♫ And I don’t need no one to give me permission ♫
-- K/DA, More

A man paced up and down nervously inside a shop that held antique objects, as well as antique furnitures. This was the only shop that was still open in the midnight, all the other stores along the street had already closed for the day. However, the man who was the owner of the shop, didn't leave his stall open for a customer.

He left it open for an important delivery.

The man had an apperance of a unruly person, like a bear. Hence, if anyone were to stumble upon the sight of an intimidating man like him pacing up and down nervously, they would find it strange.

"I paid half a million dollars for this! There's no way it wouldn't arrive right? The dude insisted that his shop name wasn't anything like his business," The man muttered to himself, trying to convince himself. "He said the delivery is free too! And from someone really reputable. It's kind of too good to be true...did I get scammed? God, I hate online shopping."

Peach noted that she was nearing the address, an antique shop that she has never seen before. She stopped right outside the store, not caring that she had parked on the pavement instead.

She didn't even spare a glance to the shop, removing her helmet and placing it on the seat of the motorcycle. She slid her hands over her arm, focusing on the keyboard that appeared there. She tapped skillfully, and immediately pushed her arm gently against the package, seeing her usual signature there.

Though, she left a little note to say that there weren't any charges for him, since it was a free of charge delivery.

No charges applied, enjoy.

[🍑 Ꭾєα¢н αρρяσνє∂ 🍑]

The "bear" man finally looked up from his nervous pacing, noticing Peach standing outside his shop. For Peach, she hadn't encountered customers who waited the entire day for their delivery to arrive, after all the customers she always delivered to trusted their sellers. Thus, when he came rushing out with thunderous footsteps and a booming voice demanding whether that was his package, Peach almost dropped the package in fright.

"My package! That's my package, isn't it? Isn't it?!"

Her eyes were wide in shock and she recoiled back a little when the brawny man dashed at her. His grey eyes were glimmering with delight as he eyed the package, and Peach just passed it to him, rather afraid of his overzealous expression.

He was looking at his package like it was the holy grail to grant him a million wishes.

"Oh thank god, it really arrived! My package--"

No charges applied, enjoy.

[🍑 Ꭾєα¢н αρρяσνє∂ 🍑]

The owner read the signature on the package, and he went silent. He glanced back and forth between the package and Peach. All the while, Peach could only regard the man warily, albeit still rather confused.

He suddenly let go of the package, and Peach reacted swiftly, catching the package in time. She could have sworn her heart had lurched to her throat as she saw the package drop.

"Pe-Peach?" The man stuttered out, amazed, seeing Peach in a different light now.

She snapped her head up, carrying the package in her arms as she glared angrily at him.

You fucker! Did you know what I went through to deliver this package to you?!

She shoved the package at the man again, and he recieved it with trembling hands.

"It's you! The legendary Peach, oh my god! Peach just delivered my package, that Peach just delivered my package!" The man was beside himself with glee.

This time, he truly believed that the package was the real thing. That someone reputable turned out to be the most reputable of all in the night courier industry.

"Bye, go to Maddog if you have any problems." Peach said nonchalantly, heading back to her motorcycle and wearing her helmet.

Peach started her engine, driving off without another word.

"Wa-wait, can I get your signature--"

The man began to yell, until he glanced down, seeing her signature on the package.

"Oh, right." he scratched his head, grinning sheepishly.

***

The ride back home was peaceful, and Peach finally had some time to collect her thoughts. Her thoughts were mainly occupied by Hebi and the Crimson host club, as well as a certain blue-eyed hottie.

She parked in her garage, and removing her helmet and mask, slotting the mask back into her suit. She breathed out, ruffling her hair and after that, she didn't move for quite a while, just staring at her helmet, contemplative.

"Peach, you seem distracted. Are you alright?"

"I'm just wondering about how they managed to track me down and find me."

"Are you talking about the Crimson host club member, Hebi? I still had access to Löne at that time and I scanned the area when you were in the perilous situation."

"How thoughtful."

A hologram of Arwen appeared beside Peach, and the hologram proceeded to burst into a three-dimensional map of the area Peach was in. There were four blinking dots at different locations in the area, and the dots indicated that they were on the roof of the buildings.

Another way to identify that they were genuine Crimson members was the chip embedded in their crown earring. Since anyone could simply dress up as them, countermeasures needed to be made on their end.

Though, Peach didn't need to know whether there was chip embedded in Hebi's earring. She was confident that he was the real person. It was proven true since there was another extra dot blinking on the map at where she was at that point of time, in front of her.

"So there were five of them in total, at the rooftops of buildings. It's obvious they were all waiting for someone in their position."

"It would seem so, Peach."

Peach stepped down from her bike, observing the map a little longer. She suddenly worked swiftly, moving her fingers as she zoomed in and out of the map, drawing complicated pathways, and pausing from time to time. Ten minutes passed and Peach zoomed out from the map, and there was a clear indication of five different paths.

The five different paths would have been intercepted by the Crimson members too.

"Those were the paths a night courier like me would have taken to avoid the chaos," Peach switched off her voice modulator, unease welling up within her. "They tracked my path perfectly. All different ways that I would have taken."

"They were after you."

"Why would a group of hitmen come after a night courier like me? And in such a weird way?"

That was the burning question in Peach's mind the entire time. If she was a target, she would have been dead the moment she stepped out. However, she would never be a target either, because no one was silly enough to kill night couriers that were important assets of the underworld bosses.

Skilled night couriers were rare, and especially with a society who has become extremely reliant on technology, tracing an online delivery package was easy as a snap. Thus, online delivery wasn't possible for those who dealt with illegal transactions.

Peach felt her eyes growing heavy, and groaned softly, squeezing her eyes close. "Nevermind, I'll think about it tomorrow."

For now, she needed a hell of a good sleep.

Peach dragged herself to the elevator, ascending it to the upper floors. Once she stepped out, she lifted her hands up in the air.

"Strip me." she ordered softly.

"Very well, Peach."

***

Author's Note: This chapter and the next will be pretty short, sadly.

Also, can I just say how Peach is such a queen? If someone like her existed irl, I think I would develop a legit crush on them 🤧.