The battle with Kurama was a spectacle. It was fearsome and destructive. What mattered was that any civillian out there was safe. And that the combatants that were there in the danger zone all turned out to be alive and were merely knocked out. Sure, they were all injured and such. But they were not mutilated beyond belief, nor were they dead. Any injury they had was able to be healed with magic or standard medicine.

He took his time to go check on his teammates or faction mates or whatever they are, that were in mortal combat against Kurama. Which were namely the leader and shogun herself Mishiko and her son Takao. He never considered this, but is Takao like a prince and thus he is checking on royalty for the first time? Could be. Either way, this was his best chance to meet him in peace.
So he approached the younger man and spoke to him "How are you since then?"

Takao stood there, staring out over the city that he knew one day would be rebuilt, but not in the this place. He wondered what would become of this place then? All this infrastructure is here, and it just needed to be repaired and that was easier then doing it from scratch somewhere else. These are the things that Takao was wondering when he heard a voice, turning around he saw that it was one of the newest members of the Shinigami Convocation. Takao believed his name was Shin or something like that.

If Shin ever turned on their magic, the first thing they would most likely notice is how insanely high Takao's mana is now. It was alittle under half of what the Shogan's total mana was, but the Shogan clearly miles ahead of Takao in every possible category but the fact that he was atleast in this range was madness.

" Hello. I have been fine, the sealing of the Nine Tailed Fox went well enough, and no one was injuried during it. Apparently my body took to it better then most, but that might be the Divinity that helps keep the seal better. I honestly couldn't tell you. " Takao answered back. Takao knew very little about this Daniel, but he knew that they were comrades in the same guild which was good enough for Takao.

" This one smells funny... Something is wrong with him... Do not trust him. " Kurama said inside of Takao's head, which he ignored. He has been hearing this with any person that he has talked to for the past couple of days. Apparently the seal wasn't supposed to let him just talk to him at anytime, but it did for him. Maybe because he was closer to what Kurama was at full power, given his father.

" I assume everything is ok on your end of things? "

Life led him from Caelum to Minstrel to finally Joya, where he started a new life and a new identity. He was still getting used to his new name and new documents and new citizenship of Joya. On paper he was a full joyan, where as biologically well... he wasnt. He chose Shin as his new  name. He looked up joyan names and Shin was a name meaning 'real' or 'genuine' which was kind of fitting with the story he was going. But enough of an abandoned history, it was time to see how a partner was doing. So he asked.

Takao, he was in the battle against that fox, his moveset was more appropriate for that direct combat, where as he himself dealt with stealth and kill blows on people more his size. The new fox host said that he was fine as the fox was sealed within him. He replied in his fluent joyan
"At least you are doing well. I have heard others were not as fortunate, like a few got knocked out" he wasnt sure how they were doing. He heard one was in a bad shape, but he didnt know if it was true or hearsay.
Takao asked him if everything was alright on his end. And he nodded "All is well. I figured I would check up on the mvp here. I mean, Im not much of an assistant, but if you need anything you can holler" he offered his services to the fellow faction member. He knew Takao was generally in a more authoratative position than him, so he offered to help the guy and stay on his good graces. Why make enemies when you can make friends

Takao looked at Shin, a person that seem very kind and respectful, so he had no reason to mistrust him at this time. Besides he was a member of his guild, so he was sure his mother had vetted him properly and deemed him to not be a risk to Joya and instead an asset to the protection of it. " I am by far not the MVP. I did very little during that event, our Guild Master did far more then I did, along with the other powerful Joyan's that came to help. I was simply lucky to still be standing afterwards. Nothing more. Nothing Less. As for you being an assistant, I highly doubt that. You would not be a member of this guild if you were simply an assistant..... " Takao then tilted his head back slightly in thought as he said " Though I guess if you define being an assistant as anyone who is helping the Shogun complete her goals, then we all are assistants. "

Takao then began to walk towards Shin, before moving past him and onwards, his yellow clothes flowing behind him as he walked past Shin to go down into the city as a whole. " This man smells of death Takao... he is a killer, a murderer of innocents, watch yourself around him before he kills you and me. " Takao wasn't even sure if he died that Kurama would be free or not, but given that Kurama wasn't sure either it was clear that he didn't want to take the chance of Takao dying in battle. He was lucky in the fact that Takao wasn't able to die of old age, given that he was a Demigod and effectively immortal because of that.

" You are very interesting Shin, what division did you say you were in? " Takao didn't bother looking back to see if Shin had began to follow him. Takao knew very little about the man, just as he was sure that the man knew very little about Takao. Takao, in his mind, was a nobody, someone of no real note as of yet and not someone to keep an eye on. While others in the world would disagree with that statement with every fiber of their being, Takao did feel this in his heart. He wasn't nearly strong enough to be worthy of anything more then a passing glance.

"You sell yourself short there. Even if you werent some huge damage dealer, the fact your body could hold that beastie in, is an impressive feat on its own. Im gonna go on a limb and say I wouldnt have been able to hold that Kurama in me" not that he wanted, that beast gave him the chills. He was one of the people who helped evacuate the area and make it safe for the combatants to duke it out with no worries. If anything he would be one of the last reinforcements because of his own fighting style which he doubted would've worked well on Kurama.

In regards to Takao saying he doubts he's an assistant, he shrugged "Im not by title or duty. But hey, you're recuperating from a battle and you had a whole fox monster sealed in you. I figured that person deserves to catch a break, so I offered to help you a bit if you need anything" he wasnt an official nurse or assistant to tend to his wounds or needs. But if the guy needed anything he would help, Takao went through so much, so he deserved a break. Others werent part of their faction so he didnt worry about them. But theres also the Shogun, but he knew she was well. And he doubted he would have access to her just like that.

Takao then as he walked away asked him in what division he was in
"Oho my good chap I didnt say I was in a division! But since you ask you sly dog, Im gonna tell you! Assassination & Execution" he was very chillax about it, treating Takao as if he was good ol buddy ol pal. He wasnt hiding what he did there, and judging just by his temper, Takao can see he was very happy just killing people, very chipper. He did indeed follow Takao, cuz he had free time to kill

Takao didn't look back at Shin as he said simply " Kurama is no more of a monster then any human being is capable of being. Just alittle more powerful then most, and alittle bigger. It was not Kurama's fault that he was thrown to the wayside by his father, who is.. my father. "

" HE'S YOUR WHAT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU RIGHT NOW TAKAO! " and Takao could feel his mana start to burn and boil over his body, as if it tried to cloak him in the same blood red mana from Kurama. Sadly for Kurama, his wasn't in control of Takao or his body, as Takao closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before exhaling. As the chains of the seal, along with Takao's own spark of divinity pushed Kurama back down, chaining his mana more away as the seal grew stronger to compensate for the rush of raw mana. The blood red mana that was boiling off Takao vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Takao simply continued walking like nothing had happened.

" Sorry about that. I had to have a conversation with.. my brother I suppose. That is an interesting thought now that I think about it. How very odd... Hmmmm. But Yes, it wasn't his fault he was thrown aside by my father and then effectively sold into slavery by the humans who wanted to use his power for their own purpose. If that had happened to me I would most likely be the same way. You being apart of the Assassination and Execution is good, while it is unfortunate that people have to die there are still some that would prefer to see Joya as a place run by criminals and corrupt elite. Just be sure they are authorized by my mother or well.... you know what we do to murders in Joya." Takao was stil walking as he seemed to realize that he had an extremely.... odd family dynamic. Though it didn't seem to outwardly effect how he was acting, though internally he would have to figure out how to breach this topic of conversation with his mother at a later time. Also, the 'threat' that Takao made coming out of his mouth didn't sound as much like a threat as a simple gentle reminder of what happens when someone breaks a law without his mothers approval. Takao didn't even act like he noticed he said the threat at all, and maybe he didn't given that he continued to walk as if nothing had happened.

As Takao explained that Kurama wasnt just some monster fox, it seems that as soon as the inner fox realized that it and its host are brothers in a way, related via father, that the fox kinda snapped as some of its power bubbled over and seeped from Takao who managed to have a hang of it and subdue it. Shin was casual about it as he let the guy handle his mental manners. And he was grateful Takao managed it, because he would not want to be the one to subdue a possessed man. Which probably would've been a stab to the forehead.

But besides the point Takao has spoken about this strange family that Shin couldnt even grasp at. What was interesting though was that Takao kind of just as casually threatened him not to go rouge and kill someone. The Shinigami had a small laugh "Oh dont worry about that, nothing goes without mommy dearests approval. I am a loyal and humble servant after all. She just has to point me in the right direction thats all" he said the last sentence in a more serious tone

Though he switched back to his more lighthearted persona "So friend, what do you do in your spare time?" was he always such a serious guy?

They had finally began to reach the outskirts of the city, as he watched the various people picking through the rubble, trying to get what was left of their former lives out of the wreckage or the people that his mother had paid in order to get the rubble removed and salvage what they could. Takao felt bad for these people as he continued to walk through the city with his new 'friend' behind him.

" I train in my free time. I have a new ability and powers that I have to get used to using and I am still far too weak to protect the people of this nation like I would like to be able to. " Takao was in fact, this serious all the time. Atleast that was the case around people that he didn't consider his 'family', though that list of people was only his family and his lover Akuko, another person within the Guild. Takao stopped walking for a moment as he glanced back at Shin and said " Are you loyal to my mother because you want what is best for this nation, or are you loyal because she will allow you to kill? "

Takao honestly wasn't sure, but he was a member of the Assassination corp, so anything was possible with that group of people. They were either patriots, and willing to die for their country or they are sociopaths who joined so they could kill without the consequences that come from that. It would also allow them to be as sloppy as they wanted, because sometimes that was in the best interest of the mission at hand to leave a bloody mess behind to send a message. " Fall in line with what the Shogun wants, or this could be you. "

Takao was clearly of the former, as he was willing to die for his country, even though this technically wasn't his country and he had only lived here for less then a year. He wanted to see if Shin was a person who killed for the 'right' reasons. If not, there was very little if anything he could do about it, even if he personally felt that people like that should be executed the same as criminals the pragmatic side of his brain told him that was a waste of 'talent'.

As they would walk, they would see people trying to clean up the aftermath of the great battle that took place. Either poor people trying to recover things they couldnt get in the rush, dear memories they hold dear, or were the people that were on a payroll to clean up and rebuild.
He then asked Takao what did he do in his spare time and soon learned that his new friend was a very serious chap. Just a bunch of training and mastering of new powers and booring.

He stopped walking as soon as Takao stopped. He noticed the host of the fox glanced at him and asked him a curious question. Behind his mask he smiled a curious grin as he was amused by Takao's prodding "Reasons are irrelevant. I have my personal reasons why I am loyal to the Shogun. Now come on Takao, why the hostility all of the sudden? Just because of my division? That isnt very teamwork of you" or was Kurama starting to influence the host and thus Takao becoming more distrustful?

It was interesting though, both were opposites, Takao was a clear patriot willing to die for his nation. After all, his mother was a shogun and he was her son. Shin? Aka Daniel? A serial killer who left Caelum and then moved to Minstrel and lastly Joya when his killing sprees got to him. He is effectivelly banned from certain nations and has to sneak in there. Hence the new identity. He loved killing and he was loyal because he could kill freely. Its why he didnt tell Takao why he was loyal to Mishiko, he knew that stuff wouldnt fly with people who were brown nosers, holier than thou people. After all, he would admit he was a criminal elsewhere if he said that.
So instead he focused on Takao "You know, you're making an awful a lot of presumptions. I was hoping to ask you what you did in your spare time so you can maybe ask me back and get to know me and then I reveal like 'oh Takao you know I dont kill aaallll the time, Im a bit of a writer in my spare time, I write childrens bed time stories'. But nooo, you're mr serious over there giving me threats." he shrugged "If I wasnt falling in line with Lady Shogun, I wouldnt be here now would I, pal" he put a bit emphasis on the pal, even though he knew with the amount of threats he was getting that they were far from that.
"Or would you rather me be just as serious as you and then you really do start to hate me for being in a bad division"

Takao turned completely towards Shin as he answered his question, in his own way. Though as the conversation continued on, a smirk began to appear on Takao's face. A little smirk that didn't appear to be belittling or anything like that, but it did appear to be 'hiding' amusement. It was clear to Shin, as he spoke that Takao was finding this conversation amusing in some way but he would allow him to finish. Once he was finished, Takao just laughed like he had heard an ok joke. Not a great one, but one that was worth a laugh or two at most.

" I hope your ability to kill my Mothers enemies are better then your ability to lie to me Shin. Also Shin, I don't make threats.... I make guarantees. " and Takao simply turned around and began to walk again. The man's first mistake in the rant of what he said was, "Reasons are irrelevant". Someone who fights and kills for their country, that isn't the answer they give. They say it and they mean it. The fact that was used to avoid the question entirely, gave him all the answer he needed to make his call. Shin was a serial killer, most likely not here in Joya but most likely in some other country. It seemed more likely then not that you only find out you enjoy killing after you done it once, and if you do, you most likely do it again. Hence seral killer. He was allowed into the country and allowed to join the Guild, so Takao was sure that he wouldn't turn on this country, or atleast not at this exact moment.

" You being in the assassination division means nothing to me. The only difference between you and me is that you prefer to do it with the element of surpise and I don't care how it is done. At the end of the day we both kill my mothers enemies and the enemies of this country. It is as simple as that. Your reasons for doing so are clear based on your answer.. or lack there of. "

" There is no such thing as the "Bad" Division. Our intelligence department leads to the deaths of hundreds of our enemies in this country and in others, that doesn't make them any better then the person who pulled the sword or trigger. Do not take my questions as threats or anything else like that, they are simply that.. questions. To see what kind of man you are, and you are a man who is willing to lie to me, or atleast deflect rather then answer my questions honestly even if the honest answer is the 'wrong' answer. " Takao's voice was as calm as ever, and there wasn't even a tone of a threat in his voice. He was simply having a conversation with another member of his guild, someone he was attempting to get to know what they truly were like and not whatever mask they put up to fill their role. Human beings need to be honest with who they are, and those who are honest do not lie to others about it, unless their job requires it in a moment. Talking to a guild member, even as the Assassination Guild, does not require it in Takao's mind.

"Lies and deflections are still a different thing. I have my own reasons why I joined to help the cause. If I did lie I would've given you a straight answer" Takao also spoke about how he makes no threats but guarantees "Well, Im glad we're on the same page there"

Takao was also an interesting chap when it came to certain things. Such as the intelligence department that leads to the deaths of hundreds of their enemies in this country and in others, that doesn't make them any better then the person who pulled the sword or trigger. Really, Takao can mask all his biases with any philosophy that he wants. But the Shinigami knew what was up

He remembered years ago, the heated debates with his teacher who tried to make him believe in this ridiculous theory that humanity was intrinsically curious and intelligent species that evolved toward peace and prosperity with its many civilisations and achievements.
But he argued the opposite. He argued humans were intrinsic killer. Killers that evolved to enslave, acquire, destroy and eventually self-destruct. That the achievements and the civilizations were tools for blood. That the mask of civilization was a facade, a farce, an elaborate design to hide the true face of humanity, the bloody face of horror, as he often liked to call it. The bloody face of horror always found a way to break through the mask. Always. The more we contained and hid the truth, the stronger and more creative it got in breaking free. As if it had a life of its own. A need of its own. They were fun debates. But as much as people hated to hear it, life was ridden with war, bloodshed and death. Plenty of death.
Any advancement, magical or technological only came through the spillage of blood. As much as the holier than thou pacifists want to believe that they are righteous and in the right. He knew when push came to shove, in order to survive you have to be a killer. Its how nature works.

Even looking at his faction mate here Takao. He may think he is righteous in his own killing because he does it for his nation. But that is just justification after justification. Joya was no better then any nation. The fact the Assassination & Execution division exists is all you need. Still though, he wouldnt leave Takao hanging
"You DO realize, if you want to get to know me you can ask less personal questions. There is this concept called privacy" he said to the guy, trying to dismiss his threats, because thats what they were essentially. He was pretty sure you can get to know someone more by actually being friendly with them and not be so openly hostile with them. Lul them into thinking you're safe space.
He shook his head thinking how did this go from a supportive 'good job, im gonna help you' situation to a 'i dont trust you you liar and killer' situation. Was he really being drilled so hard by mommas boy over here? So what, should he think of Desierto as his backup? Well, it couldnt hurt to be ready if Joya doesnt work out. Which was annoying him since he didnt even get to do jack shit. He glanced at Takao for a moment as he had an idea, again, a just in case

" We are a guild, while privacy is a thing but at the end of the day I need to trust that you will not simply stab me in the back because you know you can get away with it, just to get another hit of your drug of choice. Your deflection is the same as lying, you are just hoping that I was stupid enough not to pick up on it and emotional enough to turn this around to say that I did something wrong. You answered my question the moment you deflected and told me what you are. Which I do not blame you for, some people are addicts of drugs, sex, or any other vice and will do anything to not let others know that they are addicted, as it brings shame on them or even might make them a criminal in some cases. You are an addict of violence and death. I do my best not to give into that addiction myself, so I can relate and empathize with you on the power of that drug."

Takao continued to walk down the ruined streets of the city, simply staring forward and trying to figure out where this one would break and be honest with him. Takao did not like this man, he felt that he was no different then any drug addict you would find on the street, the only difference between him and the drug addict destroying their life is that their skills are useful to the country. Takao wished, at the bottom of his heart, that one day they would not need the assassination, combat or any other violent division but that isn't going to happen for awhile if ever. Joya is still at threat from others, from internal and external threats.

Takao didn't need to like this man, but that wasn't needed for Takao to do his job. As long as he was still loyal to the nation, and followed their laws and continued to make the country a better place, even if it was simply to get another hit, Takao would protect him like he would protect anyone else under his command. With this life if needed. Takao turned around at this point and said simply " We don't need to like each other to do our jobs, but we need to respect each other and understand each other. Otherwise we will look for any chance to leave the other behind if the chance came. I need you to be honest with me, if you deflect or lie to me, you are showing you can't respect me enough to tell me the truth. I am respecting you enough to have a blunt and honest conversation with you, one where you have a chance to defend yourself and maybe change my mind on the biases I have, rather then just assuming you are exactly who you really are. "

"Tch how dare you compare me to some lowly junkie. Im an artist. I have discipline and technique. I craft stories and paint a scene. I dont just scratch my neck like some pathetic addict looking for a fix. Trust me, Im not addicted. Infact, I love it when it takes time. That way when I do finally get my 'fix' as you say, it always feels so much more rewarding. Another thing is, I actually carefully choose my victims. Not just any random person, they have to be perfect. And lastly... I'm not stupid enough to kill you. I came here because I can do what I do legally. Im doing your country a favour and I get to write my stories."

Takao was close, he was addicted to something, but it wasnt violence and death, but horror. Every kill was a carefully crafted story he could write about and strike fear into the population. At Caelum he was a reporter, he got to write his own articles. Control the narration of the public perception, he was his own hype man, scaring people. In Minstrel he was a horror novelist, taking more detail about his murders, but just putting a fictional spin on it. He's pretty much doing the same here in Joya, killing and then writing about it. But this time his audience was more younger... children. Writing spooky kid stories that still embelleshed his aspects. And he got to be creative there. He could even make himself a fictional horror mascot character.
But other than that, Shin or as his true name from Caelum is Daniel, was highly offended he got compared to a dirty addict, he scoffed at the pompous demigod. He really did try to be nice and shoot the shit and be casual with the hotshot son of the shogun who probably had a lot of weight and burden on his shoulders, but the guy just rejected any advances of a connection as he prefered to look down on humans like gods typically do. He and his mother, they both have the same facade. You just replace one dictatorship with another.

The Shinigami crossed his arms as he listened to the pomous demigod speak "I'm a serial killer, I killed 7 people in Caelum. 5 men and 2 women and I killed 10 people in Minstrel, 6 men and 4 women. I kill them and use that material to write stories about it. And if you were ever scared about me killing you. As I said you were never a target. What I love is the ordinary. The relatable. The perfect victim that will make my readers think and feel it could have been them. Someone who does everything by the book. Someone who doesnt deserve to die. As if deserve had anything to do with it..... So, basically again. Not you. You're not relatable to anyone. You're the shoguns little boy, a demigod with a fox demon brother sealed inside them. Thats about as relatable as pizzas and pinepples. You deserving to die? Maybe, Im sure you have political enemies somewhere, like with the old shoguns loyalists. As for you doing everything by the book? Thats debatable again. But sure, have it your way. If you mention this to anyone, I will be gone"
Desierto was most likely gonna be the next location and after his stint there, he could return to Joya for some payback of denying him his story. He should start learning the new language and maybe making the new identities. He needed a backup

Takao turned and listened to what Shin was saying. He had clearly stepped on a nerve of some kind, even though he clearly never intended it to be so. Maybe this was another one of those human things where people don't like to be called something like that, though apparently this man did think of himself as something higher then that. At no point in this talk did Takao think that Shin was going to kill him, if he did, he wouldn't of had his back to him during this entire walk here. He also would have killed him at the start of the walk before the man had a decent chance to react. He was an assassin after all, and not a straight up combat fighter.

Takao simply listened to what the man had to say, and he finally admitted it to him. Great. We can finally get somewhere. A true open dialog has happened, and now the relationship can start off on the right foot. Now, Takao quickly realized that this man was effectively a terrorist. A boogyman of where ever he lives, and he leaves behind a trail of crying loved ones and terror in his wake, but he was their terrorist. Their boogyman. That is the only thing that mattered to him. As long as he was that, and he could continue to keep the enemies in check then that was all that mattered. Sometimes fear was a more effective weapon then a sword, and Shin could instill that fear as needed.

" I am not able to determine if I deserve to die or not, but those who die rarely deserve death. Death comes for us all, and it is uncaring of the worth or value of the person she takes. So as you said... "As if deserve had anything to do with it". I am also not aware of what book you are talking about, or what conversation you are talking about. We were simply speaking about the weather correct? It is getting rather cold this time of year. Besides, what questions do you have for me?"

Takao looked at Shin, giving him a look that he hoped would let him know that his secret was safe with him and this this conversation never happened. If that was his wish then Takao would accept that, though the reason why was unknown but there was many things he was correct about. Takao was entirely unrelatable to anyone or anything on this earth at this moment in time, and he doubted anything in the future would change that.

Takao also realized that he didn't really understand humans well, or maybe he just didn't understand serial killers well. Though the mind of a demigod is a strange place in all reality so, maybe he would never understand the human mind.