"You're going to work part-time?" Keiko-san gaped at her, and Ai tugged at that one, errant hair that always stuck out no matter how much gel she put on it, "Are you sure? I mean, you can probably handle it, but…"

Well, turning to their shared dorm room, Ai grimaced at the presenting piles of home-and-classwork to do, stacked paper-tower next to paper-tower on their desks. A side-glance made from the corner of her eye told her Keiko-san was doing the same thing.

But well, "I have to," Ai told her tiredly, almost resigned, her shoulders slumping just so, "I can cover the tuition now, but everything else is…iffy." Her eyes burned at a spot on the floor, rubbing her hands together.

Keiko-san rubbed at the side of her neck, "Well…I get that. Same thing happened to me when I was a sophomore, honestly."

Ai clasped her hands together and bowed at the waist, "Then, please cover for me today, senpai! I promise it'll only take me one day to find a part-time job!"

The pawn shop across the street to the backgates of the university had some openings she'd seen that morning! She could probably do pawn shop…stuff. Maybe. It was basically retail, wasn't it…?

But when Ai looked up, she saw Keiko-san waving a hand at her, an easy smile on her face, "It's fine, it's fine."

"So you'll cover for me?" Ai stood straight, grin stretching across her face as she bounced a little on her toes.

Keiko-san snorted, whipping her phone out, "I'll do you one better," after a second or two of typing, she gave Ai her phone. Who took one look, before gasping.

Keiko-san chuckled, "I've seen you with the elementary kids, you know. And my friend doesn't really want to go through the hassle of interviewing strangers."

It was an offer. A job offer. One for a nursery on the other side of town, sure, but it was something she actually liked to do, something that paid well enough and would probably feed her something other than instant ramen for once!

Ai felt tears spring to her eyes, "Thank you, senpai!"

Keiko-senpai, because she deserved that upgrade and Ai was kind of uncomfortable calling her Keiko-san anyways, rolled her eyes. Good-naturedly, Ai knew.

"This isn't a sure thing, though."

"I know," Ai nodded, resolute, "But still! I'll call them now, even! Maybe I can even schedule an interview on a free day!"

"Now that's just pushing your luck."

The call went well enough. Shiori Nakamura, who had stopped Ai's embarrassing rambling at the end of their call with a "Please call me Shiori-san!", also worked with her on a schedule for their interview. Ai had worn her lucky red beret, lined with a shiny black metallic cap and it worked! She got an interview!

On a free day.

Luck was real.

Luck had also chosen to run from her by the time that free day had come, so Ai's conclusion as that luck was real, and quite the fickle guy.

The almighty Google maps, bestowed to her from the internet and Keiko-senpai, was of…some help. She recognized…some words.

And then the map was rotated. Again. Her hat was failing her here, a little.

She was never gonna get there.

As Ai groaned, slumping, she had a thought: quitters never got anywhere and if she did that now then it would be all for nothing.

And sure, she could call Shiori-san and ask for directions – again – but that wouldn't be good for her image. Not if she wanted that job. Which she did.

Keiko-san was at her own part-time job, on another side of town opposite hers, and well—

Simply put, she was screwed.

But! That didn't mean she couldn't try her best to get there!

"…Where're the labels?" Ai muttered to herself, trying to will her phone's internet to work faster through her eyes alone. She failed, obviously. And staring at the white blocks and grey streets was giving her nothing.

She looked up from her phone.

Well, crap.

Somehow, someway, she'd just encircled her entire block and was…right at the back of the university again.

And because luck was real, fickle, and was probably nursing some kind of grudge against Ai, a scream broke behind her. She jumped, nearly dropping her phone.

"Wha-?!"

A single, resounding gunshot filled the air. Ai felt her entire world hone in on the sign she had seen just that morning, now splattered with blood. The door was hanging open, giving her a view of the old man raising his arms towards the sky.

The pawn shop across the street was broken into.

The beautiful display windows was shattered, glass splaying across the pavement. The light inside was dim, but enough to give Ai a full view of the old man running the shop under gun point. Customers, running out. A teenage boy stumbling away, a hand pressed against his side, quickly staining his plain white shirt red.

Something cold went down her arms, freezing her limbs, seizing her brain until her thoughts became nothing more than –

"Call 110. Call 110. Run. Run."

She punched in the numbers. Called the hotline. Whispered back the address. She was told that a patrol was in the area and help would arrive soon.

The teenager fell to his knees. The burglar was shouting menace at the owner. Help would arrive soon.

Soon was not faster than the bullet of a gun.

Run. Run.

And she did.

Towards the teenager – god, he looked so young – taking him by the arms and dragging him to his feet. She saw his eyes widen, but she pulled him over to the bushes near the old guardpost before he could get some much as a word of protest in.

She checked back to see if a tail of blood was left but honestly. There wasn't much else left to hide. She couldn't run, not without the teenager and she couldn't lift him.

Where was help?

And the teenager was starting to look pale. How much blood had he lost? Too much, too much. Ai had nothing on her to help stop the bleeding. She wished she could have taken her jacket with her. She had nothing…but her hat.

Ai tore it off her head and pressed it at the teenager's side, eliciting a wince from him under his messy sandy brown hair.

"It's okay," she soothed, even as she heard glass breaking, echoing off the pavement from the silence of the streets, "The police are coming, I promise."

They were, she had faith in them. But soon seems so slow compared to the staccato racing her her heart, of the blood rushing to her ears.

The teenager looked at her with pity, clear amongst the pain.

Full silence descended. Ai's heart raced until it was all she could feel, there hadn't been a gunshot. There hadn't been a gunshot. Did that mean the old man was safe? But it was getting closer and closer.

Were they safe?

She locked eyes with the teenager, whose small hands grasped at her hat. He opened his mouth—

And was cut off by the sound of sirens.

"Freeze!" it was loud, it was commanding, and it was help. Ai nearly collapse in relief, the teenager looked gobsmacked, and she gave him a wobbling smile. They could both hear the commotion, of the burglar taken down in a tackle, of handcuffs and the old man thanking the officers.

"I promised, didn't I?" and then she stood, raised her hand, stained in blood, and said, "Excuse me, we need an ambulance—"

Keiko Yoshida as AA 5100

NOTES: Honestly I'm gonna update one chapter a day here until you guys get caught up. If you don't wanna wait, I have this completely updated over at Ao3!