It was Saturday morning. Kari had felt good enough to get up out of bed and try to walk around outside without Andrew. With all the morphine and other painkillers in her system, she had been able to do some basic tasks on her own. After a few days, she had finally gained enough confidence to travel to a convenient store in town by herself.

Andrew had managed to get one of the few cars in the front of the house up and running for her to take trips. It was still early and she had wanted to make a quick stop. Being stuck inside of the cabin for a few days had been hellish. The car she had been driving was so rusted that she could not even identify the make or model.

After stopping at the convenience store, she felt some pain standing up that lingered as she walked inside. She bit the bullet and tried to keep a straight face while entering. The inside of the store had a pine scent emanating from the floors. The clerk inside had been in the middle of mopping the isles before taking notice of her. He had reminded her a lot of Pablo with his size, but he had much lighter skin. Behind the counter, she could hear the audio from a small television set blaring through the store.

“Good morning, sir,” the clerk said to her before getting eye contact. His jaw dropped, quickly causing him to enter a panic. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ve had a long shift, forgive me.”

“You know, you’re not the first to do that.” Kari said as she started to crack a smile.

“You’re really pretty, I don’t know why.”

“Well, that’s flattering,” she laughed, blushing for a moment. It had been the first time she had heard somebody say something like that to her in a long time. “They sometimes called me bucho.”

“Bucho,” he started to laugh for a moment only to follow up with, “does that mean butch?”

“It means boss.”

“That’s like one of God’s funny little jokes, that’s crazy!”

One of God’s funny jokes, she thought to herself. She had tried to think of something else to say but fell short and started to make her way down the aisles for whatever junk food she could find. She had wanted to grab every bag of chips and candy bar to take back—and she knew well enough that she could have bought them all. There was a wad of hundreds in her overshirt pocket, but she had to keep composed.

“The Hinobu Castle intends to reopen tonight,” the woman on the TV had started to read off her prompt, catching Kari’s attention. “Tonight’s theme will be Samurais, Geishas, and other Japanese cultural milestones as a fundraiser to help benefit a local business owner whose club had recently been a victim of a string of arsons—”

The clerk had switched the station over to another channel midline. Kari grabbed a bag of chips from the shelf and started to walk over towards the counter.

“Can you turn that back?” Kari called out to him.

“Yeah, not problem.” The clerk replied before flipping the switch again.

“Police believe that it had been related to what witnesses report as gun battle that had taken place in a parking garage,” the woman said before taking a slight pause. “A few of the suspects have been identified and more details are expected to be revealed as the investigation continues.”

“Hell, we don’t have those type of problems around here,” the clerk spoke over the broadcast. He turned back to Kari and said, “They won’t try that stuff in a small town like this.”

Kari tuned him out for a moment. She had started to remember Andrew talking about how Saturdays were always expected to be crowded at the Castle. As the broadcast went on, she started to think about some of the options she still had. She was in a considerable amount of pain, but had thought of the many ways she could possibly go into the Castle herself.

“Is that gonna be it for you?” the clerk asked.

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“Yeah,” she shrugged and tossed the bag up onto the counter. “I was thinking about something funny. One of God’s little jokes, right?”

“How did it go?”

“I don’t think it really had a good punchline.”

“Alright then, keep your secrets.”

He winked at her just as she handed her a crumbled up twenty. Kari had tunnel vision starting at the TV. She could only think of one thing right now, and that was getting back at them. After grabbing the chips and the change, she made her way back to her car to finally head to the cabin.

The drive back had felt even longer than the one into town. Thinking about this plan had for once put her at peace. She was not thinking about Patricia and Ricardo anymore—she could only think of finally getting planting a bullet into the skulls of Isamu and Kurisu.

Over the next few hours, she had found herself walking around the cabin for her old costumes that had been stashed away over the years. First, she had put a bald cap over her hair before applying a geisha-style wig. To accompany it, she had an old Yukata covered with pink roses to wear over her flak jacket.

By now, she was going through the motions of the old days. No longer was she thinking about the guilt. She was not going to let it weigh her down anymore. While she started to apply some make up over her face, she took notice of Andrew’s Bronto starting to pull around front. She tuned him out and continued to finish preparing her disguise for the mission. A few moments later, he had started to approach the front.

“What the hell is this,” Andrew called out as he opened the door. He started to walk towards her cautiously. “What are you going to do?”

“I have thought about your offer, and I have to refuse.” Kari replied.

“Refuse? Kari, we can’t go back to Paradiso. I know Isamu and Kurisu fucked us over, but this is suicide.”

“We’re not going,” she started to apply some lipstick. After puckering her lips together, she stared back to him and continued, “I’m going back. I have to do this.”

“I’m not going to let you go alone, not in your condition,” he started to rant again. As he walked over to her, Kari had stood to up to face him. “Listen, we have all of this money and we can go and start new lives. You’ve spent the last few years trying get out of the life and now you want back in? Last week was messed up and I didn’t expect all of this to spiral out of control. I don’t know if you’re upset over the oath or if you’re still thinking about Patricia, but you nothing to gain from this and everything to lose.”

“I think I’m at peace now,” she muttered before walking past him. “I thought about what I did to Patricia, and I tried everything to wipe that away. Right now, I don’t feel anything. I think what really kept me bent up was that I left the job unfinished. If I finally finish this, we can leave. I have to end this tonight.”

Andrew’s face sunk at the response. He let her step towards the front before running his hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat starting to form.

“No, I can’t let you do this.” He said again.

“Andrew,” Kari muttered before turning back to him. “You can’t stop me and I am going to do this.”

“What happens when you get shot again? I’ve had to bail you out more times than once. You’re going into the belly of the beast, you’ll need me.”

She smiled and asked, “You’re not against it, you just don’t want me to go alone?”

“If you put it that way, yes,” he replied after letting out a long-winded sigh. He then looked at her and continued, “But we don’t have to do this. All of the money is here with us, we can start over. Just listen to yourself!”

He stepped closer to her and grabbed onto her arm to pull her into him. Kari lifted her hand up to his chest to try and push off, but he kept a firm hold on her.

“I’ll go wherever you want, but I am doing this. You are not going to stop me.” She declared once more.

“Fine then, I’m going with you.” He replied before releasing her. Right as he turned away, Kari had tried to think of how she would slip out. With his back turned, she had gone in and swung towards the right side of his neck and delivered a quick chop to the side. The sudden shock caused his legs to buckle. Before he could collapse, she had reached out and grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt to try and softly guide him towards the floor. The single blow had knocked him, but she knew that he would not be under very long.

“I’m sorry, I have to go alone.” She said again, finally turning back towards the front door. There was a few hours until sundown. This was not the smartest move, but she had not planned anything past this moment. The mission was clear—she had to infiltrate the Castle tonight and finally put her past behind her.