JCW's AN: Welp, its a long time coming, but here we are. many of us have been busy with many other things, so we apologize, and hope you enjoy this chapter. But first, a note from Bella!

Bella's AN: Let it be known that everything Tiana says in this chapter is everything I actually researched because a certain series that somehow got three movies got me very curious. So… if anyone ever tries BDSM in the future, I hope this chapter helps you. Safewords, consent, and condoms are key! Also, Fee, this isn't the thing I talked to you about. That'll be coming soon, though. ;)

Chapter 8: BDSM, Violins, and Fishies

11:03 AM

West Wing – Zone d'Erotica

Tiana stared at the small group of young men and women sitting in seats before her, still in awe of what she had accomplished. She had somehow crammed all four of them into the breakroom of her store, along with herself, Alexander, Ariana, and a whiteboard. The dominatrix let out a small sigh. "Alright, so I believe many of you are wondering why I asked you to come here."

"Ara ara, is this going to take long?" Komori inquired, wrapping the small purple-haired girl next to her in a side hug. "Rina-chan and I ordered several yaoi and yuri mangas that we have to read." Marina nodded.

"And I need to get back to my shift," Axel added. Patrick remained silent, staring intently at the front of the room.

Tiana held her hands up in defense. "I have asked you all here because it's come to my attention that several of you started coming here because you've read Touko Fukawa's horribly written, God-awful piece of shit works about BDSM!" Everyone stared at Tiana with wide eyes, shocked at the outburst.

Alexander stepped over to the now angry girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tia, are you okay?"

Tiana drew in a deep breath before sighing and letting her shoulders slump. "I'm good. I'm good. I just… I hate her works so much." She turned her attention back to the crowd. "Anyways, since you all started coming to this store for misinformed BDSM sex, I am now giving you all lessons on the practice. This my way of saying either get educated on it or stop buying handcuffs and calling yourself a Dom!" Tiana took another deep breath. "Calm yourself, Tia. You can't do a scene when you're emotional." She glanced over at the young woman standing in the corner. "Ariana, could you come over here please?"

Ariana nodded, a cocky smirk on her lips. "Sure thing, Tia." The blonde cocked an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip. The action struck fear into the black-haired girl. "I mean, yes, M-Mistress." Tiana nodded as she motioned for the woman to approach them. Ariana scurried over to her, taking Alexander's place by her side.

"Oh my, is Alexander going to be dominating Ariana?!" Komori squealed.

"Sweet smut," Marina gasped.

Tiana shook her head, gently placing her hands on Ari's shoulders. "Nope, I'll be taking care of Ariana today." She smiled at her employee. "You can go back out front, Alex. I'll be fine from here."

"Just text me if you need anything," Alexander responded, taking his leave from the lesson.

"But Fukawa's writings only ever have a guy as the Dom!" Komori argued. Tiana fought back a litany of cuss words at the author. "And Alexander is the perfect man to take Ariana by the shoulders and do her until she's drooling. Although, Tiana being a Dom would lead to such great, great yuri." Komori began to drool at the thought.

Tiana rolled her eyes. "First, Komori, a lot of the scenes that see in those yaoi and yuri mangas are very inaccurate about the basics of sex." The dominatrix breathed a deep sigh. "Second, Fukawa is highly misinformed on who can and cannot be a Dom. Anyone can be a Dom, and anyone can be a Sub. For instance, Alexander isn't into BDSM at all, despite being the ideal type for one of Fukawa's trashy novels." Tiana gestured at herself. "I am Dom through and through." She then gave Ariana's head a soft pat as she gently lowered Ari onto her knees. "Ari, on the other hand, is a Switch. This means that some days she doms while other days, she subs."

"And today is a Dom day, but I owe Tiana a favor," Ariana interjected. Tiana cocked her eyebrow again, making Ariana shut her mouth.

Tiana carded a hand through Ariana's hair. She chuckled when the smaller woman pushed herself against her hand. "So needy," she teased. Tiana smiled back at the group. "Now, Ariana, like any other person in BDSM, has hard stops. For instance, she doesn't like voyeurism, regardless of the day, so we won't be doing much in front of you all."

"What's a hard stop?" Patrick inquired, a pencil in his hands.

Tiana paused and stared at the hockey player incredulously. "Patrick, are you taking notes?"

"I almost sent Otto to the hospital the last time we tried this, so I want to make sure I do everything right next time," Patrick argued.

Tiana nodded, giving the larger man a thankful smile. "Well, to answer your question, a hard stop is something that either the Dom or Sub will not do. If the other tries to make it happen during a scene, then a safe word will be dropped. If I were to do anything extreme to Ariana in front of you guys, she would safe word out."

Komori cocked her head to the side. "What is a safe word, and why would someone use it if they agreed to a scene?" She let out a content sigh. "In all of Fukawa's books, the Dom just does what he wants to the Sub, and she takes it."

"And that is a good example of what not to do!" Tiana exclaimed. She paused for a moment before continuing, far calmer. "A safe word is an agreed-upon word that either the Dom or the Sub can use if a scene is becoming overwhelming for them, and it's used for that very reason. BDSM is all about trust, pleasure, and care between the Dom and the Sub. If the Dom or the Sub start becoming uncomfortable in a way that takes away from the pleasure, then the safe word lets the other party know that something is wrong and the scene needs to stop." Tiana very gently began wrapping a silk tie around Liam's wrists.

"Wait a minute," Axel interrupted, raising his hand. "I thought only Subs used the safe word. Doms can use it too?"

Tiana smiled. "Thank you, Axel! Another good question that's clarifying a common misconception and not debunking a shit writer!" The dominatrix clasped her hands together. "While Subs do typically use a safe word, Doms can use it too. The best example I can think of is this: I have some days where my depression really hits me hard and the scenes I'm doing aren't helping. If anything, they're making my mental state worse. I'm no longer getting pleasure from the scene, and so I use the safe word on those days."

Marina raised her tiny hand. "What if the Sub has a gag in?"

Tiana tightened the ropes around Ariana's wrists, earning a whimper from the young woman. She paused. "Are you okay, Ari?" Ariana nodded. "Words, Hun."

"I'm fine, Tia," Ariana muttered. "Answer, Mari's question."

"Is that how we ask for things?" Tiana teased. Ariana rolled her eyes while the Dom turned her attention back to the group. "To answer your question, Marina, if the Sub is wearing a gag, they will typically either have an action or some sort of non-verbal signal. One client I had would drop a bell I placed in her hands if she needed a scene to stop." Marina nodded. The session was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Tia, I dropped Annabelle off at her karate lesson," Haruto stated. The onlookers' eyes widened, but Tiana seemed to become ecstatic. "Alex said you were doing a lesson, but I brought you something." Tiana bounded over to the door and threw it open. Sure enough, Haruto was standing in the doorway, a strawberry smoothie in hand.

Tiana gasped, her smile growing. "Haru, you sweetheart! Thank you so much!" She pecked his lips before grabbing the smoothie from his hand and walking back into the room. "Make yourself at home, Hun."

"Ara, why isn't Tiana freaking out about Haruto being here?" Komori inquired. "This is usually the part where the boyfriend freaks out that his girlfriend is doing this behind his back."

"Plus, and I don't mean to offend you by saying this Haru, you don't seem like the kind of person who's into this sort of thing," Axel added.

Tiana chuckled. "Even if Haruto doesn't like the whole bondage part of BDSM, he's a sucker for helping me with the aftercare." The man in question blushed as he shut the door to the breakroom behind him. Tiana took a quick sip of her smoothie before setting it down. "Besides, he knows that my sessions aren't sexual. I don't touch my clients in that way, and they aren't allowed to touch me in that way."

Haruto smiled. "Even if they were sexual, I'm the one Tiana comes home to at the end of the day."

Tiana snickered, sauntering back over to the daycare worker and wrapping her arms around his neck. "What can I say? I love a man who's so caring." She pressed a kiss against his lips. Ariana snapped her fingers twice, catching the Dom's attention. Tiana turned her gaze back to the crowd of onlookers. "I think that's all I have for today's lesson. Come back tomorrow if you want to learn about the proper dildo to use during a scene. I won't be having Ariana here, but it should still be informative."

As everyone filed out of the room, Marina whispered to Komori, "We're coming back tomorrow." Komori flushed red, sputtering at the implications of Marina's comment. Axel was just confused as to what he just sat through. Patrick, on the other hand, was texting Otto everything that he had learned during the session.

Once the door was shut and Tiana made sure it was locked, the blonde turned her attention back to Ariana, her confident expression now gone. She rushed over to Ariana and quickly undid the ropes. "Holy shit, Ari, are you okay?"

"What's wrong?" Haruto inquired.

"I used my non-verbal safeword," Ariana explained, rubbing at her wrists. She looked up at Tiana. "I'm fine, though. Don't worry. I just was starting to feel really fucking uncomfortable being tied up in front of strangers."

Tiana bit her lip. "I'm so, so sorry, Ari."

"Tia, you're fine," Ariana asserted. "Just don't make me do that again."

Tiana nodded. "I swear. Thank you for helping out, Ari. You can go." Ariana looked between Tiana and Haruto before smirking.

"You two use protection," Ariana teased. She then ran out of the breakroom, leaving behind a blushing Haruto and Tiana.

Location: Ibuki's Music Empire, West Wing

Time: 3:00 PM

Rei Makoto sighed audibly. She had been standing at the same shelf for the last 15 minutes, wondering why things were so expensive. The shelf in question contained a very beautiful violin. Whenever she was in the west wing of the mall, she would take time to come into the music store. She would 'pretend' to be interested, but she had come just to see that violin. It was an expensive piece as well, made out of the finest mahogany in the world. The strings were perfectly tuned, ready to be played by the most classical professionals. The bow that accompanied it was made out of the richest ivory.

She wanted that violin. She needed that violin. Alas, the 4,000 dollar price tag was quite hefty for her. She did have a job playing classical music at one of the fanciest restaurants in the mall, but she didn't make nearly enough money to afford it. Whenever she was nearing her goal of 4,000 dollars, something came up. She ended up getting into an accident with some idiot who didn't know jack about driving, causing her to have to use her money for a new car. Then she had to pay insurance and liability fees, leaving her in debt.

Another sigh left her lips, as she tore her gaze away from the object of her affections. She was sure someone was going to ask her if she was going to purchase something. She had a nasty run in with a saxophonist who ended up insulting her for just blocking the saxophones from view. Saying something about "Staining their beauty with her lecherous gaze" or something. She hadn't felt that insulted in ages. She smiled one last time at the instrument.

"Farewell, my friend. One of these days, you'll come home with me."

She turned around, running into one of the employees of the store. Despite her spending most of her time in this store, she hadn't bothered to learn his name. He was just a faceless man to her. However today, she had her focus completely on him. Especially because of what he was doing. He reached for the violin, her violin. He plucked it off the shelf with ease, placing it into its accompanying case. The bow went with it, the snaps closed tightly. He grabbed the handle and started walking toward the counter.

"Um… excuse me sir, what are you doing with that instrument?" Rei asked, in a rather demanding tone. The employee just looked at her, tilting his head slightly.

"The boss won't be back from tour for a while, and she likes holding raffles from time to time. This one is being raffled off to a lucky winner in the mall. We're selling tickets if you are interested."

"Raffle? Tickets?!" the girl exclaimed, her ponytail shaking in anger. "You… you can't just raffle that beautiful instrument off to some random thug! That violin was made for me! It's supposed to be played by me! You will put it back on the shelf and pick something else this instant!"

"Excuse me? Who the hell died and made you the manager?" he snapped, causing the girl to reel back from the volume. "If you aren't going to buy anything then please, see yourself out!"

Rei said nothing as she bowed her head, leaving the store. She spared one last glance at the empty shelf, where her precious violin once sat. She vowed in that moment, that she needed to win that raffle, by any means necessary.

xxx

"So that's why you need me?" Nico asked, earning a furious nod from Rei. The two girls were outside of Smoothie Queen, one of the competing smoothie chains within the mall, and loathed entirely by Otto. The silver-haired girl was sitting back in her seat, taking slow sips of her milkshake, watching her friend walking around in circles. "You know I'm not that good at raffles. I'm more of a guessing game type of girl."

"No! That's the thing, you are good at raffles. Just last month you won that digital camera by guessing 3 of the numbers on the winning ticket. And last week, you guessed how many jelly beans were in that jar. Nico you are my only hope! If you don't buy those tickets, I won't be able to get that violin!" the ravenette said, a pleading look on her face.

Nico frowned, looking down at her feet. While she did want to help her friend out, she didn't think she was capable of winning this one. Sure, she was good at guessing, and running calculations and things with probability in her mind. But just because she won twice didn't mean she would win a 3rd time. If anything, her luck had run out. After a moment, she glanced back up at her friend, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Well… did you buy any tickets? I can't exactly help you if I don't have any of them."

"No. I pretty much left when the violin was placed in its case, I couldn't handle seeing it like that. It was made to be played! Not raffled off to some random person, what the hell is Ibuki thinking?"

The silver-haired girl shook her head, crossing her arms. "This puts us in a bind then. Alright, let's go buy those tickets,"

Before either girl could say anything, the sound of a siren filled the mall. The two shared a look, shifting their gaze towards on the Mall's LED Televisions. The noise was coming from the speakers, a crimson red alarm having appeared on screen. The screen went white for a moment, being replaced by a young man, who sat back in an expensive spinning chair. He also had a puppet on his hand.

It was a small sized hand puppet, dressed in a button down shirt with a blue tie. The puppet also had button eyes and a mustache under its nose. The puppet moved slightly, clearing its throat. "Welcome everyone to your Legacy Mall News!" it said, in a rather gruff voice. "I am your host, J Jonah Jameson, and I will bring you all your news today."

"I thought I was going to be giving the news?" the boy controlling the puppet said. His name was Ren, and he was the main force behind "Mall News" as it was called. He started this for fun a year ago, and now it was a daily occurrence for him. The Jameson turned to glare at the boy, who stiffened in place. "Okay, okay… you give the reports."

"Anyway, let me continue before I get rudely interrupted!" Jameson said firmly. "It seems the Tapioca challenge has been growing quite popular among the youths in the mall, as several people were spotted, attempting to take selfies for their Instagram. I cannot believe people actually waste their time doing something so stupid!"

"I think it's fine… in fact, I'm subscribed to a lot of people on Instagram." Ren said, clicking away on his phone. "See? Katalina favorited my comment, aw that's so nice of her!"

"Reports indicate that many bubble teas have been spilled all over the mall. It's almost as if those cups were designed to be held not balanced on your chest!" Jameson snapped. The camera panned closer to him, as he once again cleared his throat. "In more recent news, it seems that we already have a casualty thanks to this "Tapioca Challenge". Yes, someone was fired from their job because of this. People are already losing they're employment! Our colleague is on site with one of these victims! Ollie, onto you!"

The scene shifted a bit, panning to another person. They were holding another hand puppet, this one being a dark skinned man, holding a microphone in their hand. "This is Ollie Williams and we have here a witness to what occurred in Starbucks Coffee yesterday afternoon. In your words miss, what did you witness?"

The camera shifted, to a young woman whose face had been blurred. The heading at the bottom read "Molly" as she had wanted to remain anonymous. One could tell her hair was pink, however. "Well, I walked into Barnes and Noble, to check on my bo… I mean on someone I started seeing. Lo and behold, there he is, kissing another person! A trap no less! I had thought he was genuinely interested in me, but no! I never felt so insulted my life!"

"Uh… what does this have to do with the Tapioca Challenge?" the long haired boy asked, holding the microphone closer to the girl.

"I just can't believe it! He seemed so sweet too, but no! No… you just had to go crawling back to your ex and help them with that stupid challenge? I'm so glad he got fired from that store. That position had belonged to me anyway… then again I got fired from there to soo…" the girl paused for a moment. She was about to speak when the screen went dark, however the microphones were still online.

"Shit, we lost feed." the camera man cried. He tapped the device hard on the side, causing the image to pop back up. The blur had disappeared, revealing "Molly's" real identity. Charlotte glanced at her wrist watch, frowning.

"I gotta head back to work, this is gonna be censored right?"

"Yep! You've got nothing to worry about Charlotte! Oh whoops." the boy said, much to the girl's horror. Her eyes widened as she glanced at the camera.

"This isn't live is it?" she asked. Upon realizing her face was being projected onto one of the many screens around the mall, she tackled the camera man, causing the feed to once again cut to black.

"Fascinating!" Jameson cried, slamming his fist against the counter. "Instagram is a piece of crap that is ruining the lives of the youth! That young woman could have likely found the man of her dreams, but this damned "Tapioca Challenge" is already ruining lives!"

"Moving on from this for a bit, we recently received information on someone purchasing some empty stores. As it turns out, a well known Real Estate Tycoon has started a store… right next to his first one," Ren said, a look of confusion on his face, as he looked up from the paper. "Uh… we go live to Ollie who should have gotten there by now."

The camera once again panned back to Ollie, or rather his puppeteer Ayumu, who was panting as he had run all the way across the mall. "Hah… hah… we're here with… Isidore Corduroy, who opened up a brand new real estate firm. Mr. Corduroy, could you tell us why you opened up a new store?"

The man, who was obviously not Isidore grinned, a smirk on his face. "Money!"

"I see… I see." Ollie said, holding his microphone out. "What inspired you to open up this store right next to the first one?" he asked, as the camera panned out, showing two identical stores right next to each other. Isidore grinned.

"Money!"

"You heard it here first folks. It seems money is a major inspiration behind this new establishment. And it's in a very profitable area as well, I'm certain that people will-" Ayumu was cut off by a shout.

"HEY!"

"Oh shit!" 'Isidore' cried, as the real Isidore appeared on screen.

"You little fucker! Kurogane what the fuck, I fucking told you not to open this goddamned store next to mine. Get the fuck back here!" Isidore shouted, as Kurogane sped off, with the aid of his mechanical arms. Ayumu blinked in confusion.

"How the heck did we not see the arms?"

"I'm not sure kid, back to you Jameson!" Ollie said, winking at the camera.

"That damn idiot!" Jameson cried angrily. "How the hell do you confuse one man for another? He's made a fool of me, a mockery!"

"He's working part time! It's not his fault, and he had to run all the way there!" Ren said, causing Jameson to groan.

"In other news!" he spat, glaring at the screen. "It seems wedding bells are ringing, that's right! Our sources indicate that the Duchess of Novoselic is tying the knot with her fiance! Isn't that sweet? We are already making plans to crash… I mean get tickets to that very special event."

"Didn't we cover that already? We spoke about it at length last episode!" Ren said.

"I'm the one that makes the news dammit, you stay quiet!" the puppet cried, causing Ren to sink in his chair. "Before we go, we have one more developing story! Breaking News in fact! It seems that someone has pissed in the ball pit!"

"Ew!"

"The culprit is still at large, and we are looking for information. It seems this sick bastard is responsible for last weeks cherry bomb attack in the ladies bathroom. That lead to various damages and a single injury. The janitor ended up slipping on a stray piece of porcelain and fell on his back, losing the air in his lungs." Jameson said, holding back a chuckle. "He even went as far as to claim that he was dying,"

"Poor Hikyou." the puppeteer said softly, shaking his head. "Anyway, that's all for now! We'll be back in two hours with more Mall News! See ya around!"

"What a pointless newscast." Rei said softly, shaking her head. "Honestly, I have no idea why Ren even thinks this is a good idea."

"Well… I think he's doing it because it's a huge meme?" Nico said with a shrug. "Let's just head to the music store."

xxx

"That's gonna be 75 dollars even." the man said, causing Rei to cringe. She reached into her purse, pulling out her credit card. She looked at it for a moment, before handing it over to the man.

"Credit." she mumbled, earning a nod from him.

"Rei, are you sure about this?" Nico asked, glancing at the roll of tickets. "You just made that money back. Aren't you still paying your car off?"

"Yeah… but this is my passion. I want to become a famous violinist in the future. I won't become one if I don't have a violin right?" the girl replied, giving her friend a smile. The cashier handed her the receipt, which she proceeded to sign. "Besides, with you here, you'll be able to tell me which ticket is the winner!"

Nico sighed, giving her a nod. The two left the store shortly after, being reminded that the drawing was going to be in an hour. She took the small roll of tickets, and started examining them. Normally, she would be able to pick a ticket at a glance, but she didn't feel comfortable with any of the ones she saw. Most of them were repeats, while others stood out but didn't appeal to her at all. A worried look flashed across her face.

"Rei… I'm not so sure about this set of tickets." she said softly. Rei gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"I believe in you Nico! Just pick the one that you feel the most comfortable with, I'm sure we'll do fine!"

"I.." the girl stopped mid stride, clutching the roll in her hand. "I'll be back in a bit!" she said, taking off in a random direction. Rei just watched her go, shrugging it off.

"She must want to have some alone time to pick the right one. I think I can give her that," the violinist said, reaching into her purse for her phone. "What the fuck… are you shitting me? How the hell did he get that many views? He isn't even a girl!"

xxx

"I know she wants me to pick the winning ticket, but those last two wins were a fluke!" the silver haired girl mumbled, as she looked at all of the tickets that sat in front of her. "If I pick wrong and she doesn't win, then she loses the chance to get that violin. And she's been wanting that forever!"

The girl shuddered a bit, clenching her eyes tightly. Just thinking about possibly failing in this task made her sick. Rei had unintentionally put a lot of pressure on her shoulders. All because she had managed to win two raffles in the past. She took a deep breath, about to pick a ticket, but faltered when she couldn't decide which one. She bowed her head dejectedly, letting it fall onto the table top. "I'm an awful friend, I let Rei put her confidence in me when she's barely making any money."

"Hey, is something wrong?" a soft voice said, causing her to look up. Nico sighed in relief, seeing that it was her friend Kogo. The violet haired girl had a worried expression on her face. She had a few bags in her hands, one being from a popular Fortune Telling store. "I noticed you were feeling down, figured I could come check on you."

"I'm having a tough time making a choice here. A friend of mine asked me to pick out a raffle ticket, it's for this violin she wants. She's been talking about it for weeks and even used some of her reserve money to buy all of these," she said, brushing some hair out of her eyes. "I just don't want to let her down."

Kogo sat down next to her friend, her eyes scanning all of the tickets. She moved some of them around, placing all of the repeats in one small pile. Nico watched her for a few moments, as she organized every single ticket. She looked them over for a second, before picking one, sliding it over to Nico. "There you go."

"You think this one will win?"

"Well, it isn't a repeating pattern, in fact this is the only one that stood out to me. So it's got to be the lucky one," the woman said, glancing back down at the stub. "At least, I sure hope it is."

"I'm positive it is! Thanks Kogo, I owe you one. Do you wanna try that bubble tea thing?" she asked, causing the violet haired girl to scrounge her nose.

"No."

xxx

"This is the one?" Rei asked, earning a nod from Nico.

"Mhmm… I'm confident that this will be the winning ticket!" she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. The manager of Ibuki's Music Store stepped up to the podium, a small crowd having gathered around it.

"Alright, thank you everyone for buying these tickets. You're contributions will go towards getting my boss, Ibuki Mioda, out of prison. Again." he said in a deadpan, as the crowd started muttering. "Now, I will be picking 3 tickets, for our first, second and third place winners. 3rd place will get free accessories for their instrument of choice for an entire year."

The crowd started clapping, while one man cried boo rather loudly. To his testament, the man continued speaking. "Our second place winner will receive a voucher for free lessons on your instrument of choice. You'll get 5 years of free classes taught by a professional… once she's out of prison, of course."

"I wonder what Ibuki did to get put in prison?" Rei mumbled, scratching her cheek. "I bet she was partying in the hotel room again. Last time she got a citation for throwing a television out of a window."

"Oh? She told me about another one. Apparently, they were in a 10 story hotel, and they were messing around. One of her bandmates pulled out a black dildo and started hitting the others with it." Nico began, trying not to flush. "One of them grabbed the dildo and threw it at Ibuki, who caught it and threw it back. It went through the window, and fell 10 stories down where it hit a poor girl over the head. She ended up having to go to the hospital with a concussion."

Rei let out a snort, trying not to laugh. "I'm sorry… but that's hilarious. I don't think I could take a story like that seriously,"

"Finally, our first place prize. This beautiful violin, crafted by the finest woodcrafters in Europe. It hasn't been played a single time. It is made out of a rich mahogany good, with a glossy finish. This piece is valued at 4,599 dollars. I wish all of you luck!"

"Oh boy! Here it comes!" Rei said, a grin on her face as she looked at her ticket. The next few minutes were spent, with her rising excitement. The 3rd and 2nd place prizes had been quickly claimed, while the first place prize still had no winner. The man had called 5 different ticket numbers, and no one had seemed to be getting them.

"Okay, this is going to be the final draw. Is no one gets it this time, then regrettably, no one will get this prize. The numbers are 11037."

Rei glanced down at her ticket, looking at it. The one in her hand wasn't even close to it. She grabbed the others from Nico, hurriedly pouring through the numbers, unable to find it. "Where is it, where is it? I swore I saw that one-"

"I got it!" a voice said, causing the woman to jump. All of the tickets fell from her grasp, falling onto the ground. A hooded man stepped forward, holding his ticket out to the cashier. He looked it over, giving him a smile.

"Congratulations, sir, I do hope you enjoy this piece. It's quite a beauty," he said. The man gave him a bow, quickly placing the instrument inside the case, locking it tightly. Rei felt her legs fall from under her, dropping to her knees.

"No...No!"

"Rei… it's okay. It's just a violin," Nico said softly. "I'm sure we can get you another one."

"No!" the girl exclaimed, glaring at her friend. "You don't understand Nico… I've been eyeing that violin from the moment it came to this store. I always imagined myself playing it, becoming the best violinist I could be." she sniffled, holding back tears.

Nico frowned, feeling her heart drop. It was because of her that Rei hadn't won that prize. If she had been honest and told Rei that she had been pressured, maybe she wouldn't have wasted money on those tickets. She felt bad for her friend, and wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how. Before she could speak however, the hooded man approached them. She backed up slightly, being surprised by him.

"Who are you?" the silver haired girl asked. The man let out a chuckle, lowering his hood.

"Come on Nico, am I that hard to recognize?"

"Hikaru?" Rei said softly. She wiped her tears away, slowly rising to her feet. "I thought you were out of town?"

"I was… until my boss called me." the man said, shuddering. "Well… more like demanded I come here. The last thing I wanna do is piss off Primrose. She's planning a wedding and needs my assistance, so I plan to be as much of a help as I can. Today is my only day off, I noticed that the violin you liked was being raffled so I bought a ticket,"

"You bought a ticket… and you just won that… but then that means…" Rei mumbled. Hikaru smiled, as he handed her the case. She shakily took it into her grasp, opening the clasps. A soft gasp escaped her lips as she laid eyes on the instrument. A few stray tears fell down her cheeks as she jumped to her feet, kissing the man on the lips. "I love you! I love you, I love you!"

Nico couldn't help but smile. Maybe she wasn't able to guess which ticket was the winner. But in the end, her friend was happy and that's what mattered. Rei happily grabbed the instrument along with the ivory bow, resting it on her chin. She sighed contently, feeling the smoothness of the bow with her fingertips.

"I think I'll play "Shatter Me." it's one of my personal favorites!" she said, resting the bow upon the strings. Before she could even play a note, a familiar alarm rang through the mall, causing everyone to look at the nearby LED display.

"Breaking News! People of the Mall listen up, we are coming to you with something important, something that will change your lives!"

"What the hell is this?" Hikaru asked, confusion on his face. "This didn't happen the last time I was here."

"Ugh… Ren and his friends convinced the owner to let him host a Mall News Network. He has hand puppets and everything. That one is J. Jonah Jameson… it's so damn tacky," Rei said, annoyed that she couldn't play her song. "Let's see what he has to say now."

"It seems the "Pissing Caper" as it has been named has struck again! The little weasel left a puddle just outside of the West Plaza! When I find him, I'm going to kick his-"

"Please excuse us, we are having some technical difficulties. We will return shortly!" A female voice said, as a black and white card appeared on screen, featuring a black and white bear.

"I really hope this is the end of today's broadcast." the violinist said, frowning as she continued looking at the screen.

5:54 PM

Central Hub - Aquarium

Shiro frowned as he stared up at the entrance to the massive aquarium, mentally trying to figure out if this was truly a good idea that would totally not backfire in any way whatsoever. Eventually deciding that yes, this was a bad yet fun idea, the trap snuck into the aquarium (without paying of course. It's not like he was here to jack off to a jellyfish.)

Frowning, Shiro approached the first employee he saw, getting their attention. "Excuse me, have you seen some pink haired girl that works here? She looks like a discount stripper from Hooters?"

Much to the trap's amusement, the employee nodded in understanding. "Ah, you mean Charlotte. Yeah, she's in the breakroom to the left. Gotta warn ya though, she seemed to be in a real bitchy mood."

'Bitches will be bitches after all.' Shiro sniggered to himself, amused.

Eventually, he located the break room, heading inside. The pink haired girl was furiously typing on her phone, the swift clicking of keys filling the room. Shiro said nothing as he entered the room, she didn't even notice his presence, to engrossed in what she was doing. She finally finished composing her message, a response to her sister Nessa, and looked up, jumping slightly at his appearance.

"Jesus! Who the hell let you in here?"

Shiro gave a weak and somewhat nervous smile in reply. "One of the employees who agreed with me that you're a discount Hooter stripper."

"Steven… that mother fucker," she mumbled under her breath. She glanced up, about to say something when she got a good look at Shiro. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Have we met somewhere before? You look familiar."

The trap hesitated, thinking of the best thing he could say to smooth things over. 'Ok Shiro, play it cool. Your doing this to thank Dais. He really likes this girl, don't fuck it up'

"I'm the one who kissed Dais, I'm his ex!" He blurted out.

Oops.

Charlotte remained silent for a moment, letting what he had said marinate in her brain. A look of realization flashed across her face, her jaw dropping. "You… you were the one at Starbucks!" she exclaimed. "Daisuke likes men… what the fuck? What a lying piece of shit!"

The trap puffed out his cheeks. "Hey, I can be a beautiful girl if I wanna be, thank you very much!" He snapped, looking away. "Besides, Dais didn't know I was a guy when we first started dating! That's why he broke up with me in the first place…" Shiro mumbled, a surprising amount of hurt in his voice. "Besides, you're the one who should be apologizing to Dais! You didn't even try to ask him about the situation; you're the piece of shit! If you had just asked him, you would have found out he was just helping me, as a friend! Dais deserves better than some hoe who just assumes what she wants to!"

"Hey! I am not a hoe, you fuck! I-" the pinkette paused, letting what he had said settle in her mind. She felt herself deflate, as she sunk into her chair. "Oh god, I am a piece of shit. I just walked out without letting him explain… and then there was that blunder on the Mall News Network and I… you're right, he does deserve better than me."

"You're absolutely right, he does!" Shiro then sighed, walking up to Charlotte and slapping her across the face several times. "Butttt, for some reason, he really, really likes you. Even now. He must really see something in you." The trap looked her up and down appraisingly. "Not sure what that something is, but whatever. You must really have some winning personality or something, because it sure as hell ain't your looks." He shook his head. "But here's your chance to prove me wrong, and win your boy toy back! Observe!" Shiro took out his phone, opening his feed and finding Emizel's post of a shirtless Daisuke, which had garnered over a thousand likes. "Ta da!"

"What… is that a picture of Daisuke… shirtless?" Charlotte asked, eyes widening. "Oh wow, he's totally ripped, I wouldn't mind running my hands on-" she paused, shaking her head. "How is a picture of him shirtless supposed to help me?"

"Uh, well, he kinda got fired because of me… and I just happened to overhear that this aquarium is having a new human water show, involving that little kid, Kitai. I mean, c'mon, I know you're clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even you should be able to see where I'm going with this!" Shiro replied with a satisfied smirk.

"You want me to get him a job here?" she asked, quirking a brow. "I mean I guess… it would give me a chance to apologize to him." she mumbled to herself. After a few moments, she gave Shiro a nod. "Fine, I'll text him and let him know about this water show, and I'll speak with my boss. I'm sure once she sees his shirtless body, she'll readily agree."

"See? And all was well in the world once again!" The trap joked. "Uh, you can take credit for this. I doubt Dais would believe I'd help him out anyways." Shiro rubbed the back of his head somewhat awkwardly, looking away from Charlotte self consciously. "So… yeah, bye I guess…" He mumbled, beginning to walk away.

"You really care about him don't you?" Charlotte asked, causing him to stop. "You wouldn't have come all the way here if you didn't. I'll make sure to patch things up with him, I know he's had it rough, and this was all a misunderstanding. Thank you."

Shiro coughed awkwardly. "Quit it with the sappy stuff, y'hear? I have a reputation to uphold. Oh, and one more thing…" He turned to look at Charlotte, a terrifying look in his eyes as he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, lightly pressing it to her forehead.. "Listen well, girl. If you screw Dais over again, or break his heart, or so much as give him a papercut, I will fuck you up so bad, you'll never get another date ever again. Capiche?"

"Yeah okay," the girl said, feverishly nodding. "I promise I won't hurt him at all! I'll make sure to take good care of him and his pectorals."

"Good." Shiro nodded, once again back to his bubbly self. "If you guys ever decide to get into the voyeurism business, I have some connections! You two could make good money! Well, with your body, Dais would be doing all the heavy lifting, but whatever. Seeya!" He giggled, darting out of the room before Charlotte could respond.

"Voyeurism?" she thought, shaking her head. She glanced at the table, noticing her phone was vibrating. Most likely the response her sister had given her. She scooped it up and swiped her finger across the screen, ignoring the message. It only took her a few seconds to find Daisuke's number. She clicked on it, pressing the device to her ear.

"Come on, pick up… I know you always have your phone with-"

"Hello? Charlotte?"

"Ah.. hey Daisuke.. How… how are you?" she asked, clearing her throat.

"I lost my job, my shirt, my dignity, and now I got thousands of views on Instagram and girls won't stop flocking to me. If I was a deadbeat rock star, I'd be living the dream. But what about you? What's the reason for calling me?" he asked curiously. Charlotte sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. A small smile appeared on her face.

"How would you like a job at the Aquarium?"