---

---

The deafening noise of engines, from both bikes and cars, mixed with the loud music and shouts and yells from the over excited members of the renegade gang known as the Yellow Jackets, echoed through the decrepit skeletons of the once busy warehouses and factories of the Old Industrial District.

Amidst all that chaos, a tall, muscle-bound man wearing a high-collared yellow/black biker jacket was grabbing one of the lesser gang members by the collar "What have you said? They did what?" he shouted furiously.

"They... they killed the boys, boss" the thug said, with a shaken voice, not out of fear, but rather grief for his lost pals as the tears that rolled off the burly man's eyes showed the depth of a man's grief.

The giant of a man, joined his underling in grief, shedding manly tears of rage and grief, before shouting in his booming voice "NO BODY KILLS MY BROTHERS AND LIVES! WE ARE GOING TO THE CITY, BOYS!" then, he revved his bike before dashing towards the Sonomachi "MAKE IT RAIN, BOYS! MAKE IT RAIN!"



A girl wearing a black robe with red trimmings observed everything that happened, up to the point when Cinwi came in, with snake like eyes. The being that was so brutal that no one had ever called him anything else than Akuma... and the broken offspring of one of her own children and a human part. These two creatures were targets of the Snake of Paradise's sight for a long time.

She walked to the macabre lair unfazed by the by the cries of agony from the dying Youkai. Before she entered it, the Snake ran a hand through her hair, plucking a mesh of it and throwing out to the ground. Seconds later, a veritable mass of black snakes circled the house's front entrance and soon spread, forming a hissing mire around the whole building. A moment later and the Snake was face-to-face with the Youkai couple, gazing at them with her inhumanly dispassionate eyes, but saying nothing just as of she wished to be addressed first or... had some kind of communication disorder.

---

@Mcmolly@Javier

@Spriggs27@KoL

Yuudai was grinning away excitedly towards Cole as he tried to threaten her, the fact that he wasn't backing down just made her want to start a brawl right here and now, though Reiko drew her attention she kept her eyes on Cole. "Thanks sis, I'll make sure to pay my way, besides-," she hopped down from the bike, her hands coming up behind her head as she followed her sister down the main street "Who would want to ride in that death trap anyway~" By this point it was a test of wills who would break first and throw the first punch, and when it did Yuudai was ready and willing to unleash everything she could get away with in the batt-,

*SMACK*

The slap to the back of her head came swift and fast, the oni did not even have time to react due to her being distracted by Cole. Rubbing the back of her head Yuudai winced at the stinging pain that was left behind, sisterly punishment hurt more than Cole's punches ever could "Sorry, sorry. Wait... You don't pay me..." All of the battle lust that the oni had been gathering had drained out of her within that moment, something that only Reiko could do. Now that they were standing and waiting for a cab Yuudai had to ask something that had been bugging her ever since the whole talk about getting a cab in the first place "Sis. You can drive right? Why don't you own a car that we can take?" She wanted to say if it was because she was cheap, but resisted the urge to do so.

The slap to the back of the head didn't really hurt Cole and he felt that the Oni would take more pain from it, he sighed looking at the two." You shouldn't insult a man's Motorcycle child, if I were a different man I'd feel a certain way about you attempting to insult me." Cole told Yuudai, he didn't like the idea of Reiko smoking so much and really didn't want to leave his cycle behind, but if they were going to take a cab or walk Cole grabbed his motorcycle's keys and took them out of the ignition." It's because she has an M-classed licence, not a A, B, or C, I haven't taught her how to drive a car yet." Cole informed Yuudai.

"Reiko I think we should get straight to business we shouldn't lollygag." Cole told them, he put his hands into his pockets and didn't care about his earlier situation of trying to aggro the Oni into a fight, he knew she was kinda of a hot head and knew that if she were to try and attack him he'd be ready to block her and counter her, Cole then thought taking a cab would be quite awkward with how all of them looked, he wasn't thinking they looked weird, just not like normal people.

---

---

The evening was being particularly slow at the Youkai Juction's sponsored store, so slow in fact, that it was almost like time had stopped.

"Not even a single soul again? You'd expect younglings be more respectful" Said the store's mistress, Akane Chikage, as nonchalantly as she always is, before shifting her body on the couch. "I wonder why Mizucchi and Mana are taking so long to get back home" then, she looked at a pack of potato chips that was laying by her side "the chips are almost over too..." the old Youkai complained.

"Anyway, I wonder what those people are doing? The city is a mess. I wonder if they do not take me seriously anymore?" Chikage kept thinking, despite the fact that she didn't moved a muscle to interfere in the city's current situation. Not that she really needed to, since she had a rather useful representative "If only she arrived sooner..." Chikage sighed as she snapped the last of her potato chips in half.

With almost perfect timing, Suki casually opened the door, before glancing towards the couch, where, as expected, the source of her powers was lounging about. Her eyes swept over Akane's lazy form, before resting on the empty chip bag. "Did you wait long?" With a small smile, the girl lifted the plastic white bag from behind her, before setting it down beside Akane.

"It depends on how long you think is long" Chikage answered "for me, it wasn't that big of a wait, the city on the other hand..." she said as she pointed to a mute TV on a nearby wall. On it the images of the chaos around the city were being displayed, gangs raiding things, a few fires spreading around, supernatural beigns wreaking havoc, and even more. "As you can see, there's a lot for you to do, dear~" Chikage said as she fished a pack of Pocky from the bag that Suki brought.

Suki glanced at the TV and sighed in exasperation at the rather...common sight. "Kids sure do love to play, and leave a mess behind themselves..."Trailing off her words, she closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them after a moment's of respite, she tilted her head. While she was gone in the humah world on a milk run, the city had gotten vastly more chaotic, causing the girl slight confusion on where to start, evident by her expression, as if she was trying to bore a hole through the TV with her gaze alone.

Chikage bit on a Pocky stick as she looked at Suki's expression with a certain degree of amusement. Who could say that finding an assistant would be so interesting? Was what she thought, but there was a time and a place for everything, and this wasn't one for amusement, so Chikage said "Well, my dear, I usually say that there's no better place to begin than from the start, given the situation, I'd say that you should work your way up the threat ladder." she said, pointing to the members of the Yellow Jacket gang, who were all around the city, breaking things in their revenge fuelled rampage.

"Go give that dumb hornet a good beating. I'm sure that he'll behave for a time, after this" Chikage pointed to the gang leader, Suzumebachi who in truth was a hornet Youkai disguised as a man. "And, if you find some runaway Chasers, or Youkai don't hesitate to talk about this place, we really need more customers over here" the old Youkai said, looking around her nigh empty business.

"Suzumebachi, and runaways. Basically, clean-up and advertisements." With a nod, Suki turned around to leave, glancing her over her shoulders as she said, "Tell the little one I said hi." before leaving. Although, after about two seconds, she poked her head back in. "Try not to finish off those snacks too quickly." With that, she left to deal with the chaos of the Crimson Sky.

”To the human world?" Faust gave the human Chaser a scornful laugh. ”Thankfully no, and I hope this moment shall never come." Faust’s Master in the human world was akin to a wolf inside a chicken coop.

Regardless, ‘what now?’ was indeed a legit question, after all, they were still way too close to THAT place. And just as Faust was about to suggest Ruu to leave something strange happened…

Well he supposed Ruu wouldn’t have survived such a trip. She hardly seemed aware of the dangers that surrounded her, and while Faust was the creature also couldn’t exert much influence, or so it seemed. She probably would have gone on some feeding frenzy, attracted too much attention, and be hunted down in the end. To that end he would probably have to act as some sort of food courier… if only he knew someone with the capability of a vast inventory. He knew that they apparently existed, Youkai or Chasers with the ability to reach into their own dimensions or a personal spa-

Such considerations were interrupted when the night grew even darker as if numerous lights of the city had been devoured at once. The fact that it was noticeable from the dim alley was enough for Jin to enter the street to investigate. Immediately he noticed the dome of darkness some distance away that had swallowed Dengeki and its neighboring buildings. “Damn…” he murmured with a small frown as he considered the individuals that could typically be found at the shop and what sort of capabilities someone would require to confidently assault the location. Course, his Knight still kept its gaze on Ruu and Faust in the meanwhile.

””That place is under attack?" Judging from the Chaser’s reaction, Faust seemed satisfied about this development. He couldn’t really be blamed either, after all, Human and Youkai were first and foremost enemies, and if a important hotspot like Dangeki was to disappear it would only prove advantageous to the numerous Youkai inhabiting the Crimson Sky.

"Ruuuu~"

Much like Faust and the human, Ruu realized the dark dome as well, though her loud sniffing sounds made obvious she smelled something first rather than seeing it. Slowly taking more and more steps towards that place, Faust cut in with a sharp tone, making her stop and starting yet another discussion in the language the Chaser couldn’t understand.

This time though it seemed like Faust was the victor. Instead of going there herself, a dog-like being emerged from her shadow. ‘Dog’, however, may have been a generous word to describe the shadowy monstrosity, while truly in the form of a dog, it looked still more akin to some children’s nightmare. That however didn’t stop Ruu from petting and cuddling it a bit before it made its way towards the dark dome. "Ruu!"

“I suppose it is,” Jin muttered, as he scratched the back of his head and wondered what to do. If the enemy was truly ready to fight those that frequented Dengeki then it was likely beyond his capabilities. Still… he felt a bit of obligation to aid in its defense. He spared the two Youkai a glance as their discussion grew heated once more, albeit this time it was Ruu who backed down. He paused to watch in curiosity as her shadow bubbled before a canine creature climbed forth from the darkness. Cuddly it was not, but Ruu didn’t seem to mind as she showered it with affection briefly before it departed. “Huh.”

He guessed that she either had some telepathic or mental bond with the creature if Ruu didn’t bother to approach any further. For Jin there were still several buildings in between him and the darkness dome though; an easy enough problem to remedy. With a deep breath, the asphalt shattered beneath his feet as he burst into a sprint. Glass shattered as he barreled through a window on the second floor in a building, and moments later he burst out from the other side, leaping to higher floors in the opposite building. The three streets to reach Dengeki gave Jin enough to work with so that he slammed just short of the rooftop, hands digging into the concrete before he leapt for and grabbed the edge to haul himself over.

---

Appearing about a block or so away from the pawn shop, Lei was surprised to see a massive, black dome where a certain street and pawn shop should normally belong. She stayed where she stood for a few seconds, looking at the street in apprehension. Clearly such a thing was abnormal, and her intuition told her that the place was under attack. Under normal circumstances, she’d jump right in in an attention-stealing blaze of glory, but she hadn’t the faintest idea of what was inside. Appearing inside that would be like the Enterprise warping into Vulcan, and everybody who watched that movie knew how well that went.

With that in mind, she stepped away again, appearing on a nearby rooftop for a better vantage point. She was surprised to see another figure atop the high-rise structure. While he seemed a bit suspicious, being on the roof and all while that business was happening below, he didn’t seem particularly dangerous. Instead, she waved at the man before shouting out at him.

“Hey, hey! You don’t think they’re playing card games down there, do you?”

It didn't take all too long for Ruu to follow, unlike the other two however Ruu's means of travel was simply through the shadows, as most of The Pack was still with her. What did lure her towards the rooftop however was not her newfound ally, but rather the newcomer. After all, who didn't like the smell of Chamomile tea and cream pastries?

Not wasting a second, Ruu jumped out from one of the countless shadows the dark sky, now enhanced by the dark dome, casted upon the world, her mouth wide upon, ready to bite into the delicacy going by the name of Lei. "Ruu!"

The spear’s tip swung to point at Lei with her sudden appearance, and Jin glanced at her direction for a moment before he dismissed her as a threat. Granted she seemed to be a teleporter so the distance between them didn’t mean much, but an attack would have been much easier if he wasn’t aware of her presence in the first place. He was about to reply when his Knight recognized Ruu as she rematerialized in the world to descend upon the latest arrival.

“God,” he muttered as he crouched and kicked himself back to intercept the ravenous Youkai. Unlike when Ruu had tried to grasp the spear, this time his Knight’s gauntlet was very much solid as it wrapped around the Youkai’s head, firm but not painful just yet. ”Sorry about that,” he apologized with a nod at Lei, “she hasn’t learned that humans aren’t food just yet.”

This time, Lei was unfazed by the sudden appearance of the Youkai. Unlike the contents of the mysterious dome thing, she could flee or at least put a great distance between her and Ruu at a moment’s notice. Giving Jin a coy smile as he held the man-eating youkai at bay, she made small talk, seemingly ignoring the events down below.

“Is she a pet of yours?” she asked, with a tilt of her head. A moment later, a pallet full of rice appeared with a thud on the rooftop space next to her with a superfluous snap of a finger. “If she’s hungry, I’ve got food,” she offered.

"RUUUUU!!!!!" The small frame of the Youkai was wriggling like a wild worm that was just caught by some bird preying on it.

Emitting a strong killing intent to no one in particular, the white Neverborn was clearly not amused.

“Not quite, more of an attempt at domestication?” He didn’t pay her much attention until Lei caused an absurd amount of rice to appear. Course, it seemed Ruu’s panic called another creature to her side and Jin would happily admit that this one put him on edge. The killing intent was much more palpable than what he had previously felt tonight and the Knight slowly lowered Ruu to the rooftop next to the latest entity and let go.

Ally or not, his Knight’s arms curled defensively around Jin’s body as his attention was split between Ruu and co., and the Chinese girl. “Maybe something a bit more palatable to settle her?” He suggested as he decided to focus on the creature that seemed most ready to start fighting.

“Right,” nodded Lei, making the rice disappear. In place of the uncooked grain, a box of snickers appeared over the white thing, dropping on it as they appeared and scattering some of the candy bars on the ground.

Before the male Chaser could drop Ruu even off, the hand of Terror already slashed through a part of the intangible knight, and while the attack itself had no effect, the sharp sound as her arm cut through the air made sure her own power was on par with Jin's basic abilities.

As Ruu was finally given freedom back however, a single word followed by a hug onto the Neverborn's waist made her cease her next offensive action, and the crackling of energy generating onto her fingertips soon disappeared.

With the situation now diffused, Faust was now making his appearance. ”Oh, I see you made yourself acquaintanced with the little one's bodyguard, don't mind her manners, under different circumstances Terror would try to kill even me." While that last part was partially true, the Neverborn was mocking the white armor-clad figure nonetheless.

Ruu let Terror off the hook now, and Terror gave all 3 of them a grim look before slashing another hole in the air and disappearing through it. Now, Ruu could finally pay attention to the sweets dropped around her and carefully sniffed one of them before putting like 7, including their wrapping, into her mouth and started chewing... .

“Yeah, that could have gone worse,” Jin admitted with a small shrug as Faust reappeared next to Ruu. He tilted his head slightly as he felt the creature’s gaze slide over him, but didn’t react further even after it stepped through the crack in reality and vanished. He watched as Ruu stuffed the candy bars, wrapper and all, into her mouth with a sweat drop before he glanced at Lei. “Snickers on its head?” Course nothing had happened so Jin didn’t mind too much, but if that had set the creature off then even his lackadaisical nature would have been tested.

The Chinese girl shrugged. “It needed to calm down. If it went berserk, I wouldn’t be sticking around to see it though,” she offered helpfully. Lei was surprised however, that the youkai girl was scarfing up the candy bars without regard for the wrapper. She was pretty sure that stuff was toxic or at the very least, would be very painful to push out the other end.

Ruu chewed and chewed and continued to chew until...it became slower and slower. "Rwwwwuuuu?" She was clearly dissatisfied and actually reached with her hands inside her mouth to try and pull the sticky mixture of chocolate, plastic and peanut out!

Well… the end result in front of Jin was hardly a surprise. He wasn’t a fan of Snickers himself, for the very issue Ruu was currently demonstrating and that was with one of the candy bars. Trying to eat seven? Yeah… the resulting mess was sort of disgusting if he was to be honest. He shook his head slowly, but otherwise did nothing to help the Youkai out of the mess. Instead he turned his attention to the dome for a moment and recognizing nothing, visibly at the least, had happened, glanced at Lei again. “Got anything that she can’t possibly mess up trying to eat?”

Lei still had her leftovers, but there was no way in hell that anybody else was going to have that right now. Flipping through her memory, a bulb lit up above her head. She had a massive stock of sugarless gummy bears from who-knows-where, and there was never a better place to get rid of them than right now. They were completely useless to her, mainly because they tended to induce gastrointestinal armageddon. And like that, a 20 pound bag of sugar free candy appeared between them.

After finally freeing herself from the terrible oddity called ‘Snickers’ the small Youkai continued to do some silly attempts in cleaning her tongue. Finally, after like a minute, Ruu attained her freedom back and gave the new sweets a short sniff before her attention was demanded elsewhere. All of a sudden her body tensed up a bit as she locked her sight onto the shadowy dome, carrying a worried expressions on her face.

Having another exclusive conversation with Faust he quickly disregarded the small Youkai before talking to the male Chaser. ”The little one lost connection to her dog, meaning she doesn't even know if it died. And now she plans to go check." Faust sounded worried, while he probably did not have as much insight as the two Chasers, he knew that this place was off the limits for Ruu regardless.

How Lei imagined gummy bears would go over well after the mess Ruu had made with fudge and caramel Jin didn’t try to understand. Whatever the case was, it seemed that the Youkai had bigger concerns than her hunger at the moment. Thankfully, Faust was present to explain exactly what the problem was and he hummed for a moment in thought. “That seems rather foolish,” he deadpanned as he watched the dome’s unchanging surface. Really, that tidbit just made him less inclined to step inside the unknown phenomenon. “I don’t suppose you could scout it out?” He asked the other female present. “Drop something inside and retrieve it?”

The black-haired girl put her hand to her chin as she thought for a few moments, looking upwards and sideways as she did so. The new candy disappeared as she did so. Honestly, she had half a mind to pull out a few cast iron safes and drop it above the dome, but she did not, as amusing as it would be. Instead, she pulled out a cheap looking quadcopter and controller, probably something bought for $100 in a knockoff Chinatown store. Maybe she had better stuff, but wasting things like electronics and higher grade equipment didn’t sit well with her.

“It has a camera. Best I can do,” she offered, flicking the rotary device off the roof and into the dome.

Ruu continued to eye the black dome and took a few steps towards it, she was still inclined of going there but quickly lost interest as she put her nose up on the air once again. "Ruuuu!" Quickly changing directions another conversation between Faust and Ruu ensued.

”Very well. The little one luckily lost interest in this place and we shall take our leave now." With those words he gave another bow.

Akuma was licking some of the blood off of his sword, when an interesting little Youkai came in. He instantly noticed that her original intention was of attacking him but something stopped her, which made him smile. The smile soon turned to a face of rage when she mentioned a Chaser, thinking a Chaser did what's outside. "You insult my art, my genius craftsmanship? There was no Chaser, only food for me" he began, slowing down as he licked his lips "Come to think of it, I'm still hungry and you look like you'd taste better than those weaklings outside" he finished.

Akuma stood up, chuckling, as he approached the female Youkai, his eye twitching with anticipation. Suddenly, someone entered as well, along with the sound of hissing snakes coming from the outside. The demon recognized this Youkai and knew she wasn't one to be taken lightly. "M'lady, what seems to be the interest that you have here? Or do you simply appreciate good art?" he said, with a smirk across his face, motioning towards the agonizing Youkai outside. Akuma laughed a little bit, keeping his eyes on this new Youkai that entered the home.

@KoL @Mcmolly

Cinwi paused for a moment when the creepy Youkai admitted to the horrors outside. His grin had gone in place of a far less amused grimace, and she felt her heart leap in panic. This guy was fucking big, and meant fucking business. The suffering Youkai outside may not have been particularly strong, but they were plenty, and no matter who you were being outnumbered like that wasn't some obstacle to tackle easily. Wait, did he just say he wanted to eat her? Oh no. Not just no, fuck no. Brutal badass or not she wasn't about to take a threat like that lightly. Cinwi bared her teeth.

"Not if I take chunks out of you first, asshole," she hissed.

Before they could get down to it however, a great force surrounded the house. She could feel the pressure of a greater being around them, and if the way the freak creeped her out was nothing compared to this. It was then the girl entered, likewise bearing reptilian features, though to a visibly minor degree. That being said, the snakes were audible through the walls, and they must have been massive to sound so clear. The creep addressed her as if they were familiar, and Cinwi felt her stomach twist. Great, a potential second enemy. And she'd just gotten through surviving a close call earlier.

A low growl rumbled in Cinwi's throat as the snake lady approached, but she elected to say nothing. Fuck the big guy, she didn't want to make too wrong of a move against the one with the giant ass snakes.

@KoL @Javier

Something was wrong. Something was terribly, utterly, wrong. Kusanagi could sense it, her eyes flicking over to the front of her pawn shop. A quick scan confirmed that the darkness outside was just too potent for natural night. Then Eleanor was flung back into her windows, shattering glass onto the floor and earning a sigh from the pawnbroker.

She didn’t even get the chance to warn her two companions before both Ikkime and Eleanor sprang into action, entering the darkness. Granted, they were professionals in what they did, pretty much senior Chasers at this point. Still, darkness this worrying only belonged to one other Youkai, besides that lazy chick at the music store.

“Jeez, this isn’t going to look good on the store reviews,” Kusanagi muttered to herself as she walked towards the dome of darkness, hands in her pockets. “Hey, any Chaser wanna help me clean this up?” she asked aloud, doubting her voice would even carry outside, let alone inside the dome.

As unholy forces drew near and converged on a single point between the boundary of the human realm and the Crimson Sky, one more presence made themselves known. Honestly, they were getting quite bored of the delays and so had decided to explore this world for herself.

Twirling a bright green parasol in hand, the lithe form strolled down the streets and into the shadows. The darkness had no bearing on her, as did most things in this world. What was she doing? The girl was simply taking a midnight’s stroll.

Waiting for something of actual substance to happen.

Tsuyoshi looked out to the direction of yet another new voice, this time belonging to a little girl dressed in black who was calling out for help. Tsuyoshi kind of felt suspicious of the girl, as like Susan, he had no idea whether she was ACTUALLY human or a Youkai, luring him into a trap. Well, on one hand, she could actually be in trouble and what she said was true. Although, alternatively, she could get him into lots of trouble. Against his better judgement Tsuyoshi finally replied. "Hold on!" He called back. "We'll be right over!" Tsuyoshi looked at Susan. "I'm going to take my way over to her, if she's telling the truth, hopefully she'll take note of what I do." He explained before setting off with a nod goodbye.

The girl observed with curious expression as Tsuyoshi parted with the strange Youkai while holding her right hand close to her chest as if she was relieved that the boy decided to help her, after all.

After Tsuyoshi scaled down the building, he looked around to find his bearings, the building the girl stood atop of was higher but only two buildings away, and Tsuyoshi found a building that looked like a block of apartments he could climb that would bring him the closest, and to a side that was opposite an area with a lot of mantles and climb points. A walk in the park for Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi maneuvered his way to the apartment building and used the window as footholds and ledges. It took him around ten minutes to get to the top of that building. He looked up and was thankful that the girl hadn't gone off. Now, he all he had to do was get to that building. He walked over to the edge, judging the distance to a pipe on the building. It was a long shot, but Tsuyoshi had to have confidence and a little bit of faith if he was to make it. Tsuyoshi took ten big steps back and took a big breath.

Then, he began running towards the edge of the building, when he stepped onto the ledge, he jumped off. It was freeing to run like this again, and Tsuyoshi managed to take a moment to appreciate the wind rushing past him. However, Tsuyoshi's focus snapped back to reality as he began descending towards the pipe. He reached out and wrapped his hands around the piped and planted his legs towards the wall. He grunted at the force he took as he basically threw himself at the building, swinging to the right as his back collided to the wall. He gasped as his left hand had slipped off, and he only held on by his right hand and his leg braced against the pipe and wall. Tsuyoshi quickly swung his weight over so he could grasp the pipe properly once again.

The girl's expression changed to one of worry as she noticed Tsuyoshi's insane plan. He wasn't going to that, was he? Sure, he is a Chaser but it doesn't look like he has the physical might to do a jump like that, or so she thought. When the boy began running at full speed towards the edge of the building, she couldn't help but shout "No!" as she kept her breath still. Once Tsuyoshi jumped, she ran to the edge of the roof and looked bellow to see what had happened of the boy and sighed a sigh of relief when she noticed that he was well, for now.

After what seemed like an age, he finally got to the top, and clambered over the edge of the roof. He sat up as he faced the girl who had kindly waited. "I'm Tsuyoshi.." He said with a wave. He then panted a little. "So... what can I... do ya for?" He asked between breaths.

Once Tsuyoshi finally reached the roof and sprawled himself on it, gasping for air, the girl quickly went to his side and crouched besides him "Are you injured somewhere? That was a stupid thing to do if you do not have the right powers, nevertheless..." she said as she helped Tsuyoshi back to his feet "I am thankful for your help, Tsuyoshi-sama" and followed with a small curtsy and bow as she introduced herself "I am Tokisada Orihime, I am glad for you comin to me in this time of need."

After her overly polite greeting, Orihime looked up at Tsuyoshi's eyes, with her mismatched gaze that seemed to be almost mesmerizing and answered his last question "You see, Tsuyoshi-sama, I came to this city in search of a certain Youkai. It is called Fenghuang and it is said that her tears are able to breath life back into the deceased. However," Orihime lowered her gaze, and her voice fell to barely above a whisper as she continued "It seems that I miscalculated my strengths terribly and will never be a match for such mighty foe, or even its guardians."

Without any further advice, Orihime lauched herself on Tsuyoshi's chest, burying her face of it and crossing her arms behind his back. When she met his gaze again, Orihime's right eye was welling up tears while the other which the boy could notice that was artificial, now that she was so close to him, continued to stare in his direction with it's disturbing gaze. "Please, Tsuyoshi-sama, I beg of you, help me get to the Fenghuang and collect even if one of her tears. I do not need more than that, and will be forever indebted to you. If it is compensation that you wish, I would give anything, even if you asks for my body, or my life." Orihime buried her sobbing face is Tsuyoshi's chest again, as she whispered her lest plea "So please, Tsuyoshi-sama, help me..."

Damn, so this person really did need help. He was kind of shocked when Orihime suddenly threw herself at him, but, he understood the feeling she was. He then put his hands on her shoulders and looked straight at her. "Orihime-san..." He began. "You've clearly lost someone very dear to you, right? I don't know about this Fenghuang, but I'm sure if you came to the Hunter's Association, we can find someone to help? I don't think I'll be so helpful in a fight right now. Fenghuang sounds powerful." He explained.

Orihime gasped in surprise when Tsuyoshi placed his hands her shoulders and looked her with such an intense stare and couldn't help but still her tears and hold her breath as he talked to her "Tsuyoshi-sama..." she whispered before turning to her face away from his gaze, seemingly ashamed of herself "I do not know of this Association that you speak of. Is it really possible that they would lend their arms to help a complete stranger for no real compensation? That said, are you really sure that you do not want anything as payment? This quest can claim your life too, if you wish to help me."

"Hey, jobs claiming lives is kind of what we do at the Assoiciation. C'mon, I'll take you to the shop where we based. I don't want anything, but I can't say the same about anyone else." Tsuyoshi felt a little bad, since he was talking about the assoication like he's been on there for ages, but who else could HE turn to? The people back at Dangeki are way more experienced and maybe even knew about Fenghuang. It was the only we he could think of helping her. He then looked around. "Uhm, how did you get up here in the first place?"

"I lost my way" Orihime said rather sheepishly as she point to the edge of the city "I simply wandered around until I got here and don't know how to go back. Like I said, I'm but a simple country girl" she said with a little hint of shame.

"Can we get going then, Tsuyoshi-sama?" Orihime asked as she clung to Tsuyoshi's left arm, pressing her body lightly against his. From this distance, the night wind carried the sweet smell of her plum perfume straight Tsuyoshi and would be almost able to feel her heart beats which were quite calm and serene now that she found someone willing to help her.

"Yeah we can get goin-" He stopped as he was surprised at first by the physical contact between him and Orihime, but in the end he didn't mind so he looked down at Orihime and smiled. Oh shoot, he remembered Susan. "Oh crap, hang on." He then looked around for Susan. Without seeing her, he called out as loud as he could. "Susan!!! If you can hear me! I'm going back to the human world! This girl needs help! I'll come back later to sort out those Youkai!" He shouted, making a mental promise to himself that he would keep his side of the bargain with Susan.

---

Minutes later, Orihime tensed visibly and gripped Tsuyoshi's arm rather strongly as she felt the darkness surrounding the Dangeki Pawnshop. It was easy to noticed that she had been spooked by it, but that wasn't her only concern from the looks of her expression "Why? I have done nothing wrong, so... why?" she whispered randomly, unaware that she had said it loud enough for Tsuyoshi to listen.

Suddenly Orihime quickened her pace, kind of dragging Tsuyoshi along with her but when they got in front of the wall of darkness she stopped and asked him "Tsuyoshi-sama, what is this? The path is blocked by this darkness. Is it your allies doing too?"

Tsuyoshi was shocked. How? When? What? Many questions and thoughts about what this was and fears about his friends raced through his mind at once. Ultimately, Tsuyoshi felt really uneasy about it all, almost afraid of what his was or on the other side, if there was another side. "Orihime, my friends are either in that, or on the other side, and they're in trouble, I know they are." He said, drawing his katana from it's saya. "I have to get to them." He stated. He then looked at Orihime. "I want you to run or hide." He said, feeling responsibility for the safety of the girl.

Just as Tsuyoshi said so, a cold wind blew by, rufling their hairs and forcing Orihime to hold the hem of her dress, lest Tsuyoshi got an eyeful of her underwear. What could've been an funny awkward moment quickly took a sinister turn as both of them could be sure that they heard a sinister giggling being carried by said wind.

Orihime's face became even paler than her normal doll-like complexion and she grabbed Tsuyoshi's shirt with dread evident in her only good eye "Please, Tsuyoshi-sama, don't leave me alone. I may be weak, but I'm sure that I can be of help for you, just don't leave me here, please" she finished her plea with a barely audible whisper "I fear we might never meet again if you do..."

Tsuyoshi weighed the options in his head until Orihime said those final words. He tightened his grip on his katana and in his free hand it balled into a fist. "Fine." He stated. He then turned to face Orihime. "But you do exactly what I say, and stick as close as possible to me." He said, stating his terms for letting Orihime stay instead of hiding. He then looked back at the wall, he didn't think going through was a great idea, but going around might take too long.

He then turned to Orihimie and held his hand out. "Hold on to me, we have to run through it." He said.

"Sure, Tsuyoshi-sama!" Orihime said as she grabbed Tsuyoshi's hand, and odd enough, she was smilling a rather beautiful smile as if she was relieved that Tsuyoushi didn't leave her behind or betrayed the trust she put on him.

Tsuyoshi held out his katana so it spanned infront of both of them. "Okay. Three. Two. One. Go!" He shouted before running into the wall with Orihime. It was dark, like, pitch black even.

Not long later, as the couple was walking through the dark zone, they ended up runing into no one other than Kusanagi, or better, Orihime run into her and got knocked prone along with the small pawnbroker "I am terribly sorry" she said as she got up and helped the other girl to her feet "We are looking for Tsuyoshi-sama's friends, do you happen to know were any of them might be?"

@TheWindel

At some random part of Sonomachi's old downtown...

It was not too long after Ruu had followed her own way, attracted by a particularly interesting smell that she would find it's source. However, the closer she got to it, the less sweet it became, until the fragrance became a pungent rotting smell, like that of a raflesia. Though, a sweetness like that of plum flowers was mixed with the rotten smell of the the corpse flower.

Once she got sight of the source of the smell, Ruu, would find that it was a girl dress in a goth fashion who was simply standing in a back alley, amidst a pool of blood and gore. Next to her, there was a cardboard box with a small kitten that looked quite weak and injured and a few rocks. One of the remains that was next to her was that of the arm of a young boy (probably no older than 10) holding a rock. Judging by that, it looked like the girl had brutally killed at least one boy, for hurting the poor kitten in a fitting punishment for such a black soul.

Nvertheless, when the girl got notice of Ruu, she tilted her head and looked at the small Youkai with an amused grin evident in her face "Well, now. It was about time I found something interesting in this city. Say it, girl, do you like dolls?" she asked before breaking into a fit of insane giggles, as if to mock Ruu.

@Skyswimsky

---

Meanwhile at the Dangeki Pawn Shop...

Eos was sure that emotion that she was feeling could be classified as rage under human perspective. She wasn't even sure why she was that furious, but Zane's calm rebuttal of her statement was enough to make her core's temperature rise to critical levels.

"Hey," she called once he stepped into the portal "don't run away while I'm talking to you!" When Eos turned to look, Kusanagi was already outside of the shop, so the Electric Princess decided to follow Zane and see if he was saying the truth.

"Kusa-nee, I'll follow him. Let's meet again later." Eos shouted as she went through the dimensional rift. On the other side of it, she noticed as Zane talked to an unknown woman "Who's this? Your girlfriend?" she asked mockingly.

@Crimson Raven@TheWindel

---

At Akuma's improvised torture room...

"...art?" The Snake asked with a drowsy voice "Is that... art?" she repeated herself, as if she wanted to be sure that she said the right thing. " I'm looking for... a demon... not an artist..." The Snake said pointing to the blood covering everything and them back to Akuma.

"Perhaps... this is not the right place?" The Snake said as she plucked a couple of strings from her hair and threw them on the ground "... if so... you can disappear..." at the same instant a pair of black snakes rose from the floor and coiled around The Snake's ankles.

As she waited for Akuma's reply, The Snake noticed Cinwi hissing at her and said "I... don't want to... harm you..." she rised an arm towards Cinwi beckoning her to come closer "... children... are rare these days... come..."

@Mcmolly@Javier

---

While Reiko & co. were already on a taxi...

"I'm not a bad driver, if that's what you too are implying" Reiko replied to her companions commentaries about her skill behind a steering wheel "Anyway, Cole, we are about to get there. Why such a rush? You always seemed to think things through, perhaps... Yuudai is influencing you more than you admit?" she said teasingly.

Nevertheless, it wasn't long before they arrived at the older parts of the town were their search for the fire demon would continue. Reiko said that she had to answer a phone call from an overseas contact and tasked them with doing a initial sweep of the area while she continued close to the main street.

A few minutes later and a supernatural fog started to cover the area and before Cole and Yuudai could notice, the figure of a girl carrying a green parasol crossed their path.

@Kitsune@Spriggs27

Well, on the bright side, tall-dark-and-shithead didn't seem to be getting on the snake-lady's good side. Served him right, calling the dead Youkai art like he was some sort of painter and not a complete psychopath. Then again, how would he react to her comment? Cinwi had come in offering help -albeit a tad naively- and the man had been on the verge of trying to fucking eat her. Maybe he was scared of her too, though, not that Cinwi would admit the lady unnerved her to no end.

And wouldn't you know it, the woman's gaze turned to her, and Cinwi couldn't help but jolt a bit when she was addressed. Come closer? Like hell she was gonna get anywhere near this lady. Then again, she didn't really have anywhere else to go, the house was surrounded by those massive snakes and something told her running would be a fairly unwise choice. So fuck it, she thought, going along with the lady's demands seemed undoubtedly to be the safest option.

Cinwi looked to the creep, unsure if the guy was going to lose it, before turning back to the lady and cautiously stepping forward. "D-don't try anything...I mean it..." she muttered to the woman, cursing herself for the stutter. Dammit Cinwi, you're not scared, you're not. If this freak went for the throat she'd get a face full of claw. Yeah, right.

When at last she was but a couple feet away, Cinwi came to a stop, deeming that close enough. She stood stiff as a board, arms frozen at her sides, as if with every inch she drew nearer to the lady turned her body to stone. Can't freeze ice, Cinwi, just don't lose focus and don't get caught off guard.

"Who are you?" she asked, eyes going to the snakes on the floor momentarily. What the actual fuck. Maybe she should have asked what the lady was instead.

--
@KoL@Javier

Akuma simply laughed as the strange Youkai challenged him when he mentioned eating her. Then that new Youkai seemed to be displeased with the fact that he had called it art, for some reason. "I thought that you'd know the answer, since you seem to know about me" he said, grinning a little at the snakes that seemed to be commanded to kill him. Akuma didn't care, though, he was such a sadistic fuck that even if it was his, he loved a spectacle of blood and guts. He chuckled a bit, still looking at the snakes.

"Are these cuties going to kill me, are they going to swallow me or rip me apart? If you don't mind, I prefer being ripped apart, more of a spectacle" he said, motioning to the snakes next to the Youkai. Akuma turned to the other Youkai, and laughed a little at her obvious uneasiness in the face of this new Youkai. He knew that if they both fought "snake girl" would win, but he admired the other for trying. Akuma thought that while he was here, he might as well answer the question posed to him by the snake Youkai.

"I'm sorry, that was in poor taste, I meant to rip them in half and leave them to rot alive there, but they would've died and that's no fun" he said, motioning towards the Youkai outside again, with a grin on his face. "To answer your question, M'lady, I am a demon, but being alive hundreds of years bores a man so he must get hobbies, and in my case it's art, but if you came here then it means you want something from me, and is a simple hobby really to ruin this deal?" he said, laughing a little at the end as he was ready for pretty much anything, be it death or a deal with this Youkai.

@KoL @Mcmolly

@KoL

By now, Ruu had nearly already forgotten about the incident she found herself in. It took her a lot of willpower to not just betray her new ally and fall over the girl that was apparently another ally of him. After all, the teleporting girl's odor was better than anything she had smelled so far and her entire body craved to get a bite from that!

Now however, Ruu was on the hunt for something new, the potency of the new aroma was strong enough that Ruu actually assumed it was way closer than she had traveled by now. Though, the closer she came, the less sure she was about what exactly her nose was perceiving anyways. Even so, that did not stop the Youkai from finding the source: Yet another humanoid looking being that got herself in some sort of mess.

Ruu wasn't so sure about eating or not, the rotten air wanted her to move away, yet, there was something else that made her stay for now. Even if Ruu decided for the more sane option of just moving on, the decision was taken from her as the strange girl actually managed to notice Ruu.

Of course, she didn't understand much words the girl was saying, and she wasn't so sure about eating her either. "Ruu~?" Her eyes wandered first to the remains of the dead child followed by the cat. It seemed alive, so maybe it was edible?

Faust, who may or may not have been around the entire time, was actually surprised that this was the second encounter in which Ruu was more docile, did the Chaser partially tame her already? He highly doubted it though, it was more that this girl? Youkai? Seemed rather odd. "She has never hold a doll in her entire life." He avoided the girls question, disregarding her mocking behaviour and insane creepy laugh.

@KoL@Spriggs27

Yuudi was almost instantly asleep as soon as she sat down in the taxi, a skill she had developed over many years of intense training, only a true master of the art could achieve something like this! It helped a lot with trips like this, though it seemed like she missed out on the whole teasing part as they came to their destination.

Stepping outside Yuudai peered up to the sky, her arm coming up to wipe some drool from her lip "It's a good day today" After having muttered that out she was about to protest about the whole her checking out the area with Cole but before she knew it she was already cut off by her sister taking a phone call! "Uh... Fine, let's go Cole, I'll look after you while my sister is busy" She teased a little, acting like he was their pet that she was just taking him for a walk.

She would ignore any attempts at comebacks that he had, knowing that her silence was likely just as effective as anything she could have come back with... Didn't mean that it didn't piss her off a little though. A few moments later a mist rolled into the area, a slight chill ran down the oni's spine as the girl crossed their path "Well, that took shorter than I expected..." Taking a moment to check over the girl she addressed her "Excuse me miss?~" Time to see if she was cute enough to flirt with!

@Kitsune@KoL

Cole tried to relax during the ride as Reiko spoke to them about her driving then asked why Cole seemed to rush them." No offence kitten, I don't want anyone pawing at my 44 on the bike, I left it behind in between the side car and bike, it's fully loaded and I don't want no kids coming around my bike and killing someone by mistake thinking it's just a toy or something." Cole informed her, he endured Yuudai's snoring before she had to take her call, he didn't respond to the Oni sighing and acting like he was a pet needed to be watched, he did as Reiko said and stuck with Yuudai.

As the ominous mist began to roll in Cole kept his guard up and his back to the Oni not paying her no mind, he was about to check the time right when Yuudai began speaking about something being shorter than expected, he turned around to her and saw the girl with the green parasol, when Yuudai began speaking with her it was like a shot of lightning hit the man, he focused on the girl with the parasol in the mist and felt that she wasn't here for the Oni to flirt with, she was her for something else, Cole didn't say anything letting Yuudai speak to the girl wondering if the girl would attack Yuudai or ignore her and keep walking.