Shōhei had bought random stuff from random stalls, earning weird looks from Korū. Cayne had tori karaage udon earlier, which Alina and stolen
"How are we doing this…?" Linda asked, glancing at Alina.
"Yo, Fujihana, we wanna talk," Cayne suggested.
"No. how are you even going to know who to ask?"
"Random people?"
"They'll think we are crazy or-"
"Guys?" Alina said.
"-they could be spies, something." Linda said.
"Guys."
"Yeah, then they might guess what we're doing or something." Cayne added.
"Guys!" Alina said, louder this time,
"What?" Korū and Shōhei turned to look at her.
"I might know how to find someone."
"As in like, one of them?" Cayne asked.
"Yeah. I kinda just remembered that one of them might just owe me a favor…" she said the last part a little sheepishly.
"Why is it always you who has the contacts?" Linda asked.
"Maybe 'cus I'm the one who gets around more. Can I borrow your phone?" She asked Korū again.
He chucked his phone at her. Again.
She was tempted to just let it drop, but she caught it in the end, once again dialing a number, just different this time. "'Lo? This is Alina Moore. Yes, you gave me your number. Mhm. yes, the debt. Nope, it never expires, stop hoping. I saved you from the wrath of your own family. Yep. No, I'm not here alone. Sure. Yes, that will be great." she then hung up.
"That was a fast conversation." Linda observed. Alina shrugged, going to Maps and typing in an address.
"Time to pay another person a house visit. Let's hope this one won't get kidnapped halfway, shall we?"
***
"Where does this friend of yours live again?" Korū questioned.
"Nearby. Five minute walk."
Korū stole some of Shōhei's teriyaki, chewing on it while Kaguya watched him enviously from his feet.
"And we're here." Alina stopped in front of a traditional Japanese house.
"Huh." Korū studied the house. "Nice."
Alina snorted and knocked on the door. A young girl with caramel skin and long curly black hair opened the door, took one glance at them and started to usher them into the house. "Took you long enough." the girl complained, looking like she was somewhere in her early teens.
"Chill a little, Greta." Greta glared at Alina. "I was wondering if you died, or something."
"Greta?" Linda asked.
"Yep. I'm the adopted Fuji apple. Werewolf."
"Hi," Shōhei said cheerfully. He nudged Korū, but the idiot remained stubbornly silent.
As they stepped through the threshold of the main part of the house, however, everyone stopped in shock. It was a modern mansion. "One of my brothers did this for fun." Greta told them, seeing their shocked faces.
"Do you not have anything better to do?" Korū questioned. Shōhei gave him a slightly exasperated look..
Greta shrugged. "He was practicing. Anyway, I'm taking you to see my parents. We're not exactly the main branch of the apple tree, by the way. Which kinda sorta means we are a tiny bit more chill."
Alina scoffed. "But only a tiny bit."
"Yes, only a tiny bit."
"Cool." Shōhei was impressed by the fact that there was a mansion.
"Not bad, isn't it?" a voice came from one of the winding stairs that led up to the floors above. There stood a man, gazing down at them from up high. "I'm Chihaya Ishikawa."
"That's the brother I was talking about." Greta told them.
"It's nice," Shōhei said warmly.
"Thanks." Chihaya said. "Anyone else find it weird that we just randomly let strangers into our house?" Then his eyelid twitched. "Is that a cat?"
Kaguya blinked slowly at him.
"Yeah. Are you blind or something?" a certain werewolf growled.
Chihaya didn't say anything. What he did, though, was bound down the stairs and rushed towards Kaguya, stopping in front of the cat. He then sat himself down, cross legged. "Hi, what's your name?" he asked Kaguya. Greta watched him, struggling to keep her giggles in.
"He has an extremely soft, soft spot for cats." Greta informed them.
"...Great. This cat has an extremely soft spot for anything that moves and breathes." Korū grumbled. Kaguya stared up at Chihaya curiously with large round eyes.
Chihaya grinned happily and clucked his tongue, reaching into his pocket for a bag of cat treats. "Any allergies? Special diets?"
"...No."
Kaguya sniffed at the bag, his tail twitching excitedly.
"I'm not even gonna ask why you have cat food in your pocket. I swear, this guy's crazier about cats than Hikari is."
"What's his name?" Chihaya asked the human this time.
"Kaguya. Also, I'm donating him to you."
"No," Hikari screeched in mindlink.
"Nice. The name, I mean." Chihaya said. "This cat looks loved, though." he raised a questioning eyebrow at Korū, his lips curved into a grin.
Kaguya looked at Korū forlornly, as if he understood everything he had just said. They stared at each other for a while, then Korū sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "You know that's not gonna happen." Kaguya purred happily and started to groom himself.
"I need such a relationship, man." Chihaya muttered under his breath, forgetting that the shifters had enhanced hearing.
Shōhei grinned. "With a cat or with a girl?"
"Either. Anyway, who are you guys and what are you doing in my house?"
"Oh, we're robbers and we want your cash," Korū said sarcastically.
"Sure looks like it." Chihaya replied in the same tone.
Korū drew a knife and twirled it. "Does this help?"
"Sure." he answered nonchalantly.
Alina coughed. "Not a wise move, Korū."
"When was anything I did ever 'wise' in your perspective?"
"The fact that you asked this question?"
"Fuck off."
"At a loss for words, huh." Alina said this, praying that he didn't set anyone off or sign anyone else's death warrant.
Korū snorted at Shōhei's concerned look. "Chill. No one's gonna die." He passed the knife to Shōhei. "You can have this back." Shōhei looked confused for a second, then realised the sheath at his waist was empty.
"That's really not how you guard weapons." Greta said from the sidelines, amused.
"I normally only have a gun, and it's here, so." He gestured to a holster hidden in his jacket.
"Is it really?" Greta smirked.
"No, it isn't, but it isn't with you either," Korū stated.
Linda coughed and Cayne grinned. Alina was looking slightly amused.
"It's not with you either, Korū," Shōhei pointed out. "People are coughing a lot here."
Linda was now laughing in earnest, with Alina smiling slightly.
"Sure. I have my own, so it's just you who's gonna die if we're ever in need of firearms."
"Nah, you won't just leave me to die."
Greta was also cracking up at this point.
"I hear laughter. Is someone dying?" another voice came from the stairwell.
"Hi, mom." Greta said, giggling. "No one's dying yet."
Korū had jabbed Shōhei in the side, and the latter started cracking up, being ticklish.
Alina also joined in the laughter, hugging her stomach as the three girls continued hysterically. Cayne was chewing hard on his lip to keep his face neutral, remembering what had happened just before.