Blast didn’t try anything that night. I was very grateful for this. So pleased in fact, that when she asked me not to make fun of her for a moment, I was willing to go along with it.

“I’ve been thinking...” she paused in the event I attempted a lame joke, when none came she continued.

“About that thing you said after the cobra fight.”

I thought for a moment. What we talked about last night?

“About your laundry or about the chicken?” She waved frantically.

“Before that… like right after the fight.”

I tried to think about what else we’d talked about and nothing super important was coming to mind.

“About the banana toothpaste?”

She shook her head.

“About me assuming you know things?. It’s just... I’m gonna feel really stupid if you already know this but... if you don’t, I know you won’t believe me.”

I’d never seen her this flustered about anything. That made me worried.

"Is this a yakuza thing I need to be aware of?” I asked, a slight bit of panic in my voice.

“What? … No.” Blast waved dismissively. “It’s about your mom.”

If this was an elaborate build up to a yo-momma joke, I was seriously going to punch her in the mouth. She must have spotted the flare of anger because she got very defensive.

“I’m really not trying to screw with you. I swear by the valkyries this is true.” She sounded genuine but she was starting to get on my nerves.

“What is it?” She didn’t lower her hands.

“Um… you know our moms are kinda a thing right?”

I looked her in the eyes.

“What?”

She put her hands in front of her face.

“I swear, I thought you knew.”

I tapped the side of my head.

“You’re sayin-”

“Yes, like that. I swear I’m not messing with you!”

She seemed genuinely concerned I was going to be mad, which I wasn’t. At least I didn’t think I was.

“What?” She put her hands down slowly. “Look, it was before I left home, right? They were having their ‘mahjong night’. At least that’s what they called it, but I went by to ask my mom something and it was just the two of them cuddling and watching a movie.”

I took a deep breath, “I thought you were gonna say you caught them having sex.”

She shook her head.

“No... I mean... I did, but not that night.” Something in me screamed. That mental image was seared into my memory and some more innocent part of me was gone forever.

“Okay...Okay...” I repeated over and over and rubbed my eyes, anything to try and clear my brain out. “Hey, wait.” I looked up.

“That doesn’t make any sense. There had to have been other people there on mahjong night.”

Blast raised her hands again.

“It was always just them, I never saw anyone else!”

I was really thinking that if I could remember the names of some of the other players, I could debunk this. The problem was she always just went over to Ms. Kim’s and I never saw any of them. I’d always figured it was a neighborhood moms thing and not worth putting too much thought into. I was having a hard time buying this but I had absolutely no proof she was lying. She certainly seemed to be telling the truth or… at least it seemed like she thought she was telling the truth.

“Look I.. didn't know that you didn’t know. I just.. wanted to.. you know.”

Well that train of thought certainly kept me occupied for the next few days. Not much else was going on. The Cobras hads dropped off the map… or more likely were still licking their wounds, Tsubasa broke more teeth than just her own in that battle. The dentists they almost certainly used were inside the Dragons sphere of protection, so in a roundabout way, we probably took their money as well as their dignity.

I really wanted to just confront Ms. Kim over this whole affair business but Blast would know something was up if I asked her to drop me near there. If I was gonna get to her, I was going to have to bide my time until something on that street came up on our collections route. A little over a week passed before something did. Actually, several places along that street did. It was actually quite amazing how well organized things were in terms of collection routes and timetables. According to Blast, it was because Aoi kept them tidy even though she was not a Dragon herself. Supposedly, she was far tougher than she looked and Xianying was confident she wouldn’t break under police interrogation. She was still being held on the drug charges, but given what information Makoto had been able to gather, she hadn’t told them anything of substance. The Boss informed us it was likely a test of our resolve. If they’d hoped to provoke a war between the Dragon and the cops or the Tigers, they’d failed. The Boss was pretty confident this was a small part of a larger power shift, but she didn’t know enough to make any headway. There was news of increasing friction between the Tigers and Cranes but none of Makoto's contacts had first hand knowledge of the details.

So, I had my internship to focus on. I admit it was a bit hard looking at people I’d sort of known for years in the eye and taking their money. They were so used to handing it over without a fuss that they gave me little more than looks of betrayal and disgust. I guess it was the least I deserved. I hadn’t wanted to go out and make enemies. I genuinely didn’t want to damage any good relationships I might have built up, even if they were merely acquaintances. I know, I signed myself up for this and I have no real right to complain but… well I feel a bit bad about it. I wasn’t about to turn my back on my family or the clan regardless.

When we popped back up on our old street, I didn’t just bum rush Ms. Kim’ss. I waited a bit. I hoped Blast wouldn’t immediately freak out and try to stop me but I wasn’t counting on it. I waited until the perfect moment and stepped back away from her as quietly as I could. When I was confident I was far enough away that my footsteps wouldn’t be noticed, I made a brisk walk toward Ms. Kim.

The door chimed as I pulled it open.

“Anyanghas..eyo” Ms. Kim’s voice trailed off a bit as I stepped up to the counter.

“Hello Kairi.” Crap. I was not sure how to broach this topic. Blast’ss assertion wasn’t totally baseless. Ms. Kim had spent a lot of time with my mom when she was in the hospital. But they were best friends. It wasn’t weird for her to do that. Sure, she’d had to close her shop, but Ms. Kim was always super nice even at her own expense. I tapped my fingers on the counter trying to phrase the question.

“Uh.. you and my mom like each other, right?” Ms. Kim nodded and put on a smile.

“Yes, we have been friends for a very long time.” I looked her in the eye and asked more pointedly.

“You like her a lot, huh?” The color seemed to drain from her face a bit and she fidgeted.

‘

“Oh for Freyja’s sake!” I threw up my hands.

“That’s all I need to know.” I know she tried to say something, but I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t mad. Not really. If… my mom had found someone, that should be great. it just felt wrong. Not to say that she and my dad should get back together, because, well… this revelation might just be the reason they split up in the first place. I admit I hadn’t called that one.

Blast ran up to me when she saw me coming out of the convenience store. I nodded at her.

“Okay. You were right… just… wow.” She patted me on the head sympathetically.

“You know, If it comes down to it we could end up as stepsisters...” I pushed her back away from me.

“Would that by any chance stop you from hitting on me?” That asshole just smirked.

Just then, the door to my mother’ss bookstore opened and the girl we’d saved the other day stepped out and half jogged over to us. She was wearing a shop uniform.

“Hi, Kairi.” She said in English. Crap. I didn’t know her name. Had we ever introduced ourselves?

“Hi.” I replied. She must have picked up on my confusion. She held out her hand to me. “I’m Sophie, Sophie Zukuska.”

I shook her hand.

“Hello Sophie.” I probably sounded like a moron. My english was good but it wasn’t that good. I tried to translate the words in my head.

“Uh… so what.. eh what are you doing here?” I spun my finger around to give her the general idea.

“Well... your mother has been letting me stay and work in the store.” I think I got that.

“Um… okay… why?”

Sophie looked at her shoes. “Well… tThose gang members followed me from my old job almost all the way home. I didn’t wanna go back there in case they came back.”

I guess that made some sort of sense.

“But… they followed us back here too, so how is this any different?” She blushed a bit and pulled out her phone.

“Well your mom gave me your number in case anything came up...”

I guess that made sense and I’d probably be more valuable to the clan if I had contacts in the community who didn’t hate me. It was also ressauring that my mMom had help around the store now that she could afford it again… assuming I finished my internship before our store came back up for collections.

Sophie rocked on her heels. “Ummm… you really like planes, yeah?”

“Oh, yYeah” I nodded. My room was covered in posters, and the few models I’d been able to afford or had been given.

“I haven’t seen a couch since I lived in Poland.”

I beamed. The couch really was a point of personal pride.

“Yeah? I hope you’re enjoying it!” I dunno why I was so damn happy to hear about someone enjoying my mother’s couch but it was oddly comforting to know it was being appreciated.

Blast stood back. I wasn’t sure how much- if any -of the conversation she understood or if she was just really bored by it.

Sophie pushed up her glasses. “I have to get back to work, it was nice seeing you!”

I waved to her as she skipped back inside. Blast hovered over me.

“What was that all about?” I filled her in on our conversation.

“So she’s staying in your room?”

Crap. I hadn’t actually thought to ask that.

“Uhhh probably.” Blast smirked. I had no idea where that girl’s mind went and I didn’t want to.