" Chapter 6 , The Inner Spade "

Another morning passes by and Yukina stayed in the music room playing on the piano to herself. The soft melody came to a abrupt halt to the sound of frustrated yelling , perking Yukina's curiosity. She stood up and called back to the caped crusader. " Miyako , did you get your cape stuck in the washing machine again?! " she called out. Silence. With a long sign , she stood up and exited the room to find her. She could by this point feel the ends of her hair grow past her shoulders by a few inches. That was her only indicator that time had passed by. She would have to recut it when she got home.

She was greeted with exactly what she predicted. Miyako tugging at her soaking wet cape in the washer machine. When she finally removed it , she tripped on her cape and collapsed onto the floor. She stood back up and kicked the machine in frustration. It didn't help that a box of detergent tumbled and tipped over , it's powdery contents spilling all over her head. Eventually the box itself dropped onto her head and fell onto the floor next to her. " I didn't interrupt your piano lessons did I ? Then again , you were rather noisy. " still childish. " Miyako , when's the next heist ? I don't want to sit here and do nothing. "

That's when Miyako froze. " Well uh....I actually kinda forgot to say that we'll start tomorrow ? " she mumbled , poking her fingers together. Yukina was silent. Her arm slowly raised to her shoe to throw it across Miyako's head. " Wait ! Wait ! Wait ! Don't hit me just yet ! I-I've got something even better just itching to be revealed ! "

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" A way home ? "

" No "

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" You cancelled the bet ? "

" No "

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" You're getting arrested ? "

" JEEZ , NOW YOUR JUST ASSUMING ! "

Yukina sighed with her arms crossed. " You better give me a valid reason then. Unless your ready for a bruise so big that Zacharias Janssen won't even need a magnifying glass to see it. " Miyako sighed and handed her a small blue and white diagonally stripped paper handbag. " Miyako what's this ? " Miyako shrugged and tossed it into her hands.

" Beats me. Someone dropped it off at our front door and I didn't buy anything soooo I'm going to guess it's yours. Now go get dressed. I'll get the surprise ready for you. " Miyako walked off to leave Yukina all alone with the bag in her hands.

She slowly searched for anything deadly inside the bag before her fingers grasped against something hard. She wrapped her fingers around the object and pulled it out to reveal a black velvet box with a purple clover engraved on the top. " A clover ? " one thought that once crossed her mind came back to her. The memory of the door when she first saw Miyako's mansion. The spade , diamond and heart were engraved on it but the clover was missing.

" The clover was missing...so does that mean theres a Phantom Clover out there ? " she mumbled , looking through the bag once more to see a small folded piece of paper. She fished for it and unfolded the note , her eyes widening in disbelief.

You can only hide Miyako from us for so long. Give her to us and you will not be harmed. You have been warned girl. Share this with no one. Do as we say or fear the power of the Dark Ace.

' Who's the Dark Ace ? I can't remember much from the story ' she looked back at the box before noticing that something was off. A small corner of paper was peaking out and with a slight tug , it slipped out of the box. It was another note. She pulled it out and unfolded it.

I snuck this in while they weren't looking. To whoever is reading this , do NOT trust her under any circumstances. She isn't who you think she is. I am proof of that. We'll cross paths soon.

- R

' R ? I never heard of anyone named R. Are they a new character ? ' looking back at the two notes in each hand , she couldn't help but feel paranoia. ' What do they want with Miyako ? ' she opened the box to reveal a luxurious golden ring with the card suites engraved on the sides. ' All the suites are on this ring. There's no doubt about it , whoever this person is has to be Phantom Clover '

Sooner then expected , Miyako was there holding something behind her back. " I'm back ! Hope you didn't miss me too much. I need you to close your eyes. " Yukina , startled upon seeing her , quickly shoved the ring back into the box and threw it into the bag. " Hey what did you get in that bag anyways ? Some perfume or something ? "

She stayed silent and gripped even tighter on the bag." Uh...yeah. Just some perfume " she took a soft sigh and closed her eyes to allow Miyako to do whatever it was. The same words from the night they first met came to mind.

Trust me on this and if you can't do that then trust in fate !

' Miyako told me to trust her but the note was telling me otherwise...please don't end up being the bad guy here Miyako ' Yukina sighed softly before feeling something against her hand. " Now you can open them " as she said , she opened them to see a cage and inside something hissed. She was trembling with it in her grasp. " Tell me you didn't...TELL ME YOU DIDN'T ! "

" Yep ! I got you a snake ! "

" SNAKE?! "

As the slithery reptile it poked its head out of the cage , it revealed a large black snake with a white underbelly and tints of iridescence across its scales. Their eyes shined a bright gold as its tongue flickered and hissed in sync with its hypnotic movements. Its size was as big as the cage itself , the toughness of its skin putting it in the category of a rat snake.

" Yep ! You're very own pet snake ! Thought of naming her Dumpling since she has a round face like yours , but of course , I was also thinking Phantom since she IS a secretive one. Likes to get out of her cage at night "

" SO YOU BROUGHT IT HERE?! " she yelled , almost scared of it being so close to her so she dropped it and it fell out of it's cage , circling her and hissing furthermore. She yelped in fear. " Well duh , where else was it gonna go ? "

" IT'S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT?! " she yelled out. Miyako chuckled to herself. " I know , I know , you don't have to thank me. I'm just naturally rich so I bought it like the awesome millionaire I am. " Yukina sighed and gripped her fists tightly. " Miyako...I'm giving you three seconds to grab this snake and run or SO HELP ME I'LL STRANGLE YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS ! " Miyako chuckled and sighed. " You've got no idea what your talking about. "

" I REALLY DISLIKE SNAKES ! GET IT AWAY FROM ME ! "

" Then more of a reason to try and build a bond among you two ! I'm gonna go take a ride and go grocery shopping. You two have fun ok ? " swinging a pair of keys around her left index finger , Miyako whistled and walked off down the hallway. " MIYAKO DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME WITH THIS SNAKE ! MIYAKO ? MIYAKO!!! " she groaned and upon hearing the hiss jumped up. " I swear she knew about this and got you anyways ! " swallowing her fear , she picked up the snake and walked all the way to the garage and placed the snake down. " Now don't bother me or j-just don't do anything to hurt me ! Just go do snake things or whatever snakes do ! " she walked back into the house.

" Great. So what do I do now ? " Yukina groaned , collapsing onto the couch next to the pillows. The TV was on Daifuku News. " Couldn't hurt to watch it " she grabbed the remote next to her and placed it on her lap. " Goooooooooooood morning Daifuku ~ ! " This is news reporter Janett Mirai Ichiro with the daily scoop ! " her attention perked to the woman on stage that was swaying left and right. This time her outfit was different. She was wearing a light teal short sleeve shirt that was bigger then her with a white and grey cat on it holding a brown sign that reads " still hating ". She wore jean shorts and grey stockings up to her knees and white heels. Her hands with covered by white fingerless gloves.

" So ! Ever have a issue with your pets being a bit much for you to handle ? Or where you think you could use a day off ? A day to yourself ? Don't worry , your prayers have been finally answered ! " Janett swayed to the side and revealed a screen with kids happily playing with puppies and other cute animals. " From the smallest goldfish to the biggest dog , we've got you covered ! Just bring them down to the Daifuku News station in Hazami Square with your pet and they'll be perfectly safe and treated well for a day ! More outrageous info can be found at the website www.DaifukuNews/Janett'sPetCare.com "

The rest just went on about Miyako's recent heists or just anything drama-based. " Maybe they accept snakes ? " Yukina mumbled. A loud hiss startled her and made her jump. Her eye twitched. " We're taking you to Janett. "

It took a long walk to get to Daifuku News Station but it did help that it was the tallest building in the whole square. Two large men stood at the front with their arms crossed. They were all in black with black sunglasses on. ' I'm gonna guess their Ms. Ichiro's bodyguards. Typical for a kids show. What's next ? They're gonna kick me around because I just need some help ? ' she walked up to the guards and held the cage in her arms. Her fear still lingered. It was all over her face. Her hands became sweaty and had to grip it even tighter before it'd slip out of her hands like butter. " S-Sir , can I please go in ? I have a appointment with Ms. Janett Ichiro "

" She's busy at the moment. Come back another time. " the first guard said. The other stayed silent. Yukina groaned but continued to try and push it. " Sir , I don't think you get it but I really need to see her. I have a pet and she's...he's ? " she stopped herself to process what she was even saying. ' I don't even know the gender of them ! Ok ok , calm down. What did Miyako say again ? '

Yep ! Your very own pet snake ! Thought of naming her Dumpling since she has a round face like yours , but of course , I was also thinking Phantom since she IS a secretive one.

' She I think. Let's hope so ' she took another sigh. " She's uh , she's- she's pregnant ! Yeah ! Uh , and she needs to see her right away ! " another loud hiss came from the cage. A irritated one. Screaming , she dropped the cage and the door broke free , the long snake to escape and head towards the guards. They began to freak out as well. " I'm sorry ! I'm sorry ! I'm sorry ! Let me just...uh.... " she was too nervous to even pick up that snake. " You brought a dangerous animal here ! Your definitely not going to see Janett , your going to see Police officer Keiko ! " the two guards grabbed her but before they could , the sound of a boyish scream came from one of them. The snake bit one of them. It wasn't even in her defense though , it was for Yukina's.

The sound of heels stopped the racket and everyone turned to see who had came to them. " What's with all the noise ? " it was Janett. The guards sweated nervously. " Uh , this girl tried to get into Daifuku News ma'am. " Yukina continued to struggle until a small scoff came from the News reporter. Irritated , she grabbed both of their ears. " I put my manicure for this stupidy?! Get a room if you two are gonna end up giving us noise complaints. Now if your done acting like babies , get your butts back to position and put this girl down NOW ! " the guards quickly nodded. " Uh , yes ma'am ! " the two guards quickly left and it was just Yukina and Janett. Yukina gripped on her skirt in worry. ' Please don't be in trouble , Please don't be in trouble- '

" So , this is your pet huh ? Aren't they a beauty ~ ! " she chuckled softly and petted their head , the snake licking her hand. " I don't have a problem with snakes. After all , they're a beacon of power and high class. The absolute definition of women ! "

Janett planted a hand on her hip and weighed on her right leg. " So how long will you be gone ? " Yukina sighed. " Can you handle them for a day ? " Janett's eyes widened to the thought of even handling them for that long. " I mean , I'll be busy with all the other animals but it seems this one might need some attention as well. I can handle that. I also apologize for my knucklehead guards. Trust me I'd bend them down and spank em with a heel if they turned me down. Though it's kinda hard for that to happen since they work for me already and no one turns down Jannet Ichiro. "

Yukina stood there with a blank face. ' She's more...proactive then I remember. '

Yukina handed her the cage. " Thank you very much ! I'll be seeing you at saaaaay...8:00 ? Will that work for you Miss... " she paused and raised a eyebrow. Yukina perked up. " Oh ! Uh...Yukina , Yukina Odiyaka. " Janett nodded and grabbed the snake before placing them gently back into the cage. " I'll see around cutie ! " her heels turned around and she walked back into the building. Sighing , she walked down the street of Hazami Square.

" That was such a handful. Thank god that snake is no where near me. What to do now ? Miyako's still out...maybe try to find a way home. I remember that it was raining that day and...and...I met her that day. Still can't believe it's only been 2 days since then. Mom's probably worried about me...I'm sorry mom I'm making you worried about me...I always do that... " she mumbled , her fingers shaking. She had no one to comfort her. No one she knew there could ever possibly care for her. Miyako's there but she's fictional. She's only that way because she has to be. Otherwise she loses her character value in the show. All of this was ridiculous to her. Why. Why was she there ? Was this God's way of punishing her ? If so then he's doing a good job at doing so.

It was about sunset and it was almost 8. It was lonely. Being cooped up in that house. All she had were the walls of her own shadow to talk to. But unbeknownst to her , a small hiss came from underneath her. Her eyes widened and she jumped up to see the same snake she had handed off to Janett. " GET AWAY FROM ME ! LEAVE ME ALONE ! " she grabbed a pillow and threw it at them , but they simply dodged and she moved closer to her. Yukina was shaking and small tears pricked out from her eyes that were shut tight and down her flushed cheeks. She was ready to be bitten for that or something worse. Nothing. Nothing at all came. Only the feeling of something moist.

It was the tongue of the snake licking her hand. It was a form of...comfort. She had no choice. She just wanted to cave in. She remembered how she tried to work things out with Miyako so maybe...it'll work just the same. " I... " she took a deep breath and softly released it , along with whatever tension had once built up before. Right now she didn't need to be crying like a baby. She's already encountered that before. What matters is that she face it now. She looked at the snake with the eyes of pity , and combed her fingers through her hair.

" I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been trying to get rid of you. I'm just...scared right now. I get it's not your fault for being a cold blood predator but I just can't stand the sight of snakes. Yet despite all that...you're still here. " The snake slowly slithered up to her body. Yukina flinched but allowed them to. " I just...I just needed to get that out from my chest. So I can let you stay. It wasn't fair to treat you like that. " she sighed and laid down on her side with the snake next to her. " I'm guessing you ran away from Janett " she chuckled. " Sneaky snake. You know...I think I might call you Spade. You're just like Miyako. "

She yawned softly and grabbed the pillow near her and fluffed it before placing it under her head. Pulling out any hair from her arms and releasing any secondary thoughts of the worst to come , she allowed herself to fall asleep. She needed the rest anyways. Someway , somehow , Spade being next to her just made all her fear of her slowly shake away. The sound of keys came from the door and a figure walked in , tossing the keys on the couch. " I'm home ! I brought some bacon and we can make bacon sandwiches ! It wasn't easy , some guy wanted to rip me off and- huh ? "

To her surprise the two were fast asleep. Yukina laying her head on the couch and Spade curling up in her arms. Miyako chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. " I guess I'll fix myself some then. " setting the groceries down on the table , she walked to her and ruffled her hair. " Sleep tight Dumpling head. "

" Everything's falling into place... "