After a night like that, the girls only grew closer, which should have made hiding it from Miu and the rest of the squad more difficult. Still, through an impressive amount of self-restraint and just a dash of pure luck, they were able to make it another month, and the next birthday was quickly approaching, as pointed out by Shuichi at the lunch table near the start of March. "So what do you wanna do for your birthday, Kaede?"

He had gotten his act together since their confrontation in the hall, which was a good thing aside from that fact that he would flat-out ignore her if she so much as thought about asking for further elaboration about what the perceived danger to her life was. She thought about being smug and putting him on the spot about that in front of the table, but it wouldn't have been fair to drag Kaito and Maki into it too.

Instead, she propped her chin on her hand and hummed in thought. "I dunno," she said. "Someone to finish all my class work for me?"

Kaito barked a laugh and her other two table mates gave her weak chuckles in response, giving her time to think some more. "Honestly, you probably know what I want better than I do, Shuichi."

He gave her a shrug. "It's been a long year, I couldn't even begin to guess at this point."

Kaito dramatically put his finger to his chin, theatrically trying to think of a solution. "Well, I dunno about any gifts, but we could all get together for your birthday, Kaede. Maki Roll didn't want us to do that for her, but we can always throw a little party of just the four of us!"

Now that was an idea she could get behind. "I think I like the sound of that," she said.

Kaito flashed her a cheesy grin and gave a thumb's up. "Awesome! I'll let my grandparents know. Maybe I can get 'em to cook up a big old, fancy fea—"

"No!" Kaede nearly leapt from her chair, and her shout startled everyone else present. Once all eyes were on her, she blushed. "Uh, I mean...I think I know one thing I want. We can go out to dinner first! Somewhere nice for my birthday, you know?"

"That could be my present to you," Shuichi said, inwardly thankful for her quick thinking. "A nice meal sounds like the perfect thing for us to do."

Kaito was unperturbed by Kaede's interruption, and smiled at the new idea she presented. "That sounds like a great idea! It'll be a nice birthday double da—ow!"

The table shifted as Maki hurriedly kicked Kaito in the shin to cut him off. He reached down to grab his leg to soothe the pain, but ended up kneeing the bottom of the table and causing it to shake again. "Ow, again!"

"Be careful what you say, idiot," Maki hissed. "You're loud enough to wake the dead."

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, but he got there eventually. "Right. Sorry."

They made their plans and Kaito promised to give his grandparents a head's up that company was coming over for the last weekend in March. A few hours after school that day, Maki texted Kaede with a question for her. "So Kaito's going to give us somewhere to be, and Shuichi's buying your dinner. Is there something you would like from me for your birthday?"

Even alone, Kaede pretended to think on it. Truthfully, she was waiting for this very question to be asked, because she had one specific thing in mind. "There is one thing, but feel free to let me know if I'm overstepping my bounds here!" Maki didn't respond, but she hoped that was because she was waiting on the follow up. Finally, she sent, "it would mean a lot to me if we could spend another night together. Maybe at your place this time?"

The "no" she got in response was immediate, uncapitalized and punctuated with a period, which meant Maki was serious. She knew it was a risky thing to ask, so Kaede wasn't affected by it much, just shrugging it off. She was about to send an offer to just spend the night at her house again, but before she could type it out, Maki sent, "maybe. Let me think about it."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Kaede assured her. "If it's inconvenient for you or your guardians I don't mind you coming over here again."

"Guardians is a good way to put it," read the next text she got. "But it might not be an issue. I'll let you know."

Huh. Well that was much farther than she thought she was going to get with that request.

Admittedly, Kaede did have an ulterior motive. The fact that Maki had a place to stay meant someone had to have adopted her, right? Kaede just had to know what kind of people were willing to adopt such a surly child and see what they were like. She was fully expecting an encounter with some variation of the Addams Family, or perhaps someone like Kaito, who was her polar opposite and managed to have her gravitate toward them anyway.

Regardless, the idea of spending another night with Maki made her ridiculously happy, and she was looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, Shuichi had an inkling that, if he had approached her with his question without Kaito or Maki around, she would have asked for some sort of update about the life-threatening situation he thought she was in, so he intended to find out where Kyoko was in her grand master plan. Luckily, the answer came to him a few days after the conversation at the lunch table. He emerged from his room to make himself some dinner, but was stopped by the sound of the news playing on the TV in the living room. "You're watching the news?" He asked his uncle incredulously. "You never do that."

His uncle just shushed him and motioned at the ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read, "Togami Corp Sets Sights On Japanese Yakuza."

The footage was a press conference starring Byakuya Togami, who was sneering and looking down his nose at the cameras focused on him. His impassioned rant about how the Yakuza was insulting his empire for the last time and he would not stand for it was extremely convincing, and if he wasn't in on the plan, Shuichi would have thought for sure that Byakuya would be dead within a week.

The somewhat less convincing part was when he admitted he didn't know how he was going to go about approaching the underground criminal masterminds. Watching a Hope's Peak alumni and one of the richest people on the planet pretend he didn't have an exact plan ready to enact had a bizarre aura about it, but luckily he made that the shortest part of his speech.

The feed cut back to the news anchors, who were both visibly nervous for his well-being. They awkwardly exchanged commentary about the bold move he was taking, and asked their viewers to stay tuned in for further developments as they came in.

That was when Shuichi's uncle switched to a game show, shaking his head and muttering about how much he hated the twenty-four hour news cycle. "So I suppose the plan from here is to see if the Holy Salvation Society approach him with an offer, then?"

Shuichi nodded confirmation. "Yeah. Either we'll learn more from his interactions with them, or we'll learn more when the assassin they send after someone gets captured and interrogated by the Yakuza."

The word sent a shiver down his uncle's neck. "I still can't believe the Ultimate Detective is sticking her fingers in the world of the Yakuza."

Shuichi agreed. He was aware that someone in the Yakuza was another classmate of hers, but that didn't make the idea of Kyoko getting into such shady business sit any better in his stomach. He hoped she would be okay and that they would have some information to give Kaede by the time her birthday dinner rolled around.

Unfortunately, he had no such luck. By the time the group was gathering at Kaito's house for Kaede's birthday, there were no further developments to speak of. He was okay with it, though, because Kaede seemed so excited about that night that she didn't even bring up the fact that he was on edge just about a month ago. All thoughts of the mafia and potential life-threatening situations aside, the group of four celebrated Kaede's birthday at a nice dine-in restaurant, complete with a free dessert from management after a suitably embarrassing song. Afterwards, the group spent a few hours at Kaito's house, dipping into his modest collection of board games to pass the time.

Just as the day was winding down, Kaito's eyes went wide and he suddenly looked like he'd been struck by lightning. "Oh, right! Wait wait wait, before you go, Kaede, I have something to give ya."

Before anyone could question it, he had bolted into another room and left the other three to exchange confused looks. When he came back, he was holding a small, wrapped present in his hands. "I gotcha a little somethin' for your birthday, Kaede."

Kaede's eyes widened and she took the box from him, looking at it skeptically. "You...did?"

Kaito nodded proudly. "Of course I did! What, you think I was gonna just let ya walk out of here without something to show for it?"

"You almost did," Maki said.

Kaede held the wrapped box closer to her chest. "Oh wow, thank you, Kaito!"

"If it's anything like the gifts he usually gives, you might not want to thank him yet," Maki warned.

There was only one way to find out what that meant, and it was to open the gift! Kaede tore into the wrapping paper, quickly revealing a small cardboard box. She flipped the lid open to see a...shirt? It was a plain white shirt with the blue NASA logo front and center. "A NASA shirt?" She asked, holding it up in front of her.

"Of course he did," Maki sighed.

"I always get my friends NASA Shirts," Kaito explained. "Each and every one. I need everyone in my life to be able to look back at their shirts and remember where my passion lies. And when they hire me, you'll be able to wear it out and say. 'one of my best friends works there!' So what d'ya think?"

That was the part where Kaede would usually put on a fake smile and pretend to like it more than she did, but she couldn't help but give a genuine smile at Kaito's explanation. "That's...actually really sweet of you, Kaito. So everyone has one of these?"

Maki nodded. "Mine is a couple sizes too large, so I use it as a pajama shirt."

"I do buy them a couple sizes bigger than I think I need to," Kaito admitted. "That way you can shrink it to your liking, or do what Maki Roll does."

"I don't have a NASA shirt yet," Shuichi said.

"Not yet," Kaito said quickly. "Just you wait 'till I have an excuse to get ya a gift. Like, er, Valentine's Day."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Valentine's Day was last month, stupid."

"...Oh."

Everyone shared a laugh at Kaito's expense, and in the process Kaede's eye wandered down to the box, where something else was sitting all alone at the bottom. "Oh? What's this?" She reached into the box and pulled it out to find that it was a CD of classical music. "Oh! Hey, it's a CD!"

Kaito grinned widely. "It sure is! I figured a music prodigy would have it already, but I got it anyway."

Kaede hummed in thought and flipped the case over to scan the track list. "I own...almost all of these songs in one form or another, but I don't think I own this CD itself."

"Ah-ha! Score another one for the Luminary of the Stars!" Kaito placed his hands on his hips triumphantly.

Kaede didn't want to rain on his parade by pointing out how outdated of a gift a CD was at this point, so she said, "yeah, we'll give you that one, Kaito. Thank you!"

"On that note, I think it's time for me to go," Shuichi said, bringing himself to a stand and stretching his arms out above his head. "I'm starting to get tired."

"Yeah," Maki agreed. "I think it's time for us to go, too."

Kaede nodded and got to her feet as well. She gave Kaito and Shuichi quick hugs and thanked them for spending her birthday with her, and then they all split off. Well, mostly.

After Shuichi climbed into his car and drove off, Maki and Kaede took a second to talk about their plan beside their cars. "I'll drive ahead of you to lead you there, but here's the address in case we get separated."

The gesture was appreciated, since it was getting dark and driving at night was not something Kaede had extensive experience with. The chances of her losing Maki's tail lights were there and she didn't want to be left high and dry if it did happen. "Are you sure you're okay with me coming over?" She asked. "Here's your chance to change your mind."

Maki shrugged. "It'll be fine. I'll be fine."

After that, Kaede typed the address into her GPS app and the girls got into their own cars to make the trip. As they drove, Kaede took note of how far from the center of the city they were getting, and her jaw dropped when Maki started leading her into the rich areas of town. They turned into a neighborhood with plenty of big, expensive looking houses, and just kept going from there. "Where the hell are we even going?" Kaede asked herself.

Finally, Maki turned into a driveway that made Kaede gasp. Maki's house was a plain, white color, and far larger than Kaede anticipated. Sure, it was smaller than the surrounding houses, but it was still breathtakingly big compared to her own home. There were no lights on inside, and no cars were parked nearby, telling her that the house was going to be empty when they stepped inside.

She parked next to Maki in the driveway suitable for at least three cars and let her girlfriend lead her to the front door. "So will we have the house to ourselves tonight?" She asked. She'd have been lying if she said she didn't have a blush creeping across her face from the thought of what they could get up to alone in such a big house, but she decided to leave those thoughts in her head.

For now.

Maki unlocked the door and stepped inside, switching the lights on so Kaede could look around the living room. "Yes, we'll be completely alone."

The thoughts came surging back into Kaede's head, and she wished Maki would turn the lights back off so she wouldn't see how much redder her face was. "Huh, interesting."

"It's a long story," Maki said. "Maybe I'll tell you later."

A long story? Kaede wondered what could have possibly lead to this living situation as Maki gave her the tour. It was a mostly empty house, the only rooms of any consequence being the kitchen, Maki's bedroom, a couple of bathrooms and a living room with a large TV and a couch, which also held a modest collection of movies and a TV show box set or two. Every other room they passed was empty—or at least, they all seemed to be judging by how dark they were inside. Where did her parents sleep? Was there anything else in this house at all?

The answer wouldn't come until later in the night. But first, they decided to wind down from the long day by grabbing a snack and chilling out in the living room. They did turn on the TV, but ignored whatever was on in favor of talking idly. While they spoke, Kaede noticed Maki's hands would consistently wander to her arms, where they'd rest idly. As usual, her arms and legs were covered with her long sleeve shirt and long pants. This time they made sense, considering it was still winter, but she did wonder if she owned any shirts with shorter sleeves. It also occurred to her that it was quite warm in the house, despite the weather. In fact, the longer they spent talking, the more she could feel herself start to sweat under her jacket and long clothes.

Time passed as they spoke, and the revelation that it was midnight came when Kaede idly checked her phone and gasped. "Oh my god," she cried. "We really did just spend all night chatting, didn't we?"

"I guess we did," Maki said with a shrug. "Do you want to go to bed?"

Kaede shook her head. "No, actually I'm still fine staying up with you. It's just that time flies when you're talking to someone like this, you know?"

She could have sworn she saw a blush creep across Maki's face, but she played it off by scoffing. "How sappy."

Kaede giggled. "But, if we wanted to start winding down, I wouldn't mind heading to your room or something. I would love to change into some pajamas."

Suddenly, Maki's grip on her left arm tightened. "Right. That does sound nice. Let's go."

She knew the house was empty, but Kaede still waited until Maki's bedroom door was firmly closed before she started taking clothing off to change into her pajamas. She dropped her shirt to the side and rummaged through the bag she brought. She was thankful that had packed both a winter and summer set of pajamas, because it was so warm in Maki's house that she would probably have overheated in her thick pants and long sleeved shirt. She didn't hesitate to grab her summer pajamas, which were a light pink sleeveless shirt and purple short shorts with musical notes on them. Once she was dressed for bed, she sighed in relief as she flopped on Maki's bed.

She opened her eyes to see Maki, standing just in the doorway with a blush on her face. "What's wrong, Maki?" She asked.

Maki crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. "N-nothing," she said quickly. "It's just that...you're showing so much more skin at once than I'm used to seeing from you."

Kaede smirked. "Oh yeah? Could it have anything to do that I'm not wearing a bra, so my, ahem, girls are free?"

Maki tried to act disgusted at the suggestion, but couldn't hide the way her eyes darted to her chest and back. "Anyway, let me go put my pajamas on."

Kaede playfully laughed at her as she marched to her dresser and pulled out some clothes seemingly at random. On her way out, Kaede held up a hand. "You can change in here, if you want. It's just us, so it's okay."

Maki shook her head. "There's a reason I don't change in front of people, and it's not any different if it's just you."

"Okay, but..." Kaede's eyes wandered to the clothes under Maki's arms. "Aren't you going to be warm? It's hot in here and you've grabbed such heavy clothing."

Maki held the clothing close to her chest and sighed. "You're right. I guess I can't hide it from you forever. Especially if we're going to be dating and all…"

Kaede giggled. "Heh, we are, aren't we?"

Suddenly, Maki's head snapped to looking in her direction. "But can you keep a secret?"

Kaede sat up on the bed, a serious look on her face. "Of course I can. I'm keeping this secret pretty well, aren't I?"

Maki smiled, but something about it seemed more tender than the smiles she'd given up to this point. More...vulnerable. "Right. I suppose I can trust you, then. Just...please don't scream."

Please don't scream? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Kaede's answer came seconds later when, after a deep breath, Maki grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it off over her head. Kaede gasped as the garment fell to the ground, leaving Maki standing there with just her bra on her top half.

Her arms, stomach, and part of her chest were covered in scars and bruises, both impossibly old and worryingly new. But that was just the start; next, Maki slid her jeans down her legs, revealing even more marks, bumps and bruises. Kaede was speechless, and she could see that Maki was shrinking back by the second. She got to her feet and took a step closer to her underwear-clad girlfriend, but Maki took a step back, almost like a cornered animal.

"Just say it," She snapped. "Say I look disgusting and leave it at that."

Kaede shook her head vehemently. "Maki, what happened to you? Did you...do all of this to yourself?"

Maki shook her head, setting aside her apprehension just for a bit. "No, of course not. I'm not like that. It's a long story."

Kaede saw her let her guard down and took the opportunity to take her into a hug. "I'm here all night, Maki," she told her as she squeezed her tight. "I'll listen to all of it."

Maki stood there in shock until she finally reciprocated their hug. "Alright," she relented. "I'll tell you, but remember to keep it a secret.

"Oh, and I should put some clothes on first."

She threw on her own NASA shirt, which was plenty big enough to cover what needed to be covered for decency's sake, but not long enough to hide the marks adorning her limbs. Then, with a deep breath, she sat next to Kaede on the bed. She was clearly not fully ready to divulge all this information, but here it came anyway. "I'm an orphan. I grew up in an orphanage in the middle of the city. I never had parents of my own, and I never got adopted either."

"You didn't?" Kaede felt bad for interrupting so soon, but something needed cleared up. "So how do you have this house?"

Maki looked at her with just a hint of malice in her eyes, which shut her right up. "I'll get there. When I was ten, some guys came to the orphanage looking for someone that suited their...interests. They were from a cult, and they wanted to snatch up an orphan to train as an assassin."

Each word was hitting Kaede harder than the last. "Assassin? Maki, you're a…?"

"A cold-blooded murderer, yes," Maki supplied. "They trained me from age ten, and since then, I've been one of many orphans tasked to do their dirty work. Whenever someone oversteps their bounds or gets on their bad side, they call me to take care of it. They've trained me in every form of combat, with any weapon you can imagine, and they even taught me how to be stealthy and how to resist pain for the most part. I'm their perfect protege."

"My god..." It was all so overwhelming, and Maki just kept going, almost like she'd been waiting to unload all of this for years.

"So that's where all these scars come from," she continued, a hand hovering over her forearm. "And that's why I always wear long sleeves and long pants. I can't have anyone questioning where I got so many injuries."

"Right. Do any of them hurt?"

Maki shook her head. "They'll ache for a day or two, but then it's like they're not even there."

Kaede suddenly connected dots that she didn't even know needed connecting and gasped suddenly. "And that would explain why you're so good at cheerleading!"

Maki nodded slowly. "My training just naturally translated to athletics. And honestly, that's why I do it so much. Some of it is embarrassing, sure, but it feels nice to do something that people actually...enjoy, you know?

"This way, I can make people smile, instead of hearing them scream in terror."

Kaede could feel herself start to tear up. "Maki..."

The words kept coming. "Every time they ask me to kill someone, I feel like I lose myself just a little bit more, but then when I'm cheerleading, I feel human again." Maki's voice was so pained, it sounded like a desperate plea for help, but Kaede could do nothing but listen.

"Then why don't you quit?" The instant the words came from her mouth, she knew she'd made a dumb suggestion.

Maki sighed. "Because, in return for my services, they provided me with this house. And an education. A generous paycheck on top of that. They make sure I have everything I'll ever need and then some. If I ever try to leave or even act like I'm going to share any information, they would kill me without hesitation."

"I thought as much," Kaede sighed. "So you live in this huge house all alone?" She was answered by a silent nod. "That can't be good for your mental health..."

Maki spoke almost mechanically. At least, more so than usual. "I was trained not to cry or feel emotion. But..." Her hand wandered to Kaede's where she tangled their fingers together. "But when I'm with you, I start to feel all these emotions that I've been missing out on growing up." They locked eyes, and Kaede could see tears starting to well up in Maki's eyes as if to illustrate her point.

"Maki..."

"So, even though I'm just an emotionless killing machine, I..." Maki's voice wavered as the tears started to stream down her face. "I hope you believe me when I tell you that I love you."

Kaede was not so hard to bring to tears, so she let out a sob and threw herself into Maki's arms. "Of course I believe you, Maki!"

They held each other on the bed for a few moments, Maki letting out one or two small sobs during the silence. When they pulled away, she swallowed hard. "And I hope you don't mind all of these..." She didn't finish her sentence, but watching her hand trace a scar told Kaede what she needed to know.

"Of course I don't mind," she said, placing her hand on Maki's scarred thigh and causing the other girl to hitch her breath. "You're still beautiful to me, and nothing can change that."

"Thank you." It was the smallest voice she'd ever heard from Maki.
"Also, now that I know how much cheerleading really means to you, I'll try even harder to make sure Ophelia doesn't find out about us," Kaede promised.

That seemed to remind Maki of something. "Right. I hope you realize how much I'm putting on the line by being with you like this."

"Of course I do. I'm putting just as much on the line, I'll remind you."

"Right, you need these credits to graduate, don't you?"

Putting these stakes into words felt like a weight was pressing on Kaede's chest. "God, if we get find out, we're both kind of fucked, aren't we?"

Maki seemed taken aback by Kaede's casual swearing, but she agreed. "At least we both have reasons not to sell ourselves out."

"True, but..." Kaede hesitated before continuing, "what are you going to do once we graduate?"

Maki shrugged. "Don't know yet. I might do what you suggested and look into becoming an athlete of some sort. Maybe if that pays well enough I can finally distance myself from them." She spat the word them like it was some sort of filthy taste on her tongue.

Kaede was eager for a change of subject. "Well, thank you for telling me all that, Maki." She grabbed her girlfriend in another hug, holding her thinner frame close. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this alone, but I'm here now, and we can go through whatever happens next together."

Maki eagerly returned her affection, wrapping her arms around Kaede as well. "Thank you. And thank you for letting me get it all off my chest. I feel like I can let my guard down around you. Just a bit."

"I'm glad," Kaede hummed happily.

"Kaede?"

"Hm?"

The girls separated. Maki's tone was different than what Kaede had come to expect from her. It was unsure and anxious, almost like she was trying to convince herself to say something. "Can I kiss you?"

Now that she'd said what she wanted, she sounded like a nervous schoolgirl, and it made Kaede chuckle. "Of course you can. You don't even have to ask."

Their lips met for what felt like the first time. Despite the girls sharing several kisses before this one, it felt different. It felt more real than anything either of them had ever felt before. They melted into each other's embrace, and time came to a stand still while they shared a tender moment and a kiss that slowly became more passionate.

Was it the way they'd shared things with each other that they didn't share so openly with others that made this feel different? Was it the fact that they now knew each other better than anyone else? Was it the way they were so vulnerable around each other? Could it have had anything to do with the fact that they were wearing so little clothing, even?

Whatever the reason, Kaede and Maki were more than content to let what happened that night happen. More questions were asked that night, but all of them were answered with various forms of the word yes.

Most of the next day was spent lounging around Maki's house, neither of them putting on much more than a shirt as they got themselves fed and talked about the events of the previous night. By the time Kaede finally forced herself to go home because of the homework she still had to finish, Maki may or may not have had a new bruise or two, which she was very proud about for a change.

Over the course of the next week, they realized that what they'd done may have been a mistake, because now that they were as close as they were, pretending not to be in front of squad mates (who weren't Kaito) proved to be much more challenging. At the very least, they knew it would be easier in front of Ophelia because practice would be distracting them, but other than that, Miu was still keeping a very close eye on them.

There was also one other thing that posed a potential problem for them, and that event was quickly approaching. Kaede could tell by how busy everyone involved with it seemed to be, and by the fact that everyone around her was scrambling for dates. After Shuichi and Kaito decided to go together, she couldn't help but feel jealous about how open they could be. "I wish we could go together," she sighed one day during lunch.

Maki shook her head, making sure to swallow her bite before responding, "not a chance. I'm not going to be caught dead dressing all fancy for that, and besides, we'd blow our cover for sure."

"I know, but it's the prom! My parents say that everyone should go to at least one of their proms."

"You don't have to go with someone," Shuichi said. "You could just go by yourself."

Kaede slumped forward, poking at her food. "I guess, but everyone else will have a date, so I'll just be the odd girl out."

"Maki could still go," Kaito suggested.

"I'm sorry but no," Maki said. "I wouldn't feel comfortable in the kind of dress you're expected to wear to the prom. You know this, Kaede."

Kaede did know this, but it didn't stop her from letting out a whine. "I guess. Maybe I will go alone. You and Kaito can be my dates, Shuichi."

Shuichi looked to Kaito, who gave him a thumb's up. "I guess we can do that for you."

Maki sat up straight and pointed a menacing finger at Shuichi. "Just make sure to get her home on time, and no funny business."

The whole table laughed at Maki's joke, mostly because they didn't expect her to bust one out like that. After her laughter died down, Kaede gave her a dreamy look. "God, I love you," she sighed under her breath.

Maki caught it and met her gaze, giving her a small smile in return.

As prom drew nearer, Kaede started preparing while Maki pushed the event from her mind. There was no way in hell she was buying an expensive dress just to put most of her scars on display for the whole student body to see. Instead, she focused on her schoolwork and insisted Kaede do the same.

Time passed, and the weekend before prom was set to take place, Maki was called away from the Saturday gym meeting by her job. She was told she had a very important mark to hit, and the person had to be dead before the night was over. Apparently, the Yakuza had gotten on the bad side of the Society's new client, and Maki was meant to assassinate their leader's right hand man as a warning.

Easy enough. She'd had run-ins with the organization before, and those only ended in a couple of scrapes and bruises. However, hitting them so high up on the chain? That sounded like less of a warning and more of a full on declaration of war.

Regardless, it wasn't Maki's job to question her orders, so she set out for the address she was provided. It was a modestly sized house—likely so nobody would suspect that the second-highest ranking member of the Yakuza was living there—and the outside was so clean, it reminded Maki of her own house.

And what had happened in it with Kaede.

She shook the thoughts out of her head; now was the time to focus on what she did best. She hid herself away in a bush in front of the house and waited, gathering information as she scanned her surroundings. The sun started to set, and as it got darker, she noticed the lights weren't on inside the house, which meant the occupant was away. She was in a perfect position to strike them down before they could even enter their house. As she waited in the bush, she put together her weapon of choice for this hit. It was a simple crossbow. Silent, deadly, and easy to conceal for her trip home. She made sure to put on gloves when the time came to load it with an arrow, just in case she was unable to retrieve it for whatever reason.

Soon after the crossbow was loaded, she heard a car pull up in front of the house. The passenger door opened and her target stepped out in the dying sunlight. The woman had long, silver hair and she pushed up her glasses as she bid her driver goodnight. The car drove away, and before the woman turned around, Maki caught a brief glimpse of what looked like a sheath on her back.

The second in command of the Yakuza was this girl with a sword? It was weird, but Maki had heard weirder. She was here to kill, not to question it. She aimed her crossbow, took a steady breath and closed her eyes as she pulled the trigger. Easy as that.

Except...it wasn't.

The sound of the trigger instantly alerted the woman, and instead of the sound of the arrow sinking into her flesh, Maki heard nothing. She opened her eyes and saw the woman holding the arrow out in front of her. "Nice try," she said calmly. In a fluid motion, she spun the arrow and threw it back, and Maki had to move from her spot in an instant to dodge it. The arrow lodged itself into the ground, and Maki grabbed it before leaping from the bushes gracefully. If she could load it and fire fast enough, she could distract the woman and get in close to finish the job with the knife she had strapped to her thigh. However, as soon as she was visible, the woman rushed her. In an instant, Maki dropped her crossbow and unsheathed her knife in an attempt to defend herself. The woman was a flash of silver and black, disarming Maki completely in one fluid motion, sending the knife sailing away back into the bush. Another instant later, Maki was pinned to the ground with the woman straddling her as the tip of the sword's blade sank into the flesh on her upper-arm.

Maki hissed a curse, but the woman covered her mouth. "Don't worry," she told her. "I deliberately avoided causing any permanent damage."

"I noticed," Maki said, voice muffled against the woman's hand. "Why?"

"My boss wants to have a word with you." The woman's grip on the sword tightened and she sat up slightly. "Now I'm going to let you up and take you to him, but don't think you'll be getting any more opportunities to attack me."

Maki doubted that she would be completely unable to find any chances.

That is, right up until the instant the woman in black had her wrists tied tightly behind her back. She had a backup plan for just this kind of situation, and suddenly the collar of her red button-down felt heavy with the concealed pill that would get her out of this bind. The closest she came to biting it out of its hidden pocket, she was stopped in her tracks by the mental image of Kaede receiving the news that she had died. The image of tears running so freely down her girlfriend's round face meant Maki was still alive when she reached the boss of the Yakuza.

He was...definitely shorter than she anticipated, but she thought saying as much would put her on much thinner ice than she was already on. The man adjusted his eyepatch and scratched his chin when they came in. "Master, the assassin, as you ordered."

He pounded the arm of the big, luxurious leather chair he was seated in (which made him look even smaller) and shouted, "damn it Peko, I told you to stop callin' me that!"

"Right."

Uninterested with the banter, Maki spat, "why haven't you killed me?" She was feeling irritable as the blood from her wound seeped out and made her arm increasingly uncomfortable as time went by.

The Yakuza boss ignored her, instead scanning her body with his eyes. She was used to men in her field leering at her with lecherous gazes, but this felt different. He was completely uninterested in anything but identifying her. "Let's see, long dark hair, short, thin, and a sour face...I think this is the girl our classmate told us about."

Peko nodded agreement. "I think so, Mas—Fuyuhiko."

Fuyuhiko leaned forward and recited Maki's first and last name to her, sending chills down her spine. "Judging by your face, I think I'm right on the money," he said, leaning back and crossing his arms. "You're a bit shorter than I thought you'd be."

Before she could stop herself again, Maki shot back, "I could say the same about you."

His face immediately fell and he stomped his foot on the ground. "Hey, you shut the fuck up! You're in no place to be makin' smart fucking comments, schoolgirl!"

"I had a shot and I took it," Maki said. "Now what do you want from me?"

Fuyuhiko took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Right. I need you to tell me every single thing you know about the Holy Salvation Society."

That was when she knew for sure Shuichi had helped set this up. "Why the sudden interest in them? The Yakuza should know better than to mess with them."

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, I've heard from my pops what run-ins with your little organization are like. But news flash, we got more manpower on our side this time, so your little group of assholes who recruit children are in for it for real."

That cyanide pill was looking quite tasty right around now…Maki decided to hold off and prolonged the conversation in hopes some sort of miracle would happen. "Alright, say I give you the information you want. What's in it for me?"

"Well, you won't fucking die, for one thing," Fuyuhiko spat.

That was when Peko chimed in. "Maki, we want to help you. We know you're not working for the Holy Salvation Society because you want to."

Fuyuhiko sighed, seemingly reluctant to say the next part. "Right, right. If you help us take those bastards down, we promise you we will allow you to keep everything they've provided for you."

"Then what? I'll be in debt to the Yakuza instead? That doesn't sound any better."

Fuyuhiko's face got red again and he slammed a fist on one of his armrests. "You ungrateful little shit! The one time I try to give something to someone with no strings attached and they can't wrap their simple god damn minds around it!"

Peko cleared her throat to signal she was about to talk again. "What he's saying is that we will be in debt to you. We'll allow you to continue living comfortably just as you were, but without having them breathing down your neck."

Fuyuhiko took a deep breath to calm himself. "I swear on my honor as the head of the Yakuza."

Maki was still unconvinced. "I've been doing this long enough to know not to accept such offers at face value."

"Would you rather get to the bit where I tell you what happens if you don't help us?" Fuyuhiko asked. "Because I've been lookin' forward to that."

"Sure, surprise me," Maki said. "If I don't tell you what you want to hear, how painfully will you kill me?"

A sinister smile graced Fuyuhiko's lips, and Maki could hear Peko's breath hitch behind her. "Oh no, we won't kill you, Maki. We'll just find the people who matter to you and kill them one by one." She opened her mouth to say something, but Fuyuhiko interrupted her, saying, "tell me, how's your love life going? Got yourself a lover?"

Images of Shuichi sharing intimate details of her life with these scumbags flashed through Maki's mind. Not only did he endanger her in multiple ways, but by sharing this information, he put his best friend in danger too. She was so going to kill him next time she saw him. "How did you know about Kaede?"

Fuyuhiko looked like he'd just won a match of chess. "I didn't. You just told me all I need to know."

So it wasn't Shuichi. God damn it.

"How many Kaede's are there in your school? Eh, no matter." Fuyuhiko shrugged dramatically and said, "we can just go down the list alphabetically by last name. We'll get the right one before too long, I'm sure."

Maki had no idea how much of this was a bluff, but if she tried to call it, she knew for a fact Kaede would be the first casualty of that plan, and the idea of having to deal with her death was too much for her to bear. "Stop," she sighed, the mere thought putting her on the edge of tears. "I'll help you."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Fuyuhiko said. "Now, tell me everything. I—again—swear on my honor as the head of the Yakuza that you'll never have to answer to those douchebags ever again after this."

She knew that honor in the Yakuza wasn't worth a stick of chewing gum, but Maki did as she was told. It would have been incredibly easy for her to lie about everything, but she also knew the Yakuza boss wouldn't talk such a big game without being able to back it up at least somewhat. Besides, if an esteemed detective, the Yakuza, and this extra manpower he was referring to stood any chance of taking out her employer, she was willing to at least see them try. A small part of her even dared to hope that they would succeed.

After she told them what they wanted to hear, Peko took her aside and dressed her wound. As she was wrapping the injury, Maki heaved a sigh. The weight of her decision was enough to make her dizzy, and the loss of blood wasn't helping. "You know they're going to try to kill me if they find out about this, right?"

Peko nodded. "We'll protect you as best we can."

For multiple reasons, that didn't make Maki feel better. "One more question, then," she said. "You didn't...actually know about Kaede, did you?"

Peko saw her face start to flush and let her lips curl up in a small smile. "No, we didn't. Fuyuhiko has a way with getting people to say what they need to in front of him." A moment passed, and Peko continued, "I think we're quite alike, you and I."

Maki didn't respond out loud, and instead looked to Peko with a raised eyebrow.

"I was raised raised to be an emotionless killing machine, just like you," Peko explained. "But then, I met someone." A blush spread across her cheeks next. "Someone who could see me for more than my deadliness."

"I...see." Maki wondered who she was talking about, briefly reminded of Fuyuhiko's insistence that she refer to him by name.

"I can tell this Kaede means a lot to you," Peko said. "I promise we'll keep her safe, too." Before Maki could respond, Peko stepped back. "Alright, you're good to go."

"Thank you," Maki said. "For everything." After that, she was sent on her way, hoping she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.