The Family Dog

Guardian-san squinted at the filthy lot of them standing there, back in a room that smelt better than the grime and ooze, even if it did stink of smoke.

"...So it became an akuma," the man finally said, wisping tab pinned between his fingers. "And you idiots decided to run after it."

Lachlan shrugged, Drake currently trying to melt through the floor like he had been the entire way back, Ariake still a little green around the gills, and Eden scowling enough to make him wonder if the smoke wasn't just from a cigarette, his hair a dirty grey instead of white. "The assignment was to track it down. I think we did a decent job."

"On a job you weren't meant to do. More importantly, my superiors'd kill me if something killed you." The cig went back between his teeth, a finger stabbing at them. "You've got those pagers for a reason. Headquarters' number is logged on there— you're supposed to page us and leave a message if something turns sideways like this. Don't just come home to mama covered in ditchwater and tell us there was an oopsie afterwards."

Lachlan scratched sheepishly at the back of his neck. Maybe that would've been a better idea, but they'd still gotten the job done. "Sorry." He bowed. "I humbly apologise for the trouble we've caused."

"Hmph. Sure."

"So." He coughed lightly into his fist, eyeing the board and one mission in particular that'd caught his eye earlier that afternoon. "Are we finally free?"

The man waved his hand. "Fine, go ahead."

With a smile, Lachlan picked out a pin and stabbed it straight into the file with a tattooed yakuza summoning a glimmer dagger, throwing a sly look back at a suddenly-alert team. "How do we feel about having a little look into that yakuza problem?"

The Guardian sighed, mumbling something about kids around his cig, and blew out a cloud of smoke.

_________________

"Well would you look at that." Lachlan folded his arms, smirking at the chalkboard in the mess. "We're almost even with Hirano."

He tilted his head, throwing a lazy sideways glance back at the team in question sitting around one of the tables, and called, "Not bad for a stringless kite!"

Hirano's blond head briefly turned to regard him, and then turned back to the conversation with his team as if no one had spoken at all. Back to the cold shoulder, eh?

"You don't have to antagonise him," Drake muttered from beside him, hands in his pockets.

"It's not worrying him." He waved a hand. "We can have some friendly competition."

"The only reason he isn't worried is because he knows that he doesn't have to beat us here." Eden folded his own arms, narrowing his eyes at the leaderboard and turning away. "He also knows you're an arrogant fool with more breath than sense or ability."

Lachlan watched him go, Drake trailing after him, and felt a little like he'd just dropped back to square one again. I thought we were finally doing okay, too. Sighing, he ran a hand through his still shower-damp hair and meandered his way out of the communal hall. At least Ariake was still in the showers—scrubbing his skin off, probably. No knives from that corner.

They still had a little time before dinner at six, according to the schedule he'd managed to get a hold of, so he wandered down to the telephone room, reassuring the receptionist—probably more of a guard, really—that he only planned to phone a rural village in the middle of nowhere.

"There's a couple of little demons waiting for me to tell them about my adventures," he said with a smile, and added with a wink, "Their parents might go mad if I don't check in soon."

She connected him up to the outside or whatever they had to do in military places like these with a smile of her own. "They sound very nice. Don't worry, you can take as long as you like."

Nice girl. He thanked her and took the booth, one of Sangoro-san's children picking up—not Taiki, thank god—and leaving him on hold while he went to tell Oji.

"Roku-kun?"

The children could run faster than their father while hobbled and blindfolded, so when Oji's voice came through the line, he blinked. "Oji?"

"You sound surprised, boy. Did you think the yakuza had stolen me away?"

He grinned lopsidedly. Hadn't even realised he'd missed that rough voice till now. "If I did, I wouldn't be here. How're you and Oba doing, old man? Where're the demon children?"

"It's only been a week since you were here, Roku-kun. Not much has changed, you know."

He laughed quietly at himself. "Speak for yourself. It feels like a month already."

"The city not as hospitable, hmm? Not as welcoming as us old fishermen, are they?"

"Ah," he sighed, making a face and running a hand through his hair. "You know how it is. Everyone's suspicious of a foreign obake. Though I'm getting more flak for being a foreigner than a lucky wolf, so maybe the obake part doesn't have much to do with—"

A shriek drilled straight through his ear, and he cut off, almost flinging the phone away in his haste to get it out of deafening range.

"Onii-san is an obake?? A wolfy?"

He stared at the receiver. Oh feck.

"Onii-sannnnnnnn you didn't tell us you were a wolfy! Otou-chan! Onii-san is a wolfy just like the one that helped us! Did you know he was a wolfy??"

Oh god. Lachlan ran a hand down his face as he quietly folded over, gingerly bringing the phone back in range. "Aiko, how long have you and your otouto been listening in?"

"We wanted to surprise you!"

"No, you wanted to try scaring the devil out of me." He could hear Oji chuckling in the background while he massaged his face and re-thought his life choices. "It hasn't worked before, it didn't work now, and since Ojii-san hasn't given you a lecture on eavesdropping, it looks like I'll have to."

She went quiet for a moment. "Are you angry, Onii-san?"

"Very."

"Are you angry we found out you're an obake because it was a secret?"

"Angriest I've ever been."

"We are humbly so very sorry, please forgive us," Aiko said very solemnly, Tobira echoing her. "We didn't mean to listen in."

"Hrm." He did his best impression of an Eden-scowl at the phone. "I'll accept this apology. No more eavesdropping."

"Hai!" Aiko chirped, just as Tobira cut in under her, his voice jumping like he was bouncing on his toes, "Can we pat your wolfy when you come back?"

And this was what he'd been afraid of. He groaned into his hand, a pair of giggles and a series of "can we can we can we?"s giving him no chance to actually get a word in. Be cursed with a yuurei, adopted by a nice Nihonjin family; promptly become the family dog as soon as the kids find out.

"Kore kore," he eventually broke in, the two of them finally piping down. "We'll see when I get there, alright? I won't be coming around for a while— doesn't sound like they have a lot of holidays here."

"Don't worry, we won't forget!"

"Oh I know you won't." She giggled at his stern tone, and he raised his eyes to the ceiling, smiling crookedly in spite of himself. "Don't try and make me your own wanchan, alright? Now hand me back over to Oji. Wait— actually, is Oba there? Don't really feel like talking with the old traitor, come to think of it."

"It wasn't me who told them, Roku-kun."

"You're as guilty as they come, old man. Don't try and play innocent."

Oba was happy enough to oblige him, a hint of a laugh behind her solemn inquiries into how he was doing—mostly on how much they were feeding him and how much he was eating.

"Not half as good as your cooking," he said, and meant it too.

"Then you'll have to come home so I can give you a good supply."

"'Fraid it'd be gone on the first day," he confessed.

She tutted at him, declared she would make enough that it would last even him two, and moved on to things like how many pretty women there were on base, at which point he deftly switched over to Oji to ask about the fishing and the local gossip.

By the time he hung up, the clock on the wall said it was quarter to six, and he felt lighter than he had since leaving. Ducking out of the booth, he opened his mouth to thank the receptionist.

Only to find Ariake standing there, giving him a narrow look. "Who were you talking to?"

"The little family I stayed with out on the coast," he said breezily. "I did have a life before I came out here, you know."

The teen grunted, his not-quite-scowl reluctantly fading. Did everyone here think he was out for some nefarious purpose?

He watched him head for one of the booths, a little curious, himself. "What about you?"

Ariake glared half-heartedly over his shoulder, seeming to consider it, and sighed, scratching at the side of his head. "My little sister."

Lachlan hummed when he volunteered no more than that and moved to shut the door. "Well, have fun catching up. Tell her I said hi."

He left before Ariake's scandalised look cooked him, fighting to keep the amusement off his face. Sea's beard, the lad was too prickly and paranoid for his own good.

He hadn't snapped at him once, though.