I can't believe it's been five years since I've been on this site. Five years of me procrastinating and not finishing the other stories I 'promised' to finish. I can't finish them now, quite obviously, since I've since lost my train of thought and notes for them. I've also changed as a person, so the stories I began then aren't something I'd do now. I've also formed a habit of writing too much. I originally planned this chapter to be around 10,000 words but it's clocked in at almost 19,000. If horrifyingly long chapters aren't your thing, then voice your opinions and I'll do my best to stick to my 10,000-word limit or simply break the story up into more chapters.

But finally, a story which I've planned from beginning to end, have an idea and direction for. The main reason I never finished my previous stories is that I'd simply write and not think about direction. So, I'd hit a dead end, get writer's block and quit. I don't have that excuse this time. I'm hoping to update every month or so (I'm two weeks ahead of schedule with this one, so second chapter may be out as early as early December), but I do have a part time job and uni as my main priorities so no promises. I used one or two Japanese terms, which I've translated at the bottom. I'm not a fan of inserting random Japanese into English works unless it actually works, so there won't be too much of it.

But enough about me, on to the story. Enjoy.

The・World's・End「世界の終わり」

o n e

The weather was perfect; typical of a mid-summers day. Cloudless skies allowed for one to take in the striking deep blue empyrean and see travel ships tear through the sky. Not even the constant stream of thick black smoke was enough to ruin such a sight. The smoke came from numerous high rise chimneys which sat on top of multiple factories. All produced various products; from foodstuffs to motorised cars, fine garments and cosmetics. It was the central district, the heart of manufacturing in the city. Everything and everyone were produced here, every keen businessman on the lookout for ambitious inventors, designers, scientists, all with their own self-proclaimed brilliant ideas that would 'change the world'.

On the ground level, people rushed about their daily lives. Not one person resembled the other, yet they all looked the same. Women adorning waist-pinching haute couture dresses with high collars that hid their necks and long seems that would gently brush against the concrete pavement. Men bore elaborate top hats, fine suits and newly polished shoes to match. There would be the occasional madman in a white lab coat and thick goggles, testing out their newest invention. One, at Mr Soutsu, was trying out a new jetpack that promised human flight at speeds unimaginable. It was quite the sight to see.

But she couldn't see any of it.

Instead, she listened. She heard as women shrieked and moved away in their high heels sounding like a herd of startled horses. She heard the constant stream of apologies being shouted out by the scientist as he blasted past. She heard a loud crash and a series of groans from the man and an unfortunate bystander who ended up his victim.

For the untrained ear, it would have been difficult to make out all the various distinct noises above the constant roaring of a land cargo truck and the onslaught of traffic that piled up both in front and behind it. But over the years she had managed to train her ears well, she could hear a pin drop among a concert of instruments, or identify the sound of a police officer top toeing towards her. Such skill was needed when she was constantly running away.

Sighing, she rested her head against one of the many fruit and vegetable boxes that surrounded her, trying to fashion a cushion out of it. She and her companions needed some mode of transport to get to the docks, and stowing away with cargo was the only realistic way of getting there in a safe and timely manner. It was far too expensive to take a train to Tokyo Bay, not to mention the fact that they would be turned away due to their ragamuffin appearances. They would have walked it even though it would have taken the entire day and the some to reach there, but it ran the risk of running into police or government officials. They had only barely escaped the last time they tried to walk such a distance. At the Bay, they could at least wash their clothes at the docks, rummage through litter and have a better chance of finding food that wasn't covered in factory worker sweat and grease. Not to mention, it was an escape from being right in the middle of the city. They didn't have money, but it didn't mean that they weren't allowed to at least try to enjoy themselves every occasionally, no matter how rare the occurrence was.

She felt the vehicle stop, and the vibrations come to a halt. There was probably heavy congestion which was to be expected at that time of the week, and at that time of day. 6am on Mondays were what was dubbed as 'The Great Rush', as all companies attempted to get their produce to their respective locations before the official start of the workday at 8am. She had seen this truck before, and by her calculations, they would be at Tokyo Bay by half past seven. Not too bad.

Letting out a little yawn, she turned to her consort. Twins; both with golden blond hair that was cut shabbily but the effort put into it was evident. One of the twins wore a rather oversized white bow to make herself more feminine to compensate for other… areas. Their clothes were, like their hair, shabby but modest; a white and black shirt clearly several sizes too large but worn with the intention of 'growing into them', black shorts and brown shoes with several holes in them. In most situations, they would also wear a large black cape to keep themselves hidden in a crowd, but on this occasion, they sat on them as makeshift cushions. Both were playing rock-paper-scissors and the female twin was clearly winning. They say that the game is pure luck, but there is some skill to the game. Watching her brother's eyes as they counted down with 'rock, paper', then watching his hand movement to predict what sign he'd play for 'scissors', she had him beaten every time, aside from one or two occasions where she left pity for him and let him win.

"Best 30 out of 50!" the boy said, desperation covering his words already starting to shake his fist to start another round. The girl sighed and cupped her hands around his,

"We've played like… a million games this morning alone, Len!" there was a hint of sternness in her town, but also playfulness. She took her hands of her twins and lay them behind her head. She continued; "you've gotta realise you've lost and lose gracefully,"

Annoyed, Len drummed his fingers against the box behind him before turning around to peek to see what was inside. Finding a banana, he turned back around and hit his sister gently with the fruit. With a dejected tone, he spoke;

"How can I lose gracefully when you've been cheating, cheater!" Taking the banana away from his loose grasp, she started to hit him back with equal force.

"I didn't cheat; you just suck at rock-paper-scissors!"

It wasn't before long that it became a battering of bananas and insults as they each tried to prove their point; from how Len, the male twin, looked too feminine to how puberty had failed to make Rin, the female, any older than ten despite them both being fourteen, to how Len couldn't pronounce tsutaerarenakatta* to how Rin would barely read to how Len's mother was a harlot.

Taking the banana back into his grasp once more, Len began to hit her more gently and spoke in between strong laughs; "we share the same mother, idiot! If my mother is a harlot, then so is yours!". Still hitting her, the blonde sat there for a few moments thinking back on what Len said until eventually a delayed look of surprise spread her face. Insulted, she called upon the eldest of the trio who was looking at them from across the truck with a bemused look on her face she failed to hide.

"Miku, make Len stop!"

"Stop what?" the boy replied. He stopped hitting her to peel open the banana and assess the damage to see if it was still edible, or even in one piece under the peel. Miku, the eldest, couldn't resist the giant grin that crept up on her face and attempted to cover it with one of her long teal ponytails. She wanted to tell of Len for being cocky with her sister, and Rin for being so slow despite being sharp-minded in games. Telling off one twin, however, would lead to the other being smug to the point of it being unbearable so instead settled to correct them both.

"You two really shouldn't eat from the crates; we don't wave the driver to know anyone was even in here," she scolded them. Yet, at the same time, she turned behind her, reached into the crate behind her and was pleased to grab a rather large leek that was half the length of her arm. She slowly bit into the vegetable, savouring its taste whilst looking directly at the twine waiting for a response.

Len, for all the time that Miku had known him, had always been quiet (battling his twin being an exception) and was never one to call someone out for doing something. However, the twins were like yin and yang and thus his sister didn't hold back when it came to speaking her mind.

She too crawled towards Len and the banana crate and took two bananas. She spoke to the elder girl as she munched delightfully on the banana;

"You say, as you take the biggest leek in the crate!" The two stared down at each other for a short moment before bursting out laughing, both at Rin's antics and her unintended innuendo. They had been too close to being caught by the police in the last few weeks for Miku's liking, so appreciated this moment of joy. Feeling left out, Len moved closer to Rin and attempted to grab the second banana, to which she slapped his hand away and made some mock dog noises.

"There are my bananas! Get 'yer own!" she snarled, adding a few barks after her sentence. Miku continued to giggle as Len, defeated, went to the crate to a few of his own bananas. Settling down where he originally sat, he raised his banana and declared "breakfast!", a cheer mimed by his twin. The two engaged in mindless babble as Miku once more rested on the crate behind her, eating her leek. The truck had been stationary for a while and wondered when it would start moving again. And, as if her thoughts willed action, the truck roared back to life which caused Len to shiver slightly in slight shock before realising it was only the vehicle. His twin laughed at his action whilst he turned his back to her and continued to eat his self-proclaimed breakfast. It wasn't every day they would be able to enjoy the meal anyway.

It was slightly after half past seven in the morning when the land cargo-truck eventually reached its destination of Tokyo Bay. The area was already filled with various boxes of foodstuffs that were to be delivered to the restaurants which lined up against the main dock, ready to be prepared into lunch and dinner dishes in the coming hours. The main vehicle door swung open and emerging from it was a middle-aged man with prematurely greying hair, however, styled in a fashion which only aged him five years as opposed to twenty. Strongly built, his weight alone made the truck front shake a little as he exited the truck. As soon as he did, he was greeted by a much older woman with a much shorter stature; no taller than 4'11" and silver hair jelled back in a tomboyish fashion that didn't hide her age. Despite that, she dressed lavishly adorning a deep purple corseted dress with a matching floral fan in her hand she used to cool herself with in the morning heat, a miniature top hat which lay on the right side of her head, and elegant high heels which still didn't raise her height above five foot. It was a great contrast to the black tee-shirt and trousers that the man wore, plain in all but a small couriers badge on his chest. The two exchanged small talk as they walked together to the back of the truck to unload the goods.

Upon lifting the back gate of the truck, the pair exchanged looks of shock as they were greeted to a ravaged load. The goods at the far back seemed to be untouched, but the crates of bananas, oranges, leeks and more were looted and what could not be opened with bare hands thrown across the floor. The old woman became visibly angry, smacking the driver with her fan demanding explanation whilst the man offered apology after apology, him too also angry but clearly confused as to how so much had been stolen. There were no foxes, dogs or other wild animals in the area, and he didn't hear anything in the back as he went about his long drive. Perhaps the music he had been playing mixed with the roaring of the vehicle and the traffic around him made it difficult to hear anything in the back. Perhaps some had fallen out? But the gate secure seemed to be untampered with… either way, he was left completely perplexed.

No more than half a mile away, three hooded figured ran carrying boxes full of goods. It had been Rin's idea to take some fruit and vegetables with them "for the road ahead", and although hesitant Miku eventually agreed to the idea. There was so much produce in the truck, and from what they had found when they went around begging or ravaging around in the bins, so much of it would have gone to waste. They would put the food to much better use. The three ran and ran, knowing these roads of the back of their hands and back. To anyone who happened to catch a small glimpse of them, it looked like they were running aimlessly. However, they chose their routes carefully; dark, small alleys, roads with abandoned or underdeveloped houses, high-end areas where the residents wouldn't rise from bed for another hour. All of this was to make sure that they would not be caught by anyone. They ran for what felt like hours, what with the added weight of the boxes and fruit, but was no more than fifteen minutes. Eventually, they came to an alley darker than the rest of them even with the sun shining down from above in the cloudless sky. Here, they walked along the edges towards some rubbish bins, moved them aside and went down a few steps to reveal a small door in which the trio entered.

Lacking a proper, permanent home, the three had created various lodgings around the city where they spent their time to rest or sleep. Tokyo was a mega-city; its size could only be rivalled by the world's commercial hub, London, or Rome in the empirical days. When they first began to live on the streets, they realised that having a singular hideout was tedious when they were at the other end of the city.

The hideout at Tokyo Bay was by far Miku's favourite. They had found it a few years ago when rummaging through rubbish, and were amazed by how large and comparatively lavish it was; it was certainly owned by someone with much wealth and status. The place itself was in and of itself a rather large room, around 20x20 dimension. The walls were uniquely styled with marbled grey and white wallpaper, and furnished with a brown western style sofa close by the door with several holes and patches covering it, two futons in the corner furthest from the entrance (Len and Rin, giving their small bodies, would share one futon whilst Miku would have the other) and not much else. To the ordinary person, such a room with a lack of amenities would have disappointed but the three were smitten with the place, it was enough for them to call 'home'. The eldest girl wishes they could have stayed there and called it home, but they knew staying in one place for too long was dangerous. They had been thieving from other thieves to government officials for ten years exactly in a month's time; more than enough time to become somewhat infamous. 'The Three Musketeers' the police had dubbed them, they had their faces plastered on at least a quarter of shops and establishments across the city. Constantly moving means more places for the police to search; less of a chance of them being caught.

Releasing a big sigh, Rin dropped her box without care and run towards the futon, doing a small leap before landing on top of it. As soon as she landed, she crawled around to wrap herself fully to relish its soft warmth.

"Oh, I've missed this place!" the blonde said, although muffled by the pillow she pushed her face into. Her twin hummed in agreement before going to pick up Rin's box to place next to his own which he had already placed neatly in the empty corner of the room. Miku added her agreement and went to join Len in storing their loot. Sometimes she thought to herself that Rin and Len were born in the wrong bodies; Len was so feminine in his ways, always caring and clearing the way after his sister like a housewife, she, in turn, seemed to want to be the boss and command her brother around. The tealette sometimes wished that Rin would be a little more considerate towards her brother but she couldn't blame her. She barely had a mother and father to raise her to be a proper lady and Miku was a mere child herself when trying to bring up Rin and Len. Given the life they have now, one of the two had to be bold and brash in the face of trouble.

Once everything they had stolen had been put away appropriately, Miku sat down on the sofa and began to plan what had to be done for the day. Looking at the twins wrapped up in the futons, one thought came to dominate her mind. She stood up and walked towards the door, looking expectantly at the twins.

"Clothes," was all she said. The twins immediately understood and sat up to follow.

The journey from their hideout to the docks of the Bay was nothing short of a trek. They had already risen at an early hour to be able to stow away in the cargo truck, and had to quickly sprint from the truck to their hideout, and now the hour circuit to the docks most suitable to wash their clothes and where they wouldn't be seen, which happened to be the docks furthest away from the hideout. By the time they had reached their location, they were completely exhausted. But Miku knew it was best to get everything they wanted to get done over with now; it was the middle of the summer season, and the heat was beating down now more than it would at any point of the year. they had already taken some bread, fruits and vegetables from the truck that would easily last them the week if they rationed well. If they could get through all their errands by the day's end, then perhaps they could spend the rest of the week on some sort of holiday. They were at the Bay after all; they could go swimming, or perhaps lay by the rocks. Things they generally didn't get the time to enjoy. It was risky to stay in one location for too long, but a week couldn't hurt.

The trio had found their way to the docks by around 9am. It was perfect timing for their arrival; the sailors and fishermen had long gone with their ships to take the catch of the day, so the surrounding area was near deserted which made it an ideal location for them to finally wash their clothes. Money was hard to come by, so new clothes only came about when they either outgrew their old ones, for which they would find as much money as possible to get a new outfit, or when they found clothes deserted on the street, for which they'd exchange the newly found one for their old tattered and holed covered pieces. It didn't take long for the clothes to dry after cleaning them; although it was morning, the combined heat of the sun and local building chimneys made the temperature almost unbearable; the summer season was renowned for its scorching days and freezing nights. But they were thankful, for they could get over and done with their main chore just after 10am.

Second order of business was to get some money. They had already managed to acquire some food so the desperate need for money that Miku had the previous night had evaporated as quickly as the water did from her clothes. This was more of a safe keep for now, just in case anything happened. The trio walked around a bit looking for the perfect place to strike when fatigue hit all of them at once. The lack of sleep, the constant movement and the sun punishing them with its heat finally wore them down, making them feel much too weary to continue. Wiping her brow, Miku decided that it would be best to find a secluded place of shade where they could take several moments rest; it would also give her some time to think of where they would steal from.

So, they went to a small square just south of the docks they were previously at and sat underneath a grand oak tree on soft, luscious green grass. The choice was perfect; not only did it provide them with enough protection from the sun and a place to lie down, but the shade the tree provided also acted as a cloak to hide any of their distinctive features. From afar, one would have thought that they were a group of school children taking a break from the sun, not a trio of thieves.

Not much happened for a while, as the place was rather empty. Despite it nearing midday, the shops adjacent to the square were empty save for the clerks that worked there. The shops ranged from jewellery boutiques to a flowery to a bookstore to a store of interior design. Different but the same, all appeared to be rather high-end establishments that only the rich elite could afford to even consider spending money there. In these hot days, these stores would be quiet until the near evening when it was cooler and the rich would go out to spend money and not return home drenched in sweat. Len and Rin began another round of rock-paper-scissors whilst Miku leant against the tree with her eyes closed enjoying the shade. Beginning to feel bored, she began to hum some of the few haiku's she had learnt.

としくれぬかさきてわらじはきながら。(another year is gone, a traveller's shade on my head, straw sandals at my feet – Matsuto Basho)

They kept on like that, until Len stopped abruptly in the middle of their game, noticing a fine-dressed gentleman head towards one of the liquor stores. Nudging his sister with his elbow, he whispered "hey, check out that guy over there,"

Initially confused, the blonde scanned through the various shops trying to find who her brother was referring to until he gently held her head and turned it to look directly at the man in question. She studied him deeply for a while; it was easy to tell what class someone was based on how they were dressed. Themselves, in their tattered clothes and rough hair, were part of the underclass, the lowest of the low. At the top, business people, government officials, old money and the like. They adorned fine expensive clothes with materials gathered from distant lands such as Peru and India, standing tall and proud. She initially thought of him to be a government official or police general, but then backtracked. She knew their uniform by memory; both jet black with a high collar, white stripes on the left arm and a gold badge on the breast with either the police or government emblem etched onto it.

The man's' outfit didn't resemble either, nor did it a marshal, nor a member of the task force. The suit he wore was jet black, akin to that of the government, but the similarities began and ended there. His tailcoat was far longer than that of the government's uniform, stretching far past his bosom to reach his ankles with the top buttons of the suit opened to reveal a crystal white blouse which reached high, covering his neck and touching his chin almost. The cuffs of his coat were a rich purple, as were his gloves and top hat. He wore matching trousers and shoes to complete his look, appearing both flashy and modest at the same time. A locket graced his neck with an intricate design, but Rin couldn't distinguish it from the distance they were at. She pouted and began to stroke her chin, facing her brother again.

"I want to say that he's a government official, but his outfit looks off…" she trailed off with a question-like tone, hoping Miku or her brother could provide some insight. If it were indeed someone from the government, they would have to move away from him in case he managed to notice them through the thick shade. Len turned and squinted, trying to make out more of the man. Failing to do so, he crawled towards Miku and nudged her a little, waking her up from her discontentment. Explaining the situation to her, Miku made her way towards where the twins were sitting to have a try. At this point, the man was inside the liquor store and a good several hundred yards in front of her, but Miku still managed to make him out as if he were right in front of her. The last time she took an eye test, albeit ten years ago, the ophthalmologist was astonished by her perfect 20:20 vision. She shook her head and lay back against the rough oak.

"Certainly no one from the government, unless they decided that they needed a wardrobe update," she said with a small grin. There was no danger in being close to him. In fact, she was sure that she had never seen the man before. Miku enjoyed keeping mental tabs on persons of note she came across, but her records failed to identify someone as unique as him; blue hair that swept across his face like an ocean with dazzling blue eyes to match, skin to pale that sun rays danced on his skin, as if he were glowing, and a razor-sharp jaw (and a sharp dress sense to match). He was, by all accounts, very handsome. There was no way that Miku would forget such a person. He very well may be a recruit, but nevertheless, her grin widened.

"He is pretty, though," she sighed, sinking deeper into the grass and staring into the sky. She expected Rin to voice agreement but was surprised to hear Len's voice instead.

"Yeah, he does look sort of nice…" he agreed. Not even a millisecond after speaking, his twin burst out laughing.

"Sort of nice?! Sort of?! He could be one those models for all we know and he's only sort of nice?!" she covered her mouth in a failed attempt to ease down her laughing fit. Knowing she wouldn't be able to stop anytime soon, she continued, "you could only wish to be as handsome as him, Len!"

The boy looked somewhat offended but didn't oppose her. She was right; the man in the shop was a god compared to Len in terms of appearances. It was not that the blond was ugly or odd-looking, but he had always felt that his appearance was more feminine than he cared for, that at times people would mistake him for a young girl rather than a fourteen-year-old boy he was. It was something that had always irked him, but Miku always reassured him that puberty could always start late and it wouldn't be long before he blossomed into a strapping young lad struggling to fight away his admirers.

He looked again at the man, observing what features he could make out thinking about how he would look when puberty finally arrived. His attention was soon moved away from staring at the blue-haired man's prominent cheekbones to the sack that he pulled out of his bag. Len's eyes widened instantly; he could make out faintly the etchings of gold and copper coins even from this distance. Clearly, he wasn't alone in this observation as he heard his sister ponder aloud, "I wonder how much is inside that thing…"

"That's got to be at least four-hundred-thousand Yen, assuming there's also notes among the coins," Miku contributed. And proven right, the man pulled out a stack of notes and began counting them for the merchant in front of him; a look of glee formed on the faces of both the merchant and the trio under the tree. Rin became more excited, producing an estimation of her own,

"I bet they're at least one million Yen in there!" she proudly proclaimed. Len burst out laughing, to which his sister playfully shoved him. The blond played along, acting as if the light shove were instead one of brute force to which he could not withstand and theatrically fell and lay on the grass. Soon, all three were laughing at the antics of the twins. Rin offered a hand up to her brother, of which he graciously took and ran fingers through his hair to ensure that there was no insects or leaves stuck. Once done, he assumed a crawling position and stared hard at the sack before coming to his own guess.

"I want to say two-hundred-thousand Yen. Miku may be right, but the sack isn't very large to start with, but it does seem to be filled to the brim, and they beyond that. So, I say three-hundred-thousand Yen," his seemingly expert analysis gained the approval of both girls who nodded in agreement. Satisfied, he let his limbs loosen as he plopped onto the grass. He turned as so he looked directly at the sky and thought out loud, "jeez, imagine what someone could do with that amount of money…"

"… other than buy booze," Rin followed up, earning the laughs from her companions.

"Quality snark, Rin" Miku commented.

"It's what I do best," the blonde responded with a large grin. She too began to ponder about what she could do with such money. She had never had more than a few thousand Yen on hand at one time, so the thought of money in the hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions boggled her mind. She could get new clothes like the ones she saw the elite girls her age wear, or perhaps a motorised car. She could buy a home for herself, Len and Miku to live in like they did as infants. Or perhaps see a play and dine at a fancy restaurant, or finally go to the newly opened amusement park downtown. All these ideas floated about in her mind, her desire for such things becoming stronger. A chance was here, and she didn't want to deny herself.

She stood up, suddenly, startling the two who lay beside her.

"I'm going to steal that sack!" she declared! The blond and tealette simply stared at her. They didn't disapprove of her idea, in fact, both also shared the idea of taking the bag of money. But the shop was a fair distance from them. The man who owned the sack certainly wasn't someone to be fooled with; if they thought that the truck driver from earlier in the day was strong, then the blue-haired man was a completely different level. Even from the square and through his suit they could make out his large biceps and muscles. There was no way such a heist could be done without getting caught.

Rin felt a slight tug on her shorts, and she looked down to see the eldest girl looking at her with pleading eyes. Miku didn't speak immediately, instead pondered and thought through her words, and her own ideas. On one hand, she too wanted to help take the sack. Such money could allow them to move to a different city, start on a fresh note instead of constantly running away from everyone. Yet, she couldn't risk the twins being caught. She couldn't stand the thought of them being in jail. They were only fourteen, still so young. Granted she was only five years younger, she could at least take care of herself in such a situation. Len was so gentle that she feared for him, and Rin, as strong headed as she was, wasn't very strong physically. Eventually, she found her words, but as she started another voice cut in.

"Rin, I think we-"

"I'm going to get the sack," said a deeper but still gentle voice. Both girls looked towards the boy and Rin burst out laughing for the umpteenth time that morning.

"You? Get the sack? Len, I love you, but you're such a pansy! As soon as you got near the man you'd probably wet yourself or something!" she fell back down on the grass and continued laughing. Usually, Len would back away after Rin said such things, but today it only urged him on. All three had a reason to get their hands on that money, but Len it wasn't for what was inside, but for what it signified. He was never forward in stealing, always acting as a lookout or taking minor things such as bread from a bakery or a wallet from a disengaged business man's back pocket.

Never had he done something as forward as this. So, it led his twin to constantly tease him, how he could never survive without her. Miku would always quiet the blonde and tell him that she's only joking but he always saw worry in the elder girl's eye whenever she looked at him as if he were a poor pup who constantly needed to be looked after. No longer would Miku look at him with worry but instead with daring and proud eyes, not afraid to put him first when it came to working.

He stood, and slowly made his way towards the liquor shop, trying to remember all the techniques Miku and Rin would use when they would do something like this. Behind him, Rin stopped laughing and looked at him with deadpan eyes. Miku sat up and played with one of her long ponytails; something she always did when she was nervous.

The blonde never took her eyes of her twin, but spoke directly to Miku, "he's a dead man walking, Miku. Dead. Man. Walking."

"We'll… we'll help when he gets noticed," was Miku's quiet reply. She cared for and loved Len dearly, but she knew this was bound to fail. She just hoped that they'd be able to get away without being caught.

Len made his way to the front of the shop. He was relieved to find the door was still open; at least he could go inside without either two noticing him much. He stood next to the door and made out as if he were eyeing the liquors he would purchase. Slyly, he darted his eyes towards the two men inside; they were both laughing as the shopkeeper rummaged around for a bottle of rum the blue-haired man was after. Kyoto Ryoma was by far his favourite, and this shop was the only one in the area that managed to stock it. He had finished his supply early, so the shop keeper was surprised by him making his visit earlier than usual. Thus, it took much more time to find another bottle.

The sack of money sat on the till right, closer to the shop door than it was to him. Len concluded that the man didn't believe anyone would be stupid enough to try to steal it that he could leave it more than arm's length away from his person.

I guess I am stupid enough to steal it.

Taking a quick glance behind him, he made out the shadowy figures of Miku and Rin watching him. He couldn't make out their faces nor expressions, but it was at good enough that they couldn't be seen.

He inhaled a sharp breath and calmly walked into the shop.

"Good mornin', kid!" the shopkeeper noticed as Len walked in and it took the blond by surprise. For a moment, he thought that Rin was right. He'd be overcome with surprise that he'd run right out of the shop, only for Rin to ridicule him some more. Instead, he composed himself and returned the greeting back to the shopkeeper,

"Morning," was all he could manage out. It was good enough, however, as the shop keep didn't even pay the blond any more attention and went back to look for the rum. He dipped his hands into one of the various pockets of his suit-vest to find a key and opened a case behind him. "I know I had a bottle in here somewhere, I just need to remember where…" he mumbled more to himself than to his customer. A melodic laugh sang from the blue-haired man as he ran long fingers through his mane.

"No rush, Hiro, no rush at all. Take your time, I don't want to end up with some disgusting raspberry rum again!" he laughed afresh, to be joined by the shop keep laughing also. The two were engaged in conversation that Len didn't quite understand, but that didn't matter. Both were suitably distracted that Len managed to move himself to be half an arm's length away from the sack. He eyed the various wines in the case in front of him and the beers in the case bolted against the wall behind it, then quickly to the pair who were still engaged in tête-à-tête.

Len's fingers tingled, his heart raced. His mouth went completely dry as he readied himself. This is it, he thought. This is your chance. He counted town from ten in his head, and at one, he'd grab the bag and run towards Rin and Miku. They'd take their secret route back to their hideout and Len would be brandished a hero. To try and stop his hands from shaking, he placed them on the glass till warm from the heat of the sun. unfortunately, it didn't do much as he found himself tapping his fingers against the glass. He held his eyes shut tight and began his countdown.

Ten. Nine.

"A-ha! Our quest has come to an end, my dear Kaito. One premium Kyoto Ryoma, just for you," the shopkeeper declared, soundly satisfied.

Len began to panic slightly but continued with his countdown.

Eight. Seven. Six.

"Good stuff, Hiro. How much will that be?" the blue-haired man, Kaito, asked the keeper.

More panic began to set in. the countdown was meant to help him remain calm so he could steal the bag with ease, not make him as tense and stiff as a brick wall. Still, he kept on with the countdown.

Five. Four. Three.

"For you, my dear friend, only five-thousand Yen," Kaito looked through the small stack of money he held and realised that it wasn't enough to pay for the bottle.

"Shoot, just let me get some more for you," he said calmly as be began to turn towards his money sack. Len bit his lip as his countdown came to an end. He hoped that luck was on his side and that God looked favourably on him today; he needed everything he had for this.

Two.

Kaito started to step casually towards his sack, finally noticing the blond looking somewhat constipated. He didn't think children so young would be so interested in alcohol, but each to their own. As he raised his hand to get the sack, he heard the blond shout ONE, grab the bag and dash right out of the shop. His reflexes were usually inhumanly fast, but the act took him by surprised that by the time he acknowledged what had happened, the boy was already half way across to the square opposite the shop, near the big oak tree.

As quick as lightening, he shouted at the boy and began to chase him outside the store. They left inside Hiro, the shop keep, and a bottle of rum he had spent a good ten minutes to find.

"I guess… I'll leave this here for him when he gets back," he mumbled as he placed the rum on the counter, more annoyed with his lack of sale than his customer being robbed.

Len's heart was racing faster than it had ever before. He had done it. He had stolen the sack of money from the suited man. He partly wanted to shout and rejoice, but he knew this was only the beginning. Next, he had to get away. In front of him, he saw Miku and Rin run towards him with wide eyes, unable to comprehend how the boy managed to actually take the bag. Behind them, with long strides and angry eyes came the blue-haired man, Kaito, who repeated "thief! Return that bag or my fist will be the last thing you see!"

The adrenaline that had previously filled Len had started to wane and he began to slow down and panic. Wasting no time, she took the bag from Len's hands and threw it to Miku, putting up her and her twin's hoods.

"Take it, I'll take care of Len!" the yelled. The eldest of the three nodded and began to sprint away fast, although not as fast as the man tailing them. Despite being in what appeared to be a physically restricting suit, he ran at an incredible speed and quickly began to close the distance between himself and the trio. No further words were spoken by the three; they had been in such a situation before and knew exactly what to do. The chase led them to what seemed to be a dead end in front and two paths, left and right, became visible. As quick as lightening, Miku turned and took the left alley with the twins going towards the right. Not knowing there were other paths available, as opposed to a dead end where he intended to confront the trio, Kaito stopped at the crossway and turned his head left and right several times, unsure of which route to take. On one hand, he needed to get his money back from the tealette but on the other he wished to inflict pain on the small boy who dared enough to separate him from his money.

He was never good at such decisions under pressure, opting for brute strength and speed over quick wit and intelligence. He decided to go after Miku and his money; he'd find the blond to punish later.

Kaito began to run, long legs carrying him forward with ease. Again, it wasn't long before he was nearly caught up with the eldest girl. He shouted multiple profanities at her, but she didn't even flinch let alone turn around. Instead, she looked at her watch to see if it was midday. Absolutely perfect, she thought. She attempted to increase her speed to keep up the distance between the pair for just a little longer. The alley came to an end and she was met with a busy main road. Smiling, she stopped and waited for him at the edge of the road.

Kaito, looking at her standing there with his money in hand, became confused and enraged. Was this some sort of game the three were playing with him? He would make sure that the game came to an end quickly. He dashed forward at full speed, intending to take down the girl. However, as soon as he was a few meters away from her, she stepped to the side as he rushed past, instead of running full speed into a passing car. His strength and weight pushed the car into another, giving Miku the time she needed.

The man's right shoulder connected directly with the car, sending a wave of pain through it to the rest of his body as that car swerved out of control and hit another car. For anyone else, their shoulder blade would be broken beyond repair, but for him, it was merely a passing inconvenience. He rolled off the car and touched his shoulder, wincing at the pain. The man recovered quickly and stood to observe the wreckage he caused. The young woman in the motor that he had hit was visibly shaken, all colour rinsed away from her skin, her eyes and mouth wide open. If she wasn't dead, it was none of his concern. He turned to look around; not to take in the small crowd that had gathered around the scene, gasping and pointing, but for that teal-haired girl. Miku, however, had slipped away into a cargo truck. She crawled to the far back and stayed quiet to make sure she wouldn't be seen or heard in case he came searching through. She held her breath and waited five minutes.

Nothing came.

Thankful, she exited the truck at the nearest opportunity and ended up not too far away from the hideout. Wasting no time, she rushed back hoping that Len and Rin had already made their way.

Miku came bursting through the entrance, quickly sealing it off. She had been sure that she could shake off the blue-haired man but still didn't leave anything to chance. Turning around, she was glad to see Len and Rin sitting down on the futon, albeit extremely exhausted. Still, she dropped the sack on the ground and went to go lie down with the twins.

The day was so young, yet they had done so much that they were all extremely tired, yet full of energy, particularly Len. Never had they pulled off something such as this that resulted in such a bounty. She hadn't even counted how much they had taken, but that wasn't priority now. Instead, she turned to face the blond and extended her hand. His previously fatigued face turned to one of pride, as she took her hand, and shook it hard.

I did it, he thought as Miku began to sing praise to him; how brave he was, how he didn't falter as much as she feared he could. Even his ever-critical twin said a word or two considering him. I got what I wanted. Content, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to properly rest. He only opened his eyes and came to consciousness once or twice by his count, but didn't pay too much attention.

"Six-hundred-thousand Yen!" he made out during one of his moments of wakefulness.

"What! No way, let me count!" he heard another voice exclaim.

"Count? Can you even count over one-hundred, Rin?" a playful voice rung. He continued to smile and drifted back to sleep as the two girls bickered about the money they had gained.

The following few days were rather uneventful, for the trio's standards anyway. Having more than enough money than they knew what to do with and a mass of food to last them an entire week, Miku declared that week would be a restful one. They managed to sneak their way to the beach to enjoy a day in the sun, scaled up on tall buildings to absorb the breathtakingly beautiful view of Tokyo Bay and the silhouettes of the buildings in the industrial district far to the north.

It was incredibly rare to do such thing… to act like normal children enjoying what was left of childhood, rather than constantly stealing and being hunted down by the police. Thus, all three ensured that they would take the time to rest up and enjoy themselves as much as possible before they moved back up downtown on Sunday evening.

It was Thursday evening now, and Miku had taken it up upon herself to have a walk along the docks of the Bay. The work week was coming to an end, and the docks had quietened significantly from Monday morning as many people had decided to close up shop early or taking the slow day to rest a little in front of their stores instead. The girl rarely, if ever, spent much time by the docks so none of the shop owners knew she was a wanted petty thief. Instead, all they saw was a street urchin and stared at her as she walked past; hoping she wouldn't crawl up to them and beg for money. She wanted Rin and Len to join her on the stroll, but they had slipped away the previous night and had only returned by mid-morning. They seemed to avoid Miku as they entered the hideout, suddenly bringing up a plethora of excuses as to why they had to go to bed immediately once they made eye contact before Miku could even question where they went. Thinking about it, the tealette shook her head and thought nothing of it.

It wasn't unusual for the twins to start some mischief in the middle of the night; at first, when they would leave at such a late hour on their own Miku would be filled with worry as they were so young. But now, she knew it was foolish to worry about the two as they always returned unharmed and without someone threatening to cut their heads off. The probably damaged someone's vehicle and were embarrassed to admit it. She giggled to herself at the thought; Len probably would want to find the owner and apologise whilst Rin would pull him away saying it was stupid to confess to a crime.

Miku absolutely adored the twins; they were more like her younger brother and sister now after living on the streets for much of their lives. The girl put her hands in her pockets and skipped along the docks, revelling in the feeling of happiness and content that rivalled what she would experience before her life changed. Thinking about that money they had gained, she thought that she would treat the twins to some ice-cream, or perhaps a nice meal.

From above, a shadowy figure saw a distant teal dot bouncing up and down, eyeing her carefully. A hand lay on the figure's shoulder; it turned its head and nodded.

"That's her," it hushed. "That's the one."

And in the blink of an eye, they vanished from the tops of the buildings.

The stroll took longer than Miku had expected; she found herself lost in a daydream and by the time she got to the far end of the docks the sun begun to set. She decided to turn around and head back to the hideout; she didn't want the twins wondering why she hadn't returned as she told them she wouldn't be more than an hour or two.

She walked back much faster than she had strolled down, almost at a running pace. It wasn't long before she turned into the alley where the hideout was and was surprised to find the twins outside the entrance playing around with a make-shift football. As soon as the pair noticed Miku, they came up running to her. They were worried about where I was, the eldest thought. She felt guilty, yet happy that the twins would wait around for her.

Rin was the first to reach her, jumping up into her arms. The blond was a small, light girl yet the force of her jump almost made Miku fall back.

"Where have you been?! Len was worried sick about you!" Rin held her tight, afraid that she'd disappear into thin air. Len was a much slower runner than Rin, although still fast. He soon caught up with the two and entered their hug. However, he pouted and started poking his finger at Rin's cheek.

"What do you mean I was worried sick? You thought she was abducted by aliens! I was fine!" the twins released Miku from their grasp and started arguing with one another.

"You? Fine? I'm sure I saw you near tears Len! You were in such a state!"

"I never cry, sis! You, however, were on the verge of a panic attack! You kept going on about how we'd never survive without Miku here!"

The two bickered back and forth whilst Miku simply leant against the wall and listened. The twins would always argue; it was simply part of their nature. There were two ways in which their arguments would end. One, either of them would forget what their original argument was about and talk about what sort of food they'd eat. Or, two…

"Miku!" both blonds shouted in unison, looking pleadingly at the eldest of the three. Two, they'd call upon Miku to be their mediator and try and solve their issues. The tealette laughed, as she always did at the twin's antics, and went to hold them both around the neck in each arm.

"I'm sure you both missed me equally," she said, ruffling both their hairs. It had been a good week, and her spirit was still high. The twins still exchanged petty insults at each other as the eldest girl guided them towards their temporary home.

"Hey… I was thinking that we could go out and get some ice-cream or something before the dessert parlour closes," Miku told the twins as they neared the entrance. Abruptly, the twins ceased their chatter and looked worrying at each other. They hoped that Miku wouldn't notice until Sunday and wished to hide their misdeeds until then. As if they could reach each other's minds, they unilaterally decided to tell Miku now before she found out for herself. Len was the more diplomatic of the twins; he inhaled a large breath and began to speak.

"Miku, yesterday, Rin and I-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a large figure fell from above and landed only centimetres from the trio. Surprised, the three stepped back in panic. No one had ever ambushed they so close to a hideout. Miku thought back and cursed herself; perhaps a government official or police officer had spotted her as she went about her stroll and decided to tail her back. She decided not to don her cloak and was visible to the entire world. Even then, she had taken a particular route home that made it difficult, if not impossible to be followed. And surely she would have heard the footsteps of someone following her. Regardless, her carelessness could cost the three of them their lives; drowning in this revelation she bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed.

She didn't have the time to punish herself mentally now. She needed to escape from what was in front of her. She moved her arms away from draping themselves around the twin's necks to grab their wrists and with a swift, smooth movement turned away from the person now behind them. She didn't have an exact place to hide, but she just needed to get away from her plaintiff.

As soon as they started to run away, however, another equally large figure came down from the rooftops. The trio tried to curve around it, but another figure came crashing down from above.

And another.

And another.

It seemed that an entire army had been summoned to bring down 'The Three Musketeers'. The sun had finally set; without any street lamps, the already dark alley had become pitch black which made it hard to make out who all the people were. By the time Miku heard the last thud, the counted at least twelve persons surrounding her and the twins. Most were large, muscular figures, she assumed men, who stood a good foot or two taller than Miku's average height. Some had might lighter, feminine figures yet looked much more muscular and stronger than the average woman. None held weapons, however, which confused Miku. Usually, when the police went after her, they weren't afraid to make a grandstand play of their various mechanical guns. Perhaps it was a government force instead sent to catch them…

A foreign hand placed itself on Miku's shoulder. She froze upon contact; the touch sending cold shivers throughout her body. She turned her head to try and make out who was touching her. If she were frozen before, she had now been petrified to stone. Miku never forgot a face, and this one was absolutely unforgettable. It may have been dark, but she could still make out those features; the prominent cheekbones, wavy blue hair and deep blue eyes that still shone despite the lack of light. It was, mistakenly and without a doubt, the man they stole money from.

She cursed herself once again; he must have found her as she went about her stroll or during the week somehow. She eyed his clothing again to find he was wearing the same outfit he wore on Monday. She couldn't tell if he was with the government, in a gang or, worse, the Yakuza. All colour drained from her face as he tightened his grip on her. She felt a similarly tight grip around her waist and heard a weak whimper as the twins clung onto her dearly.

She was fearful but also confused. She had not seen the accident that Monday but had heard it well. She heard as the man's body collided with the vehicle, the sound of gasps and cries as onlookers gathered to see the accident. Surely he must have hurt himself seriously enough to warrant wearing at least an arm cast, yet appeared as if nothing happened.

The blue haired man scanned the three thieves before him briefly, then turned to the figure furthest away from them and nodded. The figure returned the nod and moved to the side and made a beckoning signal to what at first appeared to be nothing. Not long after, however, a small faint glow appeared at the end of the alley, becoming brighter and bigger as it came closer. The twins whimpered again and fastened their hold onto Miku. They had heard stories in their early childhood; how when one was close to death a bright light would appear to come to take them away from this world. As the light came closer, a silhouette came into view. Closer and closer it came, Miku could make out the shadow as one belonging to a woman. She appeared slightly taller than the other women surrounding the trio, but not as muscular. Still, there was something about it that made the eldest girl much more fearful than the ones closer to her.

The figures that jumped down to close the three off from running away moved to the side to allow the feminine figure to move close to them. The blue haired man, however, stood still, grip solid on Miku's shoulder. He wanted to replicate the pain he felt as he collided with the vehicle earlier in the week. As the figure moved closer and the light illuminated the area, the Miku was better able to take in the woman's features

Much like the man behind Miku, the woman was nothing short of stunning. Skin as pale and smooth as marble, long pink hair that spiralled far to her waist, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, rosy lips that were curled down into a small scowl and startling blue eyes that appeared to be brighter than the bullseye lantern she wielded in her hand. Her outfit resembled that of the blue-haired man but seemed to be much more elaborate and luxurious. It was odd for a woman to don a suit, yet it made her look more feminine as opposed to more masculine. Like the man, the tail of the suit stretched far down but the cuffs were a pink similar to her hair as opposed to purple. The left the top buttons of the suit open to expose a white blouse which ran from her waist up to her neck. Her knee-high boots were black and thick, the heel being at least five inches which would have been uncomfortable for the ordinary person but she made it seem easy. They caused her steps to echo throughout the otherwise silent alleyway as she continued to come closer to the trio. She adorned an amulet on her neck which bore the roman letters 'L' and 'M'. on her right breast lay a gold and silver insignia which Miku was better able to make out now it was so close to her. It wasn't that of the government; that one resembled a stylised paulownia in a 5-7-5 flower fashion. The one on the woman before her had no imagery, instead held the kanji「世界の終わり. Sekai no Owari, Miku whispered to herself. The World's End. That certainly wasn't a seal that she had seen before.

It probably was a more reclusive branch of government dispatched out to capture them. But why would it send out at least twelve people to catch three children? Did they believe that the trio was highly skilled enough that an entire ensemble was required to bring them down? or thought that there were more than the three of them? What sort of government wing was called 'The World's End' anyway? Whatever reason, Miku was racking her brain, trying to think of a way to get herself and the twins out of the situation. Every idea she had, however, was shot down as she felt the tightening grip of the blue-haired man's hand on her shoulder.

The pink haired woman finally made her way to the group of thieves and held up the lantern close to them so she could fully examine them. Her expression unchanging, the looked first to Kaito, then to Miku, then to Rin and Len who by now had their faces buried into Miku's body, back to Miku, then to Kaito then rested her gaze to Miku. The tealette felt mousy, unable to move or get any words as the taller woman continued to analyse her. Taking in her facial features, to examining the rest of her body, to her neck for what felt an uncomfortable amount of time, and finally making eye contact with her. The pink-haired woman's gaze was sharp and cat-like, which brought a small involuntary yelp and step backwards from Miku who ended up bumping into the man behind her. Not daring to look at him, she heard him snarl at her which caused her to squeeze her eyes shut and stay still, not daring to move forward and bump into the woman in front of her. The twins continued to hold onto Miku for dear life, not looking at either stranger.

The finely dressed woman stared directly at Miku for a few moments longer. A small grin crept upon her face, which quickly spread to a smile, and then to full blown laughter. Her laugh was strong; intimidating yet sweetly melodic like Kaito's. Rin and Len raised their heads to catch a glimpse of the woman laughing in front of her, then looked up to Miku questioningly. The girl returned the look to the twins, not quite sure what was going on. The woman spoke, raising the lantern dangerously close to Len's face, causing him to cower away as far as he could before bumping into one of the figures standing behind him.

"Kaito, oh, Kaito!" she said through laughter, struggling to string together a coherent sentence through her laughing fit. "So, this is them? What… oh, what was it…?" she said, although it seemed she was talking to herself asking the question. She retracted her hand holding the lantern and swing it around dangerously as she took a moment to think. "These… They are the 'incredulous bastards' who bested you out of your money? Why I don't think that one is older than ten!" she pointed at Rin and continued laughing. Both the blond and Kaito were visibly annoyed; only that the man took his anger by further squeezing Miku's shoulder. Tears started to well in her eyes; she bit her lip and she tried to bear the pain. She turned her head again to look at the blue haired man, then back to the woman in front of them.

Kaito tripped over his words a little, trying to form something of an explanation to defend himself.

"These are the three I told you off! These… bastards, they managed to outmanoeuvre me and ran off with my money!" he said, anger dripping off each one of his words. He released his emotions by further squeezing Miku's shoulders harder; sharp fingernails digging deep into her skin. She couldn't take the pain anymore and let out a harsh yowl, her vision blurred with tears. The woman in front of her became nothing more than a pink blur.

"Stop hurting the poor girl, Kaito," the woman commanded. He grumbled at first, trying to combat her demand.

"Poor girl? This thief deserves all this pain, and more!"

"I said let her go," the pink-haired woman repeated, calm but with a much more threatening tone. Kaito grumbled for a moment, then released Miku from his grasp. His hold on her was so strong that the girl fell to her knees from the sudden lack of support and rubbed her shoulder to ease the pain. Rin, brought down with her but cushioned by the elder girl, came closer to her to assess the damage; the man had dug deep into her flesh that there were five small mounds where fingernails penetrated skin, a dark red colour with obvious bruising, however, there was no blood. Rin rubbed the bruises to try and ease the pain. Len, previously standing in the background, came forward to also make sure the tealette was okay; meanwhile, Kaito continued to grumble and stepped backwards to merge with the other shadowy figured which surrounded them.

The pinkette before here eventually ceases laughing and went back to staring at Miku. She could shift emotions quite quickly it seemed. Choking silence fell upon the alley; other than Kaito and the pink haired woman, none of the other figures seemed to say anything, or move at all. They were like bricks, assembled together in a circle to ensure that the three perpetrators didn't escape. Closing her eyes and releasing a sigh, the woman stepped forward and brushed Rin's hand away from Miku's shoulder, replacing it with her own. The blonde looked at the woman with an offended but fearful expression. Miku winced at the touch but soon relaxed. The pains seemed to subside as the woman caressed the area with gentle, cold fingers. The girl was thankful, yet confused. She knew that she and the twins were in trouble, but why was this woman acting so kindly towards her? Why did she need to bring an entire entourage when three, or even the woman and Kaito alone, would be sufficient in bringing in the trio? So many questions she wanted to ask, but she decided it best to remain silent and wait for the woman to speak again. She didn't have to wait long for that to happen.

"I'm sorry for my companion, he angers easily you see," the pink-haired woman began to explain. "He doesn't enjoy to be toyed with, or to have his goods stolen," her voice was like honey; sickeningly sweet, yet so authoritative. Carrying on stroking Miku's shoulder she continued, "which is why we came here, to you," her expression was calm and composed. It was clear that she had done this a dozen times over. Perhaps she had practised this? Meanwhile, Len had been in thought, thinking about the situation unravelling. He had seen the blue-haired man… Kaito, his name was. He had seen him in a similar outfit to the woman's, yet it was like nothing he had ever seen before. As he did to mentally prepare himself for situations like this, he closed his eyes, took a breath and counted down from ten. When he reached one, he blurted out,

"Are you from the government?"

All eyes turned to him.

Miku was surprised; usually, it would be Rin who'd be the one so forward with asking questions. Said blonde was currently clinging onto Miku like a wet kitten. Still, having all the attention turned on Len made him increasingly nervous and he felt the need to further explain his question,

"I mean, I've seen some officials, government ones, in the past, but they don't have your type of suit… I mean, erm… uniform… outfit… So, I just… just wanted to know, you know, from where…" he trailed out, mentally beating himself for asking such a question. He should have waited for Rin to ask; she always knew how to do such things better than him. He fumbled around with the hem of his shorts and kept his eyes down, too embarrassed to look at the woman directly in the eyes. Miku sighed empathetically at him. She knew how easily worked up Len would get in such a situation. It didn't seem a big deal to anyone else in the alley, but to him, it felt like he been asked a Million-Yen question and gave the most idiotic answer possible.

The tall woman cocked her head to one side and curled her lips into a smirk.

"The government wants us burnt alive! How we'd work for them, only God would know!" she kept smirking, one hand holding the lantern down so there was still light for them to see, the other hand still resting on Miku's shoulder. The pain had since gone, but she kept her hand on it. Miku didn't dare ask her to remove the hand; she still didn't know what sort of person this was. But she somewhat enjoyed the feeling of the woman's hand on her. She was both hot and cold, soft and hard. It gave her a unique feeling that she wasn't ready to depart from just yet. Instead, she listened to the exchange between the blond and the woman.

Len kept his head down, cheeks burning red. He hated himself for being, as Rin described him, a pansy. He couldn't even answer a simple question without tripping over his own feet and embarrass himself. Head down, he raised his eyes slightly so he could have a glimpse of the woman's face, yet not actually look at her directly in the eyes. He mumbled a few things, mostly intelligible, other than "oh, I see,"

A loud boom was heard from behind. All eyes turned from Len to the source of the sound. The boy sighed relief, thankful that he was no longer the centre of attention. Instead, everyone was engrossed with Kaito, who had punched the wall hard enough to produce a sound that rivalled thunder. He spoke with obvious annoyance and anger,

"Get on with it, Luka!" he demanded, punching the wall again, producing another thunder clap. A small dent was made in the brick wall, yet there was no sign of injury on his knuckles.

Luka, Miku thought. She could put a name to the face now, at least for the purposes of avoiding her once they managed to get out of this mess. The pinkette, Luka, turned from Kaito to look at the dark sky, then back to Miku and her companions. She let out a gentle sigh that sounded like someone practising their pitches before singing and extended the arm holding the bullseye lantern to one of the still veiled figures. One came forward and for a brief moment was illuminated by light. She stood out from the others; she was barely taller than Miku and appeared to be of similar age also. Her green hair was an organised mess, with goggles resting on top of her head. She dressed differently from Luka and Kaito, instead of a suit and blouse, she opted for green pin-ups with a sleeveless black shirt underneath, black tights and small two inch heels. Her eyes, however, were as brilliant as the Luka's and Kaito's, her skin just as pale. She came forward and held the lantern for Luka as the taller woman folded her arms, releasing Miku's shoulder from her touch. The teal-haired girl suddenly felt a cold chill where Luka's hand rested. The tall woman began to walk, circling Miku, Len and Rin and she spoke,

"It is fairly dark, and I do not wish to keep you out here longer than need be," Luka began. She was so well spoken, Miku guessed that she had to have some elite background. Each word was chosen carefully, each syllable mixing with another to create a harmonious song. Her voice was addicting. "I'll make this brief for your benefit. It seems that you managed to part my good friend here," gesturing towards Kaito who was leaning against the wall next to the dent he made, "with a rather large sum of hard earned money," Len turned to look at the man and was met with dagger-like eyes that threatened menace. The blond quickly turned away and instead looked at Luka. Her expression wasn't much friendlier than the blue-haired man's, but at least he didn't have to look her in the eye; the pinkette's gaze was locked with Miku's. Rin remained unnaturally quiet, holding on dearly to Miku's body. She was strong minded and brave, but not even she could muster an insult towards the woman standing in front of her.

"We are not looking for trouble, particularly not with the likes of you. I know how street children are, always looking for a challenge," she smiled to herself, seeming to remember a past memory. "All we require of you is to return Kaito's money, and we can part ways as if this never happened,"

Miku heard some more bangs from behind her, Kaito shouting various profanities mainly directed at Len. However, she was surprised. These people, whoever they were, had followed her home, and only wanted their money back. It felt too good to be true. Usually, there would be some sort of fight to get stolen goods back, or they'd wait for the trio to leave the next morning and take the sack and lay ruin to their hideout. There had to be something more to this, Miku thought to herself. Still looking at the woman, she thought again. She seemed well spoken, well dressed, well mannered. Luka still looked like she could easily beat her in a fight, thus Miku breathed a sigh of relief that it didn't have to come to that. She wouldn't lie to herself, however, she was upset. She had many plans for the money that she'd be sad to see it go. But they still had plenty fruit and vegetables inside, they had a restful week (excluding the current set of affairs, of course). Returning the money didn't seem bad in comparison to what could have happened.

The tealette felt another gush of coldness come over her as Rin suddenly withdrew herself from Miku. The blonde looked desperately at Len who returned the same expression. They knew they were in deep trouble now. They had already thought of what Miku would say when she realised all the money was gone, but they knew she'd get over it soon enough and forgive them the way she always had. They didn't believe, however, that the strangers around them would be as compassionate. Both twins played with their hair and clothes as Miku stood up with a weak smile.

"I understand," she started. "I won't say we're sorry for stealing it, but we'll hand it back to you,"

Luka smiled widely and patted Miku on the back a little too strongly. The friendly gesture felt as if the woman were beating Miku. She was more than happy now that the encounter was seeming to de-escalate. Miku turned and began to direct Luka and her posy to the hidden entrance to the hideout. The twins tailed behind slowly. They closed their eyes and prayed that by some miracle the sack of money would reappear where Miku had left it.

"I swear, I left it just here…" Miku mumbled, seemingly talking more to herself than to the well-dressed pair. The girl had led them to their hideout to retrieve the bag. She truly didn't want them to know the exact location but Luka insisted that she be allowed in. Proper manners and all, she said. Her persuasive plea worked, and Miku allowed Luka and Kaito inside the hideout. The rest of their group remained outside; not only because she didn't want them inside, but the place was small enough that it wouldn't contain them all without someone tripping over something.

The tealette continued to look around the room in search of the bag. She had been certain that she left it behind the sofa but perhaps she had misplaced it. It was late evening when she put it away and she was already exhausted when doing so, thus it was highly possible that she had misplaced it. But the sack wasn't something that could get lost so easily; it wasn't small, had a distinctive emblem sewn onto it and the room itself wasn't large or furnished enough that items could get lost easily. To Miku, it seemed that this Kaito only knew how to yell as he was constantly shouting at her, accusing them of hiding the bag. Only Luka's menacing gaze was stopping him from punching a hole through the wall.

As Miku searched, Rin & Len stood shyly in the corner of the room. They looked at each other and exchanged whispers to one another. Rin thought that she could lie and say that the bad had been stolen, however Len disagreed with her; mainly since everything else was untouched and there was no sign of a break-in. he suggested they tell the truth, no matter how bad the consequences were. The boy shifted his gaze from his twin to Luka to analyse her expression. She looked so calm and composed, in stark contrast to the man she was restraining, exploding like a volcano. She seemed too nice; he had a gut feeling that she wouldn't hurt him. Maybe they'd consider it a loan and make them pay it back somehow. Various punishments came into his head, but none seemed to be that horrific.

Of course, he didn't even know the woman. For all he knew, this behaviour could be a façade; if they didn't return the money the pink-haired woman could become as angry as the man beside her. He looked back from Luka to Rin and saw her in deep thought, lightly biting her lip and looking at the ground. She pondered, then looked back to Len with a weak smile. She had the same thoughts as her brother; the worst punishment they could receive was death, and the woman ahead of them didn't seem to be the type to issue such a sentence.

In agreement, the twins stepped together to be closer to the other three in the room. Miku continued to apologise and state how she was so sure she left it in a particular location. Luka continued to reassure her that it was no problem, as long as the good was returned. Kaito began to crack his knuckles to relieve anger, although it looked like he was preparing to right. Rin coughed lightly to gain the attention of the three others in the room, then began to speak,

"Um… Miku… Lu-" the blonde paused and hummed to herself trying to remember the pink-haired woman's name. the man had mentioned it before but couldn't remember it for the life of her.

"Luka," the woman said, a hint of cockiness and pride in her voice. "Megurine Luka," she finished with a nod.

"Ah!" the blonde blurted out. There were very few occasions when Rin would become as nervous and at loss for words as her brother, but this became one of them. She couldn't be blamed; Luka had a presence that could intimidate anyone. Apologising, she started again.

"Miku, Meguri-"

"Just Luka is fine," the woman continued to smile. It was hard to tell if it was genuine or mocking.

"L-Luka…" Rin said in a much quieter tone. "You see… the money we stole on Monday… Len and I… we…" she lost her voice, stared at the floor and dug her feet into the ground. She didn't understand this at all. There were times when she got nervous but not like this. She raised her eyes to meet Luka's. The woman's gaze was sharp and powerful; it felt like her eyes were burning into Rin's soul. Her lips were still curled into a small smile. It felt like Luka was controlling her.

Gulping, Rin took Len's sleeve and tugged on his shirt. His face snapped towards her, surprised that she would ask him to have her up. Usually, the roles would be reversed. First, he pulled off a heist, and now he would be the one trying to get them out of this situation. The week so far had certainly been interesting for him.

Reaching down to hold his sister's hand, he quickly closed his eyes and counted down. releasing breath, he tried to explain.

"Yesterday…" he paused momentarily, thinking carefully about his words. He didn't want to say something that would anger Kaito. The woman may be restraining him now, but he looked far stronger. He could easily move and attack the blond in the blink of an eye.

"Yesterday… when we out last night, we took the money with us," Len looked away from the blue-haired man to Miku and watched her skin became deathly white. She knew where this was going, yet hoped that somehow they were playing some sort of elaborate prank. That Rin would stop being timid and shout 'got you!' and go get the money. She'd be angry with them, but it would be something to laugh at later. Miku looked at Rin, waiting for it to happen. It never came. The girl became nervous and began to play with her hair. Len continued,

"We went to that game parlour… the casino near the docks and erm…" he found himself unable to finish the sentence. Rather than Luka's intimidating aura bringing him down, it was instead Kaito whose eyes widened and gritted his teeth. The blond didn't need to finish that sentence. Money, a casino, and missing money, it didn't much to add two and two together.

As quick as lightening, the blue-haired man moved towards the male twin and grasped the front of his shirt in a tight fist, holding the petite boy above the ground a little. He was surely angry before, but there are no words that could suitably describe this emotion. It was much more than embarrassment from being scammed by a group of children, more than raw anger that his money was gone. Miku and Rin backed away, afraid and unable to do anything to assist Len whilst Kaito curled his free hand into a tight fist and raised it above his head in striking position whilst yelling at the boy,

"You gambled my money away! You piece of shit!" his voice bellowed. It felt as if his voice and anger would raise the room to rubble. Shouting more, he moved into punch Len in the face. The blond closed his eyes and grimaced. He knew he would get some sort of punishment for this, but tried to comfort himself by thinking it could have been worse. A couple of punches and a bit of roughhousing was miles better than receiving a permanent injury, or worse yet, death.

He braced himself for the inevitable, yet no contact was made. Confused, he opened his eyes to see that Kaito's incoming attack was stopped by none other than Luka. Matching his speed, she blocked his powerful punch with only her palm. The man attempted to free himself from her hold, yet she remained unmoving. The two girls looked on with looks of both surprise and impress. Despite her slender frame, the woman was clearly the stronger of the duo. Or perhaps he relied too much on strength and less on tactic, which would reinforce how they managed to get away from him those days ago. Kaito only seemed to get angrier, but this time this anger was directed at the pink-haired woman rather than Len.

He attempted to remove his hand once more to lay down punishment on the blond, however, the tall woman held him still. Confused and angry, he began shouting at her,

"What are you doing? You protect that girl, and now this kid? Have you forgotten that they have stolen from me?!" he tried once more to free himself. Rather than refusing to let him move his arm, the pinkette instead enacted a tactful manoeuvre, swinging his arm over his head and holding it behind his back, not allowing him to move at all, as a result Kaito loosened his grip on Len. Wasting no time in this opportunity, he freed himself and scurried away towards his sister and Miku. As soon as he reached them, Miku engulfed him in her arms to comfort him. The trio looked at awe, particularly Luka. Her blues eyes were as cold as ice, sending daggers towards the blue-haired man. She was visibly annoyed at him, yet, from the man's expression, it didn't make sense why. Luka held him in that position for several moments until his shouting and resisting died down. once he gave up and stared at the floor defeated, the woman released a long and tired sigh. Still gripping onto him, she raised her gaze to meet the trio who were scrawled at the other end of the room. Her look was no longer menacing, but still intimidating. Thinking for a moment, she spoke,

"I once again apologise for my companion. He really is fast to anger," she stated. The trio, Len in particular, stared at her confused. The blond had admitted that the money was no longer in their position, yet instead of punishing him, she instead stopped the man from attacking him. Her actions struck him as incredibly odd and he tried to make out what her deal was. She continued,

"Yet, it appears that you took the money to a casino, and…" she trailed off, staring at Len. She ended her sentenced in a question-like tone and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer. Even a fool could conclude that the money had been gambled away, yet it seemed that she wanted to blond to confirm his actions, in an attempt to shame him. Gulping, he finished the statement.

"… and… and we gambled the money away but we-" he was quickly cut off by his sister who decided to take the lead.

"We didn't gamble the money away!" Rin began. All eyes were on her, and Len and Miku could only wonder what suddenly made he become so bold like her usual self after all this time she was cowering away at Miku's side. In actuality, there were a few things Rin couldn't stand in life, and one of those was having people mistaking her 'investments' as gambling. She was still scared of the woman in front of her, but still managed to look somewhat confident.

"It was an investment. We were planning to double the cash then get Miku a super great gift as our way of saying thank you!" the blonde looked up lovingly at Miku who couldn't help but let out a small 'aww' before immediately biting her lips to keep herself quiet. She was angry at what the twins had done, but also heart warmed at their attempted gesture. However, she couldn't let that be interpreted as her approving their behaviour in front of the two tall characters before her. Rin switched her gaze from Miku to Kaito and continued,

"However this guy… what's his name… argh. That's not important. But what is, is that that guy is a massive cheat. I mean, I know how to play my cards right, yet this guy must have seen them or something and somehow won all our- I mean, your money. I wasn't going to give my winnings to a cheat so I tried to take the money and bail and the security guards chucked us out without the money!" the exhaled loudly and ruffled her hair after giving her explanation. She looked quickly at the pinkette, of whom she wasn't too comfortable making eye contact with yet, but was somewhat taken back by her bemused expression. She turned back to Kaito to see the complete opposite facet. She was happy that the woman was still restraining him since she had no idea what he would do to her.

Laying her head against Miku's shoulder, she finalised; "so, yes. That's what happened really. Like Miku said, we're not sorry for stealing the money, but we are for losing it. Which is so lame since we had so many plans for that cash,"

Oddly enough, Kaito didn't lash out as he did to Len. Instead, he stood before them, restrained by Luka, with dark eyes. He clearly wasn't happy but didn't lash out of them knowing the woman would simply restraining him again, or probably attack him herself. He found it all strange; usually, Luka would only hold him back in a formal situation when he lost his composure. Otherwise, she would encourage the blue-haired man to wreck more havoc to his victims. To have her restrain him against someone who had robbed him didn't make sense in the slightest. Perhaps because they were children she didn't want them harmed. Or because it was essentially his own money and not hers that she didn't care too much for it. Either way, he didn't resist her and stood in the position she kept him in. he grumbled under his breath expressing annoyance but didn't say anything that he knew would annoy the woman.

Holding the taller man, Luka sighed. Her face was rather hard to make out; she didn't seem angry at all, yet she seemed annoyed, but understanding, but tired. She let go of Kaito and walked to face him with her back to the trio, probably to act as a buffer between the two parties should Kaito lose composure again. She folded her arms and began to talk to Kaito.

"How much was inside the bag?" she asked calmly. Kaito scratched his head, trying to remember exactly how much was inside the bag. He was never one to be good with numbers.

"Aisch… at least six-hundred-thousand Yen. Six months of wages in there, though,"

Rin let out an audible gasp with wide eyes, causing most of the attention to turn to her; Luka remained looking at Kaito. Counting with her fingers, she did a small sum in her head and gasped again.

"You get one-hundred-thousand yen a month?!" she exclaimed, "What do you even do?!" she asked, seemingly forgetting the brash nature of the blue-haired man. Said person opened his mouth to reply, but Luka was faster in doing so.

"You'll see," the pinkette muttered before placing her hands on her hips. "Why were you carrying around six months wages around you in such a careless manner, Kaito?" she questioned him again.

"I was buying some alcohol and I wanted to get some new clothes and accessories for my living quarters!" he stated defensively. "I always keep my money they way I did in the liquor store; I don't expect thieves to try anything stupid in there!" he finished, shooting a hard gaze at Len as he spoke about thieves which made the blond huddle deeper into Miku's embrace. He couldn't see the pink-haired woman's expression, but her standing position remained unchanged. Kaito saw her furrow her brow as she went into deep thought. The area became uncomfortably quiet until a series of knocks were heard at the door. A high-pitched voice yelled from outside,

"Oyabun**, is everything OK in there?" the voice called. "What's taking so long?"

Luka turned her face towards the door but kept her body in the same position, "everything's fine," the woman called back. She didn't yell; however, her voice was loud enough to be heard from outside. "Give myself and Kaito a few more moments, if you please,"

There was no further reply from outside; Miku assumed it to be them accepting the response the pinkette gave. But oyabun? It was clear that the woman was the one in charge of whatever organisation this was, but calling a higher up oyabun as opposed to 'leader', 'captain' or simply with an honorific was uncomfortably familiar. The woman had already stated that it was absurd to think they worked for the government, saying that they wanted them dead. Her mind could only drift off to one other possibility as to who these people were…

Yakuza.

Simply thinking about it made Miku shiver. The tealette certainly didn't have a good standing with the yakuza. Bad memories flooded into her head and she moved away from the pair standing in front of her slightly. If these people were to be anything like the ones they encountered all those years ago… just the thought made her sick to the bottom of her stomach. She wouldn't allow something like that to happen again.

As Miku held Len tighter in her arms, the pink-haired woman turned to address the trio. Miku feared what was coming next, but attempted to prepare herself for what could potentially occur.

There was another prolonged silence after. It made Miku feel highly uncomfortable as if the air was being sucked out of the room suffocating her. Having the twins cling themselves around her didn't do much to repose her either. Although the taller woman had been stationary for a long while and everyone else in the room had been waiting for her to act, her turning around to face the trio startled them. Perhaps it wasn't her spinning around to face them that shook them, but that smile on her face. That smile, or more like a smirk, or something in between. An expression of enjoyment, yet mocking. Whatever she was thinking about had been decided, and the tealette and the twins couldn't tell from her face if the judgement was to be in their favour.

Placing her hands on her hips, she began her judgement;

"The three of you stole from Kaito. The chattel stolen from Kaito was the sum of six-hundred-thousand Yen or six-months pay equivalent. So, the solution is rather simple," she let her arms fall to her sides and tilted her head slightly whilst spreading her grin wider. Miku didn't think that it could be possible for the twins to hold onto her tighter but was proven wrong as they began to dig their nails into her flesh, causing her to let out a little yelp. Miku could make out Luka's expression clearly now and let any hopes of being let off lightly drop and dangle in the air the same way the taller woman's arms were.

"You have a debt of which you have to pay. So, I have two options, both gracious. You have the option, firstly, to work for me. You will work for six months to recover the losses you have caused to Kaito," she looked towards the blue-haired man who furrowed his brow but nodded gently in agreement of the proposal. He would rather have enjoyed employing physical punishment but also knew the value of money and no amount of beatings would be the equivalent of six-hundred-thousand Yen, especially beatings given to those half his age.

Len shared Kaito's facial expression, but for different reasons. He was rather good at mathematics and didn't take him long to realise that the three of them working for six months would get the taller man three times the amount stolen from him. Still holding himself close to Miku, he voiced concern to the pink-haired woman who simply laughed in response as if he had shared a joke as opposed to a serious concern.

"Of course, that's the idea. Kaito holds many responsibilities I highly doubt the three of you are even capable of, thus six-months of his work is eighteen months of much erm… Lower skilled work, you understand,

"Although, if you don't approve, there is another option," she stated, taking slow strides towards Miku and the twins who shifted back.

"If you don't care to earn the money back, you could always pay us back," at which point, the two parties were mere centimetres away from one another. Luka raised her hand and cupped Miku's cheek in her palms, slowly moving it down to rest on her neck. The teal-haired girl felt as if death were examining her; the elder woman's hands were pale and cold as snow, her black fingernails gently scraping against her skin. This touch was nothing like the first time outside where she stopped her shoulder from hurting. Back then it was an odd feeling of pleasure but one she enjoyed. This time, however, Miku couldn't even be sure if the woman wasn't going to strangle her or break her neck in two. Luka's eyes moved from looking directly at the trio, to directly at Miku, and then down to her neck. She bit her lips through her smirk and continued,

"You can pay us back…. with blood money,"

Oyabun.

Blood money.

Those terms were all too familiar with Miku. She broke her contact with Luka, holding the twins as close as she could as they backed away as far as they could from the woman until they hit the wall. Suppressed memories flooded into the tealette's mind as she began to panic. They couldn't run anywhere; Luka and Kaito looked more than capable of restraining them without breaking a sweat. And even if they could miraculously get away from them, they would be outnumbered by their posy who waited outside for them. They were trapped in their home; in the one place, they considered safe.

The world isn't safe

Luka didn't come forward to them again, instead moved back stand next to Kaito, placing a hand on his shoulder, seemingly giving Miku time to consider her 'options'. There was really only one option anyway. The teal-haired girl knew beyond all doubt that she was dealing with the Yakuza. She knew what blood money involved, it was the only reason she and the twins could get away as their parents…

Miku began to have a panic attack, her breathing becoming haphazardous, vision becoming blurred as the twins tried to calm her down. They didn't understand why Miku was having this panic attack but had seen her have them before. Rin and Len were so young when it happened, barely four years old. They didn't remember as clearly as Miku, thus she never told them about it. Now being put in a position her parents were put in ten years ago, it made her want to cry. She couldn't give up the twins, yet they couldn't survive without here. So, there was only one actual option.

She let go of the twins and, after some struggle, managed to get the twins to release her from their grasp. Lacking anything to hold, they crashed into each other, still in fear of the two strangers before them. Staying silent, they allowed Miku to move forward towards Kaito and Luka with an 'answer'.

"I-We'll… we think it's best that we…" she found herself at loss for words. This wasn't the first time she had been in trouble for committing a crime. This wasn't the first time they were to receive punishment. However, in the current occasion, there wasn't a window to jump out of, a door to dash out off, a carriage to stow away in. yet this… the pink-haired woman staring at her, still wearing that insulting expression of bemusement of Miku's state, the man next to her looking at her so intensely that it felt like he was continuously stabbing her, the twins cowering away in the corner of the room. This wasn't like any other situation she had been in. she had no desire to give any blood money, yet no desire to work for this stranger. She didn't even know what exactly the work would entail. For all she knew, this could lead them to their deaths. Thus, she phrased her answer accordingly,

"We will not be paying you with… blood money," she states, moving her eyes away from the two in front of her, instead devoting her attention to a small patch on the floor. She hoped that the patch would open a hole and consume her so she could leave the situation.

There was a short silence before she heard a low humph. Looking up briefly, she was met with two contradicting expressions. The sound of disappointment came from Kaito, who started pacing around the area cracking his knuckles looking irritated. Contrastingly, Luka looked rather pleased. Her smirk once looking looked somewhat more friendly, yet still distant. It all confused and scared Miku.

Luka looked and caught sight of Kaito's reaction and sighed.

"Well," she began, "that is unfortunate. I would have… Enjoyed, so to speak, taking blood money from you," she stated, moving towards Miku again but this time much faster than she did previously. Miku swore it were as if she had teleported; only seconds ago she was a good distance away from Miku but now Luka was nearly touching noses with her, her hand again stroking her neck. Miku wanted to move back as she did the first time, yet couldn't seem to control her own body. It was if Luka were Medusa; her touch turning her into unmoving stone.

"Alas!" Luka stated overdramatically, quickly withdrawing her touch from Miku. All the tealette's flooded back into her at once and the tealette found herself stumbling a little until the twins came to support her, and support themselves by holding onto her. Luka's hands were cold and the embrace of the twins was warm. Yet, Miku felt a harsh cold wash over her as Luka withdrew her touch. It was a disturbing sensation that she couldn't even begin to explain.

She wanted to be sick.

"Your decision is fair, and as the fair and reasoned person I am, I shall stand beside your choice," the woman was beaming, sounding proud of the trio as if she were a proud mother as opposed to a dangerous mobster. She went on, "you will work, the three of you, for six months to make up for the money stolen from this right honourable gentleman, who has been so well behaved during this ordeal," she stated mockingly before bursting out laughing. Kaito offered a grunt in return.

"Whatever… so as long as those punks pay me back. I'll still need to get some bl-" he began before the pinkette interrupted him abruptly.

"You'll get… That, elsewhere Kaito. This is neither the time nor place to discuss such matters," her tone was dry and harsh, the blue-haired man stood there for a while until he realised what she was implying before apologising and nodding in agreement. Kaito's off-commend didn't seem to throw off Luka who continued to smile widely as she moved to pick up her belongings that were thrown on the sofa in the unoccupied corner of the room. As she did so, she continued to explain the state of affairs;

"My good companions will meet you at the break of dawn, giving you plenty time to gather yourselves, your thoughts and get a good amount of rest. You truly will need it." She continued to murmur a few other intelligible things under her breath as she put her items back into her satchel and walked towards the other four in the room. She looked around and let out a satisfied sigh, still smiling.

"I believe that will be it then," she finished, clapping her hands together. "I'm glad we managed to resolve this without it escalating into something erm… more." She patted Kaito on the shoulder, indicating that they were to leave. Staring at the trio once more, he opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. Then opened his mouth, and then closed it once more. Whatever grand speech he wanted to give to the three thieves clearly wasn't up to whatever standard he set for himself. Given that he didn't seem to be to give deep intellectual arguments, that barrier couldn't have been very high.

The man headed towards and opened the door, allowing the pinkette to exit. Outside there was still a small faint glow; their companions had been waiting patiently and silently for what had felt like hours.

"Adieu," Luka smirked, and began to leave before being stopped by a high pitched "wait!". Len had loosened himself from his twin and took a few steps towards the woman but kept distance. He was terrified of the woman, and had every right to be, but had a logical question that couldn't be left in the air.

"W-where do we um… find you?" he asked rather sheepishly. The question was, of course, standard to ask given the circumstances; the only information that they had been given was 'at the break of dawn', yet her seemingly innocent smile to him made him feel like a dunce. She laughed and commented;

"Oh, child. Don't worry about that, we'll find you the same way we did this evening," satisfied, she left the building letting Kaito slam the door shut behind her before Len could even ask what she meant by how they found them. Shouting out at them to wait, he sprinted for the door but was stunned to find no sight of them in the alleyway when he opened it. The alley was rather long distance to any connecting road from either side of the building, as well as the act of getting out of the small building in the wall to the alley itself. Len was perplexed as to how an entire entourage of people seemingly vanished in a manner of seconds. Perhaps everything he had experienced was some sort of bad dream. He'd pinch himself, and turn around to find Miku and Rin fast asleep on the futons in the room. He would have sleepwalked again and would snuggle in between the two and tell them the insane tale when they woke up the following morning. He pinched himself, and turned around but didn't find his ideal calm setting. He looked to see Miku with rather sunken eyes, skin deathly pale and slightly shaking with an equally startled Rin clinging onto her arm, holding her hand as tightly as possible.

That had been no dream, or nightmare if only it could have been so. They had been stalked, threatened and now in an ambiguous contract to work for complete strangers in an unknown location doing unspecified jobs for six months. All because Len wanted to prove himself. He felt immensely guilty for the set of events that occurred; if he had been more careful, or even kept to his cautious ways and refused to steal from the blue-haired man, they'd be resting in peace now, not worrying what the following dawn would hold for them. Sighing, he closed the door and headed towards his sister and friend and sat down next to them. They stayed in silence again until the boy began to speak,

"Hey Miku, I'm sorry for… well… this. We've never been caught like this before and the one time I decide to act up this happens. I'm just so, so sorry," he trailed off into murmurs, whispering obscenities and scolding himself for what happened. The teal-haired girl didn't respond with words, rather went down on her knees to be level with Len and enveloped him into a warm hug. It wasn't long before Rin also came down to join in the hug. She didn't speak as she didn't need to forgive him since she knew he did nothing wrong. But more than that, she didn't speak because she couldn't. She felt under some sort of spell from the Luka's touch. Her body felt insanely cold despite the hug. Her mind was wandering to many places and nowhere at once. Could she manage to get the twins and escape? But how did they manage to find her in the first place… yes, she went out earlier without her cloak but she saw no one around her; she was completely alone. It was possible for someone to spot her, but impossible for an entire entourage to stalk her back through the alleys. Even if they escaped, where would they go at that time of night? The days were hot and bright, but the nights were cold and dark, as well as very few cargo trucks travelling to an area close by where they could get to another hideout. And the work the pink-haired woman wanted them to carry out, what sort of work would it even be? What work did they even do? Who were they even? Other than name and some sort of insignia, nothing could be inferred. Would they be kept there longer than six months, or would they be… disposed of, once the time had been finished. Many thoughts came into her head, yet her mind was empty. She couldn't think of any answers to any of the questions. She had always thought of herself as a mentor to Len and Rin, answering any questions the twins may have had about anything, yet now she felt like she was losing herself.

The room they were in was still warm as the trio cuddled together in the corner of the room. Len held onto her as he still scolded himself under his breath, trying to think of scenarios where he would have gotten away without causing trouble whilst Rin shook Miku's right shoulder asking her continuously if she was okay. She wanted to tell Len to stop punishing himself; that it was all their contributions that caused the situation and to Rin that even though she was not 'fine', feeling more confused and troubled, they would get through whatever lay before them as they had always done.

But she couldn't say any of it.

*roughly translated, means "couldn't tell". Something of a tongue-twister for me whilst learning Japanese.

** a gang term, roughly translating to 'boss'