"Akui Saeki."
Cayne choked on his water and Korū nearly dropped his cup of coffee. There were the sounds of pans clanging as Linda made her way out of the kitchen. "What?!" She exclaimed, frowning. Alina simply stiffened up, sitting a little straighter.
"There's new evidence given by your Alpha and Betas that Akui might have been present. We need to confirm this with other packs, though. Using truth potions tend to offend people, I wonder why. Such a shame."
"Jo, focus. Can you do some digging? Was the Beta of Moonbound a descendant of…" she turned to Korū, "What's your grandmother's bloodline called?"
"Okazaki." Korū's voice betrayed none of his anxiety, though it lowered into a soft snarl. "I'm gonna kill that Saeki bitch."
"I'll get back to you on that. Anything else?"
"Do you know where we can find the Fujihanas?" Alina asked.
"Last I checked, they were settling down in a nice, little, but not very little, alcove in a hole in the dimension, somewhere within Japan."
"What?" Cayne blinked.
"The weirdest part is that poking a hole in the dimension was totally legal. Anyway, you have already gotten permission, right?"
Alina hummed in response.
"Try jumping down the middle of Mount Fuji."
"You're joking, right?" Alina asked nervously. Her only reply was silence. "God damn it."
"Well, there isn't any news on Rich. I'll get back to you about whether the Moonbound Beta is from the Okazaki family. I promise to take good care of Hikari, Korū."
"You're not gonna find anything about the Moonbound Beta in my pack. Just about everyone who has Okazaki blood is dead." Korū's eyes narrowed slightly. "One of our old Gammas may know. He left the pack a while ago, but our Alpha should know where he is."
Alina blinked, then shook her head. "We have records, just like how most countries have records of their citizens and stuff. Not totally accurate, but accurate enough."
"Mh, whatever. But if you want more information, you gotta find that Gamma-turned-rogue." Korū stated, sipping his coffee to calm his nerves. At least, in an attempt to calm his nerves. It didn't really work.
"Damn. There's so many things I need to look into."
"Go easy on yourself, Jo. I don't have a daughter to lose, but I can imagine it's about as fun as losing a brother, so… god I'm bad at this." Alina said, covering her face with her free hand.
A sigh was heard from the other end. "Thanks anyway, dear. You guys can call me anytime you need me."
Korū twitched irritably. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
Kaguya clambered onto Cayne's lap, sniffing at him.
Jo paused for a moment, and the silence somehow managed to convey surprise. "A, did you not tell them who the hell they were talking to? You held an entire conversation with me, without knowing who I was?" Jo sounded very incredulous.
"Guilty as charged." Alina admitted.
Jo sighed. "I'm Joanne Hawkes, mother of Bethany Hawkes and a member of the Council." she said formally. The pain was getting on her nerves. Just a little.
Korū fell silent. "Huh."
"Huh. I'll hang up now. See you?"
"See you." Alina confirmed.
Korū was mental exhaustion personified, but of course he wasn't going to show anything. "When are we leaving?"
"ASAP. Road trip to Fuji?" Alina asked.
"Road trip to Fuji." Linda sighed.
Cayne was just staring worriedly at Korū.
***
A while later, the four of them were in the car, Korū hugging Kaguya to him like he was his most stable pillar of support, which he probably was.
"I feel like this is a joke." Alina said.
"What?" Cayne asked.
"As in whatever we're doing now. I think there's definitely something weird about this."
"Duh, she wants us to jump down the middle of the volcano." Linda said.
Korū kept silent. In his opinion, there was nothing wrong with jumping down the middle of a volcano, especially if one was a depressed idiot like him.
"That's not something you should look forward to." Cayne frowned. "How does this thing even work? Do we like, go splat, or do we blink to the alcove?"
Alina shrugged. "I'm placing my bets on a splat. I love Jo, but she sometimes seems more than a little high, although she's obviously not taking anything."
"I have a feeling that it was just, a clue or something. The note said 'If you can find us'. I think it's kinda like a challenge, and any more help won't be very good for our image and first impressions." Linda said.
"For all we know, it's nothing related to Mount Fuji," Korū stated, speaking for the first time since they'd left Richard's house. "The kanji for the mountain's "Fuji" and the kanji for the Fujihanas' "Fuji" are completely different."
"Good point, though, I mean, she did say 'Mount Fuji'. And it doesn't change the fact that the pronunciation is the same… unless it isn't?" Alina said.
"Alina, you took Jap in school, and you somehow managed to ask a cashier if he had seen Richard. How do you not know?" Linda asked. Alina just shrugged.
"If it's anything related to their name, we're probably heading the wrong way."
"God, I don't know." Alina groaned. "Let's just, go there first and see if there's any clues."
"How do you know that Richard is still alive?" Cayne asked suddenly, the thought striking him.
They were at a stoplight, allowing Linda to turn and glare at him briefly.
"What? It's a legitimate question." He muttered indignantly.
"It is, actually." Alina said, agreeing, though the reminder that Richard might die put her in a bad mood again. She pulled out a necklace from underneath her shirt. It was a simple silver chain with a single pendant hanging from it. The lone pearl was set in a silver coloured metal, shimmering white, a multitude of colours glossing it's surface.
"It's simple, really. If he dies, this turns black. The end." Alina said before slipping it back under her shirt. It was her most highly prized possession.
"Oh. Handy." Cayne said simply, not knowing what else he could say that was mildly appropriate.
The car went silent as it's occupants found nothing else to say. It was obvious, however, that it was buzzing with thoughts, thoughts as deafening as the clap of thunder.