Chapter 23: Late Night Shifts
Tuesday
Rin was surprised at how happy she was to see Emiko at the start of her shift. The blonde had such an easy-going demeanor and contagious smile that Rin found herself actually enjoying her shift. It hadn't been that busy – it was a Tuesday, after all – and Miyuri had been tossing her dirty looks from behind the bar. Emiko's passing whispers such as "She needs to learn how to do her makeup, because she looks ghastly in this lighting" and "I think table seven has been staring at your ass for over a solid minute. Talk about creepy." were the only things that made her shift bearable. She'd even see the blonde flash a funny face in from across the room, sending Rin into a fit of giggles.
Rin had been excited to see the door open and a familiar group of men pour in around eleven o'clock. Guffawing loudly and rowdy as ever, Rin had been waiting for the Niaka gang members to arrive and hurried over, despite the tray of empty drinks balanced precariously in her hand.
"Welcome, gentlemen! Good to see you back again."
Each of the men smiled at her as they passed, one even going so far as to pat her on the waist and toss her a wink. It wasn't until she reached the very end of the procession that she saw him and nearly spilled her entire tray of glasses.
Takashi Yamaken.
He slid between the tables with ease, bringing up the rear of the procession, and passed by her without so much as a glance. In the past week she had been working there, Rin hadn't seen him once and had started to assume that he didn't frequent such an establishment.
A tumult of emotions smashed into her like a wrecking ball, and she was glad there was no one else in the vicinity in need of her services. In all honesty, she was surprised her fists didn't burst into flames at the sight of him. Rin could only imagine what she looked like – standing ramrod straight, her eyes wide as her mind was assaulted with a barrage of memories.
Takashi Yamaken hanging out the side of a van window as he loaded a magazine clip into his handgun as he drove away from the carnage at the train station. Rin recalled the tip of his boot sinking into her rib cage six months later when he and his two lackies had kicked at her frail body beneath the underpass – not because he recognized her, no. It had been purely out of enjoyment. Once again, fate had decided she and Yamaken would meet. She had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he had been looking for a puppy to kick to get off on a power trip. She remembered his smile when she handed him back his wallet, the wheels in her brain already turning as she formulated a plan for his death.
Rin felt as if she had to physically shake herself out of her reverie. Glancing over her shoulder, she managed to catch sight of his dark hair disappearing through the door to the upstairs.
She didn't even have to pretend not to notice the dirty glare Miyuri threw her way; her mind already moving a mile a minute as to how to get herself even closer to the man at the top of her hit list.
Wednesday
Emiko arrived at work the next day; her eyes were already alight at the prospect of sharing whatever bit of gossip she had gleaned. Rin barely had time to squeeze in a 'hey!' before her friend cut her off.
"Did you see the news last night?" The blonde bent her head to the side, running a comb through her hair while glancing back at Rin to see her response.
"The news?" Rin gave her a confused look. "No, why-"
"The Himmelreich crashed!" Emiko burst out, as if this was the biggest news to hit Shizume City. Judging by the appalled look that followed at Rin's lack of reaction, it was. "The Himmelreich? The big giant airship that's been floating above this city since god knows when?"
Rin merely cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh good lord, Aiko. Well, it's this creepy guy who has, like, lived in this blimp forever. I've always thought he was in some creepy cult or something. Anyway, apparently the police tried to board his blimp but one of the helicopters crashed into it! There was this huge explosion! I mean massive. I swear to you, I heard the crash last night and thought that a bomb had gone off in the city!"
Rin sat up a bit straighter, her interest peaked. "Did anyone get hurt?"
"That's the thing," Emiko continued excitedly. "They're not releasing any information. I tried to walk past the area this morning, but they had it all barricaded off. I couldn't even see anything over all the police vans and tape. But don't you think that's strange that they haven't said anything at all to the public?"
"Probably don't want to cause a panic," Rin reasoned, her voice sounding slightly distracted as she contemplated what she had just heard. She had a gut feeling that someone else was in charge of the crime scene, and that person probably was the head of the SCEPTER 4 organization.
Emiko looked as if she were going to say something more, but was interrupted when Takumi's greasy head appeared in the doorway of the changing room.
"Aiko-chan, Miyuri's called in sick with mono. She'll be out for a while so you'll be working upstairs. They're all ready there, so get moving." With that, he disappeared back the way he came.
Rin stood stock still for a moment in silence, turning to Emiko only to see the same expression mirrored on her friend's face.
"Holy shit, Aiko…" Emiko breathed. "You are going to make so much money tonight!"
The busty blonde let out a small squeal as she herded Rin towards the door, giving her a small nudge when they reached the threshold. Rin's stomach felt as if it sank to the floor and her palms were starting to sweat. What if she screwed this up? What if her cover was blown? They might not have recognized her here in the dark on the ground floor, but in the private VIP room? Rin tried to shut her brain down to keep it from imagining the worst. She knew wasn't going to get another chance like this, and she had to make sure she kept her temper in check.
Glancing once more behind her at Emiko, who mouthed the word 'Go' and shooed her towards the door, Rin straightened her shoulders and pulled open the door. It opened into a tiny concrete stairwell lit by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Takumi had finally made her wear the ridiculously high gold heels, and each step seemed to echo inside the tiny room. When she reached the landing of the second floor, the sound of laughter seeped out from beneath the crack near the floor. She could see shadows moving around inside and hear the clink of glasses on the table.
After taking a deep breath and wiping her palms one last time on her spandex shorts, pushed open the door.
A loud gust of noise greeted her, and as her eyes adjusted to the bright light she could see one man standing in the corner with a goofy grin on his face, clearly in the middle of a hilarious story, while the rest of the Niaka members were seated at a long table in the middle of the room. They had clearly already accessed the private bar area that ran along the wall of one side of the room, but Rin could see that their glasses had already been drained of any liquid.
Upon her entrance, a large drunken cheer rose up from the group.
"Aha, there she is! We've been waiting for you to come and serve us!" A lanky man with long dark hair called to her from one end of the table.
"It's our favorite server!" Said the blonde seated next to him, clapping his hands together in delight. It didn't take long for Rin to realize that they must have been drinking a quite a bit before she had arrived. She could practically smell the booze from where she stood.
The man in the corner strode quickly over to her, shutting the door behind her before throwing a well-muscled arm across her shoulders. "What's with sending us the brunette every night? Are we not your favorites?"
Rin forced herself to relax, to forget all thoughts of lighting the entire room on fire that very instant, and tossed them a grin before slipping out from under his arm. "Well, you never asked!" She winked. "Miyuri seemed pretty certain that you guys specifically were asking for her."
A bald man with a nasty scar running from his eye to his temple snorted. "Yeah. How on earth did she interpret 'Send the blonde in the gold bikini'? I swear, the women at these jobs are vicious." He glanced back up at Rin. "You've been getting shafted, doll. We've been asking for you all week."
"I've never met a server so attentive to her guests," A cool voice called from the head of the table, and Rin's blood ran cold at the sound. Slowly, she turned her head to meet Yamaken's amused gaze. His blue eyes sparkled good-humoredly behind his thin, wire-framed glasses, and his dark hair seemed to have grown longer since the last time she had had a good look at him. Rin flexed her fingers, which were twitching from the urge to burst into flames, as she sucked in a deep breath. "The guys tell me you are quite the charmer."
"Sure is," The blonde interrupted, tossing her a brilliantly white smile. Rin was happy he had spoken up. Rin wasn't sure she had her anger and disgust in check just yet. "Always asking how she can be of service or if she can grab us a drink. Speaking of which," He picked up his glass and held it above his head. "Mind grabbing us all another round, sweetheart?"
"Of course," Rin replied breezily, finally composed. She'd done it. He didn't recognize her and she hadn't let her fury blow her cover. "What can I get you, gentlemen?"
"Gentlemen, eh?" The redhead to the left of Yamaken leaned back on his arms, grinning. "Did ya hear that, boys? Classy lady, right here. Certainly knows how to treat her customers well."
The bald man scoffed, "Knows how to get a nice tip is more like it."
"Round of whiskey, neat," Yamaken called over, his voice gentler with her than when he spoke to the rest of the men in the room. "Alright, enough of Hinata's stories. I think we all know how this one will end, anyway…"
"Yeah, like the rest of them. With him fifty dollars short and still sporting a hard-on," The lanky brunette piped up, causing the rest of the men to laugh. Even Hinata, the muscular brunette who had been standing in the corner, gave a chuckle before seating himself at the table. Rin assumed it was some sort of inside joke.
"Alright," Yamaken said sharply when the murmuring persisted, and instantly the table quieted. "We have some things to discuss before the sit down this Saturday."
As she piled the tray of drinks with glasses, Rin watched with amazement as each of the men at the table seemed to sit up straighter. All looked expectantly at Yamaken, whose gaze flicked to Rin for a split second, and she realized they were not going to speak of their business matters in front of her.
Hurrying over, she quickly began placing drinks next to each of the members, internally cringing at the sight of the swirling Niaka insignia tattooed on various parts of their body.
When she reached the redhead, he placed a hand on her wrist to hold her there. "Hey, you look familiar. Have we met?"
Rin's heart dropped. "I don't believe so, sir," She responded smoothly, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking. She had been too drunk at the time when Yamaken and his cronies had happened upon her at the underpass, so she had never been able to pin down who had been with him at the time. Rin sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that this thug wouldn't blow her cover.
Still unconvinced, the redhead pressed, "What's your name?"
"Aiko, sir."
At that, he released her and shooed her away, and relief washed over Rin like a wave. "Nah, never mind. I've only met one other Aiko before and she wasn't nearly as attractive as you are, love."
"Lay off her, Ren," Yamaken chastised as Rin placed the last glass near his wrist. "Otherwise she won't come back up to serve us anymore."
Rin froze when she felt his hand on the front of her apron pocket. Looking down, she saw a wad of bills slip into her pouch.
"Thank you, sir," She whispered, trying to keep the bite out of the last word.
Yamaken leaned close, his voice low, "We'll be fine for the next hour or so. Go make yourself some extra cash downstairs for a bit." He winked at her once before nodding in the direction of the door, and Rin felt as if she had no choice but to obey. Bowing low, she turned and excused herself.
Once outside the room and in the stairwell, Rin took a deep breath to steady herself. Peeking inside her apron, she nearly fainted at the sight of the crumpled up hundred dollar bills. She had made more money in that small span of time than she had working almost every day last week.
Smirking to herself, Rin cautiously made her way down the stairs towards the ground floor, teetering only slightly in her heels.
This was it. She was in.
Thursday
Rin finished her shift early that night. Niaka left some time near one in the morning, and she had made more than enough money to satisfy Takumi.
"Leave some for the rest of the girls," He said impishly before letting her clock out.
Her walk home seemed rather quiet without Emiko's presence, and she was on full alert for anything out of the ordinary. At the sound of two male voices approaching the corner in front of her, she shouldered her bag a little higher so that she could easily maneuver herself if need be.
Therefore, it caught her by surprise to see Rikio and Misaki round the corner, and she mentally patted herself on the back for completely removing all of her makeup at the club. She didn't want them to even have the slightest inkling about her late night activities.
The two boys paused at the sight of her, unaware that she had been out in that part of town so late.
"Tachibana-san? What are you doing out here?" Rikio asked, confused.
Rin shrugged, trying not to look as if she were a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar. "Nothing, just patrolling. The usual. You?"
The large blonde man shrugged. "Same. We didn't know you switched back to night shifts."
Truthfully, Rin hadn't. She still patrolled with Chitose during the day, but there was no sense in sharing that information now. "Yeah, Dewa was whining too much. The two of them bicker like an old married couple."
Her eyes flickered to the redhead, who looked more than uncomfortable by the situation. "You shouldn't be out here on your own, Tachibana-san," He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck and speaking primarily to the lamppost next to them.
Rin gave him a look.
"What I mean," He clarified. "Is that you can come patrol with us. 'S not as lonely then."
Reaching over, Rin gave his arm a squeeze and smiled softly at him when he met her gaze. "I know, Yata-san. I appreciate the offer, but we'll cover more ground if we split up." When he didn't respond, Rin added, "But I wouldn't mind you walking me home."
The fire Rin knew and loved seemed to ignite once more in his eyes, and he rested his bat across his shoulders. "Tch, as if you need a chaperone," He grinned.
While it remained unspoken, Rin felt they had finally buried the hatchet for good. Even after she had rushed to his side at Ashinaka High School, things had still been a little awkward between the two. Neither one wanted to admit that they were in the wrong, but they both had the feeling that this had gone on long enough. So, in true Rin and Misaki fashion, they just silently agreed to move on.
"Hey, have you visited the Himmelreich site yet?" Rin asked. When Rikio nodded, she added, "I have a feeling the Colorless King is mixed up in that somehow…"
Her two companions grunted, clearly having come to the same conclusion, and after a pause Misaki said, "I wish Mikoto-san were around."
Rin merely hummed in agreement.
They continued on in silence for a while until Rikio suddenly peered at her left shoulder. "What's with the bag, Tachibana-san?"
"Gotta keep my cigarettes somewhere," Rin shrugged, hoping they hadn't noticed her stumble over her words. "It's too long a shift to patrol without them."
The boys accepted her explanation without question, and they continued the rest of the walk back to bar HOMRA in a contented silence.
All except Rin, who felt as if the bikini top buried beneath her cosmetics was burning a hole through her bag.
Friday
Her welcome was similar to the previous night when she entered the VIP room. Rin had already been serving them for over an hour that night, disappearing down to the ground floor only when the bottle of whiskey had emptied and she went to produce a new one.
When she climbed the stairs and pushed open the door, bottle in hand, Rin realized she had walked in during the middle of one of their business discussions. Pausing in the doorway as all eyes locked on her, she quietly murmured an apology to excuse herself and wait outside. It didn't really concern her that she wasn't in the room. Truthfully, she could hear them just fine in the dingy little stairwell.
"Nonsense!" Hinata pushed himself to his feet, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her inside before shutting the door. "Besides, you have the whiskey! You're the most important person here!"
It was obvious the muscular brunette had been drinking far too much, but Rin held her tongue. Takumi had made it clear that Niaka did not have a limit when it came to their alcohol. If they were paying, they'd get what they asked for.
"Hinata…" Yamaken's warning tone seemed to pass over the brunette's head, but Rin's eyes slid to the man seated at the head of the table. His dark blue eyes were cold, clearly unamused by his associate's antics.
The brunette continued on as if he hadn't heard, leading Rin towards the bar so that she could begin pouring drinks. "I tell ya, if an 8% cut doesn't seal the deal with those Yakuza brats, the moment they see Aiko-chan they'll be sold."
A loud thud sounded from the middle of the room as Yamaken slammed his empty glass against the table. Rin kept her eyes lowered; the tension in the room was unmistakable to everyone except the drunken man slung across her shoulders.
"Ah, lighten up," He slurred, and Rin could feel him rest his head against her temple. She closed her eyes in an attempt to hide her outrage. "She can keep a secret, can't ya sweetheart?"
When she opened her eyes her gaze locked with Yamaken's for a split second before she lowered it to the drinks in front of her. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, and nobody at the table risked moving a muscle. Holding up her hands defensively, she murmured, "I'm not even here."
However, Rin could feel the cold, heavy weight of Yamaken's eyes upon the two of them, causing the temperature in the room to feel as if it dropped a few degrees. Was this man next to her so drunk that he would openly disobey his gang's leader to flirt with the cocktail waitress? Even Rin had to admit that was a whole new level of stupid.
Her voice was soft when she spoke again. "Perhaps I should excuse myself, if you are all taken care of for the evening-"
"No," Yamaken cut her off in a hard voice, his eyes still locked on the drunken thug beside her. "Stay. I'll speak with Hinata about this later."
Rin peeked up at him in her peripherals and could see the sloppy smile on Hinata's face begin to slip.
When Yamaken's dark blue eyes landed on her, the hardness hadn't completely left his voice but he smiled gently, "We enjoy your company, Aiko-chan."
For the rest of the evening, Rin busied herself with cleaning dishes and refilling glasses at the private bar, making sure not to make a sound. The sound of Yamaken's cold, detached voice still rang in her ears. Despite his handsome face and smiles, Rin knew the kind of monster that was hidden beneath Takashi Yamaken's cool façade.
And she knew that the moment her shift ended that night Hinata would no longer be smiling quite as often, nor would he ever make the mistake to undermine his boss ever again.
Saturday
As Rin climbed the stairs to the VIP room Saturday night, she was a bit perturbed at the sight of bruised and battered Hinata standing guard outside the door as well as the large number of voices that could be heard from the crack near the floor.
"Hinata-san-"
"You may enter, Aiko-chan." His tone was brusque, and he kept his eyes straight ahead when he spoke. Despite finding him to be an absolute creep, the sight of his swollen eye and lip stirred up a tiny bit of pity in Rin. Yamaken clearly had a few words with him about who made the rules in their organization.
Nodding her head, she knocked once before pushing through the door. It was much more crowded than usual, and Rin felt as if she were walking into a lion's den. The number of men inside the room was shocking, but even more frightening was the knowledge that each of these men were known, violent criminals. Half of the usual Niaka members were seated on one side of the table next to Yamaken, while the other half stood at various posts around the room. Rin had to suppress a gasp when she realized that the other men facing him were from Niaka's rival gang – Yakuza.
Quickly masking her shock, Rin slowly began to walk around the room picking up trays and collecting glasses to take over to the private bar. Eyes followed her movements, and Rin kept her eyes trained on space in front of her, trying not to draw too much attention.
"The usual drinks, Aiko-chan." Yamaken's voice carried over to her, and she nodded without raising her head. With Hinata standing guard outside, she had to make sure she did not blow her cover so that she could hear every word of whatever negotiations were in progress.
As she ducked behind the bar to grab new glasses, Rin listened to the number of voices rise again as the men began to debate. From what she began to gather, it sounded as if the young Yakuza soldiers across the table were displeased with their regional boss and were looking for another source of income. It made sense to her now why she found the Niaka symbol on those Yakuza punks when she had raided the Nihon bar with Misaki, Rikio, and Shouhei. In order not to be shot on sight, they would have had to have proof that they had some protection from Yamaken.
"We're the ones that run the drug trade routes, and we're the ones taking all the risks-"
"Yeah, and Saito-san has been withholding our cuts. No explanation at all!"
Rin straightened, her eyes flicking to Yamaken. His back was turned to her and his voice gave nothing away. "Well, he is the regional boss. He doesn't have to explain anything to you."
As the meeting continued, it was clear these men had been debating abandoning Yakuza for some time, a death sentence if it was discovered. They were looking to Niaka for some form of protection.
"After that incident at the train station last year, Saito's been hanging us out to dry. He won't even pay off the cops when we're held up doing his own dirty work."
"You guys brought that incident at the station on yourselves," Ren growled, and Rin could see the redhead's hand clench into a fist beneath the table. "In case you've forgotten, Takashi-san didn't become regional boss until you killed off Yamamoto."
All of the Niaka members at the table straightened at the sound of their fallen boss's name, and Rin could see the Yakuza members' shrink back slightly at Ren's outburst. Only Yamaken remained still.
Finally, he spoke. "Yakuza had been wanting to claim our trade routes for a while now. You were assigned to kill off Yamamoto and succeeded, therefore, you should not have been surprised when we retaliated at the train station."
The blood in Rin's veins seemed to turn to ice, and she ducked behind the counter once more under the pretense of looking for more glasses while she sucked in a couple deep breaths. She knew the day they were referring too; the day most news sources had referred to as one of the worst gang conflicts in the past decade. She could still see the bodies in the streets and hear the terrified screams of the civilians running in every direction.
Red tinted her vision once more, and with each breath she exhaled through her nose a cloud of steam escaped. She had to control herself. This could not be another repeat of the warehouse. Mikoto was not here to bring her back, and there were simply too many of them for her to survive.
"Your willingness to abandon your crew is despicable. Hardly the type of men I'd like to have work for me," Yamaken continued. "However, two of our moles in Yakuza territory have gone missing and we need information from the inside on their movements. We cannot have Yakuza interfering or our routes will be compromised. We've had enough trouble as it is with outside interference."
"Tch," Ren sneered. "Arson, they called it in the papers. Said it was probably some random teenagers. No warehouse burns that quickly."
The bald man near the end of the table nodded in agreement. "Honda-san had at least eight men with him at the time. Fucking HOMRA was involved, I know it."
Whiskey spilled over the rim of the glass as Rin poured, her hand shaking. This was a precarious situation. It sounded as if nobody knew her involvement, but if this was all a set up or trap of some sort…
Yamaken lit a cigarette and laughed. "I'm not too worried about them at the moment. Although, I have to admit, having the Red Clan on our backs wouldn't be good. The Red King, Mikoto Suoh, is especially temperamental when it comes to drug trades going through his territory. Luckily, we've managed to find away around that."
Rin quietly picked up her tray and began distributing drinks to the men seated at the table. All of the Niaka members nodded at her in appreciation, and she felt hands slip folded up bills into her pocket – buying their drinks and her silence.
"You're running trade through HOMRA territory? How?" The head of the Yakuza group inquired, a frown on his face. "Even with a strain they must have caught wind of it by now. Yakuza had tried that a few years ago with a mole-"
Yamaken tossed him a look as if that was the stupidest question he had ever heard. "Of course we're not using a strain. You think we'd be foolish enough to copycat one of Yakuza's failed attempts?"
"But how-"
Lacing his fingers together, Yamaken leaned forward to keep his voice low and Rin had to strain to hear him. "SCEPTER 4 is not as full of as many morally superior individuals as the Blue King would like to believe. A 20% cut was enough to keep him satisfied. We barely even have to funnel it through HOMRA's territory. Besides, the Red King is on lockdown anyway, and the Red Clan already has enough on their plates. I'm not too concerned."
This seemed to put the Yakuza men at ease. One of them causally threw out, "Yeah, whoever that guy was, he didn't come from Yakuza. Did you guys have a hand in that?"
Ren just looked at him from across the table until the grin slipped from the younger man's face. "You think we would put a hit out on one of HOMRA's veteran members? That would've been the stupidest thing we could do, especially since we want to remain under the radar as long as possible. Honestly, how fucking-"
"Enough," Yamaken cut him off, shaking his head. "I don't envy the guy who took out a red clansman - nobody wants the Red King on their ass – but if it keeps them preoccupied I'm not complaining."
Rin didn't know if she was relieved or not to confirm that neither Yakuza nor Niaka had any hand in Tatara's death. If they had, Rin wasn't sure she would have been able to contain herself any longer, but since they hadn't, that now meant they had one more loose cannon out there to deal with. The Clan had too many distractions to deal with, like Yamaken said, and that meant other criminal activities in their territory were slipping through the cracks.
"That's all we'll be needing tonight, Aiko-chan. You're dismissed. Thank you for your hard work."
Yamaken's voice barely registered in her head as she was too busy processing all that she had heard, but Rin bowed low then left the room, nodding once to Hinata before making her way down the stairs.
There was just too much going on; too many problems that needed to be addressed. Rin suddenly felt strangely overwhelmed by all the problems regarding Niaka and Yakuza that her clansmen had absolutely no idea about. It felt as if she was at the base of a mountain looking up at all she still needed to climb. It was frightening to realize she was facing this alone. A realization struck her that she either had to tell them, lose her cover, and risk losing a chance to take out Yamaken, or try to deal with this just a little longer while they focused on capturing the Colorless King. There was no denying the clan already had their hands full. Could she really just go ahead and dump more problems in their lap?
No.
So despite her head hurting and her mind wishing that Mikoto was by her side, she took a few deep breaths and headed back onto the main floor of the Seventh Heaven club.
Somehow, she would deal with this a little longer.
Author's Note: My grades are going to hate me for doing this, but your reviews are so inspiring. Since the anime is focused on Shiro/Scepter4/Kuroh at this time, I decided to span this chapter over a couple of days to keep the storyline moving along. I hope you all managed to make the connections from previous chapters to figure out what's going on! When Ayami had died, Niaka had shot up the Yakuza for killing off their regional boss and attempting to take over their trade routes. Ayami had been one of the casualties. Now some of the Yakuza members are looking to defect since Niaka is a rising power in Shizume. Yamaken's willing to offer them a job and some protection in return for information inside Yakuza. He wants to make sure Yakuza doesn't harm the set up he has for his routes with the SCEPTER 4 agent, who is keeping them well under the police radar. Next chapter: Mikoto comes home. Thank you all for reading!
Guest: Oh my gosh that is such a compliment! Wow, I do not deserve such words of praise, but thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear you like 'Red'. Don't worry too much about Rin! It's not that she's going to forget her sister; merely that she's finally starting to move on with her life and not let her grief hold her back so much. I really hope you continue to read and review! Such an honor to have such dedicated reviewers. You all are so wonderful.