"What the HELL were you thinking!?" Cereza angrily barked as she paced back and forth. She narrowed her eyes at her little sister Claudia as she scolded her. "You're just a kid, you can't book a flight across the world and get yourself wrapped up into trouble like that...!"

Claudia scoffed and rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "I'm an adult, I can make decisions for myself!"

Cereza balked at that snide reply. "You are eighteen, you are hardly an adult!"

"Cereza..." Stephan hesitantly rose his finger up as if that was going to calm down his sister.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Cereza and Claudia both turned to their brother and yelled at him.

Stephan bit his lip and took a step back. "Yep, you got it..."

The three Monami siblings had accompanied the four men with Soryu to a hotel called the Tres Spades. Everyone was hanging out in the lounge of the hotel's penthouse on the top floor as they awkwardly watched the girls argue. Mamoru was irritated by all the shouting as he smoked a cigarette by the window. Baba and Ota both watched this back and forth like a scolded puppy with its tail between its legs. Soryu leaned against the couch Eisuke was sitting on as both men watched this argument unfold with a neutral expression.

"How could you be so stupid?" Cereza threw her arms out to her sides, absolutely flabbergasted. "That was such an obvious trap, and you should not have fallen for it!"

Claudia angrily gritted her teeth as she crossed her arms over her chest tightly. "Oh, well I'm sorry for being the only one who still cares about finding our parents..."

Cereza narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line. "You think I don't care?" She dangerously stepped closer to her sister, channeling a malevolent aura. "Of course, I care, but Claudia... it's been ten years. They're not coming back. You have to just accept it..." She shook her head in disbelief. "They're probably lying dead in a ditch somewhere..."

Claudia balled her hands into fists and threw them down by her sides. "You don't know that...!"

"Don't you think they would have come back by now if they gave a single fuck about us?" Cereza rose her voice angrily.

"Shut up!" Claudia screeched as she got up in her sister's face. "Don't tell me what to think or do!" Tears threatened to roll down her heated face as she barked. "YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!"

"Claudia...!" Cereza gasped in shock as her sister slammed into her and shoved her aside, then made a run for the elevator. She sighed sharply as her sister stormed out of the room, and she pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt herself getting a headache. "Teenagers..."

No one wanted to be the first to say something after an awkward silence fell over the room, so Stephan went ahead and rose to the occasion. "I'll go check on her..."

"Oh, sure. Go after her like the hero you are, and make me look like the bad guy, as always..." Cereza rolled her eyes as she huffed in annoyance.

"She remind you of anyone?" Soryu sauntered over to Cereza, speaking in a low, calm voice.

Cereza bitterly chuckled at his attempt at lightening the mood. "Oh, please, Soryu... you and I know that when I was her age, I was much worse..."

The two shared a quiet laugh with one another before falling into an awkward silence. Soryu stared into her eyes before letting out a heavy exhale. "I looked for you, you know..."

"I know you did..." Cereza frowned. "I had to digitally cover my tracks so you wouldn't find me."

"Why?" Soryu looked at her helplessly. "You know if you were in some sort of trouble, I would have helped you..."

"That's exactly why I had to leave." Cereza looked down at the floor dejectedly, then sighed. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, huh...?"

"Ten years ago, something happened that made me have to vanish off the face of the earth." Cereza folded her hands in her lap as she sat in a chair facing all five men. "It was the day we were going to graduate, Soryu..."

"I remember..." He looked down at the ground despondently.

"You two went to school together?" Baba inquisitively spoke.

"Yes, it's how we met." Cereza said, matter of fact.

"I didn't know that." Eisuke widened his eyes in surprise. "I don't ever remember seeing you around..."

"Of course you don't." Cereza glared at him, biting her tongue to contain her sudden hostility.

Eisuke was irritated by her sudden attitude towards him, but he didn't care enough to question it.

"I'm surprised you don't remember, Eisuke." Soryu said with widened eyes. "She and I would hang out all of the time..."

"I don't expect him to possess the ability to care about anyone but himself." Cereza shot him a sideways glance as she held herself back.

Soryu was alarmed by how hostile she was towards Eisuke. She didn't have much interaction with his roommate when they were all in school together, so he couldn't imagine why she openly hated him so much. He didn't remember Cereza ever having a problem with Eisuke when they were younger, so it must've been something that happened afterwards. Though, knowing how cruel and an arrogant jerk Eisuke was, he wasn't surprised that he had somehow made an enemy out of Cereza.

Baba bit his lip awkwardly as a result of the tension in the room. "So, what happened?"

Cereza looked to be a million miles away as she stared off at an empty corner of the room. "I had gone home early before the graduation ceremony, and I found the front door wide open." She grew quiet as she recalled the events of that day. "The house had been trashed... picture frames were broken on the floor, tables and chairs knocked over, broken glass everywhere..." Her eyes grew dark all of a sudden. "Blood streaked across the ground..."

Soryu widened his eyes in shock. "I never knew that... what happened?"

"I still don't know." Cereza met his worried gaze. "There was no sign of my parents anywhere when I searched the house. I figured something in their past must have caught up to them finally..."

"Right... your parents were con artists too." Soryu mused aloud.

"Yeah... the best." Cereza sighed. "With all of the high profile, dangerous jobs they had pulled over the years, there was no end to their list of enemies... but they were always good about covering their tracks to keep us safe." All traces of emotion suddenly drained from her face. "Except that time..."

Soryu frowned as he felt just how sad he was. He hated making her talk about it like this, but he needed to know. "So... why did you run?"

"We were being followed." Cereza stared off at nothing in particular as she droned that sentence. "Multiple black cars filled with scary-looking guys were following me everywhere, so I did what I had to..." She turned away from Soryu and hung her head in shame. "I picked my eight-year-old sister up from school early and took her to my brother's work, and then... we ran. And never looked back."

"Cereza, I would've..." Soryu began to say.

"I know, but I didn't want to get you involved." She cut him off quickly as she met his somber eyes. "It was my mess, and I wasn't about to drag you into it." She looked away from him and quietly spoke. "Besides, I knew you were trying to distance yourself from your mafia family, so I thought it would be best to disappear... rather than get you involved in my own illegal matters."

"Yeah, that dream didn't exactly last..." Soryu bitterly chuckled as he eyed the gun strapped to his waist.

Cereza lightly chuckled with a bittersweet look on her face. "Yeah, I can see that." She sighed. "Looks like both of us wanted nothing to do with our family businesses, and yet we somehow got dragged into it anyway..."

"It looks that way." Soryu frowned.

"So, what now?" Ota looked up at the mysterious girl sitting across from him. "What will you do?"

"What a great question..." Cereza trailed off as she became lost in thought. "I suppose... go back home to London. Get Claudia into a university, and set her up with as normal of a life as possible..."

Soryu rose an eyebrow in confusion. "She's not a part of the family business?"

Cereza's eyes darted over to Soryu as she gave him a deadly serious look. "No, and she never will be." She sighed and looked away from him. "As long as I can help it, that is..."

Baba tilted his head out of curiosity. "But... from my understanding, both you and your brother became con artists, so why not let your little sister work with you guys?"

Cereza gave him a cold, dead stare. "Because it's not too late for her, unlike us. Once you walk this dark path, there's no coming back from it."

Soryu frowned as he exhaled sharply. "Imagine trying to live a normal life and suddenly give up being a thief, Baba."

Baba scoffed incredulously. "Oh, I could never do that."

"Exactly." Cereza nodded. "Which is why I'm keeping my sister out of this, no matter the cost."

The question that had been plaguing Soryu's mind suddenly escaped from his lips. "So... will this be the last time I see you again?"

Cereza slumped her shoulders as she gave him a worried smile. "No... I don't see a point in keeping my distance from you anymore. You probably have more trouble following you than me these days."

Soryu let out a dark chuckle as he thought on those words. "You have no idea..."

Baba pressed his lips into a thin line before suddenly bursting out, "I still can't believe our Sor has a friend, and it's a woman."

"Took the words right outta my mouth." Mamoru smirked wryly.

"It certainly is interesting." Eisuke flashed his friend a devilishly looking grin. "Could be a fun thing to mess with him about later."

Cereza giggled as she looked at Soryu giving Eisuke a death glare. "What, don't tell me you never got over your awkward phase with women?"

"Awkward phase...?" Ota snickered at that remark.

Baba couldn't help but laugh. "Sor NEVER hangs around women. Ever. Says they're too smelly and annoying."

Cereza snickered as she looked up at her mortified friend who had suddenly been put on the spot. "Is that so...? Then what about me, huh?"

Soryu stared at the floor and mumbled. "You never bothered me..."

"And that's what makes you so fascinating, Cereza...!" Baba leaned forward with his head in his hands, staring at her dreamily. "A woman Sor actually likes is unheard of, so I personally can't wait to get to know you better..."

Soryu turned to face Baba and placed his hand on the gun strapped to his hip. "Don't even think about it."

"Whaaat...?" Baba cried out incredulously. "I was just flirting a little!"

"Exactly." Soryu deadpanned.

"I'm fine, Soryu. You don't have to protect me." Cereza chuckled. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." She crossed her legs as she smirked up at the mobster wryly.

"So, Cereza..." Baba leaned closer to the hacker with a devilish grin. "What do you say you and I..."

"I could not be any less interested in what you have to say." Cereza deadpanned without moving a single muscle.

As a metaphorical knife was plunged through Baba's heart, Soryu couldn't help but smirk proudly, and Eisuke let out a small, amused chuckle.

"Well, I should be getting home..." Cereza patted her lap and stood up from her chair. "I've got a little sister to ground for the next month, so..."

Soryu shot her a sad look at that statement. "Are you sure you can't stay another night?"

Cereza shifted her weight as she looked at his pitiful face. "...I guess one more night couldn't hurt."