"Welcome to the Narumi Detective Agency. We only handle 'special' cases, if you catch my drift."

"Welcome to the Narumi Detective Agency. We only handle 'special' cases, if you catch my drift."

That said for now Narumi held off and rearranged his hand noting that he was making progress but it was small so the male took from the wall tossing out a two character tile and taking an eight dot thus completing another run. Once that was done it was Raidou's turn again.*

The aura of the room shifted minutely as time went on, faint but noticeable. A gradual change in energy - the summoner recalled once how he’d explained his ability to sense other people's energy, both human and demon, to his boss. Sometime long ago, around the time they first met. Narumi had been trying to get the kid to open up a little, what with him being so tightlipped since he’d been dropped off into his care. So, he’d mentioned it, but he hadn’t explained much beyond the training he’d received in the village. He’d never told Narumi how his sensitivity was inherent since birth, that it was merely a heightened form that the same sense all humans relied upon. That sensation which caused the hair at the back of one’s neck to stand, the intuition towards another’s mood based upon nothing but instinct. It was just magnetism, the interaction of two bodies, two hearts in or out of sync.

Maybe all that was too weird for the modern detective, but the teen’s ability to read him made their cohabitation an easy one. It also meant that Raidou could cheat without cheating, noting the ease or the mild exhilaration of Narumi’s energy, faint as it was. He knew the man was making progress. He, too, was doing the same. Lean fingers discarded a flower tile in exchange for a different one, completing his own set. Not that he’d offer any tells. Even when distracted, the boy was deceptively adept at diversion. He’d learned well from his human mentor.

"'Besides, I'm only here because of 'Jive Talk'. to help with your troubles with communicating with other demons. You're making a big deal out of a whole lotta nothing...C'mon Raidou-- Tell him!"

While the teenage hellion voiced his complaints, the summoner’s gaze met that of the cat’s. Both held the other’s gaze a long moment in an unrelenting stare, one accentuated by nothing but the barest microexpressions. A silent conversation between mentor and student. After a long, drawn instance, the faintest pout graced Raidou’s full lips. Beneath the brim of his hat, his brows quirked questioningly, as if urging his predecessor towards something. Finally, Gouto relented with a sigh. Not even he, with all his years behind him, could steel himself beneath those eyes. Far more persuasive than any demon.

He hopped from Raidou’s shoulder and slowed to a stop a few feet up the path from the boys, effectively halting them in their tracks. This kind of explanation was warranted before they made their way up the mountain completely. The steps leading to the nameless shrine weren’t far off. Gouto turned towards the duo, addressing the teenager in question. He understood what Raidou had been concerned with before; the Demi-Fiend stood out like a sore thumb in the dark of the forest.

“You’re clearly something of an exception, Demi-Fiend.” His words weren’t that of praise, but a matter of fact. While there were certainly cases of humans being transformed into demons throughout their historical records, there wasn’t a single one like Hitoshura. The feline made a point of explaining this. “In this world, when a human is transformed into a demon, it’s because they’ve been corrupted by extreme malice or hatred that consumes their being. They become mindless beasts.” Gouto let his little body come to rest in a seated position, tail swaying as a paw rose to scratch an itch behind one ear. “Meanwhile, you’ve retained something of your humanity… At least in the way of thinking.”

*The sounds of the ever changing landscape just went to prove how fast things could advance in just a matter of years. Although with advancement comes a fair share of difficulties. Some people could capitalise on this fragile state for their own goals. A fact both of them had dealt with not too long ago.

That being said the issue had been sorted and that's what brought them this state of peace. However it didn't mean they could just goof off whenever they wanted, after all being a summoner meant that Raidou had to always be ready for duty. Not that Narumi minded although he now thought of him as a close friend and always worried about his safety, not that he would say it aloud often.

Raidou took notice, of course, of the small tells in Narumi’s posture, the intensity or lack thereof in which his eyes scanned the tiles before him. Little things, but he said nothing. It was enjoyable watching him think, observing him strategize. At any other time, the boy might have exploited it to gain a footing in this game of theirs, but today, he was going easy on the detective. It wasn’t necessarily generosity - Raidou still had every intention of winning the match. Maybe he was just holding true to that favored ideal of relaxation touted by his usually lazy mentor.

Really, neither seemed as intently focused as they tended to become when playing together. Perhaps that lingering fatigue of the recent goings on still held the duo in its snare, leaving them all the more easygoing. Raidou was thinking about the Bamboo tile Narumi had discarded, about the Red Dragon piece he picked up as he’d discarded his own Bamboo tile. He was thinking about what he’d prepare them for lunch, about Narumi and what he’d said earlier, how nice it would be to go on a walk that evening. The teenager hadn’t realized how sorely he’d missed the interactions with the detective until he was no longer available to him, his time filled outside of the office. Just one more thing he didn’t voice to Gouto. The cat would roll his eyes if he did.

Just a little lost in his thoughts for a moment, his bottom lip was worried gently between his teeth in concentration. He was contemplating his next move, shifting tiles into a neater formation. Organizing. Contemplating. “We’ve both been stretching our legs plenty,” he finally commented. The sentence felt incomplete, voice fading into silence. Just not together... he finished inside his head. Something which had bothered him, yet it felt too insignificant to say aloud. The two usually worked cases together, as partners were supposed to. Things just hadn’t worked out that way lately, what with Narumi doing his own thing and Raidou following orders from the Herald involving supernatural matters.

"You actually remind me of someone..." It was Yakumo-- The uniform was kinda similar to what Raidou wears. Of course, Chihiro didn't know much about Yakumo himself--- Well, kinda... He could tell that Yakumo had a bit of distaste for Chihiro fusing with Aogami. Relying on a demon to fight-- When Yakumo wasn't any different.

The summoner regarded the other with a pensive stare, one which had become just a touch more curious as the Nahobino mentioned a hint of familiarity to his appearance. Younger, friendlier than the individual Raidou reminded him of. That wasn’t the general consensus when it came to the supernatural population in relation to the summoner, though that was perhaps more in part due to reputation preceding him than his actual personality. He didn’t quite know how to interpret this information, and as such, leveled questioning gaze towards the god-being.