48

Hey everyone, another chapter inbound! This will be the last chapter until at least the 11th as I do my final assignments for the semester. Still, once the 11th has passed, I'll only have work, and light studying until September which should mean more frequent updates. Yay! This chapter is the beginning of the set-up for this arc, Ibaraki needs to figure out what has been happening before she makes any big moves. That being said it shouldn't take too long to get everything in place before the action kicks off so stay tuned lol. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Text

The entrance to the Golden Boy sits in front of me and I feel slightly regretful. The moment I step inside, I'll be throwing everything back into motion again.

A small part of me wants to go back home and spend the day like I did yesterday, catching up with my family and idling the day away.

After watching my sisters train, we simply spoke about how they fared in my absence; how they felt their training was going, how their lessons with the Zen Master were progressing, and anything else that they found interesting during the time.

Akeno had some concerns about how her physical abilities were progressing. To her, it seemed as though she had begun to hit a wall with regard to speed, strength, and stamina.

She wasn't happy when I pointed out she still needed to grow before she reached her limit there. Until she finishes growing she won't reach her physical peak, biologically at least.

Beyond that, we discussed magical enhancement.

Finding the right method for her is going to take a while though. She doesn't have the aptitude for Ki manipulation so Touki isn't a route I would suggest. Sure, she could train her body to its absolute limit and achieve Touki through that method, but unless that is your only option it isn't worth it.

The alternatives are Merlinian magic, Onmyoudo, or some enhancement through her Holy element. Merlinian magic is very calculation heavy for high-level physical enhancement so we put that in the maybe pile. On the other hand, neither of us knows enough about Onmyoudo to work out physical enhancement there. That leaves the Holy element.

Her father is known as a master hand-to-hand combatant and for physical enhancement with Holy Lightning. Then you have people like Vasco Strada who do the same as Baraqiel with pure Holy energy. Since both are capable of the same result and I can't teach her either, the decision was left up to Akeno.

Shuten didn't have any real concerns about her training outside of testing more potent poisons. Thankfully, between myself and Gator, she has enough poison resistant individuals to experiment on. The only thing we need to be careful of is that our mother doesn't find out.

Shuten spent more time telling me how her lessons were going with Zen Master Jun. Contrary to her enthusiasm for training, she has a voracious appetite for knowledge. She is still mostly interested in sciences that will improve her poison like biology, and chemistry but she doesn't slack in his other lessons. I don't think it will be too long until I'll have to nod along and pretend like I understand what she's talking about.

I'll probably teach her how to play chess soon. We can have some fun playing together and she will learn some degree of strategy. Shogi or Go are probably more appropriate for our location but I don't exactly know the rules. Maybe I can ask the Zen Master to teach her those games. He would probably know how they are played.

Once my mother returned home, we ate a larger, more extravagant meal in celebration then spent the evening having a movie night. The time wasn't necessarily productive but it was more important to me than anything else I could have been doing at the time.

Yet now, I'm returning to business as usual.

I shake my head wryly, knowing this hesitation is pure self-deception.

Moving forward is what I want to be doing right now and the first step to that is pacifying Kyoto's criminal underworld. I can't move on to any bigger and greater ventures until I've completed what I started here.

The situation is held in a tense limbo for now, where no group is willing to start anything large, but that will only last for so long. The Black Feather Brigade and the Hell King Legion would have smelt weakness when the Golden Dragons came under new leadership and these past months they'd be assessing whether they could take advantage of that.

Naturally, they'd be wrong if they thought the territory was ripe for picking. With me here and the increase in the quality of the members, the Golden Dragons are the new biggest fish in this pond.

Other than my display of fighting Kintoki, however, there should be next to no information they can find on the new boss. I've kept most of my business private and haven't made any public appearances.

Since that's the case, I might as well be the one to kick things off and get the first swing in while they're still deciding what to do. The element of surprise is a powerful weapon.

My body is once more fueled by purpose as I push through the doors of the Golden Boy.

The guards notice me and greet me respectfully as I pass by, heading directly for the back rooms restricted to management. It's the morning so I don't need to push through throngs of guests partying. Instead, the only people present are security, cleaners, and management.

I continue through the building unimpeded and arrive in front of Kintoki's office. I move to open the door and enter unannounced because I'm the boss and I can go where I please.

Almost immediately I think better of that idea and decide to check the interior with my Ki sense. I've managed not to walk in on Yaeko and Kintoki having sex yet, and I damn well won't let today be the day I do. I would rather claw my eyes out.

Thankfully they seem to be working so I make my entrance. I do take note of the growth in strength the two have experienced in my absence. It isn't anything spectacular but it shows they haven't been slacking while I was gone.

"Your fearless leader has returned victorious!" I say with a wide grin and my hands on my hips.

Kintoki looks up from the paperwork at his desk and dips his head respectfully, "Welcome back."

My shoulders slump at the deadpan response. He should match the intensity of my greeting if he wants to be the employee of the month. What is this, some lifeless office job? Put some energy into it!

Yaeko shoots him a glare from the couch she's lounging on and greets me with the same lacking enthusiasm as Kintoki, "Welcome back, Boss."

I frown, picking up on the tension between the two of them easily. My eyes narrow and dart from one to the other.

I don't really care what sort of couple's spat they're in the middle of but I have a feeling that if I don't address it they'll end up annoying me later. I don't need to watch Yaeko glare at him through the entire briefing.

I'm not a couples therapist, why the hell do I always get caught up in this crap? Better question, why can't other people just deal with their problems themselves?

"Alright, what's the problem?" I take a seat on the other side of Kintoki's desk, kicking my heels up onto his desk.

Yaeko huffs and looks away, "No problem here."

Of all the cheeky bullshit-

No, ignore it and get to the heart of the issue, Ibaraki.

"Seriously, aren't you supposed to be the straightforward one?" I grumble before pinning Kintoki with a flat stare.

If Yaeko isn't going to answer, Kintoki better or else I'm going to get pissed. I'm already doing more than I need to by even addressing this.

Kintoki sighs and shrugs, "How should I know what her problem is? My best guess is she's pissed because we found out some stuff about my past."

I roll my eyes at the first part of the statement and nearly facepalm at the vague second half.

"Okay, first, don't say something as stupid as 'How should I know?' She's pissed at you, therefore it should be obvious what you did." He frowns and I resist rolling my eyes again.

"Yes, you did do something. Even if you can't figure out what it is." Yaeko of all people wouldn't be giving him the cold shoulder for no reason. Especially since she has been enamoured with him from her arrival in Kyoto till now.

"Second, stop being so vague and just tell me the whole story. I don't have time to play this game and would rather get down to business. I'll 'divine' the source of her anger once I have the information." Yaeko grumbles from the couch but quiets down when I glare at her.

'It's like I'm dealing with children… no scratch that, the children I deal with are more mature.' I lament internally much to Byakko's amusement.

"When we weren't working on your instructions, the two of us were trying to piece together what the old me had done," Kintoki says, drumming his fingers on his desk.

"I didn't think you had any attachment to that?" I inquire, curious at the sudden change.

Prior to my trip, Kintoki didn't seem to care about what he did prior to the… reformatting of his soul.

In fact, he seemed content to simply live his life as he wished from that point on without looking back. I'm fairly lucky that he seems content to be my second in command, to be honest. Not because I'm worried about him as a threat but because he is decently strong and I need all the muscle I can get.

A hero reincarnation isn't something you trip over in the street, they're as rare as Sacred Gear wielders and arguably more useful.

"Your orders were for us to secure the interests of the Golden Dragons and clean up internal problems. I had to make sure that nothing the old Kintoki did would bite us in the ass." I nod, internally surprised at the foresight behind that course of action.

"We already know that I had quite the appetite for women, power, and wealth so I was making sure there were no outstanding debts or favours that might be cashed in at a bad time." He frowns.

"Yeah, but you also weren't the type to keep any of those debts outstanding, you would've wormed your way out of them or killed the other party." I point out and he nods.

The old Kintoki was a real weasel; not the smartest but certainly a slimy thug with a decent amount of strength to back up his ambition. If it weren't for the human trafficking, I would almost respect the hustle. I'm something of a modern day warlord myself.

"I wasn't as careful with the women though. In the past, I was content to use them and forget about them." I tilt my head to the side and think about what I knew about the previous head of the Golden Dragons.

Yeah, that lines up with the image I have. Still, what does that have to do with…

"How many kids and how old?" I say, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Eight kids, the oldest is fourteen and the youngest is three." I groan, why the hell couldn't he have kept it in his pants?

How do you get eight illegitimate children? Just use protection! That's basic sex-ed, you dumb bastard.

"You want to support them now?" The question is obviously rhetorical.

He's going to man up and pay for the kids at the very least. I'll accept nothing else from a member of my organization.

The odds of him making an appearance in their lives is low though, especially considering how their mothers would no doubt be terrified of Kintoki. The previous Kintoki wouldn't have been a 'gentle lover' nor is it likely those women were his girlfriends by any stretch of the term.

If anything they were prostitutes that used to work for the Golden Dragons and caught Kintoki's eye.

"Of course. Since then though, Yaeko has been pissed off at me." He glances at her and shrugs helplessly. "As I said earlier, I have no idea why. I'm not the same person who did that, I don't even remember it."

Ah, I see. He's looking at this problem from the completely wrong perspective.

A human woman would be pissed that she found out about all these illegitimate children, it would be seen as a betrayal of their relationship. I have no doubt that Yaeko doesn't give a damn about that though. She has a fundamentally inhuman mindset which is natural given she isn't human.

"She isn't mad that you have a bunch of children, or not for the reason you think," I say sharing a glance with Yaeko and rolling my eyes.

Kintoki's brows furrow and he glances between me and Yaeko. He runs his fingers through his hair, at a loss as to what I mean, "Then what's the reason?"

I chuckle wryly and shake my head, "She's upset you haven't given her a kid yet."

"Thank you!" Yaeko says as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Even the boss was able to figure it out and we all thought she was oblivious to these things!"

"No offence, boss." My eye twitches, offence definitely being taken.

I'm a healthy young adult, why does everyone think otherwise?! I'm not even a virgin!

"Tch, I'll show them…" I mumble under my breath.

'Don't say things that sound like a throwaway villain's tragic backstory.' Byakko drawls.

Kintoki looks like he has just received an epiphany and grins lecherously at Yaeko, "I can fix that-"

"Nope!" I cut in, slamming my palm on the desk, "You two can fuck all you want once I'm done here."

I ignore Yaeko's whine and move to the reason I came here, "I need an update on what has happened while I was gone."

Taking my feet off the desk, I sit up straight now that we're getting down to business. "Solving your -frankly ridiculous- relationship issues was so we could talk without you two being difficult."

They both deflate and Kintoki rearranges some paperwork on his desk before clearing his throat, "We've continued to slowly consolidate our territory,"

He slides a map across the table and I hum happily at the size of my territory. The Golden Dragons hold more than half of the effective territory of Kyoto. To be clear, that is by area, not value, which is what truly matters.

The temple districts aren't up for grabs because of the gods or monks that hold those areas and the older estate areas have the Principal clans but the other areas are all fair game. The Redlight district is contested between the Hell King Legion and us, while the larger businesses are either owned or controlled by the Black Feather Brigade.

The Golden Dragons run protection rackets on all the smaller businesses while controlling businesses of their own for money laundering.

One of the changes I ordered was that the protection racket is now genuine. Rather than simple extortion, it is more of a security contract where we deal with any ruffians who cause trouble around our territory. The Golden Dragons will also help the shop owners if there is a fire or earthquake that does damage to their businesses.

Essentially, it's like insurance and a trade association at the same time.

"The boys have kept up their training in the meantime. I think you'll find their progress satisfactory." I shrug, not doubting that.

I don't have huge hopes for most of my minions, I just need them to be competent. If they can manage to impress me I'll reward them but they're mostly necessary so I don't need to kill small fries. If I had to kill every baseline human in the upcoming gang war, I would just quit out of boredom.

"How are the Oni settling in?" Kintoki sighs and I turn to Yaeko who is scratching the back of her neck sheepishly.

"They were a bit rowdy at first but we straightened them out!" I narrow my eyes and Yaeko starts to sweat, "Really! They've been well behaved, I swear."

"Kintoki, the truth," I command, turning back to the more reliable of the two.

"There have been concerns…" He coughs looking away before reluctantly turning back as my killing intent starts to leak out, "They're growing eager for a fight and the boys aren't enough for them. It takes a group of four human members to put up a good fight against each Oni."

"They'll get into a real fight soon if I have anything to say about it." I grin excitedly as I imagine my upcoming conquest, "If they can't wait a little longer I can beat them into submission."

"The other concern is them getting involved with humans," Kintoki says and I blink not understanding.

If they were killing anyone who bumped into them Kintoki would have led with that. If they aren't a problem because of that, I don't really get the issue.

"Illegitimate hybrids." Yaeko of all people clarifies for me.

"Oh… yeah I could see that being a problem. Condoms are a thing though." Yaeko rolls her eyes.

"Nobody from the village knows those exist. Hell, I'm surprised you do; considering your lack of interest in men." I shrug not seeing the problem.

Just explain what they are and what they do, easy. "So give them a quick sex-ed course and a handful of condoms."

Both of them look at me like I'm an idiot, "What?"

"Do you think that after decades or centuries of not using condoms they're going to care? Besides, they won't want to use them after trying one for the first time." Kintoki says.

"Why not? They won't want kids with a normal human woman because the baby would probably be weak." Kintoki facepalms.

Yaeko gives me a pitying smile, "Just trust us on this, none of them will like the idea."

"Fine, whatever." I huff, rolling my eyes, "Just threaten them by saying that they need to take care of any kids they have."

I pause, realizing that probably isn't enough of a deterrent, "...and the woman they impregnate too."

If none of them wanted to stay in the village because things were growing boring, they won't want to settle down with a family yet. Or ever for that matter.

"That works, I guess," Yaeko says with a shrug.

"What about the money situation?" I say, eager to change the subject.

"We're technically making more than the Golden Dragons used to but that is less because of your policies and more because 'I'm' not spending outrageous amounts of money anymore. If anything, your new policies have drastically increased expenses." Kintoki says mildly.

"All the members eat significantly more after your training, the women are now paid more and with their security being a priority, can't take work from less savoury customers, and we've expanded our numbers with new recruits." The picture he's painting isn't good for my wallet.

"If you are serious about expanding and conquering the other gangs then we will gain funds in the short term but increase expenses in the long term. Projected across the entirety of Kyoto, our accountants are unsure whether your policies will remain profitable." I hum tossing the problem around in my head.

Taking money from the Black Feather Brigade and the Hell King Legion will help but we need more income. The easiest thing to do would be to take over the drug trade after dealing with the Hell King Legion. I'm not exactly a fan of that idea though.

Inevitably, my own minions would start using the product since they are in contact with it so much. That is the real problem here.

The only solution to that issue that I can see is using magical means to make designer drugs. Produce something as or more addictive than normal drugs and remove the negative side effects. The customers would keep coming for more and they wouldn't die from the drugs themselves, keeping my customer base rising.

Still, I don't exactly have a magical botanist.

I could probably mix nature manipulation through Ki and Yojutsu to make something interesting but the use of my abilities for something so… sketchy leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Shuten could probably make poisons that mimic effects like euphoria, hallucinations, lethargy, etc. The idea of getting my sister involved in this feels even worse than doing it myself though.

I make a mental note to have her dabble with those effects though because they would be useful in combat.

Outside that idea for increasing our income… Fight clubs, maybe? I'd be interested in running those and it would be a decent way of recruiting talent. Hmm, I'll need to think more about that.

I blink as I realize Kintoki has been waiting to continue the entire time I was thinking there. I clear my throat in embarrassment and he continues.

"The final development is both good and bad depending on how you look at it. One of the new recruits for the financial department found some discrepancies in our files." Kintoki's expression turns serious as he continues, "The head accountant had been embezzling funds for some time now. The worst part is that he had near-total control of the finances so nobody would have noticed if it weren't for your reforms and the new hire's accounting skills."

I smile, devoid of warmth, "Where is my head accountant now?"

Kintoki nods as though expecting this reaction, "He's downstairs, we've kept him in our care since we found out."

"That's great, I'll go visit him in a minute. First though, is there anything else I need to know?" I start to get up from my chair.

"The other gangs have become quiet in the last week. They should start moving soon. Unless we move first, of course." Kintoki says as he gets up to lead me out.

I nod, "We'll be making a move soon. Start buying some shares in the main business ventures of the Black Feather Brigade and find out when their next shareholders meeting is."

"Starting with classic methods first?" Kintoki inquires as we leave his office, heading towards the basement.

"It's better to keep things simple first." As we head downstairs my nose wrinkles as I smell the accountant before I see him. He has been kept here for a while it seems.

"Have some people check out the Hell King Brigades businesses too. I want to know who we're dealing with there. It's a devil's peerage running things, obviously, but I want a name. If they're too affluent I might need to be more delicate." Kintoki grunts in affirmation as we arrive.

The accountant is a middle-aged man, strapped to a chair in nothing but dirty slacks. His suit jacket and dress shirt have been torn off a while ago from the look of things.

The room itself is dark and cold, lit by nothing but a single lightbulb hanging from above him.

Honestly, the setup is a bit cliche.

The lack of damage on him shows how soft Kintoki has been taking this interrogation. He probably was only starving the accountant, wanting to save any actual torture to my judgement.

"I also want to meet the new recruit who found the discrepancies," I say as an afterthought.

Kintoki nods as though expecting that, "I'll set a meeting up soon. Whenever you have time."

I slide the only other chair in the room in front of him and take a seat, "Good morning, mister accountant."

My pleasant greeting isn't well-received as his lips curl into a sneer and he glares back at me.

How rude of him.

I kick my legs and hum idly, waiting for him to talk since I'm in no rush. If he wants to play around for a bit before we get into this, I don't mind.

After a minute, he huffs and sits up straight, "Who the fuck are you!?"

I blink at the sudden energy, not having expected the complete lack of caution. I'm just as surprised that he doesn't recognize me as his boss. Surely news got around when I took over.

At the very least, the horns and tattoos should lead him to some caution, right? The odds of Kintoki bringing a random cosplayer to interrogate this guy is zero.

Nobody could be so ignorant of the situation.

He flinches as he notices Kintoki behind me and starts to shiver in fear.

Again, this guy is focusing on completely wrong details here. I'm the one he should be worried about, not the softy behind me.

I sigh and snap my fingers in front of him causing him to lean backwards suddenly, almost knocking himself over.

"Focus." I glance back at Kintoki and jerk my head towards the stairs. He gets the message and leaves with a quick bow toward me.

"Now, where were we? Good morning, mister accountant. How are you today?" I give him a wide smile even as he stares at me sceptically.

"How do you think I am? I'm tied up like an animal and I've been tortured by that brute and his pet for weeks." He says disdainfully, staring down his nose at me.

I raise a brow at that interpretation of events. He doesn't even have a bruise on him yet. How would this constitute torture by any definition of the word?

"Now I have some girl pretending to be nice, for what? Does he think that by sending a hot piece of ass down here I'll tell him where I hid the money?" The accountant laughs while leering at me.

I'd laugh if I wasn't pissed that this worm is insulting me. This is definitely not a honey trap and he has earned a lot more torture than I had originally planned.

"You'll have to put in some work before I even consider it. I figure you aren't allowed to untie me but I shouldn't have to spell things out for you. Even some dumb whore like you should be able to bounce on my lap." This time I do laugh in disbelief at the sheer lack of awareness this man has.

"I'm not the 'good cop' in this situation. Did you not hear that a new boss took over?" I ask as I look him over trying to decide what to start with.

"Why should I care if there is a new boss? They're going to be just as stupid as that brute, Kintoki. It's pure luck they even found out I was siphoning funds from the organization." He clicks his tongue, "Are you going to get started on convincing me or are you just going to keep looking?"

"Oh sorry, were you in a rush?" I ask, "I'll start convincing you right away then."

"Finally, dumb bitch." He mutters.

Standing up, I cross the short distance between us and brush my thumb along his jaw, "I hope you enjoy this as much as I will."

As my thumb reaches the back of his jaw, my fingers curl around his ear and I pull. There is no resistance as his ear is torn off the side of his head. He squeals like a pig as the pain hits him.

I flick my wrist tossing the piece of flesh away and ever so gently I brush the wound with my claws. He flinches every time I make contact and his scream slowly turns into sobs.

"One little ear and you're already crying? Your partners are often left disappointed at your endurance, huh?" My claws cut bloody lines into his flesh as my fingers trail down the side of his face, along his neck and down to his shoulder.

I pat his shoulder reassuringly even as I shush him gently, "Come on now, we're just getting started. We can play all night if you want."

I begin to apply pressure on his shoulder, feeling the flesh, muscle and bone start to crush under my grip.

As the bones in his shoulder turn to powder, I talk conversationally, "The funny thing is, I wasn't even mad about the money. You started embezzling before I became the boss so you didn't do anything to me."

I continue downward, quickly snapping his humerus to change up the pace, "All you had to do is return the money and I would've killed you quickly. Not painlessly but quickly."

I slowly crush all the bones in his hand and fingers, going as far as to remove his hand from its bindings so he can watch. His complexion rapidly shifts back and forth between a nauseous green to a pale white as he both watches and feels the bones shatter and the flesh of his fingers pulp.

I sigh as he passes out, reviving him with an injection of Ki, "None of that now."

A tap on his chest breaks a rib. I make sure to be precise so the bone fragments don't puncture his organs. "Instead of returning the money, you had to lack the awareness to recognize that insulting me was a bad idea."

My fingers dance along his chest, swift taps continuing to shatter his rib cage. "Seriously, my feelings were hurt there and you haven't even apologized."

I click my tongue as he sputters incoherent apologies, "No, no, it's too late for that. I'm suffering here from the emotional damage you inflicted upon me."

As I shatter the last of his ribs I think about where to target next. I could break all his bones and then move on to something else but that would get boring long before I finished. He doesn't have the vitality to handle all his bones shattering so I would need to constantly heal him.

Fire, maybe? A nice hot flame is good for evoking that primal fear.

Though maybe that isn't the best idea given how long he has been here without bathing. I wouldn't want to spread that smell around more, especially with how sensitive my nose is. The burning flesh wouldn't even be appetizing at that point.

"How can I recover from those insults?" I tip his head back so he's looking me in the eye and pout.

"Telling me where my money is might help…" I continue to heal him to keep him alive and awake.

I sigh, knowing I'm being too nice to him, "Still, I don't know if that will be enough though. Do you think so?"

"Please stop, I'll tell you everything." I frown in disgust at how quickly his attitude changed.

I broke less than a quarter of the bones in his body. Where did the insults from before go?

A smack breaks his jaw, "Show some backbone. Where's the attitude from before? I thought you wanted me to ride you like a common whore?"

I cup his chin and heal his jaw while climbing onto his lap, "This is what you wanted, right?"

He whimpers as my claws dig into his chin, "Come on, tell me what you want. You were so confident earlier."

"T-the money is-" My hand clamps down around his throat before he can continue.

"That isn't what you want. That's your hard-earned money, isn't it?" He wheezes as my grip tightens, gasping to try and fill his lungs.

He shakes his head desperately, trying to convince me to let go and let him talk. I'm not sure I should though. He starts to thrash desperately, whether from pure panic or an attempt to knock us both over, I don't know.

Panic is more likely, however.

"It's wrong to take other people's money from them. Especially when they worked so hard to get it. I can't do that to an honest person like you." I scoff when his struggles grow weaker, his body running out of energy.

I hop off his lap and take my seat across from him again, letting him breathe before he passes out.

"You're boring me now." I frown as I rest my chin on my palm. "I've barely touched you and you're giving up."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispers hoarsely.

"No, you aren't. You're sorry you're in this situation. You're sorry you got caught. You don't give a shit about what you did." He continues to cry, coughing whenever a sob hits. The pain of his broken ribs and damaged throat spikes with every cough.

"What should we move on to next?" I look him over as he stares back with naked fear.

"I'll tell you where all the money is! I'll even tell you about the money I stole from other clients! Please, just stop this." He pleads pathetically and I pretend like I didn't hear him.

If he wanted to be a wimp he should have done so before he insulted me. Bravado is annoying if you can't back it up.

"You seemed interested in playing with your lower body earlier. Maybe we should move there?" He shudders as I grin wildly.

Flames dance across my hands as I place them on both of his thighs. "I think the psychological damage would be worse than the pain but you'll have to confirm that for me."

I crack my neck and slowly start to burn through his slacks, "Well, let's-"

I'm interrupted by my phone ringing and I perk up wondering who it is. As I pull my phone out I check the caller ID and smile. Suzaku is calling me!

I glance at the accountant and frown, if he makes enough noise Suzaku might hear something she wouldn't approve of…

A poke injects my ki into his neck and destroys his vocal cords. As I answer the call, I make a mocking shushing gesture.

"Hey Suzaku, it's good to hear from you!" I say happily as the phone picks up.

"Hello Ibaraki, are you busy right now?" I glance back at the man I was just torturing and shrug.

"Nah, I just finished up what I was working on. What's up?" Suzaku pauses and I can almost imagine her biting her lip.

"I'm calling to ask for your assistance as a Sage. As the Head of the Himejima clan, I can ensure you will be adequately rewarded for your services." My eyes go wide and I blink at the sudden formal speech.

"I would like to receive your services to heal a member of the clan who has fallen severely ill. Because of the magical nature of the fever, I can't recklessly attempt to revive them myself and am therefore reaching out to you." I frown as I take that in.

If it was a normal clan member she would have simply entrusted their recovery to a hospital or hired private physicians. The clan certainly has the funds to do so and if the person wasn't important it wouldn't be urgent to wake them up.

If she isn't confident that her clan's Onmyoudo could wake the patient, then it has to be a coma caused by another magic system.

The Vermillion Bird's flames are also not an option since her control of them isn't enough to heal another yet.

Wait a minute this sounds familiar… "Is it that cousin you were talking about the other day?"

"Ah, yes… how did you guess?" Suzaku says, shocked at my deduction.

I nearly groan as I remember how the events of Slash/Dog started. Tobio missed the cruise the rest of his class was on because he suddenly fell ill with an intense fever.

"It seemed odd to ask for my help for just any clan member," I say calmly even as my mind races.

If Tobio's class was abducted already, it must have happened while the gods were busy supervising the Dragonslayer festival. That is a crazy level of planning, to choose the one time that nobody would have been watching the sea.

"As you know, we've been reconnecting since the clan… restructured." I grin at her awkward attempt to reword her slaughtering of her clan's Elders.

"I found some disturbing news about his school trip and tried to get in contact with him. The luxury liner his school was taking their trip on disappeared, along with all two hundred and thirty-three students." I cut in since I already know what she is getting at.

"Someone took advantage of the lack of surveillance on the waters." I can almost hear Suzaku nod grimly on the other side of the call.

"Yes, and I have no idea what they are after. They weren't after my cousin specifically because they still kidnapped the other students. I can't find anyone else in the school register of any political value." Suzaku says frustrated.

"So it could be anything from a mass sacrificial ritual to experimentation then?" I ask rhetorically.

There isn't enough information for Suzaku to conclude what they were after.

Sure, I know that the students were taken for artificial Sacred Gear research and implantation but I can't just say that. Instead, I'll just quietly prepare over the next two months while I wait for them to reappear.

"That's the problem, I don't know." She grouses.

"We can focus on healing your cousin first if you'd like?" I would rather heal Tobio and get in Suzaku's good graces than speculate about a kidnapping.

"I would appreciate that. As I said, I'm prepared to repay you for your services. You simply need to name your price and I will pay it." I let out a low whistle at that weighty promise.

The Principal Clans are loaded so I could secure a massive amount of capital for the Golden Dragons. I could also use this opportunity to get texts on magic for Akeno; Onmyoudou manuals from the Himejima clan would be perfect for her and would help her grow. I could also have Suzaku recommend me to an enchanter or an alchemist to bolster my minions' arsenals.

I am allowed to be selfish occasionally and what I want from Suzaku is simple.

"I'll heal your cousin and make sure there aren't any lasting issues on one condition!" I pose with my finger pointing skyward, completely unnecessarily considering this is a phone call.

Suzaku holds her breath on the other line and my smile widens, "You need to go on a date with me!"

I laugh as I hear her fumble the phone, the sheer anticlimax of my request shocking her. "Ibaraki, I'm being serious here! I can pay you properly for this, it isn't a simple request to a friend."

She can definitely hear the amusement in my voice as I respond, "I'm being serious too. What is more valuable than your time as clan head? Think of all the important work I'm stealing you away from."

"Ibaraki, you…" She growls in frustration before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Fine," Her agreement comes as a harsh whisper and I can hear the embarrassment in her tone. "If you heal my cousin I'll go on a date with you. Happy?"

"Overjoyed!" I shoot back cheekily, "I'm the one who is winning in this deal so why wouldn't I be?"

She grumbles half-heartedly and I do a little victory dance, "Where should I be heading? You want him healed as soon as possible, right?"

"I'll send you the address. I had him moved to Kyoto this morning because he can get better care here." My phone chirps and I check the address Suzaku sent through.

"I can be there in fifteen minutes. I just have some things to clean up here and I'll be right over." Suzaku sighs in relief.

"Thank you, Ibaraki, this means a lot to me." My grin softens at her quiet admission.

"Of course, I'll meet you there in fifteen. See you then!" I sigh in contentment as I hang up.

My gaze shifts back to the accountant still in the room. "You sir, are a very very lucky man. You have been saved by a benevolent goddess."

I let out a wave of killing intent that nearly knocks him over, "Two things are going to happen now, I'm going to heal you, and you are going to tell me where all your money is hidden and how to access it. Do you understand?"

He nods frantically and my smile widens.

Today is already turning out great.