"A call at 9pm…" Midare stared at her computer screen muttering to herself. The cafe was closed and she was alone in her office, finishing up minor work before she left.

"The magic he did back then. It felt unusual…" She thought to herself. The feeling was unlike any she felt before, a new magic technique that could see into the future..? Impossible!

Such a thing would kill the user due to higher frequencies being too unstable for a human to handle. She shrugged it off and stood up, preparing to leave. Then… it hit her.

A vibration from her phone in her pocket. Immediately she took it out with a cold sweat shivering down her spine. She nervously let out a laugh "Heheh, just a spam email…"

…

…

Midare looked left at the shelf with few trinkets. Siegmund and sieglinde were wrapped in black cloth leaning on the side, Elite's tanuki leaves were in a plastic bag. The lower shelves had books Midare had all read and unloaded pistols, they might as well have been models.

Midare then looked right, at a calendar with the date of Morren's next show circled in red marker. Mary had gotten tickets from that strangely dressed girl. Midare didn't know why she assisted them discreetly. Unless this was their way of giving the detectives the green light. Otherwise, Noble Third had some secrets that needed to be unveiled.

…

…

"Ah...what am I thinking." Midare chuckled lightly.

Morren was just messing with her magic which is why it felt so odd. Besides, all her old friends were dead. Killed in-

Ring ring ring

"..?!" Midare turned to her desk phone ringing. She looked at the time on her phone, 9pm.

Immediately she answered the phone. Her voice stiffened with cold and bitter motive "Who...is….this."

"Midare are you okay..?"

It was the Director. Midare wanted to hang up on her. They weren't former friends or friends at all!

They hated each other immensely. But with a common enemy, they had to use each other. "What do you want Director?"

"The Morren case."

They understood each other...

"I'm working on it."

...Like two peas in a pod.

"Finish the case as soon as possible. Someone with that kind of ability is too dangerous."

But calling them friends or anything of the sort…?

"...I'll be sure to take my time."

Would be wrong on the highest levels.

"Midare--!"

Midare gently hung up the phone with a fake smile on her face.

────── 〔✿〕──────

"After last night's ruthless rain, today will be clear skies. However, don't forget to bring a jacket because it will be windy!"

Hyde stood behind the counter stuck washing cups and glasses while the others worked a more entertaining job. At least he didn't have to speak with any of the customers. Most were irritating the longer they spoke.

"Hey Hyde."

And Mary was with him too. Just like the customers, she talked too much.

"Smile." Mary lifted the corners of her cheeks with her fingers. Hyde had to turn away. Her bright and bubbly nature was too much for him to handle.

"Ello mister!" An unknown voice of a child said. Hyde looked over at the kid who sat at the bar. She had long blonde hair and was dressed in what seemed to be a high schoolers uniform with a light brown sleeveless sweater vest.

"I just got off work and I'm looking to relax the day away. Mind getting me something light?"

What..?

“How about this..?” Hyde grabbed a sake bottle and glass which surprised Mary, and placed it in front of her. She noticeably frowned and grew annoyed.

"I asked for something light."

"You're too young to be drinking!" Mary responded.

"I'm 192 years old!" The girl sighed. "At least you didn't say that phrase I hate so much." she said to Hyde.

"If you were really a kid, I would let you face the consequences for your bad prank." Hyde responded.

The girl laughed "So you do believe me!" She then dropped a sweat "You'd also go to jail for serving a minor alcohol."

He was blunt when it came to making decisions.

The girl told him that attitude would come back to hit him one day.

"Wait wait wait!" Mary said loudly, "Why do you believe her? She's a kid just messing with our heads Hyde."

Hyde rubbed his chin. "I can feel her magic. She's definitely not just a child."

Then what was she?

"Gao!" She showed her fangs. "Dulivale, vampire and police chief of Kyoto's police department."

"No way…" Mary muttered.

Fed up of waiting, Dulivale poured herself a cup of sake.

"A vampire…" Hyde said quietly. He had read about them being plentiful in the past before they were all killed mysteriously. Dulivale had no comment on the past, instead she downed her drink in one gulp.

"Ah! Just what I needed." Dulivale clapped her hands together. "Now we can get to real business."

Hyde tilted his head. Mary's eye twitched, still shocked by her drinking the sake without falling over. Dulivale dropped her nice act and grinned devilishly.

"I'm here on behalf of the TGA."

"Oh crap-!"

"The Director demands Midare investigates Morren right now."

Her piercing words paired with her gaze made Hyde and Mary feel like they were in a bind. Then suddenly,

SLAM!

Levin had grabbed the back of Dulivale's head and slammed it down on the counter, cracking the wood and making her head rebound off the wood and back. Dulivale fell out of her seat with a broken nose dripping blood. The sound of the slam alerted everyone in the cafe turn their heads to watch. Dulivale held her hand under her nose to hide her smirk thinking she could use the situation to her advantage. A poor helpless girl abused by the muscular bartender.

Her plan was all coming together until.

"Relax everyone, It was just a mistake. My hand slipped and she fell."

Absolute bullshit but the customers wanted nothing to do with Levin after seeing his forced smile with a vein popping out of his forehead. He took out a napkin from his vest pocket and offered it to Dulivale. "What's a representative of the TGA doing here?"

"Bastard…" a crack was heard when she snapped her nose back in place. She then snatched the napkin and stuffed her nose and stood up. "I'm thee poolice chief of Keeyoto's poolice deparment." She said with a nasally voice. "We have cose ties with the Tee gee A."

Levin grinned at her misfortune. "I see…"

"So the Director is on my tail." Midare approached them holding shopping bags. "Fine. We'll be heading to Kyoto today. And since you've come begging at my doorstep too. I expect 100% cooperation from your department."

Dulivale smiled with one eye twitched "You'll get 90 purrcen"

"What about the other 10%?" Hyde questioned.

"For my damn nose!"

────── 〔✿〕──────

WOOSH! flap flap

That was the sound the coat made.

Hyde flipped the collar of the caplet attached to his new light brown coat. He tightened his black gloves and turned to the others accompanying him.

"So this is Kyoto? A lot bigger than I imagined." Mikael dragged along his suitcase stopping beside Hyde. He wore a patterned poncho over his long sleeved shirt and the cowboy hat that had been missing before. "Tokyo is probably even bigger hahaha!"

Mary stared at the newspaper, looking at an article of murder that occurred last night. She loosened her brown scarf with lines that made it look like piano keys. "Guess we can't catch a break. Someone received a body part in the mail."

"Can we get to our hotel first? My legs are killing me." Ibuki whined. She wore a brown wool capelet that covered her arms. In the corner of it was an outline of a leaf.

The train ride was long but they were here on a mission. The city of Kyoto, the place where Morren's show would be taking place and the last destination the detectives would have to go to finish the case.

Dulivale had to admit, the incompetence of the police led them to giving the detectives a warrant and green light to stop whoever was behind the mailing of body parts. Although they were free to conduct the investigation however they wanted, Midare preferred to corner Morren without the use of force. They had to be smart, and use the tactics of a detective rather than winging it like they had before.

"My detectives," Midare turned to face the members present. She had bought them all their new outfits as a gift for their assistance (their failures) and a white trenchcoat for herself.

"I expect you to be on your best behavior while we're on vacation."

They weren't expecting Midare to act so cheerfully. They moved on from the train station grounds to their hotel. The show they would be going to starts tomorrow.

"Wait a second, vacation?!" Mikael said loudly.

Hyde walked past him. "It's hardly a vacation since we're supposed to be meeting with Dulivale at the police station."

"You guys go on ahead, see what she wants. We'll unpack your things." Levin said.

"Alright, let's go." Ibuki responded before following Hyde.

"W-wait up!" Mikael and Mary joined along.

Mary gasped, "Do you know where the police station is?"

Hyde looked back at her and nodded. "We have some time to ask around. I know for sure someone can give us a lead. Let's hurry!" He turned back around and took the first step of his sprint before bumping heads with a lady who was also in a rush.

Both fell back in a daze, holding their heads in pain. While Hyde groaned like a child, Mikael profusely apologized in his place.

"W-we didn't see you coming that way and-"

"Im...fine…" The lady held out her hand so Mikael could help her return to her feet. However the boy noticed something off about her stocking covered legs. Particularly her left leg which seemed to be out of sync with her right.

"It was my mistake. I should've been more aware of my surroundings." She bowed. Before she sprinted off, they asked for directions to the station and she offered to escort them. The way she talked about it made it seem like she was an undercover police agent. It was a possibility.

They met with Dulivale outside the station where she debriefed them on all she knew and what she knew was what the detectives already figured out. They were blind in this case. All they knew was that Morren was doing something behind the scenes. Dulivale wanted to look into the recent finding of a body part found in someone's mailbox.

"Sorry we don't have a lot of information to give." Dulivale sighed. "This guy is good at covering his tracks with magic. But I trust you detectives can solve this."

"It's fine and thank you." Mary said with a smile.

"By the way. Who hired Noble Third? Midare said she couldn't find out." Hyde questioned.

Dulivale didn't know either, assuming that the Osaka police chief hired them to solve the Soap case.

"Alright then let's head back. And thanks...uh…" Hyde looked at the lady that led them to the station.

"Evelynn Inouye." Evelynn replied.

"Eh? You're related to Yukikari?" Mikael asked, surprised.

Evelynn tilted her head "Huh? I don't have a sister. I guess we have a similar last name."

Mikael awkwardly laughed and turned around. "That's not a common occurrence. To share the same last name with a shrine maiden."

With nothing left to investigate, they returned to their hotel room. Midare and Levin shared a room while the detectives had their own which was the first time they had a sleepover of sorts. It was something Mary wanted to do while they were in the dormitory but never had the chance to due to their busy job.

This was their chance to have the greatest pajama party before they confronted Morren. "Let's watch this movie! It's about samurais!"

"Why are you standing on the bed?" Hyde bluntly asked.

"Aren't you excited? This is the first time we get to spend the night together having fun." She said happily.

Their hotel room was cramped. Much like the apartments in Tokyo, their room only had the basic necessities. 2 beds, a single bathroom, a small TV and a large window where they could see much of the city from the second floor. Mikael closed the window curtains for safety. There was no telling if someone was after them for being detectives. Hotel murder mysterious were common in mystery novels and they had their fill of that.

Mary sat on the edge of the bed "I remember that first job Midare gave us. It still haunts me…"

That was nearly a month ago yet it was still fresh in their minds. Mary shrugged off the thought and held up the movie "So..?"

Ibuki shrugged “Why not. It could be a good movie.”

“Alright!” Mary cheerfully exclaimed as she placed the movie disc in the dvd player. She hopped back on the bed beside Ibuki. Together the two girls were more interested in watching the movie than Mikael and Hyde who were inspecting the sharp weapons given to them by Selena.

Once again they would have to kill for the sake of the city. They still couldn’t shake the feeling of drawing blood from another person. They were vile people but still people regardless. Mikael never intended for Elite to die. Why did he choose to?

“He just forced himself onto my blade.” Mikael eyed the shuriken in his hand slowly turning it as the light reflected off its surface. “Hyde…”

Hyde had been in plenty of fights but came out injured more often than not. Thankfully his encounter with that woman in the museum was brief. He wouldn’t be able to make a move had she engaged with them further. “I wonder how Midare gets over killing people. Does Levin kill too?”

“Who knows.” Mikael returned the shuriken to its pouch, “Being in this agency has really taken a toll on me.”

Hyde agreed.

Being in near death situations was causing his mind to spiral. Sometimes he’d feel like curling up into a ball and giving up entirely but if his friends saw him do that. They would give up as well. The false confidence he displayed was starting to fall apart. “Let’s do our best tomorrow.” he stood up and joined the girls in watching the movie.

“You’re always so calm Hyde. I wish I were the same.” Mikael soon joined him.