Marcy and her parents were in Japan on holiday. The Taiwanese American girl could not believe that she was in the birthplace of anime and tokusatsu. There was just so much to see. Fortunately, Marcy knew how to speak Japanese. She pretty much learned the language in preparation for this visit.

It was late at night when they arrived, and her parents were still a bit jet lagged. As they rested in the hotel room, Marcy was staring out the window towards the holy land and could not wait to explore.

"Mom, Dad, can I go out for a bit?" Marcy asked.

"Are you sure, honey?" Marcy's mom questioned. "It's dark right now."

"Mom, I promise I won't go far. I swear. Dad, please?"

"OK, but be back in half an hour," Marcy's dad ordered.

"Thanks! I'll be back!" Marcy ran out the hotel room.

Marcy walked along the dark streets that were lit up by streetlamps. It was a chilly night, so she zipped up her hoodie and pocketed her hands. She already planned to visit Akihabara while in Tokyo. You could not visit Akiba. It had electronics and anime goodies! The Mecca of all things anime, toku, manga, and games. The proverbial holy land if you will. How could she wait a second longer to see this place that every foreign otaku dreamed of visiting. Marcy wandered around the streets, as she did, she saw that Akihabara was still bustling even at this time of night. There were arcades and shops still open, there were cute maids outside with signs, promoting their cafes and enticing potential customers to come and visit.

Marcy briefly imagined Sasha and Anne dressed up in one of those outfits as she sat in a café and had them serve and call her, "Ojou-sama". A shiver ran through her body, and Marcy wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from the excitement of that fantasy. Probably both. As she walked, Marcy noticed a lot of people in different cosplay. Some she recognized and others she didn't. There were some tourists like herself taking pictures of the cosplayers, and Marcy joined in.

As she continued to explore, in typical Marcy fashion, she wandered a bit too far without realizing it and found herself in an alleyway. Oh no…I think I'm lost. Just then, Marcy watched as a woman approached her from the opposite end of the alley. She had long black hair that draped over her face like a curtain, a brown overcoat, and had on high heels. When she looked up at Marcy, she saw that she had on a medical mask on her face.

Marcy froze, curious, as the woman came closer. She looked Marcy in the eye and spoke.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked, and Marcy gasped.

"OMG! You're the Slit-Mouthed Woman!" Marcy's eyes sparkled as she wore the biggest smile on her face. "My first night in Japan and I meet a cosplayer dressed up as the legendary Slit-Mouthed Woman!" She took out her phone. "Could I take pictures with you?"

The Slit-Mouthed Woman stared, confused. Why was this girl not afraid of her?

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked again.

"Oh, you're really in character!" Marcy took a picture of the Slit-Mouthed Woman. "And one selfie!" the Taiwanese girl turned her phone around as she got close to the "Slit-Mouthed Woman" and snapped another picture. "Oh, this turned out great! I love how you did your makeup! And where did you get your contacts?"

"Do you think I'm pretty?" the Slit-Mouthed Woman growled.

"Ah, I see. You're committed to your character. Very professional, and I completely understand. But do you think you could walk me to the hotel? I wandered a bit too far and I just realized it's kinda scary around these parts," said Marcy.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman was visibly confused. This child seemed to know of her but was not afraid of her. This was a new experience.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm wasting your time, but could you please help me?" Marcy pleaded as she bowed to the older woman.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman reached into her pocket and was about to pull out a pair of incredibly sharp scissors. However, she sensed sincerity in this child, and a strange pureness that was almost teeth rotting-ly sweet. The Slit-Mouthed Woman sighed as she put her scissors back and pulled out her right hand from the pocket, perhaps she could allow for one act of mercy this night.

"Very well, child. I will accompany you," she said.

"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" Marcy exclaimed.

Marcy put in the address for the hotel into her phone's GPS, and once entered, she and the Slit-Mouthed Woman exited the alleyway and started walking the less lightened area of the streets.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Marcy Wu. So, what's your name?" Marcy asked.

"Hmm, I have forgotten my name. It has been too long," she replied.

Marcy really admired this woman's dedication to her character and decided to play along. "Hmm, so, why don't I give you a name then?"

The Slit-Mouthed Woman cocked her head to the side in confusion and asked, "You want to give me a name?"

"Everyone deserves a name. Hmm…Oh! How about Hatano Saeko?! It's my OC character in a fanfiction I'm writing, but you can use it if you want," said Marcy.

The Slit-Mouthed Woman paused and spoke the name aloud, "Hatano…Saeko?"

"Do you like it?"

The Slit-Mouthed Woman looked down at Marcy and said, "I…I think I do."

"Cool!"

As they walked, Marcy spotted a photobooth.

"OMG, I've always wanted to try one of these! Can we?!" Marcy asked, her eyes practically sparkling. "Please, Hatano-san?"

"Saeko" looked at the photobooth. There were some schoolgirls there who were coming out and looking at the photos they had taken together. Saeko's right hand moved up and touched her mask.

"I'm not worthy of a photo, to be captured in this state," said Saeko.

Marcy furrowed her brow and grabbed Saeko's left hand with both of hers. "Hey, don't talk like that! I don't know you all that well, but you're helping me out, which means you can't be all that bad. Plus, you shouldn't let what other people say get you down. Believe me…I know the feeling."

Saeko was surprised to hear this. As quirky and excitable as this young girl was, and admittedly she was awfully cute, how was it that others made this girl feel less than? Herself she could understand, but Marcy? "May I keep my mask on?"

"Totally up to you! I don't want to ruin the costume," said Marcy.

Once the high school girls left, Marcy and Saeko went into the booth and began striking poses. Saeko was a bit awkward at first, but eventually she seemed to get into the spirit a bit more, smiling under her mask as she joined Marcy in throwing up peace signs and doing a couple of silly poses."

The young teen walked out of the booth first, but as soon as she did, she was greeted by a couple of young men, in their mid-twenties, sporting leather jackets and torn pants. One of them had their hair dyed blonde, while another had it cut short and had a kanji symbol for "Death" shaved into his hair.

"Whoa-hoo, look at this cutie," said the blonde.

"Oh, uh, hello," Marcy greeted, nervously.

"What's a cutie like you doing out so late?" the buzzcut boy asked.

"I-I was just looking around, you see, and–"

The blonde chuckled as he moved closer to Marcy. "Oh, you're a tourist? Where from?"

"America…" Marcy answered, meekly.

"Oh, yeah! Score!" the buzzcut boy exclaimed. "You really shouldn't be out here at night, girl like yourself. Especially a tourist."

"But hey, it's your lucky night. We'd love to show you around Akiba, personally," said the blonde.

"Uh…I…I…"

"C'mon," the buzzcut haired boy grabbed Marcy by the wrist. "We promise it'll be a night you'll never forget."

Marcy's heart was thumping against her chest. She wanted to scream and call for help, but her throat constricted out of fear for what these two men would do to her. They could easily whisk her away, and possibly being locals, they'd know all the nooks and crannies to hide in.

"H-Hatano-san!" Marcy called out.

"Huh? You with someone?" the buzzcut boy asked.

The blonde pulled back the curtain, but there was no one inside.

"H…Hatano…?"

"Eh, guess your friend slipped out when you weren't looking. Whatever." The blonde cupped Marcy's cheek, he then opened his coat and showed a switchblade hanging from the inner pocket. "Now, come with us, do as we say, and you'll be back to your hotel or whatever in one piece."

The buzzcut boy leaned in next and added, "But if you don't, we'll make sure that no one finds you. Understand? Nod if you do."

Marcy silently nodded as tears flowed down her face.

"Good girl. Now walk."

The two men led Marcy into another alleyway, but this one had a few trashcans and other objects that obscured the line of sight down it. The two young led Marcy towards the middle of the alley, so no one would be able to see them due to the boxes and trashcans.

"P-Please, let me go. I won't say anything to anyone, I'll be going back home soon, so you won't ever see me again!" Marcy pleaded.

The blonde took out his switchblade. "Do you think I care? The only thing you should be concerned with is doing whatever we tell you to do. Whether or not you go back to America in one piece is up to you."

This…This can't be happening…! Please, someone help me! Sasha! Anne! Please, someone help!

Just then, a heavy, foreboding feeling befell the entire alley. The air became chilled, much more than earlier. Marcy and the young men could see their hot breathes as steam with each huff. Then they started hearing the clacking of high heels against pavement, the sound echoing unnaturally loud through the alley. Both young men glanced up and down the alleyway, trying to find the source of that noise. The clacking got louder, and a louder, and louder still, but there was no one around, and for some reason, it didn't seem as if the passersby were even acknowledging the sound.

"WHO'S THERE!" the blonde demanded.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" the buzzcut boy yelled.

Suddenly, the clacking stopped, and dead silence reigned over the alley. Marcy looked around, curious as to how everything could be so deathly silent after all that clacking. Just then, Marcy heard something. A gentle whisper carried on the wind to her ears.

"Run…Marcy-chan…Run…"

Hatano-san?

Marcy didn't know how she heard the woman's voice, but Marcy heeded her words. While the young men were distracted by the silence, Marcy bolted down the same way they brought her. The two young men snapped to attention when they saw Marcy running and ran after her. Marcy was not the most athletic girl back at Saint James, not by any means. So, running through this alley and dodging all the obstacles in her path was severely wearing down her stamina. Unfortunately, Marcy's infamous clumsiness managed to make her trip on a bottle cap, throwing her to the ground. Marcy managed to rise onto her hands and knees, but she quickly flipped around when she felt the presence of the two young men.

"Oh, you little – now you're going to get it!" the blonde threatened.

"We were going to be nice about it, but now, screw that!" the buzzcut boy added with venom.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

The two boys looked behind them, and that's when Saeko appeared.

"Who the – where did she come from?" the blonde asked.

Saeko undid the top buttons of her coat, allowing the two young men to catch a glimpse of her cleavage as she asked again, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

The two young men paused when they saw that. They glanced back at Marcy, and then back to the older, admittedly more attractive woman.

"Dude, do we really need to work this hard?" the buzzcut boy asked.

"The hell with it." The blonde turned to Marcy and pointed his knife in her direction. "Get the hell outta here, and if you say anything to the police, I swear I'll find you and I'll make good on my promise! Now GO!"

Marcy looked at the blonde and then back to Saeko. There was no fear in the woman's eyes as she nodded towards Marcy, silently telling her to go.

I'm sorry…I'm sorry…

Marcy got up and ran out of the alley, she followed the GPS on her phone all the way back to the hotel. Once there, she went into the lobby bathroom and splashed water on her face, fixing herself up so that her parents wouldn't freak out. After managing to calm herself down, Marcy went back up to their hotel room, smiled, and talked about what she found around Akihabara without mentioning the woman she met, or the encounter she had with those young men.

Morning eventually came, Marcy was in the living room area of the hotel room getting ready to properly look around Akihabara in the daytime but paused when she heard the news.

{Two young men were found murdered in an alleyway near Akihabara.}

WHAT?! Marcy thought.

The young Taiwanese girl bolted out of the bathroom and into the living room. That's when she saw the news report with police carting away two bodies.

{Police inform that the two young men were killed sometime around 20:30 last night. Having been found with their mouths slashed wide open. Both young men were identified as Mizutani Ryushi and Mochizuki Ichiro. These two have multiple counts of assault, intimidation, extortion, and ra–}

Ling Wu turned off the TV before the reporter could finish that sentence. "Marcy, you're not going anywhere here alone. Last night was the last time. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," said Marcy without any hesitation.

After everyone got ready to head down to go about their day, Marcy noticed something on the floor near their door. Marcy walked over to it and saw that it was an envelope. Marcy turned it around and saw that it was addressed to the hotel room they were staying in, along with it was a note that read, "From: Hotel Sakura. This envelop was left at the front desk for Marcy Wu."

Marcy opened the envelope and found a letter.

Dear Marcy-chan, Thank you for giving me a name and treating me like a friend. Please be careful when walking around at night. But if you do, I'll keep you safe. Sincerely, Hatano Saeko

Marcy felt something else attached to the letter. That's when she saw the photos of herself and Saeko from last night. But her body was transparent.