【"　Ｍ　Ａ　Ｎ　Ｙ　．】

"We should," Achlys answers drily in turn. He tries his best to avoid rolling his eyes at his superior when he notices him shoving the returned documents into the pile. The probability that the gate-keeper will come back to finding it on his own desk again is quite high.

Sliding one to Orcus across the table, he'd been in the middle of rummaging through his pockets for his lighter when his superior's prompt caught his attention.

"What?" Brows furrowed in immediate suspicion. "Sir, if I hadn't known any better, I'd say this is entrapment."

Achlys rounds the corner and paused by the side of his desk.

"You sure you want your subordinate to get up close and personal with you? People will talk, you know?"

"And yet you came over like an obedient dog. You amuse me, Achlys," Orcus says all in good humor. His hand pats his knee still, icy grey eyes looking up at them. "Did I stutter?" he asks instead. A brow arched, gaze held. Who here had anything to say what he did or didn't do? Other than the gatekeeper that is. Achlys was the only one that seemingly had the guts to question him, to push back when he acted up.

Thrilling, certainly.

Orcus breathes deep, leaning against one of the arm rests. "Humor me. I did, after all, take the documents back," which really isn't something he should hold over them. But in his humble opinion, it was only fair.

Another loss of hunters… the village was in a state of panic for the mountains were unforgiving, but they were not all consuming. Akinori could understand the hesitance of the lasting men, but he knew they were angry too. He's heard of stories, wolves in the mountains. Though not entirely impossible, it wasn't at all commonplace thoughts. The Ainu Wolf was small and few, hidden and his Leader was one of such creature but gifted long life by the supernatural ways of the world. Here though? In the wilderness, Akinori could only suspect yokai happenings. No human could go against creatures that were willing to remove humans like ants from their anthill.

Things had got more complicated than he liked. Satoshi licked his lips in a nervous manner. People moved too much, there was far too much going on and with the presence of... this being... why would anyone offer protection to vermin was beyond him. Satoshi felt his lip pull up to bare teeth at the thought.

Hunting was made more difficult, but at least he didn't need to come face to face with those. He growled, moving about in the bush out of view. Well, mostly. Akinori, being inhuman, probably was able to track him anyway, which made Satoshi more annoyed. He bristled. Having claimed the surrounding area as his temporary territory, Satoshi was not happy.

Hunger gnawed at him. It always did.

"Why are you here?" he questions the guardian when their paths cross. Satoshi, hidden partially by branches and shrubbery. The distance between them short enough for a conversation, but long enough to not cause him discomfort. The balance is fragile. His muscles tense, like he's ready to bare fang and claw at a second's notice. The displeasure evident in his posture; the scent of blood clinging to him from a kill a few hours ago. Blue cold eyes hold their gaze fixed on Akinori.

“I  understand  this  must  be  disappointing  for  you,”  Il-woo  replied,  feeling  more  like  a  customer  service  agent  than  himself.  The  task  was  beneath  him,  to  say  the  least—yet  who  was  he  to  question  the  demands  of  his  elder?

Hand  in  his  pocket,  he  palmed  his  lighter,  tracing  the  engraved  pattern  with  his  thumb.  Some  level  of  contention  was  to  be  expected.  One  couldn’t  expect  a  bastard  child  to  keep  easy  company.  Mutts  attracted  mutts.

Il-woo  liked  dogs,  but  even  he  got  annoyed  sometimes.

“If  you  could  divulge  the  nature  of  your  meeting,  I  might  be  able  to  pass  your  concerns  on  to  Sa-nim.  I  can’t  promise  you  anything.”

His gaze lingered on a janitor a few seconds, a hum masking it as nothing but him being in deep thought, mulling over the request.

"Then stop avoiding it... It's just a kiss."