Kirika savoured the warmth flowing through her body as she drew the crisp, white sheets closer to herself. It was so nice and quiet in here! Later, perhaps, she'd get up and make herself a cup of tea- her mother would probably have a slice of cake and a smile ready for her. And she'd clean her room today; she'd been putting it off for far too long. All those Aceman toys stacked up in the corner really needed to be cleaned up- it wasn't like she played with them anymore. Also, she'd clean out the bird cage- and her pet crow probably needed to be fed, too-

Wait.

She realised that she wasn't at home anymore.

There was no scent any of freshly baked cakes, or the sound of her crow shrieking to be let out onto her shoulder. There wasn't the steady whine of her computer running in the background, or even the steady pulse of the clock that ticked on her wall.

There was no mistake about it; she was in Deadman Wonderland. By the looks of the syringes and complex looking machinery scattered about the room, she was probably in the infirmary.

So why aren't I in agonising pain?

In an instant, her memories swept through her mind. There'd been a lot of blood, right? And Crow… Senji… he'd shredded her wings and almost half of her back, if the dull burn that she could feel was anything to go by. Why was she still alive? The last scene that she really remembered was her cussing out the Weasel. Did she black out after that?

"Hey, woman."

She flinched at the sudden sound, thrust out of her reverie. Turning her head to the right, she saw the man in question looking at her with a faint smile of acknowledgement. "Senji?"

"Yeah. You pack a mean hit, that's for sure…" he mumbled, definitely looking worse for wear. His sheets rode just above his hipbones, so that slightly soiled bandages covering his entire upper body were clear to the naked eye.

Kirika couldn't help but gasp slightly. "What happened to you? How did you get those wounds?"

He raised a sceptical eyebrow. "As if you don't remember such a one-sided fight."

"I really don't," she said honestly. "I remember you just about killing me, though."

"…I can't believe you just said that." Senji's low chuckle cut off suddenly as he winced. "Damn. It's been a while since I've been this screwed in battle." He stared morosely at the remaining fingers of his left hand. "Oh well. At least it was only three of them."

As Kirika opened her mouth to enquire about the ragged state of his hand, the door slid open and an irritated looking woman walked through, saying, "You'll have some new fingers inserted soon enough."

"I will?" Senji looked confused. "Now why would something as convenient as that happen?"

"The Promoter doesn't want his toys to be much damaged unless it happens in a Carnival Corpse," she replied frankly. Malicious eyes flicked over to Kirika. "I'm Rei Takashima, the doctor of this facility. I don't want you almost killing the goods again unless it's in the arena, got it?"

Kirika stayed silent as Senji snorted. "You're just pissed because you have to give me back what I lost."

"You're not wrong. I'd love to take an eye of yours, or maybe your pancreas… something fun." The doctor busied herself with injecting liquid into both of their IVs.

"Well, maybe you'll get a better chance to do so next time." The man sneered in disgust. "If the girl doesn't completely take me apart."

Surprisingly, he didn't seem angry at Kirika's actions. In fact, he almost seemed pleased.

"Everyone is saying that I almost killed Senji…" the injured girl began hesitantly, "but I don't remember that happening. Actually, I thought I was going to die back there."

Takashima rolled her eyes. "The recording is waiting for you back in your new room. You had a fit of some sort and nearly wiped out Kiyomasa's place after you shouted at the Promoter."

Kirika's troubled expression was ignored by both doctor and male patient.

"What?!" Senji yelped. "My place is totalled? Where the hell do I stay then?" His cheeks heated up comically.

"Hmm…" the doctor checked her clipboard for show, already knowing the answer. The Promoter had been extremely pleased at the entertainment that had been created by putting the Raven and Crow together; from the amount of dancing he'd been doing as she fetched his evening apéritif, he clearly wanted more action soon. Where was the Crow going to stay? It was so obvious. "For the foreseeable future, you'll be staying in Fujiwara's room."

"Huh?!" Both patients gasped in unison.

"But she's a girl!" Senji brandished his good hand at the doctor's face, appealing for her to see reason.

"…Is that a problem?" Kirika asked, amused.

"Hey, hey, hey; we were only meant to be staying together for a day. Now we're stuck together for good? What," the man lowered his voice dangerously, "are you and Tsunenaga up to, Takashima?"

"I have no idea what you're on about, Kiyomasa," the older woman said sharply in reply. "Anyway, that's how it is, so deal with it. Fujiwara, your test results are fine- so put this on and you're free to go." A new leather dress of the same design was tossed onto the bed.

Kirika pursed her lips as curtains were drawn around her bed. She stripped off the thin, papery hospital gown and assessed her naked body. Aside from some faint scratches, she seemed fine. There was just a cut mark there, and there, and… what the hell is that?

"Doctor Takashima, could you please come in here for a moment?" she called; her voice hoarse with surprise. Temporarily covering herself with a blanket – the air conditioning was quite cold - she waited.

"What is it?" The doctor stepped inside the small area, looking bored.

The girl dropped the blanket so the strange thing could be seen. "Why… why is this glowing?"

Takashima couldn't help but grin almost predatorily. Perfect. When that girl got killed at whatever time, she'd have another of those to experiment upon. "It's nothing to worry about. But if you find the Wretched Egg, please ask it yourself."

"Wretched… Egg?" Kirika couldn't help but stare in shock at the strange phenomenon inside her. "Are you joking?"

"No. Now get changed and get out of here, or I'll start dissecting you before you've even crossed to the other side." With that, the so-called doctor exited the small space and the infirmary itself. High-heeled footsteps echoed quietly away.

Shrugging, Kirika quickly slid the leather dress on- but became very aware of a new issue.

The first time they'd put the dress on her, they'd been kind enough to tie up the corset tightly, so that it actually fit. Now, no matter how hard she pulled, she didn't have the strength to adjust the strings so that the dress didn't just slide off her body again. A tiny blush worked its way up her cheeks as she realised what had to happen.

Damn it, Weasel; don't tell me you planned for this to happen, too?!

Despite not being terrified of the opposite gender, as Senji seemed to be, Kirika was still a little shy of having to need a near-stranger help her with tying her up. His sculpted body was not something that could be ignored, either- she doubted that the man knew what a presence he had on women. Shaking her head, she decided that she had to hope for the best. How bad could it be, right?

…Right?

Keeping the dress pressed to the front of her body as tightly as she could, Kirika stepped out of the curtained area and approached the man, who had been moved out of his bed and now sat in a nearby chair. "Hey… Senji?"

"Hmm?" He had his eyes trained on a magazine called Mastery Monthly: The Mystery of Iaido, and didn't bother to look at her.

"I need your help with something," she said in a small voice.

"Yeah? What is it?"

She took a deep breath before blurting it out. "C-could you tie me up, please?"

The sip of water that Senji had been taking was spat straight back out, as he finally looked at her, and how little she was wearing. She had her back half-turned to him, laced cords hanging loosely from their rightful place, so that he could admire… no, so that he could see almost all of the pale flesh that lead down to… down to…

"W-w-what the fuck, woman?! Cover yourself up!" He yelled, averting his grey gaze so fast that he cricked his neck rather painfully.

"That's what I'm asking you to do, you idiot!" Kirika yelled just as loudly, turning beet red.

"D-d-do it yourself!"

"If I could, why the hell would I be asking you to do it?!"

"Don't expect me to know how women work!"

Kirika rolled her eyes at his last comment. "Come on, pretty-please, help me out here!"

In total embarrassment, Senji dropped his magazine and tried to shove away his problem. (In hindsight, he realised that this action was pretty dumb. But, in his defence, he'd been flustered.) The girl was surprisingly light- he saw from the way she fell that he'd been perhaps a bit too strong with her. Furthermore, there were at least two more problems created by her impromptu date with gravity:

Firstly, the front of her dress had now bared itself entirely, a large swathe of material tangling with her legs.

Secondly, she'd probably alerted the entirety of Deadman Wonderland that something was remiss in G-Block's medical facility. Screw soundproof walls, her scream of shock had definitely shattered every window for miles.

"Are you a COMPLETE IDIOT?!" Kirika shouted, trying to 'wrap' herself up with only her arms. Needless to say, it only covered the bare necessities, which was not enough to leave Senji with anything less than a nosebleed. "And don't go getting a nosebleed now before you fix my dress, you pervert!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" Looking away, his blush was hot enough to most likely heat the entirety of G-Block in the winter for a week.

"Never mind that, just tie me up already!" She scrabbled at the soft leather, pulling the front up to a more modest height. "I'll never mention this again if you don't."

"I won't forgive you for this," Senji threatened, shutting his eyes tightly and approaching her slowly, "ever."

She shoved the cords into his hands, ignoring him. "Now pull, as hard as you can."

Opening his grey gaze to mere slits, he couldn't help but brush her soft, pliant skin accidentally as he took hold of them. He cheeks were flushing deeply and he knew it; how was it possible that a girl's skin could be so silken?

Tugging roughly, he heard her release a sharp swell of breath. "Oi… Is this tight enough?"

"Y-yeah," Kirika muttered unevenly. "That's fine. Just tie a knot." She hoped that he could not sense how discomforted she felt by having his rough hands merely touch her there for a moment.

"…You have goose-bumps." The man stated dryly, stepping very quickly away from her.

Her embarrassment flared heatedly as she safely swirled around to meet his eyes. "I-it's cold in here! Not that you would know, draped in that coat."

"That doesn't sound like a thank you to me, woman." Senji picked up his magazine again and sat back down onto the chair.

She hummed with displeasure. "Thank you, Senji."

The two both faced downwards with ample blushes to match. Fortunately, the relatively awkward moment was broken by the door crashing back open. Takashima strode in with a furious glare, which intensified as she saw that Kirika was still very much present. "Do you have a death wish, girl?"

"No, Doctor," she mumbled. "I'll just be leaving now."

As Kirika closed the door, she very faintly heard the doctor say, "You're up for the Carnival in two days' time, Kiyomasa."

Senji sighed. "Who is it this time?"

"Ganta Igarashi, I believe. You might know him as the Woodpecker."

She didn't hear a reply.

Playlist D

Sun's Coming Up - Tame Impala

3:16 AM - Jhene Aiko

Red Belt - Tegan and Sara