"Didn't you hear me?!" barked Amber, casting a swift glare and the younger girl. "I said get out of-"

The blonde girl was cut off when something whipped out of the darkness and struck her. It hit the suitcase like a truck, sending the girl rocketing back, holding it braced against her as she hit the ground and tumbled out of sight. From the darkness, approached a man. He was tall and imposing, with dark hair, a long coat sweeping about him as he walked. He had a solemn expression on his face as he approached Aryu, stopping just in front of the girl and turning to face her.

"... An onmyouji?" he said, after a few moments of observation. His voice was deep, and he spoke in a rather somber manner. "... It doesn't matter if you are or not. I apologize."

He raised his had, a white-blue magic circle forming in his palm.

"I cannot allow you to live after-"

A series of lights lit up at his feet, and he looked down in time for several scraps of paper to explode like firecrackers, jetting smoke up into his face. Coughing, he took several steps back, the circle fading.

Amber's voice came from beyond the smoke.

"Get back, now! You idiot, why did you stick around?!"

Kanon suddenly hit her fist into her open palm, “Vampire, that’s it! Huh, I was really off.” Momentarily distracted by the revelation, it took her a second to catch back onto the conversation. So, her dad was involved into something like that? And now she was being asked to help in this matter as well? If her father had gotten involved then it most certainly had to be important, “Okay, I’ll help you. I’ll definitely do whatever I can. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“Wait, wait, Kanon-nee,” Shiroi blurted, nearly spilling the sake she had previously been drinking without a single care, “You’re gonna just trust her like that? You even let her in the house even though she was a stranger, right?”

Kanon nodded without a hint of hesitation, “Yep! If dad could trust her, then so can I!” She bowed politely to Elizabeth, “Please take care of us.”

“Maaaaster, have more concern for yourself,” It was a dog-like whine with slip of the tongue neither girl noticed. Normally, Shiroi would call her Kanon-nee, Kanon had made sure she would be called something other than Master. Still, occasional mistakes like this tended to happen, especially if the inugami was worried.

---

Once again, she had found herself stopped by the older woman. How bothersome. Not only did she ignore her advice once, but she ignored it a second time. Well, she supposed she couldn’t blame her for not knowing the dangers in being out so late now of all times. Maybe she should just let this woman take her home then sneak away. Still, that didn’t solve the problem of Kazumi being out whilst a war (albeit a very secret one) was basically about to happen. But was that really Cornelia’s concern?

Green eyes looked up at Kazumi, staring intensely as if she was trying to will her away with looks alone. That, obviously, was a very futile effort. Relenting, the girl sighed like it was the woman being the persistent child and not her, “Fine, I’ll go home.

Draining the rest of the cup, the red eyes surveyed the two before lighting up, making sense of their relationship, "I knew there was only one child! Pretty good work for someone your age, this." The vampire's gaze was at first analytical, then with a rather less... clean approach, "I'd never really guess."

Drawing her attention from trying to work out what, exactly, Shiroi was (something artificial was obvious enough, but what, exactly, wasn't really in the vampire's grasp) and back to the matter at hand, she drew out a piece of paper with a number haphazardly scribbled across it. The handwriting was terrible, keeping to no real sort of lines, but it was at least identifiable as a phone number. "Contact me if you see any magi lurking around the place, just don't get involved and try to stay out of sight. If you get drawn into the ritual, it will become a fight for your life."

---

Signe's wait was unfortunately interrupted by some Japanese brat coming along and asking for directions, of all things. She wished that the appropriate protocol for unwarranted nuisances was just 'blow them up', but the last unexpected spate of disappearances near her place had gotten too much trouble, so it was back to treating the mundane masses as somehow worthy of taking even an iota of her time away for more supernatural matters.

Fortunately for the mage, her arms came back to life and she could pick up the map--before he could see the odd markings in various innocuous places. She glanced for the right symbol, then stuffed the map in her pocket and produced a seemingly unremarkable lighter. If he didn't get the hint, she'd just have to make it easy to get the hell away. There were still a handful of things she wanted to hide before getting down to business, and helping teens wasn't in Signe's interest.

"Love hotel round the corner. If you can find some cheap whore, even better for you," the brunette stated, eyes coldly looking down into his, Get the hint and leave.

"...I'm not sure I like that tone," Kazumi sighed with some exasperation. It's not like she was being the bad guy! She was pretty sure that ensuring the safety of a child was a good deed! And she was giving up precious blogging time, so this brat really should be more grateful!
Well, either way, she had finally agreed, so that was half the battle won, at least.

"Right, so where do you live?" Kazumi asked. The sooner she could get this kid home, the faster she could get to her own.

"Ahah, I guess the cat's out of the bag," With a short laugh, Kanon rubbed the back of her neck. She watched as Shiroi fidgeted uncomfortably under Elizabeth's gaze. If her ears and tail were still visible, Kanon could imagine them laying flat with her tail tucked between her legs, "Er, maybe dog would be more apt?"

As the vampire began to scribble on some paper, she waited patiently for her to finish, leaning back and forth on her heel. The slip of paper was then handed to her and Kanon took the time to look down at it. Well, it wasn't completely unreadable. She could make out all the numbers. With a nod, she pocketed the paper, "Alright, I'll contact you if I see anything and I'll try my best not to get caught!"

---

"Hm," Cornelia paid no mind to the other woman's complaints about her tone. If she had just listened, neither one of them would have to deal with the other. Of course, the child didn't realize she was the one in the wrong here. Truly, the girl was just awful at dealing with people. But that tended to happen with the sort of anti-social upbringing she had.

"My Aunt and Uncle lives on the edge of town," She answered, looking around to see how to get back. Hoping to get going as quickly as possible, she soon realized a slight problem. She had no idea where she was. If she were alone, she could wander around until she got her bearings. But... with this woman with her, a whole new set of troubles were sure to come from this. Of course, she didn't want to admit to not knowing the way. So, she began walking off at a random direction, "Follow me."