Search for Kyūi Arc: The Hunt Begins

Their footsteps could be hearing echoing throughout the deserted hall as they walked. Anton, along with Achilina, had apparently arrived at their destination, and were navigating through a hall that twisted and turned, and when they approached a fork in the road, took the left route.

"When did he have the time to construct this?" The girl said irritably. "I hate all this walking. He could have just installed a lift that moved from place to place and required a password or DNA sampling. It would have been so much easier!" She whined.

Anton placed a hand on his forehead, frowning. "He's never been known for taking the simple way out of anything. Besides, the exercise can't hurt you." As they approached a titanium door, Anton placed his hand to it.

"Recognized. Anton Jaeger, you are permitted to enter." A cool, female voice sounded throughout the hallway. Anton and Achilina simply stepped through the door as if it didn't exist and continued walking into a brightly lit room. On first sight, it looked comfortable. A few armchairs, several bookshelves, it looked more like a scholar's study than a hideout.

"Is he here?" Achilina asked, a note of impatience in her voice.

"Of course I'm here. Why wouldn't I be?"

From one of the bookshelves, a man stepped out from one of the bookshelf alleys, an open book currently held by the spine in his hand. His eyes jerked up from it, half-lidding. His eyebrows raised, and he gave a smile with his teeth showing. "Hiya, fellas...." He greeted, a smooth tone filling every word. "I take it the big brawl's over and done with?"

Achilina and Anton turned their attention to where he was, Achilina still looked irritated. "Yes." Anton said sourly. "I owe you cash by the way. Your kid sister was the one who finished him off."

"I told you before, Anton...." The man answered, readily holding out one of his hands for his winnings. The other one was still holding his book. "Betting anything against me is just going to be your economic suicide."

Anton took out a bag that was jingling with coins and threw it at Taiki, still with a sour look on his face. "On a different note, I expect you'll be having some company soon Taiki."

"Hm?" As Taiki caught the back, his ears perked up at the words. "Who?"

"Your daughter, Aoi I believe her name was? Your step-mother, and, apparently your wife." Anton counted them off on his fingers. "Your father was surprisingly adamant about not associating with you at all, and mentioned someone called Tereya, whoever that may be."

"I figured...." With that, Taiki closed the book and let out a small sigh. "Though, I can't say I'm surprised to see only a few of the family willing to come after me. But I guess they've finally accepted the fact that I just don't want to be associated with them anymore. The ones who are still trying to find me as well as her are just wasting their precious time."

Achilina chuckled. "At least things should get fun from here on out. It's been boring cooped up and doing nothing." With her excitement, Anton and Taiki could both feel her spiritual pressure beginning to rise.

"Don't get too excited, Achilina." Anton said cooly. "They'll be hard pressed to find this place, weil, it's kept under concealment even I have to admit would be difficult for myself to break. A few children and a Hollow won't be breaking in anytime soon."

That news immediately shot down the young girls good mood.

"I wouldn't get too relaxed...." Taiki commented, walking over towards the nearest bookshelf. He slid the book within its boundaries, apparently having had his fill of literature for the time being. "My family has an awfully annoying way of breaking boundaries and beating the odds when the time comes for it. One moment, the enemy thinks they're too relaxed, and the next moment, they're right on top of you! It kinda drives me mad just thinking about it...."

"Have you inherited any of that?" Achilina asked, her tone rather rude.

"'Course...." The man answered. "How else do you think I got so far? For people like that, some things just fall right into place like a automatic puzzle. I'm just one of the few who's willing to take advantage."

"So," Anton began, before Achilina could say anything else. "Their objective is the girl. What do you intend to do? Move her?"

"It all intends on how they get her." Taiki responded, folding his arms across his chest. "If anything, I could just have her stay and give them a big surprise. They've probably thought that I've corrupted her against her will, forced her to stay by my side."

Achilina chuckled darkly but said nothing more. Anton was smiling, but it was unknown if the smile reached the eyes hidden behind the shades.

Equipment
Aoi slid out of bed. It was well into the morning, though the sun was not yet shining over the Yūrei Ōkoku. Clouds were covering the area however, and the sky was suiting Aoi's mood. She walked into the bathroom, and began to brush her teeth. She poured water into her cup, gargled, and spat it out. She sighed and turned on the hot water in the shower. Might as well take one before setting out. She walked out of the bathroom, stripping out of her outfit and putting on a robe. Grabbing a rag, she stepped into the shower, closing the curtain. After a moment, she began singing, the song too fast to actually hear the lyrics, but it's tone was mournful, and it carried downstairs where Miharu, Megami, and Adela were sitting. The men of the house were apparently still asleep.

Megami was lying on the couch, hands folded across her stomach. Her ears were the first to pick up the song, eyes closing as she listened for a moment. Then, unconsciously, she began to hum to it, knowing the song from heart due to having heard it before.

Miharu's attention turned to the upstairs shower. "She's singing?" She asked, not paying attention to the obvious. "Who sings in the shower?"

"Don't be rude, Mi-chan...." Megami scolded gently, eyes still closed.

"I know, I know." Miharu said, sighing. "But, what is she going to do if she doesn't find Kyuui? What will she do if she finds Kyuui and Kyuui wants to stay with Taiki?"

"Miharu....Taiki stabbed Kyuui through the back in front of us. There's no reason she would possibly stay with him." Megami answered, her voice a bit incredulous at Miharu's words.

"I'm just saying it's a possibility." Miharu said, shrugging. "Maybe she will. Through mind control or of her own free will, it's a possibility. I hope Aoi doesn't react the wrong way if that happens..."

"...."

Noticing her mother's icy silence, Miharu ceased conversation with her, turning her attention to her sister-in-law. "Adela, what do you think about what I was saying?"

Adela took a sip of what seemed to be water, but it was glowing slightly. She frowned. "Aoi..." She took another sip, apparently choosing her words with care. "Doesn't deal with rejection well. Or when things do not go her way. She grew up rather spoiled, Taiki, Ahatake, Tereya, and myself generally giving the children anything they needed, training them to make sure they became strong. The last time Kyuui rejected Aoi, she just stopped."

"Stopped?" Miharu asked curiously.

"She became similar to a doll." Adela explained. "She just sat there, barely moving. We had to move her from room to room, put her in bed and things like that."

Immediately, this caused Megami's head to snap towards Adela, an expression of alarm. "You.... can't be serious....!" She protested. "That's just not.... normal! I mean, sure, depression does mean isolation from others, but you can't seriously be saying she willingly turned herself into a vegetable?!"

"I know it's not normal, but she did do it." Adela replied sadly. "Completely shut herself down of her own will. It was disturbing to see actually."

Immediately, Megami buried her face into the arm of the couch, forearms resting in front of her. "Just....great...." She muttered, clearly frustrated. "Two of our own family are potentially traitors and one of them could be possibly planning on committing suicide if things don't happen the way they want it to. Is there any way that we could be able to talk her out of it?"

"Not to my knowledge." Adela replied. "She's bent on getting Kyūi back. She's in love with her, and people do strange things when they're in love..." She trailed off.

Miharu frowned. "I have a real bad feeling about this..."

"I have a worse feeling...." Megami added regretfully.

Due to their discussion, they hadn't noticed the singing and the running water had stopped. Aoi must be out of the shower.

"Is it wise, now, to let her go on this search to find Kyūi?" Miharu asked, sounding worried.

"I doubt there's much we can do to stop her." Adela replied. "I'm going along, since I've been searching for Taiki for awhile. Unfortunately, he has a 'kill on sight' policy with me during times like this. He never has listened to me."

"Why not? You're his wife, aren't you...?"