Singer II

Part I: http://pastebin.com/tqB9bsvP

Yuko had her wish fulfilled, and she had no more reason to continue associating with the Officio.

She burst out of the infirmary as soon as she was allowed to, that is, after having spent weeks receiving treatment for her injuries. It took mere weeks to fix her horrific wounds because they used magic to heal her, and it was necessary because of a very simple reason - as a human being, she was dead.

She was scheduled for a meeting with her future squad a few hours from her release, but that didn't matter to her. As she rushed home, Yuko hoped that her insistent leave didn't raise too much suspicion.

Even though she left minutes ago, she was already in a panic. Yuko felt like she was being watched, like someone was shadowing her. What if they were using magic to keep an eye on her wherever she went? What if those girls sitting on the bench were actually working for the Officio?  What if around the corner, a group of little girls in frilly dresses was already waiting for her, hands wielding oversized hammers?

As if trying to convince herself of how laughable her fears were, Yuko chuckled. It came out nervous, unconvincing and disturbing. She forgot to even smile. Laughing didn't suit her in the first place. Had an acquaintance of hers seen it, they would have probably freaked out.

She'd intended to go home, but she changed her mind. Yuko briefly stopped in a small shop to steal a pack of cigarettes. Because her mind was preoccupied with paranoia, she didn't even notice how quickly she was done with the deed, not that it would have caused her any hardships otherwise.

As she tried to smoke, she realized that she didn't have a lighter. She also noticed how gloomy and gray the sky was, threatening to spill rain at any moment. If she wanted to smoke, she'd have to do that before it started, or it'd become a chore to light it up.

The ever-increasing fear convinced her to stop walking about freely, for all to see, so she decided to go and try hiding somewhere instead of stealing lighters.

- - -

She sat down in an unremarkable alley, knees hugged to her chest, eyes racing back and forth between the paths leading through her sitting spot and the dirty apartment windows, still keeping a lone, unlit cigarette clenched between her teeth.

This was in no way a hiding spot. It could only be considered such because it was a place away from where the general populace spent its free time. Yuko realized how this was actually worse for her situation - she was neither hiding nor using the public eye as cover against the secretive Officio, but she decided to go with this gamble anyway.

Though, she was beginning to doubt that the person she had been waiting for would arrive at all.

"What, was I away for so long that everybody just forgot that I exist? Fucking morons." Yuko angrily spat out a bit of the cigarette she accidentally chewed through in a brief fit of frustration, though she couldn't avoid catching the bitter taste of tobacco on the tip of her tongue. The rest of it was thrown away.

Yuko groaned loudly, in an unexpected unison with her stomach. Tasting something, even as unpleasant as that, made her feel hungry. The girl was now more annoyed than scared, the ever-present scowl taking on a more usual shape, the kind that people usually saw her with. She checked her jacket's pockets again, and there still wasn't any money to buy a snack with.

She heard a series of footsteps approaching from just around the corner. Her heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath, just in case.

The intruder in question was a high-school girl, wearing the traditional short-skirted uniform of Mitakihara's high school. While Yuko's appearance gave off the impression of an intimidating street thug, the girl in front of her looked like a high-class, refined young lady. The young woman's dark hair was long and properly taken care of, unlike Yuko's unattended and ruffled own. The girl wasn't wearing any makeup, but her features were attractive even despite that.

The thug sighed in relief, feeling like a victim of a cheap jumpscare.

They were friends, friends that deserved each other. Neither had influenced the other into delinquency, though people loved to blame Yuko for her friend's misbehaviours, believing that such an orderly looking girl could do nothing wrong. Yuko never attempted to prove that she wasn't as innocent as she seemed, and simply ignored those kinds of thoughts and rumors.

"Fuck you, Saya." She exhaled with her next breath. The corner of her mouth briefly twitched upwards; she suppressed a smirk. Saya smiled and placed a hand on her hip, relaxing her posture with a slight lean to the side. Her other hand was occupied with a small, black briefcase, probably meant to contain school-related items like notebooks and pens. It looked very classy.

"I haven't seen you in ages, and that's the first thing I hear you say?" Saya approached her friend, squatting down to her level. They were about the same height.

"I'm just feeling a little on edge. You know?" Yuko placed another cigarette in her own mouth, and, wordlessly, Saya lit it up for her. The young lady shook her head when she was offered a smoke.

"I really don't, Yuko. You've been out all this time looking for Miyu, right? Well, how did it go, detective? Figured anything out?" Saya moved to the side so that her friend wouldn't blow smoke right in her face.

After taking an overly long pause, long enough to finish her first cigarette, Yuko finally replied with a simple 'yeah'. She felt herself relax, but then felt the need to brace herself for the unpleasantness of the upcoming conversation.

"When she disappeared, I didn't think you'd be so worried about her. You spent like a month, no, wait, two months just searching for her. I mean, nobody thought that you would be out doing something like that for Miyuki. Heck, everybody thought you'd be the last person to even give a damn at all about Miyucchi's absence, since we were like the very opposite of friends with her." She absentmindedly flicked the lighter on and off as she continued. "There were all sorts of stupid theories out there. Some people thought that you were just out to save yourself, because if Miyucchi got into trouble, you'd be the main suspect for anything that happened to her, or something dumb like that. Others thought you murdered her and went into hiding, like, seriously, can you believe the nerve of some people? The girls from class C thought you just died when you stopped coming to school even despite your huge attendance issues, and when you got..." Catching herself approaching an even less pleasant subject, Saya abruptly stopped.

"Ah, you know what? Forget it, screw school anyway. And... I guess screw what they thought, right? You never cared... I never cared. Shouldn't have even brought it up at all." Saya finished, pausing, almost as if she was out of breath. Yuko grunted in agreement. As if satisfied by her wordless answer, Saya smiled, and sat herself more comfortably, using her briefcase as a makeshift pillow-seat. It seemed very lady-like to Yuko, who never bothered with such things.

Yuko felt like something was missing - her friend's own opinion on why she had left, though she could guess what it was. It couldn't have been different from the other theories she had heard from her so far, because all of them seemed entirely in character for her, as much as she wanted to feel offended about them.

"Didn't think people cared about me so much." Yuko sarcastically remarked.

"But, still... You should have at least told me something." Saya quietly pouted.

"Yeah, guess I should have. Sorry." Yuko muttered. Another pause threatened to arise, but Saya prevented it.

"...Well, what happened to her?"

"She died."

"Do you know how?" Saya persisted, looking largely unimpressed by the fact itself. Yuko was surprised, as she made clear with her dumbfounded expression. Saya frowned and leaned in closer, giving her friend a berating look. "You've been gone for a while, Yuko. Miyu had a funeral already. Obviously, we weren't invited, and we'd probably get kicked out even if we did try to attend, so you didn't really miss out on much." Saya sighed. "Really, you've been gone for so long I was getting worried. I'm glad to see you again." Her face then beamed with another warm smile. Yuko chuckled there, now entirely naturally.

"What's so funny? I thought you were in trouble or something happened to you!" Saya pouted again.

"Well, yeah. I'm in trouble. I'm in a lot of fucking trouble, Saya. I'm in it deep. I should leave town."

"Are you serious? What did you do?" Yuko held her silence, unwilling to respond. She was brainstorming for a good way to explain it. "Did you get involved with the yakuza? Seriously? Are you crazy?" Saya's eyes widened in disbelief and worry, having apparently already thought up a bunch of wild assumptions. Yuko knew that her friend liked to jump to conclusions and decided to speak up, feeling annoyed by her concern.

"No, not the yakuza." Yuko said, then realized that she should have just went along with that theory; at the very least, it would have made for a believable story, and not be too far off from the actual truth in scale and danger. But it was too late now. Time to go all out, she thought.

"Way, way worse. Yakuza are fucking chumps in comparison. They're an organization of goddamn... Nevermind." And yet, she couldn't finish it. It was simply too audacious and ridiculous, and she recalled how much of a hard time she had believing it all herself. Had she not spent so much time and effort digging up the information, she would have certainly disregarded it as a whole bunch of people colluding together to prank her.

Still, she couldn't stop herself there, and continued rambling.

"I shouldn't even be telling you this at all, for your safety. They're really dangerous people that'll probably want to keep themselves secret from normal people. I doubt they can wipe memories or anything like that, so you'll be in danger if I tell you." Yuko clenched another cigarette between her teeth. Immediately, she took it out - words just kept pouring out. "Though, who knows? Maybe they can wipe memories! The police wouldn't help at all, because they can just get rid of them with their magic, or connections, or whatever the fuck else they have. They could probably bust me out of prison just to get back at me. I should seriously get away. Like, maybe as far as America, or maybe somewhere even-... What's so fucking funny?"

Saya waved dismissively at her complaints, as if gesturing her to proceed with the story, using the other hand to keep her mouth closed, and her laughter contained to explosive giggles.

"Do you need a hand with that? I'm seriously about to lend you one." Yuko rose up a bit, her voice changing to a frustrated hiss. "I'm serious over here! Don't just-"

"Haha, calm down, calm down, I believe you, I believe you. Continue." Saya flicked her wrist at her, urging her to keep going. Yuko was absolutely furious, very nearly snapping and just yelling at her. She snapped in a different way - by just giving up. It felt nice to at least be able to vent for a bit, even if the listener didn't believe her bizarre tale. Thinking it over, she couldn't blame her friend, but it was tempting to do so. If she pushed the issue, she'd probably be considered insane.

"Fuck it. Fuck you! Let's just... Man, I can't take this anymore. Let's just go somewhere. Just forget about it. Let's go eat." Yuko stood up and dusted herself off. Saya, still chuckling, followed her.

"But shouldn't you be hiding from the FBI? Or what are they called? The League of Shadows? The Men in Black? Clocktower Mage Society? Ahaha."

"I wouldn't tell you this shit just because I came up with it, you moron! I'm not a lunatic!" Yuko glared at her, but Saya didn't look intimidated. Yuko was scared, baffled, angry, hungry and now embarrassed to boot. It felt like she would lose her mind if this kind of mockery persisted.

"I'd say you're more of a chuuni. Maybe you discovered the joys of anime and manga while you were away on your mission, and-..."

"Shut the hell up, Saya. I'll... damn it, I'll figure it out later. Just forget it."

"But, what, don't you want to recommend me the shows you watch while we-..."

"I'll fucking punch the shit out of you if you don't shut up. Last warning!"

Saya continued giggling as they walked, not taking Yuko's threats seriously at all.

- - -