Senji leaned against the wall near the front door to his house. He rocked back and forth. Having been at this quietly for a solid five minutes, Kaito managed to get through smoking a cigarette. He flicked the last of the ash and tossed it in the trash bin before approaching Senji.

"Alright man c'mon. We can't just idly stand by here. Sooner or later we'll need to head inside." Kaito sighed.

"I know. I know..."

"Still thinking about what happened back there with her aunt?"

"Maybe."

Kaito leaned next to him crossing his arms.

"All we did was try to be damage control but the damage had been inflicted way long ago. The consequences are inevitable. We did what we had to... Mostly you. Never seen you so pissed off like that before. Kinda' admire it really. Standing up for your girl like that."

Senji looked to Kaito and nodded.

"I said what I felt was necessary. I'm still so worried about her... About what I saw in my dreams. What if she's not done? What if she tries to kill again?"

"I don't know dude. Look I'll keep an eye on Yunaka okay? Frankly I'm freaked out that she showed up at all. I guess she has been known to be a total bitch to those she deems beneath her... Can't say I wouldn't be surprised if she was Ayame's next target."

"Please do. Come Monday... Who knows what will happen."

"Mm. Well let's go inside alright? Talk to Ayame."

Senji nodded in agreement. The two went inside the house, removed their shoes then headed for Senji's bedroom. Upon entering laying there on the bed reading manga was Ayame, now fully dressed. She lowered the book to see the two of them. She set the book down and shuffled herself, throwing her legs over off of the bed and sitting up. Senji got closer and sat down next to her. Kaito decided to take the desk chair for himself.

"Hey you. And uh, hello Kaito. What's... Going on? You two look... Distressed." Ayame murmured, taking Senji's hand in hers.

Senji and Kaito exchanged glances. Saito needed to speak up about this. For the next several minutes, Senji explained the series of events from when he left the house up to leaving Ayame's home after their confrontation with Usagi. He did his best to fight back tears but couldn't do it. He wasn't crying but his eyes did leak as he spoke of vocally punishing her aunt all to defend her. Ayame for the first time since they met, showed genuine shock and concern in her expression. Kaito backed him up in convincing her in how it happened. Ayame was at a loss. She needed to process all of this information.

"Ayame I... I-I know it's a lot. And I just couldn't tell her the truth about the murders. That... Is up to you to decide. Come Monday though with the investigation... I-I don't know what will happen then." Senji said.

Ayame lowered her head. Her mind was feeling conflicted. Part of her thought this went too far. That it was pointless. Nothing would change. Another part of her appreciated what he did. Going out of his way just for her sake. She looked up at Senji. A single tear streaking down her cheek.

"A-are you okay?" Senji asked.

Never in all of their time together had he ever seen her shed a single tear. Until now. Her hand squeezed his tightly.

"I... I don't know. Thank you though. That... Was really sweet of you." Ayame murmured just barely cracking a fragile smile. "I need to process all of this. I... Should go. Home."

Ayame kissed Senji then stood up. She gave Kaito a little wave before leaving the room. Senji and Kaito could only look at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

"I-I've never seen her shed a tear before. She must've been really moved. I'm still nervous about what will happen between her and Usagi now though..." Senji said.

"Only time will tell. We broke that damn woman so at the very least we can assume she will change her ways." Kaito responded coldly.

"... I hope so."

The rest of Saturday and Sunday dragged on. Senji and Kaito kept everything that happened a secret between the two of them alone. When Kaito returned home, he was feeling burdened with the thought of mentioning his father to Usagi. He thought about sitting down with him sometime and just having a long, serious talk about their strained relationship. Now was not the time yet. Then Monday came. The skies were dark and gloomy over Nakamura with light rain showers only adding to the overall uneasiness the residents were feeling. The school day started out normally like any other. Senji and Ayame met briefly to kiss and agree to meet up after the last class. Ayame didn't mention anything about Usagi. A heaviness weighed upon both of them as well as Kaito who wandered around the school until finding Yunaka hanging out with her usual group. Yunaka rolled her eyes as he approached but couldn't hide her light blushing.

"W-what do you want Kaito? Can't you see I'm busy here!" She scowled at him.

"I need to speak to you for a moment. Come on." Kaito spoke directly.

Without warning he grabbed Yunaka's arm and pulled her away from the others. They all looked in shock at their pack leader being dragged away by force. Now separated, Kaito pinned Yunaka to the wall. Her cheeks were flushed bright red and she gulped. Her heart was pounding inside her chest.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Goddamn it Kaito wh-what the hell is going on?? Yanking me away like that you asshole! A-at least save your undying lust for me until after school..." Yunaka stammered.

"Ugh. I'll gladly fuck you later but this is serious so listen to me." Kaito said.

"... F-fine. Go on then. If I wasn't turned on by your dominant attitude I'd shove you right off of me."

"Sheesh. Listen to me. Call it a hunch but... After speaking to that detective and analyzing the pattern of these murders, I think you might be next."

"Say what?!"

"Shut up for a moment! Think about it. Every victim has been someone with natually good looks and some kind of relevant social standing. Some were more popular then others but regardless... You fit the criteria to a tee. Sure maybe I'm being paranoid here but I am not letting you potentially get killed. Got it? Just, bear with me here."

"Oh my god. You're right! I'm not only the most popular girl but I'm also way sexier then anyone in this school. Shit y-you may be right Kaito. I never realized until now. But the others could be targeted too you know!"

"I understand. But those three have most of their classes together. You don't. We share more classes then you do with them. So... I'll watch your back. Okay?"

"Kaito... When you're not being a total prick you're actually kinda' sweet."

"Oh shut up. I just care about you okay? Don't exactly want you getting killed."

"I... I care about you too. Oh fine. I guess I'll allow it. Now can I go back to the others? I've hid our little fling for awhile but now they're defintely gonna' think we're a thing now!"

"Fuck it. I don't care at this point. Go on. I'll see you in second period."

Kaito released his grip from Yunaka and left. She licked her lips as he walked away before returning to the others to clear the air with them and cover up any accusations they're harboring about the two of them.

The final bell rang out across the entire school. Yunaka and Kaito left the classroom. Yunaka shoved some books into her locker then shut the door and looked to Kaito.

"I need to use the restroom. Wait for me, okay?" Yunaka asked.

"Sure thing."

"Okay. Be back in a few."

Yunaka left to go towards the restrooms down the hall. While Kaito waited he was approached by Senji who was looking around his shoulders. Kaito raised an eyebrow. He seemed nervous and it was concerning him.

"Hey man. You okay?" Kaito asked.

"I can't find Ayame. I wanted to take her to the art club to show her the piece I made." Senji said.

"Huh. I haven't seen her. Did you ask her to meet anywhere specific?"

"We agreed to meet up outside the art room but I didn't see her."

"That's weird. Maybe she had to use the restroom?"

"The restroom... Oh shit."

Senji quickly ran away down the hallway. Kaito crossed his arms and shook his head. He was utterly confused as to his sudden panicked state.

Yunaka stepped out of the stall and approached the sinks. She set her schoolbag on the countertop next to the sink. She pulled out some makeup supplies to touch herself up while looking into the mirror. With her lips puckered she started applying ruby red lipstick.

"Ugh they really need to fix the damn lights in here. Stalls are so damn dark. At least I can see my beautiful reflection just fine." She muttered to herself.

Now she was moving on to powdering her cheeks then darkening her eyeliner. As she was freshening herself up now redoing her nails, one of the stall doors creaked open. A girl slowly emerged, brandishing a sharp, clean kitchen knife in her right hand. She inched ever so closer towards Yunaka, ready to strike at the clueless girl. Before that knife could be plunged into her back, a voice called out from beyond the bathroom.

"Ayame? You in there?"

Yunaka's ears perked up. She looked towards the door. The girl with the knife froze, swiftly concealing the blade into her bag and started making her way towards the door giving Yunaka a scare as she hadn't been looking at the mirror.

"What the hell?!" Yunaka cried out.

Her eyes were drawn to the black-haired girl emerging seemingly out of nowhere and heading towards the door. Yunaka had dropped her nail polish, spilling out onto the countertop. Panicked, she quickly started to clean it up and finish up. The door opened up. Senji felt his heart skip a beat as Ayame appeared in front of him leaving the bathroom. He pressed a hand to his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"T-there you are. I got worried since I didn't see you at the art room." Senji stammered.

Ayame nodded and took his hand in hers.

"Sorry. I had to use the restroom right after class. Let's go..." She murmured.

Yunaka burst open the door, watching Ayame and Senji headed away and vanish around the corner. She ran from the bathroom to go regroup with Kaito.

Senji opened the door to the art room. None of the students were there however there were two teachers; Miss Koyami and Miss Fujiwaka. They were idly chatting away with Fujiwaka leaning against her desk. Their attention turned to the two students entering out of the blue. Koyami waved to them.

"Oh well hello there Senji! And is that... Oh! That's the girl you-"

Fujiwaka quickly put her hand over Koyami's mouth. She smiled, tilting her head slightly.

"Hey there! Don't mind us! I know why you're here Senji. Please go ahead." Fujiwaka said.

Senji shyly waved and nodded. He lead a confused Ayame over to the easel where the painting was and threw the cover off revealing the splitting image of her. There was a gleam in Ayame's widened eyes.

"Ehehe. Surprise! My first real assignment. I-I thought of you when I was tasked with making a painting of something I cared about. I'm going to make a sculpture for my mother soon but wanted to start simple. So... What do you think?" Senji asked scratching the back of his head.

Ayame couldn't find any words to say. She felt her heart flutter. Each detail of the painting was painstakingly accurate from the color of her eyes to the shape of her figure. It was almost like looking into a mirror. As she took her time admiring the piece Senji got next to her and took her hand. Ayame then looked to him about ready to say something when the classroom door opened up. Officer Isamu stood there and opened his mouth to speak;

"Miss Ayame Chisato? The detective would like to speak with you. Please come with me, okay?"