Yukari clumsily fell behind a cupboard, pulling her legs towards her chest to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. It hardly made any difference. With the amount of bullet holes and other wounds she had gotten, she would have left a very obvious trail of blood. She was pretty sure she had had more bullets shot in her direction today than she had through all the years she had been working as a contract killer. But then again, the girl before had at least taken precaution and went about doing her job as carefully as she could. This time she had broken into the mansion and just began murdering anyone that cared to come into sight.
And yet, despite all that, the purple-haired girl was grinning. She had finally managed to get back at that damned bastard who thought it was a wise idea to do harm to Aria. Her method of dispatching him had been anything but clean, but at least she had the sense of mind to cut out his tongue and break his jaw first so he that could not scream. By the time the guards in the mansion had come into the room, Yukari had gleefully made a thorough mess of his body. The blood was splattered everywhere and one could see that some of his organs were definitely not where they rightfully belonged.
Outnumbered three to one, it seemed unlikely the girl would have gotten out alive. But the group made a mistake of hesitating and Yukari had slashed open the throat of one man before the other two could even come to their senses. The following fight was severe and even though Yukari was the last one standing, it had taken it her all not to get killed in the process.
"Maybe I should have brought along a flash grenade after all… hahaha…" It was a humourless laugh. She had thought of that before deciding that since it was almost inevitable for her to be dead before dawn, she might as well not waste it. And it was true, with the amount of blood she had lost, she would have been lucky to last another hour. Not like it matters, what would I do even if I did manage to get out of here alive anyway? Her mind drew a blank. Somehow continuing her life without that annoying yet lovable girl seemed pointless.
At the thought of Aria, Yukari's hand involuntarily moved to her neck to check that the last remaining thing she had to remind her of the girl was still there. The brush of her skin against the familiar material reassured her that it was. The purple-haired girl puffed out a sigh of relief, remembering the day when she first got the gift from Aria.
"No." The single syllable carried an air of resolution.
"Oh come on! Why not? Pet rabbits always wear collars, don't they?" Which was promptly ignored.
"For the love of… where did you even get that idea anyway?! The only animals I have ever seen with collars on are dogs and cats," Yukari would have facepalmed, had not her hands been preoccupied with trying to keep Aria off her. "And I am not, emphasis on NOT, a pet rabbit!" Aria's habit of calling her a rabbit was enjoyable most of the time. Needless to say, this was not one of those times.
"You could always be the first! I bet you would look cute with it, pink always goes well with purple!" Aria continued trying to get the pink collar around her friend's neck, completely ignoring the latter part of Yukari's reply and the fact she was glaring daggers at her.
"Can you not do—GAH!" Her protest was interrupted by a sudden tightening around her throat. Aria had somehow managed to duck under her arms and had gotten the stupid thing on her. Mostly because even though Yukari was strong, she never really had the heart to harm her friend and was as gentle as she could be around the other girl.
A whoop of triumph was emanated from the subject of her annoyance, who was puffing up her chest in pride. With the speed and energy that Yukari still had no clue where Aria got from, the collared girl was dragged to the front of the bathroom mirror. Looking back at them was the reflection of a clearly irritated girl and one that was completely oblivious to said irritation.
"What do you think? I told you it would look cute on you." Aria turned to beam happily at the older girl.
"I think," Yukari drawled slowly, voice dripping with exasperation, "I look like a complete idiot."
A small smile had made its way involuntarily onto Yukari's face at the silly yet fond memory. Despite her initial reluctance, the purple-haired girl had continued to wear the collar night and day, only taking it off when absolutely necessary. When her co-worker had first seen it, he immediately laughed, knowing that Aria was the only person in the world who could have "tamed the wild rabbit". Had he not been a close friend of hers, Yukari would have put a hole through his skull. As it was, he got off with a very sore chest after being given a kick that sent him flying across the room.
But the girl had walked away that day with an unfamiliar burning sensation on her cheeks. What the guy said did have some truth to it. As much as she did not want to admit it, Yukari had indeed fallen in love with her best friend. It was a hopeless crush and more likely than not, a one-sided one as well. For one thing, she had no idea whether Aria would even be willing to date someone of the same gender. And even if the girl was willing, she had no clue about Yukari's job. The purple-haired girl was back then sure that if her friend were to find out, Aria would have broken off all contact with her.
As such, the contract killer was more than content with just staying as friends with her crush. The times they spent together were still the rare moments where Yukari felt genuinely happy, and something was always better than nothing. She had been so sure that as long as she kept her secret, the two would go on living as best of friends. Yet any secret was bound to be revealed eventually, whether or not the person wanted it, as Yukari was fated to find out.
"Please, Kari, you can tell me. I won't get mad, honest."
The only answer from the wounded girl was a slight shake of her head.
For the past three days in which Yukari had been admitted into the hospital, Aria had been pestering her best friend to tell her why she had appeared at her front door, bleeding in half a dozen places and just barely holding on to consciousness. The purple-haired girl back then had only whispered a single "Help me…" before collapsing into Aria's arms and blacking out.
Needless to say, Aria was really worried. Not as much as that night, since she now knew that Yukari would get through alive. Still, the girl completely refused to tell her anything, no matter how much she asked. It troubled her to no end whenever Yukari kept something to herself, since that usually meant that whatever it was, it was something really bad. Every time she tried to get something out of her friend however, she was always met with silence and the girl would suddenly find interest in the blanket covering her.
"Come on. I promise, whatever it is, I won't get angry."
The silence continued, but this round, Yukari brought herself to look into the blue eyes of her friend. The purple eyes would have appeared to carry no emotion, but Aria knew that her friend felt insecurity. About what however, she had no idea.
"…Promise?"
Aria could not stop a small smile from forming, maybe she could get an answer this round. "Yes, promise."
"I—I…" Yukari stopped and bit her lower lip. Something was obviously disturbing her, and Aria found it best to quietly wait, blue optics watching the girl expectantly.
"…I—I broke into a house…"
Aria stared at her for a moment, and just slightly, her eyes narrowed. "Yukari, don't lie. I know when you are lying. And no one is going to shoot you a couple of times just because you broke into their house."
Yukari sighed in dismay, admitting defeat, there was no getting about her best friend after all. "…A—alright, I'll tell you. I—I…I tried to k—kill someone… and I messed up…" She mentally cursed herself. If she had not waltzed right into the wrong room, she would not have to go through what she was going through now.
There was disheartening silence on Aria's part as she processed what the purple-haired girl had said. Afraid of how the girl would react, Yukari shut her eyes tightly, mentally preparing herself.
"…You… what…?" The tone was one of disbelief.
Yukari sighed again and moved her gaze up so she could look Aria in the eye. It was now or never, the hospital room was private enough, surely. "I tried to kill someone. I—It's what I work as… a hired killer."
"B—but… w—why? Why would you do such a horrible thing?! You're hurting other people!" Aria finally snapped out of her daze, and was beginning to shout at Yukari.
"P—please," Aria was rarely angry, and Yukari found her voice to be very weak against the other girl, "y—you need to understa—"
"Understand what!? What reason can there be that's good enough for—for murdering someone!?" The fair-haired girl was now standing up and shouting at the top of her voice.
Yukari looked away, hanging her head in shame. There was no answer that she could provide that could satisfy that question, so she just kept silent.
"I don't believe you! I thought you were above that!" Aria turned her back on the girl and stormed out of the room.
Abandoned by her friend, Yukari was left alone to wallow in her own guilt. Despite the general bitter tone in Aria's voice, Yukari could tell there was disappointment mixed up in there as well. Everything had been expected, Aria's father had been murdered as well, after all. Learning that the person you were closest to had turned out to be the same kind of person who brought about the death of one's parent was not something people just calmly accepted.
"Ah…" Something wet was trickling down both her cheeks. Rubbing it off, she opened her eyes to see her arm covered in a thin sheen of tears. That last time she had cried was years ago, and Yukari had almost forgotten even the concept of crying. Although she understood why the girl had reacted as such, it did not lessen the pain in anyway. "S—stop… you don't need her. You don't need her at all…" What a big lie. The tears still kept coming, and since she was alone, Yukari allowed herself to cry.
Did I really think I could carry that secret to my grave? That was a good joke. How incredibly stupid of her to think that.
Sighing, she leaned back against the wooden cupboard. After that, her co-worker had offered to go and look for the girl, but Yukari had declined. If Aria really wanted to see her again, she would come herself. And if she did not want to, Yukari was not going to force her.
Aria never visited her after that. It really pained Yukari to think that their carefully built friendship had been so easily shattered in such a short amount of time. After leaving the hospital, she had tried hard to forget about her ex-best friend. Everything that reminded her of Aria went into the thrash. Everything that is, except the collar. Although she could restrain herself from putting it on everyday, no matter what she did, Yukari just could not bring herself to throw the damned thing away.
Easy come, easy go. So I guess since I was so reluctant to take it, I was just as reluctant to let it go.
While Yukari had struggled through the good part of a week, the collar was kept away in one of her drawers. In the end, the girl finally admitted that her chances of forgetting Aria was well-nigh zero. Yukari had fallen into bed that night with the collar around her neck, cursing her inability to adapt back to loneliness which she had, before meeting Aria, been so used to before. She really had become Aria's pet rabbit.
"You're a real asshole, Aria. I have no idea how I managed to fall for you." The voice carried no bitter tone. In the end it really was her mistake, revealing her job in such a way. But then again, how did one go about telling someone else that they killed for a job? Yukari had mulled over that question as she tried to figure out how to repair their relationship. Quitting her job seemed out of the question back then, since it was her only source of income. No doubt Aria would have given her a stupid suggestion for an occupation. The only thing Yukari could really do well was killing people, whether the fair-haired girl liked it or not.
Maybe she could have gotten Aria to understand that fact, except the chance to talk to her never really came.
"Yukari, I need to talk to you."
"What!?"
Her co-worker sighed mentally. His friend never seemed to be in a good mood anymore. Granted, she rarely ever was, but at least she never went around looking like she would blow up at any given moment. "It's about Aria."
A glint of danger flashed across the purple eyes. "I thought I already said to . ."
"You need to know, it's re—"
"SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!"
A cup shattered against the wall, just barely missing the man's head.
With the patience of a father dealing with his own child, her friend tried to continue: "Yukari, it's impor—"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
"CAN YOU CALM DOWN AND LISTEN FOR ONCE!? YOUR FRIEND IS DEAD! SOMEONE JUST MURDERED HER NOT A FEW HOURS AGO!" Anger finally getting the better of him, the man decided to just break it to her, whether she wanted to know or not.
The room was filled with a loud silence. The murderous look had gone out of her eyes and left Yukari staring blankly. A few moments later she turned her head away and continued what she had been doing before. "…Very funny, will you just leave now?"
If Yukari thought that he was done with her, she was terribly mistaken. Striding over, the man gripped the girl's hair and lifted her head so she was forced to look him in the eye. "Do you really think I would joke about something like that?!" His voice was trembling with anger. "Aria was murdered by the same person who hired a killer to murder her father. But you don't care now, do you? You're too busy wallowing in your own sorrow!" Pushing her down forcefully, he turned his back on her and stormed away.
Yukari merely went back to doing her own things, a feeling of déjà vu looming over her. That was the second person to abandon her. Or maybe it was she who had chased him away. But whatever, Aria could have left her, but surely she wasn't completely gone, right?
Denial. It was kind of unbelievable that she had gone into that state. At least she snapped out of it quickly enough. Deciding that whoever had put Aria through that pain should have a taste of it himself, Yukari had called up her co-worker some time pass midnight to get some information about the person. Sleepy and still annoyed, the man had not thought that something was amiss and, without any trouble, gave her the name of a certain man who was well known in the underworld.
Armed with her two combat knives, Yukari set out towards the man's home, although not without first ensuring that the pink collar still hung about her neck. Dead or not, Aria's gift still carried the same value, more now that the girl was gone.
It was not difficult to find the grand mansion of the offender's home, seeing how rich he was. Probably got all that money through illegal means. It never really occurred to her how hypocritical it was for her to think like that, but it was typical of Yukari. Too bothered to go around the whole mansion to look for a suitable entry-way, the girl took what she had hoped to be the fastest way in.
Looking at how she was sitting in a pool of her own blood, it was needless to say that said way had not been the safest. Yukari had gotten more wounds than she would have liked to count, but in return had given just as many to the residences of the mansion. It did not change the fact that the purple-haired girl was still nearing death, however.
I guess it's times up for me.
The hand playing with the buckle of the collar finally fell to her side as Yukari felt her strength ebb away. And yet, despite the fact that she could barely even hold on to consciousness, there was still a nagging regret at the back of her mind, which with her final breath, Yukari whispered to the quiet room:
"There you were screaming at me for trying to kill someone, and here I am after killing another person in your name. I guess…I really didn't deserve to be your friend in the end…"