"I am," Genma said. "Shinobu's got his own specialties. Mostly stealth and infiltration." He kept his hand on the nervous rodent, who had edged even closer to his neck and was evidently using his hair for cover.

"I wouldn't do eros," Shinobu said with a shiver. "But exactly how many targets do you think we'd get where a rat would be seductive? I mean, unless it was another rat..." He stared thoughtfully up for a moment, then scrubbed his paws over his face. "Actually, that could be good..."

"In your dreams," Genma told him. He didn't take his eyes off Kuromaru, not for more than a second. At least Tsume seemed to have a full awareness of the situation, and was keeping her familiar at bay. It was suddenly a lot easier to remember how much Kuromaru, no matter what he looked like, was a predator.

"He sent me to pay off a gambling debt," Shinobu told Tsume, swaggering a little. "But he didn't give me enough. I had to plead with the yakuza boss not to cut off his pinky."

"I sent you to pay the first installment on my damn fine for punching that cop! And I did so give you enough."

"Nope, you were fifty ryou short. But don't worry, I covered it for you. You can pay me back in coin or you can buy me some of that cheese from Lightning Country that I like."