Aki showed the guardman her pass and walked through the gate. She had to change her outfit to

a hot pink bikini with daisies on it. Childish, yet slutty.

"Be careful. If anything goes wrong, give the signal." Ran had told her earlier. They had decided

for the signal, she would whistle, wink, then wiggle her fingers.

Aki chose a spot in the sun. She laid her towel down and sat on it. Stopping to survey her

surroundings, she saw no sign of Shiko.

"Hello there." An all-too-familiar voice said behind her, startling her. She turned around and

looked up. Woah, he's grown. Not lanky, but muscular, now. His hair's longer, but that face

hasn't changed a bit.

"Hi!" she replied, cheerfully acting.

"Need a buddy?" Aki gestured for him to sit. "My name's Niko. Yours?"

So, he's using a false name.

"Aki K...Fujimiya." She smiled sweetly at him. They continued their small talk as Ran stalked

about the outside premises. He got to a point where he could look out of the bushes and have a

clear view of Aki. He grimaced when he saw the man sitting next to her. He stared longingly at

her. How can she act so casually next to the guy who brutally raped her several times?! I'd go

crazy and kill him with my bare hands right now for what he did to my Aki. I'm not sure if I can

wait for the signal, but Aki'd be mad at me. I couldn't endure that. I almost had a heart attack

when I thought I got soap in her eyes. And that's just a petty thing. Ran snapped back to

himself when he spotted Aki and him get up. Aki looked around and nodded to nowhere in

particular. She then followed Shiko out the gate.

"I once knew a girl named Aki, four years ago. How old are you?" he asked her when they

arrived at his car.

"Se...sixteen." She replied timidly.

"Ah, she'd be seventeen or eighteen by now. And she had a different last name."

"Yeah, well, I've had this name a while." They got into his car and drove to his house. Ran

followed in his car, keeping at least two cars in between them. Shiko turned into a driveway and

Ran drove past, stopping at the end of the street.