The sounds of a flowing fountain, the chatter of young schoolgirls, the snoring of an overworked office employee and the faint echoes of a bossa nova song played in the background. When she arranged a meeting with the strange organization she had expected it to be in a more discrete place. Not something like Paulownia Mall.

Right now she was in a record store passing time by looking at the selection offered. Even when she was in high school she never really spent that much time in the mall, if anything the only shop she had entered was Chagall Café.

Mitsuru wore a white Jill Sander shirt dress that almost reached the floor, Penny Preville ruby amulet hoop earrings, a Baccarat par Marie-Hèlene de Taillac necklace, and a pair of Dannijo white riles crystal-trimmed leather sandals.

"I think I might be a little overdressed for this store" Mitsuru pondered as she noticed a few schoolboys from Gekkoukan High looking at her. She then looked at her pink Piaget Altiplano watch "She should be here by now"

"I presume that you must be Miss Kirijo" a voice spoke from behind.

Mitsuru turned around to see what she would say a very . . . eclectic woman. She was a little bit taller than her with short white hair and yellow eyes that show a bit of mischief and curiosity. She wore a very tiny tube top that covered only her breasts exposing her collarbones and stomach, a pair of leather pants, black cuffs, a pair of black ankle boots and a tiny black hat perched on the side of her head. She carried a dark blue suitcase.

The redhead blinked for a moment before replying "Are . . . you Elizabeth?"

"I apologize for my current appearance" the woman had a very odd tone to her voice adding to her already very strange aura "But I was visiting another client earlier and this was my way of blending in"

"I . . . suggest we chat somewhere else" Mitsuru could see that one of the schoolboys who was staring at her awhile back is now drooling over the slightly exposed Elizabeth.

The woman smiled "Why yes, why don't we have a chat outside? There are benches by the fountain and I hadn't made my weekly offering yet" before Mitsuru could suggest a more private place Elizabeth started to skip towards the fountain.

Seeing as she had no choice Mitsuru followed the woman and sat in one of the benches by the fountain. For a very discrete organization, their people liked to grasp attention Mitsuru thought.

"So . . ." Elizabeth clapped her hands together "Shall we begin" she then opened the suitcase she carried and Mitsuru noticed that it bore a design of a mask halved into a black and white side. Elizabeth then brought out a red leather folder and a pen as though she was a magician who brought them out of thin air "Now please, sign here" she said handing the contract to Mitsuru.

The Kirijo heiress took the folder and opened the contract as she read its contents her eyebrow rose "Umm . . . may I ask . . . who the person I'm hiring is?"

"That will be for Master Igor to decide" Elizabeth replied "You see he's the one who assesses which among our contacts is most suitable for the job. And so far he never gets it wrong"

Mitsuru bit her lip "I might as well trust his judgement then . . ." her hand was slightly shaking as she lowered her pen to the blank space with her name.

Elizabeth noticed the hesitation "Is there something the matter Kirijo-san?"

"I . . ." Mitsuru shook her head, she was supposed to be firm about her decisions not second-guessing in the last minute "I just feel like . . . even though I was not the one who laid a hand on my enemies I was the one solely responsible for plotting them so . . . in the end I'm still the murderer"

In here Elizabeth tapped her chin as she stared at the fountain "The world is quite a simple place but it's the humans who try to make things complicated. But then again . . ." she smirked "That's what makes things quite interesting"

Mitsuru blinked.

"From working for the Velvet Room I realized that most of our clients have one thing in common: protection. They always have something to protect: their money, their power, their loved ones and other things." The woman then stood up and walked over to the fountain "Everyone has a motive, everyone has a dream in which they want to attain and everyone is selfish. Which is why when someone else threatens to take something you value the most, it's almost human nature to do everything in their power to protect it"

"I see your point in there Elizabeth" Mitsuru closed the contract "While I do want to protect the Kirijo Group and everything that it stands for . . . it seems as though I've become like the people who called for my father's death"

Elizabeth turned to her "Your father was assassinated?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes "He was found dead in our headquarters basement, he was shot and there seemed to be no clues of his killer found" she opened her eyes "It makes me wonder . . . if one of your contacts did it"

At this the attendant's face became sympathetic "I apologize for your loss . . . but while we are a single organization that supervises authorized assassins, that does not mean there are rogues out there." She then brought out a large velvet pouch "Believe or not the Velvet Room actually holds a strong moral code. While our contacts are normally labelled vigilantes most of them believe that it's what must be done. There are people out there who try and defy the law by using their power and influence, while we do not consider ourselves judges or beholders of justice, we believe that at the end of the day there's always an eye for an eye" and with that the woman opened her pouch letting several golden coins fall into the fountain.

"Is that so . . ." she opened the contract again "Before I sign this contract, I have one request"

Elizabeth blinked "And what may that be?"

"May I meet with whoever Mr. Igor decides to be my contract killer?"


"This may hurt a bit" Minato said as inserted a talwar into his victim's mouth.

Today's victim was Takako Aimi, a fashion designer who was notable for raping models in order to include them in his fashion shows. He was in his mid-fifties, quite obese, bald and had a thick beard.

The man struggled with his binds that bound him to a chair; he thrashed his body trying to get out only for him to make things worse. Blood started to come out of the man's mouth flowing into his clothes and some dripping on the floor.

When Aimi finally stopped struggling Minato pulled out the sabre out of his mouth making more blood come out. The man then collapsed to the ground choking and coughing on his own blood.

Minato then picked up the bloodied man to make him sit again. He then grabbed a bottle of lavender scented talcum powder and covered the victim's hands with it.

"Wh . . . what . . ." the fashion designer panted "Are . . . you . . . go gonna do with that"

Placing the bottle in a plastic bag "Just stuff to lead the police investigation astray" Minato then went over to the balcony and opened the doors letting the cold breeze enter the room.

He then pulled Aimi by the chair and dragged him into the balcony; they were currently on the forty-fifth floor of Aimi's apartment building.

The old man continued to struggle "You . . . can't possibly throw me!?"

The blue-haired man looked at the drop then back at the old man "Yeah you're pretty heavy, if I try carrying you-you might drag me with you"

There was a moment of silence. Only the sounds of city traffic and the television from Aimi's living room could be heard.

"I'll just have to wing it" Minato then struck Aimi's head with his elbow making the man fall on the floor again and lose consciousness. He then cut the ropes with his talwar and kicked the chair back into the apartment. He then did a moment of stretching before carrying the 180-pound man over his shoulder and tossing him out of the balcony.

Without looking down to see how his victim's brains exploded he grabbed his sword locked the balcony and made his escape out of the apartment.

He was around seven blocks from the crime scene when he dumped the bag of bloodied talc powder in a trashcan of an electronics store. He walked away even further and threw the murder weapon on a pile of bushes in front of someone's house.

After walking around the area for almost an hour Minato then checked his Audemars Piguet watch to see that it was three minutes to five in the morning. He then brought out his flip phone from the pocket of his sweatshirt and then sent a text message to a certain person.

By the time he had reached the bus station and paid for his ticket, he could feel his phone vibrating "Hello?"

"Did you eat? What time did you sleep? Have you taken a shower? Where did . . ." several questions continued to be bombarded at him.

Minato rolled his eyes at his sister's antics "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

"I'm not a child anymore I can handle myself"

"Really?" he entered the bus "What did you have for dinner last night?"

"Steamed meat buns"

Minato sighed "Didn't I leave a burrito casserole in the fridge before I left?"

At that Hamuko burped "I'm a growing girl, I need more than that"

"Which is why you should learn how to cook"

"HEY! I'm not that bad!"

"Then how do you describe what happened to you and Fuuka . . ."

"Hey, you know I still have school to head to so I'm heading out see you this afternoon!" and with that, she hung up.

The blue-haired boy just shook his head and smiled as he placed his phone back in his pocket. He then brought out his tried and tested headphones and clipped them into his ear and placed his mp3 player on shuffle, it was gonna be a ten-hour drive after all.


Minato was around ten when their parents died with Hamuko being seven. It had been a miracle that both of them managed to survive the accident, but that was probably because their mother had used herself as a shield to protect her children.

They were passed around by several of their relatives. At first, they stayed with their great-aunt in Hinata helping her run an inn. While the woman was quite accommodating to them, she decided to go on an extravagant around the world trip. While she did pass the inn to her grandson he didn't seem ready to take care of two children.

Sadly the next relative after that wasn't too nice.


This certain aunt and uncle were definitely and odd couple. One was the editor-in-chief of a very famous fashion magazine while the other was a highly decorated narcotics officer. While they were given clothes, shelter and education it sadly came with a price.

Minato could recall himself waking up at 3 in the morning being dragged by his drunken uncle who just had a bad break in a case. He would pull the young boy outside, first, he would start by constantly berating him and demoralizing him. He would call him names, make fun of his family and would always say 'I can't wait to shoot you out in the streets'.

After the verbal abuse, Minato would then beat up. It was either by being kicked in the gut constantly until he coughed blood, bending over and being whipped by a log of wood or be sprayed with very hot water until he got burnt. By the time his uncle was done with him, he would crawl back into his room and try to get ready for breakfast.

While Hamuko didn't receive the same morning routine as his brother she wasn't exactly pampered as well. The young girl was only ten years old when her aunt gave her a certain diet. It involved avoiding eating lunch, constant exercise by running on a treadmill and barfing out any 'unwanted fat'. Whenever Hamuko would fail her monthly weigh-in test she would be banished from eating food for three days and only be given water.

It had gone on for three years. None of the siblings could complain or run away because they literally had no place to go. All their other relatives had their hands full with their children and they didn't want to risk being separated.

The final straw happened when Minato was in his final year of middle school. He still hadn't recovered from that morning's beating and he was still limping from last week. He had opened the door and the first thing he heard was erratic screaming.

"NO! NO! STOP! BROTHER BROTHER!"

At once the hairs on the back of his neck went up and he immediately ran to the source of the screaming. He ran around the house looking for his sister, he was wet from rain, sweat and probable blood from his limp. By the time he had reached the backyard his heart sank.

There he saw crawling in the rain covered in mud was his sister. Her clothes had been ripped off and there were scratches on her legs, her eyes were red from crying and she was shaking in both coldness and fear. Hovering over her was their uncle. From the looks of it, he's probably gotten high from one of the confiscated drugs again.

"Now now Hamuko-chan" the older man had a creepy smile on his face "Why don't you show some love to uncle"

Hamuko just screamed and tried to run away but she was now getting tired.

Minato was frozen trying to think of what to do. So far none of them noticed he was there so he had a chance for a surprise attack. Immediately he ran back into the house and went to the living room he then grabbed the katana that was displayed on the wall and unsheathed it from its scabbard.

The young boy stared at the weapon. While he was a member of the Kendo team and knew how to hold a sword he did not know if he would be able to take down his uncle. He was breathing heavily, his hand shaking as he held the sword.

"MINATO!"

Crack!

Later that night the aunt came home. The rain had stopped and it was already dark outside. "Jun'ichi, did you forget to change the bulb again?" she asked looking at the dark house.

She then turned on the lights to a dropped book bag with scattered books and notebooks. The old woman sneered "Those messy brats" she kicked a copy of Ramon Llull's Blanquerna which was among the books scattered on the floor.

"Hamuko, I hope you swallowed your three ice cubes for today" the woman then stopped when she entered the living room when she noticed that their rare Kanemitsu sword was missing from its mantle. "That fool" she growled running around the house looking for her husband "Jun'ichi! How many times must I tell you to never use that sword to whip the Arisato boy?!"

Despite her yelling and stomps, she heard no other sound from the house. Usually, by now, she could hear that blasted young girl's whimpering or Minato hissing from trying to heal his wounds. "Is anybody even in here... .?"

It was in here where she opened the door to the backyard, and what she saw was not a pretty sight.

"What . . . on . . ." the old woman gasped.

Right in the middle of the backyard was her husband kneeling on the floor in a pool of his own blood; his eyes and mouth were wide open seemingly to have been caught by surprise before his death.

"Don't . . . tell me" she glared "That brat . . ."

"Welcome home, oba-san" she felt the tip of the blade touch her neck and the breath of her nephew as he spoke to her "You don't mind that I use this?"

The editor shook in fear "What . . . what . . . do you . . . plan to do with that?"

"This"


"Gak!" Minato gasped as he woke up from his nap. The young man held unto his neck as he panted, remembering very well how he murdered his aunt Homoka that fateful day.

"Are . . . you okay?" asked the Brazilian male tourist who was beside him throughout the trip in broken Japanese. Minato didn't even realize he had a seatmate since he fell asleep.

He raised a hand "I'm good" he replied as he grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack and drank it in one go. He then realized that it was already past three in the afternoon and they were already in Tatsumi Port.

He then heard a certain ringtone from his pocket. He knew very well who the caller was before he answered the call "Hello?"

"Have you arrived safely to Tatsumi Port, Makoto Yuki?"


It was Sunday and since Hamuko didn't have school that meant she had more time to work in her part-time job. For any teenager that would have been a pain seeing as their vacation was cut short, but for Hamuko it wasn't that much of a bother.

"Oh, Hamu-chan" called out a small elderly lady wearing a white floral dress with a black duster carrying a tray of Castella and herbal tea. "Why don't you come down and have a little snack"

The auburn haired girl was currently on a ladder grabbing a certain book for Bunkichi "Sure! Just a minute" she then grabbed a thick red hardbound book before going down. She was currently wearing a white blouse under a pink knitted sweater, a navy blue pleated skirt that reached to her knees, a black duster and a pair of white sneakers.

"What did that old fool ask you to get from so high up" the elderly lady asked.

"Oh it's fine" Hamuko waved her hand as she placed the heavy book on the desk "That's my job in here after all"

It was in here an elderly man who was crouched over because of his bad back wearing a white sweater, worn out jeans and a pair of glasses came by "Mitsuko stop pestering the child, she's busy working"

This made said woman roll her eyes "Oh shush, there's no customer to serve right now anyway"

"All you do is feed her!" the old man waved his pipe "She'll turn out like you if you keep doing that!"

"I wouldn't mind that really," the young girl said as she placed a slice of Castella in her mouth.

At this Bunkichi hollered "Oh, be careful what you say, young lady, you might regret that"

"I think it would be you who would regret saying that" replied Mitsuko with a scoff.

That was when the bell rang indicating the sign of a customer. A tall man wearing a black beanie and a maroon peacoat entered the bookstore. He seemed to possess an intimidating aura as he scanned the shelves.

The elderly couple almost flinched at the appearance of this man with even Mitsuko going close to Hamuko.

"I hope that boy doesn't bring in any trouble" Mitsuko whispered.

Despite being equally frightened Bunkichi tried to put out a brave front "Oh don't overreact, you've just gotten too worked up over the murders you see happening in the news lately"

"Murders?" Hamuko asked as she took a sip of the now slightly cold herbal tea.

"Oh there's just this one recently about a fashion designer who fell off his building" Bunkichi waved his cigar "Though the police believe there's foul play because there was powder in his hands or something"

His wife had an uneasy feeling "Don't go into the details dear"

While the old couple were arguing Hamuko noticed that the strange costumer was looking for something and the dimly lit and cluttered store didn't make anything easier. "I'm going to assist the guy over there," she said excusing herself from Mitsuko.

"Let the girl do her job!" she heard Bunkichi scold his wife from afar as she approached the guy.

He was very tall, maybe around six feet compared to her five foot five height. He seemed to have a passive look on his face as he scanned the mountains upon mountains of books.

"Excuse me, sir, can I help you?" she asked perkily which made the man jump in surprise.

After recovering from his slight shock her face her, for a moment he just stared at her and it made the redhead feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Uhh . . ." she rubbed the side of her cheek "I just noticed that you were having trouble looking for something . . . umm . . . so I thought I would help you"

Still keeping his gaze "Do you guys have something about herbal medicine or medicine making in general?"

Her finger stopped scratching "Medicine?... Oh, they're over here" she gestured the man to follow her "Are you looking for something particular? Like juice making? Pill making... .?" she paused in her tracks and gave him a suspicious look "You're not planning on doing any funny business now are you?"

"Whatever you're thinking, it isn't that" he growled.

"Is that so" she eyed him as he brought him to the back left corner of the store and pointed to the bottom of a shelf "Those books you're looking for should be around here, but there might be some that are scattered around in other sections. You see we only started reorganizing the place ever since it reopened."

He gave her a nod "I can manage from here"

Hamuko took a step back and made her way to leave, only to quickly hide behind another bookshelf nearby and spy on the customer. She removed a copy of The Merchant of Venice from the shelf and peeped into the hole. She couldn't see anything at first except the tip of his beanie "Oh right he's crouched down" she muttered. She then put back the book then crouched down herself and removed another book before peeping again.

This time she could see his back and he seemed to flip over a few books "Is he trying to make homemade drugs or something?" she whispered to herself.

"Oh Hamu-chan!" at the sudden call of her name she jumped making her head hit the top of the shelf; the impact was strong that a few books fell to the ground.

She pulled herself out and covered her head as it was now in pain "Awwwwieee" she moaned.

"Oh, dear are you okay?" Mitsuko asked with an apologetic look on her face "I'm sorry to scare you but Bunkichi needs your help with new encyclopedias he ordered last week, they just arrive you see"

"Uhh sure," the redhead said sheepishly "I'll . . . be right there"

"Thank you dear" and with that, she was left alone.

Hamuko sighed "Alright" she then crawled back to her hole to see that the man was looking right at her.

"Aren't you going to help your old boss?" he said in a deadpan tone.

Hamuko hit her head again after that.


"Ah it's been awhile Yuki-chan!" a guy with swept black hair wearing a very overbearing yellow scarf ran to Minato as soon as he entered the building.

"I just saw you the other day" the blunet dodged the other guy's hug.

Ryoji pretended to almost fall to the ground before putting a hand on his chest "Ah, you wound me Yuki-chan"

"What's with calling me Yuki-chan?"Minato placed his hands on his pockets.

Ryoji straightened "Aww, now don't be so cold and serious" he waved his finger "You might just end up like old man Tatsuya"

The blunet sighed "Could you just let me through, Elizabeth called me earlier"

"Ah, so Igor choose you for that job" Ryoji waggled his eyebrows "Hmm, this will be interesting"

"Don't you have some other place to be?" Minato clenched his fists.

At this, the brunet let out a mirthless laugh "Ah of course I do, I have to deal with some greedy heiress who just can't want for her grandfather to die"

"I'm surprised you're alright with killing a woman this time" Minato raised a brow.

"Well, we can't let Maya do all the dirty work for us" Ryoji waved his hand "She'll think we're being sexists"

"I . . . see" Minato then moved past him "Well then I better go . . ."

"Hey!" Ryoji tapped Minato's shoulder "I was about to ask how your sister was going"

"Doing better without you!"

"Ah, Master Yuki is here" both boys turned to see Elizabeth dressed her usual blue attendant uniform "Master Igor is waiting for you" she gestured to a set of elevator doors that were on the left side of the lobby.

At this Ryoji lowered his head "Ah, you've been summoned. That means I have to go now"

"Are you buying time perhaps?" Elizabeth cocked her head.

"Maybe" with that Ryoji waved and finally left.

Minato unclenched his fists and faced the attendant "He apparently knew what request Igor had for me"

"Well Master Pharos does like to meddle" Elizabeth then went over to the elevator doors and pressed a button "Now if you please" she gestured to the open door.

The assassin then entered the room and immediately the doors were shut. For an elevator, space was quite excessive. The room had glass walls that showed the gears and ropes of the elevator shaft, there was soft velvet carpeting, a blue chesterfield sofa right in front of a large intimidating desk that no one knows what it's made of and a giant clock behind it which ticking sound gets louder when fear grows stronger.

"Well greetings and welcome back" greeted the small man with a particularly long nose seated behind the desk.

Minato just nodded his head in acknowledgement and sat on the elegant sofa "It seems you have another request"

"I apologize, you seem to be quite busy this month" a smile erupted on the strange man's face "But as always your work is quite efficient"

"There was sort of a struggle in the last one" Minato commented "I underestimated him"

"His strength or his size?"

Minato remained silent.

At this Igor gave a light laugh, which to the normal person would sound like maniacal laughter but his colleagues got disturbingly used to it "Well the assignment I'm about to give you is a little special"

"Special?" Minato gave his boss a look, the last time he got a special request he was chased down by the Russian mafia and had to hide in Cuba for a month.

Igor folded his long gloved hands together "Oh yes, it appears that a company wants to hire someone from us to stand as some sort of bodyguard"

"Which one?"

"Kirijo Group" Igor brought out a contract and placed it on his desk "It seems that the current head is being targeted and they want to put those assassins to sleep"

Minato stood up and went over to the desk to look at the file "Wasn't their last head killed?"

"They don't want a repeat of that apparently" Igor leaned back against his chair "Seeing as she's the last Kirijo left"

Minato closed the file "She didn't sign the contract"

"Ah that's what makes it so special" Igor smirked "She apparently wants a job interview before hiring you"

"What?"

"Well I normally don't allow these sorts of things to happen" Igor took the file from Minato "But Elizabeth was quite persistent"

The young hitman crossed his arms "So why did you choose me for this one?"

"Well she's only a year older than you so I thought you'd get along with her just fine" Igor then opened his drawer to bring out his pipe "Also, out of the contacts you're the one who's most likely to go along with it"

"If you say so" Minato shrugged "So I guess I won't be signing it yet"

"Not yet" Igor snapped his fingers and Elizabeth came in with a lighter and lit the pipe "Elizabeth do you have something to say?"

The attendant faced the hitman "If possible would you mind convincing Miss Kirijo to let her hire you, I tried my best but she still seems hesitant"

"You seem to like the girl" Igor commented.

Elizabeth had a determined look on her face "I believe that she just needs a push, she's been through a lot you see"

For a moment Minato hesitated, he was never really good at job interviews that was why he choose this as a career in the first place "I'll . . . see what I can do"

At that the attendant gave a smile "Excellent, I already forwarded her personal phone number"

"What!?" he grabbed his phone and indeed there was a text message from Liz.

"Good luck then"


When it was announced last week that all nuclear plants in Japan were to be shut down, a few businessmen grumbled at the decision. While some agreed that it was for the safety of the people especially after what happened during the earthquake, others were mad because of the waste of potential.

"This is madness" Aono pounded his fist on the table during a board meeting "Our power plants are stable and state of the art. No earthquake or flood could damage the facility"

"Well the country is currently in a state of shock, in fact not only the country but also the world," said an older man, Wada "Everyone is now weary regarding nuclear power and the damages that it could cost"

"They're all stuck in the past!" said another man, Ishii "Nuclear energy is the safest alternative source of power! Compare that to the wind which is impractical and geothermal energy with its gases"

That was when Iwasaki spoke "If we don't shut down our power plant the government will be on our tails"

"Screw the government!"

"Calm down Aono!"

"This is ridiculous if you . . . "

". . . . Now, look at it at this way . . ."

Several other board members continued to argue with each other.

"Now now" Ikutsuki waved his hands "Please romaine calm"

"SHUT IT WITH YOUR PUNS DAMMIT!"

"THEY'RE NOT EVEN FUNNY!"

At this, the chairman wiped a tear from his eye "Now you don't have to get too purr-sonal"

"ARGH"

"Maybe we should ask Miss Kirijo regarding this matter"

"Do you think she would handle this big of a matter?"

"Isn't she a genius they say?"

"She's still too young"

Ikutsuki ignored the criticism regarding his puns and clapped his hands to gain the attention of the board "Now then that's a fine idea, why don't we ask the opinion of Miss Kirijo since she's the current CEO after all"

A few more grumbles were heard throughout the room.

"It's settled then" Ikutsuki stood up "Now then this meeting is adjourned" he then went to the door "Now you people take care of yourselves. I heard this year's flu is going viral"


The document presented to Mitsuru later that afternoon though had nothing to do with the closing of their power plants. In fact, there was nothing on the piece of paper except a list of names.

"I . . . thought . . ." Mitsuru blinked.

"The board seems pretty divided on the issue" Ikutsuki smiled "While personally, I do agree with Aono that we're wasting potential . . ."

"What's with the list of names?" Mitsuru pointed at the piece of paper "Is this a list of people who agree or disagree with the power plant shutting down?"

For a moment the chairman was silent. He then said "Oh that's a different kind of list"

She gave him a dirty look "Now tell me what kind of list is this?"

He stretched "Well, it's a list of people who hate your father"

At that, the redhead's face contorted "You actually have a list for that!?"

"Well, I've been at this position for a long time so I do see and hear things" the man adjusted his glasses "Also a few of those have even admitted it to his face that they hate him"

"This is ridiculous" Mitsuru turned over the paper not wanting to look at it.

"So . . . I heard that you've contacted the Velvet Room" Ikutsuki gave a lopsided grin "Did they accept your request?"

She crossed her arms over her chest "The . . . the request is still pending"

"I see" the man rubbed his chin "The people there are quite thorough in their work, while personally, I would hire a freelancer but I guess they're more professional and have fewer complications"

Mitsuru just nodded.

"Now I suggest you come to the next board meeting" Ikutsuki stood up to take his leave "I'm sure you could skip a class or two for that"

The redhead stood up and smoothened her skirt "I will" she bowed "Thank you for your work"

The man was already at the door when he said "Now I was going to make a joke about broken pencils" he paused "But I saw no point"

"Goodbye chairman" Kikuno, who Ikutsuki had forgotten was there, slammed the door at his face.

Mitsuru stared at the ceiling "I think I'll have another cup of tea before heading home"

"Oh yes" the maid turned to her "Miss Takeba called"

At the mention of her best friend, Mitsuru's expression changed "Oh did she"

"She wondered if you were free this Friday"

"That's tomorrow"

Kikuno smiled "Precisely"


Yukari was as enthusiastic as ever Mitsuru noted. As soon as she saw her at their meeting place they went on a not-to-frantic-but-getting-there shopping spree. While Mitsuru did already have a lot of clothes in her house she really didn't mind purchasing a few things. It has been awhile since she actually just spent a day hanging out.

Right now they were having lunch at a restaurant that specialized in sashimi and Yukari was talking about her current modelling career.

"I swear! I'm only twenty but they already treat you like some old hag the moment some high schooler walks in" she pointed with her fork for emphasis "Just because they're giddy and have tiny skirts doesn't mean they're professionals!"

Mitsuru chuckled at her friend's outburst "Well I wouldn't be troubled if I were you. Don't you already have a stable acting job?"

"Ahh . . . well yeah, that's true" the brunette rubbed the back of her head "Anyway, enough about me . . . how about you?"

At this, the redhead's smile faded "Sadly, things don't seem to be going smoothly for me as well"

This made Yukari drop her fork "I mean . . . oh, how rude of me, I shouldn't have asked . . . of course you're going through a lot after . . . that"

"It's okay Yukari" Mitsuru took a sip of her coffee "I'm not as depressed as I was when my father died"

The brunette sighed "Sorry, I guess it's not easy running a company while you're still in college"

"Oh its fine really" Mitsuru waved her hand "I can apply the theories I learn in class in my work environment"

Yukari rubbed her nose "Well . . . that's one way to look at it" she then shifted the topic "Anyway, how's Akihiko-senpai? Is he still skipping school?"

At this, the former student council president sighed "I honestly don't know what's going on in his head sometimes, one minute he's serious about working for the police force the next minute he wants to be as strong as some anime character"

"That's senpai alright"

"He needs to set his priorities straight" she shook her head "At least Junpei know what he wants to do with his life"

At this Yukari twitched her eye "Well . . . he's a totally different story"

"Hmm . . . I guess you're . . ." at this, Mitsuru felt her phone vibrating in her pocket "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh, it's no problem" Yukari waved.

Mitsuru nodded then stepped out of the restaurant to answer her call. It was quite sunny that day and she was grateful for wearing a light blouse "Hello?"

"You're Mitsuru Kirijo, right?" said the caller who from what she can tell from the voice was male.

She stiffened "Yes, how may I help you?"

"Umm . . . well my boss told me to call you" he paused "And my attendant told me to convince you"

"Attendant . . ." that was when it clicked "So . . . you're a contact for the Velvet Room?"

Minato smirked as he watched the redhead's moments from the restaurant she just exited "Yes, yes I am"


Before anything, yes Minato uses two names. Makoto Yuki for work and Minato Arisato in his personal life, it's debatable on which one is his birth name. Though personally, I prefer Makoto Yuki because it seems more of a realistic name but I dunno.

Thank you to ademolix, Blue Cipher, Tower Knight, KatoriAeku, and Raze Olympus for following and/or favoriting this story.

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