As she flushed the former contents of her stomach down the toilet and straightened up, Nanami took a few moments to compose herself. She exited the stall, washed her hands and face and reapplied her pale pink lipstick.

Watching the figure in the mirror smooth the pink lipstick to perfection was surreal. She felt like she was watching someone else perform such a normal task.

It wasn't fair for them to do this to her. It wasn't fair to fling everything she hated about her old life in her face. Manx had said she could be assigned to a non-lethal unit, but Nanami knew better than to believe her. She wasn't the greatest of assassins, but she still held the title and had worked with a group for years. Her knowledge of all things sharp and pointy was extensive and that made her valuable.

Manx was waiting for her outside the bathroom. "Would you prefer to discuss this somewhere else?"

"No." There was no point in moving this discussion. She followed the older woman back to their corner of the library. "What if I refuse?"

Manx arched a perfectly tweezed eyebrow. "We can't force you to accept this. But we can offer you compensation."

She scowled. "Masafumi-Papa left me plenty of money."

A nod. "We can offer you other types of compensation. Do you know what happened to your mother?"

Nanami froze. "How…"

"She was arrested in Kyoto on charges of prostitution and possession of marijuana."

It took a moment for Nanami to digest this information. Her mother had disappeared when she was five. True, she had sometimes wondered about the woman but she hadn't given her much thought. Hibino Keiko was just a woman who had abandoned her daughter, nothing more.

"We could knock down the charges, convince the judge to go easy on her." Manx went on. "If you work for us."

Nanami felt like crying. Hel was right, these people were cruel.

"Like I said, we could start you off in a non-lethal unit. Kritiker needs people to act as messengers, intelligence, decoys…" Manx trailed off. "I won't say this is good for you, but in the long run it would be beneficial to you and your mother. You could get to know her this way, once she got out."

Nanami felt like throwing up again when she gave her answer. "I'll do it."

Manx had nodded, taken down Nanami's cell phone number and giving her her own. She had told her not to use it unless it was serious and that she would be contacted later. The assignment would be non-lethal. She wouldn't have to kill.

That was the promise anyway. As she walked down the bustling Tokyo street, Nanami felt numb. She barely noticed it when people jostled her or when one of a group of high school girls stepped on her foot. Nothing registered as she slid her ticket in the slot and climbed on the subway. She didn't feel anything when she turned the key in her apartment door and kicked off her shoes.

Only when she entered her bedroom and saw Rabbi-chan perched on her dresser did the tears flow. Stumbling across the room she grabbed her old stuffed toy and clutched it to her chest.

"Ne, Tot, what's wrong?"

"Everything's wrong! Kritiker showed up and they want me to work for them." She sobbed out. It was the first time in over a year since she had spoken to Rabbi-chan.

"You aren't going to, are you?"

"I said yes. I said I would."

Rabbi-chan was silent for a moment. "They killed Masafumi-papa though, didn't they?"

"Yes." She sobbed harder. "But they said…they said they knew where Mama was and they could get her out of jail."

The stuffed rabbit perked up. "That's good then, Tot! Then you can be with Mama!"

She nodded and wiped her eyes. Nanami wasn't sure if she wanted to be with her Mama, but the idea did have merit. She didn't remember Mama as being mean. She put the stuffed rabbit back in its place of honor on her dresser and went to go heat up some ramen for dinner.

Three days later she came home from school to find a letter in an unmarked envelope. It had been slipped under her door. Ripping it open she took out the piece of paper and read it.

Dear Nanami-chan,

I can't stop by today, something came up. I'll see you next Saturday at nine in the morning.

I know it's early but afterwards we can go out for breakfast. But I'll need to stop by the police station first to pick up some paperwork first and see the boss. You can come.

Anyways, I'll let you know what's going on then and I'll call you all the cute nicknames you want!

All my love,

Your Siamese Cat!

Nanami thought it rather odd that her contact considered code names cute and wondered why she would be expected to go to the police station.

Saturday came and she woke up extra early. She ate breakfast, brushed her teeth and had a quick pep-talk with Rabbi-chan. He was in the middle of telling her how grown-up she looked in her new skirt and blouse when the doorbell rang.

It took all her courage to walk down the hall, reach out and turn the knob to open the door.

The man standing in the hallway bowed slightly. "Miss Hibino?" He asked, looking up at her with eyes the color of low burning embers. "I'm Siamese."

Nanami took a deep breath. "I'm…Tot."

Author's notes- Poor Tot/Nanami. All those psychiatrists they made her meet with and she's still sick.

I'm sure you all hate Manx now. But she was just trying to do her job.