"Shichi. Shichi, are you listening to me?"

The girl rolled her eyes as Wistle's chattering was beginning to wear down the walls of her focus. The bombs would go off soon. Crimson sent out all of the Zakuya files to the Alliance just moments ago and now, it would be their turn to act. But now, now, that the pressure was strong and the stakes were high, Wistle wanted to talk. "Hey, can you maybe shut up for the next," Shichi looked down at her watch, "Three hours?"

"Wow, so snarky," Wistle huffed when she snapped at him, "I get it. You're nervous."

"Nervous?" Shichi hadn't even considered the idea. Her? Nervous? Did Wistle have any idea what she had been doing for the past fifteen years of her life? There was no way she, Shichi Tsujou, Seven of Division Eleven would ever be nervous.

Wistle grinned at her as if he had caught her off guard. "Yeah. Nervous," Wistle repeated and before Shichi could knock that smirk off his face with her right fist, Wistle pulled off the cerise globe that had never before left his neck, "So I came up with a solution!"

She raised an eyebrow at the mystifying action, but now that the orb was held up in the air, she could see the light passing through it. Even the cheap, white, cold lighting of the Zakuya could not take away from the necklace. Wistle held it out in front of her and she stared at him stupidly.

"It's a good luck charm! I'll give it to you!"

This beautiful object that Wistle had always held so close to him seemed to glow with Wistle's same friendliness and warmth. It was okay to give something like that to someone like Shichi, right? Wistle was like the sun. Real. Warm. Something that Shichi always tried to reach but could never. Shichi was the fake, fluorescent lightning. But this necklace didn't lose it shine because of something like that.

"Pfft...," she turned away, acting like she was laughing too hard or that Wistle's face made her crack up, "What the heck? You seriously think those things work? You know I don't believe in good luck charms."

Wistle's pout only lasted for a moment before he suddenly reached over to fix the necklace around her and she flinched at the boy's touch. She would have jumped away and yelled at him if she was not afraid of breaking the cord while he held it. So instead, she stayed there and yelled at him, half-aware of the flare of heat across her face.

"Hey, what are you doing-"

"Just hang on to it for now," Wistle chimed gently, lifting his gaze from the globe to Shichi's eyes and setting her off into a new, different kind of unnatural panic.

What was this? She felt so, so... weird. She felt like she had been overloaded with energy; she could somehow hear her heart pounding much faster than normal- after it stopped for a second that is- and somehow with the new burst of energy, half-forgot to breathe. She could think a lot faster, way faster than Shichi knew she was capable of but all her thoughts were useless, jumbled, and undecipherable. If she jumped or screamed or something maybe she could release that energy? But she'd look so stupid in front of Wistle-

"You can give it back to me when this is all over!"

-

Shichi leaned against the tiny, minimal balcony and it's rusted old rails.

Shichi eyes felt dry in a scratchy and gritty way. Her arms were as heavy and lifeless as steel and her legs were sore.

She blinked twice, her eyes were unpleasantly dry, like she had kept them open for too long. She even shut her eyes closed for a few moments but they still bore an annoying sensation that was void of moisture. She gave up and continued to stare down at the city that was always moving, always lit.

She was stiff. She should probably move and yet she didn't want to. The gritty rails grated her elbows and her neck began to strain a little from her head which faced the loud, busy streets below. She didn't want to move. Why? She didn't really know. What was she doing here in the first place? She forgot.

"Shichi-oneesan."

Rukei stood at the sliding door's frame, illuminated in a silver color. It was past bedtime. "Why are you up?" Shichi asked in a manner that suggested Rukei might get in trouble, turning her dry eyes back on the crowded roads below.

Rukei replied, "I can't sleep."

"What?" Shichi guessed, "Nightmare?"

"I don't dream," Rukei said, "Remember?"

Shichi remembered. "... Ah. That's right."

Shichi looked at the girl. Rukei looked sleepy. Her face was like an iron plate as usual but her eyes seemed dulled with a weariness. Rukei needed to go to sleep.

"Aren't you tired, Shichi-oneesan?"

"I'm tired," Shichi admitted after a moment. That was the word. That's how she felt. Tired. Shichi smiled wryly. "I just can't sleep."

They both listened to the rushing and working of the city below them. Rukei had finally come up with a solution. "Do you want some hot milk? They say it helps."

Shichi stood and stepped away from the tireless city for a moment. "Yeah. I'd like that."

-

A loud swear broke the official, professional atmosphere that the building gave off from it's entrance to the most deserted corridors.

There was a hole in Shichi's pocket. She had meant to patch up the thing two or three months ago- or was it four? She couldn't remember when it had ripped, but when it had it had caused her an endless amount of extra tedious hassle that she didn't have the time to deal with. It ranged from lost flash drives to her cracked phone to her current situation; scattered coins.

"Don't let Crimson hear you say that," Glass warned as he helped her regather the jenny that had rolled farther away from her.

Shichi grumbled a reply of, "I know, I know...," as she sullenly, but gratefully received the change and reached over and put the coins in her left pocket, which managed to stay in tact.

"You ought to get a new coat, Shichi," a woman with short, bluish black hair sitting in front of computer with several tabs open and a mouse in one hand and a phone in another, "And new shoes while you're at it."

"No thanks," she huffed, tugging at her lapel as if to prove her point that the jacket was still functional, "Who are you talking to?"

"Uh," Noriko stared at her dumbly before hesitantly giving her the obvious answer, "you?"

Shichi groaned and smacked her palm against her face, "I mean on the phone, you idiot."

The woman straightened her posture crossly at the younger's jab before relying, "I'm talking to your superior rival, Marron."

"Just because he calls himself a phantom thief, doesn't mean he's my rival. That's an old book trope," Shichi scoffed and folded her arms, "I could give that twig a beatdown with both hands tied behind my back-"

The dark haired girl was growing increasingly vexed with the woman as Noriko proceeded to ignore her and continue to chat with the eighth subject. Marron was quite popular. He was like a 'real-life Robin Hood' with a 'charming personality'.

To Shichi, it was straight and simple. Marron stole stuff and he wasn't supposed to steal stuff, no matter who he stole it from or who he'd give it to. If Harold Andor didn't like him so much, he probably would be behind bars already, courtesy of the Alliance.

"You just saw him a few hours ago," Shichi sighed, "Why do you need to call him again?"

"Because we didn't finish catching up! That boy is so cute," Noriko finished with a grin, pulling away from the device for a moment, "He's grown so much. Hey, isn't Rukei supposed to be back today?"

Shichi eyes lit up at the mention of the girl's name. She hadn't heard anything about that. The teen turned to the blonde man, who had been listening to the conversation quietly without interrupting, wondering if he had heard anything.

"Yes," Glass put in with an apologetic glance towards Shichi. He had forgotten as always. "The airship should have landed already. She may already have been here for all I know. Anyhow, she'll be at the apartment for sure, so you'll see her later."

"Aww, but I wanna meet her now," Noriko let out a glum sigh, "It's been so long."

Shichi pinched the bridge of her nose as she leaned against a table, "When can we start the discussion? If we have someone with Flask's ability in custody than there's no doubt that the Zakuya will be at least thrice as cautious. We don't have time to be 'catching up' with old friends."

"We start when Cheril gets here," Glass replied, keeping his level gaze on the woman, as if to cool her off before she even started speaking, "Cheril's taking care of the relations between the mafia and the Zakuya, remember?"

Just Cheril's name ticked the girl off. Shichi was the one in Yorknew. It was only logical to have Shichi look into the mafia, but why did they decided to put Cheril in charge of it?

But it's not like the man didn't do his job. They had been keeping careful track of the mafia; they managed to get a spy among their ranks. Just recently, they intercepted a Zakuya agent in Shikago trying to make a deal with one of the mafia gangs.

Somehow, Shichi was still unsettled by how easy it was. There was no way the Zakuya was going to crumble with this amount of effort. And the agent from Shikago they captured was off as well. He seemed too... Too weak. Like he was some kind of sacrifice. The Alliance was countering them effectively, and the syndicate was put at a severe disadvantage since a number of the Zakuya's old members operated with the enemy. So why wasn't the Zakuya being more careful on who they sent out?

There were only two recorded times where the other experiments were dispatched. Knight and Witch had both only shown up once. Why? They were far more capable. Was it because they were precious? Maybe, yet her gut said it was something else...

Was she being too paranoid? But then again, one of the main reasons she was alive was because she was too paranoid-

"Sorry that I'm late," the man announced as he walked into the room, "Let's get started."

Finally. She listened carefully as the man explained they had gotten new information from their spy. "They'll be meeting a man tonight at Aux Hotel. I'm guessing that the people standing in for the Ten Dons suggested this man to the Zakuya," he trailed off with a ragged huff as he glanced towards Shichi, "I know you have a little bit temper, but stay calm when you hear this."

This also annoyed her about Cheril. He wasn't that much older than her, yet he acted as if he was Glass or something. She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Don't hold back for my sake."

"This man, Jul Sember, is known for having chemical weapons. Many that have been banned."

"Naturally," Noriko remarked, "He's part of the mafia."

Cheril's next statement explained why he did not want to talk about it in front of Shichi, "He also collects body parts."

Shichi appeared unbothered, her shoulders still slackened as she leaned against the table. But no one wanted to look at her face to check. "So he wants Zyphon blood. And since you were so reluctant to talk about it, I'm guessing he's not settling for Witch's or Knight's, or even... In any case, he basically wants Rukei's pure blood, right?"

There was something in her tone that was unnerving, as Noriko began to nervously play with the cord of her mouse and the papers in Cheril's hand began to crinkle.

"It's amazing that they were able to hang onto that. I guess Zyphon blood has a long shelf life," Shichi snorted, pointing to the man beside her, "You shouldn't be worried about me. Glass'd be way more pissed about it. And he's the one going there tonight."

They made the mistake of actually turning to look at him to verify her words, and immediately turned away, regretting the decision. Cheril cleared his throat, hoping all the lingering emotions in the room would do the same, "We're not sure what Jul Sember is going to give up for it. He gives extremely vague answers even to those closest to him. This behavior is consistent with how he handled deals in the past."

"So I just need to capture them," Glass summed out. He was usually curt and kept his sentences short, but it seemed much harsher this time around, "That is all. Yes?"

"Uh, yes," Cheril stumbled, but tried to give out some short advice before the discussion would be over and Glass would disappear, "Glass, don't let your emotio-"

"Don't worry about me. Work is work. I'm aware of that."

The tension had not left with Glass. Cheril glanced to his co-worker, the more cooperative one, uneasily, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He's a pro," Shichi jumped in when Noriko could not provide an answer, "If he let things like that bother him, that plan three years ago would have failed. But I have to question the location of the exchange."

"What do you mean?"

She raised an eyebrow at his surprise. Did he not find it suspicious at all? "Aux Hotel? Why somewhere so obvious? Lots of shady groups gather there. In the first place, how were we able to get the place of the exchange, but not the item he's exchanging? This reeks of a set up."

The man clicked his tongue setting off a new level of irritation that she tried hard not to show, "That's perfect for them then. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. In the first place, they don't even know we have eyes inside. They wouldn't go through the extra trouble."

"But we know what they look like. What's the point in hiding among faces?" Shichi countered, "The Zakuya always goes through the extra trouble because he's-," she grumbled something under her breath as she dropped her eyes to the floor, and looked up again, "Anyways, the Zakuya wouldn't try anything careless in our city."

"Shichi, they have masters of disguise," he told her as if she didn't know herself, "And they must have recruited new people. Just because you've dealt with them before, doesn't means you can deal with them again, especially in the same way. Besides, they already know how you think. They'll make their actions keeping their former members in mind."

Shichi felt the underlying jab beneath it all. 'Former member'... The woman glared as she straightened her posture and told him that she would be leaving.

She caught sight of Glass' blonde hair at the end of the hallway before disappearing around the corner. It faintly reminded her of someone familiar and she frowned as she shoved her hands into her pockets. A body part collector...

It wasn't Shichi's mission. She should go home and get some rest.

Or maybe she should go drop by Galen's office? Rukei might be there... Shichi scoffed at herself as she shook her head. Rukei knew her way home. Why would Shichi need to butt in and get yelled at by that grumpy old man?

-

"Hey, Doctor, have you seen Rukei?"

In the end, she went anyways. Swinging open the door with those words, she popped into the room only to hear annoyed huffing. "And here comes the other sister..."

"Don't be so cold!" Shichi joked with an irritated edge to her tone, "So I guess she-"

She trailed off when she set her eyes on the doctor's guest, a tall man with sunglasses that he never took off. They stared at each other blankly for a few moments, unsure how to react. Shichi moved first, pointing at him with a snap of her fingers. She knew this guy!

"Leoreo!"

"My name is Leorio!"

She grinned as Galen began to chide the man on his loud yelling inside the office. Shichi stood by with an annoying smirk that somehow made Leorio think that she messed up his name on purpose, knowing his reaction. She couldn't have held a grudge for those little arguments from back then...

No. Rukei's sister was crazy. She definitely did.

"What are you doing in Jianghai?" Shichi questioned glancing in between the two men, before answering her own inquiry, "I guess your professor or someone told you to go and meet Dr. Galen since you're a Hunter."

Leorio gave her a exasperated, sideway stare, "As always, jumping to your own conclusions."

"And as always, I'm right," she returned haughtily.

That only got her a whack over the head from the oldest man. "What are you acting all high and mighty for? That's the least you should be able to do! Now if you came here to loiter, I'm going to kick you out!"

She indignantly rubbed her head, "You're a doctor. Don't go around hurting people."

"As if I could actually hurt you with your iron head!"

For the moment, the woman ignored the insult regarding her stubborn nature and went back to answer Galen's first question, "I came here to see Rukei. But it looks like she already left for the apartment."

"Wait, Rukei's here?" Leorio asked, spinning around to face her, "Gon and Killua, too?"

She repeated the latter two names with momentary confusion, before her tone lit up with recognition, "Oh yeah, probably. She really likes those guys, so I wouldn't be surprised if she brought them along."

"So that means they've cleared Greed Island already," Leorio leaned back tiredly, "They really beat me good."

Shichi gave him a curious look, "You wanted to beat Greed Island too?"

"Oh, uh," he waved his arms about as if he were trying to explain with his hands, before deciding that putting it into words would be too difficult or embarrassing, "Never mind."

"Well, sure," Shichi replied blandly, not knowing how to respond to Leorio's nonexistent explanation.

Before it could get too awkward, Galen began to push them out of his office, "C'mon, that's all for today. For both of you! Everyone tryin' to make me stay up late..."

"No ones trying to-"

"Get out!"

The door slammed behind them as they both muttered and cursed towards or about the doctor. Leorio bitterly turned on his heels while grinding his teeth together. "I can't believe I have to stick with that old geezer for the next week!"

"Really? I think you'd get along," Shichi commented, as if she was surprised with his complaint, "You know, sit down, have a cup of coffee, talk about whatever old men like to talk about..."

"You are the worst!"

Her sardonic laugh hadn't changed at all. She decided to give the doctor a little credit for everything he had done for her, "Yeah, he's a grouch alright, but he's good at what he does. Saved my life a couple times over."

Leorio gave her an uneasy look before speaking. He could see why Rukei always fret over her sister. He could see it for himself in the woman's demeanor. "Y'know, Rukei gets really worried about you. You should probably hold your life with a little more importance."

Shichi rolled her eyes; it seemed like she had heard this sort of lecture often, "If you're a Hunter, and you don't find yourself staring in the face of death every once and a while, you're doing it wrong."

The man scratched his head and sighed. He wasn't going to convince her. "Whatever you say..."

She fixed the strap of the case over the shoulder while continuing to converse, "Are you going to go see your comrades? They're probably at the apartment right now. It's pretty close here."

The man seemed to brighten up at the notion of it, forgetting Shichi's previous jeers. The woman took note that he looked younger for some reason when the subject of his friends came up. "Really?"

"Yeah. It'd be a nice surprise for her," Shichi mentioned casually, though the traces of melancholy were just barely able to be caught. However, as soon as he felt it, it was covered up by another sarcastic sneer, "Better be careful though. Rukei gets really antsy when she hears knocking. She might attack you."

Leorio winced at the idea of being thrown up into the air and smashed into the ground. That would be an interesting reunion, he thought dryly as they stepped into the elevator. "I'll just text them beforehand..."

"Probably your best option," Shichi chimed as they walked out of the building, "It's not very far from here. Just keep walking straight and you'll see a weird, neon, triangle-shaped sign. When you see that, turn left-"

"You're not going home?" Leorio questioned, cutting her off while she was giving directions.

"I just have some things... to check up on."

The long night stretched on ahead her.