The semester came to an end at long last. Midterms were aced (for the most part), goodbyes were said to teachers, and their cheer coach sent them off with the warmest of holiday wishes, promising she'd see them right back there in that gym on the other side of the break. Kaede and Maki started planning their date almost immediately, and Kaito asked Shuichi if they could do the same, but he told him he had to wait until his very important extracurricular activity was taken care of.

The day after school ended, Kyoko showed up on Shuichi's doorstep in way more normal clothes than her usual. "I'm here to pick you up, dear," she told him with the same playful smirk as before.

He rolled his eyes and let her in. "Please. I didn't realize you really meant today."

Kyoko stepped inside quickly, a long scarf trailing behind her. She really was wearing an outfit completely different from anything she'd ever worn before. The bright pastel colors were a bit strange to see on Kyoko, and it made him think more about Kaede's preferred outfits than anything else. "Of course I meant today," she said. "I don't dawdle. Now go put on something you never wear."

"Believe it or not, I don't own any clothing that I bought with the purpose of never wearing," Shuichi said.

"Neither do I." Kyoko looked like she was still deadly serious. "These are all from my future sister-in-law."

"Okay, the point remains that I don't own any weird clothing. But..." He looked toward his uncle's room. "I wonder if I could borrow anything..."

About an hour later, both of them were dressed in bright, obnoxious clothing and preparing to drive into the city. "Did you narrow our options down at all?" Shuichi asked, climbing into the passenger side of her car.

"Yes, I did," Kyoko said with a nod. "We're going to three different orphanages. Remember, we're a deeply religious couple looking to adopt a child to give them a Christmas present for the ages."

Shuichi had to fight the urge to gag. "Ugh. I guess."

He felt an elbow dig into his side. "And don't be so upset about it," Kyoko snapped. "You'll blow our cover."

"Right."

The first place they visited was a run-down looking building in between two much nicer, newer buildings. Kyoko wasn't in the building for fifteen minutes before she shook her head, thanked the staff, and dragged Shuichi out. "What happened back there?" Shuichi asked.

"I highly doubt that place has what we're looking for. The Holy Salvation Society is a massive criminal organization. Anything with ties to them would probably look a little better put together than that." As they drove, Kyoko kept her gaze glued to the rearview mirror to make sure they weren't being followed. "Next one."

The next one they found was a tall, white building. Shuichi felt a strange sense of foreboding coming from the orphanage, and something in his gut told him this was the place.

"Do you have the same feeling I do?" Kyoko asked. After he nodded, she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Remember, my name isn't Kyoko. It's Yuzue."

"Of course," Shuichi confirmed. "Did your sister-in-law help with that one too?"

"Let's go."

After he helped assure her that she was nigh-unrecognizable, the faux couple ventured in and introduced themselves to the seemingly nice people who ran the orphanage. Things went south almost immediately, as they hadn't been past that point for a minute before Shuichi heard something that caused his heart to sink into his stomach. The high-pitch laughter of the children wasn't the problem, nor was the fact that a lot of them were playing at once, but the name they were screeching sent shivers down his spine. "Did they just say...Maki?"

"I didn't hear you," Kyoko said, gently prodding his side with her finger. "Speak up."

Before he could think of a response, his eyes landed on that familiar head of long, dark hair that Kaede was so in love with. "Fuck."

Maki was in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by the children who were all waiting eagerly for her to acknowledge them. She didn't exactly look ecstatic to be there, but she was still gentle with the children, even as they rough housed around her and tugged at her pigtails. Standing against the wall not far from her were two burly men, both dressed in pure white tuxedos. They almost blended in with the white painted walls of the building; the only thing that stuck out about them were their black sunglasses and blood-red handkerchiefs sticking out of their pockets. They didn't seem to mind the couple looking around, instead keeping their faces pointed at the teenager in the middle and the children she was surrounded by.

Kyoko noticed them too, and in fact they were the only part of this picture she cared about. She struck up conversation with their guide as Shuichi shrank back and tried his hardest not to be seen by Maki. "So, what happens to the children when they grow older? I can imagine teenagers are harder to push through the system."

The guide suddenly became quite nervous. "Oh, and you would be right. However, we have a pretty good history of finding children good, loving homes. Some of them even come back to visit! Which is what you're seeing right over there."

Maki was an orphan? Shuichi looked back at her, suddenly picturing a much younger version of her watching from the sidelines as other kids played. Who would adopt someone with such a dour disposition? Why would she come back if she clearly wasn't having fun here? Where were her adoptive parents? Could they have been those burly men in suits? Amid all these questions swirling around his brain, the guide continued, "Maki was here for a while, but she eventually got, eh, adopted and now she visits roughly once every couple of months. As you can see, the kids all adore her."

Kyoko's eyes lit up. "I see. But where are her new parents?"

It was the one question Shuichi could get away with asking, and he didn't even have to muster up the courage to say it. The guide grew pale, fiddling with his clipboard and stuttering up a storm. Finally, he managed to say, "ah! Uh, she…see, she's just about out of high school now, so clearly, she doesn't need to be chaperoned by her parents when she c-comes somewhere she knows by heart. Clearly."

Shuichi and Kyoko came to the same realization at the same time, nodding at each other with the confidence that they were on the same page. Now all they needed was a reason to get out of there before Maki could see him.

Luckily (and somewhat ironically,) Kaede was able to save the day. As soon as that thought crossed Shuichi's mind, his phone started going off in his pocket. It looked like Kaede was calling him for some reason, and in the second between seeing her name on the screen and putting his phone to his ear, he had a plan all formulated and ready to go. "Hello?"

Kaede was only asking him if he wanted to hang out the next day since she was free, but it was all he needed. "Oh, absolutely," he said quickly. "I can be there as soon as you need me."

Kaede, completely out of the loop, responded with a confused, "...wait, what?"

"Yes ma'am," Shuichi responded, putting on a professional voice. "I'll see you soon."

"What? I said tomorrow, didn't I?"

Shuichi hung up without another word and turned to the guide. "Sorry, that was the boss. He called me in for an emergency shift. All hands on deck, that sort of thing."

Kyoko snapped her fingers. "Well, darn. I suppose we'll have to come back and look another day, sweetie."

Shuichi nodded and shook the man's hand again. "Sorry to impose on you like this. We'll be in touch."

He and Kyoko left as soon as they could, but what they didn't see was Maki's gaze shifting over to them and an eyebrow raising at the sound of a somewhat familiar voice.

Back in the car, Shuichi texted Kaede and explained some of the situation to her. She took his apology well and they set up a time for the next day while he and Kyoko spoke about the situation. "I think we have the right place, Shuichi."

"Oh yeah," he agreed. "I've spoken to that girl many times, and she's never once mentioned being an orphan."

Kyoko froze, gripping the steering wheel tight. "You...know that girl?"

Shuichi kept his gaze trained on the road. "That's Maki. She's a classmate of mine. If she loves that place and the children there enough to visit them on her own, she certainly doesn't show it."

Kyoko looked like she wanted to say something, but swallowed it down and followed his train of thought. "Right, and those suits were definitely keeping their eyes on her. They were her chaperones. But who are they, and what do they have to do with a high schooler?"

The answer was one she already knew, but Shuichi decided to give her the second opinion she seemed to want. "They must be a part of the gang. It's possible this cult is adopting out orphans and training them to do their dirty work."

Both of the detectives' eyes widened as two very different realizations dawned on them at once. "Oh fuck," they groaned simultaneously.

"Kaede's in trouble."

"That girl's a weapon."

Hearing separate thoughts, they turned to each other for elaboration. A tense, silent moment passed before Kyoko decided to go first. "If that girl does something illegal on the Holy Salvation Society's behalf and gets caught, she gets in trouble and they get off scot-free. Nothing more than a weapon to use when it's convenient, and a scapegoat to use when it's not."

"Are you saying what I think you are?" Shuichi asked.

Kyoko nodded gravely. "If your classmate didn't kill Sojiro Sakura, she knows who did."

And that was perhaps the worst news he could have heard. He could feel his face get pale and his heart might as well have stopped on the spot. "I need to tell Kaede."

Kyoko seemed to calm down, though it might have only been for Shuichi's sake. "That's the second time you've mentioned this Kaede. Who is that?"

"Oh, only my best friend and that girl's kinda-girlfriend."

Kyoko nodded slowly. "Ah. Yes, I can see how that would bother you. But don't tell her any of this yet."

"Are you crazy?" Shuichi snapped. "My best friend might be dating a serial killer and you want me to just let it be?"

Kyoko matched his intensity exactly. "That's exactly what I want you do to. If this girl goes and pokes her nose where it doesn't belong, she could very well get killed."

Shuichi wanted to protest, but he could vividly see Kaede making that exact kind of boneheaded decision. "Right."

"I need you to see if you can get any info from your classmate. Meanwhile, I'll organize a stakeout to see if we can track those men in suits next time they pay the orphanage a visit."

Shuichi looked to Kyoko to see her face scrunched up in concentration. He could tell she was doing a million calculations at once. "Is there anything else you need me to do?" He asked.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. Let me know if you learn anything, but if you can't, your involvement in this case is over."

Somehow, hearing those words didn't make him feel nearly as relieved than he anticipated. "Okay...but you have to tell me if you make a breakthrough. I don't want to never hear from you again, because then I'll assume you're dead."

Kyoko smirked. "That's very kind of you. I'm glad to hear you care, but I'm afraid I've got bad news for you if this fake married situation has sparked any feelings inside you."

Of course, leave it to the Ultimate Detective to still be cracking jokes at a time like this. Shuichi laughed a genuine laugh, mostly from not expecting it. "Absolutely not. I have a boyfriend now."

"Hey, so do I," Kyoko said.

"Wait, didn't you say future sister-in-law earlier?"

She nodded toward the glove box, which Shuichi opened to reveal a small, black box nestled in with everything else. "I didn't lie. I just haven't popped the question yet."

It was a small moment of levity after an avalanche of disturbing revelations, but they appreciated being able to share a couple of jokes. They went their separate ways when she dropped him off at home, and as soon as he was free from his uncle's hideous fashion sense, he collapsed onto bed and fell asleep immediately.

What he failed to glean from Kaede's call was the fact that all four of them were going to be hanging out the next day. It wasn't the date she and Maki had planned, but it was a fun get-together nonetheless. It was admittedly strange to have everyone be together outside of the environment of the gym, but they had fun at Kaito's house just as they had before, complete with his grandparents' terrible cooking. "So when are we gonna get together at someone else's house, eh?" Kaito asked over a steaming hot plate of something that could only barely be called food.

The other three looked between each other awkwardly. "Well...my place is kind of small," Shuichi ventured. "And my uncle is about as anti-social as I am, so I doubt he'd be okay with it."

"That's fair," Kaito managed through a bit of "food" that he didn't seem to find a problem with at all. "What about you, Kaede?"

She put her elbows on the table and propped her face up on her hands. "Hm, my house..." She briefly imagined playing the piano for everyone in the comfort of her own home, but then the picture of her sister's bedroom door ran through her mind. Slightly deflated by the idea of having to explain that to Kaito and Maki, she sighed. "I don't think it would work out super well." Maki raised an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head. "I'll tell you some other time. But speaking of which, how about yo—"

"Absolutely not," Maki spat. "Where I live is barely suitable for me, much less three others."

It was a strange way to word it, and it only served to pique Kaede's interest more. Before she could ask about it further though, Shuichi's phone started ringing. Maki seemed to almost jump out of her seat at the sound, looking in his direction with wide eyes.

"S-sorry," Shuichi stammered, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "It's my uncle. Let me just..." He answered the phone and stepped away, which only seemed to alarm Maki more.

It was a lot to take in at once, and Kaede wasn't sure where to even start to question it, but Kaito quickly changed the subject. "So, uncle huh? Shuichi talks a lot about him, but not his parents. Did his uncle raise him?"

"Basically," Kaede answered. "It's a long story that I'm sure he would rather tell you himself, but to make it short, both of us have rather...unique family situations."

Of course, between the four of them, they all seemed to have something strange going on with their family lives. Kaede had lost her sister, Kaito was living with his grandparents, Shuichi was basically raised by his uncle, and she had a feeling Maki's deal was even more fucked up than that, whatever it was.

After the group went their separate ways, Maki slinked off into her own car and watched Kaede and Shuichi drive off in Kaede's car, guessing they were headed for the same restaurant they found her at last time. The temptation to go and see Kaede was strong, but she had a feeling she was about to get a phone call…

And just like that, her "work" phone started ringing. The voice on the other side was calm, cold, and calculating as it informed her that someone was on to them and to be careful, as they could only guess as to who it was at the moment. "I have an idea about who one of them is," she said.

"Then you know what to do."

The line went dead, and Maki almost wished she hadn't said that, but a job was a job.

Still, the idea of her job asking her to kill her kinda-girlfriend's best friend made her slightly uncomfortable. She was still going to do it, but it would take a day or two for her to work up the courage. She looked to her regular phone to see a message from Kaede. "Missed you at real dinner tonight!"

"Sorry, work called," she responded.

"This late at night? Your job's so weird."

"I'll join you all next time." After she sent it, Maki dropped her phone into her passenger seat and started actually driving home.

She ultimately decided not to kill Shuichi that night, partially because she wanted just one or two more goodnight texts while Kaede's life was still somewhat normal.

It took longer than expected for her to get around to it, mostly because she didn't know where Shuichi actually lived, but once she was able to discreetly get the information from a combination of conversations with Kaito and Kaede, she got to work. Four days after she got the call, Maki settled in a bush outside of Shuichi's house. How long she waited for the lights to go out, she had no idea, but once they were, she waited another hour just to make sure. Breaking in was the easy part; the lock on his bedroom window was the kind she had extensive experience picking, and she was able to slip inside as quietly as a field mouse. Shuichi's breath hitched just a bit, which startled her, but it looked like he was merely rolling onto his back. Perfect.

Without hesitation, Maki drew a knife and straddled Shuichi. By the time her weight on him woke him up, he would already be dead.

At least, that was the plan. She made the motion to slit his throat, but the instant before the cold steel could make contact with his neck, she froze.

She just...froze.

This had never happened before. She could kill anyone like the emotionless killing machine she was supposed to be. So why was she just...hovering over this boy's neck like this?

Shuichi had to die, so...

"Maki Harukawa," he said, startling her slightly.

"You were awake the whole time, weren't you?" Maki asked, not moving from her position above him. In fact, she shifted so her knees were digging into his palms, making sure he couldn't try to move without lifting her entire weight. It wasn't much weight to lift, all things considered, but she doubted he could pull it off.

"Don't act so surprised now," he said, clearly a little discouraged that his surprise wasn't, well, a surprise.

"You waited too long to speak up. If you were anyone else, you would already be dead."

Shuichi didn't miss a beat. "But you didn't kill me. Why?"

They both knew the real reason, but Maki couldn't falter now. "Because I don't know who you're working with. Tell me, and maybe I'll let you live a bit longer."

"You recognized my ring tone at dinner the other night, didn't you?" He asked.

"Don't change the subject," she threatened, pressing the knife close to his skin. "Who was the girl with you that day?"

He tensed up under her. "Maki. Why are you doing this? What has the Holy Salvation Society done for you?"

Hearing those words made Maki really want to kill him. "Shut up!" she snapped. She pushed the blade closer, just barely breaking the skin and causing a single drop of blood to ooze out from Shuichi's neck. "Do you want to die that badly?"

Shuichi seemed...uncharacteristically calm about bleeding under her knife. "Think about how much you doing this would hurt Kaede. How much it would hurt Kaito."

Maki's eyes immediately started watering. "I don't need them to be happy. I need you to stay out of things you don't understand!"

Shuichi took a deep breath. "Okay. Then...do it. But before you do, say hello to my associate."

"Excuse me?"

He moved his head to the side to reveal his phone sitting under his head. "She could hear this whole thing. If you kill me, we'll have proof you did it."

He was bluffing. There was no way to prove the voice he was talking to was her. Unless...

Oh shit, he had said her full name earlier, hadn't he?

Maki snatched her knife back and tried to reach for the phone, but Shuichi knocked it away, sending it clattering to the ground. "We're just trying to help you, Maki. Please, these people are evil and if you help us, you won't have to work for them anymore."

At that moment, she was in a bind. If she got up to go destroy the phone, she was leaving him free to get up and try to defend himself, which would lead to a struggle, and she would still have to worry about the person on the other end. If she stayed there and killed him anyway, they would still have solid proof that she did it. Her options were to ruin Kaede's life by killing her best friend at the price of getting caught, or letting Shuichi live with the knowledge he'd gained. She knew what her employers trained her to do, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she really didn't want to kill someone. But...the prospect of helping him and freeing herself from the society? That was just out of the question. This had quickly become a no-win situation.

"Damn it, Shuichi," she cursed under her breath. "I can't."

"You can't help us or you can't kill me?"

Maki shook her head, withdrawing her knife. "Just...stop it before you bite off more than you can chew. The next person they send after you won't be so forgiving."

She turned and jumped back out the open window, leaving Shuichi alone with his phone. He grabbed it and held it up to his ear. "Thank you for being willing to be on the phone for this, Kyoko."

"Of course," she said on the other line.

"Sorry we didn't learn as much as we anticipated." His heart was still racing, and though his adrenaline had got him through that confrontation, he could feel it starting to wear off.

"No worries," Kyoko assured him. "This still proved to be very valuable. If you feel like you need to do this again, let me know. And don't stop trying to get info out of her if you can."

Maki was silent until she got back to her car, which was conspicuously parked several blocks away. "Shit," she grumbled, biting her thumbnail nervously. "I can't kill my girlfriend's best friend and my best friend's boyfriend. This whole situation has made me go soft."

She turned the car on and started her drive back home. "What an idiot. He better not go and get himself killed by someone else. But if his colleague can do it...

"Ugh, whatever. I have a date with Kaede to think about."

And think about it she did. About a week after her confrontation with Shuichi, the girls got together for their first date. Neither of them could remember who suggested ice skating, but there they were. "You ever been ice skating, Maki?" Kaede asked as they approached the stand for rental skates.

Maki shook her head. "I don't think so. But it can't be that hard."

Kaede responded with a short, sharp laugh. "Don't get too cocky now." They shared a laugh, but Kaede couldn't hide her nerves. "Especially since, well, I don't think I'll be too good at it either."

"Yeah? Have you never been?"

Kaede shrugged. "Once. A long, long time ago. I was bad, so I never wanted to go again. I'm willing to bet I'm still bad."

"You're probably better than you were," Maki told her. "Your sense of balance has improved since you started cheerleading, and that's bound to be important for this too."

"Thanks for having faith in me," Kaede said with a smile.

That faith ended up being misplaced.

The second the blade touched the ice, Kaede was unable to retain a shaky stand for more than about five seconds. Maki did her best to help support her, but progress was slow going. After a couple of hours, they decided to hang up the skates for the day and find something else to do.

"Sorry you had to waste all your skate time to help me out," Kaede told her as they left for their cars.

Maki shook her head quickly. "Don't be. The point of this was to spend time together, wasn't it?"

"I suppose you're right." Even in the cold winter air, Kaede could feel her face start to heat up. "So where would you like to go next?"

"No idea."

Well, that was helpful. Kaede put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. "We could always head to the mall and take a look around."

"Okay, sure."

A paragon of conversation as always, that Maki. "I never really took you as a mall goer," Kaede said in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"I'm not," Maki answered. "I wouldn't go without you."

"That's so sweet!" Kaede cooed, watching Maki blush as what she said occurred to her. "Let's go! I promise I won't keep you there too long."

"The sacrifices we all make..." The sarcastic comment was the last thing said before they got into their own cars and headed toward the mall.

Once they were there, Kaede hooked her arm in Maki's and lead her through the mall. "I have to admit, I did have a reason for bringing you here," she said. "I may or may not have some last-minute Christmas shopping to do."

"That's fine by me," Maki told her. "It's not like Kaito hasn't dragged me along on his weird adventures."

"What kind of adventures?" Kaede asked. "I can only imagine."

"Most of it has to do with dragging me out into empty fields at night to stargaze," she explained.

Kaede nodded along to the familiar sounding example. "So what he did with Shuichi was a regular thing, then."

"Oh yeah. Credit where it's due, it is a romantic idea, but I've been taken on weird field trips like that countless times, and when he's around something always manages to go wrong." The smallest smile graced Maki's lips, and Kaede could only imagine what kind of memory she was recalling.

That was when they arrived at Kaede's first stop, which was a store Maki seemed to know all too well. "Okay, here we are!" Kaede said, separating from her date.

"Really?" Maki deadpanned. "You brought me to a fucking Hot Topic?"

Giggling, Kaede explained, "I get Shuichi something silly from here every year. It's kind of a tradition. Though, I understand if you don't want to go in. These stores are always just a bit too crowded."

Maki crossed her arms, staring at the dour store as if it had personally wronged her. "Yeah, not a fan. I'll be out here when you're done."

"I promise I won't be too long!" As Kaede turned to enter the store, Maki couldn't help but think about how absurd the sight of a bright-eyed, pastel purple-wearing blonde girl walking into a store that made its image around dark, edgy themes was. However, once her date disappeared into the haze of commodified punk culture, her eyes wandered to the store a couple of storefronts down. She hummed to herself, thinking about what may have been in that store, and finally moved from her spot, mentally promising Kaede she too would be right back.

Kaede joyfully skipped out of the store with the gaudy black bag hanging in the crook of her elbow, but stopped in place when she realized Maki was nowhere to be found. "Huh? Weird, where did she go?" She asked herself, looking around nervously. She wasn't in there too long, was she? Did Maki get tired of waiting and decide to move on without her?

Just when her mind started racing with all the possibilities, Maki reappeared from the crowd, a small bag of her own in her hands. "I didn't keep you waiting very long, did I?"

"Not at all!" Kaede brushed off her anxiety as if it didn't even happen, because with Maki around, it may as well not have. "I had just come out of the 'fucking' Hot Topic, in fact."

Maki gave her a teasing smirk. "Finally. I hope your emo kid appreciates the sacrifice you made."

"He never does," Kaede assured her. They shared a laugh and started walking again, arm in arm just like before. "So, what did you get?"

Maki averted her gaze. "It's a secret."

It wasn't hard to connect the dots, but Kaede pretended not to and took satisfaction in knowing that she was already receiving Christmas presents from Maki. Their trip through the mall was mostly uneventful after that, with the only other event of note being Kaede falling in love with each and every cat at the pet store. "Are you a cat person?" She asked Maki as they left. "You sure don't seem like a dog person, that's for sure."

"I've never owned a pet," Maki answered. "But I would imagine I'd prefer a cat. Low maintenance, doesn't require constant attention like dogs, that sort of thing."

Kaede wasn't surprised by this answer. "You're mostly right. The one thing about cats that may surprise you is that their need for affection never lines up with yours, so they're always trying to get cuddles when you have stuff to do and vice versa."

"Talking from experience?" Maki asked. When Kaede nodded, she continued, "and your cat had things to do? Weird."

Caught off guard by the joke, she threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Oh, please! But yeah, I used to have a cat. Well, he wasn't mine, he was my sister's. But then..."

Maki snapped to attention. "You have a sister?"

Kaede's eyes went wide and Maki seemed to fade away for a moment. Instead, it was just her, standing alone in a big, empty room. "...Never mind. I'll tell you later," she said once she'd come back to reality.

Her sudden change in demeanor did not go unnoticed. Maki tried asking her what was wrong, but Kaede stubbornly changed the subject in an attempt to continue their mall date as if nothing had happened. Her attempts to distract Maki were largely unsuccessful until the end. They sat at a table just inside, watching the day quickly become night outside the doors and dreading heading back out into the cold. They put it off with idle chat, but that could only last them so long.

When their conversation started to die off, Kaede started rummaging through her bag. "So, Maki...I did, um, kind of get you something while I was in that store," she said nervously. "I know it's not Christmas yet, but I won't be able to see you on that day, so I thought I should give this to you now."

"Oh yeah?" Maki did the same and produced the bag she'd been carrying around this whole time. "Because I did the same."

At the same time, both of them pulled their gifts out of its respective bag. "I know it's not much, but...I thought you'd like it." Kaede slid it across the table and watched Maki put her own gift to the side to inspect it.

She opened the small box to reveal what was inside. "A choker?"

Now that she'd said it out loud, it sounded like a downright stupid gift! "W-well," Kaede stammered. "I don't know if you like to wear jewelry at all, but I thought, if anything you'd like that. And...if you didn't, I could always say it was a joke gift like Shuichi's."

After a moment of inspecting the black choker with red patterns and a small red stone in the middle, Maki brought it up to her neck and put it on. "I like it," she said plainly. "Now here's yours. Like you said, it's not much."

Kaede didn't have time to give a sigh of relief, because then she had a gift to open for herself. She grabbed for the tiny box and opened it to find a tiny, musical note phone charm. Of course, she'd had a metric boat load of these things over the years, but this one, shaped like a treble clef, felt...different. She gasped and wore a genuine smile as she gladly put it on her phone. "I've been meaning to get a new one of these!"

Maki crossed her arms over her chest proudly. "I'll pretend I knew that."

They shared another laugh, probably marking the most Kaede had heard Maki laugh in a single day. It was a sound she'd never get tired of, but she was about to discover a new melody she loved to hear just as much.

Pocketing her phone and its new decoration, she got to her feet and grabbed Maki's hand so she could do the same. They walked each other outside, letting the cold and sparse falling snow surround them at last.

Once they got to their cars and started saying their goodbyes, the girls hugged tightly, unwilling to let the other go and suffer not being able to share body heat anymore.

It was a small sound, and Kaede would have been forgiven for mistaking it as a bit of an overheard conversation from someone else in the parking lot, but it was undeniably Maki's voice, whatever it was, so she asked her to repeat herself.

Maki was hesitant at first, but once they pulled away enough to look into each other's eyes, she wasn't so scared to say it anymore. "Kaede," she whispered, face red and eyes beginning to water slightly. "I think I love you."

Kaede's heart stopped and her eyes went wide. She felt like she needed to sit down, and that suddenly, it was as warm as a mid-summer day around them. She had a lot of words about this swirling in her head, but she said the only four that really mattered in that moment.

"I love you, too."

Maki was visibly relieved to hear it, and this time, it was her who initiated the kiss. This one was so vastly different from their other nervous, stolen kisses from before, and thanks to Maki's lips that night, Kaede no longer had any doubt in her mind that she was deeply, hopelessly in love.

Their lips parted ways and they gave each other one last hug before their cars did the same. As a final word while they were opening their cars, Kaede called, "So what do you do on the second date, huh?"

Thankfully, Maki was receptive to the joke. "Fuck off."

Sure, the words were fuck off, but the tone told her the joke was taken well.

From that point on, the girls' goodnight texts got gradually more romantic, tacking on the I love you's to the end and a gradually increasing number of hearts. Everything seemed like it was looking up for them.

And then the second semester started.

The first day of the second semester brought with it the sobering realization that they needed to tone back the public displays of affection, and the first cheer practice brought the alarming fact that Miu hadn't forgotten what she'd seen at that mini competition. She approached Kaede while she was changing and Maki was off doing the same, arms crossed over her (thankfully covered) chest. "Kaede," she barked threateningly.

"Am I going to turn around and see your boobs again?" Kaede asked, not moving a muscle that wasn't currently involved in changing.

"Not this time. I figured your girlfriend would get jealous if I did that again."

Kaede rolled her eyes and turned around. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said while managing to keep her tone normal.

The fact that she could do that seemed to throw Miu off a bit, but she was relentless. "Don't play Kae-dumb with me, you little slut."

Kaede gasped, putting a hand to her chest. "Miu, you can't just go throwing that insult around so willy-nilly!"

Miu put her arms on her hips and leaned forward. "Oh yeah? Well what else am I supposed to call you? It's the only thing I can think to call someone who blatantly disobeyed coach Ophelia's number one rule! I would have thought that, since you're in the same boat as me, you'd be smart enough not to risk your last required credit for the chance to get laid, but I guess I was wrong about you."

"Shut it, Miu," Kaede snapped, trying to put on as much of Maki's murderous aura as she could.

Miu narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh no, that's not gonna work on me this time. The one thing I respected about you was your dedication to the craft, because you were the only bitch in this school who was as passionate about what she does as I am! But now you're too much of a horn dog to give a shit about your future?"

Kaede's eye twitched. She hated that Miu always knew exactly how to get under her skin, but here they were again. "Oh, give me a break! As if you haven't done so much worse than me! Besides, even if I was in an inter-squad relationship, I wouldn't let someone like you figure it out."

Miu scoffed and threw her hair over her shoulder. "Hah! You're challenging the gorgeous girl genius, now? Well, I'll accept your challenge. I'll find some way to prove it to Ophelia that you and Maki are—"

"Did someone call me?" Maki asked, appearing out of nowhere and causing Miu to jump practically out of her skin.

"M-Maki!" she screeched. "I...didn't see you there."

She crossed her arms menacingly, giving Miu her trademark evil look. "Oh, don't stop on my account. What was that you were saying?"

Miu stuttered a few sentence fragments trying to think of something that wouldn't get her immediately killed, but ended up just backing out of the locker room nervously.

"Thanks for the save, again," Kaede sighed. "I really gotta stop letting her get to me like this."

This was where she wanted to hear Maki tell her it was alright, but instead she agreed wholeheartedly. "If she does that while others are in here, we'll be revealed right away."

Kaede merely groaned as they entered the gym. "You're right. Maybe I'll just ignore her."

During practice that day, that proved rather easy, as Ophelia came bounding into the gym with her usual energy and instantly became the center of attention. She also seemed to ignore any input from the girls (and Kaito) that wasn't strictly and immediately related to whatever she was talking about, so Miu couldn't even try to get a word in edgewise about the conspiracy she was so convinced she'd uncovered.

"I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break!" she declared as soon as she arrived. "I know my wife and I sure did!"

"Good to see ya again, coach!" Kaito called back, matching her energy exactly.

"And I you, my beloved students." Ophelia's smile could practically be seen from space. "I don't know about you, but I sure am ready for an awesome semester! I have so many routine ideas, and I've been trying to convince the admins to let you all put on a special graduation performance; with all you outgoing seniors at the center of it all, of course! Let's jump right into things, shall we?"

And jump right into things they did. Not long into practice, it became all too clear that maybe Ophelia was pushing them too far too fast, because the vast majority of the girls (and especially Kaito) had obviously not gotten enough exercise over the break.

Keeping up with Maki and Ophelia proved to be too much even for Kaede, and it seemed Ophelia noticed this as well. Still ignoring most comments, she had everyone dial it back and focused more on the easier stuff to get everyone eased back into it. Kaito had to sit out the rest of practice, huffing and puffing on the bleachers, but still cheering everyone else on in his own special way.

After practice came to an end, Kaede and Maki made sure to get out of there as fast as possible to avoid Miu starting any more stupid drama.

And that was how practice was for the first month or so of the semester. Even after resuming her weekly gym visits, Kaede was finding it difficult to keep up with practice and all of her schoolwork, which had begun to pile up even more in the second half of the school year. Thankfully, Maki was supportive of her and always offered a listening ear for her to vent her frustrations. Between her and Shuichi, the two could probably lay out every thought in her head, but strangely, Shuichi wasn't really talking to Maki. Yeah, he talked to Kaede every day, and he was still dating Kaito, but whenever Maki was around he would shrink back, seemingly scared of her.

Maki was scary, so that would have been valid, but it still made for an awkward lunch table. The day Kaede decided to take it into her own hands (for some reason) was when he made himself scarce a solid ten minutes before lunch had even ended. "Is everything okay with Shuichi?" She asked Kaito once he was out of the cafeteria.

"I think so," Kaito said with a shrug.

"I can't be the only one noticing that he's been acting strange lately, right?" She looked around the table, earning disinterested shrugs from her teammates. She puffed her cheeks out in a pout and crossed her arms. "I'm going to go see what's going on."

Kaito waved her off while Maki pretended not to care that she was leaving the two of them alone again. She was a good actor when it came to pretending they weren't dating, but Kaede couldn't help but think that maybe this was related. Regardless, she found Shuichi near his locker, already gathering his stuff for his next class. "Okay Shuichi, spill it," she said, approaching him much like a bully in some high school movie aimed at children.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, detective boy," Kaede spat. "Something's going on, and I'm not leaving your side until you tell me all about it."

Shuichi shook his head, shifting his attention back inside his locker. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kaede contemplated slamming his locker closed, but she wasn't at that level of the interrogation yet. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you act totally different at lunch now. You're perfectly fine just talking to me, but as soon as all four of us are together, you become a totally different person. What's going on?"

Shuichi sighed, putting a hand on the door and fiddling with it. He looked like he wanted to close it, but was afraid of forgetting something in there. "It's fine. I just have a lot on my mind."

"During lunch? Come on Shuichi, I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not!" He slammed his door closed and looked at her with wide eyes. This was the loudest he'd ever been with her, and she could tell he was just as startled about it as she was. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. When he started talking again, he spoke in short, huffy sentences. "Look. I know. You're not stupid. Trust me, if I could keep things from you..." A pause to steady his breathing before continuing, "half as easily as I can from Kaito, this would be a breeze."

Kaede shook her head in disbelief. "This? What is this?"

"Remember that case I took? With the..." He quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening. "The Hope's Peak detective?"

Kaede nodded silently.

"Bare with me. This is relevant." Another shifty glance at the surrounding, empty hallway. "Well...we made a breakthrough over the holidays. And...it's not good."

Kaede was so lost, and the adrenaline from Shuichi's yelling was wearing off, so tears were forming in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, he was unable to make eye contact. He put his hands on her shoulders, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the ground. "I think you may be in danger," he said quietly. "I think you're in trouble, and...and I can't tell you why, or how, and it's killing me."

"Wha—I'm in danger?"

A long moment of silence passed. Finally, Shuichi's hands fell from her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kaede. Just...be patient with me here. I'll get this solved as fast as I can, but for now, I can't tell you anything else. Please, just stay safe, okay?"

Kaede nodded quickly. "I will. You too, Shuichi."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and Shuichi left for his next class. Kaede just stood there in a daze, trying to work through what he could have meant by all of that. Finally, she shook her head and started heading to class. There was no use in agonizing over it if that was all she was going to get out of him. She still had so many questions, but those were going to have to wait.

Shuichi, however, was not okay with waiting. He dropped his stuff off in the room for his next class, but quickly left again, finding an empty portion of hallway that he could use to make a phone call.

Kyoko answered right away, thankfully. "I need to know where we're at in your master plan," he told her sternly.

"Whoa, calm down," Kyoko said on the other end. "I'm working as fast as I can. My connections don't exactly get back to me in a timely manner, so I'm waiting just like you are."

Shuichi took a deep breath so he didn't sound so angry when he said, "Yeah, well, you're not the one who has a best friend's life on the line here, so—"

Kyoko cut him off with a loud groan. "Good god Shuichi, will you shut up? Stop acting like you're the only one with skin in this game. In case you stopped paying attention or forgot your little confrontation, there's much more than that at stake here. I'm putting my neck on the chopping block just talking to you on the phone right now! And so are you, come to think of it. Where are you, even? Wait, don't tell me, because I know it's in the middle of a hallway at school, where anyone can overhear you."

He was taken aback. He'd never heard Kyoko so frustrated. "Yeah, well..."

"Well?"

"I don't...care about my life as much as I care about hers." As he said those words, the hall around him felt much larger, lonelier, and more imposing. "She's my best friend and...her family couldn't handle losing her, too. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let that happen." He choked out the last words on the edge of tears. The thought of Kaede's family receiving news that their other daughter had met a gruesome fate was more than he could handle.

The other line was silent for so long, he had to check to see if she was still on the other end. Finally, she said, "I understand. The least I can do here is talk to you in more plain terms, so you know exactly where we're at. My plan is progressing smoothly. My connection at the Togami Corporation is taking his sweet time to respond to me, as he does. On the other hand, I've got the cooperation of the Yakuza, so I'm about halfway to the next step. If everything goes smoothly, this whole nightmare should be over by March."

Shuichi sighed. It felt so far away, but having a prospective date felt good regardless. "Okay. Let me know."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you like that," Kyoko said.

"It's alright. I deserved it."

"Glad you agree."

"Wait..." Suddenly, something she'd said struck Shuichi. "What kind of connections do you have to the Yakuza?"

Kyoko's answer was simple. "Classmates."

The line went dead just in time for the next bell to sound, making Shuichi officially late for that class. "That girl will never cease to catch me off guard," he mumbled to himself, pocketing his phone and heading for class.

The confrontation somehow made him feel better, and for the next couple of weeks, he was able to keep his nerves at least somewhat under control around Maki. Kaede didn't seem to question why he didn't even attempt to explain why he only felt that way around Maki, so he assumed she just hadn't noticed that her girlfriend was the cause.

In reality, she hadn't thought to ask because her mind was so caught up in helping Maki celebrate her birthday.

Maki's birthday had come up on them much faster than Kaede would have liked, mostly due to the fact that she had no idea what to get her. While Maki didn't seem to mind, Kaede had to do something to mark the occasion! Thus, the weekend following Maki's eighteenth birthday, she was finally persuaded to come to Kaede's house. It wasn't much, but Kaede thought the extended time alone after getting to introduce her parents to her new girlfriend would go a long way.

Dinner that night was much less eventful than she anticipated. Her parents didn't seem to have any qualms with Maki, and Maki didn't have much to say to them, but as long as they didn't hate each other, that was what mattered. After retiring to her room, they changed into their pajamas and...that was far as they got before they were out of things to do. Kaede knew there was a certain expectation for two teenagers in a relationship sharing a bedroom, but she wasn't confident enough in that idea yet, and Maki clearly wasn't either, judging by how she was covering as much skin as possible. "Oh, hey, you're still wearing that choker I got you," she blurted out upon seeing it.

Maki's hand rested on it idly. "Yeah, of course I am. You still have that phone charm, I assume."

Kaede flashed her phone at her, complete with the charm, before taking a seat on her bed. "Sure do!"

Just as suddenly as Kaede had found something, Maki changed the subject entirely with two short words: "Who's Minako?"

There it was; the question Kaede was dreading since the idea of Maki being in her house had come up. There was no way she was going to go the whole time without noticing that old, worn nameplate on the door. "Right. So you saw it." Her enthusiasm deflated as she looked for the words. "You see..."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She'd clearly noticed how hard this topic was, and she seemed to physically shrink away as she spoke, inching toward the door.

Kaede shook her head. "No, I should. You deserve to know that about me at this point.

"See, Minako was my twin sister."

Maki's eyes went wide. But she didn't say anything, so Kaede continued, "it's been almost a lifetime, but it still feels like it was just last year. Ten years ago—almost eleven—she...was killed."

Maki visibly reacted, looking like she would have done a spit take if she'd been drinking anything. "Killed?"

Kaede could feel the tears starting to well up. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Suddenly, she felt like the little girl she was at the time. "It wasn't a targeted attack or anything, and he didn't do anything else, he just...killed a seven-year-old girl while her sister was just out of sight.

"That was how I met Shuichi. My parents—clearly, you've seen how well off we are—hired a detective to help catch the man who killed her. That detective was his uncle, and between the two of them, they were able to solve it."

"An eight-year-old boy helped solve a murder case?" Maki asked. She felt bad about interrupting, but she was too taken aback not to.

Kaede nodded. "Hope's Peak invited him to attend their school, you know. He turned it down because he wanted to go to high school with me, which was very sweet, but kinda stupid. But yeah, he helped. He came into my life right after Minako left it, but still..."

"Kaede, I'm so sorry...I had no idea." It was the sincerest emotion she'd ever heard from Maki.

Still, it was almost funny watching her react. Almost. "Heh, I know I don't seem like the type to have such a dark past. I try to keep a cheerful air about me despite everything. It helps fight back the thoughts that..." She sniffled, burying her face in her knees.

"Kaede, don't..."

Too late. "If I had only been there, could I have done something?"

"No," Maki told her frankly. "He would have just killed both of you. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Shuichi's told me that too, except in less plain terms," Kaede told her. "Thanks for listening, Maki. I know that's a lot to unload on you."

She wiped her eyes, and while they were closed, she heard a shuffling nearby. Suddenly, Maki was curling up next to her, one arm wrapped around her. Her warmth was inviting, and Kaede leaned into her quietly. A quiet, tender moment passed before Maki spoke again. "I guess I should tell you one of my secrets, too." Unable to find the words to say, the blonde just looked up to her. Taking that as her permission, Maki said, "I'm an orphan."

Kaede's jaw dropped as she tried to read Maki for any sign of emotion. "You...are?"

Maki nodded. "I grew up in an orphanage. That's...all I want to say for now, but there you go."

"I see..." The fact that there was more to it was completely inconsequential to Kaede. "Does Kaito know?"

Another shake of her head. "The only people who know are the higher-ups at the school. And now, you."

It sounded like she wanted to make it a fair trade, but the implications of her sharing something nobody else knew about her was blowing Kaede away. "Thank you for telling me," she said. "N-not that that affects how I see you, of course."

Maki sighed, her chest rising and falling just inches away from Kaede. Those words had clearly come as a relief.

"Thanks for listening to my trauma, too," Kaede added.

"You already said that."

Kaede giggled, huddling up closer to Maki. "Right. Want to hear something else I've already said?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Those words were the last ones exchanged for the night, as soon after, their eyes grew heavy as sleep crept up on them. They cuddled in various positions as they fell asleep, and the warmth they shared made it one of the most peaceful rests of both of their lives.

They also may have made out somewhere in the middle there, but just a little bit.