Chapter 2: Petals Born on Spring, pt. 2

Just after Homura gives her word she wouldn't play it again, the old man allows her to take it.

"Hmm... That lobster shamon... If I remember correctly, the people I met described something like that as the monster of the violin."

"Oh well, I'm just glad to have this problem taken out of my hands, I'm too old for that stuff!

But please, young lady, prudence and self-control are paramount for a maiden like yourself!" He says, in a scolding tone as they leave. "Little miss, who seen very wise," He says, turning to Chimera, for everyone's apparent surprise, "I hope you to refrain her from doing anything unthoughtful like that ever again!"

"I wonder..." Rika starts, "If the spirit inside the violin isn't, uh..." She gives a worried look at Homura, hoping not to offend her, "Hurt, by that playing... What if it is suffering and that's what brings the shamons?"

"I mean, if someone messed with my dresses, I would be very upset too! Oh, by the way, what did you thought of the uniform, Kusakabe-san? I personally put it in your petalframe (instead of that ugly cape) as a surprise! In my opinion you look wonderful on it!"

The girls' transport and medical support reach the place soon after, taking care of any injured among the people.

The nurse who took care of Shizuka's injuries, none other than Sister Juujisan, did a fine job of bandaging her, the former almost looking like a mummy, with all of her torso, right arm, and partially her legs were thoroughly bandaged. Her arm now supported by a sling.

"That should do it... These bandages have a special pomade to ease your pain and ensure your recovery. It probably wont even leave any scars! Besides that, don't exhort yourself too much for the next days, or you may worsen your internal damage, which would be much harder to treat.

So... No fights and no sparring." She says, with a severe look, "Understood?"

---

On the meanwhile, Claude talks to the press, doing her standard number. She's able to dismiss the concern caused by the apparent coincidence of her being whenever trouble arises; she also helps peaking the play's interest a bit.

"d'Armagnac-san, it also seems you were present in the shamon attack last night, on the docks, isn't that right?!" A journalist asks, with many more following with similar ones. When inquired about the source of that rumor, one of them shows her a newspaper, whose first page, covering the attack, displayed a photo of her, posing on the docks, standing on a strange metal structure: her petalframe, too obscured by the shadows to be distinguished.

---

With that, the maidens are ready to return to the theatre, and receive some well-earned rest.

For a split second Claude stops in thought, trying to figure out the implications of the photograph for the general public, and then decides to do what can be done to make everyone forget about the old image and anything of interest within it.

"Indeed, I was caught up in a prior attack, I think it was not far from a market, and I am pretty sure I made a press statement afterwards and postured for some photographs, though this particular one seems like a very unconvincing choice for a first page article, to the point that I'm not even sure it depicts what it's meant to. I can probably spend another few minutes to let you get a better shot, maybe even with the chief and some members of the Tokyo police squad that I fought side by side with while they're still there."

Claude uses the end of the scabbard to begin tracing "クロード・ダルマニャク" in the gravel on the ground.

"Oh, I've also been thinking: each time my name crops up, whether in those lengthy katakana transliterations, or in speech, it must be slightly awkward, especially for people who unfamiliar with overseas names. Maybe it would be more convenient, both for reporting and for the theatrical posters, to have me adopt a local pseudonym. How about Saishikajin, what do you think?"

The foreigner crosses out the katakana, then traces "才子佳人" next to it.

I wonder if that will work . . .

Chimera puffs out her chest and nods sagely in response to the shop owner's warning to Homura, completely sincere despite having full intentions of playing the cursed instrument herself one day.

"Of course, I am rationality manifest. Under the careful watch of I, Chimera Roosevelt, the seeds of impulsive urges can bear no fruit."

With a whip of her jacket cape, Chimera turns away and snaps up the violin in a single motion, tucking the instrument under her arm.

"Rest easy."

Giving a curt two-finger wave over her shoulder, Chimera exits the store, successfully resisting the urge to look back this time. She even remembers to lower the brim of her cap for that mysterious stranger appeal.

It felt nice to be pampered by Sister Juujisan, even though Shizuka was in a good deal of pain. Thankfully, her head didn't need to be bandaged so she could still speak easily. After the medics finished up, Shizuka stood up and tested the flexibility of her one free arm. She certainly wouldn't be climbing anything, but her sword arm still worked and she could run or jump around.

"Thanks, Sister! I already feel better from your healing touch~ Just kidding! Although, it is a little tight across the chest. But I won't start any fights, so don't worry."

After thanking the medics, Shizuka was pretty much back to normal spirits so she walked down the canal to the antiques store where everyone else had gone. On the way the watched the petalframes being loaded up by several trucks, and she overheard part of Claude's speech to the media. Once she made it to the store, she ran straight into Chimera as she was making her dramatic exit. After smashing into each other, Shiuzka couldn't see who it was due to their height but could guess it was Chimera based on her large hat.

"Oh, Chimera-san! Look we match now!"

Shizuka motioned to her bandaged torso and arm-sling, but it seemed like Chimera was still sauntering out into the steet (hopefully towards the trucks so she could get a ride back). She also looked around for Hana and Abenanka to make sure they were both fine after the fight.

"Are we heading back? Are we keeping the cursed violin or smashing it?"

"Yeah, I know..." Homura murmured, looking off to the side when the store owner scolded her. She wanted to be annoyed, but she couldn't refute it. "I suppose I'll leave it in the hands of my vice ca—er, my little friend for now. For safety."

As they left the antique store, Homura looked at Rika. "I was thinking about that, actually. If there's really a spirit suffering in the violin, we've got to find a way to help them!"

"Oh, and the uniform's lovely," Homura beamed. She pinched her uniform, pulling at the material slightly. "It's time-consuming to put on in the heat of the moment, and it's really tight in certain places, but it's beautiful and easy on the skin! Plus, I think it captures even more spiritual power than those rubbery capes we used before. You've outdone yourself, Rika-chan."

Homura noticed Claude handling the press. Not wanting to be caught up in it, she tried to quietly usher Chimera and Rika along, but the grandeur of her uniform didn't lend itself to stealth. She found the escape route to be cut off by a crowd of paparazzi, bombarding her with camera flashes and questions.

One paparazzo pushed her way to the front and made herself heard over the noise. "Homura Kusakabe-san! Just five minutes of your time. We've never seen you in something like this! Is this a new line of clothing you're modeling for?"







Homura flashed a flawless smile and smoothly transitioned into her 'media darling' mode. She might as well make use of the attention. "No, actually. This is something personal that I was gifted recently. The tailor is none other than Hoshikawa-san here." Homura gestured to Rika, briefly putting the spotlight on her. "If you want to look as good as I do, you should seek her services at the Imperial Cafe-Theatre once it's open to the public! I promise you..."

Homura swept her hair back and posed for the cameras, showing off the full extent of the uniform.

"You will not be disappointed!"

"Ackk—! Get off of me, you ten ton tunnel-visioned troll!"

Chimera scowls as Shizuka ruins her cool exit. Crawling out from beneath Shizuka, Chimera checks that the violin is still in playable condition before standing up and brushing herself off. When Shizuka mentions the matching bandages, Chimera takes a second to look it over. Hmm, the bandaged torso works, but it's hard to make an arm sling look "cool".

"To compare your mortal wounds to my spiritual struggles is like comparing the sky to the ocean. It is clear you have yet to awaken the dark potential resting within your soul—perhaps I should educate you. These restraints are but—"

Chimera gets swept up by Homura before she can continue her lecture. With Homura taking the spotlight, Chimera decides to cultivate that aloof demeanor that she hasn't managed to pull off so far today. Yes, the tabloid covers will have Homura front-and-center, but won't people notice the mysterious stranger brooding behind her and become intrigued? Nodding in satisfaction, Chimera turns her body slightly away from the camera and tips her hat over her eyes to look more...mysterious.

Shizuka didn't know what "ten ton" or "troll" meant, as there was still some language and cultural barriers. However, Shizuka had heard plenty of insults thrown her way and it sounded like an insult. In response, she plastered a friendly smile even though you could see a glint of annoyance. She listened to Chimera's explanation and torrent of words with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.

"Well, you sure are cute when are struggling with dark potentials. Maybe you need... some sunlight!"

Suddenly, she reached out with her uninjured hand to grab Chimera's hat in order to give her a vigorous pat on the head, similar to how one would treat a little sibling. Somehow, though, Chimera deftly avoided her hand when she made her way to handle the media along with Homura.

Tsk, I forgot she's good at running away.

As Claude tries to mislead the public with her explanation, people quickly looses interest in the rumors circling around her, instead cheering her taken pseudonym as if she was some sort of newborn celebrity- which is precisely the case.

As she points the apparent lack of quality and sense on the photo displayed on the newspaper, an older man, with a stern façade, accompanying the journalist who showed it to her says, in a tantrum: "Grr! Otoya that fool!! Fumbling our publications... Master photographer my nose! And he just phoned the office selling even more photos of girls fighting monsters... What a fraud!" Making his coworkers chuckle.

"Maybe he just wants excuses to photograph beautiful girls, heh~" One of them banter.

---

On the meanwhile, the old man at the store looks baffled by Chimera's antics, faltering at her- but too late, she's already gone.

Reacting with flusterment towards Shizuka, Sister Jeanne gasps then says, bothered, "Ah? I'm just acting on my vocation, no need to thank me!" Then she leaves- quickly, leaving Shizuka to bump into Chimera.

Homura didn't noticed that though, as she's talking with Rika: ""Uhm... A way to help them... I wonder...

Her introspection is broken by Homura's compliments, which brings a smile out of her, "I'm glad that you liked it!! Oh, I just wanted to highlight your, uh... Features!"

"About the time-burden... Heh, I'm thinking of a solution for that~" She says, with a mischievous smirk.

Finally, as she poses for photos, Rika struggles to disguise her prideful face, while Chimera looms on the background, the model's smile capturing the affection of the whole crowd, who sigh lightheaded.

As the chatter of journalist began slowly quieting down, Claude looked towards the rest of the team, checking whether it's a good moment to leave, but before that, approached the stern elder and asked quieter with a conspirational smirk:
"Does this Otoya-san have a residence and mailbox? I might want to dispatch a sternly-worded letter or a bit of help with photography, I still haven't decided which, if any."

Perfect! I've got my hooks in them. Now to make an exit.

She decided to deploy her tried-and-true method of escaping the media.

"Ah! Look over there! Meteor shower!" Homura pointed somewhere behind the crowd. Using her pyrokinetic powers, she made bright multi-colored streaks of flames appear a few miles away in the sky, resembling shooting stars. When the crowd turned to look, she dashed away to the transports.

"Y-you dare lay your hands on me!? These are royal follicles, fool!"

The mysterious facade basically falls apart before it's even cultivated. Chimera swats at Shizuka's patting hand and flails her arms at Shizuka's other hand which holds her hat. Her usually fair complexion turns red as she resorts to kicking Shizuka in the shins.

Although Shizuka's shins were one of the few areas that weren't bandaged, they were no match for the pointy, European styled boots. Getting kicked didn't hurt so much, but it made Shizuka move her leg in a way that aggravated her other injuries. She also couldn't help but laugh as she doubled over, which also hurt her ribs.

"Hehe.. hah. Ow. Here, you win Chimera-hime."

Satisfied with her teasing, Shizuka handed Chimera her fancy hat back so she could pose dramatically for the flashing cameras.

The man is distracted from his tantrum, as Claude takes his attention: "Uh? Oh... Sure, that's your right to do, ma'am!

Well, we don't have the guy's address, he works for us just as a freelancer, but..." He writes on his notebook and then pulls a piece of paper, "Here, his number, you may be lucky (or good with words) and get to him."

With that, and a fake meteor shower on the background, the group leaps into the truck and ride back to the theatre, with the goods they came for too!

---

Once at the theatre, They're greeted by Mr. Hoshikawa, carrying a bottle of sake: "Woa! Two victories in a day! We ought to celebrate~" Though he hides the bottle behind his back when he notices Shizuka.

Then, his interest seems peaked by the instrument being carried by Chimera: "Hmm... Would you look at that. What a wonderful violin! Where did you got it, Chimera-chan?"

Still inspecting it, with his hand on his bearded chin, he wanders off: "This reminds me of an old friend... The best luthier in Tokyo at the time; I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of his works... B-but he left only a few violins when he died and they should cost a fortune!! Woa! I had no idea you were so filthy rich, Chimera-chan!" He finishes, with astonishment.

---

After chatting, the maidens are called to the manager's office, where they find Mr. Moriyama and his assistant, Kanna Morinaga.

"There you are. I gathered some info on the recent attack on Nihombashi and... I'd like a report describing it later, Kusakabe-san. I'm specially interested in knowing of how it started..." He says, with a totally straight and honestly kind of scary face.

"But you can deal with that later, I have something that may be of interest to you all." He then nods at Kanna.

The woman studies the maidens with a cold gaze, and then starts. "We just got a report of a strange attack at Izumibashi (east of Nihombashi). Apparently, an infamous street musician was playing some pieces of, uh... Atonal Music. Have you heard of it? It's some awful western novelty... At any rate, it seems he was attacked by a lobster-like monster."

"It would be a good idea to investigate into that... By the way, I already talked to the police department and they're assigning the case to you anyway, Gozen-san." She finishes, in a monotone.

Then, Moriyama adds: "One more thing... It's very inconvenient that photos of you in battle are being made public... I understand d'Armagnac-san is already unto it; keep going. Earlier, your valet was able to get a number for the camera buyer you asked for; it seems to match the one you got from the journalist."

Shizuka grabbed her chin in thought, and she would have also tapped the hilt of her sword if her other arm wasn't in a sling.

"Mhm, an annoying street musician in Izumibashi? If they are summoning more shamon, I will look into it for sure! For now I need to visit the bathhouse, though."

Her hakama was already singed from sparring, and after the shamon attack it was sliced up, wet, and covered with icy, fishy bits. Her bandages were nice and clean, though, thanks to Sister Juujisan.

"I will take a bath, then a nap, then head out later this afternoon! If anyone wants to join just the investigation, let me know~"

"If I understand correctly, the attack by now ceased, as otherwise we would have been redirected to its location instead of being recalled to base. It is likely that this attack has been performed by a remnant of the decimated shamon unit, as we did witness a shamon with a crab-like armour. Thus, I would like to request clarifications: first, regarding the timing and priority of this investigation; second, whether it would be prudent to utilise less recognisable individuals for any investigations."
"Do we happen to know someone who can identify the address from a phone number if it's not included in the public listing of numbers? Furthermore, I am not privy to the specifics of any exceptional legal authority we may possess when it comes to matters of civilians. Should we find the photographer, what can we do other than give a stern talk? After all, we are now all public persons, and officially only one of us carries legal enforcement powers, and I am not sure whether those powers can be legitimately used to solve these concerns."

In response to Hoshikawa's mention of the item's obscene value, Chimera shakes her head and tuts.

"It is an art to turn good deeds into fortune. Money is but a shortcut for those who lack either."

...That said, Chimera makes a mental note to keep the violin in pristine condition. To preserve the potency of its curse, of course.

With that settled, and the matter of a second shamon incident brought up, Chimera dashes to her room and emerges a few minutes later in a completely new getup, even swapping out her eyepatch for a monocle."To untangle the Gordian knot of this mystery, a sharp mind is needed to cut straight to the truth! Detective Roosevelt is on the case!"

Clearing her throat, Shizuka decides to speak up about the camera incident while Chimera was off changing clothes.

"Morinaga-san, it's not illegal for someone to take photos in Tokyo so DON'T encourage your underlings to assault civilians. If you don't want any pictures taken, then the military should do a better job of keeping people out of the deployment area. Tokyo isn't a playground for the military to do whatever they want.

Also, Claude-san, didn't you tell journalists that you were fighting the shamon, working at the theater, and pose for pictures? I don't see how some photos make a difference, unless you think they just look bad."

"The one photograph that is of concern is not part of any deliberately postured set. Rather, it seems to be of a moment of mounting or dismounting. Fortunately, the quality is blurry - I assume the newspaper in question is already available in the archives if you'd like to verify that - but to those in the know, this is an image that technically includes experimental hardware."

"Alright..." Homura gulped, a bead of sweat forming on her brow due to the commander's gaze. She was starting to dread her upcoming report, but the idealist in her thought that as long as she was honest, things would work out just fine.

Homura listened for a while before speaking up. "I'll join you, Shizuka. That street musician's a threat to himself and others! We must put a stop to it!" She shouted, completely oblivious to the irony of her statement.

"We can't really do anything about the photos though, can we? No matter how much we want to..." She grumbled, her mind wandering back to the reckless photographer in the plaza. She could only hope he didn't have any usable shots of her to sell.

"Of course we're going to draw attention, in our petalframes or otherwise. If anything, I'd say people knowing that we're there to protect them is a good thing. What's the use of being secretive about it?" She asked. "Why not just go public?"

Claude glanced sideways at Homura. There was no disappointment in the foreigner's expression, but there was concern.

"Being public about the fact that we're helping out when we get caught up in the action is unavoidable and largely inconsequential: the cat has been out of the bag as soon as we approached the shores of Tokyo, and people would expect people of our talents to use them when threatened anyway. But to reveal that the théâtre is the point of dislocation of experimental hardware and a logistics hub for it would turn it into a much bigger target, and it would also threaten all the participants of the logistic chain maintaining this hub."

Addressing Claude's question, Mr. Moriyama explains: "It's not an urgent matter: the attack was an isolated one, and we didn't receive any report of further attacks. We just want to make sure we can prevent any, if they do occur.

Furthermore, with a good enough alibi, you girls should inconspicuously travel through Tokyo, and indeed, having you going out sometimes would be benefic for maintaining your disguise... If you were never seem outside of the theatre, that could raise suspicions."

"And about the photographer: we're working on it. It may take some time though, as we try to track him down."

He smirks sardonically, "Stern talk? Feel free to do that! For now, we must know if he has any more, and more problematic, photos; his intention with them is also of concern. Depending on the answer... I'd like to have a personal talk with him~"

As that question is readdressed by Shizuka, he gives her an annoyed glance: "Now listen, we have extraordinary legal powers in here, and by 'we', I mean you girls too. Furthermore, disclosing secret military information to the public is already a serious crime, I'm sure you'd agree."

---

As the questions of why keeping this secrecy pile up, Moriyama stays quiet and pondering for an instant, puffing on his cigar while reclined on his chair.

Finally, he says: "Claude-san is right, we can't allow this theatre, the staff, attendees and technology inside it to be threatened. But besides that, there are... Political concerns you may not know about.

For starters, this endeavor is the stated wish of later empress Kiyomoto, and tacitly upheld by our current empress Shirayuri, but a good part of our cowardly politicians are vehemently against anything like this, seeing it as a foolish waste of resources and dangerous warfare. Not causing scandal among the public is one of the reasons also.

Finally, you may or may not now, our relations with the Russian Empire have been souring over the last years, specially concerning the sovereignty of the Karafuto island (or Sakhalin, for you westerners), where recently huge deposits of tamashishi have been discovered; where their current politicians and military are the starkly opposite to ours, in their warmongering - even though their Czar seems wiser than that and having amiable relations with our empress - if the petalframes went public, along with our research efforts on warfare, that could prove catastrophic, even sparking a war between us."

Giving another puff at his cigar and cleaning his throat, he adds: "I hope that suffices to explain to you the importance of keeping our secrecy."

"Now then, if you find him, I'd like you to bring him here, under arrest."

---

Claude bows.

"Thank you. Understood. It would likely be best if Gozen-san were the one to detain him, as that would remove the need for any of us to disclose our special legal enforcement powers.

In fact, I have to admit there seems to be an oversight on my behalf regarding the full scope of such special powers, and thus I would like to request an opportunity to acquaint myself with whatever relevant documentation and legal writings as relate to my new station and its presentation to the wider public in case of need. Please forgive me, for it seems I have embarked on this voyage without full awareness of such nuances."

Homura spent a moment digesting Claude's points and the new information before she replied, a bit deflated. "I see... Understood. I wasn't aware that our relations with Russia were that bad."

The importance of secrecy was instilled in her now. While she didn't care much for satisfying the politicians, she didn't want harm to come to anyone, which would certainly happen if war ended up breaking out.

"We'll head out soon then and see what we can dig up on these leads. If this photographer is the same guy I'm thinking of, I'm going to enjoy using my 'extraordinary legal powers' on him!" Homura rubbed her hands together deviously, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "It's fine if we bring him in only lightly cooked, right?~"

After a long soak and even longer nap, Shizuka woke up refreshed and ready to go. As ready as she could be, of course, considering the state of her injuries. Still, once she turned five she was taught to never show weakness especially when in uniform, so she gingerly strapped on all of her gear and headed out to Tokyo with the others. It felt like another day at work, although today she was with some eccentric companions.

Once at the scene, she followed behind Chimera with a more relaxed attitude as they broke the ice with the officers. It certainly looked like there was some sort of fight here, but the musician was nowhere around. Luckily she knew a lot of these officers, so getting some info might be easier.

"Otsukaresama~ Do you guys miss me yet? The Steel Petal Division is looking into this attack as well, since shamon are involved. Apparently there's a musician who plays bad music, and the shamon don't like it. Any leads or witnesses who saw what happened?"

"Yes, they sent me along with all these shamon investigators to look around town. It's like science stuff, then they tell the pilots how to fight better. I'm just the bodyguard, and they are the brains."

Shizuka said the last bit with a hint of sarcasm, seeing as her arm was currently in a sling. Although she didn't care for the secrecy aspect of the SPF, she still tried to humor them by using a code name of sort. She also gave the area a quick scan to see if anything stuck out, like a weapon or spooky shamon artifact.

"Mhm, so they fled east, Sergeant? We could follow that slime trial or take a look around for that red haired guy. What do you think Chime-- er... What do you think Detective Roosevelt?"

Homura had been silently digesting the information presented. She suspected this may just be the shamon that escaped earlier, but the amount of destruction seemed rather tame for that. They needed more details.

Her stomach audibly growled. Even though she ate before they left the theater, she was already starving again. I need fuel if I'm going to be thinking hard...

"I'll see if the staff in that restaurant saw anything unusual!" Homura said, splitting off to head into the local restaurant. Despite the state of the outside seating, the establishment still seemed to be open.

Wearing a beautifully disarming smile, she talked with any waiters, chefs and such that were present, trying to charm additional information about the incident from anyone that knew something. She also bought tons of food, just to be courteous. It wasn't because she was trying to get away with snacking on the job or anything...

---

The information didn’t really mean a whole lot to Abenanka, the basics at least. An attack like this could’ve been a monster, or it could’ve been anything else. It seemed a waste to dispatch the pilots to do ground work when they could’ve been training or discussing approaches to situations.

That was what she would’ve said to anyone who asked, but really she’d been enjoying her chance to sleep finally, and when they’d woken her up to pursue the lead she’d met the situation with a frosty response.

She stifled a yawn, listening with one ear when the office mentioned the man. Now that caught her attention, for reasons she hadn’t told the others about yet. When she’d followed the violin’s buyer before, he’d reacted to the magic and her birds had reacted to him. There had to be something going on, but he didn’t fit the description.

Just as she’d been about to ask Homura to ask around for more information, her less surly attitude sure to garner more results, when she disappeared to the nearby restaurant. That left Shizuka and Chimera, or Claude. The latter would be a good choice, but as far as Abenanka was concerned she noticed too much already and had enough on her plate.

Sighing and yawning again, Abenanka wandered eastward looking for anyone familiar.

Claude was physically with the team on the investigation, but mentally distracted, still thinking about the previous investigation - the one where thoroughly and frantically looking through the antiques store yielded nothing of interest, while Homura's direct approach produced results; mixed results, but results nonetheless.

Sigh, maybe I should just coast a bit. If investigation is not my thing, maybe let others do it. Recover my mental energy. After all, it's not like I've been getting the full rest after the recent emergencies anyway.

Claude just barely noticed Abenanka's glance, but kept on musing. It took a few seconds to realise that she walked off. The foreigner hastily walked after her.

"Oh, hey, did you find some useful trail? I have to admit, I am at a bit of a loss how to make myself useful at the moment, so maybe I should at least tag along."

"I see, thank you Sergeant. It's likely a shamon trying to hide, or someone trying to summon them. We'll take a look--ah! Detective wait for me!"

After thanking the police, Shizuka hurried after Chimera along the slimy pathway. Catching up rather quickly, she walked with her hand on the hilt of her sword, although she didn't expect anything to pop out other than some spooked musicians. She noted that Homura, Abenanka, and Claude headed into different directions to look for clues. In the case of an attack she'd have to alert everyone somehow, perhaps a pistol shot into the air would do the trick.

"Chimera-san what do you think about the attack? If it is a shamon maybe we need to plug it's ears up so it can't hear bad music. Or wait, we should plug our own ears to block out the sound-thingy?"

"You mean the guy escaped his hospital room just to play tonight..? That's insane!" Homura chuckled softly, though inwardly she was a bit worried about what would happen if the chef's son played in a crowded pub.

When she was about to leave with an empty belly, she stopped to look back at the young man as he extended her an invitation. Her stomach rejoiced at the thought of yakiniku, but she was conflicted for a moment. Ultimately, she decided she could just leave if it turned out to be a waste of time, so it wouldn't hurt to take the guy's offer.

"Well, if you're talking about that pub up the street, I'd be happy to share a cab with you. Come on, you can tell me all about yourself on the way! What's your name? What do you play?" She smiled at the man, and coyly placed her hand on his arm as she pushed him out the door.

Listening to Chimera, Shizuka thought it could be plausible. Anything could be plausible when it came to the shamon, really. They weren't well known at this point, but hopefully if they caught the red-haired man they would get some more answers.

"Ugh, humans turning into shamon would make things difficult. I liked it better when shamon were just demon things, it made fighting them simple."

She recalled her father bringing her along to a murder scene investigation when she was eleven. Even after that she had to sit in court during the trial, in which both the victim and murderer had their families present. It was messy, to say the least, and her father would always say "being a cop isn't all fun and games!" when she cried.

"But if Gouki is planning this whole thing with cursed instruments, I wonder what his goal is. Guess we will just have to ask him once we catch them playing music again."

Cupping her ears with her hands, Shizuka tried to listen for any distant, horrible music as they walked down the street.

With a better glance, Homura notices that the guy should be in his early 20s, having an unimpressive build and a somewhat above average height of 5'9 (175m), which is still shorter than hers. She also notices how he throws that invitation haphazardly, and looks greatly surprised when she accepts! "Gah! Uh... I mean, great! I'll get ready right away!"

He then offers her a drink before sliding down the counter for half a minute and then, instead of wearing his barman uniform, he's wearing a black jacket checkered in red and purple, over a vibrant silk red shirt with the cuffs folded back, over the jacket; then, as he rolls over the counter (almost falling flat on his face), she can see he's wearing lilac linen pants and light-brown shoes.

"Ta-dam!" He yells with open arms, he's holding a violin case (an object which Homura got quite familiar with lately). Then, as if forgetting her for a moment, he looks up, his hands always in front of him, gesticulating dramatically, "I'm a artist, you see? Or better, a lover of beauty... Everything that's beautiful in this world I adore and vow to protect and cultivate... Receive this sonata, my lady, as a muse receives verses from a poet..."

---

Then, just as Shizuka starts looking for any odd song at the distance, as an irony of destiny, a beautiful melody starts playing inside the restaurant; while some could say it's overly sugary, none could deny an extraordinary show of virtuosity! It's short and lasts for a little more than a minute.

His smug face, as he finishes, is broken as Homura supposedly pulls him by the arm, "Oh, uh... Right, I'm a musician, and also a painter and... Well, photography isn't in my taste, but what can I do, I have a great eye for composition and they pay reasonably..."

"Oh, and the name is Otoya Sawatari, but you can call me just Otoya, hehe~"

Once in the street, they call a cab, and once it comes, he pulls, from the depths of his pockets, a little wallet and starts searching inside it. After a frustrating minute, he just shakes it over the cabby's hand, with a single coin and some dust falling of. "Ahem..." He goes back to his pocket, rummaging hastily through it, pulling another coin from it- a paper flies out along, looking like a copy of a photography... When in flies in a better angle with the light, it could be seen as a photo of Homura! In a pond, soaked and furious.

Soon, Claude realises that Abenanka is not responding, stops, stares at her walking for a bit, then shrugs and turns back towards where the other team members were. That was when Homura and the bartender exited the building, and Claude overheard the familiar name.

That can't be . . .

The foreigner stood and stared, surprised, for a whole minute, at the supposed photographer dealing with the money issue. Only once a photograph flew out of the walled did Claude snap out of it. Suddenly everything added up.

. . . or I guess it can.

Claude walked up to the duo, smirking triumphantly and speaking in a slightly teasing tone. "Well well well, if it isn't Oto-chan, in the flesh. Seems you have lost a thing or two. Would you like to talk about it? Because there sure is a bunch of respectable and charming people who would like to have you over for teatime and a little talk," Claude briefly glances around in search of Gozen for support.

Hearing the nice music wasn't what Shizuka was listening for, but she still followed it in case the shamon-related folks had some members that could actually play well. She was surprised to find herself in front of a restaurant that Homura and Claude were already located. Walking up she noted the photograph but didn't touch it as it fell into the water. She caught most what Claude was saying, but at the moment it looked like Homura was going on a date with the guy instead of investigating.

"Homura-san you can't go seducing people when we're at work! Or is this one of the musicians from the attack?"

She wasn't quite sure who he was, but based on Claude's reaction Shizuka surmised that this could be the so-called criminal photographer. She still didn't see any evidence he did anything illegal but she didn't mind humoring Claude and asking him some questions. However, Shizuka had no intention of arresting him like Moriyama wanted. It just didn't feel right to her unless there was some proof he was sharing secrets or stalking someone on the team.

"Oh! Is this that guy who was bothering you, Claude-san? Are you sure? He doesn't look as sneaky and agile as I thought..."

Shrugging, Shizuka quickly produced a badge from her hakama and showed it to the barman. The look in her eyes changed to a more hardened, professional stare.

"Mister Otoya Sawatari, my name is Officer Gozen. We can go to a police station if you do not feel comfortable talking out here, but I need to ask you a few questions related to the recent shamon attacks. After that you can go on your date."

She continued speaking for a short while as she spouted off his various rights and options, as if she had given the same speech many times before. Before she started asking him anything she wanted to see how he'd react, since if he really was guilty of sharing petalframe secrets he'd likely panic more than usual.

Though she didn't really think much of the young barman, Homura felt her heart go slightly aflutter at the brief but skillful melody dedicated to her. Not bad...

"Otoya, huh? That's a nice name. If you shoot as well as you play, I might be convinced to model for you sometime," she teased. "I'm Homura Kusakabe, but you can call me Homura if you want."

She watched Otoya seemingly struggle to find enough money for cab fare, an unimpressed sweatdrop rolled down her forehead. Seriously? After talking so big?

Despite her exasperation, she began to offer to cover it for him. "It's fine, I can-" She stopped when the photo fell from his pocket.

Is that...!? She knelt down and quickly picked it up, her cheeks flushing and her eyes burning with fury. If Otoya was carrying this, it meant he was the one snapping photos of her during the last attack, or perhaps he acquired a copy from the one who did. Either option infuriated her, and honestly, she already believed the former. As far as she was concerned right now, he was guilty. She stood up as Chimera and Shizuka approached.

"Oh, he's someone, alright." Homura grumbled in response to Shizuka, too angry to even deny the misconception that she was seducing anyone. She was using her charms, but it was for the investigation! And partially, her stomach.

"Did you take this!?" Losing patience, she grabbed Otoya by the collar while he was being read his rights. With her other hand, she held the indecent photo right before his face. She was unconsciously radiating heat, which made being within five feet of her feel like a sauna. "You're dead meat if you've been spreading this around!"

Abenanka turned, about to respond to Claude, when she noticed the other girl had gone. Raising a sardonic eyebrow, she shrugged and carried on with her investigation. She'd find them again once she followed the inevitable trail of carnage, the one worse than the Shamon left behind. Once again she found herself tailing this unknown man, though this time she didn't have her birds with her to give an extra view. Not that it mattered, not particularly.

If he hadn't noticed her following him by now, then he must've been blind. She didn't exactly blend in, her charms and totems making her stand out like a sore thumb as she followed after him. She considered for a moment asking Homura or Rinka for some fashion advice but then pushed the thought aside, that came later.

Probably about the same time she worked up the courage to give Homura a lecture on being reckless.

Before Homura can offer to share the cab's expenses, he again starts his dramatical act, slowly drawing his violin, "Listen, noble cabby: I'll pay you with something much more valuable than mere money, that worthless thing... I'll pay you with the soothing grace of one of my sonatas~"

Neither the cabby had time to protest (which he surely seemed he'd do), or the violinist time to play, as Claude enters the scene. He abruptly turns to face her, holding the photography, "Oh... Hello there, miss~ I don't think we've made the acquaintance, but I wouldn't mind you calling me Oto-ch-"

His words cut short, he gives a look at the photo and then ata Homura, and then at the photo again, and again at Homura, rinse and repeat. "Woa! No wonder you weren't unfamiliar, hehe~ Wait, Homura... Homura Kusakabe?? No way!!" With a coy smile in his face, "I'm an admirer of you work, Homura-san~ I have all of the magazine issues you star at, and-" Once again he's interrupted by Shizuka, bringing her badge and with that, terror, to his face.

The terror put away, he starts, almost whispering, "But officer... Whatever I've done- I mean, whatever you think I've done, I didn't... And even if I did it, surely it was for a good cause! I'd never hurt even a fly, if I've found her to be innocent in her heart-"

...And once again, he's interrupted, as Homura grabs him by his collar. He gasps, but quickly recomposes himself, giving not a drop of shame in his gaze, "Oh, H-homura-san, isn't that a bit rushed..."

"Ah, this photo..." He scratches his temple, "Uhm... I wouldn't deny I did take it~ But, just for artistic reasons! I'd never seek profit over your image, Homura-san... Gee, it sure is hot in here, don't you think? Would like some ice cream? I know a nice parlor close to here..."

Finally, as the latecomer Chimera appears, ready for a fight, he snaps, "A shamon?! Alas! Ladies: behind me, I'll protect you!" He says, still leashed by Homura's unflinching grasp.

---

On the meanwhile, Abenanka, on her attempt to follow the man, is surprised as he turns and comes at her, she can notice how his sweaty, his hair messy, his left eye twitching and his hands trembling.: "You there! Why are you following me?? Please leave, it isn't safe..." He says, before his face contorts in pain.

"If you don't... You'll get hurt."

At that moment, a car passes by, honking, which makes the man jolt and punch a nearby streetlamp post, slightly bending it and leaving a dent. "Argh! I got to go!" He then turns back and hurriedly starts walking away.

Shizuka sighed inwardly since the guy didn't seem like an evil conspirator, but rather a creepy stalker that was obsessed with Homura. She seemed ready to burn his face off, which Shizuka could understand. Stalker situations weren't well covered by the current laws in Japan, so they were often filed away as "domestic disputes" and ignored by police until something violent happened. So if Otoya happened to get a little burnt, Homura wouldn't get in any real trouble.

"...Right, so you admit to entering a military combat zone so you could take photos of Miss Kusakabe. That pretty much answers a lot of questions I had alreaady. Since it looks like you already made copies of that photo, what did you do with the other photos you took?"

If he ignored the military's warnings got caught entering a combat zone again he'd likely get targeted as a threat, but that didn't prove he did anything illegal yet. However, if he did admit to sharing any photos then they'd have reasonable suspicion that he was some sort of agent or that he could have 'accidentally' leaked information about the SPF.

When Chimera arrived to fight the shamon, Shizuka sadly shook her head.

"No demons yet, detective. Just a guy who lost touch with reality. He might be on drugs, or worse, he's lonely and horny."

"'Bothering' is too strong a word, but I'm inclined to believe this is the fellow our colleagues wanted to meet."

---

Claude waits patiently for Homura and then for Gozen to finish speaking, then gives Otoya a long look. "Is that so? Clearly the officer needs to know."

Homura shook Otoya by the collar. "For 'artistic reasons', my ass! Don't you dare try to butter me up with compliments or ice cream! If you can't even pay for a cab, you wouldn't be able to pay for a cold, delicious, refreshing sundae." Her anger seemed to cool a bit just from imagining herself having a hot fudge sundae all to herself.

However, she snapped out of it quickly and restoked her ire. "Gozen-san, it seemed like he was already in the combat zone when the attack broke out. However, this clown decided to stick around taking photos of me and Sunrise Flare instead of evacuating with the other people. He left the other photos behind in the Nihombashi plaza, so I destroyed them," Homura explained. She turned her gaze back to Otoya, glaring at him. The air around her only got hotter. "For his sake, he better not have any copies, but I guess we'll know soon enough. We're going to find out where you live and search every square inch, Sawatari-kun."

Finally, she let him go with a rough shove, but only because she noticed his collar had been starting to smolder in her grasp. "Needless to say, I'm confiscating this!" She slid the photo into her kimono.

"My money's on drugs, Gozen-san." Homura snickered. "I mean, he does have a sort of vacant look in his eyes. He's also suffering from serious delusions if he thinks he could protect us. The outfit also strikes me as something an addict might find stylish."

Abenanka also jumps at the sound of the car horn, and flinches at the damaged lamp post. She keeps her eyebrows raised at the sight, though she forces the other part of herself to calm down since it's just city living. Weird how the growl of a wolf or the stamping of a boar wouldn't panic her in quite the same way, even if they both represented far more mortal danger.

Thinking about mortal danger, though, which seemed a lot of Abenanka's life right now, she planted her hands her hips. "Excuse me. Where are you going?"

She wanted to reach out and grab the man's arm, but she didn't feel comfortable enough. That's not how things were done, well not unless she wanted to do more than just grab his arm. Things hadn't escalated to that point yet though.

"You can't leave roundabout threats for a girl and then not have the courtesy to answer her questions."

"Why did you have to say that out loud?" Claude glances at Homura, but then returns attention to the photographer. "It seems that we will indeed need to either take advantage of this invitation, or extend one of our own. We should probably consult with our betters at the estate, letting them know of this wonderful coincidental meeting and decide whether they would be interested in seeing you as a host or guest, but in either case, you are now on the fast track to meeting them, Oto-chan," the noble smiles politely yet mysteriously.
"So it seems you were right, Gozen-san. Good catch."

Upon hearing that he had an apartment full of the photos, Shizuka pinched the bridge of her nose. Turns out they would have to go after this photographer after all, even though fighting the shamon was more important. However, she snapped out of it with a smile and decided to get it over with while they had the chance.

"Okay, you'll take me to your house, Otoya-san. Then we can deal with all the photos you took. My Rooster still needs repairs so I won't be much help here anyway, and that'll let you three deal with the musicians. And don't forget about Abenanka!"

She placed a hand on Otoya's back pushed him away from the cab as is sped off in the opposite direction, and gave a little wave to the other pilots. They didn't know the specifics but knew he lived somewhere around Ueno Park.

"Lead the way mister expert photographer, don't make drag you~"

Even though she was speaking in a somewhat serious yet playful tone, Shizuka wouldn't hesitate to twist his arm around if he didn't cooperate.

Homura blushed upon realizing her mistake. "Oops... D-Don't worry about what a Sunrise Flare is! Just forget you heard it."

She was starting to calm down somewhat, so her mind returned to what they were originally here to investigate. Yes, the photos were a secondary concern at best compared to the shamon. She nodded. "Sounds like a plan, Gozen-san. Leave it to us. And don't be afraid to break his legs if he crosses you!" Homura chuckled deviously, returning the wave.

She turned to Chimera and Claude. "Right, I had a lead about the musicians. Turns out one of them actually escaped from his hospital room so he could play at the fancy restaurant up the street. That's where I was headed with Sawatari before I found out who he was, the rotten little...!" She fumed momentarily before collecting herself again.

"Ahem. The lobster shamon might pop up again when that musician plays, so we should be there just in case. I can easily hail another cab for us," she offered. "I'm sure Abenanka will be close by. We really should start carrying radios for times like these.

She imagined trying to fit a bulky handheld transceiver into her purse. Or maybe not.

Abenanka gives a muted frown in the direction of the distortion, more mildly uncomfortable than anything else. She crouches next to the man, a hand on his shoulder in her best attempt at being reassuring. The appropriate protocol for someone like her comforting someone like him, who didn't even look to be following the standard Japanese styles, was entirely beyond her. With an awkward attempt at a smile she asks, "Are you sensitive to sounds?"

It seems a silly question, but worth asking at the time. She has to raise her voice a bit to be heard, though, which only serves to make her feel even more self conscious. "If it's the case I can take you somewhere more comfortable, or perhaps a hospital?"

Or maybe somewhere I can deal with your extremely suspicious behaviour?

"I have some highly capable- Uh, some adequate... hmm... my associates are hard working and dutiful, I'm sure they can keep us all safe from whatever you're worried about."

Somehow Otoya slipped away from Shizuka and scampered back towards the others. He didn't seem to care that the military unit he admired was marking him as a threat, and it was obvious he was doing anything to avoid answering questions or helping clear his own name. In fact he was acting downright insane for someone that was just being questioned by the police, and to also be so eager to play music when a shamon had just attacked a group of musicians down the street. At this point it made more sense that he was connected to the recent shamon attacks.

Due to her injuries, however, she decided not to throw him to the ground immediately. Instead she approached him, grabbed his raised fist as he gave his little speech, and then slapped a pair of handcuffs on both of their wrists. Shizuka had a deadpan expression as she jingled the chain in front of Otoya's face to show that they were both now linked together.

"I told you I'd drag you there if you didn't cooperate. For every hour of my time you waste, one of your violin strings might get snapped. So, let's get going already and you might make it time for your gig at the restaurant."

Again, she gently shoved him forwards in the direction of Ueno Park and this time she was watching carefully for if he tried to slip away.

Claude seems distracted, and when everyone starts moving, just goes with the flow, not taking initiative.

A pretty-face airhead. Oh well. Could've been worse. At least this is one of the first almost straightforward people I met here, if not the first.

When Gozen snaps the handcuffs on the photographer, Claude just shrugs and changes the marching order, now walking on Otoya's uncuffed side, occasionally taking side glances at him.

"Oh take your chivalry and shove it. You'd only get in the way if things got dangerous." Homura snapped at Otoya. "I know from experience," she added under her breath.

It seemed like they were staying together a while longer and walking to their destinations rather than taking a cab, so Homura went along with the rest. She caught how Claude was glancing at Otoya, so she walked close to the French noblewoman and whispered.

"Are you really taking a liking to him? He's a saccharine twit." Homura grumbled incredulously.

Claude glances at Kusakabe with a shrug, responding a bit quieter than the usual outdoor voice (but still loud enough to overhear for those nearby) in a light-hearted tone, "Oh, no need to go hush-hush, I'm sure by now your opinion is very much known to anyone in close vicinity. But in a way, perhaps I am. He seems to be little more than a pretty face who's admitted to being drunk on passion, but that's exactly something I've found to be very scarce in the last few days of my life, so I'm keeping my options of fixing that open.

If, after meeting with the chief, the photo-incident ends up being resolved without burdening me with a conflict of interest in regards to Oto-chan, I would very much be open to proving to myself that Chimera was mistaken regarding his lack of certain characteristics."

Abenanka sighs. It shouldn't have been a surprise that they'd walked into yet another trouble just after the last one, since that seemed to be all they ever did. That probably made a lot of sense, with the steadily growing population of Tokyo, but then she'd always been vocal about the issues of bringing too many people together in once place. Even if it did mean she'd meet people she wouldn't normally, some of which she'd never want to have been without.

Well, wishful thinking aside she starts to pat herself down for something to use which would attract the others... wherever they'd gotten to, as she rounded the corner to find out what was going on in the alley.

Claude looks at Roosevelt in puzzlement. "Roleplay? We have a real cop with handcuffs with us, so I don't think that would be appropriate. Anyway, you bringing up toys reminds me," Claude turns to Homura, with a hint of a judgemental frown, "that when you were making moves on the little birdie, I put our rivalries aside and supported you unconditionally, offering you a chance to give her a gift she really appreciated. Instead of questioning what you could possibly find in her."

The girl's banter is interrupted, as they walk along the street, when they notice Abenanka slipping into an alleyway, with faintly heard growls and screams!

Naturally the girls would hasten their pace, which results in Otoya tripping and falling over Shizuka, who doesn't even stagger. "Oof, sorry ma'am!"

He takes a tad too long to regain his balance, charming his way out of the embarrassment "I must say, you're Hakama is very nice, and soft~" He says, before stepping away (or being shoved).

---

Now, the girls reach the entrance of the alleyway, with Abenanka right ahead.

Then, from behind a rubble dumpster, rises a monstrous silhouette. As it slowly steps towards them, the light shine on it, and the lobster shamon becomes fully visible!

It stops right next to where Abenanka is (or was), and fixes its gaze on the group behind; in fact, it gazes directly into the violinist, and it's violin case, before going feral again!

Shizuka instinctively went to knee Otoya in the nose when he felt onto her, since she was wearing all of her police gear to include her sword and pistol. A lot of rowdy drunks tended to "accidentally" fall onto cops to reach for their weapons. However, he landed on her badly injured thighs, which were still badly injured enough that even normal contact made her wince in pain. She didn't get to smash his face in, but did try to make sure he didn't pickpocket anything on the sly.

Once she got her bearings, she had to remind herself that she was a public servant. Even if this guy was shady and allegedly working with the shamon, she couldn't just beat the tar out of him. Plus Abenanka had arrived and seemed to have something important to say.

"Ugh, stop wiggling around. I know you're up to something..."

Before she could continue, the lobster shamon appeared and it seemed to be glaring at Otoya. The shamon either had a thing for violins or there really was some musician-conspiracy after all. Unfortunately Shizuka was still handcuffed to Otoya, so if the shamon did go after him they were at a big disadvantage.

"What?! It's that lobster thing again? I will try to keep Otoya in one piece if you all can bring it down. It seems to really be interested in his violin."

She said that, but had zero confidence that Otoya could manage a few steps without tripping. If the shamon manage to get close, she fully intended to grab him by his collar in order to to yank him out of the way of any incoming attacks.

Seeing what just happens, Claude decides to try impressing Gozen as a thief-thwarter, and to do so, leans closer to Otoya, attempting to distract him, "Now, Oto-chan, you wouldn't want to cause me to have a conflict of interest, right?"

At that point, Claude tries to filch the keys back from Otoya, but, unfortunately, has no experience being a thief, and so continues speaking before being sure whether the attempt succeeded, raising and opening a hand for Shizuka to see, "You wouldn't want to be caught pickpocketing these keys off Gozen-san, would you?"

An instant after he touches her, he's on the ground, with a bruised nose and socket, which would most probably turn into a black eye, if no care was administered.

Despite that, after a moment of regaining his bearings, brushing his cut lips, he defaults again to that silly smile, "Wow, what a kick, ma'am! I'm glad to have you between me and the criminals of this city!" He says, then struggles to stand up, careful not to support himself on her.

A feel steps forward Claude tries her act, she's surprised by how much ease she has slipping the keys away from his hand: "Ah, if you ask so nicely like this... I can't help but comply!!" His hands holding the keys as firmly as a leaf.

"W-wait, ma'am! Those aren't the actual keys, but the knockoff (actually my front-door keys) I'd plant so Lady Handcuffs wouldn't notice!" He pulls another key from his cuffs and offers it to her meekly, "Here, please take them!" He says, bowing.

---

At the scene with the shamon, he glances at Shizuka, "Uh... If we're going to stand at a safe distance like this... Would you mind if I play a little? Of course, I'd have to do it left-handed, because of the handcuffs, but... Oh well~"

Shizuka was more worried about him taking her gun than the keys, but it was good that Cluade had caught him in the act. Speaking of which, he was definitely putting on some sort of act but it at the moment she just wanted to get the photo issue resolved to appease the SPF commander. Plus, even if he did run away they would probably run into him again in the future since he seemed obsessed with Homura.

"Okay, fine. Play it before the shamon attacks!"

She took door keys and then motioned for Claude to unlock the cuffs so he could play his violin.

A bit surprised by how everything worked out in the past minute, Claude nonetheless does unlock the handcuffs.

For everyone's surprise, the shamon seemed particularly reluctant to engage in violence, though it's presence was still terrifying enough!

Though it couldn't match Otoya's surprise as Shizuka unlocks the handcuffs. "Oh, thanks, ma'am!" He says, eagerly taking the violin from its case, a beautiful violin in red wood, with corners sculpted into roses and the scroll (above the pegs) sculpted into a cherubim, for those who only saw it now.

He unpromptedly starts fiddling the instrument, producing a melody not unlike the one he played before, though now a melancholic undertone is evident; that was, in retrospect, present in his last piece too. It's a very moving piece, even for non-connoisseurs.

As the music goes on, the shamon's advance slows down, until he stops, right in from of them, his growls quieting down.

Then, in flashes of iridescent light, it's form shrinks and morphs, until it's the size of a tall man. Finally, as the flashes stop, they can see the violin buyer from before, with a disheveled appearance. Pressing his head with his hands, he slides down on a wall and sits on the ground, quivering.

As that happens, the music ends in a long note and the pluck of a string. "Phew, nice! We got here in time!" Otoya cheers.

While Claude's innuendo was lost on her as well, this did manage to pierce Homura's thick skull. "Making moves...!?! No, no, no." She waved the implication off lightheartedly. "You're reading too much into it. I just wanted to win something nice for her. Nothing more, nothing less!"

Why do I sound so defensive?

She didn't get to say much more before they caught sight of Abenanka heading into the alleyway.

---

Homura had been prepared to attack the shamon, her eyes glowing faintly with psychic power, but she hesitated at its apparent reluctance to attack. Once Otoya began to play, she simply relaxed and watched how it would play out.

She couldn't have possibly predicted that the shamon was a man. Even more shocking, he lined up with Chimera's sketch. "C-Chimera... No, Detective Roosevelt, you were right all along! This is Gouki...!" The man had disheveled red hair, a powerful build, and...

Homura squinted. Once her eyes fully recovered from the flash of light, she saw the truth. Wait, no, that's just the violin guy from the antique shop.

Was she disappointed? Maybe a little.

She was just as suspicious of Otoya as Chimera was, but she prioritized the violin buyer. She walked over to him and kneeled to meet his eyes. She had no clue what was going on with him, but she saw a person in clear distress, so she couldn't ignore it. Reaching out, she gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You're going to be alright. I promise. We can help you, but to do that, we need to know when this started happening. Do you think you can tell us?" Her voice was warm and comforting.

Of course the others would stumble in at the important bit. At first Abenanka sighed, and then she smiled despite her initial apprehension. In a way this worked, and more than that she had to admit it felt better to be together than having to do all of this alone. Even the wolf kamuy ran in packs. Unlike the others, she seemed to be the only one not all that surprised by the shamon to man transformation though.

Well, it could be because she'd seen the man to shamon transformation initially, but even then she hadn't found it all that surprising. A lot of old scripture from the mountain talked about people becoming animals or the other way around. All people aimed to ascend and become a kamui of the mountain after all.

She crossed her arms, and waited for the initial ruckus to settle down then joined Homura crouched in front of the man. She checked him with practiced fingers, and then from somewhere in her robes she produced a small vial of clear liquid. She held it out to him. "Sake of the mountains. I made it personally, it'll have a kick but its good to purge grime from your flow."

Only after he took it did she realise how close she'd gotten to Homura, and averted her eyes quickly.

"Oh, Kim'Unko-san, you've been here all along? Maybe that means you know more about what's going on . . ."

Claude was a bit surprised and relieved, and ready to ask a small burst of questions, but seeing the scene that was unfolded, prompty went silent and took a step back, suppressing a smile.

With the current shamon situation being resolved with music, Shizuka had more questions than answers. Does this mean all shamon were humans, or did the shamon just have human forms they could take? She let Chimera to most of the interrogating though, since searching Otoya's house was still a priority.

"For someone who talks so much, why didn't you say you had magical violin powers before?"

Claude stares awestruck at the revelation. "This is big. We need to contact the chief. Get in touch, find a spot to meet safely. Discuss the news, and find a way to keep everyone and everything safe. This news may help defend Tokyo, and maybe other places, from further attacks."

Homura noticed how Abenanka looked away from her. Normally she would just dismiss it as shyness, but after what Claude said earlier, she was a bit more aware. She gently nudged Abenanka with her elbow and whispered. "Good job finding the culprit. I should've known you were a step ahead of us." She smiled warmly.

The violinist's tale had challenged everything Homura thought she knew about shamon. She knew they weren't from this world—that was just common knowledge—but she never thought any of them could be sapient, nor did she think they could overcome their nature. Yet here he was, the living proof of it. He could speak and think and create, just as a man could. It frankly disturbed Homura, but she tried not to let it show on her face too much.

"Sacrilege is a bit much," Homura grumbled, her cheeks tinted red from embarrassment. Her gaze followed the man's pointed finger, landing on Otoya. She glared at him before returning her focus to the violinist. "I can't believe he came in handy... Alright, we acknowledge he didn't have anything to do with this. He's still on the hook for other stuff, though."

Homura looked unsure, but she agreed with Claude nonetheless. "Hm... You're right. The chief will know what to do! I'll go find a phone."

She left the alley and tracked down the nearest payphone so she could get in contact with the theater and update them on the situation.

"Ehhhh, so are the other musicians evil-doers or are they just bad enough to drive the shamon crazy?"

Twirling the house-key in her hand, Shizuka thought about what their mission was supposed to be now. She still intended on taking all the illegal photos of Homura and Clause away from Otoya, but it seemed like the only other loose end were the mysterious musicians who played chaotically instead of harmonically.

"And you'll need to come with us, of course. The sciencey type people will want to dissect your brain or something. Maybe we can get some giant musical instruments to fight shamon."

Claude suddenly glances at Gozen disapprovingly. "I don't think that's legal, and certainly not the right thing to do."

"It was a joke! Obviously they won't dissect his whole brain. They will just take a few parts out that he doesn't need."

Shizuka stroked her chin as she looked the bloody-nosed violist over.

When Homura nudged her, Abenanka was distracted. She didn't really notice it, she scowls at the violinists hand and practically snatches her vial back. She puts it aside, not back wherever she stashed it. That didn't mean that when the violinist approached Homura she didn't step slightly in front, protective, and her scowl deepened.

"I don't believe you." She said at last, her head cocked to one side. "I hope you'll all forgive me. She addressed this to the others before continuing. "But why should I?"

She crosses her arms, eyes trained on the floor instead of the man. "It's very convenient that you're a good guy until now, when suddenly your control breaks and then you risk people's lives in a crowded city. Your only precautions were to... to... walk around until you find a violin? Not seclude yourself in a cave or somesuch? Are you really so worried about the danger you pose?"

"How many of the Kim'Unko have died keeping us safe from shamon? How many innocents have lost their homes?"

She shakes her head and turns around. Without another word she stalks off, leaving the group behind. They can deal with this supposed turncoat, since they seem to have cooler heads. What she needed was a break, already. She'd been on the job for all of 3 days and it was nearly too much.

"Kamuy of the owl bless me with your calm, but I think I need to put my head in a bucket of ice water."

Satisfied with her teasing, Shizuka looks at the older man bowing at Abenanka. She wasn't about to kill anyone that looking human, plus he seemed to know a lot about the shamon and whatever this "negative energy" was. It could prove useful to the SPF to learn a little from them both to help detect future attacks.

"I don't know if you want to rely on this guy, but I guess it's been working for a long time. What about those other musicians, do you know anything about them? The ones that play "discordant" music."

Homura was conflicted, but ultimately, she couldn't abide the thought of killing the shamon violinist. He was different from the regular grunts. He was intelligent, so it'd be no different from killing a human in her eyes.

"Commander, vice commander... I'm going with my gut. For now, we'll detain the shamon, so have a transport sent to our current location so he can be picked up. Once he's safely taken away, we'll proceed to Sawatari's place."

As she finished up the call and stepped out of the phone booth, Homura saw Abenanka storming off somewhere. She went after her, catching up quite comfortably due to her longer stride.

"Abenanka-chan! Where are you going? We need to stick together." Homura insisted. She looked back and saw that the others were just out of earshot, so she asked in a slightly more hushed voice.

"Is something going on? I know these past few days haven't been easy."

Abenanka visibly jumps when Homura calls out to her, and she awkwardly turns and gives a completely unnecessary wave. What felt like the third straight ambush of the day catches her completely off guard, and it takes her far too long to get back on track in front of Homura so she can't help but nod without enthusiasm.

Then the second question game, and that made her freeze up a bit more. "Something... something going on? No, well yes; but aside from the revelations too important for me to judge on, I don't think so."

She toys with the end of her braid, the nervous tell so obvious at this point. She wanted to rant at Homura for putting herself in harms way so much, but that would be hypocritical. She wanted to white at Homura about how she missed the mountains and couldn't stand all the people and buildings around but that'd be unfair and not her responsibility. She wanted to finally have some courage to be selfish for once and tell her...

"But that's to say nothing's wrong between us." She added hastily, even though no one asked.

"Nothing's wrong? Are you sure? You nearly had a heart attack when I called for you," Homura teased, playfully slapping Abenanka on the back. "You're far too wound up!"

Inwardly though, she was relieved that she apparently hadn't done anything to make Abenanka upset. At least, as far as she could tell. Whenever she leapt into danger, it simply didn't occur to her that anyone would be worried. Why would they be? If anyone was worrying, it was her own fault for not being strong enough, as far as she was concerned.

However, she wasn't entirely clueless. She was aware that the city grated on Abenanka at times, so she thought of something that might help relieve some stress. "Oh! You know, the cherry blossoms will be blooming soon. Once we both have some free time, we could do some flower viewing at Ueno Park. Just the two of us! What do you think?"

It sounded suspiciously similar to a date, but Homura hesitated to call it such. It would just be an... experiment. That sounded better to her. It was just to confirm that there was nothing unusual between her and Abenanka, and Claude was imagining things that weren't there.

Before ending the call, Mr. Hoshikawa adds: "But Kusakabe-san, we don't have any prison installations in here, much less to hold a shamon captive!"

"Indeed, and bringing one of them in the theater would be too risky, it could snitch it to the others. Don't bring it in here! I'll have spies on its tail for now on." Moriyama adds.

---

After the incident, the girls go up the street, until the wide pathways for cars and carriages end, the girls having to go up a row of stairs. Abenanka feels relief as this place is much mure quiet and peaceful than the crowded streets down there, reaching Otoya's house, located at the end of a narrow streets going uphill.

An old and rusty iron gate flanked by walls, the plaster fallen of in many spots, revealing the bricks inside. A large chain with a padlock holding it shut, but it's so loose that a person could easily squeeze by it anyway.

"Here! Ladies first~" Otoya says, pushing one side of the gate open, giving plenty of space for everyone to go in, before he does so himself.

Inside, they can see a nice yard, with a stone undulating path towards the house, a fountain and a workshop; it's that the yard hasn't seen care for many years, with the overgrown grass and weeds everywhere.

The house is a two store building of brick and mortar; a staircase leads to the balcony on the upper floor.

Weather Shizuka opened the door herself, or gave the keys to Otoya, anyone would have trouble opening the heavy and old door, with rusty and dry hinges.

---

Inside, the floor and ceiling are made of hardwood, as well as most of the neoclassical furniture inside: all coated with a thick layer of dust, while some others are protected from it by a large cloth covering them.

This chaotic entrance gives place to a more spacious living room, with a double-heigth ceiling; a stair leads to a mezzanine where presumably the dining room would be. An old piano can be found on the living room, as well as some violins hanged on the wall, seemingly the only things not overtaken by the dust.

It could be noticed how many of the furniture hold high piles of magazines atop of them, most of them on female fashion... Needless to say, Homura could see many covers with her face on it. Also covered by cloths (though with breaches and tears) some piles of old paintings on canvas could be seem. Finally, some photos of them, the Blossom Maidens, could be find scattered everywhere.

"Phew! Home sweet home! Could I exercise some hospitality and offer you some biscuits? Some tea (maybe with some brandy)?? Heh~?"

Claude mirrors Otoya's action, also pushing open the other half of the gate and gallantly gesturing for others to go in first, and then enters approximately at the same time as Otoya (at least tries to, unless he keeps waiting to ensure he's the last one).

---

Claude grins at Otoya, "I was half-expecting you to offer the rest of the three choices."

Then the photos come into focus, and Claude frowns, but doesn't (yet) say anything about them.

Staying professional, Shizuka enters the dusty home and unceremoniously begins to look around for the photographs. It was dusty and messy, just about what she'd expect from a creepy stalker. However, he clearly cared about his musical instruments and photos of girls. Running a finger on a dusty shelf, she frowned and found a cluster of the photographs he had taken of Homura and the others.

"It's SO dusty, I can see why you prefer photos over real people visitng. You can keep all the magazines, but I'm confiscating all these photos you took without consent. Also, are all these violins magical harmonical things? Do they put shamons to sleep or what?"

After grabbing a good amount of photos, Shizuka peered at the not-so-dusty instruments and tried plucking a few strings.

"Definitely haunted, Detective. Old houses like this become infested with the 'many eyes' , I don't know if they have those where you are from."

Shizuka showed Chimera the worn down shoji panels within the house. Most were just dusty and worn down, but there were enough holes in the parchment to be noticeable.

"Mokumokuren are the eyes of ghost's that live in damaged walls. If you sleep in a room full of them, they'll try to rip out your eyes while you sleep."

Claude's face goes through a series of changes expressing surprise, curiosity, and admiration, or at least a general strong impression, albeit without turning to face the princess.

Wow, this is wilder than I expected . . .

"Just... just the two of us!?" Abenanka's face turned an impressive shade of red and she averted her gaze even more. Her heart practically beat a mile a minute at the idea of it, and she wondered what blessing she'd recieved for such luck. Not that... not that it meant anything, it was just two old friends taking a moment together... right?

"I'd love nothing more." She whispered before she took a deep breath and nodded. "Of course, that would be wonderful Homura-san."

---

The conversation and discoveries in the house are lost on Abenanka, who lagged behind in the garden outside. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw it, some of her fatigue melting away. This place reminded her of home, overgrown and left to be as wild as it should be. She glanced askance at their host, but when he didn't seem to notice she took the assumption upon herself.

Before long she'd waded into the long grass, producing a small knife from one of her hidden pouches in her uniform. With catlike grace not usually seen from her she pounced and descended into the fronds, gathering cuttings, bugs and all manner of other things to restock her ingredients. As she went, anyone who listened could hear her murmuring prayers to the Kamuy of the mountains.

"Are you telling us to just let him roam...?" Homura asked incredulously. That sounded dangerous, but she couldn't deny their points either. She'd try to trust their judgment for now. "Fine, though I don't think he intends to 'snitch.'"

---

"Really? Great!" Homura beamed. "I'll start prepping as soon as possible. If you have more of that mountain sake, I suggest you bring it along. Just don't tell Gozen-san." She winked.

"Anyways, we should get back to the others." She turned to walk off. Her heart was pounding, more than it did when she piloted Sunrise Flare. Apparently, this ranked above mortal combat on her stress meter.

She told the violinist that he was free to go, but she made sure to inquire about where they could find him later if necessary.

---

Hmm... This place is barely maintained. He lives like this? Homura thought as they approached Otoya's house.

As Homura expected, it wasn't much better inside either. As she entered, the dust in the air caused her to sneeze. It seemed like Otoya was the type of man to throw himself into his passions, at the cost of neglecting everything else. As a passionate person herself, she could respect that... to an extent.

She perked up at the offer of refreshments. After all, she was still pretty hungry. "I'll take you up on that!"

The magazines quickly drew her eye. When she started to go through them, she was surprised to find Otoya's collection was quite comprehensive. "I guess you weren't lying, Sawatari-kun. You really DO have all my starring issues.~" She sounded quite pleased.

As she paged through a publication from a few months ago, she looked out a nearby window and saw Abenanka in the overgrown grass. The sight made her smile warmly, but she put her focus back on the matter at hand. She closed the magazine in her hands and placed it down.

"Tell me, why were you taking photos of us in the first place?" She asked Otoya. "What did you plan on doing with the pictures?"

Upon Otoya's request, Shizuka stops messing around with his violins.

"Hmm, it's sucks someone messes with your things without permission, huh? Well the petalframes are like our violins, and we'll lose them if you keep taking sneaky photos.Even though mine can't fly like Homura's."

Finishing up, Shizuka had a rather large stack of photographs. There were... way too many of them, most were of Claude and Homura as well. Even though he seemed mild at the moment, Shizuka still wasn't too fond of Otoya. Although she didn't think he was some evil spy any more, he had been acting like a stalker. Hopefully it was just a phase and he'd avoid committing any criminal acts in the future.

"Okay, I'm all set to head back to base. Unless you all want to spend the night here or something."

Claude watches Otoya in puzzlement at the informed foreigner comment. Did that fly over his head, or is he trying to disengage after figuring it out? Anyway, phone!

"Thank you. I will return shortly," says the swashbuckler, bows, and walks towards the mezzanine, finding the phone and placing a call to the Imperial Café-Théâtre.

"Hello, I'm calling to tell that that we're at Sawatari Otoya-san's residence. Gozen-san asked him to show interesting photographs and eventually insisted on, err, borrowing them; I'm not sure if he has any more, but probably not. I think she's ready to invite him to our place to meet you, if that's still something you're looking forward to. But if you're not in the mood, please say so and we'll do whatever's more appropriate.

Oh, also, it would be good to know, given what we've told you about him, do you still treat him with, err, suspicion? Or are things more relaxed now? Asking to know whether I should keep a bit of a distance.

If you're unsure of the answers, please pass this message along to the others in the family, ones that can make the decision, and pass back to me."

Hopefully those at the base can assess the situation based on what we found and reported, and get back to me with a confirmation or update of the plans and status.

"I'm ready to head back as well. The biscuits are nice, but it's far too dusty for my liking. Ah... Ah-choo!" Homura sneezed.

"We still need to bring you back with us, just so you know," she told Otoya. "Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to you if you cooperate."

Shizuka was happy that everything worked out in the end, even Otoya had an existential crisis and had crumpled onto the floor. She was also glad there wasn't another fight because she had enough injuries for one day. That being said, she still intended on patrolling her normal police route overnight.

"Start by cleaning the training dojo, please!"

She was already wearing her gear, so just needed needed to pack some rice balls before heading back out to the city. The night after shamon attacks were usually quiet, but Shizuka felt like it was important that the public knew the police were still doing their jobs. The only ones up to no good were probably the Yakuza who kept trying to recruit her to fight in their secret underground tournaments. While rummaging around the the cafe, she started making a few onigiri while she sighing to herself.

"You beat up a Yakuza one time and they never leave you alone..."

Sakhalin? Why would the commander even consider placing someone with classified knowledge anywhere near the enemy territory? Maybe a sign that the threat was never a serious one.

---

Once the underlings were dismissed, Claude waves to Otoya goodbye. "Oh well, this could've gone better for you, but it also could've gone much worse. See you around when our schedules align."

As the pilots dispersed, Claude walked through the corridors in the same direction as Abenanka until there was nobody else around.

"Seems like at the rate things are going, you're likely to get lucky sooner than me: while you were in Oto-chan's garden, I saw Kusakabe-san focus her colourful eyes on you through the window. Meanwhile, Oto-chan is a bit dense and in too much hot water, and there are even odds that I misjudged Hoshikawa-san early on."

Abenanka stops short, turning to Claude with a stern look. "Getting lucky? That's a bit vulgar, isn't it?"

"Assuming I knew what you were referring to, which is a preposterous thing to say," She ignores the dance her heart did when Homura mentioned the blossom viewing invite. "I think you could be more respectful. Although I'm sure that it could be a cultural misunderstanding."

She sighs and massages the bridge of her nose. "But maybe I'm being too harsh. Putting other thoughts aside, I hadn't realised you thought of Sawatari-san so highly?"

Claude stoops just a little bit to appear less imposing and more apologetic. "I beg your pardon. Perhaps I do not know the proper phrase to use. What would be a better wording? While the country's international influence means people in my land study the local language and other facts, it is my first proper visit here.

The typical word of mouth was that local customs of discussing matters of attraction are less comstockery than in Europe or the Americas. Was I misled? I do understand that distortion of cultural topics in the retelling can lead to significant misunderstandings down the line, but I'm not sure how bad the case is.

As for our unwilling guest, I wouldn't call it a very high opinion. He's got a pretty face and is somewhat upfront about his sympathies, which is something I found scarce lately; despite that, I am fully aware that he's irresponsible and disorganised, and I do not expect any potential relationship to include a meaningful friendship.

I said as much to Kusakabe-san when she expressed her incredulity at my attitude," the foreigner frowns for a split second. "I have to admit, I'm still annoyed at how that inquiry went. As soon as I saw the takoyaki moment at the fair, I supported her efforts unconditionally, despite our tense history and despite being challenged by her in that very minute, so I was just hoping for more reciprocal solidarity in such matters."

Claude sighs. "I apologise for venting. Please don't misinterpret my words as discouragement."

It seemed the Blossom Maidens had some time to themselves. Homura thought this would be a good opportunity to go flower viewing with Abenanka, but she had something to do first. When the others left the commander's room, Homura stayed behind to give her report on the Nihombashi incident.

After she recounted the events following the appearance of the shamon to the best of her ability, she took a breath. "Commander Moriyama. I have something to admit about the shamon attack in Nihombashi. I... I caused it," Homura admitted. "There was a 'cursed' violin in some antique shop. The Black Rose, I believe it's called. I didn't believe it was cursed, and as we found out later from the violinist shamon, it really wasn't cursed, but that hardly matters. I played it, uh, poorly, and the sound agitated him, causing the whole attack. According to him, the negative energy from his transformation and emotional state summoned the other shamon to the scene."

Homura frowned. "I showed poor judgment, and it ended up causing a lot of trouble. I'm sorry. Whatever punishment you have in mind, I'll bear it."

"No, no, it's fine." Abenanka gives Claude an awkward smile. "I'm just, hmm, well I'm not really sure about the wording."

She crosses her arms over her stomach, in an action that could only be described as protective. "I suppose it would depend what your end goal is, between romance or relations-"

She realises what she's said and blushes furiously. "Not that- uh, not that I'm thinking about either, right now! There's far too much going on between work and my other duties."

She continues to babble, flustered, while her voice gets steadily quieter, until she stops talking entirely and instead stares at the floor.

"My goal was mostly finding a chance to decompress after days of intense fighting and scarce R&R. Certainly not romance," Claude tries to maintain a playful or at least polite smile, but someone more sensitive could perhaps notice a sign of resigned exasperation. The accumulated weariness after years of dealing with the same misunderstandings over and over again. But no enmity, no anger, no unspoken accusation.

"But if you're the type who prefers not to deal with either while under pressure, should I perhaps discreetly tell Kusakabe-san to hold her horsies the next time I see her expressing interest like that?

And I guess if you're too overloaded by everything, I should also leave to take my rest and let you take yours, instead of taking up more of your time by idle chatter."

Suzumiya's powerful hug did in fact aggravate Shizuka's existing rib injury, but she didn't want to hurt the older girl's feelings so she stiffed a yelp of pain. Instead, a few tears streamed down Shizuka's cheek and she grit her teeth and returned the hug, spinning Suzumiya around.

"Oww--er-Wow, a special Suzu bento?! You're the best! No one made me food in... forever! It's making me tear up!"

With her dinner upgraded from rice balls, Shizuka headed out to patrol Tokyo with a little more skip in her step.

Homura sat down and accepted the drink that Hoshikawa offered. Though, she did look over her shoulder before sipping, as if Shizuka might spontaneously materialize behind her and confiscate it.

She let her shoulders relax when it was clear the commander wasn't going to punish her. She'd been fully prepared for a reprimand, but it wasn't as if she was looking forward to it.

Once Moriyama finished: "Well, until that day comes, I swear I'll do my best as the temporary captain!" Homura declared passionately. Truth be told, the way the commander described the role of captain really appealed to her, but she couldn't claim to be cool-headed, responsible, or well-trained. By those metrics, she wasn't captain material, which frustrated her. She hid it quite well though. She finished off the rest of her drink in one go and rose from her seat.

Once dismissed, she bowed her head and left.

Chewing slowly, Shizuka noticed a fight was brewing between some random men. It was nothing out of the ordinary, except one of them mentioned something about being a bounty hunter. She smiled to herself, since it was something that would have tickled Chimera or Claude's sense of dramatics. Still, if she didn't stop the fight now she'd have to wait for them all to tire themselves out. Looking down, she regretfully tore herself away from her special Suzu bento and left the cafe to yell at the men.

"Heeeey~ If you're gonna have a battle to the death, don't scream about it right outside of a cafe."

Shizuka approached them from the side, right in the minddle the two sides. She kept one hand on the pommel of her sword, and the her other hand close to the gun tucked in her hakama (better safe than sorry!). Since the one named Keisuke seemed the most worked up, she focused her attention on him to make sure he didn't try anything violent.

"I certainly don't think you're due to ask Kusakabe-san anything regards to me, or in fact anyone else apart from yourself." Abenanka's words are a coverup for the jolt of... fear? Concern? Something along those lines at Claude's suggestion. Still she attempts to maintain a polite, if stern, standing point as the blush creeps up her neck.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think any of us know each other, in close confines, well enough to make that kind of judgement." Abenanka nods, satisfied she's said her piece. "Unless you have anything to add, I would like to organise my harvest from Sawatari-san's garden."

If Claude has nothing more to say, Abenanka will give her a polite bow and head back to her room. She will gladly accept Homura's viewing invitation if she asks, though!

Out of polished reflex, Claude bows, and uttters the traditional "Please go and come back." to maintain face. And only once Abenanka departed, sighs.

How complicated. Can't take a step closer, can't take a step away.

Homura stopped by Abenanka's room and knocked thrice. When the door opened, she was standing there in a bright, flower-patterned yukata, made of lightweight, flowing silk. The vivid floral pattern popped against the pale cream fabric. Her wine-colored hair was styled in a loose bun held together by a pair of chopsticks. Teardrop earrings dangled from her earlobes and caught the light slightly. She was holding a large, bamboo-woven picnic basket.

"Abenanka-chan! I was wondering if you wanted to go see the cherry blossoms today. A little soon, I know, but it's a really good day!" She smiled.

Shizuka knew of Keisuke Nagawa from reputation only, but was surprised to run into him.

"If you're a bounty hunter then you should know you're suppose to supply the court order or at least a wanted poster when you catch someone. You can't just jump random people in the middle of the night..."

Looking over the captured man, she didn't find any form of identification in his fancy suit. He did have some cash and a knife, though. There was also a flask embossed with "I. Yagazaki" in gold lettering, which probably meant he was Itadori Yagazaki. Lifting the guy up to his feet with a grunt, Shizuka was reminded of why she didn't like vigilantes. They go around causing more work for police, and then they act like they are doing some grand gesture.

"I have to bring this guy to a hospital now since I can't confirm who he is. But thank you, Nagawa-san, for your help. "

Having acquired her target, Chimera sweeps aside the curtains boldly. "Shamon liberated by song, lay down your tools. I have come to bargain! In exchange for the masterpiece instrument which you covet, grant onto me the knowledge of techniques which lie outsides the bounds of humanity's limits!" With Chimera now aware that the violin's not actually a demon summoning tool, it's an easy trade for her to make.

Oh no...

Of course there were a quite a lot of people. Coming to see the cherry blossoms was hardly a unique choice of outing. She looked over at Abenanka sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting it to be so packed... But I'm sure we can find a good spot!" Homura promised.

She scanned the area, then once she noticed a suitable spot, she gently took Abenanka's wrist and led her. They reached a shaded, grassy spot near the Shinobazu Pond, a good distance away from most of the other people. Lotus flowers floated along the pond's shimmering surface, ranging from vibrant pinks to pristine whites. Homura pulled out a large blanket and laid it out on the grass.

Homura took a seat and set her picnic basket down before patting the spot next to her.

"Are you hungry? Kuroda-san helped me with the food. He's so nice!" She pulled a rice ball out of the basket and offered it, only to realize it was misshapen. That was one of the rice balls she'd made. Cheeks flushing, she placed it back in the basket and switched it for a perfectly triangular one.

Shizuka watched Keisuke saunter away, his somewhat fancy way of talking leaving her with a somewhat confused look on her face. However, with her lunch break interrupted, she pulled the captured yakuza up to his feet so she could get him patched up (and then arrested).

...

After a few days she found herself squinting at glass beaker as Mister Hoshikawa poured hot water over coffee grounds. She understood the intent behind it, but she still preferred to bolt her food as fast as possible without worrying too much. Although it did smell nice and made her feel like one of the scientist eggheads that worked on the petalframes downstairs.

"Eeeeh, so this is the true form of the drink that gives Europeans their power?"

Then, Otoya showed up at the right moment before Shizuka could hear about Hoshikawa slipping booze into his coffee. The small music box he created was masterfully made, and the music tone was very soothing. Perhaps it would make for a good decoration in her room. It would be the first decoration she had aside from plants, actually.

"Oh, this is really well made! I have a hard time believing you made it, but I also don't think you could have stolen it. Thank you very much, I'll put it on my desk!"

Pleased with the gift, Shizuka decided to forgive him a little bit. With the coffee aroma and pleasant music in the room, she could feel the power of the ARTS flowing through the cafe. She stewed in it for a while before going stir-crazy. She hadn't been able to train in some time due to her injury and was itching to inflict some bodily harm.

"ARGH, why I am being domesticated?! Is the dojo fixed yet? Sister Juujisan said no fighting, but sparring doesn't count as a fight. Right?!"

She turned to the two men for validation in her quest for violence before starting to untie her apron. With a glint in her eye, Shizuka began to prowl around for someone who wanted to do some training.

Claude was sitting in an armchair of one of the theatre's drawing rooms, with the baldric and blade taken off and put carefully within an arm's reach against a nearby table, and reading a book with esoteric symbols on the cover.

The valet entered the room with a tray containing a tea set, and put it on the nearby table.

"Thank you, Dominique," said the noble, without looking away from the book, after which the valet set in a more modest-looking chair in the corner of the room and began reading a foreign gazette, likely one obtained from the french embassy.

"Not at all." Aebnanka replied, somewhat absentmindedly as she kept her attention on the breeze and the trees. "I appreciate the opportunity-"

She stopped talking abruptly as Homura took her wrist, her eyes snapping to Homura's hand and then nervously lifting to Homura's face. Her companion had already set off though and so she didn't get a hint of Homura's expression. Not that it would've helped, Abenanka's mind had gone temporarily blank.

She let herself be guided to the spot, and sat next to Homura before she returned to her senses. The situation felt unnatural, like it was happening to someone else, and it caused a strange anxiety to flair in her stomach. She pushed the feeling down, trying not to let it show, but couldn't bring herself to smile natural. Instead she hid it by talking.

"I didn't know you cooked!" She accepted the rice ball, the second one although the first seemed perfectly reasonable to her, "We should try cooking together some time..."

The imposter emotion struck again and she trailed off. She blushed. "Ah, but I'm not sure my cooking would be up to the palette of a refined lady such as yourself, Kusakabe-san."

Chimera, ever eager to learn anything that she considers "cool", considers this training with Abenanka to be of utmost importance. Magic! The catch-all for that which defies explanation. Fantasies of showing off her magical prowess fly through Chimera's mind as she skips towards the promised meeting location. Rather, she's already going through the process of figuring out what her personal brand of mystic arts could be. Perhaps she could wield the power of the storm! Or shadows! Or reality itself! Dimensional Slash X!

Needless to say, Chimera is quite excited.

Having sneakily followed Dominique, Shizuka poked her head into the drawing room that she was previously unaware even existed in the cafe. Still it had been a week since she had any real physical training, so desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Helloooo? Ack, Claude-san, you're here as well? I hope I'm not interrupting your secret romance time."

After noticing they were just drinking tea and reading, Shizuka continued.

"If you have time to read, then we should spar! I was thinking that there might be more human-looking shamon out there, so we should prepare for human-sized enemies as well."

The swashbuckler abruptly stands up and puts the book gently onto the table, staring at Gozen puzzled. ". . . secret . . . romance . . . time? Romance is not my thing. And whatever other affections I may have are not the sort I'd be inclined to make into a significant secret. Then again, the recent week has been so deprived of opportunities," what with Otoya constantly busy, Rika turning out to not to be viewing me as I thought, and everyone at the city events acting so formal and standoffish, "that I am thinking even something like a rehearsal of the theatrical role of Mr. Pinch that you suggested for me would count for something."

Claude glances at the sheathed sabre placed against the table.

"As for the sparring suggestion, that would be a worthwhile pastime. Should I perhaps take on a binding for an arm and a leg to make the conditions of the two of us more similar?" Claude gestures vaguely at Shizuka, trying to indicate the injuries.

Shizuka stepped into the room with a wooden bokken already in her hand. It seemed she was willing to spar right this very second, but the expensive looking chairs and tea set made her think otherwise.

"Only if you want to. It's just practice, not a duel to the death! But the dojo is still burnt, so maybe the theater would be a good spot?"

The theater did have mats and props that no one would mind getting broken. Well, the theater crew might get mad but perhaps they would be let off the hook if they claim is was for practicing the play.

"Just don't ACTUALLY stab me in the ribs. Otherwise it'll be great exercise that'll help you loosen up!"

Claude nods. "I see. A light-contact bout it is then. And I think the currently-empty stage should be good enough if we stipulate that stepping outside an area marked safe - safely away from the props and decorations - would constitute a forfeiture of a round, thus greatly limiting potential for collateral damage.

And I can't say I see things your way regarding any loosening up, but I do look forward to an opportunity to engage more with bokkenjutsu as your local style, as I had more encounters with combat styles of my own locale."

"Eh? Oh come on, I'm not a refined lady! Where exactly did you get that idea?" Homura laughed. "Sure, I've gotten to eat fancy food, but that doesn't mean I'm picky. I'll eat any good food that's put in front of me."

"If anything, I'm not sure my cooking would be up to your palate. If it's much more complicated than curry, I usually end up screwing it up," she admitted. She reached into the basket and pulled out the misshapen rice ball she'd put away. She was embarrassed about it, but she'd rather be honest than let Abenanka believe she was too good for anything.

"See? I can't even get rice balls right! The perfect ones are Kuroda-san's. What refined lady can't make a good rice ball?" Homura laughed. She took a bite of her rice ball. It was filled with grilled salmon that was dashed with soy sauce.