Broken Contracts (Hana ✗ Sen)

[Hana]

Unlike normal chains which would have shuddered and rattled under a man's adrenaline-fueled panic, the huntres's chains were much, much stronger. They didn't move an inch even as the man looked like he was struggling, making jerking motions that were barely afforded because of the chains that bound him. "More afraid of him than of me? A mistake if there is any," Selene commented mildly, eyes honing in on the rising anger and panic with a cold smile finally touching her lips. When he made almost as if to spit on her, she chuckled quietly. "I've more than just demolished hundreds of youkai in my time, Soushin-san. I assure you I am much worse than this man should I want to be."

"I'm no youkai. I'm not an onmyoji. And I'm not a police officer." She clicked her tongue, tone light and almost unlike the calm and cold woman if it weren't for the lack of warmth in her eyes as she looked down. "I kill for a living, Soushin-san. I torture because I have a talent in it, but as long as they ask me not to bear my claws you won't even feel them." For Phynex, this would have been an unpleasant reminder of how the huntress had lived and grown up exposed to Kasimir's influence. To the Easterns, the horrible feeling that suddenly spread throughout the room would be known as ki. Or killing intent. Selene used it with a delicacy that hardly anyone could use at will, and to be the focus of it was to feel like if a weapon had eyes to kill you. Kasimir could have stopped the hearts of people with his mere intent alone, or cause you to feel as if your lungs were being crushed by nothing but the air in them.

There were things that he had thought her, useful things, and this was one of them. Soushin would suddenly feel as if there was something hunting him inside the room that was far more terrible than he could bear, his breath lost and at the same time crushing his chest. His heart rate would stutter and skip but Selene held back from actually causing real harm - he was human and she could have stopped it. She didn't kill humans, even idiotic ones.

Abruptly, the feeling bearing down on him stopped, allowing him a few seconds of tearful relief. And all this she did without lifting a finger or even touching him. The smell of something uric suddenly filled the air, but she didn't say a word. He had urinated on himself, hadn't he? "There are so many things I could show you." There are so many things I could show you, my dear huntress. "But we could all just settle for a nice and informative chat..." The chains tightened around his elbows and kneecaps. "If you do what I say. Now." And so the crushing feeling was back. Selene was playing with how long he would last before he crumbled.

 

[Mu]

Though the man shrank in his seat, he was still standing his ground. Phynex could see why, for the people of the East here who did not like the extreme methods they would have used in the West, would have trouble dealing with a criminal like Soushin. The drug mule stared bravely into the eyes of the huntress, and the fire demon had to commend him for not melting into a puddle of fear. Her gaze was becoming more and more sharp, as if they could look into the very soul of a man. Unable to throw the huntress off of his shoulder, the man began to turn his insults and words towards Tiger, who didn't seem like he had a care in the world.

"So since your coward policemen tactics don't work, you decided to hire an assassin?" the man laughed at the police captain's face, who turquoise eyes were trained calmly onto Soushin.

"Do you know who she is?" Tiger mused, a small smile playing on his lips. "You may have heard of her family name, especially if you do your dealings underground. She comes a very, very frightening Western family." It was these words that made the man turn back to examine Selene with a shocked expression. "W- Western?" Soushin stammered, the colour draining from his face.

Phynex couldn't hide his knowing smile. The Westerners here were portrayed as barbarians. War-loving people who fought toe to toe with demons and did not live the peaceful life between youkai and humans. Even if there were criminals in the East, Phynex had been told that even they respected and appreciated the joint lifestyles that both species shared. But this was not the case in the West for a long, long time. They were always at war. Paintings of the Western world were always of blood and grief, of warriors that wore armor like castle knights and fended off their land with powerful magic.

The three men could feel it now. Tiger's eyes seemed to narrow like a cat's eyes, slit like a snake. He looked like a cat with raised up fur, cautious of the world around him. Soushin's color had been completely drained, his face a sheet white. And Phynex... Phynex was comfortable, but he was still never fully relaxed when Selene did this. That energy that radiated off from her was even worse than some demons. The intent to kill and to harm came off from her like a predator. And that was enough to shock Soushin.

He had never faced an enemy like this before. "K- Kill me, then! One employee missing means nothing to my boss."

"Tut, tut." Phynex sighed. "Not a good choice. She isn't going to kill you swiftly. She'll have plenty of fun with you, with all sorts of knives, maybe even guns. The pain you're experiencing from the Yangcao?" he sounded bored, almost nonchalant at the situation t hand and the fear he could taste from Soushin. "It'll be ten times worse."

The man looked down at his arm, blinking at the welling blood, fat and pus. "A- Alright! Alright! I'll talk, just get her away from me!"

 

[Hana]

The promise of pain, of harm to come with the intent of knowing it was always a very cruel thing to do, no matter how simplistic it seemed from an outside point. Looking at it in person, knowing you were going to get very, very pained sooner or later with no way to avoid it? The intimidation almost always worked before she actually had to dirty her hands. Her work done, the huntress looked downwards at the trembling man with a ghost of a smile and pulled away. "I'm glad we can come to an understanding, Soushin-san." Selene stepped back, and then back, until she was now beside Phynex at the table. Sharing a glance with him, she raised one shoulder in a minute shrug. "I'm done." She made careful work of wiping her knife off on one glove, before slipping off the stained white material and dropping it onto the desk.

With this, the police agency and the investigators had hopefully taken a much-needed step in the right direction to find what they needed. Selene was actually inwardly amused that all she had to do, to crack a supposed difficult case of getting this one to talk, was simply to shake him up a little. There was no harm really done - the parts she had cut off from his arm were truly dead parts of his body that would have rotted off anyway without her help, but it had sent a very clear picture to Soushin of what she could further do to him. It wasn't torture if she hadn't caused him pain yet.

"Your questions, Tiger-san? Perhaps we should wait for Dragon-san to come in as well?" She asked in a delicate tone, grabbing the file folder off the desk far away from the stained gloves. Flipping it open, she scanned over the details once again. "Soushin-san. I'd like to know the base of your drug production operations, if you may share it with us in this room." Selene looked over the papers to peer at him, speaking politely as if the earlier intimidation hadn't happened.

 

[Mu]

Tiger seemed impressed with the way the huntress had handled things, approaching the table and grabbing another seat to sit on the side of the table between the fire demon - who was beside Selene - and the criminal. The fire demon could sense the tenseness in his dominant arm, ready and wary for any sudden movements from Soushin, prepared to quickly draw a weapon to defend himself. This was a man who could not be caught off guard so easily, it was no wonder he was chief. Phynex's mind began to wander off, wondering what sort of abilities the police captain had.

If not for the smell of urine in the air. While Selene had been boring her eyes into his very being, the man had embarrassingly wet himself. According to the captain, it seemed to happen often, as he merely shrugged and turned to swipe his card, pressing a few buttons to make panels under their feet open up, little bots cleaning up after the liquid. Not even Nora had this.

"No need," Tiger smiled, pretending to relax in his seat. He pointed at a camera in the corner of the room. "She's watching," the man simply stated before falling silent again.

Soushin looked like a hit puppy, obediently slinking into his seat, his head lowered in shame. Phynex was suddenly glad he was her ally and not her enemy. "I don't know. I don't know where the base is, I just get orders from higher-ups and some stash..."

Phynex asked his own question, folding his arm in front of him. He at least needed to do something. He knew a bit about how gangs like these worked. They were a nuisance when he was still a CEO, considered temporary easy allies that could be tossed aside after they had been tempted with hard, cold money. "You're a merchant, right? Where do you work? You have an area to cover."

"Oh... uhm," the man looked away as he spoke. "I worked around the teahouse districts..."

"The teahouse? Don't tell me they use yangcao as tea-" Phynex started, panic arising in his chest. Innocent people could be in danger!

"No, it's a secondary storage. But.. I know some people order yangcao tea. It's not as potent, but it has the same effects."

 

[Hana]

"What is the name of this teahouse?" The huntress quickly wrangled the conversation back on track, shooting a look at Phynex. The information about the yangcao 'tea' was concerning, but it wasn't widespread yet and was probably known only by those underground with an idea of the drug. Normal customers wouldn't be able to order the tea without knowing about it, and the teahouse had to be secretive lest they be discovered. It wasn't as simple as spreading it to as many victims as possible - the Yangcao group wasn't strong enough. Not yet. Growing worryingly, but they were going to quash this bug underneath their heels before that happened.

She quietly requested for a pen from Tiger, flipping one paper over to write down her observations. Teahouse district. Yangcao has a variation with same effects but less potent in tea. The teahouse probably has a secret area where people can request the tea, most likely this has a password or a hidden hand signal. They were going to get the password or hand signal from Soushin, who had now turned into a compliant, obedient little puppy with his tail between his legs. If he lied, he knew that she would know and he wouldn't dare do that.

Besides, they were going to go through different methods of testing the waters there before going in. "Give me the names of the people who are working with your group in that teahouse. Workers, servers. The proprietor of that place. Describe what they look like, their habits, schedules, and their personalities." If they were going to get Dragon or Selene to get in there and infiltrate, they had to know everything down to the last detail to play a convincing role.

 

[Mu]

"T- The Katawaguruma..." he said, stumbling over his words. He looked so guilty spilling the secrets of his employer, but Selene had him wrapped around her fingers, and had him sitting in her palm. At her command, he could go through hell itself. Her magic, her powers, were a looming shadow over Soushin and he knew the consequences. Unlike Tiger, she had that strange aura that anybody who had never seen a Westerner would have never experienced before. "It's one of the popular ones... near the center of that district." The merchant refused to maintain eye contact with either of the three. "The Katawaguruma... also called the Soultaker."

Phynex silently thought to himself. The 'Soultaker' was an appropriate nickname for the place, hearing about the inner workings of the teahouse. Some of them were considered part of the red-light business, and had plenty of pleasure women and youkai to satisfy the needs for humans with strange tastes or hungry youkai. Back in Nora, they had a few in the Chinatown to cater to the needs of the growing population. They were a good hideout for shady businesses, as Phynex remembered. He remembered seeing the word katawaguruma before, in the chronicles of youkai that had been recorded by the Emperor and their scribes. They were rolling cart wheels with the heads of greedy men attached to them. They were masters at curses, and were mostly feared by those who passed crossroads often. Again, it was an appropriate name if this teahouse was considered one of the most popular, it would be like a hub. A crossroad to the teahouses. And... a place for curses, according to the legend of the katawaguruma.

After a brief moment of silence, the man began listing down the names of those he knew. He talked about regulars, their confidential information - or anything he remembered about them - the waiters and waitresses, the pleasure women... the list was long but detailed, and by the end he had fallen silent as Selene noted everything he had said down. "You do this..." he raised his handcuffed hands and did something complex with his fingers. "And order the Noburutaiyo Kusa. T- That's the name for the yangcao we use..."

 

[Hana]

By the time Selene had finished jotting down notes as words tumbled out of the man's mouth, they had a full-fledged list of regulars, pleasure women (and men), and the full host of servers and hosts that made up the teahouse called Katawaguruma. It was a conspicuous name for a 'teahouse', considering most proprietors would have liked names that were supposed to be auspicious and brought good fortune to business. Instead of something like Golden Phoenix or The Peony Garden, which were considered good and solid names for establishments, who would want to go to something like 'Soul Taker'? It brought attention to the place that could have backfired, but seemed to promote business.

The Soul Taker was no mere teahouse that served different teas and good food, though on the surface it was known for its excellent service and good selection of teas. Rare teas, floral and herbal infusions, the place had it all. The first level of the place was a popular meeting place for groups of friends or couples. However the Soul Taker had a different level that was reserved for important 'regulars'. That was where the underground dealings were made. Beautiful women with painted faces clothed in elaborate kimonos, usually more expensive the more unique and exotic the appearance and coloring. They were a red flag that women around Neo-Edo or even outside of the city were getting kidnapped.

The huntress's eyes were unreadable as Soushin finished demonstrating the hand sign. "I see." It was an elaborate gesture, but nothing that was surprising. Now that they had the descriptions of what regulars would usually wear, and how they would talk and act, they could get an entrance. Not as a 'regular', but as someone who had been introduced to the place by a friend who knew about Yangcao.

 

[Mu]

Outside of the interrogation room, Dragon had been sitting silently, holding the new verification for the two foreigners. Before, she was filing in the papers she had been given. Inputting it into their records, where they would stay permanently despite them only being guests to Neo-Edo. Even the oldest policemen that worked here had their files stored away just in case they would ever need them. They even had papers on some of the royal exorcists that came here during the humble beginnings of the technology district, though they did not have anything on the onmyoji of current times. As she put away Phynex and Selene's files, she realized she did not remember the last time any of those priest men came to help them.

Now that the questioning was mostly over, she entered the room with a slightly happier smile. They had finally, after so many days of his stubbornness and silence, managed to get information out of Soushin. This was progress, and she felt relief all over in her body. She was impressed by what the westerners had done. She shouldn't have underestimated them.

She handed each of them a box. "Here we go," the woman said. The fire demon took notice that the majority of the hostility from the detective was gone. Opening the box would reveal a classic police badge, a round piece of jade embedded within the shiny silver plate marked with characters, showing their ranking and their occupation.

 

[Hana]

It was the first time the two foreigners saw Tiger's partner actually smile, and inwardly, Selene arched her own brow. She would have thought the woman who told her to use torture as a last resort would frown upon the methods she used, despite the benefit they would get. Dragon was either desperate to get more information and actual leads from the man they held captive, or she wasn't as morally upright as people would expect of a person of the force. At any rate, the huntress had breezed past the interrogation session with Soushin with ease, leaving only an already cleaned up putrid mess and a gibbering prisoner in her wake. Soushin was likely going to have nightmares of the white-haired woman terrorizing him in his dreams after such an ordeal, not that Selene cared.

He looked incredibly guilty, as if some heavy weight burdened him mind and soul and caused him to sag in his chair. The chains that frightened him had already dispersed, yet one look from her as she stood inside the room was enough to send him into violent shudders. Selene had likely pressed him hard enough to traumatize him for some time after this, enough to keep him compliant with the police under threat of seeing her again for another visit...

The new police badges still retained a jade stone, which gave the two of them both two jades. Selene accepted hers with an affirming nod, passing over the notes inside the folder to Dragon in exchange. "We must meet up in another area to discuss our next plan of action." Dragon would want to go to the teahouse to scope out the area, and it was up to her if she wanted the huntress to shadow her movements as an unseen backup or if Selene should so boldly infiltrate with her as well. Considering the pleasure slaves in the VIP area, it wouldn't be surprising to the huntress if she was asked to go test the waters there.

 

[Mu]

"Agreed," Dragon murmured. She turned to slide her identification card into the slot by the door, holding a button down. It was connected to the other side where lines and lines of guards fully equipped with weaponry. "Take him away," she said before releasing the button and opening the door for two tough-looking male guards to step in. Their eyes were focused straight ahead, controlled and restrained. Nothing fazed these kind of people, their self-control and grapple on themselves as a person was something the volatile Phynex was always jealous of. Despite the fact that there were three people of interest in the room, they not so much as bat an eyelid at them. "Make sure he gets extra servings of the good stuff," the detective suggested before watching Soushin being pulled away, the criminal submissively following them like a dog with its tail between its legs.

As the group left the room for Tiger's quieter and more comfortable office upstairs, Dragon voiced her concerns for her plans to sneak into the teahouse. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to scout the Katawaguruma yet, but I do know it is one of the most popular choices in that district. I see a lot of humans and youkai come and go, they serve very unique and fragrant tea... at the right temperature, too."

Tiger furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at his partner, then at Selene. "How will you get inside then? If what Soushin said was true, if you go inside..."

"It depends on Selene, actually." The detective looked away from the blank walls of the elevator to the huntress, just as the doors of the elevator hissed open. "Would you like to join me?"

"That-" Phynex began. The others blinked at him in response. He wasn't sure what to do. Sending Selene into such a dangerous place always irked the fire demon. He knew she was very well capable of defending herself, or being on the offence, her battle with Arashi had proved that much. But as her partner and her lover, he didn't particularly like seeing her get into such dangerous situations. Of course, these thoughts were not ideal for someone of his occupation. "I refuse to send Selene into unknown territory, we're still not sure what their customs and business is like. We may have heard it from Soushin but it is a different story in action."

There was a knowing glint in the detective's eyes. "Don't worry, Phynex. We won't be diving too deep into it. We'll just be doing a basic scout. Act as customers, maybe, to get a good feel of what it is inside. See and listen to how the employees outside serving tea interact with each other and guests."

Walking back, Tiger hummed his opinion. "A customer is still a pretty low rank... you'll only be able to see designated areas."

"What about trying to apply for a job?" Phynex hesitantly suggested. More than anything he wanted to hold Selene's hand. If she was going to go, then he wanted to as well. "Impress them with a good resume, no business would ever turn down talent." That was what he had learnt during his days behind a desk, sifting through papers all day. "Ah, but that means we need fake identities... hm."

"You make that sound like that is a problem, Phynex." Dragon laughed. It was a musical laugh, soft and gentle but also full of heart. So different from the grumpy woman from earlier. "It's easy to get fake IDs for jobs like these. The APA get free reign to do some things that are illegal to commoners. That's why people like this job. But then again, we don't have a lot of corruption here. Anyway, a job application is a sound idea. Very good. What do you think, Selene?"

 

[Hana]

"That was what I had in mind." Meeting Dragon's eyes intently, the huntress nodded and focused back on the situation at hand. The second level of the 'teahouse' was frankly a glorified brothel, no matter how many niceties were applied to it descriptively. Pleasure servants, meant to satisfy whatever the customer's whim was when they were asked for. These ranged broadly from simply acting like an escort and companion for the time they were hired, to the actual acts meant to cater to carnal desires. Speaking with regards to the situation, she was a good person to send in to those parts of Katawaguruma. "I would go into the second level and look for work there, though I suppose that most who do don't come there willingly. It may be less conspicuous if both of us come seeking employment as servers for the first attempt."

Phynex's interruption caused a brief stir in the huntress's eyes, her gaze resting on him briefly. It wasn't a surprise that he would protest. She held back a reply on the tip of her tongue, staring at the wall instead and awaiting what the fire demon had to say. There was a time when his protectiveness towards her was needed and even saved her so many times, but she was no longer the fifteen-year old huntress he thought he had to hide away from the ways of the world. Why now? He had even allowed her to mask herself as something similar in one of Cornelia's parties. The results with the two wolf businessmen may have been unpleasant, but they had gotten the results they'd wanted.

She exhaled lowly, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair. "Applying for work was exactly what I was suggesting for our first forage into this establishment. I have nothing against it, but we may want to look deeper into this later on." Her lips curled upwards in slight amusement that was shared with Dragon at the latter question. After seeing her treatment of the prisoner to extract what they needed, did Phynex think this group wouldn't err on what was lawful when it came to investigation? The only concern no, after having their false identities created, was how they could live up to those identities. They were foreign, and an observant person should be able to notice if they weren't very careful. The slight misplaced pronunciation in the way they spoke, the hint of a foreign accent even as they grew fluent in using the language.

Speaking decisively, she nodded towards her. "Excellent, I look forward to working with you. Please advise us on how to create convincing profiles for this venture." Having Dragon help create their covers for them would be a good first move. The woman was an information gatherer, and would know how to disguise them... Even if Dragon's clothes looked more like they'd stand out than blend in.

 

[Mu]

"I refuse," Phynex growled. "You are not going up to the second floor," he said, folding his arms with a nasty expression on his face. It didn't take a genius to figure out why the fire demon seemed to against the idea of the woman heading up to the 'pleasure floor'. He was obviously displeased with it, and those who knew the nature of their relationship would understand why. Why would he, as her partner and lover, let her go to the floor where men could get grabby and sexually assault her? Not to mention the fire demon was likely not going to be by her side. No matter how much Selene thought his actions was unnecessary, or her skills in handling a situation like this, the thought of a stranger pinning her down - even if she could throw him off - made him shudder.

Tiger and Dragon exchanged a look, both of them looking a little surprised at the fire demon's outburst. The woman's expression softened into something more soft and understanding. "Not to worry. I did not plan on sending Selene to the second floor in the first place. Not to be offensive, but you may not be accustomed to how Eastern pleasure woman act. There are... a few hidden social rules that Westerners may not be acquainted with." She didn't want a chance of Selene slipping up and getting herself captured. "I may not have been into this specific teahouse, but I have went undercover in others, I have a grasp of what happens inside."

She continued to explain her plan. "Tiger may seem like your typical, jolly guy. But he is the captain for a reason. He can keep an eye out for me from outside. As for you, Selene. I want you to apply as a first floor waitress. Keep track and remember all the customers that walk in. Take note of any that are a bit too familiar to the people in the front desk. We will need to avoid them once we come back for a second time. Phynex, come in as a customer, and call for Selene. As a new employee, her employers will just use you for Selene to test the waters... not to mention it will be quite safe. Make sure to secure a room right where you can see who walks in and out."

Phynex nodded. He liked this idea more than the huntress' one. Less danger, and he could be closer to her. The first floor was essential for them just as much as the second, since they needed to know the location of all the rooms as well as stairs and possible emergency exits in case they screwed up.

It was now Tiger's turn to speak. "When they give you a tour, mentally map out what you see. Every door, every hall, everything and anything we might be able to break out when we come back. Dragon will do the same upstairs. For now, though, shouldn't we be scouting the outside?" he cocked his head at the colorfully dressed woman.

"Yes, we should head to the teahouse soon. I believe there's a cafe right across we can sit and have lunch at. Let's see what the exterior of that place is like, and I'd like to see what sort of clothing they wear as well..."

 

[Hana]

While she understood why he was emotionally repulsed by the idea of her infiltrating that secret level to the teahouse, Selene had to stifle a tired sigh. Dragging her gaze towards Phynex, she held back a waspish question from slipping out, only a momentary tightening of her lips, and the narrowing of her eyes, betraying any reaction. Such subtleties between the two wouldn't be easily caught by the two Eastern investigators, and she wasn't going to show anything more that hinted at a closer relationship in this room. She decidedly didn't like the nasty look he wore on his face, showing a stubbornness and petulance that she wasn't about to try contesting. He had been like this in Southmount for the first time, he had been like this in any situation he thought too risky where he couldn't 'save' her from them... Why would this change?

She lowered her eyes, looking away and staring fixedly at the floor and nodding to show she understood. It would have to do for now to hide her slight vexation with Phynex's gruff growl, or his glare, which bothered her more than she would say. "The teahouse will no doubt have requirements for whoever applies for work. We also have to note those down." Considering the way it marketed itself as an upscale teahouse catering to those with money to spare, they had enough budget and an image to raise their standards above the usual. With expensive tea and polished surroundings came the need for equally attractive servers, or so it seemed.

Katawaguruma was like a bejeweled, yet deadly garden of earthly delights. Tea was one of the East's greatest pleasures, especially the rare ones like Silver Needle among other things. White teas, black teas. Good food made by skilled chefs, desserts to accompany teas. Entertainment in the form of musicians for those who were willing to spend more, and inside those walls even an indoor garden where one could reserve a table or a booth for privacy. Even without the Yangcao, this teahouse looked like it had a booming business.

"Alright, let's go and see this teahouse for ourselves." Nodding at Tiger and Dragon, she stood up and made her way towards the door and outside the office. Selene only stopped for a moment to glance at Phynex expectantly. Despite his disagreement, he wasn't going to hold it against her, was he? She was only thinking on the lines of work. Crow had already followed her, uneager to get between the two and hovering behind her.

 

[Mu]

Though he had turned to meet Selene's glance, his eyes were unreadable, except for a small wisp of relief as his body relaxed slightly. With the prospect of disguising the huntress as a pleasure woman gone, he was now a little less uncomfortable with the situation and their mission. All he needed to do now was carry out his part and see it through. However... he wasn't sure why the huntress still didn't seem to understand how he felt about her offering herself up like that. Did she not care about her body, and how much she meant to him, even to the point he could not see her even pretend to be around these disgusting men?

Since Tiger and Dragon were relatively known around these parts, they left to go change out of their clothing. The couple and the awkward Crow did not have to wait long in the silence that hung between them, as their guides emerged out seemingly having swapped their clothing. Dragon was out of her heavy, colorful kimono, and instead donned a smart business outfit perfect for an office woman. A white blouse that was buttoned up to her neck, collar folded over back onto the bright white material. A black jacket that hugged her figure and her arms, as well as a tight pencil skirt around her waist. She had even found glasses, which looked to be for aesthetic purposes only. Her partner, on the other hand, came out wearing a similarly dark yukata, holding his legs together, but allowing the sleeves to be long enough for him to hide both arms into them. Phynex saw a flash of blue, watching as the captain slipped handguns deep into the sleeves of his garb. The other hand held a modest, wooden fan, big enough to cover his face if he had to. What was the most noticeable was that he had decided to wear a very realistic wig. Long black hair fell to his waist, covering his natural snow white head and hiding it perfectly. The strands of hair looked like they sprouted from the scalp of the man himself! And when touched, one would see that it felt just like soft, recently washed and dried hair. "You're staring," Tiger meekly pointing out before chuckling at Phynex's reaction at seeing the change. It was... as if they were two completely different people, yet were still people one would see on the streets.

Outside waiting for them was one of what appeared to be the company cars. Sleek black, polished and shined so much that he could see his reflection on the side of the car door. A driver clad in all black, wearing rimmed shades, rolled down the window to nod at the captain. "Wait, wait. Isn't this too obvious?" the fire demon raised an eyebrow, looking at the sirens on top of the car back to the driver, then to the captain and the detective.

"Again, another illegal activity that we are allowed to do. Show him," her eyes twinkled at Phynex before she turned to give a command to the driver. He shuffled around to press a button, and the car began to shimmer and gleam even brighter than before. To the fire demon and his two companion's surprise, after the light glossed over the vehicle, it had turned into... an expensive looking car? It was slim and elegant, it reminded him of a giant bullet, curved in all the right places, built for speed. "Cloaking devices make it very hard for criminals to see us coming," Dragon noted before stepping into the car, followed by Tiger. After blinking at the still shining new car, he looked to Selene to see her reaction before getting in himself.

 

[Hana]

If Phynex was looking for a reaction, the huntress wasn't giving him any of it. Her eyes merely glanced over the transformation, before she looked away, completely neutral. It was interesting how the police agency took advantage of it, but she had already seen cloaking technology and devices being used by Jasper in his company before. If one were to enter the interior of this 'disguised' car, after all... She slid in after the fire demon, and once she focused her eyes on the interior the luxurious appearance immediately shifted. Particles of light shimmered over the plush velvety seats, changing from a sleek and solid 'sports car' interior to a more practical one seen inside a police's patrol car. From black leather to a neat brown. The police car lacked the faint hint of cigarette smoke that usually tainted the surfaces, instead replaced with a lavender fragrance that seemed to emanate from a car freshener.

"Jasper's company has such technology. I suppose you weren't aware of how he got around the city untouched by his enemies yet," she remarked with a sardonic raise of her brow at Phynex. They still weren't on relaxed terms, an unseen tension disturbing the usually peacable bond they had. A momentary one, but it halted casual conversation between them anyway. "This is how."

"I think we should have chosen less conspicuous clothing ourselves." She wasn't a member of the police force, at least not in the eyes of everyone yet. Unlike the two police captains they were riding with, she and Phynex were unknowns. Yet that would soon change, as she knew there would naturally be unseen eyes in this city. In Nora, the hunters were too dangerous to be approached by the criminals, and were seen as another part of the underground in some circles. They weren't spoken about by the everyday common human. In Neo-Edo, humans mingled with youkai, of all shapes and forms. That didn't mean they wouldn't still be spotted. She was too cautious for that, especially since they were the first two foreigners to set foot here.

 

[Mu]

"No. We heard that he never went out much," Phynex murmured in reply, though he did not turn back to look at her. "We kept tabs on his guards, and his driver, Smith." Stepping into the car, he relaxed when he saw how spacious it was. At least he wasn't going to be pressed up against two people he had just met. And the awkwardness hanging between Selene and the fire demon still remained, getting thicker by the moment. He sighed inwardly, hoping she would have understood his side of the story. Had he not explained how he felt about situations like these before to her? He had, many times, in fact. How the huntress was still so willing to throw herself into these environments annoyed him. He would support her however he could, but no sane man was going to send his 'lover' into a brothel where he could not keep an eye on her.

Either way, he was going to tell her what he felt after this task.

Still mildly annoyed and fuming silently, he sat himself on the comfortable seats before the driver began to do his job. The ride was a smooth journey, slowly disappearing into the depth of the city. Tiger had been rummaging around in the vehicle, pulling back two round metal like objects that seemed to share the same blue blinking lights as everything else in the city. "Cloaking devices for the both of you to wear," he explained, handing one each to the foreigners. "They aren't as potent like fox jewels and the like, but it will do. We can't have you be a regular sight in the city." He pointed at the objects in their hands, "They say it will transform you into what you may have been, similar to your true form - but not." The captain shrugged, "You will see what I mean."

 

[Hana]

The question of disguising themselves to be less noticeable was quickly answered by the devices that dropped into their palms. Selene felt the cool metallic surface, running her fingers around the curved edges, eyes flickering to the investigator as he spoke. She remembered that Phynex had given her teammate one such fox jewel in Nora to help them get into the spider's gathering. The devices in their hands were supposed to work similarly, but they didn't know what appearances these will bestow on them... And she wasn't exactly a demon or a youkai. "I am neither a demon nor a youkai." Still, she busied herself with examining the trinket with a small exhalation as she caught the fire demon's belligerent expression in the rearview mirror at the front.

He might not have given away a hint of it to these strangers, but she knew that brooding edge around his eyes and tensing his brows so well. While she had been bothered more by his anger than by his refusal to let her do her job, she had quickly dropped the subject matter. Neatly sidestepped around it, even, not wanting anything to do with starting another rift - no matter how temporary - between them. What was continuing to mar his expressions and dim his eyes wasn't yet another of her doing, except something he summoned up for himself.

The cloaking devices were to be attached somewhere on their persons, and since this was an early scouting, Selene snapped the latch for the flimsy-looking chain after arranging it around her wrist. There was a strange sound then, as if air was being sucked out, a vacuum. The feeling was very much similar to suddenly being pushed into a soundless room, bereft of anything as the sounds all of a sudden died around the person.

However strange, the feeling lasted only a few moments, and no hint of surprise showed on her face. Her eyes immediately fixated on the rearview mirror... Meeting a pair that was suddenly a lighter blue-gray than the violet that usually stared back at her. Her hair was a very, very slightly deeper silver, more silver than white, and something odd had happened to her facial features. Whether it was because this was supposed to show her 'youkai' form, but there was a slight narrowing around the outer edges of her eyes, giving it a narrower shape. The overall shape was softer, yet still distinctly herself.

"... Aside from changing my face subtly, I'm not sure of what form this is."

 

[Mu]

As Selene moved to attach the machine onto her wrist, the air around her shimmered like a veil of water until it encased her completely. He had seen something similar before, like she was being covered in liquid glass as she changed into something else. Phynex and the two policeman, even Crow, stared when the shimmering ceased, revealing a woman similar to Selene... but different. The fire demon could tell it was her by looking at her features, but everything else was somewhat different. Thoughts about his earlier dilemma with their occupation and their duties clashing with his personal thoughts of his relationship with the huntress flew out the window in favor for awe and fascination at her change. She looked and felt like a yuki-onna... the women of the snowy mountains that were whispered among the villagers, but she was... noticeably not as pale as they normally would be. Less... snow white, and more silvery.

Even Tiger and Dragon seemed puzzled by the result of the cloaking device. "It reads yuki-onna... but you look strange," Tiger pointed out the obvious, raising a once-pale-now-dark eyebrow at her.

His partner looked at her wrist. It looked slim, the skin so thin that one could see the veins underneath them. Although to the public eye it appeared to be just a normal wrist, they could see the faint outline of the cloaking device. "It looks like your cloaking got confused analyzing your blood," she noted with a curious lilt to her voice. The fire demon could see that this was the first time this had happened, the cloaking device had always picked one youkai and portrayed them as the most stereotypical appearance of that species. This was something new.

Now it was the fire demon's term. This time, Tiger instructed the demon to attach it to his chest. And so he followed his instruction, pressing it onto the comfortable Western clothing he had been wearing until he heard a 'click' and a low hum. It was as if time and the air around his body had stopped, sucked away by a rift that had opened up from the machine. He felt his body growing and elongating, gaining weight in the span of a few seconds. His companions were staring at him, even longer and with an open mouth compared to Selene.

Phynex looked down to see the change, only to see a coil of a body lined with coiled muscles, shimmering brown and red scales set in a specific pattern. Smooth and cool to touch, a thick tail hanging off the edge of his seat, sticking out from the position he was sitting in. He had turned into a snake. Or more specifically, a yato-no-kami. Extremely minor snake gods that did not have a place among the gods, so they were considered youkai instead. He had read about them and their incredibly potent poison, giant snakes that roamed the city wearing a haori and even yukata designed specifically for them. And sure enough, the transformation had came with a dark brown haori accented with white.

"Thiss-" he stopped himself from continuing to speak. Even his language was beginning to be affected by the change. The extension of the 's', just like snake demons back in the West. He slithered around the seat he had been given, somehow already having controlled the smooth movement of being a snake. "Jusst like my childhood. I could get ussed to thiss~" Glowing amber eyes happily bored unblinkingly into his companions, a tongue flickering out to taste the air.

 

[Hana]

If it was even possible, what passed for a flat look crossed Selene's face at the confirmation of what her 'youkai form' was meant to be. The huntress was unimpressed with the cloaking device's confusion and then immediately giving her a yuki-onna form, as if the long-running nicknames she had gained over the years wished to follow her even in the East. Snow fairy, ice fairy, snowflake, and now snow woman. I wish people were more creative with names, she thought. It was bemusing, but at least she could explain away the device's confusion with her blood. "I'm not fully human or demon hunter. Yes, demon hunter is a separate species..." She murmured in a musing, mild voice as she caught the stares the police investigators were shooting her.

She passed for a strange-looking yuki-onna. Someone of mixed blood, and not a pure one as the youkai females who rarely came down from the cold and steep mountains. Perhaps even a half-breed, as most of her other heritage were wont to assume upon first glimpsing her appearance. Her white-silver hair would never blend in even with the varied colors and styles humans and hunters had. Where reds, auburns, browns, blacks, blonds ranging from dirty to platinum were considered natural - white that had been as pure as hers wasn't.

It was actually strange to see, as if something felt just a little bit off, the usually pure silver-white locks now a more tarnished silver. A more drastic change such as white abruptly turning black or a vibrant red would have been less jarring. Now, she almost felt like her eyes were playing tricks on her as light glinted off of darker silver hair. Almost like Father's eyes. She realized this with a start, reaching up to finger a lock and staring at the silver of her father's eyes in her hair. Unsettled but not showing it, she turned to Phynex as he put on his own cloaking device.

Seeing the fire demon's form briefly ripple, Selene's eyes narrowed slightly. His form had elongated and twisted... Turning into the coiled lower body of a snake, while his torso and his head had shifted to accommodate his new serpent form. The clothes he had been wearing had shifted with him, but his pants were no longer usable when he no longer had human legs. The haori was an interesting touch, seeing as the device saw it fit to give him suitable clothes. As the huntress still had a humanoid appearance, she hadn't needed to change her clothes.

She arched a brow at him wryly, not as startled or as awed as the others. Because she knew his lineage and his true form, she had already known he would take a close cousin to his true form. It was either a ryu, or something similar to a serpent demon, and the latter had won out. The device had noted his father's blood in him, the blood of a greater upper-high demon, and it had decided that because he still had his mother's middling blood he would fall in the range of a minor snake kami. How amused Kusamaru must be if he realized that Phynex would have been a snake youkai just like him?

"That settles our need for disguises. How long until we reach the teahouse?"

 

[Mu]

"Not long, it is not too far from headquarters," Dragon noted before rolling the window down a little just to look outside, keeping her glasses on as if it would mask her face. From what Phynex could see - and he leaned forward and extended his body to do so - there were tons of buildings on either side of them. A concrete jungle of flashing lights, noise pollution and honking cars. Soon, the scenery would change from office buildings and the environment he would see in Nora to a more traditional setting. Though the technology and the cyberpunk feel remained, traditional-styled buildings began to peek from between the modernized city. The blue, sky-like lights turned into a jarring and scarlet red. There were more men here, and the woman seemed to like being dressed in kimono that revealed their legs and their shoulders, smoking pipes of hopefully legal drugs - as the smoke was purple.

​

The vehicle stopped a few minutes away from what looked like the border of the red-light district and the normal business area. It was another town square where people could meet up and chat - one side the pleasure district and the other a line of coffee shops and bakeries. They were probably hot spots for the working ladies and men, tired and hungry from their more intimate duties. Dragon marched the group into a cafe that was conveniently across the teahouse in question - the Katawaguruma. It was bustling with activity, women waving from the balconies, smiling and laughing with colorful handkerchiefs in their hands. They would blow kisses to the men below, who would wave back. Sometimes they would be escorted away, the men visibly grabbing at their rump before walking back through the scarlet curtains that shielded the activities of the red-light distract from the public.

Even as a snake, he felt a shiver run through his scaled body, Phynex knew why he did not like Selene to work in that dreaded second floor. He glanced at her, he knew she saw the same thing, how did she think he would feel?

Dragon had called for an outside table, settling down with cups of tea and coffee with packets of sugar. She had ordered a selection of food for them to gorge on while they kept an eye on the building. Even Tiger seemed distracted by the writing on his fan, but Phynex knew he was keeping a log of what he could see. The fire demon - or snake - had settled himself down on a rather large seat, letting his tail trail down to the floor as he slithered into place.​