…back at Leo's house.
After Yoruichi and Onohana got the gist of where Leo was heading, they sat on the couch discussing the reason for their run-away.
Thankfully, Onohana was more than ready for the revelation, and with it they started working on a plan to get a certain glasses man.
"But I have to say, the world is such a small place. Who would've thought we'd be investigating the same person?" Yoruichi murmured as she looked around the house. "And he's actually that airhead bird's son."
"You still hold your grudge, don't you?" Unohana chuckled, getting a snort in response. Before they could continue, they heard the same air-cutting sound from before.
Yuroshi's ears stood up and she looked out the window, while Onohana smiled warmly, not expecting to see the most calm captain react like that.
Well, this is interesting on its own, she thought, standing up to make some tea and snacks for Leo.
[Lady Onohana, sir asked me to pass his late arrival tonight,] Alfred said, stopping her in place.
Looking at the wall clock, she nodded. "Well, I guess I can whip something for dinner while waiting," Onohana murmered, skipping to the kitchen.
While she did that, Yoruichi decided it was the perfect time to ride her curiosity and started sniffing around the house.
After checking a couple of rooms, she found herself in one with a familiar yet unfamiliar scent.
Looking around, she figured it was probably Leo's room, so she shifted and started going through the papers on the desk.
The second she stumbled upon multiple drafts of novels with the pen sign "Moon Lion," she froze.
Shocked for seconds, she kept going through them until she found one with a unique title: "Bleach." Just from the description, she was stunned.
It may be a little different from what her society looks like, but the similarity of the places, characters, and some happenings were far too much to pass as coincidence.
Caught in her reading, she went on until the part where "Rukia" gave her shinigami power to a young man with orange hair. She stopped with a sigh, and her eyes drifted to a picture of Leo with his parents.
As someone who saw the scene in real life, that was all she needed as final confirmation.
"Looks like your son is more trouble than you guys were," Yoruichi said jokingly.
While caught in her memories, she heard a door open downstairs. By the time she set everything back in place and shifted into her cat form, the room door opened and Leo entered, seeing Yuroshi sitting in the window.
Standing there for a moment, looking straight at the cat, Leo somehow felt close to her. Approaching slowly so he wouldn't scare her, he picked her up in his hands.
Yoruichi was completely stunned. She'd seen her share of good-looking men, but something about Leo—the olive-toned skin, the unique hairstyle—hit home for her.
Even more, she felt a closeness she had never felt with anyone. So she simply let him pick her up.
"Well, aren't you a cute kitty?" Leo smiled, scratching her neck as she purred.
"Well, how did you end up here?" Leo asked, observing her for a moment. He felt something familiar from her, but after failing to place it, he let it go.
Putting the cat on the bed, he started picking clothes and getting changed.
Thankfully Yoruichi was in her cat form, or she would've had a nosebleed watching him like this.
"What's wrong, little one?" Noticing the unmoving cat, he picked her up and kept petting her while heading downstairs.
"Looks like you met our little guest," Onohana said, setting the table. "I found her on the balcony and let her in. I hope you don't mind."
"Nah, it's all good. Honestly, she has quite the majestic fur," Leo nodded, raising Yuroshi to eye level. "Even among my followers, I don't think I've seen one with such beautiful fur. well baring one"
Despite the honest admiration—and him not knowing her identity—his words made Yoruichi quite embarrassed, with Onohana smirking behind him and fanning her embarrassement even more.
She jumped from his hands and sat on the couch watching him. Leo raised an eyebrow and approached her again, but this time she dodged his hand.
"By the way, Leo, what's the result this time? Is there a problem?" Onohana asked, redirecting his attention. "Did you figure out what happened?"
"Well, yeah, and if I'm right, the thief is someone you know," Leo sighed, pulling out his phone.
"I'll probably need your help with this one." Showing her the picture he captured of Yuroshi in playback froze both of them.
They knew he could investigate, but getting a picture of the attacker was another thing—for Onohana, who knew how fast Yuroshi could be, and for Yuroshi herself, who had never found anything capable of capturing her image.
"From your reaction, you know her, right?" Leo said. "If my guess is right, this is the Ex-Captain of the 2nd Division."
"And how do you know that exactly?" Onohana asked sharply. Personal information like that was extremely strict and almost no one had access to it.
Onohana knew Leo's source, but pretending not to react would look strange from his perspective.
"Well, I have my source, and that orange jacket made her quite famous," Leo said, not giving much. Onohana let it go.
"So, what do you want?" Onohana asked.
"Nothing. I just want to know what information she's looking for. This is starting to stress my people, and honestly, I don't want a direct confrontation with someone of her caliber," Leo said.
He didn't mean harm—no one was injured—but he was still annoyed by the rude behavior. He'd act based on what they were searching for.
"And what do you intend to do?" Onohana asked. "Oh, you should know first—she was your mother's bestie."
This surprised Leo, and also made the cat glare at her.
"Well, that's new," Leo commented. "But that doesn't matter. If she's looking for something, it's probably a request from someone."
Leo wasn't bothered by someone searching—only by who was doing it. And knowing Yuroshi, it was 100% a "someone" request.
"I see. Well, let's chat after dinner, shall we?" Onohana said, deciding to ask him directly.
…after dinner.
Sitting on the side of the chimney, Yuroshi somehow ended up in Leo's lap, petting her with one hand while sipping tea with the other.
Finding the view funny, Onohana chuckled and looked at Leo after getting her bearings.
"So, let's start with this question: what do you know about the Moon Lion?" Onohana asked. "Before you ask, because his works are actually projections to some sub-dimensions, and actually a side job of mine this time around."
"Sorry?" Leo put the cup down and looked at Onohana with a raised eyebrow.
He kind of sensed it was weird when the main powers of the humans were the same as in the story he copied from his life, so he stopped publishing, and now this lady was telling him that some of his old publishing actually existed?
And those works are only a dozen. This caused cold sweat on his back.
"So you're saying some of those works exist in other dimensions?" Leo asked, trying at least to know which ones.
"Yeah, I know for sure at least five of those exist, and I visited three of them," Onohana confirmed. "That's your pen-name, right?"
Letting this revelation sink, she sipped tea, waiting for Leo to answer. And the man himself wasn't troubled by confirming the fact, but by how to explain it.
He may have written something similar to this before he awakened his memories, but all of those didn't see the light, something he's thankful to his parents for.
Is this some plagiarism punishment for copying works? Having this funny thought, he sighed and raised his hand in a giving-up pose.
"But you don't look that surprised," Onohana expected Leo to freak or at least show some out-of-character reaction, but no—he was surprised, but not much.
"Yeah, that's to be expected. I kind of felt something was off when I heard from Anna that the things I wrote were similar…" He explained what he talked about with Anna and how he felt something off, deciding to withdraw his writing.
"I see, so that's why we never traced the books to you," Onohana said, confusing Leo.
"Well, there are dozens of ways to trace a subject to its origin." She verified her point to scare Leo before continuing. "If I am not wrong, Anna used some spell or ability when you were able to leave?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah!" Leo nodded. "She said it would change the perception of those who know me?"
"Well, that wasn't the only thing she did," Onohana said, sighing at her old assistant's antics of laziness. "She probably was too lazy to explain: the spell also hides you from all types of search and observation abilities of any kind."
Leo could only open his mouth and close it like a fish. The next moment, it finally hit him how freaking lucky he was.
Just the fact that he had a small chance of knowing this sub-dimension raised the risk of him getting hunted, as from the information he gathered, he knew that almost all the sub-dimensions were either closed with unique ways to enter or completely closed to outsiders, with info about them dating back to the contact with natives of said dimensions.
Now the main question: it has been over three years since he started publishing before stopping—why did no one bother him? Or look for him until now?
The answer is simple: from the supernatural side, he was protected by the spell Anna cast. And from the mortal side, you won't find better security measures than the Leo Company.
"Well, I think I owe Anna a thanks." Leo sighed and looked at Onohana. "So? What do you want to know from the Moon Lion?"
Leo knew for sure they wouldn't be looking for him without purpose.
"Nothing," Onohana surprised him with a smile. "As I said, I am on vacation, and since now I know who's asking for the information, I saw and heard nothing."
Leo looked at her for a second before his face crumpled, realizing something. "The Council still alive?"
With a raised eyebrow she nodded, seeing Leo sigh and massage his eyebrow before murmuring, "Oh boy…"
"You look like you discovered something?" Onohana asked. With his reaction and the discussion she had with Yuroshi before, she knew he definitely saw their dimension too, and knew the things going on there.
"Well, I don't know, but… is there any captain with glasses, good-looking, and gentle-looking?" Leo asked, and as Onohana confirmed, he sighed. "Well, he's the one who caused all the problems you're facing."
"Oh, now I can say for sure you are the Moon Lion," Onohana said, catching him off guard, as in his speculation she wasn't supposed to know that.
"Well, I myself just got this bomb of info a day ago." Onohana smiled. "Want to guess who I met?" Not letting the chance slip, she chose to play with Yoruichi (unknowingly).
"Yup, Yoruichi ." Onohana nodded and continued to lead the conversation. "By the way, how much do you know about her?"
"Well, I know she was the heiress of the Shihouin clan, known as the Flash Goddess for her speed and special techniques. She's also known for her special ability to take the form of a ca—" Leo started to recite what he knew, freezing on the last part and turning slowly to the cat in his lap, finding it glaring at Onohana.
As their eyes met, the cat jumped from his lap, letting a meow behind, and leaped out the open window.
Leo looked at the smirking Onohana before pointing at the window. "Was that…?"
"Yup, her investigation led her to your house," Onohana hid her mouth and started laughing.
Leo didn't bother and only shook his head, knowing that probably Yoruichi was playing along with Onohana to troll him.
Something he discovered about Onohana. despite her refined and lady aura, she had a knack for trolling people around her for a good laugh. Probably a coping mechanism with all the bloodlust she's hiding?
also he stil puzzled on how she inter this far without activating any protection protocole.
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Below is my Kofi page. There, you'll find the first part of Danmachi fanfic. A friend of mine is working on editing, and it's free to read as a series of posts. Tips are appreciated if you wish to support!
ko*******/brain_n_clouds