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Chapter 1: The beginning.

Oliver

I've been following her for two weeks.

Calculating.

Viewing.

Hating.

I had to make sure she was the one, you see. I had to make sure she could be trusted. Over the last six and a half years, I've been absent for reasons I cannot explain.

She has taken over my whole facility, replacing the name with her own. As if she was the one who created it.

And now, two weeks later, my anger has finally settled enough to where I can properly think of a plan.

It's October 31st. It's the day where criminals have an excuse to hide behind a ski mask.

Halloween.

But I do not wear a mask tonight. I'm not seeking to dance to the obnoxious music booming in Tokyo's streets. I do not seek to flirt with pretty girls in short dressed devil costumes.

I wait in the shadows in the crevice of my hood, hands at my sides itching and twitching with impatience. She should be out of her apartment soon. She should be carrying her dirty laundry to the laundromat like she does every Saturday.

But she's late. Maybe because of the unpredictable drunkards sloshing their drinks and loud teenagers, she had decided to stay inside tonight. Maybe she was as scared as any innocent girl would be, alone on this dead night.

I look down at my watch.

The laundromat closes in 45 minutes. If she takes a cab, she will get there on time.

But that's a particular set back I want to avoid. I meant to follow her tonight. Maybe down some quiet street.

But after that? I honestly had no idea.

Maybe it was foolish to not devise a plan. But my time is up by the sight of her head bobbing through the crowd.

I could recognize the sight of her peculiar short brunette hair from a mile away. And like a stream, I flow through the current of people like water, slipping as any fish would do when avoiding rocks. It was a dance to perfect, avoiding bodies and pushing hands.

I was a shadow. And no one ever pays attention to a shadow.

I'm a few paces away from her, and she struggles to get to the other side of the street. There would be no cab taking today. Too much traffic. She would have a better chance running.

And so when we both broke through the crowd, she does as predicted and starts half-jogging along the sidewalk.

Thankful for her insightful skills, she does not see me. But I still façade in a casual walk, shoving my hands in my jean pockets and appearing nothing more than a man getting A breath of fresh air. Or possibly my sobriety level needed fixing – but never the less, she didn't look back.

Not once.

And my eyes had never been more focused. Maybe it was the anger boiling in my blood. Maybe it was the thought of her taking over my business and leaving me completely broke –

Or maybe it was cowardice. Maybe I wanted to blame it on her.

But pride is such a damned thing I've never been able to control. So that last thought shimmers away into the night air, becoming nothing more than darkness in the cloudless sky.

It's when she decides to take a short cut into an alleyway that I begin to close in the proximity. Men dressed the same as I was leaned against wet walls of bars, popping a cigarette in their mouths now and then.

Luckily, none of them showed any sign of interest other than their following eyes as she hurriedly ran into the shadows of the alleyway.

I avoided their gaze as well, not willing to let their whispers about her provoke me. I continue down, never keeping my stare off of her back.

Her laundry is in a plastic bag, and she hauls it up as she realizes it's falling out of her grip. Quieting my steps, I slow a bit and watch her.

It's a wonder why I don't talk to her now. But my heart is thundering like a metronome. My brain fires with something that weakens my self preservation.

I must not be angry. I must not shout at her.

But the thought of my family and I moneyless distracts me. I've been living in hell for the past six and a half years. And seeing her struggling with the laundry leaves a sickening satisfaction in my gut.

Before I realize it, she's jogging again. No wait - she's running. Running hard and fast.

Had she seen me?

But there's no time for questions. She rounds a corner faster than I could process my next step.

My heart beats against my chest – practically bruising it. The unknown enters my mind. Thoughts of the hooded men we passed earlier flashes across my eyes. Their measly gazes were following her body and if they ever – ever got the handle on her-

I'm darting forward, no longer concerned about blending in. A rat scuttles and I push harder and harder until I zoom passed the corner and then-

And then everything stops as I'm grabbed by my collar and clocking my head on the brick wall.

It leaves me in a daze so thick, I hardly recognize the words of my captor.

"If you're going to follow someone, you better know about them first!"

She says it with such ferocity that it strikes me irritably stupid. My head is a dull throb and all the words I was going to say are jumbled in my throat. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

"D-Did you hear me!?" She stutters, forcing her voice solid. "Y-you leave me alone before I do actually use this on you!"

It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about, but within the darkness, I could see the outline of a thin bottle of pepper-spray in her clutch.

I don't make any sudden movements. I do not want to feel the unpredictability of Mai's wrath.

My anger strikes me hard. Every memory sinks me and I remember why I am here. Why I am doing what I am doing.

Instead of shouting and spewing the cruel words that could have curdled milk, the corner of my mouth twitches.

Beneath my hood, I half smile. Not the happy-go-lucky kind of smile.

The kind of smile a feral beast would use to flash its teeth.

I lean in real close, breathing hard into the night air.

"You haven't changed a bit."