DC/MK are property of Gosho. The bunnies only take the chibis out to play.

Narratio

"If you have to kill a snake, kill it once and for all."

~Japanese Proverb

The afternoon had been slow for business. At the sound of footsteps approaching on the sidewalk outside, Saguru swept his kanji textbook into a drawer and looked up, half in customary expectation and half in hope of a new client. When the door opened, however, the person who ducked out of the April drizzle into the warmth of his office wasn't a stranger. It was Kuroba, carrying a backpack almost half his size.

...Kuroba never came on Saturdays. He visited like clockwork on Mondays and Thursdays to pick Saguru's brain for information, as per their arrangement for the past six months.

Of course, Kuroba didn't typically look uneasy through the cracks in his confident mask, either, though he'd recently been tense and tired and even more self-contained than usual when doing business together or when Saguru observed him at school.

Kuroba didn't sit; instead, he stopped behind the client chair and crossed his arms along the top, eyes fixed on a point somewhere on Saguru's desk.

"What can I do for you, Kuroba-san?" Saguru inquired, quashing curiosity and slight nervousness alike beneath professionalism. Deviations in habit rarely heralded good news, and Kuroba did not seem pleased. If he'd decided to terminate their agreement…

Taking a deep breath, Kuroba asked, with uncharacteristic bluntness for a Japanese native, "What would it cost me to have you as backup on a Hunt?"

Saguru blinked. "I… That is, I'm not licensed…" Taking the exam would require registering his name, Clan background, and place of address in the Police's worldwide Hunter database. He didn't want that. Possibly couldn't afford risking it.

Kuroba waving a dismissive hand brought Saguru's attention back to reality. "So long as there's one licensed Hunter, assistants don't have to be licensed. The Hunter is liable for their actions, but I don't think that'd be something to worry about with you."

"I would expect not, but… Why me? Surely there are other, more experienced Hunters…"

A faint tang around Kuroba sharpened just enough to be noticeable, and Saguru realized with a shock that combined with the faint tells in body language, Kuroba seemed… embarrassed. Kuroba was never embarrassed, not even when he'd ripped his gym shorts doing a ridiculous gymnastic routine in PE. He'd lapped up the attention then as much as he did for any other prank or disruption.

This was different. Embarrassment edging on anger, or possibly desperation, going by the now subtly clenching fists.

"I finally got some solid info for where the bastard who killed my dad might be, but none of the Hunters I took the exam with are in Tokyo and no one else has tagged him as a target of interest on the Hub. Jii-chan's too old for this." Kuroba looked up. "If I don't go now, he might be gone by tomorrow. So what will it cost me to retain you as backup?"

Saguru gazed into cold fire and realized with deadly certainty that if he didn't agree to this, Kuroba would go anyway. Sensible caution only lasted so long as he wasn't backed into a corner, alone.

"I…"

"If an extra pint of blood isn't enough, I'll split the bounty with you forty-sixty instead."

Saguru stared. 'Jackal' was a wanted suspect in at least three outstanding cases, not including Kuroba Toichi's murder— even splitting the bounty would likely cover Saguru's business expenses for months. In addition, participating in hunts could only help his reputation among Hunters, and impress any private citizenry looking to hire a detective.

Ensuring that Kuroba stayed alive and intact to continue their bargain in the future would be an added bonus.

He cleared his throat. "Fifty-fifty would be acceptable, provided my presence is left out of the official arrest log for this and any potential future hunts." At Kuroba's odd look, he smoothly added, "I don't want to risk my father disapproving. Finding criminals is rather different than actively chasing them."

He'd figure out a way to mark any achievements in his office, off the record, later. Rumor and word of mouth were less than reliable, especially in the civilian population.

Before Kuroba could follow up on the comment, he added, "What sort of time commitment do you anticipate for this?"

Something in Kuroba's gaze shifted minutely, an edge of wariness creeping in. "Would he object to you being gone all night?"

"I… don't know. I've never had reason to be." His business was still too new to have received any cases urgent enough to require working through the night.

Well, until now.

The chessboard waiting at home flashed through Saguru's mind. After a week of late nights, father always tried, at least, to spend part of Saturday evening with him. But there would still be Sunday…

"If I said I have a time-sensitive case, I would need evidence later to back it up." He glanced sidelong at Kuroba, ruthlessly squashing any guilt at the thought of lying to father. "You always seem to have a wealth of plausible excuses at school…"

A spark of hope replaced growing disappointment. "You bet. Um… You study a lot, right? You've always got a textbook up in your tree with you during lunch."

Saguru felt his cheeks start to burn, but managed to refrain from glancing at the drawer currently hiding his kanji textbook. "Yes."

He refused to admit that he'd arrived in Japan four years ago being fluent but functionally illiterate, and had been playing catch-up ever since.

Kuroba, thankfully, had bigger concerns than why the simple admission made Saguru flush. "So tell your dad you're staying the night at my house to cram for year-end exams. We've only got three weeks until then."

"At your… but that's…" They weren't friends. Certainly not close friends, and from what Saguru had observed that seemed to be a prerequisite for that sort of thing.

Kuroba gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

…Kuroba was unconventional for his culture. Their culture. Right. Especially since it wasn't like Saguru was actually ever going to see the inside of his house. "Never mind. I'll go with you."

"Okay," Kuroba agreed, some tension draining away into fierce anticipation. "Can you close the office now, and is there anything you need to pick up?"

"You're in luck. I don't have any appointments scheduled…" Saguru reached into the bottom-right desk drawer and retrieved a double-shot crossbow. "And I keep my equipment on-hand."

Kuroba nodded in satisfaction. "Metal arrows, or wood?"

"Wood soaked in colloidal silver." The two components gave a fair advantage against the two primary Clans he wouldn't want to risk fighting hand-to-hand. Stronger and faster than a human didn't mean impervious to injury or bleeding out.

Tucking the crossbow into the holster in his weatherproof trenchcoat, he slanted a wry half-smile at Kuroba. "I'm well aware of the irony of my choice of weapon."

"Always play to cover your weakness and exploit as many others' as possible," Kuroba replied, though Saguru didn't know the source of what sounded like a quote. "You're good at hand to hand—I've seen how you move in P.E.—so it makes sense you'd go for something ranged."

"…Quite." He'd have to pay more attention. He hadn't noticed Kuroba watching. "Lead the way."

Kuroba needed no urging.

After Hakuba left a message with his housekeeper, they made good time to the little town outside Tokyo where Jii's contacts had placed Jackal. Kaito didn't doubt that the information was solid. Jackal was the only mark for whom Jii would make an exception and allow Kaito use of his network of contacts, because the old man wanted to see Toichi's senseless death avenged nearly as much as Kaito did.

Of course, Jii thought Kaito had a licensed Hunter watching his back for this, but Kaito was sure Hakuba would be enough. The dhampire had fighter's instincts, for some reason—Jii still had yet to find anything about the black hole that was Hakuba's life before Japan—and the strength and speed to use them effectively. He would be able to handle anything Jackal tried to throw at them.

—fire in the rain—

"There." Kaito quashed the thought and pointed to the small inn a few blocks away, still visible in the growing dusk from the train station platform they were standing on. "He's staying there."

"You do have a plan, I hope?" Hakuba murmured back, but it was expectant, not carrying undertones of 'Oh kami why did I agree to this and how do I get out of it?'.

"Of course. Come on, I'll explain as we go."

The plan was quick to explain, and almost as easy to implement. The inn had only one way in or out of the building, and they gained access to the roof of the one-story 24-hour grocery across the road by merit of Kaito's Hunter's License and an earnest promise to keep all confrontations well away from the building.

They'd be doing that anyway, because Hunters were liable for up to half of any damages not covered by an owner's insurance, and Kaito didn't want to end the day poorer than he'd started it. But it never hurt to let someone think you were making a concession specifically to him.

The shop owner's attitude warmed to them further after Kaito bought some water bottles and high protein snacks, and the two boys quickly settled on a corner of the roof ensconced in a pair of weatherproof blankets Kaito had brought along in his backpack.

"The right kit can make or break a stake-out," he felt compelled to explain as he offered a hat, gloves and a pair of night-vision binoculars to Hakuba. "Though I guess I don't know how much you need any of it."

Hakuba accepted all three, and Kaito manfully restrained a snicker at the sight of the other teen eyeing the knitted hat dubiously before pulling it down over his ears, if only because he had one of his own.

"I am somewhat susceptible to cold, though I won't need the binoculars unless the street lamp over there goes out."

"Okay. How good are you with signals?" Kaito flashed a few hand-signs. The odds were decent Hakuba would recognize them, since Jii had taught Kaito the military-police-hunter standard, without mixing in the more colloquial hunter innovations.

"'Move together,' 'stop,' 'forty meters', and 'get the bastard'." Hakuba rattled off immediately, then paused. "You believe he'll move before dawn, then?"

He gestured with the binoculars at the goggles around Kaito's neck, ready for when the last tendrils of dusk faded into night. Kaito shrugged.

"I don't know. But I'll be dead before I lose this chance by assuming anything."

Hakuba nodded, and they divided the night into watches: together for the next three hours, then trading off every four hours until Jackal showed his ugly face. They would follow, and take the opportune moment to confront him, preferably ending in an arrest. Kaito didn't mention the other possibility for a successful result, but Hakuba didn't seem perturbed by the unspoken implication. Maybe it came of being a policeman's son.

The silence that settled after may have been awkward—Kaito had never mastered the art of reading those nuances—because after a few minutes Hakuba broke it with a question, tone carefully neutral.

"Earlier, you mentioned someone named Jii... Did you mean Jii Konosuke-san, of the Blue Parrot?"

Kaito blinked. "Yeah, why?"

It made sense for Hakuba to know of Jii—the man was fairly notorious in the information business for knowing everyone and everything a Hunter might find useful, for the right price. Kaito hadn't intended to bring him up, the name had just slipped out in the midst of everything else, but why Hakuba would care—

...Oh.

Hakuba answered the question just as he realized it himself. "If you are on close terms with Jii-san, what purpose does our... arrangement serve?"

Kaito laughed, without much humor. "He's an old friend of my—family's. But he doesn't approve of my being a Hunter so young, except when it gives us the chance to catch this particular bastard. Then he'll pass along the information, because he's too old to do more than teach these days and I'm the only Hunter willing to drop any other mark for this one. Otherwise I find leads on my own."

Hakuba seemed to consider this. When he replied, it focused on the last thing Kaito expected. "He teaches?"

"Well, yeah. The Parrot's usually open just in the evenings because that's when most people have time for a snooker game and a few drinks. He owns the dojo under the Blue Parrot and teaches a few of the morning classes, too."

A thoughtful nod. "A good way to form connections early with the demographic that may eventually join his other sphere."

"Mmm." Or an expensive gamble to give a furious, desperate child, with just enough knowledge to be dangerous to everyone, a place to demolish punching bags rather than go looking for real fights. And to practice meditation, and kata, and knife-fighting, and marksmanship with the tranquilizer handgun that any hunter with half a brain obtained a license for and adopted as their constant companion. Jii had done a lot for him, and he was grateful... but it didn't stop the restrictions the older man still insisted on from chafing.

Kaito pulled his blanket over his head as the drizzle increased, mimicked by Hakuba a moment later. "It's a good dojo," he offered, unsure of what else to say. "Always open to new students."

"It's a bit difficult to take a student seriously as a colleague."

Kaito winced. "Point."

The silence fell again, and this time they didn't try to break it. But it was something of a relief when Hakuba's watch beeped softly, and he curled up to nap for the next few hours. The waiting didn't feel any less interminable, but at least the solitude was an arrangement he was used to.

Sometime around 2 AM, Hakuba's watch beeped again and the blond instantly twitched awake with an ease that bespoke long practice. A few murmured words confirmed that nothing had happened in the interim, and Kaito reluctantly stretched out with one ear open for trouble. Anticipation made sleep elusive, but he finally managed to slip into a sort of lucid doze until Hakuba hissed "Kuroba-san!" and all of his nerves fired in a rush of adrenaline.

Kaito silently rolled into a crouch and peered around the corner created by the air conditioning unit and the low retaining wall beside it. The cloud-muted streaks of pre-dawn light revealed a figure long since etched into memory, face clearly visible as he walked away from the inn with purposeful stride.

The world abruptly telescoped into a single point of focus.

With a small flurry of hand-signals, the rooftop and majority of their supplies were abandoned for the chase—if one called 'painstakingly shadowing from a relatively safe distance' a chase. Jackal certainly moved quickly enough, and Kaito might have lost him more than once if not for Hakuba's sharper vision.

Eventually, however, Jackal paused at the entrance to a narrow alley, and gut instinct propelled Kaito to dart after him almost before the Naga had stepped out of sight. Pulling out the tranquilizer handgun, Kaito stepped out from the wall's cover just enough to get a clear shot into the alley.

"Hold it right there, you bastard. You're under arrest."

After so many years of tracking and dreaming and imagining this moment, it was almost anticlimactic when Jackal turned to face him without so much as a flicker of recognition.

"Go home, brats, before your games get someone hurt."

"You're under arrest," Kaito repeated, praying to any kami who would listen that his voice didn't crack, "for the murders of Takeshi Setsuna, Yamada Ken, and—Kuroba Toichi. Resistance will be met with force."

Hakuba seemed to take his cue, and stepped around Kaito with all due caution, zipties in hand.

"Hands behind your back, sir." The respectful address was unintentional, going by how Hakuba instantly looked like he'd bitten into something sour as Jackal made a sort of hissing laugh.

The dhampire's eyes flashed—Kaito would swear that for a moment they literally glowed—and when he spoke, the growl had perhaps a few extra harmonics layered in. "Turn around."

Jackal obeyed, and Hakuba quickly closed the remaining distance between them, still taking care to not interfere with Kaito's line of sight.

And then it all went sideways.

Between one blink and the next, Jackal somehow whirled to catch Hakuba around the throat with one arm, the other bringing a gun almost to bear before Kaito's reflexes responded to the initial movement and fired the tranq gun. Jackal's move had shifted his center of mass, and of the three darts one missed entirely, one hit the gun barrel, and one pierced the Naga's black leather glove, forcing him to drop the gun and rip the dart out with his teeth before a full dose of the liquid could hit his system.

It didn't, however, make him loosen his choke-hold on Hakuba in the least, and now Kaito was out of darts.

"Idiots," Jackal snarled as Hakuba writhed in his hold, a futile gesture in the face of his shorter stature and utter lack of leverage—even with his toes barely scraping the ground, Hakuba's head would barely contact Jackal's chin if he tried. "You thought a pathetic will like yours could compel me?"

Hakuba's breathless reply was less than coherent, but the undoubtedly unprintable sentiment still came through in his tone.

Kaito only noticed this in a distant sort of way, because he was too busy charging, dirks drawn, at the Bastard Naga who was reaching into his coat—

caught in the alley—

threatening his Hunter-partner—

rain weeping for the dead—

and then the rising, wordless scream of rage froze into ice in Kaito's throat, as the tip of a snagtooth dagger punched into view through the general vicinity of Hakuba's left kidney.

To be concluded.

I'm evil, I know. Please review!

Ocianne

6/11