The waking world was that of mutual disorientation and confusion for Amaya, who by the waking hours of Saturday morning had failed to get any decent sleep no matter how much she had honestly tried.

Many times, if she so much as twitched in her sleep, she would wind up jolting right awake as pain shot through her body. And no sleeping position at all graced her with reprieve from her aching body. It was thanks to the pain in the ass who'd gotten rid of the couch that she couldn't even utilize it to try and get some sleep sitting upright.

It was somewhere in the early hours of the morning that Amaya had resorted to sleeping on one of the dining chairs half-slumped over the table itself. And when she'd awoken, she found herself still there, with a pillow mysteriously tucked beneath her head, a blanket draped over her shoulders and that obscenely large jar of treatment Daniel had made for her on the table right in front of her face.

The house was once more or less silent as she managed to straighten up in the chair, with no sign of any siblings within immediate vicinity of her. The only sounds that echoed were the sounds of her own breathing, and the faint, far-off mewling of two kittens, whom had been returned some time last night.

Her gaze narrowed upon the jar in front of her face as she blinked sleepily. She had no doubt in her mind that an arrogant jerk had left it there specifically as a message. And with a pained groan, she carefully dragged herself to her feet and left to do as she was obviously expected.

Her gaze didn't fail to shift to the empty square of floor where the couch used to be, wondering just where it was that Karma was sleeping since he got rid of it?

He was too lazy to make the trek half-way across the city when he felt he didn't have to.

The rather noticeable silence that engulfed the house remained fixed upon her thoughts, even many minutes later when she'd finished painstakingly applying the treatment Daniel had made for her and managed a glimpse of the clock on her way back.

'Okay, there's no way they've all slept in after eleven...' Amaya muttered as she trudged up the stairs.

And while proven right for the most part, Amaya couldn't help but stare blankly at the empty rooms one by one.

No Reiko, no Yuta...

'G-good morning, Big Sister Meow...' Samuel mumbled sleepily as Amaya opened the door to his room.

Oh, so Samuel was here.

She cast a rather bemused look towards the blonde boy, who was curled up beneath a tent built from two dining chairs and the blankets from his bed.

'Where are your siblings?' Amaya questioned seriously.

Without a word, Samuel lifted his arm to point directly at Amaya.

'Ha ha, very funny. You know I meant Yuta and Reiko.' Amaya muttered as she shook her head. 'And anyway, it's rude to point at people.'

Samuel didn't hesitate to lower his arm.

'Big Brother Glasses and Big Sister Plushy left ages ago.' He mumbled as he crawled out from beneath his makeshift tent.

'And where'd they go?'

'With Mister Bell Pepper.'

A scowl was quick to spread across Amaya's face.

'Oh of course that jerk has something to do with it...' Amaya cursed as she managed to lift an arm to rub her hand over her face. 'Did they say how long they were going to be gone?'

'I don't know, but Big Sister Plushy wants sweet beef for tea!' Samuel chimed in brightly.

'That damn well means they aren't going to be back until after dark...' Amaya ground out wearily as she turned to trudge back downstairs. 'I have shopping to do today, too...'

'Shopping?!' Samuel squeaked out in delight as he dashed out of his room to catch up to Amaya. 'Ooh! let's go! Let's go!'

'No.' Amaya shot back at the energetic ball of energy bouncing along at her heels. 'I'll go do it alone, I think.'

'Aww! But Big Sister Meow--'

'It's Amaya.'

'--Mister Bell Pepper said you can't leave home on your own!' Samuel continued none the less.

'Mister Bell Pepper can shove it.'

'Shove?' Samuel responded curiously as he bounced past Amaya to reach the bottom of the stairs and turn to face her. 'What is Mister Bell Pepper supposed to move?'

'Forget it!' Amaya groaned dramatically as she inwardly winced. 'It's not important!'

She had to watch her words considering that Samuel was a painfully innocent hamster. She didn't need him quoting any of her remarks about Karma back to the infuriation in mention, lest she earn any ill attention.

'So! So can we go shopping now?' Samuel repeated himself once again.

'No, not right now.' Amaya practically seethed as she marched right past the energetic blond.

'...What about now?' Samuel questioned a few seconds later.

'No.'

'...And now?' He questioned less than a minute later.

'I said no damn it!' Amaya snapped.

'But Mister Bell Pepper said you would go!'

Dear god, this wasn't going to end, was it!?

'Tell you what, Samuel.' Amaya began as she turned to fix a painfully bright smile across her face. 'If you can stay quiet for the next ten minutes, I'll pull on my shoes right away and we'll go shopping.'

'Really?!' Samuel squeaked out in delight.

'But if you so much as say one word in those ten minutes, we won't be going anywhere.' Amaya added.

'Okay.'

'And that's starting from right now.'

Samuel had opened his mouth to say something, however he frantically slapped his hands up to stop whatever words he had from tumbling out. Amaya couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she turned to wander towards her room in search for her phone, if it was even there any more.

The pacing of small feet across wooden floorboards echoed through the house as Amaya carefully set herself down on her bed and retrieved her phone from the windowsill. She couldn't recall to have even turned it on since it had died yesterday morning, and she half wondered if she even wanted to revive it.

She stared listlessly at the blank screen for several long seconds as she warred with her thoughts, until finally she gave in and booted it up.

She didn't know if she'd received a response from Karasuma about her resignation from the Assassination Program, and while she had sent Shigure an email stating that she was resigning from school, she half-wondered if that number of his was even in service anymore. She hadn't received any replies from him since Itona started attending classes.

Ironically, as soon as she'd turned on her phone, Amaya found that before she could so much as touch the screen, her phone started meowing so frantically, she had dropped it out of sheer fright. Notification after notification came pouring in as Amaya practically cringed from the pain her small fright brought to life throughout her battered body, continuing for what felt like minutes without end.

She couldn't even pick the occasional word, only the glimpses of new popup notifications right up until the phone fell silent on the floor.

'That was damn familiar...' She huffed slightly as she managed to bend down and collect the phone without causing herself too much pain. 'Thank god that meowing's damn well stopped...'

When had that happened last time...?

Oh, right. It was when she went to visit her mother back during first term.

Amaya let out a breath as she slowly flicked through the onslaught of notifications informing her of missed calls and emails that had occurred within the past twenty four hours.

The response from Karasuma had come in, with a mere remark of "The Target has explained the situation to me", though no email came from Shigure, in spite of how much she really was beginning to hope for one.

Missed calls from Maehara, Isogai and Kataoka littered her phone, most from the playboy in particular, as were the emails she'd received, though the odd couple from others in class were present as well. The words bled into each other between emails, enough so that she had trouble discerning who had sent what, though in essence when one removed certain eccentricities of words from person to person, they all read the same in the end.

"Please don't go! Don't shut us out!"

"Won't you let us try to fix this for you?!"

"Please talk with us."

"I'm so sorry for what we've all done!"

"Even if you still leave, please at least let us apologize for everything, first!"

"I can't accept things ending like this!"

"Please, just let us know that you're alright!"

A lump rose in Amaya's throat as she leafed through the emails one by one, and her breath trembled more with every passing second. She had never once expected this to be easy, but she hadn't expected for it to hurt so much to read all these messages.

She let out a trembling, weary breath as she ran a hand over her face before long as she scrolled back towards the top of the emails, where her gaze fell upon one that she had missed in among the sea of emails from Isogai, Kataoka and Maehara.

It was from an unknown sender, dating from sometime last night.

[Katsuragi, it's me. It's not about those two ya mentioned, but I think this is important enough. Call me when you can.]

Amaya stared down at the email for several long seconds as she ran those words over in her head once more. Her jaw clenched tightly as she found herself soon realizing exactly who this was emailing her.

Wasn't this Haya--

'BIG SISTER MEOW!' Samuel's excited voice shouted from the other side of her bedroom door, causing Amaya to jump within an instance. 'IT'S BEEN TWENTY MINUTES NOW! LET'S GOOOOO!'

Amaya swore as she glanced up at the clock of her phone, and inwardly groaned.

'Fine! Give me a damn minute!' Amaya snapped.

'BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAID BEFORE!' Samuel cried out.

'If you keep holding me up like this, it's going to take even longer!'

And within an instance, Samuel let out a squeak and took off running for the other parts of the house.

For what felt like the tenth time that morning, Amaya let out a sigh as she resigned herself to the whims of others. That email would have to wait for now, anyway. Replying was out of the question with it still cat-vandalized, and she didn't want Samuel repeating anything he'd overhear if she rang, either.

She managed to tug on one of her baggy jumpers without losing herself to a spiel of profanity, and she collected her purse and other important items before she made her way out of the door. With her inability to move very much without causing herself pain, she resigned herself to staying in her tank top and jeans beneath the jumper.

And what sight does Amaya find herself witnessing the very instance she stepped out of the hallway? A rather excited looking Samuel up-ending every single canvas shopping bag he could find right onto the dining table, causing a variety of items to scatter and clatter to the floor, of course.

Amaya stared at the sight for several long seconds, watching the blond quickly stuff the bags into his emptied school bag with a bright and chipper hum escaping him.

'Just what do you think you're doing?' Amaya demanded seriously, ripping a startled squeak from Samuel as he whirled around to face her.

'Sh-shopping bags for shopping!' Samuel responded hesitantly.

'And why are you dumping everything over the table like that?'

'Because ... they're in the way?'

An exasperated breath escaped Amaya as she buried her face in her hands, praying more than anything else that the day wouldn't get any more chaotic for her.

'Just clean the floor up, at least!' She pleaded. 'And go refill the water-bowl for the kittens, too!'

'O-Okay!' Samuel squeaked out as he scrambled off of the chair he'd been kneeling on to do as he was told.

His running footsteps up the stairs drew a weary from from Amaya as she went to go pull on her shoes.

Why did this have to be so hard?!

All Amaya wanted to do was get the week's shopping done in peace! She'd even been prepared to swallow her pride and actually ask Karma if he would help her out this once! But of course that jerk was nowhere to be found when she wanted him for something!

'All done! Let's go! Let's goooo!' Samuel sung no more than one minute later as he skipped over towards Amaya, bringing her to lift her head to look back at the havoc the boy had previously caused.

As she had instructed, the floor was now free from the mess of clutter, though she could see without a doubt that all Samuel had done was pick everything up and dump it back onto the table.

No, right now it wasn't worth pointing that out.

Instead, she just gave in and lead the way out.

The sun was already high in the sky as she locked the door behind them, and the leaves of the nearby trees were starting to rim with orange as they dried out. The light felt heavy against her skin, almost as if its very presence was draining the limited strength right out of her.

And immediately, it felt like somebody was watching her.

Immediately, Amaya's gaze lifted from her keys to survey their surroundings, but beyond her and Samuel's bouncing form at her side, there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.

Had she imagined it?

...No. Upon further inspection, Amaya was sure she hadn't imagined it in the least. It was too quiet. She was sure of it.

Just where the hell were they?

'Big Sister Meow...' Samuel spoke up at Amaya's side, snatching up her attention in an instance. 'I want to go...'

Right. Shopping...

A sigh escaped Amaya as she nodded and nudged him onwards. It would be best if she didn't make whoever it was aware that she was sure of their presence, after all

So... she had a week's shopping to do with Samuel alone, with her arms already so screwed up she couldn't carry much and a lack of stable coordination when it mattered, all while pretending they weren't being watched.

This wasn't going to be fun...

'Big Sister Meow!' Samuel called out as he bounced up and down on the corner of the street. 'Come on! Come on! Let's go shopping now!'

Why couldn't Karma have kidnapped Samuel instead?

'We don't have to run. The shopping arcade isn't going to pick itself up and escape before we get there.' Amaya responded seriously.

'But I want to go shopping now!' Samuel complained dramatically as he threw a few swings of his arms into that bouncing routine of his. 'Mister Bell Pepper said I have to help you today, too!'

'How are you going to accomplish that?' Amaya ground out.

'I'm not telling~!'

'And why the hell not?'

'Because it's a secret!'

Oh dear god, what exactly did that bastard put in the boy's head?

If this turned out to be a whole outing of childish emotional blackmail and wordplay, she was going to throw her bag right at Karma's head.

She shoved Samuel's word-twisting to the back of her mind as she forced herself to walk faster in spite of the protests her body was giving her. And with every step, that painful hamster seemed to skip ahead even further.

Outpacing her without even trying,

How Amaya was cursing her lack of mobility right now.

'HAA?! WHAT THE HELL DO YO--' Came the sudden bellowing of a familiar rough-and-tumble voice, startling Amaya out of her wits. She froze dead in her tracks as she looked around frantically.

She couldn't pick exactly who's voice that was, only that she could vaguely place it as a person she'd had moderately regular contact with. She couldn't tell where it had come from, either. Whether it had reverberated around her or she just didn't hear enough of it to pinpoint its direction.

There was no sign of anybody familiar from as well as she could see.

But she was fairly certain somebody was tailing her, or if her hunch was right, more than just somebody.

'...Until Wednesday, huh?' Amaya muttered beneath her breath as she heard Samuel call out for her to hurry up. 'I get it...'

'BIG SISTER MEOW--'

'Yes! I know! Quit shouting like that! You're going to disturb the people living nearby!' Amaya called back as she continued on her way.

If those morons were stalking her just like they had done with Kataoka, Asano and Takebayashi, then Amaya had a few things to throw in the mix to make it hideously boring for them.

And besides, they were things she already had to do sooner or later, anyway.

The tedious walk towards the shopping arcade she frequented since moving nearby went by slower than she liked to admit, no thanks to Samuel's ongoing pestering and the pairs of eyes she could feel on her every second of the way. She'd waved towards Daniel and Isshin as she'd heard them call out to her as she'd walked past, and after agreeing that she would be going home as soon as shopping was completed, they left her to do as she needed.

They hadn't got very far at all when a particular shop caught Samuel's avid attention, either.

'Ooh! Big Sister Meow, look!' Samuel squeaked out as he veered towards the large display window three buildings down the street. 'It looks so different to that other one!'

Amaya's brow furrowed as she came to stop over the blonde's shoulder to find that it was a hair salon he'd become interested in.

She guessed he was comparing this one to the one in Moscow.

'It isn't that different.' She responded as she leaned forward and grabbed him by the sleeve to steer him onwards. 'Come on, we've got things to do.'

'It is different! It's got different colours!' Samuel inputted brightly as he tugged his sleeve free in order to skip along ahead of her.

'Yes yes, of course it does.'

'Oh! Big Sister Meow?' Samuel sung out.

'Yeah?'

'I like my hair cut!'

'That's good to know.' Amaya dismissed wearily.

'Can I come with Big Sister Plushy when she gets her hair cut again?'

Amaya cast the beaming boy a small glance before she looked back ahead of her.

'She doesn't visit these shops.'

'She doesn't?'

'No. Neither does Yuta.'

'Wait!' Samuel practically exclaimed as he slid to a halt and ran right back to leap upon her. 'Big Brother Glasses and Big Sister Plushy didn't go to a shop that cuts hair?!'

'No, they've probably never even been inside one before.' Amaya responded carefully as she eyed the confused look written across the boy's face. 'I've always cut their hair for them.'

If possible, Samuel's eyes only seemed to become wider.

'Have you cut Mister Bell Pepper's hair, too?'

Amaya stood there for a moment as she tried to scour through her mind for any recollection of such an instance. She couldn't necessarily find any at first, at least until she considered first year of middle school where the evil incarnate had learned she did in fact cut hair.

'...Once, but that was just fixing up something the hair dresser missed one time, so it doesn't really count.' She answered before long, surprising Samuel even more. 'Trust me, I will never cut his hair again if I have a choice in the matter. It's not worth the mental trauma.'

And she only did it to save the apprentice at the time from a life's worth of vengeful pranks from a sadistic twelve year old.

'You cut Big Sister Plushy's hair this month...' Samuel whispered.

'Yeah, so?'

'Big Sister Meow has never cut my hair before...'

'Because you never asked me to.'

And before long, a rather tearful look appeared across Samuel's face as he sniffled.

'I want my hair cut, too...' He complained.

The stern look Amaya wore did nothing to deter Samuel from the encroaching waterworks.

'All you had to do was ask.'

'Oh! Really?!' Samuel squeaked out with a vivid smile spreading right across his face, enough so for Amaya to imagine him with folded puppy ears and a frantically wagging tail.

'Yes! For the love of god, can we get moving so we can get that shopping started?!' Amaya practically cried out as she pushed Samuel along a lot more insistently than she usually would have done.

'Yaaaaay!' Samuel cheered as he skipped along the sidewalk. 'I want short hair! Like Big Brother Glasses and Mister Bell Pepper!'

'I doubt that's going to happen. You've got the same kind of hair I do.' Amaya muttered as she lightly swatted down a haywire lock of the boy's hair. 'I'll cut it if that's really what you want, but it's going to turn into a frizzy puffball.'

'Awww, but Big Brother Glasses and Big Sister Plushy have flat and shiny hair... And so does Mister Bell Pepper...'

'I know.' Amaya muttered sourly. 'Now enough of these stupid distractions!'

'Okaaaay...' Samuel groaned out.

And if Amaya was entirely honest, it was not a moment too soon.

She steered the boy towards shop one of many they had to visit that day, an electronics store as she decided to buy the boy a cellular phone for emergencies, and while the clerk in the beginning at had been rather suspicious about a fifteen year old wandering in to buy a phone right off the shelf, he'd been a lot more helpful when he'd realized that the phone purchase was for Samuel himself, not so much herself.

'Oooh! Big Sister Meow!' Samuel exclaimed brightly, earning a scowl from Amaya as she dragged herself away from the explanation the clerk was giving her about some parent-control app for phones, and turned to motion for the boy to quieten down.

'What is it?' Amaya questioned sourly.

'I want the pink one!' Samuel announced as he pointed to the most outrageously coloured smartphone with a hot-pink shell, and with a horribly expensive price-tag to go with it.

'Absolutely not, Samuel!' Amaya responded indignantly. 'Even if I could spend that much on a phone for you, that doesn't change the fact that if the other kids see it, they're going to pick on you for it.'

'Awww! But it's a really nice colour!'

'And I already said no! Pick a different one!'

'But I don't like the other ones!'

The clerk standing next to Amaya chuckled slightly as he decided to intervene.

'How about this one, young man?' The man suggested as he motioned to a little black phone with a much kinder price-tag. 'This one we can make everything inside the phone pink for you.'

'R-really?' Samuel asked as he approached the counter to look closer at the display phone.

'Yes, if you'll just let me change a couple things...' The man responded as he tinkered with the phone for a few seconds. 'And, there. Have a look.'

Samuel reached out to grab the phone, and immediately his face lit up like it was Christmas.

'Oh wow! That's so bright!' Samuel beamed as he tapped on icons and played with the screen. 'Can the other ones turn pink, too?'

'Unfortunately not, it's only that particular phone.' The man answered.

Oooh, that was a lie. Amaya knew that for a fact, but considering how much that little lie was going to help her budget, she was thankful. Especially with the next question she was about to ask the clerk.

'Aww, well then I want this one!' Samuel announced.

'Certainly, if that is alright with your sister, here.' The man responded as he turned to look at her.

A weary sigh escaped Amaya as she nodded slightly.

'Yeah ... But I'm going to need three of them as well as that one you were telling me about just earlier.' Amaya answered.

The man seemed to stare at her for a few seconds as if he was uncertain if he'd heard her right.

'F-Four phones? Are you sure, Miss?' The Clerk asked urgently.

'Pretty sure, yeah. One each for my three siblings and one for me. I have the money, so don't worry.'

Still wracked with disbelief, but otherwise with no other recourse but to accept her words as truth, the man coughed out a simple affirmation and disappeared around the back to collect the four phones.

Samuel wandered up to stand right next to Amaya at the counter, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he fixed Amaya with the brightest smile she had ever seen across his face.

Oh no, he's not going to pou--

'THANK YOU BIG SISTER MEOW!' Samuel screeched out at the top of his lungs as he tackled her with a painful, lunging hug.

'Yeah yeah.' Amaya responded absent-mindedly as she briefly ruffled his hair, thankfully prying the boy off of her. 'We're still in a store, so quieten down.'

'Okay!' Samuel whispered forcefully.

She prayed for whichever entity out there listening to come down here and grant her just the smallest reprieve from this headache she had to deal with. Figuratively, of course.

Once the phones had been paid for and tucked away inside the schoolbag Samuel had insisted on bringing along, Amaya directed Samuel along to the next destination.

Which was the weekly shopping, though she had to either skim on a lot of things or make three trips, given the trend that was happening with Samuel's behavior.

The feeling of being watched hadn't once left in the whole time she'd noticed it, and right now she was certain that it was a handful of Class E following them around. She'd caught glimpses of sky blue, green and blonde from her peripheral vision while she was in the electronics store, and as she directed Samuel right through the supermarket doors, she'd glimpsed a familiar form of spectacles and twin-plaits in the crowd.

Though it appeared none of them seemed to realize she already knew that they were even there.

'So much for their super special stealth training...' Amaya muttered sourly as she pulled a trolley out from the bay at the front of the store. 'Idiots...'

'Did you say something, Big Sister Meow?' Samuel questioned curiously.

'Just talking to myself.' Amaya dismissed.

'About what?'

'Nothing, so just forget a--' Amaya cut herself off as she heard that painful, torturous meowing echo from her phone, which did not fail to bring a bright grin spreading right across Samuel's face in an instance. She could only sigh as she grudgingly pulled out the phone and looked down at the display to find it was an incoming call from Karma, which brought her to hit cancel.

'What was that?' Samuel questioned.

'Never you mind.'

Of course, a few seconds later the phone just started to meow all over again as another call started ringing through.

'Oh god damn it!' Amaya swore as she canceled the call to silence the phone once more.

This really wasn't getting the shopping done. They hadn't even left the fresh produce aisle at the entrance, yet.

'Maybe you should answer it?' Samuel spoke up as the phone started ringing once more not a second later.

'What is it?!' Amaya complained as she answered the call. 'I have enough to deal with already without whatever it is you want right now!'

And within a second, she heard a chuckle echo from the other end of the line, amid the sounds of strangers chatting and the sounds of passing traffic. It sounded like he was outside on the street, somewhere.

'Hello to you too, Amay.' Karma replied, with mischief clear in the tone of his voice. 'Why did you hang up on me~?'

'You damn well know why.'

'But you should be used to it by now~'

'Do you have any idea how mad I still am about it?!' Amaya snapped.

In spite of her obvious irritation, Karma didn't hesitate to laugh at her remark.

'I'll ask Ritsu-chan to fix it for you, later, don't worry~'

'Well you're ten minutes too late for offering that.' Amaya muttered as she reached out to grab a loaf of bread, though she was quickly cut off as Samuel raced straight in and lifted it instead to deposit it into the trolley. 'I already bought a new one, so there's no point.'

There was no immediate response, though Amaya found herself rather thankful for it. She instead frowned as Samuel leaped in front of her attempt at lifting bag of lettuce next, where he deposited that into the trolley too.

He was going to do this to every damn thing she went to pick up, wasn't he?

'What are you up to?' Karma eventually asked.

'Wondering what bullshit instructions you gave Samuel before you left.' Amaya muttered as Samuel indeed ran forward to next lift the bag of tomatoes for her. 'He's being a nightmare, damn it! He won't stop!'

As if to spite her, Samuel turned to cast her a beaming smile in just the same instance Karma snickered on the phone.

'Stop that. This isn't funny.'

'I beg to differ.' Karma responded with a tone so clear it pained a picture of him simpering in the front of her mind.

'I'm not going to accept dealing with this for three damned trips of shopping.' Amaya ground out bitterly as she pushed Samuel and the trolley along, with her soon-to-be-dead phone wedged between her raised shoulder and her ear. 'If I have to wring your damned neck for this later, I will!'

'Three?' Karma repeated curiously as he made a clear play on ignoring her honest threat. 'Why three?'

'Because I have a week's worth of house-shopping to do, and I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Samuel doesn't have the capacity to carry much more than a couple loaves of bread!' Indeed, she was watching him struggle to lift a single bottle of milk off of the shelf for her right at that very second. In spite of how much the boy had filled out from his gaunt state since living under her care, he had very little strength in him at all.

Maybe she was going to have to discretely ask Nishimura if he could enlist the boy in one of the outdoor-clubs so he could gradually build up some more strength in his limbs.

She had hardly noticed Karma's silence as she watched Samuel finally place the 2 litre bottle into the trolley with a relieved smile, scrutinizing his entire condition as she made plans.

'Actually....I need to get him something for that, too...' She muttered to herself as she crouched down and motioned for Samuel to grin broadly to show her his gums, which he did immediately. He needed more iron, too, since his gums were pale... Unless Samuel was actually anemic due to a genetic condition. She needed to find that bundle of papers Shigure had sent her about the boy and check it again.

'Amaya.' Karma's voice spoke up, startling the girl out of her thoughts with a jolt.

'What?'

'Can you put it off until tomorrow?' He asked with little of his prior amusement echoing in his voice.

'The shopping?' Amaya responded with a sigh. 'No, not really, unless you like the idea of dinner being bread and water.'

In truth it was the most unpleasant prospect imaginable.

'Heh~ So you're saying you want me over today?' Karma spoke up with the most sly tone possible.

'Wait, wha--' And immediately, Amaya slapped a hand right over her mouth as she realized what she'd actually said. 'I said no such thing...' She muttered sourly from beneath her hand.

Why the hell had she just said that?! Automatically including him in her home-plans like that when she'd just tried to temporarily ban him from her life not a week ago was the worst mistake she could have made! She'd just spent the whole evening before practically griping at him for all his taunts, too!

'That's not what I heard~' Karma responded.

'You're hearing things!'

'Really? You specifically said--'

'Stop that! It was force of habit, so shut it!' Amaya snapped.

The cheshire grin she could hear in his voice as he hummed did nothing but annoy her further, and bring an uncomfortable prickling of warmth to spread across her face.

'Seriously you jerk, cut it ou--'

'Big Sister Meow!' Samuel called.

'Oh god, what is it now?' Amaya practically ground out as she pulled the phone away from her ear to place a hand over the microphone of her phone, where she then placed her gaze back upon Samuel once more.

'Can I have this?' He asked hopefully as he held up a little box, with the best puppy-eyes she had ever seen him attempt on her.

'Have wha—OH MY GOD NO!' Amaya exclaimed as she immediately recognized it as hot-pink hair dye.

'Awww! But why not?'

'YOU'RE NOT HAVING YOUR HAIR DYED PINK!' Amaya cried out as she frantically tugged the packet out of Samuel's hand to put it straight back on the shelf they were near.

Unfortunately she could hear Karma's laughter on the other end of the line.

'Aww, but Mister Bell Pepper said you had purple hair before!' Samuel reasoned hopefully.

'WHAT?!' Amaya snapped as she placed the phone back to her ear. 'OI WHAT THE--'

Amaya fell silent as she heard the disconnection tone echo through her phone, and her frustration merely grew as she came to just one thought.

Did that bastard just hang up on her?!

'I'm going to strangle him, I swear!!' Amaya seethed as she carelessly tossed her phone into the trolley.

'Big Sister Meow, it's not nice to use naughty words so much.' Samuel informed her, earning a frustrated stare in response.

'Less arguing, more walking.'

'Awww...' Samuel groaned as he did as instructed.

In spite of her hopes at boring her stalkers to death with mundane house-shopping and other boring things, she got the horrible feeling that they were just being amused by this instead.

But she did decide to do the shopping light enough that if Karma just so happened to turn up when she'd gotten back, she was going to drag him along by the ear to carry everything for her. He wasn't going to get away with mocking her so much without repercussions.

The remaining daylight ticked away in a similar fashion, with Amaya's patience wearing thinner with every detour and distraction Samuel foisted upon her. It even felt like her arms were about to seize up on her from how much strain she was putting them through, and the rest of her wasn't much better.

Eventually, as her exhaustion carrying many arm-fulls of shopping and her withering patience began to take it's toll on her, Amaya had decided she needed a break.

'Samuel, did you want a drink or something?' She asked the enthusiastic boy skipping along ahead of her. His mere bag of bread and lettuce bounced along violently, and she had long since given up on trying to tell the boy to be more gentle with the bag.

'Oooh! Yes please!' Samuel beamed as he turned to sprint right back towards Amaya. 'I'm really hungry, too!'

She looked around, eventually spotting a pleasant-enough looking cafe just a few buildings away, and conveniently enough, there was a payphone outside on the opposite side of the street.

It reminded her that she did have a certain phone-call to make.

'Tell you what, why don't you go inside that cafe and buy something for us?' Amaya remarked as she juggled bags galore to pull out her purse and grab the phone-card she had stashed away inside. 'Make sure it's take-away. You can have a drink and one thing to eat of what you want, but I just want a bottle of water.'

'Yay!' Samuel responded as he was handed her purse. 'But where are you going?'

'Just at the payphone.' She responded. 'I need to make a call.'

'Okay!' Samuel agreed brightly as he tore off skipping, leaving Amaya to heave the bags along. 'Back soon!'

Even if it was just a minute, Amaya needed a break from the energetic boy.

The eyes that hadn't once left her form were still there, and glances from passers by added to the mix as she set all her shopping down on the ground at her feet, and tucked the receiver of the payphone between her ear and shoulder.

She dialed the number from her phone, and didn't hesitate to immediately turn the cellular device off the moment it wasn't needed anymore, if only to ensure a certain eavesdropping digi-girl didn't hear anything.

The dialing tone echoed through the earpiece for many long seconds as Amaya tucked her phone into her pocket. She kept Samuel within her line of sight as she waited.

Until finally, there was a connecting click, and she heard Hayashi's muttered response of "Yeah?" echo through the line.

It brought a sigh to threaten escape beneath her breath.

'What's with the vague email, you bastard?' Amaya muttered.

Silence, if only for a handful of seconds.

'Oh! Katsuragi.' Hayashi's voice echoed through the earpiece with remarkable relief, bringing Amaya to turn and lean her back against the wall of the payphone box. 'I didn't expect to hear from ya.'

'You asked me to call you back.' Amaya responded seriously.

'Yeah I did.'

'So?' She urged, lifting her gaze to watch Samuel standing in line inside the cafe. 'Your email mentioned something important you wanted me to know about.'

'Y'awfully demanding, Katsuragi.' The blonde delinquent remarked. 'But I do have info for ya.'

'Then start spilling, already. I'm on a payphone and set my youngest brother loose with my purse in a cafe while he waits, so I don't really have all day.'

'Guess I'd better cut to the chase, then.' A wry chuckle echoed from Hayashi's end of the line, though he spoke up before long. 'Listen, it ain't those two men ya got me to put my feelers out for, but people have been askin' for ya. Shifty lookin' folks who wanna find ya. As soon as possible, my people said.'

Amaya's breath hitched in her throat the second Hayashi's words had hit her, and her hand clutched tightly upon the receiver of the payphone. Her brow furrowed greatly and she tugged the neck of her hooded jumper up to try and muffle her words from outside ears, and to discretely shield her lips from being read.

'They're asking for me in particular?'

'Yeah they're after you. Ya full name, appearances, even ya bitch-ass personality and the fact that ya got siblings.' Hayashi affirmed with no shred of humor echoing in his tone. 'I ain't bumped into anyone in particular, but I got plenty of people keepin' watch for the two ya told me to, and they're the ones who brought it up.'

Amaya cast another glance back towards Samuel, to find he had only advanced two places in line.

'I'm not disregarding these other people you're talking about, but I just need to verify that absolutely no sightings of Shiro or Toji have come up. Right?' She asked.

'Absolutely nothin', I swear on it.' Hayashi responded sincerely. 'If there was, I woulda come breakin' down ya door to tell ya right away.'

'Okay ... I just needed to clarify that bit.' She spoke slowly, before her frown deepened slightly. 'What else can you tell me about the others?'

'...Not much, I'm afraid.' Hayashi spoke for a moment before a weary breath escaped him. 'All my people could tell me was they don't stick outta the crowd. Overly polite an' normal lookin' they are. But one of them ain't Japanese, can't speak the language, even.'

'...Were they a Russian woman? Tall, rather stocky with dark hair and a stern look?'

'Nah, every one's been a man. The one I'm talkin' bout is a man with glasses, apparently.'

'Well, that's at least something.' Amaya huffed slightly.

'Should we be watchin' out for someone like that, too?'

Amaya could only sigh once more.

'...Couldn't hurt, I guess.' Amaya eventually responded as she lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. 'She's got a heavy accent, but she speaks broken English. Name's Petrov Yana. She's acquaintances with Toji...'

The frantic scribbling of a pen on paper echoed through the line for a few seconds.

'Alright, I'll pass that one a--' Hayashi had begun a few seconds later, however an excited squeak of a voice rung through the street, snapping Amaya's attention up right away.

'BIG SISTER MEOW!' Came Samuel's excited squeal as Amaya spotted the boy running over with a particularly large box held in his arms.

'Sorry, I've gotta hang up.' Amaya remarked as she glanced back to the payphone. 'I got a new phone just earlier, so I'll email this contact your using with a different one to contact me on. And let me know if this comes up again. I'll need descriptions, though.'

'Will do.' Was all that the blond delinquent spoke before the line disconnected

Amaya let out a slow breath as she set the receiver back onto the hook, closing her eyes tight as she struggled not to either swear or break down into tears. While it wasn't who she was expecting, she was immensely grateful she'd requested this set of favors off of Hayashi after all.

'They're probably connected if they know all that about me...' She whispered into the neck of her hooded jumper.

And then, there was a sudden knocking at the door of the payphone cubicle, causing Amaya to practically jump in fright.

'Big Sister Meow!' Samuel called out as he rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet. 'I has noms!'

'God damn, now it's gibberish...?' Amaya ground out as she forced a more composed look across her face.

'BIG SISTER ME--'

'I heard you the first time!' Amaya snapped as she turned to scowl at the boy.

'Oh! Okay!' He responded brightly as he hopped out of the way of the cubicle door.

The scowl written across Amaya's face only strengthened as she looked down at the box of food and drink Samuel had chosen to buy, where she found two takeaway cups of some sugary-sweet milkshake, a giant slice of cake and a lone slice of something fried in a paper bag.

'Where's the water?' Amaya didn't hesitate to ask.

'Water doesn't taste yummy so I chose a shake for you, instead!' Samuel piped up like it was the most obvious thing in the world,

'And what is that?' Amaya muttered as she pointed at the paper bag.

Much to her horror, a simper not too different from one of Karma's own spread across Samuel's face as he picked the paper bag up and held it out for her.

'Big Sister Meow has a Fish!' Samuel chimed.

She should have seen that coming, but for some absurd reason she honestly didn't.

It took all of her willpower to keep her mouth shut, though on the inside she was torn between ripping her hair out in frustration and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Needless to say, Samuel saw absolutely nothing wrong with his cat-related choice, and he definitely didn't notice the strain in Amaya's expression as she reluctantly took the paper bag.

'Hurry up with eating all that.' Amaya ground out as she carefully relocated their shopping outside of the payphone cubicle. 'We're going as soon as you're done.'

'Okay!'

But it wasn't fast enough for her liking.

It was hard convincing herself that the gazes she could feel upon her at that moment were just her former classmates stalking her for some reason she failed to comprehend. Every second had her insides reeling more and more as Samuel happily munched down on his slice of cake like a demented hamster. It had gotten to the point that she'd turned her phone back on, in case Karma decided to call her again.

Her throat had gone dry, and the tension and apprehension bombarding her very being had even hidden the pain of her battered and overworked body from her actual notice.

'It's just those stupid kids...' Amaya whispered mutely beneath her breath as she struggled to actually eat the battered piece of fish Samuel had picked for her. 'Just stupid kids on another damned mission, nobody else...'

She was going to take Karma up on his suggestion to put off shopping. She was too paranoid and high-strung to cope coming out on another trip, today. She couldn't even word just how desperately she was hoping for that jerk to turn up all of a sudden, like he always did when she was out o the house.

'All done!' Samuel sung as he finished drinking his milkshake and eating his cake, resulting in Amaya handing him the milkshake he'd bought for her.

'Here.' She muttered softly. 'The rest is yours.'

'Eh? But Big Sister Meow, that's yours!'

'It's too sweet, I can't drink it all.' She responded dismissively.

'Oh, okay! Thank you~!'

In truth, she hadn't even tried to sip it, but the blond hadn't noticed.

Quickly, Amaya tossed the bulk of the fish piece and their rubbish into the nearest bin and scooped up all the shopping while Samuel wandered along sipping his drink.

'So where are we going now?' Samuel questioned between sips of his milkshake, turning his head to peer up at Amaya once more.

'Home.' She responded, honestly. 'It's already late.'

'Oh! It is!' Samuel chimed as he looked up at the oranging skies overhead. 'I didn't know! I was having fun!'

Glad to see somebody was.

However, as soon as they had neared the opening of an alleyway three blocks away, Amaya's blood froze as a heavy hand landed upon her shoulder. Two forms she hadn't even noticed through the crowds appeared right behind them to grab them. Faster than Amaya could comprehend, she felt a knife land to press firmly against her throat as they were veered casually towards the alleyway, out of the crowds and away from prying eyes.

'Got you, little brats!' A deep voice rumbled overhead.

And a second later, a scream escaped Samuel as Amaya was grabbed by the front of the jumper and hauled off of her feet.

Shopping crashed to the concrete ground as it slipped from her grip, the knife at her throat removed in preference to toss it aside as Amaya found herself dangling at least a foot off of the ground, face-to-face with a horrifically tall and bulky man.

Amaya's instincts immediately sent her trying to free herself at the sound of Samuel's distress, however the violent swing of a drawn baseball bat against the concrete halted her movements within an instance.

'You might want to re-think your actions, brat.' The hulking man of dark features spoke as he swung her around to face the space of the alleyway out of her prior sight.

There, stood a gangly man with lighter features and a cold sneer as he held Samuel off the ground by the back of his shirt, with that same knife previously against Amaya's throat against Samuel's own. The blond himself was silent, though she could see he was close to bursting to tears.

'Do you understand what we're telling you?' The hulking man spoke as he swung her around to face him once more.

Oh yes, she certainly did. Without a doubt. Amaya let her arms fall limp at her sides as she fixed an impassive look across her face.

But on the inside, she was terrified.

'Keh keh, I think she does.' The gangly man cackled.

'Good. Then we won't have to hurt you, too much.'

'Humor me with this.' Amaya spoke up simply as the enormous man continued to keep her dangling inches from the floor by the front of her jumper. 'Just how long were the two of you tailing us? Honestly. Has it been days?'

'Huh?!' The man practically scoffed in disgust.

'Keh keh, we just happened to see you blow all that money back in that electronics store like it was nothing!' The gangly man somewhere over her shoulder responded with a sneer. 'You sure know how to draw attention to yourself, girlie.'

'Is that so?' She responded with her tone listless.

Well, that meant these two weren't part of those people Hayashi had told her about, and words could not possibly hope to convey just how relieved she was to hear that.

'Listen up, and listen well.' The giant hulker ground out as he knocked the baseball bat against the concrete pavers roughly to remind her of the precarious situation they were involved in. 'You're going to behave yourselves and come with us. We're sure since your parents have given you such a bountiful allowance that they'd be more than happy to share that with us if it means getting you back safe and sound.'

'Ransom money, is it?' Amaya responded, unimpressed. 'Is it worth the bother? Really?'

'Considering that it looked like you were just there buying candy, yes. I think so.'

'Well, I wish you luck.' She remarked simply as she closed her eyes slowly. 'You see, we don't actually have parents, and we're not rich. It's just pocket money from my "guardian" I've saved up for years, that's all.'

'Bullshit.' The man barked.

'If you want, go ahead, search my phone for any contact you like. Prove me wrong.'

'B-Big Sister Meow...' Samuel whimpered tearfully from within the other man's grip.

'Just hang tight, Samuel!' Amaya called back to the distraught boy behind her. 'You'll be fine!'

'That's not your call to make.' The hulking man in front of her sneered.

'We'll see.' Was all Amaya said as she fixed the man with a cold stare.

'You know, I'm thinking we should roughen them up a bit, Dai,' The gangly man remarked as he seemed to shake Samuel just a little, which earned another whimper from the blonde. 'Shut the girlie up and make her eat her words.'

'That hurts!' Samuel cried out as the man cackled wildly. 'Please stop! PLEASE!'

'Cut the crap, you little shit!' The gangly man spat.

And a second later, Amaya heard a pained cry escape Samuel as he was suddenly struck, and it threw her into action within an instance.

Grabbing him by the hair to drag him down, Amaya slammed the top of her head directly into the hulking man's face with so much force, she shattered his nose, and her right fist slammed forward to finish the job.

A mighty bellow of pain ripped from the man's throat has he stumbled back, and he violently raised her upwards to swing her back-down against the concrete. Her arms flailed upwards as the momentum sent her slamming hard against the ground, enough for her jumper to rip and tear completely away from her form.

Strips of lime-green material fell from her body as she rolled instinctively to nullify the bulk of the impact, her fury fueling her every move as she managed to rebound straight back onto her feet.

Samuel's terrified scream still permeated the air, mixing with the roar of pain from the hulking man, distracting the other long enough for Amaya to propel herself forward, racing around the larger man's stumbling form to lunge right for the man with the knife.

'S-Stop! The man shrieked as he swung the knife back towards Samuel's throat. 'I'll cut him, I swear!'

His words fell on deaf ears as the bloodlust within Amaya fueled her on, and out of sheer panic, the man twisted the knife and slashed outwards away from Samuel's throat to fend her off.

She caught his arm mid-leap, utilizing all the strength in her to throw her body upwards over the blade. The slicing pain shooting through her thighs did nothing to distract her, nothing to stagger her as she flipped upwards to land feet-first atop his shoulders, and dragged his arm upwards.

And before any sense of coherent words could escape the gangly man, Amaya spun and forced his arm to twist right around, well beyond breaking point.

A primordial shriek of agony tore its way from the man's throat as his arm cracked and crunched, with the bones snapping and joints dislocating from the sheer force of Amaya's vicious attack. The knife in his hand clattered straight to the concrete below as he immediately released his hold of the sobbing boy in his grip.

A terrified scream from Samuel snapped Amaya's attention straight off of the gangly man beneath her, alerting her straight back to the hulking man with the broken nose as he came barreling over to the boy mid-swing.

And a second later, she had wound up leaping in the way just in time to shield Samuel from the blow of a metal baseball bat to the side of the head.

Blood splattered and flecked through the air as the brunt of the blow broke skin and splashed visceral fluids against the snowy skin of her right shoulder, and yet there was no telltale crunching of bones to accompany the strike, as far as she could detect. Her boots slid across the concrete with the sheer force of the strike, and her breath came in heaving gasps as she rode out the blinding pain that ripped its way through her entire being.

As she loosened her hold of the trembling, terrified blond shielded within her arms, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that the swing held the intent to kill.

'YOU PSYCHO BITCH!' Came the bellowing shriek of the hulking man from right over Amaya's crouched form, and she had barely reacted quick enough to drag Samuel out of the way as the baseball bat came slamming straight down into the concrete below. 'HOW DARE YOU MAKE FOOLS OUT OF US! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO TAKASUGI!!'

'GET BACK!' Amaya shouted at her brother as she shoved him towards the exit of the alleyway, just fast enough for the boy to avoid another swing from the outraged monstrosity out for their heads, though Amaya wasn't so lucky as the bat slammed against her side and sent her sliding across the concrete.

They couldn't get away. In spite of the gushing blood nose she'd dealt him, the man would have them the very instance she would try to run.

The next swing barely skimmed her chin as she tried to avoid being collected, as she reflexively shifted to block him from shifting his attention to Samuel.

She couldn't get out of this one without making some drastic choices – She knew it instinctively as she ducked under a swing intended to knock her head clean off from her shoulders.

An arm, or her ribs?! She couldn't get them both out of this without sacrificing something!

As the next swing came hurdling down to collect Samuel's frozen form just a few feet away, Amaya took action.

She threw herself forward, slamming her right arm in the way as the bat came within inches of Samuel's face, bracing against the impact with her left hand. She felt her whole side buckle beneath the force, the straining of her whole body as she managed to latch onto the bat. She felt something crack within her shoulder, but she forced herself to maintain her ground.

And with all the strength she could possibly muster, she tore the baseball bat straight out of the man's hands and threw it as far away as possible.

Horror gripped hold of the hulking man as he found himself instantly disarmed, rendering his reactions too slow to avoid Amaya as she threw herself forward in a lunge. With one swift slam of the sole of her right boot to the front of the man's kneecap, she snapped the joint completely, sending the man crashing to the floor with an agonized roar of pain. And before he even landed properly, she'd stepped forward and slammed the toe of her left boot across the side of his head with every remaining shred of strength she had left in her.

The violent heaves of Amaya's breaths bit and screamed within her body as she managed to drag herself back just those few paces, where her knees then gave way beneath her. Her knees slammed hard against the concrete floor, sending her whole body in a spasm of agonizing, blinding pain. The haze of bloodlust and fury lifted away from her as she found herself staring out at the mess of bodies that writhed in agony on the alley floor before her.

More bodies to the brutality count, more weight to the callous views that shackled down her spirit and tore at her heart.

Her body shook violently, not from pain, but the soul-crushing weight that continued to drag her under.

'Amaya!' A desperate cry shocked her out of the spiraling descent before she cracked completely to a fit of screaming tears, bringing her to turn her head in response.

Samuel stared up at her with tears streaming down his face as he gripped desperately at her side with trembling hands. The terrified look across his face reminded her immediately of exactly where she was, and of the screaming, angered fit the crumpled man was lost within.

'S-sorry.' She spoke quickly as struggled to pull her phone out from the pocket of her jeans and dialed for an ambulance. The boy still clung desperately to her as she managed to haul herself back onto her feet, though her right arm still remained limp at her side. She couldn't feel anything beyond the screaming pain that shot through her body, and she needed to get this done before the adrenaline from her fury wore off completely.

'You've still got my purse in your bag, right?' Amaya asked the sobbing boy once the ambulance had been called, earning a small nod in response. 'Good.'

'C-can we go home now? P-please?' Samuel whimpered as he clung tighter to her.

'Of course.' Amaya responded as she looped her one working arm beneath Samuel's legs.

'Y-you psychotic bitch!' The massive man's words were drenched with vitriol and spite as Amaya lifted Samuel off of the ground and moved to leave. 'Don't think this is the end! I'll hunt you down and make you pay for this! I swear it! You'll be sorry you ever raised a hand against us!'

She paused to look back over the top of Samuel's head at the man who still remained sprawled over the alleyway floor clutching his mangled leg.

'Good luck.' She spoke softly against the evening air. 'It's more likely that somebody else will beat you to it.'

And as she left, a scream of sheer hatred rung clear through the darkened alleyway.

Familiar forms of classroom ties stood outside the alleyway, gripped by horror and terror combined. A handful, those who's names failed to come to her mind in among the screaming pain and agony that threatened to drag her under. Those she deemed herself fond enough for were nowhere to be seen.

Whether the children present had been there the whole time, or they'd just stumbled upon her within a handful of seconds, she honestly didn't care.

She heard her name called, barely recalled that a couple who'd broken out of their frozen states tried to reach out towards her.

She just ignored them and continued on her way,

The world drifted by around Amaya as she walked, with every step the merest task of staying calm for the boy clinging to her grew harder, and harder. She had tried countless times to lift her right arm to lightly pat his back as she'd walked, but she had no luck. The pain was far too severe, and it was all she could do to just keep walking.

The clouds overhead seemed to grow darker as evening crept closer to dusk, and one by one the streetlights overhead flickered on.

Until finally, they were home.

She struggled to juggle the tasks of unlocking the door and carrying Samuel with just one arm. But every second took it's toll on her, and she was barely standing anymore.

'Come on, Samuel, I can't keep carrying you anymore...' She whispered as she felt the keys almost slip right out of her fingers. 'Look... we're home...'

And yet in response, Samuel's arms around her neck just tightened all the more.

Her attempts at unlocking the door grew less successful with every second, her strength faded faster and faster.

If she didn't get this open now, she doubted she'd even make it inside.

But then, just as the keys had slipped completely from her trembling fingers, she heard footsteps from inside. The excited, running footsteps of Reiko's echoed from within as her mind swam and her vision began to cloud on her.

'Amay! Welcome ho--' Reiko's words were cut short by a gasp as Amaya's knees gave way on her, and a terrified yelp escaped the girl as she rushed forward to try and halt the girl's collapse. 'Y-YUTA!'

Running footsteps and the shouting of voices echoed overhead as Amaya's grip on the conscious world began to slip. Small hands pushed against her chest, struggling to hold her upright against both her own weight and that of Samuel's.

'SAMUEL! LET GO!' She heard Yuta's voice shout, peppered by the frantic sobs of the distraught boy as he fought to remain latched around Amaya's neck. 'YOU NEED TO LET GO OF HER! YOU'RE HURTING HER!'

The last that she felt through her dwindling consciousness was the sudden presence of arms encircling her limp form just as those small hands had vanished and Samuel had finally been pried away from her. She struggled to open her eyes again as she heard her name called urgently, to respond in some kind to show she did hear them, to assure that she was okay.

The most she managed before her world disappeared was the smallest whisper of words.

'....Let me ... stay like this for a while...'

---=[Authors Notes]=---

Well, here we are with another update. Not sure whether you guys liked this one or not, so let's just leave it as that lol.

Sorry for my flakiness.

Translation notes:

Kiken kuiki - Translates roughly as "Danger Zone", which is written as 危険区域 in this case, I believe.

All the best~!

<3 Loki-Roki