Light rain fell upon Osaka's central city. This gloomy atmosphere wouldn't stop the people from enjoying the delicacies Osaka presented. The food smelled great, unfortunately the thoughts of passing people were on something greater.

"That's rare to see a samurai!"

"Samurai? No, that's one of the musketeers from France."

"So cool! It's like I'm in Britannia!"

Rine dropped a sweat hearing their comments about Julius riding his horse throughout Osaka. The rabbit musketeer didn't have any issues about their comments, whether good or bad. He was solely focused on his objective of patrolling the streets. It was overkill for such a simple mission. The only benefit Rine could think of was Julius looking quite intimidating atop a steed. The longsword by his side was real, this was not mere cosplay. "Look ahead, Tangerine."

"R-right!" Rine straightened his stature. He then caught a glimpse of Yamiko in the distance and pointed ahead. They both approached the woman who was in an in depth discussion with a brown hair girl wearing a dark brown coat with loose belts over a black sleeveless turtleneck sweater and shorts.

The girl's eyes were hidden beneath her brown cap while she wrote down information in a notebook. When the two musketeers grew near, she closed her notebook and shot them with an annoyed glare. "Hello musketeers of the detective agency."

Yamiko waved silently. "Hello…"

"Glad we ran into you. We had a lot of questions regarding Elite." Julius said.

"Of course you're on that case as well." the brown haired girl sighed "Might as well work together just this once since Elite has a lot more mysteries than what's on the surface."

"Can you elaborate more, uh..."

"Shiki Holmes." Shiki said bluntly. "I was exchanging information with Clotaire here. Elite seems to be disguising himself as the parents of children and capturing them to sell off in the black market."

Rine covered his mouth disgusted by the story, but that wasn't everything. Shiki continued, "We suspected him of being hired by Soap to capture Oscar. I have a clue of where their exchanges are held but as if I would tell you that."

Julius thought to himself. Hyde mentioned the police station but that part of the investigation was still very vague and unlikely apart of Elite's plans. Shiki turned around, finished with their brief exchange of information. She had her own investigations she had to conduct.

Rine was confused as to why she withheld information from them as if this was a game. They were both on the case and needed all the help they could get.

Yamiko poked her cheek "Holmes is an investigator not affiliated with us. Her organization...Noble Third, they were hired by… the government..."

"What? Why would the government hire another agency when they can hire us." Rine questioned.

"They are private investigators… with a similar reputation." Yamiko motioned for them to follow her "We don't have time to waste. Elite's influence is somewhere in this city."

They followed Yamiko around the city. Their trip seemed more like a tour of the city than looking for Elite. When asking people for any suspicious activity, none had anything to say. It was strange given how widespread Soap's exploits were. Without any more leads, Julius and Rine bid farewell and began returning back to Kashiwara while Yamiko entered a small restaurant to eat her final meal.

That's when Hyde, Mikael and Ibuki entered. Both parties didn't even glance at each other, instead, taking a table far away from each other. Hyde looked at the window's faint reflection of the room and saw Yamiko approached by a waiter first.

"Both Yamikos disappeared yesterday. How are you certain this one is fake?" Mikael questioned.

Hyde furrowed his brow "Didn't you see the way she was moving while we were following? She was trying to lose Julius and Rine in the crowd of people. The only reason she couldn't was because Julius was on his horse so he had a better view."

Ibuki looked at the window's reflection with sharp yellow eyes that allowed her to perceive things clearly. She saw Yamiko's blue eyes before the woman turned her head. "There's no doubt…"

"Then that means…" Mikael moved his eyes to scan the room. He had taken note of the people Yamiko asked about Soap. All of them said the same thing about not being interested in the news. "Yamiko specifically went to those people as well. They might be assistants in her human trafficking scheme."

Hyde placed his hands on the table when the waitress came around. It was time to put their plan into action.

"Hello hello hello. What may I start you off with today? Drinks..? Appetizers? Or do you already know what meal you want." She asked.

"So this is the fabled sex dungeon I've heard of-"

In the corner of his eye flashed a glint of steel, a knife raised but Hyde couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was heading because it had already struck him. The sharp end dug into his hand and blood squirted upwards covering the blade in his blood. Warmth enveloped his hand until the pain kicked in a few seconds after. His other hand clenched, he grit his teeth trying everything to not scream out in pain with his hand pinned to the table as if the food being served was his hand. The waitress kept her hand on top of the knife "I think you should leave."

Hyde saw Yamiko be taken away by the waiter. He needed to do something but the overwhelming pain was distracting him, and the waitress could see it. She twisted the knife slightly making Hyde react by groaning loudly. Fortunately for them, Yamiko entered the restaurant and approached their table.

Ibuki and Mikael both stood up and placed their hand on the handle of their wakizashi.

"Yamiko, thank goodness you came. Help us defeat this lady." Mikael said.

Yamiko analyzed the situation and shook her head letting out a sigh. "Tell Midare… I won't be coming back."

"W-what?!" Mikael exclaimed.

"Kill...them." Yamiko said quietly as she began to walk away. The waitress ripped the knife out of Hyde's hand which caused the boy to fall over out of his seat to hold the bleeding wound. Just like last time their bodies grew heavy and they fell to the ground unable to move.

"N-not again..!" Ibuki struggled to even get off her knees. Mikael didn't have the strength to push himself up "I-is this...Yamiko's power?"

The waitress kicked Hyde in the stomach. "Midare is stupid for hiring a bunch of children. You're not old enough to be called a detective. How about next time, you leave this to the adults."

So this was the end. Foolishly falling into the enemy's hand and betrayal. This was supposed to be awesome and eventful like in a manga. Hyde was stupid to believe the real world could ever be so carefree. He felt like crying…

Then a body flew past them. Crashing and breaking the wooden tables behind. Yamiko cursed under her breath seeing her double. This confused the three novice detectives until Yamiko took out her contacts revealing her real purple eyes. The weight of magic lifted and the three quickly got back to their feet.

"Wait what?! I thought--"

"I disguised myself as Elite disguising himself as me." Yamiko interrupted the waitress. "He always got the color of my eyes wrong… so I used that against you."

"Then why were you trying to evade us?" Hyde questioned.

Yamiko winked, "A detective... never reveals their tricks. Noble Third gave me a list of suspects connected to Elite's human trafficking circle. I worked with Midare to pin down the suspects… and followed the chain of command up to here."

Ibuki rubbed her chin. "It would've been difficult if we got in her way. That's why she was trying to lose us back then…"

Hyde kneeled down to touch his wakizashi "You were trying to do this alone…"

Yamiko nodded at his confirmation. It seemed like they were given odd jobs to stay out of the way. Were they just children hired to be nothing but slaves to Midare's backlog of work? Elite is involved in human trafficking for god sake! The other criminals they'll have to catch in the future might be much worse. They were lucky to have someone outwardly composed like Elite.

Hyde tightened his grip on his wakizashi, blood on the handle of the weapon and determination on the blade.

Elite rubbed his hair changing it back to black then grabbed the edge of the table. "Marve, leave these guys to me..!" He threw the table at them, forcing them to duck under.

Marve ran towards the door. "You're going to fight them by yourself? Can you manage that?"

"They're a couple of magicless, talentless kids. Yamiko is the only threat." Elite gathered wind in his hand, a green ball spiraling in his palm. "Blast!" He tossed it forward.

Hyde lifted his head and outstretched his hand. Now was the moment, he couldn't fail now. He shouted "Cel!" while firing a thin bolt of lightning to strike the bullet of wind, absorbing the spell before vanishing into yellow particles. Hyde was in awe of the spectacle then shook his head and got back to the battle.

Elite quickly drew a dagger and clashed blades with Hyde. Their struggle for dominance was equal in strength.

"Tch! Thunder magic huh? You're still nothing but a novice." Elite taunted. Hyde didn't have a chance to reply as Elite struck his stomach with his fist that sent him rolling back into a chair that broke on impact.

"Yamiko-"

"Trust in yourself... to defeat the enemy." Yamiko closed her eyes "That is… how you win."

Mikael grasped his wakizashi "Trust in myself..?"

Ibuki dashed forward "Act fast! That's how we'll win!" She and Elite clashed blades a few times with sparks flying. Elite's attacks were heavy and made the girl recoil with each blow. He then kicked her back and outstretched his hand with wind in his palm.

Ibuki fell back and rolled to the side to avoid the razor sharp winds shot at her. The spell tore through the floor leaving behind a scar on the ground. Ibuki grabbed a chair nearby and tossed it forward to take the second blast of sharp wind for her. The splinters of wood scattered everywhere.

Elite covered his face with his arm then moved it, gasping when Mikael was seconds away from delivering a fatal slash. He stepped back using his arm to block the downwards attack. Elite countered with a wide slash of his own, hitting Mikael's hat off his head. This missed attack would be his downfall.

"Take this!" Mikael placed the tip of his wakizashi on Elite's neck.

"Hahaha…" Elite dropped the dagger as the sound of police outside started to grow louder. "Well done but this was only the first step. You'll never grow hiding under Yamiko's shadow. Your win here is just another loss on your path." He grabbed Mikael's arm and used it to slash his own neck.

"No! why-"

Elite started to choke on his own blood. "Grant… title of….Elite….."

Mikael kneeled down beside his dying body. Life faded fast from his eyes left open to stare blankly at the ceiling. Yamiko gently placed her hand on Mikael's shoulder. She knew what Elite meant with his dying words unlike the others. Mikael stood back up and could only repeat, "Why…"

The rest of the case was last to the police and Yamiko while the three detectives awaited outside after receiving medical attention. Yamiko wanted them to reflect on their actions for acting on their own. It was stupid on their part, even Ibuki had to admit that.

Their first real case was completed. First they felt successful before shame fell on them. What Elite said was true. It was nothing but a symbolic victory. They didn't speak to each other. Only listening to the bantering and conversations of the police officers in front of the building.

Yamiko then approached them. Their upset expressions said it all, "You did...well."

Mikael took off his hat and scratched his head. "No we messed up, and bad. It was dangerous for us to go by ourselves to solve this case."

"Cheer up a little. You learned...teamwork." Yamiko smiled halfheartedly. "If Midare were here… ugh." just thinking about what Midare would do sunk her mood. She changed the topic but it wasn't any good news. "Oscar is still missing as well as… few other children."

Hyde turned away gripping his head. He shouted 'damnnit!' Into the sky before composing himself again. "I won't mess up next time! In fact, who's our next culprit? That waitress? What clues did she leave behind?"

"Calm down..!" Yamiko said sternly. She placed her finger on her chin "I have to file a few reports...and explain to Midare about this. She won't be happy… to hear we're disorganized. Please for now, relax."

Hyde exhaled to calm his nerves. He got them into this disorganized mess.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Ibuki asked. Yamiko shook her head at this. "If there is something… Midare and I will let you know. For now...protect Hoka."

Hyde simply nodded.