Yo

When I think about you....

Ed awoke with a start, though the moment his eyes snapped open the nightmare that caused this start had vanished from his mind. Still, he took in and let out a deep breath, and rolled into his other side to see if Kaki was still in bed. He didn’t feel her usual fiery heat as his back, but he figured he’d check anyway. Not surprisingly, she had already awoken and gotten out of bed. Kaki was an early riser, usually awake by six and out of bed shortly after. Ed wasn’t sure how she did it, but apparently she’d always been that way. She had been for as long as Ed had known her that was for sure. Ed, on the other hand... he tried not to get out of bed before ten, if he could avoid it. Lately with his schooling to become an accredited mortician, however, there were some days where he had early hours. Kaki usually woke him up those days, and he was surprised she hadn’t woken him yet - today was one of those days. This meant that Ed had actually awoken at a reasonable time to make it to his first class at nine, he was almost impressed with himself. He checked the time on the bedside table, and discovered it was shortly after seven in the morning.

“It’s way too early,” he muttered to himself, but there was no point in going back to sleep now. Kaki was going to come wake him up soon anyway, and he had begun to noticed the smells of breakfast that had wafted through the house. So, he stood from bed, grabbed the nearest pair of pyjama pants, and wandered into the kitchen to see what his wife was up to.

The smell of cooking bacon grew stronger and Ed began moving faster as it did. Kaki was working away diligently at the stove, eggs separated in a small and medium pan, bacon in another. Despite being.... well, herself, Kaki was a fantastic cook. This was only surprising to Ed because Kaki was the person you’d least expect to make a fabulous housewife, and yet.... Kaki hated mess more than he did, and she really hated mess, so she cleaned religiously. Plus, Kaki was very strict about her diet. She liked to maintain a very strong and built figure, which considering she swung swords around all day, there was a reason for it. But, diet was another thing Ed was notoriously bad at. So Kaki cooked everything too. He wasn’t about to complain... Kaki made great meals.

Ed shuffled over to her, leaning over to rest his face in Kaki’s shoulder. He always forgot how tiny his wife was until he was this close to her and having to bend his whole body just to get his forehead to her shoulder.

“Good morning, Ed,” Kaki greeted, moving her head to give him a quick kiss on the head. “You’re up early,” she continued, sounding almost surprised.

“Nightmare,” Ed explained, in a still tired voice.

“What about?” Kaki wondered, reaching forward to turn off the eggs. Breakfast was almost ready.

“Don’t remember,” Ed answered, with a small shrug. “What about you, how’d you sleep?” Kaki gave a small shrug, “fine,” she answered, reaching towards the knob for the other burner now.

“You had that same weird dream again, didn’t you,” Ed realized. Kaki had been having a weird recurring nightmare recently, but she was being very... almost defensive about it. She didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but Ed being who he was, didn’t drop the subject.

“Yeah,” Kaki admitted, moving the pans off the hot burners so they wouldn’t burn and they could eat. She grabbed a couple of slices of bacon and the eggs she had fried for herself, and went to sit at the kitchen table.

“You still haven’t told me much about it,” Ed said before grabbing his own breakfast and joining her at the kitchen table.

“Not much to say,” Kaki answered, with a small shrug.

“A recurring nightmare is a lot to say,” Ed disagreed.

“Yes, well, I had recurring nightmares about the Hyde,” Kaki argued, “and no one listened to me. I know now that there’s no point telling anyone about my nightmares.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Ed agreed, “but that doesn’t mean not talking about it is going to help.”

“You’re probably right,” Kaki agreed, “but I still don’t like talking about these things.”

“You barely even told me about it,” Ed commented, trying to get across that he wanted to hear the whole dream.

“It’s only a dream,” Kaki defended, and not even Ed’s looks could convince her to talk.

“Alright,” Ed agreed eventually.

“I’ll tell you when... when the time’s right,” Kaki told him, smiling at him softly, and Ed couldn’t say no to Kaki’s smile.

“Okay,” Ed agreed, sitting back in his chair, “Do you have to work today?” He then asked, changing the subject now.

“I don’t, actually,” Kaki answered, a certain pleasant surprise in her voice. “It’s been very quiet lately. Ji’s been doing a beautiful job with Saskatchewan, too. I can focus almost entirely on BC, since they gave me that other initiate in Alberta.”

“Don’t you get bored?” Ed wondered.

“Incredibly,” Kaki agreed, “though... when things are quiet, it usually means something... big is going to happen.”

“Usually,” Ed agreed, thinking of times of silence in his life. There was that really big period of time shortly after he came back to life that was a long period of silence, and just after he came back, Kaki left, Maya arrived, Poseidon got a new hand who tried to kill Ed at every turn, Roland turned out to be a shapeshifter and the real Roland died, Maya became a vampire, Kaki returned, they got together, and then the giant fight happened... a long period of silence, concluded by a long period of loud. Things were different now, though. There was a lot more silence and a lot less loud. Of course, he and Kaki always found themselves occupied. Ed was at school, getting a proper degree like a responsible adult, and Poseidon was still after him, after all this time. Kaki was still on Warden’s duties, a Warden Commander now with her own squad. But Kaki didn’t have much to do lately, there hadn’t been many lawbreakers in the area. Still, looking at the way she sat across the table, she knew something big was about to happen. She was leaned forward, and her legs were crossed and close to her. Her elbow rested on the table, and her hand held up her head. Her shoulders were raised and tensed, close together like she was trying to become smaller.

She was scared of something.

Ed wasn’t sure what yet, but he was sure he would find out soon. Kaki usually brought him along on her adventures, she preferred being with him that on her own. She trusted him to have her back, and Ed always would, just like Ed trusted Kaki to always have his. Ed remembered when Jirou asked why Ed and Kaki were together, and one of the biggest reasons was how fully they trusted each other. Ed and Kaki had been best friends and partners in battle, long before they became romantic partners. Their ability to protect each other had only grown stronger since they started their relationship, as proven by their final battle with the squad. Ed fought harder than he ever did, not just to keep Kaki safe, but he knew if he became injured, Kaki would be sad and hurt. So he had to protect himself, too, especially since he couldn’t just die and come back anymore. But Kaki’s adventures were always great fun, and Ed didn’t plan on missing out on any of them for the world.

Kaki stretched back when she was done breakfast, pushing her plate forward a little. She stood, and started cleaning up after breakfast, though Ed noticed she returned to the same anxious pose. That was, she was hunched over, her shoulders up, and her body stuff and rigid.

“What’s wrong?” Ed asked. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed her posture earlier, but maybe it was just him prying about her nightmares.

“Nothing,” Kaki answered, “you’d better hurry up,” she quickly changed the subject, “you have to head out in half an hour.”

“Kaki,” Ed argued. He had stood by this point, to bring Kaki his plate, but he set it on the counter instead and took his wife in his arms. He held her closely and tightly, her back pressed against his chest, his arms around her shoulders. “You’re on edge,” he told her. He felt Kaki relax in his arms, sinking into the embrace, her shoulders lowering, and one of her arms moved to one of Ed’s hands on her shoulders, touching it gently.

“I’m always on edge,” She told him. True, Kaki was easy to rile up, not just easy to get angry either, but easy to get scared too. Her fear had been especially bad since her nightmare about the Hyde. That was almost three years ago now that she had that nightmare, but everything that happened, how her mind had been messed up by Crystal Wells, Kaki still had some severe trauma about it.

“More than usual,” Ed commented.

“It’s been too quiet lately,” Kaki opened up, “I don’t like it. I just can’t relax. There’s nothing to do.”

“You need to get out more,” Ed decided, “go make friends or something.”

“Friends are dangerous,” said Kaki, “human friends are dangerous,” she corrected herself. “They will just get hurt around me.”

“Then find magic ones. We’re in one of the biggest cities in Canada, Kaki, there’s destined to be magical people around,” Ed argued. “You need a new apprentice,” he decided.

“I do not, the first one is already a big enough pain in the ass,” Kaki answered, letting out an almost frustrated sounding sigh.

“But you love him,” Ed answered, a giant grin on his face.

“Yes well I’m already used to loving people who are huge pains,” joked Kaki, elbowing Ed a little bit to push him.

“I resent that statement,” Ed joked back.

“You do not, Mr. ‘you’re-the-executor-of-my-will-Kaki’, ‘I’ll-take-point-Kaki’, ‘I’ll-take-care-of-the-hags-Kaki’,” Kaki answered him, and Ed couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Okay, fair point,” he agreed. Ed held Kaki for just a moment longer before carefully letting her go. “Gotta get ready,” he said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before going to start his morning routine. Kaki smiled at him, then returned to the dishes, the anxious pose she carried earlier starting to calm. It didn’t fool Ed, though.

It wasn’t that easy to calm her down.

Ed pulled on his trench coat, considering it was midwinter, and raining. Vancouver was a lot warmer than Saskatoon, that was certain. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t foolish enough to not wear a coat in the rain.

“Okay, I’m off,” Ed announced to Kaki after he had tied up his shoes. Kaki appeared at the entrance of the kitchen, and she came over to give Ed a parting kiss. Ed accepted it gratefully, then turned to the door to leave.

“Ed,” Kaki said suddenly, taking hold of Ed’s hand, before he could walk out the door. Ed turned his head to look over his shoulder to see an almost embarrassed looking Kaki. “Please, uh...” Kaki trailed off for a moment, “please no matter what answer your phone.”

“Uh. Okay,” Ed agreed, though he both felt and sounded confused.

“Just. Trust me on this one,” Kaki told him, “promise me. No matter what.”

“Okay, you’re being cryptic,” Ed commented, “but I trust you. I promise.”

“Thank you,” said Kaki, letting go of his hand for him to leave. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Ed answered, giving her one last kiss on the cheek before opening the front door.

“See you later,” Kaki said, waving goodbye, a soft smile on her face.

“See ya,” Ed replied before walking outside into the misty winter morning. Now he would begin his morning walk to school. Because of all the money Eric Becker had given them after their last battle together, Ed and Kaki had more than enough to send Ed to school and buy a house in Vancouver relatively close to said school. They even had money left over still, though Kaki sent a lot to Jirou. But considering she still had a salary, and soon Ed would have a considerable one too, they would likely have enough money to sustain themselves forever, thanks to Eric.

Once he had walked about a block, Ed began to feel a deep worry in his chest, thinking of all the conversation he’d had with Kaki that morning. She was on edge, and he didn’t like it.

Something was definitely up with Kaki, and Ed couldn’t help the worry growing larger the farther he grew away from her.

When I think about you....

Ed wasn’t the only person who woke with a start that morning, though Kaki’s was a lot larger. She felt glad that Ed slept like a rock, as she gasped awake, sitting up the second her eyes snapped open from her dream. Her breathing was harsh, and heavy, and she could feel her heart racing in his chest. When she remembered the contents of the nightmare, her head whipped around to Ed’s side of the bed, where he slept rather peacefully, the occasional snore escaping him. Kaki took in a deep breath, and let out a long, relieved sigh.

‘See, just a dream,’ she told herself, but she knew full well even she didn’t believe that. Ever since her dream about The Hyde, she learned that recurring nightmares were always more than just dreams. Kaki looked over at the time, and it was only quarter to six. So, Kaki curled up to Ed’s back, resting her head in such a way that she could listen to him breathing. Ed was much calmer than her, almost always, and breathing with him helped calm her down. Especially since Ed had been the subject of her recurring nightmares. She wasn’t sure which one of them would end up hurt, though. If this was an unusual dream, she had to stop it from happening.

Kaki listened to Ed’s deep breathing, trying to match hers with his. She gripped at his arms, still thinking about her nightmare. The more she dreamt about it, the more things were clear in her mind. The dream was still mostly images, and phrases, but there were enough images and phrases for Kaki to be afraid of it.

“Ed!”

Kaki remembered her own voice screaming out her husbands name from her dream, but she wasn’t sure what type of pain she was in when she screamed it. The dream started simply, just like any other day. Images, words, phrases... they seemed happy. Then a phone call, asking for help, ready to move. Driving. She remembered feeling purpose, a type of excitement... no, it had turned to apprehension. Apprehension about where they were driving too.

She remembered unsheathing her Wakizashi, and the sound it made leaving the sheath.

Blood. She remembered blood. Lots of it, though she wasn’t sure who’s blood. She remembered screaming out her husbands name, she remembered being afraid, and she remembered Ed calling back before she awoke with terror. If she had only had the dream once, she wouldn’t be so afraid. But this was the seventh time it’s showed up. Kaki had lived long enough with the Tears to know what that meant.

The first thing Kaki did every morning was a short meditation. She started this routine a little over two years ago, and she hadn’t stopped yet. It helped her clear her mind in the morning, and it was especially useful to clear her thoughts after a nightmare like that. Kaki had a longer meditation this morning than usual, half an hour as opposed to her usual twenty minutes, to try and calm herself completely. True, laying with Ed did help her relax a little, but her meditation brought her back to her usual level of calm. It wasn’t really... calm, exactly, as Kaki was almost never calm, but it was better than in a state of panic. Usually, Kaki went for a run and did some sword work after meditation, but Ed would have to be up early this morning, so Kaki decided she would just start breakfast early. She had some dishes to do anyway, and some cleanup in the kitchen. So she started with dishes, unloading the dishwasher, then loaded it back up with the dishes in the sink. Then she looked in the fridge to see what they had around for breakfast food. Lots of eggs, and enough bacon left to justify cooking the rest of it for breakfast. So Kaki set out three pans - a small one, for her fried eggs, a medium one for Ed’s scrambled eggs, and a large one for the bacon. By the time she actually started cooking, it was already nearing seven, so she was glad she started early. She would have to wake Ed up close to quarter after, so she would be finished cooking just in time to wake him up. She was pleasantly surprised, however, to find Ed soon leaning over to push his forehead into her shoulder.

“Good morning, Ed,” Kaki greeted, and she moved a little to give Ed a kiss on top of his bald head. Well, okay, he hadn’t shaved yet this morning, so there was some hair beginning to poke out - regeneration and all of that - but it was mostly bald. “You’re up early,” she continued, in the same surprised tone she felt when he rested his head on her shoulder.

“Nightmare,” Ed explained, and Kaki noticed he still sounded tired. This was very early for him.

“What about?” Kaki wondered, thinking about her own nightmare before she went to turn off the eggs. She was just about done cooking.

“Don’t remember,” Ed answered, with a small shrug. Kaki wanted to press him on it, but he sounded honest, and he kept talking before she could interrupt. “What about you, how’d you sleep?” Kaki didn’t want to answer that question, but she saw it coming. So she shrugged, and answered, “fine,” before turning off the bacon.

“You had that same weird dream again, didn’t you,” Ed answered, seeing right through her words. She should have expected that. She didn’t want to talk about this right now - besides, she knew Ed would be compelled to not believe her dreams anyway. But she couldn’t not answer him.

“Yeah,” Kaki admitted, moving the pans off the hot burners and putting her fried eggs on a plate. She then grabbed a few slices of bacon, and went towards the kitchen table, purposefully not looking at Ed.

“You still haven’t told me much about it,” Ed said, clearly not grabbing Kaki’s hint that she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Not much to say,” Kaki answered, another shrug escaping her. Maybe Ed would shut up if she kept brushing him off.

“A recurring nightmare is a lot to say,” Ed disagreed. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Alright, time to pull out the guilt trips, she supposed.

“Yes, well, I had recurring nightmares about the Hyde,” Kaki argued, “and no one listened to me. I know now that there’s no point telling anyone about my nightmares.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Ed agreed, “but that doesn’t mean not talking about it is going to help.”

“You’re probably right,” Kaki agreed. Unfortunately, Ed had a point. But Ed had a lot of good points, that didn’t mean Kaki was about to stop being stubborn. “But I still don’t like talking about these things,” she voiced.”

“You barely even told me about it,” Ed commented.

“You barely even told me about it.”

“It’s only a dream.”

Kaki felt a rush of fear go through her, and she felt her shoulders tense. She remembered those words - from her nightmares. So. Today would be the day, would it? Kaki felt the panic grow deep in her chest, and she felt her posture become tense and fearful. She hated this, but the sooner today was over with the better.

“It’s only a dream,” Kaki defended, and she hated herself for using the exact words she used in her nightmares. But there was no avoiding it. Ed gave her a look, a look he usually used to get something he wanted from her. But not even Ed’s adorable look for him anywhere.

“Alright,” Ed agreed eventually.

“I’ll tell you when... when the time’s right,” Kaki told him, a soft smile on her face, to sate his desire to know Kaki’s dreams.

“Okay,” Ed agreed, sitting back in his chair, “Do you have to work today?” He then asked, finally changing the subject.

“I don’t, actually,” Kaki answered, feeling pleasantly surprised. Kaki had recently had a few days off from doing any work. There just was none recently. She wasn’t about to complain, but it did get boring, sometimes. “It’s been very quiet lately. Ji’s been doing a beautiful job with Saskatchewan, too. I can focus almost entirely on BC, since they gave me that other initiate in Alberta,” Kaki answered. Being a Warden Commander now, Kaki had a squad to help deal with the massive amount of land she had to cover. Her region was western Canada, with Warden Esmeralda dealing with Eastern Canada. It was a mostly fair split, population wise. Kaki had to deal with BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon. Meanwhile, Esmerelda dealt with Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI. Kaki was stationed out of Vancouver, BC, and she had Jirou stationed in Saskatchewan. True, he wasn’t a fully fledged Warden yet, but he was Kaki’s deputy Warden. She was given a squad of Wardens too, so she had one per province and two to deal with the three territories. Until recently, though, she had to deal with things in Alberta, too, but she was recently given a new Warden to have permanently stationed there. It was nice, now she didn’t have to travel so much. At one time Kaki did plan on moving back to Saskatchewan, but she didn’t think that was going to happen. Ed and Kaki enjoyed BC too much, and they had bought a house here. She enjoyed BC, and she was sure if the day ever came, she would ask Jirou to move here instead of the other way around.

“Don’t you get bored?” Ed wondered, pulling Kaki out of her thoughts.

“Incredibly,” Kaki agreed, “though... when things are quiet, it usually means something... big is going to happen.” She thought back towards her dreams. That big thing would be today, she knew it.

“Usually,” Ed agreed. Kaki finished the rest of her breakfast in silence, and after she was finished she pushed her plate away, giving a stretch. Then she stood to start the dishes.

“What’s wrong?” Ed asked from the table. Kaki knew she couldn’t fool him for long with the way she was standing and moving, but she often wished he would just... shut up sometimes.

“Nothing,” Kaki answered, starting on the dishes “you’d better hurry up,” she quickly changed the subject, “you have to head out in half an hour.”

“Kaki,” Ed argued. Kaki had heard his chair being pushed back, and his shuffling steps towards her. She heard the plate on the counter, then she felt Ed’s arms wrap around her shoulders. It caught Kaki by surprise, but it was a welcome surprise. Ed held her closely and tightly, and she felt the heat of his body on her back, and his cold hands on her shoulders.

“You’re on edge,” Ed told her. Kaki relaxed a little, feeling Ed’s calming presence overtake her. She moved one of her hands to his, resting it gently on Ed’s hand.

“I’m always on edge,” Kaki answered. It wasn’t a lie, Kaki was a usually anxious person. Betrayal did that, betrayal from close friends and allies, betrayal from people she thought she could trust. All she had left now was Ed and Jirou, and some pretty bad post traumatic stress disorder. But today she was especially anxious, and she knew that Ed had picked up on it.

“More than usual,” Ed commented.

“It’s been too quiet lately,” Kaki finally opened up, “I don’t like it. I just can’t relax. There’s nothing to do.”

“You need to get out more,” Ed decided, “go make friends or something.”

“Friends are dangerous,” said Kaki, “human friends are dangerous,” she corrected herself, feeling her heart sunk when she remembered Maya Henderson. “They will just get hurt around me.”

“Then find magic ones. We’re in one of the biggest cities in Canada, Kaki, there’s destined to be magical people around,” Ed argued. “You need a new apprentice,” he decided.

“I do not, the first one is already a big enough pain in the ass,” Kaki answered, letting out an almost frustrated sounding sigh. Kaki loved Jirou very dearly, he was very endearing and she was so proud of him, but... she worried about him. All the time. She didn’t need more of that.

“But you love him,” Ed answered, and Kaki heard the smile in his voice.

“Yes well I’m already used to loving people who are huge pains,” joked Kaki, elbowing Ed a little bit to push him, thinking about all Ed had put her through.

“I resent that statement,” Ed joked back.

“You do not, Mr. ‘you’re-the-executor-of-my-will-Kaki’, ‘I’ll-take-point-Kaki’, ‘I’ll-take-care-of-the-hags-Kaki’,” Kaki answered him, doing her best to mock Ed’s deep voice with her own high pitched one.

After Ed had gone for the morning, and Kaki had finished the dishes, she finished getting ready for her day. First she went on her usual morning run, putting her long hair up in a bun to stay out of her face as she ran. She had been letting her wavy, black hair grow out for a while, and at this point it reached down to her lower back. It was kind of annoying, but as long as she remembered to keep it up in a bun or ponytail it would be fine. She changed into appropriate running attire and grabbed a sweater, knowing it would be chilly outside. She put on appropriate running shoes, and stepped outside into the winter rain, locking the door behind her as she left. Then she started her run, down her usual path, through a few parks and down a beach to see all Vancouver has to offer. She jogged her usual pace, taking in deep breaths as she ran. Vancouver really did remind Kaki of Tokyo in a lot of ways - it was just as humid, just as rainy, and it was covered in beaches. Kaki rather liked it, especially since their house that was only a few blocks away from UBC, which meant they lived close to quite a few parks and beaches. It was a nice place for Kaki’s jogs, considering the whole city was a beautiful place. True, Saskatoon was also beautiful, but Vancouver was a different kind of beautiful. It was a nice change of pace. Kali’s jog lasted around half an hour, and after she was done, she went straight to the backyard to practice some swordsmanship. She had some wooden dummies set up out back to help her practice, and she started with the wakizashi. It was her weaker sword, which was the funny part, but she had used her rapier for longer than the wakizashi. She spent longer swinging her wakizashi around than her rapier, but she spent at least an hour practicing with her swords. She was going to do some magical training too, but it was raining out, so it would be no good to do any practice today. By the time Kaki was done her training exercises, it was just about nine o’clock. So, Kaki really got ready for We day. She had a shower, dried her hair, put it back up in a bun so it would stay out of her face. Then she did her makeup, deciding to do a full face despite her knowledge that she would be very active today. Then she changed into clean clothes. She decided on a blue ruffle skirt, black leggings, and loose gray t-shirt. She made sure to lay out her cloak, armour and swords on the bed, knowing she would have to put them on in a hurry fairly soon.

And now... Kaki had nothing to do but wait.

She decided she would keep herself busy by cleaning, though she soon discovered there wasn’t exactly much to clean. She had already done the dishes, and there wasn’t enough laundry to justify doing any. Once the dishwasher was done, she unloaded it, and made sure the kitchen was spotless. She tidied the living room, made the bed, vacuumed despite the floor not needing it, and organized the bathroom... despite the bathroom not needing it.

Okay. Ed was right. She needed to find something else to do with her time.

Kaki let out a deep breath, dropping herself on the couch, now with nothing to do. She checked the time again - it was only shortly before eleven. Unfortunately, though the Tears gave her hints for the future, they were never exact. She got days, not times, feelings and images instead of scenes, and she often had to piece them together herself. A lot of the time, she never knew when or where they would unfold. One thing was certain - today was the day her dream would become reality. Other than that, she had no idea when or how any of it would happen. She had no clue what she was waiting for. A phone call, a correspondence... there were many ways the White Council got ahold of her. But she always had so much waiting to do. Kaki closed her eyes, thinking of easier times with friends. When she and Ed took down Crunch together. When the Squad crashed into a church, broke a tank and lost the unholy grail. When they brought Ed back from the dead. The day after that final battle, sleeping in next to Ed.

Funerals.

Roland Carter, Nathan Gordon, Maya and Evelyn Henderson, John Norton, Marie Laveau, Euddard Tremaine....

Sirka.

Though he was awake now, he had thrown himself in a comatose state to destroy Crystal Wells, effectively saving Kaki’s life.

Fortunato.

He had left them, upset at Alexis Crawshaw’s actions, that left his men dead. True, Fortunato did make an appearance at their wedding, but... the animosity was clear.

Kaki sat up, opening her eyes. That was enough thinking about the past for now. It was unfortunate, really. They had so much time together, so many good times together. But every time Kaki’s mind drifted to her life back in Saskatoon, the dark times always came to haunt her. She missed her friends dearly, but the only people she really had regular correspondence with now - besides her husband of course - were Alexis and Eric, and even that was scattered and irregular. Every now and again, she would hear about a lawbreaker in Africa, and she would send Alexis correspondence telling her to cool down a little. Kaki would love to do something about Alexis eventually, but... Alexis was far too powerful, and Kaki knew that Eric would keep her... in line, as much as he could. Besides, Alexis was one of the reasons Ed was still alive. Kaki owed a lot to her now.

Kaki lifted her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on top of them. Her arms curled around her legs, and she took in deep, long breaths. She was sitting there for a while, she wasn’t sure how long, but her head snapped up when she heard something from outside. She could’ve sworn something had said, though rather muffled, ‘Friend of Summer’.

“Hey! Friend of Summer!” The voice called again, much louder this time. Okay, she had definitely heard ‘Friend of Summer’. She recognized the voice, too.

“Come on in, Ted,” Kaki announced, looking towards the front door, where Ted soon appeared.

“Friend of Summer! I have news for you!” Ted announced, flying in towards Kaki. Ted was Kaki’s favourite faery, a now medium sized pixie who had always been around the help her. He was... not the brightest, but he was a good lookout.

“What’s up?” Kaki asked.

“You told me to watch for ‘suspicion’,” Ted answered.

“Suspicious people, yes Ted,” Kaki agreed.

“I found a suspicious person!” Ted announced.

“Okay, are they actually suspicious or do you just not like them,” Kaki asked.

“They are suspicious! They were drawing a circle in the ground. A big one. I don’t like how the circle looks. It looks bad,” Ted announced.

“Okay, that’s interesting,” said Kaki, getting up from her spot on the couch, “whereabouts?”

“Uh. I’ll show you,” Ted decided. “Follow me Friend of Summer, follow me!”

“Okay, Ted, give me just a minute,” said Kaki, going back to her bedroom to grab her cloak and swords. She put on her bulletproof vest under her shirt, which is why she chose a baggy t-shirt this morning, and then grabbed a sweater to put on. Then she reached for her belts, which both held frogs for her swords. She put those on next, one above the other. Her rapier she held a little higher than her wakizashi, since it was longer and Kaki was short. The rapier sat on her right hip and the wakizashi on the left, due to her handedness and the handedness of the swords. It was easier to grab her one handed rapier with her dominant left hand, and it wasn’t too bad to grab her wakizashi with her right, and bringing her dominant hand to the top of the hilt. She tightened her belts and made sure her swords were secure before putting her cloak on over her sweater and clipping it up in the front. She rejoined Ted in the living room when she was ready.

“Alright, Ted,” Kaki said, putting up both the hood for her sweater and her cloak. “Let’s roll.”

When you find your keys I stole...

Kaki carefully peaked through the bushes, doing her best to not be seen. True, Ted had said the last time he had been here, no one was around. Apparently he had checked the place over a few times before reporting back to her. But Kaki wanted to be careful. Anyone could have shown up between the last time Ted was here and going to tell Kaki.

Ted had led her to a park, Lynn Canyon Park, up in North Vancouver. There were lots of place to hide up here, so Kaki wasn’t surprised that someone had set up something. If this circle was as big as Ted had said, then it was no wonder someone had chosen a large place to hide it. Kaki had told Ted to stay behind as she investigated the circle - Ted was not subtle, and Kaki wanted to keep quiet.

Kaki couldn’t see anyone as she carefully scanned the clearing, so she took a hesitant step forward. Before she did, though, she made sure to activate her magic item that would veil her presence here. Kaki was never much of a sneaker, that was Jirou’s job, but Kaki compensated with enchanted items. Kaki’s gaze scanned the clearing, double checking no one was around. Kaki felt the ground under her feet change - from the softness of grass to the feeling of dirt. She looked down, and that was when she noticed the circle Ted had talked about. She hadn’t crossed the boundary of the circle yet, lucky for her, considering she didn’t know if it had any power in it or not. She had just walked on one of the symbols drawn outside the bounds. She took a step back anyway, observing it a little more carefully. To Ted, she could see how it looked huge. It was pretty big, even for her, two meters in diameter. Kaki pulled out her old school Nokia phone and took a quick picture of the whole thing. It was too intricate for her to figure out, she was never much of a thaumaturgist, again, that was Jirou’s field, but she knew someone who was. Someone who was skilled enough to tell her exactly what this circle did. Kaki moved back towards the bushes, deciding it best to stay out of open clearings for now. Then she dialled up Brandis, an old wizard who had helped both her and Jirou a lot. The phone rang three times before Brandis picked up on the other end.

“Hello?” He answered, his voice sounding as old as he was. Kaki wasn’t sure how old Brandis was, but he was old enough to look like he was getting on, and he was a Wizard. Wizards lived a long, long time if they kept out of the Warden Corps. Kaki knew how numbered her days were, working for the Wardens, but she secretly did hope to get to Brandis’ age one day.

“Hey Brandis. It’s Kaki. I need you to check out a circle for me,” Kaki answered.

“Oh, hello my dear. Yes, of course,” Brandis answered.

“Okay. I’ll text you the photo,” Kaki said, pulling her phone away from her ear to send Brandis the photo. The other end went quiet for a moment, but she could hear Brandis humming and hawing.

“Oh, that’s... hold on one moment, my dear,” Brandis broke the silence, only for another one to commence and Kaki heard a chair being pushed back from the other end. Kaki waited for Brandis to return for nearly ten minutes, keeping her eyes carefully on the circle in the clearing. It would be unfortunate for someone to come around now.

“Now, where in the world did you come across that,” Brandis asked.

“Lynn Canyon Park,” Kaki answered, “Why, what is it?”

“That’s a summoning circle,” Brandis answered, “and it’s not a very nice thing being summoned.”

“How... not nice,” Kaki wondered. If it was just demons... well, usually Kaki could leave that alone. She would probably destroy the circle anyway, but as long as all parties were complacent, she would have no reason to pursue the sorcerer who made the thing. However... if it was... other, not nice things, she would be forced to step in, and it could end up being a big bloody mess. Usually a lot of cultists were required to summon something that big... She was guessing by Brandis’ tone it was more likely the second.

“You have work to do, not nice,” Brandis confirmed. Kaki let out a long sigh. Why did it always have to be cultists?

“Alright. Thanks Brandis,” Kaki answered.

“It’s no problem my dear,” said Brandis, “please after this call is over,” he continued, “destroy that circle, and the photo you just sent me.”

“Will do,” Kaki agreed. Seventh Law, and all that. The less they knew about these things, the better. “I’ll talk to you later Brandis.”

“Of course,” answered Brandis, “let me know how it goes.”

“I will,” Kaki agreed, “bye,” she continued. She waited for Brandis to say goodbye too before pulling the phone away from her and hanging up. Her next call was Ed, though her fingers hesitated over the buttons, remembering her dream. Since the dream had been so unclear, though, she had no idea who would be in trouble if she called. On one hand, it could be Ed who gets hurt in her dream, in which case, she shouldn’t call him. On the other hand, it could be her who gets hurt in her dream, in which case, she had to call. Ed would be upset with her either way, that she didn’t bother to call him. Kaki did do things on her own all the time, but this one would be big. Bigger than usual. Kaki took in a deep breath, and quickly dialled Ed’s number. No turning back now. Even if she did hang up, Ed would probably call her back. She held the phone up to her ear, and noticed herself looking around anxiously as the phone rang. Glancing back towards the circle, glancing into the woods, looking behind her, around her. She felt her heart stop when Ed picked up, a calm washing over her at the sound of his voice.

“Hey, Kaki,” Ed answered, “What’s up?”

“I found something,” Kaki explained, “okay, technically Ted found something. In Lynn Canyon Park.”

“Something?” Ed wondered.

“A circle. A big one. I called Brandis about it. Looks like a cult is forming,” Kaki explained.

“Go time?” Ed asked.

“Go time,” Kaki answered, “I’ll send you the coordinates. How soon can you be here?”

“Gimme half an hour. I need my stuff,” Ed answered.

“Okay. I’m going to stay here and monitor. See you in a bit,” said Kaki, turning back to look at the circle. She was going to spend her time destroying it while Ed was getting ready.

Ed trudged through the wilderness, a scowl on his face. These cultists really picked a spot to set up shop, didn’t they? Ed checked his phone again, to make sure he was heading in the right direction. The cultists had gone to a spot in the middle of Lynn Canyon Park where no one would look for them. It was smart, really, but that didn’t mean Ed liked it. Smart cultists were bad news, and cultists smart enough to hide in the middle of nowhere? It always seemed like a no brainer to Ed, but he had met some surprisingly stupid cultists in his days, and Kaki had told him about stupider ones.

Ed slowed his pace when he realized he was approaching Kaki’s coordinates. He didn’t want to have a run in with hostiles, while he didn’t usually mind having those types of run ins, Kaki was expecting him. He was surprised to find a sword at his neck very suddenly, but he recognized the red hilt just as quickly as the wielder recognized him. It was Kaki’s wakizashi against his neck, and he briefly caught a determined look upon her face before she recognized him and relaxed.

“A little on edge?” Ed noticed, a giant grin on his face.

“A little,” Kaki agreed, before sheathing her weapon.

“So where’s this circle?” Ed wondered.

“I destroyed it,” said Kaki, “But it was this way.” She led him a few steps towards a clearing, where the ground was all torn up, looked like Kaki’s handiwork.

“Whats the plan?” Ed asked.

“Wait here. They have to come back here eventually, and if I was doing a highly illegal ritual, I would do it at night,” Kaki explained.

“What if they have another circle, and they’re not coming back here?” Ed wondered.

“Thought of that already. I have Ted keeping watch,” Kaki answered, “he’s scouring the area for more circles.”

“And?” Ed wondered.

“Nothing yet,” Kaki answered, “he’s not the brightest faery, though. But I told him to report back in an hour if he didn’t find anything.”

“Okay,” said Ed, gazing back towards the clearing. Kaki followed his gaze, and they’re attention remained on it for a moment, as if they both expected something to jump out at them. Nothing ever did.

“Well,” Kaki broke then silence eventually, before crouching down in the snow and using her magic to melt away a small patch and dry out the grass for them to sit. “Shall we?” She asked, and Ed gave a shrug, and plopped himself down, Kaki making sure her cloak was underneath her while she sat. At least the rim had died down - this would be a very bitter afternoon of watch if was still raining like it had been this morning. Ed felt warm close to Kaki, though. She let off heat like a small furnace, though Ed found himself unsurprised, considering her gifts. Kaki’s eyes remained trained vigilantly at the clearing, occasionally looking around to see if anyone was around. She took her work very seriously, as she probably should, and today was no exception. Ed’s attention drifted, it didn’t take long either, and soon he spent most of his focus on his wife. He did enjoy looking at her, thinking about his luck. He had spent twenty years of his life not alive, and he never thought anything like this would happen between him and Kaki, even after his resurrection. He felt so lucky, that he was living his life this way now, free from Poseidon, and married to Kaki Yukimura. Ed’s arm curled around his wife, and she seemed to appreciate it, moving a little closer to him, though her eyes remained fixed on the clearing.

Ed got a feeling it was going to be a long afternoon.

When we find her in her pencil skirt...

Kaki shifted her weight, and let out a long breath. They had been waiting here in the cold for hours. True, Kaki was able to warm them at least a little with fire magic, but she wouldn’t dare make a full fire, just in case the lawbreakers they were waiting for saw it and decided to leave instead. Ted had checked in with them a few times, to confirm that this was indeed the only circle in the area. It was when the sun had long set that Kaki began to wonder if they were ever going to show up. She was growing tired now, considering she usually liked to be in bed by ten, and it was already ten thirty. She was almost ready to quit and go home for the night, when she heard a crack from somewhere close by. Without thinking, she reached for Ed and quickly got them both in the ground.

“Ka-“ Ed started, but Kaki shushed him right away. Ed was no fool - he stopped talking immediately. Kaki carefully peered into the clearing, feeling herself holding her breath and moving very, very slowly. Ed stayed put, but his eyes flicked upwards so he could watch Kaki. The cracking sound grew louder, and a hooded figure popped through the bushes into the clearing. It was hard to see exactly what the figure was thinking, but it was easy to tell that they were upset.

“Hey!” The voice that came from the figure was deep, and upset. “It’s gone!” Four more figures appeared very quickly through the bushes, pushing through and around each other.

“No!” Another deep voice shouted.

“He’s going to kill us,” it was a higher voice this time - sounded almost like a teenage boy. Kaki let out the breath she was holding, and turned towards Ed.

“Go around, cover their escape. That one sounded like a kid. I’m going to see if they know what’s going on,” Kaki whispered to him, and he gave a nod. Kaki stood and drew a sword, her wakizashi, ready for a fight.

“Hey,” she called out, stepping into the clearing with the five cultists, “was this your circle?”

“Shit,” one of them cursed, and backed away from Kaki. Reasonable, considering she was the one with the sword drawn. Kaki noticed the way the five cultists were standing, almost like a flock of geese, with the cultist who had entered the clearing first in the lead. She got the feeling this one was in charge.

“Was this your circle?” She asked, getting straight to business.

“Who wants to know?” The leader asked, a strong anger in his voice.

“The person holding the sword,” answered Kaki, lifting her weapon to point at him, a stern look in her eye. Not that they could exactly tell in the darkness, but Kaki didn’t care. The leader produced a handgun, hidden in the back of his pants, covered by his hooded sweater.

“You’re not that tough,” the leader told her, and Kaki let out a snort.

“Ha!” She laughed, a rather sarcastic one. From what she could see, the handgun was fairly modern. With barely any effort on Kaki’s part, she easily hexed out the weapon. “Nice try, though,” she mocked, before using the end of her sword to knock the gun from his hands. He tried to pull the trigger, only to find it had been rendered useless.

“I’m going to ask you again,” Kaki said, her voice growing serious and threatening, “was this your circle?” Now that the group realized that Kaki was in charge of this situation, they all looked hesitant. They looked from Kaki, to each other, back to Kaki, to each other.

“W-we drew it,” one of them finally pipped up, not the leader this time, but a rather small figure close to the back of the group. Well, small in comparison to her companions, but still taller than Kaki. This voice was rather feminine, so Kaki assumes she was a girl. “But we don’t know what it’s for. We were hired...” she trailed off, looking towards the head of the group again.

“Hired to do...?” Kaki asked, trailing off at the end, looking between them.

“Just draw the circle here, and we were supposed to... do some things with it, but...” the leader was talking again. “It’s all just a bunch of fairy tale stuff isn’t it?” Kaki let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“No, it’s... God, this is some serious magic,” Kaki snapped at them, “what you thought you would take a crazy old man up on an offer to make some extra cash or something?” They all looked between each other, and nodded at her. “You have no idea what this circle does, do you?” She then asked, and they all shook their heads no.

“God,” Kaki sighed, “Alright, where’s this guy who hired you? Do you know where he lives?” The leader shook his head at her.

“No, all the meetings were never close to his house,” he said.

“Do you have anything of his?” Kaki asked, and once again the kids looked between each other, looking rather hesitant.

“Remember who has the sword,” Kaki reminded them, in a rather threatening voice.

“We just have this,” the leader finally pipped up, and reached into his back pocket, holding out a note to Kaki.

“Good enough,” Kaki said, grabbing the notes from the kid. The note looked handwritten, and as she skimmed through it she saw it contained a drawing of the circle, and a list of instructions. “Thank you for being cooperative,” Kaki said, before sheathing her sword.

“So... we can go?” Asked one of this kids.

“Not yet, you can’t,” Kaki disagreed, glaring over at them. “You’re all going to look into my eyes first.” They looked confused, but Kaki figured it was the best way to decided what to do with the kids. If they really had no idea what any of this was about, they could go, but Kaki would have her eye on them. If they didn’t pass... well if any one of them didn’t pass the trial, she would have to kill them all. She would have no choice. She started at one end of the group and moved up, going first to the smaller figure with the feminine voice.

She saw the boy, in full view now. He was much taller than she was, which was to be expected, she guessed somewhere around five foot ten. He was stocky, too, big and built. She got that from just looking at him earlier too. He had dark hair, brown, but light blue eyes and pale skin. He had round cheeks, a long face, a long straight nose. His hair was fairly long, passed his ears and nearly to his shoulders. A sudden though crossed her, ‘I’m too big.’ It was then she noticed he was a little chubby, and she realized he was insecure about his weight. The insecurity grew over time, but it was changing from insecurity to overconfidence, the insecurity now hiding beneath it. If this was the darkest secret this boys soul held, they would have no problems.

But then she felt something interesting.

The overconfidence he had grew stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until it became a manifestation of his pure force of will, and Kaki could see it outside this boys body. The force shimmered and glowed around him, and Kaki’s eyes grew wide, and a grin grew on her face. She knew this feeling. It was a similar feeling to when Kaki had soulgazed with Jirou, and even more similar to when she had soulgazed with Shinichi.

This boy was a practitioner. Spirit practitioner, to be precise. Kaki’s grin was still apparent when the soulgaze ended, wide on her face.

“I knew it,” she said.

“What are you?” He asked at the same time.

“Long story. All of your friends are probably wondering too,” answered Kaki, “but I don’t have time to explain now. You guys can go home,” she said, starting to turn away, “except you,” she then said, pointing at the leader, “you’re staying.”

“What?” He asked, looking rather uncomfortable with the idea.

“Yes. You and I have a lot to talk about. Tomorrow you can explain as much or as little as you want to your friends here,” Kaki told him. “Now go home everyone, please. Be safe.” Her face grew stern and serious for a moment, so they knew she wasn’t kidding around for her next words. “And if I ever catch any of you doing anything like this in the future? I won’t hesitate next time.” She put her hand on the hilt of her wakizashi as she spoke, and pointed across the group.

“Now. Home,” she said, then pointed towards the leader. “You. With me.” The group dispersed, except the leader, who stayed put. Kaki was surprised. She got the feeling this kid was very stubborn, but maybe he was frightened or curious enough to stick around.

“Hey, come here for a moment,” said Kaki. She held out her hand to him, like a handshake, but she wasn’t intending on a handshake right now. He took it, hesitantly, and Kaki’s suspicions were confirmed when she felt the energy coming from his hand when it touched hers. This person was a caster, alright. Kaki let go of his hand nearly as quickly as she had grabbed it, and the boy was left looking very confused. Kaki looked pleased with herself, before she turned to face the edge of the clearing.

“Ed?” Kaki called out, looking across the clearing into the bushes.

“Here,” Ed called out, joining them in the clearing. “I’m surprised Kaki, they’re all still alive.”

“I know,” Kaki agreed, “I assume you were listening?”

“Yep. Trial by soulgaze?” He asked.

“Yeah. They don’t know anything. Looks like our culprit was smart enough to leave them out of it,” said Kaki, “which, of course, makes him even that much harder to find.”

“And this one?” Ed wondered, pointing towards the leader of the group.

“He’s a spirit practitioner,” Kaki explained.

“I’m what?” The leader asked, sounding rather confused.

“Spirit practition- look, let’s walk and talk, okay?” Kaki answered.

“So, what’s our next move?” Ed asked.

“Well, we don’t have very long before this guy realizes his circle didn’t go off,” Kaki started, “but I have this,” she said, before holding up the note that the leader had handed over.

“Tracking spell?” Ed guessed.

“Tracking spell,” Kaki confirmed. She knelt down on the ground, and drew a quick circle. She wasn’t sure if this persons handwriting would be enough to trace back to them, but she could get creative. Kaki added some ink and a pen to help focus the tracking a little bit, to tie it directly to the writing. She tied the whole thing to a compass, to lead her in the direction of the wizard they were looking for. Surprisingly, the circle went off without a problem.

“Yes,” said Kaki, rather excitedly, “it worked.”

“Let’s roll,” said Ed, starting to make his way out of the clearing.

“By the way,” said Kaki, turning towards the teenager they now had basically in custody, before following after Ed, “what’s your name?”

“Kaden,” he answered, “Kaden Nor-“ Kaki quickly cut him off.

“Lesson one,” she said, “never tell anyone your full Name. It gives them power,” she said, “I’m Kaki. That’s my husband, Ed.”

“Pleased to meet ya,” Ed called over his shoulder, waving back at Kaden.

“Okay,” Kaden agreed, “Kaki. Ed.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Kaden pointed out, once they had gotten close to leaving the forest.

“What was that again?” Kaki wondered.

“What are you?” Kaden asked.

“Right,” Kaki remembered, “I’m a Wizard. I work for the Warden Corps in the White Council of Wizards.”

“Wizard? What, like ‘you’re a wizard Harry’?” Kaden said, sounding sarcastic and filled with disbelief.

“Yes. No. Sort of,” Kaki answered, “magic, yes. Wands, sometimes. Spells, sort of.” Kaden was silent for a moment, looking like he wasn’t sure wha to make of her answer.

“You weren’t joking,” he realized.

“Of course I wasn’t,” Kaki answered, “I’m being very serious.”

“I don’t...” Kaden trailed off.

“It’s a lot to swallow kid, you get used to it,” Ed pipped up.

“So... Wizard,” said Kaden, bringing Kaki back on track.

“Yes, Wizard,” said Kaki, “look...” she trailed off, “remember when I told you that I would tell you everything and you could tell your friends as much or as little as you wanted?”

“Yes,” Kaden answered.

“I lied. Everything I’m about to tell you about the White Council is top secret,” said Kaki, “not a word of it to anyone, or both you and me could be in some trouble. The Council doesn’t like regular mortals knowing about them.”

“How much trouble?” Kaden wondered.

“I will personally find you and kill you myself,” Kaki threatened.

“Oh,” answered Kaden, not quite fear in his voice, but definitely apprehension.

“Now, magic,” said Kaki, looking up for a moment to get her bearings. They had almost made it back to her car. “There are two types of magic - ritual and channeling. Channeling is ‘quick and dirty’ magic. You can make it happen right now with just the force of your will, but it’s just the force of your will, however strong that happens to be. Channeling is split into the five basic elements, well, five in our society anyway. Earth, water, wind, fire - that was me - and spirit - that’s you. Ritual is the stuff that takes a while but you can do more with it. Things like summoning, tracking, and crafting fit in this category. There are higher levels of both ritual and channeling - Thaumaturgy and Evocation. Thaumaturgists can do all ritual magic, while ritualists have to pick a type and stick with it. Evocation is similar - more elements at your disposal. The White Council only recognizes sorcerers who’ve mastered both Thaumaturgy and Evocation as Wizards, and to be able to call yourself a Wizard, you must be recognized by the Council as one. Otherwise you’re just a sorcerer. Does that make sense?” Kaki stopped her explanation just as she had arrived at the front door to her little town car.

“It... uh...” Kaden trailed off, “I guess?” He decided.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” said Kaki, opening up the door, “into the back. We’ll take you home,” she told him.

“Oh, uh... isn’t that...” Kaden trailed off, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“Look,” answered Kaki, “all of your friends know the last person you were with was me. And I’m hard to miss - small Asian woman carrying a wakizashi and a rapier, oh and also she wears a grey cloak. I’m foolish, but not that foolish. Besides,” Kaki paused for a moment, “you were the only magic user amongst your friends, and you’re their ‘leader’. When this sorcerer finds out his circle didn’t work, he’s coming for you first.”

“How do you... why do you think that,” asked Kaden.

“Because it’s exactly what I would do,” answered Kaki, before getting into her car. Ed had already taken his place in the passengers seat, after loading both his and Kaki’s weapons into the trunk, though his door was slightly ajar.

“Well kid?” Ed asked, looking back towards Kaden. Kaden let out a long sigh, and opened up the door to the backseat.

“Wise choice,” said Kaki, and she started her car. “Where do you live?” She then asked. Kaden rattled off his address, and Ed looked it up. Ed was usually the navigator, and Kaki did all the driving. It was more an old habit than anything - Ed got his license revoked after the tank incident, and Kaki did most of the driving after that. Ed had his licence now, but Kaki still did most of the driving.

“So... you called me a practitioner?” Kaden asked.

“Yes. A focused practitioner. At least, that’s my assumption,” said Kaki, “spirit magic, it looks like. A practitioner had channeling and usually ritual magic. Looks like your element is spirt, force magic.”

“So... what does that mean?” Kaden wondered.

“It means you can manifest your force of will to use force magic,” Kaki explained.

“Think of it like Star Wars - you know, the Force?” Ed pipped up. “Turn left,” he then said to Kaki, who quickly turned the wheel and skidded left down the next street.

“What, I can move things... with my mind or something?” Kaden realized.

“Yes, sort of,” said Kaki, “it takes some training, but your soul was full of willpower. With a little training-“

“Left,” Ed interrupted, and Kaki quickly turned left.

“Training?” Kaden wondered, after recovering from Kaki’s sharp turn.

“If you want,” answered Kaki, “I am able to take on another apprentice, or if you want to do just basic lessons...” she trailed off. Kaden was quiet, clearly thinking about what Kaki was saying. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. The way I see it, you have two options - train your magical ability, with me or otherwise, and turn into a fine sorcerer, potentially a Wizard. Or, forget we ever had this conversation and go about your life as normal. Your magical ability may fade over time, and you may actually become a regular person again. But it’s all your decision, and you don’t have to decide now,” Kaki told him.

“Okay,” Kaden agreed.

“Left,” Ed said, and Kaki took another left. Ed’s directions seemed to be taking them to Richmond.

“I will tell you about the Seven Laws, though,” Kaki said, “the Seven Laws of Magic.” Kaden gave a confused look.

“Seven Laws,” Kaki started, “there are rules in magic that you just can’t violate. Well, I mean, you can, but that’s why the Warden Corps exists. The Laws are as follows: Law One - Never take a life, that means a human life, with magic. You can kill as many monsters as you want, but not people, nothing with a soul. Eventually you’ll learn to tell the difference. Law Two - Never transform another. Again, this covers mortals. People with souls. Law Three - Never invade the thoughts of another. However tempting it may be, just don’t read people’s minds, okay? It’s bad for everyone involved. Law Four, and this applies especially to you - Never enthral another. No magically forcing people to do what you want. That’s illegal. Law Five - Never reach beyond the borders of life. That goes without saying. Necromancy is just evil, I mean really. Law Six - Never swim against the currents of time. That ones really hard to break, takes a fuckton of power, but I knew someone who did. So no time travel. It’s not allowed. And finally, Law Seven, then one you just about broke tonight, and the only Law regular people can violate - Never seek knowledge or power from beyond the outer gates. Just. Leave that one alone. It’s super dangerous, and you’ll probably end up insane.

“If you violate one of the Laws, your soul becomes tainted. The Wardens only know one way to deal with that - death. If you violate one of the Laws, the Wardens will kill you. No questions asked, usually no trials. Members of the Warden Corps are Judge, Jury, and Executioner. And we are usually very good at our jobs.”

“So whatever you did tonight...” Kaden trailed off.

“You’re lucky you ain’t dead, kid,” Ed added, “right,” he told Kaki afterwards. “Kaki is one of the most merciless Wardens I’ve ever seen. It’s a miracle she gave any of you a trial.”

“Then why did you?” Kaden wondered.

“You’re children, all of you,” Kaki answered, “if I can avoid it, I’d rather not kill children.”

“I’m not a-“ Kaden began to disagree, but was quickly cut off by Kaki.

“Not a child? You’re what, sixteen, maybe seventeen? Hate to break it to you, but according to Canada you’re still a child,” She told him. Kaden let out an almost frustrated sigh, and fell back on the backseat.

“What kind of trial did you even give us anyway?” Kaden wondered.

“Trial by soulgaze,” Kaki explained.

“I remember Ed saying that earlier,” Kaden said.

“Left,” Ed interrupted.

“Yeah,” Kaki agreed, “Okay, we’re getting into stuff that you can and that I encourage you to tell your friends. Maybe a... slightly redacted version so you don’t sound crazy, but you can tell them some of this. Remember I told you about how lawbreaking taints the soul? Well, there’s a way for Wizards to check for that taint. It’s called a soulgaze. Chances are you can do it too. When a person who can use magic looks into the eyes of a person - and this is important - a person, a human, a thing with a soul, it initiates what’s called a soulgaze. The person who’s eyes you look in sees your soul, and you see theirs. So I looked into your eyes to see your souls. If they were tainted by lawbreaking, which is very apparent to someone like me, then... well, you get the picture. But none of you had darkness in your souls,” Kaki explained.

“So all of that fire and screaming...” Kaden trailed off.

“Hey, I don’t remember your soul lookin’ like that,” Ed commented.

“That was when we were... much younger, Ed. Besides, soulgazes are very dependant on the person. What you see in someone’s soul might not be what I see, and so on,” Kaki said, “fire and screaming, though, that’s... vaguely concerning.”

“Left,” Ed said.

“What... did you see in mine?” Kaden wondered.

“Magic,” Kaki explained, “the rest I’m keeping to myself.”

“What?” Kaden argued, but before Kaki could answer, Ed interrupted with another direction.

“Right,” Ed said, and they entered a suburban neighbourhood, “just about there.”

“Yeah, you can pull over wherever. I can walk the rest of the way,” said Kaden from the backseat.

“Left,” Ed said, almost hesitantly, looking up at the streets then back down at the compass. It wasn’t exactly easy to navigate this way, but they didn’t have much of a choice.

“Okay, what do you want to ask,” asked Kaki. She recognized his current behaviour, and what it all meant.

“Not so much a question,” Ed answered, “more a statement. You let them go.”

“I did,” Kaki agreed.

“It’s not...” Ed trailed off, but Kaki knew what he wanted to say.

“I know,” she agreed, “not like me.” Kaki let out a small sigh. “Do you remember when Jirou came to me in tears, and he said ‘I killed someone Kaki, I killed someone with magic.’”

“Yeah?” Ed agreed.

“I pulled out my sword, grabbed him by the collar and stared into his eyes,” Kaki recalled, “and all I saw in Jirou’s soul was a small, sad, undervalued boy who just wanted to prove himself. When I stepped into that clearing, and heard Kaden’s voice, I realized they were kids, Ed, teenagers. I couldn’t help but to think of Jirou. I had to give them a fair chance.” Ed didn’t say anything, but he put a hand on Kaki’s shoulder.

“Do you want to know what I saw in Kaden’s soul?” Kaki asked quietly.

“What?” Ed wondered, gazing at Kaki with curiosity in his eyes.

“A small, sad, undervalued boy who just wanted to prove himself,” Kaki explained, and Ed was quiet, except to let out a small breath. He understood, suddenly, Kaki’s zeal to help this kid. He reminded her of Jirou, and maybe a little even of herself. Ed had to admit, a part of him hoped Kaden agreed to an apprenticeship. He knew that Kaki would be her begrudging self about it, but he also knew that Kaki needed someone to teach, someone like Jirou. The kid really did work wonders for her, in her own way, and Ed knew that she loved and cared for Jirou very deeply. He’d seen her anger when Jirou got hurt, or her worry when she would hurry to the phone to call. The tug of the promises she had made to his parents forcing her to check on him regularly, but Ed knew she would do it anyway. She needed something like that again, now that Jirou was more or less grown up, and had more or less his own problems to deal with. Sure, he was her Deputy Warden, but things had changed quite a bit since he was just a kid trying to prove himself.

“They were caught in a precarious situation,” Kaki continued, “but what do you think a Warden would have done if they found out what I’d done to Maya?”

“They wouldn’t have hesitated,” Ed said, quietly, returning his gaze to the compass.

“They wouldn’t have,” Kaki agreed.

“Turn left again,” Ed changed the subject.

“Are you sure?” Kaki wondered, but she turned at the next left.

“Hey, it’s not easy navigating with this,” Ed answered, “we might end up doing a loop.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Kaki agreed.

“What’s our plan when we get there anyway?” Ed wondered.

“I was gonna play it by ear,” Kaki said, a grin appearing on her face.

“Fair,” Ed agreed. Ed quickly looked between the compass and the streets. They seemed to be going in the right direction, but the compass could change at any minute. The needle started to curve, then suddenly started pointing backwards.

“Wait, stop, pull over,” said Ed, “but park a block away.” Kaki nodded, and drove another block before pulling over and parking. The two got out of the car together, synchronized with one another perfectly - they’d done this enough together. Kaki opened the trunk and Ed started unloading the weapons, handing Kaki her swords and putting his own weapons in his holsters.

“Let’s roll,” said Kaki, marching backwards toward the direction they came from. Ed followed after her, and Kaki reached for his hand. She squeezed it as they marched down the street, following the compasses directions. They were really close, assuming the spell went off properly that was. But Kaki could assume. The compass led them to a house, two stories it looked like. It was painters brown on the outside, with the usual cookie-cutter house siding. A set of stone steps, four in height, led up to the front door. Kaki could see windows on the bottom, indicating a basement. Kaki paused when they reached the door, briefly doing a check for wards. If he was smart, there would be one... and he was smart. Kaki let out a sigh, and pulled out her wakizashi, charging it with its ability to break through enchantments and slicing at the door. It worked, but unfortunately now she was only down to one charge on her wakizashi and three on her rapier. She would have to switch swords soon. Kaki carefully opened the door and carefully stepped inside, and quickly discovered no threshold existed at the door. She grinned - this would make things much easier.

“I’ll take point,” said Ed, quietly, stepping in before Kaki. The usual. Ed was tough, supernaturally so, and he could recover from any injury dealt to him that wasn’t done with coral. So, it only made sense for him to go first.

They carefully wandered down the entrance hall of the house. All the lights were off, and only the light of the full moon coming through the windows lit their path. The entrance hall opened up into a dinning room, on the left, with a big, circular table in the middle. Kaki could see an archway, and what she could assume to be a kitchen beyond it. On the right was a staircase, going up. Before the staircase there was an opening, and Kaki could see a couch in the room it opened up to. Living room. Behind the staircase, the hallway continued forward.

“There must be a basement somewhere,” Kaki whispered. If there was anywhere suspicious to be hidden away, the basement was it.

“Let’s check the kitchen,” Ed suggested, and quietly crept forward through the dining room, Kaki following close behind. Kaki watched her steps very carefully, silence was key, as much as she hated it. Once again... all this sneaking was Jirou’s business. Kaki carefully reached out and grabbed the belt of Ed’s jacket with one hand, the other resting on the handle of her wakizashi. Ed was... kind of an obstruction for her vision, considering he was over a foot taller than her and much more built. So, Kaki stayed as close as possible. If she just followed his steps carefully, they would both be fine.

Ed entered the kitchen, looking back and forth, checking for any surprises. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the room, so Ed carefully stepped into the kitchen, Kaki following after him.

“Aha,” Ed whispered, pointing to a back door. A small staircase, four stairs down, led to the back door, and to the left of the door was a staircase down. Ed moved towards it, getting extra careful when they reached the staircase. Stairs tended to be creaky. The two carefully snuck down the staircase, Kaki ready to pull a sword at any moment. When they reached the basement landing, Kaki found it nearly impossible to see. All of the windows were on the other side of the basement, it looked like. The basement opened up into another living room, though Kaki noticed what looked like a door way on the other end of the room. Ed made his way towards it, getting his back up against the wall besides the door, Kaki filing in on the other side. Ed reached out and opened up the door, and light emptied into the dark room. It was white light, but way too much white light to be the moon. There was someone in there, and they were not going to be happy to see Kaki and Ed. Kaki looked over to her husband, and nodded at him. He grinned a full toothy grin before nodded back. Ed charged in, pushing open the door rather forcefully, Kaki charging in behind him, drawing her rapier as they went in. She was almost out of charges on her wakizashi, so it would be much more efficient at this point to use the rapier.

Inside the room was a man, sitting at a large wooden desk. He was older, looked at least in his late forties, if not into his fifties. His hair, once dark, had started to gray around the temples. He had dark eyes, and round framed glasses sat on his face. He was wearing a brown suit, and a blue dress shirt. All in all, he looked very unassuming.

“What are you doing in my house?” He asked, looking more angry than scared, standing from his spot at his desk. Kaki now had a clearer view of his desk, and she took the opportunity to snoop at what was on his desk. There was an inkwell at the desk, and a feather quill.

‘Well that’s only a little dramatic...’ thought Kaki. That must have been what the compass was pointing to.

“We’re here doing an investigation,” said Kaki.

“You need a warrant to-“ he started to argue but Kaki cut him off.

“Not that kind of investigation,” she said, holding out her rapier towards the man.

“Shit,” he realized, stepping back into the desk. “You’re a Warden.”

“That I am,” answered Kaki, “So then, I take it you’re the sorcerer behind the circle in Lynn Canyon Park.”

“Y-you don’t have any proof of that,” he argued, and Kaki pulled his handwritten note out of her back pocket, and she saw fear in his face. Fear turned to anger, and Kaki barely had time to react when the sorcerer pointed at her and shouted something. A bolt of lightning came from his fingers, and Kaki put up a shield of fire just in time.

Right. Lawbreaker.

Ed reacted quickly, slashing his sword through the air, aiming for the sorcerers side. The sorcerer managed to get up a shield just in time too. He seemed to be skilled, despite his unassuming demeanour. He ducked away from Ed and Kaki, now in a much more defendable position, though Ed and Kaki were still between him and the door. Kaki and Ed quickly stepped into fighting position, Kaki ensuring she was on Ed’s left side. Ed was right handed, and she wasn’t, so she made sure they wouldn’t be bumping elbows. It was almost second nature now, they had been fighting together for so long now that they had a system. Ed swung first, going for the sorcerers legs to trip him so Kaki could go for the chest. The sorcerer jumped out of the way, and stepped backwards, once again in a strong attacking position. Kaki lunged forward, thrusting her sword forward towards his chest. He quickly formed a shield to repel her sword. Well, there was one charge wasted. The sorcerer pointed at Ed this time, shouting, and a bolt of lighting came from his fingers. Ed nimbly dodged out of the way, his bones and joints cracking as he moved in some unnatural ways to move. That was a leftover from being dead. Ed didn’t have to worry much about the structure of his body when he wasn’t alive, it didn’t matter, even if he did die he would just re-emerge from the South Saskatchewan River. He was dodgy and nimble, but often bent himself unnaturally to do so. Ed took the opportunity to swing around with his sword, swinging in the general direction of the sorcerer. The sorcerer blocked this time with magic. Kaki figured at this point he must be running out of magic. Kaki knew Jirou could max out at six spells with the help of enchanted items, before he started to strain himself, and she knew that she could do even less than Jirou. She decided not to waste a charge on her rapier this time, not until she knew the sorcerer was out of magic, but she thrust forward with her sword. The sorcerer decided this time around to forgo his defence, in favour of instead casting a bolt of lighting at Kaki’s hand. Kaki managed to get him in the shoulder, but when she was pulling her weapon back she almost dropped it. Kaki knew this meant the sorcerer was almost out of magic. He was getting desperate if he didn’t feel like defending anymore.

“Kaki!” Ed called out, realizing she had been hit.

“I’m fine,” Kaki answered, but the sorcerer saw his opportunity. He pointed at Ed and shouted, and a bolt of lighting shot from his fingers.

“Ed!”

Kaki’s dream flooded back into her mind, her husbands name escaping her mouth. Ed had noticed too late the lighting bolt coming for him, by the time he had started moving the magic had already hit him. It got him in the left shoulder, where it met the chest, and Ed let out a grunt of pain, taking a step backwards and grabbing at his shoulder. It must have been a tremendously powerful spell if it got passed his toughness, and it seemed to. Ed stumbled and tripped over his own feet, falling back into the wall. The magician stumbled too, grabbing at his forehead a little. That spell took a lot out of him. That was when Kaki saw her opportunity, and she leapt forward with rage in her eyes, and thrust her sword through the sorcerers chest. There went her last charge on her rapier, and it was clear, as the sword pierced through his chest completely. Kaki yanked out her sword, and stabbed him again. And again. And again. The sorcerer fell to the floor, so Kaki changed how she was holding her sword to keep stabbing him.

“Kaki,” she heard from Ed behind her, “Kaki I’m okay,” he said, but Kaki didn’t stop. Kaki felt a hand on one of her arms, and she knew it was Ed’s.

“Kaki, he’s dead, stop it,” Ed said rather quietly. Her breath stopped, and she stopped stabbing at the sorcerer. She slowly let out her breath, and slowly took another one in and out, trying to calm her racing heart a little. She whirled around to see Ed standing behind her. He was alright, but his face showed he was in pain.

“Let me see,” Kaki almost demanded, reaching to look at his shoulder.

“It’s fine, really,” Ed argued, pulling away a little bit.

“It got past your toughness,” Kaki argued, giving him a stern look.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Ed agreed, “but let’s maybe get out of the creepy basement first.” Kaki nodded, and she wiped her blade on her cloak before sheathing it again. It was nice having an enchanted cloak that came out perfectly clean with just water. Kaki reached for Ed’s hand, and the two hurried out of the basement, and left the house through the back door. Kaki let out another deep breath as they left, feeling a sense of calm come over her.

It was over.

You take my body as your prize...

“Let me see it,” Kaki demanded, reaching for Ed’s shoulder, trying to yank away his top - well, what was left of it from that hit - so she could see where he was injured. Luckily he was wearing a button up, so it was pretty easy to pull off. They were home again, Kaki had put away her swords and cleaned her cloak, Ed had put away his guns, coat, and hat. Now they were almost wrestling on the couch, Ed trying to keep his left shoulder away from Kaki and Kaki trying to get to his left shoulder. Ed was weird about injuries, she had a feeling it came from his toughness and regeneration. He was never worried when he got hurt, because he would be fine, but Kaki was always worried, because he got hurt. As per usual, he was refusing to show her his injuries.

“Whoa there, Kaki, in a hurry to take of my clothes?” Ed joked. Kaki gave him a look, and Ed just responded with his usual grin. Kaki took the opportunity while Ed was distracted to pull his sleeve off his left side. Ed tried to move away again, but Kaki used her legs to stop him.

“Hold still,” she demanded, “do not make me use your Name, Ed.” Ed let out a long, exasperated sigh, but he cooperated with her, knowing he wouldn’t be able to say no to his name. “Thank you,” Kaki said, moving the way she was sitting so she could examine where he had been hit. It was red and burned, as expected, and looked like he had been hit with a bolt of lighting, as expected.

“It looks painful,” Kaki commented.

“It is,” Ed agreed, “but I’ll be okay.”

“Stay there,” Kaki demanded, standing up and going into the kitchen. She grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel, and wet a cold cloth with water. She returned to Ed and patted at his burn with the cold cloth very carefully, and laid the ice pack over it when she was done. She heard Ed let out a small breath of relief when she laid the ice pack over his shoulder.

“See? Isn’t it much nicer when you let me help,” said Kaki.

“... yes,” Ed agreed quietly, though he was hesitant about it.

“I’m surprised it burned as much as it did,” Kaki commented, “but at least it will heal right away.”

“He got me pretty good,” Ed agreed, “but no coral.” Kaki let out a breath, and was quiet for a moment. The memories of her nightmare came back to her, and she thought about what had happened this evening. As per usual, the nightmare almost exactly matched reality. The worst part about the nightmares was Kaki’s inability to do anything - they were always just vague enough that she never knew exactly what was coming, just enough to set her on edge. Kaki reached for Ed’s hand, and squeezed it a little bit.

“What’s up?” Ed asked.

Jirou let out a long sigh, closing his door behind him at his apartment. Shinichi had gone home, and the whole debacle with the Jade Court and the Terracotta Warriors was over.

‘It is advantageous to be ally’s with someone from the White Council.’

The words of his brother repeated in his head, and he felt a light feeling in his chest.

“Ally’s,” Jirou repeated, his hand going over his heart, trying to calm the lightness. Ally’s meant that Shinichi considered Jirou worthy enough to add to his list of people to call. He was worthy enough a warrior to be someone Shinichi could rely on.

He was an equal.

There were two things he wanted most in the world - to be a Warden, and to stand by his brother as his equal. He always believed when he was younger that the two brothers would become Wardens together, and they would be the best team ever. When that didn’t pan out.... well, Jirou still wanted to become a Warden, but he knew that Shinichi wouldn’t be able to join him. Now though, things were better than ever. It had been at least two years since Jirou had a nice, long and good conversation with his brother... and he was afraid when Shinichi arrived in Saskatoon, it would be more bickering, like last time he was here. But they had spent almost the whole week together and there was... none of that. No bickering. Hell, Jirou even got some honest compliments out of his brother. Some of them like the usual, but Shinichi had called him useful, in his own way. Shinichi had told him he had good swordsmanship, in his own way, and called him an equal... in his own way. It took some deciphering, but deciphering Jirou was used to doing. While his head was busy in the clouds, Jirou had made his way over to his old rotary phone, with the intention of calling Kaki to tell her what had happened. She wouldn’t believe it - Shinichi was actually being nice to him. Maybe, for once in their lives, they could actually get along.

Maybe they could finally be brothers.

“Liao Jing,” Shinichi heard on the other end of the line, after he had dialled his girlfriends number to let her know he had arrived back in Hong Kong.

“Jing,” he answered, rather happy to hear her voice, “Yuri and I just landed in Hong Kong.”

“Yuru, sir...” Shinichi heard from his assistant behind him, and he waved his hand in dismissal.

“Yes, yes,” he said to his assistant before focussing back on the important conversion.

“Oh that’s wonderful,” Jing answered, sounding almost relieved. “How was the trip?” She asked.

“Excellent,” Shinichi answered, “bargaining went just as expected.”

“That’s good,” Jing answered, and Shinichi could hear the smile in her voice.

“Do you want to come over?” Shinichi asked, “I’ll be home in... about forty five minutes.”

“Okay,” Jing agreed, “I have the day off, so I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

Jing was already waiting for him when Shinichi and his assistant pulled up to Shinichi’s apartment.

“Thank you, Yuri, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Shinichi waved goodbye as he spoke.

“Goodbye, sir, and it’s Yuru, sir....” his assistant responded, his seemingly permanently exasperated look about him.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Shinichi dismissed him, as usual, waving his hand at his assistant.

“Jing,” Shinichi said with a grin, his eyes landing on his girlfriend, standing just outside the front door of his apartment.

“Shinichi,” she greeted, a smile on her face until she noticed that Shinichi’s arm was in a sling. “Oh my god, Shinichi, what happened?” She wondered, hurrying over to him, touching his arm gently.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I’ll explain later,” Shinichi told her, brushing it off with a shrug.

“It’s not nothing,” Jing argued, though she accepted that he would tell her later by offering her arms for a hug, which Shinichi accepted. “Welcome home,” She told him after pulling away, though her hands still rested on his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Shinichi answered.

“You’ll have to tell me everything,” Jing started, “but first of all, you said it was a good trip?” Jing asked, moving away from Shinichi now as he had picked up his bag and was moving towards his apartment.

“Very good,” Shinichi answered, “bargaining went well, despite the... we’ll get into that later, but I got to see my brother.”

“Really? How is he?” Jing asked, looking curious.

“Formidable,” Shinichi answered, “his English has improved, with his skills. He still works for the police and all, and his friends are still same old, same old. He was... surprised to see me, but he said ‘you should come visit again sometime soon, this visit was surprisingly nice,’” Shinichi remembered.

“Surprisingly? He wasn’t expecting it to be?” Jing wondered, pausing at the door while Shinichi dug around his pocket for his keys.

“Well...” Shinichi trailed off, “the last time I saw Ji... it wasn’t a nice visit,” said Shinichi, “I was upset with him, and said some things that weren’t very nice. I guess maybe I’ve grown since then.”

“Why were you upset?” Jing wondered, and Shinichi thought of how angry he was upon seeing Jirou’s face the last time they had been together.

“I told you, Jing, remember?” Shinichi said quietly, pausing at the bottom of a staircase, now looking up at Jing who had continued up two steps without him.

Kaki was in the middle of making herself a snack when the phone rang in the living room. Kaki let out a sigh, knowing if she let the ringing continue Ed would certainly wake from his nap. So, she paused her snack making, and hurried to the living room to answer the phone.

“Hello, Kaki here,” she answered, not quite out of breath from hurrying, though it was clear she had been.

“Kaki, it’s Jirou,” she easily recognized Jirou’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Jirou!” She answered brightly, a grin appearing on her face. “What’s up?” She wondered.

“Well, a lot,” answered Jirou, “I have to tell you about my most recent adventure.”

“Are you okay?” Kaki wondered. She knew he was - if he wasn’t, she would feel in deep within herself that something was wrong. She promised to protect him, in the best ways that she could, and she promised she wouldn’t let him die. So whenever Jirou was hurt, physically or emotionally, Kaki knew. So she knew that Jirou was okay, more or less, but she felt she should ask anyway. She did worry about him.

“I’m fine,” Jirou answered, “but you won’t believe who was in town this week.”

“... Who?” asked Kaki, a little bit of suspicion in her tone. Kaki always assumed the worst with these sort of things.

“My brother,” Jirou answered, and Kaki wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or not. On one hand, Jirou didn’t sound upset about it, so she could only assume it was a good sort of ‘my brother was in town.’ On the other hand... Shinichi Yukimura was not someone she trusted, especially not around Jirou.

“Oh,” Kaki answered, “is he dead?” She wondered.

“What? No!” Jirou answered quickly, “What’s with everyone and wanting to kill me brother?”

“He’s dangerous, Jirou, not to mention he’s kind of a jerk,” Kaki explained.

“We can’t kill him anyway, remember?” Jirou pointed out. Shinichi was under the protection of the Jade Court of Vampires - Jirou ensured he couldn’t kill him the last time Shinichi was in town.

“We can’t,” Kaki agreed, “but you have tons of friends who can.”

“Kaki, no,” Jirou said, “he’s still my brother, I’m not going to kill him.”

“Okay, fine,” Kaki sighed, “how is he doing?”

“Good, actually, he came to town to do some bargaining with the Terracotta Warriors.”

“I heard something about them being awake again,” Kaki commented, “what did the Jade Court want with them?”

“Well... they want to reclaim China for their emperor, and as a result kind of... trespassed in Jade Court territory. The Jade Court wasn’t too happy about it, so they sent their Wizard, Shinichi - sorry, Liwei - to bargain with them about territory,” Jirou explained.

“Why did they go all the way to Saskatoon for that?” Kaki wondered, now very curious about Shinichi’s exploits.

“A few reasons. The Terracotta Warriors didn’t want to go into Jade Court territory to have these discussions and the Jade Court didn’t want to go into Terracotta territory to have these discussions either. So, it was Shinichi who suggested a neutral place. He chose Saskatoon because I’m here, and he knew if things didn’t go as planned, we would side with him. That’s why he called himself Liwei - to ensure the other side had no clue we were related, therefore hiding his advantage,” Jirou explained.

“Sneaky,” Kaki said, an approving tone in her voice, “I like it. Shinichi can be more clever than I give him credit for.”

“It was clever,” Jirou agreed, “so we were running security. Good thing too. There were at least five assassination attempts on both my brother and the Terracotta Warriors.”

“I take it you and your team had no trouble dispatching the assassins?” Kaki wondered.

“Of course not,” Jirou answered, “we destroyed the assassins. But, Kaki...” Jirou trailed off.

“What’s up?” Kaki wondered when Jirou stopped talking. Now they were getting into the meaty bits of why Jirou actually called.

“Well...” Jirou started, in a tone of voice that Kaki couldn’t exactly place, “one of the assassination attempts was from a sylph. The sylph was flying, and I leaped to attack it. I managed to land the killing hit. Later on, Shinichi told me that it was a nice strike. He complimented me on my abilities. He offered to have sake with me!” Jirou’s words caught Kaki a little off guard - she remembered the last time Shinichi was in town. Jirou was unbelievably upset about it. Shinichi had spent almost the whole time insulting Jirou, and arguing with him.

“That’s... a bit of a change of pace,” Kaki responded eventually, trying to think of exactly what to say to this situation.

“It was! Then he told me ‘you’re not entirely useless’,” Jirou continued.

“Jirou, that’s not-“ Kaki started, trying to tell him that wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Jirou cut her off.

“Can you believe it? He thinks I’m actually useful sometimes!” Jirou continued. Kaki heard the happiness in his voice, and she suddenly found she couldn’t bring herself to tell him that Shinichi’s compliments weren’t compliments.

“Jirou, of course you’re useful,” Kaki told him, deciding she would just buffer Shinichi’s ‘compliments’ instead of crush Jirou’s sudden confidence.

“Well, I know you think that,” Jirou said, “but Shinichi...” Jirou trailed off.

“I know,” Kaki answered, “his opinion is important to you.”

“You know what else he said?” Jirou continued, the excitement still in his voice.

“What?” Kaki wondered.

“He said ‘it is advantageous to be allies with someone in the White Council’,” Jirou repeated, in a silly sounding Shinichi impression. Jirou was still definitely a little brother.

“I don’t...” Kaki trailed off. She felt she may have been missing something here.

“Shinichi wants to be allies! He would only ally himself with me if he believed I was worth it. That means-“ it was Jirou who was cut off this time as the subtext of Shinichi’s words hit Kaki Yukimura.

“He thinks your as good as him, or good enough to be an equal,” Kaki realized, and she felt a huge conflict in her chest. On one hand, Shinichi had hurt Jirou in the past, and she knew that he abusive and sociopathic tendencies would continue to affect Jirou in the future. On the other, Jirou sounded so happy now, talking about his brother with joy in his voice.

‘Although,’ Kaki thought, ‘are you really any different than Shinichi?’

She wasn’t, really. She had hurt Jirou in the past just the same, and she knew the joy in his voice and the pride in his chest when she praised him. She couldn’t complain about Shinichi, not really. It was one of the reasons she didn’t want Shinichi as her apprentice in the first place - she and Shinichi were too alike. There was nothing he could learn from her. And now she had the audacity to mentally scold the boy. She had no right to. But Kaki still felt the impulse within her - the want to protect Jirou from everything that could hurt him, and that included his brother Shinichi... and herself.

“I know right! It’s amazing! Maybe Shinichi and I can finally set things right for each other,” Jirou interrupted Kaki’s thoughts with his response.

“Maybe you can,” Kaki agreed, not knowing what else she could say. She just hoped this didn’t come back to bite Jirou.

“I hope so,” said Jirou, and he sounded hopeful, a joyful type of hope instead of his usual exasperated.

Kaki made a small squeak when she felt sudden heat behind her, and arms wrapping around her torso. Kaki turned her head to see a sleepy Ed, now moving to press his face into her shoulder.

“Kaki?” She heard Jirou on the phone still, and she returned to the conversation at hand.

“Sorry. Ed snuck up on me,” She told Jirou.

“I didn’t sneak,” Ed disagreed, “is that the kid?” He then asked, probably loud enough for Jirou to hear.

“Yes,” Kaki answered, and Ed reached to steal the phone from her.

“Hey kid,” Ed greeted, “you woke me up, you little bastard.” Kaki could barely hear, but Ed was close enough that she caught Jirou’s stuttered apology.

“S’all right, kid,” Ed answered, “it’s really Kaki’s fault anyway.”

“Hey,” Kaki interrupted, giving Ed a look, and his only response was to grin at her.

“Remember Jirou,” Ed continued, “I’m looking at the knife.” And before Jirou could answer, Ed handed the phone back to Kaki. He gave Kaki a quick kiss on the cheek, then feel backwards onto the couch, and Kaki could tell he was thinking about another nap.

“Why is it always the knife...” Kaki heard Jirou mutter after she got the phone back, and she did her best to stifle some laughter. Ed did care for Jirou, in his own way.

“I’d better let you go,” said Jirou, regaining his composure, “thanks for listening.”

“No problem, Jirou,” Kaki answered, “thanks for tell me about what happened.”

“Why?” Jirou wondered.

“He’s my family too - I like to hear he’s okay,” Kaki said. As much as she wanted to wring his neck sometimes, Shinichi was still her cousin, and learning about his sudden shift in personality... It mattered to her.

“No problem,” Jirou answered, “talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Kaki responded, before hanging up the phone.

‘Maybe I was wrong about him,’ Kaki thought, ‘maybe he can see Jirou as an equal.’ She hadn’t realized that she had muttered these thoughts out loud until she heard Ed on the couch.

“Wrong about who now?” He wondered.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kaki answered, turning away from the phone to face Ed on the couch. Kaki thought he would be trying for more sleep, but his eyes were wide open, and he looked receptive. “Just talking to myself.”

“That makes you crazy, you know,” Ed teased.

“Really? I thought it would be the rampant pyromania that gave it away,” she joked back, a grin on her face.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Ed agreed. “What did Jirou want?”

“Telling me about his most recent adventure,” Kaki answered, “apparently Shinichi was in town.”

“Is he dead yet?” Ed wondered.

“I asked the same question. And no. He’s not,” Kaki answered, “but... there’s been a new development. Shinichi is being... friendly, so to speak.”

“Friendly?” Ed wondered, lifting his head, his always expressive eyebrows twisted in a sort of confused look. “Well that’s not right. Look, the kids been dealing with skinwalkers right?”

“Thought crosses my mind too. But Shinichi is just about as powerful as we are, and he has the protection of the Jade Court,” Kaki pointed out, “there’s a chance he’s been... replaced, but it’s not a very big one.”

“That’s... unfortunately a good point,” Ed realized, letting out a sigh and letting his head fall back.

“Whatever’s going on, I’d better get Ted to keep a closer eye on Jirou,” said Kaki, looking thoughtful.

“It’s a miracle that faery hasn’t been caught yet. The kid is actually pretty perceptive,” Ed said.

“Who, Jirou?” Kaki said, with a teasing sound in her voice, “please. If he discovers Ted, I’ll bring only my rapier to battle for a month.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Ed answered, a grin on his face.

“You’re on,” Kaki answered, grinning right back. At this point, Kaki had moved to lay next to Ed on the couch and she cuddled up close to him. She felt that she could almost start napping now, and she closed her eyes, her conversation with Jirou bouncing around in her mind.

‘Maybe I was wrong.

Shinichi dropped his bag on his bed, and awkward tried to unzip it with his one uninjured arm.

“Let me help,” said Jing, hurrying over to hold the bag so Shinichi could open it.

“Thanks,” he said after he had managed to open it, and he started taking his clothes out and sorting them into clean and dirty piles.

“Shinichi...” said Jing quietly, trailing off at the end.

“What?” Shinichi wondered, looking towards his girlfriend with curious eyes. His curiosity faded when he saw the worried look on Jing’s face.

“What happened to your arm?” She wondered.

“What, this little thing? It’s no big deal,” Shinichi deflected, quickly returning to the task at hand to avoid the conversation. Although he knew he wasn’t going to get out of this one. He had come home with far too many injuries to keep getting out of it.

“It is a big deal!” Jing argued, and Shinichi made a face. They would have to have this conversation. The conversation Shinichi was dreading. “You come home like this so often, hurt and scratched up, and you can never tell me what happened to you. Or ‘it’s no big deal.’ But it is a big deal! I don’t know why this happens to you so much.”

“It’s confide-“ Shinichi started, but he was cut off.

“Don’t you dare tell me ‘it’s confidential’,” Jing snapped.

“Jing, really, It is confidential,” Shinichi argued back, “there are lots of things about my work that I really can’t tell you.”

“And what am I supposed to think of that?” Jing snapped back.

“I’m sorry,” apologized Shinichi, not sure what else he should said. He avoided her gaze, looking away, a guilty look on his face and feeling in his chest. He heard Jing sigh, still sounding frustrated, but a little less angry.

“Look...” Jing said, in a less shouty voice that before, though she was still obviously upset, “we have to be honest with each other. Otherwise how are we ever going to make this work?” Unfortunately, she had a point, and Shinichi let out a long sigh. Lucky for him, he had thought of a way to get himself out of this one already, and it didn’t involve talking about magic.

“Okay, okay,” Shinichi agreed, but rather hesitantly. He took a seat on his bed, and invited Jing to sit beside him.

“Technically,” Shinichi started, “I sort of work for the government. A very, very top secret branch of the government. Which is why all of my work is confidential. We handle a lot of dealings within the country, and sometimes out of. My only job is too make sure everything runs... more or less smoothly. Occasionally, I get into some fights. Crooks, people who would have me and my coworkers dead. It can get a little dangerous sometimes, and sometimes I get hurt. But I always come out on top.” He wasn’t technically lying to her, the Chinese government and the Chinese magical community were intertwined, they all ended up going through some sort of government process, but he was also lying by omission. He hated it, but he didn’t exactly have a choice. It would have to be good enough for now. Jing was quiet for a moment, taking time to process the information. Her face went through a lot of emotion in just a few moments, from confusion, to fear, to acceptance, then back to confusion.

“Then, your trip...” she said eventually, trailing off.

“Business. A very, very important meeting with a Chinese faction looking to quietly take the whole country. We managed to diffuse it, share territory and go for a non-aggression agreement,” Shinichi explained.

“But Jirou?” She then wondered, remembering that Shinichi had said he was visiting his brother as well.

“Ji is... in on it, let’s say. He has a similar position in Canada, though less government more local. He also is technically deputy to a member of a... confidential international police service,” Shinichi explained, “he was my security detail while we were bargaining.”

“Interpol?” Jing wondered, looking almost shocked.

“No, not Interpol,” Shinichi disagreed, “you’re thinking too big.”

“His workplace is confidential too isn’t it,” Jing realized. Shinichi gave a frown, and a nod.

“And the position you were going for...” she continued, trailing off.

“It’s his now. I was hoping to work for the same organization with him but... things just didn’t work out that way,” Shinichi explained, letting out a small, sad sigh after he finished.

“Okay...” Jing trailed off, “I see why... it’s confidential.”

“Yes,” Shinichi agreed, then he moved to put a hand on her shoulder. “One day, I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” he said, “but until then, you not knowing makes you safer.”

“When?” Jing wondered, looking over at Shinichi.

“Well... it depends,” Shinichi said, rather thoughtfully.

“On what?” Jing wondered.

“How quickly I slip up,” Shinichi answered, purposefully mysterious, a grin on his face. It wasn’t really anything to smile about, but he didn’t want Jing to think she was in any danger. Really, it came to two things - either he would accidentally meet her eyes, and he would be forced to explain everything, or the Jade Court or one of their enemies would find out about Jing, and for her own safety he would have to tell her everything.

“I don’t want you to make any mistakes but... I must say, I’m very curious,” said Jing, looking a little conflicted.

“So... your arm,” she wondered.

“Assassination attempt,” Shinichi answered as if it was no big deal, “a weak one at that. Ji and I dispatched them with no problem.”

“What?!” Said Jing, looking shocked by his answer.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Shinichi, waving his free arm, “happens all the time. We dealt with it.”

“Shinichi...” Jing trailed off, “you lead a dangerous life.”

“Sort of,” Shinichi agreed, “but I’m very strong, and very skilled.”

“I just...” Jing trailed off.

“I know, it’s a bit of a shock,” Shinichi said, “but trust me, this job, this life? It’s all I really want. I need danger, I need to be able to prove my worth and my skills. And... most of the skills I have? They’re very combat based. I mean... I can do anything well. I’m what they call a perfectionist, you know? But the things I’ve always been naturally good at are heavily combat based. So... don’t worry about me. I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing, and I’m very happy with it.” Jing listened carefully, but she still had worried look on her face. They were quiet for a moment, Shinichi waiting for Jing to say something, and Jing wondering what to say. Eventually, a curiosity came over her, and she had to ask.

“You said,” she started, “that Jirou ‘took everything from you.’ It has to do with this doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” answered Shinichi rather curtly. This was a story he wasn’t prepared to tell yet, but he was sure he wasn’t getting out of this one either.

“What happened?” Jing wondered. Shinichi knew that was coming, but he hadn’t prepared himself for it very well.

“It’s a long story...” Shinichi trailed off, trying to get across he wasn’t interested in telling this story right now.

“We have time,” Jing pressed, giving Shinichi an almost pleading look. Shinichi let out a long sigh. She wasn’t going to give up on this.

“Alright,” Shinichi agreed, “I’m sure I told you our cousin, Kaki, lives in Canada. But she’s a part of the police organization I told you about. It was a position both Ji and I were going for, so when we learned that Kaki was a member... I demanded an apprenticeship with her. I was the obvious choice - the protege of the family, I was matched for skill with Kaki. I asked, and asked, and asked. Eventually, Kaki grew frustrated with me, and she proposed a challenge - Ji, our two younger cousins, Umiko and Kazeki, and me, against her, in a four-on-one duel. She worded herself very carefully - whoever lasted the longest would be the victor.”

“Whoever lasted the longest?” Jing wondered.

“Yes. Kaki is smart, and she knew none of us stood a chance against her. She was stronger than all of us, and beat us all soundly,” Shinichi explained, “of course, I had an ego about me, and I expected a solid victory. I heard ‘whoever defeats me’ instead of ‘whoever lasted the longest.’ When the fight began, I jumped right in.” Shinichi stopped for a moment, lowering his head, a frustrated look on his face. “She barely even lifted a finger,” Shinichi continued, quiet and frustrated, “she defeated me soundly, with almost no effort. She knew that I would go first, and she knew how easy it would be to best me. In the end, Ji waited until he was the only one left to strike. She bested him too, with no issue. I still remember what I’d said... ‘wait, no one wins? So who’s your apprentice?’ I still remember her answer, too. ‘I didn’t say ‘win’. I said ‘lasted the longest’. And Jirou lasted the longest.’” Shinichi paused, taking in a long breath. “So Ji moved to Canada, became Kaki’s apprentice, and eventually he was eligible to be a member, and Kaki deputized him. I was so frustrated when I heard the news, because I was still struggling to impress my own master. I was frustrated with Ji, for surpassing me so easily, but I was also frustrated with myself for being so easily surpassed. In my frustration, I wrote my own application, and was accepted... except my master disapproved me going behind his back. We got into a fight and... well I almost killed him. I ran, not knowing what else to do, and I ended up in Canada with Ji. I couldn’t stand to look at him. I was so angry at him... and I was so disgusted with myself at how angry I was. No matter what I say about Ji, I love him very dearly.” He paused once more to compose himself, before finally wrapping up the story. “It was Ji who actually set me up here. He helped me, got me out of a major problem, and managed to get me a high esteem job. I am tremendously grateful to him for that, and it looks like things between us may lighten up a little. But that’s what I mean. Jirou took everything from me - my prestige, my dreams, my future. Things have changed a lot, though. I’m happier now than I think I would’ve been with Kaki, and I think Kaki did wonders for Ji. He’s grown up, a lot, and his skill has improved greatly. He’s not afraid to speak his mind anymore, a lot like Kaki. I think leaving the family was good for me, too, I’m a little more relaxed than I used to be. But we’ll see how it goes.” Jing listened to Shinichi carefully, and she searched for words when he had finished his story.

“Shinichi...” she said eventually, rather quietly, “please don’t be upset but...” Jing trailed off for a moment, then, “how selfish of you.” Shinichi was taken aback by her response. Selfish? Him?

“Well...” Shinichi trailed off, rubbing at his head a little. Okay, maybe she was right.

“Look, I understand being angry that you weren’t good enough. But being angry because Jirou was better? Honestly, the way you tell the story it sounds like Kaki’s only goal was to teach you a lesson,” Jing continued, and Shinichi was more and more caught of guard by her words as she continued. “I’m glad you’re finally on your way too seeing Jirou as your equal - he didn’t take everything from you, you just weren’t patient enough to catch up,” Jing finished. Shinichi was quiet, flabbergasted, searching for words but coming up with nothing. Jings words pierced through him, and he wasn’t sure how to respond to them.

“I.... I,” he eventually started, “that’s not...” he continued, still fumbling around his own words.

“Don’t get me wrong, Shinichi, you were younger and probably did all you could think of doing,” continued Jing, “but still. It sounds like you were much different when you were younger.” Shinichi still couldn’t say much, Jing just kept pointing out all of the things he had done wrong all those years ago. Really, he knew, he was being selfish, he was being unfair to Jirou. But when he was younger... it felt different. Like really he was just looking out for himself.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand,” Shinichi said eventually, trying not to sound angry with Jing. He wasn’t really angry with her, but he was certainly upset at her words. She wasn’t there, she didn’t understand.

“Things I don’t understand?” Jing snapped back, “I’m working a dead end job to save up for school, meanwhile my older sisters have gone off to college. I accepted that selflessly, considering their college funds were larger than mine. Or did you forget you’re not the only person in the world with siblings?” Shinichi was silent for a moment. He didn’t like this conversation very much. Jing was forcing him to confront parts of himself that he had ignored for years. The selfish, dark part of him that would always be jealous of his younger brother. He fought that part of him constantly, the part of him that wanted Jirou to succeed and loved his brother unconditionally would always being trying to kill the part of him that was unbelievable jealous and full of contempt. He was ashamed of that part of himself, and being forced to confront it was uncomfortable, to say the least.

“I didn’t,” Shinichi answered eventually, “I didn’t. But you’re right,” he continued, “I know it’s selfish of me. Everything I did to Ji. I know it’s all just me trying to justify my actions now... but I can’t help but to be angry with him. Maybe one day I’ll be able to change. For now, sure,” Shinichi agreed.

“I’m selfish.”

Like the proper gentleman he pretended to be, Shinichi made sure to pull Liao’s seat out for her, and push it in when she sat down, before seating himself.

“What do you do in your spare time?” Shinichi wondered, after they had sat and had time to think about what they were going to eat.

“If I’m being honest, I do a lot of studying,” Liao admitted, “I have to study a lot for entrance exams...”

“That’s fair,” Shinichi agreed, “it must take up a lot of time.”

“It does. When I’m not working, I’m thinking about school. Or shopping, though I don’t usually buy much. Most of my money goes towards saving up for school,” Liao continued.

“Anything you want, I’ll buy it for you,” Shinichi offered easily, a smile on his face.

“I couldn’t let you do that,” Liao said, shaking her head a little, “wasting your money on me.”

“Nothing on you is a waste,” said Shinichi.

“You say this as if we’ve been together for a long time,” Liao teased.

“I suppose I am,” said Shinichi, “but even so, I have never been one to hide my feelings. Even with women, I suppose.”

“You suppose?” Liao wondered.

“I’ve never really...” Shinichi trailed off, “I was a lot like you. Studying hard and always working. I’ve never had time to really think about women. Though I was never one to hide my desires, not for anything or anyone.”

“I can tell,” Liao joked at him, “I have a feeling that gets you into trouble.”

“Sometimes,” Shinichi admitted, “But it’s who I am.”

“Well, that’s what I do in my spare time,” Liao said, bringing them back to their previous conversation. “What about you, Yukimura?”

“Work takes up quite a bit of my time,” he started, “but I’m still getting to know the city, so I spend a lot of my spare time wandering and learning. I’ve been thinking about starting some kind of martial art though... my brother and I used to do a lot of karate and kendo together. Ji was telling me in his last letter that he had joined a karate club in Saskatoon. I was thinking of learning a new art though.”

“Wow, how far did you get in karate?” Liao wondered, looking curious.

“The farthest,” Shinichi answered, “we both held black belts by the end of it. I was always two levels above Ji, though. Even at the end, I held a higher black belt than him.”

“You and your brother were very competitive,” Liao commented.

“I guess we were,” Shinichi agreed, “sorry. I’m talking about myself and Ji again.”

“That’s alright,” Liao said, a small laugh escaping her. “You lead a very interesting life,” she continued, “at least it seems that way. I want to hear about it.”

“Well, thank you,” Shinichi answered, a little surprised by her words.

“I’ve never had such adventures with my sisters,” Liao said thoughtfully, “we did the usual things, you know? Small fights, but we were always there for one another. I guess Meili was just old enough from me that we couldn’t really relate too much. Lin wasn’t much of a talker, either, so we didn’t talk too much, but I was much closer to her than Meili.”

“What’s your favourite story with Lin?” Shinichi wondered, taking in every word that Liao was saying, which was definitely odd for Shinichi.

“Well,” Liao laughed a little bit, “when I was younger, Lin wanted to skip a day of classes. She was in high school, and I was in my last year of middle school. I didn’t know why she wanted to skip, but she did. She knew the school would call home if she did that, so she asked me to stay on the phone with my friend all night. It was great fun, staying on the phone with my best friend all night long.”

“Were you caught?” Shinichi wondered, finding himself amused by the situation.

“No, father never found out,” Liao laughed, looking amused by the memory. Shinichi found himself laughing when Liao did, unable to help himself. Her laugh was almost contagious, in a way that Shinichi couldn’t explain.

“What’s your favourite memory with Jirou?” Liao wondered, looking curious.

“When he won the contest,” Shinichi said, “you see, our cousin Kaki came to town once. And she offered us a contest. It was a fighting contest. Whoever won she would take on as her apprentice. I was the fan favourite. I was the most skilled, the best with a sword, you know. But Ji... he surprised us all. See, Kaki’s wording was precise. She said ‘whoever lasted the longest would be my apprentice’,” Shinichi said, quoting her verbatim in Japanese. “Whoever lasted the longest would be my apprentice,” he repeated, back in Chinese. “I was the first to go down. I underestimated her. Kaki is small, five feet two inches small. She took me out so easily... it was foolish of me. But Ji stayed back. He waited until everyone else had gone down before going for her. She took him out so easily but... he was the last one standing. Ji finally won something against me. I was so proud of him, but so furious,” Shinichi said, “I was so happy... he’d finally done it. But I’d lost. It was... bittersweet.”

“Wow,” Liao commented, “what an interesting relationship you have with your brother,” she laughed.

“I know. It’s... complicated,” Shinichi answered, before letting out a laugh. “If you don’t mind my asking,” said Shinichi, changing the topic suddenly, “you never mention your mother.” Liao looked surprised by the question.

“Mother...” Liao trailed off.

“I’m sorry, that may have been inappropriate,” Shinichi interjected, realizing that Liao looked uncomfortable.

“No it’s alright,” Liao said, shaking her head a little bit, “my mother fell very ill when I was younger. She’s... no longer with us.”

“I’m sorry,” Shinichi said, a frown on his face, looking rather sad about it.

“It’s alright,” said Liao, “it happened a lot time ago,” she continued. “I don’t remember much of her besides her being ill. She used to tell us stories, though, I remember that.”

“What kind of stories?” Shinichi wondered, looking intently at Liao as she spoke.

“She told us very... strange stories. She believed in magic,” said Liao, and Shinichi felt a small shock of adrenaline go through him. The fear only grew as Liao kept speaking. “She told us stories of the Feng, Ao, Baku, Jiangshi... you know. Interesting things about summer and winter. All of the scary things in the world, but also all of the wonder and old stories of the world.” Shinichi swallowed, feeling the adrenaline run through him even stronger when she mentioned Jiangshi. If only she knew...

“What’s wrong?” Liao asked, noticing his nervous posture.

“Nothing just... nothing,” said Shinichi, shaking his head a little bit.

“Did your mother tell you scary things too?” She wondered, laughing a little bit.

“My grandmother,” Shinichi said, laughing back at her. “She’s that kind of person. She told us stories of wizards in grey cloaks.”

“I’ve heard similar stories,” said Liao thoughtfully, “such strange people family is sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Shinichi agreed, “very strange.”

“We’ll be the best Warden team, won’t we?”

“Of course, Jirou. You and me against the world. Forever.”

The rest of dinner went very smoothly, with lots of laughing and talking about their lives. Shinichi found himself censoring many of his words, considering the kind of things he was involved in, but he usually solved this problem by getting Liao to talk more about herself. When everything was paid for, Shinichi offered to walk her home, which Liao agreed to. The talking and laughing continued, and Shinichi hesitantly offered to take Liao’s hand, which she happily took. It felt odd, a hand in his, walking down the street together, but Shinichi decided he liked it.

“Yukimura, I have a... personal question,” Liao asked, looking curious.

“Go for it,” Shinichi answered easily, “there have been many personal questions tonight.”

“That’s true,” Liao started, “Well, you said you shortened the story of how you ended up in Hong Kong. If you don’t mind my asking, what did actually happen?” Liao wondered, looking over at Shinichi rather curiously.

“Well....” Shinichi trailed off. “Okay. I’ll be honest with you. I left because I was banished from the family.”

“You were...” Liao trailed off, her eyes wide.

“My brother was awarded a position... a position of high prestige in an institution we were both aiming for,” Shinichi started. “I told you - he took everything from me. Until that point, I was third in line of the Yukimura family, after my great grandfather and my cousin Kaki. But then... my younger brother pushed me from my seat, and he became the third in line for the family instead. I was furious that I had failed myself and my family like that. I had all the qualifications of my younger brother and more. So I asked for the same prestige, without consulting head of the family. He was angry with me, declaring I shouldn’t have gone behind his back like that. I just grew more angry, and dared defy him further, stating I knew what I was doing. We got into... Well a fight. A physical one. He was gracious enough to leave me with my life.... as was I. But he cast me out. After that I went to my brother to get help from him. He... he helped set me up here in China. And that’s it. That’s why I’m here,” Shinichi explained, looking towards Liao.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked,” said Liao.

“Did I push you away?” Asked Shinichi, looking concerned, squeezing at Liao’s hand.

“No,” Liao disagreed, “no, don’t worry,” she continued, “it just sounds like the memory was... painful.”

“Something like that,” Shinichi agreed, “but I’m happy here. I knew the day would come. The question was what I would do. But I know now.”

“The day?” Liao wondered.

“The day Jirou would want to move forward without me,” said Shinichi, looking almost sad. Liao matched his look, looking unsure what to say to him.

“Oh,” she realized, pointing ahead down the block a little bit, “there’s my house.”

“Okay,” Shinichi said, moving towards it, feeling an almost sadness that the night was over, despite all the sharing he had done this evening.

“Thank you for the lovely night,” said Liao as they grew closer, “we should go for another soon.”

“When’s your next free night?” Shinichi asked.

“Two days,” Liao answered, smiling at him.

“Then lets go for dinner again,” said Shinichi, “if you want.”

“Yes I would love to,” said Liao with a smile.

“Great!” Said Shinichi, sounding very excited. “I’ll pick you up here at six?” He offered.

“Sure,” Liao agreed. “Oh!” She realized, pulling a small note from her bag. “Here’s my number,” she said, “feel free to call or text,” she said, with a smile.

“Thank you,” said Shinichi, a grin on her face.

“Well,” said Liao, starting to turn toward her house, “good night Yukimura.”

“Wait,” said Shinichi, teaching for her hand. “Please,” he said, pulling her in close to him, “feel free to call me Shinichi,” he said. He noticed Liao’s cheeks flush a little bit at being so close to Shinichi so suddenly.

“Okay,” she agreed rather quietly, looking up at Shinichi with wondrous eyes.

“Then is it okay if I call you Jing?” He asked, moving one hand to softly caress her face. Jing just nodded, the same look on her face. Shinichi leaned forward and gave her a careful, soft kiss on they forehead, before he pulled away, and smiling at her before wandering back down the street towards his own apartment.

“Goodnight, Jing,” he said, giving her a wave.

“Goodnight, Shinichi.”

Shinichi felt his heart leap all the way back to his house. Not only had his date gone swimmingly, but he had gotten Jing’s number, and her permission to use her given name. He even got a kiss! Okay, so he kissed her on the forehead, it didn’t count that much exactly, but.... he did get a kiss. He couldn’t wait for his next date with Jing. It was a strange feeling. Shinichi was sure he hadn’t felt this way before in his entire life... and he felt a happiness deep within him. A happiness he definitely hadn’t experienced before.

‘It’s definitely better this way,’ Shinichi thought

‘I’m happier this way. And I think it’s time we started thinking of ourselves.’

Shinichi pulled off his clothes and went to bed almost the minute he got home. It was getting late already - he was surprised by how much time he actually had spent with Jing. It was passed ten o’clock already, far past Shinichi’s bedtime. As he laid in bed, he found his thoughts wandering. Going over his date with Jing, everything that happened between them, everything he had said about Jirou.

Jirou.

“Jirou,” Shinichi looked towards his brothers small, chubby face as he spoke. Even at six years old, Jirou already wore glasses over his nearsighted eyes. It made him all the more cute, with round, chubby cheeks, big sparkling brown eyes, dark, messy ruffled hair, and big square framed glasses hanging on his face. Shinichi felt it deep within himself - he had to protect his little brother.

“Jirou we’re best friends right?” Shinichi asked, an almost determined look on his face.

“Of course!” Jirou answered, his small voice squeaking out. Yes, thought Shinichi, he had to protect this boy with his life.

“Forever, right?” Shinichi asked, and Jirou nodded, a bright grin on his face.

“Forever! I promise!” He answered easily.

“Forever,” Shinichi said aloud, staring at his ceiling, his eyes held open rather lazily as he was close to sleep now.

“Things changed a lot since we were kids, haven’t they, Jirou,” Shinichi said next, rather quietly. “Sorry.

I think it’s best if we forget that promise.”

Jirou clasped his chest, jumping awake suddenly. He knew this feeling - someone had just said his Name, with meaning too, and he felt a sudden wave of sadness and anger come over him. There were only two people in the world who knew his Name, his true Name - Kaki and Shinichi. Kaki from when she soul gazed him a few months back, to learn whether or not he was a lawbreaker. Shinichi had accidentally soul gazed him when they were children, and so they had learned each other’s Names a while ago. It was the reason Shinichi had started to use the nickname ‘Ji’ instead of Jirou, even though Jirou hated it. He hated more the feeling of someone calling him by Name. He wasn’t sure which of the two had said his Name proper, but he could make a guess. Kaki has trained her ability to say his Name, she only said it when she meant to say it. Although, if Kaki really wanted his attention, she usually just called him. Jirou had the feeling that it was Shinichi who had said his Name, though he wasn’t quite sure why. The anger and sadness behind the feeling was the biggest hint as to who had said his Name. Jirou reached for his glasses to check the time, wondering at what appalling hour Shinichi felt like waking him from bed. Jirou sighed when he saw it was already eight in the morning, and he fell back into his bed. He was going back to sleep. He would have to write Shinichi about this one though.

Shinichi felt his eyebrows ruffle a little, watching after Jirou as he and Atsuko wandered off together.

‘One day,’ thought Shinichi, hearing Jirou laugh in embarrassment at something Atsuko had teased, ‘Jirou will want to move forward without me.’ Jirou turned when he noticed that Shinichi wasn’t following, and waved after his brother.

“Big bro!” He called, “you’re falling behind!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shinichi commented, hurrying to catch up to Jirou and Atsuko.

‘When that day comes,’ Shinichi’s thoughts continued, though now he was passively listening to the conversation between his brother and their best friend.

‘What am I going to do?’

Shinichi blinked open his eyes, his sight focusing on the dull ceiling.

‘Why must I dream about the past?’ Shinichi wondered, sitting up in his bed, turning his head to look out the bedroom window. The weather today in Hong Kong was beautiful, as per usual, the sun already shining through Shinichi’s window. It was even warmer here than Tokyo, which Shinichi didn’t mind all that much, though he did sometimes miss his home. Less, considering how many similarities Tokyo and Hong Kong really had, but he felt it every now and again. Especially when his dreams were riddled with Jirou and Atsuko, life back home in Tokyo when life was so much simpler. Shinichi tossed the blanket off himself, lowering his legs to the ground and standing out of bed. He didn’t want to be caught in this frame of mind for too long, so he had better go ahead and start his day. He checked his messages first, wondering if the Jade Court has any work for him at the moment. He checked in with them often, but there were days when his services weren’t required, and he could spend the day relaxing. It looked like it was one of those days. Shinichi did enjoy working for the Jade Court of Vampires, but he did feel a small grin on his face when he saw he had no work today. Despite having lived in Hong Kong for almost a year now, he was still learning the city and taking things in, so he enjoyed going for long walks down the busy streets and taking it all in.

His first stop after getting out of bed was the shower, and he brushed his hair back in his usual fashion. He would have to get a haircut soon - it was starting to fall into his eyes if he wasn’t careful with it. Maybe he would take care of that today. He did have to get food for the apartment as well. The though of food caused a rumble in Shinichi’s stomach. Right. He needed breakfast while he was out.

And he knew just the place.

Shinichi pulled open the top drawer of his dresser where all of his shirts. He had to admit, without Jirou around it was earlier to keep his room clean and organized. He and Jirou shared a room for their whole lives. His parents decided to take the smallest house on the Yukimura Estate while he lived there, since they only anticipated on having one child. Then Jirou was born, and it was too late for them to decide to change with Shinichi’s aunt and uncle. So, they only had one room to share. It wasn’t too bad, but Jirou was far messier than Shinichi, so it led to things being strewn about quite often. Shinichi cleaned up as best his could, but there was only so much one could do about their brothers messes. Now that he was one his own, he kept things as clean as he pleased, which meant everything had a place and they generally stayed in that place.

Shinichi pulled a white, long sleeved, button up, dress shirt from his dresser, his usual look really. Shinichi was one for professionalism, which meant he owned a lot of dress shirts and a lot of dress pants. He didn’t wear dress pants very often, but he wore a lot of dress shirts. He grew comfortable in them a long time ago, and now it was hard to wear a shirt that wasn’t a dress shirt. Shinichi decided on his usual blue jeans, though. It was far too warm out to think about dress pants. Besides, he wasn’t planning on too much anyway. After he was dressed, he took a quick look in his cupboards to decide what he was going to get for food while he was out. Shinichi had grown very good at feeding himself, despite not being much of a cook when he was younger. Then again, Shinichi was a very determined boy who perfected anything he set his mind to. Cooking was his most recent excursion, and he tried to create recipes he remembered from his mother when he was younger. It was kind of fun, and he was getting very good at it.

He started a list on a small notepad, going through his cupboards and checking everything in his fridge. When he was happy with the list, he put it in the pocket of his jeans and moved towards the door. He quickly patted at his pockets, making sure he had his wallet and his keys. He wasn’t exactly forgetful, but always better safe than sorry. He slipped his sneakers on his feet, and finally made his way out the door.

“Jirou, we’re best friends right?”

“Of course!”

“Forever, right?”

“Forever! I promise.”

Shinichi’s stomach growls grew in intensity the closer he got to his planned breakfast place. He went to the shop quite often, considering how close it was to his apartment, just two blocks away, only a five minute walk at most. They had great food there, and it wasn’t usually busy when he went. He got in and sat down fast, and he could sit an relax for a while without feeling like he was holding them up or anything.

The bell on the door jingled as Shinichi pushed it open, and someone behind the counter greeted him in Chinese. Shinichi have a wave and greeted them back, a grin on his face. He was getting pretty good at speaking the language, mostly by immersion, partially due to learning bits and pieces when he was in high school. He was pointed to a seat so he wandered over and took a seat. That’s when Shinichi was reminded of his favourite reason to come to this restaurant.

She was short, shorter than Shinichi at least, standing at a humble five foot four. She had fairly tan skin, a long flat nose, and dark, eyes. Her eyes were monolid, and upturned, and she had long beautiful eyelashes. It wasn’t often women caught Shinichi’s attention, especially not for more than a day, but his favourite waitress always did.

“You’re back again,” she greeted him, a soft smile on her full lips.

“Yes, I have no food in my apartment,” Shinichi commented. “Besides, it means I get a chance to talk to you.” She gave a small laugh, and a joking roll of her eyes.

“The usual for you then?” She asked, with her usual smiling face.

“Yes please,” Shinichi answered, leaning back in his chair after she nodded and strode off. He shared some idle chat with his waitress throughout his meal, until it came time fore him to collect the bill and leave.

“That’s all for you today?” She asked when she came to collect his dishes.

“Well, I could always take your name,” Shinichi commented, leaning forward once more now that she was at his table. She laughed at him a little, “You think familiarity will get you a discount?” She joked.

“Oh no I would never pay less than you deserve,” Shinichi commented, “but familiarity might get me a date,” he finished without thinking about what he was saying. It dawned on him when he got a small look or surprise, and he was suddenly flush with embarrassment. “Oh god, feel free to say no, that was very inappropriate of me-“

“When?” She asked him, the smile returning to her face. It was Shinichi’s turn to be surprised, as he shook his head a little while returning his gaze to her.

“What?” He asked, still looking surprised.

“When?” She repeated with a laugh, “When and where?”

“Oh, wow, I didn’t think I’d get that far,” Shinichi joked, doing his best to regain his composure. “When do you get off work?” He asked.

“Five o’clock,” she answered.

“Then I can pick you up after you’re done work. We can go for dinner,” he offered.

“Okay,” she agreed, her smile growing, looking rather content. “How about we meet at the corner at six. I can get ready.” Shinichi nodded in agreement. “Sounds good,” he agreed.

“Oh, yeah, it’s Liao,” she added. Shinichi tilted his head, some confusion crossing his face.

“My name,” she said, “it’s Liao Jing.”

“What a lovely name,” Shinichi commented, having managed to calm himself at last. “I’m Yukimura. Yukimura Shinichi.”

Shinichi was giddy the rest of the morning. He pulled a foolish and embarrassing move, but it somehow ended up working in his favour. He hadn’t gone on many dates, despite the fact he was often a merciless flirt. He was a definite heartbreaker in high school, as he tended to be far more focused on school work than women. Maybe that was why none ever caught his attention. His work now was far more relaxed than it was in university. It occurred to him after he had finished buying his groceries and had returned to his apartment that he really hadn’t been on many dates, and he wasn’t exactly sure how they were supposed to go. He tried to keep his cool, but he was both anxious and excited, and it was hard for him to think. He did manage to call ahead to a nice place that wasn’t too far away to reserve some seats, but besides that he wasn’t sure what he should do. He decided to start with the basics - that was, his clothing choice. He figured he could at least make himself look as presentable as possible - he would start with changing into dress pants and putting in a tie. He decided against a jacket, as that would be way too warm, but he thought he looked sharp nevertheless.

“Shinichi! It isn't funny!" Jirou commented, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's kinda funny!" Shinichi disagreed after he calmed down a little, handing the card back to his brother. Shinichi sat cross legged on his bed, leaning back a bit, facing his brother, who was sitting clearly agitated on his own bed.

"What should I do?" Jirou asked, looking concerned.

"First of all, relax," Shinichi commented, reaching out and giving Jirou a gentle kick, not to hurt him, just enough to break him out of his anxious pose.

"Second of all, the answer is obvious," said Shinichi, shrugging a little. "Ask her out, stupid," he said, clearly joking, a grin on his face.

Shinichi grasped at his chest when the memory of the day Atsuko Himura decided to ask Jirou out came to his mind. It was Valentine’s Day, more than five years ago now. He and his brother had always had troubles with girls, but Jirou far more than Shinichi. Though, towards the end of Shinichi staying at home, he did remember that Jirou and Atsuko had started some sort of partnership together... he knew they weren’t dating, but he also knew they weren’t just friends either. Shinichi didn’t understand it all that well, but Jirou had never really been interested in girls. Neither boys, now that Shinichi thought about it. Really Jirou had never been interested in relationships at all, though Shinichi knew that Jirou did want kids one day. He was a weird one, but who was Shinichi to judge. Shinichi wasn’t a very romantic person either, and never really imagined himself in a relationship, or with a family. He wasn’t sure what drove him to pursue Liao Jing either. He did think she was cute... very cute. But he wasn’t sure if what he felt for her was romantic or not. Neither he nor his brother were good with romance, no, but Shinichi couldn’t help but to think how great it would be to get advice from Jirou on what to do, wear and say.

‘Those days are gone,’ Shinichi thought, standing up straight again after his thought passed him. Things would never go back to the way they were. He and Jirou would never again be the best friends they promised each other they would be forever.

‘You deserve them anyway,’ Shinichi continued his thought. ‘There hasn’t been a single day in my entire life that I’ve done right by you.’

Shinichi shifted his weight from foot to foot rather nervously, his hands stuck in his pockets, his head moving around constantly. He was early, fifteen minutes early, but still no sign of Liao Jing. He tried to keep himself calm, and not let anxiety grab hold of him. Shinichi was usually a fairly composed human being, he wasn’t afraid of much, especially considering how much of his time he spent around monsters, and he was usually great in social situations. Yet the thought of dates had his heart beating, and the idea of actually going for supper with someone else had his mind racing. Shinichi checked the time - it was ten to six, and still no Liao. He wondered if maybe he had been too inappropriate, and she didn’t actually want to go out with him at all. He pushed that thought from his mind - she gave him her name, after all.

“Yukimura!” The calling of his last name - a very uncommon thing to hear on the streets of Hong Kong - pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up towards the voice to see Liao hurrying towards him.

“Liao!” Shinichi greeted back, pulling his hand out of his pocket to give a quick wave. As she grew closer, Shinichi understood why she spent an hour getting ready. She looked absolutely stunning, her long hair was loosely curled and pinned to one side. She wore makeup, which Shinichi hadn’t seen her in yet, and he certainly didn’t know enough about it to judge how much she was wearing, but she definitely looked adorable. Her choice of attire really brought everything together - she wore a black circle skirt that fell just above her knees, and a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Shinichi felt heat in his cheeks, something else that didn’t happen to him often.

He was blushing.

“Yukimura, you’re staring,” Liao commented, with a small giggle, looking rather amused.

“It’s just you’re so lovely,” Shinichi recovered, offering a warm smile and moving his gaze from the stare. Liao smiled back and Shinichi offered her an arm, which she took happily, and they were off.

The walk to the restaurant started off rather quiet and Shinichi searches for words. He was usually quite the conversationalist, but he was having a hard time putting thoughts to words. It was Liao who ended up speaking first, which was something Shinichi wasn’t all that used to.

“‘Yukimura,’ that’s a Japanese name, isn’t it?” She asked, looking up towards Shinichi, looking curious.

“Oh, yeah,” Shinichi replied, looking towards her face, careful not to meet her gaze. He wasn’t about to scare off the only girl he had been interested in for a while. “I moved here a few months ago from my home of Tokyo.”

“You’re very good at Chinese,” Liao commented.

“Thank you,” Shinichi answered, a grin on his face, “I practiced a lot.”

“I can tell. Why did you move?” Liao wondered.

“I, uh,” Shinichi trailed off, “long story short, I got a job here.”

“What do you do?” Liao asked. Okay, this was more complicated than Shinichi was hoping. He couldn’t just say he worked for the Jade Court of Vampires. He would sound ridiculous, and he was almost certain Liao wasn’t in the know.

“I do a lot of freelance work for a small business, mostly advisory work,” Shinichi said. He wasn’t technically lying, the Jade Court called and he answered, and he did do a lot of advisory work.

“Really?” Liao asked, “You have it all sorted out,” she commented.

“You don’t?” Shinichi asked.

“Not yet. The shop I work for is my dads. I’m the youngest of three girls. A lot of money was put away for us to go to school but... there’s just not enough for all three. I’m saving up until I can go to school,” Liao answered, a sudden determined look on her face.

“What do you want to do?” Shinichi wondered, and he found himself wanting to know everything about this person. That especially wasn’t common for Shinichi - he loved talking about himself.

“I would love to become a teacher,” Liao admitted, looking towards Shinichi with a bright looking smile. “That’s my dream,” she then said.

“Well, if you set your mind to it, you can do anything,” Shinichi said, “I’m sure you’d make a great teacher.”

“Thank you!” Liao said with a happy look on her face.

“You’re welcome,” Shinichi answered with a smile. “Two older sisters hey?” Shinichi wondered.

“Yes. Liao Meili is my oldest sister, she’s six years older than me, and Liao Lin is our middle sister, she’s three years older than me,” Liao explained. “Meili is really pretty and very smart, she’s a nurse. Lin is quiet, but she’s also very smart, she’s going to school right now for accounting.”

“Big family,” Shinichi commented, “lots of girls,” he added.

“Yes,” Liao answered, “my father always hoped for boys. But he got three girls instead. He loves us all dearly though, he never acted like we were a burden or anything. I love my father very much.” She had a soft look on her face for a moment, a smile creeping at the edge of her lips. She really did love her family. “What about your family?” She wondered, looking towards Shinichi with a curious face.

“I have a big family,” Shinichi started, “but it’s... complicated. The Yukimura family is descended from a long, long line of Samurai, and they never really let that go. They’re still very feudalistic in nature, and believe very heavily in ‘leads of the household’ and things like that. As such, the entire family with the Yukimura Name, live on the Yukimura estate, with some exception. My family had the smallest house on the estate - my mother only expected to have me, and my aunt and uncle were taking care of my grandmother, so my mother let them have the larger house. But I have a little brother, named Jirou. He’s living in Canada right now, actually, with our cousin Kaki. Kaki’s family moved to Canada in the 1990’s, her father got a job there. Also on the estate are my other aunt and uncle, and my cousins, Kazeki and Umiko. Then my parents, our grandmother, and our great grandfather lives there,” Shinichi explained. Liao’s eyes grew wide.

“That is a very large family!” She commented.

“Yeah, kind of. I spent most of my time with my little brother, though,” Shinichi answered, feeling a nostalgic smile come to his face.

“You really love your brother,” Liao realized, smiling up at Shinichi.

“I wish I didn’t,” Shinichi grumbled, clenching his teeth. “Sorry,” Shinichi apologized when he realized what he had said, and noticed a worried look flash on Liao’s face. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was inappropriate.”

“That’s alright,” Liao answered, “It sounds like things between you and your brother are very complicated.”

“He took everything from me,” Shinichi said, “and yet, I can’t help but feel an immense pride at him doing so.” Liao’s face has many reactions to this - concern, and curiosity. But Shinichi managed to change the subject when he realized they had arrived and their destination.

“Ah,” he said, taking his arm back from Liao and pointing towards their destination, “there it is.” He opened the door for her to go in before him, and he followed in after her, glad the topic of family had left them.

"I'm being serious!" Jirou snapped, his anxious pose retuning with Shinichi's laughter.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Shinichi apologized, taking a deep breath to calm himself again. "Okay, being serious. If you want to reject her, just reject her. You clearly can't date her so what else are you supposed to do?" He said, now being serious.

"But I can't do that! Himura is the only friend I've had,