off centre.

He does this a lot, staring off into blank space like he's thinking or listening to something else, he's starting to notice. "What are you looking at?" Taiga follows his line of sight, nothing, he looks back towards the teen, who averts his eyes. Maybe its just him, but Kuroko has been growing a little more distant lately, getting more and more cagey.

"Nothing," Kuroko replies, eyes searching around the room. "Hey, do you think coach left that behind?"

The fox is, as expected, waiting for him at the gates. He's dressed more casually, at least, instead of the traditional getup he seems so fond of, but if Tetsuya squints, he can still spot the faint outline of the sword hanging from his back. Kagami-kun stares after him as he joins Sasaki's side, his mother's whisp waving by his side. The fox's eyes linger on the whisp for a moment, and the whisp bristles, narrowing her eyes as she jabs a "I'm watching you" motion with her barely formed, wispy fingers.

"Bright one, isn't she?" Sasaki hums, crossing his arms as he turns around to start walking down the street with him. "Saw right through me. Gutsy too. Not just any whisp, even protective ones stick around when I'm feeling a little murderous."

"You mean the day she spotted you?" Tetsuya glances up towards the man. He is much like his father, and a strange coincidence- like Mafu-kun, with his deadpan faces. "Wait, what do you mean, feeling murderous?"

The fox tilts his head to glance down towards him, but doesn't answer, so Tetsuya doesn't push.

For the past week or two, Sasaki-san has also taken over parts of his magical education, since Hotaru-san and Mafuyu-san has been busy with work. And Tetsuya would reluctantly admit that he's a good teacher. Hotaru-san always seemed too tentative to dive too deep into any topic outside of the technicalities, and Mafuyu-san just sucked at anything that remotely needed him to compartmentalise and then self express.

Sasaki however, has no such filter. He's a lot snarkier about it, of course, but Tetsuya felt as though he's learned more about the functions of the society and his current guardians this week than he did the past several months. Like how there's a Yokai society as well- what sorcerers his age are usually doing or what they've probably learned so far.

"Your results are back, by the way," Sasaki's voice pulls Tetsuya out from his thoughts, "you're positive for aura and echo. Which, not much of a surprise, considering Haruka. You'd probably want to get started on trying that out. Aura I mean."

Tetsuya frowns, "not Echo?"

"nah, Echo is pretty intuitive. If anything you probably need to learn how to turn it off. Which, right now, might actually work against you." The fox glances at him, "you see my sword, don't you?"

"Faintly, yes."

"You've got a better sense than most I've seen. But for now you'll need to be able to see this stuff." Sasaki pokes him on the forehead, Tetsuya dodges, and rubs at the reddened skin when he fails to do so. "Anthea or Elias can probably help you with filtering some of the more unpleasant stuff out, if it gets overwhelming."

Tetsuya makes a noise to acknowledge, "why them?"

"They both have echo."

"And you don't?"

"Yokai magic works differently." The Fox shrugs. They turn a corner around the street, stopping briefly to wind around a Shade in an alleyway, Tetsuya gives the small, half-formed silhouette a glance, and it stares back with glowing white eyes and silence. "I'm sorry. By the way."

Tetsuya wrenches his eyes away from the ghost. "What?"

Sasaki sighs. "I'm sorry for using secret whisperer and charm on you," he faces him properly now, sounding for once, serious, "it's not right. I was jealous and afraid and took it out on you by being unnecessarily hostile."

Tetsuya stares up at the fox, he didn't expect this from him. He sounds so out of character and sincere with the apology that Tetsuya couldn't really find it in him to be all that mad. But... "Afraid?" Tetsuya asks, tilting his head, and the fox grimaces.

"Us Yokai tend to keep to ourselves for a reason." He winces, "our lifespans differ too much. And we tend to fall out of touch. But... I didn't think that Hotaru would give my stuff to someone else while I was gone." He glances down at Tetsuya, gesturing towards him with his chin, "that necklace Hotaru gave you? I made that." Tetsuya blinks, hand going up to tug at the black cord. "For Hotaru, before she could fight. You also had one of my books on you then. I thought she'd moved on, and I'd lost my sister again."

"Again?"

The fox hums, like he's trying to brush off the question, one of his hands reach backwards and lightly pressing over the hilt of his sword. "The same person who stole my name murdered her- or at least I thought he did." He says lightly, and Tetsuya grimaces. He slowly starting to understand his guardians reluctance to tell him more about the society, the longer he spent around Sasaki. So far everyone he's heard of from this society had lost someone to some form of violence.

"But, well." The fox continues, his voice brighter now, "I was mingling with the Nanakasa back then- they were a fascinating lot- helped them build their business with the founding members, too! Ah, nostalgic days." He looks up, "then he came after me. The Nanakasa were just getting back onto their feet from Shinsha's whole thing then- and I wasn't able to protect both them and myself. I made a deal, and it costed me my true name."

The fox says it like its not a big deal, when, no matter what perspective you look at it, losing a true name sounds like a very big deal. So Tetsuya stares at the fox as if to ask, what then? Sasaki looks back down at him, and shrugs.

"I fell asleep after that." He says, nonchalant.

Tetsuya has a vague feeling he's omitting a lot of stuff. He recalls what Hotaru said, "then Hotaru-san found you."

"Correct!" Sasaki clicks his tongue, and annunciates the words like a dramatic game host. "She picked me up from the sewers under a bridge. Ah she was so tiny back then! Tiny little kid. I miss that." He makes a vague gesture indicating how small Hotaru-san was back then, sighing affectionately. And Tetsuya sees no difference.

"She's still tiny." He deadpans. (A/N: She's 4'10" lol)

Sasaki pauses for a moment, then laughs. "True." He points a finger gun at him, grinning, and Tetsuya catches a glimpse of his fangs. "Anyways, I got back with the Nanakasa after that, which is when I met your mom! She's around 13 I think? I don't know I was busy dealing with the consequences of barging in a mansion. I liked her a lot! Took care of her after Azuma threw your uncles out. We used to sneak out together for junk food and karaoke." He smiles down at him, like he's looking at someone else through him. "She was a good kit."

His expression is fond. And Tetsuya wrenches his eyes away from the sight. He never knew that part of his mother's life. She never spoke about her family much, outside of the occasional nights after a call or a visit from Hotaru-san and Mafuyu-san, where she'd get a little more talkative. He never even knew he had more uncles outside of Mafuyu-san, before moving in with them.

What did she do? Who was she before she escaped from the Nanakasa family? What were the siblings like? He suddenly feels a little sad for Mafuyu-san. He's the only one left, it seems, and the rest of the Nanakasa doesn't seem all that pleasant. He sink into his thoughts with that, following Sasaki's footsteps without putting his mind to it, only realises belatedly that they're not headed for the train station.

"Sasaki-san?" He asks, glancing around. "This isn't..."

"I know." The fox sends him a meaningful look, and gently ushers him alongside himself, taking a turn into an abandonded clearing, the surroundings blacked out by older, empty looking buildings and overgrown with grass around construction pipes. He stops there, looking around as if surveying the surroundings. Tetsuya stops a pace or two behind, starting to grow a little nervous.

"You know I've noticed you, right?" Sasaki suddenly calls out to the air, tilting his head as if listing for something. "You can come out."

Light. Tetsuya flinches backwards as something white explodes in his vision and he is yanked backwards by his collar. He stumbles back, catching his balance, and Sasaki is in front of him.

There's a man. Dark haired, blank-faced and in a set of clothings almost reminiscent of Mafuyu-san's uniform, a sword inches from Sasaki's face as the fox parries the blade, pressing forwards to push the man back. He jumps backwards, but the ground erupts where he lands with something Tetsuya can't catch, sending him flying back, before he seemingly disappears.

"Sasaki-san." Tetsuya says, tense. And the fox clicks his tongue. His blade is drawn, loosely held in one hand while the other is extended, forearm encased in some kind of metallic vines, twisting into a brace of some sort. Right. Metallic vines. Tetsuya's eyes find the ground that just exploded moments ago, twisting, gleaming thorny branches splits the ground forming into claws, faint traces of red lining some of the longer spikes.

"Hold your breath for a moment, Tetsuya-kun." He shakes his head, and makes a gesture of writing in the air, like using aura, but light doesn't trail after his fingertips. "You can breath now." The fox says after a moment, finishing off the spell. And at Tetsuya's glance, he tilts his head towards the bloodied metal branches, where a faint mist is starting to rise from the red. "Protection. That was poison."

Tetsuya turns to look at the branches, alarmed. "Poi-"

He is interrupted when Sasaki pulls him aside again to parry a blow aiming for his head. The fox throws the man backwards, his blade nicking the stranger- the assassin's side, deep enough to leave a crecent splatter of blood on the ground, the assassin doesn't seem to falter, his face remaining unsettlingly blank even with blood dripping down his side, and he steps back, vanishing into thin air again.

"That's what makes the Nanakasa famous." Sasaki, seemingly sensing his inquiry, murmurs under his breath to answer. "A spell that turns a person into a weapon. Fitting, for a family of mercenaries, isn't it? Pain, your thoughts, your desires- under that spell. Nothing matters. Whoever is under it well and truly becomes a 'tool' for the duration of it." Tetsuya looks up, alarmed at the fox's description, and feels his heart sink.

"It's convenient, and what keeps them out of prison. Whatever a mercenary under the spell does isn't counted as their voluntary actions. They'd essentially be considered a tool in the eyes of the law." Sasaki breathed out, baring his teeth. "It went forgotten for so many years, before Azuma revived it, and subsequently the Nanakasa line."

"That's not much of a reassurance." Tetsuya mumbles, looking around. The edges of the skies is starting to darken, by now. Dusk is quickly approaching, and the mist circling them remains.

"Don't worry. I may not be much of a fighter, but."

"I'm not called a Primordial for no reason."

"Thought you'd be sleeping after that."

Anthea's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. Lysandra looks up, slowly, and smiles, "I'm halfway there I think." She quibs, her head feels heavy, as does her eyelids, but her body is still too restless to allow itself rest after last night she is kind of avoiding sleep right now, to be honest. "How did the wrap up go?"

"We've secured the old hospital. The poltergeist domain has also been sealed, now we're waiting for it to stablise so we can attach it to a secure environment before we begin cracking down on the contents." She closes the door behind her, rolling her shoulders as she sighs. Lysandra smiles wryly. The whole series of events the past two weeks has taken a toll on all of them, and though Anthea is seldom on field, as the one with a more administrative role her work is only going to increase from here. "...we've also sealed the site, but the amount of remains this time means we can't complete the cleanup without you."

"Ah," Lysandra averts her eyes, "I'll drop by tomorrow to finish that. And the kid?"

"Went back to school." Anthea shakes her head as she approaches, flipping to a page on her clipboard, "I tried to keep him, but he's cleared of injuries and insisted, so we wrote him a note for the Secretary and let him leave. Said he wanted to clear his mind... I'm not surprised, after what he saw." The woman grabs her hand, and feels for her pulse on her wrist. "Open up."

The tests that comes after are standard. They both know what kinds of results they're going to get after a particular incident such as this one. She notes down everything, regardless, and stares down at her own handwriting in silence when its completed.

"Anything?"

"Moon rise was 3 hours ago, Lysandra, and you know how your blood works," the woman closes her eyes, "nothing. I don't like this."

Lysandra averts her eyes, silent. "It's useful." She points out, the arguement almost too weak. Anthea spares her a sharp glare.

"You got mauled to pieces."

Lysandra winces, the stetement is literal. She then pulls a half grin. "Aren't you glad I can afford to?" She quibs- the attempt falls horribly flat at Anthea's flinch, and indignant (hurt) look in response, and Lysandra averts her eyes. "Sorry, too much?"

Her silence answers the question. Anthea sets the clipboard aside, "Mafuyu left early." She states. "Off to pick up your kid?"

"He did?" Lysandra glances up, blinking before she realises. "Right, I was supposed to do the groceries. He probably went to pick that up." She hopes he doesn't buy the wrong brand of milk, she worked hard to get the current recipe of milkshakes which Tetsuya liked. "And Kei's picking Tetsuya up today. We try to be discreet, and Kei looks young enough to pass as an older friend so it should be alright?" Her last syllable ticks up into a quiestion, and Anthea stares at her flatly.

"I'm surprised you'd trust him with the boy, or that Kuroko even tolerates him." The blonde crosses her arms. "After what Sasaki did."

"Kei is just about as emotionally constipated as Mafuyu is, he's just better at hiding it, which might be worse for him than you'd think." Lysandra sighs, she blinks some of the sleep out of her eyes, almost fighting to keep they from blurring. She doesn't really want to sleep, not right now. "He is a little too used to losing people, and assumes he's lost them before he actually has." She recalls the details of the sports magazine, and the news of the past games that Teikou has played. "If my guess is correct, I think him and Tetsuya will be good for eachother."

"Hm." Anthea turns around to place something down. "And why did you want to take the Takao boy in as your student?"

Lysandra blinks, "did he tell you?"

"No, but I heard from outside the door," the woman jabs a thumb in that general direction, "and its not hard to guess, either. I saw what he did during the whole fiasco, it was smart. And what you've been looking for."

"...I mean, it's not the full reason." Lysandra looks away and out the window, "I've been irrational with the way I've been dealing with Tetsuya's education. There's so much I don't tell him. So I thought I should cross reference." Outside the window, a school of iridescent fishes swim past, blurring into smudges of light in her eyes with lack of sleep. "And... Tetsuya would probably do good with someone to relate to. Or just, a peer who can provide some kind of insight, outside of Kei or us."

"A little strange, to take a student right now." Anthea tidies away the small table, straightening to meet her eyes. "If what Kei says is true, aren't you declaring war with the elders with that?"

Lysandra lowers her gaze. "Not exactly." She sighs. "It may look a little sudden to you, but I'm not doing this just because. I've talked to Kei and Mafuyu about this. Not- specifically who, just the action of taking a student."

"First, the elders may not like us, but majorly they despise me and my influence alone. Mafuyu is after all, still a part of their family. To them, I'm not. If I take on a personal student, then its likely they would view that I'm saying I have found someone to influence, and Tetsuya is under Mafuyu's guidance instead of both of ours. It would be enough to sway those allied with the Nanakasa to leave him alone, and instead try to focus on Mafuyu."

"As for those who are working against the Nanakasa family initially, personal students are typically a part of the inheritance, to them its like I've 'found a backup', and ensuring that we lose all possible heirs is going to become a lot more difficult. It's likely some would stop trying, and the attempts would become a bit more spread out."

"You know the elders aren't going to leave the student alone, whoever it is." Anthea states.

Lysandra meets Anthea's scrutinising eyes, frowning. "I'm going to tell them before they get into it, after course. I'm not Azuma."

"No, I'm not implying-" the blonde sighs- "I'm only saying that because politics just never seemed your thing. You didn't do anything about your situation for years, after all. Why now?"

Lysandra falls silent.

Why now? After all these years of not giving a single shit about what the Nanakasa's thought of them, what the inner circles thought of them, or anyone at all. Being in their line of work seems simple enough, get a mission, complete it, rinse repeat. It didn't matter what the elders pulled. They can't lay a hand on their own head of house, and for Lysandra? It didn't matter how outrageously dangerous the missions they threw her way was. She always survives.

She always, survives.

Tetsuya won't.

There is no such barrier like her blood or Mafuyu's status to protect him. She's not nearly as powerful as her mentor- her blood is enough to protect herself, but she doesn't command the same amount of respect or reverence as her mentor, not nearly enough to keep anyone from ever daring to lay a single hand on Tetsuya.

And-

"I owe it to him that much." She murmurs, before sleep took her.

Her blood didn't take.

Lysandra passes out.

Akashi Masaomi is as always, the picture of authority.

He is built as such, and carries himself like so. In a sleek black suit and crisp white cuffs. Red watches from where they stand- him and Seijurou- as he converses with another man, walking down the hall. His company is a man- he looks old, even though it is clear he has aged gracefully- if not for the jagged scars crawling down the left side of his face. He is dressed traditionally, and holds himself as though he is used to being revered.

He looks familiar.

Red is positive Seijurou has never met this man before in his life- his figure doesn't exist in any of their shared memories. But something about him seemed so oddly familiar to Red that he can almost be certain that he exists somewhere in his memories, much like the glimpses of war torn landscapes, bloodied faces and hands, and fire.

"With the lack of necessary facilities, our production is dwindling, Nanakasa-dono." Their father's voice pulls Red back to reality, and he listens. "Those were long standing sites that had been close to the centre of the production. Unless you want to lose more than you already have, I suggest we retract this particular venture of ours."

"Akashi-san. With all due respect, the kind of edge the Sanguis Lunae gives us is beyond its financial worth. Livelihoods are at stake." The man replies, haughty. "I agree that we must scale down, but to what extent? The kind of repercussion it would spell would result in more-" he stops, and his eyes finds Red's, and Akashi Masaomi turns his gaze their way as well.

'Red, if you want to switch...'

'No need.' Red quickly shuts the other down. Seijurou falls silent within their mind. 'He's with guests, nothing he can do in front of company.'

"Seijurou." Their father calls down the hall, and Red approaches. "Allow me to introduce you. Nanakasa Azuma. Nanakasa-dono, this is my son. I'm sure you have heard of him."

"Hm." The older man stares down at him, gaze lingering on his golden eye. Something in his demeanor seems to change, then, into-

Caution? No. That can't be right. Red schools his expression, and gazes back in turn. But it's unmistakable, Nanakasa Azuma has taken a step back away, staring at him as though he is going to explode any moment now. "Pleasure to meet you, Nanakasa-dono." Red greets, offering a hand. And the man, in return, narrows his eyes, as though he had just confirmed something.

"Such familiarity..." The man murmurs as he shakes his hand, "congratulations, Akashi-san, you must be rather proud of him"

"You flatter me, Nanakasa-dono." Akashi Masaomi's smile does not reach his eyes.

Feeling Seijurou's discomfort, Red quickly excuses himself, using a convenient call from Shintarou, with a quick bow he retreats to their room. Searching through their mind for a moment before realising that Seijurou has again fallen into one of those trances.

He does it sometimes, becoming less aware of reality as Red is in control, like falling half asleep. He usually lets him- not that Red could wake him if he tried. But this time, its a call from an old teammate, so Red tries to nudge him back into awareness, just a little, and succeeds. Seijurou' a consciousness stirs as Red connects the call, something quiet.

"Shintarou."

"Akashi," Midorima Shintarou's voice has not changed, after the past few months of lack of contact, "how have you been?"

"Well," he answers curtly, and pauses to recall the preliminary matches in Tokyo, "Shintarou, I believe that Shuutoku will be facing their semi-final and final match on the same day correct?"

"Yes, of course," there is hesitance in his voice, Red notes, before he continues, "as is Seirin."

Ah, "I recall. Seihou has acquired Tsugawa as well." He lowers his gaze, in the back of his mind Seijurou provides the memory of their past matches helpfully. "This will be a tough wall for Seirin to overcome. Anyways. Shintarou, what is it that prompted you to contact me?"

"Have you heard of Kaijou's practice match against Seirin?"

"Yes, of course. Ryota's preformance was disappointing." Red narrows his eyes, in the back of their mind Seijurou surfaces, brushing against his consciousness as if to say something. He sighs, and allows his tone to soften. "What of it?"

"I watched the end of that match, and while I didn't speak with him, I crossed path with Kuroko." He hesitates again. "He seems to be in the company of a SSRA personnel."

"...SSRA?" That, Red did not say, Seijurou had peaked through this time, and Red gently allow his hold on the reins to loosen, handing them over. "What is Kuroko doing with SSRA?"

They're both aware of the association's existence and strangely wide reach. In their shared memories, throughout Seijurou's childhood was their figures, coming in and out of their home, doctors accompanying their so called 'secretaries'. They both knew little of the association's work, but enough to know that it is not something one gets in touch with easily- nor lightly.

The fact that his mother died shortly after their visits ceased is proof.

Shintarou seems to note the change in address from Seijurou. And hesitantly, he calls. "Akashi?"

"Yes, Midorima?" Seijurou replies, and the tension seems to ease, and Red almost finds it in himself to feel envious. "When you cross paths with Kuroko again, do ask after him."

"Find out why he's in contact with SSRA as well." Red chips in, terse. "You will meet him either before or after the finals to obtain the answer, and come back to me as soon as possible."

There's a moment of silence, and Shintarou, seemingly realising the switch back, falls silent.

"Of course, Akashi."

The green haired teen on the other side hangs up, leaving the dial tone to ring in his ears.

It has been a while since Kei last encountered a kind of stealth spell so good that even he couldn't see through. Their opponent is thankfully not as adapt with combat as he is, however, and defending both himself and Tetsu-kun at the same time proves to be a simple task. It may not look it to the boy, however, when he stares with wide eyes as Kei intercepts another blow at his head.

With this mercenary's level of combat, the stealth is at most an annoyance. He can, after all, turn this entire clearing into a bed of metal bristles and thorn bushes, but he's rather not draw the ire of the cleanup teams after all the trouble Hotaru must give them. He turns around with a flourish of his sword, flicking away another attack, just as he refocuses on Tetsu-kun.

The kid is still wide-eyed and half frozen in place, the latter is good since he'd much prefer defending a target that's not moving over one that is panicking. The wide-eyed part, however. The kid will have to get used to this kind of display, if he's staying with Hotaru. When compared with her, his own fighting style is rather tame. The boy's eyes shift, and that is when Kei notices it.

He's wide-eyed, but he doesn't seem at all too scared, or maybe that's just the deadpan face he inherited from his father. But his eyes are moving, going from one spot to another, and where it lands, a blow comes from after. Kei counters another slash from the man, reaching with his vines again, only for him to vanish, and slip away. He clicks his tongue, and turns to the boy. "Do you see him?" He asks. And Tetsuya-kun meets his eyes briefly, before they dart back towards something- a target.

"Yes."

Kei follows his line of sight, narrowing his own eyes. Nothing registers in his senses. "Keep your eyes on him. I'll follow your lead."

The rest of the fight was quick. The boy's reflexes are quick, and telling him to vocalise where the mercenary is would just get in their way, so Kei simply follows wherever the boy's eyes goes. He finally allows his vines to grow- bursting from the ground wherever Tetsu-kun looks, and once it draws blood, Kei grins.

"Got you."

The thorns on the branch lengthens, spearing through the invisible man's left shoulder, and right hand, his weapon flies out of it, bloodied as it clatters to the ground. His form fades into view, and Kei can feel the sharp breath that the kit draws as he looks at the bloodied scene.

This boy is too soft. He didn't even blind him.

Kei sighs as he slowly approaches, raising his sword to hold the still black-faced mercenary at sword point. Blood pours, and seeps into the ground. Strings of skin clings, broken apart by the uneven surface of the realistic texture of his metallic vines and their thorns, a quiet dripping sound fills the air with the sickly sweet scent of blood, iron-like, clinging to the back of his throat. And the man remains blank-faced.

What a fitting spell. For the Nanakasa. And how fitting it is that Azuma was the one to revive it. Absolute control, absolute obedience, and thus, freeing of responsiblility. The crafting of it is so intricate, Kei is almost impressed that he managed to recreate it from what little is left of the manuscripts. Tetsu-kun is now staring at him, and the sword point digging into the side of the mercenary's throat. A bead of red begins to form, and a tension hangs in the air.

Then Kei smiles, and drops his sword to his side. Tetsuya looks at him, surprised, but Kei just gives him a meaningful look, before he swipes away the bead of blood on the man's neck, and with the same finger, boops him on the nose.

The spell breaks beneath his touch like glass, the man jolts to awareness, just as Kei takes a step back, letting his veins retract. The metal slides out of the puncture wounds, and the mercenary falls to the ground with a pained grunt. Something shimmers across his skin as a multitude of healing runes begin their work, stopping the blood flow and stitching the skin close as the man pants on the ground, confused.

"What-" he splutters, and coughs, spitting red. He looks up at Kei, shocked, "how, that's not possible."

"What just happened?" Tetsu-kun asks, looking cautious. He has a hand over the pocket Kei knows he keeps his arm ill art coins, good. Maybe Kei should get him something after this.

"I broke the spell. You know, the mercenary one." Kei answers, ignoring the mercenary still panting on the ground. "Now whatever he does after this, well, if he does do anything, he would have to pay for it. In court." He turns back towards the man, "you know what that means, right? If your actions extends, then not only would you have to answer for anything hereafter, but also before. You do remember the Nanakasa Akiichi case, right?" Mentioning this case brings a bitter taste to his mouth, but the man's cautious glare makes it worth it. "A malfunction at the last week had him answering to two month's worth of actions. I suggest you be careful."

"This is impossible," The mercenary repeats, incredulous, "this is the Nanakasa's mercenary contract. Once casted, it's not breakable. Also, what of you, then?" He spits, pushing himself onto his feet. Before he could stand, however, Kei raises his sword, pointing it at his face. The man sits back onto the ground. "And what of you? This amount of magic use, and altering of the environment. Even for a Yokai, this is a clear violation."

He's serious, this guy has no idea who he is. "Kid," Kei deadpans, "I'm Sasaki Kei. No one is going to come after me for this." Tetsuya stares up at him for this, the look in his eyes contemplating. "As for the spell," Kei takes a step forwards, grinning as he leans downwards to stare at the young man, the fear in his eyes increasingly apparent as his identity sinks in, "who do you think invented it, kid?"

The SSRA's investigations into Sanguis Lunae is starting to become a concern. Edgarson is acquainted with the Thornfield brat (he refuses to acknowledge one of Shinsha's as a Nanakasa), after all. He may despise the woman for her affair during the arranged engagement with Mafuyu, but she is a capable woman, sharp minded despite her disgraceful lack of power.

Azuma taps against the vial in his hand, watching the liquid inside. Its creation was difficult, sacrifices were made- and two ghouls as a result of it. From the remainants of Akiichi's arrest. His accepting of the job at the research hospital bought their family nothing but shame then- the contract had a glaring loophole that as his son, he should not have overlooked. And even after the malfunctioning of the spell, his son chose to face the legal consequeses instead of the correct thing to do- as a Nanakasa, he could've easily slippped out of most of the accusations. Instead now he's behind bars for life.

And now finally, over twenty years after, that fiasco can bring something of value to the table. Sanguis Lunae. Blood of the Moon. A fitting name. A little on the nose perhaps. To think that that kind of power that once existed within this world, and now this is all that remains of it. Drops of red, farmed from scraps of a farce. Red that symbolised perfection.

She was perfection, incarnated. He may despise her, but her power was undeniable- before it was gone. Thankfully, a fraction of perfection can only be that, perfection. Such is the arbitrary thing.

Absolute power, from the tears of Shinsha. And perfection may be reborn.

A/N

Heheheheheheh shit hits the fan now