Malice Hearts Yin Book 1 Part 1

Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

"Where is everyone?" I asked when I arrived in the room we shared at the Jade Pearl and saw only Haruka there. She was laying lazily on the floor, sunning herself in the ray of light that leaked in from the window. Dust motes swirled like snowflakes and the sun shining off her scales reflected small rainbows, but even this did not allow me to see her as attractive. She was just too unnatural.

I hoped Yue did not make a fuss when he saw her. We had warned him not to bring up the fairy tale of the "White Snake" but he might still get over excited by her appearance and Haruka offended easily. When she got too agitated, she lost control over her form and took on her snake form. I did not want my information source being scared away. If she lost control in the middle of a crowded city like this, it would sully the reputation of the Onmyodo and of my team in particular.

"Oh, well Kyubei-san issss helping Fujiwara-san get ready for tonight, he seemsss ridiculously excited for the role..." She raised herself up into a sitting position sleepily. "So, whose smell is that on you? It'sss not like you to get that close to street people or wasss Satoshi-kun feeding them again?"

"Both. He handed out candy to a bunch and nearly got us robbed." I looked over at him accusingly. He just hunched his shoulders, unperturbed. "But we found a kid to question. Don't worry, I had the attendants downstairs draw a bath for him, so he won't stink up the room too bad."

"A kid....? Too bad it wasn't Cold Child so we could get thisss over with and go home."

"It is Cold Child." Satoshi intoned flatly. I shot him a glare.

"Don't go teasing her. You know we did not find him. The kid we found is named Yue, not Yuki, and there was no rabbit with him, so he was obviously not Cold Child. "

"Uh-huh...." Haruka replied with a tiny smile playing across her lips as she looked over my shoulder at Satoshi, who stood behind me. I turned around, but he had stopped doing whatever he had been doing to elicit a laugh at my expense. Why did my team have to be filled with immature children in adult bodies?

"Do you really think that Cold Child, after all the effort he put into evading Lady Miyako's Onmyoji, would just walk right up to us and offer to follow us back to our room? You two need to show me more respect; do not forget that I am your commander!"

"Yeah, 'cause you have a real special power, uh-huh." Satoshi rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "And of course 'cause your Master Yamamoto's adopted son."

"They promoted me because of my knowledge, strength, and skills. If anyone got promoted just because of their power, it was you and let's not forget Haruka, a Yomiko, with an almost human appearance."

"Hey! Don't drag me into thisss!"

"You've been criticizing me from day one, Okimoto, but it ought to be obvious to everyone that I am much more suitable for this job than Fujiwara had ever been!"

"Well, I preferred Fujiwara's command."

"Yeah, you would, because it was all play and no work! You are just begrudging my command because I actually make you earn your pay!" With an angry huff, I bunched the spare kimono I brought with me for the purposes of sleeping under my arm. "I do not want any of this petty behavior during the interrogation. Last thing I need is for Yue to act like a brat after seeing such unprofessional conduct."

If he saw us squabbling like this, he'd think we were weak pushovers. He would likely demand unreasonable compensation for his information. Then, of course, he'd go around spreading ill gossip about the Onmyodo. He would tell Chen Lau that we were incompetent, and he would tell the Zi. Then we'd have the most notorious gang in Shanghai thinking that the Onmyodo were easy meat, which would probably have them cause trouble for the Shanghai branch of the Onmyodo. Of course, the blame for that would end up falling on me, despite me having done nothing wrong.