Mika exited the house cautiously, and once confirming that there was no one around, she headed out of the gate and down the road. There was light foot traffic, and Mika kept with the small crowds as much as possible.

Despite being on hyperactive alert for anything unusual, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and she reached the conbini easily. Mika released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding the moment she walked through the sliding glass doors.

If I were the lettuce, where would I be? She traveled around the store slowly, sizing up ingredient options. All of this is really expensive… She mused as she finished her initial lap around the small convenience store. It would probably be cheaper to go around the block to the Lawson. Three minutes of extra walking seemed like a worthy sacrifice to save four hundred yen.

And so she started off down the street once more. She was halfway to her destination when she happened to turn and see someone leaning against the wall. The person had the hood of a black jacket pulled up over his or her head, so Mika couldn’t see the individual’s face, but as she walked, their line of sight seemed to be following her.

Mika felt her heartbeat speed up as she forcibly ripped her gaze away from them. She weaved through a couple of people on the street, and pressed herself closer to the line of shops hoping she could disappear into their shadows.

When she’d walked another few meters, she stole a glance behind her. The individual was moving now, keeping an even pace with her on the opposite side of the road. Just a coincidence, she told herself. There’s nothing actually odd about this situation. I’m panicking for nothing.

Even as she tried to convince herself, her pace increased significantly along with the pounding of her heart. She rounded the corner that the convenience store was located on and practically flew through the glass doors.

“Irasshaimase,” came the typical greeting from the cashier, but Mika didn’t even hear it. She walked straight to the back corner of the shop, knelt down, and pretended to examine the rows of coffee on the bottom-most shelf.

“Mika.”

Mika jumped, and whirled around with enough force to completely destroy her balance. She toppled over from her kneeling position, landing on her butt, and stared fearfully up at the person who had spoken.

“Ka-Kaito.” His name came from her mouth in a breathless rush.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized, offering his hand to her.

Mika reached to take his hand, but stopped short as Ayako’s warning at lunch resonated in her mind. 'Why was he there the exact moment you needed him? You really should stay as far away from him as you can.'

“Thanks, but I’m okay,” Mika managed, withdrawing her hand and picking herself up on her own.

Kaito’s eyes lingered on her for a seemingly endless amount of time before his gaze shifted to the windows.

Mika turned her head as well and wasn’t surprised, though was somewhat horrified, to see the man with the hood standing on the opposite side of the street, staring straight into the shop.

“I believe I did tell you not to wander around alone right?” Kaito questioned.

His voice was light, but Mika felt like a child being scolded for doing something stupid. “I didn’t have food for dinner,” she mumbled. “The conbini is just a ten minute walk from the house. I thought it would be fine.”

Kaito released a short sigh. “Get what you need and I’ll walk you back home.”

“No, that’s… that’s okay...” Mika returned to examining the drinks, just so she wouldn’t have to meet the intense blue gaze she knew was fully focused on her.

“Are you really going to let Ayako’s words influence you to such an extent?”

He said it in an off-handed voice, but Mika’s body went completely rigid. “How could you hear what Ayako said? Even I could barely hear her, and she was whispering directly into my ear. You did the same thing the other day too, answering ‘you’re welcome’ even though I didn’t properly say ‘thank you’ aloud!”

Mika took a couple of steps backward, distancing herself from him. Ayako was completely right. This person is not normal at all.

“Keep your voice low,” Kaito said. “You’ll disturb the other customers.”

“Why are you here? In this conbini, the exact moment someone seems to be following me?” Mika could see a struggling expression flicker across his face.

“This conbini has good sweets.” He picked up an item from the cake section and held it up for Mika to see. The hiragana ふ was spread largely across the package in a yellow-orange text. “You can’t find this in a lot of other convenience stores.”

“And why now? Why did you come now of all times?”

“It is around dinner time for normal people. Is that not why you’re here as well?”

Mika’s eyes fell to the semi-clean tile floor. He did have a point. “So it’s a coincidence?”

Kaito nodded.

“The same kind of coincidence that led you to always take the soccer ball in Ayako’s right side the other day?”

Kaito exhaled, and closed his eyes. The silence stretched on for some time before he spoke again. “Mika, have I honestly ever given you a reason not to trust me?”

“No… but –”

“I’m ‘weird?’” he suggested. “I have no problems admitting that’s fair, but isn’t everyone weird in their own way?”

To that, Mika found herself utterly speechless. Everything that he’d said was completely true. He had never given her a reason not to trust him; he had never hurt her. Maybe his weird hearing was simply an odd quirk that he possessed.

He could still be tricking me but… I guess I will trust him unless he gives me a good reason not to. “Okay,” she agreed, this time with a small smile highlighting her face. “I would be grateful for an escort back home.”

Kaito’s features softened as well, and he stood back while Mika sifted through the numerous bento boxes. Honestly, at this point she was far too exhausted to think about cooking.

The two exited together, with Kaito a half step in front of Mika. “Whatever happens, stay close to me,” he said, just loudly enough for Mika to hear.

She gave a small nod, and fell into step beside him. It was impossible not to notice that the hooded individual was also moving – still staying even with them on the opposite side of the road. Kaito’s body was relaxed, but guarded as they maneuvered the streets.

Meanwhile, Mika’s head swiveled left and right as she watched her surroundings with trepidation. “Kaito, there’s more behind us.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she stared at the two black-clothed people following some distance behind them.

“I know.” Kaito’s voice was smooth and relaxed and his calmness helped ease Mika’s panicking mind.

He steered her off the main highway, and down a series of narrower one-lane roads. All the while, the number of people behind them was increasing by one each time Mika turned around, though the original hooded figure that she’d seen didn’t appear to be there.

Kaito stopped, and Mika, so focused on the force behind them, ran straight into his back. The question of why they were stopping was on the tip of her tongue, but the words died in her throat as her gaze traveled ahead of them.

A mob of at least twenty people – ten in the front and ten in the back – had them surrounded.

“You know, it was getting really difficult to corner you with all of those twists and turns.” The original figure stepped forward and pulled down the hood of his jacket.

Mika drew a sharp breath as her eyes met his. He had his hair slicked back out of his face, and his glasses were gone, but Mika had no doubt in her mind that it was him. Hattori’s eyes carried a look of madness that could not be easily mistaken.

“Now then,” he moved forward one slow step at a time with each word he spoke. “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

“I think you give yourself a bit too much credit.” Kaito spoke in a condescending voice. “Manpower doesn’t mean squat if they can’t actually fight.”

“Hm? But we’ve already factored you into the equation Kaito-sama.” He spat out the words as he drew a gun from under his jacket.

Mika could feel Kaito’s body go rigid. She wondered if he was actually afraid, but the side glimpse she caught of his face told her the opposite: he was furious. Because Hatori was making fun of him? But that doesn’t seem like something he would care about...

“The boss is truly splendid when it comes to information gathering. Imagine my surprise. Did he tell you Mika?”

Her eyes flickered from Hattori to Kaito, trying to read the bit of silent information that was passing through their gazes, but try as she might, she couldn’t even begin to guess what Hattori was alluding to.

“You’ve noticed it too right? That, in no way, is this guy normal. That’s because –”

“Hattori.” Kaito’s voice was deep, and resonated with so much malice that Mika flinched backward. “I’m warning you now,” he stretched out his right hand, fingertips pointing toward Hattori’s chest, “say another word, and you will regret it.”

The air surrounding the two was so oppressive that Mika couldn’t help but back up. At any moment, she was sure they would explode.

“How scary.” His voice was filled with sarcasm. “Looks like Mika thinks so too.”

He jabbed his chin in her direction, and Kaito’s eyes flickered back just enough to see her out of the corner of his eye. “Mika, don’t!” His warning came too late. Those that had surrounded them from behind rushed forward, grabbing Mika. One restrained her while another covered her nose with a cloth. Her struggling slowly subsided until she went still.

The remaining individuals within the group rushed forward to surround Kaito with drawn guns and knives.

“It’s been fun,” Hattori said as he stepped out of the circle. “Please give my regards to our homeroom teacher. I suspect I won’t be coming back after this. Sayonara.”

“Tch, if you think I’m going to let you go so easily, you’ve got another thing coming,” Kaito muttered as he sized up the opposition around him. “Let’s get this party started then, shall we?”