Seeing Adam lower his hand, Maki finally asked him the loaded question.
“Did it succeed?”
Although she had asked Adam, Mai had answered it. Maki could hear her sister’s breath starting again. Her heart, that had stayed silent no matter what, started to beat again. It echoed in her ears.
And, in just a few moments, her sister sat up.
“Why am I still here? My skin feels so dry.” Her voice was a bit hoarse, but she looked straight at Maki. “Hey Nee-san, don’t you know how importan—!”
Before Mai could finish, Maki had her arms around her. It was a tight hug, a powerful one unlike any before.
“You are ok, right? Does something feel off?” Maki kept asking questions as Mai’s face further scrunched up.
“What’s with you? I was only injured, why are you acting as if I died?!”
This was one of the things Maki had asked for. To erase the memories of Mai’s death.
“You reek, have you not showered for years?” She pushed Maki off, but it took all her strength to pry a finger.
“So, what if I haven’t, brat?” Maki gave her a small chuckle and hugged Mai again. “You can’t escape me today.”
“Ugh, seriously!” Mai couldn’t even make her sister budge, no matter how much strength she used.
In the end, she gave up and started counting the stains on the cracked ceiling. That’s when she noticed Adam; he was just standing nearby with a smile.
“Who are you? And what's with that creepy smile?” She spat.
“Just moved by the sisterly bond.” Adam chuckled.
“What’s with these weirdos? Am I in hell?”
‘Unlike Maki’s bluntness, this one’s got a sharp tongue.’ Still, it seemed that Mai had made peace with Maki, cause even with the whining, she wasn’t as annoyed as she tried to look.
After a while, Mai left to meet up with her schoolmates. All of them also remembered that Mai had only gotten serious injuries and hadn’t died.
“Sorry… it took too long.” Maki looked back at Adam; the tension in her brows had gone down a notch. “Let’s go and handle the payment then.”
“You don’t have to worry about that now.” He said quickly.
“But you were waiting for that, right?” Maki tilted her head.
“No, I was only hanging around to keep an eye on your sister’s condition.” No matter how easy the task was, since it involved a contract, he had to make sure it went perfectly.
‘Looks like I got the wrong idea.’ Maki felt the embarrassment firsthand. Even if she didn’t want to sound rude, her words came out very wrong.
“You should rest for the night. Your sister’s condition is perfect. She won’t face any problems and will stay healthy for the rest of her life, so you should be there to see it, too.”
Maki’s condition wasn’t the best at the moment. She had several wounds and hadn’t slept for a few days straight. One could easily see the exhaustion on her face, well, everyone aside from Maki herself.
“I am kinda hungry.” She muttered.
“Hmm, I did find a good Tonkatsu shop nearby, wanna give it a try?” Adam decided not to poke around that, as she wanted to keep the strong front.
“That sounds pretty good.”
With that, the two left for the shop. It didn’t take them long, thanks to their speed. Since the shop barely had any customers, they got a seat at the counter, too.
This was a family-owned place, and the mood was quite bright even if the style was duller. Apparently, they were quite famous for their large servings. But the rampant murders around had affected the foot traffic.
‘Look at him go. He is more social than he looks.’ Maki watched Adam engage in conversation with the old shop owner. While she could only nod along and give slight acknowledgements till their orders arrived.
“Enjoy your meal!” The shop owner gave a hearty laugh as he placed a ramen bowl packed with rice and topped with the golden tonkatsu.
The meat slab was as big as her face, but it tasted great. After not eating for 4 days, even dry biscuits tasted like Wagyu, but this was actually good food. Along with a side of gyoza, Maki thought that this couldn’t get better. That was until she saw Adam open a can of beer.
Watching him drink it after a bite of tonkatsu and nodding to himself, she decided to get one herself. Although she hadn’t tried alcohol yet, this seemed like a perfect time to do so.
The shop owner, probably because of her sharp look and scars, gave her the beer without question. This type of thing could have some upsides, it seemed.
Maki didn’t enjoy beer by itself. But when she followed Adam’s steps, the taste transformed altogether. The beer was the perfect refresher after the oiliness of tonkatsu.
“This is quite good. Another for me.”
By the time they had finished the meal, Maki had downed six cans alone. And she didn’t seem done with drinking for the night.
“The old man said there’s a good Yakitori place nearby.” This time, Maki dragged Adam along to a new place.
However, she wasn’t planning on stopping. Yakitori, karaage, tempura, Oden, and even sushi. They kept going deeper into Tokyo while following the hidden food spots like a treasure hunt.
By the time they stopped, it was 3 in the morning, and they were in the middle of Yokohama. Maki’s beer counter had just hit 40!
“I may have gone too far.” She muttered.
“You drank too much for a first timer.” Adam just gave a quiet laugh from behind; it seemed he had dealt with the payment.
“Just curiosity.”
“Curiosity is good, but you should pace yourself well. It felt like I saw the birth of a legendary alcoholic.” He shook his head.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be careful, geez.” Heat covered her face as she leaned against a building. Still, this sort of thing wasn’t so bad once in a while.
“You should go and rest now. Should I get you a taxi?” Adam asked, taking out his phone.
“No need, I asked the shop owner here, and there’s a good place nearby. Come with me.” Maki started walking without waiting for his answer.
Although it was late at night, there were still some people roaming around. These were the usual people who enjoyed drinks and other facilities around the area with their friends.
One would expect a degree of wildness from drunk people, even if it was Japan, alcohol did bring out the worst in people. However, no one really wanted to approach Maki even if they were buzzed; maybe it was instinct or something else.
‘She is quite strong for this world.’ Adam noted her physical abilities and excellent stealth, but further analysis was cut short.
The reason? It was the place they had arrived at. This was the place that Maki had asked the store owner about. And to respect her privacy, Adam had shut off his hearing. However, now that he had arrived there, it had created a situation.
“Why’d you stop?” Maki appeared confused as he stopped before the gate.
“I mean… that’s a love hotel.”