"I should be expecting a call from Okami soon."

                       The sidewalk is flooded with bustling people. The savory scent of smoke and sizzling meat swirls through the air. In the grey light of midday, with cloudy skies and the perfume of rain, I should probably forget about what just happened.

                        For some reason, I can't.

                        "What was that?" I ask, as she leads me through the crowded street.

                        "What?"

                        "That―her. Skullcrusher."

                        There is a faint twist to Veah's mouth. "Her name is Sakura. We've been friends for years."

                        "No, not that. Her kissing you."

                        Oh, my God. I sound like a jealous girlfriend. 

                         "Actually, never mind," I say, stomping ahead of her. Rain flecks my cheeks. "I don't care."

                         But Veah catches my hand, and she pulls me around.

                         Her eyes are searing as she asks, "Do you have a problem with it? Because if you have a problem with it, you should say something. You should tell me."

                         "And what?" I scoff, tasting rain. "You'll just stop kissing other girls for me?"

                         I expect her to laugh, maybe―to grin.

                         She doesn't.

                         She says, "All you have to do is say the word, Kaya, and I'll stop kissing other girls for you."

                         "You―why would you do that?" 

                         The rain coats her face in a glossy sheen. "Isn't it obvious?"

                         "No!" I snap. "I've never really had time for relationships. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know if you like me."

                          I move to turn around, to keep walking, but―

                          Her hand reaches out, cupping one side of my face.

                          And I lean into her, that touch. Almost unconsciously.

                          "I like you," she whispers, her eyes wide, her pupils encircled by lightning that matches the sky above. "Okay?"

                           She likes me. She likes me?

                           "Okay," I whisper, and I suddenly want her to know. "I―"

                           A thought, unbidden, jumps to mind.

                           I had a sex dream about you. 

                           I can't speak, can't breathe, much less tell her what I want to―

                           She takes my sudden silence for an answer, and she draws back slightly. Something darkens her gaze, and she smiles, even as it feels like there is a canyon growing between us. Is that . . . is that disappointment?

                           "Come on," she says distantly. "I think we should take a little detour before Okami calls. Raincheck on the date?"

                           "Yeah," I say numbly, and the sky is pouring. "Raincheck."

                            Veah climbs the steps of a one-story house and knocks on the door. Rain drips off the gabled rooftop. I see a faint golden light inside.

                            I want to ask whose house this is, but somehow, I hold myself back.

                           The door opens, and I see a woman with fine silver hairs. Middle-aged, with laugh lines and a familiar smile.

                           "Okasan," Veah says, almost hesitantly.

                           The woman named Okasan motions for Veah to come inside, speaking in Japanese. All I manage to discern is Heaven-chan. 

                            The house inside is small and lovely. The wood is dark in colour, with rich tapestries lining the wall and floral candles perched in every nook.

                            There is a man sitting at the kitchen table, squinting at the newspaper. 

                            When he drags his eyes up, he is speaking in Japanese. "Hanī, gai wa ameda yo ki o tsukenai to nureru wa yo."

                            Then he looks up.

                            "Heaven-chan,"  he says, hushed.

                             The pattern of rain on the rooftops fades as the man rises to his feet, the chair creaking. He is standing in front of Veah, tall and broad, and it looks almost as though he might overtake her. Despite the fact that I once saw her take out ten armed men with one hand, in this man's shadow, she seems . . . smaller. Shy. But when he reaches out suddenly, pulling her into a tight embrace, I realize there are tears in his eyes.

                             "Otosan," she says, her voice breaking.

                             "Heaven-chan," he whispers, resting his head against the top of her hair.

                              Who are these people?

                              Veah pulls back, and I see the shine of tears in her eyes, though she doesn't let them fall. "Kayadesu,"  she tells them, nodding to me. "Kaya doesn't understand Japanese, so it would probably be better if we talked in English for now."

                              "Who is this?" says the man in a roughly accented voice.

                               The woman's lips are pursed. She is wearing a kimono with lacy gold dragons, and her face is bright with something like astonishment. 

                              "My . . . friend," Veah tells them. 

                              Say the word, and I'll stop kissing other girls for you.

                              "Kaya, this is Himari, my father, and Yui, my mother."

                               My heart catches. Her parents. "It's―um, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kaya."

                               "How do you know our daughter?" asks Yui. Veah's mother.

                               Before I can respond, Veah cuts in smoothly, "She works as an engineer, and my boss assigned me to partner with her. New project."

                               A new project? Like the meth lab beneath the church?

                              Her parents . . . her parents must not know.

                              "Where have you been?" Yui demands. "It has been over two months since we heard from you. You could not have left us a call?"

                              Veah ducks her head. "I was busy."

                              Seeing this lethal, dangerous, terrifying Yakuza boss getting scolded by her mother makes her seem almost . . . human.

                             "Too busy to call, Heaven-chan?"  her father says. "We know your job requires international travel, but it is not like you. It reminded us of―"

                             Veah glances away. "That was a bad incident. A coincidence."

                             Her mother looks close to tears. "That was not a bad incident! Those people told us you were in the hospital and―"

                             Veah's father places a hand on her shoulder. "Think of it no more. She is home now. Safe. And with―a girl."

                            Yui's attention slips onto me, and she brightens, almost imperceptibly. "You must be hungry," she says. "Let me make you food."

                            My face flushes. "I would love that, thank you."

                            Her mother begins to bustle through the kitchen, clattering the pots and pans, turning on the sinkwater.

                            Veah's father sits back down at the kitchen table.

                            And Veah―she is still staring at me.

                            The distance between us is only an arm's length, but it might as well be the Pacific Ocean. 

                           I like you. Okay? 

                           But I can't think of that. Not now. To her mother, I say, "Mrs. Tanaka, is there any way I can help you?"

                           Yui shakes her head. "Not at all, Kaya-chan. Sit down, please."

                           So I pull out a seat next to Veah's father, stiffening when I realize that he is reading the newspaper with headlines about a feud between the Yakuza.

                          He really has no idea.

                          His daughter is a gang member, and he . . . he doesn't know.

                          No, his daughter isn't just a gang member. She was once the boss of the Cais, and now she is a boss for Kogu-Ryu. For a woman named Okami, who is called the Wolf.

                          Veah is the most feared assassin in this city, and her parents have no idea.

                          I don't know if she sees the panic on my face, but Veah suddenly touches my shoulder. "May we be excused, Otosan?" she asks her father.

                          "Of course," he says distractedly.

                          I jump to my feet, following Veah into a narrow hallway. She is only an inch taller than me, but she has to duck slightly.

                         Her mouth is a breath away from mine.

                         Not that I notice, of course.

                         Not that I am paying attention to the soft curve of her lush lips, and the way they press together, so sharply her smile is a wicked slash.

                         "They don't know?"  I whisper.

                         "They have no idea."

                         There is something in the way she says it―something sad.

                         "But―how do you keep it a secret? And what was that time at the hospital your mother was talking about?"

                         "A trick," Veah breathes. Fuck. That cherry scent is intoxicating. "When I escaped from the Cai gang, they decided to use my parents to lure me back. They showed up on my parent's doorstep, dressed as paramedics, and they told them that I had been in an accident. My parents rushed to the hospital, but―I wasn't there."

                        "It was a trap?"

                        "Yes," Veah agrees. "The truth is, I never wanted to join Kogu-Ryu. When I escaped from the Cais, I wanted a new start. But when they led my parents to the hospital, I had no choice. My mother and father are so important to me, I could never stand to lose them. So I went to Okami, and I pledged my service to her in exchange for my parents' freedom―and ignorance."

                         "How could your parents not know, after all that?"

                         "The Cais did not tell my parents why they weren't allowed to leave the hospital, so afterwards I lied―I told them it was related to my work. That it was a coincidence."

                         "And they believed it?"

                         Veah's eyes are dark. "I hope so."

                         Her eyes drift down to my lips, and there is a fraction of a second when I think she will lean in. Close that distance, cross the Pacific Ocean.

                         "The food is ready!" Yui declares from the kitchen. "Come, you must eat!"

                         I stumble away from Veah, my back hitting the wall. My heart is pounding, and there is a sly smile on her lips, like she knows what she's done to me. My eyes still on her, I return to the kitchen, sitting back down where a plate has been set out for me. 

                         There is rice and meat slathered in sauce, with steamed broccoli and herbs. It looks delicious, and I smile gratefully.

                          "Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Tanaka."

                         Yui's smile is warm. Comforting. "Anything for Veah's friend." 

                         Before we leave, Veah's father stops me.

                         "I do not know who you are," he says gravely, in a low voice. "I do not know what you work as, or if you are truly only her friend. But you have made her happier than I have ever seen her, and for that . . . thank you."

                         "I . . . I . . ." I look down. Swallowing. Everything I've wanted to say to Veah, everything I haven't let myself even acknowledge . . . it spills out. "Veah―she's one of the best people I know. Your daughter is―she's compassionate, and brave, and I can tell she would do anything for the people she loves. She's saved my life in more ways than one, and several times over. So thank you for raising her, for making her who she is."

                       My heart is racing by the time I've finished.

                        I . . . I can't believe I just said that.

                       "Kaya." Veah's voice. "Are you ready?"

                        When I turn away, joining her―she is already outside―I notice there are tears in her father's eyes.

                         Her parents wave, and Veah hails a cab.

                         "Okami called," she says breathlessly, her hair wet from the weather outside. "She wants me to come to her. With you."

                         What I wouldn't give to taste the rain on her lips.

                         I shake my head―focusing. "I thought you said she was dangerous. And aren't you disobeying her orders, just by allowing me to live?"

                        "Change of plans," Veah says grimly. "She's decided you're more useful to her alive than dead. She took back the contract for your life."

                        "So . . . I'm only wanted by half the city now?"

                        "What?" she teases. "You don't feel so special now that all of Tokyo city isn't after you?"

                        I fall back against the car's leather seat. "No,"  I groan. "It's not that . . . it's just that I don't know whether to feel relieved or not. Do we really trust Okami?"

                        Veah grins. "Not at all."

                        "But we're heading there right now."

                        "Yes," she agrees. "When Okami calls, you answer."

                        "What if she changes her mind?" I whisper suddenly. "What if she's just luring us there so she can kill me?"

                        But Veah must have already considered this possibility, because she closes her eyes, lashes fluttering. "I won't let anything happen to you, Kaya."

                        And only twenty minutes later, we are in the heart of Tokyo city.

                        "What is this?" I ask, shaking Veah awake.

                        "They call it The Geisha,"  she whispers.

                        As we both climb out of the car, I hear soothing music, like the rustling of leaves, like the sigh of the summer wind. 

                        "What is this place? A strip club?"

                        Veah waltzes right through the arched doorway of the temple-like building, as though the thought of danger is energizing to her. 

                        "In a way, yes," she says under her breath. "Pleasure. Secrets. Murder. It's all here. This is where Okami lives―this is the Wolf's home."

                        The ceilings above us are glass, and rain sluices overhead. There are women wrapped in organza and satin, swirling the fabric of their dresses in a mesmerizing display. There is music, and they dance to it―graceful and hypnotic and pure. Small gatherings of people watch, but the whisper of silk against silk lulls the room into a trance. 

                        "Through here," Veah breathes, pulling me through heavy rose curtains.

                        We come face to face against a wall.

                        Maybe we're in the wrong place, I think, but I don't move.

                        There is a lotus engraved on the stone. 

                         My head tilts. "What does it mean?" 

                         The relaxing drip of a river, of a waterfall in the distance, becomes a melody. I step forward, and the marble stone is smooth to the touch. The carved pink flower is cold against my fingertips.

                        "The lotus represents serenity," Veah tells me softly. "Peace. Meditation. This is the symbol Okami chose when she became the leader of Kogu-Ryu."

                         Oh, I think, and for a moment I can sympathize with Okami. The beauty of the lotus flower.

                         Then Veah draws out her knife, the sound of silver grating in my ears. And she plunges it right into the center of the flower, twisting it like a key in a lock.

                         The wall shudders backward.

                        "It's a pain in the ass every time," Veah mutters, as she pushes it open like a door. Motioning for me to follow her.

                         I step past the lotus wall―

                         And it feels like an entirely different world.

                         As the door slams shut behind us, all I can focus on is the soft grey of the stones beneath our feet. The colour of the impossible blue sky above. The vibrancy of the trees and the flowers that line the edge of the walkway. 

                       There is a river that flows through the floor, winding between the patches of garden and stone like a ribbon. And I hear the sound of birds chirping. The air here . . . it smells like lavender and honeysuckle. 

                         When I think of the Garden of Eden, this is what I imagine.

                        "Wow," I whisper to Veah. "This place is beautiful."

                         And it would almost be heaven on earth, if it weren't for the fact that as soon as round the corner of the pathway, I see a corpse.

                         Standing behind it can only be who I assume is Okami, with her fine black hair and her lovely wine-red mouth. The axe in her hand is wicked-sharp, and blood sprays against her lilac kimono as she brings the blade down onto the man's body.

                          "There," she says, satisfied, as black blood trickles into the river's stream, seeping through the cobblestone.

                           She looks up, finally noticing Veah and I.

                          "Oh," she says, delighted. "Where are my manners?" 

                           I can't look away from the ruined flesh of the corpse. The way it seems as though she brought that axe down, over and over again, for the pleasure of it.

                           Garden of Eden, my ass.

                           "You'll have to excuse me," Okami purrs. "I must get dressed. Blood does not compliment the colour purple, don't you agree?"

                            As though her only concern with murder is that it clashes with her outfit.

                           So much for the lotus flower.

                           Because if this is her version of peace and serenity, I think I can safely we're all fucked.

>>>

Have I mentioned that I hate chemistry? Because I hate chemistry. Although Hank Green is currently saving my life right now with Crash Course. 

Also, in case you were wondering (which you weren't) this chapter had one very special detail that you may or may not remember later when the time comes. Although it's probably not what you think.

From the moon and back,
Sarai