Morning came quite slowly for Thomas and Sayuko. That was because, after the incident that happened hours earlier, neither one could get back to sleep. Sayuko did, however, calm herself down several minutes after she awoken.

What surprised Thomas was that, according to her, this was not the first time that such an event had happened, though they had been fairly isolated. Sayuko was convinced that those nightmares had disappeared, since she had not had one in three weeks prior to last night.

"I was wrong," Sayuko told him with a weak smile.

So, for the rest of the night, as the rain died down outside, they watched television, as Thomas suggested the two of them watch the "Cartoon Network" channel for the "[Adult Swim]" programming block. He listened to the sounds of the television, the sparse sounds of the now ever-growing-distant thunder that soon faded completely... and Sayuko's coughing.

Indeed, near the end of the night, Sayuko began to cough quite a bit. At one point, as the light from the sun behind the clouds began to fill the room, Sayuko had to get out from her bed and leave, as her coughing had become quite frequent.

Ten minutes later, as Thomas was watching the television, Sayuko returned, holding some Kleenex to her nose with one hand, and a box of more Kleenex in the other.

Thomas watched Sayuko walk towards her bed, and perched herself on it. There, she blew her nose into the tissue she was holding, and then threw it into the trash can near her bed. She then set the box of Kleenex onto the nightstand next to her bed, near her alarm clock. After another cough, she laid back down in her bed pulled the covers over her body, though Thomas could see her face as she was facing him. Her nose looked a bit red.

"Hey, Sayuko," Thomas called. "You're sick, aren't you?"

She nodded. "...It always happens after I have a dream like that. It should be gone by tomorrow." Her voice seemed a bit weak.

"I hope so. But isn't today Sunday?"

Sayuko's eyes briefly widened, as if she just realized it for the first time.

"You think Melissa's going to let you miss two Sunday's in a row. I mean... Yeah, you're sick, but would Melissa use that as an excuse?"

"...I don't know... I hope she does. I don't want to move around too much. I just want to stay in my bed all day. Of course, except to care for you-" She coughed.

Thomas sat down on the desk. "When are you going to call her?"

Sayuko closed her eyes. "In an hour or two. I just need to try to get a little rest for now..."

"Okay... I'll shut up until then."

She smiled. "Don't worry about that, Thoma-kun."

In a matter of seconds, she seemed to doze off. Looking at her, Thomas thought that it was nice that she was finally getting some sleep after last night's incident. He smiled softly at her, before turning his attention back to the television.

~~~

Carlos sat in a dark corner of the glass cage, with his head face-down in his risen knees and his arms wrapped around them. He had been sitting there for seemingly hours, since he heard the terrible news about Gloria's fate. Sure, many of the others also took the news of her death quite hard, but Calos seemed to be most affected by it. Soon after Bruce was led away by Dawson to meet the Homeless woman, Carlos made his way to this very spot, desiring to be alone with his thoughts. So far, no one had bothered him.

That was soon about to change, as he heard footsteps approaching him. He lifted his head, and saw Shawn walking towards him. He wiped his eyes and dropped both of his arms to his side as Shawn stopped in front of him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You've been over here for a while. Many of the others sensed that you didn't want to be bothered, so they left you alone."

"...I just need some time with my thoughts," Carlos responded.

"About Gloria, right?"

"...Yeah..."

Shawn sat down besides him. "What do you think about what Bruce said? About Thomas abandoning her?"

"I don't want to believe that he'd stoop that low... But the two weren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye when I left."

"As you said before... But there must be a good reason why Gloria was killed. Maybe they ran out of food, and Gloria offered to go out and look for some. ...And then she was caught by Melissa."

Carlos shook his head. "If that's the case, Thomas should have helped out anyway. Maybe Bruce is right about him being a coward..."

"I wouldn't say that. You know that he volunteered to be in the new scavenger group with you and Gloria. ...And don't bring up the centipede incident. Anyone would have ran from that thing if they were in our situation."

"Yeah... But still..."

"Maybe soon, we'll hear his side of the story. Bruce could be wrong about him."

"...Are you saying that he's going to be caught by Melissa?"

"It's highly possible at this point. He has no one else to turn to at this point. It's only a matter of time before he tries something that gets him caught."

"How do you know that Melissa won't just outright kill him?"

Shawn brushed his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I guess that's a possibility, too. Though I do know that Melissa and Gloria didn't like each other when they were both big. Maybe that was a factor in her murder."

Carlos sighed. "I... I just wanted to see her again."

"Why's that?"

Carlos didn't answer.

"Well?"

"...When all of this ended, I was going to ask her out."

Shawn's eyes widened. "Oh?"

"I know that she was trying to restore her relationship with Thomas when I left, but I don't think anything romantic would have come out of that. I think I could relate to her more than he could, anyway."

"...Because you're both Latino?" Shawn said bluntly.

"Not just that. Thomas seems like someone who spent his free time indoors, living a bit of a sheltered life. I don't think he could understand what Gloria went through before she came here."

"...And you can?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I wasn't in a gang like she was, but I knew some people who were, who filled me in on how life was for people like her. Plus, I got out the house more, and saw the world with my own eyes."

"I see..." Shawn stood up. "Well, in any case, we may be seeing Thomas soon. Then, you can ask him all about the circumstances behind Gloria's death."

"Yeah..."

He watched as Shawn walked away from him, back to where the other Refugees were. Some of them had taken to sparring against each other, no doubt in preparation for the war that was coming up. A war against the Homeless.

Suddenly, he had a thought.

He may be seeing Gloria sooner than he had expected.

~~~

Thomas nibbled on the piece of Cheerio that Sayuko had given him. True to her word, in just an hour-and-a-half, Sayuko had awoken and given him his bath and his breakfast, like she had many mornings before. Even when sick, she was devoted to caring for him. This was something Thomas admired her for.

"Don't worry," Sayuko said. "I washed my hands, and I made sure to not cough or sneeze while I was getting your food."

"I'm sure you did," Thomas said with a smile.

Sayuko smiled back. "I wouldn't want to get you sick, too. ...I wouldn't know how to treat a sick little person."

"You could give me medicine."

"...Maybe, but I wouldn't know the exact doses..."

"Ah..." Thomas took a bite out of the Cheerio in his hands.

Sayuko then stepped back from the desk, and reached onto her nightstand. Thomas saw her pull her cell phone from behind the box of Kleenex that was already set there. She flipped the phone open, pressed a few buttons, and brought the phone to her ear.

"About to call Melissa?" Thomas asked.

Sayuko nodded, and then waited a few seconds, before her eyes briefly widened, a sign that she got ahold of Melissa.

"...Yes, Melissa..." Sayuko's voice was weak again, most likely to prove to the woman on the other side of the line that she was ill. "...I don't think I can come over today. ...I'm sick. ...Yes. ...I know that I missed a week already, but could I stay home this week, too? ...I wouldn't want you to catch my illness." Sayuko was silent for several seconds, before an expression of excitement appeared on her face. "T-thank you, Melissa!"

After a few seconds, Sayuko closed the phone and placed it back on her nightstand.

"She said you could stay home?" Thomas asked.

"Yes." Sayuko's face was beaming with joy.

"That's great!" Thomas exclaimed, as he was also happy for her. "Now you can stay in bed for the rest of the day and sleep off the sickness like you wanted!"

"I know," Sayuko said before laughing a bit

Thomas calmed himself. "Did I get too excited?"

Sayuko shook her head. "It's alright. I'd be excited too, if our situations were reversed."

Thomas blinked. "You mean if I was big... normal-sized, and taking care of a tiny you?"

She nodded.

"Hmm..."

"I'm sure you would take great care of me, too, Thoma-kun." She coughed.

"Hey... You should used this time to get in bed now. The sooner you're feeling better, the sooner we can tackle your homework."

Sayuko gasped. "I forgot all about that."

"Don't worry." Thomas smiled. "With me around, you can finish it in five minutes!"

Sayuko giggled. "I'm sure I can. But you're right." She then sat down on her bed. "I need to get some rest now."

Thomas nodded. "Alright, Sayuko. Rest off that illness."

Sayuko smiled at him. "I will." She then laid down in the bed and pulled the bedsheets over her body.

Thomas took another bite from his Cheerio, before placing it on the desk's surface besides him. He then grabbed the bowl of milk that he had also been given, and began to drink the contents inside.

In his mind, he began to daydream of such a scenario that Sayuko had mentioned, where he was back to his normal size and looking after a shrunken Sayuko. As she said, he would try his utmost to care for her and ensure her safety until he could get her back to her normal size.

"...Nah," he said to himself. "I think I prefer her to be the one looking after me."

Wait, what? Thomas had no idea how he came to that conclusion. It seemed that Dawson's antics were rubbing off on him.

~~~

Melissa closed her cell phone and slipped it into her pants pocket.

"Interesting," she said.

Sayuko had just called her, and told her that she was ill. Her voice did seem weak enough, but Melissa had her doubts. In the end, however, she reluctantly allowed her to stay home.

"I think I'm becoming too nice." She turned behind her and towards the floor. "What do you think?"

On the floor was one of the men from the closet, who had been bound to the hard floor by scotch tape on his arms and legs. He was one of the many "Homeless" men that Melissa had decided to weed out before the big battle she had planned between her captives. He had since given up on trying to free himself from his current predicament.

She bent her upper body towards the man. "Do you think I'm nice?"

The man frantically nodded. Melissa could see the fear that was overwhelming his face.

"Is that right?" Melissa said, quietly yet somewhat menacing. "Well, guess what? I'm not nice. Not to you pathetic little bugs. And do you know what happens to bugs?"

She stood back upright as she saw the man start to struggle and scream once again. He had obviously caught on to her intentions.

Melissa gave a malicious smile. "That's right. They get stepped on."

She then took a step forward, and, upon setting her right foot back down on the floor, completely destroying the unfortunate man's body underneath the sole of her flip-flop, extinguishing his screams, as well as his life.

"That's number 2 for today," Melissa said as she stepped off of the body, leaving nothing but a bloody splatter in its wake. "I still prefered Byron. By a longshot."

She sighed as she walked towards her cabinet. Once there, she undid the lock on it and pulled off the chain, before opening the doors. As expected, her special prisoner, Taro, was inside waiting for her.

"Hey, guess what," Melissa said.

Taro stared at her for a few seconds. "What?"

"Your sister isn't coming over here. Again."

"...Why not?"

"She says she's sick."

"Oh... So, what are you going to do now?"

Melissa sighed. "I don't know. I don't entirely believe her, either."

Taro's mouth dropped. "Are you going to... kill me?"

Melissa smiled. "No. Not yet, at least."

"...What do you mean?"

She grabbed hold of the doors of the cabinet. "Don't worry your little head off about it." She then closed the cabinet doors on the curious man inside and pulled the chains back on the handles, before locking them.

With a mischievous smile on her face, she headed for her closet.

~~~

Several hours had passed, evident by the sun outside now hanging overhead. Thomas watched as Sayuko came into her bedroom, having apparently come back from the bathroom, as evident from the dozen or so coughs, as well as the flush of the toilet, that he heard from the hallway.

"Are you alright?" Thomas asked in a concerned tone.

"Yes..." she softly answered. "...That's the worst part of my illness... Not being able to keep anything I eat down..."

"I have to agree with you there. Who does like throwing up?"

"Supermodels?" Sayuko giggled softly.

Thomas chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Sayuko smiled, which was quickly interrupted by an abrupt cough. She covered her mouth with her left hand as she coughed twice again in rapid sucession.

"You're not about to throw up again, are you?" Thomas asked.

Sayuko brought her hand to her chest as she breathed in, and then exhaled. "...No, I don't think so."

"Good..." Thomas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mm-hmm." Sayuko then walked to her bed and sat down on it, facing Thomas. "Thoma-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"What was the worst dream you've ever had?"

"Uh?" Thomas pondered a bit over what she just asked. "...Well, I can't remember any really bad ones... Except for one last week."

"What was it about?" Sayuko moved her head closer to Thomas.

"You killed me."

Sayuko gasped. "What?!"

"Yeah... Well, you were forced into it. Melissa made you kill me and my companions so you can have your brother back."

"Oh... That's horrible. I would never kill you just to get my brother back. I'd want to find a way to save you both."

"I know. But in the dream, you were so... cold. Like we were nothing but bugs, and-"

"Thoma-kun," Sayuko interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Stop it."

Thomas blinked twice in slight disbelief.

"You don't have to worry about me killing you." She smiled. "No matter what, I'm going to keep you safe."

Thomas prepared to say something in protest, but instead sighed and smiled with a nod. "I believe you. You're a kind person. If there's anyone I'm glad to have spent so much time with, it's you."

Sayuko blushed. "Thank you, Thoma-kun."

"You're welcome."

Sayuko smiled, before preparing to lay back down in her bed once more. However, before she could do so, both she and Thomas heard a sound outside. It sounded like a car door slamming shut.

"It's probably one of the neighbors," Sayuko said as she stood back up.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked.

She began to walk towards the window near the desk "Just a little look."

She looked out of the window, and then, with a gasp, immediately backed away from it. A horrified look was now on her face, once that made Thomas feel apprehensive.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"...M-melissa's here..." she answered.

Thomas felt his heart sink. "What?! Oh, you've gotta be kiddi-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Sayuko had snatched him up in her right hand, and placed him into his shoebox living space, before grabbing the entire shoebox and dashing to her closet. Thomas tried bis best to keep his footing, but was soon knocked down by the shaking of the box as it was being carried. She opened the closet's door, walked inside, and placed the shoebox on a box in a dark corner further away from the door.

"Let's hope that she doesn't look in here," Thomas said, picking himself up.

"Even if she does," Sayuko said, "It's much too dark to see much."

They heard the doorbell sound from downstairs. Sayuko then grabbed a dark piece of cloth and covered the shoebox with it.

"But what if she comes in?" Thomas asked loudly.

"I'll be back soon, Thoma-kun," he heard her say through the fabric, obviously ignoring his question. Two seconds later, he heard the closet door close, shutting out what little light had been shining inside up until that point.

"...Be careful, Sayu," Thomas said, before wading his way through the darkness, searching for his bed.

~~~

Sayuko walked out of the closet and closed its door behind her. She then rested her back against it and started to take deep breaths.

She could not believe what was happening. That Melissa would go as far as to come over here? What was the reason behind this? Sayuko did what she could to take Thomas out of the room. He should be safe inside, but if Melissa did go inside of her closet? Was Melissa that nosy? Should she go back inside and move Thomas to Taro's room? But what if Melissa left the room and went in there? At least in here, she could keep an eye on her and distract her if need be.

The doorbell rung again. Sayuko took a deep breath and walked out of her room. Her fuzzy pink slippers slapped on each step as she made her way down the stairs, and then made a right and headed for the front door. She reached for the doorknob, twisted it, and pulled the door open. Sayuko feigned a look of surprise as she saw Melissa standing there, holding a black purse. However, she really was surprised when she saw her wearing a white surgeon's mask.

"Oh!" Sayuko said, faking a surprised tone. "Melissa!"

"Hello, Sayu!" Melissa greeted. She then tilted her head slightly as she looked at her face. "You look horrible. Moreso than usual." She laughed.

Sayuko winced at this remark, but let it slide. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just seeing how my favorite girl is doing," Melissa answered as she walked inside. "But you really do look sick. Good thing I brought this, eh?" She pointed at the surgeon's mask on her face.

Sayuko closed the front door and walked towards Melissa, who was approaching the stairs.

"Where's you room?" Melissa asked.

"Why?" Sayuko asked.

"Because I have a surprise for you."

Sayuko shuddered. She suspected it when she saw Melissa come over, but now she was certain of what this "surprise" was. To think that she would make her do such an act in her current state was horrible. Unfortunately, the life of her brother was at stake, so she had no choice but to comply.

"It's upstairs," Sayuko answered. "The last door on the right."

Melissa then walked up the stairs. Sayuko quickly followed her upstairs and soon into her room. She wanted to keep Melissa in her sight, at least for as long as she was in her room.

Melissa looked around. "God! Your room is small!"

"It's not that small..." Sayuko said in protest.

Melissa chuckled. "Well, I guess it's small compared to my room." She looked towards the closet. "At least you have a closet, though. I bet it's smaller than mine's, too."

Sayuko gasped softly as Melissa made her way towards the closet. "Melissa, what are you doing?"

"What?" Melissa turned towards her. "Can't I take a tiny peek inside?"

"But-"

"I just want to see how small it is."

Sayuko gulped as Melissa reached the door, and twisted the doorknob. She then pulled the door open, which cause Sayuko to start breathing heavily, and occasionally coughing. Sayuko could still see Melissa's left leg as she was peering inside. Time seemed to slow down, and Sayuko could hear her heart beat with every slowly passing second. She truly believed that she had been caught. That in a matter of seconds, everything that she and Thomas had been working for would be for naught. That Melissa would storm out and kill Taro, and then even come back for her. There were even tears forming in her eyes.

"Uh-huh! Just as I thought!"

Sayuko jumped as she heard Melissa say this. "W-what?!"

Melissa then backed out of the closet. "That place IS small! I couldn't store anything in there! But since you're small yourself, I guess it's a perfect fit." She laughed as she closed the door.

At that point, Sayuko breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes. She quickly regained her composure as Melissa turned toward her.

"Anyway, as for why I'm here," Melissa said as she walked towards her bed. "Since you could not come over to my house to do your weekly job, I brought the job to you."

Sayuko faked a gasp. "What? But you said that-"

"I said that you could stay home," Melissa interrupted. "I never said anything about you not having to kill these things."

"But..."

Melissa placed her purse on the bed and unzipped it. She looked toward Sayuko as she pulled something out of it. "You DO care about your brother, don't you?"

"O-of course!"

"So, you'd do this for his safety?"

"Yes!"

"Atta girl!" Melissa then knelt down to the carpeted floor and spread what looked like a sheet of plastic on it. She then stood upright and dug into both of her pants pockets. From each one, she pulled out a tiny man and then placed them both onto the laid-out plastic.

"I'm going to be nice today," Melissa said as she sat on the bed behind her. "You only have to kill two of them. Plus, this plastic should make for an easy clean-up, because I'm sure that you don't have the right stuff to get these things out of the floor, do you?"

Sayuko looked at Melissa, and then downward to the two men on the sheet of plastic. They had started to run away from her as soon as Melissa mentioned the word "kill." However, the direction leading away from Sayuko was towards Melissa, and they were foolish enough to run that way. Melissa simply placed her feet in their path.

"Oh, no you don't," she said. "Get back there. Now."

One man reluctantly turned around and walked back to the center of the plastic sheet. The other was more defiant, and actually tried to made his way under Sayuko's bed. Melissa then brushed her right foot towards the man, kicking him back a few good inches.

"Dumbass," Melissa said.

The man staggered to his feet, and, having learned his lesson, walked back to join his comrade.

"You know..." Melissa said, looking at Sayuko's slippers. "I should make you do this barefoot again."

"N-no!" Sayuko said in a frantic tone. "Please don't!"

Melissa laughed. "What, you don't like the feeling of their bodies crushing beneath you?"

Sayuko shook her head.

Melissa sighed. "Your loss. I'll be lenient this time, since you're sick."

Sayuko gulped, and looked down at the shaking men on the floor. She took a deep breath, and lifted her right foot over one of the men, the one that had been kicked by Melissa. She then brought it down on him, crushing him underneath her foot. The other man started to run as Sayuko twisted her foot on the spot, grinding his body even further into a bloody pulp, as well as twisting the plastic.

With one man dead, she lifted the same foot from his destroyed body, and then stepped onto the other man. His screams were extinguished as soon as her foot hit the floor. She then bent her knee, applying more pressure to the man, ensuring that he was nothing more than a flat stain on the plastic.

"Wow!" Melissa exclaimed, clapping. "Even when sick, you can be quite the evil little girl!"

Sayuko removed her foot from the spot and turned it towards her. She looked at the blood on the sole of her slipper, before removing it from her foot, exposing her bare flesh. She then coughed twiced. At this point, even when sick, the sight of the blood and tiny, contorted bodies did not make her want to vomit at all. Though now she had to find another matching pair of slippers. She did not want to wear this pink one while it had the blood on it and stain her carpet.

Melissa stood up. "Well, you can clean up the plastic. Ball it up and throw it in your trash can if you want." She then walked towards the door.

"Where are you going," Sayuko asked.

"I gotta go to the bathroom. That tea I had is catching up to me."

"Oh... It's to the left, past the stairs."

"Alright." With that, Melissa walked out of the room.

Sayuko sighed deeply and looked towards her bed, where Melissa's purse was. Right next to the purse was what looked like a cell phone. Melissa's cell phone? Did she accidently pull it out when she pulled out the plastic.

She now knew what she had to do. As soon as she heard the bathroom door shut, she dashed towards the bed and grabbed the cell phone. She flipped it open, and immediately went to the contacts list. She went down the list until she reached the name that she was looking for: "Dad." She rushed to her desk, pulled out a paper and pen, and wrote the number down as fast as she could, therefore her handwriting came off as a bit sloppy. However, she knew what she had written, so it did not matter. From outside the room, she heard the toilet flush. After she wrote the last digit, she crumbled the paper into a ball and dashed back to her bed. Finally, she stuffed the ball under her pillow and then placed the phone back in the exact spot it was in.

She then rushed to the plastic sheet, knelt down and started to roll it up from one side. None too soon, as seconds later, Melissa walked back into the room.

"I feel better now," Melissa said. She looked towards the bed, at her purse. "Hm? Why's my phone out?"

Sayuko stood up and looked towards the bed. "I don't know... I didn't notice."

"Hm... I must've pulled it out when I took the plastic out of my purse... Oh well." She walked to the bed, where she grabbed the phone and placed it back into her purse. "I guess I'll be leaving now. I don't need to be in this tiny-ass house anymore."

"Then I guess I'll lead you out."

With one barefoot and the other covered in her pink slipper, Sayuko led the way for Melissa out of her room, back downstairs, and then to the front door. She opened the door, allowing Melissa to walk outside. One she stood outside of the door, Melissa backed a few steps away from the doorway and removed the surgeon's mask from her face.

"Well, Sayu," Melissa said. "Be sure of one thing. Next week, I don't care if you have the flu, you're coming over to my house, no questions asked. Got that?"

Sayuko nodded.

"Good." Melissa smiled. "I guess I'll be off, then."

Sayuko watched as Melissa walked to her car. She opened its driver's door, stepped inside, and, in a matter of several seconds, was driving off, and was soon out of Sayuko's sight.

Sayuko closed and locked the door, and rushed back upstairs into her room. Once there, she ran for the closet, opened its door and ran inside. She then grabbed the cloth-covered shoebox that she had placed in there earlier and carried it out of the closet. She then set the box on her desk and removed the cloth from it. She looked down at Thomas, who was picking himself up from the cardboard floor. He had a bit of a curious look on his face, as he had obviously noticed her excited expression on her face.

"You seem to be well," Thomas said. "I thought we were done for when I heard her come in the closet."

"As did I, Thoma-kun," she answered. "Yes, it was horrible as usual, but I think I may have gotten what we need."

"What is it?"

Sayuko walked away from the desk and towards her bed. She reached underneath the pillow and pulled out the ball of paper she stashed underneath it. She walked back to the desk, and uncrumbled it. She then showed Thomas the writing on it.

"I got Melissa's father's phone number," Sayuko said with a smile.

"Whoa! Are you serious?!" Thomas said in a surprised tone.

"Yes! She left her phone out while she went to the bathroom, and I was able to get it."

"That's great!" Thomas became excited. "You did well, Sayuko!"

Sayuko nodded. "I know. Now we can call him directly."

"Damn straight!" After a few seconds, Thomas' tone became a bit serious. "Melissa... Her days are numbered."

"Yes..." Sayuko looked towards the ceiling, and closed her eyes. Then, in Japanese, she said, "Taro... We will save you very soon. I promise."

~~~

"...But at least she was right," Melissa said, who was standing before Taro's cage. "That girl was sick."

Taro could not believe what he just heard. That this woman went over to his sister's house and made her partake in her gruesome task, despite the fact that Sayuko was clearly ill, made his stomach churn.

"That means that you don't have to become a stain on the floor." She smirked. "Not this week, at least."

"...I am truly grateful for my sister for allowing me to live this long," he said.

"Yeah. That girl really loves you." A sinister smile appeared on her face. "If I gave her a machine gun and told her to go kill every single person in Japan, if it meant that you'd die if she refused, I bet she'd do it."

Taro's mouth dropped in horror. "You..."

Melissa smile. "I'm kidding."

She then reached for the doors and began to close them.

"Anyway, I'll talk to you later, my favorite little pet."

The last thing Taro saw was Melissa's smiling face before it disappeared behind the closing doors. He then sat down in the wood mulch and thought about what she just said.

What horrified him wasn't the idea of his sister gunning down her own people. It was that Melissa was absolutely right, that Sayuko actually would commit such a horrendous act to save him.

He smiled weakly. "As long as I'm with her..."