9:00; 24 of October

Mona narrowed her eyes as she lay motionless in her bed. Arcana brought her a bowl of chicken soup, smiling as he placed it on her bedside table.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Better," she grumbled, "I just wanna be able to go back out on missions."

"It's only been four days since you were found," He said sternly, "You're still not recovered."

She hated to admit it, but it was true.

"By the way," Arcana continued, "Some of the others are coming to visit in a little while if that's ok."

"Who?"

"Li Ling, Lewis, Leora, Tang Xuan," He listed, counting them off on his fingers.

"Alright, that's fine."

***

12:10; 24 of October

Mona heard the doorbell ring, and Arcana running to open it.

Then her four friends came into her room.

"Mona! How are you feeling?" Li knelt down beside her.

"Better."

"That's good to hear," Leora bent down beside the bed, "The office has been quiet without you."

"Well, as quiet as it can get." Xuan added.

"Don't act like you're not apart of the problem." Lewis lightly punched the redhead's arm, who flinched at the impact.

"Oh, shiz! I'm sorry, you ok?" Lewis quickly recoiled.

"I'm fine," Xuan raised his hands, "This visit is about Mona."

"Bah, bull," Mona stuck her tongue out, "You're still in recovering too."

"Heh..." Xuan scratched his glove a little.

"So, what has everyone been up to?" Mona asked, excited to hear all the fun stories.

"Xuan got a girl." Leora said

"No, she's just a friend!" He quickly corrected her.

"A girl friend, eh?" Mona teased, "Tell me about her."

"Do you really wanna hear about me?"

Everyone else nodded vigorously. The poor Xuan sighed and quickly pulled out his phone. On his phone, he revealed a picture of a girl with black hair. Mona bit her tongue as to not say anything, but...

***

5:00; 20 of October...Party Night

Mona sat still in the dark room she had been placed in. Her head pounded. She had been in there for about three weeks now, or so she thought, because who knows how accurate the small clock that loomed over her was.

Her hands and feet were tied together, and her whole body burned from burns that refused to heal.

'Whoever did this is gonna pay...' She thought for the thousandth time. All her energy was gone like that, leaving her with sore limbs and dreary eyes. She didn't even know how she got so tired, it was like it was forced into her system.

She suddenly heard the rattling on the handle, only for it to stop.

"Nah uh uh," The voice she recognized as her captor, annoying and confident, "You can't go in here."

"...why not?" A new voice said. It was soft and quiet, but had a tinge of annoyance, presumably from being dented entry. She swore she knew that voice, but maybe she was going crazy.

"Why are you questioning me?"

"My costume is in there."

"Well, that room is occupied for now."

"Then what am I supposed to wear to the party?"

Oh, shiz! The All Hallows Eve party! How could she forget? That just made her feel worse.

"I dunno, wear all white and be a ghost."

"...fine."

She heard footsteps clomp away, and that was that.

***

9:15; 20 of October

The door to Mona's prison opened. She finally saw the figure of her capture: A tall man, black hair, beady red eyes, and pale skin. Like a vampire...

She couldn't really get to know his face, though, as he suddenly kicked her chest, causing her to black out.

***

9:50; 20 of October

Mona heard so many familiar voices around her, trying to her get to answer them. One girl, she had black hair and green eyes (wasn't her name Yuuhime...?), stared at her. She couldn't believe her ears when the soft and quiet voice that escaped her blood red lips made sound.

"Is she ok..?"

It was her. The soft voice from earlier that day. It was unmistakable, even if her voice was quiet, it just...it was her .

She wanted to know more, she wanted to know how this girl who tried to get into the chamber she was trapped in for three weeks was connected to all this!...

And then she blacked out again, from the pain in her limbs to the loudness of everything.

***

12:30; 24 of October

"What's her name again?"

"Yuuhime."

"This is so sweet! Just like in Red River Love!"

"...ah huh." Xuan looked at Mona with a sorry look on his face.

Mona faked a yawn, "...sorry, guys, I'm kinda tired."

"It's ok," Leora said, "We would have to go soon anyways."

So, her four friends left, and Arcana peeked in.

"What's with the look?" He asked her, noticing her disturbed expression.

"I'm gonna sound a little crazy," She said slowly, "But I'm going to need you to just listen to me. Ok?"

"Ok, anything for you," Arcana said, "If you think it'll make you feel better."

She took a deep breath and prayed she wouldn't sound like a lunatic.

***

"...so you're saying you think Xuan's new friend is involved in some sort of assassin or kidnapper association?" Arcana said slowly. Mona couldn't tell if he was conserved, doubtful, or maybe a little bit of both.

"It sounds crazy, I know, but I-"

"I believe you," He admitted, "but there isn't enough evidence besides 'I recognized a girl's voice.'"

"Thank you!" She sighed. "But, you're right."

She looked at her arms. They were still burnt, but were healing better now that she had professional treatment. She didn't want to go spreading false allegations against a girl she met once, only to find out she was wrong and actually going crazy.

"I met her once," She recalled, "At that one movie party Xuan invited me to."

"Was there anything suspicious about her then?"

She tried to rack her brain, but all she could remember that Yuuhime was a very quiet individual. She spoke sparingly, and it was usually directed towards Xuan. She remembered the only time Yuuhime spoke directly to Mona was when she was asking if she could have some of the matcha ice cream the black haired individual had brought.

"She was just quiet." She sighed.

"I can tell you're really stressed," He stroked his chin and then suddenly got an idea, "Well, you could probably easily get to know her."

"What do you mean?"

"Xuan would definitely be willing to invite Yuuhime to hang out with you, though, I don't think having him around would help her case..."

"Let me think about it," Mona said, smiling, "I think you might've given me an idea."

***

7:30; 25 of October

Xuan smiled at his phone. Yuuhime had texted him a story about how Intisar and Li Guang got into a food fight, but her own feelings on the whole ordeal made his heart flutter and he just couldn't help but to smile.

Meanwhile, Suhua and Leora watched from afar.

"Man, another messaging session with that girl?" Suhua sighed.

"What's wrong with that?" Leora asked as she filled out a mission report.

"I mean, he's always talking to her it seems." Suhua folded her arms. "He seems..."

"Head over heels in love?" The two women turned and saw Li walking over, "Yeah, I noticed that too."

"It's not a bad thing." Leora said. "In fact, l think it's quite sweet."

"Yeah, but he's been acting differently," Li peered over at his best friend, "I thought it was sweet at first, too, but it feels like she's hypnotized him or something now."

Leora rolled her eyes, "I personally think you guys are overreacting. Sure, he has been talking to her religiously, but that's not anything new for love."

"Even if you're right, I still think it's gotten to the point that maybe he should have a talking to. I mean, it's been five days since the All Hallows Eve party and he's messaged her like, I dunno, a few dozen times a day since then." As he said this, his and Leora's phones went off.

"Hm? It's a message from Mona." Leora opened the group message.

Li's eyebrows furrowed at the message. Leora bit her lip.

'Mona: Bear with me because this is gonna sound crazy.'

***

11:30; 25 of October

"This is a really serious allegation, Mona." Leora said, standing over the recovering girl's bed.

"I know, but I just think we can never be more careful."

"I know, that's why we have to look deeper into this." Leora sighed. "If this does turn out to be true, we have to be able to capture Yuuhime, turn her in to be taken care of, and be able to explain it all to Xuan.

"I'm willing to do anything!" Li's eyes glowed with an anger that would make the rocks and trees tremble, "If my best friend is in danger, then I'm gonna protect him no matter what! "

"Same here." Lewis cracked his knuckles.

"What are you thinking, Mona?" Leora looked down at her. She gave a confident smile to her friends.

"First, we just need a date."

***

11:00; 27 of October

Yuuhime checked herself in the mirror one more time. She wanted to make a good impression on Xuan's close friends.

She smiled in satisfaction. With her brand new cherry pink lip gloss and shiny eyeliner, she thought she looked extravagant and presentable.

Just two days ago, she had been messaged by Mona, she believed she was the one with the awesome bow and pretty white hair, who invited her to come with them to a daytime, legal fighting club. Of course she said yes, even if Xuan wouldn't be there. She wanted to expand her collection of friends, and who better than her best friend's friends?

She smiled a little at the thought of Xuan being her best friend. She wished she could just yell out that she loved him, but not only would that be embarrassing, she was afraid of rejection.

"Miss Yuuhime!" She looked around and saw Xuan's friends waiting outside a building.

"Hello," Yuuhime waved at the four in front of her, "How is everybody?"

"We're doing amazing, thanks!" She believed the one talking was Leora, the one with the high ponytail.

"Let's go in," She knew this one was Li Ling, "so we can get good seats."

She nodded. She was so excited! She'd never been to a fight club before. They said this one was legal, put out by the Union for people who just needed to "let it all out."

"None of the fights have started yet," Mona explained to Yuuhime, "So that means we got time to do whatever."

"I see," Yuuhime nodded ferociously, "What do you all like to do?"

"There's some punching bags me and Li Ling like to punch," Lewis explained, "We have a game that goes with it. Whoever can punch the bag further wins."

"Ah...!" Her eyes sparkled at the thought of watching them. She knew from Xuan they like to compete with one another, but she thought it might be fun to see it for herself.

"What do you like to do?" Mona asked Yuuhime.

"Me? I like to watch The Sunflower Warrior , and I also like to ear ice cream." Yuuhime smiles hopefully at Mona, who simply nodded.

"Anything else? Any family, or friends you like to hang out with?" Mona asked.

"I'm friends with Li Guang, and Intisar, and this girl named Norah." She explained.

"What about family?" Mona asked again.

Yuuhime shook her head quickly, "I just have my brother, but he doesn't like to...hang out with me...too busy."

That caught all the actually unofficial undercover agents ears.

"What does he do for a living?" Leora asked slowly.

"He's a lawyer," Yuuhime said, "He always talks about how it's good to know lawyer skills or something like that."

"Soooo," Li punched a bag, "How did you two meet?"

"On a cruise." She said carefully.

"A cruise?" Li could hardly believe what he was hearing. He already knew that she and Xuan met on a mission, but... on a cruise?

"That's interesting." Lewis said over Li, to cover  the other's tone of voice, "Why were you on the ship?"

"I-it was just a one time job." Yuuhime was starting to get overwhelmed by all these questions. They seemed to her to be innocent, but she knew if she said too much they might think less of her. She didn't know if they were as understanding as Xuan was.

"On a cruise? I didn't know they did that." Leora said with interest in her voice.

"Uh, where did you all meet Xuan?" She changed the topic quickly.

"We all met him at the Esper Academy, except for Leora." Lewis explained.

"Mhm, I met everyone when I joined the Union a little while ago." Leora added on.

"Wow," Yuuhime smiled, "That's cool."

"Look at the time," Mona said, "The fights are gonna start soon."

They walked down to the arena area. As they did, Yuuhime could have sworn she saw something purple flash by, but when she looked, nothing was there.

The five espers took seats moderately close to the arena.

"Hey, Mona?" Yuuhime asked.

"Yeah?..." Mona responded.

"I just want to thank you for inviting me," She smiled gratefully at the younger girl, "It's nice to know that someone thinks about me."

Mona nodded, trying her best not to grind her teeth. What was she hiding?

"Never seen this guy before." Lewis observed as he watched the two guys in the ring fight.

"I've never seen either," Li nodded, "But they seem experienced."

Yuuhime smiled, trying her best to follow the fight.

"Ooooh!"

"That was a crazy punch!"

"Sheesh!"

Mona clenched her fists. It was hard to have fun when a potential felon was beside her. Yuuhime, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She never knew fighting could be so fun!

***

1:00; 27 of October

The final fights were about to go underway, just one 20 minute break until the final 2 fought.

"Aahh...I'm kinda thirsty..." Leora got up and gave a lopsided smile.

"I need to use the bathroom." Yuuhime followed.

Many people were out stretching their legs and getting food and drinks. None of that mattered to Yuuhime, as she quickly went to the bathrooms. Er, bathroom, it was just one room with a toilet and sink. She sighed and went to go into it when a gang shot out and pulled her aside.

"Hey-!"

" Sh , we need to talk." The voice was Tang Yun's. She blinked at him in confusion. What was he doing in a place like this?

"Wh-"

"We have less than 20 minutes before the final fight, so-"

She tugged her arm away. "I don't know what you want, but can it wait?"

"What? No-"

"I think it can." She quickly went into the bathroom and was grateful it wasn't occupied.

After doing her business, she slowly came out and saw Yun had gone. Good, she wasn't in the mood to deal with someone else. It was hard enough remembering all of Xuan's friends names. Besides, if it was really all that important, he would have said it as fast as possible, right?

"There you are, Yuuhime." Leora smiled at her, "You took a minute in there, are you feeling ok?"

"Mhm, I'm fine," She nodded, tucking her hands into the folds of her skirt, "Let's go back, now."

***

2:00; 27 of October

"Ooooh!" The crowd yelled at the final punch.

The winner was announced and the crowd cheered.

"That was kinda boring, I can't lie." Li said, getting up and stretching.

"Can't have good fights all the time." Mona replied. He shrugged and helped Lewis up.

"Oh, yeah," Yuuhime pulled out some money, "here."

"What? No, it's ok, this place is 100 percent free." Mona explained. Yuuhime didn't listen, and insisted on giving her the money. She refused to let her tiny little robbery of Yamato's savings go to waste.

"It's like gas money, or something." And that was that.

"Thanks for inviting me, again." Yuuhime smiled as they walked out.

"No problem." Mona said.

Yuuhime went on her own way.

"There really wasn't that much wrong with her," Leora said once Yuuhime was out of earshot, "she was a normal girl."

"Yeah..." Mona said, staring at the corner Yuuhime turned at.

"If you're still worried about it, we can get her to go on another hang out," Lewis said, "but I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with her, you're probably just overthinking."

Mona nodded with a small smile. "Thanks for agreeing to come with me anyways."

Her friends all nodded with smiles on their faces.

"Of course." Li nodded with a smile.

As they walked back to their car, Li pulled Mona behind the other two and whispered to Mona, "This is just speculative, but meeting her on a cruise is very suspicious..."

Mona tilted her head.

"I'll explain later."

***

9:40 PM; 27 of October

Xuan was finishing off some mission reports when Li and Mona slipped in.

"Hey, Li Ling, Mona." He brightened up the moment they came in.

"We just need to ask you a few things." Li said carefully.

"Shoot."

"Where'd you meet Yuuhime?"

"On a cruise. Didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"Aha, I'll tell you the whole story!"

***

"WHAT?" Li and Mona yelled in disbelief.

Xuan sighed a little. "I'm not repeating the whole mission again!"

"And you never told me?" Li said, irritated.

"I forgot! Jeez." Xuan huffed.

"You never thought to tell me that this girl you've been hanging out with is apart of a murderous organization?"

"It's not her fault that she's being controlled by her brother!" Xuan snapped.

"So she doesn't want to hurt anyone?" Mona clarified.

"No, she's really sweet. It's all her brother, Yamato."

"Hmph...I'm still mad you didn't tel me." Li leaned on the wall.

"Yeah, well, get over it." Xuan smirked at Li, who just rolled his eyes.

Mona yawned, "I'm gonna get going home."

"I'll drive you home." Li said. Mona nodded gratefully.

"So just to summarize everything," Li looked at Xuan, "You better get home soon, too."

"I will." Xuan smiled at his best friend, who waved as he left with Mona.

Despite smiling, Xuan felt sick to his stomach. Pulling back the "mission reports," a letter revealed itself, written in a blue glitter pen. Its contents, he didn't even want to think about, so he hid it again, cover his face with his hands and letting out a deep sigh.