Tonight had most definitely not gone according to plan.

Coming here was a direct order from the top; it was supposed to be a half-baked shakedown of a less competent yakuza family known as the Himekawas, where the head had not been paying their cut for the turf that they shared with the Tokugawas. An already dubious deal as it was – families never liked to share patches of land with anyone – but if the price was right, anything could happen.

The Tokugawas had made an agreement with the Himekawas to have a thirty-percent cut of all their profits, which – unsurprisingly – they had not been receiving...and of course, one softer criminal swindling another hardened one does not usually end well.

Ayame, lost in thought and with aching arms, scoffed at just how bizarre and fucked up everything always seemed to be.

“Laughing at a time like this? What are you thinkin' about?” Teru marvelled. Ayame shook her head.

“It's nothing...ah.”

Their footsteps on the carpeted floor had come to a standstill; the window that Teru had mentioned was now right in front of them.

“Let's go. Are we high up...?”

“You forgot, huh?” Teru sighed. “Honestly, and you try to tell me off...we're on the fourth floor.”

Ayame frowned.

The fourth floor...? That's quite a drop down if we wanna escape with our lives…

“What's the big fucking idea, Teru?” Ayame began to scold. “This was your awesome escape plan? Are you stupid?”

“Stop your bitching and look. See the outline just there, right on the edge of the stairway?”

Teru pointed to the dark window; and as Ayame squinted her tired eyes, she could just about make out what looked like a staircase's railing.

“A fire escape, is it? Fine by me.”

“Alright, I'll get th-”

Ayame pointed the gun holstered within her belt at the window, and pulled the trigger with a silent shot.

“Dammit, Ayame! I could have just opened the window like a normal fuckin' person!” Teru flinched. “Ugh, whatever...let's brush away this glass and get going. I hope nobody heard...”

“It's got a silencer, dumbass."

“I know it's got a silencer, asshole,” Teru hissed back at Ayame, “but it's not entirely silent when glass is shattering and flying everywhere!”

Ayame let out a nonchalant sigh.

“Whatever. Stop being a wimp and let me through...my arms hurt.”

Slumping down the garbage bag unceremoniously beside the window, Teru wrinkled her nose as Ayame began to brush the shards of glass away.

 “Be careful not to cut yourself, okay?” Teru warned. Ayame sighed with irritation.

“I will be very fucking careful.”

“Geez, you’re just a ball of sunshine today, aren’t you?”

As she brushed away the glass shards of varying shapes and sizes, the cool night breeze of July began to rush in.

Ayame felt herself exhale in relief as the sensation of a midnight chill touched her face; reminding her that there really was a life outside of this blood-soaked hellhole. As she began to feel calmer, her tired arms moved even quicker.

“Aah...” she exhaled, shuffling off the last few pieces of large glass shards onto the bushes below. “Finally.”

“Come on, stop taking in the view and let's go, already. This bag is stinky.”

“Stinky? Are you five years old...?” Ayame replied, climbing onto the cold steel of the fire escape's staircase. “Oh, this breeze...I finally feel like I'm me again.”

“You're always you. You're never not your usual colourful, violent self. Besides, is it so wrong of me to think a bag full of body parts is gross?”

Ayame didn't respond, and as Teru's footsteps clanged onto the metal surface, she grabbed the bag once again with a grunt. She could apologize for being grumpy later.

Her arms were tired from all the chopping, and her back was already aching from having to carry the weight of the dismembered lieutenant on it. A sudden bitter taste filled her mouth as she turned back to her sister.

“You know, Teru,” Ayame began, and Teru looked back at her curiously. “You could do me a favour and share some of the load here.”

“Did I not get us in here stealthily, hm? C'mon, you've been doing such a great job. I'll put in a good word for you to mom.”

“First of all,” Ayame grumbled, slogging the bag onto the cold steel of the staircase. “You didn't get us in here stealthily. We walked in the front door.”

“I mean, I guess…”

“And secondly, you said yourself that I haven't done such a good fucking job. Thirdly, mom doesn't give a shit about you, or me, or anything that isn't money. So that's a lose-lose situation.”

Teru grimaced.

“Well -”

“So take this fucking bag already, or I'll really lose my temper...!”

“Alright, alright...!” Teru grumbled hastily. “Don't get all bent out of shape. We really need to get you some alcohol and a good meal.”

Ayame remained silent, though sometimes her silence spoke volumes. Teru couldn't help but laugh mischievously.

Both of the Tokugawa twins were now fully outside, and Ayame felt as though this was exactly what she had needed since the moment she set foot in that dingy apartment. The wind caressed her face gently; and from the distance, the sights and sounds of Kyoto below were filling every one of her senses. The idea of a cold glass of beer, the bass pumping through her body in the inside of a nightclub...

All of that sounded like heaven to her…even if she had done it a million times.

The sticky, slightly congealed sensation of the blood that Ayame had slicked through her hair began to feel hardened, as though she had swept it all back with gel. The wind had begun to die down a little as she and Teru continued to walk, and that unpleasant, familiar summer heat began to rise up from the pavement below.

“...Whew, this woman is heavy. She must have really had some muscles. No wonder she tried to punch you.”

“Just keep going down the stairs, Teru...we don't want to be caught out. Not now.”

“No, I know...just...phew, and she reeks...”

Ayame closed her tired eyes in exasperation, and began to make nimble steps forwards down the steps along with her sister.

“You’re almost there.”

“We got a driver waiting, right? Is it someone we know?”

“...New girl, according to Owner. Let's hope she's not the squeamish type.”

Teru laughed. “Oh, great. If she's a chicken shit, I guess we'll know it sooner rather than later.”

Just another night in Kyoto, Ayame thought.

The two of them clambered down the metal steps. Teru struggled with the bag of body parts, despite that she was actually a little stronger than Ayame in arm strength alone. Eventually, as the two of them made it onto the dry, brittle grass outside of the back end apartments, they saw a sleek, black car waiting across the road inside an alleyway.

“...Is that our ride?” Teru asked cautiously. “Wow. That's an awfully expensive car, even for us.”

“Owner did mention we got an upgrade...” Ayame mumbled, and sparked up a cigarette. “This girl is supposed to be the best of the best.”

“Really...?” Teru remarked in amazement. “Well, shit. Let's get going, then. How come you didn't tell me 'til right now?”

“Forgot,” Ayame said bluntly. Teru scoffed.

“You're so deadpan sometimes...and hey, why are you smoking? Shouldn't you wait until we're in the car?”

“I don't care.”

Teru sighed, and pulled the bag up a little more over her shoulder.

“Suit yourself. I guess I’m not in a position to lecture.”

The two of them began to head across the road under the cover of darkness, and found that the blanket of night was a grand comfort.

Ayame's tired eyes suddenly felt rejuvenated, and the racing inside her heart that so often came with violent acts began to calm down with the presence of a night breeze at her back. Teru, meanwhile, seemed like there was a positive spring in her step for simply getting out of that awful apartment block, and she was all too happy to make it into the equally as dingy alleyway.

“There she is,” Teru said as their footsteps crunched across gravel, and as the two of them drew closer, only Teru really paid attention to the woman in question. “Hey. You the newbie?”

The woman nestled in the dark of the alleyway snapped her head up in surprise.

“...Yes.”

“Got a delivery we need to make to the incinerator. You know where that is, right?”

“Yes, Tokugawa-san.”

So this really was their driver, then.

“Ugh, there’s no need for formalities...” Teru interjected, waving a hand in front of her. “I'm Teru, so just call me that. Teru Tokugawa. Oh...you probably know this already, but this is my sister, Ayame Tokugawa.”

Ayame didn't bother to look up. The driver nodded.

“My name is Chinami Saizuki. It is an honour to meet the both of you.”

Chinami bowed her head deeply, and Teru couldn't help but laugh at the display.

Even in the dimly-lit dark, Chinami was a mysterious girl to look upon; Teru, at the very least, though that much. This silver-haired driver wore little that gave away any kind of indistinguishable features, though in her position with this line of work, that was probably a good decision to make.

She wore a white vest, a light blue jacket, and a black medical mask that hung off of both of her ears and around her mouth. Her glasses were sleek, and held well at the edge of her nose; whilst her deep purple eyes were somewhat fearsome and intense to look into for too long.

Intrigued by just why Teru of all people had remained silent for so long, Ayame turned her gaze to face the woman as she remained bowed.

“Hey, what did I say about formalities? Cut the crap,” Teru interrupted. “We're all on a level, here...just don't do us wrong or we'll fucking kill you.”

Chinami remained silent for a moment. Ayame raised an eyebrow. She’d temporarily forgotten that Teru could be quite cutting when it counted, too.

“...Understood,” Chinami replied firmly, though it wasn’t without respect.

And as Chinami raised her head, Ayame Tokugawa felt something begin to bubble away in her heart. For the first time in many years, a light feeling spread through her chest, outweighing the desire to break everything she saw.

What that feeling was, however, she wasn't quite sure; but something about this bespectacled, masked woman’s arrival had completely taken away whatever anger she had left from the night.

“...Hello,” Ayame mumbled quietly, which surprised Teru enough for her to not say a word. “I'm Ayame.”

Chinami paused, clearly taken aback by the soft greeting. Ayame had a feeling that her reputation had preceded her with this one...though that wasn't exactly uncommon, these days.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ayame-san.” Chinami said, with an air of both a warm welcome and a frosty guard. “I -"

“Oh...don't be formal with me either, please."

“...As you wish,” Chinami replied, and despite her stoic tone, Ayame couldn't help but notice what intense eyes she had, too. “You’re twins?”

“What gave it away?” Teru chuckled to herself. Chinami tapped her glasses.

“Your eyes are both a deep red,” she said quietly. “The same shade. You are truly Tokugawas.”

Teru and Ayame were both surprised by that.

“You can see our eyes in the dark like this?” Ayame asked.

“Yes. Any flickers of light show me where a person’s glance is looking.”

Ayame and Teru exchanged a mutual look of fondness for their driver. She’s sharp, even with the glasses. Impressive.

“Do you need help with putting that bag in the trunk?” Chinami asked. Teru waved a hand dismissively.

“Nah, I got it. Don't worry about me.”

“Then I shall wait in the driver's seat.”

Teru and Ayame nodded as Chinami opened the door to sit back inside, and both women turned to face each other.

“Huh,” Teru remarked. “She's pretty cool, isn't she? The strong, silent type.”

“...”

“You thought so too, right?” Teru whispered slyly as she walks to the back of the car, and laughed to herself. “I don't remember the last time I heard Ayame-chan use her manners.”

“I'll kill you. Slowly."

“You will not,” Teru replied with a grunt as the bag slammed down into the trunk, and Ayame angrily folded her arms. “We already established that you'd miss me too much, remember?”

“...You really are so grating sometimes...!”

“But you love me all the same, right?” Teru said with a grin, and slammed the trunk shut; clapping her hands to dust them off with satisfaction afterwards. “Phew. Thank God that's over...let's get these things burned and get back home already.”

Ayame nodded quietly, and turned her gaze up to the apartment block that they had just escaped from.

“Teru.”

Teru turned around.

“Yeah?”

“We should come back later and burn this place to the ground.”

Even in this summer heat, a cold snap ran down Teru's back.

“Huh...? Ayame, come on. I don’t think that’s necessary...we’ve never been caught before,” Teru replied coolly, and tried to brush off the suggestion. “Besides, don't civilians live here?”

Ayame remained unmoving, not tearing her eyes away from the building...though it was more so she didn't have to face her sister's appalled expression.

“...I'm not going to prison so they can live.”

“Ayame…”

But before Teru could protest, Ayame had already opened the car door, and slid herself inside. Knowing better than to press the topic, Teru quickly followed suit.

Chinami Saizuki also knew better than to talk to her employers for too long; and as the car's lights dimmed within the alleyway's confines, she quickly placed her boot to the gas pedal; and the three of them sped off into the night like nothing had ever happened.

Another night in Kyoto, Ayame Tokugawa thinks for the second time tonight; though even now, she can’t imagine in what ways her life is about to change over these next few months.

Nobody can run from the demons forever.