The floor in Lyra's apartment squeaked softly under her feet.
She tried to keep busy – tidied up a bit, shoved some clothes around. Anything to stop herself from checking her phone all the time. Her eyes still drifted to the screen every couple of minutes. The message to Hana was marked as read.
But no reply.
"Classic," she muttered, curling her lip. "Big drama queen one day, gone the next."
Lyra wasn't worried. Obviously not. Not about Hana. Not about that self-destructive pain in the ass.
Still, her phone stayed right next to her.
She sat down on the edge of her bed, put it beside her.
"Like I even care," she said out loud to the empty room. Then picked it up again. Still nothing.
Every sound from the hallway made her look up, only to curse herself right after. As if she gave a shit whether that walking disaster came back.
And then—
A knock right at the door.
Lyra jerked from her bed, stuffed her phone into her pocket, and walked to the door, hand already on the handle.
Then she took a moment.
With fake annoyance, she leaned toward the peephole.
Instead of Hana's messy black hair, she saw a narrow, pale face with deep-set eyes staring right into the lens.
Vox.
Her fingers froze right on the handle. A cold pit opened in her stomach.
Lyra stepped back. Her first instinct was not to open the damn door. But Vox had definitely seen her.
Another knock, louder this time.
"I know you're there, Lyra." His voice came muffled through the door.
Lyra took a deep breath, cracked the door open just a little. The door chain stayed on.
"What do you want?"
Vox's thin lips stretched into a grin, showing off his gross yellow teeth.
"Lyra, sweetheart. Rudi wants to see you. Now."
"I'll be there for my shift tonight. Tell him that."
She started to shut the door, but Vox jammed his bony arm in the gap.
"It's about Hana. She sold you out."
Lyra froze.
"What?"
Vox's grin widened. "Yesterday's little incident . She says it was all your fault. That you kept her from working."
"Bullshit," Lyra snapped. "She came in wasted. I just—"
"Rudi doesn't care who said what," Vox cut her off. "He wants you now." His eyes went cold.
"And if you don't come…" He cracked his knuckles. "I'll show you why Rudi sends me to do the dirty work."
Lyra felt everything inside her tighten.
That piece of shit.
After everything she'd done for Hana. After that night, the puking in her bathroom, that shattered breakdown this morning.
"Wait," she finally answered. "Let me get dressed."
She shut the door, ripped the chain off the wall, and leaned at the door for a second. Her heart was hammering against the wood. Did Hana really betray me? Is that why she ran off? Was that whole meltdown just a goddamn act?
With shaking hands, she pulled on some jeans and a sweater, grabbed her bag. When she opened the door again, Vox was still there, arms crossed now. The thin fabric of his jacket stretched tight over something tucked into his waistband.
Her eyes flicked down at the gun. Her stomach clenched.
"You really need that?"
Vox shrugged. "Just in case someone starts trouble." The look he gave her said it all. "You're not gonna start trouble, are ya?"
"No," Lyra said quietly. Her fingers dug into the strap of her bag. The gun was real. This was real.
Going down the stairs, Vox stuck close behind her. Too close. She could feel his damp breath on her neck. The quiet stairwell, the one she usually crept through so carefully to avoid anyone, suddenly felt like a cage.
"What did she say?" Lyra asked without turning around.
Vox laughed, dry and broken.
"She said you lost it. That because of you she couldn't work, even though she wanted to."
He fidgeted with his fingers near his belt.
"She also said she's hated you ever since she met you at the Club. Said she knew from the start you'd be trouble."
Click.
Met at the Bunny Club? No way. She and Hana had known each other way before that hellhole.
A tiny smile flickered across Lyra's face — too fast for Vox to notice.
He's lying.
"Oh," she said, her voice flat as glass.
"And what else did she say?"
Vox leaned in close enough for his breath to scratch her ear.
"She's planning to steal your clients, bunny."
His voice went higher. "If you don't start putting in more effort, you'll drop down to Diamond Tier in no time."
Lyra twitched. Though the only real part was her disgust at how close he was.
Rudi's trying to pit us against each other.
Fine. I'll play along.
"Well, sucks for her," she said, lifting her chin a little and glancing back at him. "I'll show her how it's done."
Vox let out a raspy laugh she could feel against her neck. Gross. But confirming.
Just play along…
She opened the front door. A quick look left, then right. No one. At least that. She exhaled.
At least Mrs. Ishimori's spared the scene this time.
Then she focused again on what she was gonna be thrown into. Rudi. This time, Lyra had gone too far.
What the hell does that bastard want now?
She swallowed dryly, like she could choke the thought down. But it splintered into a hundred scenarios, each worse than the last. Her eyes landed on her purse. She knew there was only an empty pill pack inside.
Shit, should've taken one before leaving.
She stared at the tiny owl charm on the strap.
Like asking to take away her uncertainty.
But all it gave her was that same old melancholy.
Like always, whenever she looked at it.
Satsu… what would you do?
⋯───⋱───⋯──⋱───⋯──⋱───⋯
The neon light in Rudi's office flickered weakly, jittering across Nozomi's pink eyes as she braced her hands on his desk.
"You did what?!"
Her voice was sharp — more than she'd usually show.
"That bitch had it coming," it came back from the other side of the desk, just as charged. Like an echo, only difference that it disagreed.
Rudi sat slouched back in his fake-leather boss chair, arms crossed. Nozomi stood in front of him, palms slamming on the desk again like it would make her point hit harder.
"You can't make an alcoholic lick booze off the floor! Especially not one of your best girls! And all of this after she showed up completely drunk yesterday — what the hell were you thinking?!"
She took a breath, then her voice went calmer, determined. "I saw her today, Rudi. She's wrecked. Totally wrecked."
"Yeah, well, it worked, didn't it? She swallowed her pride and now she's dancin' to my tune again.."
"Dancing to your tune?"
"Damn right. Drunky Bunny's pullin' eight clients a night now. Same pay." Rudi chuckled once, then his tone turned flat again. "And Lyra's gonna do the same."
"Eight?!" Nozomi echoed, eyes wide.
"Eight."
"Rudi, you can't do that. They're both done. They're burning out." Her fingers trembled over the paper mess on the desk. "Did you already forget what we talked about?"
Rudi scratched himself, unfazed.
"Don't give a damn what we talked about."
"Rudi!" Nozomi's voice cracked. "Keep this up, and they'll break. And if not, they'll leave and find a better club. You'll lose both."
"Nah. They won't."
Nozomi shook her head, disbelief in her eyes.
"Hana took it, didn't she? She'll get used to it. They all do." Rudi sounded calm. Too calm.
She hit the desk again without even noticing.
"You can't be serious. Hana bottles everything up, but she can't handle this. I tried talking to her today. She totally lost it and ran off."
She took a couple shaky breaths.
"And how the hell are you gonna make Lyra do this? She doesn't take orders. She wouldn't even let me train her."
Something dangerous flickered in Rudi's eyes, but Nozomi couldn't read it. She just heard the muffled laugh that shook his gut. "She'll do as I fuckin' tell her."
"…Rudi? What are you planning?"
He grinned. Didn't answer.
"Chill the fuck out already," he shot back, voice flat.
"No, Rudi, what you're doing is insa—"
BANG.
Now it was him slammed onto the desk. The vibration hit her straight through. The gin bottle fell to the floor but didn't break. The sound only made his voice cut deeper.
"ENOUGH."
Nozomi flinched, stepped back. Stared at him, speechless. "Don't yell at me like I'm one of your whores."
Something was off with him. Way off.
With that many clients, he was gonna burn out his two best girls sooner or later. He had to know that, right? The guy was usually cold as ice, all business.
Something was messing with his head.
But Nozomi couldn't tell what.
She nodded — for now. Maybe he'd cool down later.
"Fine. But when this blows up, don't say I didn't warn you."
She forced a thin smile, also Rudi's expression softened a little. Then she turned toward the door. Talk was over.
"Oh, Nozomi?"
She paused, turned her head just slightly, fake smile still on. "Yeah?"
"Do another special session with Asaki tonight. Whole damn evening if you can. Her next client's at half past one," he instructed her, already immersed once again in his sea of documents.
"Asaki training… fine." Her tone was back to business — but brittle.
The heavy door shut behind her.
She leaned against the cold metal for a few breaths, finally shook her head and went back towards her office.
In the hallway, she passed two people.
Lyra — in casual wear. Behind her, Vox, head down, but not out of shame. Probably checking her ass. Or the gun tucked into his waistband, his most favorite toy.
As they passed, Lyra shot her a cold look. To Nozomi, it felt like blame. Blame for… what, exactly?
Nozomi shook her head. She was just keeping the damn business running. When the office door shut, she pulled out her phone right away.
While dialing Asaki's number, she hesitated for a second. Normally, Rudi would've apologized by now.
But not today.