In Too Deep (Witch Hunter Robin) *Sakaki/OC*

01. Keeping The Secret

Ryou Kazuya was happy to be back in Japan. Not only had she been living back at her home again for the last week; she was also starting back at her old job today.

She'd been working at the STN-J for just over a year when she'd been transferred to an overseas case, since her older sister had been an integral part of the witch hunting that had been going on over there. The case had been solved and Ryou had taken a few extra jobs whilst she was over there, happy to be with her sister. She'd eventually gotten a call from the STN-J – who had kept her job open for her, since they were the ones who had referred her overseas in the first place – asking for her return.

Ryou had been more than happy to oblige. She missed her home life and working at the STN-J. But she knew things were going to be different there this time. The chief inspector Kosaka had already informed her that she'd likely have a different partner than before, since they'd been making some changes within the branch.

Ryou didn't mind. She'd gotten to know a few people at the STN-J and as far as she knew, most of them were still working there. She wasn't particularly bothered over who she got partnered with. She was just happy to be back at her home branch.

Sure enough, Ryou was assailed by the chief inspector Kosaka the moment she entered the main building of the STN-J. He gave her a brisk 'welcome back' before directing her into a nearby office. She was met by two men she'd never seen before.

"Kazuya, this is our new administrator Katsuki Gozabora and his son, Shinpei," Kosaka introduced them, not bothering with niceties. "Shinpei runs a preternatural investigative group, which the administrator plans on affiliating with the STN-J."

"So you investigate witches?" Ryou asked the younger of the two men uncertainly.

"Oh, there's a lot more out there than just witches," replied Shinpei. He had a distinctly average appearance and maybe wasn't as old as he looked, but he gave off an aura of being extremely intelligent. "Witch hunting is but a minor chunk of what forces like the STN should be undertaking."

"Of course, we're not going to be starting on this just yet," added Kosaka hastily. "We're going to announce the new teams shortly, which you'll all need to get used to first. We just wanted to give you a heads up of the plans we have for the company."

Ryou nodded along enthusiastically. She had a keen interest in anything to do with the paranormal world, so this sounded right up her street. Hunting something other than witches – and something more unknown – made the job sound even more exciting.

Administrator Gozabora proceeded to give her more of a rundown of what Shinpei's investigative group involved and encouraged her to come to either of them with any suggestions or questions she'd have in the future.

"Well, that's all for now," announced Kosaka. "Let's go and find the rest of the team so I can tell you all about the new partnerships you'll be working in."

"I've come back at the right time then, haven't I?" asked Ryou as her and the chief inspector headed down towards the conference room.

"Well, actually we needed to know we had you coming back before we could really start considering the affiliation with Shinpei's preternatural investigations," said Kosaka.

"What do you mean?"

"Without including you, we only had three hunters in our team," explained Kosaka. "Taking on hunts for beings other than witches is bound to be even more dangerous than usual, especially since you won't be able to rely on Orbo for protection. So we can't have hunters running off on their own. We needed an even amount of members that we could split into pairs."