After the events that had unfolded within the office walls of Akira Tokugawa, both Ayame and Teru were only too glad to be sat in the dining room with a deck of playing cards, two packets of cigarettes, and a highball glass filled to the brim with watered-down rum for each of them.

“Blackjack? Or poker?”

“Let’s try Blackjack first,” Ayame replied to Teru as she watched her sister shuffle the cards with a sharp, brisk noise of the surfaces hitting one another amidst the mix. “I don’t have the energy to think too much today.”

“No kidding. After last night, I’m not surprised.”

Teru began to deal out the cards, and Ayame couldn’t help but look upon the newly hewn tattoo that had been engraved into Teru’s face.

“Man. What the hell's up with that, anyway? You really thought getting ‘Endure’ slapped on your face was a good idea?”

“What? You don’t like it?” Teru asked, with a cigarette hanging lazily out of the side of her mouth. “C’mon, don’t you think it’s cool? I think it's cool.”

“No! I think you look like a hardass, which is not what you are in the slighest.”

Teru laughed.

“Aw, am I that soft? That’s a shame. Why don’t you get a tattoo to match mine? Girls won't be able to resist our charms, y'know. You should get something like -”

“Fuck no. My back tattoo was more than enough for me…not to mention the pain inflicted upon me by all of the dumbass shitheads I have to talk to every day.”

“Yeah...” Teru sighed with exasperation. “Well, try not to think too much about that. Here’s your cards.”

Ayame picked up the cards with a satisfying noise of dragging them off of the table, though if she really wanted to prevent Teru cheating in this game outright, the best way was to simply not play. Regardless, she wanted to forget about her life for a while, and Teru – ever the professional when it came to distractions – was always the best person to help her with that.

“Mirai Mishima, huh…?” Teru said thoughtfully, holding the rim of her glass and swirling the ice cubes around lazily. “She’s one hell of a scary lady, if what they’re saying is true.”

Ayame paused for thought.

“I wonder if she did kill her mother.”

“Mm…you wouldn’t think something like that would wash over too well with their group, but the Mishimas have always been crazy bastards.”

Ayame raised an eyebrow with a grimace, and placed her cards down on the table to match Teru’s.

“I really don’t want to go to this funeral,” Ayame confessed with a groan. “It sounds like it’ll be a shitshow.”

“We’ll see if mom was right or not about the chairwoman having a closed casket, eh? If they went ahead with that, it's as good as saying they're lying about her cause of death.”

Ayame paused.

“You know something, though? I think I agree with her.”

Teru looked up in surprise, and started to deal out the cards once again to her and Ayame with a soft whack against the table.

“I think I do, too. Even if she did scare the hell out of me. When you're right, you're right.”

Ayame chuckled, though both twins knew that the other had been genuinely frightened in that moment.

“That was pretty terrifying,” Ayame said half-heartedly.

“I thought nothin’ scared you,” Teru teased. Ayame’s weak laugh suddenly turned into an indignant pout.

“Shut up and give me my cards already.”

As Teru chuckled and slid the last card across the tabletop, Ayame had, at long last, managed to put the thought of entrails and the sensation of cutting through bones out of her mind.

Whilst Teru had only the sting of her fresh tattoo to contend with, Ayame was all too relieved that she simply had a day off. A gnawing, human anxiety began to stab at her stomach as she wondered if a search for the missing Himekawa lieutenant had begun yet, before she realized that on a base level of numbness and displeasure, she simply didn’t care.

During the card game, many accusations of cheating and unfairness had been slung at one another. Teru had kept cards up her sleeve, as had Ayame; before, during the fifth argument of the day, a certain someone’s presence appeared to alleviate such allegations from turning ugly.

“…May I join you?”

“Huh…? Oh! Chinami!”

At their side now stood Chinami Saizuki, neatly, with her hands behind her blue bomber jacket. Her curious gaze had been drawn to the game of cards they were playing.

“Of course, join us! The more the merrier,” Teru said with a charming smile. “Right, sis?”

Ayame cleared her throat and stood up.

“Here…I’ll get that for you.”

Teru’s eyebrows raised – a motion which made her cheek wince from the tattoo stinging underneath her eye – and Chinami’s hands quickly came up from behind her back in protest.

“A-Ah, please, don’t trouble yourself on my account -”

Already having committed to the action, Ayame awkwardly pulled out the mahogany chair from underneath the table. Despite her deliberate attempts to avoid eye contact with her sister, Ayame knew that Teru had a wry smile written all over her face in reply.

“Ohh…?” she goaded knowingly. “So it’s like that.”

“You wanna die?!”

“…Thank you,” Chinami said quietly, still a little in surprise that her bosses would be so kind; and sat down for the rambunctious antics of the Tokugawa twins as they played the day away. “I apologize if I have intruded. I wasn’t sure what to do today, given the situation.”

“Not at all. I’m glad you came over. Ayame’s been cheatin’ her way through every win she’s gotten.”

“I have not…!” Ayame protested through grit teeth, and Chinami quietly chuckled.

“Fufu…I see.”

Although Chinami replied simply, both Ayame and Teru could tell she probably wanted to say more. Ayame wished she would.

“So?” Teru continued; her natural affinity to charm others unwavering. “You wanna play with us, or just have a drink and a smoke?”

“…I don’t drink or smoke,” Chinami confessed, which surprised both Ayame and Teru, “But I will enjoy watching you two play.”

Everybody at the table paused.

“Just watching?” Ayame asked, curiously.

“Um, you see…” Chinami began, clearing her throat. “I…find it difficult to talk, sometimes. So…”

“Ah, is that why you wear that mask?” Teru asked.

Chinami shook her head.

“No.”

“O-Oh…”

“Well, alright…suit yourself,” Ayame finished, though in truth, she wanted to keep listening to Chinami’s quiet voice. “We’ll continue playing, and you can judge us. Or not.”

“You can see if Ayame’s takin’ all those extra cards like I know she is,” Teru said with a wink.

“Fuck off, Teru!”

Strangely, despite that she was hardly a big talker…

Having Chinami’s presence at the table only served to accentuate the now easy-going mood.

The twins were just as loud as ever; many a fist slammed down on the table out of habitual outrage of loss, and many declaring laughs of victory came from both Teru and Ayame individually. Chinami’s eyes watched carefully, gleaning a good image of the people that were sat in front of her, and even she knew it was more than likely for the best she never knew the extent of what they really got up to – especially if last night was anything to go by.

“Teru, god damn it! Stop being such a fuck!”

“I’m not, you little shit! Gimme back my cards!”

Amidst the chaos…a phone began to ring from somewhere inside the room.

“…Eh?” Ayame asked, patting herself down; before Chinami made a noise for the first time in two hours.

“Ah…!” she exclaimed. “E-Excuse me…I must take this call.”

“Sure…” Teru asked, and grinned as she asked the next part. “Girlfriend?”

Ayame felt her stomach tense.

“…Sister.”

And just like that, her stomach relaxed.

“Tell her we say hello!” Teru piped up excitedly.

“Please don’t tell her that,” Ayame said with exasperation, and Teru laughed at the reply. Chinami nodded.

“I will return shortly,” she announced, and after shuffling her chair out from underneath the table, Chinami answered her phone quietly and headed out of the lounge door.

“…So? What are you thinkin’, huh?”

Ayame blinked as Teru looked at her with curiosity in her eye. “Huh?”

“You must think Chinami’s pretty fly to pull the chair out for her. Especially in the middle of such a hot-blooded game of cards.”

“Tch…can’t I just be polite every once in a while?”

“Nope,” Teru replied bluntly, and Ayame couldn’t really think of a reply to that.

When it came to her emotions, Teru often knew how Ayame felt before she herself did. She wasn’t sure when she had allowed herself to become so numb to something as straightforward as feeling, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that it was probably the result of somewhere between the physical and mental trauma.

Teru, on the other hand, had always had a sunnier approach to life. She was charming, quick to close down any problem, and didn’t let this life bog her down for long.

Ayame thought how, in that way only, Teru was probably the most like their mother in that she only focused more the luxuries and less on the atrocities.

After a few minutes and a few more sips of their drinks, Chinami returned, and bowed her head low in apology.

“I am sorry for the interruption. My sister wanted to know when I would be returning home.”

“No worries. We’re all friends here, right?”

Teru flashed a smile across the table, and Ayame squirmed in her seat. Chinami, either not realizing that Teru was teasing her sister or not caring, quietly sat back down.

“So, uh…” Ayame began, and Teru lit up a cigarette with a soft click of her lighter. “S-So…”

Ayame felt her mouth grow a little dry, and couldn’t bring herself to look at Chinami.

“…Hm?” Chinami asked, looking at Ayame curiously.

“So what’s your sister like?”

The voice did not come from Ayame, but instead from Teru; who asked the question with a large mouthful of smoke emitting from her lips. Ayame internally cursed and praised Teru for asking the question first.

“Hmm...” Chinami replied after a few seconds. “I guess...she is like me. But...younger.”

Teru blinked twice, half expecting a longer answer, before she realized one wasn’t coming.

“Say no more,” Teru laughed.

“Okay.”

“N-No, that's just a figure of speech…”

“Oh.”

“Hahaha!” Teru laughed, and Ayame couldn’t help but smile at the interaction, too. “You’re funny, Chinami. I like you. You like her too, right, Ayame?”

Chinami’s intense gaze turned towards Ayame.

“Yes,” Ayame replied bluntly, though she felt as though her and Chinami were saying a lot more privately amidst this glance.

“I bet you and your sister must have some real in-depth conversations around the dinner table.”

Chinami chuckled.

“…It seems I must apologize once again.”

“Oh, no…you don’t have to do that,” Ayame interjected finally, and lit up a cigarette herself whilst looking away from Chinami. “Teru’s just a wisecracking asshole sometimes.”

“Hey!” Teru replied resentfully. “Who said I was makin’ a wisecrack? I talk enough for two people myself, so I don't get on well with other chatterboxes.”

“It’s alright…” Chinami continued. “I am always…um...I try to be aware of speaking out of turn. So…”

Ayame’s gaze softened as she looked at Chinami, whilst Teru exhaled another puff of tobacco.

“You can speak as much as you want here, Chinami. It's no problem.”

Chinami paused for thought, before nodding politely.

“…Thank you.”

After the sparks of electricity had mellowed out into the calm, collected environment of the living room, the three of them spent the better part of the day playing cards inside the Tokugawa mansion.

“The decor of this place...is striking,” Chinami muttered from behind her mask, eyes travelling all around the room, and just about anywhere besides the hand of cards she had been dealt by Teru.

“I hate to pay mom a compliment, but she really knows how to tie a room together.” Teru said with a small laugh. “Have you never been in here before, Chinami?”

Chinami shook her head.

"Once or twice. But not for long. I did not notice the diamond chandeliers before...they're very pretty."

Ayame looked around herself a few times after that remark. She realized that she hadn’t really looked hard at this place in a very, very long time. The wallpaper still was just as rich and lavish as it always had been; thick, heavy-set colours of red and gold, as was the case for most rooms in the mansion, whilst expensive portraits of animals and foreign nobles adorned the walls.

The houseplants were a bright, vivid green, whilst the fireplace was huge and overbearing; a large television rest above it with a variety show on mute, and three other Tokugawa members sitting on the black leather sofa, casually talking amongst themselves.

While it may have surprised Ayame on any other day to see members doing nothing at this time, today it very much did not.

“…It’s still crazy to me that Ryuko Mishima's dead,” Teru said, as though subconsciously reading Ayame’s mind on top of everything else. “I think that’s the biggest shock, personally.”

“The funeral’s tomorrow, isn’t it?” Chinami asked. “…Will all of the families be there?”

“Yeah. They’ll all come out of the woodwork for this one,” Ayame answered with a nod. “It’ll be very interesting to see who shows up.”

Teru scoffed.

“No kidding. But, let’s not think about that right now. C’mon…what do you say to one more round of cards, eh?”

“One more round?” Ayame smirked. “I’ll kick your ass.”

“Deal me in, please. I wish to also take part in ass-kicking.”

Ayame and Teru laughed as Chinami also was given a hand; and for the remainder of the night until Chinami’s departure, the three of them continued their card game in full.

As time marched onward and the grandfather clock loudly struck seven in the evening, Chinami abruptly stood up, her chair clattering behind her somewhat. The twins looked up at her with a curious blink as she bowed at the waist.

“I'm sorry for interrupting the game. But I promised my sister I would return home by eight o'clock, so I must be on my way."

“Aww, so soon? And you were just about to take Teru to the cleaners, too,” Ayame jeered at her sister from across the table.

“Hey!”

“...I wish I didn't have to go,” Chinami confessed. “Tonight has been fun. I learned a lot about hiding cards up sleeves.”

“If you wanna learn more about the sacred art of being a dirty cheat, you know where to find me,” Teru winked.

“I'd like that very much,” Chinami replied. Though the statement was short and sweet, Ayame could still hear the smile lacing the words, which made her smile, in turn.

Ayame found herself at a loss for what to do once Chinami had excused herself. It was an abrupt departure; not one where Ayame could linger, or somehow fulfil this urge to say goodbye to her, as though she was sending off a loved one to work.