Kagura, 1st Person POV

I was surprised to see this guy again. But I guess that is my luck. At least it was him and not some bounty hunter from my homeland across the Great Sea.

I hid my ears under a headscarf to keep myself from being identified right away just in case, however. Sure there may be some people around here who look like part Danger Beast, but I rather not attract any more attention than I have already.

Tatsumi, as he had introduced himself to me after we got over our initial shock of seeing each other again so soon, was basically in the Capital because one, he got separated from his two traveling companions. Second, he and said companions want to join the Imperial Army so they can get money for their village as the heavy taxes placed upon them had made them impoverished.

A commendable act, sure, but this is the Capital, a lions' den of corruption and poisonous views. Despite his skill with his sword (a stone sword at that so me and my companions are in no danger of being killed by his blade) I get the feeling he probably won't make it far as a soldier, especially if he gets mixed up with Night Raid's assassins. If rumors are true, he probably would be slain on the spot before he could even draw his own blade against them.

However, I chose not to voice my honest opinion as he seemed down on his luck as it was. And I'm not one to kick a dog while they are already down, if you pardon the expression.

Turns out, he was swindled out of all his money as someone from the Capital promised to "get him hooked up" in the military. While it was foolhardy to give away all of your money, I could understand why he did it. Though the fault still remained with him for being tricked so easily.

Just as he was about to ask questions about me, a carriage pulled up beside us at that opportune moment. I heard Rui growl quietly from inside his basket, making Tatsumi turn to look at the basket tied to Alastor's saddle in question. I just ignored him as I put up my guard as that was a signal from Rui that danger was afoot. My hand drifted to the hilt of my nichirin sword, ready to draw it out at a second's notice when the door opened and a petite blonde girl made herself known to us. The hair along my neck and arms rose on end; she may look innocent on the outside but I could sense a sadistic thirst for blood and pain. While it is not as intense as Muzan's, it was enough to garner my attention as she seemed to be eyeing us up like we are her next meal.

However, Tatsumi seemed oblivious to this as he began to explain our (or rather his) situation. She introduced herself as Aria while Tatsumi seemed to be enamored by her looks, judging from how he is nearly drooling at the sight of her. Ugh... boys. I'm glad my boys are not like that, if you overlook Douma's clinginess.

"... So yeah we got separated and we don't have a place to stay-"

"Speak for yourself, dude," I interrupted, only to be ignored.

"You can come with me, then!" the girl, who introduced herself as Aria, suggested. My skin was now prickling. Add the fact that Isshun had yet to make an appearance thus far only makes things worse. Then again, he could be hiding as I don't recall seeing him since that drunk blonde chick from earlier....

I was about to open my mouth to reject the offer when Tatsumi, the naive idiot, opened his mouth yet again.

"Please! We'll gladly accept your offer!" Had this idiot learned nothing?! He might as well be asking to die at this point....

"Who's this 'we', kemosabe?" I smarted off at him, making both him and Aria look at me.

"But aren't you also-?" I cut him off quickly, so done with everything by now.

"I'm used to roughing it. Almost to the point it is second nature to me. And besides, I couldn't possibly trouble you and impose on your home." I said trying to let the chick down easy by being polite. If only marginally, as she rubs me the wrong way.

"It's not any trouble at all!" She insisted. Gotta give her points for the persistence. However, I'm a bit more, shall we say, stubborn. Whether it is a trait I got from my old man or it comes with being a hanyou/vessel for a pagan goddess I'm not entirely sure. I'm going with the latter, if only for my pride's sake.

"No really. And Alastor here," I gestured to my ghostly destrier, who gave a whinny/snort at being acknowledged, "Is used to being in the wilds. And I-" It was then my turn to get cut off as Tatsumi grabbed my hand.

Big mistake.

"Come on! No girl should- Gah!" He jumped back in shock as four different colored wolves wearing prayer beads around their necks like collars jumped out between us, letting go of my hand quickly as he took in their bared fangs.

(Kokkushibo, Douma, and Akaza)

I facepalmed; I knew this would happen the second his fingers grazed my own...

A little exposition: as an experiment, I let Rui, Kokkushibo, Douma, and Akaza drink a bit of my blood to see what would happen. The end result? They have the ability to morph into wolves, like me. When I told Tamayo-sama and Yushiro-kun in a letter, Tamayo-sama sent me some rosaries in the form of prayer beads to place upon them, with instructions that if they step out of line, I only have to say a simple one-word command to subjugate them (A/N: In other words, it's Kagome and InuYasha when they first met and he had to wear the beads and endure the "sit" command). While they didn't like the idea of being "collared," they understood why they had to wear them, if only for their own safety and perhaps mine in the event that the night of the new moon, the only time when my demonic powers are gone and I'm basically a full human.

Coming back to the present, my four boys plus sweet little Chibiterasu began advancing onto poor Tatsumi with their fangs bared, even as their expressions varied as Douma had his trademark creepy smile, Kokkushibo looked a bit poker faced despite his teeth being on display, Akaza looked like he was just itching for a fight, and Rui and Chibi just angrily stared the boy down, his red/pink eyes glittering menacingly, all the former Kizuki's kanji symbols representing their rank surfaced in place of their pupils (though they seemed a bit faded, I noted later on). Aria jumped behind Tatsumi in fright, or what was supposed to be fright (the kid is a good actress, I'll give her that), while Tatsumi shakily drew out his sword.

I ran my hand down my face in both exhaustion and exasperation; this could only go so well. Oh well, only one way to end this before it gets too out of hand.

"Boys, SIT!" I barked out.

The four of them froze as their prayer beads glowed an eerie purple, before they were tugged down harshly, their faces hitting the earth with harsh impact, making the ground shake slightly, Chibi freezing midstep as he saw his cohorts be thrown to the ground. Chibiterasu didn't get the rosary collar as he is not of the demonic persuasion like his "older brothers." Though he does tense up when I say the "sit" command, as if he is expecting to be subjugated as well. If the situation were different, it would be a sight to laugh at as four demons' faces were buried in the earth as their hind ends were left high up in the air until gravity took over, making their lower bodies hit the ground with a dull thud.

While Aria and Tatsumi stared dumbfoundedly at the sight of my now subdued demon wolves, a few men, dressed in armor, jumped out of the girl's carriage, their swords and guns drawn and aimed at me.

"What was that?!"

"Miss Aria! Are you okay?!"

"Hands where we can see 'em!"

A few began to advance on me, making me glare at them as I felt my canine teeth behind my lips begin to elongate into full grown fangs and my nails begin to grow and sharpen into claws as I readied myself to fight.

That is before the little Miss Samaritan spoke up. "Wait! You misunderstand! She was just helping us! Lower your weapons, gentlemen!"

This made them back off, sheathing their swords and putting away their pistols reluctantly. My fangs shrank back into their normal size and I let my claws retract as I huffed at them with aggravation. Some of them kept an eye on me, which I responded to with a glare of my own.

My boys whined pitiously as when this happens it actually kinda hurts them, even if it is nonfatal (though I think Douma personally enjoys it as he is often the one that gets 'sat" a lot, especially in the beginning when I first got those rosaries). Sighing, I kneeled down and began running my hands through their fur, mrmuring silent apologies to them while that annoying blonde chattered away at me and Tatsumi, though it went it one ear and out the other with me.

"Oww.... I hate that word...." Akaza bemoaned, speaking in wolf's tongue, a language I happen to be fluent in, among other animal dialects, courtesy of Amaterasu-sama.

"I apologize, Akaza-kun," I responded to him, feeling really apologetic. "I'll make it up to you four."

"We will... be taking you... up on that... just so you know..." Kokkushibo chimed in as he and the others got back to being on their paws. Douma just giggled like a hyena, making Aria, Tatsumi, and the guards look at the blonde canine with wariness while Kokkushibo, Rui, Akaza, and I just deadpanned at him.

"Douma, behave." I spoke normally while cuffing the Upper Moon Two lightly upside the head.

"I take it these.... canines are yours?" Aria inquired, making me irk slightly as I noted how she hesitated on the word, as if she wanted to call them something else, something more offensive but chose not to.

I kept a level expression as I looked her in the eye and answered her in a borderline civil tone. "Yes. Yes, they are. I do apologize for their behaviour." I actually don't mean that, but she and her dumbass lackeys don't need to know that. "They are quite protective of me. I am still training them, but they aren't very... social with other people, you see. They have trust issues with just about anyone, as their last... owner, shall we say, didn't treat them well, so it is an adjustment for the lot of them to make..." Not totally a lie, considering Rui, Kokkushibo, Douma and Akaza are concerned as Muzan never actually gave a shit about any of them. They were just mere pawns of his before I met them. Strong pawns, maybe. But they were still expendable to the demon king despite their titles and power among his other crazed flesh-eating ilk.

"I see..." she said, eyeing them critically, Tatsumi and the others doing the same. "My offer still stands though. Surely you like to entertain the idea of a soft bed to sleep in rather than some dingy sleeping bag on the cold hard ground. Not to mention, when was the last time you had a homecooked meal?"

A felt an irk mark appear behind my head at the comment about my "dingy" bedroll as it is kinda precious to me, as Urokodaki-sensei gave it to me before I fled the country. However, at the mention of food, my stomach decided to be a traitor and make it's own opinion by letting out a huge growl.

I blushed, albeit a bit angrily, at being easily found out, especially when I spied the deadpanned expressions of the four demon dogs standing before me, save for Douma as he had the unholiest of grins on his muzzle, which made me feel the urge to either slap it right off or "sit" him so hard he be halfway to the earth's core.

Sighing, I saw no way out of this and ran a hand through my hair, feeling very aggravated despite hiding it very well. "Okay fine. You twisted my arm. I'll come along. I need to take the time and see what things I need to re-supply on before getting back on the road anyway..." If there was a chance that I could take the time to let the boys feed before we leave then I'll take it. If it turns out that my gut is right about this b with an itch, then I'll just kill her and let the boys eat her to get rid of the evidence. Then we can probably loot her place before we leave and probably steal some of her food to live off of on the next trek. What could possibly go wrong?

"Let me get on my horse so I can follow alongside." I bargained, as I am not fond of being crammed inside a carriage like a pack of sardines. Claustraphobia aside, I'm less than willing to breathe the same air as this blonde wretch if I can avoid it. "That way I can kill any Danger Beasts that may come our way. And I know a few species that are rather active at night." "I won't mention that I have to plan my escape in the event you try and stab me or my friends in the back...." I had a distinct feeling that treachery is afoot if I don't watch myself.

Aria seemed to think about it before accepting it, but also she told me stay within her guards sight. I shrugged. Not a problem given Alastor can easily keep up, the only problem he has is when things are going too slow.

Sitting on Alastor's back, I used my telepathy link with the others while I sent Revali and Octavia to scout ahead for any danger. The Upper Moons and Lower Moon stayed in their canine form as they kept their pace with my Spectrier easily.

"When we get there, I want Douma and Rui to scout the grounds this Aria bitch lives in. I know you four could smell the blood on her, despite it being faint."

"Yes, ma'am!" Both of them answered in kind, Douma sounding a little too happy as her next command popped up.

"Anyone who tries to get in your way, kill them. But be sure not to make a mess. Eat them if you have to. As long as you don't leave evidence behind."

"Will do, milady~" Douma gleefully answered, licking his fangs in a hungry anticipation, the other three demon dogs following suit at the thought of feeding in the near future.

Once we made it to her mansion (not gonna lie, those are some nice digs her family's got) and got ourselves acquainted with our host's parents, I was finally allowed to have some peace and quiet as they gave me my own room. I gave them the half-truth of my story: basically I have traveled from across the Great Ocean to see the world. What I didn't mention that I was basically a fugitive from justice. Justice in the form of the Demon Slayer Corps. They seemed entertained by my tales from the lands beyond the Great Ocean; guess they don't foreigners around here often. And Aria's father seemed especially interested as I told him about the sights I have seen and about my tamed Danger Beasts.

Thankfully, they were totally fine with me having my (disguised) dogs at my side, permitted they get a bath before they can roam the grounds, especially indoors. Which led to a sudsy mess with me and a few of the servants of the house as Akaza and Kokkushibo detests baths (Douma just likes to give me trouble as he splashes around in the water while Rui, bless his now semi-demonic heart, just accepts it. Though that may be because I bribe him with hugs and let him bathe with Chibiterasu...). Finally clean, I sat down on the bed before sneaking out some leftover food from Alastor's saddle pack. Speaking of whom, I could see him out the guest bedroom window as he stuck to grazing in the family's pasture, the other horses keeping their distance from the phantom-like Danger Beast. He caught my eye, and let out a slight nicker, meaning that he found something that needs to be looked into. Revali and Octavia had already retired for the night as I snuck them into my room by opening the window and use the Hawk Whistle to draw them in. With a nod to my destrier, I turned to my now clean four demon dogs, though they have already swapped back to their more human forms as soon as we knew Tatsumi, Aria and her family had already turned in for the night.

"Okay you four, you know what to do." I said, jabbing my thumb out the open window.

Wordlessly, the four demons ducked out of the room as dark blurs, morphing into their canine forms as they immediately spread out in the open field to search the place.

I was stroking Revali's blue feathers while reading one of my journals gifted to me from Shinobu's late older sister Kanae to learn breathing styles and different ways to use poison and wisteria when one of them came back.

Rui rose to full height as he morphed back into his human form before speaking, his face looking slightly horrified, which is saying something.

"You need to come see this...."

Timeskip...

I smelled the stale blood of rotting corpses before I saw the shed, which was where the putrid scent was concentrated from. I turned to see Kokkushibo, Douma, and Akaza feeding on a two of Aria's bodyguards, Douma and Akaza growling at each other as they fought over one of the body's legs (though the former sounded more playful than the latter) while Kokkushibo looked at them with an annoyed poker face as he nonchalantly ate one of the arms.

Before I could ask, Rui piped up. "They tried to get in the way. So we killed them."

I nodded in understanding, not feeling the bit remorseful. Whatever this family is doing, it must be pretty nasty if they have to have a couple of poor schmucks guarding this ratty shed.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..." Rui said, walking past me, which made me see he had a corpse of a bodyguard of his own. "I'm gonna go feed around back... It's getting a bit noisy over there...." With that, he disappeared behind the shed, no doubt wanting to eat alone. Well, his choice. I'm certainly not gonna bother a beast while they are feeding. You could lose a finger, or all ten, as a result.

Taking a deep breath, I mentally braced myself for whatever horrors that may lay behind this door.

Trigger warning: blood, corpses, mentions of nudity, and mentions of violence ahead... And also Douma being Douma....

What I found was enough to make me hurl my last three consecutive meals.

The air reeked of death and sickness induced by poison, the floor was rotted with blood, both fresh and old, and there were countless wouded corpses in various positions, from hanging from the ceiling or the walls in chains to laying on the floor, their lifeless eyes bulging or missing. I clamped a hand on my mouth before I could throw up. Steeling myself, I used my aura to scan any form of life in this bloodsoaked hell. Picking up on two signals, though it was fading at a rapid rate, I turned my attention to a girl that was stripped naked and was hanging from the ceiling by her wrists. The amount of blood and wounds inflicted on her was more than enough to set my teeth on edge. From the scent she is carrying, it won't be long before death will claim her.

"P-please...." I heard a voice from off to the side. "H-help us..."

Squinting into the darkness, my eyes adjusted to see a boy, close to Tatsumi's age if I had to guess, bloodied and forced into a metal bar cage. His appearance alone could easily pass him off as one of Muzan's demons if not for the scent of pure human blood that I could sense with my enhanced nose. Not to mention the virus that clung to him like a parasite.

Judging from the smell of blood he had lost, plus the poison from a deadly virus running through his veins, he is not far from death's door, not unlike the female.

That is, not if I can help it.

"Do you want to live?" I asked him in a stoic tone, thankful that my voice didn't crack in the slightest.

"W-what?" He asked, looking a bit shocked.

"Do you want to live," I repeated, a bit more forcefully as time is of the essence. "Please answer quickly as time is precious, boy."

"B-but... they infected me with the Lubola virus.... and Sayo's already dead..."

I pointed to the girl hanging from the ceiling. "Is that her?" I asked, looking for clarification.

He nodded. "Yeah.. that bitch killed her!" His pain-filled eyes turned hateful and enraged. I sense that this was more than mere companionship with this guy. "Oh w-what I wouldn't give to see that snake to get skinned! I just hope Tatsumi-!"

"Your friend Tatsumi is here." I said cutting him off midsentence as his angered face morphed into horror.

"What?! T-the hell are you standing around here for?! You have to go warn him! You-" He then threw up blood, staining the already rotted wood floor further with the fresh crimson liquid. I squatted down to his level.

"Okay look, I don't have much time but here's what I can do for you two. I'm going to give you some of my blood so you two can live. Before you ask, your friend is alive but barely. Same with you. I can fix this problem but you are gonna have to trust me."

He coughed a bit, a few drops of blood hitting my cheek. He frowned up at me, even though it was weaker than it was intended. "H-how.. do we know... that you aren't... screwing with us..."

Now I was beginning to get exasperated. "Look, as much as I would love to argue and waste time on the matter of trust issues we do not have time. So let us look at it this way." I pointed to his female friend's suspended body. "If not yourself, do you want to see her live to see another day. Or will you both join the realm of the dead instead?"

This made him look conflicted. Another cough that nearly threw him to the disease-ridden floor before he hoisted himself back onto his knees to look me stonily in the eyes with a glare.

"Fine... you better help her... or so help me... I will kill you..."

I felt an unholy grin surface on my pale face. "Glad we to see we are in business."

POV Switch 3rd Person, Nobody

Meanwhile back at the mansion...

"Hey, Joe, where did Frankie and Tony go?" One of Aria's guards asked their partner as they sat near the manor's entrance ready for their shift change.

"I dunno, Charlie" another, supposedly Joe, answered with a shrug though he seemed slightly irritated as he continued. "But they sure are taking their sweet time getting back here. It's about time for the shift change. The missus warned us not to go slacking off, and if those two get us in trouble, it'll be us on that chopping block." He shuddered, remembering the first time he was dumb enough to go poking around the shed their employer warned them not to go into. He was lucky he got to walk away with his life intact after the scolding he received from the head of the family.

The first one, Charlie, sighed, running a hand through his hair. "C'mon, let's go look for them... maybe we can find them before the missus gets up and-" His sentence was cut off as there was a flash of white and a shiing sound as suddenly his neck was sliced open, blood spraying out, the sudden crimson wave hitting his horrorstruck partner in the face as the first guard suddenly dropped to the ground, feebly clutching his throat as he began to bleed to death.

"W-w-w-what?!" Joe fell onto his ass, scooting away as fear began to consume him as he watched with terror as his companion's eyes began to glaze over as death began to claim him.

"Ufufufufu~" Joe felt his blood run ice cold as he heard a bone-chilling laugh. "Ara-ara~ What do we have here?~" His head snapped up to see a rather odd-looking blonde man in rather outlandish clothing. The words to tell the intruder off froze on the tip of his tongue as the man smiled at him eerily. "Looks like a very naughty boy is trying to escape punishment~ I'll be sure you are disciplined with vigor~"

"W-what... w-why are you doing this?" Joe whimpered, tears beginning to run down his face.

"Why you ask?~" the blonde foreign man purred. "Because it is on my lady's orders~" He licked his lips, almost seductively if not for the hungry look in his eyes. "And it goes against everything to not obey her~ Besides she can't go wasting her time on a worm like you when I can easily get rid of you and your little friend with ease."

Joe felt his heart stop before racing a mile a minute when he noted the blood trickling from the intruder's mouth. The scream that wanted to come out of his mouth froze when he saw the man's eyes, the slightly blurry kanji symbols making themselves known in the intruders' multicolored eyes.

"Looks like my dinner will get cold if I don't eat it before it dies of shock~ Bon appetit~"

The last thing Joe ever saw was a flash of white razor sharp teeth and blood spraying upwards like a water fountain to the sky.

The Next Morning...

Tatsumi woke up the next morning feeling refreshed after having a full night's sleep, and in a nice soft bed on top of that. Having a full stomach also helped as he didn't really eat much back at the tavern with that sleazy blonde chick with big bazongas.

But he's putting all of that behind him, as soon, hopefully if what Aria's father said is true, he will be reunited with his friends Ieyasu and Sayo and maybe they can join the Imperial Army so they can save their impoverished village from further famine.

His thoughts slammed into a halt when he heard upset yelling from outside his guest room. Outdoors to be exact.

Jumping to his feet, he dashed to his window barefooted and pushed aside the curtains blocking out the morning sun. His jaw dropped in concern seeing his new friend (or at least he thinks she is, despite her aloof behaviour, he thinks she has a good heart) limping over back to the house with Aria's father helping her stay on her feet while she cradled an arm that had blood seeping through her sleeve while her other hand held onto her prized katana (he learned the hard way to not touch it as he nearly had his ass handed to him when he tried to practice sword fighting with it without her permission). He also saw her dogs following her right at her heels, their fur and muzzles stained with blood as well.

With no time to waste, he vaulted out the window, and ran up to meet them, where he saw Aria and her mother who were standing a distance away, the missus with her mouth covered in horror and Aria looked on at the one who had introduced herself the previous night as Kagura with scared wide eyes.

"What happened?!" He asked. While they were shocked that he ran outside in his boxers (some would say that they saw Aria blush at the sight of the country boy's toned abs) they chose not to ask about it as there was something more pressing at hand.

"We don't know!" Aria's mother said looking a bit scared at the sight of blood on the girl's arm and kimono.

"One of her dogs led me out here before sunrise," Aria's father informed them, supporting the girl still as she limped over to the group. "They wouldn't stop barking so I thought maybe they were trying to tell us something."

"So what happened?" Tatsumi asked, his concern for the girl going into overdrive.

"Don't know." The father shrugged helplessly. "Found her unconscious in the woods. A lot of blood was on her and her dogs, along with some weird black powder, so I guess a big fight had happened while we were sleeping."

"Oh dear!" Aria's mother gasped.

"What the hell was she doing out in the woods at night of all times!?" Tatsumi practically shouted, making Kagura and a few of her dogs wince at his loud tone.

"Danger... beasts..." Kagura was shaking as she began to speak in a scared tone. "I saw one... at the shed..." This made Aria and her family tense, while Tatsumi stared at the beautiful foreign girl with concern. "Their bodies... were torn beyond recognition... I tried to kill it, but it... it ran into the woods..." She let a few tears fall. "I was such a fool... It was trying to bait me into a trap... they surrounded me and were about to finish me off. And I almost paid for it if it weren't for my dear companions following me and buying me time to scare it off... with this..." She reached into the pocket of her torn kimono to reveal a round object with blue wrapping paper and a weird face drawn on it. Only now it has black powder staining it.

"What is that?" Tatsumi asked the question on the others' minds.

"A scatterbang..." Kagura began to explain. "I make these.... with certain plants, and.... when I happen to be in a pinch.... I use these to... scare them off. Works... like a charm." She gave a mirthless chuckle.

"That's kinda handy." Tatsumi commented, a bit awed by her genius, making Aria irk at him with a bit of jealousy.

"Yeah and a lot of good it did me..." Kagura murmured sullenly. "I was lucky... my hounds... found me when they did. Otherwise," she began to sniffle.

"What? What is the matter?" Tatsumi said, kneeling to the girl's level.

"Otherwise..." she paused for a moment, seeming to get her emotions and thoughts, "I'd never be able to achieve my dream.."

"Your dream?" Tatsumi asked.

"My dream..." Kagura looked down at the ground. "is one day and maybe settle down somewhere to open my own clothing shop someday... not just making my own clothes from my homeland... but also clothes styled from other places I have... traveled to."

Tatsumi nodded, having seen some of her sketches of clothing, and while he is no fashionista like his friend Sayo, he can appreciate the beauty and detail in her designs. Hell, he even pictured both Sayo and Kagura in them, and he gotta say it was one helluva good image he would bend over backwards to see in real life.

"That's quite a goal to have there," Tatsumi said albeit lamely, as he did not have much to offer as a comment to that. Aside from Sayo, he did not have much experience with the opposite sex (something he wanted to change once he and his friends have arrived at the Capital).

"Not to change the subject," Aria's father piped up. "But you said something about a Danger Beast near the shed. Plus some bodies, right?"

Hearing this made Kagura freeze as her eyes seemed to glaze over with unveiled terror.

"I think.... the Danger Beast killed a few of your guards..." She pointed in the direction of the shed Tatsumi didn't notice until now as it sat a distance away. With the breeze blowing, he could pick up the faint scent of blood in the air. Aria's father noticed his stare and it worried him. And with good reason, as noted by Kagura as she stole a quick glance at the patriarch.

"Errr... Tatsumi," he called the young man's attention back.

"Uh yes sir?" He responded shakily.

"Will you take your lady friend inside and help get her patched up? Maybe get her some fluids in her while we investigate the damage?" Aria's father suggested.

"What about you guys?" Tatsumi said, worried that their host might be putting themselves in danger if there is a Danger Beast running rampant on the mansion's grounds.

"I'll be fine," Aria's father gestured to his rifle, which was slung across his back so he could help Kagura back to the mansion. "One look at this pretty baby, and those damn Danger Beasts won't even go within a mile radius of me."

Tatsumi sweatdropped at the man's bragging, but decided to let it go. After all, he is getting to spend time with his crush, despite the circumstances being less than ideal for such.

Though that didn't stop his thoughts from entering some deluded fantasy that she'll fall in love with him while he's helping with bandaging her wounds.

"She'll fall head over heels for me when she sees how capable I am!" Tatsumi was suddenly giddy with his imagination going wild, unknowingly emtting his pheromones into the air. The three dogs present nearly gagged at the scent and held back from sending a stony glare in the brunette's way.

"Yes sir!" He saluted Aria's father dramatically, making everyone, save for the wounded Kagura, sweatdrop at the country boy's antics. Though Aria is looking pretty jealous at the present moment, seeing this strange foreign girl win this idiot hilbilly's heart seemingly without trying. It was all she could do to not grab the dumb bitch (pardon the expression) by her long sleek black hair and drag her to that shed with the other "playthings" of hers.

"I'll be sure to treat her extra special when I get to her later...such a shame, she was beginning to grow on me, too," Aria thought with sadistic glee, keeping her true face from breaking her mask. Admittedly, she was beginning to feel something of a sort of admiration for the foreigner, but her pride and vanity as both a rich girl and a sadistic torturer kept her from truly indulging these possibly amourous feelings towards her.

"Aria," she snapped out of her immoral thoughts when her father's voice reached her ears.

"Yes, Daddy?" she asked.

"Why don't you go with them? In case Tatsumi needs help with the first aid." Her mother suggested, her father nodding in agreement.

Aria nodded, getting the real message behind her parents' words: Keep an eye on the girl. If she saw what was in the shed, then she could very well be acting to get Tatsumi alone so she could warn him, and make a break for it. And they can't be having that, now can they?

Regardless, Aria went along with the ruse. "Yeah, sure." She turned to Tatsumi, looking a bit meek. "Though I must admit, I'm not the best when it comes to blood... seeing it makes me queasy..." That was a bald-faced lie; she practically relishes the sight of the crimson liquid spilling out of the bodies like cattle in a butcher shop.

"That's okay," Tatsumi's voice filtered through her ears. "I'm well-trained in first aid as me and my friends often get scraped up while hunting Danger Beasts back home."

"Can you tell me more?" She asked, sparkles flying around her body as she looked at him awe.

Tatsumi sweatdropped, feeling bashful at the attention. "Uh, sure. But let's get Kagura patched up first."

"Right!"

With that, the three departed for the mansion while the parents of Aria watched them until they disappeared from sight. They then went over to their shed to "assess the damage."

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, two figures watched their every move from the shadows.

One of them was Rui, of whom they all failed to notice not being with his mistress the whole time, as he was hidden well among the shady tree limbs as he hung onto his web strings in case things go south. He was eating a heart of one of the currently dead guards like an apple as he watched the couple go inside their precious shed. He was tasked with watching the two "newbies" along while Isshun was sent out to watch over the two while Rui stayed behind to gather information and spy on Aria's parents near the shed.

The other, way further off, out of Rui's smelling range, was a certain blonde bodacious with a penchant for booze and mischief, only now she had the attributes of a lion, with the ears, paws, and tail to go with it.

She gave a fanged smirk from her position in one of tallest the trees in the forest near the mansion. "Well well~, we meet once again, Miss Hot Stuff~. Must be fate for this to happen~ Looks like you got yourself tangled up in the wrong crowd too. I may have to punish you for that myself~ Don't worry though, I won't be too hard on ya~"

POV Switch, 1st Person Kagura

Meanwhile in the mansion.....

"Achoo!" I sneezed suddenly, making Tatsumi jump and look at me in concern. He had just finished bandaging my clawed up arm and got most of the blood cleaned off me. Octavia and Revali, who sat on the head of the chair I was placed in were preening my hair like two concerned mother hens while Tatsumi disinfected my wounds and wrapped them up. It was a bit awkward for the both of us when I had to take off part of my kimono to see the extent of the damage. His face almost became as red as the markings on Chibiterasu when he saw me in my bralette. We both made an agreement to never talk about that after this was over. Though I must admit he looked way too happy to agree to that.

"Oh no!" He now began fretting over me like a mother bear worried for her cubs. "Are you sick? Do you need some flu medicine? Some soup? Are you feverish? Are you cold? Do I need to get you a blanket? An ice pack?"

It took everything in my power to not snap out at him and break character. One, that would be suspicious to him and second, I could sense Aria right around the corner, no doubt suspecting me for knowing too much about her family's shed.

"I-I'm okay, Tatsumi," I said, putting those acting lessons I picked up from Shinobu (though hers is more instictual than intentional) and recently Douma as he is the master of deception of our group. "Somebody must be talking smack about me..."

"Now why would they do that?!" Tatsumi asked in shock, falling for it, hook, line and sinker. Do I feel bad? Slightly, given after talking with Ieyasu and Sayo last night.

"Not many people liked me from my home region," I made a show of giving the sad eyes, seeing him melt a bit in sympathy.

"How could they not like you?" He asked. I sighed, deciding to give him a piece of my personal life to make this convincing, even if it still hurts me to an extent.

"Tatsumi, can you keep a secret?" I asked. I could almost see Aria leaning in to listen in anticipation through the corner she was hiding behind.

Tatsumi, while shocked, nodded, albeit reluctantly. "To be honest, my family hated me." I admitted.

"Huh? But why? What's there to hate about you? You are practically one of the most skilled people I have encountered!"

"I dunno about that..." I said, looking unsure. "I mean, if I was really skilled, I would not have been ambushed by those Danger Beasts like I was earlier...."

"So you had an off day... or night I guess..." He corrected himself lamely. "But everybody gets those once in awhile. I'm just glad you aren't dead from soemthing like that."

I sighed. "I guess so..." I relented.

"That doesn't explain why your own family hates you. Isn't family supposed to be sacred?"

"Unfortunately, not everyone upholds that." I pointed out, my voice becoming bitter as I remembered my father's negligence of me and the mistreatment at the hands of his three other wives. "My old man certainly didn't. Hell, he's basically the reason why I left home in the first place."

"Wait... how old are you?" Tatsumi thoughtlessly asked. I decided to mess with him a bit, just for shits and giggles.

I gave him an appalled look. "Asking a maiden's age, have you no manners, sir?" I exclaimed indignantly.

It worked; he became flustered as he began to panic, waving his hands around sporadically. "I- I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that! Honest!"

I gave a slight giggle, making him balk at me before catching on that I was messing with him. "I'm just kidding..." I reassured him, giving him a genuine smile, and making him go red again. Then I became serious again. "But in all seriousness, I'm only fifteen, going on sixteen in a few days. And as for my... family situation," I struggled to find the words. "My father is a polygamous type, and he has three wives as of now." I then paused for a moment. "Unless he took another one since I left..." It's not impossible knowing my old man being a ridiculous and over-the-top flirt and unfortunately, some members of the opposite sex fall for him quite quickly. "Anyway, it wasn't always three, as there were once four. The fourth being my mother..." I then looked down at my lap, sadness consuming me. "Unfortunately, she died shortly after I was born. Ever since, I was basically the black sheep of the family..."

"Whoa wait back up a sec!" Tatsumi looked shocked and, dare I say it, a bit jealous. "Your dad has three wives?!"

I shot him a dry look. "Seriously. That's what bothers you? Not the part where my mother died after giving birth to me? Nor the fact that I was branded the family outcast?"

He winced, having been caught. "Sorry...."

I rolled my eyes, deciding to let it go for now. "It's whatever, man. Anyway, they made me the equivalent of a slave as I cleaned, cooked, and took care of everything around the house as my father is.. a hunter of sorts and is always out day in and day out. Sometimes one or all of his wives, my stepmothers, go with him. Leaving me alone a lot if I'm lucky."

Tatsumi frowned. "That's terrible."

"It doesn't stop there, I'm afraid." I then looked down, looking a bit hesitant. "But I'm not sure you should hear this..."

He looked alert, as if he is expecting an attack. "What? What did they do to you?"

"I told you too much as it is... I don't wanna look weak in front of you and the others...." I looked away a bit shyly.

"That's not true!" The country boy protested. "You are not weak!" He suddenly grabbed my hands. "I have seen you fight that Earth Dragon the other day! The way you sliced one of it's legs off with no trouble with that sword of yours speaks loudly of what you are capable of! So don't say you are weak!"

I felt heat rush to my cheeks, shocked by the boy's words. Sure I may be acting (mostly aside from my backstory, even with a few essential details left out) but I wasn't expecting this....

"T-Tatsumi-kun...." I spoke shakily.

"Umm pardon the interruption," Tatsumi whirled around to see Aria peering around the corner, finally revealing herself. I knew she was there the whole time, but I put on the act of surprise.

"M-Miss Aria!" Tatsumi looked a bit worried, no doubt because I shared "sensitive information" with him and was worried about how much she may have heard.

"I apologize for eavesdropping, but I really couldn't help myself."

"I bet," I thought sourly, as she continued.

Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "And I'm so sorry!" She then rushed at me, taking me slightly off guard as she hugged me. "I'm sorry for going through all of that!"

I felt awkward; it is not often I get hugged. Aside from Douma (but he's always like that, though I'm the one he's the clingiest with) and Rui (poor spider boi needs attention after all), I never have been embraced a lot. So this felt new.

Though I'm sure if it was someone else, preferably not some psychosocial bitch with a sadistic streak a mile wide, I would probably enjoy it, much less appreciate it.

However, since I'm still acting for the sake of this gullible country boy, it was best that I keep up the pretense.

I reluctantly wrapped my arms around the blonde girl, returning the hug gingerly.

"Uh... it's not your fault, Miss Aria-" I began before she cut me off.

"C'mon! No need for the honorifics! Just call me Aria! We're friends after all, right?" She gave me a cutesy smile as she looked up at me, making me want to projectile vomit at the sight of it. If it were someone else, anyone would be enamored by this snake of a girl. To me, it just felt all kinds of wrong.

"Uh.. sure," I responded, faking my slight shock.

"And I know what to make you feel better!" She brightening up.

"What might that be?" I asked.

"Some good old fashioned retail therapy!"

Both me and Tatsumi had our eyes become dots and our mouths become a flat line.

"Nani?" "What?" We said at the same time.

Timeskip to later...

In the capital's shopping district....

"Well I guess this isn't too terrible." I thought to myself as I browsed through racks of clothing.

Aria decided to take me and Tatsumi into the city to do some shopping, aka the aforementioned "retail therapy."

While I normally detest shopping (my stepmothers always took the fun out of it for me by having me wait on them hand and foot as they tried on endless outfits for hours on end before they could make a decision), I took the opportunity to get some supplies for the road and some things to make my fashion designs come to life.

I must admit, it was a bit gratifying to see Aria's shocked expression at the amount of textile materials I had grabbed up at the first opportunity (especially wool, various Danger Beast leather, silks/rayon, and different hides of various Danger Beasts) I purchased with one of her credit cards (which she gave to me, and I saw that she had at least five of them on her person alone). I was needing more materials for the kimono outfits I had drawn up, and using these hides will add a great amount of visual taste and functionality as it won't be just worn as decoration but also as something to deal with whatever weather comes my way, and it be easier to move about in, especially if one were to go hunting for Danger Beasts. While it may not provide as much protection as say steel armor or the like, it be easier to maneuver in.

My ears picked up on an interesting bit of information about the Emperor of the Empire. Turns out, the Emperor is actually a kid, so his prime minister, one Honest, is the one running this shit show from the shadows. And from what I can gather, he's the prime reason why this place in general is going to pot. Kinda makes sense now that I think about it. Unfortunately, the people of the Empire are powerless against this guy, as if he even catches wind of you talking shit about him, he will have you dead before the week is over. This was proven when one of the guards escorting us in the city clamped a hand down on Tatsumi's mouth when he spoke way too loud for their liking. Apparently the prime minister has many important figures in his back pocket, a power that is used very often from what I hear, judging from the apprehensive expressions on the townsfolk's faces.

I ran a hand over my face. Just my luck I landed in a cesspool of corruption like this place. Though it makes me wonder how this Honest guy hadn't tried to extend his reach of power back into my homeland.

Then again, given how long it took me and the others to get here, the guy probably thought it not worth the trouble of launching an invasion as it was a great amount of distance between here and there. Though I cannot say for sure. It was something to think on. Though I do not care if my old man and those three hags of his get caught in the prime minister's crossfire, ther was still those like Giyuu, Yushiro, Tamayo-sama, and the Kocho siblings to think about. While I may have no affiliation nor loyalty to the Corps, I rather not see them dead. And there is also Muzan and his ilk to consider. While I don't fear for Muzan as I know for a fact if he desired to, the prime minister would be slain before one could blink. But there is also the possibility that the Demon King could manipulate Honest and perhaps turn him into a demon to do his bidding, and that would create a whole lot of problems. I have already given Muzan the middle finger salute when I squirreled away some of his more powerful members of the Twelve Kizuki and, to add insult to injury, they had all donated their blood to Tamayo and Yushiro to find the cure to the demon blood transformation, which would be considered treason in the demon progenitor's eyes. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to kill the four of them for such insubordination if he discovered our location.

We were heading back to the mansion when I was mulling over these troubling thoughts when Tatsumi shook my shoulder abruptly.

Jumping slightly in my seat near the window, I snapped my head up to see him and Aria looking at me with curious yet slightly concerned eyes.

"What?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly, embarrassing me as I cleared my throat.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes." Tatsumi pouted, making Aria snicker at him.

"Oh, my bad," I had the decency to blush in embarrassment. "What is it?"

"Well, you have been staring out the window pensively ever since we left the shopping district." He frowned in concern. "Everything okay?"

I sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. Something about earlier bothered me... though I'm not sure if it is safe to say here..."

"What is it?" Aria inquired.

"Well, it is about the prime minister..." I began making both of them tense. I guess even the sadistic psychopath can feel some extent of fear in regards to this Honest guy. "I haven't been here in this country long, so my opinion may be a bit skewed on the matter... but is the prime minister really that bad?"

Tatsumi looked apprehensive on answering me, no doubt because of what that guard told him earlier.

So Aria answered for him. "To put it bluntly, yes. My father used to serve in the military, so he got to see and up close view of what that man really stands for. It was the main reason he left, aside from wanting to help Mom raise me."

"Ah. I see," I nodded, as if I understood, even though she was practically lying through her teeth.

"Was.." Tatsumi gulped before continuing, "was there a reason why you had to ask that?"

I sighed, deciding to share a shred of my thoughts. "Yeah. A part of me was worried that the Prime Minister may try to extend his.. influence to my homeland..."

"But.. didn't you say that you had no personal ties with your homeland?" Aria questioned.

"Maybe to my family, but I still had a handful of friends that I had to leave behind." I slumped in my seat, thinking of Giyuu, and how lonely and ostracized he may be as of now since I left the country. "That, and..." I paused to think of the right words. "There is a force of evil in my homeland that could very well rival this prime minister's own...." I shuddered, just thinking of those plum red demonic eyes makes me shiver slightly.

Tatsumi and Aria raised their eyebrows at my haunted expression. "W-what... makes you say that...?" Tatsumi pressed, looking a bit scared to find out.

"Let's just say demons can come in many forms and sizes....." I said cryptically before I returned my gaze out the window, ending the conversation right then and there.

Silence, while awkward and tense, filled the carriage until we got home. Once we made it back, I overheard the parents of Aria that while they were missing their two recent "additions" it would seem convinced that I was right about the Danger Beasts breaking in and making a mess of the guards.  I put all my purchases in the travel bags that I managed to get from Alastor's saddle and made sure I had my other things packed and ready to go at a moment's notice.

"Guys," I telepathed to everyone present, including our two newbies, "get into position, as it is about to go down come moonrise.."

"Yes, milady~"

"Hai...."

"Roger that, Kagura-sama."

"Can't wait..." I could almost see Ieyasu and Sayo licking their newly developed fangs as they were ready to get payback on the ones who put them in last night's position.

"Okay. Douma. You are in charge of disposing the bitch's mother. Akaza, you take the old man. Kokkushibo, keep an eye on Tatsumi and try to herd him and Aria to the shed." I ignored the disgruntled snort from the former Upper Moon One as I continued, "Rui, eyes on the newbies and the shed. Be ready to launch an ambush on Aria in the event she enters the shed. Isshun, pinpoint all the locations they stash their cash and other valuables as I plan to loot the place once this is over."

"Will do," Isshun hopped off my shoulder to land on Chibi's back before dashing out the room to do as I say.

"Why do I.. have to be.. stuck with... babysitting the human?" I rolled my eyes at Kokkushibo's grumbling.

"Because shut up." I said bluntly, making Douma snicker at my response.

Rui, on his end, wisely kept quiet, as while he doesn't like being stuck with babysitting duty, it was better with our new recruits than with Tatsumi, as the four shared a dislike for the country boy for whatever reason.

Later that night, little did anyone else know, hell is going to break loose.

Timeskip to the middle of the night....

POV Switch, 3rd Person POV, Nobody

Aria's mother was walking down the hallway, holding a diary to her chest.

"Oh how I love my hobby..." she said wistfully, before some movement caught her eye. Looking to the left of the hallway, she saw one of her guests' dog, the one known as Chibi, sitting at the end of the corridor.

"Now what might you be doing at this time of night?" She wondered aloud. Usually, her guest's canines are by her side in her bedroom, so to see one of them, even the youngest out and about was odd.

And suspicious.

Just as she took a step towards the pup, they took off.

"Hey! Just a minute!" The woman dropped her diary, completely forgetting about it as she pursued the pup.

Just as she disappeared from sight, a hand from the shadows reached down to pick up the abandoned journal. Opening it, the figure stepped out of the shadowy area of the hall where the red moon's light shone down on them, revealing them to be Kagura herself.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Kagura shook her head in fake shame. "Such a naughty woman you are. Well, guess she'll get to spend some quality time with Douma in a bit."

Her canine ears swiveled, hearing something outside. "Uh-oh." She muttered not even turning around to look out the nearby window. "Looks like we have company..." Suddenly her nose twitched picking up a few new scents, along with the smell of bloodlust. "And a few are already in the place.. I hope the others don't run into trouble..." Tucking the journal away, Kagura took off through the hall, no doubt to investigate and hopefully not get discovered too soon.

"I already sense two foreign presences within the mansion already, both of them reeking of bloodlust," Kagura thought as she traversed stealthily through the many hallways. "If the rumors are right, then it is probably Night Raid. While on the one hand, that is a good sign that they are targeting these guys. But on the other, how will they react to two, if you don't count my companions, 'innocent' bystanders, I wonder. While I can probably escape with a little fight here and there, worst case being a big fight with a big guy or girl, I don't think I can say the same for Tatsumi. Especially if this 'Akame" I have heard about in the city is involved. She is deadly especially with a katana that contains a unknown yet powerful poisonous curse that can kill with one cut to the flesh... which may be an issue for me and perhaps the others..."

She ducked into a shadow seeing a feminine silhouette approach Aria's mother from behind as she pursued Chibiterasu to the end of a corridor where he seemingly vanished into the shadows.

Her dark-colored eyes widened when the woman was suddenly decapitated in one swing of the scissors-looking weapon in the shadow's hand.

Stepping into the sparse moonlight the outside provided, Kagura made out the person's figure. As she deduced, they were a female, clad in a purple dress, and wearing spectacles and had matching violet eyes. Kagura felt a blush rise into her face as she took in their features.

"Gotta admit," Kagura thought. "She looks pretty cute, even for a seemingly skilled assassin."

While her aura screamed bloodlust, her face looked apologetic. "I'm sorry." She spoke to the corpse, before she suddenly turned to the opposite corner of Kagura, making her tense, as she suddenly sensed Douma and there was no time to mentally warn him to withdraw and stay out of the assassin's line of vision.

"Hmmm..? What are you doing here...?" the woman asked as Douma stepped into the reddish light in all of his wolfish glory all the while seemingly to glare at her with a bit of annoyance in his rainbow-colored eyes.

Kagura nearly facepalmed at the woman's words. That's her reaction? After a quick reading into Douma's current emotions, she realized he was a bit annoyed with the woman for stealing his assigned kill.

Kagura tensed, praying to her goddess that Douma does not do anything remotely stupid and get his ass sliced next. Sure chances are he would just regenerate, but judging from the aura the weapon in the girl's hand, she had a feeling that it may not be that simple...

Her worries were put to rest when Douma just shrugged indifferently and just went back to the dead body and began to eat, almost as if nothing happened. Queue the sweatdrop from the purplenette as she watched with slight morbid curiousity as he began his meal.

Kagura accidentally let out a sigh of relief, alerting the woman to her presence. She tensed when the woman suddenly whirled around to look at exactly where she was standing in the darkened corner of the hall. "Hello? Someone there?"

"Shit shit shit!" Kagura panicked, leaping out of her spot and almost (accidentally) knocking the woman off her feet as she took a step back in surprise as Kagura made a mad dash in the other direction of the mansion.

"E-eh?!" Apparently the girl was not the most coordinated as she lost her balance, nearly dropping her scissor weapon in her surprise.

Looking down the corridor where the figure began running down, the purple-headed girl, named Sheele, gaped in awe and surprise.

"She disguised her presence perfectly." She thought with shock. "How can that be...? Could she be an assassin too?" She wondered putting a finger up to her chin.

Meanwhile, Douma, who had saw what happened and had taken a moment from his meal to watch his lady and mistress make a mad dash as she nearly gave herself away to a human assassin. He raised an eyebrow at the airheaded human who currently sat on her butt in awed stupor as Kagura-sama disappeared from view. Deciding that it was not a big deal as his lady had proved time and time again that she is more than capable of handling herself, he just went back to his meal.

"I better hurry if I don't want the others to hog all of the fun, especially what will happen once we get outside...." He couldn't hold back his new trademark hyena-like giggle as he devoured the wretched woman's carcass, unknowingly catching the attention of the purple-clad assassin and making her scoot away from the seemingly creepy wolf with a bit of unease in her posture.

Meanwhile in another part of the mansion....

As for another member of Aria's family, the father was currently in a strangle hold of a certain leonine blonde.

"P-please!" He wheezed as his air supply was beginning to get cut off. "Have m-mercy!"

The busty blonde woman scoffed. "Mercy? Never heard of it." Just before she snapped his neck, she felt her balance be completely thrown off as something hit her from behind. "What the-?!" In her confusion, she dropped the man she was choking in her lion-like paw, who fell to the ground gasping as the woman tumbled sideways from the heavy impact.

"Who the hell-?!" Her words trailed off when she saw what she considered to be the weirdest dog she had ever clapped eyes on. It was off-white, or silver as the moonlight was not much help with deciphering certain colors, with blue stripes like a basketball's design and a bright pink mohawk on their head trailing down to their back. Their yellow eyes gleamed menacingly, a Kanji symbol, while blurred and slightly faded, appeared in their eyes as they bared their fangs seemingly at her.

Depsite it all, Leone only smirked, ready for a challenge. "Wanna go puppy?~ I'll show you a-" Her words were cut off as the dog suddenly leapt forward. Leone, reacting on instinct, swung at them, thinking the wolf was going for her, her claws missing by a hair as she fell forward, missing her target entirely. Using her head as a springboard (and making her faceplant comically into the hard floor below them) the dog leapt straight for Aria's father, who had just sat up to catch his breath, only to scream when he saw the familiar form of one of his guests' dog leap at him with their fangs gleaming in the moonlight as they sank them into his neck.

Leone sat up and looked in the wolf's direction with embarrassed anger in her eyes. "What the hell, you mutt?! I oughta-" She then noticed that the dog had her target's throat in their jaws, blood running down his neck as his life drained from his eyes as his futile scream died in his throat.

As soon as his eyes glazed over, the dog dropped the human, the victim's head harshly hitting the floor below, before showing their bloodstained fangs at Leone.

She stared stupefied at the odd canine. Call her crazy, she could almost feel as if something felt familiar about this wolf.

But what could that be?

Almost as if to answer her, her ears picked up on some rapid footsteps heading in their direction. Whipping around, her golden eyes widened with surprise when she recognized the figure of the girl she took (read as forced) to the bar earlier that week). Her eyes glittered with excitement as her pheromones were released into the atmosphere by the ton, making Akaza wrinkle his nose as he smelled them.

"Akaza!" She said, brushing aside Leone, "Move it already! We need to get outside now!" Akaza barked to show he understood before he decided to abandon his meal to do as she commanded.

Before she could leap after him, Kagura felt herself be snagged midair by the back of her haori.

Kagura's heart sank to her stomach as she heard a voice while she only heard it once, it was way too familiar for comfort.

"Now, what do you think you're doing, puppy?~" Leone's voice purred into her ear.

"Ah fuck berries...." Kagura felt herself go pale as she turned her head to confirm if it really is the leonine girl that had more or less harrassed her back at the tavern. She felt the heated feeling of a blush fill her cheeks at the nickname Leone dropped on her.

"Seems like you have been a naughty puppy lately~" Why did she have to say it like that? "Am I gonna need a leash and collar to keep you in line?~"
What.

The.

Fuck?!

On a scale of one to ten, this was a giant nope in Kagura's book. She may not be familiar with sexual relationships, as she felt as if her parental figures did a poor job of making that aspect in life look good to begin with, but even she could hear the innuendo in her voice.

So she did the most natural thing in her book.

She abandoned her haori (with a heavy heart as that was her favorite from her friend Giyuu a year before she left the country) similar to that of a lizard losing it's tail when fleeing a predator, and took off sprinting as if her life depended on it, her black kimono she was wearing beneath it showing off her toned slim arms as she took off like a bullet, her new mission to get away from this crazy lion-looking woman.

Leone blinked at the haori in her paw, hardly believing that yet again, the cute puppy had evaded her.

"Oh well," she shrugged, placing the clothing over her shoulder, like a towel from a bath, before she began to saunter in the same direction Kagura ran off to in an easy-going pace. "She'll be back for this. In the meantime," she caught the scent of flowers emitting from the clothing, making her unconsciously bring it to her face and get a good whiff. "I'll just take my time and head out to meet with Akame and the others, seeing as my job was done for me..."

Meanwhile outside...

Kagura burst through the door leading to outside where the shed was standing not too far away. She also caught sight of Aria and Tatsumi running straight towards it, as one of the assassins that was stationed outside was giving chase. She felt a smirk crawl on her face.

"Perfect." She thought with a smirk etching onto her face, her earlier adrenaline rush from running into Leone forgotten. "I hope Sayo and Ieyasu are ready to dole out the payback onto that blonde bitch..."

Meanwhile in the shed....

Two figures, one a black female wolf with a fresh white flower behind one of her triangular ears and the other a dark grey/black male with a beige headband wrapped around his head, were concealed in the darkness of the accursed shed, the smell of corpses not bothering them as the thirst for revenge overpowered their newly developed sense of smell and hearing as they recognized the scent of their former tormentor Aria drawing closer to them.

They smirked fiendishly as they heard Aria tell Tatsumi to guard her from outside while she hid inside, leaving it to him to fight off the assassins.

They bared their teeth as she was deceptively throwing their dear friend to the wolves (if you pardon the expression) while she makes her escape in this bloody hellhole of a torture chamber. How fitting that she will meet her end in here, where she herself had nearly killed them.

Shutting the door behind her, they began to slink out of their hiding spots, their tongues swiping over their gleaming white fangs.

Aria grabbed a lantern and lit it with a match, no doubt to try and see in the pitch black darkness. Too bad it will not help her much, given their new and improved eyesight, especially in the dark. While they may have been recently transformed, they learned pretty fast, thanks to Rui, Isshun (though Sayo developed a great dislike for the green little bug-man for being a perv), and, when she could get away from Aria and the others, Kagura. While they may not have unlocked any Demon Blood Arts (though the jury was still out on that as Kagura had yet to find hers out, much less if she can wield such a power), they were confident that they didn't need them to kill this sick bitch (again, pardon the expression).

Aria felt a chill run up her spine as she lit a lantern to see and be sure not to slip or trip on any of the bodies littering the shed. Last thing she wanted was to ruin her good night gown...

Those petty thoughts slammed to a halt when she heard deep guttural growling from deep within the shed. Her blood froze as suddenly the lantern was knocked out of her hand, making her shriek in surprise as she fell. Suddenly, the latch on the door was slammed down, locking her in, making her shriek in terror.

The growling was closer and louder, like they were in front of her making her look up in front of her. Her heart (if she had one to begin with) sank to the very depths of her soles as she caught sight of two large wolf-like creatures, and from the looks in their eyes and the way they were licking their chops, they were ready to tear into her at any moment.

Sayo smirked at her.

"Thought we were dead, did ya?" While Aria didn't understand her like Kagura would if she were in the vicinity, Sayo nor Ieyasu didn't care at the moment as the blonde's fear was the most delicious thing to them at the moment.

"Payback time!" Ieyasu added, licking his fangs, ready to dole out the punishment this bitch deserves.

"Killer Fang!" They chorused, leaping at her from both sides, making Aria scream in fear for her life as she tried to roll away from them, the noise alerting the others that were still outside.

"Miss Aria!" Tatsumi, who was locked in combat with the Red-Eyed Killer herself, forcefully shoved Akame aside to aid the girl as he heard loud slams and thuds followed by high pitched screams of pain (courtesy of Aria), alerting the assassins outside, making them curious. They didn't send either of their comrades to the shed, so what could be going on in there?

To further prove their point, they spotted Sheele and Leone running out of the mansion.

"Someone should go and check that out!" a green-haired male teenager stated, feeling a bit apprehensive about the commotion inside the shed, and what could be causing it.

"You volunteering?" a pink haired girl with a big gun in her hands asked snarkily.

"Hell no!" the other responded with a touch of fear in his voice.

Meanwhile in the shed, Ieyasu had tossed Aria up in the air before he jumped up to smack her down to the floor, where Sayo had took ahold of one of Aria's legs and began slamming her down harshly onto the floor repeatedly.

"You'll pay for more than that," Sayo lashed out as she beat the living pus out of the sadistic blonde, "for mutiliating our bodies!"

"C'mon, Sayo!" while Ieyasu was having fun participating in giving Aria her just desserts, he knew they can't draw this out too long, as much fun that may be. "Hurry up and kill the damn bitch."

"Yeah yeah, let me have my fun with her as she had her fun with me before this..." Sayo grumbled as she halted her beatdown for a moment to answer her partner.

Right at that inopportune moment, the door, which had held fast with the latch in place up until now, suddenly broke down with a solid bam, before it fell to the floor, cathcing them by surprise.

"Eh?!"

They were shocked to see Tatsumi of all people standing there, with his sword drawn and ready to fight. "Tatsumi?!" they both exclaimed at the same time, though he didn't understand nor recognize them.

That moment of distraction was all Aria needed, as she suddenly drove her foot into Sayo's face, making her yelp in pain and surprise as she accidentally released her sharp-toothed grip on Aria's now bleeding leg.

"S-sayo!" Ieyasu gasped in shock as she reeled back in pain, her paw rubbing over the now injured side of her face. Scrambling over to Tatsumi, Aria hid behind him, sniveling like a coward as Ieyasu prepared to jump after her to get payback for Sayo.

"Get back here now you cowardly snake!" Ieyasu snarled leaping forward, ready to avenge Sayo for her current injury.

Just as he leapt forward to drive his fangs into her throat, his teeth were met with something hard, throwing him off target. He was then swung around and he found himself airborne as he was practically thrown out of the shed, where he landed harshly on the ground outside, skidding towards a tree on his belly before stopping.

"Ooooh...." Ieyasu slowly sat up, groaning with pain, feeling stunned and slightly confused. As he got to his feet, he realized his mouth was bleeding, specifically where his fangs were... Running his tongue over them, he realized with shock that his once sharp canines were now broken. "M-My fangs-!!!" he gasped.

"Dammit Tatsumi!!" Ieyasu cursed inwardly. "I was trying to save you, dammit!"

"Ieyasu!!" Sayo leapt past Tatsumi and Aria, momentarily forgetting her original objective. She rushed to his side as his mouth bled onto the ground below. "Oh my god!" She gasped in horror seeing her friend's broken fangs. "This is all my fault!! I'm so sorry, Ieyasu!" She began to lick his cheek, tears streaking from her eyes.

Through his dark colored fur, Ieyasu blushed heavily, despite losing his fangs in a painful manner.

Meanwhile with Night Raid the assassin group watched with awe and curiosity, both at the odd canines who apparently took a chunk out of Aria first before they got to her. However, Tatsumi was angry so he decided to take advantage of the distraction and charge at the dogs himself.

Sayo tensed, standing over Ieyasu in a protective stance, though she was shaking violently.

"Surely he wouldn't-? No, not Tatsumi!" Sayo began to panic, not wanting to fight her childhood friend, but she will not abandon Ieyasu, no matter what.

Tatsumi swung his blade high, making Sayo flinch and shut her eyes to block out her final moments as she still refused to move from her position over Ieyasu.

Only to be met with a blade clashing with his. Opening one eye, Sayo was then greeted with the sight of her and Ieyasu's saviour from death as of twice now, standing between Tatsumi and themselves.

"Sorry, Tatsumi," the familiar voice of Kagura reached the human boy's ears making him pull back in surprise upon recognition. "But I can't allow you to kill my allies."

"W-what?! Kagura, you-?!"

"Before you start," Kagura spoke in a stony yet cold tone.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Okay." Kagura spoke again, this time in a more irritated tone. "Before. You. Start." She grounded out with emphasis.

"What the hell is going on?!" Tatsumi practically yelled.

"If you shut up a damn minute I'd tell you, dumbass!" Kagura snapped out, her temper getting the best of her as her tail puffed up like that of an irate cat, her now visible wolf ears laid back with anger as her dark eyes glittered.

"Oh yes please do explain!" Tatsumi retorted childishly, making everyone aside from the two arguing sweatdrop at this juvenile behaviour. Leone leaned against a tree enjoying the show a bit too much. While Akame just watched with a deadpanned expression, her other allies beginning to come down from their position on the sharp wires courtesy of the green haired teen. "Please explain why you are with these cold-blooded killers!"

"First of all, I'm not in league with anyone." Kagura sassed back, feeling so done with the night. "So check yourself before you go wrecking yourself, bub. Second, I couldn't stand by and let you kill my allies just because they were enacting justice on a bitch."

"How could you say that about Miss Aria?!" Tatsumi looked appalled at her words. "After everything she and her family done for us, this is how you repay her?!"

"I don't make it a point to feel indebted to someone who kills people for their amusement." Kagura stated icily, making Tatsumi balk at her tone. "And what would you say that your dear hostess is the reason why your two buddies haven't been found, despite what her old man claimed?"

"W-what are you saying?!"

"What I'm saying, dick for brains, your little girlfriend over there is not exactly a delicate flower as she led you on to believe. As a matter of fact, she is the reason why your two friends are no longer of this world."

"W-what?!" Tatsumi couldn't believe his ears. Surely they hadn't-

"I'm afraid it is true." Kagura sighed her voice growing softer. "Remember the other night when I got injured? Well, let's just say I fibbed about some of the finer deatils..."

"What?" Tatsumi lowered his sword.

"I apologize, but if I had revealed what was really going on then, that girl and her family would have killed you for knowing too much." Kagura began to explain.

"Don't tell him!" Aria began to screech, only for her face to be slammed to the ground, courtesy of Kokkushibo as he wanted to make the bitch be quiet as he was in no mood to listen to her loud voice.

"Knowing too much?" Tatsumi repeated, a bit dumbfounded. He then turned to the injured Aria. "Miss Aria. What is she talking about?"

"D-don't listen to her Tatsumi!" Aria found a way to adjust her injured face so that she could manage to say a few words despite Kokkushibo's weight bearing upon her body. "She's trying to trick you!"

Kagura snorted in her direction. "Pah. At least I'm coming clean about lying to him beforehand. As I only lied to keep him safe from your poisonous clutches, bitch." She turned back to Tatsumi. "Sayo and Ieyasu." His eyes widened upon hearing their names. "Those were the names of your friends, right? Well the other night, Alastor was alerted to smell of corpses. As an S-Class beast that specializes in the matters of the deceased, I knew Alastor wouldn't be wrong as he himself is part phantom. So when I sent my hounds to patrol the grounds on the first night, they were alerted to the smell of blood and various toxins, plus the smell of rotting corpses. So I decided to do my own investigating while everyone else is asleep. Imagine my surpise when I found this dingy little shack chock full of mutilated bodies and various torture devices scattered throughout the place." Tatsumi's eyes widened further and further to the point that they were the size of dinner plates. He nearly forgotten that a whole gang of assassins were spectating these events as they watched them unfold.

"B-but...."

"While I was investigating, I noticed that two significant life forces, though they were fading fast. The boy, he told me his name was Ieyasu and that girl was your friend Sayo." Kagura lowered her head in sorrow. "I tried to save the both of them, but it was too late. Sayo had long passed through the threshold of death. Ieyasu was infected with a potent virus and they didn't have much time left on this earth. So with a heavy heart, I asked what his final wish was. He told me... 'Keep Tatsumi safe...'"

"H-how do I know you aren't lying? Like you did before?" Tatsumi didn't want to believe it. Kagura lifted her head at that, her eyes blank now though everyone could sense the anger behind her poker face. Sheathing her sword, she snatched Tatsumi hand (while blatantly ignoring Leone's jealous gaze) and began to drag him towards the shed.

"Then why don't you take a good look in where little miss Samaritan tried to hide and say it to my face that I'm lying." She stated venomously as she viciously shoved Tatsumi through the wrecked doorway. The others collectively winced at the dark haired girl's rough handling. Not that she was wrong as she clearly knew who the real enemy was.

Catching himself on his hands and knees, Tatsumi looked up around himself only for his stomach to try and empty itself at the grotesque image before him.

Like she said, there were copious amounts of dead mutilated bodies. The scent of illness and various toxins filled the stale air, making him retch at the vile smell.

"You were saying?" Kagura spoke with a touch of acid in her tone.

"D-don't listen to her, Tatsumi!" Aria spoke up again, making Kagura roll her eyes with anooyance and Sayo and Ieyasu stare her down with killing intent as they had recovered from earlier.

She managed to shove Kokkushibo off her, who merely stepped over to Kagura to stand before his lady protectively, his six eyes glowing menacingly as Aria tried to crawl over to where Kagura and Tatsumi were standing.

"I-I had no idea those guys were in there!" Aria then began to spew desperate lies, trying to save her own hide.

"Bullshit," Kagura snapped at her, making Aria flinch from her harsh tone and catching a glimpse of the ravenette's canine teeth becoming sharper and longer as her anger became more pronounced. "We all saw you run in here when you were trying to throw Tatsumi to the wolves and make your little escape. But a couple of my dogs were already in position, and ready to attack once they caught sight of your damn face. Same for your mother and father as I unleashed a couple of my other wolves onto them." Aria blinked in horror as Kagura revealed that her dogs killed her doting parents. The Night Raid assassins blinked in surprise as appararently this unknown stranger had beaten them to the punch with their marks. "If it weren't for these guys showing up, you would have tried your little toys on Tatsumi here. Of course, I would not have allowed it. Since I knew from the word go that you held ill intentions for both of us." Kagura folded her arms. "So what do you say, little miss rich girl? Wanna fess up now or shall I drag it out of you myself. I suggest you do the former as it would be less painful for you."

As if Kagura had said the magic words, Aria's demeanor changed, Gone was the crying innocent girl, now replaced with a monster in human skin. Sayo and Ieyasu curled their lips in disgust as Aria had more or less shed her mask of the sweet selfless girl to a complete demon from hell.

"So what if I killed them?" She lashed out her eyes becoming psychotic as she smiled an ugly smile. "They were nothing but cattle for the slaughter! And that bitch had better hair than I did! She deserved to die! I had to toil hours upon hours to perfect my hair while hers was done without effort! It wasn't fair! So I treated her special! So I-!" Suddenly she was cut off as a giant lion-like hand lifted the girl up by her head. Kagura narrowed her eyes at the sight of Leone, though her annoyance with her was more subdued as Leone's focus was more on Aria than her.

"Think that's enough of a confession." Leone said unimpressed.

"Finally something we can agree on." Kagura decided to take a shot at the blonde who nearly felt her up earlier that week.

"Hey, why are you sore with me?" Leone whined, pouting.

"Maybe because if you hadn't tried to sexually harass me and have my ass chased around the city when that mob came after I wouldn't be in this situatuion!" Kagura snapped at her, her fangs bared at the taller assassin as she stomped up to her with her bristled tail lashing with thinly veiled anger.

"Umm... my bad...?" Leone asked than stated.

Kagura snorted at this, not impressed. "That was half-assed at best, chick. But whatever." She then snatched Aria out of the older woman's paw, only she held the bitch by the throat. "Think I'll just go and do your job and kill this wench and then I'll go loot the house and be on my way with my friends." As she spoke, her aforementioned "pets", including Rui and the "newbies" Ieyasu and Sayo, gathered close to her, their eyes trained on the captured Aria, their muscles tensed and ready for their lady's commands.

"Here you go, guys." Kagura spoke with no emotion or inflection in her tone. "The main course." Just as she was about to throw Aria to the wolves (mind the pun), a voice made her halt in her tracks.

"Wait." Tatsumi spoke up. He was looking down at the ground, his face shadowed by his hair.

Kagura, along with her lycanthrope companions (save for Ieyasu and Sayo, though they looked betrayed as they stared at Tatsumi), glared at the brunette with irritation. "Are you seriously defending this bastard even after all that was revealed to you? Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kagura snapped out, her tone rising in pitch as she barely kept herself from morphing into her wolf form and lashing out at him physically.

"No." His tone came out cold, almost making Kagura balk and the others look at him with curious interest. He then unsheathed his sword, making Kagura raise her eyebrows before he added. "I want to kill her myself. After what she did to Ieyasu and Sayo, she doesn't deserve mercy."

For a moment, Kagura remained still, her eyes assessing Tatsumi as she took in his bloodlust. So he's not bluffing. Not even Douma can fake that level of bloodthirst.

With that in mind, she shrugged. "Fine with me." She mercilessly threw the blonde at his feet. Everyone save for Tatsumi and Kagura winced at the sound of bones breaking on impact. "Saves me from getting more blood on my kimono. Speaking of..." She turned to Leone with her hand out. "Give me back my cloak."

Leone decided to tease her again. "What's the magic word?"

Kagura glared at her as her voice changed to something almost demonic. "Now."

Leone nearly dropped the haori with shock as fear nearly overcame her. She held it out to her, her arm shaking slightly. "Y-yes ma'am."

The other assassins were both impressed and slightly scared of this newcomer. Not many can intimidate Leone into submission aside from their boss....

Taking it back, Kagura shrugged her cloak back on, her eyes closed as she tried to calm her boiling anger while breathing through her nose. Chibi, who had been on Akaza's back up until now since they had long left the mansion, decided to take the moment to approach her. The smallest canine in the group placed his paws onto her leg, making her look down before she picked him up in her arms and hold him close.

Rubbing the pup's ears. she turned back to Tatsumi. "Well get on with it." She spoke impatiently while covering the young dog's eyes to block out the oncoming bloodbath. "These guys may have all night but I certainly don't. I got things to do, places to be, and not a lot of time. And I still got to loot the place before I get to burn the place down."

Without another word, Tatsumi swung his sword down on Aria, delivering the killing blow as blood spewed from her wound.

Kagura felt grim satisfaction as she watched the light bleed from the monster's eyes. "More than she deserves, but whatever."

She began to turn and leave, intending to not bother with these people until the pinkette spoke up.

"Hey! You can't leave! You already saw our faces!"

Kagura looked up at the group on the wires. "What's your point?"

"In other words," Leone and the ravenette that was fighting Tatsumi earlier began to encircle her, trying to cut off any exits, along with an armored figure. "You have to come with us." Leone finished her stated, her smirk back on her face.

Kagura sweatdropped. "I need an adult."

"But I am an adult~"

"That's what worries me."

Akaza and Kokkushibo began to bare their fangs, standing in front of Kagura in a protective stance. "We'll send you packing to hell!" Akaza snarled viciously.

"Leone." The ravenette spoke up. "That's enough."

"C'mon Akame." Leone whined. "I'm just messing with her."

Kagura chuffed. "I'm so kicking her sorry ass later when I get the chance." She vowed to herself.

Akame then  turned to Kagura, her red eyes clashing with her dark ones. "But she is right. You have seen us, and for that, we can't let you go. Come quietly. Or we will use force."

Kagura frowned. She then sighed in exasperation. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Ugh... fine. Just let me do something..." Kagura then whistled for Alastor, who had been hiding in the shadows until now, along with Isshun, Revali, and Octavia. All of Night Raid, Akame included, blinked in surprise at the sight of such high tier Danger Beasts being at this foreign girl's command as they showed no sign of aggression towards her.

"Okay," Kagura spoke to them while her dogs gathered around too, completely ignoring everyone, even Tatsumi as he then realized what was going on. "Alastor. You stay behind with Douma, Akaza, and Kokkushibo to help with clean up duty. Isshun, help Rui with looting the place. Leave no stone unturned and leave no nook and cranny unsearched for valuables. Heirlooms included. Chibi here will help with burning the house to the ground. Rui, Kokkushibo, Akaza, and Douma, see to that the victims of this family receive a proper burial and burn that shed to the ground. Don't bother searching it, just burn everything in there to the ground, and destroy all of the evidence with prejudice. Octavia, Revali, follow from above, so you can lead the team back to me, as I got a feeling that I won't be leaving these guys anytime soon. All of you come back to me alive, understand." She added the last part with force, as she cared deeply for them all. To show they understood they all took off in different directions, but not before they took her bag of belongings off Alastor's saddle and hand them to her before departing.

As she swung her bag onto her shoulders, the others looked between awed and gobsmacked as she had effortlessly commanded a few highly dangerous Danger Beasts and a few unknown but rather demonic looking wolves to carry out her orders like tamed pets or well-trained soldiers.

Kagura turned to the group. "Well? Aren't any of you gonna lead the way?" She spoke with sass. It was obvious she didn't wanna do this, but she was choosing not to fight them for the moment.

Lubbock decided to take the iniative, as despite everything, she is rather attractive and is a sucker for girls in general. Especially one this skilled.

"Um yeah. Just uh... let me carry you." Lubbock couldn't help but sweat as she turned those intense eyes on him.

She stared him down for a good minute while in the background, Tatsumi yelled at the armored figure as he was suddenly picked up and was being carried off. Finally she spoke. "You better not do anything pervy or I will castrate you."

Lubbock gulped. "R-right." Some of the other members of Night Raid, especially the female members, smirked at this. As the group's residential pervert, it was amusing to see him be put in his place, by the opposite sex, nonetheless.

Lubbock picked her up in a princess carry. Kagura wrapped her slim yet strong arms around his neck, making him blush and a select few others around him shoot a jealous glare at him.

With that they all disappeared into the night, the full red moon overhead as their guide back to there base.

"This should get interesting...." Kagura thought as she let the greenette carry her as she kept a poker face as they dashed through the night, with two birds flying above them to learn the course back to Night Raid.

AAAAAANNNNDDDD SCENE!

Finally!

16K words on this chapter alone! Think I broke my own personal record, gang!

I'm sorry this took so long to get out. I have been working night shifts from 7pm-7am so it kinda clashes with my schedule as a certified nursing assistant, especially as we have been getting more residents in the place I'm working in. So when I have free time I'm trying to draft chapters on my other stories. I can't always do it during the day as I'm usually knocked out during that time, especially with the medicine I take to make sure I do get some rest before the next twelve hour shift.

Anyhoo! Stay safe out there and enjoy your day/night!

This is the ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!

Taisho Secrets:

In case it wasn't obvious, Kagura identifies as a pan/bisexual. Though while she is on the fence about the matter (given who her father is and his current relationship status), she is open to being polyamorous.

Kagura had no idea that Night Raid would show up, though it did very little to her plans to ambush Aria and expose her for her crimes.

Kagura personally commissioned those prayer beads for Kokushibo, Douma, Akaza, and Rui from Lady Tamayo after she read a manga where a heroine did the same for their hotheaded dog demon companion. Yushiro found it amusing that a simple one-syllable word can subjugate Muzan's oh-so-powerful Kizuki under Kagura's custody.

Usually after a battle, Kagura "looks the other way" while her boys do "cleanup duty" with any of the dead bodies that may result from her fights, which help with their cravings for flesh and blood.