Doing Her Research

I've been holding onto this fic snippet since 2016 or 2018 and you could see it as a kind of prototype to Casts Shadows (obviously I didn't get very far).  The thing I think was holding me back was that I was trying to fit Xander into an 'exactly like Raidou the XIV' mould and it wasn't working in my brain.  It should be obvious that each Kuzunoha successor has a different take since the second game, because Nagi was definitely different from Geirin the XVII, but for some reason I got stuck.  I like that I didn't try to push it because I like the results better, but now that I'm finally giving up on this, I figure I might as well share what I have.
These are extra notes I had.  (one where Buffy finds this book about it and accidentally summons a Xander Raidou [though he’s Japanese] working out of William’s bookstore/detective agency. I might never make this one obvious, though. One where they’re all Kuzunoha. One where Buffy is Raidou and Giles is her supervisor.)

Main Points:
Buffy/Devil Summoner
Summary: faster to read
Word Count: 230
Rating: Gen

         Buffy sighs. Going on the weekend is a bit of a drag, majorly, but on the other hand she wouldn’t have time on a weekday and it’s difficult enough to get away from Giles’ watchful eye. If he protests, she’ll probably pout and mention the Crucimantium, and his own guilt might do the rest. Never mind what she told the others; she’s still shaken. Would Merrick have gone through with it? She definitely didn’t trust the Council after this. She thought she could trust Giles, but in some ways he still followed their orders blindly, and she doesn’t want to be caught unawares next time.
         Giles still refused to show her the Slayer Playbook or Rulebook or whatever they called it, but she has alternatives. Nice, shiny alternatives that Giles himself had sparked. Sure, she might not like research, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand its value. If it can keep her prepared for anything else, she’s all for it. It’d be better if she could get someone else to do it, but with this particular topic she’s better off just keeping it to herself. For now.
         Unfortunately, this particular shopkeep is Asian and doesn’t quite speak the same brand of English. She does her best to muddle through with ‘speaking properly’, before the woman brightens at the mention of ‘demon slayer’ and hurriedly gestures her to follow her.