Sae had made her career taking on some of the most dangerous men in Tokyo. She would rather face the yakuza again then enter the shack before her. She had looked over the files again and again, trying to find some way that a man she despised hadn't engaged in tax evasion and served as an accessory to money laundering. But the facts remained stubbornly present. And he was her only lead regarding the mental shutdowns.

Akechi's voice whispered in her ear. And so Yusuke enters the system. I wonder if he'll be lucky enough to have another foster father, or if he'll be sent to an orphanage? I wonder if he'll be allowed to finish his schooling? I wonder if he'll ever speak to you again?

Sae balled her hands into fists. What was she supposed to do? Wait until another car almost ran her over? The law was what it was no matter who suffered. No matter how much she...loved Yusuke. A molten lump burned in her throat. Oh God. He was the first boy to show her any kindness or to make her feel desirable, and she was doing this to him. Because she had to close some big case to prove to her director and everyone else that the world wouldn't be better off if she had died with her father. Because children had successfully blackmailed Kamoshida rather than let the adults handle it.

But she would make sure Yusuke didn't suffer. She had connections in Family Court. She would strong-arm someone to serve as a guardian. Pay for his tuition anonymously if need be. He might still despise her, but she could control who lost the most in this sick game.

Her phone buzzed. Makoto. Are we still on for dinner? Principal Kobyakwa wants me to look into a student. He works as a waiter part time at a restaurant in Kanda.

Sae's lips thinned. Kobyakawa was another investigation derailed by these mysterious Phantom Thieves. Why is he having you investigate a student? That's not your job.

I'm responsible for the other students. And there's something odd about this one.

Odd how? A terrible thought struck her. Makoto was still a teenage girl for all her pretensions to maturity. And Sae had enjoyed herself thoroughly and inventively before her disability. Do we need to have a talk about boys? Or girls?

NO!

Definitely time for a talk. A shame that she couldn't drink anymore. Yes, we're on for dinner. Sounds like we need to have a chat.

If only her own troubles were so easily mended. It had been nice to be happy again for a little while. But the dream was over and the house would have its due. She turned off her phone, squared her shoulders, and rang the doorbell.

Madarame wore the same haori jacket. Did the man own nothing else? He smiled when he saw her, all teeth and glittering eyes. "Ms. Niijima? Yusuke has art club, but he should be back soon."

"I'm here to see you." She flashed her badge. "Official business. I'd prefer to do this without a warrant."

His eyebrows went up at that. "As would I. Come in." He stepped back to allow her entrance.

The interior of the atelier was no better than the exterior. Shabby furniture, upholstery patched three times over. Bare floors. Yusuke lived in this? While Madarame was earning millions from his paintings and enjoying meals at three star restaurants and five-star hotels at the hands of his mistresses? To hell with her guilt. She'd see Yusuke in middle-class comfort at the very least. "I see you're committed to the starving artist act. At least through the week."

"Astute. Too astute." He led her into a cramped room that was little more than a desk and two chairs and shut the door. "But you didn't come all this way to berate me for how I market myself."

"Indeed." She could do this. She had made her name as Champion of Justice by making sense of paperwork and using it to break men stronger than him. She snapped open her briefcase and took out his tax return and the bill of sale. "Lying on your tax returns is a felony, Mr. Madarame. And at your age I daresay that the punishment amounts to a life sentence ".

"Don't you have a gangster to arrest? Or was depriving me of my mistress not enough?" He crossed his arms defensively but compared to the rage he had shown when she had arrested said mistress, Madarame was positively sedate.

Sae's hair stood on end. Something was wrong here. "Believe it or not, but until I walked into this house, I wanted desperately to believe that you had some innocent explanation for this. But after seeing the squalor that you subject Yusuke to..." She leaned forward in the chair. "It takes a long time to prepare these cases for trial. And I will see that you spend every second of it behind bars unless you tell me who you sold that painting to."

"Ah. So you're trying to flip me. That is the proper legal jargon, yes?" He steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair like a ruler reclining on his throne. "Let me save you some time. I have underreported my income for decades. I sold that painting to a gentleman with a missing finger joint who I believe you'd know by reputation." He counted on his fingers. "Oh, and I also falsely reported the original Sayuri stolen while I sold several copies clandestinely, claiming each was the original. I believe that's several more felonies."

Sae's eyes widened, and her breath came out as a choked gasp. Several more felonies was a vast understatement. Even if the judge was inclined to be lenient, Madarame had just assured himself a life sentence and the complete destruction of his reputation. "What?"

"I want you to know the prize you could have had. Oh I have been waiting years for this." He smiled again, a predators smile You see, Ms. Niijima, everything I just told you is quite useless to you."

"Why's that?"

"Because if you so much as cite me for jaywalking, I will have you arrested for raping Yusuke. Only a misdemeanor when a woman does it, but I imagine the allegations would torpedo your career all the same."

Sae's vision wavered, and a wave of nausea made her double over. No. No this couldn't be happening. She and Yusuke had been so careful for the last month. It had been stupid to let him comfort her in public, but it was only a hug. She had been maddened with rage and disappointment, almost the demon of her dreams, but Yusuke had brought her back. "We never even kissed."

"Hm. I would have supposed that you would have taking your fill of the boy. It's what I would have done in your position. But it hardly matters. The juvenile obscenity laws are so vague. And with the Kamoshida nonsense, I imagine the courts will be sensitive about that."

"You son of a bitch!"

He tsked. "Language, Niijima. You know, I rather enjoy vengeance. I spent years fantasizing about what I would do to repay the indignities you visited on me." He twirled a pen between his fingers. "With one phone call, I could have the Champion of Justice disbarred and sent to prison. The irony."

"Then do it." He had her, but she could choose how she went down, and it wouldn't be begging. Her vision grew hazier still. The study didn't look right. There was gold everywhere. Paintings of young men and women with stupid expressions on their faces hung on the walls. One of them was Yusuke. An art gallery imagined by someone who had never seen the real thing. "What?"

Madarame changed before her eyes. Clad in a golden kimono and wearing garish make up. The same yellow eyes as her dream demon. "Stop gaping like a fish. I have you over a barrel fair and square." His voice reverberated faintly. "I don't want you in prison. No, I want you where I can look at you and savor my triumph. So these are my terms. You will forget any notion of prosecuting me for any crime now or in the future. You will give Yusuke a very convincing performance about how you want nothing more to do with him. Then you will stay the hell away from him. In return, I will give you the paperwork you want. Or I call the police."

Pain tore through Sae. Not the burn of her scars and mangled leg, but a molten heat that spread out from her core until she knew nothing else. She had lost, completely and utterly. Yusuke was in this demon's thrall. Because she was lonely and careless.

"Because the game is rigged," said a different voice. "And the only way to win is to cheat and not be a sentimental fool like you."

The room shifted again. Sae found herself once more in the casino of her nightmares, sitting across from her doppelgänger at the blackjack table. She rubbed her eyes. Nothing changed. And she couldn't explain this one away with the painkillers. "So I finally cracked. Seems appropriate."

"Oh, shut up. You haven't cracked. And there are no such things as demons."

"Yellow-eyed thing taunting me and telling me that I don't care about my own sister? What else should I call you?"

"Call me by my proper name. I am you. All the things you think, but are too afraid to say. Your shadow self." She smiled, and it was somehow more terrible than the false Madarame's. "If I must have a name, call me...Leviathan."

The sea monster who consumed everything it touched. Demon of envy who took, not because it wanted, but so others would be denied. "So you are a demon. If you want to swallow Madarame whole or turn into that other thing and skewer him, I won't say no."

"I can't. My actions are limited to this world. But I can help you remember who you are and what it takes to win. Pay him back and steal Yusuke away from him."

Yes, that was what she wanted. More than she had wanted to be the Champion of Justice. More even than she wanted to forget what had been done to her. She wanted Madarame to be the one about to lose everything. Wanted him squirming and helpless and begging her not to unleash the power upon him. "Tell me how."

"Bide your time. Play his game for now, but remember that this is only a side bet. The mental shutdowns are the biggest game we've everplayed. Win it and everything that you want is yours."

She was right. Sae had been beloved when she had fought yakuza but the woman who solved the case that had so many people in a panic would be a legend, a god among prosecutors. No one would believe even the great Madarame if he accused her of impropriety. Wealth would be hers for the taking. She might even get a Cabinet post and nevermind her disfigurement. She could do whatever Yusuke wanted her to do to him and do it openly. All she had to do was win.

"You begin to understand," said Leviathan. "As long as you win, nothing else will matter. The game is already rigged in the prosecution's favor. You merely have to use those tools creatively."

"You mean unethically." Prosecutors didn't win ninety-nine cases out of a hundred merely by being selective in what indictments they brought. It was never spoken of openly, but the police knew how to get a suspect to confess without leaving marks. And everyone had a skeleton in their closet that could be used to force cooperation. Her father had taught her to hate such methods. Better that ten guilty men go free than one be convicted. "Dad..."

Leviathan's eyes narrowed. "Dad is dead. Have you forgotten what your search for justice wrought? You need a reminder."

Then Sae saw him. Sitting at the next table was her father, or what was left of him. The charred remains she had stared at for hours as the crews worked to dig her out. He—it-turned the remains of his head toward her. "You did this. Your idealism killed me. I never would have been on the case if you hadn't asked."

"Dad," she repeated. "I never meant...I just wanted to do what you taught me."

"And you lost it all. You're going to lose Yusuke and Makoto unless you discard the stupid ethics I taught you. Don't have them end up losing like me."

Sae convulsed. Her father and Leviathan were right. She kept telling Makoto that justice was only a word, but she had clung to her honor even as the corpses piled up. The only virtue was victory and doing whatever she had to for comfort. "Show me. Show me how to win."

"Gladly," Leviathan said. The world shimmered around her and Sae found herself in Madarame's very ordinary study. A cold hardness lodged itself in her chest. Her grief and pain were muted. She saw only what must be done.

"What the devil are you staring at?" Madarame asked. "Do we have a deal or not?"

"We have a deal." Her voice sounded colder. "Make sure you give me that paperwork before I decide that I don't have anything to lose."

"Oh, I will. I want you to spend every minute of the rest of your life knowing that you owe me for your success."

I'm going to enjoy seeing you on your knees.

The door opened. "Sensei?" Yusuke said. "I'm home."

Madarame bared his teeth at her. "Time for your performance, Ms. Niijima. Best make it a good one."

The cold lump lodged further in her chest and a shell enveloped her mind. She felt as if she were watching herself rise from the chair and open the door. Yusuke sat on the couch. He frowned at her. "Sae? What are you doing here? You look like death." He stood and came to her. "There was a gallery I wanted to take you to, but we can postpone that."

"Yes, postpone it." The shell threatened to crack. He was such a good boy. He didn't deserve to be caught in the game of two adults who despised each other. And even if she came to him when this was over with the world to lay at his feet, she would break his heart today. Yusuke might never forgive her, and she would deserve it.

Then you'll know what love does and seal another chink in your armor. This is the only way.

That didn't make this any easier. Madarame wanted a performance but he hadn't specified what kind. She could be gentle. She held up a hand "No, Yus-Kitagawa. Stay there please."

He stopped, his hands obediently at his sides, but his frown deepened. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

She should tell him to sit, for his own comfort, but he would want to sit next to her and the warmth of him would undo her. So she stayed where she was. "I've been doing some thinking. This tendre we have. It should end."

There was no reaction for a long moment. Then he merely blinked. "Pardon?"

The words seemed to spill out as if they came from another person. "It's hardly fair to either of us. As interesting as it's been, we both deserve someone our own age. A prosecutor and a high school student. There's no future there. "

"I know." He looked down, and his voice was very small. "I never expected a future. I just wanted to be before a little while. And I thought you were happy too."

She ought to lie and crush him once and for all, but the words stuck in her throat. "I was lonely. You made me a little less lonely. But now it's time for us to wake up and face the real world." She patted him on the arm, half comforting, half trying to build an unbreachable wall between the adult and the child. "You'll make friends your own age. You have the next thing to a father. Madarame will keep you safe and happy."

"I never had a friend before you. That won't change. And Madarame..." He looked at her with shining eyes. "Please, you can't make my world so much bigger and then say I have to go back to before and not tell me what changed!"

"Please, don't." She had known greater pain and emptiness over the last three years, but she had never known the particular torture of feeling as if her heart was rolling around in broken glass. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. I'm not willing to accommodate you anymore. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder. I want someone I can kiss."

Yusuke shivered. His eyes flashed like the sky during the storm. Sae could almost see it. He would close remaining the distance between them. She would brush the hair from his eyes. And he would kiss her. His hands would cup both her cheeks ever so gently as not to damage the scarring. His mouth would be warm and he would pour all his rage and grief into the movement of his mouth. Anything to make her stay. It wouldn't matter that he was young and uncertain. Her resolve would crumble She would have him. She would use her lifetime of experience to please them both until Yusuke whimpered and pleaded for more. There would be so much to teach him. She would take him away from this filth. This abuse. Not even Madarame could keep them apart. Love would find a way And they would finally get their happy ending

But no. Yusuke staggered back and sank onto the patchy couch that Sae wouldn't have allowed an animal to sit on. "I'm only a little boy," he whispered. A foolish little boy who thought he could steal ambrosia. Go, please."

Sae made it out the door before she the tears fell. They were warm and burned the scars. Her scars. The indelible marks of all she had tried and failed to do. She couldn't even die properly, so she just kept existing without love or anything to live for.

Not true. You have your revenge. The thought forced her to straighten her shoulders. Madarame and Kaneshiro were wallowing in their ill-gotten gains. She couldn't fall apart like some lovesick teenager. Not when there was so much work to be done. Spite had seen her through her father's death. She had been a fool to want anything softer.

Her phone went off. Makoto, of all people. Everything okay? I'm at the restaurant.

I'm fine.

Good. She's here. The boy I told you about.

A laugh tore from Sae's throat. Investigation on Kobyakawa's orders? More like her sister had hearts in her eyes for some delinquent. You have better things to worry about. Your studies for one. Leave this investigation nonsense alone and join the real world. She cut the phone off before Makoto could respond.

Now to that revenge. Nothing must stand in the way of finding out who ordered the mental shutdowns. Every contact she had, every minor transgression she had overlooked would be called in. It didn't matter who suffered. This game could only end one way. Sae would triumph. And Madarame would wish that she had only charged him with money laundering and tax evasion. The cold filled her until it was all she knew.

"Let's do this fair and square."