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When Dino appears in a burst of dragon fire, Kyouya is sitting off to one side with a fluffy fox in his lap.

Tsuna is standing over the teen, interrogating the kitsune on what the warehouse is and where his friend was taken. Byakuran is answering lazily, almost put to sleep by the gentle petting from the teen, but he does answer.

Tsuna doesn't know why the fox is helping when he's clearly a part of this horror, but the angel is relieved nonetheless. He's so frustrated because Takeshi is missing, and he needs to get Ryohei but he can't leave in case the demon finds something and runs off without Tsuna.

Lambo is kneeling next to where the second portal took his friend away, trying to find a stray wisp of location so he can teleport there himself. He slowly sifts through the smells in this place but there are suppressants everywhere and red herring scents on top of that just in case a cerberus like him walks in.

Lambo also has a few rune sequences and pentagrams scribbled out in blood to cover the magical side of the search, but that's just as hopeless. These people aren't amateurs, they've been doing this for a long time and they're prepared.

The fire dies down around the dragon and the occupants of the room stare. Tsuna and Lambo are worried that Dino is a poacher as well, while Byakuran watches the other Alpha cautiously and Kyouya rolls his eyes.

"What's going on?" Dino demands, striding to his wayward human.

"Some herbivores got kidnapped by poachers," Kyouya offers up, because if he didn't the others would waffle on forever. "The poachers are over there." Kyouya hooks a thumb over his shoulder to the pile of bodies against the wall.

"I noticed," Dino deadpans. "And why are you involved? With Byakuran on your lap?"

Tsuna rears back at the name, staring wide eyed at the kitsune who's still snuggled up to the human.

"I should be asking you the same, Dino," Byakuran purrs.

Tsuna chokes a little and backs up to Lambo, who's the safest one despite their races being entirely antagonistic.

"We have a location," Kyouya interrupts carelessly. "We'll head out after we find the third angel and storm the auction, bite them all to death, then go get dinner."

"We have a location?" Lambo blurts out.

"Storm the auction?" Byakuran says at almost the same time.

"Bite to death?" Tsuna squeaks.

"Let's just go get dinner," Dino tries. "I really don't think you understand what an auction is exactly, and we shouldn't get involved."

"Then explain," Kyouya commands, perfectly willing to collect more information before he hunts down the poachers that escaped him before.

Dino sighs. "The bidders are mostly humans, sometimes supernatural, the security is strong with no gaps because they're paid to be the best, there's often a huge range of creatures to buy so it'll be difficult getting them all out, and if the hunters catch wind of our intervention then we'll have to defend ourselves against them as well."

Kyouya sighs too. "I don't care what race they are, I hope the security is strong because I want a challenge, who said I was going there for the creatures, and the hunters won't be a problem because the humans present already know of the supernatural and we won't be breaking any rules."

"It can't be proven," Lambo argues. "The humans will lie, plus any hunter presence isn't good since they tend to go overboard and will probably kill the trapped supernatural regardless of the situation."

"So we finish before they arrive," Kyouya deadpans. "I really don't see what the issue is."

Byakuran chuckles and hops out of Kyouya's arms before swiftly expanding into his human form. "Well if my Kyouya wants to storm an auction then of course I'll oblige."

"Just like that?" Lambo asks worriedly. "Can we do that?"

"You can't," Byakuran says derisively. "But I can."

It's easy for those who know what they're doing. The bidders hand over their money at the door, in cash, so people can't bet over their limit and claim to pay back later. There's a dress code that changes for every auction, both as a prissy display of fashion and to weed out the ones who don't belong.

You also need an individual code to enter and a charmed amulet to get you past the set of barriers around the auction house.

Dino and Byakuran can't go in, they'd be spotted instantly as trouble and the entire venue will be moved before they even get within sight of the place. So in this case, a suppressor is needed so no one notices the angelic or demonic aura on Tsuna or Lambo. Other races are known to participate, but Heaven and Hell condemn the practice as 'mingling with weaker trash'.

"Find the third angel," Byakuran orders the two low level creatures. "Then meet at the clock tower. I'll bring what you need and explain what clothes you have to shift into later. Perhaps if you stay silent, you could pass as very mentally challenged bidders."

Tsuna and Lambo stare.

Byakuran smiles with sharp teeth and his eyes glow. "Don't keep my Kyouya waiting, now. Scram."

The demon and angel stumble into their portals and escape back to the market.

Dino doesn't budge when the other Alpha turns to him. "What's your play?"

Byakuran shrugs carelessly. "I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for you."

Dino steps forward and Byakuran matches him, but Kyouya rises swiftly from his seat on the ground and shoves both back.

"Either you fight me, or you fight no one," Kyouya says with a scowl.

Both Alphas back down immediately.

...

Hayato wakes in slow increments, dazed and groggy despite the loud cacophony of noise. He blinks up at the glass pane above him, and after that, the high ceiling with detailed carvings and a chandelier in the middle.

Hayato breathes through the surge of panic. It's fine, he's fine. But what about the angel? He jerks up into a sitting position and a sudden overload of information has him blinking rapidly.

The edge of the huge room is filled with connected glass boxes, only interrupted by doorways. Some are suspended from the ceiling, and three particularly large terrariums are in the middle of the room – clearly the most important ones.

Every single cage is filled with an Otherside creature, most of them banging on the glass in a desperate attempt to get out, screaming for help or mercy or just screaming because they need to do something.

It's pointless trying to break out - the edges of the glass cages are scrawled with runes, alternating through different languages, but all faintly glowing with a strong power. These chains are heavy duty, built up by years of the same restrictive magics layered over and over.

All the creatures have been dressed up in what a particularly ignorant human would consider as 'traditional' clothing. Hayato is wearing a fucking leather loincloth and nothing else.

He is going to make some bitch burn for this shit.

He grits his teeth and ignores it. There's an unconscious vampire (actually snoring) in the box to his right, lying in about two inches of dark red blood because collectors are so fucking dramatic. At least Hayato only has black sand to deal with and one cleaned deer skull off to the side.

To his left is a terrarium with long, colourful feathers spread over the flooring. Back pressed against the glass nearest Hayato and long legs folded tight to his chest, is the black haired angel from before. His arms are folded on his knees and he's dressed more modestly that Hayato, wrapped in a long white toga.

"Takeshi?" Hayato calls out, shifting over.

The man murmurs something in a low voice, staring at the feathers.

"What?" Hayato asks, leaning closer. "I can't hear you."

"Angel feathers," Takeshi repeats. He laughs, humourless. "I recognise the colour. We used to play baseball together."

Hayato sucks in a sharp breath and looks at the feathers again. He can't help but imagine someone skinning Lambo and then scattering the strips of flesh over the glass box so Hayato has to sit in it and look at it and know that Lambo suffered.

It's not the feathers themselves that are the issue, it's the fact that Takeshi's friend was here, probably got sold, and then when they stopped being useful they were plucked just so the next angel would be broken before they even had an owner.

"Fuck," Hayato hisses. He shifts until he's sitting up on his calves. "Hey, look at me."

"Her parents cried a lot when she disappeared," Takeshi murmurs. "I hope my dad doesn't cry." The angel's voice breaks on the last word.

Hayato slams his fist in to the glass. "Fucking look at me!" he snarls.

The angel slowly turns to face the demon, but Takeshi's eyes see straight through. Hayato mutters a few curses in the guttural demon language. He's not good at this, but no one should have to deal with that alone.

"Your friends know," Hayato tries. "My friend knows. We're not going to be stuck here, okay? This is all just temporary."

"But they don't know," Takeshi says, voice monotone. "They didn't see us get taken away."

"Lambo is a cerberus," Hayato snaps back. "Trust me, they fucking know. And if anything, you should have just left the fucking fey. No one even likes the fey! This is all your fault!"

Takeshi hunches his shoulders. "Yeah. Yeah, it is. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this." He blinks, eyes watering even as he attempts a pathetic smile in apology. "You shouldn't have helped me."

Hayato scoffs. "Don't tell me what to do, idiot. And stop that – I hate crying and you're a grown fucking angel. We've been here for like twenty minutes and you're already hopeless."

"Three hours."

Hayato pauses. "What?"

"I've been awake for one," Takeshi explains. "But the nice kappa said we got transferred in three hours ago."

Hayato follows Takeshi's nod and catches sight of the creature on Takeshi's other side, a turtle like being with humanoid features. The creature's claws are drenched in blue blood from ripping out its own throat.

So Takeshi was not only sitting in what amounts to his friend's corpse, but he was also staring at an actual corpse after talking to the creature and probably making friends with it and watching it kill itself.

"His last name was Yamamoto as well," the angel says quietly. "That's kind of cool, right?"

Hayato sighs sadly. "Oh, Takeshi."

"I won't cry," Takeshi promises, curling into himself even further and resting his head in his arms.

Hayato lets his head fall forward until his brow is pressed against the cold glass. "You can if you want to."

"No, that's fine," the angel insists. He even adds a small laugh, though it wobbles. "I'm an ugly crier anyway."

They spend a moment in silence until Hayato speaks up again. "Hell is actually pretty cold."

Takeshi sniffles. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Hayato murmurs. "Because the only sources of light or heat are the fire tornadoes. But they come with their own problems, since they just wander around Hell and if you don't move then they run right over you. Some of the stupider demons have actually made a game of it…"

Hayato doesn't stop talking, even when the doors to the large room open and people start flooding in.