"I know what you did."
Most people would be terrified if they heard such an ominous voice behind them while walking through a backstreet. But not Otoya. After all, fear was an emotion that was completely unknown to her. People feared her, not the other way around.
Putting on her best smile, Otoya turned back.
"Huh? What did I do, sister-san?" Otoya said innocently.
Kouko was glaring at her with such contempt in her eyes.
"You visited Suzu at the hospital, didn't you?"
"Yeah? What's wrong with me visiting a friend…?"
"Don't you dare call her your friend after what you did to her!"
Otoya stopped smiling, tilting her head.
"Did to her…? I didn't do anything to her," Otoya replied, confused.
"You denounced her to Kuzunoha! It's because of you she tried to get her assassinated! You made her think that Suzu was a double agent!" Kouko accused.
Oh, that. Well, denouncing her was a strong word. All she did was point Nio towards Suzu so she wouldn't be suspected herself. Not that she would tell Kouko.
"What? I would have never denounced Shutou-san!" Otoya exclaimed, feigning offence. "She's my friend! And what would I denounce her about? Whether she was a double agent or not, it's not like she would have told me, you know."
"Don't play innocent. You insinuated to Kuzunoha that she helped Kenmochi escape from the asylum. Don't try to lie to me!"
Shit. It seemed that Kouko knew too much for her to lie. Why does she know anyway? Why would Nio have told her? Unless…
A smirk appeared on Otoya's lips.
"You're talking as if I was the one who pulled the trigger, but we both know who truly did," Otoya said, grinning.
At those words, Kouko looked tense.
"What are you insinuating, Takechi?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean. You are the one who shot Shutou-san, don't you?"
Kouko's eyes widened for a moment before she clenched her fists. Otoya chuckled.
"So I was right. You did shoot Shutou-san! Kuzunoha told you about her suspicion and asked you to kill her, am I right?"
"I didn't have a choice!" Kouko finally snapped back. "If you didn't say those things to Kuzunoha, she would have never asked me to do that!"
"Tsk, keep blaming me for your actions. Can you even take responsibility?" Otoya taunted.
"I don't want to hear this from someone who murdered her girlfriend's mother and refuses to see why she is upset."
Otoya turned stoic.
"So Shutou told you huh… So much for patient confidentiality…"
"She's not your goddamn therapist!"
"Regardless, you can't blame me for what happened to her when you are the one who pulled the fucking trigger."
"Takechi, I swear to God, you won't get away with this!"
"And what are you going to do? Shoot me too? Please. You can't even kill someone you shot from a close distance."
"Oh, I'm not going to kill you. I won't risk getting in trouble with Black Guild for a pest like you. No, I intend to hurt you in the same place you hurt me."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
A sinister smile appeared on Kouko's lips.
"With Kenmochi, of course."
Otoya's gaze turned dark.
"You wouldn't hurt an innocent woman, would you?"
"I'm an assassin Takechi. I've killed countless innocent people."
"And what makes you think I'd care if you kill Shiena?"
"Oh, you clearly care about her… in your own twisted way. You wouldn't have gone so far for her otherwise."
"She rejected me. She broke my heart. I don't care what happens to her. Do what you want to her."
"Who said I would kill her anyway? After all, Suzu isn't dead. That wouldn't be a fair deal. But I'm sure AKA would love to hear how she covered up for you. This time, I don't think she would avoid jail."
"I don't care."
"Fine. Let me give them a call. An anonymous tip," Kouko said as she pulled out her phone.
Otoya remained impassive as Kouko started to dial a number. When the black-haired girl was about to call, Otoya stepped further.
"If you do that, I'll tell Kuzunoha that you purposefully let Shutou live as well as which hospital she's in!"
Kouko nearly dropped her phone. Slowly, she turned it off, gazing at Otoya.
"So you do care about Kenmochi. Interesting."
"Pff, don't make me laugh. The bitch hurt me, if anyone is gonna harm her, it will be me and only me," Otoya denied.
"Then we are settled. Stay away from Suzu and I'll stay away from Kenmochi. Deal?"
Otoya had to fight the urge to just jump on Kouko and forced herself to smile.
"Deal. Would you happen to know where Shiena-chan is?" Otoya asked sweetly.
Kouko adjusted her glasses and smiled back.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Take a hint, would you? She clearly doesn't want to see you."
Kouko walked away, leaving Otoya in a worse mood than she had been in before.
Otoya must have been waiting for hours. She might not be known for her patience, but when she was motivated by pure anger, Otoya could wait days just to see her vengeance be successful. The sun had long since set and the air was much chillier. Despite that, she was standing still, not shivering, staring at the bar with an almost inhumane focus.
Then finally, she came out. Nio left her bar, locking the door behind her. Otoya could only feel rage and hatred when she saw her, the person she considered responsible for all her misery. She lost Shiena because of her, and she will make her pay.
With an angry smirk on her face, Otoya discreetly followed Nio, planning to ambush her somewhere isolated. She thought she had an occasion when she reached an empty parking lot before she noticed that they weren't alone. Seemingly waiting for her was a voluptuous woman.
Otoya hid behind a car, observing what was going on. She was too far away to hear and it was too dark for her to recognize the woman with Nio.
The two seemed to be having an argument before Nio gave her an envelope. They then parted ways. Otoya was tempted to just forget about that and continue to follow Nio, but she had a bad feeling about that other woman and why Nio met up with her. Pushing aside her grudge for her curiosity, Otoya decided to follow the other woman.
"I'll get you another time, Kuzunoha."
Shiena shivered slightly. She may be wearing a hoodie, but it was especially chilly tonight. She didn't want to be outside, especially not at this hour, but she was in serious need of some booze. There was no more at her motel room and she couldn't sleep, that and an awful headache. She wasn't going too far away from her motel, just to the convenience store down the street.
There was no one in the street. No wonder, given that it was the middle of the night. She passed through a backstreet behind the store, feeling somewhat nervous but eager to finally be inside.
"Excuse me, do you know what time it is?" a feminine voice asked.
Shiena froze for a moment before she sighed. She didn't know that voice- probably just some random woman who was lost or drunk. She pulled out her phone to look at the time and then turned back.
"It's 4 o'clock-"
A violent pain suddenly struck her right in the face and she collapsed to the ground. Shiena remained shocked for a moment, unable to move or think properly. Then the fresh pain on her face brought her back to reality. Her cheek felt like it was burning and there was blood pouring from her lower lip. Shiena managed to sit down and take a look at her assaulter.
It was indeed a woman- She looked tall, busty, and quite sexy. Not the kind of woman she would expect to randomly assault you at night.
"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to make you bleed. After all, I absolutely hate the sight of blood."
Shiena had no intention of staying here and discovering why this woman attacked her. She quickly rose up and started running away.
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere little bunny!"
The brunette got violently kicked in the back and lost her balance, twisting her ankle as she once again fell to the ground. This time, she wasn't able to get back on her feet.
"How rude. I just wanted to talk with you, Kenmochi-san."
Shiena felt her heart skipping a beat. Whoever this woman was and why she attacked her, she knew her name. This wasn't just a random attack.
"W-Who… who are you?"
The woman smirked.
"Who I am is irrelevant. What I'm going to do to you is not."
On those words, she kicked Shiena right in her ribcage. The brunette started to violently cough, curled up in pain on the ground. Her assaulter then suddenly grabbed her by her hood and threw her with strength against the fence. She was then welcomed with another punch in the stomach, which momentarily made her breathless. Then another punch, this time on her collarbone, quickly followed by one on her chin. Shiena coughed up some blood as tears started to bead in her eyes. She weakly raised her arms in a pathetic attempt to protect herself from the assault.
"P-Please, stop! I'll do anything you want but please, stop!" Shiena cried out desperately.
Much to her surprise, the assault stopped. The woman suddenly grabbed her by the collar, pinning her against the fence, grinning at her.
"Reaaaalllyyy? You'll do aaaanything I want?"
Shiena knew nothing good would come from that, but she preferred taking the risk rather than being beaten to death and weakly nodded. The woman chuckled as she pressed her body against Shiena's, her face so close that she could feel her warm breath.
"Then, how about you tell me everything you know about Black Guild?"
Shiena's eyes widened. So this was related to Black Guild… was that woman sent by Otoya? Or was she an enemy? Regardless, Shiena didn't want to answer.
"... Black Guild? W-What's that?"
"Wrong answer, Kenmochi-san."
Shiena felt the woman's hand brushing her side before she suddenly pressed on her injured ribs, eliciting a cry of pain from her.
"Come on, Kenmochi-san. I'm not a sadist. I actually dislike blood and screams, you know. Just tell me what I want to know and your pain will be over."
The woman put more pressure on her ribs and Shiena was about to break and tell her everything.
"Let her go."
The woman released her collar and Shiena fell to the ground, too weak to do otherwise. The voice sounded so gloomy yet calm. The woman turned back and looked surprised. Shiena weakly raised her head and felt terrified when she recognized the person.
"Well well, isn't it Jackie?"
"Stay away from her, Isuke. Trust me, you don't want to do that," Otoya warned.
"Oh, really? What makes you think that? Or do you perhaps think you stand a chance against me?"
Shiena was shivering in fear. It truly was the worst possible outcome. Not only was she being assaulted, but her psycho ex-girlfriend also found her.
"It's not me you should be afraid of. Well, you should be afraid of me, but if you hurt this girl any more, you won't have to worry about just me."
Was Otoya… here to save her? It seemed unbelievable. Yet, she seemed genuinely furious with this Isuke girl for hurting her.
"Pff, who should I be worried about?" Isuke taunted.
"Whoever is above Kuzunoha."
"Uh… what do you mean?"
"Kuzunoha is the one who gave you this order, right? And let me guess, she expects you to kill Shiena afterward."
"Yeah, she does."
"But what if I tell you the head of Black Guild, the one giving orders to Kuzunoha, actually doesn't want Shiena dead? How do you think this person would feel if you kill her?"
For the first time, Isuke showed concern.
"Don't screw with me! Kuzunoha gave me this order, she's the one responsible!"
"And you seriously think Kuzunoha will take the blame? Of course not. She'll deny even requesting it and pretend you killed Shiena of your own will. Do you know what happens to traitors, Isuke? Maybe you should ask obaa-chan. Oh, right. She has been eliminated. Too bad."
Isuke was starting to look more and more tense but tried to hide it with a cocky smile.
"You're just trying to scare me. Why should I believe you? How could you possibly know what the head wants?"
"Because they framed Shiena for my murders instead of just killing her. They have a plan for her which isn't death. Kuzunoha is deceiving you and has no problem with you dying. Or perhaps you won't be the target of the head's wrath. Maybe it will be people close to you who will lose their life, who knows?"
Shiena could swear she saw a cold sweat dripping from Isuke's forehead.
"Fine, I'll leave her alone… for now. I don't trust you, but I don't trust Kuzunoha either. I always knew there was something fishy with her sudden request… "make Kenmochi Shiena tell you everything she knows about Black Guild, then kill her" isn't the type of work she usually gives me. I really didn't want to, trust me. I'm not into torture."
Isuke wiped off the blood on her hands and walked away. Shiena was tempted to sigh in relief but she knew she wasn't out of trouble. Otoya was now staring at her, slowly walking towards her. Shiena instinctively recoiled, crawling on the ground, before she ended up cornered by the fence. All she could do was sob and shiver in fear, awaiting her cruel fate.
Otoya stopped in front of her and Shiena would have cried and begged for mercy if she didn't know how useless it was. Whatever Otoya had planned to do to her, nothing will change her mind, especially not sympathy.
Then, much to her surprise, Otoya smiled softly.
"Are you alright, Shiena-chan?"
Shiena didn't reply, too shocked and terrified to say anything. Otoya crouched and crawled towards her. The brunette instinctively tried to push her away but Otoya grabbed her arm.
"Shhh, don't worry, Shiena-chan. I'm not here to hurt you."
Otoya was now kneeling over her lap. Her face was so close to hers, Shiena almost thought that she was about to kiss her. But instead, Otoya licked the blood that was dripping from her injured lip.
"Poor Shiena-chan. It must really hurt huh? Let me take care of you."
Otoya then raised up and, with unusual gentleness, she lifted Shiena from the ground, holding her in her arms. Shiena didn't resist, feeling some comfort in Otoya's embrace. She finally allowed herself to sigh before everything turned dark.
Her body hurt like hell when she woke up, like she had fallen down the stairs or something. Just trying to move caused her excruciating pain. Her right ankle was throbbing in pain and she feared that it might be broken. Her face was burning with pain and she finally recalled what happened. She was assaulted by this Isuke woman, and then…
She was rescued by Otoya.
Upon remembering that, Shiena started to panic and actively tried to get up despite the pain.
"You shouldn't force yourself to move, Shiena. You're in no shape."
Shiena froze. She weakly raised her head and noticed Otoya, sitting by her side on the bed in her motel room. She gave her a warm smile.
"I'm glad you are okay, Shiena-chan."
Otoya seemed genuinely concerned for her. Shiena knew that it must be a ruse but then why did she save her? Softly, Otoya raised the blanket, revealing Shiena's half-naked body. She was only wearing her underwear and had a few bandages, mostly around her ankle and ribcage.
"I nursed you the best I could," Otoya replied.
"Are those… broken?"
"You sprained your ankle. It should be sensitive for a couple of days but it's nothing serious. For your ribs, I'm not sure. I don't think any are broken, but maybe cracked at some places. As long as you don't push yourself they should heal fine."
Shiena sighed. At least there was that. But it didn't change that Otoya's presence was still a threat.
"How did you know… it was my motel room?"
"Ah, I wasn't stalking you or anything, I swear! After you passed out, I found a key with a number on it in your pocket. Given that this was the only motel nearby I figured that it was where you were staying. I didn't want to bring you to my house since… I knew you wouldn't have felt comfortable there."
Did Otoya really… consider her feelings? That seemed so unlikely, yet, there was no reason why Otoya wouldn't have simply kidnapped her instead of bringing her back to her motel.
"Oh, I bought a couple of things for you!" Otoya added cheerfully as she started unpacking her bag. "Here's some painkillers, some snacks I know you love, and I noticed the empty bottle of vodka so I bought you some booze! There wasn't any vodka at the convenience store so I took Smirnoff, I hope it's fine."
Shiena looked at what Otoya bought. A bottle of Tylenol, some potato chips, and the cheap convenience store alcohol.
"T-Thanks…" Shiena said with a shivering voice.
Otoya smiled as she sat right next to Shiena, who couldn't help but feel tense. Even her heart was racing like crazy. Not that Otoya seemed to have noticed.
"I have been looking for you Shiena-chan. I was so worried," she said softly.
"Ah… yeah… I was just… I needed time alone. After what happened… between us… I was scared."
"Scared? Of me? Why?" Otoya asked, genuinely surprised.
"Well… you sent me… threatening messages… telling me that you'll find me and make me pay…"
Much to Shiena's surprise, Otoya started to laugh.
"Oh, that! Don't worry about it. I was just angry, angry people tend to be impulsive and say things they don't really mean. Regardless, I'm sorry if my words scared you, I really shouldn't have. I was just worried, you know? You weren't answering my calls and you weren't at home either, I thought that perhaps… something bad happened to you. And given that just happened, I guess I was right to be worried."
Shiena didn't know if she should trust Otoya, but at the same time, she did save her life.
"This woman… Isuke, right? Why did she attack me? Is she from Black Guild too?"
"Yeah, she is. She was sent by our boss to kill you."
"This… Kuzunoha person, right?"
"Yeah. That cunt."
"But why?"
"She hates me. She suspected me to have helped you get out of the asylum. I denied it obviously but she still doubted me. She viewed you as a threat so she did everything she could to eliminate you, even pinning us against each other."
"What… what do you mean?"
Otoya sighed and looked genuinely sad.
"Your mother… I didn't kill her from my own free will. It was a contract. Kuzunoha gave her to me as a target," Otoya revealed.
Shiena couldn't believe what she just heard. So Otoya didn't just randomly kill her mother, she was ordered too.
"I knew right when I saw her picture that Kuzunoha was trying to trick me. I recognized your mother. I didn't want to kill her, I swear. But if I showed hesitation in front of Kuzunoha, she would have had me assassinated, and possibly you too. I acted as if I didn't notice and I wanted to make sure… that you loved your mother. I'm not allowed to talk about my targets outside Black Guild, and I was sincerely hoping you would have told me you loved your mother. For you, I swear, I would have disobeyed Kuzunoha, even if it would have put me in danger. You have to believe me that I never intended to hurt you! But when you told me how you hated your mother and how you wished she was dead… I thought I saw an opportunity for both of us to get through Kuzunoha's ploy. But I was wrong… I should have understood your feelings better. And trust me, I regret what I did!"
Otoya seemed sincere in her apology but it didn't excuse her violent behaviours.
"I… I understand you were in a difficult situation, but… you still hurt me. You punched me!"
"I'm really sorry! I was impulsive. I realized how I got manipulated by Kuzunoha and I thought you had been dishonest with me. I couldn't think straight anymore and I started seeing red… It doesn't excuse hitting you and I would understand if you can't forgive me. It's just… hard, you know? With this mental condition… I can't grasp right or wrong most of the time."
Shiena knew that it was true. Otoya was unable to have empathy, something so primordial to understand right and wrong. Such violent behaviour after being pushed so hard wasn't unexpected. And perhaps this time, Otoya learned from her mistake.
"I promise I'll never raise my hand on you ever again!" Otoya swore.
Shiena wanted to believe her. She really missed her. She still deeply loved her.
"It's fine, Otoya. I forgive you. It was all Kuzunoha's fault anyway, right? Thanks for saving me and taking care of me," Shiena said with a weak smile.
Otoya's eyes were almost beaming as she smiled too.
"I love you so much, Shiena-chan! Don't worry, I'll protect you from Kuzunoha, or anyone who might want to hurt you. You have my word!"
Somehow, Shiena felt like she could trust Otoya. She suddenly coughed and was assailed by pain.
"Shiena-chan! Do you want painkillers?"
"N-No, I'm fine… I just need some rest. I'm tired…"
"Oh, right. You look awfully exhausted. No offence."
"None taken."
"Well then, I'll leave. If anything happens, don't hesitate to call me, okay?"
"Okay… could you leave the painkiller and Smirnoff on the nightstand beside me please?"
"Sure, no problem."
Otoya put the bottle of Tylenol on the nightstand as well as a few Smirnoff canes.
"Good night, Shiena-chan. Sleep well."
"Thanks, Otoya."
Otoya smiled once again before she left the motel. Shiena grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and poured two in her hands. Just as she expected, their sight alone was enough to make her nervous. Ever since she was drugged in the asylum, she wasn't about to swallow pills.
She grabbed a Smirnoff and started drinking it. It wasn't strong enough to numb the pain away. She then looked at the pills and had an idea.
Using her glass, she crushed the pills until they became powder. She then put it in the glass and poured some Smirnoff in it. She knew that those kinds of pills made alcohol stronger.
After she stirred it a little, Shiena drank her improvised booze and it only took a few minutes to kick in after she fell into a deep coma-like sleep.
Otoya left the motel. She walked away down the street and, making sure she was alone, started laughing maniacally.
Shiena still loved her. Shiena forgave her. Shiena had faith in her.
Shiena belonged to her.
This thought alone made her grin with such malevolence as it started to rain, weak raindrops falling on her, but she couldn't care less. She then turned back to stare at the motel, still grinning, a hand on her face to calm her mad laughing.
Shiena will be hers forever. She didn't have a choice. If she even tried to leave her again.
Otoya will kill her.
