[IC] K: Misconceptions

[Demon Shinobi]

Saturday morning, around 9AM to be exact, was a somewhat silent time for Shusuke. He was sitting on the roof of the apartment building he'd once called home with his legs hanging over the edge. He'd been there for about an hour now. Even before that he'd been up since about 6AM. He'd worked out, made himself some food. As he looked out over the city he sighed. So much had been happening lately. He couldn't help himself when it came to just relaxing. Even if it was early morning with everything that had been happening lately he'd soon have to get busy trying to figure out how to deal with the Green Clan and then the Blue Clan which he was only having trouble with because of... Okay... So maybe he'd have trouble with them regardless, but it would be A LOT less if not for those Green bastards.

"Oh well. We'll figure it all out somehow." He said as he got to his feet and managed to smile. He enjoyed visiting every once in a while. Thought it was usually in secret. Soon enough though the young man was flying over an alley way to the next building. A powerful leap was all it was, but still. Imagination was quite the fun thing to toy around with. Still right about now he was just heading to the current HOMRA HQ. A bar. Yes a bar. It was owned by a man who'd known Shusuke for years. He was somewhat of an old man. He'd often helped out Shu and his mother. Overall he was trusted. An honorary member of sorts. Above all HOMRA members were under orders to protect the establishment and the old man if need be. Though it was rare that it was needed.

As he moved across rooftops he pulled his phone out. He was getting closer and closer to the bar. He sent a message. HOMRA would be meeting up. But he and his second in command needed to discuss a few things. Like what to do about the current situation. Saito may not be the most helpful, but it was always good to have him along and trade ideas. Sometimes he gave some good points too. Thinking about it Shusuke also sent a message to the Princess. Needed to make sure he could keep an eye on her.

And with that Shusuke arrived at the bar. "Hey old man. Doing alright?" He asked as he entered and took a seat at one of the bar stools. The old man was silent as he poured a drink for Shusuke. He was getting on in age. In fact, it was likely that he would leave the place to Shu sooner or later. Shusuke could run it too. And he wasn't that bad of a bartender either. "Sorry Shusuke. I'm a bit tired today. Watch the bar for me while I go upstairs and take a little nap." The old man said calmly. "And don't destroy the place ya hear?" The old man laughed before heading through one of the back doors and upstairs. "Right." Shusuke said before taking a sip of his drink as some of his clansman began to arrive.

[Kitty]

Rin sat on her small stool in the guest room of the bar that had been turned into her personal room by the man who owned the bar. He was very nice to her and Rin could see him as a father figure at times, compared to all the HOMRA members who were like her rowdy older brothers. Rin looked at herself in the mirror, currently she had on a cotton red night gown with a black ribbon around the middle, an eye patch over her empty socket since she did not sleep with her fake eye in, and her light pink silky hair was in two pigtails. She delicately pulled the ribbon holding her hair up out of her hair and brushed through her thick hair. As she did so she got a message on the PDA she was given when she became a HOMRA member, it was a message from her King. She read it over and knew the clan would be soon arriving. That made her feel better.

If you looked at Rin's face you would notice some slight bags under her eyes and looking closely enough you'd see the slight scare in her one red eyes. If you could read her better than others that is, if you couldn't you wouldn't be able to tell. But if you can than you would know that it is the signs of a nightmare the previous night. The fact her clan would be here soon eased her anxiety from the short, scary nightmare. Knowing that her time was limited she quickly went and brushed her teeth then changed into her normal lolita outfit. Rin placed on her choker with a rose on the middle and finally placed her fake blue eye into her socket. She grabbed her umbrella and walked out of her bedroom door and down the stairs. When she was walking down the stairs the old man who owned the bar passed by her to his room. She knew why he was tired, she was pretty sure she had accidentally forced her nightmare into his mind as she lived through it.

Rin eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and saw her king sitting at the bar. She blinked at him with her normal emotionless eyes before she walked behind the bar and stood on a stool and got herself a glass from the cabinet. Rin then placed her umbrella against the bar and went to the fridge in the back and got some orange juice. She gracefully walked back into the main bar area as more clansman came in and grabbed her umbrella. Rin slowly walked to where her king was sitting and sat to the right of him and sipped on her orange juice, her normal umbrella now leaning against the bar-stool. She patiently waited besides him not needing him to even acknowledge her, currently his presence was enough to help calm her from her nightmare. She wished that the second command will be there soon too because he also helped calm her with his presence.

[Nicias Askani]

Sage ran his normal route this time of the morning, listening to music. It was no coincidence that it took him past the bar that served as HOMRA's HQ two times. while physical fitness was a wonderful reason to run, general espionage was his actual reason. On his first run by the building he simply passes right by it, taking notice of the scene. Since the place was a bar it wasnt usually open in the morning to there werent usually people around. So he would keep running. It was a route he took great care with mapping out. It took him a mile past the the bar before he turned around and started back. It also brought him past several places to sit down. If ever he felt like he was being followed he could take a seat in the public space, scope out the scene and choose whether or not to continue.

This morning however he caught sight of someone entering the bar. While he was too far off to see exactly who it was, it was pretty safe to say it was the Red King, the one in charge of the red Clan known as HOMRA. They were a colorful bunch, a stark contrast to the Blue clan. the red clan was the most destructive of the clans but Sage felt that the Green clan warranted more observation but his King, The Gold King, insisted on monitoring HOMRA. Given how closely Scepter 4 watched HOMRA it really felt like he was just reinventing the wheel but his kings orders were absolute.

As Sage ran past the Bar he glanced at the windows as he usually did and kept going. He was Usagi after al, they rarely if ever intervened. they only watched. which pretty much translated into Sage finishing his run, climbing to the roof of a building and busting out his expensive binoculars to watch HOMRA. It was a pretty sad existence sometimes being part of Usagi but it had its occasional perks. None of which were coming to mind right now.

[TwilightDragon]

Paperwork was tedious to her, but it had to be done. She would flip through a stack of papers, and, with a flick of her wrist, roughly fill out several blank fields. It was the same thing for hours; skim, write, turn over the sheet of paper. Skim, write, turn. It wasn't that it was difficult to her, it was just that it bored the living hell out of her. What she wouldn't give to actually get some fresh air...

Cho sighed as she rested her chin in her hand, her elbow plopped up on the table before her. At least she was almost done with her work. That was because she spent most of the day working her ass off. She was tired of sitting down all day and filling out stupid papers... but again, it had to be done. She was part of Scepter 4 now, and she had to take her work seriously. Cho was happy to be part of the Blue Clan; she fit in with the rest of the members well, and she felt as if they were alike. She made many friends and acquaintances due to the fact that she found it easy to carry a conversation with them. Yet, she wished that he was here.

He was a valuable friend, yet they could only talk for a little bit at a time. They couldn't be together as much due to the fact that he made the wrong choice of joining HOMRA while she made the right choice of joining Scepter 4. Cho shouldn't even consider him a friend, yet she did. They had always been friends, and she didn't think that they should sever their bonds just because they were on opposite sides. However, she knew that if she met him in battle, that she would have to treat him as an enemy first and a friend second. It's his fault. He dropped out of school, probably because of a stupid reason, and joined the Red Clan. He should have completed high school. He should have sought to improve himself. Cho's scribbles became rougher as she continued to think about the friend that she had grown so close to. Her pale brows furrowed in an angry manner and her teeth clenched under her jaw. He can still fix this. He can leave the Reds, but he's too stubborn to leave them behind.

It was then that she realized that she was squeezing the pen a bit too tightly and was about to tear the paper with the tip of the pen as she wrote. Cho forced herself to calm down, breathing deeply before continuing her work. It's none of my business. Saito chose to be the way he is now. I chose to join the Blue Clan. We travel down different paths, now.

The young gray-haired woman only lifted her amber-brown eyes from the paperwork when she was done filling in the blank lines. With a sigh, she got up from her seat and took the stack of papers into her arms, pressing it into her chest. Cho walked away from her desk and began to search for someone to give the paper to. She would have looked for the Blue King, but he was probably busy and didn't want to disturb him. At the same time, she hoped that she bumped into him. He could give her something interesting to do. And maybe, just maybe, he could talk to her for a bit.

[peachpenguin]

There was something about waking up to realize he was still at the office that always left this kind of empty feeling in Mikami’s chest. But it was always easier than going home just to sleep and leaving first thing in the morning. Something about doing that always made him feel horrible. Maybe it was because he'd always been disappointed as a child when his parents were stuck at work late and didn't pay attention to him when they came home, but he just didn't like it. Which is exactly why there is now a futon in the back room connected to his office, for the nights that whatever they're dealing with decides they don't like to operate on a 9 to 5 schedule. It will never feel like waking up at home, but it's a necessary evil and one that Mikami has learned to deal with.

So he washed up at the small sink also in the room behind in office, because that was something he failed to do last night before going to sleep. At this point, it was all routine. The only difference was if he had been at home there might have been a small red mop of hair with glasses too big for his face and clear blue eyes standing beside him, making Mikami support most of his weight because it was far too early for to be awake but he wanted to spend the most time with his dad as possible. Right now though, it was time for coffee.

Mikami had granted himself a little bit of extra sleeping time because of how late he had been up the night before, dealing with some unavoidable paper work and what not late into the night last night. So by the time he emerged from his office, as clean and presentable as one could get, most of his clansmen were already there. He smiled at the ones that weren't too absorbed in their work on his walk to the coffee machine (something he was strongly considering buying to put in either his office or the back room). On his way back, hot beverage in hand, Mikami started analyzing his co-workers. Seeing which ones were upset, which ones were tired or sick; all of that would come into play if something were to happen today. And happen things always did, so it was best to be prepared.

That was when he spotted Cho. She's one of the newer members, having less than two years under her belt, but that's okay. He likes her enough, and while there was one or two incidents early on, most recruits make mistakes like that. The Blue King rarely ever holds it against any of the new recruits. A closer, more scrutinizing look made him think that maybe something was bothering her, but that was just a hunch. Or maybe it was fact that she was holding a stack full of paper work, which would bother anyone. He was sure it would end up on his desk eventually. Might as well take it now.

"I can take that for you. It'll end up on my desk anyways," he said as he tapped her on the shoulder, taking another drink from his coffee cup after he had finished talking.

[Solace]

Swarms of children frolicked all across the vast playground. The early autumn sun of the dawn had arrived once more, the earth and streets of Japan coated with leaves and, notably, cherry blossoms. No more or less than six years of age, a young boy came to believe that he was the ruler of these brilliant lands.

Or so, the boy dreamed; dreamed of escape, dreamed of greatness, dreamed of the dreams undreamed.

"I'm just gonna..."

One quick reflex, one simple motion, and the boy seized it. The contents of the reward were succulent and refreshing; it was the sweet taste of victory, the spoils of a war fought long yet worthwhile, and even then, the girl could only sit and watch him...

---

"... take this."

The juice pouch was emptied rather quickly by the time Saito Iwasaki left the corner store, making sure to walk over the beat-up thief as he departed. It had been a stick-up gone wrong for the poor fellow at the moment he walked into the convenient store rather... conveniently, he had practically done the job for the cops. They're all too slow, anyway. Kid would've gotten away before they even left.

"Man, this stinks," Saito sighed as he tossed the empty juice pouch into the garbage can beside the street. His hands rested in the pockets of his hoodie as he set his destination for the bar, leaving one of the suburban sectors. "Shu wants to have a meeting... at least Chew's probably doing something useful. Bleh."

Saito kept his head lowered as he entered the commerical, bustling portion of Shizume City. He disliked being amidst large crowds of people. Pushing him as they trudged through, walking on like robots. Even so, he did his best to isolate himself from the most dense of the flock, and pressed onward towards the direction of the bar.

Some time passed, and his sneakers stepped beyond the threshold that separated home from the outside world. "Hi, everyone," he greeted as he flipped the hood back, wagging his head like a dog after a bath. He walked past his clansmen and peered at his reflection in a small mirror hanging beside the bar, adjusting his hair. "Yeah, I know. I look like I just beat up some dude trying to steal some candy bars from a store... but you don't have to remind me that I looked good doing it."

Saito finished fixing his hair, hopping onto one of the seats and yawning. Gatherings like such were not all that common from Shu. It was usually himself that organized them, though, Shu seemed a bit serious. "What's up, people? Shu?"

[TwilightDragon]

A sigh escaped her lips as her gaze traveled around the room. Many people were working just like she was—some of them even looked as frustrated as she had been. Then again, who liked to do paperwork? It was a relatively simple job; you just had to put in information on blank lines. The information wasn’t even that hard to find. It was just that one had to do it for hours and hours, and after a while, one’s eyes grew tired and the words began to blend together into one. Cho looked down at her stack of papers. Perhaps she should just hand it to an older member and they could give it to Mikami? She felt like an idiot, standing in the middle of the room with no clue of what to do next. Just as she was about to turn around and go to one of the others, someone tapped her on the shoulder. A familiar voice reached her ears and she turned to see a black-haired man. Mikami Kumini.

Of course, Cho was a little nervous. He was the Blue King, one of the most powerful men in the world. And she was in his presence. She blinked up at him before dropping her gaze back down to the paperwork that she had in her arms. I can finally get rid of this. It’s beginning to be a bother. ”Thank you.” she said, handing the papers to him. She forced herself to be as formal and polite as she could be. Cho had heard many things about him—how he once went to law school and how he was older than he looked. She actually thought that he was younger than her, but in reality, he was somewhere in his late twenties. She didn’t remember if he was twenty-six or twenty-eight… then again, she cared little for age.

After a moment or two of silence, Cho spoke up again. She raised her eyes to meet his and offered him one of her trademark smiles. ”I was wondering if you need me to do anything else? I already finished my paperwork.” It was then that she realized that he might have more paperwork for her to do. At that, she internally sulked. I hope not. However, the smile remained on her lips, and there was a glimmer of hope in her gaze as she waited for an answer. More paperwork meant staying indoors and not feeling the morning breeze on her skin. It was rather stuffy in that room, and she rather be patrolling the area for any sign of trouble.

”I mean… I can go and do something for you. I could even go on patrol.” Cho didn’t know why she kept on blabbering, but the words escaped her lips. She had always been a chatterbox. Her teeth sunk into the bottom of her lip, this time forcing herself to remain quiet. I feel like I’m annoying him. Maybe I should just ask someone if they need help with their paperwork.

[SouloftheAbyss]

Matsura Tsuji

The apartment was shrouded in darkness. Heavy blinds blocked the midday sunlight. Light switches hid among the bare, black walls. Long since forgotten, layers of dust covered their plastic frames. Only the dim lights from various monitors illuminated the vast space.

In the center, Matsura sat upon a black, leather couch. His laptop sat on the coffe table before him. An arrangement of candies, cake slices, and plates of cookies covered any remaining spaces on the table. Matsura brushed his index finger along the mouse pad and closed his current web page. He glanced down at the clock displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen. 11:35 am. Matsura sighed and reached for his smart phone, which laid by his left side. He sent out a text to his clan members instructing them to come to his place. He needed to go over the details involving their next plan.

Shizu was still fast asleep next to him. Her face was warm against his lap. Matsura had always been baffled by that girl’s tendency to sleep in so late. She had been asleep by his side for nearly twelve hours now. He, on the other hand, had only received at most two hours of shuteye during the past night. This didn’t worry him in the least. His body had gotten use to his sleeping pattern, or lack of there of, years ago.

“Wake up,” he whispered, giving her a small nudge on the shoulder. She responded with a moan and readjusted her position on his left leg.

Matsura was not surprised by her actions at all. She was, and always has been, quite the stubborn child. All she needed was a little push, and then she would be on her feet in no time. Rubbing his eyes, he rose from his seat on the couch. Perhaps he could get started on breakfast, though it was a little late for that. No matter. Red velvet cake was good at any time.

Matsura crossed the litter wood floor to the kitchen. The pastry was nestled on the bottom shelve of the fridge amongst a clutter of other sweets. He brought in out a laid in upon the kitchen counter. Bon appetite.

---

Shizu Sen

Shizu was awoken suddenly as her head fell upon the couch cushion. She slowly brought herself into a sitting position and adjusted her crumpled, baby blue camisole. Her eyes meet the screen of Matusra’s laptop. Was it morning already? Glancing to the back end of the room, she could see that Matsura was already shoveling down a slice of cake. That guy and his cake, she thought blissfully.

Teiru was curled up on the arm of the couch. Once he felt his master moving, he jolted awake and scurried to her lap. He was immediately greeted with an affectionate pat.

Shizu took the weasel up into her arms and met Matsura in the kitchen. She looked down upon the red and white cake in disgust. Perhaps there was a couple of eggs she could fry up in the fridge. If not, she would probably need to run by the corner store and grab something filling. Shizu scratched the back of her head and proceeded to the fridge.

[Demon Shinobi]

As Rin came to his side, Shusuke placed his hand gently on her head. He'd observed her for a bit as she went through the motions of getting herself something to drink. "Did you have a nightmare?" He asked her in a calm somewhat quiet tone, almost like that of a whisper so as not to alert the other members of HOMRA who were arriving. She didn't have to answer him. But he wanted to know if something was bothering her. And if it was effecting the old man too he would ask her if she would want to stay at his apartment. It was kind of big anyway. But overall he was sure he could handle whatever was bothering her better than the old man could. Even if she didn't it wasn't like he wouldn't try to talk to her about it later after the meeting. He smiled at her to reassure her that he was here if she needed and then turned back to everyone.

However, it soon seemed that at the moment Rin wouldn't be able to speak up. He sighed. "I'm sorry. After the meeting I want to talk with you." He said to her as he took his hand off her head. Saito had just arrived. And with him here Shusuke could let the clan know what was on his mind. Sure this wasn't the entirety of the rather large red clan, but those who weren't here could here over speaker phones of friends, and other's would hear from those who had attended. It was okay. He always had quite a few out in the city. Especially lately since someone had been causing trouble and putting the blame on them. And it looked pretty much the same as anything the Reds might cause. Destruction.

"Glad you stopped a little problem, but I think the whole looking good thing is a matter of opinion." Shusuke joked with his friend with a slight chuckle. Sure things were serious, but if the King showed any panic, or distress then the clan would likely freak out. So he didn't show any sign of trouble. He looked like he had it all in control. Boy was that far from the truth.

"I'm sure you all know that we've been facing quite a bit more trouble with the blues lately." The man got right down to business. Who knew when the next sign of trouble would hit. Well one of his patrolling clansmen was likely to here or see something, but there was no guarantee he or even the blues could arrive in time to stop or gather proof of the culprit. "I have a few vague ideas of who it is who's been framing us, but without proof we can't really make a move against them." He looked around the clansmen. He knew none of them had been dumb enough to get them into trouble without reason. Especially when innocent people could have been hurt when the clan had no business in any big matters lately. "We'll need to gather evidence against the green clan. And before anyone says anything." He glanced at Saito.

"NOBODY is to attack the Greens without my okay. And if we're unable to find proof of our innocence to the blues and all those around us..." He paused for a moment. "Total annihilation of our enemies is always an option." This was a slightly darker sentiment from the Red King. But it was understandable. Somebody was putting the livelihood of his clan at stake. it really ticked him off. The other's might have been surprised by this statement, but it was likely that Saito would have expected it. He knew better than anyone about Shusuke's temper in matters such as these. And it had been building since the first incident in which they'd been framed.

[Demon Shinobi]

{Stupid double post -__-}

[Nicias Askani]

One might think that under skills of professional watchers, lip reading might be included. Unfortunately It wasn’t. And lets not get started on why not. By the time Sage got to a decent enough vantage point and took out his binoculars the Red meeting had already begun. Low and behold…he had no idea what they were talking about. He could only watch their lips move and try to make things up but it wasn’t working. It was easy to identify the structure though. The King was the clearly the one who demanded the attention and respect of the room. Near him was a young female. She didn’t seem to be the second in command. From the information Usagu already had on the Red clan the second in command was a male around his own age. So this pretty little lady was likely the one everyone called princess.

Sage didn’t bother trying to figure out why, he just watched the exchange. From what he could see it seemed to be very serious meeting. That in itself was cause for interest. The red clan was known to be the rowdy bunch so for them to be taking something serious something had to have been up. Sage reached into his pocket without taking his eyes, or binoculars, off the bar. He even dialed a number without looking before putting the phone to his ear. It was answered after one ring

“Yea its Ame. Reds have gone serious…..yea I have eyes on them now…. No their calm….well if someone actually took my advice years ago and taught me how to read lips I could tell you…..I suggest I go in there and just ask whats going on……yeah I know…no what I’ll see you later” he hung up without waiting for a reply. This whole watch and do nothing thing had far too many flaws but it was the way of the Usagi and Sage would accept it for now. But things couldn’t continue like this. Something had to change.

[peachpenguin]

Mikami Kumini

She looked tense was Mikami's first thought. Then again, who wouldn't be? After all, she was kind of new and certainly didn't interact with him often. Most people who hadn't been in the organization for a few years didn't. He'd even been told by an old member who'd left to pursue some other line of work not too long ago that he could be overwhelming at times. It probably didn't have anything to do with his appearance. Mikami was well aware that he looked far younger than he was, which was something to be proud of in and of itself. After all, weren't stressful jobs supposed to make you age faster? He wasn't overly tall or overly muscular either. In the end, it was probably just the fact that people knew who he was that made him unapproachable.

Mikami rolled the concept of sending her out on patrol over in his head. They didn't have any pressing cases going on at the moment. Just the usual 'keep an eye on the reds because that's what the blues have always done' and 'deal with any major crimes'. So, his immediate thought was to dismiss the idea that he needed her for anything. The people that were higher ranked than her could handle assigning tasks well enough. Then again, the office did tend to make people go stir crazy. He wasn't sure how often Cho got to go out on patrol, (that was usually something older members of the clan got dibs at before the newer members) but if she had made it into Scepter 4, she must be competent enough. That was exactly why he didn't dismiss the idea of putting her on patrol duty for the day right away.

It's not like fresh air wouldn't hurt him either. It usually helped after spending a night at the office.

"You know what, you can go on patrol. And I'm going to accompany you at least part of the way, because I'm hungry and office food just isn't going to cut it." And then he remembered the stack of papers in his hands. "Just let me put these in my office." The 'and make the lieutenant go over them for me' was unsaid, but it was most likely what would happen. Sometimes, he thanked whatever deities were out there that he'd skipped the whole paper work phase of the job and gone straight to being in charge. There were certainly perks to being a king, and that was one of them. With that, he turned to head back to his office to deposit the papers and inform his lieutenant (who happened to have the slightly smaller and official looking office right next to his) where he was going to be for the next few hours.

---

Tadashi Sakurai

Tadashi was, oddly enough, a morning person. He liked the feeling of morning sun against his skin. His favorite hobby, much to the chagrin of some of his neighbors, was taking his favorite motorcycle out for rides shortly after he woke up. There was something about that crisp, early morning air through his clothes (Tadashi may not be smart, but he's not dumb enough to ride without proper protection and skin peeling off on asphalt has never sounded like an appealing idea to him) that made him happy beyond belief. Then again, lots of things made Tadashi happy beyond belief. Another of those things happened to be the pretty girls and attractively dressed businessmen he always saw at bakeries and cafes on his early morning rides.

So it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Tadashi had spent the first part of his morning chatting up the inhabitants of whatever section of the city he had landed in that day. There was a girl with pretty, wavy chocolate brown hair first. And then a young man in running shorts that showed off his legs so well after that. Before going and eating breakfast at the usual place, there was a woman who was probably a few years older than he was with an absolutely adorable child. That had been Tadashi's morning.

When he got the text from Matsura, Tadashi was sitting at his usual breakfast table, talking to the same waitress (who was engaged, so he kept the flirting to a minimum) he talked to every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. On the other days, it was an older man that worked there who for some reason loved to hear about all the different people Tadashi met. With a smile, he paid and left, putting his helmet back on as he walked out and sped on over to Matsura's place, which was basically a second home with a lot less cars and bikes.

"Morning," he called as he walked through the door, kicking his shoes off as he went. "Did you guys miss me?"

[TwilightDragon]

The silence between them was making her nervous. Her gaze had once again fallen to the floor, and her teeth bit into her lip a little bit more until it hurt. Mikami probably didn't have enough time to deal with her at the moment. After all, she was a new recruit, and the people who he should be sending on patrol should be more experienced than she was. Cho moved her feet so that she was turning away from her king, only to be stopped by the sound of his voice. His words brought joy and horror into her heart; she was going on patrol, but he was coming with her. That terrified her to no end. Cho had to suppress a shudder as she turned toward again, and forced a crooked smile on her lips. "O-oh. You're coming?" she questioned. He probably didn't hear her, as he had already began to walk toward the lieutenant's office. At that, Cho's expression of anxiety became more prominent. What if she messed up? Or worse... what if he got hurt because of her?

Something told her that she shouldn't be so nervous. She was someone who could handle herself. If something happened, then she would be able to handle the situation. I have to remain positive. If I'm negative, I might bring us bad luck. And so, the young woman remained where she was standing, and waited for her king to come back.

She wondered if she was ever going to be the lieutenant of Scepter 4. While Cho would be honored if she was presented with the offer of taking the position, she wasn't sure if she wanted it. She would have to work ten times harder, and more responsibility would weigh upon her shoulders. There would hardly be any time for painting or doing what she liked to do. The gray-haired woman wondered if she would change her mind when they actually asked if she could take the position. It all depended on the situation.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a growl erupted from her stomach. Cho flinched in surprise and thanked God that Mikami hadn't been around to hear that. She would have died of embarrassment. I hope that he lets me grab a quick bite to eat, too. I didn't eat anything this morning.

[Solace]

"Aww, Shu. You're one hell of a hypocrite."

Saito leaned back against the edge of the bar, making sure that he was balanced enough so that physics would not screw him over and send him to the ground. His sinister expression was cut into an exasperated sigh as Shu brought up the whole ordeal about a certain person or people framing them for a series of violent crimes that had been occurring recently in Shizume City. And it made sense to frame them, too; surprisingly, they held a reputation for being the most brutal clan among the seven clans, yet...

"Seriously, screw those Greens," Saito slammed a fist down onto the bar, infuriated by the idea of them being the ones that were framing them for things that they didn't do. If anything, they were the ones who kept things in order when the Blue Clan was busy doing their pointless paperwork. "I ought to teach those scumbags a lesson..."

Saito looked somewhat disappointed as Shu directed the next statement towards him, stating that they were not allowed to attack the Green Clan for the time being as if he was being shut down instantly. He smirked as the real Shu came out for a short moment afterwards, though. He straightened his back and sat upright, arms folded as he surveyed the clansmen. "I don't think I'd mine total annihilation of our enemies one bit. Right, guys?"

There was scattered chatter among the group as Saito hopped off of the chair and onto his feet. "After all..." he raised a fist into the air. "No blood, no bone, no ash!" he repeatedly chanted, rallying the clansmen by their motto. Wiping out a clan like the Greens... I can't wait.

[Kitty]

Rin watched her clansmen as they began to chant. She had felt the hatred and evil intention off of the Green clansmens bodies whenever she was near them. She wanted their hatred and their evil to be brought to the light of the other clans but no one believed her when she tried telling them. Well no one besides her clan. Rin smiled inwardly even though her face remained stoic and expressionless. Her eyes had a small glimmer of happiness that helped mask her anxiety from the night before. She knew after they were done Shu would make her talk about her nightmares. He definitely put two and two together and knew she had affected the old man with her nightmare from the night before.

Rin picked her glass up and walked into the kitchen where she began washing the dishes in the back including her own. She owed it to the old man to do something in the bar for him so when the meeting was over and customers began coming then she would act as a waitress for him even if her clansmen who were basically older brothers didn't enjoy her doing that with drunk, perverted men who sometimes were at the bar. But seeing as she felt bad about the night before she was going to do it no matter what.

Before Rin did the dishes she opened the window by the sink allowing the breeze to blow in. She then got to work on cleaning the dishes by hand staring out the window as she did so.As she stared out the window she softly sang to herself a song she remembered that her mother had sang to her.
Gently, I place a white veil

Over the red, burning, and proud flame Everyone will be left alone someday To engrave it in our memories, so deep that it hurts

This white world - that was all there is Until the first color that tied everything together

Thinking back to the day we swore a firm oath, I let my thoughts run free Prayers high in the sky, our bonds are beyond zero

Here After understanding the meaning of life, the meaning of parting, and the meaning of endings We finally come to know Loss Rest Remembrance

Thinking back to the day we swore a firm oath, I let my thoughts run free Prayers high in the sky, our bonds are beyond zero

Remain within this body forever As long as our blood runs crimson Please let the bottom of our hearts Be home to pride passed down, and that love

And now, it calms Gone, He has gone Now, with the offering of this song

Requiem of Red

[SouloftheAbyss]

Matsura Tsuji

Matsura was on his laptop when Tadashi burst through the door. Setting the laptop down beside him on the couch, he rose to greet him.

"Ah, Tadashi. I'm glad you're here. I had hoped to go over a few things with you before the others arrived," Matsura spoke placid tone. He crossed behind Tadashi to close the door to the hallway. Once this was done, he motioned Tadashi to sit down on the couch. Matsura crossed over to the kitchen and received a remote control from the counter. He pressed the power button and a light flashed from the projector overhead onto the bare wall in front of Tadashi. Matsura set down the remote and returned to his laptop. Uncovering a single cord next to his feet, he plugged one end of it into the side of his laptop. His desktop now displayed before them.

"Perhaps I should start with the plan," Matsura suggested as he sat down next to Tadashi. He moved the pointer over an icon of a camera and clicked. After filing through some options, Matsura brought up the security feed from one of his cameras. The camera, clearly positioned a top of a traffic light, was focussed on a familiar, one-story building.

"As you may know, this is coming from my last surviving camera near the HOMURA headquarters. It gives us a good view of the exterior, but we are unable to see anything from the inside. That's what I want to change today." Closing the laptop, he unveiled a small contraption from his pocket. He handed it to Tadashi to examine.

"It's a micro bug. I was working on this most of last night, along with five others," he explained, "I want to plant these all around the inside. Inside of vents. Atop lights." He retrieved the bug from Tadashi and inspected it in his own hands.

"The difference between these and the cameras last time are that these will exploded once someone makes contact with them as soon as they are turned on. Luckily, we will be able to activate and deactivate them with our auras instead of touching them. The Reds... well, they won't be as lucky." Matsura set the bug down on his keyboard and continued.

"To answer your probable question, yes, they are fireproof. I wouldn't want to see HOMURA treat these like the have treated my last inventions." His face grew sullen as leaned back into the couch.

"Do you understand me so far?" Matsura bore his vivid, green eyes into Tadashi.

---

Shizu Sen

Shizu rolled her eyes as Tadashi entered the room. The infamous ladies man of JUNGLE. What did Matsura ever see in him that caused him to invite him into their clan. Shizu glared at him from the kitchen as Matsura went over the details of the plan. She could hear Teiru, who was positioned on her shoulder, hissing in accompaniment. Hopefully the others would arrive soon, that way Matusra wouldn't be just talking to him.

Shizu tried to divert her attention to the fried eye that laid before. Cutting a piece with her fork, she continued to eat her breakfast on the kitchen counter. Her moments with brisk, forceful, and full of rage. Teiru did not cease his snarling.

[Nicias Askani]

Sage continued to watch the reds. unsurprisingly they got rowdy. "it wouldnt be the Reds without their chant" He assumed that was the end of the meeting so he set his binoculars down and rubbed his eyes. "despite being so rowdy they are the ones closest to normality. they interact most with the general population. where As Septor four tend to maintain the supernatural affairs. JUNGLE was the vague kingdom while Usagi watched. Silver mine as well have been a myth and the colorless king...didnt matter. " Sage let out a sigh and checked on the bar one more time before leaving his spot. Once he was on the street level he put his headphones back in his ears and pressed play. As music filled his ears he made his way across town. though tempted to take the long way and peek in on another Clan he figured it was better to go straight to Usagi and argue.

This wasnt a new argument either. Sage had been trying to break cover for a while now. The Clans were learning how to keep secrets and The Usagi wanted answers without interfering. How anyone expected that to work was anyones guess but it was stupid. The common rebuttle he would get was that Scepter 4 handles most matters. That was true, and they do their job well usually but then Usagi complains about not knowing things. Blue doesnt have or give answers and Gold is left in the dark. But far be it from them to change their ways and ask some questions. when he got to HQ it was the same old song. He reports, argues his case. gets reprimanded. Argues some more. this was far to common and it was really getting on his nerves. Usagi was the authority, but did not exercise it. instead they ran around in rabbit mask scaring off the media.

[peachpenguin]

Tadashi Sakurai

Tadashi liked Matsura. He was a straight to the point, no nonsense kind of guy, which made him kind of easy to work with. He respected him too, because Matsura was smart, smarter than Tadashi would ever be. And the best part was, it really didn't seem like the Green King minded too bad that Tadashi could be a bit of an airhead sometimes. So the mechanic never really questioned him. Maybe he joked around sometimes, but when Matsura wanted him to do something, he almost always did it. Which was exactly why he ended up on the couch when instructed. Although his position soon changed to laying on the couch with his feet hanging over the arm and the top of his head close to Matsura. Tadashi never had been good at keeping still.

He'd been around when they set up the first cameras. Actually, he'd been one of the people to do it. It kind of hurt a little bit to know that the Red's had destroyed his hard work. Not as upset as others probably, because more cameras could always be installed, but it was still a little bit of a downer.

When handed the bug, Tadashi held it out in front of him, examining it. He wasn't really one for small things like this. They made his head hurt and were really delicate, but he could appreciate them. Even after the device was taken back, he continued to play close attention to what his boss was saying. It sounded a lot like an infiltration mission to him, which was a hell of a lot more exciting than what they'd been doing for the last few days.

"I think I do," Tadashi responded, swinging his feet that were still hanging over the side of the couch. "But won't it be tough to get these into the Red's base without them trying to burn us all to death?" Really, being a victim of that fiery red aura did not sound fun at all. Tadashi rolled over, propping his head up on his hands. "But you've probably got a plan, right?" The fact that Shizu and her companion weren't too happy about his presence went so far over his head they might as well have not been unhappy about it in the first place.

---

Mikami Kumini

His lieutenant, surprisingly, wasn't in the office. Mikami set the stack of paper work down on the lone desk in the room, and left a note explaining what it was. His handwriting was as sharp as ever, and was something that Mikami prided himself on. Before returning to his quiet obviously anxious subordinate, Mikami shot off a quick text to his neighbor, apologizing for not coming home last night. He was sure he would get a response telling him not to worry about it, but it was still proper to apologize anyways.

With that, he left his lieutenants office and went back to Cho, who was still standing in the same place he left her. While she wasn't quite shaking, it was obvious she was nervous. A large part of Mikami felt a little bit bad for her, but a slightly more sadistic part kind of liked that he had that effect on people. It was easier to get things done that way, and, with all the legal hoops they had to jump through, sometimes it was just easier to be a little bit intimidating.

"Let's get going then," the Blue King said as he headed towards the main entrance of the building. "I trust you've been on patrol before?" If he was lucky, then she would say that she had in fact been on patrol before. If he wasn't, which he rarely was, then she would say she hadn't and then he had just a little bit more work to do than before. Mikami hoped this was one of his rare lucky days. "I'm sure you're capable even if you haven't, but there are a few refreshers that probably wouldn't hurt."

His very slightly heeled boots clicked on the ground as he walked, saber swinging ever so slightly on his left hip. Despite his young appearance, Mikami exuded an air of confidence and power as he walked. He liked that. Confident and strong with a regal appearance was an easy facade to keep up.

[TwilightDragon]

Time seemed to be ticking by at an excruciating pace as she waited for Mikami to return. Cho waited patiently for him to come back so they could depart. Even if he didn’t offer her a coffee, she would buy her own later on in the patrol. She had to have some kind of sugar in her system in order to get through the day. If not… she would probably have to fight the urge to pass out at her desk. If she did, she would get in trouble, and she couldn’t afford to be yelled at. The thought of being scolded only made Cho more nervous, and, in order to calm her frayed nerves, began to make sure that she looked decent enough. She pulled at her collar and pushed some stray strands of hair away from her face. There. At least I don’t look like a complete mess.

Cho’s gaze brightened up when Mikami approached her again. At last, she would be able to go outside; she would be able to feel the fresh air on her face after doing that large stack of paperwork. At Mikami’s words, her grin returned to her lips and her eyes glowed with excitement. ”I’ve been on patrol a few times.” she told him as she walked by his side. ”I’m pretty sure that I can handle myself. There’s no need to be worried about being embarrassed by a new member.” She told herself that she probably shouldn’t be speaking to him in such a familiar way, but she just couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like she was offending him, right?

She watched him from the corner of her eye as they walked. Mikami carried himself with confidence, something that she admired. Cho disliked people who held high positions and were hesitant in their actions. But Mikami was different—he was a man who could handle himself and was confident about what he was doing. ”So,” she murmured as she walked outside. ”What do you think about the current issues involving HOMRA?”

Her amber-brown eyes now rested on him once more as she waited for his answer. She was genuinely curious about what he thought. Rumors often floated around SCEPTER 4 like a dark cloud, but she knew that they were only rumors, and promptly ignored them. If I know what Mikami is planning on doing, then I can calm down a little bit more. ”I hear a lot of rumors as I’m filling out paperwork. Maybe you should make your intentions clear to the rest of the Blue Clan?”

Okay, Cho thought, flinching. I’m really pushing it, now. Trying to give advice to Mikami… what exactly am I thinking?

[Demon Shinobi]

A smirk grew on Shusuke's face as Saito spoke. His second in command sure knew how to get the Clan motivated. "Alright!" He said as he stood up. "You, you and you, stay at the bar to help the old man out and keep an eye on things." He said pointing out three members at random. This was the quicker part of the meeting. "The rest of you. Relay the message of the meeting. Continue patrols. Watch out for our people and yourselves." He paused for a moment. "Oh and relieve the others currently working diligently of their duty. It's about time for a shift change." He chuckled slightly and and finished his drink before his stomach growled.

He smiled and looked at Saito. "We're going out for some food." Shusuke explained calmly before walking past Saito. "Be ready." He added before heading back to the kitchen. As he pushed the door open and heard her singing he placed his hand on her head. "Hey Rin, Leave the work to the clan for now." He said in a soft, somewhat quiet tone. "For now we're gonna go get something to eat. And maybe even have a little talk. Alright?" He explained without leaving much room for her to argue.

Shusuke was hungry, so Rin most likely was too. In addition to that, even if Saito wasn't hungry he'd probably come along for the ride just because. Still right about now Shusuke was getting a bad feeling. Like he something was going to happen. Of course, that wouldn't stop him. If he stopped every time he got a bad feeling he wouldn't be able to move forward. Besides, if something got in his way he could just burn it down. No blood, No bone, No ash. He thought as he turned away from Rin and began walking back to the door of the kitchen. "Come on." was all he said before walking out and back past Saito towards the door. "We're going."