At that exact moment in time, Jo and Kimari had no idea that a much larger fight was taking place in a city quite a few miles to the south. They also had no idea that the fight had only lasted one minute and eighteen seconds. It had, after all, been ten fully armed warriors against two much less prepared people.

It was just unfortunate for the ten warriors it had been those two people.

"Idiots," the boy sitting on the edge of the wall said, peering down at the water rushing under the bridge on which he sat. His bright red coat fluttered in the slight breeze, sticking out against the dull grey stone around him, acting like a marker as he waited for a certain someone. The reason for his wait was fairly obvious – a quick glance over his shoulder would have shown the five quite unconscious men strewn across one of the main streets of the city of Kasari, and the single dead man who'd had a rather unfortunate landing. He honestly hadn't thought they'd be so breakable considering how far they'd managed to make it into the city. They hadn't even needed to order the gates to be shut by the Division in charge of the walls. "You really thought you could catch us by surprise?"

White light cut through his vision, the sudden flash almost blinding him as he spun to face the brunette who'd appeared next to him. He raised an eyebrow at him, the smirk that'd been forming on his face vanishing at the older man's question. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" he asked, a pair of serious jade green eyes looking him up and down carefully, scanning for any sort of injury.

"What do you think?" He scoffed, scowling at the thought. "Idiot."

The man chuckled, pulling his blue coat further around his chest as yet another cold gust of wind battered the streets. "Nice to see you too, Kimimuri," he said, but the grin soon faded when he spotted the scene in front of him. "You took care of these ones, right?"

"Nah, I just beat them up for the fun of it," Kimimuri muttered. "Jeez. You really are full of stupid questions today, aren't you?"

"Technically you didn't just beat them up – you killed one of them," he mumbled, earning himself another raised eyebrow from his younger subordinate. Kimimuri was more than happy to provide his superior with those regularly.

"You really want to go there?"

"Not particularly," he said, pausing when a loud growl ripped through the air. The sound of tyres screeching against the pavement reached the pair of them, making Kimimuri turn to face his blue coated companion.

"He's a bit late, isn't he?" Kimimuri spoke, falling in step with him when he began walking towards a large five-storey building situated right in the centre of the city. "You were expecting him two hours ago..."

"You know that this delivery was supposed to be top secret, don't you?" he asked, staring down at him with his 'serious face' on – not that the face had ever worked on him. He'd seen the guy flailing around in his office before. It wasn't his fault he could no longer bring himself to respect the older man.

"Maybe." Kimimuri shrugged, scowling only when the glare intensified. "What? I was curious!"

"Curiosity killed the cat."

He tilted his head, staring up at the man with the same blank expression as usual. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a cat. I'm a human. Jeez, Kinryu. I thought you knew the difference..."

"Shut it, Kim," Kinryu said, glaring at him darkly.

"I'm going to say no."

"Shut it," he ordered, "unless you want to help Mizuto with the new recruits once they eventually get here."

"Training some annoying little brats?" Kimimuri snorted. He hated children, and the imbecile knew it. "I'll think I'll give that a pass."

"So why are you still talking?"

"I'm shutting up now," he said, just as they reached the small courtyard in front of their destination. His eyes found the black motorbike waiting just outside the double doors, narrowing on the circular silver dragon design stamped on the bodywork. A rustle of movement drew his gaze away from the bike and onto its rider as he stepped out of the shadows.

The man looked like a typical Council Enforcer – dressed all in black, from his leather jacket to his boots. The only splash of colour was his hair, a deep coppery red, cropped close to his skull. Other than that, Kimimuri couldn't make much out apart from the dark brown eyes that slid from him to the man standing by his side in an instant.

He resisted the urge to sigh. Typical. He was always overlooked, especially when it came to the domineering idiot he called Commander.

Silently, he wondered if anyone else knew about the man's mother-hen tendencies, or whether he was just that special.

"Commander," the rider spoke, extending his gloved hand towards Kinryu, smiling slightly as they shook hands. "It's been a while..."

"Ken..." He grinned. "I'm surprised to see you here... I thought they'd send someone less important for a delivery as simple as this one."

"This isn't the only mission I've been given," Ken explained, moving towards the door with the eerie grace Kimimuri knew belonged to the Special Operations Division at the Council. It seemed there was more going on than what met the eye, Kimimuri mused. "Come. This is a topic better discussed behind closed doors."

As soon as the light from the building hit his face Kinryu understood why. After all, there weren't very many reasons why an Enforcer from the Council would have a nasty two-inch-long cut trailing down the side of his face. "Do you want me to grab Gabriel?" Kinryu's gaze narrowed on the blood staining his tawny brown skin.

"I'm sure Gabriel has much worse injuries to be treating right now," he said, holding the door open for both of them. "Besides, I do know how to heal my own wounds..."

"Kimimuri." The Commander paused just inside the door, staring back at him as he waited warily in the courtyard outside. Something was going on. Something big. Kimimuri didn't like it one bit – he was a Vice-Commander, only one rung down on the hierarchy ladder from his esteemed boss. He deserved to know what exactly was going on, but his Commander only dismissed him like a mischievous child. He was a teenager. There were differences between them, no matter what that idiot might say. "Get a clean-up squad to dispose of the mess you made."

"What about the mess you made?" Kimimuri asked, folding his arms and looking to the side pointedly.

"I didn't make a mess."

"So what did you do with the bodies?"

"I took them to the cells."

"Oh, so there weren't any casualties on your end?"

"No, because unlike you, I'm very good at my job."

He scowled. "Oh, shut up."

"Enough, child."

"You're only seven years older than me!"

"Just make the bloody call already and tell them they'll need to dump a body in the river."

"Which one?"

"Dagmon..." Kinryu said, pointing to the left. "That's the one we normally throw them in, in case you forgot. The only one with an ecosystem which can degrade them without terrifying some poor civilians."

"Body dumping 101... How could I ever forget?" Kimimuri mumbled, grumbling under his breath as he made a quick phone call. It was never easy to rile up the infamous Commander, but he supposed that was what made it so fun to try.

While his beloved little Vice-Commander was busy with his phone call, which soon turned out to be a little longer than expected, Kinryu and his guest were making their way up to his office.

It was located on the third floor, which meant there were plenty of stairs awaiting them on their way up through the semi-circular shaped building nestled in the very heart of the city. Arguably, it was one of Kasari's most iconic buildings – the main reason being its continued survival through the years of occasional raids and attacks. His office was tucked away in the front corner, overlooking Ludris, the second river inside Kasari's walls. He liked his office, and its convenient location to the one of the bridges which arced between the three buildings forming the little crescent around the thundering waterfall behind it.

Still, he didn't have time to focus on the delightful views his office windows gave. There was a situation at hand, and it was one that would no doubt require his attention, possibly that of his superiors too if his instincts were anything to go off. "What's going on?" Kinryu cut the chase, eyeing the Council Enforcer beside him as he pushed open the dark wooden door emblazoned with a shiny golden plaque bearing his name.

"It can wait till you've dealt with these reports on the kiddies I got from all their instructors," Ken said, pulling out a large stack of files. "These are the priority here."

"Ugh." Kinryu stared at the bane of his existence, watching as it mounted up on his desk, one pile after another. "Just tell me what the situation is... it clearly involves Kasari if you're here to warn me..."

Ken pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's a hellhound on the loose." He sighed, slumping into one of the soft armchairs sitting opposite his desk.

Kinryu liked to ensure the comfort of any visitors and, no matter what that brat Kimimuri said, he had a good taste in fashion. He'd picked a colour scheme of blue – he had no idea what was with the obsession his baby Vice-Commander had with the colour red. Blue was far superior, and far more relaxing for the copious amount of stress he had to endure.

Sometimes he wondered why he'd said yes when Leo had asked him to take the damn position, but it beat being stuck around the annoying idiot back at the Council's Headquarters.

That would've been a real nightmare.

"Shouldn't the Council be dealing with that already?" he asked. "You wouldn't get this panicky about a hellhound usually – a team from Kasari could deal with it, depending on its classification."

"This particular one might've been powered up by a bloodstone."

His jaw clenched. "Classification?" Kinryu questioned, planting both hands down on his desk as he stared at the man sitting across from him.

"Anything from a C to a SS, depending on what grade of stone that blue-haired fiend used," Ken continued. "The Council are just worried since it looks like that bloodstone might be heading towards here, and you know how much of a problem it'd be if it made it inside these walls."

"The barrier..." he muttered, sighing at the thought of the headache that particular situation would bring. "So what are the Council doing about it?"

Ken shrugged. "They've sent a team to deal with the hellhound, but the bloodstone will be trickier to deal with, assuming the plan is to get it inside Kasari... It could be anywhere, especially if the hellhound isn't the one carrying it."

"But it has to be in the vicinity to work, doesn't it?"

He nodded. "Any one of those damned seven tricksters could be holding onto it nearby though."

"So the Council aren't going to be doing anything about it...?" Kinryu resisted the urge to bury himself in paperwork and cry. This had to be fate coming around to bite him in the backside for all the mistakes he'd made in the past. And his name was supposed to mean 'new hope' in the Old Language. A mirthless laugh left his lips. "Brilliant... just brilliant..."

"They've sent out favourite assassin out to help deal with the hound, should our operatives need the assistance," Ken said, folding his arms. "They're doing that at least."

"That won't help with the headache I'll no doubt have to deal with after this mess blows over!" he grumbled. "Admit it, the Council aren't doing that much to help."

Ken shrugged. "They're dealing with the hellhound – that's not nothing."

"But what about the big bloodstone issue? That's the concern here!" Kinryu folded his arms, sinking back into his comfy office chair. "Admit it already. The Council are leaving me to deal with whatever fallout comes from this."

A smile pulled at Ken's lips. "Alright, alright... I suppose you are on your own for that."

"Glad you agree," he muttered, pulling the stack of files towards him, intent on getting his work over and done with. He had to, before a bundle of adorable brats arrived on his doorstep... hopefully none of which would turn out to be a miniature Kimimuri. One was enough.

"Well, good luck," Ken said, raising a hand as he pulled the door open, vanishing into the darkness of the corridor behind him.

Kinryu sighed, listening to the click of the door as it shut behind his only excuse for delaying sorting out his paperwork. He grabbed one of the nineteen files which had been left for him, his gaze falling on a picture of a black-haired, brown-eyed girl, but that wasn't what made him pause. No. He'd never seen the girl before, but it was her last name that made him freeze up. "Kazakari," he whispered to himself, eyebrows knotting together. "It can't be..."