Teen Titans New Gen Presents; Tokyo Knights

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Chapter 33: Swinging Circles and Casual Curses

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Turning from the doorway, officer Detective Hisao opened it full force as looking up, was Kaede, Eiji was outside someplace, and Aya with a boy in the back of the room seated beside his partner, Detective Sun - Woo.

"She needs help, but there is a problem."

Kazuya swept over as he put a hand to Ami's brow. The dark-haired boy in back gasped, then hid their expression. ~ She got hurt, because of that demon…~

Guilt clouded over as Ichirou watched Ami groaning, opening her eyes with a sigh, her body looking possessed and her powers weakened indefinitely.

"I was able to catch up. I think the miasma afflicted her from that youkai attacking. She was in the middle of the fight, and won."

He was there. He didn't tell them about his wounds. He was stronger than her in years, while she was just tapping into some heavy spellcasting for the first time in a while. Ami needed to be in class, this must have been how Jorogumo would keep away her enemies. Challenge and divide them, weaken their resolve and strike.

Ageha had sent her notice pretty clear with that larvae creature. The spores were gone, but anything could cause the cursed victims to become what she wanted. Ami was fighting it, but she writhed in pain as the spore in her throat was glowing. One in her back, as Ichirou sat up. "I can help her!" The supposed cross dresser said aloud, the precinct trying to get back to their own rescue and search missions.

Still, they didn't know. Still, Ami was unaware of who was drafting over. Cold hands warming as they gritted their teeth and screamed out. Pain…pain, so much pain!

Ichirou slumped as a medical was called up. Ami was no longer weeping in her stupor, her color was back. She'd been saved by a close by stranger. Someone She'd want to meet once they both woke up.

/

"Where is Room –

Slade was beside Dick Grayson, Anna by Rose with her eyes on anything that could dare disturb the hospital's newest patrons. It was money well secured. Anna was not however glad to see her sister like she was. As she was, and her father had agreed to a truce only for that ball of sunshine.

They made it, as had the two detectives and the boy. The boy that had supposedly used a special power to save Ami from being swallowed up by a dangerous curse. They in turn, were also bed ridden and holding onto someone's hand.

Haru was lying as a white fox on Ami's feet, while Kaede was texting or looking busy on her phone while in a seat beside the two. Aya was outside the door, her antenna flicking in the direction of the room down the hall; she looked tormented by the quirk as she battled the feeling by seeming a wall hugger.

"Aya. We're going inside."

"Eiji – san in on the roof right now." Aya told the heroes and his allies. "Is, is this your team?"

"For now." Dick nodded, making his way in the door. Ami was up, her eyes slipping towards the ceiling as they shifted to her father. Her sister. Her supposed GRUNKLE without a care.

"Hi, daddy…why are you here?"

Dick didn't have the same ability as Bruce to detach himself. He threw himself at Ami and pulled her close. "I thought you were seriously in danger. Amelia…I'm here, but you're not in school? I know you have to still-

"I…was after a lead, just like you. It was that woman, Ageha. She tricked me!" Ami pulled him off as Dick sat down next to an apathetic Kaede. She was on edge. Her long gyaru nails and fave were merely waiting, hurting all the same.

"What about your partners." Slade walked in, Anna staying beside Rose. "They were supposed to be with you at all times. Isn't that correct?"

"I was, Haru can't. Not in that fight." Kaede finally spoke. "My sister went through more than this, yet to lose either of you. Ami, you can't face her. Hisao, he used some sort of barrier magic. He saved your life."

"The Tokyo officer from before?" Dick asked. "How and why?"

"A similar question would be, how did he use magic at all."

Kazuya had finished with "Ichirou," and joined them. Kaede clichéd as if he were her teacher. Her advisor, knowing she was the cause of all of this. For letting Ami go off to face a high level demon, she could lose her rank.

After all, Inari only had her here because he wasn't always present.

"Hisao – kun was chosen by me. He's a latest psychic that can both see and banish us only under the right circumstances. It was an ability inherited by his grandfather's line, and thus. Ami needed to be brave. She did it, as the cost was but a single portion of that memory. It'll be recovered soon, though!" Smiled the fox as Rose hung her head. "So, we came all this way for nothing?"

"No, we know that right now, Richard should put his foot down." Anna crossed her arms. "Tell her to quit being a hero before she decides to be murdered by these freaks. At least learn to fight –

"She's right." Kaede finished, "I was too soft. Her academic level isn't enough. Her athletic abilities…if she had only been able to deflect those attacks better…" Kaede stood up. "I decline any further agreement for this time on to allow anyone else to train Ami. No one but, Hisao."

"Huh??"

Ami looked at Kaede. "He…I just met the guy!"

"His ability was pure, and he helped you unlike us. Ami…you need to grow stronger. We're only here to stand watch. That's all we are able to do. Your next step as an Onmyo student has to be a leap of faith."

"Why not." Kazuya shrugged as he nodded with that same smile of a Cheshire. "Luke Raku's training, Ami needs to know exactly what we are now dealing with. Any on the job training isn't enough. I might go to him soon, tomorrow. The job last night has our dear detective digging for clues. Wouldn't you say that, Richard?"

"If, if it's feasible." Dick gritted his fists while Slade noticed as well as Anna why. Ami was finding a new teacher. She was being forced to grow up, change. Like his other children had…

"Look. Ami….your whole life you never had to really worry about something like this. Not without your family or the guardians – even Anna is here, see?"

"I'm out."

"Ann?"

The door slammed with a slide as Rose watched Slade do the same. "It's fine. Brief us, later. Rose? Stand by."

"Sure." The silver haired woman shrugged, agreeing to stand like a soldier until death. Anna was what, twenty-one? She still had a lot to learn about not abandoning her post.

She understood though, Joey made her feel the same. Grayson too. Her dad looked at her differently. Dick didn't notice, but he was also like that, judge without realizing what that did to his own kids. Until Slade had helped her to know she wasn't alone. That, was why she had stayed.

Why Anna was afraid to leave and be judged as before, compared to a frost queen, a hapless man baby that was her brother, or even a little perfect princess like Amelia. A goddess, though?

No one would guess it, yet Rose could sense what was about to happen and it didn't look pretty.

/

Anna made her way up to the roof. She could have walked back out no way in again – yet this wasn't her fight. She was a soldier. Same as Aiden was to Raku in the past, she was to that little pipsqueak.

She saw Eiji lounging in the shadows, as bored abd as observant as Slade eyed him closely once he'd had the luxury to join his pupil. Charge, as it were. She had control. Better, even. Yet Asante didn't like the fact that the fire bird in Anna's subconscious had such abilities. That one crack of the cosmic embryo might restart their time like before. ( Sun and Moon arc. Anna and Raku as his merged self ended up saving the world by banishing the reason why Ava was afraid of her own power. The dark entity that followed her to earth never happened and she is now able to come and go between worlds to visit her family again.)

Yet Slade saw in her the unwavering angst that Nightwing failed to. He forgot, that all of his children embodied him. Anxiety and alertness, that was Aiden. Ami was his joy. Ava was his poise and wisdom, and Anna was his fierce discipline and control. As well as his rage abd frustration. They all mirrored him after Raku had made it so. These kids were aspects of the former Rokuro, even if Dick wanted to think it wasn't true. How else would the elements have established themselves so well?

I'm children, it seemed surreal, obscure. Anna knew better, Ami was her side she could never be nor wanted to. Yet Dick…he clung to her out of her inability to defend herself. Anna should have felt privileged in her own mind, yet like a fight for their father's love, she'd never win it back.

"You found your place, long as it took." Slade looked out at the dimming sky light into midafternoon, then evening as Anna huffed to herself. "Ami is his youngest, I cane as a packaged deal. He forgot all about Aiden and myself…like we are already fine without him being around. I thought, I had to just keep working. Do this, get it as far up the ladder…"

"I'm not going to leave yet if you don't want us to. Rose has said she'd have your back. You're getting much better with the staff than how you used to handle it." Praise, for her?

"You never praised dad like this, I bet."

"My work apparently hit a sore spot. Your grandfather, the bat wasn't fond on having his birds fly into my hsnd to become killers."

"You don't really kill the smart ones, I think there is a balance to that-

"In the beginning?" Scoffed the mad man. "You were against it. Don't you remember what you said to your last superior? You told her to "Back off."

"Astarte WAS a killing machine. She ruled the game, made people boot worship the shit out of her team. I didn't want that…"

"You wanted more solidarity. Less control by others, well?"

"Slade, sir? You still think you hold all the cards. Guess what? I know it. Rose does too, that you actually WANT me to stick around. That you'd rob that cradle faster –

"Stop right there." Slade's eye was emboldened as Anna did. "I'm not going to do that, I never wanted you to think I would. Anna, I'm just standing in for him, aren't I."

"Maybe. Maybe we both are."

"You're not Grant, or your father." Slade frowned. "You never have to be."

"Then what is MY presence?? To him, to you? Fire Starter? Come on!" Anna stomped over to the side of the roof as she paced, frustrated, in a tizzy over what she had been blabbering on about.

"Get whatever you can out now, we have to go back down there. This is not going to control you."

"I'm. In. Control." She seethed, letting her shoulders slouch. "You, are just standing by…."

He saw the real, raw her as she rushed over, pounded his chest, tears lit by the sun's ray as a hand fell to her fiery scalp. "You are not in control! I'm in control! I am! I am!!"

"I know you are, and you're doing exactly what you need to, to get past this hurdle."

She sniffled into his abs as his jacket had snot ribboning over it. Her eyes as hazel abd hurt as they always were when her father showed up. The fact he was more hated than Ami, well…this was a job. A high paying one through Shoji. "She couldn't hold that against herself. Not him, not her clients in the future.

"How do you feel."

"Gross." Anna snorted, wiping herself as Slade handed her a spare tissue. "Ready to face the future once more, fire starter?" He tried to smile, just a small crack as she swallowed her pride again, treating him as if he deserved her respect.

"Let's go. I, can fume to you in the car about it later. Ok?"

"I won't stop you. Just know, we need to stay professional when we can. This is a paying job, despite who our benefactor at this moment currently is."

"Bodyguard work is a breeze for you. Knowing you can't get thrown out a window –

"Youkai hate being put down like that, lil' lady." Eiji was active again as he walked out of the shade to face the two. "You were that mutt, the one that helped us stop the fox spirit." Slade looked the dog up and down. "What is your name."

"Eiji. The death shroud hound. I'm an Inugami. A shikigami that went through a whole bunch of crap to know that this?" He pointed at Anna and Slade. "Isn't gonna last. He wants you to stay put. Don't let him leash you up, little Phoenix."

"None of your business, but we're on a mission anyway."

"That fox is called Kokkuri – San. No real gender. Not much sanity from being reborn on this plane." Eiji told the two. "Word of advice from me, don't one – up a demon. You can't shoot a gun at a walking nightmare that you can't touch." Grinning will sharp canines, Eiji took himself in, he didn't need to know how much of a liar that fat cat Wilson really was.

He could tell. That girl would need to burn him to a crisp in a couple of years if they got too close. ( So, this is similar to Terra, and yes. Slade is the person who, if Anna is older, she does end up crushing on due to the savior complex she has. Dick is afraid of this yet Slade claims that isn't his plan at all. Why then is Eiji seeing the same premonition off of Slade? Later arcs. You'll see. The worst fear a father can have is not being able to give his daughter away to a gentleman in olden times. Slade is her non legit bad boy so we can't go into that. Rated T, people!!)

/

Ichorou didn't sit still, the brand was burning again yet not showing up fir anyone else to spot. After Ami had her say in things, Eiji returned. Ichirou had the decency to be in a gown, yet that knowing look as usual had the girl within on edge. "You're, who –

"You know exactly who I am, my lady."

Swallowing, dryly the cross-dressing runaway spoke. "I did it. I bound it, somehow. Please…don't tell them. Kohaku is –

"I know." Inari revealed his god - clad body as his robes took her by storm at how he was more a God today than in a long time since. "Your true face must remain hidden, Iyori – sama. I understand perfectly what those criminals are going on about in this city." He smiled at her, as Ichirou's hair, her hair, she wept at how it was so bullied like her emotions. Cutting that made her feel alien to her own body as she let him pat her back. He touched the brand lightly there and held it down by his magic. "For now, u will make sure the paperwork is signed. You'll stay with Hisao – kun until further notice. He'll be your protector. But, you also have someone to apologize to, don't you?"

"More than one. At least she isn't under my same curse." Ichirou fell into the pillows and sighed. "Aya – chan was hurt. By how I'd left things…it was better if she protected that miko."

"As if that even matters right now, I meant me!" The Fox returned in a puff of magic to reveal itself in its furry cuteness. "Iy- chan! You left us all alone! Shoji us such a bother. He told me to come find you, and u won't ever let you come to harm. You know uncle Kazu has your interests –

"That dog, sent you here??"

Ichirou pushed the fox off of them, the white tails swishing in excitement. "Why, yes. He and the other guardians know about Saturday and the other demon's are in their lair as we sit. I can create a cover. Say, will Ichirou san join us? Become a student once the school is back to itself in a few days?"

"You want me to enroll….as a boy??"

The Fox bobbed its head, changing back to Kazuya as he smiled from ear to ear. "I'd mask any presence of them finding you. It would be the perfect form of protection! The school was exorcised yet I never told your friend –

"SHE'S NOT MY FRIEND." Ichirou burst out saying. "Ami, is nice but I don't think they'd forget. They're the child of a detective family. I'm just a half demon, or was supposed to be until you took me in…"

"Only a quarter of that demon actually wants to be seen." Kazuya rubbed his chin. "Decide while you can, otherwise, I'll find a homeschooling for you to stay at my home in the meantime."

Ichirou turned white. A God's home was a place of sin. It was nothing but parties and courtesan and she wanted no part of it!!

"I'LL GO TO YOUR SCHOOL…!" Ichirou shouted. "No taking me, to your filthy fox den, please…"

/

In the hall, with a bunch of flowers, lastly stomped in Yumi and Jackie. She ran to the bed as Yumi stayed beside Richard. "Is she going to be alright? We got this call, it was from –

"Shoji is laying low for a while." Dick told the ice maiden. "He told us too. Only, it came with a few, concerns." Dick nudged his head to Rose, as she cheerily waves with a fake grin. Slade and Anna returned no later, Ami looking up as Jackie watched Slade tower over them both. "My condolences. I know you'll be fine. Anna?"

Anna straightened out, her chest up and her stand at attention very professional as Asante might have expected. "As of this moment onward, your card and safety in public settings will be monitored by our team. Deathstroke, Ravager and I are not going to fail this mission. So, let us help out?"

Ami pulled Anna's arm as the younger teen hugged her sibling harder than she had in a long time, including Jackie who was not as strong as her dad yet.

"STICK AROUND!" She grinned as Kaede rolled her eyes to watch Slade's unreadable reaction. Or how Dick was sheepishly trying not to tag in for old times' sake. Haru nuzzled in close while Yumi shook her head with a chuckle. "Still close, even after the world tried to end before? Did Shoji expect this to happen?"

"Don't know for sure." Dick turned to look at Slade, still the immovable enigma he feared had prompted Anna's mood.

"One second, Slade? A moment of your time?"

"As you wish." The two went out into the hall to keep things civil. Dick's fists would have unfurled, had Slade not spoken first. "I had to admit, just like her father."

Dick froze up.

"She's not a child anymore, yet you expected her to get her life together too quickly without even realizing it. How much she painstakingly wanted your attention, but could never have it."

"What did you say to my daughter…"

"That we had each other's back. That she could cry on me if she wanted to."

"This is no different than before, Slade!" Hissed Richard. "Tara went through heartbreak. You made her doubt herself. Anna only is supported BY you, it's what you've always done. I'm going to stop it "

"You keep saying you can, yet what can you possibly say that she won't turn from. Your advice is futile, yet mine? Was always, everlasting, just as that fire bird in the next room." He smirked. "She'll likely have no other choice. After this, I gain a true immortal presence. I still have that agreement to finish with Autur, take care of that little fledgling until it knows its place in the universe, then. I retire without you to bicker with ever again."

"Anna, is she the same as you? Immortal?" Dick gasped. "The Phoenix dies in every story. She…she won't trust yours; I swear it!"

"She doesn't need to know all of the details. Just that I intend to protect her for as long as it takes."

"Until she gets that she won't leave you. Like I did. The perfect revenge plot to make me hate you for another thwarted, eternity?"

"You won't have that long to wait, dear Grayson. She will stay, so will I."

Dick felt his bile rise as he KNEW that look. In order to get Anna to hate her father, he had to care about her- really care, trap her in his arms. Dick felt sick. His trust in Slade before, maybe Kori was right. That staying too close…He knew Anna wasn't a child, not anymore. Yet her fragile self-worth. Her new found control of it.

Slade was manipulating her as he had Rose, Terra. And him.

All to get back at Nightwing for not sticking by his side. For not staying his heir at the last second.

Eternity, with his enemy. If he could change that, he'd go in her place. She'd be set free. But…what if Slade really did care? What if it was as bad an obsession as Grant or Addie or even Wintergreen??

What, if it was actually the L – word in disguise?

"Do you pity us, Slade?"

"Sometimes." Slade cocked his head. His eye moving as he thought about the answer first. "I wonder what it would have been like, had there been only her in your lives. If she would have held no real presence at all. Maybe she was never meant to be your kid, maybe she was always better off being trained to kill. By me."

The chill up Grayson's spine dampened as Slade squinted back. "Another time we might have this chat, but for now, a job is a job. Come."

"You first." Dick snarled. Slade pulled at the sliding door as he ignored the cop's expression. "Just. Like her. Always." He whispered.

Grayson's bagging eyes presented themselves, only once Slade had opened that gate into hell and back.

Leaving Dick in the hall, with Eiji watching from a few feet away at what he'd just witnessed, with a sniff, the dog slipped behind Dick's form; a forged bond awaited them both. "You, want me to kill him for you?" The dog offered, Dick's eyes downcast, lips dry. He spoke, but no one else could hear that answer. Save for a grinning shadow of a black hound dancing along on the opposite wall.

/

So, Dick is going into a contract with a killer youkai hound, but for a price?? Ami is making well with her sibling yet Slade had to ruin the moment! Kazuya is allowing Ichirou to parade around without being revealed as Iyori?? Fun times! Next up, a new case at the Tokyo Division and a ghost hunter?? Find out!