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It was still early for her, considering it was only about 9 pm. There were still people on the streets, but none really seemed to approach the girl. It probably had something to do with the large red canine companion she had at her side that seemed to have a curled lip and a low growl escaping his breath. A companion that was not kept on a leash.

The easiest place to start off was the park where she had found that dufflebag the night before. There was a chance that the object would have been stolen during the day, but once she approached the same vicinity, she found that it was still in place.

"Ari, get the scent!" was the command she belted out in Japanese as the snarling husky approached cautiously. His nose was moving wildly against the fabric of the bag, keenly invested in gathering all of the smells from the dirty object.

Only once he seemed satisfied did he back away from the bag, seeming to look about the park with a snort.

The girl didn't seem to get her hopes up when the dog finished his investigation. She didn't even budge from her spot. All she said was "Follow the scent."

The dog's nose twitched, and with his large body slinking low to the ground, he began to make his way off the path. The husky was not a bloodhound, the girl knew such to be the truth. She had worked with the dog on tracking scents, but it was still a hit-and-miss sort of endeavor. Heaving in a deep breath, the girl stepped off the path, the heels of her boots digging into the mud beneath the freshly watered grass.

There were still murmurs across the park, delinquent children partaking of illegal drugs in the vast open spaces, still considering themselves invincible when it came to the law of the land. However, a muffled scream sounded sharply and briefly before it died down.

"...perhaps someone getting mugged..." she commented casually as she noted that Ari was apparently heading towards the direction of the noise. She could have blamed it upon him getting distracted by the noise if it weren't for the fact his nose remained firmly to the ground.

The lead...

Her teeth crept out past her lips only to bite down. Her pulse began to speed up, though she was not certain if it was from excitement or fear at this point.

When Ari stopped, he was leaning low to the ground in a defensive manner. His lips were still curled up, teeth bared, and a loud growling gurgled from his throat.

There was a single skater boy laying unconscious on the ground and a girl with braided hair and narrow eyes. It was a face she had not seen in many years, but it was still familiar to her after all this time.

"Jun, is that you?" Though she was curious, her tone seemed stern, as if she was not trying to give in to any emotions.

The figure turned suddenly towards the girl, a loud clicking sound seeming to come from her direction as she moved. However, no voice escaped the familiar figure.

In the disapproving tone that seemed maternal in nature, the girl scolded "Last I heard you were sent to Saint Magdalena's Seminary because of all the trouble you got in for fighting your peers. If I were to judge based off of this, I would say you still haven't learned a thing." The kid on the ground couldn't have been much older than 14 years old. Jun was one year older than her too, so technically this was assault upon a minor.

The figure cocked her head to the side, another inexplicable clicking noise escaping her form. Slowly, she took a few steps forward, an odd collection of clicking noises flowing from her as she moved.

Not seeming very pleased with such, the large red husky lashed out, snapping his jaws and barking at the intruder fiercely.

"Quiet!" was hollered at the dog, but something else managed to get her attention which caused her to ignore Ari's momentary disobedience.

What had been a girl she had known growing up suddenly seemed to distort quite suddenly. Her skin turned green as the mirage seemed to dissipate, her hands turning into what could only be classified as deadly weapons.

"A monster? Jun?!" This girl, Sadoko, was legitimately caught by surprise by the sudden transformation. Her usual demeanor was shaken up, her body staggering back slightly as she took in the scene.

She easily just watched as the odd giant bug monster attempted to get close again, and watched as her dog once more lashed out. The insect-imposter's eyes narrowed at the potential prey before bolting off.

Ari, unwilling to give up the scent, began to give chase, barking the whole while.

It took her a moment to find her voice again. She shouted "TSUKE!!!" out a bit too late. The monster and her dog both had rushed through a series of large bushes, obscuring them from sight.

Her voice trembled in an unusually weak display for her usual self as she asked "...what do I do now?"

It was only natural to think back about what she could have fixed about the situation to prevent what was clearly a miscalculation upon her part. Sadoko hated to keep her dog upon a leash, but if she had anticipated getting as close to the monster as they had been this evening, she would have definitely considered it.

However, thinking of what she could have done to prevent this mishap did not fix the current problem. Ari had run off, chasing a monster that basically wielded sharp weapons. The girl didn't know the level of aggression in the monster, but she was keenly aware that her husky was quite naturally aggressive. When Ari got off focus like this, the only thing that usually brought him back down was an act of dominance, a reminder of who the alpha was. However, she would have to act fast, and then hope that the mantis creature was not still present (which was highly unlikely).

It was about this time that she heard a voice inquire about her well being. Naturally, she turned to look at the unconscious boy upon the ground. Had he regained consciousness? No, he was still sprawled across the ground as if he was doing an impression of a bear skin rug.

Her brows fell a bit as she looked around in puzzlement before she finally spotted the feline rubbing up against her boots. Stray cats weren't unusual in this city, and in the same tier, it wasn't unusual for domestic cats to go without any sort of identifying tags. Though this cat had a definite collar upon it, it didn't seem like an actual license tag was attached.

She knelt down, but rather than simply pet the animal, she extended her fingers in front of the cat's nose to let it smell her fingers. With all her work with animals, she wasn't about to get herself scratched because she breached a cat's comfort zone.

Sadoko might have needed to reel in her dog, but there was something calming about the presence of a new animal as well. "Hello, Neko-san."

"...you speak... English..." she stated in a calm tone.

Now that her attentions had been 100% upon the feline, she was able to comprehend that it had been the one speaking moments ago. Though there was a bit of surprise, she didn't question the matter. Flipping out over a talking cat would not make the situation any better.

"...and you are intelligible it would seem..."

Rather than stay kneeling down and petting the animal, the girl instead dutifully stood herself up, looking in the direction her husky had gone.

Since the animal was intelligent, she offered a straightforward, yet quick explanation to the unknown cat. "I apologize, but I tend to flip flop languages when I deal with animals. 'Neko-san' is in Japanese. It is referencing a cat," There was a pause as the emphasized "Neko" before continuing the explanation "... in a polite, gender neutral manner."

The girl closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in as she attempted to calm her mind for the task she was about to take on.

When she opened her eyes, she didn't even look back to the little animal. "If we are done with that... then you should leave. There is a monster out here, and my dog went chasing after it..."

A monster with Jun's face

There was hesitation in her voice as that stray thought interfered. "...I cannot leave him to die in such a pointless manner!" With that, her boots already began to pull her forward, making her way towards the still echoing sounds of a dog's vicious barking.

This cat was chatty.

It was taking a bit of the edge off of the situation, but at the same time, it was definitely serving as a distraction.

Lifting a hand to her mouth, she shouted out as loudly as she could "ARI, KOI!!"

She was barely able to acknowledge the cat's introduction as she paused briefly to see if she could hear Ari barking. The husky's barking was still echoing in the air, but it didn't seem to be coming any closer.

"...damn..." she muttered before noticing that the cat had been following her this whole time as she moved.

"...Oh, you're still here?" She noticed two black objects by Liryn that he seemed insistent about her taking. Her voice was crisp as she asked "Is there a reason for all these distractions... Liryn, was it?" She leaned down and snatched up the two objects quickly before righting herself and quickening her pace.

"ARI, KOI!!!!!" she shouted again.

Sadoko's brow twitched a bit as she caught a word the feline used.

"Youma... a word translating roughly to a ghost or apparition. It is Japanese." Her eyes narrowed judgmentally at this cat which retroactively didn't understand the word for cat in Japanese, but knew a word for a type of monster in Japanese.

If it was possible for her to narrow her eyes further without outright closing her eyes, it happened within a few seconds as he pulled out another stray word in Japanese.

"...Tanchozuru... really?" she scoffed. "Do you know Japanese or not? It is insulting that you speak random words for no reason."

Turning her nose up a bit, she inspected the odd pen with skeptical eyes. It seemed awfully gaudy for something a cat was just toting around inexplicably. There was some sort of symbol etched into the metal, but it was hard to make out at that moment. Perhaps the right lighting would help out.

She could have refused, thrown the odd stick away, and stomped on her merry way. However, considering the persistence of this animal, there was a good chance he would retrieve the stick and return it like a playful dog.

Heaving in a deep sigh, she then mustered up the feeling that she usually kept stifled inside of herself to shout out what the cat had requested of her.

"Tanchozuru Power, Make-Up!!!" Her fingers were still clinging to the pen as her body seemed to practically move upon its own in a familiar form. Her arms extended fully, gracefully fanning out in an elegant strike as sleeves appeared from nowhere. With both arms reaching outward, one leg lifted up for a kick, causing a skirt that had not been there prior to flutter slightly. Her feet no longer had the boots surrounding them, but suddenly had a pair of Geta clinging to her toes.

She brought her arms before her body, leg lowering itself to a more restful position. She was no longer wearing her coat and shorts, but instead what felt like it was made of silk.

"...am I allowed to go find my dog now?" she asked in a short tone, her irritation less than masked at the present.

"Clearly you don't know Japanese when you hear it!" the girl snapped. The girl had already turned away from the little cat to focus on a new sensation that was seeming to hit her nerve endings. It wasn't exactly something she could truly explain, but she did feel an overbearing sense of dread in the air. And Liryn was explaining that it was the youma's doing.

Much like before, she began to move forward, seemingly not waiting for the little cat. However, she couldn't run quite yet, since her new footwear was a bit foreign to her. She knew of Geta, but it didn't mean she had experience wearing Geta.

"You are very redundant, Liryn. Let me translate what you just told me, little cat." There was a pause to her voice, if only to accent the starting place of the translation.

"Sailor Red Crowned Crane, Soldier of Cranes." She hadn't even looked back to the little cat to see if he was still there or not, walking with fists balled up as her sleeves draped and fluttered down her arms as they swung back and forth.

"If you didn't notice, Tanchozuru and Senshi are both Japanese words as well. Quite insulting that you don't know the origins of the words you decide to use."

A vicious growl and a rough, strained bark echoed through the air, sounding closer than it had been before. The dread she sensed also felt closer, like a fog that had decided to start dissipating into a valley.

Her own voice called out in a similarly rough manner "ARI, KOI!!!!!" causing her throat to sting after she shouted. It was no excuse to stop calling out to her dog. "ARI, KOI!!!!!!!!"

_____________________

Mistress had warned her about this sort of thing. Mistress had given her a simple mission of gathering energy, an order that the youma had followed to the letter. Even with a simple mission, Mantidae was destined to attract attention. It was what youma did, even when in disguise.

The disgusting male child had been a good source of energy, but then a girl and a dog had arrived. The girl spoke of odd things, seeming to recognize the disguise, but the pesky dog had been the main nuisance.

The initial plan was to ambush the canine after a bit of chase, aiming to get enough of a lead to put her abilities to use. The red dog had been relentless, but after a large enough gap had been formed, the youma found herself a tree to climb, then stop upon the lowest hanging branch. Once in place, she seemed to freeze in a crouching position. Initially, the subtle swaying of her ornamental hair sticks seemed to be the only movement to her, but once those stopped swaying, her presence seemed to be greatly diminished.

Ari, unable to climb a tree, arrived in the vicinity, nose twitching fiercely. His eyes couldn't see anything unusual in the area, but his nose wouldn't be so easily deceived. He let out a growl of warning, and a large bark to assert a sort of dominance, trying to beacon the other creature into showing itself. He circled the base of a tree, nose pressing against the bark.

When the dog had lined itself immediately beneath the youma, that was when she struck. She swiftly acted, dropping immediately from the branch, claws extended out to strike.

A sharp yelp sounded through the park, echoing against the dark evening sky.