As Jurou watched Airi eat her fourth daifuku of the night, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that this was the same woman that had murdered someone in cold blood, only hours earlier.

     And not just one person that one time, she had probably killed dozens of people in her lifetime, maybe even hundreds. Yet she still managed to look so perfectly happy and innocent as she picked a fifth sweet up from the plate, about to take a bite before she paused and sheepishly looked over at him.

     "I suppose I should have asked you if you wanted one before I ate almost the entire serving. Do you want this one?" She asked, her cheeks turning even more pink than her hair. She didn't usually blush this easily, but Jurou just seemed to have that effect on her.

     Jurou chuckled softly at the look on her face, shaking his head in answer to her question. "You look so happy eating them, who am I to deny you of that joy?" he asked, leaning back in his seat as he watched her.

     "Aren't you a sweetheart? I appreciate it, though I'm sure that tomorrow it'll be all over social media. Rin Nakamura's daughter, spotted eating an entire serving of daifuku! That would explain why she's so fat! Maybe she's pregnant!" Airi exclaimed mockingly, before taking a bite of the sweet, almost angrily.

     He couldn't help but wince when he heard her exclamation, she wasn't wrong after all. "I honestly don't know how you handle it. I mean, you grew up in the public eye because of your father and Dazai taking over the Angeli Mortis, but I can't imagine how hard it was. The press can be ruthless, we hear about you guys even in America."

     "Trust me, I'm well aware. It definitely wasn't good for my self esteem when I was younger, but now I've just learned to not give a fuck. If you're going to say shitty things about me, say it to my face, and then you can watch me not give a fuck in person," she said firmly, finishing off the rest of her daifuku.

     Jurou smiled when he heard her tone, she was a very opinionated female, and she wasn't one to sugarcoat things either. "You and your family certainly have a way with the media though, and they love your parents," he noted nonchalantly.

     "Yeah, well they love my parents because they were a perfect fairy tale romance. But if they ever found out that my family and I are cursed, we'd never hear the end of it. You and I know as well as everyone else that every company relies on its cursed members to do the dirty work, we just tend to have more of them than most," she said in a low voice, before glancing around instinctively to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation.

     Jurou set down his cup of tea once she finished, though he had been sure to nod his head attentively so she knew that he was listening. "Speaking of curses, after seeing your demonstration today...I actually wanted to know what it was like for you, when yours kicked in," he said honestly.

     Surprise was evident on Airi's delicate features when she heard him, before she brushed it off with a faint smile. "This isn't the place for that. Come on, let's walk back home, and I'll tell you the story on the way," she decided.

     The two of them got up from their table and made their way out of the little restaurant, before they started walking down the street together. Jurou stayed quiet the entire time, waiting for Airi to start telling her story. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable when he knew that this was probably painful for her to relive.

     She couldn't look away from the woman she had just stabbed.

     Kaito had told her that killing people was hard, but he was wrong. No, killing people was very easy, and she had no trouble with finding her target in the specified alley and fighting until she was finally able to drive that knife into her chest and watch her bleed out.

     What he hadn't told her was that watching someone die was excruciatingly painful.

     She knew she was allowed to go home, her target was close to death after all, but she couldn't make herself move away from the female. Instead, she took a step towards her, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and curiosity.

     'I'm sorry, Derek, I really tried.'

     Airi blinked in confusion when she heard the voice, looking around cautiously to see if there was anyone who had snuck up on her, but there wasn't. No, it was just her and the first woman that she would ever kill.

     Then where had that voice come from?

     'I wish I hadn't gotten mixed up with this kind of business, I wish we could have just spent our lives together. You always wanted to move, but my work wouldn't let me. I wanted to tell you what I really did so badly, but I thought I was keeping you safe if you didn't know. I just wonder how they'll disguise my death.'

     It was with a growing sense of fear and pain that Airi realized that the words she was hearing were not coming from her victim's mouth. They were coming from her mind.

     'I hope one day I get to see you again. Please don't hate me. I love you.'

     Sobs echoed off of the alley walls, and it wasn't until Airi felt something running down her cheeks that she realized the sound was coming from her. An unbearable pain filled her, the kind of pain that brought her to her knees and made her weep for a woman she had never even known before today. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, she couldn't even breathe with how hard she was crying.

    "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried weakly, grabbing the woman's hand with her own bloody one. There was a puddle of blood around the woman's body, and now it was soaking into her clothes, her skin, her very soul, and she couldn't have escaped it even if she wanted.

     No amount of holy water would ever be enough to cleanse her for a sin such as this.

     She was hyperventilating, tears blurring her vision, though she couldn't tear her gaze away from the now dead woman. Dead, dead, she was dead, she had killed someone, she was a murderer, and the woman was dead, dead, dead-

     "Airi!"

     Airi couldn't even turn away from the body when she heard her father's voice, letting him run to her and pull her into his arms, though she was still frozen, tears still falling down her pale cheeks. Her father looked incredibly concerned as he looked her over, scooping her up into his arms and hurriedly getting her away from the body of the woman that she had just killed.

    "Airi, are you hurt? What's wrong? Talk to me," Chuuya said worriedly, breaking out into a run as he carried his daughter into the black car waiting for them. She should have been able to get in and out quickly, but he had been concerned when he saw her tracker remain in this location for too long.

     Airi couldn't get a word out with how badly she was hyperventilating, and she buried her face in her hands, crying softly into them. This was a pain beyond anything she had ever felt before in her ten years of life. Nothing physically hurt, but yet everything seemed to hurt, and she couldn't get away from the knowledge that she had committed a sin beyond forgiving.

     How could she have killed someone?

     "After that, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue with my training, I didn't want to kill anyone. Well, I still don't want to really kill people, but I'm clearly good at it. And I don't know what I would do if I didn't, so here I am," Airi concluded, finally lifting her gaze up to meet Jurou's.

     Jurou simply nodded as he listened to her, giving her a small smile. "For what it's worth, I'm glad that you stuck with it. You're one of the best in the entire company, you're going to be a great addition to the Board," he said honestly, stopping outside of her apartment.

     Airi managed a small smile in return as she stopped with him, resting a hand on her doorknob. "Well, now you officially know more about me than the media does. I've never told anyone about that day, except for Kaito, but I trust you," she admitted. She really did, she didn't usually open up this quickly, but he was just so easy to talk to.

     Jurou's smile only widened when he heard her, a twinkle in his eyes as he gazed down at her. "Well, I'm glad you trust me. That means a lot to hear from you," he said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

     Airi smiled up at him for a moment, the two of them just watching each other, before she took the first step and leaned up to press a gentle kiss to his cheek. She pulled back after a few moments, and Jurou could feel the hints of lip gloss that she had left behind.

     "Goodnight, Jurou. I'll see you tomorrow," she said softly, giving him one last smile before she stepped inside of her apartment, the door shutting softly behind her.

     Jurou gave her a smile as he watched her leave, waiting for the door to close behind her before he started walking away. He pulled his phone out, immediately dialing the number for his lover. 

     He listened to it ring a few times, before it went straight to the automated voicemail, and he paused in his walking. He dialed the number again, and again, but it was no use. There was no answer, his love wasn't waiting on the other side for his calls.

     His eyes narrowed slightly before he dialed the number for one of his associates, and then the number of one of his other associates, before it hit him. He swore under his breath as he started walking once more, clenching his jaw as his mind raced.

     How had she gotten out? Had her curse activated and that was how she had killed his subordinates? How had she taken all of them out?

     And more importantly, where was she now?

~~~

i stayed home from the gym today, both because i was pretty sore and i figured i could use that time to write. i was not expecting to spend over three hours writing, but here i am :')

this is a very first draft, and it is past midnight so my proof reading was sloppy, apologies in advance for all errors. i will go back and fix them, i usually do, but right now i need a shower so i'm gonna go do that

please drop a vote + comment if you enjoyed, and see you next update!!