People bustled through the cafe, so many people doing so many different things it was almost suffocating. But crowds like this, where all the beings in them were in their own worlds, they made the best place for meetings where you didn't want to be heard or noticed. All conversations were normal when there was a orchestra of voices covering up the topic.

Koenma glanced at the server as she placed their coffees in front of them. When he didn't smile, Amon-Shinpi did for him, offering a nod to the woman.

"I was hoping for a more private space." Koenma admitted, looking around.

"Trust me, I've been keeping secrets for a long time little prince, this is the most private place we could be." Amon-Shinpi sipped her latte and sighed easily as it warmed her. The spring air was far better than the frigid winter winds, but she still preferred summer to all other seasons. She missed the feel of sweat rolling down her neck just standing still. That's where she felt most at home.

Human world had been an adjustment for her, but a necessary one. She'd made a deal after all. People stared at her more now. Red hair, blue eyes, skin not of this nation. It didn't help she was tall compared to most of the other women. Not that she minded, it just made her stick out.

"If father finds about this-" Koenma leaned told her, sipping his own drink.

"Don't let him find out, if you're so worried." Shinpi huffed, accepting the folder he handed to her. "It would be best for both of us if this stayed between us. I don't need anymore attention from the SDF than I'm already getting."

"That file wasn't easy to procure, they'll know it's missing." His eyes fell to the paperwork as she flipped the file open, her eyes scanning over the pages, flipping through them as she tried to find something new. "I've combed through them a hundred times. I didn't find anything of interest. Maybe you'll have more luck."

Shinpi stopped and studied one page more closely.

Her file, the one Spirit World had crafted about her. An incomplete dossier. The Makai's breadth made it impossible to keep track of every single demon out there, and harder still to follow their lineage. She'd been the nail that needed hammering when she'd risen to power, fighting against Mukuro and then Hiro. But beyond that it didn't seem they had too much on her. But this, this would prove useful.

Four months she'd been trying to dredge up information about who might've been involved in the murder of her entire family. Hiro's parting words had not just cut through her, but had brought to life an ambition for the hunt she had rarely experienced. She wanted to solve this mystery, and she'd do anything to make that happen. Even work for Spirit World as their precious little bounty hunter. Their pet killer. King Enma had struck the terms of their arrangement before telling her how to get her body back. It was his price.

He wanted her close, under observation until whatever it was that she was reborn to do had come to pass.

Shinpi was more than happy to play along for now. It afforded her access to Spirit World when she needed it. Moments like this came easier. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Koenma was merely checking her progress on a case he had assigned.

Hiei had nearly spit fire when he'd learned what she'd agreed to, but she'd convinced him the benefits outweighed the cost. He'd worked for them too, after all, and look at the result. He'd gotten to meet his closest allies, he'd captured Mukuro's attention. Without Spirit World she and him might not have ever met, she had told him. Good things come from ugly circumstances. Give it time.

She closed the folder and handed it back to Koenma. "I don't need it anymore. You can put it back in whatever vault your father deems is necessary."

"Did you find something?" Koenma flicked the pages, trying to determine what she had seen.

"I've got an appointment with Shizuru, I'll update you on the the demons you assigned me, the ones fighting humans in the park. As of now the case looks promising."

He understood the change in topic and nodded. "Try to bring them in alive this time. We've got a truce with Demon World to uphold."

"That's up to them isn't it?" Shinpi rose with a toothy smile, "I never kill anyone who doesn't make it necessary."

He rolled his eyes.

Then, as she was leaving, he said softly, "Be careful, Shinpi. Who knows whose eyes are on you now."

She paused, almost glancing back at him, but she didn't. Instead she shouldered through the crowd with her latte and made her way out the door. Once outside she considered the clue she'd found in the file. Of course Koenma would have missed it. She had overlooked it for nearly two hundred years. Pieces began to shift on the chessboard in her mind, the black king across the board sending out his first pawns toward her. She mapped out how this might go, all the ways she could see, and then she sipped her drink.

Two could play this underhanded game.

Coming Relatively Soon Based On My Schedule:

Survivor's Guilt: Loss in Victory