They parted ways just after the mall. It was getting late and Kyoko wanted to get home as quickly as possible. Without Yukio the streets felt darker.

Soon she came up on the road winding between the small houses where she lived. Just as she passed the playground two blocks from home she heard voices.

“Nice boobs.”

That was not what she wanted to hear right now. She increased her steps and redialled the last number she had used. Fiddling with the cord she managed to plug in her headset and waited for Kuri to pick up.

“Christina Agerman. Oh, Ko-chan, what's up?”

“Kuri-chan, I just want to talk for a while.”

It felt safer to hear the voice of her friend, and it was only a couple of minutes before she was home.

“Sorry, I have Ulf and Sato-sensei here. Can it wait until tomorrow?”

Urufu's with Kuri-chan? With Sato-sensei? But she really wanted someone to talk with. “If it's not too much trouble,” Kyoko said.

“Ulf's here, and something bad kinda happened. I'd really want to chat later, OK?”

“OK.” But it wasn't OK at all. Reluctantly Kyoko hung up and continued walking. You could just have talked with me for a while longer you know.

Behind her steps were catching up and Kyoko decided pretending she hadn't noticed was no longer a good idea. She ran.

The steps ran after her.

Around her houses loomed empty and unwelcoming. There were lights on, but they weren't her home. Panic gave her some extra speed, but she wasn't a match for whoever followed her. A few seconds later the running steps were very close and then someone grabbed her from behind.

“Talking with your boyfriend?”

Kyoko twisted and tried to push him away, but the one grabbing her was too strong. “Let me go!”

He groped her, hard. It hurt, and then a second assailant came up behind her and locked her body in his arms. She felt large hands grabbing her breasts and screamed.

From further down the street another set of feet came running.

“Let her go you bastards!”

Yukio? Kyoko tried to free herself again. Please let it be Yukio!

She heard her phone clattering to the street and the hands that grabbed her arms let go. She was still held from behind, but the first man turned to meet whoever came to her rescue.

“Let her go I said!”

It was Yukio.

He came flying trying to tackle his way through to her, but the man who had turned simply sidestepped and tripped him.

“Boyfriend to the rescue. Pathetic!”

Kyoko saw how Yukio received two vicious kicks lying down and all sense of fear left her. She grabbed one of the hands squeezing her breasts and pulled it up. She bit down on it hard and chewed with all her strength.

A pained yell later she was free.

Yukio got kicked again and then she was climbing the back of his assailant. She never had a chance, but at least he stopped kicking Yukio. Something slammed into the side of her head and she fell to the ground. Too groggy to see what happened she tried to get up on her feet, but a fist to her abdomen forced all air from her lungs and she rolled on the ground writhing in agony.

And then it was over as suddenly as it had started. In the distance someone was yelling for police and her attackers ran down the street.

Her entire body hurt when she crawled over to where Yukio lay on the street. She could see blood on his face.

“Yukio, please what did he do to you?”

“Hurts,” he said. “Are you OK?”

You came for me. You tried to save me. “I'm fine.” She sat up and caressed his hair. “Thank you!”

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she twisted away as fast as she could.

“It's me. Are you OK?”

“Dad!”

“It's me. Let's get you home,” her father said and pulled her up by her hand.

Kyoko stared at him. “Yukio's hurt. We need to help him!”

“Leave him. The police can handle that trash.”

“No!” For the first time in her life she disobeyed her father openly and tore herself lose. “He's not trash. He's my boyfriend and I love him,” she said and sat down beside Yukio again.

“Kyoko! Stop that nonsense at once. I saw him. He's just a violent thug.”

Kyoko looked up over her shoulder and glared at her father. “He tried to save me you idiot!”

The slap stung, but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as watching Yukio prone on the street. Kyoko lifted her arm to protect herself from another slap and bent over Yukio's body. She'd protect him even from her father if need be.

“Honey, he's badly hurt. We can't leave him like this.” That was her mother's voice. She must have arrived shortly after her father.

“Whatever. Call an ambulance and get him off the street.”

“Boy, can you stand?” Her mother's voice was filled with concern, and she showed a lot more of common sense than her father.

Beneath her Yukio's face darkened in the lamplight. More blood? No. Oh, he's blushing!

“I can stand. Matsumoto Yukio, pleased to meet you,” he added and got up on his knees.

Kyoko could see how much it pained him doing so. “Here, let me help you,” she said.

He staggered a little, but with her help he got on his feet. Kyoko's stomach still hurt, but she tried to pretend it was nothing and together they took a few tentative steps toward her home.

“Honey, behave like a man and help the poor boy!”

“Whatever.” But her dad did give Yukio an arm to rest on.

“Matsumoto Yukio? Yukio-kun then? Kyoko's boyfriend you say?”

Kyoko sighed. He hadn't said anything of the sorts. She had, but when her mother went into interrogation mode there was no stopping her. It was going to be a long night.

She looked at her father and waved her phone. When he nodded approval she punched Kuri-chan's number again.

***

After he had given Yukio a heads-up and a warning over the phone Ulf returned to Christina and Amaya. She was all police now.

A few minutes into her interrogation Christina's phone came alive and he saw her walk outdoors to take the call. She came back shortly after.

“Anything important?” Ulf asked.

Christina shook her head. “Nothing that couldn't wait.”

Amaya took up her questions from where she left off when Christina got her call.

Ulf sighed with relief. Good. Yukio should have caught up with Kyoko by now and then he can get her home. And it looked like the corporate credit cards would come in handy now. Ulf guessed he'd have the taxi fare for having Yukio safely home again written off as travel expenditures. And I'll bash your bloody head in if you try so save me money and walk home.

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“Amaya,” Ulf said.

“Yes?” She turned to him and interrupted her interrogation of Christina.

“The old geezer warned us about this,” he continued and smirked.

The smile he got in return told him everything he needed to know about what Amaya thought of Principal Nakagawa. “Is that a proper way to address the old goat?” And her answer only verified it.

Christina looked at them both with wide eyes. “I thought… in Japan and all...”

“He put my little boy in danger!”

“Little boy.” Christina laughed so hard she had to curl up in a ball. “You two! He calls you his daughter and you call him your little boy.”

“Is that so, Urufu?”

Oh crap! “Amaya, I'm technically twenty years older, and...” Ulf started in panic.

“It's mother dear.”

“But Amaya...”

“Did you hear me, son?”

“Yes mother dear,” Ulf answered defeated.

Christina looked at them again. “Damn, she really is your guardian. Damn! I like you a lot more now. Keeping that inflated ego of his down and...”

“I'm not finished with you yet girl!” Amaya's voice could have been used as an emergency freezer.

Ulf stared in astonishment at how Christina went from threatening volcano to deflated balloon in seconds.

“Yes Sato-sensei,” she said meekly. She even cast down her eyes and stared at the floor like an obedient girl.

“Now Urufu, you were saying something earlier.”

“Yes mother dear.” He hadn't forgotten he wasn't on her good side yet, “It's Red Rose again. We're caught up in something bad.”

“Continue,” Amaya said and opened a new note on her tablet.

Ulf was halfway through a lengthy explanation when Christina's phone blared again.

“Crap! I asked her to wait until tomorrow. Excuse me, I'll make it short.” Christina took the call.

Ulf could see her preparing to cut it short when she suddenly paled and dropped her phone the floor.

“Fuck!” she said. “They attacked Ko-chan and I told her she shouldn't disturb me. What have I done?”

Ulf snatched up the phone. “Kyoko, what the hell happened?” he shouted into it.

He listened for a short while, and rage flare to life within him as Kyoko described what had happened.

“Make sure he gets to hospital and stay with him!”

There was a reply.

“I don't give a damn about what your dad's saying. If he doesn't agree he'll answer to me.” Then an idea came to Ulf. “No, he'll answer to mother dear. Give him the phone!”

Ulf started handing Christina's phone to Amaya. “They hurt my friends. Mother dear, please I beg you!”

He only got to the 'hurt my friends' part before Amaya's face screwed up in an ugly grimace and she reached out with a hand and ripped the phone from him.”

“Sato Amaya here.”

Ulf saw her frown as she listened to Kyoko's father on the other end.

“You are to have Matsumoto Yukio transferred to hospital immediately. Takeida Kyoko will accompany him.”

Amaya listened and then she pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it in her hand as if she didn't believe what she had heard. Something cold glimmered in her eyes and she put the phone back to the side of her face.

“That's Lieutenant Colonel Sato for you. This is not a request. It's a direct police order. If you fail to comply I'll have a patrol fetch both you and your daughter, is that understood?”

That's a military title? But she's in police uniform? What the bloody hell is going on?

Amaya hung up the call and handed back the phone to Christina. “Well, now that's taken care of.”

“Cool,” Christina said.

“Amaya, mother dear, what's happening?” Ulf stared at his guardian.

She looked back at him. “I told him to obey.”

“Don't pull that crap on me!” Ulf didn't care if he got his face chewed off later or not. “What's with the military?”

“Military? I'm in the police.”

“Yeah, and Sweden didn't run me through fifteen months of conscript service when I was nineteen. I know military officer's grades are different from the police.”

“This is not Sweden.”

“Amaya, please, just stop it! I am, or rather was, a conscript captain until the system was abolished some years ago.”

“And?”

Ulf sighed. He hadn't told anyone since his arrival, and he had hoped he never would. “Look, with my high school grades I was assigned to the translator unit. It's effectively an interrogation unit. I still haven't forgotten my Russian.” He stared out the windows before he continued. “We might look like a naive and backwater nation to you, but we were taught methods on the darker side of grey when it came to interrogation.” Ulf gave Christina an unhappy look. “It's called torture. I had to know just about everything about military strata to know how valuable a prisoner was. It's nothing I'm proud about, OK?”

“Ah I understand.” The glare he got from his guardian was anything but friendly. “During your summer break I was transferred from the police. I'm going to be your handle from October onwards. For both of you.” She sent a glare Christina's way as well.

Ulf heard Christina gasp. Of course she had a handle as well. It was a part of the sham around their false identities. One part prison guard and two parts horribly powerful contact if things really went down the drain. Ulf's handle made his management consulting possible, and Christina's should have made her life easier as well if she hadn't been so frantic about her independence.

“Amaya, how much do you know?”

“More than you,” she said. “Enough to know you're both better protected and less protected than what's decent. I know about the surveillance you set up. I even had parts of it extended here.”

“Crap!” Ulf said. Then his thoughts returned to Yukio, and his frustration at not being able to prevent what had happened flared to life. “Christina. Next time Kyoko calls you bloody well take that call! She was all alone and scared and you told your best friend to wait a day. Fine friend you are!”

All of a sudden he regretted his words. Christina looked as if struck. “Yes,” she whispered. “I will.” Then she broke down in tears.

“Christina?”

“Ko-chan is hurt as well. She didn't say, but I could hear her breathing.”

It only took a few minutes to get them all into Amaya's car, and during the ride to the hospital Ulf had all the time he needed to wish he could take back his words. Christina lay in his lap whispering that she was disgusting and had betrayed her friend. Nothing he said would change her mind and another wedge crept in between them.