That Sunday, Sakusa wore the same red singlet top and denim jeans she always did when she was out of school. She'd planned to get some essentials today, as long as some new clothes. She knew Karma was bound to notice. But then again, he was a boy, and boys don't notice things like that.

"Sakusa-san!" Karma called out with a wave as he approached the nervous girl. Sakusa jumped. Although she knew Karma wasn't a bad person at heart, she still couldn't help but feel cautious around him. She felt cautious around everyone. But him especially - he was the closest to her. Sakusa still couldn't bring herself to trust anyone but herself.

"Karma-kun," she greeted as the boy stopped in front of her.

"We can catch the train which will bring us straight to Tokyo centre where we can easily get everything you need. Don't take too long though, I wanna go to dinner," Karma said as he started to walk towards the direction of the station. Sakusa followed him. She'd taken a good amount of money and had been sure to keep it in a bag she had bought dirt cheap from the thrift store. Now, she wouldn't look rich at all.

Sakusa blinked in awe as she stepped off the bus. "The city is... Amazing."

"Right? I come here often, but it's definitely better than the smaller shop complexes at home," Karma nodded as he began to walk.

"I've never been to a... Nice city," Sakusa said, remembering the ruined city she used to live in. There weren't nice shops with polite shopkeepers, people having fun. Back then, it was all rubble, blood, leftover bullets, corpses, collapsed buildings.

"Hm, so you have never been to a city?" Karma looked at her in suspicion. Sakusa just laughed nervously and looked away.

"I have... It's just not this nice," she said truthfully. "The city I used to live in was horrible. It was a trash-hole."

"I wouldn't know. I come here all the time," Karma said, "Well, why don't we start. I don't really want to get caught in the afternoon rush."

The pair walked in and out of shops, and by the time Sakusa had gotten everything she needed, including a much needed phone, it was already afternoon rush. They quickly found the place Karma had decided on and entered the restaurant. It was posh. That was all Sakusa could make out of it when she went in. She'd never seen such a beautiful restaurant.

"You... Eat at places like this all the time?" she asked in wonder. There were chandeliers and elegant bamboo decorations. The tables were made of expensive polished wood and the windows brought in just enough sunlight. The cutlery, plates and bowls were all made of real silver. The chairs were as comfortable as any bed. The green plush curtains felt like clouds themselves.

"Yup. Lucky, huh?" Karma said. But his voice was monotonous, as if he wasn't really proud of it at all.

They found a table in the corner and with the few people in the restaurant, it felt secluded. They'd chosen a few dishes to share, all on Karma's tab. According to Karma, all he had to do was tell them to put it on the Akabane card, and his parents would take care of it.

"I've never been... To such a place. You're lucky, you know," Sakusa murmured quietly. "You're so rich you wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't mind being poor sometimes. It gets too much," Karma shrugged. "But then again, I wouldn't know. I wasn't born poor."

"Yeah. I never used to..." she paused, "Go out to eat."

Karma eyed her but didn't push the topic. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about something." He paused, wondering how to put what he was about to say into... Words. "See, I have this - I was asked to find a specific person."

"Who asked you to?"

"...Someone close to me," Karma said vaguely, "So, I need you to help me. I was supposed to help find a person called Hana. Except there are so many people called Hana in the world. But I have narrowed it to people in our school." Sakusa nodded slowly, her heart thumped. "One is a teacher. It doesn't really make sense but I'll still try. The other is a girl in your class."

"Horiki Hana."

Karma nodded, "Yes, her. All I need you to do is help me..."

"Help you, what?" she asked sceptically. "And why should I trust you? I don't even know why you want her."

"I just need to talk to her - privately. And maybe find out some clues about her on the way."

Sakusa narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to be a part of this... Scamming spy thing."

Karma sighed, "Fine."

"I guess we're done now. We can head to the station," Karma noted as they squished through crowds of people. Sakusa was holding three bags of stuff she had bought, and it wasn't easy getting through the people while trying to look after the bags. Karma, noticing she was lagging behind, slowed down and waited for Sakusa to catch up.

Minutes passed, but Sakusa hadn't caught up. Karma slowly turned around. She was nowhere in sight. His fiery amber eyes scanned the area in rising panic. She can't have gone far. Why wasn't she following me? He thought, clenching his jaw. People crowded his vision.

"Sakusa! Sakusa-san!" He called as he casually walked through the people, with his hands in his pockets. Everyone seemed to walking in one direction whilst Karma pushed through the current of people. There was no hurry, he would be able to find her soon. But minutes turned to hours, and even after the afternoon rush, there was not One clue left of her.

His eyebrows knitted together and his teeth gritted. The day was dimming and the chances of danger was getting higher. He'd heard of kidnapping cases, but never expected it to happen to him. He began running.

-3-

Sakusa's heart rate quickened. Her mouth, stuffed with a white bag, couldn't make out one sound. She was slowly choking on her own saliva, and running out of the little air inside the bag she was in. She tried to scream again, but only ended up losing more energy. Finally, she emptied out of the bag as she landed on the harsh concrete. The white bag fell out of her mouth and she coughed.

"We don't need much really, girl," a brute appeared from the shadows. "But you've got quite a bounty on your head, don't you?"

"Bounty?" the words were barely out of her mouth when a leg came in at full force and struck her at the stomach. She gasped. Sakusa could feel blood in her mouth. Then she hated herself. All those years, she had dealt with people worse than this, and still hung on. Now, she was already bleeding at one kick.

"Hell yeah!" One person shouted with triumph, "Them high up people all searching for you, man. You're really valuable apparently. Something like the last person of... Blah blah. Can't remember."

She couldn't believe it. They had finally caught up to her. The government had finally put a bounty on her head. She had known how much they wanted to kill everyone from her old city, but not this much. If... It was only her, that meant they had killed everyone else. But what if that wasn't all? "You've got the wrong person," she lied bitterly as she stood up. "Go away."

A punch landed on her stomach and someone else kicked her roughly in the back. It felt like rocks. "Like hell! Do you know much you're worth, girly? More than thousands I tell you." Laughter echoed around the dark alley they were in.

Thousands? "I don't care just go away." Her voice was hard and low. Another person shoved her from the back and she landed on her knees, blooding erupting from her knees. Her breathing was shallow and airy; she was finding it harder to breath. Images flashed through her mind. There were lights and planes in the sky. Bombs, grenades feel from the sky. Screaming and groaning. She lived in hell.

Laughter like hyenas filled the air. There were at least dozens of guys surrounding her. Kicking her in the stomach. Throwing rocks at her. It felt like a public flogging. But worse. She could see nothing but her past. It shadowed everything. Tiny bursts of pain filled her body. The rocks were digging into her skin like parasites and the kicking made her want to vomit.

She bit her tongue in restraint. But emotion took over. Sakusa screamed - she allowed her tears to pour down. Visible electricity shattered the air. Her eyes were glowing, her body emitted light and her hair floated in a blue light. She was anything but human. Every nerve in her body was screaming

The guys stepped back in fear. "Go away," she said, her voice thick with tears.

There a short bark of laughter from the leader. "We ain't scared of ya. We're going to take the money, whatever it takes." He waved a piece of paper in front of her face. Her pupils enlarged in fear an shock.

WANTED: 100,000,000

LAST SURVIVOR OF OKINAHARA CITY

DANGEROUS AND UNPREDICTABLE

ALIVE

But before anyone could say anything, a silent shadow appeared and knocked them all out in one smooth move. A yell came from a thug as the figure punched the lights out of him. Sakusa recognised who it was immediately. She had seen no one with better techniques.

Silence settled. "They wouldn't have gone away, you know." The figure finally came into light under the glistening moon. Sakusa felt tears gather under her eyes but she wiped them away forcefully.

"Shut up," she said. Her breathing was shallow and her head felt heavy, dizzy. She couldn't think straight.

"Couldn't you have fought them or something?" Karma asked.

Sakusa glared at him. "No. I will not result to fighting," her voice was barely above a whisper, yet her indignant tone sent shivers down Karma's spine. He was taken aback. He'd never seen such murderous intent in anyone's eyes. Not even Nagisa's. What had she been through?

"Why?" he asked. His life had always been easy and fighting was just another way to get out of it to him. But Sakusa seemed to take it too seriously. "They won't die if you just knock them out. Anyways, shouldn't you be thanking me about now? I kinda just saved your life."

"I won't thank someone who thinks fighting is a game. Don't play with lives so easily," Sakusa scowled, her eyes going wild. The deep voids that Karma found himself attracted to, sucked him in. As if taking him into her secrets. For a moment, Karma thought he saw a flicker of her life before. But then it was gone so quickly, he thought he was imagining things.

Suddenly, out of exhaustion, Sakusa's knees buckled and she felt herself. Fall into the arms of Karma Akabane. His arms gently worked his way around her body, lifting her up carefully. She felt a different type of sting this time; her eyes were stinging with tears. A wave of nostalgia passed her, she'd only ever been touched like this by that one person in her life who had to disappear. It hurt to think of him.

"Stop, put me down," she hissed. But her body didn't move. Sakusa couldn't help but want to stay in his arms. It felt safe, and that a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Sakusa wanted to stay like this just for a while, but she knew she couldn't get used to it. Karma would only be in more danger because of her.

"Just shut up," he said quietly, "You'll be alright."