More than he paid...

The woman stopped, her face taking on a devilish grin that both Xitlaly and Sans felt was eerily similar to their own Oni companion.

"So, at this point, it's no longer profitable to help the Church," The woman stood up to her full height, roughly pulling the torn shoulder of the dress back into place, and sweeping her hair back from her face again. The expression on her face softened, and she glanced down at the dress. "Always thought this thing was tacky, but it's not the appearance that counts, it's the price tag."

"What are you talking about?" Ketsueki's curled her lip and shrugged angrily.

"So, you don't keep protocol in your hall?" The woman dropped the steel club she still awkwardly held so that she could lean on it, supporting her weight. "And what have I told you about bringing guests, unannounced?"

Ketsueki rolled her eyes, and lowered herself to her knees, intertwining her toes behind her back. She leaned forward, forming her hands into a triangle, and bowing deeply against the wooden floor, before settling back on her calves.

"Much better, and your friends?" The woman gestured towards the dryad and the Doll, awkwardly standing and both wondering if they had somehow made a horrible faux-pas.

"Associates, looking into a matter that I thought we dealt with."

"The last time I talked to you, I thought you made it very clear that you didn't want me or my people in your town. That was the deal, and I kept to it. However, I knew that sending an idiot into your territory would get you here fast. Only reason I did it, and I apologize. "

"Oh mom, you didn't... Sorry... Bosu... don't you think that guy was a little..." Ketsueki sighed before returning to her formal position.

"It's not like I slept with him or anything," The woman laughed , "Told him it was orders from the church, and I had been forced to give him the orders as a form of humiliation. Idiot believed every word because he thought he had power over me. "

"Bosu, I want to introduce my associates, Xitlaly and Sans. You know what they're capable of." Ketsueki became slightly more formal, but the atmosphere felt less like a church service to Xitlaly, and more like a business meeting between enemy companies. "This is my mother, Yuujin Nomino, Oyabun of the Yuujin Clan."

"And you'll do nicely. You rang up quite a debt with me today, O' reijo..." The woman waved her free hand, causing the dress to slip down, exposing a silken bra. She grimaced and shrugged it up awkwardly. "Fortunately, I've got one little job that will wipe it clean, if you're interested."

"I'll have to hear it first, and speak to my associates," Ketsueki nodded quietly.

"Fine. You understand that none of this leaves this room. I made a deal with the Church. They offered me a great deal of money to bind a addictive plant to a particular spell. They didn't tell me what the spell was, and I didn't ask. They assured me there would only be one plant, and I believed that we had a man trying to make a drug addicted Harem. His money spent like anybody else's, just business. Not my fault if some foolish girls take the stuff."

She sighed angrily. An expression of rage flashing over her face for a moment, the red hue taking on the full anger of her power. Just as quickly, it was gone, with a quick breath.

"He promised me I'd be left out of it. I also demanded that all of my people be left alone. Only way he would agree to that was if I signed a pact that I'd defend him and his as well, as long as it didn't eat into my profits."

She brushed a black diamond from her tattered dress with an off handed motion.

"Of course, attacking someone who I had made a deal with would be horrible for my reputation. Completely dishonorable, and nobody would ever do business with me again. Of course, if another Clan were to take care of it, just business. Not my fault if some foolish girls destroy the stuff."