Nico knew she was screwed. Contacting the jester’s group of friends and bringing a light machine gun into Japan’s most godforsaken penitentiary establishment was no laughing matter.

How could she not do it? Whenever she saw that sloppy grin the jester had always flashed for her when they met, she couldn't help but be enthralled. Those dazzling amethyst eyes gazed into her soul, capturing the psychiatrist's very being time and time again. The way the jester’s cherry kissed tresses shook with every nod along with an affirming hum whenever she answered a question related to Nico's profession put her in a trance.

When Nico joked around with the clown to ease tension, she was blessed with the most harmonious laughter from the softest lips imaginable. Yes, there was no doubt. She had to do it.

Nico had accepted the dangerous job of being the doctor of one of the most hazardous criminals in the world: Nishikino Maki, also known as the “Scarlet Jester”. Though, that pretty smile on her gorgeous face and her tuneful laughter pierced through Nico’s heart and made her practically forget about all of Maki's wrongdoings.

She was pretty much willing to do anything at this point just to see the jester laugh at any given moment. And now here she was, tied to a table as Maki stood nearby, holding some sort of ominous instrument that sparked and crackled.

“Nico-chan? Are you willing to come with me and live beside me as my queen?", the jester asked with a lopsided grin.

“Me? A queen? Hmm... I have been longing for a life like that for awhile...”, the psychiatrist said somberly, thinking that she had failed to help her patients and that she let her desires cloud her judgment.

“Then grit your teeth. This might sting a little.”

Nico panicked as Maki pressed the instrument to the temples of the raven haired doctor. After that, it was a blurry ride; a ride full of thrill, suspense, happiness, passion, romance and insanity.

The Scarlet Jester is bloodcurdling whenever she lets out a psychotic laugh and terribly frightening when mad. People knew if the Joker let out a cackle when she was upset, they were done for.

Never piss off a comedian.

Nico saw this first hand as they entered through a hole in the wall into the Yakuza base. It was the same place she first bloodied her hands and soul. She didn’t know who the first person she had killed was but she didn’t care at the moment when she saw Maki place her slender fingers on the head of a man while making a shooting motion. That’s when she did the deed.

Nico later found out that the man Maki had killed was the boss of a group who majored in international human trafficking.

It seemed the jester wasn’t as terrible as the rumors let out. Nico giggled at the thought but then remembered that she probably had a couple loose screws in her head as well.

She too became notoriously infamous after the incident and went along with the jester's acts of domination in a fanatical, wild method of manipulation, betrayal and intimidation.

------------------------------------------------------

Maki was something. Most of the time she gave off an air of goofiness as she madly laughed but there were times when Nico caught sight of her sitting in the grand chair, face stoic as she stared straight at the wall while deep in thought. It was kind of a tranquil experience to Nico. It was a spectacle that she could watch all day without ever getting bored.

At times when they are both snuggled in the bed, Nico would sometimes envision a life where she and Maki could live normally; one where she could continue performing as an idol and Maki could pursue a music career. Maki had told the Queen of her aspirations of becoming a professional pianist after a night of passion, saying that it was just a childish dream of hers. Now Nico couldn’t help but see the image of Maki smiling while playing a grand piano on a big stage.

It broke Nico's heart that Maki had to settle for such a dangerous lifestyle instead. She nearly lost her beloved jester numerous times when rival groups made assassination attempts. If someone were to kill the Scarlet Jester they would become the ruler of Japan's underworld. Thankfully the Ice Fox, Maki's mysterious body guard of sorts, was able to put a stop to them each time.

Nico herself got caught participating in criminal activity dozens of times but was always able to escape imprisonment. Sometimes she would break away by manipulating or seducing the guards. Other times Maki would bail her out using explosives to make her own entrance and kill off the guards so Nico could have an easy getaway.

It's not like Maki always had her freedom though. She had been under arrest a few times but Nico found ways to get her out of confinement as well.

To be honest, an exceptionally small part of Nico's conscious didn't want her beloved to kill people but there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to convert Maki once but it obviously didn't work.
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Nico giggled as she skipped over the bloodied white carpet and the corpses of the people who used to protect this area while Maki strode behind her. They went into an already opened grand wooden door before stopping abruptly in front of a kneeling man who was held down by two of their own men. Both wore laughing phantom masks. The man turned pale when he saw the figures of the jester and her queen smiling at him.

“Well well, how nice of you for giving us that warm gift two days ago Mr.  Nakamura.” Maki snickered as she made a theatrical entrance. Nico chuckled too as she made her way to the grand chair where Nakamura sat just a few minutes ago. She lifted her legs and propped her feet up on the table to get situated.

“I- I don’t know what do you mean Madam!” The man shouted as he tried to stand up only to be pushed back to the ground.

“Oh? So you weren’t the generous person who gave us that present?” Nakamura  shivered at Nico's menacingly enthusiastic voice.

To be honest with herself, Nico was miffed to say the least. Her date night with Maki was ruined because this loser sent an armed group of men into their hideout to try and kill them. Any sane person would be mad, right? Unfortunately, she was too far gone.  There was no sanity left in her nor her partner in crime who had set her predatory gaze on the poor bastard.

“You know, it’s rude to deny your good deeds and act like a humble person.”, Maki said with a smirk as she saw the man tearing up. Nico just began humming a tune like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Actually for her, this kind of situation was ordinary.

“Okay! Okay! I admit it. I was the one who sent men to attack you!” He broke under the soft giggles of the couple.

“There there, that's a good boy.” Maki ruffled the his neatly combed hair before standing up and walking in Nico’s direction.

“P-Please spare me Madam!  I swear I won't do it again!”, Nakamura yelled out but Maki didn't care. He saw the jester slide herself onto Nico's lap and wrap her slender fingers around her queen’s neck, completely ignoring his pleas.

“Say my queen? What do you think we should do with him?” Maki sweetly asked for Nico’s opinion as she kissed the girl's left cheek and twirled a black strand of hair around her finger tip.

“He looks as if he is scared for dear life,” Nico placed a hand on Maki’s hips to steady herself while the other began on tapping her chin in false contemplation, “to the point of wetting himself even. I think that we should give him a nice, long bath to clean him up.” Nico grinned as she finished speaking.

The man begged for mercy over and over again as he was being dragged away from their sight, maniacal laugher filling the entirety of the enormously sized room.

The next day, news of the crime lord got out. He was found dead in a river with an eerily jubilant smile on his face.

---------------------------

Something really surprised Nico one day. When she was walking down the wide hallways of their hideout that they called home, Nico heard piano music coming from somewhere. She decided to folllw the sound of it while humming a tune of her own. The source seemed to be the jester’s room.  It was rare for Maki to be in town and not in another city wreaking havoc in that part of the underworld.

Nico slowly opened the wooden door and gingerly watched the jester play a beautiful melody. Maki's back was turned to Nico and her body swayed along with the flow of every note she played. Nico didn’t notice the tears that had escaped from her eyes as she continued to listen. How long she had yearned to see and hear Maki play on the piano. It was like a dream come true.

Much to Nico’s dismay, the piece come to an end. Maki must've become aware of Nico's presence sometime during the song because she motioned for her to come near her with a finger without even turning around. When she did turn around, she faced the former psychiatrist with a genuine smile that wasn't laced with any ill intentions for once.

“You're crying, Nico-chan. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Say Miss M? What is the special occasion?” Nico wiped off the tears with her sleeves and tried to laugh as she spoke, doing her best not to let the overflowing emotions spill out as she walked over to Maki.

“Nothing special. It’s just…”, Maki trailed off as Nico stopped in front of her, averting her eyes for a few second before setting her gaze back on her lover.

“I like making you happy, Nico-chan. You are my beloved queen and I love hearing your sincere laughter.” Maki kissed Nico's fingers as she pulled on her hand to help her get up on top of her lap.

“My, how straight forward of you, Maki-chan.” Nico tried to joke around but she knew that her face was beet red. The jester’s face was the same shade of red but she still had a stupidly smug grin on it. Nico leaned down, held on to Maki's neck, and kissed her to wipe it off.

Nico's relationship with Maki was incredibly dysfunctional, to the point of insanity, but she didn't care. She was already crazy; crazy in the head and crazy in love.