Renji, along with the rest of the team, was starting to get used to Mad Hatter’s
elusive, mocking presence among them. He supposed he should have known
that would be the signal for a fresh turn into strangeness.

Today’s strangeness started innocently enough with a voice none of them had
heard before. "So this is where you’ve been, lately." A tall figure
stepped out from under the shadow of the trees by the courts.

Hatter’s face lit up even as she turned. "Indeed, my lord," she answered,
stepping toward the man. The entire team stared as she sank to her knees
at his feet.

"And are you enjoying yourself?" he asked one brow tilting up as
he reached a hand down to pull Hatter back up.

"Immensely," she purred.

The man’s eyes traveled over them all, ending at last with Seiichi. Renji tensed,
suspecting who this must be, but Seiichi met the gaze coolly and only nodded.

"Lucifer, I presume," he said, quietly.

A crooked smile turned up the man’s mouth, and he looked back down at Mad Hatter.
"How calm. Have you finally found one you couldn’t break, butterfly?"

"One hasn’t been trying to break him," Hatter protested, looking
up through her lashes. Genichirou, standing beside Renji, twitched, and Renji
leaned against his shoulder for unobtrusive support and restraint.

"No, only my teammates," Seiichi put in, sharp and not particularly
amused. "I hadn’t realized it was an actual hobby."

"One seeks the truth and shows the truth," Hatter answered, voice
suddenly harsh. Her head dipped almost to Lucifer’s chest. "Few see
it, even then."

This time, Renji noted, it was Niou’s turn to pull Yagyuu back when he stepped
toward Hatter.

"Belial," Seiichi and Lucifer murmured at the same time, in the same
tone of mild exasperation.

Their eyes locked over Hatter’s head for a long moment before Seiichi sighed.
"So," was all he said, though.

Hatter cast a narrow look over her shoulder at Seiichi, but let the exchange
go with a faint shrug. "Are you down here to visit her?"
she asked Lucifer.

His eyes hooded. "Alexiel will be mine when she returns. For now, Setsuna
and Sara belong to each other." His mouth tilted again. "Actually
I was going to see what Michael is doing."

Mad Hatter threw back her head and laughed, eyes sparkling again. "Oh,
can one watch?" she begged, hands clasped under her chin.

Personally, Renji would have been a bit alarmed by her grin, but Lucifer merely
brushed his fingers through her wild hair. "If you like."

It was the first time they had seen Hatter’s wings. The corner of Renji’s mind
that catalogued things observed that they were feathered, albeit black, not
the bat-style wings that seemed traditional for demons in artwork. The rest
of him was gaping at the sky along with his teammates.

Except for Seiichi. Who stood with a hand on his hip, the other raised to press
between his eyes. "Hatter-san, you little idiot," their captain
muttered.

Renji’s brows rose. That was very much the tone Seiichi used about Akaya sometimes.

Interesting.

End