Kaya walked her way down one of the many hallways of the Otani estate. On the walls to her left and right were pictures of the previous heads of the Otani clan going back generations. The hallway led to the quarters of the current head of the Otani clan, Ryuji Otani. She stopped in front of a large wooden door, hearing shouting on the other side.

“Get out of here old man!” a muffled voice said.

“Ryuji, listen! You must stop this. The family cannot continue to abide by these actions” another voice yelled, sounding quite elderly.

“Who’s in charge?! I am! If you have a problem with how I do things, old man we can have a duel here and now!”

“Don’t tempt me Ryuji.”

Kaya knocked on the door. It opened, revealing a man in his late 80’s wearing a silver and black kimono. His grey hair was long, going down to his waist. Yet despite his age, his eyes had a bright red glow to them, the hallmark of the Otani clan.

“Kaya you’re back.” he said in a surprisingly loud voice.

He turned his head back into the room, said “You’re cousin’s back. We’ll continue our discussion later.”

“Yeah yeah” the other voice replied.

The elderly man left the room, nodded at Kaya before heading down the hall. She entered the room. It was supposed to be Ryuji’s personal office, an office where he should host guests ranging from the dignitaries of foreign nations to the emperor himself. Instead the room had been converted into a training area, despite there already being multiple training rooms in the estate. Weapons lay all over the wooden floor and in the center of the room was a red punching bag. A man was currently punching it, making it sway back and forth. He was shirtless, only wearing baggy black pants. On his back was a large tattoo of a red Oni. He had a buzz cut hairstyle, making the black hair on his head hard to see. His build was lean but muscular, every muscle well defined and visible. It was the head of the Otani clan looking as threatening as ever.

“Kaya you’re back early” he commented, punching the bag so hard the sand inside began to seep out, falling to the floor.

She knelt down, said “Yes, Master Ryuji. I have much to report.”

“Well what happened? You better not tell me you got homesick”

Ryuji strode to the end of the training room, picked up another punching bag. Came back and hung it.

“No Master. There’s been complications.”

“What? Mason died from injecting that demon shit?” he asked, punching the bag.

“No. But he is dead.”

Ryuji stopped punching the bag, turned to Kaya. He walked up to her, leaned down so they were eye level

“You failed?” he asked, his bright red eyes looking like they could burn a hole through Kaya’s skull

“No master! I have news that had to be given ASAP. I had to abandon Mason.”

Ryuji grabbed Kaya’s face, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“Spit it out” he ordered.

“Akane lives!” she spat out.

He let her go, and stood up.

“You saw her?”

“Yes master. She came to the town of Redrock. Without question it’s her.”

“Why didn’t you kill her?”

“I tried but she bested me. Only someone from the main branch can handle her” she lied.

“True. A sub branch member could never beat a member from the main branch. And if you died fighting I wouldn’t know she’s alive. Alright cousin, you haven’t gone against our motto. Shame about Mason, he paid good money.”

He went back to the punching back, and in one punch knocked it to the side of the room, making it explode.

“Come with me Kaya. We have to see my fatass brother.”

He whirled around, exited the room walking at a brisk pace. Kaya followed him down the hall to another room. Ryuji opened the door without knocking.

“Orochi you fatass we need to talk.”

The view inside was surprisingly dark given that it was only past noon outside. Like Ryuji’s room, the place was cluttered with things but of a different variety. Chip bags, and clothes laid about. In the back of the room was a very large bed, decorated with body pillows of female comic characters. Parallel to the bed was a giant recliner chair facing the wall to their right. On said wall was a large screen, displaying a 2D avatar of some woman who appeared to be playing some game that took up the rest of the screen. It must’ve been one of those vtubers that Kaya had only heard about in passing. On the other walls of the room were shelves stacked with comics or displaying figurines of scantily clad women.

“Makima kimaaaa” the 2D woman on the screen cheered. “Thank you for the 5000 gold donation Orochi-sama. Love youuuu.”

“Ahh you’re welcome Makima chaaaan” a voice huffed from the chair

Kaya did a double take, only now realizing someone was sitting in the chair. They had sunk so far in, that she thought they were a part of the chair. There was a man who looked more like a pile of lard than a human. He was dangerously overweight, over 300 pounds. He had on a large blue t-shirt with a comic character on it and short green cargo pants. His black hair drooped down to his eyes, partially obscuring them.

“Orochi!” Ryuji yelled.

The fat man slowly turned his head to them.

“Oh hey bro” he greeted, already sounding out of breath.

“There’s something you need to hear. Tell him Kaya.”

“Y-yes. Your sister Akane is alive. I encountered her in the town of Redrock on my last assignment. This requires your immediate attention.”

Orochi looked at them, slowly lifted his head from the chair.

“You serious? That’s not good, is it bro?”

“No, fatass--it isn’t. You and I are going to finish what we started. Get your dumbass in shape.”

“Like...now bro?”

“Yes now! Stop doing….whatever the fuck this is.” he said, pointing at the screen.

“Hey leave my waifu outta this man. That’s not cool.”

Ryuji shook his head in shame.

“Kaya.”

“Yes master?”

“Go tell the elders what you told me. Have them put Akane’s name on top of the Otani clan’s kill list.”

“Yes master.”

Kaya quickly left the room, leaving the brothers alone.

“Akane lives...that’s crazy man.” Orochi remarked.

“Yeah but not for long. I don’t know why she came out of hiding but her days are numbered. Every moment she lives brings shame to the clan.”

“Imagine how mom’s gonna act.”

“Act? She’s basically comatose. I bet if you told her she wouldn’t react.”

“I guess man. Ugh...can you help me get up?”

“Get up yourself. You better be in shape by the time we track her down. I’m not having your fatass air lifted again.”

“You boys look like you could use some help.” a feminine voice said.

Ryuji, twisted around throwing a punch, stopping his fist inches from the intruder’s face. It was a woman wearing a white butterfly mask. She wore an elegant white dress making her look like she was going to attend a party organized by aristocrats. To further emphasize the aristocratic appearance she spoke with a thick posh accent.

“Oh I wouldn’t touch me if I were you. It doesn’t end well for men who lay their hands on me without my permission.” she warned, unfazed by Ryuji’s fist.

“Who the hell are you?! How’d you get in!?” Ryuji barked.

“Oh yes, let me introduce myself. I go by many names, but you can call me Madame Butterfly. As to how I got in, let’s just say your security doesn’t mean much to people like me. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Otani.”

Ryuji slowly pulled his hand back, unsure of how to respond. Suddenly someone jumped out from behind the masked woman. It appeared to be a child wearing a unicorn mask. She looked around in awe, and started touching the figurines on the shelves.

“Woah look at all this stuff Butterfly! So many toys!” the girl screamed.

“Yes yes be nice Unicorn.”

“Oi stop touching my stuff!” Orochi huffed.

The little girl noticed Orochi went up to him.

“Wow! You’re so fat! How’d you get so big?”

“I eat...a lot.”

“Be quite Unicorn dear the adults are talking. Now Mr. Otani, I came to you with a proposition. I believe we can help each other.”

Ryuji examined the masked woman down, seeing all potential openings in her stance in case he needed to fight. She was full of openings. He didn’t know who this woman was but she clearly wasn’t a fighter. He slightly eased up.

“What are you talking about?” he questioned.

“I am a part of a group that worked with Mr. Mason. We are-”

“Demon cult” Ryuji interrupted, already putting the pieces together.

“Why...yes I suppose to close minded individuals that’s what we are. But we’re so much more. I do not have time to get into specifics. What matters is that we can help each other. We have a common enemy you see. The assassins who killed Mr. Mason. One of them is your sister, yes?”

Ryuji didn’t answer. He continued to stare.

“It’s ok, don't answer. We already know. You want her dead. Us too. She’s part of the second hero’s party. We believe that the heroes are going to become a problem for us. I say we work together.”

“The heroes?” Ryuji finally responded. Intrigued by what the masked woman was saying.

“You haven’t heard? Your sister used to work for an associate of ours. She switched sides, joining the party of one of the summoned heroes. That sister of yours has been quite busy. If you want to go after your sister, you’re going up against more than just her. You’ll be going up against the hero of prophecy. Killing her will be tougher than you think. That’s why I propose we work together. Sounds good doesn’t it? We get what we want, and you get what you want.”

“And you want nothing else?”

“Nothing else.”

Ryuji turned back to his brother, who was in the midst of yelling at the little girl jumping on his bed. He focused on the woman once again.

“If we do this. The Otani clan will do nothing else once the heroes and their parties are dead. We will not help you once the government cracks down on you demon cult freaks. There will be no evidence we ever worked together. We will deny everything.”

The woman smirked, held out her hand for a shake.

“Sounds fair to me. It’ll be nice working with you Mr. Otani.”

Ryuji returned the shake, noting how cold the woman’s hands were.

“Come now Unicorn. We’re done here.” she said, backing away.

“OK!” the girl yelled, zipping across the room in the blink of an eye.

“Hey brat, put my stuff back” Orochi yelled but was ignored.

The two strangers walked into the hall. Ryuji followed, peering his head into the hallway but they were nowhere to be seen. He didn’t even hear a portal opening. He returned to Orochi.

“Don’t forget what I told you. Get your ass in shape.” he stated.

“Yeah, I got it. Are you sure you made the right move working with a demon cult?”

“We’ll use them as long as they’re useful. Once that time passes, we’ll cut ties.”

“If you say so bro.”

Ryuji exited the room into the hallway, making his way back to his quarters.

“Akane, you better be ready. We’re about to have a family reunion”