The room was silent. Though the heating system was highly advanced and particularly conditioned to the cold Russian weather, the sudden temperature drop felt so real that Yui was half-convinced it wasn’t merely psychological.

 “Ch—Chichi-ue,” she stammered again. “G-Good afternoon. Have you b-been well?”

He scowled angrily, and slammed his fist on the table so hard, the glass of red wine wobbled dangerously. “Again, Yui! You still stammer! Why are you so unprofessional?! Have you learned nothing in the last month you’ve been in Russia?”

“I—I’m so sorry,” Yui squeaked, cowed several pitches above her normal speaking tones. “I—I’ll do better next time—”

“And when is that, I wonder,” the man said sarcastically. “Honestly, Yui, sometimes I don’t know why I still bother trying to talk to you. You cannot even look after your younger sister properly, never mind try running a—”

“Sir, I think you’re going a bit far,” Kouichi said bravely. “Yui-nee-chan does a good job taking care of me, and since she’s only a few minutes older, we’re technically the same age—”

At this, their father became livid. He grabbed the wine-glass and threw it at the screen, shattering it in front of their faces; for a moment, the twin’s view of their father became kaleidoscopic, distorted. His words, however, were still as clear and harsh as ever.

“You! You dare talk back to me? I haven’t even gotten started on you, yet, Etsuko! You’re even more pathetic than that worthless wretch you call your sister!” Taken back by his words and the usage of her real name, Kouichi fell silent.

“Sir,” Yui asked, trembling, “what did we do wrong? Is it because we haven’t acquired a sufficient amount of money yet? We’re working on it—”

Their father’s screen got replaced by one of the family servants in time for them to see his face as he laughed derisively. “You think that’s the only reason? Yui, this only proves that you are just stupid beyond redemption.”

“I—I don’t understand,” Yui said, trying not to sound tearful. Be professional, be professional. “We haven’t done anything wrong yet, have we?” As she said this, her blood suddenly ran cold.

Oh, no. The restaurant scene. Somehow, he must have already heard. But that couldn’t be; it barely happened an hour ago! He couldn’t have already found out…

“And you call yourself a computer hacker,” their father said scornfully. “Honestly, I don’t understand how you still have the audacity to show your face to me after all this. You really have no shame.” He swiveled his chair and called up a projection screen behind him. As the twins watched apprehensively, the blank gray screen was suddenly filled with color as he called up images from his computer. And the images were—

Yui went white in terror while Kouichi groaned and grabbed her hair in helpless frustration. For on the screen were photos taken of the twins standing at the St. Petersburg station, having just exited the train doors. Ryeowook, unconscious, was draped over Kouichi’s back as she struggled to remain upright while carrying his weight.

“Care to explain this?” their father asked sarcastically.

Even Kouichi had trouble trying not to stammer. “I—I—that is—I can explain,” she said hurriedly. “We just drugged him and—”

“My, my, Etsuko,” their father sneered. “Going as soft as your sister, hm? Since when did you care about the people you drug?”

“I—”

“Pathetic,” he spat. “You’re just as pathetic as your twin.”

Both girls fell silent, having nothing to say.

“I want you to come home right away. You have completely let me down,” the man said coldly.

“Please—give us another chance—”

“And why should I?”

“Because, sir,” Yui said desperately, “The pictures are low-quality, and there are no names attached to our faces. No one knows who we are.”

He spat at the screen. “Read, you imbecile. Do you not know how to read Cyrillic anymore?”

The twins took a closer look at the screen. Captioned under the pictures were the words, “Ryeowook-ah~! Are you okay? What are you doing in Russia, on top of that boy’s shoulders?” Comments under it read, “Who is that girl next to him?”, “Oh my! Is that his girlfriend?”, “Ryeowook, who are you with???” and more.

Yui hadn’t known it was possible for her heart to sink any further. Ryeowook had been identified. No doubt the photos were shot by his fans. She wondered how many more times had his picture been taken since they were together; thinking of Kouichi’s incident with the waitress, it dawned on her that if Kouichi hadn’t spotted her attempt, that would’ve had marked another photo for sure.

Initiation trial rule number one: Candidates were not to be photographed under any circumstances, as that could jeopardize their future security. No wonder their father was angry beyond belief.

He seemed to comprehend their shocked silence. “Therefore,” he said coldly, “you two have failed me. Return to Japan right away, before you further disgrace the name of the Tokudaiji clan of the Yamaguchi-gumi. Clearly, I will have to find someone much more capable to become my heir.”

Yui sat in stunned silence. They had failed. After all their hard work, living in the streets, stealing in thousands and doing whatever they could to pass the trials proving their worthiness of eventually inheriting the title of kumicho of the Tokudaiji-gumi, a subgroup of the largest yakuza group of Japan, the Yamaguchi-gumi—only to be caught in a few pictures with a famous Korean celebrity? It was too much.

“And of course, something will have to be done about that young man,” the current Tokudaiji-gumi head was saying. “He will have to be forcibly removed—”

“No!” Both father and sister stopped and stared at Kouichi, who herself seemed surprised by her outburst. But she recovered quickly. “No—you—you can’t,” she continued in an agitated voice.

Their father laughed sardonically “And who are you to tell me what to do?”

“Kouichi—”

“Do not call her ‘Kouichi,’” the kumicho interrupted harshly. “She does not deserve that name. Are you trying to insult your brother?” Beside Yui, her sister drew in a sharp breath. “First, you cannot even acquire the bare minimum monthly target amount of money. Then you get caught on multiple peoples’ cameras. And now you are actually trying to defy me?” The look in his eyes couldn’t have expressed more hatred. “You are not my daughter.”

Tears were running down Yui’s face. She dropped her head, trying not to sniffle out loud, and noticed through her lowered gaze that next to her, Kouichi’s whole body was shaking. Whether in anger, fear, or hurt, she couldn’t be completely sure.

There was a movement, and through the corner of her eye, Yui saw Kouichi kneel down and bow prostrate before their father.

  “Please,” she said through gritted teeth, her voice barely above a whisper, “Please leave him alone. None of this was his fault. He was just an innocent—”

There was a crash and for a moment, shattered glass mixed with red drops of liquid once again filled the laptop screen.

“Go die,” their father’s voice said disgustedly. “After everything that had happened, you’re standing up for that Korean? Go trade fates with your brother, then. If only he were here instead.” And then screen went completely black and finally silent.

Following the moments after he hung up, Yui became unaware of time. Whether they spent seconds, minutes, or hours in that library conference room, she had no idea. Kouichi had grabbed her shoulders and screamed into them with fury and despair, and the knowledge that she couldn’t do anything to alleviate her younger sister’s pain nearly drove Yui mad.

The emotions she had tried so hard to suppress throughout these difficult weeks finally came pouring out, and she sunk onto the floor, sobbing, her hard professional exterior finally and completely broken.

It was all over.

They really were nothing now.

They had nothing to live for anymore.

After what felt like an eternity of anger and agony, finally Kouichi looked up. Clutching her sister’s coat, she gazed up with blank, unfocused glassy eyes as she whispered, “What are we going to do now?” This wasn’t the same girl who had earlier broken a waitress’s camera with violent contempt.

Yui took her sister’s hand and tried to remember what it meant to be the oldest sibling in the family. But instead of words of comfort, the only thing she could choke out was, “I don’t know.” And she hated herself for it.

Another cry of frustration escaped from her sister. “Chichi-ue’s right,” she said in anguish. “I really don’t deserve to live.”

“Kouichi!”

“That’s not my name, remember? The real Kouichi died eleven years ago…”

Yui grabbed her twin’s shoulders and shook them violently. “No! Don’t ever say that again!” she cried. “He’s not dead!”

Kouichi went limp in her sister’s arms. “But I saw it,” she said faintly. “I saw them. They—”

“Kouichi—is—not—dead,” Yui repeated through clenched teeth. “That’s our story, and we’re going to stick with it! Kouichi-chan, get a grip!” She tried to control her breathing, but a small sob still escaped her.

Kouichi only looked at her with little expression in her eyes. “What’s the point of lying now?” she asked dully. “Didn’t you hear him? It’s over now. He doesn’t need us anymore. We don’t have to pretend any longer…”

As much as Yui inwardly agreed with her, she had to stay strong for her sister. “So you’re just going to give up? Just like that?” she asked. “Just because our lives are worthless in his eyes doesn’t mean that we have to throw them away for good.” As she spoke, she tried to believe her own words. Old feelings of hopelessness washed over her, and for a moment, she was immersed in bitter memories of abandonment and hate.

Kouichi struggled to sit up. “But what can we do now? We have no name, no home, no destination, not even money that is rightfully ours. We’re vagabonds.”

“We have a life to save,” Yui said firmly, rashly deciding on the spot. Her sister’s eyes widened. “You mean—”

Yui got up and powered up her laptop again. “Didn’t you hear him?” she asked, ignoring her sister’s wide-eyed look. “You think after getting our picture taken with him—or the other way around, however you’d like it—you think the Tokudaiji kumicho is really going to let Ryeowook-san go? He himself said as much on the contrary.”

That seemed to stir her sister out of her stupor. “You’re right,” she said sharply, picking herself up from the ground. Yui glanced up briefly and gave a small smile, relieved to be hearing the characteristic assertion in her sister’s voice again. Kouichi rejoined her back in front of her laptop and for a few moments sat silently watching her type.

“What are you looking for?” she finally asked.

“The headquarters of the Tambov gang,” Yui said, her brows furrowing in concentration. “Chichi-ue probably already knows that we’re in St. Petersburg, given those photos, so they’re our best bet now.”

“But we were told not to approach them until we had accumulated $200,000USD—that was the first step of the initiation trials.”

“We have no choice,” Yui said flatly. “As we speak, the Tokudaiji-gumi has probably ordered agents to locate and kill—”

“Do you think he really will?” Kouichi said weakly. Yui had no response. Seeming to take her sister’s silence as a confirmation of the worst, Kouichi moaned and held her head. “What have we done to him…?”

Yui took a deep breath. “It’ll be okay,” she said, hardly believing how calm her voice was coming out. “As long as we find him before they do, we can save him.” They were going from kidnapping children to rescuing young adult men. Really, could their life get anymore flipped inside-out and upside-down?

Kouichi wiped her face and attempted to make herself look presentable. “I’ll go see if I can find his whereabouts,” she said resolutely. She headed for the door. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the restaurant,” Kouichi replied. At Yui’s incredulous look, she justified her answer: “Right now, there are more important things than just my personal dignity at stake. We all have to grow up at some point.”

Yui nodded and returned her attention to the computer screen. Her sister’s logic made sense. Inwardly, she allowed herself a small bitter smile. Kouichi was already an adult in her own right, in so many ways she didn’t even realize.

The sun had set long before Kouichi returned back to the conference room. As she entered, she brought Yui a hot dinner before sitting down herself to rest. Yui took it appreciatively—they hadn’t eaten anything since the night before. “How did your search go?” she asked as she opened the package.

Kouichi shook her head in disbelief. “Ryeowook-san,” she said slowly, “is one famous star. We really shouldn’t have been surprised that he was recognized, even in Russia.” Yui raised her eyebrows.

“He uses one of those online social networking sites and was constantly updating his information,” Kouichi explained. “That’s how fans knew where to find him. The ones that didn’t want to bother him just took photos and uploaded them onto fanboards and other sites.”

“They have websites dedicated to that kind of stuff?”

Kouichi nodded. “Unfortunately, the waitress didn’t know where he was going next. But there’s something I want to show you.” At her indication, Yui shifted aside and pushed her laptop towards Kouichi, who called up a few sites and then turned it back around. Yui stared incredulously.

“Is that… Twitter?”

Kouichi nodded. “Check the most recent post.” Date: November 5, 2011. Today I’m in St. Petersburg~ sitting at a restaurant waiting for delicious Russian cuisine to arrive! Kya kya~ Attached was a photo of himself posing next to the table; thankfully, he had tactfully chosen to exclude any mention of the twins, whether in name or photo.

But Yui shook her head, eyes wide open. “I don’t understand. Why would he just give away his position like that? Does he like being stalked?” Kouichi shrugged. “This was before our food arrived, I see.” As she spoke, she remembered Ryeowook typing on his phone at that time—so that’s what he was doing instead?

How interesting, Yui mused, that he would use his phone to access the Internet so he could update the world on his current location. She knew what she would’ve done with it, and with a sudden jolt, realized her thoughts.

“We really do live in separate worlds, don’t we?” Kouichi said reflectively. Yui looked up, thinking that Kouichi had been pondering the same thing as her, but then she noticed that Kouichi instead was looking at a different website entirely.

“Uh, Kouichi?”

Kouichi looked up guiltily from the pictures she had been viewing. “Sorry,” she muttered, slightly flushing. “But he was sighted quite a few times since he’s been in Russia. Look, there are even fan accounts.”

Yui smiled ruefully, in spite of herself. Since Kouichi had grown up so boyish over the last decade, it was a relief to see her more feminine side resurface again. “You know they won’t help us,” she kidded, “unless one of them can tell us where he went after we parted.”

“Apparently, he headed over to some historic sites for some sightseeing,” Kouichi said. “But I doubt he’d still be there now. He’s probably in a hotel or something.”

Yui sighed. “I’m just hoping he knows enough to protect himself, at least from the fans, if not the mafia.” Kouichi stiffened. “I mean, he’s a bit…too open, don’t you think? Though of course I wouldn’t complain, if it means we can relocate him again,” she added hastily, seeing Kouichi’s expression.

“Which leads us to your search now,” Kouichi said. “What have you found?”

“The Tambov gang keeps the location of their headquarters pretty secretive,” Yui explained. “I think it might have something to do with the fact that they’re kind of a smaller group, compared to what we’re used to.

“But I managed to intercept one of their wired codes, so I think I know where we can find one of them tomorrow morning.”

Kouichi genuinely smiled for the first time all evening. “Good,” she said. “But have you figured out how to approach them?”

Yui grit her teeth. “Let’s first just worry about finding them,” she said determinedly. “Because I have no idea what to do after that.”

Yui stood in the shadows of the dark alleyway, anxiously the hood of her coat. She knew she come to the right area, given the extraordinarily large amount of thugs that had already tried to approach her. After the last hour, she had given up trying to keep track of how many strangers’ fingers she had broken. But at least the drug dealers were leaving her alone now.

A blond young man was swiftly walking her way, his trench coat pulled up to obscure his face. His hat and scarf prevented her from viewing any identifiable features, but deciding to trust her instincts, Yui shifted and stepped out as he was passing her.

“Dmitri Ivanov,” she said in a low voice, and the man stopped in his tracks.

“Da, it is I,” he said, and then incredulously, “They sent a female?”

 “I assure you, I am very capable,” Yui said coolly, sounding her best to sound scornful. “I have the package you desire.”

 “Well, where is it?” he demanded. From inside the folds of her coat, Yui held out a thick parcel containing what she knew to be illegal drugs, but before he could snatch it, she swiftly stepped outside his reach. “Not so fast. First, we have a small favor to ask of you.”

He swore. “Why are you people always changing your words? A bargain is a bargain.”

“Circumstances have changed,” she said icily. Inside, she was shaking. Her next words would either save her or kill her.

“Malyshev’s gang has fallen. They now belong to us,” she said, whipping off her hood. Putting on her fiercest version of the infamous Tokudaiji glare, she stared him down to give her next words their full effect. “We are the Tokudaiji-gumi of the Tokyo prefecture in Japan.”

He snorted. “I thought you people only had offices in Kobe and its surrounding regions.” But he didn’t look so assertive now. Seeing a Japanese girl assert her authority in fluent Russian seemed to unnerve him slightly.

Yui only smiled evilly, giving off an aura she knew she didn’t feel. “We’re expanding,” she said self-confidently. “And we’re not looking for a fight with you. In fact, under normal circumstances, we’d even stop now and strike an official alliance. But time is ticking,” she said, pointing at her gloved hand, “and I’m afraid we have rather urgent business to attend to.”

He stared, intrigued. “Go on.”

“I want to request a private meeting with your boss,” Yui said, hoping she wasn’t coming off as desperate. “And it is imperative that I meet with him as soon as possible.”

“It cannot be done,” Dmitri argued. “The Boss does not just meet with anybody.”

“Tell him that the daughter of the Tokudaiji-gumi has come to see him,” Yui said calmly. The man still looked dubious. Seeing how he hadn’t either shot her on the spot or hurried off to do as she asked, she assumed that he was merely one of the underlings of the gang and didn’t know anything. Given his age and youthful appearance—he couldn’t be much older than her, Yui suddenly realized—perhaps he was a newer member, as well.

“I’ll give you one hour,” she said with finality, tapping her foot on the dirty pavement. “One hour, and no more. If you fail me, I will personally ensure that it’s the last time you fail a member of the yakuza.”

The Russian looked dumbfounded that he was being ordered by the younger female. Then his eyes traveled to the package he held in his hands, and presumably remembering Yui’s story, he nodded hesitantly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good. Be back within an hour, then.”

Yui then watched as the man sprinted off, and then took a deep breath and finally relaxed, sinking onto the pavement in exhaustion.

Presently, there was a crackling noise in her earpiece. Wincing slightly, Yui adjusted the device and then spoke.

“Kouichi? Any updates?”

“Yeah,” came the distant voice of her sister. “Online fanboards say that he was spotted at the Museum of Non-Conformist Art earlier today. There are more pictures. Anyway, that’s not important. He’s leaving Russia tomorrow.”

“What?! So soon?”

“He himself said so, on that social blogging site he uses. Some Russian and Korean fans have even pinpointed his flight number and departure time.”

Yui took that in. “So if even his fans know that kind of information,” she said slowly, “does that make them extra-scary or him just extra-careless?”

Kouichi was silent for a moment. “Do you think chichi-ue already got access to this?”

“Well, with the stalker skill set of his fans, I’m pretty sure they would find out within minutes if he suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet,” Yui said drily. “So just keep monitoring those sites. Also, can you tell me what his flight number is?”

There was another crackle as Kouichi relayed the information.

As directed, Dmitri came back within the hour. Given the way he now appraised her, Yui assumed that her identity had indeed left an impression on the Boss. She only hoped it was a positive one.

Before long, she stood outside the Tambov gang headquarters, and was quickly blindfolded and handcuffed before being allowed in. Taking it as a sign of the mafia group’s desire for secrecy, she did not protest, and instead allowed herself to be shuffled and pushed roughly along what felt like different several different hallways and down a few flights of stairs.

Within minutes, her restraints were removed and she found herself standing in a large room. Taking a moment to observe her surroundings, Yui was not too surprised to see the expensive tapestries that adorned the walls, nor the Persian carpet that was elegantly laid out beneath her feet. On her left there was a couch covered in fur, and above it—Yui shivered, disgusted—there was a row of plaques featuring dead animal heads.

“Welcome, daughter of the Tokudaiji clan,” drawled a deep voice, and Yui shifted her gaze. Straight ahead of her, on the other side of the room, sat a man probably in his late thirties, reclining in a studded chair behind a desk overflowing with papers and expensive paperweights. Even without his aura of calm power and arrogant pride, there was no mistaking who he was.

She was standing in the presence of the Boss.