Dante got out of the car with an uncomfortable look on his face. The drive was only thirty minutes from his house—the timing was too perfect.

“Hey, Sai, are you sure you’re not Jarckal’s son?” The similarities in their unscrupulous behavior were increasing by the day.

“I would be a lot uglier if I was,” Say said, causing Dante’s frown to deepen.

“Rude. Is this really Kristina’s place?” Dante looked at the story buildings that rose around them, encapsulating them in their shadows. “There are wayyyy too many humans for her to be comfortable here.”

“She…. Wasn’t particularly happy with the way you dealt with things. You know, when your father threw you in jail and our advising firm got shut down because of it?” The sound of his flip-flops flopping and pajamas fluttering with the wind did not match the harshness of his tone.

“They deserved it,” Dante mumbled.

“More than Kristina deserving to have her only source of income vanish after investing most of her time and savings into it?” he said, emotion filling his voice. 

Dante kept quiet this time. You couldn't spend time with her because of me, I know. Dante didn’t regret what he did, but he did regret what became of it for the people around him. A few months ago Dante was in the process of completing just another one of Jarckal’s unreasonable demands—become the main sponsor for all the businesses in a shady shopping district. He also needed to increase the profit margin by 20%.

It was hard at first, but with Sai’s information gathering and Kristina’s ability to maximize productivity, things had gone well. They connected businesses that benefited off each other, got rid of corruption, and even made them environment friendly. They had done so well, in fact, that they attracted the attention of a rival gang. They were "taxing" that district, and they didn't appreciate some kids taking over. When those people couldn’t out-perform three kids, so instead, they thought to break into Dante's house to intimidate them.

They took Sai's eye, so Dante almost took their boss's life. That forced Jarckal to get involved, not because he was against killing people, but because Dante had done it so... brazenly. Apparently the park wasn't a convenient place to beat someone up. Add the police and the media and you have a whole shit show that Jarckal wasn't a fan of. 

The anger that led him was a selfish one. It also made him slightly rash. 

Dante followed Sai, his body feeling heavier with each step he took up the stairs.

“She’s up another floor, room 329,” Sai said, patting Dante on the back. He gave him another one of those you fucked up so you fix this smiles.

“I thought you missed her,” Dante said, grinning at the way Sai’s smile shook for a moment. “Don’t you want to be at least on the same floor? She might even hug yo—”

“No no, Dante, I’m not going to be in the same building,” he said, going down two steps with every hop. “Good luck, have fun, don’t get hurt!”

Dante watched Sai go. He didn't consider the obvious lies that Sai told as real lies. Sai was too good to get caught if he didn't want to. Dante was proud of him for that, but this time he wasn’t sure if Sai was lying to Dante or to himself.

Dante looked down at his palms, not better off himself. He was sweaty and his heart tightened on him. “I guess waiting won’t do any good.” He went up to the third floor, dreading the number 329 with each step. When he found it a mixture of horror, hope, and happiness filled him.

He wanted to see her, he wanted to make up with her, but he didn’t what words to use. Kristina wasn't going to save him the challenge of expressing himself by reading his thoughts and emotions.

Dante knocked on the door as politely as he could.

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“Go away!” she instantly replied before Dante’s knuckles hit the door for the third knock.

“Yup, that’s her,” Dante sighed. At least she was still the same. “You didn’t even ask who I was!”

“Oh, is that Dante?” she said, her tone putting him on his tip-toes.

“Uh, ye-“

“Then go the fuck away!”

“And yup, there it is.” At least he saw it coming this time. “Can we talk please?”

“Why are you not away?”

“Kristina, I know I messed up. Can you yell in my face at least, instead of through the door?”

“I can’t. I’m sleeping. Come back in two years maybe.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” Dante yelled, backing off. “I can do it for you!”

"Don't you da--"

Dante’s foot connected with the center of the door. He thought the lock would break, but to his surprise the entire door flew forward. Damn she’s as cheap as ever. This place sucked. Still, it was her home. Dante courtesy wiped his feet on the neighbor’s rug and walked in. “Ojama shimasu!” he said as cheerfully as he could. Sai and Dante practiced that the pronunciation of that Japanese phrase just for her. Sorry for disturbing you.

Once the dust cleared Dante saw the apartment was a single room. It was like Dante’s only half as large. Clothes and empty food containers were sprinkled all over the room. Even her gaming corner with her pc and virtual headsets did not escape the mayhem. In the center of it all was the queen of chaos with her bed. From underneath layers of blankets, Kristina’s brunette head stuck out, her hair pointing in all the wrong directions. She had the look of death in her half.

She basically had the same body as Sai, except where he acted his size Kristina walked around acting like she was three feet taller.

“The fuck you want? Here to destroy the rest of my stuff? Are my three sets and a half of underwear making you jealous of my wealth?” she said, her voice rising.

“Uh, I’m here to apologize for all of that,” Dante said, gently getting off the door. He lifted it and smashed it back into place.

“And you started by making my door fly, and then followed it up by butchering my holy language in front of me? Was that supposed to amuse me?”

Dante sighed. He thought for sure he got it right. “I never said I was going to do a good job of it.” He knelt on the floor, letting his chin rest on her pillow. Her bright yellow eyes narrowed but she didn’t budge. “It might have selfish of me, but I had to beat him with my fists. I’m not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry for what ruining what we made together,” Dante said. He could only look into her eyes for a moment before he felt self-conscious.

He felt her stare him down. After what felt like an hour she turned her head to the side, closing her eyes. “Take me with you next time you do something as stupid as that and I’ll let this one go.”

Dante was able to breathe again. A wide smile spread on his face as he nudged the top of his head against hers. “Thank you…you’re the best!”

“Get off,” she mumbled, gently pushing back with her head. When she paused Dante’s smile grew even further. “How’s Sai?”

Huehuehue. It was finally time to put Dante's couples' consolidation skills to the test. “Knowing Sai I half expected for him to get a third eye, but even he got limits, I suppose.”

“Is he acting like it doesn’t bother him?”

“I honestly don't think it does. What he really seemed upset about was that he couldn’t hang out with you while I was gone,” Dante said, sighing heavily. “He was talking about how miserable the past few months were.”

Dante felt her stiffen up for a second before relaxing. It was a good reaction. He decided to keep pushing for more. “You know how he is—he might not act like it but he’s a really shy kid. He was afraid you wouldn’t want to,” Dante said, nodding. He might not have directly said any of this, but as his best friend, he had the privilege of interpreting his behavior.

"Were those his exact words, Dante?" Kristina said, her eyes narrowing.

“Oh right!" Dante said, remembering what he came here for. "So me and Sai are—”

“No,” she replied, covering her face with the pillow. “I need a break from both of you.”

“Please~” he whined, nudging her head. “Don’t leave me in alone with him!”

“I’ll need another month of sleep before I partake in your insanities. Glue the door on your way ou—”

Dante got his hands on her side. He rolled her in her blankets with one quick toss, tightening them around her and lifting him onto her shoulders. “Uppidy we go,” Dante said, patting her on the side as she flailed around. Only her head struck out, and she would have looked delightful if it weren’t for the cursing and death threats. “Alright little burrito, to our next venture we go!” Dante pulled the door. He walked out as the door dropped behind him, reminding him why Kirstina wanted it glued. “Whoopsie. I’ll send someone to pick your stuff up—” A different door opened on his side. An old lady poked her head out. She looked at Dante, the door, and then to the angry burrito on his shoulder.

“Hello there,” Dante said, giving her a slight bow. “I assure you, ma'am, this is all a slight misunder—”

With a scream the lady smashed the door, all her locks pushing against the door one after another.

“I’m not a bad person!” Dante yelled as he ran away. He sprinted down the staircase, letting the impact of his shoulders against the side of the wall turn him. Kristina’s thick layers of blankets protected her from relative harm as he ran out of the building. He opened the car door and tossed her in. She bounced off the back seats and got stuck in between the ground and the front seats.

Sai jumped up, his laptop flying onto the windshield. “The fuck!”

“Drive!” Dante yelled, jumping into the front seat.

“I told you to get her, not to kidnap her!”

“I’ll kill you both!” she yelled, struggling against her constraints.

“Too late for that now—go before the cops get here!” Or worse— she breaks free.

“I am not involved,” Sai whispered to himself as he started up the car. “I am going home. I need to turn off the oven. I just need to use the bathroom.”

“I’ll choke you with your guts!”

Sai stomped his foot onto the gas. Dante was pushed against the seat as the BMW they fixed together woke up with a roar. Kristina didn’t fare better—whatever progress she had made was gone as she was neatly stuffed between the seats.

Dante looked back again. Maybe releasing her would quell her anger slightly. Dealing with a loud angry Kristina was safer than a silent angry one. “Think we should unbind her?”

Sai laughed for a second before abruptly stopping. He didn’t say anything but the look he gave Dante got his opinion across pretty well.

“I mean, won’t we eventually have to do it?” Dante said.

“Worry about it later?”

“Worry about it later,” Dante nodded in agreement.

“I figured she would be displeased, but not to this extent,” Sai said, he said, turning on the radio. A random collection of Kristina’s favorite anime theme songs blared over her silly death threats.

That’s Sai for you—always prepared for the worse.