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[his phone never rings, but he gets two voice mail messages consistently throughout the week.

the first is from a woman who giggles madly and sobs hysterically, as though she can't make up her mind which she'd rather be doing. sometimes, she jibbers something about wanting to be loved, but her words are unintelligible underneath mounting hysteria.

the second is also from a woman, but it's much more composed. her voice wavers, tremulous and frightened. please help me she whispers, and her voice is so soft that there's nothing to identify it. it has no cadence or timbre and its only descriptor is terrified.

no number appears in his phone. no missed call registers. but the messages come none the less for the next four days.]

[He'd been annoyed by this whole thing since the letter slipped under Xanxus' door. Since there's no number to return the call, he settles for leaving a letter. It's in Hibari's perfect and careful script, written in red ink.]

Scared Shadow,
What are you going to do when she doesn't ever love you?

[Except.. the ink seems a little strange, smells metallic.

It's blood.
Not his blood.

Blood for blood, little shadow?]

[He's one of the few to get a response. Should he compare this letter to others, the handwriting is noticeably different. Bold, daring. An architectural sort of script. It's neat, written in ink, and clearly the product of a much more organized mind than whoever is sending the rest, but it is on the same kind of expensive paper many of the other notes are on.]

Please, you mustn't encourage this.

[He gets no other messages from that particular sender.]

[It's been a while since he's been communicated with by one of the Maeve, but they have been watching him. On the last day of the hauntings, a note is deposited under his door before the morning repast. Crisp, firm handstrokes mark the penmanship. There's nothing elegant about it. This is entirely business.]

Hibari Kyoya,

My sister informs me that you are sure of your abilities in certain, unique and infrequently used skills. I want to put these to the test. Meet me for tea at noon, on the patio facing the front entrance on the second floor. Do not be tardy.

-Greta

[Kyoya does as he's instructed, showing up neatly dressed in a sharp black suit tailored to his slim frame. He arrives at the patio a little bit early; enough to be punctual, but not rushed, and not so early it gives the impression of someone so used to running late they showed up twenty minutes early, just in case.

His demeanor is even and business-like, silver eyes cool as he steps out onto the patio.]

[When he arrived, a servant stood in the way of the patio, keeping a curtain closed. At a minute until time, their head quirked, hearing something from beyond and they opened it for him. Unlike the last time that he had met her, Greta was maintaining an air of obvious neutrality. She was curbing and controlling her temper and waspish air while she sipped at her tea.

She motioned towards the chair across the table and kept her eyes away.]

It seems you and your associate have gotten at least some attention.

[He nods in subtle acknowledgement as the curtain is drawn back, and he looks her over, expecting a less than welcoming introduction. The seeming neutrality is a welcome surprise, and he obligingly takes the chair that she indicates.

There's no question who she's talking about, really, so he nods and his lips quirk a little.]

Xanxus isn't the sort of person to just stay still, even in a place like this.

Especially in a place like this is what he means, but he keeps his tone careful and cordial. Not that he's good at it, but he knows that Xanxus would want this to go well, so he's trying.]

[She was obviously anything but pleased to be having this conversation. Xanxus had gone and done this, and the two were moving on their own whims. Now she had the task of reigning them in and giving them work while they played at kingdom building. It rankled, but she could keep it under control easily.]

Make certain he doesn't mess this up. [She sipped her tea.] I don't have the time to clean up after the two of you if you're not up to this task.

But I don't have time for that. There's something I want done, and you seem to believe you're able to handle yourself. [her tone practically screamed that she felt it was time he proved himself with a real challenge.]

[Greta never really seemed pleased about much of anything, so he was honestly hardly surprised. However, she at least seemed to be more civil, so it was a nice shift. At the comment he nodded in slow agreement.]

I'm going to. [Kyoya had little tolerance for failure, especially in those that he agreed to follow. He tried to keep himself from taking the question of whether they were up to the task as an insult. He wasn't going to give her an excuse if he could help it.]

What do you need? [He catches the tone in her voice and is only barely able to keep himself from smiling. It's not as if he hasn't been looking for an opportunity for months.]

I need someone who is doing something that they should know better to stop doing it. Permanently. How this is accomplished, I'm not concerned with. I want to make sure that it is clear that this is not something that will be tolerated.

[She set a piece of paper on top of the table, but did not yet push it towards him, waiting to see what questions he might have.]

[He looks at her and considers the request, and there's a definite familiarity to this kind of thing that he understands.]

So you're trying to send a message?

[It called for a different style, depending if there was a particular objective. Kyoya typically favored getting in, using the sudden application of overwhelming force and vanishing before even the guards were aware, but he was more than capable of steeping everything in blood.]

Any particular constraints? Limitations on property damage or anything of that nature?

[Normally there would be the subject of payment, but this was not home, the neat murder of someone dumb enough to cross the yakuza.]

Messages are for couriers. I want an example made. Try to keep property damage to a minimum, at least outside of the building. I want police presence minimal on this. There will be a book. Hidden away. Different from the others. Destroy it.

[She pushed the paper towards him. It had the image of a middle-aged woman wearing a strange eyepatch between her eyes, one with a closed eyelid painted on it. she had a green armband on one arm, and a cold, severe look on her face.]

The book, and make sure that she won't be operating again, forty-eight hours.

[As Hibari had been paying attention to the underworld currents recently, he could recognize the armband and eyepatch. They were markings of a gang known as "The Closed Eye." Known primarily for their hired muscle and protection rackets, they were considered to be unhinged by most of the locals. Whispers of ties to a larger group called the Blood Tide existed, but there was no formal relationship. All that most people would say was that you paid these people on time and didn't get in their way. They loved fighting for fighting's sake, and they were actually good at it.]

[He smiles when she corrects him to an example made. He likes that a lot better, although it still seems likely to fall under the bloodier side of things. He takes the photo and he recognizes the armband she wears as well as the eyepatch. He had a certain appreciation for what he'd heard about them, but not enough to make him so much as blink when it comes to killing someone.]

Alright. It'll be done. Are there any distinguishing marks on the book?

[It's not specifically that he doesn't trust Greta and more that he's not a fan of vague specifications. There's a flicker of interest in just what this gang could have done to attract the attention of the Maeve, but it's hardly the sort of question he considers worth asking.]

Nothing that I can tell you. I would suggest destroying every book in the home you find, but that's foolish. If there's any distinguishing sides, either they will have it on their person and be using it, or it will be squirreled away. Do not bother deciphering the text. It should be some philosophical gibberish about combat, no doubt. The only thing I can say is that it should look home-made or personal.

[Making it sound like it was a book of fighting philosophy changed nothing of the fact that she was clearly speaking of a Witch's grimoire. Given his limited investigations into amare thus far, she was expecting him to destroy the grimoire of a witch and then the witch themselves.]

[He knows exactly what she's talking about, and if this were a different situation, he might be more interested in the book. But, Kyoya is a professional in this sort of area. So he nods in understanding of her description, his eyes even if not quite casual.]

Understood. [There's a pause and he looks at her, and there's certainly a vague hint of pleasure about him at the prospect of his task.] Anything else? [He has just barely enough manners to ask before trying to walk away. He hates the pretense, but if it gets him what he wants he can manage.]

No, that should be everything. If you can handle this, I may have more work for you down the road. It will at least show you're competent. [And if not, he'd be splattered on the pavement and out of her hair. Two birds with one stone either way.]

It will get done. [Kyoya has never actually fought a Witch before, but he knows his skills. Even with the uncertainty from the Hunt, there's not even the slightest flicker of a thought that he can't do this. In truth, he's more than a little excited about the chance to put some blood on his hands. He grates a little without it.

With nothing else to say, he'll leave her to her tea.]

Dear Hibari,

On Sunday the fifth, I will have an outing into Eros and would be overjoyed for you attend. Please meet in the front hall promptly at ten in the morning. I look forward to meeting you.

Warmest Regards,
Gloria Maeve

((ooc: I will put up an open log on the 5th that will be everyone meeting with Gloria to go shopping. Don't worry, this is her attempt to meet everyone for the first time. Feel free to use it as mingle type log as well. ))

[Whatever device Hibari is using is suddenly typing for itself. It means one thing. Tres has hacked Hibari's systems to communicate with him without getting traced, hopefully]

My Lord, my data indicates that you have been learning Amare. I know one of the rules is to Stay Silent. However, I am trying to learn. My tutor is unavailable. I would request to learn from you

[The first time Kyoya had found it mildly alarming. By now, however, he's more than used to this particular form of intrusion. He breaks in the notes he'd been idly working on to respond to the words that appear on his laptop screen. Yes, one of the rules is to Stay Silent, but Kyoya is entirely self taught, and Tres clearly knows about it and had been assigned a tutor... By one of the Maeve, perhaps? More than he'd managed, in that case. Intriguing.]

I have been. I am not opposed to sharing what I have managed to learn, if you are interested. How much experience have you had with Amare so far?

[There is a flood of Data on Hibari's computer, from the Grimoire that Gloria had sent to him. It's not very detailed yet. It's mostly comprehensive lists of what he has observed. It's almost more a database than a Grimoire.]

This is all that I know so far, Lord Hibari. It is not as much as I would like.

[It takes him a few moments to scan through the majority of the information that Tres sends him. The list of references more or less matches his own, although annotated differently.]

Do you know what your affinity is yet? I'll see what I can teach you.

[He will give Hibari time to analyze that all. It's a lot of useless data still. But thinking about his affinity...he still doesn't know it.]

Negative. But I believe I might be Earth oriented. I believe this because I am man-made and most of me is metal. Metal is from the earth. But I am also aware that for me, learning might be much harder. Because I am man made.

[That's right. Teaching Tres Amare is actually deeply challenging, probably why his tutor hasn't been willing to help him yet.]

My affinity is Earth as well. Or as they call it here, Mokosh. I have not instructed others before, but it seems easier to parse through things based upon a similar affinity.

[He does note the fact that Amare is likely more difficult for Tres, but he honestly assumed as much. If nothing else it seems likely a good way to hone his own skills in a more directed way.]

Meet me near the front of the house in ten minutes and I'll see if we can find a place to start.

I will be there in ten minutes. I will bring the book I was given

[And as promised, the robot will be in front of the house right at ten minutes. Perfectly on time, down to the second]

Lord Hibari?

[Kyoya's there just slightly before Tres, a few books in his hands. He nods in acknowledgement to his name, and he'll lead Tres to the closet that opens to the Disciplinary Committee room, except that it leads to somewhere else entirely.

Open space, a few desks, lab tables with odds and ends from wisteria plants in varying stages of growth, containers of some sort of dirt, different kinds of rocks, basins of water, candles, and so on and so forth. There was a ritual circle that took up most of the floor; elementary, a dedication and purification of the space, one of the first things he'd tried here.

Mizuki babbles and swirls in the air and after a moment finds a bronze bowl to curl up in with a splash that makes the metal hum. Kyoya looks over at Tres with a quirk of his mouth as he sets the books down on one of the desks.]

[ Though he has his own armband, he rarely uses it. He accepts that the closet is Hibari's realm and that he was only given access because he served the man. It was just too bad he hadn't had time to make tea. But this was more important.

He quietly takes in all of the circle. He has it memorized in seconds. He then nods to the elemental. He considers it like the little yellow bird he's seen around the man. None of his business.

He places the grimoire down next to Hibari's books. There is a spell involved in opening it and he has to prick his finger to drip those internal fluids of his to open it up. It's really not needed because he will also record everything into his memory banks, but Gloria had insisted he use it.]

I will be recording things in here, my Lord. Even if it's just data. To start with, I have already been made aware that the magic from my world is forbidden here. It summons demons and demonic things and there is a god that does not like that.

[He appreciates that. He doesn't mind having Tres in his spaces, but at the same time, the way that the cyborg still acknowledges them as his matter to him. It's one of the many things that he likes about him, aside from just how good he's gotten at making Kyoya's green tea.

Kyoya looks at the book that Tres sets down next to the Amare primers that he'd used to teach himself. He nods at the explanation, though at the note about magic from Tres' world being forbidden he tilts his head and looks at him curiously.]

Who told you that?

[His tone is less about disagreement and more about curiosity.]

[Tres has already read those books. He has them memorized. If Hibari wanted, he could ask the cyborg what was on page seventeen, paragraph two, line eight and he could tell the man. But he only knew content, not practical application. There was quite a difference.]

The Lady Regina. I saw her drawing this

[A image of her circles in his grimoire, however, there is nothing at all that even looks like the circles from his own world] I told her about the magic of Isaac Von Kämpfer, Panzermagier of the Rosenkreuz Orden. He uses circles similar to hers and recites specific ritual spells in order to activate the circle and bring forth demons, kobolds, ghosts and various demon weapons. She said I was to never use such a thing because I would be taking from a god I am not allowed to mention and that one must never take from him...

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