Ryuko sighed to herself as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, following the beacon on her phone for where her new client was. Rias had been planning to have her use an odd glass compass like thing to navigate to her client, but Iori was able to analyze the spell weave in it and apply it to her phone's navigation app - that he'd already altered to take into account her preference for going over buildings rather than through streets - so she could just use that instead of an inconveniently bulky magic device. Since there was already the App for determining the price for contracts, it was hardly difficult to hook her phone's navigation directly into the magical communication networks said app used to track locations of clients, much to Rias' surprise.

This had brought a rather amusing end to the club meeting that had taken place at the Mankanshoku residence, due to the club room at the school getting its annual cleaning. The meeting had mostly focused on a review of everyone's contracts that month, how many everyone had made and what that had done to their rankings. Despite Ryuko's best efforts, however, she still hadn't managed to make a contract. She had only had two clients so far, the first she had to leave without a contract due to learning about the 'Crimson Community', and the second she wasn't making a contract with until they knew what they actually wanted. While Rias respected her decision in both cases and it left her with glowing reviews from both clients (though the first mostly because of what she'd accomplished before becoming a Devil), it still left her with zero contracts, something she really wanted to work on fixing.

While she was determined to make that change starting tonight, other thoughts disturbed her at the moment. Satsuki had started working on gathering information on the supernatural aspects of the world now that she was aware of it, and that came with a few details that came as something of a surprise. She'd been going through several documents and pictures that had been gathered as her resources expanded, and one picture - that of a sword in a white and gold sheath - had caught Yuuto's eye, leaving him somewhat disturbed. She was pretty sure something needed to be done there, but Ryuko had no idea what.

It wasn't long before Ryuko arrived at her destination, a large, affluent apartment building. There was a window for the exact apartment she was trying to reach, but the curtains were closed tight and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get it open to slip in. On top of that, that side of the building was well illuminated, meaning people might see a woman hovering in the air with bat wings..and her phoenix wings would draw even more attention, assuming she could pick which set came out. She hadn't tried to spread her wings since getting the new set, and wasn't entirely certain which set of magical muscles controlled which...or even which were a pair.

Landing on the roof, she looked over the side, focusing to get a better look at the window in question. Shifting the fibers in her eyes so she could use Ddraig's-

"Wait, you can DO that?"

"Are you seriously surprised at what she's capable of at this point?"

"Hey, feats of unbelievable strength are par for the course for me. She's the first partner I've had where anatomical improbabilities were a thing, let alone a regular one!"

-she took an even closer look at the window with vision that put birds of prey to shame. She frowned at what she saw. The window could be opened, but it was sealed so tightly that not even a single thread could slip through no matter how thin, so she couldn't discard her human form and swarm in as threads-

"Wait, what?"

"Oh yeah! I should tell you about that fight with Raynare! See, she was having trouble because of the whole reaction to light thing, then realized that since she's now half-devil and half-clothing, there was no reason to fight like a human-"

-to reform inside the apartment, as epic as that would be. Ignoring the discussion between Ddraig and Senketsu before she felt the need to don a mask to go with her blades-

"I understood that reference!"

"You did?"

"Hey, my hosts aren't THAT far apart!"

-she dropped down to the entrance of the building, making her way in to the apartment in question. Finding the spot, she calmly rang the bell. She remained completely relaxed as she waited for someone to answer...until the door opened.

The figure standing there was a young seeming man, though his violet eyes showed a great deal of experience. His hair was black in back and golden in the front, and hung in an untended mess of spikes around his face alongside his scraggly golden goatee. He was dressed in a grey kimono that hung loosely on him as he leaned against the door frame, and everything about him seemed completely normal...

...and yet every fiber of Ryuko's being tensed at the sight of him, her every instinct screaming that this was an exceptionally dangerous creature, something the likes of which she had never encountered and at a power that would take quite a few Boosts to match, let alone exceed, and an experience that dwarfed her own. If it came to a fight, the outcome would be seriously in doubt, and the collateral would be insane...

And the way his eyes twitched and glimmered, she could tell he saw all this perfectly too, and then he grinned. "Care to come in, Devil-chan?" he offered warmly. "No parlor, just a foyer, and I promise no invisible silken threads."

Glancing down, Ryuko saw the flier in his hand...and realized despite everything, this was the client. One thing she was certain of was that she could escape if necessary, so she shrugged easily. "Sure."

As he stepped back, she walked in, still tense but not showing it as she scanned the room with all her senses. Despite being quite opulent, it was also rather bare. There were a few couches, a table, and a painting on the wall. There was a kitchen unit, and a bedroom off to one side. All were large, but also empty. This plainly wasn't where this man lived, just where he happened to be for the time, however long that was.

As he closed the door behind him, she spoke up. "So what could someone like you want with a Devil?" she asked curiously.

"Oh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "And what do you mean, 'like me'?"

"Someone with enough power to casually level this city with a stray thought," Ryuko stated calmly. "What could a Devil possibly give you that you can't get for yourself?"

The man laughed easily. "I'm not that strong," he insisted pleasantly, still at ease. "As for what you can give me..." Stepping into the bedroom area, he stepped back out carrying a silver tray with a glass bottle and two glasses on it. "Share a drink with me?"

Ryuko blinked slowly. "Eh?"

"You asked what I can get from a Devil that I can't get on my own," he explained as he set the tray down and sat across from her. "In my...position...it's difficult to find someone just willing to talk and share a drink with, or interesting stories to hear. Too much of who and...what...I am gets in the way of that." He grinned as he leaned back. "But that doesn't get in the way with you, does it?"

Ryuko stared at him for a time, then burst into laughter. "You're an odd one, Oji-bozu!" At her form of addressing him, he also burst into laughter. "This contract gonna be valid, though?"

"Sure!" the man replied easily. "Not the first time I've contracted Devils for things like this. Never had problems before."

Grinning from ear to ear, Ryuko flopped back in the couch. "Technically I'm underage...but I never let that stop me before! Pour away!" Senketsu, do you think you could keep me from doing anything TOO stupid or out of control if I get too deep in drink?

"I'll do what I can," Senketsu promised mentally.

"You can count on me too!" Ddraig added in the same way.

Letting her grin get more relaxed, she accepted the drink. "Kampai!" she declared happily as she drank.

"He didn't!" the man gasped out in shock. "You're kidding!"

"He totally did!" Ryuko laughed back, her cheeks red as she was several glasses of high quality whiskey in. "Right there, streaming it to the entire underworld, he proposed to me after he just broke it off with my King."

"What'd you do?" the old man laughed eagerly, leaning forward as he enjoyed his own drink.

"Kicked him away and told him off!" Ryuko continued. "Then he tried to seduce my girlfriend, and she KO'ed him in one punch!"

The man burst into laughter. "So much for the mighty Phenex!"

As the alcohol had been consumed, both of them had relaxed greatly, and Ryuko had happily shared stories of the craziness she'd gotten up to. Her client had listened eagerly, laughing all the way at the insanity that was simply Ryuko's daily life...and then she'd gotten into the more unusual moments.

As they laughed, he picked up the bottle to pour, only for nothing to come out. "Oh...out of whiskey..." he murmured sadly. "Guess that's it for tonight..."

"Aw, really?" Ryuko complained, her voice slightly slurred. "I wash just gettin' warmed up." She then hiccuped noisily.

"You sure you can make it home on your own?" the man asked worriedly.

"She is not on her own," Senketsu spoke up audibly. "I will make sure she gets home with the city in one piece."

The man chuckled at that rejoinder. "Well that's good. Now as for compensation...want my soul?"

"Don't be shilly!" Ryuko countered as she swayed. "That'sh illegal!" She then burst into laughter.

"Well, the only other thing I have on hand is this," he said, gesturing to the painting. "It's not a copy."

"We'll take it," Senketsu stated calmly. A few threads unwound from the back of Ryuko's uniform to seize the painting, wrapping it up before strapping it to her back. "A pleasure doing business with you, and we look forward to serving you again...though preferably without the booze next time. She's hard enough to keep under control sober."

"I'll keep that in mind," the client replied with a grin as Senketsu moved Ryuko up and walked her out of the apartment, her body continuing to sway as she started singing off key.

"Now ev'ry body's died...so until our tears are cried...we drink and drink..."

The client shook his head as he watched her go. "So that's the Crimson Warrior, the Sekiryutei..." he murmured to himself. He then grinned widely. "The next few months are definitely going to be interesting..."