The Echo Sector never changed even after Gilman died, other than Margret Atwood's distaste towards men, or Mori in this case. But a wave of Echoes surfaced and presently consisted of 8 members. All Echoes were to be a subordinate or a similar position, training with a Mafia Executive before a consideration from Mori can be made. They were rather a dysfunctional sector, they were unusual children, they were simply little husks waiting the cold metal nozzle of the gun against their heads. Some were madly insane with mental disorders, some live in fear and others attempted to ignore such possible unfortunate ends.

Caressing fingers drifted upon my thighs, seemingly burning into my flesh.

"Sa-chan...you're so cute...I just eat you up."

I couldn't take it anymore, I open my mouth to scream but the sound seemed to have just died in my throat.

This time I did anything I could to get out of that man's hold, thrashing around and opening my mouth to scream again but someone else seemed to pull me out of it.

OI...

OI...

OI..

OI! Wake up, Yukino!

My eyes shot wide open, blurry from sleep, I still frantically look at the dominant dark orange that my focus on, my mind is hazy and I attempt to thrash around once again.

"Its me Yukino! Its Chuuya!

Nakahara-san...

I instantly stop and allow my eyes to focus and a worried motherly face floods my vision, something I find Koyo-san doing often when passing the younger member in the Port Mafia headquarters.

I take a deep breath before sitting up.

"I'm okay..."

I'm okay.

"Want to talk about it? I'll call Huxley if you'd like?" Chuuya inquired whilst tangling his gloved hand into my hair.

The burning hand flashes in my mind before I speak.

"Its just the orphanage."

He says nothing else but can see the doubt in his eyes, he ruffles my hair before allowing me to stand, he stays in my room whilst I walk to my closet to pick out a kimono and socks.

"You're on scout duty today right?"

I make a noise of agreement casually taking out a nicer kimono of ivory with simple red flowers with three yellow dots in the middle, embroidered with lime green leaves and a yellow littered in a consistent fashion. The obi itself had been a tan colour with hexagonal patterns in woven golden thread.

Quickly slipping a nagajuban (Kimono undershirt) that had white collar, I slip on the kimono folding the left flap over my right flap before handing the obi to Chuuya, who slides the obi around my stomach and proceeds to tie a fukuro knot. The knot itself was rather inappropriate for such an occasion, but Chuuya had been adamant on it.

I tie my hair into a tight bun before feeling an ornament slip into my hair, a red hana kanzashi (Flower hair ornament), I had recognised from fiddling with the trailing red petals that cascaded on a string.

Scout duty was basically an over-time shift which meant assimilating into society and observe for any disturbances among Yokohama and by night mafia operations would overtake the scouting so it would mean the people on shift get to go home. But Echoes are always on call and work was never really over until Mori had said so. Meals were skipped until for work until her own break at 3:00 in the afternoon. Partners would switch every week to ensure effective teamwork and only half of the sector would be on duty at once whilst the others are set to monitor prisoners or other work on other assignments. Everyone was no doubt worked to the bone in the Echo sector.

I walk out of Chuuya and I's shared apartment but not giving him a brief hug. The designated group met in front of the Mafia's storage houses before departing, it had been Ray Bradbury and I as well as Ishiguro Kazuo and Sun Tzu on duty today. There was other new members, Pin Yathay a Cambodian who preferred to stay within the walls of headquarters to work on explosives. Or Hans Fallada a German teen who seemed to follow Bradbury like an eager puppy.

"Why...Yu-chan aren't you looking dapper today..." A faux easy-going voice droned.

I could recognise that voice anywhere, that distinctive psychopathic arrogance.

I turn to see familar honey blonde.

"Bradbury-san"

Ray Bradbury, a pyromaniac American with tousled honey blonde hair with irises of cyber yellow that always seem to hold a gleam of demented glee. However unlike most mentally unstable individuals, he seemed to hold himself quite well, putting himself in high regard, in all, he is a lunatic.

He is rather unnerving and for a good reason, he is perhaps one of most destructive in our sector. Fahrenheit, his ability to make objects combust by hand contact, the severity of the burn was purely up to him, and when I had experienced Fahrenheit for the first time, it burnt to the bone, like napalm. He goes into strange laughing fits sometimes, it can be classified as a Pseudobulbar Effect.

He smiles, plastered on his face and gestures at his clothes.

"Well, what do you think Yu-chan? Do I look handsome or what?"

I spare a look at his attire, an open white collar shirt that had a black shirt underneath, along with a black military blazer with gold buttons and metal detailing on the shoulders, with black dress pants and heeled shoes.

"Its adequate..."

He didn't seem to mind my off-handed comment, something that never ceases to surprise me in consideration...

"I hope we have fun today, Yu-chan." He mocking cooed.

I give him a polite smile.

"As do I."

"I hope that we're not interrupting anything. But it would've been funny if we did."

We turn to see Ishiguro with a cocky smile and a sullen looking Tzu, crossing his arms.

"Good morning to you too Ishiguro-san..Tzu-san." I chorused blandly.

Ishiguro Kazuo, a Japanese boy who has shaggy black hair and grey eyes who seems to prolong his syllables, due to his upbringing in England. He has unmanageable arrogance with a superiority complex that has died down upon his transition to the sector.

Despite this, his ability, 'Never Let Me Go' allows him to manipulate organs and cells of other people's bodies through contractions by squeezing his hand. It is also to be noted that he has extensive knowledge of medicine and anatomy. Among the sector he is known for dissecting things.

"I want to take the positions at the port and the storage houses! Hopefully I can catch some fish to test some things..." Ishiguro said, putting a hand up.

This lead to Tzu to go red in anger.

"This is why I hate working with you, you always slack off to try and find an animal that you can cut open!" Tzu snarled.

Sun Tzu, a Chinese boy who is rather feminine looking with black piggy tails on the side his head and onyx eyes that he always attempts to scowl and squint with in attempts to seem more masculine. He has Hikimayu eyebrows that seem rather comedic on his face. He has a Napoleon complex due to his height of 159 cm, along with a militarist mind but is ultimately easy to rile. (If you know his peeves.)

His ability, Art of War allows hardening of bones and physical caliber, his ability is best for a battle of attrition, wearing others out of superior endurance.

In the end, Bradbury and I had left the bickering pair alone and into the main streets of Yokohama, there wasn't really much to do after that but observe for potentials disruptions, it honestly wan't logically achievable in consideration of the size of Yokohama but no one could complain in fear of Mori. It was easier to just find some people and listen to their gossip. But life in Yokohama was rather slow so there were less actual reports of disruptions than something actually happening.

It seemed that the town gossip for the past few days had been a white tiger, which Huxley reported back a few days ago, during his walk back home, we had been ordered to look out for it, although I couldn't care less. But Bradbury seemed adamant to find it.

We had ended up not finding anything, settling down in a small empty cafe with black coffees. By then Bradbury's frustration was apparent, his plastered smile slowly turned into a scowl with his eyes holding rage and annoyance.

"Why can't I find that stupid tiger?" he murmured in distaste.

I held my tongue, regardless of his talent with his ability and intelligence, his somewhat easy frustration made rather what's that word I was looking for? Oh yes, 'stupid' and he could be so very stupid. No one finds a tiger in broad daylight and all I wanted to do was smack his head.

" If I don't find it, Mori-san and Ace-san would never acknowledge me..."

There was that too, the strange infatuation he had for his superiors, first it had been Ace-san, Huxley and Bradbury's former mentor and then proceeded to project his fixation towards Mori who seemed well informed of this particular circumstance, acts fuel to the existing fire.

A hand then slowly reaches to touch mine on the table and I instinctively flinch, looking up to see Bradbury's now amused and calculating eyes, he wants something.

"Hey Yu-chan.."

He was coaxing, attempting to establish false atmosphere so I could give out information.

"Hmm?"

"Does Aldous have any weaknesses?"

And there it was, the one-sided rivalry that Bradbury had with Huxley, Huxley was the bane of his existence, oh how the feeling was mutual. It also wasn't a secret that Mori seemed to like Huxley the most out of the sector, it was blatant favoritism but it was there.

"Not that I know of..." I said carefully

'Even if I did, its still none of your business'

Bradbury scowled at my answer, eyes darkening and glaring down at his coffee cup with his hands circled around it.

"Its not fair..." He whispered.

"He always gets what he wants, that entitled bastard."

His grip tightens around the cup and his curses were getting louder.

"He always takes everything away from me"

"I HATE HIM!"

The cup with shattered in his hands, with coffee drenched on his table, dripping onto the floor.

Bradbury starts to shake and belts out a laughing episode.

"ha-Ha-HA-HAHAHAHAHA!"

I say nothing but sigh as the workers at the cafe look over with concerned eyes.

'There he goes again...'

I really had half a mind to leave him here at the cafe, but I knew I couldn't. Standing up I made way to the counter to pay for the broken cup and bowed for my co-workers behavior.

I walked towards the door, giving Bradbury a dismissive wave.

"I'm leaving without you."

'And 3'

'2'

'1'

Bradbury rushed up to meet my slow pace.

"That wasn't very nice, not at all!" He mocked.

I scoffed at his statement before giving him an exasperated stare.

"You were being embarrassing."

Peaceful silence was what overcame the two teens before Bradbury broke it.

"I still want to find that tiger, for Mori-san and Ace-san."

'And he never stops, I'm staring to see why Huxley-san hates him so much'

I really was out of it, because I had bumped into a man, leading me to fall back.

"Utmost apologies young Miss."

My head snapped up to see a middle aged man, who seemed to have accented Japanese and English.

Bradbury froze and blinked several times, as the foregin man helped me up. He had blonde combed hair and blue eyes, suited in creamy yellow with a white shirt and tie.

"Oh no sir! I'm the one at fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." I said bowing deeply.

When we had left, Bradbury gave me an odd look.

"You never just bump into people, something in that delicate mind of yours?" He sneered.

I gave him a glance.

"Perhaps."

We remained silent for the rest of the day, Bradbury wondered off at certain intervals but always seemed to come back to my side with half an hour maximum. He was a bipolar figure, someone that nobody could understand, with a lack of momentum along with strange fixations and grudges that seemed be abrupt. But in comparison to Akutagawa's Senpai Issues, Bradbury seemed rather docile.

I looked towards the soft oranges that filled that sky with creamy hues, bring me a rare sense of tranquility that I couldn't have such privileges to experience in my line of work. Such emotions were brief and I couldn't enjoy its brilliance from the sidewalk that sloped down into grassy earth and a clear stream.

Setting my eyes on the grassy land, I felt my eyes widen and my body freeze, a man and a boy had been occupied down there whom to I both recognise. The man had been wet, perhaps tried to drown himself in the stream, his signature messy black locks still the same from his affiliation within the Port Mafia.

'Dazai-san...'

The boy, on the other hand had hair of light grey asymmetric fringe, turning towards the man, brought attention to the opal-like hues of his heterochromatic eyes, that were much like her own of black and yellow.

'Ni-san...'

It seemed as if my past had came back to haunt me fully now and it seemed that even the black tiger that occupied my mindscape was brought to full attention to the men, I couldn't move. A cold hand reached out to grab my hand and it seemed to take me out of trance. It was Bradbury.

"What has gotten your attention, so intensively Yu-chan?" His mocking voice called as he turned to what I had been once looking at. His smile sharpens into a sadistic sneer, as he pulls me along.

"Let's go report back to Mori-san, Yu-chan. He'll be interested in this new development."

My stomach couldn't help but churn at his statement.