"Tell me you didn't sleep with her," Hana said angrily, her arms folded across her chest, her bright blue eyes staring me down.

Miku did not ask anything but gave me a similarly frosty look. We were all three… well… all four of us if we counted our new cat girl addition… sat at the dinner table in the cabin over four bowls of clam miso soup and white rice with pickled plums. The food looked and smelt delicious and I hadn't touched it, I was nervous. I knew the judgment I was going to receive.

The tenuous truce and acceptance between the girls had been hard won and difficult to maintain over the last year. It was a bit of a mess but now it was all sorted. At least I thought it was sorted. The cat girl looked at me, gave a soft meow and nuzzled my shoulder. I smiled awkwardly and petted her head.

Not helping me lady, not helping my case at all.

I opted to tell the truth. More or less. For I had not "slept" with her, other than in that strange nightmare I had had. And dreams were not punishable offenses. Not to my knowledge at least.

"We did not "sleep" together! What do you take me for? She doesn't even seem to speak English, I think she's lost." Damnit. Why did I feel guilty? None of this was my fault! All for letting in a stray cat. Catwoman. Catgirl. Cat spirit?

Whatever.

"If you say so Ryo," Hana said. I noticed she didn't call me by her usual affectionate nickname, "peach-butt" which I'd earned when she'd seen me naked in her shower. Worse than it sounded. I wasn't a pervert, well, sort of but I was trying to get better.

Why do I feel so defensive today? Even in my own thoughts?

Miku merely nodded, her grace and tact always appreciated, although I wondered what was going on beneath the surface. Both of the girls had felt more distant from me in the last months and I regretted that, and now that Fenra was missing it seems they blamed me. I felt on the outs, and I didn't like it. I fumbled with my hands.

Miku coughed, strategically changing the subject: "Well in any case, let's deal with one problem at a time. Hana… I don't want to push you if you aren't comfortable, but last time… when we encountered the demons… we discovered you could speak with spirits, understand their language. Ryo says this one can't speak English, but maybe it can speak to you?"

Hana folded her arms under her chest, raising her eyebrows. It was impossible to deny my attraction to her even now. She held sway over me, a kind of wild irrational hotness, with her pink ponytails, ample chest and fiery free spirit. She usually wasn't the possessive type actually… but I felt she was more upset with the idea I might be taking advantage of the cat girl. Which I was not|! If anything the creature was taking advantage of me .

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Enough of these thoughts. I’m spiraling.

"Well?" Miku asked, waiting for Hana to start speaking ‘cat’ I presumed.

Hana shook her head at the both of us staring dumbly at her.

"Honestly you two, I can LISTEN to spirits, I can't SPEAK to them. You are so busy with your own fancy powers you don't pay attention to mine, huh?". I saw Miku wince, a low blow. Miku had lost her powers the same time I'd lost connection to my grandfather, and while she was still a capable woman and a police officer, all of her spirit hunter powers had left her. This was yet another sore spot between the three of us.

"So.. she needs to say something then," I said, finally registering a solution to the problem. "Any ideas?"

Miku shook her head, her silky raven black hair moving side to side. She looked pretty today in a simple yet an elegant white dress. She always dressed up on her days off, though these were fewer and fewer now that she'd made chief.

"Well.. in the precinct office, if we need to get someone to talk sometimes we look for leverage. Do we know if she has any connections here?"

Hana sighed and gave both of us a pointed look. “Miku, she isn’t a criminal and Ryo, she isn’t a kid or a pet. She’s a spirit just like Fenra, and just because we can’t understand her doesn’t make her any less capable of understanding us so let's treat her like a normal being, okay?”

Hana reached out her hands across the table, palms up, and looked into the catgirls eyes.

“Hey there. I know this place can be a bit strange, and Ryo well… he can be a bit of a pain.” I winced at that but accepted it as true. Hana continued: “But we mean well, all of us. And even if some of us have had troubles with spirits or demons in the past, we are at peace now and we want to help you find your home, or whatever it is you are looking for here. So tell me… are you lost? Can you tell us your name? Where do you come from? Any information helps.” Hana spoke in soothing tones and I felt the power of her words, though she said she could not directly speak the language of the spirits I felt the spiritual pull of her gaze and the room’s temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

I could tell Miku sensed it too. I watched the cat girl to see what would happen. She cocked her head to the left, then the right. I watched as her long tail swished back and forth. She bared her fangs and I saw her yellow eyes flash. She growled. My hands went instinctively to my side, though my sword was not there. A reflex from all the training with Fenra.

The cat girl began to meow in rapid succession then let out a howl and a screech, I covered my ears, I felt energy swirling about the room. Suddenly Hana was on her feet as was the cat girl, their hands still intertwined. I felt energy billowing throughout the room. Tendrils of light surrounded them. I looked at Miku.

What should we do? What the hell is happening!? Hana never told us she had this kind of power...

I tried to speak my thoughts out loud, but the words were taken right from my mouth and seemed to disappear in the torrent of spiritual energy surrounding us. Miku shook her head at me, similarly unable to move or speak. Both of us stood back and watched as light surrounded Hana and the cat girl. Both of them closed their eyes and the swirling light surrounded them to form a perfect sphere. I wondered if I should try to access my powers but held myself back, I had to trust that Hana had this… whatever this… was.

The lights slowly dimmed, the sphere dropped and Hana fell back onto her chair, Miku ran to her. The cat girl blinked and turned to me, a smile on her cute face.

“M-m-my…. My name is Kira.”