(Yui POV)

***

(Yesterday)

*CREAAAK*

Yui grimaced at the loud squeak of the door hinge, tiptoeing carefully to minimize all the other noises as much as she possibly could.

It was cold, dark, and gloomy, but it was a scene she was more than used to.

The house was quite empty as usual, so both of her mothers should be asleep already, and waking them up at this time was a mistake she wasn't willing to make.

'Those two aren't back yet, thankfully....'

Subconsciously, her tense body relaxed with that thought, and after noticing no movements from the second floor despite the creaky hinge, she continued on her way.

But her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the tall figure standing in the dark.

She relaxed when she could barely make out a butler's uniform under the sparse light.

".....Young Miss, I've made the bath if you'd like to take one before you sleep," a deep voice echoed in her ears.

".....You scared me," she snapped.

"I apologize."

"Tch, whatever."

"Good night, Young Miss."

Yui walked past the figure, her fists tightly clenched in irritation.

A long corridor stretched out to her right, with gaudy paintings hanging on the walls on either side, the only form of decoration in sight.

Using the moonlight sneaking through the windows around the massive house as her only tool of guidance, she crept forward in silence after taking off her shoes.

Her room was at the corner of the bottom floor, per her request, a place that could give her as much privacy as this cursed place allowed.

Which wasn't much.

She entered her room quickly and closed the door shut behind her, throwing her backpack on the floor like garbage before collapsing on the king-sized bed that was pushed up against the wall.

"Meow."

Yui turned her head tiredly and smiled at the adorable black cat that jumped onto the bed with her, curling up next to her face as it licked her cheek in greeting.

"Did you miss me, Atticus?" she mumbled, patting the long, fluffy hair affectionately.

She closed her eyes, her hand still attached to the soft cat, while she recalled the events at Reiji's house.

"Why did he lie to me, Atticus? Does he not trust me? Or is it because he's worried?"

Though she didn't get a response from the animal incapable of human speech, it purred loudly in approval of the nice massage it was getting.

"If it was before, maybe I would think it was the former. But that dummy is not that type of guy, right? So, how do I find out who caused that wound without him telling me about it?"

"Meow?"

"Hmm, exactly. How am I supposed to bash their head in otherwise?"

Yui picked up Atticus and placed him on her lap for an easier petting time.

But Maine Coons are massive, and Atticus was not light in any shape or form.

"Ugh, you heavy little thing... What should I do, Atticus? Wait..." she paused, her red eyes brightening up as she thought of something. "What about that girl he's tutoring? What was her name.....Hazuna? I'm sure she knows what happened, since they were probably together the whole weekend."

Atticus pawed at her belly playfully as he wriggled in her arms, and Yui chuckled at the sight.

"Do I sound crazy? But maybe it's fine this time. Because it's for him....."

She snuggled under the covers, releasing the cat from captivity before turning off the lights.

"I'll have a nice little chat with her tomorrow."

***

(Haruna POV)

"We need to talk."

Haruna blinked in confusion at the sudden callout, especially since she was sure that it wouldn't be a pleasant chat, judging from the coldness in her eyes.

"U-Um, what's going on, Haruna-chan?" Hina interjected nervously.

"Oh, it's nothing. You go on ahead, and I'll meet up with you in class."

"But...."

"It's fine, I told you she's a nice person, remember?" Haruna laughed.

Yui's face contorted at those words, but she returned to normal in a split second.

After a few seconds of hesitation, where Hina showed no signs of leaving, Yui snapped irritably.

"Oi, do I look like a criminal who's gonna chop her into pieces or something??"

"Uh, y-yes?" Hina replied with a stutter.

"This bitc-"

"Senpai, don't mind her, she's just worked up about something else," Haruna cut in with a panicked expression, pushing Hina's back lightly. "I told you to go ahead, we're just going to talk!"

The conflicted brunette bit her lips and finally obliged, albeit begrudgingly. She continued to look back every few steps and entered the school gates with a sigh.

"Tch, spineless twats like her piss me off," Yui hissed, staring at the disappearing back of the girl.

"Senpai, that's rude! Hina-tan's the sweetest person you'll ever find!"

"Hmph, the only place where sweetness is good is in actual sweets."

"I didn't see you acting like this when Reiji-tan was nice to you? Or is that different?" Haruna crossed her arms with a rebuttal.

Yui's face turned slightly red, and her eyes widened in surprise at the counterattack.

".....Touché."

Haruna grinned and pulled on Yui's hand, guiding her across the road to a bench facing the park nearby.

She felt a slight resistance, but the redhead clicked her tongue and followed along with a pout.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Senpai? Do you finally wanna be friends?" Haruna asked hopefully once they sat down.

"Pah, don't be delusional," Yui snorted. "Did you know that Reiji has a large cut on his shoulder? You were probably with him this past weekend, so maybe you know about it. How did he get that injury?"

Haruna froze, her eager smile drooping instantly as she realized that this was definitely not a simple chat, just like she suspected.

'....So, she found out as well? How much do I tell her?'

She pursed her lips and considered her options, and then responded curiously.

"Have you talked to Reiji-tan about this? What did he say?"

"That asshole won't tell me anything. He said he nicked it on a fence, but that's the dumbest lie I've ever heard!"

"Well, since he doesn't want to tell you, why do you want to know so badly? Knowing how it happened won't be much help," Haruna shook her head, understanding just how complex the issue was.

"Yes, it will."

Yui leaned back on the bench confidently and narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm? Why? Do you have an idea?" Haruna piped up.

She had been wracking her brain all night for a way to help Reiji, and had come up empty. If Yui were able to find a way, she would do her best to support her.

"Of course! I'll just beat up the cause!" Yui smirked.

"....."

'Ah..... So she's dumb. I see why he didn't tell her.'

Haruna rubbed the tip of her nose and turned away to hold back her laughter at the thought of Yui trying to beat up an entire Yakuza Syndicate.

"That's not going to work, Senpai."

"Why? So you do know how he got hurt?"

"I don't know the full story, because he won't tell me either, but I have a general idea."

"Then tell me!" Yui leaned forward, grabbing her by the shoulders with a titan's grip.

Haruna hesitated.

'What do I do...Should I tell her? But it doesn't seem fair if she's the only one in the dark...'

The senpai in front of her didn't exactly scream reliable.

So she groaned with exasperation because she came to a decision.

".....Fine. You know how Reiji-tan's family leads the Yakuza?" she muttered.

"Yeah?"

"They occasionally assign tasks for Reiji to do, like protection for businesses and things of that nature. From what I know, he was called by his family on Friday night, and he had the injury on Saturday. I don't know if it was from a task gone wrong or something else, but it's related to the syndicate he's part of."

Yui, who was listening quietly, clenched her fists at the latter part of her explanation.

"S-So..... He already had the injury when we were at his place?" she whispered.

"Yeah..... He tried to hide it, but he collapsed from a fever later on, and that's when I found out."

"He had a fever....?"

Yui's expression dimmed, and Haruna could clearly see the mix of guilt and worry etched on her face.

"Don't blame yourself. He hid it really well after all," Haruna quickly reassured.

The redhead didn't reply, contemplating quietly while her right leg continuously jerked up and down, highlighting her stress.

Then, she stood up.

"Okay. Thanks for telling me."

"Uh.... What are you going to do now?" Haruna followed, frowning at the determined look on Yui that said she was not just going to sit still.

"I'm going to talk to his Dad," she replied indifferently.

"What?"

Haruna blanked for a moment.

'I must've misheard... right?'

"I'm going to talk to his Dad," she repeated in the same tone.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M ASKING!!"

"What else am I supposed to explain?"

"You think you can just walk in and ask for an audience with a Yakuza Boss? And even if you somehow do get to meet him, what makes you think you can walk out of there in one piece? You think he's going to listen to you, some random girl, even after he's already rejected Reiji, from what I know? And what are you even going to talk to him about?" Haruna exploded, badgering her incessantly.

But Yui didn't even change her expression, simply staring at the raving girl in front of her.

"Are you done?" she stated.

"Y-Yeah?"

'Why is she so calm?' she thought internally.

"To answer your questions, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get an audience. You don't have to worry about how, just know that they can't lay a finger on me, and they will definitely hear me out. And if they somehow don't care, I'm willing to take that risk. If he doesn't listen to me, I'll bash his head in. And as for what I'm going to talk to him about, I'll ask him to let Reiji off and allow him to do what he wants. Now shut up, because I'm going over."

Yui turned to leave, not waiting for a response, but Haruna held onto her elbow to stop her.

"Wait! Why are you even doing this?"

She thought they had only known each other for a few weeks, so it made no sense to her that she was going to do something so stupid with zero preparation or consideration for her safety.

Yui rolled her eyes and freed her arm forcefully.

"Because I have the feeling that he'd do the same."

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