Ch. 2

I was throwing back shots with Natsuki in her office. Yes, she had an office now. Four years of paying off Yamada left little money for college and barely acceptable grades did not earn scholarships. Instead, she utilized the only skill she had: information trading. She ran a private investigation office in the city nearby Fuuka Academy.

Most of her cases involved lost pets, but once in a while, she got other ones. Sometimes they required Yamada; sometimes they required me. Hey, it wasn't as if my night life only involved leading guys into dark alleyways. Actually, a lot of information passed through my hands. Most of it I don't share, and some of it comes at a price.

Today my price was that nice scotch she'd been saving up for Shizuru's biannual visit. Mommy and Daddy demanded that proper girl return home right after graduation. They set up admission from some local college for her to attend. I was surprised. Here I thought that she would take off to Tokyo University, because she was amazing. Turned out, she had mediocre grades and class presidents were a dime a dozen. She was brilliant, but lazy. I wonder what she did as class president then.

The two girls were still together. It's a wonder how; I mean - they only saw each other twice a year. The visits only lasted a couple of days. Whatever it was, Natuski didn't really share, so I didn't really ask.

She wanted to know about a minor punk named Ohtsuka. He apparently owed a lot of money to a local gambling parlor. As usual I gave her the necessary information provided to me by some very observant panhandlers. People would be surprised at how much the street dwellers knew. Those guys knew how hide their presence, so people did things in front of them that they wouldn't do in front of their peers.

We were talking now, not like there was anything else to do. My plans for the night got ruined when some idiot decided to shoot a cop three days before. They didn't catch him, so the entire department mobilized to patrol downtown where the crime occurred. Fucker, why couldn't he shoot the bastard somewhere else? Here I was, talking to Natsuki Kuga about cooking.

"I like to put ketchup on pot stickers," she told me.

"I thought you were a mayo girl," I replied. This was lame.

"No, mayonnaise is just a condiment. I may mix it with strange things, but that doesn't mean I put it on everything." She replied. Natsuki was bored, I could tell. She looked out the window with a forlorn expression. What the fuck? I'm not that boring. She was the one who brought up cooking in the first place.

She turned her head towards me, "I really shouldn't have given you that scotch."

"Then you would've lost out on a thousand dollar contract." I replied. Screw the minimum age requirements, they exist because someone out there thought drinking was immoral, but couldn't convince everyone to stop. Instead, the ass convinced everyone to put up an age rule.

"You're right, but if a cop comes in here – you stole it from me." As expected from a private eye. When in doubt, blame someone else.

"Whatever, just don't pin that weapons stash you keep under the floorboards on me." I replied.

She nodded and grinned, and then her lips drew into a line. "That reminds me, Mai told me about your conversation the other day."

I was hoping to forget that; it was part of the reason I lowered the price in favor of some mind numbing alcohol. "Mai's fucking nuts."

Natsuki crossed her arms and sternly looked at me. Why did I suddenly feel like I was getting scolded? "Nao, you really do have a problem."

"What do you care? If it weren't for my problem you wouldn't solve half your cases." I yelled.

"The work I pay you for doesn't involve endangering yourself every night. You need to stop." She slammed her hand on the table, as if she had any authority.

"Fuck you!" I yelled back and left. Natsuki has turned on me too. She had no right to lecture me about safety, especially when she's been dealing with guys like Yamada since junior high. Hypocrite, I didn't need to deal with her.

I wandered the streets for a while. Mai would just lecture me more at home. Mikoto would sit to the side, nodding and grunting in agreement. Stupid brat really needed a mind of her own.

The sky darkened, but remained a brown color. It was cloudy, yet didn't feel like rain weather. The police didn't appear to be patrolling tonight; maybe they got their man. I looked up and contemplated my life. I don't have an addiction. I clean up the streets, make it safer for other girls. Guys who were stupid enough to follow me were weaklings. They took girls, because they were afraid of real women. They teamed up, because they didn't have the courage to face someone alone. I could beat the crap out of them. I could probably kill them if I wanted to, but that would be bothersome. What would I do with the body?

"Hey baby, you lost?" A voice behind me called out, great, another target for tonight.

He almost literally slithered up close to me. Dirty bastard, I could smell his desire from ten feet away. I flashed him a smile and replied, "Why I am, would you be kind enough to lead me back to the main street?"

His face lit up. A sick feeling rose up in the pit of my stomach, but I ignored it. Just wait till we get to a more private area. He calmly took my arm and began leading me toward the warehouse district. Idiot, didn't he know those were patrolled by the hour. I suppose he didn't need an hour, probably not even five minutes to finish up what he planned.

We arrived at an empty aluminum warehouse. I feigned shock as we entered the building. "Hey mister, this isn't a street anymore." My hand began reaching for the knife I kept in my back pocket.

"Don't pull that shit with me bitch!" He yelled. "You don't recognize me?"

This time I really was surprised. Shit, I must have gotten this asshole before.

He pulled out a gun. "You cost me everything!"

I held up my hands and slowly began to walk around him. "It's not my fault you're a pervert."

This just pissed him off more. "Fucking whore," he shouted. "You're the one who lured me!" He fired a shot. It grazed my shoulder.

"Shit," I screamed and grabbed the wound in pain. He smiled and aimed again, but too bad he didn't know much about fighting. Guns were good for distance, but within twelve feet, knives were far more effective. I rushed him and managed to sink my blade into his chest.

He growled in pain, and tried to shoot me point blank. I twisted the blade; he screamed and dropped his gun. Now he just lay there, gurgling blood. I let go when I was sure he stopped breathing and fell backwards. My heart raced from the adrenaline.

I wasn't aware of when the security guards arrived. They must have heard the gunshots. The guy wasn't using a silencer, so it must have been loud. They found me covered in blood, most of it was his. The policemen questioned me for a little bit, but released me to the paramedics without much trouble. I led them to believe my actions were in self defense, and there was no evidence to suspect otherwise. They didn't bother with much of an investigation; the guy lost his job, his wife and his children. No one cared that he was gone.

Everyone visited me at the hospital. Even Midori sent me a get-well card from Uzbekistan, or wherever she was at the moment. I didn't really pay attention to them. I nearly lost my life. Those men are cowards. They didn't have lives outside of hurting girls. That guy, he showed up with a gun; he was angry because he lost everything he cared about.

The third day after the incident I was sitting alone in the dorm room. Mikoto was out on a play date with her brother. My arm was still healing, and the incident left me with a legitimate excuse to skip class. Mai chose that moment to walk in with an arm full of groceries.

I looked over at her trying to juggle the bags. "Mai," I spoke.

"Yes?" She looked irritated that I wasn't going over to help her. A bag of pretzels dropped from the pyramid of food she held.

"You were right, I do have a problem." All the groceries dropped to the floor.